Speaker 1: Come on by the Red Zone store here on campus,
Speaker 1: brand new layout, a bunch of different good deals. As
Speaker 1: we are only sixteen days away from the start of
Speaker 1: football season for the University of Utah.
Speaker 2: Happy to welcome in our next guest.
Speaker 1: Managing editor over at youth Zone covers the Utah athletic program.
Speaker 2: Sammy Mora joins Usaday Wednesday. Sammy, how are you?
Speaker 3: I'm doing great? How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm doing really well. I've got to ask you are you?
Speaker 1: Are you currently a student at the University of Utah.
Speaker 3: I actually graduated with my BS from the U in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, that a girl, congrats on that. But
Speaker 1: you are much younger than I am. And I'm here
Speaker 1: at the campus store, and so I've seen a lot
Speaker 1: of students coming and going. When did when did cowboy
Speaker 1: boots become a super popular fashion statement here on campus?
Speaker 2: This is a new thing for me.
Speaker 3: Honestly, I have no idea. I always you know, I
Speaker 3: have a writer who works for me at ut Zone,
Speaker 3: who is a senior at the you this year, and
Speaker 3: the generational divide between him, who's going to be twenty
Speaker 3: one in a couple of weeks and me who just
Speaker 3: turned twenty six is it feels massive. It feels massive
Speaker 3: even though we all are all under that branch of
Speaker 3: gen Z, I feel like there's a generational divide.
Speaker 4: So I honestly have no clue.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough, fair enough, Sammy, and my son is
Speaker 1: twenty about to turn twenty four. So I'm a big
Speaker 1: fan of your generation. Shout out to all the gen
Speaker 1: z ers out there. Here's where I want to start
Speaker 1: with you, as we are sixteen days away from kick
Speaker 1: what gives you the most confidence, Sammy that this year
Speaker 1: will look different than last, This will be a bounce
Speaker 1: back here for Utah year two.
Speaker 2: In this conference, I think.
Speaker 3: One of the biggest things that I have been you know,
Speaker 3: thinking about, focusing on and like writing about, has been
Speaker 3: you know, stability on the defensive side. I think that
Speaker 3: there's so many veterans that are coming back that wanted
Speaker 3: to write the ship, that wanted to go out on
Speaker 3: a high note, that I think that's going to help
Speaker 3: the defensive side of the ball and on these I think,
Speaker 3: you know, the new offense under Jason Beck Devin Dampier
Speaker 3: seems to be loved by every single player on this
Speaker 3: team almost and I think that having him lead this
Speaker 3: offense in a system that he understands with Jason Beck,
Speaker 3: I think that, you know, there's a lot to.
Speaker 4: Be optimistic about this.
Speaker 3: Season, and I honestly, you know, I think if everyone
Speaker 3: stays healthy, I think this should be a bounce back
Speaker 3: year for Utah.
Speaker 1: Of course, UH, quarterback is a position that everybody is
Speaker 1: focused on, not just a Utah but all over the country.
Speaker 1: Obviously we know the importance of the position. It's interesting
Speaker 1: to consider, Sammy, that seven of the top ten AP
Speaker 1: teams are breaking in new quarterbacks, and of course Utah
Speaker 1: is breaking in a new quarterback as well. Realistic expectations
Speaker 1: in your mind for Devin this year, Sammy, sound like what.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, the I don't think he's going
Speaker 3: to have the like over a thousand rushing yards this season.
Speaker 3: I think that's something that that expectation needs to be
Speaker 3: kind of tampered a little bit or that hope, because
Speaker 3: a lot of the reason why he had that many
Speaker 3: yards last season is that is the New Mexico offensive
Speaker 3: line was not the greatest and so he was a
Speaker 3: lot of those plays as he was being flushed out
Speaker 3: of the pocket quickly and he was running the ball.
Speaker 3: He was scrambling for his life, and I think with
Speaker 3: the stellar offensive line that Utah has, I don't think
Speaker 3: he's going to have as many of those, you know,
Speaker 3: get out of dodge plays. So I think that is
Speaker 3: something that I'm expecting is lower. I wouldn't be shocked
Speaker 3: if he's around the same amount of passing yards he
Speaker 3: was at last year, which was around twenty five hundred.
Speaker 3: I do expect the interception number to go down. He
Speaker 3: had twelve interceptions of twelve touchdowns last year. I expect
Speaker 3: those interception numbers to go down.
Speaker 4: There was last year.
Speaker 3: If you go back and you and you watch a
Speaker 3: lot of the New Mexico games, which I have done
Speaker 3: over the last few months, it's there were three or
Speaker 3: four interceptions that were not Devin's fault, Like balls were
Speaker 3: bouncing off wide receiver's hands, they were in a great
Speaker 3: position and they hit him square in the hands and
Speaker 3: then they dropped it. Balls were ripped out wide receivers
Speaker 3: hands tip drills. I think, so there was a handful
Speaker 3: of those that weren't Devin's fault. So I think that
Speaker 3: interception total is also going to go down. He's a
Speaker 3: smart guy and he knows what to do with the
Speaker 3: ball and where to put it and how to put
Speaker 3: his players in the best position to succeed.
Speaker 1: Speaking of wide receivers, Sammy, speaking of wide receivers, let's
Speaker 1: dig into it.
Speaker 2: So Utah has seventeen.
Speaker 1: On their roster, but only one who has more than
Speaker 1: thirty career catches. Coach wit this week during his media availability, said,
Speaker 1: they've identified the seven or eight that they like, and
Speaker 1: that's an important number because that's the number you travel with.
Speaker 1: What's your understanding, Sammy, of where we're at with this
Speaker 1: wide receiver room and how do you think ultimately it
Speaker 1: plays out with reps and catches and such.
Speaker 3: So I think there's been there's been some good development
Speaker 3: in the wide receiver room since fall campus started. We've
Speaker 3: heard a lot of good things about Tobias Merriweather, about
Speaker 3: Larry Simmons, the two transfers of that these added during
Speaker 3: the spring window. We heard a lot of about Dadrian Zipperer.
Speaker 3: We've heard a lot about Ryan Davis.
Speaker 4: Creed Wittemore.
Speaker 3: So there's there's guys that are starting to, you know,
Speaker 3: pick up speed and get like their feet underneath them
Speaker 3: and picking up stride and stuff and so I think,
Speaker 3: you know, I've said this most of the off season,
Speaker 3: Utah is not gonna have a thousand yard receiver. I
Speaker 3: don't think that's the case. I think you're gonna have
Speaker 3: one guy that's in like the eight hundred and nine
Speaker 3: hundred yard range, you probably have two that are in
Speaker 3: the seven to eight hundred, and then you probably have
Speaker 3: the rest or anywhere from seven hundred to one hundred.
Speaker 4: I think it kind.
Speaker 3: Of spreads out that way, and you have to factor
Speaker 3: in the tight ends as well. I think the tight
Speaker 3: ends are going to get theirs this year. But I think, honestly,
Speaker 3: I think the seven that Utah probably rolls with and
Speaker 3: this is just like you know, speculation on my end,
Speaker 3: but I think it's it's Tobias Merriweather, Larry Simmons, Ryan Davis,
Speaker 3: Creed Wittemore, Dadrian Zipper, Luca Calderella, and then you know,
Speaker 3: maybe you see Nate Johnson get thrown in there. You
Speaker 3: could see Justin Stevenson be thrown in there. There's a
Speaker 3: lot of guys that you could use on those last
Speaker 3: two spots. But I think from my vantage point, I
Speaker 3: think the top six are kind of easy to figure
Speaker 3: out based on roster based on what coaches have said,
Speaker 3: what's based on what players have said, stuff like that.
Speaker 3: So you know, I you guys, I'm not gonna have
Speaker 3: a thousand yard receiver, but I'm not. That's not keeping
Speaker 3: me up at night about this team, and I think
Speaker 3: that it shouldn't keep fans up at night either.
Speaker 1: Wasyshan Parker, with a very solid freshman campaign up on
Speaker 1: the police for Wazoo, averaging more than five yards of carry.
Speaker 1: Seems like a very confident young man. Discussing his desire
Speaker 1: to go over one thousand yards Utah, I believe as
Speaker 1: seventeen one thousand yard running backs in its history. Wasshaan
Speaker 1: even said he'd like to touch fifteen hundred, which we
Speaker 1: would love to see. Little surprise to hear Coach Witt
Speaker 1: talk about that right now. Is a competition in that room,
Speaker 1: Naquari Rodgers, I guess making some headway as well. And look,
Speaker 1: you want multiple options, Sammy, As you know, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of people, and I'll put myself in that area.
Speaker 1: Believe maybe Wasshan would be bit of a bell cow.
Speaker 1: But what are your thoughts on what we are seeing
Speaker 1: in that room? And do you think way Shan maybe
Speaker 1: eventually does take the majority of those reps.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be shocked if, if you know, if way
Speaker 3: Shawn starts hitting his stride and is product that producing
Speaker 3: at a high level, I wouldn't be shocked to see,
Speaker 3: you know, him maybe take the bellcal of the responsibilities
Speaker 3: at some point in the season. But I'm not it's
Speaker 3: not I don't think it's It shouldn't be scary or
Speaker 3: discouraging or or anything to see. And hear Wit talking
Speaker 3: about Nacari Rodgers as well. Nacari was part of this
Speaker 3: offense last year at New Mexico. He's played at Jason Becky,
Speaker 3: He's played with Devin Dampier. He knows what they expect
Speaker 3: and what they want to know for this offense. And
Speaker 3: Jason beck has spoke so much about his circle of
Speaker 3: trust and putting the eleven guys out on the field
Speaker 3: that he trusts the most to get their responsibilities done.
Speaker 3: And it's clear that you know, Nakari is still one
Speaker 3: of those guys. I don't think it's a knock on Wayshan.
Speaker 3: I think it just proves that both of those guys
Speaker 3: are able to get the job done. I mean, Devin
Speaker 3: said earlier this week, he said that he doesn't like
Speaker 3: it's very interchangeable between the two of them. He knows
Speaker 3: that whoever he hands it off to out of those
Speaker 3: two is going to get him four or five yards.
Speaker 3: So I think that that should be encouraging right there,
Speaker 3: that you have two running backs that can, you know,
Speaker 3: get you half of your ten yards in one play
Speaker 3: if things go well. And with his offensive line, you
Speaker 3: know that there should be a lot of push and
Speaker 3: there should be the ability to break off those big runs.
Speaker 3: But I think those two are a great one two
Speaker 3: are one A one B is what I should actually say.
Speaker 3: But you know, Bryce Duke will get his the old
Speaker 3: dominion transfer. I think Jason Beck has called him more
Speaker 3: of a receiving a RECEI he said, he's a running
Speaker 3: back who has really good hands and has the ability
Speaker 3: to be a good receiver. So I think that you'll
Speaker 3: see Bryson situations where you know, maybe unreceiving plays stuff
Speaker 3: like that, but you will see him still tote the rock.
Speaker 3: Daniel Bray the true freshman from Texas, fast, speedy guy,
Speaker 3: probably one of the Sassas guys on the team. I
Speaker 3: think he logged like a four to three, four or
Speaker 3: something of that effect during his high.
Speaker 4: School career and stuff.
Speaker 3: So I think that you I think those are probably
Speaker 3: the four you're going to see the most of this season.
Speaker 3: But I mean, when has Utah ever had a running
Speaker 3: back by committee approach that hasn't been successful? I think
Speaker 3: that you know, they have guys that can do a
Speaker 3: bunch of different things and that's just going to make
Speaker 3: this offense better.
Speaker 1: Big twelve Media Days, Coach Wit hopped on with myself
Speaker 1: and Sean Sean O'Connell and dropped at I don't know
Speaker 1: if he intentionally did this, but dropped a little tidbit.
Speaker 2: That got a lot of attention.
Speaker 1: And it was funny because after Kyle joined us about
Speaker 1: five minutes later, both Smith Snowden and Lander Barton were
Speaker 1: our guests as well, and so Coach Witt on our
Speaker 1: show said that they plan on using Smith and Lander
Speaker 1: on offense this year. And then when they stopped by,
Speaker 1: I asked them about it and they looked at me like,
Speaker 1: I don't think we're supposed to say this, and I said, well,
Speaker 1: just so you know, your head coach just did.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: So it was kind of a fun any dynamic there.
Speaker 1: But what's your understanding, Sammy, of what that will look
Speaker 1: like this year with Lander and Smith potentially getting some
Speaker 1: reps on the offensive side of the football.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then Kyle told us at Big twelve media
Speaker 3: days that it's going to be Smith's in the slot,
Speaker 3: Lander at tight end. I think that, you know, Lander
Speaker 3: was a was a highly productive tight end in high school,
Speaker 3: and I understand that the level of competition he was
Speaker 3: going up against.
Speaker 4: In high school is different than he's going to be
Speaker 4: going up.
Speaker 3: Against now, but highly highly productive guy just with his
Speaker 3: size and his catch radiousness, frame and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: So I think that's interesting to see. And then Smith,
Speaker 3: you know, we saw what Smith can do in special
Speaker 3: team situation, whether it's on punts, kickoffs, whatever, last season,
Speaker 3: and how fast and how elite of an athlete he is.
Speaker 3: So I think, you know, this all goes back to
Speaker 3: Jason Beck saying putting the best eleven players on the field.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying that you're going to see Smith and
Speaker 3: Lander playing Travis Hunter level of levels of snaps on
Speaker 3: both sides of the ball there. I'mary focus is going
Speaker 3: to remain on the defense. It's just there's going to
Speaker 3: be certain packages there's going to be certain situations in
Speaker 3: which those two are on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 3: and you know, if it works, it works. If it
Speaker 3: doesn't work, it doesn't work. But I think that you know,
Speaker 3: you have to at least give it a shot because
Speaker 3: they're playmakers and you want to put the best playmakers
Speaker 3: on the field no matter what.
Speaker 2: So it's it's a very nice dynamic.
Speaker 1: Even though Utah is breaking in a new quarterback, we
Speaker 1: know who the quarterback is and it's Devin. But Sammy,
Speaker 1: if we've learned anything over the past, you know, two, three,
Speaker 1: four years, you got to have at least two, if
Speaker 1: not three, and some years you would like to have five.
Speaker 2: You don't want to rely on that. And I'm knocking
Speaker 2: on what.
Speaker 1: As hard as I can for Devin to stay as
Speaker 1: healthy as possible all year. But that room behind him
Speaker 1: has shaped up to be an interesting battle as I
Speaker 1: think most people, certainly myself included, assume that Isaac, as
Speaker 1: the incumbent.
Speaker 2: Would grab the backup job.
Speaker 1: But Kyle oftentimes and which back oftentimes have sung the
Speaker 1: praise is of young Bird Ficklin, who's competing with Isaac
Speaker 1: Wilson for that backup quarterback spot. What's your understanding of
Speaker 1: where that battle is now? In any thoughts on who
Speaker 1: could come out on top.
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, I mean, I think
Speaker 3: there's this is like the fact that this battle is
Speaker 3: still going on, I think proves that, you know, these
Speaker 3: two are are truly neck at neck and they are
Speaker 3: you know, playing at a at a at a high level,
Speaker 3: you know. And I say that, but Kyle also said,
Speaker 3: you know, they had some mistakes, string scrimmages. I mean,
Speaker 3: to be completely honest, that's kind of to be expected
Speaker 3: for some guys that are, you know, still trying to
Speaker 3: learn the offense and get.
Speaker 4: Used to all the moving parts and stuff.
Speaker 3: But I you know, Isaac has there's there's pros and
Speaker 3: concert both of them.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 3: I think Isaac the big pro that you have is,
Speaker 3: you know, he has all that live game experience that
Speaker 3: Bird doesn't have. I mean, Kyle said the same thing.
Speaker 3: He's like, you don't know how Bird's going to react
Speaker 3: in a in a live game situation because he's a
Speaker 3: true freshman, whereas Isaac has all that live experience.
Speaker 4: And then on the other side.
Speaker 3: Bird is very much a true dual threat. He is
Speaker 3: very agile, a very good athlete. He he also kind.
Speaker 4: Of has that same sense that Devin has.
Speaker 3: If he knows how to tucket and run when he
Speaker 3: needs to, and he has some speed, he's up to
Speaker 3: two hundred pounds, he looks the part, and I think that,
Speaker 3: you know, that's what Bird has that maybe Isaac doesn't,
Speaker 3: is that elusiveness when running the ball, which I think
Speaker 3: is something that is highly valued in this offense. But
Speaker 3: you know, at the end of the day, like it's
Speaker 3: going to come down to, you know, consistency in practice, who.
Speaker 4: Is getting the job done, Who's not turning.
Speaker 3: The ball over that we all know that's a Kyle
Speaker 3: Whittingham big thing is that you know he has who
Speaker 3: doesn't who keeps the ball safe no matter what position
Speaker 3: it is. If you don't keep the ball safe, you're probably.
Speaker 4: Not going to see the field that much. And so
Speaker 4: I think, who's going to keep.
Speaker 3: The ball safe, Who's like competing at a high level.
Speaker 3: And then you know, if it does come down to
Speaker 3: live game experience, then it's probably going to be Isaac.
Speaker 3: But if it comes down to you know, mobility factors,
Speaker 3: then I think it could be Bird. Like honestly, I
Speaker 3: have no idea who it could be at this point.
Speaker 3: You know, there was moments in spring where Isaac looked
Speaker 3: like he was like he was in control of the
Speaker 3: of the sect of the Chu spot. But then there
Speaker 3: were days where Bird looked like he was beating Isaac
Speaker 3: by a mile. So you know, it's kind of hard
Speaker 3: to you know, give a full read on that one.
Speaker 3: We don't get to see anything at practice and stuff.
Speaker 1: Over to a couple questions defensively here and I don't
Speaker 1: know if you heard, Sammy, but Keanu Tonavasa transferred to BYU.
Speaker 2: I don't did you catch onto that story?
Speaker 3: That is brand new news to me?
Speaker 2: Okay, little little breaking news on a Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Then obviously a kid and Utah's losses BYU's game. That
Speaker 1: kid is good and he is uh uh, he.
Speaker 2: Does leave a hole.
Speaker 1: I know we're all taught to never questioned coach wits
Speaker 1: defense and Morgan's defense, So talk to me about how
Speaker 1: that d line is kind of settling in. And then
Speaker 1: Cameron Calhoun is Crimson Tide, how are they going to
Speaker 1: replace him?
Speaker 2: And what is that hole looking like as of now?
Speaker 3: Also with the with the corner back room, so obviously
Speaker 3: you have Scooby and Smith, who have kind of you know,
Speaker 3: locked locked in so to speak. I mean Shreefshaw hates
Speaker 3: using the word locked in or established, but those two
Speaker 3: have you know, firm control on Nickel and one of
Speaker 3: the outside corner spots, respectively. But Kyle Whittingham said on Monday, yeah, Monday,
Speaker 3: that Blake Cotton has finally started to pull away on
Speaker 3: that outside corner spot. And Blake's the Blake's of transfer
Speaker 3: from UC Davis six to three, long guy, athletic guy.
Speaker 3: He was someone that you know, us over're on your zone.
Speaker 3: We're bullish about winning the spot. Even if you go
Speaker 3: back to Spring and you see some of our post
Speaker 3: Spring content, like Blake has the smarts and the skill
Speaker 3: set to be a high level corner and you know
Speaker 3: he only has one year to play, and the thing
Speaker 3: is is like, if you can get him going, that's great.
Speaker 3: And but then at the same time there, I think
Speaker 3: his battle is far from over over. You have uh
Speaker 3: Rock Cauldwell, the GICO transfer that's also competing for that spot,
Speaker 3: and you also have Don Sauders of Texas A and
Speaker 3: m transfer, So there's a lot of guys that are
Speaker 3: all fighting for that spot, and they're fighting for time
Speaker 3: and I think that, you know, Shariff said or Kyle said, someone.
Speaker 4: Said so not of something on the coaching staff said
Speaker 4: that it might.
Speaker 3: Get to a point where it's cornerback by a committee.
Speaker 3: And you know, Scooby is not the tallest guy, and
Speaker 3: both Blake and Rock are six two sixty three sixty four,
Speaker 3: So I think that you know, you might see some
Speaker 3: different packages depending on what personnel are lining up across
Speaker 3: from Utah, depending on the team, depending on the situation.
Speaker 3: But you know, I like Blake. Blake Blakes film is
Speaker 3: one of the funner ones to watch, I think, And
Speaker 3: you know, if he maintains that that spot, I don't
Speaker 3: have any.
Speaker 4: Concerns about him.
Speaker 3: You know, Shreefshot described him as a sponge, Like that's
Speaker 3: something great you want to hear about from a corner,
Speaker 3: especially one that has only been with your program since January.
Speaker 3: And then defensive line, I think, you know, you kind
Speaker 3: of have some semblance of an idea who's going to
Speaker 3: be on the ends. It's going to be Logan Fano
Speaker 3: on one end, and then you know, the the rest
Speaker 3: of the pack is like Cash Dylan, Lancefold's Claw, John
Speaker 3: Henry Daily, Paul Fitzgerald, all of those guys are going
Speaker 3: to be, you know, getting time in the rotation. So
Speaker 3: not a lot of production on that defense at end room,
Speaker 3: but a lot of talent, like a lot of guys
Speaker 3: that can get.
Speaker 4: Back to the quarterback.
Speaker 3: And you know, Morgan said, it's not he's not focused,
Speaker 3: so he's not focused as much on Sax as he
Speaker 3: as of getting pressured at the quarterback and forcing the
Speaker 3: quarterback to make bad decisions. But then at the tackles position,
Speaker 3: you know, the three that we we know are established
Speaker 3: are Aliki Viamahi, Dallas Bakalai, and John aala Aa. Which
Speaker 3: then that kind of leaves that that d tackles four
Speaker 3: slash five spot open because you know, utile act to
Speaker 3: go four to five deep at that position, so they
Speaker 3: can rotate guys in, keep guys fresh, all that jazz
Speaker 3: and stuff. And so I think the names that we've
Speaker 3: heard the most recently is Carson Kaslusi, the true freshman
Speaker 3: out of Skyline High School, big guy six five, came
Speaker 3: in at a great weight, didn't have to they didn't
Speaker 3: have to worry about getting it, getting him up to
Speaker 3: wait for him to time and stuff. He was here.
Speaker 3: That's the spring he's someone that we think could be
Speaker 3: an early contributor for Utah and then a late enrollly,
Speaker 3: so he didn't get here until a couple of months ago.
Speaker 3: Is Koopu Cephalona from Hawaii, the four star recruit who
Speaker 3: you know, really young in his football career, but very
Speaker 3: very very high motor. He's a former like two times
Speaker 3: state basketball player, like state champion or like Gatorade Player
Speaker 3: of the Year or whatever it's called this time, very
Speaker 3: high IQ guy, and Kyle Lillingham said that he had
Speaker 3: a great scrimmage. So that's another great development to hear
Speaker 3: that you have some of these young guys that are
Speaker 3: finally getting things going and clicking. But it's going to
Speaker 3: be about consistency for them. But I think, you know,
Speaker 3: defensive tackle is one of those positions that UTA has
Speaker 3: always been historically very good at, just even if they're young,
Speaker 3: and so I think getting them out there, getting these
Speaker 3: young guys out there will be beneficial for now but
Speaker 3: also into the future. As you know, you lose a
Speaker 3: leaky at the end of the season, so you then
Speaker 3: you bring in you have Jonah Jonah, you have Dallas,
Speaker 3: and then if these two can really get things going,
Speaker 3: you know that's a great four man rotation for twenty
Speaker 3: twenty six.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you about special teams.
Speaker 1: I mean it doesn't it's not the headline grabbing conversation.
Speaker 1: But if you're a Utah fan and have been for
Speaker 1: quite some time, you have both great memories of solid
Speaker 1: kickers and punters and also nightmares about special teams that
Speaker 1: have cost you games in the past. You can win
Speaker 1: and lose games on special teams. Coach Wood talks about
Speaker 1: it all the time. So kicking and punting, Sammy, where
Speaker 1: are we at with those positions as of now?
Speaker 3: Honestly, haven't heard much on the punting front, but I
Speaker 3: think all Utah fans would be more than fine and
Speaker 3: more than happy.
Speaker 4: To not see O.
Speaker 3: Ryan Phillips for a good majority of the season because
Speaker 3: that means you know you're getting those touchdowns. Dylan Curtis
Speaker 3: though the local kicker from Murray, he was one of
Speaker 3: the highest. He was there's a whole separate recruiting service
Speaker 3: for kickers and punters. He was a five star kicker
Speaker 3: out of this class. Dylan, Dylan has a leg like
Speaker 3: I would not be shocked if you see Utah, you know,
Speaker 3: trotting him out with like three seconds left until halftime
Speaker 3: to kick a fifty five yarder, Like I would not
Speaker 3: be shocked if he gets out there and does it again.
Speaker 3: Like you know, during the spring practice, the like the
Speaker 3: one thing we didn't see was punting and kicking. So
Speaker 3: you know, we saw everything else except for that. But
Speaker 3: I remember, like a few years ago, punting and kicking
Speaker 3: is all we would see at practice. But we haven't
Speaker 3: seen a lot of them this spring. But you know,
Speaker 3: I'm not I'm not like again, Dylan Curtis. If again
Speaker 3: I said this on our US one podcast this week,
Speaker 3: is that I think Utah fans really hope that the
Speaker 3: only time they see Dylan Curtis is here is taking
Speaker 3: extra points and doing kickoffs and occasionally, you know, fifty
Speaker 3: five yarder at with three seconds left until halftime, just
Speaker 3: to see if he can do it. But you know,
Speaker 3: not too much updates on that front. But I am
Speaker 3: planning on asking Kyle about it on Monday.
Speaker 1: All right, Sammy, before I said you loose, I want
Speaker 1: you to complete the following. Utah football will compete at
Speaker 1: a high level and potentially win a big twelve championship
Speaker 1: this year if.
Speaker 3: What everyone stays healthy or I'll qualify that. If I'll
Speaker 3: qualify that there is no long term injuries that will
Speaker 3: impact this team. If a guy misses a game here there,
Speaker 3: I don't think it will. You know, there's a lot
Speaker 3: of depth at almost every single position on this team.
Speaker 4: I think they'll be fine.
Speaker 3: But if there is a if there is a a
Speaker 3: major long term injury, they won't be in that position.
Speaker 3: But if everyone stays healthy and there is no long
Speaker 3: term injury, they will be competing for a Big twelve championship,
Speaker 3: possibly if everything else goes to plan.
Speaker 2: Sammy, where can people go find all your good work?
Speaker 3: You can find us over at ut zone dot com.
Speaker 3: We are running currently a fifty percent off special, so
Speaker 3: your first year is fifty percent off up until the
Speaker 3: start of the football season. You can follow me on
Speaker 3: Twitter at s underscore more two four seven. You can
Speaker 3: also follow the ute Zone account at ut zone dot com.
Speaker 3: But yeah, if you're if you're looking to join a
Speaker 3: great Utah community, come on over to ut Zone. We
Speaker 3: have exclusive content and one of the greatest communities in
Speaker 3: college football.
Speaker 1: Sammy, great work, good job, Thanks for the time, Keep
Speaker 1: up the great work.
Speaker 2: We'll get you on soon.
Speaker 1: Okay, Thanks Ben all right, before we catch a break,
Speaker 1: we welcome in Ryan from the Dish professionals. Give them
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Speaker 1: football seasons here, make the switch to Dish. If you're
Speaker 1: a sports fan, you're missing out.
Speaker 2: Also, Internet solutions. Fun to be out with you, Ryan,
Speaker 2: How you doing.
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Speaker 1: All right, there is Ryan from the Dish Professionals. We're
Speaker 1: going to be joined by Zach Moss, one of the
Speaker 1: best to ever do it at the University of Utah.
Speaker 1: Coming up after a quick break. But we're live today
Speaker 1: at the Utah Red Zone store and the senior marketing manager,
Speaker 1: not just the marketing manager, but the senior marketing manager,
Speaker 1: Bridget Miller, stops by. Bridget, How are you great?
Speaker 2: How are you.
Speaker 1: I'm well, thank you so much for the time. So
Speaker 1: tell me about yourself. How'd you get into this role?
Speaker 1: How long you've been doing it?
Speaker 6: Well, I have been at the Campus Store since last September,
Speaker 6: so I'm really excited to have a full football season.
Speaker 6: I kind of came in right in the middle. But
Speaker 6: I was actually at the university in a bunch of
Speaker 6: different departments for like eight years prior and went to
Speaker 6: school here. So I'm in a lum and I just
Speaker 6: wanted to come back. I missed it so much.
Speaker 2: After I left. Very nice.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks for having us out here. We've had a
Speaker 1: good time. This is bringing back fun memories for old
Speaker 1: youths like me. We called it the Bookstore. I know
Speaker 1: now it's the Campus Store and it's the Red Zone store.
Speaker 2: So tell me about the Third Down Drop. Okay, it's
Speaker 2: kind of a new thing. Let's hear about it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, So obviously we are no longer just a bookstore.
Speaker 6: We are way more than that. We're servicing. Obviously, the
Speaker 6: campus community at the Utah fan base is such a
Speaker 6: huge part of who we love. So we're going to
Speaker 6: announce this new program this fall. It's called Third Down Drop.
Speaker 6: So every home football game. There will be a limited
Speaker 6: edition item and that's going to be a limited run,
Speaker 6: so get your hands on it as soon as it drops,
Speaker 6: and it'll be different each game. We've had a couple
Speaker 6: u of you students actually do some of the designs
Speaker 6: for them, so they're gonna be really cool.
Speaker 2: We're excited.
Speaker 1: So what are the plans to roll this out? Are
Speaker 1: you gonna announce it like Monday of game week? What's
Speaker 1: that going to look like?
Speaker 6: Yeah, so we're gonna start kind of trickling it out
Speaker 6: of FanFest for the true fans that are all in
Speaker 6: it want to meet the athletes, and then the following
Speaker 6: week we're going to be sending emails. So definitely go
Speaker 6: sign up for our newsletter so you know exactly when
Speaker 6: it drops and you can get your hands on it.
Speaker 1: And where can people go get the newsletter and follow
Speaker 1: you on social channels and things like that.
Speaker 6: So go to store dot Utah dot edu our website,
Speaker 6: that's the best place. There's a quick sign up at
Speaker 6: the bottom and you'll be right in.
Speaker 1: Okay, Hey, thanks again for having us out. It's good
Speaker 1: to meet you and we'll chat.
Speaker 2: Toon Okayah, thanks for stoping by all right.
Speaker 1: Bridgie Miller, Senior Marketing manage of the Utah Red Zone store.
Speaker 2: Here.
Speaker 1: So, as you just heard a brand new initiative called
Speaker 1: third Down Drop where new exclusive limited edition items each
Speaker 1: home game will be dropped. Okay, so Bridget just give
Speaker 1: you all the gave you all the information. Go subscribe
Speaker 1: to their newsletter and then you'll get an alert about
Speaker 1: these exclusive items that will drop for each home game,
Speaker 1: and then you better get your hands on them before
Speaker 1: they run out, because is Bridget just mentioned it is
Speaker 1: a limited addition situation