Whittingham: There's no panic, the Utes just need to be better

Heading into their home opener against SUU, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham says the Utes just needs to be better on both sides of the ball.

Question: Do you feel like the team has moved on from the loss on Saturday?

Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson (15) points after he scores a touchdown against the Utah Utes during the first quarter at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field / Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Whittingham: "You have to. You have no choice. Nobody feels sorry for us. Nobody cares. You got to move forward and play the next game, win or lose, you got to move forward and play the next game. So there is no difference in your approach, in practice, your work week, or your work habits. You just got to continue to forge ahead. It's a long season. It's a one in twelve game season and you got to be able to play every single week."

Question: You're able to pick apart that defense pretty well. I mean, how do you feel like those guys have responded now that you've had a chance to talk to them and kind of get in some stuff?

Kyle Whittingham: "Well, they responded well in practice today. Yeah. You know, nobody feels sorry for them. You either get it done or you don't. You're either tough or you're not, and we've got to be better on defense. We know that and expect that we will be the rest of the way. We have to in order to accomplish what we want to accomplish."

Question: Do you feel like any of that was complicated by the fact that you went less heavy on live work during fall camp?

Kyle Whittingham: "It could've been but then if we would have gone more heavy and missed three or four starters, that's the trade off. So there is no one perfect way to do it. If you get a veteran team, typically you can back off a little bit on the physicality during camp. If you've got a young team, you've gotta have more physicality. We've got a veteran team. So that was the approach we took."

Question: What was one thing that you saw from the team on Saturday that you liked? 

Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7) calls a play against the Florida Gators during the second half at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field / Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Whittingham: "Offensive production overall. I thought they were poised, I thought that they were efficient. Bunch of first downs. Good on third down, we ran the ball effectively, we threw it effectively. We just weren't good in the red zone."

Question: What's the one thing you want to get better at this week?

Kyle Whittingham: "Red zone. You gotta be more productive in the red zone on offense and more productive on defense in the red zone. We were too soft on D and not productive enough at all."

Question: Is it important not to make big wholesale changes to what you're trying to do in the red zone?

Kyle Whittingham: "Absolutely. We were very good last year in the red zone on both sides of the ball. It was just that particular game we weren't. There's no major overhaul. There's no panic. We just got to do what we do better."

Question: With wide receivers, whats the balance there with them needing to demand the ball versus Cam making those reads?

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: "You get open, you demand the ball. You're not open, you don't get the ball. So that's that's pretty simple. Cut and dry. The tight ends get open quite a bit. I believe in our receivers, Solo and Devaughn especially. When they get open, Cam will give them the ball."

Question: Can you describe how hard JT Broughton has worked coming back from injury?

Kyle Whittingham: "He's working extremely hard. Still just a touch rusty but he's healthy, feels good, and I expect him to be on an upward trajectory the rest of the season." 

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