Speaker 1: He is Cougar Sports with Ben Gretel and it's time
for the Cougar Beat getting the dish.
Speaker 2: From the local reporters that cover Cougar athletics.
Speaker 3: Welcome back at the Sports one of three nine ninety
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Speaker 2: All right, let's get out to the hotline.
Speaker 3: Welcome in the voice of the Cougars on the BYU
Sports Network. We got Greg Rebel on the line. G Unit,
How that are you, buddy?
Speaker 1: Good Ben? How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm doing awesome. I'm excited. This is.
Speaker 3: A new era of BYU football, new era of BYU athletics,
and it's just great to experience it. Like the glory
days of the eighties and the nineties, the post level
inception of of BYU football was amazing, right, and now
we're experience something that is maybe akin to the glory
days of BYU football. You probably can can speak to
it better than I can. What do you think about
you know when you take in the last five years
and what colonie's are accomplished in creating a championship program
now a part of a power for structure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what was done in the past was outstanding, but
it wasn't done at the level that it's being done currently.
Because of BYU status as a Big twelve member, b
YU never had. This is to kind of schedule with
the Cougars are seeing year in year out now. So
we saw great results, We saw a lot of wins,
we saw an undefeated season, we saw a national championship,
but we saw it in a different set of circumstances.
And and what By is being asked to do now
is exponentially more difficult than anything it was asked to
do in the seventies or the eighties or the nineties.
This is big time football and b Yu's had to
make a lot of changes to get to this level.
And they've made those changes successfully and and got those opportunities.
And now you're seeing BYU competing with the very biggest
names in the game week in week out, And so
what By's being what bo He's doing right now, Uh,
it's kind of unprecedented. We don't want to, we don't
want to, you know, make too many pronouncements before the
season is over, because there's four tough games to play
here in the regular season, maybe more to go before
a bowl game. But yeah, it's it's pretty special what's
happening right now, and and the Kougs are on the
verge of doing something truly. I'm president if they can
win three games here in November.
Speaker 3: There's been much that has been improved upon over the
years within the athletic department. You know, there's not any
one thing that you can point to necessarily and maybe
and say, look, this is the reason why b Y
is great right now, and they do truly have a
great culture.
Speaker 2: The hole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Speaker 3: Everyone kind of lifting where they where they stand within
the athletic department, whether it's marketing, whether it's on the
recruiting side of things, the academic side of things. When
you look at the organizational design as is and what's
being accomplished, you know what, what do you look at
and say, hey, this is you know, maybe sequentially most
important to least important. I know there's a lot to
take in, but what are some of the big impact
moves that by's athletic department if MAD do you think
in order to put their their programs at the forefront
of the world right now, in the forefront of college athletics.
Speaker 1: Well, I think the most shortant one was the hiring
of Kalanie Seetaki. It comes to what we're seeing right now.
I think it all starts from there. I think all
of all of the mechanics and logistics of NIL and
resources and and and and you know, booster contributions and
everything else by he's done to stay competitive is super important.
Speaker 4: But I think, you know, maybe the most important thing
they did was.
Speaker 1: What was get the right man in the head job.
Speaker 4: And so I kind of start there, love.
Speaker 3: That we're getting prep getting ready for the BYU Texas
Tech matchup. Some have whispered in my ear, this is
the biggest game in b YU football history. I'm like,
I'm not going there, but it is definitely the next game,
and it is a massive game, a top ten showdown,
you know, two top ten teams. Obviously, this has never
happened before in BAU football history. When you look at it,
what makes it so big? What makes it so grandiose?
And and and how impactful could a win in Lubbock
b for the Coops.
Speaker 1: Well, we could start with the fact that you always
never been a top ten team taking on a top
ten team, and it's football history. So you can really
kind of start and end there. Ben. Once you get
to November and you have a number next to your name,
it's pretty well earned. All the preseason biases have gone
by the wayside. We know through two months of football
who these teams are, and so for it to be
the first ever top ten versus top ten in the
history of this program.
Speaker 4: Kind of tells you all you need to know. And
then when you add to it the CFP rankings.
Speaker 1: And what they all mean, and the fact that there
is so much on the line in this new twelve
team bracket. I mean, you're not too far afield and
it's not too much of a stretch to call this
the biggest football game in BA football history. And the
thing is win or lose. Next week will probably have
the same label attached to it, and then the week
after that until you get to the end of this
regular season. So that's all you can want is to
be playing these kinds of games in November. And you
could argue the playoffs already started. For BYU, it's going
to feel like playoff football. The positive thing for BYU
is win or lose on Saturday. They're still in the hunt.
Speaker 3: It's imperative for the football program itself, the football players.
Football go is to take one game out at a time.
It's us as media, maybe fans, donors, et cetera. They
begin to project best case scenario, worst case scenarios. Have
you run your analytics? Have you looked at all the
potential tiebreakers? What could happen, What will potentially happen if
BYU wins or loses certain games? What if you where?
Where does your mind wander in this process?
Speaker 1: Well, I don't want to get too bogged down and
clog my brain with too much stuff. It's already got
enough craziness in there already, So I'm trying to keep
it simple. I mean meaning, I'm not going to any
of the two I'm not going to any of the
two lost tiebreakers right now because there's just too many
of them. Bottom line is three and one or four
and oh and you're playing in the Big twelve championship game,
and three and one or four and oh and I
think you're in the playoff. I think you can run
most of the percentages and you can come up with
the sim a result that it's that win or lose
against Texas Tech. If the Coops go three and one
or four and oh be three and one with a loss,
of course they're they're going to be in the playoffs.
I don't think you can keep a BYU team out
with two losses if the second loss comes in the
Big twelve championship game.
Speaker 3: Greg Ribell here on esp and the Fan, Greg, as
you've done your scattering report on the Red Raiders. What
has stuck out to you from an analytics standpoint, personnel standpoint,
schematic standpoint, well personnel standpoint.
Speaker 1: You know, Jacob Rodriguez is a pretty special player. He
has thirteen career fumbles forced. He's the he's the ultimate
disruptor at linebacker. Those defensive ends are projected NFL draft
picks for.
Speaker 4: A lot of good reasons.
Speaker 1: The numbers David Bailey is putting up are ridiculous. Eleven
and a half sacks. His counterpart at the other ran,
Romelo Height, has six sacks. They're they're they're They're a
top ten team in total offense, total defense, scoring offense,
scoring defense. I mean, they're as well rounded a team
as you're going to see in college football. And they
and they kill you from the get go.
Speaker 4: I mean, they're the only team.
Speaker 1: In the country with eight wins by twenty three points
or more. When they win, they win big. They do
have a loss, but when they win, they win big,
and they start early. They're crushing teams in the first quarter,
and that's been By's most problematic quarter defensively. I think
the first quarter is huge. Man, it's not the whole ballgame,
but I think the first fifteen minutes will tell us
more than a half of what we need to know
about the game on Saturday. And that's said knowing that
boy has been great at coming back from early deficits lately,
can you do it against Texas Tech, which is kind
of running people over right now? I mean, the first
quarter scoring gap is crazy for Texas Tech right now,
and although BA doesn't struggle mightily that that's the quarter
they've allowed the most points in. So I do want
to see how these teams start, because we do know
that when the Cougars get out to a good start,
they're tough to beat thirty five consecutive wins. Now for
b YU, when they just score first. Now, they didn't
score first in Ames and still found a way to
come back and win that game, so it's not the
be all and end all, But when they do score first,
it's usually put into a pretty good indicator that DY
is where it needs to be.
Speaker 3: No, I've been listening to you for over twenty years now, Greg,
and you've always pulled up that status starting fast and
how critical it is in BYU football history, And so
I asked you this question knowing that it's like, how
is it that BYU now could be in multiple games
this season has found a way to win being down early,
you know Colorado game that was kind of we were
all taken taken back a gas at what was happening
with Caden Salter, and then the Iowa State game.
Speaker 2: The way you found a way to win. How are
they doing that.
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 4: Because they are a resilient group.
Speaker 1: And that's the great thing when you when you can
combine a team that that succeeds when starting fast with
a team that's never out of it, you've got yourself
a really good football team. They're they're they're winning when
when trailing after half, or they're winning when trailing after
three quarters. They're just finding ways to win. And I
think there's kind of a narrative out there right now
that that BYU doesn't control its games well enough that
there are flashier teams and Texas Tech being one of them,
that when they win, they just win, you know, going
away crushing people. But the fact is BA has not
lost the game yet.
Speaker 4: So regardless of how you.
Speaker 1: Win, whether it's from in front or coming from behind,
if you're eight, no, you deserve more credit than the
team that has one or two losses.
Speaker 4: Just straight up, I don't care if.
Speaker 1: The team with one or two losses blows people out
when they win, they've also lost games.
Speaker 4: And and the teams that.
Speaker 1: Are blowing people out, some of those teams have lost
to BYU. Okay, they haven't done it against BUYU, and
the Cups haven't lost a game yet. So until they
lose a game, I don't want to hear about game
control and how well you control a game, because all
that matters is that you have more points than the
other team when that game comes to an m and
that's been BYU eight times in eight games. So yeah,
there's a belief about this team right now, Ben that
you know, give us any kind of scenario, we can
find a way to get it done. And we haven't
even mentioned the name Bear Bachmeyer yet. I think he's
a pretty good embodiment of what this team is about.
How many times have you seen this year when there's
a line to gain or a goal line to be
crossed that Bear says, I'm just going to get there
no matter what it takes or how many guys I
take with me. And that's a great thing to have
from you from your quarterback.
Speaker 3: I know you're a man of metrics, and since you
brought up you know some of these ways in which
B way he's been winning. And I do want to
get to Bear Bachmeyer and for you to elaborate and
partificate on his his abilities. It's been really fun to watch.
He's overachieved the expectation for every one of us. But
one of the differentiating metrics that I've looked at in
this game and also the Utah game, and I think
even the Iowa State game, BYU's special teams unit per
ESPN SP plus metric is six in the country.
Speaker 2: Tech in special teams tech is eightieth.
Speaker 3: And I feel like since K Pop came around and
look ed LAMB was really good too with special teams.
But since K Pop came around, I've never seen as
many touchdowns scored via special teams. I've never seen as
many turnovers created or the flipping of the field, pinning
of an opponent within their ten yard line. It's been
remarkable to watch and I think I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't know how heavily weighted some of these.
Speaker 3: Some of these algorithms are two special teams as one
of the three facets of complimentary football.
Speaker 1: Well, Texas Tech coming into the week was second nationally
in average starting field position on offense, meaning they give
their team the second fewest yards to have to go
to score a touchdown. So field position and special teams
are a massive part of what Texas Tech has been doing.
And when it comes to where they where, they forced
teams defensively their twenty first nation only they're in defensive
average starting field position.
Speaker 4: So what Texas Tech is doing via.
Speaker 1: Special teams but not only special teams, is forcing teams
to go a long way and giving themselves a shorter
way to go BYU's no Sloutstoll. In both those categories,
the crews are top twenty five as well. So I
think fuel position is one of the areas we can
really look to to say whoever has the edge there
might have the edge in this game. I'm fairly confident
that BYU believe if they can take that that average
starting fuel position of the about thirty six yard line
for Texas Tech and make it make it closer to
the twenty six yard line. Dy is going to feel
it has a pretty good chance to win. In the
Kalani citak Era. When BYU is plus an average starting
field position, all right, they are sixty five and ten,
sixty five and ten, you just give them the better
starting fuel position and it's you know, you've given DYU
a pretty.
Speaker 4: Good crack at a victory.
Speaker 1: And then you you talk about, you know, points score
on defense and special teams. When a touchdown scored by
a defensive our special teams player under colomby By he's
nineteen and four when that happens, and they won nine
straight games in that scenario as well.
Speaker 4: So I think special teams is a.
Speaker 1: Great place to go. And the reason I like the
average starting field position we've talked about this is it's
not just a special team stat because offense and defense
both contribute to that to that average starting field position number.
So I think, to me ASFP average running field position
is the embodiment of the phrase complementary football.
Speaker 2: Greg.
Speaker 3: I've been evaluating, you know, quarterback play over the last
five years and comparing it to what Bear Bachmer is
doing right now, and it's honestly impressive efficiency wise, what
has it being able to produce not coughing up the football,
making good decisions with that football, being able to run
the football with efficiency and power and scoring the football. Recently,
I compared to thrast even Jake slap Over at Tulane.
And I know that the supporting casts are different, coaches
is different and stuff like that, but bear Bachmeyer has
completely overachieved statistically from a leadership standpoint, from a you know,
even his interactions with media, I'll be a the you know,
short intermit, like his stoicism and his calm, cool, collected demeanor.
Speaker 2: He fits like perfectly. If A Rod was to create.
Speaker 3: A like a genetically enhanced quarterback personality wise, you know, biochemistry,
et cetera, physical physically wise, like, it would be bear Bachmeyer.
It's like the perfect fit for the A Rod offense.
Could you maybe elaborate on that perfect fit?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we're going to look back at at
how bear Bachmeyer went from Stanford to BYU as one
of the great transactions in in Cougar football history. How
this happened, why it happened, How how fortunate by you
got with everything that came after that. I mean it's
it's crazy to think about where b why you might
have been as opposed to where they are right now.
And thanks almost only to one guy, bear Backmeyer, you're
right about. He's what you want. You want your guy
to be. You know, cool, you know, composed, you use
the word stoic all you know, that's great to have
that that guy off the field the way he is,
and he's this, And then yet that same guy on
the field becomes an absolute animal, right he is an
absolute man, possessed when it's with with the ball in
his hands and an objective in mind. And and that's
exactly what you want. He's a smart guy, the calm guy,
the cool guy to assess and synthesize and read and
call and change and do all.
Speaker 4: The things a quarterback has to do.
Speaker 1: But then when it comes time to secure a football
and find a yard line, he will not be denied.
And when it's time to you know, square the shoulders
on the run and throw a laser, you know, over
a defender in front of a defender, into the arms
of your waiting receiver and do it accurately. He's been
that guy too, you know. Yes, he's a freshman and
he doesn't it make every play because he's only a freshman,
but most of the plays he's been asked to make,
he's been able to come through in flying colors. And
I just think it's the story of the year for BYU,
one of the stories in college football.
Speaker 4: What Bear Bachmeyer's been able to do with that position.
Speaker 3: College game Day last visited Lubbock in two thousand and
eight when Texas Tech took on Texas.
Speaker 2: That was the Michael Krabtree game.
Speaker 3: Last time BYU got a visit from from game Day
in Provo was the TCU game, I believe in two
thousand and nine, And it made me think that, like,
these two teams are on the same, maybe similar trajectory,
and I wonder if these will be possibly the the
new brand ambassadors for the Big twelve. We've often talked
about this as media members at least talking heads, the
radio heads right out here though, just the shock jocks
of the world, and I'm like, man, it kind of
feels like these two teams could be the brand ambassador's
moving forward because of their organization, will design the culture
that the men that are leading their respective programs.
Speaker 1: Well, it's been pretty well documented, you know, the pipeline,
No Pun intended or maybe Pun absolutely intended that that
Texas Tech has to its program right now through the
oil industry and the boosters they have right now in
that program. And I don't think by is going to
be suffering for resources anytime soon either. So yeah, I
don't see why these two why these couldn't be two
kind of flagship programs for the conference moving forward. We've
seen just how quickly things can go south though, right
for traditional powers. Let's let's talk about Oklahoma State the
first year b YU was in the league. That was
kind of a team expected to, you know, carry the
banner from Texas in Oklahoma moving forward, and they absolutely disappeared.
Speaker 4: And so you have to be able to do it
the new way, and Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: State was slow to adapt and slow to adopt, and
BYU and Texas Tech we're not. And that's why we
see those teams where they are.
Speaker 3: Love it, Greg, real quick scattering report on Texas Tech.
How do you see this game maybe playing out? And
knowing that our team's pretty healthy all things considered, and
coming off of bye week, they should be well prepared,
well rested, healthy and strong to get out there and
ball out and love it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I think the national stats just telling
you what you need to know about Texas. They're as
well rounded the team as there is in college football.
Right now. Baron Morton is a starter again, Let's see
how he does with that role. He's been really good
with that role historically. You know, Baron Morton, when he
can start a game and stay in the game that
that is, not leave injured, he's giving himself giving his
team a real good chance to win football games. He's
twenty one to nine in three career starts, and since
twenty twenty three when by You joined the league, he's
nineteen or the team is nineteen and four where he
starts and doesn't lead the game injured. Now, he did
not play in the game at BYU back in twenty
twenty three, let's remember that. But you know, he's kind
of he's he's like Rockebeck and any number of other quarterbacks.
What he's seen in this Big twelve. It's a good
quarterback league, and he's the guy that makes it go.
And although the backup played well while Morton was hurt,
I think Baron being back is is certainly positive news
for Texas Tech and and I think, you know, the
way the backup played made people kind of forget a
little bit about how good Baron was. But he's still
a really good quarterback. And I just, you know, I
don't know, I don't I don't know the BAU scores,
you know, uppards of forty in this game, like they
did at Iowa State. But it doesn't matter necessarily to
me what the point total is in this game. Texas
Tech is good enough defensively that you may not score
a big number, but by you should expect to score
some points, you know, not be brought down entirely to
where they're you know, hopeless and punchlesslike Texas Tech has
done to every other team they've seen this year, with
the exception of one being as you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not a gambling man, but I always look
at the spread and I look at the total, right,
fifty two and a half, and Boa has been covering
as an underdog, and they've many times overachieved in the
point total when the prognosticators say that it's going to
be lower than they think.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: So, Greg, I always appreciate our time together. Best way
to support you what you guys do and how you
do it. Love listening to your calls, whether it's live
or I get to go back and listen to it
if I wasn't able to get all of the nuggets
from your broadcast.
Speaker 1: Thanks Ben and one clicked oute about this game. As
good as Texas Tech is, We've said a lot of
good things about them. They're heavily penalized team and they
give the ball away pretty frequently, all right, and those
are the two things that will kill you in any
close game, right do you hurt yourself? And the takeaway
number and been really really good with ball security. It's
the one area where Texas has been a little bit loose.
Now they do have twenty takeaways to compensate, but they've
given it away pretty frequently. And so I want to
watch three key numbers. We talked about average starting fuel position,
Who've got the edge? There is Texas Tech killing itselfia
penalties and can do all you finished positive in the
turnover margin. Let's watch those on Saturdays.
Speaker 2: Greg. We salute you, We appreciate you.
Speaker 3: You do the best work in the business as a
play by play voice, and you've got a great crew
surrounding you with handsy Pits and Mitchell and the rest
of the crew. Ralph Sofilowski, You've created an all star
cast for an all star type of broadcast.
Speaker 2: Great job. Thanks for joining us today to give us
some insight.
Speaker 1: Ben, You're very kind, Thanks for the invite and going
to be with you as always. Appreciate you much.
Speaker 3: Left at the g unit, Greg Rubelle, the voice of
the Cougars on the VYU Sports Network. That was a
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