Kyle Whittingham credits Utah culture for 2-0 start to the season

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham knew the Utes were up against it without quarterback Cam Rising, but credited the team’s culture for the 2-0 start to the season.

Whittingham saw his defense step up in wins over Florida and a late win against Baylor last weekend. In the 20-13 win, the offense didn’t quite click for the Utes, but the defense held Baylor to just 13 points.

This might have to be the way it rolls for Utah and Whittingham until Rising is back.

“Our culture is, hey, whatever it takes to win, it doesn’t matter,” Whittingham said Sirius XM Pac-12 Radio. “Some weeks it’s going to be more reliant on one phase than the other and that’s just part of the deal and you can’t you can’t complain or whine or, you know, point fingers. It only leads to compounding the problems and so, I think we’ve got a great group that understands hey, if offense isn’t clicking, defense, you gotta you gotta carry the load.”

Kyle Whittingham confident in Utah culture to carry the team

Until Rising is back, Whittingham might have to keep changing a few things week-to-week.

“And like I said, some weeks it’s vice versa,” Whittingham said. “In the first two games, it just happened to be that the defense had to carry the load, and had we not played as well on defense throughout the entire game at Baylor you know, that last flurry would have made no difference. Because the game would have been out of hand. But credit the defense for keeping it close and credit the offense for scoring when we had to.”

Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson combined for 12-of-26 passing for 153 yards and an interception. Johnson ran for a touchdown and 32 yards on the ground and the Utah offense was helped out by Ja’Quinden Jackson (19 carries or 129 yards).

But defense was key as Whittingham pointed out. The Utes were all over Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson.

He went 12-of-28 passing for 218 yards and two interceptions. They also limited running back Dominic Richardson to 77 yards.

Johnson will start under center for Utah in Week 3 against Weber State at home, should Rising be unable to go, according to an ESPN report. Logically, this is a game Whittingham and Utah should have no problem with this weekend.

Getting Rising healthy for the UCLA game on September 23 in Salt Lake City is ideal. But until then, Whittingham and the Utah culture will have to carry the football team just a little while longer.