Speaker 1: Is Cougar Sports with Ben Kretel At its time for
the Cougar Beat getting the dish from the local reporters
that covered Cougar athletics.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the sports one of three nine ninety
eight and one pre ESPN the Fan. I've Ben Prittle
broadcasting from our band Wilt Videos, banderwild dot com. Get
on that free q and a no obligation to invest
q A with our tax more wealth advisors. It is
time for Little Cougar be gonna welcome at Cougar Sports
Insider to break down all the news and notes coming
out of Brigham, all the topics we've approaching today. Just
got off the line with Matt Carlino, the one of
the best point guards in my opinion, in BAU basketball history.
Did that in two and a half seasons. Statistical out
output was very impressive. Wish we could have retained him
for an additional year to the lead us to glory
and victory along with Tyler Hallis Kyle Collins within the
crew guard heavy line would have been beautiful in my opinion,
and it just didn't come to fruition. But we're gonna
break down a little Cougar Beat in this segment gonna
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You will not be disappointed with your choice. Let's get
out to the hot Hi. Welcome to double D. Darnell
Dixon of The Daily Herald was up Double D.
Speaker 1: I'm doing well with good that you're talking to a
fellow lefty and Matt Carlino. I hope he's doing well
and hope you have a good call tonight.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Man, we were saying were we able to were you
able to catch any of the interview with Matt?
Speaker 1: I was not, but I'm gonna go definitely go back
and listen to it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you have to check it out.
Speaker 2: Let me know what you think, buddy, I was great
catching up with Matt Carlino. What's been keeping you busy,
double D? I know you've been typing up, writing up
all manner of Cougar sports content for all the consumers
out there in Cougar Country.
Speaker 1: Well, I got to apologize to anybody who does follow me.
I wasn't able to do much at the Utah game
because the wireless wasn't working on Press Row and Utah
they're not very interested in getting it to work, So
there are a lot of us that cover BYU that
weren't able to tweet out what we fought or or
you know, make in game kind of comments. But other
than that, working on obviously lots of Bay Bass stories,
b YU men's volleyball as well, and we have the
women's volleyball program hired new coach last week, So the
sports other than football are getting a little of my
attention right now.
Speaker 3: Hey, all good, all gravy.
Speaker 2: The the headlines right now are all transfer portal related.
It's something I know you love to talk about, the
nil transfer portal era. But b YU is bringing some
return missionaries home to the state of Utah. Guys like
Kada Ulauave coming back home. You got guys like Zak
Yamauchi from Stanford who are return who's a return missionary,
Jake Clifton from Kansas State, and you got some some
good walker Lions from USC. Your thoughts, your reactions to
the seven acquisitions via the portal for b YU, Well.
Speaker 1: Ben, I do have to admit, even when I'm working
on other stories, if I happen to see some information
or get some information about a transfer portal, ad I
stop and go to my list and make sure I
add them in because I want to keep track of
all of this. A couple of things that stand out
to me. One is it seems as if most of
the guys both getting has more They have more than
one year of eligibility remaining, and I think that's great
because as good as players can be transferring over that
first year, the second year, I think they could be
even better. So there's there's some good opportunities for BYU
to build their offensive line and linebacker spots with guys
who will have multiple chances in multiple years to play there.
I feel like they've addressed some needs on the offensive
line and with tight end and strengthen the linebacker spot.
I still think they need to get a few defensive linemen.
I'd like to see another playmaking wide receiver with maybe
some stats. Nothing against Kyle Kaffer, who seemed like you
would be a nice prospect, but I'd like to see
them go after somebody who may maybe the smaller school
that put up good stats that's up there, and just
add to those playmakers on the wide receiver group. But
so far, it's doing it. The crews are doing well.
We've gone through this several times since the transfer portal
kicked In the one year BYU had close to sixty
new players, and that following year they kind of struggled.
So I think they're reaching up right now. Will you
take into account seniors that have graduated and guys have
left through the portal and return missionaries that are leaving
that kind of thing. You're upwards of thirty now, and
I think that's probably they don't want to go too
much higher than that because the more you go beyond that,
I think you create some issues for yourself. And you know,
and we've seen it happen at BYU, so I think
they're in a pretty good spot right now.
Speaker 2: One of the questions that we've posed, you mentioned it.
Speaker 3: Does b YU football have a wide receiver one?
Speaker 1: In your opinion, No, And I really feel like it's
been so easy just to point to Chase Roberts every
year for the last three years and say there is
he's the number one of the guys returning. You know,
Parker is a playmaker for sure, and I think Jojo
Phillips has the ability, but he was hurt last year,
so we never really got to see what he would be.
So I would definitely like to see them go after
As I mentioned that a receiver or two in the
portal that could step up possibly be number one. I
think bear Bachmeyer needs that. I think it was great
for him to step up as the starting quarterback and
I have someone like Chase robertson throw to it was
automatic on third downs and could get open and make
great catches and stance against those guys that are coming back.
Nobody really has that resume, So either somebody steps forward
as the number one or they have to go out
and get one. So I think that's still in the
process for the Cougars.
Speaker 2: Double d Darnell Dixon here on ESPN the Fan. I
think there are many others that kind of feel the
same way as you do. You could look at Parker Kingston,
and Parker Kingston very well could become a wide receiver
one in my opinion he career. He elevated his play
this seasons as a playmaker. I think for BYU a
man that could create space and restricted areas and can
kind of take the top off if needed. But he
was mostly coming out of the slot, and I've been really.
Speaker 3: Impressed with him.
Speaker 2: Do you think maybe Parker, out of all the guys,
could end up being that wide receiver one this next year.
Speaker 1: He seems to have a pretty good rapport with bar Bachmeyer.
Looks like those guys have worked a lot together to
get that going. Yeah. Maybe, I mean I like Parker.
I think he's a very good player. He does as
you mentioned in tight spaces, he can create a little
bit of a separation and that's certainly helpful. And he's
does double duty as a punt returner and makes some
difference there as well. But you like to have somebody
that's durable. And the Parker is a little smaller, so
not that he can't get through the season as the
number one, but at the number one gets more targets.
It's more times getting hit, and you like your number ones.
Maybe he'd be a little bit bigger and sturdier so
they can take that pounding. So we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 3: Darnell.
Speaker 2: I didn't think that BYU needed linebackers, but they got
two of them, an All acc player in Kate Uluave
and then they picked up Jake Clifton from Kansas State.
Why pick up two more linebackers? Seemed like we're pretty
pretty full there are we?
Speaker 1: Yeah, But I think that if you take a look
at the twenty twenty five season, there were enough injuries
at that spot where they were having to dig pretty
far down in the depth chart, and they have some
good depth there, there's no question about that. But not
only injuries to you know, Kobe Bryant Struther was having
a pretty good start to a season. He got hurt,
but and then you had Isaiah Glaster and got banged up,
and Jack Kelly got banged up. Just a position that
lends itself to guys that are going to get hurt,
and so they're in Cielo Serra I think miss some
time as well. So I think they're going after some
depth there with not just you know, second or third
string type guys, but number one guys, so they can
maybe either replace those guys that get hurt or maybe
give them a few less reps so that they're a
little bit stronger.
Speaker 2: This season goes on Darnelle Dixon here on your Utah
ESPN Radio network. They picked up three offensive lineman, Zach Yamucci,
Paki Final and then Junior Sia from Utah State. All
three have starting experience. All three were sought after in
the NC the in the transfer portal by P four institutions.
Speaker 3: What does it say like three offensive linemen.
Speaker 2: I thought we had plenty of talent along that offensive line.
Why do you think they were so aggressive and obtaining
three portal offensive linemen?
Speaker 1: Well, it seems like the those three guys are largely
interior offensive lineman. If I'm not mistaken, they did have
some injuries there. And you know, as a coach, your
job is to create the best room you possibly can
and if there is somebody that wants to come, that
will make your room stronger and make the competition stronger.
I think the offensive line is definitely one of those spots.
So that's in my mind, that's why YU is bringing
in those three offensive line because they want that offensive
line to be very competitive, and they want the guys
that are coming back not to get comfortable and keep
working hard and they're to be really good competition in practice,
and that's really their job. And with a position like
offensive line, where we have five of them and you
want to be able to rotate a few through and
there's going to be injuries and things, you always want
to build that depth. And again you want to build
the ability to have just great competition in practice, to
put guys in positions to make your offenses the best
that you can.
Speaker 2: Darn well, well, let's get prepped for some BYU basketball,
shall we. I know that's that's one of your favorite sports.
You're a hooper, You're you're you're like a left handed
gymmer on the floor, a gold medalist of bucket getting
is what you are and don't get the truth he
does have gold medals cougarnation for those that don't know,
b always fifteen and one. Right now, the only loss
is the Ukon man. It seems like the always trending
in the direction of finally getting the monkey after back
for the most, the most NCAA appearances without reaching the final.
Speaker 3: For it is this the year? Is this the year
double d?
Speaker 1: It very well could be. There are still a few concerns.
One of those is the number of minutes that the
aj Debons and Richie Saunders and Rob Wright are playing.
That can wear you out a little bit. And it's
a little higher for your top of your players than
it's been in the past. I feel like their bench
play and the subs have been a little inconsistent. They
need that to show up a little bit. But there
was still winning games. There only losses you mentioned to Yukon.
Even Kevin Young, who doesn't really comment that much on
you know, things like poles and and and and uh,
you know, numbers, that kind of thing. Uh, he did
mention on Monday when you talked to him. He said, hey, look,
we were nine. We dropped two spots after you won
three games. What's up with that? And we all know,
and I've been a voter on the AP Basketball Poll,
it doesn't make some sense. Sometimes it's difficult, but there
it just means there's a lot of good teams in
this in this in this country. And and Nebraska and
Vanderbilt are both undefeated. So they jumped over b yucause
they haven't lost yet, and a lot of that as
a product of who you've played. You know, B B
YU right now sitting pretty but they are facing a
pretty tough schedule. They've got Arizona twice. They've got to
go to Kansas, We've got Texas Tech at home on Saturday.
So in another another game against Utah, they showed, you know, Utah,
if they play the way they're capable, can hang with anybody.
So there's a lot left to be decided. And this
is a really good basketball team. This is a team
that has a lot of options on the offense if
teams want to do what Utah did and just double
team aj As soon as he gets the ball, Richie
goes for twenty four and Rob Wright goes for twenty three,
So they're difficult to guard, and they're getting better defensively.
I still think there's some things they can do to
shore that up, and again, as I mentioned, their guys
coming off the bench need to be a little more consistent.
But it's a really good team and the possibility of
getting to the Final four with this team is better
than it's probably been in ever since Jimmer played. I mean,
this is a program that Kevin Young has built to
get there, and even last year, just this first year,
he's able to get to this week sixteen, and then
they've made some adjustments defensively and brought in different players
and appear to be on a really good path for
right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's a great team.
Speaker 2: And look they're they're trending in a direction that I
think is unprecedented. It's it's pretty incredible to watch and
I'm loving every minute of it. Obviously, that was close one,
though at the Huntsman Center. It's a close one by
the skin of their teeth.
Speaker 3: They got by it. Like many other teams before them, it.
Speaker 1: Didn't have to be close, and by you did some
free throws that it would have probably been a little
close to a double digit win. But that's what happens
in this in the I by U U dou series.
We've seen it in all sports but men's basketball. It's
been kind of crazy that BYU hasn't won up there
for a while, and Richie had never won up there,
and and he hadn't, to be honest, had a great
game against Utah until until that game, until Saturday. He
had twenty four and then sixteen or fourteen rebounds. He
was absolutely amazing in that game. And and it it
just shows you. And it was funny because I saw
some Utah comments like, that's not a play on the
four team if they can't beat us that by you know,
just four or five points, And I thought, yeah, you know,
final four teams never played close games throughout the season.
That just never happened. But but it does show you
that you got to bring it every night in this league.
For sure, you have to bring it every night, and
they're going to be you know, you think about there
hasn't really been a lot of setbacks for this team.
You know a lot of things they've had to overcome,
and they're gonna lose some games in this league. I mean,
I think it'd be great if they went undefeated, but
that's not realistic, and they're gonna lose some games they
think they probably should have won, and they've got to
recover from that and come out in the next game
and play well. And so I'm looking forward to seeing
how they respond to some adversity when it pops up,
because this league is just way too tough to just go
out and play your best every night. They're gonna have
a dud, they're gonna have a game, They're gonna go
out and it's just not gonna work for them, and
you know, they're gonna have to figure out how to
get get over that.
Speaker 2: Love the breakdown from Darnell Dixon the Daily Heraldy and
talking some BYU Ball here on your Utah ESPN Radio network.
Speaker 3: Uh. As we get into this, uh into the.
Speaker 2: Really the heart of the Big twelve schedule, and you're
looking at the next few games. Obviously TCU a formidable
foe at the Marriage Center, but everyone's all the fans
got their eyes on that Texas Tech game, right, Everyone's like,
wonder what's going to happen there? Uh, what are you
looking at as far as the schedule is concerned for
b YU where where are your eyes being cast? Where
the where's the gays? The all seeing eye of Darnell
being being illuminated?
Speaker 1: Well, Texas Tech is a really good team. JT. Toppin's
the best big man in the conference, and so that's
going to take a real good defensive effort. And by
bringing in Abdullah on that they've they've shored up that
into your defense really well. The showdown with Arizona on
the twenty sixth January Arizona, you know, they lost some
guys to the portal, some good scorer and their league
scorers in the NBA, and they're better than they were
last year. I think. I think they're much better, and
they can score from different angles and they just push
that temple so hard on you and BA used one
at Kansas before, but that will still be difficult. And
then you know when they played they have not been
able to get close to Houston since they joined the conference.
The Houston Coucher's defense ha just ate them up every
time they played. So I think that's going to be
a real Ringer bell Weather kind of game when they
play Houston on February seventh. This is not maybe as
good a Houston team as they've been in the past,
but they're still ranks that in the country and they
still play amazing defense, and so I'm curious to see
how the Cougars respond and make a close game for sure,
but even have a chance to beat Houston, because, like
I said, since they joined the conference, Houston has been
able to kind of do whatever they want and it's
wert their will on the Cougars, and so we'll see
how that one turns out. But that's the next several weeks.
There's some great ballgames, and that's one of the things
I really enjoyed about the Big Twelve is Texas Tech
is ranked fifteenth. They're coming to the marriage Center. Arizona
is number one, They're coming to the marriage center. Houston
is number one, coming to the marriage Center. That's amazing
to me. And they've got Iowa State later this season's
coming to the merry Center. Iowa State it's undefeated, number two.
So I love that they're bringing in these teams that
they could never even get a sniff of when they
were playing in the other conferences to come into the
marriage Center. And you know they started with this in
this league. In a league play is we get to
talk to the opposing coach after games of the Marriage Center,
and that's fantastic. I love to hear their perspective on things.
Bobby Hurley was really amazing a week or so ago
when Arizona State came and had some funny comments to make.
So it's big time and it's something that I'm looking
forward to seeing.
Speaker 2: You mentioned the apeopole earlier in the in the show,
you've been an AP voter, Darnell. Why is it that
BYU fell two spots after getting a win on the
road versus versus Utah at the Huntsman Center a quad
to victory And how much created should we give the
AP pole for basketball or football?
Speaker 1: Well, a little bit. I mean it's it is a
perception that you can look at. But in the last
net rankings, I think BYU was eight or nine still,
so I think they're still in pretty much the same spot.
I just think that now that we're into conference play,
Nebraska and Vanderbilt are still winning and they're still undefeated,
so it's hard to keep them behind the BYU, who
does have the one loss, even though it is to
number three Yukon. So I think that's probably the main
reason is you know, you look at what Nebraska and
we saw no brass get in the preseason game and
they beat BYU by one. We saw they were pretty talented,
and they've continued to do that. When Nebraska and Vanderbilt
are playing in their non conference schedule, they're playing a
bunch of guys they can beat by a bunch, and
it's hard to know kind of how good they are.
But once they get in the league play and they
start getting victories, then you start saying, Okay, they're pretty good.
And Nebraska and Vanderbilt have done that in their lead,
so to me, that's why. But I wouldn't be too
concerned because the net ranking really makes a big difference,
and BA has a lot of chances to build that up,
and they're already at eight or nine now. So I
think that that bau fans shouldn't fret too much about
the A people because there are opportunities to strengthen their
NCAA resume coming up in the league.
Speaker 2: Double d Darnel Dixon appreciate you hopping on for yet
another Cougar beat and talking BYU football, BYU basketball. We
didn't really delve into the Olympic sports at all. But
I know you're excited about them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is this is a good time of year
for some of those sports. You know, baseball actually gets
started pretty soon, and softball, the spring sports are getting
kind of reped up. And and the b YU men's
volleyball team is really interesting with its uh four guys
that came in from Grand Canyon who who killed their
program to put money somewhere else. It's amazing because the
Grand King is one of the richest schools in the country.
They can't afford a men's volleyball program. But that their
loss was BYU's game. And we got a chance to
see that team last weekend and they get beat Saint
Francis swept both nights, and U see San Diego coming
in on Friday and Saturday this week. And Sean Holmeston's
got his work cut out for him because these are
kind of just the warm up games. They have some
really big ones coming up later in the schedule with
U C. L A And Stanford and Pepperdine and some
of those traditional powers. But it's a fun sport and
and it's it's a great night in the Smithfield House.
Speaker 2: Love it Double D and UH the sponsor of the
segment is Ruby's In and I know you've hiked, biked,
razor and horseback ride through the hooters of Bryce Cannon.
And I know you're no friend of the mouse, but
uh is it? Is it not an accurate depiction? I
mean when you go into cars Land and uh and
Big Thunder Mountain, I mean all of that is inspired
by Ruby's In and Bryce Cannon National Park.
Speaker 1: You know, I hadn't put that really together, but when
when you said that in the intro, I thought, yeah,
that makes a lot of sense. And that's one of
the reasons. I guess. I guess one of my kids
liked to go there when we were taking So it
is a fantastic place, you know. I you know, I
love it out there. That free breakfast is something else.
And I like the non light pollution of the area
once it gets dark at night, it gets dark.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's.
Speaker 1: It feels like you're in a different place. And the
hiking is great, and and the snow and they've got
ice skating rink there, and it's it's a fun it's
a fun time.
Speaker 3: Love it.
Speaker 2: Double D appreciate you man, thanks for hopping on for you.
At another Cougar beat.
Speaker 1: All right, Ben, have a great rest of your week.
Speaker 3: All right, you too, man.
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Speaker 3: Let's take a brief time out. We'll be back. Tanner Wall,
former BYU safety.
Speaker 2: Taking his talents to the National Football League, going to
be training. We'll find out where he's training and who's
what agency he signed with, and what he needs to
improve upon leading up to the Pro Day and NFL
Combine and obviously NFL Draft. You're listening to Cougar Sports
on one of three nine nine eight point three ESPN