Thanksgiving Week Football Primer: Lone Star Showdown, HSFB Regional Semis, Cowboys-Chiefs

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Our final show before the Thanksgiving break, our final show
before the Lone Stars Showdown. Lots to discuss here on
a Tuesday afternoon. My name is Jay Kurbin, the producer
of the Craig Ways show in for Craig today as
he prepares to call some more Longhorn basketball from Maui

(00:39):
a little later on Here tonight, we'll try and touch
base with Craig as this program rolls along. We got
lots of stuff on deck to get you ready for
a great feast week, not just in terms of college basketball,
but across all Longhorn sports. And let's set the tape

(01:00):
for you as we get started on this Tuesday afternoon,
we're going to talk about the big matchup of DKR,
the Longhorns home finale against Texas A and M and
the Cotton Holdings Lone Stars Showdown with Evan V from
inside Texas It joins us in just a few minutes,

(01:20):
going to take you inside some of the keys to
this matchup and give you a little preview on the
potential CFP implications of it. We will have inconceivable special
Black Friday edition of it on this edition of the program.
We will then pivot to a little bit of high
school football. We'll run you through the regional semi final matchups.

(01:44):
Just sixteen teams left in every classification, the teams that
are still playing on Thanksgiving. And that's something that growing
up outside of Texas, I never really understood the significance
of until I kind of got immersed and started covering
high school football in the lone Star State. The pride

(02:04):
and tradition that comes with practicing on Thanksgiving, because if
you're playing on Thanksgiving week, it means you had a
hell of a season. And we'll talk about which teams
are still alive, which kind of playoff pathways look the
most promising for the Austin Area teams. Like we told
you at the end of the show yesterday, a lot
of Austin Area teams lost in the Area finals a

(02:28):
week ago.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
We'll talk to EJ.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Sanchez of Texan Live about that, get his thoughts on
those teams that are still remaining, and what kind of
matchups draw the most popcorn across the state this weekend.
In the high school ranks, we'll talk in a moment
about Longhorn Basketball who in case you fell asleep last

(02:50):
night game that ended just before one o'clock Central time.
Longhorn basketball fell short in Maui, a one point loss
eighty seven eighty six at the hands of Bobby Hurley's
Arizona State Sun Devils. Longhorns had a ten point lead
after trailing by five at the half. They came out

(03:16):
had a couple of chances to put the game away late,
saw those opportunities ultimately slipped through their fingers. A couple
of miss free throws gave Arizona State the chance to
come down the floor, and Maurice Odom, their point guard,
did his best James Harden impression with a thirty six
point performance, sixteen of eighteen at the free throw line.

(03:37):
This was a foul fest in Maui last night. We're
going to hear some of Sean Miller's thoughts on the
game in just a moment. But Arizona State, a team
ranked eighty fifth in the ken Pom rankings by no.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Means a bad team. Five and one now overall.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
With this win over Texas, they beat the Longhorns, knocking
Texas back to the loser's bracket in this invitational. That
means they play at nine to thirty Central time tonight
right here on am thirteen hundred zone against Shamanad Division
two school from Hawaii, always involved in the event. Longhorns
have played Shamanad twice before, actually lost the last time

(04:17):
these two teams met back in twenty twelve, and so
obviously with it being a Division two school, not necessarily
an opportunity for Texas men's basketball to build their resume
as much as they would have liked this weekend in Maui.
This is one of those losses to Arizona State that
might come back to bite Texas if they find themselves

(04:37):
on the bubble, But obviously still a long way to
go in the non conference late in the season.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Overall, for Sean Miller's team, who shot.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
It at seventy three percent from the field in the
second half seventy six percent, actually, I beg your pardon,
and we're unable to come away with the victory. A
little bit of a shocker there. Free throw shoe had
a lot to do with it. Longhorns were called for
twenty eight fouls. Here were Sean Miller's opening comments when

(05:05):
asked about the game in the postgame presser.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, I'd like to credit Arizona State, you know, I
think around that eight minute mark might have even been less.
We created an advantage eight ten points, maybe twelve points,
where you know a lot of times you get into
the mid second half and you're down ten, you know,
it's easy to lose confidence, lose fight, get out of

(05:31):
maybe what they do well, and they did just the opposite.
They kept fighting, they made plays, they made plays on defense.
Some of our turnovers probably had as much to do
with us as them, but I credit them for fighting
and making the game back to one possession. And we
also knew coming in the game that mo Oedem is

(05:56):
a terrific point guard. And I think there are times
in the game where we did a good job on him.
But look when a guy gets thirty six on you
and goes six to twelve from three, sixteen of eighteen
from the free throw line and it hits the game winner.
He sometimes you got to tip your cap. And he
was terrific, too much for us to overcome. And again

(06:17):
I thought the key to the game is that establishing
the lead that we did. In credit Arizona State for
fighting in getting a great win.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
So Texas now sits at four and two overall. They
were led last night in terms of scoring by Dalen Swain,
who had twenty four points to go with five rebounds,
three assists, missed a couple of key free throws, though
late played a game high thirty five minutes. You can
see his role coming with Sean Miller from Xavier is

(06:48):
going to be a very important one for this Texas team.
Matos Ivokea Titus another good night at the office fifteen points,
eight rebounds. He was particularly potent in the early stages
of the second half. Texas made a pretty conscious effort
to feed modus vocatitis to start the second half help
them turn the game around. Longhorns were twenty of twenty
seven from the free throw line. Sun Devils were twenty

(07:10):
eight of thirty six. They were also nine to eighteen
from three, with Maurice Odom their point guard, going six
for twelve. So ran into a hot shooting team and
certainly committed a few too many fouls for Sean Miller's liking.
We'll hear a little bit more on that from Sean
Miller a little bit later on. We'll also preview a
big week in Vegas for the Texas women's basketball team

(07:34):
in the Player's Era Championship. Out there Texas will take
on UCLA in a top four matchup tomorrow. Bruins currently
ranked third in the country and Texas sits at number four.
That game tips off at one o'clock Central on Wednesday.
A lot of you might be in the car en
route to see some family.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Hey, maybe that's what you're doing right now.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
You can listen to that game right here on AM
thirteen hundred Zone Rob Wallace and Kathy Harston, we'll have
the call from Sin City. It's been a big week
for the Texas women's basketball team in terms of recruiting.
They have done nothing but dominate in a small sample
size so far. But they've got Ucla on the docket
tomorrow and then a potential matchup with South Carolina. South

(08:20):
Carolina's gonna play Duke in the other game of that
Players Era tournament at Michelobultra Arena in Las Vegas, and
if the Longhorns win, they might get South Carolina who
takes on Duke. If the Longhorns lose, they'd obviously play
the loser of that South Carolina Duke game. Either way,
it'll be Thursday evening seven o'clock. If the Longhorns were

(08:43):
to lose nine to thirty Central time if the Longhorns win,
so we'll talk a little bit more about that. We'll
give you a preview of the weekend in the NFL,
including three Thanksgiving Day games that are shaping up to
be pretty good to go with your main courses, give
you something good to talk about with your family there,
including the Dallas Cowboys. We'll hear from their owner general

(09:04):
manager Jerry Jones.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
During the program.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
We will hear from Arch Manning from his media availability
yesterday as he gets ready for the Lone Star Showdown
as well. But coming up next, Evan Vith from Inside
Texas joins the program for a deeper dive into this
massive regular season finale, the return of the Lone Star
Showdown football rivalry to DKR. You're listening on Sports Radio

(09:30):
AM thirteen hundred, The Zone and on the free iHeartRadio app. Yes,
a Texan Tuesday on The Craig Way Show means a
return cut from the immortal Stevie Ray Vaughn, and it
also means a return guest Today Inside Texas is Evan
vief Evan a big week for you. Glad you're stealing

(09:50):
some time back in our neck of the woods.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
In DC haws.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
It been.

Speaker 5 (09:56):
Yeah, seriously, I don't know if you can see that
the DC Nationals, I get Chelsea flags back. There's some
elementary school pictures on my bulletin board in my childhood bedroom.
But so got to take some time talk horns here.
What even though it's Thanksgiving?

Speaker 1 (10:08):
Yeah, nothing, nothing like a trip back home for the holidays.
A lot of folks probably on their way home listening
to us right now, but no doubt, big Thanksgiving table
topic and on a lot of.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Longhorn fans minds right now.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
The return of the Lone Star showdown to DKR, first
time in over a decade. And I want to start
with the quarterbacks because I think in the press conference yesterday, Evan,
you and I heard a more relaxed and confident version
of Arch Manning. I don't know how much you can
read into that just from a press conference, but when
you watch the film, can you tell.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
A difference in the way Arch is playing right now?

Speaker 6 (10:44):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (10:44):
I mean, who cares what's saying the press conference when
you're seeing the tape on the field. And I think
the big thing that showed up on the Arkansas game
was his sack avoidance and that's a form of confidence
for a quarterback, as well as the ability to stay
in pockets and trust your own strength, trust your line
a little bit more, which he has definitely done in
the past few weeks since that Hudson left guard Robertson
center changes come into place. So I do think Manning's

(11:05):
playing with a lot more confidence. You're seeing it in
the interviews, of course, but it really is showing that
he knows where to go with the ball a lot better.
He's doing much better job of either hitting us first
read when it's there and not hesitating, or if it's
not there, finding his way to a second and third read,
which you know, I think we talked about earlier in
the here Jake. It was something that he struggled with
early in the season. Is getting better at a little
bit of struggle against Georgia there, But man really turned

(11:26):
it around against Arkansas. I thought that was probably his
best game of the season. I feel like we've said
that a lot with the Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, but
that was really one where he put it all together
and most of the mistakes from like an incompletion standpoint
where kind of wide receiver or just you know, throwaways,
starting a ball out. He started that game so well,
and he really was done by the fourth quarter, even
with that pretty impressive stat line.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
And when you look at this quarterback matchup right, a
guy in arch Manning starting to play his best football,
and then Marcel Reid, who for the most part has
played a pretty high level of football this season.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
What makes them fun?

Speaker 1 (12:00):
And what kind of lens do you look at it
through when you compare these two guys.

Speaker 5 (12:06):
Well, I think it's fun because they're different, you know,
I mean, you know what arch Manning gives you all
these long run fans, You've seen how well he's progressed
as a passer. He's really a pastor now. I think
there was some more dual threatness earlier in the season
that's really gone by the way side. He's much more
willing to stay in the pocket or at least not
scramble to run, but scramble to pass. Marcel Reid does
that well, but he's a much more dynamic run around me.
He's arguably the best athlete on the fieldways out there.

(12:28):
If it's not him, it's one of his receivers. So
he's really good at getting to his second read which
he was not doing last year at all. Really smart
pocket maneuverization. I think he's only been sacked twice an
SEC play, which you know, it's up to his O line,
which is quite good. But man, he's electric. He can
run all over the place. He can dodge in and
out of tackles. They use him well in the just

(12:48):
Design run game. But also a lot of his stats
are coming from lower attempts, like not a lot of passes.
Even as rushing, he's on pretty good yards for Carrie. Now,
how much does that have to do with playing, you know,
inferior opponents a little bit. He's played good defenses. They
haven't played a lot of good teams since that Notre
Dame game, so you take with it as you will.
But even against the best defense he's played, it's about

(13:09):
thirty two points per game from that offense. So they
are scoring in bunches. And that's why I think this
might end up being more of a shootout in Austin then,
especially than last year. But I mean maybe some people
might even be thinking for this season.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, I want I want to put a pin in
that A and M schedule note because I wanted to
get to a question that came in on the text line,
and that is why have we seen less design runs
for arch Manning this year outside of the red zone.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
I think the thing is they wanted that to be
kind of the alleviating the run game earlier in the season,
and then they realized, what if we use that with
the Wingo screens and general screens and RPOs there. So
I think a lot of that has been, Hey, our
quarterbacks getting banged up. Let's instead focus that on are
really good playmakers on the perimeter, which Wingo has his
drop problems, but you've seen him be successful on screens

(13:58):
all throughout the season, but especially the last five weeks.
And then part of this is also you don't want
Manning getting banged up. I mean that is it's nice
to have that QB run game. This would maybe be
the game where you reintroduce it, but you really don't
want your guy taking big hits when you know you
had a Georgia coming up and you had an A
and M coming up. Now you can maybe empty the
clip and design it a little more like you saw

(14:18):
even last year when he got that one touchdown in.
But I think it's just a little better on his body,
and it's a little more efficient for Texas to if
you want to do these runs that aren't running back runs,
just have it be a screenplay. It's basically the same
thing by a conversion standpoint, and you're not art is
comfortable enough to throw them these days that I just
don't think you have to force these read option plays anymore.

Speaker 1 (14:38):
We're talking with Evan V from Inside Texas and getting
to some of your questions.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
They came in via the text line.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Remember you can text the show by texting the word
Texas followed by your question to eight one, five, three zero.
But one question that you kind of tried to answer
this morning, a really good piece for Inside Texas about
A and M's schedule, because you know, they've had a
little bit of fortunate draw when it came to the
SEC opponents on their schedule this year, And I'm wondering

(15:06):
what kind of conclusions did you make about things Texas
can present that A and M hasn't seen from its
other SEC opponents.

Speaker 5 (15:15):
Yeah, if you just go down the line of their
seven that they've played so far, all of them are
bottom half teams. Only when they haven't played is Kentucky
only two Bowl eligible teams, only two teams with three
or more wins in the SEC. One take a way
I did have from it is, you know, obviously since
Notre Dame, it's been the big talking point. The Notre
Dame game did happen, So they've gotten that away game.
They know what it's like to play against a good

(15:36):
team in that harsh environment. They also did it against
LSU because when that game happened, everything was still on
the table for the Tigers. Now, there was probably still
some behind the scenes stuff that wasn't working well. That's
why they kind of crumbled in the second half, gave
about five straight scores. But at halftime in Depth Valley
on a night game, A and M was losing to LSU.
That was not some gimme game for the agues. So

(15:57):
I do think there's some warrant to say, like, you know,
they hadn't played a lot of great teams this year
outside of Notre Dame. But it's really the defensive theirs
that I'm keying in on with that, because they've played
some good defenses as an offense against you know, Auburn
and LSU. Those are good defensive teams with bad offenses
and problems with their coaching staff, but they've really not

(16:17):
been tested as a defense against really good offenses. You know,
it was Notre Dame they played against, and I think
the next closest would have been Missouri, and Missouri had
a third string quarterback and really more of a second
string but a true freshman quarterback in so after that
it was like Mississippi State, who Texas's defense did struggle with,
but not a high powered offense. So I'm wondering if
this A and M team, so far removed from Notre Dame,

(16:38):
is ready for Texas offense. That's like they have to
win this game at putting up that thirty five plus?
Can they alleviate that thirty five plus? And can their
pass us or skt to arch Manning, which third down
defense they're very very good at. But if Texas can
stay ahead of the sticks, is A and M ready
to play like that on the road in Austin? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (16:55):
Great point, Avid.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
The Aggies lead the nation in third down defense seventy
eight percent of third downs they get off the field.
Why is this the case? And you know, how can
Texas stay on schedule? Besides the well, like Sarks said,
the want to keep chopping wood on the run game.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (17:17):
I mean, first of all, on the and M side
of things, well, cashus Howell is. I believe he's up
there for the Betrek Award, or it might not be
the betteran, but one of the major awards in college
football for being the best defensive player in the country.
He is an elite pass rusher, a first round pick type,
really different from the ones that you've seen at A
and M. Last year they had these first round level
guys in Scorton and Stuart, but they were bigger dudes.

(17:38):
They were true defensive ends. Howell gives actual juice off
the edge, and when he's in one on one situations,
he alone is hard to cover. And then you pair
that with these really athletic guys that they've gotten both
from recruiting and the portal. Elko has always been good
at scheming up blitz Is on third down. Just bringing
five of stunts is enough for him to get home
with Howell on his own on the edge, And of
course we know texas is O line struggles with those

(17:59):
stunt plays. So when they're running this quarters coverage and
sometimes they'll have a safety come in blitz from one
of the other sides of the quarters. It just brings
a lot of different things that you have to look
out for as an offensive line coach and a schemer.
That's really tough to deal with. And they have the
athletes and the players to get it done, guys who
can buy into the system. As for what Texas needs
to do, we'll obviously stay ahead of those sticks, stay

(18:19):
out of third down. But you can handle third down
and two. You can handle third down and up to four. Here,
it's really the problem when they've gotten into a lot
of these third down and tens and third down seven
pluses where clearly they are not equipped. They don't have
the receiver route running talent, they don't have the offensive
line to keep manning there. It's been a lot of
hero players from him in that case. So it has
to be either know, either getting the run game going

(18:41):
a little later where your pass game is opening it up,
forcing the safeties to stay a little a little bit
over top and then you can maybe run the ball
against uneven fronts, or it's hey, we're not gonna be
able to run the ball, let's just throw a lot
of screens and once they start biting on those screens,
let's throw it over their heads. It's kind of basic,
but unfortunately basics out what Texas is going to have
to do to be able to do specifically that, and

(19:03):
they're gonna need to connect on two or three deep
balls this game.

Speaker 6 (19:06):
Jake.

Speaker 5 (19:06):
I mean, it's got to be kind of what I
happened with Arkansas where they got to they gotta take
the top off of a good defense, but I think
the secondary is probably the most susceptible to be exposed
on that A and M side.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Yeah, certainly if the Texas O lion is able to
hold up. All right, let's flip sides of the ball
for a second. Talking with Evan V, the inside Texas
sarcus has stated this all, you know, three kind of
different situations between the Vanderbilt fourth quarter, the Georgia fourth quarter,
and then the Arkansas fourth quarter, which really was you know,
kind of garbage time in that Arkansas game. But yeah,

(19:36):
no matter how you slice it, it's it's three kind
of less than ideal fourth quarters in a row for
PK's defense.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
Do you read anything into this?

Speaker 5 (19:47):
I do, and I don't. One thing I'll say is
it's kind of this like unstoppable force versus imovable object
idea where Sarkisian has been really good as a coach
in these in these rivalry games. I mean, since you're one,
he obvious they had two losses, but since then it's
only been one loss in so Oklahoma they beat A
and M last year. They beat Arkansas twice since then.
So he gets his players up for these these rivalry

(20:08):
games and that's usually a fourth quarter affair. And so
that's one thing is his team plays through four quarters
against rivals. But also, like you said, you saw it
against Vanderbilt, which was sort of garbage time, not fully
garbage time where they really gave a lot of points there.
So that's where they lost the game was end of
third quarter into the fourth and then yeah, Arkansas just
a lot of kind of secondary guys, backups coming in.

(20:29):
What it means is that the defense needs to stay
off the field and they need to just have their
best players in throughout that second half. I mean, I
do like some of the adjustments they've been doing. I'm
working out on peace by Cave Phillips kind of taking
over that CV two spot, but they need to keep
it restricted to their best guys against A and M's
best guys on that side of the ball in the
fourth quarter because I just can't be seeing them have

(20:51):
secondary guys at safety and that linebacker getting torched by
really really good NFL players on the A and M
side of the ball and think, why isn't the better
player in on the team. And I know there's concerns
with you know, health and conditioning or whatever, but you know,
it's the last game of the season for Texas most
likely when it comes to what really matters, they need
to empty the clip here and that starts with keeping

(21:12):
the offense on the field the defense off ball. So
let's just have our best guys go and be our
best guys in this game.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Speaking of some of the best guys for Texas, bud
Gus Award finalist, as we heard today Anthony Hill, his
status still a little bit up in the air. Ty
Anthony Smith. It's going to miss the first half thanks
to that somewhat questionable targeting decision. What kind of impact
could this have on Texas's defense on Friday.

Speaker 5 (21:38):
I want to say that Hill will will play. I
think he's the kind of guy and the injury doesn't
sound so severe that there's a path to him getting
out there on the field that first half. But even
if he is out there, it's a thin room. I mean,
try Moore had to lead the team in snaps last week,
comfortably led the team in snaps last week, and he
was playing a lot of off ball linebacker. And that
maybe means you need Brad Spence to play there. What

(22:00):
it really means is you need the best Leone Lafoul
game you've had since well last year's A and M game,
where I thought I thought that Lafou had his best
game that time, and he's struggled a little bit in
the second half of the season. I would say I
think most people have seen some of the mistackle problems
he's he's been the wrong spots in certain pass concepts.
But you know, he just had a fumble Resartain for
a touchdown and that money disrespected Bevo a little bit

(22:20):
on that celebration. But that's the kind of confidence Boilder
you really need going into a game like this. So
they're going to be targeting that part of the field.
Lafou into this strong safety role that Texas has in
pass coverage, he's got to be good. He's got to
be willing to stay out there and be able to
play on all types of downsload that be passed downs
or against the run, because yes, Smith's not gonna be
able to be there on those pass rushing sets that

(22:42):
they like to do if they're doing that three one
seven dollars or just the regular NASCAR that they've been
doing a lot of the year. And yeah, Hill might
be a little bit less conditioned than you'd like. And
then a little bit more injured. Could be a chance
of reinjury too. You never know, So More is gonna
play a lot linebacker, But really is the guy you got.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
A kiak key in on there, Yeah, well be sure
to keep an eye on him.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Talking with Evan V from inside Texas, who you've been
pretty pretty dialed in and pretty accurate with your predictions
on how the committee would view Texas coming into each
week that we've visited here on the show, where do
you expect to see Texas in the rankings tonight? Which
I mean, I know it's one thing to say the
rankings don't really matter.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
You just have to go out and take care of business.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
But where Texas comes into the week might have an
impact on what their ceiling is if they're able to win.

Speaker 5 (23:30):
So ap head Michigan over Texas at fifteen Longhorns at sixteen.
I don't think that's how it's going to be for
the committee. I think that unfortunately, it feels like this
year Jake and I can talk for hours about this.
A lot of the CFP discourse has kind of been
who is your loss to and what is your loss
number saying? And it's less about what are your wins
saying about you? And so I think that's really going
to hurt Texas because you know, the Quite aren't quite

(23:55):
there to overcome the Florida loss quite yet. Now they
beat A and M, that's a different story. But I
think around fifteen or sixteen is where you're gonna see
them at. I think they're probably gonna be fifteen right there.
I don't think Michigan really has the argument just yet
until they go out and Beatlehouse State if they can
go do that. So that's where I see it happen.
Pretty big, pretty steep, I guess climb to get into that,
you're really looking for the top. And if you're an

(24:17):
at large team, because you'reet in an ACC and I
guess AAC or JMU from the Sunbelt in for those
last two spots. So you gotta go from fifteen to
ten in one week. It's gonna be tough, even even
with the when against the top three team, that's gonna
be really hard.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
Sark punted this question until after the game on Friday.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
I'll give it to you right now.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
Do you think Texas with a win deserves to be
right up near that bubble line in the conversation?

Speaker 5 (24:44):
Yeah, I think they deserve to be there. I don't
know if they deserve to get in specifically because A.
We just don't know what's gonna happen with these other teams.
I do think a win against A and M rightfully
should jump other teams on their schedule. If you have
that top three you win, it should definitely kind of
cancel out what happened in games still earlier in the season.

(25:04):
And then you go to present to the committee, Hey,
we lost two games against the two best teams the nation,
or two the top four teams the nation. We've beat
two teams who are also in the CFP. Talk if
Oklahoma wins Thesader, they're in the CFP. At least look
at us versus whatever BYU or whatever Notre Dame or
whatever Alabama's from showing to the committee. Now, I do
think that any of these ten and two SEC teams

(25:25):
should probably get in, and there's probably gonna be quite
a few ten and two or better SEC teams. So
can Texas be the sixth best SEC team and get in?
I don't think so. So I think they're gonna be
in the discussion, but they're gonna fall like just short
if they win, which is still a big hit.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
So that hits at your answer to my next question,
what's the rooting guide for Texas during these Thanksgiving games?

Speaker 7 (25:46):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (25:46):
Boy, are you rooting for I know there's a.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Lot at the risk of looking like Charlie Day and
it's always sunny with the you know, the strings tying
together with the suspects. Who does Texas need to lose
to even get into this conference?

Speaker 5 (26:01):
Yeah, I said that. I did a little article on this,
and I'll probably do another one tomorrow on exactly what
it will look like. But you need Ohio State to
be at Michigan, so you keep Michigan out of getting
to ten and two. If the win over Ohio State,
you got to hope that one of but probably both
of Oklahoma and Alabama lose to LSU and Auburn in
those games, which are possible probably not going to happen,

(26:24):
and from there it might be able to sort itself
out if Texas were to win, where you jump over
some of these two lost you know, a Utah to Miami,
and you kind of separate yourself and it becomes you
versus Vanderbilt, but you've already beaten Vanderbilt and you have
better wins either way. I do think that those are
kind of the three main things you have to look
out for, and then maybe you get a BYU upset.

(26:44):
But I think b YU at eleven to two with
a conference championship loss probably gets an over a nine
in three Texas. So YU wins, it might just be
over for the long Corns, which would be unfortunate, but
that's just how it is. I think Notre Dame is
pretty much a lock they win this week. It seems
like that's the way cause the committee is looking, so
that's yeah. I think it's it's Ohio State being Michigan,
Auburn being out of Alabama, and ls being Oklahoma. Then

(27:06):
you can start talking about getting in there.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
So interesting, you don't think the Longhorns with an A
and M win as a common opponent, would be able
to leap frog Notre Dame.

Speaker 5 (27:17):
I just there's been so much precedent in favor of
Notre Dame, and there really is something to be said about, Hey,
this team is ten and zero and they look like
they're a really good team. One of the things that's
really gonna hurt Texas is that the Committee's going to say, well,
look at that Kentucky game they only they barely escaped
in against a bad Kentucky team. Look at this Mississippi
State game they barely want against the bad Mississippi State team.

(27:40):
So you're looking at a nine to three team who
has the three and then also has a few blemishes
on their schedule that even though they are wins, I
just think there's gonna be too much of a Notre
Dame push because they're already there for.

Speaker 4 (27:51):
Them to be.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
Overtaken by a team of three losses that also has
two other games that aren't the prettiest.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
Realistically, I'm with you there.

Speaker 1 (27:59):
I think you and I both wish the committee valued
the wins a little bit more. But those are just
parts of a big picture of a full season. Before
we let you go, Evan, what is your prediction for
this lone star showdown?

Speaker 5 (28:16):
You know, I really don't want to come on thirteen
hundred of the zone and say the Longhorns aren't gonna win, but.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
No, you gotta is gonna be honest.

Speaker 5 (28:24):
I do think this is going to turn into a shootout,
and I think that's really A and M favored. I
think that's where Marcel Reid and those wide receivers can
if you're gonna give them seventy chances to have big
explosive plays and they're throwing it on forty of them.
I just think there's too many where craven concepts show
and can take advantage of. Either the secondary for Texas
is just bad, or they're young and they're asking to

(28:45):
use a lot of young players that might get exposed there.
I think it's one where A and M puts up
a solid forty eight and Texas loses thirty five, thirty
eight and one field goal and one possession near that end,
the game is going to be the decider. But that's
what happens when you're both your defenses give up five.
It's it's kind of like, hey, at the end, of
the day's whoever has the bowl lass or whichever offense

(29:05):
is just that tiny bit more efficient than the other one.
So I do have the Aggues winning just barely. The
home team stuff does help Texas, but yeah, I think
Bagus are gonna take this one home.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
If the Longhorns win, what stat would make you say, Oh, well,
that explains it.

Speaker 5 (29:21):
Poof. I think. I think it's always a cop out
to say turnovers, because that's true for any and every game.
So I will say the other side of the rushing game,
I do think, just the way that starts talked about
the ways game plan, the rush game is only going
to happen if the passing game is going well and
you can use it later, like start it in the
middle of the second quarter instead of starting it in
the first. But you know, A M's got some banged

(29:44):
up running backs, and I don't think Alevion Moss is
gonna be going for this game. So if your Texas
defense can keep them to that three yards per carry
or even somewhat less than that and make them lose
that that part of their game, suddenly they have a
suspect right side of the offensive line that's gonna have
to pass Quigans, Colin Simmons and Hero and Anthony Hill.
That's where when you when Texas can get into those
third and lungs, suddenly it feels like a Texas favorite game.

(30:06):
So I'd look at opponent rushing yards, how well the
adu's run the ball, if they're coming out quickly with
that four and a half yards per carry, running the
ball well, kind of like what you've seen a lot
of against Texas recently. It's gonna be hard for the
Horns to win this one.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
Well.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
You can read his work at Inside Texas. Evan Veeth
really appreciate the time. Great breakdown.

Speaker 5 (30:25):
Of course, Jake's always fun.

Speaker 6 (30:26):
Coming on.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
We'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
That is our preview in part of the Lone Star Showdown.
We'll hear a little more about the matchup from arch
Manning dive into a couple more stats.

Speaker 2 (30:39):
A little later on in the program.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
But up next Inconceivable, a special Black Friday themed edition
of our favorite segment. That's next here on Sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred, The Zone and iHeart Station which means
Guaranteed Human our second hour of three on the program today,

(31:01):
Jay Kerrman in for the Hall of famer Craig Way.
He's in Maui getting ready to call a game two
of the Texas men's basketball team's trip to the Maui Invitational,
and it'll be at nine to thirty Central Time tonight
against Shamanan. We might get to check in with Craig
a little bit later on in the program. We'll keep
you posted for that. Either way, We've still got a

(31:21):
lot to get to. We'll talk NFL and Thanksgiving weekend.
Hear some soundbites from Jerry Jones as well as Andy
Reid as the Cowboys and Chiefs get ready for a
big time tilt. Couple teams right on the outside of
the playoff picture that both need it pretty badly. At
three point thirty on Thursday afternoon, we'll continue our preview
of the Lone Star Showdown. In a few moments, we'll

(31:42):
hear soundbites from Ethan Burke and Michael Taff. Later on
in the show, we'll hear what arch Manning had to
say to the media yesterday as he talks about the
season as a whole, about Marcel Reid, about what the
Keys will be to beating Texas A and M, and
we discussed with Evan v. He sounds a little more relaxed,

(32:02):
a little bit more confident at the moment. Coming in
to this one, we'll talk a little more college football
playoff picture. We broke it down some with Evan in
the first hour today. I'll give you my kind of
top twenty five, not quite the same as probably what
you'll see tonight on the College Football Playoff ranking Show. Ultimately,
it won't matter for Texas unless they can beat Texas

(32:22):
A and M on Friday in the lone Star Showdown,
which we will have for you right here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred. Zone coverage starting at two thirty
with the Thrown and Longhorn Podcast, then beginning at three
thirty down on BiVO Boulevard for Longhorns Game Day. It'll
be Cameron Parker as well as the morning kickoff guys

(32:43):
Mike Harball, Harge and the World's Strongest Man Mark Henry.
Two hours wall to wall coverage. If you're gonna be
down there on BiVO Boulevard, you can come see us
at the winship circle right in front of Big Beer
with lots of TVs around. You can watch some of
the other rivalry games going on that day and you
can listen to the show. Get yourself ready to welcome

(33:06):
this rivalry back to DKR. First though, before we get
to any of that, let's give away some music festival tickets.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
Yeah, this is a big deal.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
The Sick New World Music Festival on October twenty fourth
of next year. It's in Fort Worth at Texas Motor Speedway.
You can see a Slayer system of a down filter,
Marrilyn Manson and many more. It's not what I listened to,
but it's what antone like them. One of our promotions
assistants came on yesterday and said, you will not want
to miss and all you have to do for your
chance to win a pair of tickets to this festival

(33:38):
is leave us a talkback message. And if you've never
done it, it's very easy. If you're on the iHeartRadio app,
which you can download absolutely free, you search AM thirteen
hundred the zone. From there, you can tap either a
play button, which is black, or a microphone button which
is red. You're gonna tap that red microphone. Leave us
a message up to thirty seconds long. Tell us why

(34:00):
you want to go to the Sick New World Music Festival,
who you want to see and make sure you include
the keyword today, and the keyword today is sick. So
that's how you can win a pair of tickets and
make next October a lot of fun for you and
maybe even see some of your favorite bands all in
the same place at Texas Motor Speedway.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
Okay, as we continue to.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
Get you ready for the Lone Star show Down, this
is our last show before that.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
Tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
During the time of this program airs, the Texas women's
basketball team will be playing in Vegas against number three
ucla big tie test for Vic Schaeffer and company. Longhorn
football game kicks off at six point thirty on Friday night,
and there is certainly a void at linebacker if Anthony

(34:52):
Hill is not able to play. Given ty Anthony Smith,
we'll miss the first half of this game due to
targeting she was called for in the game against Arkansas
last week. Longhorns lost the appeal, as coach Sarkisian mentioned
to us in the press conference yesterday, So it puts

(35:14):
a lot of extra pressure on some of the rest
of the defensive guys like Michael Tapp, a leader in
the secondary who will be out there for his final
home game in all likelihood at dk R, and he
reflected on that a little bit with the media yesterday.

Speaker 8 (35:29):
Take it out.

Speaker 9 (35:30):
Yeah, well, I usually try to give myself an extra
moment every game, but definitely will.

Speaker 5 (35:34):
I think I've tried done.

Speaker 9 (35:36):
Everything that I can and this burn orange to put
you know, Texas to where you know it belongs, and
don't regret anything. And I'm so blessed to wear it
for five years and there's nothing more I could have
done as a teammate, as an individual, so I'm really proud.
I don't regret anything and just go out there and
be joyful.

Speaker 1 (35:56):
It'll be senior day down there on the field before
the game kicks off, and certainly something that coach Sarksian
is cognizant of. And he was asked about this by
Roger Wallace during the during his press conference yesterday. We
didn't quite get to this on yesterday's show, he was asked,

(36:17):
do you wonder how your seniors are able to kind
of flip the switch from the emotions of that ceremony
to then the intensity of the rivalry matchup.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Here's what sark To say.

Speaker 4 (36:29):
I don't wonder it.

Speaker 10 (36:30):
I have an idea that there probably is a little
bit of emotion involved, and there should be. I mean,
these guys give their blood, sweat and tears to this program,
to this university, and they're catalysts for where we're at culturally,
and they've been part of some great teams. And so
the idea that we get to honor them Saturday night
before that ball is kicked off, they deserve that.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
But at the end of the.

Speaker 10 (36:52):
Day, knowing this group, they're going to be focused on
this game. They'll they'll take their moment and they'll have
their moment to shine, have come out of the tunnel
and having their you know, a couple of minutes there.
But knowing the guys, you know, the Michael Tafts, Ethan Burks,
you know, the Jalen Gilbos, they'll they'll be refocused pretty
quickly and get.

Speaker 8 (37:10):
Ready for the game.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
One more from Taff here, whose friendship with arch Manning
has certainly had a big impact on on Archer's development
as the starting quarterback and the leader of this Longhorned team.
Michael Taff was asked who he would vote for for
Heisman yesterday, and in his answer he mentioned his best
friend Arch Manning.

Speaker 9 (37:34):
I think, yeah, I don't know. You compare his numbers.
I bet his numbers are probably up there. I think
he's the most hated on person in all of college football,
and he doesn't even care. He just cares about winning,
and he cares about his teammates, and you know the
things that he's done for this team and the university
that he's gone through. I think if you look at

(37:55):
the best player in college football, I think it's Arch.

Speaker 5 (37:58):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (37:59):
So that was and he heard a little bit of
Steve Sarkisian there on the end. That was Michael Taff
sticking up for his QB. Arch Banning kind of brushed
it off. When he was asked later on about these
comments from Michael Taff, he took a different perspective on it.

Speaker 8 (38:12):
No, not really.

Speaker 7 (38:14):
I feel like I'm life on my teammates and coaches.
You know, I don't pay attention to all the other stuff.
So it's really all I care about is my teammates,
family and friends.

Speaker 8 (38:24):
Other than that, I'm not really interested.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
So arch Banning brushing off the fact that Michael Taff
called him the most hated Some of that I think
just a reference to the outside noise and certainly the
way that Arch Manning was talked about earlier in the
season when he was struggling. He'll hear Arch talk more
about his growth through some of that outside noise, why
he feels like he's improved as the season's gone along,

(38:50):
and he'll talk a little bit more about the impact
of seniors like Michael taff On not just Arch Manning's development,
but the way that this Texas team has stayed together
through the adversity. That'll come up a little later on
this hour, but next will shift gears to high school football.
Plenty of Austin area teams still alive will tell you
about the regional semi final matchups you'll want to keep

(39:13):
an eye on with EJ. Sanchez of Texan Live. Right
after this on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone on.

Speaker 5 (39:19):
The road again, going.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Places the great Willie Nelson on a Texan Tuesday as
the road to Arlington, the road to a state championship
continues for several Austin area high school football teams. Here
to break it all down our good friend EJ Sanchez
for Texan Live.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
EJ.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
Happy Early Thanksgiving not just as a holiday for family,
but a holiday in high school football.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Big milestone for a lot of teams around the state.

Speaker 5 (39:50):
The Thanksgiving to you. No, it's funny getting off of
these coaches calls that I've been, you know, going through
all morning. That's always the first goal. Whenever a team
feels like they have deep aspirations, first thing they say is, hey,
let's make sure we're together on Thanksgiving. We'll go from there.
So any Texas high school fan, coach player, they'll all say, hey,
we'll start with Thanksgiving and you know all the all

(40:10):
the ATX teams that are there. Right now, the step one.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
Is done, which games will you be covering this weekend?

Speaker 5 (40:17):
So this weekend, non Austin area teams, but an Austin
area game. I'm doing six A Division two and I
am doing probably my favorite game of the year. I'm
doing College Park and De Soto. So this is kind
of the meeting ground between Houston and Dallas. I got
off both of those coaches calls, and this is a
It's going to be a good one, I promise you.

Speaker 7 (40:36):
Well.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
We've got lots of great matchups to preview that are
that are all over the state, but we're going to
focus mainly on the Austin area teams. Looking back though, quickly,
just some of the Austin area teams who seasons came
to an end in the area around You had Huddle
losing fifty six to thirty seven against San Antonio Johnson,
Georgetown fell forty two to twenty one against Frisco Lone Star,

(40:57):
and Cedar Park came up a touchdown shy against First
Go Wakeland forty three to thirty six. Just starting with
that batch of three, any of those results surprise you
a little bit, you.

Speaker 5 (41:08):
Know, with the home field advantage that Georgetown received in
their Frisco game, they win their flip, you know how
it always goes with stadiums, They win their flip to
be able to play that game at home. But man,
that was a good team they played. They played a
really good team that Frisco district. They are absolutely up
this year. It was always the round where I thought that,

(41:28):
you know, once you kind of have those cross regional matchups,
not in terms of the actual region they're zoned in,
but in terms of the distance wise, I thought that's
where we would get, you know, some separation a little.
Georgetown's one that sticks out to me. Of course, jet Walker,
who flipped his commitment twice in two weeks originally from
West Virginia. Then he flipped in Minnesota, coming in late
with the Longhorns, and they offered him a chance to

(41:50):
stay home, so they That surprises me simply because it's
hard to say at any point that Jetwalker isn't the
best player on the field. But those were teams that
you know, you figured they'd be they'd be in dogfights,
and all three of them really were in it, at
least for a half.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
You saw Anderson quite a bit this year. We followed
their story closely. They fall short forty three to thirty
against Barbarus Hill. But the Trojans, I mean, how do
you think they'll view this season? Their first playoff win
since twenty ten in a record setting performance from Caleb Crenshaw.

Speaker 5 (42:24):
It was almost an equally rapid rise and it equals
the descent almost And as with all due respects to
coach Hatcher, who I have the utmost respect for, and
that team really from what people thought at the end
of last season where they thought that they were going
to need to reload, now they did with a couple
of transfers. Wed We talked about Caleb Crenshaw, we talked

(42:44):
about yahiem Riley and they were absolutely big. I have
to categorize it as a success. Okay, anytime you make
school history like that. If you would have told them
at the beginning of the year, hey, you guys are
going to go into the last week of the year
undefeated and you're gonna win a playoff game, everybody takes that. Now,
maybe they didn't anticipate that being undefeated at that point.

(43:06):
I tell you what, Jake, I think the season finale
loss when they had an undefeated district championship on the
line and they had to play Flugerville Weiss in the
manner in which they lost, I think it was the
first time since A and M consolidated early in the
district season where they kind of got punched in the

(43:26):
mouth a little bit. And you follow that up with
a really close game against Friendswood in the by district
round where Friendswood was a two point conversion away from
beating Abershit and having a first round exit. So you
already had the playoff win. I thought that they would
hang around with a running game against Barber's Hill just
a little bit longer, and they did for really most

(43:47):
of that third quarter. But that's a big and talented
Barber's Hill team, who's now going to be taking on
Wise I with coach Hatcher and the rest of those kids.
I mean Liam McMillian, who I think is one of
the more underrated edge players, Darby Shire, the way he
came in having to take over Max Girlick, who said
all kinds of accolades, Anderson that Trojan group has an

(44:09):
awful lot to be proud of.

Speaker 1 (44:10):
I'm sure they would have loved that rematch with Weiss.
We'll get to that Weis and Barber's Hill matchup in
just a moment, real quick. Iowa Colony knocked out Flugerville
forty nine seven. Richmond Randall beat Connolly fifty nine to
twenty eight.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
But this one raised my eyebrows.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Second year in a row, Brandham beats Liberty Hill and
it was twenty seven twenty four. I think Liberty Hill
had a defensive score too. So they've kind of figured
out that Slot team now a couple of seasons.

Speaker 5 (44:34):
Going more power to him, because as a broadcaster, I
haven't figured it out yet. You would think with how
many snaps that I've seen of an of a center
running this way and then a full back leaks out,
you think that I would know it. No that Brandham
School always is going to be well coached, and it's
a no no if it qualified as a blue blood

(44:55):
football school. But I mean, you just talk about you know,
former Longhorn Malcolm Brown who came out of there. Current
Denver Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton is a Brenham Cub Gidrey
who I was surprised to see. He has all the
records now. He set the Brenham you know, receiving record.
That's always gonna be a fun town to go to.
Whenever I go to Cub Stadium during the regular season,
I always have a good time because those those people

(45:17):
love football right there in Blue Beelt country. And I
was a little bit surprised, especially with the manner in
which limberdy Hill finished up the season and including that
win against bass Drop.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
We'll get to Bastrop in a moment.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
First, LBJ, who dealt with some injuries during this loss
to Bay City final score thirty four nineteen. A good
fourth quarter comeback effort wound up falling short for LBJ.
What did you get to catch any of this one
between LBJ and Bay City?

Speaker 2 (45:45):
And did this result it kind of surprise you.

Speaker 5 (45:49):
So this result surprised me in the sense that I
severely underestimated Bay City. Let's start there, so, of course,
and through the first in the most immediate future, recency
bias says that you know LBJ is not going to
struggle early, especially you get the one seed. You kind
of have a one seed schedule through the first couple
of rounds. But this is about as shocked as I

(46:10):
was last year when they dropped to Lavernia. And I
remember Roger. I remember watching that game with Roger Wallace
on KVVO and watching it and saying, wow, I do
think that this is somewhat of a repercussion of your
district schedule, and it's you can't change the district. You
play who you play, and they beat them in the
manner in which they think they should beat them. They

(46:30):
beat almost They went in over almost every game during
the district season. You know, you see forty burgers in fifties.
They start to mount up when your team is not
used to getting scored on in the first quarter, when
your starters may not be used to playing more all
four quarters. It's different once you get to the playoffs,
And that thought is fresh on my mind talking to

(46:53):
you know, I'm talking to the big boys here, but
the six A and five A programs that say, hey,
we love getting young kids in, we love making sure
everyod gets a chance to play, because that's the essence
of high school football. On the other side of that,
you have to say, I need to make sure that
when it gets cold, when November rolls around, when we're
near Thanksgiving, that these guys can go four quarters. I

(47:14):
would love to see that matchup LBJ being fully healthy.
I do think it's a much closer game. But hats
off to Bay City. That's a very athletic team and
that was always going to be the thought in four A.
Do you have the athletes to keep up with LBJ?
And on this day, with the personnel that LBJ rolled out,
they did, and good luck to them.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
So let's talk now, starting from six A moving on
down about what regional semi final matchups Central Texas teams
will feature in. There's a lot a lot on this
late still in spite of all of those teams whose
seasons ended last weekend. Okay, six A Division one, Lake

(47:55):
Travis has a defense that is a problem. They are
not in the mood to give up a lot of
points this late in the season. That was true again
in a thirteen to seven victory over Brennan. By the way,
Brennan's points did not come from their offense.

Speaker 5 (48:14):
We mentioned it, I think in our halfway kind of
special between yourself and I where we said, okay, the
defensive MVP, you start with Carter Buck. Everybody kind of
just falls in line from there. With Lake Travis, they
haven't allowed more than fourteen since the end of September.
And mind you, that's when they're playing Dripping Springs and Westlake,

(48:34):
which obviously that looks a little different at this point,
but west Lake's Westlake and the Booie score even when
they did give up twenty one, was not in a
got into a shootout with Bowie. To put absolutely as
respectfully as possible, you know, I tell you what McBride,
their quarterback, I think, has really shown a lot of growth,

(48:56):
even in the most immediate future, in over the last
couple of weeks, responsible for the only touchdown in the
win over Brennan. And I say that because he is
in a hotbed of really good quarterbacks. You talk about
Tadeky with Vander Griff and you talk Reece Wise usually gets,
you know, rightfully, So the moniker of okay, hey, these

(49:17):
are the guys in the Austin area and McBride maybe
sometimes doesn't get the spot like he deserves, but I
guarantee you if you ask him, he's the one that's
still playing. I'm obvious talking about with Tadeki as well.
He is in total command of that offense. Lake Travis
is the perfect example of defense travels everywhere, and especially

(49:41):
you're gonna need that in the playoffs. There's it's like
taking a bunch of shots with that with a mallet
towards a big rock and not seeing it fall. And
when you do that enough times as an offense, especially
with the ones that they've gone against, Brennan's always good.
Ask any Lake Travis fans many how much they love
playing them in any sport. We're talking football, I know,
but in any sport with the way realignment goes, it's

(50:03):
always themselves and Brennan, and that's a lot more quality
win and they know it's quality, and everybody knows how
good Brennan is. But the manner in which they did it,
being able to win in multiple different ways is where
I think true championship teams are made, and I think
that's what the Cavs are right now. Thank Carlin, they get.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
The Longhorns of Laredo United. Game is at Heroes Stadium
in San Antonio, elsewhere in that sort of region of
the six A D one bracket, San Antonio, Johnson, Cibolo
Steel is Lake Travis the favorite to get out of
that little pod.

Speaker 5 (50:38):
I think you have to Greg Tepper, the editor in
chief of Dave Campbell Texans Football. He's made some good points.
He's been on that Johnson team all year. And the
more I listen, the more you know I jump into
the film, and then you know, I'll tune in for
a half. That Johnson offense is really good. It is
really really good. That's kind of the match up. I

(50:58):
think everybody kind of wants this. See Steele. I give
them so much credit because this was kind of almost
what we're talking about with Anderson earlier. This was their
reload year where Steele had to overcome the losses of
Chad Warner who's now at UTEP, Jalen Cooper who's now
at SMU getting meaningful playing time, and Royal Capell their

(51:19):
slot receiver. You have three legitimate division one guys on
your offense and they kind of replace it. Now Steele's
defense led by Hugo, one of the top interior defensive
linemen who's headed to Arizona State. That's an interesting matchup.
But when it comes to the overall the regions, to
get back to your question, I think that Lake Travis
would have to simply because we've seen Lake Travis go

(51:41):
against great offenses, maybe not one to the caliber of Johnson,
but we've seen comforable, comparable competition to them, and that's
why I think, you know, you kind of have to
give them a nod at least at this point.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
So Lake Travis is the only team we're talking with EJ.
Santez of Texan Live, who has been all on this
team all season long, the Dripping Springs Tigers. They have
only lost one game this season. It was a fourteen
to seven defeated the hands of Lake Travis. They beat
Harlan fifty two to twenty eight, but it wasn't as
close as that score. This was a forty nine to

(52:17):
seven game at one point. Just how high is the
ceiling for Kalen Zimmerman's group.

Speaker 5 (52:23):
I think you have to put them exactly where you
maybe not Lake Travis because of the defense, but they
can go as far as as anybody, especially in that region. Look,
we talked early and the reason I threw my fists
up and the reason why I celebrate is because you
told me in week two or three, e J, who
were we not talking about? And I said, they just
beat Vandergrift forty one to fourteen.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
Yeah, Dripping Springs.

Speaker 5 (52:45):
Dripping Springs beat them forty one to fourteen, and everybody
kind of brushed it off. And that wasn't me kind
of that wasn't me celebrating in Vandergriff or anything. I'm
a big fan of Drew Sanders. I'm a big fan
of him. But the manner in which they open up
the season with that win against and the grip was
only compounded with a big win against a really good
at Kaleen Horker Heights Club and then a tough loss

(53:07):
against Lake Travis where it says fourteen to seven. They
had the lead late in that fourth quarter. It was
a couple of late turnovers that kind of resulted in
that score, and I've credit to Lake Travis. They got
the turnovers, But that's a coin flip game with five
minutes to play in the fourth quarter, and they were
missing key personnel in that game, might I add, and

(53:27):
also the manner in which they beat Westlake. Nobody puts
up forty five points on Westlake. Nobody does that, but
the Tigers did. And I've been on them all throughout
this year simply because I thought the way they opened
up a season was as good as as really you
could have done. Chase Ames, their their quarterback. He's been

(53:48):
slinging the ball all around the field. You've been able
to get Cooper Reid back into the lineup Dripping Springs,
I think to me, can I don't want to call
it catching lightning in a bottle because of what I
said in the earlier on the season. But now that
they have their stable back, so to speak, they have
their guys ready to go, and they're playing as good
as football as anybody regardless of classification right now.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
And so was Harlan.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
They had won ten in the row, just ran into
the buzz saw that is Dripping Springs. Last week, computer
thinks Dripping Springs has a twenty one point advantage over
bedeena Valley. Excuse me, that game will be played. Let
me make sure I get this right. That game will
be played in San Antonio two o'clock on Friday, Black
Friday game. So the other game on Friday, a night

(54:35):
game at the Alamodome between Vandergrift and San Marcus Drew
Sanders team against John Walsh's team.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
What is this one? Boiled down to.

Speaker 5 (54:47):
Two really good defenses, two really good defenses, definitely the
potential to be I think Craig puts it affectionately a
rock fight. I think that could absolutely lead up to that.
Here's the one thing about Sam Margas before I say
how talented they are, Okay, you have multiple guys going
both ways. Division one talent everywhere Texas State committed linebacker

(55:07):
Lampkin who can go both ways? Is that Sam Marcus.
Earlier on in the season, I believe Week four lost
forty one to six to Lake Travis. So football hasn't
played on paper. We can't exactly. Y oh, let's use
the transit of property. But if you go down through
each team, where I think Vandergrift obviously was better than

(55:28):
west Lake, Westley gave Lake Travis the better game. It's
going to be tough for Sam Marcus. It really is.
And Vander Griff got their groove back because vander Grift,
you know, everybody kind of brushed off the forty one
to fourteen loss and then they lost to McNeil. Now

(55:49):
McNeil's a much improved team. Much improved I think by
virtue of tiebreakers is the reason why they missed the playoffs.
But Vandergrift has been playing playoff games for two of
the last three weeks of the regular season. They had
to beat Round Rock to claim that district championship, so
they've kind of been in this mode for a little
while now. And so with that game, I think I'm

(56:09):
wondering if San Marcus can put enough points on the board.
That's my concern right now against a Vandergrift team that, look,
hey was able to you know, break through that Westlake
defense and that came down to the walk off field goal.
If San Marcus can score first, I think this has
a chance to come down to the last possession.

Speaker 1 (56:30):
Yeah, it certainly would allow them to play that kind
of complementary style that they that they did when it
went right this year. So Vander Grifton dripping springs, potential
collision course, we'll cross that bridge if that is in
fact what we see in six A Division two.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
But let's get to five A because there's a lot
to talk about.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
Starting with the Weiss Wolf's their first Area round playoff
win in school history. You had the call Jackson Shad's
six touchdowns in the win over Lufkin. Now they get
this Barber's Hill team, which just knocked out Anderson. Kind
of a different challenge is that than what they just
saw in the last round.

Speaker 5 (57:05):
I would say perimeter talents, barbers Hill has a couple
more than Lovekin, and I was Carl Apsech the head
coach of Lovekin, of course what many remember as the
head coach of Cedar Park during the state championship runs.
Barbars Hill is going to pose a unique challenge. But
the one thing that I want to remind folks about Weiss,

(57:26):
they're not a four seed. They've gotten the four seaed schedule,
which is why the Laporte win and the by district round. Really,
when you looked at it from a zoomed out perspective,
that was always going to be their toughest game. And
that's kind of been echoed by Malcolm Hill to say, hey,
we kind of already slayed the dragons, so to speak.
We've already kind of taken care of that. So Lovekin

(57:49):
who beat Houston Westberry, And now you get this Barbara's
Hill team. Trip Davis is a problem for Barbar's Hill.
I'm gonna say that right now, Trip Davis. They're outside
receiver who's accounted for almost thirteen hundred yards this year.
He's fantastic. Wiss's defensive backs haven't been tested like that
in a while, probably the last time that Weiss's defensive
backs have been tested like that. You probably have to

(58:11):
go to early to the preseason to find outside receivers
that can stretch.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
The field like that Hendrickson maybe Hendricks.

Speaker 5 (58:19):
Romello, Boykin and Trevor and Morgan and and Miller. Those
are probably the most condensed form of talent at the
wide receiver position that they're gonna have to cover now
seven Walmack Jory and Gwynn Garrett Stenner, who's headed to
Sam Houston State. Great cast of characters in the defensive secondary.
So that's going to be a fun matchup to watch.

(58:40):
I wise had to play that second half of the
year without a couple of games with Jordan Anderson, they
have two legitimate power for receivers. We talked about Trey
Moore at nauseam. I truly do think he's the best
wide receiver in the area. Took a trip up to Normany.
He's a legacy guy. His dad played at Oklahoma. I'm
pretty sure one half the Weis's team was in Norman

(59:02):
for that victory for Oklahoma this last week.

Speaker 7 (59:06):
I need to.

Speaker 5 (59:07):
Find two corners on this side of the bracket that
can match up with Tray Moore and Jordan Anderson. I
really do. Weis's offensive line averages two hundred and ninety
five pounds and they're starting a freshman at right tackle,
so that that match up. Let's let's use our broadcaster
bingo board and say it'll come down to the trenches.

(59:29):
Let's put that as the free space that I'll use here.
But it really is going to Barbara Sales a lot
bigger team and probably poses as much of a threat,
if not more than La Port from an upfront standpoint.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
It's gonna come down to the trenches. You know, we
gotta play cop memory football. You don't need a three here.
Oh sorry, that's that's the wrong sport. We'll get back
to basketball.

Speaker 5 (59:50):
My bingo cards too.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Oh Okay, I didn't have this on my bingo card.
Three and eighty one yards rushing, six rushing touchdowns, seven
total touchdowns. Not for West and Nielsen, but for Gary
Jefferson Junior, who helped bas Drop beat Waco U sixty
nine to forty two. And they now take on the

(01:00:11):
defending champions, Richmond Randall in a game being played at
Prairie View A and M on Saturday afternoon. Can Bastrop
perhaps pull another upset? Or is this where the road
ends in your mind for Jake Gridle's crew.

Speaker 5 (01:00:26):
It all depends on Landon Williams Callous, it does. He
did not finish the game against Connolly. Now I'm not
plugged into the point where I say, okay, hey, let's
not risk you, or hey, let's pull the starters because Connolly,
first of all, quick shout ats Conley, Charles Burton and
his staff kind of revitalize in that program, very heap
of them. Former Longhorn Longhorns fans will remember Jade barn

(01:00:46):
who now plays for the Denver Broncos, who's stand out
of ut he's a Connolly alum. With that being said,
if Lennon Williams Callous is healthy, He's always going to
be the best player on the field, just baring none.
Recently a five star according to Dave Campbell Texas Football.
If he is available, I'm looking forward to a track
meet between himself and Gary Jefferson Junior. Now do I

(01:01:08):
think that Weston Nielsen possesses maybe a couple more throws
in the arsenal than maybe that of Scribronic, the starting
quarterback for Richmond Randall. You could certainly make that argument.
Now this, I think there's gonna be points in this game,
I really do. What scares me about Randall both ways positively.

(01:01:30):
What should scare you if you're an Asstrop fan is
they were down twenty one nothing to Iowa. Call me
who's still playing early on in the season, and what
basically everybody knew was going to be a playoff game,
and they came back strictly on the back of land
and Williams Callous. You know, for comebacks, you maybe a
tip ball here, something crazy happens, a fumble they just started.

(01:01:51):
They just gave it to Landon Williams Callous and let
him bring them back when they were down twenty one
to nothing, and it worked. Now, the other side of
that if you're maybe a Richmond Randall fan, is that
they've shown the ability they can get behind twenty one
to zero. And I will calling he definitely doesn't have
Gary Jefferson Junior. They definitely don't have West and Nielsen.
I know they don't have the defensive line of Bastrop,
which I've been very high on ever since. You know,

(01:02:12):
you and I we were calling that game against Luberville.
With with this game, I think whatever makes the first stop,
first stop might really boil this down to because neither
of these teams have been stopped really when the pedals
to the medal. Both these teams have not had to

(01:02:33):
do that in the last two weeks in the playoffs.
Now I understand that bass Drop ran into to Liberty
Hill at that time. I chalk it up, I really do.
I think if you play that game with Liberty Hill,
I think more times than not, Bastrops can win that game.
And Liberty Hill won on that day. And I know
you know you were there, you saw the score. But
you know a multitude of factors factor that into me,
which I don't really worry about that Liberty Hill thing.

(01:02:54):
If you're not used to stopping the slot team you're
not used to stop stopping the slot tea when you're
facing more tradition offense like that of Randall. I think
this shapes up to be a good matchup.

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
Computer picks Randall by eighteen closer or less close closer.

Speaker 5 (01:03:11):
I don't disagree with them and saying that that Randall
probably should have the NOD. I think it's closer than eighteen.

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
So of all these area teams that we've mentioned, talking
with EJ. Sanchez of Texan Live before we let you go,
you had to put your faith in one area team
to last the longest, to make the deepest run in
the postseason. Not saying you think they're the best team,
but maybe they have the best draw. Who knows who
is that team today on November twenty fifth. It's not

(01:03:43):
supposed to be easy.

Speaker 5 (01:03:45):
It's not supposed to be easy. I thought this was like, hey, EJ,
come answer some easy questions, But no, that's not the
game we're playing. Look, I have to go Lake Travis.
I do like I wait to go out on a
limmy Jay. Awesome pick the favorite right now in that region.
But the defense defense is unlike anything I've seen for
any Austin Area team, and you know the fact that
you you draw what you do at this point. We

(01:04:08):
previewed the matchup earlier. I just don't think there's there's
much argue in it because if you go from there
with Lake Travis, I'm gonna make sure I get this right.
Then you take on a San Antonio Johnson or Steel game,
you look to be favored there in either games, simply
because you when it comes to the Johnson matchup, if
that's how it shakes out, I think that Lake Travis's

(01:04:29):
offense it's considerably better than Johnson's defense. It is where
I would land there, So I think they would be
favorite of both of those games. Then after that, you
know you have a matchup with north Shore and Dickinson,
and that you you cross that bridge when it comes
to it. But they're gonna take a chunk out of
each other probably should both of them win their regional
semi final games. And I'm just always gonna say the defense.

(01:04:50):
Defense is always going to win championships until improved, otherwise
offense will get you there. But you at some point
you're gonna have to make a stop. And I trust
the Travis last one for you.

Speaker 1 (01:04:58):
You look at a big slate this This isn't just limited
to area teams this week, big slate of games out
there in the regional semifinals are starting to see some
big powers collide. Are there any teams that you'd put
under the radar on a little bit of an upset watch.

Speaker 5 (01:05:17):
If I'm fit the goodness, I'm not sure if it's
an upset at this one. It sounds strange to say it.
So I'm gonna go with my game simply because i
have the most information on it right now. The Woodlands
College Park and DeSoto. If you ask most people right now,
they would take the Woodlands College Park. Okay, they have

(01:05:37):
a they do have a loss on their record, but
on games that were played, I believe it was a
It was a forfeiture at the very beginning of the season.
Since then, they don't play close games. They don't they
didn't play. They haven't played a game with all of
their starters in since week six of the season. Week
six of the seasons when they first said, okay, hey,
all starters have to play the whole game. They're dominant.
Kyle Coats, who actually was under the tutelage of Claude

(01:06:01):
mathis in Desoto's twenty twenty two state championship run. It's
a kind of you know, teacher against student in terms
of Kyle Cootson and Claude Mathis. Claude Mathis would go
on record and say that, hey, this is not his
greatest De Soto team, and after kind of bowing out
last year against Longview, they get their revenge this year.

(01:06:22):
And everybody's still kind of waiting to say, okay, okay,
well De Soto's gone and I don't think so. I
really don't. It sounds weird to say Desto is an
underdog to a couple of people, but if you look
at if you look at the picks and look where
everybody thought that this region would stand in six A
Division two, a lot of people took College Park. And

(01:06:43):
I just don't think De Soto's done yet. I really don't.

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
EJ.

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
Where can we see for this outstanding slate over the weekend?

Speaker 5 (01:06:52):
You can see all these games on texanlive dot com.
For any updates highlights for each game. You can follow
at ejsches twenty two on x I'm always the down
so farm a little bit of an engagement, have a
good time with the Tech High school football fans. They
make it what it is.

Speaker 1 (01:07:09):
Well, glad to give you some flowers. But I don't know.
Maybe maybe you'll get humbled this week. Who knows, maybe
I'll get a victory lap next time I see you.

Speaker 4 (01:07:16):
Appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
He's not you stopping by youj Happy Thanksgiving?

Speaker 5 (01:07:19):
Maybe happy Thanksgiving.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
That's e J. Sanchez from Texan Live.

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
Always appreciate his time and insight on a great week
coming of the regional semifinals in Texas high school football
coming up a little bit more from Sean Miller. Will
check in with Craig Way from Maui. We got lots
still to do on the Craig Way Show on this
Tuesday afternoon on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone A
little zz top to welcome us back on a Texan Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (01:07:46):
Thank you to e J. Sanchez of Texan Live.

Speaker 1 (01:07:49):
That that great preview of the regional semifinals coming up
this weekend in high school football. We're gonna visit with
Craig Way, the voice of the Longhorns, in just a
little bit. He's in Maui getting ready to call a
game two out there for Longhorn basketball tonight at nine
thirty right here on AM thirteen hundred The Zone First.
John Miller on his takeaways from a tough late loss
to Arizona State.

Speaker 3 (01:08:10):
You know, I think nineteen turnovers is the key to
our team. And we came in the game and for
the most part through our early season, we've done a
good job taking care of the ball.

Speaker 2 (01:08:21):
And we had nine and to a half.

Speaker 3 (01:08:24):
Had a couple of guys maybe that just were uncharacteristic
in terms of, you know, just making tough turnovers. And look,
we've had a couple of plays late in the game.
That stretch that I talked to you about when we
had an advantage, part of what got them back into
you know, the one possession game is steals on an
underneath out of bounds play after a timeout, a steal

(01:08:46):
on a set play. And again that's to their credit,
it's also something we have to improve. It's tough to
win against good teams neutral court when you have nineteen turnovers. Thing,
and again I'm anxious to watch the game. We had
twenty eight personal fouls. That's insane. Twenty eight personal fouls.

(01:09:11):
You know, it's just I think we had two charges. Man,
It's just hard. And I thought that a couple of times.
You know, Arizona State, they put you in a position
to guard the dribble, and you know, they they got
into the paint and they were able to draw three fouls.

Speaker 5 (01:09:29):
You know, draw fouls from the three officials.

Speaker 3 (01:09:32):
You know, if one guy didn't catch it on the
baseline and the other guy maybe didn't catch it on
the wing, the guy half court, damn sure caught it.
And I thought the twenty eight fouls was also a
huge story. If I have two numbers that I walk
away with is we have to play better defense without fouling,
and really take a look at the three officials on
why we fouled the two charges and really look at

(01:09:55):
those two charges because those are turnovers as well. And
then obviously the nineteen turnovers which I talked about.

Speaker 8 (01:10:02):
But mo Oedem he was.

Speaker 3 (01:10:04):
Terrific tonight and he deserves all the accolades. Game winning
shot six for twelve from three, sixteen of eighteen from
the free throw line, and he was fouled eight times.
So him and Anthony Johnson they got fouled fifteen times.
It's tough from the starting Backcork can draw fifteen fouls,
So we certainly have to play better defense without fouling.

Speaker 1 (01:10:26):
Yeah, sure is in Arizona State made a lot of
their comeback from that ten point deficit at the free
throw line. All right, we another break still to come.
Craig Way from Maui, Arch Manning talking Texas, A and M.
Right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone into
the third.

Speaker 2 (01:10:42):
And final hour of today's show.

Speaker 1 (01:10:46):
Jake berbman Backer be here on Sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred the Zone, and we welcome in live from Maui,
the voice of the Longhorns, Craig Way.

Speaker 2 (01:10:56):
Craig, thanks for taking some time to catch up with this.

Speaker 1 (01:10:59):
I know you had a little bit of a late night,
maybe not as late as the night we had here
in Austin, staying up to watch that Longhorn basketball loss.
But you know, what do you think Longhorn fans should
make of a game like that that ultimately came down
to the wire.

Speaker 11 (01:11:15):
Hopefully they didn't get to see it at the tail end. No,
I you know it was. It was heartbreaking because Texas
led for more than thirty of the forty minutes of
the game, but you could tell by the way the
game was going at the start that it was probably
going to come down to the final minute. In fact,
Eddie Horn and I both said on the air early

(01:11:36):
in the game, this is probably going to come down to.

Speaker 4 (01:11:39):
The wire, and it certainly did.

Speaker 11 (01:11:41):
Texas had a ten point leave with about seven minutes
to go in the game.

Speaker 4 (01:11:46):
But there was just.

Speaker 11 (01:11:48):
Great tenacity by the guard play for Arizona State and
it helped bring them back into the basketball game.

Speaker 4 (01:11:57):
And the three point shooting was pana for then.

Speaker 11 (01:12:01):
And even after all of that, you know, the Long
Horns had a couple opportunities to put it away to
make it a two possession game inside the final minute.
There was a misshot at the rim, and then they
got the ball back, and then Daylan Swain, who had
otherwise a marvelous game, missed two free throws there were
twenty two seconds ago. It set the stage for the

(01:12:21):
three pointer of that put Arizona State in front and
the Long Warns in bound of the eight point.

Speaker 4 (01:12:25):
Six to go. There had been issues with the floor
throughout the evening.

Speaker 11 (01:12:30):
I pointed out at one point that the towel boys
were getting in a lot of work having to wipe up,
wipe up the perspiration from the floor. It's humid, obviously there.
And when Texas inbounded just on their side of mid court,
Jordan Pope got it in the front court to Tremaine Mark.
The plan was for Marked to do it downhill drive
right side of the lane to get to the rim
like he had done earlier, and his feet went out

(01:12:52):
from under him and lost the ball and that was it.
So it was an eighty seven, eighty six loss. Was
that it was a hard loss to ten. And now
the thing about tournament play, Jake, is especially in the holidays,
when you know you're gonna play a guarantee two or
in this case, three games, you got to put it
right behind. It's almost like a baseball weekend series and

(01:13:14):
go on to the next game. And that's what Texas
w to do tonight against Shamanai.

Speaker 1 (01:13:17):
Yeah, certainly don't want to let this one linger. And
you know, your heart goes out a little bit for
a guy like Dalen Swain. I had you synced up
with the TV and obviously you guys were all over.

Speaker 2 (01:13:27):
He was terrific in this ballgame.

Speaker 1 (01:13:28):
Ten of fourteen from the field, five rebounds obviously left
a couple of points on the board with those late
free throws.

Speaker 2 (01:13:35):
Speaking of free throws.

Speaker 1 (01:13:36):
The officiating was, should we say tenacious in this game, walgoins,
we're called for twenty eight fouls. We heard a saw
a SoundBite last hour from Sean Miller say and that
that was a little bit insane. Do you think this
was a case of the Longhorns being overly punished for
their physicality or just not adjusting to a pretty tightly
called game for both sides.

Speaker 4 (01:13:57):
I think it was tightly called on both sides.

Speaker 11 (01:13:59):
And obviously Arizona State shot thirty six free throws, but
the long one shot twenty seven, so they both shot
a lot of free throws in the game. And I
think the number one thing that hurt Texas was the turnovers.
They had nineteen turnovers in the game, and normally they're
one of the better teams in the country at staying

(01:14:19):
away from turnovers. They went into the game averaging only
nine turnovers per game. They had nine in the first half.
They had done a pretty solid job of preventing Arizona
State from scoring off those turnovers. I think the Wildcats
had a total of six points off the turnovers. But
that stuff catches up to you eventually if you continue
to turn over the ball. They had trouble with the

(01:14:40):
Sun Devil's press. They had really face much full court
pressure this season, and they struggled to adjust to that,
especially in the first half and then some early in
the second half. They got better with it in the
second half. Shot the ball extremely well.

Speaker 4 (01:14:53):
Second half.

Speaker 11 (01:14:54):
They shot seventy four percent, well up at fifty five
percent from the field for the ball game, and really
did shoot free throws well until those last two misses.
They run eighty twenty five before the last two misses,
so they were like they rebounded Arizona State.

Speaker 4 (01:15:11):
They had more points in the paint. They did a
tremendous job in just about every area but two areas,
one taking care of the basketball that we mentioned, the
other guarding the three point line well because they continue
to hammer away with the threes and that was a
great equalizer.

Speaker 1 (01:15:29):
Last note on this game before we look forward. This
was a game where Texas only got nine minutes from
Lcina Triory. He was one of many Longhorns were in
foul trouble. He picked up four in total. Madus Foka
Titus twenty seven minutes in this game. He was a
big part of Texas building that ten point advantage. What
are we seeing from him, somebody who seems to be
getting better game by game.

Speaker 11 (01:15:51):
Well, Matas was only able to play nine and a
half minutes in the first half two to a couple
of early fouls. Losina Treiori struggled to play without fouling.
Like I said, a lot of fouls. It was really
physical and a lot of banging there down in the
block on both ends of the floor, both offensively and defensively,
and like we said, the fouls more piled up there.

Speaker 6 (01:16:14):
Now.

Speaker 11 (01:16:14):
The long Run's also made two mistakes fouling three point shots,
and that hurt him as well because I think on
one occasion all three free throws were made. On the
other two out of the three were made, so five
out of six there. So those things. I think Madas,
if he played without fouling, can be one of the
better players post players in the SEC, and we saw

(01:16:37):
him really become a factor in the second half for Texas.

Speaker 1 (01:16:41):
So Texas because of this loss, faces the loser of
the game that preceded them, and that is the Silver
Swords of Shamanad. Now this is obviously Division two school
local to the area, and it's actually I was surprised
to see this a one to one all time series.
What do you rem remember about that matchup in twenty

(01:17:01):
twelve where they upset the Long Horns.

Speaker 11 (01:17:04):
I remember both games, the one and five where Texas
won handily.

Speaker 4 (01:17:08):
Well, it was the four oh five season. We were
out here in four and then the other.

Speaker 11 (01:17:12):
Like you said in twenty twelve, it was the twenty
twelve twenty thirteen season that was I'd almost say it
was a lost weekend. Texas did win one game here.
They won the seventh place game against Mississippi State. It
was the Long Horn's lowest finish in this tournament. They
had lost a heartbreaker in the opener and then after
that lost to Shamanad. Just did not play well at all,

(01:17:35):
and then came back and won the last one there. Shamanad,
you know, has some players. Last night, they had a
twenty point lead in the first half on Washington State,
and then I think they kind of ran out of
gas and Washington State came back, got some really good
guard play from outside, and came back to win that
game by five points. But you know, I was just
looking at the roster here, Jake, and like every other

(01:17:58):
school in the country, you've got a lot of transfers.
Arizona State, by the way, he had only one returning
roster member who had scored for them last season.

Speaker 4 (01:18:07):
Everybody else was an import or a transfer.

Speaker 11 (01:18:09):
Same here, and most of the ones who transferred in
came in from schools in California, junior colleges or other colleges.
But there's a couple of Texas ties. One is they're
forward Fletcher McDonald. He's from Wollongong, Australia, but he started

(01:18:30):
off at Love of Christian before he transferred in. The other,
Brandon Haddock, is a grand transfer. He transferred in from Utah,
but he's from South Lake, Carolin, the Dallas for Worth area.
So they do have a couple of players with Texas
ties to them. They will get it up and down
the floor. They like to shoot the three. They average
eighty seven points per game. They're okay at three point shooting,

(01:18:53):
not great, but their overall field goal percentage is pretty good.
So they like to move it quickly and get into
offensive rhythm.

Speaker 4 (01:19:00):
In the long runs. Will have to be back and
in place defensively.

Speaker 1 (01:19:03):
Tonight, I know it took a really good shooting performance
in the second half by Washington State to escape an
upset in that one. So Texas certainly has to be ready.
There's a lot going on here in the lower forty eight,
should we say, in terms of fans focusing in on
the lone Star showdown? The College Football Playoff rankings will

(01:19:23):
come out tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:19:24):
If there's a.

Speaker 1 (01:19:25):
Place you maybe expect Texas to fall on that list,
where might that be? Other specific things Texas fans should
hope to see in the rankings tonight if they want
a faint sliver of playoff hope.

Speaker 11 (01:19:38):
Well, I think they're going to be in the mid teens.
They were seventeenth last week. I did notice in the
right the ap pole Michigan actually jumped Texas. I don't
know for sure that that would happen in the CFP rankings.
It might, so they might. They might be sixteen or fifteen,
maybe fourteen somewhere in there. So they're going to need

(01:19:59):
a rash of upsets this weekend and maybe even in
the conference championship games, but especially this weekend. I mean,
they really need Oklahoma to lose, and I don't know
that that's going to happen as Sooner's on a roll
and they're playing at home against LSU.

Speaker 4 (01:20:13):
They could use Miami losing.

Speaker 11 (01:20:15):
I don't think that's going to happen, so they need
some losses by other teams. But the biggest challenge is
trying to beat the third ranked team in the country, Texas.
A and m is extremely good and on a roll
and certainly motivated.

Speaker 4 (01:20:29):
Two huge motivations.

Speaker 11 (01:20:32):
One is obviously the fact that they're playing Texas and
there's the arch rivalry in Texas renewed the rivalry by
beating the Aggies in College.

Speaker 4 (01:20:40):
Station last year.

Speaker 11 (01:20:41):
The other is the same motivation that they had a
year ago. They really need to win the game in
order to secure their spot in the SEC Championship game.
They could still wind up in the SEC title game
if say Alabama were to lose, or maybe if Ole
Miss were to lose, but they have their destiny under

(01:21:05):
their own control. They just have to finish their business.
And also it would probably lock them in for a
first round by even if they were to lose in
the SEC Championship.

Speaker 4 (01:21:16):
It'd be really interesting to see how that turns out.

Speaker 11 (01:21:19):
But they know they still have to keep winning in
order to put themselves and you can play. Somebody asked
Mike Alco that it is news conference about how weird
is it that you basically have to be perfect run
the regular season table in order to lock up a
spot in the SEC title game. And he said, well,
you know we weren't. We wouldn't have had to do
that last year if we'd won. But he said, it's

(01:21:39):
just the way our schedules set up that we're going
to have to win a meaning they didn't play some
of those other schools that are in position, you know,
like in Alabama or an old miss that could help
them place themselves or Georgia in the SEC title game.

Speaker 4 (01:21:54):
So those things I think all come to mind for them.

Speaker 2 (01:21:58):
What about what comes to mind for you?

Speaker 1 (01:22:00):
This is our last show, of course before the lone
Star showdown on Friday afternoon or Friday evening, I should say,
And of course no show tomorrow with UT women's basketball
playing right here on AM thirteen hundred zone in Las Vegas.
But is this a game that you've had circle for
a long time once you knew this rivalry was not
only coming back, but that this was the day or

(01:22:21):
the weekend it would come back to DKR.

Speaker 11 (01:22:24):
Well, certainly last year with all the anticipation of the rivalry.

Speaker 4 (01:22:29):
It was marked on the calendar, but yeah, it is interesting.

Speaker 11 (01:22:31):
It'll be the first time that Texas A and M
will have played Texas in Austin since twenty ten. The
Aggie's won that game, so Texas has not beaten Texas
A and M in Austin since two thousand and eight.
Now again that's a little misleaving because they hadn't played
in Austin since twenty ten. But there's a great deal
of anticipation. I think there's a lot to play for

(01:22:54):
the long words, whether they land in the College Football
Playoff or not. If they win, they finished regular season
nine and three, they do have an outside chance to
get the CFP. But even if they don't, they will
own three wins over top ten ranked opponents. That hasn't
happened in college football in six years. LSU quarterback by
Joe Burrow the last to do that in twenty nineteen,

(01:23:15):
so they would have a chance at that. And then
also they would beat all three of the rivals in
the same year like they did last year Oklahoma, Arkansas
and Texas A and M. And that in itself, isn't it.
It'll make long worn fans happy and all that sort
of stuff. So there's a lot on the table, obviously
for Texas to play for. And this game is always
very special on Thanksgiving weekend. It's an awful lot of

(01:23:37):
fun and I've always enjoyed calling it, so I am
looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (01:23:40):
It'll be charged up, maybe a little different vibe than
what's going on in Maui.

Speaker 2 (01:23:44):
Do you have a non basketball highlight of the trip
to share?

Speaker 11 (01:23:49):
Lyndon and I drove into Kaylui this morning because I
had to pick up my broadcast chart from the print shop,
which is about a forty five minute drive away. Who
went over there and we had some malisadas. Know what
malisatas are?

Speaker 5 (01:24:01):
I do not.

Speaker 11 (01:24:02):
It's kind of a Hawaiian pastry donut thing that's got
like custard in it, and they've got some without it
in it. And so we went to this place called
the Four Sisters Bakery that we'd read about and it
was outstanding.

Speaker 4 (01:24:17):
So I'd say that was probably one of the highlights
of it.

Speaker 1 (01:24:19):
Malisadas, huh, I should google it.

Speaker 2 (01:24:22):
I just did. They look a little like Bennet's.

Speaker 11 (01:24:26):
A little bit bigger, though bigger than Benyetes. They're really
basically about size of a doughnut, sometimes a little bit bigger.
And yeah, they were really good, and and I'd remembered
about them before. And my sister had lived in Kona
for a long time and she told me, you know,
you need to go to such and such a place
and get malisadas, which we did.

Speaker 4 (01:24:48):
We really enjoyed it well.

Speaker 1 (01:24:49):
Craig, what time should fans tune in for the start
of your coverage of Night two from the Mali Imitational.

Speaker 11 (01:24:54):
We'll be on the air one hour earlier tonight, will
be on the air at nine o'clock up off at
nine thirty taxas time, and then we'll see about tomorrow.
If the Longhorns handle their business, then they would play
tomorrow afternoon, I believe at four thirty or five thirty.
And then if they lose, and it's another late nighter,
so hopefully that's not the case and they'll finish up.

(01:25:16):
Maybe they can finish up this tournament with a couple
of wins. The opponent that they would face tomorrow could
be a ranked opponent, could be inc state, could be
any a couple of different opponents.

Speaker 1 (01:25:27):
That it could be.

Speaker 4 (01:25:28):
So we'll see how they goes tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:25:30):
Certainly a couple of games that the Longhorns need to
win a little bit more now that they drop the
first one against Arizona State. Craigway will be sure to
sue in for your call tonight. Thanks for taking some
timeless Hey, you.

Speaker 4 (01:25:41):
See the T shirt I'm wearing. It says Hula Daddy.

Speaker 11 (01:25:44):
You know that's a big coffee plantation over in Kona.

Speaker 4 (01:25:50):
So let me see if I can turn this around
so you can see this here. I don't know if
you can even see the Hula Daddy logo there. It's
a big, big logo.

Speaker 11 (01:25:58):
There's a big coffee area obviously Hawaii is and so yeah,
the Hula Daddy coffee is top fly coffee.

Speaker 4 (01:26:08):
I can tell you that.

Speaker 1 (01:26:09):
Better Hula Dancer. You or Cameron Parker or Eddie Orton.

Speaker 11 (01:26:14):
Well it's not Eddie tell you that. Probably Cam I
would say.

Speaker 1 (01:26:20):
We won't let him hear that. He doesn't need that confirmation.
Thank you so much, Craig. We'll be sure to tune
in tonight and visit with you again as the as the.

Speaker 2 (01:26:29):
Game gets closer.

Speaker 4 (01:26:31):
You met Jake.

Speaker 2 (01:26:32):
Thanks all right, Silda.

Speaker 1 (01:26:33):
Come we'll hear from arch Manning as he gives his
thoughts ahead of the Lone Stars showdown. You're listening on
Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone and Iheartstation Guaranteed Human
and d WIO.

Speaker 6 (01:26:47):
It couldn't be manless here alone, here for a good time.

Speaker 5 (01:26:57):
So brain, all of a sudden.

Speaker 1 (01:26:58):
You know, we come back with cuts from some Texas
music legends every Tuesday, part of Texan Tuesday, great tradition
on this show, no matter who's hosting. I'm Jake Herbman
in for Craig Wade today. We just heard from him
a moment ago from his hotel in Maui getting ready
to call more Longhorn basketball to night. But you say

(01:27:20):
this cut for a weekend like this Thanksgiving, not just
a great time to catch up with your family, appreciate
the opportunity to relax, enjoy great food, be grateful for
everything we have, but also for a great weekend in
sports and for Texas and Texas A and M fans.
They waited a long time for this rivalry to come back,

(01:27:43):
and hopefully Longhorn fans of DKR are there for a
good time.

Speaker 2 (01:27:47):
As the King sings here out of Texan Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (01:27:50):
Arch Manning, since moving to Austin, has already had to
learn a lot about this rivalry pretty quickly. He was
asked about that to start his price conference. Yes, yesterday afternoon.

Speaker 7 (01:28:01):
Learned that there's a lot of built up tension with
the break they had in the robbery.

Speaker 8 (01:28:06):
But you know, it's a big game. Glad.

Speaker 7 (01:28:09):
I was glad to be a part of it last
year and glad to have the chance to be a
part of it again.

Speaker 1 (01:28:12):
You know, Arch Manning, like Evan Veief pointed out to
us earlier on, is becoming more comfortable in the pocket,
starting to trust his protection a little bit. It's paying
big dividends for him. What's led to that in Arch's estimation,
I think.

Speaker 8 (01:28:24):
Just you know, getting games on your belt and those experiences.

Speaker 7 (01:28:27):
And I think probably Mississippi State or OU started to feel.

Speaker 8 (01:28:33):
More comfortable in the pocket.

Speaker 2 (01:28:34):
Why that Mississippi State game?

Speaker 1 (01:28:36):
Why does Arch view that big overtime win in Starkville
as a big turning point.

Speaker 7 (01:28:41):
Yeah, like when you're down seventeen and the fourth, you know,
all you can do is kind of cut it loose.

Speaker 8 (01:28:46):
So that's what we did. And if we've gotten momentum
since that.

Speaker 1 (01:28:49):
Game, Now, what was his mindset coming into that game?
After a bit of a struggle for the entire offense.
Arch included at Kentucky Kentucky game.

Speaker 8 (01:28:59):
She was lucky to get out there to win.

Speaker 7 (01:29:01):
Defense played really well, But you know, like I said,
it sucks in the moment on those games, but you know,
you look back and you're grateful for those times because
you feel like you've learned a lot from them and got.

Speaker 8 (01:29:12):
Better from those.

Speaker 1 (01:29:13):
Manning is certainly improved over the course of the season.
But do he think he'd play like this out of
the gate?

Speaker 7 (01:29:21):
I mean, I would like to play like this since
we won, but you know, you got to go through
stuff and go through tough times experiences. I'm trying to
learn from it and just got to continue to get
better each week.

Speaker 1 (01:29:33):
And so Arch Manning in trying to get better each
week overcame a tough stretch earlier in the season.

Speaker 2 (01:29:40):
What was it about him?

Speaker 1 (01:29:41):
What traits does he think helped him overcome that slow
start he had?

Speaker 7 (01:29:46):
Yeah, I think just wins, my faith, family, friends, coaches.
I'm just kind of and keep going. You know, I'm
not a quitter, Just kind of keep going, continue to
move forward and get better.

Speaker 1 (01:30:00):
In looking at the Texas A and M Aggie's Arch Manning.
He talked about this throughout the season, how he texts
with other SEC quarterbacks and you know, keeps those lines
of communication open. Not necessarily so much for scouting, but
you know a lot of advice traded back and forth,
particularly with guys like Ty Simpson, who Arch just mentioned
throughout the year. What does he like about Marcel Reid

(01:30:21):
as a quarterback and which parts of his game really
impress Arch.

Speaker 7 (01:30:25):
He's a good player. He can beat you anyway, so
he's an X factor. It's gonna be fun to play
against him on Friday.

Speaker 8 (01:30:34):
He's good. He's a really good, good, good guy.

Speaker 1 (01:30:37):
The Aggies have a potent pass rush. It's part of
the reason their third down defense is best in the country,
getting off the field seventy eight percent of the time.
How does Texas cope with that on Saturday?

Speaker 7 (01:30:49):
Yeah, I think stay ahead of the chains, me being
disciplined with my eyes and feet and getting the ball
out of my playmakers, not letting, not sitting there holding
the ball.

Speaker 8 (01:30:58):
Just be efficient and get out from what is it
about to see guy sticky. Yeah, they're well coached.

Speaker 7 (01:31:06):
They filed the ball, got a bunch of good players,
so it's gonna be a fun one.

Speaker 2 (01:31:09):
Misspoke there.

Speaker 1 (01:31:10):
The game is, of course, on Friday, six thirty right
here on AM thirteen hundred. Zone coverage starts at two
thirty with the Third and Longhorn Free Game Show. And
because the game is Friday, that makes it a short
week for Texas.

Speaker 2 (01:31:22):
What's different?

Speaker 1 (01:31:23):
What changes about the Longhorns routine in that they're playing
Friday instead of Saturday.

Speaker 8 (01:31:27):
Yeah, it's different.

Speaker 7 (01:31:28):
We usually pradice in the morning, so now we're going
to the afternoons.

Speaker 8 (01:31:31):
We don't off school. Obviously, the game's Friday, so got
a jam a little bit more in, but we'll be
ready by Friday.

Speaker 1 (01:31:39):
Our scored last year on a rushing touchdown that sort
of different goal line package that Steve Sarkisian threw in.
How satisfying was that?

Speaker 7 (01:31:48):
He was asked, Yeah, that was fun just to be
able to impact the game anyway I can, you know,
as a backup your life itching and kind of get
out there. So it was fun to you know, put
points on the board.

Speaker 1 (01:31:58):
A little earlier, we heard from Michael Taff and a
little bit from sarg discussing the emotions have seen your
day for a guy like Michael and several of his teammates,
guys like Ethan Burke on that defense, who have met
so much to this program. Arch was asked, what do
you learn from seeing those seniors experience those emotions? How

(01:32:19):
will he kind of take that as wisdom from his teammates.

Speaker 7 (01:32:23):
TAS's an Austin kid, he bleeds burnt orange, and he's
done so much for this program and for me. I mean,
he's one of the biggest reasons I came here. So
being able to play with him as a privilege. He's
like an older brother to me. So I can't say
enough good things about him, and I hope we can
go out with a win in his last game of DKR.

Speaker 1 (01:32:42):
So the follow up to that is how how did
this friendship with Michael Tapp start? What kind of role
did he play during Arch's recruitment.

Speaker 7 (01:32:50):
Yeah, he was the hell of a host, say that,
but but just having him as a friend and a teammate,
and he's the biggest leader I've ever been around, the
leader of this team. And you know, he was a
walk on and he he moved his way up the

(01:33:11):
depth chart, got on scholarship, became an All American.

Speaker 8 (01:33:13):
It's just a I mean so much to write a
movie about the guy.

Speaker 7 (01:33:16):
He's He's inspirational, and I'm just so fortunate and blessed
to have him in my corner and have him as
a as a best friend. It's really cool when I'm
blessed every day to call.

Speaker 8 (01:33:24):
Him a friend.

Speaker 1 (01:33:25):
And as for that inner fire that resolved that Arch
Manning has to overcome some of the adversity from earlier
in the season, how would he further describe that?

Speaker 2 (01:33:34):
When he was asked later in the press.

Speaker 7 (01:33:37):
Conference, every quarterback in the country, every player in the
country has just have that conference in themselves that they're
the best player on the field. And I'm going to
continue to have that as long as I play the sport.
You know, as much as y'all want to tell me differently,
that'll never change.

Speaker 1 (01:33:52):
Well, some of those inner thoughts started to come to fruition.
Arch Manning the AP Player of the Week after accounting
for six total touchdown in the win over Arkansas, a
lot of people saying it was the best performance of
his career. I would tend to agree. We'll see if
Arch and the Longhorns can bring it on a big
stage against number three Texas A and m kickoff slated

(01:34:14):
for just after six thirty on Friday night at DKR.

Speaker 6 (01:34:19):
Hey.

Speaker 1 (01:34:19):
One more note we got from the text line we
always invite your feedback to the show your questions and
comments by texting the word Texas to eight one five
three zero. That's the word Texas followed by your message.
We had a lone star showdown of sorts in the
SEC Tournament for volleyball yesterday, the Longhorns beating Texas A
and M four hard fought sets, final score of twenty

(01:34:41):
five nineteen in the fourth to help Texas power past
A and M by a score of three to one.
So at six o'clock Central time tonight, the Longhorns get Kentucky.
So that's you know, number three in the country against
number two and Kentucky one of the only two teams
that beat Texas this year. So a chance for the
Longhorns to take a measure of revenge from that straight

(01:35:03):
set loss they suffered at Gregory Jim Already avenge the
Texas A and M loss last night, they got a
chance to do the same and be crown conference champions
in Savannah, Georgia later tonight. That match is on SEC
Network again six o'clock. Thank you to the Texter who
reminded us to mention that when we come back, we'll
talk a little bit more about the NFL. What's to

(01:35:24):
come during Thanksgiving Week? Three pretty good games on this
late we'll hear from Jerry Jones as well as Andy
Reid as the Cowboys Chiefs game looms. You're listening to
the Craig Way Show right here on sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred Zone and on the iHeartRadio app. Okay, back
with a little spoon here on a textan Tuesday, Jake

(01:35:45):
Herman in for Craig Way on sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred The Zone. Let's take a look at the NFL
slate this weekend, and I think a couple weeks ago,
Craig and I talked about these games and thought, well,
a couple of them look pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:35:58):
You got the Packers and.

Speaker 1 (01:35:59):
The Lions starting off the schedule at noon, and you
know those two teams should figure into the playoff picture
both right now kind of sitting there on the bubble.
Green Bay is currently in the second of three wild
card spots in the NFC seven to three and one,
and then the Lions are just on the outside looking
in at seven and four and then you know, the

(01:36:24):
second game of the day between the Cowboys and the Chiefs.
We thought, well that one might miss the mark because
the Dallas Cowboys a couple of weeks ago did not
appear as though they were playoff contenders. That's changed with
a couple of big wins for Dallas, including the come
from behind victory over Philadelphia. On his weekly interview with

(01:36:44):
our friends over at one five to three the fan
in Dallas, Jerry Jones gave us his overall thoughts on
that come from behind win.

Speaker 6 (01:36:54):
It was such an important win for us, and to
have to have done it in the manner we did
it is particularly memorable, but just as important we needed it.
They are an that outstanding team. We all know that
they came in as number one in the league and

(01:37:17):
the Super Bowl champion. We played them well. I watched
the entire game again the night Sunday, Saturday night and
looked at every aspect of the game and thought we
had a great chance to win that first game in Philadelphia.
But bottom line is to come back like we did
is something that you can I know it's a cliche,

(01:37:39):
but it really is meat on the bone. On building
with it.

Speaker 1 (01:37:43):
So with the defense building both in terms of personnel
adding quinnn Williams and in terms of their overall play,
slowing down the run, stopping Philadelphia on their final eight possessions.
How would Jerry describe the way they've played over the last.

Speaker 2 (01:37:57):
Couple of weeks.

Speaker 6 (01:37:58):
Well, I'd say that to come back from a twenty
one point depicit against team of that stature, that performance
was phenomenal and it's there to be had. Certainly, we're
playing better, not the new players, but the players that

(01:38:19):
have been here. We're playing much better than we were
playing earlier part of the year. We understand what it means,
not that we didn't, but we're executing in a way
that it means to rely on each other and know
that the other guy's going to do his job right.
You do your job right and we'll make the place.
But to basically do it under those circumstances with your

(01:38:42):
back to the wall was real impressive and real productive
for the rest of the year. But we've made some
changes in personnel, obviously, and those were for a short
term as well as long term, and that was very
unique to be able to get to make those on
that basis, But every change we've made, that's a long

(01:39:06):
term spot sitting there with that player in it, and
so that's even more exciting to know we've got this
makeup of our roster with us for long to cover.

Speaker 1 (01:39:17):
We mentioned George Pickens, who is now the second leading
receiver in the NFL over one thousand yards, trailing only
Jackson Smith and Jigba of the Seattle Seahawks, and he
is still playing on a one year deal at the moment,
George Pickens is. Does Jerry Jones, though, envision a scenario

(01:39:37):
where Pickens is anywhere other than Dallas next year, No,
I do not.

Speaker 6 (01:39:41):
At this time, We've got two number one receivers and
that's just exceptional right at the time when guess what,
our quarterback is probably the best that he's ever been,
and there's more on the there's more there, and so

(01:40:03):
to have two receivers wide outs of this caliber and candidly,
we've got some other weapons out there that you've got
to look at that running back and how he's playing,
and you've got to look at the way that our
tight ends are coming in there as a group and
what they're contributing. So I'll just add the other thing,

(01:40:23):
we've got a coming offensive line that is of high caliber.
We've got three ADDRESD number one draft picks, not offensive line,
and they're playing to that level and can play at
a higher level. So I like what we see on
that side of the ball. And of course, after what
we did Sunday, you've got to get excited about what

(01:40:46):
we're doing on defense.

Speaker 1 (01:40:48):
So the Cowboys currently sit with a nine percent playoff
probability according to the NFL's next Gen Stats. They only
have one game left against a team that's above them
in the NFC. That's next week when they played the
Detroit Lions Thursday Night Football. So that does in a
way limit Dallas's opportunities to pick up ground in terms

(01:41:10):
of head to heads and all that. But the Cowboys
can get back in the mix if they win and
they get some help from green Bay losing up ahead
of them to the Lions. And Dallas is currently sitting
with a nine percent chance we mentioned if they win,
that's going to jump up to fifteen percent. If they lose,

(01:41:32):
that drops to four percent. Kansas City, sitting right on
the bubble, is well tied with the Texans Steelers in
Chiefs one of those three teams at six and five,
just on the outside of the AFC playoff picture at
the moment, but with a win for Kansas City, that
would jump up to sixty one percent.

Speaker 2 (01:41:48):
If they lose, it'll drop down to thirty five.

Speaker 1 (01:41:52):
So after Dallas, the Chiefs get the Texans and the Chargers,
and those are two teams right now that are in
between Kansas City and that wild card spot. They were
busy this week in terms of their running back room,
and after Kareem Hunt shouldered a thirty carry load in
the absence of Isaiah Piccheco, the Chiefs went out and

(01:42:13):
signed former Texan Damian Pierce. Here's how Andy Reid commented
on it.

Speaker 8 (01:42:18):
A longer running back size system.

Speaker 12 (01:42:23):
Yeah, that's the main thing right now. Just get in
and learn what we're doing and then we'll take it
from there. He's been productive, so you know, good, good player.
Brett's always doing a nice job of finding guys and
Adam to the roster and so we'll just see kind
of played by Ercale goes here.

Speaker 1 (01:42:40):
And you heard that right, thirty carries for a Kareem Hunt. Granted,
the Chiefs ran almost double the amount of plays as
the Colts down the stretch of that game. Here's what
Andy Reid said in terms of how proud he was
of Kareem Hunt, a real veteran at that running back position,
helping Kansas City in a game they had to have
against Indy.

Speaker 12 (01:42:57):
Yeah, you know, I'm proud of I mean, he's upright,
which is a positive thing. So he's doing good. I mean,
it just shows you what he's put into it.

Speaker 2 (01:43:09):
I think.

Speaker 5 (01:43:12):
At that age, at that position.

Speaker 12 (01:43:15):
Those guys don't normally hang around very very long and
be productive like he was this past week. So, I mean,
and he wanted more.

Speaker 4 (01:43:26):
I guess that's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (01:43:28):
We'll see what kind of workloadre Kareem Hunt will handle
when the Chiefs take on the Cowboys three point thirty
on CBS during your Thanksgiving feast. Okay, before we go today,
I'm going to give you my CFP Top twenty five
new rankings revealed comes out tonight, and we'll see where
different teams stack up. I'll give you my take on

(01:43:48):
it as we send you off for the Thanksgiving break
on the Craig Wave Show Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
to zone. All Right, time to wrap up today's edition
of the program, Remember no show tomorrow. If you tune
in at one o'clock right here on AM thirteen hundred Zone,
you can hear Roger Wallace and Kathy Harston's call of
Texas Women's basketball the Player's Era Championship in Vegas. They

(01:44:10):
will take on UCLA, number three in the country. Long
Worn's coming in at number four. That'll be very fun
to listen to and tune in for tomorrow afternoon. It
does mean, though, that we have no show to break
down the college football and playoff Top twenty five, which
will come out later tonight on ESPN. So I thought

(01:44:31):
i'd give you my top twenty five rankings. I know
I expressed some gripes with the committee earlier in the
week on the Show with Craig, and give you a
little something to think about as you continue your Thanksgiving
drive home. No surprises one through four, Ohio State, Indiana, Texas,
A and M and Georgia.

Speaker 2 (01:44:46):
I've got Ole miss fifth, Oregon sixth.

Speaker 1 (01:44:49):
I jumped them over Texas Tech this week, who I
have at number seven, And the difference there is just
strength of schedule, a couple of one loss teams. Oregon
is twenty fourth in strength of schedule. Texas Tech is
fifty six. The organ by picking up that win over USC,
has one that's comparable now to Texas Texts win over BYU,
and the Ducks do have a better loss in Indiana

(01:45:11):
as opposed to Arizona State. I've got Oklahoma at number eight,
Alabama at nine, Miami at ten. Yes, Miami at ten
ahead of Notre Dame at eleven. The head to head
carries the day for me in that matchup. I don't
see those two teams as far off as the Committee does,
where Notre Dame's kind of in a separate classification where
they're disregarding the heads ahead. Miami has really good efficiency metrics.

(01:45:35):
They yes, suffered two quote unquote worst losses, but Notre
Dame doesn't have that one win for me that separates
them ahead of Miami number twelve.

Speaker 2 (01:45:44):
I've got BYU Texas thirteen.

Speaker 1 (01:45:46):
That's probably higher than the Committee will place the long Horns,
But I don't think you can find any teams below
where I have the long Horns at thirteen with two wins,
like the Longhorns best two wins. They beat Oklahoma twenty
three to six. They beat Van thirty four to thirty
one at home. I've got Vanderbilt at fourteen, Utah fifteenth,
followed by Michigan, who has a big chance to move

(01:46:08):
up when they take on USC Virginia seventeenth, followed by
Tennessee North Texas at nine to one, who's head coach
Eric Morris was just linked to Oklahoma State by On
three Sports and Brett McMurphy a little earlier today. USC twentieth,
followed by Pittsburgh at twenty one, Georgia Tech at twenty two,
and Tulane James Madison in Arizona State round out my

(01:46:32):
college football Playoff top twenty five. I'm sure to look
exactly like that, won't it. Hey, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody
listening on the program today. Thank you to Evan v
from Inside Texas as well as EJ.

Speaker 2 (01:46:43):
Sanchez from Texas Live.

Speaker 1 (01:46:45):
If you missed their breakdowns of the high school football
playoff matchups and the Longhorns game against Texas A and
M this Friday. Those will be available in podcast form
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts.
We'll talk to you next from Bevo Boulevard. Yeah, it's
really happening Friday, afternoon three thirty pm Longhorns game Day.

(01:47:07):
I'll be there engineering with Cameron Parker, Mike Carpaul Harg
and Mark henry On behalf of Craig Way as well,
who joined us from Maui at the start of the
four o'clock hour.

Speaker 2 (01:47:17):
I'm Jay Krman. Thanks so much for tuning in.

Speaker 1 (01:47:19):
Have a great holiday weekend, and the Lone Stars Showdown
comes your way soon

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