What Whittingham said after Utah's victory over Washington State

Notable quotes from Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham following the victory over Washington State.

Opening Statement:

"This was a gutsy performance by our guys, and we found a way to win, which is the bottom line. I am proud of Bryson Barnes. He came into a pretty tough situation and performed well. He did a good job running the offense and moving the chains. The key was defense. The defense played well, and they had 264-yards of total offense, and 42 of those were rushing yards. When they are one-dimensional, you have a chance to take over the game. Their quarterback is a really good quarterback, as he didn't miss many throws. He was on the money with most of those throws. The pass rush did a nice job, but we probably let him out of the pocket too many times, but we did get four sacks and kept pressuring him and knocking him off his spots. I am proud of our guys; we had guys step up and perform when needed. We are fortunate to have a couple of extra days off again and hopefully heal up and get some of these guys back."

Question: What went into the decision to hold Cameron Rising out?

Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7) throws against the USC Trojans in the second half at Rice-Eccles Stadium / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Whittingham: "He just didn't feel like he was ready. It was a game decision. Bryson got put in a stuff spot because he was not expecting to be the starter until about a half of an hour before the game."

Question: Were you surprised at Cam's decision to not play?

Kyle Whittingham: "No. If Cam says he can't play, then he can't play. There's no questioning him whatsoever. He's the last guy that wants to miss a game."

Question: Are you able to speak to Dalton Kincaid's condition?

Kyle Whittingham: "Its still early. We'll see. He obviously had to leave the game."

Question: How would you assess how the young running backs played?

Utah Utes running back Jaylon Glover (1) runs the ball in to the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Rice-Eccles Stadium / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Whittingham: "I thought Jaylon Glover gave us some good runs. Ja'Quinden Jackson also had some good runs, although there was an exchange problem there. I have to watch the film and see why. It was not a clean exchange."

Question: How would you grade the run offense?

Kyle Whittingham: "I would say we graded out as a B. We had 169 on the ground, but 200 is our benchmark. If we can get 200 plus, then we are clicking, and that is ideally what we would like to do, but we have fallen short of that for a few weeks now, but we will keep on working at it."

Question: Can you summarize the game in a few short words?

Kyle Whittingham: "Gutsy. We showed a lot of toughness. They are a good football team. They had a good victory at Wisconsin."

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