Come on by the Red Zone store here on campus, brand new layout, a bunch of different good deals. As we are only sixteen days away from the start of football season for the University of Utah.
Happy to welcome in our next guest.
Managing editor over at youth Zone covers the Utah athletic program.
Sammy Mora joins Usaday Wednesday. Sammy, how are you?
I'm doing great? How are you?
I'm doing really well. I've got to ask you are you?
Are you currently a student at the University of Utah.
I actually graduated with my BS from the U in twenty twenty one.
Okay, all right, that a girl, congrats on that. But you are much younger than I am. And I'm here at the campus store, and so I've seen a lot of students coming and going. When did when did cowboy boots become a super popular fashion statement here on campus?
This is a new thing for me.
Honestly, I have no idea. I always you know, I have a writer who works for me at ut Zone, who is a senior at the you this year, and the generational divide between him, who's going to be twenty one in a couple of weeks and me who just turned twenty six is it feels massive. It feels massive even though we all are all under that branch of gen Z, I feel like there's a generational divide.
So I honestly have no clue.
Okay, fair enough, fair enough, Sammy, and my son is twenty about to turn twenty four. So I'm a big fan of your generation. Shout out to all the gen z ers out there. Here's where I want to start with you, as we are sixteen days away from kick what gives you the most confidence, Sammy that this year will look different than last, This will be a bounce back here for Utah year two.
In this conference, I think.
One of the biggest things that I have been you know, thinking about, focusing on and like writing about, has been
you know, stability on the defensive side. I think that there's so many veterans that are coming back that wanted to write the ship, that wanted to go out on a high note, that I think that's going to help the defensive side of the ball and on these I think, you know, the new offense under Jason Beck Devin Dampier seems to be loved by every single player on this team almost and I think that having him lead this offense in a system that he understands with Jason Beck,
I think that, you know, there's a lot to.
Be optimistic about this.
Season, and I honestly, you know, I think if everyone stays healthy, I think this should be a bounce back year for Utah.
Of course, UH, quarterback is a position that everybody is focused on, not just a Utah but all over the country. Obviously we know the importance of the position. It's interesting to consider, Sammy, that seven of the top ten AP teams are breaking in new quarterbacks, and of course Utah is breaking in a new quarterback as well. Realistic expectations in your mind for Devin this year, Sammy, sound like what.
I think, you know, the I don't think he's going to have the like over a thousand rushing yards this season. I think that's something that that expectation needs to be kind of tampered a little bit or that hope, because a lot of the reason why he had that many yards last season is that is the New Mexico offensive line was not the greatest and so he was a lot of those plays as he was being flushed out of the pocket quickly and he was running the ball.
He was scrambling for his life, and I think with the stellar offensive line that Utah has, I don't think he's going to have as many of those, you know, get out of dodge plays. So I think that is something that I'm expecting is lower. I wouldn't be shocked if he's around the same amount of passing yards he was at last year, which was around twenty five hundred. I do expect the interception number to go down. He
had twelve interceptions of twelve touchdowns last year. I expect those interception numbers to go down.
There was last year.
If you go back and you and you watch a lot of the New Mexico games, which I have done over the last few months, it's there were three or four interceptions that were not Devin's fault, Like balls were bouncing off wide receiver's hands, they were in a great position and they hit him square in the hands and then they dropped it. Balls were ripped out wide receivers hands tip drills. I think, so there was a handful of those that weren't Devin's fault. So I think that
interception total is also going to go down. He's a smart guy and he knows what to do with the ball and where to put it and how to put his players in the best position to succeed.
Speaking of wide receivers, Sammy, speaking of wide receivers, let's dig into it.
So Utah has seventeen.
On their roster, but only one who has more than thirty career catches. Coach wit this week during his media availability, said, they've identified the seven or eight that they like, and that's an important number because that's the number you travel with. What's your understanding, Sammy, of where we're at with this wide receiver room and how do you think ultimately it plays out with reps and catches and such.
So I think there's been there's been some good development in the wide receiver room since fall campus started. We've heard a lot of good things about Tobias Merriweather, about Larry Simmons, the two transfers of that these added during the spring window. We heard a lot of about Dadrian Zipperer. We've heard a lot about Ryan Davis.
Creed Wittemore.
So there's there's guys that are starting to, you know, pick up speed and get like their feet underneath them and picking up stride and stuff and so I think, you know, I've said this most of the off season, Utah is not gonna have a thousand yard receiver. I
don't think that's the case. I think you're gonna have one guy that's in like the eight hundred and nine hundred yard range, you probably have two that are in the seven to eight hundred, and then you probably have the rest or anywhere from seven hundred to one hundred.
I think it kind.
Of spreads out that way, and you have to factor in the tight ends as well. I think the tight ends are going to get theirs this year. But I think, honestly, I think the seven that Utah probably rolls with and this is just like you know, speculation on my end, but I think it's it's Tobias Merriweather, Larry Simmons, Ryan Davis, Creed Wittemore, Dadrian Zipper, Luca Calderella, and then you know, maybe you see Nate Johnson get thrown in there. You
could see Justin Stevenson be thrown in there. There's a lot of guys that you could use on those last two spots. But I think from my vantage point, I think the top six are kind of easy to figure out based on roster based on what coaches have said, what's based on what players have said, stuff like that. So you know, I you guys, I'm not gonna have a thousand yard receiver, but I'm not. That's not keeping me up at night about this team, and I think that it shouldn't keep fans up at night either.
Wasyshan Parker, with a very solid freshman campaign up on the police for Wazoo, averaging more than five yards of carry. Seems like a very confident young man. Discussing his desire to go over one thousand yards Utah, I believe as seventeen one thousand yard running backs in its history. Wasshaan even said he'd like to touch fifteen hundred, which we would love to see. Little surprise to hear Coach Witt talk about that right now. Is a competition in that room,
Naquari Rodgers, I guess making some headway as well. And look, you want multiple options, Sammy, As you know, I think a lot of people, and I'll put myself in that area. Believe maybe Wasshan would be bit of a bell cow. But what are your thoughts on what we are seeing in that room? And do you think way Shan maybe eventually does take the majority of those reps.
I wouldn't be shocked if, if you know, if way Shawn starts hitting his stride and is product that producing at a high level, I wouldn't be shocked to see, you know, him maybe take the bellcal of the responsibilities at some point in the season. But I'm not it's not I don't think it's It shouldn't be scary or discouraging or or anything to see. And hear Wit talking about Nacari Rodgers as well. Nacari was part of this offense last year at New Mexico. He's played at Jason Becky,
He's played with Devin Dampier. He knows what they expect and what they want to know for this offense. And Jason beck has spoke so much about his circle of trust and putting the eleven guys out on the field that he trusts the most to get their responsibilities done. And it's clear that you know, Nakari is still one of those guys. I don't think it's a knock on Wayshan. I think it just proves that both of those guys
are able to get the job done. I mean, Devin said earlier this week, he said that he doesn't like it's very interchangeable between the two of them. He knows that whoever he hands it off to out of those two is going to get him four or five yards. So I think that that should be encouraging right there, that you have two running backs that can, you know, get you half of your ten yards in one play
if things go well. And with his offensive line, you know that there should be a lot of push and there should be the ability to break off those big runs. But I think those two are a great one two are one A one B is what I should actually say. But you know, Bryce Duke will get his the old dominion transfer. I think Jason Beck has called him more of a receiving a RECEI he said, he's a running back who has really good hands and has the ability
to be a good receiver. So I think that you'll see Bryson situations where you know, maybe unreceiving plays stuff like that, but you will see him still tote the rock. Daniel Bray the true freshman from Texas, fast, speedy guy, probably one of the Sassas guys on the team. I think he logged like a four to three, four or something of that effect during his high.
School career and stuff.
So I think that you I think those are probably the four you're going to see the most of this season. But I mean, when has Utah ever had a running back by committee approach that hasn't been successful? I think that you know, they have guys that can do a bunch of different things and that's just going to make this offense better.
Big twelve Media Days, Coach Wit hopped on with myself and Sean Sean O'Connell and dropped at I don't know if he intentionally did this, but dropped a little tidbit.
That got a lot of attention.
And it was funny because after Kyle joined us about five minutes later, both Smith Snowden and Lander Barton were our guests as well, and so Coach Witt on our show said that they plan on using Smith and Lander on offense this year. And then when they stopped by, I asked them about it and they looked at me like, I don't think we're supposed to say this, and I said, well, just so you know, your head coach just did.
Uh.
So it was kind of a fun any dynamic there.
But what's your understanding, Sammy, of what that will look like this year with Lander and Smith potentially getting some reps on the offensive side of the football.
Yeah, and then Kyle told us at Big twelve media days that it's going to be Smith's in the slot, Lander at tight end. I think that, you know, Lander was a was a highly productive tight end in high school, and I understand that the level of competition he was going up against.
In high school is different than he's going to be going up.
Against now, but highly highly productive guy just with his size and his catch radiousness, frame and stuff like that. So I think that's interesting to see. And then Smith, you know, we saw what Smith can do in special team situation, whether it's on punts, kickoffs, whatever, last season, and how fast and how elite of an athlete he is. So I think, you know, this all goes back to Jason Beck saying putting the best eleven players on the field.
I'm not saying that you're going to see Smith and Lander playing Travis Hunter level of levels of snaps on both sides of the ball there. I'mary focus is going to remain on the defense. It's just there's going to be certain packages there's going to be certain situations in which those two are on the offensive side of the ball, and you know, if it works, it works. If it
doesn't work, it doesn't work. But I think that you know, you have to at least give it a shot because they're playmakers and you want to put the best playmakers on the field no matter what.
So it's it's a very nice dynamic.
Even though Utah is breaking in a new quarterback, we know who the quarterback is and it's Devin. But Sammy, if we've learned anything over the past, you know, two, three, four years, you got to have at least two, if not three, and some years you would like to have five.
You don't want to rely on that. And I'm knocking on what.
As hard as I can for Devin to stay as healthy as possible all year. But that room behind him has shaped up to be an interesting battle as I think most people, certainly myself included, assume that Isaac, as the incumbent.
Would grab the backup job.
But Kyle oftentimes and which back oftentimes have sung the praise is of young Bird Ficklin, who's competing with Isaac Wilson for that backup quarterback spot. What's your understanding of where that battle is now? In any thoughts on who could come out on top.
At the end of the day, I mean, I think there's this is like the fact that this battle is still going on, I think proves that, you know, these two are are truly neck at neck and they are you know, playing at a at a at a high level, you know. And I say that, but Kyle also said, you know, they had some mistakes, string scrimmages. I mean, to be completely honest, that's kind of to be expected for some guys that are, you know, still trying to learn the offense and get.
Used to all the moving parts and stuff.
But I you know, Isaac has there's there's pros and concert both of them.
I think.
I think Isaac the big pro that you have is, you know, he has all that live game experience that Bird doesn't have. I mean, Kyle said the same thing. He's like, you don't know how Bird's going to react in a in a live game situation because he's a true freshman, whereas Isaac has all that live experience.
And then on the other side.
Bird is very much a true dual threat. He is very agile, a very good athlete. He he also kind.
Of has that same sense that Devin has.
If he knows how to tucket and run when he needs to, and he has some speed, he's up to two hundred pounds, he looks the part, and I think that, you know, that's what Bird has that maybe Isaac doesn't, is that elusiveness when running the ball, which I think is something that is highly valued in this offense. But you know, at the end of the day, like it's going to come down to, you know, consistency in practice, who.
Is getting the job done, Who's not turning.
The ball over that we all know that's a Kyle Whittingham big thing is that you know he has who doesn't who keeps the ball safe no matter what position it is. If you don't keep the ball safe, you're probably.
Not going to see the field that much. And so I think, who's going to keep.
The ball safe, Who's like competing at a high level. And then you know, if it does come down to live game experience, then it's probably going to be Isaac. But if it comes down to you know, mobility factors, then I think it could be Bird. Like honestly, I have no idea who it could be at this point. You know, there was moments in spring where Isaac looked like he was like he was in control of the of the sect of the Chu spot. But then there were days where Bird looked like he was beating Isaac
by a mile. So you know, it's kind of hard to you know, give a full read on that one. We don't get to see anything at practice and stuff.
Over to a couple questions defensively here and I don't know if you heard, Sammy, but Keanu Tonavasa transferred to BYU.
I don't did you catch onto that story?
That is brand new news to me?
Okay, little little breaking news on a Wednesday.
Then obviously a kid and Utah's losses BYU's game. That kid is good and he is uh uh, he.
Does leave a hole.
I know we're all taught to never questioned coach wits defense and Morgan's defense, So talk to me about how that d line is kind of settling in. And then Cameron Calhoun is Crimson Tide, how are they going to replace him?
And what is that hole looking like as of now?
Also with the with the corner back room, so obviously you have Scooby and Smith, who have kind of you know, locked locked in so to speak. I mean Shreefshaw hates using the word locked in or established, but those two have you know, firm control on Nickel and one of the outside corner spots, respectively. But Kyle Whittingham said on Monday, yeah, Monday, that Blake Cotton has finally started to pull away on
that outside corner spot. And Blake's the Blake's of transfer from UC Davis six to three, long guy, athletic guy. He was someone that you know, us over're on your zone. We're bullish about winning the spot. Even if you go back to Spring and you see some of our post Spring content, like Blake has the smarts and the skill set to be a high level corner and you know he only has one year to play, and the thing is is like, if you can get him going, that's great.
And but then at the same time there, I think his battle is far from over over. You have uh Rock Cauldwell, the GICO transfer that's also competing for that spot, and you also have Don Sauders of Texas A and m transfer, So there's a lot of guys that are all fighting for that spot, and they're fighting for time and I think that, you know, Shariff said or Kyle said, someone.
Said so not of something on the coaching staff said that it might.
Get to a point where it's cornerback by a committee. And you know, Scooby is not the tallest guy, and both Blake and Rock are six two sixty three sixty four, So I think that you know, you might see some different packages depending on what personnel are lining up across from Utah, depending on the team, depending on the situation. But you know, I like Blake. Blake Blakes film is one of the funner ones to watch, I think, And you know, if he maintains that that spot, I don't have any.
Concerns about him.
You know, Shreefshot described him as a sponge, Like that's something great you want to hear about from a corner, especially one that has only been with your program since January. And then defensive line, I think, you know, you kind of have some semblance of an idea who's going to be on the ends. It's going to be Logan Fano on one end, and then you know, the the rest of the pack is like Cash Dylan, Lancefold's Claw, John Henry Daily, Paul Fitzgerald, all of those guys are going
to be, you know, getting time in the rotation. So not a lot of production on that defense at end room, but a lot of talent, like a lot of guys that can get.
Back to the quarterback.
And you know, Morgan said, it's not he's not focused, so he's not focused as much on Sax as he as of getting pressured at the quarterback and forcing the quarterback to make bad decisions. But then at the tackles position, you know, the three that we we know are established
are Aliki Viamahi, Dallas Bakalai, and John aala Aa. Which then that kind of leaves that that d tackles four slash five spot open because you know, utile act to go four to five deep at that position, so they can rotate guys in, keep guys fresh, all that jazz
and stuff. And so I think the names that we've heard the most recently is Carson Kaslusi, the true freshman out of Skyline High School, big guy six five, came in at a great weight, didn't have to they didn't have to worry about getting it, getting him up to wait for him to time and stuff. He was here. That's the spring he's someone that we think could be an early contributor for Utah and then a late enrollly, so he didn't get here until a couple of months ago.
Is Koopu Cephalona from Hawaii, the four star recruit who you know, really young in his football career, but very very very high motor. He's a former like two times state basketball player, like state champion or like Gatorade Player of the Year or whatever it's called this time, very high IQ guy, and Kyle Lillingham said that he had a great scrimmage. So that's another great development to hear that you have some of these young guys that are
finally getting things going and clicking. But it's going to be about consistency for them. But I think, you know, defensive tackle is one of those positions that UTA has always been historically very good at, just even if they're young, and so I think getting them out there, getting these young guys out there will be beneficial for now but
also into the future. As you know, you lose a leaky at the end of the season, so you then you bring in you have Jonah Jonah, you have Dallas, and then if these two can really get things going, you know that's a great four man rotation for twenty twenty six.
Let me ask you about special teams.
I mean it doesn't it's not the headline grabbing conversation. But if you're a Utah fan and have been for quite some time, you have both great memories of solid kickers and punters and also nightmares about special teams that have cost you games in the past. You can win and lose games on special teams. Coach Wood talks about it all the time. So kicking and punting, Sammy, where are we at with those positions as of now?
Honestly, haven't heard much on the punting front, but I think all Utah fans would be more than fine and more than happy.
To not see O.
Ryan Phillips for a good majority of the season because that means you know you're getting those touchdowns. Dylan Curtis though the local kicker from Murray, he was one of the highest. He was there's a whole separate recruiting service for kickers and punters. He was a five star kicker
out of this class. Dylan, Dylan has a leg like I would not be shocked if you see Utah, you know, trotting him out with like three seconds left until halftime to kick a fifty five yarder, Like I would not be shocked if he gets out there and does it again. Like you know, during the spring practice, the like the one thing we didn't see was punting and kicking. So you know, we saw everything else except for that. But I remember, like a few years ago, punting and kicking
is all we would see at practice. But we haven't seen a lot of them this spring. But you know, I'm not I'm not like again, Dylan Curtis. If again I said this on our US one podcast this week, is that I think Utah fans really hope that the only time they see Dylan Curtis is here is taking extra points and doing kickoffs and occasionally, you know, fifty five yarder at with three seconds left until halftime, just to see if he can do it. But you know,
not too much updates on that front. But I am planning on asking Kyle about it on Monday.
All right, Sammy, before I said you loose, I want you to complete the following. Utah football will compete at a high level and potentially win a big twelve championship this year if.
What everyone stays healthy or I'll qualify that. If I'll qualify that there is no long term injuries that will impact this team. If a guy misses a game here there, I don't think it will. You know, there's a lot of depth at almost every single position on this team.
I think they'll be fine.
But if there is a if there is a a major long term injury, they won't be in that position. But if everyone stays healthy and there is no long term injury, they will be competing for a Big twelve championship, possibly if everything else goes to plan.
Sammy, where can people go find all your good work?
You can find us over at ut zone dot com. We are running currently a fifty percent off special, so your first year is fifty percent off up until the start of the football season. You can follow me on Twitter at s underscore more two four seven. You can also follow the ute Zone account at ut zone dot com. But yeah, if you're if you're looking to join a great Utah community, come on over to ut Zone. We have exclusive content and one of the greatest communities in college football.
Sammy, great work, good job, Thanks for the time, Keep up the great work.
We'll get you on soon.
Okay, Thanks Ben all right, before we catch a break, we welcome in Ryan from the Dish professionals. Give them a call at eight oh one four two four Dish football seasons here, make the switch to Dish. If you're a sports fan, you're missing out.
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All right, there is Ryan from the Dish Professionals. We're going to be joined by Zach Moss, one of the best to ever do it at the University of Utah. Coming up after a quick break. But we're live today at the Utah Red Zone store and the senior marketing manager, not just the marketing manager, but the senior marketing manager, Bridget Miller, stops by. Bridget, How are you great?
How are you.
I'm well, thank you so much for the time. So tell me about yourself. How'd you get into this role? How long you've been doing it?
Well, I have been at the Campus Store since last September, so I'm really excited to have a full football season. I kind of came in right in the middle. But I was actually at the university in a bunch of different departments for like eight years prior and went to school here. So I'm in a lum and I just wanted to come back. I missed it so much.
After I left. Very nice.
Well, thanks for having us out here. We've had a good time. This is bringing back fun memories for old youths like me. We called it the Bookstore. I know now it's the Campus Store and it's the Red Zone store.
So tell me about the Third Down Drop. Okay, it's kind of a new thing. Let's hear about it.
Yeah, So obviously we are no longer just a bookstore. We are way more than that. We're servicing. Obviously, the campus community at the Utah fan base is such a huge part of who we love. So we're going to announce this new program this fall. It's called Third Down Drop. So every home football game. There will be a limited edition item and that's going to be a limited run, so get your hands on it as soon as it drops,
and it'll be different each game. We've had a couple u of you students actually do some of the designs for them, so they're gonna be really cool.
We're excited.
So what are the plans to roll this out? Are you gonna announce it like Monday of game week? What's that going to look like?
Yeah, so we're gonna start kind of trickling it out of FanFest for the true fans that are all in it want to meet the athletes, and then the following week we're going to be sending emails. So definitely go sign up for our newsletter so you know exactly when it drops and you can get your hands on it.
And where can people go get the newsletter and follow you on social channels and things like that.
So go to store dot Utah dot edu our website, that's the best place. There's a quick sign up at the bottom and you'll be right in.
Okay, Hey, thanks again for having us out. It's good to meet you and we'll chat.
Toon Okayah, thanks for stoping by all right.
Bridgie Miller, Senior Marketing manage of the Utah Red Zone store.
Here.
So, as you just heard a brand new initiative called third Down Drop where new exclusive limited edition items each home game will be dropped. Okay, so Bridget just give you all the gave you all the information. Go subscribe to their newsletter and then you'll get an alert about these exclusive items that will drop for each home game, and then you better get your hands on them before they run out, because is Bridget just mentioned it is a limited addition situation