What Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham had to say about playing Iowa State

Utah will try to spoil Iowa State’s momentum on Senior Day this Saturday

Kyle Whittingham had plenty to say about Iowa State football ahead of playing them this Saturday night. / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

To say it’s been a tough season for Utah football and head coach Kyle Whittingham would be a drastic understatement.

Preseason favorites to capture the Big 12 and play in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, the Utes are just fighting for bowl eligibility at this point in a down season.

This Saturday, they welcome Iowa State to Salt Lake City, as the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2) still have an outside shot at doing what Utah (4-6, 1-6) wanted to be doing. Instead, they will try to play spoiler while sending a large senior class out with a win.

Here are some of the key things Whittingham had to say during his weekly press conference:

Whittingham on the loss last week to Colorado

“Credit to them, they’re a good football team,” he said. “I said it after the game a couple times, I’ll say it again; the best team we’ve played this year without question. Coach (Deion) Sanders has done a great job getting that thing turned around in a short period of time. Hat’s off to those guys.”

Whittingham on playing Iowa State for Senior Day

“We've got Iowa State coming in this weekend. Senior Day for a big group of seniors. We've typically got anywhere from 8-to-12 the last two or three years, we have about 25 this year,” he said. “A lot of turnover and outgoing players who will be finished with their eligibility, so hoping the crowd will show up and wish those guys all the best and thank them for what they gave to the program. A lot of those guys have won a lot of games for us through the years. As is the case every year, we'll miss them. Tough to see them leave, but that's the nature of college football.”

Whittingham on problems Iowa State presents

“Iowa State, really good team, No. 1 in the conference in scoring defense,” he said. “They have a good offense, very balanced, a complete team. A lot like us offensively in their personnel usage. A lot of 12 personnel, in fact that's their lead group, two tight ends. Some 11, some 13, which we do as well. Carryover in that respect that our defense is used to seeing, those personnel groupings. Hopefully it's a better matchup for us than the spread attack we saw last week. They're battling for a spot in the conference championship game, so we're going to get everything they have.”

Whittingham on where the Iowa State offense can hurt you

“They're an 8-2 football team that is very complete,” he said. “The quarterback is playing well, third or fourth in the league in pass efficiency, running the ball well. (They're averaging) about a 160, 170 rushing and another 230, 240 throwing a game, over 30 points a week. Running back by committee, they have three guys who are sharing the carries and getting it done that way. Two really prolific receivers, big guy on the outside and then the slot receiver. We got our hands full and it'll be a challenge for us, but our guys, even with all the adversity and all the disappointment we've faced this year, our guys still have a really good attitude and a lot of fight in them and we're still trying to play for a bowl game these last two weeks.”

More Iowa State & Big 12 Analysis

* Matt Campbell talks up the Utah defense

* Cyclones right back into contention in wild, wild Big 12

*Three stars in Iowa State's win over Cincinnati including Stevo Klotz

*Complete game recap of Iowa State's win over Cincinnati

* Scouting the opponent: Get to know QB Brendan Sorsby

* Latest college football playoff rankings

* What Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield had to say about Cyclones

* Updated bowl projections for Iowa State, rest of Big 12