Utah Football vs Baylor Football: Will Cam Rising shine in his first Big 12 game?

the Baylor Bears are coming to Salt Lake City it's not officially a big 12 game but it's an opportunity to make a statement against a big 12 opponent what kind of a threat do the Bears present to Utah and Utah moved up one spot in the AP pole were they fairly ranked that's what we'll be talking about on today's locked on Utes you are locked on Utes your daily podcast on the Utah Utes part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello everyone and thank you for making locked on you it's your first listen every single day we are part of the locked on podcast Network and if you're in the market for a second listen you can check out lockon college football or locked on Big 12 if this is your first time tuning in to the show make sure you like And subscribe love interact with all of you in the YouTube comments as well as on social media where we can follow our show lockon on X today today's episode of on UT is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV you visit fanduel.com to get started my name is JT Wier former intern inside the University of Utah athletic department excited to be joined by Athlon sports's Elijah Grayson Murray for today's show we'll be getting to those AP rankings talking about some of the other player and Coach quotes from this week in Utah's media availability but want to really start with breaking down this Baylor team as they'll be coming up to face the Utes on Saturday for it's still so weird that this is a non-conference game uh just the wild world of realignment that we live in but look this is a Baylor team that's three and nine yet last year they were three and nine they beat up on Charlton State and there were aspects of the game that looked impressive aspects of them that did not look impressive but if Utah goes out there and executes they should have no problem with this Bears team if this Utah team is one of the 12 best I think they're easily one of the 10 best I expect a dominant win by Utah there's a reason the line from our friends at FanDuel is at 14 currently Elijah yeah you know and this Baylor team they are definitely more experienced this year it's it's going to be a tougher tougher game than last year but um when you look at how much Utah has improved and and what they showed against you know Southern Utah University is like how how do you stop them you know you could you could be a much improved team and and having faced the team you know having faced Utah last year but it's not the same team you fac you know I guess that's the case for both ways but Utah's team going into this matchup is is way better than um you know I guess both teams have improved but Utah's Improvement has has been levels above you know a lot of teams in the in the in college football it has been and yeah the addition of or just the getting back cam rising and Brandt keithy m kyber like just makes a world of a difference cuz Andy lwig can call games to win now he's not calling games to make sure Utah doesn't lose last year Utah constantly played not to lose this year they're playing to win and that's definitely going to be the case against this Baylor team uh Baylor defensively offensively is where they're really different because they brought into Quan Finn the Toledo transfer Mac Player of the Year com comes in we'll talk about him in a moment but I think defensively is where they have some similarities to the team that they were last year because they have a decent number of returning starters but those returning starters last year gave up 421 yards per game that's good for 113 that sandwich between Southern Mississippi and Memphis so their defense still has a lot of work to do their pass rush looked better against Charlton than last year but that's once this against tlon so this will be a better challenge for Utah than it was facing against Southern Utah and the Utah offensive line had some up and down moments so that will be a good test for them but one I still expect the Utah offensive line take business Baylor's linebackers are are solid maybe that's the best part of their defense I'm not impressed with their secondary their their secondary is where I think Utah really has a chance to take advantage of I think there'll be big play opportunities for money Parks Brandt keithy yet again Dorian singer breaking a few would love to see Damen Alford getting involved in this one I expect another big game for cam Rising passing wise I think there could be some times where Cam is under duress and I'm not expecting Utah to throw up 30 points in the first half like they did against Southern Utah but I would be surprised if Utah didn't have two touchdowns on the board by the time halftime rolls around because I do think they are clearly better than this Bor defense right and I'm also you know I'm not expecting cam to uh be as loose with his running I know um Whittingham said that he made some smart decisions after looking at the tape but um you know having he's assuming that he plays the full game um you know it's not going to be Isaac Wilson coming in the second half and getting some you know getting his feet wet type of situation I I don't think so um but I I wouldn't expect cam to to be as loose with his running decisions I think he'll be a bit more conservative um I still think he will run because obviously that's just Cam and he's a he's a competitive guy um but I think that is going to be toned down a bit I think singer will hopefully get involved in the game more and like you said hopefully we'll see Alfred um become a bigger part of the game plan um I really think they're going to Target the uh the pass game just because their Baylor secondary is not you know anything to really be scared of or to avoid um I would it' be also nice to kind of see the running game go but um establishing the passing game with some more you know better bigger targets um I think that's kind of key heading into our away stretch yeah I think it absolutely is and I'm excited to see Utah involved those guys shifting to the other side of the ball this is where to me where Utah really has an advantage because yes the game against tlon for Baylor who was 45-3 but this is still dquan Finn turned the turned it over twice both neither interception was good the first one was just stared at the guy rolled out didn't even see the defensive back in front of him second one was in the second half and he just kind of chucked it up there and it was once kind of another one of those questionable decision so I do and I will say their receivers can make plays downfield there's going to be some 50-50 balls their guys come down with them we saw again miles battle uh last year lose one of those situations nearly ended up costing Utah the game they have receivers that are there's going to be a couple big pass plays in this game I expect there to be some 20 yard gains at various points but also last year one Utah would give up some yards through the air and they always boat up in the Red Zone I expect that to be the case when they go against um this Bears team this year and one thing to know about dquan finin to he's incredibly athletic and that was we saw early in the game Southern Utah had some nice plays with their quarterback running that is something Utah has to be and definitely will be aware of I think dquan Finn's greatest threat to Utah is with his legs not his arm Utah's goal should be to contain him in the pocket because when he scrambles and gets loose that's when things can be in trouble they want to do all kind of options rpos normal read option because they want to get to Quan out and running and just give him the opportunity to do multiple things I like this Bears offense I think it's taken a step forward with Finn but Finn is willing to turn than what they had last year with s Robinson this is not going to be a three and9 football team but you don't go from being a three and9 football football team to a team that wins in rackle stadium this this team does not have anything in common with Oregon outside of the fact they both wear green even though it is a different shade of green obviously but to me for Utah it's just contained to Quan Finn would be the biggest thing I also think that their left tackle does not is not quick-footed so I think there'll be opportuni for Connor OU to get home a couple of times their offensive line does not impress me that much their running game is subpar I I think Utah has a great chance to hold Baylor under 15 points in this one oh yeah I 100% agree know containing uh Finn is probably the biggest Focus for the defense because he is so athletic um and you mentioned you know how their receivers can can win some 50-50 balls and it's going to be interesting to see um what the quarterback room kind of looks like with um Johnson out for the year um Elijah Davis he you know he had a pretty good uh performance stepping in for Johnson against seu and uh with Cam Calhoun supposedly coming back uh this week um I think it'll be interesting to see how that Dynamic Works um I think it will work obviously they're both super talented guys um but yeah you know containing Finn has got to be the number one priority and I think if you do that you can you know there's there's no reason for them to score more than like 14 points you know I I think um throwing you know throwing two interceptions against tlon state is not he's not ideal um and you know going up against a much better overall defense is it's not going to hope it shouldn't look uh pretty against for Baylor if the over under on turnovers was two and a half for Baylor I would take the over I think Quinn is gonna struggle in this one I'm not saying he will have all three turnovers I I think there's a world where he has all three I there's a strong possibility he throws multiple interceptions we'll see if it reaches the number three but I expect Utah's front seven to once again shine in this game I think cam Rising will silence his critics we there's critics and push backs to how he played last week because he wasn't Flawless I'm sorry he wasn't 15 out of 15 he was just 10 for 15 but either way I think cam will continue to shake off a little bit of that rust we did see and just continue to look like one of the best quarterbacks and not just the Big 12 but I truly believe in the country so I'm feeling good about this Utah matchup with Baylor and it's because Utah is one of the best teams in college football I'm not just saying that AP pole agrees with me the rankings are in Utah was able to climb up in the AP pole but did the AP pole get a I don't think so that's what we're going to be talking about in one moment but first want to take an opportunity to talk with you all on lock on NES about our great friends at eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive and eBay modus is everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 12 122 Million Parts that's right over 122 Million Parts your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time your money back because eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cash all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com l items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers also want to remind everyone about something fun we have going on on the locked on college football network and that is just on the lock on network and that is lock on college football as well as we do have our fun preview shows we do each week all the big 12 hosts get together had some fun discussions about cam Rising this week so make sure you guys check it out out that will be dropping on Thursday but what dropped today was the AP Pole or I should say Yesterday by the time this show is releasing the AP poll is out Utah moved up a spot that was expected thanks Florida State so Utah is now at 11 and the team's ahe of them are Georgia Ohio State Texas Alabama Notre Dame M Miss Oregon hen state Missouri and Michigan most of those teams I do not have an issue with I will say like if this was strictly grading based on like how teams looked in the first week and not taking in Factor preseason rankings and that becomes a slippery slope because you could say well Utah didn't play this impressive team we could do that whole thing but like Oregon obviously did not impress with with Idaho shout out big sky for nearly getting that one done but they didn't impress me that much but I'm fine with them being ahead really everyone on here I'm mostly fine with except the Michigan Wolverines I do believe Utah should be ahead of Michigan Utah has so much returning Talent the coach the quarterback that made them great all of these key pieces that were part of their success as a team Michigan has a few returners but they lost so much and they do not have a quarterback and that showed against Fresno State they barely squeaked that one out that one was close for a while maybe barely I a little harsh because the final score ended up being a little different but that game was way too close for most of it I believe Michigan showed enough to drop them outside of the top I would move Utah up a spot outside of that Elijah I don't really have any issue with the AP rankings yeah you know neither do I and um the USA Today coaches poll also has Utah at 11 moving up two spots from 13 so it's clearly it's clear that uh you know the um the voters are taking notice of of Utah early on which is really good um you know for further down the line if if we if the team is in a position to push for the college football playoff um you know as an Ohio State fan uh from birth I think Michigan should be the last team in the entire nation so I um you know I I definitely I 100% agree with you though you know no bias I think Utah should be above Michigan uh their quarterback is not JJ McCarthy their offense is not the same as it was last year um pretty much their whole team isn't and you you know you'd expect some regression obviously losing that much talent but I think they're only surviving off of last year's um successes I I think it'll quickly show further down the line once they play better opponents that they aren't the team that you know everyone was kind of hoping that they'd be uh following a championship run and I think Utah will probably pass up uh Michigan uh should they hand handle Baylor pretty pretty easily I I would expect us to uh to pass at Michigan by week three I feel like that's what's going to end up shaking out too but either way no major gripes with the latest day people we were talk we were just talk about Michigan uh there's a Michigan guy who's kind of a big Talk of the Town right now for Utah and that's Cameron Calhoun who's been gearing his way back up from injury you mentioned Elijah Davis earlier but Calhoun is another guy that it feels like he's gonna see a lot of opportunities here with Johnson unfortunately going out and he's a guy fourstar talent I feel good about I know and trust morce SC and Sharie Shaw so whoever they put out there I have confidence is going to do do a good job and Cameron uh or excuse me Elijah you got the opportunity to speak with Cameron earlier today in Utah's media availability what were some of your takeaways from talking with him you know he he seems he seems ready he seems prepared um he you know he he complimented a lot more on uh the other quarterbacks in the room he he was very high on Smith Snowden and he had a good he had a lot of good things to say about Elijah Davis um and so we kind of had to bring it back on the focus to him um you know but it's always good to to see you know your arguably best quarterback uh kind of hype up the entire quarterback room uh heading in you know to the to the next week I think um he he's he's 100% healthy that's what he seems like I I think he's he's going to be an instant impact Guy and um you know in in the spring game he made he made an instant impact and everyone noticed and I think that's going to be uh how it is this Saturday as well yeah I'm excited to see him get more opportunities to you got to talk with a lot of the guys on this Utah team was there anything that maybe flew Under The Radar really stood out to you about this week's media availability from all the coaches and players that we got to speak to um you know so dejon Stanley that kid he's a great guy and I think um I think his role is going to be increased as the weeks go on um I don't you know obviously we don't know how it's going to be increased because you can't just want to reel route every play and expect it to be a touchdown down um but I do think that his role will be increased and I think he might be the most electric player on the entire team um he's kind of like our uh our Debo Samuel in a way you know he can he can go through the ground and through the air and and make an instant impact in either way um Caleb loner I think he's also going to see an increased role um especially in the end zone I mean the guy 68 he makes me look small and I'm 63 you know so I uh he's but he's a he's a great you know he's also a great guy um there he you know he was like you know I'm learning more every day uh every practice I feel like I'm getting better um you know obviously that drop touchdown was was kind of you know but he redeemed himself and I think um while we were expecting you know a lot of Landon King in the end zone I think loner might be the guy that you know uh that is the target up there because who who's going to who's going to um cover him you know that's almost impossible yeah that'll be the interesting battle is loner the way he's built he's already he was even better in that game than I thought he he did more in that game that I thought he would show on the entire season and that's nothing against Cale loner that's how good Utah's tight end room was so very curious to see how his role gets expanded Landon King was in more than I thought he was looking back on the game so I feel like he has to still be involved a lot on this team but there are so many tight ends that Utah has got to try to feed and receivers as well factored in so it's going to be quite the uphill battle that Utah has and the guy who's going to be doing that is Cam Rising cam Rising also spoke to the media so we're going to be talking about what we learned from Cam's latest media availability in one moment but first we have to talk with you all about our friends at FanDuel sports book you've heard us lot talk a lot about FanDuel lately America's number one sports book well we got something a little different for now for now through September 22nd all fandu customers can get a $5 bet and just make that $5 bet and get a three-week free trial for NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV that's right football is back and then with your YouTube TV base plan you'll get able be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account in a current form of payment and you can cancel anytime this is fanduel.com to download America's number one sports book today and if you were looking at some games to potentially bet on I would recommend heading over to the Utah Utes we already mentioned that line Utah favored by two touchdowns still I'm feeling good about this line as it relates to Utah right now I just think they're clearly better than Baylor we'll continue to talk about and break it down on the show this week but there's also the NFL action is back college football's in full swing there's lots to check out at FanDuel today so make sure you guys visit fanduel.com to check out all the latest lines on your favorite America's sports book all right Elijah we got a chance to hear from cam Rising this week how what were your biggest takeaways from here and him how is it for him shaking off the rust getting back at it you know he seemed you know very excited you know just just to be able to rekindle that connection with keithy um and but my biggest takeaway is that he does not regret running the ball at all he was like I'm competitive this is what I'm going to do you know um and I think whitting him might have to reel that back which I think he will um now that cam will most likely have to play all four quarters um but I think it's a good sign for you know the team and for fans knowing that when it's needed Rising will run and he will get positive yards and he's not afraid to take contact either um obviously every time he he's going to take contact we're going to shrivel up a little bit and be like oh please but um no he he's he's 100% you know healthy um he just had you know I think he had to shake off the rust a little bit and at the start of the seu game but clearly he was fine he he scored the most touchdowns in in ever yeah uh and first first time since 2008 um when uh Utah quarterback had five touchdowns in a in a half um and he also passed up Alex Smith on the alltime Utah quarterb and so that's like coming back back in doing all that in one night that's one way to announce that you're back and I I think he is he's in good he's in good hopes and he's going to just continue doing that against Baylor I think there's no there's nothing that I'm I'm worried about going forward with him I'm not worried either and one thing I'm really excited to see Elijah too is a Utah football game on a Saturday where the crowd is always G the crowd is always good for Utah so different when you know like it's an FCS opponent like we you talk play with no fans in the stands and they're beating Southern Utah no matter the circumstance Utah's beating Southern Utah this is an opportunity where it's like hey first Big 12 game and once again I know non-conference game but either way Big 12 game I think the rice Eckles is gonna be rocking this Saturday I'm excited to see cam go out there and take the field again for the first time on a Saturday what kind of an atmosphere are you expecting and what do you think this if you had to give a prediction what do you think this game is going to look like score-wise man I think um you know I I think tlor will be obviously a tougher opponent than seu I would agree um but I think it will be Utah by three touchdowns um I I'm not expecting a complete explosion uh just because of the fact that it is a better opponent and uh while they say they're not necessarily treating it like a big 12 game I think they still will just because you know why why not you add that extra layer onto it to make sure that you you're on your aame um I think Dorian singer will get involved a lot more um you know he I think he only had like three catches uh against seu and so if if you want to get your best Target and Whittingham you know called it called him the best hands that the program has ever had so when you have when you have that Talent you want to get him involved and um I think you want to get him involved early rather than later especially on the road you know going into Utah State and or uh and Oklahoma State that's that's not easy um nowhere on the road is easy but uh no I I think the big names are going to get involved I expect more uh trick plays with h with dejon Stanley um and I expect cam coun to to make it to make an impact right off the bat I like it I'm expecting a big performance out of Utah too Elijah correct me if I'm wrong but you had a big hopes for Dorian singer uh this season too right so we need him to we want those to come true we need him to get up those receiving yards don't we yeah please at least 200 this game I need it yeah Elijah predicted uh it was a bitov correct for best receiver yeah bitov for Dorian singer I thought it looked good last week and I mean when dejon Stanley's doing what Deon Stanley's doing there's only gonna be so opportunities for other people and the last thing I'll mention very briefly I'm so excited that dejon Stanley did what he did not only for his own benefit but I think he can just be used for the betterment of this offense as a decoy now as well he will still be involved don't not make that mistake but when he is in motion the defense's ears are going to perk up and the things they can do especially Fresh Off what I expect to be his best performance of the Season just from the sheer volume and the opponent I think that Utah's gonna have a lot of fun Andy lwi will drawing up some misdirection type of things for him so excited to see what Stanley will do this Utah team will be back soon but as we do gear up for the game Elijah if people want more Utah content whether it be interviews as well as articles where should they head over to yeah so uh my Twitter or my ex account is right down below um Elijah G Murray I post uh all player interviews from practice I post uh coach Whittingham interviews um I was say I write articles for Athlon Sports um covering pretty much all Utah Athletics but obviously right now with football season as the main focus um so you know you can follow me for uh every you know all updates um all the latest news um and I've I've actually gained a lot of followers recently because of the practice videos so um you know I'm glad glad people are enjoying it but yeah I I it's been a blast and and I'm so happy football is fully back in swing and hopefully the season will not be ending anytime soon for the use no I I don't think it will either my friend I'm excited what they'll be able to do keep crushing it with the content you always crush it when you come on here thanks again Elijah thank you I appreciate it anytime that's going to do it for today's edition of lock on you our first real crossover of the season with another locked on host will be tomorrow cam Stewart of locked on Baylor will be joining me we have a fun discussion previewing this week's game if you want to learn more about the Bears and how tomorrow's game will play out with someone that's going to be rooting for one on the opposite sideline make sure you guys check that episode out big thanks to Elijah again for joining us today and we'll see you on tomorrows locked on use