Speaker 1: Big weekend of college football ahead.
Speaker 2: Massive weekend of college football ahead, both locally and nationally.
Speaker 2: Some great games on the schedule, Utah Heads and still
Speaker 2: Water see Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon. And then it's
Speaker 2: BYU's turn to welcome in k State. Our next guests
Speaker 2: joins us a couple of times a year, if we're lucky,
Speaker 2: if the schedules line up. The offensive coordinator of the
Speaker 2: BYU Cougars, Aaron Roderick, on a Thursday afternoon, A Rod,
Speaker 2: how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 3: I'm doing well. Hey. The intro song, that's a good
Speaker 3: touch like it.
Speaker 1: That's your gig.
Speaker 2: That's your song, because I remember, I think the first
Speaker 2: time I had John, like five years ago or something,
Speaker 2: I'm like, give me the band, you said, drive by.
Speaker 1: So every time we have you on, that's your bed.
Speaker 3: I love it. Nice job.
Speaker 1: You've seen them lately?
Speaker 3: I have? Yeah, yeah, some the summer.
Speaker 2: Did you see the show up here? Because I went
Speaker 2: to the show up here in Salt Lake. You were
Speaker 2: at that show, okay?
Speaker 1: I was ye, very nice, good time, very nice.
Speaker 3: Ye.
Speaker 2: Well, we're not here to talk music, a Rod. We're
Speaker 2: here to talk football. And you guys are three and
Speaker 2: oh So here's where I want to start. You were
Speaker 2: three and oh a year ago. What gives you confidence
Speaker 2: that this three and ol is different than the last
Speaker 2: year's three and oh?
Speaker 3: Just we have a more experienced team, a lot of
Speaker 3: guys that went through some tough, tough times last year,
Speaker 3: and just you know, I think we're more prepared to
Speaker 3: deal with what's ahead of us time. I mean, we've
Speaker 3: got a tough road ahead for sure. No one's saying
Speaker 3: it's not tough, But I think we're just built at
Speaker 3: we have a little more depth and we just we
Speaker 3: just what we went through last year. I think there's
Speaker 3: a lot of lessons you could learn from that.
Speaker 1: Yes, you have a tough road ahead. We'll get to
Speaker 1: that in the moment.
Speaker 2: But before we do, of course, there was a battle
Speaker 2: for the quarterback starting job that was run by one
Speaker 2: by Jake Rhetz laugh. How close was that leading up
Speaker 2: to the start of the year and what ultimately gave
Speaker 2: Jake the nod over Behannon.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean Gary I thought did a good job
Speaker 3: in camp. The longer camp went, Gary just kept getting
Speaker 3: better and better. He you know, he got the chance
Speaker 3: to play at Wyoming last week and that was the
Speaker 3: first snaps he'd had, and I think October tenth, if
Speaker 3: I'm correct, it was October of twenty twenty two is
Speaker 3: the last time he played in the game, and so
Speaker 3: his injury was really serious, and he's just since he
Speaker 3: got here, he's just slowly been getting a little more
Speaker 3: healthy and a little more healthy. And then so towards
Speaker 3: the end of camp he was starting to throw the
Speaker 3: ball better and starting to look like he could actually
Speaker 3: challenge the start. But by then Jake had pretty much
Speaker 3: won the job and established himself. But Gary's getting better
Speaker 3: every day, and we have a lot of confidence in
Speaker 3: him and no fear at all to play him if
Speaker 3: we need to.
Speaker 2: So, as I've heard you talk about, as I've heard
Speaker 2: Colotte talk about, we talked about on this show. I
Speaker 2: think who covers BYU football talks about it. We saw
Speaker 2: four starts from Jake last year. We've seen three this year.
Speaker 2: There are certainly dynamite moments that indicate he's got what
Speaker 2: it takes for you, guys.
Speaker 1: To do what you want to do.
Speaker 2: Then there are moments where they're just mistakes that can't happen.
Speaker 2: As you said yourself a week ago, there were I
Speaker 2: think four fumbles a year ago, and then Wyoming rolls around,
Speaker 2: he throws the pick and we're going here we go again,
Speaker 2: and ultimately he settles in.
Speaker 1: But how do you coach that?
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously you don't want turnovers, No coach loves turnovers,
Speaker 2: But how do you coach that?
Speaker 1: How does he get better at that?
Speaker 3: Well, we're trying to eliminate the the egregious ones. You know,
Speaker 3: there was a couple of mistakes in the SMU game
Speaker 3: that were, you know, sort of gave us all PTSD
Speaker 3: from a year ago. The interception in the Wyoming game.
Speaker 3: We were throwing a one on one matchup to one
Speaker 3: of our best players against one of their players that
Speaker 3: we wanted to attack. He under threw the ball just
Speaker 3: a little bit. I thought Cody sort of could have
Speaker 3: reacted a little better and at least broken it up,
Speaker 3: like you can live with one of those. They intercepted
Speaker 3: the ball and they have the ball in the one
Speaker 3: yard line. Our defense goes three and out and we
Speaker 3: get the ball four plays later and plus territory again
Speaker 3: and then we score a touchdown. So there's not all
Speaker 3: turnovers are exactly the same. But Jake is sort of
Speaker 3: he reminds me a lot of like what Zach Wilson
Speaker 3: went through when he was a young player, and he
Speaker 3: had moments as like just he was brilliant and you
Speaker 3: could just see the talent and the arm talent, and
Speaker 3: then there were times where he just had to grow,
Speaker 3: you know. And I think Jake started seven games and
Speaker 3: I think we're going through that process with him, but
Speaker 3: it's getting better every game.
Speaker 2: All right, let's move over to the running back room.
Speaker 2: Let's get an update here. Hinkley or Patti LJ. Martin
Speaker 2: two very capable backs. I understand they're banged up. So
Speaker 2: I've said this to you before. If I had a
Speaker 2: running back named Miles Davis, he'd play every snap for
Speaker 2: me just based off his name.
Speaker 1: But I'm just I'm a radio guy. I'm not a coach.
Speaker 2: So talk about how you're handling the help situation and
Speaker 2: the depth you have in that running back room.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had Miles has stepped up and played well.
Speaker 3: We had enich Maawaheene stepped up and played well against SMU,
Speaker 3: and then last week we had so Anymore and Polkai
Speaker 3: Huwanga howned a step up and both of those guys
Speaker 3: played well. So I have confidence in those guys. It's
Speaker 3: not going to be a one guy gets thirty carries
Speaker 3: kind of game. We're going to play those guys to
Speaker 3: their strengths and we'll use them as we see fit.
Speaker 3: But I have confidence in all of them, and Harvey's
Speaker 3: done a great job getting those guys ready to play.
Speaker 1: So up this, up this way, Rod.
Speaker 2: As you know, Utah has a real weapon in Bran Keithy,
Speaker 2: who they move around in a bunch of different ways.
Speaker 2: And it feels like you're using Chase. And we caught
Speaker 2: up with Chase at Big twelve media days in Vegas,
Speaker 2: and you know, a great kid, really good interviewer, obviously
Speaker 2: a veteran presidence for you guys. Seems like you're utilizing
Speaker 2: him in a much more nuanced way than you did
Speaker 2: a year ago. Is that fair to say? And what
Speaker 2: can you say about the way he started the year?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're using him. He's kind of playing a real
Speaker 3: similar role to what Puka played for us a couple
Speaker 3: of years ago. Or Puka lined up everywhere, did everything.
Speaker 3: And you know, I'm not saying Chase is the same guy,
Speaker 3: but he is a very complete player and we can
Speaker 3: do a lot of different things with him. So yes,
Speaker 3: and he's a veteran now, so there's really no limits
Speaker 3: on where he can line up what he can do.
Speaker 3: And so yeah, that's I'm glad you noticed that because
Speaker 3: that is true.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, he's and I wanted to follow up
Speaker 2: with this. It appears that he has evolved as a
Speaker 2: playmaker that can do more things than he just did
Speaker 2: a year or two ago. And these are young people,
Speaker 2: of course they're going to evolve and improve. But what
Speaker 2: specifically did you see leading up to the season, whether
Speaker 2: it's camp or whatever, it is that has motivated you
Speaker 2: to use him in so many different nuanced ways.
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, he's he's long, he's six four,
Speaker 3: and Chase can run. He's not just a possession guy.
Speaker 3: He can he can get down the field, take the
Speaker 3: top off the defense. He's really good runner with the
Speaker 3: ball in his hands. He breaks tackles, he makes people miss.
Speaker 3: So we get him the ball in the jet sweep game,
Speaker 3: we get him the ball on shallow crosses, and try
Speaker 3: to get him the ball in the open field where
Speaker 3: he can run with it. And he's just yeah, he's
Speaker 3: just improved overall. And then he's he's one of the
Speaker 3: best I've ever coached at making the catch when it's
Speaker 3: a contested catch. I mean, he doesn't have to be
Speaker 3: open to make the play, and so there's just a
Speaker 3: lot of different things we can do with him, and
Speaker 3: I think his confidence is just growing every week.
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this when I was watching the
Speaker 1: Wyoming game.
Speaker 2: I mean, Chase Keanu, Darius Lassiter, Cody Epps, and I
Speaker 2: could keep going. You guys have a ton of different weapons,
Speaker 2: you know, whether it's tight ends, wideouts, or what have you.
Speaker 2: I mean, you really have a bunch of different guys
Speaker 2: that have been in the program for a while. Some
Speaker 2: new guys who are in the program for the first
Speaker 2: time with the transfer win own stuff. But it does
Speaker 2: feel like whether it's Jake or whether it's Gary, there
Speaker 2: are quite a few options. When a room is that crowded,
Speaker 2: is it iron sharp and iron? Iron sharpens iron. You
Speaker 2: got to compete for the reps. I mean, as the
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator, how do you need so many mouths?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not always easy. I mean, those guys all
Speaker 3: want the ball and they all want to play. That's
Speaker 3: part of Fessi's job and Kevin Gilbride's job to use
Speaker 3: those guys as they see fit and try to, you know,
Speaker 3: but it's part of being a team though, too, is
Speaker 3: understanding that if if everybody's a threat and everybody's part
Speaker 3: of the offense, then we're harder to defend as a team.
Speaker 3: And I do believe we're a lot more skilled than
Speaker 3: maybe a lot of people think. We have good skilled
Speaker 3: players here, and our wide receiver play has been really
Speaker 3: good for several years now. I think Sesis does a
Speaker 3: great job with those guys, and we've recruited well there,
Speaker 3: so it's nice to have those guys. And I think
Speaker 3: I think we're executing much better now than we were
Speaker 3: a year ago, and so hopefully we can keep growing
Speaker 3: and and you know, execute on Saturday night because we're
Speaker 3: going against a really good team this Saturday what.
Speaker 2: We had you on a year ago. Also, Kalani as
Speaker 2: well hopped on the show. We talked about what appeared
Speaker 2: to be I guess the way I'll say it generally
Speaker 2: is some inconsistency with the offensive line right a year ago.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like that's been better a rod through.
Speaker 3: Three games, it's been better, and it's it's it's a
Speaker 3: work in progress. You're right, it was that was a
Speaker 3: It was a problem a year ago, and we did
Speaker 3: not execute as a team well enough last year, but
Speaker 3: it's especially as an off of the line. So far,
Speaker 3: through three games, our run game has shown improvement, and
Speaker 3: it's nowhere near where we want to get to, but
Speaker 3: we're we've been improving, our pass protection has been solid,
Speaker 3: and that group is playing much better than a year ago.
Speaker 3: We still have a lot of long way to go,
Speaker 3: but I'm I'm proud of those guys for how they've
Speaker 3: done up to this point, and we just got to keep,
Speaker 3: you know, stay humble, and just keep working to correct
Speaker 3: our mistakes and keep getting becoming a tighter unit each week.
Speaker 2: I know that Wyoming was your most recent opponent, but
Speaker 2: I want to go back to SMU because before that game,
Speaker 2: all week on this show, and I know you're a
Speaker 2: daily listener, so thank you for that. I'm telling you
Speaker 2: what you already heard. But on this show, whether it
Speaker 2: was just my take or interviewing people don't I don't
Speaker 2: think people fully understand how big that win was. Okay,
Speaker 2: so if you weren't able to get SMU, you were
Speaker 2: gonna have to get Wyoming and then find four conference
Speaker 2: wins to go bully, not saying you can't do that,
Speaker 2: but how big was that?
Speaker 1: How big was that win?
Speaker 2: What was to feel like in the locker room after
Speaker 2: you guys just gutted that thing out and came home
Speaker 2: with the dub.
Speaker 3: It was huge And we were twelve point underdogs or
Speaker 3: eleven point under dog on the road and SMU has dudes, Man,
Speaker 3: those that's that team. That team can play with anybody
Speaker 3: in our conference. I've been through this conference now for
Speaker 3: a year. That's a good football team and they're gonna
Speaker 3: they're gonna win some games this year in the ACC,
Speaker 3: and especially on defense, they have two guys that are
Speaker 3: supposed to be really high draft picks. I thought they
Speaker 3: were very good. We didn't play great on offense, but
Speaker 3: it was a great win to get because we answer.
Speaker 3: We kept answering the bell and finding ways to get
Speaker 3: the ball in the end zone while they kept kicking
Speaker 3: field goals. They kicked five field goals. We found a
Speaker 3: way to get the ball in the end zone twice
Speaker 3: and then got a game winning field goal after a
Speaker 3: fourth and one conversion. So I just thought our team
Speaker 3: showed a lot of character. And so even though you
Speaker 3: leave the field thinking feeling like, oh, gosh, we should
Speaker 3: have played better. Sometimes those kind of wins are really
Speaker 3: helpful later in the season when you're in these type
Speaker 3: ball games that we're going to be in in conference play.
Speaker 2: I thought it was Goutti man, I really thought it
Speaker 2: was Goutti. I was impressed that you guys came back
Speaker 2: with that when, to your point, you were a double
Speaker 2: digit underdog. All right, hey, Rod, here's a little Yeah,
Speaker 2: here's a little Onnow else is for you? Case State's
Speaker 2: all right, this is a good team. They bullied Arizona
Speaker 2: in a way that kind of even caught me off guard.
Speaker 2: So k State rolls into Provo Saturday night. It's a
Speaker 2: late one. It's gonna be eight thirty. That's on ESPN.
Speaker 2: As you study tape on Kansas State, what stands out
Speaker 2: most just how big is this task in front of
Speaker 2: you coming up on Saturday night?
Speaker 3: Well, it's huge. Case State is a team that they're
Speaker 3: not going to beat themselves. They're gonna they don't make mistakes,
Speaker 3: they do everything right. They are squared away in all
Speaker 3: three phases. You know, when when people watch us on film,
Speaker 3: our opponents watch us on film, I hope that they
Speaker 3: feel the same way about us that I feel when
Speaker 3: I watch Kansas State play like they they do everything right.
Speaker 3: They play really hard, the people are in the right gap,
Speaker 3: they're covering the right guy, they're using the right technique
Speaker 3: on special teams, the same thing on offense, same thing.
Speaker 3: And so to win a game like this, you have
Speaker 3: to do everything right and you can't. You can't just
Speaker 3: give them anything. You know by it's going to it's
Speaker 3: gonna be a game that I think is just going
Speaker 3: to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes. And
Speaker 3: they're a very tough team and I'm looking forward to
Speaker 3: the challenge, but I also understand what we're up against.
Speaker 3: They're very good, goodball club.
Speaker 2: Obviously, you are hyper focused on your game and I
Speaker 2: wouldn't expect anything other than that. But you do have
Speaker 2: experience going to Stillwater and playing at Okay State, which
Speaker 2: is what Utah does Saturday afternoon. What can you tell
Speaker 2: us about that experience? What are youth fans in for,
Speaker 2: what is the youth football team in for?
Speaker 3: Well, just I would say it's similar to almost all
Speaker 3: the road games in the Big Twelve. It was it
Speaker 3: was a different experience, much different than the Pac Twelve
Speaker 3: you're you know, PAC twelve, everything was like a one
Speaker 3: hour flight. You're mostly going to destinations that are pretty
Speaker 3: nice and you're excited to be there, and short drive
Speaker 3: on game day to a stadium that may or may
Speaker 3: not be very intimidating. In the Big Twelve, there's you know,
Speaker 3: every every flights two three hours. You're staying in some
Speaker 3: sort of small town motel type thing that's usually like
Speaker 3: an hour drive to the game on game day, and
Speaker 3: then you get there and there's tailgaters for miles and
Speaker 3: it's rocking, and so I think just that's sort of
Speaker 3: just what a lot of the road games the Big
Speaker 3: Twelve are like that, and they're they're tough road troops.
Speaker 3: Now the utes, shoot, the Utes are awesome and they'll
Speaker 3: be ready for they're they're they had a good team
Speaker 3: and they're not gonna be caught off guard by any
Speaker 3: of that. But that is it is a different experience
Speaker 3: going on the road in the Big Twelve than the
Speaker 3: Pac twelve as far as like just how the travel goes,
Speaker 3: your food, your your your day, your game day operation
Speaker 3: leading up to kick off. There is a little bit
Speaker 3: of an adjustment there.
Speaker 2: Since we're in the space with the Utes, and you're
Speaker 2: familiar with this coaching staff, you're familiar with this programs,
Speaker 2: and you and I haven't spoken in this space for
Speaker 2: about a year or so. I wonder what your reaction
Speaker 2: was when you found out that you were once again
Speaker 2: going to be conference peers with with Utah.
Speaker 1: When the news came down, Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm excited about it. I think adding another
Speaker 3: great team to our conference, uh just makes it better,
Speaker 3: you know, And and so I'm I'm excited about it.
Speaker 3: I mean, we're we're in a weird, weird world of
Speaker 3: constant change. You never know what's gonna happen from year
Speaker 3: to year right now, but I think that our league
Speaker 3: is very good this year. And you know, there's just
Speaker 3: right now, I'm just folksing on Kansas State, but I
Speaker 3: definitely think the more good teams the.
Speaker 1: Better, for sure.
Speaker 2: And before I say you loose, I'm gonna ask you
Speaker 2: the same question I asked Kolonie at Big twelve media Days.
Speaker 2: How have you guys acclimated to this new reality of
Speaker 2: transfer portal of nil. I mean, Kevin Young and his
Speaker 2: staff are getting a lot of money, getting a lot
Speaker 2: of support, and obviously a lot of a lot of
Speaker 2: that's coming from Ryan. Ryan Smith's basketball guy, and I
Speaker 2: you know, I'm a fan of yours. I'm a fan
Speaker 2: of Kilanne. I want you guys to get the resources
Speaker 2: you need to compete and keep up with the Joneses
Speaker 2: and college football. What's it been like down in Provo
Speaker 2: with the ever changing landscape of college football? How have
Speaker 2: you guys adjusted and adapted so far?
Speaker 3: I feel like we're very competitive with that stuff. I mean,
Speaker 3: our players are doing very well. And one thing that
Speaker 3: I know that is is true of this place is
Speaker 3: when our players are you know, when there's something whether
Speaker 3: it's an il money or something like that, when there's
Speaker 3: when there's something that's promised or contracted by it. And
Speaker 3: I'm not involved in this stuff, I know that it's
Speaker 3: it's very important here that the players to the university,
Speaker 3: that they get what they were told they were going
Speaker 3: to get. And I know that that's not always the case.
Speaker 3: A lot of places in college football. You hear these
Speaker 3: astronomical numbers about things and then again gets there and
Speaker 3: he doesn't play a lot as well as they had hoped,
Speaker 3: and all of a sudden that just comes to an end,
Speaker 3: and then you've heard those stories that some of these
Speaker 3: some of these places, and but I think we're I
Speaker 3: don't know all the details of all that, but I
Speaker 3: feel like we're very competitive. I feel like if we
Speaker 3: go after a big time recruit, we can get in
Speaker 3: the game with just about anybody. We're not we're not
Speaker 3: a place that's ever going to be like probably the
Speaker 3: best offer, but we're we're competitive and we're in the mix.
Speaker 3: And then we have to focus on our other competitive
Speaker 3: advantages or other reasons for why a guy would want
Speaker 3: to come here.
Speaker 2: You golf in it all? You swinging a golf club
Speaker 2: these days? Or is it all coaching? All head down?
Speaker 3: No elball?
Speaker 2: All right, all right, Well I just was because Klan
Speaker 2: is saying he's getting better, and I need somebody to
Speaker 2: give me proof that they're actually seeing he is.
Speaker 3: He is getting better. Yeah, he's improved, all right man? Yeah,
Speaker 3: well look I appreciate the one is the best golf
Speaker 3: front our set?
Speaker 2: Ah okay, all right, yeah, well look man, you just
Speaker 2: want to make sure you're balancing out life a little bit.
Speaker 2: But then I realize you're a coach and you guys
Speaker 2: do not know how to do that. So I appreciate
Speaker 2: your time, go ahead.
Speaker 3: I try to get in a run, you know, I
Speaker 3: try to run every day. That's my that's my little
Speaker 3: moment a piece.
Speaker 1: All right, man, Well look well, well we'll set you loose.
Speaker 1: You know, we're always pulling for you. For you up here.
Speaker 1: Good luck against k State and continued success.
Speaker 3: Okay, great talking, thank you, all right, Aaron.
Speaker 1: Rodgers, offensive coordinator for BYU.
Speaker 2: It's a big weekend college football, both in state and nationally.
Speaker 2: First it's Utah Okay State and Stillwater. Love this when
Speaker 2: you can actually watch both games because Utah Okay State
Speaker 2: two o'clock, then BYUK State eight thirty. Man, that is
Speaker 2: a late late tip, late late kick for folks driving
Speaker 2: down to Provo. If you're coming from Salt Laker up north,
Speaker 2: you're not gonna be home intel like four am.
Speaker 1: So best of luck with that, but of course, always
Speaker 1: pulling for our.
Speaker 2: Guy a rod Klonne. Those guys down in Provo, great dudes,
Speaker 2: Hopefully they can pull it off. All right, more coming
Speaker 2: up next on a Thursday show keep it right Here
Speaker 2: on ESPN seven hundred