Postgame Quotes: Utah vs. UCLA

UTAH QUOTES

Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
On offensive line protecting Nate Johnson…
"The protection wasn't bad, he's 9-17, over 50%, it's not great but it's not abysmal. Had some good plays, got a couple big balls down the field, and hit a nice throw into Jaylon Glover. Coach [Andy] Ludwig has got to structure things based on his competence and different facets of the offense and tailor it to that. Nate did give another almost 50-yard running football game which helped our cause. It wasn't prolific, we haven't really been prolific this season yet, we're still trying to figure out who we are right now with what we're doing, so that's where we're at."

On winning 14-7…
"I'd rather win. Doesn't matter how. You're going to be in some of those games with some high-scoring shoot-out and some defensive struggles; bottom line is you give it nothing and you move on. As a former defensive coordinator obviously I'm interested in playing good defense, but whatever it takes to win a game."

On Karene Reid playing good defense…
"Right out of the game he made a great play, and those things don't just happen. That's through a lot of film study and working hard throughout the week in anticipation and understanding what's coming based on formations, the distance, the field position. Those things don't just happen by accident, so Karene read that exactly right. It was reminiscent of the pick-six from last week, it was a little different structure but [it was] the same type of reason."

On Nate Johnson and playbook access…
"He's probably got 75% of its entirety at his disposal. Everybody needs to move forward. Nate has moved forward in the past five weeks. He's a much better quarterback right now than he was five weeks ago. Everybody is on the same boat trying to get better. That's what good football teams do, they try to get better week to week throughout the entire season otherwise you're not going to get where you want to get."

On Jonah Elliss…
"He's relentless, not the biggest guy, 6'2" 245 [lbs.]. He just keeps coming at you, he has some good pass rush moves, good spin moves. Speed-rush is something that he excels in and he's just been a tremendous player for us. It's a projection of him; running back in high school, linebacker when we took him. The Elliss genetics, you see his dad, so we thought he was going to get bigger and he did. He's turned into a really good defensive end. The hope is we can get Connor O'Toole back this week and Van Fillinger to get those guys a little break. They played every snap essentially this afternoon."

#13 Nate Johnson, QB

On his comfortability taking on the role of the starting quarterback over the past few weeks…
"I need to clean up some things on offense. I trust in our offense. I feel like we're just fine. We're running the ball well, throwing the ball well. Just certain drives we have to clean up on and really just need to worry about Oregon State next week. Got to go 1-0."

On the UCLA defensive pressure throughout the game…
"Credit to them, they have a really good defense. They have really good speed D-ends:  No. 15, No. 4. their mike was really good as well. We have to strain a little longer on the protection and really add the second dimension of trying to extend the play. Unfortunately, some of those were some bad looks, but really credit to them. They have a really good defense. Again, we scored seven points, so we have to clean some things up on offense.

#1 Jaylon Glover, RB
On his thoughts on the running game as he takes the lead role…
"Honestly, we have much to improve on, but I have the utmost faith in the guys in front of me and I love them to death. So it's going to continue to get better week by week. I'm definitely not at my peak. I want to continue to get better but offensively we're going to continue to get better. I believe and trust that we're going to do so."

#21 Karene Reid, LB 
On his pick-six during the first play of the game…
"I feel like it was huge, gave us momentum quick in the game and we were able to get them on their heels and just kept our foot on the gas."

On UCLA QB, Dante Moore, as a freshman quarterback starting in the game…
"I would give him credit. It's a tough place to play, like you said, against a defense that has a lot of older players, and so credit to him, that's a rough place to play and a defense to play against."

#57 Keanu Tanuvasa, DT
On the defensive mindset throughout the second half…
"When we went into halftime, the mindset was just to keep our foot on the gas. We'd been playing our game and there wasn't much correction at halftime, so once we came off after that score, it was the same mindset. It was play great football, play great technique, hustle to the ball, play our culture, and just be great."

On the defensive performance yielding seven sacks…
"I think it was just big emphasis as well, this week was working more fluid as a defensive line. We recognize that our edge rushers are going to be able to get there and in the middle to push the pocket so that we're all collapsing in together. Just the focus of becoming a suffocating defense is really the goal."

UCLA QUOTES

Head Coach Chip Kelly
On the Bruins' offensive struggles…
"The total offense was an issue so we need to get that straightened out at every level. I don't think it just falls on one person. We're going to do a better job as a coaching staff to put those guys in position to make plays. I thought our defense did a great job. There was a pick-six for one of those scores so it's really a 7-7 ballgame between two really good defensive football teams. Our guys on defense have to develop and we have to do good on the offensive side."

How true freshman Dante Moore handled a difficult matchup…
"One of the things with Dante is that he's a really mature kid. When you talk to him on the sidelines he had good answers and knew what we were doing. I'm sure there were some plays he'll want back. But there are calls that I want back. There are plays that everybody on our offensive side of the ball wants back. This is a tough place to play at Rice-Eccles [Stadium]. Utah, their defense, and everything they had, it's a tough place to play. We all understand that but that's what you want. You want to play games like this."\

On the Bruins' defensive showing…
"I thought our defense played really well and I'm pleased with where they are right now. We've got a front that can compete. That's a big offensive line that Utah has. Utah has always been able to run the ball and I thought our defense did a really nice job. That's one of the reasons we kicked the ball deep with 3:39 to go. We tried to get a three-and-out, which we did, and called timeout to get the ball back, with 3:14 on the clock. Plenty of time for us to try to put something together. We didn't offensively, but that's the faith we had in our defense at that point. "

On what contributed to the Bruins' lone scoring drive…
"We threw and caught the ball and we protected them well in those situations and gave [Dante Moore] some time. But, that's just one drive. There weren't enough of those today."

On Kain Medrano's defensive pressure…
"Kain has played outstanding all season long. He really has worked extremely hard in the offseason. He had a great offseason weight room-wise and running-wise. We're starting to see that and I think in all four games so far this year, he's playing at a really high level so I'm happy for Kain. We've seen the work that he's put in and with his transition from receiver to linebacker, I think he's really comfortable. He has a really bright future."

On his conversation with Utah quarterback Cameron Rising…
"He's a tremendous young man. I spent some time with him at media day this year. I know he's worked extremely hard to come back and I hope he gets an opportunity to come back this season because Cam Rising's good for college football. I thought Nate [Johnson] did a nice job, too. But I hope Cam gets back out there and we get to see him because I think he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country."

On any nostalgia potentially playing at Utah for the final time…
"There is and I talked to Kyle [Whittingham] about it pregame. It's sad that we're not going to play them and that they're not going to play us. We're moving to a different conference they're moving to a different conference. But this is one of those special places in the Pac 12,  Rice-Eccles [Stadium], and what Kyle has done and how he built this program, winning the last two conference championships. I have a lot of respect for him and I think he's one of the best coaches that I've ever had the opportunity to go up against. So it's sad that we won't get up to play them again, but you never know. That's the crazy part. I have no idea what the future of college football looks like."

#3 Dante Moore, QB
On Utah's Defense… 
"For Utah playing at home, they had the bonus of the crowd on their home field. Utah's defense is a serious defense. They bring pressures, they have great DBs and the head coach and defensive coordinator know what they're doing to help stop many concepts. I knew they were going to come in here with straightfaces and do what they had to do to get the win. Good for them and their defense. Everything was going in their favor. That's a team that won the Pac-12 last year and it's a lot to go through. They had to work to stop our offense."

On UCLAs Defense …
"Our defense gave us many opportunities to get on the field and do what we needed to. We started off slow which you can't do, especially playing on the road. The atmosphere was on Utah's side and we had the chance to score multiple times and we didn't. On the 91 yard drive at the end, we had a lot of things clicking and the momentum shifted for us. I love our defensive side of the ball, it's one of the best in the country and they gave us way too many opportunities and we need to respond better when they get a good stop for us."

On his performance…
"It was a big mistake. As the quarterback you can't make mistakes like that. As a quarterback you have to protect the football, that's what a quarterback does. I know a lot of stuff that happens in a game weighs on the quarterback and I can put this loss on me. We just gotta bounce back from it. We've got work to do."

 #20 Kain Medrano, LB
On today's game…
"I give props to Utah's offense. Johnson had a great game. As long as we just focus on us, I know we can go out there and beat anybody. We're going to get into film tomorrow and learn from this."

On UCLAs defensive progression … 
"Our defense has come along way in the last couple years. We are close as a defensive unit. We just gotta keep going and keep worrying about us and making our plays. I believe in this football team."
 
On the first loss of the season … 
"Tough first loss as we go into the bye week. We have a lot of time to go in there and fix what we did wrong, offensively and defensively. We made some mistakes on defense that gave up a couple chunks of yards and we need to be tighter. Offense will go into meetings tomorrow and correct what they need to. I have full faith in this team to come back out and show you what we're made of."