Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Bill Riley previews Utah vs Arkansas, Can Utes' defense take advantage of "unsettled" Arkansas offense (?) + more

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Bill Riley previews Utah vs Arkansas, Can Utes' defense take advantage of "unsettled" Arkansas offense (?) + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you. An extra offensive lineman on fourth down and short.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Baylou stays in. Ficklin goes under center. Idaho crowds the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Fourth and inches here for Utah. Bird
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Ficklin keeps it. He turns, and he's going to look
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to pass. He's got to look to pass. Wide open downfield.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: That ball is caught, and Noah Benny is into the
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: end zone, untouched for a touchdown.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: The former Weber State.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Wildcat found himself so wide open behind the defense. Bird
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Ficklin got it to him, and Benny walked it in
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: for a touchdown, and Utah's put another six on the board.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: One of the nine touchdowns our next guest, Bill Riley,
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: called for us last week. That was the Thursday night game,
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: Utah hosting Idaho in that one.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell Show.
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: Coming at you from Smith's Marketplace, the brand-new glistening one
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: that they just finished building out here in Lehigh, 3808
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: West Hardman Way. Bill Riley, voice of the Utes, welcome
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: to the show.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: How are you?
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Was that your favorite touchdown of last week because a
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: former Weber State Wildcat and Ute, current Ute, scored it?
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: I did love it.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: In reverse of Sean O'Connell. Sean O'Connell was a Ute,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: then a Wildcat. Benny was actually a Ute, a Wildcat,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and a Ute again. But I figured that one felt
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: a little sweeter to you.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, if I had more eligibility, I would
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: have tried to do the same thing, Ute to Wildcat
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: to Ute, you know, to Notre Dame fighting Irishman, whatever.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: But we didn't have what these kids have now, Bill,
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: unlimited eligibility and unlimited transfers, you know?
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you know a good lawyer or agent, Sean.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: That's all you need these days. Lane Kiffin might add
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: you on. He might need somebody down at LSU to
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: be a lead blocker or something.
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: I know that Handy and Handy, they're personal injury attorneys,
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: but maybe they know somebody who can get me an
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: injunction if anyone needs a 43-year-old who wasn't even good
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: when he was 20.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Well, either way, I think what we saw last week
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: from Utah was a good start to the season. And
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: it's what I've kind of told people all week long.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: They did what they were supposed to do against the 1AA,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: kind of middle-of-the-pack 1AA team.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: They did indeed. So I'll ask you this question.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: What are they supposed to do against the kind of
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: middle-of-the-road-at-best team SEC team because Arkansas, for a lot of people,
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: they think they're the bottom dwellers of the SEC. Now,
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: they've got some talent, but it's not across the board.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: They've got a couple of flash outlier type players from
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: what I've.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: Seen so far.
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: It is not a typically deep SEC roster, but then
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: there's also this kind of arrogance of, oh, well, our athletes,
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: our guys, you don't know what it's like. You know
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: what it's like down here in the South.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: And, of course.
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: that's just Arkansas and its fan base potentially overlooking the
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: kind of football that Utah is accustomed to playing. So
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: what is Morgan Scali's team supposed to do against Arkansas?
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Well, I think they're supposed to win because they're at
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: home and because I think they're the better team. So
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I would say that right now. I don't think that's
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: speaking out of line. The guys in the desert agree
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: with that, too. But I think they've just got to
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: improve on what they did a week ago, Sean. The
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: level of athleticism is going to be a lot better
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: this week. But here's the thing with Arkansas. First-year head coach,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is a tear down to the studs rebuild.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: He's got 80 new guys on this team. You can
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: practice all you want. He's trying to instill a culture.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: He's trying to get better facilities. He's trying to get
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: 80 guys on the same page. That's hard to do
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: without playing some games and having some time. So this
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: is not just an on-the-field thing. This is an everything
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: right now. It's a total rebuild. So Arkansas and Utah,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: the program, Sean, are in just two different places right now.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: The Colts, Culture's in place. Morgan Scali didn't have to
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: change much. In fact, he didn't have to change anything
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: at all. He made some tweaks and some changes here
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and there, but everything was in place, and the talent
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: level was good here. Ryan Silverfield is starting from scratch
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: down there, so these programs are in two different places.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Utah has expectations to play for a conference championship and
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: get to the college football playoff. Arkansas just wants to
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: win a conference game. They were 0-10 in the SEC
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: last year, so You know, Arkansas does have talent. They
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: have SEC-level talent. Where that falls in the SEC still
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: remains to be seen. So Utah's going to have to
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: step its game up this week because the level of
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: talent they'll be playing is markedly better. But the Utah
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: program's at a better place than Arkansas is right now.
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: It feels like Utah, they got to kind of spread
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: it all out, spread the love last week with the
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: offensive touches, especially with the touchdown targets and things like that.
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: Got ten guys involved in the run game.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: I think eight people caught passes.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: And obviously touchdowns spread around in both the run game
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: and the passing game to several different personalities. My expectation
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: is as the competition gets tougher, you probably have to
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: condense that down a little bit.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: You probably have to tighten things up.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: But I don't think too much because even the third
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: and fourth string guys were looking pretty darn good regardless
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: of what the level of competition was. how broad do
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: you think the spread is when it comes to the
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: offense and Kevin McGiven's play calling this week against Arkansas?
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Well, I think, and I talked to Kevin yesterday, and
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I said, hey, you know, that was pretty impressive in
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: game one. He's like, yeah, I just called a straight-up game.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: We just have lots of looks and formations. That's just
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: with the personnel we have. We just have lots of
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: looks and formations. To your point, though, Sean, I'm not
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: sure that 10 guys are going to carry the football.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: or eight guys are going to carry the football and
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: 10 guys are going to get, but, but I think
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: the number of guys that could catch passes and be
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: involved might be high. I just think, you know, guys
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: like LaMarcus Bell and Matiaki Helu may not see as
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: much time as in these games against, because you've got
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Wayshon Parker, you've got Daniel Bray, you've got Steven Chavez Soto,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: you've got Bird Ficklin, you've got Devin Dampier. These guys
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: are all part of the running game. But what I
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: think you saw last week is if called upon, Alou
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: and Bell, they can get it done. They flashed a
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: little bit there, if that makes sense. And then in
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: the pass game, we may see 10 guys catch passersby.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: it's easier to spread that love in the past game
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: with what you have. And we met, you know, the
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: leading receiver for Utah may have four or five catches
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: every week. It may not be seven or eight guys.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Like we saw with Ryan Davis a year ago, just
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: because there's so many options out there. So I would
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: say the likelihood of, of spreading the love in the
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: past game is probably greater than spreading the love in
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the run game, but who knows?
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: Maybe at some point I'm going to get sick of
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: talking about the offensive line, but I haven't reached that
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: point just yet. And the expectation seems to be that
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: Keith Olsen and Ike Garcia maybe will be ready to
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: go this week, which then, of course, changes how you
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: want to rotate and if you want to rotate and
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: what the combinations might potentially look like. I said weeks
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: and weeks ago I don't think we get a settled
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: starting five on the offensive line, maybe until probably week
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: four or five. How much experimentation do you expect in
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: week two?
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to be as much experimentation
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: as it's going. Well, again, it depends on the game, too.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: If Utah rolls out to a big lead and they're
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: pouring it on in the second half, you might see
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: some guys. Morgan hinted to this early in the week.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: He would like to get to his starting five or
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: as close to his starting five as he can. I
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: think we'll be closer to that this week than we
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: were last week. I don't know if they're completely there
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: with five settled guys, but I think they're going to
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: be closer to it this week than they were last week.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: I thought the offensive line was good. I thought they
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: did what they were supposed to do, Sean, against an
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Idaho team. You better be able to bully an FCS
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: team around if you're Utah, and I think they did
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: to the tune of, what, 360 yards. They didn't give
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: up any sacks. So I think that's good. It'll be
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: a better test this week because Arkansas has got bigger,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: more athletic bodies up front than what they had for Idaho.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: So I think this will be a better test. I'm
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: not sure how great Arkansas is up front. North Alabama
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: ran it a little bit and moved it a little
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: bit on them. But that was also a first game
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: for them, too. So we'll see how much improvement they make.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: But I think they'll be closer to their starting lineup
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: on that line this week. But maybe not quite completely
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: there yet.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: We saw K.J.
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: Jackson playing the starting quarterback position for Arkansas in that
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: first game against North Alabama. He's expected to be their
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: starter all year. Not a bad game from him, 24-35, 267,
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: three touchdowns. He did turn the ball over, fumbled one,
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: threw one interception. Can this Utah defense take advantage of
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: the sort of unsettled nature of that Razorbacks offense and
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: steal the ball back a couple of times?
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Well, I want to see if they can get some pressure.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: North Alabama did get to, I watched kind of the
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: condensed version of the game yesterday. and there were some
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: times when North Alabama was able to get some pressure
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: on K.J.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: Jackson.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: I thought Jackson was really good on the quick throws,
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the quick game. When he held the ball a little
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: bit longer, I didn't think he was quite as effective.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: The other thing was, too, they didn't have a lot
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: of explosive play, Sean. They didn't really stretch the field
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: or have, in the run or pass game, have many explosives. Now, again,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: week one, we'll see the adjustments they make. But I
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: would like to see what Utah does. The other thing
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: I've noticed, at least in that game with K.J. Jackson,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: he doesn't really look to run. He would rather stand
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: in the pocket and throw it. He was a really
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: good high school quarterback in Alabama. In fact, when he graduated,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: I think he had the most passing yards in Alabama
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: high school history. So he's a throwing quarterback. He's a lefty.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: We'll see what happens. But I want to see how
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: the Utah defensive line does in week two against the
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: offensive line from Arkansas. And, you know, pressure on quarterbacks,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: especially pressure on inexperienced quarterbacks, can lead to those turnovers.
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: Well, we saw in week one against Idaho when a
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: lot of people thought offensive defense Game plan would be
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: a little bit vanilla. Defensive game plan would be a
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: little bit vanilla. I would not call what Kevin McGivitt
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: did vanilla at all. I would certainly not call the
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: defensive game plan from Colton Swan anything close to vanilla.
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: Brought a lot of pressure, a lot of stunts, a
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: lot of twists along the defensive line. And it felt
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: like they were, you know, dress rehearsal for games like
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: this one, for conference games, and ran the actual defense,
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: which I was happy to see not everyone was.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was funny talking to Morgan. I think Morgan
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: was even a little surprised at the amount of exotics
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: that Colton did, but he said, hey, that's what he
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: wanted to do. That was the defensive look. What are
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: they going to do this week? Maybe it was just
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: to give Arkansas a lot of different things to think about.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Maybe they'll try to generate some pressure off the edge
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: with Cash Dillon and Ethan Day and Lance Holtzclaw. and
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: see if they can get home. You know, it was
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: surprising to me. They didn't get tons of pressure, but
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: when I talked to Morgan the other day, he said
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: he was really pleased with Holtzclaw being very disruptive at
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. And you and I both know,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: you know, sacks are what everybody gets excited about, but
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: pressures can be every bit as effective as sacks can be.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: You want to get both, but if you get a
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: lot of pressure on the quarterback, but you don't get
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: him to the ground, that can still be just as
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: effective in getting three and outs.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Bill Riley is our guest.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: The voice of the Utes will be calling a night
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: game at Rice-Eckel Stadium, Arkansas, coming in. Just the second
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: SEC team to come to Rice-Eckel Stadium after Florida did
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: a few years ago.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: I think the.
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: Narrative around that scenario, Bill, has been fascinating this week where,
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: you know, there's Arkansas fans that are coming to Salt
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: Lake City looking for a good experience, right? Then there's
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: the trash-talking type contingent of every fan base that's just like,
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: you guys don't know what a crazy environment is. We
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: go to Ole Miss. We go to Death Valley. We
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: go and play at the Swamp. Nothing that we can
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: see at Rice-Eccles is going to affect this Arkansas team. Obviously,
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: people here locally don't feel that way. But, you know,
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: you've got to be fair to Arkansas. Also, they do
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: go into some crazy SEC road environments. How much do
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: you think the atmosphere, maybe the altitude, affects the Razorbacks?
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Well, I think it can. I mean, I always say
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: stadiums and crowds don't beat teams. Good teams beat teams,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: and then the crowd can help out. Utah's got a
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: really good team. And when you have 52,000 people behind
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: you and altitude, that certainly helps.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: I'm just here.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I covered the SEC many years ago, Sean. I've been
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: to a lot of those stadiums. Rice-Eckel Stadium is loud,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: and it's hostile, and it's tough to play in. Ask
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Caleb Williams about that when he played at USC. Ask
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: the Oregon quarterbacks. Ask some of those guys down through
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the years that had to come in here. and play,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: it's a tough atmosphere. Yeah, maybe it doesn't have the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: traditional history of a Neyland Stadium or a Swamp, but
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: when you talk to players and teams that come in here,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: and the interesting thing is Bubba in Bentonville is probably
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: not part of the contingent that's coming out to Salt
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Lake City to watch this game. I'm going to bet
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: the folks that are coming out here are excited to
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: come out and experience the atmosphere. The same way Utah
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: fans have always been great going to places, and in
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: three years, can go down to a great atmosphere in Fayetteville, too.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: I think it will be tough. I've talked to the
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: play-by-play and color analysts. They said, you know, quarterbacks and
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: KJ had some trouble in the couple of games that
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: he played last year, including one on the road with
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: the crowd. And when you don't have a lot of
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: experience and you've got a new offense and you've got
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: a lot of new players, you know, it's one thing
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: to play at home where it's quiet, but when you've
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: got to do communication, you've got to do silent count,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: you've got to do a lot of different things with
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: a new group of guys that haven't played together yet,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to say these guys are going to
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: be scared or intimidated, but you know, Sean, having played,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: it can disrupt a lot of things. The noise and
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: the altitude and the team on the other side can
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: disrupt your operation, and I think that's where the crowd
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: really comes into effect.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: No official injury report because this is not a Big
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: 12 game, and I know that the team was relatively
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: relieved to have a mostly healthy outcome from last week's
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: game against Idaho. Sounds like Daniel Bray maybe did get
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: knocked around a little bit. Any news on that front
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: that you're aware of?
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Not that I've heard, but I know Morgan said early
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: in the week that it was trending that way. He
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: felt pretty good about it. I've got him down on
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: my spotting chart just in case. I think when the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: coach makes a comment about it on Monday or was
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: it Tuesday, I can't remember what it was, I think
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: that gives you a pretty good idea it's probably trending
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: that way. So he's a nice piece, too. I mean,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: they're deep at running back, but Bray's got that really
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: good– skill set that that speed that burst that i
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: don't know that anybody else really right now in that
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: running back room way sean's really good but bray i
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: think it's kind of different level in that so i
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: think if they have him available tomorrow night it just
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: adds another dimension to what kevin mcgivin can do i.
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: Would be remiss if i didn't get your thoughts on
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: the insanity that unfolded in ann arbor over the weekend
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: with obviously a lot of former youths at the center
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: of that I mean, Kyle Whittingham is probably not loving
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: this week, and J.J. Buchanan cemented himself already as a
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: Wolverine legend with a great game and then capped it off,
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: of course, with a Hail Mary touchdown catch.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: When you were watching that game.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: And then processing it the way all of us had to,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: how did it come out for you?
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: All right. I wasn't shocked about the quarterback situation because
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: that's all the intel coming out of Ann Arbor was,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: you know, he was struggling. I mean, he was struggling
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: big time. Our mutual friend who will get his name
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: on the ring of honor tomorrow night, Eric Weddle, even
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: went public with it earlier this summer saying so. I
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: think the thing that surprised me the most, Sean, was
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: they couldn't run the football. I mean, Michigan with its,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: you know, traditional offensive line and good backs, and all
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: the reports out of Ann Arbor had been the running
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: backs were really good. I was just really surprised. They
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: couldn't run the ball against Western Michigan. Now, Western Michigan's
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: a good football team, but Michigan is Michigan. And whether
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Kyle Whittingham was there or not, Michigan's always prided itself
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: on physicality at the line of scrimmage and running the football.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: I thought Jay Hill's defense was pretty good. They gave
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: up 12 points in the game. that's not a bad
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: effort from your defense. I was just really surprised at
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Michigan's inability to run the football.
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: Okay, big weekend because Arkansas is coming in. Big weekend
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: because a guy that we both love is being inducted
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: into the Utah football ring of honor. Eric Weddle is, like,
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: for me, he is the Utah man. He is the
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: face of this program. if you have to choose one,
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: from a player perspective at least. He's a guy who
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: has never forgotten his roots, who wore that drum and
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: feather all the way through a great NFL career, and
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: now we get to watch him be immortalized on the
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: side of Riceco Stadium. It means a lot to me.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: I know it means a lot to you. I just
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: wanted to give you some space to share your thoughts
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: on the legend, Eric Weddle.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm lucky. I'm old, so I remember interviewing Eric
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: when he was just a freshman. And we kind of
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: created a friendship between a broadcaster and a player when
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: he played. And our friendship has grown over the years.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: And he's always been great to me and been a
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: great support to me and a supporter of me. And
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I've tried to do the same thing for him. But
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: I said this on my podcast Crimson Corner this week, Sean, and.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: I mean this.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: I don't know that anybody else has ever been a
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: greater representative of of Utah football than Eric Weddle, both
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: as a player but also in his post-playing career. I
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: don't know that anybody reps and loves and supports the
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: program better than what Eric Weddle does. I mean, he
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: was here for four years. You know, a guy like
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Morgan Scali has lived his life here. He's been on
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: the staff, all of that stuff. But for a guy
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: that played here four years and he was a great
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: player– It's like he's never left. I mean, you wouldn't
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: know that Eric Weddle has lived elsewhere for the last
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: 20 years. He feels like he's part of the program
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: still today, and he's lived in San Diego, and he's
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: lived in Baltimore, and he's lived in Los Angeles and
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: all these places. But he's just, to me, such a– well,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: he's a great human being and a great person. but
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: he's just such a great ambassador to Utah football and
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: such a great representative of what Utah football is that
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: I'm like you. I don't think that anybody could be
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: more deserving going up on that ring of honor than
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: Eric on Saturday night.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's going to be great.
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: It's going to be a special night, and I think
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: that this team will cap it off with a big
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: win over Arkansas.
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: Which is all everyone's looking for, including Weddle. It's going
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: to be one.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: Of those things where he's obviously honored and happy that
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: it's happening, but he's only going to be truly satisfied
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: if it happens on a win.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Well, Andy's hoping that he gets a win tonight before
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: he flies up to Salt Lake City because I'm sure
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: he's coaching a football game tonight as well.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: He is against Westlake. A Utah team is traveling.
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: to San Diego to play against his Rancho Bernardo Broncos.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: Who I think are 3-0 on the year. So if
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: he could go 4-0, then come up, go in the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Ring of Honor, and watch his Utes go 2-0 on
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: the year, I think that would be about a perfect
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: weekend for Eric, wouldn't it?
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so. We'll see you up there, Bill.
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: Looking forward to it. Thanks for jumping on the show,
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: as always.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: I'll see you tomorrow night, Sean. Thanks.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: Our conversation with Bill Riley is brought to you by
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  Speaker 4: our friends at Handy and Handy.
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