Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Geoff Schwartz on the stakes in this Utah-BYU rivalry game, Monster slate across the nation + more

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Geoff Schwartz on the stakes in this Utah-BYU rivalry game, Monster slate across the nation + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This is the Sean O'Connell Show, your home of the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: best inside of your Utes. Let's get back to OC
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: from the Murdoch Chevrolet studio of ESPN 792.1 FM.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Welcome into the Sean O'Connell Show, hour number two. On
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: a rivalry Friday, the Holy War happens tomorrow morning at
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Rice-Eccles Stadium. 10 a.m. kickoff. Tailgate will be humming at
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: about 6 a.m. We've got tailgate passes here for the
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Smith's tailgate tent and for the ESPN 700 tailgate tent.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: You've got to come down to 455 East, 500 South,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: and throw up a U. Say go Utes. I'm sorry
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: if you're a BYU fan. We can't give you a
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: tailgate pass. I'm sorry. It's the rules. I didn't make
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: the rules. Those are the rules. But you'll survive. Jeff
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Schwartz is going to join us here momentarily. We've talked
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: about the kind of individual production of these two football teams,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Utah versus BYU, highest-ranked matchup ever between these two schools,
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: 104 meetings in this great rivalry. I do count the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Brigham Young Academy meetings. I know that BYU doesn't, but
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: it doesn't matter. Utah's in a situation now. I said
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: it on yesterday's show. I will say it again today.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: There is no tomorrow. You have to win this football game.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: I know that the coaching staff is doing its best
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: to kind of balance things out and to not let
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: it become this 800-pound gorilla that just crushes you under
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: the nervous weight, but this is a massively, massively important
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: game for the University of Utah because they've lost three
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: in a row. You can't afford to go four in
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: a row, especially when it comes to the in-state recruits,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: and there's going to be dozens and dozens of them
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: at the game tomorrow. rivalry games matter i wish this
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: one was played the last week of the season i'm
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: still okay with it being played on november 7th because
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: we don't have to wait anymore we are less than
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: 24 hours away uh jeff schwartz former oregon duck he
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: knows a thing or two about playing in some heated
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: rivalries and of course he spent a bunch of years
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: in the nfl he joins us now on the sean
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: o'connell show hey jeff have.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: You ever played a rivalry that ended before like 2 p.m
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: local time.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: It is odd that we've had some day games in
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: the past, but not many in this rivalry game. And, yeah,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: you've got to get all hyped up before lunchtime. We've
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: talked a lot about it. I've already asked you about it.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: But the morning routine, how important was your morning routine
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: or your daily routine as a player?
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hugely important. You know, like in the NFL,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: you play at one, right? And so... I like to
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: be there. So I took the first bus on the
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: way games to there about probably in the stadium by 9.30, 10.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: And if I was at home, obviously, I'd probably get
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: there maybe a little earlier. I'd wake up at 7.30.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: I'd eat the same breakfast at 8. And then I'd
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: go play football. And so now doing this, what essentially
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: would be, I mean, I guess you do play some
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: probably 12 amounts of time kickoffs, right? Like you play
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: something around noon every now and then, maybe closer to
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: maybe one, I guess, probably, right? The earliest game you
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: play would be one. Everything just pushes back three hours.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: Some guys handle it well. Some guys don't. You've got
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: to wake up earlier. There's no way to prepare for
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: it either. You just have to do it. Just go
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: play football. It helps it's a rivalry game because you'll
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: get a lot of juice if you don't make your
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: own juice from the crowd. The crowd will be pretty
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: crazy even at 10 o'clock in the morning. I think
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: that That will not be a problem. You know, put
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: a little Bailey's in the coffee. Is that allowed, though?
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: That might not be allowed. It just depends.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: It just depends, yeah. Not for BYU fans, but I
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: guess there's plenty of Utah fans that it's allowed.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: BYU fans being that passionate with no alcohol is very impressive.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Around these parts, Jeff, we substitute caffeine and sugar for alcohol.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Similar results.
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  Speaker 3: I drink a lot of caffeine. I don't know if
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: I feel the same way, but... Good to know that
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: you guys do that. Very fun game coming up. Should
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: be a good game. And first time in the history
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: of the game, two top 10 teams. And you know
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: what's so interesting, Sean? Washington, Oregon is a great rivalry, right?
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  Speaker 3: We've talked about this for years now. But I think
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  Speaker 3: one of the reasons why it wasn't as nationally relevant
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: is both teams were never good at the same time. Like,
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Oregon was good for a couple years, and Washington was
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: good for a couple years, and then when Oregon and
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: Washington finally got to be both top 10 teams in 2023,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: it was like, oh, this matters a lot more. And
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: I feel like everyone's known about the Holy War, but
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: this game basically being a playoff playing game, or like
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  Speaker 3: a Big 12 championship playing game, just makes the magnitude
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: of the game even more important.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's massive, and it's crazy because, like, if you've
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: been watching these two teams for your whole life, like,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: all the people who grew up in the state right
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: there's been times in the past where one team is
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: in the top 25 and there's been times where one
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: team even gets into like top 10 top 15 and
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: usually you get to choose one right yes like like
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: your oregon and washington analogy here uh sometimes it was
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: a top 25 matchup and we were going bananas over
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: that oh they're both in the top 25 now This
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: is 18 versus 22. Like, that's massive, right? In this
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: little old tucked away mountain time zone spot, you've got
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: the number three versus number nine teams. And the thing
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: that makes it more interesting for me is the dynamic
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  Speaker 2: where it's a first-year head coach in Morgan Scali who
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: has this team with its highest ranking, highest AP and
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: highest college football playoff ranking since the end of the
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Sugar Bowl year where you finished undefeated, like, He was
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: not supposed to be able to do this in his
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: first year. When you watch this team, why is it
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: happening the way it's happening?
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Well, I certainly did not think he'd do this in
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: year one as well. So I've been one of those
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: people that has been proven wrong. A couple of things, right? Obviously,
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: the offense is dynamic and you have playmakers and you put.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: in a position where you're able to make enough plays. Now,
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: I do think, though, that I've said this for a while,
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: I do believe it to be true, and we're seeing
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: it a little bit when you play better defense. It's
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: like you need a little bit something more than some
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: of the gimmick stuff, right? And we'll see this weekend
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: how that plays out against BYU's defense. But you have
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: dynamic playmakers, and look, you're always going to be good
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: on offense. That's one thing about defense. The defense is
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: definitely carried over, right? It's carried over from... You know, Whittingham,
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: and one thing that seems clear, too, is the identity
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: of the program, which we talked a lot about this offseason, right? Like,
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: what does the identity become when your Hall of Fame
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: coach leaves? It appears to not have changed, which is
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: really good, or really morphed into Scali, right? And that's important, too.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: And so it's good, clean football, man. You know, the
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: youth doesn't beat themselves very often and make a lot
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: of plays when it matters most.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: I know you and I have talked about this a lot,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: and I saw, you know, there were tweets about it again,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: about the the offensive line play for this university football
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: team and the run scheme. And, you know, the, I
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: think the tweet that kind of went semi-viral was Utah
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  Speaker 2: hired a high school football coach and, and this is
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: what he's doing, which is, you know, it's conveniently leaving
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: out the fact that he was, you know, I.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: Put that out there. I put out like, yeah, he's a,
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: you know, But I will say, like, part of the
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: reason why I was skeptical about your season this year
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: was Jordan. Like, it's not because I don't think Jordan
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: could be a good coach in college football. It's that
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: it's a very big jump to go from high school, right,
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  Speaker 3: high school, to a powerful job. Not just, like, going
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: to high school to Utah Tech, right? It's not doing
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: a GA job. Like, it's right to a powerful job
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: on a team that wants to be a playoff team.
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  Speaker 3: And I can't imagine that's done with the success that
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: you've seen here ever, right? And so I got Jordan
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: Locke right now. I think as the season's gone on,
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: it's not as good as it was. Now, that's not surprising, right?
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: You're playing better teams. They have a better idea of
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: what your strengths and weaknesses are. And you have a
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: young group, right? These guys have not played a lot
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: of football together. So, you know, that would be very
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: important tomorrow, obviously. It's a home game. I get it,
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: but it's a tough defense to be able to communicate
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: and be able to be on the same page and
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: eliminate mistakes. That gets done a lot with the scheme, too.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: It's a really good job of let's put together a
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: scheme that doesn't rely on our offensive line to have
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: to do everything for us.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Jeff Schwartz is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Show talking Holy War. A lot of conversation about the
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: availability or lack thereof surrounding BYU's, I think he's their
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: best player.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: That wasn't funny. That wasn't cool.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: No, you should not do that.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: I heard injury availability. I just lost my mind. I'm sorry.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: Don't bring bad juju into the holy war.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: It's not bad juju. Every time there's an injury report,
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: like Pete Thamel works at ESPN, he always does injury stuff,
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: and he always puts out, like, this guy's a game-time decision,
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: and our group thread is, like, Cam Rising again. Gosh
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: dang it.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: I don't like that the Utes were memed in that manner,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: even though they probably deserve to be. But I'm talking
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: about L.J. Martin, as you're aware. And he changes the
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: run game for BYU pretty significantly. And look, Bear Bachmeier
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: is awesome as a runner. Relying on him to be
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: your rushing offense. in this rivalry game and also to
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: generate everything in the pass game, that's tough sledding. Now,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: he did a good job of it last year, but L.J.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: Martin coming off of a surgery and getting back into
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: the lineup and practicing this week, I mean... the second
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: part of this question is what is he actually going
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: to contribute? The first part of the question is what
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: does it do for a team like BYU? Even if
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: he's like out there and dressed and looks like he's
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: ready to go where you're, you're like, okay, maybe we
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: have him today.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: Uh, I don't think it does much unless he plays right. Um, he's,
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: he's got to play. He averages like eight yards of carry.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, he's been incredible running back for them. And,
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: and you're right. The ability to, um, Just have some
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: different offense. Part of the problem for BYU is they're
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: not great on third down, Sean. Let's be honest, third
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: and long-ish. And you know how you stay on third
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: and long? You run the ball in first down very well.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: And having him in your lineup, in theory, should help
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: with that, right? And so having him back, I think,
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: is so important to the success of their offense in
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: this game.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: I put a poll question out about, like, what people
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: think his actual contribution is going to be. And it's
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: just a guess because none of us are doctors, but
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: he could be multiple carries, maybe score a touchdown or more.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: He could be multiple carries, but not quite himself. And
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: so maybe he gives you like 65 or 80 yards.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Then there's, we're just going to have him out there
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: as a decoy, something that the defense accounts for. I
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: don't think BYU is willing to do that. Like just
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: wasting a body on the field in their offense. But,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: and then there's the, like, he's going to, pretend he's
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: ready to play, but he's actually not. What is the
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: most likely outcome in your mind?
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: I think if he plays, he plays and he's healthy, right?
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: To your point, I don't think they put him on
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: the field if he's not ready to play at 100%.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: And so I would just lean toward, I think he
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: probably that 50 to 60 yard, right? I mean, he
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: hits a couple big ones, maybe more, but that feels
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: probably right. Maybe you said 50 to 80, is that
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: what you said?
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: I said, yeah, it was like 65, 80 yards, something,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: you know, like, and he's... churning he's keeping your drives
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: going and that kind of stuff like if he ends
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: up with two touchdowns we're talking about a major impact
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: on the game and utah's crying but this is that's
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: a big ask for someone who's hasn't played in six
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: weeks or five.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: Weeks yeah i think i think that what you said
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: i think that i think it makes sense that he
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: would get you know 15 carries.
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: Maybe i don't know i mean it just it depends
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: on how healthy he is and it also depends on
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: like how well he plays early if If he goes
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: out there, Sean, and he has multiple negative yard runs,
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: probably not going to play as much.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: It depends on how he does early, how they scheme
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: him up. Now, obviously, him being back should help Bachmeier
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: in the run game, right? Because now you have to really,
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: really take into account that you have Martin there, and
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: that might open up some quarterback runs. So very curious
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: to see sort of how that works for BYU. And again,
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: if you're able to get Martin going a little bit,
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: that will help your pass game out as well. Because
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: Utah doesn't rush the passer terribly well. We talked about
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: this all year. It's getting better, but it's not great.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: And getting in those third and short situations really negates
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: the pass rush too. So very important for them to
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: be able, I think if he's healthy, to start getting
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: those first down wins.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Would you rather have a quarterback who has five more
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: touchdowns or five fewer turnovers in a close game, in
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: a rivalry-style game? That's basically the comparison between Devin Dampier
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: and Bear Bachmeier. Devin has accounted for five more touchdowns,
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: but he has five more turnovers.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: Bear does?
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: Devin does.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: The turnovers, to me, it's too much of a blanket statement.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: What are the turnovers? Are they aggressive turnovers?
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: He's thrown seven interceptions. Devin Ampere's thrown seven interceptions. And
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: one of those is a pick six. He's also lost
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: two fumbles.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Okay. Well, I mean, again, like the lost fumbles, was
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: it his fault or did he get sacked? One was. Exactly.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: I mean, I know I watched.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: It.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: One was Kansas game, right?
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: I don't remember the other one. One was like, yeah,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: it was the Kansas game where they initially ruled it
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: an interception, but then it was a fumble or whatever.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: It's getting hit when he's trying to throw.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah. My general idea is I would probably rather have
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: a more dynamic playmaker and live with some of the turnovers.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: That's probably my general thought on that.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: All right. Okay, we did a. We did a blind
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: stack comparison, and it was like neck and neck with
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: the quarterbacks, and that was the sticking point. It's like
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: you want the guy who's not quite as productive, fewer yards,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: fewer rushing yards, but safer, fewer turnovers, or you want
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: the guy who's contributed more, but he's also turned the
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: ball over more.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: I mean, again, is it like, is it? Rayola turnovers?
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: You're throwing meatball subs up to UCLA? I think it
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: matters on what the turnovers are.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: You've watched a little bit of this Utah team. There's
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: like one throw per game where you're just going, what
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: was that? And it's one per game, and he makes
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: 12 plays a game that make up for it. That
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: one play per game in a rivalry game is scary.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Sure, but I think every quarterback does that. just one
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: throw a game, you're like, what are we doing? Have
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: you ever played football before? I feel like that's not
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: just something. But to me, if you're down three, six, seven,
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: you need that guy. You need the guy who can
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: just go make some plays for you. And it feels
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: like the safe guy is not making those plays for you.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: I think that's fair. I mean, Devin has been that
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: dude where he's hitting a bunch of home runs and
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: occasionally strikes out. And It's worked out very nicely for
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: this Utah football team so far. Maybe you're the wrong
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: person to ask this question, but in the modern landscape
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: of college football, where BYU's got a little bit more
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: NIL money to spend, and there was a time when
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: the talent distribution was heavily in the favor of Utah
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: and BYU was trying to keep up, and now it's
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: evened out pretty, I would say it's dead heat even.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: And you're trying to win these recruiting battles with the
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: in-state kids, especially when BYU gets to say, hey, they
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: can't beat us. We've won three in a row. And
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: maybe if things don't go well for Utah tomorrow, we've
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: won four in a row. I just don't know how
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: you overcome that in the recruiting picture. And then if
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: you can't win it in the recruiting battle, it gets
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: harder and harder. to win on actual Saturdays every year
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: that you play. So the importance of a game like
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: this just to end the streak and to make sure
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: that you get to bring the right messaging along with
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: the NIL offer into a living room. How important do
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: you think that is?
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: I mean, I was being recruited by UCLA when USC
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: was dominating. I never once thought about not going there
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: because USC was better than UCLA. I also didn't have
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: an offer from USC either, right? So I guess the
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: idea is you have an offer from both BYU and Utah.
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: and you're figuring out where to go based off of
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: who wins.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: I wasn't a big-time recruit, so that never happened for me,
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: but if Washington came to you, because you weren't a
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Washington or an Oregon fan in high school, right? If
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Washington comes to you and says, hey, we got you
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: tickets to this game, and we've won it three years
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: in a row, or Oregon comes and says, hey, this
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: is our rival. Wait until you see this atmosphere. And
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: we've won this one three times in a row. I mean,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: are you going to make a decision even influenced by that?
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: I don't think so.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Fair.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: I think the stuff that still matters still matters, right,
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: which is, you know, the relationship with coaches. The money
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: obviously matters. The playing time, the city you're in, the atmosphere,
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: the academics. Like, again, we talk about this a lot.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: A lot of guys aren't going pro, right? So all
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: those other things really matter a lot. So the money's even.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: I think those other opportunities are important.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: How many more people will watch this game because it's
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: at noon Eastern where you live and not at 10,
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: 15 Eastern?
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: I actually think less people will watch it because if
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: you have Saturday sports with your kids, it's like at noon. Yeah.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: I was talking with a buddy because our softball team
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: lost the other day. Oh, dang. Sorry, Thunderpats. And we
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: would have played at 3 o'clock on Saturday. And I
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: texted my coach and I was like, I'm glad we're
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: not playing at 3 o'clock Saturday. I want to watch
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: Oregon play instead. Like, that is, and he was lamenting
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: his son has like a middle school baseball scrimmage on
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: Saturday at 10 and 12. He's like, I can't watch
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: the 12 o'clock games because of that. Which is, you know,
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: one thing I've, you know, I guess the only saving
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: grace about being in the Big Ten is we just
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: don't– Oregon's just never going to play like that super
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: early game, really ever, I guess. And we have some
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: later games, again, and some good time slots. But, like,
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: that's just– yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'll be watching.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: What am I doing? I've got nothing Saturday, really. I've
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: got to pick up from a bar mitzvah probably at, like, 1230,
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: so maybe I'll miss a couple minutes of the game
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: and then don't leave the house again until after the
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: Oregon game. I'll be home. I'll be watching. It is
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: hard when it's that early for fans out east that
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: are in kids' youth sports to watch.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: I feel like I'm asking that question because I understand
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: philosophically why you're like, hey, let's put this game in
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: a time slot where the whole nation can see it
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: and bring in a little bit more exposure. But then
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: there's the practicality of it. And locally, the practicality doesn't
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: make any sense because of what you just mentioned. And
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: then you're telling me that nationally it's kind of the
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: same thing.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: I don't think this does not scream to me that
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: they did this for relevance. They did this because they
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: want to put the SEC games at night.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: I mean, from the Big 12 perspective. They wanted this
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: game not a night game. They said that. They told
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: ESPN that. We don't want any.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: More night games. You mean like the 10-15 start, right?
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Eastern?
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: Would you have preferred 10-15 Eastern, or would you prefer
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: 12 Eastern?
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: 10-15 by a drastically long stretch.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: Same. I would do that. Obviously, Marath is sleeping. The
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: kids are sleeping. I'm turning that game on for at
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: least a half. I'm not saying up until 2, but, like,
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: I'm way more, like, I'm going to be way more
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: in tune to put it on at 10, 15 than
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: I would at noon, if that makes sense. Just because, like,
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: at noon, there's, like, I mean, I have a play date.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: I got to pick Alex up. I got to figure
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: out lunch for the kids. Like, you know, it's harder
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: at noon for East Coast people. I'm not saying for
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: you or for anyone else, but, like, the noon games
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: for me, most Saturdays, we have, like, we don't have
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: sports for a month, essentially, for Saturdays, but once December hits, like,
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: we got basketball. It's just, like, Saturday midday, I just
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: don't watch football.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Aside from the Holy War, which I know you're just
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: appointment viewing, but aside from the Holy War, I mean,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: it's a monster slate. So, which of tomorrow's game is
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: drawing the most of your attention?
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: Well, obviously mine, but I had a buddy text me yesterday,
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: two days ago. I was like, hey, do you have
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: thoughts on Oregon and Ohio State? And I didn't answer him.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: I just forgot. And he texts me back and says, like, yesterday,
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: can you answer me? I'm like, buddy, What do you
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: want me to tell you? What do you not know
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: about Oregon-Ohio State that you want me to tell you?
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: If I knew what Rayola was going to do, I'd
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: tell you. This game, to me, is the most, like, unwagerable...
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: How do you even know what either team's going to do?
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: One team has a backup and is making his second
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: start ever. One is Rayola, who no idea, good or bad,
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: in any direction. To me, it's like an un.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: To me, anything I can... If you told me a result, okay, cool,
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: but sure, yeah, Oregon won by 10. I'll say it
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: won by 30. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. There's nothing
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: that would surprise me about this game whatsoever. Obviously, I
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: want to watch it. I will watch it. I think
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: the other one that is probably most nationally relevant is
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: Bama-LSU because it feels like the loser... Three losses now,
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: you're on the outside looking for the playoff. If Notre
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Dame can't beat Miami, they're definitely out of the playoff.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: That was very clear based off of the initial standings.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: Right now, we have no Tony for Miami. He counts
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: for so much of that offense that you've got to
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: feel like this would be pretty tough for them to
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: play as well. 25% of their offense is Kadarius Toney.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: Not Kadarius Toney, Malachi Toney. That feels very tough for
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: For Miami to win on the road in that environment,
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: considering you don't have your best offensive weapon. Just those
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: games everywhere. I think Tennessee gets Kentucky. Kentucky feels like
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: they're not as good as their ranking. I think UCLA
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: could definitely lose to Minnesota. We've seen every week a
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: top 10 team lose on the road to an unranked team.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: I think we've had it every week, essentially, since the
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: rankings came out. That feels like a loss for the Bruins, maybe.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: This year feels like, I don't know if you remember,
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: all the way back in 2007... Feels a lot like 2007, man,
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: where every week the number one and two team lost,
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: including me. I lost as a number two team. It
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: feels like that type of year where just no one's great.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: I was going to say, I know I'm Big Ten focused,
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: but Big Ten right now, backup quarterbacks this weekend, Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Northwestern,
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: questionable for Michigan State, if they're starting to play, questionable
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: for Rutgers. He's going to play UCLA backup quarterback. I mean,
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: it's just no one's.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Healthy, man. Jeff Schwartz here on the Sean O'Connell Show.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Give me a prediction for the Holy War. Tell me
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: that you believe Utah's going to win.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: So I took BYU to cover, but I think Utah
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: wins 2017.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: All right. There we go. That's what we needed.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: I did make it my upset pick again this.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Week, though.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: Why do you do that? It's a tough ask, though.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: I have to pick a decent underdog to win outright.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: And I don't love a... When you think about this game,
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: I think that out of all the underdogs this week,
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: they have a decent... I don't think... I guess I'm
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: going to go with Bama, I guess. I don't think
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: Bama's going to beat LSU, though. I think it's a
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: very close game.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: I think it's going to be a close game. It
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: always is a close game. The sincere hope, obviously, on
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: this station is that Utah comes out on top.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: Of that very close game.
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: As a fan or media member?
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: Kind of both.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: Not bringing your kids?
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: No.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: Here's the thing. There should be like a minimum age, maybe,
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: for a rivalry game. These tickets are at a premium.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: I'm not bringing a 7 and a 5 and a 3-year-old.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: To a game like this one. This is the thing
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: about Alex.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: It's like, Dad, if Oregon goes to a championship, can
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: I go with you? I was like, it's like five grand. Oh,
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: by the way.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: You're like, maybe, probably not.
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: Do you know what we're doing? This is for the
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: first time for Thanksgiving. You'll love this. Mom, Dad sitting
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: first class, kids, and coach. Oh, I love that.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: Oh, hey, you know what?
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Prices have come down for this game. It was earlier
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: in the week. It was $ 400 plus just to get
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: in the door. Tickets as low as $ 347 for the
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Holy War. All right.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: My parents had some tickets. I was lucky enough to
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: go to all the Bruin games. But I can understand, like,
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: if you're just spending that much money on young children
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: who probably wanted to make it a full game, it's
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: not very affordable.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: It's also not very fun when you're like, hey, I
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: need water. And then you get back to your seat. Hey,
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: I need a pretzel. And you get back to your seat.
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Stop it. Oh, buddy. Kids never eat more than
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: when they're at a ball game. They're never hungrier than
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: when they're not at the house with all the food
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: you have.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: As of today, by the way, this is the most
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: expensive ticket in college football.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: That's actually a surprise to me. A couple bucks more
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: than Kentucky at Tennessee.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: That can't be more than Notre Dame-Miami. Where did that
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: game go?
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: I think Notre Dame also just has a giant stadium.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: And all the Tony stuff, maybe there's not as much
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: excitement for that game.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, I lied. I lied. That one is the
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: most expensive. That's $ 800 to get in the door.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: Of course. Ouch.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: All right, Jeff, you're the man. Bye, buddy.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: Have a good weekend. Good luck.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: All right, that's Jeff Schwartz. Notre Dame is now a
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: seven-point favorite, by the way, in that game. So if
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: you're headed to South Bend, Indiana, Irish are big favorites,
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: and it's going to cost you $ 800 to get into
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: the game.