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Morgan Scalley Weekly Press Conference - Week 7 at Colorado · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Wrapping up the game, just watching film. Really good start
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to the game, both the defensive side of the ball
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and the offensive side of the ball. Kind of a
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: lull there in the second quarter that started really with
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a fourth down stop on their part. A couple of
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: chunk plays led to a touchdown and then an interception
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: that leads to points going into halftime. So really the
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: momentum was on their side for sure going into halftime.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Talked a lot about this in the locker room at halftime,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: but this is a game of momentum, and you've got
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to go steal it back. It doesn't just magically happen
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: for you. Just because we're the home team, you've got
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: to go out there and establish yourselves. I thought Devin
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: and the leaders did a really good job in the
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: locker room of getting these guys ready.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: So good stop on defense to start the third quarter. Yeah.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: A touchdown by the offense, and then they responded. It
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: went back and forth for a little bit. Again, tell
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the tape, at least on the defensive side of the ball,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: were those red zone stops. They were 2-5 in the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: red zone in terms of touchdowns. We were 5-5. The
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: big fourth down stop, the way Sean touched down after
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: that really kind of sealed the deal, and then we
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: were able to get stops down the way. You know,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: hard to win in college football and really proud of
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: our guys. Toughness they showed, the resilience and grateful for
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: another win. We've got Colorado on the road. They've coming
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: off a bye, so I know that they're going to
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: be prepared and ready. Got a couple of Utes on
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: that squad with Isaac Wilson and Stokes on the defensive
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: side of the ball, so they know all about the Utes.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Respect Coach Sanders a lot and what he's done with
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: that program.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: They're going to be ready.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: The crowd's going to be awesome, and it'll be a
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: good challenge for our guys. So with that, Justin, what
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: question do you have for me, dude?
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Me right here.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: It's a two-parter. First, he says, good win on Saturday.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: What caused Kansas to carve up your defensive backfield.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Like a cornfield? Wow. Tell us how you really feel.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: And why is the defensive end not getting sacks after
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: the last five games?
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: After the last five games.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Okay. In terms of them carving up our defense, I
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: would say a.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Couple things were tempo, where our guys weren't necessarily responding
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: well enough. The quarterback made some really good throws, and
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Pickett and some of those guys made some really good catches.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Now, again, we're all about pass.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Efficiency, and you know, 17 point something of completion, not
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: good enough.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Not even close to good enough.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: However, 51% completion percentage, definitely good enough.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: So, yes, they're throwing.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: And when you can make them one-dimensional, again, their strength
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: coming in, they were number one in the conference in
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: rushing offense. Number one in the conference in rushing offense.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: And I think we limited them to 58 yards rushing.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: And so you make them one-dimensional doing something that you
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: don't think they do necessarily well enough.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Now, he did. He threw the ball and he completed it.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: However, 51% completion percentage, make them one-dimensional, 58 yards rushing,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: we'll take that.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: We will take that. Now, are there some things that
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: we need to clean up on the back end? You bet.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Getting set quicker, a couple communication issues, penalties that gave
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: them longer yardage situations. So there's definitely stuff to clean
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: up there, Justin, and we've got the guys to do it.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: So I think on the season, I think we're second
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: in the entire country in pass efficiency defense. So we're
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: doing some really good things there in terms of our
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: defensive ends.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Bless you, Gesundheit. Getting sacks. I don't care where the
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: sacks come from.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I don't. In 2014, Justin, we led the nation in sacks.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: We had 55. 55.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: And you know what? Sacks go into rush defense. And
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: you know what we were in the country in rush
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: defense that year? With 55 sacks, we were 41st in
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the country. You know where we are in the country
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: right now in rush defense? We're top 10. So if
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: you were to say, would you rather have good rush
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: defense and less sacks, I'd say sign me up right now.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: And Yes, I want sacks. Everyone wants sacks. You want
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: those disruptive plays at the same time. If I'm getting
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: max protection every single down and they're trying to protect
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: because they know we have good defensive ends, then okay.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: You've just got to find ways to get sacks other places.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: I'm not concerned one bit about the sacks. Coming into
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the season, there's a lot of questions about your offensive
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: line being able to just start five new guys.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Where would you say you're at right now?
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: It seems like they've done really well to this point,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: but how have you kind of graded them out internally
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: in your mind?
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I would say really good.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Not knowing what we were going to have and with
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: the transfers and we knew the guys currently in the program,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: but the way Coach Gross and Coach Gerke have had
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: those guys come along and by the way, Big 12 O-line.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Of the week, baby. Beef of the week, I guess
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: is what they call it.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Anyway, congratulations to those guys because they have worked their
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: tails off. You look at where we are right now
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: in the Big 12. It's 7.19 yards per play. That's
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: 9th in the country and 1st in the Big 12.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: It doesn't happen without a great offensive line. Those guys
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: are playing really, really well.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Zaraway Williams playing really elite football.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: The rest of those guys are gelling. Yes, we're going
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: to continue to have. This was a really good Kansas
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: defensive front.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: It really is. They're active. They're long levered.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: They cause issues with some of their stunts. I thought
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: our guys did a really nice job. Eighth in the
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: country in rushing offense. Second in the Big 12 with
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: 238 yards a game. But, yeah, after five games, if
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: you were to tell me that that was going to
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: be the case, those.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Were going to be the numbers, I'd be, woo-hoo, lovely.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So really good job by Coach McGiven and Coach
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Gross and that crew.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: If it's Isaac Wilson at quarterback, what advantage does that
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: give you guys for pairing? Because you know him so well,
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: but also he knows your.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: Defense really well.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: What's kind of that dynamic going to be like in.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: Preparation this league?
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he did a really good job as a
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: scout team quarterback and really smart.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: He's bright. You look at the throws that he makes
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: on the outside, he has the arm talent. You know, but.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: It's not as big of a deal, in my opinion,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: as I think people could make it out to be.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: You know, he's definitely done a great job of being
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: developed at Colorado, and he's going to know, obviously, there's
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: some things, you know, terminology-wise.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: And Stokes as well.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Jason Stokes is going to know some things, but at
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the same time, we have a feel for his strengths
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: and weaknesses, and I think at the end of the day, again,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: it's still a team game, and I don't read too
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: much into it.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Morgan, plenty of head coaches, new head coaches, struggle in
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: their first year. I'm sure you faced your adversity, but
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: here you are, 5-0, 9th in total offense, 18th in
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: total defense.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: What's been the key overall to this team and your
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: early success? Good players.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Good players, good coaches, a culture of team-first mentality. But
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: we're five games in. We're still learning about ourselves, still
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: learning about our strengths and weaknesses, finding ways to get
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: better and improve.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: It's a program that I've been.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: At, so I've seen what works, what doesn't work, and
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not having to go to a new place where
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: I don't know the donor base.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of advantages that I already had.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: But, again.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: The players buying into the team culture and the coaches
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: all speaking the same language. It's a really fun group
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: to coach and great coaches that are very loyal.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: Just got to keep it going.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: You added multiple transfer portal receivers, but Ricky Johnson coming
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: off the big game.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: I'm just curious, when did you realize that he could be.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: A guy that would contribute for you to this degree
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: in 2026?
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: When we saw him in spring ball. He's a dynamic
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: wide receiver and I'm really pleased with the distribution.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: We have.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Eight guys, eight guys with five or more catches on
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the roster, which probably goes back to the question you
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: had in the press conference about, you know, is he
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: keying in on Pagan and going back? He's just going
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: through his reads. I was very pleased with how he
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: was going through his reads and and dealing the football
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: to the different wide receivers. You saw Creed have a catch,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: miss on another one. You had Ricky obviously getting his catches,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: the touchdown pass to Noah Benny. You know, Sammy getting
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: his catch.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: That was awesome.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: But I think we're doing a really good job of distribution.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: I think Devin right now, proud of him too because
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: he's efficient, 15th in the nation. second in the Big
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: 12 in terms of passing efficiency, so doing really well
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: when he's throwing the ball. Had the one interception, which
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: in my opinion was all about bad technique. Not getting
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: his hips involved in the throw. And then the fumble
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: was kind of a freak deal. But very pleased with
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the distribution. But that You know, when you have the
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: playmakers that you do, you don't know who's going to
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: end up having the hot hand.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: It just so happened that it was Ricky.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: And he's got really good speed, unbelievable, you know, under direct,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: like just competing for the ball, you know, high percentage
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: that he's going to come down with it. In one-on-ones
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: all throughout spring ball, all throughout fall camp and man coverage,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: he just seemed a way to find the football. He
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: can play on the outside. He can also play on
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the inside. We haven't necessarily used him as much on
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the inside, but really, really dynamic wide receiver.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: Morgan, you've long said that you feel like you have
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: two starting quarterbacks on this roster of Bird and Devin.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: I'm just curious, not a.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: Lot of college football programs have that set up where
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: they have two guys that can start. I guess the
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: first part of this question is just why was it
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: so important for you to get two guys given just.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: How expensive quarterbacks are in the open market and be Do.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: You expect this to be kind of something that Utah does.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Moving forward or even other programs do moving forward.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: Just given injuries impacting quarterbacks and other things like that?
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I think that there's probably more programs than you'd think
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: that have two quarterbacks that could start. What's unusual about
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: our situation is the willingness of a backup to play
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: a different role. to play more than just a quarterback.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: And I think if more guys were willing to do that,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: I don't know if that's something the offensive coordinators love.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: It's worked out for us, and it's working out because
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: both those guys can run it, both can catch, both
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: can throw. And so would I like to see that
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: going forward? Yes, because, again, as a defensive coordinator, I
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: know the issues that it presents. you know, is it
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: always going to happen like that? And are you always
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: going to stay healthy? No. And you have to have
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: a plan for, for if that doesn't work out. And,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: and Kevin's always been great with.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: That as well.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: So. Well, um, Like I said, the distribution and the
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: ability to get different people the ball makes you unpredictable.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: I think if it's way Sean, way Sean, way Sean,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: it's easy for people to load the box and say, okay.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: The other thing are the hits that running backs take
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: over and over and over again. It is a car
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: crash every tackle for the most part.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: And so just making sure player load wise, you're doing
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: everything you can to keep him healthy.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: And yes, does he, does he want the ball? You
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: bet any.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Competitor does, but it's also what's, what's best for the team.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: And he understands that too. So, um, you know, I,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: I think we're doing a really good job of, um,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: you know, distributing the ball and, you know, he, he
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: is so valuable in so many ways, um, beyond what,
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: you see on TV because he just, you know, if
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: he's blocking downfield, you're probably not going to see that,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: but we see it. And that's why the NFL scouts
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: love him right now. Another question. Yes.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Since you've taken over, you've talked a lot about the
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: talent within the state. You've embraced the slogan, we are Utah.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: I'd be curious, what does that mean when it comes
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: to recruiting specifically? Well, you're not just going to recruit
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and offer kids in-state just because they're in-state kids.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: They have to be able to play at this level.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: The great thing is that they can.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: More and more teams, every SEC team, Big.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Ten, you name it, they're coming into Utah, particularly for
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: your offensive and defensive linemen. It goes to the quality
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: of high school coaching that's going on in state as
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: well really good quality high school coaching how competitive our
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: kids are in state and uh you know i just
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: every time i see a utah guy out of state
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: you know excelling at a different program i'm just like
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: man he eats at me um and so just doing
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: everything we can.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: We know we're not going to keep all of them.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: We know we're not going to be 100% on projection,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: but doing the best you can to make sure that
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: every high school coach, every recruit knows that that's a
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: big priority here.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: Take two more for Coach.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Morning.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: Last couple games, really good starts. There's been a lull
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: either right before the half or right after the half. Mm-hmm. Yeah,
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: like I said, I think you'd like to be able
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: to blow everyone out, but they have scholarship players too,
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: and what we have to do is, okay, what was
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: the reason?
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: And it just seems, you know, there's different there's different
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: aspects as to the why things don't go as planned.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: Maybe it's a misfire.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: You know, a Devon to Creed, and it was a misfire,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: and whereas you complete that thing, and okay, now we're
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: still going. It could be a penalty that sets you back.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: It could be a number of things. But I, you know, yes,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: we want to be more efficient, I think we're pretty efficient. 7.19
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: yards per play is pretty good. Sixth in the nation
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: in scoring offense, second in the nation, first in the
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Big 12 in pass defense efficiency.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: In terms of an overall glance.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: At things, you're really pleased, but there's definitely things that
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: you're saying, okay, this is what's keeping us from.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Even being better.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: A lot of it is not necessarily... What they're doing,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: it's what we're doing to ourselves, whether it be a turnover,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: a penalty. But it seems at different parts of the game.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: The one consistent is we're starting out strong. The second thing,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: and for the most part, I think three of our
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: five games, even close to four of our five games,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: we've done a good job coming out of halftime. So...
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: I think people think of the Iowa State deal, and
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: then they think of that second quarter. Well, it may
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: happen any time in the game, and you've got to
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: be able to respond, and our guys have.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: So I'm grateful for that. Last question. Morgan, offensive line.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Going back to the offensive line, Isaiah Garcia was someone
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: that you guys talked a lot about back in spring
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: and early fall.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: He's been on the injury report the last two weeks.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: What is his status?
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: Is he out for the season? Just what does his
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: future look like? He's back practicing this week.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: Good to have him back.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Love, Ike. Thank you.