Speaker 1: It's now for the beginning of the big show, Big hour.
Speaker 1: Did we go age before beauty or beauty before age?
Speaker 2: That's for you guys to decide.
Speaker 1: Bowlers on the road with the jazz, and I wish
Speaker 1: I was looking across from me in the studio to
Speaker 1: see the.
Speaker 2: Handsome face of Gordon Monks.
Speaker 1: And yet he joins us via telephone today, Gord, where
Speaker 1: you at, buddy.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm at home in the middle of writing a column,
Speaker 3: So that's where I am. And by the way, if
Speaker 3: we're talking about handsome faces when it comes to Spence
Speaker 3: check its if it comes to bowler Jack, I'll take
Speaker 3: third place there.
Speaker 1: Oh, don't do that to yourself. I believe you said.
Speaker 1: What'd you say when you're in your prime? You really
Speaker 1: had it going on?
Speaker 2: Is that? Was that the old Monson.
Speaker 3: Line he has about thirty years ago? Maybe forty?
Speaker 2: All right, well, all right, fair enough, fair enough.
Speaker 1: First of all, when it's Utah BYU week, when it's
Speaker 1: Rivalry week, does it bring back the memory of when
Speaker 1: you caught the touchdown pass over Danny ainge it?
Speaker 3: You know that is in the back of my mind.
Speaker 3: You know, I do think about that at times. A
Speaker 3: moment of glory and then Amsia, you know, patting me
Speaker 3: on the back saying, hell of a catch here. So
Speaker 3: I mean, I do have that in my memory, but yeah,
Speaker 3: it doesn't really apply.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, if I remember correctly, If I remember correctly,
Speaker 1: you both were in your prime. He jumped as high
Speaker 1: as he could, but you claimed you out jumped him
Speaker 1: and snatched the ball from his hands.
Speaker 2: Is that right?
Speaker 3: That's you have a great memory. I'm telling you, because
Speaker 3: because as the ball was spinning in the air, we
Speaker 3: both jumped up and we both caught the ball. We
Speaker 3: both caught. There were four hands on that ball, and
Speaker 3: I ripped it away from him, you know. And that's
Speaker 3: the way it happened. And look, I promise you this
Speaker 3: is not some fabrication, some embellishment. It is the absolute truth.
Speaker 3: Trust me.
Speaker 1: Did the alarm wake you up right after the catch?
Speaker 2: Did you hear the alarm sound so you had to
Speaker 2: get out of bed?
Speaker 3: I'm just curious, I'm just curious. Well, I swear to
Speaker 3: you if that is a true story.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well moving on, moving on. Well we'll
Speaker 1: give you that one, Gord. So let's just get right
Speaker 1: down to the crux of the thing, like, the bottom
Speaker 1: line is, if both teams do on Saturday what they've
Speaker 1: done all year long, it feels like this is a
Speaker 1: pretty easy BYU victory. The line is now three BYUS,
Speaker 1: a three point favorite. It opened up at five, it's
Speaker 1: moved down to three. But you've covered as many of
Speaker 1: these as anybody I could talk to on the radio today,
Speaker 1: So you know as well as anybody the craziness probably
Speaker 1: will ensue, because it usually does. The last time BYU
Speaker 1: was won by more than ten was ninety six, and
Speaker 1: I think the last time they won in saw Lake
Speaker 1: was way back in two thousand and six. I may
Speaker 1: be incorrect there, but what's your gut tell you about
Speaker 1: what we're in for Saturday night?
Speaker 3: I would expect I agree with you, first of all,
Speaker 3: if both teams play to their potential, BYU wins this game.
Speaker 3: And that's something that if you had ask me before
Speaker 3: the season, or even at the start of the season,
Speaker 3: beginning in parts of the season, I would have I
Speaker 3: would have thought a different way. But as we've seen
Speaker 3: what the evidence in front of us, b YU is
Speaker 3: a superior team. Now. The rivalry game brings all kinds
Speaker 3: of different things into play. Foremost two things come to mind,
Speaker 3: emotion and motivation. And if U tak and play at
Speaker 3: the top of its game, and BYU, because it has
Speaker 3: more to lose, comes out with nerves jangled and you know,
Speaker 3: making mistakes because they have in their mind if we
Speaker 3: blow this opportunity, man, we're blowing a lot and they
Speaker 3: could lose this game. That's why anybody who lays too
Speaker 3: much money on a game like this, I think is
Speaker 3: making a mistake.
Speaker 2: Oh, I wouldn't touch the line.
Speaker 1: I've told people all week, like, don't touch the thing, man,
Speaker 1: because you have no idea how it's going to play out.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: The bottom line is this, The data indicates the numbers
Speaker 1: indicate Utah And you.
Speaker 2: Know what, you don't have to look at numbers. You
Speaker 2: can just watch the game.
Speaker 1: The last time Utah was dynamic offensively was the first
Speaker 1: half of the Baylor game when Cam was under center.
Speaker 1: Since then, and look, they went up to Utah State,
Speaker 1: they hung thirty eight on the aggis all due respect
Speaker 1: to our friends, you know in the North, it's just
Speaker 1: not a great litanus test. Oklahoma State's the worst team
Speaker 1: in the conference and they've lost four straight and over
Speaker 1: the four game losing streak. The offensive numbers are anemic,
Speaker 1: near to near the bottom of the conference, some near
Speaker 1: bottom of the country, so we know that, you know,
Speaker 1: it's going to be Brandon Rose or Isaac Wilson. I
Speaker 1: guess they're splitting reps coach WIT's going to join us tomorrow.
Speaker 2: We'll see if we have an update there.
Speaker 1: And I honestly don't know that it matters who's under
Speaker 1: center between the two because we just haven't seen enough
Speaker 1: from either to indicate that this is going to be
Speaker 1: somewhat of an explosive offensive team all of a sudden.
Speaker 1: So for me, Gord, if Utah wins, it feels like
Speaker 1: it's going to be one of those thirteen to ten
Speaker 1: three nothing right, Like one of those games where defensively,
Speaker 1: where the numbers indicate Utah is still very good, they're
Speaker 1: going to have to try to limit BYU. But I
Speaker 1: just they haven't scored more than twenty four points against
Speaker 1: a P four team. It feels like if Utah gets this,
Speaker 1: it's one of those trenches. You know, stop the run, run,
Speaker 1: you know, run the football, control time of possession, and
Speaker 1: they win a very low scoring game. That's where I'm at,
Speaker 1: Give me your thoughts on it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree, Utah has been pretty good at time
Speaker 3: of possession, but they just have not been able to
Speaker 3: take advantage of scoring opportunities. And this has been much
Speaker 3: on the mind of Kyle Whittingham. They're inefficiency in the
Speaker 3: red zone. That's been a real problem for that team.
Speaker 3: That's why I think that if BYU makes mistakes that
Speaker 3: enable say Utah's defense to score touchdown or something along
Speaker 3: those lines, then in a low scoring game. And I'm
Speaker 3: not sure it's going to be low scoring on BYU's inn,
Speaker 3: but it certainly could be what you fashioned it to be.
Speaker 3: You know, those kinds of turnovers could make a huge difference.
Speaker 3: The problem for the Utes is that BYU has been
Speaker 3: much better getting turnovers and having a turnover margin in
Speaker 3: their favor than Utah has been, and that stems to
Speaker 3: all kinds of things. I mean, you could trace that
Speaker 3: back to Kyle has said that the team has not
Speaker 3: been as physical this year, and I think that's been
Speaker 3: obvious to anybody who's watched, and so they haven't caused
Speaker 3: those turnovers. BYU, on the other hand, has and so
Speaker 3: the very thing that the Utes need to have in
Speaker 3: their favor in order to give themselves a legitimate chance
Speaker 3: is the thing that BYU has thrived at, not the utes.
Speaker 1: So to underscore that point, the stat that probably has
Speaker 1: hit me across the face.
Speaker 2: More than any other.
Speaker 1: On Monday, I read that BYUS outscored their opponents sixty
Speaker 1: nine to ten off of turnovers, which is nuts. They've
Speaker 1: allowed one touchdown all year off of turnover and one
Speaker 1: field goal. So what's the combination of way to go,
Speaker 1: tip of the cap. That's awesome and that can't continue?
Speaker 1: Right Like, it's a little bit of both. What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on that stat, which to me underscores everything
Speaker 1: they've been doing as far as causing turnovers and making
Speaker 1: sure that they stay clean and if they do, they
Speaker 1: don't allow a lot of points.
Speaker 2: What does that say to you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it comes down to a coaching cliche that we've
Speaker 3: heard a thousand times, and that is clean execution. If
Speaker 3: the youths can do that. And I think because Kyle's
Speaker 3: been hitting this hard about being more physical, he's telling
Speaker 3: his team and to utilize the fuel of the emotion
Speaker 3: to play physically with the rival. Now, that can either
Speaker 3: work in their advantage or it could work to their disadvantage.
Speaker 3: If they get too hyped up and they start leaving
Speaker 3: their assignments and trying to do too much, that could
Speaker 3: be a problem. But if they're able to play physical
Speaker 3: Utah football to do what b what to do to BYU,
Speaker 3: what BYU has done to so many of its opponents
Speaker 3: this year, that gives them a chance to flip that script. Now,
Speaker 3: whether they can do that or not, or whether they're
Speaker 3: capable of doing that, I don't know. And that's talking
Speaker 3: about defense. On offense, they're going to have to take
Speaker 3: care of the ball for the very reasons that we've
Speaker 3: been talking about, because BYU has been so good at
Speaker 3: pressuring the quarterback and then grabbing interceptions or taking advantage
Speaker 3: of weird plays that put them in scoring position and
Speaker 3: allow them to build up these big leads that they're getting.
Speaker 3: The US are scoring twenty two points a game, and
Speaker 3: that includes the earlier success and the success that you
Speaker 3: mentioned against Utah State, as BYU's averaging what thirteen fourteen
Speaker 3: points more than that per game, and so that's got
Speaker 3: to be changed in order for the youth stev a shot.
Speaker 1: The other thing BYU does really well well. They do
Speaker 1: a lot of things really well, but this year, they're
Speaker 1: starting fast out of the gates, and they're starting fast
Speaker 1: out of the locker room.
Speaker 2: Their first and third quarter splits.
Speaker 1: Are insane, and I think if you're a ute fan, Gord,
Speaker 1: I think the concern is the ability to come back
Speaker 1: from a big deficit. So to me start and this
Speaker 1: is not We're not, you know, breaking news here. The
Speaker 1: start of the game is going to be so key
Speaker 1: because if BYU comes out and they have two really
Speaker 1: good drives and suddenly it's fourteen zero and Utah can't
Speaker 1: move the football, that will allow a Rod to really
Speaker 1: change his game plan to basically kill out the clock
Speaker 1: and not allow Utah the oxygen because I just don't
Speaker 1: think Utah can come back now if it's like three
Speaker 1: to nothing after one, and it is that kind of
Speaker 1: dogfi that we dissected, I think you fan should feel
Speaker 1: pretty good. But what do you make about just simply
Speaker 1: how important it is for both teams to start well
Speaker 1: and then once the emotion of the rivalry kind of dissipates,
Speaker 1: you can get back to the meat and potatoes of football,
Speaker 1: because you know that stadium is going to be crazy loud.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I concur with everything that you just said. There's
Speaker 3: not much more to say about it. I do believe,
Speaker 3: and that's why Utah's defense has to be at its
Speaker 3: best because if it, if it limits BYU offensively and
Speaker 3: then you have a tight game, then those nerves that
Speaker 3: we talked about before. B why's a very confident team
Speaker 3: right now? I mean they think they deserve to win
Speaker 3: and they think they will win. Now if Utah goes
Speaker 3: out and what what did Mike Tyson say? Everyone has
Speaker 3: a plan until they get punched in the head. How's
Speaker 3: that that saying?
Speaker 2: Punched in the mouth? But you you're nearly there.
Speaker 3: So so if that's what the youths are able to
Speaker 3: do to BYU, then they start to go, wait a minute.
Speaker 3: You you look at you look at BYU through all
Speaker 3: its season, after games, it's been all hyped up and
Speaker 3: we win. Nobody beats us. You know, it's all that
Speaker 3: talk that they seem to have been able to conjure
Speaker 3: amongst themselves. But if Utah limits that to them, suddenly
Speaker 3: by You's looking at each other going, wait a minute,
Speaker 3: this isn't. This isn't what we expect. If this isn't
Speaker 3: what should be happening. And when you put a team
Speaker 3: in that position. Suddenly, that confidence may sheer away a
Speaker 3: little bit, especially when you're playing in a building like
Speaker 3: White Ecls. And I know the Utes haven't been grited
Speaker 3: on their home field, but in this kind of emotional atmosphere,
Speaker 3: that could give the Utes their best chance if they
Speaker 3: can rattle the Cougars and not make mistakes themselves. If
Speaker 3: the Utes make mistakes, then they're in for a long,
Speaker 3: long night. Yeah.
Speaker 1: In the past, you have confidence in Cameron Rising and
Speaker 1: Andy Ludwig, and you know, say they lose the turn
Speaker 1: say the turnover battles minus one or maybe even minus two.
Speaker 1: In the past, you had an offense that could make
Speaker 1: up for some of those mistakes, or a more opportunistic defense.
Speaker 1: They could find diamonds where you didn't even know that
Speaker 1: they were looking over there, with pick sixes and scoops
Speaker 1: and scores and big game changing plays by Clark Phillips
Speaker 1: and Devin Lloyd and Eric Quad and the list goes
Speaker 1: on and on. But the problem is right now that
Speaker 1: offense isn't good enough to make up for stubbing your
Speaker 1: toe more than once or twice, and for all of
Speaker 1: the metrics that indicate Utah's defense is really good in areas.
Speaker 1: They're the number one scoring defense in the Big Twelve.
Speaker 1: They're among the best in the country at both first
Speaker 1: and third down. What they're not doing is creating havoc
Speaker 1: plays and turnovers and the offense can't move the ball.
Speaker 1: Like the margin of error, to underscore your point for
Speaker 1: Utah's mistakes is razor thin.
Speaker 2: If they want to win this football game, how.
Speaker 3: About this for an idea, Kyle Wavingham telling his team, man,
Speaker 3: this is what you guys are going to do. We're
Speaker 3: going to throw the ball here and there, but we're
Speaker 3: going to go out and play physical, off offensive football.
Speaker 3: That offensive front go out, hit these guys, create space,
Speaker 3: allow us to run the football, and allow us to
Speaker 3: burn time off the clock. If they're able to do
Speaker 3: that and sustain drives, which they haven't been able to
Speaker 3: do really and haven't been able to capitalize on those drives.
Speaker 3: If they can do those two things, and those are
Speaker 3: big ifs, I get it. But if they can do
Speaker 3: those things and then the defense does enough to nick
Speaker 3: up Jake Retz laugh and make him a little bit
Speaker 3: nervous or make him a little off his normal timing
Speaker 3: a little bit, you know, keep those receivers under control,
Speaker 3: then again, that works the huge advantage. The problem is
Speaker 3: actually executing it, and I'm not sure whether they can
Speaker 3: do that, but I would be shocked if this was
Speaker 3: like some sort of wipeout. That speaks to what you
Speaker 3: were talking about before. If the Cougar's get a big lead,
Speaker 3: then I think the game is going to be over
Speaker 3: unless they just get so full of themselves. They're just
Speaker 3: doing stupid things on defense and they let let off
Speaker 3: the gas a little bit. But if you talk and
Speaker 3: keep it close and run the football and do it
Speaker 3: in a physical banner that puts by U in a
Speaker 3: situation where they go they're uncomfortable, they're they're not used
Speaker 3: to that in that particular environment, then I think things
Speaker 3: could go the youth's way. But that's a whole lot
Speaker 3: to ask and I'm not sure whether the youths could
Speaker 3: pull that off. I think they can, but whether they
Speaker 3: will that, uh, that's very much And well.
Speaker 2: It's back to where we started.
Speaker 1: If both teams continue to do what they've done so far,
Speaker 1: there's a chance that this is a blood death. And
Speaker 1: you know like that, we only can go off of
Speaker 1: the data that we have. I mean, you try to
Speaker 1: predict things in a business like this, and you're going
Speaker 1: to be wrong a lot.
Speaker 2: And as we've talked.
Speaker 1: About, I've been so wrong about this Utah football team
Speaker 1: that it is going to take some sort of random
Speaker 1: Burton block, Scott Mitchell coming out of no where, you know,
Speaker 1: John Why, Jason Shelley with a big comeback, like all
Speaker 1: of the crazy rivalry memories we have should give youth
Speaker 1: fans confidence because this game is different than other games
Speaker 1: on the schedule. But what we've seen so far simply
Speaker 1: is BYU is a much better team almost all the
Speaker 1: way around. But let's dig into a little bit, Gordon,
Speaker 1: your opinion on what that stadium is going to look
Speaker 1: like on Saturday night, because it has become a narrative
Speaker 1: that's gotten a little out of control. There are online
Speaker 1: ticket outlets where you can look and kind of see
Speaker 1: what's available, and it's hard to tell whether or not
Speaker 1: BUYU fans or snatching up all these tickets that a
Speaker 1: lot of youth fans seem to be selling. I have
Speaker 1: a hard time believing there's gonna be a ton of blue.
Speaker 1: I do think youth fans will show up. I mean,
Speaker 1: in a way, this is going to be potentially the
Speaker 1: most important game on the schedule for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season for Utah football. Even if they go to
Speaker 1: a bowl, it's gonna be somewhat meaningless. The only thing
Speaker 1: worse than playing in a throwaway bowl game is not
Speaker 1: being eligible for one. So this is massive for Utah
Speaker 1: to show the community maybe one time this season that
Speaker 1: they are who we thought that they could be. So
Speaker 1: what are you hearing in your vantage point from your
Speaker 1: vantage point about you know, fan attendance. I know there's
Speaker 1: a lot of anxiety and nervous feelings by youth fans,
Speaker 1: But do you think we're going to see a good
Speaker 1: portion of blue in saut Lake on Saturday night.
Speaker 3: I think we'll see more blue than is typically the
Speaker 3: case in these rivalry games. But youth fans are going
Speaker 3: to show up. I mean, I think they are worried,
Speaker 3: but I think they're going to show up and they're
Speaker 3: going to pour the same emotion that they always do
Speaker 3: in this particular game, you know, and if the youths
Speaker 3: can feed off of that. But the youthes have to
Speaker 3: give the crowd, you know, they have to give them
Speaker 3: encouragement that hey, they're not wasting their time and it's
Speaker 3: for instance. Okay, So one of the things that I
Speaker 3: think will be really interesting to see is, uh, will
Speaker 3: j Hill I'm sorry, will Morgan Scalley pressure Jake Rhtz left?
Speaker 3: And how much will he pressure him? How much will
Speaker 3: they try to get those big plays that you're talking about,
Speaker 3: force those kinds of mistakes in order to do that.
Speaker 3: If they let Jake Retz left sit back there and
Speaker 3: peruse the field and get the ball to the right
Speaker 3: place or to the right player for the right reasons,
Speaker 3: then they're gonna lose this game. If they disturb him,
Speaker 3: if they make him jumpy, then you know, he might
Speaker 3: flash back to some of the things we saw a
Speaker 3: year ago where he'll he will make mistakes, and so
Speaker 3: is Morgan scally gonna be willing to do that? And
Speaker 3: if he does do it and they get sacks, then
Speaker 3: what happens? The crowd erupts and the emotion is there,
Speaker 3: and the big plays are made and the Youthe fans
Speaker 3: are feeling pretty good. If it doesn't happen and BYU
Speaker 3: is as comfortable as it's usually been or almost always
Speaker 3: been this season, then that that's not gonna work. So
Speaker 3: the crowd has to work in the huge favor, But
Speaker 3: the utes have to feed that beast.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, there's been kind of a I hate
Speaker 1: the term narrative, but that's kind of the right term
Speaker 1: to use with this one. There's kind of this narrative
Speaker 1: that's gone on around the marketplace here about how docile
Speaker 1: that crowd has been this year and how uh you know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't feel like it typically has over the past
Speaker 1: decade or so to rise cycles. But you've got to
Speaker 1: give them something to cheer for. You can't the muss
Speaker 1: is always going to be the muss. But if Utah Football,
Speaker 1: if they're players and coaches want to see this crowd
Speaker 1: and hear this crowd the way it typically is, they've
Speaker 1: got to feed them. Man, you can't expect them just
Speaker 1: to go crazy if there's nothing going on.
Speaker 3: So if the use make mistakes, it'd be why you
Speaker 3: build that early lead that you're talking about, what's the
Speaker 3: place going to look like? What I mean, what kind
Speaker 3: of advantage that the youths usually or typically would have
Speaker 3: that's going to dissipate? And then so really, I know
Speaker 3: the youths want to depending on their crowd to really
Speaker 3: give them a boost. But as you said, they have
Speaker 3: to give my reason, and if they don't give them
Speaker 3: that reason, then the place is going to get quiet
Speaker 3: real quick.
Speaker 1: You want to give us a little tease for the
Speaker 1: column you're writing right now for our friends of the.
Speaker 3: Trip, Well, I've written. I've written a couple of columns.
Speaker 3: You know. I don't learn my lessons very well sometimes, Spence.
Speaker 3: But I have the fifty things that are bound to
Speaker 3: happen in this game, and I've got that written, and
Speaker 3: I think that'll be either tomorrow or Saturday, I'm not
Speaker 3: sure which, But I pick a stab at predicted specific
Speaker 3: things that will happen in this game. And I got
Speaker 3: to tell you, as I've done what you said, and
Speaker 3: what you've been doing all week and before that, probably
Speaker 3: studying the stats, looking at the numbers, looking at the record,
Speaker 3: look examining what's happened in previous weeks, I don't see
Speaker 3: a lot of practic coal reasons to pick the youth
Speaker 3: still win. Now, in that same breath, I'll say that
Speaker 3: is it possible that they can win? Yeah, it is possible.
Speaker 3: But things that haven't happened very often this years aren't
Speaker 3: going to have to happen against a team that is
Speaker 3: playing really out of its mind.
Speaker 1: What does it mean for Arsenal if Nick Kushing decides
Speaker 1: to go to the.
Speaker 3: Gunners disasters disasters, that's catastrophic. Yeah, I just think that's
Speaker 3: something I think cannot allow to have.
Speaker 1: Well said I Concur. All right, my friends, Well I
Speaker 1: appreciate the time today. I hope to see in studio
Speaker 1: next week.
Speaker 3: All right, all right, then give bowler my love.
Speaker 1: Will do the great Gordon Monson from the Salt Lake Tribute,
Speaker 1: my radio partner for seven years back in the old days.
Speaker 1: Brought to you today by clear Water Distilling. The only
Speaker 1: distillery and you talk count you open on Sunday is
Speaker 1: Great Spirits Tasting Room. Nicest grew around limited release Wednesday
Speaker 1: whiskey Batch number two out right now it's a mix
Speaker 1: of their bourbon and their Rye whiskeys. Try to scandal
Speaker 1: us the Renee or their vodka now in most state
Speaker 1: liquor stores. They are the official spirits provider for our
Speaker 1: VIP ESPN tailgate that we have at every home game.
Speaker 1: So check out the tailgate, schedule a tour or tasting
Speaker 1: in their Victorian Tasting Room. It makes a great date
Speaker 1: night or a fun activity any time. It's authentic vintage,
Speaker 1: Prohibition prescriptions and decor so ultra premium spirits, many with
Speaker 1: a unique twist twist. You can buy their spirits and
Speaker 1: State liquor stores online