Speaker 1: About thirty minutes away from our Utah football pregame coverage,
Speaker 1: Porter Larson former youth quarterback Jordan Winn will take over
Speaker 1: starting at four thirty or so, and then they'll send
Speaker 1: it down to Bill Riley, Scott Mitchell, and Shot o'caddle.
Speaker 1: Shan's in for slide tonight as Utah takes on Arizona State,
Speaker 1: so stay tuned for that here on your home of
Speaker 1: the Utes. But joining us now the man who dropped
Speaker 1: some very welcome news around these parts yesterday, Brett McMurphy,
Speaker 1: who reported that Cam Rising will start tonight at Arizona State.
Speaker 3: Brett, Happy Friday, sir. How are you.
Speaker 2: If you guys would give me five dollars for every
Speaker 2: time he played that song? Would I be a millionaire?
Speaker 3: Yes, you would, and so would I. We all would be, Brett.
Speaker 1: But you do understand we've been waiting for this kid
Speaker 1: to play for a few weeks now, so everyone's very excited.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I was told you that he was actually
Speaker 2: really close last the last game, But ultimately I don't think.
Speaker 2: I don't know specifically, but I think maybe not enough
Speaker 2: you got enough practice work in possibly, uh you know,
Speaker 2: I know, you know, after the Baylor injury. You know,
Speaker 2: after the injury against Baylor, I was told, you know,
Speaker 2: it was the ring finger on the throwing hand, you know,
Speaker 2: and others have reported that also. I was told there
Speaker 2: was some stitches involved. I do not know how many.
Speaker 2: And then you know, for the next couple of weeks,
Speaker 2: I was told that there was some some swelling there
Speaker 2: that that didn't go down and that was limiting his
Speaker 2: ability to talk. Obviously grasp the football. You gotta have
Speaker 2: a grip if you're going to throw it. And now
Speaker 2: I was I was told, you know, he's he's good
Speaker 2: to go for uh, you know, I guess in a
Speaker 2: few hours, which, of course, when I tweeted that, there
Speaker 2: was the automatic reaction like, yeah, we've heard this again.
Speaker 2: We're not We're not going to believe until we see it.
Speaker 2: But you know, that's that's what I was told. And
Speaker 2: it's it's huge for for Utah because you know, basically
Speaker 2: that that lost to Arizona, you know, you you don't
Speaker 2: you can lose again and make the college football playoffs,
Speaker 2: but that means you've got to win the Big Twelve championship.
Speaker 2: If you went out and then lose that Big Twelve title,
Speaker 2: game and you're eleven and two, you've got a legit
Speaker 2: shot for a large bid. But there's there's no way
Speaker 2: a Big twelve team with three losses that does not
Speaker 2: win the Big twelve is going to get in. So,
Speaker 2: you know, Uta is kind of in a you know,
Speaker 2: kind of the cliche back against the wall and you know,
Speaker 2: rising being back, hopefully you can stay healthy the rest
Speaker 2: of the way. You know, I think that this schedule
Speaker 2: sets up nicely. You know, if you get in November
Speaker 2: where you get harder than expected at Colorado game obviously, uh,
Speaker 2: you know b YU is going to be b YU
Speaker 2: and then Iowa State, So Utah is in a good position,
Speaker 2: but that Arizona game kind of put him in a
Speaker 2: tough spot.
Speaker 1: Well, Brett, I don't know how fast this then, just
Speaker 1: to ask it out of you know, the concern that
Speaker 1: folks have around the market. I am not questioning your reporting.
Speaker 1: We're both in the same business and I would never
Speaker 1: do that to you. But there is a healthy amount
Speaker 1: of skepticism that exists around here.
Speaker 3: We will see it when we believe it.
Speaker 1: When the first team runs out tonight on offense, if
Speaker 1: Cam's under center, then.
Speaker 3: Most folks will say Okay, yes, this is correct.
Speaker 1: So how confident are you that when Utah takes the
Speaker 1: field tonight, Cam Rising will be under center?
Speaker 2: So the same I'm as confident as when I reported
Speaker 2: Gonzaga was doing a PAC twelve, and nobody believed me either.
Speaker 2: So I did not get this information from the same source.
Speaker 2: But the source that told me he wasn't going to
Speaker 2: play against Utah State, same source that told me wasn't
Speaker 2: playing against Oklahoma State, same source told me that it
Speaker 2: was doubtful against Arizona. I did not report the Arizona
Speaker 2: news because for various reasons, And the same told me
Speaker 2: he's starting against Arizona State. That's all I can go by,
Speaker 2: you know, until he walks out on the field and
Speaker 2: we'll all know. But again, I don't take these things lightly.
Speaker 2: I don't. I have never reported all year that he
Speaker 2: was going to play or he was not going to
Speaker 2: play unless I knew that, And you know, I haven't
Speaker 2: reported he was going to play anytime until there was
Speaker 2: a mistake game. You know, I didn't report he was
Speaker 2: playing at Utah State, Oklahoma State, Arizona. I know. You know,
Speaker 2: some of the Utah beat guys are in the press
Speaker 2: box and the season taking first team reps and like
Speaker 2: Cam Rising's playing, and I knew he wasn't, But I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna I'm not gonna call out other people and
Speaker 2: say you're wrong. So yeah, I mean, how confident And
Speaker 2: I'm confident enough that I reported it. I don't take
Speaker 2: that lightly. I can report a hundred things correct, I
Speaker 2: get one wrong. Nobody's going to remember the hundred things
Speaker 2: I got right. They're going to remember one thing that's wrong. So,
Speaker 2: you know, unless something happened from I think I tweeted
Speaker 2: it around three or four Eastern yesterday. Unless something has
Speaker 2: happened between three and four yesterday and tonight's kickoff that
Speaker 2: I'm not aware of, then I'm one hundred percent sure
Speaker 2: that he will start.
Speaker 1: And obviously that's what we all hope, and that's what
Speaker 1: we all want around here.
Speaker 3: I'll follow over this.
Speaker 1: Did your source indicate just simply how healthy Cameron is?
Speaker 1: Can we expect to see one Cam Rising? Are they
Speaker 1: going to roll with a bit of a compromise Cam
Speaker 1: Rising over a healthy freshman as his backup? Any any
Speaker 1: intel on just how right Cam is tonight?
Speaker 2: Right enough that he's back in the starting lineup. But
Speaker 2: I did not get any specifics on you know, if
Speaker 2: he struggles, if things don't go right, if you know,
Speaker 2: if he's not one hundred percent, you know, did it?
Speaker 2: How quickly do they make the change? I don't. I
Speaker 2: don't have that information, So I'm not going to speculate
Speaker 2: and pretend like I do because I don't. So I'm
Speaker 2: just being honest with you. I don't have an answer
Speaker 2: to that question.
Speaker 1: I don't suppose you have any information on the health
Speaker 1: of Karenne Reid and Connor O'Toole, right, two very important
Speaker 1: players on the defense.
Speaker 2: I for me, as a national guy, quarterbacks are so
Speaker 2: much more important. Yeah, so no, I didn't. I guess
Speaker 2: I could have checked on that, but no, I'm just
Speaker 2: you know, there's so many different schools I try to
Speaker 2: keep keep an eye on, and obviously quarterbacks and obviously
Speaker 2: rising you know, situation as obviously you know pretty big.
Speaker 2: I reported earlier today Hudson card perdue he's out. So
Speaker 2: I usually focused more on the quarterback or skill position
Speaker 2: unless it's, uh, you know, obviously Travis Hunter is a
Speaker 2: defensive player with somebody that would warrant that type of attention.
Speaker 2: So yeah, sorry, no help there, No.
Speaker 3: All good, All good. So you referenced this a little
Speaker 3: bit earlier.
Speaker 1: You know, the the backup quarterback situation a year ago
Speaker 1: for Utah was rough.
Speaker 3: It was Nate Johnson, it was Bryce and Barnes, then
Speaker 3: it was both of them. At time.
Speaker 1: Isaac Wilson, a young eighteen year old freshman, was able
Speaker 1: to get them a winning still Water, which right now
Speaker 1: doesn't look like a good win. A couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: Arizona rolls into town and they smacked Utah pretty good.
Speaker 1: But with what you've seen so far, Vegas has Utah
Speaker 1: second right now in the odds to Iowa States.
Speaker 3: I would imagine you would tell the.
Speaker 1: Folks around here you still believe yous are among the
Speaker 1: favorites to win this conference and go to the CFP,
Speaker 1: even with all the injury stuff.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's I think you know, Cam's a
Speaker 2: big part of that. And you know before the season,
Speaker 2: I picked you, Tad to win the Big Twelve go
Speaker 2: to the College Football Playoff. You know, after the lost Arizona,
Speaker 2: I've got Iowa State now my projections. Actually, I wouldn't
Speaker 2: be surprised if Iowa State actually loses to West Virginia.
Speaker 2: So I'm just look, you guys may or may not
Speaker 2: know this. I'me you know, grazro Cloma State. So I'm
Speaker 2: a Big twelve guy. I've been saying this since June.
Speaker 2: The Big twelve. I'm afraid it is not going to
Speaker 2: get a second team in the college football playoffs. I
Speaker 2: just think they're gonna everybody's going to beat it, get
Speaker 2: beat up on each other. But yes, certainly, I think
Speaker 2: Utah is in a in a as good a spot
Speaker 2: as anybody. I'll be fascinated to see what Colorado does
Speaker 2: against Kansas State. You know, Colorado is a lot better
Speaker 2: than I expected. And certainly, you know, maybe people overrated.
Speaker 2: You see F that they handled you see excuse me,
Speaker 2: you see f very easily. Are they a legit contender
Speaker 2: Iowa States? You know contender? I mean, heck, we're talking
Speaker 2: about all these teams. Texas, Texas leaves leaving the league
Speaker 2: at three and oh what I'm talking about Dan? So yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean it's I think it's very simple. You can't lose.
Speaker 2: I think you can lose two conference games and then
Speaker 2: you're going to be You're going to be in a
Speaker 2: tiebreaker to get into the conference championship game. And I
Speaker 2: don't see Utah losing more than two more conference games.
Speaker 2: But like I said earlier, if you get to that
Speaker 2: conference title game at ten and two and you lose
Speaker 2: that game in your three losses in your large team,
Speaker 2: there's no way they're going to take a big nothing
Speaker 2: against Utah. I could be any Big twelve team you want.
Speaker 2: There's no way the selection committee has taken a three
Speaker 2: loss Big twelve team over a three loss Alabama, Georgia, LSU,
Speaker 2: you know, and go through the laundry list of Big
Speaker 2: ten and SEC teams. So that's why it's imperative if
Speaker 2: you want to have a little you know, margin for air,
Speaker 2: if you will is to get that championship game with
Speaker 2: one loss. If the Big twelve has two eleven to
Speaker 2: one teams in that game, then I think the runner
Speaker 2: up's got a very good, very very good chance of
Speaker 2: getting in. But unfortunately, I would be stun even though
Speaker 2: we're talking about Texas Tech being undefeated, I would be
Speaker 2: stunned if both teams in that championship game will only
Speaker 2: have one loss.
Speaker 1: So, as you know, Brad is one of the pre
Speaker 1: eminent newsbreakers in our business. And Brett McMurphy from the
Speaker 1: Action Network as our guest. He is the man who
Speaker 1: broke the news yesterday. The Cam Rising will be back
Speaker 1: under center tonight. He has reaffirmed his report here on
Speaker 1: the program today. As a man who breaks news, you're
Speaker 1: aware they're trying to get injury news from Utah football
Speaker 1: is like trying to parachute into Kremlin.
Speaker 3: It's impossible.
Speaker 1: And Kyle Whittingham maintains that by withholding injury information from
Speaker 1: the public, he gets a competitive advantage with his football team.
Speaker 3: Do you agree with that.
Speaker 2: I understand that line of thinking, but I don't agree
Speaker 2: with it. I think, you know, and I've talked to
Speaker 2: different coaches about this, not specifically Kyle, but and I look,
Speaker 2: I love Kyle, He's one of my favorite coaches. I
Speaker 2: understand that mentality, but I don't. You know. You may
Speaker 2: be able to give me some examples. But off the
Speaker 2: top of my head, like what team when you go
Speaker 2: to your backup changes what they do offensively, You're still
Speaker 2: running the same offense. Yes, it's a different guy, he's
Speaker 2: got different strengths. It's not like, though, you're going from
Speaker 2: the spread to the wishbone. It's not like you're going
Speaker 2: from you know, the veer to the to the RPO.
Speaker 2: You know, it's you're still going to do what you're
Speaker 2: gonna do. I understand that mentality. All I know is,
Speaker 2: you know, I was at ESPN for six years. You
Speaker 2: know a lot of folks there, and I talked to,
Speaker 2: you know, several other of the college analysts, several of
Speaker 2: the NFL analysts, and they tell me the difference in
Speaker 2: going into an NFL facility a couple of days before
Speaker 2: game and a college facility a couple of days before
Speaker 2: game is a one hundred and eighty degrees different. He said,
Speaker 2: you go into the go into NFL, you know facility,
Speaker 2: and you say, hey, what's what's the status of you know,
Speaker 2: Tom Brady, what's the status of of bnecks whatever? And
Speaker 2: they like, Okay, he didn't practice, he's this, he's he's
Speaker 2: fifty percent, he's he's got a bad hammy, he's got this.
Speaker 2: You want to sit here's his x rage. You want
Speaker 2: to see like they don't hold anything back. They they
Speaker 2: are upfront and all that. And obviously you get both
Speaker 2: sides do that. I know what Kyle's saying, because not
Speaker 2: required by both teams to do that. Heck, I'm i
Speaker 2: don't remember. I did a story a couple of years
Speaker 2: ago basically making fun of all the schools that don't
Speaker 2: put out depth charts. I believe you Todd does, but
Speaker 2: I can't remember they do it. But anyway, it's yeah.
Speaker 2: So it's like, you know, there were probably like twenty
Speaker 2: schools in the country that don't put out a depth
Speaker 2: chart because coaches are so paranoid. And like I talked
Speaker 2: to different you know, ESPN analysts, Tom Lougan, Bill and
Speaker 2: different guys, and he's like, look, all these coaches have
Speaker 2: recruited against everybody. The people are in the portal, they know,
Speaker 2: they know the personnel. Why don't you put on your
Speaker 2: freaking a piece of paper who the starters and backups are.
Speaker 2: It's for some reason college coaches are so paranoid about that,
Speaker 2: and you know, you had, you know, everybody in the
Speaker 2: Big Ten supposed to do it. This is obviously when
Speaker 2: Harvall was coaching the Harbor wouldn't do it, so then
Speaker 2: other coaches wouldn't do it. I think it was Mexico State.
Speaker 2: The first week they played somebody, they had their depth chart.
Speaker 2: The next week they played Minnesota. It was Minnesota's opener.
Speaker 2: New Mexico State second game, Minnesota didn't put out a
Speaker 2: step chart, so New Mexico State did not give out
Speaker 2: a depth chart in week two, although they did in
Speaker 2: week one. So that's just kind of the asinine things
Speaker 2: that these coaches are thinking. I understand what Kyle saying.
Speaker 2: I guess, you know, the SEC now has a standardized
Speaker 2: availability report, the Big Ten does to Once we get
Speaker 2: everybody doing that, then maybe some of these college coaches
Speaker 2: will be more upfront with this. I mean, they'll have
Speaker 2: to be or they'll get fined. But I guess to
Speaker 2: answer your question, I don't think it's an advantage at all.
Speaker 2: I think it's more mentally. I think maybe it's more
Speaker 2: it's a game, and you know what, I just know.
Speaker 2: This is me. I'm in Florida, Okay, this is me
Speaker 2: from a distance a million miles away. I've heard a
Speaker 2: lot of people that are actually down on Utah. But
Speaker 2: that's the best way I can describe it. Not necessarily
Speaker 2: the players or anything like that, but just the way
Speaker 2: that they have and I guess it's Kyle's the guy's top.
Speaker 2: The way that they've handled the injuries you know last year,
Speaker 2: you know, the whole every week well, we don't know
Speaker 2: about about Cam. He may may. They never just flat
Speaker 2: out said that the guy's done for the year. Like
Speaker 2: just I'm you guys experienced it, you were at ground zero.
Speaker 2: How much easier your life would have been? And just
Speaker 2: the constant you know, oh it's Friday, is Cam in
Speaker 2: or out? And there was never any you know, official
Speaker 2: statement that, look, this guy's not going to play or
Speaker 2: he's not gonna he's out until we tell you he's not,
Speaker 2: he's coming back, and that I think that you know,
Speaker 2: a lot of people for what it's worth, you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know got turned off by that, but I understand,
Speaker 2: and it's thinking I don't agree with it, but I
Speaker 2: understand why he's doing it, and he looks he's not
Speaker 2: the only guy.
Speaker 3: That does it right.
Speaker 1: And that's actually where where I want to follow up,
Speaker 1: because you are correct that there is a big portion
Speaker 1: of this community, a big portion of the fan base,
Speaker 1: a big portion of donors and boosters and season ticket
Speaker 1: holders that pay money to the program to support nil endeavors.
Speaker 3: And the reports are.
Speaker 1: Cam is making in the neighborhood of two million dollars
Speaker 1: and they have been turned off at the way this
Speaker 1: thing has been handled. Let me ask you, what's the
Speaker 1: right way to handle a situation like this.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't necessarily think there's a wrong or right way.
Speaker 2: I guess part of it, which leads into this, this
Speaker 2: distrust and kind of frustration, is when you put when
Speaker 2: you run and look, Dylan, oh you did this. When
Speaker 2: Dylan Gabriel was there, eat Texas, they ran them out,
Speaker 2: had them take snats with the first team of pregame warmups.
Speaker 2: Everybody's going crazy. Dylan Gabriel's starting, Dylan Gabels starting, They
Speaker 2: go in the locker room, that come out, He's weren't short.
Speaker 2: So it's like it's playing games like that. You know,
Speaker 2: did Texas change their game plan because Gabriel was in
Speaker 2: pregame warm ups? No, they didn't. But it's like stuff
Speaker 2: like that. So the right or wrong way, that's impossible.
Speaker 2: I noticed that that. Again, I haven't I haven't heard
Speaker 2: all of Kyle's press conference this on my Cotenna have,
Speaker 2: but I heard him mention something like week two, three
Speaker 2: four somewhere in there, somebody was asked about Cam and
Speaker 2: he basically said, if it's a season season ending injury,
Speaker 2: we'll tell you. But other than that, we're not going
Speaker 2: to talk about injuries. Well that's great, But did he
Speaker 2: not have that policy last year? That would be the
Speaker 2: question I have. But I don't necessarily think there's a
Speaker 2: right wrong. If it's a season ending injury, then yeah,
Speaker 2: you need to come out and do it. The stuff
Speaker 2: about the depth charts I talked about. I talked to
Speaker 2: Mac Brown about that. I talked to Jetfish he was
Speaker 2: at Arizona then. But like, look, these guys should be
Speaker 2: recognized as having won the starting job. You should you
Speaker 2: should listen them in the depth chart. You shouldn't play
Speaker 2: games don Don Brown of UMass first game of the
Speaker 2: Year last year, five players listed he had or four
Speaker 2: times Joe Smith or Joe Smith or he had five guys.
Speaker 2: Come on, you got five guys listed as your starting quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: So you know it's it's college football. Until we get
Speaker 2: a uniformed availability report, I guess from memphisiit up with it,
Speaker 2: But you know, I don't I don't necessarily think there's
Speaker 2: a right or wrong way, But I think when you're
Speaker 2: when you know a guy's not starting and you run
Speaker 2: him out there first team, taking first team snaps, like
Speaker 2: Cam did. I don't remember if it was Oklahoma State
Speaker 2: or another game and he's not going to start. I
Speaker 2: think that's kind of Look, it's everybody wants a competitive edge.
Speaker 2: I just think that's neat. You really don't need.
Speaker 1: To do that, all right before he set you loose,
Speaker 1: And you just alluded to other examples. But I'll follow
Speaker 1: up with this because we kind of get into our
Speaker 1: own echo chamber around here, and coach wit takes a
Speaker 1: lot of criticism and people say things like he's the
Speaker 1: only one that does this and he's very much not.
Speaker 1: So just how in place Brett is this approach across
Speaker 1: the landscape of college football.
Speaker 2: Well, I gave you, I'll give you. I gave you
Speaker 2: a dealing. Gabriel went out pregame warm ups. He was questionable.
Speaker 2: First team pregame warm ups, they went into the tunnel,
Speaker 2: Oh you Texas. They came back out. He's wearing shorts.
Speaker 2: He didn't play C. J. Jefferson when he was at Arkansas.
Speaker 2: Same thing, pregame warm ups, first team taking all the snaps,
Speaker 2: go to the sideline, opening kickoff, takes off, this helmet
Speaker 2: doesn't play the entire game. That's too off the top
Speaker 2: of my head. If if you would have gave me
Speaker 2: time before before the call. I'm sure I could have
Speaker 2: I could have thought of a dozen of those. So
Speaker 2: it happens a lot. It happened, happens very frequently in
Speaker 2: the the thing. I think that's frustrating for me, and
Speaker 2: I'm sure what's fans is and I don't Again, I'm
Speaker 2: not I'm believing. I'm I am. If it sounds this way,
Speaker 2: I don't mean it to sound a sway. I'm not
Speaker 2: railing on Kyle. I'm gonna make that very clear. I
Speaker 2: know some coaches have done this, and I don't know
Speaker 2: if he has or not, where they come out and say, well,
Speaker 2: we can't talk about injuries because of hippo, because of
Speaker 2: the hippo laws. Yet the same coach the next week
Speaker 2: will come out and say, oh, well, you know Johnny
Speaker 2: Smith broke his leg. He's out for the year. Well
Speaker 2: what happened what happened to your hippo rules there? I mean,
Speaker 2: it's like when they want to use that, they use it.
Speaker 2: When they don't, they don't. Again, It's just it just
Speaker 2: boils back to college coaches just have a different mindset
Speaker 2: regarding injuries that they do in the NFL. I mean, Heck,
Speaker 2: there's some coaches that, you know, when a kid's hurt,
Speaker 2: they'll be up front and say, look this kids, this
Speaker 2: kid's out, he's not going to play. You know, we're
Speaker 2: hopeful to get him back, we're you know. So it's
Speaker 2: just when coaches are inconsistent that's probably the most rating
Speaker 2: for me, and I'm sure frustrating for fans is they'll
Speaker 2: talk about injuries one week about a certain player, and
Speaker 2: then another week they clam up and say, well, that's hip,
Speaker 2: but we can't talk about it or you know, we
Speaker 2: don't discuss injuries unless it's a season season ending injury.
Speaker 1: Well, Brett, you made a lot of people happy around
Speaker 1: here as you reported. The Cam Rising will be under
Speaker 1: center tonight. So I appreciate your time, having an excellent weekend.
Speaker 1: Love to have you on again.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, so I guess we can expect Wilson to
Speaker 2: take first team snaps in the pregame and then and
Speaker 2: then Cam comes running in who knows, ye never know. Yeah,
Speaker 2: thanks Chate, I'll be watching.
Speaker 3: Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1: There he is Brett McMurphy, college football insider now with
Speaker 1: the Action Network. Spent a number of years with ESPN
Speaker 1: Brett reported yesterday that cam Rising will be under center
Speaker 1: tonight for the University of Utah.