What to Expect from Utah

[MUSIC] In today's Razer Bag Daily, Arkansas hits the road this weekend for a big test out West. The voice of the youths Bill Raleigh joins us to break down the matchup and give us an inside look at this Utah team. It's Wednesday, September 9th, 2026. I'm Quinn Grobe alongside my man Matt Zimmerman, and you're listening to the Razer Bag Daily. [MUSIC] All right folks, welcome back into the Razer Bag Daily. As always, we appreciate you joining us. Quinn Grobe, TerraTalmage, Quinn, we've got a special guest with us today. And folks, we are excited to talk to the long time voice of Utah Athletics of the Utah Youths Bill Riley, Bill, welcome in to the Razer Bag Daily. Guys, thanks for having me. This is going to be a lot of fun. I've been looking forward to coming on with you. And I'm really looking forward to this game. We don't get a lot of SEC teams coming out to Salt Lake City. So it's going to be fun to have the hogs in town this weekend. Yeah, absolutely. And I think a lot of SEC teams are pretty smart in this scheduling because that's a hard place to go. But we are more one of the Western type SEC schools. We have a long trip still. But it's obviously not Florida or Tennessee or somebody that's way out east. But we're excited about coming there. We were fortunate. Bill, about three years ago, we did a home-and-home with BYU. So we have been to Provo not too long ago. That's not going to be the same, Zee. They ain't going to hand out ice cream. They ain't going to do it. They ain't going to treat us like that. I'm going to ask Bill. I'm going to see if I'm going to give me some ice cream at the end of the third quarter. And we have been out. It's greener ice cream at right seconds. Hey, Bill, when we were walking in at BYU, they were at the gate. All those older men, real nice. They were clapping and cheering for us as we walked from the bus to the locker room. How about that? Well, you guys do that in Salt Lake Saturday night. Well, the fans will be nice to you. They're not going to be mean. It's not like you're going to bat and rouge or start roll or something like that. They're going to be nice and welcome you here. But once that game's kicked off, the niceties go away. And Utah is going to try and try and get a win and 97 straight sell out. So it'll be a great crowd. It's going to be a great night. And yet, for many years, this was a basketball school. Rick Majeris, before Rick Majerisland, Archibald, Jerry Pym. And it's still a good basketball history. 15th or 16th winning this program ever. But ever since Urban Meyer was here, followed by Kyle Wittingham, now Morgan Scally. This has been a football school, guys, for about the last 20, 23 years. Yeah. Wow. Hey, Bill, before we get in Arkansas, and you got a chance to watch Utah beat Idaho 66 to 14. And what did you learn about this Utah team in that first game? And what do you still not know? Well, I think we learned that the offense is really good. As it is, when you bring back your starting quarterback, your backup quarterback, your starting running back, and they've added just a number of wide receivers. There were some questions about the offensive line, because five guys went to the NFL, but they brought back a bunch of guys who have been in the program for a long time. Have a lot of snaps. Just didn't start a lot of games. But they did what they were supposed to do against a one-double-a program. Idaho's a good one-double-a program, but there's still a one-double-a program. So they put up some points, still work in progress. You know, when you talk to Morgan Scalley, you know, coaches are always like, "Well, they've got a lot to clean up between games one and game two." But the offense was, I said this after the game when we were talking of the post-game show. I said, "It was creative without being too creative." Meaning, it gave you a lot of different looks, but it wasn't like they were going into their bag with trick plays and a bunch of that stuff. It really just showed the dynamic playmakers and the different looks that Kevin McGeeven's going to use with his offense. Defensively, they were good again. They were they outmaned Idaho, so it's hard to say. They were aggressive at times, but they played a lot of base stuff, too. So this is going to be a much better test. I think we're going to find out probably both teams. Both Arkansas and Utah are going to have a better idea of where they are and what they have after Saturday night than they probably did in their first game. Hey, Bill, you talked about some of that offensive line. And I remember sitting there watching the NFL draft. And I knew we were coming your way in September and Quinn. Ninth pick, ninth pick, offensive tackle, spencer, fan-o, fan-o, and then the 28th pick, still in the first round with Caleb Lomu, another four-letter guy. They can't come back, Kenny. They can't come back. Well, if they were an LSU, they could be a Friday afternoon decision. It was LSU, but you guys lost it. As you mentioned it, but you all lost a lot of great players. And then you combine that with coach leaving and retiring slash going to Michigan and a lot of that staff changing out. There's a lot of changes for Utah. Yeah, there are, but I mean, a lot of the staff remain. Morgan Scally was coaching waiting here for three years. Played there. Played there, right? He spent his dad played here. He grew up three miles from the stadium. His entire life has been Utah football. His entire adult life from being an all-American safety to coaching his entire career. But Urban Meyer wanted to take him to Florida with him. He was one of Urban Meyer's favorite players. But he chose to stay here and join Wittingham staff. Was a safety's coach because he played safety. And then he was coordinator for the last 11 years. So it wasn't like there was a huge, he recruited, he was the lead recruiter too. So he recruited a lot of these guys too. Some staff remained and a lot of the guys he brought back a former players. He brought back a guy that coached him at safety. Derek Odom, who was a defensive coordinator at San Jose State. He brought back one of his teammates to coach offensive line. Jordan Gross, who was an all-American here and played 11 years with the Carolina Panthers was an all pro with the Carolina Panthers. So he brought back guys. There are a few new faces, but a lot of the guys that he added to the staff have been coaching in college or pro football and have ties to the program. So you guys know this. Sometimes the hardest part for a new culture or players coming in is the culture and learning the system and the culture of the program. That hasn't been a problem. The culture has remained the same because Scally was part of it. And a lot of the guys that he brought into Phil Vacancies were part of it. Maybe it was 15 or 20 years ago, but they know about it. So that part of the transition has gone pretty, I mean, again, when you lose a guy that had been here for 30 years and had coached for 21 years, there's going to be some, but you know, you hired the guy that was a coach and waiting that knows the culture that had been here. And he's been planning to have this job. They didn't just spring it on him in December that, hey, you're going to be the head coach. He's been planning for this for a good two, three years. Hey, for a Quinn Jones back in their bill, I can't believe. I mean, you said he played for Urban Meyer. To me, that seems like it was 10 years ago. And I know it's been a long time, done time fly bill in college athletics. I mean, I can't believe it. I look back on some of this stuff. I'm calling games now. And I'm sure you guys are doing the same thing of guys who's, whose father's played here. Oh, yeah. I mean, I called their daddies when they were seniors. And now they have stuns that are freshmen on the team. I thought my kids made me feel old. This makes me feel even older than that when I was like, oh, yeah. My set first or second year on the job, your dad was a senior. Now you're playing here. It's crazy. Well, a good thing about it is, Bill, you were able to get those student athletes to come on your campus and actually be players. I mean, to be able to get those generational guys, it really helps. Well, it's funny. Funny, Quinn, you say that because Morgan addressed this in his press conference the other day, legacy recruits are important because we're not just offering guys because their dads played here. They've got to be the right guys. But to be able to land those guys whose dad's played here that were also good, that helps keep that culture and keep that in place because these kids have all grown up, watching Utah football and their dads have told them about it. So they're not stepping into a situation that they're not keenly aware of. Hey, Bill, when you look at this week two schedule, I mean, like, I think this Arkansas Utah game is one of the best games out there. And it's going to be one that's going to be late where people can kind of watch all the days games and then kind of use it as a night cat. This game is huge. It's important for Arkansas. But how important is it for Utah? It's important to Utah because Utah thinks that they've got a team that can win and play for the Big 12 championship. And you know, Texas Tech is going to be, I think they're down a little bit this year. Not a lot, but I think and they still have some questions with Will Hamm and where he's at. BYU is really good. Houston's a good team. So they're trying to measure themselves. They were 11 and two a year ago, guys. They beat themselves in Provo and they stood toe to toe with Texas Tech for three quarters until they just got tucker that because their offense couldn't do a whole lot. They were, it was like the quietest 11 and two season you're out. They didn't get to play for a conference championship. And they weren't in the playoff fixture. They missed by two spots. So they feel like they had a little something to prove this year. So this is a big game. This is again, SEC teams. It's only the second SEC teams have become Salt Lake City. Florida came a couple of years ago and Utah beat them there. But it's a big deal. And you know, Utah's looking at this because the first part of their big 12 schedule isn't to their schedule really gets tough in later October. in November. So they're kind of circling this game as a measuring stick game. And even if Arkansas is in a little bit of a rebuild this year with a new head coach, you guys still have SEC athletes. They didn't play SEC athletes last week. Those were one double eight kids. They're not going to play it next week. They're going to be playing an Iowa state team that's really down in a couple of weeks. This is a big game. And I can tell you they're not taking it lightly because when they signed that deal to get, they've also got a home and home with LSU coming up too. She was coming in here in a couple of years. And then Utah will be going back to Baton Rouge. These are big games and these are measuring stick games. This is a big ESPN game. Utah's big used to been playing on these. They used to call them pack 12 after dark games. Have a cold drink and kicking your feet back while I was calling a football game till Sunday morning. It's a good window. A lot of the country is watching this game because they're wrapped up for the day already. It's the best of the late night games. So Arkansas wants to put on a good show for their first year head coach. And Utah wants to say we're 20th in the country. We think we're better than that. Well, they've got to go out and show it against Arkansas on Saturday night. Hey, Bill, you talked about the good quarterback a little bit. Just kind of expand on him. And he's he's not the biggest quarterback. Right. It's kind of solid building. He's not very tall. Yeah, he's thick. I'll just talk a little bit about him for our listeners that don't haven't seen him play. Well, you're going to see two quarterbacks Saturday, but I'll start with Dan Peer. He was the newcomer of the year and the big 12th. The year before he came with the offensive coordinator Jason Beck from New Mexico. And he was really good last year. He was banged up. We found out after the year he was playing injured with a herni and some other stuff all year long still managed to go for 2800 yards passing and 800 yards rushing last year. He's built, he's more like a running bat. He's built like a running back who plays quarterback. He's improved his passing. He's got a lot of weapons around him, but he's also got a backup by the name of Bird Fick one is from right next door to you guys in Oklahoma. He's from the ski ge Oklahoma and he's dynamic too. Very fast. You'll see them line up with two. They did last week against Idaho two quarterbacks in the backfield, but thick one could be a running back, could be a wide receiver, could be a quarterback. Damn peer is elusive. And what they love most about him is he's a leader. He is the unquestioned leader of this football team. A lot they have six captains, but he's the guy among that group and everybody follows him. And they feel like if they can keep him healthy along with thick one using him as a weapon this year, it's huge. His passing is improved. He was more of a short to intermediate passer a year ago, really cut down on his interceptions. He accounted for 34 touchdowns. And I think he had six interceptions last year. He's a really, really good player and more than anything else. He's a leader. He's also now this is his third year as a starter one at New Mexico last year at Utah. So he's seen most of what you're going to see in college football now. So he's he's the guy and he'll also pull it down. I don't think you're going to see as many designed runs this year for him as they did a year ago because they've got a great stable of running backs and playmakers. But he'll pull it down if something's not there and pick up 15, 20, 25 yards. And he's good at doing that. There aren't very many negative plays with Utah's offense because of damp here. Yeah. And that's the concern when you look at him. I mean, he's a guy that can even when you're right defensively, he can make you wrong. I mean, he has the ability to make a lot of plays and get out of the pocket and you've got always got to have somebody looking for him. So I think rush lanes and spying and all that kind of stuff really is something that Arkansas is going to have to do. But Arkansas's defense was really solid. So I'm anxious to see how how they handle that. The thing about it for me, though, is Utah is going to run the football at high clip. I think they had three. I had 364 yards rushing last week. And that's that's a lot. I mean, that's a lot. And that that way Sean Parker and what he brings to the table, along with damp here, you talked about him because I just think every defensive coordinator has to understand that you got a quarterback that can run. It changes the numbers. And you've got to you got to prepare for that pre snap. But talk about way Sean Parker and just the conventional running game because it's been very, very good. Well, you we talked about that offensive line earlier. They were second in the nation in rushing last year. They only I think it was only maybe army had more rushing yards. And you guys know, army doesn't throw unless, you know, they're down by 60. They ran for 3400 yards last year. That was they ran Texas Tech was second in the big 12 at 2500 yards last year. So they outrushed the Texas Tech who could really run it by almost a thousand yards. I don't think they're going to put up those kind of numbers this year because there are a little more dynamic passing and the offensive line isn't you know, a generational offensive line, but they're still going to run it. Way Sean Parker is running back one. His goal this year is to get a thousand yards. He didn't really become running back one till about game five last year and still came up 19 yards short and that kind of stuck with him. But they've got a little bit of everything in that running game. Damper, obviously Parker is the lead back. Not the biggest guy, but he's got great burst envision. Daniel Bray is a guy that can really scoot not the biggest guy. Chavez Soto was a freshman last year at San Jose and ran for 500 yards plus then they mix in Ficklin in the running game. And they'll mix in, you know, some end around stuff in the running game. So there's a lot of ways Utah is going to run it. They will line up and just run right at you, but they've got some guys that will go sideline to sideline on you to plus the two quarterbacks. So to your point, when they give defenses a lot to think about in that running game and they put enough numbers back there, well, you'll sometimes you're going to see three and four guys in that backfield. And it kind of reminds you of the old option days where you want that thing up or you had the quarter back in the three back. You know what that's like. And so they'll do that a little bit with you too. So it's it's a lot for defenses to account for. When you talk about your defense and of course your head coach, all that background in it. Now you've got a defensive coordinator, Colton, swan, right? SW, swan SW and he's also coaches the line backers. He's the DC. So there's been some changes over there. Just talk about Utah's defense. Well, we joked about this forever. The defense has been the defense here for about 35 years. It was it is. It was Fred Whittingham's defense, Kyle's father's defense. And then Kyle came to be defensive coordinator and it was his defense. And then when Kyle became head coach, Gary Anderson, who coached at Wisconsin and Utah State and Oregon State, it was his defense. Then it was Kalani Sataki's defense. It was now DYU. Then it became Morgan's defense. The core of it is indifferent. Every coordinator puts their spin on it. Now it's Colton's defense. It's all based upon aggressiveness and physicality. The trenches. They have always had great line play. The defensive tackles, the defensive ends, they roll those guys through. So Quinn, you're going to see lots of guys on that line. They keep them fresh. They take advantage of the altitude because we're at 800 feet up on campus. And they keep guys fresh and they roll it through. They also like to be aggressive. Scally was an aggressive guy. Colton swan likes to be aggressive too. So whether it's the backers or the safety is they'll bring pressures. But the base of that defense is about those defensive linemen, the ends and the tackles. Owned in that line of scrimmage that allows the backers to do their things behind it. It's an aggressive defense. That's crazy that you go back 35 years or whatever. And you named about four coaches there. And I think we would probably have 24 coaches during that time as our defense coordinator, that gives you a lot of stability within your football program, doesn't it, Bill? It does. And it kind of goes back to that culture I was talking about too. The culture hasn't changed much. It's been a player's run locker room. But the culture is and the players kind of run it. But the heart of this team, whether it was offense or defense, has always been about physicality at the line of scrimmage. Own in the line of scrimmage on the offensive and defensive lines. And when you're able to do that, you're able to impose your will. It makes it hard on teams. You know, the coaches in the pack 12 used to have this running joke. You know, it wasn't the week that you played Utah that got you. That was tough. Sometimes it was that next week because you were so physically beat up. David Shaw used to talk about that. It was a dog fight in the street fight that week. But you were that next week and practice that next week. You were feeling it. And that's why Utah has been successful in multiple leagues over the last couple of decades. Yeah. That makes a difference. There's no doubt about it. I mean, being able to understand the people you're playing and how it impacts you next week. That's huge. You talked about Coach Whittingham right there. I mean, he got early Christmas gift. You know, you know, I talk about that. But when you've been around both these men, Coach Scally and Coach Whittingham, and when you look at both of them being Utah's head football coach, what are some of the differences you see between those two? Well, I think from a football standpoint, I mean, Morgan was coached by Kyle and then he was Kyle's right hand man. He's his coordinator for 11 years. So there's some similarities from a football standpoint, the physicality, the toughness. There's some old school about it. I think the difference with Morgan is he's just a younger, a little bit newer voice who's kind of taking a different approach, really leaning into analytics, really leaning into sports science and performance. And again, it's not right or wrong, it's just a different kind of energy and vibe around the program. I'm sure Kyle this year up at Michigan is not doing things exactly the same way that he did things at Utah. You know, when you move and you change jobs, sometimes you've got to evolve a little bit. Well, Morgan's from a little bit different generation. So he's kind of evolving that way, too. And it's been fresh, it's been a breath of fresh air this year at Utah so far. Again, we've only had spring football and fall camp in one game, but his approach is a little bit different than it was with Kyle. What are you waiting for? Make sure you check out Theos in Fayetteville, your locally owned destination for exquisite dining in Northwest Arkansas. Come join us for the best happy hour, offering a great selection of small plates, cocktails, local draft beer and house wine or order off the dinner menu and enjoy a great entree like the lobster mac and cheese. Let me tell you, Theos, lobster mac and cheese outstanding, very, very good. Or the 16-out double cut pork chop. Theos Fayetteville in the entertainment district is your stop for an elevated experience. Hey, Razorback fans, Seatkeek makes it easy to find tickets for you to be a part of all the court side celebrations this season, whether you're buying or selling tickets. Seatkeek is the place to do it. Seatkeek is the official ticketing partner of Razorback Athletics Expect the Expected Seatkeek. At our vest bank, we've got loans and we've got lines of credit for almost anything. You need to improve your home, consolidate your debt, or maybe purchase a vehicle with an apply online today, rvis.com/loans, check them out, rvis.com/loans, great people, Razorback people, they love the Arkansas, Razorbacks, equal housing, lender, all loans or subject to credit approval. Hey, Bill, we talked a lot about the run game for Utah and Parker and Deppier and all those guys. From a throwing the ball standpoint, I know Utah had to replace, basically it's top three wire receivers, who is the receiver that Arkansas fans should be concerned with? There's a few of them, but the guy that kind of burst last weekend was Braden Pagan. He went for almost a thousand a year ago at Utah State. He played with his offensive coordinator up there was Kevin McGiven, Kevin McGiven's now the offensive coordinator at Utah, so he came with McGiven from Utah State. Six foot four, 215 pounds runs almost a four three forty. He's a guy and he's got a vertical jump of, you know, 38, 39 inches. So he's that guy that you can throw the 50, 50 ball to. He's a guy that you get loose because of his speed. He had four catches, 81 yards and a touchdown. He scored on an end around last week too. Chad Bump is the wide receiver coach. Was it Mississippi State? This is his third trip here. He was here. He was an assistant, but the last couple of years, and he was a good receiver. I remember him too. Well, he brought a kid named Ricky Johnson with him who was a recruit down there and Ricky's going to be really good. Larry Simmons was here last year. He was probably the fourth wide receiver played for Bump this a couple of years ago at Mississippi State. So they've got some guys that they can go. Another guy, Kyrie Shoals, who McGiven had coached and recruited at San Jose State before he went to Utah State. Morgan Scally, and he's again been here for a minute, calls us the deepest and most talented wide receiver room Utah's hat. So there's some guys that are here, and because there's some guys that are here, I think that's why you're going to see the ball in the air a little bit more. They're also thrown to the back side of the backfield. Wayshawn Parker had a touchdown catch last weekend. They're throwing to the back side. Daniel Bray is another back who will catch the ball out of the backfield as well. They've got a tight end who's kind of, you know, he's listed as a tight end, but I call him a weapon. And one of those guys that will be a tight end on one series that lists him out, split him out as a wide receiver. He was an all conference running back out of the state of Texas. Hunter Andrews is his name. He was on his way to having a really good year last year. God hurt four games in. He's back. So they'll line him up in a lot of different places. He can catch the football. He can also run the football. So that's what's interesting about this offense this year. There's a lot of pieces that Kevin McGiven can play with and a lot of formations he can go with. But I would say right now, they probably feel good about five wide receivers and then some other guys who can catch the football. Talking with Bill Rodley, the long-time voice of Utah athletics, Utah Utes football. Bill Quinn and I are going to be there. Quinn does color analyst. I do a little pre-game stuff and do a spotting and all this kind of stuff. What's that press box going to be like in Utah? You're high. You've got a good view of the field, but you will want to bring those binoculars. You're up there pretty high. You've got great views of the mountains and the background, the sell out crowd. Like I said, this will be our 97 straight sell out this weekend. Seats about 52,000 at its premium seating, but it's allowed 52,000. It's not one of those wide open stadiums. The noise stays in, and they always say those night games at Rice Echo Stadium are a little bit different. You can ask Oregon and USC about that from back in the back in the back 12 days. It's a great atmosphere. It really is. There's a lot of places in the south and the SEC, but this is a really good vibe and feel to it. Yeah, that is awesome. Now, are we going to eat up there in that press box? Do we need to bring a sandwich in a ziplock bag? Well, we're going to have going on with anything to eat or drink. I mean, I know that's important for the guy that's spotting and not talking to you. The mood is what's important, I know. And so yeah, you'll have some food. They'll be a little bit of tailgate fare to you guys to come out and celebrate out in the tailgate beforehand. A lot of folks will share with you, too. They're very friendly. They're not going to give you free ice cream in the press box. They'll let you have a drink and something to eat out the tailgate lot and we'll take care of you in the free game, too. Are we Coca-Cola or are we Pepsi up there? It's a Pepsi press box. Pepsi press box, okay? How you feel about that, is he? Oh, that's fine. That's okay. I'm fine. I prefer a Coke zero ever over in England. I'll make do with whatever they got. Where's going to search your bag into now, you know? I don't know. Rio. Rio. It's a Pepsi product. That's fine. They'll have Mountain Dew if they got a Mountain Dew. They'll have Mountain Dew for you. And it's an 1815 game and I know you guys in Arkansas have been complaining about this kickoff for about six months now. Would you get over it? We scheduled it right? We don't know how to do school schedule it. That Kyle Wittingham said, "You'll just play it when they tell you to go play it. So go play it." Yeah, and that's what we're going to have to do. It's going to be late. Like I said, normally, I'm in rimsleep at that point in time, but I'll figure it out. I mean, I take the power nap quen in the afternoon. Yeah, I'm going to. There is no doubt. I am definitely going to be looking for that power nap because I'm going to need it. And then we're going to walk back in to our homes about seven or eight that morning. I mean, it's going to be. I won't be that late. You don't think it'll be late? What time do you think? What time do you project into? I think we'll land at X and A about four or four. You're crazy. You know, we do have to get off the plane and unload and then we ride a bus about, you know, about 30 minutes back to campus. So by the time you get home, I'm going to be five of you. I got to ask Chuck because I know he thinks he's like an air traffic controller. He'll have it already broke down to three or four instead of it noon. Yeah. Exactly. No doubt. Hey, it's, but Bill, isn't it great to see us play each other and play someone different than we love it? I love it. And I, I just, especially if they're going to expand the playoff, like it looks like they're probably going to do. Everybody should play one of these games every year. I just, I love seeing, seeing, seeing traveling to places. I'm curious are there a bunch of Arkansas fans coming out to the game? They're really are. Yeah. We've got some. We've been surprised at how many of our, like at the Razorback Foundation or donors ever since the spring. I mean, talking about this game and how about this, Bill, you know, we've got a big airport up here in Northwest Arkansas called Northwest Arkansas regional kind of surprised you a little bit. A lot of us do a Walmart, right? And, and there's a lot of traffic in and out of there because, hey, Delta and American, we fly nonstop to Salt Lake. So you're, that's pretty good from Fayetteville, Arkansas, basically Northwest Arkansas, Fayette ville area to take a nonstop without it being a private jet. That's, that's pretty good. No, that's fantastic. And, you know, when Florida was here a few years ago, they had, you know, they sold out their allotment, bought some more. It was the opening game of the season. I just, Utah fans love to travel. I can tell you when they play, when we return the trip back down to Fayetteville in a few years, Utah fans will be there. They'll have their red on Arkansas fans. They'll have their red on, but Utah fans love to travel. They did it all over the pack 12. They'll, they'll do it wherever they can go. They went down to, you know, the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium a few years ago when we played down at the swamp. It's, it's great. This they love to get out and travel and cease stuff Notre Dame a few years ago too. It's great. So I just think it's great when college football can you know you step out of your comfort zone a little bit. You get out of your usual footprint and go see some new stuff. See new traditions. Absolutely. Hey Bill, last one for me when you look at this matchup and I'm surprised that the spread is going up and going up. So a lot of clearly Vegas is saying that I mean you tall is the clear favorite in this football game but when you look at this game I mean what if Utah wins the game what does that game look like for Utah. I think it means they've taken another step their lines of scrimmage continue to improve as they did in week number one and I think they're defense you know we'll see what they're able to do but you know are you able to contain KJ Jackson just a little bit. I mean he had a good game last week against North Alabama you know I know he's not a quote unquote running quarterback but he's got the athleticism that allows him to make some plays with his legs too. I think for me if you're able to to kind of contain KJ and on the offensive side your line protects Devin Damper I think that's what what it looks like for a good night for Utah. Hey Bill a couple ones in it. First off Pac-12 Quinn got tired of me saying it all time great conference so much tradition over 100 years old terrible thing. And I hated the league to be gone but let me ask you this first you know you had to go through that your school had to go through that it's a tough deal but how has that impacted your school now that you are in a in a great conference and also how's it affected your coaches as far as recruiting Utah has always been such a western type you know program with all of your student athletes has it changed in the recruiting process because you're not playing all those Pac-12 schools anymore. Not a lot because they had such a good footprint in California recruiting but they also recruited Texas really well guys I mean they always had eight to ten Texas kids on the roster that was Morgan Scow Morgan Scowley recruited Houston and there's there you know there's always been 5 6 7 Houston area kids and 4 5 6 Dallas area kids on the team so there's still everybody recruits California I mean there's just so many kids out there Arizona's nearby Utah has become probably outside of California west of the Rockies Utah is probably producing more D1 high level D1 kids right now than any but California's just got those numbers so I don't know that it's changed the recruiting front footprint a great deal because they were always doing the Texas thing but you know birdfick ones from Oklahoma they've got some Oklahoma kids on that roster now too as far as the tradition I mean Utah was only in the league for 13 years 14 years but they had begun to establish some really fun I mean they play great games against SC some of those late night games against Caleb Williams and SC and some great games against Oregon they were really developing a nice rivalry it's kind of why it's nice to have Arizona state in the big 12 because it's one of those teams where there's geographic there's a little history but they're also recruiting the saying a lot of the same high school kids so there's a little rivalry developing there too but I could tell you they're very happy to be in the big 12 conference I bet it felt a lot like when the Southwest went away for you guys I mean when you played in the Southwest it yeah I mean it there was so much great history and tradition in the Southwest conference when it got blown up and shot to the SEC and the big eight became the big 12 and all of that stuff that probably a lot of those great histories and rivalry games and stuff they weren't they just didn't exist anymore you still have the memories but yeah you hated to see it go away right yeah we did I mean we did I mean there was a lot of battles right there and of course we'd won we were going we're on our way out but we were winning conference championships on our way out and so my senior year they wanted to take a bunch of shots at us we went three and eight my senior year and that was a that was a rough time but they they kicked us out of the door really really quickly but that's really the first time where you start thinking about college athletics in the way it's changing right now coach bros wasn't an innovator he understood that look let's make this move we're going to be financially secure in the central part of in the in the Southwest part of the country and being in the SEC I know a lot of people say well you read the win championships and all that kind of stuff being in the big 12 or what have you but at the end of the day man I got to tell you being in the SEC being able to see all those rivalries and being able to see all the fan bases and all the traditions I mean coach bros was ahead of his time when he made that decision in 1990 to move us over there and it's been really good for us so you tell me though who's your SEC rival who would you say it's the biggest great question and I'm a let him answer that well it's for us it's you know before we were in the Southwest Congress it was Texas yeah the problem for that rivalry always and what made us upset so much as Texas was everything to us to beat him and we were like third or fourth rival right they they had Oklahoma they had Texas A&M they had Texas Tech and so we were a little we weren't their top rival that made us upset and then when we didn't play them every year because of the league change it kind of became LSU for a little while but it's kind of evolved into Ole Miss and I'll be honest we don't like LSU any we don't like Ole Miss any and so I now the leaks try to survive he said rivalry yeah I mean it's hard it is when the answer is a long answer like this you don't really have a great ride and that's where Utah kind of fact because you guys know rivalries they tried to push Colorado on Utah come on yeah it was no hit I mean they played back in the 50s and 60s but there wasn't you've got to play often you've got to play meaningful and memorable games that's right for it to be rivalries that's why it's nice BYU and Utah are back in the same conference again in the Holy Wars no joke and I'm just telling you 40 and I go to that game one time yeah oh man it's it's and it doesn't matter there's no home field advantage in it 40 miles separate you've got a religious component to it you've got you know coaches that have coached and played in both places it's it's unlike anything else I tell people all the time it may not be the iron bowl it may not be Ohio State Michigan it's in that next year down because in this year I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves here but if things play the way they could play that game in early November could be a game that's two top 15 top 10 ish teams it might be the play in game to see tech in the big 12 championship game because tech tech schedule is paper thin issue they don't have they don't play BYU and all they're really tough games are in Lubbock so they've got a pretty easy walk to Dallas but Utah and BYU that that game in Salt Lake City November 7th might end up being a play in game man that's exciting bill for me let you go you've been awesome we've really got to learn a lot about the youths with you on tell our listeners some bad history that you have where did you go to college I many years ago I went to the University of Kansas is that like a real is that like a old division old school you in basketball when you coached at Missouri get it bill get it bill do not like Kansas bill not a fan of Kansas athletic especially Kansas basketball bill it could it be because you didn't have a great deal of successful yes yeah I don't like it and Bill one of the great razor back teams we came off the final four in 1990 we had a lot back we were loaded and I had a tremendous regular season rolling through and it was everyone thought it would be UNLV and Arkansas we were number one in number two most all year and we get into the elite eight and we lose a heartbreaker to a very very good Kansas team coach by arguably Kansas greatest coach my opinion Roy Williams a tremendous coach you remember that game I was a I was a junior in college that year and I ended up going to the final four the next week but I watched that game on TV and I got to say that that team was loaded Mayberry day Williamson Oliver Miller 40 minutes of hell but I think it was it was it was it Adonis Jordan it was Rex Walters yeah Rex Walters I talked about him but I was coaching I talk about that all time with him yeah it was Richard Jefferson on that team too I don't know if he was Arizona right yeah he was Jefferson Richard Richard no Richard Scott was on there from Little Rock guy yeah he's a little rock guy yeah he is a policeman now Richard Scott who we had kind of recruited but kind of laid off on him and he played well from Little Rock Central he played well in that game against the razorbacks yeah Kansas got all the way they they beat Carolina the next week that was the old Roy Williams and his mentor Dean Smith and then ran into Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill and all those guys but that was that that those teams and that Arkansas team you coached was they were so fun to watch and those guys could shoot it could guard it did you guys play are you an LV in the regular season that year no we put the year before we played him in the regular season and they beat us in a pretty close game oh yeah we did play him We we lost him in Vegas and then we then We both went to the final four we lost to Duke they won it and then the next year They returned the game to Barnhill arena the Rebels did the season we're talking about and they were number one And we were number two undefeated teams and it was a late game You know like January February game and they came in and beat us pretty good. Yeah, sure it is Barnhill Barnhill was something man Saint Walton the Reena's great, but Barnhill was That was old school right there. That was that was an old school. That was that was an old basketball barn. That was great Yeah, it was it is and I'm gonna take this for you go and I know we're talking Arkansas and Utah But I coach a long time in the hardest place I ever coached in was in that place in Lawrence Kansas. I didn't like it. They hated Missouri and it was all it was the hardest place I've ever coached in No, I tell people all the time even if if you're just a college basketball fan go tour it. It's one thing if you're the opponent going in But it's great history there and yeah, the only guy by the way the only guy that had a losing record There is a coach was the guy who invented the game East Smith was the only guy that had a losing record. Yeah, yeah, he sure was James Nicemith and I was a coach in Missouri I'd always say if you're gonna go to Kansas and win you better outplay him by about 18 points and you might meet him by one on the scoreboard A lot of stuff goes on in there. Thank you for having me. This has been a blast I'm looking forward to seeing both of you on Saturday Well, I raise the interiors. We get ready to wrap up this edition of the Razorback daily I mean, that's a good breakdown I know a lot of our fans are excited about this football game. They're excited about how big it is And we're heading out west and so it'll be fun for this Razorback contingent the ones that are going It's gonna be a cool spot to be a different spot You know, a lot of people went out to Provo a couple of years ago, and now they'll get a chance to go to Salt Lake City and get a chance to watch Arkansas play out there, but it'll be a different kind of environment and But I tell you what it was so good to have Bill Riley on the show the the voice of the Utah youths and boy He can break it down now. Yeah, he really can very smart and I just loved how he kind of talked about the offense But he gave us some good info on the defense and I love the past history that he told us about the program You know all the great defense of coordinators and how that kind of has stayed the same on that side of the ball for Utah Good stuff, and we're looking forward to seeing him and man It's like he mentioned as we talked about playing someone different and getting to face someone that we don't face All the time for those of you gonna be watching it wherever you're at in the world watching the game That is exciting and boy It sure would be nice if the Razorbacks could go there and find a way to get a big win They'd be exciting to get a win and I cannot wait for all those fans in Utah to experience the hall call for the first time Cuz it's gonna come and that's one of those traditions that I love in college football Well, all right Z and Terry let's have a wrap up this edition of the Razorback daily a sporting story production I'm Quinn Grover alongside my man Matt Zimmerman and we'll talk tomorrow (upbeat music)