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You're always ready, ready to go big twelve football. They
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out to the hot live Welcome in college football inside
or Big twelve inside or representing locked on Big Twelve.
We got the one the only Drake Toll on Live Drake,
How you Live It?
Speaker 4: Then on the very same day that John curses on
your show, I mean talk about dog this. Look, this
is a loaded lineup for you on ESPN nine to
sixty today and I'm honored to.
Speaker 5: Be a part of it.
Speaker 3: You know it.
Speaker 2: Living the dream here now, Like all seems well in
Cougar Country, Kilani has been extended, the staff got some
pay raises, the players got some nil BYU's going to
the Big twelve championship game.
Speaker 3: But there's some qualms as well.
Speaker 2: There's disrespect in college football as it pertains to BYU
bear Bachmeier's not a listed as a Freshman of the
Year nationally.
Speaker 3: He got the Big Twelve honor. Big Twelve give him
some love there.
Speaker 2: Kilane Yes gets the Big Twelve Coach of the Year,
but no one's recognizing him nationally, and BYU as a
team is sitting outside looking into the college football playoff
at number eleven.
Speaker 3: What do you make of it all, Drake?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is the best of times, it is the
worst of times. It's never enough, as they say, y
to be a Big twelve fan. If you think about
then where BYU comes from in terms of two years ago.
That was a team that in football was was not
competitive enough to make a bowl game in that Oklahoma
State game at the end of the year, was you know,
just that the icing on the cake. If we all
most did it against a good team, do you see
the flashes and then it's gone. And last year I
think the media fixed BYU to finish on the back
half of the Big twelve, middle of the pack maybe,
And what happened was kind of the Cincinnati syndrome. What
the Bearcats going through this year of BYU last season
got to win at the highest level, be a top
ten team and the bottom falls out on you. You lose
two games late to the most crucial two games, you
can't go to the college Football playoffs and you end
up going to the Alio Bowl. And that win was fun,
but it wasn't a playoff victory. It's it's this air
of we're elite, we can do it, We've proven ourselves,
but we.
Speaker 6: Just came up short.
Speaker 4: The most dagger to the heart thing you can imagine
in sports would be for BYU to do it again
this year, but really have its destiny pulled away from
the university and away from the football team. Because at
eleven to one, any power for a team has proven
to the committee they are good enough to be in
the college football playoffs. And so you could say, hey,
if EYU just win the games, or they win the
Big twelve championship, or they you know, beat Texas Tech.
Speaker 6: In the regular season, they would be in.
Speaker 5: But to me, it.
Speaker 6: Doesn't work that way.
Speaker 4: You've already proven you deserve to be a college football
playoff team. Rules me, in other schools and other universities
like at Notre Dame, who you point their resume and say,
look how good their losses are? I mean as great
as everything feels at BYU. There's still this air of
what could be and why aren't the Cougars getting the
respect they deserve from Bear Bockmeyer, as you mentioned, not
being a for Freshman of the Year nationally, klaasatake not
I'm not hearing any murmurs of him being a Coach
of the Year nationally. For the football team being held
out of the playoffs because of a brand bias, and
even this week in the conversations of hey, how supported
does Kilane feel by the administration by you got this
close to losing its head football coach three days ago.
This is one of the strangest times. I think you
could be a fan of any power for school and
it's happening to BYU.
Speaker 2: Nation crazy times, no doubt about it, Drake Toll Lockdown
Big twelve here on ESPN The Fan, Drake, how where
do you think a fair ranking would be for BYU
with their resume?
Speaker 3: Where do you think they should be?
Speaker 4: I think YU being at at nine is not It
shouldn't be a foreign thoughts to anybody. I think BYU
being one of the not the highest ranked one loss team,
but in the mix of hey, this is a BYU
team that we need to show the ultimate respect to
because of who they have beaten, the wins, they have
their shrink the schedule this year, I think it's clear
they should be above Notre Dame. It's very clear to
me they should still be above Alabama BAMA loss to
hapless Florida state teams. You know, Notre Dame has a
couple of quality losses, but they don't have the same
quality wins that BYU does right now on the resume,
and then I know Oklahoma went on the road and
got to win at Alabama, but again we're talking about
wins and losses. What have you done for me?
Speaker 6: How many games have you won?
Speaker 4: I think YU should squarely be at nine. I'm surprised
that they're not, And honestly, you could make.
Speaker 6: A case for them at eight.
Speaker 5: And if you want to go.
Speaker 4: Even further, their strength of schedule is better than Texas
A and M. They've played better opponents. A and M
brilliantly played. They only beat the back half of the
SEC schedule. If not for their Notre Dame win, I'm
a bit more confused about what A and M looks like,
and so I would lobby for BYU to be squarely
in the top ten in that eight to nine range,
and it is we're talking then, And I know I'm
getting ahead of myself a bit, but this is some
Sherman Antitrust Act stuff. I mean, you leave BYU out
at eleven and one, and there should be and I
hope there will be a lawsuit against this committee because
there's plenty to prove that by every metric they are
better than Notre Dame and better than Alabama from a
resume standpoint. Just do not understand how BYU is getting
so much disrespect as a power for team at eleven
and one.
Speaker 2: Yell's wonder if if BYU was an independent and had
that same record, had the same strength of record, had
the same strength of schedule, would they be ranked higher
as like an independent than they would?
Speaker 3: I mean, like, does it matter?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I don't think so, so, Ben, Here's what's so interesting
about this before and this is this is damning for
myself and I'm gonna feel back Curtin and Debt. Seven
years ago, the average college football fan, only myself included,
would have seen Navy and BYU as pretty similar football programs.
And you say, well, that's terrible, what a bad take.
B YU is so much better historically than Navy. Of
course they are, but the reason being the years of
independence war on BYU's brand and and how the country
viewed BYU because it was that was that fun game
that somebody got to throw into the schedule, That was
that fun game against Boise State, that was a fun
game against Notre Dame. And wow, BYU upsets Texas, But
you don't get respect for it because somewhere down the
line BYU loses a game or two, they're independent.
Speaker 6: And people just forget about the Cougars.
Speaker 4: They didn't have near enough dominance in the BCS erap
and when they were independent, people just forgot even after
big wins.
Speaker 6: The BYU existed.
Speaker 4: Now in the Big twelve, the conference right your mark,
they realized national championship program with players at the top
of college football the course the last five decades, Lavelle Edwards,
what Klaga Satake has built in nine years of BYU,
it is a parent.
Speaker 6: It is obvious.
Speaker 4: It is huge what BYU brings to the Big Twelve conference.
But the average college football fan, for some reason, their
brand bias against BYU. Their brand, but and Ben to
some extent, which I think is is a byproduct of
why we keep hearing these.
Speaker 6: Anti religious chants at these universities.
Speaker 4: They just think, oh, that's that crazy religious school. We
can walk all over them. We don't have the factor
them and we don't have to care about them because
we think they're different. It is a travesy what's happening
to BYU. It is brand biased at its core, and
I think that's what it's chalked up to years of
independence that if this was Kansas State, they're in. If
this is Iowa State, they're in. For some reason, BYU
and year three being in a power conference being extremely
good scares college football. They don't understand it. They don't
know what to do with it, and it is so
it is so infuriating to see the way that BYU
is being treated.
Speaker 2: Drake, what's your prognostication for this BYU Texas Tech matchup.
Let me give you a little bit of a preface here.
My guy Greg Rebel, a man of metrics, the voice
of the Cougar, said this. Yeah, this is what he said. Okay,
he said, colleg Football Player Committee is using the nature
of the BYUS. BoA's lost twenty nine to seven in
Love it right as a reason to keep them out
and exclude them, even though this is the number four
team in the country. They are first in rushing defense,
third in and scoring defense, six in total defense. A
closer looking side than numbers from November eight shows many
interesting things. So BYU had negative yards on two of
twelve drives. Texas Tech had negative yardage on four of
thirteen drives. By You scored one touchdown on twelve possessions.
Tech scored two touchdowns on thirteen possessions. BYU punted six times,
Tech punted five times. BYUS average yards per play three
point nine versus techs four point nine. By You had
more sacks four to one, had more time of possession
thirty thirty five to twenty nine twenty five.
Speaker 3: Boa had fourteen first downs.
Speaker 2: Tech had seventeen first down text points, first downs, and
yardage totals against BYU were the lowest in any of
their eleven wins, and it was the lowest scoring point
win total in their margin of victory. So, all that
being said, what's gonna change in Arlington?
Speaker 4: Do you think that all sounds like Gregory bells a
voice the Kugers, That's what that's sounds like, I mean, yeah, look,
you you convinced yourself, and I'm gonna shoot you straight. Ben,
I think if you're Brett or Mark, you convinced yourself,
the BYU is going to win. If if you're the
BYU fan base, you hope for that. And the reason
the conference does too is because they want to get
multiple teams into the college football playoffs. The metric that
I've looked at a lot is Texas Tech just not
being to their EPI love EPA, and I only recently
learned a few weeks ago that the BYU alumni created
this EPA metrics with efficiency and Texas Tech number fifty
three throwing the football, number one hundred and seven running
the football.
Speaker 6: And now, Ben, you would say, how.
Speaker 4: Could Texas Tech with Cameron Dickie Jacoby Williams be one
hundredth at running the football efficiency wise? Here's why you're
ready for This's my favorite number.
Speaker 5: To give for this game.
Speaker 4: I give it seventeen times when I show this week.
Texas Tech ran the ball forty three times one hundred
and forty nine yards. Cameron Dickey's longest carry was thirty
three yards. D Kobe Williams's longest carry was forty three
yards half of Texas text rushing yard, which came on
two plays. The other half came on forty one plays.
That shows me that Texas tech, aside from the chunk play,
was fallible offensively against BYU and the Cougars. The lights
were just too bright going into Lubvick. It was just
too much for Bear Blackmeyering Company to handle, even though
Bear was only sacked once and Baron Morton was sacked
four times. If you limit the chunk play, you limit
the big play.
Speaker 6: It was like those tech scoring drives.
Speaker 4: It's had one play of twenty six yards somewhere in there,
and that was the backbreaker for BYU. Every other play
was four or five yards. That's where I think BYU
can win this game. Is not everybody saying, oh, well,
if you turn them over and the ball bounce is
the right way and the ball bounce is.
Speaker 6: The wrong way.
Speaker 4: Now, I think you limit the tech chunk plays and
BYU was within a score or two.
Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, BYU a twelve and a half point dog
at worst. You know, for BYU fans at least, do
you think they cover. Do you think BYU covers in
this game?
Speaker 3: In our.
Speaker 4: Ben. I think YU wins Wow Wow.
Speaker 6: I think YU wins the football game and.
Speaker 4: The biggest so also wild stab. Yu had more title
possession against Texas Tech the first time around. The reason
I have decided it took me a long time to
get to this because that originally was like Texas Tech
buy three, Texas Tech by six, maybe like ten if
things go odd. There is a respect, the reverence and
understanding on the Tech side. For Joey maguire, he has
set it this week that BYU deserves to be a
college football playoff team. And Jacob Rodriguez, the guys are gamers,
David Bailey.
Speaker 6: They don't care.
Speaker 4: They want a Big twelve championship. They're not going to
lose out of pity. But on one side of the
football field this Saturday, it is do or die. It
is a playoff game. BYU must win. This is their
first playoff game to get into the bracket. For Texas Tech,
the worst that happens.
Speaker 6: If they lose is they get to host a home.
Speaker 4: Game in a college football playoff. As much as BYU
has to play for Texas Tech does not necessarily. Now again,
these are gamers. I'm not saying Texas Tech is going
to play a bad football game on purpose or give
a charity to BYU. I think they're gonna fight as
hard as they fought all year. They want their first
Big twelve championship game win ever, they certainly do. But
for BYU, this is to keep the season alive, to
keep a shot at the national championship alive. When that
when that is, there's no more. Hey, Aaron Rodrick, let's
run as many draw.
Speaker 5: Plays as possible.
Speaker 4: Let's let's go, Hey, what.
Speaker 6: About speed option?
Speaker 4: But no, this is the kitchen sink is out there,
and it either leads to the BYU turning them all
over five times and losing by forty five, or the
Cougar's pulling off a win. I said them on show
this week. This is not Boise State beating Oklahoma. It's
not that aggressive of a format for UYU to win
this game. But at some level, BYU have to treat.
Speaker 6: It like that.
Speaker 4: You have to treat it as we're gonna run the
hooking ladders. We're going to run the plays they haven't
seen before. It all boils down to this, Aaron Rodrick,
to get a little fancier than usual because it didn't work,
just trying to run the ball at the middle in
game one. And for j Hill, you punished Texas Tech,
especially in the red zone. Ben, don't break force them
into five field goals. And look, Ben, I think if
Texas Tech takes five field goals in this game, BYU
is the winner, and Tech had five field goals in
that first game. It's the red zone defensive Yu. It
was so good. I still have confidence in them. J
Hill is he was perfect last time against the Red Raiders.
Here's where Aaron Roderick has to step up to laanstake,
staying the pomp, the circumstance, the storylines.
Speaker 6: BYU wins this game.
Speaker 3: Drake Toll here on ESPN.
Speaker 2: BYU's healthier than they've ever been, it seems this season,
at least to start this season, they're going back to
maybe where they were at the start of the season.
How healthy is Texas Tech right now leading up to
the Big twelve Championship game? Is there any competitive advantages there?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I really have no worries about the depth chart either
or these teams and their health status. You know, obviously
Texas Tech lost when it's best lineman in the middle
of the campaign and never really skipped the beat, and
so I have no qualms with how these two teams
will line up based on the depth charts that they
reported to the Big Twelve this week.
Speaker 6: You know, if Baron Morton.
Speaker 4: Goes down, obviously it's much different. But for the sake
of the Big Twelve conference and also just being a good,
normal human being, I hope to goodness that Baron Morton
says healthy this entire game and gives the Big Twelve
chance to win a national championship come playoff time. That
that's really the only concerned injury wise, is just knowing
Baron Morton probably still isn't at one hundred percent, but
if he goes he's given a and in the stats
aren't necessarily comparable, and this is really just more of
a toughest category. Max Duggan, when he willed TCU that
college football playoff just beaten up the entire year. That's
what Baron Morton's done because he understands that a championship
at the highest level is on the line, a national championships.
I think Baron Morton's health is something to monitor. Outside
of that Texas Tech, I don't foresee a major gap
due to injury. Where BYU can overtake Texas Tech?
Speaker 2: If BYU wins, where's their ranking? What's the fallout from this?
Does Texas Tech get bounced out of the top ten?
Speaker 3: Give me your prognostications.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think if BYU wins. Here's what we learned.
Speaker 4: About the College Football Playoff Committee this year and the
way that this election committee has worked. They like to
build in these safeguards. They like to build them like, oh, well,
you know Utah lost to BYUS, They're always going to
be a spot or two behind them. What's going to
happen is BYU is going to jump Texas Tech. This
is the same way we saw last season, a school
like Clemson, who had a much better resume and record
jump SMU after they beat them the ACC championship. He said, wow,
why would they have to drop that far? Well, it's
because the committee loves the head to head when they
happen late.
Speaker 6: In the season.
Speaker 4: You're seeing that with Oklahoma and Alabama right now as well,
even though Oklahoma's not playing great football. Watched a lot
of the LSU game. So what I think is going
to happen is the Committee is going to drop Texas Tech.
Speaker 5: To eight.
Speaker 4: They'll move them from four to eight, propelling BYU from
eleven to seven. I think that's I do not foresee
BYU climbs to nine and Texas Tech drops all the
way to TEY can't drop. You cannot be penalized six spots,
six spots for losing a game we didn't ask you
to play. We can't move you behind Oregon who did
not play.
Speaker 6: By six spots.
Speaker 4: So that's where I foresee the big twelve looking at
the end of this, and that's the dream scenario BYU
and Tech both getting home games. But I foresee it
being Texas Tech at that seven spot BYU and the
eight hole flip that flip that BYU seven Texas Tech eight.
Speaker 3: Interesting, I like to take. I like where you're heading
with this.
Speaker 2: As far as the teams, that is Notre Dame the
biggest qualm here. We've seen Brett Yormark, we've seen Joey McGuire,
we've seen others attack openly and blatantly. The Notre Dame
fighting Irish right now, is that the team they have
to sue that's currently.
Speaker 3: In the top ten.
Speaker 4: I think so, and then it should be you're asking
wholeheartedly what have you done for me lately to Notre
Dame and what they have done for you lately is
certainly win but against again, so that it is it's
a problem with how the whole thing is set up
that and again you're right, Joey McGuire's alluded to this
that Notre Dame can sit where they sit right now
and and just walk their way into the playoffs, like
they've played the bottom teams from the Power for and
they've played some really struggling, middling, you know, American Conference teams.
I just don't see how how the committee look ben
if they played if they played Texas A and M
in Miami the last two games of this season, and
they lost both of those they were tending to they'd
be out of the playoffs. And you say, of course
they'd be out of the playoff. Okay, Well then why
them losing the first two games at A and M
in Miami. Why why did they get into the playoff
when they lost the first They still lost those two games.
It shouldn't matter when the games are played, and unless
there's a massive injury, unless there's something that occurs, you say, okay,
Notre Dame got so and so back, and they're way healthy,
they're way better. They're not They're the same team they
were where they lost to A and M. The same
team they were they lost in Miami. Miami is behind them.
I think DYU should squarely be above Notre Dame.
Speaker 6: I get it, I get it.
Speaker 4: The gold helmet means a lot more for the pockets.
Speaker 6: But it's not right.
Speaker 5: It's not right.
Speaker 4: What's happening in college football?
Speaker 2: Drake Tall, best way to support you? What you do,
how you do it for all of our listeners tuning
in today.
Speaker 4: Yeah, at Lockdown Big called at Lo Big twelve where
you find your podcast and on YouTube at DRAKEC. Toll
on Twitter and then December twenty ninth. Luckily it doesn't
interfere with your show. Ben six am nine am Eastern
on Westwood one and the Westwood one Sports app will
bring you a ton of BYU covered every morning wherever
you get your sports.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 2: So give me a breakdown of the new show, the
new foray into Westwood one affiliation.
Speaker 3: What do we got there?
Speaker 4: Yeah, Westwood one is moving to twenty four to seven
radio and they've established a network.
Speaker 6: The first host that.
Speaker 4: They've named the Westwood One time aside is yours truly.
Speaker 6: So we're moving forward.
Speaker 4: With Westwood One, which is in my mind. You know this,
this Oxford University of Sports just it's the super Bowl,
It's the Final Four. So I have the opportunity now
to go six am to nine am Eastern. As I
said on the Westwood one app, I'm serious on a
ton of a station's FMAM across the country that we're
going to unveil and release here.
Speaker 6: Soon, and then I'll get you to work. Jim Rome
will get you home.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be It's gonna be a blast, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: That's fantastic, great news. Congratulations, well deserved everys. The first
time I met you, the first time I interacted with you,
I said, this man has talent.
Speaker 3: This man has popped, this man has circumstances.
Speaker 2: This man has pizazz, vigor and vim and a wordsmith
unlike any other. You were going places. I sensed it,
I knew it. Congratulations. This is only the beginning, my friend,
right Ben, and I couldn't have done it without you.
Speaker 4: These reps are invaluable, and I've got to make so
many connections because of you, because of your show. Because
of BYU fans and and I love talking Big twelve football.
I can assure you for the first time in a
little bit, there's going to be a national show that
is that is handled through a lens of fairness, that
appreciates the likes of Big the Big twelve and BYU
love it.
Speaker 3: My guy, Drake Tall, congratulations, will catch up again. Are
you getting away? Are you heading out uh to Arlington
or no?
Speaker 4: You know, Ben, people keep telling me I'm a saint.
Speaker 6: He told me, he man, I've got a good dude,
he's a good person.
Speaker 4: I'm like, no, you know, don't give me too many flowers.
But maybe they're right. I'm going to a wedding this weekend, Ben,
a wedding.
Speaker 3: What do you will? Yes? Now, Drake, come on now.
Speaker 4: Yeah they're both twenty Yeah they are BYU students.
Speaker 6: No, it's joke, my guy.
Speaker 3: Well, hey, enjoy the wedding.
Speaker 2: Uh be merry and celebrate the the wedding, Sarah, celebrate
the marriage. It's what brings you together, brings us together today.
As they say in Princess Bride, Thanks so much, love
and appreciate you man, Thanks for hopping on, no.
Speaker 6: Doubt Vancouverer tales on me next.
Speaker 2: Time see you, Let's go Drake toll locked on Big twelve.
That segment shout out to all of our sponsors, was
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Welcome in the one the only representing ESPN. We got
Trevor matt Its former BA right on the line. Trevor,
how are you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm doing great man? How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm living the dream man all as well?
Speaker 2: In Cougar Country, Kilanie has been extended, be always going
to the Big twelve Championship. I have a few, you know,
a few gripes regarding the COLLG Football Playoff Committee, and
maybe a few gripes about bear Bachmeyer not not being
listed as a Freshman of the Year candidate or even
Kialani being a Coach of the Year candidate nationalie. But
all things considered, I'm grateful, man, and we're getting off
of Thanksgiving and getting into December all as well.
Speaker 5: Brother, Yeah, I know, I hear you. Though. There's so
much good going on right now, and BYU is in
position to control their destiny end of the playoff, and
that's good too. That's never happened before. So we're in
uncharted territory.
Speaker 3: No doubt about it, Trevor.
Speaker 2: As you've been evaluating BYU this year and watching them
win their way through their schedule, how would you described
as BYU football team. You've check tape, you've watched the film,
You've seen the outcomes. You see the strength of screedule,
you see the FPI, you see the strength of record.
Who is this BYU Cougar football team?
Speaker 5: I think the word i'd use to describe them as
resilient because they haven't always dominated all four quarters. I mean,
I think there were four games where they trailed by
double digits and three of them they came back to win,
and including that big one against Iowa State. And so
the way this team is played, when they get pushed
in the mouth, they don't wilt. And that goes to
the culture. I mean, you hear the players echoing what
the coaches defined as their culture when you talk about
unity and love and some words like love that you
don't hear from a lot of other programs, and yet
it's a real tangible thing with this by You program.
And I think that's one of the reasons they sit
it at eleven and one to be playing Texas Tech
for the Big twelve Championship. It's that culture that you
seem manifest on the field when things aren't going well
that allows them to come back.
Speaker 3: Resilient.
Speaker 2: Sometimes when you say resilient, right, some people would interpret
that as, Hey, they're gritty, they're hardworking, they're the the
the gym rat, right, They're the overachiever.
Speaker 3: They're the nice.
Speaker 2: Little ball club that just doesn't have the talent to
win and win big. And so I feel like that's
been a little bit of their brand for a long time.
Maybe maybe that's been the BYU brand for a long
time since nineteen seventy two to present day, and they're
just gonna have to overcome that.
Speaker 3: Eventually.
Speaker 2: They got to start acquiring top twenty recruiting classes like
they just did, monopolizing the LDS talent, bringing in the
best of the best, and competing at a high level
year and in year out before they get the maybe
the credibility of a big time program.
Speaker 5: Right well, I think that's one of the reasons they
sit at number eleven right now with an eleven to
one record and with the stats that they have, because
I think the committee might not be convinced yet that
BYU as a program has elevated beyond just a couple
of good seasons, and I disagree with that, and I
don't think the committee should be looking at it that way.
I know that they don't intend to, but they have
human beings on the committee, and human beings are biased,
and I think there might be just a little bit
of bias because of that. But I think BYU is
in position to be competitive as a top twelve team
and as a playoff team, and maybe beyond that, if
they play cleanly and if they do what they normally
do to win games, which is to say, don't make
mistakes and take advantage of the opponent's mistakes. The defense
is one of the better defenses in the nation, and
the offense is one of the most balanced offenses in
the nation. And the offense no that's secondly in the
Big Twelve in the rushing yards per game, are third
in points scored in the Big Twelve. And so it's
not like, you know, this is a team that is
a one trick potent. The defense is very good of
a lot of things. The offense is very good at
running and throwing the ball, and that kind of balance
is what you need to have an eleven to one record.
And so, you know, I think the BYU program is
ahead of what perception is. I think there are a
lot of fans, not just BYU fans, but college football
fans that see BYU in a positive light but want
to see more against the top teams in the nation
before they'll believe in them. But I think BYU has
already shown that they belong in that conversation. And now
I think college football as a nation needs to catch
up with where BYU has arrived.
Speaker 2: Trevor Matich on the Line, Cougar Sports, ESPN The Fan, Trevor,
A couple of things I want to I want you
to kind of help me out with here. If BYU
be eat Texas Tech, Okay, obviously they're in the Collfootball Playoff.
Speaker 3: What happens with Tech? How far do they drop? Do
you think?
Speaker 5: I don't think they drop far. I'm certain they won't
drop out of the top ten, you know, I think
they'll The key for them will be right now, they
sit at number four, which would get them a bye,
which they will keep if they beat BYU. But if
BYU beats Tech, remember the tiers here. You've got one
through four, get a bye, five, six, seven or eight
get a home playoff game, and then there's a big
scramble as to who will be nine, ten, eleven, and twelve,
and so Texas Tech I doubt would drop past the
top eight. But as you look at the teams they'd
be competing for to be in the top eight. You're
talking about right now, if ive, six, seven or eight
are Oklahoma, Ole, Miss Texas, A and M and Oregon,
and I think that you know Oregon being number five
in Oklahoma being number eight, and I think Texas Tech
right now is seen by the committee as being better
than all of those teams. I think Texas Tech is
seen by the committee as being much more balanced than
Oklahoma both outstanding defenses, but I think Texas Tech's offense
is much better than Oklahoma's right now. So I think
if Texas Tech loses, what will happen is they won't
drop out of the playoff. I think they won't even
drop out of the top eight, which would still give
them a home playoff game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is.
Speaker 2: A situation in which we're kind of evaluating those that
are deserving in those that are not deserving. Joey maguire,
head coach of Texas Tech, Brett yor Mark Big twelve commissioner.
They've openly actually attacked Notre Dame in their resume. It
seems like the committee is purposely leaving out BYU as
a candidate to be in the top ten.
Speaker 3: And they only show, like, for instance, certain.
Speaker 2: Images of resumes, and they leave out BYU out of
the conversation completely, and they don't even stack up the
resume with the equivalent metrics side by side versus the Miami's,
the Notre Dames, the Oklahoma's, the Alabama's, because that may
be a little bit damning putting up put them up
next to were like, Oh, people may realize BYU may
deserve to be in the top ten right now? Why
why is the image having to be shut photoshopped by
fans there in the side by side side of things.
Speaker 5: Well, I've heard a lot about that, and you know,
I think BYU isn't getting enough conversation. I think they
would deserve to be in the top ten because you
need to be in the top ten in order to
be in the playoffs in that large team right now,
because eleven and twelve will be taken by two comference
champions that will be coming in from outside the top twelve.
So right now, the top two eleven to twelve or
BYU and Miami, and if the playoff were today, then
both of those teams would be out in favor of
either the Sun Belt champ, the American Champ, or the
ACC champ some combination of that, and so by you
would have to be in the top ten. But I
think even if BUYU loses to Texas Tech for a
second time, as long as the game is relatively competitive.
I think BYU still should be in the top ten
just because their only two losses will be to a
team that's in the top four, right, and so Notre
Dame can't say that, nobody else can really say that
those would be the two most excusable losses as long
as they're competitive in the second one of anybody. And
then they beat Utah at number thirteen, you know, so
I think this is where BYU sits right now, or
even with a loss, I think they should be in
the top ten anyway, as long as they were competitive
in that loss. Think s m U losing last year
in the ACC Championship game to Clemson, and SMU didn't
drop out of the playoff rance. So when you talk
about the well, I'm sorry I spaced your original question.
I wanted to set that up. You were talking about
just that.
Speaker 3: We were talking more about like the side by side.
Speaker 2: Number one name was there, you go, you attack on
Notre Dame and then the side by side imagery that
it seems like they're avoiding Why they're doing that?
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, no, I I hear you that. I don't
know that they're avoiding it. I haven't seen I've seen
the uproar on you know, the the Great Missing Missing
Where's b YU? But like one of them that I
saw had Miami and Notre Dame and I think Alabama, right,
and they they skipped b YU. So that means that
they would have number nine, number ten, and then number
twelve and they skip number eleven, which is BYU. I
don't know, because I didn't see how it was. It
was talked about on the air, but as I looked
at it, all three of those teams are two lost teams,
and they may well have been just comparing the two
loss teams with each other. And BYU is a one
loss team. Now I think they should have or not.
I don't say they should have in their show, but
I think it is totally fair to then throw a
BYU in there and say, hey, these are two lost teams.
BYU is a one lost team and their only loss
is to the team that's ranked number four in the
nation right now. None of the other teams ranked ahead
of BYU, I don't believe have a loss to somebody.
I think Oklahoma has lost to Ole Miss, so Ole
Miss is number six, and so you know, but it's
kind of rare that any of these teams have a
loss to anybody that's ranked that high, and BYU, along
with Oklahoma are the teams up here that have a loss. There.
Georgia lost to number nine Alabama, but BYU lost to
number four, right, and that's their only loss, And I
think that it would have been fair well, but I
think it's fair that that by US one loss resume
be compared with everybody that's competing for an that large bid,
even if they lose their conference championship game, And the
fact that it wasn't is something that I find incredibly curious.
But I do understand the process of television, and if
they're comparing like to like and they're comparing two loss
teams and then not including the one loss team, They've
got to draw a line somewhere. And so I'm not
justifying it, but I'm not attacking it either, because I
know that, you know, they don't always do things because
they don't like a certain team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, Look, this is the thing.
Speaker 2: Like, obviously, I run a local ESPN show that focuses
on Boa athletics. So the questions I get from fans are, hey,
are they leaving us out because of religious bigotry?
Speaker 3: Again, are they leaving us.
Speaker 2: Out because of some sort of like non football cultural
you know, differences, et cetera. So I'll get those questions,
and I've said I don't think so. I don't think
that that's the case. Would I actually lean on you
wanted to get your thoughts on it, but you can
chime in on that and maybe validate my assumption and
where I lean in that. But I look at what
they did last year, right with the expanded playoff, and
I think at when the dust settled, the SEC had
a big right. They're like, look, the best twelve teams
didn't get in because we had a few teams that
should have been in there that were better than Boise State,
better than SMU, maybe better than ASU, better than whoever else.
But those are the main ones, right, Those were the
main complaints from the SEC. They're like, we didn't get
enough of our good teams in, and you allowed SMU
to go in there and get their teeth kicked in.
Speaker 3: They don't want to allow BYU.
Speaker 2: They feel like SMU and b YU are pretty similar
to each other, and they don't want a BYU team
to just get in off.
Speaker 3: Of their resume. I guess it is the resume valid.
Speaker 2: To get in, But they don't think in late November
the way they're playing that they deserve to be And
they're not the one of the twelve best teams in
college football well.
Speaker 5: In November BYU, since they lost the Texas Tech has
annihilated everybody, and so that's I think, you know, the
way they're playing in late November is as good as
it needs to be in order to be considered for
that large birth. That they lose their second game in
that detect, I think they view that.
Speaker 2: YU similarly to how they view SMU, and that what
happened last year and all the complaints that occurred after
the dust settled and the product in the College Football
Playoff would lead them to believe that the resilient, gritty
b YU team can't compete in the playoff.
Speaker 5: No, well, there's there's one data point that is not
available now, and that is the Copper Championship game. I mean,
the thing about SMU is that you know, they finished
number ten after losing to Clemson in the ACC Championship game.
The week before that, they were number eight, and so
the committee said that they were happy about the way
SMU came back and they had a great second half,
especially a great fourth quarter. They just fell short. But
they looked to the committee like a playoff team.
Speaker 2: But they lost by twenty eight to Penn State, and
then Boise State lost big was dominated by Penn State.
Speaker 3: They don't want that, it seems no.
Speaker 5: But the thing is they don't. They're not supposed to
take that into consideration. They're supposed to look at the
teams as they are right now and rank them as
they are right now, and not speculate who might win
on a neutral field or in a home or away
game in the first round or anything like that. They're
not supposed to look at that, and so I hope
that they don't. But I think last year, the fact
that SNU only dropped from eight to ten and still
made the playoff is good for other teams that are
trying to get in that large bid that might lose
their conference championship game. I don't think that you should
be penalized for losing it a BYU losees to Texas
Tech or the other way around. I think that the
winner of the conference championship game should get credit as
a data point in the committee's final evaluations. The loser
of a conference championship game. It should be as if
they never played the game at all, and they shouldn't
be penalized for that. And no team that did not
play in the conference championship game should be should get
an advantage over a team that lost a conference championship game.
I think that's really important. The problem for BYU now
is that they're sitting there at number eleven, So how
in the world are they going to move up? I mean,
if Alabama gets completely smoked at number nine in the
SEC championship game, then BYU could move up. They've got
a problem with Miami though, behind them, who beat Notre Dame,
And the committee's got a problem because they're getting a
lot of grief for having Notre Dame ahead of Miami.
Notre Dame in the playoff right now, Miami out of
the playoff right now, even though Miami beat the Irish
head to head, and BYU may end up being a
casualty of the committee trying to reconcile that. But in
the meantime, you know, BYU at number eleven, if they
lose to Texas Tech just the way it stack, probably
won't be in the playoff even if Alabama loses, and
so that's unfortunate, and that's why I think BYU should
be ranked higher than they are right now. It would
put them in a better position to get in that
large bid even if they lost the Big felve championship game.
And I think they deserve to be in that position.
But the reality of the current situation, right or wrong,
is that BYU need this win against Texas Tech in
order to get in.
Speaker 3: Yep, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2: You see this game playing out, how do you what's
going to change right in this typical or this scenario
obviously neutral field.
Speaker 3: I'm hoping it's fifty to fifty.
Speaker 2: I think it will be with fans of Tech and
BYU alike. You don't have the elements that were maybe
impactful for against BYU. They didn't play all that well
in those elements with the win, the muff punts, shanked punts,
just the offense was a little bit overly conservative, a
lot of max Pro two man routes. They really didn't
let their guys get out in space or not a
whole lot of quick game, not a lot of screen game.
Speaker 3: How do you see this game playing out?
Speaker 5: Well, I see I see a lot of adjustments for
BYU's offense. I mean, first of all, the defense was
was borderline magnificent. I mean they didn't get any takeaways,
but other than that, I thought they were great. Texas
Tech only scored two touchdowns on offense five field goals,
and three of those five field goals will when a
B one you turnover, gave Tech the ball in the
BYU red zone, and BYU stopped them all three times.
And so I think that's a big part of it.
And as you look at some of the metrics of it,
Texas Tech for the season, their red zone touchdown percentage
on offense is like in the eighties and BYU's defense
in stopping touchdowns in the red zone is like tenth
in the nation, and so BYU carries that advantage if
they're able to keep it up. So we start there.
You know, Texas Tech scored twenty nine points against BYU.
They averaged forty three on the season. So you've got
to think that BYU's defense doesn't need to change a
whole lot, just be ready for adjustment. Just the offense
that needs to adjust and everything that you mentioned then
I think is important because every defense has a weakness.
You just have to find it. You really need twelve
guys on the field on defense in order to cover
everything well, otherwise you've got a compromise on defense. And
I think one of the things that well, there are
a number of things that BYU can do to adjust.
I mean, one of the things that Texas Tech did
was they played a lot of zone and they came
flying downhill against the runner, against the short passes, and
that exposes them a little bit farther downfield, right. And
I think that they also packed in the defense in
terms of interior run. You know, they had a couple
of linebackers that almost acted like spies, although I think
they were just in zone coverage, but they just played
up and close. Well guess what that does. That creates
more space on the outside. They squeezed the contained guys
down inside against the run, and you can exploit outside
if you can get there and if you can get
blockers out in front. Because Texas Tech is so fast,
you're not going to just outrun them all the time
to get to the perimeter. But BYU puts blockers out
there all the time. One of the ways is what
you mentioned gets offensive linemen out there on screens, but
I think counters will be important. In other words, you
know by you needs to run and let's say just
the bubble screen. Well, in the first game, Texas Tech
attacked those downhill fast and hard. Well, so what do
you do with that? You run a fake bubble and
a go route one of the blocking receivers starts to
block it that he takes off down the field. That'll
loosen up those guys pretty quick, right. And also just
in terms of execution, there's the number of things that
Bear can do better that he can do that we
know he can do. You know, one of them is
to hit those one on one routes up the sideline.
He had one, I think at the third quarter where
Chase Roberts was running a vertical route on the right
sideline and he left a big alley between himself and
the sideline and the defender was right inside of him
in man coverage or match his owe. Either way, it
was manned by the time they got down there, and
Bear threw the ball up and on top of the
two guys and it was broken up. Well, if he
had thrown that ball a little bit farther outside and
locked it and dropped it down into the alley. Then
Chase adjusts into the alley, the defender catches the ball,
and for all the great speed and everything else that
Texas Tech's defense has up front, you've got a one
on one matchup on the outside where you've got a
tall YU receiver at a quarterback that's good at dropping those
balls accurately. He just didn't on that play. And so
I think you'll see more of that opportunity when Texas
Tech comes up and tries to gumb everything up at
the line and BYU just needs to execute. But those
opportunities are there, and I think that they'll attack more
in places like that and have more counters so they
could take advantage of the aggression of the Red Raider defense.
Speaker 2: Last thing before I let you go, Trevor, appreciate you
spending some time with us pontificating and giving us wisdom,
football wisdom that only you can give. Kilane side man,
he's extended where we're hoping he is the polynes in Lavelle.
Speaker 3: He's been here for ten years.
Speaker 2: We hope it's another ten to fifteen more years.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: I don't know how I'm trying to think of how
old Lavelle was was he seventy before he retired or
was he in that sixty five range?
Speaker 3: Do you recall when he retired?
Speaker 5: I don't recall, but he was there long enough to
have been there a long.
Speaker 2: Time, almost thirty years he was there coaching the Koogs.
So what does the future look like for BYU? Do
you think, like, are they like, what's the ceiling and
what's the floor of BYU football? Do you think with
all the momentum that they have right now from your.
Speaker 5: Perspective, Yeah, Well, first of all, with coach Otake resigning,
I think that's brilliant. I mean, there's not that many
people that qualify to be a head coach at BYU,
And and the way his personality is in his style
of mentoring appeals to the kind of player that's attracted
to BYU, and those players respond to his style. And
I think he's a good combination of Lavelle, who is quiet,
and then himself who's firing, and he's got both of
those and I think the players love it. I think
he's as good a fit, as perfect a fit of
coach to university as I can never remember seeing. So
I think it's good for both sides, and I think
that where they stand now is with the possibility of
Kelanie Satake doing what you said, being having a career
similar to Lavelle, that he's there for several decades. And
if he does that, I think he'll win a lot
of games, the program will be very good, but he'll
have a chance, like Lavell, to really impact a lot
of lives. And you know, you talk about value and price,
those are two different things. So I'm glad that they
were able to come together on that combination of value
and price in order in terms of contract in order
to keep him there. But overall, I think the ceiling
is as high as it was with Lavell. You know,
I mean, have a consistently outstanding, nationally relevant program and
when you're healthy and you have a great quarterback, then
make a run for the top of college football. And
Lavelle got there once and he was relevant most of
the time. And I think that's what they can do.
I can see down the road as long as coach
Satake and the administration remained aligned in their vision for
where the program needs to go and how to support it,
because there's a lot that has to stay alike in
order for him to be there for a decade or
two more, but I can envision Kalani Satake field at
Lavelle Edwards Stadium. I think he has the ability to
have that kind of an impact on this program and
I would love to see it, and I'm glad they're
staying the course so that it has a chance to happen.
Speaker 3: Love it, Trevor.
Speaker 2: Best way to support you what you do, how you
do it for all of our listeners, brother.
Speaker 5: Well on X at TEA, MATTACH, M A T I
c H. I took a bit of a hiatus, but
I'm back on it now and looking forward to talking
about what's going on here with the rest of the
college football Championships.
Speaker 2: Yes, you're going to be Are you going to be
live on Saturday covering it all?
Speaker 3: What's the schedule for you there at esp.
Speaker 5: On Saturday, No, because there's not enough games. But on
Sunday I'll be on the ESPN Radio Selection show, so
that noon Eastern and we'll be talking about what happened
to BYU and whether it was reasonable or whether it
was totally wrong. So we will be talking about BYU then,
So for all the people who are dissatisfied with the
amount of attention to the Cougars in this process, there
will be plenty of attention on Sunday, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Appreciate you, Trevor. Thanks for hopping on today. Always
a blessing. I was a pleasure talking ball with you.
Speaker 5: Appreciate it, Ben, Thank you.
Speaker 3: There go.
Speaker 2: That's Trevor Maddix, Ladies and gentlemen, and that segment was
brought to you by a little keeping up with the Gougers,
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Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: Great catching up obviously with with Trevor maddich Uh and Uh,
I want you to chime in on my pole oday
which group, like you know, like there's a lot of
haters out there, there's a lot of disrespect out there.
I'm not a I'm not a full blown maybe conspiracy
theorist on everything, but I had become more for conspiracy
theorist in twenty twenty. Which group most wants BYU football
pushed into irrelevance? Number one, You tough fan base, most definitely,
they want to see it all crumble.
Speaker 3: Number two the.
Speaker 2: Self righteous UH segment of the ld S Latterday Saints
ry Mormons who think major athletics are are not uh
uh are are not to be invested in. You can't
put any money into it. It's a waste of time.
Does not build up the kingdom uh, the colleg football establishment,
the coll football Playoff Committee, the blue bloods, the media networks, UH,
those that are protecting the old order, the good old
boys club. They don't want any of this new money,
any of this new found success to get in infiltrate
their college football cabal, the monopoly, the oligopoly.
Speaker 3: And then you just have the.
Speaker 2: General anti bau antilds haters.
Speaker 3: Which one is winning this pole? It's actually number three.
Speaker 2: Everyone's out to get the college football Playoff Committee and
the college football cabal right now.
Speaker 3: They don't want anything to.
Speaker 2: Do with BYU apparently that that's what the Kugarnation is film.
But number two is the Utah fanbase coming in with
thirty seven percent of the votes. By the way, so
little poll of the day, and that's brought to you
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anywhere more to get to on your Utah ESPN Radio network.
This is Cougar Sports on one of three nine ninety
eight point three esp