Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Sammy Mora on Saturday's rivalry game, Utah No. 3 in the 1st CFP rankings, Important recruiting weekend + more

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Sammy Mora on Saturday's rivalry game, Utah No. 3 in the 1st CFP rankings, Important recruiting weekend + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:05
Speaker 1: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
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1:03
Speaker 1: All right. Utah welcoming BYU to the friendly confines of
1:09
Speaker 1: Rice-Eckel Stadium this weekend. Morning kickoff, 10 a.m.
1:12
Speaker 2: Game.
1:13
Speaker 1: There's been plenty of conversation about that, how it will
1:16
Speaker 1: potentially affect things. Having talked with a couple players and coaches,
1:21
Speaker 1: both sides, both teams are going to be adjusting their
1:24
Speaker 1: schedules this week earlier wake-up, some film studies, some mandatory workouts,
1:30
Speaker 1: things like that in the morning, before school, before class,
1:34
Speaker 1: so that you're getting your body going and acclimated as
1:37
Speaker 1: much as you can to that 10 a.m.
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Speaker 3: Kickoff.
1:40
Speaker 1: On game day itself, you know, hopefully we'll get some
1:43
Speaker 1: further insight from the coaches. We have Coordinator's Corner coming
1:47
Speaker 1: up on Friday. Remind me to ask Colton Swann about it,
1:50
Speaker 1: but the routine can be altered a little bit on
1:54
Speaker 1: game day. But not too much, right, to accommodate the
1:58
Speaker 1: early wake-up. In any case, it's going to be an
2:02
Speaker 1: incredible game. It is between two top ten teams for
2:04
Speaker 1: the very first time in the history of the Holy
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Speaker 1: War rivalry. Joining us now to talk about it on
2:08
Speaker 1: a Ute Zone Wednesday, Sammy Mora, friend of the program,
2:14
Speaker 1: Utes insider.
2:15
Speaker 3: Hi, Sammy.
2:16
Speaker 2: Welcome.
2:17
Speaker 3: Hey, Sean.
2:17
Speaker 1: How are you? I'm doing all right. Hanging out. You know,
2:20
Speaker 1: we're almost there. Big game coming up this weekend, undefeated
2:25
Speaker 1: Utah football team. And we'll start there, you know, just
2:30
Speaker 1: the magnitude of the matchup, the fact that never before
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Speaker 1: in the 104-year history of this rivalry has it been
2:38
Speaker 1: two top 10 teams squaring off. What are your thoughts
2:41
Speaker 1: on just the overall magnitude of this game?
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Speaker 2: I think this is what people have always wanted with
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Speaker 2: this game. Regionally, locally, everyone knows.
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Speaker 3: How important this game is and how big it is.
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Speaker 2: But for both teams to be playing at such a
2:56
Speaker 2: high level right now, it's kind of added that national
3:00
Speaker 2: view on the game. I've seen more national outlets talk
3:04
Speaker 2: about this game this week than I think I've ever seen,
3:07
Speaker 2: even when... either Utah or BYU.
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Speaker 3: Is ranked or you know last year I.
3:12
Speaker 2: Correct me if I'm wrong both teams were ranked headed
3:13
Speaker 2: into that game like there was not as much national
3:16
Speaker 2: coverage about the game but this year I think it's
3:18
Speaker 2: just because of you know where Utah's at where BYU's
3:22
Speaker 2: at that more people nationally are taking look at this
3:24
Speaker 2: game and honestly in my opinion it's deserved like this
3:26
Speaker 2: game is is probably one of the more underrated rivalries
3:30
Speaker 2: nationally and I think that you know when you have
3:32
Speaker 2: two teams that are playing at a high level the
3:34
Speaker 2: more nationalized you can get on the game the better.
3:37
Speaker 1: There certainly will be a lot of them, and some
3:40
Speaker 1: of those will be the college football playoff committee who
3:43
Speaker 1: put out their first rankings of the season last night. Thankfully,
3:48
Speaker 1: Utah is kind of above the fray a little bit
3:50
Speaker 1: because they're undefeated. They're number three, BYU down at number nine,
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Speaker 1: and once again, there's complaints about pro-Alabama bias, SEC biases
4:00
Speaker 1: one way or the other. Some of the more I guess,
4:05
Speaker 1: eyebrow-raising rankings we've seen from the college football playoff committee,
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Speaker 1: although ultimately they don't mean anything because we've got to
4:11
Speaker 1: wait until the season's actually done. But Utah sitting at three,
4:15
Speaker 1: what was your reaction to the first college football playoff
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Speaker 1: ranking of 2026?
4:19
Speaker 2: If I'm going to be brutally honest, I was kind
4:23
Speaker 2: of shocked. When I saw UCLA pop up where they did,
4:27
Speaker 2: and then I saw BYU pop up where they did,
4:30
Speaker 2: I kind of figured Utah was going to be in
4:32
Speaker 2: that position. four or five spot. But, you know, it's, it's,
4:38
Speaker 2: it's discerning. It's deserved. Like the team is, is undefeated.
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Speaker 2: They've been winning by, you know, large margin majority of the,
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Speaker 2: of the.
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Speaker 3: Games this season.
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Speaker 2: And it's just statistically.
4:48
Speaker 3: Yeah.
4:48
Speaker 2: Like the Cincinnati game kind of ruined it a little bit,
4:51
Speaker 2: you know, but it's, it's, it feels kind of just,
4:55
Speaker 2: but at the same time, I know that internally this
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Speaker 2: program is not satisfied.
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Speaker 3: Like, and also they, to a certain extent.
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Speaker 2: Don't truly feel, care. They just want to go 1-0
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Speaker 2: every week. They just want to be playing for stuff
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Speaker 2: when it really matters in December. It's just a number,
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Speaker 2: but it is good that this program is getting national
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Speaker 2: recognition because there's been years where they haven't or the
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Speaker 2: Big 12 hasn't or even there were times in the
5:18
Speaker 2: Pac-12 where they didn't get the respect that they deserved.
5:21
Speaker 2: It was slightly shocking, but also kind of good to
5:24
Speaker 2: see Utah get the respect that they deserved.
5:28
Speaker 1: Certainly fun to see Utah the highest ranking since the
5:32
Speaker 1: sugar bowl finish, right? That was number two, now number three.
5:37
Speaker 1: And you talk about the team being satisfied, satisfied or
5:41
Speaker 1: not being satisfied. How did they feel about the performance
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Speaker 1: in Cincinnati? Because it was really kind of a tale
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Speaker 1: of two halves. What really matters is you got the win,
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Speaker 1: a dominant win, even after some issues in the second half,
5:55
Speaker 1: but it was 42 to six at half. It only
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Speaker 1: scored seven points the rest of the way. How did
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Speaker 1: this team internally evaluate what happened in the second half
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Speaker 1: at Cincinnati?
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Speaker 2: Well, I think it's a lot of just kind of
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Speaker 2: not satisfied. Like I asked Devin about it point blank
6:10
Speaker 2: on Monday, just like what happened in that third quarter.
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Speaker 2: And he said, you know, I need to be better
6:14
Speaker 2: as the quarterback of this team because everything runs through
6:17
Speaker 2: me on this offense. Um, and I, that's the accountability
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Speaker 2: that you want to see from your quarterback, someone that,
6:23
Speaker 2: you know, I saw him pop up on a Heisman
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Speaker 2: watch list the other day. Um, that's what the accountability
6:29
Speaker 2: you want to see is, is it was good, but
6:30
Speaker 2: you're never satisfied. And Morgan even acknowledged it earlier in
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Speaker 2: the week in his press conference. He said, defensively, the
6:35
Speaker 2: run fits weren't there. Things just kind of got a
6:37
Speaker 2: little bit sloppy and got away from this team.
6:39
Speaker 3: And, you know, I, I think they.
6:41
Speaker 2: Just kind of took the foot off the gas a
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Speaker 2: little bit and, you know, thankfully they had built up
6:45
Speaker 2: so big of a lead that at the end of
6:47
Speaker 2: the day, it didn't really matter, but You know, it's, it's,
6:50
Speaker 2: it's good that they're acknowledging that something needed to be
6:53
Speaker 2: fixed because it would be more concerning if they were
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Speaker 2: just like, eh, doesn't really matter. Like we still won
6:58
Speaker 2: the game, but they did, they did acknowledge what they
7:01
Speaker 2: needed to acknowledge, at least in my eyes to kind
7:03
Speaker 2: of placate and satisfy that things weren't as good as
7:07
Speaker 2: they could have been last week.
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Speaker 1: I mean, nothing's ever as good as it could be,
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Speaker 1: I suppose, but I think it's fair to say that
7:14
Speaker 1: we've yet to watch, even as an undefeated team, we've
7:16
Speaker 1: yet to watch a full four quarters of Utah football
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Speaker 1: where it feels like they're near their best. It seems
7:22
Speaker 1: like there's a quarter or even a half in each
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Speaker 1: game that doesn't live up to the standard of the
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Speaker 1: rest of the game. Against BYU, that might be problematic, right?
7:33
Speaker 1: Against Houston, it left you heading into halftime with no
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Speaker 1: points and things like that, so how do they correct
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Speaker 1: a problem that has been kind of a feature of
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Speaker 1: this team for eight weeks now?
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Speaker 3: Well, I think that like, To a certain extent, yeah,
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Speaker 3: it is slightly concerning that they haven't played.
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Speaker 2: A full 60 minutes, but it also shows at the
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Speaker 2: same time that this team is not willing to roll over.
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Speaker 2: They easily could have rolled over versus Houston. They could
8:02
Speaker 2: have rolled over versus Colorado. To a certain extent, they
8:05
Speaker 2: could have rolled over versus Iowa State, but they didn't.
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Speaker 3: They continued to battle.
8:08
Speaker 2: They continued to.
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Speaker 3: Push through it.
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Speaker 2: Even though there were lulls, that's encouraging for me that
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Speaker 2: they still fought because there would have been Utah teams
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Speaker 2: in the past.
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Speaker 3: Where they would have just rolled over and they just
8:18
Speaker 3: would have.
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Speaker 2: Been like, okay, we're done. We're not going to continue
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Speaker 2: to fight in this game.
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Speaker 3: But for the way that.
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Speaker 2: Morgan has coached up this team and the way that
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Speaker 2: the rest of the assistants have also done that is
8:28
Speaker 2: they're relentless. It's very much that R in the RSNB culture.
8:32
Speaker 2: They're not going to give up no matter what. They're
8:34
Speaker 2: not going to stop playing and stop fighting until there's
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Speaker 2: triple zeros on that clock. So, yeah, it might be
8:40
Speaker 2: slightly concerning that they haven't played a full game, but
8:42
Speaker 2: I'm more impressed by the fact that even when things
8:46
Speaker 2: got a little rough, they didn't just throw.
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Speaker 3: In the towel.
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Speaker 2: They continued to fight, and they continued to push through
8:50
Speaker 2: whatever was going on.
8:52
Speaker 1: Let's talk about this actual BYU matchup. This is a
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Speaker 1: really solid Kalani Satake coached team. They are 7-1 on
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Speaker 1: the season. They beat Notre Dame at home. They're in
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Speaker 1: the top ten in the college football playoff rankings for
9:05
Speaker 1: what I think is very deserved reasons. And they might
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Speaker 1: have L.J. Martin back when we get down to it
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Speaker 1: on Saturday. When you look at the matchup, where do
9:16
Speaker 1: you think the most crucial maybe individual matchups or positional
9:19
Speaker 1: matchups are? Just your initial thoughts on the actual contest
9:23
Speaker 1: against a really good Cougars team.
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Speaker 2: I'm going to take a little bit of a different
9:29
Speaker 2: approach with this one, but I think it's going to
9:31
Speaker 2: be Utah's offensive playmakers versus BYU's poor tackling team. BYU,
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Speaker 2: according to PFF, has missed 111 tackles already this season,
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Speaker 2: and that includes 23 from Cade Ulave, which is three less,
9:45
Speaker 2: if my math is correct, than Jono, Trey, Cyrus, and
9:49
Speaker 2: Elijah Ellis all combined. They've only missed 26 tackles as
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Speaker 2: a group this season, and Cade's missed 23. So how
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Speaker 2: is Utah's offense going to be able to exploit this?
10:00
Speaker 2: poor tackling of BYU? We saw it versus Houston. There
10:03
Speaker 2: were so many missed tackles forced on this offense. You know,
10:07
Speaker 2: Wayshon had a couple tackles Devin had few Braden Pagan,
10:10
Speaker 2: Noah Benny.
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Speaker 3: How are they going to.
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Speaker 2: Be able to exploit BYU's poor tackling? Because this has
10:15
Speaker 2: been something that I have been thinking about and been watching.
10:18
Speaker 2: And it's been kind of a red flag for me
10:20
Speaker 2: with BYU since, you know, the first game of the season,
10:23
Speaker 2: the cracks were already starting to show. So how are
10:25
Speaker 2: they going to exploit that? I think that's something that's.
10:27
Speaker 3: Going to be interesting to see.
10:29
Speaker 2: And then on the, on the, for the Utah defenses, I,
10:32
Speaker 2: the big thing is how do you limit bear Bachmeier?
10:34
Speaker 2: Because even if LJ is back, how effective is he
10:37
Speaker 2: going to be? Like he's been out for the last, what,
10:40
Speaker 2: four or five weeks. His ankle was, you know, he
10:44
Speaker 2: has that ankle injury. So how is he going to be,
10:46
Speaker 2: how effective is it going to be? Because honestly, we
10:49
Speaker 2: have seen firsthand last year with Devin that when you're coming,
10:53
Speaker 2: when you're trying to come back from an ankle injury
10:55
Speaker 2: too quickly, it's not going to end well. And your
10:58
Speaker 2: play is going to be limited. Your explosiveness is going
11:00
Speaker 2: to be limited. So I think that's, again, going to
11:02
Speaker 2: put more pressure on Bear. And how can Utah limit Bear?
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Speaker 3: I think a lot of things were.
11:07
Speaker 2: Learned from that matchup last year because, to a certain extent,
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Speaker 2: Utah couldn't stop him. And whether it was just poor tackling,
11:13
Speaker 2: bad execution, guys taking the wrong moves, like, it's just.
11:18
Speaker 3: It's going to be interesting to see how they can
11:19
Speaker 3: limit him because.
11:20
Speaker 2: If Utah can turn up the pressure on Bear and
11:23
Speaker 2: force him to beat them with his arm, I kind
11:26
Speaker 2: of tend to lean that's more Utah's way. Scooby Davis
11:31
Speaker 2: had probably the best game of his career last week.
11:34
Speaker 2: Eli Reed has seemed to turn a corner. James Chennault
11:37
Speaker 2: has had some really high moments, but he's also had
11:39
Speaker 2: some low moments. So which Bobo are you going to
11:41
Speaker 2: get on Saturday? And, you know, Jackson, as much as
11:44
Speaker 2: people dog on Benny, he is a stellar corner or
11:48
Speaker 2: a stellar nickel. He can play. he plays well in
11:52
Speaker 2: these types of situations in these games and you know
11:54
Speaker 2: that's a hard position to play so.
11:56
Speaker 3: If i would put my money on the utah secondary versus.
11:59
Speaker 2: Byu's wide receivers and tight ends but you know we're
12:03
Speaker 2: just gonna have to see because i think bear is
12:05
Speaker 2: gonna be asked to carry the ball a lot more
12:07
Speaker 2: than he would have wanted given if lj was back
12:10
Speaker 2: or not We've.
12:11
Speaker 1: Seen bear Bachmeier have to really kind of in three
12:14
Speaker 1: games already this season, just be like, all right, I'm
12:17
Speaker 1: going to go win this for my team. And look,
12:19
Speaker 1: you could make an argument. He did that against Utah
12:21
Speaker 1: and Provo last year as well. So it's not like
12:23
Speaker 1: he's not capable of it. When you say you got
12:27
Speaker 1: to figure out how to limit bear Bachmeier, take it
12:30
Speaker 1: one step further. What does that look like? What does
12:32
Speaker 1: it mean? Is it collapsing the pocket instead of trying
12:35
Speaker 1: to get around your blocks and, and, you know, getting
12:38
Speaker 1: a sack, just keep them contained. Is it, Like you said,
12:41
Speaker 1: forcing him to use his arm. He's really solid with
12:44
Speaker 1: his arm now, but against Arizona State last week, he
12:46
Speaker 1: was forcing some balls in that I think will be
12:48
Speaker 1: picked by a Utah defender. They weren't by a Sun
12:50
Speaker 1: Devil defender. When we're talking about what it actually looks
12:53
Speaker 1: like to hurt that guy, to limit that guy, easier
12:57
Speaker 1: said than done, what do you think it actually looks like, Sammy?
13:00
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's a combination of everything you've said.
13:03
Speaker 2: Utah's done a really good job over the last few
13:05
Speaker 2: weeks of mixing up their coverages between zone, man, all-out blitz.
13:11
Speaker 2: Just everything that Colton Swan is throwing at opposing offenses
13:15
Speaker 2: has caused havoc. I know that the defensive ends have
13:20
Speaker 2: not played up to Utah standard, but they're still generating pressure.
13:23
Speaker 2: I think I saw last week, Utah pressure had like
13:26
Speaker 2: 71% pressure rate versus Cincinnati. And look at how that
13:30
Speaker 2: worked out for JC French, who had been kind of wheeling.
13:33
Speaker 3: And dealing up until that point in the season.
13:35
Speaker 2: So I don't want to say you spy bear, because
13:38
Speaker 2: if you spy bear, that's.
13:39
Speaker 3: Going to leave somebody else open. And then that's going
13:41
Speaker 3: to cause a ton of headache, but.
13:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, Guys just need to own their 20 square feet.
13:45
Speaker 3: They need to contain.
13:46
Speaker 2: They need to ramp up that pressure because, like you said,
13:51
Speaker 2: there were passes that weren't picked off by Arizona.
13:53
Speaker 3: State last week that could have been picked off by Utah.
13:55
Speaker 2: And so if you can force Bear to have to
13:57
Speaker 2: be in those passing situations, I think that's kind of
14:01
Speaker 2: the MO, at least in my opinion and my view,
14:04
Speaker 2: is how.
14:04
Speaker 3: You can win this one.
14:07
Speaker 1: Sammy Moore is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell Show.
14:09
Speaker 1: It's a Ute Zone Wednesday, and, of course, we're talking
14:12
Speaker 1: Holy War, the biggest game of the year, the biggest
14:14
Speaker 1: Holy War game potentially ever in the history of this
14:17
Speaker 1: great rivalry, as never before have two top ten teams
14:21
Speaker 1: squared off against one another. I know we already talked
14:24
Speaker 1: about it a lot, but a 10 a.m. kickoff, how
14:28
Speaker 1: does it affect Utah?
14:30
Speaker 2: I don't really know how much it changes things. Obviously,
14:33
Speaker 2: guys are going to have to get up a little
14:34
Speaker 2: bit earlier. Jackson Benny said they're trying to do a
14:37
Speaker 2: little bit more stuff earlier in the day this week
14:39
Speaker 2: to kind of get body clocks on that wavelength and stuff.
14:42
Speaker 2: But Utah played a 10 a.m. kick versus Texas Tech
14:46
Speaker 2: last year. And while the result wasn't what fans wanted,
14:51
Speaker 2: for the most part, Utah was with Texas Tech for.
14:55
Speaker 2: Three out of the four quarters, in my opinion. You know,
14:57
Speaker 2: that fourth quarter is when things really kind of went
15:00
Speaker 2: a little bit south, in my opinion. you know, Utah
15:03
Speaker 2: is going to get up for this game. Fans are
15:05
Speaker 2: going to get up for this game. I don't, I
15:07
Speaker 2: think to a certain extent, too much is being put
15:09
Speaker 2: on the kickoff time. It's just, it's, it's different.
15:12
Speaker 3: It's weird.
15:13
Speaker 2: It's something that not all, not all of us are
15:15
Speaker 2: used to. Like I'm used to not getting up at
15:18
Speaker 2: six or five in the morning to get up to
15:20
Speaker 2: a game. I'm usually leaving my house around five or
15:22
Speaker 2: six in the evening to get up to a game
15:23
Speaker 2: because of how many late kickoffs Utah has. But you know,
15:27
Speaker 2: this 10 AM slot, actually it's, it's good. You're going
15:31
Speaker 2: to get a lot more national eyes on this game.
15:33
Speaker 2: You know, people are going to become aware of this game.
15:36
Speaker 2: There's going to be like playoff voters, whatever Heisman voters,
15:40
Speaker 2: people that haven't watched a lot of football going to
15:42
Speaker 2: get to see what this team is truly about. So
15:46
Speaker 2: I don't really know how much you, you put into
15:48
Speaker 2: this 10 a.m. kick, but you know, I think Kalani
15:51
Speaker 2: and Morgan will have both teams ready to go for
15:53
Speaker 2: a kickoff.
15:56
Speaker 1: We had a Hunter Andrews breakout game. at long last,
16:02
Speaker 1: against Cincinnati. You go back a few weeks, and Noah
16:04
Speaker 1: Benny had his, and Ricky Johnson had his, and Pagans
16:07
Speaker 1: had probably a couple. Is there still somebody left in
16:11
Speaker 1: the lineup that you anticipate seeing a breakout game from,
16:14
Speaker 1: and could it be against BYU?
16:17
Speaker 2: I mean, it feels like every week we see someone
16:19
Speaker 2: completely different. Like, funny enough, I was talking over on
16:23
Speaker 2: our youth zone boards about how I felt the Hunter
16:25
Speaker 2: Andrews breakout game was coming, and then it happened last week, so...
16:29
Speaker 2: It's just one of those things where you don't really
16:31
Speaker 2: know who it's going to be. I would say last
16:34
Speaker 2: week was also a breakout game for Daniel Bray. He
16:36
Speaker 2: had two touchdowns, and he was an influential part of
16:39
Speaker 2: that win. But I don't really know. I feel like
16:43
Speaker 2: for the most part, we kind of have an idea.
16:46
Speaker 2: My gut would say if there's one person we haven't
16:49
Speaker 2: seen a breakout.
16:49
Speaker 3: Game from yet, it would be Creed.
16:51
Speaker 2: Creed has just been very consistent this season. He is
16:54
Speaker 2: the guy that Devin likes to go to when they're
16:56
Speaker 2: in that zone coverage because it's creed just knows where
16:59
Speaker 2: to sit down and where to just.
17:01
Speaker 3: Put himself in a good position to make a catch
17:03
Speaker 3: so if there's one guy that.
17:04
Speaker 2: We haven't seen a breakout from i would say it's
17:06
Speaker 2: creed i don't know if it's going to happen this
17:08
Speaker 2: week byu likes to play that man coverage kind of
17:11
Speaker 2: like utah but you know creed has the ability to
17:14
Speaker 2: just turn on the jets and burn some.
17:15
Speaker 3: Guys especially nickels and you know if evan.
17:18
Speaker 2: Johnson doesn't play for byu that's going to add some
17:21
Speaker 2: issues for their secondary because how are you going to
17:24
Speaker 2: be able to cover someone like Braden Pagan, Creed, Larry, Kyrie, Ricky,
17:31
Speaker 2: any of those wide receivers that are playing at a
17:33
Speaker 2: high level this season. Long answer for the short answer,
17:37
Speaker 2: which would probably be Creed, is probably the next one
17:39
Speaker 2: that's due for a breakout.
17:42
Speaker 1: Zerway Williams started to get talked about a few weeks back,
17:46
Speaker 1: and it's really ramping up now. He's part of an
17:49
Speaker 1: overall offensive line that has been incredibly impressive this year,
17:52
Speaker 1: especially given the context of what departed I mean, a
17:56
Speaker 1: new coach who's never coached in college football before, although
17:59
Speaker 1: we know what Jordan Gross' credentials actually look like. But,
18:03
Speaker 1: I mean, you were on this train early with Zaraway.
18:06
Speaker 1: This is a guy that, you know, he's been in
18:07
Speaker 1: the program for a long time, so we know him well.
18:11
Speaker 1: It's like one of the feel-good stories for me right now,
18:14
Speaker 1: not only in the Utah sphere, but in all of
18:16
Speaker 1: college football, a guy who stuck around and paid his dues,
18:20
Speaker 1: and it looks like it's going to pay off for him, Sammy.
18:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Zaraway is just a key– he is
18:27
Speaker 2: utah's culture.
18:29
Speaker 3: In like like when you look at him.
18:32
Speaker 2: You know he came in not very highly rated he
18:35
Speaker 2: kind of he sat he got injured a few years
18:38
Speaker 2: he learned he developed he was under you know caleb
18:41
Speaker 2: and spencer for such a long time and he bided
18:44
Speaker 2: his time and he got to where he needed to
18:46
Speaker 2: be like there would have been a lot of kids
18:47
Speaker 2: who would have just thrown in the towel and transferred
18:49
Speaker 2: but z like like you said he just kind of
18:51
Speaker 2: he buckled down he stayed he was he's a feel-good
18:54
Speaker 2: story and you know we we've been high on z
18:57
Speaker 2: for a long time over on the zone boards and
18:59
Speaker 2: so for to see him play at this level has
19:01
Speaker 2: just been so fun to watch and like off the
19:05
Speaker 2: field he's such a great guy he is he is
19:07
Speaker 2: one of the best media scrums you will get every
19:10
Speaker 2: single year um just how excited he is and how
19:13
Speaker 2: he always is there to hype up his teammates and
19:15
Speaker 2: just be there for everybody and you know, it's, it's
19:18
Speaker 2: great to see these types of stories, especially when, you know,
19:21
Speaker 2: the transfer portal is what it is. College football is
19:23
Speaker 2: changing by the day.
19:25
Speaker 3: But, you know, nothing but love and.
19:27
Speaker 2: Respect for what he's done. And if, if he can
19:29
Speaker 2: be a first round draft pick, even an early second
19:32
Speaker 2: round draft pick, you know, hats off and tip of
19:35
Speaker 2: the cap to Jordan gross, because he came in with
19:38
Speaker 2: big shoes to fill. And if he can get someone
19:39
Speaker 2: drafted early and, in the draft in his first year,
19:43
Speaker 2: you know, the sky's the limit for him as a
19:45
Speaker 2: coach and and the future and the outlook of this
19:47
Speaker 2: utah offensive line from here on out.
19:50
Speaker 1: How significant is this game going to be as a
19:53
Speaker 1: recruiting weekend i'm seeing this list of players you know
19:56
Speaker 1: 50 guys long and everyone coming in from out of
19:59
Speaker 1: town and the highest rated recruits and all the land
20:04
Speaker 1: feels like it's going to be a big one from
20:05
Speaker 1: a recruiting standpoint Yeah, we're.
20:08
Speaker 2: Hearing about 50 to 55 recruits are going to be
20:11
Speaker 2: in campus this weekend. A lot of them are local
20:14
Speaker 2: kids because Morgan has made a very clear focus that
20:17
Speaker 2: he wants to get keep local talent here in Utah. And,
20:21
Speaker 2: you know, we thought this class with the 27 class
20:24
Speaker 2: he built like it's majority local kids. Texas is well represented.
20:29
Speaker 2: Arizona is well represented as well, but he wants to
20:32
Speaker 2: keep the local talent home. He believes that the best
20:35
Speaker 2: football is being played here in the state. And so
20:38
Speaker 2: you want to keep those guys home. You want these
20:40
Speaker 2: kids that have dreamed of being youth their entire lives
20:44
Speaker 2: be youth. And so it's.
20:45
Speaker 3: Going to be massive.
20:46
Speaker 2: You know, it's, Me and Dan Sorensen, our publisher, we
20:50
Speaker 2: talked about it yesterday. We don't think we've ever seen
20:53
Speaker 2: a weekend that has been this loaded with recruits. And
20:57
Speaker 2: Dan's been doing this for 20 years. And so it's massive.
21:00
Speaker 2: And a lot of them are 28 kids. There's a
21:03
Speaker 2: handful of.
21:03
Speaker 3: 29 kids that are going to be there.
21:06
Speaker 2: You're setting the foundation now for what could be a
21:11
Speaker 2: stellar class in 28 and even in 29. How does
21:15
Speaker 2: the game go?
21:16
Speaker 1: What's your prediction?
21:18
Speaker 2: Oh, God, Sean, why would you ask me this? This
21:20
Speaker 2: game is so unpredictable because I feel like every year
21:27
Speaker 2: it feels like something funky happens in this game. I
21:31
Speaker 2: just have a feeling that this year that Utah is
21:36
Speaker 2: able to do it. I just think there's something different
21:39
Speaker 2: about this team than there was in years past. Um,
21:44
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's coaching with Morgan. I don't
21:46
Speaker 2: know if it's play calling with McGiven or play calling
21:49
Speaker 2: the Colton Swan. I just have a feeling that this
21:52
Speaker 2: is the year that Utah can snap that BYU streak
21:54
Speaker 2: and get back into.
21:55
Speaker 3: The wind column in this game.
21:56
Speaker 2: And, you know, I don't want to give a score
21:58
Speaker 2: prediction because honestly, I don't know, like I could see
22:01
Speaker 2: the game being a, I could see it being a
22:02
Speaker 2: 14 point win for Utah, but I could also see
22:05
Speaker 2: it being, you know, a three-point win for Utah like
22:08
Speaker 2: that's just how this game goes there is no rhyme
22:11
Speaker 2: or reason how things happen but I just there's just
22:15
Speaker 2: like this this this feeling and this from studying film
22:18
Speaker 2: and looking at the statistics I just think that Utah
22:21
Speaker 2: has the edge this year and can come away with the.
22:23
Speaker 1: Win nobody here is going to dispute that line of
22:28
Speaker 1: thinking or that prediction Sammy appreciate you giving us some
22:30
Speaker 1: time as always and we'll see you up there on.
22:33
Speaker 3: Saturday Hey, we'll see you on Saturday bright and early, Sean.
22:36
Speaker 1: That's right. Rubbing the sleep out of the eyes. Sammy
22:39
Speaker 1: Mora will be there. I will be there. You should
22:41
Speaker 1: be there for kickoff as well when Utah takes on
22:44
Speaker 1: BYU at Rice-Seco Stadium at 10 a.m. on ABC. Our
22:49
Speaker 1: Utes Insiders from Ute Zone are brought to you by
22:51
Speaker 1: our friends at Mountain Home Services. Great work from Sammy,
22:54
Speaker 1: as always.