The following quotes are selected from BYU's Monday press conference prior to the week two's game against Tennessee on Sept. 7 at Neyland Stadium.
Watch the entire press conference
Head Coach Kalani Sitake
On what he learned from the Utah game
We made way too many mistakes. I think that was a giveaway. There are a lot of good things to build on and work on. Utah did a good job at keeping the ball away and possessing the ball. Our offense didn’t do enough to get more first downs or more plays in the second half. Even with all the mistakes, there’s a lot of things we can work on. There’s some good things and there’s some things we need to get done. We got an early start last weekend and had a really good practice today and I’m looking forward to getting these guys ready for Tennessee.
On any concerns about his team’s confidence after the Utah match
No, I know the guys were really hurt after, but we came to work the next day and got to learn from it and move on. It didn’t really matter the result. We have to put it away and learn from it and move on to the next one. With the schedule that we have, we don’t have time to dwell on it much or pat ourselves on the back. Regardless of the result on Saturday, we have to get ready for the next one. We had a great opportunity and we missed capitalizing on it. We won’t get that one back so we have to move on and keep working it and take it out on Tennessee, who is coming off a similar deal. So we have two teams who are pretty upset about their performance in the first week. A lot of teams make great improvement from week one to week two, so let’s see who is ready for this one.
On how the team’s depth fared against Utah
Our depth actually held up and we came out of the game healthy. I don’t think we have anyone who we are going to lose for this week. So that’s a good sign. I think we could’ve used more depth on the defense and leaned on it heavier. That’s hard to do when you have a lot of guys who are veterans, like Isaiah and Zane who don’t want to get off the field because they missed a whole year last year. We just have to be more mindful in keeping them fresh. It’s allowing our guys to just trust the guy coming in behind them.
On the team’s perception of Tennessee
They have a great coaching staff and they’re going to have that team ready to roll. When you watch them on film, you can’t help but notice that they have a lot of athleticism and size. There’s a lot of great looking athletes on the field. There were just a lot of bad things that happened at the wrong time for those guys. It’s going to be which team learned the most and executes cleanly. I know they’re going to be focused on us like we’re going to be focused on them. There’s some things that they’re embarrassed with from that first week and so are we. Only one team is going to win this week and it’ll be who is most prepared and motivated.
On Zach Wilson’s play against Utah
He did some good things and there’s things that obviously can get better. The quarterback is always going to get the majority of the criticism, but I think he’s open for it and there’s some things he could’ve done differently. You just have to learn from it.
Quarterback Zach Wilson
On what was learned from Utah game
Sometimes things happen and the team has to battle back. We still have a whole season ahead of ourselves.
Thoughts after looking at film
I think I had a lot of good plays but a lot of critical plays. I have to be smarter with the ball in my hands and execute better. I do think we did a good job of overcoming adversity even when we had bad plays. We were able to come back and move the ball well, but there are a lot of things we need to clean up on.
On facing Tennessee
I’m excited. They’re a really good and talented team, and it’s a great opportunity for us. We have to go in there knowing we can face them and beat them. It’s all about executing and making sure we are doing our jobs.
On offense’s improvement from week one to week two
Execution and being smooth overall is what we need to focus on. There was a lot of confusion throughout the game on who should be lined up where, do what and clock management. I think now that we have had this first game, we should be a lot better in overall execution.
On Tennessee’s defense
They have a really good defense. They have a lot athletes, and it will be a critical week for us to make sure that we are dialed in and have everyone know their assignments and making the plays we need to make.
BYU defensive lineman Trajan Pili
On handling the loss to Utah
Obviously it was a big game and we wanted to win, but hey, there’s still a lot more good to come from this season. We have a lot more games to play, a lot more big games to play against big teams. As a team we wanted to win that, but it didn’t go our way so we’re going to roll with it, roll with the punches, and be ready to go against the next team.
What was the most correctable of the issues heading into Week two as far as defense?
We missed a lot of tackles as a defense. Zack Moss was able to break a lot of tackles, but that’s fundamental for a defense. We need to be able to be at it. Initially that’s probably the biggest part as far as defense.
What was it like to be out there with your brother on the same field?
Oh, it was a dream! My brother and I were just far enough to where we didn’t crossover as far as our ages and usually I always weighed a lot more, he weighed a lot less. It was cool to finally get on the field with him at the same time. It was great to be able to go out there and try to make our family proud.
On playing after a Thursday game
Since we played on a Thursday it gave us the whole weekend to watch film and lock in on things that we can work on as a team, what I can do to improve personally. It was nice, we had a practice on Friday and we had the chance to review the game and so we’re right back at it. That game is in the past, we pushed it to the back, and we’re focused on Tennessee this week.
Offensive lineman James Empey
What did you pick up from last week’s game?
A lot of things, there were a lot of execution issues. We looked at it, we’re getting them right and we’re focused on Tennessee this week. I’m excited for it.
What are some of those things that you can execute better?
If you were watching the game you could see that there were a bunch of things that we did wrong. There were some timing issues, assignment issues, things like that. Just correcting things and move on and be the best we can be, be ready for Tennessee.
On winning big games on the road, like Wisconsin last season
That game was really fun and our focus going into that game was just playing our game, not getting sucked into any of the outside noise or how big their stadium was, how many people were there, how loud it’s going to be. They have some cool traditions in that stadium, but we’re focused on just trying to play our game, doing what we do. I think that should be our approach as we move forward and look forward to Tennessee is just playing our game, doing what we do, execute, do our stuff. If we do that then we should do pretty well.
On Tennessee's loss and it playing into this week's game
I don’t know. Possibly. Each week is different. As I was saying, you can expect to get each opponent’s best shot every week. They got Georgia State’s best shot last week and they’re going to give us their best shot, so we have to give them our best shot this week. We have to be ready to go to work. Each week is different. I don’t think you can bank on anything based on what happened last week. I think Tennessee is a really good team and I think they just got woken up so we have to be on our best game when Saturday comes.