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October 6, 2025 • 15 mins
The boys talk with UConn Athletic Director David Benedict!
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Afternoon Drive.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
We've been watching a lot of baseball in studio, as
I bet you a lot of our listeners are out
there watching some baseball getting into their system.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
We have got wall to wall coverage today in.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Wild card action for all of our Major League Baseball teams, Yankees,
Red Sox. A little bit later, it's Tuesday, and we
always talk to you kon Athletic Director David Benedict on Tuesday.
How is it working right now in the athletic department?
Are we still focused on college sports? Or is anybody
wearing any Red Sox gear? Is anybody like gearing up
for this week? How's it going there for the athletic

(00:33):
department in the midst of Major League Baseball playoffs?

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Honestly, I mean, I'm sure we have quite a few
people that are Yankees fans and Red Sox fans, but
generally speaking, we've got so many sports that are either
competing or just getting ready to start competing, that I
think our focus and attention is solely fun. The husky your.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Head might be, it's been in me and I just
looked at this Saturday schedule like there's not a fall
sport even some springs that we got golf going on
this weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
I think there's thirteen or fourteen events this week.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Oh my gosh, a lot. All right, let's start with football.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
We got a home football game against FIU coming to
the Rent. Another home win on Saturday. Again, thank you,
sir for the three thirty kickoffs this year. That should
be great. But let's go back to last week. What
did you think about the game in Buffalo twenty to seventeen,
A three point squeaker with our man Chris Freeman putting
that extra kick in to get us the win and
go three two.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, listen, unbelievable execution at the end. You know, second
time this season already that we've been able to execute
with under a minute left in the game to drive
the field and put ourselves in a position to make
a field goal and at both times being successful. Fortunately
this time it was for the win instead of the
tie against Syracuse. So look proud of that piece of it.

(01:57):
But look, I think there's a sense around the program
and around our fan base that you know, we're better
than maybe what we're playing right now, and so I
don't I don't think anyone around here is making any
excuses or running from that. I think we all have

(02:18):
higher expectations than maybe what we've seen in totality on
the field the last couple of weeks. So we're looking for,
you know, an improvement over the last couple of weeks,
just as as a whole. But generally speaking, look, you
have twelve of these opportunities. The goal is to win,

(02:38):
and sometimes you have to win ugly. Sometimes you win
and you don't play your best, but that certainly is
much better than the alternative. Going on the road is
difficult to begin with, and wins are precious. So I'll
take the win, move on and look forward to the
next game.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
I think Joe's really improved week to week. I thought
his legs were kind of the factor this week or
this past week when he was getting some first downs.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Did you notice the fake field goal punt. I'd never
seen anything like that before.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
That was interesting, but there was just some little I
don't know, David, let's talk to David Benedict, the linebacker.
I think for college football, to me, it got so
much rpo and not enough creativity.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
We got all these fast like offenses.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
We want to get the playoff in five seconds, and
you know that can have some genericism, make it like generic.
In the backfield, we got transfers all the time, so
it's hard to keep guys in the same playbook. We
got coaches moving all over the place. I've just been
looking for some creativity. I thought the fake field goal
punt was definitely one from coach More that I haven't seen.
But I don't know, man, I just feel like offenses

(03:48):
across the country have gotten pretty bland.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, I don't. I'm not sure if I agree with that.
I mean, look, things are cyclical in nature, I think,
but the job of an offensive coordinator is to take
advantage of the weakness of the opposing defense. And I
think most coaches would tell you that it's impossible to

(04:14):
take away all aspects of the field. And so you know, obviously,
when we have a guy like Skyler Fulton or excuse me,
skylt Kell, you you know, you don't want to give
up deep balls. And so defenses are obviously playing us
in a way where they whether they're bracketing or double

(04:35):
teaming or you know, laying over the top zone. So
it lends itself to taking shorter throws and you can
challenge the strength of a defense, but percentage wise, it
would tell you, like, that's not the best way to
approach it, and so everyone's got to try to take
advantage of what the opposing defense is given you. Obviously

(04:59):
you can see that we're giving up a lot of
soft underneath stuff. Well that's because that is what our
defense gives you. We're trying to take away other things.
And so I know that that can be frustrating to
some people, but you know, if we can hold teams
to seventeen points every game, regardless of what it looks

(05:21):
like in between, you should win most of those games.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
And so.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
You know, I can appreciate it. It can be frustrating,
but ultimately it's it's kind of the way the game
is called. And so if you want to take that
stuff away, then obviously you play man. But if we're
playing zone and we're giving up the soft underneath because
we expect to be able to hold those throws to
four or five yards most of the time, then that's

(05:49):
what we're that's what we're kind of willing to give
up versus something deep or you know, allowing you know,
people to run on us. So anyways, I don't I
don't necessarily agree with you, Ben, But it's not to
say that that's not your perception of of what's going on,
is it? It's boring?

Speaker 2 (06:08):
I need a reverse pass in my life.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
It was a it was a duel of the special
teams because the head coach on the opposing team, you know,
came up through college football as a as a special
teams coordinator, Pete Limbo, and he was a very successful
special teams coordinator at a lot of big schools. So
it wasn't surprising to me that when they faked that

(06:38):
punt and they were successful in it, and what else
did they do on special teams, Well, they blocked a punt.
They got to in on a punt, so you know
they're going to be good. And I guess that was
Doug's way of trying to one up Buffalo since they
had a couple of special teams things.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
I see, Okay, it got over on us, the fake
field goal punt. I'm going to put that in my
back pocket and use that when it's necessary. Nobody does that, man,
nobody does that.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
I don't know that I've ever seen that. I mean,
obviously you've seen the quick kicks and those types of things,
but I don't know that I've ever seen the thake.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
It was perfect too, Like Freeman Execut what to do?

Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, well, exit EXE three thirty kickoff FIU coming to town.
They're two and two Connecticut, now Yukon three and two
on the year.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
Let's go to some hockey stuff.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Women's hockey went to Saint Cloud split that weekend, got
a big win. They're ranked opponent men's hockey on the road,
Colorado Springs. Uh, that's another great program. I think what
Clarkson's coming in or you're going women's hockey going to Clarkson,
who I've known as a top ten program in the
men's side and is pretty good in the women's side
as well. Speak on these two programs getting their seasons started.

(07:48):
I know it's a long way to go, but they've
really got some great matchups here to start their seasons.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Well, the women actually hosted Clouds right and they split
those games. And look, you know, opening night for their season,
I think we had over fifteen hundred people at Toscano
and so we really appreciate the crowd coming out and
supporting that program. You got to split. I think Saint

(08:16):
Cloud was ranked twelfth in the preseason poll and we're thirteen,
so really even matchup, and I think ultimately, you know,
we're pleased with the way we played. But now, listen,
we've got two programs that are both ranked in the
top fifteen going into the season. Preseason rankings don't mean
a lot, but it's a finer respect for these these

(08:40):
two programs based on what's been accomplished, not just last year,
but over the last several years. So I'm excited to
see him play. They've really on the women's side, we've
got some really dynamic offensive players that can put the
pu put the puck in the net, and so I
think coach McKenzie's doing a great job. And look, we've
got a lot of returners on the men's side, and

(09:01):
they'll get tested this week and so we'll learn a
little bit about our team and see how things are
going to start to play out. But no, it's gonna
be an exciting year for both of those programs, and
obviously we have high expectations.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
I have noticed over the years, and it's no secret
that Yukon has a plethora of great international student athletes,
especially women's basketball. Men's basketball over the years have had
some phenomenal players that have garnered their.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Own name, image and likeness before.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
And we've had this conversation in the past as far
as international players receiving NIL in NCAA athletics. There was
a situation in Louisiana that just got ruled on. There's
a international player from Arizona State women's basketball player that
has filed a lawsuit trying to get NIL money based
upon her student visa. Right now, those international players cannot

(09:58):
collect nil on the American soil. They can go overseas,
and we've seen that with Yukon players that work out
deals with companies outside of the United States. But just
speak on that and just your argument for why these
student athletes should be granted NIL opportunities like American athletes.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yeah, then this is something we've been working with our
state representatives now for probably the last two and a
half three years. I think it's been a priority for
us based on what you said. We've got a lot
of high profile international student athletes, and you know, for

(10:38):
all of our international students, we want them to be
on the same playing field as our domestic kids. And
you know, we really feel like in this case, there's
not a significant difference between our college athletes now and
professional athletes. And it's interesting to me that literally within

(11:00):
a couple of weeks period of time you talk about
the w n b A, you're going from being a
college athlete to getting drafted and then playing professional women's basketball,
and you get an immediate status change in your visa.
And so I'm not sure why we can't see through,
you know, making that change for college student athletes because

(11:22):
of the change in the environment. You know, there are
opportunities for student athletes, our international kids to earn you know,
money through what we would refer to as passive income
directly from the university. There are international general students on
our campus that can work as like grad students, or

(11:44):
they can work student jobs. But really, I think that the
whole concept here is you know, they you know, the
country doesn't want individuals taking jobs away from you know,
our US citizens. I think in the case of our
international college student athletes, I don't really think they're competing

(12:07):
for jobs in the form of NIL because NIL is
you know, their own thing. They're not competing with someone
else's nil. If so, I think there's very little risk
here in protecting our US citizens from losing jobs because

(12:28):
of potentially a change to what a student FIETA would
look like for a student athlete. So I'm certainly hopeful
we do have some support within the state to modify this,
but obviously it'll take a lot more than just the
folks in the state to get this change at the

(12:48):
federal level. But I'm certainly hopeful that as we continue
to talk about the Score Act and other things related
to potential congressional Act, that that's something that will be
packaged with a lot of other things that need to
be addressed.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
Waiting to see what comes to that, and probably not
going to be anytime soon. It's probably a long process,
but we are on your side in that fight for sure.
Boston College doubleheader right around the corner, Sir. We have
men's and women's basketball with less than two weeks to
go next verb two Mondays from now, Boston College women
Boston College men against Yukon men and women at the

(13:27):
Mohegan Sun October thirteenth, Monday afternoon and Monday night. How
did that get done? Just having is that difficult to
have a college both teams, the men's and women's matchup
against your men's and women's teams.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, I think in the traditional sense of scheduling then
it would. But because we've kind of got this new
opportunity where we can leverage exhibition games in a different way.
You know, our ability to now sell tickets into exhibition
games versus before you really couldn't play a Division One
opponent in the form of an exhibition game that had

(14:05):
to be a closed door scrimmage. They used to call
them secret scrimmages. And so now our ability to play
other Division One programs in an exhibition game. You know,
this is an easy opportunity for us to do things
like this. And you know, Blake James is the athletic
director at BC. As we were scheduling some additional football

(14:27):
games for the future, it's something we talked about, and
you know, ultimately when this opportunity came along, they were interested,
We were interested. It's an easy situation for both of
our fan bases at Mohegan Sun and obviously Mohegan's a
great host to us. We're very comfortable being there, and

(14:49):
you know, we think it's going to be a great
opportunity for our fans to take in a doubleheader.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
Count down Sorry on Yukon Huskies dot Com twelve days,
twenty three hours away for Monday, October thirteenth, Boston College
Men and women taking on you kind of women.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
It's still ways away. We got football.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
Saturday, though, My man f Iu in the house. I'll
see you there three thirty with the kickoff.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
You kind of.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Great weather, right, it's supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
I'm gonna knock on wood on that no wins.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Great weather Saturday, three thirty kick going to be sun.
The sun's going to be shining. Come out support this team.
I think we sold close to one thousand tickets yesterday.
If you haven't got yours, get some tickets. Come out.
It's a great time in It's homecoming, so come come
join and support the team.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
I will see you there, my friend three thirty at
that kickoff. Thanks for your time today, you kind of
athletic director David Benedict

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Gentlemen, thanks as always, Go Huskys.
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