The Path to Another Winning Season (7-5)

Coach Kyle Wittingham On Last Week's Loss to Wyoming
"We went up to Wyoming and they stuck it to us pretty good. There's no beating around the bush. Their defense really controlled the football game. I'm very impressed with their defense. They are very worthy of their number-three ranking in the country (in total defense). We just never really could get anything under way on the offensive side of the ball. WHY NOT?

"Defensively, we didn't play that bad. Not that bad is not that good! It was much like the Boise game. We gave up one real drive. The other touchdowns were either off turnovers or extremely short fields. You can't say that we played great defense, but it was not a bad outing.

"Special teams were positive again. Louie Sakoda continues to kick the ball as well as anybody in the country. The punt team has been a big weapon for us this year.

"The bottom line with this team is ... after going through things from A to Z, three or four times over ... it is very simple. When we take care of the football and don't turn it over, we're very good. When we turn it over, we stink. In our three losses we've turned the ball over 11 times and in our four wins we've turned it over four times. Meyer never accepted turnovers...you were on the bench even if you were the best player. 15 times already this season!? Who's serving bench time? It's not hard to figure out. Now, why do we turn the ball over? If we had that answer, we'd have our problem solved. Part of it is when we face particularly good defenses - UCLA, Boise, Wyoming - that's when the turnovers come and I'm sure they have something to do with that. But that is the bottom line for this football team. If we take care of the football and possess the football, we've won. When we don't, it's been the exact opposite."

On His Involvement When the Offense is Struggling
"I've got a lot of faith (Faith without works is dead) in (offensive coordinator) Andy Ludwig and what he's done. People say play-calling and this and that. Maybe these people are right! Those are the same plays we led the Mountain West Conference and were 11th in the nation (in total offense) last year. Wow, he's said it like we were 11-1 last year. Um Kyle, we were 7-5!! It is not schematics. I don't believe it is play selection. We've got to be better executing what is called. I am certainly privy to what's going on offensively and involved with understanding what Andy is doing and what's going on over there. Am I as involved there as defense? Absolutely not. Defense is my forte. Meyer wouldn't use that as an excuses. A head coach should be involved on all sides of the ball. But I have a lot of faith in Andy and what he does."