Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Sammy Mora on the Utah's win over Colorado, Team MVP so far, Top 15 matchup with Houston Saturday night + more

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Sammy Mora on the Utah's win over Colorado, Team MVP so far, Top 15 matchup with Houston Saturday night + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:09
Speaker 1: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
0:12
Speaker 1: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 at 92.1 FM. Welcome back
0:22
Speaker 1: to the Sean O'Connell Show on a Wednesday. Welcome in
0:24
Speaker 1: Sammy Mora from U-Tone. We always do this to Sammy.
0:29
Speaker 1: She gets pushed a little bit later than we expected
0:32
Speaker 1: to have her because a coach is on or in
0:35
Speaker 1: this case, QB number one is on. It's not because
0:38
Speaker 1: we don't love Sammy. It's just because timing works out
0:41
Speaker 1: that way, but I do feel bad about it.
0:43
Speaker 2: Hi, Sammy.
0:46
Speaker 3: Hey, like I said, last time I got bumped, if
0:48
Speaker 3: it's for like a player, a coach, I'm fine with it.
0:52
Speaker 3: But if you like bought me for like Kevin, who
0:54
Speaker 3: runs the seven 11 down the street, then there might
0:56
Speaker 3: be some issues.
0:58
Speaker 1: We would never do that to you. Dev says, hi,
1:01
Speaker 1: by the way. Um, let's talk a little Utah football
1:04
Speaker 1: coming off a win, but an ugly win against the
1:08
Speaker 1: university of Colorado.
1:09
Speaker 2: Uh, I'm sure you've gone back. Like I haven't rewatched.
1:13
Speaker 1: Uh, tell me what you think is the reason Utah
1:17
Speaker 1: underperformed in that win.
1:20
Speaker 3: Honestly, it's, it's one of those weird games for me
1:22
Speaker 3: because on one hand, uh, Colorado had two weeks to
1:26
Speaker 3: prepare for Utah because they were coming off a bye.
1:29
Speaker 3: And so I think that extra prep time helped. I
1:31
Speaker 3: think there was a lot of internal motivation in Boulder
1:34
Speaker 3: to get the win for Isaac. You know, after the game,
1:37
Speaker 3: he said, you know, one man's trash is another man's treasure,
1:40
Speaker 3: kind of in kind of a. I don't want to
1:43
Speaker 3: say backhanded, but in a comment about Utah and just
1:46
Speaker 3: what this game meant to him and stuff. So I
1:48
Speaker 3: think it was that. And I think it was also
1:50
Speaker 3: just like Utah got knocked out of their rhythm. Like
1:53
Speaker 3: when Utah gets out of their rhythm, it turns into
1:56
Speaker 3: a funk at times. We've seen it, you know, a
1:58
Speaker 3: couple of games now. So I think those are the
2:00
Speaker 3: two biggest things that kind of stood out to me.
2:03
Speaker 3: I'm still doing my insanely deep breakdown. I, that game was,
2:08
Speaker 3: I was in Boulder and it was such a, like
2:11
Speaker 3: a whirlwind weekend for me, but also like an exhausting
2:14
Speaker 3: weekend for me. So I'm just now, you know, getting
2:16
Speaker 3: my feet back under me and stuff. And I'm going
2:19
Speaker 3: to do some more deep dives of the game today
2:21
Speaker 3: just to get an even better, you know, grasp an
2:24
Speaker 3: idea of what's going on.
2:27
Speaker 1: I'm trying to find some silver linings because look, it's
2:29
Speaker 1: still a wind. You're a top 10 team in the country.
2:32
Speaker 1: There's six and oh, there's no reason to burn the
2:35
Speaker 1: house down when you're undefeated. But Something that I think
2:39
Speaker 1: was important for this team to face, and I'm glad
2:42
Speaker 1: they faced it against Colorado because I think it's easier
2:45
Speaker 1: to get over the hump against Colorado than some of
2:47
Speaker 1: the other teams like Houston who comes in this week.
2:49
Speaker 2: And we'll get to that conversation here in a second.
2:51
Speaker 1: But, you know, there was probably three or four scenarios
2:55
Speaker 1: in this game where you needed to make a play.
2:58
Speaker 1: Something had to happen. Somebody had to go intercept a ball.
3:03
Speaker 1: Bobo Chenault does it. Creed Whittemore had to come up
3:06
Speaker 1: with drive-extending catches. Braden Pagan and Devin Dampier needed to
3:11
Speaker 1: connect on a touchdown pass or this game goes the
3:14
Speaker 1: other way. The fact that Utah found playmakers in a
3:19
Speaker 1: scenario where they actually needed those plays to happen, that's
3:22
Speaker 1: the first time we've seen it this year.
3:24
Speaker 2: They've been off to such a hot start.
3:26
Speaker 1: They built these nice leads and they haven't really been
3:29
Speaker 1: up against it at all so far this season. So
3:32
Speaker 1: if there was still a question, I think the silver
3:35
Speaker 1: lining is, even though the game's closer than we wanted
3:38
Speaker 1: it to be, they answered the call in those three
3:40
Speaker 1: or four scenarios on the positive side of things.
3:43
Speaker 2: Is that, is that a takeaway that I should be
3:46
Speaker 2: focusing on here?
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Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, it's a really, it's a strong thing
3:50
Speaker 3: to think about because there have been times where Utah
3:54
Speaker 3: needed a stop on defense. They couldn't get it. Utah
3:56
Speaker 3: needed to go down the field and score and they
3:58
Speaker 3: couldn't do that. And the team, they were able to
4:01
Speaker 3: do that. Like you said last week, like that was impressive.
4:03
Speaker 3: You know, Bobo, that interception from Bobo, it was, just
4:07
Speaker 3: such a, an important part of this game. And I
4:10
Speaker 3: think that because of the play that Bobo has had
4:13
Speaker 3: this season, whether it be, you know, high moments like that,
4:16
Speaker 3: it's been really severely overshadowed by the, the, the, the
4:20
Speaker 3: bad moments. And I use bad in not a, like
4:23
Speaker 3: a negative term, but like less than ideal moments, whether
4:26
Speaker 3: it's he get beats at beating coverage or a pass
4:28
Speaker 3: interference call or stuff like that. But, you know, this
4:31
Speaker 3: team doesn't seem like it's a team that's just going
4:34
Speaker 3: to roll over. they are going to continue to fight
4:38
Speaker 3: they're going to continue to play for each other they're
4:40
Speaker 3: going to continue to do everything in their power to
4:44
Speaker 3: you know pull out these wins and pull out these
4:46
Speaker 3: games and it's it's really i'm really grateful that utah
4:50
Speaker 3: has had you know two maybe three depending on who
4:53
Speaker 3: you are as a person gut check games you know
4:55
Speaker 3: now that we're getting into mid-october late october when these
4:58
Speaker 3: games are really going to start ramping up um but
5:01
Speaker 3: I do agree that it was, that was good and
5:04
Speaker 3: encouraging to see that, you know, they got punched in
5:07
Speaker 3: the mouth, but they were able to get back up
5:09
Speaker 3: and punch right back.
5:12
Speaker 1: Uh, way, Sean Parker, 23 carries 98 yards, no real
5:16
Speaker 1: big breakout explosive runs in this one. And you got
5:20
Speaker 1: to give credit to Colorado for that. Uh, It's still
5:23
Speaker 1: a good, healthy average. It's a good game for way Sean,
5:27
Speaker 1: although probably his quietest game from a, an impact standpoint,
5:30
Speaker 1: he didn't score a touchdown. What does that say about
5:34
Speaker 1: way Sean's usage moving forward?
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Speaker 3: Well, I like, like you said, it's, it's a credit
5:39
Speaker 3: to Colorado. Like there were times where they were stacking
5:42
Speaker 3: that box and they wanted Devin to try and beat
5:44
Speaker 3: them with their, his arm. And it's, I think the
5:48
Speaker 3: big thing with Wayshawn is like we thought earlier in
5:51
Speaker 3: the season that they have situations where they can get
5:54
Speaker 3: the ball into his hands via you know passing attack
5:57
Speaker 3: and I do vividly remember probably two or three times
6:01
Speaker 3: at least during Saturday's game where Wayshawn was open on
6:05
Speaker 3: the check down with nobody in front of him and
6:08
Speaker 3: he could have you know caught it and taken it
6:11
Speaker 3: for however long and however far he could have. So
6:15
Speaker 3: I think that that's something that Utah needs to go
6:18
Speaker 3: back to. And, you know, I think Devin was at
6:21
Speaker 3: times trying to get it all, get everything back, whether
6:24
Speaker 3: it was, you know, deep shots, standing in the pocket
6:28
Speaker 3: a little bit too much and not taking that check down. But,
6:31
Speaker 3: you know, Weishan's such a talented player, and he can
6:34
Speaker 3: do a lot with the ball in his hands, whether
6:36
Speaker 3: it's him being a running back or him in a
6:38
Speaker 3: catching situation. So just... Just get back to what it
6:42
Speaker 3: was versus, you know, Idaho, Utah State, Arkansas, when you
6:47
Speaker 3: were throwing the ball away, Sean, as well. Because when
6:50
Speaker 3: he gets green grass, that kid's gone. And it might
6:52
Speaker 3: not be he has rushing yards, but he'll have those
6:55
Speaker 3: receiving yards, and those receiving yards could lead to more
6:57
Speaker 3: rushing yards for him.
7:01
Speaker 1: Sammy Moore is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell Show,
7:03
Speaker 1: talking all things Utah football. Coming off a 27-24 win
7:06
Speaker 1: over the Colorado Buffaloes.
7:09
Speaker 2: Looking forward to Houston.
7:13
Speaker 1: Isaac Wilson on the other side in this game. Obviously,
7:16
Speaker 1: the connection is strong. He transferred from Utah to Colorado.
7:22
Speaker 1: I thought he competed well. I thought he accounted well
7:25
Speaker 1: for himself. I mean, you still saw some of the
7:27
Speaker 1: problems that he had at the University of Utah. But
7:30
Speaker 1: you could tell this game meant a lot to Isaac Wilson.
7:33
Speaker 1: And I know it's weird when we're talking transfers that
7:35
Speaker 1: leave this program. I feel like I want the kid
7:39
Speaker 1: to be successful, even if not against the university of Utah.
7:44
Speaker 1: Did he do anything in this game that maybe gives him,
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Speaker 1: I don't know, a stay of execution as the starter
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Speaker 1: at Colorado.
7:51
Speaker 3: I mean, I think he, he did a lot. Like
7:54
Speaker 3: if you watched, like I've watched a decent amount of
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Speaker 3: Colorado football this year. And the thing that he did
7:59
Speaker 3: was that he was actually making good decisions for the
8:02
Speaker 3: most part, like outside of that Bobo intersection, like he
8:06
Speaker 3: didn't really have anything like, glaringly bad in my opinion,
8:11
Speaker 3: like the rabbit interception, that was just a really heads
8:14
Speaker 3: up play by rabbit for ripping the ball out of,
8:17
Speaker 3: out of the tight ends hands. And, you know, there
8:19
Speaker 3: were still some things still that, you know, Utah fans
8:22
Speaker 3: have known about Isaac. He tends to lock it on
8:24
Speaker 3: his receivers. He stares guys down. He sometimes will stay
8:27
Speaker 3: in the pocket a little bit too much, but his
8:28
Speaker 3: pocket presence has taken a stride forward in my opinion.
8:32
Speaker 3: But I think if I'm Colorado, I'm encouraged to, because
8:36
Speaker 3: he did for the most part, he did what you
8:38
Speaker 3: needed him to do. He, he helped this team. He
8:41
Speaker 3: kept his team in the game. And I don't, again,
8:44
Speaker 3: like we'll have to see how things go this weekend
8:45
Speaker 3: for them versus Oklahoma state. But I, if it was just,
8:48
Speaker 3: this team was just so gung ho on trying to
8:51
Speaker 3: get you, uh, Isaac a win versus Utah, or if
8:54
Speaker 3: it was, Isaac has actually turned the page and, and,
8:56
Speaker 3: I don't wish any ill will on, on Isaac. You know,
8:59
Speaker 3: he was put into a really bad situation at Utah and,
9:03
Speaker 3: you know, he did what he could do given the,
9:06
Speaker 3: you know, what he was, what hand he was dealt.
9:09
Speaker 3: So we'll see if, if this lasts, but I know
9:13
Speaker 3: people in Boulder were slightly encouraged by his performance last week.
9:18
Speaker 2: Morgan addressed this and has asked him.
9:20
Speaker 1: Everyone's been asked about it plenty, but he addressed it
9:24
Speaker 1: at the, the weekly press conference, the speed in which
9:28
Speaker 1: the ball is getting out of opposing quarterbacks hands and
9:32
Speaker 1: the problems that can cause in coverage, but more importantly,
9:35
Speaker 1: the problems that has caused with pressure and Utah did
9:39
Speaker 1: not create any havoc plays defensively at one tackle for loss.
9:43
Speaker 2: They had no sacks.
9:44
Speaker 1: The only sack was taken away on a penalty for
9:47
Speaker 1: lining up at the neutral zone. And it be, you know,
9:50
Speaker 1: we're halfway through the season and it's still a persistent
9:53
Speaker 1: storyline here. is it something you can fix halfway through?
9:58
Speaker 1: I don't know.
10:01
Speaker 3: Like on one hand, I think it's, We know that
10:05
Speaker 3: these players are capable of getting sacks because Lance did
10:08
Speaker 3: it last year when John Henry Daly went down. We've
10:11
Speaker 3: seen it with Ethan Day last year at North Texas.
10:14
Speaker 3: Cash has had moments where he's flashed. Paul had moments
10:17
Speaker 3: where he's flashed. So I don't know if it's a
10:20
Speaker 3: player person, if it's a player situation, or if it's
10:22
Speaker 3: a coaching thing. On one hand, I want to say
10:25
Speaker 3: that I think it's more a coaching situation right now,
10:29
Speaker 3: just the way that they're coaching these guys, that they
10:31
Speaker 3: want them to cage. They want them to focus in on,
10:33
Speaker 3: you know, stopping the run. I wonder if my big
10:37
Speaker 3: thing is I wonder if Morgan slightly overcorrected because obviously
10:41
Speaker 3: last year, the big thing was, well, this, this run
10:43
Speaker 3: defense sucks. The defensive line sucks. No one can, can
10:46
Speaker 3: stop a running back. And so I wonder if there's
10:49
Speaker 3: just a slight overcorrection of, okay, now we're going to
10:51
Speaker 3: take away the, you know, we're going to put so
10:53
Speaker 3: much effort into stopping the run that the defensive ends
10:56
Speaker 3: are not going to get off the ball fast and
10:57
Speaker 3: they're not going to get into the backfield. So I
11:00
Speaker 3: don't really know if it's something that can be, I mean,
11:03
Speaker 3: I would hope that's something that it can be fixed
11:05
Speaker 3: this season, but we're six games in at this point
11:07
Speaker 3: and there's no signs of life in that group. And,
11:09
Speaker 3: you know, that's not me dogging on these guys. Like all,
11:12
Speaker 3: all of the guys in that defensive end room, they're,
11:14
Speaker 3: they're great guys. They they're, they're, they're solid players. It's
11:17
Speaker 3: just a matter of I don't know if they're being
11:20
Speaker 3: put in the right situations coaching-wise. And again, I think
11:25
Speaker 3: Colton is doing what he's doing because they're getting pressure.
11:29
Speaker 3: It's just when you're using that linebacker, sending an extra
11:33
Speaker 3: backer into the box. You had Jackson Benny coming out
11:35
Speaker 3: on a nickel blitz last week. Rabbit's been blitzing a lot.
11:38
Speaker 3: Nate Ritchie's been blitzing a lot. So my gut kind
11:42
Speaker 3: of tells me this is a coaching thing internally with
11:44
Speaker 3: the defensive ends. I don't know. how they fix it.
11:47
Speaker 3: I don't know when they fix it or, you know,
11:49
Speaker 3: anything about where that group should be at this point.
11:52
Speaker 3: It just feels kind of, I don't want to say
11:55
Speaker 3: a lost cause, but it feels like hope is quickly
11:57
Speaker 3: dwindling with that group in terms of getting into the backfield.
12:03
Speaker 2: Before we look forward to Houston.
12:06
Speaker 1: Halfway through the season, I said, all right, give me
12:09
Speaker 1: your offensive MVP, your defensive MVP, assistant coach of the
12:13
Speaker 1: year so far, maybe the team overall team MVP, if
12:16
Speaker 1: that's a different name than your offensive MVP, the newcomer
12:21
Speaker 1: of the year. If I'm asking for the yearbook superlatives
12:24
Speaker 1: from Sammy Mora halfway through the season, who's your defensive.
12:28
Speaker 2: Player of the year?
12:31
Speaker 3: Ooh, I kind of want to go as rabbit Evans
12:34
Speaker 3: right now. Rabbit has been playing like insanely high level football.
12:38
Speaker 3: I think this is what Utah expected from him last
12:42
Speaker 3: year before he went down with that season ending injury.
12:45
Speaker 3: So I want to say rabbit on the defensive side
12:48
Speaker 3: of the ball. I w I could also, you know,
12:51
Speaker 3: probably make an argument for someone like Jai just because
12:55
Speaker 3: of how he is has impacted his defensive line and
12:58
Speaker 3: just where he's playing right now. But my gut right
13:01
Speaker 3: now is rabbit. He is tied for the most interceptions
13:04
Speaker 3: on the team. He's up there in total tackles. He
13:08
Speaker 3: has a fumble recovery on the year. So gut is
13:11
Speaker 3: right now leaning.
13:12
Speaker 1: Rabbit rabbit was the kind of consensus pick. We actually
13:16
Speaker 1: got very few people who differed from that opinion. There
13:19
Speaker 1: was a couple for Jai. There was a couple for
13:22
Speaker 1: Jackson Benny, but it was mostly people's, I think one
13:25
Speaker 1: for Trey Reynolds was mostly people saying rabbits, the guy.
13:28
Speaker 1: So I don't think you're going to find a lot
13:29
Speaker 1: of argument there. Offensive MVP, maybe a little easier. Who
13:33
Speaker 1: do you got?
13:35
Speaker 3: See this, I want to like, way Sean is like
13:37
Speaker 3: the clear cut answer, but I feel like you could
13:40
Speaker 3: also make an argument for creed. You could also make
13:42
Speaker 3: an argument for zero way. Like, I think there's a
13:45
Speaker 3: couple of guys on this offense that you could make
13:47
Speaker 3: arguments for. Devin is also another one that you could,
13:49
Speaker 3: you know, put in that, that category, but they're always
13:52
Speaker 3: been playing extremely, extremely good football. Um, I've heard draft
13:58
Speaker 3: Buzz for him is starting to rise. Way Sean is
14:02
Speaker 3: way Sean. We've talked a lot about him. But Creed
14:04
Speaker 3: has been silently putting together a really solid season. Like,
14:08
Speaker 3: Braden Pagan is wide receiver one, and he is, you know,
14:10
Speaker 3: that guy that Devin likes to look to first. But
14:13
Speaker 3: when the ball is thrown Creed's way... Nine times out
14:16
Speaker 3: of 10, he's going to come down with a catch
14:18
Speaker 3: that Utah needs, kind of like what we talked about
14:19
Speaker 3: earlier with the Colorado game. So I think those two
14:23
Speaker 3: are kind of up there. Offense feels a little bit
14:26
Speaker 3: more wide open in defense, in my opinion, this year,
14:28
Speaker 3: just because every single week it seems like there's somebody
14:31
Speaker 3: that makes a big play. But if you're talking consistently,
14:34
Speaker 3: the guys that continue to come up are, you know, Wayshon, Devin, Zeroway,
14:38
Speaker 3: and Creed.
14:40
Speaker 2: Is Pagan the runaway newcomer of the year for you?
14:46
Speaker 3: I maybe, maybe I, I think again, you could maybe
14:52
Speaker 3: make an argument for Jai. But yeah, Braden's probably, he's
14:58
Speaker 3: probably up there. I would also maybe put Ricky up there.
15:00
Speaker 3: Ricky's had some really good moments as well on the offense,
15:04
Speaker 3: offensive side of the ball this year.
15:05
Speaker 1: If Kelvin Obot does not play this week, how big
15:08
Speaker 1: a problem is that for Utah against Houston?
15:11
Speaker 3: I don't think it's much of a problem. I would
15:14
Speaker 3: probably slide into his spot. And if we remember, Toa
15:17
Speaker 3: has played a lot of football for Utah. And he
15:20
Speaker 3: was supposed to be the guy heading into this season
15:22
Speaker 3: and just Kelvin slightly edged him out. So I'm not worried.
15:27
Speaker 3: I'm not hitting the panic button because Toa knows what
15:30
Speaker 3: the guys around him are going to do. Because if
15:32
Speaker 3: you remember, Toa, Keith, Alex, Zaraway, they were the second
15:37
Speaker 3: string offensive line for the last two or three years
15:40
Speaker 3: at Utah. So all of them know what they're going
15:42
Speaker 3: to do with each other. They know how to respond
15:44
Speaker 3: with each other. So I'm not severely concerned if Toa
15:48
Speaker 3: is the one that starts this week.
15:51
Speaker 1: Where is Houston most dangerous? Because I think they're dangerous
15:54
Speaker 1: in a lot of places.
15:56
Speaker 3: I think... I think Connor Wegman's the most difficult part
16:01
Speaker 3: of this off of this Houston defense or team in general,
16:05
Speaker 3: because if you give him too much time in the pocket,
16:08
Speaker 3: he's going to sit there and he's going to wait
16:10
Speaker 3: for things to develop down the field. And he has some,
16:12
Speaker 3: he is, has great touch. He knows exactly where to
16:15
Speaker 3: put the ball to, you know, get his wide receivers
16:19
Speaker 3: in a position to come away with a, with a,
16:21
Speaker 3: with a big play. So I think Wegman that area,
16:24
Speaker 3: but also if you do bring pressure, he's going to,
16:26
Speaker 3: he's going to run. he doesn't make his, he's not
16:29
Speaker 3: like a, he's not like a, like a Devin type
16:33
Speaker 3: guy where it's, you have to defend the run and
16:35
Speaker 3: the pass with him. It's more of a, if he
16:38
Speaker 3: needs to run, he will run and he will get
16:40
Speaker 3: out of Dodge and he's an effective runner. So I
16:43
Speaker 3: think biggest thing overall is, is Wegman and just getting
16:46
Speaker 3: him locked down and stopped this weekend.
16:48
Speaker 1: Does Utah win with the game day in town, remain
16:53
Speaker 1: undefeated top 15 matchup. Devin Dampier gets the ranked win.
16:57
Speaker 1: Is this a win for the University of Utah Saturday night?
17:02
Speaker 3: My gut is telling me yes, but it's not going
17:05
Speaker 3: to be like a double-digit win. I think that they
17:11
Speaker 3: win by three or I think they win by seven.
17:13
Speaker 3: I don't think this is going to be a... big
17:17
Speaker 3: blowout win. I think it's going to be whatever quarterback
17:21
Speaker 3: can make the biggest, like the last, like the play
17:24
Speaker 3: that wins the game. I think there's going to be
17:25
Speaker 3: at least one or two of those. game defining plays
17:29
Speaker 3: for Utah. I just, I also feel a lot more
17:33
Speaker 3: confident that this game is at home versus on the road.
17:35
Speaker 3: The fans have been just really solid this season. Utah
17:40
Speaker 3: at home has played extremely well this season. I just,
17:44
Speaker 3: that's just, my gut is telling me that. And, you know,
17:46
Speaker 3: that's why I kind of asked Morgan, if, if you
17:48
Speaker 3: were in a situation where you had to kick and
17:50
Speaker 3: do you send Dylan Curtis out there and do you
17:52
Speaker 3: have comfort? And he said, yeah, he has comfort in
17:54
Speaker 3: Dylan Curtis making that kick. And so I just, I
17:57
Speaker 3: just have a gut feeling. This is going to be
17:58
Speaker 3: a close one this weekend.
18:00
Speaker 1: Utah is six and a half point favorites for the
18:02
Speaker 1: eight 15 kickoff and a blackout game at rice Eccles
18:05
Speaker 1: stadium with game day in town.
18:08
Speaker 2: Sammy will be there. I will be there. You should
18:10
Speaker 2: get there too.
18:11
Speaker 1: Although it is the most expensive ticket in the big
18:13
Speaker 1: 12 this weekend, $ 200. to get into rice cycle stadium,
18:17
Speaker 1: at least as of today. So we'll see you up there, Sammy.
18:20
Speaker 1: Appreciate you giving us some time as always.
18:22
Speaker 3: Sweet. Thanks, Sean. Talk to you later.