On this episode of KSL Sports Live, Sam Farnsworth and Jeremiah Jensen get you caught up on the biggest local and national sports stories of the week. Leading the way is college football.
– Update from Utah Football fall camp
– Update from BYU Football fall camp
– Tony Finau
– Salt Lake Bees series wrap
– Hear from Utah Mammoth star Clayton Keller
This is KSL Sports Live broadcasting from the Mountain Home Services Studios. Guys, it’s the first Sunday of August and football season is here. Hello, friends. Thanks for wrapping up your weekend with us here on KSL Sports Live. Yes, I said football. We’ve got enough football to satisfy your appetite right here on the show. Who’s the front runner for the starting QB job at BYU? And which Utes player is making a big preseason guarantee? Did you hear what Jake Rzoff had to say about BYU now that he’s down at Tulain? I’ll share that with you as well coming up. But we get things rolling out on the golf course at the Windham Championships. Over the course of 165 years on the PGA Tour, there have been 999 different winners in tour competition. This weekend, we were in position to see the 1,000th all-time winner on the tour. But first, our performance play of the day. Tony Fee. Now, he had a decent weekend. He made stop on the tour was all about Cameron Young, though he’s never won on the PGA Tour since joining the tour in 2022, but he’s finished in the top five par. All right, here we are in the first weekend of August, and we can officially say football is back. Fall camp is underway for all six division one programs in our state. And now that it is, it feels kind of like the season can’t kick off soon enough, right? So, there’s a lot to look forward to. And up at the U, it’s this new offense under offensive coordinator Jason Beck. That’s pretty exciting. The offense that comes to Salt Lake City with him is a faster paced, no huddle offense. One that will allow for more designed quarterback runs and run pass option plays, which fits perfectly into the skill set of new quarterback Devin Dampier. The offense will be centered around arguably the best offensive line in the country too, which features Jiren Comp, Michael Moki, and Tonoa Tongi to go with all Big 12 tackles Spencer Fono and Caleb Lomu. That quarterback and that old line will also allow for other playmakers to emerge in this new system. Very pleased with the operation of the uh of the the way the offense uh today handled it. I love it. Uh, it’s awesome to be able to use my athletic ability to get out in space. Um, it is different from previous years that we’ve had. So, I’m adapting to it and I like it a lot just from the the spring, the summer, and beginning of fall that we have right now. I’m really liking it. Awesome. It’s fun to play against. I mean, it makes it makes you think really hard and it’s it’s difficult in practice to play against him. So, I mean, I I love it. Oh, the run game for a fact, but at the same time, I feel like it’s a spread offense. We like to feed everybody like individually and that that works because we got a lot of weapons on offense. Our big play capability and point guard Deon Dampier is a big play guy and this offense suits him to a team. He’s a true dual threat and this offense features a lot of QB run game, a lot of RBO and uh really is going to take advantage of the skill set just like you saw last year. Man, I you know, athletic quarterbacks just cause issues particularly when you’re going to use them in a dedicated quarterback run game. when there’s a dedicated run package or that that you as a defensive coordinator really have to focus on, okay, how are we going to add a guy in the box? How, you know, how are we going to take uh care of the quarterback in the run game? It it really forces you to practice that. So, he he provides both. You know, he can if you’re going to fourman rush the kid, he does a great job of understanding when things break down, when to take off, but he they also have a very good dedicated QB run game. Coach Beck is a coach that, you know, he looks for the best out of his players and, you know, he finds a way to get them in their best situations. So, uh, you know, different guys can do different things and, uh, you know, we we explore those talents. It’s a matter of finding consistency who’s showing up every day consistently getting their job done. So, we know we can count on them to put them out there for the game. So, that’s what you’re trying to develop that and tease that out of who to count on when you put them out there. One of the more intriguing storylines this fall at camp. It’s happening down in Provo at BYU’s fall camp. The competition to become the Cougar starting quarterback for the 2025 season. And after week one of camp, there’s no clear favorite for this job just yet. Three quarterbacks enter. Just one will eventually emerge. But who will it be? Redshirt junior trace Borgay, red shirt sophomore McKay Hilstead, or freshman Bear Bachmire? Both Keelani Sitake and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said they’re not going to rush this competition. This needs time to play out, but when it does, it’ll be clear who that number one quarterback is. We’re giving equal reps to three guys, and uh you guys know who the three are. They’re doing a good job. It’s too soon to, you know, try to measure any separation, anything like that. I think we need to give everybody more opportunities before we start to uh try to make any kind of decisions. It’s going to be a minute. It’s always a challenge, but I’ve been through this enough times. I hope that uh people will have some confidence that we can get this done. We’ve done it before and um we have a good process that we go through to uh basically what we’re going to do is we’re going to work through it and the whole team’s going to watch it happen and so whenever that starter is named everybody on the team will be you know we’ll we’ll know oh yeah of course like we just watched it happen on the field and so we’ll just keep working our way through it just as we’ve done in the past. There’s no deadline, but the sooner the better, you know. I mean, I would prefer not to be naming a starter on game day, you know, but um but we you have to let it play out a little bit too. If you rush it, if you rush it, then um you you can create some other issues as well. Okay, so what are the strengths of these three front runners? Well, both Boray and Hillstead, they have division one starting experience. That happened at the G5 level, though, but they have both won games with those programs. And Bear Bachmire, he of course he’s the true freshman, but he’s been praised for how smart he is. He’s quickly mastering Coach Rodri’s playbook. Now, all three of these guys, they’re putting it all on display. A resume in action, trying to win over the coaches, their teammates, and eventually the job. All All of us in the quarterback room, all four of us are trying to compete, win the starting job obviously, but the person who does that is the person who, you know, competes the hardest, you know, gets the job done. Obviously, taking the easy completions, moving the ball, and scoring touchdowns. the goal is to compete and and I think being in this this environment elevates everybody’s game. Um and yeah, I feel like feel like today went well and acclimating pretty well. So, just got to keep stacking days. Ultimately, you’re competing against yourself. You know, you have your things that you’re working on personally. Um so, like we all we’re all super positive with one another. I think we’re all super focused on how we can all improve and I think that’s pretty much the what gets us rolling in the right direction. Oh my goodness. Did you see this? The rains they came down, the floods, they came up, and the baseball game at the NASCAR track on Saturday night, well, that game was washed away. But it wasn’t the end of the historical weekend in Bristol, Tennessee. After all, the Bristol Motor Speedway has been home to some very historic sporting events over the years. Daryl Walrip, of course, in NASCAR. He won 12 races there in his career. But then the Tennessee Volunteers played a football game there in front of 157,000 fans. And this weekend, well, Major League Baseball brought a big league game to the racetrack. Today, the weather much nicer, the stands much fuller, and more than 91,000 were in attendance to watch this game play between the Braves and Reds. Top of the second inning is where we’ll join this game with Eli White at the plate. Two runners on base. He crushes it. Three-run bomb, giving Atlanta a 3 to1 lead. Then in the top of the seventh, how about another one? White with his second homer of the day. Did you notice both of those were to left field because you take left turns at the race car track. Right, the Braves get the win over the Reds four-2. All right, Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago Cubs. We’ll just go right to the ninth inning with the Cubs up 3 to2. Orioles Ryan not line drive single is going to score Colton Cowser to tie the game up at three. So in the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs have a chance to walk it off. Justin Turner, he puts the game on ice. two-run homer. Fly the W in Chicago. The Cubbies get the win five to3. White Socks and Angels. Top of the first inning with two runners on for Chicago. This is Coulson Montgomery blasting one deep to right field for the three-run homer. It’s four nothing Socks. Then in the bottom of the sixth, Zack Neto goes deep to center to finally put the Angels on the board. The Angels would eventually cut the lead to two in the seventh. Needto again floats one deep. It won’t get out, but it is good enough for a two-run double to tie the game at five. An incredible comeback ends with Taylor Ward, the former bee, becoming the hero. The three-run walk-off winner. Angels win it 8 to five. Bees wrapped up their series with the Oklahoma City Comets today. Top second, Nelson Rada in his first AAA game at the plate with the bases loaded. Rips a single to right, driving in three runs for the Bees lead. Then in the third inning, Rada would show off his defense. Watch this diving catch in center field, coming in strong. Chad Stevens would also add a two-run homer to left in the ninth inning, but the Bees were in too big of a hole. They lose 12 to 10. Did you hear what former BYU quarterback Jake Rzoff said about the Cougars now that he’s at two lane? I’ll share that with you coming up. For me, doing it is like it’s being done out of care and it’s being done out of um wanting to be of service. Damen Lillard is back in Ogden and he’s going to be around a lot more in the future. More on the new job that he’s got with Weber State coming up. I’ve always had that mentality like nobody’s better than me. Like and I don’t care who you are, what you’re going to say. Like I’m going to go out there and do my thing. I do not care at all. Utah State will rely heavily on senior Ike Larson this season. What he’s saying about the Aggies this fall. That conversation is on the way. Plus, we caught up with Mammoth captain Clayton Keller down in St. George. A rivalry on the track gets a bit spicy and more from the Utes and Cougars. Coming up after this, you are watching KSL Sports Live. KSL Sports Live continuing on the track. This is the United States Track and Field Outdoor Championships, the 200 meter final. A rivalry renewed. Noah Lyles in red coming from behind to beat Kenny Bederk by 4100s of a second. Lyles gives him that stare as they cross the finish line and Benerk gives him a little shove in return. Next up, the World Championships on September 19th in Tokyo. Stay tuned for what happens next between these two. All right. You know, I don’t know if there’s a professional athlete from Utah or that has Utah ties that has returned to the state more than Damen Lillard has. The former Weaver State Wildcat was back in Ogden this weekend for his annual alumni game. He didn’t play. He’s still recovering from his injury, but he still got the loudest cheer of the night when he announced that he will be taking on the role of general manager for Weaver State’s men’s basketball, a position in college hoops that’s becoming more and more necessary in this world of NIL and direct payment from schools to student athletes. He’s not just stepping away from the NBA, though. He still has a three-year contract with the Blazers, but he is doing it because he really cares about the program at Weaver State. I think that’s the difference, you know, for me doing it is like it’s being done out of care and it’s being done out of um wanting to be of service, you know, and knowing the success that I’ve had and knowing that I come from a a mid- major school that could use um the resources that I have and the things that I’ve become connected to and um using those things to elevate the program. So, I mean, that’s kind of that’s how I view it and that’s how I came into it. at the end of the day, what he represents as a person is as valuable as anything he’s going to give us basketball. He met with the team today. And uh I introduced uh Damen, I said, “Look, basketball speaks for itself, but it’s who he is as a person that I’m most proud of. A lot of superstars out there. You know, it’s uh wouldn’t be as proud and and but Damen does things right on and off the court and uh he uh he gave a great talk to our team today. those guys were invested and uh it’s going to be his character uh his resiliency and all of those things that he can give in addition to the basketball that’s going to benefit us. So I was always like having some type of involvement. Um now it’ll be the same. I just will be, you know, um probably a little bit more involved, you know, just like I said to be of service. This guy’s giving the same message that we are as a staff. it just reiterates it and makes it easier to coach the players. Um, and so that’s what I’m excited about. You just get another voice of of of telling them, you know, what’s true, what’s right, what’s going to help you in life and basketball. And uh, so I think that’s what I’m really excited about. The future looks bright at Weaver State. Well, it’s been quite a year for the NHL in Utah, right? Hard to argue it wasn’t a massive success. The Utah Mammoth were embraced by the community and their young stars showed flashes of potential to get fans excited of what’s to come. And that excitement, it continues to grow thanks to this week’s Mammoth Week that the club held. You combine that excitement and last season success on the ice with this aggressive offseason approach from the front office as well. And expectations, they are high. The team wrapped up Mammoth Week with a stop down in St. George. That’s where team captain Clayton Keller was to meet up with some of the fans, show off some of those skills. Mammoth insider Cole Bagley was also there. He caught up with Keller, asked him about his busy off season, the big expectations for year two. The United States has won the World Hockey Championship. What was it like to be the first captain in United States history in almost 90 years to help, you know, help the team win the gold championships? Yeah, it was super cool. I’d been to the tournament a couple times before and you know we kind of lost in the quarters and you know I had a you know sour taste in our mouth a little bit from that. So um you know this time around I’m a little bit older and you know things were a little bit different. So, um, like I said, you know, super cool to, you know, put the USA sweater on and to win like it makes it, you know, so much better and, um, you know, I had, you know, won, you know, since probably the World’s Junior. So, it’s, you know, a special feeling and, um, you know, those memories, you know, I’ll remember for forever. What did that tournament teach you and Tulie about, you know, what it takes to to go deep in a tournament and win, you know, at a really high level? Yeah, for sure. Um it’s that’s it’s a little different obviously from the ice up to that it’s you know it’s uh but it is a long tournament. It’s tough. Every team’s very good, very fast and you know just you know the last three games are the you know the most important ones and I think you know each game our team just got better. We became closer. I think we’re close team from day one. Everyone was you know pretty familiar with one another. So, I think that’s, you know, one of the reasons why we won is, you know, we were able to, you know, come together as a team, um, you know, very fast. A few new faces in Utah. What are your thoughts on the new additions and what do you feel like, you know, the front office is saying with those new additions? What kind of statement are they making? Yeah, I think they’re making a great statement. You know, they believe in this group. They believe in, you know, us taking the next step and, um, you know, all great players that, you know, are really going to help our team. And you know, that’s, you know, the side that sucks about it is, you know, we lose two great human beings and great players as well. So, um, but you know, like I said, it’s great to get those guys and I think they’re really going to help our team and and take us, uh, you know, to that next, uh, step. How excited does this next season feel now that you guys are really grounded in Utah? You got the inaugural season done and out of the way and now you can fully just focus on and there’s no, you know, there’s no relocation, right? Like you’re you’re here and you’re going for it. Yeah. No, it’s super exciting. Um, you know, all the guys are, you know, super excited. We’re, you know, a year older. We’re, you know, more experienced team. We don’t necessarily have, I guess, as many young guys. So, you know, I believe, you know, in order to win, you can’t, you know, just keep bringing in more young guys, young guys every year. Like, you know, you know, culture and all that takes time. And I feel like, you know, over these last, you know, three, four years, like our group has, you know, really been bought in and, you know, gone through those tougher times to, you know, be ready to take this next step and get into the playoffs. Yeah. How much of a belief is there to to take that next step, right? Like all the guys and interviews and over the summer have been talking about like we believe we can make the playoffs. I’m just curious, you know, as the leader of the team, one of the, you know, faces of it, how much belief is there that you guys can make that? Yeah, there’s a ton of belief and I think it’s that or you know it’s a failure for us this year honestly. I think you know everyone’s at a certain age like I said and our group’s been together. We um you know believe in one another and we’re very close group and um you know now it’s just a matter of you know not talking about it and going out there and you know actually doing it. So [Music] well the league’s cup this is a tournament that began 6 years ago between the MLS and Liga Mckis from Mexico. Back then, it was just four teams from each league participating. But now, it’s all 18 teams from both leagues competing to advance to the quarterfinals and the knockout rounds. And RSL, they got off to a pretty solid start on Wednesday night in this tournament. They opened up Leagues Cup play at America First Field against Club America, the team that finished second in Liga Mckis last season. And the match started just how the home club would have liked it to. Diego Luna cleaning up the ball in the box for the opening goal in the 16th minute and a one-nil lead. And just before halftime, RSL went back in front after it was tied up. William Agata’s header just crosses the line for the two to1 lead. It looked like it would stay that way until the final whistle, but in the waning seconds of stoppage time. Eric Sanchez scored for Club America to tie the game up. There are no ties in Leagues Cup and no extra time, so it goes straight to a shootout. That’s where Rafael Cabral became a steel wall. Martin [Applause] Reyes. Oh man, this guy’s good. No, Cabal the hero. Cabaral stopped three of four penalty shots and with the shootout win, they salvaged two points in the standings. The way this tournament works though, anything less than a win in game number two would make it very difficult for RSL to advance to the quarterfinals. And Brian O’Hada got the club started quick against Atletico de San Louise on Saturday, but the lead only lasted 15 minutes when Joan Pedro evened it up at one with that textbook header. Midway through the second half, San Louise would take the lead. Miguel Garcia sticks with this one for the two to1 lead. RSL would tie it in the 88th minute. Oh bends this ball past everyone and in this game would once again go to a shootout. RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabrell, as you just saw, saved three out of four shots on Wednesday. On Saturday, the first shot he faced, he nearly got it, but Jan Pedro was able to get it past him. And this time, the script was flipped. It was RSL shots that weren’t going in. First, Brian Vera shot went over the crossbar, then Justin Glad. He was unsuccessful in his attempt, and Cabraw was unable to stop the shots in that one. San Louise getting the win. RSL just one point in the standings. Like I said, it’s going to be very difficult for them to advance now with just three points. All right, back to the football field. Utah State, they began fall camp with a new head coach, Bronco Minhal, and 87 new players on the roster. But among those few remaining players that chose to stick around in Logan are some great athletes and great leaders. The face of this football team is one of them, senior safety Ike Larson. He has 217 tackles, two sacks, nine interceptions, and two touchdowns in three seasons of play at Utah State. He was the only Aggies player named to the preseasonal conference team for the Mountain West. And with all the practices closed to the media last spring, no one really knows what this Aggies team can do this year, but Ike, he believes they are a conference championship contender. I think first and foremost um we’re a team so it’d be really cool to be able to accomplish a mountainous championship and obviously go on to a bowl game but within that realm you need your individual players like know AB or whoever it may be me Bobby Noah Flores to be successful so feel like a couple goals for me is just catch the ball instead of doing a PBU kind of get back to where I was I know I can and just continue to tackle I mean I feel like I’m a pretty good tackler and just I have a low knack for the ball and I I’m usually always around the ball. So, really just build off that and uh yeah, I keep doing what I’m doing and just play with no fear. Uh it really is it’s simple like it’s either you do or you don’t do what he says or you do or you don’t do what we’re doing at in the weight room or conditioning on the field cuz it’s really easy to to see who’s not. Um at the start I wasn’t bought in like I was angry, I was mad. Um, but you know, as time went on, I felt like I was like, “Okay, like I’m here. There’s nothing else I can do.” Like just go hard. Like, you know what I mean? So, I feel like it’s been good the past, you know, x amount of months. But, yeah, it’s either you do or you don’t. And if you don’t, he’ll help you find another place, but you you won’t be here. It’s really special to me just because I want to be able to build that legacy in in a hometown kind of like Marilyn Olsson did. Um, and not very many people in college can say, “Hey, I thugged it out through three head coaches, six position coaches, or what whatever it is in in five years.” You know what I mean? Not really not not very many people can say that. So, I hold pride in that. And like I said, I just want to continue to try to build that legacy here and, you know, leave a stamp on Utah State. Whether I have a picture up there or if it’s just people remember me as, you know, Ike Larson, you know, Utah State safety, whatever it may be, I think it’ll be cool to, you know, have that and, you know, carry that on to my kids one day. And I feel like I came in 2021 as a bad already. Um, yeah, even though I didn’t play, I ran down on kickoff two two times in in red shirt, but I’ve always had that mentality like nobody’s better than me. Like, and I don’t care who you are, what you’re going to say. Like, I’m going to go out there and do my thing. I do not care at all. So really just having that mindset coming in as fre was 160 150 as a freshman in 2021. Um shoot just carrying that throughout my whole career here at Utah State. I feel like it’s really helped a lot. And obviously you get more confident as as the time goes with, you know, the more you play and stuff like that. But shoot, I’ve always felt like I’ve had that bad mentality that, you know, nobody can mess with me. Ike Larson is mustsee TV on the football field. All right, we’re going to head back to fall camp with the Utes and Cougars coming up in just a bit as well. Which Utah player has guaranteed a big year this season for the Utes and how will the Cougars defense look in year three with Jay Hill? Plus, what Jake Rzoff said about the Cougars now that he’s down in lane. That might surprise you. You’ll hear all of that coming up next. [Applause] Let’s jump back into the show with more big league baseball. Tigers and Phillies. Bottom two. Bryson at the plate. Sends it deep to left center. Watch as both Tigers outfielders his 38th of the season, which is second most in the big leagues. Phillies move into first place with that win. First place in the division, I should say. BYU Cougar sensational sophomore Delaney Gibb traded in her Cougar blue for Canadian Red on the women’s 3×3 tour. Her team, team Toronto, played in three games on the latest tour stop up in Edmonton. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals, but Gibb played pretty well, second on her team in scoring in the tournament. Gibb is a part of the Canadian national team’s athlete pool, hoping to earn a spot on team Canada for the World Cup next year in 3×3 hoops. Former you Alyssa Peely, has a new home in the WNBA. Peely has signed a 7-day contract with the LA Sparks, which reunites her with her college coach, Lynn Roberts. Peely. She’s had some struggles in her first two seasons in the league with the Minnesota Links. She’s averaged just 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds over 36 games. She was the Pack 12 player of the year at Utah and was taken with the eighth overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft. But I’ve been going against the same dude my entire life and it’s been incredible just being able to go against him and be able to push myself against this same guy that I’ve been doing it with forever now. It’s been awesome and it’s been so much fun to be here and get all these questions on who wins me or Logan and he’s not able to defend himself. That’s probably the best part. I think that’s the best part about being here. You know, the real battle on the football field happens when offense meets defense in the trenches, right? Take that battle to an even higher level when offense and defense are brothers. That’s the case for Logan and Spencer Fono up at the University of Utah. You heard Spencer just then. He says that his whole life he’s gone against Logan and well his whole life he’s won all of those matchups whether it was in the backyard as kids or on the practice field at the U. But if you ask Logan he won’t agree but he will agree that having that sibling competition it’s only making him a better player on coach Wit’s defense. No, no, no, no, no. He’s lucky I wasn’t there cuz I would have definitely disputed that if I was there. But like like I I say all the time, my obviously my brother’s a fantastic player. So, I’m I’m grateful that I have a brother that I can go against every day, you know, whether we’re at practice, whether at home, and you know, somebody of that caliber that I can sharpen the saw against. You get plenty of, right? Yeah, that is good stuff. Well, Logan, he’s looking for a big bounce back this season, too. Uh, you might remember the pass rusher was off to a hot start as a freshman in 2023. Had three and a half sacks and two forced fumbles before he tore his ACL. Now, when he returned last season, the production, it didn’t quite return with him. just two and a half sacks in 12 games. A bit of a slow start. Now, as he’s getting ready for kickoff this fall, Fono says he’s motivated to have the best season he’s had yet. The way I’m capable of playing and how I should be playing, I I mean, I should have way more than three sacks. And um you know, little disappointed how I performed last year, but at the same time, I’m trying to give myself some grace. Came back early from an injury and try to try to help out the boys. So, being confident in my knee, number one, because I know when I’m fully confident in my knee, I feel like I mean, I can be one of the best pass rushers in the country. Just trusting my knee, trusting my preparation. That’s really all it is. Well, 17 running backs in Utah football history have eclipsed the 1,00yd rushing mark for a single season. Four of those backs did it more than once. Sophomore backer, currently on the youths roster, he wants to be the next on that list. In his freshman season at Washington State last fall, he ran for 735 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. In one week of fall camp up at the U, he’s seen enough to make this lofty guarantee. I’m hungry for it. I’m ready to go again. I’m ready to catch a 1500 yards this year. I want to test that thousand for sure. Yeah, that’s it, huh? Yes. With the offensive line we got, then uh that’s very realistic. And the offensive line better be good. Everyone’s telling them they’re good, including me. And so, as the offensive line goes, so go so will go the running game. But but uh you know, we’ve had a thousand yard rusher here many many times. And so that’s something not something totally out of our character. I’d say it’s pretty realistic. You know, Parker’s just trying to follow in the footsteps of one of Grant Union High School’s all-time greats, Devonte Booker, the same high school as Wayan. Booker went for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons at the U, and is the fourth all-time leading rusher. Booker’s 1,512 yards in 2014. That’s the second most in a single season in Utah history. Well, in just two years at BYU, Jay Hill has made the Cougars defense one of the best in the country. He said the changes from his first year to his second year, those were drastic, but there will be even more change for his third year in Provo. Hills defense was first in the Big 12 last season and 13th overall in the nation. He also put a disruptive defense on the field that had 20 sacks and 29 takeaways, which was third most in the entire country. And much of that talent is back, led by that linebacking core, which includes Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker. And week one of fall camp has Hill grinning about the possibilities this season. Oh, a lot of good, a lot of mistakes that we are overcoming, which is always happening in camp the first couple days. Uh, I see our players that we’re expecting to be really good playing really good right now. So, that’s a good thing. We changed drastically from year one to year two on what we were and I see us this year being different than we were last year. So, I think that’s good for teams that are trying to scout us, not knowing exactly what’s going to come and how we’re going to be. Um, but we have to play to our personnel. We have to play to our strengths. Well, two weeks ago, quarterback Jake Rzoff chose the University of Twolane as his new football home after he withdrew from BYU in the wake of a suspension from an honor code violation. This week, he hit the practice field for the first time with the Green Wave. and Tulain’s breakout star from the year before, quarterback Darien Mensah. He transferred to Duke in the offseason, which opened up this opportunity for Rhettzoff to come into lane and compete for their starting job. But it’s also made it easier for him to choose Tain because of coach John Summerall, who had recruited him before he initially chose BYU. Now, given the circumstances, you might wonder what Rzoff thinks of BYU after his departure. Well, for him, it’s still all love for the Cougars. I’m excited to watch them play. I’m excited to watch whatever quarterback gets out of that quarterback battle to lead those guys down that team. Uh I just I got a lot a lot of love for that program over there at BYU is an amazing place. It made me an amazing human being. I feel like it helped me grow in so many ways on and especially off the field. That place uh was transformative for me. Uh like I said, I got family there. That is a family place. Like I’m so much rooting for their success. I can’t wait to see what they do. Hey, it’s camp up in Ogden, too. Mickey Menel returning for his third season with Weber State as the head coach. In year one, he went six and five. Last year just 4-8. So now he’s trying to get the Wildcats back to prominence and contend again for a big big sky title and a spot in the playoffs. Oh, always good. I mean, we haven’t played since spring. So after a great off season, uh I thought the guys came out with the right intent, right mindset, and flying around. Now we just got to take another step tomorrow and get better. What is your intent each and every day? Um is the mindset to be a big sky champ or are we falling short and we got to hold each other accountable? The Utah Royals sold off their star player for a record amount of money. I’ll give you all those details, plus a crazy golf shot next. All right, check this out. In the golf world, the LPGA’s AIG Women’s Open, the final major of the season. This is the fifth hole. Steph Kiryaku nearly aces it. Her shot lands less than an inch from the cup. That is phenomenal. But then check this out. Her playing partner, England’s Mimi Rhodess, steps up and hits a nearly identical shot. So identical, watch it. Bounces off of Kiryaku’s ball and drops in for the ace. What are the odds? That is incredible. A hole in one with a little help from her playing partner. All right, the Utah Royals fans, they haven’t had a lot to cheer about this season, which made this weekend’s news a bit tougher to endure. The club sold Ali Sentiner to the Kansas City Current for an NWSL record $600,000. Sentar played in 34 games with the Royals since she was drafted just a few years ago. Speaking of the Royals, they were taking on the Pride and Orlando Pride. They got an early goal in this one, but in the end, the Pride was able to get the equalizer. Ends in a 1-1 tie. Have a good night, everyone.
