Utah vs. BYU Postgame Quotes

Saturday, September 10

Salt Lake City, Utah

5:30 PM

University of Utah

2-0

Brigham Young

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

BYU

Utah

9/10/2016 10:46 PM | Football

Box Score

Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham

Opening Statement
"This rivalry has had so many of these games that come down to the last series, the last play, and this one was no different. We definitely dodged a bullet turning over six times. You don't win a lot of football games turning it over six times. We had a few takeaways of our own, maybe three. I'm proud of our resiliency.

We did a good job in the run game. That was the key. Taysom [Hill] got some yards, but we shot down the tailback run. We came away with three picks, one pick-six at the beginning and I thought it was going to be the Las Vegas Bowl all over again. Offensively, we were moving the ball, but we kept turning it over. We couldn't finish drives, which was a problem last week.

That drive at the end with the field goal, that's who we can be. That's what this offense can do. I really thought about going for it on that last fourth down, but we made the decision to kick the field goal and make them get a touchdown. We played the percentages because we wanted to make them go the length of the field and they did, to their credit. [BYU head coach] Kalani [Sitake] had them ready and I would have done the exact same thing he did there at the end."

On the two-point try
"It's what we expected. I talked with Coach [Morgan] Scalley and we loaded up the line of scrimmage and brought them all. The first guy missed and Hunter Dimick terminated it at the end."

On the buildup this week
"There was a little different feel with my relationship with [BYU head coach] Kalani [Sitake]. That's been hyped up a lot and we are close friends so there was definitely a different feel."

On Zack Moss
"He's a darn good player and if he gets more conditioning, he will be a very good player. Troy McCormick was in the game in the second half. Zack Moss, when he got momentum, we stuck with him."

On the targeting penalties
"I think the officials made the right calls on the two targeting calls. You hate to say that. The hits that used to be routine are now targeting. By the letter of the law, the two BYU hits were targeting. A lot has changed the last 10 years with player safety and that's for the best. We teach our kids every day about how to tackle and approach tackling the correct way. It's a point of emphasis that you don't want to injure yourself or another player and you get 15 yards and ejected from the game. We have completely revamped the way we approach things on the back end, so we did not go and remind our defensive backs."

On Troy Williams
"This is his third college start so he has some things to learn. You can't put the ball in traffic in the red zone. They took the ball away six times. We made bad decisions and they had one heck of an interception on the second targeting call. We left a lot of points on the field, but luckily, we had enough in the tank at the end to get the win."

Running Back Zack Moss
On what he focused on coming into the game
"I know the rivalry so it was a chance for me to showcase my skills. I'm glad we came out with a 'W.' We have a great group of running backs and when it's my turn I just do what I need to do."

On what was said at halftime
"We knew we were the better team so we just had to cut down on the mistakes. Coach Whittingham told us to finish the game."

Quarterback Troy Williams
On winning the game despite struggling
"It means a lot. My brothers have my back. I'm blessed to be here at this school. It was a tough game out there but that's football and I'm glad I have my brothers out there with me. I was struggling and it was just one of those games."

On his overall thoughts about the game
"Everything was working and we just need to cut down on turnovers. We made a key drive late in the game and the defense had our back."

Defensive End Hunter Dimick
On what he was expecting on the BYU two-point conversion
"I was expecting a timeout and PAT, but I'm glad I could get in there and make the play. I was just shooting up the 'B' gap and saw Taysom [Hill] take off to his left. I put my head down and ran as fast as I could. You saw tonight how fast he is. Luckily, I was there to make the play in the end."

On whether there was frustration at the offense tonight
"It was frustrating but like our coaches say, adversity is going to happen. So we rallied around Troy and he made some plays so it never got to a point where one group was mad at another. We bonded together and made the plays to win."

Wide Receiver Tim Patrick
On whether he had to pump up his teammates after early turnovers
"No. It's BYU. We knew what was on the line and we had to just go out there and execute."

On what the touchdown at the end of the first half meant
"I think it was huge because the offense was struggling and the touchdown got us over the hump."

On what the coaches called at the end of the half to get the touchdown
"It was the right play at the right time. They went Cover 2 and we called a Cover 2 beater and it was wide open."

Linebacker Sunia Tauteoli
On what he saw before making the early pick
"I felt like I was just doing my job and the ball came to me. Within the defensive scheme, if the ball comes my way, I have to key on those opportunities and make things happen. I feel like the schemes we work on with Coach [Morgan] Scalley and our coordinators and Coach Whittingham put us in places to succeed."

On returning the interception
"It reminded me of my running back days. I saw Taysom [Hill] coming around and I said 'he is not going to catch me' and I saw six guys in front of me. It's a moment I can't really describe."

On the BYU two-point conversion attempt
"I saw Taysom [Hill] get flushed out and then Algernon Brown went one way and my thought was to run down the line. If I had an opportunity, I was going to make it. Our coaches put us in a formation where we came off the edges and gave him no time to throw the ball."

BYU Head Coach Kalani Sitake

On the game
"Good game. Just really a hard-fought game and very entertaining. Congratulations to Utah for getting the win. Just back and forth a little bit. Just really proud of our players and the way they played. Just really proud of our coaches. It's just a tough, tough battle and it was a lot of fun. Really, really proud of the guys at the end of the game, being able to come back and score. Obviously, it didn't work out for us, but we'll keep working. I think we can build on this and we think this will make us a better team.

"We'll learn from this and we'll get better. A lot of great things happened in this game. I was really proud of our guys. We just didn't get the victory. We can't just squash on everything that was positive. But there were some mistakes too and we'll get better. I thought coming off of week one to week two we had improved, and so did Utah. It was just a great game."

Going for a two-point conversion and the win at the end
"I told the guys, we score a touchdown we are going for two so stay on the field. If you notice when they scored the touchdown, nobody ran off to the side. We planned on scoring and we did. We planned on going for two. Utah made a play and we didn't. I love the ball being in Taysom's (Hill) hand. He had a couple of options and it just ended up the way that it did, but I think Utah just made a great play. I'd do it again."

Two players being ejected from the game for targeting
"Obviously, you know how I felt about it. That's just how football goes and that's how the game of football is. I'm proud of the guys that came in and played and I'm proud of the guys that answered back and were able to make this a one-point game."

Nine combined turnovers in the game
"Everyone was so concerned about turnovers that we just decided that everyone should turn the ball over and we'll be fine. I don't know? When you have guys that really just try hard and play, and some guys took risks. I don't believe in playing tight so our guys were able to take some risks. Sometimes, it worked out and other times it didn't. That's the game of football. But I was really proud of the way our guys played. I just wish we had two more points."