The voice of the Utes on their season opener vs UCLA tomorrow night, His gameday routine, Receivers who might breakout this year, Big night for the Big 12 tonight + more
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show for the Murdoch
Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Ninety two to one a half am. You know this
music is getting you fired up, and it should because.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It's synonymous with our next guest, the Voice of the Utes,
who's going to be calling these games for you. As
Utah barts on its twenty twenty five college football campaign.
Bill Riley joins The Sean O'Connell Show. Bill, Welcome, How.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Are you happy? Football Friday? Sean, I'm great? How are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Doing awesome?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Where it's it's Christmas Eve effectively for Utah football fans,
and tomorrow night we get to see what all the conversation,
all the hype, all the worry and stuff is going
to be about. Give me your routine between now and
when that game kicks off in what is way thirty
three hours away something like that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
HiT's a late night game. Getting ready to fly to
Burbank here in just a bit, get down there, get
settled in, grab a little dinner tonight, get up tomorrow morning, hopefully,
stretch the legs just a little bit, do a little
last minute recon with the coaches watch Ohio State Texas,
(01:41):
which I think should be a great game. Do a
little prep. I've got a soccer match on Sunday night
on ESPN Plus I've got to do, so do a
little prep for Utah and NC State, and then head
over to the Rose Bowl late afternoon tomorrow. Get all
set up. A lot of good memory. He's in that building, Sean,
(02:01):
even in the game's Utah loss down there a lot
of fun memories, a lot of great memories against UCLA.
Probably my favorite one was the Joe Williams game where
he ran for more yards than anybody in the history
of the building ever has three hundred thirty two yards.
So that'll be my day tonight and tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The context for that Joe Williams game was also fantastic
because he was like, from the couch to a game like.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That, you be coming out of retirement.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, pretty cool. Let's talk about this year's team now.
Had we had Devon in this week, and you know,
there's a lot of optimism around what he brings. You've
been able to see more practice than pretty much everyone has.
You've been able to talk with these coaches and these
players with more frequency than any of us have focusing
(02:48):
on Devin in particular right now? How smooth will the
transition be? How painless will the process of integrating him
to a Utah uniform be? Given that he brought his
coordinator with him, and you know there's there's growing pains
with any new quarterback. But this is a guy who's,
you know, been under the bright lights before, he's played
against powerful competition before.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
How how smooth do you think it goes?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
I think I mean for Devin, I think it's smooth.
He knows the offense, he knows Jason Beck. They have
a relationship that spans more than a year. I think
for him it's been easy, it's been smooth. Now. You know,
people talk well, you know, he played in New Mexico.
He shown his athleticism translates. I don't care whether it
(03:33):
was New Mexico or not. When he played some Power
five teams he thrived. Last year, he also didn't have
a world class offensive line and the stable of running
backs that he's got now, though he did have good
running backs at New Mexico. So I don't think his
transition is going to be difficult. You know, the offensive
line has said all the right things this fall. You know,
(03:56):
we'll see how it all translates when it plays out.
You know, it's funny that the last time Utah that game,
I was talking to you about that Joe Williams game,
that was probably the other best offensive line that Kyle
Whittingham's had, at least in the Power five era. That
one hit Garrett Bowles, that one had at Isaac Gaciada.
I think Sam Kevy was on that line. That was
(04:16):
an NFL laden offensive line too. And that was the
day they ran Countertrey until UCLA just cried them and
prided themselves to sleep. I mean, they ran about the
two plays over and over again and just gashed them.
I wouldn't be surprised if they have success on the
ground tomorrow night, if they don't just do it over
and over again with Rayshawn Parker and the Carrie Rodgers
(04:37):
and Devin Dampier.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
What do you expect from the offense on the other side,
What do you expect from Tino Sinceri and Nico Malayava
in a brand new marriage talent? Certainly against the Utah defense.
Though we were talking with our tempkin yesterday, He's like, yeah,
that's that's not a fun game to have to make
your first start in a new system. But he's a
(05:01):
dangerous cat at the quarterback position.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
At least Iamaliava is a talent. Here's my question, Sean.
SINCEI wasn't a play caller at Indiana. They had great
success last year, but he wasn't a play caller. There
a little bit of a question, not saying he can't
do it, but as I was putting together my notes
in my charts, you know they're having to rebuild the
offensive line. Digiorgio is the only returner a lot. They've
(05:25):
got a lot of transfers, and they've got transfers from
Power program. Sean, But when you look a little deeper,
you know there's guys that have been at three destinations
and made two starts in four years. Does that make sense?
These aren't guys that have played a lot of football,
much less played a lot of football in this system.
Niko is a crazy talent and a lot, you know,
(05:45):
a lot like Devin. He's a guy that can improvise,
make plays with his legs and his arm. My question
is the surrounding cast for Nico and will they be
able to come together quickly because it's a lot of
cats that weren't at UCLA playing in a new system,
that really didn't play a lot of football at their
other stops too, So that's probably the bigger question for
(06:06):
if we're looking at the offenses tomorrow night. I'm really
excited to see Utah's but I think Utah's is going
to function pretty well, especially with the offensive line and
the experience of some of those guys. I'm curious on
the other side of the ball, outside of iam Aliava,
how does that offense come together for UCLA against a good,
very good Utah defense.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, there's also the for me, the storyline of I
think that, you know, there was a stay of execution
on the coaching staff last year because they don't want
to pay buyouts and financially, UCLA is not in the
best situation and just a lot of I don't know
insecurity there. So I mean a much different head coaching
(06:46):
situation and coaching staff situation than what Utah's dealing with.
But I just I think that UCLA is pretty vulnerable
right now. I'm not trying to to get to a
point where it's like, oh, this is not a game
because they're a talented team.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
But no, and it's a first and it's a first
game out to Sean as we saw last week in
that game in Ireland, and lots of crazy things can
happen in first games. I'm with you on that.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So anyway, Utah's defense, our first coordinator's corner with Morgan
scally happens today in uh not what half an hour.
And you know that's a guy who's he's not just
the defensive coordinator, he's a Utah football legend. He's the
head coach in waiting. He's a guy who's got more
skin in the game even the most defensive coordinators do.
(07:33):
And uh, there is new talent coming in to replace
departing talent. That's always the case in college football. But
we we've we put this assumption now on Morgan Scalley's
plate and by extension, on Kyle Whittingham's plate. They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah,
as long as you figure out your offense, the defense
is gonna be great. We we just know, well, we
(07:54):
don't have the same guys as we did last and
that's okay. You have to produce at the same level.
Do the B and that question matchup for you this
year on the defensive side.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, they've got a lot of really good talented guys
coming back. You know the linebacker corps to me, I
heard you asking a minute ago. Outside the offensive I
think it's the linebacker group with Barton Hall, De Mooney,
Trey Reynolds behind. I think that might be the second
group I feel best about when you stick them out there,
because they've played a lot together. I don't really I've
(08:29):
said this for years. I rarely ever worry about Utah's defense.
Utah's defense in an off year is good. Utah's defense
in an on year is elite. I thought last year
the defense, had the offense been even a scoch better,
would have been considered an elite defense. Sean, if you look,
I mean, is as rough as it was offensively, and
(08:51):
that defense was on the field a lot. They were
top four, top three, top two, and a lot of
most every Pac twelve or Big twelve should say defensive category.
There are a few questions. I mean, there's not a
lot of experience up front on the defensive line, but
there's a ton of talent. The linebacker corps, I said,
is really good. The safeties are outstanding. Grabit Evans has
(09:15):
put on about fifteen pounds. Tayo Johnson is what he is,
and I've liked what I've seen from the corners this fall,
and they've got depth there too, So I think this
defense is going to be really good this year, and
I think it's going to get better as the year
goes along, especially as those guys up front get a
little bit of game experience.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
The tight end room has a couple of guys that
are young that are getting all these little shout outs
from practice, and you know, whether it's Buchanan or it's Bentley,
or it's it's one of these other young cats who
is going to be the playmaker in that room when
it comes to catching passes and scoring for the youth.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Dallan Bentley's a veteran, He's been around. He's going to
be a really solid Here's what you think of as
your prototypical tight end. He could block, he can catch,
do the whole thing. JJ Buchanan is the young kid
from Vegas who just his athleticism pops. It felt like
every time I was at practice this fall he was
(10:15):
making some crazy contested catch or something like that. The
other guy, to me, that's a wild card, Sean is
auto tia Otto moved from receiver to tight end. He
played receiver, had a really nice year last year at
Utah State. He's been a little inconsistent in camp, but
he's got I mean, he's six foot five, he's two
hundred and thirty pounds. He checks the boxes. I think
(10:40):
Utah's tight end room is going to be good this year.
If tia can come on and be productive like he
was at Utah State, I think it could be really good.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Probably the most important question, because it's the question that
ruined last year and compromised the year before last. How
do you keep this team healthy? We know there's talent,
especially at that offensive line in the quarterback position. Some
of the linebackers you just talked about should be all
conference players, maybe all American level players.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
How do you keep this team healthy?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I sean, it's just injuries are impossible to predict. I
think they've done all the research and all the metrics
on how to handle practices. They got through fall camp
relatively unscathed. They're in good shape there. But it's a
violent game. You played it, you know, there's no accounting
(11:36):
for injuries. They're freaked. Sometimes they're non contact and sometimes
you get blown up and you get injured. I just
think you do your best to get them in shape
and protect them during the week in practice. But when
you play a game as physical and as violent as
Utah does and everybody at the Division I level and
the power level does, there's just it's I hate to
(11:59):
use the term luck because that's the wrong term, but
it's there's no gauging for it. You do all the
preparation and conditioning you can, you have great medical staffs,
you do all those things, but you just you can't
account for them. So you just have to I just
think the last two years they've been on the Remember
when they were going and winning Rose Bowls, they were
(12:20):
relatively healthy. I mean, those were pretty healthy teams are
going to compete for Rose Bulls. The last two years
they've been on the other side of it. I think
they've done everything they possibly can in preparation. Now you
just have to hope for the best.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Bill Riley for another minute or two here on the
Sean O'Connell show ahead of Utah kicking off at season
against UCLA tomorrow nights. You can hear that game and
Bill's voice calling the game right here on ESPN seven
hundred and ninety two one FM.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
We've had some Big Twelve action already.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You mentioned the week zero game the Farmageddon, although ESPN
refused to call it Farmageddon. We saw Cincinnati last night,
Baylor against Auburn, big game tonight, Colorado in action as well.
Have you seen anything yet from the Big twelve teams
that have competed that makes you rethink your you're handicapping
of the league ahead of Week one action.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I'm a little troubled with k State. I wasn't wildly
impressed with Avery Johnson. I know his stat line looked good, Sean,
but you've got to really you've got to be able
to throw the ball and make some time. I mean,
his two touchdown passes were to wide, wide, open wide receivers.
He missed some passes. Dylan Edwards. Was it Dylan Edwards
running back? Left the program, left the program yesterday. That's
(13:35):
Avery Johnson's best friend. That ain't good, said, you know,
whatever his story was. I'm sure Kay State's got to
do so. I'm a little We'll see on K State
still early, but those things aren't necessarily great. Iowa State
executed made plays when they had to rock Obec looked good.
You know, Cincinnati, I thought Nebraska would probably win that game.
(13:56):
I about Cincinnati had some opportunities they were okay. I
don't think there's a lot of big hopes for the
Bearcats this weekend tonight. It's going to be interesting. What
see you got Georgia Tech Scott some preseason hype around them,
So I'm you be really curious to see that game.
We'll see. I don't make any grand proclamations. I think
if I was K State or Iowa State, I wouldn't
(14:18):
have been thrilled with playing a conference game in Week
one overseas in Ireland. I don't know how you feel,
but I feel like, especially that game, because it's been
a rivalry game for years, the games like that should
be played on campus. I'm okay with playing games overseas,
but not a conference historical rivalry game that should have
been in an Ames or Manhattan for me. Could you
(14:38):
imagine moving Utah BYU to Montreal? I mean, I mean
that's what they did. That's KSE State. I know k
you and K State, but really K State and Iowa
State have a long standing rivalry too. Could I just
couldn't imagine moving the Utah BYU game to anywhere but
provo Or or Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, I'm all for international ex ansion of American football.
You know, the NFL, I think is doing a decent
job of it right now. I was somewhat intrigued when
it was like, you know, like Navy and Notre Dame
playing in Dublin, because there's some I guess loose connection there.
But it's a tour it's a you know, a tourism
(15:20):
industry kind of thing for those games to be played
and for it to be, like you said, a conference
rivalry game that's outsourced to a place where either the
fans who can afford to make it are there and
a bunch of Irish people who don't really care about
the outcome. It just doesn't make a lot of sense
for a game of any kind of historical import to
(15:41):
be sent overseas.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
But you know, I know why the Big Twelve did it,
because both those fan bases travel. The K State fans travel,
the Iowa state fans travel. They're great fan bases and
they travel. But I would have had K State play
I don't know, have K State play Minnesota, Have K
State play Iowa instead of Iowa. I don't know, I
(16:05):
would have. I don't know. It's just I just believe
great rivalry games, especially in college football, belong on campus.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
All right, here's a non college football question for you
before we swing back to one on Utah, and then
I'll get you out of here.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
The Dallas Cowboys have traded Michaeh. Parsons.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
The Dallas Mavericks traded a guy who was probably a
future Hall of Famer in Luka Doncic. In both cases,
you could say you probably didn't get enough back for
either of those guys. Which of those Dallas franchises did
worse in that trade, Dallas Cowboys or Mavericks.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think it's still still too soon to tell, but
I would probably say the Mavericks. And I say that
because Luca is young and Lucas showed no desire to
want to leave and go anywhere else. I don't know
that Micah Parsons. I think Michaeh. Parsons like Dallas. I
think Luca built his forever dream home in Dallas. He
(17:04):
wasn't He was planning on being the face of the
franchise forever. And I think you see that a little
bit more in the NBA than you do in the NFL.
I liken the Parsons deal to the Tyreek Hill deal
that my team had a few years ago. Tyree wanted
to be the highest paid wide receiver in the The
Chiefs loved him, they made him a great offer, but
(17:24):
they also knew in the salary cap era that they
couldn't afford with Mahomes and others. To it was more
a little bit more of a Now, Parsons is a
train He's a generational player and a game wrecker. But
I thought, dal here's what I'll say. I thought the
Cowboys could have gotten more for Parsons, and I think
they waited too long to do the deal. Remember the
(17:45):
Chiefs traded Terry Kill in March, and they got a
couple of first round, second round, third round. All those
picks they got, they got car Loftus McDuffie. They rebuilt
their defense and were still able to be okay offense.
They won two Super Bowls. Obviously, we'll see what happens
with Dallas, but I think the Luca deal was worse.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
All Right, where do you fall?
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Uh? Yeah, I think you're right, And because you know,
one player has a greater impact in the NBA, so
it's it's an apples and oranges.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
There's also no real salary cap in the NBA, to
be fair, I mean there's luxury taxes and aprons. But
if you really want to keep a player, you can
do it. You know, look at what the Warriors have
done for years with Steph and Clay and that group.
So you can do it. In the NFL, you can't.
There is a hard cap and you have to be
added or under it.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Back to Utah UCLA before we get you out of here.
The outcome, I think we're all believe in Utah wins
this game. Is it is it close? Is it a
nail bitter? Is this a comfortable win for the University
of Utah? Is it potentially a disaster? How do you
how do you see it?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I don't think it's a disaster. My inkling is if
the game is played relatively clean, and that's an if
it wasn't in Ireland last week. But if it's played
relatively clean, I think Utah is the better team, and
I don't think it's a real close game. I don't
think it's necessarily a blowout either, but I think Utah
wins pretty easily. If it's clean. A couple of turnovers
(19:15):
in short fields, though, everything can change. But my inkling
is Utah wins. They maybe buy more than a score.
Maybe not by like three scores, but maybe by a
little bit more than a score.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, I'll take that. I think any Utah fan would
take that.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
And you know, we won't get too far ahead of
ourselves on what that means for the rest of the season.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
We'll take it week by week.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
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Speaker 2 (20:24):
Have a great call, Bill, Thank you, talking again next week.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Thank you, Sean.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Bill Reiley, Voice of the Utes,
You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show for the Murdoch
Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Ninety two to one a half am. You know this
music is getting you fired up, and it should because.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It's synonymous with our next guest, the Voice of the Utes,
who's going to be calling these games for you. As
Utah barts on its twenty twenty five college football campaign.
Bill Riley joins The Sean O'Connell Show. Bill, Welcome, How.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Are you happy? Football Friday? Sean, I'm great? How are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Doing awesome?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Where it's it's Christmas Eve effectively for Utah football fans,
and tomorrow night we get to see what all the conversation,
all the hype, all the worry and stuff is going
to be about. Give me your routine between now and
when that game kicks off in what is way thirty
three hours away something like that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
HiT's a late night game. Getting ready to fly to
Burbank here in just a bit, get down there, get
settled in, grab a little dinner tonight, get up tomorrow morning, hopefully,
stretch the legs just a little bit, do a little
last minute recon with the coaches watch Ohio State Texas,
(01:41):
which I think should be a great game. Do a
little prep. I've got a soccer match on Sunday night
on ESPN Plus I've got to do, so do a
little prep for Utah and NC State, and then head
over to the Rose Bowl late afternoon tomorrow. Get all
set up. A lot of good memory. He's in that building, Sean,
(02:01):
even in the game's Utah loss down there a lot
of fun memories, a lot of great memories against UCLA.
Probably my favorite one was the Joe Williams game where
he ran for more yards than anybody in the history
of the building ever has three hundred thirty two yards.
So that'll be my day tonight and tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The context for that Joe Williams game was also fantastic
because he was like, from the couch to a game like.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That, you be coming out of retirement.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, pretty cool. Let's talk about this year's team now.
Had we had Devon in this week, and you know,
there's a lot of optimism around what he brings. You've
been able to see more practice than pretty much everyone has.
You've been able to talk with these coaches and these
players with more frequency than any of us have focusing
(02:48):
on Devin in particular right now? How smooth will the
transition be? How painless will the process of integrating him
to a Utah uniform be? Given that he brought his
coordinator with him, and you know there's there's growing pains
with any new quarterback. But this is a guy who's,
you know, been under the bright lights before, he's played
against powerful competition before.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
How how smooth do you think it goes?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
I think I mean for Devin, I think it's smooth.
He knows the offense, he knows Jason Beck. They have
a relationship that spans more than a year. I think
for him it's been easy, it's been smooth. Now. You know,
people talk well, you know, he played in New Mexico.
He shown his athleticism translates. I don't care whether it
(03:33):
was New Mexico or not. When he played some Power
five teams he thrived. Last year, he also didn't have
a world class offensive line and the stable of running
backs that he's got now, though he did have good
running backs at New Mexico. So I don't think his
transition is going to be difficult. You know, the offensive
line has said all the right things this fall. You know,
(03:56):
we'll see how it all translates when it plays out.
You know, it's funny that the last time Utah that game,
I was talking to you about that Joe Williams game,
that was probably the other best offensive line that Kyle
Whittingham's had, at least in the Power five era. That
one hit Garrett Bowles, that one had at Isaac Gaciada.
I think Sam Kevy was on that line. That was
(04:16):
an NFL laden offensive line too. And that was the
day they ran Countertrey until UCLA just cried them and
prided themselves to sleep. I mean, they ran about the
two plays over and over again and just gashed them.
I wouldn't be surprised if they have success on the
ground tomorrow night, if they don't just do it over
and over again with Rayshawn Parker and the Carrie Rodgers
(04:37):
and Devin Dampier.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
What do you expect from the offense on the other side,
What do you expect from Tino Sinceri and Nico Malayava
in a brand new marriage talent? Certainly against the Utah defense.
Though we were talking with our tempkin yesterday, He's like, yeah,
that's that's not a fun game to have to make
your first start in a new system. But he's a
(05:01):
dangerous cat at the quarterback position.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
At least Iamaliava is a talent. Here's my question, Sean.
SINCEI wasn't a play caller at Indiana. They had great
success last year, but he wasn't a play caller. There
a little bit of a question, not saying he can't
do it, but as I was putting together my notes
in my charts, you know they're having to rebuild the
offensive line. Digiorgio is the only returner a lot. They've
(05:25):
got a lot of transfers, and they've got transfers from
Power program. Sean, But when you look a little deeper,
you know there's guys that have been at three destinations
and made two starts in four years. Does that make sense?
These aren't guys that have played a lot of football,
much less played a lot of football in this system.
Niko is a crazy talent and a lot, you know,
(05:45):
a lot like Devin. He's a guy that can improvise,
make plays with his legs and his arm. My question
is the surrounding cast for Nico and will they be
able to come together quickly because it's a lot of
cats that weren't at UCLA playing in a new system,
that really didn't play a lot of football at their
other stops too, So that's probably the bigger question for
(06:06):
if we're looking at the offenses tomorrow night. I'm really
excited to see Utah's but I think Utah's is going
to function pretty well, especially with the offensive line and
the experience of some of those guys. I'm curious on
the other side of the ball, outside of iam Aliava,
how does that offense come together for UCLA against a good,
very good Utah defense.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, there's also the for me, the storyline of I
think that, you know, there was a stay of execution
on the coaching staff last year because they don't want
to pay buyouts and financially, UCLA is not in the
best situation and just a lot of I don't know
insecurity there. So I mean a much different head coaching
(06:46):
situation and coaching staff situation than what Utah's dealing with.
But I just I think that UCLA is pretty vulnerable
right now. I'm not trying to to get to a
point where it's like, oh, this is not a game
because they're a talented team.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
But no, and it's a first and it's a first
game out to Sean as we saw last week in
that game in Ireland, and lots of crazy things can
happen in first games. I'm with you on that.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So anyway, Utah's defense, our first coordinator's corner with Morgan
scally happens today in uh not what half an hour.
And you know that's a guy who's he's not just
the defensive coordinator, he's a Utah football legend. He's the
head coach in waiting. He's a guy who's got more
skin in the game even the most defensive coordinators do.
(07:33):
And uh, there is new talent coming in to replace
departing talent. That's always the case in college football. But
we we've we put this assumption now on Morgan Scalley's
plate and by extension, on Kyle Whittingham's plate. They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah,
as long as you figure out your offense, the defense
is gonna be great. We we just know, well, we
(07:54):
don't have the same guys as we did last and
that's okay. You have to produce at the same level.
Do the B and that question matchup for you this
year on the defensive side.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, they've got a lot of really good talented guys
coming back. You know the linebacker corps to me, I
heard you asking a minute ago. Outside the offensive I
think it's the linebacker group with Barton Hall, De Mooney,
Trey Reynolds behind. I think that might be the second
group I feel best about when you stick them out there,
because they've played a lot together. I don't really I've
(08:29):
said this for years. I rarely ever worry about Utah's defense.
Utah's defense in an off year is good. Utah's defense
in an on year is elite. I thought last year
the defense, had the offense been even a scoch better,
would have been considered an elite defense. Sean, if you look,
I mean, is as rough as it was offensively, and
(08:51):
that defense was on the field a lot. They were
top four, top three, top two, and a lot of
most every Pac twelve or Big twelve should say defensive category.
There are a few questions. I mean, there's not a
lot of experience up front on the defensive line, but
there's a ton of talent. The linebacker corps, I said,
is really good. The safeties are outstanding. Grabit Evans has
(09:15):
put on about fifteen pounds. Tayo Johnson is what he is,
and I've liked what I've seen from the corners this fall,
and they've got depth there too, So I think this
defense is going to be really good this year, and
I think it's going to get better as the year
goes along, especially as those guys up front get a
little bit of game experience.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
The tight end room has a couple of guys that
are young that are getting all these little shout outs
from practice, and you know, whether it's Buchanan or it's Bentley,
or it's it's one of these other young cats who
is going to be the playmaker in that room when
it comes to catching passes and scoring for the youth.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Dallan Bentley's a veteran, He's been around. He's going to
be a really solid Here's what you think of as
your prototypical tight end. He could block, he can catch,
do the whole thing. JJ Buchanan is the young kid
from Vegas who just his athleticism pops. It felt like
every time I was at practice this fall he was
(10:15):
making some crazy contested catch or something like that. The
other guy, to me, that's a wild card, Sean is
auto tia Otto moved from receiver to tight end. He
played receiver, had a really nice year last year at
Utah State. He's been a little inconsistent in camp, but
he's got I mean, he's six foot five, he's two
hundred and thirty pounds. He checks the boxes. I think
(10:40):
Utah's tight end room is going to be good this year.
If tia can come on and be productive like he
was at Utah State, I think it could be really good.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Probably the most important question, because it's the question that
ruined last year and compromised the year before last. How
do you keep this team healthy? We know there's talent,
especially at that offensive line in the quarterback position. Some
of the linebackers you just talked about should be all
conference players, maybe all American level players.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
How do you keep this team healthy?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I sean, it's just injuries are impossible to predict. I
think they've done all the research and all the metrics
on how to handle practices. They got through fall camp
relatively unscathed. They're in good shape there. But it's a
violent game. You played it, you know, there's no accounting
(11:36):
for injuries. They're freaked. Sometimes they're non contact and sometimes
you get blown up and you get injured. I just
think you do your best to get them in shape
and protect them during the week in practice. But when
you play a game as physical and as violent as
Utah does and everybody at the Division I level and
the power level does, there's just it's I hate to
(11:59):
use the term luck because that's the wrong term, but
it's there's no gauging for it. You do all the
preparation and conditioning you can, you have great medical staffs,
you do all those things, but you just you can't
account for them. So you just have to I just
think the last two years they've been on the Remember
when they were going and winning Rose Bowls, they were
(12:20):
relatively healthy. I mean, those were pretty healthy teams are
going to compete for Rose Bulls. The last two years
they've been on the other side of it. I think
they've done everything they possibly can in preparation. Now you
just have to hope for the best.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Bill Riley for another minute or two here on the
Sean O'Connell show ahead of Utah kicking off at season
against UCLA tomorrow nights. You can hear that game and
Bill's voice calling the game right here on ESPN seven
hundred and ninety two one FM.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
We've had some Big Twelve action already.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You mentioned the week zero game the Farmageddon, although ESPN
refused to call it Farmageddon. We saw Cincinnati last night,
Baylor against Auburn, big game tonight, Colorado in action as well.
Have you seen anything yet from the Big twelve teams
that have competed that makes you rethink your you're handicapping
of the league ahead of Week one action.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I'm a little troubled with k State. I wasn't wildly
impressed with Avery Johnson. I know his stat line looked good, Sean,
but you've got to really you've got to be able
to throw the ball and make some time. I mean,
his two touchdown passes were to wide, wide, open wide receivers.
He missed some passes. Dylan Edwards. Was it Dylan Edwards
running back? Left the program, left the program yesterday. That's
(13:35):
Avery Johnson's best friend. That ain't good, said, you know,
whatever his story was. I'm sure Kay State's got to
do so. I'm a little We'll see on K State
still early, but those things aren't necessarily great. Iowa State
executed made plays when they had to rock Obec looked good.
You know, Cincinnati, I thought Nebraska would probably win that game.
(13:56):
I about Cincinnati had some opportunities they were okay. I
don't think there's a lot of big hopes for the
Bearcats this weekend tonight. It's going to be interesting. What
see you got Georgia Tech Scott some preseason hype around them,
So I'm you be really curious to see that game.
We'll see. I don't make any grand proclamations. I think
if I was K State or Iowa State, I wouldn't
(14:18):
have been thrilled with playing a conference game in Week
one overseas in Ireland. I don't know how you feel,
but I feel like, especially that game, because it's been
a rivalry game for years, the games like that should
be played on campus. I'm okay with playing games overseas,
but not a conference historical rivalry game that should have
been in an Ames or Manhattan for me. Could you
(14:38):
imagine moving Utah BYU to Montreal? I mean, I mean
that's what they did. That's KSE State. I know k
you and K State, but really K State and Iowa
State have a long standing rivalry too. Could I just
couldn't imagine moving the Utah BYU game to anywhere but
provo Or or Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, I'm all for international ex ansion of American football.
You know, the NFL, I think is doing a decent
job of it right now. I was somewhat intrigued when
it was like, you know, like Navy and Notre Dame
playing in Dublin, because there's some I guess loose connection there.
But it's a tour it's a you know, a tourism
(15:20):
industry kind of thing for those games to be played
and for it to be, like you said, a conference
rivalry game that's outsourced to a place where either the
fans who can afford to make it are there and
a bunch of Irish people who don't really care about
the outcome. It just doesn't make a lot of sense
for a game of any kind of historical import to
(15:41):
be sent overseas.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
But you know, I know why the Big Twelve did it,
because both those fan bases travel. The K State fans travel,
the Iowa state fans travel. They're great fan bases and
they travel. But I would have had K State play
I don't know, have K State play Minnesota, Have K
State play Iowa instead of Iowa. I don't know, I
(16:05):
would have. I don't know. It's just I just believe
great rivalry games, especially in college football, belong on campus.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
All right, here's a non college football question for you
before we swing back to one on Utah, and then
I'll get you out of here.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
The Dallas Cowboys have traded Michaeh. Parsons.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
The Dallas Mavericks traded a guy who was probably a
future Hall of Famer in Luka Doncic. In both cases,
you could say you probably didn't get enough back for
either of those guys. Which of those Dallas franchises did
worse in that trade, Dallas Cowboys or Mavericks.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think it's still still too soon to tell, but
I would probably say the Mavericks. And I say that
because Luca is young and Lucas showed no desire to
want to leave and go anywhere else. I don't know
that Micah Parsons. I think Michaeh. Parsons like Dallas. I
think Luca built his forever dream home in Dallas. He
(17:04):
wasn't He was planning on being the face of the
franchise forever. And I think you see that a little
bit more in the NBA than you do in the NFL.
I liken the Parsons deal to the Tyreek Hill deal
that my team had a few years ago. Tyree wanted
to be the highest paid wide receiver in the The
Chiefs loved him, they made him a great offer, but
(17:24):
they also knew in the salary cap era that they
couldn't afford with Mahomes and others. To it was more
a little bit more of a Now, Parsons is a
train He's a generational player and a game wrecker. But
I thought, dal here's what I'll say. I thought the
Cowboys could have gotten more for Parsons, and I think
they waited too long to do the deal. Remember the
(17:45):
Chiefs traded Terry Kill in March, and they got a
couple of first round, second round, third round. All those
picks they got, they got car Loftus McDuffie. They rebuilt
their defense and were still able to be okay offense.
They won two Super Bowls. Obviously, we'll see what happens
with Dallas, but I think the Luca deal was worse.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
All Right, where do you fall?
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Uh? Yeah, I think you're right, And because you know,
one player has a greater impact in the NBA, so
it's it's an apples and oranges.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
There's also no real salary cap in the NBA, to
be fair, I mean there's luxury taxes and aprons. But
if you really want to keep a player, you can
do it. You know, look at what the Warriors have
done for years with Steph and Clay and that group.
So you can do it. In the NFL, you can't.
There is a hard cap and you have to be
added or under it.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Back to Utah UCLA before we get you out of here.
The outcome, I think we're all believe in Utah wins
this game. Is it is it close? Is it a
nail bitter? Is this a comfortable win for the University
of Utah? Is it potentially a disaster? How do you
how do you see it?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I don't think it's a disaster. My inkling is if
the game is played relatively clean, and that's an if
it wasn't in Ireland last week. But if it's played
relatively clean, I think Utah is the better team, and
I don't think it's a real close game. I don't
think it's necessarily a blowout either, but I think Utah
wins pretty easily. If it's clean. A couple of turnovers
(19:15):
in short fields, though, everything can change. But my inkling
is Utah wins. They maybe buy more than a score.
Maybe not by like three scores, but maybe by a
little bit more than a score.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, I'll take that. I think any Utah fan would
take that.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
And you know, we won't get too far ahead of
ourselves on what that means for the rest of the season.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
We'll take it week by week.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
The conversation with Bill Riley, by the way, I brought
to you by our good friends Handy and Handy. It's
big firm experience with small firm attention.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Bill.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
They've helped you, they've helped me. Handy and Handy just
great for anybody.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah, they're fantastic handylaw Utah dot com is their website.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Pressed.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I've no Preston Garrett for more than a decade. They
are terrific attorneys and they give you great hands on
So I always say this, I hope you never have
to call Handy and Handy because their personal injury attorneys.
I hope you guys have great, healthy lives with no
car accidents. Everybody's good. But if you get into one
of those situations. You want somebody who's gonna be on
(20:13):
your side and fight for you, and that's what they'll
do at handy and handy, So go to handylaw Utah
dot com to get them.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
It'll one two sixty four sixty six seventy seven if
you want to call them Handylawutah dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Have a great call, Bill, Thank you, talking again next week.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Thank you, Sean.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Bill Reiley, Voice of the Utes,
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