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Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference
11/23/2015 12:00 AM | Football
Nov. 23, 2015
Opening statement:
We are disappointed to lose the game at home to UCLA. It came down to a couple things. No. 1 - we weren't able to get much going in the passing game. We only had 100 yards which is not enough. Their defensive backs did a nice job. They have the best secondary in the conference. They're hands down the best statistically in the conference and it showed on Saturday, so that was an issue. Also, not scoring in the red zone was an issue. You can't win kicking field goals. You can't win kicking only field goals and that was a big difference. We were 0-for-2 in the red zone and had to settle for kicking field goals and they were more efficient in the red zone. That was the difference in the game.
Defensively, I thought we were pretty good. We held them to around 100 yards rushing and a couple hundred yards throwing. We held a good quarterback to a 50 percent completion rate. I thought other than the first drive of the game, which was not good, we settled in and played a good ball game. I thought we ran the ball well on offense. We came up with nearly 200 yards. Joe Williams in his debut showed some good things and it was positive to see him contribute. Special teams, a lot like the week before vs. Arizona, did not really have a big impact. No one really made an impact. There were no major screw-up's on either side. It was just a field position game rather than teams making big plays. That was that and now we move on to Colorado.
They're a good football team and competitive every week. Kind of like last year, they play well and play hard but I'm sure they don't have as many "W"s as they would like. They're a good team. We have our hands full. It's our last regular-season home game and it's Senior Day. We'll say goodbye to a great group of seniors who were the primary group to enter this league with us and make this Pac-12 journey. We've progressed with them these last five years and we will miss them. They are a great group of guys and we will miss them. It's just the nature of college football and we will go out and get recruits and everyone just cycles in but this is a great group of guys. These departing seniors have a lot of leadership and have played a lot of good football for us. I want to thank them for their efforts and contributions.
On why it was hard for the receivers to get separation:
Well, UCLA has the best secondary in the conference. They're deep and leading the conference statistically by a wide margin. They have good athletes back there and at the back end, we couldn't get any separation. It's hard to throw the ball and find somewhere to go with it if nobody's open. So, that was the situation Saturday and it's been that way a few times this year. We get a little bit bogged down in the passing game when we can't get separation.
On the injury status of the team:
We know that Britain Covey is out this week which would equate to a season-ending injury since this is the last game of the regular season. This is what we talked about at the end of the press conference on Saturday and he won't be available. It does not look like Tevin Carter will play. Those are the two guys from this past week. They're the only two guys. I don't know. I don't know what bowl game we are going to. Tevin has some more tests to undergo before we get a final word.
On where the team's mindset is:
Well, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves but we have a chance to win 10 games and be co-Pac-12 South Division champions. If we take care of business, we are co-champs. We won't go to the championship game because of head-to-head but to finish as co-champions and potentially 10 wins, that's the high-water mark since we've been in the conference. That's a big step forward if we are able to accomplish some things but that's down the road. Either way, we are sitting 8-3 and tied for first. It's incremental progress for our program.
On the effect Devontae Booker's injury had on the gameplan:
Well, we didn't change a whole lot. Maybe had a few more quarterback run plays but Joe carried the ball 20+ times for 120+ yards so it wasn't dramatically different. Just a few tweaks here and there. Maybe a few more keeps by Travis. Well we'll see. We have to do our game-planning for Colorado and see what our best course of action is.
On allowing opening-drive touchdowns the last two games:
Last game the quarterback threw the ball twice and made big plays. That was the bulk of the yardage. The one that go 20, 30, 40 yards and the other one was the touchdown pass so there's nothing to put a finger on. I think if you go back through the season and track it we've started some weeks faster than others and I don't think there's anything we can identify for that.
On what steps still need to be taken as a program:
We're in first place, so I think we are one of the better teams. Depth is an area where we've made a lot of progress and I've talked about the progress we've made. We feel we are further ahead than we've ever been before but we still have to continue to recruit . With the physicality of this league you get to your 2's and 3's real quickly so they better be very good. We've made a vast improvement but we have a ways to go to make sure that we have a complete depth situation. We want to have depth at all positions, not just some of them.
On why the Colorado games are so close:
They're good, they're competitive and they play hard. Look at their season. There are not a lot of games they have not been in. They're well coached and play with great effort and that's the best answer I can give you. On what areas he hopes to see improvement: Yes, but that's in house. I don't want to sit here and label positions and say who'd we like more from, but yes, there are a few positions where we need to enhance
On Travis Wilson:
It speaks to his toughness and determination. He's seen the highs and lows over the last three-and-a-half years but the common denominator is that he keeps coming back. He keeps coming back. He keeps competing. He's taken some good shots and took some more Saturday but he's a good kid and he keeps coming back for more and he's a competitor.
On Joe Williams being a feature back:
We think he has that capability but we need to add some more depth. We don't have enough bodies on the roster right now and that's a situation. There are two types of depth problems. One, where you don't have the sheer numbers and the other is where there's too much of a drop-off between guys. At running back, we need to enhance that position with two or three guys during this recruiting class because we don't have enough guys on scholarship due to position change and factors we didn't foresee.
On how tough the league is:
It's extremely tough. We thought three losses would earn us the right to play in the Pac-12 Championship game. That's how balanced and competitive this league is. There's a little more separation in the North division with Stanford but not much. Oregon is hitting their stride right now and that's why I am such a proponent of every conference champion being in the playoff. We play nine conference games and as evidenced by everyone's record, we beat each other up on a weekly basis . It is a shame there are only four spots because there are five major conference and every champion should have the opportunity to advance.
On how the team deals with injuries like Britain Covey's:
The same way we adjust without the other 12 to 13 guys, we move on. Delshawn McClellon has to step up and play well, same with Bubba Poole. It's a "next man up" mentality. You can't do anything else other than say "next man up" and that person has to pick up the slack. Everybody else around them has to up their level of play and do their part.
On if he noticed anything offensively after watching the film:
There was nowhere to go with the ball on a number of plays due to the fact we couldn't get separation. No, I don't think there was anything dramatic. It would have been nice to have some guys get open and get the ball down the field but you just don't want to throw it and put it in harm's way. Another thing that hurt was turnover margin. We were minus-two in the game. We ran the ball effectively. Anytime you get near 200 yards rushing, that's a good day but we just didn't have enough production throwing the ball. I don't think calling more throws would have been the difference
On whether Senior Day is a motviation factor or a distraction:
It is a motivating factor. There is no distraction. It's a great way to honor our seniors and say thanks for a lot of hard work. A lot of these guys have been here five or six years and the devotion and effort, everything they've poured into this program is appreciated and it's a way to send them off the right way. Hopefully with a victory.
On if they can work on schemes to help with separation:
To a certain extent you can scheme a little bit but we just were not on our game Saturday in the throwing game. We just were not very sharp and the routes were not as crisp and precise as they needed to be. The protection was good. Someone asked after the game about the offensive line. They played well. We ran the ball well and they moved guys around up front. They pass protected very well and so, I think our front played well on offense Yes, there are some things to look at in the passing game scheme to possibly uncover some guys.
On deflecting criticism away from players:
It's not on the players. We never blame the players in this program, ever. If people outside want to, that's their problem. Our guys are playing hard and there's never been a question about their heart, toughness and accountability. They are playing their guts out, start to finish, every week and if someone out there, if someone is saying something, I don't care, but if someone is attacking the players, that's wrong. Attack me. Attack the coaches but not the players
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