3 & Out - Saturday NFL Recap, College Football Playoff Round 1 Reaction - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on? Everybody happy early playoffs?
We have the college football playoffs going. The two NFL

(00:23):
games had a playoff feel to it. Definitely listen if
you love football. There is nothing like whether it's Flacco, Broethlisberger,
Tommy Maddox, I don't care. Obviously, it's incredible with Lamar
and Russell and Tomlin and Harball that that was that
was awesome. The Ravens get a huge win, get a

(00:46):
huge win. And I would say Lamar as Steve Young
once looked at Gary Plummer that he could not beat
the Cowboys and he finally did. Now this that was
to get him to the Super Bowl, and Steve said,
take the monkey off my back, and that's what happened
to ay. Lamar was awesome. And I still think he's
got an uphill battle to win the MVP because of

(01:06):
the momentum, but awesome performance. Beside the one pass which
might not have been his fault. The Ravens get a
big win. I do want to die. I thought today
with the Chiefs and the Ravens, it was just a
display of the front offices. On top of obviously, you know,
two of the best quarterbacks. I don't know we've seen
in recent memory. But the Texans, you know, well Steelers first,

(01:29):
we'll dive into them. The Texans. Obviously, the Tank Dell injury,
who was playing, I mean, he looked awesome, was was
pretty tough to watch. And the emotions of c. J.
Stroud crying and all their comments after the game, so man,
that was that was tough. Clearly it was not a
good injury because he went right to the trauma center.

(01:49):
He's not even flying back with the team. So we'll
keep our fingers crossed that you know, his everything's gonna
be okay. Big picture, obviously his season is over, but
you know, both all four of these teams, you can
take a deep breath, slam some Gatorades, and get right
back on the horse because you're playing in four days
here on Christmas. So before we dive in to a

(02:12):
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last minute ticket's lowest price is guaranteed. That was awesome.
I just the physicality, the violence, how important every play felt.

(02:59):
Sign me up for Pittsburgh Steelers in Baltimore Ravens till
I die. That that feels as good as it gets.
That is as good as the NFL has to offer.
The tangible hatred and venom that it feels like the
two teams have for each other, both of them there.
Their core guys are just such tough, physical players, the

(03:21):
violence guys play with on defense, just the overall up
until the last once the game got a little out
of control, once rush through the pick six, but up
till then, you're just on the edge of your seat,
even when one team you know, looked like the Steelers
were gonna pull ahead early and then Russ fumbles late.
Lamarshrow is the pick You think the Steelers have a

(03:41):
chance it is. It is fantastic television, you know, for
as crappy. We'll see how Ohio State in Tennessee goes tonight.
But for as good as or as bad as those
college games have been, that that game was riveting. That
was That's why I watch Football's why I talk about football.

(04:02):
So congrats to AFC North Football. Now we need to
give this guy some props because he's taken a lot
of shit. He's an incredible player. He's one of the
most versatile players we've ever seen in the history of
the NFL. And you could argue he's having his best
season ever and the guy's got two MVPs. But he's

(04:22):
had something that he hasn't been able to overcome. He
has not played well against the Chiefs and obviously has
not played well against the Steelers, even though in this
weird twist because of some injuries and some Week eighteen
clinch games doesn't matter. He hasn't played the Steelers that
many times at home. I thought today he was brilliant

(04:44):
and it shows you you can't box scor scout you
know players in football. You got to watch the game.
He has games statistically that blow this thing out of
the water. But you know one thing that I think
over the course of his career, when he he played
last year the Chiefs in the AFC Championship or early
this earlier this year against you know, the Steelers, is

(05:07):
like he freaks out and he gets really frenetic that
he doesn't do against these random teams when he's just
blowing their doors off. And today you saw the guy
that you see against the New York Giants in these
random teams, completely poised, completely under control. The Steelers do
a really good job of corralling Lamar in the run game,
but the Steelers have issues on their secondary and he

(05:30):
eviscerated them in big spots. Obviously the touchdown throws. He
had a fantastic touchdown throw to Bateman in the court
of the end zone. You know, Mark Andrews wide open,
hits them with ease, some awesome throws as they flowers.
I thought he was brilliant today, and he was if
he plays like that in these big games, because he's

(05:51):
kind of gotten to this point where he's just gonna
be judged on big games, in the playoff games, like
his stats speak for themselves. He's like already a Hall
of Famer just from an eye test standpoint. He's got
to be you know, the most electric player I think
in like the history of the NFL, but today, like
that's winning high level football and this is something that,

(06:14):
like the conversation is in the narratives and that stuff,
it doesn't change until you do it. And to play
like he did today, you know, because part of the
way he dominates, right, he has become And even Brady
said it today. I thought Brady had a good broadcast.
But Brady's kind of coming into his own is Their
passing game has taken a big step in terms of

(06:35):
the complexity to it. But like where Lamar is an
unstoppable force is where he's running around on you and
then you start freaking out and then it becomes much
easier to pass well. One thing the Steelers clearly focus
in on is we're not gonna let the guy run wild,
Like if Derek Hendery's gonna beat us, then he's gonna
beat us. And he did, but they do not. They
corral Lamar pretty well and it didn't phaze him today.

(06:59):
And obviously it helps with Derrick Henry going nuts. But
to me, his calmness, how poised he was, and his
accuracy down the field beside the one pass, which you know,
who knows, maybe if you're sitting there with Munkin and
Bateman and Lamar, maybe it's not totally on Lamar. But
regardless that pick, in that spot, you're only up a touchdown,
you have the chance to kind of put him away.

(07:20):
Felt like it could swing the game. And then Russell's like, well,
I'm going to make a pass that is fifty times
worse than that one, and listen, that's a fantastic win,
a fantastic performance by their offense. And I think one
big difference last year to this year offensively for him.
Obviously Andrews back from the hip drop tackle that knocked
him out, he looks really good. Zay Flowers has taking

(07:43):
another step for them. You know, the ability obviously to
stretch the field on the outside, but they can work
him over the middle. He's pretty strong for a small guy.
You saw, you know, late in the game breaking that tackle.
He's added an element they haven't had. They drafted Bateman
I think in the first whatever a long time ago,
and you know, early on it was like, I don't
know if this is working. They just kept developing them,

(08:05):
kept developing them, and he's become you know, a really
solid player for them. But you get this type performance
from Lamar, like like that's that's what everyone is, you know,
get so down on him about the playoffs. Is like
the calm, cool, collected like I'm going to dominate this
game if I have to as a passer because I
can't run it. And because the Steelers they have so

(08:26):
much team speed on the outside with their pass rushers,
and they're just they're good at playing them. Obviously, they're
much more comfortable because they see him twice a year,
they see him on cross tape all the time. He's
just a huge part in their building like that. They're
not intimidated by playing him a lot like the Chiefs.
And he made him pay today, you know with his arms,
So big boy performance from you know, one of if

(08:50):
not you know, on a given week, the best player
in the NFL. And you know, I think big picture
for today, I thought the front offices of Brett Veach
and Decost and the Ravens and the Chiefs really shined.
You know. I think you see Derek Henry, like they
got the guy for nine million dollars guaranteed, and he's
easily been him and Saquon two of the best signings

(09:13):
in recent memory. The guy's gonna rush for like seventeen
eighteen hundred yards and he's a big game player, bright lights,
guy who can, who has thrived against the best teams
it has passed in playoff games. So you think he's
gonna be intimidated against the Steelers. I mean, he was awesome.
And you know that we've been saying for a long time.

(09:34):
Like you know, the Ravens, he doesn't have a good
enough pass offense. He doesn't have a good enough weapons
like that's a Flowers pick last year. That dude's that
dude's a fucking baller, he really is. And on the
flip side, like the Chiefs, like obviously both these two
teams go as their quarterback goes. Just you know, they're
obviously really really good defenses and the Ravens are playing

(09:58):
much better in the back end. And it shows you
when you have stability and you have a front office
who is not living and dying on a weekly basis,
on a yearly basis, you have a coach and you
have a GM that are just gonna be there for
a long time, that you don't overcorrect or panic and
early on Zach Orr, which is a crazy story, right

(10:20):
he had the devastating injury. I remember scouting him when
when I was in the league. I mean, he was
a really good player when their defenses were really good.
And like ray Lewis had ree days and has his
career shut short short gets into the you know, the
coaching world, and early on it looked like, God, this
is not working out, especially because of the guy he

(10:41):
was replacing. And now they make the move they put
Kyle Hamilton back in the secondary, which obviously played a
huge role today when they go forward on fourth and
five or fourth and six, which I'm fine with going
for at midfield, because the Steelers have not covered anybody
all day long, and really the last two weeks they've

(11:02):
been getting tried. Their secondary right now is a major problem.
And Brady goes, you know, I'd probably punted here. I'm
a little more conservative, but I don't like this play.
It's like, Tom, this Pittsburgh defense is not playing like
the Pittsburgh defense that we talked about, like the first
nine or ten games. Injuries, but that they're just not
covering anybody. You cannot feel comfortable that you're gonna get

(11:24):
stops against Lamar Jackson. And Derek Henry. I'm all for
going for it, but then when you go for it,
it's one thing when it's fourth and fifteen and you're
kind of desperate, it's like, yeah, there's not that many
plays that you feel good about, But when it's fourth
and five or six, I need several routes that are
seven eight yards to give my quarterback a chance and

(11:45):
to run Austin who looks awesome down the middle of
the field. And you got Kyle Hamilton, who they basically
moved to the deep safety where early in the season
he was playing like a linebacker. It's like, I don't
love that, Like, I'm not on board with that play call.
I'm on bordled the decision because I think it was
clear the way the game was trending, like you got

(12:05):
to be aggressive there because you're not stopping anybody. But
I just hate the decision of throwing a bomb on
a you know, a play that's not fourth and twenty,
Like what are we doing? And as you saw at first,
you're like, ah, did that was out a PI? Now?
I was like, never had a shot. Kyle Hamilton's huge,
Austin smaller, plus like he probably easily could have picked it.

(12:28):
If they throw that ball ten times, I bet Kyle
Hamilton picks it six or seven times. So it listen.
For as good as controlled Lamar was today, Beside the
one pick, Russell had two plays that really and I
didn't think Russell was that bad, but he had two
plays that cost his team fourteen points early on in

(12:49):
this game. You know, Russell, when he first came in
the league, the Niners were at the peak of their
powers with Jim Harbaugh from a defensive standpoint, and that
game was a bloodbath. Now it's probably been a one,
you know, playing in Denver and then even at the
end of Seattle. He's not used to those bloodbath games.
Or maybe he's just I don't know, just throwback thought
he could. Didn't see a guy thought he could be

(13:10):
aggressive in a game like today. I think you got
to be pretty conservative when you see defenders coming up
to you that you're not playing the Giants here, you're
not playing the Jags. You are playing eleven guys who
will fucking destroy you, who want to inflict pain on you.
And he got like, I think he got a little cocky.

(13:31):
And even Jimmy Johnson at Halftimes like you gotta get
down and he gets hit, the ball comes out, it's
at like the three or two yard line, it's seven
to seven. If the Steelers score there, it's fourteen points.
Instead he fumbles, the Ravens drive right down the field
and score a touchdown. I mean that's a fourteen point swing.
And then the pick six, like you get a huge

(13:51):
pick for Minka to give you some life and give
you an opportunity down a touchdown. And they've been running
those boots and rollouts all game long, and he'd been
pretty good. But that throw wasn't even close. He hit
Humphrey and Scripe. I mean he hit him. He hit
him in the stomach, and obviously he's getting hit. He's
thrown it a little bit behind him. But you either

(14:12):
got to eat it throw it away. You cannot make
that mistake there. It cannot happen, not in a game
of this magnitude, not in a situation like that. And listen,
I'm not trying to just dump on the guy like
he's some scrub. He has been dramatically better than we
all thought. If you're a person acting like you knew
Russell Wilson was still a solid starter I'm sorry. I

(14:33):
think you were on an island that there is not
many people that were saying that, and how could you
if you've watched him play, he has been pretty good.
But those two plays today had a big, big reason
for that team losing. Now. I think also the Steelers,
like the Ravens, have really kind of corralled their defense.
They've been good against the run all season long, but

(14:53):
the pass defense just feels a little more stable because
early on in the season it was like, you cannot
win a Super Bowl or even compete to win a
Super Bowl if you can't cover anybody. And clearly they're
much better. They hit a couple passes to day one.
Austin just made a great play down the sideline, but
the Hamilton move has changed them. You just can't make

(15:15):
that play, you really can. And Russell for as awesome
and some of the great plays Lamar made. Those two
plays with Russell Wilson are gonna be hard to stomach.
But you know, offensively, they're just not as explosive without
George Pickens, and defensively they're a shell of themselves. I mean,
how many times and it even goes back to the
Philly game, right Aj Brown, DeVante Smith today, Zay Flowers,

(15:37):
Mark Andrews, Lively, these guys are wide open. It's like,
you can't part of the Steelers formula was gonna be
to compete in the playoffs against the Ravens, against the Bills,
and against the Chiefs, were like, you know what we're
gonna be, if not the best defense in the league,
one of the best. Obviously they have a fantastic defensive line.
They got bodies after bodies, But if your secondary can't

(16:00):
a soul, and right now they cannot. Obviously they've had
some injuries, but you got CAZy looking all over the place.
I mean, the Andrews touchdown was stealing candy from a
baby that I listen. I'm not saying I'm like in
on Lamar to now I feel more confident because I
couldn't have felt much more confident last year going in.
But today, if you're a Ravens fan, makes you feel

(16:20):
pretty good. I'm out on the Steelers because you just
can't play defense like that. You cannot play pass defense
where you can't cover people and have a shot in
the playoffs. It's just not possible. Not against Patrick Mahomes,
Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, because that's the crew of
guys you're going through to win games in the second,
in the third round, right the divisional round, in the

(16:42):
conference championship game. So Steelers, they shocked a lot of us,
but it feels like at the wrong time, the wheels
are kind of coming off. And that was that was
a big boy win by the Ravens. And I think
one of those where it's like you're kind of licking
your wounds. Now all of a sudden, you're playing the
Chiefs in whatever seventy two or I guess a little

(17:04):
more than that, with seventy two plus twenty, that'd be
ninety ninety six hours. You're playing the Chiefs in ninety
six hours, a team that's fourteen and one, that has
back to back defending champions and I thought played one
of their better games of the season today. That's who
you get, and their passing games kind of coming alive,
like I don't know. And then the Ravens now, obviously

(17:27):
the Steelers are at home and the Ravens are on
the road, but they're getting the Texans, who just had
one of their most talented young players on the team.
Look like it's Lake snapped. And this is back to
back years for Tank Dell, who it just hurts your
heart to see a guy. Last year it was I
think week eleven he had his leg shattered, right, he
had a broken leg in the end zone. Today, I

(17:49):
think it might even be worse. And all these guys
are in tears, pretty rattled, and now the Ravens get them,
so this could flip fast all of a sudden. The Ravens,
you know, are the three seed and you are just
leaking oil. Who knows, maybe you're not even a lock
to be the five seed at this point in time.
The Chargers finish with the Patriots and the Raiders like

(18:13):
they got two more wins, like they're gonna win eleven games.
I think if you're a Steeler fan, you gotta be
pretty rattled right now, and if you're a Ravens fan,
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Speaker 1 (20:04):
And the other game. Like I said, the organizational Wednesday,
I mean the Ravens, how well they've done built the
team around them are You know, have a guy in
Zach Orr who had mentored under Harball under Mike McDonald
reminds me a little of Demico when they elevated him
to be the defensive coordinator after Robert Sola left. You

(20:24):
have a guy you're comfortable with, you believed in, You
let him go through the growing pains, and now he's
coming into his own and the Chiefs like one thing
that stok out to me obviously, Mahomes, I don't know
understand how the guy can have an injury where he
looks like it's just he's gonna miss a month and
then come back the next week on a short week
and not only look completely normal, but like look Spry

(20:46):
looked like he shows no signs he's got to have.
You know, Brady forever talked about pliability. I don't know
what the hell he's doing. Clearly, He's not a big
lifter with with the Dad Bod, but his flexibility is
second to none and was off someday he's building a
rapport with Worthy. But think about Chris Jones. They made
a pretty big decision a couple of years ago, which

(21:06):
most teams would not have done. When you have a
Tyreek Hill in the peak of their powers, how many
of these teams are like extending wide receivers at these
crazy numbers. And they said, you know what, We're gonna
double down on Chris Jones and we're going to trade
Tyreek Hill. And that move changed their whole franchise because
it not just traded Tyreek Hill and freed up the
money to put other spot. They ended up getting Trent

(21:29):
McDuffie because of it, who is obviously one of the
best defensive backs in the NFL. And in that draft
they also got Korlovskis, So they got two guys who
are you know, stone cold killers and could play for
every team in the league and are just awesome winning
players out of that draft as they pivot, and then
they had the money to give Chris Jones, who, like

(21:50):
they mentioned today on the broadcast, he told us in
the production meeting, Like, listen, my stats aren't as good
this year as some previous years. I'm getting double team
more than ever, and I think I'm playing better never
and all my guys around me are eating Like you
just watch them today. You're like, this guy's an unstoppable
force and clearly he's a bright lights guy. The bigger
the game, the bigger the opponent. You know, today, Christmas

(22:11):
the playoffs, like better watch out for that fucking guy
and look get Worthy. It's like, of course the Chiefs
got Worthy and early on it. There's some takes some
time to get a rapport with Mahomes. It feels like
they're kind of coming into their own. They still miss
a couple times, but I think Worthy. I mean, this
is the worst he's gonna be for them. Just get
ready next year. He's going to look dramatically better in

(22:35):
this operation. And then in the middle of the season
they're kind of desperate for some help. They trade for
one of the best wide receivers of his generation. I
get him a little older and today, I mean, how
many big third downs dies DeAndre Hopkins have. It's like
this team that there's a physicality of the Chiefs that
I would say, early on in the era, clearly they
didn't have and now defensively they're just so good. They're

(22:58):
coordinator and the advantage they have of Spags not being
a threat to go anywhere. It's like you could argue
they have the best defensive coordinators not a head coach
in the NFL. And he's never gonna leave. He's probably
just gonna retire when Andy retires, they just get to
keep him like he's not even gonna get interviews for
head coaching. Joe. There was a play today, I think

(23:19):
it might have been on the second to last drive
for the Texans, and he called the blitz, and his
blitzes so often hit perfectly. They were in like a
bunch formation. He blitzed the corner off the edge and
before you could even blink, the guy was all over c. J. Strout.
It's just their cohesion on defense as a unit, even

(23:39):
and they've lost guys this year, is just fantastic. And
their team speed is excellent on defense. And if Mahomes
is gonna play like that today, it makes you think
if this team gets the number one seed, which I
don't know how you would bet against them to get
the number one seed, I'd be stunned if they lose
Thursday night, even though it's a short week, or Wednesday

(24:00):
night on Christmas, or I guess Wednesday as a road
team to the Steelers, like someone's going into Arrowhead and
beating them. Obviously, it's possible. It's football. We've seen it
happen before. Joe Burrow did. But as you know, last
year and listen, I was guilty, like I was betting
against it. I literally did, and I got bit in
the ass twice. AFC Championship Game, Super Bowl. Who's doing

(24:23):
that this year? Not a soul? How could you? That
team is so good at home that place, every player,
every coach, and every human being that walks into Arrowhead,
however many people it fits, seventy thousand, there's not one
human being that is wearing red that for one second
believes they're losing. I don't think any other franchise can

(24:46):
say that right now, not any other franchise in the NFL.
Before kickoff, when everyone's in their seat, when everyone's on
the sideline, there is not a soul in the stadium,
on the team, on the coaching staff, or one second
thinks they're gonna lose, and the belief they have. What
they're accomplishing right now is just insane. I think I

(25:11):
saw I saw someone tweet they had never won thirteen
games in the history of the franchise and they'd only
been to like the conference championship one time in like
fifty years, and now they look destined to be for
their like seventh or eighth straight conference championship. They've won
fourteen games for the third time in the Mahomes era.
What last year and I think everyone said this, like

(25:34):
last year was the year to get them, and then
because this year it's been weird. They playing a lot
of close games. Yeah, they're comfortable doing that. And guess what, Yeah,
their games are close. They literally win them all. They
win all of them. So it's like, would you rather, yeah,
playing some blowouts, but I also don't and I'm ten
and seven where it's like, yeah, basically all of our

(25:54):
games were close and we went sixteen to one. I'll
choose that. Oh yeah, we probably have, you know, when
it's all said and done. I don't know if I
eclipse Brady, but probably the best or one of the
best quarterbacks of all time and a guy that looks
destined if he just coaches for three or four more
years to not only pass Belichick but passed Shula as

(26:18):
the all time winning as coach. And we have one
of the best home field advantages in the history of
football college and NFL included, so good luck, and we
have a fantastic defense. And Butker's back now looks like
he's getting his confidence. So I thought that was a really,
really impressive win because the one thing when he played
the Texans that aren't as good as we thought they

(26:38):
were going to be. They're a hard hitting, physical team,
and today was I mean, they lost Jimmy Ward got
carted off. Obviously, Tank Dale got carted off. It does
feel I mean, they won the division. They're going to
host a playoff game, but depending on who they play.
I mean, I would imagine that most people are gonna
bet on the Ravens this c upcoming, and I'd be

(27:00):
a little stunned at this point if if Houston can
beat them, that all of a sudden, you're looking, well
at a Houston team just kind of limping into the
playoffs that kind of have a one and done field
to them written all over them, and you know, we'll
see how this plays out. But I think there's a
decent chance Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers could be playing
them in that four or five matchup. So you know,

(27:22):
I came in I think when the when the schedule
broke and we found out the college football playoffs were
gonna be I would say overshadowed a little bit by
the NFL. I was like, you know, do we have
to do this? And clearly, you know, I think at
this point in time, the NFL isn't playing on Christmas
as an few to the NBA. The NBA is it

(27:46):
has no impact on them at this point. I mean,
they stole Christmas. They would steal any day if they
play games on that day. They could be going up
against mister Beast, they could be going up against whatever
the popular it doesn't matter. They will dominate. But I'm
kind of glad they were on today because they helped
me get through some of the college games. I guess

(28:07):
the Texas and Clemson game was good, and we'll do
me and Jackson will do a video later at night
on all the college games. But I enjoyed that. And
like I said earlier, you put Steelers Ravens on my television,
whether it's Saturday, whether it's Tuesday night morning. I don't care.
I am watching, and I think now we'll see Denver

(28:30):
the Chargers. I think they could win a playoff game. Obviously,
they're both gonna be on the road. Denver still has
got to take care of business against the Bengals here
in a week, but just to solidify their spot after
losing the Chargers. But I'm pretty confident that the Chargers
and the Broncos are gonna be I could see them
having an upset depending on who they play, but could

(28:50):
also see them both losing. I think the AFC is
pretty clear. I mean, we got a three horse race, Chiefs,
the Bills, and the Ravens. And I think the problem
for the Bills and the Ravens is they gotta go
to Airhead and like I said back, which we already know,
no one will be attending that game, starting with Mahomes
and starting with Andy, that's gonna believe they're gonna lose.

(29:13):
And there's not gonna be a Bills fan or Ravens fan,
even Josh Sean McDermott, Lamar and John Harbaugh that are like,
can we actually do this? Doesn't mean they can't, but
it's just we saw it last year when they fucking
both hosted them. They lost both games. So in this

(29:33):
Chiefs team, now they're getting their stride a little bit.
It's like, I don't know, I like them a lot
more now after today and really the last couple of
weeks going into the playoffs than we all did last
year after that Raider game, and then they found a
way to do it on the road. Now they don't
have to travel, and you're gonna give them a bye week.
So older players like Chris Jones and Travis Kelcey and Mahomes.

(29:55):
You know he's under thirty. I think he's twenty nine
years old, but just get that week to kind of
take a de breath. I don't know, man, this I'm
a big believer that dynasties are good for sports. I mean,
we've seen it in the NBA, like they would die
to have a dynasty right now. I mean, the Warriors
were good for the NBA. The Yankees dynasty in the

(30:15):
late nineties was great for baseball. The Patriots dynasty for
twenty years, give or take, was fantastic for the National
Football League. So having a team that everyone's chasing, whether
you love them or you hate him. You have an
opinion about him, and that's the worst thing you can
have in sports when you're just when apathy sets in
and you just do not care. And I've seen it.

(30:36):
I remember doing a radio show in the Bay when
Jim tom Sewell was there. People just like I can't
even pretend to care. I'm sure Giants fans know like I,
you know, you just I can't watch Daniel Jones like
I cannot watch whoever the quarterback is de veto making
lasagna or Drew Locke, like this just sucks. It doesn't
get any worse than this. But every Giants fan has

(30:59):
a on the Chiefs, and everyone's either rooting for them
to like I kind of enjoy watching greatness, or I'm
rooting for them to lose. But guess what, everyone's paying attention. Okay,

(31:23):
now we're going to talk a little college football with
my main man, Jackson, which might have been one of
the biggest dud opening playoff scenarios in the history of America.
But we spent hours watching the game, so let's dive
into them. Okay, I had to put a page for
you younger listeners. We have no clue what that is.
A text message and email, snapchat, and let's say, Jackson,

(31:48):
we've been watching football for the last twenty four hours,
your Notre Dame Irish one, we need to talk some ball.
Even if it's safe to say it didn't quite go
as planned. But one thing that hit me as Ohio
State absolutely, I mean that I didn't quite see that coming.
That was impressive. We will give Ryan Day and the

(32:09):
boys their flowers. One thing that makes Ohio State fans very,
very angry as every game they have is you know,
in the morning and you watch it tonight, you're like, yeah,
this place is pretty bad ass to die. The place
was rocking. So Jackson and I are you still on
cloud nine? You're Notre Dame Irish and mister college football.
This kind of sucked a little bit. Kind of sucked.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
Yeah, I'm fifty to fifty on it because you know,
he had so much anticipation heading in and South Bench
showed up last night, then obviously winning that game. I
know it was a boring game for most people, but
for me as a Notre Dame fan.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
I was happy. My heart rate was steady throughout the game.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
After it was fourteen zero and you saw more gold
Helmets pushing back Hoosier's helmets versus the other way around.
And then today, man, you just it's just I don't
know what it is.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
You're right.

Speaker 3 (32:52):
I think we talked about before the home field advantage
is such a big advantage, and you got the cold
weather involved in it.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
And then you're right about Ohio State.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
The whole talk about that was even a game day,
Tennessee fans showing out. They had like thirty thou forty
thousand fans in about two minutes. You blink and it's
fourteen zero, and all those Orange fans, all those Bulls
fans are pretty quiet quickly.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Why. I think two things. I gotta say. I've been
a big critic of Ryan Day, not a big Ohio
State guy. Don't like Chip Kelly at all. That team
showed up to beat the livid shit out of Tennessee.
That team that showed up today. That first really the
first quarter right there of twenty one. Nothing but those
first couple drives, the violence in which their defense was hitting.

(33:37):
To me, offensively, if they're just semi clicking, they're gonna
they're gonna score, right, I mean, that offense is elite.
But defensively, that thing was like whoa. This is like
Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel's teams, and like the unit A
J Hawk had, like your guy Bobby Carpenter and him.
You know, I mean their defense is going back to
like the Vrabel days, would like the modern day. What

(34:01):
Sabin did through the twenty tens that was impressive. And
clearly whatever happened over the last three weeks, they were
able to kind of take a step back and they
slingshot it into this game that was that was fucking awesome.
And what else was I gonna say? Oh, I got
a dm a question for the mail bag, but I

(34:24):
think it works right here. And they said, do you
think that Nico has some Anthony Richardson to him? Like
obviously elite talent, but something's missing, And I would say
the difference, I mean, Anthony Richardson only started the year
at Florida and then obviously in the pros has been
a roller coaster, more awful than good. Nico is a

(34:45):
true you know, this is his first true year starting.
He was on the program last year, right but Joe,
he was a backup. I'm gonna give him a little time.
But I do think if I'm a Tennessee fan, like
we gotta find a way to calm him down a
little bit like that. Even if Nico was good, I
don't think they could have won tonight the wayal Ohio
State was playing. But his erratic nature, I mean beside

(35:06):
the runs. And this is a little Anthony Richardson. Like
his balls clearly when he just lets it fling, like
how many guys throw a prettier tight spiral that's going
one hundred mile an hour, but he does not know
where that's going a lot of the time. Now, his
receivers have got some injuries, but man, he's got This
offseason for them is pretty big because he his his talent,

(35:28):
like his raw ability is better than like Arch Manning,
you know, like his his physical tools aren't even close
I mean from throwing the ball. And then you know
your guy Will Howard, like those guys don't possess like that.
But you got to be able to play the quarterback position.
You saw Will Howard tonight, who you know maybe gets
drafted on like the seventh round to play tight end,

(35:49):
like like your guy. I just think Ryley Leonard could
be a tight end in the NFL, you know, because
he's not gonna be a quarterback. But no, Shaite does
nothing to mean you can't be a good college player.
I think I think tennis, like, if you put Nico
on Ohio State, it'd be hard for them because those
receivers are wide open. I think he'd be hitting them
like every other pass. Right. So it's if you're a

(36:10):
Tennessee fan, like, hey, you made the playoffs, but that
was a pretty good butt kicking. And if you're Ohio
State man, a lot of people talked a lot of shit,
and rightfully so, I mean they that Michigan loss is
one of the worst loss in the history of the program.
But I got to give him credit. They answered the bell,
and they answered the bell hard tonight against an SEC,
you know, one of the better SEC programs these last

(36:30):
couple years. You mentioned those hard hits.

Speaker 3 (36:32):
It felt like every single time Nico got hit, whether
it was in the pocket or whether he was running, You're.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
Like, is he gonna get up? Like?

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Is he going to get up? And he just kept
getting up six six skinny version of himself. But to
your point about the wide receivers, they showed a bunch
on the broadcast with Kirk Kurbstreet and he was like, Okay,
if you're Nico, who are you hitting on this? And
you look around and you're like, well, there's no wide
receivers open. So I think part of that too had
to deal with, you know, them two wide receivers Thornton
and scroll White being out. But even with that, their

(36:59):
wide receiver group is just so slim, So you just
hope if you're a Tennessee fan that can go out
and get some talent. But I also think the whole
Samson situation was pretty interesting about him getting hurt. They
couldn't they stop the run obviously the entire game, but
I think him not being involved definitely was a factor
in that one for sure.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Yeah, that's the thing with college different in the NFL.
They can just be so mysterious about it. It's like,
what's going on, and then he's not saying anything, and
then the sideline reporter doesn't really get any information like
in the NFL. They'll just tell you, hey, he's got
a hamstring, he's questionable to come back. They just don't
hide any of that. You know, you could tell when
they asked Hypel at halftime it was like, yeah, he's
not he's he's He didn't even acknowledge it. It's like,

(37:36):
well it's the off this the SEC offensive player of
the year. Now there are other running backs. I mean
that true freshman, I bet turns out to be an
NFL guy. The backups, the little the smaller guy is
a good player. So to me, it was more their
passing game. But I again back to Ohio State, this
was the twenty million dollar roster that when their high

(37:57):
end is on, it's like there is no I mean,
Jeremy Smith, his body does looks like a fifth year senior.
Like his lower body, he's built. It's just like Jesus
and Will Howard is like the difference of them and
Notre Dame, right is both those guys can be a
radic passing the ball, but they have that on the outside.

(38:18):
You guys just don't I mean who and who has
Jeremiah Smith? Right? Because both teams can run the ball,
can play sweet defense, can crush people up front. But
like when you got that, at any moment, you're like,
well we could just flip into the Buffalo Bills and
if Will Howard who is you know? I listen, scouts
can be kind of mean, but I mean, no one

(38:39):
takes them that Seriously, I'm getting text tonight from college
scouting directors with like memes of Peyton Manning. I mean,
he this had to be and given how obviously what
happened against Michigan is rewarding for him as it was
for Ryan dam I mean he came out just throwing
ball and it wasn't even just the early touchdowns. How
many times, like when Tennessee was kind of getting back

(38:59):
in the game, he did like a big third down,
like a crossing route, and he hit him in stride.
It wouldn't be like the guy had to stop. He
was I don't even know what his final final numbers.
I mean, he got yanked with nine minutes ago, but
he was that's as accurate. I mean, you're gonna play
like that they could win. It's like Oregon has to
play that. How unfair is that?

Speaker 3 (39:17):
Twenty four to twenty nine, three hundred eleven yards, two
touchdowns and probably one of the more ridiculous interceptions I've
ever seen.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
I mean that interception.

Speaker 3 (39:25):
I felt almost bad for Will Howard because he's having
a hell of a game and then Brooks gets that
one toe win.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
And how about the broadcast. It wasn't that was sick.
That was Kirk.

Speaker 3 (39:33):
It wasn't Kirk or Chris, but it was like Build
the referee guy, He's like, well, I don't know if
he's got firm control.

Speaker 1 (39:38):
He's got two hands on the ball.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
I think that's firm enough, at least for me when
I was watching that game, But I mean for Tennessee.
I guess another plus side of that was I didn't
realize how Nico, how tough Nico was that entire game.
I mean, his ability to just lay it out for
his team. Twenty carries, forty seven yards. I think he
just scored again actually as we're recording this right now,
on the run.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
But I don't know.

Speaker 3 (40:01):
I think next year you look at him as one
of the top quarterbacks and you just hope that they
can go and get some guys in the portal because
I gave it all he had.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
That's all they happened to do on offense. I would
say this, you know, I think sometimes if you just
told someone from the South, like these LA kids are
gonna start playing quarterback for your program, they'd be like
a bunch of pussies. And if you look at the C. J.
Stroud was you know, one two any guy from southern
California that has gone on like I would say one
defining characteristic when Bryce was at Bama, like that guy

(40:31):
was tough as nails. You saw Nico to Knight on
the one where he got and Herbstreet was right. You
don't really see this play called because you rarely see
it happen. It happens a lot in the NFL where
the guy gets lifted and driven into the ground and
the guy just because Nico jumped, had kind of in
the air and went down with him. But that guy
slammed him really hard, and even it took Nico a second,

(40:52):
but he got right back up and came right back swinging.
I think the toughness of that quarterback crop and even
if you just think in recent memory from like the
Sam Darnold's like, you do get a pretty tough quarterback now.
Their skills, you know, the one thing CJ and Bryce
had immediately was that natural touch. Nico feels like a
baseball player that's throwing one hundred and two and that's

(41:14):
the touch passes, like the touch passes Will Howard has
right now. I don't know if Nicos sped up. Obviously
he's playing in a really tough environment, but that ball
leaves his hand and you just you just have no
clue until the screen. You're like, this could be picked.
This could hit a guy in the head, This could
hit a guy in the hands and stride like I
don't know. That's and that's I think if Josh Hipeel

(41:37):
can take this guy to the next level, which is
I mean why you know former quarterback, you know the
offensive mastermind is his offense. I just think there that's
gonna be one of the big like offseason stories for
the SEC because so many of these teams like, well,
this quarterback transfer is like, who's going to be the
next quarterback for Ohio State? Right? Will's done the backups
in the portal and they let him stay, which clearly

(41:59):
tells you like, yeah, you're not gonna be our starter
next year. Is that what you think, like when that happens,
Oh yeah, because why wouldn't they just be like, bro,
you're gonna start here and you'll hit a million bucks,
like clearly Ryan Day, which I think and listen unless
you're there. I wonder if teams give up on guys
a little fast, like the guy's at Ohio State for
a reason. I mean, he can't be some scrub, but

(42:22):
clearly who knows. Maybe they already have someone else signed,
but I don't know. I feel like when you do
that a lot, it's pretty risky, Like eventually sometimes you
just now maybe they have so much money they're always
gonna get their guy. But and Chip has you know,
the reason they liked Will Howard more than Kyle Will
Like they like a mobile, Like that's what he wants.

(42:43):
So whoever, the next Will Howard type guy like Chip
wouldn't like Nico two inaccurate, you know his big thing.
He wants mobility and like he doesn't even need a
strong arm, because you would say Will Howard's arm doesn't
have a hose.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
So seeing what Ohio State did tonight and Will Howard
just confidently throwing the football on the outside of Jeremiah
Meyers Smith, getting him in the slot, getting him out
in space, you think that's a similar game plan they
do against Oregon if they come out with that same
energy or how do you I guess an early look
on that one with what you saw tonight because you
mentioned it. I mean, Ohio State looked like a national
championship team, and I guess.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
Part of that how to do with the Michigan loss.

Speaker 3 (43:23):
But you wonder in the Rose Bowl, they're definitely gonna
come out with some kind of swagger and chip on
their shoulder from here and out.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
That is an awesome game because it feels like, you
know the tradition of the Rose Bowl, the Pac Ten,
the Pac twelve, the Big Ten, that place is gonna
be I mean, there are gonna be a tonan obviously,
but I mean you're talking like fifty to fifty, like
fifty k fifty k Ohio State, Oregon that place, that's
going to be a pretty special environment. I do think

(43:51):
that Oregon really got screwed man, because and listen to
clearly these new Year six Bowls have a stranglehold, like
how do you get to buy and then not get
a home game? Like how awesome did Penn State in Texas?
And all places look so special? And if I'm Oregon,
we already knew about their brackup matchup, but I the
Rose Bulls an easier travel for them. But it's never

(44:13):
been a problem for the Big ten schools to Wisconsin, Iowa.
You get them in that game, it's packed. People won't
guess where they live right now. It's freezing cold. They're coming.
That's just I'm trying not to be overly negative about
the It's the first year and they will change. I
bet they pivot fast, But that seems like something we
got to figure out, like I should get I would

(44:34):
like Oregon like to me, it's a coin flip, which
is crazy because Oregon's been the best team and already
beat them. But like, if that you told me that
game was in Eugene, I'd be like, well, I still
give Oregon the clear advantage. Yeah, yeah, State. If you
ask Ryan Day, where would you rather play the game?
The Rose Bowl or Eugene Oregon? What do you think

(44:55):
he'd say?

Speaker 3 (44:56):
Give me Rose Bull ten out of ten times, especially
the last time they played there and it was so
loud of Will Howard has slide. But well, I guess
one of the games of the day that was not
a blowout Clemson Texas.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
I gotta give a lot of credit to Clemson too.

Speaker 3 (45:10):
I mean Kate Klubknick, I mean the improvement that he's
had from last year and you know last year Garrett
Riley first year in the system, but even week one
with Georgia, my biggest worry for Clemson was a lot
of young receivers, a lot of freshmen guys against really
physical Texas team. It just felt like the entire game
club Nick felt comfortable, he was poised, and some of
these wide receivers, the freshmen, that the awareness they have

(45:31):
at such a young age. That's another team too, where
I know they lost today, if you look at next
season with Kate Clubnick and them bringing so much talent,
so much young talent, they might be a team that
could make a run next year with all these quarterbacks
to leave it. Well, what impressed you about Clemson, Texas
and Texas I guess is just their identity to come
out hot early and kind of just stay cool, find

(45:52):
ways to win, and find opportunities and just capitalize on them.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
I thought, like the Georgia game the second time around,
they started fast and early on. You're like, well, this team,
like Ohio State, clearly has the highest payroll in the country.
I mean, the talent on that team is just immense,
and they were scoring in this game, unlike the Georgia game.
And clearly we saw Georgia play Clemson not as good,

(46:17):
but I'm with you. I mean, that had a feel
like it was gonna become Ohio State Tennessee and Club Nick.
I mean that TJ. Moore number one true freshman. I
mean they got a chance to do a lot. I
texted a couple of people, I'm like, is Cave Club
Nick coming out? Like are we sure he's not relative

(46:39):
to like Shador and cam Ward? But like who else
would he be competing against? Because you watched day You
and I were texting, if you flip flop the two quarterbacks,
they would be, by no doubt about it. Pick because
sometimes I saw people somehow I fall. It feels like
a million University of Texas fans like Sark's gonna blow
this blow this Quinn yours is missing people behind their back,

(47:02):
Like I think Starks done an awesome job this year
for the most part, and in some big spots, Quinn
just kind of gets weird and he threw one behind
him on the third down. There was the one drive
late in the game where he easily could have thrown
a pick. He goes right like at any moment, Quinn
can get you right back and the other guy if
that was the first time you'd ever watched Club Nick,

(47:23):
and he went just like a playoff game. So you'd
be like, well, obviously his team's really good. Like, is
this guy competing to be a top five pick in
the draft. His athletic ability, his touch, his drive throws.
I watch him, I'm like, I think this guy's a
big time prospect. And how much he's improved now. Lincoln
Riley brother the coordinator, isn't he Garrett? Yeah, Garrett Riley

(47:46):
the down two touchdowns on the goal line, third down,
no problem with you know, kind of getting you know,
club nick on the move, maybe you get a crease
like I understand that call. I have a hard time
running it up the gut on fourth and show, especially
without film MafA.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
I mean, that's been their guy all season. He's been
dealing with the shoulder injury. They haven't got him going.
They said before the game that their second running back
at a torn ACL So they literally have a wide
receiver who had the longest gain of forty yards.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
And I was just puzzled. I kind of just kind
of liked that guy running back. By the way, when
he busted that run, I was like, damn this and
this is why Clemson, This is why Clemson doesn't like
no one's comparing them to SMU or Indiana because clearly
they got elite talent, right Yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:28):
And the biggest knock on Kate Clubnick was well, you
need a good running game, you need a dominant wide receiver,
like the game needs to not be on Kate Clubnick
to win football games. And that game was all in
Kate Club Nick. I was impressed. I was gonna text
you him, like, does this guy is he.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
A first rounder? Like?

Speaker 3 (48:42):
Would he go in the first round this year? If
he goes and plays like that, I wonder if he's
gonna stay. I feel like he's going to with another
year and all the young talent that they have. But
I was thoroughly impressed man, his ability to scramble, his
ability to just scan the field, that cross body throw,
that first drive, that long drive by Clemson, you just
out like you knew it was gonna be a game.
And you gotta give credit to Dabble on them for

(49:03):
not hanging their head high or low. I should say
what about Texas? I guess because Texas's defense, I mean,
they held them on the goal line. They always get
them out of games. It seems like every level on
that team, they've got stars. And I know you tweeted
out too. It was like the difference between those first
two games in these last two games, it was a
bunch of NFL draft talent on Texas, Clemson in Ohio State, Tennessee.

Speaker 1 (49:25):
You feel it on the field, like you know, when
Clemson's coming back. Some of these plays are like balls
down the sideline where it's a one on one matchup.
So it's not like you're just gashing the middle of
their defense, right. I mean Clemson ran for seventy six
yards and what do you say, thirty five forty How
many yards was the one kid's long run? It was

(49:47):
forty one yards? Yeah. Yeah, So of their seventy six yards,
over half of it came on one run. So it
was all him throwing it down the field and they
didn't have a choice right there down. But to me,
tex and you and I talked about this, their front seven,
like Penn State is, jumps off the screen. And same

(50:07):
with the way Ohio State played tonight. It's like Jesus you,
I don't know if you'd say the same about Notre Dame.
A little nots below them, but still big time right
relative to college football, but it feels like they are
a little better. You could argue Texas and Penn State.
I mean we're talking about like several several high draft picks.
You know, Sawyer, he's that guy, a first round pick.

(50:29):
I mean, he's a good college player. But it's not like,
you know, you're not looking at TJ. Watt there again,
he's going to play in the NFL. But and I'm
not shaking shot like Ohio State is big time guys too. No.
I just think that you watch Texas now and those
two running backs, and I remember at the red River game,
I was like Jesus, the speed these two guys have.
I remember walking away thinking I love twenty six. But

(50:52):
it was a blue today. I mean, he looked good.
That's the thing. You get two good running backs in
this kind of you know environment with all these teams left.
So Notre Dame has two sweet running backs, Texas has
two sweet running backs. Penn State is two sweet running backs.
Ohio State, I mean the one guy is just incredible, Anderson,

(51:14):
who's gonna be a top forty pick. It's a lot
of these teams, you know, we would I wouldn't expect
everyone scoring thirty five to forty points. If you get
into a tight game, you know, it just gets maybe
you're only gain in three or four yards, but you
just wear the other defense down with just the and
all of them have them, right, we know Georgia has
running backs. I'd put Oregon in there too, Oregon for sure.

(51:38):
I mean this is you can get into a game.
One of these games is gonna be like seventeen to
seventeen going into the fourth quarter, and it's just gonna
be like who wants it more? And all these teams
can play like it. And that's what I appreciate, like
about this out like the best teams right now that
we saw this weekend. I know, I know Texas gave
U a bunch of points in the second half, but
we might look back in five years like that was

(51:58):
Club Nicks true coming out part of the nation when
he's like the sixth pick next year. That the defense
and physicality from Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame is
like why I like football. I just like watching people
get fucking destroyed, especially like you know in the NFL today,
the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens like TJ. Watt and

(52:20):
Kyle Hamilton, like these dudes are all like they're all sweet.
NFL players, But in college he kind of feels like,
oh this this one team's the bully and they just
start bullying them and you almost feel bad. You're like, oh,
this is getting someone stopped the fight here. And that's
what it felt like. Penn State, Notre Dame in Ohio State,
like we're here to bully you.

Speaker 3 (52:39):
I think what's impressive about Texas's running game too, is CJ.
Baxter was supposed to be the running back of this
year and he got hurt in fall camp and then
Blue comes in.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
He starts to get some fumbles. Twenty six you mentioned him.

Speaker 3 (52:50):
Why is there only had seventy three yards last season,
so for him to step in on top of that,
I feel like Texas had some injuries offensive line wise,
that that third quarter was a little due. They only
rush for like three yards per carry, and then they
figure out the rotation. I'm watching the left tackle, Calvin
Banks's supposed to be a top ten pick man he is.
You run behind him, you're gonna get five yards easily.

(53:12):
But you just wonder that offensive line. They're a semi finalists,
they were a finalists for the Joe More Award. Why
can't they do that versus Georgia. Is it just Georgia's
defensive line. Is it that much better? Is it a
mentality thing against them? Like what did you see from
today versus last week? Because that seems to be their kryptonite. Well,
I think Georgia is.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
I mean, they got multiple guys who are gonna go
in like the top twenty of the draft. I think
when you think about the last four years, that's where
that's like George's point of difference. You know, even when
they had Bowers and McConkey with Bennett like it was
the defense and really the defensive line, it was Jordan Davis,
Jalen Carver, Nolan Smith. It was like cheating Kobe Dean's

(53:52):
like right up the line, right behind us, Like what
are you gonna do? What's his name? The fuck? I
haven't even listed to the guy that went number one
overall ahead of Aiden Hutchinson Walker. I mean, so it's
just when you think Georgia that's there, that's that's just
what they breed. Like if you're gonna play for the
Ravens or the Steelers, you're gonna play defense. If Kirby's
gonna talk to you and you're a defensive player, like

(54:14):
we're looking to kill people. And I think Texas I
give star credit. Kilkowski I think is the Boise guy.
This defensive coordinator is good, and they use the transfer
portal and they use their money, and they've recruited, like
they have an SEC level defense. Like the big question
mark Texas going into the SEC. It's like, you know
this ain't the Big twelve brother, Well, it's like, yeah,

(54:36):
then they just recruited and bought an SEC team. Because
you watched them today, Like that's an SEC team in
your corner. TJ. Moore might end up being a top
fifteen pick in two years, right, So it's like one
guy's giving up some outside shots. Like I can live
with that. If you didn't get they weren't getting man handled.
They just gave him some big plays. So I think

(54:57):
the big question mark for Texas. We talked about this
and it's it's evident. If they had a first round quarterback,
I don't think they would be beat. I mean I
would take them against Ohio State, but yours. Just when
you start feeling comfortable, he kind of like rope shit,
You're like, WHOA is? The sequence was when he throws

(55:19):
the pick and it was a pick six. But the
dude takes out the offensive lineman on the blind side. Yeah,
and it was the drop.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
It wasn't it wasn't his fault, but yeah, definitely an interception.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
But but that sequence, so he takes him out and
then it gets called back, and then I think there
was right after that he threw a pick that should
have been like it was a sequence where the game
could have been a lot closer going in halftime, and
which that blindside block, which I get them, you know,
legislating it out of the game. It wasn't as malicious
as it looked with him lying there once. He he

(55:49):
just kind of he didn't like leave his feet. You
were probably too young, but Warren Sapp, when I was
a kid in Monday night football, Brett Favre, Yeah, Brett
Farv throw a pick and Chad Clifton turned around on
like a pick six and Warren Sapp left his feet
like John Lynch in the air would tackling someone and
killed the guy. And ever since then, that play, you know,

(56:12):
at the college in the NFL level, like you could
literally hurt someone because all of a sudden that you know,
it looked like he got a concussion or something. But
he just is just a force of the two guys.
But I just think at any moment with yours, who
can also make some sweet plays. Every time I was
ready to like write him off, he would make a
good play with his legs or make like a drive
a throw in there between traffic. So he's kind of

(56:35):
he just kind of is what he is. You just
don't know series to series, half to half help sometimes
throw to throw what you're gonna get. And they definitely,
I mean, this has got to be their deepest team
since like the Mac Brown era, you know those that
Colt McCoy and Vince Young, like this is just deep everywhere.
And they weren't. They weren't that last year. Remember how

(56:58):
flawed they were. They're just dramatically better than last year.
And they were good last year.

Speaker 3 (57:04):
You think Sark was happy too, that that running game
aided youers, that he didn't have to do much just
hand the ball off, and you know he did make
some good throws. You're right, Gunner, Helms just a security blanket.
You throw it anywhere his way, he's gonna catch the football.
He had that good throw with Golden who made a
great catch kind of underthrown. But it seems to me
like Sark, if they get the running game going, he
feels more confident versus having the game on yours's shoulders you.

Speaker 1 (57:29):
And I both, he's easy at to roof fo. I
think Arizona State's in major trouble. I can they run
the ball against his Texas front? I just don't know.
I think they could get massacred. And it's not for
lack of effort or lack of coaching. It's just one
of those words like I don't want to go quite
like TCU Georgia, but I think, and again, I don't

(57:53):
want this to happen. But if you tell me right
now the score is fifty to seven, I think it's believable,
isn't it? And you're gonna see more negativity.

Speaker 3 (58:01):
Oh, Arizona State, Boise State shouldn't be in the first
round or get a first round by you know, they
need a reseed, which we've already known before, Like we're
getting all this attention a boy SMU in Indiana, but
I already knew.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
We already knew that if Texas and Penn State played
well in one, that they got incredible draws and they
were gonna be like we'd already been talking about this.
I mean, if Clemson somehow would have came back that
they might not be a fourteen point favorite, but it'd
be nine, right, or it'd be over a touchdown and Boise.

(58:34):
I think Boise the same thing. I just don't think
they have a chance against you just see it. And
I never understand how people argue this. It's like I
didn't go to one of these schools, so it's not
like I'm pro Texa A and m Anti, Texas and
Oklahoma or you know, I don't now I had a
root for certain people more than others. But I also
can just take my bias out of it and just know, like, guys,

(58:55):
do you just watch the top ten Ish teams in
the SEC and the Big ten has three SEC teams
oh this year with Michigan being down, Ohio State, Oregon
and Penn State in terms of NFL talent, but like
these other leagues. I was texting abut of tonight. I said,
how many teams would Indiana and SMU how many do
you think are going to get drafted based on like

(59:17):
your guys grades right now? He said, max five combined.
I'm like, how many guys will get drafted from Alabama,
He's like, I'd put the over under at seven and
a half eight. And you watch Clemson, which you know
some of their guys might be under, and you also
had a factor in, like their sophomores and freshmen are
NFL guys like your guy. I didn't realize Bryant Young's

(59:39):
son number thirty, the pass rusher who I grew up on,
Like that guy comes in and you go, So this
is part of it. It's not just hey, we got
Quentin Nelson, Mike mcglinchy, right, are the guys that are
going to get drafted? You know, we got Ady Mitchell,
we got Worthy. What about all the guys like this
year on Texas's team that were also starting on that team.

(01:00:02):
It's like, no, it's the whole crew, and you really know,
like you watch Texas, you watch Penn State, it's not
just their nine guys that are gonna get drafted. It's
last year with Michigan it was like, hey, they're gonna
have sixteen guys get drafted, and they have Will Johnson
and you can list like four other guys. So it's like,
actually they have like twenty five draftable players on the
field in this game. And that's where you just feel it.

(01:00:24):
In these games where it is now at the home
maybe you get a little better chance in a bowl
game at the home field, which all the teams, you know,
the two main ones with huge advantages, and even Texas
right now has a way better roster than Clemson top
to bottom. You really feel with that home field behind him,
You're like, and especially this is like a double bye week.

(01:00:46):
You know, you've had a bunch of time. There's a
build up. It's not like just one week. It's like
you are raring to go coming into this game, and
you felt them all shot like a rocket out of
the you know, after kickoff.

Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
That was another common theme too with the four teams
that won in Clemson. Like you mentioned, it was all
these freshmen coming out and making these dynamic, big time plays.
It's almost an advantage for those teams where in the
air of the transfer portal, if you're playing freshmen and
they're making those key plays and helping your team out,
why would they leave. They're gonna stay. I mean, for
Notre Dame, their secondary three of the four guys are
all sophomore freshmen, and he mentioned Bryce young, some other

(01:01:21):
talent upfront that are coming as a freshman. I mean
that's only to added plus and especially I know Sark
talked about it before this season on how the early
games he was gonna play most of his freshmen, he
was gonna play most of his guys against Michigan, Yule, Monroe,
Mississippi State, just to get those guys involved so that
way they got to the playoff. They're rotating guys. You
got fresh bodies throughout the game. Like I mean you

(01:01:41):
talked about Texas defense. That Colin Simmons kid eleven, he
probably get drafted top ten right now.

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
He's their best player and he's a true freshman. It's incredible.
I feel like you could take the couple elevens that
we saw today playing defense and they would immediately start
next week for like half the NFL, like to like
literally next Sunday, they would start. You could go through
the majority of the NFL teams, definitely all the teams
that suck, the Jags, the Giants, I mean, Penn State's eleven,

(01:02:10):
Texas eleven, they'd be like their best players. They really
might be the giants best player. But those two guys,
like the versatility of these guys. And you know the
thing with Penn State, like when you were eleven, you
just know like you're their guy. You know, Texas is
just a sweet number two, the defensive guy. That guy's
just a badass. I wish I wish you were a Jenior,

(01:02:31):
a mind reader.

Speaker 3 (01:02:32):
Because I would have slept in if I would have
known the SMU Penn State game was gonna be thirty
eight to ten at ten am, I would have slept in,
maybe go get a workout during that game.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
Is there any takeaway that you have from this? Is
it just pretty much?

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
You know, Kevin Jennings is three horrible interceptions, Penn State's
defense got into it. The two pick six is Aler
was okay, and then that's another one where it's you
got two dynamic running backs to lean on and they
just blow them out.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
I think we'll get in Indiana too. But in that game,
you know, Penn State is built much closer to Ohio
State in Texas and Oregon in terms of just elite
talent everywhere. And there was a play early in the game,
you know, within the first like ten minutes of actual

(01:03:22):
like ten to ten ten, So it would have been
the first series or two. I can't remember the exact
thing that happened, but James Franklin sprinted down I think
to his defensive coordinators, defensive line coach, and this is
when it was zero zero, and I just thought, it's
James kind of tight right here? Is he kind of tight?
And I would imagine, you know, home game, everyone's like,
no matter what, really, let's face it. Everyone in Penn

(01:03:45):
State Land and most people that follow the Big ten
chalk them into the final four, right and you're just watching, like, God,
is the coach tight here? And then it settled down
immediately because the quarterback unraveled and you get two pick sixes.
That's the thing that you know, you watch like Nico's
just not good enough right now, like in terms of accuracy.

(01:04:06):
But never once did I feel like, Yeah, it's too
big for him. Playing in front one hundred thousand people
against I don't know, the greatest college football program ever
in twenty five degree weather. It's like, no, he's fucking
he ain't scared. I watched that guy and I watched
Indiana's quarterback, and I felt like this this can't like,
especially when those are two of the the reason they're
there are those two guys. Right, It's one thing if

(01:04:28):
you have like a you've grown up in this college
football era of like these quarterbacks being a lot better.
But most of my life in the nineties, like college
quarterbacks on the best teams were not the high picks.
They were much more game managers, and they honestly tried
to avoid them throwing most of the time because it
was a running game. Like that was always big. Honestly

(01:04:51):
up until like even when Sabin took over in two
thousand and eight nine era, you could win with Greg
McElroy and Ag mccerriny. Those days are over, and even
like these random teams can overachieve, like Indiana or SMU
is not necessarily random because they got money. But like
if your quarterback's just a stud and all of a
sudden you're watching and you're like, well, your team's kind

(01:05:12):
of predicated on this guy playing well and he looks
fucking lost. I mean it was less in Penn State's
good on defense, but that was it was more embarrassing
than Rourke's performance on Friday Night. Yeah, they in actually
had a couple of throws here and there, Like I
thought that guy was like he wanted to you know,

(01:05:34):
I want to get away Southwest. That's felt like what
he was doing.

Speaker 3 (01:05:38):
It was funny the interviewed him on College game Day
and Nick Saban's interview on him, he says, you know
what's gonna be the hardest thing today? Is it gonna
be the cold weather? Is it gonna be one hundred
and six thousand fans? Is it gonna be the Penn
States defense? While he's, you know, trying to get his
hands warm while doing this interview, He's like, oh, I see,
you know you're trying to get warm, you seem cold.
And his response was the defense was gonna be the
toughest thing. And sure enough, three interceptions and that cold

(01:06:01):
weather looked pretty brutal for an SMU team. I just
don't know how you resolve in SMU Indiana getting bought
out like that. It's like one of those things where
Penn State played really well, Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (01:06:12):
Came out physical. I don't know what the solution is.
I think the solution's pretty easy. Is I think we
learned because who really got screwed today? Because Penn State
and Notre Dame didn't get screwed. It was great for them,
it was us the people that watch and provide all
the money and the hype on all this stuff that
we dedicate our lives to. Given three and a half

(01:06:34):
hours on a Friday night to watch that game or
get up early. I mean I built like I had
a long day. I We're still recording here at ten
o'clock at night, like I wanted to be sitting on
the couch, you know, an hour before normal NFL game starting.
So a lot of times during the season, like ten
am game at Saturday. Most of the weeks, it doesn't
even matter. So you have basically till the you know,
lunchtime window to really get focused on college football. It's

(01:06:57):
like I wanted to watch this thing and to get
If we want a cute story, we'll go to Hallmark.
You know, I just think the cute story the records
are thrown out the window because your records. I've been
hammering this home. So is anyone with a common sense
or a brain. You can't compare. Well, he went eleven
and one, ten and two. Your schedules have nothing comparable anymore, right,

(01:07:21):
especially now with these conferences expanding. So I think next
year they got a lot of credit for going eleven
in one right, or I guess they would they go
eleven and two, and Indiana got a lot of credit
for going eleven and one. I think the and the
emphasis got put because forever to get to the final four,
like you could probably have one loss. I think one

(01:07:43):
time a two loss team went Ohio State and they
ended up winning it with Irby Meyer. But I don't
think the record is gonna matter as much now you
can't go eight and four and make the twelve team playoff.
But like, let's face, if they could do it over
again today, Indiana and SMU would have been out in
South Carolina and Alabas would be in and you just
put those two teams together, like it's not a comparable.

(01:08:06):
It's just not apples to apples, like if the Steelers
go ten and seven and the Ravens go twelve and five,
Like it's easy to put into context records and who
you beat, and everyone in the NFL is a pro
and we all know, like you can play like crap
and lose to the Carolina Panthers if the Chiefs almost did.
We're in college, it's pretty clear like you're allowed to

(01:08:28):
have like weird game with Vanderbilt if you're Texas or Arkansas.
It's like, no, no one thought that much, as long
as you win it. But they also you know, had
they beat text A and M on the road, that's
second time against Georgia, You're like, okay, this is this
is a real team. I think sometimes on a given year,
we also can never assume that the SEC and the

(01:08:49):
Big Ten are the same. Again, I think moving forward
the SEC, it goes the NFL, the SEC and then
everybody else. Now Ohio State and Oregon they don't get
treated like the rest. And if this is just a
one off year for Michigan, I would put them right
there too. Penn State could easily these next couple of
weeks like okay, they get that treatment as well. Moving forward,

(01:09:11):
right if they were to beat Georgia or something like okay,
I got nope, But all these other programs. Indiana never
puts anyone in the NFL, Like when do you watch
NFL games? But oh that guys from Indiana. But all
these other teams do that we left out and they
have one more loss and we just go or two
more losses. Well yeah, how many games would Indiana have

(01:09:31):
won in the SEC. How many games would SMU have
won in the SEC six or seven, and I think
people push back, like, how do you know that. It's like,
come on, guys, take your bias out and just watch
the games. It's the talent discrepancy is. You don't need
to be the GM of the Baltimore Ravens to see this.
If you just watch college football. It doesn't mean that
SMU doesn't have fun games or Indiana throughout the course

(01:09:53):
of the season. But when it comes to these twelve teams,
the NCAA tournament's pretty easy because like, even if you
think Indiana's overrated, you can just make them a six
seed or seven seed. They're sixty four teams, actually sixty eight,
but I mean sixty four teams where in this college
like there's only twelve, So those two spots, those teams
like that, that's a large percentage of the spots. And

(01:10:16):
they were really the two teams we were debating. It'd
be one. Like, no one's making this argument with Boise
State or Arizona State. Besides, yeah, they probably shouldn't be
two and three or three and four, they should be
eleven and twelve, okay, but they should be in. They
got it far and square, Like if Indiana had played
next year. I looked, they go two Penn State, they
go to Oregon, they go to Iowa. The other thing

(01:10:40):
is Signetti. I don't know that much about SMU's coach.
Clearly he's a pretty impressive guy and he's a good.

Speaker 3 (01:10:46):
Yeah, he seems like a chiller, like a guy who's
confident as players, but he's not gonna go out like
Signetti and say we're gonna beat the shit out of.

Speaker 1 (01:10:52):
The top twenty five teams. That to me, like that's
where I'm not SMU's just not good enough. They got
work today, but like I don't feel like their program
was walking around acting like they were Alabama two point zero.
The Signetti thing got crazy. I mean he went on
yesterday college game Day and saying the things he said,
like swearing in front of Saban, which I'm pro swearing,

(01:11:14):
but the way he was doing it, when do coaches,
let's use college Nick dominated the sport for fifteen years.
He never talked like that about opponents. Honestly, he was
the opposite. Kirby is a crazy emotional wreck. Never acts
like that. You know what, Signetti, what do you think
is going to happen next year? You've never been relevant

(01:11:35):
on random team schedule. I think he is going to
be treated like when you know, if he plays, let's
just pick some big ten Wisconsin, Minnesota. They will treat
that game not that much different like Michigan Ohio State
because of the way that guy carried himself this year,
and they're just not going to be as good. I'm sorry,
so I know the point differential. They're in for a
wake up call. Yeah, I said this last night. I'll

(01:11:58):
say it again. I'd be impressed if they went six
and six. I think they were gonna get curb stomped
next year. I mean we know, I mean Oregon and
Penn State would kill him any year, no matter what.
I think. Iowa at Iowa like I'm already shocking that
thing up his nail. And then they're just they're just
gonna get treated a lot differently than they did this
year in terms of just gain preparation from opponent. Taken seriously,

(01:12:23):
and I'm not huge, like super big, big ten, super
talented and like some elite conference, but these coaches have pride. Now,
I think he acted unlike anything you ever see.

Speaker 3 (01:12:33):
Yeah, and the fact that it was it wasn't even
college game like it was in the morning. It was
two hours before kick and Shane Gillis made a remark
which actually was pretty spot on, talking about how he
came out his team wasn't out there waving at the
fans before and all the camera of attention that he
got too. And it was pretty cool to see the
postgame shake with Marcus Freeman. You could tell all that
stuff pissed him off. Did to make eye contact with

(01:12:55):
him at all.

Speaker 1 (01:12:56):
I just I loved it. I uh, I think I
saw that clip today. I didn't quite realize that makes sense.
So Gillis was alluding to, I must have missed this.
He came out inside the stadium like as players warm
up and was doing that.

Speaker 3 (01:13:10):
Just waving out the fans, walking up and down the sideline.
His team was inside during that, and then the kickoff
comes and the ass.

Speaker 1 (01:13:18):
Whooping upon Notre Dame started. Do you know what's crazy
is he comes from a football family. My cousin that
play at Fresno State. He was the offensive coordinator his
brother in the early two thousands when Fresno State really
came on the map with like David Carr and I've
always heard good things about the fan like football family.

(01:13:38):
Usually when you get this crazy, unhinged kind of it's
usually kind of a younger coach that got a lot
of success. This guy's like sixty years old. You know,
he's been at IUPI and James Madison forever. You'd think,
act like you act, I mean, be true to yourself.
It does feel though he's putting on a little bit
of an act and to do that at Notre Dame.

(01:14:01):
And I know Saban hired him originally, but Saban has
to be turned off by some of this stuff. It's
I'm not a huge believer in optics and certain things,
and you just do it to do it, because it
almost becomes like you're just faking it. But the stuff
he's doing is almost on the opposite end of the spectrum,
like why is he doing this? Why is he acting

(01:14:22):
like this? Is it like a stick now that he's
just playing into and he can't pull back because it
It was kind of funny until he got curb stopped
by Ohio State and then got thoroughly embarrassed, which I
would imagine maybe people turned off the TV. But you
guys are probably still like the Dallas Cowboys, whether you

(01:14:42):
win to lose. Everyone watched it. I mean, there's a
chance like fifteen million people watch that first half and
no one has anything good to say about his team.
So what's he gonna do? Act like that next year
if they're losing, because you can't act like that if
you're five and seven.

Speaker 3 (01:14:55):
But going back to what you're talking about SMU Indiana
both being disappointing, it's it's puzzling because yes, they probably
didn't deserve to get in because of their conference schedules
and their schedules being weak. But at the same time,
Lane Kiving out there charping about Ole Miss. It's like,
I don't feel bad for you having three losses. I
don't feel bad for Alabama for losing by twenty one.

(01:15:16):
So yeah, I get like, SMU Indiana disappointing. If a
SME would have got removed the whole talk of conference
championships when I went out the window, the whole talk
of Indiana. But well, we're eleven and one, Like does
eleven wins not matter? And then on the flip side,
it's like, well Alabama, Ole Miss, you guys kind of choked.
So I don't know what the solution is. I just
think that kind of all just piled on and winded

(01:15:37):
up with this. And that's just a kudos of ole
Miss and Alabama losing to unranked six and six teams.

Speaker 1 (01:15:44):
On the road. The difference of what we just witnessed
this sixteen or twelve team playoff, but this weekend of
the at large bids and let's say the NFL playoffs
or the NBA playoffs, Like your record gets you to
a slot, right, you get a good enough record, you
win the division, you get a top four seed. You don't,
you're a seven seed or whatever college after those four teams.

(01:16:08):
It is completely subjective. It's a complete entertainment product. So
where I would support Lane is I truly believe that
now the way Jackson Dart played against Florida down the stretch,
would I wouldn't have much trust. But I'll say this
the team Florida because of people are like, well, Lane,
you got beat by Florida. I think Florida today would

(01:16:29):
kill Indiana and SMU if that was under a touchdown spread,
I would have no problem putting four figures on Florida,
zero hesitation. Actually, no team sneaky has more momentum right
now going in the off season for a non playoff
team than Florida. They got a lot of good vibes
coming out of there. But this is an entertainment product. Now,

(01:16:52):
I don't mean Alabama and go six and six or
Notre Dame go six and six. You're putting them then
in just for entertainment. But the gap between Darrel eleven
and and Lane's ten and three, and I hear this
a lot. You lost to Kentucky. Well, I remember barbecuing
one night, and there weren't many good games on that night,
and the one game was Florida or excuse me, Georgia,

(01:17:12):
Kentucky and Kentucky should have won that game and definitely
could have if Stoops has some more balls and doesn't
punt in the middle of the field. But Kentucky went
toe to toe with Georgia, who most people right now
would say is second or third best team in the country. Right,
so let's not act like Kentucky, who my guess would
be minimum five guys from that team get drafted. Where again,

(01:17:36):
I got a college director five guys total from Indiana SMU,
and I'm pretty sure SMU has like three, might have four.
So it's just I listen, I Lane kisses people off
in Clatt and going back, Joe Clatt loves the Big ten,
so he's very loyal to the Big Ten. And I
got no problem if you're supporting Ohio State, Michigan over

(01:17:57):
the years, Penn State. But we're talking about Indiana and
that's the thing. Like Signetti's big thing was, well, if
we were one of the blue bloods, we wouldn't have
been treated like this. Well, yeah, of course you wouldn't.
If Michigan had been eleven and one, I'd be like, well,
they just had seventeen guys drafted before that. I feel
like every NFL game I watched, they were like three

(01:18:17):
or four Michigan guys on the field starting for these teams. You,
as they said in the broadcast, are the worst program
in the history of its Power four now but powerful
football most losing his program. I looked yesterday. That's what's
sad about this whole thing. They had the greatest hit
season in the history of the program by a pretty
wide margin, and it kind of negates it all. And

(01:18:38):
I think Signetti like he's pissed me off with all
of it. It's like, come on, man, I liked you talk,
and I liked you chirping, and then I felt like
you jumped the shoe, like you just wouldn't let up.
And it's just not as cute when you go when
you're getting your ass kicked. And then for him to
say to Saban like top twenty five teams Nebraska, and
then he dropped to James Madison against Coastal Carolina as

(01:18:59):
he's talking and Nick sabe and it's like, oh my god, Kurt,
quiet down, Oh that's so funny. Yeah, this is where
I go, like, I think the subjective nature of picking
Indiana and SMU, I think those days are done and
next hafter they have to win their conference in order
to get in for those type of teams to get

(01:19:20):
into the playoffs. Well, but if if Indiana had been
eleven in one, but you know one of their wins
was Oregon, you know, had a given year or had
a good I'd have no problem. But I think when
you when you have a situation where your schedule sucks
and and you don't have NFL players, because that's the
argument for you guys, right, well, you know who did
you really beat? They were top twenty five at the time,

(01:19:41):
but it did end up that way. How great like
Navy and Army if they're your best wins. But it's like,
watch Notre Dame play the last ten years. Every year
there countless guy. I know they have an NFL roster,
and I just think so comparing like Notre Dame didn't
play anybody, Texas didn't play anyway, like Indiana didn't pay anybody.
It's like, come on, guys, what kind of conversation were

(01:20:03):
we having? Now? Every year it would depend like who
are you picking? Maybe there'd be a year where it's like, yeah,
Indiana's your best option. I think this year, looking back,
you just can't convince me that South Carolina against Penn
State wouldn't have had a or Notre Dame or even Alabama,
which is obviously a flawed Alabama team. It's light years
better than Indiana. So I think Indiana is more way

(01:20:27):
more disappointed than SMU, you know, because they never shut up.
I never heard SMU talking. They were just kind of
happy to be there. Yeah, it was the league zero.

Speaker 3 (01:20:37):
You saw in week zero and then you blink and
you're like, oh, they're in They're in the They're in
the a SEC Championship. Playing with a dynamic quarterback, against Clemson.
I was gonna ask you though, out of the four
teams that won today, so let's say, you know, Georgia,
Oregon got the first round bys them. Including the four
teams that won this weekend, you could say are probably
the six national champion contenders as we head into the quarterfinals.

(01:21:00):
Which one of the four teams that you saw this weekend,
Notre Dame in Penn State, Ohio State, Texas impressed you,
maybe shocked you more, and now you're more confident in
them moving forward.

Speaker 1 (01:21:12):
I think when you factor in their next opponent, I
think you gotta be pretty high on Penn State in
Texas because you know, if you put Arizona State in
Boise in closer to the Indiana SMU tier, they're just
gonna get to the conference. You know, the final four
where Georgia, Notre Dame and Oregon Ohio State. I mean

(01:21:37):
there's a chance both teams, whoever wins, loses a couple
guys along the way. I mean that thing's going to
be a knockdown, drag out battle. Think about the energy
that you have to between Texas and Penn State. I
think there's a decent chance a lot like the Ohio
State game tonight. We see guys getting yanked in the
fourth quarter of one of those games. If you're in

(01:21:58):
a game like that where you're against oh State or
Oregon or Notre Dame Georgia, which I think you gotta
like your chances more with the backup quarterback being a
full time starter. But still, if you win that game,
you're gonna come out. Every guy's going to the ice
bath that night and then again in the morning. So
it's so I think Texas and Penn State, if you're

(01:22:18):
that and you're kind of looking at the bracket, you're like,
could this be a year? And then both those teams
are playing the winner of the knockdown dryouts.

Speaker 3 (01:22:28):
Yeah, the loser of that Oregon Ohio State game is
gonna be hurting. And you're right about Notre Dame Georgia,
and then you have to face a physical team in
Penn State that next week who similar playing style to Georgia,
better quarterback, they like to run the football too, and
they got a ground and pound front seven just like
Georgia did.

Speaker 1 (01:22:45):
I think Penn State had the best weekend because no offense,
but most people think, you know, is Notre Dame would
be pretty shocking to win the national title. You agree
with that. I think you'd be shocking to be Georgia
then in two weeks exactly, And if they beat Georgia
and then lost the next week, it would be an
incredible season for Marcus Freeman Texas. Ohio State, most people

(01:23:08):
thought they were gonna win the national championship this year, right,
Like fans of those teams like, we can win the
national championship, and they weren't wrong. Twenty million dollars roster.
Same thing with Oregon and same thing with Georgia. I
think Penn State had a lot of questions, not because
their team wasn't good enough, but the coach never won
a big game. Then they lose that Ohio State game
the way they did. They run it up the gut

(01:23:30):
when they're the goal line looking back, like why didn't
they just run wildcat with Warren or something? You know,
he's he can like turn into a running back. Guys, sweet,
I think you watched them today. They're high end if
they're just and I understand it's SMU, but got the
talent on that team. The coaches just got to get
out of the way. And I think Franklin I thought

(01:23:53):
early today, a lot like Ryan Day Michigan. Just you
could feel him tight. And then once they got the
pick six, he started smiling. He loosened and I felt
like everyone loosened up. So to me, they got to
you know, can he be loose enough? Your guy is
pretty loose. He's ow Ryan Day today, I thought came
in pretty confident. Sarks become like a new man. I
feel like these last two years he's much looser, and

(01:24:15):
I think that's important for nineteen twenty year old guys.
You can't be super tight. You know. Saban had this
great balance of like you thought he was tight, but
he's actually watches like pregame speeches. You're like, this fucking
guy's ready to roll. You know. I think Kirby's great
at that, right he just just fire breathing, crazy asshole
pre game, but in a loose like we're ready to

(01:24:35):
kick assway And you know, Ryan Day was the opposite
of that Michigan game and you could feel it, and
then his team played like that. If James can loosen
up a little bit, there's no disputing the talent, you know.
I mean, like if you just gave Kirby smart, Penn
State's roster tomorrow and said you got to play with
this team the next three games. He wouldn't be disappointed. Hell,
he'd get a better quarterback than he has right now.
So I think Penn State. I don't want to say

(01:24:59):
they can win national championship because it'd be pretty saying
James Franklin won the national championship, but they definitely have it.
They definitely have the talent on the team to compete
for one like truly with the other the five. But
the five has been you know, everyone thought Oregon, Ohio State,
Texas for sure, and even Georgia up and down, like
their high end so high it was like Defenn State

(01:25:21):
in that crew. And honestly, I think, you guys, Notre
Dame was made to play cold weather outdoor football. If
every game was like that game at South Bend or
outside in freezing cold, they would be tough to be
kind of gets neutralized. Isn't the game in New Orleans?

Speaker 3 (01:25:39):
Yeah, they're playing the Sugar Bowl New Orleans. Yeah, so
it inside for Notre Dame. But I think to start
out with that, I get there's a lot of negativity
around SMU Indiana, but all four of those environments were
ten out of ten, like for that to have the
on campus games in the games did it'd.

Speaker 1 (01:25:56):
Turned out the way we all wanted it to.

Speaker 3 (01:25:58):
It was pretty freaking cool seeing the lead up to it,
seeing you know, the smack talk going back and forth.
And I mean, I guess we got a good game
with Texas Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (01:26:07):
I guess towards the end. But it'll be fun.

Speaker 3 (01:26:09):
I mean, I'm excited to watch these next four games,
and you hope that I know two of them for
sure will be barn Burner games to watch out for.
And you hope that Arizona State and you hope that
Boise State can get things going keep it close to
Penn State.

Speaker 1 (01:26:20):
But I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:26:22):
It was a bummer both the blowouts, but I think
the atmosphere has definitely helped out with a good weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:26:28):
I will say this too, the nil And there's a
lot of like negativity around college football, and some of
it's understandable. You hear some of these stories. You know,
if you know a coach or whatever, you're like, God,
that's crazy, you know it is. It's pretty intense, and
you can be like pro paying guys and think that
it's out of control. But when you watch these guys play,

(01:26:50):
you're like, these guys are playing their ass off. You
watch Riley Leonard or Will Howard or Niko today, it's
like these guys are just laying it out. Even Indian,
like I will say this, I've I thought Indiana was embarrassing.
Their defensive effort wasn't bad. They were playing their balls off.
They were really their defensive line is not bad, and

(01:27:10):
they definitely have a couple of dbs that are solid.
You know, their offense is a joke against a good team,
But defensively, I don't think their defensive linemen that Carpenter
like they guys should hang their head like they they
showed up ready to play. And that's where I think
it was cool about. You know, once the ball's kicked
off in football, you know you can get away with
it baseball or basketball, if you're pissed off, or if

(01:27:33):
this was college, it's a nil and your man. You
either go in an environment like these like you better.
You might lose and you might get worked, but if
you go half assed, you will get injured. And I
thought everyone, you know, obviously SMU and Indiana were overwhelmed,
but everyone played hard.

Speaker 3 (01:27:51):
Yeah, you've You've had a busy couple of days. I mean,
I know Kirk Kurbstreet. You know they say he's the
hardest man working in sports, like middle Koff maybe so place.
I mean, yeah, Indiana, notre name. You have the Monday
can get the games today for the NFL college football.

Speaker 1 (01:28:05):
You got a hold NFL slate tomorrow. It's impressive, man,
we got I think we knocked off though. The one
thing is when they're Saturday games and Thursday games, Sunday
is a little easier, there's not as many and the
morning slate tomorrow is terrible. I might get like a
workout like ten am to sleep in a little bit,
but Herbstreet has to put on a suit. Now. He
does fly private, so it's it's not as crazy as

(01:28:26):
travel like all those guys like McAfee and Sabing and
they're just criding. It's like, yeah, they do get into
a PJ. They're not going to a commercial airline. But
still it's you're out there, it's freezing cold. You could
tell Nick, older man, southern guy, like it was cold
for him. Like by the end of a segment he
struggled to talk. I kind of felt bad for him.
He's like, he's gotta be freezing his ass off. The

(01:28:48):
nickname Alabama Jones had so weak. So I gotta ask
you this one more question before we get off. So
you're obviously engaged.

Speaker 3 (01:28:58):
How long did it take for your fiance to be
okay with you watching football for the entire day? Because
I want to prepare for that when I have a girlfriend. Hey, honey,
i'm working. You need to watch football for three days straight.
We got to have multiple rooms because she'll watch NFL.
You know, I was like, hey, watch the Chiefs game.
But tonight the first half when.

Speaker 1 (01:29:21):
I was like, hey, you want to watch Ohio State
Rocket Top, She's like, yeah, no, not really, So I
watched in the office. The second half she watched it.
So it just you gotta pick your spots. The NFL.
She'll watch any game whatever, but college. I can't just
throw out SMU Penn State and get her to dial in.
So you just gotta you gotta have a man cave
or whatever to mix it up. She had a good

(01:29:42):
She had a good call with the Tennessee game. Though
she likes the atmosphere and stuff with college football. She
loves Herbstree's dog, but I think the the volume of
college that's the thing. You know, in the NFL, there's
just a couple slots right of games. College football, She's
a little confused because I'll wake up during season, I

(01:30:04):
don't know, you know, seven thirty something on a Saturday,
be out there for a couple hours watching college the
game day, then maybe go to the gym or whatever,
but get back that morning game still going. Then there's
the day game, then there's the night game, and then boom,
Boise State, Washington State, you know, at nine o'clock kick on.
She just can't get over how much inventory. I'm like, well,
there's a lot of programs. They play different time slots.

(01:30:27):
Like she just knows, like what time's a Niner game tomorrow,
eleven or two? Right, it is not that complicated. We're
in college. It could be like six different time slots
and maybe on a Friday night. You know, you just
never know when it's coming, so you just you know. Luckily,
it provides a good life, so she enjoys it. She
likes football the college. She doesn't quite understand all the personalities.

(01:30:48):
But when we went to Oklahoma and we sat in
the stands, they have a bunch of chances. She thought
it was really cool. Honestly, going to a game if
you don't know much about college football will draw you
in to then become a fan because you're just not
gonna know the players. It's like she doesn't know who
Josh Hipel is, but you take her to Oklahoma game,
who was terrible, and they're doing these fucking chants, doing

(01:31:08):
downward horns at McConaughey when he's ten feet away from us.
That's it's pretty bad at You don't even need to
like football to go. I mean, it's I'd recommend anyone
just go to a good college football game. It's just
a it's like an it's like a concert, right, yeah,
a home atmosphere. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:31:25):
I mean that being her first game too, or one
of her first games of the season made a red
River rivalry split down the middle.

Speaker 1 (01:31:32):
That was sick the first thirty minutes of the game.
We're sick. But again, like in a situation like that,
you tailgate, you get to the game, like we sat
in our seats forty five minutes early, and the whole
place was packed. Like you saw to night like last
night a Notre Dame. They were showing like thirty minutes,
Like this place is already packed and there's there's a buzz.
It's like you're waiting to see like Elvis or the

(01:31:52):
Beatles or something. Now. Then once you're there, you need
the game to be good, to be entertaining, which is
out of everyone's control. But there's nothing like the college game,
the atmosphere leading into the game. It's not like that
in the end. I've been to a million NFL games.
It's maybe a huge playoff game, but you're random play
it regular season game, even if it's big, doesn't have

(01:32:12):
that kind of like the pageantry around it. I feel you.

Speaker 3 (01:32:17):
Okay, so noted, noted, Gotta make it a career. Gotta
have your own space, Gotta slowly get her in the sport.
Gotta go out to a college football game. And that's
how you get her done.

Speaker 1 (01:32:27):
Ideally, they have it built it like she was a
big Niner fan growing up, so she likes she has
a team, and then she falls enough for the NFL,
Like she knows all the quarterbacks gets into certain teams.
You know, the Niners have so many coaches, like she
follows Robert Solo, Mike McDaniel, all these guys right, So
it's easy. It kind of just breaks off and then
it just grows like a like germinates like a tree,

(01:32:48):
and then a bunch of branches come off, and then
you add a new tree in college football. But you
got to do that slowly because it's there's a lot
going on in college football, Like we haven't even broached
like nil and transfer portal. She couldn't even fathom.

Speaker 3 (01:33:01):
Yeah, all this stuff that hit this year, there's no
way that that would take anybody a minute to figure
out too much.

Speaker 1 (01:33:07):
Okay, off to bed, Jackson. Have a merry Christmas, have
a good week, and uh we'll talk after Christmas. Leading
into these these playoff games, have bowls. Enjoy life, bro,
Hey you two, merry Christmas. Go irish the volume

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