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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah vs. Michigan Postgame Quotes
9/3/2015 12:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2015
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | USATSI 
Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
On the atmosphere:
I've had a couple coaches coming here for the first time telling me how difficult it is to play here. I'm very proud of our fans for being loud. They were fantastic. I think people underestimate our crowd and that helps our team. It was packed and we appreciate the support.
On Britain Covey:
He's quick, athletic, talented and smart. He has great hands. He's great in the return game. He will be a big key for us. I think you got a taste of what he can do in the return game this evening. He made the most of it and he is a fierce competitor, above all else. He will play a lot of football for us this year.
On the play of the defense:
Offensively, we did a nice job. We had a couple breakdowns in the zone. For the first game, it was not much. When a team is one-dimensional it helps with your game plan. I think they didn't really throw the ball until they got behind. We had a great effort. We made a few mistakes.
On not being able to get a sack:
Well he was getting rid of the ball quickly. He wasn't standing back there all day. That's a good offensive line. It's typically a strong suit and maybe we need to dial it up pressure-wise.
On the defensive backfield:
Good coaching by our secondary coaches. Our guys expected some routes and we saw some things the last two weeks. Justin [Thomas] made the play there and jumped the route and it was the turning point of the game. It had the biggest impact in the game.
On Travis Wilson:
Travis was very good, efficient. He threw the ball well, about 65 percent. It's our benchmark this season. He threw for a couple hundred yards and was more than game manager. He did his thing and responded nicely.
On Cory Butler-Byrd:
Cory on one. It was his first D1 game. Instead of doing one things, the guy went right by him. We dodged a bullet there and he's going to be a heck of a player.
On the defense:
We stuffed the run pretty well. They were taking it away. We didn't get any sacks. We didn't bat any balls down. Usually we get about 4-5 of those a game.
On the publicity leading into the game:
Hype? I didn't notice it. We're so glad it's over. Man, we're glad to get this one under our belt. We are just trying to get through with this and one and pay no attention to it. Our players paid attention to it and played with attitude, which was good.
Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh
On how his team performed overall -
"It was a real football game tonight, for both teams. I thought it was a real physical, competitive football game. For our football team, there were a lot of positives, some things to build on, some things to grow from in a lot of areas. I'm already thinking about them, ready to attack them."
"The offensive line is a good example. They did a lot of good things, especially after the first half. We got our running game going; that was good to see. We had a lot of run-though issues in the first part of the game but I thought they asserted themselves well in the interior line and started making holes and not getting the run-through, and the pass protection was very good. There are positives."
On his players saying they didn't execute well enough -
"I think they are being too hard on themselves. Was Jake Butt up here? Jake Butt played one a heck of a football game. He is a tremendous competitor. Amarah Darboh had a heck of a game. De'Veon Smith had a heck of a football game."
"Defensively, I thought we did some good. Some things we have to get better at. Specifically, the tempo got us a couple of times. We've got to line up better but we got that fixed too, I thought. The tackling was better, the pass rush was better. We made plays. That's the story. There's a lot of things to build and improve on, but there was also some positives."
On QB Jake Rudock's play -
"I thought he was seeing the field extremely well tonight, seeing the defense, seeing the reads, and making really good throws. The second interception was probably the only ball thrown I can think of right now that wasn't a good, accurate throw. Everything else I can think of, he made the right read, made the right throw. The third one, tip the hat to the Utah player, the nickel, he made a heck of a play on it. I'll say this about Jake, you throw an interception for a touchdown and then you come back and lead a touchdown drive, I thought that was outstanding."
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