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Postgame Quotes: Utah vs. Northwestern
12/23/2023 11:14 PM | Football
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening statement
"Not a good showing by us today. Congratulations to Northwestern; they played well. They had our offense completely stymied. I think we had 12 possessions; seven times we punt, three times we turn it over, once we don't (convert) on fourth down and once we score. Tough to win a football game scoring seven points and losing the turnover margin 3-0. Not a good formula, but again, give (Northwestern) credit. They played hard, they were well-prepared. I thought our defense played pretty good and kept us in the game. Gave up a couple big plays down the field, but they're good players on Northwestern's team and they're going to make some plays. Just didn't have enough in the tank on offense, and couldn't get much going."
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On deciding whether to stay with Luke Bottari or return to Bryson Barnes in the fourth quarter…
"We talked about it. But when Bryson was ready to come back, we decided that Bryson gave us our best chance to win."
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On what Northwestern did to keep Utah off track early…
"Nothing they hadn't shown all year long; there was nothing out of character, or new schemes. They just played their gaps very sound and tackled very well. We didn't tackle very well on defense. That's something we usually do a better job of. We could have played even better defensively, had we tackled well. But they tackled well and made some plays on the ball up the field. Couple interceptions that were big. Then they stripped us the one time. They were opportunistic, they took the ball away. Like I said, they were assignment-sound and very well prepared."
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On Bryson Barnes motivating guys in the huddle…
"He was just trying to motivate them and generate a spark. Bryson's a good leader, and the players respect him…he eventually got voted a team captain and the players respect him."
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On Micah Bernard's performance…
"It was great to see him back out there. He's been through a lot this season, off the field getting healthy and getting back to the point he could play. We were extremely excited when we got the word that he was going to be available in this game. He did some good things; he was still a bit out of shape. He only had a couple weeks to get ready—when you're sitting out for three months and only have a couple weeks to get ready, that's a tough order. We're excited that he's coming back next year as well. He's going to be an integral part of what we do next year. He brings a lot to the table."
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On grading the season as a whole…
"I told the guys in the locker room that they've got a lot to be proud of. They found a way to win eight games this year in a very competitive Pac-12 Conference with two other Power Five schools on our schedule in Florida and Baylor. In a way, it was remarkable how well they did during the course of the regular season. It's not what any of us had in mind; as we were going through the offseason last year and preparing, we thought a (Pac-12) three-peat was very realistic. But it didn't turn out to be. Given the adversity they faced, I thought they handled that very well. Just to get here with an 8-4 record was very commendable. (However,) today was very forgettable. We've got to bury this one and move on. No positive came out of this game tonight, at least I can't see it right now. I'm sure we had some good performances. We'll have to watch the film. We have to coach better. This is not the players' fault at all. We as coaches have to get them better-prepared and give them a better chance to win."
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Micah Bernard | RB | Jr.
On getting back on the field…
"It was amazing. It was a blessing. I'll take the positive out of this. We lost the game; nobody likes losing and I hate losing. But just to be out there playing again, after three long months, I'm blessed and thankful. I'm happy with the way I came out with only three weeks of practice. I wish it could've gone the other way but this is a win for me."
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On getting into the end zone…
"I'd seen us driving down the field. I was hoping Coach would leave me in. (That was) what I was waiting for. It was a long three months, if I got in the end zone I was going to go crazy…I jumped over and got in, and I felt everything release off my shoulders. When I got to the sideline it just all came out. The tears were flowing. It felt good to be able to come back and get a touchdown in my first game back."
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On what he takes pride in with this team…
"A lot of faith. We went into the locker room (at halftime), and it was silent for a minute. But then we all realized we were down seven points. It was next-man-up. It doesn't matter who we've got out there, we were going to go out there and play. We were lucky to be able to tie up the game. That's just a testament to the team; we're going to keep going, keep pushing no matter what happens. Next play, get a little bit better. The game started off not the way we wanted it to. But we picked it up…it shows that when we have everybody fully healthy, we can be very dominant. But we're not going to take away from the guys who played today. We played our hearts out and we're going to step in the ring with whoever and try to get it done."
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Karene Reid | LB | Jr.
On the game…
"It really hurts. We lose as a team though. The offense went down and scored a touchdown, but we couldn't stop them on that next drive. It goes both ways. Just a team loss."
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On how the second half unfolded…
"I think we needed to start going for takeaways. It's one thing to stop them, but in a game like that when we're struggling, you've got to get the ball out. They took it away three times from us and we couldn't get it from them. That makes it really difficult to win."
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On rallying the troops as a leader…
"We've just got to find ways to become closer. It's so easy to lose and go in your own corner and sulk. But we've got to find ways to build those relationships, and become closer not just as teammates but as friends. Because when adversity hits, it's all about 'how much do I love the man next to me?' Next year, that's going to be my focus."
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On what was working defensively for much of the game…
"I think a lot of credit goes to the D-line. D-ends, D-tackles, putting pressure on the quarterback. That's what I would say. It started with the D-line and success stems from them."
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Opening statement
"Not a good showing by us today. Congratulations to Northwestern; they played well. They had our offense completely stymied. I think we had 12 possessions; seven times we punt, three times we turn it over, once we don't (convert) on fourth down and once we score. Tough to win a football game scoring seven points and losing the turnover margin 3-0. Not a good formula, but again, give (Northwestern) credit. They played hard, they were well-prepared. I thought our defense played pretty good and kept us in the game. Gave up a couple big plays down the field, but they're good players on Northwestern's team and they're going to make some plays. Just didn't have enough in the tank on offense, and couldn't get much going."
Â
On deciding whether to stay with Luke Bottari or return to Bryson Barnes in the fourth quarter…
"We talked about it. But when Bryson was ready to come back, we decided that Bryson gave us our best chance to win."
Â
On what Northwestern did to keep Utah off track early…
"Nothing they hadn't shown all year long; there was nothing out of character, or new schemes. They just played their gaps very sound and tackled very well. We didn't tackle very well on defense. That's something we usually do a better job of. We could have played even better defensively, had we tackled well. But they tackled well and made some plays on the ball up the field. Couple interceptions that were big. Then they stripped us the one time. They were opportunistic, they took the ball away. Like I said, they were assignment-sound and very well prepared."
Â
On Bryson Barnes motivating guys in the huddle…
"He was just trying to motivate them and generate a spark. Bryson's a good leader, and the players respect him…he eventually got voted a team captain and the players respect him."
Â
On Micah Bernard's performance…
"It was great to see him back out there. He's been through a lot this season, off the field getting healthy and getting back to the point he could play. We were extremely excited when we got the word that he was going to be available in this game. He did some good things; he was still a bit out of shape. He only had a couple weeks to get ready—when you're sitting out for three months and only have a couple weeks to get ready, that's a tough order. We're excited that he's coming back next year as well. He's going to be an integral part of what we do next year. He brings a lot to the table."
Â
On grading the season as a whole…
"I told the guys in the locker room that they've got a lot to be proud of. They found a way to win eight games this year in a very competitive Pac-12 Conference with two other Power Five schools on our schedule in Florida and Baylor. In a way, it was remarkable how well they did during the course of the regular season. It's not what any of us had in mind; as we were going through the offseason last year and preparing, we thought a (Pac-12) three-peat was very realistic. But it didn't turn out to be. Given the adversity they faced, I thought they handled that very well. Just to get here with an 8-4 record was very commendable. (However,) today was very forgettable. We've got to bury this one and move on. No positive came out of this game tonight, at least I can't see it right now. I'm sure we had some good performances. We'll have to watch the film. We have to coach better. This is not the players' fault at all. We as coaches have to get them better-prepared and give them a better chance to win."
Â
Micah Bernard | RB | Jr.
On getting back on the field…
"It was amazing. It was a blessing. I'll take the positive out of this. We lost the game; nobody likes losing and I hate losing. But just to be out there playing again, after three long months, I'm blessed and thankful. I'm happy with the way I came out with only three weeks of practice. I wish it could've gone the other way but this is a win for me."
Â
On getting into the end zone…
"I'd seen us driving down the field. I was hoping Coach would leave me in. (That was) what I was waiting for. It was a long three months, if I got in the end zone I was going to go crazy…I jumped over and got in, and I felt everything release off my shoulders. When I got to the sideline it just all came out. The tears were flowing. It felt good to be able to come back and get a touchdown in my first game back."
Â
On what he takes pride in with this team…
"A lot of faith. We went into the locker room (at halftime), and it was silent for a minute. But then we all realized we were down seven points. It was next-man-up. It doesn't matter who we've got out there, we were going to go out there and play. We were lucky to be able to tie up the game. That's just a testament to the team; we're going to keep going, keep pushing no matter what happens. Next play, get a little bit better. The game started off not the way we wanted it to. But we picked it up…it shows that when we have everybody fully healthy, we can be very dominant. But we're not going to take away from the guys who played today. We played our hearts out and we're going to step in the ring with whoever and try to get it done."
Â
Karene Reid | LB | Jr.
On the game…
"It really hurts. We lose as a team though. The offense went down and scored a touchdown, but we couldn't stop them on that next drive. It goes both ways. Just a team loss."
Â
On how the second half unfolded…
"I think we needed to start going for takeaways. It's one thing to stop them, but in a game like that when we're struggling, you've got to get the ball out. They took it away three times from us and we couldn't get it from them. That makes it really difficult to win."
Â
On rallying the troops as a leader…
"We've just got to find ways to become closer. It's so easy to lose and go in your own corner and sulk. But we've got to find ways to build those relationships, and become closer not just as teammates but as friends. Because when adversity hits, it's all about 'how much do I love the man next to me?' Next year, that's going to be my focus."
Â
On what was working defensively for much of the game…
"I think a lot of credit goes to the D-line. D-ends, D-tackles, putting pressure on the quarterback. That's what I would say. It started with the D-line and success stems from them."
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Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
LB
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