Kenny Dillingham, Sam Leavitt Have A HUGE Opportunity In ASU’s 2024 Season Opener Against Wyoming

Intro [Music] it's game week game we welcome into the PHX Sun Devil coming you live from Studio K presented by Circle K head to any Circle kiz on a location where you get any size Polar Pop or froster for just 79 cents now through September 3D we're also brought to you by the good friends over Coach Stark Holmes are you in the market for a home of so get a hold of Coach Stark today he's going to help you out you can get in touch with him at 623 695 3929 or go to coach starkhomes.com or follow him at coach Stark holes this is an exciting week and of course we have an exciting guest joining us amazing I'm Anthony to joined as always by the blind Mouse himself Eric Ruby we've got DJ coup behind the magc making all of the magic happen and then you guys have been blessed today because we have the one the only the Wyoming Ralph hson joining us today what's up Ralph the Wyoming the Wyoming nice I like it oh goodness we have a lot to get into a lot on the menu today and really all week long as Arizona state is now just five days away from kicking off the 2024 season we got Sharon in the chat we got Emily in the chat everybody do us a solid hit that like button hit the Subscribe button and drop a five star review wherever you get your podcast we've got a little bit of sound from coach Kenny Dillingham that we're going to get into at some point during the show at the tail end we'll give some First Impressions but it is a rare rare occurrence that we have our very own professional and the esteemed Ralph knows way more about Wyoming than Eric and I do and it just makes total sense to have Ralph on today and I feel like we've got to play 20 Questions with Ralph today only 20 I had like 55 prepared I'm going position by position player by player I need to know like star signs I need to know where they were born I need to know their favorite food this is why we have Ralph on get into the astrology theing football team I remember talking to Ralph before this he's like please ask me what sign you know so and so is I'm like you know I got you man I got you what sign are you Ralph I'm a Pisces you know you can actually see the stars out in laramy it's kind of nice must be must be a new experience I didn't even know that you could see the stars I love it absolutely love it look Ralph uh Kenny Dillingham today was talking just a little bit about this isn't a team that you should look past and I think that's something that's kind of been on the minds of sevil fans as soon as that schedule came out was you saw what Wyoming accomplished last season how they they went the distance with Texas they beat a Texas Tech team last year and they do return a lot of starters for you just kind of in a zoomed out look of this Wyoming football team what are your expectations for them uh to win seven or eight games to look good in one or two of those Ralph's Preview of Wyoming games um it's just ugly football it's a um I I the colors have grown on me over the course of My Life um but but people say ugly colors ugly football they just make everything ugly they just want to know if you could swim in the deep end that's all they want to know they're gonna find out they like to tread water out out you know 200 300 yards offshore and they want to know if you can do the same and so they will find a way to make everything just brutal and uh aesthetically displeasing and you know B basically do whatever it is that Georgia Tech just did to Florida State in uh in Ireland this last weekend that you know they're they're going to try to be as physical as possible they're GNA try to send some exotic blitzes and uh the biggest thing with this team is they're just never ever ever gonna quit well and you mentioned that they play ugly and that they kind of get into it and they want to make you play ugly as well and I know that maybe aesthetically or visually you're just looking at it that's not the most fun football but it can be extremely effective football would you say that they're may be one of the more effective teams of playing their style of play because I think what a lot of ASU fans are doing is overlooking Wyoming because they just don't know and I think when you have a team that has an identity like that and can execute it well like that's dangerous yeah I mean to ASU fans that that do feel that way I would say that you're probably not watching phnx you guys have done a great job of you know prepping people for this this non-conference schedule um but at the same time uh you know this is a there's a reason this isn't a home in home that's that should tell you everything you need to know there's a reason that that Arizona State's not going to laramy anytime soon they're an absolutely brutal team to play period they did take they were tied with Texas in the fourth quarter in Austin last year they held Texas to 131 yards passing um you know they they they took on Texas Tech um they had a game-winning Drive I believe against Toledo in the Arizona Bowl uh if you if you you know they travel really really well they should be pretty well represented in Tempe after being um I think two of the last three years um selling the Arizona bulll out of alcohol and uh you know I I think that um what you what you need to know about this team is that even though they lost their head coach they didn't really get any transfers that weren't bought by you know bigger teams with giant collectives yeah like USC which happens every year if you're good in laramy you end up in SoCal um but the fact that they have so many returning starters despite losing their head coach all they did was move their defensive coordinator into the head coaching role and move the head coach's son into the defensive coordinator role they did get a new OC that should be interesting but Wyoming and offense it's not really ever something you can you can depend on um maybe they try to throw the ball a lot but even with Josh Allen you know that that wasn't a great offense they were running um there in laramy so you know they're just trying to score anywhere between 21 27 points um and control time of possession that that's really their whole thing yeah I'm interested to see just how gross of a game this is between Arizona State's defensive line in Wyoming's offensive line Wyoming's offensive line obviously returns a number of St as I think four from last season uh you obviously mentioned the the new offensive coordinator it's going to be interesting to see if anything changes if it is going to be just a we're going to run it right at you Kenny Dillingham said that today they're not a team that's going to run around you kind of like you said they want to see if you can swim in the deep end they're going to run it right at you we're running it in the in between the aaps as often as we need to First and 10 and it's our guys versus your guys it's good old-fashioned gross grimy football um and I think you're going to learn a lot about Arizona State's defense of line specifically the secondary I'm interested to see just how tested they are why Wyoming's new quarterback uh is it Evans fata how do you pronounce this guy's last name Evans fabot he is from Mesa Arizona he played at Red Mountain High School he's a local kid he got his first real taste of action last year in that Arizona Bowl um and he he did some spot Duty last year as well he's massive he's just big he's one of those guys that went off to Joo grew a couple inches gained 30 pounds um you know and it's interesting being you know being a Red Mountain kid you're in Mesa Arizona like 550,000 people in Mesa Arizona that's more than the entire state of of Wyoming and so um it'll be interesting to see how many people get out here for for for his homecoming he's a big dude who could sling it but if Wyoming has a true weakness um it's really their receivers um and and what I think Arizona State should really look to do is be as physical as possible with them Wyoming's Weakness um and you know they're going to try to take some big shots probably um to just you know keep Arizona state from putting eight in the box but uh I you know I I'm not super afraid of Wyoming's passing attack and I don't think Arizona State should be either you don't want to get caught and give up that big play uh but nothing about this particular receiving group says you know we we we need to game plan for anybody in particular I think they're leading returning receivers like from a tiny uh town outside my hometown in Northern Wyoming just you know is gotten to the point where he is through through effort not necessarily um you know the talent he was born with so you know that is the thing that I it'll be interesting to see how many times they they kind of try to stretch the defense but um you know they got some long def well Jay Johnson is their new offensive coordinator that scares me a little bit because uh the probably the only coach in America that knows as much about Sam levit as Marcus a Royo would be Sam Lev offensive coordinator from Michigan state that is who Jay Johnson is and so you know that that's going to be interesting in that they've had somebody help prepare Wyoming's defense for Sam levit and that the offense could maybe look a little bit different but you know what from what I remember uh Michigan State under Mel Tucker was a lot of long developing pass plays you know not a lot of quick stuff not a lot of getting the ball to your to your um to your receivers and and just letting them go um it really is just going to be this running game for returning offensive lineman and a converted freshman tight end who I think is going to be playing right tackle and if there's something that Arizona State really needs to attack it's Jake Davies he's gonna be I think making his first ever start on the offensive line period um and uh and and that would be something for Arizona State to try to test as much as possible as early as possible so I know you've given me a couple names to maybe look at as where ASU can exploit their weaknesses but then let's also focus on strengths as well are there a couple of players that to you stand out as the biggest threats Who Are Wyoming's Biggest Threats to ASU? either offense or defense to ASU even if it maybe pertains to a certain weakness you might believe ASU has well um asu's offensive line obviously when it comes to pass protection left a lot to be desired last year oddly enough uh they their run blocking if you just take D Carlos Brooks kaon Brown and cam scaboo carries from last year that's 235 carries at yards a pop that's incredible actually and so you know with them having more experience and and Bully being back and Ben Coleman um I I you know I I think the Arizona State should probably also do as much as they can to establish the Run uh as we've talked about on here before there is a history between Marcus aroyo and Jay saille Jay saille was the defensive coordinator for Wyoming in Marcus ayo's first ever game as head coach of UNLV and that was a brutal one I mean Wyoming was leading 38-7 going into the fourth quarter of that game and UNLV was still just trying to establish the run and so it'll be interesting if that's the approach that Marcus aroyo takes here obviously he's dealing with much more talented players but the guy you have to watch out for uh at University of Wyoming is their um allconference defensive tackles Nam is Jordan bergoli um I think he had like 60 solo tackles last year as a d tackle as a d tackle so he's really really good at getting off blocks and the fact he's gonna be going head-to-head with Leaf falo maybe Shawn naw collapsing in on him he's somebody that you really really have to watch out for he you know he's one of those um he's he's older um he doesn't look as strong as he actually is but he's a key he's got a kid he's got that Dad strength okay the grown that's the key to the game right there limit the D strength probably the biggest pain in the ass for Arizona State uh will be the fact that John holand returns for like his 50th year at Wyoming he is their kicker he is very good very excitable fun guy uh and they're always in positions where they're having to kick because they had a 12pl 50 yard drive that got stalled out on the 27 so um you know John holand is somebody who could who could be a little bit of a problem because you could pin them back and he's he'll he'll nail a 50 yard with ease so you know that that's another one that you really have to look out for it's not a sexy team I'm not going to be telling you know Harrison wayy is missing this game that is by their best player um you know I I don't I don't know what to tell you like yeah it it's you know it there's no stars there's not really anybody that you need to look out for you just have to you just have to try not to drown and and and get some chunk plays if you can offensively and and I think Arizona State speed um and I I just think their ability to get the ball in Playmakers hands and really test the athleticism of those Wyoming defensive backs because I think they're returning seven starters on defense but I don't think a ton of them are in the in the defensive back field and so that'll really really be interesting to see if if they can out aete Wyoming um because that that could be their key to success yeah and on paper they should be able to you look at some of the guys that they were able to get from the portal some of the guys that have developed over the last couple of Seasons they're in Prime spots to take advantage of a team like Wyoming that isn't necessarily uh built on athleticism and talent more just you have a unit I feel like at Wyoming on offense on defense with with like one Collective purpose but I do want to transition a little bit from Wyoming to Arizona State and just how this might be an opportunity for Kenny Dillingham and Sam levit to really Propel themselves off to a hot start because I think when we've talked about where Arizona State can go in 2024 it obviously all starts within the the non-conference schedule and I think a lot of people despite saying that Wyoming is going to be a test for Arizona State they've got the devil still coming out on top if this doesn't go Arizona State's way right if What Happens If ASU Loses Against Wyoming? it is a 0 in-1 start they're not able to keep up in the deep end with Wyoming what do you think that does week two week three and then ultimately before you get into conference play well uh they probably panic I mean if we're talking about from the the point of view of the fans um they they all always going to freak out a little bit um sometimes it's Justified sometimes you lose lose 29 nothing at home to Fresno State um you know and and Arizona State's record against the Mountain West has been abysmal there's multiple losses against San Diego State go back to 2008 there's the UNLV loss that you just can't shake you know it seems like for the past 15 Seasons there's always been some trouble there uh you know there's a loss to Hawaii I think in a bowl game Boise State in a bowl game so it's been a little bit messy um don't love scheduling Mountain West teams uh but it is what it is you should be able to beat them you should have more Talent than um here's what I would say for any Arizona State fan you should really be waiting until the end of week four to be making any judgments on um Sam levit as the starting quarterback or what Arizona State's trying to do they're going to be learning some things about themselves yeah but you're starting off with a team like here's a disgusting statistic for you just gross over the last two years Wyoming has allowed two games of 300 and more yards passing two over the last two years you know how many games they allowed 200 yards or less 12 that's a 6 to1 ratio over two years that's gross however however the next three teams that they play Mississippi State Texas State Texas Tech all of them gave up at least four games of 27 five plus yards passing last year so what you're gonna want to do is You're Gonna Want to get through that Texas Tech game you you you have three schools that haven't really made changes on the defensive side past Wyoming yeah um that you're actually going to see how ASU Stacks up against historical averages and just overall I went back and I watched this interview with Sam levit from when he first got to Michigan State it just a walking interview it about two minutes long and one of the things that stood out is he said he spent a lot of time watching Michigan State Sam Leavitt's Attitude Going Into This Game quarterbacks and what do they do they just go out and win the game and that's what he's goingon to do if he gets the opportunity he's gonna go out and win the game that's the attitude you need against a school like Wyoming is just it who cares yeah who cares what it looks like last year Appalachian State had W oming down 19 to8 with the ball late in the fourth quarter and lost and they they were kicking a field goal it got blocked and ran back and block and like it these games are nonsense so you just need somebody that is uh that can go in there with the confidence that uh that a jayen Daniels had you know not to not to bring up the pass but Jaden Daniels against Michigan State you know that when it comes down to can you just get that game-winning drive that's the thing you should be looking for Sam levit for in in the first game and then just make a four game judgment overall of just kind of what Arizona State's able to do statistically against some of the averages that those defenses have have put up for the last four years that should let you know whether you're not uh you're on the right scale or on track and then the other scale that you should be measuring on is Kenny Dillingham said he made this decision based on the fact that Sam levit is protecting the ball you know 300 team reps I don't even know if that means passes but 300 team reps two interceptions so he was saying like five complete games two interceptions so what he's counting on Sam levit to do is protect the football um and the one thing Arizona State's defense did not do last year is get takeaways so if they can reverse that then you know three- one 4-0 is completely completely uh feasible um but you know two and two is maybe a little bit more realistic uh and I would just wait to make any judgments and I know that's really really hard especially you guys are making shows every single day so we're going to be reacting to all the things right yeah but overall judgments of where they're this guy stinks they need to make a change Etc or like we got to rock and roll with this lineup and and keep it going that's really got to come after the Texas Tech game in in my opinion yeah and I think it's kind of a double-edged sword right like you're starting off against a team like Wyoming which you know talent wise you look at it on paper you should be better than the books have you as about a touchdown favorite as well your fans are expecting you to go out and win but it's going to be an ugly football game and one of the things that Kenny mentioned today and and we'll get more into what he said at his media availability later in the show was that the one thing he doesn't know about this team is what are they going to do when they actually have to trust each other when you actually have to go out there and play these football games and you're put on your back end and you're like I don't know what I'm supposed to do right now and how do you react to that and what I love about playing Wyoming first is because while you still should hold this expectation that you should beat this team there's no expectation for it to be easy and you're probably going to hit a bunch of different types of adversity for a team that kind of needs to FastTrack getting on Pace by the time they get to Big 12 Conference play cuz considering that they play all the teams that are ranked in the Big 12 and so I feel like with this first game Ralph it's asus's kind This is a Statement Game For ASU of opportunity to make a a statement to themselves and say we can get through the mud we can get through the thick of it and yeah we're supposed to win this game and even if we won by a field goal we still went down there and we won I know that you said some people might react to that and see that as a disappointment but do you see any w at the end of the day even if it's by one point like a successful week one for ASU even if it's ugly yeah absolutely and that that's the way that it should be this is in temp uh you know it sucks that Wyoming is going to be fresh it really does you know because they'll beat themselves up right but it sucks that they're going to come in fresh you know I think but you play four quarters for a reason and talent should win out especially when you have solid coaching to go with it um you know there are I I gave you every reason in the world to be worried right because I've watched this team um since 1996 the same amount of time that I watched you I've watched Arizona State I've given you all the reasons that there are to be worried here is the reason that you should be confident you are a better team than them it it in individually uh budget and coaching wise recruiting wise all of those things are better uh and the whole point of playing the games is to test whether those things are true so you know of course Arizona State you know being favored by six and a half right now I feel like based on what happened with with with ASU last year and the number of close games that they had and the fact that they didn't have any two-score wins I think that that's fully uh appropriate at least no two-score wins against you know um non FCS teams and so you know I I think that that's fully fully uh appropriate however um you know there there there are some some causes for for concern and ASU does need to stay together you brought up the fact like when adversity hits can they I was looking at it today Arizona State has like 10 players on offense not counting other quarterbacks who were either in college football or committed to college football teams when Sam levit was still in middle school middle school so are they gonna listen to Sam levit when he he's snapping on him for not doing the things that that he wants him to do when things aren't going well like when you said that you know to quote the backyard again when they go into the thick of it so you know I just I I think that Arizona state is the more talented team uh obviously you don't want to play scared but you certainly have to play aware you have to play aware of your surroundings and a one-point win who cares against Wyoming a onepoint win might as well be a thousand you know te Texas beat Wyoming 31-10 last year that score does not tell the story of that game um it but all that matters is the all that matters is the W right and if if Arizona State can do what Texas did if they can hang on for dear life and then in the end the The Crowd and Weather Will Play A Role athletes can take over and the crowd can take over the crowd will play a role in this game they will Wyoming it's brutal conditions up there it's like 7200 feet that they play at uh but they don't play in this heat that will factor in and another thing that I think will really factor in is the fact that they play in front of crowds of 30k Max Max and so if you can get I'm I'm gonna do my part I'm going to be out there I'm GNA be cheering the the the school that I first went to you see directly above my head right there that is my Wyoming student ID from when I was two years old and my mom was taking me to classes with her right like I'm gonna be cheering against the school my mom and all my uncles went to and I'm I'm be trying to be as loud as possible and I think if the the the fans get involved in this that'll give Arizona state that little bit extra what it needs to do in the fourth quarter of this game I love it he's a true Sunil man he's traveling all the way out here to rudens family's team oh my gosh that makes you sound like a terrible person no that's the perfect type of person to come on this podcast that is fantastic stuff Ralph Ralph we appreciate you taking time as always man looking forward to getting you back here in the desert for game day man appreciate you guys let's go absolutely love it look we're going to continue talking about Arizona State's matchup against Wyoming but first we are going to take a quick break to tell you a little bit about our friends over at Sanderson Ford I had the luxury of spending the entire weekend in one of those sport Broncos and I will tell you what I didn't want to give it back it is luxurious inside and out just kind of just just kind of like you it's just like you know honestly I get it because it reminds me of you ohop I could tell that you didn't want to go down the line of complimenting yourself so 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the Devils heading to the Big 12 that's 1,200 bucks and savings just for you listening to this show that's a great deal big shout out coach Stark Holmes you know what I've noticed what is if all you got to do is listen to the show and you're going to save a ton of money you're going to save literally so much money here's a little tease we're going to tell you how you can save a lot of money this upcoming week on our next ad break that's a that's the world's first ever you just teased an ad break I just teased an ad break okay let's bring it back here L having Ralph on fantastic Insight I love Ralph I do too the thing is but B we didn't even need to have Ralph on because BC's in the chat and BC just says Wyoming is bad well that's gonna do it for today's show so that wraps it up we don't have to do any other show Wyoming's bad I mean do we even need to do a post game they just suck so yeah well you know the ASU has lost to bad teams before hey you didn't need to go there I mean it's just the truth you didn't need to go there it's just okay but they beat powerhouses like Southern Utah barely barely yeah look let's get into Kenny to say at today's press conference bees in the chat what's up to rub is that Rubes Rubes is that the name I it's one of the 1900 that I've gotten that's fair that's fair look we were there for Kenny's entire press conference Eric before we get into the specifics I want to talk about the injuries that Kenny addressed at the start of the press conference Arizona ASU Injury Updates state is going to be without Edge rusher prince dorba who is set to be out for about two to four weeks with a knee injury Kenny said that he had already had surgery on it uh thankful that it is not a season ending injury or at least it doesn't appear that way also Arizona State offensive lineman sha naw set to be out for a similar time frame with a different injury two to four weeks we know that he was in a Right Guard um competition with Kade Briggs for the majority of fall camp but doesn't look like you'll see sha n anytime soon as well and then linebacker Tate Romney he is going to be out for a good chunk of time with a broken arm I think four to six weeks so that hurts the linebacker depth for sure very very helpful that you've got now a really a strong Trio of transfers that are going to see significant time due to that injury and then of course running back relique Brown um is doubtful didn't rule him out entirely but doubtful to see the field this week has been working his way back from a hamstring injury now um for some time so it's in a perfect world you get all four of those guys to play uh but hey that's that's sports right yeah I mean that's football that's injuries uh I I think some important notes on all of this is that both Prince dorba and sha NW they underwent surgery uh obviously rela did yeah he said both of them went under the knife um obviously they'd be relatively minor considering it's only going to be a couple of weeks but there had to be some stuff fixed up there relique he said was 0% uh but he did say that it was very unlikely that he sees the field and I I would assume that the there's no reason because you have such running back depth and wide receiver depth as well if he's at 90% especially for a guy who's going to be very reliant on his speed there's no reason to push that there um and then obviously Tate Romney you're you're going to miss that as well this this is just football right like this is just the way that it is and it it sucks and you know we kind of were talking about it after everything today and it was what's the most you know important injury there and I think you can look at it a couple different ways offensive line is is tough to lose especially when you're going to need to be predicting Sam levit yeah and I think that that is going to kind of be a be a problem but one of the biggest things that Kenny said when it came to his offensive line was the fact that last year when they were going into it he felt like they were relying on depth to be or relying on health to be good this year he says that they're not necessarily relying on health because he feels like he has way more depth in order to put together a competent offensive line so this is not this is not a repeat of last season right now this is just [ __ ] happens and you actually have talent towry to figure that out and replace that instead of panic yeah you've got a good chunk of depth now heading into the season Kenny said he felt pretty comfortable um with where they're at up front for the Arizona State offensive line from a health perspective again you'd love it if sha now was out there but really does help that you do have a lot of Veteran guys on this offensive line not necessarily veteran guys that have played a ton at Arizona State obviously EMT bully would have started for the sbls last year and did he ended up being out for the season after game one he is a veteran presence on this offensive line we talk about Leaf out tanu being one of the best centers in the Big 12 if not the best center in the Big 12 he was here he was a staple of that Arizona State offensive line as well so you know you're going to get him Ben Coleman didn't play a lot last year because of an injury but he's a veteran offensive lineman who played in the Pack 12 for a little bit so you've got a bunch of guys now specifically on the left side of that offensive line if EMT bully does in What Will ASU's Offensive Line Look Like? fact start at left tackle that I feel like you can kind of trust and if you have three guys starting from your left tackle to your Center there are ways in pass protection to where you can kind of finagle the offense uh to to work strictly around those guys I know that's not really what they want to do they trust where they're at with the right side of that offensive line with Mad Max and then whoever ends up starting at Right Guard so we will obviously see what this Arizona State makeshift offensive line looks like I will call it makeshift because it is going to look different than it has throughout the majority of fall camp but regardless that back field kind of like you mentioned I think is going to be okay without reli brown you got to Carlos Brooks you've got cam scabo you're gonna see a lot of Alton mcal you're gonna see probably even more of kaon brown guy that I don't think a lot of people are necessarily too focused in on on that running back room and then on the defensive side of the ball we talked a little bit about the loss of Tate Romney we know what he was to this team last season in all honesty it didn't look like he was going to be starting at that linebacker spot he would have definitely been a part of the rotation but you've got kesan Elliot who's gonna be there zyrus F and then Jordan crook who's had a really strong fall Camp as well but for me of the injuries that hurts the most it's Prince dorba up front a guy that was tied for the league or the team lead in sacks at Arizona State last season with BJ green he is obviously gone he is at Colorado and now you are without um a guy in Prince DBA that would have been your best Edge rusher and don't get me wrong I know you got Clayton Smith but when you're going up against a team in Wyoming like Ralph said that is returning four starters along the offensive line take away the fact that they have a a new quarterback and a new OC I don't really care being able to have four guys up front that did it all together for a year and now they're coming back and doing it another year it's going to put a lot of pressure on Arizona State's interior defensive line and then of course when they do opt to pass which I don't think will be a ton it's going to be crucial for guys like Clayton Smith jaman tap Zack Swanson those guys to really get home if Arizona state is going to keep this in in control well and I and I think it's also very important and we'll get more into specifically the Wyoming matchup and our our initial Impressions but this Wyoming team when you say a team likes to play ugly and get you down the trenches that means what on offense we're just gonna run it up we're just gonna run the ball right and so losing anybody to help put pressure on on the quarterback and to help collapse that pocket and and try to stop them from breaking off these chunk plays that's that's going to be a pretty big deal especially against Wyoming specifically but I think bees puts it well in the chat says this is why Kenny acquiring depth in the portal was huge it's definitely not ideal but this roster is well equipped to deal with it this season and then uh you know it it it just is one of those things where you never know what's going to happen right with injuries and you're going to have to deal with different ones throughout the season but none of these are season ending none of these are well they're out for the entire time at least as far as they've been reported now and I I mean feel like if you've already undergone whatever procedure you need to undergo and you have that timeline and that timeline is not anywhere close to season ending chill barring like a big setback which you know sometimes happens with injuries I would I would imagine that you're not going to get much worse than that broken arm same thing as long as it heals right which I'm sure they're going to do everything to make sure it heals right such a like gruesome injury you ever broken your arm before I haven't broken my arm have you ever broken any bones before uh yeah I fractured my fibula and then I had a few cracked ribs I've I've broken quite a few bones Yeah Yeah I broke little little content warning I broke my arm into a z I broke it you doing it's not important uh it is important I was it is absolutely important did you fall off an elephant or did you get hit in the arm so here's so here's here's the thing I've I've broke my leg in like four different places in second in my leg and like in like second grade and I did it falling off of a staircase not down off off you eight and a half feet what were you doing so the little story time how old were you this was in in between first and second grade okay so I had I had friends over okay right and we had a we had a staircase and I had you know in my free time climbed the outside banister of the staircase and I done it I yeah and I I had done it quite quite often and I was successful so I had friends over and I was like let me show show y'all what's up and it was like a wood staircase and I was climbing up I had socks on and I got like eight and a half feet up and I fell and my head missed the corner of like a like a dresser or something like but that much and I almost died my leg like this is pretty gruesome like Turned like inside out like it broke up pinched and then went down you're a pretty stupid 8-year-old you know yeah like but you want to hear something like stupider more embarass no way there's no way it get St than climbing the outside of a staircase more embarrassing how I broke my arm how old are you then in between third and fourth grade it was like literally literally the drunk is out of the equation correct I actually have gotten less injured the old I just want to make sure because I feel like you know people do that [ __ ] right so but you full you know like the meety teacher night type of thing so I just done the meety teacher night in fourth grade and uh teacher kicked your ass yeah he was like I hate this kid broke my arm so I did Karate growing up and we were learning new things and we were learning how to break your Fall by Rolling okay right and so they're like practice this is going practice is at home so you know I was rolling on the ground I was like this isn't this isn't like enough right so what I started to do is I I standing up on the edge of the couch like on and then rolling across the couch and then standing up on the other Edge so I was standing up on the edge this is crazy I know this I'm so sorry that we got off here but this is where we're going so I was standing up on the edge right and I I was doing these rols and we had my cousin over and he was playing like Mario Kart or something my back was to the TV he won so he loses his mind it starts cheer I wasn't expecting it scared the [ __ ] out of me I like jump off of jeez man see what I mean I jump off of the couch jump off the couch right and I start I start falling away from the cushions towards tile and I think to myself this is my opportunity to break my Fall by Rolling and you and so I tuck my arm in you dumb ass and I fall directly on my arm and I had Legos right next to me and the sound I didn't fall in the Legos but the sound I made I that my arm made I was like oh I just broke all my Legos and then like when that shock hits you and you look at your arm and it was a z it's like no that was the bones in my body so injuries happen guys I'm glad our viewership went up during that story that's crazy yeah that's crazy I don't know what's worse like the fact that your arm did that or that you were just in like your your level of intelligence at that age was so minimal it tough it was tough listen uh yeah my Sharon says my poor mom yeah I've been to the hospital I've been to the emergency room I think 15 times in my life my initials are ER yeah I guess that's fair yeah it was it was meant to be it was meant to be well look there's not a great transition really not I'm actually super sorry we went off that Ral talked about Wyoming we've talked a little bit about Wyoming but let's go ahead let's take a listen to what Kenny Dillingham thinks of Wyoming yeah well obviously new head coach uh promoted from within from the defensive coordinator role this is a head coach who's he's a veteran you know he's worked for some of the best head coaches in the country uh dating back to his time in Minnesota Wake Forest Wyoming going back to small ball starting to Mount Union so having his entire process of he's only been around uh winning teams and winning cultures uh and then the identity of who that guy is promoting the linebacker coach to become the defensive coordinator B who's the son of the retired old head coach uh because they were good on defense wanted to keep the same philosophy so on defense you kind of have a beat for how how they want to operate at the same token they were really good on defense but everybody CH changes and has wrinkles so trying to stay ahead of the curve of what wrinkles may they add in their system what teams in their system have added wrinkles in the past uh that they may now add from the same coaching tree right so you kind of Chase some ghosts try not to chase too many but you definitely have to chase some this off season uh in order to keep you sanely insane as a as a coach right you got to do that and then from their offensive side of the ball it's a little trickier CU you're adding a guy who's been a coordinator before from a different scheme a guy who was way more Tempo a guy who was more 11 personnel more open sets rpos uh and that was completely different from what they were in the past so how much are they going to keep their identity if we're going to shorten games and make it um eight or nine possession games versus do we want 12 or 13 possession games and everything you read says that they're going to speed up the tempo and they want to do that uh but we'll see you know what their identity became over fall Camp nobody knows that and we all know they can have the identity to run the football at you directly not arounds you directly and uh shorten games so that's still going to be there if they need it it's just going to be a matter of what they choose to tune um we can read all the Articles we want but the identity of a football team that won nine games that had Texas tied and be Texas Tech last year was a team that limited possessions won the turnover battle played great defense and hunted the football in the plus 45 and I I'd be shocked if that identity completely changed with all the success they've had there you know I wonder that guy's ever going to figure it out the whole coaching thing and you know you know learning he just seems so ill informed and Ill prepared no obviously when you listen to Kenny talk you can tell that he has been focusing on Wyoming for a long time and a lot of the stuff that Ralph had mentioned when we were together he he mentioned that as well and I think that that just goes to show and and not that there was any concern but just that this paints a picture they're taking this game so seriously as they should and and part of ASU Is Taking The Matchup Against Wyoming Seriously that is you know there's a lot of players on this team that haven't played in a long time he had questions about X and and Jake Smith and now they haven't played in over a thousand days a lot of days and that's leading up to to to one day Saturday and so I think that there's a lot on this team's mind when it comes to proving yourself but I think the the big fault that you can fall into when you are favor and you are playing a non Big 12 team and you're at home is is overlooking your opponent and you can tell by the way he breaks down like every little thing about it in just two minutes and like 20 seconds that is not the case yeah no our coach is a football geek yeah like that's that's what Kenny Dillingham is and that's exactly what you want in this type of scenario where you have a guy that understands that Wyoming is a team that yes on paper isn't as athletic isn't as talented and you have improved on both sides of the ball of your Arizona State but that doesn't mean that there aren't schemes out there that can beat talent in a way right look back to last season Arizona State versus UCLA UCLA was a top 25 team with some Premier Edge rushers on that defensive line and Kenny Dillingham schemed a way to eliminate those pass rushers so if you don't think that a less talented team with great coaching can go into a scenario and find ways to get it done whether that be for a half whether that be for three or four quarters doesn't really matter a lot of it does hinge on the schematics of what these coordinators are doing and Ralph bought up a great point that you look at the offensive coordinator now at Wyoming is the offensive coordinator that was at Michigan State with none other than Arizona State quarterback Sam levit so he kind of knows the ins and the outs of this quarterback granted it is a guy going now into year two so there are who didn't play a ton either there are some changes there are some adjustments for sure but that is something that you do have to keep in mind if you're an Arizona State fan and when you look back in the history of Arizona State season openers over the last half decade whether they end in blowouts none of them start in blowouts right A lot of them start slow you've got to give these Looking Back at ASU Season Openers guys a quarter quarter and a half maybe even to really sink in to what they're doing and that is when the talent eventually escapes the the gross we're just going to run it at you we're going to drag you to the deep end whatever analogy want to use Talent will eventually rise to the top it's just how soon can Arizona State break the the will and the mold of a team in Wyoming that wants to play aggressive and mean and gross no absolutely and I actually I have a couple more thoughts on that and just the Wyoming matchup uh but first we're going to take a quick break I'm gonna we're gonna pay off that tease the at it before but let me tell you about our friends over at Shady Rays now I'm not wearing my Shady right now you are I left them in the office over there I didn't feel like getting up and leaving Ralph and grabbing them but I was rocking them out today out in the sun as we were walking to from St there you're gonna go get it okay no no going as we're walking to and from the Kenny Dillingham media availability listen guys this comfy no blind Mouse no more I can tell these are premium polarized Shades they are scratch resistant they are beautifully made and of course if I were to somehow break these Anthony to i' be very upset well no you don't have to be because they're protected by the most prot all of eyewear you can exchange a new pair Rory free within 30 days I know these aren't new there's no risk when you shop plus if they take an unexpected hit don't sweat it they have protection that is so insane it's best in all of eyewear every pair is backed by a lost or broken replacement guarantee there is simply no risk when you shop and 300,000 people love it so much they rated at five stars all different types of designs color ways whatever you need to protect your eyes Shady Ray has got it and they're going to give it to you for a lot cheaper because you're listening to this podcast exclusively for our listeners they're giving out their best deal of the Season head to shay.com use code phnx for 35% off that's a big percentage 35% off polarized sunglasses try it for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people I feel like I need to yell about Colorado and the sh give me give me him back I want him back okay can you pay off my te's please I could pay off your te's but I'm gonna do it with a story of my own okay okay so this weekend had I had a big day Friday of course had to meet some folks for the first time a whole gagle of them right gagle of a gaggle of folks gagle of folks so there was a lot of it was first it was someone's birthday and ended up getting you know pretty uh pretty tipsy okay we'll just we'll we'll leave it at that and the next morning of course I had to go get my car because we're we're not driving Under the Influence right of course So eventually got to my car the next morning and I don't know about you but I have the munch she's so bad when I'm hung over the day after drinking I could eat literally anything in sight so of course I pulled up to Circle K got myself an energy drink got myself a Gatorade zero got some of the little heat nuts that they have I got the little box of like mini tacos that they have and then some sour gummy worms all of that at Circle K for like $13 well that's not too bad now is it it's crazy it is absolutely crazy the deals that they have on their snacks on their drinks and even better on their gas they got a new free membership program called Inner Circle not inner Square not inner triangle that's going to help you save money every single day Eric save 25 cents per gallon on your first five Phillips and then save three cents per gallon every single day after that but that's not all is it Eric no I mean it's their new membership program but it's not so new anymore as the Inner Circle will be celebrating its birthday happy birthday it's Oney old the inner circle is on August 29th that is three days from now and instead of that 25 cents per gallon on your first five phillps guess what what you going to say 40 cents per gallon 40 cents per gallon so much money on August 29th to celebrate one year of the Inner Circle how do they join how do they join the Inner Circle it's it's super easy all you got to do is download the app dude sure all you got to do is download the app sign up it takes literally 60 seconds and you're a member you can even go in to a Circle K and ask for one of the little bar codes that they have one of the QR codes they'll give you a little sheet you can literally scan it takes you straight to the app and you're in easy easy money guys join Inner Circle for free by downloading that Circle C app today terms and conditions apply our participating locations visit circlek.com for details Eric you brought it up we've obviously talked a lot about Wyoming from Ralph we've heard about just what this team can present to Arizona State we heard from Kenny Dillingham a little bit about Wyoming as well and kind of just how schematically that is uh how Wyoming is going to approach the game or at least that's how they think um they'll approach the game but for you I do want to get just your initial imp uh impression on how this game could play out on where Arizona State maybe can exploit some some matchup issues and again we're going to talk all week long about this matchup we'll have sound we'll have key players Etc but just first impression first date with you and Wyoming okay so let's take this just from a wide angle Erik's Initial Predictions For ASU vs Wyoming okay not specific players not specific matchups but just team versus Team you know the Spider-Man meme they point at each other now I am not saying that these two are the same teams by any stretch in the imagination ASU is more talented they had better coaching staff everything that Ralph said earlier I Echo and it is true however Wyoming is a team that in order to win and beat teams that are quote unquote more talented than them they have to play together play as a unit and they have a very clear identity in order for ASU later in this season to beat teams that they are not being expected to beat they have to play with that similar type of identity and togetherness that Wyoming has yeah so my big thing looking into this is that you are going up against kind of a version of what you want to be now granted a less talented version but that in itself should inspire you more to say look at what they're doing with what they have look at what we have what can we be doing and I think that is a wonderful week one matchup from a 1,00 foot angle and just say these are two teams that have to rely on their chemistry and togetherness in order to be better than where usually people expect them to be and Wyoming has done it for years it's asu's year to do that not for the first time because I think that granted their injuries and everything last season they technically played better and technically overachieved but that nobody counts that this is the year for you to actually overachieve actually surprise people by playing that way so I think it's beautiful that that's kind of the the the first game of this season that's where my first thought goes Zach in the chat I'm ready to shake my keys a kickoff Rhonda so stoked let's go yeah no I agree with your sentiment on that I think Wyoming if you want to take that Totri's Initial Predictions For ASU vs Wyoming thousand foot view of really what this program is and and what this game could be like it's they function like a hive mind um they all have the same mentality they work really really well as a unit when it comes to the style of play that they want you could tell that they recruit guys that fit that mold right um they're not necessarily going out there like Ralph said and getting festar Elite wide receivers or corners but when you have 11 guys on offense and 11 on defense that mirror each other with the exact same mentality that play the same style of football it can be really challenging for a talented team to overcome that early so I expect it to be a gross start to the game I think Arizona state has the opportunity to pull away just in terms of depth I don't think Wyoming is simply going to be able to man the bodies that Arizona state is going to be able to throw out there despite some injuries at key positions and especially in that heat which Ralph mentioned as well no that is absolutely fair but again we're going to be talking about this matchup all week long this was pretty much just the appetizer what we got a great one I mean sometimes the appetizer could be the whole meal that's when you have Ralph on and when you have sound from Kenny and you know I guess you and me I guess you know the appetizer is great but we have so much more to get into it is finally game week game week less than a week away this Saturday of course we'll be at the game and then we'll be doing a post game it's super excit special guest on the post game that's big time nobody knows about yet I'm doing the I Emoji in real life right now wow clip that we're going to need to C that it's game we you know what is a phenomenal idea because it's game we what heading to go phx.com and signing up to become a phnx die hard it is a long laundry list of things that you are going to get access to when you become a phnx die hard for one annual price you're going to get a DieHard membership only card super crisp super clean um some people say that it could get you on what's the president's what's what's what what I'm just going to let you struggling I don't know what you're talking about the president's plane Air Force One there we go yeah that might get you on Air Force One it might it might it might or it might get you arrested and never seen again well yeah I guess that's probably a good disclaimer no no no no no no I Pro it's a phnx sorry that's tough that's them punching you're gonna get access to the Die Hard Discord as well that is actually constantly going it's better than Air Force so I mean if you're in the Die Hard Discord today our die hards can attest to it while the Kenny press conference was going out live I know a lot of people people rely on tweets and whatnot I was basically just typing away sending every single answer and update in there in real time it was basically like you were at the press conference yourself so that's something that at any media availability that I'm able to go to obviously we got you covered on the social aspect of things but I want to make sure I our di hards get the information as fast as humanly possible and so that's something that you're going to get in our Discord as well you can a lot of [ __ ] talk a lot of congratulatory talk I know one of our die hards Donald is is now in the works of becoming an alumni he he got accepted to the school and now he's going to be actually attending ASU despite being a fan for the first time and we were all celebrating for him it truly is a fantastic Community ASU in itself is a great Community very tight-knit but even within that our Die Hard Community is awesome plus we got Suns Diamondbacks Cardinals we got hockey we have Rising everything UF you possibly need we have you know the other school too if you schol we shall they Who Shall Not Be Named yeah you know who cares we'll leave it at that but they they are there technically they are there so all that in in the Die Hard Discord plus um not just exclusively for die hards but for everybody we have a fantasy football tournament going on league league draft sorry a fantasy football draft for a league this guy's what are you new here yes tournament fantasy football tournament sorry I'm it's a league the sun my brain today leue that I will win League all right that I will win well sorry for doing the promotion for the league that you're going to win then thank you come to he Resorts and casino's wild hord hor pass this Thursday see I'm just struggling now it's okay uh and it's it's going to be a live show it's going to be a production I'm ready it's going to be fun I'm ready do it I dare you locked and loaded I dare you be coming with a briefcase full of nothing sure just a briefcase full of good picks full of yeah just great picks and Di hard membership cards sure that fair no okay I'm just kidding it is fair okay should we also mention that we launched a fifth Network oh yeah welcome dlls yeah if you're a Dallas sports fan uh which I don't know why you'd be in this chat but if you are go check it out DLS dll I can't dude I can't you can do it d s no D LS Sports there we go that took everything out of me to get four letters this to get four letters should we just Land Air we need to Land Air Force One before we crash or when I tell you by the time my tore ligaments in my ankle that's going to do it okay hit the like button hit the sub hit the Subscribe button drop a five star review give us a follow a PHX you can follow me at Anthony do Tre oh we got land baby it's game week can follow long neck Larry uh and jumpy Jeffrey over here that's my dad's name Eric Ruby Jeffrey no jumpy jumpy okay there it is that's Eric Ruby Eric with a K you can follow K coup Sports at K coup Sports Co we'll see you tomorrow but in the meantime go devils and peace [Applause] we all sitting like the mayor