What Kyle Whittingham Said After Utah Beat Oregon

Whittingham became Utah's all-time winningest coach with Saturday's win over Oregon.

The Ducks dropped their second game of the year Saturday against the Utes and have numerous issues to address ahead of next week's game against Oregon State for the Pac-12 North. The Utes on the other hand, they secured the Pac-12 South and their spot in the conference title game.

Below is a transcription of Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham's post game press conference.

On the win over Oregon:

"I'm extremely proud of our guys from start to finish. Excellent execution and physicality. They just weren't going to be denied tonight and it started with a great week of practice. They had the right mindset, and it was great to see them go out and play the way they did. Just a great game for us."

On Oregon punting to Brittain Covey at the end of the first half:

"The alternative would be to kick out of bounds I guess. But Covey is a dangerous guy and I know I'd think twice about kicking to him. We had a block on too. It wasn't like we had a return set up. We had a full-on block. He did most of that on his own. He got some key blocks along the way, but it was not set up as a return."

On becoming the all-time winningest coach at Utah:

"I'll keep deflecting because that's what I'm good at, but I just feel blessed. That's a lot of years and a lot of hard work, and a lot goes into that. With some other sports, you can pretty much do it all as the head coach. In football, it is impossible. You have to surround yourself with great people. Fortunately, we've been able to do that the last 17 years. I've had some outstanding assistant coaches come through here. The staff we have now is terrific and it starts with great players. We have recruited and developed so many of those guys who have come through here and contributed to this."

On Tavion Thomas  becoming the all-time single season touchdowns leader at Utah:

"It says he has a nose for the end zone. He's a big, physical back and that's where he really becomes a weapon is down in the red zone. He gets close to that goal line, he isn't going to be denied."

On rushing for over 200 yards against Oregon:

"That's a talented group they have over there. That's a good football team, but we did a nice job of running the football. The offensive line was outstanding. No turnovers again for us. That's been a huge part of our success in recent weeks is taking care of the football."

On the play of the defense:

"They did an outstanding job. Oregon only got 63 yards rushing. They came in here averaging about 231 per week. That was the primary objective of this game was to stop the run, and we felt if we did that we had a good chance for a good outcome."

On the uniforms honoring the USS Salt Lake City:

"It was awesome. The players loved them and they were excited to wear them. Under Armour did a great job designing them. The helmets were outstanding. For a college-age young man to get a uniform that they are excited about, that gives you a lift. It was part of the juice that we had out there tonight."

On winning the Pac-12 South title:

"So proud of our guys. We were sitting there 1-2 after our three non-conference games and kind of wondering who we were. We had figured out Cam had provided a spark because even though we lost that third game, he gave us an instant energy. Between what Cam has done, how he has progressed and the offensive line play, that's really been the biggest keys to turning this thing around."

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