Get twos and takeaways from the chaos after the game on Saturday, the comments of Mark Harlan that are going to cost him forty thousand dollars and a public reprimand I don't know what that is. I never have, but Mark has been reprimanded publicly. You should all know that.
So we'll do that.
Coming up, we have Scott Mitchell on the show today. We're gonna play your coach witch comments. We have Kyle Bonnagera from ESPN, Andy Larson as well, but Batty leadoff. The man who was on the call Saturday night, Dave Fleming on a Monday. Dave, Happy Monday, sir.
How are you? I'm good, Thank you, appreciate the time. So here's the question right off the top.
I don't know how familiar familiar you are with the dynamic of Utah BYU. So I wondered what you anticipated prior to the game and what you learned as you called it.
Yeah, I don't think I learned anything, because I do think I've been there enough now over the last many years to understand. I think I've only done one other of these rivalry games. But you know enough familiar already with both programs to know what the scene was going to be. Like, I'll say this, it didn't disappoint. I mean, I think you know, one thing about rivalry games is that when one fan base is super charged and another one is feeling kind of down and like things aren't
going our way, it can produce. It can kind of go two ways. You know, Sometimes the team that isn't having a great year there fans can rise up and make it really feel like a special game. And sometimes it goes the opposite way, where you know there's not a sort of a defeated mentality, but something like that. Anyway, Utah players, fans, coaches certainly didn't let that happen, and so you know, it was just a great game to
be a part of it. It is a people say unique rivalry, and that's you know, it's just a sort of a bad term to use in college football in general. But there isn't another rivalry in the whole sport that is interconnected as that one is where coaches have been on both sides, where players and their families have been on both sides. There's nothing like that in the country. So it makes it different than almost every other great
rivalry and it makes it great what it is. So that's a long way of saying it was really fun to be there on Saturday night.
I genuinely wish I did not have to ask you about the holding call, but I do because obviously that's topically the big thing.
Here in the market.
How did you kind of digest that entire thing when you fans out they want then be why you got a time out and you fans out.
They won and be while you got the holding call?
And you know, I heard what Brock had to say as you walk people through the call. That replay has been going all over the place in the community. But what was that moment like for you and what's your opinion on how it went down?
Well that's probably two answers to that. Number one. While the whole thing is happening for us in the booth, I mean, I think, you know, and Brock shared his very good, strong opinion. You know, I think that's what we want all our analysts to do. Tell the truth.
What do you see? Tell us what that is? And you know a lot of guys are afraid to take a stand and equivocate in that moment, and Brock did not, to his credit, you know, whatever you think about his opinion, that he should be given a lot of credit for that, because that's what we want from our analysts on television. He really did his job in a big moment, So I give him credit for that. It is hard for both of us, for all of us in those moments. You got to do it. It's it's the job. But
there is so much going on. You know, first of all, we're a million miles from the field where we're watching through monitors and binoculars and our own eyes from far removed, the producers in our ear. We got replays coming. You know, There's so many things that are going on in that moment, real time, with no safety net. You got to do all this live, and you can mess it up, and so it becomes a chaotic sequence. And I think the thing that I always regret about those kinds of scenarios
is there just isn't enough time to reflect. You have to move on. Okay, So once the call gets made the BYU, then there's a near interception, there's a huge pass where they have to review that. Like, we can't go back and keep dwelling on it. We can't. We have to follow the game. Forward, So it almost makes it seem like we're dismissive of the importance of that moment. We're not. We just have to We just have to
keep doing the job and following the game. That's just the way it is, So, you know, I think that's part of our challenge in any moment like that. When you're broadcasting a game, is it's moving fast, You're talking to the producer, how much times left? What's this, what's the implication of the penalty? We have a rules analyst
or we're bringing him in. All this stuff is going on in a matter of seconds while you're trying to coherently explain to an audience at home what we're seeing, and it makes for a jumbled it just you got to do the best you can. The call was the correct call, like if there was a hold, the timeout did get signaled for before the play was snapped? Like, I don't. I just don't think those things are disputable.
Now.
I guess if you want to argue that, hey, the holding call happened, the guy was getting sack, it had no impact on the play. If you want to make that argument, you can. I don't. The officials job is you're watching the part of the field. That's your responsibility. And if you see a penalty, you throw a flag. That's that official's job. The officials job is not to to try to measure well, was that a part of the design of the play? Was the quarterback already in
so much trouble but it wasn't going to matter. That is not that official job. The kid got held, he did, and the penalty was thrown and the timeout was called for in time. So like, I understand the sore feelings of losing that game, and I understand how close it was and what an agonizingly painful defeat that was. But I also don't particularly think you can dispute those two things. I don't.
Yeah, well said, it's pretty clear that there are some people that live in this community that don't necessarily agree with you, Dave, namely the head coach of Utah and the athletic director of the University of Utah, who were very upset after the game. Emotions definitely spill in. But I always like, excuse me after the fact I interview the play by play guy, because you have to hone in on every play, So let me bring in another dynamic.
Just get your thoughts.
A lot of people throughout the course of yesterday and today have brought up the consistency portion of the way the game was officiated now BYU. I'm on a couple of three. I come from a BYU family. I went to the University of Utah because I chose truth. That's just a line I use, and so I get a
lot of BYU interaction, a lot of Utah interaction. My phone was lighting up with BYU fans that were really angry about the officiating in the first half, and then lighting up after the game youth fans ready to find.
Out where the officials live.
So you know, there was the phantom face mask call on the Glasger kid, where upon replay it looked like he grabbed him on the shirt. But as far as the holding call, Dave, do you feel like it was consistent with the way that dynamic was officiated all game long?
I probably just don't have a good answer for you. I'm not avoiding it. I mean, I'm willing to share my opinion. I just don't you know, it's a play by play guy. It's really hard for me too. I'm following the ball and so I just don't feel like I've got a great sense for on the perimeter those kind of plays exactly how the game was officiated. I know a lot of Utah people feel like they were
letting players get away with stuff. But I mean, even if they were, I think if you grab a guy's jersey and turn his shoulders, which is what happened, now, you know, did the kids stumble too? Did that exaggerate the way it looked to the official? Maybe it did, but he grabbed part of his jersey and the shoulders turned. Like whether you're letting guys get away with stuff or not, it's really hard to ask an official not to throw
a flag when he sees that. It just is so, you know, I don't have a great answer for you on the consistency of the whole game. I thought the game was, you know, all college football and football in general. Now is just you know, the over analysis of officiating. A lot of times officiating is flawed. But we have all these replay reviews, and the game feels so disjointed at times, and the replay reviews all they do is just emphasize more like individual calls. Are they getting it right?
Are they getting it wrong? Like it just fuels this sort of snowball effect of oh my gosh, what a terribly officiated game. And the reality is is just every game, there's a million, there's one hundred calls in every game that could go either way, and I don't believe that this one really falls in that category. I think he got.
Held so away from the controversial elements of what happened and over to kind of just more of the beaten potatoes of the game.
I want to ask you from your.
Vantage point or maybe broacats and things to share about what by you did at halftime as far as adjustments go to really stifle a Utah offense that's been bad all year but seem to figure some things out as they put up twenty one all in the second quarter, but they cannot do anything in the second half. Is is that you know specific to what b why you did at halftime to approach it differently, or did you Tah take their foot off the gas something puts up in the second half.
Tell me what you saw.
I do think Jay Hill is really good at that. I think if you watch BYU a lot, he is good at He kind of lets the game early play out and you know sometimes that philosophy can get you in a little bit of trouble. I think the guy with the Chiefs actually does this quite a bit Spagnolo like, where he'll let a couple series go where he's not calling a lot of pressures. He's kind of playing it vanilla.
And I think his philosophy is, even if I give up some points early in the game, I get a real strong sense of exactly how they're approaching us, and then he's really confident in his ability to make those changes. And I think Jay's like that. I think Jay is very good at mid stream changing what they're doing. So yeah, I mean, I'm not going to play analysts and get into like x's and oh's technical stuff. I think clearly
they change their looks. I think anytime you have a young quarterback who's getting into a little bit of rhythm and I say he's young, he's not young by age, but by playing experience. Jay's point to us going into the game was we got to give him a lot of different looks make it complicated for him to diagnose at the line of scrimmage. I think they got better at that as the game was going. They got more pressure on him and a couple of those linebackers. I mean,
Kelly had some monster plays. A couple of individual guys just really stepped up and played well. And I think losing Keithy was a big factor. You know, He's just really good and he made a big impact in the first half, and they missed him when they didn't have him in the second half. So I think it was kind of a combo of all three things.
I'm assuming, as all major broadcasts, do you have the opportunity to meet with both coaching staffs pride of the game, Dave, Is that a correct assumption?
Yeah?
Great, Great, So let's start with the Utah coaches, because, as I've been saying, well I should say over the past three or four weeks, I get things wrong a lot. This is a sports talk radio show. You get paid to you have opinions. Essentially, they're educated guesses. A lot of them are wrong. I don't know that I've ever been as wrong as I've been about this Utah football team.
What are some of the things the coaches shared with you as to why we find ourselves sitting here talking about five straight ute losses.
Yeah, I think Kyle's really boils down to him and I do agree with him. You know, Kyle's got a very typical Utah team except for one aspect of the team, and the total lack of passing attack has torpedoed the season. And I think that's what Kyle believes, and I think he's right in that. The defense, I mean that Utah defense on Saturday was awesome. The effort level from those front guys, Pillinger was incredible. I thought Lander Barton played
the best game I've ever seen him play. He was fantastic. Reid was flying all over the place. Vaughn had some huge plays like that defense play, the two defensive tackles. I mean, Tonavas has got a chance to be one of the best players in the country. He is fantastic, and they just play their tails off. And the defense by every statistical measure is elite again this year. Elite with very little support from the offensive side of the ball.
And I think you saw in the first half with any element of complimentary football, even giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown, Utah was in firm control of the game. It's just hard to hold up when when one side of the ball, and particularly one half of one side of the ball just just can't do its job. And I think that's the story of Utah season, and I think that's how Kyle sees it, and I.
Think he's right on the other side.
You know, as you referenced earlier, the cross pollination of these two programs is wild. So I've been doing radio in the market for almost two decades, So when Klonie Satake was up here as defensive coordinator, I did a weekly show with him and Aaron Roderick is actually kind of a lifelong friend.
We've known each other since we were young.
You referenced Jay Hill, who coached under Kyle, played at you like it's wild, and of course coach Witt was a great player at Brigham Young, So you know, I cheer for those guys down there. I like to see Kilanie have success and I hope it leads to the contract that he finally deserves. But on the flip side, what did the coaches from Brigham Young Dave share with you about what has been an incredibly unexpected yet magical season.
Yeah, they I mean, and we've done a bunch of their games, So I've gotten to know all these coaches really well over the last few years, and especially this year, he know Kilani. One one thing that Kyle and Kalanie both shared with us, which I thought was really cool, was they both had an almost exact you know, they had not talked all week rivalry week. They're not going
to be tied out. I think they're talking a ton anyway, an off season maybe, but you know, they both had almost the exact same recollection of a meeting when Kilanie had just joined, like after maybe the first season he was with Kyle and sort of the end of year, let's decompress and see how things are going. And Kyle
basically said to Klannie, you have something special. You can be anything you want in this business, and here's let's pencil down a roadmap for you and put some goals down of when you're going to become a coordinator and when you're going to have a chance to be a head coach. And basically it sort of played out almost exactly like Kyle laid it out for him. And so I thought that was cool, Like Kyle truly had like an intense mentor relationship with Kilanie and helped him get
to where he is. So that was a fun part of the prep for this week to have those guys remember those those moments together. I think Jay Hill's a fantastic defensive coach, really good Aaron Is, uh, you know, Aaron, like all offensive coaches, when your quarterback's playing better, all of a sudden, you look a lot better. And and he's he deserves a lot of credit for helping get Retzlov to the point where he's one of the better quarterbacks in the league after you know, some struggles last
season without a whole lot around him. Uh. Kalani, you know Kalanie Is, he's mister positive. He he I think he really truly believes the cliche is living out this year of our guys focus one week at a time, and it's gonna get harder and harder for that team if they stay undefeated. It's going to be really hard to do. But you can't think about like big picture. You got to just focus. And I think Kilanie's really proud of his team for doing that. He loves his group.
They've been patient developing players. You know, they haven't just hit the portal or run a bunch of guys out or well, you know, they've been patiently building this team up to this point, and it's paid off. And he's really proud about that.
All right, Dave, before we say you lose.
I don't know if you've done any Buffs games this year, but Utah hits the road for a really difficult game, and Dion deserves a lot of credit.
Colorado is for real.
Do you give the Utza puncher's chance coming up on Saturday? And did you see enough from Utah to believe that maybe over the final three games there are a couple of wins out there, so these upperclassmen can go bowling before.
They get gone.
Yeah, I think they have. Definitely, when you have that defense, you've got a chance. To me, the big question is kNN the offense just give them enough support to let the defense win the game essentially, and I think they can do it now. Colorado's super explosive, but Utah upfront is a handful and Colorado has gotten a lot better
on the offensive line, a lot better. But when they've failed in the last few years, it's been when they can't protect Shador, when when he's under extreme duress, Colorado has a hard time functioning and you talk him, do that to him. So that's to be that's the formula for the game. You've got to go in there, must go in there and hit him a bunch of times and get in his face almost every time he drops back,
and they're capable of it. If those big guys up front can play inspired like they did this last weekend, they can go in there and win. That's a big if though, because it's just going to be It's I don't envy the challenge of Kyle and the staff this week. I know they love their players, and the players have played hard, but you can understand the disappointment of that loss. And we'll see how much energy and enthusiasm they can
carry on the road. That's going to be a massive challenge because you know, if you give up a couple big plays early and gets rolling it with the way the season's gone, it's you know, you can't blame anybody if a player now a rollover is too strong, but if you lose a little bit of your fight if you fall down early. So that's how they go in and win the game. Can they do it? They absolutely can?
Dave, thank you sir, excellent job on the call. Be well, have a good week. Love to do it again, okay.
And anytime I can come back for that rivalry. Sign me up. I would do that game every year. It's a special thing.
Yes, Sir, Dave Fleming.
College football, baseball, golf too, does a lot of different things. For ESPN calls Giants games. Had a number of years as a sub for the Warriors broadcast. I can remember call them some NBA games as well