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Zack Moss on the Utes' dominant win over Arkansas, Utah best team in the Big 12 (?) + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
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  Speaker 1: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 at 92.1 FM.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell Show. In 15 minutes,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to give away a pair of tickets to
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Five Finger Death Punch at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: I will have a trivia question for you. Stay tuned for...
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity to win some tickets right now. We welcome
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  Speaker 2: the Utah football legend, NFL veteran, Zach Moss, who of
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  Speaker 2: course is now roaming the radio sidelines on the official
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  Speaker 2: Utah football broadcast. Zach Moss, welcome to the show.
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  Speaker 3: How are you, sir? Good. Good. How are you?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing great. Big win again, obviously up there at
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  Speaker 2: rice echo stadium for this Utah football team over an
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  Speaker 2: sec squad in Arkansas that really, I mean, long first
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  Speaker 2: offensive drive for Arkansas. finished with three points. And after that,
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  Speaker 2: they disappeared all the way until the fourth when the
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  Speaker 2: backups were in. It was an absolute demolition by the
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  Speaker 2: University of Utah of those Arkansas Razorbacks. Do you have
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  Speaker 2: a favorite thing from the game? Was there something that
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  Speaker 2: really jumped out as the biggest positive for you?
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  Speaker 3: I think, you know, I think the trenches really showed
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  Speaker 3: up Saturday night and on both sides of the ball
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  Speaker 3: for us. Obviously, you know, there's been a lot of
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  Speaker 3: talk about the offensive line and things of that nature.
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  Speaker 3: And those guys did an astounding job of, you know, really, really,
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  Speaker 3: really controlling, you know, what we were able to do, right,
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  Speaker 3: and all the different formations and giving these guys, the playmakers,
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  Speaker 3: space to operate and get out on the edges and
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  Speaker 3: be able to run between the gaps. And on the
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  Speaker 3: defensive side of the ball, we stopped, we, we held
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  Speaker 3: them to, I want to say 60 something rushing yards. Right.
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  Speaker 3: And then I think four more sacks. Right. I think
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  Speaker 3: the defensive line really, really show, right. How good they
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  Speaker 3: actually can be. Right. Versus a SEC school, um, no
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  Speaker 3: matter who it may be, it's still the SEC school. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I love to see just how quickly they
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  Speaker 3: jumped back on top. Like I said, like it was
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  Speaker 3: a little slow, essentially to some degree, uh, in the
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  Speaker 3: first quarter, but you know, the offense exploded with 22
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  Speaker 3: points and the defense did an amazing job of just
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  Speaker 3: closing them out. Way shot.
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  Speaker 2: Another great game, uh, as a running back, I lean
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  Speaker 2: on your expertise when we talk about that position. So
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  Speaker 2: only 10 carries for him and you know, five plus
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  Speaker 2: yards per carry in those carries, but he's very active
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  Speaker 2: in the passing game. And so he totals like whatever
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  Speaker 2: it is, 18 touches in a game. and a bunch of,
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  Speaker 2: you know, 100 yards in a game and several touchdowns
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  Speaker 2: in a game. Does it matter for a running back
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  Speaker 2: whether they're receptions or carries as long as you're getting
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  Speaker 2: the ball?
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  Speaker 3: Sometimes, I would say. I think Wayshawn is very unique
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  Speaker 3: in the style that, you know, we can only give
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  Speaker 3: him 10 carries and he can be very, very impactful
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  Speaker 3: to the game, right? You know, obviously the first play
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  Speaker 3: of the game, calling his number right on a 50-yard pass,
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  Speaker 3: and he comes up with the ball, right? Not a
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  Speaker 3: lot of backs can do that, right? And I think
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  Speaker 3: that's what you see on the next level. I'm sure
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  Speaker 3: he's challenged himself on that as well because, you know,
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  Speaker 3: at the next level, you can't just be a runner, right?
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  Speaker 3: You got to be able to do a lot of
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  Speaker 3: different things. And pass catching the ball is where the really,
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  Speaker 3: really dynamic guys are. And he's been able to show
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  Speaker 3: that now in the last two games, right? as well,
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  Speaker 3: and I think that is a huge part to the offense. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I'm sure he'll have his games where, you know,
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  Speaker 3: there's 15, there's 20 carries, and, you know, maybe it's
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  Speaker 3: a little bit lesser on the offensive side of the
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  Speaker 3: ball when it comes to catching for him. But right
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  Speaker 3: now he's being able to put a lot of different
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  Speaker 3: things and showcasing that right now.
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  Speaker 2: Kevin McGiven is now second game in a row. He's
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  Speaker 2: gone into the bag a little bit and given us
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  Speaker 2: some unique things. That play you just referenced? which is
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  Speaker 2: a double pass throwback from Bird all the way across
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  Speaker 2: the field to Weishan for that big long completion. You
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  Speaker 2: also had the handoff option run with the two-quarterback system.
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  Speaker 2: As a guy who played this game at the highest level,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you've seen a lot of playbooks. What do
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  Speaker 2: you think of this one and the glimpses we're getting
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  Speaker 2: of it?
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  Speaker 3: I really do love it. I really do love it.
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  Speaker 3: I think more so than anything, I think that people
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  Speaker 3: should think about is think about just how smart these
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  Speaker 3: guys are. that we can have so many different formations,
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  Speaker 3: so many different moving parts, right? And it all is
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  Speaker 3: gelling so well, like a well-oiled machine, right? Like the
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  Speaker 3: players need so much more credit on, you know, being
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  Speaker 3: able to digest all of this stuff and then go
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  Speaker 3: out and execute it flawlessly, right? It's so many little
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  Speaker 3: things that can happen to where, you know, the formations
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  Speaker 3: can be, you know, gimmicky, cute sometimes, whatever it may be,
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  Speaker 3: and something can go wrong. But these guys have been
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  Speaker 3: able to make all of the stuff, right, that it's really,
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  Speaker 3: really hard to do. You know, especially when you talk
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  Speaker 3: about reading the adoption stuff, right? And, you know, that's
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  Speaker 3: really hard to do. Not a lot of quarterbacks can
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  Speaker 3: do that. And, you know, so I wanted to give
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  Speaker 3: a lot of credit to the players. And Coach McGivins
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  Speaker 3: obviously has had an outstanding plan each and every week
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  Speaker 3: the first two weeks right i think going back to
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  Speaker 3: last week right uh bill said it on the show
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  Speaker 3: it was like you know we showed a lot without
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  Speaker 3: doing a lot right and that made um arkansas had
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  Speaker 3: to plan for so many different formations and then we
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  Speaker 3: came out and showed even different some more different formations
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  Speaker 3: and you can just tell the type of how confused
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  Speaker 3: they were just by having to see that. And, you know,
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  Speaker 3: sometimes we lined up with absolutely no one in the backfield, right?
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  Speaker 3: And most people can ask yourself, oh, why do you
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  Speaker 3: line up like that? And then you just motion right
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  Speaker 3: back into it. But communication at that last second, you
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  Speaker 3: get the snap off, which confuses the defense. It was
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  Speaker 3: really a nice piece of art on Saturday night.
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  Speaker 2: To the tune of a 43, 10 victory over the
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  Speaker 2: Arkansas Razorbacks. So the youths are two and oh, they're
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  Speaker 2: up to number 17 in the rankings. I still think
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  Speaker 2: we have to figure out a lot of things about
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  Speaker 2: this team. I echo your sentiment. I liked it. The
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  Speaker 2: offensive line, the defensive line played well in this game.
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  Speaker 2: Now you've got Utah state. So you've got, you know,
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  Speaker 2: FCS team, Then an SEC team, although a bottom-dwelling SEC team.
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  Speaker 2: Then you've got a Utah State team that knows a
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  Speaker 2: couple of your guys really well, that knows Kevin McGibbon
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  Speaker 2: really well. Bronco Mendenhall was his boss last year. And
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  Speaker 2: a lot of these Utah State guys are guys that
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  Speaker 2: either wish they played at Utah or wish they played
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  Speaker 2: at BYU. Coaches all over the staff that know each
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  Speaker 2: other incredibly well. How much do you think the dynamic
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  Speaker 2: changes because of the familiarity that Utah State has with Utah?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's definitely a challenge. You know, and obviously we
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  Speaker 3: won't know just how much of a challenge it is
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  Speaker 3: until you roll the ball out there and you play.
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  Speaker 3: But it's definitely something you can't overlook, I think, which
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  Speaker 3: we have obviously a lot more talent on our side
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  Speaker 3: of the ball. And these guys are hungry, right? I think,
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  Speaker 3: you know. It's great to be friends, right, from the
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  Speaker 3: coaching staff and the players' side of things before kickoff.
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  Speaker 3: But once that ball kicks off, right, all that goes
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  Speaker 3: out of the window. And then you can pick that
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  Speaker 3: back up after you come out of there with another
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  Speaker 3: blowout win, hopefully. But, you know, I think our players, right,
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  Speaker 3: are up for the challenge. You know, I love, you know,
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  Speaker 3: just seeing how locked in each and every player, every
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  Speaker 3: coach was. getting ready for the Arkansas game. I highly
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  Speaker 3: doubt it will be any different Saturday at 1.30.
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  Speaker 2: So Brayden Pagan obviously was their leading receiver last year,
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  Speaker 2: and then like three games into the new season, he's
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  Speaker 2: now playing against a bunch of his former teammates. And
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  Speaker 2: this is becoming more normal in college football, but really
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  Speaker 2: the first time we see it or the normal times
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  Speaker 2: we see it is, in the NFL where a guy,
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  Speaker 2: you know, plays for a franchise and then he plays
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  Speaker 2: against that franchise later on. How many, how many times
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  Speaker 2: did you have to do that in the league?
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  Speaker 3: Um, actually, you know, I, when I left Buffalo, I
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  Speaker 3: never got a chance to play them again. Um, and
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  Speaker 3: then my, after I left, uh, Indianapolis, I went to Cincinnati. Um,
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  Speaker 3: we actually had a, uh, preseason game and a joint practice, uh,
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  Speaker 3: against them right that following season. So that was pretty
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  Speaker 3: cool to see all of the, all the guys that
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  Speaker 3: you just went to war with in that past season
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  Speaker 3: and stuff like that. So, like I said, it'd be
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  Speaker 3: a great thing for these guys, right? Cause that's what
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  Speaker 3: football is about. It's about families, about making those connections
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  Speaker 3: and things of that nature. But also, right, you're talking
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  Speaker 3: about being super competitors, right? At the same time. So,
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  Speaker 3: You know, all the talk of, man, I would have
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  Speaker 3: been able to lock you up. I would have made
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  Speaker 3: that tackle on you right now. You get an actual
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  Speaker 3: opportunity to do that. Um, so that even raises it
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  Speaker 3: even more. I think sometimes at least for myself, um,
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  Speaker 3: when you talk about knowing the person that's lined up
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  Speaker 3: across from you versus not knowing that person.
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  Speaker 2: Big picture in the Big 12 Conference. Utah looked really
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  Speaker 2: good these last two games. BYU had a tough one
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  Speaker 2: against Arizona, came out as winners. You got Texas Tech,
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  Speaker 2: they're also 2-0, but they haven't looked all that impressive.
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  Speaker 2: Kansas State looks pretty good. Oklahoma State, I have no idea.
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  Speaker 2: They lost to Tulsa, but then they beat Oregon. Is
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  Speaker 2: Utah now at the top of the heap alongside BYU
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  Speaker 2: in the Big 12, as far as.
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  Speaker 3: We can tell? I think from the style of wins
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  Speaker 3: that they've had so far, right, obviously going out and
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  Speaker 3: handling Idaho in the season opener, you know, not playing
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  Speaker 3: around with that game and then obviously going up in
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  Speaker 3: a challenge versus Arkansas and, you know, single-handedly dominating that
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  Speaker 3: game from the rest of that second quarter down. I
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  Speaker 3: think you have to, but I think, you know, at
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  Speaker 3: the same time, I think it's like you said, it's
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  Speaker 3: still a lot of, questions that we need to be
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  Speaker 3: answered about this team. And we'll get another chance at
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  Speaker 3: it on Saturday here. But, you know, I don't think
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  Speaker 3: you really learn a lot about a team and the
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  Speaker 3: identity and the culture of things of that nature that
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  Speaker 3: really shape a team and who they are until about
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  Speaker 3: week four. This team hasn't had any real adversity. So
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  Speaker 3: we need to see that first and see how they
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  Speaker 3: bounce back. And, you know, that's the great thing about football.
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  Speaker 3: We've got a lot of weeks here to continue to
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  Speaker 3: learn about this team.
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  Speaker 2: Zach, we'll see you up there again on Saturday. Appreciate
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  Speaker 2: you giving us time today.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you. Absolutely. Appreciate you guys. Take care.
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  Speaker 2: Zach Moss, sideline reporter now for the official Utah radio broadcast.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Of course, Bill Riley on the calls. Stevenson Sylvester is
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  Speaker 2: the new color analyst this season.