The BYU Cougars' defense stunned the SMU Mustangs Friday, joining the Georgia Bulldogs as the only teams to hold a Power 4 opponent without a touchdown in game this season. Can Jake Retzlaff overcome his critical errors to lead the BYU football program to more victories?
This episode breaks down BYU's dominant defensive performance, highlighting the impressive play of the defensive line and linebackers. "The defense was absolutely relentless," says Jake Hatch. "Holding SMU without a touchdown is no small feat, and it speaks volumes about the talent and preparation of this squad."
We also discuss Jake Retzlaff's gritty leadership and the potential future of Kellen Moore as endorsed by BYU legend Steve Young. "Jake showed a lot of heart out there," Hatch notes. "But those critical errors can't be ignored. He's used up his 'mulligan,' and it's crucial for him to tighten up his game moving forward."
Plus, get updates on BYU women's volleyball, soccer, and cross country, and catch up on former Cougars like Ryan Rehkow, Taysom Hill, and Jamaal Williams in NFL action. "It's been an exciting weekend for BYU sports across the board," Hatch adds. "From record-setting performances in the NFL to strong showings in cross country, volleyball and soccer, there's a lot to be proud of."
Don't miss this in-depth analysis of Brigham Young University's (BYU) path to success.
Join the Locked On Cougars Subtext Community by clicking here! There is a free 14-day trial before you're charged anything
Celebrate Jake's birthday by subscribing to The RPO Podcast on YouTube (Audio version soon too) by clicking here!
Support Us By Supporting Our Locked On Podcast Network Sponsors!
5-Hour Energy - Go to 5hourenergy.com and use promo code LOCKEDONCFB to receive 20% off your order. This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Go to 5hourenergy.com today!
Ultimate GM - Ultimate College Football HC is a brand-new mobile game that is completely free, has no ads and100% playable offline. Use the promo code LOCKEDONCFB, all caps, inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program. Begin your coaching legacy today!
Factor Meals - Head to Factormeals.com/lockedoncollege50 and use code lockedoncollege50 to get 50% off your first box PLUS 20% off your next month while your subscription is active!
Gametime - Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase
LinkedIn - These days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn Dot Com slash LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply
eBay Motors - From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at eBayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to U.S. customers
FanDuel - Now through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON to get started
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Follow the Locked On Cougars podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up-to-date with the latest with regards to the podcast and BYU sports news. Please remember to subscribe, enable notifications, rate and review the show.
If you are interested in advertising with Locked On Cougars or the Locked On Podcast Network, please email us at LockedOnBYU@gmail.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The BYU Cougars have done something that only the vaunted Georgia Bulldogs have done this season to a fellow Power Four member. What is it and what can BYU use as they move forward and get ready for Wyoming this week? It's a film review Monday of Lockdown Cougars. You are Lockdown Cougars, your daily podcast on the BYU Cougars. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What is up everybody? I'm Jake Hatch, your host on Lockdown Cougars, resident BYU insider. Thank you for making Lockdown Cougars a first view and/or listen of the day and they get to all of you who we like to call every day, right here on your original daily podcast focused on the BYU Cougars. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over at 5-hourenergy. Go to 5hourenergy.com and use the promo code locked on CFB and get 20% off your order. Alright, the BYU Cougars are 2 and 0 on the season, everybody, yes. I know that there is not necessarily the warmest feelings about BYU and the aftermath of that win over SMU but BYU is getting notice in the national polls, AP top 25 poll have BYU receiving two votes. Now, that's really only one voter putting BYU number 24 in his ballot, but that is attention nonetheless for BYU getting off to a solid start to the season. The biggest thing I took away after rewatching the BYU game, and at this point I've actually rewatched it twice on a film review Monday, we have a Friday gaming a lot more time over the weekend to break it down. But the bigger thing is, as Big 12 PR put out on Sunday afternoon/evening, that BYU is the only team outside of the Georgia Bulldogs who do this against Clemson to hold a fellow powerful school without a touchdown in a game this season so far. The BYU defense, everybody, is absolutely 100% legit. I have rewatched this game, watched it live obviously, I've rewatched it twice. Jay Hill has this BYU defense balling at another level, it is absolutely remarkable to watch what they were doing. Now, I will also add the caveat that SMU's offensive line is a horrendous mess, I cannot believe that they were considered to be a dark horse in the ACC and they have that type of offensive line that they are expecting to thrive with. That being said, I really like the way BYU dominated the line of scrimmage. This was a BYU defensive line for those of you who are every dayers and have been listening to me all summer long even through the spring that I have talked about one of my chief concerns for this BYU football program was BYU's defensive line. I just didn't see running back essentially the same core of guys and expecting better results than last season how it was going to work out. Foolish me, I am absolutely floored. Blake Mangelson is one of the early season studs stars for BYU this year. That doesn't even discount what Tyler Baddie, Isaiah Banya, John Nelson, Josh Singh for crying out loud. All of them are contributing and BYU absolutely mauled the SMU offensive line on Friday night. The line backing core led by Jack Kelly, Harrison Taggart and Isaiah Glasgow, they had a field day. The twists, the stunts, just the straight up blitzes, the BYU ran, everything and anything they wanted to do they were capable of doing and it all started with a defensive line. That just straight punked the SMU offensive line. I have just been absolutely floored by the play of this BYU defense over all the season so far and it literally starts up front. It's just absolutely remarkable what's been done. Things that took away from this BYU now can run a 335 stacked defensive they need to. If you watch that game against SMU BYU with a lot of three down linemen and stacked the linebackers behind them and that is actually a new element, a new wrinkle in J Hill's defensive philosophy that will be able to deploy if they need to against future opponents. It was very effective against SMU. I don't think SMU expected that at all. They expected to forward down alignment with the defensive line and BYU had them just their head spinning all game long. I mentioned Blake Mangelson. I am absolutely flabbergasted at how effective this guy is at his new role playing defensive tackle for BYU. In this game in the 3-3 stack formation he was playing a 5 technique defensive end role but that's something that he's absolutely capable of doing. It's been remarkable. Jack Kelly is showing exactly why so many people are so hyped about him coming to BYU. His closing speed, Andre Ware was just gaga over at a multiple points during that game is absolutely remarkable. He is a bonafide star at the powerful level. There are questions of him coming up from the FCS level and J Hill, no talent when he sees it. Mark Collins, another one of former Wildcats that J Hill has brought to Provo Yuta. Mark Collins was, I think, far and away BYU's best cornerback on the night. Far and away the best defensive back probably for the game and that's taken nothing away from what Crew Wakely did. By the way, Tanner Wall, one of the things I loved about the special team's element in this game was Tanner Wall having the Galaxy brain moment. That's why I was playing chess versus playing checkers. He's got a guy engaged with him. He sees the ball bouncing on the field and what does Tanner Wall do? He says, "Watch this. I'm going to drive this guy right into this ball and create a turnover." It's unfortunate BYU couldn't capitalize on that turnover but that is just thinking just outside the box and saying, "Watch this. I'm going to create a turnover right now with this guy who has no idea what I'm about to do." I really like to savvy the galaxy brain on some of these guys for this BYU team. They are playing at a higher level than I expected coming into this year. I expected an improved defense. I've said it multiple times on this podcast. I expected improvement from the defense but it's been absolutely nuts how much improvement there actually has been and we're just two games in. Other things that took away from this game. Good things. BYU's offensive line, similar to the defensive line, is showing that they have made major strides. Is it perfect by any means? No. I'm sure Connor Pei, who we were expecting to have on the podcast tomorrow, will come on and will be mowing the fact that BYU averaged 3.8 yards per carry once again for the second straight game. But remember, late in this game BYU's offensive line was called upon when the quarterback play was not as efficient and as good as it needed to be to really put this game on their back and they responded in a positive way. I actually thought BYU's offensive line was very, very good in this contest. I know that there are some people who claim that the offensive line is the problem with the run game right now. It's still not to me. It's the running backs. And now that you're dealing with injuries to L.J. Martin and who knows what Hinkley or Potty's status is, I know that he battled through something in that game against SMU. I'll say it right now. BYU has one or two of those guys, speaking of L.J. and Hinkley, unavailable against Wyoming. Give me Enoch Nalahini as your number one running back. It's nothing against Miles Davis. I love Miles, but if you want in every down back who understands what his role is and he's going to pick a hole and just drive forward, that's Enoch Nalahini. That's not Miles Davis. Let Miles Davis continue to be the change of pace back. To play late in that game, they ran the fly sweep look out of the shotgun and then Jake Retsloff takes a free oncoming rusher and pitches it out to Miles Davis with a 37 yard sprint down the sideline to set up the game winning field goal. Absolutely incredible, incredible play design and you know who had that play design drawn up? Aaron Roderick. Something I noticed is I've watched this game a couple of times. The first half Aaron Roderick was going by his play sheet. He had a whole idea of what they were going to go with and BYU was executing it until L.J. Martin went out due to injury and when L.J. went out, Hinkley Rapaudy, Miles Davis, etc. Were unable of being the running threat BYU needed to run the offense the way they had drawn it up going into the game. Second half Aaron Roderick pulls out essentially, look at the play sheet that BYU used from a couple of years ago in the New Mexico Bowl against SMU with Soul J.M. out of the Peters being just a running quarterback and used it to great effect. What did they do? They started running Jake Retsloff. The biggest thing I took away from this was that Jake Retsloff, yes, there are three critical errors he had in that game. Obviously, when you have that fumble early on in the game and they have those two interceptions, which were nearly back breaking type interceptions, yes, nobody's going to be happy about that. The one thing that Kalani said in the post game and what I have seen in rewatching this game is that Jake Retsloff put his team and his understanding of what he needed to do to get the win and went out and did what he had to do. Was it efficient? Was it one that's going to get him all the glory? No, because he's still the goat. I mean, the goat like his literal animal, not the greatest of all time in a lot of BYU fans eyes. But I really appreciate rewatching this game, the gritty nature that he battled back in this game with. I can live with that. I will also say this, Jake has essentially used his mulligan it feels like for the year. You cannot have three turnovers as a quarterback at this level and expect every game to continue to get the start. So I hope that Jake has a better game against Wyoming. I actually hope he shows progress, takes better care of the football and shows that he can continue to learn and improve because I think this game against SMU, that was that quote unquote mulligan you're afforded as a quarterback. Going forward, games like that where you have those critical back breaking type plays. That's when BYU coaches, I think on the sideline started to think, okay, maybe we need to make a change here. All right. What is the future for BYU look like in terms of their coaching carousel? Well, let's say Klonysitake decides A to move on from BYU at some point or heaven forbid something happens and they need to find a new coach. Well, there's a certain BYU legend out there promoting a certain guy that I think a lot of people would be intrigued by to be a coach at BYU at some point down the line. Who is it? What are we talking about? We'll get into that next as you roll on right here on Lockdown Cougars. Today shows about you by our friends over at Five Hour Energy. Now, Five Hour Energy is here for you guys. No matter what you're doing in your day, if you need to get an extra boost to energy to get yourself through the day, whether you have a long list to do for work, a list of DIY projects, the money-do list, take a Five Hour Energy shot so you can check everything off your list. All of us want to get all those things done on the to-do list. Well, this could help you guys get through that. The best part is they give you the feeling of alertness and energy you need to get in the zone and get the work done you need to get done. With zero sugar and a convenient portable size, it's the perfect pick-me-up for getting stuff done. The Five Hour Energy website is Flavors Galore, Watermelon, Tropical Burks, Grape, Berry. There's a whole lot of other flavors available to all of you. The best part is it feels like it's a flavor for everybody, so try them all. On the side, you know the option to build your own 12 or 24 pack with all the customized flavors you want to deliver it right to your door. So today, go to FiveHourEnergy.com. That's the number five hourenergy.com and use the promo code locked on CFP to receive 20% off your order. It offers only available until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions and the code is not good on subscription orders either, but once again, use that promo code locked on CFP at FiveHourEnergy.com and take advantage of it today. That's our friends over at FiveHourEnergy. Decisions, decisions. Wait a minute. Are you still looking for cars on Carvana? Yeah. Decisions, decisions. When I use Carvana, I found the exact car I was looking for in minutes, bought it on the spot. Electric or full diesel. Decisions. Come on. You've been at it for weeks. Just buy it already. You're right. It's over it is. Decisions. Decided. Whether you know exactly what you want or like to take your time, buy your car the convenient way with Carvana. Thank you once again for making locked on. Cougars, your first listen of the day. I appreciate all of you for being with us. If you've not done so already, make sure you check out our friends over at the locked on college football podcast. Spencer McLaughlin's doing an incredible job breaking out everything going on in college. Football, instant reaction after big games go down, he's doing an incredible job with that podcast. You can check it out. It's locked on college football, wherever you get your podcasts, also available on YouTube. And of course, it's proud to be part of the locked on podcast network. Your team. Every day. All right. Steve Young was on KTIK up in Boise, Idaho late last week and I don't understand necessarily what the premise was of him appearing on KTIK because it's sports radio in Boise, Idaho. But hey, he joined them on 95.3 FM on Friday and made a quote regarding Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore and BYU. Now, let me give you a little bit of the back story on Kellen Moore. Most of you will remember him from his heyday playing for the Boise State Broncos. I lovingly use the term he was the horse face killer when he was a Boise. He won an astronomical rate with the Boise State Broncos and just an incredible football player, savvy, smart, and he felt like he had all the makings of being a future coach and it helped that he was actually the, I think, the son of a high school coach. Well, I remember, I've just goes back probably five or six years that there were people telling me, hey, Jake, could Kellen Moore ever coach a BYU, and I said, I don't know, he wouldn't be necessarily out of the question because really the only job in the BYU football program that you have to be an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a coach at BYU for is the head coaching position. Well, and then somebody told me, this goes back maybe three or four years, that, hey, Kellen Moore might be a member of the church and I said, cool, if he is. Now I did know that his wife, the woman he married was a member of the LDS Church. I just never knew that Kellen had actually joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until earlier this year. The church news, which is like a subsidiary of the Deseret News and some to that effect, wrote a story about professionals, professional football players in the NFL and they mentioned in there that Kellen Moore was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm like, okay, that's interesting. Well, Steve Young, the BYU legend himself, was on KTIK up in Boise and said this, quote, I'll whisper it to you guys, I want Kellen, he needs to be a future coach at BYU, unquote. Hmm, very interesting that Steve Young, like I said, a legend himself, a guy who knows football inside and out has probably forgotten more football than I literally ever hoped to know, thinks that Kellen Moore needs to be a part of the BYU football program in some circumstance. Here's the situation though, Kellen Moore is currently an offensive coordinator in the NFL. He's fairly highly thought of. He's worked with the Los Angeles Chargers, the Dallas Cowboys and most recently now with the Philadelphia Eagles. He made a couple other stops in there, but those are the three I can remember him being the offensive coordinator for. He is very highly thought of for his offensive analytical mind as an offensive play caller. Guys like him are going to get opportunities to be a head coach at the NFL level in the not too distant future. So, all of you out there who are sitting here listening to me talk about this or probably saying, well, what would they have to do? You'd have to essentially do what BYU did with Kevin Young. Kevin Young was the highest paid assistant coach in the NBA. He was paid north of $2 million in his role with the Phoenix Suns in the NBA. BYU went down to Phoenix, sold him on the vision they had for the football program in the circumstance. In the basketball program, paid him a very healthy sum, a report at least somewhere around $4 million to come and coach BYU men's basketball and we've all seen what Kevin Young has done with the BYU basketball program. Could Kellen Moore have that same impact on the BYU football program? You'll never know until you try, but are you willing to dump Kalani Satake or encourage him to move along to make room for Kellen Moore? Second thing, does Kellen Moore want to coach at the collegiate level? It's a great question because the collegiate level now is more and more going towards an NFL model, but the one thing you have in the NFL that the college level does not have is a salary cap. You're on the same level playing field with every other team out there in the NFL. In the same amount of money to spend each year, if you build your roster the right way, you have roster continuity and you can win at a very high level. Former BYU Cougar, Andy Reed, is at the top of the heap right now in that regard. Kellen Moore would have to have interest in coming down to the collegiate level, a place that I don't believe he's ever coached to that high of a level, or at least I think he had been like a graduate assistant at one point, maybe in his coaching career, but he's never really worked at the collegiate level. So hey, he would have to be like Kevin Young, who has worked at the professional level most of his career, want to make a change and jump down to the collegiate level, and oh by the way, you probably have to pay him a very hefty sum of money to come to BYU. Let's just say in theory, okay, Kevin Young was making two million dollars with the Phoenix Suns, BYU reportedly paid double that to get him to come to BYU. There was a report the other day from Pete Thamel, who has got his ear to the ground more than almost any other coach, college football insider out there, that said that in terms of Klonysitake being on a theoretical hot seat, that he was owed a 12 million dollar buyout to essentially if he were to be what you were to move on from Klonysitake. While considering Klonysitake's contract as we all know runs through 2027, you can do the math on that. I would essentially say, okay, there's three years remaining on this deal, 25, 26, 27, buyouts 12 million dollars, divide that by three, and Klonys making 4 million dollars on an annual basis. So would you have to pay Kellen Moore 8 million dollars to come to BYU? In theory, I think you would, and I'm just spitballing here. Is it out of the realm of possibility that BYU would be willing to pay their head football coach 8 million dollars? No, I don't think so. If they had the right guy, let's say Klonysitake ends up winning at an astronomically high level in the big 12 and he starts to obviously garner interest from other programs out there. I would imagine that BYU's boosters would step up and foot the bill to make sure that he stays put in provol because, more than anything, BYU fans want their programs to win at an extremely high level. If for whatever reason it doesn't work out with Klonysitake, is Kellen Moore now at the top of BYU's wishlist, looking at what the success of Kevin Young has been with BYU basketball just five, six months into his run with the BYU men's basketball program. It kind of feels that way. It really does. It really feels like he might have jumped himself to the top of the list. The list for head coaching candidates for the BYU football program is not incredibly long. We all know this has to be an active member of the LDS faith. Well, I think I have Jay Hill on that list. Obviously, his associate head coach at BYU, Kellen Moore is on that list right now. There's just a handful of people out there. The interesting part is to hear a guy like Steve Young say I'll whisper it to you guys, I want Kellen in a roll at BYU. But here's the deal. If you want Kellen Moore at BYU, you're going to have to move on from your head coach currently because I just don't see Kellen Moore coming to BYU as an offensive coordinator at this juncture because if he has success with Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, I've got no reason to think that he won't. He's got guys like AJ Brown, Britton Covey around and he's got a Saquon Barkley running back now. He's got a stable of weapons and if he has success running this offense in Philadelphia, his next stop is to be a head coach at the NFL level. There are some people out there who believe that Andy Reid would have been willing to come to BYU as the head coach in 2001. This is kind of right at the very beginning stages of what has become one of the more legendary careers in the NFL. Well, could BYU see a similar circumstance play out with Kellen Moore? I know that Andy's a BYU alum and Kellen is not, but could Kellen find himself as a head coach at the NFL level before too long and BYU in theory misses out on the opportunity to have him as their head coach? It's also a possibility. It's a very, very curious thing to hear a guy like Steve Young go to bat for a Boise State Bronco, not a BYU guy, but a Boise State guy. Once again, the quote, "I'll whisper it to you guys. I want Kellen. He needs to be a future coach at BYU. He needs to be the future coach, a future coach at BYU." Interesting times, but something to monitor and obviously to keep in your back pocket for future reference if and when something goes down if BYU needs to look around at other options. Alright, we will finish up today's show looking back at the weekend that was in BYU sports. I'll just note on some former Cougars in the pros, including one, setting a record in his rookie debut for his NFL team. We'll roll on with that coming up next right here on Lockdown Cougars. Today's show is about to you by our friends. Over at Ibada. Now Ibada is here for you guys. Obviously, we're getting towards the tell-in the summer. I know it's not at school's back in session, but stock up on all your grilling favorites and earn cash back on every one of those purchases with our friends at Ibada. Obviously, you don't have to choose between burgers or hotdogs. You can get both because you're saving money on both at the same time. What does I bought? It's an app that helps you earn cash back every time you shop, earning hundreds of items from groceries to beauty supplies, even toys. You make sure you're beating inflation no matter what you're purchasing and I can attest to this because my wife and I have been using Ibada since 2018. We've been using it that long. The best part is you can save on over 2,400 brands and shop at over 1,000 different retailers, and your favorite grocery stores, places like Lowe's, Macy's, Sephora, Best Buy, and more, and the best part is right now Ibada is offering all of our listeners just $5 for using Ibada and using the promo code "LockedOnCollege" when you register. Just go to the App Store or Google Play Store, download the free Ibada app to start earning cash back today and use that promo code "LockedOnCollege" to get your $5 bonus from our friends at Ibada. That's I-B-O-T-T-A in the Google Player App Store. Once again, use that promo code "LockedOnCollege" to cash in with our friends over at Ibada. Decisions, decisions. Wait a minute, are you still looking for cars on Carvana? Yeah, decisions, decisions. When I used Carvana, I found the exact car I was looking for in minutes. Bought it on the spot. Electric or full diesel. Decisions. Come on, you've been at it for weeks. Just buy it already. You're right, crossover it is. Decisions decided. Whether you know exactly what you want or like to take your time, buy your car the convenient way with Carvana. Thank you once again for making "LockedOn Cougars" your first listen of the day. If you've not done so already, please join our "LockedOn Cougars" insider group. I'm passing along notes of what I'm observing from BYU Games, where I'm in one-on-one conversations via text, in-game if you want to have my thoughts in real time about BYU stuff, join us. 14-day free trial. The link is in the show notes. Whether you're listening and/or watching this, I click the hyperlink. Sign up today. 14-day free trial. Just $5 a month afterwards and get all the BYU Inside Intel. You can muster and also have an opportunity to chat with me in live time via text message right there on your personal device. All right. Before we go on today's show, let's talk about a couple of things from the weekend. Now BYU Women's Volleyball had a tough five-set loss in a 2019 Georgia Tech in the conclusion of the BYU-Nikey Invitational, Claire Little had a career-high 20 kills, but it wasn't enough for BYU as they lost in that five-set thriller to Georgia Tech, so a tough loss, the first loss of the season, for BYU Women's Volleyball. They will now be traveling to face Old West Coast Conference rival San Diego. On Thursday, September 12th, it'll be an 8 o'clock mountain-time start for BYU Women's Volleyball. They'll also be facing the Oregon Ducks on Friday at 8 o'clock, so really tough weekend ahead, as they take on San Diego and Oregon, but hopefully they'll bounce back from that loss. Also, BYU Women's Soccer loss on the road at No. 6, Arkansas 4-2, BYU fell behind two nothing early, battled back, but the defending SEC champion Razorbacks ran away with it, so a tough loss for BYU Women's Soccer. They are learning a lot right now with a young roster for Jennifer Rockwood Squad. They now open up big 12th play as they will take on Arizona State on Thursday night at 7 o'clock. Obviously, that'll be on ESPN+ and obviously it's big time now with the big 12th play here. The BYU got a ratcheted up with just a little bit more, and then final note on the BYU side of things is BYU Women's Cross Country opened their season with the win over the weekend at the College of Southern Idaho's Dr. Thad Sholes Cross Country Classic. That happened on Friday, so congratulations to the BYU Women's Cross Country team. They had finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 13th, 14th, and then 31st. Every dominant showing, so congratulations to the BYU Women's Volleyball Cross Country team on that win, and then a couple of notes from the NFL over the weekend. If you guys did not see it, Ryan Rico got the start as a rookie for the Cincinnati Bengals at Hunter. Any of us who have watched Ryan Rico during his time at BYU have seen that he's got just an absolute howitzer for a right leg. While he put that on full display in his rookie debut, his season debut for the Cincinnati Bengals, he went out there and just, you know, just punted an 80-yard punt that was like inches from being a 79-yarder and going outside the one-yard line, but an absolutely incredible season for him in his first regular season NFL game. It's the longest in franchise history breaking record that it stood for 19 years when Kyle Larson rebooted a 75-yarder for the Bengals in 2005. Funny enough, I believe it's Lee Johnson before that who had the record for the Bengals with a 70-footer, obviously, Thunderfoot was Lee Johnson's nickname during his 22 years. He kicked in the NFL after a legendary career at BYU, but Ryan, showing off, he's got just an absolutely mammoth leg. The other thing he did set a record for was his four punts in the game, total 258 total yards, setting a single game record with a 64.5 gross average. He's averaging nearly 65 yards per punt, everybody. Incredible stuff. Good on you. It's really cool to see him live in his dream, obviously getting a good showing in his rookie debut. Other notes from the weekend include a really nice showing for the New Orleans Saints, both Taysom Hill and Jamal Williams showing out in that game. Jamal had a touchdown run in a 47-10 route of the Carolina Panthers. Really cool to see that. Obviously Taysom Hill playing the multi-faceted role that he does. Unfortunately, did not see him at linebacker. I know that they were talking about playing at linebacker in the preseason. I still got dreams of actually doing it, just to say they did it, but this is a guy. Taysom is a football player. I put him on my roster as an FP, I know he's technically a tight end. He ended up, let's see, running five times for 35 yards with a long 12 in the game and also hauled in one pass for one yard on two targets in the game. Those are his stats that showed up on the box score, but really cool to see guys getting their opportunity out there when it comes to the NFL. Tonight, you'll obviously be able to see Fred Warner in the San Francisco 49ers taking on the New York Jets, looking forward to that one. I think that Fred and the Niners have a lot to prove, but conversely, so do the New York Jets. We'll see how it all plays out in terms of other guys out there when it comes to the NFL. We did see both Zach Wilson was relegated to the emergency quarterback role for the Denver Broncos. I wouldn't think too much of that right now with him, obviously, biting his time on that Denver Broncos roster, but Oenix had his struggles as Seattle beat the Broncos in their season opener, but we'll keep an eye on Zach. I think he's going to elevate himself to the number two job in time, but I hope that doesn't take too long. One final note I meant to mention on the BYU football front before we go here, just real quick, is the ESPN Football Percentages Index, we talked last week, how BYU boosted their outlook to getting near a bull eligibility. BYU's projected record now after going 2-0 against SMU has boosted an average of 6.5 wins on the season. They have a 76% chance of reaching bull eligibility according to Football Percentages Index, and this week against Wyoming, the preseason chances of BYU going to beat Wyoming were 60.9%, well after an 0-2 start for Wyoming and a 2-0 start for BYU, the chances of BYU winning this week according to FBI, 86.4%. So BYU can be halfway to bull eligibility and feeling pretty good about themselves ahead of their big 12 opener against Kansas State, so long as they handle their business up there and Laramie this week. Things are on the up and up for BYU football. Like I said, I know there's some consternation around Jake Retzloff, and the bigger thing to point to, I think, is that the team responded the way you wanted to, and when you're double digit underdog, the way that they were in that game, remember, they were 10 and a half point dogs at the very best in terms of the odds out there to go to SMU, once again, match the Georgia Bulldogs in not allowing an offensive touchdown or a touchdown in general to an opposing team. There's only two teams who have done that in the country so far this year at the Power Four level. It's pretty legitimate stuff to be while you pulled off against the SMU Mustangs, all things considered. I know it wasn't thrilling. I know it was gritty, hard-nosed football, wasn't all that entertaining, but it was a win, and a win is a win is a win, as we always like to say here on the podcast. Alright, that's what I've got for you guys on this Monday. Have a great Monday. We'll be back tomorrow talking with Connor Pay if everything works out the way it's supposed to. We'll have plenty of his thoughts on the win over SMU, and get some memories from him of maybe some of the stories he's heard about playing up in Wyoming in Laramie because he's got a dad and family friends who play for BYU football. I'm sure he's got a story or two that'll be able to share, so we'll stay tuned for that on tomorrow's podcast, and as always, thank you for making the show your first listen and/or view of the day and obviously a big thank you to all of you. Once again, we're every dayers with us right here on the Lockdown Cougars Podcast.
