Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham Doesn’t Hold Back After Blowout Win Over Colorado

The Colorado Buffaloes are coming off a tough loss against the Utah Utes, 53-7. Colorado coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are now 3-5, while Utah moves to a 6-2 record after scoring 43 points in the first half.

After the win, Utah Utes coach Kyle Whittingham addressed the media about the dominating win over Colorado. Whittingham explained what went into the quarterback decision ahead of the game, announcing Byrd Ficklin as the starter right before the matchup.

“It was really a game-time decision, I mean, Devon hadn’t really had much practice all week, but he’s a guy that knows this offense inside and out, and had he felt up to the task in pregame, then it would have been a tough decision to make, but he was not feeling it,” Whittingham said. “Byrd, fortunately, had taken the vast majority of the reps all week long, and that was the way it was trending.”

“I thought he did really well. He didn’t throw as accurately as he will in the future, I can promise you that. He’s a very accurate thrower in practice and has a good, really strong arm. But he ran the ball efficiently and made enough good throws,” Whittingham said.

“Probably after the first quarter,” Whittingham said about when Byrd settled in. “Not quite in sync in the first quarter. But, obviously, that second run was huge. … Seemed like he started to settle in and get a rhythm in the second quarter.”

“It was very evident back in spring ball that we have something special in him. Just continued through fall camp,” Whittingham said. “He’s been really good in the limited reps that he has had in games up to today.”

“You can tell a lot about a quarterback just the way he carries himself and his demeanor. You know how he’s going to react, and he reacted just right.”

“Great team effort tonight from start to finish. Hard to find negatives in that game. It was offense, defense, special teams, all hitting on all cylinders. Very few negative things at all, obviously. Jumped on it early. That first half was about as good football as we’ve played here,” Whittingham said. 

“Very proud of Byrd Ficklin. Came in, true freshman, seemed very poised,” Whittingham said. “Defenders played well. Our players played so efficiently and so dominant tonight. It was great response to our disappointment last week.”

“Everything tonight was just one of those nights where everything went our way. Ton of production on all three phases,” Whittingham said. “Couldn’t be more pleased with how our guys reacted, how our coaches reacted.”

“Some people say that I’m tight with analytics. I do exactly what it says. That’s not a fact. But they’re a great reference. Anyone in here that says they know more, you don’t, I promise you. I don’t. But still, sometimes, in the even flow of the game, for example, that long field goal, probably wasn’t a great decision, but we want to give Dylan as many opportunities as he can and try to build his confidence.”

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“Just to load the box, fill all the gaps, make them beat us throwing the ball, and it was a great game all around. That was coach Scalley that concocted that punt block. It was out of our safelook. Typically, when you’re in a safelook, you’re just guarding against the fake and you’re not getting much pressure on the punter,” Whittingham said.

“We were more high-pressure today and a lot of run blitzes. There’s two types different types of blitzes: run blitzes and pass blitzes. And we had a lot of run blitzes dialed up and a lot of run fronts that were heavy box fronts, which puts a lot of stress on the DBs, but they held up all night long, and that was the plan going in.”

“We’re gonna get beat, we’re gonna get beat with the throw game, they’re not gonna rush the ball,” Whittingham said.

“It just makes it easier for the fact that you don’t have to be really good on 18 plays. Get some big chunk yardage, that makes that drive so much easier to get into the endzone. It’s really hard to do it five yards at a time,” Whittingham said.

“Offense starts up front. It definitely starts up front, and we’ve been singing the praises of our offensive line all year long. That might be a school record. I don’t know what the school record is, but it’s got to be close,” Whittingham said. “Of the teams who just run the ball, we’re in the top three and maybe we’re up to number one this weekend, and that’s a product of number one, physicality up front.”

“No, that was designed. We would skin him alive if he did that on his own. It was definitely choreographed, rehearsed, worked on in practice. We actually had for the last few weeks now, we added it, and tonight was the night we saw the opening to utilize it,” Whittingham said.

“Flushing the last game and not letting it be a hindrance. You can’t pat yourself on your back for too long and you can’t hang your head for too long,” Whittingham said. 

The Colorado Buffaloes could not get the job done on the road, falling to five losses this season. While the team did limit the Utes in the second half, giving up 43 points before halftime was tough to come back from.

Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter finished the game going just 9-of-22 for 37 yards and threw one interception. Salter was replaced by quarterback Ryan Staub in the fourth quarter, who went 4-of-8 for 65 yards. 

The team also had just 38 total rushing yards, with running back Kam Mikell leading the team with 44 yards. Utah came out firing on all cylinders, giving the Buffaloes tough competition.

With four games to go, bowl eligibility will be a tough to achieve, and Sanders and the Buffaloes will have much to figure out before their next game.