Longhorns Bounce Back, Cowboys Stage Epic Comeback, CFB Rivalry Weekend Preview

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
From Daryl K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
It's the Texas long.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Warns against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Shotgun Fanny bakes looks pressure cutting the fires deep downfield.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
He's got the Andrey Tots downs taxas wanna play by Arns.
Fanny stood there amidst the rush in the pocket little
silver wraggle and then sifted at forty six yards to
the andre.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Wards with a touchdown shotgun step back to Nanning Arts
looks since.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
A deep the ball caught by bones and breaks and
tackle thirty five.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
And down with the Arkansas thirty yard line.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
He was born angle tackle from Caylwood to way. From
going the distance, it would have been fifty five yards
a long way. Settled for a twenty five yard game
on second to goal Arts with the staff turns hands it.
It's a flip back and look out here, Livings to
the Manning God. Touchdown taxes, Yes, harsh Manning can catch

(01:06):
touchdown passes.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
As well as throw them.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Parker Livingston throws the first touchdown pass of his collegiate career,
and the Longhorns have had two possessions and two touchdown
second down play action off the snap back to throw,
Manning looks going deep downfield, wide open, Livingston the catch
ten five touchdowns Texes Manning to Livingston pay if it did,

(01:31):
weren't Livings to the Manning? Why not Manning the Livings
can fifty four yard strike Manny pass the snap back
the throw Woods still looks fires outside man It's good.
It's Henry's inside. That's ten twenty fifteen ten five and
brought down inside.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
The five yard line.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Bradley Shaw finally wrapped him up, but White down the
scene wide open Jack Henry's from thirty five yard second
in goals Hexas at the Arkansas three yard line. Why
you're offset for the left side of man March to
take the stamp? Has it a design run? Turns inside
to the two of the one touchdown Texas.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
March.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Manning has thrown touchdown passes today, has caught a touchdown
pass now has one rushing and the long Horns have
a two score lead pink formation.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
One receiver at wide left on third down. It's Green keeping.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
It toss in the air, picked off, turning the part
for Texas at the fifteenth Johnny McDonald to the forty
and the longhorns get it. It was a weird attempt
to pitch the ball by Green. It went out forward
as a forward pass, picked out of the air cleanly
by McDonald, a ten yard return. March Manning out of
the shotgun has the snap Manning with some time now,

(02:44):
pressure coming, arch scrambling, flucking, steps up in the pocket,
and now he's gonna run, and now he's gonna throw,
and now it's gonna be caught. It's a touchdown for Texas.
Dion reddymore harch Manning doing it all today, including a
looting Hackler's stepping up in the pocket. Might have thought
he could run, thought better of it. An eight yard

(03:06):
touchdown pass with dere Moore. All was at the thirty
five or reset of the chains in the first down
shotgunsnap play action Manning the throw go deep now field
looking for livings. That Parker's there, juggle it.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
He caught it. He caught it.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
It took him to the tar, but it's inside the
fifteen well right at the fifteen and it goes for
a fifty burger down to the fifteen yard line. Mark's
with a snap on third down and fifteen looking still
looking steps up.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
In the pocket and blings it out.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
The left, caught DeAndre morn touchdown, saccess again, Manny giving
the look that he's gonna run, and then at the
last moment sits a pass to the sideline the waiting
DeAndre Moore with the Cats and a twenty yard store
kJ Jackson Ali shotgun ass the snap back the throw QUSS,

(03:56):
We're coming.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Tod Simmons hasard ball.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Lows scooked up the morning ley, y'all go l a
foul inside the thirty but twenty.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Say good night to it.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Way, y'all go up back fifty one yards of the scoop.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
And store.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
Hold Well puts down the nie and that'll be the
final play. Longhorns do bounce back to the final score
Texas fifty two, Arkansas thirty.

Speaker 5 (04:22):
Seven, And with that win over Arkansas, the Longhorns moved
to eight and three, now turning their attention to Texas
A and M. On Friday night at dk R, my
name's Jake Krbman. You just heard Craig Ways highlight calls
from that Texas victory on Saturday, and Craig joins us

(04:44):
now from Paradise in the Pacific, where he's getting ready
to call Texas basketball over these next three days and
the Maui Invitational.

Speaker 4 (04:52):
It's it's a Monday afternoon here in Austin.

Speaker 5 (04:55):
But I guess, good morning, mister Way, how are you?

Speaker 2 (05:00):
It is still morning? Isn't in here? What is this
ten o six am? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Yeah, So there's always that little bit of bodyclock adjustment
to make to it. But I will I always say this,
it's easier going out to make the adjustment that it
is coming back because going out you're picking up extra
hours which you can use to whatever, catch up on
rest or get some work done or whatever, and then
when you come back.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Back, you lose all those hours.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
So when the long Runes come home late late Wednesday
night and get home early afternoon, and we'll be on
the flight back with them, that'll be you know, early
to mid afternoon on Thanksgiving Day, So that's when the
need will be there to catch up on rest. But
got enough time to do that before the football game
on Friday. So anyway, so everything all right back there, Jake.

Speaker 4 (05:48):
Yeah, a little bit of a rainy afternoon.

Speaker 5 (05:50):
I know some folks are out there joining us from
their commutes, maybe to see their loved ones with perhaps
getting an early start on Thanksgiving week festivities. But aside
for the dreary weather, I think the mood is the
move was lightened a lot by the wind on Saturday
for the Longhorn football team.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Well, this isn't intended to make you feel weary or anything,
but you could probably see there. That's the view from
the Lenai there in the hotel.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Are you able to see the ocean there?

Speaker 6 (06:21):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (06:21):
I can see it. Those with us on YouTube and
X can see it.

Speaker 5 (06:25):
But Craig, why don't you give us a radio play
by play description of your view for those joining us
just on thirteen hundred the zone today, Well.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
It's a beautiful day looking out over the Pacific Ocean
washing among the shores here in Connapoli, and you can
see off in the distance the island of Mullakai out there,
which years ago and centuries ago was used as a
leper colony, but today it's more of a tourist destination,
so it's beautiful.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
You can see the mountains off in the distance there.
So yeah, it's a lovely.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Day here on the island of Maui where the Igwort
basketball team will be in action tonight and it'll be
pretty late by Texas standards. It'll tip off around ten
thirty on tonight ten o'clock airtime here on the Zone
for the Long Horns against the Arizona State Sun Devils
here in the Southwest. Now, the Invitational tournament already underway.

(07:19):
The first game is underway between n C State and
Seaton Haul right now. So it's four games and they'll
play this evening at ten thirty, and then tomorrow it'll
be an evening game winner lose against either Shamanad or
Washington State, and then depending on how they fair in
the first two games and how the other side of
the bracket goes, there'll be one more game on Wednesday
at time to be determined.

Speaker 5 (07:40):
Yeah, long worn fans that are hoping to stay up
and catch that game tonight at ten thirty Central are
hoping that the games that have already tipped off. You
want you don't want any overtime, you don't want any
long reviews late. You want to get that ten thirty
tip off as close to time as you can.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, we're all in the same boat with you.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
We're we're all in agreement all that, because even though
it tips off at six thirty local time, we won't
be out of there until after nine pm local time,
so it's after one o'clock in the morning, and yes,
our bodies are still on Central Time, so it'll you know,
be grabbing a late night bite to eat or something
after that, and then probably not long after that, off

(08:20):
to bed. So you're exactly right, Jake's let's hope for
an long time tournament run.

Speaker 5 (08:26):
So I'm guessing you already had your bags packed during
the game at DKR yesterday. But before we get back
to the basketball, I want to get your takeaways from
that performance, very high scoring victory for Texas. What did
you Roger and Will kind of discuss afterwards as you
were breaking it all down.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
It was one of the more complete performances of the season.
I know some folks will say, wait a minute, they
gave up thirty seven points in five hundred and twelve
yards or something like that to Arkansas, and they did.
I think it is important and probably prudent to keep
in mind that those two last touchdowns and a big
chunk over well over one hundred of those yards came

(09:03):
in what's referred to as garbage time, where you know,
for the young men, the reserves and walk ons to
get an opportunity to play. It's not garbage time to them,
so but it is the reserves, the substitutes, the backups,
the younger guys who got a chance to play there
down the stretch of that game, when the game was
being decided, from like mid second quarter all the way

(09:25):
toward the end of the third quarter, after the long
Worts had given up two field goals and a couple
of touchdowns, it was a twenty one to twenty ball
game headed past the midway mark of a second quarter,
and then Texas took command of it at that point.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
They led twenty four to twenty at the half, scored
on the first.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Two drives of the second half, and really held Arkansas
to just a field goal of the better part of
a quarter and a half.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
And that's when the log Worts kicked it in a
high gear.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
I got an defensive touchdown as well, their first defensive
score of the season on the scoop and score by
Leongo la foul put it at fifty to twenty three
before the reserves gave up the final two touchdowns. So
the coach except and it was pleased with it. They
know they've got to play a lot better on both
sides really against Texas A and M clearly one of

(10:13):
the nation's best teams on Friday night, and as Start
was unable to reveal in the press conference today, don't
know yet about the statusman Anthony Hill, but the you know,
the on Wednesday, the SEC Student Athlete Availability Report will
come out. We'll find out more about Ann Hill's recovering,
whether he can go on Friday night, because they could
certainly use him if possible.

Speaker 5 (10:35):
Yeah, especially given what we learned in the press conference
this morning, and that is the Longhorns appealed the targeting
penalty which was called on ty Anthony Smith. That appeal
was denied and he will be forced to sit for
the first half of ball game.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
Yeah, and it doesn't surprise me that the appeal was denied.
It also done surprise to the Texas wanted an appeal.
It talked about body leaning and momentum and thrust and
all that kind of stuff. But you know, obviously under
the definition of it, the helmet, the helmet, the crown
of a net, the elevation of the blow, the impact,
things like that. That's why it was going to be upheld.

(11:11):
So they won't have Ty Anthony Smith for the first
half of the ball game. So if they're able to
have Anthony Hill out there makes a big difference.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
If not, then you've got other guys that'll get out there.

Speaker 3 (11:23):
You'll see more time for some other guys who have
seen some action but maybe haven't has had as much
acts as some of the other guys to really kind
of hold the fort against an extremely potent, dangerous and
explosive Texas A and M offense.

Speaker 5 (11:40):
Crowds sounded terrific on the radio. I tuned in for
a big chunk during the halftime of the bast drov game.
I was calling out in Belton and it sounded great
even on that montage. Did you sense a loud, big
home field advantage for Texas in this one.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, more so than in a lot of other games.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
And I think the two thirty kick had some thing
to do with it. It's gonna be nuts on on Friday.
It always is when Texas plays Texas A and M,
and Sarks said it. Told us on the post game
that he he said, I wasn't worried about Friday's game.
I know it's going to be there, he is. I
was hoping that everything would be in place, and the
two thirty kickoff and all the other things that Drew

(12:21):
Martin and the staff have done to enhance the game
day environment and experience.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
You know, I think just added to it.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
I saw this morning the announcement that Big and Rich
we're going to do the pregame concert for this week's
a game in the long run city limits display up
there by the LBJ Library. That's an added bonus as well.
Game's been sold out for a long time. Secondary ticket
markets are very very active right now.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
And it's Texas and Texas, A and M.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
It's the Cotton Holdings Lone Stars Showdown rivalry series. So
all of that rolls into what could be a pretty
special evening on Friday.

Speaker 5 (12:53):
Yeah, we'll break that down a lot more once we
get closer. You'll also hear coach sarks thoughts throughout the program.
Today we're live from two to five. I'm here on
Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred the Zone. But let's focus
on the present now, Craig. You're in Maui and Longhorn
basketball making its first trip back to the island state
since twenty twenty.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
But that was a very different set of circumstances. For you,
wasn't it.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, I have this ready to go today when I
get over to the Lahaina Civic Center, I'm going to
post kind of you know how you go on Facebook
and you have a van and now it's going to
be kind of like that, because I have a photo
of the twenty twenty Maui Invitational, and the photo is
of the room where Eddie Orn and I were calling

(13:39):
the game. Remember it was in the pandemic, so we
were actually in the vowels of kr Texas Memorial Stateium
in that video production room. That's where we called the
Maui Invitation on twenty twenty. The other times going all
the way back to nineteen ninety three when it was
a pre Christmas event. I've always come out of here
ninety three and then two thousand, two thousand and four,

(14:00):
and twenty twelve. I've come out here many times, and
the long runs never wanted out here when I was
here the other time, I think the best finish they
might have had maybe a third place finish. Certainly there
were several fifth place finishes after dropping the first game.
That event five years ago was transported from Maui to Asheville,

(14:23):
North Carolina, that's where I have a picture of us
calling in the room.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
It was in Ashville, was not here in Maui.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
And ironically Texas won it that year, and they beat
three good teams. They beat Davidson, they beat Indiana handily
in the summer finals, and then they got a i
think a one point or two point decision over North
Carolina in the finals in Asheville, North Carolina. So it
was a great accomplishment for that team, but it wasn't
on the shores of Maui. So hopefully they can repeat

(14:49):
the performance here for the last time they played in
this event, albeit it was in Ashville, and do the
same type of thing here and come away with some
wins and maybe even the tournament title here in Lina.

Speaker 5 (15:02):
We'll have an Ashville tie into inconceivable later on. But Craig,
I won't blame you if you get back to your
game prep or even go catch some sunshine and waves.
Texas started the season with the loss of Duke right
in Charlotte. They took care of business over the four
game homestand but all four of those teams and they
got one win each. So now you get Arizona State tonight.

(15:22):
What stands out about this matchup for the Longhorns.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
Well, it's a big team they're facing in Arizona State.
In fact, the Sun Devil's only lost was to Gonzaga
and played them tough. The game was in tempted, but
they lost them. But they got big guys. Andrea Gribovich
is a six to eleven post. They got a seven
to one post in Masamba who's from Senegal, and then
they got a six to eleven Sop Moore transfer from

(15:48):
San Diego and Santiira trit So if they go with
what they've been doing with the front line, it goes
six eleven, six eleven, seven to one on that front
and good sized guards in Odom who's their leading scoring
averages over fourteen points per game, and Bryce Ford a
six or four junior. So they all of those guys,
and they got some big guys that come off the bencher,

(16:09):
so they have some size. Logworts obviously have some size
as well, not to that extent, but they do have
some size and it'll be up to the Texas guards.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
To play well.

Speaker 5 (16:18):
Texas has had a lot of success playing with pace,
albeit against some inferior opponents talent wise, do you expect
the Longhorns to try and push tempo against a bigger
team like this.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
That's the way Sean Miller wants to run it. No
matter the size of the opponent, he does want to
run up tempo.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
He wants pace to be a big part of it.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
It's still developing, and Shawn said, it's not gonna happen overnight.
It's going to take a while for this to really
kick in and develop. But I think we'll see another
sampling of it, not only tonight, but throughout the three
days of this tournament.

Speaker 5 (16:53):
Well, hey, Craig, careful with the time change, it might
happen overnight for those of us back in Austin this
evening with that game tipping off ten thirty Central, Hey,
are you gonna have time to go put your toes
in the sand at all while you're in MAUI.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
Probably tomorrow would be the better day. Now.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
Lynn and I had a nice little walker near the
shoreline after dinner last night, but I didn't get in
until late late afternoon. I got to the hotel in
time to see the Rams finish off the Bucks last night,
and then.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
We had dinner.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
But the next couple is hey, as we speak right
now as we speak, Cameron Parker's on the golf course.
He's playing Kapolua, which I played years ago. So he's
out there getting in a round of golf before we
head over to the arena.

Speaker 5 (17:39):
Good for Cam. Hit him straight. But if you're on
the next hole, maybe keep your head on a swivel.
I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
He's much better golfer than that, much better golfer than
I am.

Speaker 3 (17:47):
Certainly, he's a solid golfer, more than either you or I.
So that's why he takes his golf seriously, among other things.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
Well, Craig Mahallow, I appreciate you joining us today. We're
we'll let you get back to your game prep and
enjoin some sunshine.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
Sounds good.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
Thanks for stepping in today and tomorrow, Jake, and we'll
look forward to a big feast week in several different
areas for sure.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
Great sports week, Craig, have a great call tonight.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Thanks Ja.

Speaker 5 (18:18):
So here's what's still coming up on the Craig Ways Show.
As we thank Craig once again for his time joining
us from the paradise of the Pacific that is Hawaii,
We're going to talk about Longhorn Football.

Speaker 4 (18:30):
First, a recap of their winover Arkansas.

Speaker 5 (18:32):
Coach Sark provides some of that with some soundbites from
his Monday press conference. If you missed it, which we
aired in its entirety this morning starting at eleven right
here on AM thirteen hundred the Zone, we'll have that
for you in SoundBite form throughout the program, including right
after our first break, which will happen in just a moment.
Here we'll have Inconceivable and give away some concert tickets.

(18:54):
We'll bring in Ant and like him from our promotions team,
he is very excited about the opportunity we have for
you today to come win some concert tickets next October.
You won't want to miss that coming up towards the
end of this two o'clock hour.

Speaker 4 (19:08):
Then at three, we'll talk some NFL.

Speaker 5 (19:10):
The Dallas Cowboys and they're improbable come from behind victory
over the Philadelphia Eagles. Will tell you about some of
the history they made here from both head coach Brian
Schottenheimer and owner president general manager Jerry Jones, always getting
himself in the mix after a game like that. The
Cowboys playoff hopes very much still alive. Not something I

(19:32):
thought i'd be saying here on Thanksgiving week. We'll also
run you down the latest AP poll, tell you which
college football games during rivalry weekend have playoff implications, and
then get to some high school football towards the end
of the program today, including which area teams are still
alive and fighting for a trip to the regional finals.

(19:54):
You're listening to Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred to Zone
and iHeartRadio station Guaranteed Human. It's the Craig Wais Show
right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone. My
name is Jay Kerman, the producer of this program, stepping
in for Craig as he travels down to the paradise

(20:18):
of the Pacific known as Hawaii. He'll be on the
call tonight when the Texas Longhorns play their first of
three games at the Maui Invitational for men's basketball. Tip
off scheduled for approximately ten to thirty PM tonight. You
can hear that one right here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred the Zone. That's ten thirty approximate tip off

(20:42):
time for that one. That cut you just heard the
Surfaris with wipe out the Texas Longhorns college football playoff
hopes not quite wiped out just yet. You'll hear coach
Sark talk about those a little bit as we take
you through some of the soundbites from his press conference
on this Monday morning, starting with his opening statement, it's.

Speaker 7 (21:06):
Obviously great to be back at DKR this week Thanksgiving week,
and we'll get into that ball game in a minute.
Just just a couple of things to recap last week's
ball game to kind of highlight. I really thought that,
you know, situationally, we did some nice things in the
game from a complimentary football standpoint. You think about, you know, defensively,

(21:28):
we've been harping on red zone defense, and those first
two drives getting stops after a couple explosive plays, I
thought was big, and that created a fourteen to six
lead for US. I thought collectively as a team, you know,
we got to stop at the end of the second quarter.
We got a good rush on the punt, we forced
a kind of a shanked punt, the offense got the ball.

(21:51):
We were able to get three points at the end
of the first half. Knowing we were going to get
the ball to start the second half, we're able to
lap them there, and really those ten points were really
critical in the game when you think about momentum. I
love the way we started offensively in the first half.
I love the way we came out and started again
there in the third quarter. So a lot of things
we've been trying to harp on and work on as

(22:12):
a team I thought really showed up. And then naturally
the turnovers and I think we're plus ten on the
year now and our ability to create two more turnovers
to get fourteen points off of those things, and again,
not having a ball game where you don't have any
is always a great sign for us, and so we're

(22:32):
continuing to do a good job of protecting it.

Speaker 8 (22:34):
We're gonna to do that again this week. As far
as our fans go.

Speaker 7 (22:38):
What an awesome turnout, and we haven't had many ops
and so Longhorn Nation was fantastic over one hundred and
two thousand Saturday at two thirty, and you could feel
the energy in the stadium.

Speaker 8 (22:51):
It was loud as exciting.

Speaker 7 (22:53):
And I know we're looking forward to them again here
Friday night for Senior Day as well as obviously you
know hosting Texas A and M, and this should be
a great ballgame. You know, when you think about this
as one hundred and twentieth meeting between Texas and Texas
A and M and the Cotton Holdings Low Star Showdown.

Speaker 8 (23:11):
And it's awesome.

Speaker 7 (23:13):
You know, it was great to it was great to
play them last year and renewing the rivalry and going
to Kyle Field, and now to have A and M
back here in DKR for the first time since twenty ten,
you know, fifteen years ago was the last time they
were here. I think it's great for the rivalry. I
know our fans are excited about it. I know I'm
sure their fans are excited about it. But I know
our players are too. It's a heck of a challenge.

(23:34):
Just a really good football team, and they're really good
in all three phases. You know, defensively that the numbers
are are pretty startling when you look at the third
down defense, the sacks, the tackles for loss, you look
at the explosive playability that they have on offense with
Marcel Reid, the variety of runners, and then obviously the

(23:55):
receiving corps with Concepcion and Craver leading the way. But
then they got a lot of really good, you know,
receivers that are making plays, the tight ends are making plays.
And then on special teams. You know, they got electric
return game with busty and concepcion and kickoff and punt return.
So a ton of credit to A and M and
the job they've done to be undefeeded up to this point,
I think. I think coach Elko has done a fantastic job.

(24:16):
Got a ton of respect for him and the way
he's built that program. So but that creates opportunity for us,
and it would wouldn't want it any other way than
to to have this ball game at home. Like I said,
Friday night after Thanksgiving, I can remember being a kid
in California watching this game. You know, it was the
only game on on Thanksgiving, and to be part.

Speaker 8 (24:39):
Of it is pretty special.

Speaker 7 (24:41):
And it was special a year ago, especially again this year.
I don't I don't take games like this lightly. So,
like I said, we got some work to do. Obviously
a little bit more of a challenging week with it
being a short week. So we've got to be really
efficient with our preparation and our time, uh not only
in the meat room but on the practice field to

(25:01):
make sure that we're mentally and physically ready.

Speaker 8 (25:03):
To play to put our best foot forward against a
You know.

Speaker 5 (25:08):
All, we'll have time to get to a couple of
questions here before we head to the break. First off,
you mentioned Sar, you know memories of this game growing
up watching it on Thanksgiving weekend? Would he prefer this
game to be played on Thanksgiving itself?

Speaker 7 (25:26):
I just I like it that this game that we
get an opportunity to stand alone. Okay, so whether it's
Thanksgiving or Friday after Thanksgiving, I just think this game
deserves the spotlight to stand alone. And the fact that
we're playing on Friday night with all the eyes of
college football on it and really the football world on

(25:48):
this game. I think this game deserves that. So whatever
that looks like. Again, I'm not the decision makers on that,
so but I do think this is a great opportunity
for us. You know, last year we were Saturday night
game and we were up against some other games. So
this year being Friday night, I think is good for
the game.

Speaker 5 (26:06):
The Longhorns were pretty efficient on third down against Arkansas
eight of twelve. To be precise, Texas A and M
has been a pretty good third down team really on
both sides of the ball.

Speaker 4 (26:18):
This season. What is the key in sarks estimation to
winning on third down in the Lone Star Showdown.

Speaker 7 (26:25):
As far as third down, Hey, there's a couple of
real factors that are that are problems. One, they got
a great scheme and coach Elco notorious for his third
down packages. You know, we've we've gone against each other
a few times now over the years, and every year
it's lays the same scout and report of they're really

(26:45):
good on third down. And and but to go along
with that, they've got really good players. You know, they've
got some elite pass rushers, they've got very instinctive football
smart players, so their preser pressure packages are good. But
then they've got people and players that can win one
on one matchups. And so the key to the drill One,
we need to be sound in our schemes. But then two,

(27:06):
we're gonna have to win one on one battles and
and and that's you know when when you get into
games like this, that's that's what they require.

Speaker 5 (27:14):
One thing the Longhorns are going to sorely miss, potentially
in the first half of this game, as the presidence
of ty Anthony Smith. As I mentioned in our conversation
with Craig A few moments ago, Smith was ejected from
this ballgame for targeting, so Sark was asked, did he
appeal that decision and what was the result of that?

Speaker 7 (27:36):
Yeah, I mean I thought it was it was a
it was a good clean football hit. Again, those are
really hard to officiate, especially in in the moment, and
and that's that's a difficult one because I thought ty
Anthony used really good fundamentals and techniques. You know, he
kept the crowd of his helmet out of it, he wrapped,
he didn't launch himself into the receiver. We did appeal

(27:59):
it in our our appeal was denied, and so he'll
be down.

Speaker 8 (28:02):
In the first half.

Speaker 5 (28:03):
This week, we'll hear much more from Sark, including an
update on Anthony Hill, his thoughts on Archie Manning's performance,
and whether or not he thinks the Longhorns belong in
the college football playoff conversation should they win this game
but up next inconceivable with a North Carolina tie in
and some tie ins to the NFL. Right here on

(28:25):
Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred the Zone second hour on
this Monday afternoon edition of The Craig Ways Show, My

(28:48):
name is Jay Kerrman in for Craig today. We caught
up with him earlier in the show from the Pacific
paradise that is Maui. Craig is there because the Texas
men's basketball team will take the floor at ten thirty
Central time tonight that's six thirty on the island for
their opening round matchup against Arizona State in the Maui Invitational,

(29:12):
one of several great offerings on Feast week in the
college basketball world. We'll get to some of those a
little bit later on in the show, and we will
also circle back to hear more from Steve Sarksian. We
heared his Monday press conference a little earlier on today
on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred zone. We'll bring it
to you in highlight form as this show rolls along,

(29:34):
but for now, let's talk a little bit of NFL.
The Dallas Cowboys and historic come from behind victory over
the Philadelphia Eagles from twenty one to nothing down the Cowboys,
who had they lost this game and would have been
sitting four to six in one, playoff probability would have fallen.

Speaker 4 (29:54):
Down to three percent.

Speaker 5 (29:56):
Instead at five to five and one, the Cowboys are
all live and kicking in the NFC wild Card race.
They've still got to get a couple of key wins
coming up, including against the Kansas City Chiefs next week,
but certainly an improbable come from behind win. The next
gen stats on NFL dot Com gave Dallas a three

(30:16):
point three percent chance to win this game when they
were down twenty one to nothing with five minutes left
in the first half. Almost nothing had gone right for
Dallas to that point, from the turnovers to the penalties
to the pass defense. AJ Brown, Jalen Hurdson company were
picking apart this Cowboys secondary through the year early, but

(30:40):
they stayed together, cut it to twenty one seven at
the half, eventually came all the way back to win
the game. Here's what it sounded like first in the
Dallas Cowboy locker room. This is always fun to bring
you the audio from the winning locker room and certainly
a win worth celebrating for Brian Schottenheimer and his crew.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
Listen out, listen on. Hey, we got a lot.

Speaker 8 (31:05):
To celebrate, But I got a question. Can you win
the game in the first quarter?

Speaker 4 (31:10):
Can you win the game in the second quarter?

Speaker 8 (31:12):
Did we spot him twenty one points? What about can
you win you through quarter? What about that? Hey, we're
starting with the takeaways today.

Speaker 9 (31:29):
Same force the pubble.

Speaker 8 (31:31):
Jamurry recovered it. Elijah Clark forced the fubble. No Tracy, that's.

Speaker 9 (31:40):
Sir, that's you.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Dak Press got through past Georg Pickings. Dak Press got
through a past to prepace by Fork.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
And the old man ran on him.

Speaker 5 (31:52):
Talking to.

Speaker 8 (31:54):
N nice is this dude?

Speaker 1 (31:58):
Hoss out sack and then hey, nothing like walking them off.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
And Brandon Offery, big Field.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
Everything we've talked about, everything, you guys have done it.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
You stacked these days.

Speaker 6 (32:16):
You stack these wins, you learn because they build championship habits.

Speaker 4 (32:21):
I'm so proud none in this world.

Speaker 5 (32:26):
So what was Brian Schottenheimer's message to his team? This
was the first thing that shot. He was asked at
his postgame press conference. What did he say to galvanize
his guys when they were spotting the Eagles twenty one
points like he mentioned, and trailing twenty one seven at
the halftime break.

Speaker 10 (32:43):
It's what we've talked about from the beginning. You know,
you've heard me say it a thousand times. You can't
win the game in the first quarter, second third, but
you win the game in the fourth quarter, man, and
we just talked about that we shot ourselves in the foot.
I told him that, but I told him, believe you
don't believe in each other, Believe then the fact we're
we'll find a way to do it. And I really
think today really epitomized a lot of things that those

(33:06):
guys have been believing and doing, and it's great to
get that win. He gains the damn good football team.

Speaker 5 (33:13):
Once the Cowboys fell behind in this football game, they
leaned heavily on George Pickens nine catches, one hundred and
forty six yards and a touchdown in this one. George
Pickens was targeted nine times and caught one hundred percent
of those targets. This season, now, George Pickens has over
a thousand yards. It's his second thousand yard season of

(33:34):
his career, and the Cowboys still have several games left.
Pickens is second in the league behind Jackson Smith and
Jigbup of the Seattle Seahawks in terms of total receiving.
How proud is Brian Schottenheimer of George Pickens and what
has he seen from their new signing overall?

Speaker 10 (33:51):
I mean, you know, GP's an incredible player. Ceed he's
an incredible player. Javante played great. You know, George doesn't
surprise me all, you know. And the beautiful thing is,
you know, those two guys aren't nearly as good without
each other. I mean that's real, you know, because you
can cloud coverages and they were trying to do certain
things to take those guys away, and that's why you

(34:12):
need more than one. And but again he just continues
to step up and do a heck of a job.
And you know, the sudden change you know past to
him was awesome and just really proud of them.

Speaker 5 (34:25):
His sort of stablemate in the wide receiver room. Ceedee
Lamb has had an up and down season for Dallas.
If you think back to their season opening loss, the
weird lightning delay game in Philadelphia that was close for
two and a half quarters and then the Cowboys offense
really sputtered out late in that game, Ceedee Lamb had

(34:47):
a couple of key drops and this was the case
again yesterday. Lamb was targeted eleven times, caught four catches,
still a seventy five yards through the air, a couple
of key catches to get them in position late, had
the potential go ahead score, hit him right in the
chest and fall in complete during the late fourth quarter

(35:07):
sequence where the Cowboys were stopped on the goal line,
gave the Eagles the football back in a tie game.
And then you'll hear more about that decision a little
later on. Brian Schottenneimer, of course, was asked about that.
A lot of second guessing happens in the NFL these days,
teams hardly punted anymore. But Brian Schottneimer was asked how
his star receiver Ceedee Lamb will respond to a second

(35:31):
tough outing against the Eagles in the same season.

Speaker 8 (35:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (35:37):
Again, you know, we've talked about CDs. He's incredible player.
He's not a good player. CD's in it.

Speaker 9 (35:41):
Oh you did, Okay, Yeah, he's an incredible player.

Speaker 10 (35:44):
And again, you know, I think the biggest thing for
Sea is to know we love him, we trust him.

Speaker 9 (35:49):
I mean, the ball is going to keep coming his way.

Speaker 10 (35:51):
And again, the big go ball that he caught down
the field was incredible. You know, we thought we had
the free play down there. But you know, there's just
there's you know, some weeks that you have great games
and other weeks where you're like, hey man, you know,
I didn't play as good as I can play. But again,
when we start drawing up plays for Kansas City, I'll
give them a little heads up.

Speaker 9 (36:11):
There'll be a lot of them going to eighty.

Speaker 4 (36:12):
Eight little scouting report there for the Chiefs on Thanksgiving.
But I told you the offense, we'll get back to.

Speaker 5 (36:20):
Some of the questions asked for Brian Schottenheim are about
his offense, but the defense in many ways the story
of this game for Dallas. I mentioned the Eagles were
kind of running wild early in the game, one hundred
and eighty yards of offense on their first three drives
in this game, I should say, the first twenty or
so minutes of this game when the Eagles built that

(36:40):
twenty one to nothing advantage, and then after that the
Dallas Cowboys got eight consecutive defensive stops.

Speaker 4 (36:50):
Eight straight stops.

Speaker 5 (36:51):
You don't see that against many teams in the NFL,
let alone, a Eagles offense that, for all of its
struggles lately since they're by the numbers, aren't so great
for Philly, since thereby, for all their struggles lately, it
is still a pretty darn good offense. In those final
eight drives of the game, the Eagles had five punts,

(37:12):
two fourth quarter turnovers. They hadn't turned it over multiple
times in a game all season long. The Cowboys forced
two fourth quarter turnovers and of course, a missed field
goal by Jake Elliott. The Eagles had one hundred and
seven yards in total on those eight drives to finish
the football game.

Speaker 4 (37:30):
That's how you win a football game with a.

Speaker 5 (37:33):
Three percent chance, like the Dallas Cowboys did yesterday afternoon.
So Brian Schotneimer was asked, how the heck did this defense,
which has been probably rightfully maligned for a lot of
the year, go eight straight possessions without allowing a point?

Speaker 8 (37:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 9 (37:50):
Incredible, right, Yeah?

Speaker 10 (37:52):
I just I think, you know, you look at the
run stats, ad I'll start there. I mean, what we're
able to do to Sa Kuan, who is arguably the
best back in the league, and I think he had
ten for twenty two or something like that. But you know,
they they just kept playing man and you know, didn't
have great pass rush today. I felt that, you know,
it looked like Jaden was back there quite a bit.

(38:13):
But man, the tackling I thought was really really good.
We did a really good job on third down and
I mean, they're the ones that kind of jump started us,
you know, and we were, of course able to get
the touchdown right at the end of the first half.
That was big to cut it to twenty one to
seven and give us a little bit of momentum.

Speaker 9 (38:28):
But you know, it's two weeks in a row.

Speaker 10 (38:30):
They've played really, really well, and you can see the
confidence in that entire group.

Speaker 5 (38:33):
Yeah, say Kwan Barkley, like Shod he mentioned, held to
just twenty two yards on the ground, his lowest total
in the last two seasons, and he had his lowest
rushing success rate in a start since two thousand and fifteen. So,
like we mentioned, the offensive questions would come back. In
that late game sequence where the Cowboys decided to go

(38:57):
for it on fourth down in goal, there was a
play to start that sequence, a first down run to
Javonte Williams, who at eighty seven yards on the ground
in this game, where he got them right down to
the doorstep. Then, of course the three incomplete passes and
the turnover on downs, one of which hit Seed the
land right between the eight and the eight on his

(39:17):
chest shot. He was asked, did you consider running it
again on second down? Given the situation with Javonte Williams
having gotten them so close on first down.

Speaker 10 (39:29):
I did, but you know me, I kind of call
plays for players. And when you got the guys we
got on the outside, and you know, but looking at it,
they played a little bit of a coverage that surprised me.
But yeah, again, sometimes you call good plays, sometimes you don't.
Gravante was running hard today.

Speaker 5 (39:49):
So then you get to fourth down and the decision
to go for it with other three minutes to go
in the football game on the Philadelphia three yard line
rather than kicking a field goal to take the lead,
and and you know, I could understand this decision.

Speaker 4 (40:08):
I felt like it was the right call. And the
reason for that is.

Speaker 5 (40:14):
These new dynamic kickoffs mean that NFL teams tend to
start with field position closer to the thirty five than
the twenty five. Right, starting field position is better than
it used to be because of this new kickoff rule.
So if you're Brian Schottenheimer, not only do your chances
of victory go way up if you score a touchdown
right there, but you figure, okay, even if you don't

(40:36):
get it. This Eagles offense, which like I said, about
one hundred yards and seven drives going into that last possession.
They had been pretty well contained, especially on the ground,
in the second half of that game. So even even
if you don't get it, you'd rather have the Eagles

(40:56):
with the football at their own three then be up three.
But give the Eagles the football at the Dallas You
know they're on thirty five, but they only need two
first downs to go tie it. Whereas if the Eagles
have it in the shadow of their own goal posts,
I guess the sun had set at that point. You
know how AT and T stadiums built right at the
angle of the setting sun. I think the sun had

(41:17):
set at this point in the football game, But you
know what I mean, shadow of their own goal post.

Speaker 4 (41:22):
Starting at the two yard line.

Speaker 5 (41:24):
On this drive, the Eagles did pick up a couple
first downs, but then we're forced to pint and Dallas
got the football back was able to hang on for
the final possession. But Brian Schottenheim are going back to
the decision to go for it rather than kick a
chip shot field goal and grab the lead, he asked.
He was asked, did the defense bail you out? Do

(41:46):
you feel like the defense kind of covered up that
fourth down decision.

Speaker 2 (41:51):
Yeah, not really.

Speaker 10 (41:52):
I mean, you know, look, it's part of sitting in
this chair. You know, you make decisions, and you know
we make decisions you know in ten, fifteen to twenty seconds.
You know, you don't have five minutes to talk about it.
And when you sign up to sit in this chair
and be the play caller and you have to make
those those calls. And again, you know, did the defense
bail me out?

Speaker 9 (42:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (42:11):
And sometimes that's a good thing for a coach. But
I'm comfortable I do it again. I mean, I would
do it again. You know, I would totally go for
it again because again, I mean, this team has shown
their team. They've shown if you get a field goal,
their kicker's got a big leg. You know, they've got weapons,
and you know they've shown the ability if you, let's
say you start them at the thirty five yard line,
they need up you know, ten twenty yards to get

(42:32):
in the field goal range. So I thought we had
some momentum and I wanted to capitalize on it.

Speaker 5 (42:37):
And the Cowboys were able to get the stop they
needed and get the win. So with this victory over
the Eagles, who came into this game holding on to
the wide division lead, the number one spot of the
power rankings that Craig and I agreed on, as did
several national football writers coming into the week. It's an

(42:59):
Eagles team that had just beaten the Packers and Lions
and back to back weeks, so two pretty darn good wins.
The Cowboys were looking for a win like that. I mean,
they'd beaten coming into this game, the Giants in overtime.
They had the tie with the Packers, but they beat
Washington at home, and Washington season has obviously gone off

(43:21):
the rails. And then a win at Las Vegas who
just lost to the Browns and fired their OC We'll
get to that in the next segment. So they were
in dire need of a of a win like this,
their first win over a team with a winning record
this season. What kind of confidence boost did that give
Brian Schottenheimer's.

Speaker 10 (43:40):
Guys, Yeah, you know, it's it's important, you know, I think,
you know, we knew they were a good team.

Speaker 9 (43:45):
That's a really good football team.

Speaker 10 (43:47):
The defense has got you know, they're Vic Fango is
one of the best, you know, decording in the league.
Nick is obviously an incredible head coach. Their offense I
thought they got aj Brown involved tonight. I was very
proud of how we took away Sakwan Barkley. That's really
two weeks in a row that teams have not even
tried to run the ball on us. But in terms
of winning, you know, you take all the wins you get, right,

(44:08):
you know, they all count the same.

Speaker 9 (44:10):
But it's the style that we did it today.

Speaker 10 (44:13):
I think that is the most important to me, because
we did it without playing very well in the first
thirty minutes of the game, and we just kept playing
and nobody pointed fingers and nobody had their dabber down
and you just kind of kept going. And momentum swings
in this league are powerful, and I think you witness
that tonight.

Speaker 5 (44:33):
So with momentum at their backs, the Dallas Cowboys will
face the Kansas City Chiefs three point thirty CBS. Thanksgiving, plan,
your plan, your feast accordingly, and what is the importance?
Brian Schottenheimer was asked of this Chiefs game, given now
that the Cowboys are very much alive in kicking in
the playoff race.

Speaker 10 (44:53):
Yeah, who who were playing? Yeah I'm gonna enjoy this one.
But yeah, I he's an incredible team. I mean, you
look at what they've done, and I have firsthand knowledge
of you know, the organization, and you know at uh
they're they're they're terrific. I didn't see the score of
their game. I don't know if they ended up winning
or not. They won in overtime, but uh, we're gonna

(45:16):
enjoy this one tonight. And uh again we tell you
know me, I take them one one game at a time, man,
and uh, it's gonna be a great atmosphere. And I
love being back here with our fans. I thought our
fans were great tonight.

Speaker 9 (45:26):
I really did. I thought they were awesome.

Speaker 10 (45:28):
And uh they they could have gotten a little bit
restless in the beginning, but they stuck with us, man,
and uh, our guys drew a lot of strength from that.

Speaker 9 (45:36):
They really did.

Speaker 4 (45:37):
Okay, we need a break.

Speaker 5 (45:38):
But up next, we'll get Jerry Jones's thoughts on the
cowboys big victory and take a look around some things
that jumped out to me from the rest of the
NFL slate. Then a little later on this hour, we'll
hear from Steve Sarkisian as he previews the Lone Star
Showdown and shares his thoughts on that Arkansas win, which

(45:59):
is now in the rear view. At the top of
the hour, four o'clock will replay the highlight montage all
of Craigway's calls as aired on the Longhorn Radio Network
from that fifty two to thirty seven victory that's coming
up later this hour on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
Zone and iHeart Station Always Guaranteed Human.

Speaker 4 (46:26):
Back here on.

Speaker 5 (46:27):
A rainy Monday in Austin, Jake German in for Craig
Way the Boys of the Longhorns. He is in Hawaii
getting ready to call Texas at Arizona State ten thirty
Central time tip off tonight. And this is our antone,
Likeum's pick for an iconic surf rock song, The Ventures

(46:47):
with Walk Don't Run. Antone was on a little earlier
with us reminding you of a chance to win a
pair of tickets to the Sick New World Music Festival
on October of twenty twenty six in Fort Worth. You
can see Slayer, System of a Down Filter, Marilyn Manton,

(47:08):
and many many more. To enter, you could download the
iHeartRadio app. Many of you are listening to us there
right now. Search AM thirteen hundred The zone, tap the
red microphone and leave us a message with the keyword
fort The keyword Fort and tell us you're interested in
the music festival, who you want to see, whatever you
want to say, and that will enter you for a

(47:30):
chance to win that pair of tickets to Texas Motor
Speedway for the Sick New World Music Festival on October
twenty fourth, twenty twenty six. Well not too far from
Fort Worth the Dallas Cowboys who picked up a huge
win over the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday.

Speaker 4 (47:48):
We heard from Brian Schottenheimer.

Speaker 5 (47:50):
Just now Jerry Jones and his media scrum after the
game always provides some interesting commentary, and after a twenty
one deficit, which tied for the largest to come from
behind when in Cowboys' franchise history. Kind to go back
to September of twenty fourteen, Week three, when the Cowboys

(48:11):
were down twenty one nothing to the Rams six minutes
to go in the first half.

Speaker 4 (48:15):
So very similar situation. Albeit the Eagles in twenty twenty
five a much better team than that twenty fourteen Rams outfit.
Craig Way could tell you that much Rams fan that
he is.

Speaker 5 (48:25):
The Cowboys were down twenty one nothing with six minutes
to go in the first half that day, came back
and won. They did the same again last night over
the Philadelphia Eagles, who are currently projected as the top
seed in the NFC. So here were Jerry jones first
comments outside of the locker room in front of an
excited media scrum.

Speaker 9 (48:45):
So proud of those guys.

Speaker 6 (48:47):
Every one of them had to give their best. They
all had to do something positive to make that happen.

Speaker 9 (48:55):
I don't know when.

Speaker 6 (48:57):
We've ever early worked any harder to have a team
hand us a loss, But to these teams credit.

Speaker 9 (49:05):
I'm so proud of that defense.

Speaker 6 (49:07):
And when you're really look at what that defense helped
overcome for us, and you've got to be excited about
what we've got out here. I hope our fans are
as proud of these players as I am. And four
days will be playing again and they can't wait, and
I can't wait to play again.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
Now.

Speaker 5 (49:23):
Things a lot happier right now for Jerry Jones and
the Cowboys, and a lot of praise for that defense
that Jerry Jones went out and helped at the deadline,
with the addition of Quinnen Williams among others to bolster.
That run defense helped hold Saquon Barkley to his lowest
total in two years with twenty two rushing yards. So
does a game like this with the Cowboys dig themselves

(49:44):
out of a huge hole allow them to believe that
they can dig out of the early hold they were
in this season with the three to five and one start.
The Cowboys now back to five hundred.

Speaker 6 (49:56):
Yes, very much, very much. This game tonight, this was
our season. Here, we were from the country this afternoon
and an opportunity to play the number one rated team,
one that we thought we played pretty good against when
we opened the season, but for whatever the reason, we

(50:17):
haven't didn't play as well as after we played them before.

Speaker 9 (50:21):
Boy, I'll tell you when we got in this game tonight.

Speaker 6 (50:24):
And I saw us making the kinds of mistakes we
were making, then certainly that was a downtime. The players
on the field didn't let it be a downtime, I'll
tell you that. And that defense, I just can't say
enough about it.

Speaker 9 (50:37):
They rose to the occasion.

Speaker 6 (50:39):
They're playing with each other, they're doing for each other,
which is what you have to do on defense.

Speaker 9 (50:45):
A lot of credit goes to.

Speaker 5 (50:46):
Our coaching, So an even bigger test coming up for
the Cowboys when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs
at three point thirty on Thursday. They'll actually play the
next two Thursdays, and yeah, tough schedule. They all have
the Chiefs on Thanksgiving and then a trip to Ford
Field take on the Lions on Thursday Night Football in

(51:07):
week fourteen. So speaking of the Chiefs, they came back
to beat the Colts twenty three to twenty one. Of
the other big games that caught my eye during yesterday's
NFL slate, Kansas City still on the outside looking in
when it comes to the AFC playoff picture. They are
in a tie for that last spot out right. You

(51:31):
got three teams that are right now on the bubble
at six and five that are in the hunt but
not necessarily in the field. If the playoffs started today,
that's the Steelers, the Texans, and the Chiefs all six
and five. Remember, Pittsburgh has a path to win in
the AFC North, where they're tied with the Baltimore Ravens
at six and five. There, the Chiefs playoff odds sit

(51:53):
at fifty four percent, and those would have fallen according
to the NFL's next gen stats down below third with
a loss to Indianapolis. It looked for most of that
game like that was the way it was headed. The
Colts had a twenty to nine lead and eleven point
advantage in the fourth quarter that slowly slipped away, and
it was because the Chiefs dominated the time of possession

(52:15):
in the football game, similar to what Dallas did to
Philly in the second half of that game. The Chiefs
defense just locked it down late, forced to three and
out on the Colts' final four possessions, held Jonathan Taylor,
who was getting some MVP love coming into this game,
held him to sixteen carries for fifty eight yards, no touchdowns.

(52:35):
Daniel Jones had a season low one hundred and eighty
one yards through the air. He only completed eight passes
for eighty three yards in the second half. And the
Colts will get the Texans, who are one of those
teams in the Hunt, on Sunday, and when those two
teams take the field, the Colts will only have a
two game lead over Houston in the AFC South, and

(52:57):
those teams played two more times, so the Texans, even
though the Chiefs win makes the bubble picture a little
more crowded. The Colts loss opens up another potential pathway
for Jamiko Ryans and his red hot team to try
and sneak into the playoffs here late after. They just
got over five hundred with that win over Buffalo on Thursday,

(53:18):
and the Bills are seven and four right now, currently
in the seventh and final spot. Chargers, Jags, and Bills
all seven and four currently taking up the three while
of the cards. Then he got three six and five
teams right on their tail, Steelers, Texans, Chiefs. It feels
like out of those six teams, any three could make it. Chargers, Jaguars,

(53:42):
Bills currently in those last three spots, Steelers, Texans, and
Chiefs on the outside looking in.

Speaker 4 (53:47):
Little note on Patrick Mahomes too.

Speaker 5 (53:49):
He's now beaten every NFL team in the regular season
at least once. I don't know if that's a surprise
given the way that he's played in the last few seasons.
He had three hundred and fifty two passing yards, a
season high. The Chiefs were running up and down the
field but struggling to convert in the red zone. Had
to settle for five field goals in that game, but
they found a way the Chiefs are tough to kill,

(54:12):
and they'll face off with the Cowboys, very important game
for both teams on Thanksgiving Thursday afternoon. Remember Craig and
I a few weeks back said, uh oh that game.
It might be a scheduling miss on the NFL's part.

Speaker 9 (54:26):
No, not so much.

Speaker 5 (54:27):
That's going to be a very compelling must see TV.
Other games that kind of caught my attention, the Packers
beat the Vikings, kind of drubbed them twenty three to six.
Minnesota did not play well in any phase of the game.
It's a Vikings team that I was a little higher
on before the season than maybe I should have been.
And it seems that JJ McCarthy is struggling during his

(54:51):
rookie season. That's putting it lightly. He's only made six
NFL starts McCarthy, but his performance so far the season,
as The New York Times pointed out in The Athletic,
is one of the worst quarterback performances in a season
in the last twenty years among quarterbacks who have attempted

(55:13):
one hundred and fifty passes in a season. So you
take that group, that's eight hundred quarterbacks since two thousand
and five who have attempted one hundred and fifty passes
in a season. JJ McCarthy has a fifty four percent
completion percentage. That's in the bottom forty of over eight

(55:33):
hundred quarterbacks EPA. That's an expected yardage stat is negative
point thirty four yards per drop back.

Speaker 4 (55:44):
Negative.

Speaker 5 (55:46):
That's eight hundred and seventh out of eight hundred and
thirteen quarterbacks in this group. So to make matters worse,
JJ McCarthy's got a concussion. He's been putting the concussion protocol.
Just a few hours ago, Max brought the rookie out
of Minnesota, has been taking the first team reps at practice.
And look, the conversation is going to come up again,

(56:07):
is this a legitimate injury concern for JJ McCarthy. Is
this a kind of soft benching like we saw with
an ankle's brain that typically keeps guys out. You know
three four weeks that held JJ McCarthy out for over
a month while Carson Wentz at less than one hundred

(56:29):
percent was out there quarterback in the Minnesota Vikings. Something
is off right now with JJ McCarthy. And in his defense,
the Minnesota offensive line was overwhelmed yesterday. They gave up
five sacks a forty eight percent pressure rate. Michael Parsons
had a lot to do with it, dominated one of
the better left tackles in the game, and Christian Darisaw

(56:49):
Kevin O'Connell said there was too much bad football. I'll
say the Vikings at four and seven have a one
percent playoff probability.

Speaker 4 (56:59):
They're done.

Speaker 5 (57:00):
It has been a rough season for the Minnesota Vikings
in twenty twenty five. Now they got to figure out
what they have in JJ McCarthy, what direction perhaps they
take their quarterback room into the future. Another game last night,
Craig Way mentioned it his Rams a big performance on
Sunday Night Football, thirty four to seven win over the

(57:20):
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Matthew Stafford brilliant again. You saw that
he and Sean McVeigh were a little frustrated with the
way things wet in the second half. Well, that's just
a case of wanting perfection, right, because the Rams offense
has been humming at a great clip all season long.
They were uber efficient in the first half, particularly in

(57:42):
the red zone. Got some help from a Kobe Durant
picked six late in the first quarter. Matthew Stafford has
thrown twenty eight consecutive touchdowns now without interception. He's got
thirty touchdowns just two picks this year, fifth in the
league in passing yards in the league and quarterback raiding,

(58:02):
and he has just been lights out in the month
of November with nearly one thousand yards, thirteen touchdowns, no picks,
and a sixty seven percent completion rate. So Matthew Stafford
played some of his best football of his career at
the age of thirty seven, and the Bucks are in trouble.

(58:28):
They are one in four in their last five games.
The win was over the Saints and on the last
play of the first half. I'm not sure if this
is where the injury happened, but it's where I first
noticed it. Baker Mayfield, on his final throw of the night,
injured his non throwing shoulder trying to heave a hail Mary.
It kind of came out of his hand, funny like

(58:49):
a duck. I thought, oh, must have slipped, and then
Baker stayed down behind the play. So it's a similar injury,
they think, to the one he had in twenty twenty one.
And remember after that injury, Baker Mayfield kind of bounced
around a little bit had the brief stint in Carolina,
the brief stint in LA with the Rams before really

(59:11):
revitalizing his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You know,
if he's capable of playing an even fifty percent of
what he can do, heck, maybe lower than that. Baker
Mayfield's going to be out there with the Bucks still
fighting for a division title. They're in the playoffs right
now at six and five leading the NFC South, but
that can change if the Panthers stunned the forty nine

(59:33):
ers tonight, and the Panthers been playing some good football,
so we'll see. If Baker Mayfield were to miss time,
the Buccaneers could go from five to two to the
outside looking in in the playoff picture. One more NFL
game that is worth benching and I you're thinking, why

(59:56):
this game? The Browns and the Raiders, those two teams stink.
Well what happened in this one? Should Or Sanders made
his first start as the Cleveland Browns quarterback and the
fifth round pick. Completed eleven of twenty passes for two
hundred nine yards, threw a touchdown on a swing pass
that Dylan Sampson took to the house through one interception,

(01:00:17):
had a nice throw on the run to hit Jerry
Judy on a go route. He was okay, not spectacular,
but certainly competent, and he broke a trend that Brown's
fans are well aware of. I don't know if too
many people outside of Cleveland they're aware of this particular trend.

(01:00:39):
I know the Browns have had so many quarterbacks cycle
through over the last couple decades, but since the Browns
came back to the NFL in nineteen ninety nine, quarterbacks
making their first career start in a.

Speaker 4 (01:00:52):
Brown's uniform were oh and seventeen.

Speaker 5 (01:00:56):
Should Or Sanders defied that trend and got the victory
in his first career start, albeit against the Raiders team
that has now fired their OC. Chip Kelly, shown the
door by Pete Carroll just a few months after becoming
the NFL's highest paid offensive coordinator six million dollars per

(01:01:16):
year contract given by Pete Carroll in February. Chip Kelly
has been dismissed, and you can understand why the Raiders
are tied for last in the NFL at fifteen points
per game. They are second to last in total yards
per game, second to last in rushing yards per game,

(01:01:36):
and their offensive line cannot hold up in front of
Geno Smith. He took ten sacks yesterday, three for Miles Garrett.
And for Miles Garrett it's the third time in four
games that he's picked up three sacks. Only Lawrence Taylor

(01:01:56):
has done that before Miles Garrett did. And yeah, the
Raiders are a mess up front at the moment. Chip
Kelly pays the price for that, the offensive coordinator showing
the door. Who knows, Maybe Chip Kelly's name will surface
in some college coaching searches that are sure to heat
up as we move towards the end of the college

(01:02:19):
football regular season. We've got a college football heavy last
few segments of the program coming up. We're with you
till five pm here in Austin on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred zone. We've still got lots of soundbites to
get to from Steve Sarkeesian's press conference, including his thoughts
on Texas's potential playoff chances, and we've got much more

(01:02:41):
coming up on rivalry weekend, which games from around the
country mean the most when it comes to potential playoff seating,
as well as where Texas slots in the latest AP
poll that's coming up. You're on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred,
the Zone and iHeart Station Guaranteed Human. Yes, we do

(01:03:03):
welcome your participation in the show today through our text
line TeX's the word Texas followed by your message to
eight one five three zero or leave us a talkback
message in the iHeart Radio app.

Speaker 4 (01:03:18):
Jake Herban today in for Craig Way.

Speaker 5 (01:03:20):
He is on island time in Hawaii, but also keeping
an eye on his watch with the Longhorns getting set
to tip off at about ten thirty Central time six
thirty Hawaiian time.

Speaker 4 (01:03:34):
The best we can do here on a rainy Monday in.

Speaker 5 (01:03:36):
Austin is come back with little surf rock out of
each break well, trying to ride the wave of positive momentum.
As far as the Longhorn football team is concerned, is
arch Manning and we're gonna hear for him a little
bit tomorrow. He joked during his media availability today that hey,
maybe the concussion helped. I know he's being sarcastic there,

(01:04:00):
but arch Manning really starting to come into his own.
His last performance on Saturday against Arkansas arguably his best
as a Longhorn thus far. It was eighteen of thirty
three hundred and ninety eight total yards, six total touchdowns,
including of course, the receiving touchdown on the Parker Livingston

(01:04:20):
trick play pass. If you missed our montage of Craig
Way's highlight calls at the start of the program, it
will re air at the top of the four o'clock
hour as we go till five right here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. So in his press
conference today, naturally, Arch manning a big topic that reporters
asked Steve Sarkisian about. And this first question came from

(01:04:44):
Eric Henry was a part of our Longhorns Game Day
show on Saturday, and he asked Sark where does Arch's
development fall in the context of dual threat quarterbacks that
he's seen in the past, and how that kind of,
you know, takes those guys a little bit of extra
time and and did Sark feel like Archer's development is

(01:05:07):
starting to fall into that schedule per se?

Speaker 8 (01:05:09):
You know, I think it just varies.

Speaker 7 (01:05:11):
I don't I hate to throw a blanket over guys,
you know, I just think that, you know, it's whenever
the game starts to slow down a little bit for
you whenever you you get a little bit more comfortable
getting your sirt, your second, third, fourth reads in your progression.

Speaker 8 (01:05:27):
When you you know, when you when.

Speaker 7 (01:05:29):
You start to really see coverages and understand, wait a minute,
I might have an opportunity to run here predicated, And
so your legs become kind of that second or third
option because of the coverage, and then you tie that
together with the down and distance or where you're out
on the field. I just think the game slows down,
and so when that happens for anybody, I just think
that's that varies by the player, but I think it

(01:05:52):
has for him and and he's you know, I think
he's done a really good job of even his decision making.
You know, he had a couple scrambles the other night
or the other day where I think Arch early in
the year puts his head down and starts barreling ford
and maybe gets two or three more yards. And I
thought he made some really good decisions on first down

(01:06:12):
plays where he ran out of bounce and it was
a one yard game, but he didn't take that hit right.
And so I just think it's growing up, it's maturing
and playing the position.

Speaker 5 (01:06:21):
Yeah, speaking of hits quick correction that concussion comment Arch
made actually came from a couple months back, well, a
couple weeks back, after the Vanderbilt game. We'll hear a
little bit more of Steve's of Steve Sarkisian's comment excuse
me about Arch Manning as we go through the four
o'clock hour and get to a lot of his comments

(01:06:41):
about the Texas A and m matchup coming up. Thanks
for staying with us here on Sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred zone. We'll wrap up the second hour of our
program after this.

Speaker 4 (01:06:53):
Those are the.

Speaker 5 (01:06:54):
Calls from the voice of the Longhorns, Craig Way. My
name is Jay Kurban, the Purdue user of the Craig
Way Show, in for the Hall of Famer today as
he awaits the Longhorns tip off of the Maui Invitational
ten thirty Central time tip off for Texas this evening
against Arizona State. Lots to discuss in the world of

(01:07:16):
college football in the minds of many back here in Austin,
and we talked earlier about the AP poll where Texas
kind of ranked in you'll hear a little later this
hour from Steve Sarkjian about what he kind of thinks
about the Texas playoff chance is how he's approaching any

(01:07:38):
potential lobbying efforts. You'll hear that a little later on
in the program. But as expected, no change in the
top four in the AP poll this week. Of course,
the new college football playoff rankings will be released on
Tuesday night. Ohio State followed by Indiana, Texas, A and
M at three. They took care of Samford forty eight

(01:08:00):
to nothing, and then Georgia coming in at number four.
They beat Charlotte thirty five to three, successfully showing nothing
to Georgia Tech in that win over the forty nine ers.
Ohio State, by the way, one another conference game in
lopsided fashion, forty two to nine, they beat Rutgers.

Speaker 4 (01:08:18):
Moving up the.

Speaker 5 (01:08:19):
Number five spot in the AP pole is Oregon, and
we'll see if the committee agrees that they should move
up that high. They picked up their best win over
the seat of the season, their first win against teams
that are currently ranked, and that is a win over
USC forty two to twenty seven. When Oregon went to
Kinnick Stadium and took on Iowa, the Hawkeyes were ranked,

(01:08:39):
but that team has since fallen out of the rankings
after a.

Speaker 4 (01:08:42):
Loss to the same USC team.

Speaker 5 (01:08:44):
Oregon just able to keep the USC at arms length
in this one, built a two score leader. Early Trojans
would threaten cut it to eight a couple of times late,
but Dan Lanning's crew improves to ten to one. They
get Washington coming up this week. Olemis drops to six.
They were idle. Texas A and M slides to seven.
In the AP poll, Oklahoma won a rock fight with

(01:09:06):
Missouri seventeen to six. They were in the number eight spot.
Number nine Notre Dame beat a Syracuse team that's really
had a down year by a score of seventy to seven.
Number ten Alabama beat Eastern Illinois fifty six to zip.
Kayln de Bor made sure to run the ball into
the end zone for the first seven of those eight

(01:09:27):
touchdowns in the EIU game. Remember the comments we aired
from Hunter Eurochek last week about how Alabama was not
running the ball well enough. I think Kaylen Debor in
company play caller Ryan Grubb took that to heart. Number
ten is BYU who picked up a road win at
Cincinnati twenty six to fourteen. They are still positioned to

(01:09:48):
potentially make the College Football Playoff. Well, get to that
in a moment. Number twelve is Vanderbilt. They are nine
and two, dominant over Kentucky forty five to seventeen on
Senior Day forty the second senior day for Diego Pavia.
Either way, Vanderbilt wins its home finale. They get ready
for Tennessee coming up this week. Number thirteen is Miami,

(01:10:10):
who was never really in jeopardy at Virginia Tech, a
thirty four to seventeen win over one of the ACC's
bottom dwelling teams.

Speaker 4 (01:10:17):
Number fourteen is Utah.

Speaker 5 (01:10:19):
Who escaped by the hair on their chinny chinchin fifty
one to forty seven over Kansas State some controversy with
the officiating late in that one. The Utes are nine
and two. They've been ranked in that twelve thirteen to
fourteen range all year in the.

Speaker 4 (01:10:36):
College Football Playoff.

Speaker 5 (01:10:37):
I pointed out that that might be kind of a
ceiling for them, based on the fact that they lost
their two most difficult games this season against two pretty
good teams BYU and Texas Tech. Number fifteen is Michigan,
up three spots, including up ahead of Texas. They beat
Maryland forty five to twenty on the Road in a
game that was back in my neck of the woods,

(01:10:58):
and Michigan had more fans there than Maryland did, and
they were able to win a little bit more convincingly
than they were in the last couple weeks. So that
brings us to Texas at number sixteen, eight and three overall.
They beat Arkansas fifty two to thirty seven. They led
this game fifty two to twenty three at one point
before the Razorbacks scored a couple of touchdowns late against

(01:11:19):
some of the reserves for Texas defensively. Craig and I
touched on that little earlier in the show. Number seventeen
is Virginia. They move up two spots despite being idle.
That's because the teams that lost in front of them.
You'll hear some of those teams in a moment. Number
eighteen is Tennessee with their thirty one to eleven win
over Florida. USC falls three spots to number nineteen after

(01:11:40):
their loss to Oregon, which effectively ends the Trojans college
football playoff hopes here in twenty twenty five, James Madison
out of the Sunbelt is number twenty in the EIGHTP pole.
They beat Washington State twenty four to twenty. North Texas,
the alma mater of Craig Way, wins at Rice despite

(01:12:00):
the Owl's best promotion that I've heard a long time
to try and get a home field advantage there in Houston,
given out free beer to the students who attended, free
beer and free ice cream. The Owls have one more
shot to become Bowl eligible, but they fall to North
Texas fifty six to twenty four. North Texas is number
twenty one and to Lane at twenty two. Georgia Tech

(01:12:21):
tumbles down eight spots to number twenty three after their
fourteen point loss to Pitt. They get Georgia this week.
Pitt is number twenty four. Yep, make that make sense.
Pitt number twenty four after beating Georgia Tech by fourteen
points in Atlanta, and they're one spot behind Georgia Tech.
SMU is number twenty five. They are eight and three,

(01:12:42):
still alive in the college football playoff push. They dominated
Louisville thirty eight to six, and they are still alive
in the ACC picture. So do you remember when the
twelve team college football Playoff was introduced a few years
back and the complaint from those those who didn't want
the change, didn't like the change was Well, now the

(01:13:04):
regular season won't matter as much. Now, these regional rivalries
that are already kind of being diluted at times by
conference realignment and the advent of mega conferences, they're going
to matter even less. There are twenty one games this
weekend that legitimately have college football playoff implications, and not

(01:13:28):
every game is a win or go home for both
of these teams. Many of them are, but several have
implications for seeding, who gets the buy in the first round,
who gets to host, who has to go on the
road in some cases, who stays alive in the conference race.
With several teams playing in huge games, obviously, you have

(01:13:49):
Texas A and M in Texas the Longhorns faint at
large hopes hinge on a win over Texas A and
M at DKR on Friday.

Speaker 4 (01:13:57):
Texas A and M trying to stay undefeated.

Speaker 5 (01:14:00):
They make the SEC title game with a win, they
likely lock up a first round by with a win.
Ohio State They're traveling to ann Arbor to take on Michigan.
They've lost the last four in that series. Michigan hanging
around with two losses. Pat forty points out. They haven't
beaten anybody all that impressive, but if they beat Ohio State,

(01:14:23):
that's the best win in the country.

Speaker 4 (01:14:25):
They enter the at large picture.

Speaker 5 (01:14:28):
Vanderbilt and Tennessee the Commodores with two losses right now
on the wrong side of the bubble. They need a
win and some chaos, much like the Longhorns do to
try and stay alive.

Speaker 4 (01:14:40):
Georgia Tech and Georgia. The Bulldogs can.

Speaker 5 (01:14:44):
Effectively lock up a first round by with a win
over Georgia Tech. Indiana takes on Purdue. Texas Tech gets
West Virginia. The Red Raiders are already in the Big
two twelf championship game, but they're at large. Hopes depend

(01:15:05):
potentially on a win in this game. If Texas Tech
loses a second game, all of a sudden, they're not
looking so safe if they lose the Big twelve championship game.

Speaker 4 (01:15:15):
Ole Miss takes on Mississippi State and the Egg Bowl.

Speaker 5 (01:15:19):
Amidst rumors of ninety eight million dollar offers for Lane
Kiffen to go leave Old Miss to be the head
coach at LSU or Florida, he had some bizarre comments
today in the media. Lane Kiffin asked about the details
of his of his meetings with the old Miss Boosters. Actually,

(01:15:39):
let's let's play that for you right now. Lane Kiffin
a little bit noncommittal in the way that he typically is.
This is ahead of a rivalry game to the number
six ranked team in the college football playoff rankings. Lane
Kiffin asked about distractions, whether he would sort of change

(01:16:00):
anything that might play a role in outside noise or
taking any other job.

Speaker 9 (01:16:06):
The voice that had a meeting about your future. Are
you able to elaborate on the nature of that meeting
at all.

Speaker 11 (01:16:11):
Yeah, like I said at the beginning, very fair question.
But we're not answering anything that doesn't have to do
with the game and the team this season. So but
fair question.

Speaker 9 (01:16:24):
We'll speak of that.

Speaker 12 (01:16:24):
I mean, obviously the game is the biggest thing, but
for the last two weeks has been anything but the game.
So for you, when you think about the the last
two weeks had kind of played out, is there anything
if you could you would change about how your role
in the last two weeks at all? Means there anything
you go back a change if you could?

Speaker 11 (01:16:39):
Well, I mean you say that, but people said the
same thing about before the game. You know, that there
was all this distraction and how can the team focus?
And I think they played pretty well, So I don't
any want to say about that, but I think our
team has been very focused since noise has been out
there all the way back to the Oklahoma in the

(01:17:00):
tunnel before that and that morning and everything and what
are they four out?

Speaker 9 (01:17:07):
So it's a pretty good job for them.

Speaker 5 (01:17:10):
So Lane Kiffin obviously a little non committal there, a
little vague about his future, and we'll see what that
has in store.

Speaker 4 (01:17:18):
We'll see what Ole miss is able to come out
and do it.

Speaker 5 (01:17:22):
The Egg Bowl a game that always gets a little
nasty and strange, and it's Mississippi State team that I
know they've struggled a little bit here down the stretch,
but they've been right in some big games this year.
Tennessee Texas both had to fight off Mississippi State late.
In Texas's case, it took a seventeen point come back
in an overtime win. So that game has big playoff implications.

(01:17:45):
Oregon and Washington, like we already mentioned, the Ducks might
already be in the field, but they don't have the
strongest resume in terms of ranked wins at the moment,
usc the only team they've beaten that's currently in the
top twenty five, so with a loss to Washington at
the very least probably forces them to go on the

(01:18:06):
road in Round one of the College Football Playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:18:09):
A team in a similar position is Oklahoma.

Speaker 5 (01:18:12):
They've got two losses, number eight right now in the
College Football Playoff rankings. A loss to LSU might bounce
them to the wrong side of the bubble. Texas could
certainly use a loss for Oklahoma because they've got the
head to head there. If the Sooners are knocked down
and the Longhorns are able to rise up, Notre Dame
takes on Stanford. Stanford has not had a good season.

(01:18:35):
Notre Dame losing that game opens up a spot for
another potential at large team, because right now it seems
like the committee is putting the Irish in if they
end the season with ten consecutive wins in the dominant
fashion that they have. This committee seems to be telling
us that that's enough for Notre Dame. Whether you agree

(01:18:55):
with that, it's another story. We don't have time for that.
We got too much to get to on this program today.
Alabama needs to win and they have to go to
a house of horse turned hair on the planes. At Auburn,
Tigers are starting a true freshman at quarterback ran for
over one hundred and fifty yards in their win over

(01:19:15):
Mercer last week. Interim head coach dj Diurkin, who nearly
led Auburn too a road upset against a pretty good
Vanderbilt team in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. The
Tide need to win to preserve their chance to play
for the SEC Championship and maybe by extension, play to
get into the College Football Playoff. DYU plays UCF Arizona

(01:19:40):
and Arizona State. I think the Sun Devil still have
a faint shot of getting in to the Big Twelve
championship game, but either way, Arizona State is a win
that is on the resumes of a couple of teams
that are on the bubble. So those bubble teams in
the Big Twelfth could use in Arizona State victory in

(01:20:01):
that one. Utah plays Kansas, Miami plays Pitt a couple
of must win games for their at large chances. Miami,
who's gonna be boxed out of the ACC Championship, can
really boost their resume with another likely ranked victory coming
up against pitt, a pit team who just beat Georgia

(01:20:21):
Tech on the road Virginia who still has an inside
track to the ACC championship if they can beat Virginia Tech.
In that rivalry game, SMU takes on col we just
fired its head coach, and then in the American Tulane
and North Texas each control their own destiny. If they win,

(01:20:44):
they're going to the conference championship game. If North Texas wins,
they would host the ME and Green play Temple. The
Green Wave plays Charlotte and then James Madison in the
Sunbelt plays Coastal Carolina. They're hoping for some chaos in
the American and the ACC to boost their chances as

(01:21:05):
the fifth highest ranked potential conference champion. So a packed
weekend in college football, including the Cotton Holdings Lone Stars showdown.
We'll hear Steve Sarkeesian's thoughts on that matchup and his
team's college football playoff chances next here on Sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred Zone, an iheartstation which means guaranteed human.

Speaker 13 (01:21:25):
Have a message for Craig, share it by using the
talkbacked feature on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 8 (01:21:31):
Back into mile Way again.

Speaker 4 (01:21:39):
Okay, half an hour to go.

Speaker 5 (01:21:41):
Lots of news still to get to as we play
some soundbites from Steve Sarkisian's weekly news conference from the
UT campus this morning. We brought it to you live
a little earlier on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.
This questions on a lot of Longhorn fans' minds. After
Anthony Hill missed the game against Arkansas, what is his status?

Speaker 4 (01:22:03):
According to coach Sark this morning.

Speaker 7 (01:22:05):
I don't have anything new on Anthony today. We're practicing
in the afternoons this week, so I haven't been on
the field with him yet.

Speaker 5 (01:22:12):
Yeah, they're out there at the moment, so we'll try
and get you an update from that if we have it. Meanwhile,
Arch Manning, who's dealt with a lot of criticism this season,
what does what does Sark think of his mental resolve
and the way he's just kind of shaken off some
of those early season struggles.

Speaker 7 (01:22:30):
For Arch I don't know if any college player has
kind of gone through what he went through before he
even was the full time starter. And part of that
is his last name. Part of it is our brand.
I think those two things coming together made this such

(01:22:51):
a big, a big storyline before the season, and but
none of it was anything due to what Arch was doing.
He just kind of kept focusing on what he needed
and tried to do. I'm sure there were moments when
it was it was a lot, maybe even overwhelming, but
to his credit, I think, man, the guy showed so

(01:23:13):
much resolve and resiliency and and just stick to itness,
you know, to to the task at hand, and and
and again. It wasn't a perfect journey to get to
this point. But but sometimes it's good not to have
a perfect journey. Sometimes taking a road less traveled is
good for you. And I really think the experiences Arch

(01:23:35):
had early in the season, and I and I said
this early in the year, we're we're gonna he was
gonna benefit from the journey that he had to go
on and that he can learn how to overcome some
of the adversity that he was faced with and some
of the criticism he was faced with. So I think
he's better and stronger for it today. And uh, I'm
really proud of him. Again, he's not a finished product.

(01:23:56):
He's still going he's still going to improve, he's still
going to get better. But I'm very proud of him
for the way he's handled so much of what we
went through.

Speaker 5 (01:24:05):
No doubt, and a big performance from Arch banning three
hundred and eighty nine passing yards like we mentioned on Saturday,
But in spite of that, the Texas running game still
not up to where a lot of long horn fans
and I'm sure this coaching staff wants it to be
just ninety seven total yards on the ground for Texas
against a less than stellar Arkansas defense along of only

(01:24:26):
twelve that came from Trey Weisner on the ground. So
Sark was asked, what can you do at this point
to try and turn that trend around and run the
ball more effectively? And, as Frustration said it, in that
part of the.

Speaker 7 (01:24:37):
Game, we just keep chopping wood, you know. I mean,
that's that's all you can do. Is again we go
back to the to the to the game plan mode
and we try to again look at the opponent, look
at what we're best at, and then how can we
combine those two and put something together to where we
feel comfortable with it. And again, you know, last week

(01:24:59):
I probably could have in it more. I'll be honest
with you, I probably could have, but I probably wouldn't
have thrown some post routes for touchdowns either.

Speaker 1 (01:25:06):
You know.

Speaker 8 (01:25:06):
See there's a.

Speaker 7 (01:25:07):
Fine line, right You're you're trying to do what's best
for the team as you're trying to build an aspect
of your team to improve upon. And I thought we
ran the ball relatively effectively. We didn't get a ton
of ops, you know, I mean we were we were
throwing the ball. We only ran fifty nine plays in
the game. You know, we averaged I think eight point
four or five yards per play, and so, you know,

(01:25:28):
there's always that fine line of, yeah, we need to
improve upon something, but at the end of the day,
what are we pretty good at and how can we
work those two things, you know, collectively together. You know,
when we had to run it late in the game
to like, let's let's put the game away, I thought
we ran the ball pretty good. You know, I thought
we got a tough holding call on Spencer Shannon or

(01:25:49):
the game's over, we aren't even having to pun again.
But outside of that, I thought we moved the ball forward.
They knew we were gonna run it. We ran the
ball and it was good. Now we need to find
that balance and we need to have the threat of
the run there that they have to defend it, and
if they don't, we got to be able to continue
to run it.

Speaker 8 (01:26:07):
And I think that's what that's what we're doing. And
and so.

Speaker 7 (01:26:12):
You know, what you do is you just keep grinding
away at it, and you keep trying to find a way.
And I think the last thing we're gonna do and
whatever do, is give up on it, you know, and
that I think that would be the wrong way to
go about it.

Speaker 5 (01:26:23):
Sticking with the offense and the running game as a
theme here. Later in the press conference, Sark was asked,
what's your level of confidence in the running game coming
into this lone Star showdown.

Speaker 8 (01:26:34):
We're gonna do what we need to do to win
the game.

Speaker 7 (01:26:35):
If it's run it, throw it, you know, screen them, what,
you know, whatever, whatever it is. And and again this
is where it's Monday at eleven twenty five. You know,
we we play at six forty five Friday night, and
so you know, we're putting a plan together that is
going to try to put us in the best position.

Speaker 8 (01:26:55):
To win the game. And if the run game's.

Speaker 7 (01:26:57):
Hitting, all bets are, I'm probably going to run it more,
you know, and if it's not and we're throwing it well,
we'll probably throw it more. If if both are hitting well, man,
that's a that's a great sign for us. And so again,
we'll put together a plan that we believe in schematically
and believe in our players, and then ultimately try to
put them in position Friday night to have success and

(01:27:19):
to gain confidence against a great defense. And and again
I'd love for all facets of the offense to be going,
but you know, at some point we got to remind
ourselves our job is to try to win the game,
and and and and so that's what we'll try to do.
Is as the game unfolds Friday.

Speaker 5 (01:27:36):
Night, Stark trying to keep his team focused on the
task at hand. But naturally, as we get late in
the season, all these rivalry weekend games that I talked
about in the last segment have implications on the big Dance,
the College Football Playoff. What opportunities does Sark think this
game presents for Texas to show the committee and potentially

(01:27:57):
move up in those CFP rankings.

Speaker 7 (01:27:59):
I think that would be a mistake of mind and
our team and our staff to be worried about what
it could You know, I think this game deserves all
that it deserves. And this is a great rivalry game.
We're playing an undefeated team in the Southeastern Conference, which
is really hard to do. They're a long standing rival
of ours. That's where our focus and energy is and

(01:28:21):
that's what we can control. And I think the moment
you start putting energy into things that are out of
our control, man, you miss what's right in front of you.
And and this is this is too big of a game,
too special of an opportunity. It's senior Day for us.
Our seniors will be honored. I mean, it's it's a
it's a night game in dk R. I think it's
only our second SEC night game in two years in

(01:28:44):
dk R. So there's some really special things about this game.
And that's where our focus is. What happens after the
game will take care of itself. We need, we need
to focus on the task at hand.

Speaker 5 (01:28:54):
So the follow up, Sark was asked, does you think
that with a win over undefeated third ranked Texas A
and M, does his team deserve a playoff spot.

Speaker 7 (01:29:05):
I'll say this, I'll talk about that after the game.
You know, if we're if we're fortunate enough to win
the game. I'll talk about that after the game because
I think that would be a better platform.

Speaker 4 (01:29:15):
Yeah, you can understand why.

Speaker 5 (01:29:16):
We'll talk more about the Texas defense on the other
side of this break, including coach Sarkeesian's thoughts on how
his guys will match up with Marcel Reid and the
Aggie offense. You're listening to the Craig Way Show on
Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone. We'll try and get
to some high school football notes before the hours up
as well.

Speaker 13 (01:29:36):
Ken We're back to the Craigway Show. Have a message
for Craig. Share it by using the talkback feature on
the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 5 (01:29:51):
Guesday was so New'm not sure this counts as another
surf rock cut, but Flip turns Inner Wave brings us back.

Speaker 4 (01:30:00):
Jake Herbert in for Craig Wave. Not sure if he's.

Speaker 5 (01:30:02):
Catching any waves in Maui, but you never know.

Speaker 4 (01:30:07):
It's tempting for sure.

Speaker 5 (01:30:08):
He'll be on the call tonight for Longhorn basketball in
the Maui Invitational ten thirty Central time tip approximately With
one game already in the books for Maui, Seaton Hall
beating number twenty three NC State to get into the
winner's Bracket. Back to the Lone Star Showdown previewed in
part this morning by Steve Sarksian during his weekly news

(01:30:31):
conference We brought it to you live here on AM
thirteen hundred Zone talking about this Texas A and M offense,
which ranks fifteenth in yards per game four hundred and
sixty five this season. They're also top twenty in yards
per play and scoring offense, third best in the SEC
in those categories, and their quarterback, Marcel Reid is in

(01:30:52):
the Heisman conversation. So start was asked by a reporter
this morning, how does facing a guy like Taylor Green,
on sad talented quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks helped prepare
you for Marcel Reed?

Speaker 7 (01:31:05):
You really look at I wouldn't even say just Taylor Green.
I think you can go to Gunn or Stockton. I
think you can go to Diego Pavia. I mean there
are some there are some real dual threat quarterbacks in
this conference that can hurt you a variety of ways.
And so Taylan was a real unique player because of
the scheme that coach Petrino had instilled one they had

(01:31:27):
the pro style offense to go along with the quarterback
run stuff and then the improv scramble stuff that Pavia
and and Stockton do as well. And so but you
probably argue, Marcel Reed is the most dynamic of all
of those guys, and so where it prepares you for is, Okay,
where did we break down when they hurt us?

Speaker 9 (01:31:48):
All right?

Speaker 7 (01:31:48):
And then how do we how do we you know,
rectify that and fix that? And so we can go
back to some of that old tape, whether it's from
practice or from the game, to see where our issues
occurred against those guys, and then we can work on
those things in practice, because you know, A and M's
got a great offensive scheme and call, and Kline does
a fantastic job. So you know, everything we see on

(01:32:09):
tape isn't what we're gonna get Friday night. We're gonna
get some new wrinkles, some new things, things that have
hurt us in the past. But as long as we're
right fundamentally, as long as we're right schematically, and that
we're doing our job, we will put ourselves in good
positions to be where we're supposed to be.

Speaker 8 (01:32:25):
And then ultimately, now you've got to go make those plays.

Speaker 5 (01:32:28):
Arkansas made some plays late in the ballgame against this
longhorn defense. They also had some success early before Texas
really turned things in their direction towards the end of
the first half and opening the second half with all
those points capped off by the Leungo La foul scoop
and score is start concerned though by this trend of
his defense struggling to kind of close out efficiently late

(01:32:51):
in games.

Speaker 7 (01:32:52):
As far as our defense goes, Hey, there's really good teams.
And the one thing I've learned about our team, we
can win a variety of and we've won defensive battles.
We've won games when our special teams had to show
up and win the game, and we've won games in
our offense had to score points to win the games.

Speaker 8 (01:33:11):
And part of that is comforting and.

Speaker 7 (01:33:13):
Knowing we can win a variety of ways, and we've
got enough talent on this team that we can. And
I don't know what it's gonna take Friday night. All
I know is I think we got a team that
whichever the way goes, we got a chance to go
win it, and we got a chance to be competitive
in it because we're versatile enough to go do that.

Speaker 5 (01:33:30):
And they've won games in so many different ways this year,
whether it was the defense carrying the day at Kentucky,
the offense look an unstoppable late against Mississippi State, or
the big lead they built with complimentary football against Vanderbilt.
Sark's team has not necessarily been consistent in all phases.

(01:33:51):
In fact, there have been lots of ups and downs
on both sides of the ball. But here they are
at eight and three, and Sark was asked kind of
a big picture question, have you figured out what this
team is yet?

Speaker 8 (01:34:02):
I think I know him pretty well.

Speaker 7 (01:34:04):
You know, it's a very young team that that we've
we've really had some growing pains. But what I what
I what I appreciate about them, and I told them
this yesterday we got together yesterday to review the Arkansas game,
is that I appreciate them trusting the messaging. These guys
want to be really good. They're striving to be really good.

(01:34:25):
They trust me. You can feel it in their approach
to things. And so what I know is that they're
willing and they're gonna they're gonna try to do what
we ask them to do. I think one thing for
us to go back to something, you know, defensively where
we where we're playing right now, where our mistakes are

(01:34:46):
occurring is we're we're chasing, trying to make plays, and
we're not playing within the realm of the defense and
in doing our job to where we're capable of doing
it like we were early in the season. And it's
almost like we're trying to make plays because maybe the
offense wasn't where they were supposed to be and that's

(01:35:07):
a scary place to play defensively. Well, now we've kind
of got the offense kind of situated, we don't need
to try harder on defense.

Speaker 8 (01:35:14):
We need to keep doing our job really well.

Speaker 7 (01:35:16):
And I think that it's it sounds like a simple fix,
and I think we've obviously addressed it. But when you
look at where some of our breakdowns occurred Saturday, it's
from really veteran players who have played high level football
for us that we just need to get them back
to playing within the scheme of the defense and playing
to their capabilities. If we do that will be a

(01:35:37):
lot better off than where we've been maybe the last
couple of weeks.

Speaker 5 (01:35:41):
One more from Sark, and you heard the start of
that follow up the end of his answer from Kirk
Bowle to the Houston Chronicle, has he enjoyed this season
in the wake of all these unique challenges and such
a young group that he's worked with.

Speaker 8 (01:35:52):
I've loved it. I'll be honest with you. I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:35:54):
You know.

Speaker 8 (01:35:54):
That's that's why they calls.

Speaker 7 (01:35:55):
Coach, you know, and that you know every week you
got new challenges, You've got new players that you're trying
to motivate. You got players that need constructive criticism.

Speaker 2 (01:36:05):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:36:06):
I'm meeting with players individually on different aspects of of
of where they're at in the program. You know, if
it was easy, anybody would do it, you know. And
and this job and the jobs of being in my shoes,
they're not easy. But man, you sign up for it
and you love it, and you and you love the
challenges of it all. And you also love when you

(01:36:28):
see the growth in players or a specific aspect of
your team.

Speaker 8 (01:36:32):
And uh that that's the part that is so fulfilling.

Speaker 7 (01:36:35):
When you see players grow and get better, you see
an aspect of your team grow and get better, when
you see guys overcome adversity, That's that's.

Speaker 8 (01:36:44):
What it's about. Because a lot of this stuff they're
gonna take.

Speaker 7 (01:36:46):
With them in life and and they're going to learn
a lot of lessons from their time here playing football
with us. And if you can impact them that way
along with getting them to be a better football player,
but helping them become a better man, and that that's.

Speaker 8 (01:37:00):
The stuff that you love about the job.

Speaker 2 (01:37:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:37:03):
Good perspective from coach Sark on a season that might
be viewed a little bit differently based on what happens
on Friday.

Speaker 4 (01:37:12):
Coming up, we'll get to a.

Speaker 5 (01:37:13):
Couple of high school football notes and wrap up the
program on this Monday afternoon. You're listening on sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred Zone and the free iHeartRadio app.

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