Devery Hamilton was held out today, but it doesn't sound like a major issue.
Overall how did it go today?
"It was good. It wasn't perfect on offense. It wasn't perfectly clean because we're picking up a lot of blitzes and had to repeat a couple things to get things to fit properly. But the effort was there and the guys are working hard."
How are Keller Chryst and KJ Costello this week and is there really anything different for them?
"I told them when you're in the huddle you're playing quarterback. So, play well. That's it. They're competitors and both guys are practicing well."
How different is Utah from San Diego State, which uses a unique scheme, in terms of how they like to get to the quarterback?
"They're structured a little bit different and they're also different size wise. They have big human beings inside. You have to be able to block those guys. It's not just the blitzes. They have a variety of fronts, odd fronts and over fronts and a variety blitzes you have to be ready for. At the same time you have to deal with the noise. It was really loud today to hamper the communication. That's what we wanted to have and try to pick up their blitzes under stress."
When you consider the progress the offense has made in the past couple games and the good things on the tape for San Diego State, what have you seen in practice this week to be more consistent?
"The big thing for us is we believe in our scheme ... we put a lot of effort into our passing game, which hasn't completely showed up this year. It has shown up in spurts. We believe we have really good athletes out there at tight end and receiver who can make play. We believe we have quarterbacks who can make the throws and get us out of trouble. I thought the first half of last week, especially, those things showed up. I think they showed up in spots against USC and in the first week also. It's really about putting it all together. It's that time now when the good teams start to play their best football. That's the challenge to this me is to really start putting it together."
Who was the offensive player of the day?
"That's tough to say. Daniel Marx had a good day. He came from class so he missed a little bit. Donald Stewart has been practicing extremely well. With JJ's status up in the air, it's good to know Donald has been working extremely hard and making plays."
Peter Hansen
Joey Alfieri seemed more involved in this last game. Where is he in the evolution of now being an inside linebacker?
"I think last game was a huge step forward. It was less about the rotation and number of plays and more about production. He found ways to get guys on the ground and get involved. He didn't have as many tackles but he was within one or two of Jordan. It was kind of a Mike position game of getting tackles because Bobby (Okereke) got a lot less than those two combined. He did a nice job and he made the plays he was supposed to make."
Coach Lance Anderson said it's tough to know what Alfieri still needs to learn until he experiences more. How close is he to unlocking all the physical skills he was able to use at OLB?
"The tough part right there is he hasn't seen as much as the other guys have seen. If it's the first time for him with whatever scheme is in front of him it could be tough to get his elite physical skills to the right place. We're still working on that. We'll be working on that until he's done here. But he has learned faster than we expected and he continued to do that. He has started to be able to apply rules to things that he hasn't seen, yet. The more he can do that then the more we can play him."
Can you talk about how Jordan Perez has done?
"This is the best he has played since he has been here. The level of focus he had all camp and so far all season has been why he has been successful. Being able to hold up against bigger bodies really started with being able to beat people to spots. I'm happy as could be about how he's doing."
Utah has two athletic quarterbacks and one, Tyler Huntley, who is very mobile, what's the outlook of the challenge in front of the linebackers?
"A lot of it is run game as far as our focus and what we need to worry about more than anything. Luckily there are a lot of similarities with the previous run game (ASU), so that part is good. We can bring rules from one week to the next and apply them and have similar things in our vision. As far as the quarterbacks go, as we say to the guys all the time, 'Trust our help.' If you end up being the quarterback guy you have to tackle him. That requires making the amount of error we're dealing with small by making quick decisions."
Overall how did it go today?
"It was good. It wasn't perfect on offense. It wasn't perfectly clean because we're picking up a lot of blitzes and had to repeat a couple things to get things to fit properly. But the effort was there and the guys are working hard."
How are Keller Chryst and KJ Costello this week and is there really anything different for them?
"I told them when you're in the huddle you're playing quarterback. So, play well. That's it. They're competitors and both guys are practicing well."
How different is Utah from San Diego State, which uses a unique scheme, in terms of how they like to get to the quarterback?
"They're structured a little bit different and they're also different size wise. They have big human beings inside. You have to be able to block those guys. It's not just the blitzes. They have a variety of fronts, odd fronts and over fronts and a variety blitzes you have to be ready for. At the same time you have to deal with the noise. It was really loud today to hamper the communication. That's what we wanted to have and try to pick up their blitzes under stress."
When you consider the progress the offense has made in the past couple games and the good things on the tape for San Diego State, what have you seen in practice this week to be more consistent?
"The big thing for us is we believe in our scheme ... we put a lot of effort into our passing game, which hasn't completely showed up this year. It has shown up in spurts. We believe we have really good athletes out there at tight end and receiver who can make play. We believe we have quarterbacks who can make the throws and get us out of trouble. I thought the first half of last week, especially, those things showed up. I think they showed up in spots against USC and in the first week also. It's really about putting it all together. It's that time now when the good teams start to play their best football. That's the challenge to this me is to really start putting it together."
Who was the offensive player of the day?
"That's tough to say. Daniel Marx had a good day. He came from class so he missed a little bit. Donald Stewart has been practicing extremely well. With JJ's status up in the air, it's good to know Donald has been working extremely hard and making plays."
Peter Hansen
Joey Alfieri seemed more involved in this last game. Where is he in the evolution of now being an inside linebacker?
"I think last game was a huge step forward. It was less about the rotation and number of plays and more about production. He found ways to get guys on the ground and get involved. He didn't have as many tackles but he was within one or two of Jordan. It was kind of a Mike position game of getting tackles because Bobby (Okereke) got a lot less than those two combined. He did a nice job and he made the plays he was supposed to make."
Coach Lance Anderson said it's tough to know what Alfieri still needs to learn until he experiences more. How close is he to unlocking all the physical skills he was able to use at OLB?
"The tough part right there is he hasn't seen as much as the other guys have seen. If it's the first time for him with whatever scheme is in front of him it could be tough to get his elite physical skills to the right place. We're still working on that. We'll be working on that until he's done here. But he has learned faster than we expected and he continued to do that. He has started to be able to apply rules to things that he hasn't seen, yet. The more he can do that then the more we can play him."
Can you talk about how Jordan Perez has done?
"This is the best he has played since he has been here. The level of focus he had all camp and so far all season has been why he has been successful. Being able to hold up against bigger bodies really started with being able to beat people to spots. I'm happy as could be about how he's doing."
Utah has two athletic quarterbacks and one, Tyler Huntley, who is very mobile, what's the outlook of the challenge in front of the linebackers?
"A lot of it is run game as far as our focus and what we need to worry about more than anything. Luckily there are a lot of similarities with the previous run game (ASU), so that part is good. We can bring rules from one week to the next and apply them and have similar things in our vision. As far as the quarterbacks go, as we say to the guys all the time, 'Trust our help.' If you end up being the quarterback guy you have to tackle him. That requires making the amount of error we're dealing with small by making quick decisions."
