Speaker 1: To know the Cougar's opponents and rivals Right now, you
know the faux segment on Cougar Sports with Ben Kretelber.
Speaker 2: Welcome back Cougar Sports one O three nine ninety eight
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by my side, Vicram on the data, It's time to
get to know the foe BYU versus Utah, the Holy War.
We love this rivalry. It's it's one of the best one,
I think. Finally, the national media and the national college
football audiences, they're finally realizing now that both teams are
in the same conference at the P four level and
their rank, just how unique and singular this robbery is.
They're being introduced to it at a high level and can't.
Speaker 1: Wait to see how this particular.
Speaker 2: Game turns out, how the the oblong shaped ball bounces
this particular weekend.
Speaker 1: So let's get to know the foe.
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Pros Dentalprosiutah dot com. Let's get out to the hotline.
Welcome in host of the Shan O'Connell Show on ESPN
seven hundred, The real oc Sean O'Connell's on the line.
Speaker 1: What's up, Sean.
Speaker 3: It's Holy War Week, the best week of the year
in the Utah sports Callum, we got what's a little
over twenty four hours to wait for kickoff? It's like
Christmas in October. Great stuff, bro, Like I.
Speaker 2: Just don't think that the national media really knows what
this rivalry is all about. Like they're starting to kind
of grasp hold, Like Dave Poytnoy has been retweeting some
of these things, like there was a young man arrested
for like threatening to kill people. I mean, there's not
things that we're trying to celebrate here, but it's insane
what has occurred last year. Right, Mark carl runs onto
the football field with time remaining and is barking at
the refs. He goes to the press conference and gives
a five minute rant. There's a water bottle thrown from
the stands that knocks out a cheerleader. We have the
old school like two thousand game or whatever, where cheerleader
tackled by a BYU fan. The cheerleader beats him up.
Like you just go down the list of things the
quotes that the rivalry nationally is starting to get known,
and I think it's going to be considered one of
the best rivalry games in college football in the years
to come. Give me your thoughts on the unique and
singular nature of this rivalry.
Speaker 4: Well, I think you're absolutely right, You're spot on. It
should be thought of.
Speaker 3: That on that level Nationally, it is unique for a
lot of different reasons because of you know, the religious
element to it, which makes it a more of a
passion point for a lot of people. And I guess
we'd have to go through all the other coaching staffs
and all the other rivalry games, and all the other
rosters and all the other rivalry games. But the incestuous
nature of this thing makes it so close to home
for everybody. I mean, I don't know how common it
is for Alabama coaches to have played at Auburn or
vice versa. I don't know how common it is for, like,
you know, a Tennessee coach to have really come up
and cut his teeth in a floor at a system
or a Notre Dame in USC to have that kind
of crossover. Those are all great rivalries. But the proximity
and the fact that somebody on both of these both
sides of everything, right, somebody has it uncle le grandpa,
a dad, a mom whose alma.
Speaker 4: Mater was the rival school. It's just it's awesome.
Speaker 3: It's so passionate, and it is statistically one of the
closest rivalries from a one score game perspective. I just
learned this fact yesterday that in the last thirty years,
nineteen of those games have been one score games, which
is most in the country for any rivalry games. So
the fact that finally it's getting a little bit of
natural attention, it's ranked versus ranked conference championship implications, just
like when both teams were back in the Mountain West,
but this time on a Power five stage. I guess
we have to stay Power four now. It just makes
it that much better, and you know we're getting attention.
Big noon kickoff is going to be there. Give the
country just a little glimpse into how as that this
thing really is.
Speaker 4: It's amazing.
Speaker 2: Why is Utah favored in this game? Why will you know?
Why is it that they could come out victorious in
this game at Lavelle Edward Stadium.
Speaker 3: In your opinion, I think that people are still convinced
that Utah's got one of the best offensive lines in
the country. And I think that there's skepticism that BYU
is tested at the same level to this point, and
some of that has justified, some of it probably isn't.
I also think that sportsbooks don't love freshman quarterbacks and
bear Backmeyer has certainly outperformed a lot of expectations and
is starting to play himself out of the Well, you're
a freshman quarterback, so you're going to make mistakes conversations.
But he still is only six games, six starts into
his career. And I think that those are the reasons
why people feel like you thought should be the favorite
in this game. Anyone who pays attention to it, anyone
who knows looks at three and a half points on
the road in Utah's favor according to the books, and
you're just like, man, this this feels like one of
those games where they're so evenly matched. All of the
other numbers show that they're pretty evenly matched, and more
often than not, this comes down to a turnover here,
a block something there, a penalty flag is with the
case in last year's game that either gets thrown or doesn't,
and then you know a kick is made and b
WHYU ends up with a road win. So it feels
more like that type of a game to me than
even three and a half points in Utah's favor, which,
of course for a road game, means that Vegas thinks
that Utah is like almost a touchdown favorite. And I
don't know how confident I feel in that from.
Speaker 2: An analytics standpoint. Maybe when you compare contrast objective data points, productivity, efficiency,
strength of schedule, what do you see on that front?
Speaker 1: Have you delved into any of that on your On
your show this week.
Speaker 3: I've been doing over the numbers more from like a hey,
what do you do with your run game? What do
you do in you know, kind of the tackles for lost,
the havoc defensive havoc plays, and the turnover margin situations,
because I do believe that that's where games like this
are decided at the.
Speaker 4: Line of scrimmage, to lean into.
Speaker 3: The old cliche, and then the big time impact plays
that are made when you start your drive on a
short field and those are often turnovers. Of course, those
are often you know, the the strip sack and the
quick change type plays, and you know they kind of
net out pretty evenly in a lot.
Speaker 4: Of those numbers. The most hilarious one that I.
Speaker 3: That I dived into today on my show these quarterbacks.
You might know the answer to this already, because I
know you do your research a lot. So total yard
is two deal turn quarterbacks squaring off. Do you know
what the gutting for a total yard and standpoint responsible
for a past How these guys? How many yards these
each of these quarterbacks are accounting for on average so
far through six games.
Speaker 1: Sorry, Sean, you're kind of cutting out a little bit.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we need to reconnect, getting a
little bit robotic that may be on our end. I
don't know if Zach if we want to, you know, reconnect,
but let's just reconnect really quick and then he can
pose that same question to us about the quarterbacks. I
did to hear that, you know, comparing maybe contrasting these
two quarterbacks and what they do well. So Shawn back
with us now, then yeah, you sound a lot better
so you can hear me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 2: Got a little bit robotic there, So it could have
been on our end as well. So go ahead and
restate that question.
Speaker 3: Okay, So, so I was going, I was looking at,
you know, baar Bachmeyer versus Devin Dampier, even though that's
not the matchup, that that's the dual, Right, Sure, Devin
Dampier is responsible for two and fifty one and a
half yards per game on average so far this year.
How many do you think that bear Bachmeyer's accounting for
total offense rushing, passing yards, et cetera. Two fifty one
and a half for Devin Dan Pierre. How many yards
do you think separate him and bear Bachmeyer?
Speaker 1: Gosh, it's got to be pretty close.
Speaker 2: I mean because Bear's thrown for what twelve hundred and
then rush for about three hundred, So I mean, yeah,
I mean, you're you're right there through six games.
Speaker 1: It's pretty god to stay close.
Speaker 3: It's literally one yard. It's two fifty one and a
half versus two fifty two and a half, right, Like God,
these teams are not just brothers battling it out. They
are twin brothers battling it out. And there's always one twin.
If you grew up with knowing any twins, if there's
twins in your family, you always know that there's one
who's just slightly better at everything than the other, especially
with athletics. And that's that's what we're trying to find
out at Labella Eedwards Stadium. Which of these twin brothers
is the better brother? The one that's an inch taller,
has you know, the straighter teeth, runs a little bit faster.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this over the last fifteen years,
maybe less than that. So, like let's go back to
like you know, in the twelve years or so, where
where BYU was an independent before they got the invite
to the Big twelve and received additional resources, additional investment internally,
and then NIL kicked in and allowed them to be
even more competitive. So Utah fansine media over the last
decade plus have cited.
Speaker 1: Talent gap as the reason why Utah.
Speaker 2: Is beating BYU year over year with the nine straight wins.
Do you still think that is a true statement that
there's still a talent gap between Utah and BYU, or
as BYU ultimately closed that gap and they are equivalents
and twin brothers.
Speaker 3: I don't know that. Maybe maybe when you get down
into like the twos and threes, you could you could
start to try to make a case for talent gap.
I think that the things that you mentioned have closed
it and closed it rapidly. I also think that it
was overblown in the first place to say that one
was significantly more talented than the other. I mean by
you starting to win these recruiting battles. The transfer portal
is such an important thing, and when you talk about
talent gap comparisons on a team, you just say, Okay,
could L J. Martin be a starting running back at
the University of Utah. The answer to that question is
very obviously yes. Could John Henry Daily be starting at BYU? Well, yeah,
obviously he was at BYU at one point and if
he was still there, he'd be their best pass rushing threat.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: Could Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker be part of the
every down defense for Morgan Scaley at the University of Utah?
Obviously yes. Now, if there is a talent gap, maybe
you start getting into, like I said, the depth, But
even that I have a really hard time saying that
like BYU's wide receiver room isn't as good or better
from man one through ten than Utah's. I mean, I
think that actually BYU has the advantage there this year.
So if it were ever true, and probably in the
height of the PAC twelve years for Utah and BYU
really struggling in independence from the scheduling standpoint, maybe there
was a talent gap of some sort. It probably wasn't
as pronounced as people think it is. And I think
that the quality of NFL players that have come out
of BYU in those years speaks to that It's not
a quantity thing necessarily BOU, but the quality thing has
been really incredible. So I just I never bought all
the way into that, like, oh, you just can't compete
because you don't have everything.
Speaker 1: Well now they do.
Speaker 3: They've got the resources, they've got the facilities, and most importantly,
and something that has not talked about enough, they have
the right coach and the right coaches at BYU. And
that is far more important than any of the other
things that we're talking about when it comes to comparing
these two schools. Coaching is the number one impact sort
of proposition in college football, and BYU's got the right
people there.
Speaker 2: Now, if BYU sends Kyle Whittingham home with a third
straight loss in this rivalry game, does Kyle Whittingham retire
or does he come back another year to duke it
out once again with the Cougars.
Speaker 3: I think that comes down to a question of if
somehow Utah doesn't win this game, but redeems their season
by backdooring into a Big twelve championship game by on
balance having their year finish better than BYU's year. So
from that comparative metric, like they beat us head to head,
but we ended up having the better year, so I
can feel better about it. Maybe I also don't know.
I mean, he's gonna have a hard time walking away
no matter what. So if he loses three in a
row to BYU, he's gonna want to come back to
take another crack at it. But then you have to
be realistic and you have to look at all, right,
my offensive line, that's one of the strengths of my teams.
All of them are going to be gone next year.
So do I want to come back and take another
crack at BYU? Rebuilding Matt's most important part of my team.
I mean, I understand there's I mean this, we talked
about this on my show. This is a big part
of the narrative this year. It'll be hard for Kyle
Whittingham to walk away on a loss to BYU. But
if the time is right, the time is right, it's
just going to be a lot more of a fairy
tale ending. If he can get back in the wind
column against his alma mater that has of course becomes rival.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just wonder if, if if a legacy would
be slightly solid at all, because, like I was, I
was debating this with Spence check its earlier this week
as well, and I I'll post the same question to
you because I want to get your thoughts on it.
You know, I would say, there's there's it's there's a
partition of the legacy. One aspect of his legacy as
the greatest coach. It's it's indubitably, like conclusive, like he's
the greatest all time coach in University of Utah history.
Speaker 1: A partition of that is his.
Speaker 2: Dominance in the rivalry, right, There's no question his dominance
in the rivalry.
Speaker 1: Is a huge part of that legacy.
Speaker 2: And then you have like the double digit wins, top
twenty five seasons, You have the two thousand and eight
undefeated season that was great. In the latter half, you
maybe didn't get a bowl victory, a big time Bowl victory,
but you were in big time bowl games, right, and
you were you're in.
Speaker 1: The top ten or flirtations at the top ten.
Speaker 2: So where does his legacy from a fans and a
media standpoint, where is it more so maybe attributed to
that legacy, which one has more pomp and circumstance, and
and maybe you know, enduring qualities for the fan in
the mob, if you will.
Speaker 3: I think that what you know, in the short term,
five years from now, people would talk about, oh, Kyle
Whittingham went out on either a sour note or a
high note. But once you get past that five year mark, right,
all you're talking about is like that, that's what legacy
really means. Like how are you thought of and talked about?
And what did you leave behind that you know, even
the folks who didn't get to see it live remember
about you. And Kyle Whittingham's gonna have a statue outside
of the stadium that says multiple conference championships into different conferences,
highest ranking in school history, this many NFL players and
all that stuff. And by the way, even if he
loses again to BYU this year, then a winning record
against BYU. Right, So, like all of that comes out
I think as a net positive for Kyle Whittingham. He's
just so hyper competitive that he wants and he's a
control freak, right, he wants to control that narrative to
a point where it's like, not only did he finish strong,
he finished strong by taking this team in his final
year to a conference championship bid, to a college football playoff,
which is the thing that's kind of the final box
to check for him. If Utah would have beat Ohio
State in that Rose Bowl when they won their first
Pack twelve championship, I think he retires right there. I
think he recognizes, like, this is the high water mark
of my career.
Speaker 4: I'm out.
Speaker 3: It hasn't happened, and there's always been some carrot to
dangle to bring him back. Right now, that has been
getting back against BYU, but much more important than that
making a college football playoff. He wants to do that
before he leaves, and this is his best chance to
do it with this senior group of offensive linemen on
the interior, with two first round draft picks potentially playing
offensive tackle, with a hyper talented quarterback.
Speaker 4: Who's a dual threat.
Speaker 3: And an experienced defense, especially that linebacking corps. There's always
going to be something. There's always going to be an
exciting young player. Hey can I get this guy better
for next year? But at some point the succession plan
has to come to fruition. Morgan Scalley's not going to
wait around forever. And I do know this for a fact.
The nil thing and the transfer portal thing. While Kyle
Whittingham has done a pretty good job adjusting to it,
he does not.
Speaker 4: Like it at all.
Speaker 3: It is a heavy lift for him to keep up
with the Joneses on that front, and it's a heavy
lift for the athletic department and the University of Utah
supporters to keep up with the Joneses on that front.
He recognizes all of this stuff. I think it's his
last year, no matter what happens on Saturday, and probably
no matter what happens the rest of the way. But
I do think he's got a great shot of finishing
on a high note.
Speaker 4: With this roster.
Speaker 2: Sean, give me a score prediction. How do you see
this game playing out? What are the keys to the game.
Speaker 3: Well, the keys of the game are possessed the football,
don't turn it over, do not give short fields to BYU,
and obviously you've got to stop the run. Bear Bachmeyer
and LJ. Martin are an absolute nightmare when you put
those two together. I think that Bo he's going to
have a couple of big plays in this one. I
think that you know, there's a reason why Chase Roberts
and ten Parker Kingston and those guys have what like
when you put the whole group together of pass catchers,
it's like thirteen to fifteen yards per catch. I think
Roberts is like nineteen yarders.
Speaker 4: It's there.
Speaker 3: They're big, dumb numbers. They're like explosive play type numbers.
Keep that stuff in front of you, don't give up
too many of them, and play more like you did
against Arizona State in West Virginia on the line of
scrimmage than you did against Texas Tech. I don't think
BYU is anywhere near what Texas Tech is on either
offense or defensive line right now. So Utah should be
able to win that battle. But it's the rivalry game.
There's talent on both sides. These coaches know each other
incredibly well. Jay Hill is one of the best defensive
coordinators in the country, just like Morgan scally is. I
think it stays relatively low scoring because of that twenty
four to twenty US.
Speaker 2: There you go, that's the real O C Sean O'Connell.
What would you have done to a fan that jumped
down and tried to beat you up, you know, in
on on on the football field, if you were a cheerleader,
you know.
Speaker 3: Well, if I were a cheerleader, I think my whole
life story would.
Speaker 4: Have gone a lot different than I probably wouldn't have
some of.
Speaker 1: That gus that I have.
Speaker 2: Dude, Hey, that guy actually can't remember his name, but
he was like a really good wrestler at Mountain View
High School apparently, and then he like transitioned into cheerleading.
Apparently he just beat the snot out of that poor
BYU fan that jumped onto the football field.
Speaker 1: So he was actually a pretty good wrestler apparently.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, he level changed pretty well. He drives
through the takedown. He got greedy with the ground and
pound because you got to keep that that far his
right arm. You know, he's got that overhooked across the body.
You got to keep there and just hammer away with
the left. You don't get greedy and start throwing the right.
But the BYU fan recognized very early he had bit
off more than he could chew, and he went into
full defensive mode. Look, he went kind of violence at
the game. But if you see a guy with a
little bit of a dad bod and a great beard
standing down there where that maybe looks like he's rooting
for the utes BYU fans. I'm not the one, Okay,
don't come out and try to test me. It'll be
a bad day for both of us, but it'll be
worse for you.
Speaker 2: Sean O'Connell. Ladies and gentlemen, real OC. Make sure you're
following him on Twitter. Listen to him on ESPN seven
hundred every single day in the midday.
Speaker 1: Thanks Sean, We appreciate you man, Thanks for hopping on.
Speaker 4: Thanks Ben, there go the real Yeah.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you, the real OC guys. That segment was
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Speaker 1: Let's get out to the hotline.
Speaker 2: Welcome in College Football Insider representing Pro Football Focused, the
one the Only, Max Chadwick.
Speaker 1: How they are you, buddy?
Speaker 5: What are you guys doing.
Speaker 2: Doing fantastic? I know you guys broached the Holy War? Uh, Like,
how do you view the Holy War in relation to
the other rivalries in college football?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: I feel like, you know, with big newon Kickoff coming
out here and evaluating this rivalry, they're kind of opening
themselves up to just how volatile, how much, how vile
this rivalry can really get.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's certainly one of the most intense
rivalries that we have in college football right now. Obviously
there's two famusies do not like each other at all.
I've had plenty of people tell me it's the biggest
day in the state of Utah all year. I really
am excited for this Holy world. Yeah, I think it's
it's certainly up there. It's one of the most intense
rivalries in the sport right now.
Speaker 2: So you guys did your breakdown on the Pro Football
Focused podcast. What were some of the storylines, the keys
to the game that you guys delved into.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the Holy warst probably be one of
the trenches on both sides of the ball. Honestly. I
think you got to watch at the offensive line versus
defensive line for both teams, and I think b Yu
obviously your offensive center around the run game, and their
offenseve lines are really good at blocking up the run
game this year, and Utah has had some issues in
run defense, but Utah has been elite in terms of
getting after the pass of this year. So it's really
to come down to Utah stopped the run enough and
also pressure bear Bachmeyer enough. And then on the other
side too, Utah has one of the elite offensive lines
in the country with a really good run game. UA
has gotta be ready to put the thick of nose
in their run defense this week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's an interesting battle, no doubt.
Speaker 2: For years, Max this game was in the modern era,
in the Kywitingham area, it's been somewhat dominated by Utah
Utah fans. Utah media would always cite talent gap. What
do you see as far as talent level is concerned
between these two teams?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's very similar. I think these are
two programs that are at the top of the Big
twelve right now that they're among the five best teams.
I was saying the Big twelve right now, maybe even
the three best teams. So I think town level is
very similar, which we should create a a nail binder
tomorrow night.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: As far as the quarterback play, Devin dan Pier versus
Bear Bachmeyer, who do you like better in this game?
Obviously Devon's gonna have to play in a hostile environment
on grass. I do think that that there's a component there.
He's typically playing on turf, you know, the surface area definitely,
or the surface that you're playing on, can you know,
be a little bit of a variable there. You have
a wild and rockous crowd. Bear Bachmeyer true freshman, and
he's played well at home, but maybe Utah's defense is
the best defense that he's faced all season long. Who
do you think ends up outperforming who Devin or Bear.
Speaker 4: Good question. I like Devin.
Speaker 5: I think, God, they're very similar. I don't think you
know this one guy the superstar, one guy struggling. I
think they're very similar in terms of talent level right now.
I think Dan peers a little more experience. I'll give him.
I might give him the edge there. But I mean,
like I said, I think both quarterbacks have been performing
on a similar level this year. It was a pretty
a decent level. I'll say both of them are playing
at right now. So I think Devin, I'll give him
the white edge, but I don't think it's very much
big difference from either of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's there's a lot of mirroring here right I
called this game the Spider Man meme. Statistically, side by side,
they look exactly the same talent level, they look exactly
the same quarterback, they look exactly the same. Even on
their coaching staff. They they have kind of this cross pollination.
You have Utah former Utah players and coaches on BAU staff,
and vice versa, players and coaches on the University of Utah.
Jason Becks, a former BAYU Cougar, all their entire offensive staff,
Kyle Whitningham's for BAU player.
Speaker 1: This is the Spider Man meme game.
Speaker 5: Yeah, honestly, you can say that. You look at the
two programs right now. Like I said, they are very
similar in terms of how they want to win football games.
It's very team before me for both programs. You know,
I wouldn't say either program is really led by one
or two star players. They're very well rounded teams overall,
and I think you know they're very physical football teams too.
I think you're gonna see that tomorrow night.
Speaker 2: One of the things that I've been evaluating here that
that offensive line of Utah is pretty good.
Speaker 1: How well do you think that?
Speaker 2: You know, if we talk run to pass right, Devin Dampierre,
has he been forced to win games with his arm
just yet? Because I don't think b Y is great
at pass rush, but they're phenomenal at stopping the run.
They may just force Devin Dampierre to win with his arm.
Speaker 1: Can he do that? Yeah?
Speaker 5: I think it's a good question. I know, you look
at what dam Pier has done this year in You're right,
he's been a mostly average patcher this year. I think
his mobility has been what's really been driving that offense
so far. But yeah, if you can stop the run
and if you can make Utah drought back in obvious
passing down, that's not where they want to win football games.
They want to win football games with their offensive line
dominating out there. So yeah, I think it's would be
critical for Bou tomorrow to stop the run game with
Devin dam Pierre leading that run game and then make
Dampierre bet as a passer.
Speaker 2: From a PFF grading standpoint, right, if we just look
at PFF grades versus their competition, who's the better team
and why this year?
Speaker 5: I think it's very similar. I don't know if I
would feel comfortable saying one team is better than another.
You know, Utah does have higher grades than BYU this year,
but obviously U I U is the undefeated team right now,
so yeah, I think actually, sorry, Utah, U I use
the higher grade team on at PF dot com right now.
So again, I don't think either of them are that
much different. I don't know it'd be hark for me
to say one team is better than another right now,
but I would give the flight as a BYU based
off what they done this year.
Speaker 2: How much better is Texas Tech than all the other teams?
In the Big Twelve, and then like what's that second tier?
We have like first tier of like Texas Tech, that's it,
and then who's in that second tier?
Speaker 1: From a grading standpoint in PFF, I think.
Speaker 5: It's pretty clear that Texas Tech is the favorite right now.
I think, you know, I would be surprised if they're
at least not in the Big Twelve title game. It's
not winning the Big Twelve title. After that, I think
it's a bunch of teams. You know, you look at
teams like BYU, like Arizona State, like Utah. There's a
bunch of teams that you could throw in the Big
twelve mix right now too. So yeah, I think Texas
Tech is a favorite, but you know, Cincinnati, BYU, Utah,
Arizona still. I mean, yeah, I think it's a lot
of teams after that are certainly in the mix. Right now.
Speaker 2: We got Max Chadwick Pro Football Focus here on ESPN
the Fan. We're live for Myers meets here in Highland, Utah.
Come on in enter to win a free tri tip,
Delicious Meats, intreats at Meyers Fine Meets Max is BYU's
offensive line, you know, much improved from last year, and
pass pro and running the ball and moving defensive fronts.
Speaker 1: Like if you look at who BYU has gone up.
Speaker 2: Against and and you evaluate how productive they've been running
the football, what do you prognosticate as far as BYU's
efficiency versus this Utah defensive front and.
Speaker 1: Running the ball?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think b Yu has done a really good
job in offensive line this year and the seventh best
run blocking great in the entire country right now LG MAR.
And not only are the blocking ball for LG MAR,
but LG. Martin's creating yards after contact too, who is
always key too. So this is the reason why they
run the ball to the second highest rate in the
power for behind West Virginia. Right, So yeah, I think
it's you know, we've come to expect this in BYU.
We know their offensive line every single year and the
Kawanaka hockey's gonna be really good. And that's howstranger this year.
BYU has another elite offensive line this year too.
Speaker 1: You messed in West Virginia.
Speaker 2: West Virginia actually was able to run the ball effectively
versus the University of Utah. Do you forecast that to
occur on Saturday with b y U b Yu running
the ball effectually versus this Utah defensive front.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I do.
Speaker 5: Actually, I think, you know, I think Utah's run defense
is about average this year. The right now their fifty
first and run defense grade this year. And like I said,
Buyu runs the ball a lot, right, so buy is
gonna want to establish the run as much as possible.
I don't think they want bear Bachmeier, a true freshman
out there, to go and win this game for them.
They're gonna want him to play a complimentary role tomorrow night.
And like I said, it was really for both teams.
Stop the run and make the quarterback beat you as
a passer. Whoever does that better I think will win
the ball games.
Speaker 2: Max Chadwick Pro Football Focus here on ESPN the Fan
Live for Myers meets Myers Meets in Highland, Utah. Max,
do you have a score prediction in this game? How
you figure it will play out a lot of the
national media and in even Vegas, they they're they're leaning
maybe towards Utah winning this game at Lavelle Edwards Stadium.
Speaker 1: How do you see it?
Speaker 5: Yeah, honestly, I think it's ben a nail bier. I
think it's truly a coin toss. I don't think the
spread is really indicative of how could this game is
gonna be. So yeah, I like I did take Utah
to win, but I had it's twenty four to twenty three. Like,
I really think this is this could be an overtime game.
This should be one of the best Holy Wars we
get in a long time. I am really excited in
this game, and like I said, I think it's truly
a coin toss tomorrow night.
Speaker 2: Are you picking the under or the I mean, I
guess you're taking the the under there because it's at
well forty nine and a half I think it was
last time I checked, so that's pretty close.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I took I think it's what forty seven that
I predicted, So I think why I pick the under
there is I think both programs are going to run
the ball, which is going to bleed the clock a lot.
I don't think it's gonna be a high flying offensive affair.
I think both teams are going to be really really
physical in the trenches and try to have these long
substating drives, which probably lead to a lower scoring game.
But I do think it'll be an awesome game. In
the last three, and I guess that it should be
a really really close final score.
Speaker 1: Max Chadwick, Pro Football Focus. Max, always appreciate our time together.
Speaker 2: Let's promote real quick your show, your podcast for everybody
that's tuning in.
Speaker 5: No, I appreciate that. Yeah, it's the PFF College Football
Show on YouTube anywhere you're going podcasts, And like I said,
we did a Utah b y U full in depth
preview on both sides of the ball as available right
now on that channel. To go check it out.
Speaker 1: Check it out today.
Speaker 2: Follow Max Chadwick and Pro Football Focus on x and
on YouTube. Thanks so much, Max, We appreciate your time today.
Speaker 4: Thanks guys.
Speaker 2: All right, there you have it. That's Max Chadwick. We're
lyve for Myers meets Myers Meats in Highland, Utah. Come
on by check out all of the fine foods of
Myers Meats. I love their meats, I love their try
tip get it in all manner of marinates. Right now
you can go into the back and check out their
specific tri tubes. It's fantastic for a Saturday Sunday type
of barbecue. You want to do a little bit of
a smoke out, you got it here at Meers Meets
real quick before we go to break my guy Trent,
Trent Reid here a big b y U van. We
love Trent. We interact a lot on X Trent. Do
you shop here at Myers Meets on occasion?
Speaker 1: By chance? I do? Indeed.
Speaker 6: In fact, I grew up next to the Myers in
the Holiday area, and so back then there was Myers
and Meyers Chicken and it was sort of a high
school hangout for sure. But but now when you come
to Myers sort of the Alpine Highland and American Fork area,
they're all here, and you know, a lot of a
lot of times run into some who's who here at
oh Yeah Meets.
Speaker 1: But I ran into Ben Kahoon earlier today.
Speaker 6: I mean between the try Tip, you're right and there
they're custom Hamburger Patty's. Those things are sweet and you
know the ribs that they do that you can just
pop in the oven.
Speaker 1: I mean, Myers kills it. And I'm wearing today.
Speaker 6: I was on my way to a big meeting downtown
and I was like, I'm getting a shirt for this.
I haven't bought a new shirt in a while, and
I was gonna go to Utah Woolen Mills. It's like
u W M now, And I'm like, no, those guys
are such youth fans. And so I remember, and I'm like, okay,
Odeon men's wear And there was one in draper stopped
along the way. I'm wearing my Odeon men's wear. Pretty
nice sports performance. It looks fantastic. Right, So Odeon came through.
Speaker 1: Did you get the did you get the ben Criddle discount?
Speaker 2: They?
Speaker 6: I didn't because I was like I want I just
I wanted them to get full margin. And then I
told them afterward, by the way, I came because of
Ben Criddle, but I didn't. People should get the discount.
You should get the discount. But I just didn't want
the discount. I wanted them to make a bucks. You're
a gentleman and a scholar and a good man train.
Speaker 1: How do you shoe this game playing out? Man? I mean,
I know you.
Speaker 2: You listen to the show, you consume all manner of
by you scot sports content. He's the fan that that
puts his kids to bed and puts it like this
is his eternal companion, goodnight, like I love you baby,
and then he listens to the podcast he listens to
all the kind of he gets on his phone on
a computer and he consumes it all. So he's very
well versed in cougar sports lore.
Speaker 6: My company even we wanted to sponsor this, but we
were like, too far back in line for you.
Speaker 2: That's not true. We need to get Ryan, you know,
And it was you know, now you've changed the name.
Speaker 1: You've red.
Speaker 6: After for the review, and so if people watch, which
they should after for the review, then they'll they'll hear
our sponsorship.
Speaker 1: But uh, yeah, I heard of your.
Speaker 6: Last two guests, and uh, I think that the I
understand where they're coming from. But by he's gonna be
able to run it on these guys, and uh and
what's gonna happen is going to look a little bit
like a hybrid of when Jared Hall took come to task.
I mean, if we're taking them earlier in the year,
I'd be much more nervous about, you know, Bear's preparedness.
Speaker 1: But he's playing with.
Speaker 6: The type of confidence that Jaron Hall did. They set
them up in situations that aren't high risk. They understand
the high risk situations that didn't pay off in the
in the past, and they're gonna be able to run
it against these guys, and they're gonna be able to
throw it too.
Speaker 1: They'll be able to.
Speaker 6: They're gonna use Kingston like you know, going in motion.
They won't be able to bump them speed kills. They're
gonna get it to them in space. And we're gonna
end up winning, probably in the sort of thirty three
to twenty range. It's gonna be exciting, but it's not
gonna be a nail bider.
Speaker 2: You're feeling the double score, double digit win.
Speaker 6: We're taking the Man and that and the Reed family,
the Forest family.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be.
Speaker 6: There together making so much noise that the youths won't
be able to you know.
Speaker 1: See straight.
Speaker 2: I will say this much. The roar of the Cougars
does a great job. The Royal Army, the general fan
base does a great job. We need to be loud
and proud. The Twelfth Man needs to be loud as
soon as the offense, the Utah offense is on the field,
not just when they're kind of setting up pre snap,
but I want poor communication.
Speaker 1: Throughout the entirety of that.
Speaker 6: That play call we're bringing it we did during the
Jar Andhall victory. We're doing it again. That was such
a glorious one of the most fun games I've ever attended.
That the Boise State Hill Mary from Tanner. I mean
it was fun with Jaren and Bears about mall them
Revenant style and uh, and we'll get a good result here, a.
Speaker 2: Big revenant pool. I love that movie. That was fantastic.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: You know, we'll leave them alive just enough so they
so they can survive. Yeah, a little a little bit
of grace for our brethren, Trent big Ugaro to you.
Appreciate you joining us, and great prediction. I do think
by you will be able to run the ball. And
the question is how quickly will they adapt to b
Yu's effective.
Speaker 1: Running and then how we're gonna win? Are we gonna win?
In uh?
Speaker 2: In versus their coverage, they do have a good defensive
back crew. Their talented miss notes off he is very good.
Uh but uh, I do see uh in an upticking
talent over the last five years at wide receiver and shoot.
It could be a Carson Ryan type of game too.
We'll see how he competes at that tight end spot.
Let's go to break, don't go anywhere more to get
to this is Cougar Sports on one O three, nine
ninety eight point three ESPN the Fan. You are listening
to Cougar Sports with Ben Krettle, and it's time for
a Cougar insider report. Now, let's get that proprietary inside
scoop on Cougar Sports from Critle. Welcome back Cougar Sports
one of three, nine ninety eight point three ESPN Fan.
I'm Ben Footle broadcasting from Myers Meets and Find Foods
in Highland, Utah.
Speaker 1: Stop bombay saying hello.
Speaker 2: Entered to win a contest to get yourself a free
tri tip. They have all manner of different tri tips,
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Myers Meets and fine Foods here in Highland, Utah. We're
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from Kyle Whittingham, the head coach of the of the
University of Utah, the former whack Player of the Year
for the BYU Cougars. In this insider report, can it
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from Myers Meats and Fine Foods Bread always bringing the
hammer by my side, Sack Robinson behind the glass. Let's
get into a SoundBite from Cowiting. I've stated this time
and time again this week. This is the Spider Man
meme game. We look very similar in every We look
very similar in every way, shape and form. And he
breaks it down between the two teams that are a
lot of similarity statistically.
Speaker 7: Ivory week got to go on the road. I guess
it's going to be a big neon kickoff. Will be
there even though it's not the big new game of
the week, it's they'll be down there and and so
we have have to have a great week of practice
as always between the two teams, there's a lot of
similarities statistically, both rushing for roughly the same amount, throwing
for roughly the same amount, scoring roughly the same amount. Defensively,
there's a lot of similarities as well, both in the
upper third of the conference in most of the key stats,
and so should make for a great matchup. And and
away we go, rival.
Speaker 1: Away we go.
Speaker 2: Okay, Brett, what are the differentiating and shout out what's again?
To trend over at Ryan Valuations. He does great work
over there. But Brett, are there any statistics that are
differentiators here?
Speaker 1: As we headed? This one is so interesting. I just
do a study.
Speaker 8: If you don't believe me, go on Big twelve sports
dot com right now and just go through football statistics.
And what you will see is in almost every single one,
no matter what it is, even the weird ones like
defensive and offensive efficiency, BYU is sitting right next to Utah,
and if not, there's a couple of them, where BYU
sitting one spot away and there's one team in between.
Speaker 1: It is so weird how similar these teams are.
Speaker 8: And what's funny is if you even go back to
last year, even when Utah wasn't good last year, defensively
in a lot of categories. They were also sitting right
next to Bou So these teams have been a mirror
image app matchup for a long time. But if you're
going through and you're looking at the data, the one
place where you will see a difference is rush defense.
Utah is the ninth best, ninth worst, however you want
to call it. Ninth in rush defense in the Big Twelve.
BYU is second. Now a large part of that Utah
hasn't been horrible defending the defense.
Speaker 1: But as you just heard in the the previous.
Speaker 8: Segment with Max Chadwick, even he's selling you, hey, they
have our fifty first rush defense grade. They're average right
now and defending the run, that's what the metrics tell
you with the Big twelve stats.
Speaker 1: Part of that what really got away.
Speaker 8: From them was West Virginia when they gave up two
hundred and sixty one yards. So what'll be interesting to
me is if BYU can I guess Utah is probably
gonna load the box. Obviously we've seen teams do that
though this season and not really get away with it.
Speaker 1: This Buo offensive line seems to just mow through these
linebackers at the second level.
Speaker 8: If Utah loads up this box, which we think they will,
they run man coverage at one of the highest clips
of anybody in the country. Where does BYU want to
win the game? Do they want to say, hey, we
don't care if you load it, We're gonna run it anyway.
Speaker 1: Or do they say, you know what, if you're gonna
go one on one.
Speaker 8: We think PK and Chase Roberts and crew, we think
they can handle their business. It'll be really interesting to
see what a rod decides.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the question is I have here? Is this truly
the playing game for the Big twelve title game?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Is this going to be the playing game? What does
Utah have on the back end of this? They could
lose to a better and what much improved Colorado team
They look at a whole lot more formidable. BYU have
some tough games after this as well. I always staying
on the road, although I always state has shown that
they have some weaknesses. But they're gonna be playing BYU
at home. It's not going to be easy whatsoever. Like
there are opportunities. Obviously b is going to be in Lubbock.
They probably lose that game. Utah has already got demolished
bomb and it was on their home field. So it'll
be intriguing to compare and contrast after this game. Just
where BYU sits within the Big Twelve? Is there a
fourth and fifth best team right now in the Big Twelve?
Would you say, Brett Hammer, that you can be conclusive about.
Speaker 8: So right now, if you go and look at standings,
your top teams are Arizona State, Utah, Cincinnati, Texas Tech,
and by you Cincinnati is such a weird one because
as it was a team that nobody thought was going
to be successful in this conference, probably similar to what
we thought about Arizona State last year and then they
had the year that they hear. Houston is also a
sleeper team right now in this conference, like they look
good no matter who they play against. Is going to
be fascinating to see who ends up on top at
the end. My one thing I'll say about Texas Tech
is the question you have to ask what the Red
Raiders is do you think they'll go undefeated? Because if not,
who's their loss? And you go look at their schedule
the rest of the season they play they so they
play at Arizona State tomorrow, they'll play Olklahoma State, which
we know is a win. They play at Kansas State,
They'll play BYU UCF in West Virginia.
Speaker 1: Now, most of those games look winnable. Arizona State could
give them a scare. We'll see.
Speaker 8: But if you're a Texas Tech fan, you're saying, where's
our one loss? You're probably saying it's BYU. Now, I
get it's on the road. I get it's number seven
Texas Tech. From a BYU perspective, I don't know if
I picked them to win that game. But I also
don't know if I picked Texas Tech to go undefeated
throughout the rest of the season. That to me, I
think from a Texas Tech respective could be a trap game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm looking at Houston and Cincinnati right now. I'm
gonna give you my comments on their back end of
their schedule. But let's listen to Kyle Whittingham. Who's the
team to be in the Big twelve? And why is
it Texas Tech?
Speaker 7: He said, when you first had the nil and all that,
that you would see a time when the top twenty
five would reflect the same amount of money. Are you
not seeing that now?
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if you've seen that and that's particular.
Speaker 7: In the Big twelve. Oh, who's leading the Big twelve
right now? Who's the team to be Texas Tech? Who
had the most budget by far? Texas Tech? So I
think yes. Short answer is yeah, I think we're seeing
that play out. And it's not a complaint. It's not
a you know, you know Tech, you just have all
the money. It's not fair that their congratulations to them,
they're committed winning. And so it is playing out with
in the conference as well as on the national scene.
Speaker 2: If this is the case, if it all has to
do with money and your payroll, who's spent the second
most in the Big twelve?
Speaker 1: Who spent the second most in the Big twelve? I
don't know the answer to that, you know what I mean,
that's the question right now.
Speaker 2: It's like okay, well, right now, if you're looking at standings,
If you're looking at the standings, it's like, okay, well,
if this is the case, then it's either BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Utah,
or what Arizona State.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's Arizona State.
Speaker 2: So it's it's Utah, Houston, Sinnati, Texas Tech BYU. I
don't know what Baylor spent, Baylor probably spent pretty many.
Did Iowa State spend the second most? Kansas Kansas State?
You of a, TCU Colorado, you know what I mean? Like,
is Colorado going to have this like resurgence on the
back end and become arguably like the second best team
and in the Big Twelve From a schedule standpoint, let
me tell you this, Houston and Cincinnati may have the
easiest path to Arlington right now, like quite honestly, because
Cincinnati plays Oklahoma State Baylor. They're at Utah, So that's
a tough one. Yeah, that's a tough one. They're at
home versus U of A. They play BYU Okay at home,
and then they're at TCU. Okay, that's gonna be tough.
They're gonna have a few losses. It'll be tough. But Houston,
look at this U of A at home at ASU West
Virginia at home at UCF a little bit of a
trap game maybe, then TCU at home and then at Baylor.
I don't know who has the weaker strength of schedule
on the back end, but Houston and Cincinnati are gonna
be intriguing to watch.
Speaker 1: We'll see just how good they are because if.
Speaker 2: They are as good as you know they they've kind
of showcased and they have to spend some money. There's
no doubt Willie Fritz has done a good job there
and here, so there's some good money in the Houston
area and you wonder how impactful that has been from
a roster.
Speaker 1: Roster standpoint, a talent standpoint.
Speaker 8: It's going to be a fight for the finish for
this Big twelve title, and honestly, as much as we
want to say it's BYU, when it really comes down
to it at the end of the season, it could
be any one of those guys who's fighting.
Speaker 1: Texas Tech for that title spot.
Speaker 2: I want to know who's spent the second most, quite
honestly on their roster, because I don't I think in
the future may b Yu may be the second biggest
spender from an NIL perspective, in the future, I don't
know if it's this year though, I don't know if
they're spending the second most this year comparative to Tech.
Speaker 1: And it's such a hard thing to know.
Speaker 8: My initial totally arbitrary guess would maybe be Colorado only
because and the only reason I say that, I don't
know anything about the donors. But what I can say
is it seems like Dion can call anybody and get
them to show up at the University Colorado. So my
guess would be, if there's a guy who can call
somebody and get money deposited of anybody in the Big Twelve,
I think it would probably be Dione, But who knows.
Speaker 1: Let's go to break.
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nine ninety eight point three