What Utah's Kyle Whittingham said before Week 2 vs. Cal Poly

For Whittingham, it all went according to plan, and will likely set up more opportunities for cornerback/wide receiver Smith Snowden, linebacker/tight end Lander Barton and safety/wide receiver Jackson Bennee on the offensive side of the ball moving forward.

"Why was it surprising?" Whittingham replied with a smile when asked about his two-way players' usage rate in Week 1. "I told you guys it was coming."

Snowden opened things up for the Utes with an 11-yard gain on a screen pass on the game's first play, then capped off his team's second offensive series with a touchdown to put Utah up 13-0 in the first quarter. Barton added to the lead with a 14-yard touchdown reception early in the second quarter, giving the Utes a 20-0 advantage before UCLA stopped the bleeding with a scoring drive of its own.

Nico Iamaleava's first touchdown pass in a Bruins uniform didn't spark a rally for DeShaun Foster and company, however, as Utah found pay dirt three more times in the second half en route to a 43-10 victory from Pasadena, California.

"We did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and that was the biggest difference," Whittingham said. "[There's] no shortage of things for us to address this week, but again, a good start to the season and and we just got to continue to work hard and focus from week to week, take them one at a time."

Here's more from Whittingham's media availability session on Monday ahead of Utah's home opener Saturday against Cal Poly.

On whether anything about the season opener surprised him

"I'm going to say no. [Going] way back — this team's work ethic and focus back in January and February; in the offseason conditioning in March and April with spring ball; June and July with summer conditioning; fall camp. These guys — they get after it. They got great focus, great concentration. The work ethic is outstanding. And so no, I don't think there was any major surprises.""

On what he wants to see from the WR position moving forward

"I think we need to get Tobias [Merriweather] a little more involved. He's a weapon for us. And you saw him catch a deep ball and then draw a [pass interference] on another deep ball. That's really his thing is. He seems to have a good knack for getting free up the field. He's also got a big catch radius, so we got to try to get him more involved."

"You want more time, you want more production, [then] play better in practice; that's how it is. You got to play your way into that. We're not just going to try to feature somebody if they haven't earned it — and not to say that they're not doing some good things in practice, but we feel like we've got the right guys on the field."

On what he saw from RBs Wayshawn Parker and NaQuari Rogers

"First of all, I thought they both produced fairly well in the first game we had. I think we were 5.3 [yards] a carry. We want to be over five yards of carry as a team, that's a standard that we've had for a long time."

"Right now, they're on equal footing. Both those guys are our starters and are interchangeable, and so there really isn't one that's ahead of the other in a game, or as the season plays out, if one gets the hot hand and becomes more productive, then we'll we'll lean that way and give that guy more carries and more time. But as of this moment, there, they're again, one and one-A, and both did a good job in the game they played and they blocked really well too."

On Lander Barton's utilization as a tight end

"Well, it's still a work in progress. He's still a vital part of the defense. Yeah, we do have some depth of linebacker, there's no doubt, and that's a work in progress and a conversation that we've had for the last several weeks. The short answer, is yes, we probably need to get him involved a little bit more on the offense."

"Now, Dallen Bentley really played well. I don't know if you honed in on him specifically, but he blocked well, he caught the ball well, had a really nice game. And like I said, JJ, Buchanan did some good things for us as well. Hunter Andrews is another guy [who] is is getting playing time in that spot. So from week to week, as we already talked about, depending on the matchups, my guess is you will see his contribution on offense go up in the next ensuing weeks."

On what he saw from Utah's defensive backs

"I think they held up well. No balls were over our head. We dodged a bullet or two; there were some guys open up the field and they missed the throw, but I thought for a first game, those guys did a nice job. Especially Blake Cotton. He's a good tackler, and he's not gonna turn things down."

"Sometimes you get DBs that are a little reluctant to go up and mix it up, but he demonstrated some physicality, did some good things in coverage. Of course, Smith Snowden's a premier cover guy, and Scooby [Davis] played a lot of football for us last year; and so I thought those guys did a nice job. Jackson Bennee did a really good job with the nickel. That's actually the toughest assignment is the slot corner. He's got the most on his plate; he's also responsible for run game fits and blitzing off the edge on occasion so, I thought Jackson did a really nice job as well."