Speaker 1: This is something special for you.
Speaker 2: It's time for Cougar Sports, one part of the Utah's
ESPN Radio network. Here's your host, Criminal.
Speaker 1: Well the Medicota Sports Wonder three nine ninety eight POT
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future at Vanderwealth Banderwealth dot com got a fantastic show
for you. Again to delve into a lot of national
championship talk. Indiana, I mean just Indiana versus of Miami
was a more entertaining game than I think most people
thought they were signing up for.
Speaker 3: UH.
Speaker 1: To me, there was there was competition, there was UH grit,
there was physicality, there's creativity. UH special teams UH being
an integral part in this game that ultimately led to
a victory. UH shout out to Indiana for doing something
that nobody thought was possible one of the greatest maybe
sports stories that I have ever seen, especially in college
football that has been so heavily dominated by UH, you know,
certain teams, certain conferences. In Indiana, UH has never had
never experienced a double digit win season until last year
under Kirk Signetti. UH and they just won a national championship.
And many of you said that college football was broken,
it's broken. This is a This is proof that it
it's not broken. In fact, finally, the the underdog, the.
Speaker 3: The gritty, tenacious, chip on your shoulder underdog.
Speaker 1: One a college football national championship.
Speaker 3: Can you believe that the power brokers.
Speaker 1: Have been upended? They've been They've been disrupted. That's what
that tells me. In Miami, I mean, they haven't been
relevant in a long time as it relates to the
national scene. I know they've had some good seasons here,
there no doubt, but I mean it's been a minute since,
you know, they've been in that type of limelight. And
they were actually a team that, you know, per many
experts didn't deserve to be in the college football playoffs.
Speaker 3: So two underdogs.
Speaker 1: Essentially meeting in the national championship game.
Speaker 3: I loved it.
Speaker 1: We'll delve into it, loved every second of it. It
was a fantastic game. Make sure you keep your styled
in on that one O three nine FM DOW the
ninety eight point three FM DOW in Sally Davis and
Weaver Counties.
Speaker 3: You can stream us.
Speaker 1: Espnfan dot Com, ESPN the fand the app, as well
as the tune and app. Download those apps from the
respective app store. Tell You're smart speaker, Hey, smart speaker,
listen to Cougar Sports with Ben Cridal, Hey, smartspeaker.
Speaker 3: Listen to the.
Speaker 1: ESPN the Fan app as well as the podcast downloaded
today iTunes, Spreaker, Google Playing Music, iHeart Radio. Wherever you
get your podcast downloaded today and listen to us.
Speaker 3: A la carte.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you wherever you listen to us, however you
listen to us here on your Utah ESPN Radio Network.
One of the interesting commentaries that I thought we would
start off with and maybe delve into it in the
Nadie Gritty most BYU fans. You look at the first
time National Championship winner, there's been like five of them
since nineteen eighty four. B YU obviously being one of
those teams first timers, Right, it's.
Speaker 3: Been a minute.
Speaker 1: It's been a long time since BYU was in competition
in the conversation for a national championship. Right, There's been
a few times where BYU has flirted, but they've always
been just outside of the circle of trust. Right, the
power brokerage, if you will, the cabal, the college football cartel.
But Travis Hansen, former BYU great, that's aiding at supporting
the BAYU football program right now with his expertise, said this,
if Indiana can win a Natty, everyone better believe we
can do it. Again, do you believe that, Kugarnation, do
you believe we're on the precipice of possibly doing something?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 3: How far is BYU away from.
Speaker 1: Being in Indiana, from being a Miami, from being in
Ohio state, from being a even a Texas tech How
far away are we? How much is how much of
a gap is there? And so introspectively we asked that question, Well, well,
we'll leave it up to Kugarnation as well, how far
away are we from winning a national championship? And do
you have a roster next year to really compete and
get into the Collge Football Playoff and be a part
of that conversation. We'll delve into that and much more
here on your Utah ESPN Radio network. Why don't we
Why don't we fired up the f me and the
fans starting lineup so I can introduce you to my
coast and the rest at the start start of cast.
You want to get through this Tuesday, January twenty edition.
Speaker 3: Of Cougar Sports. It's two a five alon on the
Washatch front.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be giving you four hours of fantastic college
football content, delving into all the news and notes of
the day. Let's welcome in first and foremost executive producer, coast.
Speaker 3: Host, former BYU rugby player.
Speaker 1: Let's welcome in the bucket, get Ronald the three man Weaver?
Speaker 3: What's up, Roddy?
Speaker 5: What's up?
Speaker 3: Look?
Speaker 5: This is all I'm gonna say on the matter. BYU
You're gonna.
Speaker 6: Want to be in a national championship again because the
former BYU player was I know that sharpman intercept of
the ball, but who is the ball intended for?
Speaker 5: One? In fact, former.
Speaker 6: BYUI receiver Keiland Marion still missing it from the portal Ben.
They still need a guy like that. They still need
to go get a guy like that. So I think
they can become natty bound and win one if they
can get a guy like Keelan Neck and make you
respect the defense. I still think that's missing from this
BAU roster.
Speaker 3: It would be nice to get a wide receiver one.
Speaker 1: Some people believe that Parker Kingston is that guy that
maybe Kyler Kasper can be the guy. Jojo Phillips could
possibly be that guy. You got Legend Glaster coming in.
You have a young Nikua in the in the wide
receiver room. You also have Terrence Serion, the former Washington commit.
You've got some talented there's no doubt. But is there
a wide receiver one? Many people are not buying the
the the availability the existence of this wide receiver one.
But maybe possibly. I mean, you look at Parker Kingston,
what he produced. He almost produced a thousand yards this
year in receiving. He's pretty good in the run game too,
and he was fantastic in the punt return game. The
issue that he has is he's not as like you're
bringing up Keilan Marrin here. He's not as thick, maybe
not as powerful. But Parker's getting a little bit more robust,
He's getting a little bit more as g Man likes
to call a little bit more girthy. He's getting a
little bit more dense, and he was breaking arm tackles.
And I was impressed with p K and he very
well could be on a trajectory to be that wide
receiver one don't sleep on PK. Liz also welcome into
the show Hammer Time show Brent always bringing the hammer.
Speaker 3: How the heck are you, buddy?
Speaker 4: Then there used to be a time on this planet
where individuals believed that the Earth was flat, yes, And
there used to be questions about gravity, and there used
to be lots of things that we thought we knew
in the world of science until we learned something else
that said, oh you know what, everything that we thought
we knew to be a science actually wasn't a science
at all. And it's so funny because I remember hundreds
and hundreds of conversations with fans and all kinds of
other people who said, nil is just going to ruin
the sport man, It's just going to be Nick Saban
and Alabama year after year after year after year. I'm
pretty sure the SEC wasn't the Natty champion the last
three years. I'm pretty sure the National champion this year
was the losingest program in the history of the sport.
Speaker 3: YEP.
Speaker 4: Part of my issue with college football fans a little
bit is they believe leave.
Speaker 3: Too much.
Speaker 4: I think in we know what's best for the sport,
and we know exactly what's going to happen, because I mean,
in all reality, had I told you three years ago
Indiana's gonna win a chip in three years, everyone would
have said you were crazy. And I just think there's
a lot of conversations right now with playoff expansion and
some other things in the sport, and there's like the
big Internet take right now is how the twenty fourteen
playoff is the worst idea Josh Pat's the most pathetic
idea in the history of the sport.
Speaker 3: And the only.
Speaker 4: Pushback I would give is that year after year, this
sport proves to us that everything we thought that would
be a science ended up not being as true as
we thought it would be. So going forward, I just say,
as college foball fans, I know we are married to
the integrity of the game and the way that it's
been one hundred years. Sometimes things change, sometimes things don't
go the way you believe in your heart they're going
to in Indiana winning championship for Nanda Mendoza, a guy
who had no offers out of high school, winning the Heisman.
This is all proof that we may not yell Yale.
Oh yeah, there you go. Sorry, that's not necessarily absolute
football jug or not in the ivy. It's my bad
outside of that, Like everything we thought we knew to
be true wasn't. So as we go forward with the sport.
The sport's gonna grow. Let's grow with it instead of
trying to hold it back.
Speaker 3: Yeah, some people would rather be lied to, though. Some
people want to live in delusion.
Speaker 1: Like you see those people, you know, they they or
they they're so nostalgic about the past because they just
didn't know the truth, right, They didn't know what was
being cooked in the kitchen. They just wanted to the
They just wanted that that whatever taste they were looking for, right,
I don't want to know about how it's cooked.
Speaker 3: Just feed it to me. Tell me lies, tell me
sweet little lies.
Speaker 1: Bring it through the back door instead of the front door. Right, yeah,
thanks coach. Oh right, A harmful truth. Not many people
like harmful truths that disrupt their reality. You know it
may be religious, it may be theological, it may be political,
it may be you know, maybe even scientific. These truths,
these confirmation biases. I always say, like most of us
would rather have confirmation bias than truth. Why yeah, why
would we want confirmation bias over true unadulterated truth, because
then we'd have to change our reality?
Speaker 3: Right, And for many people.
Speaker 1: The what they you got to realize b Yu thinks
we are law abiding people. We love our White Handbook,
we love the commandments. We build commandments around commandments. We're like, well,
we got this word of wisdom, why don't we make
that into a temple question?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean, Well, let's let's let's antie up.
Speaker 1: Let's be more righteous or modern day Jeesus at college, like,
just build laws. How many steps can we take on
the Sabbath to keep it holy?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: And if I keep if I if I always take
five steps, I'm more holy than you.
Speaker 3: I'm keeping that Sabbath day holy.
Speaker 1: Anyway, we like laws, and for a long time, we
were abiding by the laws, the bylaws of the nc
double A for a long time, and we took pride
in that right. We're not cheating, We're doing it the
right way. We're not paying players, and yet we're winning
more than anybody else. We're winning per dollar spim more
than anybody else. We don't even pay our coach one
hundred thousand dollars. LaBelle Edwards was barely making one hundred
gs in two thousand in his final season. I mean,
just ridiculous. So like we take pride in that. And
so then you realize, like, wait, the NCLA has been
operating as an illegal monopoly, and it's if you suit them,
they're gonna lose every antitrust case. By the laws that
I remember, we're allowed by the people. We obey and
sustain the laws of the land. Didn't know though, you
didn't know what was legal and what was illegal. At
the time, you were in ignorance. You were living in
your confirmation by his truth too. And that's where a
lot of people, a lot of Boa fans have struggled
to make this transition.
Speaker 3: Now I think they're bought in.
Speaker 1: Now they understand the landscape that they're in, right, and
the old school people are are realizing, wait a second,
they have this truth before them. Indiana just win a
national championship. That's good for the sport. This is good
for the sport. Kurt Signetti was able to compete and
go out and acquire players with nil transfer portal, and
he mentioned, He's like, well, our payroll was not as
high as everybody else thinks, and I I would agree
with him.
Speaker 3: Look at the roster, and.
Speaker 4: I want to believe because we've said the same thing
and everyone's like, no, BIU is lying.
Speaker 3: So I'm inclined, like I want.
Speaker 4: To give them the benefit of that out because I
want people to give us the benefit.
Speaker 3: Of yeh yeah, one hundred percent. No, But I look
at their roster.
Speaker 1: If the composite rating is true seventy second, you know,
seven stars, I mean, is it more than twenty million?
Speaker 3: It's probably it, maybe less than that.
Speaker 1: I mean if Texas Tech paid twenty eight million for
their roster, which was pretty strategic, but they went on
got some guys, especially on that defensive front, did the
Hoosiers pay more than Texas Tech? I don't think so,
you know what I mean, I don't think so. Miami
was a top five spender in the portal and you
saw that in their defensive front too too. First round, God,
that D line was crazy. Honestly, I think that's how
Miami won so many games, because look at the end
of that game, Carson Beck was exactly who he was
in his time at at Georgia and who he was
when they lost to those unranked teams.
Speaker 4: And by the way, he didn't even go to class
for two years apparently. I'm still curious how that worked out.
And if it was true, why would you be dumb
enough to say it in impress Cotton, Well.
Speaker 3: He's not going to school. He's not going to school.
Speaker 4: I mean, the big misconception about common sense is that
it's not that common. It's clearly Carson back. But yeah,
that defensive line for Miami was absurd. They were eating
Fernanda Mendoza alive.
Speaker 3: Yeap, yes they were.
Speaker 1: It was an awesome game though, And I think, like
my automatic reaction to this, and I've said it throughout
the season, I'm like, this is a really, really good
thing for the game. Now, does there need to be guardrails?
Is there need to be certain things that need.
Speaker 3: To be changed off? Of course they do.
Speaker 1: But this is a great This is called the pendulum
swing in the free market. Right, you let the free market,
you know, work itself. And Indiana the losingest team in
college football history is a national champion. Now everyon's gonna say, wow,
it's Kirk Signetti and he deserves a lot of the credit.
There's no doubt about it. How much of is it
is Kirk Signetti? How much is an NIL transfer portal? Right,
if you're gonna pick one or the other, most people
understand that it's probably it's probably mostly Kirk Sinnetti it is,
but he needed to operate. Also, he doesn't have the
success as he doesn't have the accelerated success without NIL
and the transporporter, because you could have lost some guys
along the.
Speaker 3: Way in those two years.
Speaker 1: But it's truly a remarkable miracle in collegiate athletics that
has been so dominated by the cartel and the college
football cabal and the power structure of the power brokers.
Speaker 3: And shout out to Indiana.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Kirk Signetti doing it in a unique fashion,
doing it their way, and just google him. He wins.
That's what he said. He said that in this first
freaking press cottage.
Speaker 3: I cannot believe.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you saw hamahem Molee tweeted out today,
then he said they need to make a sequel.
Speaker 3: To Hoosiers Hoosiers two, and this is the story, no doubt.
I'm good with that. I'm down with it. It's a
tremendous story. Guys.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Vic Cram on the data aggration in
our newsletter. Check out the rest of our ESPN the
fans starting and line up. We got a great start
stud of cast. We're gonna get into some women's hoops
at three oh five with Delaney Gibb Baller's shot collar
for the women's basketball team.
Speaker 3: Don't miss that four oh five.
Speaker 1: A little keeping up with the Cougar slash missionary moment
with Robbie Bosco, the National Championship quarterback. The last time
BYU won a Natty, he was at the Helm. We'll
ask him the question, how far are we are we
away from winning another Natty? Also get some missionary updates
as he's been called to serve Logan Magdison former BYU
great baller and my Texas hold him partner. Yeah, we
placed some, We play some Texas hold him every once
in a while over at my brother in law's house.
So shout out to Logan Magazine. Will be joining US
College Basketball on Cougar Sports at four thirty Sean Walker
for a little Cougar Beet representing KSL dot Com.
Speaker 3: And then five.
Speaker 1: Thirty keeping up with the Cougars with former BAU wide
receiver Jared Bledsoe. All that and more here on your
Utah ESPN Radio network. Let's get into the nitty gritty,
broad to you by Complete Circuit Electric, Complete Circuit Electric
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Speaker 3: Utah dot com.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this question, how is it that
a man that has been coaching since man nineteen eighty three,
I think that was his first season as a coach.
He started off as a GA at the University of
Pittsburgh in nineteen eighty three nineteen eighty four. By the way,
in the year that BAU won the Natty in those
two years, isn't that crazy? In the first ESPN game
broadcasted nineteen eighty four b Way versus pitt he was
there on the other side, by the way. Wow, kind
of a fun fact for you. That was his second
year of coaching as a GA. Ended up going to Davidson. Yes,
Davidson had a football team. Quarterback and wide receivers, Rice
quarterbacks coach, Temple quarterbacks coach, went back to pitt quarterback
and tight ends coach NC State from two thousand two
thousand and six, Quarterback tight end and run game coordinator
from two thousand and seven to twenty ten Alabama as
the wide receiver coach and run coordinator. Iui he became
a head coach. I believe he had to go down
to iup the Crimson Hawks football Division two program to
become a head coach in twenty eleven, So it was
a little over a decade ago he became a head coach.
So he had to go down. He wanted to be
a head coach. He wanted to do it his way.
He became the Elon head coach James Madison and then
finally Indiana to become a Power for head coach in
a Power Conference. He had to coach from nineteen eighty
three to two thousand and twenty three without becoming a
head coach. He was sixty two years of age before
becoming a head coach at the Power four level. And
then he just won a national championship. And that's insane.
Speaker 3: That's such a cool story. Though, to tell people like, hey,
you're never too late in life to peak.
Speaker 4: This guy didn't peak until he I don't know, he's
in his sixties.
Speaker 3: Now he's sixty four.
Speaker 4: But not only is he peaking at sixty four, he
like you said earlier, this might be the greatest turnaround
comeback story in the history of sports, not just football,
not just one sport, in the history of sport.
Speaker 3: This might be it.
Speaker 4: And so like, that's such a cool I think lesson
to take from like, and he said that last night
in his press or something about like, if you just
put your nose to the grindstone, man, Yeah, like, yep,
you if you just keep doing it, it eventually works out.
And I'm sure I'd love to talk to his wife
because I'm sure there's moments in his life where he's like, look, honey,
I don't know if this is ever gonna work out
for me. I may just have to be cool with
the fact that I'm gonna be a coordinator for the
rest of my life and I'm never gonna win.
Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing. He wasn't even like an oc DC.
He was a run coordinator. Like he was a position coach.
He was a position he was an eternal position coach,
is what he was.
Speaker 3: That's what he was.
Speaker 1: And he was a he was a recruiting coordinator. Sorry,
he was a recruiting corner. So that's where he's made
to say it was. It was not It wasn't run
coordinator was a recruiting coordinator. I apologize, I got that wrong.
Speaker 3: Recruiting corner. So he was always evaluating talent. He was
always watching film.
Speaker 1: You look at the guys that watch a shizz ton
of film, Okay, Bill Belichick watched a ton of film.
Speaker 3: Nick Saban watched a ton of films they I.
Speaker 4: Believe Kurt Signetti worked for at one point was working
for Nick Saban exactly.
Speaker 1: So when he was at Alabama, like you know, he
was doing a lot of the film watching at eval
and you saw the return on investment on recruits every
single year. And that's why he says productivity over potential. Right,
you still have some some qualifying objective metrics that you're
looking at, maybe high weight, speed.
Speaker 3: Et cetera. But you're looking for good football players, right,
the whole.
Speaker 1: John football player. He's just a football player. That's what's
great about football. He's like, you know, you don't necessarily
have to look and and and run in a certain
way to be a great football player. He's got to
be a football player. And so Fernana Mendoza two star
recruit with yale as is only offer and he was
denied the ability to walk on at Miami, his hometown school, right,
he wasn't even good enough to be a walk on there, Okay,
not even good enough to and eventually finds his way
to cal and plays well enough, and then Kurt Signetti
finds him and he becomes a Heisman Trophy candidate and
winner of that international champion. And so it's really crazy
just what's happened in the modern era and all the
dominoes that have fall that have fallen in order for
a store like this to come to Fruition. You know,
Kurt had to wait till his sixty second year to
become a head coach at a powerful institution.
Speaker 3: And then he goes to a college football.
Speaker 1: Playoff and then expanded, like you need an expanded format
because there's no an h Indiana was going to make
it maybe last year this year, yes, because of the
equity day that he had built, but you know, you
need the expanded playoff format to maybe get into the dance,
to get into the tournament, et cetera. And then he
went to Natty and you know, like I said, Fernanda Mendoza,
like go down the list of players that they brought
in from James Madison too, you know, the game. Ceiling
pick is from from a kid from from Florida that
was overlooked and he became a system player within the
within James Madison under Kirk Signetti and his coaching staff,
and uh it, you know, yeah, you have the block
punt from another James Madison guy who was overlooked.
Speaker 3: And what a play that was.
Speaker 1: You know, as a cornerback, you know, you get you know,
cover two and you're isolated over there and you don't
have a threat to the threat flat. Uh you know,
sometimes it can complate with a third receiver coming across
from the opposite side of the formation. But the fact
that he was dropping, continuing to drop and sink and
being capable of high pointing and making that play with
the was a little bit under throne.
Speaker 3: Wasn't a good throw by by Beck, but he did
it right.
Speaker 1: Like that was a well coached team and you could
tell like when Malachi Toni got in the open field,
when when Brian got in the opening field, like all
the athletes in Miami, they would pull away. Indiana is
comprised of football players. A lot of those guys I
guarantee you in the secondary are four six, four five
guys maybe because they're getting like malay Tony is a
four four legit laser, he pulls away. But these guys
they good angel angles. They understand their scheme. It really
reminded me of honestly, like even our our two thousand
and six defensive team, we had some good players, there's
no doubt, but collectively, the the the the collective sum
was greater than its parts. Like we just knew what
we needed to do in order to execute, and we'd
rally and we wouldn't miss tackles and we would make
plays when the ball came to us. It was a
total team doing your an eleventh effort. And so that's
what Indiana was this year.
Speaker 3: It was awesome.
Speaker 1: It really was fun to watch, and I'm so glad
my son, four year old was sitting next to me.
Speaker 3: He needed to be in bed.
Speaker 1: Let him stay up and watch it, hopefully making a memory,
right because he gets pretty crazy, you know, once he's overtired,
as you know many of you guys know being around toddlers.
But he's like dad, who's gonna win the game. And
it was like, I don't know, second quarter or something
like that. I'm like, well, Miami is more talented, but
Indiana's a better football team in there.
Speaker 3: And not to say Miami's miamis.
Speaker 1: A well coached football team, but you saw these little
interventions of undisciplined action, face mask, late, hit holding, Like
I mean, they're just not as disciplined, not as refined,
not as operational, not as that the attention to d
tail right, doing the right thing the right way over
a long period of time. These are habits. Is we
all know, look at our habits. We're We're in a
cumutive sum of our habits in life, right. And that's
not to say we can't change those habits because look
at look, look you know we can change and we
can do something right. We can peak at sixty four.
We all need to realize that. One of my favorite podcasters,
Gary Vee, he talks a lot about that because.
Speaker 3: He talks about, hey, you can peak later on.
Speaker 1: But what I'm saying is, like I was telling my son,
I'm like, Indiana is the better football team, and the
Indiana is gonna win. They're gonna win because they're a
better collective football team. And I'm glad I was right
because now my son thinks that you know, you're like he.
Speaker 3: Told told you, you know, told you you know they won.
He's like, yeah, you know, they won, right.
Speaker 1: But it's uh, you know, I love football for so
many reasons. We talk about how why we love sport. Right,
Sometimes it's a it's a distraction of like all the
chaos and tumultuous nature.
Speaker 3: The descind of this, the liciviousness of the world and
all the bad that's going on. So it's a you
canna be a distraction.
Speaker 1: But to me, you you can learn in these enduring
qualities that can help you not only in this life,
but I believe in the next life, right, Yeah, I
believe in the next life. And so uh you look
at what what it takes to uh you know, pure
pure greatness, pure meritocracy, not political not ussurping power through
these uh you know these these you know, over the
over this the thousands of years that humans have run
the earth, Like it's pure in its sense, like it
was earned that national championship, was earned by merit, by habit,
by grit, by physicality.
Speaker 3: There was no like, it wasn't soullied by anything. It
really wasn't.
Speaker 1: It was not contaminated or corrupted by anything. And that's
what I love about football because it's the ultimate team game,
and truly, more often than not, the best football team wins,
not the most talented team, not the most out In basketball,
the most talented team typically wins. Right, not to say
that again, it can't be a lot of like you know,
good coaching involved in stuff like that, but typically the
most talent like the most talented tennis player, the most
talented talents and talented talented. No, it's the grit and
it's the collective sum of the parts, and that's why
I love this trajectory. All of it culminated to one
of the most iconic, if not the most iconic season
in college football history. I don't think there are many
seasons in college football that top this, the stories that
are involved, the personalities involved, all of the eyeballs on this.
In a new world, a new college football landscape, headed
up by a no star quarterback and a no star
position coach.
Speaker 3: I think for a long time we'll remember the LSU season.
That twenty nine season was.
Speaker 4: Unreal once again, and I think that seem I think
that team probably is better than Indiana if they had
to play head to head. But I will tell you this,
I think in fifty years, you ask me which one
I remember more, It is one hundred percent Indiana over
LSU because of all of the reason that you just mentioned.
I mean you you could not write a story in
Hollywood better than this, and if you did write it,
nobody would watch it because nobody would believe that that
story could ever happen.
Speaker 3: And it did.
Speaker 4: And I just love that we've blown away this notion that, oh,
if you have more five stars, you just win. That's
how it goes, clearly, and honestly, I think most people, honestly,
up until this season, I would have believed that way, Like,
look man, Indiana's a great story.
Speaker 3: But we see this every year, there's a great story.
Who loses.
Speaker 4: Indiana proved you do not have to just have five
stars to win ballgames.
Speaker 3: You can do it other ways.
Speaker 4: They proved it on the field, and I love it
because I think it really changes now. I think every
coach in America going up to this point was like,
look man, we got to get the most five stars.
You have now created a whole different way of playing
and coaching the game, and I think this is really
great for the sport.
Speaker 1: Football is still very much I say this all the time,
and I think it's what has led BYU two being
as good as it has been, you know, not only
in the modern era, but over the last fifty years. Obviously,
it's it's culture, it's cohesion, it's development like it's strength
and conditioning, it's nutrition, it's all these things. It's refining
your skill set and having tenure combined with some baseline
good talent, right you still need I mean, Ferananda Mendoz
is a tall, athletic young man.
Speaker 5: Right like.
Speaker 1: Obviously he's developed though into a national champion, Heisman Trophy candidate,
finalist and winner. Like it all is sequential in his development.
It's a developmental sport. And so it begs the question,
as Travis Hansen pointed out, you know, in his tweet
after the game, and I'm I'm in lockstep with him.
I think it's possible. Anything is possible, As Kevin Garnett
once said in his in his postgame speech, right, I
love KG. So if Indiana can win a Natty, everyone
better believe we can.
Speaker 3: Do it again with BAU football. How far away is
BAU though, let's go to break. We'll get to it here. Momentarily.
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Speaker 1: Question of the day coming up next. This is Cougar
Sports one of three, nine ninety eight point three.
Speaker 8: Yes, just like the Cougar football team, Ben Criddle was built,
not born, and since two thousand and nineties built himself
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Speaker 2: This is Cougars Sports with Ben Crittle on.
Speaker 3: One oh three nine ninety eight three ESPN. The pan.
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the business. When you watch and listen to Fernando Mendoza
and uh, he's his personality type and you hear how
he converses and gives praise to his Lord and Savior,
to Jesus Christ, and it's just like positive, very emotional
cries gets choked up, you know in these moments, uh,
in front of the microphone, in front of the the media,
et cetera. Like has there ever been a BYU football
player that that is similar to the Fernando Mendoza, you
know what I mean, Like I wanted to was like,
is there has there ever been a person like Fernando
Mendoze at b YU, the form and fashion which he
engages with the media, you know what I mean. Like
I was kind of pondering that a little bit. And
he's so unique, is what I'm getting at. He's a
very singular personality. I mean, We've had our fair shrif
of singular personalities. I mean, look, Jamal Swage, Daddy Williams.
Speaker 3: One of my favorites.
Speaker 1: Right We've had some very mean Trey right now is
one of our our favorite personalities right now on the
BU Football roster. And and it's fun to listen to,
fun to interact with on social et cetera, and uh
in front.
Speaker 3: Of the media, et cetera. But like I just Fernando's
a unique individual. Man.
Speaker 1: I wish them nothing but the best. We're all fans
of Fernanda Mendoza. And how about that final run of
his little QB Lee draw. They knew that that, I mean,
they had a premonition that Miami would bring their format
front right kind of a traditional format front, and they dropped.
They went man on one side and zone on the
other side, and so Fernando had had a nice alley
to you know, run at the middle. Good blocking obviously,
but like the effort after initial contact was what was
so great. You talk about story.
Speaker 3: Book endings, that is a is a Remember the Titans
type of finish, like.
Speaker 1: Where he's like he gets hit, spins off of it,
looks like he's going down, and then stumbles towards the
end zone, leaps Superman style, gets obliterated.
Speaker 3: I mean he may have got the air knocked at
him a little bit. Luckily he had that.
Speaker 1: Backpad and that they have a kind of like a
waste circumferential padding for quarterbacks so they don't get ribs broken,
et cetera. Luckily he had that because that would have
been either spinal injury or or you know, some sort
of rib injury and scores the touchdown, hangs on to
the football on contact too. Not easy to do that
when you're getting just demolished through your torso on the backside.
Speaker 3: That looks like something like Cam Newton did in college.
Speaker 4: Yeah not Look, Ferananima does is like a good athlete,
but we don't think of him as like an absolute
unit athletically, but on that play to your point, like
that's one we're gonna remember for ever.
Speaker 3: And contrastly, like I was thinking back to.
Speaker 4: My friends and are having this conversation, was watching the
Bears game the other day, and that Caleb Williams touchdown
where he runs like forty.
Speaker 3: Yards back throws it off his back foot. One of
the most incredible players I've ever seen.
Speaker 4: But you know what, We're not going to remember that
play in the course of history because they lost that game,
whereas on the flip side, Fernando Mondorza gets that score,
and frankly, they needed that touchdown because if they don't
get it, I think Miami would have been able to
run clock enough to go down and win that thing. Man,
just what an unbelievable again, like everything you would want
in a Hollywood movie script in the final game where
the the protagonist scores the game winning touchdown, Like everything.
Speaker 3: Is is there, man, I mean, I it feels weird
that this is.
Speaker 4: Reality because everything about this season has felt so surreal.
Speaker 3: But again, like that's what makes sports great. Well, how
far away is BYU from having its fairy tale ending?
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1: How far away are they look, do you have a
quarterback that can lead you? Like for Ananima Doz.
Speaker 3: I think you do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, especially as a sophomore right now, if
you get him for four years, I mean and and
everyone's like four years, I'm like, well, you know, he's
a really good college football quarterback. Is he going to
get a draft status that would merit a second round,
first round, third round, first day type of pick right
or is he a second day guy that could keep
him at BYU through four years if he wants to
do something special, if he wants to have a legacy,
or if the NFL is on the docket. I think
he's gonna need probably a little bit more arm strength.
You look at Fananama, does he can rip? Like he's
got pretty good arm strength, Not to say Bear can't,
but I still don't. I think there's a you know,
if there's one thing that that Bear needs in his
arsenal to make the jump to the NFL, he needs
a more live arm. So you got it at quarterback though,
someone that can lead you. Some of that's gonna be
that on brand for BYU. You have a coaching staff
that has been able to be maintained offensively, I don't
think you're gonna lose a ron and his offensive staff
anytime soon. They've had consecutive top twenty five seasons offensively.
From most efficiency metrics that you're looking at, you can
continue down that path. You have a pretty robust wide
receiving corps. Maybe you don't have a wide receiver one
that's you. You can make an argument for it. You
do have a nice revamping, retooling, remodeling of your tight
end room with two really talented tight ends, and you've
seen tenured tight end Carson Rean come in have success
with it. You're reloading on the offensive line. You have
an All Big Twelve, the Big Twelve offensive player.
Speaker 3: Of the Year in LJ. Martin.
Speaker 1: You're maybe a little bit thin in the running back room,
so you'd like to maybe see something there. And we're
talking about this this next season, but in the seasons
to come, the defense has ultimately retained all of its
playmakers minus like a few guys that were rotational. I
mean it, it doesn't seem you're too far off, But
where are the weak links?
Speaker 3: In your opinion?
Speaker 1: Bred always bring the hammer that Ronnie chime in All Nation.
Then I'll bring up the Caboose.
Speaker 4: I feel like a broken record saying this, but I
feel like if you get a definitive, really strong like
RB one B, I feel like that unlocks unlocks Bear
in the offense because he doesn't have to carry, he
doesn't have to be on as many fires in the kitchen,
Like he can focus on just one thing and then
be great at running the football when you need him
to be, not all of the time. So I think
that and to me, if you figure that out, then
I don't know that wide receiver one is a huge
problem because look like they've been this good so far
with that severe depth in the running back room and
without like a definitive Tentoroha McMillan type wide receiver one.
So to me, if you fix one of those, if
you either get the absolute legend in the wide receiver
room or you get a definitive running back one B
a running back two, I think that solves itself offensively. Defensively,
I don't have too many questions, honestly, because every year
you're able to you seem to be able to reload
at linebacker pass rusher. I think like an elite, like
one of the best in the conference. If they got that.
That to me solves a ton of issues because I
think you can cover for honest and probably longer than
the average Big twelve team is able to without needing
that elite pass rush.
Speaker 3: So that's probably all I would say.
Speaker 4: But even still, like, I think if this offense finds
a way to be able to throw the football, because
that was really their biggest issue right with Texas Tech,
like they could run it, but they were so one
dimensional because they couldn't pass the football. You find a
way to stretch a defense, I think the offense can
figure it out, and I think your defense is probably
ninety five percent ninety percent there, in my.
Speaker 3: Opinion, you're not too far off.
Speaker 1: Obviously, you're gonna be a I mean, look, if you're
a top fifteen team in college football and you've competed
against some of the best, it's just like how far
away we looked at the BYU Texas Tech game as
a good indicator of where we're at, and it doesn't
look like we're all that close. Let's be honest, if
you do it that way, So if you take it
by the rankings, like yeah, b ways close, because we
can get at the couch of ball playf and maybe
make a run. But then you compare yourself to a
team Texas Tech that ended up being a one and
done in that in that tournament, and you're like, man,
we're three scores off. You know, we're The defense doesn't
seem that far off, right, not last year, maybe not
the year before, but the offense, even though they had
top twenty five efficiency rating, still felt a little bit lacking.
First game, l J. Martin went out early in that
game and they just weren't slinging it. Second game, bear
Bachmeyer kind of went out early with the high ankle sprain,
and then they had to throw the ball a little bit.
The game plan maybe wasn't too sling it as much
and they just couldn't run the ball. If bear Bachmeyer
l J. Martin go down, obviously, that disrupts any sort
of quest for perfection that you saw.
Speaker 3: Indiana stayed healthy.
Speaker 1: One of the things that Kirk Signetti looks at when
he's evaluating talent is productivity.
Speaker 3: Part of that has to do with how consistently you're
on the field. How healthy are you?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: The durability, Okay, that's a tough thing to quantify, but
you see it translate. You know, Jamal Williams Tyler asiar
really good studies. Jamal was highly productive only his senior
year and then other schools started coming in because there
was a run there was ahead of him that was
like a three four star talent at a Fontana and
so luckily by you got him.
Speaker 3: Tyler ours here was a walk on, a walk on.
Speaker 1: But if you look at his high school career, he
had like he had like over three thousand yards rushing
and never missed a game. And now look at Tyler
what he did at BAU. Did he ever miss a
game at BA I don't think he did. You know,
in the NFL he's as durable as ever, never fumbles
and he's always durable. So do we have that right
right now? And maybe we do, but maybe we don't.
And so you're gonna have to run on depth. If
you can't keep Bear and LJ healthy offensively, then you're
gonna have.
Speaker 3: To because that those are the two.
Speaker 1: Like as I look at the Texas Tech game, the
defense played well enough. Special teams sucked in the first one.
They they craped the bed. Second game, he was better.
We needed better special teams in both those games. But Ultimately,
the offense was lacking. This couldn't move the football. And
when they can't establish the run and they're not healthy
between LJ and Bear, it's hard to continue to sustain
those drives. That's kind of how I look at it, Like,
I'm not overly concerned about the defense. I'm not even
concerned about special teams. I think they're gonna make it.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: We got to figure out if we need depth or
if we have the horses to stay healthy throughout.
Speaker 3: Thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen game season. That's tough.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's to me the unique nature of what Indiana
did this year as well. I mean, Albert Mendoza could
have been a good backup quarterback for all we know.
He's in the portal right now, ended up at I
think he may end up at Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3: His younger brother. Right.
Speaker 1: Fernando stayed healthy, right, I mean Black, I think stayed healthy.
Speaker 3: They're running back, A lot of.
Speaker 1: Their key players just stayed healthy throughout that long and
our DUIs College football season nothing.
Speaker 3: To say about that.
Speaker 1: In nineteen e four, We're gonna have Robbie Bosco on
the line, I believe, Okay, and we'll get a correction
from I believe, and I had heard this stat years
ago from some of the guys that played on the team.
Speaker 3: They had no major injuries, none and key games.
Speaker 1: I think Robbie went out, but he came back right
in that in that in that Michigan game, but like
no one was missing.
Speaker 3: Time in key games. That's a huge boon. The durability,
the durabilities is massive.
Speaker 1: So if you don't have durability, you better have depth,
right you better have quality depth. And right now I
lean more towards like I think we're gonna have to
rely on more depth.
Speaker 3: Do we have it?
Speaker 1: It's Devon Eica, you know, a guy that it's gonna
be the truth for next year. Like I wonder if
we're all talking about how the roster is gonna be
better than it was last year, which I believe it
came and be and will be. But do we have
the depth, the quality depth that many teams need in
order to make that move, to make that jump. How
far away is BYU right now? I think the Texas
Tech games are really good indicators of how far away
BAYU is. But I do think if LJ and Bear
are healthy in those two games, it's a much closer game,
but you're still a little bit off offensively.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I honestly am having a hard time computing
what Texas Tech was because after watching that Oregon game
and then watching Oregon not be able to show up
against Indiana, because it kind of contextualizes how good everyone
Indiana game.
Speaker 3: Was a little bit different, though. Sure.
Speaker 4: What the takeaway that I had was Texas Tech's defense
was legit. I think Oregon's defense was legit. I don't
think either one of those offenses were anything to write
home about, and I think part of I think BYU
lost both of those games because the momentum swings were massive,
not because I think BYU was in a different class
from Notre Dame or from Texas Tech. I think what
happened was Texas tech offense had a lot of short
fields to work within that first game, you dominate them,
and I think there was some mental gymnastics then BYU
had to play through in that second game.
Speaker 3: I don't and I think, like we've said, I think.
Speaker 4: We observed that Bau's defense was good enough to compete,
but when you get hung that many points on you,
it makes you question some things. Given what we saw
from Texas Tech and then subsequently Oregon.
Speaker 3: I think what we realized is.
Speaker 4: No, the defense was is where it needs to be
off They can only give the offense so many opportunities.
I think, honestly, that's how Miami even got to a
national championship because their defensive line was just full of
freaks and animals and they ate everybody alive. And the
game basically came down to is Carson bec gonna turn
the football over or not. If he doesn't turn the
football over, you win the game. If he does turn
the football over, you lose the game. And so I
think you're in a good spot with your offense because
you're not as turnover prone as a guy like Carson
beck Is. The issue is you've gotta find ways to
poke holes and to really be multi dimensional, because it
did feel like a lot last season. I mean, we
heard about it all throughout fall camp, where Aaron Rodd
was like, we're gonna run the ball. We're gonna be
really good a running ball.
Speaker 3: We're gonna run the ball. We're gonna run the dang ball,
and it was awesome.
Speaker 4: The problem was you didn't necessarily have the horses to
sustain that mentality, so you became a little bit one dimensional.
If they figure out a way to stretch that thing out,
I think it's pretty easy to bet on BYU to
win the Big twelve title at that point and then
see what they do from there.
Speaker 1: Ronnie, any final thoughts before we wrap up that shake
and anything you want to try and in on how
far away is BYU from winning a national championship after
watching what Indiana did the last two seasons.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you need a guy that you can throw the
ball to for sure on this roster, and that is
look reliable. And I'm gonna be honest there where Chase
Roberts wasn't reliable this season, I have dated to back
it up.
Speaker 5: People can get mad about it. I don't care if
you do.
Speaker 6: The guy that's supposed to be the NFL guy was
dropping past us WinCE friand when from Nando Mendoza. You
everybody knew who the ball was going to on throw down.
Everybody in their mom knew. Steven Wonder knew it too.
And guess what the ball was caught tough NFL like catches, right,
So I think you who is the guy on the
roster that you're like without a shout of doubt on
throw down out you can throw the football to him.
Speaker 5: Is it PK is a Kyler?
Speaker 3: We don't know?
Speaker 5: Is it is it Walker Lyons?
Speaker 6: Who's the guy that is going to be the guy
when you need to convert the first down and get
a big player that can be not just your security blanket,
but be the guy who is that on the roster
And we haven't seen that yet. I know they're guy's
coming in, So to me, that's what you have to
find out. Is that getting wide receiver one we don't know?
And then I think running back depth. Look you if
they can be high on but and I understand why
and I'm with that too, but when guys start to
get hurt, when guys aren't available, that's your best ability.
Speaker 5: You need a plet throw of running backs.
Speaker 6: And you say you got guys in the room, but
we didn't see him, So I think you still need
to go get another guy because if Sienna goes down
another guys aren't you know, stepping up the way they
need to. So it's Ljbahar and then Devon echo, Okay, cool,
not enough. I just think I still think they're offensive
pieces that they're missing you know one or two.
Speaker 3: It's not a lot.
Speaker 5: Like I said, I think they're ninety five ninety six percent.
I said that yesterday. I'll echo it again. That's what
I think they're missing been.
Speaker 3: How far away are they?
Speaker 1: Cougarnation Travisson just he went to Twitter and stated that, Hey,
if Indiana could win one, maybe by you can win
one again. Let's go to break That segment was brought
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Speaker 3: Let's go to RAAK.
Speaker 1: Don't go anyone were to get to This is Cougar
Sports on one of three nine ninety eight point three.
Speaker 2: Let's get the latest news coming out of BYU Athletics
with a Cougar Sports press release.
Speaker 5: This is Ronald three man.
Speaker 6: We were bringing you the Cougar Sports Pressole is today
the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, named BYU freshman middle blocker
aj Cottle, the conference's defensive player of the week of
course performance against number ten U se San Diego last weekend.
The six foot eight freshman from Provo, Utah racked up
fourteen total blocks in the two matches against the Tritons,
including a career high eleven blocks in Saturday's four set victory.
Speaker 5: He was one block away from entering BYU's top ten
single match blocks.
Speaker 6: His one point or six to two blocks per set
are the most in the MPFSF and put him number
seven in the NCAA. Offensively, Coddle was a major contributor
to YU success. He had sixteen kills in the two matches,
including a ten for ten effort on Saturday.
Speaker 5: Coddle became the first.
Speaker 6: Player in BYU rally scoring era to hit ten or
more kills in a single match and have a perfect
kitting percentage while doing so.
Speaker 5: He hit point seventy five zero overall on the weekend.
Speaker 6: His point six four to nine eighty percentage overall would
be the second best mark in NCAA this season, but
his two point eight attacks per set and below the
three point three attack per.
Speaker 5: Seven to qualify in that category. Coddle win the number
eight b YU.
Speaker 6: Cougar's won both matches last week and over the trips
to improve to four and oh this season and have
two more home matches this Friday and Saturday, as you
see Irvine visits the Sais Fieldhouse. Both matches will start
at seven pm mounts Stone Time, with streaming on the
Big Ten plus on bou tv dot org.
Speaker 5: And the b Yu tv app.
Speaker 6: For more Cougar Sports press releases, tune into Cooper Sports
on one, O, three, nine and ninety three.
Speaker 5: ESP and the Fan every day from two pm to
six pm.
Speaker 6: Follow me on x slash, Twitter and Instagram at Rona
three man we for all things related to YU. This
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