Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Brandon Doman on this historic BYU-Utah matchup, Utes' great start in Morgan Scalley's 1st year, BYU's recent growth across athletics + m...

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Brandon Doman on this historic BYU-Utah matchup, Utes' great start in Morgan Scalley's 1st year, BYU's recent growth across athletics + m... · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: It's a nice day for a white wedding. This is
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the Sean O'Connell Show, your home of the best inside
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: of your youths. Let's get back to OC from the
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  Speaker 1: Murdoch Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 at 92.1 FM.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome to our number two on the Sean O'Connell Show,
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  Speaker 2: coming at you from All Trade Staffing in South Salt
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Lake City, 801-313-1234. If you're somebody looking for work, they
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  Speaker 2: can help you out. If you're a business owner who
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  Speaker 2: needs employees, they can help you out on that front
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  Speaker 2: as well. Brandon Dolman is kind enough to join us,
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  Speaker 2: much to the chagrin of at least one or two
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Utah listeners. We are getting the BYU perspective on this
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  Speaker 2: holy war on the Sean O'Connell Show this week.
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  Speaker 3: And so we.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome a former BYU quarterback, former BYU offensive coordinator, Brandon Dolman.
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  Speaker 3: Welcome to the show. How are you, sir?
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  Speaker 4: I'm doing good, Sean. Thanks for having me on.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, appreciate you giving us some time, Holy War Week.
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  Speaker 2: Let's talk about just the big picture of what this
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  Speaker 2: game actually is. You played in some big ones, but
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  Speaker 2: never before has it been a top ten matchup. Two
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  Speaker 2: teams ranked inside the top ten in both the AP
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  Speaker 2: and now the college football playoff rankings.
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  Speaker 3: That came out last night.
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  Speaker 2: Does it feel like perhaps the biggest Holy War game ever?
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  Speaker 4: I think so. I mean, the implications of the ranking
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  Speaker 4: and everything that's at stake right now for both those teams,
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  Speaker 4: looking at postseason opportunities, Big 12 championships, and obviously playoff implications.
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  Speaker 4: Morgan Scali being a new coach this year, head coach.
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  Speaker 4: You know, Kyle going to Michigan. There's so many things
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  Speaker 4: that have happened in the last 12 months that I
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  Speaker 4: think leading up to this moment has made it massive.
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  Speaker 4: So hopefully the fans enjoy the heck out of this weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Well, hindsight is always 20-20, but give me your true
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  Speaker 2: thoughts on how you thought the transition would go after
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  Speaker 2: Kyle Whittingham ended up at Michigan and Morgan Scali, who
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  Speaker 2: was always the heir apparent, he's now taken the reins
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  Speaker 2: for the first time. And they played great in the
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  Speaker 2: bowl game. That's its own thing. You still had personnel
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  Speaker 2: left over from last year's team. If we go back
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  Speaker 2: and we're having this conversation in July, did you expect
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  Speaker 2: it to be this smooth of a transition, this successful
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  Speaker 2: of a start for Morgan Scali?
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  Speaker 4: I think Morgan Scali has done an amazing job. Obviously,
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  Speaker 4: the record now says that. But you look at everything
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  Speaker 4: that transpired with Kyle leaving, the players that left, kind
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  Speaker 4: of a perfect storm to cause all sorts of problems.
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  Speaker 4: And I believe that Utah is getting more out of
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  Speaker 4: less than ever before and i think that says a
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  Speaker 4: lot about morgan this is a lot about their team
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  Speaker 4: leadership this is a lot about the culture of the
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  Speaker 4: program um i think they've had better teams overall players
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  Speaker 4: i should say overall players and probably overall team than
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  Speaker 4: they've been this year but but um maybe the biggest
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  Speaker 4: opportunity they've ever had right now and i think morgan
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  Speaker 4: has been prepared for the moment um is doing a
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  Speaker 4: fantastic job so my hat's off to morgan.
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  Speaker 2: I'm interested to hear you to say that and maybe
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  Speaker 2: elaborate on it a little bit more because I think
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  Speaker 2: even like the most hardcore Utah fan was probably looking
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  Speaker 2: at this roster on paper. And there's not like a
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  Speaker 2: bunch of obvious NFL guys on this roster, right? Last
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  Speaker 2: year you had two offensive tackles taken in the first
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  Speaker 2: round of the NFL draft. Zerway Williams, their left tackle
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  Speaker 2: this year, is developing himself into that conversation. But it's
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  Speaker 2: not something we thought was obvious. And when you watch
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  Speaker 2: him play, right, As a unit, the defense has been awesome.
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  Speaker 2: As a unit, the offense has been awesome. But it
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  Speaker 2: hasn't been overly reliant on any particular individual talent.
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  Speaker 3: So I think.
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  Speaker 2: It's an interesting perspective when you say doing more with
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  Speaker 2: less because it can come off as negative about the
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  Speaker 2: individual talents on this team, and I know you don't
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  Speaker 2: mean it that way. It's just that there's not the obvious, like, well,
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  Speaker 2: you've got to account for that guy. That guy's the
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  Speaker 2: one who's going to kill you. That's the guy we're
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  Speaker 2: going to see playing on Sundays. Yet, here they are
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  Speaker 2: at 8-0.
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  Speaker 4: Well, you said it. I don't have to describe it
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  Speaker 4: any better than that. I mean, this is a football
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  Speaker 4: team that lost a bunch of up-front players. Traditionally, Utah
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  Speaker 4: on the D-line and the O-line have been absolutely dominant.
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  Speaker 4: Everybody knew it. They did have NFL guys on both
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  Speaker 4: sides of the ball. Coming into this season, there were
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  Speaker 4: so many question marks. Just on the front seven alone. And,
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  Speaker 4: you know, BYU has made up a ton of ground
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  Speaker 4: over the last handful of.
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  Speaker 3: Years in recruiting.
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  Speaker 4: And the NIL has obviously helped there. But Utah has
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  Speaker 4: absolutely dominated BYU in recruiting in the front seven and
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  Speaker 4: overall play in the front seven for the last, gosh, 10,
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  Speaker 4: 15 years. And like I said, BYU's made up a
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  Speaker 4: lot of ground right now, and I think it's what
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  Speaker 4: makes the last few seasons and this coming game, I
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  Speaker 4: think it's what neutralizes the game, is that now you've
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  Speaker 4: got a pretty dang good matchup in the front seven there.
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  Speaker 4: And the team that has the edge there, I think
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  Speaker 4: usually is the team that comes out on top. And
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  Speaker 4: that's why I think it's such a grudge match. And
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  Speaker 4: for Morgan and their staff to have put together the
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  Speaker 4: season they put together with, when I say less, we're
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  Speaker 4: talking about less recruited, less NIL money, less first-round draft
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  Speaker 4: pick type guys. You said it perfectly, and that's why
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  Speaker 4: I think it's been such an awesome coaching job.
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  Speaker 2: On the other side of things, you have Kalani Satake,
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  Speaker 2: who's a lot deeper into his head coaching career. He
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  Speaker 2: went through the growing pains, and obviously things are humming
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  Speaker 2: now down in Provo. On the recruiting front, you just referenced,
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  Speaker 2: but also On the actual games, the atmosphere down there
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  Speaker 2: at Lavelle Edwards Stadium is absolutely nuts. Notre Dame comes
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  Speaker 2: into town, you get a win over Notre Dame. And
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  Speaker 2: you kind of prove, I think, not only on behalf
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  Speaker 2: of the whole Big 12, but most importantly for BYU,
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  Speaker 2: that you're ready to play with the big boys. And yes,
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  Speaker 2: NIL has been part of that. But what Kalani Satake
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  Speaker 2: and Aaron Roderick and Kelly Papinga, who had to answer
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  Speaker 2: a lot of questions his own self after Jay Hill's
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  Speaker 2: departure to Michigan, they've all risen to that occasion.
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  Speaker 3: So I think it's fair to.
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  Speaker 2: Acknowledge that Morgan Scali and his staff have done an
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  Speaker 2: incredible job. But also, even from a Utah lens, you
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  Speaker 2: have to admit that what Kalani Satake has done down
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  Speaker 2: there at your alma mater has been pretty incredible. If
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  Speaker 2: I ask you to, I don't know, put your finger
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  Speaker 2: on what exactly it is that was the turning point
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  Speaker 2: in Kalani's tenure at BYU, can you do.
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  Speaker 3: That for me?
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  Speaker 4: Well, he has done an unbelievable job. And he's had,
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  Speaker 4: I think, a much improved support from the administration, from
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  Speaker 4: the athletic department, the NIL portion. The guys that had
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  Speaker 4: the ability to really support financially have come to the
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  Speaker 4: table and have supported that. But I said it just
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  Speaker 4: a minute ago. Having been a coach there, having been
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  Speaker 4: a player there, the University of Utah took took a
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  Speaker 4: major advantage over BYU when they went into the Pac-12
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  Speaker 4: and on the recruiting side of things, particularly up front.
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  Speaker 4: The O-line, D-line, the front seven players, even tight ends.
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  Speaker 4: Utah has been dominant in the tight end front. And
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  Speaker 4: BYU's had to play catch-up. And I think for a
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  Speaker 4: lot of years, BYU had an upper hand. And Kyle
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  Speaker 4: and Kalani and others that were on the Utah staff
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  Speaker 4: did a phenomenal job helping there to put Utah over
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  Speaker 4: the edge. And BYU has caught up. And the front
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  Speaker 4: seven for BYU, the depth that they have there, some
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  Speaker 4: of the recruiting battles that they've won recently against Utah
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  Speaker 4: and others have enabled BYU to reestablish, like I said,
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  Speaker 4: that grudge match up front. They can now go play
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  Speaker 4: Notre Dame. They can go play against any of these
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  Speaker 4: teams now nationally and hold up physically up front and
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  Speaker 4: then have depth. And BYU has been able to now
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  Speaker 4: rotate several defensive linemen in and out of the game.
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  Speaker 4: And Utah traditionally has been able to do that and
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  Speaker 4: keep guys fresh and have high motor, high energy defensive
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  Speaker 4: line play, which enables the linebackers and the defense to
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  Speaker 4: play differently. And BYU hasn't played man-to-man coverage yet. ever
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  Speaker 4: and over the last few years they've been getting into
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  Speaker 4: man blitz situations and playing man coverage with defensive backs
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  Speaker 4: that are so much better than they've been in the
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  Speaker 4: past and it's not that the BYU defensive backs haven't
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  Speaker 4: been great in the past but top to bottom across
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  Speaker 4: across the back end there they're playing man coverage and
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  Speaker 4: it's been fun to watch that and Utah has been
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  Speaker 4: like I said, has really had the upper hand there.
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  Speaker 4: So when BYU was able to start winning some of
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  Speaker 4: the recruiting battles, I think Jay Hill had a significant
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  Speaker 4: impact on BYU's culture. I think he had an impact
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  Speaker 4: on details. I think he had an impact on recruiting.
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  Speaker 4: And those guys are now, I think, beneficiaries of what
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  Speaker 4: he added to the culture. So I said several things there,
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  Speaker 4: but Add all that up, and now you've got two
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  Speaker 4: programs in the top ten going head-to-head. And State of
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  Speaker 4: Utah is an unbelievable place. The fan support here. We
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  Speaker 4: don't have NFL teams. So we really, really do dive
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  Speaker 4: in deep to our two college programs here, specifically, you know,
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  Speaker 4: BYU and Utah.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: A lot of fun for us.
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  Speaker 2: Brandon Doman is our guest here on the Shot O'Connell Show,
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  Speaker 2: talking Holy War, Utah, BYU. As you are all well aware,
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  Speaker 2: Saturday morning kickoff on ABC. Let's talk about specifics here,
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  Speaker 2: and I wanted to pick your brain about the quarterback
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  Speaker 2: position because you played it so well during your tenure.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: what makes Bear Bachmeier so special and hard for other
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  Speaker 2: teams to deal with when you watch him?
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  Speaker 4: I think he's a gym rat. He's a student of
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  Speaker 4: the game. He loves the game. He plays football smart.
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  Speaker 4: For a young quarterback, he makes unbelievable decisions. He throws
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  Speaker 4: the ball on time. He's accurate in his passing for
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  Speaker 4: the most part. And then you combine that with just
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  Speaker 4: grit in the way that he plays the game, a
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  Speaker 4: threat in the run game, an ability to bring a
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  Speaker 4: physical mindset and just attitude to the entire offense helps.
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  Speaker 4: If you can be that kind of a leader in
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  Speaker 4: both the run and the pass game, it poses a
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  Speaker 4: lot of challenge for the defense, but it also creates
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  Speaker 4: a mindset for the offense. He's a quiet leader. but
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  Speaker 4: he does it in a way that those guys are
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  Speaker 4: able to follow an 18-, 19-year-old kid. Some of those
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  Speaker 4: guys are 25 years old in that huddle. To his credit,
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  Speaker 4: he's come in there and been a leader of the
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  Speaker 4: culture of that program, and they're lucky to have him.
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  Speaker 3: How much does BYU need out of L.J. Martin, if anything?
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  Speaker 2: Because we don't know if he's going to be available
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  Speaker 2: or not, but in a game like this, You'd like
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  Speaker 2: to have one of your best players.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, man.
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  Speaker 4: I think that presents a lot of challenge for BYU.
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  Speaker 4: We can see that they've had a hard time establishing
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  Speaker 4: just traditional run game. And Utah, having watched UCF and
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  Speaker 4: Arizona State, they're going to come after Bear big time
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  Speaker 4: and be really, I'm sure, more physical than he's seen yet.
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  Speaker 4: I think they'll be the most physical defense that he'll
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  Speaker 4: face in To this point, Utah needs to get after him.
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  Speaker 4: So if they can establish a run game, again, if
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  Speaker 4: LJ's out there, I'm skeptical on that. Even if he's
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  Speaker 4: out there, knowing the injury he's dealing with, I just
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  Speaker 4: don't know how much of a contribution he'll give. But
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  Speaker 4: my goodness, if he's a contributor and helps that game,
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  Speaker 4: it'll be a game changer for BYU.
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  Speaker 2: Can they win if they don't have him?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, they can win. They beat Notre Dame without it.
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  Speaker 4: But they can't turn the ball over. They can't lose
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  Speaker 4: the turnover margin. Utah and their stadium stands to have
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  Speaker 4: the advantage in the turnover margin. If Utah wins the
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: turnover margin, I think Utah wins the football game. There's
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  Speaker 4: a few other things that BYU's got to do better.
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  Speaker 4: They're special teams. they can't make critical special teams errors. They,
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  Speaker 4: they have to play fundamental football better. Um, and, and
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  Speaker 4: that's where coaching comes into play here. They, in these
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  Speaker 4: types of games with the emotions, the team that does
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  Speaker 4: the team that blocks the best and the team that
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  Speaker 4: tackles the best and the team that, you know, makes
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  Speaker 4: critical downs and critical situation, coaching decisions that manage those situations,
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  Speaker 4: the best is going to win this game. And, and, um,
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  Speaker 4: Both of these coaching staffs have got a pretty good
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  Speaker 4: track record going right now, being in a position to
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  Speaker 4: be successful. I think Utah more so than BYU right
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  Speaker 4: now in some of those areas, but anything can happen
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  Speaker 4: on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: When you look at the kind of landscape of BYU
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  Speaker 2: athletics right now, obviously high hopes for the basketball team
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  Speaker 2: as well. You earlier in the conversation said referenced the
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  Speaker 2: NIL thing. And look, you're part of the legacy of
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  Speaker 2: this athletic department as one of the great players that
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: have come through BYU football. When you compare your time
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  Speaker 2: and different conference, smaller stage, all those things, to what
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  Speaker 2: BYU is now, even the makeup of the student body
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  Speaker 2: and the athletic teams themselves, right? They're a lot less
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  Speaker 2: homogenous than they were back when you and I played.
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  Speaker 2: Just your thoughts on what BYU has become relative to
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  Speaker 2: what it was and what it means for the athletic
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  Speaker 2: department and the football team.
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  Speaker 4: They've changed the culture of the venue experience. You know,
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: Utah created the must, and that has been such a
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: massive advantage for Utah and the way that the stadium
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  Speaker 4: environment up there, and BYU had to figure out how
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  Speaker 4: to recreate the experience for the fans. And by engaging
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  Speaker 4: the student body has, I think, been one of the
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  Speaker 4: best decisions they've made. And now the student body at
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  Speaker 4: basketball games and football games, not only are they ruckus
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  Speaker 4: and do a great job, but They feel an ownership
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  Speaker 4: unlike they've ever felt before, and that's really created a
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  Speaker 4: huge advantage for BYU and the environment. And then, you know,
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  Speaker 4: to the administration's credit, they've brought in a handful of
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  Speaker 4: administrators that have been really key in the NIL environment,
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  Speaker 4: enabling them to go out and get good players. They've
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: got a guy there on campus that people don't talk
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: much about. His name is Travis Hanson. But he sits
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: in the seat down there supporting both athletic departments. I'm sorry,
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: athletic directors for both football and basketball and other sports.
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  Speaker 4: And there are a handful of people like him that
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  Speaker 4: kind of behind the scenes are making things really advantageous
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  Speaker 4: for them. And then those that have the ability to
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  Speaker 4: donate and participate are doing that. And then they're paying
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  Speaker 4: their coaches back. And they haven't paid their coaches in
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: years past. Now they're paying their coaches competitive wages. So
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: they're able to recruit and retain very, very good football
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: coaches along with the players. And you combine all that,
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  Speaker 4: now you have a chance to be successful. All right.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: On Saturday at 10 a.m., what is the dome and
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: routine to watch this game? What are you going to
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: be doing to take in this BYU-Utah game?
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: Oh, man, I'm going to be in St. George watching
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: my boys in the lacrosse tournament. Oh, wow. When they
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: announced the game at 10 a.m., I was pretty bummed
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: because I'm going to be watching it from my little
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: phone screen. But I'll be watching it, cheering on my
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: kids and just down there supporting the family. And I'm
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: just as excited as everybody else. I'll certainly be watching it,
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: but it won't be in the stadium or anything. sitting
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: in front of a big screen or anything.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: Do you have a prediction? Oh, man.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: I never pick Utah to win. I know I'm on
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: a Utah station.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: We don't expect you to. That's all right. Won't do it.
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: Can't do it. But I think if BYU wins this game,
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: it's going to be just barely at the end. So
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: I pick BYU 27 to 24.
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  Speaker 3: All right. All right. That's Brandon Doman's official pick. Will.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: If you're right, we won't ever remind you of it.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: If you're wrong, we'll probably cut that up and play.
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: It over and over, all right?
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  Speaker 4: I love it. I love it.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: Brandon, appreciate your time. Enjoy St. George. Thank you, sir.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: You bet, guys.
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  Speaker 4: Take care.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Brandon Dillman, former BYU quarterback and offensive coordinator.