Latest / Cocaine Willie / Utah is TERRIFYING... Can K-State Compete Against the Buzzsaw? (S4//E34)

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Utah is TERRIFYING... Can K-State Compete Against the Buzzsaw? (S4//E34) · Cocaine Willie

0:01
You actually have to be on cocaine to be on this podcast.
0:03
It's a great day.
0:33
What's up everybody? You are listening to yet another
0:35
edition of Cocaine Willie, the official K State representative
0:39
on the college huddle. I'm your commissioner, Bob
0:41
Trollsby, and as always, I'm joined by my Co host, the good
0:45
chef Andre Napier. Fireball.
0:47
Matt is once again out of the country doing what he does.
0:51
International man a mystery. He's out there on those streets,
0:55
I think in a, in a country that has a very notorious red light
1:00
district. But we'll, we'll leave it at
1:01
that. Without further ado, we are
1:04
going to be previewing AK State's matchup against the Utah
1:07
Ute's first ever matchup between the two programs.
1:11
But before we get into the episode, we do want to give a
1:15
quick shout out to our sponsor, Auntie Maze Parlor.
1:19
Auntie Maze has been in business for 51 years and is an absolute
1:23
must visit destination in Aggieville on game days and
1:27
school nights alike. We've got some fun events coming
1:30
up at at Auntie Maze. If you weren't aware, we've got
1:34
trivia smack down tomorrow night tonight as you're listening to
1:37
this Wednesday, November 19th. That's every Wednesday at this
1:42
point. I'm pretty sure we've got Pride
1:44
in the Parlor tomorrow night, but I, I, I have to, I have to
1:48
share who some of the, some of the artists are.
1:50
We've got Angel and her and Slumber Sluts performing for no
1:55
cover at Pride in the Parlor. So check out, check out Slumber
1:59
Sluts at Amy's tomorrow night or I guess Thursday night on
2:04
November 20th as we're recording this on Tuesday.
2:08
And then the annual Christmas lighting.
2:11
This will be the 35th annual Christmas lighting will be
2:14
happening on December 4th, Thursday, December 4th.
2:17
That's going to be featuring The Dirty spoons.
2:20
But we've got the annual Christmas lighting.
2:23
This is this dates back 35 years at this point.
2:25
They've been doing this so long running tradition that's been
2:28
going on longer than I've been alive.
2:30
So check that out as well. It's going to be December 4th.
2:33
But yeah, they've got craft cocktail, draft beer, everything
2:37
in between, live music, comedy, all sorts of other events.
2:40
But check them out. Check out their website, get a
2:43
full list of their upcoming events.
2:44
Auntie maze.com Chef, we are joined by you and we don't have
2:51
a guest. How are you doing tonight?
2:54
Doing great, I hope everybody hears me clearly.
2:58
Hopefully my Internet stays alive.
3:00
Slumber sluts. I'll be looking up that Spotify
3:03
playlist pretty soon. I promise I if they're on there,
3:07
I will get some downloads in there.
3:09
Count count me in as well. Just thinking about the big
3:13
picture for this match up. Like I already said, this is the
3:16
first meeting between these two programs ever.
3:19
Very rare. I feel like that K State is is
3:21
coming up against their first ever match up with an individual
3:24
opponent. Kyle Whittingham coming into
3:26
this season was the second most tenured coach.
3:31
You are that is buzzing. Something's buzzing over there,
3:34
brother. And no longer no longer buzzing.
3:40
Kyle Whittingham is 175 and 88 in Utah.
3:44
He's in his 21st season at Utah. He coming into this year, was
3:49
the second most tenured head coach in the Big 12 and now with
3:52
Mike Gundy's departure, is the most tenured head coach in the
3:55
current Big 12. Utah's looking at 8 and two
3:58
overall. Five and two and Big 12 play the
4:01
season after finishing with a pretty dismal, what were they
4:04
five and seven record last year? Not not making a bowl game.
4:08
They've got a marquee win this year against Cincinnati, but
4:11
really outside of that, they've they've made hay on some
4:14
opponents that really aren't that great.
4:17
They they beat Cincinnati 45 to 14 in that match up two games
4:20
ago. They're coming off of a 55 to 28
4:23
drubbing of Baylor with losses to BYU and Texas Tech.
4:26
So the two other ranked opponents that they've played
4:29
they're they're O and two against so one and two all so
4:32
far this season against top 25 opponents.
4:35
And they still kind of have this outside shot of making our it's
4:38
not a it's not a super high percentage shot, maybe more like
4:42
K State last year heading into week 13, week 14.
4:46
But they do still kind of realistically have an outside
4:49
shot to make the CFP, despite the fact they they may not make
4:54
may or may not make Arlington. So it kind of a weird season for
4:57
Utah. Definitely a bounce back here
4:59
for them. But but Chef, I'm curious,
5:00
what's your read on the vibe around Utah's program this
5:04
season? What have you seen out of them
5:05
so far this year that that's intriguing to you?
5:08
Yeah, it's interesting because I mean, last year was the year
5:12
that you would hope that you would have got them.
5:14
Like everybody thought that Utah was going to be that perennial
5:17
power, and they're just coming off of a couple, you know, PAC
5:20
12 championships. And coming into the Big 12, you
5:24
kind of thought maybe they're the big bad wolf and they're
5:26
going to come in here and just steamroll everybody.
5:29
But they kind of got humbled a little bit and K State wasn't on
5:32
the schedule. And now they come back and this
5:34
season they're kind of it's where you expected them to be
5:38
that hard nosed, you know, but this is the first year they've
5:42
had a real explosive player at quarterback.
5:46
And I mean, we'll get to quarterbacks here in a second
5:48
because it's an interesting situation going on right now.
5:51
But man, oh man, it it's unfortunate that the dichotomy
5:55
that we're we're at and where they're at.
5:58
So it, it's it stinks, but they they, like you said, have they
6:05
beat really quality opponents this year?
6:08
Cincinnati, everybody thought they were going to be in the a
6:11
bottom dweller, but the the Big 12 is like that.
6:14
The guy that you think is going to be dead last somehow creeps
6:18
up and is one of the better teams in the conference.
6:21
So I I'm not going to get take away anything from you and we'll
6:27
get into what the meat of their team is.
6:30
But I think they have met their expectations of what even last
6:34
year we thought they would be. And I think they're on a a
6:37
trajectory to get a foothold in the Big 12.
6:41
Yeah. And, and they, they may not
6:43
agree with that. Utah fans may not agree with
6:45
that just because they, they did lose to their rival and, and
6:48
because of that, they are outside looking in in this race
6:50
to Arlington. But they they do still have that
6:54
that small percentage chance to potentially make the CFP if
6:57
there is some upheaval, if an ACC champion doesn't get in for
7:01
whatever reason. With Texas losing their game
7:04
realistically there, there's a possibility, there's still a
7:06
possibility they could have this outside shots making Arlington,
7:10
but but thinking about offense specifically looking at their
7:13
identity and, and, and just kind of what what themes we're seeing
7:17
here. It's been a high scoring, high
7:19
flying offense led by Devin Dampier so far this season.
7:23
I know we all had some questions about him coming in because he
7:26
had the 1 to 1 touchdown interception ratio.
7:29
He has far surpassed what he did in New Mexico as far as that
7:33
number is concerned. Currently, when you look at just
7:36
some of the numbers here, they're averaging 38.7 points
7:39
per game on offense at 6th in the nation in total points per
7:43
game. Average 473.3 yards per game,
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that's 7th nationally. 6.4 yards per play, that's 20th
7:52
nationally. So they are an efficient offense
7:55
when you think about it that way. 89.74% red zone scoring
7:59
percentage, which is 31st. So not the highest metric, but
8:02
still relatively high, still that top quarter of teams.
8:06
And then you got first year offensive coordinator Jason Beck
8:08
coming in with Devin Dampier from New Mexico from your
8:12
standpoint. And, and I'm not sure how much
8:14
Utah you've watched that. Frankly, I've watched the one
8:17
game that they played against Texas Tech, but it has not been
8:21
appointment television for me this year watching Utah.
8:23
And these conferences are so damn big now that it's hard to
8:26
keep track of every team like we did when we had a 10 team
8:28
conference. But what do you think has been
8:30
the key to Utah's resurgence offensively?
8:32
Because last year they really weren't this high-powered
8:35
offense that we're seeing this year.
8:36
Absolutely. And I, I think it does fall on
8:40
Devin Dampier. I think it, I mean, that is who
8:44
they were putting all their chips in on, hoping that he can
8:48
bring something dynamic to what Utah's been missing ever since
8:53
they had Cam rising for 34 years at quarterback.
8:56
And I mean, I had my doubts. Like you said earlier, I thought
9:02
he was a little undersized and it was going to be a transition
9:05
from where he was at and what he was doing at the G5 level to
9:10
bring it to a power conference. And no one doubted his athletic
9:15
ability, but you know, like you said, that touchdown the
9:19
interception ratio being a pure quarterback.
9:22
But I think Utah has done a good job of fitting them into hit
9:25
their offensive scheme to the point where he doesn't have to
9:29
think too much. He doesn't have to make too many
9:32
reads. And if if things get crazy, just
9:34
get out of there and start running, brother and I.
9:37
And he does a great job of that. And I their offensive line
9:41
absolutely massive. They've got studs on there that
9:44
can that are projected first round draft picks.
9:47
So physicality has not left this Wittingham style offense, but
9:54
they do have a new toy that they can make things dynamic.
10:00
It is funny that, you know, at some point they were trying to
10:03
figure out, like, who to give the ball to because they were so
10:06
banged up that they had Who was the, Was he a defensive tackle
10:10
or like a tight end? He was a little meatball out
10:13
there, running around stiff arming people into the ground.
10:16
It's really fun to watch. But yeah, I mean, Kansas State's
10:20
going to have their hands full. Let's just be honest with it.
10:23
It's it's going to be interesting to see how, what
10:26
kind of game plan and if we try to do something similar to what
10:29
we did with KU where you have an experienced quarterback that's
10:33
athletic, but you try to confuse him and make him look at
10:37
different reads in different pictures.
10:40
So maybe it's a more of a thing where you've got so much
10:44
experience, you're trying to figure things out instead of
10:46
just going out there and play. Maybe that's what Clanderman can
10:49
build up and, and scheme up and we might have a chance.
10:53
I don't know. I doubt it.
10:54
But you know, that's we'll talk about that later.
10:58
I was going to say, I don't know if I'm going that far.
11:01
The other thing with Dampier is he, he's got this continuity and
11:04
offensive coordinator going back to his time at New Mexico, which
11:08
when you think about that and, and even in comparison to Avery,
11:12
Avery's had a different OC every year.
11:13
He's been at K State so far as his primary call play caller.
11:17
So we know first hand how, how important that continuity can be
11:21
for a quarterback. But thinking a little bit more
11:23
about Dampier is definitely a dual threat guy. 1600 yards
11:28
through the air, 65% completion percentage, 17 touchdowns, 5
11:32
interceptions, much better touchdown interception ratio
11:35
then then he had last year. He's also got 543 yards on the
11:39
ground. That's good for 11th in the
11:41
league and rushing on his own. And that's ahead of everybody on
11:45
K State's roster rushing wise. Just as a as a footnote there.
11:50
He has had to deal with injury. So he toughed it out against
11:53
Baylor for a good chunk of that game, visited the locker room.
11:56
But backup Bird Ficklin, which is all name team right there.
12:01
He came in to lead the offense and and really dazzled in the
12:04
ground game. 166 yards rushing to touchdowns rushing didn't
12:09
really do much in the air though.
12:10
Definitely more 1 dimensional in that regard from what we saw
12:13
against Baylor, 2 for three with 23 yards.
12:16
So not seeing much from him from a from a passing perspective,
12:22
but I guess I got a couple of questions here.
12:24
What do you like the most going back to Devin Damper?
12:26
What do you like the most about his game in general?
12:30
It's just the speed. I mean, the the the ability to
12:34
make one cut and then just go is very interesting.
12:37
He's a shifty guy too. I mean, that one cut is there,
12:40
but it's if he gets you on a phone booth, he you're not going
12:43
to be able to touch him all, all the time.
12:46
And he's commanded this offense. I just, I did not see this when
12:49
he was at New Mexico. I just did not.
12:51
It was more of a, you know, I'm a Chuck it as far as I can and
12:55
if it gets intercepted, it gets intercepted by my receiver's
12:57
down there somewhere. It's he seems more in control.
13:01
It's it's very similar to Daniel's situation with KU where
13:05
he you didn't see this and you thought you knew that the
13:10
quarterback that he was, but then he took a step and he
13:13
started to, you know, mature. And I don't know if that's the
13:17
same situation. It seems very similar.
13:20
And it if that's the case, that could shed light to like what we
13:26
can do against him. But I do love his game in terms
13:29
of the athletic ability and and he gets it the ball out quick
13:34
too. That's the one thing about him
13:36
too. Like it it this offense.
13:37
I don't know if it's necessarily, you know, a lot of
13:40
stretch and then play action off of that and Chuck a deep post.
13:44
A lot of it is that quick. Get that bubble out there and
13:46
let your your wide receivers and whatever position you got out
13:50
there, whatever players out there, they're going to find the
13:53
find the way to get you the ball quick and let you do something
13:56
with it. So I like his decision making.
13:59
I like his athleticism. I mean, just he's a quarterback,
14:02
which is surprising because I was not prepared for that.
14:05
So we're going to have our hands full, but I think if you can
14:09
contain them. And the crazy thing is he's got
14:11
the size of what's the kid from Noah Fafida?
14:16
He's like that with Daniel's game.
14:18
It's it's all over the place. It's he's a good mixture of a
14:21
lot of things that we've seen already this year.
14:25
Create a player Big 12 edition I This is a weird situation
14:30
though, because they did he has been banged up.
14:33
We saw a lot of Bird Ficklin in that game against Baylor.
14:37
Let's say, let's say Dampier. If if he's 75%, let's say he's
14:41
75%. I I'm not really sure.
14:43
Looking at the reports, it sounds like Whittingham says
14:46
that he's going to be good enough to go but that he's
14:49
banged up. So I'm curious.
14:51
Let's say he's 75% though. You're, you're playing one of
14:54
the worst teams in the Big 12 or at least the middle of the pack
14:56
Big 12 team if you're Utah. I'm just being honest here.
15:04
How much do we see him? If he's 75%, how much do we see
15:07
him? How much do we see Burt Ficklin
15:09
versus him? If you're Kyle Whittingham?
15:11
How much do you risk putting a guy like Dan Pier into this game
15:14
against K State knowing that you could very easily win this game,
15:18
like 52 to 20 or 52 to 14 potentially?
15:24
Well, I think one we have to put into consideration that it is
15:29
senior night and I'm pretty sure he is a senior.
15:32
So I mean I think he wants to walk.
15:34
I don't know how to hit, you know, he has a transfer A1 year
15:37
rental at Utah, but nevertheless, these guys want to
15:42
play out there on their senior night the final time they get to
15:45
play at home. I think it's going to be a big
15:47
deal. I hope he's AI hope he's a
15:49
senior. I hope.
15:50
I hope that's what you're researching right now.
15:52
I'm looking it up and and to confirm he is still a game time
15:56
decision. So no, no indications been made
15:59
yet if he's going to play again. We're we're recording this on
16:02
Tuesday, November 18th and it does look like he's a junior.
16:05
Oh, OK, maybe he's back then so, but even still, I mean final
16:11
home game at Utah, I would put I would put a lot of faith that
16:14
they want to get a win and make it a statement when because like
16:18
you said, I mean they are what are they 12th in the country?
16:22
12th or 13th, I let me let me look at the latest CFP since
16:26
that just came out today. Yeah.
16:33
I mean these are the games that you I think they are 12.
16:38
You want to make statement wins and I mean.
16:41
Yes, they're 12. No matter what, like no matter
16:43
how we want to shake it and what we know for a fact that we're
16:46
not the best team in the Big 12, beating Kansas State at home is
16:50
still going to carry a lot of, you know, caveat for your
16:53
season, especially with how we broke it down with they've only
16:56
really got one real quality win on the schedule.
16:59
You want to win that and, and Kansas State is a dangerous team
17:03
at some points, especially on offense.
17:06
Whether we can get it done on the road is, you know, to be
17:09
seen. But I think at 75%, you give it
17:15
a go until you don't have to. I think that's the the way I
17:19
would answer that question. If you're 75 and you're
17:22
controlling the game and you're up by 21 going in the third
17:25
quarter and you know you're making that last drive to go up
17:29
28, who knows? I maybe, maybe they do pull you
17:32
and you can just start chewing clock and you can put the
17:34
freshman in there to run the ball 17 more times.
17:37
I don't know, but I think that's kind of where my head would be
17:40
at that you don't want to not play even though you could and
17:46
potentially have to. And that's the also the worst
17:49
thing that could possibly happen.
17:50
Say they start the freshman and Kansas State is controlling the
17:53
game and now you want to go in there and you're cold, you don't
17:56
want to do that. So I think for everybody's best
18:00
interest at Utah, if if you can go, you give it a shot.
18:05
I don't think it's one of those injuries that like it's going
18:07
to. I mean, it is what it is like if
18:09
you can must, it's a strength thing.
18:12
If you can muster through the pain, then you just play.
18:15
But so that's where I would be at.
18:18
Don't play for all. I mean, don't play.
18:20
I would love that. Yeah, it's interesting, this
18:24
bird fickling guy, he's seen action in a lot of games this
18:27
year going back to UCLA in that Week 1 match up that they had.
18:32
He's he's played in 123456789, He's played nine games.
18:38
So this season, so he's he's gotten a lot of playing time.
18:41
You maybe don't have a ton of film on him, but enough from
18:44
some of the matchups they had, like against Colorado where he
18:46
had 20 carries, 22 attempts passing the passing the ball to
18:52
the Baylor game. Obviously you got some playing
18:54
time, you got some run there. So it's not like you're going up
18:57
against someone that has no film on him at all.
18:59
You get a little bit of film on him.
19:01
But do you think Byrd Ficklin when he comes into this game,
19:05
because I'm I'm sure he'll come into this game at some point.
19:07
Do you think him gives K State a better or worse chance?
19:11
Because it could be a little bit of a double edged sword when you
19:13
got a quarterback or you don't have a ton of film on.
19:16
Well, with what I saw from this last week's highlights, I think
19:20
he can get it done inside the tackles and outside.
19:23
I think he's pretty, He's pretty fast.
19:25
He could and he's not afraid to run it up the middle.
19:27
So missing a guy like Romaine is, I mean, big for this game.
19:34
I mean this if if Romaine was out there and we had a
19:37
quarterback that's not willing to not willing, I shouldn't say
19:40
that they haven't put a lot of effort into making him throw the
19:44
ball. I would feel a lot more
19:47
confident. But with what Oklahoma State did
19:51
last week versus our run defense, I mean, we helped, we
19:54
got him out of the end zone, but that's Oklahoma State.
19:57
They're bad and they still that fields kid.
20:00
I mean, there was some explosive runs that were there against
20:04
this Kansas State team. I wouldn't feel great if you
20:07
know they just. Pulled a 2010 Colin Klein and
20:11
told him just to go out there and just run the ball until you
20:14
know the air is out of the thing.
20:17
I wouldn't feel great, but I would feel a lot better if it
20:21
was him instead of Dampier because I think Dampier can do
20:24
those things as well, as well as hurting you in the air and it
20:29
gives you more of that. It makes it harder for the
20:32
defense to hone on, hone in on what they really want to do.
20:36
So man, oh man, Bird, let's cage him up if he's going in.
20:45
I like what you did there. I'm realizing I also skipped
20:48
over the offensive line, which was dumb of me.
20:50
But before we get to running back, just want to share some
20:53
stats on the O line because I I was really impressed looking at
20:56
some of this stuff. When you look at the O line,
20:59
there 9 sacks allowed through 10 games.
21:02
So they're tied for seventh nationally and fewest sacks
21:04
allowed. Seven games they've had with 0
21:07
sacks at all that second. They are second in the Big 12 in
21:12
sacks. A few sacks allowed.
21:14
Cincinnati leads me, ironically enough, with only three sacks
21:17
allowed this year. We also know that sacks allowed
21:22
isn't indicative of a good offensive line because K State
21:25
is 11th nationally in this category with only 10 sacks
21:28
allowed. But many are saying this is one
21:31
of the worst offensive lines K State has had in a number of
21:34
years, potentially our lifetimes.
21:36
But what is indicative of good offensive line play is a good
21:39
rushing attack. And Utah's ground game currently
21:42
leads the Big 12 in total rushing yards by more than 600
21:46
yards. Between them and the second
21:48
place team, which is Texas Tech, they've got 2700 yards on the
21:51
ground this season. So not only are they protecting
21:53
the quarterback, but they are protecting running back way Sean
21:57
Parker, a bunch of these other guys that are getting touches
21:59
because they've got a bunch of guys in the stable here.
22:03
They're averaging about 300 rushing yards per game, 278 to
22:07
be exact. So I'm curious from your
22:10
standpoint, how do you, how do you think this offensive line
22:12
compares to other offensive lines we've seen, you know, this
22:16
season, but also maybe in the past few seasons because we
22:18
played a lot of teams in that time?
22:21
Oh man, I mean a line that I can compare this to.
22:25
I mean, I we haven't gone against a basically a full
22:28
Polynesian offensive line in ever.
22:32
And I mean, they've got, I mean giant Samoan.
22:36
I mean, think of Dwayne the Rock Johnson playing Maui in Moana.
22:42
I mean, they've got five of those guys up there.
22:44
And it's it's tough. I'm just kidding.
22:47
But it is it is a very formidable offensive line.
22:51
And I think if you think about the sacks giving up, Kansas
22:55
State's up there for a reason because they have a mobile
22:58
quarterback. It makes it easier when you have
23:00
a quarterback that can get out of those emergency situations
23:04
where it's not just a statue back there.
23:06
But like you said with the running game.
23:08
And if you if you look at it, it's not just one running back
23:11
that they're opening these lanes up for.
23:13
I mean, both the quarterbacks can run way.
23:15
Sean Parker, who I think transferred from Arizona State
23:19
last year very fast, I mean, one of the fastest running backs
23:23
we're going to have to go against all season long, which
23:26
is not exciting. He's probably averaging close to
23:28
8 yards per carry if I had to guess these guys.
23:32
And and he's coming on late too. I think he's had three straight
23:35
100 yard games. Yes.
23:38
Yeah. So it it's one of those offenses
23:41
that if it's growing stronger as the season goes on, when the the
23:44
defenses that they're playing are the defensive lines are
23:48
getting more banged up. Their offensive line, I don't
23:50
know how many they're playing at a time.
23:53
I probably should have done my research on this, but I know
23:55
they are very talented up front and very big and they're leaning
24:00
on teams making it very hard for, you know, teams without a
24:04
lot of depth towards this end of the season to keep up with them
24:08
and being able to face, you know, stand up and hold strong
24:12
at the point of attack. So that's really where my
24:15
concern is. And that's why because if you if
24:19
you've got a team that can throw it and run it, you're still
24:23
leaning back and you're not going to be so tight in the box
24:25
and you don't have the numbers advantage.
24:27
Now it's just a one-on-one or A5 versus R5 or five versus RR 6,
24:34
and the offensive line wins those more often than not.
24:38
And they have giant monster tight ends too, because it's
24:41
still Utah, for God's sakes. So it's not great, not a great
24:47
match up for late in the season on the road.
24:50
And I hate to even look up the weather report.
24:53
I don't want to do that because if it is 30° outside at 2:00
25:00
Mountain, what is it, 2:00 mountain time?
25:04
Yeah, that's not going to be. 46 high of 46 that's not.
25:08
Bad. That's not bad.
25:09
That's football weather right there.
25:10
That's not frigid. I thought, I thought for there a
25:13
chance because I thought K State was going to be pretty good this
25:16
season, that this could be a night game in Utah with a lot on
25:19
the line. But you know, 4:00 Eastern.
25:24
No, maybe it's 4:00. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 4:00 Eastern,
25:28
2:00 their time, I think that is not bad. 46 I could live with
25:34
that, but their offensive line nevertheless, I'm going to say
25:37
it again. I'm going to say nevertheless,
25:39
for the second time this episode, it's still going to
25:42
lean Cody Stufflebean, Chidi Obiazor, Amy Neolio.
25:47
We need you to hold the line, take on some double teams, fall
25:52
down to the ground trips. Maybe you know, don't do it
25:55
because it's a penalty, but trip some people if you have to make
25:58
sure they don't get to the second level because it is going
26:02
to be a task. It is going to be a task going
26:05
against this offensive line. I think they're I think they're
26:07
right tackle is a first round draft.
26:10
I'm almost 100% sure of that. I'm going to look his name up
26:15
something. Another another guy, another guy
26:20
who is going to be a handful is way Sean Parker, we've already
26:23
mentioned him. You already mentioned he's
26:25
coming off his third straight 100 plus yard rushing game of
26:29
the season. He had 145 against Colorado, 104
26:33
against Cincinnati and 129 against Baylor.
26:36
He has 6 touchdowns on the ground and you were really
26:39
close. You said 8 yards per carry.
26:41
He's averaging 7.2 yards per carry.
26:44
So very, very close there. They have six guys who ran the
26:48
ball on Saturday against Baylor. Not all of them are running
26:50
backs, but you can throw Devin Dampier into the mix, Bird
26:54
Ficklin into the mix. Those are those are all they've
26:56
got four guys who are running backs who are going to get
26:58
involved in the Russian game. At least 5 rushing touchdowns
27:02
last week against Baylor, 32 total rushing touchdowns on the
27:06
year so far, And another guy who's maybe floating under the
27:09
radar. If you're just looking at the
27:11
box scores and stats and team stats, Naquari Rogers has 10
27:15
rushing touchdowns on the year despite only 372 yards on the
27:20
year. So he's definitely more their
27:21
red gone, red zone guy goal to go situations, maybe 3rd, 4th
27:25
down situations as they're going to hand it off to a guy named
27:28
Naquari Rogers. Why is Utah's rushing game so
27:33
good at gashing their opponents this year?
27:36
Well, I mean, we talked about the offensive line.
27:39
They create giant holes and their running backs are really,
27:42
really fast. Their quarterbacks are really,
27:44
really fast. They put you in also their
27:47
formations. I think a lot of it goes
27:49
unnoticed by the common fan and it it's just going to go over my
27:53
head A lot of the time when you have pass catchers at tide in
27:58
that are really we saw this with Iowa State where you have these
28:02
13 personnel or you know, 22 personnel because they have
28:10
damn, does it is it really bad? I don't know the the airplane
28:14
mode right now is going. Bad just just when you're not
28:17
talking, so just mute. When you're not talking on mute,
28:20
apologies. Apologies.
28:23
Yeah, they they're they put you in situations where you have big
28:27
personnel out of there out there to defend their tight ends and
28:32
make sure that you have big bodies out there for the run.
28:35
But those those tight ends can be pass catchers.
28:38
So you want to have a lot of safeties out there that can
28:41
defend the pass. But then if you do that, they
28:44
they have the numbers and the size that can get these a way.
28:48
Sean Parker's not a little. I mean, he's not a big guy.
28:52
He's not huge. He's probably like 5-9, a 180, a
28:55
190 lbs. If he can swiggle through one of
28:58
those gaps, he's gone. I mean, it's tough because
29:01
you're wanting to load the box and do all that things.
29:05
If you get past that line of scrimmage, it's easy gashing
29:09
right there. It's easy runs after that.
29:12
I mean, these are the things that that put defenses in a
29:16
bond. So that's why I said, you know,
29:18
our defensive line, if we're running 3 or 4 out of there, you
29:22
have to be able to control the point of attack and make sure
29:25
their offensive line does not get to the second level.
29:28
And because when you get those playmakers one-on-one with a
29:32
safety that's just trying to come down or a linebacker that's
29:36
trying to scrape off of the a block that's coming off of a
29:40
double team, it's tough. It is tough to tackle these
29:43
guys, especially when they're leaning on you, especially when
29:46
it's Week 13 and you don't want to be playing football right
29:49
now. And in freaking Salt Lake City,
29:51
UT, in a five and five season when you expected to win the Big
29:56
12, it is tough to keep playing through that.
29:58
So I can I can very much see how, you know, this kind of
30:04
style of offense is very indicative to the end of the
30:08
season and they can cash pick runs because they want it more
30:12
than you do. That's that's basically what it
30:14
is. Yeah, yeah.
30:16
And and you already mentioned the tight ends.
30:19
I want to talk about them here in a second, but Ryan Davis, not
30:22
our Ryan Davis. Utah has a Ryan Davis as well.
30:25
He leads the way in receiving yards currently with 659.
30:29
He averages 11.6 yards per catch with four touchdowns.
30:33
The tight ends though, you got Dallin Bentley and JJ Buchanan
30:37
at tight end with 431 yards and 212 yards catching,
30:42
respectively. Both of them are averaging
30:43
around 12 yards per catch with four touchdowns for Bentley and
30:48
three for Buchanan, respectively.
30:50
And then you got a guy named Larry Simmons.
30:52
He's averaging 17 to catch with three touchdowns.
30:54
They also incorporate way Sean Parker into the into the the the
30:58
passing game a little bit. He's got 3 touchdowns pass
31:01
catching so far this season. So they'll involve him here or
31:04
there. It's it's not their go to is not
31:06
like a deuce spawn, but he he can be a threat in the passing
31:10
game here and there. I'd say with with some of the
31:12
issues, you know, sorry, I think I'm reading the question from
31:19
last week. So I guess just tell us a little
31:21
bit more about you, what you think about the wide receivers
31:23
and tight ends. Yeah, continuing the tradition
31:26
of Utah kind of becoming the second tight end U if you will,
31:30
in addition to to the Iowa's of the world and the Georges with
31:33
Brock Bowers, you've got what Dalton Kincaid, you've got the
31:37
guy that that played both football and basketball for them
31:39
last year. They've got the the curly hair
31:41
dude. I think he's with the Broncos or
31:43
something. He got drafted.
31:45
But tell us a little bit more about your thoughts on these
31:47
tight ends and wide receivers for for Utah.
31:50
Tight ends, I mean, I thought they were a lot bigger than than
31:54
they were, but listed, I mean their starter, we say Bentley
31:57
was their starter. He's absolutely massive 64264.
32:01
So I mean, you get a guy like that on the on the out of tight
32:07
end, no one wants to go against that.
32:09
Let's just be honest. No one wants to have to fight
32:11
through that. And Tia, he's 64220.
32:15
These are the kind of guys that are in between.
32:18
They're not monsters like 6-7, like 6-7.
32:23
But you know, they're not giant people like Iowa State has a
32:28
tight end, but they're more fleet of foot and it's more
32:32
scary because if you go off of a hard play action and they're
32:36
running a drag across the field, it they're sometimes more, more
32:40
than likely they are wide open. So it's tough and that's in that
32:45
sense. But they can spread you out like
32:47
like you said with Ryan Davis. And we're going against another
32:51
one of those wide receivers that is very possessive catching.
32:55
But they can, they can get it done in that intermediate range
33:00
and they catch everything. And unfortunately, they catch
33:02
every single thing that's on their way.
33:06
I think I'm more scared of this run game.
33:08
I'm going to be honest. I think in the run game, I am
33:11
more afraid of Utah if if I do have to.
33:14
I know Dampier is having a really good season.
33:18
But I think if you can focus on controlling the run game, I'm
33:22
not afraid to leave Zayshon Rich out there.
33:24
I mean, I know if some people are down on Rich down on, I
33:30
think Fortenberry had a good game last game even they're
33:32
about to call for a penalty or two.
33:34
But I I'm OK with leaving our corners out there if that's what
33:38
it takes to be able to stop the run.
33:40
Because you're not going to win this game in any sense or try to
33:45
create the upset or be even in the game if you cannot stop the
33:49
run. And that means leaving these
33:50
corners one-on-one with these wide receivers.
33:53
And it might just have to be that way for this game.
33:57
The Titans are a different a different source because you we
34:02
play a lot of safeties, but our safeties aren't the biggest,
34:05
They're not the biggest. They're not like big box
34:07
safeties. And VJ Payne is having a down
34:11
season. I, I am concerned more about the
34:14
Titans than I am the wide receivers, but I'm more
34:18
concerned about the run game overall than I am of their
34:21
receiving core. If that makes sense.
34:23
If that, if that tier list that that hierarchy makes sense of
34:26
where I'm more concerned of this game because they could get ugly
34:29
if we're just letting them run. We we might lose by 30.
34:36
Maybe more if you look at my score prediction later in the
34:39
later in the episode defensive theme.
34:42
So I want to talk about Utah's defense will pivot over to that.
34:45
They're pretty salty crew as well.
34:47
Definitely falling into that tradition of of Kyle Whittingham
34:50
having having solid defensive groups, 10th in opposing points
34:55
per game with 16.3. That's 10th in the nation, 14th
34:59
in the nation in opposing third down conversion percentage.
35:02
So they're good at stopping you when it matters most.
35:05
They limit their opponents to 50% completion percentage, which
35:09
is an interesting stat. That's third nationally, 13th
35:12
overall in defensive efficiency, just across the board.
35:16
They're currently behind Texas Tech in a lot of different
35:19
defensive metrics, but they are second place behind them in
35:22
nearly every category when you just look at the Big 12 and when
35:26
you look nationally, they're kind of floating in that 10 to
35:29
20 range in in a lot of the defensive categories.
35:32
So this is very easily going to be the second best defense we
35:36
face all year and it's not too far behind where Texas Tech is
35:40
at currently. What have you seen primarily
35:44
from Utah's defense that scares you the most when you think
35:47
about the match up against K State?
35:49
Well, I, I, I don't necessarily think it's not Texas Tech
35:54
defense. I don't think it's Texas Tech
35:55
level of defense. I think that defense was very
35:59
spooky towards the end of the game because that pass rush, if
36:02
they get you in a certain situation, they, they control
36:08
the game with their defensive line, very similar to what Utah
36:12
wants to do. But Utah kind of really only has
36:15
one pass rusher that can really get after it.
36:19
John Henry Daily is one of those guys that scares the hell out of
36:22
me. I mean, he's very Brendan Mott
36:26
esque, very Brendan Mott. I mean he has the the the motor
36:31
of Ryan Mueller, but just in a bigger 64200 and 50 LB frame.
36:37
I think Ryan Mueller may have been like 6-1.
36:39
Maybe this guy gets after it. I think he reminds me a lot of
36:43
the guys from he was AD tackle though, the BYU guy that gave us
36:48
all hell last year, just a white defensive lineman that has a
36:52
motor. Just think of it that way and it
36:54
it's terrifying because he's got what, 10 sacks on the season and
36:58
he's disruptive in every single game I've ever seen, every
37:02
highlight I've seen of them when it comes to 3rd down, he is on
37:06
you. So I, I would imagine we're
37:09
sending double teams his way, which opens up a lot of things
37:13
for their defense where they can send, you know, stunt blitzes
37:17
and all kinds of different things at you.
37:20
But it really all rests on John Henry daily.
37:24
I think I'm saying his name right if I'm not.
37:26
Saying yeah, yeah, no, you are. John Henry daily, you know, just
37:30
a big Mormon kid from Utah. I don't imagine that would not
37:34
be Mormon. I don't know, but he he gets
37:39
after it. So we're going to have to send
37:40
double teams and if we're one-on-one with our offensive
37:43
line because Lane Gang, I don't know how healthy he is.
37:46
He came back in the game, but he got hurt at guard.
37:49
I don't know who we're going to. We are shuffling offensive line
37:52
again like we were at the beginning of the season.
37:55
That was a mistake. Why are we doing that?
37:57
Let's get one out there and just let him ride.
38:00
I don't like it. But Enos, Pastori, Lion Gang,
38:06
whoever we have at tackle, we need to be able to help them
38:11
either chipping with Oakley, chipping with Swanee, doing
38:15
something to make sure that this guy doesn't disrupt and their
38:17
defense as a whole all I think it comes down to his pass rush
38:21
on 3rd down and be. And they're just solid
38:24
everywhere else. They are solid as a rock
38:27
everywhere else, every. So just like you said, a winning
38:31
hand defense where everybody flies to the ball, everybody is
38:35
rock solid. No one's going to give up the
38:37
big play and make a giant mistake.
38:39
So I'm not looking forward to having to go through this
38:43
because it's one of those games where you can't, especially with
38:46
Jace being gone. No, Dylan Edwards, whatever, We
38:52
don't say his name anymore. But you know, my God, we're
38:55
losing playmakers left and right.
38:58
It's making it harder and harder to as an offense to be able to
39:02
exploit a a defense in general. But now you're facing a very
39:06
solid defense. I don't know.
39:09
I'm not I'm not looking forward to it, but I I really do.
39:13
I know we're going to talk D line, but I am really that is
39:16
the one guy I fear. I get the cold sweat just
39:18
thinking of John Henry daily. Yeah.
39:21
And John Henry Daily, yes, he is a just a big white Mormon guy
39:24
from Utah. He was originally at BYU and he
39:27
went to BYU after serving A2 year mission.
39:29
So this is a guy who is a red shirt sophomore at Utah who has
39:34
spent effectively five years out of high school.
39:37
So he's one of those old guys that you always complain about
39:40
having at BYU. They just happen to play for for
39:45
the other team in the in the holy war right now, but has
39:48
experience in both similar to Kyle Whittingham, fun, funny
39:52
enough. But to talk about this front 7,
39:55
John Henry Daly, you've already mentioned him. 9 1/2 sacks, 44
39:59
tackles, 77 yards of sack yardage.
40:02
So wreaking some havoc there. One pass deflection, 2 forced
40:06
fumbles. Definitely more in that mold of
40:09
like a Jacob Rodriguez as far as the havoc that he's generating
40:13
for four offenses regardless of position.
40:18
Cash Dillon is another guy defensive end it, it really does
40:21
drop off. You've got John Henry Daly at 9
40:23
1/2 sacks, 44 tackles. Then it really drops off.
40:26
You know, you, you don't have anybody else on the roster with
40:29
more than 3 1/2 sacks. So you got Cash Dillon,
40:32
defensive end, 3 1/2 sacks, 24 tackles, one force fumble.
40:35
Logan Fano, defensive end, 2 past deflections, 3 sacks, 31
40:40
tackles. And then you've got Trey
40:41
Reynolds. Just thinking about this.
40:43
Front 7 here. Linebacker, 1 1/2 sacks, 19
40:46
tackles, 2 interceptions. But this feels like an
40:49
everybody's got to eat type of type of front 7 or, or front 12,
40:53
if you will. They've got 12 guys between
40:56
linebackers and defensive line that have registered at least a
40:59
half a sack on the year, which shows that they've got
41:01
tremendous depth. I think at that position group,
41:04
those position group. So you know, whether whether
41:07
they're injured, whether they're healthy, whether they're
41:09
rotating those guys and it just shows that they've got depth.
41:12
They've got a lot of guys who have experience and it doesn't
41:14
matter, you know, if it's one of these, it probably does matter
41:18
if a John Henry Daily gets hurt. But maybe if some of these other
41:20
guys get hurt or have to rotate out, they're not going to see a
41:24
ton of of a gap in the production for for lack of a
41:29
better way to put it. But just looking at looking at
41:32
these groups, who do you think of these guys not counting John
41:36
Henry Daily? Is there another guy in this?
41:39
Group that you think is going to have a big day could have a big
41:44
day. I mean, it could be anybody.
41:47
I would, I would almost expect without much with how much
41:53
attention I would imagine that we're going to give John Henry
41:55
Daly that it might not even be another defensive lineman.
42:00
I think they would cook something up from the linebacker
42:04
core to maybe get it done. But if I had to, I mean,
42:09
defensive tackles could be, I mean, they've got some I thought
42:14
they would be a lot bigger on the defensive line.
42:17
I thought I thought they would have just like monster giant.
42:20
They probably do. I mean, I might not.
42:22
I might not have noticed somebody.
42:24
But Fanu, he's he's spooky. What is he he?
42:30
But he's only 249 lbs. He's a defensive end.
42:33
I mean, where's the D tackle that where the D tackles that
42:36
would kind of scare me. Maybe this guy.
42:39
See I I don't even see any 300 pounders that D tackle.
42:43
You would think that they would just have giant.
42:45
They've got just athletic freaks.
42:48
They've just got some quick defensive tackles.
42:51
I would. I thought they would have like
42:52
some 349 LB, you know? Like an USO.
42:57
Yeah, yeah, kind of guy, but they don't have that.
43:01
They they are all quick, they're all probably incredible shape
43:05
Polynesian studs. And yeah, it could be any number
43:10
of those guys. But I would I pressure could be
43:13
coming from everywhere. If I'm being honest.
43:15
I can imagine. I'm just, you know, premonitions
43:19
just come to me Willy nilly and I I see, I see pressure coming
43:24
from the linebacker core. I could see it happening right
43:27
now. Nope.
43:28
No, no doubt in my mind that Barton, that Lander Barton is
43:33
going to get a sack. All right, player prophecy,
43:37
Player prophecy. Lander Barton is getting a sack,
43:41
marking it down. Lander Barton sack.
43:44
OK, cool. Defensive back.
43:46
So they they do have I, I always, I always laugh when I
43:49
see a defensive back that has a sack on the season, probably
43:52
rotating in a guy nickel or running a blitz or something.
43:55
But you've got Smith, Snowden, cornerback, 26 tackles, 9 past
44:00
deflections, 1 interception. Jackson Benny, I may be
44:03
mispronouncing that safety. 45 tackles, 4 past deflections,
44:07
half a sack, 3 interceptions, with one of those being a pick
44:11
six. You got Elijah Davis,
44:13
cornerback, 30 tackles, 3 past deflections, one pick six in his
44:17
own right. And you know what?
44:20
I'm, I'm worried. I'm just worried because our
44:25
passing attack is can be good. It has moments where it's good.
44:28
It has moments where it's really bad.
44:30
You have moments where guys make incredible catches.
44:32
You have moments where guys are dropping the ball left and
44:34
right. When I think about this K State
44:36
offense, you've got guys who are injured right now, Jace Brown
44:40
out for the rest of the season. JB Bradley might return, I don't
44:45
know, doesn't seem promising. But you've also got guys like
44:50
Jeron Tibbs who have had major drop problems.
44:54
You've got Garrett Oakley who has had major drop problems.
44:57
What do you think Utah has to do to give us fits in the passing
45:01
attack and in specifically in our receiving game with these
45:04
DBS that they've got to make life difficult for those guys,
45:07
for the receivers and and for Avery to find guys who are open?
45:13
For me, I think it's the pressure.
45:14
I don't know if it's necessarily what the DBS do.
45:17
I don't know if we've seen all season that there has been a,
45:22
you know, a defensive backfield that has that has caused Avery
45:28
Johnson to stumble. I think a lot of where his
45:31
mistakes are made comes from pressure, whether it's him
45:36
rolling out, because we, we credit him so much his freshman
45:39
and sophomore season that he was very, you know, due diligent
45:44
with the ball, with his reeds and he wasn't willing to make
45:48
that critical air. And I think we all wanted him to
45:52
cut it loose. And he has cut it loose for the
45:54
most part. But he he makes that, he makes
45:58
that air now, especially it comes from pressure, whether
46:02
he's rolling, rolling to his right or left and he feels the
46:06
heat coming. He'll throw the ball there if
46:09
it's if he's standing in the pocket and he feels something,
46:12
you know, some pressure right up the middle, he's going to throw
46:16
that ball off his back foot. And it and the D BS feast on
46:19
that stuff. Because if they're in the zone,
46:21
if they're in a zone, these guys just like the Oklahoma State guy
46:27
Robertson, I mean, he is not nearly the athlete that, you
46:32
know, we've seen this season, former walk on.
46:35
But he is in the right place and he's playing the right technique
46:40
when they're sending heat. And Avery Johnson thinks he sees
46:44
something, but he's lurking. And that's exactly what that
46:47
Barney kid is. I think I'm saying it.
46:49
God, maybe it's Baney. Baney.
46:51
I don't think there's an R in there at all.
46:54
Baney. I wish we had an Utah guest on
46:56
here to straighten me out. Baney is Robertson, but on
47:04
steroids. That kid can he floats around.
47:08
He's a lanky, tall kid that is not afraid to stick his nose in
47:12
there. He's probably like second on the
47:15
team and tackles. He leads the team in
47:18
interceptions, like you said, with a pick six.
47:20
He floats around the ball and he's he's there.
47:24
And I think if Avery Johnson feels the heat from somebody
47:27
like like our boy John Henry, he'll throw that ball in there
47:32
and Bainy will be there lurking and he might even be the spy on
47:35
a couple of plays. It's very interesting to see
47:39
what they do with their their zone coverages where they bring
47:42
safeties down and bring safeties out and bluff blitzes and stuff
47:46
like that. It's going to be very
47:48
interesting to see what they do if they keep in vanilla or if
47:51
they try to, you know, fluster Avery in some way.
47:55
And I don't think they're going to even give Avery Johnson the
47:58
opportunity to run at all. I think Oklahoma State did a
48:02
really good job of that. They were like the first team in
48:05
a long time that said, you know what, Avery Johnson, you're
48:09
going to have to kill us from the pocket and we're going to
48:11
stunt you to death. And if you think you've got a
48:13
gap, there's a spy waiting for you.
48:16
And we're going to trust that our DBS can hold up against your
48:21
wide receivers and tight ends in coverage.
48:24
And you're going to have to make a great throw.
48:26
So I think Utah might do that or they might just say, you know,
48:30
hell with it. And we're going to blitz a lot
48:32
of people. And we're going to try to
48:34
confuse you on the back end on where we're covering.
48:36
And we, where we want you to throw the ball is where you're
48:39
going to throw the ball. And we'll be waiting for you.
48:41
So I, I, I'll be keeping my eye on this defense. 2 defensive
48:45
players, John Walker, I mean, John Henry and that Bainny kid,
48:50
those two Utah youths from Utah, local kids.
48:55
I, I'm, I'm dreading it. I am dreading it because they
48:59
are the, the guys that we, they're combinations of
49:03
everybody we've seen this season culminating into a hell storm of
49:09
a team that is just, it's just bad spot.
49:13
It's just a bad spot for us. I think it's a match up
49:17
nightmare, honestly. I just don't, I do not see us
49:20
getting anything good going on. We're.
49:23
So hurt. We're so banged up.
49:26
We're on the road for a second straight week coming off of a
49:29
lackluster performance. I mean, the worst thing that
49:34
could have happened is just we've had just the multitude of
49:37
injuries. I could see if we're having a
49:39
bad season, but we could because we're a talented team if we
49:42
could rebound. But if you're missing pieces, I
49:47
thought the depth would be better.
49:49
But the some of the things that I'm seeing is just not very
49:54
welcoming to and and is not providing the information I need
49:59
to say, hey, we can get it done. Maybe we won't win, but we could
50:03
put up a fight. I don't see a fight happening
50:05
here. Maybe we have Avery.
50:07
I don't know. Maybe Avery can put the Cape on
50:09
one, you know, one final time this season, maybe final time in
50:13
his career, Who knows? He puts it on for K State and we
50:18
can get something going, but I don't see it happening.
50:21
I, I see a lot of mismatch nightmares and we're going to
50:25
need a coaching wizardry here. And I, we haven't seen one of
50:29
those yet all season. They haven't coached up, but
50:32
maybe the KU game, they, they coached the hell out of that
50:35
game. But we need, we need another one
50:38
of those. That's a damn sure.
50:40
We need one of those performances from the coaching
50:42
staff to carry this team into this game.
50:47
Yeah, and, and Matt Wells can't play calls way out of a wet
50:50
paper sack honestly, right now. So I'm, I'm not, I'm not feeling
50:54
great about about really anything.
50:56
Last position group to get into last phase of the game to get
50:59
into special teams. I don't really have a whole lot
51:01
to write home about here. Dylan Curtis, place kicker.
51:04
He's 9 for 13 kicking the ball field goals, 15 or 5254 from
51:10
extra points. He is 2 for five from the 40 to
51:14
49 yard range. So he's less less accurate there
51:18
than he is from 50 plus where he's 2 for three.
51:21
So yeah, that's really all I have to say about that.
51:24
They're averaging 12 yards per kick return, 15 per punt return.
51:28
So it's not like they're getting tons of returns or touchdowns or
51:32
anything like that. Just seems like kind of your
51:33
run-of-the-mill special teams unit.
51:35
But I, I guess all of that is to say, hopefully it just ends up
51:39
being kind of a just net neutral special team situation.
51:43
And, and, and I will say K states has been better.
51:47
I, I would say it's been at least net neutral.
51:49
It hasn't hurt you all that much.
51:53
Not certainly not in the way that it hurts you middle of the
51:57
way through last season, through the first four games of this
52:00
year. It's at least been not to a
52:04
point where it's damaging you in the final outcome of the game
52:08
like it was in the first quarter of the season this year.
52:10
So I'm just hoping that this is kind of a net neutral situation.
52:14
But is there, is there anything from your standpoint that you
52:17
would want to mention special teams wise either for K State or
52:20
for Utah? Well, for special teams, when
52:22
you give me those numbers, I haven't looked at those special
52:25
team numbers at all. Nothing about their kicker
52:28
screams that he's amazing or, you know, bad.
52:31
But when you say that he's like shakier, he's shaky from those
52:36
40 yard distances and he's better from the 50 yard
52:39
distances and makes me wonder like what their aggressiveness
52:42
will be in that that middle, that middle range.
52:45
Are they going maybe you could look that up.
52:47
What are what's their statistics on 4th down?
52:49
I would love to see how many they've gone through for this
52:52
season because we've seen this defense for K State when teams
52:58
go for it on 4th down on I would imagine.
53:03
I mean, I'd hate to, I hate to throw out the negative thought
53:05
that we're one of the worst fourth down defenses out there
53:09
because I mean, obviously the numbers are going to be skewed
53:12
because of what Army did to us. But I'd hate to, you know, this
53:17
game where they're very physical, a fourth and one just
53:22
does not seem like why would they leave the field?
53:25
You know they are. They are 64% on 4th down
53:32
conversion percentage, which is 26th in the nation.
53:36
It's not bad, it's not great. Did they go for it a lot though?
53:42
Unclear. I don't I don't have, I don't
53:45
have that I I would need to do some a lot more digging to fight
53:49
that, but. Well, I mean, that's just seems
53:53
like my game plan. If I was a Utah fan, I would
53:56
want to go for it a lot more. I mean, you have a very good
53:59
offensive line, you have a very good running attack.
54:02
Obviously with the statistics hold that to be true, say that
54:06
to be true. So I mean, versus this Kansas
54:10
State defense for a team that's beat down that's, you know, not
54:14
having a great season and that's on the road, I would imagine
54:18
that Utah is going to be willing and able to be able to go for it
54:22
on 4th down and try to convert some of those, be ultra
54:25
aggressive. So I'm looking for that as well.
54:28
And I know that's not a special teams, but it kind of ties in
54:30
with special teams. Why kick field goals versus
54:33
Kansas State when you don't have to if you can just lean on this
54:36
offensive, this defensive line and push us around and try to
54:39
get 4th down conversions? All right, X Factor keys for the
54:45
victory, if if you're if you're Utah and you're going to win
54:48
Saturday or if you're K State and you're going to win
54:50
Saturday, what do you think of the keys for both, for both
54:53
teams? Yeah, I feel like I've been the
54:55
Utah representative this episode.
54:58
I don't, I would. I'm not, I'm not.
55:01
I never I haven't watched a full Utah game all season.
55:04
Didn't even watch the Texas Tech 1.
55:06
So I mean, I'm talking a lot, but you know, I'm just going off
55:09
of what I've seen highlights in and what the past was for Utah.
55:13
I would imagine that the game plan is still very much there
55:16
that they want to be the more physical team.
55:20
We've seen multiple games this season for Kansas State that we
55:25
were the less physical team and we got bullied around and we
55:28
kept our defense out on the field.
55:30
And that goes both ways because you know, as much as we want to
55:34
give guff to Matt Wells that he can't coach or whatever, If you
55:41
can't run the ball and your offensive line stinks, there's a
55:43
lot, a lot of play calls that you could call to make yourself
55:46
look really good when it's constantly second and ten or
55:50
second and 11 and you got to probably pass the ball because
55:54
you can't run the ball and it makes it very obvious and it
55:58
hurts. And luckily we have a, I would
56:01
say above average quarterback that can get some things done.
56:04
So he's my X Factor. Avery Johnson for Kansas State,
56:07
if we want anything to happen, we need Avery Johnson out of a
56:10
plus level throwing to God knows, maybe Sterling Lockett
56:13
has a breakout game. Garrett Oakley doesn't drop
56:15
passes that are bright in his midst and he's an actual, you
56:20
know, threat. Garrett Oakley's going to be
56:23
big. God, I, I hope Garrett Oakley
56:27
has a big game, but Avery Johnson is The X Factor.
56:30
And for like I've said multiple times, Utah's offensive line and
56:35
they're running game and their mobile quarterbacks are The X
56:39
Factor. If they could do that, there's
56:41
not a threat from Kansas State. If they just controlled, if
56:45
they, if they have what's what's the number of that?
56:49
I would want to say it is a, is it a 60?
56:53
Not a, it's not a 60 minute game, is it?
56:55
Yeah, it's a 60 minute game. 60 minute game.
56:58
If they have 38 minutes of possession, we lose this game.
57:07
If they have upwards of 38 1/2, that line is bad.
57:13
That's a very bad line. Time of possession. 38 minutes
57:17
is actually a lot. So no, kind of is.
57:21
Yeah, that's 8 minutes over. Yeah.
57:23
So, yeah, if they have 38 minutes, they win by a lot.
57:28
We have to keep this. We have to keep the ball.
57:30
We have to move the ball. We can't have the Oklahoma State
57:34
offense where we three straight 3 and outs to start the game.
57:38
We will lose by a lot because Oklahoma State couldn't score
57:41
touchdowns. Utah will score touchdowns.
57:43
So that's that's basically the game plan on the road.
57:46
You have to control the ball. You have to do things to get
57:49
Utah uncomfortable. I'm, I'm, I'm excited in the
57:55
turn in the sense of I don't know what's going to happen.
57:58
I've already set in my mind that this is not a game that we can
58:01
win. So if things are happening, I'm
58:04
be excited. I'm be excited.
58:06
If things are moving, I'm not. I'm not stressed about this game
58:10
whatsoever. I haven't sweated this game, not
58:13
even a little bit. And I don't, that's probably a
58:15
bad thing, but it's just where I'm at.
58:18
Damn, we've been tied up for an hour.
58:21
I honestly kind of forgotten that this game was going to
58:23
happen. I remember everybody circled
58:25
this match up before the season and thought, Oh well, this could
58:28
be the race for Arlington. This could be the two
58:31
representatives for the Big 12 in the what used to be the
58:35
Doctor Pepper Big 12 championship, now the Edward
58:37
Jones Big 12 Championship. That's going to be.
58:39
It's going to take some getting used to, but I think if Utah's
58:43
going to win Saturday, they just have to keep doing what they've
58:45
been doing. I mean, that don't change the
58:47
game plan at all. I think if K State's going to
58:50
win, it's going to take a combination of various different
58:55
things. I think it's going to take a
58:56
combination of Byrd Ficklin having to be the guy because
58:59
Devin Dampier can't go. Granted, Utah, it's a similar
59:05
style quarterback. It's a guy who can gash you in
59:08
the running game. So you need it to go the way
59:11
that that KU game. I know you've brought up the
59:13
Jalen Daniels comparison a number of times.
59:17
It's got to go the way of the KU game.
59:18
You've got to be able to contain them early.
59:22
Not that we even did that against KU because they scored
59:25
first on a special teams mishap, mind you.
59:30
So I think it's going to take a miracle.
59:33
You're going to need a big return or return for a
59:36
touchdown. You're going to need Avery to go
59:38
God Mode on Utah, like NCAA 25 God Mode, and you're going to
59:45
need to see some guys on the depth chart who haven't maybe
59:49
seen a ton of time. They haven't maybe seen a ton of
59:52
snaps or a ton of playing time or a ton of targets if they're
59:56
in the receiving core. But it's going to take those
59:59
guys stepping up and having the game of their lives and just
1:00:02
hoping and praying. That the fact that you don't
1:00:05
have a ton of tape on a guy like Sterling Lockett works to your
1:00:09
advantage. I I just don't see us being
1:00:13
competitive in this game unless miracles happen.
1:00:17
I see this being a Utah win 52 to 14.
1:00:25
Yeah, I mean, I don't know, That's a big ass number.
1:00:32
They're doing it just about everybody.
1:00:34
Yeah, they could do that. They could do that to us.
1:00:36
I I wouldn't put that up. Well, what the what was the
1:00:39
Texas Tech score versus US? They went 4040 to 20, something
1:00:45
like that. So.
1:00:46
Long ago now I don't even. When was that?
1:00:49
Four weeks ago, 4 weeks. 43 to 20. 43 to 20, yeah, I could see
1:01:00
it very similar to that. I would say if I had to put
1:01:03
money on it, I think they beat us 38, 23. 38 to 23, yeah.
1:01:15
I just actually, I changed that back.
1:01:17
I think, I don't know. We can't score that much.
1:01:19
We we will not score 38703870. OK, OK.
1:01:26
I just when I look at the apples to apples, I just do the fuzzy
1:01:29
math based on what we did against Tech.
1:01:32
I, I, I think they've got a better offense than Tech by
1:01:36
quite a bit. Yeah.
1:01:39
And am I wrong? No, you're not wrong at all.
1:01:42
They got a way more athletic quarterback.
1:01:44
They run the ball. I thought Texas Tech was going
1:01:47
to be able to run the ball a lot better than they did.
1:01:49
They didn't start doing that until the second-half.
1:01:53
Their running game is way better.
1:01:55
Their off its line is a ton better.
1:01:58
Their defense not as good, but I don't think they need that.
1:02:03
We're so banged up. I mean, we have a collection of
1:02:07
offense that was the best that we were going to have all season
1:02:11
and we don't have that at all anymore.
1:02:15
So it's it's offense is way worse than what we were playing
1:02:19
against with Texas Tech. And our defense is just as hurt,
1:02:23
if not more. Yeah, we're we're missing
1:02:26
Romain. Yeah, we're yeah, we're way
1:02:29
worse. So yeah, it could.
1:02:31
It could get, it could get ugly, but it could be fun.
1:02:35
It could be fun. I I'm not expecting it to be fun
1:02:38
similar to you, but I'm I'm right there with you.
1:02:41
Player prophecy if you have a player prophecy.
1:02:43
I know you mentioned Lander Barton getting a sack for Utah.
1:02:46
Any anything else coming to your mind?
1:02:48
I've got 5 Garrett Oakley pass drops.
1:02:54
That's actually really funny. 5 drops is is too big of a number,
1:02:58
but I could definitely see 222, like blatant ones too.
1:03:02
Like he'll catch like some absurd pass, like where the guy
1:03:06
giving him a pic like he's giving a piggyback ride to
1:03:09
somebody and he'll catch it. But you know, 1A middle screen
1:03:12
and he just drops it. Then it was like a clear first
1:03:14
down. Yeah, I can see that.
1:03:16
I'm going to go probably a little more positive.
1:03:20
I think we have, I think we have 220 yards passing from Avery
1:03:32
with 35 yards rushing, and he's responsible for all of our
1:03:38
touchdowns, OK? The two touchdowns that we
1:03:43
score, I think he's responsible for those.
1:03:47
And Rodriguez doesn't miss a kick.
1:03:49
God damn it, that kick that I don't know if I just muted
1:03:54
myself, but that that was very frustrating.
1:03:58
But I don't know if you watched the game, if you even noticed
1:04:02
when you were, you did watch the game, obviously.
1:04:04
When you watched the game, did you see Chris Kleiman?
1:04:08
Like, was he dog walking Rodriguez right there?
1:04:12
What was that? Was that him that he was yelling
1:04:15
at? Or what was that?
1:04:16
He looked like he was riding his ass about something and I'm
1:04:19
like, dude, that. That was a little and then he
1:04:22
missed the kick. I'm like, oh right, yeah.
1:04:24
Whoa. Who was he yelling at?
1:04:25
I. Didn't understand because it
1:04:27
happened. Yeah, because it happened in
1:04:29
between. Like he got iced and they called
1:04:31
the time out and then he went out there and then he missed it.
1:04:34
So like climbing got in his head I think.
1:04:37
Yeah, I it, it looked like he, because he looked like he went
1:04:41
back to the sideline to grab something, but he didn't grab
1:04:43
anything. And then he came back out and
1:04:45
they missed the kick. I was like.
1:04:47
It was weird it. Was very weird.
1:04:48
I don't know who he was yelling at though, that was the thing.
1:04:51
But he was that was probably the most livid I had seen him in a
1:04:54
launch, like towards a player and ever maybe.
1:04:59
Yeah, that was crazy that. Was very weird.
1:05:01
That was very weird. I'm glad you brought that up
1:05:03
because in the moment too, I've really scratched my head was
1:05:06
like, what the what is he? Who is he yelling at?
1:05:08
It was super weird. Awesome.
1:05:10
Well, Chef, is that that's going to do it.
1:05:13
That's going to do it for our game preview for Utah.
1:05:15
Any final words before we get out of here?
1:05:18
No, I mean, I think we should all keep be a little bit more
1:05:22
positive. I know, I know there's things
1:05:24
that we want to see changed. I think we need to be realistic
1:05:29
about things and I think all things will work out.
1:05:31
I think they're these people are there's a lot of inadequacies
1:05:37
that, you know, every level of athletics and life in general,
1:05:42
people that you think should be taking more responsibility.
1:05:46
People. I think people have a good grasp
1:05:49
on what needs to be done at Kansas State.
1:05:52
I think they have a good grasp on what who's in control of
1:05:56
things and I think we have the right leadership in charge.
1:06:01
If I had to, if I had to be honest, I think we are on, we
1:06:05
are in a better spot than it seems.
1:06:07
We have a down year, but I think we need to be a little bit more
1:06:11
positive. I'm not going to say that
1:06:14
negative thoughts aren't wrong, but there's definitely some
1:06:18
negative opinions that are absolutely 100% correct.
1:06:21
But I think we need to, you know, take a step back from the
1:06:24
ledge, breathe a little bit, and then, you know, it just keeps
1:06:30
going. We'll be fine.
1:06:31
Everything will be fine, boys. Everything will be fine.
1:06:34
I Yeah. If we swing and miss or if we
1:06:38
don't swing at all, it's still either a ball or a strike.
1:06:41
Let's go, boys. Well, don't tune into this
1:06:45
podcast. If we if we end up losing to
1:06:47
Colorado, then Chef, I will just spare you the spare you the
1:06:51
negativity. That won't happen.
1:06:52
Just we'll we'll be calling. I, I am, I'm with you on that.
1:06:58
I'm just I, I had to had to throw that out there.
1:07:01
That's going to do it for us today.
1:07:02
Once again, shout out to Auntie Maze.
1:07:04
Visit www.auntiemaze.com for a full list of their upcoming
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Wildcat country. That's room.
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It's a great falsetto you have there.
1:08:11
Thanks. Let's wrap it.