Kyle Whittingham Weekly Press Conference (Sept. 13)
SALT LAKE CITY - University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham met with members of the media on Monday morning inside the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center. The full press conference can be viewed here, and selected quotes from Coach Whittingham follow.
Utah (1-1) is looking to bounce back from Saturday's loss at BYU in a Sat., Sept. 18 game at San Diego State. It will close out the regular season non-conference slate for the Utes and kicks at 5 p.m. MT (4 p.m. PT) on CBS Sports Network.
Opening Statement
"The short version is they played well and we played very poorly. That was as barebones as you can boil it down to. But as poorly as we played, we still had some really good individual performances. I thought Micah Bernard was a big bright spot on offense, rushing for nearly 150 yards. It was insane. His average per carry was over 12 yards and added four catches to that for another [18] yards. He was a big part of the offense. I thought Bamidele Olaseni, even though he didn't start, he came in and gave us really good reps—some of his best football at left tackle. Those were two really bright spots on offense. On defense, Nephi Sewell and Devin Lloyd were very active and made a bunch of tackles. But other than that, like I said it was a very poor performance by us which is my responsibility. I have to get the guys ready to play. We weren't good enough and my job is to make sure we are good enough. We have to work it out for us this week. This San Diego State team is really good. They were up on Arizona 35-7 at the half. The game was over essentially at halftime. They were really impressive on offense in particular. If we don't find some answers, we're going to get the same result. So we've got to find some answers this week."
On the defensive line and greater defensive performance at BYU…
"[BYU] wore us out in the second half. That's when they started to wear us down and push us around…They did a great job of sticking to their game plan, not deviating, continuing to run the football and softening us up. Usually we don't soften up. That was very disappointing to see that we were pushed around in the second half. I can't remember the last time, if ever, that that's happened like that."
On assessing the offensive line and guys starting to separate themselves…
"We have six that we really like. [Bamidele Olaseni] and Jaren Kump at left tackle, Braeden Daniels at left guard, Nick Ford at center, Sataoa Laumea at right guard and Simi Moala at right tackle. Those are the top six right now. Keaton Bills is right in there as far as an outstanding player. Paul Maile is another guy that we have complete confidence in. The five that we started, plus Bam who rotated in, were the guys who took all the reps."
On Olaseni…
"Bam will continue to play. He played at a high level [at BYU]. He earned the right to play. It's all about practicing the right way and doing things correctly in practice to gain your coaches' trust and confidence. If he continues to do that, he'll continue to get reps on Saturdays."
On play-calling at BYU…
"The defensive structures weren't the problem. It was two different issues: on offense, our main issue was mental mistakes. We didn't get beat physically. We blew assignments way too often on offense, particularly up front. On defense it was the opposite. We were assignment-sound, but we just got physically moved around and worn out. I didn't think our offense got beat up physically. In a typical game, you have about a dozen drives. In this game we had 10 drives, when you don't count the one-play kneel down at the end of the first half. When the first two are turnovers and the third is a three-and-out, the beginning of the second half is a three-and-out, you have a critical holding call and some blown assignments—there's not many drives left. Your chances to score are so minimized. That's another reason why the turnover margin is so critical, because when you turn the ball over, you're essentially giving a drive away. That can't happen. We have to maximize drives and be better assignment-wise offensively. That was the problem. I don't think the play-calling was an issue. On the fourth-and-two example, we blew an assignment. You can't win games that way. It's tough enough to move the ball and score touchdowns when you're doing things right, let alone when you're having drops and getting penalized, doing things to kick yourself in the foot."
On Charlie Brewer's performance at BYU…
"Again, with some of the blown assignments there were some loopers and guys coming free in the pressures. We can all play better. He's capable of playing better than he did, but we didn't do a lot to help him out."
On Micah Bernard's progression over the years…
"I'm incredibly proud of Micah. He's grown up right before our eyes. When he got here, he was a very young senior in high school. Young guy. He has matured and developed a toughness and a consistency about him that is admirable. It's a credit to him, a credit to Kiel McDonald (his position coach), but he has stayed the course exactly as you mentioned. He's not gotten ahead of things, and just let himself develop at a good pace. Now he's reaping those rewards for his work ethic and for how far he's come development wise."
On the importance of high-level team leadership at this juncture…
"It absolutely is key this week. The leaders need to step up. Where leadership is really needed and where it really comes to the forefront is when you have adversity. You don't need a bunch of leadership when everything's going great. We absolutely need the leaders to step up this week, and my guess is they will respond."
On defending San Diego State's run game as part of its greater offense…
"It poses a big problem for us. They handled Arizona with no problem at all. It was not even a contest. It was impressive to watch that tape and see how they operate. They have three good backs, they have a quarterback who does a great job running that offense. They have a couple tight ends that they really like. They have some wide receivers that are playmakers. And the offensive line is physical. We're going to see every bit as physical an o-line this week as we did last week, which means we have to rise up and play much better."