Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Dan Sorensen on the Holy War win, Recruiting impact of the win, Previewing Saturday at Arizona + more

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Dan Sorensen on the Holy War win, Recruiting impact of the win, Previewing Saturday at Arizona + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 at 92.1 FM.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Sean O'Connell Show. James Peterson filling in for OC today.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: And it's a Wednesday, which you know what that means.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: It's a Ute Zone Wednesday, which means we get to
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: talk to Dan Sorensen, publisher of Ute Zone.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: Welcome in, Dan.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: How are you?
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: I'm living the dream. Look. Who doesn't want to cover
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: a 9-0 team that's second-ranked in the nation and, frankly,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: that has a bunch of big challenges ahead? The story
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of this season has been incredible so far. The ending,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: of course, has yet to be written. This is everything
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: you want. If you want to be a big time
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: college football program, you want your team playing in big
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: time games and executing and winning those. And we've seen
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Utah do that. We sat against Houston. We sat against Cincinnati.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: We sat against BYU. The opportunity is there against a
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: very good Arizona team. And it's just going to keep going.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Just what a, what a great time to be alive
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: for a youth fan.
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  Speaker 3: Speaker 2, it really is.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: And there's lots of parallels to this season and I've
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: mentioned the Oh eight season so far. And I want
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: to ask you about that a little bit here in
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: a second, but there's also a lot of parallels to
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  Speaker 2: that seven years ago, 2019. The only difference is 2019.
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  Speaker 2: They already had one loss on the record at this
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  Speaker 2: point in the season, but they were a top five
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: team in the CFP. That's the last time they were
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: ranked that high in the CFP rankings. And Paul Feinbaum
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  Speaker 2: was getting Utah fans and their feelings around that time
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  Speaker 2: around this time of year. when they were a top
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: five team in the CFP rankings.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: And guess what? Oh, look at that.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Paul Feinbaum has struck again for Utah fans. You were
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: doing a Ute's own radio on the station back then, Dan,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: I was producing the show for.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: You back then.
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  Speaker 2: And I remember you distinctly Oklahoma was, was a team
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: that Paul Feinbaum and others were, and Oklahoma fans of
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  Speaker 2: course were We're saying, how is Utah ranked ahead of us?
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  Speaker 2: And Paul's saying, no way they should be ranked this high.
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  Speaker 2: And I remember you saying, Utes fans, wear out OK Boomer.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: with all the Oklahoma fans and your mentions this week.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. It was funny with fine bomb, right? The, the
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  Speaker 1: only opinion that guy ever has is whatever the sec
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  Speaker 1: commissioner tells him to have. So, and, and, and look,
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  Speaker 1: he's made infinitely more money than me and has more
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  Speaker 1: influence than I, of course, based on being a shill
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  Speaker 1: for that conference and it's self-fulfilling prophecy of just self-proclaiming
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  Speaker 1: that they're all great. And so if anybody beats them
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  Speaker 1: and they lost to a great team, even if you're
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: a Auburn team with a losing record and you're playing
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  Speaker 1: them at home and you lose to them, that's, that's,
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  Speaker 1: that's much better than a win over a top 10
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  Speaker 1: team or a top 15 team. And, and, and Paul
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  Speaker 1: loves that kind of logic. And, and it makes sense
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: why so much of the South is so backwards, but
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: did I say that out loud? Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Look, it's, You promised me a good soundbite like you
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  Speaker 2: did for Spence the other day.
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  Speaker 3: So there you go. I appreciate that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess Paul can put his big boy pants
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  Speaker 1: on as well. But look, this is exactly what you
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: want if you're a Utah fan, if you're in the
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Utah program. Morgan Scalia, I love it. After the game,
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  Speaker 1: fans are rushing the field. It's pandemonium. The ABC television
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  Speaker 1: crew is right there with the microphone in Scali's face.
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  Speaker 1: They're being absolute professionals. People are bouncing around. And what's
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  Speaker 1: the first thing out of Morgan's mouth? He says, this
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: was a big win, but it's not the win. We
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  Speaker 1: got another one to go next week, 1-0. While the
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  Speaker 1: entire Ricycle Stadium is going nuts behind him. And that's
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  Speaker 1: really the focus of this team. The fact that, yes,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: they have these big moments. They know that if they
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  Speaker 1: take care of business in the moment, and like I said,
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  Speaker 1: they did it against Houston. They did it against Cincinnati.
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  Speaker 1: They did it against BYU. This Arizona game is going
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: to be a tough one. Noah Fafita is no joke.
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  Speaker 1: I will take him up against just about any quarterback
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  Speaker 1: in the SEC in terms of being able to will
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  Speaker 1: his team to get points. He's immensely talented. There's a
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  Speaker 1: reason that he's had the career he's had and that
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  Speaker 1: he's going to be the all-time great when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to the Arizona football program. And he's a guy that's
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: got a grudge against the Utes. So, once again, a test.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: that they've got to pass. They know that they've got
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: to go 1-0 every week, and they're going to do that.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: So the fine bombs of the world can say what
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: they say. The ESPN, they've got their agenda that they're
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: trying to sell hard so that they can make money,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: and I can say that because I'm not affiliated with them. But,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it's the reality of it. All Utah has
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: to worry about is when, just the Al Davis stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Just when, baby. If they want to know this week,
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  Speaker 1: want to know next week, want to know the next week,
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  Speaker 1: they're standing in Arlington, want to know that week, they're
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: probably in the fiesta or the Rose Bowl. And that's
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  Speaker 1: a huge dream, but there's a lot that has to
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  Speaker 1: happen for that to come to play.
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  Speaker 2: You're right, and it's the mindset that Morgan has to
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  Speaker 2: have as the head coach. It's the mindset that Morgan
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  Speaker 2: has to give his players and still in his players
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  Speaker 2: so that they don't have a letdown. There's three games
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  Speaker 2: left in this season. You beat BYU, but there's still
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  Speaker 2: three games left. One of them is the very next week,
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  Speaker 2: this Saturday, against a ranked team on the road. You
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  Speaker 2: mentioned Fafita, who's been a Ute killer recently. over the
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  Speaker 2: last few years, that all being said to the fan base,
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  Speaker 2: to just about everyone who loves college football here in
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  Speaker 2: the state of Utah, Utah, BYU is the game you
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: were there. What was it like being in the stadium
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  Speaker 2: for that? When Utah breaks a three game losing streak,
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  Speaker 2: a streak that spans seven years. So it felt much
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  Speaker 2: bigger than a three game losing streak. So many recruits
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  Speaker 2: were in the building recruits that had either committed or
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  Speaker 2: had been leaning BYU, but Utah's also in on them
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  Speaker 2: and vice versa. Just how big was it for Utah,
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  Speaker 2: not just for this season, but in the big picture,
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  Speaker 2: to finally get the monkey off the back, beat BYU
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  Speaker 2: again at Rice Eccles Stadium on Saturday?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, a few thoughts. So first of all, right before
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  Speaker 1: the game, I wrote a piece talking about Morgan Scali
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  Speaker 1: and the RSNB culture and how this was an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: under the spotlight to put that culture on display. And
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: we talk about it a lot, especially at Youth Zone.
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  Speaker 1: This RSNB thing, it's not live, laugh, love on the
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  Speaker 1: wall while you go scream at a customer service agent
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  Speaker 1: in real life because you're minorly inconvenienced. This is something
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  Speaker 1: that they say every day. They live it. They breathe it.
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  Speaker 1: And the hypothesis that Morgan Scali has had is that
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  Speaker 1: if you have the right culture with the right kinds
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  Speaker 1: of people in the program that buy in and the
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  Speaker 1: right kind of talent, that you're going to have a
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  Speaker 1: championship caliber team. And that's bearing out. And BYU is,
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  Speaker 1: once again, another proof point that that hypothesis is true.
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  Speaker 1: is playing true, and that was really, really important. When
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  Speaker 1: you look at the game, look, that might be the
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  Speaker 1: best college football game I have ever seen in my
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: entire life. Both sides, I cannot credit BYU enough for
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  Speaker 1: the fire that they brought, for the way that they
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: schemed to try to stop Dampier and this crazy, bonkers
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Kevin McGiven offense, for how hard their defense played, for
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  Speaker 1: how well they played in... Pretty much every play minus
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: five plays in the game that all happened to end
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: up with the ball in Utah defender's hands or close
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  Speaker 1: to it. It was one of the most back and
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: forth games I've ever seen. It was sold as a
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: heavyweight title fight. It absolutely played out that way. I'm
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: about to publish a film study piece on Utah and
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: where I just show the absolute back and forth. BYU
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  Speaker 1: forces a fumble. Utah gets a pick. BYU drives down
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  Speaker 1: the field. They're about to score. Utah gets the pick.
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  Speaker 1: Utah takes the lead. And it's just a back and
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  Speaker 1: forth thing in every single. play, especially in that second half.
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  Speaker 1: It's like you were holding your breath for five to
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: 13 seconds to see what was going to happen because
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: every single guy that was on that field was giving
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: everything he had. He was playing like his life depended
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  Speaker 1: on it. It was beautiful. What a great football game.
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  Speaker 1: What a great way to showcase What football is like
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  Speaker 1: in the state of Utah to the nation. And look,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: and we're seeing it all the time. All these guys
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  Speaker 1: from SEC country coming, oh, we're going to go check
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  Speaker 1: out Utah or BYU. And this is this quaint little thing.
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  Speaker 1: And they leave going, oh my gosh, Utah is like us.
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  Speaker 1: They're one of us. This is a football crazy place.
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  Speaker 1: And this was a perfect showcase of it. Loved it.
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  Speaker 1: Loved what I saw. The atmosphere was amazing. We've run
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  Speaker 1: 30 stories on on recruits, most of them four or
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  Speaker 1: five star players that have just, just glowing reviews about
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  Speaker 1: not just the game, not just the crowd. And they
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: did a great job. Good job. Must good job. North
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  Speaker 1: end zone. Good job, Utah crowd. But, but yeah, Just
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  Speaker 1: in the whole experience that the program created, and there
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  Speaker 1: are guys that Utah might have been on the periphery
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  Speaker 1: to recruit, especially for next year, that all of a
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  Speaker 1: sudden they've jumped up to be the frontrunner to grab
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  Speaker 1: these guys and their major national recruits. This was a
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  Speaker 1: statement game. It was an important game. And Morgan Scali,
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  Speaker 1: smart guy, he knows that, yes, it was important, but
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't mean anything if they don't follow up and
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  Speaker 1: continue winning. And that's where the focus is now.
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  Speaker 2: recruiting impact of a Holy war win in,
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  Speaker 2: in general, but this one in particular being, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the biggest build one in the history of the rivalry,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: both teams in the top 10, both teams with realistic
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: college football playoff aspirations, one team with an undefeated season
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: aspiration in Utah, still alive. But in your estimation, how
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: many guys may have, who may have been leaning BYU
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: or other teams that were invited to this, to this
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  Speaker 2: game may have flipped to, hey, now I'm really considering
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Utah a lot more, or do you think that this
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: is something that still needs to play out more? What's
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: the impact on the recruiting of the guys who were
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: in the building for that Holy War game in your estimation?
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, the answer is a little bit of yes,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: all the way around. So breaking it down in a
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: couple of ways. So number one is when you look
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: at the 2027 class, most of the guys that were
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: 2027 recruits are guys that were committed to Utah already.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: So they had roughly 80% of their committed class that
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: were there. A lot of the Texas guys came, the
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Idaho guys came. came to this one. Of course, a
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: ton of the in-state guys. It was the place to be.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: So they had a chance to get a lot of
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: their current committed guys that will sign in three weeks,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: because signing day is three weeks from today, to shore
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  Speaker 1: things up, make sure that things are locked down, that
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  Speaker 1: sort of thing. They had one uncommitted guy in this
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  Speaker 1: class in Noah Fiafia. He's the best running back in
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: high school football in the state of Utah. This year.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: He was committed to Utah state. He's, I think he's
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: very much leaning Utah right now. BYU is getting in
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  Speaker 1: the game with him and they'll, they'll give their push
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: and they'll give their pitch. Michigan's getting in the game,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: but that's such a dumpster fire. Who knows what that's
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: going to look like, but, but that's what they did for,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: for the 2022 recruits, which were roughly 40% of the
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: kids that were there. So the rest of the kids,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: there was a big crop of 2028 kids. And People
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: need to understand in the state of Utah in the
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: class of 2028, it's the best crop of talent this
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: state has ever seen. There is more high-end, meaning high three-star, four-star, five-star,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: there's talent. There's more high-end talent in Utah for next
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: year's senior class than there is in the state of California.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: And that's a real thing. A national analyst told me that.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: And I believe it. When you look at guys like
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: Maui Tonada and Tayo Fano and And you just go
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: down the line of amazing football players. And Utah, to
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: a man, they did an amazing job of selling the program.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: So Maui Tanata is the number one player in the
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: state of Utah. He's a five-star kid. Everybody thinks he's
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: a Miami guarantee. And just last night, he tells Greg
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: Biggins of Rivals, who is, of course, our national partner, That, yeah,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Utah is in the game right now because they impressed me.
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  Speaker 1: They changed my mind. And with a lot of those
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: high-level four-star guys, yeah, all of them liked Utah. All
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  Speaker 1: of them liked Scali. Then they went and had that experience.
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  Speaker 1: And they had the experience that they had with the coaches.
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  Speaker 1: And they got to see and look at that culture point.
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  Speaker 1: They sell it all day long. And they got to
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  Speaker 1: see it. And they got to show that they live it.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: And multiple guys, Malosi Ilaoa, who is a four-star safety,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: direct quote from him, you can see that they live
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: their culture on the field. And that's what they were
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: trying to show. And that's what they're trying to sell
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: these kids. is this culture will make your dreams come
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  Speaker 1: true and will make you better, man, and you'll have
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: a lot of fun and win a lot of football
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: games while you're playing with us. And that pitch is
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  Speaker 1: starting to work. Now, we're an entire year away from
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  Speaker 1: any of these kids signing, so there's a lot that
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: needs to happen between now and then for Utah to
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: convince them to sign, for Utah to hang on to them.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: There's the NIL conversation, which is a whole other– ball
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: of worms, if you will. And so there's a lot
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: needs to happen, but make no mistake, Saturday was a
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: very important day. They were intentional in the way they
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: were showcasing the program and they hit a home run
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: with every single kid that was on those sidelines in
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: those stands, walking through the locker room in the program
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: that day.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: That's got to be music to your ears, Utes fans.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: This interview with Dan Sorensen here from Ute Zone. On
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: a Ute Zone Wednesday here on the Sean O'Connell Show,
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: James Peterson filling in for OC today. I mean, that's
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: exactly what you want to hear about your college football program,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: the one that you root for, the one that maybe
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: you're an alum of the school there.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Maybe you're in the must right now. Moving on to
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: this week in Arizona.
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  Speaker 2: This is about as tough a game as you can
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: imagine coming off of a highly emotional, highly important in-state
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: rivalry game.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: Arizona's 23rd in the country.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: I think they probably should be ranked a little bit
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: higher than that. It's kind of dumb that they moved
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: down one despite winning. But that aside... It's in Tucson.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Utes have a two-game losing streak against Arizona. Noah Fafita
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: has been the quarterback for both of those games. It's
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: been a different head coach for each of those games,
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: but Brent Brennan's really doing some good things down in Tucson.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: The biggest advantage you think Utah has over Arizona, and
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: the flip side, biggest concern Utah should have in Tucson
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: on Saturday?
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, biggest advantage is Devin Dampier and that crazy, bonkers,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: kooky offense that Utah has. Look, BYU did a great
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: job scheming against it. They stopped a lot of things.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Arizona's got a solid defense, but not nearly as good
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: as what BYU has. We saw in spurts where Utah
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: could move the ball and move the ball at will.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: They've got smart coaches. They're picking up things on film.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: And so Devin damp here and what he can do
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: and how he can, you know, point guard his way
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and the offense's way through moving the chains through getting
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: points on the board. You know, we know that way
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Sean's a little bit dinged up. How much of a
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: factor is he going to be? But, but I do
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: think that that Utah offense is, is an advantage and
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: it's something they haven't seen before. And, and we're seeing
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: something happen with Devin and it looked at when Devin
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: tries to do too much, it's generally not a good thing.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: He's gotta be in flow. He's gotta be in rhythm,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: but he will, when he is in flow, when he
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: is in rhythm, when he's playing, backyard football with the
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: additional knowledge that he has. Cause he's so good at
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the pre snap reads and reading the defense, understanding what
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: they're bringing to him and making good decisions. Uh, Utah
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: is really tough to be, and they will be tough
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: to beat. And so I, that's the thing that Utah
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: fans need to be able to be able to bank
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: on and, and why they should be optimistic about the
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: use against Arizona is damp here in this offense and
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: what they might be able to do because Arizona has shown,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: especially at times. Layton games where they fade, they give
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: up the wrong thing. They've had a hard time meeting
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: the moment, especially with the two best teams that they've played.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: If you're a Ute fan and something keeps you up
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: at night, certainly if you're a Ute coach, Noah Fafita,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is the Dampier versus Fafita showdown. And
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Noah Fafita is a guy that can win football games
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: by himself. Yes, Arizona's had a bunch of their wide
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: receiving core hurt. Yes, Arizona has a hard time running
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: the ball. They don't really have a marquee back. Look,
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: their leading rusher for the season's got 373 yards on
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: the season rushing, and he's averaging less than four yards
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: per carry. They are not great at the traditional running
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: of the of, of the football. But Safida has a
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: top 10 guys statistically in almost every meaningful category that
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: there is in college football for a quarterback. He's completing
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: 73% of his passes, which is insane. 9.1 average yards
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: per completion. Also very, very good. He's thrown for 2700 yards.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: 21 touchdowns versus five interceptions. And once again, look, he's
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: a guy that's super mobile. He's really slippery. He's only
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: rushed for 135 yards for the season. And that's not
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: something that really is his game. He's going to always
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: try to extend the play and move the ball with
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: his arm. And that bears out in the sack totals.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: He's been sacked 22 times. So it's not like Arizona
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: has this great offensive line, but the thing is, so
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: feed it can get sacked and get sacked again, and
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: then can hit you on a 35 yard seam route that,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: that he, he throws off of his back foot. Cause
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: two guys are hitting them at the same time. And
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: then they're in business and they score like that's just
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: the kind of thing that he's done. all through his career.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: And he's especially done it to Utah. So he's the
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: guy that Utah fans can worry about. Utah should have
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: a good, do a good job stopping the run. Arizona
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: is not a good run team. Anyway, it's going to
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: be all about, can you stay disciplined against Rafita? And
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: especially with those cornerbacks. And it's one of the issues
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: that we've seen all year. I discipline, you cannot, cannot,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: cannot look into the backfield and see what he's doing.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: You've got to own your coverage responsibilities. and listen for
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: the whistle on the crowd and, and do your job.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Cause if you get caught peaking, so feed it is
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: going to beat you. And he's going to beat you
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: time and time again.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's definitely the biggest thing that Utah has got
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: to be great at in order to come out alive
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: in Tucson Saturday night for sure. But I mean, they
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: get past Arizona. Dan, obviously TCU has got a really
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: great defense. That one has like a Colorado game type
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: vibe to me is potential there for TCU to stay
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: in the game. For that reason, West Virginia, we saw
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: what they did against Texas Tech last week. They can
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: score on you in the run game if you're not
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: disciplined enough and you're not on your A game against
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: West Virginia. But if they come out clean against Arizona,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: stay undefeated 10-0, all of a sudden you're thinking about,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: could this be an undefeated regular season for the Utes
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: if you're a Utah fan? The last time Utah was
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: 9-0 to start a season was 2008. The last time
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: Utah was number two in the AP and they didn't
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: have the CFP rankings back then, but this first time
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: they're ranked this high in the CFP rankings, but last
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: time they were ranked this high in any official ranking
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: was the end of the 08 season after they won
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: the Sugar Bowl over Alabama.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Should Utah fans.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: start dreaming about, Hey, could this be 2008 all over again,
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: at least for an undefeated regular season?
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Speaker 4, almost it is almost time. Look, all three
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: of those games. And you mentioned them Arizona. This can
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: be a tough matchup. You got to win and see
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: how Davis think just win baby. Doesn't matter by who
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: cares about point spreads. Who cares?
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Speaker 1, points matter for this game. Absolutely.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Yep, just get out of the win. If Utah gets
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: out of this win, they're going to be heavily favored
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: their last two. They're not gimmies by any stretch of
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: the imagination. You mentioned TCU, and that defense is legit. Look,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: the offense doesn't do much, and they coughed away just
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: a spectacular collapse at Arizona last week as one of
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: the most spectacular losses. last five minutes of a fourth
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: quarter I've ever seen in terms of giving a game away. But, uh,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: but you're traveling a long distance. It's hard to play
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: at TCU. They've got, they generally play well at home.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Their defense is great. So Utah is going to, if
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: they beat Arizona, they're going to have to stay sharp there.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: And then you get West Virginia and you mentioned them
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: in that offense. Look, I think that they're hell bent
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: on losing every game, 52 to 49, because it seems
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: like all of them are that way. But, uh, And
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: it's going to be tough for West Virginia. Look, altitude
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: not so much, but that two time zones is going
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: to matter. And whenever the kickoff time is going to matter.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: And Utah is going to be playing for something, especially
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: that's going to matter. But none of these are gimmies.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: They don't have a lay down for the rest of
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: the year. But if they beat Arizona, yeah, start dreaming.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: And it's still 1-0. They beat TCU. dream harder. They
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: beat West Virginia dream exceptionally hard. They'll probably have Texas
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: tech in the conference title game. If, if everything goes
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: according to whatever the, the, the model spit out in
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: terms of what to expect, and that's going to be
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: a dog fight as well. And so, but if they
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: get past that and they can get that first round
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: by in the playoff, this is a weird college football year.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: There's not a team that I've seen that doesn't have
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: a weakness. I mean, the team that I, if I,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: if you get that far, you know, Georgia probably scares
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: me the most of anybody in terms of how Utah
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: matches up against them. But. you're at the point where
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: anything can happen. And when you've got a team that
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: believes in themselves and the culture and, and that you've
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: got a guy like Devin Dampier that can do unhuman things,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: a lot can happen. So it looks, the fact that
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: we're even having this conversation is wild to me. I
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: did not, this was not on my bingo card in
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: terms of thinking, Oh, could Utah actually be the national champion?
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: I was not an expectation. Um, but I, They win
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: this Saturday, man, you can start dreaming hard.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: That's exactly how I was thinking, Dan. I feel like OC,
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: he's a superstitious guy. I feel like he's not bringing
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: it up because he's superstitious about it, and he's obviously
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: a Ute through and through and pulling for the Utes
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: to win every game.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: But I'm like, man, this is a great talking point.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, the last time Utah was this good was
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: the last time they went undefeated. Like, what a great
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: time to be a Ute. Thank you so much, Dan,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: for hopping on and giving us some time here. What
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: do you got going on promotions-wise or things you got
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: coming up? Reasons for fans to join Ute Zone or
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: fans who are members of Ute Zone, what should they
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: be looking forward to here as the season winds down?
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, look, Ute Zone is the place. Look, if you're
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: a Utah football junkie, if you live and die with
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: every play, if you play that NCAA video game and
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: your favorite thing is the roster management and the recruiting,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: and you're not on Ute Zone, you belong with us.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: It is a community full of.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: People like myself that just live and breathe and die
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: for this stuff. The conversations are amazing. The community is hopping.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: It's been so much fun. We're the hashtag team fun guys.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: It's been crazy fun the last couple of weeks, the
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: whole season really. And it's, It's just a great place
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: to be. You're not going to see trolls. You're going
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: to just be around people that you like, and you're
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: going to get some cool content. I'm going to do
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: a huge film breakdown today and show some of those
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: things that we haven't seen some of the national film
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: nerds show and what Utah does and why the things
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: they're doing are special. And so you're going to see
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: just a lot more of that. We've been running a
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: 75% off special for an annual subscription. It just ended yesterday.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: But tell you what, if you sign up today and
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: you shoot me a board mail once you do, I'll
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: give you some instructions and we'll get you in on
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: that 75% off deal. That's $ 30 for a whole year
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: of being able to hang out with your closest diehard
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: crazy fan friends. It's the place to be.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: And just for you listeners of the Sean O'Connell Show,
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Utah fans who like to tune in whenever we do
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: a Ute Zone Wednesday with Sammy or Dan here, they're
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: going to extend that Holy War 75% off annual subscription
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: discount just for today.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: Be sure to join today. And you said shoot. you
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: a board message when you join, when you join, shoot.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Me a board message so that I know that it's you.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I'll give you the instructions and, and they'll, they'll, they'll,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: they'll charge you the, whatever they're charging and, but they'll,
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: they'll credit you back immediately. The support team at on
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: three is amazing. So yeah, let's make it happen. Come
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: on board.
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Hey, Dan, thank you so much for your time and look,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: looking forward to a Saturday.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to Sammy next week. Catch up with you
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: later on in the season.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Perfect. Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: That's Dan Sorensen from Ute Zone joined today to get
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: that special 75 percent off annual subscription.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: We love our guys over at Ute Zone. You should
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: love them, too, if you're a Utah football fan.