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The University of Utah Athletics
Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference
10/22/2007 12:00 AM | Football
Oct. 22, 2007
Opening Comment
It was nice to get a road win at TCU. It was a Thursday night game, so it was a short week for us and I thought that everyone handled it well. TCU is a talented team, and it was a tough, physical game.
Offensively, Darrell Mack rushed for a 100 yards again. That's been our formula for success. In all five of our wins, Darrell has rushed for 100 yards. Brian Johnson managed the offense very well. He didn't put up the big numbers that he usually puts up, but he managed the offense and kept the ball out of their hands.
Defensively, we had four takeaways and came out of the game plus-three on the takeaways. Martail Burnett had an interception and returned it for a touchdown. It was a very athletic play on his part to make that happen. We tackled well the entire game, only missing four tackles.
On special team, we saw some good things and some not-so-good things. Louie Sakoda made all of his PAT's, and he punted well when he was able to get it off. He had one punt blocked, but TCU had a great rush scheme and the player who blocked it was very athletic and did a nice job of getting up in the air to block it.
Overall, it was a solid game. Things got tight in the end again, but I was proud of how the team fought through the adversity and came away with the win. It was an important game as are all games from this point on.
Colorado State is the best 1-6 program in the country. They are a quality team, and you can see that on tape. They've played good teams in Colorado, Houston and California, and they were all close games that could've gone either way.
CSU's running game is solid. They have a one-two punch in Kyle Bell and Gartrell Johnson. Their quarterback Caleb Hanie is second to Brian Johnson in pass efficiency and he's a solid offensive player.
Defensively, they are doing the same thing they've done for years. They are still doing a zone blitz mixed in with some cover-2 and man-to-man.
Colorado State snapped their losing streak last week. They played well in the win and I'm sure they're starting to get their confidence back.
This is our last game outside the state of Utah. We have a bye week next week then we host two games and then play at BYU. We need to take it one game at a time, one day at a time, and one week at time. We need to go out each week from here on out and execute, bring passion and energy to the field, and come ready to play.
On the momentum both teams are bringing to the game
To have a 13-game losing snapped is a huge relief for them, I'm sure. So, this Saturday is going to be a different challenge and a new opportunity for us. This has been one of the most unpredictable college football seasons I've ever been around. There's no rhyme or reason to what has happened, and you never know what's going to happen each week.
But, we feel like we have good momentum heading into this week's game, having won four straight. Both teams will have momentum, but we want the win to stay in the race for the Mountain West Conference Championship.
On safety Robert Johnson
Robert will be the same all year long until he can have surgery on his injured shoulder. We'll rotate him in with RJ Rice who did a nice job at safety for us last week. So, we'll continue to play him about 50 percent of the time, and then we'll look to get him surgery when the season's over.
On Joe Jiannoni's ankle injury
Joe is hobbled, and he will be for the rest of the year. If we can get him through this week, then we have a bye week and that will get him rested for the last three games of the season. His ankle injury is chronic, and he's not at 100 percent. He's tough, though, and he will continue to do what he does best until the end of the season.
On turnovers
Turnovers are critical. They're the second-most important stat after the score. For the most part, you must win the turnover battle in order to win the game. In our game against TCU, we had four takeaways, effectively taking away four possessions away from them. We should've had more as there was an opportunity for our team to capitalize on six or seven turnovers.
UNLV had some five turnovers against Colorado State. It out-gained CSU in yardage but the turnovers UNLV had were costly. You can't turn the ball over five times in a game and expect to win.
But, that's going to be a big issue this week. We have to win the turnover battle in order to have a chance to win the game.
Players Mentioned
DE
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LB
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QB
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RB
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P/K
/ FootballFormer Utah Football Head Coach Urban Meyer inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
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