November 5, 2024 • 21 mins
Greg Tepper, managing editor of Dave Campbells Texas Football, joins the show to talk all things Texas football with Craig Way. They discuss SMU's massive win over Pittsburgh, Texas Tech's upset of Iowa State, and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Abbott Panthers, so number two in the state in
the one A Division one six man state rankings, and
they play the Aquilla Cougars, Abbot and Aquilla. In case
you don't know, are I guess as the crow flies
because you have to fly over the lake if you
did that instead of driving around, the lake would be
about ten miles apart. Something like that. But we'll get
(00:22):
to the high school football stuff soon enough. We'll start
off with the college stuff. We start off with Greg Tapper,
managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine. You know
how you always ask me Tap after a big win
or a big loss, what the pulse is of the
greater Austin area, And certainly could go through to those
(00:43):
who cover Texas A and M in College station.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Just curious.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Is there a palpable buzz over what's going on over
in the hilltop over at SMU or is everybody just
still in the depths of Dallas cowboy depression.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Well, certainly the Cowboys are not helping football fever around here,
but I will tell you that that certainly SMU is
a little bit of the talk of the town right now,
especially coming off of that big win over pitch. And
I think that what really stands out for people, what
people are starting to pay notes to, and it's something
i've kind of it's called me to scratch.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
My head in the past.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Is that is that SMUs finally filling out Ford Stadium.
They're finally filling out the stadium. That was a big
concern for me. Even when they were good, they just
weren't having and even when they were good and had
high profile games, they weren't drawing big crowds. They drew
a legit strong crowd out there at Ford Stadium for
the first time in what feels like a long time,
(01:41):
and for the big win over pitch, and they were rewarded.
And so I think that there is that is probably
the best measure of the buzz around here. You know, look,
if you're SMU, you're always going to be fighting uphill
against the Cowboys. You know, You're you're probably going to
be fighting uphill.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Against Texas and A and M right But at the.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Same time, you know they are the team right now
that is playing, you know, playing the best coming off
of the biggest win and an opportunity a real, actual
clear path to the college football playoff and furthermore, they
played exciting Brandon football. It's something there are in many
ways a lot of what the Cowboys aren't right now,
which is a good and be like exciting that I
(02:19):
think is kind of helping to fill in some of
the dole drums due to the professional team around here.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Well, it's a good point.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And you know, they they, like you said, they've got
a clear path. Really, they're playing three ponents, none of
whom have a winning record. They're all four and four
on down the stretch. This is a real shot for
them to get at least into the a SEC Championship
game to take on Miami in all probability.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, and especially you know, I think there was a
big question of what is SMU going to do whenever
they make the move up.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
And if you.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Remember early in the season, there was some real kind
of handwringing about s and U simply because you know
that they weren't able. They weren't playing to their paper
early they had the early loss to BYU. They just
weren't simply playing as well as we thought that they could.
And further one, I think even more than that, I
know we have conversations on this program about how we
(03:11):
didn't understand what they were doing in the quarterbacks situation
where they were playing Kevin Jennings, they were playing Preston Stone.
They're basically doing a two quarterback system. Well, they've fully
committed to Kevin Jennings. I think part of it at
least is because Preston's son has been nicked up, but
he has been a revelation for them and he's given
them a new you know, a new kind of pep
(03:32):
in their step offensively, and it's all kind of filtering down.
I also think what helps is that, you know, SMU
has in the past couple of years under Sunny Dykes
and continued under RHT Lashley, they have tried to really
steal the borders of DFW and really be Dallas a team,
and that certainly helps. Whenever you have a quarterback who
(03:53):
led South o'cliffs to a state championship, you know, piloting
your team.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
So I think that that helps.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
And right now it's kind of all working for the Ponies,
and it's probably the most buzz that's been around that
football program in quite some time.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Let me get your thoughts to another school in Texas
and that's out in Lubbock. Our old pal Joey McGuire
actually texted you, Aaron Hartigan and me, we have this
weird group text with the head coach of the Texas
Tech Red Raiders, and he texted us on Friday night
with a photo of us that he got clearly from
watching on a computer. He was in ames Iowa, of
(04:32):
the three of us on the set, and we're all like, hey,
good luck, you know whatever. And then they go out
and he and Iowa State their first loss of the
season and they got Bowl eligible. So, I mean, people
are doing a bit of a sigh relief out there
on the South planes, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I think absolutely, And I think that's a huge win
for Joey McGuire.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
They're calling it joe Vember, you know what I mean.
But this is there, the big win for Joey McGuire
for a lot of rings.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
One obviously hitting Bowl eligible before you you know, here
at six and three, you got three games to go,
all of them winnable, you know what I mean, all
of them. You know, you play, Oklahoma State's not not,
you know, as good as we.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Thought they were going to be.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Colorado is gettable, especially there in Lubbock. This is a
team that I think being bull eligible right now is
a big coup for them. Furthermore, they won a close game,
which has kind of been a bit of a bugaboo
for them this year. They closed the game out strong
and came up with big plays down the stretch. And Furthermore,
the biggest thing is that Joey McGuire is nothing great
(05:33):
on the road. The Joe McGuire tuxas Tech teams, the
book on them has been like, if you play them
in Lubbock, they're a tour but if you get them
on the road, then they can be had. And certainly
to go on the road to a hostile environment and
aims where they are are dreaming big dreams up there,
and to go up there and come up with big plays.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
I thought was really impressive. The other thing about.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
That is is I know that that offensive coordinator Zach
Kitley's bender a tremendous, tremendous amount of pressure and a
lot of scrutiny out there. One of the things that
really impressed me was Iowa State scores kind of a
busted to a broken tackle and scores to go up
with a little over two minutes to.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Go, and Tech gets the ball back.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Needing a touchdown to take the lead, And I thought
that the patience shown by Zak Kittley in the play calling,
knowing the situation was really impressive. Knowing that your best
player on the field is your running back, Todge Brooks,
he's the best player. That's not really up for debate,
but basically not being afraid to run the ball, pick
up six yards wherever you can and just get you know,
(06:38):
and methodically move the ball down the field.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Give a lot of credit to you know, todj.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Groaks, to Baron Morton, to Josh Cameron, the playmakers that
they had, They came up with big plays.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
But I thought that the play.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Calling on that final drive was really impressive. And for
all the slings and arrows that Dak Kittley has caught,
many of them, in my opinion, deserves, but I thought
that was a real bit of play calling.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Mat three there in the.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Final drive the Baylor TCU game several weeks ago, there
were you and I were hearing people say that that's
going to be two coaches coaching for their job and
the loser is going to be out. The interesting thing
is now they're both five and four they're both three
and three in the Big Twelve, so they're.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Both close to Bowl eligible.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I thought Mike Craven did a really fine job in
his piece that he wrote on Texas Football dot Com
about He said it wouldn't they didn't reach bowl eligibility
or any other tangible mark. But for anyone who's followed
Dave r and his program since their Sugar Bowl went
in twenty twenty one, the celebration made perfect sense when
they store in the field that sort of thing. So
(07:42):
I don't I've never been really comfortable in discussing coaches
job security thing.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Sure, but do you think.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's in a better spot for Baylor even though TCU
has had some struggles as well. They're both five and four,
they're both still just went away from getting into a bowl.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I think that these are two programs that you mentioned
that at five and four that feel like they are.
They could not be more different five and four, you know,
for TCU, I think for them to be five and
four right now, this feels like a real letdown because
TCU was supposed to be a team that was contending
for the top of the table, so to speak, a
(08:21):
team that could go out there and make you know,
make make waves and you see what you know.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
The way that they've gotten to five and four, you know, with.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You know, a loss to Houston, that's that's a pretty
bad loss, right they get drilled by s of you,
and that's a game in the Iron Skillet, the final
game the Iron Skillet, at.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Least for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
You got to have to lose the last second game
to tc or rather to UCF. I thought was disappointing.
You know, for them to be five and four the
way that they are, I think is diappointing. For Baylor
to be five and four, they probably got to be
turning cartwheels and wake up simply because of what they've
been able to do to get here. You know, I'm
not saying they've beaten a bunch of world beaters. They've
(09:02):
beaten on this three game winning street. They've beaten TCU,
Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech. I don't know if that's
necessarily you know, hanging the banner. But at the same time,
considering they lost to BYU, they got beat by Colorado,
you know, they got beat by Utah. Really they did
not have a good win right up until really probably
(09:23):
you know, the win over Tech is probably their best
win of the year. That to me represents I think
a real step forward, at least away from the ABYSS.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
We kind of thought that the way.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
This thing was going, especially after that loss to Iowa
State where they had been lost three in a row,
it felt like, Okay, this could be had real south,
real quickly here for Dave random But it seems like
they've righted the ship and now, you know, with still
West Virginia, Houston, and Kansas on the horizon, there is
a reasonable expectation down there in Waco that they could
win their final six games of the year and really,
(09:57):
you know, go into twenty twenty five with a little bit.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
More all right, before we shift to high school, you know,
when we always do what we call the meanest thing
to each other and tell people the pig games, I'm
gonna do it on on the college level in the
state of Texas.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I'm gonna give you three games.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Can you tell me which one you would if you
were going to be in there and not working on
your playoff bracket reveal that'll be released on Saturday night.
More on that in a moment, But if you could
have your choice, of three games, would it be TCU
Oklahoma State, would it be Texas Florida, or or would
(10:33):
it be hard and Simmons Mary Harden Baylor rematch.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I'm so glad you brought up Hardin Simmons, Mayor and Baylor.
It's probably that one that's the game with the most
at State.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Obviously, Look, if Texas fits the bit against Florida, against
a wounded Florida team, then that sells big trouble and
that would be a giant headline, you know, certainly, And
for TCU and Oklahoma State. You know, I'm not saying
that either of those guys, you know, as far as
Mike Gundy is concerned. At Oklahoma State, Sunny Dyke TCU,
they've certainly got some friends within the program that would
(11:04):
keep their job relatively safe. But certainly you don't want
to lose this game.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
It's kind of a must win to both those programs.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
But Harden Simmons and Mayor Harden Taylor, aside from being
an outstanding a big rivalry game has major Division Three
playoff implications here and for Harden Simmons, who all during
the Mary Harden Baylor kind of dynasty under Pete Fredenberg.
For those who don't know, Harden Simmons is their art
rival and Harden Simmons was kind of their whipping boy,
(11:30):
I mean, playing them simple like that was the team
that that Harden and Simmons, the fight being pretty good
a couple of years, just couldn't get passed in the
American Southwest Conference. Now they meet and the shoes on
the other foot. Harden Simmons has already beaten Maryorharton Baylor
once this year. They have a rematch this year now
to kind of determine a lot of It's a nationally
ranked Division three ball game out there in Aboli this
(11:52):
or Steven Mill Robbins. This is going to be a
fantastic ball game. And I'm really excited to see how
that goes because again it's got wide ranging implications as
far as the Division three playoffs are concerned.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, you know Kyle Brown, the quarterback for Harden Simmons,
he's kind of had had an up and down career
and he transferred from West Texas, the former Vista Ridge Ranger.
He's actually actually kind of flourished there as all of
those Hard and Simmons cowboys have.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, it's all about fit right. You know, Kyle Brown
is looting for the right spot, and the Cowboys of
Hard Simmons are certainly glad to have him, and he's
got them on the precipice of doing big things and
getting into the postseason on a roll.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
All right, let's move to high school from as we
talk with Greg Tapper, managing editor Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine.
All right, let's talk about this final week of the
regular season. What is the if there's one one overriding storyline,
what is the overriding storyline this week?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I think the overriding storyline for a lot of these
is going to be which team enters the which teams
rather enter the playoffs kind of brimming.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
With confidence, you want to call a moment them call momentum.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I think that there's a lot of games that are
not going to necessarily be for the district or not
going to necessarily be for you know, the final playoff spot.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
There's a number of.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Those, by the way, more than twenty five of them
across the state that are legitimately playoff games, win or
go home. But I think when you take a look
at the biggest games across the state, games like Delana Park,
North Shore and Humble, Summer Cruk, games like Malakoff and Winsboro,
games like Hawley and Stanford, games like Gappoll mentioned Aquila
and Abbott. All eight of those teams are in the playoffs.
And in the case of Summer Creek and North Shore,
(13:32):
there's literally nothing on the line, like there's no playoff
implications at all. But I think for these programs, you all,
you know coaches tell us all the time, you want
to be playing your best football when the playoffs arrival.
The playoffs are arrive, they are getting here in a hurry.
And for these programs, I think that the overarching theme
is that, yes, Malakoff wants to win the district championship
and they want to finish ten to zero, but more importantly,
(13:53):
they want to be going into the playoffs brimming with confidence,
which is why they want to go and beat Winsbro.
That's kind of my overarching theme that I'm watching, is that, yes,
there are still tickets to be punched, their district championships
to be one. But I'm interested as far as the
big picture is concerned, as far as which of these
teams enter the playoffs on a hot streak and.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Which of them maybe kind of stumble into the postseason.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah, and we're seeing that kind of go all the
way around with what's with what's happening in some of
these districts. You know, one of the ones that kind
of flies under the radar right now down here is
Georgetown Center Park. They're meeting for a district title and
for seeding one, first place in second place in five
eighty one.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yeah, it's a huge game.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
And for Georgetown, by the way, I mean, I don't
know that there is a hotter player in the state
of Texas than Jet Walker, the running back for Georgetown.
He's been he's been out of control last couple of weeks,
I mean averaging he's averaging something like twenty two yards
to carry his last two games. He has been out
of control there. But I think that you're exactly right
(14:57):
when you take a look at a game like Park
and Georgetown, Uh, there is a there's obviously things you
know on the line. You know you want to enter
there as you know, enter the best seed possible. But
I also think that when you take a look at that,
a lot of them has to do with just the
kind of confidence that these teams are.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Going to gill you onto it. I'll give you an example.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You know, the winner of this game probably going to
draw Burlson Centennial in the first round is what we project,
and then Frisco Ready in the second round, followed by
maybe a date with a team like Highland Park. The
loser of this game, you know, the loser of George,
of of Georgetown and Cedar Park could be playing Highland Park.
It's Cedar Park. They could be playing Highland Park in
the first round of playoffs. And by the way, that's
(15:40):
a road game. That would be Cedar Park going on
the road up to df W to play the Scotts at.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Highland Er Stadium.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Also a lot on the line, and that's I do
think that's one of the things.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You know. The relatively recent addition here is.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
That teams that the UIL allows teams six and five
A the higher team to host first round playoff games, gives.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Them that option.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I think that's a good, good reason for a number
of reasons, specifically just the number of stadiums that we
need and allowing team to have the home field advantage
is good.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
But I also think that.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
It adds a a real incentive for these teams to
play hard and to finish out finish as high as.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
High as they can.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And B I think it adds another wrinkle to kind
of the analysis that we have in these because if
it was Cedar Park versus Highland Park on a neutral field,
that's one thing. But Cedar Park going up to DFW
is a whole different animal. And so I think that
that those types of things, the little idy the little
nitty gritty things, are one of the things that we're
keeping an eye on here at the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Kareem towards us.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Do you give midload team much of a chance against
Highland Park?
Speaker 4 (16:44):
I give him some as a good mid logan team.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I think Highland Park is probably your favorite in this one,
but is on the road.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Milkan, you know, is eight and one.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
They have the one loss in the year, kind of
head scratcher to Cedar Hill, but since then they've won
eight straight and I think Douglin Dell's done a great job.
The one thing I want to see is can that
can their defense kind of show up?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Their defense has kind of been hit and miss.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
They will need to be sharp against what's been a
very good Highland Park offense all right.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
We give you the choice of the three UH and
they've all already been mentioned, but I'm going to give
them to you anyway. Here's the choice you can have.
You can be at one of these three games. You
can be at UH Summer Creek, north Shore, you can
be at Winsboro Malakoff, or you can be at Aquila Abbott.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So the answer is probably north Shore Summer Creek just
because you know, we want to talk about seeing two
legitimate states, the state runners up from a year ago
playing one another. And it's a real opportunity for Summer
Creek UH to prove that, you know, that first half
of the north Shore game was an aberration. It's an
opportunity for that two great quarterbacks Caampa Baileys, Blake Thomas
Taken take a name at one another. Malakoff Winsbroo is
(17:57):
fantastic as well. It's a It's a terrific ball game.
And I want to see how the you know, for
malakof a team that has not really been tested all
that much, despite being the number one team in defending
state champs. Where are they if they go on the
road and drill wins Brow. Then I think we have
our answer but.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I gotta be honest.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Aquilla and Abbott might call him a name. Abbot's kind of
where we thought they would be. The only question for
them was what what was it look like under a
new head coach, Kyle Crawford taking of the first dad.
But we knew they were going to be very good.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Aquilla is a.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Bit of a surprise here, and the reasons they're surprised
if you haven't been paying attention to six man football.
They have a freshman spreadback he c Hennig. If you
have not heard his name, he is the next big
thing in six man football, Chess the freshman, and he
has been electrifying for this for this Aquila team.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
It might be a little bit too much too soon
for Aquilla, but.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I do think that, uh, you know, I think that
he might represent kind of the future and for Abbott,
you know, an opportunity to go out there and grab
a district championship in what's I'm a good little rivalry again.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I'm really excited about Ava mcquilla.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
That's that might be the one that you might talk
me into going to Cougar Stadium.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
All right, if final thing, if both of these teams
finished ten and Oh, who's a better story. Saginaw in
five A Division one, Avalon in one Division one.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Boy, they're both great stories. Saginaw, I mean, guys, the
thing about Saginaw is.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
They haven't been around. If you don't know, Saganaw has
not been around for all that long. I believe they were.
They opened in the two thousands sometime.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
But they have been really bad kind of over the
course of their history. Coming into this year, they had
two or three winning seasons.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Ever since two thousand and six.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
So to go ten and oh is to borrow a
phrase inconceivable of.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
What they would have been able to do.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
But I do think that, you know, when you take
a look at what Avalon's done, you know, Avalon the
team that I believe they The last time they were
undefeated was a couple of years ago, but they have
They are a team that they rise and fall very quickly.
They had that one great year back in twenty nineteen.
That's kind of the only great year they've had to
program history. So yeah, Avalon is certainly a great story.
(20:13):
Saganaw might get the nod, but I think that certainly
those are two unbelievable stories that that certainly came out
of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
He's Greg Temper. Follow him at Tepper.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Dave Campills Texas Football Magazine managing editor, and he and
Aaron Hartigan will hold down high School Scoreboard live without
me Friday now, although I we'll check in, we'll do
the we'll do the pop pin video thing for the
for the react on that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Are you are you in agreement with me?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
The way open the show has said, this is one
of the most important days in American history. The college
football playoff rankings are tonight.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah, listen, it is, it is, it is.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
It is a night that will shape that will shape America.
Is the college football playoff rankings. And also, by the way,
I mentioned this on Twitter another thinking.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
This is the journalist thing, but but like this is
the one night that political reporters work late and they
always order pizza to the newsroom. And I'm like high
school football, we're working late every Friday night day.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
I'm gotting off there at midnight, and.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
It never happens in our place, in our room. That's true. Hey, tep, thanks,
We'll talk soon.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
All right.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
That's Greg Teff for managing editor. Dave Campbell's textan for money.
He's right, we were talking about that early all right,
more coming up. We'll continue on sports Radio AM thirteen
under the Zone.
The Abbott Panthers, so number two in the state in
the one A Division one six man state rankings, and
they play the Aquilla Cougars, Abbot and Aquilla. In case
you don't know, are I guess as the crow flies
because you have to fly over the lake if you
did that instead of driving around, the lake would be
about ten miles apart. Something like that. But we'll get
(00:22):
to the high school football stuff soon enough. We'll start
off with the college stuff. We start off with Greg Tapper,
managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine. You know
how you always ask me Tap after a big win
or a big loss, what the pulse is of the
greater Austin area, And certainly could go through to those
(00:43):
who cover Texas A and M in College station.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Just curious.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Is there a palpable buzz over what's going on over
in the hilltop over at SMU or is everybody just
still in the depths of Dallas cowboy depression.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Well, certainly the Cowboys are not helping football fever around here,
but I will tell you that that certainly SMU is
a little bit of the talk of the town right now,
especially coming off of that big win over pitch. And
I think that what really stands out for people, what
people are starting to pay notes to, and it's something
i've kind of it's called me to scratch.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
My head in the past.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Is that is that SMUs finally filling out Ford Stadium.
They're finally filling out the stadium. That was a big
concern for me. Even when they were good, they just
weren't having and even when they were good and had
high profile games, they weren't drawing big crowds. They drew
a legit strong crowd out there at Ford Stadium for
the first time in what feels like a long time,
(01:41):
and for the big win over pitch, and they were rewarded.
And so I think that there is that is probably
the best measure of the buzz around here. You know, look,
if you're SMU, you're always going to be fighting uphill
against the Cowboys. You know, You're you're probably going to
be fighting uphill.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Against Texas and A and M right But at the.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Same time, you know they are the team right now
that is playing, you know, playing the best coming off
of the biggest win and an opportunity a real, actual
clear path to the college football playoff and furthermore, they
played exciting Brandon football. It's something there are in many
ways a lot of what the Cowboys aren't right now,
which is a good and be like exciting that I
(02:19):
think is kind of helping to fill in some of
the dole drums due to the professional team around here.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Well, it's a good point.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And you know, they they, like you said, they've got
a clear path. Really, they're playing three ponents, none of
whom have a winning record. They're all four and four
on down the stretch. This is a real shot for
them to get at least into the a SEC Championship
game to take on Miami in all probability.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, and especially you know, I think there was a
big question of what is SMU going to do whenever
they make the move up.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
And if you.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Remember early in the season, there was some real kind
of handwringing about s and U simply because you know
that they weren't able. They weren't playing to their paper
early they had the early loss to BYU. They just
weren't simply playing as well as we thought that they could.
And further one, I think even more than that, I
know we have conversations on this program about how we
(03:11):
didn't understand what they were doing in the quarterbacks situation
where they were playing Kevin Jennings, they were playing Preston Stone.
They're basically doing a two quarterback system. Well, they've fully
committed to Kevin Jennings. I think part of it at
least is because Preston's son has been nicked up, but
he has been a revelation for them and he's given
them a new you know, a new kind of pep
(03:32):
in their step offensively, and it's all kind of filtering down.
I also think what helps is that, you know, SMU
has in the past couple of years under Sunny Dykes
and continued under RHT Lashley, they have tried to really
steal the borders of DFW and really be Dallas a team,
and that certainly helps. Whenever you have a quarterback who
(03:53):
led South o'cliffs to a state championship, you know, piloting
your team.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
So I think that that helps.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
And right now it's kind of all working for the Ponies,
and it's probably the most buzz that's been around that
football program in quite some time.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Let me get your thoughts to another school in Texas
and that's out in Lubbock. Our old pal Joey McGuire
actually texted you, Aaron Hartigan and me, we have this
weird group text with the head coach of the Texas
Tech Red Raiders, and he texted us on Friday night
with a photo of us that he got clearly from
watching on a computer. He was in ames Iowa, of
(04:32):
the three of us on the set, and we're all like, hey,
good luck, you know whatever. And then they go out
and he and Iowa State their first loss of the
season and they got Bowl eligible. So, I mean, people
are doing a bit of a sigh relief out there
on the South planes, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I think absolutely, And I think that's a huge win
for Joey McGuire.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
They're calling it joe Vember, you know what I mean.
But this is there, the big win for Joey McGuire
for a lot of rings.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
One obviously hitting Bowl eligible before you you know, here
at six and three, you got three games to go,
all of them winnable, you know what I mean, all
of them. You know, you play, Oklahoma State's not not,
you know, as good as we.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Thought they were going to be.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Colorado is gettable, especially there in Lubbock. This is a
team that I think being bull eligible right now is
a big coup for them. Furthermore, they won a close game,
which has kind of been a bit of a bugaboo
for them this year. They closed the game out strong
and came up with big plays down the stretch. And Furthermore,
the biggest thing is that Joey McGuire is nothing great
(05:33):
on the road. The Joe McGuire tuxas Tech teams, the
book on them has been like, if you play them
in Lubbock, they're a tour but if you get them
on the road, then they can be had. And certainly
to go on the road to a hostile environment and
aims where they are are dreaming big dreams up there,
and to go up there and come up with big plays.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
I thought was really impressive. The other thing about.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
That is is I know that that offensive coordinator Zach
Kitley's bender a tremendous, tremendous amount of pressure and a
lot of scrutiny out there. One of the things that
really impressed me was Iowa State scores kind of a
busted to a broken tackle and scores to go up
with a little over two minutes to.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Go, and Tech gets the ball back.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Needing a touchdown to take the lead, And I thought
that the patience shown by Zak Kittley in the play calling,
knowing the situation was really impressive. Knowing that your best
player on the field is your running back, Todge Brooks,
he's the best player. That's not really up for debate,
but basically not being afraid to run the ball, pick
up six yards wherever you can and just get you know,
(06:38):
and methodically move the ball down the field.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Give a lot of credit to you know, todj.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Groaks, to Baron Morton, to Josh Cameron, the playmakers that
they had, They came up with big plays.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
But I thought that the play.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Calling on that final drive was really impressive. And for
all the slings and arrows that Dak Kittley has caught,
many of them, in my opinion, deserves, but I thought
that was a real bit of play calling.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Mat three there in the.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Final drive the Baylor TCU game several weeks ago, there
were you and I were hearing people say that that's
going to be two coaches coaching for their job and
the loser is going to be out. The interesting thing
is now they're both five and four they're both three
and three in the Big Twelve, so they're.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Both close to Bowl eligible.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I thought Mike Craven did a really fine job in
his piece that he wrote on Texas Football dot Com
about He said it wouldn't they didn't reach bowl eligibility
or any other tangible mark. But for anyone who's followed
Dave r and his program since their Sugar Bowl went
in twenty twenty one, the celebration made perfect sense when
they store in the field that sort of thing. So
(07:42):
I don't I've never been really comfortable in discussing coaches
job security thing.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Sure, but do you think.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's in a better spot for Baylor even though TCU
has had some struggles as well. They're both five and four,
they're both still just went away from getting into a bowl.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I think that these are two programs that you mentioned
that at five and four that feel like they are.
They could not be more different five and four, you know,
for TCU, I think for them to be five and
four right now, this feels like a real letdown because
TCU was supposed to be a team that was contending
for the top of the table, so to speak, a
(08:21):
team that could go out there and make you know,
make make waves and you see what you know.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
The way that they've gotten to five and four, you know, with.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You know, a loss to Houston, that's that's a pretty
bad loss, right they get drilled by s of you,
and that's a game in the Iron Skillet, the final
game the Iron Skillet, at.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Least for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
You got to have to lose the last second game
to tc or rather to UCF. I thought was disappointing.
You know, for them to be five and four the
way that they are, I think is diappointing. For Baylor
to be five and four, they probably got to be
turning cartwheels and wake up simply because of what they've
been able to do to get here. You know, I'm
not saying they've beaten a bunch of world beaters. They've
(09:02):
beaten on this three game winning street. They've beaten TCU,
Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech. I don't know if that's
necessarily you know, hanging the banner. But at the same time,
considering they lost to BYU, they got beat by Colorado,
you know, they got beat by Utah. Really they did
not have a good win right up until really probably
(09:23):
you know, the win over Tech is probably their best
win of the year. That to me represents I think
a real step forward, at least away from the ABYSS.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
We kind of thought that the way.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
This thing was going, especially after that loss to Iowa
State where they had been lost three in a row,
it felt like, Okay, this could be had real south,
real quickly here for Dave random But it seems like
they've righted the ship and now, you know, with still
West Virginia, Houston, and Kansas on the horizon, there is
a reasonable expectation down there in Waco that they could
win their final six games of the year and really,
(09:57):
you know, go into twenty twenty five with a little bit.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
More all right, before we shift to high school, you know,
when we always do what we call the meanest thing
to each other and tell people the pig games, I'm
gonna do it on on the college level in the
state of Texas.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I'm gonna give you three games.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Can you tell me which one you would if you
were going to be in there and not working on
your playoff bracket reveal that'll be released on Saturday night.
More on that in a moment, But if you could
have your choice, of three games, would it be TCU
Oklahoma State, would it be Texas Florida, or or would
(10:33):
it be hard and Simmons Mary Harden Baylor rematch.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I'm so glad you brought up Hardin Simmons, Mayor and Baylor.
It's probably that one that's the game with the most
at State.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Obviously, Look, if Texas fits the bit against Florida, against
a wounded Florida team, then that sells big trouble and
that would be a giant headline, you know, certainly, And
for TCU and Oklahoma State. You know, I'm not saying
that either of those guys, you know, as far as
Mike Gundy is concerned. At Oklahoma State, Sunny Dyke TCU,
they've certainly got some friends within the program that would
(11:04):
keep their job relatively safe. But certainly you don't want
to lose this game.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
It's kind of a must win to both those programs.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
But Harden Simmons and Mayor Harden Taylor, aside from being
an outstanding a big rivalry game has major Division Three
playoff implications here and for Harden Simmons, who all during
the Mary Harden Baylor kind of dynasty under Pete Fredenberg.
For those who don't know, Harden Simmons is their art
rival and Harden Simmons was kind of their whipping boy,
(11:30):
I mean, playing them simple like that was the team
that that Harden and Simmons, the fight being pretty good
a couple of years, just couldn't get passed in the
American Southwest Conference. Now they meet and the shoes on
the other foot. Harden Simmons has already beaten Maryorharton Baylor
once this year. They have a rematch this year now
to kind of determine a lot of It's a nationally
ranked Division three ball game out there in Aboli this
(11:52):
or Steven Mill Robbins. This is going to be a
fantastic ball game. And I'm really excited to see how
that goes because again it's got wide ranging implications as
far as the Division three playoffs are concerned.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, you know Kyle Brown, the quarterback for Harden Simmons,
he's kind of had had an up and down career
and he transferred from West Texas, the former Vista Ridge Ranger.
He's actually actually kind of flourished there as all of
those Hard and Simmons cowboys have.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, it's all about fit right. You know, Kyle Brown
is looting for the right spot, and the Cowboys of
Hard Simmons are certainly glad to have him, and he's
got them on the precipice of doing big things and
getting into the postseason on a roll.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
All right, let's move to high school from as we
talk with Greg Tapper, managing editor Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine.
All right, let's talk about this final week of the
regular season. What is the if there's one one overriding storyline,
what is the overriding storyline this week?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I think the overriding storyline for a lot of these
is going to be which team enters the which teams
rather enter the playoffs kind of brimming.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
With confidence, you want to call a moment them call momentum.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I think that there's a lot of games that are
not going to necessarily be for the district or not
going to necessarily be for you know, the final playoff spot.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
There's a number of.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Those, by the way, more than twenty five of them
across the state that are legitimately playoff games, win or
go home. But I think when you take a look
at the biggest games across the state, games like Delana Park,
North Shore and Humble, Summer Cruk, games like Malakoff and Winsboro,
games like Hawley and Stanford, games like Gappoll mentioned Aquila
and Abbott. All eight of those teams are in the playoffs.
And in the case of Summer Creek and North Shore,
(13:32):
there's literally nothing on the line, like there's no playoff
implications at all. But I think for these programs, you all,
you know coaches tell us all the time, you want
to be playing your best football when the playoffs arrival.
The playoffs are arrive, they are getting here in a hurry.
And for these programs, I think that the overarching theme
is that, yes, Malakoff wants to win the district championship
and they want to finish ten to zero, but more importantly,
(13:53):
they want to be going into the playoffs brimming with confidence,
which is why they want to go and beat Winsbro.
That's kind of my overarching theme that I'm watching, is that, yes,
there are still tickets to be punched, their district championships
to be one. But I'm interested as far as the
big picture is concerned, as far as which of these
teams enter the playoffs on a hot streak and.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Which of them maybe kind of stumble into the postseason.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah, and we're seeing that kind of go all the
way around with what's with what's happening in some of
these districts. You know, one of the ones that kind
of flies under the radar right now down here is
Georgetown Center Park. They're meeting for a district title and
for seeding one, first place in second place in five
eighty one.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yeah, it's a huge game.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
And for Georgetown, by the way, I mean, I don't
know that there is a hotter player in the state
of Texas than Jet Walker, the running back for Georgetown.
He's been he's been out of control last couple of weeks,
I mean averaging he's averaging something like twenty two yards
to carry his last two games. He has been out
of control there. But I think that you're exactly right
(14:57):
when you take a look at a game like Park
and Georgetown, Uh, there is a there's obviously things you
know on the line. You know you want to enter
there as you know, enter the best seed possible. But
I also think that when you take a look at that,
a lot of them has to do with just the
kind of confidence that these teams are.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Going to gill you onto it. I'll give you an example.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You know, the winner of this game probably going to
draw Burlson Centennial in the first round is what we project,
and then Frisco Ready in the second round, followed by
maybe a date with a team like Highland Park. The
loser of this game, you know, the loser of George,
of of Georgetown and Cedar Park could be playing Highland Park.
It's Cedar Park. They could be playing Highland Park in
the first round of playoffs. And by the way, that's
(15:40):
a road game. That would be Cedar Park going on
the road up to df W to play the Scotts at.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Highland Er Stadium.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Also a lot on the line, and that's I do
think that's one of the things.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You know. The relatively recent addition here is.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
That teams that the UIL allows teams six and five
A the higher team to host first round playoff games, gives.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Them that option.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I think that's a good, good reason for a number
of reasons, specifically just the number of stadiums that we
need and allowing team to have the home field advantage
is good.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
But I also think that.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
It adds a a real incentive for these teams to
play hard and to finish out finish as high as.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
High as they can.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And B I think it adds another wrinkle to kind
of the analysis that we have in these because if
it was Cedar Park versus Highland Park on a neutral field,
that's one thing. But Cedar Park going up to DFW
is a whole different animal. And so I think that
that those types of things, the little idy the little
nitty gritty things, are one of the things that we're
keeping an eye on here at the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Kareem towards us.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Do you give midload team much of a chance against
Highland Park?
Speaker 4 (16:44):
I give him some as a good mid logan team.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I think Highland Park is probably your favorite in this one,
but is on the road.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Milkan, you know, is eight and one.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
They have the one loss in the year, kind of
head scratcher to Cedar Hill, but since then they've won
eight straight and I think Douglin Dell's done a great job.
The one thing I want to see is can that
can their defense kind of show up?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Their defense has kind of been hit and miss.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
They will need to be sharp against what's been a
very good Highland Park offense all right.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
We give you the choice of the three UH and
they've all already been mentioned, but I'm going to give
them to you anyway. Here's the choice you can have.
You can be at one of these three games. You
can be at UH Summer Creek, north Shore, you can
be at Winsboro Malakoff, or you can be at Aquila Abbott.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So the answer is probably north Shore Summer Creek just
because you know, we want to talk about seeing two
legitimate states, the state runners up from a year ago
playing one another. And it's a real opportunity for Summer
Creek UH to prove that, you know, that first half
of the north Shore game was an aberration. It's an
opportunity for that two great quarterbacks Caampa Baileys, Blake Thomas
Taken take a name at one another. Malakoff Winsbroo is
(17:57):
fantastic as well. It's a It's a terrific ball game.
And I want to see how the you know, for
malakof a team that has not really been tested all
that much, despite being the number one team in defending
state champs. Where are they if they go on the
road and drill wins Brow. Then I think we have
our answer but.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I gotta be honest.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Aquilla and Abbott might call him a name. Abbot's kind of
where we thought they would be. The only question for
them was what what was it look like under a
new head coach, Kyle Crawford taking of the first dad.
But we knew they were going to be very good.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Aquilla is a.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Bit of a surprise here, and the reasons they're surprised
if you haven't been paying attention to six man football.
They have a freshman spreadback he c Hennig. If you
have not heard his name, he is the next big
thing in six man football, Chess the freshman, and he
has been electrifying for this for this Aquila team.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
It might be a little bit too much too soon
for Aquilla, but.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I do think that, uh, you know, I think that
he might represent kind of the future and for Abbott,
you know, an opportunity to go out there and grab
a district championship in what's I'm a good little rivalry again.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I'm really excited about Ava mcquilla.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
That's that might be the one that you might talk
me into going to Cougar Stadium.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
All right, if final thing, if both of these teams
finished ten and Oh, who's a better story. Saginaw in
five A Division one, Avalon in one Division one.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Boy, they're both great stories. Saginaw, I mean, guys, the
thing about Saginaw is.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
They haven't been around. If you don't know, Saganaw has
not been around for all that long. I believe they were.
They opened in the two thousands sometime.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
But they have been really bad kind of over the
course of their history. Coming into this year, they had
two or three winning seasons.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Ever since two thousand and six.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
So to go ten and oh is to borrow a
phrase inconceivable of.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
What they would have been able to do.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
But I do think that, you know, when you take
a look at what Avalon's done, you know, Avalon the
team that I believe they The last time they were
undefeated was a couple of years ago, but they have
They are a team that they rise and fall very quickly.
They had that one great year back in twenty nineteen.
That's kind of the only great year they've had to
program history. So yeah, Avalon is certainly a great story.
(20:13):
Saganaw might get the nod, but I think that certainly
those are two unbelievable stories that that certainly came out
of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
He's Greg Temper. Follow him at Tepper.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Dave Campills Texas Football Magazine managing editor, and he and
Aaron Hartigan will hold down high School Scoreboard live without
me Friday now, although I we'll check in, we'll do
the we'll do the pop pin video thing for the
for the react on that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Are you are you in agreement with me?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
The way open the show has said, this is one
of the most important days in American history. The college
football playoff rankings are tonight.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah, listen, it is, it is, it is.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
It is a night that will shape that will shape America.
Is the college football playoff rankings. And also, by the way,
I mentioned this on Twitter another thinking.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
This is the journalist thing, but but like this is
the one night that political reporters work late and they
always order pizza to the newsroom. And I'm like high
school football, we're working late every Friday night day.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
I'm gotting off there at midnight, and.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
It never happens in our place, in our room. That's true. Hey, tep, thanks,
We'll talk soon.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
All right.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
That's Greg Teff for managing editor. Dave Campbell's textan for money.
He's right, we were talking about that early all right,
more coming up. We'll continue on sports Radio AM thirteen
under the Zone.
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