Speaker 1: Just like the Cougar football team, Ben Criddle was built,
it's not born, and since two thousand and nineties built
himself into the go to source on the radio and
online for all Thys Cougars. This is Cougar Sports with
Ben Krittle on one O three nine ninety three ESPN
The Fan.
Speaker 2: Welcome back Cougar Sports one of three nine ninety for
a three ESPN The Fan.
Speaker 3: I bet Critle broadcasting from our swig location just south
of Lavella or Stadium. Royal Army Brand is in attendants.
Get some BYU swag, create a by fans four fans.
Stay loyal to the Royal rep They the right way.
Purchase your bay Lecesns apparel at Royal Army Brand dot com.
Rectex's gonna be doling out some delicious pulled pork sandwiches
here Momentarily you get some food and Monster Energy Drinks
will be here too to get you energized. But always
get yourself a swig. I got myself a swig. I
think I got a I got a I guess it's
called the beach, babe. I don't even know what it is.
It's to do with a bunch of caffeine in it
and all manner of different sugars and nutrients hopefully, And
so you can come get a swig as well as
you get prep get ready for this BYU Utah rivalry game.
We're gonna welcome in Drake Toll here in a few minutes.
But also we just had a celebrity join us. That's right,
a former BYU great baller, shot caller, one of my
favorite receivers of the modern era. And so we're gonna
welcome in him in here momentarily to get us prep,
get us ready for this rivalry game. But guys, this
rivalry game is special. I've played in it twice and
some of the best memories I've had as a college
football player. Luckily for me, I'm two and zero all
time against the Utes. And it feels good to be
undefeated against the University of Utah. It feels fantastic to
be undefeated against the University of Utah. And I just
want you know this, this two game winning streak to
be extended to three games.
Speaker 2: Why is it so important?
Speaker 3: Well, I believe Kyle Whittingham is on the brink of retirement.
Speaker 2: I think we all know that. I think we all
kind of feel that.
Speaker 3: I think it's been even prognosticated from insiders up in
Salt Lake City that Kyle Whittingham is eventually going to retire,
but he's got to get a win versus BYU. And
why does he need to win versus Buia? I believe
this is my thesis that his legacy at the University
of Utah is the greatest coach in Utah football history,
was built more so off of his dominance over BYU
than it was his successful winning ways, double digit win seasons,
bowl games, and high level like individual team achievements. Okay,
I think his legacy as a head coach has built
more so off with the rivalry game and his dominance
over his neighbor than it was, you know, comparative to
his team's success in the postseason, his team success in
bowl games, his double digit win seasons.
Speaker 2: And I'm gonna ride on that till I die.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you, I believe that, and that's that's the
reason why he's got to go out as.
Speaker 2: A victor in this rivalry game.
Speaker 3: If they don't get a win at Lovell tonight, I
think Kyle's trying to come back for another season. He
cannot go down three straight to the BYU Cougars. He
cannot go down three straight to his alma mater. Why
because his legacy is built off of the rivalry game period,
and even if it's still lopsided wins losses, the momentum
is too stark. The momentum is too tremendous for him
to step away. So you could see Kyle Whittingham come
back in twenty twenty six if he doesn't get a
win under the.
Speaker 2: Lights of level.
Speaker 3: All right, let's welcome in former BYU great six foot three, two.
Speaker 2: Hundred and ten pound.
Speaker 3: Wide receiver out of the great state Arizona, my home state,
the Valley the Sun. Let's welcome in Darius Lasser DL. No,
not on the d L tonight. Looking good, baby, Appreciate it.
Appreciate you for having me.
Speaker 2: Dude.
Speaker 3: How beautiful is this setting, This scenery, clear skies, snowcap mountains, sunny,
six pm kickoff.
Speaker 2: This is what it's all about. This is what college
football is all about.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's it's always that's always the thing
I always remember out here. Just if you especially plan,
you'll have your stadium right next to moullains with the
snow on top and then having the scenery and then
the leaves and the trees and everything like that.
Speaker 5: So it's just great to be back out here.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, what words of advice can you give
to these young bucks that are gonna be playing in
this game tonight under the lights of Lavell if you
had their listening ears, what would you tell them pregame?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I'll probably I'll just tell them just yeah,
the rival game and things like that, and you never
want to lose to your little brothers, So I just
tell them go out there and give everything you got,
but that don't try to do nothing extra, don't try
to make a special highlight plays. Just let them come
to you. Just do everything that Coligne coaching staff has
got you up to this point, because it's got you
six and zer right now. So uh, just just follow
the script, believe in the guys that you're playing with,
and then everything's gonna take care of yourself.
Speaker 3: You've you got to play one of these games. Yeah,
oh twenty and it was at Rice Ackle. What do
you recall about that that that game last season?
Speaker 5: I can't lie. It was loud in there. It was loud.
Speaker 4: I mean it don't get it's not like less but
it was. It was close though, for sure. But just
just having the their fans bark at you all game
and then uh, to send them home like that will
come and dude doing this thing and uh sending us
home with a victory is just it was just great,
like the you just you kind of you kind of
can't stop smiling after a win like that, and uh,
I don't think I don't think nobody stopped smiling even
to the next morning.
Speaker 3: So how how bad do the University of Utah defensive
backs hold comparative to other defensive backs in college football?
Speaker 5: I don't know we should ask Jojo that question. You know.
Speaker 4: Uh, they kind of they kind of trying to trying
to take my man out last year.
Speaker 3: So but I feel like, I mean, DB's hold, I'm
a dB ahold Like I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna
grab the rest, I'm gonna grab the hip, I'm gonna
grab anything I can grab.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna devate you off your out, no doubt.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I feel like but just uh, they got they
got long dv's over there. So I feel like anytime
you along DV and somebody getting that show space, you're
gonna use that length to graph. So I feel like, uh,
they do it the average dB amount, But I'm glad
they did it last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt about it. It did help it in
that drive.
Speaker 3: But still, I mean even after that, they had to
stop a b YU offense from driving down to get
in the field goal range. And so as you listen
to the complaints of Utah fans media members say, oh man,
they you know, even their head coach, even their a
d I mean.
Speaker 2: That was wild what happened last year.
Speaker 5: It was crazy.
Speaker 4: I mean I've never seen anything like that me neither,
Like I didn't even I didn't even notice it happened,
like because like we so fixated on watching the kick
return to run around and pass the ball all around,
and turns out he was walking on the field as
they was trying to go score. But what would have
happened if they actually was able to get a return
back and then he was on the field.
Speaker 5: Like I mean, so.
Speaker 4: It's a it's a fun game though, Like I feel like,
whether they won't admit it or we do, we need
this rivalry, Like I like seeing out the little chatter
going between the fans on Twitter, both for both sides,
because like that's what you're kind of needing us. So
but when they keep everything like you know what I'm saying,
at a at a friendly, a little chatted level, everything
is cool.
Speaker 3: So we had Big Newton kickoff here earlier today. Obviously
you were a part of that last year spectacle in
Big Newton Kickoff coming in for the U of a game.
Speaker 2: How special is that?
Speaker 3: I mean b YU obviously has always been a prominent
premiere program. Only recently have they been put on a
pedestal of P four status.
Speaker 2: How cool is it to see.
Speaker 3: Now the world kind of being recognizing even even more
the power that that BYU football brings, that you guys
can compete at a high level, that b y U
is a premier college football program.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I felt like that was also one of the
reasons why I came here.
Speaker 5: Out of the portal. I knew, uh oh snap, yeah.
Speaker 3: We're getting attacked because of all this delicious food over here. Yeah,
you know, and so that then that the bees come
flowing into our tail game.
Speaker 4: But I knew this was the place I wanted to be,
just kind of talking with them, the coaching staff, and
them telling me like there's gonna be the my first
year here was gonna be the first year of us
going to an actual conference, and I just kind of
wanted to show everybody like I want to be a
part of Okay, b Yu can play with these other
teams and just go out there and just compete at
a high level. And I feel like we showed that
my first year a little bit. We had like a
lot of games to slip away from us, Like it's
not like teams was just beating on us every every time.
So then we had something to prove that whole winter
summer as well, and then we went out there last
year proved.
Speaker 5: It to ourselves.
Speaker 4: That was our big focus, to prove to ourselves that
we could go out there and play with these guys
and we belong here. And we kind of we kind
of did the things we wanted to do, not everything
we wanted to do. We had we had bigger dreams
of going Arlington and playing the big Toal championship, but
uh that's just that just says you the mindset of
the guys around here, Like we wasn't we weren't settling
for second, second, spot, third, whatever, and uh, we we
want to we want to be that top dog. We
wanted to play everybody on notice, and we wanted to
be a.
Speaker 5: Part of that.
Speaker 4: Uh that first that first college football playoffs racket.
Speaker 5: So that was our mindset going into the year.
Speaker 3: You always got ticket has to take care of business tonight.
Know if sands or butts about it. Yeah, last year,
you guys, you guys got to win, and there was
a little some people would say, hey, there's a little
bit of a hangover sometimes that can happen after a
big game. Right, there was consecutive losses close ones Kansas
and ASU. If b y, you get to win tonight
versus this team, you can't have a drop off on
the back end if you want to do special things, right,
because if you want to go to Arlington, you know
you gotta focus on the next game, et cetera.
Speaker 2: So how can you avoid that, right?
Speaker 3: Uh, that that type of hangover if you do get
a win in the rivalry game, I.
Speaker 5: Feel like.
Speaker 4: You got to just be able to move on from big,
big degrees like that. I feel like, uh, last year,
the rivalry games just coming back, everybody's decided to do
stuff for it and we won and everything, but everybody
telling us, how great we were and everything like that.
So you just kind of just keep hearing people talking
about Utah and like how we played them and everything
like that. But and we try to move on, but
you kind of have it like sitting in the back
of your mind, like, yeah, we just we just went
down and went up there and went to go beat
them and everything like that. So we kind of didn't
come out and play to our full potential that next game.
Speaker 5: And uh, the.
Speaker 4: Score was what it was, but we also left a
lot of players out there, a lot of close players
out there that kind of just determined that game. And
I feel like in the Big twelve, like anybody can
win at any time, it don't matter. Like, yeah, Kansas
was on like a little losing slump at a time,
but they were still really good football team, and we
kind of just didn't go out there and head of business.
Speaker 5: The way that we should have.
Speaker 3: You got to keep your mind right and you got
to stay present. You look too far ahead, you stumble right.
That's just how it goes. And b YU, I think
is focused on this game. Obviously. This is a huge
game for BYU in a number of ways. I think
for recruiting for recruiting right now in state, Utah's putting
out a lot of recruits. That kid that we just interviewed,
four star kid out of the state of Utah, Ridgeline
High School, He's gonna choose between maybe BYU and Utah
or Texas or Tennessee. Some of these other out of
state schools are coming in hard too, But you want
to keep those guys in state. You want to keep
them at least regional, right b YU needs to be
able to tap into a Z needs to be able
to tap into you know, maybe certain areas of Nevada
in southern California, so you can keep it regional. Parents
can come to games. There's a good pitch for that,
even from a regional standpoint. My nephew from Chandler, he's
playing right now for b yu's a little tinged up.
Speaker 2: He won't be playing in this game.
Speaker 3: But like, parents like that too, and I know your
family like coming up out that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, my mom loved that, just as mean me being
in Michigan for uh one year after.
Speaker 2: That, She's like, you gotta get out of here.
Speaker 5: I gotta Yeah.
Speaker 4: I was like, I hated I hated try, I hated
it coming home myself.
Speaker 5: There's like a five hour flight. So I'm like, yeah,
I can't keep doing this. And so.
Speaker 4: Once I realized how close by you was, well, I
didn't know where BYU was at first I can't lie.
So but once I realized I closed they with, I
was like, yeah, this, this is definitely up there. And
then I came on my visit and.
Speaker 2: Then well, and that's that's interesting study.
Speaker 3: It's right, how is it right that that b YU
can get to a point.
Speaker 2: Where a high profile football player in the state of Arizona,
right the last of the family that's.
Speaker 3: A football family would know about right by you, right
like it before like actually getting recruited by b A
you know what I mean. Like and and that's that's
an interesting study. Like for b YU fans, they may
think like, well, yeah, no, they should know about by
but you just told us like I didn't know about
b YU.
Speaker 2: Prior to they were recruiting me.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't know nothing, Like I didn't I didn't know.
I didn't know Kilanie's name. I thought that was his
last name because everybody was calling him that when I
first came here. But yeah, it was like coach, like, well,
after that, I thought that was your last name, and
then I was like, and then all people just call
him Kilani too, so like but so I wasn't used
to that at first either.
Speaker 5: And then I really didn't know nothing about the.
Speaker 4: Rivalry either, like you kind of you you hear about riberies,
but like you, normally, I normally heard about like a
like a Georgia and arburn or something like that, like
rivalry something like that.
Speaker 5: So I didn't really know about this.
Speaker 4: And then, uh, I didn't really know how pretty it
was out here either, Like my visiting here was my
first time actually like coming out here.
Speaker 3: And so I remember on your visit cause I ran
into you here in Provo and met mom and met
you and stuff like that, and it was kind of
an eye opening experience for you, right, Like what do
you remember about that like initial experience?
Speaker 2: Like, oh man, how did I not know about this
this school, this, this this area? You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: I was like, uh, yeah, when I first came, I
didn't know. I didn't know what to expect. I really
didn't know what I was walking myself into.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 4: Like once once I like I told everybody I was
going on the visit here and everything like that there's
like why are you going up there? Like why are
you going to p y U? You got you got,
you got all these other places that that you can
go see. I was like why why not like something different?
Speaker 2: You don't know what, you don't know to you know,
And then I was.
Speaker 4: Like, like, I I know they they generally have good quarterbacks,
so I was like, why not come check check it out?
Speaker 5: Like I want to play with a good quarterback. So
and then.
Speaker 4: Keaton started hitting me up, Cody started hitting me up,
and then Aiden started hitting me up. But like before
I actually like came with my visit, so I was like, okay, yeah,
I'm gonna come check you out out.
Speaker 5: There's like yeah could because I got people coming.
Speaker 4: Out to reach out to me and things like that,
so that that shows that you do want you do
want me to come there. So came checked it out
and then I didn't know it was a lot of
Polynesian people out here either, so that was like that
was like a spot where they came out here eat
a lot of Hawaiian food and things like that. So
I probably never had this much of Hawaiian food in
my life either, so but.
Speaker 5: It was good though.
Speaker 4: So yeah, like everything was different, but things being closed
on Sundays, like you only get used to Chick fil
A being closed on Sundays and now everything else is
closed too.
Speaker 5: So uh, it was, it was.
Speaker 4: It was different, but it wasn't like adjustment that I
wasn't willing to accept. Uh you kind of just kind
of go dashes. Yeah, you'll adapt, go with the punches.
So that's what I did.
Speaker 3: Give me a quick score prediction. How do you see
this game playing out? And then we'll let you run
off and do whatever. You got hooked up with some
road rolling brad gear.
Speaker 2: Yeah, at the all blackout. That's nice.
Speaker 5: Had to because I was meaning to get this before
I have.
Speaker 3: It's the murdered out. Uh you know, B, why you
beat Digger from Royal Army. But give me a score
prediction I got.
Speaker 4: I got thirty four twenty one, okay, all right, double
teacher win.
Speaker 2: Okay, the digital win.
Speaker 4: And I really want to I really want to say
about like fifty to zero. But I'm gonna I'm gonna
be respectful for them, just out of just you know
what I'm saying, just out of that's just what us B.
Why you men do we we show respect to little
brothers and things like that. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna give him some points, all.
Speaker 2: Right, d L no longer on the d L. He'll
be there at UH at Lavella State. Say what's up
to him?
Speaker 3: Give him some love, Cougarnation, Terry Slasher, love and appreciate you, man.
Speaker 2: I always always love chatting with you. All right, We're
gonna go to break.
Speaker 3: Come on, buy this wig here just in the South
Swig next to Lavelle Edwards Stadium. Come get some pulled
pork sandwiches, some Swig drinks and Royal Army brand as
well as some Monster Energy drinks. We'll be handing out
those later on. Guys, don't go anywhere, Drake told. Coming
up next, this is Cougar Sports on Onto three, nine
ninety eight point three