The 14th-ranked Utah Utes rebounded nicely from a season-opening loss to Florida by going out on Saturday and dominating the Southern Utah Thunderbirds for most of the afternoon. The Utes raced away from the Thunderbirds in the second quarter — a 38-0 frame for Utah — to win 73-7.

Coach Kyle Whittingham met with the media on Monday to talk about that game and preview the team’s upcoming opponent: San Diego State.

The Aztecs come to Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday for a rematch of last year’s triple-overtime loss that, ultimately, served as the defining moment and turning point in Utah’s season. Cameron Rising took over for Charlie Brewer at quarterback in the fourth quarter, and then from the next week on, led the Utes to their first-ever Pac-12 title and a Rose Bowl.

Whittingham talked a little about that, among other things. Everything he had to say is below, along with a full video of the press conference at the bottom.

Opening statement

“Obviously, a lot better weekend for us. Good to get the win. We should’ve won, we did win, we played like we’re supposed to. A lot of positive things in that game. The score aside, we just played with better fundamentals and technique, particularly in the front seven on defense. A lot better gap control, run fits, everything that was so bad in Week 1 was much improved in Week 2. Red zone production offensively, we did a lot of good things, but we know we’ve got to keep getting better.

“We’ve got a San Diego State team coming in here that put one on us last year and just flat out beat us. We’ve got to be prepared and ready. I’m sure our guys will have a great week of practice. We came out of the game healthy for the most part, no season-ending injuries. Now we’ve got another home game, which our guys really look forward to, playing here at Rice-Eccles.

“A lot of good performances. It was great to be able to get the 2s extensive work in the second half. In fact, the No. 1 offense did not play at all in the second half. The No. 1 defense played one series. So we got the 2s… a lot of those guys got 30 reps. Those are invaluable because you’re going to need (depth) to play. If not, and you don’t get them this year, it will help for next year with those guys that need to play for us next year. So a lot of good things coming out of the game on Saturday, but we know we’re not where we need to be and we’ve got to continue to work and get better at pretty much everything we’re doing.”

On getting more out of the Utah receivers

“As I said at the outset of the season and through fall camp, if the wideouts can become more explosive, that’s really the final stage of the offense becoming where we want it to be. They did make some plays (on Saturday). Money Parks, I was impressed with Money Parks. He ran some really good routes, made some nice catches on Saturday. Devaughn Vele still really hasn’t gotten untracked, although he had three catches. But the tight ends are going to continually be a focal point of our offense because they’re so productive. You saw the catches Dalton (Kincaid) made and Brant (Kuithe) is a terrific player. So it’s not going to become a situation where the tight ends become secondary because they’re going to be prominent in the offense. They’re good, they’re really good players. But, if the wide receivers can become more of a factor, that makes us a lot better. That would be great if that can happen.”

On the next step for the wideouts

“Get open more and demand the ball. You demand the ball when you get open. I’m not saying they’re getting gloved up, but quarterbacks like to throw to open guys, so you’ve got to get open. If you want the ball, that’s an easy answer. Get open, you’ll get the ball.

“The tight ends are a tougher matchup right now for people because they’re just so dominant as receiving tight ends. They’re good blockers as well, I don’t want to paint the picture they’re one-trick ponies, but those guys are often mismatched on safeties and linebackers and they’re just almost always impossible to cover for those guys.”

On Bryson Barnes

“I thought he did a nice job. He came in and ran the offense very efficiently. It wasn’t wide open, it was a very narrow selection of plays we had in the second half because the game was in hand after that 38-point second quarter, but we still wanted to see him throw the ball around a few times. He didn’t throw it a ton, but I thought he did a really good job. Then Ja’Quinden Jackson came in and got some good reps as well. But overall, I thought Bryson played well.”

On evaluating week-to-week against an FCS opponent

“It’s hard to completely get an accurate gauge of where you are because there was a talent disparity or discrepancy. That’s fact. I don’t think anybody would disagree with that. But, just the way we went about things, whether you’re taking on a guy from the SEC or a guy from wherever, there’s certain fundamentals and techniques you need to employ and we did a much better job of that on Saturday.”

On whether they look at Arizona early because the Wildcats have played San Diego State and would show up on SDSU film

“You do a little, just secondarily I guess you could say. You’re focused on San Diego, obviously, but any time you’re watching tape of someone you’re going to play, you notice things. It’s not your focal point, but you’re going to make mental notes. Of course, when you get to that particular game week you’ll watch it all again. But yeah, there’s things you can make note of.”

On this year’s San Diego State team compared to last year

“Very similar, more similarities than differences, particularly schematically. They’re still a shotgun, spread attack. They’ve got a couple big tight ends that they use a lot. Stable of backs. … They’re athletic, they did lose a couple good o-linemen from last year, so they’ve had to replace them. Same scheme on defense. Lost a couple good players there as well. But they do a good job down there. Brady Hoke does a great job with recruiting. We’ll have our hands full.”

On Chris Curry

“Chris played very well. In fact, I guess you could confidently say that was his best game as a Ute. He was very productive, ran the ball well. He’s just a guy that we have complete faith in and confidence. He’s good at everything; he can catch the ball out of the backfield, he can pick up blitzes, he runs the ball efficiently. Speaking of running backs, I thought Jaylon Glover did a nice job as well and showed some signs and some flashes of what he can be. Micah Bernard was limited, didn’t carry the ball a lot, played plenty of reps, but didn’t have a lot of touches. And then Tavion’s big downer was the fumble, we just gotta keep working that.”

On whether there’s any thought given to changing the running back rotation because of Thomas’ fumbles

“At this point, no. Tavion is a physical, productive back that had a ton of productivity for us last year. If it becomes habitual and we can’t get it corrected then we’ll have to take that measure, but right now we’re just working toward improving his ball security every day in practice. He did go a long stretch in the season last year after early problems securing the ball. Hope to get back to that.”

On Cameron Rising coming back in Week 2 after the Florida ending

“I thought he responded outstandingly. His numbers were terrific, he threw for a bunch of yards, high completion percentage. I thought he came back. I don’t want to say he played poorly in the Florida game, but it wasn’t his best game. He was much sharper in this game.”

On the offensive line groupings

“What you saw on Saturday with the first five and the second five that played the second half, that is the depth chart. To answer your question, that’s the 10 in the first and the second group going forward. We don’t plan on changing that, unless there’s significant reason — injury, significant drop-off in play, or one of the twos during practice shows they need to get some reps in the game. Something like that.”

On the SDSU game as a turning point last season, and what stands out

“Besides a miserable experience? It was very miserable. What obviously stands out is when Cam entered the game in the fourth quarter and provided that spark immediately.

“Poor special teams. I think we had two or three punts blocked. One didn’t count because it was a penalty.

“It just seemed like we were way out of sync in that football game. We played good defense for the most part. What was it, triple overtime? Can’t remember, two or three overtimes. It was not a good experience and we just didn’t play well. But after the outcome and moving forward, it turned out to be a change in our season because of making the quarterback change and going with Cam the rest of the way. It ended up being a pretty good year.”

On Rising having unfinished business against SDSU

“The whole team has unfinished business. That was a loss that was very bitter. We need to go do everything we can to prepare this year to have a better showing. That was frustrating.”

On Rising’s emergence in that game

“Leading up to that, his attitude was terrific. He prepared as if he was the starter from the outset, even though he knew he wasn’t. He continued to work hard, watch film, and told me, ‘Hey, when my number’s called, I’ll be ready. I promise you that.’ His number was called, he responded, and he absolutely was ready. The rest is history, I guess you could say. From that point forward, we never looked back. Of course, Charlie left the program so there was no ongoing competition. The job was his once that happened.”

On the adjusted overtime rules

“I’d rather have it be the NFL model. I don’t like the college model at all. Why play football one way for 60 minutes and then change it in overtime? Just keep playing football in a normal fashion and go from there. I’m not a fan of the college model at all.”