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RUNNIN' VEGAS - The John McNamara Sports Podcast
Talking all things Las Vegas sports-from UNLV to the pros, and everything in between.
RUNNIN' VEGAS - The John McNamara Sports Podcast
UNLV vs. Memphis: What We Learned From Training Camp 👀 | John McNamara & Michael Matsumaro
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Welcome And Memphis Week Setup
SPEAKER_00We're talking local sports business real estate. If you guys like me see some running followers, I'm running vegetable. We got the Scarlet Standard, Mr. Michael. Matsumoto.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Sorry, maybe I was a little too happy on that. But I'm excited to have you on, man. We're doing Unil V football today. We're doing preview Memphis versus Unal V. We're going to talk a little training camp. Last week we were talking training camp, but this man right here, he's been to training camp. He's been to spring practice. So this is the guy. I don't think they've officially released the too deep yet, right?
SPEAKER_01They have not.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So you're going to be our too deep guy today. Because I've been every day waiting for that email to come through from Unal V. And nothing.
SPEAKER_01I think the zero chance that Mullen tips his hand prior to a kickoff on Saturday.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I think they did that last year too. So I'm not surprised, but super excited to have it on. Thank you. Thank you, Scarlet Standard. We really appreciate you guys do a great job. All right. So, what have been your biggest takeaways from training camp?
Dan Mullen’s Details In Camp
SPEAKER_01Biggest thing from training camp that I've observed that's been different throughout the years from uh the first time I went to camp was under Tony Sanchez through Marcus Arroyo. It's the coaching staff. The attention to detail that Dan Mullen has is insane. So it's not just him knowing about his position coach or knowing about the players. He has the offense and the defense memorized. And I hear it often during the spring camp, during the fall camp, when someone blows coverage or someone's not in the right position, offense or defense, Dan Mullen will call them out and he will tell them to make it better. And I've noticed that all the small details matter with Dan Mullen. That's what I love about this coaching staff.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I love to hear that. Okay. So you've been following uh UNLV for a while now. I'm just curious because I'm kind of like a homer, been watching football for gosh, like 10-15 years now. How about Sanchez compared to Arroyo?
SPEAKER_01So Sanchez had all of the administrative aspects of being a coach down. He knew how to talk to boosters, he knew how to talk to alumni. He might not have had the actual coaching down, but there he had a staff that he could heavily lean upon. It was different with Arroyo. Arroyo came in, hot off that Oregon offense. He was the man he knew what he wanted. It wasn't him really leaning on anybody else. So you had two different styles of management there. You had a person that wanted to take it from the front, and then you had Tony Sanchez who kind of leaned on everybody else. And both great styles of management. Tony really empowered his staff in order to do what they did. Not a lot of people remember, but under Barney Cotton, as
Sanchez Vs Arroyo Leadership Styles
SPEAKER_01vanilla as that offense was, and people complain about it, they still put up over 30 points a game.
SPEAKER_00They could run the heck out of the yeah. I'm hoping we're gonna see a little bit of that this year. So it sounds like Dan Mullen has upped the level. I wasn't a super royal guy. Um, but yeah. So let's get into a little bit because I am curious. Recently, it looks like Welch Spellman are off the roster. Do we have an update on uh Cohen Fuller if he's gonna be playing this weekend, or is that still up in the air?
SPEAKER_01So as far as I know, Cullen Fuller won his case. That I don't know if um he won his case or if he won the injunction, or if that got kicked down the road. As far as I know, he'll be playing him and Justin Flo. Uh they're a little bit different from Walchin with Spellman. I don't believe Walter Spellman had their own individual cases. Could be wrong. I don't know if anything's changed since they first had that overall ruling. But with Fuller and with Flo, they should see the field sometime this year.
SPEAKER_00Great. Well, what's your analysis of them? I know Quinn Phil that this defensive line seems like it's young. So when I was Sarah and Fuller might not be playing for this year, I was I was concerned. Just to be honest with you. So what are your what's your take on it? So with this defensive line, it is a younger group,
Eligibility Updates And D-Line Depth
SPEAKER_00but they're big.
SPEAKER_01Like this might be the most depth we've ever had at the interior line. And just beyond uh Conti, we know what Conti can do. Conti was great last year. Uh hope we have Fuller. Fuller's gonna be great, but you got Moabasher back there, and behind Moa Basher, you have a plethora of freshmen for Poe Percell, a logo's a red shirt freshman, you've got Waters, you've got Herb Gray. All those are big bodies. For example, Bryce Waters is not a name that you've probably heard of, but there's a reason why old Ms. wanted him. Yeah. There's a reason why Poe Percell went to Bishop Gorman. I I believe that if he had started his career at Bishop Gorman, he'd be playing for a P4 school right now. But they came in on the spring camp. Um, I believe it was uh Vince Carner, Poe Percell, Derek Garcia, and um Andre Nicolitas Diaz are all guys that should have been prepping for their prom on their senior year. Instead, they graduated early. It's historic, it's the first time Bishop Gorman ever allowed anybody to early graduate. They're all at Spring Camp and they all made an impact, and you could see that continuation through the fall camp as well. So while we don't have a lot of experience at the D-line, with the pieces that we have in place, I like the framework of what they have going, and the future looks rich.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah, I would uh agree with that. Outside looking in, this is it with the recruiting, it's been very apparent. They've done a great job recruiting defensive linemen. Uh, my only concern is, as you know, there's a difference between an 18, 19-year-old kid versus a 2021, 20 young man strength. So do you feel confident some of these guys are gonna be able to step up in the too deep and and really contribute, even though they're gonna be freshmen or retarded freshmen or I do, I really do.
SPEAKER_01And uh both Conti and Fuller throughout the spring camp, as well as throughout the fall camp, have been stepping into those leadership roles. They've been pushing people to be the best versions of themselves that they can be. And you've got guys like Logo, who he looks a little bit under the radar, but he's a coach's kid. Football's been his entire life. His dad doesn't give him any special treatment. If anything else, he's a little bit harder on him. Logo's a quiet guy that likes to lead from example. And he's they're serious about what they're what they're doing. They're serious about getting better each and every day, and they're serious about their craft. And you can tell it, it's not just going through the motions of practice. They will call each other out if somebody's taking a half rep.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01They will call each other out if someone's not going full speed. And that's what
Orgy Vs Arnold QB Questions
SPEAKER_01I appreciate about this team is both the offense and the defense. That attention to detail that I mentioned that Dan Mullen has is something that's trickled down to everybody. They will call each other out.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I'm getting excited. All right, Logan's dad sounds like my dad. Just joking. Um, all right. So love that take on the defense. I'm excited about that. We'll we'll we'll move into defense a little bit later, uh, a little bit more. I'm just curious, there's been a lot of talk in the offseason with the quarterback. Do you feel like there's a guy that's got an edge on the other between Orgy and Arnold? I mean, we see it's I'm getting, and again, I'm just getting information from you guys. Caulfield, some other great reporters are out there. There's been a lot of hype around Orgy and how he's really stepped it up, and there hasn't been as much talk about Arnold.
SPEAKER_01And I'm just wondering, is there a little smoke there or so I've I've had a chance to talk to both of those guys, and a lot of people count Alex Orgy out because they know that he's not really a passer. And I think some of that has to do with the way that he's built. I'm convinced the guy can throw the football end zone to end zone. He's incredibly strong. And um people forget that he was a highly recruited quarterback coming out of high school at Wells. And the same thing like Jackson Arnold. They both played in Texas, they both had great careers at the high school level. There's a reason why Michigan didn't wanted him. And Alex Orgy isn't a person that ever quit on himself. When he got hurt, if anything, it made him more invested into the team. And he took that leadership role when he couldn't be on the field and he kept people accountable. And you can tell that this team really loves Alex Orgy. So he has all those intangibles that I don't think you can quite just give up on yet. Jackson Arnold, on the other hand, he throws a pretty ball. He's got all the tools set, he made he throws a catchable ball, and he's a great quarterback too. It's it's hard because both these guys legitimately are working to make themselves better. There's no bad blood between them. I'm not detecting any animosity. They're both trying to make each other better. And I think that Dan Mullen's got a difficult choice to make.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I uh yeah, I've been watching the interviews, and Alex DeOrji, he just seems like a leader. Like I've been loving his interviews. Um, so and just some of the highlights, like you said, the arm talent is unreal, and he's a big guy, he runs fast. I mean, the good thing about Dan Mullen, too, is he can he can build his offense around his best players. He doesn't just need one QB to fit. And I think it's interesting too, because every media is out there saying, you know, Dan Mullen can't pick a quarterback and he's doing this every year. My thoughts, like, why would he announce that? Yeah, right now Memphis has to go in and and uh prepare for two very different quarterbacks. Um, so what are your thoughts?
SPEAKER_01I I think that's a good syops plan. You shouldn't tip their hand. Yeah. If any advantage that you can gain, you should try. It doesn't matter if you think that on paper you have a team that's gonna smash the other. I think that you should try to gain every advantage. This is an important game. This is the G6 matchup that could decide who goes up to the postseason. Yeah, uh, we want Memphis to come in strong. Uh obviously we want to win, but the rest of the season we hope Memphis beats everybody else. And we want to make this a conversation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think so. I um yeah, I'm I'm very excited. I I like what we're seeing from Alex Organic. It kind of reminds me of kind of like a Doug uh Brumfield situation a couple years back where nobody was talking about Brumfield and all of a sudden he was the QB1. But I think it's what a great situation what a great problem to have for Unley football to have two really good options of quarterback. And even uh hearing news about Derek Garcia, um, not that he's necessarily gonna play this year, but there's a lot of hype around him as well.
SPEAKER_01I like Derek Garcia. I've had a chance to speak with his dad, or at least message him online. And Derek Garcia comes from humble routes. His dad himself was a quarterback at that very high school. His dad himself took them to a state semifinals. So there's a lot of lineage there for the quarterback family. So I was surprised to learn that Derek Garcia is not a kid that was groomed to play quarterback. Uh something that um his father mentioned that Derek didn't get a quarterback coach until he was a sophomore in high school. Now, these days
RB2 And Receiver Breakouts
SPEAKER_01and age, it's it's not surprising if you hear that a kid has had a quarterback coach since they're eight or nine. Right. But Derek didn't really embrace that until he got to high school. So a lot of what he's riding on, and you see it during practice where Dan said during the spring that when you have uh Derek Garcia in the drill, sometimes he doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. But you put a defense in front of him and he looks like a completely different quarterback, and that's 100% true. Derek Garcia will look amazing from play to play, and then every now and then he'll do something like, okay, well, yes, that's right, you're a freshman. That makes sense. But the future is bright with Derek. I like what he brings to the table. He's able to make those quick decisions, able to make the throws, he's not afraid to make a decision. He'll run, he'll scramble, he's fast, he's tall. Uh, they have him listed at 6'4. I I believe he's a little closer to 6'5. He might be still growing, but he needs that year to develop.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I heard he was big too. So yeah, I'm excited about the last couple of recruiting classes, and this next one that's coming up. I'm gonna have to have you back on. We can talk about that in the future. But uh Mullinson really, it's been the most impressive recruiting classes that I've seen in a long time. So I'm excited about the future and this year. So I know everybody talks about Jet Thomas. Um, we get it, he's freaking amazing, potential Mountain West player of the year. I'm curious though, has a guy stepped up, because we don't necessarily want to run Jet into the ground, he has a potential NFL future. You know, is there a number two that is really I know there's a lot of talk of Glover, but there's been some highly recruited running backs as well. Has there been a guy that's stepped up for that RB2 that can kind of take some touches off of Jet this year?
SPEAKER_01Well, it can't, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Glover. Glover is built different, he's not like Jet. Instead, uh Glover's never going to be a guy that impresses you with the speed. He's going to be a hard-nosed, short line, bounce in the inside trap type of runner. Um he's going to fight for every yard. He's a different type of running back. He's the center of gravity is lower to the ground, and he's not afraid of contact. I'll tell you that much. Jalen Glover is fearless. He's one of those guys that will take on a take on a linebacker and say, I don't care that you're bigger than me, let's go. I don't care if I lost the last time. Let's go. I'm going to try again. I'm going to hit you harder this time. Behind him, we've got a couple of different interesting choices. And Darien Jones, when you see him in a football uniform, he looks the part. He's a tall kid, he's a big kid, and he can run. Underneath that, you've got another guy that's a little bit more like Jet in a uh Cameron Williams, that's correct. And he's another guy that's fast, he's shifty. He'll make the lateral moves that'll make you miss. And I think that we've got a number of good options. It's kind of similar to the quarterback battle where it's hard to pick one because there's so many people that are good.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Well, I'm excited because yeah, this running game is going to be huge this year. I'd love to hear like that one-two punch with Glover and Jet. Um, it's gonna be super interesting. So, how about uh receivers? Who's flash this year?
SPEAKER_01So uh flash, Tayshon Lions. We saw a little bit of what he could do last year. Uh my opinion, he's had the best hands in camp. Uh Taz Riddick, that transfer, Oregon States looked really good as well. Amorian Walker transferred from Arizona, really nice, tall Y option. And then behind them, you got a couple of young guys in Vince Carner, who's another true freshman, came in during the spring, he's been impressive, under-recruited. I believe his only other offer were at the FCS levels. So UNLV found him first, UNLV offered him first, and he's a person that's impressed. He's not gonna be, he's not gonna amaze you with his straight line speed, but everything else that a receiver does, Vince Carner does well. Like he'll make the cuts, he'll make defenders miss, he'll find a way to get open, and then he'll fight. Once he has the ball in, he'll fight in order to get the extra yards. Love what I'm seeing out of him. Peyton Zachary is another name that's come out. Now, if it wasn't for Jacob de Jesus, I think that the UNLV fan base might be a little bit about a kid that's 5'8, 170. But Peyton Zachary's another kid that was well recruited. There's a reason why he had multiple power four offers. And he hasn't played like a true freshman. He's a kid that's kind of like Glover. He's not afraid of the contact, he's not afraid to run in the middle of the mesh route, go grab the pass, and then go one-to-one with the middle linebacker. And, you know, it'd be scary. It's a David and Goliath thing, and Peyton Zachary will look at the kid and he'll say, either you're going to miss me or I'm going to run into you. And he'll fight for the extra yards. I love what I'm seeing out of that group. It'd be remiss to forget uh Caden McGee, Stitello as well. We've got a lot of options at the wide receiver room. We have a lot of different looks that we can give depending on the defense that we have in front of us, and that's that's what I like. I like that we can play a tall set if we need to. We've got a couple of guys that are six feet four. I like we can play a fast set if we need to. So there's a lot of ways that Dan Mullen and Corey Dennis can utilize the wide receiving room in order to open up the run game, or vice versa.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's interesting. It seems like a more versatile, where I feel like last year we kind of had a lot of bigger, taller receivers, but it seems like we got more versatility. So that helps with matchups. Um, but yeah, it seems like there's a too deep here. And I liked it, I saw the Flashes Alliance and McGee last year. I liked what they flashed. So um excited for those new guys coming in here um to help out with the
Offensive Line Size And Memphis Unknowns
SPEAKER_00depth. Now I want to talk. So one of my favorite things is we don't know each other well, we just met just now. But it's offensive line. And I've been just waiting for the too deep to come out. And the offensive line coach the other day came out and said, Hey, we got like seven, eight guys that can ball this year on the offensive line, and they're big, they're strong. You know, a couple of these guys have been in the system now for over a year versus, you know, that the patch up works that they had last year. So tell us more about those seven, eight guys, and how do you think that starting lineup, these guys are probably gonna play at some point, but what do you think is gonna be, you know, that potential starting lineup if you can talk about that?
SPEAKER_01And that is true. The O-line on paper, this is the biggest O-line that we've ever had from Will Thomas' coming back. We've got Colton Thomason, who at six feet eight, three twenty-five. You've noticed him, he's a big boy. Uh, even our center at 6'4, 305, uh Austin Boyd. I think he used to be a tackle. That is that's tall for a center. That's big for a center. We've got multiple guards that can step in and play. Metzger just came in from the fall. Um, believe he's a Holy Cross transfers, another big guy. Amari Ta'ase, uh true sophomore, is another big guy, powerful, great in the run blocking. Jackson Brown's come in, be a little bit more of a tackle, 6'6, 315, another really big, strong guy, and then right behind them, you've got Scrogs that can come in and play either guard position. You've got Mateo Bilever, who's true freshman, another 6'6, 315, another big body that can step into either tackle position. And even if we include transfers like BJ Tolo, he kind of rings the bell every time you see him walk into the field. I think he's the smallest lineman at 6'1, at least height-wise, but it's another strong kid, low center of gravity, great technique against a zero or a one. And play for Sanchez, too. Played for Sanchez.
SPEAKER_00It was that difficult offensive lineman that could run block. Um well, under Sanchez, he played a whole lot of guard.
SPEAKER_01I think under us he's he's gonna play center. Okay. And even right behind BJ Tolo, you've got Big Feta, another 6'5, 350-pound lineman. In spring, he looked a little bit more like a guard, but he's been taking snaps at center. It's a big kid. That's a big boy. Yeah, that's a lot of beef, and I think that we'll we will see that advantage in the run blocking.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm excited because that's the one thing I look like game one like last year. Idaho State game zero. It was a little scary. I was saying it was pushing the line and it started to improve as we saw the year go by, right? It got better and better. It was our first time together. So am I safe to say that we're gonna be improved this year, going to this year, and we're gonna see a big step up. Because I first thing I'm looking at the Memphis game is how does the line step step up against Memphis? Because Memphis got some defensive linemen.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's the other thing with Memphis. We don't really know about Memphis. Memphis is two returning starters. We've got 12 transfers that are coming in from uh Coach Huff's old school, but we don't exactly know how the pieces are going to fill. I believe those two starters are both on offense, too. There's one offensive lineman and there's one receiver. Everybody else is brand new.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So 70 new guys. It kind of reminded us of us last year. That's 100% right. Yeah. Or you know, you should say.
SPEAKER_01There's some continuity in that too. Of the 12 people that Coach Huff brought in, he brought in, I think, the two deep of his old safety core. And you can't ignore that. You can't ignore the experience of guys that have played with each other. Now, do they look the part in the Memphis uniform? It's one thing to say, and we'll see on Saturday. But I do know that between the two schools, there shouldn't be that much of a difference. And whether it's a bunch of talented guys or a bunch of guys that have experience on a game zero, give me the experience.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, give me the experience too. I agree with you. Yeah, I'll be interesting if Charles Huff, Southern Miss, former Southern Miss coach, now the Memphis coach. They had uh a league leading 23 interceptions with that defense. So he knows defense. And yes, you're absolutely right. He brought over a bunch of guys from Southern Miss, um, some um other guys. Yeah, they're bringing a ton of new players into that system. So we'll see how they mesh early. I think that gives Unil the advantage because we do have, we're not, this is not going to be a completely brand new team like last year. And we saw the difference. If we didn't play Idaho State, and we were playing a little bit stronger team, that could have been a very different scenario for game scenario of last year.
SPEAKER_01So um I myself had the flashbacks over to the Sam Boyd days where I took a look at what Idaho State was going and started getting the flashbacks from Howard. Like, I don't know how to.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god. I know. I went to that Howard game. It was like, okay, season's over. Oh my gosh. Who was the quarterback for that Howard team? I can't remember now. Famous brother of uh was it uh Calen Newton? Yes, and yeah, he dominated us. Yeah, that was okay. So I know we talked a little defensive tackle. Um let's talk about the edges. Uh look a little bit younger, uh, but give me some
Edges And Gunther-Shear Defensive Fit
SPEAKER_00insight on these edges here.
SPEAKER_01So edges play a little bit more of a hybrid. They're not going to be quite on the line of scrimmage, but depending on the type of look that UNLV wants to give, I think you're gonna see a lot of pressure generated from that spot. They're not quite defensive ends, they're not quite linebackers, they fit somewhere in the middle of that world. But they give Paul Gunther a lot of flexibility. And depending on the team we're playing, we need it.
SPEAKER_00Do you think there's more? Because now obviously Mike Mike Scheer has come back, and there's a lot of talk where he's like maybe like co-defensive coordinator. That's not official by any means. But have you seen more versatility to the defense now with him back? And how have they been working together? It seems like they're working together pretty well, listening to both of them in their interviews. But tell us a little bit more about that. Are we gonna you know see some shifts in the defense than we saw last year?
SPEAKER_01So there's there was a lot of talk, and multiple people in and including uh some that I work with were on that fire Paul Gunther campaign, and I I disagreed with that. Gunther got dealt a little bit of a bad hand. Uh week three of the fall camp last year, he was still installing his base defense. That's totally different this year. They've had an entire year to work on it, and they look like a different defense. Mike Schear being in gives them that new perspective. Paul Gunther didn't exactly have the flavors of offenses that they do in the college game. All of Gunther's experience has been primarily NFL. NFL's not going to run a triple option, they're not going to run a wishbone, they're not going to run the different plethoraas that we'll see, even within just the Mountain West. So having Shear in as a guy that's been a defensive coordinator, who's more recently played, who has a pretty good understanding of what Gunther's trying to do. It's been tremendous. So oftentimes in practice, you'll see Paul Gunther deep with the safeties, and he'll be taking his notes, he'll be instructing as they go along. And on the opposite side, you'll have Mike Shear behind the offense watching his linebackers. They work in tandem together, it's a really great duo.
SPEAKER_00So well, that gets me excited because yeah, last year, obviously, the weak spot was the defense, and yeah, Gunther had a lot, you know, coming in late as a defense coordinator. But man, the thoughts of because that Barry Odom Shear defense in year two, if we got something similar in any way to that, and then a Dan Mullen offense, the sky is the limit for Unol V. So I'm excited to see them work with each other. And I know last year a big thing was we were getting beat deep a lot. There's big plays. It seems like there was an overhaul. We're bringing back some defensive back who's been the system, but there was an overhaul of defensive backs in the trans reporter. So speak on that. Who are some guys we should be looking out on uh in the secondary?
SPEAKER_01So the secondary is uh there's two guys that really stand out. We already know what Jake Polk can do, so I'm not going to touch on that. But um the one person, if you stand around practice that you will always notice is going to be Moo Mu. And it's he's not the tallest guy on the defense, but he talks a lot. He's constantly talking about what's going on, what's happening. He's talking to his other players on how they need to adjust, how they need to shift, what he's seeing the offense doing. And that's been consistent. Every single day of practice, he is talking. And uh one of the practices
Secondary Leaders And Linebacker Athletes
SPEAKER_01I went to uh last week, I had a friend of mine by the name of Ed Gentry. He's a guy that played at UNLV as a wide receiver, 91 to 93. We're standing on the sideline. Moo was coming out, he just had a deep defended pass, and while he was watching the two set come in, a person that relieved him got beat in a pretty bad way. It was a younger guy. And Moo Moo stood there for a second and he's like, Man, we we can't we can't lose on that. And Buddy Ed looked over at Moomu and he told him, number one, that's on you to tell him. And Moo Moo stopped and he looked at Ed like, you're absolutely right. And when that DB came off the field, Moomu sat there and he talked to him. He coached, like, hey, what did you see? This is what I would have done. Let's make sure that doesn't happen again. And I like that their older guys are taking that moment to bring up the new guys and to teach them.
SPEAKER_00That's great. Okay.
SPEAKER_01And then behind that, and the other one that I want to mention is Trey Fulton. He's a true sophomore, six foot three. He looked spectacular during the camps, a number of deep interceptions. He's a really quiet guy, but uh he makes his presence known. He'll he'll jump for the ball, he'll fight for the ball, he's athletic, he can run. And more than that, he's got a nose for the ball. Him and Moo Moo, they've had multiple interceptions during the camp. And, you know, sometimes you think to yourself, like, oh, that's that's concerning. There's a lot of interceptions. But truly in camp, it's a back and forth thing. Sometimes you'll see the offense do something great, and you'll think to yourself, oh no, do we not have a defense this year? Other times the defense will do something great, like, oh no, what about our offense? But it's been a back and forth and it's been really, really good.
SPEAKER_00Great, good to hear. Yeah. Seems like they're deeper. And I was excited for Welch to come back. He led the team in uh interceptions last year. How do you think we're if Welch, let's go worst case, you know, he's not gonna be on team. Do you think we have still taken that step forward?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I believe so. And if Welch were to come back, I do think he'd be an active part of the two deep. You can't give up the experience, especially with an athlete that had the most interceptions on the team last year. But behind him, we're fine. Okay. We've got enough depth, we've got enough pieces that work that I think that at least in our two deep, we're fine.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Awesome. And I've been hearing uh blessing and Santee have been bowling out linebackers. There are any other linebacks that really stood out to you?
unknownD.
SPEAKER_01Creighton, the transfer from Clemson's looked really, really good. Uh Kamula Kayaihue, the transfer from Arizona, I believe, the second year in the system, also looked outstanding as an athlete. He himself has had multiple interceptions. He's a linebacker that can really stretch the field. He can run in, he can make the tackle, he can run coverage. He's one of those jack-of-all-trade athletes that can do really, really well. Um we're just in a position where we have a number of athletes that can step up and play. Another one that I can't be remiss of mentioning, Kenji Scallion, another true sophomore, Yelm Washington. His first team is UNLV. He stood out in camp because he's a guy that can create pressure at 62245. He's not the biggest linebacker we have, but you hear his name, you hear his number, and he's a person that can run in there and be disruptive.
SPEAKER_00Cool. That's the first time I've heard of it. Or I know who he is. He was actually one of Mullen's first recruits. Um but it's good to hear that he's been balling out as well. Yeah. Okay. I only got a little bit more time with you. I need to pick your brain a little bit here. So overall, you get to pick one guy, offense and defense. Who has impressed you the most on offense
Biggest Standouts And Score Prediction
SPEAKER_00and who has impressed you the most on defense?
SPEAKER_01So on offense, I would have to say Vince Carner. For a person to come in as a true freshman and be competing for a two-deep spot is impressive. Any level of football, that's an impressive thing to do, especially a guy that didn't exactly get the most glamorous offers out there. I think that he's a person, if he stays with you in all the end, I hope he stays, he's a guy that could be the guy in a couple of years.
SPEAKER_00Wow, high price. Love that.
SPEAKER_01On the defense, love what I'm seeing about Poe Purcell. Um, I got to see him play when he was in high school when he was still in El Dorado. He stood out as a true freshman because uh it was El Dorado versus Pinecrest Sloan Canyon. And that was before Sloan Canyon had Natoishi come in to take over. But it sticks out when this big freshman is overpowering a two-man gap and getting to the quarterback. He was creating consistent pressure even as a freshman. And from what I've seen in camp, he's a big, strong kid. His year at Gorman has really done wonders for his game, his technique. He's really powerful. I think he's put on a good 15 or 20 pounds since the spring. Only getting bigger. You can tell that he's got more room to grow. But I like his attitude in camp. I like that he's willing to learn. I like that he's willing to get dirty. I like that he takes instruction well. He's never had an attitude issue. Everything that they give him, he eats up, and he's trying to be the guy.
SPEAKER_00Well, the future is looking very good. I'm getting more excited about Univ just stopping with you. We only got 30 seconds left. What do you got in the Unil V uh Memphis game? I got uh V by two. By two touchdowns. I got UMO V3831. Michael, thanks for being on. Thank you, Scarlet Standard, for coming on. I really appreciate all the great uh content that you guys have. So I can just, and this is so much fun for me because I just like to nerd out on Unw football. And you know a lot more than I do. So this was a this was a blast. Thank you for being on. Thank you for having me on as well. Awesome, I'm gonna guys take care of yourselves and Vegas running Vegas, jumping back.