Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Bill Riley on No. 10 Utah's huge matchup with No. 14 Houston tomorrow night at Rice Eccles, GameDay on campus tomorrow morning + more

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Bill Riley on No. 10 Utah's huge matchup with No. 14 Houston tomorrow night at Rice Eccles, GameDay on campus tomorrow morning + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: You're tuned to The Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
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  Speaker 1: Chevrolet studio of ESPN 700 at 92.1 FM.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell Show, coming at you
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  Speaker 2: from Smith's Marketplace in West Jordan, Utah, 90th South, just
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  Speaker 2: west of Redwood Road. Tim Ross, if you're out there listening,
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  Speaker 2: you better bring flowers home for your wife when you
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  Speaker 2: get back from work tonight or wherever you're at right now.
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  Speaker 2: She came sprinting in here, had the Pepsi receipt, and
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  Speaker 2: snagged a pair of tickets for you and a tailgate pass.
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  Speaker 2: So you've outkicked your coverage there, buddy. you better make
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  Speaker 2: sure that you express gratitude to your lovely wife for
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  Speaker 2: running that errand for you and getting you a pair
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  Speaker 2: of Utah versus Houston tickets. The tickets are gone. We
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  Speaker 2: still have tailgate passes, and we still have Smith's gift card.
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  Speaker 2: So come by and see us just west of Redwood
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  Speaker 2: Road on 90th South. The voice of the youth is
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  Speaker 2: Bill Riley, kind enough to swing by on a Friday. Bill,
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  Speaker 2: how are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing great. How are things at Smith's?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I love a good Smith's Marketplace. I think
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  Speaker 2: I probably go here about three times a week at
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  Speaker 2: the downtown location. But it's great to be out here
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  Speaker 2: in West Jordan, closer to the old stomping grounds.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, positively. So glad to tell the people at Smith's
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  Speaker 1: I said, hi, I will be in the Smith's tailgate
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  Speaker 1: tent tomorrow night doing a little pregame.
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  Speaker 2: And we do have some passes. So you can go
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  Speaker 2: and heckle Bill Riley if you swing down here. and
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  Speaker 2: grab a tailgate pass. The one pass is good for
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  Speaker 2: you plus three, by the way, so don't be harassing
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  Speaker 2: that you want three or four of them because one
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  Speaker 2: gets four of you in. Let's talk about this game, Bill.
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  Speaker 2: Utah survives against Colorado, and I don't know that they
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  Speaker 2: did much more than that. When you listen to the
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  Speaker 2: coaching staff and the players talk about it, nobody is
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  Speaker 2: happy with the win, and ultimately it is a win,
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  Speaker 2: so you've got to be at least happy with that.
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  Speaker 2: They improve to 6-0. They're the number 10 ranked team
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  Speaker 2: in the country, and before we get to a Houston matchup,
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  Speaker 2: Did we learn anything meaningful from that Colorado game? In
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  Speaker 2: your mind, is that anything close to what Utah football
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  Speaker 2: actually is, or is that kind of the stinker game
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  Speaker 2: that you see once or twice a year from every
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  Speaker 2: college football team?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think what we learned, Sean, was when you
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  Speaker 1: have red zone opportunities and you want to beat a
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  Speaker 1: team on the road, you should score touchdowns. Because as
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  Speaker 1: Scali has said a couple of times, including the coach's
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  Speaker 1: show with me, when you kick field goals, that allows
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  Speaker 1: another team to stick around. The difference between being up
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  Speaker 1: at half 13-0 and 24-0 is a huge deal. If
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  Speaker 1: you're up 24-0 on Colorado last week, you pay those
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  Speaker 1: two red zone trips off with touchdowns instead of field goals.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what the Buffs do coming out of
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  Speaker 1: the locker room, but the Buffs get that freak, weird,
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  Speaker 1: fluky touchdown where the running back was standing all by himself.
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  Speaker 1: Then all of a sudden it's 13-7 instead of 24-7.
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  Speaker 1: That's a huge difference. So I think to me the
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  Speaker 1: big lesson to take away is when you have an
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to put a team away, whether it's Colorado, whether
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  Speaker 1: it's Kansas, whether it's Houston tomorrow night, take that chance.
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  Speaker 1: Pay off red zone trips with touchdowns as much as
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  Speaker 1: you can and not field goals.
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  Speaker 2: We're looking at a Utah football team right now that
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  Speaker 2: six weeks in, half a season gone. It ain't Sac
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  Speaker 2: Lake City, not this year, right? They're not getting home.
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  Speaker 2: They're not finishing even when they pressure. And good quarterbacks
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  Speaker 2: can exploit things like that. Good mobile quarterbacks can make
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  Speaker 2: your life miserable if you're playing man coverage and they've
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  Speaker 2: got four and five seconds before they have to throw
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  Speaker 2: because they're able to sidestep a rush or whatever. And
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  Speaker 2: you and I have talked about this, I think, every
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  Speaker 2: single week, and Morgan's been asked about it, and Colton
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  Speaker 2: Swan's been asked about it every single week. Is this
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  Speaker 2: who they are? Is this a team that you just
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  Speaker 2: have to adjust to the fact that you're probably not
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  Speaker 2: going to have a ton of QB hits and sacks
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  Speaker 2: this year?
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  Speaker 1: Well, the hits are there a little bit. The sacks
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  Speaker 1: aren't there. Here's what I will say. Is this going
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  Speaker 1: to be one of those great 55-sack, sack-leg city teams? Well,
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  Speaker 1: you're six games in. That's probably not going to be
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  Speaker 1: the case. But... You're a half step away about four
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  Speaker 1: or five times a game from one of your defensive
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  Speaker 1: ends getting home, or maybe a whiff away from grabbing
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  Speaker 1: a quarterback who's on a scramble. I think they've been
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  Speaker 1: close to some sacks, Sean, and maybe tomorrow night against
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  Speaker 1: Connor Wegman, they get a couple of those home. But, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: this is not going to be one of those traditional
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  Speaker 1: sack lake cities, front fours, where you've got four or
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  Speaker 1: five guys with six, seven, eight sacks, or maybe one
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  Speaker 1: guy with 12 or 13 sacks. but they're not far
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  Speaker 1: away from getting some of those. I think if you
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  Speaker 1: translate some of those pressures or near misses into sacks,
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  Speaker 1: it changes the equation just a little bit. But, you know,
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  Speaker 1: you're halfway home in the season. This is kind of
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  Speaker 1: who you are. You're getting pretty good pressure. You're just
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  Speaker 1: not getting home. If you can get home a couple
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  Speaker 1: of times tomorrow night, and maybe more importantly, don't because
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  Speaker 1: unlike some of the other quarterbacks, Connor Wegman can beat
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  Speaker 1: you with his legs. He's not going to go out
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  Speaker 1: there and run every time. He ran for 44 yards
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  Speaker 1: on a play against Oklahoma state last week. He is
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  Speaker 1: a very good athlete. He is a dual threat guy.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe not in the same sense of Bird Thicklin or
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  Speaker 1: a Devin Dampier is, but tomorrow night to me, it's
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  Speaker 1: about getting home, but maybe more importantly, not letting Connor
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  Speaker 1: Wegman escape and make a big play with his legs.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I was about to ask you, right? There's, There's
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  Speaker 2: a couple, I think, big philosophy questions, offensive and defensive
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  Speaker 2: philosophy questions for this Utah versus Houston matchup. Defensively, do
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  Speaker 2: you go with containment or do you try to get
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  Speaker 2: home and pressure him? Do you want this team to
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  Speaker 2: over-index on getting to the quarterback and solving that problem? Or,
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  Speaker 2: like you just said, you maybe sacrifice a little pressure
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  Speaker 2: and just say, we'll hang back and we'll maintain gap
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  Speaker 2: integrity and we'll make sure that he doesn't hurt us
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  Speaker 2: around the edges or slipping out. Because if you just
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  Speaker 2: take on your block and you've got eyes on and
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  Speaker 2: you potentially jump and try to bat a pass down,
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  Speaker 2: there's still a huge play for the defense. So I
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  Speaker 2: guess it's a safe approach or a risk approach when
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  Speaker 2: it comes to your pass rush against Wegmans.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think you have to apply pressure. I just
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  Speaker 1: think you do. The one team that beat them this year,
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  Speaker 1: Texas Tech, was able to apply pressure. Connor Wegman is
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  Speaker 1: an excellent passer, too, and he's got three really good
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  Speaker 1: wide receivers and a pro tight end. You can't just
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  Speaker 1: hope to just play contain on him. You have to
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  Speaker 1: apply that pressure. But to your point, gap integrity, lane integrity,
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  Speaker 1: try not to let him get outside because he's very
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  Speaker 1: good at making plays, not just with his legs, but
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  Speaker 1: but with his arm too outside the pocket. So I
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  Speaker 1: don't know that there's a right answer here, Sean. I
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  Speaker 1: think it's apply pressure, but keep an eye on him
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  Speaker 1: at the same time and don't let him do that
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  Speaker 1: because he can equally make a play with his arm
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  Speaker 1: down the field. And I watched Oklahoma State last week.
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  Speaker 1: He's very good at scrambling and making plays. So it's
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  Speaker 1: not like you could pick one or the other because
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  Speaker 1: it's going to hurt you both ways.
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  Speaker 2: On the flip side, offensively, you can go strength versus
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  Speaker 2: strength here. You can run the ball. against a really
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  Speaker 2: solid Houston run defense, or you could trust the arm
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  Speaker 2: of Devin Dampier and try to exploit their defensive weakness,
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  Speaker 2: which is, of course, their secondary. And, you know, if
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  Speaker 2: you run more, this game gets a little bit shorter.
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  Speaker 2: Connor Wegman doesn't get as many offensive possessions. If you
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  Speaker 2: trust Devin Dampier's arm, I mean, we've seen that go
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  Speaker 2: well and not go so well. So philosophically for the
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  Speaker 2: Utah offense. If you're making that decision, are you attacking
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  Speaker 2: the defense with the pass, or are you letting way
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  Speaker 2: Sean Parker eat?
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  Speaker 1: I think, to me, Houston's given up 265 yards a game. Now,
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  Speaker 1: they've got a lot of PBUs, but the teams have
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  Speaker 1: trailed against them, too. They've had to throw the football.
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  Speaker 1: So I think that you trust your quarterback and Devin Dampier.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't think going after them through the air
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  Speaker 1: is a bad thing. Now, Houston can get after you
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  Speaker 1: a little bit with the pass rush, too. But I
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  Speaker 1: think that, you know, you figure out what you can
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  Speaker 1: do early. If you do decide to throw the football early,
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  Speaker 1: that might open things up for way Sean Parker a
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  Speaker 1: little bit later. Houston's got a pretty good run defense.
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  Speaker 1: They're only giving up about 82 yards a game. But, again,
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  Speaker 1: teams have trailed against them, so they've had to throw
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  Speaker 1: the football quite a bit more. I'm not opposed to
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  Speaker 1: trust that because, again, there's so many weapons you can
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  Speaker 1: utilize in that pass game. Pagan and Johnson and Andrews
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  Speaker 1: and Bray and Parker out of the backfield and Creed
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  Speaker 1: Whittemore is beginning to emerge, too. I'm not opposed to
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  Speaker 1: letting Devin Dampier drop back and throw just a little
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  Speaker 1: bit tomorrow night to test it. But I don't think
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  Speaker 1: you're ever going to see this Utah football team when
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  Speaker 1: you've got a back like Wayshawn Parker completely and totally
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  Speaker 1: abandon the run.
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  Speaker 2: Bill Riley for another minute or two here on the
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Sean O'Connell Show talking Utah versus Houston. College game day
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  Speaker 2: in town. And look, it's still an amazing thing. The
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  Speaker 2: novelty may have worn off a little bit for a
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  Speaker 2: certain part of the fan base because, you know, if
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  Speaker 2: you've been around for 20, 30 years, you've seen this
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  Speaker 2: circus roll into town now a half dozen times or more.
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  Speaker 2: But it is still a big deal. They were in
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  Speaker 2: Provo last week and The fanfare was incredible and all
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: that stuff. Game day being here again for this particular matchup.
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  Speaker 2: How does the team handle it? How does the fan
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  Speaker 2: base handle it?
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  Speaker 1: I don't think it impacts the team in one way, shape,
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  Speaker 1: or form because they're so isolated from it. Maybe you
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  Speaker 1: see Nick Saban and Pat McAfee coming to practice today
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  Speaker 1: for a little while, and there's a little bit more
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  Speaker 1: pomp and circumstance when you're turning on the TV in
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  Speaker 1: the morning when you get up. For me, this is
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  Speaker 1: more about the fans, but it's also about the program
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  Speaker 1: and the university, John. You've got a three-hour infomercial tomorrow
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  Speaker 1: from President's Circle showing off your university and your football program.
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  Speaker 1: That's where this is big deal. Fans will come up,
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  Speaker 1: fans will watch it on TV, but it's the people
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  Speaker 1: around the country and around the conference that get exposed,
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  Speaker 1: not just to the Utah football program, but to Salt
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  Speaker 1: Lake City, but to Rice-Eccles Stadium, but to the university campus. That,
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  Speaker 1: to me, is where game day is such a huge deal.
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  Speaker 2: How painful is the absence of Kelvin Obott? Given the
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  Speaker 2: context of the rotation on the offensive line in those
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  Speaker 2: first two or three games, he is out in this
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  Speaker 2: one How badly does that hurt Utah?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I think it only really hurts you if
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  Speaker 1: you suffer another injury in his place because for the
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  Speaker 1: first two or three games of this year, they were
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  Speaker 1: rotating offensive linemen through. And a guy like Salato Amoyai
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  Speaker 1: has played a ton for Utah. So I don't think
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  Speaker 1: it's a huge loss. It's not, say, like maybe a
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  Speaker 1: guy like Zerway Williams or Cedric Jefferson, your edge guys,
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  Speaker 1: your tackles would go down. Kelvin is a really nice player,
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  Speaker 1: and he's only going to get better and better. But
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  Speaker 1: Utah's got some pretty good depth, especially on that interior
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  Speaker 1: offensive line. So I'm not sure that it's a huge
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  Speaker 1: deal tomorrow night.
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  Speaker 2: I'm calling a soccer game tonight, and.
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  Speaker 1: You've done a lot of that. I know you told
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  Speaker 1: me that. Yeah, I have not.
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  Speaker 2: Bestow upon me your years of calling soccer wisdom so
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  Speaker 2: I don't make a fool of myself.
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  Speaker 1: Well, is this a radio or a television call?
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  Speaker 2: Television call.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, well, don't over-talk. That's what I would tell you because,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: as you know, with your PFL experience, the pictures kind
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  Speaker 1: of tell the story of it. So don't feel like
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  Speaker 1: you have to fill a lot of time and a
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: lot of air time and things like that. Kind of
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: like let the pictures go and try to– who's doing
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  Speaker 1: color with you tonight?
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  Speaker 2: Carla, former BYU soccer player. She's done a bunch of
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  Speaker 2: Royals stuff, done a lot of ASL stuff as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've worked with Carla before. She's great. Um, let
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  Speaker 1: her be the star a little bit. She's a former player.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: She was a pro. She was a great collegiate player.
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  Speaker 1: She got a lot of broadcast experience. You know, I
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  Speaker 1: always say this in radio, the play-by-play guy or gal
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  Speaker 1: is the star in television. You're a little bit more
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: of a traffic cop and you turn it over to your,
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  Speaker 1: your color analyst. So just kind of sit back. Carlos,
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  Speaker 1: a pro she's done a ton of it and, uh,
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  Speaker 1: let the game come to you, Sean, let the match
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  Speaker 1: come to you.
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  Speaker 2: I think not over-talking is going to be the hardest
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  Speaker 2: thing I've ever done. I love hearing the sound of
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  Speaker 2: my own voice so much, but it's good advice. I
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  Speaker 2: appreciate you giving it to me.
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  Speaker 1: No problem. I'm anxious to hear how it goes.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, me too. We'll see. Chief Seahawks, we've got that
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  Speaker 2: game on the station, and your Chiefs looking really good.
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  Speaker 2: Not as good as my 49ers, but still looking really good. Seahawks,
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  Speaker 2: the defending Super Bowl champs, I think are still very
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  Speaker 2: much in the mix, although the NFC West may be
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  Speaker 2: not as tough as I thought it would be this year.
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  Speaker 2: What do you make of that game?
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  Speaker 1: Should be a good game. Traveling halfway across the country
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  Speaker 1: if you're Kansas City. Big test for them. Probably the
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  Speaker 1: best test of the year, I'd say, so far. Luckily,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: the Chiefs don't practice next to a power station, so
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: they're in pretty good shape. Brock Purdy may be out
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  Speaker 1: for the game Sunday, for all you know, but Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think it'll be a really good game. Seahawks haven't
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  Speaker 1: been quite themselves, and maybe it's the Kenneth Walker III
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: revenge game because the Seahawks made no real effort to
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: resign him, and I'm not sure that that sat well
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  Speaker 1: with him. So it should be fun. Seahawks' defense is
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  Speaker 1: pretty good, especially up front. The Chiefs' offensive line is
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  Speaker 1: still a little iffy with Josh Simmons not playing, but
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  Speaker 1: I think it should be a fun and entertaining game
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: on Sunday night, don't you? I do.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: I really do. All right. This conversation every week is
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: brought to you by your friends, my friends, Preston and
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Garrett Handy, HandyLawUtah.com. Big firm experience, small firm attention. Tell
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• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Well, they're great personal injury attorneys, and they're great people, too.
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  Speaker 1: and talking to Preston and Garrett because they're great people
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• 15:09
  Speaker 1: And maybe more importantly, they've got so much experience in
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: their back pocket, they're not going to steer you wrong.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Can you ever have too much night game at Rice
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Echo Stadium? Is there ever a situation where, like, okay,
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: these late kickoffs are– We've had too many of them
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  Speaker 2: already this year.
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  Speaker 1: No, at home, certainly not. I got home at 4.45
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  Speaker 1: in the morning from beautiful Boulder, Colorado last week. That
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  Speaker 1: was a bit much. But I'll be in my bed
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: probably 1.30, quarter of 2. I don't think so. I
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: love a good afternoon game, an early evening game. But
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  Speaker 1: when it's a big game, and tomorrow night's certainly a
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  Speaker 1: huge game, Houston's really good. You make a case, by
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  Speaker 1: the time it all shakes out, they've got a chance
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: to play in the Big 12 championship game. I don't
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  Speaker 1: think you can ever have too many big night games
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  Speaker 1: at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The juice and the energy is just different.
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  Speaker 2: We'll be there for the blackout. Bill, have a great
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  Speaker 2: call tomorrow night. Thanks for joining me, as always.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: Thanks, Sean. I'll talk to you soon. Have a great
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: call tonight.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: That's Bill Riley, voice of the Utes, brought to you
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: by Handy and Handy. Go to HandyLawUtah.com if you have
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: any questions.