Texans Clinch Playoffs, Texas Preps for Citrus Bowl, Jody Conradt Calls it a Career

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome in to the Craig Ways Show. My name is
Jay Kerman in for Craig today. We'll check in with
Craig a little bit later on as he prepares to
call the final Longhorn football game of twenty twenty five,
that is the Cheese at Citrus Bowl in Orlando. For
now here in Chile, wintry Austin, Texas, at least a

(00:38):
little wintry by Austin standards. We've got three hours of
all the latest in sports to catch you up on
a lot of NFL to talk about a lot of
college football notes, some rivalries flaring up, and maybe ways
you don't expect. The Texas women's basketball team continued it's
winning ways, and Quinny Viewers got his first victory as

(01:02):
the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback. So we'll get to all
of that starting with the Sunday night football game here
in just a moment, and we will touch base with
Craig during the three o'clock hour on today's show. So
what better place to start, I think than the Sunday
night thriller in the NFL. Last night in San Francisco,

(01:25):
the forty nine ers finally beat the Cardiac Bears, it's
a Chicago team, like Craig and I discussed, that had
six wins this season in games in which they trailed
in the fourth quarter. They were the never say die team.
They were to borrow the Oklahoma slogan hard to Kill. Yeah,
that didn't age so great for the Sooners, becoming the

(01:48):
first CFP team to lose at home. Of course, that's
old news now before the Christmas break. A little later
on in the week, we will preview the college football
playoff matchups for you. We'll have a little bit more
of that tomorrow. Just the two shows this week here
in our regularly scheduled slot from two to five pm
here in Austin, Texas on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred

(02:11):
to Zone Again. I'm Jake Krban here holding down the
fort for Craig who is in Orlando. Actually just touched
down a few moments ago. We will have shows for
you today and tomorrow. But then at this time on Wednesday,
we'll be getting ready for kickoff, and of course before that,
we'll have Longhorns Game Day live from Twin Peaks in

(02:34):
Round Rock to get you all ready for the Citrus Bowl.
Cameron Parker, Mike Harball, Harj Mark Henry, A star studded
cast of guests will help you preview what to watch
for in the Citrus Bowl, which is part of a
bowl season that I think some people I think it's
lost some of its luster. Obviously below the college football playoff,

(02:56):
we'll get to some of the best stories out of
bowl season in a bit for what it's it's worth.
I quite enjoyed the football that was on because I
was home with a stomach bug for a lot of
the Christmas break, got to see some family in Maryland
for a couple of days, and then it was you
had time.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
To stay in a quarantine of swords.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
So I enjoyed having the football on, and I especially
enjoyed watching the game last night once I got back
to Austin, a back and forth slug fest between the
Bears and forty nine ers. If you had a lead
in fantasy football going into the night and your opponent
had players in this forty two to thirty eight forty
nine or win.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
He probably didn't hold onto that lead.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
So well.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
It was a shootout from the beginning. Rock Party threw
a pick six on the first drive of the game,
right Jalen Johnson broke it up.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
TJ.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Edwards came in and ran it back to the house
and rock Perty bounced right back from that. In a
game where George Kittle was out in your backup tight end,
Jake Tong just filled in admirably. Don't know if anyone
started him in their fantasy football championship games. For the
first time an NFL regular season history, we had a

(04:08):
game tied at seven, than fourteen, then twenty one, twenty eight,
and thirty five, And hey, if that hadn't happened until now,
what was the likelihood of that actually happening anytime soon?

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Right?

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Nowadays more teams go for two point conversions than ever.
The extra points are more difficult, But that change made
a couple of years ago. So if that had never
happened until last night, which it turns out was the case,
that makes it a little more remarkable. Felt like a
tennis match, and Grant Gordon from NFL dot Com rights
the forty nine ers held serve. That's what it felt

(04:39):
like at times because the brock Purty's brilliance. He was
eighteen of twenty four for three hundred and three yards,
three touchdowns through the air, two on the ground.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
He was shifty in that game.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Last night, the Bears and their defensive coordinator Dennis Allen
tried a lot of different things to try and rattle
the cage of rock Party, and just seemed like none
of it quite worked until the Bears got to stop
late in the game. They broke serve, so to speak,
and took a thirty eight to thirty five lead after
DeAndre Swift touchdown, but the forty nine ers responded a

(05:14):
brock Party touchdown passed to Juwan Jennings gave them the lead,
so the Bears had another chance right to rally two
minutes fifteen seconds ago, Caleb Williams and company get the
ball some questionable clock management towards the end of the game,
the Bears picked up a first down on a hook
and lateral play, but had to run up and spike it,

(05:36):
so they lost valuable seconds and valuable downs in their
end of game situation. Wound up in a situation where
one play decided on the goal line and Caleb Williams
was flushed out of the pocket didn't see Dj Moore,
who came open in the opposite side of the end zone.
The far corner would have been tough to spot him,
but had he found DJ Moore, Caleb Williams likely would

(05:59):
have had the touchdown. That's that's I think the biggest
critique you can have on Williams game. And Caleb was
excellent for another week. Last night, Ben Johnson really started
to unlock the best out of the number one overall
pick from two years ago. Caleb twenty five or forty two,
three hundred and thirty yards, two touchdowns. It's the easy throws, right,

(06:19):
It's the ones that seem like layups that he's still missing,
one or two per game. You think of the throw
to former Longhorn Devin DuVernay on that last drive. It's
just the easy throws. That's the last step for Caleb.
You'd much rather have that problem than to have the other,
which is why you're just not a difference maker. You
just can't make the type of game changing plays that

(06:41):
we know Caleb Williams can make now after seeing it
for a full season. So the big takeaway from this
San Francisco very much still alive for the number one
overall seed in the NFC. Right, they can, like my Tariko,
put it, put the bags away. If they're able to

(07:04):
win next week. Against the Seattle Seahawks. Now, just confirming
this real fast. Yeah, the Super Bowl is going to
be at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara. So that means
that the forty nine Ers, if they can take down
Seattle next week, and that'll be a Saturday game. I

(07:27):
think they put that one in the afternoon. Saturday afternoon.
Forty nine Ers and Seahawks. A battle for the number
one spot in the NFC homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
And for the forty nine Ers, if you've got home
field advantage throughout the playoffs and the Super Bowls in
Santa Clara, you know you're not getting on that airplay
and the rest of the season. Pretty unbelievable concept, right,

(07:51):
So they've won six straight games. They've done it without
Brock Purty for long stretches of the season. Nick Bosa
and Fred Warner are hurt, right, two of the best
defenders in the NFL, at least in the last five
years or so. And the game started with a pick six.
None of that mattered. They lost Trent Williams first ballot

(08:14):
Hall of Fame left tackle hamstring injury, such an important
piece of what the forty nine ers do with all
of their motion and smoking mirrors up front, Kyle Shanahan's
creative zone running concepts. George Kittle one of the best
blocking tight ends in NFL history.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
Nope, he's not going to go tonight.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
He woke up with a bum ankle that he had
expected to be able to play through all week, but
the swelling was too bad he couldn't play. So Trent
Williams is out, doesn't matter. George Kittle is out, just
doesn't matter. They've got guys who can fill in. Right
Rock Purdy was out, doesn't matter. Mac Jones comes in
and plays at a very high level, a level that

(08:53):
has people talking about, oh well, maybe Mac Jones he
can be an NFL starter next year, And who knows
whether that's true. What Kyle Shanahan has built there in
San Francisco I think has kind of slept under the
radar for large stretches of the season because of a
less than stellar start this year for San Francisco. They've
had injuries at receiver, every defensive position you can imagine.

(09:15):
The front seven has been banged up all year. They
even lost some guys in the secondary. I think up
did in stout their best corner went down during the
game last night too. At some point the injuries are
going to catch up to San Francisco like they did
last year. But I don't know if that point is
coming soon, because George Kittle's going to be back when
they play Seattle next week. Rock Purdy looks like himself

(09:37):
picking up right where he left off as a real
difference maker over these last three weeks. If you have
Rock Party in your fantasy playoffs, you're probably a very
happy man or woman. So look the forty nine ers.
I think I overlooked them a little bit earlier in
the season. Cameron Parker didn't overlook them. Hoo Cam, who

(09:59):
filled in on the morning show today the Morning Kickoff
with Mark Henry Nick Shuley joined them as well. A
great show this morning on AM thirteen hundred The Zone.
He didn't overlook the forty nine ers. They were his
number two pick, and it was for this exact reason,
right that they still had a path to control their
own destiny to be the number one seed. And now
it was out there for the world to see in

(10:21):
thrilling fashion, in an historic victory in terms of the
tennis match of an offensive game that it was in
a victory over the Bears last night, and the Bears
I think still have some defensive questions. The Bears offense
has gotten better and better all year long. They were
down a couple key receivers in this game too, and
Luther Burden has started to emerge as a real difference

(10:42):
maker for them, the rookie out of Missouri, very very quick, elusive,
open field guy. When the Bears took him in the
second round, there were some folks who compared him to
Jamison Williams said that he might be used in this
Ben Johnson offense the way Jamison was in the Lions

(11:04):
offense that Ben Johnson largely built, and in a Lion's
offense that, for whatever it's worth, took a step back
this year with Ben Johnson not in the picture. You
can point to a lot of different reasons for that.
The Detroit Lions were eliminated from playoff contention when they
lost that ugly game, at least from their perspective in
Minnesota on Christmas. Credit Brian Flores in company, who beat

(11:25):
Dan Campbell, Jared Goff and the Lions. They will not
be a playoff team in twenty twenty six. In June
twenty five. I should say, after winning fifteen games a
year ago, that's pretty hard to fathom, and it's even
harder to fathom that the Commander's team that beat them
is likely picking in the top five this year. Just
an absolute disastrous season for the Commanders. The Bears have

(11:50):
had a great season, right and they are by no
means done. Cameron and I completely wrote them off in
our playoff draft of sorts. Nobody drafted the and they're
NFC North champions in large part due to some injuries
suffered by the Packers, but the Bears were able to
take care of business and beat them. Nonetheless, their defense

(12:12):
though a little bit of a cause for concern, because
they need takeaways to be successful this season all season long.
They lead the league in turnovers forced coming in. It's
a little bit like Washington's run last year. It's it's
great if you can force takeaways. You need them to
win football games sometimes, but you can't always rely on them,

(12:34):
especially against a ball control offense like Kyle Shanahan's, and
especially against a ball control offense when the quarterback is
locked in like Brock Purdy was last night. Those are
the type of offenses you're gonna see in the playoffs,
and the Bears did get one pick six early in
the game. They also allowed almost five hundred yards and

(12:57):
six touchdowns. This is a defense that is twenty fourth
in the NFL right now in terms of yards allowed,
nineteenth in points allowed that was entering the game.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
San Francisco's offense.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Did a lot of damage to those numbers, and the
Bears have been able to turn around right from worse
to first in the NFC North almost in spite of
a defense that has been porous at times this season,
and that is the biggest question they're still going to
have to answer, even if the playoffs don't fallow their
way this year, if they're going to take that next

(13:31):
step going forward. I think that defense is the reason
CAM and I didn't really put them in that contender
tier for the playoffs, which if they can, by no
means be written off. But it's a major concern that
persisted despite all the promise being shown by Chicago offensively
in that game last night. So that's a lot of

(13:54):
NFC talk, and that playoff picture will be settled in
some form next one week. With the number one seed
in both the NFC and AFC still up for grabs.
One thing that Houston Texans know is that they are
in at eleven and five now, or excuse me, at
twelve and yes, at eleven and five after beating the
Los Angeles Chargers by a final of twenty to sixteen

(14:17):
at SOFI Stadium a week ago. The Texans are really
starting to turn it on with their seventh consecutive victory,
and we will hear from their head coach, Tamiko Ryans,
actually eighth consecutive victory. We'll hear from their head coach
Tamiko Ryans in the next segment talk about the rest

(14:38):
of the NFL playoff picktus. We'll get to some under
the radar NFL stories two a little bit later on
in the program, but we've got a lot to get to.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
We need to take our first break.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
You can always join the show by texting the word
Texas followed by your comment, your question, maybe your holiday
greetings to eight one five three zero. That's eight one
five three zero. Standard message and data rates may apply.
Remember text the word Texas followed by your comment or question.
Lots they get to We'll talk Houston Texans next here

(15:09):
on Sports Radio Am thirteen hundred, The Zone.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
Got my spine, I've got my rnge Cross, got my spine,
I got my range.

Speaker 5 (15:39):
Now side.

Speaker 6 (15:46):
Cony bath over.

Speaker 5 (15:52):
All.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Right, So.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
Before Christmas, when Craig was in, we counted down not
so much a countdown, but played out some of the
favorites of his when it came to Christmas music coming
in and out of the breaks. So I figured today,
as we talk a lot about the Citrus Bowl and
the lead up to that matchup, which is taking off

(16:17):
at two o'clock on New Year's Eve afternoon Wednesday, you
can listen to that game right here on AM thirteen
hundred Zone as well as ninety eight one FM Cavet,
and we'd use some music that fit that Citrus Bowl theme.
So orange Crush I think that works, okay, right, not
only for the cheese it side of things, but the

(16:39):
Citrus as well.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Ore em with that cut, Well, we'll see.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
We'll see if Craig is interested in a cheese it
crusted turkey leg once we touch base with him from Orlando.
My name is Jay Kurban, the producer of this show
in for Craig both today and tomorrow. Okay, So we
were talking before the break about the NFL and the
Houston Texans, who knocked off the Chargers twenty to sixteen,

(17:05):
picking up yet another victory. This one clinches the playoffs
for the Houston Texans, who have won eight straight. They
have now clinched a third consecutive playoff berth for the
first time in playoff history. Jamiko Ryans asked about this
and several other things in his postgame press conference. Here

(17:27):
were his Uh, well, first, let's hear what he had
to say to the team in the locker room after
the victory.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
These are always fun to listen in.

Speaker 7 (17:35):
On what bad guys said.

Speaker 8 (17:37):
Baby, how does it feel to the end? Congratulations to
every single person in his room. It took everybody rock staff, players, coaches,
every person in his room. Man, from where we started
this season all right to where we are now. Is

(17:58):
everybody believing in each other, showing up the work, continuing
the work to.

Speaker 7 (18:03):
Give us an opportunity to get into playoffs.

Speaker 9 (18:05):
Man.

Speaker 8 (18:05):
Love working with you guys, all right, and I'm super
proud of everybody here for the work you put in
and to have us have this opportunity right now.

Speaker 10 (18:13):
It's special.

Speaker 8 (18:14):
Man told you guys, every week we got a special team,
and you guys put it on display every single week
that you guys play. Proud to be a coach, proud
to be with you guys, and proud to hey kick
that door open then go into playoffs.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
Baby.

Speaker 6 (18:28):
So hey, you guys did exactly what we talked about doing.

Speaker 8 (18:30):
Man, coming here, taking what we wanted and handling business.
That's how you do it. That's how we operate. And
can't be more thankful, can't be more proud for you guys.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
Probably come on, yeah, always nice and and look, I
know some coaches, some coaches, right, Kellen Moore gets some
flak for this, and he's aware of it. That's the
Saints head coach, former Cowboys oc U and Eagles OC
as well.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
He gets some flack for it.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Too, for you know, the cameras are in there now, right,
so every coach has to act a certain way now
in their post game speech with the cameras and kind
of play it up to you know. I don't think
DeVico Ryans has thought about any of that for a moment.
Here were his opening comments to the assembled media after
the game, giving his overall assessment of things.

Speaker 11 (19:19):
Uh, just really proud of every person on his team,
and an organization for putting us in a.

Speaker 6 (19:26):
Spot to go play in the playoffs. Is what you
play for.

Speaker 11 (19:30):
It's what you work hard for throughout training camp, what
you fight in the season for us for an opportunity
right to be in the playoffs and go win it all.
So we've earned that. It wasn't given to us. Our
guys went out and earned it, and we're extremely proud
of everybody for that.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
You know, the Texan set the tone with two big
plays to start this game. They jumped on top of
the Chargers early. If you were a little bit late
to this one on Saturday, kind of an odd slot
for the NFL that Saturday after New and Slot, then
you missed two early punches landed by this Houston offense,

(20:08):
and the first a seventy five yard connection between CJ.
Stroud and rookie Jayden Higgins, the other forty three yards
to another rookie and Jayden Higgins college teammate at Iowa State,
Jalen Nole.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
After just those two throws right, CJ.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
Stroud was only forty five yards off of his passing
yardage total from the entire game last week against the Raiders,
and just seventy seven yards away from his per game
average all season long. That's how much of an anomaly
this kind of explosive start was for the Texans offense.

(20:44):
And when you give a defense like this Houston defense
a fourteen point lead, it instantly puts your opponent on
the ropes. Now, Stroud was a little inconsistent after that,
and you'll hear some of that talked about later in
the press conference. But how big were those plays that
Texans connected on early in this contest.

Speaker 11 (21:03):
With the big plays to start the game, it was
just really great execution.

Speaker 7 (21:09):
Starting with the O line.

Speaker 11 (21:10):
We had to show up with some guys up front
of the offensive line. It starts with having great protection.
Our guys did a great job there. CJ had outstanding
throws right to Higgins and to Noel, both rookies stepping
up making I mean, extremely big plays for us to
really us give us that fast start, get us going
with some excellent momentum. That was really two plays that

(21:33):
helped us to be in a position we're in.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
Yeah, some history by the way, for Higgins and Nol
just the second rookie duo in NFL history, but the
first since before I was around in nineteen thirty eight
to record touchdown receptions of forty plus yards in the
same game. So the Texans, now with their eight straight win,

(21:56):
certainly have as high as ceiling as anyone right now
in the NFL play off picture. What makes the Miko
feel as though his team is special in doing what
they've done.

Speaker 11 (22:05):
I'm believe in this team because I know what these
guys are about. I know how they work throughout training
camp when nobody's watching. I know how close our team
got throughout training camp and throughout the season, and I
know how we just have guys who are true believers,
who are unwavering in their faith, Guys who come to
work every single day, put it in work no matter
what being said on the outside. You know, things that

(22:27):
really don't it doesn't matter to us. Our guys continue
to work the right way. And that's why you know
I believe because I saw the work ethic that those
guys pour into it. The coaches, players, staff, everybody pours
their all into what we're doing every single day.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
There were some miscus as well for the Texans, particularly
on offense.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
They were.

Speaker 1 (22:49):
Not able to add any more touchdowns after those first
two big plays that landed Stroud just one hundred and
two passing yards twelve of twenty four and two picks
following the two drives, and the Texans in some ways
escaped on a tiki tag penalty that helped secure the victory,

(23:09):
an illegal contact that on a Chargers defensive back that
looked like something you see on about fifty percent of plays.
It wasn't much there and the Texans perhaps caught a
lucky break. So how impressed was Demiko that his team
was able to push through those purple patches that the
Chargers played with and overcome those mistakes to win this game.

Speaker 11 (23:31):
That's a really good football team going against the Chargers.
Tough football team, really tough environment. So it got pretty
loud in here, hard to communicate, but I like the
way our guys continued to battle no matter what we face.
Is just good football game versus a really good playoff team.
Have a really great quarterback who made some big time
plays for them today to allow them to stay in

(23:53):
the game.

Speaker 6 (23:54):
So hats off to those guys for the way they
showed up.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yeah, and like Dimiko said, I thought Herbert was pretty
good that game. Had a big scramble in the third
quarter to try and keep the Charger hopes alive. He
was under heavy dress all night long. It's a Charger
team that is without both of it's likely to be
all pro tackles.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
Right.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
He had the first round rookie Joe Ault, who was
great in limited action but out for the season, and
then Rashaan Slater, one of the better pass protectors in
all of pro football.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
Their right tackle.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
He was out in the preseason and hasn't played a
staff this season, and Herbert, playing with that bad non
throwing hand, was able to hang in and give the
Chargers a chance.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
He did all he could. He didn't have a lot
of help in this game.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
Cameron Dicker, the former Longhorn, has been one of the
more reliable kickers in the NFL this season.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
He'll be headed to the Pro Bowl.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
But he even had an uncharacteristic day a thirty two
yard field goal miss. That's the first of his career
from under forty yards and he also missed an extra point.
So there's your four point difference in some ways right there.
So there were lots of individual turning points in the
football game. But de Miko Ryans was then asked to
take a look at the big picture, right, What was

(25:03):
the turning point of this Texan season that Craig and
I have covered all season long on this show started off?
What both oh and three then three and five? What
helped Houston turn this thing around or they've won eight
in a row and book their spot in the postseason.

Speaker 11 (25:19):
From my viewpoint, the turning point for our entire season,
I go back to our Jacksonville game, all right, for
us to be down as far as far as we
were in that game and for to have our backup quarterback,
Davis Mills right to have such a clutch performance to
get us into a position to win that game. I
feel like that's the game that flipped our season and

(25:40):
just showed us like no matter what we're up against,
no matter who's on the field, and we stay together,
stay connected, like we can overcome anything.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
Yeah, they did in a lot of ways this season.
So what was Demiko Ryan's message to the team in
the locker room afterwards, which you heard some of at
the top of this segment.

Speaker 11 (25:58):
My message to the guys as congratulations to everyone, because
you guys earned this, like getting into the playoffs. It's
not about an opinion or what somebody thinks like, you
have to earn your way into the playoffs, and our
guys played winning football to get us in position to
be in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
On the theme of overcoming adversity, how did Tamiko feel
his group was able to take back control and do
what was needed after so many ebbs and flows of momentum.

Speaker 6 (26:25):
You saw the ebbs and flows of the game.

Speaker 11 (26:27):
We were able to get explosive passes early on them,
and then they did a great job of, you know,
eliminating those explosives and made us earn it right, And
they did a good job on third down. We didn't
get off as much as we would get mean, we
didn't stay on the field as much as we wanted
to on third down. So they made some really nice
players on third down, playing aggressive, putting the pressure on us.

Speaker 6 (26:48):
But we stayed the course and it didn't matter.

Speaker 11 (26:50):
Most like, when we're there in the fourth quarter, that's
what it's about, closing games out in the fourth quarter.
We know we had to run the ball. They knew
we had to run the football and for our offensive
line for Woody to run the ball theway he ran it,
and I go back also, I mean, I know he
didn't have a lot of catches, but you go to
Nico Collins, all right, on our best players in the
clutch time, in the clutch moment, he comes up with

(27:12):
another clutch play for us. He closed it out last
week versus the Raiders, and then again this week and
he shows up in a big moment making a huge
catch to get us across midfield. So it took everybody,
and I'm proud of all the guys for the plays
they made.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Everybody, of course, includes this Houston defense, which is probably Look,
if you were to redo that playoff draft, right the
Super Bowl Contender draft, like Cameron and I did on
this program a couple weeks back, and you were to
just say, okay, we're drafting a unit, not even a
full team, I think the Texans defense would be first

(27:47):
off the board. Maybe you're taking the forty nine Ers offense,
maybe the Rams offense, if it's fully healthy for each
of those, the Texans defense is certainly up there in
that conversation. Now, they had given up three hundred yards
in consecutive games for the first time all year heading
into this Chargers game, and they'd done it against you know,

(28:09):
like the Raiders last week. We're able to make some inroads,
and that was in large part due to some of
Houston's offensive struggles in that football game. But the Texans
pass rush bounced back in a big way. Justin Herbert
pressured on thirty eight percent of his dropbacks. There were
five sacks for this Texans defense in this game. Daniel
Hunter had a team high six pressures, including a sack.

(28:32):
So how important was the pass rush and the d
line as a whole for Houston in this game?

Speaker 11 (28:38):
Defense showed up with another impressive performance. This guy's been
playing lights out all year, every single game. But the
way the D line showed up today, I may sack
at the sack is really putting pressure on the quarterback
getting it down. It was really cool to see Barnett
get a couple sacks. Just a lot of different guys
got sacks. Barnett, Will, Daniel Rankings, everybody was involved. Coach

(29:03):
Rod has done a great job with those guys all year.
We needed them to play big today and they did.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
And some of those guys, particularly on the defensive end,
like Mark Lassiter Derek Stingly, were playing through injuries in
this game. Saw a lot of injury timeouts, guys that
left the game and then return. What did that show
coach to meet goo ryans that the guys were toughing
it out through the injuries.

Speaker 11 (29:23):
Every guy on our team knew what this game was about, right.
We knew this was a game to punch our ticket
to get into the playoffs. And our guys and they
manned up. A lot of guys were dealing with pain, injuries.
Guys went down on the field. But like I go
talk to Kamari last year, he's coming out, Coach, There's
no way I'm coming out of this game.

Speaker 6 (29:43):
Like that's the mindset of all of our guys.

Speaker 7 (29:45):
It's on the line.

Speaker 11 (29:46):
We know what's on the line, and they want to
be out there to be the reason why we're successful.
And when you have young men who have that mindset,
that's why I love the guys, because everybody has that mindset.
Guys go down, it doesn't matter, Coach, I'm getting back
on the field. I'm going to finish this game. And
when you have that heart, when you have that passion
and desire by your guys, we can go accomplish anything.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
So the third year in a row for Houston in
the playoffs, what does it mean to Demico to have
his team in this position and to what extent was
this year the toughest given the aniversity this team has overcome.

Speaker 11 (30:21):
Yeah, for me, it's each year is different, man. I mean,
it's cool to have three years in a row, but
I feel like it's about the here and right now,
in this moment. I'm more proud of this team because
of all the adversity we've had to face and all
the things that we've overcome. I feel like we're a
really strong team. Right We know we can win in

(30:42):
any given way or fashion, and that's why I'm more excited.

Speaker 7 (30:44):
About this team. He'll hit it into the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
And one other big cause for excitement the rookies. Like
we mentioned, how important was it to have them step up?

Speaker 7 (30:54):
Our young guys have shigned all year.

Speaker 11 (30:56):
Wood E, the way he runs the football, it's impressive
to see him. Just the toughness that he plays with
every single day. Our rookie receivers, they've stayed the course
and they haven't gotten a ton of action the ball
to him a lot, but when the ball has came
to him, they Higgins makes a play every single game.
And Higgins and Nol made two huge plays today for
US to really break the game.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Open, no doubt about that.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
And finally, the thoughts on this offensive line performance for Houston,
which held up early. Remember it's a young, kind of
much maligned offensive line early in the season. What can
what can they learn from this up and down performance
in LA and take into the postseason.

Speaker 11 (31:36):
Yeah, Chargers defense an outstanding defense. They're top defense in
the league. They did a great job of executing some
pressures there to speed us up and make us have
to get rid of the football.

Speaker 6 (31:45):
That's that's ball.

Speaker 7 (31:46):
That happens.

Speaker 11 (31:47):
You're not going to pick up every single thing every time.
But I felt like CJ did an outstanding job. You know,
even though he had some picks early, Like he continued
to battle, we continue to throw the ball. He continued
to make some good decisions with the ball, Like face
adversity overcame it, you know when we needed it. Mostly
still through the ball there in the clutch moment, and
he made our stand and thrown to Nico. So I'm

(32:08):
proud of the offense for the way they bound it
all day.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
And it's an offense it hadn't had to do as
much as other teams offenses this year. Look, Houston is
unbeaten this year when they scored twenty points or more.
That's exactly what they grabbed in LA and they grabbed
a win to go with it. Hey, we've got a
grab bag of sports stories for you up next with
our Inconceivable segment on this Monday afternoon. We appreciate you

(32:32):
listening with us here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
zone and the free iHeartRadio Back app We're back in
a few minutes. It is great to have you with
us for our number two on this chilly Monday afternoon

(32:53):
here in the lone Star State.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
Ja Kerbin with you on Sports Radio thirteen hundred Zone.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
We will talk to Craig Way in just a few minutes.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
He is on the ground in Orlando.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns have actually been in Orlando since
well Friday. The Longhorns arrived at the hotel on Friday afternoon.
It's always interesting the different Bowl Week experiences to get
to hear and learn about what the team does. Of course,
Craig just got there, but the team has been there

(33:26):
since the weekend started, and there were practices on Saturday.
Some guys were made available at the end of practice.
You may have seen some social media eclipse. Johnnie MacDonald,
who announced over the weekend that he was going to
return to Texas in twenty twenty six. He was talking
to the media about that decision and more after practice

(33:47):
on Saturday. On Sunday, we heard from some of the
players and coordinators in this game for the Longhorns. That
meant Kyle Flood and along with Arch Manning and Trevor
Gooseby at the podium. We will hear from them during
the four o'clock hour on today's show, as well as
defensive coordinators and two defensive players being made available to

(34:11):
the media, and that you'll hear a little bit later
on this hour. Johnny Nansen, who will serve as the
interim defensive coordinator in this game, with Will Muschamp set
to take over as the defensive coordinator next season. Pete
Qwakowski is contract not renewed. He is no longer with
the Texas long Runs. We cover that news for you

(34:31):
before the break. You'll hear Colin Simmons and ty Anthony
Smith react to that news as well, and get Johnny
Nansen's thoughts on where the priorities lie for this Texas
defense in both the practices leading up to this Citrus
Bowl game and then the game itself, leading into what
they hope is a very productive transfer portal window and

(34:52):
a successful spring. So there were some media events on
Sunday and then another practice where there's been some you know,
some fifteen minute windows for the media to go in
and capture some photos. And then there's today where both
teams have been in the in the amusement parks with
what's called the Day for Kids. Players are paired with

(35:14):
local children for a morning of fun, and that's where
you've seen some of the content today with arch Manning
and Bryce Underwood on the on the roller coaster there
and some comments there's a lot of money on that
roller coaster. I hope they're strapped in tightly enough, but
very nice to see the Longhorns get to let louse
spend the day with some kids and have some fun

(35:37):
in the process making a difference. And they're they're actually
at fun Spot America, the theme park in Orlando, and
so there's been lots of lots of fun moments coming
from that, including Prince Chedward posing for a picture with
the both started quarterbacks, Bryce Underwood as well as arch

(35:57):
Manning then tomorrow, the day before the game, both head
coaches will appear at a joint press conference along with
the Cheese at Citrus Bowl Trophy. That's at seven thirty
am Central Time, and we'll try to bring you as
many highlights from that as we have available for tomorrow
afternoon's edition of the show. Again, we're on from two

(36:18):
to five pm every day, just Monday and Tuesday. A
little programming note this week because on thirteen hundred The
Zone at this time on Wednesday, it'll be the start
of network coverage and the kickoff of the Cheese at
Citrus Bowl. Of course, leading up to that, leading up
to an hour before kickoff, we will have Longhorns Game

(36:39):
Day at Twin Peaks in Round Rock with Cameron Parker,
Mike Harball, Harj, Mark Henry and guests. And it all
leads up to the kickoff at two o'clock Central, and
we're told by Craig that it won't be too long
after two o'clock I think twoh six for the kickoff
of the Citrus Bowl, which you can watch on ABC,
but listen right here on AM thirteen hundred The Zone,

(37:00):
as well as kve ET AM FM Austin's gives me
ninety eight point one. So that is what this Citrus
Bowl week looks like for Texas.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
At a moment.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
We're going to catch up with Craig Way get his
thoughts on what version of Texas we might see in
this ballgame, as well as maybe what to expect for
Michigan News in the midst of a big transitional period
of their own. Should be lots of fun to visit
with him, and as always, we encourage your questions and

(37:34):
comments as well. You can text us at eight one
five three zero text the word Texas followed by your
question or comment. You can also leave us a message
on the iHeartRadio app via our talk back feature. Just
search AM thirteen hundred the zone on the free iHeartRadio
app where many of you are probably already listening to
us right now, and then you can tap the red

(37:56):
microphone button next to AM thirteen hundred the zone. Leave
us a message up to thirty seconds, and we'll try
and play that for you on the show and answer
anything you have to ask. All right, We'll take a
quick pause and then catch up with Craig. This is
the Craigway Show on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred the zone.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
You so good.

Speaker 4 (38:15):
I'm a raised but it's these wander duel graves, some
kind of sensuous.

Speaker 8 (38:21):
Street ken it out of teenk let it big warm.

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Jeez Burger.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
Back here on the Craigways Show.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
Glad to have you with us on this Monday afternoon
and hopefully enjoying himself cheeseburger and well maybe Paradise compared
to Austin right now weatherwise down in the Sunshine State.
Craig Way joins us from Orlando. Craig, I hope you
had a fantastic holiday. It's great to talk to you again.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
Yeah, it was great. Uh you know, Jake and I
appreciate good to talk with you as well. And uh,
you know, it's funny that you that you bump back
with Buffett there, because there's some talk amongst the radio
crew about going to dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant
because he's got that chain too. Uh so, uh tonight

(39:24):
or tomorrow night or something like that. I don't think
the decision has been made yet, but but it did
make me think about it. When you're coming to and
and it's funny tying the two together in the last
two out of town big out of town trips because
basketball is in Maui and they used to have a
cheeseburger in Paradise, Jimmy Buffett restaurant there, but sadly it
was part of the bad fires they had in Lahina

(39:47):
and it was and was taken down by that. But
there's a Jimmy Buffett connection throughout all of our lives,
I do believe, especially when you work with Roger Wallace.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
By the way, I was gonna say, who's the final
decision maker on on dinner destinations among you, Roger, Will
and the crew.

Speaker 3 (40:05):
Well, it's rare that we can get all of us together.
And because of different things. Roger has work assignments, Will
has work assignments. Sometimes I have work assignments to get
in the way things of that nature. But usually usually
we try to get together either the night before or

(40:25):
a couple of nights out of the final football game
of the year, you know, and then all go to
dinner together. Terry Kelly, our broadcast operations manager, is down
here as well. Of course, my two sons work on
the broadcast. Andy is the spotter, Jason's the parabolic mic operator,
our statisticians teave leeches down here. So we have the
whole crew here, and it's rare that we can get

(40:48):
all of us together, and I think that's going to
be the initiative for tomorrow. There's nothing final set yet.
It usually comes down to several different people making suggestions going, hey,
well don't we try this, Hey, this works, Oh, this
is right across the street. Yeah, that kind of thing,
and then we then we all you know, have a
forum eventually and decide what we're going to do.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Well, we'll see how it all shakes out.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
I mean, other things on your itinerary that jump out
that you're most excited for over these next couple of days.
We just read through what Texas has been up to.
It looks like you missed out on all the amusement
park fun today.

Speaker 3 (41:25):
Yeah, you know, I had never heard of What's it?
Fun World America?

Speaker 2 (41:29):
Yeah, I was trying that.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
We passed or were passed nearby it on the way in.
And the team hotel is right in your SeaWorld as well.
I can look across and see the sea World from
the hotel, so it's it's and then of course you
know you've you've got Disney, all the Disney resorts and
area Universal Studios, and the players yesterday, uh went to

(41:53):
Universal Studios. So for those who think, oh wow, this
Bowl Games is doing it on the cheat by sending
them the this is some knockoff theme park called fun
World of Era. That was the charitable part of it
with the kids, that was the fun day thing, and
the photo lots with the kids and things like that.
The players also got a chance to do Universal Studios,
so they've got a good time. And that's the way

(42:16):
it is in bowl games. And excuse me for a
moment when I hop on my soapbox here, I understand
completely understand why some fans are let's just say, bowl weary,
and especially in this day and age of the expanded
playoff for a lot of college football fans, and I'm

(42:37):
not knocking them for this, but for many college football fans,
now that we have a twelve team playoff and hopefully
maybe a sixteen down the road, those are the only
games that matter, and so any other Bowl game is
looked at as being something less than what they should
be doing. Now at the news conferences here so far,

(43:01):
you know, Sark has said it, and there'll be one
more you know, news conference coming up tomorrow with the
two head coaches or in this case, acting head coach
Bit Pochi. And then and then, of course, are you
know Sarkas said, and the players have said, Colin Simmons
said it yesterday. This was not our destination. They made
that clear. Nobody is suggesting that their whole driving ambition

(43:23):
was to reach the cheese at Citrus Bold. They get it.
The whole thing is about reaching the playoff, but of pause,
not reaching the playoffs. It's an it's a nice reward
for the guys for the work they put in this season,
not only to go down here and experience, by the way,
it's seventy eight degrees here, so it's nice and warm
and Sonny and all of that, and and experience some

(43:46):
fun Bowl activities, but then measure yourselves what you have
of your team, you know, with all the opt outs
and portal guys and things like that, but to measure
yourself as a program against a caliber program like Michigan
as well. So I understand why a lot of fans,
you know, don't get behind the balls. They weren't getting

(44:06):
But a lot of those fans, Jake weren't getting behind
the balls before the playoff even happened, before it was
a fourteen playoff. So yeah, there's too many bulls. And
I've never understood that argument either. If you don't want
to watch the bowl game, don't watch the bowl game.
But there's I mean, what are you gonna watch. You're
gonna watch you know, cornhole, You're gonna watch dog competitions,

(44:31):
You're gonna watch poker. I mean, all that stuff is
on all the family of networked from ESPN, but it's
nice to have some college football on as well, even
if you're not into either of the teams. And I'll
see one more thing as an alumnus of the University
of North Texas, to see the joy that a lot
of alumni had at the Mean Green finishing the year

(44:54):
at twelve and one most wins ever in school history,
to win a bowl game for the first time in
ten years. There is a reward for some of the
I don't know, it's a team five. It's different with
the power for completely understand and agree and get it.
I understand all that, But if you're not in the
power for what's wrong with then giving the players a

(45:17):
reward for the season that they've done. That's that's my point.
And that's the point about whatever the Relia Quest Bowl,
the Gator Bawl, all those other ball games. Yes, they're
not a playoff, and nobody's arguing that this is a
great swap out. Nobody's saying that. What they are saying
is an opportunity to play one more football game together

(45:38):
as a team, and then you move on to twenty
twenty six. Right.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Not only did they get to go out in a
case of North Texas on a great note as a team.
I mean, Caleb Hawkins made some money in that ball game,
for sure. Drew Mestimaker continued to show that he's capable
of playing at a high level. There's still plenty to
gain for these teams in these ball games.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
And plenty of the game for someone like me.

Speaker 1 (46:00):
If you end up going home for your holiday break
and you end up with the stomach bug, and so
you're watching a lot of wall to wall football, yeah, and.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
I will say this, by the way, do you get
a stomach bug?

Speaker 2 (46:10):
I did. I'm feeling better. I'm feeling better.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
Oh good, good, glad to hear that. The you know,
you're right, Caleb Hawkins are running back nor text. Most
people think it that he will follow his head coach
Eric Morrison go to Oklahoma State. He's from Shawnee, Oklahoma,
so that would make sense if it happens. Same thing
for Drew mess to make or whether he goesh to
you know, whether he goes to Oklhom State or some

(46:35):
other place. This is also a showcase. Listen, like it
or not. We're living in a portal world now, We're
living in an anio world now. So uh, there are
some guys who elect to not play in the Bowl
Game because they want to, you know, they want to
have the opportunity to be in the portal. That's okay.
And then there's other guys who want to play in

(46:57):
the Bowl game because they want to be there, you
know with the teammates, have one more experience. But also,
like you just mentioned, it is a very good point.
It's a chance to show what you can do. And
maybe if you haven't made up your mind about whether
you're going to go to the portal, if you have
a big game, then maybe it might start thinking that.
Or if it reveals that there's some things you need

(47:19):
to work on with your game, you've got that answer
and then you go to work on it the off season.
I see no harm in these For those who don't
want to get into the ball games, completely understanding, watch
the NFL, enjoy that because that's coming down to the wire,
But don't bag on people who do like to watch
it because it's a chance to see more football.

Speaker 2 (47:40):
How many times do.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
We hear Jake in the spring people go, oh, really
miss football and all this other kind of stuff those
who want to watch the UFL. I don't be grudging that.
I'm not into the UFL, but I don't be grudge
people want to watch it. It's just, you know, it's
their entertainment choice. So you know, I feel the same
way about college ball games.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
I'll always prefer the Birmingham bull to the Birmingham Stallions.
No disrespect, by the way, Georgia Southern leading Georgia Souther
leading app State twenty six to ten in that game.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
As we as we speak on this Monday afternoon.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
So let's turn our attention to the cheese at Citrus
Bowl and look Michigan and Texas, both in their different
ways going under some transition.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
What did you react? What was your reaction?

Speaker 1 (48:28):
Sorry, when Michigan hired Kyle Whittingham over the Christmas break well.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
I think those who follow college football think that it's
a home run higher. I don't necessarily disagree with that.
I don't disagree with that, but I will say this,
it is a higher that leads you to believe he's
there to fix the problems in the short term, get

(48:54):
the ship righted, get the renile contributions up from the donors.
He's sixty six. That doesn't mean he can't coach another
ten years or longer. Look at Pete Carroll. You know
there's you know, it doesn't mean he can't do it.
But it's not like you know, like I said, and
Eric Morris or some other young coach, John summerle you

(49:16):
know who's going to Florida a younger coach who you
know the school is throwing its weight behind and expecting
a long term, you know, commitment to that. I'm not
saying that Kyle winning him isn't committed to Michigan. He is,
but it may not be as long a commitment as
some of the others, simply because of his age and
things like that. And at this point, at this point

(49:38):
in the year, with most of the really good coaches,
already spoken for Michigan could have done far worse than
than than to align with Kyle winning him. I think
it's a good hire.

Speaker 2 (49:49):
Yeah, I think so too.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
I mean, when you see both head coaches tomorrow morning,
I don't know if you'll be at the press conference,
we'll certainly try to bring you the highlights of it
on the show tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
We'll be there.

Speaker 1 (50:01):
What are you most curious to hear from from both
Starg and Biff Pogi?

Speaker 3 (50:07):
Probably, And if the question isn't asked in the first
whatever five to ten questions, I will ask the question.
And I never missed the head coach's news conference when
they go to bowl games. I'm always there for that.
So if the question isn't asked, I will ask of
both of them, how altered altered does their offensive and

(50:31):
defensive game plans need to be to accommodate the availability
and the talent level of the guys they still have
who are here and ready to play the game. We've
already heard Sarg say he's got sixty five scholarship players,
so he's down twenty there, so you know, and missing
some guys obviously at some key spots. So a question

(50:54):
a fair question would be, how altered can his running
game be not having a Trey Wisner back there, you know,
not having Jared Ibsen back there, not having CJ. Baxter
back there. How altered is.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
The running game?

Speaker 3 (51:08):
You know, things of that nature. So, and then on
the defensive side, how changed will that linebacking Corby? But
remember Anthony Oo have been out injured anyway, So you know,
I think it's a fair question. Both coaches will say
things along the lines of, we're not foolish enough to
believe that we won't have a different look in some

(51:29):
ways with the simply because of the personnel who are there.
But I don't see any fundamental changes in what they're doing.
If that were the case, Will Muschamp would already be
coordinating the defense. But it start said a couple of
weeks ago. It's too late in the game to do that,
to change up schemes and all that other kind of stuff.
And that's why Johnny Nansen, who's a code defensive coordinator

(51:49):
anyway through the end of this year, is going to
run the defense and call the signals for the defense
on Wednesday. So I think it's fair to ask, how
different are these teams going to look not having some
of their key personnel out of the same token. I
don't expect a response that it would be radically different
on either side.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
You know, it's been a while, Craig since we've seen
a Steve Sarkisian coach team in this position in a
bowl game that is not part of the college football playoff.
I think you go back what three seasons ago when
the Longhorns played in the Alamo Bowl back ins in
Sarks' second year. To what extent do you expect this
to be more of an audition for next year versus No, No,

(52:31):
the only focus is winning this football game.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
When you say audition for next year, who are you
from what perspective? Coaches?

Speaker 1 (52:39):
From the perspective of your of your player personnel and
seeing what you have with some younger guys who might
be coming back.

Speaker 3 (52:46):
I got cha. Well, they definitely want to have an
opportunity to look at it. I think also the emphasis
to try to win the football game. Get the ten wins,
have double digit wins of each of the last three
seasons some mark to go for I think so that
I'm sure has been discussed with the players. But yes,

(53:08):
I do believe that Sark does want to get a
good look at Christian Clark. I think he does want
to get a good look at some of the other guys,
some of the young guys that we'll see in the secondary.
I expect Xavier Fils to me to have a big
role at tomorrow in the game or Wednesday in the game.
So there's some younger guys that they'll look at. I mean,

(53:30):
just on the depth chart alone and putting together the
depth chart for my broadcast boards, I looked at it
and I thought, Wow, this guy hadn't seen many stamps,
but he's going to see some on Wednesday, if he's
not injured or whatever, depending on how the game goes. So, yes,
there is a bit of auditioning all wrapped around and
within the context and framework. Are trying to win the
football game.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
No doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
Craig, I wanted to get your thoughts on this some
news this morning. I don't know if you saw this
before you took off. Jody Conrad is a career I
know she hasn't been coaching for a long time, but
she's going to move into more of a volunteer role
within the athletic department right as opposed to her current
kind of advisory capacity with Chris del Conte. I mean,

(54:12):
just for maybe a lot of our listeners who might
be in my generation. I mean, I was lucky enough
to get to interviewer once for a student journalism story.
But you know what kind of of an impact and
an icon has she been in terms of women's sports
in Austin and on the national scale.

Speaker 3 (54:31):
Well, I think you can mix in all of those
terms and not be exaggerating icon legend. The one I
like to think of is pioneer, because she was a
huge pioneer in fomenting the rise of women's college basketball,
the first coach to coach a team to a completely

(54:53):
undefeated season with that national championship season of nineteen eighty six.
But it goes well beyond that. It goes beyond the
leadership that she and Pat Summit had in the eighties
when they were trying to get the rest of the
sporting public to take note of women's college basketball and
women's athletics overall. And you have other pioneers like Donaldo Piano,

(55:18):
who is the athletic women's athletics director of Texas for
many years. Another one of those pioneers, and Jodie has
always been that and has always been an unassuming pioneer
in a legend and kind of laughs it off. I
mean when we talk a lot of times that she
wants to talk about football, or I'll ask her about
her golf game, because she's still a really good golfer,
by the way. But she impacted not only women's college basketball,

(55:44):
but the way she coached it and the demanding of
excellence and things of that nature. But was a pioneer
in the growth of the sports, in women's athletics overall.
And she just wanted to, you know, take some time
now to relax and enjoy those golden years and spend
more time on the golf course. And she's still around.

(56:04):
She still sits in her baseline seat at every women's
basketball game, so she'll, you know, she'll chime in when asked,
but more on a volunteer basis.

Speaker 7 (56:14):
Now.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
She's happy to take that step forward the next chapter
in her life.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
Yeah, no doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Congratulations to Jody Conrad, a pioneer, Craig, as you so
beautifully put it. Okay, have you given any thought you
Roger will to trying the special twenty five dollars cheese
itt crusted turkey leg at any point in this experience.

Speaker 3 (56:39):
You know, from the Department of True Confessions.

Speaker 6 (56:43):
I like cheese.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
Its my wife liked the like cheese. It's an awful
lot for a long time. She she's she, by her
own admission, she kind of burned herself out on cheese.
It's a little bit, but she still she still dabbles
in them. But not even Linda could be interested it
in that in that cheese at turkey leg. We tried.

(57:04):
Let me tell you something, Jake, you may remember this.
A few years ago, Pizza Hut did a cheese at
pizza with a cheese at crust, and we tried it,
and we were kind of unimpressed. We like pizza and
we like Pizza Hut, but we weren't real impressed. It
kind of came across a gummy and so we were
kind of like, yeah, so we're a little wary of

(57:25):
trying that that turcula. Roger will never ever go for
anything like that. Will bit more adventurous Texas, Oh you
game every year he gets a turkey leg, so he
might be willing to dabble a little bit. I don't
know that I am. I know Roger won't be into it.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
How about this cheesy pina colada which won the cocktail
contest that they had a couple of weeks back. If
we had this one inconceivable, You.

Speaker 3 (57:51):
Remember how you were saying that that you had a
stomach bug or whatever. You almost just gave me one there,
because I start with the fact you start from the
I don't like pinya kalatas, so Rupert Holmes and his
song Escape would not have applied or appeal to me.
I don't like penia klattas, and IM sure as heck
wouldn't want a penia kalada, would chease it mixed in it?

(58:13):
That sounds that sounds gross.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
Not even on the rids.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
It inconceivable.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Now there you go, There you go.

Speaker 1 (58:19):
We'll keep it inconceivable for now, and we'll we'll keep
our distance just you know, we don't need to transfer
anything I had over the last few days over the phone.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
Craig. I appreciate you uh.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
Taking some time to uh to stop by, let me
know where you end up tonight with the crew, and
we'll try and touch base tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (58:39):
Yes, we will definitely touch base tomorrow. Uh. After the
press conference. Uh, you know, I'll be at the press
conference Brank early tomorrow morning. We'll you're with the coaches.
Had to say, I know you'll have all the sound
from that, uh for a longerer nation and for our
listenership and appreciate that. And yeah, it'll be uh, it'll
be a fun, fun couple of days down here. We'll

(58:59):
look forward to the football game and you can appreciate this. Fortunately,
I had Terry Kelly, our operations manager for a network,
and our statisticians Steve Leech. They were over at the
stadium today and they set the photos from the booth
s I really looks like a good broadcast position. And
I'm nerdy about things like that, like you are, you know,
wanting to you know, work from a variety of different places.

(59:23):
I've never called a football game in the city. In fact,
I've never called a game of any kind in the city, wow,
of all baseball, whatever. So I'm looking forward to calling
a game not only in this city, but at Camping
World Stadium. Especially from the look of the photo, it
looked like the broadcast booth had a pretty good position
to the field, So I'm looking forward to that as well.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
You know, come to think of it, I haven't either.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
I governed Orlando's pro volleyball team, but they were up
in Omaha, of all places. So Craig, it's always nice
to check something off your new broadcasting list. And yeah,
we'll get your thoughts on what the head coaches had
to say tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (59:58):
Thanks bunch, Okay, we go on. Thanks Jack, all right,
appreciate Craig calling in.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
Up.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
Next, we'll hear a little bit from Longhorns defensive coordinator
interim defensive coordinator for this game, Johnny Nansen, along with
Colin Simmons and ty Anthony Smith. We'll hear from the
Texas offense a little bit later on in the program.
This is Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. Orange
Blood from Mount Joy continues our cheese at Citrus Bull

(01:00:26):
feed to the musical Bumpbacks today. Just heard Cheeseburger in
Paradise from Jimmy Buffett to kick.

Speaker 2 (01:00:33):
Off our segment with Craig Way a moment ago.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
Always appreciative of Craig taking the time to join us
from the road and in Orlando. Of course, Craig just
arrive like we mentioned, but the Longhorns have been there
since Friday, and the offensive and defensive coordinators from both
schools talk to media members on Sunday, and we're gonna

(01:00:57):
play you some of that sound now, starting with Texas
on the defensive side and Johnny Nansen, the co defensive
coordinator who will be calling the defense in this particular contest,
starting with his opening comments to the assembled media, and
then we'll get into some other topics that he touched
on in the kind of precarious reality right of a

(01:01:19):
bull that is not related to the CFP in twenty
twenty five.

Speaker 12 (01:01:23):
Thank you for being here. Obviously, it's an honor to
be at this game. Know we're excited to play Michigan,
and obviously the history of this game. Growing up always
watches a Maya this game for far and now be
part of it.

Speaker 13 (01:01:37):
It's pretty cool. We got a great weight.

Speaker 12 (01:01:40):
I want to make sure I thank everybody for the
so far, and you know, the hospitality has been unbelievable.

Speaker 13 (01:01:47):
So we're just looking forward to the game.

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Nansen was asked, this is Johnny Nancy, who will be
calling the defense for Texas in this game. He's been
in charge of the inside linebackers as well as the
codc for Texas. Now for the last couple of seasons.
What is the key in his mind to going through
a transition right now? The way this Texas defense is
switching coordinators from Pete Kwakowski to Will musk.

Speaker 13 (01:02:12):
Champ and keeping everything normal.

Speaker 12 (01:02:15):
We haven't changed from planning and the way practice structure.
I think the guys who used to hear my voice
in meetings and things like that, so it's really been
normal to us.

Speaker 13 (01:02:29):
They're used to change.

Speaker 12 (01:02:30):
We understand, you know, the guys are opting out and
now coaches and changes like this. We understand it's part
of the business. And the players been great handling, so it's.

Speaker 13 (01:02:40):
Just part of it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
Part of that change is going to be figuring out
who steps up, particularly in this Bowl game, but in
the next season as well, whether they're already in this
linebacker room or if they're coming to Texas via the
transfer portal. With leunge La Foul, maybe a little bit
of a less expected departure and Anthony Hill, who many
expected to go to the n FELL Draft by the way,
mock drafts have Anthony Hill somewhere in the back of

(01:03:04):
the first early second round. Potentially, who steps up now?
According to Johnny Nansen, in this linebacker room.

Speaker 13 (01:03:11):
You look at my room if you study.

Speaker 12 (01:03:13):
Yes, really we have four starters, so losing those guys
really was the big, you know, big issue for us.
I love those guys sit there. Those are my guys.
But the next guy mentality has been that in our
program for a very long time. And having this guy
on my left stepping up and becoming the leader and
have some of the young guys bau Barn stepped us

(01:03:35):
great opportunity for him to showcase what he's capable of doing.
I'm looking forward to it. But I think mainly is
the leadership that we're looking for, and these two has
been unbelievable. Man, it's been great to see their growth.
So I think we're going to showcase this week the
leadership from these.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
Two and of course the guy who was left to
Nanton's talking about there you could hear his ty Anthony Smith,
who we'll hear from and just the moment. But first,
Nansen was asked about Brad Spence, who made some big
plays this year coming off the edge. Is he a
candidate perhaps to move to an inside linebacking role in
twenty twenty six? What do they want to see and
what do they like to see from Brad Spence.

Speaker 12 (01:04:15):
Yeah, he's done a great job. He's a fast learner. Obviously,
you're probably we're gonna probably use him in both spots
overhang linebacker and outside, you know, in third down things
like that. But he's really grown. He's becoming a good
leader for our room. He's in with me right now

(01:04:35):
getting ready for the game. But anyhow, I like what
I see. Obviously that's something you know, Will and I'm
you know, we gonna have to talk about where his
next rod going to be next year, but for now,
we count on him to help us out win this
game this week.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
I was talking with Craig about this a moment ago,
and turns out Johnny Nansen was asked about it too.
What's the balance of winning this game versus is seeing
what you have on your roster in terms of what's
coming back next year and preparing for the offseason.

Speaker 13 (01:05:07):
Well, I think.

Speaker 12 (01:05:09):
You got to trust you guys and the guys we have,
they've been around the system now for a couple of years.
We're going in to end the season the right way.
Like Collins is soluted too earlier. You know, have the
opportunity to win ten games is a big thing for us.

Speaker 13 (01:05:23):
We haven't done it in a long time.

Speaker 12 (01:05:24):
So our ambition is to win the game and then
we'll worry about next year when we get there.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
So now to the players and ty Anthony Smith that
we mentioned a part of this press conference too. He
was asked what this year has been like in terms
of his development, as well as the development of bow Barnes, who,
as we discussed before the Christmas break with Evan and CJ,
that he'll get an opportunity to perhaps show that he
can be a part of the future linebacker based on

(01:05:52):
his performance in this Citrus Bool.

Speaker 14 (01:05:53):
As far as development, you know, I just say I'm
really appreciative of my coach, you know, just teach me
and out of football with Bo, you know, just him
taking in what coaches been coaching as well. You know,
he's a freshman learning the system, so you know, just
seeing him learn the system and grow, I think that's
been pretty inspired.

Speaker 1 (01:06:13):
With the key departures Leung la Fau, Anthony Hill, and
Trey Moore from this Texas program, ty Anthony Smith was
asked what he learned from those guys sharing a position
group all season long.

Speaker 14 (01:06:25):
Well, I said, I learned is just how to be
confident in my approach, and that's through studying, and you know,
just consistently studying. I think that's what they kind of
taught not only me, but the rest of the guys.
And you know, I'm just ready to see how we
study and also just go out and play.

Speaker 1 (01:06:42):
So finally, what was his reaction to the change it
coordinator losing Pete Qitkowski he'll be replaced by Will Muschamp.

Speaker 14 (01:06:48):
I say, you know, just being happy for coach PK
as well. You know what he'd done at the University
of Texas, you know the schemes he's put in. You know,
obviously I wasn't you know, as happy when he left,
but just being excited understanding at the future.

Speaker 13 (01:07:04):
For him, wherever it holds. You know, he'll go there
and do great things.

Speaker 1 (01:07:07):
And many of have you know, thought about PK potentially
moving back out to the West coast. Turns out that
the USC defensive coordinator opening.

Speaker 2 (01:07:17):
Might be in the cards for PK.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
You don't know whether or not he'll be you know,
you don't know whether or not the mutual interest is there.
But USC defensive coordinator D'Anton lynn is apparently in the
running for the Penn State defensive coordinator job at the moment,
because remember Jim Knowles left Penn State and went to Tennessee.
We'll hear more from the Longhorn coaches and players ahead

(01:07:40):
of the Citrus Bowl later on in the program, but
we'll need a break before wrapping up our number two
here on thirteen hundred the Zone in Hall.

Speaker 3 (01:07:47):
Of Fame Broadcasting Craig Way.

Speaker 1 (01:07:59):
All right, third and final hour of the Craig Ways
Show today. I'm Jake Herman, the producer of this program,
filling in for Craig as he gets ready to call
the Citrus Bowl having just landed in Orlando. Thank you
to Craig for joining us a little earlier on. I'll
carry us through for the final hour today. Starting with

(01:08:20):
some NFL news, Quinn viewers a winner.

Speaker 2 (01:08:24):
In the National Football League.

Speaker 1 (01:08:25):
He improves to one and one as the Miami Dolphins
starter helped the Dolphins blast past the Bucks twenty to seventeen.
In this one, Quinn had a much improved quarterback rating
of one hundred and eighteen point zero. In this one,
he was fourteen to twenty two, one hundred and seventy

(01:08:46):
two yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions.

Speaker 2 (01:08:49):
He only took two sacks in the ballgame.

Speaker 1 (01:08:51):
And the highlight play a big sixty three yard score
thrown by Youwers to former Oklahoma Sooner actually THEO Weis junior.
He found a good favorite target and tight end Greg
Dolchiz number eighty five, who most people used to seeing
Darren Waller catching passes out of the tight end roll
for the Dolphins this season as the Dolphins are brewed

(01:09:13):
by the way to seven and nine drop the Bucks
to seven and nine on the season, Tampa still has
a playoff scenario that we're gonna get to in a
minute here. But this was yours breaking down the touchdown
pass which was his first NFL touchdown. The throw down
the sideline to a wide open wheaste take a listen.

Speaker 15 (01:09:32):
If I recall correctly, I think they were trying to
show cover zero and then they rolled out of it
in the cover two, so I knew the corner was
gonna have his eyes on me and then just had
to look at Darren and throw it right over top
of the corner and THEO ended up making a great
play on it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:50):
Yeah, great breakdown there by yours, And I think if
you listened this Morning to It was Camp Parker filling
in for my cards on the Morning Kickoff show. They
were joined by Nick Shuley and World's Strongest Man Mark Henry,
always a fixture there. It was Mike McDaniel after the
game who said, don't be fooled by the Texas twang,
which I don't even know if Quinn Ewers has that
much Texas twang maybe compared to some of his Dolphins teammates, sure,

(01:10:14):
but he's Quinnis is a very smart quarterback, and he
is one of those guys that that doesn't always, you know,
show his cards to you, but he is very much
a quarterback who is showing in just a two start
sample size that he has what it takes from a
processing perspective to be able to execute an NFL offense,

(01:10:34):
particularly an offense like Mike McDaniels, which when it's working right,
is pretty quarterback friendly. And so yours helps lead the
Dolphins past the Bucks by a final score of twenty
to seventeen, his teammates raving about him. It's certainly an
exciting moment for Texas fans who followed his career closely,
and he also did something that to a tungle vy

(01:10:59):
Looa really hasn't done much, and that is connect on
deep vertical passes that have traveled more than ten yards
through the air. ESPN Research reports that both of quinn
Ewer's touchdown passes in the win over Tampa Bay yesterday
where throws of ten or more air yards. Of course,
he had the one two weis and another two. Greg
doltchis the tight end am engine. How many times to

(01:11:22):
a tongue of Biloa did that over the last two seasons?

Speaker 2 (01:11:25):
Just once?

Speaker 1 (01:11:27):
It came back in Week five of twenty twenty five
against the Panthers, So earlier this season, quinn Ewers did
something in his second start that Tua did just once
in two seasons. So his ability to unlock that vertical
passing element of this Dolphins offense perhaps reason to give
him some hope that he can compete for the job

(01:11:48):
moving forward. When you figure too, a tongue of bi
Looa with that money he is owed, is eventually gonna
be given another chance here.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
So quinn you Weres.

Speaker 1 (01:11:57):
A winner for Miami over Tampa Bay drops the Buck
to seven and nine. Now because of that, the Bucks
path to the playoffs is not as simple anymore, they
always had to beat Carolina in the game next Saturday
night in order to in order to make the playoffs.
And actually, I'm not sure that game is the Saturday

(01:12:17):
night game anymore. I think that they actually put the
Ravens and the Steelers in that slot because of the
surprise victory for the Cleveland Browns over the Steelers thirteen
to six in the game on Sunday. So that means
that Steelers and Ravens is going to be the Sunday
night game. Okay, So Steelers Ravens Sunday Night, that game

(01:12:39):
determines the final playoff spot in the AFC. Saturday afternoon
at three point thirty in Tampa Bay, the Panthers visit
the Bucks. Now, in most scenarios, this determines the final
playoff spot.

Speaker 2 (01:12:54):
By way the NFC South title.

Speaker 1 (01:12:56):
However, however, there is another world or the Atlanta Falcons
Jon Robinson in company upset the Rams tonight. Now it's
not a likely scenario, but if the Falcons upset the
Rams tonight, then you've got the potential for a three
way tie in the NFC South to where that could
still happen. The Bucks could beat the Panthers next week,

(01:13:17):
but the Falcons went out, and then you've got three
teams at eight and nine, and Carolina would have the
head to head tie breakers over the Bucks and the Falcons.
So if you're a Carolina Panther fan, you are rooting
for the Falcons tonight to maybe open a back door
into the NFL playoffs. Dave canal is, this was kind

(01:13:37):
of fun. He didn't let his team scoreboard watch at
all during the Panthers lost to the Seahawks this week
by a score of twenty seven to ten. He actually
made sure that when the scores of the other games
were shown around the scoreboards in the end zone of
the Panthers Stadium Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, the

(01:13:58):
Tampa Miami game was omitted. So his guys had no
idea that Ewers and Company knocked off the Bucks and
gave the pan Through this potential back alley into the
playoffs should they stumble on Saturday against Tampa Bay.

Speaker 2 (01:14:11):
So some interesting ramifications.

Speaker 1 (01:14:13):
Just the one playoff spot left up for grabs in
the NFC will be either the Panthers or the Bucks,
and then in the AFC it'll come down to the
Steelers and the Ravens, and the Ravens just announced that
Lamar Jackson did not practice today, his status very much
in doubt for the Sunday night contest coming up. Meanwhile,
they didn't need Lamar Jackson to beat Green Bay. It

(01:14:36):
was a steady diet of Derrick Henry who ended a
lot of fantasy football championships before they really got started.
As Baltimore got the win, Pittsburgh stumbled against the Browns
at the Dog Pound, and so it is coming down
to Ravens and Steelers for the division and the last
playoff spot the AFC North on Sunday Night. Some other

(01:14:59):
NFL notes to get get to before we transition back
to college.

Speaker 2 (01:15:03):
Sports for the rest of the show.

Speaker 1 (01:15:05):
The Indianapolis Colts announced that they're going back to Riley
Leonard after this loss that they suffered at the hands
of the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. Philip Rivers ends up
going oh to three in his return at forty four
years old. We track this return from start to finish
here on the show, and you know what good for
Philip Rivers, right, And he told the ESPN that he

(01:15:27):
had no regrets on coming back, he said, other than
us not winning It's been an absolute blast for three weeks.
If I go back and say, all right, now, you
know everything's gonna happen, what are you gonna do?

Speaker 2 (01:15:36):
I do it all again. It's been absolutely awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:15:38):
So Rivers, who you know, went oh to three in
his three stars, he did what he could certainly to
give the Colts a chance in those ballgames. Rivers gave
them an upgrade over whatever the Colts felt like they
could have had at the time. And in that San
Francisco game, he was pretty good, right, Philip Rivers in
that game two hundred and seventy seven passing yards, two touchdowns,

(01:16:01):
did have the one interception in all three games, even
led Indianapolis to what was a go ahead drive late
at Seattle, the potential number one seed in the NFC,
but came up three points short on Jason Meyer's game
winning field goal there, and Rivers ends his comeback effort

(01:16:22):
without a victory, but certainly with a whole lot of
pride and with his head held high. Forty four year
old Philip Rivers was able to show that he could
still do it at at least a competent level. And
that is a comeback story. That is certainly commendable from
Phil's perspective. Other big games around the NFL this week,
we talked about Sunday Night Football. At the open of

(01:16:43):
this show, the high scoring tennis match it scene between
the Niners and the Bears went San Francisco's way, so
they will fight for the number one seed on Saturday
night against the Seattle Seahawks. As far as the NFC
picture goes, we had an inter division game and the
Eagles and the Bills and Philadelphia escaped Buffalo with a

(01:17:05):
thirteen to twelve win.

Speaker 2 (01:17:06):
Now I say escape.

Speaker 1 (01:17:07):
They had this game in pretty firm control thirteen to
nothing at the half, and that league carried them all
the way through. The Bills put ultimate possession in the
ball game in the middle of the fourth quarter, but
Josh Allen punched it in the end zone the extra point
was blocked. That turned out to be a huge play
in the ballgame because it was a seven point game
instead of six, and so when the Bills scored with

(01:17:28):
five seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one. After
the Eagles offense stalled out for the entirety of the
second half, the Bills went for two and the victory
now there's a couple of arguments here right going for two.
The thought process is this, you have the chance to
win the game with your best two point play right there,

(01:17:51):
and you have the other defense tired after giving up
back to back touchdowns and being on the field for
most of the second half. The Eagles offense could not
do a thing in the second half of this ballgame.
They were three for thirteen on third down, out possessed
thirty five minutes to twenty four, and out gained by
one hundred and forty yards of difference. The Bills had

(01:18:11):
twenty first downs, the Eagles had eleven. But the Bills
decided to go for two rather than play for overtime,
and it backfired. The Eagles able to hang on when
Josh Allen couldn't connect with Khalil Shakir on a two
point conversion with five seconds to go, It would have
required it on sidekick and a Hail Mary heave for
Buffalo to be able to come back from that. So

(01:18:33):
that's the big topic of debate today, was Buffalo right
or wrong to go for two. One argument that you
might that you might not think of as far as
Buffalo is concerned, is you're already in the postseason, right,
So if you go for two, you just.

Speaker 2 (01:18:47):
End the football game right there.

Speaker 1 (01:18:49):
You're ending essentially the chance at any kind of an
injury happening in that extra session. You're resting up for
the playoffs in that sense. So I could under stand
that from Buffalo's point of view a little bit more
than maybe some of the pundits are giving them credit for,
because the argument against going for two is the Eagles
offense hadn't done anything for about an hour and a

(01:19:11):
half of real time, certainly about thirty minutes of game time.
So if that were to continue, you'd like Buffalo's chances
in overtime because the Eagles would have to drive the
length of the field. It's not college overtime right in
the NFL. You have to start back from wherever the
dynamic kickoff puts you.

Speaker 2 (01:19:28):
So that is.

Speaker 1 (01:19:31):
Certainly one argument going in Sean McDermott's favor, even though
the decision obviously didn't work out.

Speaker 2 (01:19:37):
A couple more.

Speaker 1 (01:19:38):
NFL stories, the Patriots clinched the AFC East with their
victory over the New York Jets. It didn't matter necessarily
to the Bills. They had to win out to even
have a chance of coming back to beat the Patriots
and keep their run of five straight AFC East titles alive.
It was already somewhat long off going into that Eagles result,

(01:20:02):
but the Patriots now clinched their first division titles in
twenty nineteen. That was remember the last in a string
of eleven straight that Belichick and Brady won together there
and Drake May continues to just dominate opposing defenses, albeit
the Jets have not put up too much resistance to
opposing teams this year. With this turnaround from four and

(01:20:24):
thirteen to thirteen and three. Is certainly eyebrow raising for
New England, and the ceiling certainly looks high for Drake May.
Someone who's raising his ceiling is Tyler Shuck, now the
odds on favorite for offensive Rookie of the Year. The
New Orleans Saints have quietly closed out the season playing
some really, really good football, and they got a victory

(01:20:47):
over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday by a score of
thirty four to twenty six.

Speaker 2 (01:20:53):
And it was.

Speaker 1 (01:20:54):
Tyler Shuck who got off to a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:20:55):
Of a slow start. He's been prone to those.

Speaker 1 (01:20:57):
They were down twenty to ten at the break and
then really really came alive in the second half, throw
a sixty yard touchdown pass to Chris o'lave. He was
twenty two of twenty seven through the air three hundred
and thirty three yards and those two touchdowns. He's really
opened up some new things for this Saints offense and

(01:21:19):
in half of his passing yards in the fourth quarter
of this ballgame. So he actually joined some rare company
stringing these back to back really strong performances together. Only
Joe Burrow and Dak Prescott have put together performances of
three hundred passing yards and zero interceptions in back to
back games as a rookie. So for rookie QBS, Tyler

(01:21:42):
Schuck joined some rarefied air with Burrow and Dak Prescott,
and that's why in some part he is now the
odds on favorite for offensive Rookie of the Year. Like
I mentioned, especially when you consider this, the Saints are
so so banged up on the offensive side of the football.

Speaker 2 (01:21:57):
They came into this.

Speaker 1 (01:21:58):
One without their second and third options behind o lave
at receiver, without their first three running backs. Right that
running back room has been decimated for New Orleans. They
had Alvin Kamara, who hasn't been healthy all year long.
Devin Neil, the rookie out of Kansas is heard. Kendre Miller,
former TCU horn Frog, he tore his ACL early in

(01:22:19):
the season. Their center ses A Ruiz is injured, and
the Saints are also down a couple of tight ends.
I think Taysom Hill got hurt in this game too,
so Tyler Schuck was able to overcome all of that
a slew of injuries to help lead the Saints to victory. Okay,
we'll shift gears and talk Texas women's basketball in a moment,
and then we'll hear a little later on from Kyle

(01:22:40):
Flood and Arch Manning as the Longhorns prepare for the
Citrus Bowl. You're listening on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
The Zone jo a little limelight from Rush to continue

(01:23:04):
our Citrus theme on this Monday afternoon. We'll get back
to the Citrus bull prep for Texas in a moment,
but wanted to touch on some stories on the hardwood.
Texas women's basketball improved to fifteen to OZ last night
in a comprehensive one hundred and twenty to thirty eight

(01:23:25):
win over Southeastern Louisiana at the Moody Center. We're gonna
hear from Vick Shaeffer, get his thoughts on that in
just a moment. A couple milestones. First, Madison Booker gets
to fifteen hundred points. She scored a total of twenty
last night to go with five rebounds and five assists,
continuing her just red hot form going into this holiday break.

(01:23:49):
How An old Acre had a career high twenty two
points to go with six rebounds. All in all, there
were seven Longhorns who scored in double figures, and they
were in control of this one from start to finish.
So Texas now turns the page from the non conference
late where they're fifteen to zero with five ranked wins,
ranked number two in the country. And now we'll travel

(01:24:10):
to face Missouri on New Year's Day six thirty Central time.
Find a way to get that on a screen in
between the college football playoff games that'll be on display
on New Year's Day. They'll be in Colombia. The game's
on SEC Network Plus. And of course you can hear
the game as always right here on AM thirteen hundred
the Zone. All right, that's promised Vick Schaeffer giving some

(01:24:32):
of his thoughts on the victory for the Texas women's
basketball team last night. His opening comments to start the
postgame presser.

Speaker 10 (01:24:40):
Just really pleased with our team today.

Speaker 13 (01:24:44):
I thought we.

Speaker 10 (01:24:46):
Had a great shoot around.

Speaker 5 (01:24:47):
I thought they were pretty locked in, and I thought
they played really well today. I thought they shared the
ball well. Looked to me like they had a lot
of juice, a lot of energy. You can tell they
like you each other. They played well together. You know,
we think we had seven turnovers, We had five to
the last two minutes, and we continue to do a

(01:25:11):
good job there taking care of the ball. We forced
thirty turnovers. The press was really good, I thought early.
And it's just nice to have some people unsub in
the game. To finally have Ashton back and bring back
and be able to play them.

Speaker 10 (01:25:28):
And Sarah and Grace are both getting better.

Speaker 5 (01:25:33):
So, uh, you know, I think I think one thing
that may not show up in the in the in
the stats, that I think is really key to our
team right now is Justice is playing really well. Everybody
has a monster four player that's on our schedule for

(01:25:53):
the rest of the year.

Speaker 1 (01:25:54):
Vick Shaffer was asked, did you did you let the
score go so high for any particular reason tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:25:59):
Why why did it end up in such a lopsided fashion.

Speaker 10 (01:26:02):
Well, I don't know that.

Speaker 1 (01:26:05):
I did.

Speaker 10 (01:26:06):
I look at our minutes played.

Speaker 5 (01:26:08):
Booker played twenty four, Lee played twenty four. You know,
nobody else played more than twenty one.

Speaker 10 (01:26:18):
We didn't press the second half.

Speaker 5 (01:26:21):
You know, the kids that play, you don't tell them
not to play hard, or not to score, or you know,
not to rebound. So I thought all of our players
played really well. And again we we played, you know,
we played our bench quite a bit today. We were
able to play you know a number of players that

(01:26:42):
really haven't played a lot, and so I you know,
fifteen we only scored fifteen points in the fourth quarter.
So I think, again, our kids played really well together,
they shared the ball well, and you know.

Speaker 10 (01:27:01):
It quite frankly, it could have been worse.

Speaker 5 (01:27:03):
But you know, I will say this about coach Dow
and his team. I thought they competed the whole day.
Coaches down there coaching his tail off every possession.

Speaker 10 (01:27:14):
I've known him a long time since the nineties and.

Speaker 5 (01:27:18):
Have a great deal of respect and admiration for him.
He's he's coaching those kids every possession.

Speaker 10 (01:27:26):
I watch it on film. He's doing it every game.

Speaker 5 (01:27:29):
So again I have a lot of respect for him
and know he's doing a good job with those kids.

Speaker 1 (01:27:38):
Yeah, and the Longhorns bench did get significant playing time
in this one. When they were on the floor, they
outscored the Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions bench fifty five to six,
and that helped Texas in large part improved to fifteen
and oh, which is their best start since the twenty
fifteen sixteen season when they opened sixteen, and they'll be

(01:28:00):
trying to match that on New Year's Day at Missouri.
It was the thirty fourth straight win for Texas at
the Moody Center. So in a game where the margins
are so wide on the scoreboard and much deserved, straightforward
victory for this Texas women's team, Vic Schaeffer naturally focuses
on the small details, like the improvement by Justice Carleton

(01:28:22):
keeping opposing guards in front of her on the defensive end,
an area where she's been challenged throughout her Texas career.

Speaker 5 (01:28:29):
I absolutely did. We noticed it in she around today.
I noticed it and practice yesterday. You know, she's she's
been doing a really good job there, and that's that's
what we really need.

Speaker 13 (01:28:41):
We need we really need.

Speaker 5 (01:28:46):
Her to be able to be effective on that end,
and you know, I think she's she's doing that right now,
so again it's really important that we get that out
of that position and Justice is really playing well.

Speaker 1 (01:29:03):
Rory Harmon is not really known for her three point shooting,
but last night she was four for eight from beyond
the arc, So the question was asked, should she take
more three point shots?

Speaker 5 (01:29:16):
Yeah, I think it's it's all in time and you know,
time and place. I think again, she's made big shots
out there in big moments, and the kids in the
gym every day working on it, so you know, they know,
I don't have a problem with any of them shooting
any shot as long as they're in the gym working
on that shot and proving it in practice that they

(01:29:39):
can make that shot. And you know, she's she's somebody
that she works so hard on her game, spends so
much extra time on her game, and you love to
see her reaping the benefits of that.

Speaker 1 (01:29:55):
I always laugh at these exchanges that Vick Schaeffer has
with reporters. He gave the orders a little stick back
when he was asked, did you like the mix and
the scoring distribution today, not just from the variety of
Longhorns who scored like we mentioned seven different Texas players
in double figures. That's what happens when you get double
digit steals like this Texas team typically does. You can

(01:30:17):
really spread the wealth out in transition. But did you
like the scoring distribution in terms of twos versus threes,
layups versus jump shots.

Speaker 5 (01:30:25):
I hope you all off my back for thinking that
we don't have anybody can shoot the three, so you know, I,
you know, I think again, our kids are so good
at getting good shots, Like they understand time and place,
they understand good shot, great shot, and so you know,

(01:30:49):
tonight we had an opportunity against his own to get
get some open threes and we made them. And I
have all the conferences in the right the book was
one for five, but I'm not those She can have
those five every night. They're going to give them to her.
So you know, we we did a nice job that
I mixing it.

Speaker 1 (01:31:07):
I thought, Okay, finally from Vick Schaeffer, what about the
full court press and its success tonight? Can the Longhorns
take into sec play such a staple of the way
this Texas women's team operates, and what were his thoughts
on that full court press from last night's game? And
just as a whole, we.

Speaker 5 (01:31:27):
We pretty much do that every game where where. It's
kind of who we are and what we do. So,
you know, we we press. These kids are really good
at it. I thought tonight they were really good at it.
I thought again, Justice and the Float was really good
in the press and then her role. But you know,

(01:31:49):
these two Rory Book, they're all locked up, you know,
with whoever their garden, and uh, you know that's that's
just something that whereas we're always going to do, We're
always going to be in that press for the most part,
and you know it's you know, we do it not

(01:32:10):
only to create turnovers, we also do it to wear
down the opponent and to create the atmosphere. And I
thought tonight we did that.

Speaker 1 (01:32:18):
So there you have it from Longhorns head coach Vick Schaeffer.
With non conference play drawing to a close, that game
last night will be the only one in a ten
day stretch for Texas, and I think with the Longhorns
looking to get even healthier, hopefully awaiting the returns of
Ashton judd A Leiah Crump that Texas will take this
time to get even more well, even closer, I should say,

(01:32:42):
to full strength before conference play begins. One more story
as it pertains to women's basketball before we get back
to the Citrus Bowl preps still to come here on
the program. By the way, happy to take all of
your Citrus Bowl related questions either via the iHeartRadio app.
You can leave us a talkback met by searching AM
thirteen hundred zone and tapping the red microphone button that'll

(01:33:05):
allow you to leave us a thirty second talkback. We
can play your question out on the air today hopefully
answer it as best as we can. You can also
send us a text, text the word Texas followed by
your question to eight one point five to three zero
Standard message and data rates may apply there the story
I wanted to get to Jody Conrad is retiring after

(01:33:26):
forty nine years in her career as the first full
time women's head coach in UT history. Remember she did
it in two sports, basketball and volleyball. And Jody Conrad
came to campus in nineteen seventy six and just leaves
a trailblazing legacy in both Texas Athletics and women's athletics

(01:33:50):
as a whole. She retired from coaching after the two
thousand and seven seasons, so that was almost thirty years
in and of itself, with nine hundred career victories, ten
Southwest Conference and two Big Twelve Conference regular season titles,
and of course three Final Four appearances, the first and

(01:34:10):
only perfect season in Texas women's basketball history, but the
first perfect season in the history of NCUBA women's basketball,
that nineteen eighty five nineteen eighty six women's basketball team,
which still holds the only national championship in basketball at Texas.
And she had been in a sort of advisory role

(01:34:32):
to Chris del Conte over the last few years, and
effective New Year's Eve, she'll just continue as a volunteer
the Press Release Rights, providing input and support as requested
or needed. She'll also be wrapping up her nine year
run with the NCUBA in Fractions Committee on the administrative
side later on in the summer of twenty twenty six

(01:34:55):
coming up. I mean, Jody Conrad took the time when
I was a journalism student at Texas to answer questions
that I had about the growing attendance for Texas women's
basketball and the enthusiasm they were drumming up under Vick
Schaeffer was it was for a story I was doing
on the new mobile entry policies for tickets as a

(01:35:17):
young journalism student at the Moody College at Communication, and
she took the time to talk about some of the
differences in how far things have come for women's basketball
as a sport, not just in the context of UT's campus,
but in the context of sports nationwide. She remembers their

(01:35:39):
locker rooms when she first arrived, having urinals in them.
She's like, that's how I knew they weren't even designed
with women's basketball in mind. When she came to UT,
she was the first women's coach that wasn't required to
teach any collegiate classes. She was a volleyball coach for
the first two years and then was the associate athletics
structor for all women's sports. Over the next fifteen she

(01:36:04):
helped develop the strength and conditioning programming for all of
Texas women's athletics, seeking out Dana Deluke, the shot put champion,
to develop her team. That was sort of a different
approach at the time that helped develop elite female student
athletes in a way that hadn't been afforded to them before.

(01:36:26):
I know, I was reporting on the attendance boost in
the mid twenty tens, right, kind of coinciding with the
rise of women's basketball again on the national scene. But
remember Texas women's basketball was among the first to really
draw well. I mean they were averaging what eight thousand
fan crowds in the mid eighties with that perfect season

(01:36:47):
that they had. It was obviously the success on the
court that helped, but Conrad also instrumental in kind of
creating that model that other athletic departments tried to emulate
when it came to their basketballs, with the TV coverage,
the media coverage, the fundraising, the sponsorships, everything that has
to do with engaging a community to make Texas women's

(01:37:09):
basketball and to a lesser extent, the sport as a whole,
what it is today. And she is a Hall of
famer in every sense of the word. Congratulations on one
hell of a career for Longhorn legend, Jody Conrad. We'll
talk more Citrus Bowl next here on The Craig Way Show.
This is Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred the Zone and

(01:37:31):
you can always join us for free as well on
the iHeartRadio app. Wrapping up our Citrus related bumpbacks today,
we've got something in the Orange from Zach Bryan. So
already on scene in Orlando since Friday, the Texas Longhorns
have been there and we mentioned some of their staff
and player personnel talk to the media yesterday. Among those

(01:37:54):
was the offensive coordinator Kyle Flood, and he was asked
about the transition that Texas football is under and just
in general the state of bull season in the transfer
portal era. Is this going to be a normal part
of college football?

Speaker 5 (01:38:10):
Now?

Speaker 2 (01:38:10):
Here's Kyle Flood's inside on what it's been like.

Speaker 7 (01:38:12):
I think it is.

Speaker 16 (01:38:13):
I think this is something that everybody in college football
is going to have to get adjusted to. You know,
players are making decisions, some players making the decision to
move on and go into the draft, and then some
other players making decisions that you know they're going to
eventually go in the portal you know when that opens.
But I think everybody's kind of navigating this in real time.
It's not like you can call a coach from five

(01:38:35):
years ago and say, hey, how did you guys do this.
You know, it didn't exist back then, so we're all
navigating it. I think what has helped us as a
staff is the experience coming from the NFL and knowing
how to practice with less players. So that part has
been pretty seamless for us, so we kind of know
how to do that. And then there's an exciting part

(01:38:58):
to it as well, where you get some younger players
who maybe didn't have as big a role during the
regular season. Now their role gets to expand, and I
think for us as coaches that's really exciting because not
only does it give them a chance to impact the
game this week, but you get a.

Speaker 7 (01:39:12):
Little glimpse maybe of what is coming in the future.

Speaker 1 (01:39:15):
We might get a glimpse of kJ Lacey, who has
been the third string quarterback, winning that job over Trey
Owens over the course of the season. And Kyle Flood
was asked whether we'll see kJ Lacey and just in
general his philosophy on handling playing time in a bowl
game like this.

Speaker 16 (01:39:32):
I think it's really a position by position. I don't think,
you know, quarterback for us has ever been a rotational position,
so I don't really see that.

Speaker 7 (01:39:40):
But there are other positions now where the.

Speaker 16 (01:39:42):
Running back room is a little bit different than it was,
you know, two weeks ago. You know, so there's gonna
be guys that, you know, Ryan Niblet, Christian Clark, Michael Terry,
James Simon, all these guys are going to have a
role in the game. So I think it's really just
more position by position. On the offensive line, we're fortunate,
you know, are starting five. You know, they're all here
for the game and they're excited to play.

Speaker 7 (01:40:00):
But there's other.

Speaker 16 (01:40:01):
Positions where where the rooms have changed a little bit
over the last two weeks, and I think there you're
going to see a little bit more rotation, a little
bit more flexibility in terms of the game plan.

Speaker 1 (01:40:09):
One more from Kyle Flood, just talking about the offensive
line and the option that maybe Texas will look for
replacement offensive lineman in the portal in this upcoming cycle.
Is it the same kind of characteristics that you look
for in an offensive lineman out of the portal versus
one you're trying to recruit and develop on campus for
four years.

Speaker 7 (01:40:29):
Is it different coaching?

Speaker 16 (01:40:30):
Well, again, in the NFL, you get free agents every
year and you have to coach those guys and you
got to fit them into your system.

Speaker 7 (01:40:38):
And I think the art of.

Speaker 16 (01:40:42):
Recruiting is really the art of evaluation, and it's not
evaluation is he a good player or not?

Speaker 7 (01:40:48):
That's not really the evaluation.

Speaker 16 (01:40:50):
The evaluation is does he have the traits to really
excel at a high level in your system. That was
the Trevor Gooseby evaluation, you know, because a lot of
people when Trevor was in high school didn't see what
Trevor has become, which is an elite offensive tackle in
college football. So but what I saw were the traits.

(01:41:14):
And I'm not in the prediction business, right, as I've
said this before, like I'm in the production business, not
the prediction business. So I didn't predict it, but I
knew he had the trades to play at a really
high level in our system. So whether it's a high
school player, whether it's a player in the portal, that's
really what you're looking for. And then you got to
meet these guys, and meeting them now when they're in

(01:41:36):
the portal is not like meeting them in high school
and they come on an official visit and they're there
for a weekend. It's really much more like your NFL thirty,
you know Top thirty visits where you're saying, Hey, I
got to get this guy in a room. I got
to find out does this guy want to be coached?
Does he believe in the things we believe in? How
great the player? Does this guy really really want to.

Speaker 1 (01:41:53):
Be And speaking of players who hope to maximize their
potential in coming back, Arch Manning making a decision, like
I said a couple of weeks ago, to return to Texas.
I don't think a lot of folks around here felt
like that was in doubt. Just Arch was asked at
this media availability to comment on his decision to return
for the first time since since he's done that.

Speaker 9 (01:42:16):
Yeah, I felt like I had developed a lot this year,
especially towards the back half, and I want to keep
it going.

Speaker 13 (01:42:21):
There's no reason to leave.

Speaker 9 (01:42:23):
I feel like I got a lot more football left
to play and excited to still be a part of
this team.

Speaker 1 (01:42:28):
His uncle Peyton, played in two of these Citrus Bulls.
His thoughts on that, Yeah, I was.

Speaker 9 (01:42:32):
In New Orleans over the break and my grandfather told
me about those games and my dad and it's cool.
It's cool being a part of this game, especially that
he played in and we're excited to go play a
good Michigan team.

Speaker 1 (01:42:43):
And finally, what are the importance of the extra practices
Texas has enjoyed prior to the ball game.

Speaker 9 (01:42:49):
Yeah, definitely important for us to to step up. Just
two guys have been here a while and good players left,
and also for these young guys to step up, get
more reps and kind of get our timing down with them.

Speaker 1 (01:43:00):
So that's arch Manning, you heard. Trevor Gooseby was at
this media availability as well. He was asked about the
importance of this bowl game for both the team and
his own future, and whether or not he had an
update on a potential decision to enter the draft or
to stay at Texas another year.

Speaker 17 (01:43:16):
For us, it's kind of just sending a message to
you know, Costleball playoffs and the rest of the of
the nation of you know, like we're a dominant football
team or a physical football team, and you know, whether
we should have been in or not, you know, it's
up to the Costball playoff, but we're just here to
send a message and go and dominate this game. As
for my decision, you know, I'm just going to go
throughout this game, you know, kind of focus on this
game right now and then I'll make a decision after that.

Speaker 1 (01:43:37):
We had some other college football stories that will actually
get to tomorrow, but wanted to focus on this in
the backdrop of all this bowl prep for the Longhorns.
Cam Coleman, a highly talented wide receiver who will likely
be in the twenty twenty seven draft and likely early
in that draft, is in the transfer portal. He is
leaving Auburn Alex golesh new head coach, unable to keep

(01:44:01):
Cam Coleman on the planes, and Pete Knachos from On
three is reporting that Texas and Texas A and M
are two early programs to watch for Cam Coleman. This
is going to be likely one of the biggest deals
in terms of money for any receiver, maybe any player
in college football non quarterback in the transfer portal, and

(01:44:21):
so we'll keep an eye on that, certainly provide any
updates we have on that as the week goes along.
Unlikely we see anything on that before this bowl game occurs,
but you just never know. With the wild wild west
of the transfer portal in twenty twenty five, so I
shouldn't have dared speculate. We'll wrap up the show at
just a moment here on AM thirteen hundred to some

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