The host of The Down & Dirty and Utah FB legend gives his reaction to Big 12 Media Days, His expectations for the new Utes offense, Barton & Snowden getting offensive reps (?) + more
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's hip the best, Claire, this is the Sean O'Connell show.
You were home of the best. Inside of your utes.
Let's get back to OOC from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio
of ESPN seven hundred ninety two to one FM.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
ESPN seven hundred ninety twe FM welcoming Incubit to the
Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater, July twelfth. Listen to the
Drive with Spence check its today and tomorrow for your
chance to win some tickets. Scott Mitchell gonna be holding
it down on the Drive with Spence checkets at least
today and he joins us now to talk about Big
(00:42):
twelve media days.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Scott, how are you?
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Oh wonderful? Sewan? How's it going?
Speaker 5 (00:48):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Do it all right? I want to I won't keep
you too long.
Speaker 6 (00:51):
I wanted to pick your brain a little bit about
the returning quarterbacks in this Big twelve conference. There's a
you know, last year you had a situation where we
thought we were gonna get Cam Rising. We didn't get
Cam Rising. You had Shador Sanders, of course, who played
very well. It was a top heavy quarterback class. And
then this year you have something where there's like, I
(01:13):
don't know, six or seven teams I think, with some
really promising quarterbacks, including Devin Dampierre, who was of course
given the preseason not as Newcomer of the Year by
the Big Twelve Conference. But you know, you got your
Rock Obecks and your Sawyer Robertson's and guys in that
in that vein. If quarterback play on average across the
(01:34):
conference is better than it was last year, what does
that mean for Utah?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
What does that mean for the conference in general?
Speaker 5 (01:43):
Well, for Utah to start with, if Devin dan Pierre
plays anything like he has done at New Mexico, it's
gonna be a it's gonna be a really good year
for Utah. And there's a lot of you know, a
lot of things that are strong about the Utah team.
And the offensive line is strong that I believe, the
defense is strong, a lot of a lot of returning
(02:04):
production there. You've got a healthy land Or Barton, You've
got a lot of maturity on the team. You've got
guys that can make plays, uh you know, in the
in the secondary. And and so I don't see a
drop off on a defense that was pretty good a
year ago. Maybe they might be a little bit better.
I think they've got to stay healthy. Depths clearly an issue.
(02:24):
So the thing about Devin dan Pier is he's really
good at creating offense when there isn't a lot of offense.
And that may be the case because I'm not convinced
that the wide receiver position they've got some guys that
can really make make plays. Well, we'll see when when
the season starts, but he can certainly extend a lot
(02:46):
of stuff having a good offensive line, they've got really
good running backs, they've got really solid tight ends, and
and that you know, if you can run the football
and play action, you can be pretty productive offensively. The
thing I think you run into, and the question for
me is with Devin is you know this is now
(03:07):
you're playing power for competition every single week, week in
and week out, and and you know you can play
against some good schools periodically in a lower division, and
and is he up to that task? You know, some
guys relish it, and some guys have done well in
the past being a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
To do that, you know, I think he will personally,
But but I think.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
That's the challenge for him, canny and is he ready
for that weekend and week out grind uh and and
what you so, what you have is you have kind
of an investment in a quarterback. So you take Avery
Johnson at Kansas State. You know, he's a guy that
had a lot of nil offers that could have could
have left, but they they invested a lot in him,
and he's a unique talent and and it and it
(03:51):
kind of takes some time for some of those guys
to develop and grow.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
A guy like Sam Levitt at Arizona State, you know,
he's a guy that man, he he uh, you know,
he could take a huge step forward. You know, he
may be one of the top quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
In the country or kind of in that conversation, you know,
and maybe the top five or ten before it's all
over with. But he got to play last year and
he's just going to be so much better this year
because of that experience.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
And then you go to BYU.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
Who had Jake Ritz laugh and he's gone and now
they got to reinvest in the in the quarterback situation
and they you know, and you're going to take your
lumps with guys when you're you're trying to do it.
But some of these teams that have like the Arizona
States and like the Kansas State who have kind of
in the next year of the development of a guy,
(04:42):
you can expect the quarterback is going to play at
a pretty high level and it's going to make those
teams very good and very competitive.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
You brought up the number one question that a lot
of Utah fans have about this offense in that wide
receiver room, and you know, to the credit of the
guys on the team, they all express confidence in that
group and said, folks just don't know the names yet,
but we have athletes and we've got guys who are
going to be able to make those plays. We'll let
it play out. We'll see if it actually happens that
way in the fall. If you don't have dudes who
(05:12):
are going to win individual matchups, so you don't have
dudes that are going to be athletically superior and just
a big time performers, Scott, can you scheme in a
pass production with a quarterback who has the escapability of
Devin Dan Pierre and you know the time that I
think this offensive line is going to give him. Can
(05:33):
you even without exceptional wide receiver talent, can you still
scheme in production in the throw game and get by
in these games.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So yes, the simple answer is yes. And you have
a strength.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
You have an extremely talented offensive line and something that
you really have to lean into. And you have a
quarterback who truly is a dual threat quarterback and he's
a guy can really run the football, might run the
ball better than he throws it. And and to get
behind that offensive line to have the threat of him running,
to have the good running I think Utah has a
(06:08):
quality set of running backs. I really like these guys.
And then you have the tight end. As I mentioned,
you know, everything's gonna go off of that run game,
and and and and it's going to be you know,
the rpo game is a big thing with Jason and
and you can create a lot of offense. Uh just
having those multi optional plays available in that are either
(06:33):
run or passes on a single play, and you can
generate a lot of offense. The key really to me,
it's about points and Utah's when they get in the
red zone. They they just have to score points. If
they're if they're if they're going to manufacture wins, if
they're gonna manufacture offense. It really comes down to being
(06:56):
very efficient in.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
The red zone, and that's something Jason Beck has proven
to be.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
And with a quarterback like Devin Dampier and his kind
of multifaceted ability, there's a lot you can do in
the red zone. So you know, it's like maybe you
don't get there as much, but when you get there,
you score, and you gotta be really, really efficient when
you have your red zone opportunities to score and really
score touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
And if you tak and do that, they can.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
Be very, very productive and a really probably a big
problem for teams in the conference and they'll compete for
a championship if they can do that.
Speaker 6 (07:31):
Goot Mitchell, my guests here on the Sean O'Connell show
talking Big twelve Media Days the Utah Football takeaways from it.
We sat down with Devin Dan Pierre and we can
give you that sound online or well maybe we'll replay
it later today or a little bit tomorrow if you're
listening to the Home of the Utes. But Devin said
he's hoping for six thousand total yards for this Utah
(07:54):
offense this year, and look last year, he himself as
an individual accounted for about thirty five and thirty six
hundred yards for New Mexico. So you just have to
get a strong run game to support that and of
course ratchet up the numbers a little bit from Devon
and company. H six thousand yards means a conference championship
to me with what I expect from this defense, how
(08:16):
realistic is something like that.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
I don't think it's unrealistic. And again, because you do
have a good defense. Heeta's got a pretty decent schedule
this year.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
I mean they're going to play some good teams. You know,
Kansas State is going to be a good team.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Baylor at Baylor's going to be Texas Tech is going
to be good. Uh, you know, b YU at b Yu.
It's always going to be a tough game. But but
they're they're certainly capable, I think.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
And one of the things there's a lot of things
I really like.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
About Devon Dampier, and he's kind of an outward His
personality is kind of outward facing. He's a guy that
really wants to be there. He's very comfortable being the
guy and and so, you know, to speak in the
big and broad terms, is.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Is something that I think he relishes and drives him.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Uh. He he's a better runner from the standpoint of
protecting himself, then maybe Cam Rising was. And so I
think you can keep him healthy during the season, even
though he's gonna run and probably be more prone to
run even then than Cam Rising was.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
But he's he's a better runner, more efficient runner, and
knows how to avoid hits better I think.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
And so it's because you got to keep him up right,
and if you're going to get that run production, you can't.
You can't wear him out. You can't break him down
if you if you're going to do that, and he's
pretty savvy about about that, and so that's that's a
good thing. But anytime you have a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Like that, and it's not just him, you know they're
that Again.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
If if this Utah football team can run the football,
which I can't believe I'm saying because I love to
throw the football, but if they can run the full effectively,
they can be very, very productive as as a team
and as an offense.
Speaker 6 (10:07):
Kyle Whittingham sat down with us yesterday and almost unsolicited said,
Lander Barton and Smith Noden are going to have offensive
reps next year. You're going to see a couple of
guys contributing both ways. And I think we're gonna see
Smith in the return game, So maybe that's what he
meant from offensive reps.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
But Lander Barton as a tight end, what do you think.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Well, I know, if you talk to dad, his dad
has always said he should be a tight end and
and and part of it from his dad perspective is like,
look at these this is it's such a high profile
position in the NFL, and if you got any kind
of athleticism to you, you can be you can be
a big time player in professional football. And Lander's got
that body, and he's got that kind of athleticism. It's
(10:53):
not something that's foreign to him. I mean he's been
he's been used to that. Utah is a little light
in the tight end position. Uh So, you know, seeing
this kind of all.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Hands on deck and and it and it's part of.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
Part of kind of the challenge you have with a
team when you're you're you're limited in your numbers, you know,
where where you don't have the same kind of numbers
you had in the past, you don't have the same
depth being being able to create more of a two
way player. You know, maybe this Travis Hunter thing at Colorado,
you know, maybe catches on a little bit more because
(11:29):
you know, you don't need you don't need them showing
up on every play. But if there's there's a way
through the season that you can get some production offensively
from from these just talented players, uh, you know, it's
it's worth it's worth exploring. You got you got to
find ways to produce and and you know, get that offense.
So my hat's off to them to be open to
(11:52):
kind of a unique solution.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
In the past, you wonder if that that would be
the case with twitting Ham and just saying, you know,
I don't want to expose two of my top players
to additional opportunity to get injured or even get worn down,
you know, and just get tired during game. But these
players are in great shape. And yeah, I kind of
(12:16):
am intrigued by that. That kind of makes me a
little excited.
Speaker 6 (12:20):
Scott Mitchell for a couple more minutes here on the
Sean O'Connell show, Getting guys reps on both sides of
the ball. I mean, we talked about it all year
or all offseason heading into Colorado's year, with like, hey,
you got to you got to account for you know,
wear and tear, and you're putting Travis Hunter at risk
of too much injury if you put him on the
(12:41):
field for one hundred snaps a game.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Like Lander.
Speaker 6 (12:44):
Barton's a guy who has some injury history at the
University of Utah, and obviously the injury bug has bitten
the utes these last two years in a way that none.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Of us expected going into the year.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
How do you handle that if you're a player on
the team, and if you're a coach on this staff,
because you could just like bubble wrap everybody, but then
you're not ready to play games. You could say, Lander,
I only need you on defense, but then you're potentially
taking away a big offensive weapon. So, knowing the backdrop
of the last two years injury wise, and knowing the
(13:21):
history of individuals and their injuries, how do you handle
it as a coach knowing also that this is probably
your last ride if you're Kyle Whittingham Scott, how do
you thread that needle on the coaching staff and as
a player.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Well, I think part of the mindset, and it's always
that way, is.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
You have to win today. You have to win in
the moment, and you have to deal with the.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Repercussions down the road if any You know, there's part
of the saying that there's not a bear behind every tree,
so you can't sit and worry that guys are going
to get injured all the time or the worst case
are is gonna for everything bad is always going to
happen kind of mindset, and and it's kind of that, Look,
we've got to we've got to live in the moment.
We have to prepare for the moment.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
We have to find a way to win right now today.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
Uh, there there's really in college football and football in general,
there's no there's really no planning for tomorrow. And so
you take the best people, the best opportunities you have,
and you line up every week and you you give
your your best effort and then you assess and evaluate
moving forward. I mean you try, you try as much
(14:34):
as you possibly can to minimize so you know, maybe
how you practice sometimes.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
The number of reps and and there there are situations
where and I think you though has done a good
job of this is during the season, Uh.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Just managing like a pitch count on everyone so that
so that you're not wearing people down throughout the season.
Part part of the success, part part of the failure too.
Part of the success is having a well balanced team.
You know, if you if you have an offensive team
that can be a ball control team, that can eat
up some clock, that can go down and score touchdowns
(15:13):
and shortened games, the shorter those games become. And the
games are actually a little bit shorter now just because
of the time clocks and things. But if you can
shorten up the games, it just extends your season. So
the more the more you can create depth, the more
you can create opportunities to keep your team fresh, you know,
throughout the season. You do that, but you also have
(15:36):
to go you know, it's my timeouts are no good
to me if I have them at halftime or way.
So whatever is available to you kind of that scenario,
you know, use it. And that includes players and unique
situations and what have you. Because you got to win today.
You got to win right now.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
We have not had an elite pass rusher from an
individual standpoint at the University of Utah in a couple
of seasons now. And you know, it's always great when
you've got a Nate orchard and when that person stays healthy.
How important do you think that is? You know, circling
all the way back to the quarterback conversation we had
at the beginning of this interview.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
For Utah to get a great pass rush again.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
Well, I'm getting ready to turn in my season tickets
because we haven't had a good pass rusher in a
couple of years. I'm kind of this unacceptable.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
This isn't Utah football.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
We got to pull our heads out and get a
guy in there. I thought it was going to be
Connor O'Toole, yet last year he wasn't healthy. I think
part of it the last couple of years has been
a health and consistency level. Coach Whittingham, coach coach Scaley.
They feel they've got a lot of people at that
end position that potentially could be that guy. And maybe
(16:50):
it's a little bit of a rush by committee, I
don't know, but it's such.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
An integral part of their defense.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
And you know, Kyle Winningham alluded to, you know, we
don't we don't have the luxury of developing players as
much as we used to, so we have to water
down our schemes just.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
A little bit.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
And he even included defense on that and and part
of that, can you know the solution.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
To that is if I can get a rush ind
uh And and it's it's about as basically as it gets.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Like you you line up here, and you go over there,
and you get the quarterback and you do it as
quick as you can. There's not a lot of scheme
in that. And if you have a guy that can
do that, you know, it just helps you be productive
defensively without having the scheme or you know, because a
lot of a lot of the schemes are are the
pressures that Utah uses with blitz and looks and everything.
(17:42):
And if you can get pressure from just someone who's
got some talent, uh, then then you're ahead of the game,
especially with how how you have to design your schemes
with with ni l and with the turnover of your team.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
All right, Scott, before I let you go, I put
a poll question out there.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
I deliberately left Utah off because of course if I
put the UTA on here would be everyone's answer. But
Big twelve Conference bottom dwellers from twenty twenty four that
you think have the best chance for a bounce back.
And look, last year it was Arizona State was supposed
to be bad and won the whole thing. Houston, UCF,
Oklahoma State and Arizona are four of the five bottom
(18:25):
teams from last year's twenty twenty four results. Which of
those teams could you see having the strongest year in
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So you have UCF, you Houston, Arizona and not Utah right.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And Oklahoma State Oklahoma State.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Well, you know, you can't ever Mike Gundy.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
You can't ever kind of pass up on him. He's
been around a long time and he's a guy that
you know, figures out how to win right now, and
he realized he's probably under a lot of pressure. Probably
I would pick them first to maybe have the best shot.
But I'll tell you what, your Shuston team.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Last year really played very nicely defensively, and they can
if they can kind of round it.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Out a little bit. They always tend to have athletes,
and they certainly had a nice staple of them a
year ago. They might be a team. So so probably
one in one A. I think those are my two
bottom dwellers to make themselves meaningful and have a shot
this year.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Are we going to be as wrong this year as
we were last year?
Speaker 6 (19:31):
All of us talking about Arizona State being what they
you know, bottom of the conference last year. We heading
into the year, we were like BYU maybe they got
like a six seven win season on their hands. They
ended up winning eleven games. Just like, I don't think
you talk and keep this trend of bad injuries going.
I don't think we could be that wrong again about
(19:52):
the Big twelve.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
What do you say? I think, well, no, I think
everyone's going to be wrong about the Big foo and
that's what's right. So being wrong is right, right, It's
it's just the one the one consistent in the conference
is it's inconsistent. And it's inconsistent not because it's bad,
it's just inconsistent because it's.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
Competitive from the top to the bottom. And you know,
there's just a lot of quality teams with with an
equal amount of talent. I you know, I don't see
I don't see one team that just is that bell cow,
that's that blue blood program.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
It just does. They don't have it in the conference.
And because of that, everyone's got a shot. So everything matters.
If you if you're a team.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Like BYU that they've got a lot of turnovers a
year ago and had.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Some lucky breaks, then then you win eleven games. And
if you and if you go the other direction and
you have a lot of injuries and you ball just
doesn't bounce your way. Then you have four or five wins,
and and the you know, the tenuous nature of every
program is that they're all in that boat, you know.
So so it's who who stays healthy, who gets the
(20:57):
right breaks, and who has the best production.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
And you know, really, really, in my opinion, at the
quarterback position. And I think that's the big that's the
big equalizer for so many of these programs. You can
overcome a lot if you have a quarterback that can
play at a pretty.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
High level and play consistently.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
And and and I don't think it's a bad thing either.
By the way I think this is it should be exciting.
I mean, there's a lot of quality teams in the
Big twelve, and you're going to get a competitive conference
with some really good football.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Scott Mitchell's got four hours of radio coming up on
the drive and that'll be four hours and twenty minutes
of radio today because he was still kind enough to
join us.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Always a pleasure, John, no problem.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
Scott Mitchell, Utah quarterbacking legend, color analyst on the Utah
football radio broadcast
It's hip the best, Claire, this is the Sean O'Connell show.
You were home of the best. Inside of your utes.
Let's get back to OOC from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio
of ESPN seven hundred ninety two to one FM.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
ESPN seven hundred ninety twe FM welcoming Incubit to the
Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater, July twelfth. Listen to the
Drive with Spence check its today and tomorrow for your
chance to win some tickets. Scott Mitchell gonna be holding
it down on the Drive with Spence checkets at least
today and he joins us now to talk about Big
(00:42):
twelve media days.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Scott, how are you?
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Oh wonderful? Sewan? How's it going?
Speaker 5 (00:48):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Do it all right? I want to I won't keep
you too long.
Speaker 6 (00:51):
I wanted to pick your brain a little bit about
the returning quarterbacks in this Big twelve conference. There's a
you know, last year you had a situation where we
thought we were gonna get Cam Rising. We didn't get
Cam Rising. You had Shador Sanders, of course, who played
very well. It was a top heavy quarterback class. And
then this year you have something where there's like, I
(01:13):
don't know, six or seven teams I think, with some
really promising quarterbacks, including Devin Dampierre, who was of course
given the preseason not as Newcomer of the Year by
the Big Twelve Conference. But you know, you got your
Rock Obecks and your Sawyer Robertson's and guys in that
in that vein. If quarterback play on average across the
(01:34):
conference is better than it was last year, what does
that mean for Utah?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
What does that mean for the conference in general?
Speaker 5 (01:43):
Well, for Utah to start with, if Devin dan Pierre
plays anything like he has done at New Mexico, it's
gonna be a it's gonna be a really good year
for Utah. And there's a lot of you know, a
lot of things that are strong about the Utah team.
And the offensive line is strong that I believe, the
defense is strong, a lot of a lot of returning
(02:04):
production there. You've got a healthy land Or Barton, You've
got a lot of maturity on the team. You've got
guys that can make plays, uh you know, in the
in the secondary. And and so I don't see a
drop off on a defense that was pretty good a
year ago. Maybe they might be a little bit better.
I think they've got to stay healthy. Depths clearly an issue.
(02:24):
So the thing about Devin dan Pier is he's really
good at creating offense when there isn't a lot of offense.
And that may be the case because I'm not convinced
that the wide receiver position they've got some guys that
can really make make plays. Well, we'll see when when
the season starts, but he can certainly extend a lot
(02:46):
of stuff having a good offensive line, they've got really
good running backs, they've got really solid tight ends, and
and that you know, if you can run the football
and play action, you can be pretty productive offensively. The
thing I think you run into, and the question for
me is with Devin is you know this is now
(03:07):
you're playing power for competition every single week, week in
and week out, and and you know you can play
against some good schools periodically in a lower division, and
and is he up to that task? You know, some
guys relish it, and some guys have done well in
the past being a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
To do that, you know, I think he will personally,
But but I think.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
That's the challenge for him, canny and is he ready
for that weekend and week out grind uh and and
what you so, what you have is you have kind
of an investment in a quarterback. So you take Avery
Johnson at Kansas State. You know, he's a guy that
had a lot of nil offers that could have could
have left, but they they invested a lot in him,
and he's a unique talent and and it and it
(03:51):
kind of takes some time for some of those guys
to develop and grow.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
A guy like Sam Levitt at Arizona State, you know,
he's a guy that man, he he uh, you know,
he could take a huge step forward. You know, he
may be one of the top quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
In the country or kind of in that conversation, you know,
and maybe the top five or ten before it's all
over with. But he got to play last year and
he's just going to be so much better this year
because of that experience.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
And then you go to BYU.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
Who had Jake Ritz laugh and he's gone and now
they got to reinvest in the in the quarterback situation
and they you know, and you're going to take your
lumps with guys when you're you're trying to do it.
But some of these teams that have like the Arizona
States and like the Kansas State who have kind of
in the next year of the development of a guy,
(04:42):
you can expect the quarterback is going to play at
a pretty high level and it's going to make those
teams very good and very competitive.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
You brought up the number one question that a lot
of Utah fans have about this offense in that wide
receiver room, and you know, to the credit of the
guys on the team, they all express confidence in that
group and said, folks just don't know the names yet,
but we have athletes and we've got guys who are
going to be able to make those plays. We'll let
it play out. We'll see if it actually happens that
way in the fall. If you don't have dudes who
(05:12):
are going to win individual matchups, so you don't have
dudes that are going to be athletically superior and just
a big time performers, Scott, can you scheme in a
pass production with a quarterback who has the escapability of
Devin Dan Pierre and you know the time that I
think this offensive line is going to give him. Can
(05:33):
you even without exceptional wide receiver talent, can you still
scheme in production in the throw game and get by
in these games.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So yes, the simple answer is yes. And you have
a strength.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
You have an extremely talented offensive line and something that
you really have to lean into. And you have a
quarterback who truly is a dual threat quarterback and he's
a guy can really run the football, might run the
ball better than he throws it. And and to get
behind that offensive line to have the threat of him running,
to have the good running I think Utah has a
(06:08):
quality set of running backs. I really like these guys.
And then you have the tight end. As I mentioned,
you know, everything's gonna go off of that run game,
and and and and it's going to be you know,
the rpo game is a big thing with Jason and
and you can create a lot of offense. Uh just
having those multi optional plays available in that are either
(06:33):
run or passes on a single play, and you can
generate a lot of offense. The key really to me,
it's about points and Utah's when they get in the
red zone. They they just have to score points. If
they're if they're if they're going to manufacture wins, if
they're gonna manufacture offense. It really comes down to being
(06:56):
very efficient in.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
The red zone, and that's something Jason Beck has proven
to be.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
And with a quarterback like Devin Dampier and his kind
of multifaceted ability, there's a lot you can do in
the red zone. So you know, it's like maybe you
don't get there as much, but when you get there,
you score, and you gotta be really, really efficient when
you have your red zone opportunities to score and really
score touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
And if you tak and do that, they can.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
Be very, very productive and a really probably a big
problem for teams in the conference and they'll compete for
a championship if they can do that.
Speaker 6 (07:31):
Goot Mitchell, my guests here on the Sean O'Connell show
talking Big twelve Media Days the Utah Football takeaways from it.
We sat down with Devin Dan Pierre and we can
give you that sound online or well maybe we'll replay
it later today or a little bit tomorrow if you're
listening to the Home of the Utes. But Devin said
he's hoping for six thousand total yards for this Utah
(07:54):
offense this year, and look last year, he himself as
an individual accounted for about thirty five and thirty six
hundred yards for New Mexico. So you just have to
get a strong run game to support that and of
course ratchet up the numbers a little bit from Devon
and company. H six thousand yards means a conference championship
to me with what I expect from this defense, how
(08:16):
realistic is something like that.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
I don't think it's unrealistic. And again, because you do
have a good defense. Heeta's got a pretty decent schedule
this year.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
I mean they're going to play some good teams. You know,
Kansas State is going to be a good team.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Baylor at Baylor's going to be Texas Tech is going
to be good. Uh, you know, b YU at b Yu.
It's always going to be a tough game. But but
they're they're certainly capable, I think.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
And one of the things there's a lot of things
I really like.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
About Devon Dampier, and he's kind of an outward His
personality is kind of outward facing. He's a guy that
really wants to be there. He's very comfortable being the
guy and and so, you know, to speak in the
big and broad terms, is.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Is something that I think he relishes and drives him.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Uh. He he's a better runner from the standpoint of
protecting himself, then maybe Cam Rising was. And so I
think you can keep him healthy during the season, even
though he's gonna run and probably be more prone to
run even then than Cam Rising was.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
But he's he's a better runner, more efficient runner, and
knows how to avoid hits better I think.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
And so it's because you got to keep him up right,
and if you're going to get that run production, you can't.
You can't wear him out. You can't break him down
if you if you're going to do that, and he's
pretty savvy about about that, and so that's that's a
good thing. But anytime you have a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Like that, and it's not just him, you know they're
that Again.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
If if this Utah football team can run the football,
which I can't believe I'm saying because I love to
throw the football, but if they can run the full effectively,
they can be very, very productive as as a team
and as an offense.
Speaker 6 (10:07):
Kyle Whittingham sat down with us yesterday and almost unsolicited said,
Lander Barton and Smith Noden are going to have offensive
reps next year. You're going to see a couple of
guys contributing both ways. And I think we're gonna see
Smith in the return game, So maybe that's what he
meant from offensive reps.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
But Lander Barton as a tight end, what do you think.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Well, I know, if you talk to dad, his dad
has always said he should be a tight end and
and and part of it from his dad perspective is like,
look at these this is it's such a high profile
position in the NFL, and if you got any kind
of athleticism to you, you can be you can be
a big time player in professional football. And Lander's got
that body, and he's got that kind of athleticism. It's
(10:53):
not something that's foreign to him. I mean he's been
he's been used to that. Utah is a little light
in the tight end position. Uh So, you know, seeing
this kind of all.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Hands on deck and and it and it's part of.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
Part of kind of the challenge you have with a
team when you're you're you're limited in your numbers, you know,
where where you don't have the same kind of numbers
you had in the past, you don't have the same
depth being being able to create more of a two
way player. You know, maybe this Travis Hunter thing at Colorado,
you know, maybe catches on a little bit more because
(11:29):
you know, you don't need you don't need them showing
up on every play. But if there's there's a way
through the season that you can get some production offensively
from from these just talented players, uh, you know, it's
it's worth it's worth exploring. You got you got to
find ways to produce and and you know, get that offense.
So my hat's off to them to be open to
(11:52):
kind of a unique solution.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
In the past, you wonder if that that would be
the case with twitting Ham and just saying, you know,
I don't want to expose two of my top players
to additional opportunity to get injured or even get worn down,
you know, and just get tired during game. But these
players are in great shape. And yeah, I kind of
(12:16):
am intrigued by that. That kind of makes me a
little excited.
Speaker 6 (12:20):
Scott Mitchell for a couple more minutes here on the
Sean O'Connell show, Getting guys reps on both sides of
the ball. I mean, we talked about it all year
or all offseason heading into Colorado's year, with like, hey,
you got to you got to account for you know,
wear and tear, and you're putting Travis Hunter at risk
of too much injury if you put him on the
(12:41):
field for one hundred snaps a game.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Like Lander.
Speaker 6 (12:44):
Barton's a guy who has some injury history at the
University of Utah, and obviously the injury bug has bitten
the utes these last two years in a way that none.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Of us expected going into the year.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
How do you handle that if you're a player on
the team, and if you're a coach on this staff,
because you could just like bubble wrap everybody, but then
you're not ready to play games. You could say, Lander,
I only need you on defense, but then you're potentially
taking away a big offensive weapon. So, knowing the backdrop
of the last two years injury wise, and knowing the
(13:21):
history of individuals and their injuries, how do you handle
it as a coach knowing also that this is probably
your last ride if you're Kyle Whittingham Scott, how do
you thread that needle on the coaching staff and as
a player.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Well, I think part of the mindset, and it's always
that way, is.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
You have to win today. You have to win in
the moment, and you have to deal with the.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Repercussions down the road if any You know, there's part
of the saying that there's not a bear behind every tree,
so you can't sit and worry that guys are going
to get injured all the time or the worst case
are is gonna for everything bad is always going to
happen kind of mindset, and and it's kind of that, Look,
we've got to we've got to live in the moment.
We have to prepare for the moment.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
We have to find a way to win right now today.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
Uh, there there's really in college football and football in general,
there's no there's really no planning for tomorrow. And so
you take the best people, the best opportunities you have,
and you line up every week and you you give
your your best effort and then you assess and evaluate
moving forward. I mean you try, you try as much
(14:34):
as you possibly can to minimize so you know, maybe
how you practice sometimes.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
The number of reps and and there there are situations
where and I think you though has done a good
job of this is during the season, Uh.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Just managing like a pitch count on everyone so that
so that you're not wearing people down throughout the season.
Part part of the success, part part of the failure too.
Part of the success is having a well balanced team.
You know, if you if you have an offensive team
that can be a ball control team, that can eat
up some clock, that can go down and score touchdowns
(15:13):
and shortened games, the shorter those games become. And the
games are actually a little bit shorter now just because
of the time clocks and things. But if you can
shorten up the games, it just extends your season. So
the more the more you can create depth, the more
you can create opportunities to keep your team fresh, you know,
throughout the season. You do that, but you also have
(15:36):
to go you know, it's my timeouts are no good
to me if I have them at halftime or way.
So whatever is available to you kind of that scenario,
you know, use it. And that includes players and unique
situations and what have you. Because you got to win today.
You got to win right now.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
We have not had an elite pass rusher from an
individual standpoint at the University of Utah in a couple
of seasons now. And you know, it's always great when
you've got a Nate orchard and when that person stays healthy.
How important do you think that is? You know, circling
all the way back to the quarterback conversation we had
at the beginning of this interview.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
For Utah to get a great pass rush again.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
Well, I'm getting ready to turn in my season tickets
because we haven't had a good pass rusher in a
couple of years. I'm kind of this unacceptable.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
This isn't Utah football.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
We got to pull our heads out and get a
guy in there. I thought it was going to be
Connor O'Toole, yet last year he wasn't healthy. I think
part of it the last couple of years has been
a health and consistency level. Coach Whittingham, coach coach Scaley.
They feel they've got a lot of people at that
end position that potentially could be that guy. And maybe
(16:50):
it's a little bit of a rush by committee, I
don't know, but it's such.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
An integral part of their defense.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
And you know, Kyle Winningham alluded to, you know, we
don't we don't have the luxury of developing players as
much as we used to, so we have to water
down our schemes just.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
A little bit.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
And he even included defense on that and and part
of that, can you know the solution.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
To that is if I can get a rush ind
uh And and it's it's about as basically as it gets.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Like you you line up here, and you go over there,
and you get the quarterback and you do it as
quick as you can. There's not a lot of scheme
in that. And if you have a guy that can
do that, you know, it just helps you be productive
defensively without having the scheme or you know, because a
lot of a lot of the schemes are are the
pressures that Utah uses with blitz and looks and everything.
(17:42):
And if you can get pressure from just someone who's
got some talent, uh, then then you're ahead of the game,
especially with how how you have to design your schemes
with with ni l and with the turnover of your team.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
All right, Scott, before I let you go, I put
a poll question out there.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
I deliberately left Utah off because of course if I
put the UTA on here would be everyone's answer. But
Big twelve Conference bottom dwellers from twenty twenty four that
you think have the best chance for a bounce back.
And look, last year it was Arizona State was supposed
to be bad and won the whole thing. Houston, UCF,
Oklahoma State and Arizona are four of the five bottom
(18:25):
teams from last year's twenty twenty four results. Which of
those teams could you see having the strongest year in
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So you have UCF, you Houston, Arizona and not Utah right.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And Oklahoma State Oklahoma State.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Well, you know, you can't ever Mike Gundy.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
You can't ever kind of pass up on him. He's
been around a long time and he's a guy that
you know, figures out how to win right now, and
he realized he's probably under a lot of pressure. Probably
I would pick them first to maybe have the best shot.
But I'll tell you what, your Shuston team.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Last year really played very nicely defensively, and they can
if they can kind of round it.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Out a little bit. They always tend to have athletes,
and they certainly had a nice staple of them a
year ago. They might be a team. So so probably
one in one A. I think those are my two
bottom dwellers to make themselves meaningful and have a shot
this year.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Are we going to be as wrong this year as
we were last year?
Speaker 6 (19:31):
All of us talking about Arizona State being what they
you know, bottom of the conference last year. We heading
into the year, we were like BYU maybe they got
like a six seven win season on their hands. They
ended up winning eleven games. Just like, I don't think
you talk and keep this trend of bad injuries going.
I don't think we could be that wrong again about
(19:52):
the Big twelve.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
What do you say? I think, well, no, I think
everyone's going to be wrong about the Big foo and
that's what's right. So being wrong is right, right, It's
it's just the one the one consistent in the conference
is it's inconsistent. And it's inconsistent not because it's bad,
it's just inconsistent because it's.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
Competitive from the top to the bottom. And you know,
there's just a lot of quality teams with with an
equal amount of talent. I you know, I don't see
I don't see one team that just is that bell cow,
that's that blue blood program.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
It just does. They don't have it in the conference.
And because of that, everyone's got a shot. So everything matters.
If you if you're a team.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Like BYU that they've got a lot of turnovers a
year ago and had.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Some lucky breaks, then then you win eleven games. And
if you and if you go the other direction and
you have a lot of injuries and you ball just
doesn't bounce your way. Then you have four or five wins,
and and the you know, the tenuous nature of every
program is that they're all in that boat, you know.
So so it's who who stays healthy, who gets the
(20:57):
right breaks, and who has the best production.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
And you know, really, really, in my opinion, at the
quarterback position. And I think that's the big that's the
big equalizer for so many of these programs. You can
overcome a lot if you have a quarterback that can
play at a pretty.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
High level and play consistently.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
And and and I don't think it's a bad thing either.
By the way I think this is it should be exciting.
I mean, there's a lot of quality teams in the
Big twelve, and you're going to get a competitive conference
with some really good football.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Scott Mitchell's got four hours of radio coming up on
the drive and that'll be four hours and twenty minutes
of radio today because he was still kind enough to
join us.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Always a pleasure, John, no problem.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
Scott Mitchell, Utah quarterbacking legend, color analyst on the Utah
football radio broadcast
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