December 18, 2025 • 8 mins
College Football Analyst Taylor McHargue joins The A-Team to preview all the exciting college football action for this coming weekend. So get your popcorn ready!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
At the news out of Austin today with a change
on their defensive side of the football from coaching perspective,
players getting into the portal, players making themselves eligible for
the NFL draft, and we have the University of Michigan.
A lot of college football stuff going on, and to
that end, great to welcome in Taylor mccag to the
program today. College football analyst that a couple of different
spots covers the Big twelve has had his voice heard
(00:22):
over many interesting college football games this season at a
variety of levels. But Taylor, as you join us here,
I thought I needed to ask you this first as
it relates to the NFL. You wrapped up your college
career playing quarterback at Rice in twenty thirteen. That was
the same time Philip Rivers was in year ten in
the NFL for the San Diego Chargers. He just played
an NFL game four days ago. What do you think
(00:44):
about that? Could you imagine ten years from now at
that age for you playing a football game?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, well, thanks for having me on, guys. I actually
joked with my wife when we had that game on
in our house, and I thought, you know, if I
got hit today, I'm about to be thirty five would
get turned into a fine powder. And he's another ten
years older than me, and so no, I can't believe.
I couldn't believe when he's out there warming up, it
was surreal. I remember going to Texans games when I
(01:12):
was at Rice and he was playing for the Chargers,
and he was in the you know, felt like he
was one of the vets at that point. So I
still can't believe. It's reel and you know, but he
played well. I mean, all things considered, like more serviceable
than a lot of backups would have been.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I don't think there's any doubt. It's honestly exactly what
I thought he would do. The limitations he might have,
but the bonus of having a guy that can look
over the defense and know what they're doing, and I
think that's a huge benefit. As we get ready for
the playoff games this weekend in college football, the Friday
night game, the three games Saturday. The game of most
interest to you is what and what do you think
we'll see in that? Of the four playoff.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Games, it's the early game on Saturday. To me, it's
Miami going to A and m You know, Miami only
had four road games all season and one of those
they lost at smu A. And m on the other side,
I think is a byproduct of these expanded conferences where
you know, they ended up getting to play the bottom
half of the SEC and the one team that they
(02:09):
played in the top half of the SEC they lost to,
and that was Texas. So this is two teams that look,
I think momentum is going to play a huge part
in this game early. I think confidence on whichever side
is playing well is going to be incredibly important. And
Kyle Field is always Kyle Field. But is that does
it benefit Miami at all that it's an early kick
(02:30):
compared to obviously, you know, if it was a night game,
and then you know, how does Marcel read play. I
think in November there were definitely times that he was
not at his best. I think back to the first
half of South Carolina where it looked man like he
was some of the throws he was playing lost and
then obviously they come back to win that game. So
(02:50):
that's the one to me that I'm probably most fascinated
to watch. And then obviously the one on Friday night
Oklahoma and Alabama in that rematch, that's and that I like,
O you to win that game. It'll be interesting to see.
Alabama moved the ball so well in that first matchup
and just had all the turnover issues. But going into
Norman on a night game and beating that defense, that
(03:11):
is a tall task for Alabama.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Well, you talk about the Aggies and you can't help
but think about the long Horns. That's just the way
it goes. They're like peanut butter and jelly. And I
know we're talking about the playoff, but in light of
today's news, kind of a two part question, the fact
that Will must Champ is going to be back at
the forty acres, your thoughts on them bringing him back
to be the defensive coordinator? And then is next season
(03:35):
kind of like I said this earlier in the show today,
do you feel like next season will actually maybe be
for the Longhorns when a lot of people were hyping
them up to be this year prior to Arch getting
off to that slow start.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Well on Muschamp, I think he is if nothing else,
and Texas has been better about this in the last
few seasons since Stark took over. But every defense for
Will muss Champ plays with an age and I think
that's something that Texas will benefit from. With regards to
the expectations then will always be in the expanded playoff
(04:09):
I mean, the expectations will always be protected to make
it to the playoffs and compete for a national championship.
But I agree, I think with what you're saying that,
with what happened with Arch and how young he was
this year, and how out of control the expectations got
in the offseason, that now the offseason headlines it'll ramp
back up, and now the new storylines will be Okay,
(04:32):
a year ago it was too early, but now he
played well down with stretch, played his best football in November.
Now is the opportunity for Texas to capitalize on the
pieces they have returning, specifically our spanning. So look, it'll
be the hype train will get going again. He'll be
in the top five of the Heisman preseason odds because
of his name again and because I do think he's
still one of the most talented quarterbacks in college football.
(04:54):
But you saw some of the youth early that people
wanted to gloss over. Dictations got so out of control
early in the season. I think you'll see how he
played down the stretch and how much better he was
in the month of November. I do expect that to
be a launch point for him and where he picks
back up at first part of next season.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Taylor mccarr joining us here on Sports Talk seven ninety
covering college football. Talking about college football, you do a
lot of work covering the Big Twelve this year. One
team in the tournament, Texas Tech. The off week they
get the winner of Oregon and James Madison. Curious your
thoughts on what they can do facing one of those
two teams and beyond and specifically on the conference in
general this year and moving forward. What did you think
(05:34):
about the quality of play inside the Big Twelve this year?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, you know, I think the Big Twelve moved away
from the sort of storyline or party line of how
much parity they had, and you had a clear separation
this year of the teams at the top and the
teams at the bottom. And forever it feels like the
Big Twelve has struggled with your top five or six
teams sort of round robbining one another and knocking everybody off,
(06:00):
and then you get a champion at the end of
the year that sometimes has three losses. That was obviously
not the case this year. There was a clear dominant
number one team in Texas Tech. I think b YU
was one of the best stories in college football that
we just don't talk about enough is Bear Bachmeyer is
a freshman that you know, Jake Retslap was supposed to
be the quarterback and has the off field stuff and
(06:20):
the honor code issues with BYU and leaves bar Backmeyer
didn't get on campus for BYU until June and ends
up being one of the the best freshman quarterback in
the country and one of the top quarterbacks in that league.
And I thought they had a real case to an
argument to be in the College Football playoffs. But Texas Tech,
I was there for the victual championship. Look that front,
(06:41):
they are the front seven for Tech. It is either
Oklahoma or Texas Tech that has the best front in
college football. And they're as good as advertise. And I
think they will match up really well against the Oregon
I think they will get consistent pressure on Oregon and
then the challenge becomes. You know, Tech saw some of
their issues they've had in the red zone offense. That's
(07:02):
been the only Achilles field really of that team. Is
having a settle for too many field goals, and they've
been so much better than everyone in the Big twelve
that hasn't really mattered. But against Oregon, who we expected
to be Oregon, it will matter. And so I think
it'll be a combination of can they continue to get
out of the quarterback, which I think they will, and
then can make convert those red zone trips to touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
We got about fifteen seconds for this meaningless last question
for you. If bear Bachmar wore say sixteen like you,
or twelve or fourteen like every other quarterback rather than
forty seven, would you think is highly of him?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I love that he wore forty seven, but yes I would.
And what he did this season as a true freshman,
I mean he had the best true freshman season since
Jalen Hurts. There's just not very many true freshmen that
play at that level and they'll be back next year.
And I'm glad that Kuana Sataky got that extension, as
most of them.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
That was a pretty cool scene seeing him tell his team,
I'm not going anywhere as this coaching carousel's running white
and still some openings to Phil but Taylor, we certainly
appreciate the time, look forward to doing it again soon.
We'll see how things play out in the playoffs this weekend.
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah awesome. Thank you guys for having me on.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
You got it. Taylor mccarr talking to a little college
football Friday night and three games Saturday, and four teams
will be out of the playoffs and eight will still remain.
Plenty to discuss moving forward.
At the news out of Austin today with a change
on their defensive side of the football from coaching perspective,
players getting into the portal, players making themselves eligible for
the NFL draft, and we have the University of Michigan.
A lot of college football stuff going on, and to
that end, great to welcome in Taylor mccag to the
program today. College football analyst that a couple of different
spots covers the Big twelve has had his voice heard
(00:22):
over many interesting college football games this season at a
variety of levels. But Taylor, as you join us here,
I thought I needed to ask you this first as
it relates to the NFL. You wrapped up your college
career playing quarterback at Rice in twenty thirteen. That was
the same time Philip Rivers was in year ten in
the NFL for the San Diego Chargers. He just played
an NFL game four days ago. What do you think
(00:44):
about that? Could you imagine ten years from now at
that age for you playing a football game?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, well, thanks for having me on, guys. I actually
joked with my wife when we had that game on
in our house, and I thought, you know, if I
got hit today, I'm about to be thirty five would
get turned into a fine powder. And he's another ten
years older than me, and so no, I can't believe.
I couldn't believe when he's out there warming up, it
was surreal. I remember going to Texans games when I
(01:12):
was at Rice and he was playing for the Chargers,
and he was in the you know, felt like he
was one of the vets at that point. So I
still can't believe. It's reel and you know, but he
played well. I mean, all things considered, like more serviceable
than a lot of backups would have been.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I don't think there's any doubt. It's honestly exactly what
I thought he would do. The limitations he might have,
but the bonus of having a guy that can look
over the defense and know what they're doing, and I
think that's a huge benefit. As we get ready for
the playoff games this weekend in college football, the Friday
night game, the three games Saturday. The game of most
interest to you is what and what do you think
we'll see in that? Of the four playoff.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Games, it's the early game on Saturday. To me, it's
Miami going to A and m You know, Miami only
had four road games all season and one of those
they lost at smu A. And m on the other side,
I think is a byproduct of these expanded conferences where
you know, they ended up getting to play the bottom
half of the SEC and the one team that they
(02:09):
played in the top half of the SEC they lost to,
and that was Texas. So this is two teams that look,
I think momentum is going to play a huge part
in this game early. I think confidence on whichever side
is playing well is going to be incredibly important. And
Kyle Field is always Kyle Field. But is that does
it benefit Miami at all that it's an early kick
(02:30):
compared to obviously, you know, if it was a night game,
and then you know, how does Marcel read play. I
think in November there were definitely times that he was
not at his best. I think back to the first
half of South Carolina where it looked man like he
was some of the throws he was playing lost and
then obviously they come back to win that game. So
(02:50):
that's the one to me that I'm probably most fascinated
to watch. And then obviously the one on Friday night
Oklahoma and Alabama in that rematch, that's and that I like,
O you to win that game. It'll be interesting to see.
Alabama moved the ball so well in that first matchup
and just had all the turnover issues. But going into
Norman on a night game and beating that defense, that
(03:11):
is a tall task for Alabama.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Well, you talk about the Aggies and you can't help
but think about the long Horns. That's just the way
it goes. They're like peanut butter and jelly. And I
know we're talking about the playoff, but in light of
today's news, kind of a two part question, the fact
that Will must Champ is going to be back at
the forty acres, your thoughts on them bringing him back
to be the defensive coordinator? And then is next season
(03:35):
kind of like I said this earlier in the show today,
do you feel like next season will actually maybe be
for the Longhorns when a lot of people were hyping
them up to be this year prior to Arch getting
off to that slow start.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Well on Muschamp, I think he is if nothing else,
and Texas has been better about this in the last
few seasons since Stark took over. But every defense for
Will muss Champ plays with an age and I think
that's something that Texas will benefit from. With regards to
the expectations then will always be in the expanded playoff
(04:09):
I mean, the expectations will always be protected to make
it to the playoffs and compete for a national championship.
But I agree, I think with what you're saying that,
with what happened with Arch and how young he was
this year, and how out of control the expectations got
in the offseason, that now the offseason headlines it'll ramp
back up, and now the new storylines will be Okay,
(04:32):
a year ago it was too early, but now he
played well down with stretch, played his best football in November.
Now is the opportunity for Texas to capitalize on the
pieces they have returning, specifically our spanning. So look, it'll
be the hype train will get going again. He'll be
in the top five of the Heisman preseason odds because
of his name again and because I do think he's
still one of the most talented quarterbacks in college football.
(04:54):
But you saw some of the youth early that people
wanted to gloss over. Dictations got so out of control
early in the season. I think you'll see how he
played down the stretch and how much better he was
in the month of November. I do expect that to
be a launch point for him and where he picks
back up at first part of next season.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Taylor mccarr joining us here on Sports Talk seven ninety
covering college football. Talking about college football, you do a
lot of work covering the Big Twelve this year. One
team in the tournament, Texas Tech. The off week they
get the winner of Oregon and James Madison. Curious your
thoughts on what they can do facing one of those
two teams and beyond and specifically on the conference in
general this year and moving forward. What did you think
(05:34):
about the quality of play inside the Big Twelve this year?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, you know, I think the Big Twelve moved away
from the sort of storyline or party line of how
much parity they had, and you had a clear separation
this year of the teams at the top and the
teams at the bottom. And forever it feels like the
Big Twelve has struggled with your top five or six
teams sort of round robbining one another and knocking everybody off,
(06:00):
and then you get a champion at the end of
the year that sometimes has three losses. That was obviously
not the case this year. There was a clear dominant
number one team in Texas Tech. I think b YU
was one of the best stories in college football that
we just don't talk about enough is Bear Bachmeyer is
a freshman that you know, Jake Retslap was supposed to
be the quarterback and has the off field stuff and
(06:20):
the honor code issues with BYU and leaves bar Backmeyer
didn't get on campus for BYU until June and ends
up being one of the the best freshman quarterback in
the country and one of the top quarterbacks in that league.
And I thought they had a real case to an
argument to be in the College Football playoffs. But Texas Tech,
I was there for the victual championship. Look that front,
(06:41):
they are the front seven for Tech. It is either
Oklahoma or Texas Tech that has the best front in
college football. And they're as good as advertise. And I
think they will match up really well against the Oregon
I think they will get consistent pressure on Oregon and
then the challenge becomes. You know, Tech saw some of
their issues they've had in the red zone offense. That's
(07:02):
been the only Achilles field really of that team. Is
having a settle for too many field goals, and they've
been so much better than everyone in the Big twelve
that hasn't really mattered. But against Oregon, who we expected
to be Oregon, it will matter. And so I think
it'll be a combination of can they continue to get
out of the quarterback, which I think they will, and
then can make convert those red zone trips to touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
We got about fifteen seconds for this meaningless last question
for you. If bear Bachmar wore say sixteen like you,
or twelve or fourteen like every other quarterback rather than
forty seven, would you think is highly of him?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I love that he wore forty seven, but yes I would.
And what he did this season as a true freshman,
I mean he had the best true freshman season since
Jalen Hurts. There's just not very many true freshmen that
play at that level and they'll be back next year.
And I'm glad that Kuana Sataky got that extension, as
most of them.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
That was a pretty cool scene seeing him tell his team,
I'm not going anywhere as this coaching carousel's running white
and still some openings to Phil but Taylor, we certainly
appreciate the time, look forward to doing it again soon.
We'll see how things play out in the playoffs this weekend.
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah awesome. Thank you guys for having me on.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
You got it. Taylor mccarr talking to a little college
football Friday night and three games Saturday, and four teams
will be out of the playoffs and eight will still remain.
Plenty to discuss moving forward.
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