Speaker 1: On a Monday afternoon, the legend himself, Scott Mitchell. Scott,
Speaker 1: happy Monday, sir.
Speaker 2: How are you? Thank you? I'm good. There might be
Speaker 2: some folks up on the hill that aren't good right now,
Speaker 2: but you know life, I can't complain. I'm good. There
Speaker 2: you go. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I like that attitude.
Speaker 1: And look, last week I was the guy that was
Speaker 1: holding on to the final branch before we actually tumble
Speaker 1: out of the tree. And now I'm face down in
Speaker 1: the mud, Scott. Now I'm face down in the mud.
Speaker 1: I got nothing like I get a lot of things wrong.
Speaker 1: You know, you've done this job for a long time.
Speaker 1: You get some things right, you get some things wrong.
Speaker 1: I've got plenty wrong. I don't know, and I'm just
Speaker 1: speaking for me personally that I've ever been so wrong
Speaker 1: about something as wrong as I've been about this Utah
Speaker 1: football team all year.
Speaker 3: I'm out of answers.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: Just from a macro standpoint, Where'scott Mitchell on this?
Speaker 2: Well? Oh, I feel your pain and I feel your
Speaker 2: like bewilderment, because really you think about the first part
Speaker 2: of the season, you play SUU and it looks really
Speaker 2: good and Cam rising Okay, he's back from his injury
Speaker 2: and Baylor starts out amazing and then he just runs
Speaker 2: into the whatever he ran into and it just and
Speaker 2: there goes the season. And I know it's not just
Speaker 2: on one player, but Cam Rising when he was here
Speaker 2: and he was healthy, he was one player that really
Speaker 2: changed the whole trajectory of this program. I mean, playing
Speaker 2: San Diego State and he comes in in the second
Speaker 2: half of that game four or five years or seven,
Speaker 2: eight nine, I don't know how many years he's been
Speaker 2: at Utah, and he was electric, and he was different,
Speaker 2: and he brought an attitude and he brought a belief
Speaker 2: that there just wasn't there, and he did some incredible things.
Speaker 2: And to me, it's so much about you look at
Speaker 2: college football and your fortunes really do in a lot
Speaker 2: of way center around a really really good quarterback. And
Speaker 2: all the good teams in the country have them, and
Speaker 2: they all either a lot of them aren't homegrown, hired
Speaker 2: these guns, and and a lot of them have worked out.
Speaker 2: I mean there's some that haven't, but a lot of
Speaker 2: these quarterbacks in the transfer portal and have have have
Speaker 2: panned out. And that that's really the biggest kind of uh,
Speaker 2: you know, because the defense has played well enough to
Speaker 2: win every single game that we've lost, I mean really have,
Speaker 2: and and the offense just has been a kneemic. And
Speaker 2: the way I look at it is there's something really
Speaker 2: weird going on on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 2: and it's and it's you know, and it's probably they
Speaker 2: look they got a true freshman who's been playing and
Speaker 2: he's just okay, and he's and he's just you know,
Speaker 2: he hasn't improved as the year has gone on, and
Speaker 2: and you're seeing the same performance every single week when
Speaker 2: he when he's out there, it's just very very pedestrian,
Speaker 2: and and it's there's just not a lot there. And
Speaker 2: it's not saying he can't get there down the road,
Speaker 2: but right now he's just not ready to play. And
Speaker 2: so you're just it, you've just been in a tough
Speaker 2: situation with the quarterback there. But the other thing you're
Speaker 2: seeing is you're seeing all sides penalties, You're seeing you're
Speaker 2: seeing guys drop balls, You're seeing guys not come back
Speaker 2: to the football. You're seeing very inaccurate throws. You're seeing
Speaker 2: a lot of fundamental things that if you're going to
Speaker 2: be consistent offensively, you just can't have guys shooting you
Speaker 2: in the foot right and left, and that's what's happening.
Speaker 2: It's not just a quarterback play. It's across the board.
Speaker 2: Everyone play, and it's a mindset. It's a mindset of
Speaker 2: being focused and being taking care of those little details,
Speaker 2: because those little details that's really what the difference is
Speaker 2: between winning and losing, and between having a consistent performance
Speaker 2: offensively and not. You know, you can't just go through
Speaker 2: the motions and practice and just run the place. You
Speaker 2: have to run the plays to a level of excellence.
Speaker 2: And if you don't, when you get in a game,
Speaker 2: it just doesn't show up. So you just see these things,
Speaker 2: these fundamental things across the board not happening, and that's
Speaker 2: why this team's been really poor and inconsistent offensive. Now,
Speaker 2: the good news to that spense is it's all fixable.
Speaker 2: Like to you have to change your focus, you have
Speaker 2: to change your practice habits, you have to you have
Speaker 2: to have a commitment to being excellent when you're out
Speaker 2: on the field, and you can do that and whether
Speaker 2: you are perfect about it not relevant. It's it's the
Speaker 2: approach and the attitude that's the important thing. And I'm
Speaker 2: just not seeing that with and it's really the offensive
Speaker 2: side of the ball from me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And we'll get over the defense in a moment,
Speaker 1: because to your point, there are a lot of metrics
Speaker 1: that indicate this is still a top shelf defense, but
Speaker 1: they're not getting to the quarterback and they're not turning
Speaker 1: the other team over. I mean, they're doing a lot
Speaker 1: of things well, they're just not doing the things that
Speaker 1: we're used to seeing them do well when they're head
Speaker 1: coaches coach with. But we'll get to that in the
Speaker 1: moment because I do want to stay on the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: We talked last week and this is not a knock.
Speaker 1: I just wonder aloud what Mike Pajakian can find in
Speaker 1: an Andy Ludwig offense and Andy Ludwig himself couldn't find. So,
Speaker 1: now that we have one game, which is a really
Speaker 1: small sample size, did anything different or unique stand out
Speaker 1: to you based off of the different play caller?
Speaker 2: Well, this isn't going to be a popular statement, Spence,
Speaker 2: but this is what I saw, and that is shoot,
Speaker 2: Brandon Rose actually looked pretty decent at quarterback. That was
Speaker 2: the most positive thing that I saw out of that game.
Speaker 2: And it was the decision on where to throw the ball.
Speaker 2: He threw the ball accurately. The interception wasn't some just
Speaker 2: what is hair brain? What are you thinking kind of throw.
Speaker 2: He's trying to make a play third down. The receiver
Speaker 2: needs to come back to him in that situation. And
Speaker 2: I didn't really any and he had guys drop the
Speaker 2: ball on him. And that he threw very accurately. He
Speaker 2: seemed really poised. He ran, he with decisiveness. He he
Speaker 2: played with decisiveness, and and he you know, he's barely
Speaker 2: got to play. The guy with the most experienced understanding
Speaker 2: this offense. He's had the most reps at it, whether
Speaker 2: it's been in practice or where and it's not been
Speaker 2: in a game. But but he's probably the most prepared
Speaker 2: and ready to play from an experienced maturity understanding. And
Speaker 2: and you know, if it's me, and I think it
Speaker 2: was the right thing to do because that offense was
Speaker 2: going nowhere. Uh, it just wasn't. It wasn't going anywhere
Speaker 2: with with with Isaac. And I'm not I'm not. I'm
Speaker 2: not like, oh, Isaac's you know, a bust or anything
Speaker 2: like that. As young He's just a young kid that
Speaker 2: just needs to grow and mature and and he's just
Speaker 2: not ready to play yet, just not. And so if
Speaker 2: there was anything positive out of that, maybe more of
Speaker 2: Brandon Rose executing this offense might might work well for
Speaker 2: this team.
Speaker 3: Huh interesting.
Speaker 1: So I guess I'll follow up and just ask you
Speaker 1: if you because here we go again, Scott like, we're
Speaker 1: gonna do the song and dance thing for the next
Speaker 1: twelve days before BYU about who's it going to be
Speaker 1: Isaac or Brandon like we're and you know, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be Choy messaging. We won't find out. Probably my guess
Speaker 1: is up up until kick. But I guess I'll just
Speaker 1: follow up and ask you, do you believe that for
Speaker 1: the rest of the year, starting with Brighamy Young in
Speaker 1: twelve days under center should be Brandon Rose.
Speaker 2: If you're gonna make a change, it's a great time
Speaker 2: to do it because he's gonna get all the practice reps.
Speaker 2: He's gonna get two weeks of practice reps, and he's
Speaker 2: gonna you know, he's gonna get a little bit of timing.
Speaker 2: He threw the ball very well with a limited time
Speaker 2: he had in the game. He actually threw the ball
Speaker 2: very well. So if you're gonna do it. It's certainly,
Speaker 2: it's certainly the right time to do it. And sometimes
Speaker 2: that change, you know, can be a spark. I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean everyone was like Charlie Brewer, you know, a
Speaker 2: few years ago, and and he beat out Cam Rising
Speaker 2: like like he would the coaches. Everyone shows Charlie Brewer
Speaker 2: to be the starter. And Charlie was running this offense
Speaker 2: like a lot of these quarterbacks you've seen the last
Speaker 2: couple of years run it. And then all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: Cam Rising comes in and it's a whole different offense.
Speaker 2: So maybe that's the situation where we're in here because
Speaker 2: no one knows. No one knows what Rose can do
Speaker 2: at this time, I mean, because he's never played, and
Speaker 2: no one knew what Cam Rising could have done. And
Speaker 2: I just saw a guy who wanted to play football
Speaker 2: when Brandon Rose got out there and played. So you know,
Speaker 2: you got to you gotta talk Isaac Wilson off the ledge,
Speaker 2: you know, because he's young, and you don't want to
Speaker 2: you don't want to mess him up, but it might
Speaker 2: be a good time for him to just kind of
Speaker 2: take a seatback. I know a lot of people are like, now,
Speaker 2: throw him in there, give him all of this experience,
Speaker 2: and I'm I'm just not seeing a lot of improvement
Speaker 2: right now from Isaac Wilson. Like I'm and I'm a
Speaker 2: big fan of game reps and all that stuff, but
Speaker 2: I'm seeing more regression with Isaac than i am improvement.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, I guess we'll see. I mean, look, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying you're wrong. I'm kind of surprised, Scott because
Speaker 1: from my vantage point, I just figured at this point,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, if we're honest, what really is on
Speaker 1: the table, and if the only thing that you're playing
Speaker 1: for is to play spoiler, that's a bad indicator of
Speaker 1: where you're at as a program. So if you know,
Speaker 1: look a couple more wins should get to a throwaway bowl.
Speaker 1: Obviously you'd like the bowl experience for the seniors upperclassmen.
Speaker 1: We don't want to see anybody go out on a downturn.
Speaker 1: And certainly, if this is Kyle's last year, which a
Speaker 1: lot of people believe that it is, I have no
Speaker 1: insight into that. You do want to go out with
Speaker 1: a little bit more of a bang than you're doing
Speaker 1: right now. But if there really isn't much on the
Speaker 1: table as far as what we thought could be on
Speaker 1: the table to start the year, I just thought you
Speaker 1: might as well let Isaac go through the growing pains,
Speaker 1: right and just give them some reps.
Speaker 2: And I I've been a believer of that, and I
Speaker 2: am a believer in that, but I'm also in a
Speaker 2: believer of you know, there's sometimes guys just aren't ready
Speaker 2: to play. Yeah, And and what I've seen is, you know,
Speaker 2: if my freshman year at Utah had I played, I
Speaker 2: probably would have been okay. But having you know, a maturity,
Speaker 2: just being in the program, having some confidence in myself
Speaker 2: and my ability, I was far far suited to start
Speaker 2: playing the second year and then you know, and beyond.
Speaker 2: But it's a it's a tall order for a true
Speaker 2: freshman to step in there and really really, you know,
Speaker 2: do well. And what you don't want to do is
Speaker 2: you don't want to put all these ghosts in a
Speaker 2: kid's closet that come out later on in his career.
Speaker 2: You know, if all he's learning when he goes out
Speaker 2: on the field is is like these bad images, and
Speaker 2: you know that you don't want to you don't want
Speaker 2: to put that in a guy's mind either. And and
Speaker 2: there there really is a time when some kids they're
Speaker 2: just they're just not quite ready for it. They just aren't.
Speaker 2: And and and it's okay. It doesn't mean it's the
Speaker 2: end of him. It doesn't mean anything. It just means
Speaker 2: that in this moment right now, it's probably best for
Speaker 2: you to just take a step back, if I expense,
Speaker 2: if I saw him like, okay, you know, there's improvement.
Speaker 2: And but I've kind of seen the same performance the
Speaker 2: last four week, you know, pretty much since he's been
Speaker 2: in there. I'm seeing it. I'm seeing a step forward
Speaker 2: with Isaac.
Speaker 3: Wilson, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying you're wrong, I you know, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm just kind of trying to dig down a couple
Speaker 1: of different levels to understand what's going on. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: I could run through all the metrics. They're fifteenth in total, oh,
Speaker 1: they're eleventh and rushing, they're tenth and passing their fifteenth
Speaker 1: in efficiency, Like, by any measurable metric, this is one
Speaker 1: of the bottom three or four offenses in all of
Speaker 1: the Big twelve. But let me go back to asking
Speaker 1: you once again about the play calling away from either
Speaker 1: Brandon or Isaac. Did you see anything from Mike in
Speaker 1: his first game. Simply from calling plays that you it
Speaker 1: gives you some hope that this might look different starting
Speaker 1: with b Yu.
Speaker 2: I mean honestly, no, I mean it's the same offense.
Speaker 2: You know, I didn't I didn't see anything. I go, oh, okay,
Speaker 2: that's that's kind of creative. That's that's a little bit different.
Speaker 2: They Utah was, you know, clearly I thought, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: trying to establish the run pretty patiently. Uh And but
Speaker 2: there wasn't any They weren't really running the ball right. Uh.
Speaker 2: They're also running against a front designed to stop the run.
Speaker 2: And and and they've I've been seeing these same looks
Speaker 2: from all the teams. They're they're just challenging Utah to
Speaker 2: to throw the football and just say your quarterback's got
Speaker 2: to beat us, and and and they haven't been able
Speaker 2: to do that. And uh so you're when you are
Speaker 2: running it, you're you're running with kind of your hand
Speaker 2: tied behind your back a little bit. And so it's
Speaker 2: it's tough sledding and and uh but you know, I
Speaker 2: think that's the game plan. They said, Look, we're gonna
Speaker 2: we're gonna run the ball. We're just going to you know,
Speaker 2: try to, you know, work off of that. And and
Speaker 2: I don't think it worked very well for for Isaac
Speaker 2: in the game. Uh moving forward, you know, I don't
Speaker 2: know if they change that they do more. But yeah,
Speaker 2: the offense, there wasn't anything to me that I go, well, okay,
Speaker 2: that's that gives me a lot of excitement and hope
Speaker 2: you Spence, you're talking to a guy that's been in
Speaker 2: some of the greatest offenses in like the history of
Speaker 2: the NFL. I'm not joking like I mean, I mean
Speaker 2: the offense I had it so for me to watch
Speaker 2: all of this from just the ground level forever, you know, really, look,
Speaker 2: Kyle Whittingham's a defensive minded coach. It's not about playing
Speaker 2: great offense. It never is. And and so you know,
Speaker 2: I don't see where Mike but Jakin's going to come
Speaker 2: in and all of a sudden they're going to have
Speaker 2: a great offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, I want honesty and truthful you know,
Speaker 1: interactions on this show. So I appreciate you kind of
Speaker 1: giving us the medicine because I certainly respect your eye
Speaker 1: in a way that others probably can't see it because
Speaker 1: you've played it at the highest of levels.
Speaker 3: I wonder what your thoughts are, Scott.
Speaker 1: You know, after the game, Mackai Bernard essentially said, I
Speaker 1: know what's up.
Speaker 3: I'm just not going to say it out loud now.
Speaker 1: If I had to guess, it's simply the play of
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. And you know, maybe Mackay doesn't want
Speaker 1: to throw anybody under the bus. But that that led
Speaker 1: to a lot of speculation about what exactly is going
Speaker 1: on behind closed doors.
Speaker 3: What are your thoughts on that.
Speaker 2: I'm sure that plays into it. I'm sure that there
Speaker 2: may be you know, there's this there's a chemistry thing
Speaker 2: with teams, and it's and it's not the culture of
Speaker 2: the program. It's the chemistry of the players and how
Speaker 2: they interact with each other because you look at the
Speaker 2: body language and that that's what really what I was
Speaker 2: alluding to earlier. When you see guys not focused in games,
Speaker 2: some something else is going on in their minds. They're
Speaker 2: they're they're upset by maybe I didn't get the same
Speaker 2: kind of money this guy did or whatever, you know,
Speaker 2: because that's that's kind of creeping into college football and
Speaker 2: these players, and and when you start getting those thoughts
Speaker 2: or those your focus goes outside of Hey, your job
Speaker 2: every week is to get yourself ready to play, and
Speaker 2: you don't get yourself ready to play when you're wondering,
Speaker 2: is the quarterback going to throw me to football? Is
Speaker 2: the coach going to call a play for me? You know?
Speaker 2: Am I you know I'm you know I'm not I'm
Speaker 2: not involved in the offense. What are you? Excuse me?
Speaker 2: You you have this distraction and you have things that
Speaker 2: and it impacts the way you play. And that's what
Speaker 2: I'm seeing. I'm seeing guys not doing those fundamental things
Speaker 2: and they should be and I know they're coach to
Speaker 2: do it, but they're not doing it. And that's not
Speaker 2: just the quarterbacks. And so these guys are distracted in
Speaker 2: some way. They're not putting in the focus, they're not
Speaker 2: putting in the time to mentally and physically prepare themselves
Speaker 2: to play. Why why they're doing it? If they're upset
Speaker 2: that the quarterback's not playing very well and and you go, well,
Speaker 2: we got no shot to win the game anyways, you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's uh uh, it's it is impacting their play.
Speaker 2: I mean, it just it just is so there, Uh,
Speaker 2: there's something some dynamics, some chemistry going on on that
Speaker 2: team that's not conducive to production and winning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and and to your point, and just in order
Speaker 1: to be fair, uh, let's move off the quarterback position
Speaker 1: because we'll see what happens against Uyu, whether.
Speaker 3: It's Isaac or Brandon.
Speaker 1: But the truth is, uh, there are not a lot,
Speaker 1: not a lot of things that are working right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, kicker miss a couple of field goals, Brandon's
Speaker 1: interceptions set up a game winning field goal, and the
Speaker 1: defense got Uh. There are a lot of metrics that,
Speaker 1: like I said, indicate that the defense is very good.
Speaker 1: They're second scoring d they're number one in total D
Speaker 1: they're number three and rushing, they're number three in passing,
Speaker 1: their number three in efficiency, but they are not getting
Speaker 1: to the quarterback.
Speaker 3: They have not had a sack in three games.
Speaker 1: They're eleventh in the conference in sacks, they're last in
Speaker 1: the conference in fumbles forced, their second to last in
Speaker 1: the conference, and fumble's recovered their ninth in interceptions. Like,
Speaker 1: there are metrics to indicate that the defense still clearly
Speaker 1: is the strength of the team. That's not a hot take,
Speaker 1: But what do you make of what I just perceived
Speaker 1: to be when a team is coached by Kyle Whittingham,
Speaker 1: they get to the quarterback, they force turnovers, they play.
Speaker 3: That complimentary football.
Speaker 1: What do you most attribute to the lack of pressure
Speaker 1: that Utah is being able to drum up on the
Speaker 1: opposing team's quarterback.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna throw it back on the offense, I am,
Speaker 2: and I'll tell you why the offense has not performed well.
Speaker 2: Hasn't driven the ball down the field, hasn't given the
Speaker 2: defense time to rest in games. So as games progress
Speaker 2: and go on, as defense gets tired, and they've been
Speaker 2: down a couple of Conroe tool being out has has
Speaker 2: hurt them a lot. And and he kind of, you know,
Speaker 2: gave him a good spark this last week when he
Speaker 2: was in the game and he wasn't in there. You know,
Speaker 2: I'm sure they're slowly kind of bringing him back to
Speaker 2: the game. But Houston barely threw the football. A lot
Speaker 2: of the teams, I mean TCU, which throws the heck
Speaker 2: out of the football, didn't and they got rid of
Speaker 2: the ball really quick. They a lot of teams aren't
Speaker 2: really giving Utah a chance and they don't have to.
Speaker 2: And and you you saw a lot of patients with
Speaker 2: the running game out of TCU a couple of weeks
Speaker 2: ago as a team that all they want to do
Speaker 2: is throw it right like like they they you know,
Speaker 2: they realize that the Utah offense is not very good
Speaker 2: and that and that's the other thing. When you're not scoring,
Speaker 2: when you're not you know, you're not getting any kind
Speaker 2: of lead, and you're always playing from behind, then there's
Speaker 2: no pressure on the other offense. They don't have to
Speaker 2: open it up, they don't have to throw the ball
Speaker 2: as much. They don't, so there's not as many opportunities
Speaker 2: for for the you know, the defense to really get sacks.
Speaker 2: They're just there, just haven't been it. I mean, teams
Speaker 2: have really really focused on running the football against Utah.
Speaker 2: I mean it's blatantly running the football. And then and
Speaker 2: what happens the defense gets tired late in the game
Speaker 2: because they've been out on the field all night, and
Speaker 2: you get worn down and you get you know, and
Speaker 2: then you start missing tackles and you start getting lazy
Speaker 2: in your gap control, you know, at the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden, boom, they just bust
Speaker 2: a big run and that and that's that's really kind
Speaker 2: of what's been happening, you know, with with a lot
Speaker 2: of with a lot of these these defensive plays, and
Speaker 2: and uh, and with with the limitations, with the the
Speaker 2: excessive demands that the defense has been asked to do
Speaker 2: because the offense has not been pretty. I really believe
Speaker 2: outside of one thing, the defense has been playing really well.
Speaker 2: And they and there's there's been a lot of mistackles.
Speaker 2: And you can attribute mistackles to guys being tired. I mean,
Speaker 2: and I know it's like, you know, just suck it
Speaker 2: up and play, And I'm sure they think that way,
Speaker 2: but your body doesn't necessarily react that way. You know,
Speaker 2: when you're tired, you just and you may not even
Speaker 2: realize it. But a lot of mistackles that I don't
Speaker 2: normally see from the defense. That's the one thing to
Speaker 2: me that's been more more of an issue than anything else.
Speaker 1: So this simply leads us to what comes next, right
Speaker 1: and BUYU.
Speaker 3: They have stayed clean.
Speaker 1: You know, they're undefeated, their atop the conference, there a
Speaker 1: top ten team, and they've answered every question that's been
Speaker 1: thrown at them. I don't think there's really anything left
Speaker 1: to wonder about whether or not they're for real they are,
Speaker 1: and the numbers say that, the data says that, and Scott,
Speaker 1: you know this better than anybody. They're gonna be smelling
Speaker 1: the blood in the water and they're gonna come up
Speaker 1: here to go for the jugular.
Speaker 3: You know, they know where Utah's at.
Speaker 1: And after a generation of having their heads kicked in
Speaker 1: and being made fun of for going independent and not
Speaker 1: having a conference home like, they're gonna come up here,
Speaker 1: you know, ready ready to roll. What what do you
Speaker 1: hope to see between now and the BYU game?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 1: And then during the actual game to indicate to you
Speaker 1: from your prism that maybe this thing is about to
Speaker 1: be turned around.
Speaker 2: Well, to start with, what really makes me nervous about
Speaker 2: this Utah BYU game is this is a This is
Speaker 2: a group of players at Utah that have grown up
Speaker 2: without being a part of this rivalry. They don't understand it.
Speaker 2: They've never played in a game. They don't realize the
Speaker 2: significance of it. They don't think they they don't, they
Speaker 2: don't they think, they don't think much of it. And
Speaker 2: now the coaches do. The coaches understand it. But one
Speaker 2: of these players has has has felt it, has been
Speaker 2: in it, and and even when Utah was in the
Speaker 2: Pac twelve, it still wasn't the rivalry that it was before.
Speaker 2: And so now this is this, this is a big deal.
Speaker 2: This is gonna continue to be a big deal between
Speaker 2: these two schools. And I'm just I'm a little nervous
Speaker 2: to players, Uh don't at Utah, I don't. I don't.
Speaker 2: And a team that's not really been fighting that hard anyways,
Speaker 2: are they going to really all of a sudden step
Speaker 2: it up and go, Okay, this a rivalry game. We
Speaker 2: got to really get into this one on the other
Speaker 2: side of it. So that that's a concern. I'm not
Speaker 2: saying it's it's gonna happen or whatever, but but it
Speaker 2: would concern me. The other thing to me is all
Speaker 2: the pressures on b YU, Like you know, it's it's
Speaker 2: it's that time of the year. It's that one game
Speaker 2: where you know, the game gets started and you and
Speaker 2: you are a little bit maybe more jazzed up than
Speaker 2: you normally would be because it is the rivalry. You
Speaker 2: start pressing a little bit, you get a you get
Speaker 2: an interception here there or a turnover, and it just
Speaker 2: starts going downhill and uh, you know, so, so I
Speaker 2: could see where it could be one of those weeks
Speaker 2: where because there's a lot of pressure when you're nine
Speaker 2: to zero and and a lot of pressure to keep
Speaker 2: doing it. And and uh, rivalry games, funny things happen,
Speaker 2: and not necessarily the best team always wins. So so
Speaker 2: you know, I could see that scenario happening. And and
Speaker 2: and it's a good time, uh, you know, to have
Speaker 2: another bye week and to kind of maybe collect yourself
Speaker 2: and and and I think, you know, there's gonna be
Speaker 2: a lot of you know, pretty harsh talk about I
Speaker 2: want to you know, we're going to play the guys
Speaker 2: that really want to play and really want to be
Speaker 2: here and really want to be out on the field,
Speaker 2: and you and show you may see some changes in
Speaker 2: in what's happening with with Utah. And you know, if
Speaker 2: there ever is a moment, if there ever is something
Speaker 2: to play for in your program and you're having a
Speaker 2: struggling year, it's a rivalry game, It really is. It
Speaker 2: can you know, it's not going to take the sting
Speaker 2: of the huge disappointment this season is, but it it
Speaker 2: can take some of it away from what, you know,
Speaker 2: what's what's been a really abysmal year.
Speaker 1: So how much of this Scott is fixable and coachable,
Speaker 1: how much of it is on the coaches, how much
Speaker 1: of it's on the players?
Speaker 3: And then then.
Speaker 1: Simply put, as a guy that played it at the
Speaker 1: highest level, how do you turn a train it feels
Speaker 1: like it's so far off the track around in just
Speaker 1: twelve days?
Speaker 3: Like dissect that for me.
Speaker 2: Well, a lot of those things that I told you
Speaker 2: about coming back to the football and focusing and not
Speaker 2: going off sides and better ball location and throws, all
Speaker 2: of that stuff is fixable and and it's it's all
Speaker 2: of these fundamental things. And you know, coach made us
Speaker 2: tackle form tackle every every day. First thing we did
Speaker 2: in practice of the quarterback, you're not tackling Dan Marino.
Speaker 2: I didn't get to tackle him. He said, don't care,
Speaker 2: you're not tackling me. I'll tackle you, but you're not
Speaker 2: tackling me. And it was all about the fundamentals, and
Speaker 2: the fundamentals of football were driven into us every single day.
Speaker 2: And when you get into a weird situation nineteen ninety five,
Speaker 2: we started zero three and it could have fallen off
Speaker 2: a cliff. We really just circle the wagons. And it
Speaker 2: was even a bye week and we focused back on
Speaker 2: those fundamental things of football and really re emphasized all
Speaker 2: of it and really looked at the personnel we had
Speaker 2: and said, how do they best work? And let's not
Speaker 2: try to do everything. Let's just try to do the
Speaker 2: things that we can do well. And that's what I
Speaker 2: see happening now. You can't fix a freshman quarterback. He's
Speaker 2: still a freshman, but there's a lot of other things
Speaker 2: you can fix around it, and maybe sitting in for
Speaker 2: a little while might not be a bad thing. But
Speaker 2: a hun percent of this is fixable. And really it's
Speaker 2: all in your brain, Spence. I mean, it's just it's
Speaker 2: a mindset. It's a mindset about how you prepare and
Speaker 2: that's that's the thing that has to be fixed.
Speaker 3: Well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1: We'll end on this from your perspective, because for me
Speaker 1: and we all just kind of react off our own
Speaker 1: inner circle. And I'm sure some of this is cognitive
Speaker 1: dissonance and echo chamber based off of who I interact with.
Speaker 3: And you know, I have a lot.
Speaker 1: Of friends who are boosters and season ticket holders and
Speaker 1: donors and obviously, as in alarm year, connected in the community.
Speaker 1: I don't recall a time where I feel like the
Speaker 1: fan base has been so down about a season, and
Speaker 1: part of this probably was unrealistic expectations in retrospect.
Speaker 3: I mean, for me, and I'm sure you did the same.
Speaker 1: I always prefaced any ute projection with if Cameron's under
Speaker 1: center and healthy, and obviously that hasn't been the case.
Speaker 3: I don't think we can be so reductive.
Speaker 1: As just to say this as a Cam thing anymore,
Speaker 1: because certainly that's probably the biggest piece of it, but
Speaker 1: there are other pieces as well.
Speaker 3: When's the last time from.
Speaker 1: Your vantage point, it felt as dire as it seems
Speaker 1: like it feels right now surrounding this team.
Speaker 2: It might be back when I was playing here, I
Speaker 2: mean in the eighties, you know. I mean it's it's
Speaker 2: it's there's a bad feeling and it's look, it's accentuated
Speaker 2: because BYU's doing so well, it just makes it worse.
Speaker 2: It just does you know? Can you turn around the
Speaker 2: last four games of the season? You sure hope. So.
Speaker 2: I think the thing that's shocking to me is I
Speaker 2: felt like Utah was a really solid team at every position,
Speaker 2: and solid with the depth. And because depth is such
Speaker 2: an important part, because you're gonna have attrition and and
Speaker 2: having guys come in. And you've seen some injuries, and
Speaker 2: some guys have really stepped up at a lot of
Speaker 2: different positions and played and and and yet that quarterback
Speaker 2: position is just such a such a bugaboo. If you're
Speaker 2: if you're going to have a great year, well you
Speaker 2: got to get a guy under center who stays healthy
Speaker 2: and performs at a high level. But for me, you know,
Speaker 2: I was I was trying to be super objective and
Speaker 2: just say, Okay, I'm gonna look at it. I'm not
Speaker 2: gonna try to be the ute fan. And I just
Speaker 2: I just said, this is a deep team, this is
Speaker 2: a good team. The problem is is you still have
Speaker 2: to play and and and there have been some positions,
Speaker 2: the tight end position massively underperforming, the wide receiver position
Speaker 2: massively underperforming. McKay. Bernard's been phenomenal, but who's is there
Speaker 2: any other running back there? The offensive line is actually
Speaker 2: performed fairly decent. You know, quarterback position has been you know,
Speaker 2: C minus ish or even lower. Uh. And so yeah,
Speaker 2: you always know the season is not going to end
Speaker 2: the way you think it is or play out because
Speaker 2: guys have to perform and they have to play, and
Speaker 2: and it's it's just, you know, the worst possible things
Speaker 2: I think could happen this year have happened, and and
Speaker 2: and it's it's a tough one. It's a tough one
Speaker 2: to swallow. And and you just the one thing you
Speaker 2: know is you can change You can change things quickly.
Speaker 2: And you can because of the NIL and because of
Speaker 2: the transfer portal, and so you're not you're not stuck
Speaker 2: in this challenge forever. You can have quick turnarounds. And
Speaker 2: and there are probably some things that are gonna have
Speaker 2: to change. There's some players that are going to need
Speaker 2: to get in here. If this if this is really
Speaker 2: gonna if it's really going to get back on track.
Speaker 1: I lied to you, Scott, to have one more because
Speaker 1: I wanted to get your thoughts on. I wanted to
Speaker 1: get your thoughts on just a dynamic that I was
Speaker 1: wondering aloud about earlier. Morgan Morgan Scaley, who is in
Speaker 1: line to take over for Kyle, and Kyle decide that
Speaker 1: he's done. And like I can continue to say, I
Speaker 1: have no insight there, but people that know in a
Speaker 1: way that I wouldn't have wondered loud if this is
Speaker 1: it for coach Wait, what do you thinks go and through?
Speaker 1: Morgan said, because there's actually a way to spin this
Speaker 1: in a positive direction. It's always tough to take over
Speaker 1: for a legend, ask Kalin de Boor. But if this track,
Speaker 1: if this train continues to go in the wrong direction,
Speaker 1: and Morgan is able to get it back on track
Speaker 1: next year, maybe it will inspire some confidence that UTAH
Speaker 1: has made the right succession planned decision. How do you
Speaker 1: think Morgan's digesting all this right now?
Speaker 2: I think that whole dynamic spense is hard. When it
Speaker 2: was announced, I get why they announce it. It's force recruits,
Speaker 2: It's to show continuity in the program. It's also the
Speaker 2: people were courting Morgan to leave. I know specifically, USC
Speaker 2: was going to pay him a lot of money to leave.
Speaker 2: So it was a way to kind of ensure that
Speaker 2: he sticks in the program. But the thing is is
Speaker 2: it can. It's a funky dynamic because as a player,
Speaker 2: you go, well, I know Coach WIT's going to leave sometime,
Speaker 2: and so I think you could get to where, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm not really following Coach Whittingham anymore because he's not
Speaker 2: going to be around, you know, he's really kind of
Speaker 2: he's kind of the guy, but he's kind of not
Speaker 2: the guy. You know. It's it's it's, uh, it can
Speaker 2: get I think it could get kind of odd. And
Speaker 2: I mean I thought of this scenario. You know, maybe
Speaker 2: maybe maybe Morgan went to Kyle and said, hey, look,
Speaker 2: I don't think I want Andy as the coordinator. I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean, there's there's a lot of different you know,
Speaker 2: so so let's let's get rid of him now and uh,
Speaker 2: and I'll move into different And I'm just speculating here.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying there's just a lot of a lot
Speaker 2: of scenarios that could play out. The bottom line, Coach
Speaker 2: Whittingham is a really good coach that done a phenomenal
Speaker 2: job at Utah. Morgan has been an outstanding coach player.
Speaker 2: You know, if there's anyone that's should be the coach
Speaker 2: at Utah should be Morgan. And and when you go
Speaker 2: into a situation, you believe you or you have all
Speaker 2: the answers, and I guarantee you Morgan scally believes he
Speaker 2: has all the answers, and I guarantee you that he'll
Speaker 2: take from coach winning him what he likes. But he's
Speaker 2: also going to be Morgan Scalley and who he really is,
Speaker 2: and and and and it and it's proven to be
Speaker 2: a really a really good coach. And that's not a
Speaker 2: bad thing, you know. Uh, Kyle learned from people, and
Speaker 2: you know, he wasn't Urban Meyer, but he learned a
Speaker 2: lot of things from rbyn Or or Coach Mack. And
Speaker 2: so I think Morgan is really feeling like, Man, I
Speaker 2: can't wait to get my hands on the steering wheel here.
Speaker 2: I can't wait to be the guy because I'm sure
Speaker 2: he's very ready for this, and I'm sure he has
Speaker 2: his own ideas and his own thoughts and and but
Speaker 2: I do think it would be hard right now to
Speaker 2: kind of, look, you kill him a program here that
Speaker 2: I'm getting in there, you know, I mean, I mean
Speaker 2: I could see that, you know, being being kind of
Speaker 2: a sticky point between between the two of them as
Speaker 2: as they're kind of waiting for Kyle to decide to end.
Speaker 1: All right, Scott, Well, good stuff today, man. I appreciate
Speaker 1: the time, and we'll see if they get it turned around.
Speaker 1: Have a good day, okay, all right, thanks appreciate it it,
Speaker 1: Scott Mitchell. Yeah, it's it's not great, not great. Bob
Speaker 1: not great,