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Bill Riley on Utah's bye week, Concerns through 4 games, Best player on the team so far + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: You're tuned to The Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 and 92.1 FM. Not every
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: guest on the show has their own entrance music, but
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: when you hear this one, you know who's coming on.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: It's the voice of the youth, Bill Reilly.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Giving us some more time here on a Friday that
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: also happens to be a bye week. So as much
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: of an off weekend as he's going to get in
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: a football season.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Bill, welcome to the show. How are you?
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Sean, I'm great. Thanks for the intro music. Love it.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: So bye week for the University of Utah. How does
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Morgan Scali and this crew win the bye week? How
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: did they if the week is mostly done?
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: I would guess they just worked on things that needed
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: cleaning up. I mean, you're 4-0, you're in pretty good shape,
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: but nobody's perfect right now. So I would guess they
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: probably worked on some things, probably cleaning up a few
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: things defensively, probably maybe trying to work on getting a
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: little bit more pressure with those edge defenders, maybe working
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: on some run fits a little bit more because I
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: think as the season goes along, they're going to face
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: more and more talented teams. What they faced in the
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: first four games was, You know, there were a couple
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: of solid teams in there. Nobody's spectacular. And come late
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: October and throughout the month of November, it's going to
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: get tougher. I'd say probably on the offensive side, maybe
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: just cleaning up some little things, getting some more reps in.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: But it's hard to argue with what Kevin McGiven's offense
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: has done. You could nitpick a little bit and say
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: maybe some slow starts in the second half, but they're
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: still one of the top two or three offenses in
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: the Big 12 Conference by whatever metric you want to
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: look at. So, I would just say probably cleaning up
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: little things. And to be fair, we always talk about
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: bi-weeks getting healthy. The one good thing so far for
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: this Utah football team has been the fact that they've
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: been relatively healthy. They haven't had any major injuries.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: We have been very persnickety on the show this week because...
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: When you're a 4-0 football team and it's not easy
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: to point at, well, you've got to fix this.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Oh, you've got to do this better. You did just
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: allude to it.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: The second half, the start of the second half, third
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: quarters have been, if there is a weak moment, if
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: there is a lull for this team, it's been in
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the third quarter. They've given up the most points per
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: quarter in their four-game sample size in the third quarter.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and they've scored the fewest points in their own third
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: quarters when they've got the ball. Is there anything that
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: you can see that explains that, or that would be
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: easy to go into practice this week and say, all right, guys,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: we've identified this as a minor problem.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Here's how we're going to fix it.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: Well, maybe last week you might say, well, you know,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: way Sean Parker was having himself a really nice day,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: maybe a few more touches there, but It's hard to
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: nitpick Kevin McGiven's offense because it's been so good in
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: that first half. I don't know myself, Sean, if it's
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: an intensity or a focus thing or defense is making adjustments,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: but for whatever reason, the third quarters have looked different
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: in the Utah State and the Iowa State games. I've again,
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: numbers say one thing. I don't know what the, the,
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: the core issue is with it. I just know that
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: they haven't been quite as effective in that third quarter
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  Speaker 3: as they have in the first two.
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  Speaker 1: And we, I tried to figure it out on the
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: show earlier in the week. And it's like, part of
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: it might just be human nature. Part of it might
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: just be that, you know, that you've got a three
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: score lead coming out of the half and it's hard
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  Speaker 1: to amp yourself up to an equal measure or whatever.
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  Speaker 2: Also, you've got to give credit to other teams in
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  Speaker 2: some cases like this.
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  Speaker 1: If you go into halftime and you're down two scores
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  Speaker 1: or three scores, you're going to come out blazing in
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  Speaker 1: the second half knowing that, hey, we have to correct
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  Speaker 1: this now because if we don't, we're going to run
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  Speaker 1: out of time to do so. I think it's nothing
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  Speaker 1: overly alarming, but it is something that I think we identified.
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  Speaker 1: You also talked about maybe getting more pressure from those
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  Speaker 1: defensive ends, from the edge rushers.
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  Speaker 2: I've been trying to be a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: More careful how I talk about this because like they're
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: affecting quarterback play. Lance holds law and Ethan day and
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: cash Dylan and Paul Fitzgerald. They're affecting what the other
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  Speaker 1: quarterback does. They just don't, they're not piling up the stats.
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  Speaker 1: They're not creating sack fumbles. They're not creating sacks as
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: of this moment. So it's one of those things where
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: it's like, well, you're doing 90% of the job. That
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: final 10%, how do we get there? I don't know
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: how big of a problem it is or how big
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: of an issue it is that you're not getting a
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: bunch of sacks because, again, we're being nitpicky here, but
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: how do they get from where they're at now to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: getting that quarterback down to the ground?
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: That's a good question because, again, you're right. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: they are getting pressures and batting a lot of balls
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  Speaker 3: down at the line of scrimmage, too. Lance Holtzclaw's got
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  Speaker 3: a bunch of those this year. And Ethan Day's been
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: really good at pressuring the quarterback. I just look at
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: it and think it's just a little odd when you think,
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  Speaker 3: Your defensive tackles have three sacks. Your defensive ends have none.
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  Speaker 3: You've got 10 as a team, but none from the edges.
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  Speaker 3: And again, some of that could be scheme. It's just
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: very unusual for Utah, a team that's always had great
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: defensive end plays, you know, four games in not to
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: have one. That's not to say it won't come. And
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  Speaker 3: to your point, they are getting pressure. They are harassing
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  Speaker 3: the quarterback. They are doing some really nice things. you know,
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  Speaker 3: I just, I think that if you probably talk to
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  Speaker 3: an LK Brechterfield, he'd probably like to see a couple
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  Speaker 3: of his guys get that quarterback down to the ground.
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  Speaker 3: But to your point too, sometimes pressures can be every
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: bit as good as the sack itself. Pressure can force
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  Speaker 3: an incomplete pass. A pressure can force an interception. and
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: they're getting those. The one thing I will say is
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: I think the defensive tackle play has been much improved
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  Speaker 3: this year. Jai Mo has been a revelation for this team.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: Bronson Kofusi has been really, really good, too. Lucas Samsula
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  Speaker 3: has flashed. Pupu Sepulona has flashed. but I would say
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: compared to a year ago, maybe they're not quite getting
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: the production on the end that they had with a
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Logan Fano or a John Henry Taley, but I think
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: they're getting maybe better production than they got a year
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: ago on the interior.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: The defensive backfield is, by some metrics, the best defensive
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: backfield in all of college football right now with their
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: success rate. And by the way, they've dropped– or almost
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: had like another five interceptions over, over what they've had.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: You got one robbed by the officials last week.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I'm like, man, what would their grade would be an
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: even 100 or a 99.9. If they would have caught
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: all the interceptions that were available to them. But that
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: unit obviously has done an incredible job and no surprise
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: when we're talking about Sharif Shah, but, but coach Odom
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: comes back onto this staff and And immediately the safeties,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, Nate Richie's playing better football than he ever has.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I think we got to give him the players certainly
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  Speaker 1: get credit, but I think coach Odom gets credit as well.
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  Speaker 3: Why I agree with all of that, Sean, the safety
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  Speaker 3: room's always good for Utah. I think a big part
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  Speaker 3: of it for Nate is he's healthy. I mean, Nate,
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  Speaker 3: Nate Richie has battled injuries throughout his career in Utah.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: He is finally healthy. He Jackson, Benny rabbit Evans. I'll
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: even throw Nate. Nate Tillman's been good. When he's gotten
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: in there this year, you knew Scooby Davis was a
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: really good corner on one side. They go to the
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: portal the way they did a year ago. And I mean,
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: they had two guys in the portal that are just
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: rotating and doing great work for him and Bobo Chenault
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: and Elijah Reed. So the back, I think it's fair
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: to say the back end of that defense has been
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: a huge, huge plus for them this year. And, you know,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: I think the backers have been solid. In fact, I
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: think the young backers and Elijah Ellis and, and Cyrus Paul,
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: who have been really good, you know, Trey Reynolds and
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: John Hall have been good too, but you know, the defense, again,
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: when you're four and oh, you've got to buy a week.
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  Speaker 3: It's easy to look at some things. They've been really,
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  Speaker 3: really good, but I probably have been most impressed on
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  Speaker 3: that whole defensive unit with the tackles, because I didn't
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: know what to make of a lot of new guys
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  Speaker 3: coming in and that safety room.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Bill Riley, voice of the Utes, our guest here on
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: the Sean O'Connell Show, talking all things Utes during their
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: bye week. No game this weekend. They'll be back against
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Kansas next week. We'll get to that here in just
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: a second. Are we ready to stop wondering about the
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: offensive line? I mean, four games is a big chunk.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: It's not a full season, and we still have had
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: plenty of rotation in these first four games, but They've
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: played well. And guys, as individual performers, I think are
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: starting to prove some things, not only to Jordan Gross
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: and Kevin McGibbon, but to everyone who's observing this offensive line. Still,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: where are we at on the spectrum of, well, let's
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: wait and see, or we're still questioning you?
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: I'm not waiting and seeing anymore. I'm not questioning them.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: I think they're good. Now the question is, what's their ceiling?
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: I think this is a good offensive line, Sean. I
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: think we saw a lot of rotating early. I'd be
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: surprised if games are close, if we see much rotating.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: I kind of feel like they have found five guys
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: they like. That's not to say they don't have a
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: couple of other guys that they can squeeze in there
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: as well. But I think they have kind of found
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: five guys that they like with the ability to rotate
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: guys in if needed. But I thought this was going
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: to be a good offensive line, talking to some of
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: the guys this summer and Jordan Gross and Kevin McGiven.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: I think through four games, everybody was worried. I don't
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: think there's anything to be worried about. Again, competition is
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: going to get better. I get all of that stuff.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: But Zeroway Williams looks like a Caleb Lomu right now.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: He looks like one of those guys out there, the
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: great footwork, the athleticism. And really, with Zeroway Williams, it
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: was never about ability. It was about people in front
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: of him and or health. He's been terrific this year.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: I think the freshman Obot's been great. Alex Harrison, the
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: middle of that line, kind of quarterbacking at center. I
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: think they really, really like Cedric Jefferson, too, the kid
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: from Montana State who won a national championship last year
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: at the right tackle spot. But I think they feel
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: good about some guys that they've got in there now.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: So I'm not worried about it. I think that there's
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: a lot more upside to this offensive line. But I
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: think if this, for whatever reason, let's just say this
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: was the best it was going to be this year,
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: I think this is a good offensive line.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you mentioned Zaraway Williams because as you know,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: my guy, Jeff Schwartz, who you've talked to plenty, he's,
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: he's involved in like a lot of that evaluation, Joe
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Moore award voting, the pre NFL draft scouting of offensive linemen.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: He goes and does the big man camp with his
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: buddy Duke and gets a lot of those guys ready.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: The offensive line version of like a Manning camp or whatever.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: And zero way Williams has entered their group chat. Zero
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: way is now being talked about. It's like, Hey, where
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: was this guy? And then of course they all know
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: because they follow the offensive lines. Like, Oh yeah, he
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: was playing behind a first round draft pick. It's a
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: testament to the culture of Utah football that he's still there.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: and that he didn't take the easy route and transfer
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: and get out of there when he had an opportunity,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: and he did have opportunities. But also, it's a huge
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: testament to Zeroway as a person. Being a backup is
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: not easy, especially when you're a 6'8'' monstrosity with starter caliber, athleticism,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and technique, and he bided his time. He sat behind
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: guys that I'm sure helped make him better, and now
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: it looks like Utah and he individually could be reaping
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: the rewards for this. It's kind of a feel-good story
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: in college football that doesn't get told all that often
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: anymore because it's, what can you do for me right now?
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Same thing with Alex Harrison. Same thing with a guy
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: like Keith Olson. I mean, these guys have all been
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: in the program four and five years, and they've bided
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: their time behind guys that were in front of them. Sean,
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: I'm old enough to remember. You're borderline old enough to
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: remember those great Nebraska offensive lines of the 80s and 90s.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: The Cornhuskers were the first people that really used the
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: red shirt big time. They'd bring those guys in. They'd
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: put them in that world-class weight room. They'd red shirt
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: them for a couple of years. Those guys, a lot
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: of them didn't play till they were juniors or seniors.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: And this was before fifth and sixth year stuff. But
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, you had to earn your time. You got bigger,
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: you got stronger, you learned the system. And then those
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: guys were all Americans in a year and they were
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: playing in the NFL the next year. I think we've
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: just gotten so used to college football today where guys
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: either play as freshmen and start as freshmen because they're
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: so highly touted and they're worried if they're going to
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: transfer or they stay in a program two or three
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: years and if they don't play, then they transfer that way.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: I think if you're looking at the big picture of
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: the history of college football, Zero Way Williams and some
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: of these guys have kind of followed the natural progression
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: of how it kind of used to be and getting
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: bigger and learning. And then when you get your opportunity,
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: you thrive because you're ready to go.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: I can't believe I've abdicated my responsibility. We made it
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: 15 minutes into a conversation, and I have yet to
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: mention the quarterback. And Devin Dampier, obviously, is massively important
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: to what this team is doing. Bird Ficklin is just
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: behind him. Backup's not even the right word. It's like
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: his sidekick quarterback. And Kevin McGibbon's done a masterful job
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: of getting them all touches and things like that. But
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Devin's grading out incredibly well. He compares very well with
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: not only other quarterbacks, in the big 12 conference, but nationally,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: a lot of people think he's a top 15, top
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: 20 style quarterback could be even better than that. And
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: if he maintains this pace, it feels like the ceiling
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: is incredibly high for this team.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: Am I missing anything?
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: I don't think so. I mean, I think Devin just
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: looks much more comfortable this year. One, he's healthy. He
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: hasn't suffered a, a real debilitating injury like he did
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: early in the season last year against Texas tech and
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: So I think he feels good. I think he trusts
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: his offensive line. Maybe it's not the line it was
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: a year ago, but I think he's another year more
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: mature as a starter, Sean. I think he was at
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: New Mexico having to be Superman. And then I think
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: there was still a little bit of that tendency a
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: year ago to where I've got to make the spectacular play.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: I've got to add Libb. And I think being a
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: little bit more mature another year in the system, being
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: with Kevin McGiven, but also being surrounded by the cast
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: that he's got, whether it's Ficklin or Parker or Bray
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: or Pagan or Johnson or Whitamore or Hunter, you name them.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: There's just so much there around him that I don't
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: feel like Devin, because he did it in New Mexico,
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: and maybe he did last year a little bit when
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: they weren't running it, I get a sense that he
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: just feels... You talk to him every week. I don't
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: know what kind of sense you get, but when I've
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: been around him and then obviously when I call the games,
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: he just looks very comfortable running the show.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: I think comfortable in everything is why he's... Off the field,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: I think he's more comfortable. I think he's got a
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: really good situation with his management team and his teammates
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: love him and he loves his coaches. I think that
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: we now know that His success is because of himself
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: and not just his attachment to Jason Beck, which might
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: have been something that people weighed in.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: It's really interesting to try to pinpoint the reasons why,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: but it kind of doesn't matter. He's just playing great football,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: and it's fun to watch, and hopefully continues to be
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: fun to watch, and he can stay as healthy as
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: he is right now.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: Let me ask you a question.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: Because people ask me this all the time, but I'm
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: going to ask you. Four games, almost a month of football,
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: not great competition, solid competition. What's the big question you
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: still have?
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: About this Utah football team?
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: It's literally, can they sustain it when they play a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Houston caliber opponent, a BYU caliber opponent? And there's nothing
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: that tells me they can't. It's like, can you play
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: this level of football against teams that are your equal
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: from a physical talent standpoint and from a coaching standpoint?
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Right now, they haven't had to answer that question. They
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: have not played anyone who is across the board as
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: physically talented as they are and is across the board
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: as well coached as they are. They are beating up
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: on lesser than right now. And my only question, and
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: it's kind of a minor one, and it's one that
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: exists for every team every single year.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Can you play this well?
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: When you're against somebody who is your equal or maybe
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: someone who's even a little bit more talented than you,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: that is the question I have now. And I think
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: you're only going to really get to answer that question
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: in maybe two games, three games of the regular season.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's Houston. I think it's BYU. I
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: think maybe it's, it's Arizona going down to Arizona. I
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: don't know what to make of Cincinnati yet. I know
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: they're four. No, I know they beat Kansas state last week.
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: Kansas State hadn't played anybody. Maybe Cincinnati's sneaky good. I
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: would also maybe throw TCU or West Virginia in there
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: that month of November. West Virginia kind of fell back
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: to earth a little bit at home last week, gagging
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: on that lead. I think this is a big week
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: for both BYU and TCU. One for BYU, they take
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: the show on the road. One for TCU, hey man,
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: you've lost twice this year. If you're going to be
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: a good team, you kind of have to do it
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: at home. But I agree with you. I agree. And
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: to be fair, I thought a year ago for three
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: quarters against Texas Tech, they were right there. And I
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: think Devin being banged up in that game really showed
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: the defense got worn down in the fourth quarter. The
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: BYU game, to me, Utah was their equal, except for
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: they beat themselves with no conversions on fourth down, and
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: the fumble hurt them, too. But I thought that they
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: were right there with the two teams that played for
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: the conference championship. So I'm with you. I think this
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: season's very much a continuation of last season, but I
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: think this team's maybe got a higher ceiling offensively than
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: last year's team did.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Which is such a wild thing to say because you
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: had the fourth best rushing attack in college football last year.
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: So, well, I mean, it was the quietest 11 and
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: two season ever.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: I mean, what'd they miss by two spots, three spots.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: They missed the bid. They missed the big 12 championship
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: game by one or two fourth down conversions. I mean,
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: it's more, maybe if you just opt to kick field
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: goals there, instead you're playing in the big 12 championship game. Anyway,
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: we can always litigate that back. But my point was,
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: I think people have forgotten and I've gone on some
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: national shows and talked about it. They were a really,
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: really good 11 and two team a year ago.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: And now they've got a reinvigorated, even better version of
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: way Sean Parker. And this will be the last thing
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: that we talked about bill, but he's right now, he's
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: the best player on this football team. And there's a
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: lot of really good players on this football team. How
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: close are we to way Sean being in the conversation
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: with the Zach Mosses and the fast Eddie Johnson's and
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: the Devante bookers and a bunch of the great guys
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: that have rolled through this position at the university of Utah.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: Well, I didn't know when he came in the program
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: if he was an NFL back. He looked like a
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: good college back to me. You watch him this year,
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: he's an NFL back. back. And NFL scouts that have
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: come and watched him play have said the same thing
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: about Wayshawn Parker. He doesn't have a deficiency in his game, Sean.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: He runs. He's got great burst. He's got great vision.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: He breaks tackles. He catches the ball, as we've seen,
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: exceedingly well out of the backfield. He's really good in
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: the open field. And maybe the thing that NFL guys
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: love the most is his pass protection is silly. His
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: blitz pickup and his pass protection, he is really good.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: He checks all three of those running back boxes. I
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: don't know if he's going to put up 14, 1500
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: yards just because of where he's at right now, but
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: he's got nine touchdowns and he's catching it well. And
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: you're right. He outside of Devin Dampier, he's the most
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: important football player on this team. And to this point
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: in time, and maybe it was a little calculated. Maybe
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: they say that maybe they were saving him. Maybe they're
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: going to, you know, use, utilize him more as we
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: get into conference season. And they were saving some of
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: those hits and those touches, you know, early in the
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: season to get some other people involved, but, based on
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: what we saw last week in Ames, he is, he's,
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: he's on that list. He may not have the career
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: numbers at Utah that a guy like Zach Moss does,
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: because I'm not sure he'll be here for years, but he's,
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: he's really good.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: He's not going to touch Alex Smith who accounted for
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: 42 total touchdowns, but I.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Mean, he's on pace.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: He, he, If he stays on the pace he's at
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: right now, he's going to score 27. Even if he
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: scores 25, that's the most productive year that we've ever
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: had touchdown-wise.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: From a running back.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: It's funny. I had a preseason battle for the Big 12.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: I made Devin Dampier my preseason offensive player of the
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: year in the conference. It may end up being way
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: Sean Parker. Again, if you factor in touchdown production, receiving
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: and catching yards, he's going to be in that mix.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: And to me, at the end of the day, the
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: thing that's about him and hearing Morgan talk about a
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: lot of these guys on the offensive side especially is
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: that they just want to win. They just want to win.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: And they know winning is going to be, you know,
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: get them all the attention they want.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: All right, I'm going to– I'm going to limit you.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: You can only watch one big 12 football game this weekend.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: UCF Houston, your alma mater, Kansas is middle Tennessee.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: So throw that one out. BYU TCU.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: You mentioned Texas tech is at Colorado, Cincinnati at Arizona.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: Both of those teams, I think have a chance to
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: be pretty good. Baylor at Arizona state, which game, if
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: you only get to.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: Watch one, I'm probably going to go BYU-TCU because Utah
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: plays both of those teams. And like I said earlier,
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: this is kind of the backs against the wall game
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: for TCU. You've lost twice. You lost in conference. If
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: you want to have any chance, you've got to be
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: able to protect your home turf. And for BYU, I
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: know they played at Colorado State. I get that. And
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: they're good. But I really want to see what that
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: looks like when they go on the road against a
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: desperate team because I think TCU is going to be desperate.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Bill, enjoy your weekend, your off weekend. Rest that voice,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: I guess, a little bit. And we'll chat again next week.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Sean. Talk to you soon.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Bill Riley, that conversation is brought to you by our
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