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Utah vs. Southern Utah Postgame Quotes
9/1/2016 10:19 PM | Football
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Overall thoughts:
We got a win, obviously. It was not exactly what I expected. We were in control of the game but we never had complete control of the game. It was tougher to score than I anticipated, credit to them, but we need to be better. We threw for almost 300 yards and racked up around 450 total yards. We shut them out and played tough defense, but we need to get better. If we want to win next week, we have to be better.
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On Troy Williams:
Troy Williams did some good things and showed some poise. He has to make an athletic move every time we make a snap so we have to work on that. It's tough to get an offense in rhythm if you have to bend down every time there's a snap. Troy handled himself well. He threw for 272 yards, protected the football and threw two touchdowns.
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On Utah's defensive and special teams performances:
We missed about 20 tackles, which is way too many. We had a couple of takeaways and there were some positives. We punted the ball extremely well and Boobie Hobbs looks like a legitimate punt returner. Overall it was bittersweet because we have to get a lot better.
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On the offensive line:
I thought we would control more at the line of scrimmage. I thought we would run the ball more effectively than we did tonight. We had 130-some yards on 40 carries. That's not good enough and we need to get better.
Â
On the linebackers:
It's great to play that defensive line. They're really stout. That's no discredit to the linebackers. They made some plays. Sometimes we get stuck on blocks and we have to do a better job of getting separation. For their first starts, those were pretty good performances.
Â
On the secondary:
I think our secondary is pretty darn good. I'm pleased. Julian Blackmon came in and did a nice job, defended a fade ball. It will be good to get Dominique Hatfield back. It's not a season-ending injury.
Quarterback Troy WilliamsÂ
On whether the offense lived up to it's billing this evening:
Not quite, but we were able to get a groove going toward the end and we came out with the win. That's all that matters.
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On if they played differently because it was Southern Utah:
Every team has a good group of guys no matter what level they are. There were a couple pressure looks and I got out of there but I can't wait to get out there next week and clean it up for BYU.
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Wide Receiver Tim Patrick–
How did it feel to get out there and play:
Fantastic. I got my first touchdown out of the way so that was exciting but I feel we should have done a lot better as an offense.
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Defensive Back Marcus Williams –
On his forced fumble and recovery:
I just had an opportunity to chase him down from the back and pop it out like we do in practice. It was like a strip drill and that's what I did.
Â
On the defensive mindset entering the game:
It was important to come out and dominate. We were not up to our potential this week but next week we will come out and tackle better
Â
On what the defensive backs did well to shut down the SUU wide receivers:
It was a group effort. We practiced hard. The corners shut them down and the linebackers and defensive linemen got to the quarterback. That really helped us out and shut them down
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Running Back Troy McCormick
On how he felt getting back on the field:
I'm blessed. To come back from an injury like that and be full speed, I'm blessed. I just want to do anything to help this team this year.
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On how he thought he played overall:
I want to be better next week. I practice hard every day and that is how I want to come out and play. I just want to try and practice harder this week
Southern Utah Head Coach Demario Warren
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On how his team played –
"Just proud of the guys. They fought the whole game and never gave up. We made some mistakes. I wish we could have had a couple of plays back and hopefully change that game. But they're a great football team and you can't make that many mistakes in a game and expect to win. I was proud of the guys' effort and what they did out there, but I was definitely disappointed in the outcome and some of the mistakes we made."
Â
On the impact of McCoy Hill's injury early in the game on his offense –
"We moved the ball well but we turned it over twice in the first half, got a penalty on third down after we ran for the first down. We were fine, we just made some mistakes that really kind of got the team down. I thought that was the biggest issue on offense, just shooting ourselves in the foot in that first half."
Â
On the play of his defensive line, causing Utah some problems –
"We're deep at the D-line, that's one of the strengths of our team. We rotated those guys and they stayed fresh. I mean, they played 52 plays or something like that in the first half. I'm pretty sure the offensive line was tired and we just kept sending fresh guys in there. They did a great job of making Troy (Williams) uncomfortable. Troy played a great game to me. He went 20-for-35, that's not too bad for a first career start."
Â
"We have a really good defensive line. We're 10 deep and those guys were relentless to the ball and made huge plays today. We're not doing anything special. We're just letting those guys go."
Â
Does this game give his team confidence –
"It better not. We did it last year and we got it handed to us in game two. So I hope we learned from that and we're ready to go back to work tomorrow."
Â
Overall thoughts:
We got a win, obviously. It was not exactly what I expected. We were in control of the game but we never had complete control of the game. It was tougher to score than I anticipated, credit to them, but we need to be better. We threw for almost 300 yards and racked up around 450 total yards. We shut them out and played tough defense, but we need to get better. If we want to win next week, we have to be better.
Â
On Troy Williams:
Troy Williams did some good things and showed some poise. He has to make an athletic move every time we make a snap so we have to work on that. It's tough to get an offense in rhythm if you have to bend down every time there's a snap. Troy handled himself well. He threw for 272 yards, protected the football and threw two touchdowns.
Â
On Utah's defensive and special teams performances:
We missed about 20 tackles, which is way too many. We had a couple of takeaways and there were some positives. We punted the ball extremely well and Boobie Hobbs looks like a legitimate punt returner. Overall it was bittersweet because we have to get a lot better.
Â
On the offensive line:
I thought we would control more at the line of scrimmage. I thought we would run the ball more effectively than we did tonight. We had 130-some yards on 40 carries. That's not good enough and we need to get better.
Â
On the linebackers:
It's great to play that defensive line. They're really stout. That's no discredit to the linebackers. They made some plays. Sometimes we get stuck on blocks and we have to do a better job of getting separation. For their first starts, those were pretty good performances.
Â
On the secondary:
I think our secondary is pretty darn good. I'm pleased. Julian Blackmon came in and did a nice job, defended a fade ball. It will be good to get Dominique Hatfield back. It's not a season-ending injury.
Quarterback Troy WilliamsÂ
On whether the offense lived up to it's billing this evening:
Not quite, but we were able to get a groove going toward the end and we came out with the win. That's all that matters.
Â
On if they played differently because it was Southern Utah:
Every team has a good group of guys no matter what level they are. There were a couple pressure looks and I got out of there but I can't wait to get out there next week and clean it up for BYU.
Â
Wide Receiver Tim Patrick–
How did it feel to get out there and play:
Fantastic. I got my first touchdown out of the way so that was exciting but I feel we should have done a lot better as an offense.
Â
Defensive Back Marcus Williams –
On his forced fumble and recovery:
I just had an opportunity to chase him down from the back and pop it out like we do in practice. It was like a strip drill and that's what I did.
Â
On the defensive mindset entering the game:
It was important to come out and dominate. We were not up to our potential this week but next week we will come out and tackle better
Â
On what the defensive backs did well to shut down the SUU wide receivers:
It was a group effort. We practiced hard. The corners shut them down and the linebackers and defensive linemen got to the quarterback. That really helped us out and shut them down
Â
Running Back Troy McCormick
On how he felt getting back on the field:
I'm blessed. To come back from an injury like that and be full speed, I'm blessed. I just want to do anything to help this team this year.
Â
On how he thought he played overall:
I want to be better next week. I practice hard every day and that is how I want to come out and play. I just want to try and practice harder this week
Southern Utah Head Coach Demario Warren
Â
On how his team played –
"Just proud of the guys. They fought the whole game and never gave up. We made some mistakes. I wish we could have had a couple of plays back and hopefully change that game. But they're a great football team and you can't make that many mistakes in a game and expect to win. I was proud of the guys' effort and what they did out there, but I was definitely disappointed in the outcome and some of the mistakes we made."
Â
On the impact of McCoy Hill's injury early in the game on his offense –
"We moved the ball well but we turned it over twice in the first half, got a penalty on third down after we ran for the first down. We were fine, we just made some mistakes that really kind of got the team down. I thought that was the biggest issue on offense, just shooting ourselves in the foot in that first half."
Â
On the play of his defensive line, causing Utah some problems –
"We're deep at the D-line, that's one of the strengths of our team. We rotated those guys and they stayed fresh. I mean, they played 52 plays or something like that in the first half. I'm pretty sure the offensive line was tired and we just kept sending fresh guys in there. They did a great job of making Troy (Williams) uncomfortable. Troy played a great game to me. He went 20-for-35, that's not too bad for a first career start."
Â
"We have a really good defensive line. We're 10 deep and those guys were relentless to the ball and made huge plays today. We're not doing anything special. We're just letting those guys go."
Â
Does this game give his team confidence –
"It better not. We did it last year and we got it handed to us in game two. So I hope we learned from that and we're ready to go back to work tomorrow."
Â
Players Mentioned
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QB
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Monday, September 08
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Saturday, September 06
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Wednesday, September 03