What did Kyle Whittingham say about Penn State?
Penn State head coach James Franklin and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham met with reporters Saturday at Rose Bowl media day. Along with their teams, who spent the morning convening with the media in tents located in the stadium parking lots, the two coaches were effusive in praising each other’s teams.
While also tackling plenty of questions about his own team, Whittingham was given many opportunities to size up his Penn State opponent for Monday’s Rose Bowl.
What does Whittingham think of the Nittany Lions heading into the matchup? Take a look at his evaluation in his answers from the media day event, here:
Kyle Whittingham on Penn State football
What impresses you about Penn State?
Whittingham: Well, the whole defense impresses me first of all. I’m going to say right now, I don’t think there’s any question that this is the best linebacking crew that we’ve seen all season long. He’s a tremendous player. He’s active, he’s tough, he’s just a guy that is obviously off to a great start in his college career.
Penn State gets pressure on the quarterback. Do you see that as a key to the game?
Whittingham: Absolutely. Our offensive line has done an outstanding job protecting Cam all season. Cam is a big part of that with his mobility and his pocket presence. There’s probably several sacks that just an ordinary quarterback would have taken where Cam’s escapability allows him to get away from the rush. But that would be a big deal, to be able to protect Cam, and we’re in the top 10 I believe in the country as far as fewest sacks allowed.
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What’s Kyle Whittingham’s take on Penn State’s ability to run the ball versus Utah’s ability to stop the run?
Whittingham: Right, Penn State reminds me or reminds us a lot of — bears a lot of similarities to us as far as commitment to the run game. They’ve got two outstanding freshman running backs, both of them approaching 1,000 yards, and they’re very committed to running the football.
How difficult is it to stop Penn State’s tight ends?
Whittingham: Yeah, it’s very similar to our offense where we utilize the tight end a great deal, so one of the positives to that is our defense is used to seeing that pretty much every day in practice, so it’s nothing new to us, but there were very few teams in the country that utilize the tight ends as much as us and Penn State.
Kyle Whittingham’s thoughts on Penn State’s running backs
Whittingham: They’ve got great instincts, vision. They’ve both got good size. Of course the one is about 220, the other one is about 205, 210, but they’re both very instinctual, like I said, tough, can run between the tackles, can get outside, and they’re very impressive.
What do you make of Penn State?
Whittingham: Penn State is a complete football team, really no weakness, terrific players, virtually every position group, tremendous season. The only two losses were to Michigan and Ohio State, two playoff teams. They’re outstanding. They’ve got all our attention, all our respect, and our preparation has been very good so far.
