What Kyle Whittingham said after Utah's win vs. Cal Poly: 'We took care of the business that we needed to'

Utes cruised to 63-9 win over FCS foe Cal Poly

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham looks on before the game against the Cal Poly Mustangs at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Two games, two wire-to-wire victories for Kyle Whittingham and the Utah Utes to start the 2025 college football season.

Coming off a thrashing of UCLA at the Rose Bowl, the Utes entered their home opener against Cal Poly on Saturday looking to keep the momentum rolling and advance to 2-0.

Another highly-efficient outing from the Utes' offense and a lights-out performance from Morgan Scalley's defense made sure both of those aspirations came to fruition, as Utah cruised to a 63-9 victory over Cal Poly Saturday from Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"Overall, solid performance," Whittingham summarized during his postgame press conference. "We took care of the business that we needed to take care of."

Here's more from Whittingham following Utah's win.

On what potentially led to Utah's slow start

Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Devon Dampier (4) looks to pass against the Cal Poly Mustangs during the first quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

"First off, that little thunder burst, it makes things a little more difficult. There's no excuses, but I don't think Devon was gripping as well as he could have when that 15 or 20 minute period, whatever it was ... good question."

"I mean, we just didn't get in that rhythm. We didn't come out as — I'm not going to say we weren't ready, because we were ready to play — but we just didn't come out executing as well as we did last week."

On whether Utah's defense has lived up to his expectations

Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Cal Poly Mustangs quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. (1) is hit as he throws the ball by Utah Utes linebacker Moroni Anae (24) during the second half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

"Yeah, so far. I mean, there's things we need to get better at. They hit that glance route on us three or four times. We got to not let people inside; there's things to work on, but you're right — one touchdown in two games is the bottom line. And that's a really good start to the season."

On Utah's offense through two games

Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Byrd Ficklin (15) runs for a touchdown against Cal Poly Mustangs linebacker Troy Bean (2) during the second half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

"Well, I think that it's really to my liking. I can tell you that the structure of it, the way [first-year offensive coordinator] Jason [Beck] has put it together, his creativity, his play calling; we're so far — it's only two games — exactly as we had hoped. I mean, that's why we hired Jason, what, a year ago, or whatever it was, eight months ago."

"We watched his tape extensively. We had a good feel for what his scheme was, and what his philosophies were, and he's brought those here and implemented them. You're seeing a lot of the same results that he got last year [with New Mexico]."

On Utah's wide receiver room

Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes wide receiver Tobias Merriweather (18) runs after a catch against Cal Poly Mustangs cornerback Boston Wilson (30) during the second quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

"They're still a work in progress. [Ryan] Davis, he had a really nice game today; caught what, seven balls. And Tobias had six. Smith Snowden, what he adds — he didn't add nearly as much this week as last week, but he only played a half the game on offense."

"The receiver position in and of itself, is a work in progress. We've got about four guys right now — five guys that we really have trust in, and we're waiting for another guy or two to join that group."

On the health of key starters, holding players out vs. Cal Poly

Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; The Utah Utes celebrate a win over the Cal Poly Mustangs after the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

"A couple linemen got a little dinged up, but we held [Jaren] Kump out today for precautionary reasons, as well as Logan Fano. Rabbit [Evans] is still not quite ready, but hopefully we get all those guys back for this week. We'll see what happens."