Maxs Tupai—
-Film study and learning from the veterans have been key with this young group. Also trusting the coaches.
-The young guys have a lot of fire and seem to have picked up the defense really fast.
-Says Van Fillinger and Xavier Carlton’s length has helped them a lot. They’re ready to contribute immediately.
Pita Tonga—
-The young guys are super athletic and willing to learn. That’s why they’re ahead of the curve.
-The D-line tradition is so rich at Utah and he believes the guys before him have been so willing to teach everyone that that’s why the dominance seems to always continue.
-There’s a lot of experience on the offensive line which has really helped the defensive line.
Malone Mataale—
-It’s been a grind and fall camp hasn’t been easy for the CB group. They’ve really focused a lot on the small things.
-The nickelbak group is definitely the most difficult position in the secondary to learn from pass coverage to helping out in the run defense.
-The guys in the room now are the ones that are really motivating each other, but seeing the guys excel on Sunday’s really give the group a goal to shoot for and a legacy to live up to.
-Phillips and Ritchie have a hunger factor that some of the other freshman just don’t have. They’ve really caught on to the schemes and the little things fast. They’ve also maintained a big level of consistency.
Nate Ritchie—
-Scalley and the other safeties have been key for his learning development with getting to learn the schemes to the defense.
-It’s an honor being compared to Chase Hansen. He’s not just the greatest from their same high school, but Utah as well.
-Speed and physicality are two of the biggest things he’s had to adjust to.
-It’s important to maintain a level of consistency with learning an entirely new system.
-It’s nice for him having a guy like Britain Covey willing to show him the way even though they’re on different sides of the ball. Covey insisted on Ritchie’s locker being right by him. The veteran safeties have been key to helping him integrating faster, as well.
-Having another freshman like Phillips that’s excelling in practice has really helped because they can relate to each other, lean on each other, and push each other that much more.
Clark Phillips—
-Coming in early was a smart decision for him with getting acclimated and getting caught up to things, as well as getting used to the system.
-Utah’s schematic setup, nickel is definitely the most difficult position to play. There’s are a lot of linebacker qualities needed at the position.
-Phillips has goals that he doesn’t talk to anyone about. He says he’s his biggest critic. Any pressure he gets from anyone else, doesn’t match the pressure he puts on himself.
-He knows learning the defense would be tough with how great the defense was last year. Because of that, he’s really soaked up as much time as he can with Sharrieff Shah and Whittingham.
-The biggest thing for the secondary was getting smart as a unit. Now guys are playing faster and smarter.
-He wants to be the best, so in order to be the best, he wants to go against the best like Covey, Thompson, and Kuithe.
Kyle Whittingham—
-He thanked Dirk, Mike Sorensen, and Jodey with the D News. Says they’ll be missed and hopes for the best.
-Doing good things on offense, but the defense is still a work in progress.
-The QB is in place. *wink*
-The defense will be littered with a lot of freshmen getting game reps. Nobody cares that they’re young and inexperienced.
-The QBs that didn’t get the job, handled the news well. Great practice yesterday with no one soaking or hanging their heads.
-This year is going to be adversity times 10 with Covid and also their locker room situation.
-The RBs will be more by committee early in the season and they’re all showing obvious strengths. All backs are unique and different. They don’t expect a back to get 20-25 carries per game.
-Nate Ritchie is beyond his years physically and mentally. He’s going to play a lot and play a lot immediately.
-A lot of the pregame prep will happen at the practice facility, instead. They’ll show up at the stadium 50 minutes early and not the usually two hours.
-They’ve charted every throw through fall camp and methodically and meticulously went through it for their decision. He wouldn’t budge on specifics in order to tip his hand. Also consistency was key. (NOTE: Refer back to my QB posts about consistency)
-They probably won’t announce the starter until he takes the first snap.
-The QBs need be ready with how a positive test can take the guys out fast.
-Whittingham believes the third QB (Lisk) might be the best 3rd string in the country.
-Film study and learning from the veterans have been key with this young group. Also trusting the coaches.
-The young guys have a lot of fire and seem to have picked up the defense really fast.
-Says Van Fillinger and Xavier Carlton’s length has helped them a lot. They’re ready to contribute immediately.
Pita Tonga—
-The young guys are super athletic and willing to learn. That’s why they’re ahead of the curve.
-The D-line tradition is so rich at Utah and he believes the guys before him have been so willing to teach everyone that that’s why the dominance seems to always continue.
-There’s a lot of experience on the offensive line which has really helped the defensive line.
Malone Mataale—
-It’s been a grind and fall camp hasn’t been easy for the CB group. They’ve really focused a lot on the small things.
-The nickelbak group is definitely the most difficult position in the secondary to learn from pass coverage to helping out in the run defense.
-The guys in the room now are the ones that are really motivating each other, but seeing the guys excel on Sunday’s really give the group a goal to shoot for and a legacy to live up to.
-Phillips and Ritchie have a hunger factor that some of the other freshman just don’t have. They’ve really caught on to the schemes and the little things fast. They’ve also maintained a big level of consistency.
Nate Ritchie—
-Scalley and the other safeties have been key for his learning development with getting to learn the schemes to the defense.
-It’s an honor being compared to Chase Hansen. He’s not just the greatest from their same high school, but Utah as well.
-Speed and physicality are two of the biggest things he’s had to adjust to.
-It’s important to maintain a level of consistency with learning an entirely new system.
-It’s nice for him having a guy like Britain Covey willing to show him the way even though they’re on different sides of the ball. Covey insisted on Ritchie’s locker being right by him. The veteran safeties have been key to helping him integrating faster, as well.
-Having another freshman like Phillips that’s excelling in practice has really helped because they can relate to each other, lean on each other, and push each other that much more.
Clark Phillips—
-Coming in early was a smart decision for him with getting acclimated and getting caught up to things, as well as getting used to the system.
-Utah’s schematic setup, nickel is definitely the most difficult position to play. There’s are a lot of linebacker qualities needed at the position.
-Phillips has goals that he doesn’t talk to anyone about. He says he’s his biggest critic. Any pressure he gets from anyone else, doesn’t match the pressure he puts on himself.
-He knows learning the defense would be tough with how great the defense was last year. Because of that, he’s really soaked up as much time as he can with Sharrieff Shah and Whittingham.
-The biggest thing for the secondary was getting smart as a unit. Now guys are playing faster and smarter.
-He wants to be the best, so in order to be the best, he wants to go against the best like Covey, Thompson, and Kuithe.
Kyle Whittingham—
-He thanked Dirk, Mike Sorensen, and Jodey with the D News. Says they’ll be missed and hopes for the best.
-Doing good things on offense, but the defense is still a work in progress.
-The QB is in place. *wink*
-The defense will be littered with a lot of freshmen getting game reps. Nobody cares that they’re young and inexperienced.
-The QBs that didn’t get the job, handled the news well. Great practice yesterday with no one soaking or hanging their heads.
-This year is going to be adversity times 10 with Covid and also their locker room situation.
-The RBs will be more by committee early in the season and they’re all showing obvious strengths. All backs are unique and different. They don’t expect a back to get 20-25 carries per game.
-Nate Ritchie is beyond his years physically and mentally. He’s going to play a lot and play a lot immediately.
-A lot of the pregame prep will happen at the practice facility, instead. They’ll show up at the stadium 50 minutes early and not the usually two hours.
-They’ve charted every throw through fall camp and methodically and meticulously went through it for their decision. He wouldn’t budge on specifics in order to tip his hand. Also consistency was key. (NOTE: Refer back to my QB posts about consistency)
-They probably won’t announce the starter until he takes the first snap.
-The QBs need be ready with how a positive test can take the guys out fast.
-Whittingham believes the third QB (Lisk) might be the best 3rd string in the country.
