Whitt’s weekly presser

[ProudUte]

Good game on Saturday. Wins in the Coliseum are difficult to come by. Proud of the team for facing adversity.

Oregon is a good team with very good offense and defense. They are hands-down the best offense in the league. They are very balanced bewtween passing and running. They have no weaknesses.

It’s great to have GameDay coming back to SLC.

The kickoff coverage was good but the one punt coverage was bad.

Big step forward from Barnes. He is getting better each week. Barnes wishes that pick-6 throw could come back. He know he made a mistake.

Barnes has replaced Cam as a captain for the remainder of the season.

Speaking of Vaki – he was a great offensive player in HS. He has a natural ability and a great feel for making defenders miss. He is an outstanding receiver. He has been a big plus for the offense. His impact on offense is bigger than the impact he makes on defense.

Barnes is gaining confidence and becoming a leader on the field. It helps that he is getting the full allotment of number-one reps.

The uncertainty about Rising and Kuithe certainly hurt long-term planning.

Kuithe and Rising coming back is totally up to them. They will need to look at the draft prospects and NIL money before making a decision.

Barnes is healthy in spite of taking a few hard hits. He would prefer that Barnes typically would not lower his shoulder, but that changes at the end of the game.

We cannot overload Vaki, Trending towards using him more on offense. This is a difficult planning week for the safeties. It is a fact that the impact of offense on winning a game is more than the defense.

The defense played well overall. Vaughn and Battle had great games in coverage and tackling. Nate Richtie did good but was not perfect.

Asked if Cam will continue to travel with the team. He said that is yet to be determined. If he travels, someone else can’t because there is a limit to how many players they can take on a road game.

Ritchie is still knocking the rust off from his mission. He did miss a tackle or two and needs to be more decisive. We will see more of Hall if Vaki doesn’t play because Hall is Vaki’s backup.

Jackson is a big part of our offensive attack. They want him to get 25-30 carries per game.

The offensive line is doing better and has helped the running game. Jackson being back to 100% also helps.

Bo Nix is an amazing QB and leads the conference in pass efficiency. He is also a great competitor and leader.

Would you have given Barnes the #1 reps if you could have changed things? He said he would if he knew what he knows now. But, there was no way of knowing what was going to happen with Cam.

Damuni is physical, tough and will do a great job of filling in for Barton. Barton had his best game of the season. He could possibly be back for a bowl game. We also have a lot of other LBs who could step in.

GameDay is great for the team, but we need to keep it under control so we don’t lose focus. It is great for the school and the community. We need to block out the noise and focus on beating Oregon.

[RoboUte]

“Oregon is a good team with very good offense and defense. They are hands-down the best offense in the league”

Odd thing to say given that the Huskies have the best claim to that right now. Is this a shot at Washington? I sure hope we’re not looking past that team because I reckon we have a better chance against Oregon than Washington as things stand today.

[Utah]

You have to remember that Whitt looks at everything through a DC lens. UW has better offensive numbers, but they are really reliant on the pass game. Whereas Oregon can run for 250 yards and beat you or throw for 300 yards and beat you or have Nix run for 100 and throw for 200 and beat you.

You can’t really take something away from Oregon like you can with USC and really hurt them. If you take away the run, Oregon can throw over the top of you. If you drop the safeties back, Oregon can run up the middle on you. If you over load the middle, Oregon can RPO the edges on you.

I think that is what Whitt meant.

[RoboUte]

I’m not deeply familiar with Oregon’s capabilities but this makes it sound like they should’ve flattened Washington. Off game?

[2008 National Champ]

Coachspeak. The week of the UW game, they will have the best offense in the conference, an amazing defense, and the ability to win with their special teams.

[bopahull]

One game at a time for Whitt. He isn’t overlooking Washington, he’s simply not looking at Washington.

[The Miami Ute]

All the tidbits about Cam (no longer being a Captain, no longer a given that he will travel with the team to away games, the uncertainty about Rising and Kuithe hurting long-term planning, Whitt being evasive about Cam and Kuithe coming back next year, etc…) makes me think that Whitt is certainly ready to move on. This has been a strange story and probably has a twist or two left before coming to a conclusion.

[RedRocks]

I wonder if Cam will transfer to a team that showcases the QB a little more, in an attempt to look more attractive to the NFL. It would be disappointing as a fan, but I could understand.

[The Miami Ute]

USC is going to be looking for a QB after this season.

[2008 National Champ]

As are Oregon and Washington. There are more than a few teams that would be willing to give him a shot if he decides to go elsewhere.

I was checking out an Oregon fan board after the news came out and the general consensus was that they wanted Uncle Phil to back up the NIL truck for Rising.

[The Miami Ute]

Absolutely…if he wants to stay on the West Coast he can probably have his pick of all the deep-pocketed teams from the PAC that are going to the B1G. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago and, understandably, it didn’t go over well with the UteHub crowd. However, viewed objectively,it would be to Rising’s best interest to move on to a program that features offense if he wants to showcase himself for a possible NFL career. If he goes to one of USC, UW, or UO, there’s really no guilt associated with the move since they won’t be in the same conference.

[Charlie]

Well, there you have it. Whitt just said he would have changed up practice with the QBs if he knew then what he knows now. Does not look like Whitt was gaslighting anyone.

[CityCreekUte]

I think the bigger issue for me is that he should have known better than to split up the reps. After the Florida game he needed to name next weeks starter right away and go with it. That it took several games to figure that out is pretty baffling to me. The holding on until the last minute was a bad idea no matter whoever was going to run out there and I’d expect him to know it.

[The Miami Ute]

Charlie, he’s the CEO of the team. It’s part of his job description to know the injury status of his players. I still think it was a head scratching move to have Rising take 1st team practice snaps for a few weeks.

[Charlie]

I am thinking about this Miami. I wonder how they make injury status part of Whitt’s job. Some time ago my son, a student at the U, was in a bad car accident and was at the University Hospital. About Cam’s age. When I arrived at the hospital and ask for status the doctor told me I would need to wait for my son to wake up to see if he would like to share that information. As a dad I thought it was my job to know a bit of injury status. I think I screwed up, I should have told the doctor I was his coach, not the dad, so I could be filled in. Sorry, the irony is strange.

I would guess that maybe Cam’s family, since they went to Cali instead of the U for surgery, may have chose to be the intermediary between Whitt and the doc. Maybe the frustration Whitt had was real even to the point that watching Cam take reps was the best information he would get. It seems crazy but may be the case with HIPAA and Whitt was too nice and just never had the conversation with Cam et all where he said I don’t give a s**t the doctor has to fill me in.

Sorry, this is funny along with being tragic.

[Oldskool]

Curious about one thing from the presser. When asked if Rising will continue to travel with the team, Whitt said “that is yet to be determined. If he travels, someone else can’t because there is a limit to how many players they can take on a road game.”

So here is my question, I thought it was announced that CB Kenzel Lawler hit the transfer portal as an early graduate? He travelled and was suited up on the sideline Saturday at USC. Is he not entering the portal or did he decide to stay?

[The Miami Ute]

That’s a great observation. We’d probably have to ask Whitt why Lawler traveled with the team and suited up when he’s already in the portal. Was Jadon Pearson also at the game? He’s also entered the portal as a graduate transfer.

[//r00t4Utes]

I heard it differently, I heard him say that he’d love to have him travel with the team if he wants to continue to as he did with USC, as he’s still a leader on the team, even if not a captain anymore. But then he continued to talk about only having so many spots on the sideline when traveling.

[PlainsUte]

Yes, had a chance to watch this last night and I heard a lot more positive tone from Coach about having Cam travel with the team. The way I heard it there could be a possibility that he wants someone else to take that last travel spot other than Cam for a given game, but didn’t sound like the norm.

[idahoute]

sure appreciate you. Proud Ute putting this together every time! look forward to your synopsis every week.

[Author]

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