Kyle Whittingham addresses WR issues ahead of San Diego State

In his weekly press conference, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham recapped SUU, addressed the issues at WR, and previewed San Diego State.

Kyle Whittingham: "Okay. Obviously, a lot better weekend for us. Good to get the win. We should have won, we did win. Played like we're supposed to, a lot of positive things in that game. You know, just the score aside, just playing better fundamentals and technique. Particularly in the front seven on defense, a lot better gap control,  everything that was so bad week one was much improved in week two. Red-zone production offensively, I mean we did a lot of good things but but we know we got to keep getting better. We've got a San Diego State team coming in here that put one on us last year and you know, just flat out beat us and so we've got to be prepared and ready and I'm sure our guys will have a great week of practice. Came out of the game healthy for the most part, no season ending injuries. And so another home game which our guys really look forward to playing here at Rice Eccles. But a lot of good performances. It was great to be able to get the twos extensive work in the second half. In fact, the number one offense did not play at all in the second half. The one defense played one series, and so we got the twos a lot of those guys got 30 reps which those are invaluable. Because you're going to need him at some point to play and if not, if you're fortunate you don't need him this year, it will help for next years. You know those guys that need to play for us next year to have those reps. So a lot of good things coming out of the game on Saturday. But again, we know that we're not where we need to be and and we've got to continue to work and get better at pretty much everything we're doing."

Wide Receivers

Question: Do you want to see more from the wideouts?

Utah Utes wide receiver Solomon Enis (21) runs with the ball against Florida Gators cornerback Jalen Kimber (8) during the second half at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field / Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Whittingham: "Yeah, you know as I said at the onset of the season and through fall camp, that if the wideouts can become more explosive, then that's really the final stage of the offense becoming more of what we want it to be. They did make some plays. Money parks, I was impressed with Money Parks, he ran some really good routes, made some nice catches on Saturday. Devaughn Vele still really hasn't gotten untracked, although we had two or three catches. But the tight ends are going to continually be a focal point of our offense because they're so productive, I mean, you saw the catches Dalton made. And Brant is a terrific player. So it's not going to become a situation where the tight ends become secondary because they're going to be prominent in the offense because they're good, they're really good players. But if the wide receivers can become more of a factor then that makes us a lot better. So that will be great if that can happen."

Question: Where do the wide receivers need to go in their progression to get there?

Kyle Whittingham: "Get open more and demand the ball, you can demand the ball when you get open. I'm not saying they're getting gloved up but quarterbacks like to throw to open guys and so, you got to get open and if you want the ball that's an easy, easy answer. Get open, you'll get the ball."

Question: When you look at the tape are they getting separation?

Kyle Whittingham: "At times. The tight ends are a tougher matchup right now for people because they're just so dominant as receiving tight ends. They're good blockers as well, I don't want to paint the picture that they're one trick ponies but, those guys are often miss mismatched on safeties and linebackers and they just are almost impossible to cover for those guys."

SUU Recap

Question: How do you think Bryson Barnes ran the offense?

Utah Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) throws the ball in the third quarter against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Rice-Eccles Stadium / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Whittingham: "I thought he did a nice job. Came in and ran the offense very efficiently. It wasn't wide open, it was a very narrow selection of plays we had in the second half because the game was in hand after that thirty-eight point second quarter, but still wanted to see him throw the ball around a few times. You know, didn't throw it a ton but thought he did a really good job. Then Ja'Quinden Jackson came in and and got some good reps as well. But overall, Bryson played well."

Question: What did you see from Chris Curry on Saturday?

Kyle Whittingham: "Yeah, Chris played very well, in fact, you could confidently say that was his best game as a Ute. He's very productive, ran the ball well and he's just a guy that you know is someone we have complete faith in and confidence. He's good at blitz pickup, he's good at everything. He can catch the ball in the backfield and pick up blitzes. He runs the ball efficiently. And speaking of running backs, you know, I thought Jaylon Glover did a nice job as well. Showed some signs and some flashes of what what he can be. And then Micah Bernard was limited, didn't play a whole lot or didn't carry the ball. Played plenty of reps but didn't have a lot of touches. And then Tavion, the only big downer was the fumble so just gotta keep working on that."

Question: Did you change up the rotations at linebacker?

Kyle Whittingham: "Diabate couldn't finish the game, he had something that prevented him from finishing the game...So that precipitated change...When that happened we had to shuffle the deck a little bit, but there was no change prior to that."

Question: What did you think of Rising's response against SUU after that loss to Florida?

Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Whittingham: "I thought he responded outstandingly and his numbers were terrific. Threw for a bunch of yards, high completion percentage. So I thought yeah, he came back, and I don't want to say played poorly in the Florida game, but it wasn't his best game. But he was much sharper in this game."

San Diego State

Question: What do you see from San Diego State this year thats maybe different from last year?

Kyle Whittingham: "Very similar, more similarities than differences, particularly schematically I mean, they're still a shotgun spread attack, a couple of big tight ends that they use a lot. A stable of backs, although one may be out this week...but anyway, they're athletic. They did lose a couple of good O-lineman from last year, so they've had to replace them. Same scheme on defense, lost a couple good players there as well. But they do a good job down there. And Brady Hoke does a great job with recruiting and and we'll have our hands full."

Question: Arizona had a lot of success throwing against San Diego State, can you take advantage of that?

Kyle Whittingham: "Yeah, you try to look at what other people have had success with, implement some of the same schemes and philosophies, and see if they've got it corrected. That's common place in football, you see a weakness if somebody's exploiting it. You're going to test that and see if they've been able to get that fixed or if it's still a weakness."

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