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Ari Temkin on a great weekend for the Big 12, BYU's win over Notre Dame, Utah's ugly win over Colorado + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
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  Speaker 1: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM. Welcome back
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  Speaker 1: to the Sean O'Connell Show. Welcome in our good friend
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  Speaker 1: from Big 12 Radio on TuneIn, Ari Temkin, Big 12 Insider,
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  Speaker 1: who he's been watching these games even closer than most
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  Speaker 1: of us have. Ari, welcome.
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  Speaker 2: How are you?
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  Speaker 3: So, C, what's up, buddy? Huge weekend for the Big 12.
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  Speaker 3: Great weekend for the Big 12, my friend.
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  Speaker 1: Massive, massive weekend. Look, we got Utah football to talk about, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: but I'm not going to bury the lead here. BYU
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  Speaker 1: gets the win over Notre Dame in Provo. Big stage,
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  Speaker 1: college game day, the whole thing, and the BYU Cougars
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  Speaker 1: improve 6-0. I mean, Bear Pockmeyer with an incredible game.
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  Speaker 1: The defense played great. Tell me your take away.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, it was not a perfect game.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that is probably the most important part
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  Speaker 3: of this win for BYU is historically the Big 12
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  Speaker 3: in those types of games have needed to play near
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  Speaker 3: perfectly in order to win. And, you know, I mean, look,
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  Speaker 3: there's a muffed punt. There's a, you know, really puzzling
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  Speaker 3: call to go for it from Kalani that you know, in, in,
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  Speaker 3: in previous iterations of that type of matchup, a top
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  Speaker 3: two matchup like that, top two, top 10 teams, the
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  Speaker 3: big 12 historically has just struggled in and, you know,
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  Speaker 3: bear Bachmeier when the chips were down, the defense for
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  Speaker 3: Notre Dame, one of the best in the country, if
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  Speaker 3: not the best in the country had held them to
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  Speaker 3: 36 total yards, the entire second half, they needed to drive.
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  Speaker 3: They got the drive. I think it's not just about
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  Speaker 3: the win itself, but how the win went down. And that's,
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  Speaker 3: I think, in many ways, what makes it monumental for
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  Speaker 3: this conference. This was not a fluky win. These were
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  Speaker 3: two really good teams playing a very high-level football game.
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  Speaker 3: And honestly, OC, we saw the same thing between Oklahoma
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  Speaker 3: State and Houston. And, you know, it feels like the
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  Speaker 3: Big 12 should start getting a little bit more respect,
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  Speaker 3: especially this season, because this conference has a major strength
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  Speaker 3: at the top of the league right now.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, the final play of the game ended up
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  Speaker 1: being determined it shouldn't have been the final play of
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  Speaker 1: the game. And there's a debate whether or not that
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  Speaker 1: was egregious past interference. And look, I'm not going to
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  Speaker 1: re-adjudicate what referees should have figured out. But this is
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  Speaker 1: now the second time in the same college football season
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  Speaker 1: that where we have either played an extra play when
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  Speaker 1: there wasn't a second on the game clock, or you
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  Speaker 1: have not given even a blue blood, the blue blood
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  Speaker 1: like Notre Dame, you have not given them another crack
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  Speaker 1: with one second left when you should have. This is
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  Speaker 1: something that has to be figured out. Every official and
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  Speaker 1: officiating experts has talked about what a bad look it is.
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  Speaker 1: And it probably, I mean, the way BYU played probably
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  Speaker 1: doesn't change the outcome if they get another play, but
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  Speaker 1: it is something that hangs over this a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: Will there be changes?
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  Speaker 3: Let me ask you this. Did you, after the game ended,
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  Speaker 3: think for a second that the clock was wrong?
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  Speaker 1: Not until they showed the little screenshot, no.
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  Speaker 3: I wonder if the Big 12 got out in front
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  Speaker 3: of this to release a statement to take away from
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  Speaker 3: what very well could have been defensive pass interference in
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  Speaker 3: the last play of the game. Not to say that
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  Speaker 3: they didn't see that there should have been a second left,
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  Speaker 3: but as soon as that play happened, I thought the
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  Speaker 3: game was over. And I certainly wondered why they didn't
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  Speaker 3: throw a flag there because there was a ton of contact. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I'm not trying to create any conspiracy theories
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  Speaker 3: about the Big 12 here, but it was curious to
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  Speaker 3: me that almost like they said that in order to over,
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  Speaker 3: you know, overshadow what could have very well been defensive
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  Speaker 3: pass interference. At the end of the day though, OC,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you're right from the standpoint of this second
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  Speaker 3: game where we're talking about a second, whether it should
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  Speaker 3: have been put on the clock or not. Not a
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  Speaker 3: proof has been the pudding with Michigan as they've looked,
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  Speaker 3: you know, very average since that game anyways. But, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I always say this and I know you, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I'm sure you feel similar. I haven't played Like you
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  Speaker 3: got to decide the game on the field with the
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  Speaker 3: players you have, and you can't leave it up to
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  Speaker 3: officials to have to decide, decide the game for you.
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  Speaker 3: And I go back to two possessions. Notre Dame had
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  Speaker 3: plus territory, the muffed punt, you know, and then the
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  Speaker 3: inexplicable fake punt and BYU's defense dominated and turn them
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  Speaker 3: away for only six points in those two possessions. If
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  Speaker 3: Notre Dame wants to win that game, they should have
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  Speaker 3: cashed in one of those for a touchdown.
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  Speaker 2: With a guy that, that presumably has been.
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  Speaker 3: You know, one of the best quarterbacks of the country
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  Speaker 3: this year and CJ Carr, but Bachmeier to me was
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  Speaker 3: the better quarterback. And, you know, again, like one quarterback
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  Speaker 3: who had not done anything with an offense had not
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  Speaker 3: done anything for the entire second half, led their team
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  Speaker 3: down the field for a drive to win the game.
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  Speaker 3: And CJ Carr did not, but, but I think, you know,
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  Speaker 3: if Notre Dame fans want to complain, I think six
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  Speaker 3: points off of those two opportunities there in plus territory,
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  Speaker 3: the muffs pun and the inexplicable going for the fake
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  Speaker 3: pot there. I think that's what BYU's defense won this
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  Speaker 3: game for them.
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  Speaker 1: They certainly did. And by the way, they did it
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  Speaker 1: without LJ Martin in the lineup for BYU, and he
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  Speaker 1: is probably their best overall football player, if it's not
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  Speaker 1: Bear Bachmeier. So that is another reason why I think
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  Speaker 1: the Cougs can feel pretty good about where they are
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  Speaker 1: at this season. And they're the number two ranked team
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  Speaker 1: in the country because of this result and everything else
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  Speaker 1: that they have done. You also alluded to the Houston-Oklahoma
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  Speaker 1: State game. That was a really fun one to watch.
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  Speaker 1: And obviously, it sets up another college football game day
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  Speaker 1: in the state of Utah. This one will be up
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  Speaker 1: here in Salt Lake City. Number 14-ranked Houston versus number
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  Speaker 1: 10-ranked University of Utah. We're going to get to our
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  Speaker 1: Utes here because, ugh, in Boulder. But Houston versus Oklahoma State,
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  Speaker 1: they earned this win, Ari.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, as impressive as it gets because, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: Drew Estmaker was incredible. And Connor Wegman was better. And...
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  Speaker 3: I think Drew Mastemaker right now is on NFL radars,
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  Speaker 3: is at this point the number one quarterback in the
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  Speaker 3: upcoming draft. But I think Wegman should have at least
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  Speaker 3: put himself on NFL radars with his performance because... Look,
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  Speaker 3: he's like bear, you know, he's going to get the
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  Speaker 3: dirty yards, but what he did through the year is
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  Speaker 3: the differentiator, certainly in this game. And I think that's
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  Speaker 3: a huge difference. I would see between Connor Wigman this
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  Speaker 3: year and Connor Wigman last year. I mean, last week
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  Speaker 3: he threw four touchdown passes to their tight end over
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  Speaker 3: Meyer this week over Meyer was pretty much a non-factor.
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  Speaker 3: He did have a touchdown catch, but I mean, Kobe Young,
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  Speaker 3: who's been incredible in terms of being the one guy
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  Speaker 3: to give you an explosive play in the passing offense.
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  Speaker 3: He had a 48-yard touchdown here that kind of decided
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  Speaker 3: the game. Amari Thomas, the leading receiver from the Big
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  Speaker 3: 12 last year. I mean, he's starting to look like
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  Speaker 3: it in these last two weeks. They added Trent Walker,
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  Speaker 3: who reminds me a little bit of Kyler Casper for BYU.
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  Speaker 3: So I just think this is a pass-attack situation. to
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  Speaker 3: compliment this rushing attack that makes them very tough to beat.
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  Speaker 3: Whereas last year, like they, they need to run the
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  Speaker 3: ball in order to beat you. This is a game
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  Speaker 3: where every time Oklahoma state came up with an answer,
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  Speaker 3: like can Houston do it? They responded and came up
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  Speaker 3: with the answer. So it was an extremely impressive performance.
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  Speaker 3: Wegman outdueled Mastimaker. I don't think there was any question
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  Speaker 3: about that. And that doesn't take anything away from how
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  Speaker 3: good Mastimaker is, but Wegman, You know, again, like he's
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  Speaker 3: a guy that probably won't get the same NFL love, certainly,
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  Speaker 3: but a guy that I think could end up getting
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  Speaker 3: drafted and actually be a productive NFL pastor because he
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  Speaker 3: looks really impressive in this game and throughout the season, man.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, he's been so good all year. And I just,
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  Speaker 3: I had major question marks about him. We did our
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  Speaker 3: top five lists for quarterbacks. I didn't get it this year.
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  Speaker 3: He wasn't there. And, you know, I questioned his ability
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  Speaker 3: to consistently be able to throw the ball and compete downfield.
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  Speaker 3: And he's been really good in downfield passing this year.
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  Speaker 3: They take a lot of shots. They've got the weapons
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  Speaker 3: to do it. And he's winning. I put a lot
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  Speaker 3: of that on him.
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  Speaker 1: Utah survived and not much else against Colorado. It was
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  Speaker 1: ugly really throughout, but especially in that third quarter, which
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  Speaker 1: has now six games in has proven itself to be
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  Speaker 1: a problem. pretty much every week for this University of
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  Speaker 1: Utah football team. 27-24, you escape. Morgan Scali said after
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  Speaker 1: the game, I'm not sure we deserve to win that
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  Speaker 1: football game, and I can't find anything that makes me
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  Speaker 1: disagree with him. But ultimately, they do improve to 6-0.
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  Speaker 1: They climb one spot in the rankings, giving all the
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  Speaker 1: chaos in the top 10. And now they've got to
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  Speaker 1: welcome this Houston team coming off a massive but emotional
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  Speaker 1: victory against Oklahoma State into Salt Lake City. What do
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  Speaker 1: you make of it?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, life comes at you fast, certainly, with
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  Speaker 3: that game this weekend, but glad that Utah gets an
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  Speaker 3: opponent that will really give them a test. Yeah, look,
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  Speaker 3: a week ago, it looked like Utah was easily the
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  Speaker 3: best team in the Big 12. BYU had not been
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  Speaker 3: very impressive. Texas Tech had not been very impressive. And
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  Speaker 3: then BYU goes and beats Notre Dame, and Texas Tech...
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  Speaker 3: absolutely destroyed Arizona state. I think it shows you how
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  Speaker 3: week to week this league can be. Here's the thing.
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  Speaker 3: I know there are three teams at the top, Texas tech,
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  Speaker 3: BYU and Utah.
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  Speaker 2: Then Houston's right there, but Houston does have.
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  Speaker 3: A loss of Texas tech. And then you've got Arizona
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  Speaker 3: and Oklahoma state, but those three teams at the top
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  Speaker 3: are very good. In fact, I would take those three
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  Speaker 3: teams at the top over the top three teams in
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  Speaker 3: any other conference right now. And I'm not kidding over
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  Speaker 3: the sec top three teams over the big 10 top
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  Speaker 3: three teams. And, and look, I mean, yeah, this was
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  Speaker 3: an ugly game against a really bad team, but I
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  Speaker 3: got to say, going back to this big 12 thing,
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  Speaker 3: like this is a year where big 12 teams at
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  Speaker 3: the top are figuring out how to win these types
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  Speaker 3: of games. And in years past, we've seen top level,
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  Speaker 3: big 12 teams fall. in these types of games. Whereas
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  Speaker 3: that's exactly what's happening in the sec. Auburn is not
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  Speaker 3: a good, Auburn is a mid sec football team. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: they barely beat Baylor and Baylor's a mid-level big 12
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  Speaker 3: team and they beat Georgia, right? So the sec right
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  Speaker 3: now is very much a league of parody. The big
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  Speaker 3: 12 is not, it's, it's strength is at the top
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  Speaker 3: and Yeah. I mean, it's not a good look. There's
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  Speaker 3: plenty of things to nitpick there. Short yardage rushing was terrible.
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  Speaker 3: I think this is certainly a thing, you know, coming
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  Speaker 3: into this game that you figured they would be able
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  Speaker 3: to win and short yardage win on the ground and,
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  Speaker 3: you know, credit Colorado, man, their defense has been really
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  Speaker 3: good all year as bad as they are like for team, for, for,
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  Speaker 3: for Utah fans that had just seen Colorado for the
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  Speaker 3: first time, like They've got all kinds of flaws, certainly
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  Speaker 3: going to their second quarterback and not being very good
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  Speaker 3: on offense is a huge part of it, but their.
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  Speaker 2: Defense is really good. And I think this conference, though,
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  Speaker 2: it has a clear delineation.
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  Speaker 3: Between the top middle and bottom. They're going to test
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  Speaker 3: you in different ways. West Virginia and Cincinnati don't have
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  Speaker 3: much defense, but they've got explosive offenses. Arizona State, I'm
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  Speaker 3: not really sure what to make of them. Kansas at
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  Speaker 3: times looks competent and at times doesn't, but Colorado is
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  Speaker 3: really good. TCU is really good defensively. TCU maybe has
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  Speaker 3: the best defense in the Big 12. I think it
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  Speaker 3: just shows Baylor is really good defensively. It just shows
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  Speaker 3: the variety of team styles within this conference. They're still
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  Speaker 3: really good offenses. They're still really good defenses, and the
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  Speaker 3: three teams at the top had both of those. In
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  Speaker 3: this case, though, I think Utah ran into a really
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  Speaker 3: good Colorado defense, and their game plan wasn't up to it.
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  Speaker 3: And to appear, we need to see them perform better.
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  Speaker 3: But it's nothing to me other than just keep winning
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  Speaker 3: your games. And that's what BYU had been doing until
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  Speaker 3: opportunities like Saturday present themselves. And we're going to find
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  Speaker 3: out a lot about Utah on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: Do they win against Houston?
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  Speaker 3: I think so.
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  Speaker 2: I do.
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  Speaker 3: I just think the defense... against this Houston offense, we'll
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  Speaker 3: be able to win out again, given how good the
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  Speaker 3: Houston offense is not just being able to win on
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  Speaker 3: the ground. Like they, they could not win games last
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  Speaker 3: year where they did not get their ground game going
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  Speaker 3: and they can clearly do that this year. So they're
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  Speaker 3: very multifaceted and hard to beat, but you know, they,
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  Speaker 3: they barely lost attack again. I think Utah BYU and, and,
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  Speaker 3: and tech clue, the top team is the big 12.
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  Speaker 3: And I think they'll show that on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: Ari, I know you've got to let you get on
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  Speaker 1: a plane. Enjoy Big 12 basketball media days, and we'll
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  Speaker 1: chat again next week.
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  Speaker 3: See you, buddy. Take care.
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  Speaker 1: Ari Temkin, one of the best in the business. Big
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  Speaker 1: thanks to him for joining us every single Monday.