Utah Utes College Football Pregame Quote, 11/11/2024

Opening Statement
“I’m really proud of the way our guys fought on Saturday night. They battled the entire 60 minutes. Actually played well enough to win, but obviously that wasn’t the case and we didn’t come away with the victory. But we had some really good efforts and I’m proud of the way they competed. Tough rivalry game; every time we play it, it’s a battle. It seems to come down to the last possession or set of possessions. You’ve just got to move on.

“Now we’re onto Colorado. They arguably have one of the best players in college football, maybe the best, in (Travis) Hunter. He’s tremendous. The quarterback’s outstanding. They’re playing really good football; 7-2, an early loss to Nebraska and a close loss to K-State. Otherwise, they’re playing outstanding. It’ll be a road trip, so we gotta go to their place. They’re well-coached; Coach Sanders is doing a great job and his staff have made a lot of adjustments and improvements over last year. They’re much better at the line of the scrimmage on both sides of the ball. So we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

On what changed offensively in the second half against BYU…
“We just didn’t execute as well. The play-calling was fairly similar in terms of ratio of run-to-pass. Maybe a little more run-heavy than in the first half. But we just didn’t quite have the execution that we had in the first half and didn’t make the plays we made in the first half.”

On Brandon Rose’s first start‚Ķ
“I thought he provided a spark and actually played pretty darn good. The one interception he had in the second half was not his error; it was a route structure error. One of the receivers ran the wrong route. I thought that Brandon, for his first collegiate start and first opportunity, did a really nice job. He did some good things.”

On who he expects to step up at tight end with Brant Kuithe out for the season…
“Carsen Ryan is a player that is right up there toward the top. Of course, Dallen Bentley’s been seeing plenty of time all season long. Landen King becomes more of a factor for us, as does our big tight end in Caleb Lohner and Miki Suguturaga. Suguturaga has had his role all season long; not as much as last year‚Ķbut he’s another guy that we’ll mix in. So we still have plenty of depth, plenty of bodies in that room and guys that can get it done. But we’ll miss Brant. It rips your heart out to see that happen to Brant. It looks at least at this time, pretty extensive and certainly season-ending from what we understand. Thoughts and prayers extended to Brant and his family.”

On regrouping the team and turning the page to Colorado…
“That’s tough and that’s a challenge for us, without a doubt. We poured everything we had into that game, obviously as we do every week. But that game takes a little more of an emotional toll. We need to come back just like we do every Monday‚Äîwin or lose‚Äîyou come back and get ready for the next guys. You have to move on and put things behind you‚Äîwin or lose. That’s our challenge right now is to regroup as a coaching staff, regroup as a football team, and be prepared to play these last three games. It’s just the nature of the game.”

On the team’s schedule given the 10 a.m. kickoff‚Ķ
“It’s early, and to me early is great‚ĶBut typically, there’s differing schools of thought on when you eat pregame meal. I would say the earliest that (some teams) eat before a game is about four, four hours and 15 minutes prior to a game. The latest is about three hours prior to the game. We lean more toward the three-hour mark. So we’ll have pregame meal right around 7 a.m., get (the players) up at 6:30 a.m. and have pregame meal at 7. It’s about a 20-25 minute shot to the stadium, I believe. We typically try to arrive to the stadium about two hours, 10 minutes prior. So that’ll put us leaving to the stadium around 7:30ish. So it’s get up, eat the pregame meal, get on the bus and go. It comes quick. We typically have some meetings and some things we do on game day when it’s a later kickoff that we don’t do (for morning kickoffs), that we’ll push to Friday night.”

On the Colorado offense…
“They’re running the ball a little more efficiently and with a little more frequency than last year. About 80 yards a game; I can’t remember that exact stat last year but I don’t think it was that much‚ĶThey’re getting about 400 (yards) overall‚ĶThe quarterback has a quick release. He’s a terrific quarterback, most likely one of the top players taken in the draft next year. As you mentioned, not just (Travis) Hunter outside, they’ve got three or four guys they can get the ball to. So that’s a big part of what they do‚Äîspeed and space is what we call it‚Äîgetting the ball into the hands of the playmakers in space and letting them do their thing.”

On Smith Snowden’s performance Saturday 
“Smith did an outstanding job and really did a nice job on the kickoff return opportunity that he had. He’s going to stay back there on kickoff return, you’ll see him continue to fill that role. Smith Snowden is a really good football player playing that nickel position, slot corner‚Äîwhich is one of the most if not the most difficult positions on the defensive side of the ball. We ask a lot of that guy. Coverage in there is tougher than on the outside; you don’t have the sideline to protect you. You also are asked to do some things in the run game; run fits and blitzing off the edge. You’ve got to have a real versatile guy there, and Smith is exactly what you look for. He’s just a sophomore and he’s really done a nice job for us.”