Welcome back Drive time on a Monday afternoon. Monday is always pre jam packed on the sports side, reacting to all the football, hoops, hockey, MMA boxing over the weekend. It was Stevenson, still vest of the former Utes NFL linebacker busy man over the weekend, I'm sure of course in Boulder for Utah and Colorado. He was doing some high school football stuff on Friday. Slide how are you, man?
I'm doing great, pee, I just think about it. I'm trying to figure out how I made it through the weekend. Yeah, it was nuts. The twelve hours of high school football on Thursday and Friday and then five am flight to Boulder. My uber driver, Man, he's the real MVP. Man. He had a he was going a little above the speed limit to get me to the stadium before pre show. Am. So I appreciate him for that as.
Long as we let you there, get you there safely.
Oh yeah he did. Man, he was great. He was great, two hands on the wheel, he was focused, you know, so I can only appreciate that. But yeah, man, it was good. It was good.
Did you uh?
You mentioned the high school stuff on Friday. A lot of state titles to be determined over the course of the next week or so. A few of them, the smaller schools actually were determined already, including my my buddy Jalen winning another one down at San Juan. You've got a bunch more with I think three, A, four, A, five, A plus coming up this this week. Give the folks the latest there on where they can find your coverage
and what you're looking forward to. We'll get into of course, you talk Colorado and Big twelve stuff as well.
Yeah, man, if you guys want to tune in. Honestly, this has been one of the best UH semi final matchups that we had. It was snow blowouts. These teams are are really evenly matched, some really good football, so I absolutely love it. But download the KSL Sports app and we're streaming those games all day, all long. You catch that anytime. But you're getting to see that the new and up and coming talent in this state. You
know from the amazing twenty twenty six class. I'm telling you, there's a group of juniors throughout this state are gonna be this. This is gonna be one of the best recruiting years in Utah this next year in high school football, the twenty twenty six class, so you get to see them, you get to see the seniors that are right now. Four A, five A, six A is gonna be awesome lineups. Four A Spanish four versus Crimson Cliffs that's down in
southern Utah. That's that's gonna be a premier matchup. It's gonna be actually my favorite matchup of the state finals. And then five A you're gonna get Bountiful versus Roy, and that's gonna be awesome. They're in the same region, so they're very familiar with one another. Roy only has one loss on the season and that's too Bountiful, So this is gonna be a crazy, crazy matchup. Roy's gonna have to get some get back. Roy did an amazing job of knocking out Tim View, which is a juggernaut
down there, which we all know. And then six eight Long Peak Corner Kane. You know, as as familiar as those names are, it wasn't an easy road for them to get to the final this year, and so they're pushing out and cream our Corner Kayane only has one loss on the season and guess who that's against Loan Peak you get, So it's gonna be some amazing matchups on Thursday, So tune in the case how Sports that we're streaming that game. It's gonna be absolutely awesome.
Yeah, Spence is a bountiful guy and all all of my friends coach on the roy staff. So we'll have to we'll have to talk about that one on Thursday. I'll be down there at Rice Cycle Stadium looking forward to it. All right, sly over to the college game. Unfortunately, we got to talk about it. Utah visits Boulder, visit Colorado, and they find a Buffs team that, man, it looks a whole lot different than any team that we have
seen in the last decade or so. Give us an idea of and you've been to Boulder multiple times in that time frame, Slie, give us not an idea of how different this trip to Boulder felt off the field. We'll get to what went wrong for Utah on the field, but I got to imagine Dion and in that environment, that that community that they've got kind of building there. I think they had fifty five thousand at that at
that stadium on Saturday. Give us an idea how different it is from you know, maybe four or five years ago when you were in Boulder and the cold with a few thousand watching it.
Completely different, right from driving up to the state. I mean the hardest part was getting that last block into the stadium for me to get up there. There is so much going on, it's so many things. It's it's it's insane. I heard that they had eight hundred plus media credentials. Now, porter, I know you understand that, but folks, eight hundred media credentials that need to be had for
the game, and I'm like, that is insane. So from photographers to reporters to uh, radio personalities, TV personalities, you know, photogs, writers, there was eight hundred media credentials that were handed out in this game, and it was awesome. The stadium was packed, it was rocking. They were doing amazing things. Uh. They got a nice little setup in between timeouts and and pregame. They already already did the running buffalo, but it just
seemed that much crazier this year. So so Diaz got the magic, he's got the the the personality that that is fitting over there and you're seeing it throughout Uh. Well one, I mean their shop right just watching their fans wearing Prime gear. Uh, and the new Caacu logos. I'm like, he's hitting at home with that, and I know he's getting a great portion. He's a smart businessman. So Dion is just he's hitting in all cylinders right now.
If he can get your door and Travis on the same team in the league, which if anybody can, it's him. He's literally one of those people that is able to pave his own way. He sees the vision and he can really make that happen, and that is so hard to do and so you have to commend him for that. He's doing a great job at Colorado.
A sly Trey Fitzgerald here filling in with Porter for Spence to hear your voice. Tell me, you know, how long do you think Dion has in Boulder. There's a lot of people talking about him maybe going to the Raiders, maybe going back to Florida State. Like the turnaround and Boulder is insane and amazing as you just kind of painted the picture. But you know, what more does he have to do because it's been twenty years since that
program meant anything. College football is different now. But where do you see Dion next year and maybe in a couple more years after that?
Well, the world is his right, and so I think that he can just choose whatever he wants to do. If you want to stay at Colorado, if he wants to go. I don't know his contract situation, right, But you got to understand these people like Texas A and m Florida State, they got money whatever buyout, whatever buyout they want, they can make that happen. Ten million dollars, fourteen whatever. They can make that happen if they want
Dion to do that. Dion has been with his kids since they were young youngsters, right, So does he take his talents back to the NFL and and tries coaching ranks on there so he can stay close to them, I don't know, or is he going to let them grow up and just handle their own He can do whatever he wants, right, And so I think that's just
that's that's an amazing deal. People want to talk about nepotism and this and that, and if you have the ability because of you know, what you put in, the work that you put in, then then go ahead, you know, because with competition as it is, right, Like let's talk about Bronnie James for example, if Bronni James wasn't gonna make it happen. People are going to exploit that, right it's on the professional level with college or in the pros.
And so just because he's able to make that happen doesn't negate the fact that, you know, Lebronos has been putting in work in order to make that happen. Dion is putting in work to make that happen. And so if you have the ability to control your own narrative aka Jake Paul, go ahead do it. You got to commend somebody's hustle. And so I think that that's what Dion's doing. I got to respect his hustle. He's doing this thing out in Colorado. I don't see him at
Colorado this next year. I think Colorado has made great money, you know, with him being there, and they'll be able to waver the storm and make a new move after he leaves. But I think, honestly, I see Florida State as the best ending point for for prime after Colorado here.
Yeah, and we'll, you know, we'll see how that all plays out. Of course, with his kids in Boulder, as long as there's a Sanders on the roster, I'm sure you know he's gonna be there, But once that ends, man, I really don't see many ties to that happening.
If there's an opening in.
At Florida State, yeah, I think that's the natural fit because I think he feels like more of a college guy than than a pro guy.
But you never know.
With the right pocketbook and the right offer, I'm sure he'll move on.
To the next opportunity.
All right.
That's off the field.
He's clearly done a good job of cultivating all of that, and it's brought a lot of money. It's brought a lot of attention to Colorado. But on the field, it's not just flash either slide. That's a top five Big Twelve defense. It's a team scoring thirty four points per game, and they're right in line to play in a Big Twelve championship and possibly a college football playoff. What have they done on the field differently from even last year when they had a lot of these guys on the roster.
I mean they look like a team for once, you know, I mean, they don't look like a whole bunch of individuals up there, right. I still think that they have huge O line issues, and playing against Utah, I think we exploited them a little bit. So if they can fix that going ahead, that's gonna be huge for them to do, is to fix their on line issues, because if Shador doesn't have time, it's going to be hard sledding for them when they get to the CFP. But right now, I think that they can win out. They
can win out here. They put up enough points. They have they have the right tools to make that happen. I think Chador is more comfortable with the talent that he has around him, right, He's able to make the adjustments. I'm sitting, I'm very in tune with what's going on, so I'm paying attention to them offensively and what checks did they make? What is Shador seeing that he's checking too from us? I think that we confuse him a couple of times. But he's got command. He can change guys.
They don't huddle, They just they go to the line of scrimmage. He takes a look and he sees Colorado has a problem because they don't know how to be conservative. Right, so when they have the game in hand, they don't know how to slow it down and run a four
minute offense. They have absolutely no idea how to do that, and so that could be proving to be a problem down the road when they need to be able to control the game and keep their defense off the field right and just because they can't, they do take risks, they'll get you turnovers, and so there's things like that. But for me, the difference that I see in Colorado is they got a lot more familiarity, they got a lot more chemistry, and they got a lot more belief
in making things happen. And so I think that's just proven success for them. They like the glam, they like the hype. I'm telling you, when they make a play, what they do in that stadium is awesome. The crowd jumps in it, the scoreboard, all of the other effects, and that makes the players play better. So they thrive
and they vuy off of that. And so I'm just if there was any worry for them is when that adversity hits in a neutral site or an off site game, will they be able to handle, you know, that adversity, or when they don't have, you know, the effects of the home crowd helping them out.
Sly speaking of adversity, obviously that that Utah locker room has had their head spinning for for six straight weeks now. And you know, I heard Mackai Bernard on with OC late last week talking about just trying to, you know, put everything into every rep, put it on film, get
things right, you know for next year. That obviously doesn't work for the guys that aren't going to be here, But for the guys that are being close to the team and being around the group, do you do you like the attitude and the work ethic what you're seeing, even as the results aren't going their way right now?
I mean, it's hard for outside perspectives to kind of understand kind of the mindset that these guys are having right now, right, and and so it's just a difficult situation and one thing that I can commit as an alumni, as a guy, I see these guys giving that effort, right. I don't see any quit in these guys. I see frustration, which is totally normal. But these guys continue to go out there every single play and make that happen. We just missed on a lot of plays. We've missed on
a lot of opportunities. We beat ourselves up in this game of Colorado, right, you know, not being able to score after a huge momentum change to start the game with the land of Barton interception. You know, that's that's heartbreaking, you know, getting quick three and outs all the time, you know, not hitting wide open guys. Those things are frustrating, and so they just compile and you allow Colorado to stay in the game and instead of putting them away.
We had plenty of opportunity in this game against Colorado, but I commend Colorado. Their defense played top notch. Their defense was all over the place. They bubed even on the mistakes that we made, they capitalized on opportunities from the interceptions and fumbles and turnovers to uh, you know, getting that quick turnover and then scoring. Right, they did
a rushing play. They caught us in a zero, We had nobody in the middle of the field, one guy missed the gap and touchdown, you know, And so that's that's life, right, is capitalizing on opportunity when it's when it's presented. And I think Colorado did a great job of doing that in that game, even after their first
play of the game mistake. And so, you know, I just love to see Utah fight and they're continuing to fight, They're continuing to put it on tape, because no matter what, if these guys stay with Utah, they transfer, they go to the draft, they take the next step. They want to have good film, right, They want to show that I'm a fighter, I'm no matter the cause. They don't want to put bad things on tape. And so with that, it only behooves them to give it their best effort
each and every time. If they can knock off of Colorado, you know, eliminated Iowa State from Big twelve competition or Big Twelve championship contention, that's what they want to do. And if they can do that, you know, each and every play, you know, I think that that's where their mindset is. Their mindset is, let me get these last two wins to get to a Bowl game, and let me put some good things on tape.
Obviously, you mentioned that slide the last two games in order to get to Bowl eligibility. Motivation outside of that is, you know, maybe playing spoiler for Iowa State back to the matchup. I'll get to the remaining two games here. Momentarily, it seemed like Isaac Wilson had moments where he really settled in. It seemed like there were there were kind of flashes of him. Well, the way I describe it in Character Rise, it is catching up with the speed of the game. I feel like that's been an issue
with Isaac throughout the majority of the season. I think he dealt with a lot of struggles with the speed of Colorado's defense. How have you felt he's progressed throughout the year going forward? And what do you want to see in these these last two games to feel confident in one Isaac Wilson handling that offense.
Yeah, I mean a lot of people got to see that Isaac in this game. The flashes that you talk about, right, that's what the coaches are seeing. There's like, you have the capability, you can do this, but it's just not translating on Saturday. And so that's the most frustrating part from you know, the players to the coaches. So it's like, Okay, we want to make the right decision. We're seeing this guy, he's putting in the work, he has the capability. What
are we missing on Saturdays? And so you know, that's hard to coach, that's hard to game plan for, it's hard to do anything for. But you know, we're just in a position right now where we just need better quarterback play, and Isaac's got to step up. He's got to own whatever has happened in the past and move over. He can't hang his hat over the past. That's why the quarterback position is so so vital, so important, and why everybody says as a quarterback, you gotta have a
short memory. You can't think of all the other things, right because you know, look, Isaac Wilson didn't have a great first half, right he comes out in that second half and he was slinging it, you know, and then we got some touchdowns, we got some defensive turnovers, we made some things happen. But you gotta have a short memory. Forget about the past, forget about all those other games.
Worry about the right now. I think Isaac Wilson, I can't really say that there's been huge developmental jumps because we're just watching the games, but you know, you do have to understanding things are faster, and so hopefully this offseason he can really master that and understand like it's a whole new level of competition. And I have to do that not only for myself but for my teammates because everybody's relying on me.
Back to that last question, knowing that a bowl game and maybe playing spoiler at Iowa State is your your real only motivation going into these these final games? What do you want to see from this Utah football team big picture going forward into the offseason to you know, maybe leave with a better taste in your mouth than you have right now.
Yeah, I mean the same thing that we we We've been you know, understanding about this team for the last however long. Right, we have the talent, we have the personnel. You know. I want these guys to go out there for this Iowa State game and just put it on display. You know, Iowa State is a good team, go make them look like not a good team, right. I just I want to see sex. I want to see turnovers. We got that against Colorado. We need to see more.
You know. Here's the thing. We got to shor Sanders so many times and finish right, and we got there with four man pressure. We have some amazing defensive linemen. I want to see more finishes with that. So I want to see these guys just take pride and playing the game of football because it's it's so limited, man, it's not for long. You want to get an old guy like me, and then you're just you're reeling right,
You're just wishing that you had another opportunity. So I want these guys to live with no regrets and let them know that they left it all out there on the field, and whatever the future holds, the future holds. But as far as right now, it's playing the game of football and making that happen. So I hope that they go out there on Saturday and just make all those plays, get all those turnovers, get all those touchdowns, you know, and understand what they should have been doing
all season. That they still have that capability, they still have that know how that they can do those things. So just go out there and play with pride and passion.
Alright, SLYI.
How about your Steelers man, Mike Tomland Russell Wilson. Obviously that's a team you're still got some love for. And uh, I don't know. It's been a little bit of a roller coaster, but they seem to have figured some stuff out. Seemed to be a kind of what you expect out of a Mike tomlin Seiler's team.
Yeah, tough, right, We've said it all along. We have a darn good defense. If we get some satisfactory quarterback play. Look what it could happen, right, I think this game was all field goals for Pittsburgh, Right, And even though we got down there, we got a darn good kicker, but we didn't kick ourselves in the in the butt with with turnovers and and and and messing ourselves up
that way. Right. It's it's kind of like if we were able to do that, right, Like, we only had one turnover in that game, but it didn't hurt us. And so if we could just be complimentary, we can win games. Pittsburgh is known for for being gritty and and gutting out tough wins. Right. They're built for that, Their defense is built for that, the city is built for that. So if we could just get our offense to get us in field goal range so we can get some points, our defense will be able to hold.
You know, these teams, what Baltimore Ravens was averaging what thirty six points coming into coming into that game, and we were able to hold them the sixteen total points. It's crazy. They're gonna be able to gut out some tough wins, and they're gonna be a team that you're gonna have to like really fight out and and try to waiver their confidence come playoff time because they're riding high right now and that's all they need. And so
it's it's been terrific. I know, the Steelers has probably got the best chance to win the AFC North now, so they get the chance to have a first round home field advantage, which is a huge asset in the NFL playoffs. But they're just playing great right now, and they're just playing complimentary football. Special teams is making plays. My guy Danny Smith, just watching him smack that gum
on the sideline, it's just freaking hilarious. But special teams, defense and offense, they're all playing great, man, and they're gonna be a force to be reckoned with here five.
In a row.
They're eight and two, and they're one of just three teams in the AFC Slie with two or fewer losses, the other two Buffalo and Kansas City Now City.
It's been fun.
It's been fun to watch, and you know, I'm pulling for your guys as long as Mike Tomlin and my guy Jalen Warner or in Pittsburgh, I'm cheering for him. But do they have enough to stand with those other two teams that I just mentioned in the AFC side.
Yeah, definitely. As I said, you played great defense. You can make anything happen. Josh Allen. If you look at the Bills, Josh Allen is just being mister everything right there. And so if you can take away Josh Allen by getting pressure on him and making him use his legs more than using it, being able to use both, Josh Allen has been able to use his legs and his
arm to make all these plays. If you see those plays in those Kansas City games, you know him scoring those touch ups, Like if you can eliminate that one of those factors, you put yourself in position. There's gonna be tough, gritted games right now. I'm telling you Christmas Day is gonna be absolutely insane because that's gonna be a game to determine some kind of home field advantage,
you know from the Pittsburgh and Kansas City's perfective. So those guys are gonna be wanting that game as much as possible, and so you got to look out for that. But you know, we got straight AFC North games right now. Face the Browns who are struggling the Bengals, who is a wild card. You don't know what you're gonna get from them. He got the Eagles coming up as well, talented team. You play the Ravens again, you know, closer to Christmas that Ravens Chiefs back to back weeks are
gonna be very, very insane. But the Steelers right now, every single week, you have no idea what you're gonna get from them. You're just gonna get a good football game, and that's what Steelers are known for.
I know you've been super busy, including into last week, but did you did you leave a few minutes to see Mike Tyson.
Fight on Friday?
Unfortunately I did.
A sixty year old Mike Tyson.
And here's the thing, sixty year old Mike Tyson is still great. What we saw on Friday night was not Mike Tyson. That was some orchestrated narrative Mike Tyson being sixty years old. So let me just go with the with the flow. What do I need to do to get paid here? That's the exhibition match. It doesn't go on his record. People can talk about it. I mean you've heard his interviews before the match. He's like, what his legacy. Right when I'm dead, I'm dead.
His legacy's done. His legacy is decided for sure.
So anybody talking about like, oh Mike, Mike, Mike Tyson ruined his legacy. He doesn't care, right. He wants to know about the right now. Is his kids taking care of is he taking care of? Right? And him going eight rounds, Jake Paul putting seventy five thousand people in at and T Stadium, and uh, Mike Tyson ended up with twenty to thirty million dollars in this. Uh all, when it's all said and done, is what he cares about. So, I mean, this was I had a fear of that
being the case coming into this. All the pre fight videos of Mike Tyson moving around versus the way that he was moving around in that ring, I'm just like stop and so yeah, unfortunately I did watch it.
Yeah, when you're fifty eight, sixty years old, that is the reality when you're trying to go in combat sports. And you know, it was cool to see a legend in the ring because I'm a guy who you know, was born in the nineties. I didn't really see it, but it was also just no credibility towards Jake Paul. When you beat a guy who, let's be clear, has been using a walking stick for the last several years, like regularly used as a walking stick to get around,
that is one Mike Tyson a legend. But again yeah, just kind of unfortunate I think, in my opinion to see that on Friday.
So I appreciate your time.
Well, we'll get you back late in the week or next week and recap utah I wasting.
Thanks man, you guys take care fly