Speaker 1: If you're listening to Cougar Sports with Ben Kretel, and
it's time for cruping the Cougars and inside look at
the latest news on the recruiting trails surrounding Cougar athletics.
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let's get out to the hotline. Welcome in one of
my favorite guess we got the big man, Brandon Huffman
of two four to seven Sports.
Speaker 2: Brandon, how the heck are you, buddy?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 5: Just living the gym out of these days?
Speaker 6: Ben? How you doing?
Speaker 4: Love it man, appreciate you hopping on. I'm doing fantastic.
We're in November. College football season is in full effect.
For getting in the basketball season, high school playoffs and
state championships are being handed out. We uh, I know
you took a nice trip out to Salt Lake City
to get eyes on these local talents, so I want
to delve into that.
Speaker 2: But what's this time of the year like for you
there at two four seven?
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's crazy because you're dealing with a lot of
the schools that with a crazy coaching carousel. You're dealing
with a lot of the schools that are, you know,
getting close to making a new hire, and what does
that mean for the current commits? What does that mean
for commits to other schools? Will they circle back? So
you're tracking that, tracking who's going where. Then the late flips,
the guys that have been committed to a school for
the year today, a quarterback from the Bay Area had
been committed to Vanderbilt for fourteen months, two weeks before
sunning Day decides to commit and open things up. So
a lot of flip watches going on right now, as
well as the coaching carousel watch. And we haven't even
gotten into the portal which is opening for D two
and D three right now. We'll be opening in January,
so we still have that whole crazy part of the
season to cover.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I just saw recently with the James Franklin hire, for instance,
that all these Penn State recruits and commits are going
to be taking an official visits to Virginia Tech this
next weekend.
Speaker 2: The chaos is already ensuing.
Speaker 6: You got Virginia Tech who's got one coach on the field,
the interim head coach is coaching, while the new head
coach who won't coach a game until next August, is
recruiting guys and bringing guys in for official visits, and
he's replacing his good friend and his former DC. I mean,
if that doesn't kind of speak to where college football
is at in twenty twenty five, I don't know what does.
But that's the kind of craziest. I mean, you got
the whole ole miss situation. If Lane Kifton is gonna stay,
is he going to go? They may need an answer
and what does that mean for ole missus recruiting class.
And so there's so many dominoes in play with the
coaching changes that are even in addition to the already
crazy nature of the final weeks until signing day.
Speaker 2: Crazy times.
Speaker 4: Let's talk about the crazy times here at Salt Lake City.
You got to see some good football and good football players.
Speaker 2: How was your trip out the SLC oh.
Speaker 6: It was fantastic. You know, Blairry and Goulah, who I
work with, had been covering that event for years and
had been raving about it, and so I was excited
to get out there. And the weather could not have
been better. It was perfect. It wasn't too cold, it
wasn't too hot, it was just like kind of the
right weather, and then you got to see some great action.
Speaker 5: You got to see, as I put.
Speaker 6: It this week on our podcast, the guys that I
wanted to see really dominate did. And you when you
go to an event like that and you see six
games and you see, you know, commit to every power
for conference and then to the PAC twelve and the
Big Sky, you want those playmakers to make the plays.
And that's what I was treated to. The guys that
I went to go watch, they did their thing. But
then even other guys that maybe weren't as high on
the radar, they did their thing as well. So that's
what it was great to have, you know, six games
over two days and great teams loaded with talent. It
wasn't like you were just going to watch one guy
on the team. You know, some of these teams had
double digit Division one guys and so I definitely got
my money's worth. I will be back for future semi finals.
It was everything that Blair had hyped it up to be.
Speaker 4: And then some who was most impressive to you in
your trip out here out of the recruit that you
got eyes on.
Speaker 6: I would say obviously Keenan Pula had the play.
Speaker 5: Of the weekend.
Speaker 6: But if we're going from the beginning of the game
to the end of the game, without question, it was
little Petti Moulwalla. And this is the second time this
year I got a chance to see him. I had
seen him earlier in the season in Boising Factor against
when Orion played Rocky Mountain and he had fifty three
and a half sacks in that game. He was awesome
on Thursday and then also had a touchdown catch. But
what a menace he is going to be for offensive
linemen in the Big twelve. They're just gonna have a
hard time figuring out a way to block him because
he's so crappy's so technically sound. He's got a great motor,
he's got quickness off the ball, he's got that length.
I would say that, you know, from the beginning of.
Speaker 5: The game to the end of the game and everything
that he did in between, it.
Speaker 6: That Lopetti was probably my favorite player last weekend.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was.
Speaker 4: That's a really nice pickup for b Yu. I don't
think realize how good he is.
Speaker 6: Yeah, And I think that you know, he was a
little bit overshadowed at times by other guys in the
state that probably had a lot of the early attention.
And then you know, I wouldn't say he had like
the most dramatic recruitment. I think he visited Stanford. I
want to say he maybe visited cal. I know he
visited UCLA Utah, but BYU, you know, it's kind of.
Speaker 5: An unremarkable recruitment in terms of he just didn't bring
a lot of attention to it.
Speaker 6: He just went out there and you know, make the plays.
And I think you know, there was a lot of
excitement about Rider Lions committing in the spring, and you know,
where were they going to stand with some of the
other top targets that he kind of flipped under the radar.
But now you look back and you see how he's
jumped up in the rankings, and you see what he's
done on the field this year, And now that's one
that you look at that you could call it a
sneaky good pickup, but I think it's not sneaky good.
I think it's an outstanding pickup.
Speaker 4: I'm looking at the top ten recruits in the state
of Utah for two four seven, pretty much all of
our four star and I think Kenny Poola is like, right,
there knocking on the door of a four star. He's
at number ten, behind Mata Ali, Benjamin and Jared, his brother.
Speaker 6: Yep and Ken just actually moved out to a four
star in twenty four to SEVENS rankings on Wednesday himself.
So again, it's a very strong year in state, a
lot of really good talent and a.
Speaker 5: Lot of different positions too.
Speaker 6: I think that's what's probably you know, you and I
have talked about for years, where it's not just lineman.
Obviously there are skill position players. There are players everywhere
outside the trenches that are worth recruiting. But then you
still got the guys that are in the trenches that
are worth recruiting. So it's very across the board positionally.
I think in Utah in this class, when.
Speaker 4: You look at the commitment, Celessi Moa is at Tennessee
or he's going to be. He committed to Tennessee, Broadcrris Babma,
Lutalo to b YU, Trading Bezinger, Iowa, Easton, Tufa, Sson
Topflexcuse me usc Heleiman Casuga Texas A and m Lopetti
uh is at b YU and then Jared, Matali and
Kennon all going to Utah, Tayden right outside the top ten,
Titan Kaawa, Alabama, then Legend Adam Bywater, Graham Livingston all
to b Yu Kai Meza Cal A nice mix of
of of of different teams, different uh, different positions.
Speaker 2: It's pretty diversified.
Speaker 6: Well, and that's four different power for conferences, he said,
you know with Kai going to Cal, that gives him
the acc You've got the two SEC quarterbacks. I mean,
when was the last time that the state of Utah
had two quarter up two players maybe going to the SEC,
let alone two quarterbacks going to the se see two
top ten teams. I mean a week ago that was
the number three and the number four teams in the
country and their quarterback commits came from Utah. And that
doesn't even take into account you know, arguably the best
quarterback in Utah, who's going to Iowa to the big ten.
So yeah, I mean how often does Iowa dip their
toes into the water into the state of Utah. And
so that's what's probably the most impressive thing is that
the geographical diversity the recruiting classes in the twenty twenty
sixth class and then you still have Utah and BYU
getting there the line share of the in state kids,
and then Utah State there's a couple of kids good
on that list that Utah States getting that are really
impressive pickups too. So I think that again just speaks
to the ability and the talent of the state of
Utah and the depth of the state as well.
Speaker 4: Who's the most underrated UH in this class? Do you
think in twenty twenty six, is there a most underrated
prospect in this class?
Speaker 6: Then? You know I have this everybody's properly rated, right,
nobody's one.
Speaker 2: Everyone, No, But if.
Speaker 6: There's a guy that I would say, you know, has
probably played out played his ranking, it's probably two of
the kids that are. I mean Kawa Akana and Isa Gailier,
you know, going to b Yu and Utah respectively. I
think what they've done in the last two weeks especially,
I was at the like I said, I was at
the game against Rocky Mountain and Issa had a kickoff
return for a touchdown. I think he did that yesterday
as well in the state championship game. He scored the
first touchdown for aorum last week. And then Kaway, you know,
he had some health issues earlier in the season. It
took him a while to get going, but when he did,
he had over one hundred yards receiving four orum last week.
So those are two guys.
Speaker 5: That I think, you know, definitely could have been in the.
Speaker 6: Conversation for four stars as well with the double digit
guys already in the state. And those are two guys
that I think, you know, b Yu and Utah got
to be giddy that they're getting, you know, to come
in and being that they could be rated higher, which
could make you know, some of those guys in this
day and age cost them a little bit more. But
two guys that I think you know have a great
chance about playing where they're when they get to college.
Speaker 4: How would you grade by us pickups in the state
comparative to other schools that are recruiting against them right now?
Speaker 6: Well, I mean it's fantastic because you can get a
brock here as you get a bot Mulatalo, you get
you know, the upgrade with a low petty and with
an atom bywater. I think what was looking like a
good in stat place because class becomes a great in
state class, and I think you know, to get those
to get a pass rusher, everybody's looking for pass rushers.
Everybody's looking for defensive linemen to get, you know, a
tight end. In the modern era, you're seeing the tight
end becoming such a huge part of a passing offenses.
You know, that's big. To get a linebacker with the
versatility that Adam Bywater has, you know, that's big with
a with a kawe. You know, his positional versatility. He
could be a really good saky, he could be a
really good receiver. He even kicks. I mean, you're getting
guys at different positions of needs, and I think that
that's what you know makes it so well. It's not
like you're just focusing on one position and you're getting
all the best linemen in state. You know, you're getting
a good player at this position, a good player at
this position. Now you go to the other side of
the ball, you're getting a good player at that spot,
a good player at that spot. And that's what you
you know, you want to be able to do.
Speaker 5: I think that's something.
Speaker 6: That you know BYU and Utah have done such a
good job over the last decade of really keeping those
top kids in state. And yeah, you know you lose
a kid likes Ce. Let's say to Tennessee, and it's
understandable you're not going to keep every kid, especially if
you look at California. How many kids from California lead
the state altogether. I think Bye in Utah of all
the states in the western part of the country, do
the best job of keeping the local kids home when
the sport's never been more transient than it is right now.
Speaker 4: Do you feel like there's any flips that could occur?
H we're in November, ride we're going to get into
December here. Do you think any flips could occur? Any
of these prospects that are in the top twenty that
are currently committed to certain schools they flip to an
in state school here along the loast that front.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean PJ Taki Talkie is probably going to
end up at Utah when it's all said and done.
He was a to b Yu, so I mean he
did de commit I S so I wouldn't necessarily call
him a flip, even though he may end up at Utah.
I will say that, you know, if you're you're gonna
see flips, it'll be like the Matadi Benjamins where they're
committed to a school outside the region and then decide
at the end of the day, I want to stay
closer to home. But the one that I would say
keep an eye on the most right now would be
Eastern Tasa. And that's mostly because I know, you know,
he has been pursued by both Uyu and Utah despite
his commity USC after he had decommitted from Washington. He's
the one that I still taught all the way up
until signing day that one's not a done deal for USC.
I know USC is fighting like tooth and nail to
hold on to him, But he would be the one
that I would say circle, just because I know how
hard BYU and Utah are trying to get him to
stay in state. And you know, with the success that
he's had at Corner Canyon the last couple of years,
and obviously Corner Canyon's had quite a few players that are.
Speaker 5: Choosing to leave the region.
Speaker 6: But with Eastern, I could see, you know, the closer
gets the signing day, the more the the heartstrings could
help BYU in Utah, but USC is definitely worth the
you know, putting up a fight to keep him.
Speaker 4: What do you make of players who are committed elsewhere
wearing a different schools football gloves like a.
Speaker 2: Lot it was made of. I don't know if you saw.
Speaker 6: There's Oh I thought, believe me.
Speaker 2: Okay, Jari knet we're online, Yeah.
Speaker 4: Jeri knned Pula, we're wearing BYU gloves. And so look,
there's been buzz around the Poola twins for a long time.
And and they were at they were committed to UCLA,
they decommit, they commit to Utah. Are they are they
still getting recruited right now? Are they still maybe open
for business? Is Brett Yormark likes to say.
Speaker 6: In twenty twenty five, nothing is done even when the
papers are signed. You know, we thought last year with
guys that were committed to a school and signed with
the school and ultimately ended up the way that it's
so easy to transfer to get out of it. And
they're no longer signing national lewners of intent. They're citing
intent to enrolls. It's so much easier to get out
of those than the old days. So I've always believed
the subscribe to the adage, watch what they do, not
what they say, to let that be an indicator. By
no means am I saying that people should read into
the gloves. But it.
Speaker 5: Definitely.
Speaker 6: They're both committed to Utah, they're playing on the field
at Utah and they're wearing the arch rivals gloves.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe there is.
Speaker 4: Did you raise your eyebrowsers will be like oh or
is that right?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 6: Eh, you know, I mean, I'm used to I've been
doing this long enough where I'm used to guys wearing
gloves from one school, a you know, a skull cap
from another school, a talis in the third school, and
socks from before school. It's never Hey, I'm going to
be committed to this school and I'm going to wear
the gloves of their rival while I'm playing on the
campus of the school I'm going to. That kind of
added a little extra dimension of spice to it.
Speaker 2: No doubt about it.
Speaker 4: Brandon Hoffman two four seven Sports a Recruiting Insider covers
all things on the around the country for two four seven.
Speaker 2: What have you been writing about?
Speaker 4: What are some of the features that we can find
that you've written about over the last week.
Speaker 5: Granted, yeah, it's actually been kind of fun.
Speaker 6: You know, we're getting to that time of year where
you're kind of trying to assess, you know, what is
recruiting like in twenty twenty five. I just did a
feature on Air Force and Troy Calhoun and how he's
recruiting in twenty twenty five at a service academy in
the era of the transfer portal and nil when they
don't have that to offer. And then I just did
a piece yesterday on Callan Stanford how Ron Rivera and
Andrew luck leave the NFL to go back to their
alma maters at a time where there's never been more
of a need for oversight in leadership. Yet they're navigating
a conference that they didn't play in or coaching when
they were collegiate players and now see their school on
the other side of the country and trying to make
sense of where it's at. While one's trying to hold
on to his quarterback that everybody in the country's going
to want, and the other one's trying to hire a
coach at his alma mater. So you know, we're getting
to that.
Speaker 5: Time of year where hey, we're dealing with the transfer.
Speaker 6: Portal, well, dealing with NIO, We're dealing with guys signing
and not necessarily signing because that's the best fit for
what they do from a football standpoint. It's the best
tit for what they do from a resources standpoint, And
you know, with guys committing earlier and earlier in the year,
we're still getting to that crazy season. We're like, hey,
just because guys committed six months ago does not mean
at all that they're sticking with that school. So we've
got two weeks of craziness. We've got signing days, signing
what four.
Speaker 5: Days after the regular season.
Speaker 6: Ends, and then you got the playoffs, So there's still
plenty of content cranking out these days.
Speaker 4: Last thing I got for your little rivalry talk as
we were talking about the pool of twins, as by
You now officially caught up to Utah. You tied a
head start of over what thirteen years now in the
power force. Status is by you officially caught up?
Speaker 2: Do you think?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it's fair to say that they're pretty
even in how they're recruiting. And I think that, you know,
Utah maybe doing a little bit more national recruiting than
BYU does, just in terms of intentional targeting of guys
in Texas and guys in Florida, which Utah has been
doing for some time. But I think, you know, it's
certainly fair to say that they're pretty even in their recruiting.
It certainly was a stretch there where Utah just about
god everybody they wanted in state, and then BYU has
done a really good jug the last two or three
classes of kind of turning the table. So I think
that they're they're certainly on equal footing when it comes
to recruiting. And I think it's, you know, just adding
another dimension to a robbery that's so loving and caring
towards each side.
Speaker 4: Love it branded best way to support you. How you
do it for all of our listeners.
Speaker 6: Twenty four to seven sports is where you want to be.
Follow me on Twitter or ex whatever we're calling it
at Brandon Huffman. All kinds of information and stuff rolling
out these days.
Speaker 4: Love it man, you do fantastic work. Love hearing from you.
And oh you know what twenty twenty seven, Real quick,
twenty twenty seven. How's the twenty twenty seven class shaping
up for BYU?
Speaker 2: Is it too early to talk? Twenty twenty seven?
Speaker 6: Hey, I'll tell you what they had. Getting Utah at
home this year was great for them. They had a
huge recruit week. In that weekend they had trading Messenger
who or sorry, guys, got Buddy Sparrow trading's the quarterback
to twenty six. But Buddy Sparrow is there. Crew Jones
who helped his team win a state championship yesterday there
at Ridgeline. He was there so many of the twenty
eights in class in the state.
Speaker 5: It's a very good twenty seven and twenty.
Speaker 6: Eight class in the state of Utah, and Yu had
almost every one of those guys at their game against Utah.
So to get that win against in state foe was
certainly well. But we'll start to see the twenty sevens
ramp up here in the next month or two.
Speaker 4: Love it, Brandon, We salute you, We appreciate you always
doing fantastic work.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for hopping off for a cruit the
cougar segment.
Speaker 6: Thanks a lot, Ban, We'll talk to you there.
Speaker 4: Go follow Brandon on X and make sure you're supporting
him at two for seven Sports. That segment was brought
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nine ninety eight point three.
Speaker 6: Get to know the Cougar's opponents and rivals right now.
Speaker 4: I need to know the faux segment on Cougar Sports
with Ben Krittel. Welcome back Cougar Sports one of three,
nine ninety eight point three ESPN The Fantam Acrital broadcasting
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It is top a little know the folk segment want
to get to know the Cincinnati Bearcats from the eyes
the voice of those that cover the team on the daily,
on the weekly and have insider knowledge as to what
the identity of the Cincinnati Bearcats team is and what
they're motivated by. As they welcome in the BYU Cougars
and BYU's won all three of the matchups is the
fourth and they get them at home so they can
knock off a team play spoiler.
Speaker 2: Are they motivated? And you know, are they healthy?
Speaker 4: Are they healthy enough to knock off a BYU team
that's rolling pretty good coming off a big win over TCU.
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Speaker 4: All right, let's get out to the hotline and welcome
in Dan Horde, the voice of the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Speaker 2: Dan, how you doing, Ben?
Speaker 3: I'm great, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 4: Hey, a pleasure of blessing to talk some ball with you.
How would you describe the season of the Bearcats thus far?
Speaker 1: Well, good but disappointing. The last couple of games they
went from seven to one to seven and three. Last
year they were five and two and didn't win another game.
So they're trying to avoid another end of end of
season swoon, at least this year with seven wins, they
know they're going to a ball game, but I think
this Saturday night they're determined to show, you know what
We're more like the team that was seven and one
than like the team that's dropped to in a row.
Speaker 4: How would you describe the culture of the Cincinnati Bearcats
locker room led by coach Scott Saderfield. You know how
many years has he been there now and what type
of culture has he built in order to keep this
team on track?
Speaker 1: Yeer three for Scott Sadderfield, and I would say the
culture might be the biggest strength this team has, not
just because of him, but because they have tremendous senior leadership.
They have two three time captains, one on each side
of the ball. That ties the all time Cincinnati record
for most captainships Gavin Gerhart. They're starting center who's approaching
fifty career starts.
Speaker 3: He's a three year captain.
Speaker 1: Their nose tackle, Dante the Godfather Corleone, one of the
best nicknames in college football. He's a three time captain.
So those two guys really lead the way. It's one
of the biggest reasons why they have gone from a
team that struggled in year one in the Big twelve
two years ago to one that is at least still
mathematically alive in the shot at going to the Big
Twelve Championship game. They would need a lot of help
to get there, and obviously they would need to win
against BYU on Saturday night. But the simple fact that
they're still in the hunt with two games left in
the regular season is a good sign for where this
program is going new coming.
Speaker 2: Well, let me take a step back.
Speaker 4: Cincinnati was once upon a time a power part of
a power conference. They were relegated to non power conference.
Now they're back into a power conference. We're looking at
I remember when we were looking at the new Big twelve,
it was Cincinnati, you know, BYU, UCF, these new kids
on the block, et cetera. And if you look at
the wins and losses and the impact that they'd had
over the previous decade, they were very similar in resume.
They quite honestly were some maybe had higher peaks than
others at certain times, but they were all pretty similar.
How do you feel that Cincinnati's made the transition comparative
to their their their counterparts thus far into Big twelve.
Speaker 1: Well, the tough part for Cincinnati is that they moved
into the Big Twelve the same year that they had
a coaching change. Had Luke Fickle stayed and not gone
to Wisconsin where obviously he's had some hard times there,
but he really had it going at Cincinnati. There would
not have been such a big drop off when they
moved to the Big Twelve. But when you ever have
whenever you have a coaching change, and this day and
age with a wide open transfer portal, it's really hard
to keep guys on the roster, and that's what happened
at Cincinnati. So they took a step backward. Now they're
back on the climb. I'll say this, whatever league Cincinnati
has been in in the past, within a relatively short
period of time, they're one of the better teams.
Speaker 3: And I think that's happening in the Big Twelve.
Speaker 1: There's tremendous high school football in the state of Ohio.
It's not California, it's not Texas, it's not Florida, but
it's probably fourth on the list for the most talent
in any state. So Cincinnati has that advantage when it
comes to recruiting. And again, whatever league the Bearcats have
been in, eventually they've become one of the better teams
of the league, not necessarily the best. That's going to
be hard in the Big Twelve to be the premier
program in this league. But I do think Cincinnati is
going to likely be one of the better teams consistently
going forward.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's uh, you know Houston too. You know Houston,
you know has done well. Uh, They've definitely had their
ups and downs in the transition. But these new kids
on the blocks that didn't necessarily have all the resources
that the other programs have had for so long to
create a new competitive and I think they're they're very competitive, right,
They're they're they're good football programs and they're rising into
prominence in the within the power structure.
Speaker 2: Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Okay, they're just going to say, with all, with all
due respect to Houston, Houston does not have anything close
to the history that Cincinnati has.
Speaker 3: In college football.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 1: To their credit, they're having a good year under Willie Fritz,
and Houston is in Texas, so there's a lot of
talent there. But I do think the big difference between
the two programs is that Houston, for whatever reason, just
doesn't seem to have moved the needle in fan interest
in Houston. If you look at their games now, there
always seems to be a lot of empty seats at
their games. Cincinnati was in the fourteen College Football Playoff
four years ago. Yeah, so this program has been at
a much higher level than Houston, certainly in the last
ten to twenty years.
Speaker 2: No, no doubt.
Speaker 4: I mean, like I said, when I was evaluating these
teams BYU Houston, UCF and Cincinnati from a total wins
losses standpoint, they were pretty similar by resume when they
were getting invited, is what I was getting at. In
you know, since two thousand and six, you know, Houston's
gone to a lot of bowl games. They've had you know,
double digit win seasons. I think in they had a
thirteen win season, a ten win season, ten win season
to twelve when's they've been respectable, is what I'm getting
That's why they got the invite. And so I think Cincinnati, though,
was one of the favorites to be at the top
of the food chain and make the biggest impact when
they made the transition back to the Power Force structure.
Speaker 2: And I think we're seeing that right now.
Speaker 3: I would agree with that.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati since two thousand and eight has played in the Orange, Sugar, Cotton,
and Peach Bowls. As I mentioned, they qualified for the
fourteen Playoff in twenty twenty one, the only team outside
of the then Power five to do it. So this
is a football program that has had its ups and downs,
largely when they've had coaching changes, they take a little
step back before they're good again. But if you go
back to when Mark D'Antonio was the head coach in
the mid two thousands, that's really when Cincinnati started to climb,
and by and large, it's been a very successful program
ever since.
Speaker 4: How would you just the nil offering right now within
the Cincinnati program and the resources that are being allocated
to the athletic department in order to stay competitive in
the modern era.
Speaker 1: Certainly not at the top of a pyramid in the
Big twelve, and that's going to be a challenge going forward.
I don't know that Cincinnati will ever be one of
the biggest spenders in the Big twelve, but they're spending enough.
They've got really good players on the roster that they've
been able to retain, and they just moved into a
palatial football facility, the Shakeley Indoor Practice Facility. I've talked
to a lot of NFL scouts that have come through
Cincinnati since the building opened. They say it's the best
they've been to so in this day and age, I
don't know if that moves the needle as much as
it once did back in the normal recruiting days, when
it was about relationships and facilities and wins and losses
and fan support. I think something like that would have
made a gigantic difference. Number One thing seems to be
nil in many instances, so you have to be competitive
in that area, but every little bit helps. Then they
do have a magnificent facility now to train, in practice,
in hang out, in etc.
Speaker 4: Do you feel I don't know how many active players
Cincinnati has in the NFL, but I know they've done
a pretty good job of developing NFL talent.
Speaker 2: How does that outlook?
Speaker 4: What's that perspective there on development and attracting NFL talent
and putting them in the league.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's been really good.
Speaker 1: So Travis Kelcey, Jason Kelcey before retired, Sauce Gardner. They've
got some prominent players in the NFL that are among
the best at their position.
Speaker 3: If you go back to.
Speaker 1: The I guess it was the twenty twenty season, twenty
twenty one season, so the twenty twenty two draft, they
had nine players selected. They were among the most of
any team in college football that year, So that definitely helps.
I think high school players, no, can you help me
reach my ultimate goal and get to the NFL. And
every time a Bearcat has success on Sunday, that helps.
Speaker 2: No doubt about it.
Speaker 4: Let's pivot over to this game by versus Cincinnati. BYU's
three and zero against the Bearcats all time. But the
Bearcats I think are built a little bit different than
those three other teams that by you played in the past,
and it's going to be a competitive one at Knippert Stadium.
Give me a little breakdown of maybe the current health
status of the Cincinnati Bearcats team and what they're looking
to maybe execute on the field at home this weekend.
Speaker 1: Getting healthier, that's the good news from Cincinnati's perspective. They
have not had one of their two best running backs
in the last two weeks, Evan Pryor. I think he
is back on Saturday Night. They did not have their
fastest wide receiver last week, Caleb Goodie, who's among the
fastest in the country. He is definitely back on Saturday Night.
I mentioned Dante Corleone early in this conversation he might
be one of the best defensive tackles in the country,
but he hurt his ankle in week two or three,
I can't remember which, but he missed a few weeks
and frankly has not been dominant for the most part since.
But a couple of weeks ago he started to look
better and feel better.
Speaker 3: Then they had a bye.
Speaker 1: He was even healthier last week, So I think there's
a chance that Byu is going to have to deal
with Dante Corleone at his most dominant, which would definitely
help the Cincinnati defense. If you look at this team
this year, it's been great on offense. It's been okay
on defense, opportunistic on defense. They get stops in the
red zone. They've got decent number of fumbles for us.
They don't have as many interceptions as they would like.
But the offense for the most part has been exceptional.
Now last couple of weeks it hasn't been quite as good.
Brendan Sorosby has thrown a few picks. Utah was able
to get a lot of pressure on him in that
game a few weeks ago. I'm sure Byu will try
to on Saturday night, But for the season, it's been
one of the better offensive teams in the country, certainly
one of the most efficient.
Speaker 4: It's led by a fantastic quarterback, a fantastic leader, a
captain of men.
Speaker 2: And what do you expect from him in this game?
Speaker 4: Do you think he bounces back from these two losses
and can lead the Bearcats to victory over the Cougar
is a highly ranked b What U Cougar football team, Well.
Speaker 1: It's certainly capable of it. Brendan Sorosby's had a great year.
I think there was a stretch there where he was
climbing on NFL draft boards to the point that maybe
he was being considered as a Day two pick. I
think his draft stock has taken a shot a bit
over the last couple of weeks, and maybe that's good
for Cincinnati because he does have a year of eligibility
left and they would.
Speaker 3: Love to have him back.
Speaker 1: But he's a really good player, and he's a true
dual thread quarterback, much like Bear Bachmeyer. He's capable of
running and throwing. He's had exceptional games of doing either
or both, and they're going to have to count on
him to have a big game to have a chance
against BYU.
Speaker 3: It's an excellent opponent.
Speaker 1: So Brendan Soresby can't have the type of game that
he had last week where he threw a couple of
bad picks. Do that against BYU and you're not going
to win.
Speaker 4: How would you evaluate and great out the trench warfare
battles that Cincinnati has.
Speaker 2: Been combating with.
Speaker 4: Right, How good is this offensive defensive line for the Bearcats?
Can they win the line of scrimmage versus the BWAYU Cougars.
Speaker 1: It's one of the best offensive lines in the country.
Cincinnati has only surrendered three sacks all year, and they
faced some really good defensive lines in the Big Twelve,
So that's one of the reasons why the offense has
been so efficient. The offensive line is outstanding. The defensive
line I would not describe as outstanding. It's solid. If
Dante Corleone can be his dominant self like he was
prior to the ankle injury, that would help a lot.
I think they've got some decent players on the defensive line.
Jalen Hunt is a decent player. Micah Coleman, coming back
from an achilles injury, hasn't had a great year, but
he looked great last week. He had two and a
half tackles for loss in a sack. So they've got
some decent players on the defensive line. But if you're
comparing the two units, the offensive line as far as
superior to the defensive line.
Speaker 4: What would you say the weaknesses of this team if
it has any I don't know if it has any
glaring weaknesses.
Speaker 1: I would say the most questionable unit on the team
is probably the secondary, and I would say the cornerbacks
in particular.
Speaker 3: I don't want that to sound like they're bad. They're
not bad.
Speaker 1: But if you had to pick out one unit that
you would say, all right, that's maybe the most questionable
unit on the team.
Speaker 3: I would probably start with the cornerbacks.
Speaker 1: They've got good speed at the position, they don't have
good size at the position, so that's been an issue
at times. They've been flagged for a pretty high number
of defensive pass interference or defensive holding penalties.
Speaker 3: So again, not a glaring weakness.
Speaker 1: I think they're okay there, but in comparison to the
other position groups, that's probably the one that's been the
most up and.
Speaker 2: Down from a scouting report standpoint.
Speaker 4: I know you've interacted with players and coaches this week.
What have they said about this BYU team that's coming in,
you know, to take on a Bearcats team that is
maybe licking its wounds over the last two weeks.
Speaker 1: I would say two things get brought up over and
over again as I've talked to Cincinnati players and coaches.
Number One, BYU doesn't beat itself, which I think is
a real compliment when it comes out of the mouth
of a coach in particular, coaches always always respect teams
that you know, don't make the type of self inflicted
wounds that cost you games, and BYU by and large
has not done that. Secondly, everybody's talking about the physicality,
so DYU has exceptional offensive and defensive lines. That's definitely
a concern for Cincinnati in this game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's.
Speaker 4: Something that I think BU has prided itself in not
turning the ball over and hopefully taking the ball away.
The turnover margin battles have been the majority of them
won by BYU this year. How has Cincinnati been at
protecting the football this season and taking away the football?
Speaker 1: For the most part this year, good at protecting it,
not as good at taking it away, particularly when it
comes to interceptions. They forced a good number of fumbles.
Of course, there's always a little bit of luck involved
there as to whether you're going to recover it or not.
But for the past two years now, they just have
not come up with enough interceptions. And since they play
a three to three five defense most of the time,
you've got the extra defensive back back there. Iowa State
kind of popularize this defense, and one of the reasons
why the Cyclones have been so good is that year
after year after year they turn it into a bunch
of interceptions. Cincinnati has not been able to do that
so far this year, and they didn't do it last
year either.
Speaker 2: How do you see this game playing out?
Speaker 4: You've seen a lot of Cincinnati football over the years.
You know this squad better than anybody. How do you
see this game playing out at Nippert Stadium.
Speaker 1: I'll say this, I think one of the big steps
that the Cincinnati football program is looking to take in
year three under Scott Sadderfield is to win its biggest
home games. That's what premier elite programs do. When you
get a good team on your home field, maybe even
a team that's a little bit better than you are
in terms of talent, you find a way to win
those games. Cincinnati has approached that point. They beat Arizona
State last year when Arizona State won the league title.
That was at Nippert Stadium. They've got a home win
over Iowa State this year when the Cyclones were still
in the top twenty five. So they've had a few
games like that, but they don't have one yet under
coach Satderfield. That would be like beating DYU on Saturday night,
number eleven in the country, ahead of you on the
the conference totem pole when it comes to the standings,
a team that's got a ton to play for, much
like you do. That is the mission for Cincinnati on
Saturday night to try to win one of those gigantic
home games. That tells everybody in the conference going into
Nippert Stadium is going to be difficult going forward.
Speaker 4: One last thing before we let you go, appreciate you
hopping on to discuss the Cincinnati Bearcats team and what
it does well and what the environment also is going
to be like.
Speaker 2: They have two questions for before I let you go.
Speaker 4: One of them is this The COLLG Football Playoff Committee
dropped their rankings and gave some respect to the big twelve,
I would say some respect because you know, you got
Texas Tech at the top of the food chain. BYU
said one lost team, and they justified keeping BYU out
of the top ten because they lost to Texas Tech,
a top five team, on the road at Lubbock, and
it wasn't a competitive game, even though the scoring margin
was I think the smallest scoring margin twenty two points
in their victories.
Speaker 2: Thus far this season.
Speaker 4: But Batmo jor Mark said, I am thrilled to see
the Big twelve conference getting the respected deserves. I said
a Big Twelve Football Media Days in July that we
would earn it on the field, and we continue to
do that.
Speaker 2: Do you think the Big twelve is getting.
Speaker 4: The respect it deserves as a powerful conference versus the
Big Ten and the SEC.
Speaker 3: No, not yet.
Speaker 1: I think it is slowly moving in that direction, but
it doesn't happen over Let's face it, when Texas and
Oklahoma left, it hurt the reputation of the conference, fairly
or unfairly. Just to have two big name, blue blood
type programs exit made everybody think, Wow, the.
Speaker 3: Big twelve is not going to be as good going forward.
Speaker 1: I think it's every bit as good and Texas wasn't
winning league championships in this league anyway. For the last
several years, Oklahoma typically did, so it just takes time.
I do think that things are moving in the right
direction for the conference in terms of the national reputation.
I do think that most people look at the Big
Twelve as the third best league, clearly ahead of the ACC.
Speaker 3: So that's a good step.
Speaker 1: But they're just going to have to continue to win
big games for people to think that they've closed the
gap on the Big ten of the SEC.
Speaker 2: Great stuff.
Speaker 4: Any recommendations for our fan base that's heading out to
MIT Nippert Stadium and heading out to Cincinnati steak.
Speaker 1: Well, sure you know when in Rome, right, So coming
to Cincinnati. Yeah, if you're coming to Cincinnati and you've
never tried Cincinnati style chili, you probably at least need
to try it now. Skyline Chili is the most famous franchise.
There are several different places in town that do this,
but if you're going to try it for the first time,
you should probably try it at Skyline. This is not
chili as it's thought of in most.
Speaker 2: Of the world.
Speaker 1: This is not coming a bowl with ground beef and
kidney beans and kind of be somewhere, you know, closer
to a soup. This is something that is typically served
on spaghetti, so it's like pasta sauce on top of
spaghetti with a giant mound of orange cheddar cheese. I
know it sounds disgusting, but it's delicious. So that's one
thing that anybody coming from Utah to Cincinnati for the
first time should try. Secondly, we have a famous local
ice cream maker, Greater's ice Scream, that is some of
the best ice cream in the world. Oprah has it
shipped to her every month. She gets the good black
raspberry chip ship to her month latees g. It's amazing,
So definitely try Greater's ice Cream. And if you're up
for it, Skyline Chilling.
Speaker 4: Dan Horde, Ladies and gentlemen, the voice of the Cincinnati Bearcats.
It'll be a bear Bach Myer versus a bear Cat
bear down there in Cincinnati. We appreciate you hopping on
to preview it. Thanks so much, my pleasure, Thanks for
having me on. All Right, there you have it, guys.
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