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Speaker 1: To know the Cougar's opponents and rivals right now, I

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need to know the faux segment.

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Speaker 2: Cougar Sports with Ben Kretelber, Welcome back Gouger Sports.

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Speaker 1: One of three nine ninety eight points three ESPN the Fan.

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I've been crital broadcasting from our Bantererwilth Studios, Banterwealth dot com.

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Get on a free Q and A no obligation to

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band together build our wealth at Banderwealth. It is Stopford

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Little know the faux segment. It's rivalry Week, It's the

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Holy War Week. Got to get to know the foe.

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The University of Utah. They are a good team this year,

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maybe even a great team. We'll see how it plays out.

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They are ranked, they are formidable. They're a one loss team.

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They're only lost to the Big twelve favorite right now,

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Texas Tech. So let's get to know the foe. It's

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going to be brought to you by Game Day Men's Health.

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your blood work done, and find out what you're deficient

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in at game day. Game Day Men's Health, Let's get

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out to the hotline. Welcome in Utah. Youtes Insider representing

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KSL dot com. We got Josh Furlong on the night Josh,

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how you living man?

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Speaker 3: I'm doing well? Then, how you been doing?

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Speaker 2: Fantastic man.

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Speaker 1: It's the most wonderful time of the year where the hate,

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the vitrel, the competition really starts brewing along the wassatch frout.

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You've been a part of this rivalry, covering it for

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a long time. When the outsiders, your friends, your family members,

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those that are not within the state, maybe individuals that

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cover the Big Twelve or other conferences, they ask about

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this rivalry game, how do you describe it to them?

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Speaker 3: Oh, that's a good question.

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Speaker 4: I mean I get I get you know, fans of

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by U n Utah messaging all the time, and you know,

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it's it's fun to be able to kind of have

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that conversation with different people outside of the state and

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what this can be and you know, it's it's crazy

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because like I think, you know, what we see on

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social media is much more vitriol, but in reality, I

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think there's just an evil and even level of respect

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for each other even if you hate them, right like,

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and I think that's what makes us fun is it's

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a rivalry that clearly has a lot of heated passion

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towards each other.

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Speaker 3: And you know, there can be a lot of entertainment.

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Speaker 4: On the field and none of these games wherever is predicted,

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and that's that's what you want, right, I mean, I

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think when you look at this, this is one of

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those things where you want to make sure that in something.

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I think in the years when Baus in independence and

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Utah was in the Pac twelve, these didn't mean as

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much and so the rivalry didn't.

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Speaker 3: Always feel the same, and so.

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Speaker 4: To have it back and to be you know, conference

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implications too ranked teams. I mean, this is as good

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as it can get. And I think you know, it's time,

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you know, where you can embrace that and have fun

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and enjoy it for what it is and know that

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there's something meaningful, you know, on on the table instead

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of just a simple game.

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Speaker 3: So you know, it's it's it's fun, it's entertaining.

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Speaker 4: I think, you know, when you strip down all of

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the noise that can come out of it, sometimes it's

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just it's just fun to be able to have a

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game that means something in the middle of the season.

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Speaker 1: Indeed it is is it the Do you feel like

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this is the right time for the rivalry though, or

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do you feel like it should be pushed back later?

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Like do you have a preference covering it? Like hearing

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from both fan bases, hearing from both coaching staffs, you know,

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and even taking into account what the conference wants.

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Speaker 2: Is just the right time middle of the season.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think when this this first all

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kind of shook out and the twur in the same

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conference again, you know, I think it was jarring to

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not see it at the end of the year because

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it just felt like it was you're building up your season,

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You're going into that rivalry game. That's traditionally the week

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that everybody has that game. And I've since kind of

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come around to the idea that having it in you know,

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late October is actually a pretty solid idea for these

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two programs in the Big twelve because now you get

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an opportunity to showcase this heated rivalry on a much

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bigger stage than what you get. Like the reality is

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is BUYU and Utah as good as it is, and

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as much as the national media of respected and try

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to prop it up in their own right, they're never

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going to beat you know, the Ohio State Michigan game

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or any of these other big time rivalry games.

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Speaker 3: And so to be able to have this.

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Speaker 4: Kind of on prime time, to be able to get

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the opportunity to showcase this to the world, it's probably

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the best that it can be, right And I think

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that that matters to these programs. You want to be

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able to market yourself, you want to be able to

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put yourself on.

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Speaker 3: That that national stage.

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Speaker 4: It does have the risk that you know, you put

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so much stock into this game in the middle of

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your season that it can derail things later on. But

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I think both of these programs understand it. They understand

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how much it can, you know, propel the team forward

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as well, and what it can be.

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Speaker 3: So, I mean, you look at last year.

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Speaker 4: There was no reason Utah had any business being in

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that game last year. But because it's a rivalry game,

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you know, you go in there and you have some

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fun and suddenly it becomes a competitive game.

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Speaker 3: So you know, both of these programs get up for it,

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and I think it's entertaining and it's fine to have

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it in October.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I was looking a few stats up in preparation for

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this game this week, and Cougar stats dropped a big one.

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B YU and Utah have had more close games than

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any other matchup over the last thirty years. The games

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that are decided by eight points or fewer BYU and

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Utah have nineteen of them. Florida State, Miami eighteen, Ball State,

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Central Michigan eighteen, Wake Forest Duke seventeen, USC Arizona seventeen,

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Misssippi State, Arkansas seventeen, Louisiana, Monroe and Lafayette seventeen. So

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I mean these are yeah, some of these aren't the

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most iconic rivalries by any means, but BAYU and Utah

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could be the most competitive rivalry in college football over

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the last thirty years.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think that's what makes it so great.

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Speaker 4: It's no matter what the record is for either one

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of these teams, most years, it's going to be a

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competitive game, right like, for whatever reason. And when we

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get it, like the players want to play up for

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this game, it becomes this. You know, I don't want

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to go quite that same level that everybody wants to

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call it the super Bowl.

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Speaker 3: I don't.

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Speaker 4: I don't believe that's the case for either one of

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these programs. But you get the true passion, right and

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you get to see that this game really does matter.

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And even if it doesn't matter to some of the

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players that have transferred in, they finally get bought into

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it once they start playing the game.

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Speaker 3: And it's just this is what college football is about.

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Speaker 4: When you strip down everything away from you know, the

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transfer portal and nil and everything, this is why we

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love college football. We want to be able to see

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competitive games. We want to be able to see you.

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Speaker 3: Know, your hated rival and and different things that way.

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Speaker 4: Those things are so much fun and it gives people

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kind of a purpose to watch. And so if you

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can always get that, you know, that notch on the belt,

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it's just it's just one more cool little thing to

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add and you could still be the better team and

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the other team wins. So it's it's fun. I think,

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you know, don't take it for granted because this is

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one of the best rivalries in the country.

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Speaker 1: Josh Furlock, he're on ESPN thefan represent a kshal dot com. Josh,

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you were able to get out in front of the

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coaching staff as well as maybe some of the players

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this week. What were your takeaways from the press conferences

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this week?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think this year Utah is trying

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to be very measured in how they approach this game,

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trying to not say anything to earth shattering, to to

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kind of create.

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Speaker 3: Locker room fodder or whatever that may be.

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Speaker 4: If you remember last year, Utah running back Jalen cover

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Glover kind of threw out some stuff that they got

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people a little upset inside in Utah because they don't

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want to add that that added hate or give the enemy,

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so to speak.

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Speaker 3: You know, a extra fuel to the fire.

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Speaker 4: But then you can argue that Kyle Whittingham kind of

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did that himself by not wanting to even mention anything

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about BYU.

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Speaker 3: So, you know, it's an interesting situation.

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Speaker 4: I've never seen Kyle go fully that way where he

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just says, we're not even going to talk about them

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outside of talking about his friendship with colonus Take or

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you know, the coaches that have been on his staff.

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Speaker 3: But it's definitely a different strategy.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I think at the end of the day,

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whether he said something or not, you know, he's in

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a no win situation. All of these coaches are. I

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think it's so easy to twist and contort and spin

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certain things from these guys, and for whatever reason, he's

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decided that that's just not the direction he wants to go.

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And if this is the last year he's coaching, which

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many believe it is, maybe he just feels like this

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is the best strategy to not have the noise or

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even give any indication that maybe he's going to say

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something inappropriate or not about a certain player or team

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or different things that way.

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Speaker 3: So different strategy, for sure. I can't say that I've

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ever seen that before.

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Speaker 4: But you know, he's a man that does what he

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wants and that you know, there's not much you can

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do to change his opinions on that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I look at his trajectory, I look at his life.

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Speaker 1: I look at his football career and his football coaching career,

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and I see an extremely competitive individual. And he's a

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he and it's a different level of competitivism. It's actually

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petty competitivism where and look, there's a lot of greats

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in any sport that are petty competitive, creating stories in

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their brains and their minds, being superstitious about certain things,

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what they say, how they approach the games, how they

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approach the competitions.

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Speaker 2: He's a petty competitor, there's no doubt about it.

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Speaker 1: And that has led him to become the greatest coach

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in University of Utah football history. And it's not even close.

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My question to you is this is his legacy. Is

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it's cemented due to his dominance over his rival or

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his ability to win big time games and win championships

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in the Pac twelve, right Like, I look at both

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of those and even you know in the Mountain West

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Conference too.

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Speaker 2: If you want to go back into his early tenure.

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Speaker 1: Which one do you think, from a fan base standpoints,

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maybe lends itself to more like validation cementing his legacy

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at the University of Utah.

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Speaker 4: Do you think, Yeah, that's a that's a really good

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and fascinating question that I don't know that I've actually

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really thought about, you know, and I think, ooh, man, Like,

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I obviously like a nine win consecutive streak over your

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rival is not something to not look at, right, I

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think that's that's an important stat that many Utah fans

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are going to look at with Wittingham and say, look

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for a nine year well it was more than nine years,

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but at the point the nine consecutive games, it was

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you know, pure dominance from them, and that's going to

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give them, you know, a lot of respect. But I

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kind of get the sense that Utah fans are more

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interested in those championship runs and kind of how he

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developed the program that way. But even saying that that

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feels kind of like empty, right, Like I feel like

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there's there's more there, and so I don't know that

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you can fully separate them.

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Speaker 3: I feel like they do go hand in hand.

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Speaker 4: But it's also tough because during a lot of that time,

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Utah and BYU were in different areas meeting independence in

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the Pact twelve, and it did mean something different to

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Utah fans, right. They didn't feel like the rivalry game

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was that important to them because they had other games

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that were more important in the standings. The only value

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that it provided, at least from a season to season

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thing was just being able to have another you know,

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dominant win or something like that over your rival. And so,

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you know, I think they go hand in hand, but

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I think it also was different because of the different

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nature of the time that they were in. So, you know,

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maybe it's a copa aunswer to say both, But I

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don't know that it's easy to separate those two because

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they do come at very differing periods of time. But

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I do feel like later in this in this era,

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it's becoming much more back to where that Dyu game matters, right,

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And I think you start to see much more of

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the fans wanting to have this win more than anything,

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and having Kyle win this game is much more important

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to them than it's ever been.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: The reason why I bring it up because you study

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the rivalry over the last fifty years plus from like

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nineteen seventy two to nineteen ninety two, it was complete

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and utter dominance.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: I think Utah maybe won three times, maybe four times

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that in that section of the rivalry. Ronnie Mack comes

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in and changes the game, and from like ninety two

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to you know, two thousand and four, will say it

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was kind of split down the middle. It's kind of

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fifty fifty even through like two thousand intents. So for

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like ninety two or twenty ten, it was kind of

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it was it was fifty to fifty. And then what happens.

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Utah gets the invite to the PAC twelve. They get

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you know, thirty twenty thirty million plus and TV revenue,

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they get the branding of the PAC twelve, access better recruiting.

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They don't, you know, necessarily have to deal with what

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Blau has to deal with with like honor code in

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other things maybe academically, and they just take off right

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as dominance and and and so it's kind of a

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social study for me, you know, because where do we

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get the most validation from is humans. It's comparative competitive culture. Right,

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It's like my neighbor, my social circle, how do I

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compare to them?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 1: And even though Kyle Whittingham time and time again said

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labeled this game as the in state rivalry, there's nothing

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that leads me to believe that actually the Utah USC

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00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,399
game was actually a rivalry because you have to have,

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you know, synonymous feelings like did USC really feel that

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it was a rival or did Colorado feel like it

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was a rivalry game? Did did ASU or U of

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A feel like it was a rivalry? Does that make sense?

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Like it feels a little bit contrived, And so that's

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where I lean into, like legacy. It's like, Okay, did

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Utah ever win a championship? Did they actually get to

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a h that upper echelon of like winning a big

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time bowl game and winning a outright championship?

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Speaker 2: And I don't know if they did.

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Speaker 1: And that's what I kind of lean into, like, but

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he dominated his neighbor, he dominated in recruiting, and wins

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his neighbor. And so that's what that social study of

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validation and legacy being cemented. Yeah, it's a little bit

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of both obviously, but I feel like it lends itself

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more to yards the robbery game that elevates him to

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like this immortalized status.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think you know, especially the years that

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these two programs didn't play. You know, I feel like

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there was always kind of this feeling between both fan bases,

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but what about going against the other team?

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Speaker 3: Right, But at the same time, like I kind of.

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Speaker 4: Look at it the same way as you know, I

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think we expect, you know, Ohio State and Michigan to

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probably have one of the most heated rivalries in all

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the country.

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Speaker 3: And I feel like those teams.

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Speaker 4: You know, you could go win the national Let's look

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at Ohio State, they go win the national championship, but

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lose to Michigan, like that drives them absolutely crazy that

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it just it buzzed them that they yes, they won

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the national championship and you're going to celebrate that more

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than anything. But internally they're all talking about, you didn't

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beat Michigan, and Michigan can take that. I don't know

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that Utah and BA you were quite to that level.

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And obviously neither.

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Speaker 3: One of them are in that reign right now where.

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Speaker 4: They can can necessarily be considered national title contenders. But

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I think, you know, they're there's still some totalitary hot

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00:16:02,159 --> 00:16:03,799
I can't even say the word right now, but there's

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00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,600
it still kind of goes into the complete picture where I.

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Speaker 3: Think it all matters and it all comes in. But

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you're right.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I think this rivalry is always going to

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be something that that these these.

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Speaker 3: Coaches are judged on.

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Speaker 4: Kyle Whittingham will one hundred percent be judged on that,

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and you know it'll he'll be judged on that even

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more if they lose this game on Saturday, Right, Like,

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00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,240
how do how do you go in and have this

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dominance over a team where you you know, quote unquote,

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00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,559
have this leg up on them forever being in the

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00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,000
power for and then suddenly the way you comes in

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and steps.

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Speaker 1: In so three you know it WoT straight right and

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lead him into retirement, right That That's.

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Speaker 3: Exactly it would.

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Speaker 4: And I think that would that would make witting him

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00:16:46,159 --> 00:16:48,600
really frustrated for his own legacy that he wasn't able

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to go out on top. Even if you know, they

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00:16:50,759 --> 00:16:52,600
could go to the playoffs, they could go win their

359
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,840
first game of the playoffs. I think that would still

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00:16:54,879 --> 00:16:57,440
bug him tremendously to not go out on top against

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his rival.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what's interesting.

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Speaker 1: I was looking at Annalys right, and obviously Utah is

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00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,880
a slight favorite heading into anime territory, and that very

365
00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:10,000
well could be validated through metrics sp plus. I think

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00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,960
has Utah ised like the eighteenth best team BYU is

367
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,039
the twenty third best team from an efficiency standpoint, offensively, defensively,

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00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,880
special teams. And so, how do you see this game

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from your perch, from your perspective going into enemy territory

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00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:26,359
they are favorite looking at the spread, looking at some

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00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:30,079
of these objective data points, compared and contrasting the data.

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Speaker 2: How do you see this game playing out?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean this one, this one is as close

374
00:17:35,079 --> 00:17:37,720
as you can probably get. I think You've got two

375
00:17:37,799 --> 00:17:39,839
teams that are really solid. They have a lot of

376
00:17:39,839 --> 00:17:44,079
similarities in how they operate. Obviously built a little bit

377
00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:48,000
differently in how they operate, but they operate in kind.

378
00:17:47,839 --> 00:17:49,039
Speaker 3: Of a similar mindset.

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Speaker 4: Having you know, all of these coaches essentially work together

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in different times in different areas, but it's just kind

381
00:17:55,519 --> 00:17:57,640
of they mirror each other in a lot of way

382
00:17:57,759 --> 00:17:59,680
on the field of how they operate. We know that

383
00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,519
both programs are going to have tremendous defenses and then

384
00:18:02,559 --> 00:18:05,680
they can go out there and stop and stop everything.

385
00:18:05,759 --> 00:18:08,279
Speaker 3: And so for me, you know, the big decider is

386
00:18:08,279 --> 00:18:09,359
honestly going to be on offense.

387
00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,839
Speaker 4: And maybe that's an easy, you know, explanation for this game,

388
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,640
but I think whoever can be most efficient, whoever can

389
00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:17,920
win the battle and the trenches, you know, you don't

390
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:19,519
turn the ball over. I think that's going to be

391
00:18:19,519 --> 00:18:22,160
a true decider. And if I'm not mistaken, the two

392
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,839
games at BAUS won most recently, they haven't had a turnover.

393
00:18:25,039 --> 00:18:27,720
So you know that that's been a big key in

394
00:18:27,759 --> 00:18:30,720
this game where trench play, turnovers, those types of things

395
00:18:30,759 --> 00:18:32,000
are going to be a big factor.

396
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,920
Speaker 3: And that may be enough, right, Like, that may be

397
00:18:35,079 --> 00:18:37,559
enough to be able to come in there and help.

398
00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,759
Speaker 4: You know, I'm really fascinated to see, you know, BYU's

399
00:18:40,839 --> 00:18:42,559
defense go against this Utah offense.

400
00:18:42,559 --> 00:18:45,759
Speaker 3: It's been pretty efficient this year. Obviously, they they got

401
00:18:45,799 --> 00:18:47,240
tripped up against Texas Tech.

402
00:18:47,519 --> 00:18:50,200
Speaker 4: And you know, we'll never know if that was fully

403
00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,799
on Devin dan Pier being injured or Texas Tech is

404
00:18:52,839 --> 00:18:53,559
just that good.

405
00:18:53,599 --> 00:18:56,039
Speaker 3: I tend to lean that Texas Tech is is really good.

406
00:18:56,839 --> 00:18:59,519
Speaker 4: But you know, we'll see what that brings and if

407
00:18:59,559 --> 00:19:03,799
there's any separation between these two teams. But statistically, I mean, yeah,

408
00:19:03,839 --> 00:19:05,680
some are going to be led. You know, each team

409
00:19:05,759 --> 00:19:07,720
is going to lead in different areas, but this is

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00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:09,880
this is as closest I think you're ever going to

411
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,160
get between these two teams. And that's that's what makes

412
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,759
it so entertaining, is you can go into this game

413
00:19:14,799 --> 00:19:17,400
and both fan bases can honestly feel confident that their

414
00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,000
team's going to win, but still feeling, you know, that

415
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:24,000
hesitation that caught, you know, that cautious optimism, knowing that

416
00:19:24,079 --> 00:19:26,119
there's a real possibility that the other team will come

417
00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:26,640
out on top.

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00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,599
Speaker 1: Josh, you're about to drop a piece at KHL dot

419
00:19:29,599 --> 00:19:31,440
com or you may have already dropped it. What's its

420
00:19:31,599 --> 00:19:34,480
entitled or what's it is it entitled? In? What do

421
00:19:34,519 --> 00:19:36,960
you delve into there in your piece in the lead

422
00:19:37,039 --> 00:19:38,240
up to the Holy War?

423
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,920
Speaker 4: Yeah, and this one's this one's more just usta specific

424
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:43,960
in the sense of, you know, looking at the mid

425
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,599
season and kind of where Utah is that offensively in

426
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,440
their efficiency. You know, last year was clearly not the

427
00:19:50,519 --> 00:19:52,440
year for them. It's actually been the last two years,

428
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,240
but they haven't been great. And you know, through the

429
00:19:55,279 --> 00:19:57,799
transfer portals, through bringing in Jason Beck, who has a

430
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,599
much more simplified offense, that that allows these guys to work.

431
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Speaker 3: You know, Devin dan Pier the offensive line.

432
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 4: This has been an offense that has been far more efficient,

433
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,680
and it's been effective. Right, there's no game this season

434
00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:12,759
this year that Utah has won, well, they've won by

435
00:20:12,839 --> 00:20:16,039
less than twenty five points. So you know, it's a

436
00:20:16,079 --> 00:20:18,319
complete overhaul in the offense and it's just kind of

437
00:20:18,319 --> 00:20:20,279
looking at how you Tah out there and what it's

438
00:20:20,319 --> 00:20:22,559
really kind of gotten to get there.

439
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,119
Speaker 1: Josh Furlong, Ladies and gentlemen, great segment. Make sure you're

440
00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,039
following him on x check out all of his content

441
00:20:30,039 --> 00:20:32,039
at cashal dot com. Also, you've got a podcast as

442
00:20:32,039 --> 00:20:35,319
well for Cougar fans to peruse if they have the time.

443
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,359
Speaker 3: Yes, the Utah Checkdown Podcast.

444
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,200
Speaker 4: Happy to Happy to talk with anybody or share that

445
00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,759
with anybody and kind of give some insights. It's not

446
00:20:44,839 --> 00:20:48,759
a perfect platform to get it all, but it's an

447
00:20:48,759 --> 00:20:49,759
opportunity to just kind.

448
00:20:49,599 --> 00:20:51,759
Speaker 3: Of go a little deeper than what some written articles

449
00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:52,480
could be sometimes.

450
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:53,960
Speaker 2: There you go check it out today.

451
00:20:54,039 --> 00:20:56,440
Speaker 1: Josh Furlong, Ladies and gentlemen, Josh, appreciate you man, thanks

452
00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:57,000
for joining us.

453
00:20:57,039 --> 00:20:59,799
Speaker 2: There's always our pleasure having on our airwaves.

454
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:02,519
Speaker 3: Sounds great membership it all right.

455
00:21:02,559 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 2: There you have it.

456
00:21:03,319 --> 00:21:06,000
Speaker 1: That is our segment brought to you by Game Day

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00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:06,720
Men's Health.

458
00:21:06,759 --> 00:21:08,200
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That's game Day Men's Health dot Com. Let them know

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