January 6, 2025 • 16 mins
Hear from Texas safety Michael Taaffe as the Longhorns face Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Taaffe said he received messages and social media DM's from fans after a tackle against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. Hear his full comments in today's edition of the show...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's the craig Way Show with the voice of the
Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame Broadcasting Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Here on this Monday edition of the program, hearing from
several long hornshout and another one. Michael Taff, of course,
the subject of munch conversation after the hit that was
never ruled targeting.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
It was reviewed for targeting but.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Never ruled targeting, draw a lot of ire from Arizona
State fans, drew analysis and paralysis by analysis from national
media and things like that, interpretations and reinterpretations and sub
interpretations of the targeting rule, all those sorts of things.
Michael Taff would be asked about those things and preparing
(00:51):
for Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Michael, you got a really tough wide receiver matchup. What's
the key tost stopping guys like a Mecca and Jeremiah
whoever else they run out there.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
Yeah, they got an impressive group out of receiver. They
got four or five guys that are really dangerous. Obviously,
Jeremiah is really good. Obviously, Meca number two is elite,
and number seventeen, number eleven.
Speaker 6 (01:16):
They got guys that you got to respect out there.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
So just knowing knowing the type of game plan, knowing
what you're trying to do to them, knowing what they're
trying to do to us, and just being ready and
being confident.
Speaker 7 (01:29):
Michael, good afternoon. You played against Will Howard when he
was a case State. Obviously, what do you recall from
playing against him? And what have you guys learned the
past two weeks playing against quarterbacks that can move pretty well?
Speaker 5 (01:42):
He's competitive, he wants to win. It was obvious in
that game he was willing to do whatever it took.
It came down to the last throw. It came down
to that last little second when he was scrambling around
trying to find somebody opening the end zone.
Speaker 6 (01:56):
And so he's competitive. He does what it takes to win.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
And you know, I don't assume anything lest from him
and this matchup come Friday. So he's a he can
put the ball where he needs to, he can deal
with his legs, and he's he's a guy that you
know those guys like on offense.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Hey, Michael, have you ever played against an eighteen year
old receiver who's six three and two twenty five? Go ahead?
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Yeah, No, he's he's, uh, you know everything that he
offers just is incredible. He's he's a guy that that
looks like he's NF already already on Tate He's going
up and getting the ball over to three defenders. So
I think they got a lot of trust in him.
(02:45):
It doesn't matter how good of coverage the defense has,
will still giving him a chance.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
And clearly he's.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
He's making it, making money, and so you know, he's
he's very talented. There's there's no way that that he's
actually a team. He's he's a he's a dog, and
I'm ready to go compete against him.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Hey, Michael, hope you can hear me and having some
Wi Fi issues, but just kind of piggybacking off of that,
Is there anybody that you guys have faced this year
from a receiver perspective? I think kind of you know,
resembles you know, either Jeremiah Smith or any of the
guys at Ohio State has.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
Yeah, I don't think you can compare anybody to Jeremiah.
The whole country knows what type of talent he has,
what type of football player he has, and I think
he's only getting better because he's eighteen years old. So
I really don't know how much you can compare anybody
else to him. You know, I think number two, just
(03:42):
being in that system for a while and knowing knowing
that system, I think it looks like they trust him
a lot, a lot.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
You know.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
It seems like, you know, he's slide blocking like a
tight end sometimes and kind of seems like a Jay
Witt type of guy that you know. I bet that
whole locker room loves him. It shows on tape. You know,
he's doing those extra effort type of plays. And so
I wouldn't say he's a receiver like Jaywit, but kind
of that Jwhit mentality of doing it whatever, doing whatever
it takes to win.
Speaker 6 (04:10):
And you can really tell on tape what's up, Michael.
Speaker 8 (04:15):
So I did some research and correct me if I'm wrong,
But I don't believe you've ever lost it at and
T Stadium in your football career. So what really allows
you to cut it loose when you're playing there?
Speaker 5 (04:28):
I kind of go by the motto big time players
and make big time plays and.
Speaker 6 (04:31):
Big time games.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
And whenever you're in at and T Stadium, that's always
a big time game. So you got to show up,
you got to show out, you got to be confident.
You know, not a lot of people are are betting
on the underdog, and most of the times that I've
played there, I've been the underdog, and so I just
believe in myself and kind of live by that motto.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
Oh House.
Speaker 9 (04:52):
It's just been dominating people in this playoffs, obviously, and
there have been some concerns about you, you guys finishing and
heaving the killer in state, you know, kind of like
in the beach ball when you had the sixteen point lead.
Is that a concern of y'alls? And and why do
you feel like that is and how do you fix it?
Speaker 7 (05:12):
No?
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I don't feel like that's concerned obviously. You know, we
got to keep harping on finishing. You know, we started
really fast last week and we had always you know,
preach finishing.
Speaker 6 (05:25):
I gave up.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
You know, one of my first go balls this year
lay in that game on a on a deep go ball,
this cateaboy. So I went to the saline, I said, hey,
that's on me, you know, so if you're preaching it,
you got to do it also. So you know, almost
all that was was on me. Now, yes, you got
to keep preaching it. But but I think there's just
so many situations that happened in that game that you know,
(05:50):
the football gods, if there is any, you know, they're
they were on Arizona State side for for all that
second half and it just seemed like nothing could could
go our way, and that happens in football. But you know,
at the end of the day, we came out with
the w and no matter what it took, we were
willing to do it. And you know, thank God for
quinn Ewers to check the protection on fourteen thirteen and
(06:12):
deliver a nice ball.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
To a well route by Matthew.
Speaker 10 (06:16):
Golden and Michael You guys have allowed more passing yards
in each of these two CFP games than you did
in any of a regular season games. So what do
you attribute that to? And what are the things you
feel like you have to clean up going into this game?
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Yeah, just communicate, Just communicate with one another. You know,
I think you got ten days to prepare for each
one of these games. Arizona State had twenty days to
compare to sorry to prepare for their game, and so
you know, you have fifteen games on tape of what
(06:49):
type of schemes you run, and so I think you know,
with every defense, there's always you know, a beater to
a defense. That's why defensive coordinators are always on the
side throwing their hats, throwing their headsets down, because there's
always some type of bead to every single defensive scheme.
And so you know, when you have that much tape
out there, all the games that we've played and in
(07:11):
ten days to get ready for that and to to
scheme a defensive back group, then.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
I think that's how that happens. And so is it okay? No,
it's not okay at all.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
We got to do whatever it takes to to hold
people to under you know, our standard of yards given
up and then touchdowns given up. But I think that's
kind of where it comes from. You know, we're playing
really good teams. There's no there's no coincidence that you know,
Ohio State made it to the final four. There's no
coincidence that we made it to the final four. But
(07:44):
you know, you gotta just you got to know what
they're trying to attack, and you got to be confident
in yourself.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Hey, Michael, I wanted to ask you a little bit
out the places you've played. You guys just came from
a game in Atlanta, which of course you played a
few weeks ago. You guys mentioned the eighteen and T
Stadium familiarity. Obviously this team played for bigdeal title. There
is there a tangible benefit to plane in venues that
you have some familiarity with.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Yeah, I think it gets those nerves out a little
bit when you know, you know what the stadium looks like,
what the atmosphere is, what the air smells like in
that dome or that stadium, and so I think those
nerves kind of rush out. And it's good to have nerves,
I truly believe that, But too much built up nerves
where you're not kind of playing your game because you're
(08:31):
thinking about something else.
Speaker 6 (08:32):
I think that's where it can go wrong.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
And you know when when you have that familiar familiarity,
then those nerves kind of subside. And so, you know,
having that familiarity then then that comes with confidence and
poise and composure. And so I think it's great that
we get to go back to at and T Stadium.
I know that the burn orange will be there and
they'll be rowdy, they'll be they'll have the juice, and
(08:57):
they'll be a loud on on third downs.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Say Pike Ah click show.
Speaker 11 (09:04):
Sarkisian said to you, guys are a massive underdog, and
your whole career has been about being a massive underdog overcoming.
How can you use that as fuel and what are
the conversations like with you and your teammates who have
had some success.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Again, Yeah, I kind of talked to talk to the defense,
talked to the DBS about being under the dog, about
being the underdog, because you know, that's that's my story.
I love being the underdog, and you know that's just
that's what I grew up with. That's the adversity that
I faced, and that's where I got to where I
(09:39):
am right now. But we're not super worried about what
the critics say. We we live by the motto of
the man in the arena, and so the people that
are in the arena, the people that are with us
every single day, you know, shedding blood, shedding sweat for
one another to to honker a common goal. I think
(10:01):
that's where we get our knowledge from. And you your
mind goes where your thoughts go, and so when your
thoughts are on this team, this dream and just taking
it one day at a time, then you know that's
where your mind.
Speaker 12 (10:16):
Is, Hey, Michael, Ohio State is uh is suddenly throwing
the ball to set up the run?
Speaker 6 (10:26):
You know, just talk about how how you.
Speaker 12 (10:29):
You all on defense, who've been you know, coming up
big all year, are gonna have to, uh, you know,
be on your toes from the beginning in this game.
And how's your body recovering after I think you played
over one hundred snaps in the in the Peach Bowl.
Speaker 6 (10:47):
Yeah, body's getting there definitely.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
I feel like if if game day was tomorrow, I
could go. The adrenaline would take me. You know, I'm
willing to sell my body out on the line from
my team.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
So body's there.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
But you know, everybody's gonna have a bumper or bruise
when it's week sixteen and you're playing in January and
you started I think we started July thirty first or
something was our first game. I can't remember when Corral
State was, but it was early. And so just knowing that,
you know, just knowing that you're you're gonna be banged
up and you just got to keep going.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Now.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
They love to throw, they love they got too talented
running backs too, So they're a pretty complete offense and
you just got to know that the game plan switches
from week to week. You've got a really hard running
back that they wanted to run the ball, run the ball,
run the ball on Arizona State. And so now this
next team, you're a little bit more balanced. You got
(11:45):
two really good running backs, you've got a really good quarterback,
you got a good O line, and then you got
obviously your receivers out wide that we've been talking about.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
So you just got to know the game plan.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
All right, there's from Michael Taff. We'll be back to
wrap up today. He's edition to the program on Sports
Radio AM thirteen under the Zone. I wanted to stare
up because I wanted you to hear this. This is
what I was talking about when I mentioned about tap
getting feedback. Is one way to put it on the
tackle that he made there in the fourth quarter of
the Peach Bowl. The question coming from our old friend
(12:16):
Kirk Boles.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Yeah, to discuss that that hit. I think, first, thank
God that that I don't have to have my foundation
and the opinion of others, the approval of man or
the game of football, because the things that were thrown
my way after that game on text, people that are
(12:38):
finding my phone number on social media.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
I don't think anyone should ever have to go through.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
So thank God that I don't put my trust in
what others say about me. Now, the second thing, you know,
I said a prayer for that guy. I know, you know,
number five, it took him a long time to get
up from that head.
Speaker 6 (12:56):
And I know it's football, but but you.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Know, I wanted to pray for him, and I hope
he's doing okay, because you know, you never.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
Want to see anybody go down on the football field.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Now.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
The third thing, I've always been taught all my life
to whenever you're tackling, tackle with your eyes up.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
If your if your head's ever down, then your next
gonna get injured.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
So I always try to tackle with my eyes up
and I always try to wrap, and I think that's
what I did on on that play. I had my
eyes up and I rapped, and I left it up
to the officials. So I gotta probably get my pad
level down a little bit more. But I tackled with
my eyes open and I rapped. And so when your
eyes are up and you're wrapping, that's fundamental football.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
That's what you've been taught since the second grade.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
That's Michael Tab's thoughts on that and just saying that
wrapped up. And again, I know there was a great
deal of discussion about this. Those who claimed that it
was targeting, you know, cited the nature of the hit,
(14:03):
the elevation of the head they had contact, and they
pointed to that in the rules. Those who pointed out
that were many. You pointed them out, and I will
say those who said targeting included guys like Gene Sterotor
of CBS, Terry McCauley of NBC, all the NFL rules
(14:24):
analysts said they thought it was targeting. And then there
was another one that came back in later might have
been Terry McCauley came back and said on second thought.
And they also pointed out several calls that were not
made and should have been made against Arizona State, the
one where Isaiah Bond gets whacked and knocked down.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
They thought that should have been targeting.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Obviously, the touchdown and overtime for Cam Scattaboo being pulled
into the end zone, that is in direct violation of
NCAA rules. You were not allowed to pull a runner
into the endzone. You could push which cannot pull a runner,
So there was a lot of that. There were folks
aught that Kataboo pushed off on the past events on
the downfield route there, so there was a lot of that.
(15:03):
Probably the most humorous one was the one from the
Arizona State fans claiming that the missfield goal that hit
the ground should have counted when it hopped over the crossbar. Now,
there is a provision in the rules for the ball
hitting the ground and crossing the crossbar and being good.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
But that's a drop kick. That's a design kick.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
It's an old loll start in the NFL, and it's
still in the rules where you can take it like
a punt and drop it and when it hits the ground,
you kick it off the ground. That's the same thing
like if you're kicking it off being holed, held on
the ground, not held on the ground, up hits the
ground again and goes over. And a lot of Arizona
State fans couldn't get that. They thought that it should
(15:44):
have counted because in the rule bucket says it could
come off the ground. Yes, if it's a drop kick,
look it up. If you've never heard of a drop kick,
like I said, it's an old loll start in the
NFL and college football as well, but that's how they
used to do extra points, less about placement and more
of the drop kick, which is still a legal kick.
(16:05):
You can do it, just like when folks didn't know
about the rule that Dick or the kicker didn't where
you can fare catch off a punt and have a
free kick for a field goal. Crazy to do it.
It's in the rules. You've just got to know the rules.
That's the thing. And that's when I think I heard,
more than anything else in feedback from fans and seeing
(16:27):
on social media, is that folks either did not read
the rule or did not understand the rules. And that
includes the targeting thing to it. And I will say this,
the targeting rule has a great deal of ambiguity in it.
It's there are some things that, eh, you don't but
you know, the most important thing was he was not
(16:48):
leading a crown of the helmet
It's the craig Way Show with the voice of the
Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame Broadcasting Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Here on this Monday edition of the program, hearing from
several long hornshout and another one. Michael Taff, of course,
the subject of munch conversation after the hit that was
never ruled targeting.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
It was reviewed for targeting but.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Never ruled targeting, draw a lot of ire from Arizona
State fans, drew analysis and paralysis by analysis from national
media and things like that, interpretations and reinterpretations and sub
interpretations of the targeting rule, all those sorts of things.
Michael Taff would be asked about those things and preparing
(00:51):
for Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Michael, you got a really tough wide receiver matchup. What's
the key tost stopping guys like a Mecca and Jeremiah
whoever else they run out there.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
Yeah, they got an impressive group out of receiver. They
got four or five guys that are really dangerous. Obviously,
Jeremiah is really good. Obviously, Meca number two is elite,
and number seventeen, number eleven.
Speaker 6 (01:16):
They got guys that you got to respect out there.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
So just knowing knowing the type of game plan, knowing
what you're trying to do to them, knowing what they're
trying to do to us, and just being ready and
being confident.
Speaker 7 (01:29):
Michael, good afternoon. You played against Will Howard when he
was a case State. Obviously, what do you recall from
playing against him? And what have you guys learned the
past two weeks playing against quarterbacks that can move pretty well?
Speaker 5 (01:42):
He's competitive, he wants to win. It was obvious in
that game he was willing to do whatever it took.
It came down to the last throw. It came down
to that last little second when he was scrambling around
trying to find somebody opening the end zone.
Speaker 6 (01:56):
And so he's competitive. He does what it takes to win.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
And you know, I don't assume anything lest from him
and this matchup come Friday. So he's a he can
put the ball where he needs to, he can deal
with his legs, and he's he's a guy that you
know those guys like on offense.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Hey, Michael, have you ever played against an eighteen year
old receiver who's six three and two twenty five? Go ahead?
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Yeah, No, he's he's, uh, you know everything that he
offers just is incredible. He's he's a guy that that
looks like he's NF already already on Tate He's going
up and getting the ball over to three defenders. So
I think they got a lot of trust in him.
(02:45):
It doesn't matter how good of coverage the defense has,
will still giving him a chance.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
And clearly he's.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
He's making it, making money, and so you know, he's
he's very talented. There's there's no way that that he's
actually a team. He's he's a he's a dog, and
I'm ready to go compete against him.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Hey, Michael, hope you can hear me and having some
Wi Fi issues, but just kind of piggybacking off of that,
Is there anybody that you guys have faced this year
from a receiver perspective? I think kind of you know,
resembles you know, either Jeremiah Smith or any of the
guys at Ohio State has.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
Yeah, I don't think you can compare anybody to Jeremiah.
The whole country knows what type of talent he has,
what type of football player he has, and I think
he's only getting better because he's eighteen years old. So
I really don't know how much you can compare anybody
else to him. You know, I think number two, just
(03:42):
being in that system for a while and knowing knowing
that system, I think it looks like they trust him
a lot, a lot.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
You know.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
It seems like, you know, he's slide blocking like a
tight end sometimes and kind of seems like a Jay
Witt type of guy that you know. I bet that
whole locker room loves him. It shows on tape. You know,
he's doing those extra effort type of plays. And so
I wouldn't say he's a receiver like Jaywit, but kind
of that Jwhit mentality of doing it whatever, doing whatever
it takes to win.
Speaker 6 (04:10):
And you can really tell on tape what's up, Michael.
Speaker 8 (04:15):
So I did some research and correct me if I'm wrong,
But I don't believe you've ever lost it at and
T Stadium in your football career. So what really allows
you to cut it loose when you're playing there?
Speaker 5 (04:28):
I kind of go by the motto big time players
and make big time plays and.
Speaker 6 (04:31):
Big time games.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
And whenever you're in at and T Stadium, that's always
a big time game. So you got to show up,
you got to show out, you got to be confident.
You know, not a lot of people are are betting
on the underdog, and most of the times that I've
played there, I've been the underdog, and so I just
believe in myself and kind of live by that motto.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
Oh House.
Speaker 9 (04:52):
It's just been dominating people in this playoffs, obviously, and
there have been some concerns about you, you guys finishing and
heaving the killer in state, you know, kind of like
in the beach ball when you had the sixteen point lead.
Is that a concern of y'alls? And and why do
you feel like that is and how do you fix it?
Speaker 7 (05:12):
No?
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I don't feel like that's concerned obviously. You know, we
got to keep harping on finishing. You know, we started
really fast last week and we had always you know,
preach finishing.
Speaker 6 (05:25):
I gave up.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
You know, one of my first go balls this year
lay in that game on a on a deep go ball,
this cateaboy. So I went to the saline, I said, hey,
that's on me, you know, so if you're preaching it,
you got to do it also. So you know, almost
all that was was on me. Now, yes, you got
to keep preaching it. But but I think there's just
so many situations that happened in that game that you know,
(05:50):
the football gods, if there is any, you know, they're
they were on Arizona State side for for all that
second half and it just seemed like nothing could could
go our way, and that happens in football. But you know,
at the end of the day, we came out with
the w and no matter what it took, we were
willing to do it. And you know, thank God for
quinn Ewers to check the protection on fourteen thirteen and
(06:12):
deliver a nice ball.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
To a well route by Matthew.
Speaker 10 (06:16):
Golden and Michael You guys have allowed more passing yards
in each of these two CFP games than you did
in any of a regular season games. So what do
you attribute that to? And what are the things you
feel like you have to clean up going into this game?
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Yeah, just communicate, Just communicate with one another. You know,
I think you got ten days to prepare for each
one of these games. Arizona State had twenty days to
compare to sorry to prepare for their game, and so
you know, you have fifteen games on tape of what
(06:49):
type of schemes you run, and so I think you know,
with every defense, there's always you know, a beater to
a defense. That's why defensive coordinators are always on the
side throwing their hats, throwing their headsets down, because there's
always some type of bead to every single defensive scheme.
And so you know, when you have that much tape
out there, all the games that we've played and in
(07:11):
ten days to get ready for that and to to
scheme a defensive back group, then.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
I think that's how that happens. And so is it okay? No,
it's not okay at all.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
We got to do whatever it takes to to hold
people to under you know, our standard of yards given
up and then touchdowns given up. But I think that's
kind of where it comes from. You know, we're playing
really good teams. There's no there's no coincidence that you know,
Ohio State made it to the final four. There's no
coincidence that we made it to the final four. But
(07:44):
you know, you gotta just you got to know what
they're trying to attack, and you got to be confident
in yourself.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Hey, Michael, I wanted to ask you a little bit
out the places you've played. You guys just came from
a game in Atlanta, which of course you played a
few weeks ago. You guys mentioned the eighteen and T
Stadium familiarity. Obviously this team played for bigdeal title. There
is there a tangible benefit to plane in venues that
you have some familiarity with.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Yeah, I think it gets those nerves out a little
bit when you know, you know what the stadium looks like,
what the atmosphere is, what the air smells like in
that dome or that stadium, and so I think those
nerves kind of rush out. And it's good to have nerves,
I truly believe that, But too much built up nerves
where you're not kind of playing your game because you're
(08:31):
thinking about something else.
Speaker 6 (08:32):
I think that's where it can go wrong.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
And you know when when you have that familiar familiarity,
then those nerves kind of subside. And so, you know,
having that familiarity then then that comes with confidence and
poise and composure. And so I think it's great that
we get to go back to at and T Stadium.
I know that the burn orange will be there and
they'll be rowdy, they'll be they'll have the juice, and
(08:57):
they'll be a loud on on third downs.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Say Pike Ah click show.
Speaker 11 (09:04):
Sarkisian said to you, guys are a massive underdog, and
your whole career has been about being a massive underdog overcoming.
How can you use that as fuel and what are
the conversations like with you and your teammates who have
had some success.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Again, Yeah, I kind of talked to talk to the defense,
talked to the DBS about being under the dog, about
being the underdog, because you know, that's that's my story.
I love being the underdog, and you know that's just
that's what I grew up with. That's the adversity that
I faced, and that's where I got to where I
(09:39):
am right now. But we're not super worried about what
the critics say. We we live by the motto of
the man in the arena, and so the people that
are in the arena, the people that are with us
every single day, you know, shedding blood, shedding sweat for
one another to to honker a common goal. I think
(10:01):
that's where we get our knowledge from. And you your
mind goes where your thoughts go, and so when your
thoughts are on this team, this dream and just taking
it one day at a time, then you know that's
where your mind.
Speaker 12 (10:16):
Is, Hey, Michael, Ohio State is uh is suddenly throwing
the ball to set up the run?
Speaker 6 (10:26):
You know, just talk about how how you.
Speaker 12 (10:29):
You all on defense, who've been you know, coming up
big all year, are gonna have to, uh, you know,
be on your toes from the beginning in this game.
And how's your body recovering after I think you played
over one hundred snaps in the in the Peach Bowl.
Speaker 6 (10:47):
Yeah, body's getting there definitely.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
I feel like if if game day was tomorrow, I
could go. The adrenaline would take me. You know, I'm
willing to sell my body out on the line from
my team.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
So body's there.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
But you know, everybody's gonna have a bumper or bruise
when it's week sixteen and you're playing in January and
you started I think we started July thirty first or
something was our first game. I can't remember when Corral
State was, but it was early. And so just knowing that,
you know, just knowing that you're you're gonna be banged
up and you just got to keep going.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Now.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
They love to throw, they love they got too talented
running backs too, So they're a pretty complete offense and
you just got to know that the game plan switches
from week to week. You've got a really hard running
back that they wanted to run the ball, run the ball,
run the ball on Arizona State. And so now this
next team, you're a little bit more balanced. You got
(11:45):
two really good running backs, you've got a really good quarterback,
you got a good O line, and then you got
obviously your receivers out wide that we've been talking about.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
So you just got to know the game plan.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
All right, there's from Michael Taff. We'll be back to
wrap up today. He's edition to the program on Sports
Radio AM thirteen under the Zone. I wanted to stare
up because I wanted you to hear this. This is
what I was talking about when I mentioned about tap
getting feedback. Is one way to put it on the
tackle that he made there in the fourth quarter of
the Peach Bowl. The question coming from our old friend
(12:16):
Kirk Boles.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Yeah, to discuss that that hit. I think, first, thank
God that that I don't have to have my foundation
and the opinion of others, the approval of man or
the game of football, because the things that were thrown
my way after that game on text, people that are
(12:38):
finding my phone number on social media.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
I don't think anyone should ever have to go through.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
So thank God that I don't put my trust in
what others say about me. Now, the second thing, you know,
I said a prayer for that guy. I know, you know,
number five, it took him a long time to get
up from that head.
Speaker 6 (12:56):
And I know it's football, but but you.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Know, I wanted to pray for him, and I hope
he's doing okay, because you know, you never.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
Want to see anybody go down on the football field.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Now.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
The third thing, I've always been taught all my life
to whenever you're tackling, tackle with your eyes up.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
If your if your head's ever down, then your next
gonna get injured.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
So I always try to tackle with my eyes up
and I always try to wrap, and I think that's
what I did on on that play. I had my
eyes up and I rapped, and I left it up
to the officials. So I gotta probably get my pad
level down a little bit more. But I tackled with
my eyes open and I rapped. And so when your
eyes are up and you're wrapping, that's fundamental football.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
That's what you've been taught since the second grade.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
That's Michael Tab's thoughts on that and just saying that
wrapped up. And again, I know there was a great
deal of discussion about this. Those who claimed that it
was targeting, you know, cited the nature of the hit,
(14:03):
the elevation of the head they had contact, and they
pointed to that in the rules. Those who pointed out
that were many. You pointed them out, and I will
say those who said targeting included guys like Gene Sterotor
of CBS, Terry McCauley of NBC, all the NFL rules
(14:24):
analysts said they thought it was targeting. And then there
was another one that came back in later might have
been Terry McCauley came back and said on second thought.
And they also pointed out several calls that were not
made and should have been made against Arizona State, the
one where Isaiah Bond gets whacked and knocked down.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
They thought that should have been targeting.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Obviously, the touchdown and overtime for Cam Scattaboo being pulled
into the end zone, that is in direct violation of
NCAA rules. You were not allowed to pull a runner
into the endzone. You could push which cannot pull a runner,
So there was a lot of that. There were folks
aught that Kataboo pushed off on the past events on
the downfield route there, so there was a lot of that.
(15:03):
Probably the most humorous one was the one from the
Arizona State fans claiming that the missfield goal that hit
the ground should have counted when it hopped over the crossbar. Now,
there is a provision in the rules for the ball
hitting the ground and crossing the crossbar and being good.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
But that's a drop kick. That's a design kick.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
It's an old loll start in the NFL, and it's
still in the rules where you can take it like
a punt and drop it and when it hits the ground,
you kick it off the ground. That's the same thing
like if you're kicking it off being holed, held on
the ground, not held on the ground, up hits the
ground again and goes over. And a lot of Arizona
State fans couldn't get that. They thought that it should
(15:44):
have counted because in the rule bucket says it could
come off the ground. Yes, if it's a drop kick,
look it up. If you've never heard of a drop kick,
like I said, it's an old loll start in the
NFL and college football as well, but that's how they
used to do extra points, less about placement and more
of the drop kick, which is still a legal kick.
(16:05):
You can do it, just like when folks didn't know
about the rule that Dick or the kicker didn't where
you can fare catch off a punt and have a
free kick for a field goal. Crazy to do it.
It's in the rules. You've just got to know the rules.
That's the thing. And that's when I think I heard,
more than anything else in feedback from fans and seeing
(16:27):
on social media, is that folks either did not read
the rule or did not understand the rules. And that
includes the targeting thing to it. And I will say this,
the targeting rule has a great deal of ambiguity in it.
It's there are some things that, eh, you don't but
you know, the most important thing was he was not
(16:48):
leading a crown of the helmet
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!