Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Zack Moss on week 0, Utes season opener in 10 days, Offensive Over/Unders + more

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Zack Moss on week 0, Utes season opener in 10 days, Offensive Over/Unders + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Who we were.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Peace peas thought Sean O'Connell show, you were home of
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: the best inside of your hues. Let's get back to
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: OC from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred
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  Speaker 2: ninety two one.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: A m.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Well, Welcome back to the Shat O'Connell Show.
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: Welcome in the legendary Utah running back Zach Moss, who
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: joins us again to talk a little Utah football, little
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: Big twelve football, a little football in general.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Zach Moss, Welcome back to the show.
• 0:48
  Speaker 5: How are you, will Man? How you doing?
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I'm doing all right.
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: Before we get into anything you specific here, I need
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: your thoughts on this strange happening that is occurring in
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: college football right now, where guys who are being cut
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: from NFL preseason rosters, even some who have played in
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: NFL preseason games, are now trying to make their way
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: back onto college football rosters because of the fifth year
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: of eligibility added to everyone's clock moving forward. Guys who
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: graduated last year or who exhausted their eligibility last year
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: are rather than accepting that and moving on, they're saying,
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: oh no, well, I'm not going to I'm not quite
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: making it here in the NFL.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: So let me go play for LSU.
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: Let me hop back into a transfer portal and see
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: if there's a market for my services as a man
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: who spent time in the league and was an elite
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: college football player and knows what both of those leagues
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: demand of a person. What are your thoughts on guys
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  Speaker 4: trying to come back to college football after flirting with
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: the NFL.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: It's definitely weird. Haven't really paid a ton of attention
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: to it outside of seeing things on social media and
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: stuff like that, but you know, first real reaction to it,
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: it's definitely a weird thing. Just you know, it's never
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  Speaker 3: happened before. Uh, I understand it when you are a
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  Speaker 3: player who you know, you get cut waves whatever from
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  Speaker 3: the NFL as a undrafted or very low round pick,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: and you know, with the world inn il, right, because
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  Speaker 3: I think that's the main thing that kind of ties
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  Speaker 3: it from my from my perspective, as the NIL part
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  Speaker 3: of it. You know, if you don't have an I L.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think guys actually want to go back to school,
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  Speaker 3: right because you can make so much more. These guys
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  Speaker 3: are making way more money in their NIL in college
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  Speaker 3: almost doesn't really fully matter, especially if they were you know,
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  Speaker 3: pretty good players in college.
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  Speaker 5: You make more money in i L in one year
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  Speaker 5: than you.
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  Speaker 3: Would do if you were on a on a rookie
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  Speaker 3: contract that puts you in the sixth or seventh round
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: or obviously undrafted as well. So I think most of
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  Speaker 3: these guys understand that the financial gain is there, and
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  Speaker 3: I think that's why, you know, people are way more interested, right.
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: I think that's why you're way more interested in going
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  Speaker 3: back and potentially grabbing that nil versus you know, trying
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: to stick it out in the NFL, or CFL or USFL,
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: whatever those other leagues are and things of that nature,
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: or just moving forward.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: So let's say, just for the sake of a of
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: a hypothetical here, you're not going to make an active roster, right,
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  Speaker 4: you're one of these guys, you're six seventh round pick,
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  Speaker 4: you're an undrafted free agent. You're not going to make
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  Speaker 4: an active roster, but you've got a great, a great
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  Speaker 4: shot to be on the practice squad, which this year
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: is about. If you if you're active on the practice
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  Speaker 4: squad for the whole season, it's gonna be two fifty
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  Speaker 4: three hundred grand right or Let's say the money is
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  Speaker 4: comparable if you can go back, if you can bounce
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  Speaker 4: back and play for the University of Utah as you know,
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  Speaker 4: a great second option at whatever position you're gonna make
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  Speaker 4: you know, two to three hundred thousand dollars there if
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  Speaker 4: I put Zach Moss in those shoes and you have
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  Speaker 4: to make a decision as.
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  Speaker 1: A twenty two year old, twenty three year old whatever.
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  Speaker 4: You can either go back to college where you will
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  Speaker 4: play in actual games, but I'm gonna make the money
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  Speaker 4: equal here, so it's not a financial decision for you.
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  Speaker 4: Or you can be in an NFL system. You can
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  Speaker 4: familiarize with the NFL life. You can get in on
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  Speaker 4: a practice squad maybe you know, maybe you get called up,
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  Speaker 4: maybe there's an injury in front of you. Whatever, What
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  Speaker 4: would the choice be for you personally?
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  Speaker 3: That's that's that's a tough one, uh, because how I
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  Speaker 3: am shape mentally, even with the hypothetical.
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  Speaker 5: I think with the money being equal.
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  Speaker 3: For me knowing what I know now about Texas, right,
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  Speaker 3: don't it would just depend on what city, what state.
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  Speaker 5: I'm playing in.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Like if I'm playing practice squad in New York, right,
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  Speaker 3: and that two fifty, you know, you take I think
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  Speaker 3: it's forty stay forty eight, which I've played in the
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  Speaker 3: state of New York, which isn't fun when it comes
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  Speaker 3: down to breaking down those numbers, right or coming back
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  Speaker 3: to Utah obviously, I don't know what the numbers are
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  Speaker 3: here because they don't have a ProTeam, But I'm taking
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  Speaker 3: my chances probably coming back to college football.
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  Speaker 5: For them more year. And you never know, you.
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  Speaker 3: Might you know, just like the same way you can
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  Speaker 3: get called up over there. So I mean, you could
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  Speaker 3: be that second guy, third guy. Something can happen in
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  Speaker 3: college and you you rad waffle.
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  Speaker 5: A pretty good year, So you know, I'll take I'll
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  Speaker 5: take my chances of going back to college, you know.
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  Speaker 3: And it's also pretty stress free life. When you don't
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  Speaker 3: come back another year. I'm pretty sure you probably already
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  Speaker 3: graduating all those things as well.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you're you're taking basket weaving classes and stuff like that.
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  Speaker 4: Probably probably not difficult. Yeah, all right, let's focus in
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  Speaker 4: on the University of Utah here for a second. So, uh,
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  Speaker 4: camp is over right, three weeks of hammering away at
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  Speaker 4: one another. Now do you divide up the ones and
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: the two's and they go off and play against the
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  Speaker 4: scout team of an opposing offense and opposing defense.
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  Speaker 1: UH.
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  Speaker 4: Position battles, for the most part, are supposed to be
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  Speaker 4: figured out at this point, and Utah had plenty of
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  Speaker 4: questions and important spots like along the offensive line.
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  Speaker 1: UH.
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  Speaker 4: The difference for these players now that you're in game prep,
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  Speaker 4: now that you're in uh like season mode instead of
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  Speaker 4: in camp. How significant is that difference for these guys
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  Speaker 4: right now?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, it's a big change, you know. And in camp,
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  Speaker 3: you're you're letting everything just go right. You're you're just
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  Speaker 3: trying to continue to get better in every single way.
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  Speaker 3: You're pushing yourself much more than you do. Once you
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  Speaker 3: turn into that season mode, right, it's a hard switch
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  Speaker 3: you gotta you gotta make because you go three weeks
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  Speaker 3: and you just you're in there every single.
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  Speaker 5: Day and that's the only thing, you know, and then.
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  Speaker 3: Once that comes down to the to the end and
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  Speaker 3: you have to switch to season mode. Right now, you
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: have to figure out how to what's my routine right,
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  Speaker 3: which is probably the biggest thing because that's how you
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  Speaker 3: your day. You dictate everything that's going to happen around
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  Speaker 3: your day and how you work with football and how
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  Speaker 3: you got to add back well into everything and stuff
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  Speaker 3: that nature. So you know, it's it's a big mental
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  Speaker 3: shift because you have to start thinking about X, Y
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: and Z, processing this and putting this over here, and
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  Speaker 3: just aligning yourself the right way so that you know,
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  Speaker 3: the things off the field can run pretty smoothly because
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: all these things that you don't you don't think about,
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  Speaker 3: these things are in camp right. That's the point of
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: being up at the hotel or wherever they have these
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: guys at during camp right, is to get away from
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  Speaker 3: anything outside and just be all ball. But once you
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  Speaker 3: come out of that for those three weeks, you know,
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  Speaker 3: it's you have to jump right back into real life
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  Speaker 3: and managing a lot of different hats and stuff like that.
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  Speaker 3: So you know, the biggest thing is just get into
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  Speaker 3: the routine and find what works for you, what works
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  Speaker 3: for your body, what helps you feel good mentally, physically, mostionally,
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  Speaker 3: whatever it may be, right, just find the best overall
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  Speaker 3: routine because that's.
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  Speaker 5: What's going to carry you through. You know what we
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  Speaker 5: hope to be a very long season.
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: Zach Moss our guests here on the Sean O'Connor so
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: talking all things you tall football the class load is
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  Speaker 4: always an interesting thing because guys are at different points
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  Speaker 4: in their academic career, right And it's really foreign to
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  Speaker 4: me right now what that actually looks like for these players,
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  Speaker 4: because when I was in college, there was no nil
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  Speaker 4: there was no expectation that you were supposed to be
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  Speaker 4: like a business person in addition to being a college
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  Speaker 4: football player. You did your lyft in the morning, you
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: went to class, you got your grades, you practiced in
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  Speaker 4: the afternoon, and it was rinse and repeat throughout the
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  Speaker 4: whole season. Right, It's a lot more involved now these guys.
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  Speaker 4: The time commitment is significant. The guys at the top
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  Speaker 4: of the roster right way, Shaun Parker, Devin Dan Pierre,
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: Lance Holsklaut. These guys have community engagement and they got
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: endorsements and they got all this type of stuff. While
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: also you're supposed to maintain your eligibility and you're supposed
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: to be like a student. The student athlete part is
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: supposed to matter, at least to some people. And if
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  Speaker 4: you're a guy who might not make an NFL roster,
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  Speaker 4: you better take it seriously because you have this opportunity
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  Speaker 4: to get a free education right now, So uh, part
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  Speaker 4: of that routine you're talking about is a class load,
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  Speaker 4: and it varies so much for each person. How did
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  Speaker 4: you manage as an elite player with you know, still
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: a slightly different error, but uh, you know, with what
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  Speaker 4: football demanded of you and what life was eventually going
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  Speaker 4: to need you to have a degree for, how did
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  Speaker 4: you manage Tom?
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  Speaker 3: I think you know with you know, coach with uh
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  Speaker 3: in Cyrus. Uh, you know, those two set a pretty
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  Speaker 3: good standard on you know, being a Stuart first, right,
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  Speaker 3: being actually but being a student first, because you know.
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  Speaker 5: You know, for me growing up where I grew up
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  Speaker 5: in Miami, you know the only thing you're thinking about
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: is being an athlete. I think about being a student first.
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: Essentially you're thinking about athletic ability and playing in the
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: NFL and things of that nature. So you know, coming
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  Speaker 5: here and those guys having the ship and all the
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: players buying in, you know, I think we finished topping
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: EPA for athletes in football every year when I was there,
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: So you know, it was almost like a prizing more
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: so than anything that you wanted to make sure that
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: you wouldn't one of those guys that were just kind
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: of teetering on that line and stuff. Like that because
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: also you know the NFL they look at stuff like
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: that as well.
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  Speaker 3: Right, That's that's something that they they pay attention to
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  Speaker 3: when it's that time for you to you know, go
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  Speaker 3: talk to them, be potentially in the draft and stuff
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  Speaker 3: like that. Obviously, you know, totally different, right, you know
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  Speaker 3: for me, you know, kind of closer to yours experience
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  Speaker 3: a little bit, where you know, there is no expectations
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  Speaker 3: off the field, right, there is no look appearances, there
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: is no uh this that and the other. You know,
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  Speaker 3: even when in the NFL, right, it was still at
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: least my first three years, you know, it was hard
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: to want to make a uh a footprint outside of
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: being the football player, right, kind of building something for
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: yourself and things of that nature, just because organizations, uh,
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  Speaker 3: you know.
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  Speaker 5: Still didn't fully like that.
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  Speaker 3: Now, I think obviously with the n i L is
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: is the doors blown open. You know, I see the
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: guys with through social media, with the different restaurants and
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: things of that nature, which is great. You know, they
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: continue to build. You know, it's pocketed, it's money in
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: they're pocket right now. But I think you know the
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: big picture is that they're making connections, right that can
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: go a.
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  Speaker 5: Long way, no matter where they may be in life.
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  Speaker 3: And that's what it's all about us trying to make connections.
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: And you know, for.
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  Speaker 3: Me, I guess that was the biggest thing that I
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: did that I paid attention to, was trying to make
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: connections you know that would do when you never know
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: when you would need them.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: All Right, I'm gonna be running some over unders for
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: the year, some statistical overunders. Pass the listeners here in
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: a minute, so I'm gonna give you a chance to
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  Speaker 4: answer these.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: First.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: We've been examining the passing game when I go, when
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: I put out these hypothetical numbers, and I'm going to
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: stay on that front for just a minute.
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  Speaker 1: Here the over.
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  Speaker 4: Under on Utah having two ninety nine point five passing yards.
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  Speaker 4: Does Utah have three thousand passing yards this year or more?
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  Speaker 4: Or do they stay under that total? Given mac g
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: Kevin mcgibbn as the new offensive coordinator, obviously you take
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: into account an offensive line that might not give you
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: quite as much time as you had last year, A
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: healthier version of Devin Dan Pierre, whatever Burt Fickland's role is,
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: maybe a better wide receiving corps. We'll see where do
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: you think we hit when it comes to that three
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: thousand yard that magic mark of three thousand yards passing
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: over or under?
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  Speaker 3: I'll say over. I think I think he had what
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: he had twenty three twenty four hundred last year passing,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: I want.
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: To say so, yeah, I would say I would say over.
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: The passing yardage four Devin dan Pierre last year he
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: had twenty four to ninety and obviously he was even
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: in that case splitting some reps. Utah as a as
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: a total team finished last year with two thousand, eight
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: and sixteen passing yards on the season. There were five
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: teams in the Big Twelve Conference that had three thousand
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: or more. Cincinnati, Arizona, Texas Tech, TCU, and Baylor all
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: had more than three thousand yards. So three thousand puts
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: you in the top five at least for last year.
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: Okay, yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: Like you said, you know, the injuries to himself, the
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: splitting of the reps to some degree, obviously, you know,
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: and I mean you talk about the way we rushed
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: the ball last year, with that type of production we
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: had on the ground, he would think that number would
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: probably be a little smaller there. So you know, I'm optimistic,
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: but I agree. I think from everything I've heard this
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: this roster, at least from the wide receiver position, is
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: really really talented and got a lot of death there.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: So I think they're going to lean into that a
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: lot this year.
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: To Zach's point, last year, Utah the number one rushing
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: offense in the conference, three and sixty two yards on
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: the ground. The offense averaged six yards of carry no
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: matter who had the ball in their hand.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: That that's healthy. Zach.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, any any insight you can give us on what
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: you personally are going to be doing.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: Are we allowed to talk about that yet when it
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: comes to this upcoming football season.
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: I'm not sure.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: Uh, but yeah, you know, it would be some interesting
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: things happening from that standpoint of things, but more so
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: just you know, looking forward to seeing a lot of
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: wins and right cycles and you know, hopefully getting to
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: that that championship game, in the conference championship game and
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: then going to do something in the playoffs.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: What we're ten days away from Utah kicking off the
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: season against Idaho up there on a Thursday night, So
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: I know we'll be talking to you next week as
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: well as Zach, But it's getting closer man.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: We're almost there.
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, almost there. Football is almost back.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Thanks for your time. I appreciate you.
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: No problem, man, Yeah, we're going.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: Zach Moss, running back legend at the University of Utah,