Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Sean O'Connell Show - Full POD 9-11-26

Transcript

Sean O'Connell Show - Full POD 9-11-26 · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:10
Speaker 1: Happy Friday, everybody.
0:13
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Sean O'Connell Show. Happy to be with you.
0:17
Speaker 1: I am here on the road again. We're at Smith's,
0:21
Speaker 1: a brand-new, beautiful Smith's marketplace down in Lehigh, 3808 West
0:26
Speaker 1: Hardman Way. Come see us. We've got some great stuff
0:33
Speaker 1: as we adjust to the technical difficulties. James, how do
0:35
Speaker 1: I sound? James Peterson.
0:36
Speaker 3: James Peterson.
0:39
Speaker 1: He's our producer. It's not infinite, but he's our producer
0:41
Speaker 1: for now. And he's back at our Broadway studios. Shout
0:46
Speaker 1: out to Cynthia here on site with me for getting
0:49
Speaker 1: everything set up despite the technical difficulties. We are golden
0:53
Speaker 1: and rolling toward a weekend of college football here in
0:58
Speaker 1: the state of Utah. Arizona BYU and, of course, tomorrow
1:02
Speaker 1: night at Rice-Echo Stadium, Arkansas rolling in. to take on
1:07
Speaker 1: the Utes. I try not to get too deep into
1:12
Speaker 1: the opponent's sphere, if that makes sense. I try not
1:16
Speaker 1: to go too far down the rabbit hole of the
1:19
Speaker 1: opponent's media coverage. Yes, absolutely, look at the stats, look
1:24
Speaker 1: at the numbers, look at their film, look at the
1:26
Speaker 1: games that they've already played, which, of course, in Arkansas's
1:29
Speaker 1: case is only one against the Lions of North Alabama.
1:34
Speaker 4: But....
1:36
Speaker 1: For some reason, I don't know if there's extraneous crossover
1:40
Speaker 1: in this one for some reason, but it's just been
1:42
Speaker 1: hilarious to read and to observe some of the narrative
1:47
Speaker 1: coming from the Arkansas side of this thing. So we'll
1:50
Speaker 1: dive into that a little bit further today on the show.
1:54
Speaker 1: Quinn Grovey is the Arkansas color analyst and a former
1:57
Speaker 1: Arkansas Razorback himself. Going to join us in the noon hour.
2:00
Speaker 1: We've got the voice of the Utes, Bill Riley, before
2:02
Speaker 1: that coming up at 1130 AM. coordinator's corner at one
2:07
Speaker 1: o'clock and our good friend lee sterling right before that
2:10
Speaker 1: at 12 45 we will air our grievances at 1
2:14
Speaker 1: 30 it is uh it's a special and kind of
2:17
Speaker 1: strange day quite honestly to do sports talk radio uh
2:21
Speaker 1: because it's the 25 year anniversary of one of the
2:24
Speaker 1: most infamous days in the history of our country uh
2:27
Speaker 1: i'm sure all of us have very uh clear and
2:33
Speaker 1: perhaps unshakable memories of that fateful day. I was recently
2:40
Speaker 1: turned 18, senior in high school, walking into school on
2:44
Speaker 1: September 11, 2001. And I was with my football team.
2:49
Speaker 1: The first period of the day was our football class.
2:54
Speaker 1: The title of the class was powerlifting. It was our
2:56
Speaker 1: weightlifting class. And shout out to my friend Charlie Jukes,
3:00
Speaker 1: who was the most organized of all of us, and
3:02
Speaker 1: he would be awake early in the mornings, and he
3:04
Speaker 1: would be, you know, reading the newspaper and watching television,
3:08
Speaker 1: watching the news before school. He was the one that
3:11
Speaker 1: alerted to us. In those days, you didn't have a
3:14
Speaker 1: phone in your pocket all the time. You didn't have
3:15
Speaker 1: the Internet constantly blaring at you all the time. At
3:19
Speaker 1: my house, we didn't turn the television on in the
3:21
Speaker 1: mornings before we went to school. I had no idea
3:24
Speaker 1: what had happened. Rode the bus to school. and walked
3:28
Speaker 1: into the school, and my friend is the one who
3:30
Speaker 1: told me that the first tower had been hit by
3:33
Speaker 1: a plane, and then we watched the rest of it unfold.
3:38
Speaker 1: You remember, if you're my age-ish, if you're in your
3:42
Speaker 1: late 30s or 40s, 50s, whatever, we had those box
3:47
Speaker 1: televisions on the little bracket hanging in the corner of
3:51
Speaker 1: the classroom, and we watched it all unfold, sitting on
3:54
Speaker 1: the benches and sitting on the rubber mats on the floor.
3:57
Speaker 1: And the boxes that, you know, the plyometric boxes that
4:00
Speaker 1: you jump up onto and stuff like that. It's a
4:03
Speaker 1: crazy day. And obviously, the sports world came to a halt.
4:07
Speaker 1: The whole world came to a halt. I'm not going to,
4:10
Speaker 1: I'm not too proud to say, you know, driving down
4:13
Speaker 1: here to Lehigh in this beautiful Smith's Marketplace this morning,
4:16
Speaker 1: I was listening to some of the stuff on the radio. And,
4:21
Speaker 1: you know, they play the messages that folks left to
4:25
Speaker 1: their loved ones. as they were on airplanes not knowing
4:29
Speaker 1: what was going to happen, in the towers not knowing
4:31
Speaker 1: what was going to happen. 25 years later, it's still
4:34
Speaker 1: a tearjerker. And I hope that we celebrate our lives
4:39
Speaker 1: of freedom and relative happiness. I hope all of you
4:45
Speaker 1: are relatively happy out there. And simultaneously, we remember what
4:50
Speaker 1: a somber day that was and what a somber day
4:53
Speaker 1: this can be in the sports world even today. where
4:56
Speaker 1: we've got a U.S. Open semifinal tonight in New York
5:00
Speaker 1: between two American men, and you've got football games kicking
5:05
Speaker 1: off tonight, and you've got baseball being played tonight. And
5:09
Speaker 1: obviously part of the way that the country woke back
5:11
Speaker 1: up and got back to the American way was through sport.
5:16
Speaker 1: And there weren't a lot of positives, I don't think,
5:19
Speaker 1: that came out of 9-11, but one of the positives,
5:22
Speaker 1: if there was one, was how united our country was
5:26
Speaker 1: in the days and weeks and months following that terrorist attack.
5:30
Speaker 1: And maybe some of it was performative from the politicians,
5:34
Speaker 1: but I was a far younger and more idealistic person
5:37
Speaker 1: back then, and I was drinking the American flag Kool-Aid, man.
5:41
Speaker 1: I've always felt myself to be a patriot, and I
5:45
Speaker 1: remember those, you know, not just days but years after,
5:49
Speaker 1: feeling like we were all on the same team. And
5:51
Speaker 1: I hope we can get back to that in less
5:54
Speaker 1: tragic circumstances. sometime sooner than later as a country and
5:59
Speaker 1: uh you know even if you don't agree with me
6:02
Speaker 1: on socio and political things i hope you could tune
6:05
Speaker 1: in and listen to the sports talk and have a
6:07
Speaker 1: little bit of fun and realize that we're all pulling
6:10
Speaker 1: on the same rope we're all rowing the same boat
6:12
Speaker 1: at some point i want you to be successful and
6:15
Speaker 1: happy and and uh you know go home safe to
6:18
Speaker 1: your families and i hope that you want the same
6:20
Speaker 1: for everyone around you including me and man god bless
6:24
Speaker 1: america It's one of those days that you just remember
6:28
Speaker 1: how lucky we are and the nature of evil and
6:34
Speaker 1: opposition that is out there and we don't have to,
6:37
Speaker 1: as normal citizens, we don't have to get sucked into it.
6:42
Speaker 1: So be happy today. Certainly memorialize and remember the way
6:47
Speaker 1: that you find it appropriate, but We're not going to
6:50
Speaker 1: spend too much more time on it on the show
6:51
Speaker 1: today because this is a sports talk show. We're going
6:54
Speaker 1: to have some fun, and we're going to preview Utah
6:56
Speaker 1: versus Arkansas, and we're going to talk about the incredible
6:59
Speaker 1: game last night in Australia between the Super Bowl favorites,
7:03
Speaker 1: the LA Rams, and my San Francisco 49ers, who in
7:07
Speaker 1: my estimation are now the new Super Bowl favorites after
7:10
Speaker 1: the demolition, the licking they put on those LA Rams.
7:14
Speaker 1: But before I get back to the silliness, James Peterson,
7:17
Speaker 1: you and I were texting back and forth. I know
7:19
Speaker 1: that you're not as old as me, so you were
7:21
Speaker 1: much younger when you watched these things unfold and probably
7:25
Speaker 1: maybe not even old enough to have a deep, full
7:27
Speaker 1: understanding of what it was going to mean. But, you know,
7:29
Speaker 1: it's been 25 years. It's been an entire lifetime since
7:34
Speaker 1: this happened, and it's still a big part of, you know,
7:37
Speaker 1: American memory and American life.
7:40
Speaker 5: It really is.
7:41
Speaker 6: I was in fourth grade, so I was nine. Yeah,
7:45
Speaker 6: I was nine years old, and it's kind of a
7:48
Speaker 6: funny story for me. You know, that sounds weird to
7:51
Speaker 6: say because of what happened, but bear with me.
7:55
Speaker 5: I've told it before.
7:55
Speaker 6: I get there, and we're outside, lined up at our
7:59
Speaker 6: classroom door, waiting for the teacher to open the door
8:02
Speaker 6: to let us go in. And my friend says, you
8:07
Speaker 6: watching the news? And I remember thinking, like, no, I'm nine.
8:10
Speaker 6: I don't watch the news, right?
8:12
Speaker 5: And he goes.
8:13
Speaker 6: Some Japanese guys are invading New York. And I still
8:17
Speaker 6: chuckle at that because that's a fourth grader who doesn't understand,
8:23
Speaker 6: you know, world geography yet, right? Thinking, oh, they're from Asia.
8:27
Speaker 6: They must be Japanese. And so I still chuckle at that.
8:31
Speaker 6: We find out, of course, Afghans, right? Taliban. And nothing
8:36
Speaker 6: else about that day was funny, but that's a funny
8:38
Speaker 6: memory for me. just to how I was told by
8:41
Speaker 6: my fourth grade friend, shout out to Steve Heath.
8:43
Speaker 2: Love you.
8:44
Speaker 5: Love you, dude.
8:45
Speaker 6: Um, but yeah, I was, I was not very old,
8:49
Speaker 6: but I am old enough. I feel like I was
8:52
Speaker 6: old enough to be able to learn the gravity of
8:55
Speaker 6: the situation. I'll see if that makes sense. And I
8:58
Speaker 6: think maybe all of us who were elementary school age
9:02
Speaker 6: kind of grew up a lot that day, um, in, in, in,
9:07
Speaker 6: in a certain way.
9:07
Speaker 5: Um, and just a terrible day.
9:12
Speaker 6: I've said before, there's so many doc, so many great
9:15
Speaker 6: documentaries about this. A few years ago, I, I watched one, um,
9:22
Speaker 6: and you know, balling like a baby. And what hit
9:25
Speaker 6: me at that time was like, that was just a,
9:29
Speaker 6: that was a weekday that was got, that was people
9:31
Speaker 6: going to work.
9:33
Speaker 5: Just like we do. And that was their work day.
9:39
Speaker 2: Yeah.
9:40
Speaker 1: It was a Tuesday morning. It was early. Now, if
9:47
Speaker 1: you don't know, if you are a little bit younger
9:50
Speaker 1: and maybe you haven't been, you didn't live it the
9:52
Speaker 1: same way that I lived it or that James lived it.
9:55
Speaker 1: or you didn't live it the same way that your
9:56
Speaker 1: parents lived it today's the kind of day where it's
9:59
Speaker 1: really easy for you to access the memories and the
10:02
Speaker 1: information and the sound and the really jarring imagery of
10:08
Speaker 1: it so be careful as you do but I hope
10:11
Speaker 1: your takeaway is God bless America this was an attack
10:15
Speaker 1: that was horrible and tragic it did unite us and
10:18
Speaker 1: we need to get back to that and Like I said,
10:21
Speaker 1: it's not going to be a somber, sad day on
10:24
Speaker 1: the radio today, but it is at least a pensive
10:27
Speaker 1: day if you're an American. And, you know, exercise that
10:33
Speaker 1: pensiveness however you will, and I appreciate you tuning in
10:36
Speaker 1: right now to listen to Sports Talk Radio with us. And, man,
10:41
Speaker 1: it is.
10:43
Speaker 1: If you're a fan of football in this state, it
10:45
Speaker 1: is an awesome weekend coming up. And if you're a
10:47
Speaker 1: fan of, I think a lot of people have at
10:50
Speaker 1: least some rooting interest in last night's NFL game, because
10:54
Speaker 1: either you're a Niners fan like myself, or you're someone
10:57
Speaker 1: who follows either Utah or BYU players, and these teams
11:02
Speaker 1: have historical connections to those two teams, and obviously present-day connections,
11:07
Speaker 1: especially on the BYU front, where Fred Warner is back
11:11
Speaker 1: and healthy and showed once again that he is the
11:14
Speaker 1: best linebacker in football. What an incredible game from Fred
11:18
Speaker 1: Warner last night. And, you know, I, even as a
11:21
Speaker 1: Niners fan, right. I'd be, I become a little bit
11:23
Speaker 1: jaded where I'm like, okay, I, I get all hyped up.
11:27
Speaker 1: I get all excited every season. And then, you know,
11:30
Speaker 1: they look great in their playoff team or the injuries
11:34
Speaker 1: pile up or whatever. And, This team healthy, I've talked
11:38
Speaker 1: a lot about how I think that they maybe missed
11:40
Speaker 1: their Super Bowl window, that perhaps the Super Bowl window
11:42
Speaker 1: has closed. This team is changing my mind about that,
11:46
Speaker 1: performing the way they did last night. They're a little
11:49
Speaker 1: bit longer in the tooth than, like, the Seattle Seahawks are, right?
11:53
Speaker 1: The Rams are kind of on the older side also.
11:55
Speaker 1: But the Niners, in terms of the contenders in the
11:59
Speaker 1: NFL right now, they are probably the oldest average age.
12:03
Speaker 1: They've got a young quarterback, which is great. Kalon Black,
12:07
Speaker 1: the new running back, looked awesome last night. Christian McCaffrey
12:10
Speaker 1: has a lot of miles on the tires, but he
12:12
Speaker 1: is obviously still an incredible player. Fred Warner. Trent Williams
12:17
Speaker 1: is maybe ageless. Maybe I need to stop talking about
12:20
Speaker 1: Trent Williams like he's a mere mortal. He's a future
12:23
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer for obvious reason. And last night, he
12:26
Speaker 1: absolutely shut down Miles Garrett. Miles Garrett had zero pressures,
12:32
Speaker 1: zero hurries, zero hits. Zero tackles. Puka Nakua had more
12:38
Speaker 1: tackles for the Rams last night than Miles Garrett did. Now,
12:43
Speaker 1: I know the Rams are going to treat this game
12:45
Speaker 1: as a learning opportunity. They're going to treat this game
12:47
Speaker 1: as a, well, for us, it's not about all of
12:50
Speaker 1: this roster reloading and bringing Aaron Donald out of retirement.
12:53
Speaker 1: That was not about game one. Case in point, they
12:57
Speaker 1: didn't bring Aaron Donald to Australia with them, right? It's
13:01
Speaker 1: not about game one. They want to be the Rams.
13:04
Speaker 1: They want to be the Super Bowl favorite in week 15, 16, 17,
13:08
Speaker 1: not in week one. But this is a divisional game
13:12
Speaker 1: against another team that has something to say about the
13:15
Speaker 1: power structure in the NFC playoffs, or at least I
13:18
Speaker 1: think that's going to be the case. And the Rams
13:21
Speaker 1: came out and they laid an egg. Poorly coached, poor
13:24
Speaker 1: game plan, bad execution, and a lot of folks are
13:30
Speaker 1: going to talk about what we talked about all week
13:32
Speaker 1: leading up to it. Oh, jet lag. Oh, the travel schedule. Maybe,
13:36
Speaker 1: just maybe, it's not only that. Maybe the 49ers are
13:41
Speaker 1: that good. Maybe the 49ers are, I'm not going to
13:43
Speaker 1: say better than the Rams because we still have a
13:46
Speaker 1: lot of football left to play and we'll figure out
13:48
Speaker 1: whether that's true or not. But they're very obviously a
13:52
Speaker 1: worthy opponent for the Rams when their best players are healthy.
13:57
Speaker 1: You can't forget that they've got, and Dan Patrick was
14:01
Speaker 1: talking about this with Steve Young on his show this morning,
14:04
Speaker 1: The San Francisco 49ers have a borderline Hall of Fame
14:08
Speaker 1: tight end in George Kittle. Probably not a Hall of
14:10
Speaker 1: Famer yet. We'll see what happens with him. Christian McCaffrey
14:14
Speaker 1: is going to be in the Hall of Fame. Trent
14:16
Speaker 1: Williams is going to be in the Hall of Fame.
14:18
Speaker 1: Fred Warner is going to be in the Hall of Fame.
14:24
Speaker 1: I'm going through the defense in my mind besides Fred Warner.
14:29
Speaker 1: I'm going through the offense in my mind besides Christian
14:32
Speaker 1: McCaffrey and Trent Williams. But I just rattled off a
14:35
Speaker 1: handful of guys on one roster that are future Hall
14:38
Speaker 1: of Famers. Now, the Rams get to boast kind of
14:40
Speaker 1: the same thing. Obviously, Miles Garrett is a Hall of Famer,
14:44
Speaker 1: a future Hall of Famer. Matthew Stafford is going to
14:48
Speaker 1: be in the Hall of Fame. If Puka Nakua can
14:52
Speaker 1: figure everything out that bothers him off the field and
14:55
Speaker 1: continue at the pace that he started his NFL career,
14:58
Speaker 1: he could obviously be in that conversation. Aaron Donald is...
15:02
Speaker 1: By coming back to the Rams this year, he reset
15:04
Speaker 1: the eligibility clock on his Hall of Fame induction, but
15:07
Speaker 1: he's a first ballot guy, obviously. And so, you know,
15:11
Speaker 1: when you look at it, the Rams have a handful,
15:14
Speaker 1: but the Niners have a potentially even larger handful of
15:17
Speaker 1: those type of guys. And if they're healthy, as they
15:20
Speaker 1: are in week one of the season, and I'm knocking
15:22
Speaker 1: on wood that it stays that way, now you've got
15:25
Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks that are 1-0, kind of a clunker,
15:28
Speaker 1: kind of an ugly one against the New England Patriots
15:31
Speaker 1: to start their season. You've got the Rams that are 0-1.
15:35
Speaker 1: You've got the San Francisco 49ers who are now in
15:40
Speaker 1: the lead, in the very early lead of that NFC
15:42
Speaker 1: West race because they have the win over the Rams,
15:45
Speaker 1: over the presumptive Super Bowl favorites. And what a great
15:49
Speaker 1: start to the NFL season if you're a Niners fan,
15:53
Speaker 1: if you're a Fred Warner fan. Look, if you're a
15:55
Speaker 1: BYU football fan, I know you like to hear me
15:57
Speaker 1: say it on the home of the Utes, but there
16:00
Speaker 1: was that image post-game. They're in Melbourne, Australia at the MCG. 100,000
16:05
Speaker 1: people filled that cricket oval and watched American football. And
16:11
Speaker 1: one of the enduring images, at least here in the
16:13
Speaker 1: state of Utah, is going to be you've got a
16:16
Speaker 1: future Hall of Famer, San Francisco 49er and Fred Warner,
16:19
Speaker 1: dapping up the best young wide receiver in the league,
16:22
Speaker 1: Puka Nakua. And on the broadcast, they say there's the
16:25
Speaker 1: BYU boys, right? I mean, that's an impactful– if you're
16:28
Speaker 1: Kalani Satake– You snapshot that image, and you put that
16:32
Speaker 1: on the wall in the facility down in Provo, and
16:35
Speaker 1: you say this is reason enough for you to want
16:38
Speaker 1: to consider coming to BYU. Both of these guys are
16:42
Speaker 1: among the best at their position in the NFL, and
16:46
Speaker 1: we don't just call them the BYU boys, but everyone
16:48
Speaker 1: is going to call them the BYU boys after that.
16:51
Speaker 1: The Ute in me saw that, even though I'm celebrating
16:54
Speaker 1: a 49ers victory and watching that postgame stuff, the Ute
16:57
Speaker 1: in me saw that and was just like, ugh. Because
17:01
Speaker 1: that's a dub. That's a win if you're BYU just
17:04
Speaker 1: to have that image out there, to have that statement
17:07
Speaker 1: out there. And you've got to give credit where it's due.
17:09
Speaker 1: Both of those guys have made themselves into absolute monsters
17:13
Speaker 1: on the NFL football field. Sean McVay, he kind of
17:18
Speaker 1: took it on the chin, right? It was his decision
17:20
Speaker 1: to travel the team down late, whether that had something
17:22
Speaker 1: to do with it or not. Worse was his play calling.
17:27
Speaker 1: Raheem Morris out-schemed Sean McVay. calling the 49ers defense. The
17:33
Speaker 1: San Francisco 49ers won that game with a goal line
17:37
Speaker 1: stand and then the ensuing 99.9-yard touchdown drive. That's where
17:42
Speaker 1: the game was decided. Your fourth down play to try
17:47
Speaker 1: to punch it into the end zone was an unathletic
17:51
Speaker 1: 38-year-old quarterback sneak to try to get the extra foot
17:56
Speaker 1: and a half that you needed after Pukunukuwa was tackled
17:59
Speaker 1: right at the goal line. Like right, his butt was
18:01
Speaker 1: on the goal line. The ball was just out in
18:05
Speaker 1: front of him when he was down, which is why
18:08
Speaker 1: they had to spot it where they had to spot it.
18:09
Speaker 1: And I get it, you should be able to just
18:12
Speaker 1: pin your ears back and lean forward with your offensive line,
18:14
Speaker 1: but not against a really formidable San Francisco 49ers defense
18:20
Speaker 1: who did a great job without their starting defensive tackle,
18:23
Speaker 1: Albert Collins, who lost... his season with a knee injury
18:26
Speaker 1: in practice this week. Incredible start to the San Francisco
18:30
Speaker 1: 49ers season. Bigger picture stuff in the NFC West gets
18:35
Speaker 1: a lot more interesting because of the things that I
18:38
Speaker 1: just talked about. And the NFL season is off to
18:41
Speaker 1: a full slate coming up this weekend. Sunday you've got Falcons, Steelers, Ravens, Colts.
18:50
Speaker 1: Buffalo versus Houston in what promises to be another game
18:53
Speaker 1: with two teams that have kind of Super Bowl aspirations,
18:56
Speaker 1: more on the AFC side of things, obviously. It's going
19:01
Speaker 1: to be a fun weekend, and that's not even talking
19:03
Speaker 1: about the college football interest here. We'll shift some gears,
19:07
Speaker 1: and we will talk a little college football. The text
19:09
Speaker 1: line and the phone line is always open, 877-353-0700. We're
19:11
Speaker 1: at Smith's, 3808 West Hardman Way. And our friends at
19:19
Speaker 1: Pepsi have hooked us up with a pair of tickets,
19:23
Speaker 1: a couple pairs of tickets, in fact, to give away.
19:26
Speaker 1: If you come to the table, our tech here who
19:29
Speaker 1: set us up today, Cynthia, wants to know what your
19:32
Speaker 1: favorite Pepsi product is. You better know what your Pepsi
19:35
Speaker 1: products are, people. If you could come in, you could
19:37
Speaker 1: throw up a Go Utes, and you could tell us
19:39
Speaker 1: your favorite Pepsi product, we will give you a pair
19:42
Speaker 1: of tickets to tomorrow night's game. Utah versus Arkansas, courtesy
19:48
Speaker 1: of Pepsi. we're in lehigh so that's utah county right
19:53
Speaker 1: so you better be willing to throw up the u
19:54
Speaker 1: if you want these tickets also we have smith's gift
19:57
Speaker 1: cards ten dollar gift cards to smith's if you throw
20:00
Speaker 1: up a u you're going to get one of those
20:02
Speaker 1: come cs3808 west hardman way take a quick one here
20:06
Speaker 1: we'll come back with the voice of the utes bill
20:08
Speaker 1: riley who will of course be on the call when
20:10
Speaker 1: Arkansas rolls into town tomorrow night for Eric Weddle Night.
20:15
Speaker 1: Eric Weddle Week caps off as our guy gets inducted
20:18
Speaker 1: into the Ring of Honor. We'll talk about all of
20:20
Speaker 1: it with Bill Riley next on the Sean O'Connell Show,
20:23
Speaker 1: ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
20:43
Speaker 5: Three tight ends in now for Utah.
20:51
Speaker 7: An extra offensive lineman on fourth down and short. Bailu
20:55
Speaker 7: stays in. Ficklin goes under center. Idaho crowds the line
20:58
Speaker 7: of scrimmage. Fourth and inches here for Utah. Bird Ficklin
21:02
Speaker 7: keeps it. He turns, and he's going to look to pass.
21:05
Speaker 7: He's got to look to pass. Wide open downfield. That
21:08
Speaker 7: ball is caught, and Noah Benny is into the end zone,
21:12
Speaker 7: untouched for a touchdown. The former Weber State Wildcat found
21:19
Speaker 7: himself so wide open behind the defense. Bird Ficklin got
21:24
Speaker 7: it to him, and Benny walked it in for a touchdown,
21:27
Speaker 7: and Utah's put another six on the board.
21:33
Speaker 1: One of the nine touchdowns our next guest, Bill Riley,
21:37
Speaker 1: called for us last week. That was the Thursday night game,
21:40
Speaker 1: Utah hosting Idaho in that one. Welcome back to the
21:44
Speaker 1: Sean O'Connell Show. Coming at you from Smith's Marketplace, the
21:47
Speaker 1: brand-new glistening one that they just finished building out here
21:51
Speaker 1: in Lehigh, 3808 West Hardman Way. Bill Riley, voice of
21:56
Speaker 1: the Utes, welcome to the show. How are you?
21:58
Speaker 7: Was that your favorite touchdown of last week because a
22:01
Speaker 7: former Weber State Wildcat and Ute, current Ute, scored it?
22:06
Speaker 1: I did love it.
22:07
Speaker 7: In reverse of Sean O'Connell. Sean O'Connell was a Ute,
22:10
Speaker 7: then a Wildcat. Benny was actually a Ute, a Wildcat,
22:13
Speaker 7: and a Ute again. But I figured that one felt
22:16
Speaker 7: a little sweeter to you.
22:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, if I had more eligibility, I would
22:20
Speaker 1: have tried to do the same thing, Ute to Wildcat
22:22
Speaker 1: to Ute, you know, to Notre Dame fighting Irishman, whatever.
22:26
Speaker 1: But we didn't have what these kids have now, Bill,
22:29
Speaker 1: unlimited eligibility and unlimited transfers, you know?
22:33
Speaker 7: I'm sure you know a good lawyer or agent, Sean.
22:35
Speaker 7: That's all you need these days. Lane Kiffin might add
22:38
Speaker 7: you on. He might need somebody down at LSU to
22:40
Speaker 7: be a lead blocker or something.
22:43
Speaker 1: I know that Handy and Handy, they're personal injury attorneys,
22:46
Speaker 1: but maybe they know somebody who can get me an
22:49
Speaker 1: injunction if anyone needs a 43-year-old who wasn't even good
22:52
Speaker 1: when he was 20.
22:55
Speaker 7: Well, either way, I think what we saw last week
23:01
Speaker 7: from Utah was a good start to the season. And
23:04
Speaker 7: it's what I've kind of told people all week long.
23:06
Speaker 7: They did what they were supposed to do against the 1AA,
23:09
Speaker 7: kind of middle-of-the-pack 1AA team.
23:11
Speaker 1: They did indeed. So I'll ask you this question. What
23:14
Speaker 1: are they supposed to do against the kind of middle-of-the-road
23:18
Speaker 1: at best teams SEC team, because Arkansas, for a lot
23:23
Speaker 1: of people, they think they're the bottom dwellers of the SEC. Now,
23:27
Speaker 1: they've got some talent, but it's not across the board.
23:29
Speaker 1: They've got a couple of flash outlier type players from
23:33
Speaker 1: what I've seen so far. It is not a typically
23:36
Speaker 1: deep SEC roster, but then there's also this kind of
23:39
Speaker 1: arrogance of, oh, well, our athletes, our guys, you don't
23:43
Speaker 1: know what it's like. You know what it's like down
23:44
Speaker 1: here in the South, and of course, you know, that's
23:48
Speaker 1: just Arkansas and its fan base potentially overlooking the kind
23:51
Speaker 1: of football that Utah is accustomed to playing. So what
23:54
Speaker 1: is Morgan Scali's team supposed to do against Arkansas?
23:58
Speaker 7: Well, I think they're supposed to win because they're at
24:01
Speaker 7: home and because I think they're the better team. So
24:03
Speaker 7: I would say that right now. I don't think that's
24:05
Speaker 7: speaking out of line. The guys in the desert agree
24:09
Speaker 7: with that, too. But I think they've just got to
24:11
Speaker 7: improve on what they did a week ago, Sean. The
24:14
Speaker 7: level of athleticism is going to be a lot better
24:16
Speaker 7: this week. But here's the thing with Arkansas. first year
24:20
Speaker 7: head coach. I mean, this is a tear down to
24:23
Speaker 7: the studs rebuild. He's got 80 new guys on this team.
24:28
Speaker 7: You can practice all you want. He's trying to instill
24:32
Speaker 7: a culture. He's trying to get better facilities. He's trying to,
24:37
Speaker 7: you know, trying to get 80 guys on.
24:38
Speaker 5: The same page.
24:39
Speaker 7: That's hard to do without playing some games and having
24:43
Speaker 7: some time. So this is not just a And on
24:45
Speaker 7: the field thing, this isn't everything right now. It's a
24:48
Speaker 7: total rebuild. So Arkansas and Utah, the program, Sean, are
24:52
Speaker 7: in just two different places right now. The culture's in place.
24:56
Speaker 3: Everything.
24:56
Speaker 7: Morgan Scali didn't have to change much. In fact, he
24:59
Speaker 7: didn't have to change anything at all. He made some
25:01
Speaker 7: tweaks and some changes here and there. But everything was
25:04
Speaker 7: in place, and the talent level was good here. And
25:07
Speaker 7: Ryan Silverfield is starting from scratch down there. So these
25:11
Speaker 7: programs are in two different places. Utah has expectations to
25:15
Speaker 7: play for a conference championship and get to the college
25:17
Speaker 7: football playoff. Arkansas just wants to win a conference game.
25:21
Speaker 7: They were 0-10 in the SEC last year. You know,
25:25
Speaker 7: Arkansas does have talent. They have SEC-level talent. Where that
25:29
Speaker 7: falls in the SEC still remains to be seen. So
25:32
Speaker 7: Utah's going to have to step its game up this
25:34
Speaker 7: week because the level of talent they'll be playing is
25:37
Speaker 7: markedly better. But the Utah program's in a better place
25:40
Speaker 7: than Arkansas is right now.
25:42
Speaker 1: It feels like Utah, they got to kind of spread
25:45
Speaker 1: it all out, spread the love last week with the
25:48
Speaker 1: offensive touches, especially with the touchdown targets and things like that.
25:52
Speaker 1: Got ten guys involved in the run game. I think
25:54
Speaker 1: eight people caught passes and obviously touchdowns spread around in
25:58
Speaker 1: both the run game and the passing game to several
26:01
Speaker 1: different personalities. My expectation is as the competition gets tougher,
26:05
Speaker 1: you probably have to condense that down a little bit.
26:07
Speaker 1: You probably have to tighten things up. But I don't
26:10
Speaker 1: think too much because even the third and fourth string
26:13
Speaker 1: guys were looking pretty darn good regardless of what the
26:17
Speaker 1: level of competition was.
26:19
Speaker 2: How.
26:20
Speaker 1: How broad do you think the spread is when it
26:22
Speaker 1: comes to the offense and Kevin McGibbon's play calling this
26:24
Speaker 1: week against Arkansas?
26:27
Speaker 7: Well, I think, and I talked to Kevin yesterday, and
26:29
Speaker 7: I said, hey, you know, that was pretty impressive in
26:32
Speaker 7: game one. He's like, I just called a straight-up game.
26:35
Speaker 7: We just have lots of looks and formations. That's just
26:39
Speaker 7: with the personnel we have. We just have lots of
26:41
Speaker 7: looks and formations. To your point, though, Sean, I'm not
26:44
Speaker 7: sure that 10 guys are going to carry the football.
26:47
Speaker 7: where eight guys are going to carry the football and
26:48
Speaker 7: 10 guys are going to get. But I think the
26:51
Speaker 7: number of guys that could catch passes and be involved
26:55
Speaker 7: might be high. I just think, you know, guys like
27:00
Speaker 7: LaMarcus Bell and Matiaki Helu may not see as much time.
27:06
Speaker 7: in these games against, because you've got Wayshon Parker, you've
27:10
Speaker 7: got Daniel Bray, you've got Steven Chavez Soto, you've got
27:13
Speaker 7: Bird Ficklin, you've got Devin Dampier. These guys are all
27:16
Speaker 7: part of the running game. But what I think you
27:19
Speaker 7: saw last week is if called upon, Alou and Bell,
27:23
Speaker 7: they can get it done. They flashed a little bit there,
27:26
Speaker 7: if that makes sense. And then in the pass game,
27:29
Speaker 7: we may see 10 guys catch passersby. easier to spread
27:35
Speaker 7: that love in the past game with what you have.
27:39
Speaker 7: And we bet you the leading receiver for Utah may
27:42
Speaker 7: have four or five catches every week. It may not
27:44
Speaker 7: be seven or eight guys like we saw with Ryan
27:46
Speaker 7: Davis a year ago, just because there's so many options
27:49
Speaker 7: out there. So I would say the likelihood of of
27:53
Speaker 7: spreading the love in the past game is probably greater
27:56
Speaker 7: than spreading the love in the run game.
27:59
Speaker 5: But who knows?
28:00
Speaker 1: Maybe at some point I'm going to get sick of
28:02
Speaker 1: talking about the offensive line, but I haven't reached that
28:05
Speaker 1: point just yet. And the expectation seems to be that
28:08
Speaker 1: Keith Olsen and Ike Garcia maybe will be ready to
28:12
Speaker 1: go this week, which then, of course, changes how you
28:15
Speaker 1: want to rotate and if you want to rotate and
28:17
Speaker 1: what the combinations might potentially look like. I said weeks
28:21
Speaker 1: and weeks ago I don't think we get a settled
28:23
Speaker 1: starting five on the offensive line, maybe until probably week
28:27
Speaker 1: four or five. How much experimentation do you expect in
28:30
Speaker 1: week two?
28:32
Speaker 7: I don't think it's going to be as much experimentation
28:35
Speaker 7: as it's going. Well, again, it depends on the game, too.
28:38
Speaker 7: If Utah rolls out to a big lead and they're
28:41
Speaker 7: pouring it on in the second half, you might see
28:43
Speaker 7: some guys. Morgan hinted to this early in the week.
28:45
Speaker 7: He would like to get to his starting five or
28:48
Speaker 7: as close to his starting five as he can. I
28:51
Speaker 7: think we'll be closer to that this week than we
28:53
Speaker 7: were last week. I don't know if they're completely there
28:56
Speaker 7: with five settled guys, but I think they're going to
28:59
Speaker 7: be closer to it this week than they were last week.
29:02
Speaker 7: I thought the offensive line was good. I thought they
29:04
Speaker 7: did what they were supposed to do, Sean, against an
29:07
Speaker 7: Idaho team. You better be able to bully an FCS
29:10
Speaker 7: team around if you're Utah, and I think they did
29:12
Speaker 7: to the tune of, what, 360 yards. They didn't give
29:14
Speaker 7: up any sacks. so I think that's good. It'll be
29:17
Speaker 7: a better test this week because Arkansas has got bigger,
29:20
Speaker 7: more athletic bodies up front than what they had for Idaho,
29:25
Speaker 7: so I think this will be a better test. I'm
29:27
Speaker 7: not sure how great Arkansas is up front. North Alabama
29:31
Speaker 7: ran it a little bit and moved it a little
29:33
Speaker 7: bit on them, but that was also a first game
29:35
Speaker 7: for them, too, so we'll see how much improvement they make,
29:38
Speaker 7: but I think they'll be closer to their starting lineup
29:42
Speaker 7: on that line this week, but maybe not quite completely
29:45
Speaker 7: there yet.
29:47
Speaker 1: We saw K.J. Jackson playing the starting quarterback position for
29:53
Speaker 1: Arkansas in that first game against North Alabama. He's expected
29:56
Speaker 1: to be their starter all year. Not a bad game
29:59
Speaker 1: from him, 24-35, 267, three touchdowns. He did turn the
30:03
Speaker 1: ball over, fumbled one, threw one interception.
30:07
Speaker 3: Yeah.
30:07
Speaker 1: Can this Utah defense take advantage of, you know, the
30:12
Speaker 1: sort of unsettled nature of that Razorbacks offense and steal
30:16
Speaker 1: the ball back a couple of times?
30:18
Speaker 7: Well, I want to see if they can get some pressure.
30:21
Speaker 7: North Alabama did get to– I watched– kind of the
30:24
Speaker 7: condensed version of the game yesterday. And there were some
30:28
Speaker 7: times when North Alabama was able to get some pressure
30:30
Speaker 7: on K.J.
30:31
Speaker 8: Jackson.
30:32
Speaker 7: I thought Jackson was really good on the quick throws,
30:35
Speaker 7: the quick game. When he held the ball a little
30:38
Speaker 7: bit longer, I didn't think he was quite as effective.
30:41
Speaker 7: The other thing was, too, they didn't have a lot
30:43
Speaker 7: of explosive play, Sean. They didn't really stretch the field
30:46
Speaker 7: or have in the run or pass game have many explosives. Now, again,
30:50
Speaker 7: week one, we'll see the adjustments they make. But I
30:53
Speaker 7: would like to see what Utah does. The other thing
30:56
Speaker 7: I've noticed, at least in that game with K.J. Jackson,
30:58
Speaker 7: he doesn't really look to run. He would rather stand
31:02
Speaker 7: in the pocket and throw it. He was a really
31:04
Speaker 7: good high school quarterback in Alabama. In fact, when he graduated,
31:07
Speaker 7: I think he had the most passing yards in Alabama
31:10
Speaker 7: high school history. So he's a throwing quarterback. He's a lefty.
31:14
Speaker 7: We'll see what happens. But I want to see how
31:16
Speaker 7: the Utah defensive line does in Week 2 against the
31:19
Speaker 7: offensive line from Arkansas. And, you know, pressure on quarterbacks,
31:23
Speaker 7: especially pressure on inexperienced quarterbacks, can lead to those turnovers.
31:29
Speaker 1: Well, we saw in Week 1 against Idaho when a
31:31
Speaker 1: lot of people thought offensive– Game plan would be a
31:35
Speaker 1: little bit vanilla. Defensive game plan would be a little
31:37
Speaker 1: bit vanilla. I would not call what Kevin McGivitt did
31:40
Speaker 1: vanilla at all. I would certainly not call the defensive
31:43
Speaker 1: game plan from Colton Swan anything close to vanilla. Brought
31:47
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure, a lot of stunts, a lot
31:49
Speaker 1: of twists along the defensive line. And it felt like
31:52
Speaker 1: they were, you know, dress rehearsal for games like this one,
31:55
Speaker 1: for conference games, and ran the actual defense, which I
31:59
Speaker 1: was happy to see not everyone was.
32:01
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, it was funny talking to Morgan. I
32:04
Speaker 7: think Morgan was even a little surprised at the amount
32:07
Speaker 7: of exotics that Colton did.
32:08
Speaker 8: But he said, hey, that's what.
32:10
Speaker 1: He wanted to do.
32:10
Speaker 7: That was the defensive look. What are they going to
32:13
Speaker 7: do this week? Maybe it was just to give Arkansas
32:15
Speaker 7: a lot of different things to think about. Maybe they'll
32:17
Speaker 7: try to generate some pressure off the edge with Cash
32:20
Speaker 7: Dillon and Ethan Day and Lance Holdsclaw. and see if
32:23
Speaker 7: they can get home. You know, it was surprising to me.
32:25
Speaker 7: They didn't get tons of pressure, but when I talked
32:28
Speaker 7: to Morgan the other day, he said he was really
32:30
Speaker 7: pleased with Holtzclaw being very disruptive at the line of scrimmage.
32:34
Speaker 7: And you and I both know, you know, sacks are
32:36
Speaker 7: what everybody gets excited about, but pressures can be every
32:39
Speaker 7: bit as effective as sacks can be. You want to
32:41
Speaker 7: get both, but if you get a lot of pressure
32:43
Speaker 7: on the quarterback, but you don't get him to the ground,
32:46
Speaker 7: that can still be just as effective in getting three
32:49
Speaker 7: and outs.
32:50
Speaker 1: Bill Riley is our guest. The voice of the Utes
32:52
Speaker 1: will be calling a night game at Rice-Eckel Stadium, Arkansas,
32:56
Speaker 1: coming in. Just the second SEC team to come to
33:00
Speaker 1: Rice-Eckel Stadium after Florida did a few years ago. I
33:05
Speaker 1: think the narrative around that scenario, Bill, has been fascinating
33:09
Speaker 1: this week, where there's Arkansas fans that are coming to
33:12
Speaker 1: Salt Lake City looking for a good experience. Then there's
33:14
Speaker 1: the trash-talking type contingent of every fan base. It's just like,
33:18
Speaker 1: you guys don't know what a crazy environment is We
33:21
Speaker 1: go to Ole Miss. We go to Death Valley. We
33:24
Speaker 1: go and play at the Swamp. Nothing that we can
33:28
Speaker 1: see at Rice-Eccles is going to affect this Arkansas team. Obviously,
33:31
Speaker 1: people here locally don't feel that way. But, you know,
33:34
Speaker 1: you've got to be fair to Arkansas. Also, they do
33:36
Speaker 1: go into some crazy SEC road environments. How much do
33:40
Speaker 1: you think the atmosphere, maybe the altitude, affects the Razorbacks?
33:44
Speaker 8: Well, I think it can.
33:45
Speaker 7: I mean, I always say stadiums and crowds don't beat teams.
33:49
Speaker 5: Good teams beat teams.
33:51
Speaker 7: And then the crowd can help out. Utah's got a
33:53
Speaker 7: really good team. And when you have 52,000 people behind
33:57
Speaker 7: you and altitude.
33:59
Speaker 5: That certainly helps.
34:01
Speaker 2: I'm just here.
34:01
Speaker 7: I covered the SEC many years ago, Sean. I've been
34:04
Speaker 7: to a lot of those stadiums. Rice-Eckel Stadium is loud,
34:07
Speaker 7: and it's hostile, and it's tough to play in. Ask
34:10
Speaker 7: Caleb Williams about that when he played at USC. Ask
34:15
Speaker 7: the Oregon quarterbacks. Ask some of those guys down through
34:17
Speaker 7: the years that had to come in here. and play,
34:20
Speaker 7: it's a tough atmosphere. Yeah, maybe it doesn't have the
34:22
Speaker 7: traditional history of a Neyland Stadium or a Swamp, but
34:25
Speaker 7: when you talk to players and teams that come in here,
34:28
Speaker 7: and the interesting thing is Bubba in Bentonville is probably
34:33
Speaker 7: not part of the contingent that's coming out to Salt
34:35
Speaker 7: Lake City to watch this game. I'm going to bet
34:38
Speaker 7: the folks that are coming out here are excited to
34:40
Speaker 7: come out and experience the atmosphere. The same way Utah
34:44
Speaker 7: fans have always been great going to places, and in
34:46
Speaker 7: three years, can go down to a great atmosphere in Fayetteville, too.
34:51
Speaker 5: I think it will be tough.
34:52
Speaker 7: I've talked to the play-by-play and color analysts. They said,
34:54
Speaker 7: you know, quarterbacks and KJ had some trouble in the
34:58
Speaker 7: couple of games that he played last year, including one
35:00
Speaker 7: on the road with the crowd. And when you don't
35:02
Speaker 7: have a lot of experience and you've got a new
35:04
Speaker 7: offense and you've got a lot of new players, you know,
35:07
Speaker 7: it's one thing to play at home where it's quiet.
35:09
Speaker 7: But when you've got to do communication, you've got to
35:12
Speaker 7: do silent count, you've got to do a lot of
35:13
Speaker 7: different things with a new group of guys that haven't
35:16
Speaker 7: played together. I'm not going to say these guys are
35:18
Speaker 7: going to be scared or intimidated, but you know, Sean,
35:21
Speaker 7: having played, it can disrupt a lot of things. The
35:24
Speaker 7: noise and the altitude and the team on the other
35:27
Speaker 7: side can disrupt your operation, and I think that's where
35:31
Speaker 7: the crowd really comes into effect.
35:34
Speaker 1: No official injury report because this is not a Big
35:37
Speaker 1: 12 game, and I know that the team was relatively
35:40
Speaker 1: relieved to have a mostly healthy outcome from last week's
35:44
Speaker 1: game against Idaho. Sounds like Daniel Bray maybe did get
35:48
Speaker 1: knocked around a little bit. Any news on that front
35:50
Speaker 1: that you're aware of?
35:52
Speaker 7: Not that I've heard, but I know Morgan said early
35:54
Speaker 7: in the week that it was trending that way. He
35:57
Speaker 7: felt pretty good about it. I've got him down on
36:01
Speaker 7: my spotting chart just in case. I think when the
36:05
Speaker 7: coach makes a comment about it on Monday or was
36:08
Speaker 7: it Tuesday, I can't remember what it was, I think
36:10
Speaker 7: that gives you a pretty good idea it's probably trending
36:13
Speaker 7: that way. So he's a nice piece, too. I mean,
36:16
Speaker 7: they're deep at running back, but Bray's got that really
36:18
Speaker 7: good– skill set that that speed that burst that i
36:25
Speaker 7: don't know that anybody else really right now in that
36:28
Speaker 7: running back room way sean's really good but bray i
36:31
Speaker 7: think it's kind of different level in that so i
36:34
Speaker 7: think if they have him available tomorrow night it just
36:36
Speaker 7: adds another dimension to what kevin mcgiven can do i would.
36:40
Speaker 1: Be remiss if i didn't get your thoughts on the
36:43
Speaker 1: insanity that unfolded in ann arbor over the weekend with
36:46
Speaker 1: obviously a lot of former youths at the center of
36:48
Speaker 1: that I mean, Kyle Whittingham is probably not loving this week,
36:52
Speaker 1: and J.J. Buchanan cemented himself already as a Wolverine legend
36:57
Speaker 1: with a great game and then capped it off, of course,
37:00
Speaker 1: with a Hail Mary touchdown catch. When you were watching
37:04
Speaker 1: that game and then processing it the way all of
37:07
Speaker 1: us had to, how did it come out for you?
37:09
Speaker 4: All right.
37:11
Speaker 7: I wasn't shocked about the quarterback situation because that's all
37:16
Speaker 7: the intel coming out of Ann Arbor was, you know,
37:20
Speaker 7: he was struggling. I mean, he was struggling big time.
37:22
Speaker 7: Our mutual friend who will get his name on the
37:25
Speaker 7: ring of honor tomorrow night, Eric Weddle, even went public
37:28
Speaker 7: with it earlier this summer saying so. I think the
37:30
Speaker 7: thing that surprised me the most, Sean, was they couldn't
37:33
Speaker 7: run the football. I mean, Michigan with its, you know,
37:36
Speaker 7: tradition at offensive line and good backs, and all the
37:40
Speaker 7: reports out of Ann Arbor had been the running backs
37:43
Speaker 7: were really good. I was just really surprised. They couldn't
37:47
Speaker 7: run the ball against Western Michigan. Now, Western Michigan's a
37:50
Speaker 7: good football team, but Michigan is Michigan. And whether Kyle
37:54
Speaker 7: Whittingham was there or not, Michigan's always prided itself on
37:57
Speaker 7: physicality at the line of scrimmage and running the football.
38:00
Speaker 7: I thought Jay Hill's defense was pretty good. They gave
38:03
Speaker 7: up 12 points in the game. that's not a bad
38:08
Speaker 7: effort from your defense. I was just really surprised at
38:11
Speaker 7: Michigan's inability to run the football.
38:16
Speaker 1: Okay, big weekend because Arkansas is coming in. Big weekend
38:22
Speaker 1: because a guy that we both love is being inducted
38:28
Speaker 1: into the Utah football ring of honor. Eric Weddle is, like,
38:32
Speaker 1: for me, he is the Utah man. He is the
38:35
Speaker 1: face of this program. if you have to choose one,
38:38
Speaker 1: from a player perspective at least. He's a guy who
38:41
Speaker 1: has never forgotten his roots, who wore that drum and
38:44
Speaker 1: feather all the way through a great NFL career, and
38:47
Speaker 1: now we get to watch him be immortalized on the
38:50
Speaker 1: side of Riceco Stadium. It means a lot to me.
38:54
Speaker 1: I know it means a lot to you. I just
38:55
Speaker 1: wanted to give you some space to share your thoughts
38:58
Speaker 1: on the legend, Eric Weddle.
39:00
Speaker 7: Well, I'm lucky. I'm old, so I remember interviewing Eric
39:04
Speaker 7: when he was just a freshman. And we kind of
39:07
Speaker 7: created a friendship between a broadcaster and a player when
39:11
Speaker 7: he played. And our friendship has grown over the years.
39:15
Speaker 7: And he's always been great to me and been a
39:17
Speaker 7: great support to me and a supporter of me. And
39:19
Speaker 7: I've tried to do the same thing for him. But
39:22
Speaker 7: I said this on my podcast Crimson Corner this week, Sean, and.
39:25
Speaker 8: I mean this.
39:26
Speaker 7: I don't know that anybody else has ever been a
39:29
Speaker 7: greater rep. of Utah football than Eric Weddle, both as
39:34
Speaker 7: a player but also in his post-playing career. I don't
39:38
Speaker 7: know that anybody reps and loves and supports the program
39:43
Speaker 7: better than what Eric Weddle does. I mean, he was
39:46
Speaker 7: here for four years. A guy like Morgan Scali has
39:49
Speaker 7: lived his life here. He's been on the staff, all
39:51
Speaker 7: of that stuff. But for a guy that played here
39:54
Speaker 7: four years and he was a great player, it's like
39:56
Speaker 7: he's never left.
39:57
Speaker 2: I mean, you wouldn't know that.
39:58
Speaker 7: Eric Weddle has lived elsewhere for the last 20 years.
40:02
Speaker 7: He feels like he's part of the program still today,
40:06
Speaker 7: and he's lived in San Diego, and he's lived in Baltimore,
40:09
Speaker 7: and he's lived in Los Angeles and all these places.
40:12
Speaker 7: But he's just, to me, such a great human being
40:16
Speaker 7: and a great person. Such a great ambassador to Utah
40:20
Speaker 7: football and such a great representative of what Utah football
40:23
Speaker 7: is that I'm like you.
40:25
Speaker 8: I don't think that.
40:25
Speaker 7: Anybody could be more deserving going up on that ring
40:28
Speaker 7: of honor than Eric on Saturday night.
40:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be great. It's going to be
40:31
Speaker 1: a special night, and I think that this team will
40:33
Speaker 1: cap it off with a big win over Arkansas, which
40:36
Speaker 1: is all everyone's looking for, including Weddle.
40:39
Speaker 2: It's going to be.
40:40
Speaker 1: One of those things where he's obviously honored and happy
40:43
Speaker 1: that it's happening, but he's only going to be truly
40:47
Speaker 1: satisfied if it happens on a win.
40:50
Speaker 7: Well, Andy's hoping that he gets a win tonight before
40:52
Speaker 7: he flies up to Salt Lake City because I'm sure
40:55
Speaker 7: he's coaching a football game tonight as well.
40:57
Speaker 1: He is against Westlake. A Utah team is traveling... to
41:00
Speaker 1: San Diego to play against his Rancho Bernardo Broncos.
41:05
Speaker 7: Who I think are 3-0 on the year. So if
41:07
Speaker 7: he could go 4-0, then come up, go in the
41:09
Speaker 7: Ring of Honor, and watch his Utes go 2-0 on
41:12
Speaker 7: the year, I think that would be about a perfect
41:14
Speaker 7: weekend for Eric, wouldn't it?
41:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. We'll see you up there, Bill.
41:18
Speaker 1: Looking forward to it. Thanks for jumping on the show,
41:20
Speaker 1: as always.
41:21
Speaker 8: I'll see you tomorrow night, Sean.
41:22
Speaker 3: Thanks.
41:23
Speaker 1: Our conversation with Bill Riley is brought to you by
41:26
Speaker 1: our friends at Handy and Handy. HandyLawUtah.com. Incredible injury, personal
41:31
Speaker 1: injury attorneys with insane amounts of experience. They will give
41:36
Speaker 1: you the attention that a big firm or that a
41:38
Speaker 1: small firm is kind of famous for, but they've got
41:43
Speaker 1: the experience and the resources of some much, much larger firms.
41:46
Speaker 1: So if you've been hurt in an accident, Handy and Handy, HandyLawUtah.com.
41:52
Speaker 1: Tell them you heard about it on the Sean O'Connell
41:54
Speaker 1: Show during a Bill Riley conversation. They're going to take
41:57
Speaker 1: great care of you anyway, but they'll be extra special.
42:01
Speaker 1: All right, we've got a Sunday night football preview coming.
42:04
Speaker 1: Cowboys and Giants are playing Sunday night right here on NBC.
42:09
Speaker 1: A Sunday night football preview as we get you ready
42:12
Speaker 1: for an NFL weekend. It's the Sean O'Connell Show, ESPN 700, 92.1 FM.
42:23
Speaker 4: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
42:26
Speaker 4: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
42:34
Speaker 1: If you're a Patriots fan, you probably didn't love the
42:36
Speaker 1: start to the NFL season. If you're a Seahawks fan,
42:39
Speaker 1: you got away with one or two. If you're a
42:41
Speaker 1: Rams fan, you might be panicking right now. If you're
42:45
Speaker 1: anything like me, you're a San Francisco 49ers fan, could
42:47
Speaker 1: not have gone any better. Now, if you're a Giants fan,
42:52
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're doing in the state of Utah.
42:55
Speaker 1: We do have plenty of Cowboys fans. Giants, Cowboys, Sunday
42:58
Speaker 1: night football. Here's a Sunday night football preview for you.
43:02
Speaker 1: We've got some local interest, very obviously, on the Giants
43:06
Speaker 1: side of things, and I think that's where I want
43:09
Speaker 1: to center my conversation about this, because Jackson Dart has
43:13
Speaker 1: kind of the it factor, the moxie, the arm talent,
43:17
Speaker 1: the athleticism, where he could emerge as one of those
43:21
Speaker 1: next crop of young quarterbacks in the NFL. He's in
43:24
Speaker 1: a major media market that lends itself to a lot
43:29
Speaker 1: of conversation, a lot of attention. He's going to have
43:32
Speaker 1: to be savvy in the way that he navigates that situation.
43:38
Speaker 1: I think that his success is darn near guaranteed as
43:41
Speaker 1: long as he can stay healthy, and that has been
43:44
Speaker 1: one of the big questions for Jackson Dart. Now, when
43:46
Speaker 1: I say his success, I mean he can maintain the
43:48
Speaker 1: starting job, He can be a guy that the Giants
43:51
Speaker 1: want to stick with for the long term if he
43:54
Speaker 1: can stay healthy. The thing is, he's a gunslinger, cowboy,
44:00
Speaker 1: risk-taker in a way that you kind of can't be
44:03
Speaker 1: anymore at the quarterback position in the NFL. Not at
44:07
Speaker 1: his size. We've seen guys in the past, the giant
44:11
Speaker 1: big-body dudes, the Ben Roethlisbergers, the Donovan McNabs, Andrew Luck.
44:16
Speaker 1: People underestimate just what a physical specimen Andrew Luck was
44:20
Speaker 1: as a quarterback. Josh Allen can get away with some
44:23
Speaker 1: things now because he's a big dude, right? Jackson Dart
44:28
Speaker 1: is a normal-sized human being who's got otherworldly skill in
44:31
Speaker 1: playing the quarterback position. He played his high school ball
44:36
Speaker 1: here in the state of Utah where he was. as
44:39
Speaker 1: big and strong as fast as you need to be
44:41
Speaker 1: to take off scooting, to run, to pull the ball down,
44:45
Speaker 1: to occasionally lower your shoulder into a defender if you
44:48
Speaker 1: need to. Even playing in the SEC at Ole Miss,
44:52
Speaker 1: that offense was designed around a lot of his skills,
44:55
Speaker 1: and they had some really elite personnel around him, and
44:59
Speaker 1: he got the ball out of his hand pretty quick,
45:00
Speaker 1: and he had these embarrassment of riches to throw the
45:03
Speaker 1: ball to, and he's still got some of that going
45:06
Speaker 1: on in New York today. But we saw it last year.
45:09
Speaker 1: He went to the medical tent five different times during
45:13
Speaker 1: the season. He's a guy who is like, now he's
45:16
Speaker 1: on a watch list for the NFL, it seems. Where
45:19
Speaker 1: any time he gets his bell rung even slightly, they're like,
45:22
Speaker 1: all right, let's make sure this kid's okay. Because they
45:24
Speaker 1: want sustainability out of his career. The Giants want sustainability
45:27
Speaker 1: out of his career. And it's a big question mark
45:30
Speaker 1: if he doesn't change his playing style, if he doesn't.
45:33
Speaker 1: make more executive decisions with himself. And I respect the
45:37
Speaker 1: fact that that's going to be difficult for him because
45:39
Speaker 1: he's such a hardcore competitor, but that's something I'm looking
45:42
Speaker 1: for in this Cowboys game. And I'm also looking for
45:44
Speaker 1: the exact same thing from his starting running back, Cam Scadaboo,
45:48
Speaker 1: who is like the big dumb version of Jackson Dart.
45:54
Speaker 1: He's not... Not only is he the opposite of risk averse,
45:57
Speaker 1: he's like a risk seeker, Cam Scataboo. And that's why
46:00
Speaker 1: you loved him begrudgingly when he was playing for Arizona State.
46:04
Speaker 1: But gosh, he's so much fun to watch. I don't
46:06
Speaker 1: know how sustainable it is. Because the guy, he is
46:09
Speaker 1: a complete knucklehead. He's one of those dudes, like if
46:13
Speaker 1: he's not a professional football player, I don't even know
46:16
Speaker 1: if he's gainfully employed. He is just built to do
46:19
Speaker 1: one thing. But, You've got to protect your body at
46:23
Speaker 1: some point. The nature of his position, he can't do
46:25
Speaker 1: it the same way Jackson Dart can. But I want
46:27
Speaker 1: to see if those two stay healthy for this Giants team.
46:30
Speaker 1: If they do, we'll be talking about them a lot
46:31
Speaker 1: this year. If they don't, I think the Giants are
46:35
Speaker 1: a non-factor, are a nothing. And you'll notice I have
46:38
Speaker 1: given you a Sunday night football preview without talking much
46:40
Speaker 1: about the Cowboys because you don't want to hear me
46:43
Speaker 1: talking about the Cowboys.
46:45
Speaker 5: I'm in it.
46:46
Speaker 6: I'm going to make you for a sec go see.
46:48
Speaker 6: I'm going to make you talk about both. Let's do that.
46:51
Speaker 6: And then we'll head to a break here, get to
46:52
Speaker 6: Quinn Grovey, Arkansas color analyst. So Giants are getting it
46:58
Speaker 6: because Jim Harbaugh, proven coach, Super Bowl champion coach, they're
47:02
Speaker 6: getting– they.
47:03
Speaker 5: Got a little bit of preseason hype.
47:04
Speaker 1: John Harbaugh.
47:05
Speaker 5: John Harbaugh, excuse me.
47:09
Speaker 6: They got a little bit of preseason hype, like they're
47:11
Speaker 6: going to make the playoffs this year. Not a ton,
47:13
Speaker 6: I think a reasonable amount given their– realistic expectations, right?
47:18
Speaker 5: Cowboys always get that hype because of the Cowboys.
47:20
Speaker 6: Both of them missed the playoffs last year, obviously. Do
47:23
Speaker 6: both of them make the playoffs, do you think, this year?
47:26
Speaker 6: Or do you think just one?
47:27
Speaker 1: Which one? I'm going to say the Dallas Cowboys don't
47:31
Speaker 1: make the playoffs and that the New York Giants do
47:34
Speaker 1: and that John Harbaugh is the NFL Coach of the
47:36
Speaker 1: Year because he's going to take this team to a
47:39
Speaker 1: playoff run. I don't know how deep into the playoffs,
47:42
Speaker 1: but he's already so respected. and it was already kind
47:45
Speaker 1: of like a, wow, I can't believe that the marriage
47:47
Speaker 1: between him and the Ravens is ending kind of a situation.
47:50
Speaker 1: Even though people sort of acknowledged that maybe it was time,
47:53
Speaker 1: and he acknowledged maybe that it was time, this is
47:56
Speaker 1: a huge opportunity. This is an exciting time. If you're
48:00
Speaker 1: a Giants fan, I am not, but there's enough local
48:04
Speaker 1: connection and guys that we used to watch a lot
48:07
Speaker 1: covering Utah football that I'll at least keep one eye.
48:10
Speaker 1: on the giants and i'll hate watch the dallas cowboys
48:12
Speaker 1: so giants make the playoffs cowboys don't if you have
48:19
Speaker 1: been hurt in an accident a car accident a motorcycle
48:22
Speaker 1: accident a scooter accident any accident at all you need
48:27
Speaker 1: to make a phone call to the advocates the advocates
48:32
Speaker 1: are personal injury attorneys who ask nothing from you up
48:35
Speaker 1: front right no charge up front They become your partners
48:41
Speaker 1: in the effort to get you the compensation that you deserve. Local,
48:51
Speaker 1: years and years of expertise, a great track record of
48:56
Speaker 1: taking care of their clients. The advocates present our injury
49:01
Speaker 1: report every day here, or every week here, I should say,
49:04
Speaker 1: on the Sean O'Connell Show. More importantly... They are here
49:08
Speaker 1: for you when you don't want to have to make
49:10
Speaker 1: a phone call to them. Nobody wants to say, all right,
49:14
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm going to log on. I'm going
49:15
Speaker 1: to go to the advocates at utahadvocates.com, and I'm going
49:18
Speaker 1: to figure out a way. to get myself some of
49:22
Speaker 1: this compensation I may be entitled to. It's not an
49:26
Speaker 1: exciting thing to have to do, but the advocates take
49:28
Speaker 1: all the pain out of it because they don't charge
49:31
Speaker 1: you anything up front. They're available 24-7, 365. They hold
49:36
Speaker 1: your hand. They walk you through the process, and only
49:38
Speaker 1: when they win the case– Do you have to share
49:41
Speaker 1: any of the settlement with them? They're working for you
49:44
Speaker 1: as a partner, not as you saying, all right, I'm
49:47
Speaker 1: going to pay you out of pocket, and please do
49:49
Speaker 1: a good job for me. They're incentivized to do a
49:51
Speaker 1: great job for you because if you don't win, they
49:54
Speaker 1: don't win. Contact the advocates. Tell them OC sent you.
50:00
Speaker 1: But hopefully you won't have to because we don't want
50:02
Speaker 1: anyone to be dealing with any kind of personal injuries.
50:04
Speaker 1: All right. Quinn Grovey says, Former Arkansas Razorback. He is
50:09
Speaker 1: currently the Arkansas color analyst. He will join us next
50:13
Speaker 1: to give us a good sense of what we can
50:15
Speaker 1: expect from these hogs coming into Rice-Eckel Stadium tomorrow night.
50:19
Speaker 1: It's the Sean O'Connell Show coming at you live from
50:21
Speaker 1: the brand-new Smiths in Lehigh. 3808 West Hardman Way. We've
50:24
Speaker 1: got Taffy Town Taffy to give away. And more importantly,
50:28
Speaker 1: throw up a U. That's all you've got to do.
50:29
Speaker 1: Throw up a U. We'll give you a $ 10 gift
50:31
Speaker 1: card to Smiths. Come say hello. ESPN 700, 92.1 FM.
50:40
Speaker 4: You're listening to The Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
50:43
Speaker 4: Hyundai Studio of ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
50:54
Speaker 1: Welcome back to The Sean O'Connell Show. Getting you ready
50:58
Speaker 1: for a big weekend of football here in the state.
51:00
Speaker 1: We're at Smith's today, 3808 West, Hardman Way, down here
51:03
Speaker 1: in Lehigh. We have $ 10 gift cards to give away.
51:06
Speaker 1: We've got some Taffy Town Taffy. If you want to
51:09
Speaker 1: grab a little color-appropriate pack, it's all red and white.
51:13
Speaker 1: As we get ready to welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks into
51:15
Speaker 1: Rice Eccles Stadium, Quinn Grovey is the color analyst on
51:19
Speaker 1: the Arkansas broadcast, and he's kind enough to join us.
51:22
Speaker 1: Give us some perspective on the Hogs. Quinn Grovey, welcome
51:25
Speaker 1: to the show. How are you, sir? Well, I'm doing good.
51:28
Speaker 2: We're sitting here on the plane getting ready to head
51:29
Speaker 2: to Salt Lake, and so I'm excited about the trip.
51:32
Speaker 2: It's going to be a fun trip for not only
51:34
Speaker 2: our football team but our fans as well.
51:38
Speaker 1: How many times have you yourself been to Salt Lake City, Quinn?
51:41
Speaker 2: That would be zero. I mean, zero times to Salt Lake,
51:45
Speaker 2: but I was able to go to Provo. We played
51:48
Speaker 2: against BYU a couple years ago, and that fan base
51:52
Speaker 2: was really, really nice.
51:53
Speaker 4: They welcomed us.
51:55
Speaker 2: They gave us ice cream. They did a lot of
51:57
Speaker 2: different things.
51:58
Speaker 5: It was really cool.
51:58
Speaker 2: I don't expect that, though, when we get there tonight.
52:04
Speaker 1: I hope you are treated politely with some congeniality to
52:08
Speaker 1: a certain extent at Rice-Eckel Stadium. We don't have quite
52:11
Speaker 1: the same reputation for that that they do down in
52:13
Speaker 1: Provo for obvious reasons. But it should be a fun trip.
52:18
Speaker 1: It should be a great atmosphere at the game. I've
52:21
Speaker 1: been trying to figure out, right, because when– You look
52:24
Speaker 1: at what Utah did against Idaho. Arkansas and Idaho are not,
52:29
Speaker 1: I don't think, good equivalents of one another. What Arkansas
52:32
Speaker 1: did against North Alabama, I don't think Utah is anything
52:34
Speaker 1: like North Alabama, so I'm kind of trying to figure
52:37
Speaker 1: out what this matchup is going to look like based
52:39
Speaker 1: on a one-game sample size from both teams. What did
52:43
Speaker 1: you learn about Arkansas against North Alabama?
52:47
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, Arkansas did a nice job defensively. I mean,
52:50
Speaker 2: that's the first place I want to start, simply because
52:52
Speaker 2: we haven't played a whole lot of defense over the
52:54
Speaker 2: last couple of years. And for us to come out
52:57
Speaker 2: on the very first possession and go three and out
53:00
Speaker 2: and then force North Alabama to punt the football nine times,
53:02
Speaker 2: that was really good for us. And we held them
53:05
Speaker 2: to 153 yards and only gave them 40 yards rushing.
53:07
Speaker 2: And that's with a dual-threat quarterback and a nice running back.
53:11
Speaker 2: So you've got to give Ron Roberts and his defensive
53:13
Speaker 2: staff a lot of credit. I attribute it to the
53:17
Speaker 2: amount of players that Ron Roberts has brought in that
53:21
Speaker 2: has experience playing college football. We've got a lot of
53:24
Speaker 2: guys that have played at different places, but when you've
53:27
Speaker 2: got a defensive coordinator like Ron Roberts who has the
53:29
Speaker 2: ability to get them to line up in the right
53:31
Speaker 2: place and really understand that things are going to be
53:34
Speaker 2: successful if you do what he asks you to do,
53:37
Speaker 2: then you've got a chance to take advantage of everything
53:39
Speaker 2: that those guys can bring to the table. So I
53:42
Speaker 2: expect our defense to travel and be really, really good. Offensively,
53:46
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of people think, damn, it feels
53:49
Speaker 2: like we struggled. And so when I look at that,
53:52
Speaker 2: I say, look, let's look at the really, really good things.
53:55
Speaker 2: Good thing is we had a 415 yards total offense.
53:58
Speaker 2: We had 29 first downs. I mean, 84 plays versus
54:02
Speaker 2: 44 plays. We had a time of possession advantage, 41-14.
54:06
Speaker 2: to 18, which really gives us an opportunity. We converted
54:09
Speaker 2: a ton of third downs in the second half, and
54:12
Speaker 2: so I think that really helps you out from that standpoint.
54:15
Speaker 2: We did not run the football very well, though. When
54:18
Speaker 2: you talk about things we didn't do well, we had turnovers.
54:22
Speaker 2: We didn't run the football well. We only averaged three
54:23
Speaker 2: yards per carry. On 49 attempts, that is not where
54:27
Speaker 2: we really, really want to be. And so we've got
54:30
Speaker 2: to figure some things out. Long story short, I just
54:33
Speaker 2: don't know that anything has really been solidified for Arkansas
54:37
Speaker 2: in regards to how we're going to deal with business
54:40
Speaker 2: and when we deal with a top 25 team in Utah.
54:45
Speaker 1: How much of the running game comes through K.J. Jackson?
54:48
Speaker 1: Because he's got athleticism, but he is more of a
54:51
Speaker 1: pocket passer, it seems. He's a big, athletic, strong guy.
54:55
Speaker 1: A lot of his crazy highlights and stats from high
54:58
Speaker 1: school came in the passing game. He did have 10
55:02
Speaker 1: carries for 27 yards against North Alabama, but is that
55:07
Speaker 1: something they want to use him for, or is this
55:09
Speaker 1: going to be working from the pocket primarily?
55:12
Speaker 2: No, I think in a game like this where... you
55:16
Speaker 2: really want to try to find a way to win
55:18
Speaker 2: the football game, everything is on the table. And so
55:21
Speaker 2: we've got to find a way to get our run
55:23
Speaker 2: game moving in the right direction. There's no doubt about it.
55:25
Speaker 2: Sutton Smith, Braylon Russell, those two running backs have to
55:28
Speaker 2: be able to have success. Our offensive line has got
55:30
Speaker 2: to find a way to come up with plays against
55:33
Speaker 2: Scali's defense. But I just think that when things get tight,
55:37
Speaker 2: when things get tight, When you have a quarterback that
55:40
Speaker 2: can run the football, that always gives you a number
55:43
Speaker 2: advantage from a math perspective. I feel like football is
55:46
Speaker 2: all about math. And if I can find a way
55:48
Speaker 2: to get a half a man advantage on you somewhere, somewhat, somehow,
55:52
Speaker 2: then that's going to give me an advantage. And I
55:53
Speaker 2: think that you're going to see KJ probably run the
55:56
Speaker 2: football a little bit more than what he has in
56:00
Speaker 2: the past. And I think that's going to.
56:02
Speaker 1: Help us out.
56:02
Speaker 8: But he has ability.
56:03
Speaker 2: I mean, the guy's 6'3, over 200 pounds. Very physical,
56:08
Speaker 2: has a lot of speed. So not only can he
56:10
Speaker 2: throw it, but he can run it. And so I
56:12
Speaker 2: expect him to be really, really good in the run
56:15
Speaker 2: game with some design quarterback runs. But also I just
56:18
Speaker 2: expect him to take care of the football.
56:21
Speaker 1: Chris Marshall had a big game, seven catches, 79 yards, 11.3
56:25
Speaker 1: per catch. That's not bad for anybody. He's a big
56:29
Speaker 1: body wide receiver. Is he kind of the primary target
56:32
Speaker 1: in the passing game, or will they kind of rotate
56:34
Speaker 1: that through?
56:36
Speaker 2: Well, the thing about it is when you look at that,
56:38
Speaker 2: there were 12 guys who caught balls on Saturday. So
56:41
Speaker 2: that's a good thing for us. So that allows us
56:43
Speaker 2: to be very good and move the football around. But
56:46
Speaker 2: Chris Marshall caught seven balls on 10 targets for 79 yards.
56:50
Speaker 2: So that was about 30% of Arkansas' passing yardage. He
56:54
Speaker 2: is a big-body guy. And the one thing I love
56:56
Speaker 2: about him is that when things get tough and people
57:00
Speaker 2: back off, you can just go out there and say,
57:02
Speaker 2: you know what, we're going to throw a five-yard hit
57:04
Speaker 2: and allow him to catch that football. But he's a
57:06
Speaker 2: big-body guy that's going to have to come up with
57:09
Speaker 2: plays in that intermediate and chunk play area. And so
57:13
Speaker 2: that's the biggest thing for Arkansas is offensive passing game.
57:16
Speaker 2: We did not have anything. We didn't have a passing
57:18
Speaker 2: play over 21 yards last week. And so if you're
57:21
Speaker 2: going to go against a team against Utah, you've got
57:23
Speaker 2: to make them understand that there's an opportunity for you
57:26
Speaker 2: to try to go over the top. And so I
57:28
Speaker 2: think finding chunk plays is going to be critical in
57:31
Speaker 2: regards to maybe unleashing what Arkansas wants to do offensively.
57:35
Speaker 2: If you can't do that, then Utah is going to
57:36
Speaker 2: definitely be in driver's seat.
57:41
Speaker 1: How close to full health is Quincy Rhodes Jr.? He
57:44
Speaker 1: is the headliner. He is the number one talent. He's
57:46
Speaker 1: the guy appearing in NFL mock drafts. He didn't play
57:49
Speaker 1: a ton against North Alabama, and his production was limited.
57:53
Speaker 1: How close to full health is he?
57:56
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know the answer to that question, but
57:59
Speaker 2: I do know that Quincy Rose, when he's fully healthy,
58:02
Speaker 2: is a monster. I mean, he was second team all
58:05
Speaker 2: SEC last year. He is big.
58:08
Speaker 3: He is long.
58:09
Speaker 2: He is fast. He is strong. And when he's operating
58:13
Speaker 2: at full tilt, he's one of the best pass rushers
58:16
Speaker 2: in the SEC. And so you've got to be able
58:18
Speaker 2: to find a way to make that happen. The one
58:19
Speaker 2: thing I love about Quincy not being or not adding
58:24
Speaker 2: as much value as we thought he would in the
58:26
Speaker 2: first game is the fact that this defense was still
58:29
Speaker 2: very good. And I love the fact that the defensive
58:32
Speaker 2: front did a lot of great things. We need to
58:34
Speaker 2: find a way to create more pressure. But this defense
58:37
Speaker 2: is very good against the run. And I love the
58:39
Speaker 2: fact that the linebackers were able to really insert themselves
58:44
Speaker 2: into the game. We had five, six linebackers that played
58:47
Speaker 2: that were able to run to the football and show
58:49
Speaker 2: a lot of grit. And so Quincy Rhodes is our guy.
58:53
Speaker 2: Most defenses or offenses are going to slide coverage to
58:56
Speaker 2: Quincy Rhodes. But at the end of the day, Ron
58:59
Speaker 2: Roberts is going to dial up something that's going to
59:00
Speaker 2: allow a bunch of other guys to give them the opportunity.
59:03
Speaker 2: So we want Quincy Rose doing his thing. But if
59:06
Speaker 2: he's not, I feel like Ron Roberts' defense will still
59:09
Speaker 2: have an opportunity to be. very successful.
59:12
Speaker 1: Quinn Grovey is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell
59:15
Speaker 1: show you can hear him on the Arkansas broadcast as
59:17
Speaker 1: they take on Utah tomorrow night at Rice Eccles Stadium
59:21
Speaker 1: for a night game former quarterback for this Arkansas Razorbacks
59:25
Speaker 1: football team led them to championships in 1988 and 1989.
59:31
Speaker 1: So you've been part of the glory days of Arkansas.
59:33
Speaker 1: I mean, how far away is this team from restoring
59:37
Speaker 1: some of that glory? Because we know what it looks
59:38
Speaker 1: like now in college football, Quinn. It's resources. It's NIL.
59:44
Speaker 1: It's finding somebody to bankroll a roster. And, you know,
59:48
Speaker 1: that's a problem for Utah. That's a problem for everybody.
59:52
Speaker 1: What does that picture look like for Arkansas?
59:55
Speaker 2: Well, the one thing that I'm fortunate enough to be
59:57
Speaker 2: able to do is I work for the Razorback Foundation,
1:00:00
Speaker 2: which is the primary fundraising arm for Arkansas Athletics. And
1:00:03
Speaker 2: so I spend time with a lot of our donors
1:00:06
Speaker 2: and them really wanting to help this program be successful.
1:00:09
Speaker 2: So I just believe that this program has everything in place.
1:00:14
Speaker 2: I mean, we've got great facilities. Our fan base, while
1:00:17
Speaker 2: we have a small state, those fans are really, really
1:00:20
Speaker 2: excited about being a part of the program. And so
1:00:24
Speaker 2: you're right. I mean, you always have to find a
1:00:25
Speaker 2: way to fund things. And fortunately for us, we've got
1:00:29
Speaker 2: some Fortune 1 companies right here in our backyard that
1:00:34
Speaker 2: really allows them to help us in a big way.
1:00:38
Speaker 2: The funding aspect of it is really huge, but you've
1:00:40
Speaker 2: got to find a coach. Basically, when you talk about
1:00:42
Speaker 2: a program like this, you've got to find a coach
1:00:44
Speaker 2: that really believes that they can win games. Arkansas has
1:00:48
Speaker 2: been struggling over the last couple of years, and we've
1:00:51
Speaker 2: basically been trying to search for that particular coach that's
1:00:54
Speaker 2: going to allow us to have the ability to win
1:00:55
Speaker 2: football games. ever since Bobby Petrino left the first time.
1:00:59
Speaker 2: And so we feel like we've got a coach in
1:01:01
Speaker 2: Ryan Silverfield that really understands it.
1:01:04
Speaker 5: He gets it.
1:01:04
Speaker 2: And he came straight in and decided, you know what,
1:01:07
Speaker 2: I need to be a part of this program. I
1:01:08
Speaker 2: need to be a part of this state. I'm going
1:01:10
Speaker 2: to help this program understand what we need to do.
1:01:12
Speaker 2: And he's reached out to our donors. His players, they
1:01:16
Speaker 2: love him. He gets it. I'm glad we got a
1:01:19
Speaker 2: guy like that who can understand that. And so I
1:01:22
Speaker 2: think the big thing is having a coach that really
1:01:24
Speaker 2: understands the landscape of college athletics and is able to
1:01:28
Speaker 2: communicate to those donors at a high level. That gives
1:01:31
Speaker 2: you an opportunity to get those dollars that you're talking about.
1:01:34
Speaker 2: And then you have the ability to go out and
1:01:36
Speaker 2: show what your worth is in the portal and going
1:01:39
Speaker 2: to get guys. I still think that even though he
1:01:42
Speaker 2: got here not too long ago, he was able to
1:01:45
Speaker 2: do some things defensively that allows this team to to
1:01:48
Speaker 2: try to have some success. So I'm excited about seeing
1:01:50
Speaker 2: how that happens against a top 25 team, but I
1:01:53
Speaker 2: just feel like the University of Arkansas is in a
1:01:55
Speaker 2: good spot. Even though, you know, we were ranked like
1:01:58
Speaker 2: 16th in the SEC, but I feel like we've got
1:02:01
Speaker 2: a lot of things in place that if you've got
1:02:03
Speaker 2: the right guy, it can get you in the right spot.
1:02:06
Speaker 1: Well, I don't know if you're aware of this. I'm
1:02:08
Speaker 1: sure it got some national run, but the Big 12
1:02:11
Speaker 1: Conference no longer even does preseason polls. Because just two
1:02:15
Speaker 1: years ago, Arizona State was picked dead last in the conference,
1:02:19
Speaker 1: and then they won the conference. So they got rid
1:02:21
Speaker 1: of that practice. So we know a thing or two
1:02:24
Speaker 1: out here about how inaccurate those preseason polls can be.
1:02:27
Speaker 1: So hopefully Arkansas. can outperform those expectations. Not in Salt
1:02:31
Speaker 1: Lake City, but hopefully beyond this.
1:02:33
Speaker 2: Right, right, right.
1:02:35
Speaker 1: Well, and, you know, that brings me to the next question.
1:02:37
Speaker 1: The schedule is an absolute nightmare. I mean, you've got
1:02:41
Speaker 1: this game in Salt Lake City, and then you've got
1:02:43
Speaker 1: to turn around and you've got to play Georgia. I
1:02:47
Speaker 1: know that you try to do it a week at
1:02:49
Speaker 1: a time, and you try to get these kids into
1:02:51
Speaker 1: a routine where they're not looking ahead. I don't know
1:02:54
Speaker 1: how you can realistically expect that that's not at least
1:02:57
Speaker 1: in the back of somebody's mind, in the back of
1:02:59
Speaker 1: a coaching staff's mind. How can they, I guess, maximize
1:03:03
Speaker 1: the potential of not only this game in Salt Lake,
1:03:05
Speaker 1: but then a quick turnaround because it's a late-night game.
1:03:08
Speaker 1: You're not going to get back to Fayetteville until, whatever,
1:03:10
Speaker 1: 5 or 6 in the morning, and then you've got to.
1:03:13
Speaker 1: rest up and get back to practice to prepare for
1:03:15
Speaker 1: one of the best teams in the country?
1:03:17
Speaker 2: Well, I think we understand that Georgia is one of
1:03:20
Speaker 2: the best teams in the country, and we've been in
1:03:22
Speaker 2: the SEC for a long time, and they've taken us
1:03:25
Speaker 2: behind the woodshed time and time again. So we understand
1:03:27
Speaker 2: what Kirby Smart is going to bring to the table.
1:03:30
Speaker 2: You know, our focus right now is really trying to
1:03:33
Speaker 2: figure out how to go 2-0. If you can win
1:03:35
Speaker 2: that Utah game, then there's a lot of narrative that's
1:03:38
Speaker 2: going to change up into that Georgia game. Now, that
1:03:40
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that the Georgia game is going to turn
1:03:42
Speaker 2: out a little bit differently than what most people think.
1:03:44
Speaker 2: But I think everybody understands that you have a great
1:03:49
Speaker 2: opportunity versus Utah. And I think really and truly that's
1:03:52
Speaker 2: where the focus is. You go 2-0, that gives your
1:03:55
Speaker 2: program a shot in the arm versus a great program
1:03:59
Speaker 2: who has aspirations of being in the college football playoff.
1:04:02
Speaker 2: And so when you've got that type of thing going on,
1:04:05
Speaker 2: then you've got to be able to take advantage of it.
1:04:07
Speaker 2: This is a great opportunity. Forget Georgia and what they've
1:04:11
Speaker 2: got going on. I think they have done that because
1:04:13
Speaker 2: they know how difficult that game is going to be.
1:04:15
Speaker 2: This is a great opportunity. You're going to be playing
1:04:17
Speaker 2: in a great environment in front of great fans. and
1:04:20
Speaker 2: a different footprint across the country, this is what it's
1:04:23
Speaker 2: all about. If you can't get up for this game,
1:04:26
Speaker 2: I don't care if it's 9-15. We don't care. I mean,
1:04:28
Speaker 2: but it's one of those things where you've got to– well,
1:04:31
Speaker 2: I care because I'm usually in REM sleep at 9-30. But,
1:04:36
Speaker 2: you know, this is one of those things where we've
1:04:39
Speaker 2: got to find a way to compete at a high
1:04:42
Speaker 2: level against a very, very good football team. And we're
1:04:46
Speaker 2: excited about it.
1:04:49
Speaker 1: How did Coach alter preparations or practice this week to
1:04:53
Speaker 1: prepare for the late body clock kickoff?
1:04:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, this week I don't think he did
1:05:00
Speaker 2: anything different. I think it was just really the same
1:05:03
Speaker 2: type of routine. But what he did the previous week
1:05:06
Speaker 2: before our very first game is we had a scrimmage
1:05:09
Speaker 2: at 315, which was the same time as our first game.
1:05:13
Speaker 2: And then the following week on that Saturday we had
1:05:16
Speaker 2: a scrimmage at 915. at PM. And so what they
1:05:21
Speaker 2: did is they went through the entire routine of what
1:05:23
Speaker 2: it's going to look like, you know, staying at a hotel,
1:05:26
Speaker 2: getting on the bus, doing all that to really get
1:05:29
Speaker 2: an understanding of what it's going to take place. We're
1:05:32
Speaker 2: never going to play a game at 915 in the SEC,
1:05:34
Speaker 2: but we understand when we go out west. I mean,
1:05:37
Speaker 2: there's going to be some things that you may have
1:05:38
Speaker 2: to do. And so I just think that they did
1:05:40
Speaker 2: a good job of simulating that. So what that does
1:05:43
Speaker 2: is now you go like, you know what? I really
1:05:45
Speaker 2: don't like that. I think we need to switch that.
1:05:47
Speaker 2: I think we need to change that. You don't need
1:05:49
Speaker 2: to do that when you're on the plane like we
1:05:51
Speaker 2: are right now and heading to Salt Lake without the
1:05:53
Speaker 2: strategy that you feel like is going to give you
1:05:54
Speaker 2: an opportunity to win football games. And so they did
1:05:58
Speaker 2: a nice job of simulating that, played a scrimmage at 9-15,
1:06:01
Speaker 2: went through the entire process. And so... Silverfield is a
1:06:04
Speaker 2: guy that's going to turn over every rock, and that's
1:06:07
Speaker 2: what he did.
1:06:08
Speaker 1: All right, this next question is just about perspective and
1:06:13
Speaker 1: because I'm always food-focused, right? I feel like when Utah
1:06:17
Speaker 1: makes a return trip to Arkansas, the fans that make
1:06:20
Speaker 1: the trip from Salt Lake City to Fayetteville are going
1:06:23
Speaker 1: to be like, all right, I know. I'm going to
1:06:25
Speaker 1: go get some southern barbecue. I know I'm going to
1:06:28
Speaker 1: find somebody to give me recommendations there. When you come
1:06:31
Speaker 1: to Salt Lake City, Utah, and you're talking to people
1:06:35
Speaker 1: in the industry or whatever, I know you've done interviews
1:06:37
Speaker 1: this week with local outlets here in Salt Lake. Like,
1:06:40
Speaker 1: are you looking for, hey, we're going to get some
1:06:42
Speaker 1: authentic Mexican food out here in Utah. Hey, I can't
1:06:45
Speaker 1: wait to go try all the white bread with no
1:06:48
Speaker 1: seasoning on it or whatever. What is the Arkansas perspective
1:06:53
Speaker 1: on a trip to Salt Lake City?
1:06:55
Speaker 2: Well, let me just start with my perspective. I'm a foodie.
1:06:58
Speaker 2: I love food. I ask everybody that I talk to,
1:07:02
Speaker 2: every time I've done the interview in Salt Lake, I've
1:07:05
Speaker 2: asked them, where.
1:07:06
Speaker 1: Do I need to go?
1:07:07
Speaker 2: And so we've got a lot of donors and fans
1:07:10
Speaker 2: that are coming out. So I've got two dinners that
1:07:12
Speaker 2: I've got to eat tonight. And so I've got to
1:07:15
Speaker 2: make sure that I'm in a good spot to be
1:07:17
Speaker 2: able to eat those. The first one, we're going to
1:07:20
Speaker 2: be at the Capitol Grill. We're going to eat at
1:07:21
Speaker 2: the Capitol Grill. And so I don't know how good
1:07:24
Speaker 2: that is or whatever. And then we've got something called
1:07:28
Speaker 2: the Reeve Bar or some bar, a rooftop bar that
1:07:32
Speaker 2: we're going to be doing some things at. And so
1:07:35
Speaker 2: I'm excited about that. So I'm all about everything I
1:07:38
Speaker 2: can possibly do to find a way to get me
1:07:40
Speaker 2: a good meal. And so I'm all about counting calories.
1:07:43
Speaker 2: I'm going to try to save the calorie deficit as
1:07:46
Speaker 2: much as possible. But if I can't, you know what,
1:07:48
Speaker 2: I'm just going to flush it and deal with it
1:07:50
Speaker 2: and get back on the plane and come on back
1:07:53
Speaker 2: on Sunday and try to regroup.
1:07:56
Speaker 1: Well, I hope you have a good culinary experience here
1:07:59
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City. Do you have recommendations? Well, look,
1:08:04
Speaker 1: my favorite spot is a little biker bar. It's close
1:08:07
Speaker 1: to downtown. They've got the best burgers in the world.
1:08:09
Speaker 1: It's called Lucky 13. It's amazing. They smoke their own bacon.
1:08:16
Speaker 2: Oh, that's right up my alley right there.
1:08:20
Speaker 1: The peanut butter burger, they have another butter burger. They
1:08:22
Speaker 1: put peanut butter on the burger with bacon.
1:08:24
Speaker 3: Really?
1:08:25
Speaker 1: It sounds crazy, but trust me, it is a delightful experience.
1:08:31
Speaker 2: Oh, man, well, then I may have to. I mean,
1:08:33
Speaker 2: I got time tomorrow, and so we're staying downtown, so
1:08:36
Speaker 2: I've got an opportunity maybe to go get that burger.
1:08:40
Speaker 2: Is there a place where I can go to get
1:08:41
Speaker 2: me some really good live music tonight? I got a
1:08:44
Speaker 2: bunch of people I need to take and get them
1:08:46
Speaker 2: some live music tonight. Is there a spot that you recommend,
1:08:50
Speaker 2: or you're not in live music soon?
1:08:53
Speaker 1: Well, I'm not in any kind of scene anymore because
1:08:55
Speaker 1: I got young kids, but there's a place downtown called St.
1:09:01
Speaker 1: that one of my former teammates from the University of
1:09:03
Speaker 1: Utah owns that spot. It's called Soundwell, and they usually
1:09:07
Speaker 1: have great live music down there. So that's going to
1:09:09
Speaker 1: be my recommendation for you.
1:09:12
Speaker 3: All right.
1:09:12
Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to take a crew out somewhere, and
1:09:16
Speaker 2: I'll probably check that one out to see what kind
1:09:18
Speaker 2: of music they got going on.
1:09:21
Speaker 1: Appreciate you giving us some time today. Have a safe flight,
1:09:25
Speaker 1: and obviously we'll try to see you while you're here
1:09:27
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City.
1:09:29
Speaker 2: All right.
1:09:29
Speaker 1: Y'all enjoy, man.
1:09:30
Speaker 2: Appreciate y'all, and we look forward to being here.
1:09:33
Speaker 1: That's Quinn Grovey, former Arkansas quarterback, who is now the
1:09:37
Speaker 1: color analyst on their broadcast. Great stuff from him, a
1:09:40
Speaker 1: little perspective on this Razorbacks team that, look, you got
1:09:44
Speaker 1: to beat them. On paper, Utah is the favorite. You
1:09:49
Speaker 1: look at the rosters up and down. Utah's probably got
1:09:52
Speaker 1: an advantage in most position groups. However, Arkansas is trending
1:09:58
Speaker 1: in the right direction. Even if they're at the very,
1:10:00
Speaker 1: very start of that journey under Ryan Silverfield, they're headed
1:10:05
Speaker 1: the right way. You cannot afford to let them hang
1:10:08
Speaker 1: around until the third and the fourth quarter and feel
1:10:11
Speaker 1: like they've got a chance to win at Rice Echoes.
1:10:13
Speaker 1: You've got to put your foot to the floor, on
1:10:16
Speaker 1: the gas pedal, start to finish. and make a point,
1:10:19
Speaker 1: because you're supposed to be one of the best teams
1:10:22
Speaker 1: in the Big 12 Conference. They're supposed to be one
1:10:24
Speaker 1: of the worst teams in the SEC Conference. We'll see
1:10:28
Speaker 1: how that all plays out before the end of the year,
1:10:30
Speaker 1: but big thanks to Quinn Grovey for joining us. We're
1:10:35
Speaker 1: on remote today at Smith's in Lehigh, 3808 West Hardman Way.
1:10:39
Speaker 1: We've had people come by. We gave away our pairs
1:10:42
Speaker 1: of tickets already, courtesy of our friends here at Pepsi.
1:10:46
Speaker 1: We still have Smith's gift cards to give away. So
1:10:49
Speaker 1: all you got to do if you want one, you
1:10:50
Speaker 1: come to the table, you throw up the U, you
1:10:52
Speaker 1: say go Utes, and Cynthia is going to hook you
1:10:54
Speaker 1: up with some taffy and with a Smith's gift card.
1:10:58
Speaker 1: By the way, this is like a brand new Smith's Marketplace.
1:11:01
Speaker 1: It is glittering. It's still got that new car smell
1:11:04
Speaker 1: here in the store. It is very, very nice. Well
1:11:07
Speaker 1: laid out. Come say hello. 3808 West Hardman Way in Lehigh.
1:11:13
Speaker 1: Speaking of being on remote, next week, Wednesday, I'll be
1:11:16
Speaker 1: at All Trade Staffing from 11 to 2. If you're
1:11:20
Speaker 1: looking for extra work, if you're a business owner who
1:11:22
Speaker 1: needs extra workers, join us at All Trade Staffing next Wednesday,
1:11:27
Speaker 1: and they can help. All Trade Staffing in Salt Lake
1:11:31
Speaker 1: City next Wednesday on the Sean O'Connell Show from 11
1:11:35
Speaker 1: to 2. The Daily Dump is next. It's Utah's number
1:11:40
Speaker 1: one sports talk. ESPN 700, 92.1 FM. Feeling out of
1:11:49
Speaker 1: the loop?
1:11:50
Speaker 4: Let's catch up on today's biggest headlines in the Daily
1:11:52
Speaker 4: News Dump, where we flush out the biggest stories of
1:11:55
Speaker 4: the day on the Sean O'Connell Show and Utah's number
1:11:59
Speaker 4: one sports talk, ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM. Brought to
1:12:03
Speaker 4: you by Valley Plumbing, Heating and Cooling. Just look for
1:12:06
Speaker 4: the truck with the duck.
1:12:13
Speaker 1: Time for the David Dump here on the Sean O'Connell Show,
1:12:16
Speaker 1: ESPN 700, 92.1 FM. We've got an injury report. I
1:12:26
Speaker 1: want to sneak the injury report in here. Our injury
1:12:29
Speaker 1: updates are brought to you by the Advocates Injury Attorneys.
1:12:31
Speaker 1: If you're injured in any kind of an accident, it
1:12:33
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be a car accident. And maybe you're
1:12:36
Speaker 1: just curious whether you have a case or not, 801-355-5550
1:12:37
Speaker 1: or UtahAdvocates.com. The injury report is only official when it's
1:12:45
Speaker 1: Big 12 games, only mandatory when it's Big 12 games.
1:12:49
Speaker 1: Arizona is still without Everett Rossaw Jr., Dajon Hinton, Ezra Funa.
1:12:55
Speaker 1: Their linebacker, Myron Robinson, is questionable. BYU's got a little
1:12:58
Speaker 1: bit longer list of guys that are going to be out.
1:13:01
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cabella, Raider Damuni is out for this game. Kevin Doe,
1:13:04
Speaker 1: Javessa Damuni, Sione Moa, who of course was the big
1:13:07
Speaker 1: news this week. as well, because he tore two ligaments
1:13:11
Speaker 1: in his knee. Looks like he's going to miss the
1:13:13
Speaker 1: whole season for BYU, which is a significant blow to
1:13:17
Speaker 1: the running back depth there, although the Eka kid looked
1:13:20
Speaker 1: really good as well. Brigham Alexander, who's a backup offensive
1:13:24
Speaker 1: lineman for them, he's out. Jacob Nye, tight end, is out.
1:13:28
Speaker 1: They list linebacker Pearson Watson as questionable not appearing on
1:13:34
Speaker 1: the BYU injury report at all he's been upgraded from
1:13:37
Speaker 1: probable to not even being on the injury report so
1:13:41
Speaker 1: you're going to see Isaiah Glasker in this game if
1:13:44
Speaker 1: you're BYU uh him at close to full strength or
1:13:48
Speaker 1: full strength alongside Katie Luave and Ciale Acera and company
1:13:52
Speaker 1: that that should be one of the best linebacking cores
1:13:55
Speaker 1: in the Big 12 conference one of the better linebacking
1:13:58
Speaker 1: cores in the country quite frankly if those guys can
1:14:00
Speaker 1: all play up to the level of expectation. So for Arizona,
1:14:04
Speaker 1: that's not good news. For the rest of the Big 12,
1:14:07
Speaker 1: that's not good news. For BYU, that's incredibly good news
1:14:09
Speaker 1: that Isaiah Glasker is healthy enough to not even be
1:14:13
Speaker 1: making an appearance of any kind on the Advocates Injury
1:14:17
Speaker 1: Report here on the Sean O'Connell Show. All right, to
1:14:22
Speaker 1: the Daily Dump, a random assortment of topics that are
1:14:26
Speaker 1: sometimes sports-related, usually sports-related. At 1.30 we have our airing
1:14:31
Speaker 1: of grievances. I got something for you in that one.
1:14:35
Speaker 1: But here in the Daily Dump, this is the least
1:14:39
Speaker 1: surprising revelation that you're going to get about any NBA player,
1:14:42
Speaker 1: but Nikola Jokic does not like to take pictures with fans.
1:14:49
Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic doesn't like to do anything with anything, except
1:14:53
Speaker 1: he seems to like to watch horse races, hang out
1:14:56
Speaker 1: with his brothers, and with his family. I got no
1:15:00
Speaker 1: problem with any of that. My question is, 877-353-0700, you
1:15:07
Speaker 1: see a celebrity. Let's stick with athletes. Let's stick with
1:15:10
Speaker 1: pro athletes, all right? You see Darren Peterson out at Smith's,
1:15:14
Speaker 1: 3808 West Hardman Way down here in Lehigh. He's perusing
1:15:21
Speaker 1: his way through the Pepsi products or whatever. Do you
1:15:25
Speaker 1: walk up and say, hey, will you take a picture
1:15:28
Speaker 1: with me real quick? Obviously, you're going to be polite
1:15:31
Speaker 1: about it, right? Do you walk up and say to
1:15:39
Speaker 1: Clayton Keller, if you see him out and about at
1:15:42
Speaker 1: a movie, and he's just exiting the theater, you're walking in, hey, whoa,
1:15:47
Speaker 1: big fan, love the mammoth. Oh, I see you're here
1:15:50
Speaker 1: with Logan Cooley. Will you guys maybe take a picture
1:15:53
Speaker 1: with me? Are you even asking? nowadays knowing that you
1:15:58
Speaker 1: know like some of these people have pretty hardcore rules
1:16:00
Speaker 1: about whether they will or will not comply with the
1:16:05
Speaker 1: request and i will say this if you're a fan
1:16:10
Speaker 1: of somebody and that somebody is brusque with you is
1:16:14
Speaker 1: rude is uh you know not exactly receptive to the
1:16:18
Speaker 1: attention because it's not a big deal for them to
1:16:22
Speaker 1: meet you it is a big deal for you to
1:16:23
Speaker 1: meet them i mean we've all been there we've all
1:16:26
Speaker 1: had this experience where we're just like, oh my gosh,
1:16:29
Speaker 1: that's somebody that I admire. They don't know who you are.
1:16:32
Speaker 1: They don't admire you, right? So they might be having
1:16:34
Speaker 1: a good day. They might be having a bad day.
1:16:35
Speaker 1: They might be with their family. They might be, you know,
1:16:38
Speaker 1: out there just like running errands and have plenty of time.
1:16:42
Speaker 1: And maybe they want to engage in conversation. Maybe they're
1:16:44
Speaker 1: feeling a little lonely if they're one of these out-of-towners.
1:16:47
Speaker 1: I don't know what the right thing to do is
1:16:49
Speaker 1: when we're talking about it. I really don't. Like for
1:16:52
Speaker 1: me personally, if I see someone out and about, I'll
1:16:55
Speaker 1: usually say hello, but not ask them for anything. I'll
1:16:58
Speaker 1: give them like a walking by, hey, big fan. Hey,
1:17:01
Speaker 1: good luck. Hey, saw the game last night. That was awesome.
1:17:06
Speaker 1: Thumbs up. Cool. I don't ask for autographs anymore. I
1:17:10
Speaker 1: don't ask for pictures unless I'm going to be like
1:17:13
Speaker 1: in a place around that person with that person for
1:17:17
Speaker 1: like an extended period of time. I don't know if
1:17:20
Speaker 1: that's the right way to handle it. That's the way
1:17:21
Speaker 1: that I handle it.
1:17:23
Speaker 3: 877-353-0700.
1:17:23
Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic is basically telling people in interviews and other places, like, yeah,
1:17:30
Speaker 1: I don't feel bad about not taking pictures with fans.
1:17:32
Speaker 1: That's my time. Just don't come up to me. He's
1:17:36
Speaker 1: a multiple-time MVP. He's a champion. Of course, everyone wants
1:17:40
Speaker 1: pictures with him. He's the kind of guy that I
1:17:42
Speaker 1: would definitely not go up to because I know that
1:17:45
Speaker 1: it's going to be a bad experience, or I would
1:17:48
Speaker 1: assume it's going to be a bad experience, and that
1:17:49
Speaker 1: might not be fair, but that is my assumption. What
1:17:53
Speaker 1: are you doing when you see your favorite athletes and
1:17:55
Speaker 1: your favorite celebrities, James? So I still will approach them,
1:18:00
Speaker 1: and I usually do the thing that you do, especially
1:18:03
Speaker 1: because I'm in the media now.
1:18:04
Speaker 6: And so a lot of times I see these people.
1:18:07
Speaker 6: It's in a media setting, and it's not professional. It's
1:18:11
Speaker 6: even in some of the rules of the media credentialing
1:18:14
Speaker 6: and stuff that you're not allowed to ask for autographs,
1:18:17
Speaker 6: things like that. So you just– what I've gotten– used
1:18:21
Speaker 6: to doing now is just being like hey let me
1:18:25
Speaker 6: introduce myself big fan uh awesome that you're here kind
1:18:29
Speaker 6: of thing um and then i just let him go
1:18:32
Speaker 6: but if i were in a if i'm in a
1:18:33
Speaker 6: fan setting i'm not working in the media maybe i'm
1:18:37
Speaker 6: with my family who are just fans right i think
1:18:41
Speaker 6: i would still walk up to him may even ask
1:18:44
Speaker 6: for a picture the thing that is crucial is what
1:18:48
Speaker 6: you were starting to say They don't care as much
1:18:53
Speaker 6: about meeting you as you care about meeting them. So
1:18:58
Speaker 6: if they have to you a rude reaction to you
1:19:03
Speaker 6: asking for that, if they just say no and you
1:19:06
Speaker 6: feel offense to that, whether they say it rudely or not.
1:19:10
Speaker 5: You have to accept that.
1:19:13
Speaker 6: These people are human beings, and you're a human, and
1:19:16
Speaker 6: you're going to feel emotional, whatever, but you have to
1:19:19
Speaker 6: get to a point where you're not cursing their name
1:19:22
Speaker 6: every time you see them or to every person you're
1:19:25
Speaker 6: telling that story, like, what a jerk, because they're not
1:19:27
Speaker 6: being a jerk.
1:19:28
Speaker 5: They're just saying no, and that's got to be okay.
1:19:31
Speaker 1: Well, sometimes it's both, right? Because there's a way you
1:19:33
Speaker 1: can say no politely. There's a way you can say
1:19:35
Speaker 1: no and be a jerk. Here's the thing, though. You
1:19:37
Speaker 1: have to kind of be prepared for that, Or you
1:19:40
Speaker 1: have to be prepared to accept you're not going to
1:19:43
Speaker 1: be a fan of theirs anymore. I don't ever want
1:19:46
Speaker 1: that experience.
1:19:48
Speaker 6: I'm not sure that that's the right way to react either, Oceel.
1:19:53
Speaker 6: I'm not going to be a fan. They are allowed
1:19:55
Speaker 6: to say no, rudely or not. You've got to be
1:19:59
Speaker 6: able to accept that no matter what it is. I
1:20:02
Speaker 6: understand that you might not be a fan anymore.
1:20:06
Speaker 1: Even the person asking is a human, and if someone's
1:20:08
Speaker 1: a Someone's a jerk to you, you're probably like, I'm
1:20:11
Speaker 1: not as big of a fan of them as I
1:20:12
Speaker 1: was before. So you just have to be prepared for that, right? Like,
1:20:16
Speaker 1: John Stockton was notorious for this. John Stockton, when you
1:20:20
Speaker 1: watched him on TV and the rare interview appearances that
1:20:24
Speaker 1: he did and stuff, you looked at John Stockton when
1:20:26
Speaker 1: he was an active player and you were like, I
1:20:28
Speaker 1: love that guy. Everything you heard about John Stockton, he's
1:20:31
Speaker 1: the hardest worker in the room, he's a consummate professional,
1:20:33
Speaker 1: all these things. Everybody here in Utah was like, oh
1:20:35
Speaker 1: my gosh, I love that guy. I love that guy.
1:20:38
Speaker 1: I love that guy. Except the people that walked up
1:20:40
Speaker 1: to John Stockton when they were 10 years old and
1:20:42
Speaker 1: were like, hey, can I have a picture? Hey, can
1:20:43
Speaker 1: I have an autograph? Because he was like, no, get
1:20:45
Speaker 1: away from me. And a lot of those people are like, yeah,
1:20:49
Speaker 1: I used to be a fan of John Stockton, and
1:20:51
Speaker 1: now I'm not because I had this experience. That's fine.
1:20:54
Speaker 1: If that's how you want to feel about it, just
1:20:56
Speaker 1: like it's fine for them to say no. It's fine
1:20:58
Speaker 1: for you to feel however you want to feel about it.
1:20:59
Speaker 1: But you have to mentally prepare yourself to like– Make
1:21:03
Speaker 1: a choice about whether you're going to continue to be
1:21:05
Speaker 1: their fan if they are not, like, nice to you.
1:21:08
Speaker 1: And that's, I think that's something that people fail to do.
1:21:11
Speaker 1: I think that they feel shocked and surprised when somebody's like, no,
1:21:15
Speaker 1: I don't want to take your picture. And then they're
1:21:16
Speaker 1: just like, okay, now, well, now I've, I wanted to
1:21:19
Speaker 1: remain that person's, like, admirer and fan. And I'm not
1:21:23
Speaker 1: anymore because they were rude. To me, I'm like, if
1:21:26
Speaker 1: I'm the one who, like, you know, makes the overture
1:21:28
Speaker 1: and is just like, hey, picture cool. And they're like, no.
1:21:31
Speaker 1: I'm probably not going to say, all right, I'm not
1:21:32
Speaker 1: a fan of yours anymore. Unless they're like unbelievably rude.
1:21:36
Speaker 1: But most people won't be if you're not. And that's
1:21:39
Speaker 1: just kind.
1:21:40
Speaker 2: Of how it is.
1:21:42
Speaker 1: And by the way, you can run into people anywhere.
1:21:44
Speaker 1: I think I told the story on air. I did
1:21:47
Speaker 1: tell the story on air. When I went on that
1:21:49
Speaker 1: safari trip earlier this year, we were in Tanzania. And
1:21:54
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins and his family were there in the same spot,
1:21:57
Speaker 1: on the same flight, going home from Tanzania Back to
1:22:01
Speaker 1: the United States. And my brother-in-law got a picture with
1:22:05
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins. In that context, he was cool. It was
1:22:08
Speaker 1: probably the first time he'd been recognized in several weeks,
1:22:11
Speaker 1: however long he'd been on the continent, you know what
1:22:13
Speaker 1: I mean? So maybe he was more receptive to it
1:22:15
Speaker 1: at that point. But you never know where you're going
1:22:18
Speaker 1: to run into these people. And I think the context
1:22:21
Speaker 1: and where it's going to happen is definitely part of
1:22:26
Speaker 1: the equation. The quote from Nikola Jokic, which sparks this
1:22:29
Speaker 1: whole thing, is, I'm getting more and more bothered by popularity.
1:22:34
Speaker 1: This is going to sound corny, but I'm getting ruder
1:22:36
Speaker 1: to people who approach me. Honestly, it's tiring. Some people
1:22:39
Speaker 1: around me know I don't take pictures because it's my time.
1:22:42
Speaker 1: I'll sound rude again, but what can I do? If
1:22:44
Speaker 1: people can't understand me, I understand everything. But it's been
1:22:47
Speaker 1: 11 or 12 years, and enough is enough. And anonymity
1:22:51
Speaker 1: is something that all of us enjoy, that these people,
1:22:54
Speaker 1: especially NBA players, do not. Because they can't blend in. Like, actors...
1:23:01
Speaker 1: Football players, for the most part, you can kind of
1:23:04
Speaker 1: blend in. You don't necessarily have to stick out. These
1:23:07
Speaker 1: NBA guys, they're the most recognizable humans on the planet
1:23:11
Speaker 1: because they're a head taller than everyone else, at least.
1:23:14
Speaker 1: So I kind of get it. I like to think
1:23:18
Speaker 1: that I probably would not 100% be that way as
1:23:21
Speaker 1: a professional athlete, but also I haven't been dealing with
1:23:25
Speaker 1: it for 12 years like Nikola Jokic has.
1:23:28
Speaker 5: Yeah, I just think we've got to give.
1:23:31
Speaker 6: Athletes and famous people the same benefit of the doubt
1:23:33
Speaker 6: that we try to give us regular people and that
1:23:36
Speaker 6: means we have to accept their answer however rude or
1:23:40
Speaker 6: not and i think you can still be a fan
1:23:45
Speaker 6: of that person obviously there's certain things certain things that's
1:23:49
Speaker 6: like super rude that you're like okay i get why
1:23:52
Speaker 6: you're not a fan anymore but i think you can
1:23:53
Speaker 6: still be a fan of that person if they seem
1:23:57
Speaker 6: bugged by you asking and they are really short in
1:24:01
Speaker 6: the way that they say no to you.
1:24:03
Speaker 1: Right.
1:24:03
Speaker 6: Like, I just think we, as it's on us as
1:24:06
Speaker 6: the public to be that way for the famous people,
1:24:10
Speaker 6: in my opinion, that.
1:24:11
Speaker 5: They, they are their time.
1:24:15
Speaker 6: And all the people that they come with are, are
1:24:18
Speaker 6: grabbing for their attention all the time. So they can,
1:24:23
Speaker 6: they can not, they're not going to have the best
1:24:26
Speaker 6: reaction all the time.
1:24:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can see both sides of it. And I've
1:24:30
Speaker 1: been lucky enough to be around, at least in the
1:24:32
Speaker 1: fight world, Randy Couture is, like, as famous as it gets, okay?
1:24:35
Speaker 1: And he's a guy who's crossed over and he's done
1:24:37
Speaker 1: major films and he's, like, he's famous even outside of
1:24:40
Speaker 1: the sports world because he's been in some film franchises.
1:24:44
Speaker 1: And I've been around him a lot and in a
1:24:47
Speaker 1: lot of different scenarios, at restaurants, walking down the street,
1:24:51
Speaker 1: in New York City, in, you know, Wichita, Kansas. I've
1:24:54
Speaker 1: been all over the country with Randy. and in all
1:24:57
Speaker 1: these different contexts with Randy. And I'll tell you something.
1:25:00
Speaker 1: That guy will always take a picture. He will always
1:25:03
Speaker 1: stop and say hello. He will always sign an autograph.
1:25:06
Speaker 1: And part of it is he's 60 years old now,
1:25:09
Speaker 1: so he's not with his family, his young kids, when
1:25:12
Speaker 1: people are asking for these things. We're always together on
1:25:15
Speaker 1: professional work trips, so maybe he's got a different mentality
1:25:18
Speaker 1: than if it was like his leisure time. But he's
1:25:21
Speaker 1: always explained it to us, to me, and the other
1:25:23
Speaker 1: people around him, like, Look, these people are the reason
1:25:26
Speaker 1: I have the life I have. Because they're the reason
1:25:30
Speaker 1: I get endorsements. They're the reason I get cast in movies.
1:25:33
Speaker 1: They're the reason I was selling tickets when I was
1:25:37
Speaker 1: a professional fighter. So he's very, very gracious. Even when
1:25:41
Speaker 1: he's in a bad mood, even when he doesn't want
1:25:42
Speaker 1: to be necessarily, you probably get a spectrum of how
1:25:45
Speaker 1: willing he is. But he's always willing. And I'm like,
1:25:48
Speaker 1: I admire that so much. I'm like, I would definitely
1:25:50
Speaker 1: not be that way. Because it happens a lot. It's
1:25:52
Speaker 1: everywhere he goes. And I'm just like, man, that's... But
1:25:56
Speaker 1: his perspective is, yeah, but if I lose that, if
1:25:58
Speaker 1: I'm rude to people, and my reputation and my celebrity
1:26:03
Speaker 1: is the thing that gives me my life and my lifestyle,
1:26:06
Speaker 1: so he's like, that's part of his work, I guess.
1:26:09
Speaker 1: I understand why not everyone feels that way. I understand
1:26:12
Speaker 1: why certain NBA basketball players wouldn't feel that way, because
1:26:14
Speaker 1: he's going to get the dang salary whether people like
1:26:16
Speaker 1: him or not. That's not necessarily how it is for
1:26:20
Speaker 1: Randy anymore. But if you're like an actor, okay? or
1:26:24
Speaker 1: you're a musician and your entire thing, your entire livelihood
1:26:28
Speaker 1: is based on your popularity. And then you spit in
1:26:31
Speaker 1: the face of the people who are like making you popular.
1:26:34
Speaker 1: That's a weird game to play. I don't think it's
1:26:37
Speaker 1: just carte blanche for everyone to approach you and do
1:26:39
Speaker 1: anything and demand your time at any time. But it
1:26:42
Speaker 1: is a, an interesting conversation for me every time it
1:26:45
Speaker 1: comes up, because this is a professional athlete who is
1:26:48
Speaker 1: just sick of it. And he's like, no, I don't care.
1:26:51
Speaker 1: People think I'm rude anymore. It's been too much. It's
1:26:53
Speaker 1: been too long. That's fine, right? Our guy Eric Weddle
1:26:56
Speaker 1: is going to probably pose for 10,000 pictures this weekend
1:27:00
Speaker 1: with everyone who meets him, sees him, bumps into him,
1:27:03
Speaker 1: talks to him. Everyone's going to want a picture with him.
1:27:06
Speaker 1: And he's probably going to take all of them. He's
1:27:08
Speaker 1: going to say thanks to all of them. And he's
1:27:09
Speaker 1: probably going to be exhausted and irritated by it at
1:27:11
Speaker 1: the end. But he's going to do most of them.
1:27:14
Speaker 1: I don't know what's right. I'm not casting judgment on
1:27:17
Speaker 1: either side of the aisle because it's not necessarily a thing.
1:27:20
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to bring up all the points. That's
1:27:22
Speaker 1: your Daily Dump here on the Sean O'Connell Show. Don't
1:27:25
Speaker 1: try to get any kind of picture with Nikola Jokic,
1:27:28
Speaker 1: all right? Don't even bother.
1:27:30
Speaker 5: They can get pictures with you at Smith's, though.
1:27:34
Speaker 1: Yes. Nobody's asked, weirdly enough. I guess I'm not that
1:27:36
Speaker 1: big of a celebrity.
1:27:37
Speaker 5: Do you get that many? I mean, you were a
1:27:39
Speaker 5: pro athlete. Do you get that many requests for pictures yourself?
1:27:42
Speaker 1: The only time it happens is if we're at a
1:27:45
Speaker 1: PFL event.
1:27:46
Speaker 5: Like a fight event.
1:27:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, the fight events, and people are like, oh, hey,
1:27:50
Speaker 1: can we take a picture? Then I'm like, yeah, sure,
1:27:52
Speaker 1: because those people are like actual fight fans. The only
1:27:54
Speaker 1: people who know who I am are the actual fight fans,
1:27:56
Speaker 1: and that's fine with me. I enjoy my anonymity like
1:28:00
Speaker 1: everyone else does. All right, we've got to take a
1:28:02
Speaker 1: quick one here. Lee Sterling, number one handicapper in the
1:28:05
Speaker 1: business from Paramount Sports, has the picks of the week
1:28:07
Speaker 1: next on the Sean O'Connell Show, ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
1:28:17
Speaker 4: This is the Sean O'Connell Show, your home of the
1:28:20
Speaker 4: best inside of your Utes. Let's get back to OC
1:28:23
Speaker 4: from the Murdoch Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 at 92.1 FM.
1:28:31
Speaker 1: I got Smith's gift cards to give away if you
1:28:33
Speaker 1: come down here to 3808 West Hardman Way in Lehigh.
1:28:39
Speaker 1: Smith's hook you up with $ 10 gift cards. All you
1:28:41
Speaker 1: have to do is throw up a U, say go Utes,
1:28:44
Speaker 1: and we'll hand you one. Also, Pepsi products on sale here.
1:28:48
Speaker 1: We gave away a couple of pairs of tickets to
1:28:49
Speaker 1: Utah versus Arkansas, courtesy of Smith's and our friends at
1:28:52
Speaker 1: Pepsi earlier in the show. Now we welcome in Lee Sterling,
1:28:57
Speaker 1: who's off to a hot start. Big weekend last weekend.
1:29:00
Speaker 1: He's the number one handicapper in the business from Paramount Sports.
1:29:03
Speaker 1: More picks for this week. Lee, welcome back. How are you, sir?
1:29:07
Speaker 3: I'm great.
1:29:07
Speaker 1: I'm great.
1:29:08
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm playing with house money. I had
1:29:10
Speaker 3: Seattle on Wednesday night, and it turned nothing without their quarterback.
1:29:15
Speaker 3: I'm like, this is done. And when you get a
1:29:18
Speaker 3: gift like that, you come back. The last time that happened,
1:29:21
Speaker 3: I think, was Aaron Rodgers a couple years ago on
1:29:24
Speaker 3: an opening game. So can't throw in the towel just yet.
1:29:30
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm playing with House Money League because,
1:29:32
Speaker 1: as you know, I'm a Niners guy, and what a
1:29:33
Speaker 1: game that was in Australia yesterday. So eat it, Rams.
1:29:38
Speaker 1: Love to see that from my San Francisco 49ers.
1:29:41
Speaker 3: Well, I don't think you're going to see any team
1:29:45
Speaker 3: that is going to be crossing four or five time
1:29:47
Speaker 3: zones or more in the future going out the day before.
1:29:50
Speaker 3: That was an absolute disaster for the Rams. So 49ers
1:29:54
Speaker 3: figured it out and absolutely dominated. Now the Rams... Got
1:29:59
Speaker 3: to go home, and next week's going to be a
1:30:01
Speaker 3: must-win for them.
1:30:04
Speaker 1: All right, let's get into the games this weekend here, Lee.
1:30:07
Speaker 1: All of us watched what happened with Michigan, and that
1:30:12
Speaker 1: was not a strong indicator for the Wolverines heading into
1:30:16
Speaker 1: a really tough Week 2 matchup as they take on Oklahoma.
1:30:19
Speaker 1: Sooners are five-and-a-half-point favorites. How are you leaning?
1:30:23
Speaker 3: So I don't normally watch press conferences. You don't glean
1:30:26
Speaker 3: very much from them. But I saw in the background
1:30:29
Speaker 3: Bryce Underwood talking, and I'm like, God, this kid doesn't
1:30:32
Speaker 3: look right. So I rewound it, and I just think
1:30:35
Speaker 3: that he's out of it. I just think he's lost
1:30:38
Speaker 3: all confidence. So I do believe with what the coach said,
1:30:44
Speaker 3: and former coach for the Heat said, I don't think
1:30:48
Speaker 3: he has confidence in the kid. And if they don't
1:30:50
Speaker 3: score a touchdown or a field goal in the first
1:30:52
Speaker 3: couple drives, I think they're going to pull him for
1:30:54
Speaker 3: Lloyd Carr's grandson, Tommy Carr. Now, you think, well, that
1:30:58
Speaker 3: might give him a boost, but they're playing a Sooners defense.
1:31:01
Speaker 3: Top five last year and looks just as good this
1:31:04
Speaker 3: year in almost every major statistical category. And John Mateer
1:31:08
Speaker 3: looks 100% again. And Lloyd Abbott, the running back from
1:31:12
Speaker 3: Colorado State, who they brought over, looks like he packs
1:31:15
Speaker 3: a punch. Unless Oklahoma turns the ball over three or
1:31:18
Speaker 3: four times, I haven't won in this game by two touchdowns, 27-13.
1:31:23
Speaker 1: Another headline matchup, Texas and Ohio State, both of those
1:31:27
Speaker 1: top five teams right there flirting with national championship aspirations.
1:31:32
Speaker 1: And we get a good indicator of where both teams
1:31:35
Speaker 1: are at early, early in the season with this week
1:31:37
Speaker 1: two matchup. The Longhorns are the favorites. How do you
1:31:40
Speaker 1: see it playing out?
1:31:42
Speaker 3: I went back and watched the game from last year,
1:31:44
Speaker 3: and Texas was moving up and down the field between
1:31:47
Speaker 3: the 20s, and the Reds only just couldn't do anything
1:31:50
Speaker 3: specifically inside the 10-yard line. I mean, Steve Sarkeesian's play
1:31:54
Speaker 3: calling was horrendous. The execution deplorable. But to give him credit,
1:32:00
Speaker 3: they figured out what their weaknesses were. So they bring
1:32:03
Speaker 3: in Cam Coleman from Auburn, maybe the third-best receiver in
1:32:07
Speaker 3: the country. behind Jeremiah Smith and Tony from Miami. They
1:32:12
Speaker 3: also brought in Hollywood Smothers, and this is a really
1:32:14
Speaker 3: good running back from NC State. He's really good. If
1:32:18
Speaker 3: you get penetration on them or he's one-on-one with a
1:32:22
Speaker 3: defensive back catching a ball to the backfield, he can
1:32:25
Speaker 3: usually plant his foot and make that first guy miss.
1:32:29
Speaker 3: Going to make Ryan Wingo much better. Last year, Texas'
1:32:32
Speaker 3: number one guy, he just could not shake loose from
1:32:36
Speaker 3: the top Ohio State defensive backs, but... Now he'll go
1:32:39
Speaker 3: against the slot cover corner of the number three guy.
1:32:42
Speaker 3: I think he'll be much better, and I think Texas
1:32:45
Speaker 3: might actually own some edges here in the trenches. I
1:32:48
Speaker 3: like Texas to finally win a big one, 27-21.
1:32:53
Speaker 1: The Aggies of Utah State stumbled and fumbled and lost
1:32:59
Speaker 1: against Idaho State, a mid-level Big Sky team. Disastrous start
1:33:04
Speaker 1: to Bronco Mendenhall's season, and now they've got Washington. I
1:33:10
Speaker 1: don't know how good the Huskies are this year, but
1:33:12
Speaker 1: they're better than Idaho State, and they are big-time favorites,
1:33:15
Speaker 1: according to Vegas. 24.5 points for the Huskies. Can Utah
1:33:20
Speaker 1: State at least cover?
1:33:22
Speaker 3: So, Washington lost. They already lost their starting running back.
1:33:26
Speaker 3: They lost their other two running backs. They're going to
1:33:28
Speaker 3: be playing without their top three running backs.
1:33:31
Speaker 1: For this game.
1:33:32
Speaker 3: If I was them... I would just line up and
1:33:37
Speaker 3: put your quarterback in the shotgun, DeMond Williams, let him
1:33:39
Speaker 3: run and throw the football. I don't think they're going
1:33:42
Speaker 3: to have any problems here with Utah State. They've taken
1:33:45
Speaker 3: a step backward, in my opinion. Hillstead, not the answer.
1:33:48
Speaker 3: I would try out some other guys or receivers. Not
1:33:51
Speaker 3: getting much separation either here. Romper room special here, Washington, 45-7.
1:33:56
Speaker 2: Oof, ouch.
1:34:00
Speaker 1: I got friends on that Utah State staff, man. I
1:34:02
Speaker 1: don't like that, but I don't disagree either. All right, BYU.
1:34:07
Speaker 1: We get to the BYU game here. They're hosting Arizona.
1:34:10
Speaker 1: It's a big 12 matchup. It's a big, big 12
1:34:13
Speaker 1: matchup in Week 2. And a little bit of additional
1:34:17
Speaker 1: news here for folks who have been tuning in. Pete
1:34:20
Speaker 1: Thamel is reporting that Ishmael Mahdi, who was the 2025
1:34:24
Speaker 1: lead rusher for Arizona... and one of their better linebackers,
1:34:29
Speaker 1: Max Harris. They're both coming back for their additional year
1:34:32
Speaker 1: of eligibility and will travel to face BYU. I don't
1:34:36
Speaker 1: know if that changes the game. I don't know if
1:34:38
Speaker 1: they're anything close to in shape, but it is a
1:34:41
Speaker 1: couple of really good players being added to that Arizona
1:34:44
Speaker 1: roster last minute before they head to Provo. Seven and
1:34:47
Speaker 1: a half points, though, for the Cougs.
1:34:49
Speaker 8: I don't know.
1:34:49
Speaker 1: Does this change anything? How do you see the game?
1:34:52
Speaker 3: It probably gives them a functional boost, but I can't
1:34:54
Speaker 3: see them doing anything that's really– You just can't come
1:34:57
Speaker 3: out of there cold and play and be that effective.
1:35:00
Speaker 3: So I'm going to look at the guys that are
1:35:03
Speaker 3: almost surely lined up. Now they do have some motivation
1:35:07
Speaker 3: for losing in overtime last year, but I think Bear
1:35:10
Speaker 3: Bachmeier should have some success against his secondary here. Need
1:35:14
Speaker 3: to see more development out of the wide receivers, but
1:35:16
Speaker 3: I think the running game is going to be the
1:35:18
Speaker 3: difference here, maybe also special teams. Give me the Cougs here.
1:35:22
Speaker 3: I think they win and cover this game.
1:35:27
Speaker 1: 30-17. I think BYU is going to be really good
1:35:31
Speaker 1: this year, and Utah is going to have to play
1:35:34
Speaker 1: their best in order to beat that team. That's my
1:35:37
Speaker 1: favorite for the Big 12 championship, as much as people
1:35:40
Speaker 1: hate hearing me say it right here on the home
1:35:43
Speaker 1: of the Utes. We'll get to the Utah game, save
1:35:45
Speaker 1: the best for last. Game of the week is an
1:35:47
Speaker 1: NFL special, divisional matchup. Chiefs versus Broncos. Chiefs are two-and-a-half-point favorites.
1:35:54
Speaker 1: Broncos are a lot of people's Super Bowl favorite this year.
1:35:57
Speaker 1: How do you see this first matchup between those two
1:36:00
Speaker 1: teams playing out?
1:36:01
Speaker 3: I mean, the AFC is absolutely loaded, and these are
1:36:04
Speaker 3: two of probably the five or six top teams. So
1:36:06
Speaker 3: anyone wants to get that game for free, just call 800-400-9741.
1:36:09
Speaker 3: I'll give that game on me, 800-400-9741. We started off
1:36:11
Speaker 3: 8-2 on the season. 2-0 in the NFL. We sold
1:36:21
Speaker 3: Wednesday night's game, the rematch, Seattle and New England for $ 1.
1:36:27
Speaker 3: We had the under total last night, moved to 2-0.
1:36:31
Speaker 3: So how about this? On Friday night, the border war,
1:36:35
Speaker 3: Missouri and Kansas, you want to get it just $ 1
1:36:37
Speaker 3: or my UFC card, We've won 13 of the last
1:36:42
Speaker 3: 16 cards. You can get the entire card on Saturday.
1:36:45
Speaker 3: Starts at 12 noon. Five selections.
1:36:49
Speaker 5: Just a dollar.
1:36:50
Speaker 3: ParamountSports.com.
1:36:54
Speaker 1: And with that, we come to the Utah-Arkansas game. Only
1:36:57
Speaker 1: the second time Rice-Eckel Stadium has hosted an SEC team.
1:37:02
Speaker 1: It's also a big night. It's the Eric Weddle induction
1:37:05
Speaker 1: into the Utah football ring of honor. The Utes are
1:37:08
Speaker 1: 12-point favorites. They need something convincing here. Do they get it,
1:37:13
Speaker 1: Lee Sterling?
1:37:15
Speaker 3: Well, I think that Arkansas is going to move the ball.
1:37:18
Speaker 3: I mean, K.J. Jackson running and throwing a dynamic quarterback.
1:37:22
Speaker 3: But here's the problem. They turn the ball over more
1:37:25
Speaker 3: than any college team in the country last year. They
1:37:28
Speaker 3: had another three turnovers in their first game. Their secondary
1:37:32
Speaker 3: also horrific. Maybe one of the worst secondaries ever. you'll
1:37:35
Speaker 3: see in Division I football. So sometimes it's a game,
1:37:39
Speaker 3: a matchup. Like I said, it might be 550 to
1:37:43
Speaker 3: 450 total yards, but those turnovers will probably be the
1:37:46
Speaker 3: difference here. Going with the Utes here, 38-21 over Arkansas.
1:37:52
Speaker 1: Let's go. Must need a win for Utah as they
1:37:56
Speaker 1: start off their non-conference 2-0, according to Lee Sterling. Lee,
1:38:00
Speaker 1: you're the best. Enjoy the weekend. Another great weekend of
1:38:03
Speaker 1: college football. And a full NFL slate as well. We
1:38:06
Speaker 1: look forward to talking with you next week.
1:38:09
Speaker 3: You too, buddy. Take care. Be safe.
1:38:12
Speaker 1: That's Lee Sterling, ParamountSports.com. Best handicapper in the business, whether
1:38:18
Speaker 1: you're following or fading. ParamountSports.com. Telemocie sent you. All right,
1:38:24
Speaker 1: we're here at Smith's in Lehigh. We still have, I think,
1:38:28
Speaker 1: about half of our Smith's gift cards to give away.
1:38:30
Speaker 1: Let me do a little count here. Yeah, the next
1:38:33
Speaker 1: four of you are going to be able to get
1:38:36
Speaker 1: Smith's gift cards. More than four of you will be
1:38:38
Speaker 1: able to come down and at least get taffy. All
1:38:40
Speaker 1: you've got to do is walk up to the table
1:38:42
Speaker 1: right up here in front by the registers. They've got
1:38:44
Speaker 1: great deals down here. The Fresh Values store. Incredible discounts
1:38:49
Speaker 1: on multiple things. The perfect place to stock up. We're
1:38:51
Speaker 1: right in front of the drink aisle, by the way.
1:38:53
Speaker 1: 12 packs, 24 packs, 6 packs. Buy three, get three free.
1:39:01
Speaker 1: Mix and match on all these beverages. Pepsi and Coke
1:39:05
Speaker 1: products are both on sale down here at Smith's Marketplace
1:39:09
Speaker 1: in Lehigh. 3808 West Hardman Way. And if you can't
1:39:12
Speaker 1: make it all the way down here and grab a
1:39:14
Speaker 1: Utah gift card, that's fine. Head to your local neighborhood
1:39:17
Speaker 1: Smith's because... They are all up and down the Wasatch Front,
1:39:21
Speaker 1: all over the state of Utah, up into Idaho and beyond.
1:39:26
Speaker 1: We'll start our number three with coordinator's corner. Mack G,
1:39:29
Speaker 1: Kevin McGibbon, the offensive mind behind an offensive explosion against Idaho.
1:39:34
Speaker 1: Can he match that again against the Arkansas Razorbacks? We'll
1:39:38
Speaker 1: pick his brain about it next on the Sean O'Connell Show,
1:39:41
Speaker 1: ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
1:39:45
Speaker 4: Let's dive into this week's matchup in the coordinator's corner
1:39:48
Speaker 4: of the Sean O'Connell Show. OC chats with the coordinators
1:39:52
Speaker 4: every week of the Utah football season. On your home
1:39:56
Speaker 4: of the Utes and your home for football, ESPN 792.1 FM.
1:40:03
Speaker 1: Sean O'Connell Show continues here on ESPN 792.1 FM. Time
1:40:07
Speaker 1: for some coordinator's corner. Last week, we checked in with
1:40:10
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator, Colton Swan, which means this week we're
1:40:13
Speaker 1: lucky enough... to welcome Kevin McGiven, or as he is
1:40:17
Speaker 1: more affectionately referred to by the players, Mac G. Coach,
1:40:22
Speaker 1: welcome to the show. How are you?
1:40:24
Speaker 4: Good.
1:40:24
Speaker 8: I was afraid you'd go there.
1:40:27
Speaker 1: Well, we just had a conversation with Devin Dampier, and
1:40:30
Speaker 1: he was like, don't call him McGiven. You got to
1:40:32
Speaker 1: call him Mac G. And we have to listen to QB1, Coach.
1:40:37
Speaker 8: I don't even know myself as anything else anymore.
1:40:39
Speaker 1: So, well, congrats to you and the rest of the team,
1:40:43
Speaker 1: obviously for what happened against Idaho. I know that probably
1:40:46
Speaker 1: feels like old news for you now that you're deeply
1:40:49
Speaker 1: entrenched in prep for Arkansas, but if you'll indulge me
1:40:52
Speaker 1: and look back at least a little bit, how did
1:40:54
Speaker 1: you feel about the, the first blush or the offense?
1:41:00
Speaker 2: Good.
1:41:00
Speaker 8: I think first and foremost, Two things we really wanted
1:41:04
Speaker 8: to show up was the culture that Coach Scali has
1:41:10
Speaker 8: been trying to instill and seeing what that looked like
1:41:14
Speaker 8: in a game setting, if things were taking hold, and
1:41:17
Speaker 8: just really pleased with the effort that they played with,
1:41:21
Speaker 8: trying to finish, blocking downfield, guys breaking the stack. All
1:41:26
Speaker 8: those things showed up in a really positive light last week.
1:41:33
Speaker 8: And then the operation of the offense. A lot of
1:41:37
Speaker 8: moving parts with personnel groups and changing surfaces and things
1:41:42
Speaker 8: like that. So I thought they operated really cleanly, and
1:41:46
Speaker 8: then the fact that we were able to come out
1:41:48
Speaker 8: of it with only one offensive penalty. So just playing
1:41:51
Speaker 8: clean and playing with our culture, that showing up first
1:41:55
Speaker 8: and foremost, I was happy to see that in that game.
1:41:59
Speaker 1: I think a lot of us are looking at Morgan
1:42:01
Speaker 1: Scali right now with a microscope because this is... it's
1:42:05
Speaker 1: something that I knew he was going to be eventually.
1:42:07
Speaker 1: And now that it's here, I'm like, okay, does it
1:42:09
Speaker 1: look how I think it's going to look for you?
1:42:12
Speaker 1: Who've been on the staff with him now for months
1:42:14
Speaker 1: and months was game day, Morgan Scali, what you expected
1:42:18
Speaker 1: game day, Morgan Scali to be.
1:42:22
Speaker 8: It really, really was. And I, you know, I, I didn't,
1:42:25
Speaker 8: I guess I didn't know what to expect, but it,
1:42:28
Speaker 8: it wasn't any different than the Morgan Scali that we
1:42:30
Speaker 8: get in here on an, on a day-to-day basis.
1:42:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
1:42:34
Speaker 8: You know, he, he was, he was awesome in game.
1:42:37
Speaker 8: And you know, when situations came up where, you know,
1:42:43
Speaker 8: four down territory or, or whatever, whatever it may be
1:42:48
Speaker 8: very in tune situationally to, to game flow and you know,
1:42:54
Speaker 8: kind of let, let me, let me do my deal.
1:42:58
Speaker 8: And so, you know, but very very supportive on game
1:43:02
Speaker 8: day and very calm and collected. And so I guess
1:43:06
Speaker 8: kind of what I've come to expect just because of
1:43:08
Speaker 8: what he is in the office every day.
1:43:10
Speaker 1: How did your offensive line units, I say units because
1:43:13
Speaker 1: we saw a bunch of different combinations, how did the
1:43:15
Speaker 1: offensive line grade out, Coach?
1:43:19
Speaker 8: I think they did a pretty good job. There was a,
1:43:23
Speaker 8: you know, Idaho hit us with a lot of movement.
1:43:26
Speaker 8: And so, you know, I think seeing that, Um, fast
1:43:30
Speaker 8: real time, um, going, going against those guys, there were,
1:43:33
Speaker 8: there were some things that we needed to settle in with,
1:43:35
Speaker 8: you know, both, both our ability to hit the movement
1:43:38
Speaker 8: up front and then, and then, you know, even some
1:43:41
Speaker 8: schematic adjustments that we made later on to try to
1:43:45
Speaker 8: help those guys out with, with some of the things that, um,
1:43:48
Speaker 8: were causing us problems early on, but I felt like
1:43:51
Speaker 8: they settled into it and handled it really well where they,
1:43:54
Speaker 8: you know, weren't as wide-eyed maybe as they were early on,
1:43:59
Speaker 8: but they were able to settle in and do some
1:44:01
Speaker 8: really good things.
1:44:03
Speaker 1: It's been a major topic of discussion really all offseason.
1:44:06
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you have something closer to a settled,
1:44:09
Speaker 1: true starting five coming out of an actual game?
1:44:15
Speaker 8: You know, they probably end up still being some mixing
1:44:18
Speaker 8: and matching as we kind of get guys back and
1:44:22
Speaker 8: seeing what that looks like, but obviously getting them conditioned
1:44:26
Speaker 8: and getting them up to game speed. But I felt
1:44:30
Speaker 8: like the five that we rolled out there with last week,
1:44:35
Speaker 8: there's chemistry, there's continuity there, and I feel like there's
1:44:39
Speaker 8: enough chemistry in the room where you can still plug
1:44:42
Speaker 8: and play guys on a rotational basis.
1:44:45
Speaker 1: Kevin McGibbon, Utah offensive coordinator, is our guest here on
1:44:47
Speaker 1: the Sean O'Connell Show, talking about the performance against Idaho and,
1:44:50
Speaker 1: of course, turning the page to Arkansas. We expect a
1:44:54
Speaker 1: different level of athlete. You expect a different level of
1:44:57
Speaker 1: size and speed, potentially, than you saw against Idaho. With
1:45:01
Speaker 1: respect to the Vandals, because I thought they showed up
1:45:03
Speaker 1: ready to compete, but the SEC is supposed to be different.
1:45:07
Speaker 1: What are you seeing on film? Are they dramatically different
1:45:10
Speaker 1: from what you saw in week one?
1:45:13
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think you said it. Idaho came ready to play,
1:45:17
Speaker 8: and they were playing physical, and they were flying around,
1:45:21
Speaker 8: and I thought they did some really good things defensively.
1:45:25
Speaker 8: I think our hope in that game was that we
1:45:28
Speaker 8: would have the ability to out-athlete them if everything wasn't
1:45:31
Speaker 8: totally clean. But obviously going into Arkansas, that's not going
1:45:35
Speaker 8: to be the case. You're not going to out-athlete them.
1:45:39
Speaker 8: They're have guys up front that are, that are big
1:45:42
Speaker 8: and strong. They can, they can hold their gas. You're
1:45:44
Speaker 8: going to have to try to root out of there.
1:45:46
Speaker 8: They have guys on the edges that are, that are
1:45:48
Speaker 8: very active and very athletic. You know, linebackers have the
1:45:52
Speaker 8: ability to play sideline to sideline with speed and, you know,
1:45:56
Speaker 8: and they can, they can cover you up in the,
1:45:58
Speaker 8: in the secondary. And so, you know, you, you have
1:46:02
Speaker 8: to be physical up front and, you know, so we
1:46:04
Speaker 8: have to do a great job with that and, and
1:46:07
Speaker 8: be ready for that. fight in the trenches, both the
1:46:11
Speaker 8: way the bats run, the way the offensive line mentality
1:46:15
Speaker 8: coming off the football, and then out on the perimeter,
1:46:19
Speaker 8: whether we're blocking them or whether we're in the pass game,
1:46:22
Speaker 8: you've got to be physical in the run game down
1:46:24
Speaker 8: until handling those guys. And then the pass game, you've
1:46:26
Speaker 8: got to be really technical and efficient with your route
1:46:31
Speaker 8: running so you can get separation because it is a
1:46:35
Speaker 8: higher level of athlete.
1:46:37
Speaker 1: When a team has kind of a headliner, and Arkansas
1:46:42
Speaker 1: has one of these guys, he may or may not
1:46:44
Speaker 1: be available for this Utah game. 97, Quincy Rhodes Jr.
1:46:49
Speaker 1: is a projected first-round draft pick on some people's mocks.
1:46:54
Speaker 1: When you have a guy like that, and some defenses
1:46:56
Speaker 1: that you face this year are probably going to have
1:46:57
Speaker 1: multiple guys like that.
1:47:00
Speaker 5: Do you change what you do?
1:47:02
Speaker 1: Is there like a philosophy that Kevin McGibbon carries when
1:47:05
Speaker 1: you're playing against star players or potential star players at
1:47:09
Speaker 1: certain positions on a defense?
1:47:12
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think you always got to be conscious of
1:47:16
Speaker 8: those things. I don't ever like to go into games
1:47:18
Speaker 8: scared of that stuff where it talks you out of
1:47:23
Speaker 8: things before you kind of see the way it unfolds. Um,
1:47:27
Speaker 8: you know, just because different things can happen and with
1:47:31
Speaker 8: sequence of calls in terms of, you know, whether they're
1:47:34
Speaker 8: how effective they're being within, within what you're calling. And
1:47:37
Speaker 8: so I don't like it to scare me out of things,
1:47:39
Speaker 8: but I think, um, you know, but going into it, there's,
1:47:44
Speaker 8: there are definitely guys you're going to be conscious of
1:47:46
Speaker 8: and that you have to structure certain things in the,
1:47:49
Speaker 8: in the game plan around. He's, he's one of them.
1:47:51
Speaker 8: You know, we didn't see a lot of action from
1:47:53
Speaker 8: him in that North Alabama game, but, you know, what
1:47:56
Speaker 8: I anticipate in maybe getting healthy and getting back and then,
1:48:00
Speaker 8: and then kind of within their structure where he's going
1:48:02
Speaker 8: to play, you know, they're, they have the ability to
1:48:06
Speaker 8: get into their, their odd type front and then, and
1:48:08
Speaker 8: then play four down, you know, and so, whether he's
1:48:12
Speaker 8: an interior guy, whether they're going to play him on
1:48:14
Speaker 8: the edge. But they've got another really good edge guy
1:48:18
Speaker 8: to the boundary, number 36. has got every bit as
1:48:23
Speaker 8: much of our attention.
1:48:27
Speaker 1: Should we expect as many guys getting as many touches
1:48:31
Speaker 1: against Arkansas? That was one of the beautiful things about
1:48:34
Speaker 1: Idaho is we have all these, like, these guesses about
1:48:37
Speaker 1: who's going to be what, and we got to see
1:48:39
Speaker 1: a little bit of everyone, is the same possible against
1:48:43
Speaker 1: a team like Arkansas?
1:48:45
Speaker 8: Yeah, I would say when you come out of a
1:48:49
Speaker 8: game and when I look at the stat sheet and
1:48:54
Speaker 8: things like that, I think it's an offense that kind
1:48:57
Speaker 8: of relies on balance and distribution and you know part
1:49:02
Speaker 8: of that distribution making making them defend the whole field
1:49:05
Speaker 8: you know you want to get you want to get
1:49:06
Speaker 8: the ball in the hands of your playmakers but i
1:49:08
Speaker 8: but i feel like we've we've got a lot of
1:49:11
Speaker 8: weapons that you know you have trust and confidence that
1:49:14
Speaker 8: if the ball finds them that they're going to they're
1:49:16
Speaker 8: going to make a play they're going to be able
1:49:17
Speaker 8: to do something with it and so it it kind
1:49:20
Speaker 8: of helps you focus a little bit more on the
1:49:22
Speaker 8: on the schematics and then just on the quarterback's decision
1:49:25
Speaker 8: making process just to make sure that it's you know,
1:49:27
Speaker 8: it's landing in the right hands at the right time, um,
1:49:30
Speaker 8: based on, based on his decisions, based on his reads. Um,
1:49:34
Speaker 8: you know, but, but I, I love to come out
1:49:36
Speaker 8: of the game and see a bunch of guys with
1:49:37
Speaker 8: catches and a bunch of guys with carries and, um,
1:49:39
Speaker 8: you know, so that we're telling a defense that we
1:49:43
Speaker 8: can attack the whole field.
1:49:45
Speaker 1: You'll never hear the old cliche come out of my
1:49:48
Speaker 1: mouth again. When you have two quarterbacks, you don't have
1:49:50
Speaker 1: one because you've got two quarterbacks coach and they're both awesome. Uh,
1:49:54
Speaker 1: how did, how did they play? What'd you like?
1:49:56
Speaker 5: What didn't you like?
1:49:58
Speaker 8: Yeah, I thought they were both really effective with what
1:50:01
Speaker 8: they did. You know, Dev only playing a half. So
1:50:07
Speaker 8: both of them, I think one of the things we
1:50:08
Speaker 8: looked at in terms of our game goals as we
1:50:13
Speaker 8: build toward... you know, hopefully at some point being a,
1:50:17
Speaker 8: being a playoff team, hopefully sooner than later being a
1:50:20
Speaker 8: championship team. But one of those components is not so
1:50:23
Speaker 8: much the passing yardage that you put up, but the,
1:50:26
Speaker 8: but the pass efficiency, both of them were over 200
1:50:29
Speaker 8: in their past efficiency. And so, you know, just to,
1:50:34
Speaker 8: the completion percentage, the result of explosive plays or touchdown
1:50:37
Speaker 8: passes when they're throwing the ball, you know, you know,
1:50:42
Speaker 8: so both of them over, over 200, obviously we're able
1:50:44
Speaker 8: to do some things package wise to get them both
1:50:47
Speaker 8: on the field at the same time because of their versatility.
1:50:51
Speaker 8: And so I think some conflict that we can get
1:50:54
Speaker 8: people in terms of some of those personnel groups and the,
1:50:57
Speaker 8: and the looks that we show them. But, but yeah, just, Really,
1:51:02
Speaker 8: really cool thing when not only you can mix and
1:51:04
Speaker 8: match within a game, but if one or the other
1:51:08
Speaker 8: has to take over, you don't feel like you have
1:51:11
Speaker 8: to do anything different.
1:51:12
Speaker 1: I think it's pretty cool. Like you just referenced, having
1:51:15
Speaker 1: the two quarterbacks on the field and the backfield at
1:51:18
Speaker 1: the same time and keeping a defense guessing. In modern football,
1:51:22
Speaker 1: it's actually really, really hard to be truly innovative to
1:51:25
Speaker 1: give people things that they have not seen before. I
1:51:27
Speaker 1: don't know how many coordinators you're going to face that
1:51:29
Speaker 1: have seen two capable quarterbacks on the field at the
1:51:32
Speaker 1: same time. So I love the possibilities that that presents
1:51:36
Speaker 1: as this season progresses.
1:51:38
Speaker 8: Yeah, absolutely. You know, and it's, you know, one of
1:51:42
Speaker 8: those things where we'll kind of come up with one
1:51:45
Speaker 8: thing and then it'll evolve into five. But I think there's,
1:51:49
Speaker 8: you know, with those two guys and, you know, what
1:51:52
Speaker 8: their roles can be and what their skill sets are,
1:51:56
Speaker 8: you can really start to elaborate and evolve those packages.
1:52:01
Speaker 1: Some people were kind of talking after the game like, wow,
1:52:04
Speaker 1: we saw a lot more versatility, creativity from this offense
1:52:07
Speaker 1: than I expected against an opponent like Idaho. So I
1:52:10
Speaker 1: want to ask you, how deep in your bag were you?
1:52:15
Speaker 1: How creative did that feel to you? Because you're the
1:52:17
Speaker 1: guy who knows what the offense is truly capable of,
1:52:20
Speaker 1: the depth and the breadth of your playbook.
1:52:23
Speaker 5: How much did we actually see from Idaho?
1:52:26
Speaker 8: You know, I think there's probably a lot more to come,
1:52:31
Speaker 8: but I think as we built this thing starting in
1:52:34
Speaker 8: the spring and into fall camp, it was pretty much
1:52:40
Speaker 8: what I, without being forced, was pretty much what what
1:52:44
Speaker 8: I think we've become as an offense and what our
1:52:48
Speaker 8: identity is. You know, there's a lot of moving parts, but,
1:52:52
Speaker 8: you know, I put pretty high expectations on the players
1:52:55
Speaker 8: early on in terms of them being able to handle
1:52:59
Speaker 8: all that stuff so that when we got to games
1:53:02
Speaker 8: or game planning that it didn't feel like there was
1:53:05
Speaker 8: a bunch of things on their plate. But, you know,
1:53:08
Speaker 8: so I would say that it's normal for us, you know,
1:53:12
Speaker 8: but could even get So a lot more creative than
1:53:16
Speaker 8: what it was.
1:53:19
Speaker 1: On Saturday night for this Arkansas matchup, it's also special
1:53:22
Speaker 1: for Utah fans because of the Ring of Honor induction
1:53:27
Speaker 1: for Eric Weddle, who's of course a program legend. And
1:53:30
Speaker 1: I imagine a guy that you've seen, you know, in
1:53:32
Speaker 1: various capacities as you've been coaching. What are your thoughts
1:53:38
Speaker 1: on Weddle and what he has done for this program?
1:53:40
Speaker 1: And maybe more importantly, the fact that, you know, You're
1:53:43
Speaker 1: now working for a coach in Morgan Scali who wants
1:53:46
Speaker 1: to incorporate the alumni and people like him even more.
1:53:50
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it's awesome. We have gotten to have
1:53:54
Speaker 8: some interaction with Eric, him being up here and around
1:53:59
Speaker 8: the staff and being out of practice and even going
1:54:03
Speaker 8: on the– going out on the road, recruiting this spring and,
1:54:07
Speaker 8: you know, being able to see him in a, in
1:54:10
Speaker 8: a coaching capacity and things like that, but just what a,
1:54:13
Speaker 8: what an awesome, awesome individual, awesome supporter of the program.
1:54:18
Speaker 8: You know, when, when he's able to get around our players,
1:54:21
Speaker 8: you know, just a guy that just has instant street
1:54:25
Speaker 8: cred and you know, what, what he says, you're, you know,
1:54:28
Speaker 8: you're going to listen to because he's, he's been through
1:54:31
Speaker 8: it at the, at the highest level. And so, um,
1:54:34
Speaker 8: you know, any opportunity we get to interact with him
1:54:37
Speaker 8: is awesome and just really cool that they're, that they're
1:54:40
Speaker 8: honoring him. So privileged to be here. And, and, you know, when,
1:54:45
Speaker 8: when those guys, when those alumni come back, um, you know,
1:54:48
Speaker 8: and being able to meet them and interact with them,
1:54:51
Speaker 8: but yeah, definitely, definitely one of those guys was very.
1:54:53
Speaker 2: Special in this place.
1:54:54
Speaker 1: Uh, this will be my last question. Cause I want
1:54:57
Speaker 1: to respect your time and I probably should know this.
1:54:59
Speaker 1: So you have to forgive me, but, It is a
1:55:02
Speaker 1: true Rice-Eccles night game. Should be a rocking atmosphere. As
1:55:07
Speaker 1: a visiting coach, have you had this experience? Because this
1:55:09
Speaker 1: will be your first one against a big-time opponent at
1:55:12
Speaker 1: night at Rice-Eccles as a coach on the staff, obviously.
1:55:16
Speaker 8: Yeah, I'll tell you what, I have been on the
1:55:19
Speaker 8: other side of a couple of those, and none of
1:55:21
Speaker 8: them went very well. And so, you know, we were
1:55:26
Speaker 8: able to compete, you know, a few times, but yeah,
1:55:30
Speaker 8: just that, you know, and something that a couple of
1:55:34
Speaker 8: us have talked about that haven't been here and experienced
1:55:38
Speaker 8: or have been on the other side of that, you know,
1:55:41
Speaker 8: just like on the offensive staff myself and Coach Wells,
1:55:45
Speaker 8: Coach Gunderson have coached in that venue at night and
1:55:52
Speaker 8: seen what that looks like. So to be on the
1:55:56
Speaker 8: correct sideline of that and have those people supporting you
1:56:00
Speaker 8: and being able to experience that is really cool.
1:56:03
Speaker 1: Well, Coach, we're all very much looking forward to Saturday night.
1:56:06
Speaker 1: Good luck and appreciate you giving us the time today. Yeah, absolutely.
1:56:11
Speaker 8: I appreciate it.
1:56:12
Speaker 1: That's Kevin McGibbon, Utah's offensive coordinator for coordinators corner Mac
1:56:17
Speaker 1: G as he is better known. He was pretty successful
1:56:21
Speaker 1: offensively 66 points against Idaho. And you hope that this,
1:56:25
Speaker 1: that continues against Arkansas. Lots left to get to here
1:56:29
Speaker 1: on the Sean O'Connell show. Don't go anywhere. It's ESPN
1:56:31
Speaker 1: 700 and 92 on FM.
1:56:37
Speaker 4: This is the Sean O'Connell Show, your home of the
1:56:40
Speaker 4: best insight of your youths. Let's get back to OC
1:56:43
Speaker 4: from the Murdoch Chevrolet studio of ESPN 792.1 FM. The
1:56:50
Speaker 4: tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances.
1:56:55
Speaker 5: I got a lot of problems with you people.
1:56:57
Speaker 1: Now, you're going to hear about it. 877-353-0700. Love to
1:57:04
Speaker 1: hear from you. Air the grievances. Get them off your
1:57:07
Speaker 1: chest here on Utah's number one sports talk and the
1:57:12
Speaker 1: Sean O'Connell Show. You can also tweet at me at RealOCSports.
1:57:17
Speaker 1: I've got a grievance, and some of you are not
1:57:21
Speaker 1: going to like it, but I'm going to air it anyway, okay?
1:57:27
Speaker 1: All of you disciples of AI, all of you Grok
1:57:31
Speaker 1: and Claude and whatever else users out there, I need
1:57:36
Speaker 1: you to slow your roll a little bit, all right?
1:57:39
Speaker 1: My grievance right now is with everyone who is just
1:57:43
Speaker 1: like super casually giving every piece of information possible to
1:57:47
Speaker 1: AI so that the machines can, within the next 10 years,
1:57:51
Speaker 1: according to one high-level AI researcher, they can kill us all.
1:57:57
Speaker 1: They can take over. I'm sure you saw this story
1:58:03
Speaker 1: earlier in the week. Maybe you've seen interviews with this
1:58:07
Speaker 1: young man named Jacob Coxon. He resigned from his job
1:58:11
Speaker 1: earlier this week because he felt like ethically he could
1:58:15
Speaker 1: no longer continue to work in AI. He worked for Anthropic,
1:58:19
Speaker 1: which of course is one of the leaders in AI. I,
1:58:24
Speaker 1: I don't, I'll be honest. I don't know the, the nuances,
1:58:28
Speaker 1: the differences between one company and the other. I have
1:58:31
Speaker 1: heard that, you know, I have read, I should say,
1:58:34
Speaker 1: that Elon Musk seems to be a little bit more
1:58:36
Speaker 1: in touch with the idea that you have to be
1:58:40
Speaker 1: careful with how rapidly you accelerate these things. And I
1:58:43
Speaker 1: listened to an article with this young guy, Jacob Coxon,
1:58:46
Speaker 1: about how, to his knowledge, to this point, people have
1:58:51
Speaker 1: not yet given AI the problem of AI advancement yet.
1:58:56
Speaker 1: Because at this point, for the most part, you're prompting
1:59:00
Speaker 1: AI to solve problems for you. And one of the
1:59:03
Speaker 1: problems that I guess has yet to be presented, which
1:59:05
Speaker 1: I have a hard time believing, is someone has given
1:59:07
Speaker 1: AI the task of, why don't you figure out how
1:59:10
Speaker 1: we can make AI work faster and advance faster? And
1:59:14
Speaker 1: his fears seem to be centered around that proposition being
1:59:17
Speaker 1: a very near future eventuality where then AI starts to
1:59:21
Speaker 1: figure out how to make AI better and then becomes...
1:59:24
Speaker 1: more and more self-aware and it outpaces human thinking to
1:59:27
Speaker 1: a point where we can no longer regulate it. We
1:59:29
Speaker 1: can no longer stop it. And you've heard me several
1:59:33
Speaker 1: times on the show reference the now years old story
1:59:37
Speaker 1: where artificial intelligence computers were given the task of teaching
1:59:41
Speaker 1: one another something and then they started to communicate in
1:59:44
Speaker 1: a language that the programmers didn't know so they had
1:59:47
Speaker 1: to be unplugged and all that kind of stuff. I
1:59:50
Speaker 1: won't profess to know a lot about the intricacies and
1:59:54
Speaker 1: how this is actually going to work. But when somebody
1:59:56
Speaker 1: who's in the industry who does know says, this is
2:00:00
Speaker 1: scary and I'm going to get out of the industry
2:00:03
Speaker 1: because I don't want to be part of this, my
2:00:05
Speaker 1: grievance is with all of you that are still using
2:00:07
Speaker 1: it willy-nilly because you're creating the demand. These companies with
2:00:12
Speaker 1: their data centers and their hypercomputers, they're trying to meet
2:00:17
Speaker 1: you with some supply. And it's freaking me out. When
2:00:20
Speaker 1: people a lot smarter than me are like, we're all
2:00:23
Speaker 1: going to be dead in ten years because of this. So, grievance.
2:00:26
Speaker 1: All right? Just use your own brain. It is really scary.
2:00:31
Speaker 6: Like, I don't know how the average person would not
2:00:36
Speaker 6: be scared about that proposition. Whether you go, well, that's
2:00:40
Speaker 6: just science fiction, hokey, or whatever you want to say.
2:00:44
Speaker 6: Hocus pocus. You're just afraid of movies like The Terminator.
2:00:48
Speaker 6: That's not real life. That idea of computers and robots, whatever,
2:00:55
Speaker 6: taking over and us becoming their overlords, however fake it is,
2:01:00
Speaker 6: it feels like it's more real with this onset of
2:01:03
Speaker 6: AI and the advancement of it, and it's scary.
2:01:08
Speaker 1: Freaks me out. I also just have a general issue,
2:01:14
Speaker 1: a general grievance with the idea that you're outsourcing even
2:01:18
Speaker 1: really basic creativity And I'm not saying if you want to, like,
2:01:23
Speaker 1: make a logo for the proposed Major League Baseball team
2:01:29
Speaker 1: that hopefully we get sooner than later in the Utah area,
2:01:35
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City. It's like, go ahead. All right,
2:01:37
Speaker 1: tell them, hey, make a logo for me. That's fine.
2:01:40
Speaker 1: Prompt them with the logo. I don't care. Because I
2:01:44
Speaker 1: don't have those skills either. But I know people who
2:01:48
Speaker 1: are on the daily basis saying, hey, What should I
2:01:51
Speaker 1: make for dinner? Hey, this is the one that bugs
2:01:57
Speaker 1: me the most. My kids want me to tell them
2:01:59
Speaker 1: a story. Give me a story featuring a unicorn. Dude,
2:02:02
Speaker 1: your kids don't want the AI story. They want the
2:02:04
Speaker 1: you story. There's a golf announcer. My old boss just
2:02:09
Speaker 1: texted me this, a guy who I worked for with
2:02:12
Speaker 1: the PFL, and he is left to do bigger and
2:02:13
Speaker 1: better things. He said, hey, make sure this doesn't happen
2:02:16
Speaker 1: to you in your next contract because there's a live
2:02:20
Speaker 1: golf announcer. being used this weekend at an event that
2:02:25
Speaker 1: is AI. So it's going to be Nota Begay, who
2:02:31
Speaker 1: is an actual human announcer, some other person, and an
2:02:37
Speaker 1: AI computer voice commentating on the golf event.
2:02:43
Speaker 5: All right, I don't want to talk about this anymore.
2:02:47
Speaker 5: This is not scary, man.
2:02:48
Speaker 1: You know how awful that is? You know how terrifying
2:02:50
Speaker 1: that is? They did this in the Olympics with Al
2:02:52
Speaker 1: Michaels' voice.
2:02:54
Speaker 5: Oh, did they really?
2:02:55
Speaker 2: Yes.
2:02:56
Speaker 5: I missed that.
2:02:57
Speaker 1: They put Al Michaels' voice on kind of obscure Olympic events.
2:03:01
Speaker 5: Oh, yeah, because of Miracle on Ice.
2:03:03
Speaker 1: Yeah. And had an Al Michaels highlight package where Al
2:03:09
Speaker 1: Michaels was not voicing anything. It was just the sound
2:03:13
Speaker 1: waves of his voice. being filtered through a computer and
2:03:18
Speaker 1: matching up with the stuff on screen.
2:03:24
Speaker 6: See, that part of it too, OC, where one day
2:03:29
Speaker 6: no one will get new jobs in a particular industry.
2:03:33
Speaker 6: We're talking about broadcasting with this example, so no one
2:03:35
Speaker 6: will get new jobs in broadcasting because they'll just have...
2:03:39
Speaker 6: Al Michaels and John Madden call games, even though Al
2:03:43
Speaker 6: Michaels will probably have been dead by then and John
2:03:47
Speaker 6: Madden has passed.
2:03:49
Speaker 5: That's a problem, too.
2:03:51
Speaker 6: Guys like Noah Eagle, who are up and coming in
2:03:54
Speaker 6: the industry, who's awesome already, we ought to be encouraging
2:03:58
Speaker 6: more of that, not less of that.
2:04:02
Speaker 3: Agreed.
2:04:05
Speaker 1: Great text on the text line here from Cade. is
2:04:08
Speaker 1: this OC or DK Metcalf? Because, yes, DK Metcalf is
2:04:12
Speaker 1: deep in the conspiracy theories. Then he said, just jokes,
2:04:14
Speaker 1: AI is scary. Yeah, it is, all right? So be
2:04:17
Speaker 1: careful with how liberally you are all using it out there, okay?
2:04:23
Speaker 1: Because this researcher, this guy says, within 10 years, it's
2:04:27
Speaker 1: got a greater than 10% chance of killing us all.
2:04:30
Speaker 1: That's nuts. Think of that. If there were any other industry, right, if, like,
2:04:35
Speaker 1: the NBA basketball world had a 10% chance, or even
2:04:39
Speaker 1: if it was like a 1% chance of ending human civilization,
2:04:43
Speaker 1: would we still be watching NBA basketball games?
2:04:46
Speaker 5: I mean, 1% is not very high.
2:04:48
Speaker 7: It's pretty darn high.
2:04:51
Speaker 6: No, that would be the reaction if it was the NFL.
2:04:54
Speaker 6: 1% is not very high.
2:04:57
Speaker 1: That's 1 out of 100. Come on.
2:04:59
Speaker 5: We still need football.
2:05:01
Speaker 1: Like, I'm sitting here at Smith's in Lehigh, 3808 West
2:05:04
Speaker 1: Hardman Way, I could see 10 people within my view
2:05:09
Speaker 1: right now, right? If, like, there was a chance, if
2:05:12
Speaker 1: there's a 1 in 10 chance that this person, like,
2:05:17
Speaker 1: one of these 10 people is going to eliminate the
2:05:19
Speaker 1: entire human race, are we then, like, letting that person
2:05:22
Speaker 1: just wander around? That's what we're doing with AI. It's frightening.
2:05:27
Speaker 1: It's terrifying. It's crazy.
2:05:28
Speaker 5: It wasn't that guy who just said, go Utes.
2:05:30
Speaker 1: We know that. No, it's not that guy. He just
2:05:32
Speaker 1: claimed the last gift card, which we love. Go Utes.
2:05:37
Speaker 1: We're all out of our Smiths gift cards, courtesy of
2:05:41
Speaker 1: the folks down here at Smiths and Pepsi for hooking
2:05:45
Speaker 1: up some of our listeners with a pair of tickets today.
2:05:49
Speaker 1: And many people who came by, threw up the Go Utes,
2:05:52
Speaker 1: grabbed a $ 10 gift card to Smiths. We'll have plenty
2:05:54
Speaker 1: of these Smiths remotes. I think every week that there's
2:05:57
Speaker 1: a Utah home game from here on out, we're going
2:05:59
Speaker 1: to try to get out to one of the Smiths
2:06:01
Speaker 1: all up and down the Wasatch Front. So if you
2:06:03
Speaker 1: didn't get a gift card or a pair of tickets today,
2:06:06
Speaker 1: We'll try to make something happen for you later on
2:06:08
Speaker 1: in the season. Curtis, did you... Curtis, you just regurgitated
2:06:16
Speaker 1: your grievance from last week.
2:06:17
Speaker 5: Yeah, he wasn't heard properly last week. We don't mind.
2:06:21
Speaker 5: We'll hear you.
2:06:23
Speaker 1: Now, Curtis. We appreciate it. Okay, Curtis, I apologize if
2:06:25
Speaker 1: we didn't properly air your grievance from last week. Curtis's
2:06:28
Speaker 1: grievance is very detailed and very hilarious.
2:06:31
Speaker 2: Grievance.
2:06:33
Speaker 1: Chick-fil-A's drive-thru setup is incredibly frustrating. The lane splits into
2:06:36
Speaker 1: two for ordering, then merges back into one, completely scrambling
2:06:39
Speaker 1: the arrival order. I waited five minutes only for three
2:06:42
Speaker 1: cars that arrived after me to skip ahead in the
2:06:44
Speaker 1: alternate lane. When the last car tried to cut the merge,
2:06:47
Speaker 1: it led to a heated confrontation. Chick-fil-A needs to physically
2:06:52
Speaker 1: monitor their lanes based on actual arrival order like In-N-Out
2:06:56
Speaker 1: Burger does. They're breeding customer conflict unintentionally. Thank you. That
2:07:00
Speaker 1: is all.
2:07:03
Speaker 6: And, yes, that is verbatim what he texted last week, too.
2:07:07
Speaker 1: It's copy and paste. And, Curtis, I hope that there's
2:07:14
Speaker 1: some bigwig, some executive from the Utah Chick-fil-A franchises that's like,
2:07:19
Speaker 1: you know what? I hear you, Curtis, and we're going
2:07:23
Speaker 1: to monitor the lanes more successfully. We're going to figure out.
2:07:26
Speaker 1: Drive-thru is.
2:07:29
Speaker 1: Becoming like in a situation like this what what is
2:07:31
Speaker 1: the purpose of drive-thru right it is for convenience especially
2:07:35
Speaker 1: when you have kids and you got you got to
2:07:37
Speaker 1: pick something up fast you oftentimes just say all right
2:07:41
Speaker 1: we'll drive through instead it's a matter of convenience if
2:07:45
Speaker 1: it becomes inconvenient then it's defeated its own purpose then
2:07:52
Speaker 1: the drive-thru is no longer serving your needs and in
2:07:55
Speaker 1: that case it is a massive inconvenience And you would
2:07:58
Speaker 1: have been better served to go. park and get out
2:08:00
Speaker 1: and go in, which you didn't want to do, which
2:08:02
Speaker 1: is why the drive-thru was invented in the first place,
2:08:05
Speaker 1: for the folks who don't want to do that. It's
2:08:08
Speaker 1: like the opposite of AI. It's like making things further
2:08:13
Speaker 1: and further inconvenient. That's what's going on here.
2:08:17
Speaker 7: And.
2:08:17
Speaker 6: Also, grievance with the people, with the three cars who
2:08:21
Speaker 6: cut in line there. Like, everyone knows you kind of
2:08:24
Speaker 6: zipper merge on those kind of drive-throughs. You have to
2:08:28
Speaker 6: have your head on a swivel, know, okay, hey, I'm
2:08:30
Speaker 6: behind that car who's in the other lane. I'm in
2:08:32
Speaker 6: front of that car who's in the other lane now,
2:08:35
Speaker 6: whatever the case may be. Like, it's kind of on
2:08:37
Speaker 6: you as a driver to make sure that you know
2:08:39
Speaker 6: where you are in line, too.
2:08:43
Speaker 1: Grievance from Derek. Grievance, this is on par with your
2:08:45
Speaker 1: AI take. What happened to common sense? Seems the universe
2:08:48
Speaker 1: has gotten so lazy with its thinking that has led
2:08:50
Speaker 1: to AI becoming big because the common person just doesn't
2:08:54
Speaker 1: use common sense anymore. Look, remember when we were all
2:08:58
Speaker 1: sitting in school and your teacher was like, don't use
2:09:01
Speaker 1: a calculator because you're not going to have a calculator
2:09:03
Speaker 1: in your pocket. You need to learn how to do
2:09:05
Speaker 1: the math. And all of us were just like, yeah, okay.
2:09:08
Speaker 1: So we mentally learned how to do the math. And
2:09:10
Speaker 1: then at some point everyone had a cell phone with
2:09:12
Speaker 1: a calculator permanently in their pocket. And now people can't
2:09:14
Speaker 1: do math anymore. It's that on the most violent of
2:09:20
Speaker 1: all steroids, where you don't, like, remember we used to
2:09:23
Speaker 1: memorize the phone numbers of everyone that we knew? When
2:09:27
Speaker 1: I was a kid, I had probably 100 memorized phone
2:09:31
Speaker 1: numbers in my head. All of my friends, my relatives, like,
2:09:39
Speaker 1: my favorite places that I wanted to call and, like,
2:09:42
Speaker 1: the movie phone type stuff. I had so many phone
2:09:46
Speaker 1: numbers in my head. You know how many I have now?
2:09:49
Speaker 1: You know how many people's phone numbers I have memorized
2:09:51
Speaker 1: right now?
2:09:52
Speaker 5: Is it like just your wife's?
2:09:54
Speaker 1: It's my wife's phone number, all right? It's my two
2:09:58
Speaker 1: best friends from high school because they still somehow have
2:10:01
Speaker 1: the same cell phone number. They've been carrying it for
2:10:04
Speaker 1: 25 years. And it's my mom's phone number because I
2:10:09
Speaker 1: had to put it on so many of those emergency
2:10:11
Speaker 1: contact forms over the years. And that's it. I don't
2:10:16
Speaker 1: know anybody else's phone number off the top of my head.
2:10:18
Speaker 1: If you throw my cell phone, which is in my
2:10:21
Speaker 1: hand right now, if you throw my cell phone into
2:10:23
Speaker 1: a pool of lava, I can only contact one of
2:10:27
Speaker 1: those four people.
2:10:28
Speaker 5: I bet you know our call-in number.
2:10:31
Speaker 1: Well, I could also call 877-353-0700. If I'm ever on
2:10:37
Speaker 1: one of my more exotic vacations and you get an
2:10:40
Speaker 1: emergency phone call from me, you know that's why. I
2:10:42
Speaker 1: lost my phone! It's like.
2:10:45
Speaker 1: This phone call is from the Paris County Jail. Will
2:10:50
Speaker 1: you accept the charges?
2:10:51
Speaker 5: It's the only number I know.
2:10:53
Speaker 1: It's the only number I remember. Please, contact an attorney
2:11:00
Speaker 1: for me. I'm in trouble.
2:11:01
Speaker 6: You're in Australia, and you're in a different day, and
2:11:05
Speaker 6: you're like, oh, crap, it's not a business day.
2:11:07
Speaker 5: No one's there.
2:11:08
Speaker 1: No one's there. You never know what time. Yes, you
2:11:12
Speaker 1: young hooligans, come grab some taffy. Say go Utes, though.
2:11:16
Speaker 1: You got to say go Utes. All right. Love it.
2:11:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, we don't care if you're in Lehigh and you're
2:11:21
Speaker 6: maybe a Cougs fan. You got to say go Utes.
2:11:23
Speaker 4: No.
2:11:23
Speaker 1: You know what? We got a trio of young bucks
2:11:27
Speaker 1: that are walking through looking to cause some trouble, you
2:11:29
Speaker 1: can tell, and we just softened their hearts with some taffy,
2:11:33
Speaker 1: some Utah taffy town taffy.
2:11:36
Speaker 6: Did you see, I got to read Jeff and Sandy's
2:11:39
Speaker 6: grievance as well. This is fantastic.
2:11:41
Speaker 1: This is great. Jeff, grievance. This is the darkest, quiet
2:11:45
Speaker 1: part of the year where we can't hear Gordy Chiesa say,
2:11:47
Speaker 1: Victor Wemba-Yumba, you need to have that phrase on loop
2:11:51
Speaker 1: to introduce your show from Jeff and Sandy. Get Gordy's
2:11:55
Speaker 1: voice through AI. No, we are not going to do that.
2:11:58
Speaker 5: We will not be doing that, Jeff and Sandy.
2:11:59
Speaker 1: I will not AI. I absolutely, under no circumstances, will
2:12:02
Speaker 1: AI do that. Gordy Chiesa's voice. All right, I will
2:12:05
Speaker 1: not allow it.
2:12:07
Speaker 6: We do love Gordy for so many reasons. The way
2:12:10
Speaker 6: he pronounces names is just one of the many. We
2:12:13
Speaker 6: love you, Gordy.
2:12:14
Speaker 1: His accent is just absolutely stellar. James, do you have
2:12:19
Speaker 1: any grievances you want to air?
2:12:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, I got a couple.
2:12:22
Speaker 6: One is in the, I got a grievance against certain drivers,
2:12:26
Speaker 6: like a lot of people do. Drivers who don't go
2:12:31
Speaker 6: into the intersection at a light when they're in the
2:12:34
Speaker 6: left turn lane.
2:12:35
Speaker 5: You know what I'm talking about, OC?
2:12:36
Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
2:12:37
Speaker 6: Like they just stay behind on that stop line right
2:12:40
Speaker 6: in front of the crosswalk.
2:12:42
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
2:12:43
Speaker 6: When it's green, you may or may not have a
2:12:47
Speaker 6: yellow arrow that's blinking that says you can go if
2:12:53
Speaker 6: the intersection's clear, right? I was stuck behind one of
2:12:56
Speaker 6: these people right by my house. And at this point,
2:13:00
Speaker 6: I'm like, I just need to be home, okay? I
2:13:02
Speaker 6: need to be home. And I'm the second one in
2:13:05
Speaker 6: line here. And I'm like, can you just get out there, please?
2:13:09
Speaker 6: And the traffic going the other direction that we're keeping
2:13:14
Speaker 6: an eye on, that we would be going into.
2:13:18
Speaker 5: It was busy.
2:13:19
Speaker 6: All the lanes were full. But you can get out
2:13:22
Speaker 6: in the intersection. When you don't, and thankfully it wasn't
2:13:25
Speaker 6: in this case, but when you don't, there's certain lights
2:13:27
Speaker 6: that The green is not very long. So when you
2:13:32
Speaker 6: do that, it makes it so you're the only one
2:13:35
Speaker 6: who can turn in time. And you should at least
2:13:38
Speaker 6: be able to, two or three cars should at least
2:13:41
Speaker 6: be able to turn each time if you just get
2:13:42
Speaker 6: out there.
2:13:43
Speaker 1: I emphatically echo this grievance. I'll tell you why. Because
2:13:46
Speaker 1: there is a light very close to my house. It's
2:13:52
Speaker 1: down at the bottom of A.
2:13:55
Speaker 2: Street.
2:13:56
Speaker 1: No, excuse me. Yeah, of A Street. When you're trying
2:13:59
Speaker 1: to turn onto State Street, out of the avenues, so
2:14:03
Speaker 1: it's North Temple and A Street, there's a light there.
2:14:07
Speaker 1: And that light, that left turn light, you got one
2:14:10
Speaker 1: car that can get through if you're back at the line.
2:14:13
Speaker 1: So everyone, most reasonable people, they stack it up three deep.
2:14:17
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? The first one ventures way out.
2:14:19
Speaker 1: The second one ventures out, so their back bumper is
2:14:22
Speaker 1: kind of on the line. And then you get three.
2:14:25
Speaker 1: It changes the whole flow of traffic if you only
2:14:27
Speaker 1: get one car through the left turn lane each light rotation.
2:14:31
Speaker 1: Come on, people. Get it right.
2:14:35
Speaker 6: People have those stickers now that say new driver or
2:14:38
Speaker 6: student driver. I get it when it's that person, but
2:14:42
Speaker 6: when you don't have that, we're going to assume you've
2:14:45
Speaker 6: been driving long enough to understand that that's legal.
2:14:47
Speaker 1: Those are out there once a year on the road.
2:14:50
Speaker 1: Come on.
2:14:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, and the student drivers, by the way, you can
2:14:54
Speaker 5: do that. That's legal.
2:14:55
Speaker 1: Yeah.
2:14:56
Speaker 6: We're going to forgive you if you don't because you're learning,
2:14:59
Speaker 6: but just know that it is legal.
2:15:01
Speaker 5: You're okay to do that.
2:15:02
Speaker 1: Student driver, if you see someone gesticulating and getting mad
2:15:06
Speaker 1: behind you and honking, just put it in neutral and
2:15:09
Speaker 1: let them kind of like push you through, okay? It's
2:15:11
Speaker 1: a little bump. They'll just give you a bump through
2:15:14
Speaker 1: the intersection. Just follow their lead, okay?
2:15:17
Speaker 6: No, we've got to be nice to the student drivers.
2:15:19
Speaker 6: Don't honk at the student drivers.
2:15:21
Speaker 1: Carry on with that thing, all right?
2:15:23
Speaker 5: Jesus, take the wheel, baby.
2:15:27
Speaker 6: My other grievance, and I kind of aired this earlier
2:15:31
Speaker 6: this week, but I needed to air it again. The
2:15:34
Speaker 6: unwarranted hype train for certain teams that have proved nothing.
2:15:38
Speaker 6: And Oklahoma State, I'm looking at you. Joel Klatt, I'm
2:15:41
Speaker 6: looking at you being part of this hype train. In
2:15:45
Speaker 6: the NFL, I feel like it's the Chargers and Texans.
2:15:50
Speaker 6: Can we not wait until teams have proven even just
2:15:53
Speaker 6: a little bit that they actually have what it takes
2:15:55
Speaker 6: to contend before we say, oh, yeah, they're going to
2:15:58
Speaker 6: win the Big 12, or they should be ranked in
2:16:00
Speaker 6: the preseason when it comes to Oklahoma State.
2:16:02
Speaker 5: You know what?
2:16:03
Speaker 6: Chargers and Texans, they're top five odds to go to
2:16:06
Speaker 6: the Super Bowl, win the Super Bowl. Neither of those
2:16:08
Speaker 6: teams have made it to the AFC championship game. I
2:16:12
Speaker 6: think the Chargers, it's been over 20 years, or about
2:16:14
Speaker 6: 20 years. Texans, they've never done it. So, like, how
2:16:18
Speaker 6: about you get to the doorstep of the Super Bowl
2:16:20
Speaker 6: before we start saying, eh, they're a Super Bowl team
2:16:23
Speaker 6: this year. Like, just can we not just let it
2:16:27
Speaker 6: play out just a little bit? Certain teams, the Bills
2:16:31
Speaker 6: this year, they haven't gotten the Super Bowl yet, but
2:16:33
Speaker 6: they have always been right there.
2:16:35
Speaker 1: Okay, fine.
2:16:36
Speaker 5: You think this is their year?
2:16:38
Speaker 1: Fine.
2:16:38
Speaker 6: Rams with their stacked roster, they won it not that
2:16:41
Speaker 6: long ago. Seahawks, maybe they can repeat. Those guys have
2:16:44
Speaker 6: earned it. These Texans and Chargers in the NFL, Oklahoma
2:16:49
Speaker 6: State and the Big 12, like, stop. Just wait until
2:16:52
Speaker 6: they can show that they actually have the chance to
2:16:54
Speaker 6: do it.
2:16:55
Speaker 1: You make a good point. As long as we're talking
2:16:58
Speaker 1: about the NFL, can I air a grievance? I think
2:16:59
Speaker 1: that Sean McVay might have been playing chess while the
2:17:03
Speaker 1: rest of us were playing checkers. I think he maybe
2:17:06
Speaker 1: knew that his team was going to take a little
2:17:09
Speaker 1: bit longer to ramp into midseason form, and he knew
2:17:13
Speaker 1: that Aaron Donald wasn't going to want to travel to Australia.
2:17:16
Speaker 1: And he knew that he was going to get off
2:17:18
Speaker 1: to a slow start and that the 49ers, healthy, are
2:17:21
Speaker 1: a team that he can't beat. So what did he do, James?
2:17:24
Speaker 1: He manufactured an easy-out excuse for the Rams to have
2:17:29
Speaker 1: on losing and playing so poorly in their season opener.
2:17:33
Speaker 1: He's willing to take it on the chin himself. He's
2:17:35
Speaker 1: willing to say, oh, yeah, and because everyone is talking
2:17:37
Speaker 1: about the travel. Not that the Niners are the better team.
2:17:40
Speaker 1: Not that the Niners are healthy. And Fred Warner being
2:17:43
Speaker 1: back is massive for them. Nick Bosa being back is
2:17:45
Speaker 1: massive for them. Fully healthy Christian McCaffrey is massive. Trent Williams,
2:17:49
Speaker 1: when he's not banged up. up is the best offensive
2:17:51
Speaker 1: tackle in the game that's not the conversation today the
2:17:54
Speaker 1: conversation today is how stupid are the Rams for flying
2:17:57
Speaker 1: down there so late I think that Sean McVay did
2:18:01
Speaker 1: this on purpose and I air a grievance with you
2:18:03
Speaker 1: Sean McVay for building in an excuse for your team
2:18:06
Speaker 1: because you knew the Niners are better.
2:18:08
Speaker 6: Do we think that the NFL might be mad at
2:18:11
Speaker 6: them for doing it that way too, like flying in
2:18:16
Speaker 6: the day before and then flying right out knowing that
2:18:19
Speaker 6: they assigned them Australia as their ambassador country?
2:18:23
Speaker 1: Well, I have been paying, again, I get a lot
2:18:25
Speaker 1: from the 49ers algorithm, and there are a lot of
2:18:29
Speaker 1: Australian fans that were interviewed and have called into their
2:18:33
Speaker 1: radio shows down there and have gone on news down
2:18:35
Speaker 1: there and said, look, We're 49ers now. They don't say
2:18:41
Speaker 1: root because root means something vulgar in Australia.
2:18:44
Speaker 6: Does it really?
2:18:45
Speaker 1: I didn't know that.
2:18:46
Speaker 4: Yes.
2:18:47
Speaker 1: They say barrack. They're like, we barrack for the 49ers
2:18:51
Speaker 1: now because the 49ers came down and they spent time
2:18:57
Speaker 1: in Australia and they embraced the Australian cuisine. They embraced
2:19:00
Speaker 1: the Australian culture. They embraced Melbourne. And they went around
2:19:03
Speaker 1: and they saw the sites and they're just like, we
2:19:05
Speaker 1: are 49ers now. I think the NFL is probably genuinely,
2:19:09
Speaker 1: we usually be silly in the area of grievances, I
2:19:11
Speaker 1: think the NFL is probably genuinely a little bit bothered
2:19:13
Speaker 1: with the Rams for doing the exact opposite of that.
2:19:16
Speaker 1: And not participating in any kind of outreach. The whole
2:19:21
Speaker 1: point of these games is not just to have 100,000
2:19:24
Speaker 1: people at the Melbourne cricket grounds. Like, obviously that's great,
2:19:28
Speaker 1: and they want the ticket revenue and things like that.
2:19:30
Speaker 1: They want repeat customers. They want an emotional connection with
2:19:34
Speaker 1: international fans, like the NBA was able to create post-Dream Team.
2:19:38
Speaker 1: That's what the NFL is trying to build here. If
2:19:40
Speaker 1: you just show up and then leave, it's a lot
2:19:45
Speaker 1: harder to build that. If you show up and you
2:19:47
Speaker 1: do an autograph signing and you maybe do, like, a little...
2:19:51
Speaker 1: kids' football camp or do any assortment. You open a
2:19:54
Speaker 1: practice to the media. You open a practice to the fans.
2:19:57
Speaker 1: You do some interviews. That is the outreach that the
2:20:00
Speaker 1: NFL and the NBA did for a long time and
2:20:02
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball has done overseas for a long time.
2:20:05
Speaker 1: That's why you do those things. That's why the All
2:20:09
Speaker 1: Blacks come and they play rugby at Soldier Field and
2:20:12
Speaker 1: they bring an international big rugby test. They're trying to
2:20:15
Speaker 1: build audiences with this. What the Rams did is the opposite.
2:20:20
Speaker 1: The Rams went in, treated it like a business trip,
2:20:22
Speaker 1: which is totally fine, treated it like any other game,
2:20:26
Speaker 1: which maybe wasn't the right thing to do, but it's
2:20:29
Speaker 1: totally fine if that's what they want to do from
2:20:30
Speaker 1: their own individual perspective. But the point of these games
2:20:34
Speaker 1: is not to serve the best interest of your coaching staff.
2:20:38
Speaker 1: It's to expand the product of the NFL. And the
2:20:41
Speaker 1: fact that the NFL hasn't made a longer acclimation period
2:20:46
Speaker 1: mandatory is probably something that they're going to do, not
2:20:49
Speaker 1: for the best interest of the player's health, but they're
2:20:51
Speaker 1: going to do because it maximizes the outreach and it
2:20:54
Speaker 1: actually creates real fans. So, grievance against the Rams for
2:20:58
Speaker 1: being the party poopers.
2:20:59
Speaker 6: Did you, Richie from West Jordan wants to know if
2:21:02
Speaker 6: you texted Weddle last night talking smack.
2:21:05
Speaker 1: I did.
2:21:07
Speaker 5: Anything you can air?
2:21:08
Speaker 1: Let me see. I said, let me scroll down here. Okay.
2:21:15
Speaker 1: I said I never doubted.
2:21:16
Speaker 2: Ah.
2:21:18
Speaker 1: That was my response. I never doubted him. Did he
2:21:20
Speaker 1: respond to you? He said the healthy Niners look pretty
2:21:22
Speaker 1: dang good.
2:21:24
Speaker 6: Okay, he drops in healthy like an excuse for the Rams.
2:21:27
Speaker 6: They're not healthy? Is that how you read that too?
2:21:30
Speaker 4: Yes.
2:21:31
Speaker 6: Or it's a shot at how they haven't been healthy too.
2:21:34
Speaker 6: It's a double-edged sword there. By the way, quick grievance
2:21:41
Speaker 6: against autocorrect. Richie was a victim of this too. I
2:21:45
Speaker 6: have been too.
2:21:46
Speaker 5: When you try to say Weddle, it autocorrects to Wesley.
2:21:54
Speaker 1: Oh, Wesley is not nearly as cool of a name.
2:21:57
Speaker 4: No.
2:21:57
Speaker 2: Sorry.
2:21:58
Speaker 1: Respect to all of you Wesleys out there. Weddle's the
2:22:02
Speaker 1: better name there. All right. One last segment. We'll give
2:22:06
Speaker 1: away a couple of tickets. We have Weezer tickets. And
2:22:12
Speaker 1: also 877-353-0700. Text in your score prediction for Utah versus Arkansas.
2:22:20
Speaker 1: We will have a prize for the winner with the
2:22:23
Speaker 1: closest prediction. 877-353-0700. Text who wins Utah versus Arkansas and
2:22:30
Speaker 1: the exact score for winner and loser. Closest guests will
2:22:34
Speaker 1: have a prize next week. We'll have Weezer tickets to
2:22:36
Speaker 1: give away next with some trivia. It's the Sean O'Connell
2:22:39
Speaker 1: Show on ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM.
2:22:46
Speaker 4: You're listening to The Sean O'Connell Show, your source for
2:22:50
Speaker 4: the best youths football coverage. Here's OC from the Murdoch
2:22:53
Speaker 4: Hyundai Studio of ESPN 700 at 92.1 FM.
2:22:56
Speaker 2: 877-353-0700.
2:22:56
Speaker 5: Weezer tickets coming.
2:22:58
Speaker 1: On September 15th. If you can answer this question.
2:23:14
Speaker 1: University of Utah versus Idaho. Only one game to draw
2:23:19
Speaker 1: samples off of so far. Who was Utah's leading tackler
2:23:23
Speaker 1: in that game? First game of the season. 877-353-0700. Correct answer.
2:23:29
Speaker 1: We'll get you a pair of tickets to Weezer at
2:23:31
Speaker 1: the Maverick Center coming up September 15th. Big thanks to
2:23:35
Speaker 1: everyone who came out here. To 3808 West Hardman Way
2:23:40
Speaker 1: in Lehigh today, big thanks to James back in the studio,
2:23:43
Speaker 1: to Cynthia who hooked us up here on the remote.
2:23:46
Speaker 1: How about this? Whitney and your beautiful child, shout out
2:23:52
Speaker 1: to you and your mom. We don't get a lot
2:23:54
Speaker 1: of lady listeners claiming us, you know what I mean?
2:23:57
Speaker 1: And she stopped by, grabbed a gift card, and said, hey,
2:23:59
Speaker 1: you got at least two. So I was really proud
2:24:01
Speaker 1: about that. James, we have at least a couple of
2:24:03
Speaker 1: listeners of the fair sex that are, you know, hardcore
2:24:07
Speaker 1: listeners are fans of ours in Whitney and her mom.
2:24:10
Speaker 1: So shout out to both Whitney and her mother who
2:24:13
Speaker 1: didn't come down to the remote because she was picking
2:24:15
Speaker 1: up the other child. So not only a great listener
2:24:17
Speaker 1: to us, but a great grandma shout out to moms
2:24:21
Speaker 1: and Spence check. It's is at the Greek festival this weekend.
2:24:25
Speaker 1: You know where it is downtown Greek Orthodox church, right?
2:24:27
Speaker 1: Kitty corner from pioneer park. Hope we see you down
2:24:31
Speaker 1: there at the Greek festival. Most importantly, I hope we
2:24:33
Speaker 1: see you up at the tailgate at the university of
2:24:36
Speaker 1: Utah and See you at the Rice-Eccles Stadium night game
2:24:40
Speaker 1: with Arkansas coming into town. Eric Weddle induction into the
2:24:44
Speaker 1: Ring of Honor. If you have tickets, get there early.
2:24:46
Speaker 1: If you don't have tickets, still get there early. Enjoy
2:24:49
Speaker 1: the atmosphere. Then you can go home and watch the game.
2:24:52
Speaker 1: If you see me or you see any of us
2:24:53
Speaker 1: from ESPN 700, give us a shout. We always love
2:24:57
Speaker 1: to talk to you.
2:24:58
Speaker 6: By the way, OC, we also have on the station,
2:25:02
Speaker 6: because it's a night game, So ESPN Radio's got their
2:25:05
Speaker 6: day game, 10 a.m.
2:25:07
Speaker 2: Game.
2:25:08
Speaker 6: One Kyle Whittingham in Michigan trying to bounce back against
2:25:14
Speaker 6: a ranked Oklahoma team. We'll have that on the station
2:25:17
Speaker 6: tomorrow for those of you that want to keep an
2:25:18
Speaker 6: eye on Witt's new team.
2:25:20
Speaker 1: Whether you love watching or hate watching, you're watching, and
2:25:23
Speaker 1: we know it. You can listen to it right here
2:25:26
Speaker 1: on ESPN 700. We'll be back on Monday reacting to
2:25:29
Speaker 1: a great weekend of football, college, and the NFL. Thanks
2:25:32
Speaker 1: for listening. Stay tuned for The Drive with Spence Chickens.
2:25:36
Speaker 1: It's ESPN 700, 92 on FM.