Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / JT Wistricill Previews Upcoming Utah Football Season, Optimism On The Season (?), Consistency With Defense (?) + More

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JT Wistricill Previews Upcoming Utah Football Season, Optimism On The Season (?), Consistency With Defense (?) + More · The Sean O'Connell Show

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Speaker 1: JT.
0:00
Speaker 2: Westerstill locked on Ute's podcast host Ute Authority Online twenty
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Speaker 2: four to seven Sports dot Com Slash College slash Utah.
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Speaker 1: You're already following everything, I'm sure. JT. Western Shill kind
0:16
Speaker 1: of have to join us on the show today. Welcome JT.
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Speaker 1: How are you doing good?
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Speaker 3: Good to be hon with you, Sean. I appreciate you
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Speaker 3: having me.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's nice to you to give us some time.
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Speaker 2: So you know, you and I have not had a
0:26
Speaker 2: conversation since the insanity of the offseason played out. And
0:31
Speaker 2: you know, Kyle Whittingham no longer the head coach. Morgan
0:34
Speaker 2: Scalley takes over. He has to replace most of his
0:38
Speaker 2: offensive staff, well his entire offensive staff. He has to
0:41
Speaker 2: replace one of the more important coaches on the staff.
0:44
Speaker 2: And Lewis Powell and the recruiting front and the defensive
0:47
Speaker 2: ends coach, and you know, they did an excellent job.
0:50
Speaker 2: I thought of retention, even though they did lose some
0:52
Speaker 2: players did an excellent job of retention in keeping, especially
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Speaker 2: Devin Dan Pierre in the fold, keeping Bird fickle and
1:00
Speaker 2: somehow in the fold as well. And I wanted your
1:02
Speaker 2: thoughts on the big picture of just you know, how
1:06
Speaker 2: much uncertainty is there around this Utah football team heading
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Speaker 2: into a season where Vegas says they're gonna win somewhere
1:14
Speaker 2: in the eight to nine, maybe ten game range.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the craziest thing, right. We have a new
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Speaker 3: head coach still, even if it's a guy who's just
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Speaker 3: stepping up from the DC chair to the head coach,
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Speaker 3: and you're still projected to win more than eight games.
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Speaker 3: And you look at a lot of the other coaches
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Speaker 3: who are a lot of the other schools in the
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Speaker 3: Big twelve who are turning over coaches, they're not as fortunate.
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Speaker 3: I mean, you talk to people about how ohioa state
1:33
Speaker 3: it's going to be this year. It's not ideal, and
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Speaker 3: Kansas State's a big enigma. But it's just hard anytime
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Speaker 3: you replace the coach to feel really strong about a
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Speaker 3: team going into the season. Utah has been able to
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Speaker 3: do that. And I think you mentioned one of the
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Speaker 3: biggest keys as being the retention aspect. Anytime you return
1:48
Speaker 3: a guy like Devin damp here, you're gonna feel like
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Speaker 3: you have a chance against pretty much anyone in the country. Honestly,
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Speaker 3: with his dual threat abilities, and we know he's playing
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Speaker 3: hurt for most of the last year or too, so in fact,
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Speaker 3: he's still won Big Twelve Newcomer of the Year was
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Speaker 3: just mendous. You mentioned getting bird back to so excited
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Speaker 3: about even just what his role will be this year,
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Speaker 3: let alone when he'll likely be the starter in twenty
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Speaker 3: twenty seven. And way Seawn Parkers are running back going
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Speaker 3: to be I think one of the better backs in
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Speaker 3: the Big twelve. I don't know if he's he'll be
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Speaker 3: the guys L J. Martin looks really good there. But
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Speaker 3: there's just a lot of key returners on this team.
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Speaker 3: It's gonna be tough when you have to replace what
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Speaker 3: is all nine starters in the trenches on the D
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Speaker 3: line and then switch it over the O line too.
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Speaker 3: But look, Morgan Scalley is still there, most of the defensive
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Speaker 3: staff in place, and a lot of excitement around the
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Speaker 3: new offensive additions, not just from a player's standpoint, but
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Speaker 3: a staff standpoint too, So I'm excited. And also to say,
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Speaker 3: a schedule that I think really sets this team up
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Speaker 3: for success. So it should be a really fun year.
2:39
Speaker 3: And you mentioned Vaull Campus is right around the corner.
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Speaker 3: Can't wait to get it all under way.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, We talked about that schedule to start the show today,
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Speaker 2: the grand scheme of how these predictions are being put
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Speaker 2: together by Vegas by the books in relative to the
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Speaker 2: Big twelve conference, it seems like, you know, there's high
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Speaker 2: optimism for Texas Tech. There's BYUS highly thought of Utah
3:02
Speaker 2: with that eight and a half win total, right where
3:04
Speaker 2: BYU is at. I think that they're taking a win
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Speaker 2: away from BYU because they've got Notre Dame in the
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Speaker 2: middle of the schedule. But when you look at like
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Speaker 2: where Utah, Kansas State, BYU are at, all, those teams
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Speaker 2: expected to kind of be crowded right behind Texas Tech.
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Speaker 2: We're coming off of Big twelve media days. Do you
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Speaker 2: see it that way or is there another team that's
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Speaker 2: on your radar that you think is going to be
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Speaker 2: in the conversation with the two in state teams and
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Speaker 2: Texas Tech.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Houston and Arizona are right there as
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Speaker 3: well too. You can make an argument for Arizona State,
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Speaker 3: but I feel like it's just so much more Kenny
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Speaker 3: Dillingham argument than anything else with all they turn over to.
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Speaker 3: But really, Fritz, that Houston's just done a tremendous job
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Speaker 3: there and I think there if you look just the
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Speaker 3: progression that program is making. You know, they beat Utah,
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Speaker 3: of course a couple of years ago, back when it
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Speaker 3: was kind of Isaac Wilson Brandon Rose at the time.
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Speaker 3: But even last year, how great of a team were they.
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Speaker 3: I think it's fair to question they had that West
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Speaker 3: Virginia lost got hammered by. Granted most of the conference did,
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Speaker 3: but I think Houston is should be right there with
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Speaker 3: the Utah. I think Houston and then Arizona I would say,
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Speaker 3: if a Feta is the best quarterback in the conference,
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Speaker 3: I think anywhere from him. Dampierre bear Bachmeyer all right
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Speaker 3: in that discussion too, But even the Wildcats did lose
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Speaker 3: a lot in the secondary and they have a very
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Speaker 3: tough schedule, so we'll see how they fare this fall.
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Speaker 3: But the Houston team not just excites me. The Houston
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Speaker 3: game excites me for Utah because I think that's their
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Speaker 3: true first test. Like, yes, Arkansas is an SEC team,
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Speaker 3: but when the SEC preseason poll comes out, they will
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Speaker 3: probably be at the bottom of that with a new
4:32
Speaker 3: coach taking over and the roster turnover, lost their quarterback.
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Speaker 3: So I'm just I don't know if we'll really have
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Speaker 3: a good idea for how good this Utah team is
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Speaker 3: until that Houston game, because then I think you're playing
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Speaker 3: a legitimate top twenty five team, and that's where you
4:45
Speaker 3: It's nice that you talk and hey, get the offensively
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Speaker 3: and chemistry down the first few weeks, figure out who
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Speaker 3: the top pass rushers are, and get some of the
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Speaker 3: other new players and the chemistry down between damp Here
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Speaker 3: and some of those new receivers that Utah added to.
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Speaker 3: So schedule sets up nicely, and I think, really Houston
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Speaker 3: is that other team. I think they're very much on
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Speaker 3: equal footing with Utah, and Arizona could be right there
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Speaker 3: as well too, So Big twelve in some ways would
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Speaker 3: be a little unpredictable again, especially with all the soores
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Speaker 3: be news, So it should be a lot of fun
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Speaker 3: this year.
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Speaker 2: I don't disagree with what you're saying in Houston being
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Speaker 2: maybe the first like really stiff test.
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Speaker 1: But just for the people out there listening, that is.
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Speaker 2: Week eight, So we're talking about a possibility where like
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Speaker 2: we're still kind of wondering what Utah is until week
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Speaker 2: eight of the college football season. So that's Idowa, Arkansas,
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Speaker 2: Utah State, Iowa, State, by Kansas, Colorado and then Houston
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Speaker 2: in week eight. Is your expectation that we're talking about
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Speaker 2: a six and one seven and oh Utah team going
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Speaker 2: into that matchup with Houston.
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Speaker 3: I think if they're not seven and oh, it's a disappointment.
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Speaker 3: I really do. When you look at how the schedule
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Speaker 3: sets up. You already mentioned getting those first three at home,
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Speaker 3: and yes, Utah State is still has some nice pieces,
5:56
Speaker 3: but we even took a lot of the best pieces
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Speaker 3: right when you look at Pagan coming over and Kevin
6:00
Speaker 3: Given coming over to I, like McKay hill said, I
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Speaker 3: think he's a solid quarterback, was the backup at BYU,
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Speaker 3: but I don't think he's walking in the right cycle
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Speaker 3: stadium getting a win. We already mentioned how much turnover
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Speaker 3: there is at Arkansas and also remember the last time
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Speaker 3: at the SECT made the trip up to Salt Lake
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Speaker 3: City and the Utah defense, and that was a while ago,
6:16
Speaker 3: but I still remember what they did to that floor team,
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Speaker 3: and I just think, Morgan Scalley, this team, this staff,
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Speaker 3: they're gonna come ready. It takes a really good quarterback
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Speaker 3: to win in Salt Lake City. Even when Utah was
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Speaker 3: down a couple of years ago, it was rock O Beckt,
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Speaker 3: it was Hoover who's now at TCU, it was Fefeeda.
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Speaker 3: So it just takes a good quarterback play to beat Utah.
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Speaker 3: And I have a lot of questions about if the
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Speaker 3: Razorbacks are gonna have that this year. Even even talk
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Speaker 3: to people in Arkansas, they're gonna have questions about that too.
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Speaker 3: I know Colorado should be better, and they're talking about
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Speaker 3: some of the new staff editions they've made to making
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Speaker 3: them better. But I have to see it to believe it.
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Speaker 3: I know Lewis was a high recruit, but we have
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Speaker 3: to see if he's capable of it. Maybe Isaac Wilson
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Speaker 3: plays in that game. It's probably not likely, but that
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Speaker 3: would be quite the reunion there. And yeah, outside of that, Kansas,
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Speaker 3: I mean, Jalen Daniels is gone and that pro is
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Speaker 3: just not trending in the right direction either. And re
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Speaker 3: I mentioned that this time last year, right, if we
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Speaker 3: had to go to Iowa State last year, I'd be
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Speaker 3: nervous about that. But there's a reason that Iowa State
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Speaker 3: is what it was. It was Matt Campbell and he's gone,
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Speaker 3: and they didn't have the same Utah. Almost every one State, right,
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Speaker 3: Iowa State, that wasn't the case. Almost everyone left. Yes,
7:18
Speaker 3: Utah lost a couple of key players and coaches, but
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Speaker 3: at least they returned some. Iowa State returned almost nothing.
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Speaker 3: So I really feel like this schedule sets Utah up
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Speaker 3: to be seven to zero. And we do see this
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Speaker 3: happen in college football seasons, where a team gets a
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Speaker 3: soft schedule, then they hit the tough games, and then
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Speaker 3: we learn about them. Are they a team that's capable
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Speaker 3: of contending with the best teams in league or were
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Speaker 3: they a pretender? I hope that for Utah it's that
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Speaker 3: they are a two contender. But I just really do
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Speaker 3: feel like this team should be seven to zero, and
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Speaker 3: the national media is going to be questioning how good
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Speaker 3: they are, and in some ways it's going to be
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Speaker 3: fair because I don't see a top twenty five team
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Speaker 3: on their schedule those first few weeks of the season. J. T.
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Speaker 2: Wister still is our guest talk at ut says, we
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Speaker 2: get ready for football camps starting right around the corner
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Speaker 2: of football season about six weeks away early September, is
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Speaker 2: going to be fascinating watching this Utah team for the
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Speaker 2: first time under Morgan Scalley as the head coach, and
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Speaker 2: you mentioned already some turnover on especially the defensive front.
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Speaker 2: I like the linebackers that this team has. I think
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Speaker 2: that your defensive backfield looks pretty good. We'll see if
8:18
Speaker 2: they're elite, but I think they look pretty good so far.
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Speaker 2: My question for you is, JT. How much consistency do
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Speaker 2: you think there will be on the defensive side of
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Speaker 2: the ball. Morgan scally moves into a head coaching role
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Speaker 2: where he does not get to handle the minutia. Right,
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Speaker 2: he's an administrator now. It's something that he has mentioned
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Speaker 2: many many times that's the hardest part of this transition
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Speaker 2: for him. He doesn't have a position group, he doesn't
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Speaker 2: get to be quite his hands on. He's not calling
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Speaker 2: the defense. And I know Colton Swan is going to
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Speaker 2: do things similarly to how Morgan did it. But just
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Speaker 2: like Morgan made tweaks and Kalani Satake when he was
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Speaker 2: running the defense made tweaks, and Gary Anderson had his
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Speaker 2: own flavor, and John Peas had his own flavor, and
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Speaker 2: Kyle Whittingham had adjustments based off of his own dad's defense. Right,
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Speaker 2: Like it's a lineage, it's a consistent framework, but there's
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Speaker 2: always something a little bit different. How different do you
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Speaker 2: expect it to be in year one under Colton Swamp Yeah.
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Speaker 3: I think there will be some changes. I don't think
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Speaker 3: it will be crazy different. I just think having been
9:23
Speaker 3: with Morgan for so long, he knows how Morgan wants
9:25
Speaker 3: to do things. But I totally agree there are going
9:27
Speaker 3: to be little differences, little wrinkles and things of that flavor.
9:30
Speaker 3: I really hope that you talk can keep the same
9:33
Speaker 3: blitzing style that they've had under Morgan, because I think
9:35
Speaker 3: that was one of the biggest things that allowed this
9:37
Speaker 3: team to be successful. Stop the run on first and
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Speaker 3: second down, and then hey, just recruit really good corners
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Speaker 3: on the outside who can hold up their man coverage
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Speaker 3: and blitz the farm and also just send blitzes at
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Speaker 3: all types of different angles and just do all types
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Speaker 3: of different things that confuse and create chaos against quarterbacks.
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Speaker 3: But I don't even know if this is a wrinkle,
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Speaker 3: but just what Utah has to do better is they
9:56
Speaker 3: have to get better against the run. Had it then
9:59
Speaker 3: a sixteen team college football playoff format last year and
10:02
Speaker 3: Utah found their way in. I don't know how to
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Speaker 3: run defense would have held up against the best teams
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Speaker 3: in the country, and obviously they swapped a lot of
10:08
Speaker 3: those pieces out for graduation and other things. And you're
10:11
Speaker 3: hoping some sophomores can step up, But that's just an
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Speaker 3: area that has to get better. And I agree with you,
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Speaker 3: I do. I like the linebackers here, right Johnathan Hall,
10:18
Speaker 3: I think he's coming along nicely. Last year's first full
10:20
Speaker 3: year as a starter. Of course, was a safety at
10:22
Speaker 3: one point, but look sent him down to Big twelve
10:24
Speaker 3: media days. He should lead this team in tackles once again,
10:27
Speaker 3: and I think he heeps seeking missile at the linebacker spot,
10:29
Speaker 3: and Trey Reynolds is really solid next to him. And
10:31
Speaker 3: that's not even mentioning Cyrus Paulo guys a freshman last year.
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Speaker 3: I think sophomore should really step up there. But in
10:37
Speaker 3: order for those guys to do what they do best,
10:39
Speaker 3: that defensive front has to stop the run. And I'm
10:42
Speaker 3: curious to see how those freshmen to sophomore stepping up.
10:45
Speaker 3: Like Carson Cafusi's a guy a lot of people are
10:47
Speaker 3: talking about. He's generating a lot of buzz as someone
10:49
Speaker 3: who can step up. Then you need some of those transfers.
10:51
Speaker 3: He added multiple transfers a defensive tackle spot. I think
10:54
Speaker 3: Jah or Moa is a guy from San Jose State
10:56
Speaker 3: who he has a great shot to be the team
10:57
Speaker 3: starter too. But you need those guys to take on
11:00
Speaker 3: the double teams. You hope a Lance Holtzklak can do
11:02
Speaker 3: a good job getting after the quarterback, along with Cash
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Speaker 3: dyllon defensive end and Ethan Day the North Texas transfer
11:07
Speaker 3: to But this is a team that has to stop
11:10
Speaker 3: the run upfront. That's the number one priority for this group. Ben.
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Speaker 3: We'll see how things change slightly schematically, but I really
11:16
Speaker 3: do still believe this Utah team is just going to
11:18
Speaker 3: do everything they can to put pressure on quarterbacks to
11:21
Speaker 3: try to get in those third and long situations and
11:23
Speaker 3: still have those cornerbacks hold up on the outside against
11:26
Speaker 3: those wide receivers for a limited amount of time while
11:29
Speaker 3: you send a lot of pressure. So what all the
11:31
Speaker 3: changes will look like, I'm curious to see, But I
11:33
Speaker 3: do think this Utah defense will remain run the ball,
11:36
Speaker 3: play a league defense. I still think it's going to
11:38
Speaker 3: be the calling card for this Utah football program. Regardless
11:41
Speaker 3: of the slight coaching.
11:42
Speaker 1: Change last year.
11:44
Speaker 2: This time a lot of us were talking about this
11:46
Speaker 2: is Logan Fano's year. He's the guy who's going to
11:49
Speaker 2: be the new mayor of Sac Lake City. He's going
11:51
Speaker 2: to be the one that creates nightmares for opposing offensive
11:55
Speaker 2: tackles and ended up being John Henry Daily instead, So
12:00
Speaker 2: you know, we were wrong about who it was. But
12:02
Speaker 2: the result kind of doesn't matter as long as you
12:04
Speaker 2: have somebody doing it, as long as you have a
12:06
Speaker 2: disruptor rushing the passer. And I want to know if
12:11
Speaker 2: you think there is one like Lance Holtzklaw is supposed
12:14
Speaker 2: to be the guy. He's the one they send down
12:16
Speaker 2: there to Big twelve media Days to be kind of
12:19
Speaker 2: the face the voice of that defensive front. But again,
12:23
Speaker 2: that was Logan Fono last year and it didn't play
12:26
Speaker 2: out that way on the field.
12:27
Speaker 1: So will it be Lance Holtzklaw?
12:29
Speaker 2: Is that somebody else on this roster that is going
12:31
Speaker 2: to lead this team in sacks?
12:33
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think it is Lance. I think it's a
12:35
Speaker 3: safe bet when you look at and I do. I
12:38
Speaker 3: just have a hard time believing Utah would send him
12:40
Speaker 3: down to Big twelve media Days if they didn't think
12:42
Speaker 3: he was going to be one of the guys, And
12:44
Speaker 3: you mentioned right, Logan Fano was a guy last year
12:47
Speaker 3: who they were excited about too, and John Henry Daily
12:50
Speaker 3: did surprise us. But it just feels like a lot
12:53
Speaker 3: of things are trending. The direction for Lance to have
12:55
Speaker 3: a big year came over from Washington last year actually
12:58
Speaker 3: only had a second half where it was kind of like, oh,
13:01
Speaker 3: this is the guy that's going down to the Big twelve.
13:02
Speaker 3: Media then a guy who only had a sack at half,
13:05
Speaker 3: and that sack actually came against Nebraska, so that wasn't
13:07
Speaker 3: even the regular season. But he was still a reliable
13:09
Speaker 3: contributor on that defensive line. I think he was still
13:13
Speaker 3: did a good job stop in the run and can't
13:15
Speaker 3: create pressure. And I did like what we saw from
13:17
Speaker 3: in the ballgame. The ball game felt like it was
13:19
Speaker 3: a teaser in many ways for what's to come for
13:21
Speaker 3: this Utah football team across college football. So ball games
13:24
Speaker 3: kind of are now with some of the opt outs
13:25
Speaker 3: and things we see of that nature. So I think
13:28
Speaker 3: Lance will be the guy when you look at the athleticism,
13:30
Speaker 3: you look at the veteran leadership that he brings out
13:33
Speaker 3: there too, I think he's going to be a guy.
13:34
Speaker 3: You talk and rally behind. I will say Utahs leader
13:37
Speaker 3: in sack production returning was obviously John Henry Daley led
13:40
Speaker 3: the team he left. You said that, but it was
13:42
Speaker 3: actually Cash Dyllon who sophomore last year was a redshirt
13:45
Speaker 3: freshman basically, but second year with the team, coming from
13:48
Speaker 3: Corner Canyon High School. Half three and a half sacks
13:50
Speaker 3: and I thought he was solid. I liked what he
13:51
Speaker 3: showed too. I think Lance will still be the guy
13:54
Speaker 3: that is the mayor of Sac Lake City, but I
13:55
Speaker 3: do think Cash starts opposite of him, another guy that
13:58
Speaker 3: just continues to learn, grow and get better. He played
14:00
Speaker 3: a lot of sophomore year and they we'll see even
14:02
Speaker 3: more action this year. And I already mentioned Ethan Day.
14:04
Speaker 3: I just think that's a guy to keep an eye on.
14:06
Speaker 3: The fact that he's already on the leadership council was
14:08
Speaker 3: something that was really interesting to me. It shows what
14:11
Speaker 3: a quick impact he's been able to bring. Obviously had
14:14
Speaker 3: a huge impact on North Texas's success last year there
14:17
Speaker 3: at the mean Green only have four and a half sacks,
14:19
Speaker 3: So how does that project to the P four level.
14:21
Speaker 3: We will wait and see there, but he is a
14:23
Speaker 3: guy I expect to find his way on the field
14:25
Speaker 3: fairly frequently, and who knows, maybe even Paul Fitzgerald can
14:28
Speaker 3: finally contribute. Came over from Utah State a couple of
14:30
Speaker 3: years ago at eight and a half sacks. Back then
14:32
Speaker 3: with Yaggies hasn't done much, but maybe this will be
14:35
Speaker 3: the year he can get healthy, he can click and
14:37
Speaker 3: make things happen. I feel like the defensive end room
14:39
Speaker 3: has pretty well stocked this guy to have confidence there.
14:41
Speaker 3: Defensive tackle room, it's more of an enigma to me,
14:44
Speaker 3: but I'd still go with hold squad being the guy
14:46
Speaker 3: to lead the team sacks.
14:48
Speaker 2: You mentioned something right, and you have to every time
14:51
Speaker 2: when we're talking about players that unfortunately have been snake
14:55
Speaker 2: bit to this point. If this guy gets healthy, then
14:58
Speaker 2: maybe he'll be something special. If this guy can stay healthy,
15:01
Speaker 2: and the health of this Utah football team has been
15:03
Speaker 2: a major conversation in the last you know, well, at
15:06
Speaker 2: least three of the last four years, you've missed some
15:10
Speaker 2: big time players due to injuries. Even last year ended
15:14
Speaker 2: up being a great season. Devin dan Pierre was not
15:17
Speaker 2: what he wanted to be right. He was dealing with
15:19
Speaker 2: the sports hernias. He was quiet about it during the season,
15:22
Speaker 2: but he had surgery after the season to repair it.
15:24
Speaker 2: We expect him to be more consistently explosive this year,
15:28
Speaker 2: and if not, I guess now you know that you
15:30
Speaker 2: can trust Berd Ficklin in big time situations. But they
15:34
Speaker 2: made a change in the strength and conditioning program this offseason.
15:37
Speaker 2: Steve Saunders comes in gets elevated after just a few
15:40
Speaker 2: months with the staff, And that's really kind of what
15:44
Speaker 2: it comes down to. That's what those guys are for.
15:46
Speaker 2: They're supposed to physically prepare a team, get them ready,
15:49
Speaker 2: and make them, you know, more durable in addition to
15:53
Speaker 2: being faster, more explosive, stronger, et cetera. Do you think
15:58
Speaker 2: that there will be a noble or a marked difference
16:03
Speaker 2: or improvement hopefully on that front.
16:07
Speaker 3: I think there will be. I think this is where
16:09
Speaker 3: the change to Morgan Scalley will really benefit Utah football. Well,
16:14
Speaker 3: Kyle did an amazing job right. He helped put Utah
16:16
Speaker 3: football on the national map in a way it wasn't before.
16:19
Speaker 3: But no matter how great a coach is, some of
16:22
Speaker 3: his Tendenciason styles just don't always translate to the modern game.
16:26
Speaker 3: And I do think the way that Kyle and the
16:28
Speaker 3: way he liked to have his team train and prepare
16:30
Speaker 3: at some of the things of that nature led the
16:32
Speaker 3: guys getting hurt a lot more frequently, and I think
16:35
Speaker 3: Morgan understands that a change is needed. He actually even
16:37
Speaker 3: said as much as Big twelve Media Day when he
16:39
Speaker 3: was on the main stage. He made a comment he
16:41
Speaker 3: was asked about the culture of the team and he said,
16:43
Speaker 3: you know, we're not going to change much, just a
16:44
Speaker 3: little thing, and was the little things he did mention
16:47
Speaker 3: was the preparation. So I do feel like that will
16:49
Speaker 3: be a huge priority for this Utah football team. Kyle
16:52
Speaker 3: always said like you will become us, not we will
16:55
Speaker 3: become you, and I think Utah will keep that motto intact.
16:58
Speaker 3: But I do think under Morgan they will do a
17:00
Speaker 3: better job of catering plans to keep the best guys
17:04
Speaker 3: out there available and on the field. You mentioned like
17:07
Speaker 3: to see injuries we've seen over the course of the
17:09
Speaker 3: year for this Utah team. Then this wasn't an issue.
17:12
Speaker 3: I don't think of the training and regimen and those things,
17:14
Speaker 3: but John Henry daily goes down. That's a huge part
17:16
Speaker 3: of the reason the run defense fell off. U John
17:18
Speaker 3: needs to do everything in their power to keep those
17:20
Speaker 3: type of guys on the field, to keep them healthy,
17:22
Speaker 3: to keep the Devin damp Piers in the world out there.
17:24
Speaker 3: Because I mean we mentioned Bert. I think Bird is
17:26
Speaker 3: ready for a bigger load. I think he will do
17:28
Speaker 3: a good job. One of the reasons burd Ficklam was
17:30
Speaker 3: amazing last year was because more times than not he
17:32
Speaker 3: only had to make one guy miss when he was
17:33
Speaker 3: running the ball, because that's how dominant the Utah offensive
17:36
Speaker 3: line is. I think the Utah offensive line will be
17:38
Speaker 3: solid this season. I don't know if we'll use the
17:40
Speaker 3: word dominant each and every game because they just don't
17:44
Speaker 3: have that level of first round prowess. I mean, two
17:47
Speaker 3: offensive linemen going there is still crazy what they were
17:49
Speaker 3: able to do last year. So to me, this is
17:52
Speaker 3: a Utah football team that has to do a better
17:54
Speaker 3: job of keeping those key pieces healthy enough. Right Devin
17:57
Speaker 3: damp Pierre, Let's really be careful how much we run him.
18:00
Speaker 3: You don't want to completely change his game, but if
18:02
Speaker 3: he gets hurt, I just don't see how this team
18:04
Speaker 3: competes for a Big twelve title. So there are changes
18:06
Speaker 3: I think that can be made to make sure this
18:08
Speaker 3: team's in the best spot possible to keep those top
18:11
Speaker 3: guys healthy. And I think that's what this Utah staff
18:13
Speaker 3: is going to do. I think the off season training,
18:15
Speaker 3: the preparation, all those things will set themselves up to
18:18
Speaker 3: keep those guys healthy throughout the fall camp duration and
18:21
Speaker 3: they'll be ready to go come Idaho and especially against
18:23
Speaker 3: some of those big games. Injuries are going to happen,
18:26
Speaker 3: but there are things that you talk to do differently
18:27
Speaker 3: to help make sure those guys are going to be okay,
18:30
Speaker 3: and I do think that's the approach Morgan Scalley will take.
18:34
Speaker 2: Several times now, Morgan Scaley has praised the wide receiving
18:37
Speaker 2: corps and look, on paper.
18:39
Speaker 1: You bring in a bunch of production.
18:41
Speaker 2: You have some production from last year's roster coming back,
18:44
Speaker 2: but really what you brought in with Kyrie Scholz and
18:46
Speaker 2: Pagan and those guys is what people are excited about.
18:49
Speaker 2: A healthy Creed Widemore who started to show some flashes
18:52
Speaker 2: toward the end of the last season. So it's great
18:55
Speaker 2: to hear a head coach be like, this might be
18:57
Speaker 2: the most talented wide receiving corep we've ever had.
19:00
Speaker 1: JT.
19:00
Speaker 2: What does it actually mean though, for Utah because in
19:03
Speaker 2: the past, it's like, well, you don't really have a
19:05
Speaker 2: wide receiving core. You're relying on your tight ends to
19:08
Speaker 2: get all of your production. So comparison is the thief
19:11
Speaker 2: of joy in that regard. For me, it's like, this
19:14
Speaker 2: is the best room we've ever had. Well cool, some
19:16
Speaker 2: of the rooms you've had in the past were just
19:18
Speaker 2: like terrible, honestly, And does it mean that this is
19:21
Speaker 2: a past first offense? Mcgiven really really likes to get
19:26
Speaker 2: those guys in space and let them make plays. While
19:29
Speaker 2: we're here in prognostication season when we're just predicting, we
19:32
Speaker 2: don't actually know. How do you envision the impact of
19:36
Speaker 2: that new wide receiver room in this Utah offense?
19:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's going to be a tremendous impact,
19:42
Speaker 3: and I think it has to be. But you did
19:43
Speaker 3: a great job mentioning Sean. I mean, it is not
19:45
Speaker 3: a high bar to clear for the best wide receiver
19:47
Speaker 3: room overall. Yes, we've had Dorian Singer, we've had Devon Veley,
19:51
Speaker 3: but it hasn't been a collective wide receiver room. It's
19:54
Speaker 3: been wide receivers and tight ends and the tight end front, right,
19:57
Speaker 3: I mean Hunter Andrews is degenerating. A lot of BU
20:00
Speaker 3: players were talking about him at Big twelve media days.
20:02
Speaker 3: So it sounds like he's healthy, sounds like he's back,
20:04
Speaker 3: sounds like he's good to go. But outside him and
20:07
Speaker 3: even he had less than one hundred yards receiving last year.
20:09
Speaker 3: Limited sample size, but still there's a lot of questions
20:12
Speaker 3: in that tight end room. Feels like less questions in
20:14
Speaker 3: that wide receiver room. Look, Pagan was really good in
20:17
Speaker 3: mcgiven's offense last year at Utah State, first team All
20:19
Speaker 3: Conference Mountain West. A guy who can go up and
20:22
Speaker 3: get the ball to I mean just your wide receiver one,
20:24
Speaker 3: really can do everything well. Schultz is a guy with
20:27
Speaker 3: some speed that really excites me coming over from San
20:29
Speaker 3: Jose State. I think he made plays against the likes
20:31
Speaker 3: of Texas a season ago, a huge game against Stanford.
20:34
Speaker 3: It just feels like he's ready for his powerful opportunity.
20:37
Speaker 3: And look, replacing Ryan Davis is always going to be
20:40
Speaker 3: tough for Utah, but man just creed way to more
20:42
Speaker 3: look up for the task. It was a limited sample
20:44
Speaker 3: size that I really like when he's capable of and
20:45
Speaker 3: the slaughter, guy who can consistently create separation and Devin
20:48
Speaker 3: dan Pierre is a good passer, but he is not
20:51
Speaker 3: a being talked about as the first round quarterback for
20:53
Speaker 3: a reason. He does need to hone in tighten up
20:55
Speaker 3: some of the accuracy areas of his game. But we
20:58
Speaker 3: know one of the things he does well is kind
21:00
Speaker 3: of that short area of the field. That's where the
21:01
Speaker 3: tight ends, those slot receivers really come into play and
21:04
Speaker 3: where I think Ryan Davis can make a big impact.
21:07
Speaker 3: And going on the other side of your question you
21:08
Speaker 3: talked about, is it's going to be a path for
21:09
Speaker 3: ast offense. I think that would be a mistake when
21:12
Speaker 3: you have way Sean Parker, when you have Bird Ficklin,
21:14
Speaker 3: when you have Dampier, Even if you want to be
21:15
Speaker 3: careful with how much you run them, I just think
21:17
Speaker 3: you still want to establish the run first and foremost
21:20
Speaker 3: and lean on the strength of your team, which is
21:22
Speaker 3: still the physicality an offensive line that has been waiting
21:25
Speaker 3: for their opportunity for a long time that I still
21:27
Speaker 3: think will we'll do a good job. I think when
21:29
Speaker 3: a lot of these first year head coaches come in,
21:32
Speaker 3: they make mistakes when they really try to change things
21:34
Speaker 3: up from what's worked. Jason Beck's offense really worked, and
21:38
Speaker 3: while Kevin mcgiven is going to make some tweaks and
21:40
Speaker 3: some changes, I think a lot of those elements should
21:42
Speaker 3: stay the same. I'd love to still see a six
21:44
Speaker 3: offensive line, and Kevin McGibbon used a lot of motion
21:46
Speaker 3: just like Jason Beck does, so I do expect that
21:49
Speaker 3: to stay the same. But I just feel like this
21:51
Speaker 3: Utah team will be the best version of itself if
21:53
Speaker 3: they do run the ball. Because while we've also heard
21:56
Speaker 3: about the hype four of these wide receivers, none of
21:58
Speaker 3: these guys have proven they can be high level, powerful
22:01
Speaker 3: football players, even Larry Simmons right. I like Larry Simmons.
22:03
Speaker 3: He was good down the stretch last year, but it
22:05
Speaker 3: took some time to get going in in some of
22:07
Speaker 3: the bigger games. We didn't see as much of him,
22:09
Speaker 3: but we saw. We know that way Sam Parker's capable
22:11
Speaker 3: of delivering. We know that Devin Dampierre is on this level.
22:15
Speaker 3: I really want to see Utah established the run first
22:17
Speaker 3: and then use it to set up the pass. I
22:19
Speaker 3: still think it remains a run first offense because Morgan
22:21
Speaker 3: is still a Kyle winning hand disciple. He learned run
22:24
Speaker 3: the ball don't turn it over. He might be a
22:25
Speaker 3: little more okay to let me give an air it out.
22:27
Speaker 3: That's still going to be the main mindset and the
22:29
Speaker 3: main focus. I expect his offense to be run first,
22:32
Speaker 3: but I do think it will be much more of
22:34
Speaker 3: a closer to fifty to fifty split maybe than we've
22:37
Speaker 3: seen in quite some time, because Morgan's trust. I think
22:40
Speaker 3: in damp here all right.
22:42
Speaker 2: Before I let you go, JT, this is where I
22:44
Speaker 2: give you the opportunity to look like an absolute genius
22:48
Speaker 2: later in the year, and you can tell me who
22:50
Speaker 2: this year's breakout star is. You want to do offensive
22:53
Speaker 2: and defensive, you want to do overall whatever. We all
22:56
Speaker 2: have our predictions, right, the guy that maybe hasn't talked
22:59
Speaker 2: about enough recruit you see coming in a transfer, you
23:01
Speaker 2: see coming in that everyone's going to be gaga over.
23:05
Speaker 2: There were a couple folks who texted us last year
23:08
Speaker 2: and said, oh, John Henry Daily Man, watch what this
23:10
Speaker 2: kid's gonna do this year. They were all right, he
23:13
Speaker 2: wasn't the guy that I tagged. But all those people
23:16
Speaker 2: who said that were absolutely correct. Who is that guy
23:19
Speaker 2: this year for the University of Utah football team?
23:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll name one. On defense, I think it's a
23:25
Speaker 3: little more underrated. If I'm going for accuracy, I think
23:27
Speaker 3: you gotta go with Daniel Bray, right. I mean, if
23:29
Speaker 3: Morgan Scally's the one being like, this guy looks awesome,
23:32
Speaker 3: and we are the players talking about Bray in addition
23:34
Speaker 3: to Hunter Andrews, a guy is generating hype. Bray just
23:36
Speaker 3: seems like such an easy pick. I mean, what a
23:38
Speaker 3: special debut he had against BYU. Speed like his is
23:41
Speaker 3: rare at this level, and I really think that Utah
23:43
Speaker 3: is going to find a way to utilize it and
23:45
Speaker 3: get him in the best positions they can to succeed.
23:48
Speaker 3: Sounds like he is RB two behind way Sean Parker,
23:50
Speaker 3: and even if Parker gets most of the carries, I
23:53
Speaker 3: still think they're going to look to get Bray the
23:54
Speaker 3: ball in different scenarios. To say speed is shifting, it
23:57
Speaker 3: is the ability to break tackles. Guy went over three
24:00
Speaker 3: hundred dollar purpose yards last year in Bray, I think
24:02
Speaker 3: we're gonna see a larger workload for him, So that'd
24:05
Speaker 3: be my main breakout Canadates, just based on the comments
24:08
Speaker 3: and how the freshman looked last year, projecting the sophomore leave,
24:11
Speaker 3: but a more slightly under the rail R one was
24:13
Speaker 3: actually who my pick was last year. I'm gonna go
24:15
Speaker 3: with Rabbit Evans. I thought Rabbit Evans was gonna have
24:17
Speaker 3: a monster year on this Utah defense. Unfortunately, injuries limiting
24:21
Speaker 3: him to just the one game and he was knocked
24:23
Speaker 3: out for the season after that. In that twenty fourth season,
24:26
Speaker 3: a mostly forgettable year for Utah, Evans really came on
24:29
Speaker 3: strong down the stretch. I think he does a lot
24:31
Speaker 3: of things well at the safety spot, particularly from a
24:33
Speaker 3: tackling standpoint. I think he really can make things, make
24:36
Speaker 3: plays and make things happen in the box, and I
24:38
Speaker 3: expect him to make a lot of plays behind the
24:40
Speaker 3: line of scrimmage this fall too, So for more slightly
24:43
Speaker 3: under the ral R one, I'll just do Robit Evans
24:44
Speaker 3: because I feel like a lot of people have forgot
24:46
Speaker 3: about him. But feels like Bray is a safe pick
24:48
Speaker 3: for the main breakout guy in Salt Lake City this season.
24:53
Speaker 3: J T.
24:54
Speaker 1: I love the picks.
24:55
Speaker 2: We'll write him down and then we'll give you the
24:58
Speaker 2: opportunity to come on and later and go load about
25:00
Speaker 2: being correct.
25:01
Speaker 1: If you are. We'll also just ignore it. If you're
25:04
Speaker 1: not correct.
25:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, everything always gets forgotten, right. It's that no one
25:08
Speaker 3: ever holds you to your bat takes in this industry,
25:10
Speaker 3: So I think you're right on that. Oh see, Hey,
25:12
Speaker 3: thank you so much for having me on this with Blast.
25:13
Speaker 3: Appreciate you guys.
25:14
Speaker 1: Thanks. JT. That's JT.
25:15
Speaker 2: Wister, show host of the Lockdown Utes podcast, the writer
25:18
Speaker 2: for Ute Authority Check about twenty four to seven Sports
25:22
Speaker 2: dot Com on the Utah Front.