Top 3 Stories of the Day: Tucson rain could affect BYU at Arizona | Utah Mammoth lose 2-1 at Colo…
It’s time to break down the biggest stories of the day. This is the top three stories of the day on kslsports.com. 975 the KSL sports zone. Jake and Ben and 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Want to remind you you can win big every Wednesday on the KSL Sports Zone with Win Ticket Wednesday. Coming up next week, you can win tickets to go see Eric Church in the Free the Machine Tour October the 23rd at Delta Center. Find your tickets on SeatGeek and listen to the KSL Sports Zone all day on Wednesday for your chance to win. Ben, uh, could I ask you a quick question and then we’ll get into top three stories. So, I’m uh, we’ve got Armpit Show up here in the background and, uh, Adam Shfter is on. Uhhuh. And he’s wearing a Augusta National shirt where he’s not like broadcasting from there or anything. He’s just wearing the shirt. Now, I wear a lot of golf shirts with names of the courses on it, but my initial reaction was, “What a pretentious jerk for wearing an Augusta National shirt. He wears it a lot.” But yet, I wear a lot of golf shirt with names of courses on there. So, am I being a hypocrite or because my justification in my mind is Augustine National is something different. You have to get you can’t just walk in off the street and buy like I have a Pinehurst one cuz my old man played there, right? So, he got me a shirt. My old man can’t get on at Augusta National. Nobody can unless your last name’s like Trump or uh you’re the elite of the elite, right? So, I feel like it’s different and I can look down on Chester. Um he just wears it every time he’s on TV. Oh, if he’s not wearing a suit, he’s got his Augusta National Zip on. Isn’t he just screaming like I’m very important. He’s like crap all over. Again, we hate the way they set these up, but he’s got crap all over the table behind him. It just looks I got to play there with Jerry Jones and you know what I mean. All right. Thank you. Thank you for reinforcing my take. All right. Top three stories brought to you by Jbrooks Jewelers. Cherish your love with Jbrooks Jewelers. Explore their expertly crafted engagement rings made from the finest materials. J Brooks Jewelers. All right, Christian, where do you want to start today? Number one, BYU on the road this week, looking for win number six at Arizona. It would be great to be bowl eligible already. Not that that was really ever in question after the first couple of games. They uh looked like they had a player in Bear Bachm who was capable of moving the ball consistently and certainly a very good team around him. So, I don’t think that by itself is is enough, but 6 and0 was a great start to any season. the weather good or bad for BYU against Arizona? Bad. I was going to go good. So, I’m curious to hear your explanation. Um, I do still think that Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston are big-time playmakers that they need. And I am a little curious still about BYU’s rushing game if you know that that’s what’s coming. Uh, especially because we looked at Arizona’s defense and it was fine. It was top 10. So, if they’re able to take away some of that from uh Bear, I mean, I you know, Bear just tucking his head and running is not a good idea and LJ Martin’s a very good player, but I just I I do think their versatility actually what what versatility they have shown has been a real asset for them. Now, the advantage is that if you turn Arizona into a rushing team and Noah Fafita is not able to move the ball through the air, that certainly benefits BYU’s defense, but BYU’s defense is good regardless. See, I was going with all Fafita. I mean, that’s if if BYU’s defense makes Arizona one-dimensional with a little help of the weather, that takes away the Wildcats best player, I think that’s always um a good thing. Plus, with BYU winning ball games, it’s all about minimalism, if that makes any sense. Like, if FIA is healthy and slinging it, you might give up 28 points. You know, maybe into the 30s if he’s really on. I’m not saying that that would be likely, but if a feet is neutralized and you keep him in the teens, well, all of a sudden, the game becomes way more winnable. And I think LJ Martin’s great. I I think if I had to bet on figuratively, of course, one of th these two teams being able to run the ball, I think I would go with the Cougs. Yeah, I don’t have a lot of faith that Arizona is going to move the ball on the ground particularly well. They don’t have a big-time rushing uh running back on the roster. Uh I do think FIFA leads the team in rushing touchdowns as well, which is not unheard of for quarterbacks, but you know, when they get into the red zone, they don’t really have a guy who punches it in. It’s Noah scrambling around and making plays with his feet. So, I uh yeah, I don’t expect them to move the ball particularly well, and I never really expect them to move the ball all that well. Real quick, total rushing yards for Arizona in five games. Five games, 750 yards. 719. So, you’re pretty close. Yeah, that’s that’s very low. That’s not good. Yeah, that’s really low as a team. Yeah, that’s not terrific. So, I don’t know. It it’ll be it’ll be fascinating. But if Arizona wins, I think it’s because of Noah Fafida. Okay. Whereas BYU, I think, has a couple of other avenues for victory. I look, I understand rain, it makes it harder to throw the ball. If your identity is you throw the ball, as long as it’s not in the middle of a hurricane, and I get that they’re actually going into it’s a tropical story hurricane. Yes. If the wind allows you to move the ball through the air at all, then you got to move then you got to try and still throw the ball. And I look, I haven’t been picking Arizona to win this game at all all week. So, I think BYU is going to win this game regardless of the weather. Now, I’m just really curious as to uh where Arizona ranks running the ball because that was a surprising over 719. Yeah, that was a surprisingly low number. 130 yards a game. Yeah, it’s 90th. Yeah, it’s terrible. Yeah, they’re a bad rushing team at a little over 143 per game. What’s their passing offense? Uh, hang in with me, Ben. Sorry. Um, I know. Googling stuff on the radio. One of my favorite bits. Enough out of you, Cristiano. Yeah. Why don’t you have this information in front of us? Yeah. Seriously. Uh, 286 per game. Good enough for 22nd. Okay. So, yeah. FIFA. FIFA. Yeah. So, if he has a tough day, BYU, I like their chances better. I I I don’t think your points about uh BYU’s passing attack are are wrong necessarily. I just think Noah Fida has a chance to be a gamecher. And if he has a tough time throwing the ball, that’s going to be a long day for the Wildcats. And that’s what I expect. And if BYU can keep him in the teens or lower, they should win. Hey, since we’re googling things, where’s BYU as a rushing team? Rushing team. BYU. Christian, why did we have this in front of us? Didn’t we do this like two days ago? I don’t know if we did for Utah. Yeah, we did Utah. Okay, so BYU been through five games, 234 yards per game, good enough for 15th in the country. Yeah. So, yeah, BYU can do that. You know, I I don’t love it as a game plan. I think they’ve got to be more dynamic than that, especially against better teams. I don’t know if Arizona is a better team, especially in the weather. I don’t know if it’s a better team, but um I I would like to see BYU continue to move the ball to the air. That’s when they’re at their best. Honestly, move the game up. I hope they do that. Yeah, I hope so, too. All right, what’s next? Number two, the Utah Mammoth dropped their season opener last night at Colorado. Ran into a very good goalie. Um Dylan Gunther got the one goal. He has now opened both Utah hockey and Utah Mama seasons with the first goal, but the Avalanche looked looked good, especially their goalender. I actually really liked how well the Mammoth played offensively other than they just couldn’t get the puck in the back of the net. But the speed looked faster than last year. There was a ton of aggression. I do think JJ Purka is going to be a nice uh addition there. His his aggression really seemed to give them a lot of opportunities. Sometimes it seems like you do run into a hot goalie and you just can’t get the puck in. But I I thought they played pretty well. uh which is what our buddy uh Nick Ol basically told us to uh to expect, right? Fast team should be a good product. Yeah, I I I think they’re going to be good. You know, again, it’s one game and everyone’s juiced and this team still hasn’t played together a whole lot, so I think you’re still seeing uh some issues where the chemistry probably isn’t fully there, but I did think they were making more aggressive passes to try and move the puck across the ice to set up shooters. And I thought that was that was nice. They they blew a bunch of opportunities in transition where, you know, one of those goes in and obviously you get a point in overtime or you get a chance to win it in overtime. They had three breakaways and didn’t score on any of them, which is hard to score regardless in hockey. But, uh, I I honestly I thought they played well. It was not a game where you thought, “Oh, that was a that was a rough outing.” I’d like to see a little more dirty play. Okay. But outside of that, no, I I I’m excited for this team. I I I’m with you on Purka and I hope it is a really fast upbeat scoring team even though that’s not necessarily what we saw, but it should be right. And then Vamela was good. Vamela, especially early, faced a lot of pressure in the first period. Uh he did let one get through, but I thought he played well. If he if if you’re only scoring two goals against this team, against the Mammoth, I think they’re going to win a lot of games. All right, what’s next? Number three, Bryson Barnes got a little banged up a couple weeks ago against Vanderbilt, but he should be good to go tomorrow for Utah State at Hawaii. He’s out there guarding Vanderbilt. Uh, do they need him against Hawaii? Uh, you always want your starting quarterback and Bryson Bars is is a very good player at that level. And that’s not a knock. That sounds like a caveat. It’s not supposed to be. That was really condescending. Um, well, he’s limited against certain teams. He won pack 12 games. Give the man, right? But, right. So, at that level, I mean, if he can beat USC on the road, I believe. Yeah. You want to have him out there against Hawaii. I mean, that’s a that’s a good opportunity for uh Bronco to continue to juice. Sounds like again like I’m I’m insulting Utah State. I’m not sure does. But what was their overunder under set at? Like three and a half games, four games. And I said, “Well, they’re going to exceed that because Bronco Menhal always exceeds that. He always has better teams than people think and they’re always far more disciplined and yeah, beating Hawaii with Bryson Barnes is the type of game you need to uh to exceed those expectations. Uh I don’t know what to expect about Hawaii, Ben. Their best win so far is either at Air Force or home against Stanford. Uh they had their losses come uh at Arizona 40 to6 and home against Fresno in a close one 23-21. So maybe they do need Bryson Barnes to beat Hawaii. Yeah, I think you do. Poor Scotty has to go to Hawaii. Utah State two and a half point favorites on the road. 10 p.m. kick, by the way. Local time or here time. Mountain time. That is local time. It’s where we are locally. Locally. Is Scotty in Lahina on the beach right now? Some sort of fruity beverage. How’s the weather? Uh in in Lahina, I’m sure it’s gorgeous. rooting for Scotty. He deserves What are you hoping it’s raining? 73. No, I’m just curious. I mean, we’ve got all these storms going on across the Oh, yeah. The hurricane or whatever. Coast to coast. There’s There’s I storms right now. I think the uh hurricane is much uh what direction east. Yeah. Of Hawaii. Yeah. No, I’m sure I hope I hope Scotty’s enjoying the sun. Rainy this weekend in Hawaii. I mean, this coming weekend, not not this weekend, next weekend. So, uh should be beautiful for Scotty. Do we know if Scotty’s uh coming back next week? You going to stay out there a few extra days? Did he take the gang? The whole fam? I hope he did. Oh, there’s no way. You got a free hotel. Fly everybody out. Yeah, a free hotel. They took AJ. A free hotel for Scotty. I think they went Did they take AJ? Yeah, I think they all went two years ago. Wow. Well, good for AJ. I didn’t know AJ was there. I am hoping it’s raining. Well, if I’m Scotty’s wife and you’re on the road as much as you are and the once every other year you go to Hawaii. Weird. I also even for now, right? Weird. I also booked a flight. They’re not even going to be in the same league going forward. So, this Yeah, right. might be the last time. Sorry, Brody. AJ’s coming with me. Wow. Well, have fun, Scotty. All right. Uh, no, I think Utah State should win. Bryson Bar Utah State’s played well and uh Bryson Barnes is a Bronco Meninhal type guy, you know, a hard hat kind of guy, a work hard, tryh hard, pick farman type of dude. Not surprised that Bronco and Bryson uh have a rapport. Broncos favorite quarterback at BYU was always Riley Nelson. Bryson’s a good player. He just But Bronco’s a different kind of coach. He just he likes a different kind of player. That’s why uh PK always bring this up. If you’re a Bronco guy, he’s going to love you. Not meaning he’s like if you’re a type of person that Broncos looking for, you’re going to love Bronco Mineral. Hey, Bryson’s a great fit for Utah State. I mean, even his backstory is agricultural. It’s great. Yeah, but Broncos passed on more talented, more athletic, better football players because they don’t do whatever he’s looking for. That’s a flaw. I don’t know. He’s won a lot of games at places where you don’t win a lot of games. I don’t know. BYU seems to be able to win even without I’m not referring to BYU. Okay, you’re right. I’m referring to UVA and New Mexico. Yeah. And by the way, pre like billionaire investing in UVA. And nobody can win at New Mexico. That’s true. Rocky Long was the last one. Five games last year. They didn’t win nine games. Five more than expected. It’s New Mexico. He had a pretty good quarterback, pretty good receiver, pretty good running back. Bob Davyy went to die. Sure. I hope Bob’s still with us, by the way. I’m not trying to Who was the one who who was the one who went to New Mexico, punched another coach right in the face, and is now a decent coach in Maryland? Uh, Mike Oxley. Such a bad job. You’re assaulting people. It’s impossible to win there. Apparently has a thing in Arizona. Well, I guess in the the Southwest because Ganon’s also punching people. He’s his own players, right? You’re referring to Arizona Cardinal. Arizona Cardinal head coach. I I think what what Mike Lockley did to his assistant was much more severe than than that. Yeah. All right. Stay tuned. We’ll have more Jake and Ben coming up next. 975 DKSL Sports Zone.
Top 3 Stories of the Day: Tucson rain could affect BYU at Arizona, Utah Mammoth lose 2-1 at Colorado, QB Bryson Barnes good to go for USU at Hawaii
