What several Utes said about the Rose Bowl vs Penn State Part 4

Notable quotes from several Utah defenders in regards to the Rose Bowl vs Penn State.

FanNation AllUtes | Dec 30, 2022

What several Utes said about the Rose Bowl vs Penn State Part 4 /

In this story:

Cole Bishop

Question: What do you see from Penn State's offense?

Cole Bishop: "Definitely very physical team. They like to run the ball a lot. The quarterback's good. You got a good receiving corps as well. But mostly a physical, running the ball team."

Question: How does last years Rose Bowl performance motivate the defense this year?

Cole Bishop: "More than anything. Last year was such a close game. Everyone is always saying like, oh, that was such a good game. But on the defensive side, we played terrible. We gave up all those points, yards, interceptions. And it's just -- that's all I've been thinking about, for the most part, is we can't do that again. And us being not nearly as depleted as last year I think is going to help us do that. So having our secondary, pretty much everybody, for the most part, will help us succeed, I think."

Question: What is the main key against Penn State?

Cole Bishop: "Owning our 20 square feet. That's a big thing that Coach Scalley harps on and we all try to practice in our everyday lives. If everyone just does their job, beats their guy, does their assignment, then we can win this game."

Question: Did you envision this as your trajectory two years into Utah?

Cole Bishop: "Not necessarily. I mean, last year everyone would always, say, oh, this is a once in a lifetime -- my family, friends were like: That's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You better enjoy it. And then losing just really sucked because you never know if you're going to get that chance again. So, yeah, I played in the Rose Bowl and we lost, so it's not that cool, but having another opportunity to do it again this year and just being able to redeem ourselves is special for me."

RJ Hubert

Question: What have you seen from Penn State's offense?

RJ Hubert: "Yeah, they're going to run the football. They're going to try to establish a healthy run game. Run play-action off of it, as they should do if you have a good run game going. So they're a really good team, well-coached and they do their assignments really well."

Question: What is the teams mentality being back for a second Rose Bowl?

RJ Hubert: "It's fun. I mean, you want to enjoy the bowl experience, but I think a lot of us are thinking of this as a business trip. There's a lot of fun things that we get to do, like Disneyland, like go to the wax museum and things like that. But for the most part we just have to separate that from the work that we're doing, the meetings that we're having, the film that we're watching and the practices. And I think we're doing a pretty good job of that so far. We've just got to keep on that course."

Gabe Reid

Question: What have you seen from Penn State?

Gabe Reid: "They're a really good offense. I think across the board. O-line, running backs, quarterbacks and receivers, they're all really good. So we're excited for the challenge. Just, yeah, it's going to be a good game, so we're excited."

Question: What needs to happen to win next week?

Gabe Reid: "I think just do what we've been doing all season. There's going to be ups and downs throughout the game, but as long as we continue to rely on each other and just focus on the next play, the next drive, we'll be good. We have the guys. And obviously Penn State has a good team, but I feel confident about our abilities and think we'll make the plays we need to make."

Question: What are your thoughts on the Penn State tight ends?

Gabe Reid: "They're huge. I think they're an integral part. Very similar to our offense both in the run game with blocking and opening holes up for the running backs as well as the pass game in terms of play action and other route combos. So they're a good group of guys that work well together with the O-line and the running backs, so we're definitely going to have our hands full about."

Karene Reid

Question: What do you draw on from last years Rose Bowl?

Karene Reid: "Yeah, I hear that from fans all the time, like one of the greatest games to watch, right? But as far as being on the defensive side, if we could have gotten just a couple more stops, right, totally different game. I think is a as defense we have a lot to prove to be on this stage again. I hope it's a lot more of a defensive game than it was last year."

Question: What similarities do you see in Penn State's running backs?

Karene Reid: "10 seems more physical in my opinion; 13 has a little bit more juice to him as far as side-to-side movement. But outside of that, they seem pretty similar to me, to be honest. Both can make it happen. They get down the field, so I've been impressed both of them."

Junior Tafuna

Question: Whats it mean to be back to the Rose Bowl?

Junior Tafuna: "I mean, to be able to come back here and do it again, I think it just has more meaning, just because now we're here again. Now it's time to take advantage of it. Last year was kind of our first time. Especially for me -- I still consider myself a young dog, it's weird, but it just has more meaning because we're here now, so we've got to take advantage of it. We're all grateful to be here and be able to have the opportunity to play Penn State. It's amazing."

Question: How important is the start of the game to slow them down?

Junior Tafuna: It's very important. I believe the first drive kind of sets the pace for momentum, even the second and third. But I think as we come out there and do our jobs as we plan to do, it's only going to help us get the ball back to our offense, hopefully we can get momentum going, as well, too. Do our jobs, do assignment sound football, and hopefully everything takes care of the rest."

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Published Dec 30, 2022

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