Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Ari Temkin on Utah's big win over Arkansas, Oklahoma St's stunner over Oregon, Houston vs Tex Tech Friday night + more

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Ari Temkin on Utah's big win over Arkansas, Oklahoma St's stunner over Oregon, Houston vs Tex Tech Friday night + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: I'm going off the rails on a crazy train.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: You're tuned to The Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
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  Speaker 2: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell show on.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: A Monday reacting to a big weekend in Utah football
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: and big 12 football.
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  Speaker 1: Lots of crazy cool stuff happened.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Ari Temkin joins us to discuss all of them. Big
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: 12 radio on tune in.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Hello, Ari. Welcome.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: What's up, buddy? How are you?
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Man, I'm fired up.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: I didn't even realize how fired up I am over
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  Speaker 2: a big Utah win. an impressive BYU win Oklahoma state.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: What the heck happened? You lose the Tulsa, you beat Oregon, man.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: This is a, it's a really interesting big 12 conference already.
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  Speaker 1: Let's start with the Utes.
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  Speaker 2: If you don't mind, we know Arkansas is not exactly,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: you know, the flag bearer for the sec, but it
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: is a team with some athleticism and some talent and
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Utah beat the brakes off of it.
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  Speaker 1: Rice cycles. See anything you liked.
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  Speaker 4: Well, the first play from scrimmage, how about, uh, pass
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  Speaker 4: to your back of quarterback and then a 36 yard
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  Speaker 4: pass out of the field.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I think we've talked about it last week
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  Speaker 3: and really for the last couple of weeks, but we
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: certainly expected to see more fun. And Morgan Scali is
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  Speaker 3: a lot of fun. I mean, and, and, you know,
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  Speaker 3: all joking aside with, I mean, they have just absolutely
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  Speaker 3: taken it to Idaho and now Arkansas back-to-back weeks. And
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  Speaker 3: they're obviously going to have much more difficult games, but
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  Speaker 3: I just think the feeling of this offense is something
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  Speaker 3: that we've really never seen before just because of the
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  Speaker 3: limitations of the previous offense. And, you know, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I've watched Andy Cole, Mickey call games for Kansas very
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  Speaker 3: successfully running a very similar offense, but they've never had
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  Speaker 3: the types of players that Utah has running this offense.
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  Speaker 3: So when you've got Ficklin and Dan Pierre and way
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  Speaker 3: Sean Parker in the backfield, I think there's so much
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: you can do. And again, And then there's so much
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  Speaker 3: off of that that you can do, and the beauty
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  Speaker 3: is in the simplicity of it. So let's go. But,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's fun to watch. I certainly wanted to
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  Speaker 3: see some of this when it came to what they have,
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  Speaker 3: and we're seeing it. And what was it like? It
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  Speaker 3: was 7-3, and then you look up and it's 36-3?
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  Speaker 1: Yes. Yes.
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  Speaker 2: And then, you know, a little mop-up time touchdown for Arkansas.
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  Speaker 2: One criticism, because we like to– We like to say
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  Speaker 2: the things we like, but also be actual football fans
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  Speaker 2: and be unrealistic and nitpicky and things like that. One
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  Speaker 2: of the concerns that people are bringing in that I
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  Speaker 2: think is is a valid one is, you know, Devin
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  Speaker 2: Dampier is getting hit a lot with some of this
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  Speaker 2: creativity in the offense and using him as a runner
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  Speaker 2: and even late in that game when you're.
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  Speaker 1: The game is in hand.
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  Speaker 2: It was 36-3 when he scored his last touchdown, and
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  Speaker 2: people are like, why is he the one running the
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  Speaker 2: ball there and taking a big lick from a safety
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  Speaker 2: or whatever? And look, Devin's a competitor. He's a great athlete.
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  Speaker 2: He's a football player. He wants the ball in his hand.
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  Speaker 2: He wants to be in there to the final whistle.
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  Speaker 2: But is that something that this coaching staff needs to
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  Speaker 2: mitigate when you're in a game that's already decided?
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  Speaker 3: Yes. The short answer there is yes. I don't think
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  Speaker 3: it's something that you really have to concern yourself with
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  Speaker 3: in a close game. You know, I mean, I think
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  Speaker 3: he's built for this and football is a dangerous sport
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  Speaker 3: where injuries are going to happen. So, you know, because
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  Speaker 3: there's always the talk about like, oh, do you want
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  Speaker 3: to limit the hits your quarterback takes? you know, within
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  Speaker 3: a game. And I certainly understand that, but I just
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  Speaker 3: think that it makes them so dangerous that I wouldn't,
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  Speaker 3: but yeah, I mean, in a game that is all
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  Speaker 3: but decided, you know, I mean, I would, I would
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  Speaker 3: like to see somebody not named Devin Dampier, Bert Ficklin
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  Speaker 3: and or a way Sean Parker getting the heads at
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  Speaker 3: the end of that, that type of game. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: when you're a, was it was 43 to three at
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  Speaker 3: that point where, I mean, yes, 36 to three at
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  Speaker 3: that point when you're in the fourth quarter, like I
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  Speaker 3: think that's, that's a fine time. And I agree with
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  Speaker 3: some of the criticisms there. You just, you cannot leave
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  Speaker 3: yourself susceptible to those kinds of hits because that's when
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  Speaker 3: things happen. I mean, you know, at the end of
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  Speaker 3: the game for UCF, this was a close game, but
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  Speaker 3: you know, Alonzo Barnett got hurt on one of the,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the final drive there. And So now they're
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  Speaker 3: going to be without Alonzo Barnett for some time at UCF.
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  Speaker 3: And that's a close game, so it's not exactly apples
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  Speaker 3: to apples. But at the end of games, especially in
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  Speaker 3: a blowout where Arkansas is, they might have more of
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  Speaker 3: an incentive to go after you in a way that
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  Speaker 3: they weren't earlier in the game. I'm talking about consciously
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  Speaker 3: trying to injure players.
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  Speaker 2: Also on Saturday was our first conference game, Big 12 game, BYU-Arizona.
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  Speaker 2: And these are two teams that both have designs on
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: significant accomplishment in the conference championship race this year. Arizona
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  Speaker 2: going to Provo, and there's always conversation about whether or
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: not that atmosphere and that altitude are affecting people. Brent
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Brennan insisted that the atmosphere didn't bother us, and then
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: of course... The folks at Lavelle Edwards Stadium decided that
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: they were going to be extra loud because of it.
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  Speaker 1: It was an awesome game. It was a great game.
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  Speaker 2: Ultimately, BYU pulls away and wins it 28-17. They held
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  Speaker 2: Arizona scoreless in the second half after trailing at halftime.
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  Speaker 2: BYU ends up on top of this one. It really
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  Speaker 2: kind of was the feature game of the week for
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  Speaker 2: the conference.
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  Speaker 1: What were your takeaways?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, first and foremost, take a bow, Kelly Papinga, you know, because...
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: I certainly had some question marks about him heading into
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: the season. And even after one week, given that it
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: was Utah tech, and we didn't really know much about
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  Speaker 3: BYU following that game, but look, I mean, Jay Hill
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  Speaker 3: was a legend. I mean, he did the damn thing
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  Speaker 3: for Michigan this weekend too. And so, you know, I was,
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: I was curious how Poppinga would be different and, and
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  Speaker 3: would he still be as effective at the backend? And
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  Speaker 3: I mean, that, that second half number was insane compared
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  Speaker 3: to what they did in the first half. Now I,
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  Speaker 3: I also credit the, Aaron Roderick and the BYU offense
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  Speaker 3: figuring out that you've got LJ Amart in the backfield
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  Speaker 3: and maybe more than four carries is the way to go.
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  Speaker 3: Because in the second half... you know, Arizona ran 20
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  Speaker 3: plays in the first half. They ran 42 plays. What
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  Speaker 3: does that attribute it to? Well, if you, this is
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  Speaker 3: your identity at BYU, you can run the football and
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  Speaker 3: limit opportunities for the opposition. And that's exactly what they did.
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  Speaker 3: They played great defense. They ran the ball effectively and suddenly,
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  Speaker 3: you know, a dominant offensive first half for Arizona becomes
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  Speaker 3: a very quiet second half. And that's, that's the identity
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  Speaker 3: of BYU. You know, I mean, not every team knows
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  Speaker 3: what its identity is two weeks into the season and
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  Speaker 3: what they can fall back on. And, To me, it
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  Speaker 3: was as clear as day in that game that ultimately
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  Speaker 3: they figured out in the second half, like, oh yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we can run the ball and we're pretty good at it.
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  Speaker 3: And then they made some adjustments to the back end
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  Speaker 3: of their defense because throws in the second half, four feet,
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  Speaker 3: everyone was underneath. especially they turned over on downs on
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  Speaker 3: fourth and four, throwing short of the sticks on fourth
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  Speaker 3: and four. Are you kidding me? And third and eight
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  Speaker 3: in the same situation. And we saw them on third
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  Speaker 3: down continuously throw short of the sticks, hoping receiver would
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  Speaker 3: go pick up yardage. So, you know, I think Seth
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  Speaker 3: Daigie in the Arizona offense didn't really adjust to what
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  Speaker 3: Kelly Papinga and that BYU defense did. And that's why
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  Speaker 3: you kind of saw the zero score on the second half.
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  Speaker 3: And then, I mean, look, this game also in the margins,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, there was– had really bad penalties by Arizona
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  Speaker 3: in this game. There was a dropped interception by JV
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  Speaker 3: on Cole early in the game. And, you know, look,
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  Speaker 3: I think, I don't know that I've, I've seen BYU
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  Speaker 3: ever have a weapon quite like legend Glasser two games
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  Speaker 3: into his career, but even just not even just his production,
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  Speaker 3: I think he'd like three catches and the one at
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  Speaker 3: the end that basically Clint to the 61 yarder, but
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  Speaker 3: earlier BYU scored a touchdown with him being a decoy.
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  Speaker 3: And then the exact same play they ran later is
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  Speaker 3: what he had the 61 yard around. So I'm already
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  Speaker 3: seeing him now. I had a major question about Arizona's
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: secondary heading into this season. They started a walk-on in
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: a secondary the last year, including four NFL players and
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  Speaker 3: a fifth that was an undrafted free agent. So it's
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  Speaker 3: a totally different secondary. I still have some questions about
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  Speaker 3: what BYU can do against really good pass defenses, but
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  Speaker 3: the reality of the situation is two weeks in, BYU
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  Speaker 3: is clearly the best team in the Big 12. It's
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  Speaker 3: not even close.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, as much as people on this station don't want
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  Speaker 2: to hear that right now.
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  Speaker 2: I think BYU and Utah, you can make a case
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  Speaker 2: for the top two teams. BYU has the most impressive
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  Speaker 2: win with a win over Arizona, obviously. But Texas Tech
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  Speaker 2: escaped against Oregon State. They didn't look all that impressive
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: in week one against Abilene Christian either.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: What do the Red Raiders have to figure out right now, Ari?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and see, that was pretty much, in my statement
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  Speaker 3: a moment ago, who I was referring to. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: you could show the case for Utah, and I think
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  Speaker 3: there are multiple teams in this conference that have looked
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: really good through two weeks on both sides of the ball.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: Texas Tech has not. And look, Oregon State is very good.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: Braden Atkinson is a dude. And it's funny because watching
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: the game, it kind of felt like to me that
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  Speaker 3: both Atkinson and their true freshman wide receiver, Jesse Legree,
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: are both going to be playing for Texas Tech. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: like the green was insane. It is second career college game.
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  Speaker 3: He was incredible. I mean, it's wild to see that
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  Speaker 3: like a three-star that goes to Oregon state blows up
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: as a true freshman, but that stuff can happen. And
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  Speaker 3: that that's what we saw. So. You know, I, all,
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  Speaker 3: all credits to what shepherd has done in year one
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  Speaker 3: for him at Oregon state. I mean, they, they are, oh,
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: and two with two very close losses to two very
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: good big 12 teams. Both of who are going to
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: meet now next week on Friday night in Houston and
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: Texas tech this game, don't let the score fool you.
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  Speaker 3: This game was very close. In fact, Brady Atkinson got
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: the ball back with two timeouts and a minute 40
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  Speaker 3: left on the clock down four. and they converted a
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: fourth and three, but they were penalized for a pick
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: play on it. And Brian Kelly on the call, as
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: we all know, basically said like, yeah, sometimes the call that.
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  Speaker 3: Sometimes they won't. It's a very gray area when it
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: comes to pick plays. And on this particular, in this
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: particular moment, they called it and it was a huge break.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: for Texas Tech because instead of converting the fourth down
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: and moving the chains, and now the clock's moving and
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: they're closer to scoring, now it's fourth and nine and
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: they get to stop there to basically win the game.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: So yeah, the score is a bit deceiving there. They
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: really were the beneficiaries of a pick play penalty there
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: that could have gone either way and certainly went the
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: way of Texas Tech.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Which I guess is good for the conference because you
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: want your presumptive best team to be 2-0. You don't
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: want to have to deal with the narrative change around that,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: especially losing to a team like Oregon State.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: But I think your point is well made.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: I think Texas Tech has shown a couple of warts here,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: and they're going to have to figure that out, not
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: only down the road, but like you said, Friday against Houston.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Maybe the most interesting story is... Oklahoma state, because you
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: lose in week one to Tulsa 24 to 10. And
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: then a lot of folks think that Oregon is not
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: just a threat in the big 10 this year, but
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: a national championship threat, or at least they thought so
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: before this weekend, 39, 31 victory for Oklahoma state. As
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: the ducks come to town, obviously the biggest win so
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: far in the, in the big 12 season and for
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: true mess to make her, And for all those guys
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: who came from North Texas, I imagine this is exactly
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: why they did, to have an opportunity to do things
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: like this. Oklahoma State pulled it off. Where does that
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: put them in the Big 12 power structure?
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, after one week, it looked like they
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: were an afterthought in that conversation. And now it puts
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: them firmly back in that conversation. I think we all
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: expected Oklahoma State to start one-on-one. Certainly not this way, though. Yeah,
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: and we've watched college football for a long time. It's funny.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: I feel like shame on me for not learning my
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: lesson time after time. Crazy things happen week to week,
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: especially the first couple of weeks of the season. And
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: for everything that Oklahoma State did not do right week one,
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: it seems like they did it right week two. Now,
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: with that being said, Oklahoma State still kept the door
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: open for Oregon to walk through. That game probably should
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: have been more of a blowout. Oregon basically had two
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: pick sixes in this game. They had one And then
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: another that they cash in a play later. So, I mean,
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: you gift wrap them 14 points from, you know, from
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: interceptions and now mess maker has four picks in two games.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: But I mean, this win was not a fluke. They,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: they beat them up front on both lines of scrimmage.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: I think the offensive line wanted was the shocker given
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: what Tulsa did to them along with their defensive line
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: last week. And Oregon, I mean, that was a defensive
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: line that absolutely whooped Texas tech in their bowl game.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: And basically everybody from that line is back. And somehow
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Oklahoma state without their left tackle, just absolutely bullied that.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: It was crazy to see. And I mean, numbers can
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: be funny. Like the, the last time that Oklahoma state
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: beat an FCS team was September 7th, 2024, when they
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: beat Arkansas 39 to 31, uh, Two years later, their
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: next FBS win comes against a Big Ten team, 39-31,
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: the exact same score. They still haven't won a Big
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: 12 game in two years, but you'd think that will
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: end this year. And yeah, they have not beaten a
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Big 12 team, but they've beaten an SEC team and
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: now a Big Ten team. Pretty remarkable. I mean, there's
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: so many ways to look at it. And ultimately, Messermaker
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: did have those two interceptions, but... He was in complete
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: command the majority of this game. I mean, he had
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: this ridiculous run on third down where it'll be one
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: of the biggest touchdowns you'll see this season in college football,
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: and I'm sure most have seen the highlight of it already,
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: but he goes airborne, he flips forward in the air,
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: he got hit twice, and he scores a rushing touchdown
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: doing a forward flip. It was an unbelievable play and
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: an unbelievable game.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Is that win enough to wash out the fact that
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: from a conference perspective– you lost the Cy Hawk. You,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: you lost in that Arizona state, Texas, a and M matchup.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: You lost in the UCF pit matchup. So the non-con
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: not going all that great from a conference wide perspective,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: but of course the headline win for Oklahoma state is
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: what draws the attention.
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I think you hit the nail on
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: the head there. Like ultimately, you know, there, there were
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: I think going into the weekend, we figured, okay, Utah
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: should beat Arkansas. If we can get one of the
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: A & M, Arizona State, or Kansas-Missouri wins, then that
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: would be big for the conference, and a conference that
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: went 0-4 against SEC opponents in 2025. But, you know,
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: the A & M Arizona State game was a lot
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: closer than the score would indicate because it was a
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: four-point game in the fourth quarter and even an 11-point game.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: But basically back-to-back pick sixes for Cutter Bowley undid any
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: of that momentum. And that was how the final score
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: ended up looking as lopsided as it did. I think
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: the Kansas-Missouri game, that one may have appeared closer than
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: it actually was, considering Kansas really couldn't complete many forward passes,
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: which is a problem. And then the UCF-Pitt game was
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: just a wild and crazy game, basically played in a monsoon.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: And for Pitt's offense that exploded week one, UCF defense
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: did a ton against them here. We too, the problem
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: now is UCF defense looks legit, but once again, they
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: seem to have a revolving door quarterback. They had like
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: six different guys in a start games from last year, quarterback,
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: and they're on their way to having to do that
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: again this year with the injury to Barnett. Hopefully it's
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: not too long. So, yeah, I mean, I mean, from
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: a non-con standpoint, I think this is the week three
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: is the no slip up week because you only have
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: one power, four power, four game. It's West Virginia, Virginia and,
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: and Virginia now in the top 25, so a good
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: opportunity there for Rich Rod's squad that I'm still not
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: sure they fixed their defense. And then you've got a
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: bunch of, like, potential misstep games for teams when it
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: comes to, like, this is like a group of six-week.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: So you've had a lot of FCS games, you've had
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: some Power 4, Power 4, and now it's the week
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: the majority of teams are kind of finishing their non-conference
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: with a group of six teams. So hopefully no slip-ups there,
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: and I think... As long as that's the case, because
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: we've seen that in previous years where like a Rice
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: beats Houston or a Miami of Ohio beats Cincinnati. So
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: ultimately I hope that like if everybody holds serve on
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: this week, we should be all right and have a
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: few pretty big time wins to stick in our back pocket.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: But with the biggest ones still become, and look, I
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: think after two weeks, I'm, you know, I think BYU
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: has found a recipe for potentially beating Notre Dame. We
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: get later on and there will be no bigger non-conference
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: game than that one coming up in October.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: The Friday night matchup that we've already alluded to is
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: going to be fascinating, and I do think factors into
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: the conference title discussion no matter which way it ends up.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: So how do you think Houston-Texas Tech ends up?
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, if we've watched the first two weeks,
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: then Houston's the better team. Texas tech has, has issues
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: here and they've won and winning is the great deodorant,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: but still, I mean, it's hard to overlook the issues
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: that they've had. I mean, look, Will Hammond is working
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: his way back from an ACL injury and he's clearly not.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: you know, not as mobile and not as effective as,
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: as he needs to be. And so hopefully, you know,
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: he can work himself to playing better, but that's a
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: really good Houston defense. Now, both of these past defenses
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: were torn apart by Oregon state. And so it'll be
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: interesting to see, you know, how Texas tech past defense looks.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: Texas Tech's been missing some key guys. One of their
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: starting safeties has missed the first two games of the
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: season due to a violation of team rules. Before this
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: game on Saturday, Terrence Carter, their stud tight end, was
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: ruled out. So we'll have to see from an injury
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: front what that looks like. But I'm excited for this game.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: And again, I think like if we're watching these games,
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: Houston is the better team right now. Texas tech has
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: to prove it. And Texas tech has not played the
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: toughest opponents yet. And yet there's two at O and
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: so now they go with their toughest test. So with
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: that being said, they both had to eke out a
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: close victory against Oregon state. So this should be a
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: good one. And, you know, again, I'm looking at the quarterback,
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: In particular, Texas Tech had major red zone scoring issues
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: last year. Like their touchdown percentage in the red zone
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: was not nearly as good as it probably needed to be.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: And this year they're off to a really slow start
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: that way. And, you know, they felt like they had
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: more mobility with Will Hammond, who is a more mobile quarterback,
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: but he's obviously extremely limited as he works his way
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: back from that ACL injury. And you can tell, you
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: can tell he's, he's just not the same. So they've
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: got to get that fixed or figured out because they're
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: not going to win the big 12 if they don't.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Ari, you're the man.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you giving us some time as you do on
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: these Mondays. Enjoy a full slate again this weekend. We'll
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: chat again next week.
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: You too, brother. Take care.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: Ari Temkin, Big 12 Radio on TuneIn and doing a
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: little work with the Dallas Cowboys as well. I will
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: always deliberately avoid talking Dallas Cowboys whenever I can.