September 10, 2025 • 23 mins
Catch “The Drive with Spence Checketts” from 2 pm to 6 pm weekdays on ESPN 700 & 92.1 FM. Produced by Porter Larsen. The latest on the Utah Jazz, Real Salt Lake, Utes, BYU + more sports storylines.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Free receivers WI like the right hand side, one to
the left hand side on second down at nine for
the cal Paly forty five deep in bock fires wide
to the outside.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's picked.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
It's gonna go to the house, Jackson Benny, the streak
is alive twenty two straight years with a pick six
for Utah Benny with a house, to.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The dulcet tones of the voice of the Utes one
Bill Riley, who joins us on this Wednesday afternoon, Ryle's
Happy Wednesday, Sir, How are.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You spent some good How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I appreciate the time today, Bill. So let's just let's
get to some of the things, some of the particulars
from a week ago. And let's start with something I've
not been able to really dig in with with you
as a guest, Coach Mack into the Ring of Honor there.
Of course, that was a great day, had a chance
to just say hello. He was very busy, very decked
(00:55):
out in his Hawaiian lay and a lot of people
wanted a piece of Coach mac. But what was that
like for you to see, Ryles? And what does Ron
McBride mean to Utah football?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Well, I was lucky enough Spence in the week leading
up to the event to be able to sit down
with both coach Mac and Roy Jefferson and just kind
of walk down memory lane for longer form sit down interviews,
and it was it was great. I mean, Max's been
a friend for a long long time and it's a
very very deserved honor. I asked him, I said, so,
(01:25):
how many people do you think are going to have
coming to the game as part of the event. He said, oh,
a few hundred, perfect, But Jefferson had a good crowd.
But you know, everybody that knows Mac is a friend,
and it was just I was just so happy for
him and Roy too, because you know, Roy had a
great pro career and he was a great two way player.
But for Mac, and I think I've said this with
(01:46):
you before, I just I think he's one of the
three or four most important figures in University of Utah
football history. What we have today doesn't happen if Ron
McBride doesn't take the job back in nineteen ninety and
you know, change the culture and make the program a
winning program and instill pride and toughness and everything else
(02:09):
in Utah football. He laid the foundation. Urban came in
and had a nice couple of year run kind of
a Utah football cool and then obviously Kyle's greatest coach
in football history at the University of Utah. But without Mac,
none of that happens, and so I was so happy
for him. And I didn't know Roy Jefferson at all Spence,
but I had always heard about him from John, my
(02:30):
friend John Peas, because they were teammates back in the
early sixties. And John always told me, he says, best
football player I ever played with was Roy Jefferson, and
he used to tell me stories. And so for me
to be able to have a chance to sit down
with Roy and talk to him and recount his time
at Utah was a lot of fun. So I thought
it was really really cool to put those guys got
(02:51):
put in the Ring of Honor.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You know what is interesting to consider for listeners that
don't know. You know, obviously coach Witt has a tie
to Coach Mac, but Morgan has a tie to coach Mack.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
He was recruited by him.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
He hired Jason Beck and look, you could keep going
sharif like the majority of the coaches on both Utah
and BYU's roster have a direct tie to Ron McBride.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
For our listeners who didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Well, yeah, and I mean Luther Ellis. I asked Mac
when I talked to him, I said, you know, because
he had to come in and change the culture when
he took over the job. I said, you know, was
there a player that was most instrumental in you turning
the program around and turning Utah into a winner? And
he didn't hesitated, he said, Luther Ellis. When I got
(03:38):
Luthor to commit and he came here, it changed everything.
And now Luther is a defensive tackles coach Lewis Palace
coaches ends. He was recruited and played for Ron McBride.
Colton Swan played for coach Mac at Weaver State and
coached with him at Weaver State. So there are so
many ties and Mac is kind of the through line
(03:59):
on all of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, so really special day to say hello to coach Mack.
And he looked really touched Bill, which I thought was
really really cool. You know, they looked like that also
meant a lot to him. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Oh? I think so he got a little choked up
when he was talking about it with me in the interview,
and it was halftime and I was still kind of
on the air, but I had my binoculars watching him,
and I think he might have worn those sunglasses on
purpose just to kind of maybe hide those eyes that
might have been welling up with some tears. Because I
think they have his name up on that stadium meant
(04:33):
a ton, I really do.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And also the man responsible for making Utah relevant in
the rivalry, beat BYU six times, a couple conference championships
prior to coach Mack it was sixteen and two during
an eighteen year stretch. Also a master recruiter, as you referenced,
twenty one players drafted, Jordan Gross, Jamal Anderson, Luther Ellis,
Steve Smith.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
But the Dyson brothers.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I could keep going and we could probably do a
five hour show on Coach Mack. Let's move over to
I don't know Ryle's would. I perceived to be more
of like a fun celebration. The Utah football is back, right,
I mean that was kind of the feel around the game.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Just good to have Utah football.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
We only get six of these things, man, I say
it every year so enjoy the moment.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yep, Yeah, I agree Spanson. You know, again, the opponent
wasn't on the level of UCLA or probably even on
the level of what Wyoming will be this weekend. But
what they did was they went out, they didn't turn
the football over, they scored nine times in the red zone,
didn't kick any field goals, just scored touchdowns, got out
(05:33):
of the game healthy, got to backup some key time
bird Fickland showed some stuff. So I think they just
kind of went about it business like and kind of
checked off a lot of the things you want to
do when you're playing a one double A caliber opponents.
And I think they've you know, they've had two good weeks.
They'll have Wyoming on the road, which will be a
(05:55):
little bit of a test this weekend too. It's never
easy to go to Laramie to play, but I think
after two weeks it's hard to argue coaches will always
be able to nitpick. And there's certainly still some questions
because the competition, especially a week from Saturday, is going
to get a lot tougher with Texas Tech. But I
think after two weeks of seeing Utah play, there's really
(06:17):
a lot to like about this team.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I agree, I agree, and so let's move into the
space of what you feel like you know and it
is difficult. USLA gets beat by Vegas cal Poly, not
a worthy opponent all due respect. So keeping the opponent
in mind, what do you feel confidence saying that you
know about this Utah team through two games?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, I think they're really talented. I think the defense
what you can see is athleticism and you can see
effort and motor. One of my big questions was the
defensive line. How are they going to generate pass rush?
You know, the last couple of years they've been pretty good,
but they've had to get a little bit more exotic
to pressure the quarterback. And I wanted to know how
(06:57):
would the defensive ends and tackles perform. John Henry Daily
was the highest graded defensive end in College Power for
College Football last weekend. He's been a really nice fine
He was in the program a year ago, transfer from BYU,
and he kind of bided his time behind some of
those veterans last year and now he's got three sacks
and two games, so I you know him. Cash, Dylan, Lance, Holtzklaw,
(07:19):
Paul Fitzgerald, obviously Logan Fino got he suited up, but
he didn't play last weekend, So I think that they're
I think that I feel pretty good about that. I
think the offense is good and it's going to be
hard to defend because they've got so many options. You know,
would you like to have that five star superstar wide receiver.
Probably so. But you know, eleven different guys ran the
(07:43):
ball and nine different guys caught the ball for Utah
on Saturday. That just tells me that they've got guys
that can make some plays, and it's they're going to
distribute the ball around and make it a little bit
more difficult on defenses to focus on where that ball's
going this year. So I think I think the offense
is very diverse. I think the offensive line, even with
a couple of guys sitting out last weekend, looked good.
(08:06):
And I think the defense was was solid. I mean,
they gave up three field goals to cal Polla, didn't
let them in the end zone even when the backups
were in. So I think there's a life of life.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
So was Shan so far has the longest rush and
the longest catch fifty two yard catch. You know, It
was kind of like last year versus SUU. Now was
Shan is certainly going to be in the mix, if
not at some point maybe take over that job, even
though the cars looked good as well. But last year
when the de Jon Stanley kid got a couple of
wilde open wheel routes where you could have scored bill
(08:37):
due respect, we all were like, hey, they do they
have a secret weapon. But you know, a lot of
conversation on like lack of big chunk plays. I don't
necessarily fall into the category being concerned about it because
there's two trains of thought. Maybe not a ton of
chunk plays, but also you're dump trucking the teams you
played so far, any concern from you on what a
(08:58):
lot of people have been talking about. Maybe not a
lot of ex explosive plays from the offense yet, well, they.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Had some sound. I mean they didn't have a lot.
There were a lot of longer drives against UCLA, But
I mean you mentioned it, Parker with a fifty two
yard play, Parker with a forty three yard run, Bird
Fickland with a thirty eight yard play. So there were
some in there, and then you know, you got some
of those rushing touchdowns. I think Rogers had a thirty
eight yard reception out of the backfield. They found Dallan
(09:25):
Bentley for a nice ball up the sideline, So I
think it was better this week. I think it's one
of those things that will come to good news, is
you know with that offensive line and you know that
you could run the ball and play power football. I
think they're still figuring out with some of these weapons,
who are going to be those big play guys. But
I think we've seen some glimpses in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
You know, Ultimately, I think Devin has passed the first
couple of tests with flying colors. There are maybe some
moments where he looks a little hesitant with the footwork
just to unleash it. And you know, I was thinking
about this. I was reading a preview for Georgia Tennessee
coming up this weekend, and the rider just pontificated on like, look,
maybe there are a lot of questions. Maybe Gunner Stockton
(10:05):
isn't necessarily a top tier quarterback, but he plays for Georgia,
and if you play for Georgia, you just rely on
the team around you. And it kind of felt that
feels that way about Devn. I mean, as long as
Devin relies on these two backs, both of them can
really tote it. I know the weapons on the outside
still have some questions, but of course the old line like,
it's one thing nitpicky about the way Devin's looked, and
(10:27):
that's tough to do after two blowout wins. But it's
got to be nice for Devin to look around and
just have this group around him, to know that that
side of the ball is solidified for the most part
while we wait to learn more about the wide receivers.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well, I think too. I mean, here's the thing. Yeah,
he's not had a lot of big passing number days,
but he's completed seventy five percent of his passes basically
in two weeks, and when the play hasn't been there,
he's been able to make something out of it with
his legs. So I think the bigger plays will come.
I do. I think, you know, again two weeks in
(11:04):
more chunk plays this week. But he's almost to me
in this offense like a point guard, just distributing to
the open man, and there's a lot of open men
to get the ball to. And I think he's just
doing a good job of distributing and taking what the
defense gives him. They haven't really, I mean, I don't
think this weekend. I think in the UCLA game early
they forced a couple balls downfield, but I didn't feel
(11:26):
like against cal Poly they really forced anything. And when
it wasn't there, he just would go pick up five, six,
seven yards.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Since I asked you what you feel like, you know
through two games, what are you still waiting to.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Learn the big big play stuff? I think the down
the field stuff is still to evolve. Jackson Benny, we
saw him catch a seventeen yard or He's run some
deep routes and looked good. Tobias Merriweather, he had the
thirty six yard grab against UCLA. I'm you know, those
big players are gonna come. Who's it gonna be? We
(11:56):
know who kind of the short and intermediate guys are.
You know, who's the guy that kind of takes the
top off or threatens the defense deep? So I'm still
waiting to see that, like I think, like everybody is,
and you know, I think it's just what will this
look like when the competition gets better. Utah is doing
exactly what you're supposed to do against teams that you're
better than. They're better than UCLA, they're better than cal Pauly.
(12:18):
We'll see what they do against Wyoming Saturday. Up there.
I think they're better than Wyoming, but you've got to
go do it. But then Texas Tech, that's the first
really really big test of a team that's on the
you know, equal footing with you from a talent standpoint,
from a ranking standpoint, from an expectation standpoint. So they've
got to take care of business. But I'm you know,
(12:41):
it's good to do it, and they've done exactly what
you're supposed to do. Run it up against those lesser teams.
But a week from Saturday is going to be really
interesting to me. And obviously we'll talk about that next week.
But when you play Texas Tech, So.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
When it comes to there, and Devin talked about this postgame,
and Wit talked about a postgame and during media on Monday,
the cal Poly game obviously was never in doubt. I mean,
it was a low anxiety Saturday. There was no way
that that was ever even gonna be kind of close.
There were a few mental lapses that manifested Sharif during
(13:13):
his media this week was very blunt, gave his group
a grade of C minus so far and said he
was actually being generous with those grades. I just for Bill,
for me, I've talked about this all week. We always
forget how young these players are, and certainly in the
modern day and age of the inundation of information, they
know the score with cal Poly, they know what time
(13:34):
it is. You come off an opening week statement at
the Rose Bowl where it's the final marquee game of
the college football weekend on Fox and everybody's watching you
go curb stomp UCLA. I think it's just human nature
for young people to maybe lose a little focus here
or there in a game where you're up by a million.
I know the coaches will tell you they want their
(13:55):
players focused, working hard at all times, but you cannot
change human aid.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Just is what it is when you're that young.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
None of the mental errors, and look, I'm just a
guy who blabs on the radio.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I'm sure for Kyleie actually maybe enjoys.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Some tape he can show his players as far as
what they can approve upon. Did any of the mental lapses,
the penalties, the out of position in the secondary concern
you at all?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Against Kyle poly Ers.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
It just young people probably just naturally not maybe playing
as hard as they want to against the team they
know they're going to beat by a million.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, I didn't think anything was egregious. I think the
early penalties are just frustrating as much as anything, because
I think they only had three total penalties against UCLA
and the opener on the road against a better team.
I don't know what goes into it, but I didn't
think there was anything wildly egregious that Utah did. It
set back a couple of early drives, but nothing major.
(14:48):
And again that's kind of you know, coaches will never
say this, Spence because they can't. But that's what some
of these games are about early in the season, before
you begin conference play, is working some things out, getting
everybody on the same page. Get a couple of those
procedure penalties or that hold out of the way. Now,
get your technique a little bit better against a team
(15:08):
that you're better than. And that way, when you line
up against ASU and BYU and Texas Tech, you know
your your technique, in your in your stance is a
little bit better. So I wasn't I mean, there was
nothing that you know they that bothered me. I didn't
see anything egregious or something that happened repeatedly that you're like,
oh man, this is going to be problematic. So I
(15:29):
think that's a lot of that as coaches just coaching
the heck out of these guys to make sure it
doesn't happen. As we get a little further on.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
You already said his name, but I believe I've heard
Kyle say the name Jackson Benny four or five times
over the past week.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
He gets to pick six.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
That's twenty two straight years, which is just wild to
think about. But it feels like Kyle really wants to
see him featured offensively. And obviously he's got wheels. Obviously
he's got ball skills. Any idea what that's going to
look like moving forward, Well, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
He's been. He's been playing wide receiver. I mean he
had that seventeen yard catch against UCLA. He's one of
the fastest guys on the team too, Spetch. He's really
a freakish athlete. He played volleyball, he played basketball, he
played rugby, he played football. I mean his uncle is
Danny Raine. His brothers have played football as well. This
kid is I mean, he's an excellent safety, he can
(16:19):
play slot corner. They moved him over to wide receiver
because he was just such a good athlete and he's
playing out wide there. I just, you know, I think
this guy's the limit for Jackson Denny. And if he's
a two way guy, great, if it's just as a
safety or if he just moves to wide receiver, but
I think you're gonna see him making plays this year.
He's really really good and whether and I think it's
(16:43):
I think you're going to see some of that in
the past game as well, because I think he's tall too.
He's a little lanky right now, and he's at about
one ninety maybe, but he goes about six foot two
and I think he's got about a forty inch vertical jump.
So he's a really freakish athlete. And I think they're
gonna find way to try to get him the football
as this thing moves forward.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I wanted to bring you into a conversation.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
I was watching some of the recaps of the Oklahoma
Michigan game last week, one of the prime time, you know,
ranked games that we actually had.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
We didn't have a ton in Week two.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
We had a good slate in Week two, but a
lot of people honed in on that game specifically to
you know, kind of watch two of the banner blue
blood programs in America. And Brett Venables, Oklahoma's defensive coordinator,
one of the most highly respected defensive coordinators in America.
And this Bryce Underwood kid the Michigan has. You can
tell he's got juice, you can tell he's got potential. Ye,
(17:35):
but Venables really put him in a blender. And I
know it's too early for the Utah BYU thing, but
BYU schedule is shaping up where I think they will
be and should be six and oh prior to the
Utah game, Utah's got some different challenges. You reference Tech.
I still think Arizona State's going to be good. But
if you're a Utah fan, to draw a parallel, you've
(17:58):
got to be licking your chops at what Morgan's galley
would be able to draw up for a true freshman
and Bear Bachmeyer because BYU this year is a little
bit like Utah has been underwit. Their defense is fast
and physical and nasty, but the offense against a compromised
Stanford team stalled a lot of time. They didn't take
advantage of the opportunities, had some red zone issues, and
(18:19):
I just think, even though I don't believe the rets,
laugh News really changed.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Overall their ability to be good.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
When you start a true freshman, at some point he's
going to get god and I just have to believe
that Morgan will have the ability to confuse the kid.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
It's going to be interesting because he did that a
couple of years ago. You remember the kid Dante Moore
who's now I think he's at Oregon thriving. Yeah, but
he got his first career start at Utah and it
was a rough day that day. They sacked him. Boy,
I think they sacked him six or seven times. He
threw a pick six in that game. It's tough, but
(18:54):
that was in Salt Lake City and that was I
think the second or third game of the year. The
one thing I'll say about Meyer is he'll have about
five under his belt by the time he gets to
playing Utah and he'll be down at BYU in a
little bit more friendly, confined. But you're right, Morgan's been
very good over the years. I mean, shoot, I remember
that he and John Peas did Jared Goff, who was
(19:16):
a senior in a Heisman Trophy candidate and was a
top ten pick. You know, he came in here through
five interceptions. So good defensive coordinators can do that because
the one thing you can't do, even with a young quarterback.
I mean you're even seeing it a little bit with
arch Manning too, is there's no substitution for reps in
game experience. And he will see a lot in five games,
(19:39):
there's no doubt about that, but he won't see what
a lot of quarterbacks have seen when they have a
full season under their belt or two seasons under their belt.
So that will be you know, that will be the
task when that game comes rolling around in October, is
to try to give him a lot of looks and
things that he hasn't seen before, because you just can't
(19:59):
know what you don't know, you know.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
For sure, speaking of freshmen with Juice, didn't know much
about Bird right outside of what the coaches have been saying,
and I'm knocking on wood, we want Devin under center
all year. But with what we've seen from Bird Fickland
so far, there's a lot to like about this kid.
What's your understanding of the backup quarterback situation with Utah.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
As we sit here today, well, it feels like and
I think Kyle addressed this the other day that Bert
obviously they like Bird a lot and what he can
do in that system. Obviously he played a quarter and
a half. You know, Isaac didn't get on the field
the other day. So I think they're really interested in
seeing what Bird can do. And I think his skill
set really fits well with what Utah does offensively. Now.
(20:43):
I think he runs the ball very well. He's got
a very live arm. I asked Kyle on the Coaches
Show last night, does he had the best arm in
the room. He'd like, Oh, I don't know about that.
I don't know if he does for sure, but his
arm is live. He made some really good throws, worked
way down the field, but with pressure in his face.
So a lot of what you saw on Saturday was
(21:03):
some of the stuff that was happening in spring ball
with Utah, and they were wildly impressed because he came
in he graduated early from high school. I think he
was still seventeen when he got on campus and had
a really good spring and they, like a lot of people,
do they have up and down fall camps when you're
a true freshman, but he's come out of it and
played really well. Now Devan's got this year and next year.
(21:23):
It's it's not making the bird ficklnd Eric quite yet
because Devon's awfully good. But just glimpses of what we've seen,
he's got a very bright future.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
All right, Roles, Before he set you loose Groundhog's Day
with the Big twelve, I don't know who's good. I mean,
most of the non con opportunities have gone by the wayside.
Of course Utah where you went over UCLA, Baylor went
to Dallas and got SMU. But now that we have,
you know, three weeks sample size, if you include Iowa State,
who probably has the most impressive resume so far, who
(21:55):
do you think is good in this conference?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Before he sets you loose?
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I think Iowa State's good. I mean, they beat Kansas State,
who's turned out to be not so good, but that
was an opening game in Ireland. Then they came home
and destroyed a one double A team, and then they
beat their in state rival, Iowa who was supposed to
be an upper tier Big ten team this year. So
I think that you know, if anybody's laying claim to
the best team in the conference, and you're basing it
(22:20):
on what we've seen. I think it's Iowa State right now.
I think Utah is right there with them because they
had a really nice road win against UCLA and then
came home and backed it up with a you know,
a decimation of a one double a BYU looks pretty good.
But they haven't played a lot yet. Texas Tech has
(22:42):
blown out to also ran opponents, but that's what you're
supposed to do against also ran opponents. I was really
impressed with TCU Spence. I know North Carolina is a
hot mess, but that was a road game in a
hostile environment, at least for a quarter. I think TCU's
pretty good too, and I don't think it's a bad
(23:02):
loss for a issue, but it's a road loss. But
the two teams outside of Utah that have impressed me
the most early on are probably TCU and Iowa State.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
What does success look like driving home from Laramie.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Well, Well, it's success is not driving home from Laramie.
It's hoping that the airplane works and that we fly
home Saturday night. It is not driving home and stopping
in rawlins or a green river. But I think it's
getting out of there with a W and just kind
of building on. You know, if you can have another
game where you don't turn the ball over. They've got
back to back games with no turnovers. Force a few turnovers,
(23:37):
stay healthy, and get out of there with a win,
and then turn your attention to Texas Tech.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
All right, buddy, thanks for the time, have a great call,
and travel safe.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Thanks mess
Free receivers WI like the right hand side, one to
the left hand side on second down at nine for
the cal Paly forty five deep in bock fires wide
to the outside.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's picked.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
It's gonna go to the house, Jackson Benny, the streak
is alive twenty two straight years with a pick six
for Utah Benny with a house, to.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The dulcet tones of the voice of the Utes one
Bill Riley, who joins us on this Wednesday afternoon, Ryle's
Happy Wednesday, Sir, How are.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You spent some good How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I appreciate the time today, Bill. So let's just let's
get to some of the things, some of the particulars
from a week ago. And let's start with something I've
not been able to really dig in with with you
as a guest, Coach Mack into the Ring of Honor there.
Of course, that was a great day, had a chance
to just say hello. He was very busy, very decked
(00:55):
out in his Hawaiian lay and a lot of people
wanted a piece of Coach mac. But what was that
like for you to see, Ryles? And what does Ron
McBride mean to Utah football?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Well, I was lucky enough Spence in the week leading
up to the event to be able to sit down
with both coach Mac and Roy Jefferson and just kind
of walk down memory lane for longer form sit down interviews,
and it was it was great. I mean, Max's been
a friend for a long long time and it's a
very very deserved honor. I asked him, I said, so,
(01:25):
how many people do you think are going to have
coming to the game as part of the event. He said, oh,
a few hundred, perfect, But Jefferson had a good crowd.
But you know, everybody that knows Mac is a friend,
and it was just I was just so happy for
him and Roy too, because you know, Roy had a
great pro career and he was a great two way player.
But for Mac, and I think I've said this with
(01:46):
you before, I just I think he's one of the
three or four most important figures in University of Utah
football history. What we have today doesn't happen if Ron
McBride doesn't take the job back in nineteen ninety and
you know, change the culture and make the program a
winning program and instill pride and toughness and everything else
(02:09):
in Utah football. He laid the foundation. Urban came in
and had a nice couple of year run kind of
a Utah football cool and then obviously Kyle's greatest coach
in football history at the University of Utah. But without Mac,
none of that happens, and so I was so happy
for him. And I didn't know Roy Jefferson at all Spence,
but I had always heard about him from John, my
(02:30):
friend John Peas, because they were teammates back in the
early sixties. And John always told me, he says, best
football player I ever played with was Roy Jefferson, and
he used to tell me stories. And so for me
to be able to have a chance to sit down
with Roy and talk to him and recount his time
at Utah was a lot of fun. So I thought
it was really really cool to put those guys got
(02:51):
put in the Ring of Honor.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You know what is interesting to consider for listeners that
don't know. You know, obviously coach Witt has a tie
to Coach Mac, but Morgan has a tie to coach Mack.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
He was recruited by him.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
He hired Jason Beck and look, you could keep going
sharif like the majority of the coaches on both Utah
and BYU's roster have a direct tie to Ron McBride.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
For our listeners who didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Well, yeah, and I mean Luther Ellis. I asked Mac
when I talked to him, I said, you know, because
he had to come in and change the culture when
he took over the job. I said, you know, was
there a player that was most instrumental in you turning
the program around and turning Utah into a winner? And
he didn't hesitated, he said, Luther Ellis. When I got
(03:38):
Luthor to commit and he came here, it changed everything.
And now Luther is a defensive tackles coach Lewis Palace
coaches ends. He was recruited and played for Ron McBride.
Colton Swan played for coach Mac at Weaver State and
coached with him at Weaver State. So there are so
many ties and Mac is kind of the through line
(03:59):
on all of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, so really special day to say hello to coach Mack.
And he looked really touched Bill, which I thought was
really really cool. You know, they looked like that also
meant a lot to him. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Oh? I think so he got a little choked up
when he was talking about it with me in the interview,
and it was halftime and I was still kind of
on the air, but I had my binoculars watching him,
and I think he might have worn those sunglasses on
purpose just to kind of maybe hide those eyes that
might have been welling up with some tears. Because I
think they have his name up on that stadium meant
(04:33):
a ton, I really do.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And also the man responsible for making Utah relevant in
the rivalry, beat BYU six times, a couple conference championships
prior to coach Mack it was sixteen and two during
an eighteen year stretch. Also a master recruiter, as you referenced,
twenty one players drafted, Jordan Gross, Jamal Anderson, Luther Ellis,
Steve Smith.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
But the Dyson brothers.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I could keep going and we could probably do a
five hour show on Coach Mack. Let's move over to
I don't know Ryle's would. I perceived to be more
of like a fun celebration. The Utah football is back, right,
I mean that was kind of the feel around the game.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Just good to have Utah football.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
We only get six of these things, man, I say
it every year so enjoy the moment.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yep, Yeah, I agree Spanson. You know, again, the opponent
wasn't on the level of UCLA or probably even on
the level of what Wyoming will be this weekend. But
what they did was they went out, they didn't turn
the football over, they scored nine times in the red zone,
didn't kick any field goals, just scored touchdowns, got out
(05:33):
of the game healthy, got to backup some key time
bird Fickland showed some stuff. So I think they just
kind of went about it business like and kind of
checked off a lot of the things you want to
do when you're playing a one double A caliber opponents.
And I think they've you know, they've had two good weeks.
They'll have Wyoming on the road, which will be a
(05:55):
little bit of a test this weekend too. It's never
easy to go to Laramie to play, but I think
after two weeks it's hard to argue coaches will always
be able to nitpick. And there's certainly still some questions
because the competition, especially a week from Saturday, is going
to get a lot tougher with Texas Tech. But I
think after two weeks of seeing Utah play, there's really
(06:17):
a lot to like about this team.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I agree, I agree, and so let's move into the
space of what you feel like you know and it
is difficult. USLA gets beat by Vegas cal Poly, not
a worthy opponent all due respect. So keeping the opponent
in mind, what do you feel confidence saying that you
know about this Utah team through two games?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, I think they're really talented. I think the defense
what you can see is athleticism and you can see
effort and motor. One of my big questions was the
defensive line. How are they going to generate pass rush?
You know, the last couple of years they've been pretty good,
but they've had to get a little bit more exotic
to pressure the quarterback. And I wanted to know how
(06:57):
would the defensive ends and tackles perform. John Henry Daily
was the highest graded defensive end in College Power for
College Football last weekend. He's been a really nice fine
He was in the program a year ago, transfer from BYU,
and he kind of bided his time behind some of
those veterans last year and now he's got three sacks
and two games, so I you know him. Cash, Dylan, Lance, Holtzklaw,
(07:19):
Paul Fitzgerald, obviously Logan Fino got he suited up, but
he didn't play last weekend, So I think that they're
I think that I feel pretty good about that. I
think the offense is good and it's going to be
hard to defend because they've got so many options. You know,
would you like to have that five star superstar wide receiver.
Probably so. But you know, eleven different guys ran the
(07:43):
ball and nine different guys caught the ball for Utah
on Saturday. That just tells me that they've got guys
that can make some plays, and it's they're going to
distribute the ball around and make it a little bit
more difficult on defenses to focus on where that ball's
going this year. So I think I think the offense
is very diverse. I think the offensive line, even with
a couple of guys sitting out last weekend, looked good.
(08:06):
And I think the defense was was solid. I mean,
they gave up three field goals to cal Polla, didn't
let them in the end zone even when the backups
were in. So I think there's a life of life.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
So was Shan so far has the longest rush and
the longest catch fifty two yard catch. You know, It
was kind of like last year versus SUU. Now was
Shan is certainly going to be in the mix, if
not at some point maybe take over that job, even
though the cars looked good as well. But last year
when the de Jon Stanley kid got a couple of
wilde open wheel routes where you could have scored bill
(08:37):
due respect, we all were like, hey, they do they
have a secret weapon. But you know, a lot of
conversation on like lack of big chunk plays. I don't
necessarily fall into the category being concerned about it because
there's two trains of thought. Maybe not a ton of
chunk plays, but also you're dump trucking the teams you
played so far, any concern from you on what a
(08:58):
lot of people have been talking about. Maybe not a
lot of ex explosive plays from the offense yet, well, they.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Had some sound. I mean they didn't have a lot.
There were a lot of longer drives against UCLA, But
I mean you mentioned it, Parker with a fifty two
yard play, Parker with a forty three yard run, Bird
Fickland with a thirty eight yard play. So there were
some in there, and then you know, you got some
of those rushing touchdowns. I think Rogers had a thirty
eight yard reception out of the backfield. They found Dallan
(09:25):
Bentley for a nice ball up the sideline, So I
think it was better this week. I think it's one
of those things that will come to good news, is
you know with that offensive line and you know that
you could run the ball and play power football. I
think they're still figuring out with some of these weapons,
who are going to be those big play guys. But
I think we've seen some glimpses in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
You know, Ultimately, I think Devin has passed the first
couple of tests with flying colors. There are maybe some
moments where he looks a little hesitant with the footwork
just to unleash it. And you know, I was thinking
about this. I was reading a preview for Georgia Tennessee
coming up this weekend, and the rider just pontificated on like, look,
maybe there are a lot of questions. Maybe Gunner Stockton
(10:05):
isn't necessarily a top tier quarterback, but he plays for Georgia,
and if you play for Georgia, you just rely on
the team around you. And it kind of felt that
feels that way about Devn. I mean, as long as
Devin relies on these two backs, both of them can
really tote it. I know the weapons on the outside
still have some questions, but of course the old line like,
it's one thing nitpicky about the way Devin's looked, and
(10:27):
that's tough to do after two blowout wins. But it's
got to be nice for Devin to look around and
just have this group around him, to know that that
side of the ball is solidified for the most part
while we wait to learn more about the wide receivers.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well, I think too. I mean, here's the thing. Yeah,
he's not had a lot of big passing number days,
but he's completed seventy five percent of his passes basically
in two weeks, and when the play hasn't been there,
he's been able to make something out of it with
his legs. So I think the bigger plays will come.
I do. I think, you know, again two weeks in
(11:04):
more chunk plays this week. But he's almost to me
in this offense like a point guard, just distributing to
the open man, and there's a lot of open men
to get the ball to. And I think he's just
doing a good job of distributing and taking what the
defense gives him. They haven't really, I mean, I don't
think this weekend. I think in the UCLA game early
they forced a couple balls downfield, but I didn't feel
(11:26):
like against cal Poly they really forced anything. And when
it wasn't there, he just would go pick up five, six,
seven yards.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Since I asked you what you feel like, you know
through two games, what are you still waiting to.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Learn the big big play stuff? I think the down
the field stuff is still to evolve. Jackson Benny, we
saw him catch a seventeen yard or He's run some
deep routes and looked good. Tobias Merriweather, he had the
thirty six yard grab against UCLA. I'm you know, those
big players are gonna come. Who's it gonna be? We
(11:56):
know who kind of the short and intermediate guys are.
You know, who's the guy that kind of takes the
top off or threatens the defense deep? So I'm still
waiting to see that, like I think, like everybody is,
and you know, I think it's just what will this
look like when the competition gets better. Utah is doing
exactly what you're supposed to do against teams that you're
better than. They're better than UCLA, they're better than cal Pauly.
(12:18):
We'll see what they do against Wyoming Saturday. Up there.
I think they're better than Wyoming, but you've got to
go do it. But then Texas Tech, that's the first
really really big test of a team that's on the
you know, equal footing with you from a talent standpoint,
from a ranking standpoint, from an expectation standpoint. So they've
got to take care of business. But I'm you know,
(12:41):
it's good to do it, and they've done exactly what
you're supposed to do. Run it up against those lesser teams.
But a week from Saturday is going to be really
interesting to me. And obviously we'll talk about that next week.
But when you play Texas Tech, So.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
When it comes to there, and Devin talked about this postgame,
and Wit talked about a postgame and during media on Monday,
the cal Poly game obviously was never in doubt. I mean,
it was a low anxiety Saturday. There was no way
that that was ever even gonna be kind of close.
There were a few mental lapses that manifested Sharif during
(13:13):
his media this week was very blunt, gave his group
a grade of C minus so far and said he
was actually being generous with those grades. I just for Bill,
for me, I've talked about this all week. We always
forget how young these players are, and certainly in the
modern day and age of the inundation of information, they
know the score with cal Poly, they know what time
(13:34):
it is. You come off an opening week statement at
the Rose Bowl where it's the final marquee game of
the college football weekend on Fox and everybody's watching you
go curb stomp UCLA. I think it's just human nature
for young people to maybe lose a little focus here
or there in a game where you're up by a million.
I know the coaches will tell you they want their
(13:55):
players focused, working hard at all times, but you cannot
change human aid.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Just is what it is when you're that young.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
None of the mental errors, and look, I'm just a
guy who blabs on the radio.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I'm sure for Kyleie actually maybe enjoys.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Some tape he can show his players as far as
what they can approve upon. Did any of the mental lapses,
the penalties, the out of position in the secondary concern
you at all?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Against Kyle poly Ers.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
It just young people probably just naturally not maybe playing
as hard as they want to against the team they
know they're going to beat by a million.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, I didn't think anything was egregious. I think the
early penalties are just frustrating as much as anything, because
I think they only had three total penalties against UCLA
and the opener on the road against a better team.
I don't know what goes into it, but I didn't
think there was anything wildly egregious that Utah did. It
set back a couple of early drives, but nothing major.
(14:48):
And again that's kind of you know, coaches will never
say this, Spence because they can't. But that's what some
of these games are about early in the season, before
you begin conference play, is working some things out, getting
everybody on the same page. Get a couple of those
procedure penalties or that hold out of the way. Now,
get your technique a little bit better against a team
(15:08):
that you're better than. And that way, when you line
up against ASU and BYU and Texas Tech, you know
your your technique, in your in your stance is a
little bit better. So I wasn't I mean, there was
nothing that you know they that bothered me. I didn't
see anything egregious or something that happened repeatedly that you're like,
oh man, this is going to be problematic. So I
(15:29):
think that's a lot of that as coaches just coaching
the heck out of these guys to make sure it
doesn't happen. As we get a little further on.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
You already said his name, but I believe I've heard
Kyle say the name Jackson Benny four or five times
over the past week.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
He gets to pick six.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
That's twenty two straight years, which is just wild to
think about. But it feels like Kyle really wants to
see him featured offensively. And obviously he's got wheels. Obviously
he's got ball skills. Any idea what that's going to
look like moving forward, Well, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
He's been. He's been playing wide receiver. I mean he
had that seventeen yard catch against UCLA. He's one of
the fastest guys on the team too, Spetch. He's really
a freakish athlete. He played volleyball, he played basketball, he
played rugby, he played football. I mean his uncle is
Danny Raine. His brothers have played football as well. This
kid is I mean, he's an excellent safety, he can
(16:19):
play slot corner. They moved him over to wide receiver
because he was just such a good athlete and he's
playing out wide there. I just, you know, I think
this guy's the limit for Jackson Denny. And if he's
a two way guy, great, if it's just as a
safety or if he just moves to wide receiver, but
I think you're gonna see him making plays this year.
He's really really good and whether and I think it's
(16:43):
I think you're going to see some of that in
the past game as well, because I think he's tall too.
He's a little lanky right now, and he's at about
one ninety maybe, but he goes about six foot two
and I think he's got about a forty inch vertical jump.
So he's a really freakish athlete. And I think they're
gonna find way to try to get him the football
as this thing moves forward.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I wanted to bring you into a conversation.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
I was watching some of the recaps of the Oklahoma
Michigan game last week, one of the prime time, you know,
ranked games that we actually had.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
We didn't have a ton in Week two.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
We had a good slate in Week two, but a
lot of people honed in on that game specifically to
you know, kind of watch two of the banner blue
blood programs in America. And Brett Venables, Oklahoma's defensive coordinator,
one of the most highly respected defensive coordinators in America.
And this Bryce Underwood kid the Michigan has. You can
tell he's got juice, you can tell he's got potential. Ye,
(17:35):
but Venables really put him in a blender. And I
know it's too early for the Utah BYU thing, but
BYU schedule is shaping up where I think they will
be and should be six and oh prior to the
Utah game, Utah's got some different challenges. You reference Tech.
I still think Arizona State's going to be good. But
if you're a Utah fan, to draw a parallel, you've
(17:58):
got to be licking your chops at what Morgan's galley
would be able to draw up for a true freshman
and Bear Bachmeyer because BYU this year is a little
bit like Utah has been underwit. Their defense is fast
and physical and nasty, but the offense against a compromised
Stanford team stalled a lot of time. They didn't take
advantage of the opportunities, had some red zone issues, and
(18:19):
I just think, even though I don't believe the rets,
laugh News really changed.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Overall their ability to be good.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
When you start a true freshman, at some point he's
going to get god and I just have to believe
that Morgan will have the ability to confuse the kid.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
It's going to be interesting because he did that a
couple of years ago. You remember the kid Dante Moore
who's now I think he's at Oregon thriving. Yeah, but
he got his first career start at Utah and it
was a rough day that day. They sacked him. Boy,
I think they sacked him six or seven times. He
threw a pick six in that game. It's tough, but
(18:54):
that was in Salt Lake City and that was I
think the second or third game of the year. The
one thing I'll say about Meyer is he'll have about
five under his belt by the time he gets to
playing Utah and he'll be down at BYU in a
little bit more friendly, confined. But you're right, Morgan's been
very good over the years. I mean, shoot, I remember
that he and John Peas did Jared Goff, who was
(19:16):
a senior in a Heisman Trophy candidate and was a
top ten pick. You know, he came in here through
five interceptions. So good defensive coordinators can do that because
the one thing you can't do, even with a young quarterback.
I mean you're even seeing it a little bit with
arch Manning too, is there's no substitution for reps in
game experience. And he will see a lot in five games,
(19:39):
there's no doubt about that, but he won't see what
a lot of quarterbacks have seen when they have a
full season under their belt or two seasons under their belt.
So that will be you know, that will be the
task when that game comes rolling around in October, is
to try to give him a lot of looks and
things that he hasn't seen before, because you just can't
(19:59):
know what you don't know, you know.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
For sure, speaking of freshmen with Juice, didn't know much
about Bird right outside of what the coaches have been saying,
and I'm knocking on wood, we want Devin under center
all year. But with what we've seen from Bird Fickland
so far, there's a lot to like about this kid.
What's your understanding of the backup quarterback situation with Utah.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
As we sit here today, well, it feels like and
I think Kyle addressed this the other day that Bert
obviously they like Bird a lot and what he can
do in that system. Obviously he played a quarter and
a half. You know, Isaac didn't get on the field
the other day. So I think they're really interested in
seeing what Bird can do. And I think his skill
set really fits well with what Utah does offensively. Now.
(20:43):
I think he runs the ball very well. He's got
a very live arm. I asked Kyle on the Coaches
Show last night, does he had the best arm in
the room. He'd like, Oh, I don't know about that.
I don't know if he does for sure, but his
arm is live. He made some really good throws, worked
way down the field, but with pressure in his face.
So a lot of what you saw on Saturday was
(21:03):
some of the stuff that was happening in spring ball
with Utah, and they were wildly impressed because he came
in he graduated early from high school. I think he
was still seventeen when he got on campus and had
a really good spring and they, like a lot of people,
do they have up and down fall camps when you're
a true freshman, but he's come out of it and
played really well. Now Devan's got this year and next year.
(21:23):
It's it's not making the bird ficklnd Eric quite yet
because Devon's awfully good. But just glimpses of what we've seen,
he's got a very bright future.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
All right, Roles, Before he set you loose Groundhog's Day
with the Big twelve, I don't know who's good. I mean,
most of the non con opportunities have gone by the wayside.
Of course Utah where you went over UCLA, Baylor went
to Dallas and got SMU. But now that we have,
you know, three weeks sample size, if you include Iowa State,
who probably has the most impressive resume so far, who
(21:55):
do you think is good in this conference?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Before he sets you loose?
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I think Iowa State's good. I mean, they beat Kansas State,
who's turned out to be not so good, but that
was an opening game in Ireland. Then they came home
and destroyed a one double A team, and then they
beat their in state rival, Iowa who was supposed to
be an upper tier Big ten team this year. So
I think that you know, if anybody's laying claim to
the best team in the conference, and you're basing it
(22:20):
on what we've seen. I think it's Iowa State right now.
I think Utah is right there with them because they
had a really nice road win against UCLA and then
came home and backed it up with a you know,
a decimation of a one double a BYU looks pretty good.
But they haven't played a lot yet. Texas Tech has
(22:42):
blown out to also ran opponents, but that's what you're
supposed to do against also ran opponents. I was really
impressed with TCU Spence. I know North Carolina is a
hot mess, but that was a road game in a
hostile environment, at least for a quarter. I think TCU's
pretty good too, and I don't think it's a bad
(23:02):
loss for a issue, but it's a road loss. But
the two teams outside of Utah that have impressed me
the most early on are probably TCU and Iowa State.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
What does success look like driving home from Laramie.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Well, Well, it's success is not driving home from Laramie.
It's hoping that the airplane works and that we fly
home Saturday night. It is not driving home and stopping
in rawlins or a green river. But I think it's
getting out of there with a W and just kind
of building on. You know, if you can have another
game where you don't turn the ball over. They've got
back to back games with no turnovers. Force a few turnovers,
(23:37):
stay healthy, and get out of there with a win,
and then turn your attention to Texas Tech.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
All right, buddy, thanks for the time, have a great call,
and travel safe.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Thanks mess
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