Citrus Bowl Countdown, Bijan's Big Night, Pros Returning to CBB?

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
And he's a promising player.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Here's Robinson right side, nice cut down, He's gone het.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Anybody catch him? Not tonight, McCrary chasing.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
We'll get their touchdown Atlanta ninety three yards.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
Troy Aikman was right, they were not catching Vjon Robinson
last night, Big night for Bijon Falcons beat the Rams
on Monday Night football. That's how we'll start our final
Craig wat show of twenty twenty five. I'm Jay Kerman,
the producer filling in for Craig who is in Orlando
for the Citrus Bowl call. We will check in with
Craig in just a few minutes, so get all of

(01:00):
his thoughts on some twenty twenty five superlatives, as well
as the press conference held by coach Steve Sarkisian at
the Citrus Bowl. Well, we've got a great show to
get to on this Tuesday. Thank you again for joining
us tomorrow at this time slot. Well, the cheese at
Citrus Bowl in Orlando, featuring the Texas Longhorns going up

(01:21):
against the Michigan Wolverines, the final Texas football game of
the twenty twenty five season will be taking place. And
before that, of course, you could tune in starting at
ten am here on AM thirteen hundred Zone for the
third and Longhorn pregame show. Then Longhorns Game Day runs
from eleven to one at Twin Peaks in Round Rock.

(01:43):
So we've got a busy day tomorrow for the Citrus Bowl,
making this the final craig Way Show of twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
No show on New Year's Day.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
I'm sure all of you will be enjoying some of
the college football playoff games that are on offer as well.
But you heard Joe Buck's Call with some commentary from
Troy Acoman too to start the show today. Bijon Robinson
really stole the show on Monday Night Football last night.
He finished with one hundred and ninety five yards and
a touchdown on twenty two carries, including that ninety three

(02:13):
yard highlight that you heard, which gave the Falcons at
the time a twenty one to zero lead over the
Rams late in the first half. Then it looked like
the game was headed for overtime, but the Falcons able
to go down the field take the lead on a
Zane Gonzales field goal win their third consecutive game, maybe
preserving Raheem Morris's job. The work that the Falcons have

(02:35):
done down the stretch this season. Bijon Robinson gets a
lot of credit for that. He's ninety three yard touchdown,
the longest touchdown run in the NFL this season, and
the longest touchdown run in Falcons franchise history. He's broken
some some more records this year, including the one for
all purpose yards in a single season for Falcons franchise history,

(03:00):
now up to twy two hundred and fifty five and oh,
by the way, they've got another game coming up against
the New Orleans Saints. That record, by the way, had
belonged to William Andrews for the Falcons. In terms of
season all purpose yardage, the former Longhorn has really saved
his best for primetime this year. I mean he has
averaged over one hundred and seventy five scrimmage yards per

(03:22):
game in Atlanta's five primetime games. Atlanta's played well on
national TV for the most part, but like you heard
Raheen Morris say on the broadcast last night, it just
didn't go their way enough this season, and they certainly
feel as though they had the talent to regroup and
compete next season. So now we're left with this kind
of weird scenario in the NFC South that I told

(03:42):
you about on the show yesterday, just the one playoff
spot up for grabs. It's just seating that's being contested
now among the other six teams that are in the field,
and the Rams now fall out of contention for that
number one seed. They can no longer move up past
number six. In the NFC South, you've got the Panthers

(04:04):
and Buccaneers fighting for the last playoff spot.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
But with the Falcons beating the.

Speaker 4 (04:08):
Rams last night, there's another way Carolina could qualify. If
Atlanta beats New Orleans next week, then the Panthers are in.
Regardless of what happens on that Saturday afternoon matchup with
the Bucks. The Saints and Falcons are each on winning streaks.
They're playing better football than the Panthers and Bucks, you
could argue over the last month or so, but they're

(04:30):
both out of it. But that game does now carry
big implications on who gets that last spot in the
NFC playoffs, the number four seed, who would host the
loser of Seattle and San Francisco and probably be a
home underdog to start the NFL postseason, at least in
that four versus five game. So meanwhile, the Bucks, who

(04:53):
are still trying to keep their playoff hopes alive, are
looking for better play out of Baker Mayfield. Todd Bowles
today mentioned that they need to see Baker Mayfield do
a better job taking care of the ball.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
He's right.

Speaker 4 (05:05):
The Bucks are zero to eight in this season when
Mayfield throws at least one interception, seven to one when
he does not. They lost to quinn Ewers and the
Miami Dolphins on Sunday, and Mayfield had three turnovers, including
two picks, So there's a little look at the NFL.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
On the Rams side of things.

Speaker 4 (05:22):
Look, they kind of struggle, I think in pass protection
at times in this game. Part of that was due
to Jackson, their left tackle, being out Aleric Jackson, who
was going up against a young and motivated Atlanta Falcons
pass rush in that particular game. And Matthew Stafford just
might have lost the inside track to the MVP in

(05:43):
twenty twenty five, just wasn't at his sharpest for long
stretches of that game last night, And you saw kind
of a domino effect right the injuries up front, Stafford
not getting as much time as he's accustomed to, and
Devontae Adams not being available for this game, giving them
one less you know, quick passing threat along the outside,
one less red zone threat for Stafford to use as well.

(06:07):
So maybe we'll get some of Craig Way's thoughts on
that when we talk to him and Cameron Parker in
just a few moments. We've got Inconceivable for you later
this hour as well, we'll be running through the worst
sports decisions of twenty twenty five, and we're happy to
take some of your nominations for that as well. You
can be a part of Inconceivable today. You can always

(06:28):
be a part of the show by texting your question
or comment. Use the word Texas followed by your message
to eight one five three zero. Remember standard data rates
and messaging rates may apply. What do you think the
worst sporting decisions were in the year of twenty twenty five?
The Washington Post had some ideas. I've got some ideas,

(06:50):
and we'll share some of those during Inconceivable.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
Coming up a little later on in the show.

Speaker 4 (06:54):
We'll talk about some college football news, some transfer portal notes,
some scheduling disputes. It's not a day in college football
without petty disputes off the field, taking the spotlight away
from what's happening this weekend, and that are those are
some great college football playoff games that we will touch
on as well. We will discuss those with Evan Veef,

(07:16):
who reports for Inside Texas. He is in Orlando as well,
and his prediction and thoughts on the upcoming Citrus Bowl
as well as the college football playoff games which start
tomorrow night Ohio State and Miami at the Cotton Bowl
to kick off the college football playoff quarter final stage.
If there's an upset to be found, we'll ask Evan

(07:39):
where he thinks that is. We'll also hear from both
head coaches for this Citrus Bowl game. Longhorn's head coach
Steep Sarkisian took the podium this morning, as did Michigan
interim head coach Biff Pogi, and we'll get both of
their thoughts on not just the Citrus Bowl, but kind
of the state of each program and some of the
larger issues in college football as a whole. We'll have

(08:01):
those for you in SoundBite form throughout the program, starting
in the three o'clock hour, and then again as we
get closer to forward with you from two to five
today here on AM thirteen hundred The Zone. We'll also
talk about this business of former pros playing college basketball again.
There's a sort of free agency happening in college basketball
right now, and we'll give you some of the updates

(08:23):
on those headlines you might have seen about former NBA
draft picks now going to play in the case of
James Najie going to play for Baylor as soon as
they're Big twelve opener. So we'll break down some of
that for you later on the show as well. But
coming up, we'll visit with Craig Way and Cameron Parker
for one final time here in twenty twenty five. We
appreciate you listening with us here on AM thirteen hundred

(08:46):
The Zone and Iheartstation Guaranteed Human And on this final
Craig Ways show of twenty twenty five, it is great
to have this trio together. Craig Way and Cameron Parker
join us now here on AM thirteen hundred The Zone. Folks,

(09:10):
It's great to see you, guys, say either, for I
think this is the first time the three of us
have been together in a while.

Speaker 1 (09:14):
On this show. Well six man off op Craig.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
I think we're losing there, losing Craig there, which is
a great way to end twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
I just want to say, you.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Know, we can have our last show of the year
without the three of us together, So you know, it's
it's like the Avengers, right, we all we're all back together,
Avengers Doomsday, not a Doomsday and the Craig Way Show,
but a reunion.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Rather well, hopefully we do a little better at the
box office than Marvel did in twenty twenty five. Craig,
we opened the show with some numbers behind Bijon's big night.
Unfortunately it did happen at the expense of your Rams.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Did you catch that game last night? With the crew.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
Got back to watch the second half of it, and
while as a Rams fan, I might be disappointed, whether
they're very excited about me? John one of the great
guys and truly one of the singular talents at his position,
and it was great to see him do well. You know,
the best shot was the Seattle game. When they did

(10:20):
not win the game in Seattle a week ago Thursday,
it knocked him out of the one seed. The best
they were gonna be was gonna be a five. A
significant difference between being the five seed and the sixth seed.
The five's going to Tampa or Charlotte, even though ironically
the Rams have already lost in Charlotte once this year.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
But you're either going to there.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
I would, but still as a Rams fan, rather see
them go there than have to go to Philicago. And
it's probably going to be Philadelphia. I think the Bears
would probably beat the Lions. So it's not a good
way for it to go. But Truman made a really
good point laugh He said, all of these teams in
the NFC, and for that matter, all overall fellas are flawed.

(11:05):
They all have some flaws and none of them are
And the Rams have become much more.

Speaker 5 (11:15):
Secondary. They've really in one of the best in the league.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
They've been vulnerable in the back and the secondary, and
they got burned on that. They also have tackling issues.
I think that's hurt them a little bit. And so
when you have a game out and Matthew Stafford, who's
had a great year but did not have a great,
great game last night like he did in Charlotte against Carolina,

(11:46):
then the defense is gonna sep and I think that's
why the Rams have put themselves in the position are
in which is probably going to be the playoffs, Whereas
a lot of people were considering in just a few
days ago that they might still be the best team
in the league. I don't think that's the case. Didn't
think it was the case going into the game, but
now I think they may be headed for a quick
out playing either in Chicagy.

Speaker 4 (12:06):
Well, we'll give Cameron a quick out on the Cowboys
talk and transition over to the Citrus Bowl for a
few minutes. I'll give you the first crack at this Cam.
What aspects of this cheese at Citrus Bowl game are
the most intriguing to you as we move within twenty
four hours a kickoff.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Well, I think the.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
First thing to look at is Texas is playing without
twenty players, whether it's transfer, portal opt outs, or injury.
And so it's almost kind of like a sneaky spring
football game. We're going to see a lot of guys
who did not play a lot this season who will
play a lot in this game. So it's an opportunity
for the coaching staff to kind of get a look

(12:44):
at positions where they may have some question marks On
and may want to address in the transfer portal when
that window does open on January fourth, maybe we'll see
a couple of guys play well in the Citrus Bowl
and think, you know what, Okay, we're actually better at
that position that we thought we were. So it's a
good look at it. I think the running back position
is one of intrigue. Obviously, you would think Texas will

(13:05):
add one or two running backs in the portal. We
get to see guys like Christian Clark, who did not
get a lot of reps this season. James Simon also
not a lot of reps, but when he did get reps,
I thought both running backs played very well. They were
just behind Trey Wisner, who had a fan tax fantastic
career at Texas. Obviously, it's a big game performance against

(13:25):
Oklahoma in Texas A and M will be remembered forever
and we wish him the best for his next step
of his football career.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Also CJ.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Baxter, same thing for him, a running back who just
unfortunately can never quite get one hundred percent healthy, and
I hope he does get healthy at his next stop.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
But it's a chance to see what those guys look like.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Against Michigan the Citrus Bowl and the same coastal linebacking unit. Right,
Anthony Hill declaring for the NFL draft, Trey Moore declaring
for the NFL draft, leonod La foul transferring, what would
that linebacker position look like against? By the way, one
of the best rushing attacks in college football, Michigan statistically
is the best running team Texas has faced all season now.

(14:06):
In three Michigan three losses this season Oklahoma, usc and
Ohio State, it was their three worst games running the
football about one hundred yards, one hundred nine yards, one
forty six. So if you're looking at these to Texas victory,
I think it starts the Michigan's ability to run the
football or not. And you know, how did Texas defend

(14:27):
the run without Anthony higainst Arkansas. It wasn't their best game,
so that's a question mark. But Texas has had three
weeks of bowl practices to prepare for Michigan's run defense.
So for me, it's just seeing, you know what these
young guys look like. Getting a big boost to have
Jolan and McDonald back, you know, will slide into that
safety spot for Texas with Michael taff the party for

(14:49):
the NFL, So it'll be a good look to see
what this roster will look like in twenty twenty six
for a lot of the younger guys who we did
not see play a lot this season getting some big
time reps tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (15:01):
Craig, did you bring white out for those spotting boards
with the potential rotations we'll see at some of these
positions with younger guys getting chances on both sides.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Well, I'll give you a look.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
So this is what I've got obviously, But I always,
as I have all seen, have the reserve and walk
on chart as well, so freshman reserves and walk on.
So in other words, if guys that slip into that
aren't on this, and this is a pretty upheated chart
that I got from the football program, but guys that

(15:35):
slip in there, and there will be some, they'll be
in here somewhere.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
So it's it's up to my.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Spider whose last name is Way to make sure it
gets it all right as well, and I think Andy
will do that.

Speaker 5 (15:47):
It's going to make sure. I think Cameron makes a
really good point.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
With what Michigan's going to try to do to run
the ball at the press conference this morning, and it
was early this morning, Texas time, about seven thirty. This week,
we heard both head coaches really speak to the importance
they feel to win the football game for bit Pogi
because he got to lose.

Speaker 5 (16:10):
His last game is tomorrow. He'll be out after tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (16:12):
Kyle Whittingham is coming in, so he talks about what
an honored is to play in the eightieth this game,
and he's been very impressed with the guys who worked
very hard to be It's the same.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
And conservative estimate.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Sark was asked eighty five percent of the questions and
a lot of it coming back to a lot of
the guys asking him, well what about this young.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Guy and what about that young guy? And and he
kept saying, yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
Yeah, we've got you know, a lot of young guys
want to take a look at they practice well, the
fifteen practices have helped them. But he does want to
you know, Cam was Clark and James Simon and start
against him. He also mentioned Michael Terry and I think
there's the these chance, decent chance we'll see Michael Terry
on the field situations tomorrow and in the area seeing

(17:08):
some of the younger guys in thereat on Tomor's as well.
So but so this the optic just pretty much intact.
And then you have the two outstanding Michigan and both
head coaches were talking about those fact they can have

(17:30):
on this game. So while there are guys who aren't
here via the portal or anfl opt out, whatever it
might be, there's still guys here, playmakers here on both
sides who can affect this football game.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
Tomorrow, Keim, we'll hear some of those soundbites from the
press conference a little later in the show. Did you
get the chance to hear sarks comments at all about
agents and what are some of his conversations with them
are like, and how they've kind of thrown a wrench
in the transfer portal process.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
What's your kind of reaction to that? I tell you what,
sarks comments were great today.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
Even better was John Caliperi's seven minute rant on the
nil in the portal. I don't know if you've been
able to play that or going to play on the show, Jake.
I encourage anyone who hasn't listened to it listened to
it because coach cow all time. It was a fixed
Shafer type rant, and I think everything coach Cow said
was correct.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
I think everything Sark said was correct. I mean you
mentioned the point that.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
Sometimes we're talking to these agents and they give you
a number and you say good luck. You know, hopefully
you don't call back asking for that number.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
I think he was referring to Cam Coleman, the Auburn
white out who allegedly reportedly is asking for two million
colors from Auburn. But that's that's just college football, right now,
That's how college sports is, right.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
You entered the portal, you asked for a number, and
you see what you can get.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
And sarkluded to and as coach cow louted to, don't
blame the players here, blame the lack of organizational leadership
in college sports at the moment.

Speaker 4 (19:01):
And we will hear a snippet from that coach cal
Ran a little bit later on and get everybody kind
of up to date on that story. Craig, could you
could you have ever foreseen this when you got into broadcasting,
when you were about my age.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
When I first got into broad it's all about, Hey,
you know, I'm sure that guy didn't get more than
the laundering money he was supposed to have to do
his laundry. Otherwise it's an NCAA violation. So Cam has
fond with what Sark was saying today, you know, and
I smiled on This came when you were talking about
when you mentioned Cam Coleman around the press conference and

(19:43):
Roger Wallas knocked about. We figured he was either talking
about Cam Coleman or he was talking about trade.

Speaker 5 (19:47):
Will the people by get what you want come on
back to us?

Speaker 3 (19:55):
But I, you know, I it is the direction of
how it's going, you know, I think brought it full circle.
He said, we're gonna be okay, but with regulation of
the family representatives once are our good friend Rod Bavers talks, uh,
the shady in the in the family stuff, about trying

(20:18):
to make unreasonable offers or unreasonable demands and requests of
a program. But all that simply comes down to is
the adjustment that programs, even in programs like Texas and
Michigan top flight programs, are gonna have to deal with.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
You know, I hear I uh, you know, being a
product of they come forwards.

Speaker 5 (20:43):
With the maker to the portal and they're losing Caleb
Hawkins to the portal and their key playmakers, and they're
talking about how the G five programs can they even survive?

Speaker 1 (20:53):
A lot of this stuff.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
Coaches talking about how difficult them can make a.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
You know, make a goal.

Speaker 3 (21:11):
But he has long term for pop act of collegiate
football programs like these two that are here in Orlando.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
Yeah, no doubt about it.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
Again, apologize some of the audios dropping off for a
few of our listeners there. But talking about the h
the difficulties right that coach Sark expressed in his press
conference today, it was almost it almost felt at times
like it was just so coach Sarks soapbox for some
of the different issues he sees in the sport in
the bigger picture. And it's not the first time that
he's taken an opportunity in a press conference to discuss

(21:43):
those things.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
This season. No, and you can tell his his frustration.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
And I think a lot of coaches in college football, basketball,
all of athletics, it's reaching a boiling point. And I
think it all goes back to there is no organization
or organizational leadership whatsoever in college sports right now.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
I mean, the NCAA had to release.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
A statement today, I believe, referring to what's happening with
Tritton Flowers, the former basketball player who was drafted in
twenty twenty three and now is applying for eligibility for
college sports, even though he was drafted two three years ago.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
And the NCAA statement was just kind of shrug.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
You know, we're just putting our hands up because they're
so afraid of doing anything where they're going to get sued,
because anytime they make any sort of ruling, they get sued.
So it's just going back and forth and back and forth,
and nothing's being done in stars press conference, not the
Centrus Bowl. And Craig you remember this well, after Texas
had hired Will muss Champ as a defensive coordinator, they

(22:50):
call that press conference the next day. He want a
bit of a soapbox talking about we need some sort
of leadership in college football, whether it's a commissioner or
a collective group, but something with some sort of oversight
that not only greats rules but enforces rules, but also
these ads in conferences respect because I tell you what,

(23:12):
right now, no one respects the NCAA. It's gotten to
the point now where people care more about what Greg
Sinki has to say than anyone at the NCAA, because
who has the most power right now, it's the SEC,
the Big Ten and also ESPN in Fox are the
ones that are making the decisions. And if you're a coach,
you're you're fighting for your job, you're fighting to win,

(23:33):
so you're going to do every single thing that's possible.
You know, Scott's Drew doing the same thing with signing
a player who is eligible, who at one point was
drafted in the NBA, and you know, of course, you
know Tom Izzo freaked out about it, but you know,
Scott Drew just said, hey, I'm adapting. What does Steve
Sarkisian always say, adapt or die? And right now these
coaches are being forced to adapt or else their program

(23:56):
is going to be left behind. You know, there's no rules,
there's no guidelines. So it's remember the wild Wild West.
I don't know what's beyond the Wild Wall West, but
we were currently in it. But you can tell with
all this turnover, I mean, Iowa States down to what
sixteen active players during their postseason, we're getting to the
point where ball season, if it was not already dead,

(24:19):
it's dying.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
So there's got to be some sort of way.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
It's not only you just fix the ball season, but
also be able to fix college athletics because what's happening
is it sane in these teams are losing. All these
college kids who can't blame them. They want to make
their next step. They want to enter the portal, they
want to get their money and go to another school.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
But where does it end?

Speaker 2 (24:42):
And it goes back to what Sark was saying was
you need some sort of oversight in college football, college sports,
that the conferences, that the networks, that the ads respect.
But what does that look like? When does it even
start to exist? Who knows?

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Yeah, it feels like well.

Speaker 5 (25:02):
And the one other word that I hear is guardrails.

Speaker 3 (25:07):
Head coaches and athletic personnel guard rails, whether that means
done costly and nobody really wants to see the federal
government get involved with this, but who knows if it
might wind up having to take that just to try
to wrap their arms around this.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (25:23):
Certainly in favor of that down.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
That road, we have to take some feedivention to make
sure thing within those so called guardrails.

Speaker 4 (25:34):
Yeah, you hear, media pundits, athletic directors, conference commissioners all
sledming the table for guardrails. We really have yet to
see too many of those that have actually been adhered to,
and you'll hear Sart talk a little bit about that
later on in the show. We've got quarterfinal games starting
tomorrow in the CFP. Guys, I want to know which
team each of you think has the most to prove

(25:57):
in this week's games, Right?

Speaker 1 (26:01):
You want to go first? That's a loaded question. Yeah,
I think.

Speaker 3 (26:07):
There's they win in the Cotton Bolcnio State.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
The other one is the number one seed.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
Indiana is venturing into uncharted territory and we all know
they're really really good. They beat Ohio State, can they
finish the job? Starting off in the environment of the
Rose Bowl. It's not played in the Rose Bowl since
nineteen sixty seven or the January of sixty eight, and
they got run over by O. J.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Simpson in a game.

Speaker 3 (26:39):
So that's how long it's been since since Indiana has played.
And they're gonna play a team the team I think
that is flawed and I like Indiana. In fact, if
you were to ask me right now, who do I
think is gonna win.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
The national Championship?

Speaker 3 (26:56):
If I had to pick one, I would say it's
the one seed Indiana even though they haven't done it yet,
So we'll get a more of a of a few
and then the one other one.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
I would say they.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
Play another season, playoff postseason group having to play down
there in the Orange Bowl. But Joey McGuire has his
guys playing really, really well. They're gonna be a Top
A semi final.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
In the could be amazing. So we'll see if tholks too.
Those are two I to really have something to prove.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, you know, Dechael Craig there about Indiana in the
season race your hand, if you had Indiana picked to
go to the national Championship, I'm guessing there's probably not
many people outside of Bloomington that had them picked. So
if they can go in and not only just beat
Alabama top SEC program, but win the national championship, it's

(28:01):
going to open some eyes because they are not on
the same NIL level as Ohio State, as Texas, as Georgia,
as Oregon, probably not even like Ole Miss or Miami.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
So they can go in and win.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
Then all of a sudden, some other programs you know
who maybe don't have the same ANIL funding that those
teams like Texas Tech have. Hey, you can still win
a national championship in this current climate, that would be huge.
Now I'm kind of shooting with this other answer here.
You mentioned the teams, Jake, I'm gonna give you two quarterbacks,
Dante Moore and Ty Simpson, two guys that made it

(28:36):
clear for the NFL draft. May him back for next season.
If Dante Moore plays well on Thursday and leads Oregon
to a national championship, he may decide, you know what,
I'm ready for the NFL and throw his name in
the hat there alongside Branda Mendoza. Same goes for Ty Simpson, right.
I mean, Alabama's passing attack has been good. He didn't

(28:58):
look very good in the in the loss to Oklahoma
earlier this season. He struggled at times against Auburn. But
if he can maybe light up Indiana and pull off
an upset victory over Mendoza, who is supposedly the number
one pick, then he made a side to throw his
name in the NFL draft. So curious to see what
Dante more and what tys Simpson do. The other team

(29:22):
who is not a favorite and underdog is Texas Tech
right twelve and one, their one loss team to Arizona State,
a game in which Baron Morton I believe got banged
up in and then came back in and they were
able to win the Big Twelve championship defeated BYU twice.
It's a team that's we know all about Cody Campbell

(29:44):
and they have a fantastic front eight, one of the
best linebackers in the country. But Oregon's getting a lot
of hypier and definitely a lot more teams or more
people are picking Oregon to win. I think Texas Tech
has a lot to prove because all of a sudden,
if you lose to Oregon, then we go back to
next season thinking, yeah, if you're not in the Big

(30:04):
ten or the SEC, you really have no chance of competing.
So can Texas Tech beat Oregon and show that Hey,
you know, obviously we have the funding to spend to
win the Big twelve, but we can also beat the
Big ten in the SEC.

Speaker 4 (30:19):
Yeah, Cam, I'm with you on Texas Tech. And it's
like I said, I think to you Craig off the
air one time. This is the first Indiana game under
Kurt Signetti where they are truly expected to deliver, even
in the Big Ten game, Ohio State closed as the
favorite right the Big Ten Championship game from a couple
of years ago. Even though they're number one, right, they

(30:40):
have never been truly expected to deliver on a big
stage until well now Thursday, So I think that'll be
really interesting to watch from their perspective. Okay, we're short
on time for this, but it was a good discussion
about the state of college sports. Just real quickly a
twenty twenty five little superlative segment I put together favorite
broadcasting each of you were a part of this year.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
Well, it a.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
Uh, it's good that that rivals back in gear to
see Longhorns and Aggies again and for Texas to finish
it the way they did with Special same thing with
the Oklahoma game. Anytime in the rivalry games, certainly it
means an awful lot. And for Texas to get those
two that was. That was a fun broad to be

(31:33):
a part of, for sure.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
I think for me it was. It won't be Texas related.
It's the GEX and K if you o the game
of the week. Fander Grift McNeil being able to see
and be able to call Scott Hermes uh defeating his
former head coach Truce Sanders for the first time since
Scott moved over to McNeil after it being the DC
in four points for so long.

Speaker 4 (31:57):
Yeah, I remember watching that game, and as of the
former voice of McNeil during some lean years, it definitely
brought a smile to my face to hear you on
the call for that one. No doubt, Cam, I'll go
with I'll go with Bash drops area around victory over Waco.

Speaker 6 (32:13):
You.

Speaker 4 (32:14):
I know, it was fun to be a part of
some Capitol's playoff broadcast, but that was more of just
a behind the scenes role. It was cool to see
a seam that I'd followed all season long get a
milestone victory like that.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Last one. Biggest thing you're looking forward to in twenty
twenty six.

Speaker 5 (32:30):
Hopefully something with regard to college.

Speaker 3 (32:33):
Fuck, you know, got a lot I want to see
if this Texas women's team can get a.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
Yukon.

Speaker 3 (32:46):
Is Yukon and South Carolina who they are. But Vic
Shafer's got his team rolling to where they can be
a serious contender, a threat to go back to the
Final four and then and do that thing.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
And then.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
As an onward Texas in its first year in the
SEC wins the SEC regular season title.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
They went forty four and fourteen, but they had injuries.

Speaker 3 (33:09):
Dallas cost them obviously that losing so the encore there
for Slot.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
I would say.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
What Craig said women's basketball, I think that's that's the
best team on the forty acres right now. What they've
been able to do despite being banged up, not having
Ashton Hudd and pre presidentally a crump for most of
this season, and have already beaten the number two and
number three teams in the country at this point in
the season. I think what Fick Schaefer has is a

(33:49):
really really special team that he's going to do a
lot of damage to March and then, you know, I
want to see what this football team does in twenty
twenty six, you know, with Arch manning obviously the first game,
the second game of the season, I think Ohio State coming
to DKR and Ohio State team that you know, we'll
have Julian saying, but we'll be missing some other key players,

(34:12):
and depending on what happens Wednesday, we'll see what their
coaching staff looks like when they come to Austin. But
it's another very very tough schedule. At least they don't
spend the month of what October completely away from Austin.
But it'll be a big season for Texas football and
I think arch Manning will take a massive, massive leap.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Well, guys, thanks so much for ye.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
And they get they get to spend the entire month
of October at home.

Speaker 7 (34:39):
That will be great.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
In twenty twenty seven, they don't play a game outside
the state axis, then the Ou game, but then three
straight home games in October.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
So that looking forward to Jay.

Speaker 4 (34:49):
Yeah, I know Craig's looking forward to a year with
a lot fewer miles on the on the odometer. But
we hope you really enjoyed this, this last trip of
the football season out to Orlando. Have a great call, Cam,
We'll be tuned in tomorrow morning. I'll be out there
with you engineering eleven am for Longhorns game day.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
Correct, that's right, And Craig and Roger will join us
from the Camping World Stadium tomorrow eleven to fifteen am
as well. Derek Johnson Norm Watkins will be joining us
live from Twin Peaks round Rocke as well.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
Amazing.

Speaker 4 (35:19):
Do you guys have nominees for biggest sports gaps of
twenty twenty five. I think we're gonna move in conceivable back.
We went a little long here, give people more time
to get their submissions in biggest sports gaps. Great, Yeah,
that's going to be in there. That's going to be
in there.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Sports Gas. Yeah, Luca. Luca comes to the top of
my mind right now.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
I think.

Speaker 2 (35:46):
Jerry Jones Michael Parson's trade. I mean, I know Mike
is towards ACL and Dallas has two first round draft picks,
but I that I think right now doesn't It might
be a wash at this point, but I still look
at it as a negative considering now Treyvon Diggs has
been released, which shows you at least Dallas's and doesn't
owe the sixty million dollars that he could have earned

(36:09):
if he had stayed through Dallas his next three seasons.
But I think Jerry Jones just a gap himself right
at this point.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
I tried to let him dodge the Cowboys question.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
You were all here to hear it, and yet it
still came back to Jerry Jones on cam'st Cam's contribution
to the last episode of twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
Thanks a bunch, guys, appreciate it. Hey, you guys tomorrow.
All right, that's Cameron Parker and Craig Way.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
You can hear Craig, Roger and Will on the call
for the Citrus Bolt tomorrow right here on AM thirteen
hundred Zone, as well as ninety eight one Cavet and
Longhorn's Game Day with Cameron Parker, Mike Harball, Harge and
Mark Henry alongside those great guests that Cam mentioned, will
start at eleven am right here on the Zone tomorrow
as well. All right, we're gonna move in conceived back

(37:00):
a little later in the show to give the biggest
sports gaffes of twenty twenty five their proper respect, and
when we come back, we'll get to another spicy rivalry
story in college football. Stick with us on AM thirteen
hundred to zone. All right, Our second hour of the

(37:26):
show is underway. Jake Herman in for Craig today. We
just heard from back in hour number one. Coming up
in a few minutes. Our friend Evan Vet that inside
Texas will join us. Before we hear from him. Let's
hear a little bit from coach Sark. His press conference
today was in conjunction with Michigan interim head coach Biff Pogi.

(37:49):
The two of them took the podium today at the
at the Cheese at Citrus Bowl to share their thoughts
on where their teams are, answer some questions about the
bowl game, about just the state of college football as
a whole, really good, wide ranging conversation. Like Craig alluded to,
it was Sark who got probably eighty percent of the
questions in this press conference, and you'll hear some of

(38:11):
his answers to those throughout the show here today. First
Sark's comments on the young guys that have gotten an
increased opportunity both in practice this week leading up to
the bowl game and potentially at the Cheese at Citrus
Bowl in Orlando tomorrow. What were his comments on the
young guys getting chances to shine.

Speaker 7 (38:32):
You know, I thought it's gone really well.

Speaker 8 (38:35):
You know, we've had to adjust kind of our practice
format because of the numbers being down. You just don't
get to replenish the numbers when guys move on, and
so you know, when you look at twenty or so
odd guys that are not with us that were with
us you know throughout the season at the end of
the regular season, you know, we had to adjust how

(38:56):
we practiced, and one thing that we've done has been
a little bit more nervousing of each other from offense
to defense, defense to offense as opposed to scout team.
And it's been great for me because it's allowed me
to see the whole team all practiced long as opposed
to being separate offense and defense and doing things simultaneously.

Speaker 7 (39:15):
So I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 8 (39:17):
I've enjoyed being around a lot of our younger players,
and I think that they're excited to show what they
can do. And you can feel the excitement for their
team from their teammates, some of the older guys that
maybe they came into school with and now they're seeing
some opportunities for them. And so it's been a, like
I said, a different format of practice, but I think

(39:38):
it has been re energizing because so many guys are
practicing right now with opportunities to play in the ball game.
So I do think that it's gone well for us.

Speaker 4 (39:47):
Both quarterbacks should be playing for at least part of
this ball game. We would think there's no indication otherwise,
And each head coach was asked to comment on the
other quarterback. First, Biff Poji on Arch Manning.

Speaker 9 (40:00):
Arch Manning is a first of all, really what that
young man is, the way he's carried himself in a
pretty intense spotlight is it's just amazing. And accredit to
his family, to Steve, the coaching staff. He's an unbelievable player.

(40:24):
I mean he's everything they say he is.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
Uh.

Speaker 9 (40:28):
And you know, one of the things that happens is,
excuse me, is you all.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
Tend to.

Speaker 9 (40:38):
Bless people to the highest highs and then when the
first time they should make a mistake, you like to
drag them to the lowest steps of hell. And the
truth is somewhere.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
Way in the middle.

Speaker 9 (40:54):
And I think he's an outstanding leader.

Speaker 1 (40:57):
I think he is.

Speaker 9 (40:59):
The things he says and the things he does shows
his leadership. But as a player, I mean, he can
do it all right, can make all the throws. He's intelligent,
he can run. He's a problem and you know for
a defense or a real problem.

Speaker 4 (41:16):
And now sark the reverse answer of that. What his
comments are on Bryce Underwood. We'll hear those a little
bit later on in the show. I wanted to get
to this before Evan Veith comes on because I want
to ask him about it. And that is this quote
that Coach Sark had about the presence of modern day agents,

(41:36):
or at least, as he said, friends and you know,
potential roommates acting as agents, and the way that they
are kind of throwing a new wrinkle into the transfer
portal process at the moment. Take a listen to these
comments about that. He was posed a question about the
risk of going after elite talent in the portal when

(41:58):
you have young talent on your straw already. Think about
the Texas wide receiver room, perfect example of that. You've
got Easton Royal coming in, five star potential receiver in
the future. You've got Parker Livingston on the roster, You've
got all these You've got Ryan Wingo, and yet players
like Cam Coleman when they entered the transfer portal from
Auburn are immediately linked to Texas because the Longborns are

(42:20):
a player for major transfer portal talent that can help
them achieve their goals in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
But what are the risks of going.

Speaker 4 (42:27):
After these players when you already have young talent on
your roster, And listen to the direction in which Coach
Stark took this answer.

Speaker 8 (42:35):
I think it's all so strategic, right, because it's one
about need, it's two about money, you know, and the
cost and where's the market and you know which agent
you're dealing with. There's some agents that are rational and
there's some that that this is their first time ever
being an agent. I don't even know if they're licensed

(42:56):
to be agents, but all of a sudden they get
to be agents, you know, because we have no certification
process in college football or in the NFL, you have
to be certified in college football. It might be their
college roommate, you know, their freshman year, who's their agent
right now? And this guy's throwing numbers at you and
it's like, we can't even deal with this, like you
just move on.

Speaker 7 (43:13):
And so it's a it's.

Speaker 8 (43:15):
Unfortunate and we're we'll get there in college football, but
right now, it's it's a tough situation. That being said,
although there's so many factors that come into you know,
what you're trying to do.

Speaker 7 (43:27):
What are what are our needs? What are our luxuries? Right?
Those are two different things.

Speaker 8 (43:33):
And then trying to find the right mix and the
right fit because we can't lose sight of some of
these kids that we signed out of high school either like,
we got a pretty good running back coming in by
the name of Derek Cooper that we're excited about as well.
And so again we've got to have our list of needs,
our list of wants, and our list of luxuries, and
then what's the dollar signed next to all that? Okay,

(43:54):
and then what's the bottom dollar from from an organizational standpoint?
And the idea that I can sit up here in
twenty twenty five and talk about money and players and
things like, it's pretty crazy right from where we've gotten
to where we were four or five years ago to
where we are today. But that's the reality of the
situation of college football right now, and that's where we

(44:16):
are again. I think it's there's nothing wrong with that.
We just got to tighten it up and hopefully we
can get there sooner rather than later. Because again, I'm
probably gonna be on the phone with an agent today
that's going to throw a number at me that I'm
going to be like, good luck. I hope you get
it if you don't call us back.

Speaker 7 (44:32):
But I can't. I can't do that number, oh man.

Speaker 4 (44:37):
So we'll discuss that with Evan Veef in just a
few minutes. Our good friend from Inside Texas when he
joins the show later on, we'll have been Conceivable, which
if you missed, it usually comes at the two o'clock hour,
but we visited with Craig Way Cameron Parker during that
slot today, got some of their thoughts on the Citrus
Bowl and took a look back at twenty twenty five.

(44:58):
We're asking for your submit on the worst sports gaps
or mistakes of twenty twenty five, and if you have one,
you could text the word Texas followed by your submission
to eight one five three zero. That's the word Texas
followed by your submission to eight one five three zero.
Standard rates may apply, and we will get to Inconceivable

(45:19):
later on in the show. Up next, we speak with
Evan v Th right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred Zone. Our last show of twenty twenty five rolls
along here on AM thirteen hundred The Zone. Always happy
to have Evan Vth with us from the hotel in Orlando.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
Good afternoon, Evan. How's the week been down there? Alarm here?
It's been nice for seventies most of the days. Today
is the only day.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
I've actually to wear a jacket out, but that was
just to go to the stadium and have some odd
cheese at related snacks.

Speaker 4 (45:54):
Okay, did you try the cheese at crusted turkey leg?

Speaker 2 (45:58):
Oh, God, don't get me started. That thing is one
of the worst things I've ever tried. I'm so sorry
to say. It is horrendous. It tastes like bad cheeto
dust that you can taste every bit of the dust
on the circule leg.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
And then the turkey was cold and old. Oh no,
cold and old is not a good combo.

Speaker 4 (46:19):
Craig would agree with you, I think on the cheese
at dust front. He was out as well on the
cheese it pina colada with the cheese at dust on
the rim. How about the loaded chili cheese it crunched dog.
The pictures didn't look bad.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
The dog wasn't bad. The thing is, that was the
only one that didn't taste anything like cheese it's it
just tasted like a chili dog.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
So like, that's good. The best one was the burger,
which had like cheese it memento cheese. I actually quite
like that one, but the turkey leg was bad. Man,
I hate to say it.

Speaker 4 (46:48):
Oh well, you know what, hopefully it doesn't shatter or
burst the bubble of any fans who might be down
in Orlando listening with us today.

Speaker 1 (46:56):
We're talking to Evan vs from Inside Texas.

Speaker 4 (46:58):
You were at sarks press conference right this morning with
Biff Pogi, and like you described it for Inside Texas,
it was more of sark soapbox than anything else. We
heard him before the break talk about the difficulty in
dealing with agents or in his case, well a guy
that just gets to be an agent because there's no
rules on things like this in college football. Just wanted

(47:19):
to start there because you cover the portal quite a bit.
What do you make of the concerns that Sark is
raising here?

Speaker 1 (47:25):
Yeah, I mean I think it's fair. There's no certification requirements.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
You're talking about agents who are taking commission that ten
fifteen times as much as you'd hear about NFL guys
doing it because there's no rules, which is the kind
of the main idea for a lot of what's going
on in college football, where these players are allowed to
get represented as early as fifteen years old, and it
could be it used to be your dad would help
you out, but now it's some guy you don't really

(47:49):
know or you know him a little too well, and
he's taking advantage of you because of relationship. And that's
what's getting a lot of players into bad portal entrants
because they're overvaluing themselves or someone else is telling them
that they're more than what they actually are, and then
they up getting put into bad spots elsewhere because of that,
or they're taking.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Money in a weird way.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
I mean not to name any names, but there was
a recruit that happened recently where you could tell that
the family was a little bit They had a different
idea what they wanted their son to do than what
he chose for his recruitment. And either way, he's if
he's a year out from actually hitting that signing day,
it doesn't really matter who he commits to these days.
All the things I'm saying right now are kind of
what Sark has been for the last year. He's definitely

(48:26):
been talking about a lot, but really today he took
today as a chance to really talk about what's wrong
with the sport. And that was a question that Kirk
Boules put out that was about running backs to the
transfer portal. He didn't really care about the agent talk
or anything. And that's where sark took it, so he
makes a lot of great points. He's talked about the
calendar at nauseum before this year, and now that we're

(48:47):
kind of at that point with the transfer portal, starting
to talk about what it's like to actually deal with
it as a coach. And I think between some of
the players that have left, which a lot of that
probably had to do with money. I'm nothing specific that
I know, but I know you're not gonna let go
starting players unless there's a problem on that end of things.
And I was gonna have to deal with getting guys
because not everyone who's got this seven million or seven

(49:08):
figure evaluation in the millions is gonna be worth it,
even though every single agent wants their player to get
that much.

Speaker 1 (49:14):
So we'll see how Longhorns spend.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
It's gonna be a lot of money they're going to
put into the portal, but they're gonna have to spend
the money smartly instead of just throwing out blank checks.

Speaker 4 (49:21):
Right, There is a limit, and we'll hear him talk
about Wink Martindale's salary cap comments a little bit later
on in the show as well. But it's not like
you just have unlimited reserves like I think fans think
that most teams do.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
Yeah, I think there's this idea that Texas can just
kind of blank check teams and buy players, and I
know that it's felt like that with Oregon and Texas
Tech recently in the portal. But you got to also
remember that Texas Tech isn't recruiting the same way. I mean,
they're getting recruits nowadays, but it's two top tier guys
at positions they want, and then still kind of the
same old three star low four star local West Texas kids.

(49:57):
Oregon's a bit of a unique scenario where they've just
kind of got a shadow donor who owns the biggest
sports brand in the world.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
But the Longhorns aren't made of money.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
And even if they are one of the richest teams
in the highest spenders, still are the teams that they're
competing for these top players. For a kid who's going
against or a kid who's going to either Texas or
Georgia or Ohio State, those are also top tier spenders
and also elite programs that have the pull of hey, well,
you can come and win football games.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
Here, you can go and get drafted out of here.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
So it's not like Longhorns can just pick and choose
who they want out of the portal and get what
they want. And that's why fans are gonna need to
be a little bit careful with how they're talking about
start going all in, which is one of my boss
and Eric Alan's talks about this that just because Texas
doesn't get Jade and Ba for example, or another really
good running back you went for the portal, doesn't mean
they're not trying to get these guys. It just means

(50:43):
that sometimes it doesn't work out, whether it be because
the money is wrong or because the players wants to
go somewhere else. And I think it's gonna be a
little toxic during specifically this portal period when you're gonna
see some really high tier guys talk about Cam Coleman
not going to Texas, and fans are gonna be upset
about that.

Speaker 4 (50:57):
So that's your kind of warning signal to Texas fantastic.
You can't get everybody, and just because you don't sign
somebody doesn't mean you weren't in making those phone calls,
is what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
Yeah, Yeah, And I think if you ask me to
predict in a month's time where the top of the
portal rankings. Look like last year, Texas wasn't even close
to it because they only took eight players somewhere like that.
I think they're gonna take closer to fifteen this year,
and they're gonna probably be in that top ten and have.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
A lot of these really elite guys.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
It's just that if there's twenty five top twenty five players,
you can't expect Texas to get every single one of them,
and that means that they might not get the number
one guy, but all the positions that you can think
of needs into your line, running, back, linebacker. They're asking
about the top guys, but the relationship has to be right.
Working with the agent has to be correct, as what
Sark kind of alluded to today, and it has to
fit the scheme. So I'm looking forward to what they

(51:49):
actually do. But it's not as simple as just we
want this guy, we get this guy, and I think
the order of that should be flipped right.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
You should look at your evaluation and they're fit first,
and then the relateationships and the age at second. Unfortunately,
like Sarcus kind of sounding the warning bells on, that's
not always realistic.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
Yeah, and believe it or not, I mean, believe it
or not. I think we all kind of know it
deep down. But these agents are shopping their players before
they're in the portal. They're talking to coaches before their
players are ever saying they're going to enter or right
now or the point we're almost at the point where
you can actually get into the transfer portal in two days,
three days, I guess it would be at this point.
So student or later you're going to hear about guys

(52:27):
very close to the deadline finally getting their name in
who have actually been talking to the top tier programs
for a while and seeing what their value is. And
that's where relationships do come in for some of the
top tier guys. Cam Coleman, his agent is a Texas
scrat who very well respected in the industry. So he's
going to be talking to every top coaches in the
country and seeing where they value Coleman, and then they'll

(52:49):
take the chance from there to say, here's the best
fit for him to get into the NFL and potentially
compete for a national championship.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
But that's a guy who's gonna cost a pretty penny.

Speaker 4 (52:58):
We're talking with Evan v the reporter for Inside Texas
and you can follow him on x at Evan Veef.
We could talk about the transfer portal all afternoon, but
there is a bowl game to be played. You got
to see the Longhorns practice with this smaller roster. It
kind of means a closer look at some of the
young talent right who have been buried in the depth
chart looking for a bigger role.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
What kind of stood at to you and what you
got to see and hear?

Speaker 2 (53:21):
Yeah, I think I think people don't understand how big
Michael Terry is. This is the guy who I can
see maybe being second or third on the team and
carries for this game coming in. I do think Christian
Clark's the number one and that part of that seniority,
part of that, and I think they believe that he's
better than what's been shown on the field this season.
Neither he nor Simon really got a ton of carries
when it really mattered outside of those weeks two through
four games. So I'm looking forward to Michael Terry. Bo

(53:43):
Barnes has made a pretty good I guess thinning out.
He's really gotten to a more muscular build compared to
what we saw him in the spring, and he came
in a little bit overweight, I would say, and that's
you know, we're talking about elite athletes here. That's not
saying he wasn't a good player coming in, but I
think you can clearly see where he's at from start
to finish the year. He's a little more prepared to
go and actually play and probably have to start at

(54:03):
linebacker for this game, which is a lot a lot
of concern for Texas fans for this game. I think
those are the two young guys that really stand out,
and I'm really looking out for what Archs and these
receivers can do because I think Texas is going to
play in a close game here Michigan. Michigan's got a
good team, and if they want to really win this game,
which I know they do, I think Start always is
going to compete at the highest no matter if you
think the Bowl game matters are not. This is about

(54:24):
Arch getting some touchdowns with his legs or order through
the air, because I'm not so convinced this ground game,
even with me feeling good about Terry as a running
back in his progression, not sure that's going to win
it all for Texas.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
And even with the starting offensive line largely intact for
this game. M hm, yeah, and that's that's a nice
thing to have.

Speaker 2 (54:41):
And I think it's good for Hudson who's trying to
get in Campbellho're trying to get drafted to show a
little bit more tape. Cole Hudson said, like, of course,
I'm not going to opt out of this game. Like
I get a week for having fun with my friends
in Orlando, and then it's actually showcased myself a little
bit better against really good opponents.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
This is a good defensive line, especially on the interior.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
That's where they're not getting hit with opt outs for Michigan,
So Texas has a lot of their offense intact. It's
really only your starting slot receiver and the running back
position that's not there for you. Opt outs are hitting
the defense a little more. But that's where you have
a little bit more young talent that's already eve im proven.
So look at guys like Grayson Littleton and Kobe Black
and Kid Phillips to play some outside cornerback in replacement
of Malik Muhammad, and that's me be fun to look at.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
It is that back end of the defense.

Speaker 4 (55:22):
You know, I really enjoyed another article of yours, and
I don't want to throw you or whoever writes your
headlines under the bus here maybe the understatement of the
entire year twenty twenty five headline. There's not much in
common between twenty twenty four Michigan and this year's wolfver Reenes.
I mean, I think there might not be a team
right that's more different right now than they were at

(55:43):
the start of this year.

Speaker 2 (55:45):
Yeah, and you're talking about a team that's had three
different left guards play, And if you want to count
Etomi Azulu, who was the left guard all of spring,
a little bit of summer and then lost it there
at the end, it's four different guys in the calendar
year of twenty twenty five who are playing a position
for Texas on the offensive line. As Kyle Flood said,
he's just he was just searching for consistency this year,
and I do think part of that comes from him

(56:06):
not putting the right pieces in place to do so.
I think if you knew that Cole Hudson was your
best left guard from the start, or if you knew
that was not gonna be ready, it should have just
been Hudson had left guard but Hudson did get injured
this year.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
You didn't know what you had in Connor.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
Robertson until he played and was solid, and so at
least they did get the right group out eventually. I
know for Texas fans it fell a little bit too little,
too late. Even with the right group. Georgia still had
the better interior and the better front in that game.
But I tweeted out a step that they were noticeably better,
I mean giving up about four pressures less a game,
two sacks less pre game, running the ball better in

(56:40):
those last four games of SEC played compared to the
first score.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
So I actually do think they'll be fine this game.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
It's just about like, hey, Kyle Flood, you have to
realize that the portal is the only option for this
this unit going forward, because even if you like what
you got from Kibble and Cruise, and maybe you get
Robertson returning, we'll see about his future, that's not enough
just to blindly go into a season like he did
last year and it clearly didn't work on That's part
of the main reasons that the Longhards are in the
cheese At Bowl and not in the College Wall Playoffs.

Speaker 4 (57:07):
Michigan certainly had higher goals than this cheese at Citrus
Bowl as well, they hired Kyle Whittingham to what they
hope take them back into playoff contention. This higher, I
feel like, has drawn pretty universal praise. Right with Kyle
Whittingham's proven track record, the proven physical brand of football
that his teams play. Can you make a good case

(57:27):
for and against this hire if you're Michigan.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Yeah, I think the four is really easy.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
You're talking about a disastrous and to the last coach
that you had there, who wasn't even in for that
long and outside of beating your rivals a lot Shrowanmore
wasn't a top top tier coach or anything. Even the
guys before. They haven't had an offensive coordinator stability in
quite some time. There's been problems in the programming in
the twenty twenties. It's kind of funny, it's been their
most successful a decade of most of our lives. But

(57:54):
they had a lot of lot of controversy. So you're
getting a guy who is the opposite of controversy, has
been doing this for a long time, brings that identity
that you like of hard nosed football. Get these under
recruited guys in there and winning, and most importantly, you
have to maximize a two year window from here on
out with Bryce Underwood. This is the best quarterback you're
going to get out of the recruitment probably for the
rest of the twenty twenties and into the twenty thirties.

(58:17):
So all that matters right now is Underwood getting two
years out of him, keeping him in town, and competing
for a national championship probably in twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
Only think with winning Ham, of course.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
Is this is the guy that was kind of getting
slowly pushed out by his team in the last year, scally,
who's been kind of the guy to take his next
job for the last eight seasons. It's felt like finally
got put in place. The ceiling is a little limited
with a hire like this. You know what he is
at Utah. You know that he's been a good coach.
You know he hasn't been a guy who's going to
build a national championship contender.

Speaker 1 (58:47):
But this is the best resources he's ever going to have.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
And if he's got two years in him, maybe four
years in him, Michigan might have a chance.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
To really get back to the top of the sport.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
So I do unanimously hear heard from their reporters who
have gotten a chance to talk to a little bit
more or that they like the higher and this was
the right way to go given all the circumstances. So
I brought voted the tea to the organization in the program.
But they do have some institutional problems that need to
be solved very quickly.

Speaker 4 (59:12):
I'll take the under on combined sleep over the last
month for that group of Michigan reporters you've been hanging
with down there.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
Yeah, some of the guys from all three on the
site that I work with have have had all the
breaking stuff and talking to some people behind the scenes
about where the search is going. You're talking about Jed
Fish and then there was Jeff Brohm. Of course there
was the KDB rumors for a while and just some
NonStop phone calls and reports and all of that. So
glad that I'm just not having a look at their

(59:40):
coaching search during this time.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
I'll put you on the spot for this though.

Speaker 4 (59:43):
Your prediction for the Citrus Bowl before we move on
to the playoff for a few minutes.

Speaker 1 (59:47):
Yeah, I think it's going to be fairly low scoring on.

Speaker 2 (59:50):
I'm not expecting a thirty five point win or anything
for the Long Horns, but I.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Do think they're going to take this one home.

Speaker 2 (59:55):
I think they're the better team, even with the problems
at linebacker and running back. I think a twenty four
to seven teams score seems about right for what Texas
can do in this game and hopefully get some young
players in during that time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
You think we'll see kJ Lacey. I don't think so.
Not if it's a close game. Texas going to try
to win.

Speaker 4 (01:00:11):
I think Coach Starks seemed to echo that, and we'll
hear some of those soundbites again a little later on
in the show. We've got some CFP quarterfinals also starting
tomorrow night. Ohio State Miami up first. Then to think
you got Texas, Tech and Oregon at eleven AM, followed
by Bama, Indiana and finally all Miss Georgia. Who do
you think has the most to prove out of the
eight teams that are left in action this weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
Oh, that's a good question.

Speaker 2 (01:00:35):
I think Indiana is the one that I look towards
as the team that's got to show there a little
more than just a program on a fun run and
that hey, us winning the Big Ten and being the
number one overall seed. It's not like what Oregon did
last year where they just kind of get embarrassed by
a bit of superior program.

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
They're trying to go win a national title. I think
they've got the goods to do it, and I don't
think they have the hardest matchup of the group, So
I think they're going to win that game. But I
think they're one of those teams that could.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
Really really benefit from just winning this one even if
they don't win the one.

Speaker 4 (01:01:02):
After we talked about this with Craig and with Cameron
Parker a little earlier. I think it's Texas Tech, right,
they're looking for that big signature win against what, you know,
a power to I hate to use that term, right
because there's football being played in the Big Twelve that's
better than some of the football in those conferences, but

(01:01:22):
it's not on a week to week basis, right, the
same amount of a gauntlet schedule wise, Can they pick
up right that signature win over Oregon?

Speaker 1 (01:01:31):
I do think they can.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
I mean, I think Oregon's probably slightly favored in my
book that the skill is very high on the Oregon offense,
and they're getting healthier, which is a big deal. But
the way that Texas Tech portals is the smart way.
It's it's defensive line and it's making sure they're good
on the offense line. Even when they had a running
back injury before the year, they still were able to
run the ball. Well, I think that defense is going
to make this a close game. I still favor Oregon

(01:01:54):
a little bit, but I think you guys are right, like,
this is this is the time to prove. Hey, what
we're doing in West Texas is important for the sport.
And don't just think of us as a big twelve team.
We are the team to beat out and out in
this area. And with A and M and in Texas
not on the playoff anymore, Texas never in the playoff,
Texas Tech has a chance to really cement themselves as
a top, top tier part of the sport. Now, maybe

(01:02:15):
not program overall, but they're here to stay.

Speaker 1 (01:02:17):
I think.

Speaker 4 (01:02:18):
All right, So if we're looking for an upset, where's
the most likely place to we'll find one.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
Well, I wouldn't count Tech over Oregon right upstate.

Speaker 2 (01:02:28):
I just don't. I don't think the ole miss one
is there. I do think it is Miami. I mean,
I don't think they're gonna beat Ohio State, but you
see where it comes from. You're talking about an elite
front defensive ends that get to the quarterback at a
great clip. The run game was really working. I don't
think Mario Christobal has the legs to win four straight games.
I do think he can win two and be maybe

(01:02:49):
the not the favorite in either of them and still win.
Malachai Toni is a great player. I think Carson Beck
has the experience to get them through an ugly win.
I don't think they're going to go dominate or anything.
But if you're saying we have one game where I
just don't think Ole Miss is gonna do it, in
one game where there's not really an upset factor, I
think Miami is more likely to win an Alabama in
my eyes.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
Yeah. Interesting.

Speaker 4 (01:03:10):
I kind of disagree with you there because I think
the ceiling of Alabama having gone into Athens, right, it's
gonna be probably eighty eighty five percent Indiana fans at
the Rose Bowl. I kind of like their ceiling going
on the road against Indiana.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
But I'm with you. I think Indiana is a better
team than Ohio State.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Yeah, I think the difference mostly just on the field.
How I feel about these programs. With Miami, I think
is better than Alabama, and I think maybe Ohio State's
better than Indiana, but they've lost had to head on
a neutral field, so I do think they're both true
underdogs in these games.

Speaker 1 (01:03:43):
But I can just see it as a defensive game.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
Miami gets ahead early and then Carson Beck can kind
of steer the ship the right way, run the ball well,
get the ball in Toni's hands, and you're talking about
seventeen fourteen winning and Ohio State's like, how did this happen?

Speaker 4 (01:03:56):
But it happens, all right, last one for you, and
then we've got to get to a break if you're
Texas football. Besides just just getting back to the playoff.
What's the top of the new year's resolution list for
twenty twenty six?

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
To find the O line to get you to the
spot you need for next year, and find it quickly.
Get those top tier guys in the portal, especially on
the in tier. Also know Trevor Goosby is not locked
up for twenty twenty six, so retain Goosby. Make sure
Baker's set and probably get three new starters in the portal.
That's that's got to be the top of everyone's list
before you start talking about Bough and Coleman and all

(01:04:30):
these top tier skill position players.

Speaker 4 (01:04:32):
Right the quote unquote luxury position so to speak, that
everyone wants under their Christmas tree, but you got to
fill it. You gotta fill up your stockings.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
First, definitely, And I think running back more importantly than
getting a star is getting two guys. We'll see how
it goes on this game and how will they run
the ball, But I'd rather them get two good than
one elite and stop there.

Speaker 4 (01:04:52):
He's Evan V for Inside Texas. Evan, thanks as always.
We'll talk to you next year.

Speaker 1 (01:04:58):
Yeah, thank you, Jake. We'll see that.

Speaker 4 (01:05:00):
Enjoy the game, and up next we will enjoy some
of the most fun, memorable for the wrong reasons sports
gaffs of twenty twenty five with our last inconceivable of
the year right here on the Greg Waye Show Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone. All right, our final hour

(01:05:22):
of today's program and our final hour of the Craig
wat Show in twenty twenty five. I'm Jay Kerman in
for Craig and if you want to go back and
listen to our chat with Craig as as well as
Cameron Parker earlier in the show. Today, you can find
us wherever you get your podcasts after this show concludes,

(01:05:42):
and you can also get your podcasts on the free
iHeartRadio app. So to college basketball, now, the Baylor Bears
have signed a new player and he has already arrived
in wacos's gonna give head coach Scott Drews help in
the front court as the Bear was prepared for Big

(01:06:03):
twelve play. The players James Nausey, and three years ago
he was a second round draft pick of the Detroit Pistons.
Now the college basketball world has seen a couple of
stories like this, and what happens is the NC Double
A tries to enforce right its eligibility rules. And what

(01:06:27):
continues to happen is the NC DOUBLEA gets sued because
now with the rules on name, image and likeness being
what they are, the NC Double A is being sued
for basically preventing these players for getting their free market
value based on amateur status quote unquote that the previous

(01:06:50):
system was built upon. Tom Izzo talked about this after
Naji committed to Baylor. He's twenty one years old seven
foot center from Nigeria granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA,
who it seems is just kind of throwing its hands
up on this. They put a statement out earlier today
that said schools are recruiting and seeking eligibility for more

(01:07:12):
individuals with international, semi pro and pro experience than ever before,
and while the NCAA members have updated a lot of
rules following the House injunction, more rules must likely be
updated to reflect the choices member.

Speaker 1 (01:07:25):
Schools are making.

Speaker 4 (01:07:27):
At the same time, the NCAA eligibility rules have been
invalidated by judges across the country, breaking havoc on the
system and leading to fewer opportunities for high school students,
which is why the association is asking Congress to intervene
in these challenges. Tom Izzo has essentially said, shame on

(01:07:47):
the NCAA right for failing to try to even try
and enforce their rules in this situation, just because you
know a couple of lawsuits, well more than a couple
of lawsuits haven't gone their way. Tommy has said, shame
on the NCUBLEA coaches are going to do what they've
got to do.

Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
But the NC double A is the one. There's people on.

Speaker 4 (01:08:06):
These committees making these decisions to allow something so ridiculous
and not think of the kid. Everyone talks about me
thinking of my program or being selfish. No, get it straight,
that's for all of you. I'm thinking about what's best
for my son if he was in that position, and
I just don't agree with it. Scott Drew responded to
some of this criticism of adding the former NBA draft

(01:08:28):
pick James Nauji to his roster.

Speaker 10 (01:08:31):
Well, first, coaches, Oh and I are friends. I got
a lot of respect for him, a great conversation.

Speaker 7 (01:08:38):
As he said, most coaches.

Speaker 10 (01:08:40):
Are ninety nine percent aligned on things that we would
like to see done with our game. At the same time,
from my knowledge, until we get to collective bargaining, I
don't think we can come up with rules that are
g real boor and forceable. Until that, I think all
of us are got to be ready to adjust to
adapt to.

Speaker 7 (01:09:01):
What's out there.

Speaker 10 (01:09:02):
Early on, when it first came out with G League players,
I wasn't in favor of that either, But again, we
don't make the rules, and as we find out about things.

Speaker 7 (01:09:12):
We're always going to adapt to put our.

Speaker 10 (01:09:16):
Program in the best position to be successful, because that's
what we get paid to do.

Speaker 4 (01:09:20):
The G League decisions that he's alluding to, Right, you
go back to the fall, the NCAA ruled that twenty
one year old guard Terry Darlin was eligible to join
Santa Clara despite playing in the G League for two
years and prepping at NBA Academy in Senegal. So he
was the first former G League player to do this.

(01:09:42):
And then in October, twenty one year old London Johnson
at guard played for Louisville with two seasons of eligibility
despite having played for three years in the G League.
So you have this growing trend. Coaches around the country
are just wanting to know what they can expect, right,

(01:10:03):
because you can't fault Scott Drew specifically for trying to
put Baylor in the best position to take advantage of
a system that is failing to enforce its own rules.

Speaker 1 (01:10:15):
Right, But you've got Rick Patino joking, Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:10:17):
I'll take first DIBs on Giannis, right, he said, let
me get this straight. We can now recruit G League
players as the NBA next Matt painter Stephen Pearl complaining
about it as well. Dan Hurley calling for a college
basketball commissioner. Now he's not the college basketball commissioner yet,
John Caliperry, but he had some choice words for the

(01:10:40):
NCAA and for this system. And he'll explain it better
that I can, and better than a lot of people can.
His frustration with this current trend of former pros being
granted eligibility to play college basketball. If you think it
sounds absurd, it's because it is.

Speaker 1 (01:10:59):
This is an easy wrong.

Speaker 11 (01:11:00):
We could do this and CIA don't tell me about lawsuits.
If you join a program at mid season, you cannot
play that season. If you're in school and have to
get yourself eligible, that's okay. You could play the second
term without playing the first. So now let me ask

(01:11:22):
you this, What does that do for the kids in
the program? That you're bringing kids into mid season when
it was their opportunity. I mean, I just don't get
any of this. And again, Tommy mark Feuugh myself, we
got my son, their sons are in this. I just
want to help it before I'm out for my kid.

(01:11:44):
I'm very selfish, but it's for that. But this stuff
here I just.

Speaker 6 (01:11:50):
Gave you what we could do. I'm gonna give you
one other.

Speaker 11 (01:11:55):
The collectives on our campuses, whether you're doing it through
your media, peop whatever, cannot be involved in recruiting in
any way or transfers. But if a kid's on your
campus for a year, give them what you want to
stay so we'll get more kids staying.

Speaker 1 (01:12:15):
How about this.

Speaker 6 (01:12:16):
It'll be great for them academically.

Speaker 11 (01:12:18):
They'll probably make more money, but they'll be academic. We're
not gonna have kids leaving after transferring four times. What's
the percentage of kids that make the NBA? Unless you
play for me, what would be the percentage? Like, it's
like one percent or less. That means ninety nine percent
of the college players that are getting money.

Speaker 1 (01:12:39):
It's fool gayzy, fool gayzy.

Speaker 11 (01:12:43):
Because they're getting four hundred, five hundred eight hundred a
million and they're not pros. So now they have to
go get a job after four stops.

Speaker 6 (01:12:54):
No college degree.

Speaker 11 (01:12:58):
No loyalty from the state or the program or anybody.
You were a mercenary, Okay, now you've got to go
get a job.

Speaker 6 (01:13:05):
I don't care what a kid.

Speaker 11 (01:13:07):
Makes, it doesn't, but I do care what we're doing
to young people. If all these kids can make four million,
I don't care. But what we're doing by letting them
have transfer will transfer once coach leaves.

Speaker 6 (01:13:22):
You can go twice without penalty.

Speaker 11 (01:13:24):
But other than that, you got to sit out because
now you get three years at one school, you're gonna
get a college degree.

Speaker 6 (01:13:32):
You can't be thirty. You got five years. Clock is ticking.
If you go pro.

Speaker 11 (01:13:38):
I don't care what country you're from, you leave your
name in. You cannot play college basketball. If you transfer
a mid season, can't play. You got to sit out.
How about we just do that stuff. We can do
it without having Congress and the Senate getting sixty votes.

Speaker 7 (01:13:57):
We can do that right.

Speaker 4 (01:14:00):
In direct response to the ncublea's statement yesterday about well,
we're calling for Congress right to come essentially bail us
out of this mess, Charlie Baker put out a statement
just a couple hours ago essentially saying the nc DOUBLEA
will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student

(01:14:22):
athletes who have signed an NBA contract. Okay, so I
guess that's where the line is right now in Charlie
Baker's eyes. But that's a pretty pretty low bar, right
that it doesn't account for the guys that have played
G League basketball or played professionally overseas at a highly
respected club like FC Barcelona, like James Naji did, who

(01:14:43):
just signed for Baylor a couple of days ago and
sparked this latest round of criticism. I'll let you hear
a little more from the impassioned Calipari rant that the
whole rant was about seventeen minutes long. But here's more
on drafted players being eligible to play.

Speaker 6 (01:14:59):
Give you this real simple. The rules bes the rules.

Speaker 11 (01:15:06):
So if you put your name in the draft, I
don't care if you're from Russia and you stay in
the draft, you can't play college basketball. Well that's only
for American kids. What if your name is in that
draft and you got drafted, you can't play cup because
that's our rule.

Speaker 6 (01:15:27):
Yeah, but that's only for American kids.

Speaker 11 (01:15:29):
Okay, okay, Now here's the next lawsuit. Well, we don't
have a say over European players. You do if they're
playing in college basketball. So that means you don't have
a say over high school kids. So whatever a high
school kid does before he comes here, don't you do
one thing because there's a suit because what you're.

Speaker 6 (01:15:52):
Saying is if he's in Europe, we don't have the
same rules.

Speaker 11 (01:15:57):
What if he puts it name in the draft, can't
go to college? He left his name in, Well, that's
different because he's European. Okay, you're not doing anything.

Speaker 6 (01:16:10):
With a high school player.

Speaker 11 (01:16:11):
Then we don't have any jurisdiction over a high school player,
do we.

Speaker 7 (01:16:16):
We don't.

Speaker 11 (01:16:17):
So when they come, you just got to say, all right.

Speaker 4 (01:16:20):
Now they're here pointing out hypocrisy, right, and he's not
alone in doing that. The person everyone wants to hear
from on this issue, Diego Pavia and his legal team
have responded as well to this. They said, when what
to my wandering eyes should appear? But the hypocrisy of
the NCAA granting four years of eligibility to a twenty

(01:16:43):
one year old European professional basketball player. That's James Nagi,
the Baylor signe from FC Barcelona with four years of
professional experience, who was drafted by an NBA team two
years ago. Right, he'll be twenty five before he runs
out of eligibility. Meanwhile, the NA argues to this court
that high school seniors are harmed if a twenty two

(01:17:05):
or twenty three year old former junior college player like
a Pavia, gets one more year of college football. It's
going to get messier before it gets cleaner. Remember, we're
not just talking about some player who wasn't good enough
to make the NBA.

Speaker 1 (01:17:22):
No, I mean James Nausey was.

Speaker 4 (01:17:25):
Involved in the He was involved in the Karl Anthony
Towns trade. His rights were traded from the Pistons to
Charlotte and then later the New York Knicks. He'd been
in the FC Barcelona organization since twenty twenty, spending time
on loan at two different clubs while also making fifty
one Euro League appearances. We're still getting more questions raised

(01:17:48):
than we are answers from this at the moment, but
this is going to become a factor in the current
college basketball season that we are watching now. Perhaps this
belonged to Inconceivable well here for Sark as well as
iif Pogi next, shifting gears back to the Citrus Bowl
here on the Craig wat Show Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred,
the zone back in a moment.

Speaker 1 (01:18:10):
And the end of the line from the traveling Whilbears.
We heard the end from the Beatles a.

Speaker 4 (01:18:19):
Little earlier on in the program, we're nearing you the
new year, just one more Longhorn football games to discuss,
and both head coaches at the podium if POGI the
interim at Michigan with Kyle Winningham soon to take over,
and of course Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisia had a

(01:18:39):
lot to say. We'll play you some of those soundbites.
Now we heard if POGI earlier discussing arch Manning. Now
Coach Sark's answer on Bryce Underwood.

Speaker 8 (01:18:51):
Well, I would say for Bryce, you know, this is
somebody that we evaluated really hard coming out of high school,
and it's really hard to play quarterback at this level.
Maybe at different levels it's a little easier, but at
the level that we compete at as a true freshman
and do it at a high level, that is really

(01:19:12):
hard to do. We're talking about arch arches in year three.
You know, Bryce is a true freshman, and so a
credit to them and and to go win nine games
as a true freshman quarterback, and I get it, there's
gonna be some some adversity along the way throughout a
season as a true freshman quarterback with the stick to

(01:19:32):
itness for him obviously a very gifted, very talented young
man and probably two of the more for both quarterbacks,
two of the more polarizing figures in today's game.

Speaker 7 (01:19:44):
When you think.

Speaker 8 (01:19:45):
About the story of Arch, but yet here's Bryce in
the world of n I L. And people are gonna,
you know, make stories out of stuff that, whether true
or not, and rather than just focus on the young man.

Speaker 7 (01:19:56):
And and to this point, I thought it was great.

Speaker 8 (01:20:00):
Yesterday we had an event together with both teams at
the Fun Spot with with the youth of the community
of Orlando. And there's Bryce and there's Arch and they're
having a great time and just two young guys that
are enjoying an amusement park with a young man, and like,
that's that's what you enjoy about both those two guys.

(01:20:20):
Neither of them are bigger than what people want to
make them out to be. They're both humble young men
that are working hard. They know they're not perfect, and
know they're trying to get better. But that to me
was indicative of just kind of who they are as people.

Speaker 7 (01:20:34):
And I think that's probably the more important thing.

Speaker 4 (01:20:36):
Yeah, Underwood, somebody who, like Evan Veith pointed out, is
the number one priority for Kyle Whittingham, the new Michigan
head coach.

Speaker 1 (01:20:45):
He had some ups and downs this year.

Speaker 4 (01:20:47):
Look, I mean, Bryce Underwood as a true freshman, certainly flashed.
I think a lot of the ingredients that people think
will be there to make him eventually one of the
great quarterbacks in college football. But it was a little
raw at times this year. He took too many sacks.
He at times was pretty streaky in games, and against

(01:21:07):
the better defenses that he faced, defenses that made even
some of the best quarterbacks in the country struggle, like
Oklahoma and Ohio State, he didn't look so sharp against
those teams. So I think a pretty good measured answer
there from Steve Sarkisian, and you heard Biff Poge say
similar things. It's easy to sometimes overreact to small samples
from young quarterbacks, and no one knows that better than

(01:21:31):
a head football coach. Steve Sarkisian is going to let
some of his younger players, you would think, get a
chance in this game. In some positions like linebacker, where
there were three key departures coming into this game, there
isn't much of a choice. They're gonna have to rely
on a guy like a bow. Barnes to come in
and step up and play huge. The running backs Christian

(01:21:51):
Clark and James Simon are going to shoulder most of
that load. How does Sark plan on meshing trying to
win the ball game at all costs with giving his
young players some reps. He also comments a little bit
on moving to one hundred and five scholarship players under
the House settlement.

Speaker 8 (01:22:08):
Hey, man, I'm I like to compete, and I don't.
I've never gone into anything that where you don't try
to go win. So, whether that's with young people, old people, whatever,
that looks like, that's my responsibility, and so I've never
This isn't some sort of exhibition or something.

Speaker 7 (01:22:24):
Man, We're trying to win the game.

Speaker 8 (01:22:26):
We're gonna do whatever we can do in our power
to try to go win the ball game. I think
that's first and foremost. You know, I don't know if
we'll get to one oh five. Quite frankly, I think
that's a really hard number to get to. You know,
it sounds like a great idea, okay, but if you

(01:22:46):
really do it, by the letter of the law, we
have X amount of dollars that that we essentially can
spend on revenue sharing and or publicity rights, however you
want to look at it, okay, And so if you've
got eighty five scholarship player, that number gets spread amongst. However,
however many of those eighty five you want to spread
that amongst.

Speaker 7 (01:23:06):
You go to one oh five.

Speaker 8 (01:23:07):
Now I don't get more money, I'm just getting a
more water down version right of And so there's there's
choices and decisions to be made on what you try
to do with that. And so I don't know if
we'll ever get to one oh five. It sounds great.
I want one hundred and five scholarship players, but I
just don't know if we can afford it, quite frankly.
And and so you know what happens to your scholarship players.

(01:23:28):
Maybe a few of those guys get put on or
you're walked on players. Maybe a few of those guys
get put on scholarship, Maybe some of them don't. Maybe
it is UH an opportunity to bring in a few more,
you know, p wo's with an opportunity to earn a scholarship,
and that there's a light at the end of the
tunnel if I keep working hard. And so there's some
incentive there for that, But I just like I said,

(01:23:49):
I just don't know if you know by by you know,
the fall of next year, we're gonna have one hundred
five scholarship players.

Speaker 7 (01:23:54):
It just doesn't seem realistic to me right now.

Speaker 4 (01:23:56):
On the same topic of roster construction, Sarka was asked
if he'd heard Wink Martindale's comments from the Michigan Coordinator
press conference. Remember we played you some of that yesterday
when Kyle Flood took the podium with Arch Manning and
Trevor Goosby, and then on the defensive side, Johnny Nansen,
the co DC will be calling the defense in the
Citrus Bowl, spoke as well as Colin Simmons and ty

(01:24:18):
Anthony Smith. Sark was asked if he heard Wink Martindale's
comments on the sport needing a salary cap and if
he had any response to that.

Speaker 8 (01:24:28):
First of all, I have a ton of respect for
Wink Martindale. We worked together shoot two thousand and four
at the Oakland Raiders, and obviously his career and what
he's been able to do as a defensive coordinator is
is tough.

Speaker 7 (01:24:42):
It's hard. He's taxing on an offense. So you know,
that's that.

Speaker 8 (01:24:47):
You know, the funny thing about the salary cap and
college football is we actually have one, but no nobody
knows that because I don't know if anybody's adhering to it.

Speaker 7 (01:24:58):
There is a salary cap.

Speaker 8 (01:25:00):
There is, you know, caps placed on on how you
can pay your players and and and publicity rights and
revenue sharing and things of that nature. But as I've
said before, there's no teeth in anything that we've put
forth right now from from guidelines in the NCAA, And
so people continue to to be creative to find ways

(01:25:22):
to to pay their players. And I don't blame anybody
for doing that, but the reality of is we we
did do that. And so you know, I think that,
you know, we've got to continue to find more ways
to put guardrails around what we're doing, or we're going
to have to start to get more creative and adapt
in a space that you know, we can benefit more from,

(01:25:46):
because at the end of the day, we're you know,
we're in a production based business and we have to
produce this and to do that, we've got to feel
the best team that we can culturally and and physically
to to try to go win championships. You're in and
you're out, not saying you are every year, but that's
it's kind of how we're measured, and so to be
fair to the University of Texas, our job has to
remain as creative as we can to try to find

(01:26:08):
opportunities to do that. But to answer your question, I
think there technically is a cap. I just don't know
if anybody's adhering to it.

Speaker 1 (01:26:15):
And he's right right.

Speaker 4 (01:26:16):
The House Settlement was supposed to do this, and athletic
departments are working around it in creative ways.

Speaker 1 (01:26:24):
Every day.

Speaker 4 (01:26:25):
Twenty and a half million dollars is what schools are
allowed to directly share with their college athletes from the
House Settlement, and it also brought down some new restrictions
on nil deals that are essentially saying, okay, you can
let a player profit off of his name imagine likeness,
But if it's just pay for play, if it's just

(01:26:47):
essentially a contract without being a contract, that's what they're
trying to avoid. But what athletic departments are doing now
is going around and using these collective is as outside
deals for their players and essentially act as an agency.

(01:27:07):
So that's some insight into what Sark is talking about
there with the salary cap that is in place but
not exactly being adhered to by anybody in college football
at the moment. We'll talk much more about the actual
matchup with the coaches comments on their teams right after
this quick break here on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The.

Speaker 7 (01:27:30):
Zone in the Coach.

Speaker 4 (01:27:34):
Jake Crbman in for craig Way today Final Craigway's Show
of twenty twenty five, a couple of college football odds
and ends before we get back to soundbites from Sark.
Clemson has let their offensive coordinator Garrett Riley go after
a disappointing seven and six seasons.

Speaker 1 (01:27:53):
He'd been with the Clemson Tigers for three years.

Speaker 4 (01:27:55):
Dabosweeney deciding to go a different direction. Clemson offensively really
kind of took a step back this year. They were
obviously a playoff team last year, led by former West
Lake Chaparral kid club Nick, and there were big, big
things expected to the Clemson Tigers this year, as were
the expectations of their bowl opponent, Penn State, who promptly

(01:28:19):
shut Clemson's offense down in the Cold Weather Bowl. That's
what I called that one is the pin Strike Bowl
at Yankee Stadium, where Clemson's offense was pretty much stuck
in the snowy mud for three hours en route to
a twenty two to ten loss suffered against the Penn
State Nitney Lyons. So Clemson, the preseason number four, decides

(01:28:45):
to go a different direction with their offensive coordinator. They
were fiftieth nationally in total offense this year, but sixty
first in scoring offense and just tenth in the ACC
in that regard. New offensive coordinator has been hired, and
it's a familiar face in the college football world. Northwestern

(01:29:08):
has tapped Chip Kelly to be their next oc Remember
he was with the Buckeyes for that national championship team
in twenty twenty four. He was with the Las Vegas
Raiders for one season but fired about a month ago
after the raiders two to nine start, and he has

(01:29:28):
a forty six and seven record as a head coach.
Maybe this position is next for him before he becomes
a college football head coach again. But we saw in
twenty eighteen when he took the UCLA job it wasn't
quite the same success that he had had at Oregon, where,
of course he led them to a BCS National Championship

(01:29:49):
game and a Rose Bowl win. Northwestern I heard a
lot of a lot of talk during their bowl game,
a decisive victory over Central Michigan, that that was a team. Yes,
they're going to lose a lot of seniors, particularly on
defense from this year's roster, but under David Brawn, they
were certainly better than their record this year. They were
in a lot of games late and it was the

(01:30:11):
offense that was holding them back. Ninety eighth in total
offense this year for Northwestern just twenty three points per game.
Chip Kelly brought in to try and revamp that as
Northwestern tries to fill their new stadium, which will be
opening up next fall.

Speaker 1 (01:30:28):
So we'll see.

Speaker 4 (01:30:29):
We'll keep an eye on Northwestern maybe making some more
noise out of the Big Ten moving forward with a
pretty big higher by their programs standards in chip Kelly
to be the new seed.

Speaker 1 (01:30:41):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:30:41):
Speaking of new hires, Michigan made one earlier in the week.
Kyle Winningham, the long time Utah coach, taking over in
an arbor. Sark was asked, having competed against Kyle Whinningham
in the past, what were his thoughts on the higher.

Speaker 8 (01:30:55):
Yeah, A ton of respect for coach Winningham. Obviously some
history there with his time at b YU and my
time at b YU, and then him going to UH
to Utah with coach McBride early on in his career
UH and then and then you know, staying on through
Urban and then ultimately taking over and then an opportunity
to coach against him as a head coach when I

(01:31:16):
was at the University of Washington and at USC, and
so a ton of respect for his program that that
they had at Utah, the the discipline, the toughness that
his team's always played with, their unique ability to adapt
with the times offensively but yet defensively, some of their
core values, and and the way that they play, the

(01:31:37):
physical brand of football, the tight coverage. So I would
expect nothing less from Michigan. Ton of respect for for
Coach winning Ham. I think it's a great higher.

Speaker 4 (01:31:45):
Next question, Sark was asked, how will you use the
running backs in this Bowl game? And are there any
lessons you take away from the Alamobile Remember that was
back in coach Sark's second year, with the likes of
Bijon Robinson and and the rest of that running back
were ended up opting out of the game.

Speaker 7 (01:32:01):
Yeah, I know, I think that.

Speaker 8 (01:32:02):
You know, we've got We've got guys back there that
have played some. Right, Christian and James have played some
throughout the year, especially early in the season when when
guys were banged up. Michael Terry's been a great project
for us. About midway point of the season, we moved
we moved him to running back and so I'm excited
to see him. I'm excited to see he has really

(01:32:24):
shown some things to where and hopefully he can get
out there and have some opportunities. And then obviously Ryan
Nibblett has been there now for some time, and so
my goal is that all those guys are going to
have an opportunity to contribute in the game. And and
again I think we're more than capable back there to
go do that. And I think the biggest thing we
learned in that game is get more first downs than

(01:32:46):
we did in the Alamo Bowl, so that we can
get more carries and be on the field more. You know,
Michael Pennix, you know, had a good game and when
he was on the field, it was hard.

Speaker 7 (01:32:54):
We learned that two years in a row.

Speaker 8 (01:32:56):
So we got to get more first downs, to get
more carries, to run more plays.

Speaker 4 (01:32:59):
Yeah, it's and of course about the Alamo Bule played
in December actually yesterday's date, three years ago, twenty twenty two,
when Michael Pennix and then number twelve Washington beat then
number twenty one Texas by a final of twenty seven
to twenty. That was Sark's second year as the Longhorns
head coach and also my last game as a ut

(01:33:21):
student at the time, So that was brought up, and
it's kind of the last time that Texas has been
in a situation like this a non CFP Bowl game,
and obviously with the semi final appearances in the two
years in between. Are you heard about Michael Terry and
Evan Veeth echoed that statement that he has been running

(01:33:42):
the ball very well in practice, a big physical presence
there having moved to the running back room. You heard
about the other running backs that Sark brought up, But
what other young players have stood out to Sark in
these practices.

Speaker 8 (01:33:55):
I think on the offensive side of the ball. You know,
I touched on I touched on Michael Harry. You know,
I think we've seen in real time the growth of
Nick Townsend tied end. But but also I think in
Amari Winston, I think both those two young players have
have shown the right growth as as we've gone throughout

(01:34:16):
this season.

Speaker 7 (01:34:16):
And I think it you.

Speaker 8 (01:34:18):
Know, and then a few other people on offense that
that are important to touch on. You know, I think
that Dyala McCutcheon has been a guy that has played
football for us. He's kind of like in the Nick
Townsend role, but now he's kind of elevated in a
in a more of a significant role, and he feels
almost like a veteran. He feels like he's in year
two already, which which has been great. And then and then,

(01:34:42):
like I said, I talked last week about Jamie French
and Uhkalik Lockett and and just their growth and so
that that side has been been been really good for me.
You know, I think defensively, you know, there's been there's
been quite a few faces there, but Bo Barnes has
probably gotten the most opportunities because of what's happened at linebacker.

(01:35:02):
Uh and we've seen a ton of growth out of
him just in his practice habits. I think that that's
that's been a huge component there. And I'd be remiss
if I didn't talk about some of the guys in
the secondary. And and it's hard because I don't want
to talk about everybody, but surely, surely you know Jonah
and Zealous and and and their in their play in
the secondary there has been has been huge but but

(01:35:25):
those are probably been the main guys. But but again,
I've been watching all of them. I've get I got
a chance to watch everybody in practice, and so I
don't know how much they're all gonna play.

Speaker 7 (01:35:35):
But a guy like Myron Charles, how.

Speaker 8 (01:35:38):
How different he looks today as opposed to where he
was three and four months ago, All those things are
really encouraging to me. Josiah Sharma another guy like where
he was three four months ago where.

Speaker 7 (01:35:49):
He is today, It's it's a dramatic difference.

Speaker 8 (01:35:52):
And so there's a lot of growth in a lot
of these guys that that tells me our future is
very bright. Now we can we're gonna to share some
things up throughout the portal. But man, I've been encouraged
by the development of a lot of the players on
our team right now.

Speaker 4 (01:36:06):
kJ Lacey has been developing in the program all season long.
The freshman was named the third string quarterback and overtaking
Trey Owens for that spot. Earlier in the season, Sark
was asked, if you don't know kJ Lacy yet, you
haven't seen him, what should we know about him?

Speaker 7 (01:36:24):
I've been excited for kJ.

Speaker 8 (01:36:25):
You know, I was talking about Bryce right obviously starting
and playing for Michigan as a true freshman. Well, our
guy's been in the lab working, you know, in kJ
and and I've been very impressed with kJ.

Speaker 7 (01:36:36):
You know, his work ethic.

Speaker 8 (01:36:38):
It's not easy to go from being a four year starter,
state player of the year, you know, and in Alabama
to coming in red shirting. And that's a hard concept
for anybody, but a quarterback is really hard. But given
kJ credit to you know, putting his head down and
working a ton of credit to coach Milwy and coach

(01:36:58):
Bamonte for the time that they put in. And like
I said, I got a chance to watch him firsthand.
Now over three weeks, his playmaking ability, his anticipation for
throwing the ball, his accuracy, his ability to use his legs,
and his stature has changed. You know, you look at
his body today as opposed to where his body was
last spring when he arrived on campus. He's put in

(01:37:18):
the work in the weight room, and so that's what
you hope for in a developmental year from a quarterback
perspective of where this guy, how far he's come, an
understanding of the offense, development of his body, you know,
leadership skills on the field, so all those things that
I think he's on the right trajectory to become a
really good player for us.

Speaker 4 (01:37:39):
As far as this specific matchup goes, this being the
eightieth Citrus ball game, what sarks level of excitement to
get out there and put the pads on. We'll have
his guys put the pads on one last time tomorrow.

Speaker 7 (01:37:50):
To piggyback that.

Speaker 8 (01:37:51):
I think one thing that the Citrus Bulls been able
to do over time is look at the brands, you know,
look at that iconic brands that have come and competed
in this game year in and year out, and this year
is no different. They're getting Texas versus Michigan right in
a primetime kickoff slot, right before the playoffs, and so

(01:38:13):
what they've been able to hit home runs on is viewership.
I'm as excited as anybody to see what does our
number look like coming out of this game? On the
thirty first, you know how many viewers do we have
And I wouldn't be surprised if we actually outdo viewership
of some.

Speaker 7 (01:38:29):
Of these playoff games that were played because.

Speaker 8 (01:38:31):
And I think that's ultimately what the Citrus Buls been
able to do. And you think about some of these
iconic games and players that have played in this game.

Speaker 7 (01:38:40):
It's an honor, it really is.

Speaker 8 (01:38:42):
And again I have some first hand experience of being
here in twenty nineteen at Alabama and we played Michigan
in that game, and you know, again you think at
Alabama and Michigan at that time, but what did that
do for our team? That team went on then to
go undefeated and win a national championship in twenty twenty
And so they they've been fortunate to get some quality

(01:39:03):
teams in this game, and like I said, we're honored
to be part of it, and to play against a
university and a team like Michigan is definitely an honor
as well.

Speaker 4 (01:39:13):
And one more comment from sarg In adapting to a
limited roster size in practice this week, how did his
time in the NFL, where you work with smaller rosters
routinely help ease that transition.

Speaker 8 (01:39:27):
I did rely on that. You know, we've you know, traditionally,
at least for us. You know, the offense goes on
one field, the defense goes on the other, the scout
teams go service those guys, and you're practicing simultaneously. Right Well,
in the NFL, your one team is on one field

(01:39:47):
and the offense goes whatever your rep count is called
eight plays, ten plays. There's the scout team there, the
service team. But then you fill it in with your
kind of twos and your threes to help service the offense.
And then you switch and you're all on one field.
And so when when our numbers got down, we went
to more of that model, not exclusively, but more of
that model. And that's allowed me to see those players

(01:40:10):
on a regular basis and and see work ethic of guys,
and so it was helpful. And it probably was most
helpful obviously with my time with Dan Quinn in Atlanta,
because he had great competitive practices in the spirit of practices,
and so tapping into those things, I think it has
been helpful. And I'll say this, I think for all

(01:40:30):
of our all of our coaches have really appreciated it
because you think about a Kenny Baker, right, and he
coaches the defensive line, but now he's he's able to
coach Myron Charles Josiah Sharma while they're in as well
as opposed to them being on the scout team field
and so on and so forth. Kyle Flood, same thing.
So I think that that has has been beneficial, and

(01:40:52):
it's again it's it makes you think about is that
not a better way to go?

Speaker 7 (01:40:56):
Now?

Speaker 8 (01:40:57):
It limits your number of reps that you can have
on offense, it makes practice longer, and so there's a
there's a you know, there's an unintended consequences of some
of that, there's the cost effect of some of that,
but there's benefits to it as well. And so trying
to find that sweet spot and balance of something that
maybe we can tap into more moving forward, I think

(01:41:18):
there's something to be said about that. But I do
think that time with the Falcons has been helpful of
just putting a practice plan together that we all could
benefit from.

Speaker 4 (01:41:28):
Good look behind the curtain there from Sark, you mentioned
Biff Pogi was at the podium as well, the Michigan
interim head coach not going to play you all of
his soundbites, But just what would a win mean for
a Michigan team and program that's dealt with a lot
of turmoil in the last couple of weeks.

Speaker 7 (01:41:44):
You know, win would be h it would be icing
on the cake.

Speaker 1 (01:41:49):
But the real wind for us has been.

Speaker 9 (01:41:55):
The way these kids have handled adversity and the way
they've come to practice every day, the way they have
just had to isolate themselves from an onslaught of outside noise.
And you know, we're coming to win, but we feel

(01:42:20):
like we've We've got a lot of good things have
happened these last three weeks at the University of Michigan,
and it's about the players. It's because of the players,
And so when would be great. We're gonna try our best.
I can guarantee you that we're gonna play hard. But

(01:42:41):
I don't think what these kids have done in the
last three weeks should be overlooked in any respect.

Speaker 4 (01:42:49):
Yeah, definitely, a lot of adversity for Michigan in terms
of losing their head coach in the lead up to
this Bowl game should make for some interesting storylines both
gone and off. The yield as the Bowl game gets
closer will remind you of the times for our coverage
here on AM thirteen hundred the Zone before we wrap
up the show next

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