Jason Fitz & Steve Hartman React in Real Time to Tennessee vs. Georgia & More!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
If there's anything I'm sure of, if you're like me
and you love college football because you love chaos, today
was a great day. And if there's anything else I'm
sure of, Clemson is done, stick a fork in it.
The season might as well be a wash. The biggest
upset of the day leaves one of the most important
programs in all of college football shell shocked, trying to

(00:26):
figure out what the heck they're gonna do with the
rest of their season, because it is not going to
be the year that Clemson fans expected. We're hanging out
with you on Fox Sports Radio, he Steve Hartman. I'm
Jason Fitz Steve's in for Buck. We're usually bucking fits
in this time. So it took one show, Steve, I'm
glad you came in pitch hitting boards like this is amazing.
It took one week of Buck Rising actually being on
air before he just decided to take a week off.

(00:48):
How does this work?

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Like?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
One week into what's supposed to be, you know, a
weekly tandem weekly show, all of a sudden, Buck is
sitting at the Georgia Tennessee game right now. He decided
going to the game more important than talking about the game.
Takes the second week of a new show off. How
do we feel about this day?

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Well, Jason, first of all, I've been doing sportsdoc radio
since nineteen eighty nine. Okay, so I have been doing
this for let's at thirty six years, and the total
time that I've taken off would be zero. I do
not take any days off from radio. I don't take
any days off from my television career. In fact, quick
story for you, when I was doing the National raishow

(01:24):
Monday through Friday here at Fox Sports Radio with Pat
O'Brien and Victor Briock Jacobs, we got the goodbye. Okay,
we got the goodbye, and you know this happens in
the business. Yeah, as you know, I mean, these things happen, right,
And so I get a phone call because I had
a couple of months left on my contract, and then
they told me I was going to get one final

(01:47):
pay check, but it wasn't going to be a direct deposit.
It was going to be a hard check and it
was going to include unused vacation. It didn't sound right
to me because you know, I never you know, it
was sort of like if you don't use it, you
lose it. So I thought, well, hey, a couple thousand bucks,
I'll take it. I get the check. I had over
twenty six thousand dollars in unused vacation. I was like, oh,

(02:10):
maybe I should have taken a day off. So for
Buck to be taking days off leaving you hanging with
me today, Jason is really unforgivable. I would never let
him forget.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
You are one thousand percent right. And by the way,
this is a fun fact. I'm gonna we just love
to go wherever we go on this show. I will
give everybody an insight. If the people you follow on
Twitter say that some sports media personality should be fired
for their take, this is a good time to just
inform you that contracts don't work that way. Like you
can't just fire somebody because you don't like what they say.
And in fact, as I learned from somebody that was

(02:44):
laid off at ESPN a few years ago, on the
talent layoffs like, contracts are fully guaranteed. And for anyone
that doesn't know this, So if you're sitting there watching
somebody that you just hate watch on sports media and
you think, I hope this guy gets fired today understand
that if they do get fired, they'll be paid the
duration of their contracts. So it's actually kind of a
sweet deal in that situation. And you're a thousand percent right.

(03:05):
I had no idea, Steve. I'm gonna be honest with
the world. I had no idea because I never used
any vacation time in my entire career at ESPN, and
I had no idea. And after I got laid off,
I called ESPN because I was like, Hey, I think
you guys messed up because you sent me like a
month's extra income and they're like, no, no, no, that's
your that's the most you can have as a cap
on unused vacation time. And I was like, I had

(03:25):
no and you bet your butt. Like, I mean, I
was lucky enough when I got laid off that I
could have sat around for two years. But Yahoo called
and Fox Sports Radio called, and I immediately made the move. Well,
you bet your butt. I never used vacation time, yah, either,
because I'm host just banking on that check, Steve, banging
on the checks.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Jason. I want to get this out of the way
because we got a lot of football to talk about.
I know that, but I've never met Buck. Okay, and
the first time that Buck Rising that I heard him
on the air with you, I was asked to do
the show after you. Who was one of those first
time I ever to fill in? Right? And So I
was on the freeway. I live in Westlake Village, California.

(04:02):
I was on my way to the studios in Sherman
Oaks and I was completely stopped in track, like totally stopped.
There was a truck in front of me, and I'm
listening to you guys. I'm like, who the hell is
this Buck Rising? So I reached for my phone and
I'm trying to take you know, I don't know how
to spell his name, but on Buck and the car
and the truck in front of me starts to move
very slowly right, and I look down the phone. I

(04:23):
look up and I go right underneath the truck in
front of him. Now get this so I could send
you photos. The truck had nothing with it, like there
was a brand new truck. That guy had no insurance.
There wasn't a scratch on his truck. My car, the
front end was like totaled. And you know, I'm asking
my insurance guy. You think I get any money. He goes, yeah,

(04:44):
you know, I like three thousand. It was like you do,
It's like a twenty sixteen BMW whatever. And then I
get a phone call from the insurance company and I said, so,
am I getting some kind of settlement? They said, oh yeah,
I go. Do you have a number. They're like twelve thousand.
I got. Well, Buck Rising put twelve thousand dollars in

(05:06):
my bank account, one hundred percent him because if you
and him weren't doing this show, I would never reached
for my phone in that instant. And because of Buck
I got twelve thousand in my bank account. So when
you see him, thank him again from Steve Harbin. He
doesn't know me, I don't know him, but thank him
for the twelve thousand dollars he put in my bank account.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Mary Macker, who does great work on the show, does
that mean that we can now levy a twelve thousand
dollars fine to Buck Rising? That comes to the rest
of the show staff. I think this is the there
we go, all right, we gotta fine. We got to
find going for Buck Rising. He's Steve Harmin, I'm Jason Fitz.
We're hanging out with the on Fox Sports Radio. I
said it here a minute ago. I'll double down on it.
The loss today by Clemson, which I don't think for

(05:47):
a lot of college football fanatics, was really stunning. I'm
gonna be honest again. I'll go back to Yahoo Sports
Daily that I work on. When we looked at upsets
this week, we pinpointed Georgia Tech over Clemson as a
possible up We got laughed at it at the time,
and now it looks like we were brilliant. Well, Georgia
Tech plays hard in every situation they're in, and let's
just be honest, Clemson does not look right, particularly offensively.

(06:09):
Steve like Clemson cannot get anything consistently going. And for
that reason, even though they're in a trash ACC maybe
they could still go on a run when the ACC
get that automatic bit into the playoff. I don't feel
good about it. Everything that we thought about Clemson coming
into this season looks like it's been a lot. Klebnik
does not look good enough. The offense doesn't have what
we're looking for, and the team just looks a little lost.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
Well, and here's the thing, Jason, and I'm one hundred
percent with you. I was fooled by Clemson. I was
telling a lot of people this year, all right, who's
at the top. You got Texas was you know hyped
up obviously, Penn State, Ohio State, and Clemson. Those are
the four schools. Most people thought, all right, these could
easily be the top four seats because they're going to
do the seating based on rank rather than you know,

(06:50):
winning a conference championship. This year, and it dawned on
me this was the year the dabos. Sweeney finally decided
to cave in and give into the transfer portal. Like
he was one of these last holdouts, you know, the
old school guy saying, well, you know, we're not bringing
in a bunch of guys from other schools. You know,
we're going to develop it with the way we normally have.

(07:12):
This year, he finally conceded, you know, they made the
playoffs last year. We're going to fill spots. And what
is obvious is that he has no clue how to
handle these guys. So when you're getting transfer guys from
twenty twenty five different schools, all coming from different systems,
and then bringing them all together on a one year rental,
can you get them all on the same page asap.

(07:34):
And the answer on Dabos Sweeney is no, he's old school.
You know, you develop a kid, you bring him in,
you bring him out of high school, you developed for
a couple of years, he moves up the ladder and
then he's a starting guy for you and hopefully an
All American down the road. He has proven right now
that it's a different level of coaching when you have

(07:55):
to bring in these guys on the transfer portal and
bringing guys from different schools, from different systems and get
them all in the same page immediately. And that to
me is why Clemson looks so out of sorts right now,
despite the fact that they have a veteran quarterback.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
And that Steve is part of what really bothers me
about where this team is, because frankly, when we were
coming into the season, I just said, I don't think
it was a big surprise Georgia Tech one today. I
really genuinely believe that. But if I'm going to be honest,
when we came into the season and we were looking
at the top ten, for me, I kept looking around saying, Okay,
there are only a few teams in the top ten
that have something I covert, which is proof of concept.

(08:35):
I want some version of I've seen this quarterback, and
I've seen this quarterback with this coach. If I don't
have that, then I want a quarterback that has seen
a lot of college football, and that gives me the
opportunity to say, Okay, maybe I don't love what we have,
but we have somebody that's played a lot of football.
I like that. I like proof of concept. So when
you think about what Clemson came in with, I mean
you can look across the top tennis we started the

(08:56):
year and say, okay, Garrett and Asmeyert Lsu obviously true
a Penn State, and Clubnick at Clemson. Those are your
three real tandems in the top ten. That gave you
some proven quarterback, coach combo like an eighties wrestling tag team.
I like that. So I felt more comfortable coming into
the season, and then from the outset it just felt
like whatever we expected from Clubnick isn't real. And then

(09:19):
you got to go back to even last year and say, okay,
well it certainly didn't start right for Clubnick, but by
the end of the year it started to blow up.
So I think what we all presumed is that it
clicked at the end of last year. Now, based on
what we know today, I think instead the more accurate
take is that he got hot in a minute, like
anybody can get on a heater at a craps table.
It doesn't mean that's how you should pay your mortgage.
I just I feel like there's some element of Clubnick

(09:42):
that is, and and Clubnick and Clemson together that it
just it had a little moment that gave us hope.
But there's really when you look at the entire body
of evidence. Now you got to look at it and say,
this thing is closer to being a disaster than it
is a success.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
All Right, So I am a UCLA guy. I went
to use CLA. Yeah, and Nico comes in. Imlayava I earned.
I learned how to pronounce his name because I figured,
you know, wow, I mean the guy who had Tennessee
in the playoff a year ago, and he has come
to UCLA. And you know, it's funny because Deshaun Foster
had these you know, shutdown practices. He was not align

(10:18):
the media come in. Now we know why. I mean,
UCLA is arguably the worst team of the country under
normal circumstances. After Luke. When you're fifteen and a half
point favorites at home and you lose by twenty five,
that's a fireball offense. So at least at this point,
Deshaun Foster is is alive. But I don't know for

(10:41):
how long. But the reason I bring this up is
is that again, when you when we see these quarterbacks
go from system to system, you don't know it's a
crap shoot. I mean, we remember DJ Luyungo Lala, another
name I had to learn here in SoCal. He was
another guy that you know went to Clemson, you know,
and then you know, and then he had that last
year right where you know, it's like the one year

(11:02):
rental at Florida's and he was a freaking disaster. And
and so this is this is the challenge for coaches
right now. This is why Nick Saban said, I don't
want any part of this. This is why a lot
of some of the best college basketball coaches said, I'm
not I'm not interested in this. I'm not. I don't
want to be in part of where I have to
not only worry about looking to a transfer portal to

(11:23):
bring in players, but losing players every year. Like I
can't have a shuffling deck every single year. It's one
thing in basketball, Jason, because you know one or two
players can make a difference. But if you have to
overhaul your football team, like the entire roster on a
yearly basis, man, it's going to make it a challenge.

(11:43):
So it's you know, we are we thought, how is
this all going to play out? Well, now we're a
few years into this, and I'll be up front. Look,
I've been around a long time and college football is
my number one. It has always been my number one.
You know I I by the way, I under Dan
you're a Raider fan.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah, life on Diehard.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah. Well, I actually was the media relations director for
the LA Raiders from nineteen eighty four to eighty eight, So.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
I grew up watching the That was my whole life
because they had.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
Just won the Super Bowl and I jarrened him and yes,
we're for Al Davis.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
But I.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Mentioned that because look at I love all sports, but
college football is near and dear to me. But we
are now looking at a professional game. It's one hundred
percent of professional game. We have free agents, guys shuffling
from program to program, and I'm like, how is this
going to play out. It's not playing out well. It's
not good for college football. They're gonna have to figure

(12:39):
this out. This idea of everyone being a free agent
after every single year. I'm telling you, Jason, it can
bring this game down. They had barely thirty thousand people
at the Rose Bowl yesterday. Can you imagine the sticker
shock for a guy like Nico to look up or
and he has over one hundred thousand at Niland Stadium.
And now it looks around and it's like an empty

(12:59):
cab this Rose Bowl, no one watching. And by the way,
in two home games, UCLA's been outscored seventy eight to twenty, So,
I mean, what a comdown. It's as ironic. Aguilar, of course,
was the quarterback UCLA had recruited before Nico came to
UCLA went out of that ends up in Tennessee. He's
playing pretty well, playing pretty well right now.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
It is a friend of mine said that the difference
between the NFL and college football is in the NFL,
you pick your players, and in the college football world,
now players pick you. And the question is can you
develop in a system where every year you're worried between
you're worried about the fine line between I got a
little bello guys, I got to get him better. But
I also got to sell them on staying here, and
I got to make sure they're happy, because if they're

(13:39):
not happy, they might leave, and then I'm rebuilding the
whole whole roster. It is a convoluted world, all right.
A lot of college football to get into. We mentioned
Nico Yama Liiava, but Aglar is great because he's on
the field right now Tennessee taken on Georgia. We'll get
you caught up on the game of the day and
what it means for the college football playoff. Will do
that next. He's Steve Hartman. I'm Jason fitz We're hanging

(13:59):
out with you on Fox Sports Radio on Fox Sports Saturday.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
Hey, what's up, everybody.

Speaker 3 (14:06):
It's me three time pro.

Speaker 5 (14:07):
Bowler LeVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to
announce a podcast called Up on Game?

Speaker 3 (14:13):
What is up on Game?

Speaker 5 (14:14):
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You can only name a show with that type of talent.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
On it Up on Game.

Speaker 5 (14:27):
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Speaker 1 (14:46):
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Speaker 2 (14:58):
Tennessee is sharing their best to give away a game
that it looked like they were in wild control of Intel.
Just now as I'm speaking, I should just stop speaking.
That should be what happens. Oh my lord, Tennessee has
a interception that turns into three points. They're trailing Georgia,
and just as I'm saying, they're melting down, a fifty
six yard heave of a touchdown pass now ties to

(15:21):
score extra point pending in the game of the day,
Tennessee taking on Georgia. In the game, we're all taking
a look at We're hanging out with you on Fox
Sports Radio. He's starting Steve Hartman, I'm Jason fitzbuck Rising
getting the Saturday office. He is at that game. Be
sure to subscribe to the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube. You'll see our
best videos from all of our shows. And don't stop there.
Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away. Let us

(15:43):
know whose take you like and whose takes you don't like.
Just comment on all of it. Just search Fox Sports
Radio on YouTube and subscribe. Steve, you mentioned your UCLA love.
I don't know if you saw this, but you know
it's It was a funny tweet put out in jest
on Twitter x by a Reddit thread that said, reportedly
again joking, reportedly exploring a move to the FCS Big Sky,

(16:05):
to which the Big Sky Conference quote tweeted and said, no,
thank you. That's how far fall like the Big Sky
is like not, We're good. We're good. A stunning reminder
of how weird this college football season already feels. We've
had a weird game here. Georgia was up twenty one
to seven, or I should say Tennessee was up twenty
one to seven. Early on, Georgia looked like they were
going to dominate, and then all of a sudden, Georgia

(16:27):
woke up and it looks like Georgia's in control. This
game between Tennessee and Georgia, such a heated rivalry, the
absolute chaos that is neland stadium right now is incredible,
and it's a reminder. You know you mentioned favorite sports,
Like my favorite sport in the world to watch is
the NFL because I love the Raiders and it's why
I do what I do. But my favorite sports cover

(16:48):
has unquestionably always been college football because frankly, I don't
care who wins and loses. I don't have a favorite team,
and I love watching the environments on days like today,
when you watch what's happening at Nland and you see
a game like this, it just reminds you of for
all the conversation about the off the field stuff and
the transfer portal and nil and everything, the magic of
Saturdays is still magical when you have a game like this.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
Well, I know you're a Tennessee guy, and Jason, I
know you appreciate this, and again you're you're going to
find out in the couple hours going to hang out
with me. I will go back in time a few
stops along my way. But in nineteen ninety six, paid
Manning's junior year the University of Tennessee. I was the
radio analyst for UCLA football, and we opened the season

(17:30):
on the road against Niland Stadium, which had just expanded
to one hundred thousand plus. It was the first year
that the stadium had expanded to one hundred thousand plus.
I do remember, you know, the sea of orange, but
it was more than that. I would say that the
one hundred thousand plus ninety eight percent of them were
wearing number sixteen jerseys. Can you imagine the nil money

(17:51):
he could have made back in the day paid many
so it was crazy. I think they were just they
was just a sea of sixteen jerseys. His junior year.
Tennessee had an easy victory that day, and by the way,
a couple of weeks later, I was at the Big
House in Michigan, another one hundred thousand plus where Michigan
blew out UCLA. But late in the game, Michigan threw
in some freshmen. He made his first pass. It was

(18:12):
a pick six. UCLA's the only touchdout on the game.
Guy was named Tom Brady. It was his very first
college game. But being in that environment, like you say, Jason,
it's like nothing else. You're never going to get this
in the NFL. Ever, ever, ever, in fact, you know
work in the NFL and knowing a lot of players
over the many years, it's always amazing to me when
you talk to football players and they had maybe very

(18:34):
successful NFL careers, even Hall of Fame careers, they will
tell you that they can remember almost every play of
their college career, like they can remember details about the
college games because of the environment. When you get to
the pro level, it's a job. It's a job. Sure
you remember a Super Bowl or something like that, but
by a large weekend and week out, you have no

(18:55):
memory of the games. That's not the case with college football.
So it's the pageantry, it's the history that just takes
college football to the next level. And that's why I
don't want to get rid of that. I don't want
to get rid of rivalries. I mean, I'm like a
Riley at the USC while we need to dump Notre
Dame from our schedule. Really, really, you're going to eliminate
USC Notre Dame from the college football calendar. That is

(19:18):
absolutely nuts. You've got to retain some of that history
that makes college football so special.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's funny you mentioned ninety six that was the year,
I moved to Nashville, and I lived in Nashville for
until twenty seventeen when I moved to Connecticut. So I
was in Nashville for a very long time. I had
grown up on the West Coast and not a huge
and then on the East Coast, but not never in
a big college football environment. So I first moved in
that ninety six season. And back then when I moved,

(19:48):
everybody in Nashville, or I mean, it's still it's a
balls town. Nashville is a balls town. I don't understand that.
I didn't understand when I moved there because I was like, hey,
Vanderbilt's right here.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Right there in Commodore. Something's going on.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
So you're going to drive three hours for a team
and there's one. But anyway, I'm walking up and down
the streets and I see that there's a sports bar
every week at the time that used to be packed
and people were trying to get in. So I walked
into a game, and you know, because I love sports,
so I was like, I'm gonna walk into the sports
bar and just see what's going on. I walked in.
I was just wearing a red shirt because it was
a shirt that I had on. I had no idea
that Tennessee was playing Arkansas that day or that that

(20:20):
would even have a meaning. I made it one foot
in the door before I had a beer thrown in
my face and I was checked from the bar. And
that was my introduction to SEC's football. So for the
longest time, I actually had a bit like, if I'm
being honest, I had a bit of a chip on
my shoulder against SEC football, against the Balls, because I
just thought they were rude, crazy fans. Then I was
lucky enough with touring and country music for years to

(20:42):
tour with some diehard Balls fans, and you see how
much it means. I think that's the great thing. The
reason I love college football, to your point, is that
it doesn't matter whether we're talking about Michigan, Ohio State, Texas,
Alabama who rolled today. Obviously, this Tennessee Georgia game, like
there is a beauty. And this is always the way
I test people on it. If you're just sitting around

(21:03):
and you're going to turn on a game on Saturday
that you have no interest in, but you know it's
a big game, so you turn on the TV and
you've got Georgia Tennessee. You don't have a dog in
the fight and you watch the environment, I think the
environment is captivating. If you have no dog in the
fight and you don't really care on Sunday and you
turn on an NFL game, I don't think it resonates
the same way for people that have absolutely no rooting

(21:26):
interest one way or the other. There's something about the
pageantry in the one hundred thousand and the fans and
the way they dress up the fact that Neiland is
checkerboarded inside, not because their seats are orange and white,
but because the fans know which section they're sitting in,
so they know whether or not to wear an orange
shirt or a white shirt. To create the entire visual
that we're seeing. Like, there's just something about the generational

(21:47):
sort of I don't know, generational connection that comes with
these teams that's beautiful. We'll keep getting updated on the scores. Namely,
we do have a twenty eight sweat and twenty seven
game right now going into the fourth quart of Martin.
We'll get Martin White to help us get all the
scores and get you updated on what's going across the landscape.

Speaker 6 (22:03):
Right now, brother, you're right now Georgia with the ball
now twenty eight to twenty seven, So Georgia trailing did
started the fourth quarter as they just got.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
A first down there. It's been a back and forth
game thus far.

Speaker 6 (22:17):
Really the game of the day so far, because outside
of one other one. We'll get to that in just
a moment. Penn State with a thirty eight to nothing
lead over Villanova with just under eleven minutes left in
the fourth quarter. Oregon State in Texas Tech finally getting
started the twenty first rint Red Raiders with a seven
to nothing lead just under nine minutes left in the
first quarter. That was in a rain delay for a

(22:39):
very long time. I was stayed in Arkansas State seventeen
to thirteen, the fourteenth winning Cyclones in the lead with
six minutes and six minutes left in the third quarter.
Texas pulling away a little bit from UTEP seventeen to
three as they just kicked a field goal eight minutes
left in the third quarter there.

Speaker 4 (22:58):
And Miami South Florida still in her rain delay. Excuse me.

Speaker 6 (23:03):
Oregon beat Northwestern thirty four to fourteen. Earlier today we
saw Oklahoma with a big win over Temple. Alabama blew
out Wisconsin. Michigan blew out Central Michigan. Auburn thirty one
to fifteen over South Alabama Missouri fifty two to ten
over Louisiana Georgia Tech with a fifty five yard field
goal as the clock hit zero to beat Clemson. That's

(23:24):
Clemson's second loss on the year. They were twelfth after
losing already. They started out fourth in the polls. Now
they they were twelfth today they will fall pretty precipitously,
I imagine after this loss here and again Tennessee Georgia
the game of the day thus far, the fifteenth ranth
Volunteers with a twenty eight to twenty seven lead over

(23:45):
the six ringed Bulldogs, who just got into the red
zone on a pass completion on second and five.

Speaker 4 (23:52):
Fitz, Steve back to you, guys.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
Hey, you mentioned how even this game has been. They
entered the fourth quarter each team with three hundred and
fifty six yards of total offense. It's about as even
as you can get in this game. It's crazy, Steve,
when you've got this sort of back and forth game,
like we will mask all of the warts at college football,
and that's the craziest part of the game. We will
mask all of the warts, even the other games today
that have just been trash, We'll mask all of it

(24:17):
by having one epic finish in an SEC rivalry match up.

Speaker 3 (24:20):
I have to break in for a moment here on
the Arch Manning situation, if it's okay with you, Jason,
And the reason being is is that we have been conned. Well,
this is the thing about nil money, right, So Arch
Manning who played high school football in a league that

(24:42):
was a lower level league. It was one of those
leagues where you can pile up good numbers and he
had the Manning name on top of that, and then
there was always the suspicion of this, if this guy's
going to be a future number one overall pick in
the NFL draft, how is it that he's sitting for
two years behind Quinn Yewers, who ended up being a
seventh round pick in the NFL. And now we know

(25:04):
first half today against UTEP five of sixteen passing sixty
nine yards, no touchdowns, in a pick five of sixteen
sixty nine yards, notchte touchdowns and a pick at home
against the UTEP Miners. This is one of the greatest

(25:24):
frauds ever perpetrated in the history of college football, arch
man and forget the numbers, just the eyeball test. You know,
I don't. I'm a stats guy, big time stats guy,
but I will depend on the eyeball test. They go
back to that opening game against Ohio State and they
were reviewing film of that game. He had receivers open
down field. He just refused to pull the trigger. Check down,

(25:48):
check down, checkdown. And now Texas has come out in
the second half. Think about this. They're halfway through the
third quarter, He's thrown one pass for eight yards. They're
running the ball on every down. This is one of
the greatest frauds in the history of college football. Arch

(26:09):
Manning should transfer to an FCS school right now, because
that's where he belongs. He is not a major college talent,
much less a potential number one overall pick in the
NFL draft. We have been fooled. We are talking about
Clemson Uller. We are fooled by that. But this one

(26:32):
is next level. Jason arch Manning. I'm telling I'm watching.
I've seen a lot of quarterbacks in my lifetime. He
doesn't have it. He's not even close to being a
Division one elite quarterback. Are you kidding. He's barely passable
six of seventeen passing at home against UTIP today.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
Even last week, when you look back, I know people say, well,
four touchdowns in this game, and I heard people at
the time saying, oh Arch cleaned it up. I argued
that that wasn't true. If you watched the first quarter
on that he had two overthrows that should have been
picked And I mean, if you're overthrowing your guys and
should be picked against, I don't know, San Jose State,
you got a problem. And now they're taking to your
point that it's UTEP. It's not like they've got The

(27:15):
one nice thing for Texas is they've got a little
bit before they're actually challenged in this game or in
this season. But the other angle on this that I think,
or the other important point that I think needs to
be made, is look back at last year. You mentioned
Quinn Ewers being a seventh round pick. I'll double down
on that and say late in the season, Quinn Eewers
was hobbled and needed help and he was just injured

(27:36):
and you could see that. And what did Texas need
in that moment. Texas needed a mobile quarterback that could
run around and buy him a little bit of time
to make some extra plays. That's exactly what Art is
supposed to do. But they never got that opportunity. They
never put him in the game, and that has to
say so, Like I'm looking around saying, do we suddenly
believe that Sark is an incompetent coach? Because if we
don't believe that, then why wouldn't you go to the

(27:57):
quarterback that can help you with what you need when
your starter is obviously a shell of himself. They didn't
do that, So I think your point's are valid one.
And by the way, that's part of why it's really dangerous,
even for NFL fans listening. It is so dangerous. I've
been lucky enough to cover the NFL Draft every single
year of my career, first for ESPN, now for Yahoo Sports.
I've covered it every year of my career. And one

(28:18):
of the dumbest things we do when we're covering a
draft is we say, well, next.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
Year's quarterback class looks.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Like it's going to be elite, ye based on what Like,
we didn't know Jayden Daniels was going to be Jaden No,
we had no idea. So like where we sit today, Burrow.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
Anybody think Joe Burrow is going to be that quarterback
going into senior at LSU.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
No, one hundred percent, you're one hundred percent. And I
keep looking at all this saying it takes. There are
so many variables that when we go into the season
that if your answer is a fan is well, we'll
address quarterback next year. Will you are we really sure
that next year's quarterback lass is going to be better?
Or are you really sure that this one's going to suck?
Like I just I think there's too much forward looking

(28:56):
right now in college football, and Arch is the great
example of that. There are Saints fans there that had
been that became comfortable with the concept of we're going
to suck this year, so we gave the first overall
pick to get Arch and then lost their minds when
you know, it looked like Arch might not want to
come out. And now we're watching an Arch that certainly
isn't going to be ready to come out, like Arch
needs more time in college football. That's alarming to me, Steve,

(29:17):
it is.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
I mean, I'm sure that when cam word was an
incarnate word, you said, well, that guy's gonna be the
first pick in the draft. I mean, look at this guy.
No one said that. I mean, there is a development
in these quarterbacks. Right now, I am done. Texas just
intercepted a pass at midfield and they are running the
ball on every play. We are now at the below

(29:39):
the six minute mark of the third quarter and arch
Manning has thrown one pass in this half. They're running
it on every play against you tap, I mean they're hiding.
Arch Manning at this point six of seventeen passing for
seventy seven yards, no touchdowns and a pick. Unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
But there's so even another level to what you just
said that I think is important. By the way, you
listening to Steve Hartman and Jason Fitz. We're hanging out
with the on Fox Sports Radio. With the iHeartRadio app,
you can stream us wherever you happen to be. Catch
us and all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live
twenty four to seven and the new and improved app.
Just search Fox Sports Radio in the app. Stream us
live all day, every day, and be sure to select
Fox Sports Radio is one of your presets in the

(30:20):
iHeart app, so we'll always pop up the top of
your screen. And you mentioned Texas and where they are
right now, Well they're taking on youtub. Look, you're gonna
win this football game. You should win this football game.
You're up seventeen to three. You're running the football every play.
I think that's the wrong strategy here. Even if Art sucks,
he needs these reps, y you need like you're gonna

(30:40):
be able to beat Utep one way or the other.
So start putting the ball in his hands and figure
it out. Like, figure it out if you've even got
your starting quarterback that can make you an elite team
in the SEC. Because if the answer to that is
you don't. I don't care how much nil money he's made,
and I don't care how much fans want him in there,
and I don't care if the local Buddy Garrity of
the Texas football team wants him in there. Also, you
got to figure out what quarterback can actually win the

(31:02):
SEC for you, because right now it ain't Arch No.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
I mean, you have the Sea. This was the team
that was ragged number one in the country going into
the season. Number one. Texas had never been a preseason
number one team. Look, next week they have Sam Houston
and then they get right into the meat of it.
You got a desperate FLOORIDA team on the road Oklahoma
whose quarterback actually looks good then you know road games.

(31:27):
I mean, come on, I mean this is unreal. I mean,
I had no idea. The mystery has been really exposed
of why why this guy with all the high would
sit for two years, two years behind a guy that
eventually became a seventh round pick in the NFL. And
that's because he doesn't have the talent. He just doesn't

(31:49):
have the talent. He played in high school. He ran
up numbers against overmatch high school teams. That's what he did.
It was complete fraud at I mean, I don't want
to just be labor this point, but I mean this
game that we're watching right now is stunning. This is
the kind of game that you've seen these other quarterbacks
put up huge numbers Jays, you know, like the eighteen

(32:10):
of twenty one, two hundred and sixty yards, five touchdowns.
Take a seat, you know at halftime. That's what this
game is supposed to be. It's seventeen to three, Texas
a preseason number one is up by two scores against
UTEP in the third quarter at home. Come on, so
there's another school you can dismiss because they don't have

(32:31):
the quarterback. Erase Texas, they will not be a factor
at all this season in terms of any playoff or
national championship. They just don't have it. I mean, I'll
tell you this though, they do have a running game,
and so at least I'll say this for Sark, he
realizes his best talent is not his quarterback, it's his

(32:52):
running game. And that's the direction he's going right now.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah, but you're running against UTEP and you're not wrong,
by the way, but you're running again TEP. I mean,
that's like playing a dodgeball with the fat kid in
fifth grade. Like I was the fat kid, So I
get this, But like there is some element of your
running the football against a team that you should be
able to run the football against it. And your point
is a really important one about what it means for

(33:16):
Texas to season, because I think we have to understand
that success is differently defined for different programs. So if
your idea for success is Texas, for Texas is can
they get into the college football Playoff? Well, given their
schedule and their preseason expectations and the fact that they
can run the football, probably can't get into it. But
can they win a national championship? I don't think so.

(33:36):
And that's why, like I said as we started the show,
can can Clemson find their way into the college football Playoff?
Maybe they can win a bad ACC I don't know.
But does that make them a national championship contender?

Speaker 3 (33:45):
No?

Speaker 2 (33:45):
Hell no it doesn't. By the way, a busted coverage
in the back for Georgia who had taken a lead.
They just another long touchdown. We always keep talking, we
keep talking about Kirby can take down Hypel every time
these two go at it.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
How often does Georgia give up this many points?

Speaker 2 (34:01):
Georgia gave up more plays of more than fifteen yards
in the first half than they'd given up all season combined.
So wow, Tennessee is gashing them with big plays. It
is thirty four to thirty pending the extra point. We'll
keep getting updated on the college football scores. You need
to know. Plus, the level of chaos we're about to
see tomorrow could absolutely blow your mind in Kansas City.

(34:23):
We'll tell you about it next on Fox Sports Radio.
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio. He's Steve Hartman,
I'm Jason Fitz We're hanging out with you on Fox
Sports Radio. On a Fox Sports Saturday, Tennessee has put
up four hundred and thirty one yards of total offense

(34:43):
on Georgia. They're ahead thirty five to thirty with nine
and a half minutes to go. Georgia with the ball,
and what essentially at this point is video game football team.
It's no longer like this is we are watching EA Sports,
you know, college football video game in frontals. There's no defense,
there's nobody stopping anybody. The both teams are just march
up and down the field as they see fit.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Well, I mean, again, this is not what we've seen
from Georgia recently obviously. I mean they have, you know,
a couple of years ago there, like their entire defense
was drafted, you know, so they're for whatever reason, Georgia
just does not have the defensive personnel that we've seen
over the last couple of years, and Tennessee has taken
advantage and get back to Joey Agilar twenty one to

(35:22):
twenty nine, three hundred and fifty one yards, four touchdowns.
Did have a couple of picks in this game, but
this is a kid that was signed, sealed and delivered
to come to UCLA, and then Nico decided to leave
Tennessee to come to Ucla. By the way, I heard,
they've been brutal, brutal on Ia Malayava and his departure

(35:42):
from Tennessee and all over his ass. Now that he
is sitting on a UCLA team that is.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Zero and three, Oh yeah, I mean, you know, Klay
Travis doesn't miss a single opportunity on Twitter x to
make sure that the world knows that Nico made a decision.
It's interesting to me because you mentioned the landscape of
college football earlier, and I think it's just going to
be part of the conversation around the balls every single time.
Oh we have a bubble. Oh yeah, you're I think
you're ahead of me. You must be at I'm a

(36:08):
little ahead of you.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
But it looks like Georgia does fumbled and Tennessee has recovered.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Again another Unfortunately, this game has had its fair share
of turnovers. So it's interesting that I mentioned neither team
playing any defense. This feels like one of those games
where both teams are going to pick up a bunch
of yards, but it's gonna be who can make the
other team make a mistake here or there, and man,
with this timing left, now we have two turnovers on
each side for each team. I should say, boy, this

(36:37):
becomes all the way back to what I've been saying
for the whole season. Like Gunner stocked in the quarterback
for Georgia drops back, doesn't feel the pressure coming. Gunners
had some really good moments, but man, it makes me nervous.
It makes me nervous. These games are decided in the margins,
and quarterback play is everything in the modern college football landscape.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Well, but because of the change with the playoff, the
expansion to twelve schools, and we saw it last year
obviously with Ohio State, I mean, one of the ugliest
losses in Buckeye history, losing that game to Michigan that
would have been in right, Oh, you're right, And they
still sneak in as an eight seed and they end
up getting on a run they win the national championship.

(37:16):
So you know, we're sitting here, we're watching because we
were talking about Alabama how bad they looked against Florida State.
Well they looked obviously much better today. So you know,
I don't know, are you in favor of even expanding
the playoff beyond twelve. I here's what I hate about
this one, Jason, is the bye I predicted last year,
one of a few few times I actually said something

(37:38):
that was right, where the teams that had the buys
were all in trouble, deep trouble, and all four of
them lost.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
All of them.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
Buys don't work on the college game. They barely work
at the professional level. So I would either have eight
teams or sixteen. Everyone should have the same number of
games in the playoffs. But the idea of saying, well,
we need more SEC schools and more Big ten schools
in the playoff. This is my frustration right now, Jason,

(38:06):
with where we're going right now in the college game.
No one seems to really have a sense what directions
should we should go. But right now we have a
completely discombobulated menu that I look at right now for
college football, and it's driving me nuts.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
That's because everybody's worried about what they want, and nobody's
worried about what's best for the game long term. And
that's the craziest part about this is the Big ten's
worried about the Big Ten, the SEC is worried about
the SEC, and the other conferences are worried that the
Big ten and the SEC will simply walk away and
take their ball with them and leave the playground if
they're not happy. So for me, I actually I think

(38:42):
playoff expansion to sixteen is inevitable. So you know, to me,
it's just rip off the band aid. I'm very logic
driven in everything that I do, So if the logic
tells me we're going to go to sixteen anyway, then
let's just go to sixteen and get there. There is
this point where, you know, so often they talk about
diminishing returns. Don't think that there's diminishing returns on football.
It's just the ratings are always through the roof on

(39:05):
these things compared to what anything else would ever give us.
So even if the argument is the ratings are down,
I've said this for years with college basketball because I
love college basketball, and you'll hear people say, oh, well,
you know, the ratings of college basketball are bad for
this or that. My question is, Okay, what are the
ratings for a college basketball game that nobody's talking about
in January versus whatever else the network would be playing

(39:26):
that day. And the answer is they're better. So as
long as the ratings for college football expansion are better
than they would be for whatever else the network would
be asking us to watch in that moment, then we're
gonna get it. And it's just the way it's gonna be.
So the only way that if you're a college football
die hard, the only way that you can really affect
change would be to stop watching what you don't like.

(39:48):
But the fact is, nobody that loves the sport of
college football is gonna stop watching college football. Huge kick,
by the way, forty eight yard field goal Tennessee takes
a thirty eight to thirty leaves.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
Yeah, that's They're looking awfully right now. And obviously the
fans and Kneeland are very happy. You know, a lot
of people are frustrated right now. You know, Ohio State, well,
they had no business winning a national championship. They lost
two games. They lost to Michigan. I'm like, welcome to
professional sports. Yeah, the best team doesn't always win the championship.
Does anyone believe that that Giants team that defeated the

(40:20):
Patriots when their undefeated season was a better team, Well
they were that day. They could play ten times, they
would beat them once, but it was that day. This
is the way it is in professional sports all the time.
The best team doesn't always win. It's the right place,
right time. You know, there's a lot that goes into
winning a championship in a playoff format, and that's where

(40:43):
we are right now in college football.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
You're one thousand percent right. We'll keep breaking on this
result and everything else from the college football Saturday when
we come back. He's Steve Hartman. I'm Jason Fitt, hanging
out with you on Fox Sports Radio. You're listening to
Fox Sports Radio Radio. The game of the day is
down to the wire to drying me. The finish of
the year so far, and we're here for every single

(41:05):
second of it. Got you covered on Fox Sports Radios. Tennessee,
Georgia is giving us an electric finish at neland Stadium.
He's Steve Hartman. I'm Jason Fitz. I have a question
by Steve. All right, as we watched this game go
down to the wire right now in Tennessee, as you
just heard from, Martin Weiss is up thirty eight thirty
with three forty five to go. It was a big

(41:25):
touchdown earlier and I'm looking at Twitter X right now,
a big touchdown pass by Tennessee big touchdown catch, Georgia
fans absolutely losing their minds about the fact that they
thought there should have been an offensive pass interferance on it.
And it's one of the things that absolutely drives me crazy.
So you know, peak me on the curtain here to
when I'm not watching sports, I am currently obsessed with.

(41:47):
I'll admit it, like it's weird. I'm currently obsessed with
on YouTube like sovereign citizen, traffic stops and court drama.
I've decided I like my version of law and order,
like we're Everybody's like, no, the laws don't apply to me,
and then they go to court and they're like, the
laws don't apply to me. And the craziest part about
that when we get to court is that so often
the judge will rule on something and explain very clearly

(42:10):
why they're ruling on what they're ruling, and you'll hear
the sovereign citizen argument say well, I object. And I
was watching one the other day where the judge kept saying,
you can't object to this. I've ruled. So you may
not like my ruling. You can appeal my ruling, but
you can't object and the guy just kept screaming. I object.
What I think is funny is that the broadcast did
a beautiful job of explaining why the play in question

(42:31):
was not offensive past interference. The rules expert came in
and did a beautiful job. I've got close captioning on
the studio during the break I watched it. At the
time I watched it, I thought, that's a really good breakdown.
So I did the wrong thing. I looked at Twitter
X and I see everybody losing their minds like this.
I don't know what everybody wants. Just because somebody puts
their hands on somebody doesn't mean it's necessarily offensive or

(42:52):
defensive pass interference. So it's crazy to me that we
watch these games and even when people offer expertise, fans
cheer not to listen, Like it's like talking to a
conspiracy theorist. You can you can convince a conspiracy theorist
of another conspiracy theorist, you just can't convince them of
a fact ever. And I feel like that's what's become
a football consumption in general. Everybody's convinced that their team

(43:14):
is going to get a call that absolutely screws them.
And I think The truth is, if you put truth
seeram in all of our ages, your favorite team's going
to get some calls. They're not going to get some calls,
And over the course of the year, they're probably going
to win a game they shouldn't and they're probably going
to lose the game they shouldn't. And if you just
accept that the human portion of this is just going
to make that happen, you'd have a much better watching experience.
I don't know how to keep fans happy.

Speaker 3 (43:35):
Well, you remember with the NFL and that infamous Saints
game where they had the non call on the pass interference.
So the NFL decided that offseason, fine, we'll do review
of pass interference. Of course that was a non call.
Can you review a non call that they didn't have that?
It was a disaster, Jason. I mean, that's why after

(43:57):
one year they killed it. Look, it's it's hard. It's
hard now to look back before replay on both the
collegiate level and the pro level, of how many games,
some of the most famous games of all time, could
have had an alternate ending had they had replay. That

(44:18):
happens all the time you look back. I mean, the
history of sports if replay had always been there would
have a very different look because there have been a
lot of phantom touchdowns. Or you remember, obviously the Galarraga
perfect game where the first May's umpire blows it.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
The guy through a perfect.

Speaker 3 (44:38):
Game doesn't go on the record books because the Empire said, no,
he's safe at first. So I mean, this is what
we're faced with. Plus with social media, Jason, you know,
they replay these scenes over and over and again. We
see this not out justin sports. It's everyone has got
their own set of rules right now, and because of
social media, you find somebody that actually believes what you believe.

(45:03):
Oh I'm not the only one that thought that was
a bad call. And then it's just a pylon situation.
So unfortunately, this is where we're at. You know, there
was frustration back in the day. And again I'm old school,
and this is you know, there was a time when
there were blown calls.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
All the time that you look back like.

Speaker 3 (45:22):
No, no, no, no. I remember usc Charles White, Heisman
Trophy winner scored a winning touchdown against Michigan and the
Rose Bowl he clearly fumbled in mid air.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
Was even close.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
You watch the replays two yards short of the goal
I touchdown, USC wins and it's in the record books.
Replay would have reversed it.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
So I know where won a national championship. Down down,
what are we doing? By the way, quickly, Georgia just
scored a touchdown on a fourth and six, a twenty
eight yard touchdown pass. They are going for two.

Speaker 3 (45:56):
Week predict he's gonna make it.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
Ahead. You might be ahead of me, Yeah, you might
be ahead of me. This is the joy of streaming
because we all are in today's world. You're right, two
pointed version's good.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
We have a tie game between Turty all two and
a half minutes ago. All right, so let's see what
Joey Agilar does here. Look, if you're Tennessee, if you're
a hyper right now, you want to you want to
eat up clock right, I mean, you don't want to
give Georgia an opportunity match. It's not like Tennessee hasn't
been moving the ball all game long. They have three
hundred and fifty one yards through the air, they have

(46:28):
four hundred and forty total yards. So this is the
perfect opportunity for Tennessee. Huge game matchup to beat Georgia,
even at home, would be huge for Tennessee. But yeah,
you just want to grind it out, use up clock,
and somehow come down to, you know, a last second
field goal attempt, chip shot to win the game. That's
what the balls are hoping to do.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Yeah. I also believe that life gets easier in overtime
in college football than it does with what you're facing
now with two thirty two to go. With two thirty two,
you're going to have to go down the entire field.
You're gonna have to hope nobody makes a mistake. You
want to be aggressive, but not too aggressive. To your point,
if you don't do it quickly. If you do it
too quickly, you leave time. If you're three and out

(47:09):
quickly because you're trying to be aggressive, you leave them opportunity.
There is a fine line here, But the way college
football is particularly set up for overtime gives your offense
such an opportunity to just keep the game going and
score because of the proximity worth with where you start.
I don't know, Like with two thirty two, there's just
a both teams have a full count of timeouts right now,

(47:30):
thirty eight thirty eight to two thirty two to go,
Georgia kicking off to Tennessee at Newland Stadium in the
game of the day. Also, I will say this, Steve,
both of these teams look like playoff caliber football teams.
Like no matter who loses this football game Tennessee, I
think is proven that they belong in the college football
playoff conversation throughout the course of this season.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
Well, again, you got twelve schools, So are we gonna
just decide we're gonna get four schools out of the
Big ten, four schools out of the SEC, and then
the ACC Big twelve, and then you're, you know, group
of five get to divide up the other four spots.
Is that it is? That pretty much the format now
for college football playoff?

Speaker 2 (48:07):
I mean, hopefully the committee doesn't. It isn't to beholden
to where it comes from. Look, I'm a believer if
I was the tzar of college football, and unfortunately nobody
yet has given me that title, even though I think
I'm very deserving. If I were with the czar, I
would simply decide on the twelve best. I don't care
where they come from. Unfortunately, that's not the world we
live in. So you're right, by the time we get

(48:28):
the four Power four champions and the highest rank group
of five, you've got five teams that will go in,
and that leaves you seven at largest. How those seven
at largs are split out becomes the heated debate. But
there's just not much in the big Look. The top
of the Big ten is absolutely elite. The middle of
the Big ten it looks more like the bottom of
the Big Ten. Look at what Alabama did and I

(48:49):
don't think Alabama's a great football team this year, but
look at what they did to Wisconsin. I don't think
Wisconsin is a great football team, but they just got
run out of that building. So you know, I wonder
how many SEC teams make it. But if you're Tennessee
currently ranked number fifteen, I don't think you did anything
today that doesn't continue to bolster your resume when you're
taking on the number sixteam in Georgia that by the

(49:11):
end of the year could be even higher.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
See I've been saying this for years, Jason. I'm going
to go back at least twenty five years ago that
I suggested on the air that eventually Division One football
as it was then known not FBS, would end up
with sixty four schools equally divided in four conferences, sixteen

(49:33):
schools in each conference, and then you divide each conference
into two divisions of eight. You play seven games against
every team in your own division, and then you play
either the top half or the other half of the
division within your conference all eleven games within the conference,
and then the two division winners playing a conference championship game,

(49:54):
creating a unique Final four where none of the schools
possibly could have faced each other there at any point
during that season. Now, that was a far fetched idea
twenty five years ago. We're getting close to that. But
they're just there is no reason I would agree with
you this about the twelve best schools. One hundred percent
agree with that, because there's really no room. I'm sorry

(50:16):
for the group of five. They should be their own division.
I mean, they should have their own championship. Let's take
you know again, maybe sixty four schools. Maybe even that's
too many. Well, let's stay sixty four instead of one
hundred and thirty. Let's get it down to sixty four
schools competing on what would be a much even level.
And you know, I just joke, like this New Mexico

(50:38):
game at the Rose Bowl yesterday. You see, LA paid
New Mexico one point two million dollars to play in
that game and then get their ass beat. And I
guarantee you they didn't cover that one point two million
with less than thirty thousand fans at the Rose Bowl.
So again, this is all weird. I mean, what are
we talking about. Why are some of these games being played?
By the way, have you ever heard of Houston Christian?

Speaker 2 (51:01):
No?

Speaker 3 (51:02):
No, they lost to it. I was like, I have
never heard of that school Houston Christian played today.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
I think there's just this weird element for me because
you know, I grew up in Vegas as a kid
and UNLV football. I have a UNLV football behind me.
Am I gonna say that? Like what, am I the
one guy on national media that's a diehard UNLV football fan.
I wouldn't say that. I like I watched UNLV football.
I grew up a UNLV basketball fan because I went
to those games with Stacy Augman and Larry Johnson and

(51:31):
all of that as a kid. I think there's an
element for me though. As much as I love the
fact that if we're being honest, UNLV I think has
a better path to the college football Playoff most years
than the middle of the Big Ten, the middle of
the SEC like the Wisconsin You got a better shot
if you're Dan Mullen, the head coach UNLV football, you
got a better shot at making the college football playoff

(51:53):
as UNLV's head coach then you do, you know, is
if you're a Wisconsin's head coach at this point one
hundred percent to me, because the group of five allows
that opportunity?

Speaker 4 (52:02):
Should it?

Speaker 2 (52:03):
I mean, do I really believe most of years? So
everybody says, well, you know this way, everybody has a chance,
do they. I mean, yeah, you have a chance to
get some of that money and then go in and
get your ass absolutely handed to you by a team
that's bigger, stronger, better, faster, deeper. Like, sure, you might
be able to win a playoff game if you have
Ashton gent As you're running back one year and you're like, hey,

(52:23):
look at what we can do. But do we really
believe that a group of five is going to ever
make a run that puts them consistently in that chance
for a national championship? Answers No. So it's just to me,
it's a condescending way to get another team in where
you say everybody has a chance, but you don't really
Steve have a.

Speaker 3 (52:41):
Chance, Jason. I see Martin just waving his hand at
me right now. Yes, Martin, you want to interject something
I do.

Speaker 6 (52:47):
Houston Christian University, Yes, is a recently renamed version of
Houston Baptist Universe that.

Speaker 4 (52:54):
Makes sense, which you may have heard of.

Speaker 6 (52:57):
Notable alumni include Bailey's Happy Yes, I remember Houston Baptist.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
I thought this Houston Christian came out of nowhere.

Speaker 4 (53:04):
Tayln's hunt on the Eagles diva divine Houston Christian.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
Thank you. I was curious I saw Houston Christian. I'm like,
where did this school come from?

Speaker 2 (53:12):
I still live in a world where I think a
University of North Texas is being a great jazz band program,
not a football team. I'm just gonna be honest, man, like,
this is so to your point, that's just it's weird.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
It is right, all right. We got under two minutes
to go right now. Tennessee is sitting there. They got
a first down right now at their own thirty nine
yard line. So they're doing what I was hoping they
would do. If you're a Tennessee fan trying to grind
it out the running the ball right now. In fact,
they just cross midfield, so use up the clock for

(53:44):
both teams have three timeouts, so we'll see how this
plays out. But Tennessee on the move tied thirty eight
all with Georgia.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
Now, the surprising part of it this is you've got
a head coach known for defense at Georgia and a
head coach known for offense at Tennessee, and that head
coach at that Kirby Smart, absolutely kicked typos butt for
the most part, and in this game it's going the
other way. We'll get you updated on how this all
plays out. Coming up next to Steve Hartman, I'm Jason fitz.
We're getting it caught up on everything you need to
know in college football, hanging out with you on a

(54:11):
Fox Sports Saturday on Fox Sports Radio. We'll get the
end of the game coming next. For the first time
in his entire career, Max Gilbert, sophomore for the Tennessee Volunteers,
is about to attempt what would be a game winning
or game tying and he's never done either in his career.
Field goal seven seconds to go in the matchup between

(54:34):
fifteenth rank Tennessee and sixth rank Georgia. The game tied
at thirty eight each seven seconds to go. Gilbert the
sophomore about to come out and try and win the game.
I can't imagine he's Steve Hartman. I'm Jason Fitz. We're
hanging out with the on Fox Sports Radio. I cannot
imagine the adrenaline for the best pregame show. By the way,
speaking of adrenaline, every weekend, be sure to tune into
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Bett MGM

(54:56):
every Saturday and Sunday morning. Got you to counting down
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intel Kickoff for all the best plays and up to
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here on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart app.
You can just see the angst on the faces of
everybody at Nland Steve as they are getting ready to

(55:18):
attempt what would be the game winning kick, and I
just I know it's his kicker. It's a kicker's job.
I just always think about the fact that you know,
for these kids, you don't know like in his career
he's never attempted a game tying or game winning field goal,
and now in front of one hundred thousand people, I
just can't tell if like you're in your mind, are
you thinking, hell, yes, I've dreamed about this moment since
I was a kid, or in your mind you feel
a little puckered up. I will find out, but I

(55:40):
don't know.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
Well. I mean, it's a very makeable field goal, so
if he misses, it's a choke job. Let's let's call
it for what it is. This actually played out exactly
like I thought I was going to play out here, Jason,
where Tennessee very methodically burn clock. I was a little
surprised that Kirby Smart didn't call some timeouts earlier. Finally
he burned through all his timeouts to get some time left.
They're gonna actually run another play. So they're running another

(56:05):
play to even get it down further, although they only
one second came off the clock, and there's a flag
on the play on top of all that, and it's
an illegal proceede Are you kidding me? What did Tennessee
just do? So now they have to move this back
five yards, So they decided to actually run another play.

(56:25):
Clearly the left guard move quick, and so instead of
a thirty seven yard field goal, now the guy's liking
at a forty two yard field goal. Hey, thanks a lot,
great call, Josh Hipel, What are you doing? That is
unbelievable what Tennessee just did for a kicker that you

(56:45):
mentioned has never had an opportunity to attempt a field
goal like this. Let's move it back another five yards.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
Thank god, it wasn't holding. That'd be even worse. Hypel
called a great two minute drive.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
Though.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
I mean, there were a couple of times where I
thought for sure they were just gonna run it, and
they threw it in a couple of times that I thought,
well and got it like. It felt like they were
one step ahead of Kirby Smart every single time.

Speaker 3 (57:04):
Kid looks so young, Jason, Oh oh.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
That's why I looked him up like he looks like
he's wow.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
It just like for me, there was moment I got
news for you.

Speaker 2 (57:13):
You're ahead of me. So tell the world what happens.

Speaker 3 (57:16):
Missed chokedad he choked three seconds left. It wasn't even close.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
Oi, Oh my god, Now that.

Speaker 3 (57:28):
Was a push way to the right. He choked it
and we will be heading to overtime. The craziest part
of me, that's a good thing. They moved him back
five yards. That was a brilliant move. Brilliant move.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
The hardest part about this is now, if you're that kid,
if you're Max Gilbert, the kicker for Tennessee, you got
to get that out of your mind quick because you're
going into overtime and the way the game is structured
in overtime, you are going to need to make kick
after kick after kick possibly, so you got to get
it down. When you see the replay, the kick was,
the snap was good, the hold was good. He just
pushed it. It wasn't even close hard like it's and

(58:04):
he looks stunned on his face. But it's just one
of those moments where everything about it looked right except
for the kick. And that is now, if you're Tennessee,
you got to recalibrate quick.

Speaker 3 (58:15):
Why did they run that extra play? I have no
idea what they did.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
The fans look absolutely still.

Speaker 3 (58:24):
Well, they should be stunned because it wasn't just the kick,
it was the call before the kick. We had seven
seconds left, you know, we're focusing on the kicker and
they reline it for another play. The guard pulls up early,
move the ball back another five yards. That couldn't have
done well for the psyche of the kicker, and now
they're heading to overtime. I'll put it this way right now,

(58:47):
I would not bet Tennessee in real time.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
In this overtime now, I mean, it's just looking at
Hypel's face and thinking about what I just said, and
just getting your entire team to reset. You were in
a game that you were up twenty one to seven.
You're in a game that you were up eight with
four minutes to go, you were in a game where

(59:10):
you had the opportunity to win it with the game
winning kick, and you each of those times you melt
it down like this is one of those moments where
they got to quickly figure out how to put all
of that mess behind him and say, hey, if we'd
started the day saying we're going to overtime with Georgia,
we'd feel pretty good about it. Steve, I mean, that's
asking a lot of that. He's gonna have to get
that sideline normalized quickly.

Speaker 3 (59:30):
Jason I got to interject. So apparently what happened here
was the reason they ran the extra play was to
center the ball. In other words, so he was like
on the left hash. Well, if he had remained on
the left hash, he would have made the field goal
because by moving it into the center, it went right.
If he had stayed on the left hash, they would

(59:52):
have made the field goal.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
Wow, I mean you probably are talking to your kicker
like where do you want the ball? Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:00:00):
The middle?

Speaker 3 (01:00:01):
Okay, well we're going to get it into the middle.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
It's so hard to for that kick because it's just
you're right, And now if they lose this game, this
is where your point earlier comes back into focus of
the fact that this is essentially professional football now right
like it is. The grace was the grace was barely
there for generations of college football fans anyway, But now
just the concept of everybody involved is, well, you're you're

(01:00:26):
paid professional, Like, go, I'll make that kick, and I
just the hardest part of leaving it at the foot
of the kicker is that, again, when you've got a
kicker that's never had to attempt a game tying or
game winning field goal, like you just have no idea
how he's going to control adrenaline and I don't say
that like controlling adrenaline is an easy thing. Not everybody
can do it. But one of the toughest things, particularly

(01:00:48):
about college kickers, is if you go all the way
back to high school. I don't give a damn what
they did in high school. You're talking about one hundred
thousand people in front of you. How somebody will handle
I'll go back to my music. You never knew the
biggest crowd ever played in front of was one hundred
and ten thousand. You have no idea how you were
going to handle the adrenaline of one hundred and ten

(01:01:09):
thousand until you've had to do it, and just looking
at a kid that's kicking and saying, hey, you got
to go through everything in your process, and you got
to do it exactly the right way, and you've got
to calm down, and you've got to get your heart
break down. You've got to do all of these things.
It's a lot of variables.

Speaker 3 (01:01:24):
At the end of the game, Yeah, well, obviously did
not work out right, But I imagine we'll get the
full story in exactly why they ran that last play.
Whose decision was to get it in the middle of
the field. Did you confer with your kicker. If he
said staffs where he wanted in future times, he'll want
it on the left ash because he pushes it right.

(01:01:46):
That was unbelievable. So wow, that is And again, if
Tennessee ends up losing this game in overtime, this is
one of those you know, like you said, tough for
the kid, but hey, you know what, this is the
big time? Can you handle it? He couldn't on that kick,
So maybe you need to find it an other line
of work. You know, really focus on your studies. You're
getting a college education.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
Well let's get I want you to hear how I
went down. But first let's let's go to Martin Weiss.
Let's get an update on what's going on, and then
we'll get you caught back up on what that sounded like.

Speaker 6 (01:02:17):
I mean, Steve, he wasn't gonna make the field goal
five yards closer, our ten yards closer.

Speaker 3 (01:02:22):
But if he had been on the left hash, he
had a chance, and he was pushing it right.

Speaker 6 (01:02:25):
He didn't have a chance at all. This guy, Look,
I'm not even trying to knock the kicker, and I
get it. You can't have an illegal four. If we
canna have any type of penalty in that moment, but
knowing the way he missed it, I don't have a
problem with them trying to center the ball at the
end of the game because it looks like it was.

Speaker 4 (01:02:41):
A fifty to fifty proposition at best. That thing was
going in.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
I got news for him. He probably doesn't know his
own kicking. Next time, if you have a choice, go left.
Hash All right, that's what I'm going to work.

Speaker 6 (01:02:51):
Well, we'll see if it comes up again, because we
will have at least one overtime period here between Georgia
and Tennessee thirty eight, all Tennessee missing a potential game
winning field goal as time expired. It's been a back
and forth game thus far. Joey Aguilar with four touchdown passes.
Texas Tech has a twenty one to notzhing lead over
Oregon State with about two minutes nineteen seconds left in

(01:03:12):
the second quarter. Fourth quarter, with just under two minutes left,
Iowa State leading Arkansas State twenty four to sixteen, U
kept trying to get on the touchdown on the board.
As a trail Texas to the seventh three team in
the nation twenty seven to three South Florida and Miami
in a top twenty five ranked matchup fifth ranked Hurricanes
with a twenty one to six lead over the eighteenth

(01:03:34):
lank South Florida Bulls, three eighteen left in the first half.

Speaker 4 (01:03:37):
There that one was under a rain delay for quite
some time.

Speaker 6 (01:03:40):
Miami knocking on the door of the end zone right
now Ohio State with a field goal. With knocking on
the door, well, Carson Beck got in there two yards
rushing touchdown twenty eight to six Miami over South Florida.
Ohio State with a fueld goal. There's under two minutes
left in the first quarter against Ohio Illinois with a
three point lead over one Western Michigan with three minutes

(01:04:02):
and eighteen seconds left to catch that one on FS
one and Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss seventeenth Rainey team
in the nation with a seven and nothing lead over Arkansas.
Earlier today we saw Villain Penn State fifty two to six,
with Villanova with that six points killing a lot the
under and Penn State minus forty whatever they had because
Villanova end up covering that game. Oregon thirty four, Northwestern

(01:04:25):
fourteen Georgia Tech up Jets Clemson twenty four to twenty
one on a fifty five yard.

Speaker 4 (01:04:30):
Fuel goal as time expired. Oklahoma with a big win
over Temple.

Speaker 6 (01:04:34):
Same for Alabama over Wisconsin, Same for Michigan over Central Michigan,
and Auburn and Missouri also winners today. To round out
the top twenty five. Third down now for the volunteers.
Third and nine is an attempt to convert this first
down in the first overtime between Georgia and Tennessee.

Speaker 4 (01:04:51):
Back to you guys, all.

Speaker 2 (01:04:55):
Right, we want you to hear how it went down
just moments ago as we were coming to an end
in regulation. This is what it sounded like when Tennessee
tried to beat Georgia at the end of the football game.

Speaker 4 (01:05:05):
Kicking to the right, Gilbert.

Speaker 2 (01:05:08):
You try to put Tennessee ahead, the kick is away
and the kick is.

Speaker 5 (01:05:15):
Good.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
He missed it. Oh my goodness, What the heck happened there?

Speaker 3 (01:05:25):
What the heck happened there? I love that call. Obviously,
that was Georgia.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
That's got Howard from Learfield, by the way, on that call.
And like I said, Tennessee would have to put it
all behind him and get right back out there for overtime. Well,
they had the ball first in overtime and that led
to three incomplete passages.

Speaker 3 (01:05:45):
All right, well he's attempting another field goal here, Jason
in the first overtime, so he can ill afford a miss,
and this one is right down the middle, so boom,
the kid rebounds and he makes the field goal to
at Tennessee up three in the first overtime.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
By the way, this one from the hash instead of
from the middle.

Speaker 3 (01:06:02):
Yeah, hash, amazing, how that worked.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
What do you know? So we ended up we end
up with three points for Tennessee. Now they're gonna need
a defensive stop in a game that I say defensive
stop and then I laugh out loud. This game is
forty one to thirty eight, and as I said earlier,
it's really been defined by not the ability to actually
stop anybody, but by some big plays on defense, right
like that, that's been sort of the calling card. So
let's see. Now Georgia's had at this point several minutes

(01:06:27):
where they've been just in football minutes, even where they've
been sitting around with their defense on the field and
trying to figure out, you know, how to get their
offense back out there. The last time we saw the
Georgia offense they marched down the field, they converted with
a touchdown pass on fourth and long, and then they
got the two point conversion. So if you're Georgia right now,
you know what you need. You need three to tie

(01:06:48):
and keep this game going. A touchdown wins it for
the Dogs in a game that, again, if you're just
tuning in, Tennessee was up twenty one to seven at
one point, Tennessee was up with by eight with four
minutes to go, and Tennessee had a chance to win
this thing at the end of regulation. Yet here we
sit Georgia's ball in overtime, and this is Steve.

Speaker 3 (01:07:06):
Oh big run all the way down to about the
two yard line. This game looks like it's gonna be
over and Tennessee's gonna lose.

Speaker 2 (01:07:12):
Ah, he's Steve Hartman, I'm Jason fitz It's this is wild.
It is why. I don't know. I just don't know
what to make of this. For Tennessee, I don't know
how you melt down this way. I don't know how
you let it get to this point.

Speaker 3 (01:07:25):
I mean twenty one to seven first quarter, Jason, I
mean Aguilar in the first quarter had two touchdown passes
and a rushing touchdown. I'm one of the fortune ones
that have had a Heisman vote for many years, and
you know, he was definitely on the radar for me
after that first quarter. But you know, games like this
get away from you and it's tough. By the way,

(01:07:46):
one guy that will not win the Heisman this year
is arch Manning. His game is pretty much done. Eleven
of twenty five, one hundred and fourteen yards, a touchdown
and a pick for Texas. Eleven of twenty five against UTEP.

Speaker 2 (01:07:59):
That is shocking.

Speaker 3 (01:08:01):
Eleven of twenty five and by the way, the UTEP
quarterback was twenty four or thirty six against Texas. Arch
Manny against UTEP eleven of twenty five, one hundred and
fourteen yards, touchdown in a pick.

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
Look, Texas was going to win this football game anyway,
and we talked about it earlier. The fact is they
could just run their way to a win.

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
But that.

Speaker 2 (01:08:22):
Is a narrative altering stat line for Arch that I
think we need to really as a college football community,
we all need to take a deep breath, look in
a mirror and learn from this. My biggest issue with
the way that we praised Arch coming in and I
don't mean we, as in you and I the way
that the collective college football community seemed to want to
praise arch and even I will blame some of the

(01:08:44):
NFL draft people that were just insistent that he was
going to be the first pick in the draft next year.
When you stack all of that together, shame on all
of us for just presuming somebody that had played basically
no college football would walk in and truly just have
it figured out from day one. I am stunned to
see this meltdown, But also like we got to learn

(01:09:05):
from this, right, Like Steve, there's a point where we
all got to look around and say, we cannot arch
manning the next kid that we decided to Like, we
didn't even arch manning Bryce Underwood, who is the ighest
paid freshman according to multiple nil reports and we've ever
seen at the quarterback position. We didn't arch manning him.
We didn't decide he was going to be the Heisman
winner from day one. In fact, I think there's been
a little bit of grace for Michigan's quarterback on how

(01:09:27):
he's going to grow into the role. So I think
it's pretty alarming to turn around and just do this
to Arch and then also put ourselves in this situation
where now Arch is an epic disappointment because we decided,
the community decided he was going to be a superstar.

Speaker 3 (01:09:43):
Well, by the way, mister sec Paul Finbaum called him
a generational talent. Generational talent. He wasn't just he wasn't
just good. I mean, this is a generational talent. By
the way, Arch Manning did run for fifty one yards
and a couple of scores, a couple of sh touchdown runs.
Georgia is really knocking on the door. Not quite in yet,

(01:10:05):
but they're getting awfully close.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
Yeah, there's still a chance here for Tennessee to try
and figure out what they're gonna do. Like we we'll
see how that one plays out. I really thought on
second and goal that they got the touchdown, but it
looks like they're calling them short. So we go to
third and goal. Here we here we go third and
goal from what feels like about the one inch line.

Speaker 3 (01:10:23):
At this point, I thought I was with you. I
thought he actually got to the line right.

Speaker 2 (01:10:28):
Yeah, makes it clear.

Speaker 3 (01:10:30):
So he's life not even close, he's well over well.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
Over the Georgia should have just won the football game.
And and it was not called a touchdown. So really interesting.
Knee clearly not down, clearly extends over the line, clearly
breaks the plane, like that is clearly a touchdown.

Speaker 3 (01:10:48):
Some of these officials the gout. The side judge is
looking directly into the line. How and it wasn't like
he was that concealed because we're watching a replay. Oh,
come on, I mean this is yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:11:01):
I mean that's the hard part. Nuts to your point,
it's not even what the view we're seeing is what
the side judge saw, and it's so abundantly clear on
that view that this is just one of those one
of those how the hell did that?

Speaker 3 (01:11:17):
They are reviewing the play. Okay, so we are going
to get a review of the play. The review will
show if the guy that's doing the review actually has
two ey's, that the surge he crossed the and that's it. Yes,
it has been overturned. Georgia has defeated Tennessee. Brutal loss.
Jason for the volunteers.

Speaker 2 (01:11:38):
Yeah, this is this is the sort of loss that
the entire season, the entire season, Tennessee players are going
to think back to this game and it is just
this one will take the win out of their sales.
And unfortunately, like I said, I think I think Tennessee
has every opportunity to be a college football playoff team.

(01:11:58):
They're going to have to look in them. And I'm
not just talking about the Miskick. I'm talking about, as
I've referenced a couple of times, the number of meltdowns
that it took to get to this point. This is
absolutely a staggering loss for the Balls because they know
that they blew multiple opportunities to just put this game
away and it wasn't. To be very clear, this was

(01:12:19):
not Georgia's finest hower. I think Georgia has a lot
to look back on this one and say, yeah, my bad,
this was not Georgia's finest hour. But they get a
win on the road against a team that just absolutely
exploded offensively. I think, Steve, this is this is a
statement win and a statement loss all in one.

Speaker 3 (01:12:38):
Well, and again for Georgia, they've dominated this series. I mean,
they came in with eight straight wins against the Balls,
So this was one where Tennessee so desperately wanted it.
You're up twenty one to seven at the end of
the first quarter, your quarterback is playing out of his
mind and then you know, then you then you all
of a sudden go sideways with your offense for a
couple of quarters. It came to life in the fourth quarter.

(01:13:00):
But you know, as much as we don't want to
blame one guy, yeah, the kicker was given every opportunity,
you know, and the kid just wasn't up for the moment. Unfashionate.

Speaker 4 (01:13:11):
That's the that's man.

Speaker 2 (01:13:12):
That's a fine line on all of it because it
never comes down to one play, but it also sort
of comes down to one play at I.

Speaker 3 (01:13:17):
Mean, this is the thing with coaches always say, especially
at the college level, imagine your fate as a coach
is put in the hands of an eighteen, nineteen twenty
year old. I mean, I don't know what your mindset
was at age twenty, Jason. I'm sure it was into
your music whatever it might have been at the time,
but I mean still, I mean, this is.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
Tough, tough, Yeah, I think that there's the hard part
about this is certainly when I was nineteen or twenty, yes,
I was definitely very focused on my ability to do
what I needed to do for.

Speaker 4 (01:13:49):
My job, There's no doubt about that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:51):
But not every It's just not every nineteen year old
kick can handle that moment, and the fact that it
came down to that variable is absolutely suffocating for each
member of that team. But also, man, that's just gonna
be hard for, you know, for the entire team to
just put behind them, especially on a day where Aguilar
did have a massive I mean, Agilar was twenty four

(01:14:13):
to thirty six, four touchdowns, but he also had a.

Speaker 4 (01:14:15):
Couple of picks.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
I think this team is going to look back at
a couple of plays and say, how do we not
do that? Including Max Gilbert. We'll get you caught up
on all of the shocking and I do mean shocking
results from college football over the course of the day.
We'll get you caught up on him.

Speaker 4 (01:14:29):
Next.

Speaker 2 (01:14:29):
He's Steve Hartman. I'm Jason Fits. We're hanging out with
you on Fox Sports Radio. It has been a stunning
day in college football, from individual performances that are forgettable
to a massive upset and now a meltdown, and we've
covered all of it for you. He's Steve Hartman, I'm
Jason Pitts. We're hanging out with you on Fox Sports Radio.

(01:14:50):
If you missed any of today's show. You want to
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search Fox Sports Radio wherever you gets you pods. You'll
find today's full show posted right after we get off
the air. Steve, what's the most shocking team? I'm gonna
give you the three options. The absolutely disgustingly bad performance

(01:15:16):
of arch Manning, the Clemson loss to Georgia State that
essentially eliminates him from playoff contention, or the Tennessee meltdown
against Georgia blowing a twenty one seven lead, blowing an
eight point lead late in the fourth quarter, and then
blowing a game winning field goal only to lose in overtime.
Which of those do you find the most shocking today? Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:15:36):
I say arch Manning Again. The thought was after the
opening loss to Ohio State. He has this run of
three straight creampuffs where we've seen these scores, right, seventy
three nothing, sixty six nothing. Teams are rolling up stats
in these overmatched opponents, and he goes eleven of twenty
five for one hundred and fourteen yards passing against uteh

(01:16:00):
at home. That is just stunning based on the hype.
By the way, I actually had this game on here, Jason,
and I'll put it this way, there were more arch
Manning commercials than completions in this game. So there were
more arch Manning with his dad or you know, his uncles.

(01:16:21):
It was just one arch Manning commercial after another, raking
in millions and millions and millions of nil money. And
then you watch the kid on the field and you're like,
he ain't that, He's not even close to that. So
that to me is absolutely unreal to me. I mean again,

(01:16:43):
it's not like the kid at Michigan, where you know,
he's a true freshman who literally just turned eight. Team
you could understand some little inconsistencies from the kid. We're
talking about arch Manning, who's been in this system, the
Sark system.

Speaker 2 (01:16:56):
For three years. Three years.

Speaker 3 (01:17:00):
It's not like some new coach showed up. He's been
in this system for three years. He's blessed with as
good a running back core as there is in the nation.
So it's not like teams could sit back, you know,
and they have to take account for the run. So
you have everything necessary to create some balance so you

(01:17:20):
get opportunities. He is afraid to throw the ball down
the field. He is, and that does not play in
the NFL. If you're fearful going against utap of making
a mistake, I got news for your arch ain't gonna
work in the NFL. I don't know if another year
is going to do it. Either you got it or
you don't have it. And arch Man, he doesn't have it. Period.

Speaker 2 (01:17:45):
Important context to your point there is that so often
we talk about coaches in college and what they're great
at and what they're known for and how that plays
into development. Arch is playing for a coach that is
considered somebody that does a great job with offenses, right Like,
I think that's a fair statement to me. And he
has not bounced from team to team to team. If

(01:18:06):
you told me that he had transferred from offense to
offense to offense or he was dealing with this, you know,
third coordinator in three years and he was struggling to
get his mind wrapped around what the offense looked like.
I can't understand that I could have some grace to that.
I think I try to give some grace to the
process of development for quarterbacks. But to look at this
to your point, the fact is he's been sitting there

(01:18:27):
waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for his opportunity.
And there were some people that said, oh, my god,
why didn't he transfer? He should have gone somewhere else.
And now we're looking at and saying, my god, even
in this system, like I get his last name, and
I get that, we're told that he has this tremendous
level of athleticism, which is what we do like this,
this is the telephone game, right, Steve, Like at some point,
this is a telephone game. Most of us didn't watch

(01:18:49):
Arch in high school. So what we rely on is
what people tell us about Arch and high school. And
then the fact that de manning conversation for the last
several years has been well, he's way more athletic than
you know either either of his uncles are. Right, So
now we put all that together and say, well, he's
a Manning. This is going to be absolutely spectacular. I
just I think we base that on a lot of conjecture.

(01:19:09):
We just we based all of that on the if
this then that, and that's just a dangerous way to
decide to analyze the quarterback, Like, if we want to
be fair to Arch, the only thing we can analyze
is what we've seen from Arch this year. And if
we're being fair to that, Arch Manning is not a
very good college football quarterback. Like yeah, And that's the
simple statement, Jason.

Speaker 3 (01:19:29):
The bottom line is, if you're going to be an
elite quarterback at the NFL level, which is the ultimate goal,
especially if you're going to draft a kid high, two
things have to be in place. One is the ability
to throw the ball accurately. Okay, that has to be there,
and the other is decision making. Right now, he's got
an f in both. Even last week with the fourteen

(01:19:52):
he was what seventeen to thirty thirteen incomplete passes against
San Jose State. So and by the way, this is
an offense where Quinn Ewers, who was a seventh round
pick in the NFL this year, over the last two years,
combined sixty seven percent passing with fifty three touchdowns and
eighteen picks. Dominant numbers for a guy that was a

(01:20:13):
seventh round pick in the NFL. He's not even He's
not even close to Quinn. Youwrs not even close. So
I mean I I we saw Shador Sanders dropping the draft.
Look out, I mean we can see Arch Manning fall
all the way out of the draft the way he's
playing right now.

Speaker 2 (01:20:29):
Yeah, I think Arch is going to be in this
year and all next year because he needs that time.
And then, by the way, to your point, like this
has been a couple of soft weeks in a row,
and a couple of soft weeks in a row, he
didn't look good enough. They have Sam Houston next. We'll
see if at some point this can normalize for Arch,
but so far Arch just doesn't look as good as advertised.
Fox Sports Radio will keep getting you updated all night long.

(01:20:52):
He's Steve Hartman. I'm Jason Fitz really appreciate you hanging
out with us. Stick with Fox Sports Radio all day.

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