Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Sammy Mora gives her takeaways from Camp Scalley, Enough OL ready to play a big role (?), Captains named yesterday + more

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Sammy Mora gives her takeaways from Camp Scalley, Enough OL ready to play a big role (?), Captains named yesterday + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show for the Murdoch
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  Speaker 1: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell Show. Welcome in on
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  Speaker 2: a Ute Zone Wednesday. Our good friend Sammy Mora, Utah
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  Speaker 2: insider over there at Ute Zone. Hi, Sammy.
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  Speaker 3: How are you? I'm doing a lot better now that
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  Speaker 3: I haven't been bumped for your show in favor of
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  Speaker 3: Morgan Scali.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. Airing a grievance here. And you know what? I'll
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  Speaker 2: own that. We had Morgan Scali on as the head
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  Speaker 2: coach of the program last week, and Sammy had already
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  Speaker 2: agreed to come on, and we... had to tell Sammy
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  Speaker 2: that she was bumped. So you know what? Um, that's, I,
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  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I guess.
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  Speaker 3: Hey, I'm just teasing. Morgan's one of the few people
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  Speaker 3: that I would be like, okay with it. If it
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  Speaker 3: was like some random Joe Schmo, I would be more offended,
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  Speaker 3: but Morgan, I'm fine. I'm fine.
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  Speaker 2: Okay. So for Morgan, you accept it. Um, for the coordinators,
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  Speaker 2: would it be okay?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll take the coordinators. I'll take Devin, but that's
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  Speaker 3: where I draw the line.
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  Speaker 2: So like, if I'm like, if I'm like, Hey, Sharif
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  Speaker 2: Shah is coming on.
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  Speaker 3: You're like, no, no, no, no. Sharif Sharif also gets
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  Speaker 3: a pass. Like any of the coaches get a pass,
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  Speaker 3: certain players are not certain players. All the players are
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  Speaker 3: going to pass. But if it's like Dave from the
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  Speaker 3: corner store that I'm going.
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  Speaker 2: To be a little bit upset, we would never do
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  Speaker 2: that to you, Sammy.
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  Speaker 3: Come on.
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  Speaker 2: You know that. All right. So, College sports continues to
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  Speaker 2: be insane as we are eight days away from Utah
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  Speaker 2: kicking off its season. We had an opportunity to catch
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  Speaker 2: up with Morgan Scali last week. He seemed like he
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  Speaker 2: was pleased with the progress in camp. Obviously, they wrapped
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  Speaker 2: up camp over the weekend. You were up there every
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  Speaker 2: day getting sound, talking to people. From what you were
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  Speaker 2: able to see, the limited amount, and what you were
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  Speaker 2: able to glean from your conversations, was this first camp
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  Speaker 2: under Morgan Scali the success that it needed to be?
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  Speaker 3: I think, yeah. Even Morgan said yesterday during his scrum
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  Speaker 3: that he felt it was successful. They figured out the
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  Speaker 3: depth at certain positions. They stayed injury-free. They established the
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  Speaker 3: leadership of this team with captains and a leadership council.
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  Speaker 3: So I think it was a success. I know that
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  Speaker 3: people are still a little bit worried and a little
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  Speaker 3: bit skittish about the offensive line and the defensive tackle room.
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  Speaker 3: But I honestly think that Deep down, I think these
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  Speaker 3: coaches know who's going to start, but they're just trying
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  Speaker 3: to not show their hand, which honestly, in one aspect,
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  Speaker 3: I'm okay with. Because I know people are like, well,
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  Speaker 3: you work in sports media. You should want to know
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  Speaker 3: every little thing that happens. But on the other hand,
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  Speaker 3: I like to be surprised. I like to go to
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  Speaker 3: a game and not know what every single play on
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  Speaker 3: the call sheet is. I like to be surprised. kind of,
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  Speaker 3: it's like a, it's like a journey. I like to
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  Speaker 3: be surprised. I like to just ride the flow of
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  Speaker 3: the game and stuff. And so I think they know
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  Speaker 3: exactly who all 22 starters are going to be, but
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  Speaker 3: they're just not showing their hand, which I'm okay with.
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  Speaker 2: So the number one question has been the starting five
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  Speaker 2: on the offensive line, right? And we had Morgan on, uh,
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  Speaker 2: we talked to Devin, we talked, Hey, do you know
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  Speaker 2: who it's going to be? Do you feel like you
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  Speaker 2: have a five that you could put out there? And
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  Speaker 2: then Jordan gross comes out and says, you know what?
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  Speaker 2: We might actually have 10 guys that I trust to play.
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  Speaker 2: That's 10 is too many. Almost Sammy. Like now I'm
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  Speaker 2: wondering how genuine he's being in that assessment, but you
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  Speaker 2: just said, you think they know exactly who the starting
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  Speaker 2: five is on the offensive line because you think, you know,
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  Speaker 2: who all 22 starters are, who would those guys be?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I want to talk about the gross thing, and
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  Speaker 3: then I'll answer your question. I think he was mainly
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  Speaker 3: referring to he has two starting– he has two lines.
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  Speaker 3: He has his ones and he has his twos, which
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  Speaker 3: I think is good because the goal for this team
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  Speaker 3: is to be up big again last year– big up
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  Speaker 3: again big this year like they were last year. And
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  Speaker 3: I think that having those two starting fives, I think,
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  Speaker 3: are– is a good thing. I think that the, that
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  Speaker 3: helps because especially you're not going to be in that
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  Speaker 3: position again next year where you're like, Oh gosh, we
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  Speaker 3: need to find all five starters. If you have guys
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  Speaker 3: that are getting experienced, but my take has been and
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  Speaker 3: continues to be that. I think the starting offensive line
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  Speaker 3: is zero way. Williams, Solito, Moe, I Alex Harrison, Keith Olson,
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  Speaker 3: and Cedric Jefferson. That's been my take since the beginning
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  Speaker 3: of camp. There were a couple of days in camp
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  Speaker 3: where I was like, eh, there might be some flexibility
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  Speaker 3: at the guard spots and Jefferson at tackle. But, like,
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  Speaker 3: now my confidence is kind of building on that. But also, like,
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  Speaker 3: if I'm wrong, I'm not going to be one of
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  Speaker 3: those people that, like, gets really upset and defensive about it.
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  Speaker 3: Like I'm going to admit it. Like, obviously we just
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  Speaker 3: see a small, small, small snippet of what actually happens
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  Speaker 3: during the week. And you know, my, my 20 minutes
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  Speaker 3: that I get to see is, is nothing compared to
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  Speaker 3: what Morgan and, and McGiven and Jordan has seen during
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  Speaker 3: this time. But that's been my take on the offensive line.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm, I'm still rolling with it until I improved otherwise.
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  Speaker 2: A couple other big bodies have been a major topic
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  Speaker 2: of conversation throughout camp, and I think will remain so
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  Speaker 2: during the season. Semitaolonga and Sione Motuapuaka, the rhinos, at
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  Speaker 2: least we think it's just going to be those two
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  Speaker 2: that get the bulk of those touches as the rhino backs.
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  Speaker 2: It seems like their role could expand even further than
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  Speaker 2: we gave it credit. They were talking about it at camp.
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  Speaker 2: They were talking about it at practice yesterday. Kevin McGibbon,
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  Speaker 2: gave those guys credit for their development, not just as
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  Speaker 2: lead blockers effectively. So what can you tell us about
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  Speaker 2: the Rhino packages and how big a part of this
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  Speaker 2: offense are going to be?
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  Speaker 3: I think we're starting to get a clearer picture on
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  Speaker 3: what their role is. I mean, Morgan's talked about how
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  Speaker 3: he wants to see the ball handed off to them.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think Morgan would say that if that's not
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  Speaker 3: in the cards. you have Luke Wells and McGiven saying
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  Speaker 3: that they're going to have an expanded role this fall,
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  Speaker 3: which I think leads to more receiving the ball, more
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  Speaker 3: rushing the ball, less just blocking like we saw last year.
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  Speaker 3: I know Sammy had a couple of receptions last year,
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  Speaker 3: but that role looks to be increasing this year. I
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  Speaker 3: don't know exactly what the packages look like. I don't
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  Speaker 3: know exactly what a play for them is going to entail,
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  Speaker 3: but I do think that we'll see them a little
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  Speaker 3: bit more and a little bit in different situations than
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  Speaker 3: we did last year. Sammy said that his personal goal
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  Speaker 3: is to score four touchdowns this year, and I don't
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  Speaker 3: think he would have given us that number if there's
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  Speaker 3: not a sizable package that's built out for both him
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  Speaker 3: and Sione.
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  Speaker 2: Sammy Moore is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell Show,
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  Speaker 2: talking all things Utah football, as the season is right
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  Speaker 2: around the corner. Week zero games this weekend, and of course,
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  Speaker 2: Thursday night, Utah against Idaho to kick off the season.
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  Speaker 2: You alluded to this. We talked about it on the
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  Speaker 2: show yesterday. They they did vote on and name their captains.
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  Speaker 2: And it's an interesting year because you have a couple
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  Speaker 2: of guys who have obvious leadership qualities and a good
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  Speaker 2: relationship with their teammates, but aren't exactly like all world producers,
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  Speaker 2: at least in terms of returning production. Lance Holdsclaw, we
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  Speaker 2: always thought was probably going to be voted a captain.
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  Speaker 2: I was a little bit more surprised by Trey Reynolds.
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  Speaker 2: Love seeing that because obviously he's a guy who's paid
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  Speaker 2: his dues. He's put in the work, special teams and
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  Speaker 2: backup role. And now he's a first year full time
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  Speaker 2: starter and already a captain. I think that's a big
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  Speaker 2: testament to the value he presents to this team in
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  Speaker 2: the locker room.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Trey, I would say Trey and Nate Richie were
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  Speaker 3: the two that kind of surprised me a little bit.
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  Speaker 3: But we've heard so much about Trey over the last
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  Speaker 3: few weeks as just a leader. Like, I think it
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  Speaker 3: was Morgan said last week or the week before that
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  Speaker 3: Trey is one of those guys that... he wants to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that everybody around him is doing what they
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  Speaker 3: need to do and that he's really stepped up in
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  Speaker 3: that area of the season. So looking back on it,
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  Speaker 3: it's not that big of a surprise, but I was
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  Speaker 3: surprised that, you know, landfill fall wasn't on here. Jackson
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  Speaker 3: Benny wasn't on here to a certain extent. I would
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  Speaker 3: even say someone like Scooby Davis wasn't on the, on
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  Speaker 3: the captain's list, but I, I get it. These guys
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  Speaker 3: are the ones like, again, it goes back to we're
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  Speaker 3: only seeing a small drop in the bucket compared to
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  Speaker 3: these coaches. And again, this was voted on by the
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  Speaker 3: members of the team. So if anyone knows who is
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  Speaker 3: leaving this team the best way, it's the guys on
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  Speaker 3: the team. And Morgan even said yesterday that there's not
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  Speaker 3: one guy who has voted to either the captain's group
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  Speaker 3: or the leadership council that was kind of like, eh,
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  Speaker 3: I don't really know if I feel that way or
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  Speaker 3: if I agree with it. Like, every single guy on
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  Speaker 3: this list, according to Scali, deserves it. And so, you know,
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  Speaker 3: it's one of those things where I think we on
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  Speaker 3: the outside just kind of have to accept it and roll. Like,
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  Speaker 3: it is shocking that guys like Lance aren't on there,
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  Speaker 3: but at the end of the day, we don't know
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  Speaker 3: what's truly going on inside that facility with practices. But,
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  Speaker 3: you know, Lance was on that. He is on that
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  Speaker 3: leadership council, so at least he's still in that leadership role. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: The.
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  Speaker 2: The sack masters for this year's team. I put a
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  Speaker 2: poll out. We're trying to predict who's got what, what
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  Speaker 2: kind of production we're getting out of players, et cetera,
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  Speaker 2: et cetera. I've been doing some over-unders. I'll give you
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  Speaker 2: yesterday's also. We'll start with that one, and then I'll
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  Speaker 2: get to the guys who I think, you know, just
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  Speaker 2: to prep you, I'm going to ask you who you
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  Speaker 2: think the leading sack man is on this year's team.
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  Speaker 2: But the O block for the offensive line, brand new group,
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  Speaker 2: as we've already talked about. I set the over-under at 19.5
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  Speaker 2: sacks surrendered by this group in the upcoming season. Last
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  Speaker 2: year was 14. You had two first-round tackles, obviously. You
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  Speaker 2: had experience in between those tackles. You had excellent guys
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  Speaker 2: on the offensive line. You had a mobile quarterback who
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  Speaker 2: was hampered by injury and not as escapable as normal.
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  Speaker 2: So last year was 14. Given that context, over or
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  Speaker 2: under 19.5 sacks surrendered for this Utah team. By the way,
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  Speaker 2: 19 or fewer is top five in the big 12 conference.
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  Speaker 2: It was top 27 in the country more than that.
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  Speaker 2: And you're falling out of the top five in the
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  Speaker 2: conference and you're out of the top 25 range nationally.
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to say under, but like, it's not going
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  Speaker 3: to be by a lot. I think it's going to
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  Speaker 3: be in that like 16 or 17 range. I, I
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  Speaker 3: think Solito Amoya and Keith Olson are two of the
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  Speaker 3: most underslept on guard for probably in the big 12 conference.
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  Speaker 3: Like the two of them are so extremely good at
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  Speaker 3: blocking that, that interior of that offensive line. And, you know,
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  Speaker 3: zero way. And, and Cedric, I I'm optimistic about the
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  Speaker 3: two of them. I've heard some really, really, really encouraging
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  Speaker 3: things about both of them from people I've talked to
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  Speaker 3: over the last couple of weeks. So I think it's
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  Speaker 3: going to be lower, but it's like under, but I
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  Speaker 3: don't think it's going to be like 10. I think
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  Speaker 3: it's probably going to be like 17 or 16. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, now to the sack question. Who is the sack
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  Speaker 2: leader on this Utah football team in 2026? My options
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  Speaker 2: on the poll, and you could add somebody else if
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  Speaker 2: you want. Lance Holdsclaw currently leading the vote. Cash Dillon
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  Speaker 2: is in second place. I put Paul Fitzgerald on there
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  Speaker 2: because a healthy Paul Fitzgerald Has a better single-season sack
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  Speaker 2: total than anyone else on this list. Yes, it was
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  Speaker 2: at Utah State, but it was a great year. He
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  Speaker 2: has not been 100% healthy at Utah. And then I
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  Speaker 2: put Ethan Day as the fourth option. And, of course,
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  Speaker 2: you can always say other and tell me who that is. So, Holtzclaw, Dillon, Fitzgerald,
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  Speaker 2: Ethan Day. Who leads this team in sacks?
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  Speaker 3: My head is saying Lance, but my gut is telling
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  Speaker 3: me Ethan. Yeah. Um, Ethan just, there's things that in okay.
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  Speaker 3: Brechterfield said this week that really stood out. Like he
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  Speaker 3: said that like, you can't tell that Ethan has never,
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  Speaker 3: that he's coming from the G five rings. Like he
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  Speaker 3: is wired in a way that makes it seem like
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  Speaker 3: he's always played at the P four level. So I,
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  Speaker 3: and I, I just think that, that he has what
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  Speaker 3: it takes to be the sack leader, but I also
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  Speaker 3: feel that like Lance also has that same capability. And
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  Speaker 3: the thing is, is both of those guys are very
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  Speaker 3: different path rushers. Lance is more of the speed guy.
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  Speaker 3: And then Ethan's more of that like power guy. So
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  Speaker 3: I think it's, it's one of those things where it's
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  Speaker 3: like on one hand, I can see it going Lance.
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  Speaker 3: I could see it going Ethan, but I could also
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  Speaker 3: see it being cash or Paul. There's just so much difference.
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  Speaker 3: unknown about this end room but I don't think that's
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  Speaker 3: like a bad thing that it's so unknown I think
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  Speaker 3: it's more of a okay well we have four guys
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  Speaker 3: that we think are more than capable of doing this
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  Speaker 3: it's just a matter of who is it that gets
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  Speaker 3: the light clicked on first when we get into live
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  Speaker 3: game action but I know that's kind of the biggest
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  Speaker 3: non-answer I could have given you but my it's between
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  Speaker 3: Lance or Ethan in my in my.
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  Speaker 2: Brain this year okay which uh which week zero game
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  Speaker 2: are you going to be sure to watch this weekend
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  Speaker 2: which one has the most interest for you.
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  Speaker 3: Um, I mean, well, I can watch Idaho on Friday
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  Speaker 3: night and get a nice early scout in, which is
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  Speaker 3: nice for me. Um, kind of like Morgan talked about,
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  Speaker 3: but I also like that, that TCU North Carolina game
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  Speaker 3: is kind of interesting for me. Uh, I'm trying to
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  Speaker 3: think of what else is on the, on the schedule
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  Speaker 3: for this weekend.
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  Speaker 2: But that's kind of it. Honestly, there's, I mean, USC
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  Speaker 2: is playing there. There's, there's not a, it's not a
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  Speaker 2: great lineup. There's, this week zero, which it never is.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, but yeah, he.
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  Speaker 3: Pulled it up. Yeah. I think that, that North Carolina
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  Speaker 3: TCU game and the Idaho game are probably going to
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  Speaker 3: be the two that I watch. Idaho is kind of
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  Speaker 3: up in the air. I'll probably be at a high
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  Speaker 3: school football game, so I might not be able to
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  Speaker 3: watch all of it. So I'll probably watch like a
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  Speaker 3: rerun or a highlight cut up, but yeah, week zero,
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  Speaker 3: week zero games are usually not my, like my thing.
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  Speaker 3: Like I like to get an early taste on football,
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  Speaker 3: but like, there's never a game on the week zero
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  Speaker 3: schedule that is like, Oh my gosh, I need to
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  Speaker 3: watch it.
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  Speaker 2: You're not grinding Weber state tape this weekend. I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: It's kind of messed up.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, Hey, I, I did tell Spence that I'm
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  Speaker 3: a football sicko and I, I am, but like, there's
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  Speaker 3: a time and a place and you know, it's a
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  Speaker 3: long season.
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  Speaker 2: So Weber state North Northern Colorado on Friday night, right
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  Speaker 2: before Idaho Cal Poly. So All you sickos out there,
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  Speaker 2: that's your local interest lineup on the Friday night of
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  Speaker 2: week zero. Sammy, you're the best. Thanks so much again
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  Speaker 2: for your time. We'll chat again soon.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks, OC.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Sammy Mora from Ute Zone. If you're not already subscribed
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: to Ute Zone now with On3, you should be. The
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: whole crew over there does a really good job giving
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: you Utah content and keeping it fresh every single day.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Big ups to Sammy Mora for once again hopping on
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: with us.