Speaker 1: We are eleven days away from Utah football. It's game
Speaker 1: week for week zero, so college football is here for
Speaker 1: all intents and purposes. Our next guest one of the
Speaker 1: best to ever do it at the University of you.
Speaker 1: It's a longtime NFL VET as well, good friend of
Speaker 1: the show. You can hear them on our station and
Speaker 1: our sister station on a Tuesday afternoon. It is the
Speaker 1: great Scott Mitchell Scott Happy Tuesday, A mant how we doing, Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm doing wonderful.
Speaker 2: Thanks, Ben's It's going to be on.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the time. So take us behind the curtains.
Speaker 1: Eleven days out? What's going on? Are we UCLA specific?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: What's kind of the tone and tenor of the bi
Speaker 1: rhythms of a college football team?
Speaker 3: Eleven days away from kicking off?
Speaker 2: I actually think this is one of the hardest times
Speaker 2: of the entire season because you've been in this camp
Speaker 2: mode and there's a rhythm to it, and everyone's involved
Speaker 2: in it, all the backups, all the guys fighting for
Speaker 2: a spot, you know, to play, to be on a
Speaker 2: travel squad or whatever it is, and then all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, there's just a day boom and it stops
Speaker 2: and it's probably right now. You know, you look at
Speaker 2: the declaration. All these colleges are naming them their starters.
Speaker 2: You know, b why you named their starter. You know, Michigan,
Speaker 2: Notre Dame. They're all naming their starters. So they're they're
Speaker 2: going into their regular season mode. But it's still, like
Speaker 2: you said, eleven days out and they've probably been in
Speaker 2: that mode for they'll probably be in it for like
Speaker 2: two weeks. And the biggest challenge and why it's so hard,
Speaker 2: is the guys that have now got practice reps and
Speaker 2: played a lot in the scrimmages, their time is over.
Speaker 2: Like they don't get reps anymore. The ones get most
Speaker 2: of the reps, the majority of the reps. You know,
Speaker 2: the twos get some, but it's it's mostly the starters
Speaker 2: that get all the reps. Now, now you might get
Speaker 2: reps on the look team or whatever, but those aren't reps.
Speaker 2: Those are just you know, you're taking one for the
Speaker 2: team because you're you're not really practicing your offense or defense.
Speaker 2: When you do that, you're giving a look of a
Speaker 2: different team. And the challenge for the guys that are
Speaker 2: starting now is you can almost do too much you
Speaker 2: can almost have too much preparation. You can almost like
Speaker 2: like you get kind of stagnant because you've just practiced.
Speaker 2: You can almost get into bad habits sometimes. And you
Speaker 2: can tell typically when a team starts the season if
Speaker 2: they've been like that, because they usually start out flat
Speaker 2: or weird or not in a really good rhythm. And
Speaker 2: so much of it, I believe is that they've just
Speaker 2: practiced almost too much. And so it's a funny time.
Speaker 2: It's a fine line between being prepared, being over prepared,
Speaker 2: getting stagnant, getting into bad habits, and then the guys
Speaker 2: that aren't playing, they kind of have to get over
Speaker 2: sulking and hey, I lost the competition and I now
Speaker 2: have to take a back seat. And it's just a
Speaker 2: really odd time of the year.
Speaker 3: So we did get some news earlier today.
Speaker 1: I don't know that it's all that surprising, but Bird
Speaker 1: Ficklin was receiving a lot of praise from the coaching
Speaker 1: staff in this battle to back up Devin and knock
Speaker 1: on Wood. We all want Devin healthy all year long,
Speaker 1: but in the event that Devin has to miss a
Speaker 1: little time, it will be Isaac Wilson, who is Devn's
Speaker 1: backup that is official now, and Isaac received playing time
Speaker 1: in nine games last year. He started seven of them overall,
Speaker 1: And I suppose Scott one way to look at it
Speaker 1: is the blessing in disguise of Cameron's in ability to
Speaker 1: stay healthy. Is now Utah has a backup quarterback with
Speaker 1: legitimate Big twelve experience. So your thoughts on this dynamic,
Speaker 1: Isaac Wilsons, QB two up on the Hill?
Speaker 2: Look, I don't think, well, well, Utah fans are very
Speaker 2: concerned about the backup quarterback because they've lived with two
Speaker 2: years of it, and so most teams this isn't an issue.
Speaker 2: You don't really talk about it. Nobody really even cares
Speaker 2: unless you're the Cleveland Browns, and then you care about
Speaker 2: two fifth round draft choices as potential backers. But everyone
Speaker 2: else doesn't care. But Utah fans care because of what's
Speaker 2: happened the last couple of years. And they also care
Speaker 2: because the quarterback who's running the show is a runner,
Speaker 2: is a guy who will get out of the pocket,
Speaker 2: and there's that potential of taking shots. Now, he's a
Speaker 2: better run in that he knows how to protect himself
Speaker 2: better I think than Cam and even Tyler Huntley. But
Speaker 2: I think for Isaac, I think there's almost a maturing process.
Speaker 2: Because he took some bullets a year ago. You know,
Speaker 2: it could have been easy for him to leave. I
Speaker 2: think he kind of wanted to leave. I think he
Speaker 2: went out in the portal and realized there weren't really
Speaker 2: many opportunities out there that were better for him. I
Speaker 2: like that he's stuck around. I like that he's kind
Speaker 2: of fighting through things and competing. I think there's a
Speaker 2: level of maturity you get from that. There's a level
Speaker 2: of grit that you get that you need, you know,
Speaker 2: in tough games, when you when you come into play.
Speaker 2: And I have to hope and believe that when he
Speaker 2: does get an opportunity again, he probably will at some
Speaker 2: point that he's you know, he's mad enough to run
Speaker 2: through a brick wall, and he's mad enough to say
Speaker 2: I'm gonna prove everybody wrong, and I want to do
Speaker 2: over and I want a second chance. I think this
Speaker 2: offense fits him a little better. I think it's a
Speaker 2: little bit more user friendly for him and his skill set.
Speaker 2: I think the reads are a little bit maybe kind
Speaker 2: of I don't want to say simple, but kind of
Speaker 2: right in front of you, it's it's not really hard
Speaker 2: to read per se, whereas Andy Ludwig's offense there was
Speaker 2: some nuance to it, and it's a little bit more challenging.
Speaker 2: And so I think he's more geared for this with maturity,
Speaker 2: and certainly, you know, I hope and expect that he'll
Speaker 2: play better if he gets the chance.
Speaker 3: So what gives you the most confidence?
Speaker 1: And we've discussed this at times, and I continue to
Speaker 1: be a little bit surprised that there are very few
Speaker 1: people at least that I've read or listened to that
Speaker 1: aren't bullish on what Devin can do as UTAs QB
Speaker 1: one under Center. And you know, I don't know if
Speaker 1: just being raised in the Northeast has made me a
Speaker 1: skeptic period of all this stuff and just life in general.
Speaker 1: But he is taking a step up in competitions of
Speaker 1: Scott and it will be a new experience for him.
Speaker 1: But it does seem like everyone's expecting big things. What
Speaker 1: Scott Mitchell expecting from Devin Dampier this year.
Speaker 2: Well, the question to me, the one question is just
Speaker 2: what you said, can you weak in and week out
Speaker 2: play against really good competition a year ago? Kyle Whittingham said,
Speaker 2: we were kind of surprised by the Big twelve. We
Speaker 2: were surprised at how physical it was, and they weren't
Speaker 2: they as a team weren't ready for it, and which
Speaker 2: is a little surprising coming from the Pac twelve. And
Speaker 2: so it's you can play two or three games against
Speaker 2: the Power five team if you're in a lesser division,
Speaker 2: but can you play twelve games? And can you show
Speaker 2: up every single week? And that that's really the question mark,
Speaker 2: that's the trend, that's the transition, and not just show up,
Speaker 2: but play well and play effect and playing well is
Speaker 2: making good decisions. And I think I think the thing
Speaker 2: that helps me go okay, I think he can do
Speaker 2: this is because he's a guy who is so elusive,
Speaker 2: and he's a guy that doesn't get sacked a lot.
Speaker 2: So when he's trying to figure out the competition, and
Speaker 2: maybe he's not quite up to speed, I don't know
Speaker 2: if he is or he isn't, but at least he
Speaker 2: has that in his back pocket that he can extend plays,
Speaker 2: make plays, and even if things break down because he
Speaker 2: doesn't know the read right or he just messes up,
Speaker 2: he can still make something good. Good happen, and not
Speaker 2: every quarterback can do that. I mean, Isaac Wilson couldn't
Speaker 2: do that a year ago. So I expect with the
Speaker 2: way this offensive line is that they have some really
Speaker 2: good running backs, there's a lot of I call it
Speaker 2: a patchwork of offensive production. You know, it's just going
Speaker 2: to come from a lot of different spots. It's not
Speaker 2: going to be one group that's dominant. They don't have
Speaker 2: a superstar anywhere, but they've got a lot of pretty
Speaker 2: good talent enough to put together. I think that what
Speaker 2: can be a fairly explosive offense, and if he just
Speaker 2: kind of stays within the framework of that youth, I'll
Speaker 2: be very productive. They don't have to score for thirty
Speaker 2: five to forty points. It's a game, you know, they
Speaker 2: score high twenties. If they get to thirty points a game,
Speaker 2: they're competing for a conference championship, and I think they
Speaker 2: can do that.
Speaker 1: So obviously, the offensive line has been the most talked
Speaker 1: about positional group. And it's funny, Scott, I was just
Speaker 1: doing a little prep for the show yesterday. Michael Mochafisi,
Speaker 1: who we never talk about, has started thirty three games
Speaker 1: for Utah on the offensive line. We talked about Spencer,
Speaker 1: we talked about Caleb, Jaron's captain, but you know, Michael,
Speaker 1: who's the guy that's never mentioned is thirty three starts
Speaker 1: Devin during his media availability earlier today set at times
Speaker 1: he has eight seconds in the pocket. And the benefit
Speaker 1: of practicing against a Utah defense is you're going to
Speaker 1: be ready to go against the majority of defenses in
Speaker 1: the Big Twelve. I mean, you know, projections are always
Speaker 1: a dangerous thing because it's conjecture.
Speaker 3: Nobody knows until we kick off.
Speaker 1: But Utah's defense, by all you know, metrics or people
Speaker 1: that cover the league is expected to be a top
Speaker 1: two or three defense in the league. I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: it benefits the quarterback greatly to have an offensive line
Speaker 1: like Utah does. But if somebody who played that position,
Speaker 1: how would you articulate just how comfortable that must be
Speaker 1: for Devin to have those guys up front? And what
Speaker 1: are your expectations for this old line that everybody continues
Speaker 1: to talk about.
Speaker 2: I'm always I'm not from the northeast of Spense, but
Speaker 2: I'm skeptical too, always because what I've learned through my
Speaker 2: experience is no season ever turns out the way you
Speaker 2: expect it. I mean, you look at Texas Tech, and
Speaker 2: they went and spent a grundle of money and they've
Speaker 2: already lost one of the key players they got in
Speaker 2: the running back the joiner from USC haven't even played
Speaker 2: a game. They put all this money into him and
Speaker 2: other players, and they get no benefit from that. And
Speaker 2: so the point is is that I'm really hopeful for
Speaker 2: this offensive line, and I mean they are good, and
Speaker 2: they do look good. And this team offensively, if you
Speaker 2: watched them like early in the spring, you watch them
Speaker 2: as spring went on, and by the end of spring,
Speaker 2: and then you watch them now and they've just gotten
Speaker 2: better and better and more comfortable with what's what's happening.
Speaker 2: Everyone has offensively, you know, you have to feel pretty
Speaker 2: good about it. It's there's nothing like experience. There's just
Speaker 2: nothing like it on, you know, anywhere. And if I'm
Speaker 2: a guy with that offensive line, I'm like, come on, guys,
Speaker 2: let's go. Because everything happens upfront. Everything, it's always it always.
Speaker 2: I don't care how great your skill players are, if
Speaker 2: you're not good upfront when I when I call these games,
Speaker 2: you know, for Utah, I spend a majority of my
Speaker 2: eyeball time on the line of scrimmage. I really I've
Speaker 2: really kind of helped myself to try to really look
Speaker 2: and see who is winning, who is winning that push,
Speaker 2: and who is who is getting beat, who isn't getting beat,
Speaker 2: and where, And I can tell very quickly how the
Speaker 2: game is going to go by by the way those
Speaker 2: guys look up front. So those offensive linemen are huge.
Speaker 2: I hope that the offensive line isn't one of those
Speaker 2: things that it doesn't turn out the way you expect.
Speaker 2: Ause we expect that line to be great, and I
Speaker 2: hope it is. Again, you've got to keep everyone healthy
Speaker 2: and they got to play up to that potential, and
Speaker 2: that's hard sometimes. So I'm very hopeful. It feels to me,
Speaker 2: Spence like the chemistry and just all the stars maybe
Speaker 2: are aligning in the right way. You've got this offensive line,
Speaker 2: You've got this dynamic quarterback, You've got some really good
Speaker 2: players in the running back room. They do have some
Speaker 2: talented wide receiver, they've got talent, They've added talent at
Speaker 2: the tight end position. It feels potentially like it could
Speaker 2: be a very very good and explosive football team. And
Speaker 2: that might be the way people don't think because nobody's
Speaker 2: necessarily picking Utah to win the conference. People like Utah
Speaker 2: watch out for Utah, but they're not definitive with saying
Speaker 2: if they did a year ago, Utah is the team
Speaker 2: to beat in the conference. But I think it's going
Speaker 2: to be a very good year up on the Hill.
Speaker 1: From a player's perspective, because you referenced the dynamic last year,
Speaker 1: we all expected them to win the league. And I'm
Speaker 1: not talking about local media, I'm talking about everybody nationwide.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were the consensus pick. They were the
Speaker 1: favorite in Vegas. Did everybody pick them to win the league? No,
Speaker 1: but most people did. And if they didn't pick him
Speaker 1: to win it, they picked him top two or three.
Speaker 1: That pressure is gone. From a player's perspective, do you
Speaker 1: like that to fly under the radar or do you
Speaker 1: want to roll into a stadium with that target on
Speaker 1: your back where everybody knows you're the team to beat.
Speaker 2: It certainly depends on your personality, you know. You think
Speaker 2: of guys like Deon sanders Man, he's stroked by people
Speaker 2: telling him how great he is, like he loves like
Speaker 2: he's in the limelight, and coach Whittingham wants to be
Speaker 2: a troll in a dark hole. He doesn't want anyone
Speaker 2: to talk to him. He wants to be such an underdog.
Speaker 2: He wants to be hated, you know, reviled, chip on
Speaker 2: your shoulder, nobody gives us respect kind of guy. And
Speaker 2: that's my top reason why I think's gonna have a
Speaker 2: good years. I think everyone's forgotten about this team. I
Speaker 2: really do. I think they're like, now you have to say, well,
Speaker 2: watch out for Utah because historically they've been good, you know,
Speaker 2: the last several years, and they've had a very stable
Speaker 2: coaching position. You know, situation, they're always very good defensively,
Speaker 2: you know, they get it together offensively. Watch out for
Speaker 2: this team. But I think coach Whittingham really likes the
Speaker 2: let's just be forgotten. For me, it's it's really it's
Speaker 2: really the personality of the team. There are teams that
Speaker 2: just they flourish when they're well thought of. They just
Speaker 2: do and and but there are some people that are like,
Speaker 2: I'm not comfortable, and like I think a guy like
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan flourished with I think he tried to create
Speaker 2: drama just to motivate himself. So he tried to be
Speaker 2: a good He's like, I don't want you to tell
Speaker 2: me how great I am. I want someone to disrespect me.
Speaker 2: I want someone to tell me I'm garbage. I'm you know.
Speaker 2: I used to play golf with Dan Marinos the same thing.
Speaker 2: It's like, if I if I got really competitive, like
Speaker 2: I'm gonna kick your trash today on the golf course,
Speaker 2: Dan Marino like like, watch out. But if I if
Speaker 2: I sat there said, oh man, you are you're piping
Speaker 2: the ball today, you are just like on fire. I
Speaker 2: had a better chance with with with Marino and and
Speaker 2: so it's just funny. It's just different personalities, different coaches,
Speaker 2: different styles. Like to be stroke and some people don't.
Speaker 1: What does what does a successful trip to the Rose
Speaker 1: Bull look like?
Speaker 2: For you?
Speaker 3: Scott?
Speaker 1: The Utes are a six point five point favorite as
Speaker 1: of now, and maybe that line changes over the next
Speaker 1: eleven days. Not a lot seems to be known about
Speaker 1: this UCLA team because it's a brand new squad, it's
Speaker 1: a brand new quarterback, it's a very young head coach.
Speaker 1: So on that plane coming home to Salt Lake, what
Speaker 1: feels like success to you?
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's a huge game for Utah from
Speaker 2: a psyche to get last year to get the last
Speaker 2: two years kind of out of their mindset. And I
Speaker 2: think if you can establish that and just go, Okay,
Speaker 2: we're back, we're we're where we've worked, where where we
Speaker 2: believe we are, and I think I think that game
Speaker 2: can go a long way to proving it because you're
Speaker 2: not really going to get that sense from cal Poly
Speaker 2: or Wyoming because those are teams that are just going
Speaker 2: to absolutely beat. But if you beat a team that's
Speaker 2: a good team, uh, you know, the quarterback is like
Speaker 2: one of the top quarterbacks in the in the country
Speaker 2: and he's new to the situation. You know, he's got
Speaker 2: to figure things out as well, and he's got a
Speaker 2: lot of personnelity or personnel people that he's got to
Speaker 2: get familiar with a new system and all that. But
Speaker 2: he's very talented, you know. So it's it's really important,
Speaker 2: I think for the whole entire year that Utah just
Speaker 2: gets some confidence. And it's a great way to do
Speaker 2: it because this isn't like, you know, you're not going
Speaker 2: to Ohio State against the third second ranked team in
Speaker 2: the country to start your you know, but you are
Speaker 2: going on the road with a quality opponent and one
Speaker 2: that's trying to to become relevant in the Big Ten.
Speaker 2: You know that, you know, it's really it could be
Speaker 2: really easy for UCLA to just kind of disappear, almost
Speaker 2: like Nebraska disappeared when it went into the Big Ten.
Speaker 2: And and so they're going to be fighting for relevance.
Speaker 2: But and I think it's also for for Devon damp
Speaker 2: Here to just go, Okay, I believe that I belonged here,
Speaker 2: but now I know I belong here. Does does Jason
Speaker 2: Beck's offense really work as it clicked? Because in my mind,
Speaker 2: this is a blowout win for Utah. It's an easy win,
Speaker 2: or it's just one of those clunky, awkward games, And
Speaker 2: a lot of me just feels like this is going
Speaker 2: to be a really solid statement almost type of game
Speaker 2: for Utah.
Speaker 3: Coming out of the box, ask Bill this yes yesterday.
Speaker 3: I want to kick the tires with you on it.
Speaker 1: According to CBS Sports, Utah is the third hardest schedule
Speaker 1: in the Big twelve.
Speaker 3: And that's that's conference schedule they do.
Speaker 1: But they do Scott get all three of the top
Speaker 1: twenty five teams on the schedule in Salt Lake, Texas Tech,
Speaker 1: Arizona State, and k State. But here's My question, what
Speaker 1: are you willing to say about where you think Utah
Speaker 1: is prior to their trip to BYU. It's the opener
Speaker 1: at UCLA, it's home against cal Poly, it's at Wyoming,
Speaker 1: and then they open up league play against Tech here
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake. Then they're at Morgantown, West Virginia, and
Speaker 1: then home against Arizona State. That's six game stretch. What
Speaker 1: are you willing to say about where you think Utah
Speaker 1: is prior to the BYU game?
Speaker 2: See, well, you know those those non conference they're going
Speaker 2: to win all of those. I like getting Texas Tech
Speaker 2: early on in the year because they may have talent,
Speaker 2: but I'm telling you it's going to take a while
Speaker 2: to figure things out. They did lose the running back.
Speaker 2: You know, if you you know Texas Tech would be
Speaker 2: a really good team by the end of the year.
Speaker 2: I think if you're going to play him, the best
Speaker 2: time is early, which I like, and it's at home,
Speaker 2: and it's the conference opener, and it's gonna be a
Speaker 2: it's gonna be a big game. Going to Morgantown, You're
Speaker 2: gonna have to travel somewhere. I think it's the same
Speaker 2: kind of situation. You know, it's easy. I think it's
Speaker 2: a team you can beat. Uh, they're going to be better.
Speaker 2: Rich Rod kind of has this thing going on there
Speaker 2: and he's good at it, and he's kind of returned home.
Speaker 2: But I like that. I think there's a buye before
Speaker 2: the Arizona State game. I think there's gonna be some
Speaker 2: massive excitement about Arizona State because they're the team that
Speaker 2: has the bullseye and and they beat Utah last year
Speaker 2: and that never sits well with Kyle Whittingham, and he's
Speaker 2: gonna he's gonna have a statement. So you're going to
Speaker 2: see just some really great effort. But you beat Texas Tech,
Speaker 2: you beat Arizona State at home, you're you're you're easily
Speaker 2: inside the top twenty five at that time. And now
Speaker 2: now the conversation is going to be about you know
Speaker 2: where you know, Utah might be the front runner in
Speaker 2: the conference at that point, and and that just makes
Speaker 2: the whole BYU game so exciting. That's why I love
Speaker 2: where the conference is now and that these two teams
Speaker 2: are in the same conference. They're going to start a
Speaker 2: true freshman at BYU and that's going to come with
Speaker 2: its challenges and quite Frankly, I'm excited about that because
Speaker 2: you know, there's just a lot of mistakes that happened
Speaker 2: with true freshmen. So I think Utah could be in
Speaker 2: probably the best position that it could be in at
Speaker 2: that point. I hear you about the third toughest schedule,
Speaker 2: but I like how it's laid out and there's nothing
Speaker 2: There's not a part of it that just is overly
Speaker 2: concerning maybe going to Baylor later in the year, but
Speaker 2: just how the bye weeks play out, where and when
Speaker 2: you play the tough teams I think is very favorable
Speaker 2: to Utah this year.
Speaker 1: Scott, thanks for the time, man, I always appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Be safe and we will get you back on again soon.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, look fortunate.
Speaker 1: Thanks all right, Scott Mitchell, former Utah quarterback, played in
Speaker 1: the NFL for a number of different years.
Speaker 3: I always appreciate his time.
Speaker 1: Eleven days out man, eleven days away from game day.
Speaker 1: On just a few days away from game day for
Speaker 1: college footballs. It is week zero and a big one
Speaker 1: in Dublin. Our guy Chris Camaraddie will be on site.
Speaker 1: Between k State and Iowa State. I want to let
Speaker 1: you know you can give the Dish pros a call
Speaker 1: it eight O one four to two four Dish to
Speaker 1: make the switch to Dish and also save a bunch
Speaker 1: of money on Internet solutions as well.