Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Sammy Mora on the Runnin Utes win over TCU, First Big 12 win for Alex Jensen, Utah's transfer portal haul + more

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Sammy Mora on the Runnin Utes win over TCU, First Big 12 win for Alex Jensen, Utah's transfer portal haul + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: You tuned to The Shan O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
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  Speaker 1: Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two one
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  Speaker 1: a half am. Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell Show.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome in Utes insider Sammy Mora, managing editor over at
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  Speaker 1: Ute Zone, friend of the program. Hey Sammy, how are you?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing great? OC how are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing great? Which do you want to talk about?
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  Speaker 1: First transfer portal or running Utes first ever Big twelve
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  Speaker 1: conference win under Alex Jensen.
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  Speaker 2: I'm down for either you tuos, All right.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go Alex Jensen. I like starting with a win
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  Speaker 1: Utah over TCU. Alex Jensen searching for that first conference
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  Speaker 1: win and he gets it against the horn Frogs. Best
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  Speaker 1: and worst part about this particular game for you.
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  Speaker 2: Best part, like you said, was the win. Worst part
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  Speaker 2: I think was you know, letting tc kind of crawl
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  Speaker 2: back into it in the second half. That's been a
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  Speaker 2: reoccurring issue all season. But you know, they were finally
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  Speaker 2: able to close one out, which I think, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it kind of was like you have to get over
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  Speaker 2: that first hump, and I think that this they finally
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  Speaker 2: got over it. I did like the somewhat balanced effort,
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  Speaker 2: you know for you to and double figures. Obviously Terrence
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  Speaker 2: brumled the group of twenty six. But you know, uh,
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  Speaker 2: it was it was a good win. I think you know.
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  Speaker 2: There was a lot to like, but there's also a
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  Speaker 2: lot not to like. So it's it's one of those
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  Speaker 2: it's one of those those wins for the running Newts
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  Speaker 2: for sure.
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  Speaker 1: Well that's a win, win, win if you're a coach, right,
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  Speaker 1: because I don't think this group is in danger of this.
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  Speaker 1: But even when you get a win, you can pat
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  Speaker 1: yourself on the back a little too much. If you're
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  Speaker 1: a coach and you don't want your players to do that.
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  Speaker 1: You could say, ah, nice win, guys, but let's go
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  Speaker 1: watch the film and you're gonna hate some of the
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  Speaker 1: things you see. So I think a lot for this
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  Speaker 1: Utahs staff to work with, a lot for this Utah
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  Speaker 1: roster to still learn and improve. But I agree with you, you
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  Speaker 1: got to get over that hump at some point, and
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  Speaker 1: to do so then begs the question can you build
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  Speaker 1: any momentum off it? Because it's not an easy week.
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  Speaker 1: You've got road game against Kansas State, road against BYU
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  Speaker 1: as the rivalry matchups have come very close together this season.
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  Speaker 1: What do you make of those two matchups? Let's start
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  Speaker 1: with Kansas State.
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  Speaker 2: I think Kansas State is one of those like very
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  Speaker 2: interesting games because you know, Kang had this, Like Kang's
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  Speaker 2: groups always are well coached, and you know, they were
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  Speaker 2: in a good position to be a you know, another
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  Speaker 2: tournament team this year. But if I remember correctly, I
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  Speaker 2: think they're sitting at eight to nine or nine and
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  Speaker 2: eight on the season, like they're not very like they
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  Speaker 2: haven't dominated as much as people would have expected it to.
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  Speaker 2: And I know they've had some issues with you know,
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  Speaker 2: production and stuff like that, but that's going to be interesting.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's another winnable game they can win on
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  Speaker 2: the road. I think that's another hump to get over
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  Speaker 2: because winning at home versus winning on the road or
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  Speaker 2: two completely different things, especially in basketball. And so if
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  Speaker 2: I think if they can get that win, I think that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, that's another good step in the right direction.
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  Speaker 2: As for BYU, you know that the effort that we
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  Speaker 2: saw a couple of weeks ago when they played at
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  Speaker 2: the Hunton Center was probably one of the best efforts
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  Speaker 2: we'd seen from this team all season. Whether it was
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  Speaker 2: just Alex getting this team up for you know, the rivalry,
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  Speaker 2: or if it was just guys you know, wanting to
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  Speaker 2: play against some show off against or show up against
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  Speaker 2: some high level you know, projected NBA draft picks. You know,
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  Speaker 2: that was probably one of the better effort games. So
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  Speaker 2: will they have that same level of effort. We'll see.
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  Speaker 2: I think that, you know, obviously, the TCU win was
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  Speaker 2: a massive confidence builder for this team that they can
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  Speaker 2: close out a game. Finally, I know Keanyu Dawes even
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  Speaker 2: told us that after the game, So that's going to
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  Speaker 2: be interesting. But I think that this this two days
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  Speaker 2: stretch could be very very interesting. Like if Utah ends
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  Speaker 2: up the stretch one in one and one, I personally
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  Speaker 2: I would take that because you know, that means you
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  Speaker 2: have two conference wins, and that's two conference wins is
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  Speaker 2: better than no conference wins at this point, especially in
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  Speaker 2: a conference like the Big Twelve.
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  Speaker 1: Sammy Moore as our guest here on the Sean O'Connell
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  Speaker 1: show Talk and run utes. But now let's transition over
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  Speaker 1: to the close of a very very hectic period for
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  Speaker 1: Morgan Scalley as he embarks on this new journey as
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  Speaker 1: head coach of Utah football, the transfer portal singular window.
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  Speaker 1: The timing of this thing during bowl prep and during
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  Speaker 1: playoffs for all the teams involved in the playoffs is
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  Speaker 1: I think for some people problematic. For Utah, you didn't
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  Speaker 1: have to worry about playoffs at least, But there's this
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  Speaker 1: massive state of flux we talked about in our last
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  Speaker 1: couple of conversations. That is now, you know, the dust
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  Speaker 1: is starting to settle. Guys are in the transfer portal.
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  Speaker 1: You can still pull players out of the transfer portal,
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  Speaker 1: but nobody knew can put their name in. And based
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  Speaker 1: on what we have now with a closed transfer portal window,
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  Speaker 1: how do you think you tough fared. I.
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  Speaker 2: I know that this is probably gonna be an unpopular opinion,
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  Speaker 2: but I think that Utah, you know, at least netted
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  Speaker 2: even in the portal. I think that I looking at
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  Speaker 2: wide receivers specifically, you know, Kyrie Schulz and Braden Pagan
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  Speaker 2: are two high level pass catchers that can push things
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  Speaker 2: down the field. Plus you know you keep you keep
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  Speaker 2: Larry Simmons, you keep Creed Wittemore, you keep Zip Dadrian Zipper.
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  Speaker 2: You there's a lot of good wide receivers in that room.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that this passing game is going to
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  Speaker 2: be a lot I don't want to say more volatile,
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  Speaker 2: because I think that it's gonna be I want to
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  Speaker 2: see how this shakes out because there's so many different
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  Speaker 2: guys that bring so many different things to the table
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  Speaker 2: in this wide receiver room. So it's gonna be interesting
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  Speaker 2: to see. You know, they tore the defensive tackle room
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  Speaker 2: down to the studs. You know, you just keep your
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  Speaker 2: young guys, you know, Poo Pook, Cupalona, Carson, Cufusika, those guys.
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  Speaker 2: You keep the young guys in, but you bring in,
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  Speaker 2: you know, some big bob from the portal, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Jamal Wallace, Lucas Samsula from Wyoming, Jai Moi from San
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  Speaker 2: Jose State. You bring in a lot of those those
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  Speaker 2: big bodies that Utah has been missing in that defensive
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  Speaker 2: tackle room. I know, losing JJ hurts, losing Ko hurts,
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  Speaker 2: losing Smith hurts, losing JHD hurts. But I think Utah
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  Speaker 2: did a good job of, you know, filling in the
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  Speaker 2: gaps where needed, but also rebuilding the areas that needed
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  Speaker 2: to be filled, you know, a kind of a complete
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  Speaker 2: rebuild at corner, but kind of not because you keep
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  Speaker 2: Scooby and you keep J. C. Hart, who are two
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  Speaker 2: guys that I am extremely high on heading into the spring.
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  Speaker 2: But I like all, I like the additions that you
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  Speaker 2: that Morgan brought in for this team.
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  Speaker 1: Forgive the very specific question, I does Don Sanders have
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  Speaker 1: like some weird Purdue connection that made that transfer make sense?
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  Speaker 2: Honestly, I have no clue. I when I saw it
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  Speaker 2: was Purdue, I was of a little uh shocked myself.
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  Speaker 2: I have honestly no clue what the connection is there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was, because I mean, look, obviously, the guys
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  Speaker 1: who left for Michigan, whether you love it or hate it,
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  Speaker 1: you have to admit that it makes sense for those
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  Speaker 1: players to want to go there because of coaches relationships,
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  Speaker 1: the fact that it's Michigan, it's a blue blood, et cetera,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera, the nil implications of something like that. But
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  Speaker 1: some of these guys like to see Don Saunders leave
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  Speaker 1: a Utah program with this long, incredible track record, a
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  Speaker 1: developing corner talent for the next level to end up
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  Speaker 1: at a place like Purdue. I'm like, wait, what, I
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  Speaker 1: don't get it. But again, that's that's part of the
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  Speaker 1: learning process. I don't like Tao to UCLA. I don't
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  Speaker 1: see how that makes sense. Now. There are a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people that were kind of out on him, and
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  Speaker 1: I was very very critical of him, But it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: feel like that's an upward move in pretty much any world.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that Kale one was another one. It was kind of,
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  Speaker 2: you know, a little confusing, but to a certain extent,
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  Speaker 2: you know, big ten football, brand new head coach, brand
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  Speaker 2: new you know, culture around that program. I know historically
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  Speaker 2: UCLA hasn't really done anything, you know, in the last
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  Speaker 2: what ten fifteen years, But that's one of the ones
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  Speaker 2: that you know, it's like, right now, it looks kind
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  Speaker 2: of weird, but you know, depending on how this new
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  Speaker 2: coaching staff does at UCLA, it could honestly be you know,
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  Speaker 2: pretty good to you know, decent. You know, That's how
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  Speaker 2: I kind of see that UCLA transfer for Tail looking too.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So I'm gonna ask my favorite thing to do
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  Speaker 1: to you is ask these unfair questions that are you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's they're all predictive and it's not really possible to
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  Speaker 1: get it one hundred percent right. But this one, you
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  Speaker 1: could look back and you could say, ha, told you so,
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  Speaker 1: or you could look back and say that was never
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  Speaker 1: my real answer. You forced me into it. The gem
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  Speaker 1: of this transfer portal the incoming guys who will be
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  Speaker 1: the most productive, who will be the one that we're
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  Speaker 1: six seven games in next year saying like wow, what
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  Speaker 1: a that was?
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  Speaker 2: Ooh, that's a hard one, because you know, if you're
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  Speaker 2: looking like immediately, like at current immediate needs, I think
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  Speaker 2: you know Elijah Reid, Kyrie Schulz, Brandon Pagan are kind
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  Speaker 2: of James Chanault, Cedric Jefferson. I think those are the
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  Speaker 2: ones that immediately come to mind. But I think when
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  Speaker 2: we look like down the road decent amount of time,
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  Speaker 2: I'm gonna take a complete shot in the dark, and
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  Speaker 2: I'm gonna say Earl Parker or Steve Chavez Soto, those
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  Speaker 2: are the two I'm gonna go with.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting, Now, let me ask you, does that mean these
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  Speaker 1: guys like two years from now are gonna be a
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  Speaker 1: bigger story or you're saying like ten games from now
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  Speaker 1: instead of six games from now.
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  Speaker 2: Well, so Steve is more. Steve's only a red shirt freshman,
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  Speaker 2: I believe, or a freshman. So I don't think you
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  Speaker 2: know was Shawn's clearly are RB one this season. But
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  Speaker 2: if Weishan has another massive season, we could easily see
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  Speaker 2: Wyshawan declaring for the NFL Draft and going to the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: And if Steve. Steve has been described by many people
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  Speaker 2: as baby Scataboo, So that tells me what type of
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  Speaker 2: like runner he is and what kind of athlete he is.
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  Speaker 2: So that's why I kind of put project him out longwise.
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  Speaker 2: I think that you know, at this time next year,
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  Speaker 2: so January of twenty twenty seven, I think we might
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  Speaker 2: be talking about Steve being one of those breakout players
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  Speaker 2: from the Portal and Earl. You know, a very a
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  Speaker 2: kid that bet on himself big time. He came. He's
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  Speaker 2: from Alaska and he just started firing off emails to
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  Speaker 2: any community college FCS team, SBS team that would bring
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  Speaker 2: him in, and he ended up at Hutchinson in Kansas.
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  Speaker 2: Talk about a kid that's betting on himself, and he
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  Speaker 2: played lights out for Hutchinson this year. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: I honestly think he's one of those ones that could be,
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  Speaker 2: you know, one of those next great JUCO players that
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  Speaker 2: Utah turns into an NFL star.
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  Speaker 1: The reason I asked you that follow up question is
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  Speaker 1: because like I have now girded myself, I've prepared myself
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  Speaker 1: to just you got these guys for one year. I'm
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  Speaker 1: not even trying to project people for twenty twenty seven
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  Speaker 1: because you just have to re recruit everyone, and we're
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  Speaker 1: gonna have this same conversation a year from now about
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  Speaker 1: who you got to stay, who ended up leaving, et cetera.
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  Speaker 1: So I don't know that long term development for a
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  Speaker 1: program that has always buttered his bread with long term development,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if it's something you can bank on anymore.
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  Speaker 2: It's not to a certain extent. I think that there
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  Speaker 2: are certain cases where Utah has that long term development.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, look at the offensive line, like you, Caleb,
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  Speaker 2: I almost said, Caleb Williams. I watched the Bears game
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  Speaker 2: last night. Still on my mind, Caleb Lomu, Spencer Flano,
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  Speaker 2: you know all the other guys that are on this
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  Speaker 2: offensive line, and even the guys that are projected to
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  Speaker 2: start next year, with the exception of Jefferson. You know,
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  Speaker 2: Keith Olsen has been here for a long time. Zaraway
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  Speaker 2: Williams has been here for a long time. Alex Harrison
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  Speaker 2: has been here for a long time, So there is
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  Speaker 2: guys that I think still you get that chance to develop,
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  Speaker 2: and I think there's there's still those kids that want that.
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  Speaker 2: I think that, you know, I know there's a lot
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  Speaker 2: of people who talk about there's no more loyalty in
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  Speaker 2: college football, like, yeah, there isn't. But I still think
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  Speaker 2: there's there's still some kids that do that, that have
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  Speaker 2: the loyalty of you guys bet on me when no
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  Speaker 2: one else would. So I'm going to bet on myself
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  Speaker 2: with you guys. I think there still is that it's
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  Speaker 2: not as prominent as it used to be, but I
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  Speaker 2: still think that there is going to be those guys
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  Speaker 2: that do stick around and do develop themselves out from
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  Speaker 2: programs like Utah.
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  Speaker 1: Sam who wins the National championship tonight.
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  Speaker 2: I would love to see Indiana in. I would love it.
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  Speaker 2: I think that Indiana is one of those teams that
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  Speaker 2: I think you talk can kind of somewhat to a
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  Speaker 2: certain extent, model themselves after Obviously they don't have a
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  Speaker 2: Mark Cuban, Utah doesn't, but you know, Signetti did what
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  Speaker 2: he needed to do to get the players in that
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  Speaker 2: could impact the team when he needed it the most.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that that's something that you know, Utah
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  Speaker 2: could could build themselves after so I personally would love
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  Speaker 2: to see Indiana win.
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  Speaker 1: Sammy, you're the best, appreciate your time as always, talk soon.
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  Speaker 2: Thank Lussi.
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  Speaker 1: Sami Mora, managing editor over at ute zone dot com