Astros Take White Sox Series, D-Backs Tonight, Huge College Football Saturday

Friday on The Dan Mathews Show, Dan and Josh react to the Astros' big series win over the White Sox, preview Astros-D-backs, look ahead to a massive college football Saturday, and much more!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The 0-1.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
And that's hammered deep to left field. Antonacci is back
at the wall looking up.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
See you later. Two-run home run.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Jose Altuve into the Landry's Crawford boxes.

Speaker 4 (00:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
And it's 2-0 Astros.

Speaker 5 (00:15):
Altuve's 15th.

Speaker 6 (00:16):
Two-out lightning again for the Astros. This time it's Altuve.
An elevated fastball that he got on top of and
clipped it out of here.

Speaker 5 (00:25):
That's right, Sparky. Here's the 2-1.

Speaker 6 (00:29):
That's a breaking ball. Hit into right center field. Hit
very well. Back on to Peters, and.

Speaker 5 (00:33):
It's off the wall.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Astros will score two.

Speaker 7 (00:36):
Varshow racing for third.

Speaker 6 (00:38):
They're thinking about sending him. No, they'll hold him at
third base. It's a triple for Dalton. The Astros lead 5-2.
Third triple of the season for Dalton Varshow, and the
Astros strike with two outs again.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
He was a little fooled on that pitch. Kept his
hands back and still was able to drive it.

Speaker 8 (00:59):
There was part of me that wanted Varsha to send it,
that wanted him to try to go home on that.
But he also would have been out by like 10 feet.

Speaker 5 (01:09):
So it's all good that he didn't.

Speaker 8 (01:11):
And it's also all good that the Astros win 6-2.

Speaker 5 (01:14):
And with that, we say away we go. Welcome on in.

Speaker 8 (01:17):
It is the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. A
little different here in the first part of the show
today because, well, with it being a holiday weekend, it's
obviously vacation time. So we go split squad today. Now
you might be saying to yourself, well, wait a minute.
Isn't split squad like normally like a spring training thing?

Speaker 5 (01:34):
Yeah, perhaps.

Speaker 8 (01:35):
I mean, I guess you could say that the Dan
Matthews show today is you've got one group that's staying
back at West Palm Beach and another group that's going
out to, oh, I don't know, Jupiter or wherever else
the Astros play during spring training. So I've got Jonathan
Allen hanging out with me for the first couple of hours.

Speaker 5 (01:50):
Hey, buddy, how are you?

Speaker 8 (01:52):
Now, I mean, I understand that Matt, because Ross usually
is pretty agreeable with most things, but Matt gets weirdly possessive,
you know, just about people and just about like his
show and just everything else.

Speaker 5 (02:06):
So is he cool with it? Is it all good?
Have y'all litigated this? I didn't tell him nothing. I
was like, you know what?

Speaker 3 (02:11):
They told me I'm here for damn.

Speaker 5 (02:12):
Just chill it down. You don't worry about Matt here. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Exactly.

Speaker 9 (02:17):
You know what?

Speaker 8 (02:18):
His purview is 6-10. After that, then it's me from 10-2.
And then I don't meddle in 2-6. I let them
do their thing. That's really just the way it goes.
It's good to have you, man. Appreciate it. And, of course,
Jonathan will be hanging out with us for the first
couple of hours. Ahead on the show today, too, in
addition to a lot of Astros talk, I mean, we've

(02:39):
got college football to get into. And I've said this before, that,
you know, it's one of those things that we've got
a lot of people here who love college football, but, like,
just as a whole group, the passion for it is
so divided that it's really kind of tough to tell
if indeed like people actually, you know, really, really love

(03:01):
the game. I mean, you go to sports bars on
a Saturday here and of course, I mean, it's packed.
I mean, you got people wearing Texas gear, people wearing
Aggie gear, Red Raider gear, TCU Horned Frog, even though
they didn't look very good last weekend.

Speaker 5 (03:13):
I mean, you get my point here.

Speaker 8 (03:15):
So, I mean, people get geared up for college football season,
but like the differences between here and and the previous
market that I was in is obviously the previous market
I was in, it was more centralized because I mean,
if you lived there and you were in that state,
well then of course you were a Georgia Bulldog fan.
And I mean, even if you went to Bama or
like Auburn or any of those other places, like you

(03:37):
had enough like people around you that, I mean, you
were still fired up. And I mean, I will say this,
like in terms of like Bars for watch parties, every
single one of them would always be packed with whatever
that fan base was. So you knew like if even
if you were an LSU fan or an LSU grad,
you knew that you had your place to go to
even like the Big Ten schools like Ohio State and

(03:59):
all them. They know exactly where to go. They've got
their rooms reserved, all that kind of stuff. So we
have a little bit of that here. But I feel
like this is the one day a year where we
can get fired up for it because, I mean, I
love the NFL as much as anybody.

Speaker 5 (04:13):
I really do.

Speaker 8 (04:13):
And I love Texan Sundays, all of those things. But
to me, there is nothing better than a college football Saturday.
And I'll take it even a step further. The Fridays
before a big game, if your favorite school is playing,
is amazing. Because the anticipation is there. The nerves haven't
really kicked in yet. The beers taste even better. But

(04:35):
then once you hit Saturday, you wake up, you watch
game day. And pretty much once those 11 a.m. games start,
then you're like, okay, now I'm kind of starting to
get nervous about it. I'm starting to get a little
antsy about it. I'm really fired up. So I know
Gordy's already in Baton Rouge.

Speaker 5 (04:50):
You know what? We might check in with Gordy a
little bit later on.

Speaker 8 (04:54):
I might put Gordy to work today and have him
hop on here, talk some college football. But Matt Moscona
from ESPN 104.5, we've had him on before, especially when
I was on the mornings. We had him on, so
he's going to join us. He's been all over, obviously,
everything that's happening with LSU. I think our good buddy
Will Matthews, the sideline reporter, former Texas Longhorn, a lifetime Longhorn,

(05:17):
as you hear Craig Way call former players all the time.
I think he's supposed to join us at 1230. And
as we say in the business, efforting to get somebody
on to talk Cougs because, well, I mean, with us
not only here on Sports Talk 790 being the home
of the Longhorns and LSU here in the Houston market,
you also have the Cougs over on KPRC 950 and

(05:39):
they're going to get going tomorrow at 10. And we
got a lot of gymnastics to work through, too. in
terms of you want your Astros, you want your college
football teams. I mean, we've got all of that for
you tomorrow. So you're going to have Texas over here tomorrow.
And the Astros are going to be over on NewsRadio

(06:00):
740 KTRH. So you'll have that starting at 5 o'clock.
And then LSU is going to be over on KPRC 950.
And I think that they get going at 5. So
you've got a lot of different options tomorrow. And of course,
our iHeartRadio family of stations here can be where you
can find all of these games tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (06:19):
So that's what you got. We'll lay that out for
you a little bit later on.

Speaker 8 (06:23):
But at least the Astros is where I wanted to
get the conversation going this morning because, I mean, you know,
it's one of those that's the old saying, you haven't
seen it yet, just wait. And I had made the
comment yesterday to Josh Jordan that I said, you know,
it'd be nice to hop on a show and say, boy,
the bats showed up. And it was less than 24

(06:45):
hours later that we get to say, man, the bats
showed up to in the first inning. You heard the
highlight that Jonathan bumped us in with the two run
homer by Jose Altuve.

Speaker 5 (06:55):
That was nice.

Speaker 8 (06:56):
Then he gave it right back there in the top
of the second where the White Sox just put baseballs
in play to death against the Astros. And they're unable
to be able to hold them off the scoreboard, but
then good on Hunter Brown to be able to lock
down and keep the damage just right there at those
two runs. And then it was an inning and a

(07:19):
half later that his offense goes to work for him
where you get Dalton Varshow coming through. I mean, that
was pretty nerve wracking there in the third inning where
you're thinking to yourself, you're like, are you jokers going
to do this to us again? Like, seriously, are you
going to allow for a Lamont way lead off single
and And then Jordan getting hit by a pitch. And

(07:40):
then Isak Paredes able to double home Lamont Wade. That
was nice to see. But then Altuve strikes out looking
and you're just like, okay, like minimalist Astros. We're going
to continue to do this, aren't we? I mean, it's just,
this is what you guys have been doing here for
the last few months. And I mean, we played the
highlight too. Dalton Varshow telling us, hey, chill out. I

(08:01):
got us all. It's all good. You want a triple?
I'll give you a triple. Hell, I might even try
to round third.

Speaker 5 (08:08):
And head home.

Speaker 8 (08:09):
And Tony Paraschika, of course, put the kibosh on that
pretty quickly and was just like, yeah, hey, three bags
is good enough for you right here. And good thing,
because just a couple pitches later, Christian Walker, nice little
single out center field.

Speaker 5 (08:21):
So you love to see that. So four runs there
in the third inning.

Speaker 8 (08:24):
You get the win. You already had the season series
against the White Sox. So that wasn't in question whatsoever.
But you went three out of four against a first-place team.
That is nice to see. And a little bit later
on in the show, it's one of those things that
a lot of us might not be feeling good about
the Astros' postseason chances. But there is somebody out there

(08:46):
that feels really good about the Astros' postseason chances. And
we'll have that later on in the program, too, today
as well. But now you turn the page. You get
the Arizona Diamondbacks in town. It's going to be Christian
Javier pitching tonight. Adam Wexler going to have you on
Astros on deck starting at six o'clock to get you
set up for the opener of this series. And really

(09:07):
all you need is one more win, which you'd like
to be able to win this series too, because winning
series is going to be probably the easiest way for
the Astros to be able to try to make the
postseason and hold on and win the AL West. So
two out of three would be amazing this weekend. If
you're able to pull that off, that's a five and
two week. And as I've continued to say, just continue

(09:27):
putting together winning weeks. It's not only the series that
are baked into that, but being able to win weeks
is massive for you of not only getting further above 500,
which you're now back to three games above 500. Well,
I mean, that's kind of weird to think that that's
like the high watermark for the Astros. But my God,
can we dream about a team being, I don't know, four,

(09:49):
five games above 500? I mean, six games above 500.
How crazy would that be to think about? And oh,
by the way, too, for all the belly aching about
the Astros and about the AL West, you're only a
game and a half out of being the second seed
and being able to miss the wildcard round.

Speaker 5 (10:09):
One and a half games right now.

Speaker 8 (10:11):
And oh, by the way, too, on top of it all,
you've got the season series against the White Sox. You
beat them five out of seven times. So if it
comes down to the end of the season, you got
the same records and you win the AL West, guess
who's going to be the number two seed and guess
who's going to have to take on likely the Cleveland
Guardians in the first round of the wildcard series.

Speaker 5 (10:31):
Yeah, you guessed it.

Speaker 8 (10:32):
It's going to be the team out of the AL Central,
which I mean, that's the funny thing is too, is
like I said, of everybody just jumping on the AL
West and jumping on the Astros. It's like, you know,
the AL Central is not all that great either. I mean, yes,
the AL East is pretty good, but That's also a
chance to that that group is going to cannibalize each

(10:52):
other there, especially if they've got to face each other
there in the wildcard round, which they would. It would
likely be the Red Sox and the Yankees facing off
against each other, which that would be fun.

Speaker 10 (11:03):
Watch.

Speaker 8 (11:04):
And then you also would have either of those teams
moving on to play the Rays. So, I mean, talking
about ways that this thing could really work out for you.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
I just laid it out for you. Pretty simple.

Speaker 8 (11:16):
So for all the people out there, I don't want
the Astros to make the postseason. They just get knocked
out in the first round. Well, I also am one
of those people that likes having a chance. And if
you're in, you have a chance. So take a chance
and maybe even be pleasantly surprised in certain cases. I mean,
what's wrong with that? I understand what the expectations are.

(11:38):
I understand that we're not feeling as good about this
team as we have with previous other teams that have
been vying for a postseason spot before. But again, I mean,
how many times in baseball, especially have we seen teams
that looked like they had no business being able to
make it to the world series and being able to
make it to the world series.

Speaker 5 (11:54):
So let it play out sometimes.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
Okay.

Speaker 8 (11:57):
Like I understand what it looks like. I understand the deficiencies.
I understand the weaknesses. I understand all of those things.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
All right.

Speaker 8 (12:03):
I mean, so much that I just said, understand three
times in a row. So I think we all get it,
but two at the same time, I would like to
be able to try to get it and have an
opportunity to go for it. And being able to win
the division and being able to get in, no matter
what your record is, that gives you an opportunity to
have that chance. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (12:26):
So like I said, 30 minutes from now, we'll talk
with Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5. We're also going to have
my good buddy Lee Sterling from Paramount Sports. So you
thinking about putting some action on some games this weekend,
Lee Sterling's got you. He's going to have his plays
and have that coming up for you at one o'clock too,

(12:47):
as well. So a little bit of this, a little
bit of that might even weave in some Texans too,
because we got an interesting report a couple of days
ago that we really didn't have much of a chance
to get into yesterday. And then of course, the saga
that is Tank Dell and how his 2026 could look. Well,
some extra thoughts on that one too, because I do
think we actually, have some context to what's going on

(13:09):
with Tank Dell. So share that with you too, as
the show goes along. But again, the number to get
in 713-212-5790. Again, it's 713-212-5790. And you know, there's something
that we've heard about this Astros team this year that
I think this last series just proved. Maybe there's something
to it. what exactly it is. Talk about it here again,
as we're just getting going on a Friday, it's Dan Matthews,

(13:32):
Jonathan Allen, hanging out with us for the first couple
of hours. Joshua Jordan will join us in progress at
noon as we get it going here on a Friday
edition of the Dan Matthews show sports talk seven 90.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (13:44):
What he said.

Speaker 11 (13:45):
Absolutely.

Speaker 8 (13:45):
Always appreciate every single one of you who make time
to join us every single weekday from 10 AM to
2 PM. As we are the Dan Matthews Show, we
come your way right here on your home of the
Astros and the Rockets, Sports Talk 790. Strohs went in
yesterday 6-2 over the White Sox to take that series
3 out of 4. Next up, the Arizona Diamondbacks. That

(14:07):
fires up tonight. You can listen to it right here,
Sports Talk 790. Now, I mentioned it in the first segment, too.
I mean, wall to wall on our family of stations here.
at iHeartRadio Houston tomorrow. So 10 a.m., you want your
Cougs game. Maybe you can't make it over to TDECU Stadium,
or is it Space City Financial Credit Union now?

Speaker 5 (14:27):
Whatever it is, I can't remember what it is. But
to the U of H game, they're in person.

Speaker 8 (14:31):
10 a.m., you get Oregon State Cougs over there on
KPRC 950. 1.30 right here on Sports Talk 790. You're
going to get the horns in the Texas State Bobcats. Brad,
where are you at? You're Bobcats in Austin taking on
the Longhorns. You got that right here, Sports Talk 790.
You're looking for the Astros tomorrow night.

Speaker 5 (14:52):
All good.

Speaker 8 (14:53):
Just a few dials down from us news radio, seven
40 KTRH five o'clock or yeah, five o'clock. You get
Astros on deck over there to get you set for
the second game of the series. And then if you're
looking for LSU Clemson, probably the game of the weekend,
that's going to be over on KPRC nine 50, starting
at five o'clock. So that's what you've got for you
as the Astros and college football hot and heavy tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (15:16):
And we'll have it all right here on either side.

Speaker 8 (15:18):
Sports Talk 790, News Radio 740 KTRH, or KPRC 950.
713-212-5790 is the number to get in. Tom and Cypress
see you right there working into the conversation. You want
to join them. Again, 713-212-5790. But again, I think the
Astros just proved it in this last series. There's something
about playing those good teams. And I know that a

(15:40):
lot of you got pretty upset when, obviously, Dana Brown
was the GM of the team last And he joined us,
and I think it was the last visit that he
had with us where he had talked about and admitted that, yeah,
probably in some of those games where the environments aren't
as raucous and there doesn't seem like there's a ton
on the line, that maybe, just maybe, the intensity kind
of wanes just a little bit. And, of course, I

(16:02):
didn't sit well with people, but we watched the games.
We listened to Robert and Steve. We see and hear it.
I mean, it seems like this team gets up for
opponents like the White Sox. And now you've got another
one coming into town. That's a team that is fighting
for a postseason spot. And oh, by the way, too,
I mean, the Diamondbacks not only are a team that

(16:24):
have proven they can get there, but also, I mean,
they're dealing with their own stuff. I mean, Cattell Marte,
whatever the hell is going on with him, the fans
are booing him. But this is a team of seven
games above 500. So, I mean, about the same as
the Chicago White Sox that just came through. And even
though he's not having a great year, Merrill Kelly is
a pretty tough pitcher. So you're going to have your

(16:45):
work cut out for you. But this would be one
of those that if you come out of it two
out of three, man, you feel even better. Two out
of three this weekend for the Astros would be a
five and two week. So three games above 500 for
a week. after you just went four and two the
week before. So good things, good things. Like I've said,
continue to put together winning weeks. And oh, by the way,

(17:06):
it doesn't get any easier. You get Monday off, but
then you get series against the Phillies and the Tampa
Bay Rays next weekend. So you want to be able
to make it to the postseason. And I understand a
lot of people look at it and say, man, look
at all these postseason teams the Astros have to face. Well,
I mean, they've proven it. I think now they're 29
and 18. against teams that are above 500 this year.

(17:30):
So they've been able to handle business against teams that
you would see in the postseason. And it's the teams
that are under 500 that are giving them the most grief. So,
like I said, you get the Phillies and then the
Rays next week, and then you get a little bit
of a respite, even though, I mean, the Royals still
have good players on their team and they're going to
be coming through here. And then you get the Braves

(17:52):
for your final homestand before you go out on the
road and two against the Mariners, which, boy, it would
be nice to go and have the Mariners just out
of this thing as you head to Seattle because that
place has not been good to you. And then you
finish up with four in Sacramento. Like, let's not have
a similar situation to what you had last year where
you went to Sacramento and you're like, got to take

(18:13):
care of the A's. And you end up only salvaging
a game in that series. So you wondered why you
were missing out on the postseason. That was why. Because
you probably already had the tombstone going up after you
got swept by the Mariners. But then it fully went
up when you went to Sacramento and played the way
that you did. And then finishing it up there, losing

(18:34):
that Friday night game to the Angels. At that point,
you didn't even deserve to get into the postseason. But
it also was fully determined at that point because, I mean,
it was weird watching that final game on that Sunday
and being like, wow, there's no postseason baseball. This is weird.
This is something we have no idea about. So go
ahead and have things locked up. It would be really

(18:56):
nice to be able to head into that final week,
rest guys up, maybe even have like a game, game
and a half lead for the second spot in the
AL and be able to coast into this thing.

Speaker 5 (19:08):
That would be nice.

Speaker 8 (19:09):
That would be a nice development of things for you.
713-212-5790 is the number to get in.

Speaker 5 (19:16):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (19:17):
As I mentioned, Tom in Cyprus is going to get
us going this morning.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
Tom, good morning.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
How are you doing?

Speaker 4 (19:23):
I'm doing good, Dan.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
Good to be with you.

Speaker 5 (19:26):
Likewise.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Hey, I want to throw something out there for people
to think about about this season. You know, we've made
comments about the division being weak, and.

Speaker 12 (19:36):
We've heard them all.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
But did you know that the Astros were four wins
and two losses on March 31st? They didn't get back
to two games over.

Speaker 10 (19:48):
500.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
Until August 1st. They kept getting close. They were as
much as 11 games under. 500 throughout that stretch, that
long stretch. Going 8-18 in April put them behind the
eight ball. But here they are on August 1st. coming

(20:10):
back against the Rangers and, you know, getting above 500.
They haven't gone below since then. I think this team
has turned it around. I'm happy for Joe Espada that
he stuck around, you know, managing the team. I don't
know what's going to happen, but this has been an

(20:31):
exciting run for me. I've been an Astros fan for
20 years when I moved here from New York City
with my kids and my wife. I was a Mets
fan growing up. I always dreamed that the Mets and
the Astros might play in a World Series. I called
it the Expansion Draft World Series. But that's not going

(20:52):
to happen this year. The only thing I can say
about the Astros is don't give up on this team.
All the things that they've gone through, five months, it
took them five months to get back to over 500,
and they're still playing inspired baseball. I think they're going
to win the division. And who knows what's going to

(21:12):
happen as far as going, what's going to happen today.
You made a great comment. This team that they're playing
tonight is a good team. Just like the white socks,
same record. They have, they got to stick with it.
I'm hoping that they can pull this out. At least
win series, taking those two games from the white socks.

(21:34):
What are the best two games that I've seen this
Astro team play?

Speaker 1 (21:38):
Um, Who did they get?

Speaker 4 (21:39):
Who's that guy that played left field, hit the homer,
and then got the base hit the other night?

Speaker 5 (21:44):
Varshow?

Speaker 4 (21:44):
This is exactly what, yes, but not Varshow, the guy
playing left field. He hit the two on a.

Speaker 5 (21:50):
Homer on Monday. Oh, Velasquez. I'm sorry. Yeah, Nelson Velasquez. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (21:55):
I mean, they could not have asked to get a
player that could come up right now, boom, homer, bam,
bases loaded, double.

Speaker 12 (22:05):
I mean, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (22:06):
I just, I like what I see with this team
right now. I don't care about the division. All we
got to do is hold.

Speaker 12 (22:13):
Off the devils. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1 (22:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (22:18):
That's all I got to say for you, man. Thanks
for having me on.

Speaker 8 (22:20):
No, of course, Tom, it's always good to hear from you, man.
I mean, look, it's one of those that said it
all the time that you're going to go through frustrating
parts of a season. I mean, that's, and, and we've
seen it and, I mean, here's hoping that the Astros
got their frustration out of the way, because if you're
playing your best baseball right now and you're able to
carry that into the postseason, that's lethal.

Speaker 5 (22:40):
That's deadly.

Speaker 8 (22:41):
I mean, that's one of those that whoever they would
possibly face if they, of course, finished with the third spot.
that team coming here to Dyken Park would be like,
I don't know if I want to face this team.
And then on top of it all, if you make
it to the divisional round and you got to go
on the road and face whoever, well, they'd probably say
the same thing, man. That's a team that's got a

(23:02):
lot of experience in terms of post-season baseball and they're
playing good baseball right now.

Speaker 5 (23:07):
This seems pretty scary.

Speaker 8 (23:09):
So, Here's hoping that, I mean, we are starting to
see this team kind of round into shape, that we
are starting to see this offense have a little bit
of a reawakening, a little bit, because yesterday was nice
to see.

Speaker 5 (23:20):
It really was.

Speaker 8 (23:21):
As hard as I've been on this offense, it was
nice to see them erupt for a four-run inning yesterday.
That two-run triple was glorious.

Speaker 5 (23:28):
It was amazing.

Speaker 8 (23:29):
Thank you very much, Dalton Varshow. Hadn't been seeing a
ton of that lately. So if we're going to get
a few more weeks of this, then all of a
sudden you can kind of start to dream that things
can get a lot better for this team. So hopefully
that is the case. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (23:48):
So Hunter Brown, I think we all knew that he
was the unquestioned ace for this team, but he said
something yesterday that solidified that point for him and not
only for him, but also for the Astros. Talk about
it all right here as, again, we're getting going on
a Friday. You want to join us here on the
Dan Matthews Show, 713-212-5790. Again, it's 713-212-5790. Let's keep it

(24:14):
going here on your home of the Astros and the Rockets,
Sports Talk 790.

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Speaker 8 (28:41):
The Dan Matthews Show. Sports Talk 790. We hang out
with you every single weekday from 10 a.m.

Speaker 5 (28:47):
To 2 p.m.

Speaker 8 (28:49):
As got myself, Dan Matthews, got Jonathan Allen hanging out
with us here until noon. That's when Josh Jordan hops
back in. Not Santa on Twitter goes, man, it's only
show 10 and you only get Josh Jordan for half
the show. I get it, man. You know, it's like
one of those that. I don't know, maybe 10-2 is
like the spot where they're just like, man, just throw
anybody in there. And Jonathan Allen is not just anybody.

(29:12):
Jonathan Allen, I mean, is premium talent here. So we
are lucky to have Jonathan Allen hanging out with us.
But like I said, just one of those that you
sometimes can play man-to-man defense and sometimes you got to
play zone defense. And this is one of those days
we got to play zone defense just a little bit. So,
you know, divided responsibilities. It's all good. So you're hanging

(29:33):
out with us. We appreciate you working some extra innings
for us today. And then, of course, we'll have Josh
hanging out with me. But then, yeah, you know, like,
not Santa, you actually have kind of a good point.
Because then he dabbles going back with his old group.
And that's the part for me that I'm a little
uncomfortable with. I mean, you know, young Josh Jordan hangs

(29:54):
out with us now. Triple E hangs out with the
afternoon show. Triple E, of course, out for the weekend.
which everybody deserves some time off. But all I know
is I don't want to come back on Monday and
they're like, hey, now Josh is going back to the afternoons.

Speaker 5 (30:09):
I mean, come on now, guys. Come on now.

Speaker 8 (30:11):
But well, actually, it'd be Tuesday. We're going to be
off on Monday. So enjoying the holiday with all of you.
Looking forward to that. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in.
As I mentioned, Stroh's take three out of four from
the White Sox. Loved seeing yesterday afternoon, which You know,
it's just one of those that as soon as you
hit September, there's a good and a bad to everything,
a yin and the yang, which we love the month

(30:34):
of September and October, months of September and October, because
that's where you get the sports cross section where you
get baseball. I mean, postseason baseball is elite. Football is
in full swing, which college football got going in earnest
last night. That was a fun one between Colorado and
Georgia Tech. And then, of course, this weekend, we get

(30:54):
college football. We're going to be crazy about that, excited
about that. And then you're, of course, getting the end
of the baseball regular season, which yesterday was the final
midweek afternoon getaway day game. So if you were playing
hooky from work, which I know I had a lot
of friends of mine texting me, hey, you here at
the game now, you know, being an adult, got stuff

(31:15):
I got to do because, of course, heading to the
LSU game. So, you know, you got to take care
of all of that, which I had to drop the
puppy off the kennel this morning and she was not
very happy with me.

Speaker 5 (31:25):
It's okay.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
It's all right.

Speaker 8 (31:26):
I mean, it's kind of like sending your kids away
to camp. You know, you want them to have fun.
And the place sends me pictures too. So I get
to see her frolicking around, running around, you know, being happy,
which I've told them before.

Speaker 5 (31:37):
I'm like, all right.

Speaker 8 (31:37):
So the first day she's going to mope and, you know,
she's not going to be aggressive with anybody, but she's
going to be very sad. And then the next day
she's kind of like, okay, I'll have fun. So it'll
be all good. And I'll be there Tuesday after the
show to go get her. So it's all good. It's
all fun.

Speaker 12 (31:53):
All right.

Speaker 8 (31:54):
So Hunter Brown, like I said, unquestioned, he's the ace
of the Astros. That is not breaking news for anybody.
But he said something yesterday that proves that he is
the anti version of this guy. So Jonathan Allen's got
it queued up for us. This was Hunter Brown after
yesterday's start. Remember, like I said, that second inning was
pretty frustrating, not only for him, but for us Astros

(32:14):
fans as well. And this is how he described that
second inning.

Speaker 10 (32:18):
I was kind of dragging my blanket a little bit
after the second inning.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
I couldn't believe that.

Speaker 10 (32:22):
I mean, and that was, I'm better than that, you know,
than to do that. But I mean, that was unbelievable, honestly.

Speaker 8 (32:32):
And he was better than that because that was an
inning where you got that capper up the third baseline.
And I say it all the time. That is one
of those because it is one of the most frustrating
things as a pitcher. You made your pitch. Like you,
you absolutely made your pitch. It didn't hit the barrel.
So you fooled the guy and he still gets rewarded

(32:55):
for it.

Speaker 5 (32:55):
That's baseball. But who did we used to see that
would have those?

Speaker 8 (33:00):
And as soon as you saw it happen to him,
you were just like, oh, no, that's going to be bad.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
Fromber Valdez.

Speaker 8 (33:08):
Hunter Brown proved that he's the anti-Fromber Valdez with that
yesterday because, yes, he does give up a couple of
those runs, but then able to lock in, able to
get the final out.

Speaker 5 (33:18):
It's a 2-2 ballgame.

Speaker 8 (33:19):
So, in effect, it's back to being scoreless between you
two and sets his team up to be able to
have the four-run third inning. And then he is aces
in the third, the fourth, the fifth. And you thought
to yourself, maybe that he was not going to be
able to get to the sixth inning, but we've seen
Hunter Brown before when he's near a hundred pitches and

(33:41):
you're to that point in the game, go to Josh
Miller and Joe Espada and say, you're sending me back
out there. Like, don't even think about whoever you're going
to jog in from the bullpen. I'm not allowing it.
I'm going to be out there on the mound. And
you kind of feel like too, that maybe Joe, if
he did say that is like, yeah, I owe you
one for accidentally pointing to the bullpen.

Speaker 5 (34:00):
That was on me. That was my bad. So, you
know what? You want this? Go out there and get it.
And then he rewards him.

Speaker 8 (34:07):
A quick sixth inning where he had 88 pitches heading
into that final inning yesterday. And Brown only needs 13
pitches in that sixth inning.

Speaker 5 (34:18):
So he gets out of there at 101.

Speaker 21 (34:19):
My God.

Speaker 8 (34:20):
A pitcher throwing 101 pitches. I mean, should we alert
the media?

Speaker 1 (34:24):
Should we let them know?

Speaker 8 (34:25):
I mean, I guess we are the media, so we're alerted,
but 101 pitches yesterday at a hundred Brown. That's your,
that's your ace. That's your grinder. That's your guy that
you absolutely want in those situations. And I appreciate the
accountability there right there too, where he says, yeah, I
was moping. I was, I was not feeling great, but I,

(34:46):
What do you also like from guys like that, that
they give you a performance like that in that inning,
but then they're able to lock in and being able
to finish? Those are the guys I want on this team.
Those are the guys, if something like that happens in
postseason baseball, can say, okay, I can't let myself spiral
out of control here because if I do, then I
put the team in trouble.

Speaker 5 (35:07):
So I need to be able to lock in here.

Speaker 8 (35:09):
And if I give up the lead at that point,
the other team's got the lead, well, then I need
to preserve it where it is and give my team
a chance a little bit later on in the game
to be able to have an opportunity to come back
in this thing. That's exactly what Hunter Brown did yesterday.
And as soon as I heard him say that, and
I remembered watching it at the time on Space City
Home Network when he said that, I was like, I
love this guy. I love the cut of his jib.

(35:32):
I mean, this guy absolutely is somebody... That, I mean,
we've talked about it before, and obviously Dana Brown earlier
this week talking about trying to extend Hunter Brown.

Speaker 5 (35:42):
I extend a guy like Hunter Brown. Absolutely, I do.

Speaker 8 (35:45):
Because that's a guy who I even still think has
his best pitching in front of him.

Speaker 5 (35:50):
And he's pitched.

Speaker 8 (35:51):
some really good performances already, but that's a guy that
will continue to get better and better and better because
I appreciate the guys that it's never good enough. And
he told you that yesterday that wasn't good enough and
he's able to lock in, able to finish it off
where does scatter six hits over those six innings does
walk a couple, but still striking out seven and only

(36:11):
giving up those two earned runs and picking up his
fifth one of the season. This is a guy that again,
I like being able to see performances like that. And
in back-to-back games now, I mean, again, alert the world.
Back-to-back games where we have seen quality outings out of pitchers.
Love to see it. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in.

Speaker 1 (36:33):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (36:33):
Alright, so as I mentioned, with it being college football
season tomorrow, I do want to get into a little
bit of the college ball, so we'll do exactly that.
My good buddy Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5, he's going to
hop on with us as we get you set for
the weekend as a whole. Of course, he's talking the
LSU-Clemson game and Clearly, they've got other things happening there

(36:53):
in Baton Rouge, too, so we'll get into that as well. As, again,
we roll along here on a Friday edition of the
Dan Matthews Show Sports Talk 790. That is true as
we keep it going here on a Friday edition of
the show. Astros winning yesterday 6-2 over the Chicago White Sox.
Now you get the Arizona Diamondbacks in town. Six o'clock
Astros on deck for that one tonight. You also have

(37:16):
college football coming up this weekend. And one of the
schools that we feature here on Sports Talk 790 is
the Fighting Tigers of Louisiana State University. A man who
knows a ton about that program and clearly the things
that are circulating the program right now is Matt Moscona.
ESPN 104.5 there in Baton Rouge. Also, LouisianaSports.net. You can

(37:38):
find him every single weekday afternoon on his show after
further review. Scone, I mean, yesterday, did it kind of
feel like it's a culmination of all of this, or
do you feel like this is now just the beginning
of this battle between LSU and the SEC?

Speaker 9 (37:53):
Yeah, it's, yeah, Dan, it's, I don't know that I
would say it's a culmination, but it was the next
big step because I certainly don't think The legal entanglement
is over. I do anticipate that the SEC, the NCAA
will appeal, likely all the way to the state Supreme Court.
And then another component of this as well, I'm sure

(38:15):
we'll talk about, but if the players are not rostered,
and I've been told this, people intimately familiar with the
case throughout, is that the players would seek civil damages.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
They lost wages and things like that.

Speaker 9 (38:34):
If they are given a court order to play and
are not rostered or allowed to play, then you could.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
See a civil case against the NCAA, the SEC, and
possibly schools.

Speaker 9 (38:43):
So that happened actually this week in Missouri. A player
there filed suit against Missouri after they made the decision
not to roster these players. So this is a big
legal step, but I think it's far from done.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
And then, I mean, where.

Speaker 8 (38:59):
I mean, where things stand with this right now. I mean,
where is the LSU fan base in terms of handling
all of this? Are they kind of looking at Lane
and being like, dude, this isn't worth it. Like, what
are you doing? Or do you feel like people are saying, yeah,
you know what? Screw the SEC. Screw the NCAA. Just
go ahead and play them and see where this goes.

Speaker 9 (39:17):
I think you definitely have a portion of the fan
base that continues to ask the question, is the juice
worth the squeeze? I think, and I understand that.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
I think....

Speaker 9 (39:30):
LSU leadership, however, has to ask a very different question. Primarily,
when you look at what happened yesterday, and Dan, this
is probably the biggest misconception people have with this entire
situation is LSU was not involved in the lawsuit. LSU

(39:51):
did not sue anybody. Nobody was suing LSU. What happened
in Louisiana yesterday, there were 42 college athletes, some who
attended LSU, some who attended other schools, some who play football,
some who play soccer, men's and women's basketball, lots of
different sports. And those athletes sued the NCAA to regain
their year of eligibility they feel they're entitled to.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
So a court gave them that injunction.

Speaker 9 (40:17):
And then what happened yesterday also is that Judge Jordan
in Baton Rouge enjoined LSU into the lawsuit, which effectively
means if LSU does not roster those football players, now
LSU is in contempt of court. So the leadership at
LSU now has to say, well, do we really want to.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
Run astray of a court order?

Speaker 9 (40:40):
Or do we want to contest the Southeastern Conference and
their rules? So they're stuck between a rock and a
hard place right now, and I think what's notable is precedent.
Over the last five years, with all of these court
cases for eligibility, there has never, not once, never been
a situation where a player was awarded a court order

(41:04):
and did not play. Even Charles Bediako played those five
games at Alabama last year when he received a temporary
restraining order. So while I understand there's some fan sentiment
that this is uncomfortable and they don't like it, LSU
leadership has to look through a different prism.

Speaker 8 (41:22):
Again, he is Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5, joining us here
on the Dan Matthews Show Sports Talk 790. And you
can also find Matt every single weekday afternoon on his
show after further review there in Baton Rouge and.

Speaker 5 (41:36):
Throughout Southern Louisiana.

Speaker 8 (41:38):
Hey, Matt, I mean, we'll get to the actual on-field
stuff in a second because, I mean, it does seem
like LSU's got a lot to be excited about this season,
much like most seasons. But, I mean, to kind of
wrap up all of this with the off-field and legal
side of it, I mean, is there a part of
you that's like, okay, you guys are all making this
an LSU thing, but like, Are we really going to

(41:58):
gloss over the fact that Texas had a guy that
was in minicamp with the Cowboys and nobody said a
word about him or anybody else?

Speaker 5 (42:05):
It kind of seems like there's selective outrage here.

Speaker 9 (42:10):
I think that certainly has been the case, and I understand.
LSU is a big brand. Lane Kiffin is a lightning rod.
I do understand why LSU is at the forefront. The
truth is, and I don't know if this is just
willful ignorance on the parts of many or just people
taking a surface level view. But there are presently, and

(42:34):
these aren't my numbers, the NCAA released a memo last Friday.
There are 60 lawsuits around the country involving more than
300 athletes. And this has become hyper-focused on LSU because
of Lane Kiffin.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
And I understand that.

Speaker 9 (42:48):
But my point has been the problem when you dabble
in areas of gray is is we start to have
this conversation, Dan, like you're just talking about Cole Hudson,
the Texas offensive lineman. He put on a Cleveland Browns uniform.
He practiced with the team. He put on a Dallas
Cowboys uniform. He practiced with the team. Somehow that's okay

(43:11):
because he didn't sign a contract, but Zavian Harris, who
signed a contract with the Saints and, testified under oath yesterday,
all he received was $ 190 in gas money and never
stepped on the field because he was recovering from a
foot injury. I didn't take a single practice rep, but
he's a.

Speaker 1 (43:30):
He's a former NFL player.

Speaker 9 (43:33):
That's, that's the problem when you deal in areas of gray,
because then so much subjectivity enters into these conversations. And
the obvious question is then, well, how do you fix that? Well,
it's what the NCAA should have done from the beginning,
which was award a blanket waiver. This has to be binary.
There's up, down, there's left, right, there's good, bad, there's black, white.
In this instance, it's either they all play or none

(43:53):
of them play. Because when you introduce areas of gray,
now you have this conversation that it's almost impossible to differentiate.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
And that's why this has been so messy. The NCAA
has been.

Speaker 9 (44:05):
An awful organization that's lacked leadership throughout much of its existence.
And this is another illustration of a situation where they
were warned when they passed the new five for five
and the way they worded it, that they didn't grant
a blanket waiver to the class of 22.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
There were going to be lawsuits. And here we are.

Speaker 8 (44:22):
Well, that's what inactivity will get you. And this is
the point that we're at for sure. Hey, the actual
on-field product, I mean, we're going to get to see
it for the first time tomorrow night. I mean, I
know that you're on the ground there. I'll be there
tomorrow afternoon and in the building tomorrow night, so I'm
excited to see what it looks like. But, I mean,
is the hype real? Is this a team that can
really make some noise this year?

Speaker 1 (44:44):
I mean, Dan, they spent $ 50 million on the roster.

Speaker 5 (44:47):
So it better be.

Speaker 9 (44:47):
That's my point. Like, with investment comes expectation. That's true
in anything in life. Uh, they paid a lot of
money to fire Brian Kelly. They paid Lane Kiffin a
lot of money. No one has told him. No, I mean,
they have hired, I have never seen this much support
staff ever. I mean, if you look at the LSU,

(45:09):
like the coaching staff support staff, just in the football building,
it's like one-to-one player to staff member.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
So nobody has told Lane Kiffin.

Speaker 9 (45:17):
No, they've given him every resource he needs to win
and win immediately and For everyone who says, well, you
need time to build it, it just doesn't work like
that in college football anymore because of the.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Portal and NIL. Kurt Cignetti is an example of that.

Speaker 9 (45:31):
He took over the losing-est program in the history of
college football. Year one wins 11 games. Year two wins
the national championship. I don't think it's unrealistic to have
real expectations on his team this year.

Speaker 5 (45:42):
Is Boosie Badass going to lead the team out of
the tunnel tomorrow?

Speaker 9 (45:46):
I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow. I know
he wants to. That's the thing, and I'll tell you this.
when they had the wearing of the Green Parade, the St.
Paddy's Day Parade in Baton Rouge in the spring, Lane
was on stage with Boosie, and when they were backstage
in the trailer and whatever, Boosie made a note of
something he wants to do, and maybe there was a
soft verbal that something like that could happen. So I

(46:08):
don't necessarily think it will happen like with Boosie singing,
set it off in lieu of the tiger band. But
at some point I would be surprised if something like
that didn't happen. Yeah.

Speaker 8 (46:18):
I mean, I got to figure that probably the first
game you want the band to walk down the hill,
play the four little notes. And then of course, you know,
Colin Baton Rouge, all that stuff, bring them onto the field.

Speaker 5 (46:27):
I can get all of that.

Speaker 8 (46:29):
I would probably say scone Alabama would be when they
break that out. Like I feel like that would be
a good one to do, even though you've been very
much on record of saying that Bama is burning and
has been burning.

Speaker 9 (46:41):
Of course, just a little old game, you know, another
four loss season.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
You pull it off for a four loss team again. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Speaker 5 (46:50):
I mean, eight and four to eight and four to
bore for a reason.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Right.

Speaker 9 (46:53):
And.

Speaker 8 (46:54):
I guess we'll see if that is the case again
this year. He's Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5 in Baton Rouge.
Like I said, LouisianaSports.net, LockedOnLSU, Morning Scone. I mean, my God, dude.
Do you just give people a notepad for a business card?
I mean, you're a roof guy, too, as well. I mean,
what don't you do?

Speaker 1 (47:13):
I don't have hair.

Speaker 8 (47:16):
We all have our crosses, man. I mean, I, I used,
I used to be fat, you know, so, you know, you.

Speaker 5 (47:23):
Look great, man.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
It was great to see you in Tampa immediately. Man,
you look awesome.

Speaker 8 (47:27):
No, I appreciate it, man. I appreciate it. Feelings mutual, man.
It's always good to see you. Um, well, I see
you around the stadium tomorrow. Are you going to steer clear?

Speaker 1 (47:34):
I will be there, man.

Speaker 5 (47:35):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (47:37):
We definitely will. Definitely will.

Speaker 8 (47:39):
And I know, uh, Our good buddies, the Bocock brothers,
are going to be out there too, and I'm supposed
to stop by and see them.

Speaker 5 (47:44):
So looking forward to it, man.

Speaker 8 (47:45):
Again, he's Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5.

Speaker 5 (47:47):
Moscona, you're the best, man. We'll catch up again soon.

Speaker 1 (47:51):
Okay, Dan. See you, man.

Speaker 5 (47:51):
All right, there you go.

Speaker 8 (47:52):
Matt Moscona, again, ESPN 104.5. So it's kind of weird
to think that actual football is going to be played.
And you know, the funny thing is, is I'm going
to be very careful how I make this comparison right now,
but obviously the news last night and everybody looking at
LSU said, Well, then, of course, the Lindsey Clancy verdict
comes down today. So LSU is probably like, oh, hey,

(48:14):
somebody else is going to run cover for us now.
So you got that going for you.

Speaker 3 (48:18):
All right.

Speaker 5 (48:19):
Continuing the conversation. Tony and Angleton, appreciate your patience. Work
you in. You want to join them?

Speaker 9 (48:23):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
Again, it's 713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (48:28):
Let's wade into a little bit of some Texans, too,
because something said earlier this week about Tank Dell by
Nick Casario that I think kind of slipped under the radar.

Speaker 5 (48:39):
But now it's time to bring it to your attention.

Speaker 8 (48:41):
Talk about it here as we get into the 11
o'clock hour on the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 5 (48:46):
11 o'clock hour. Here we go.

Speaker 8 (48:48):
It is the Dan Matthews Show Sports Talk 790. Special
thanks to my good buddy, Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5 there
in Baton Rouge. Clearly, it's one of those that you'd
like to get excited about a new season and about
a new head coach. But clearly, I mean, it's never
a dull moment whenever Lane Kiffin's involved in anything. And
this is just another example of that. And as you

(49:10):
even heard Matt say, and I would agree with it,
I mean, It's not like this is an LSU thing,
but it's been made into an LSU thing. So sometimes
you got to wear things. I mean, geez, we, seen
it here for years with the Astros. Anytime there's anything
remotely improper being inferred about anybody in baseball, it's like, oh,
thanks a lot, Astros. I mean, it's kind of the joke,

(49:30):
you know, that people will make. Well, thanks a lot,
Ben Lawton. Like, it kind of fits in the same way. Like,
that's what the Astros have also tied into. And maybe
LSU and Texas Tech will be the same in college football, too.
So who knows on that? But, yeah, like I said, too,
you're going to have tons of college football and the
Astros tomorrow here on our airwaves. on KPRC 950 and

(49:52):
also over on News Radio 740 KTRH. Like I said,
10 o'clock, KPRC 950, Cougs and Oregon State Beavers. They
will be over there. Kevin Eschenfelder, Ted Pardee and the crew.
They're going to have that one as the Cougs. Highly
anticipating a good 2026 season. 1.30 right here, Sports Talk 790,
Texas in Texas State. Longhorns get their season going. So

(50:16):
you'll have that five o'clock over on news radio, seven
40 KTRH. You're going to have the Astros and the
diamond back second game of that series. And then five
o'clock on KPRC nine 50, the game that me and
Matt Moscona were loosely just talking about right there.

Speaker 5 (50:30):
That's LSU Clemson. and they'll be over there.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
But you get the.

Speaker 8 (50:33):
Strohs firing up a series tonight with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
6 o'clock Astros on deck for that. It's going to
be an Adam Wexler experience for you to get you
set and also drive you home after hopefully yet another
Astros win as they just took 3 out of 4
from the White Sox. Get into Tank Dell in the
Texans here in just a second. But 713-212-5790 is the

(50:54):
number to get in. Tony and Angleton, appreciate your patience, man.
I know you've wanted to talk some Hunter Brown. Let's
give you that opportunity.

Speaker 5 (51:00):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
How you doing?

Speaker 12 (51:02):
Good morning, guys.

Speaker 22 (51:04):
We sat above the Astros' bullpen yesterday, and so we
got to watch everybody warm up, our hunters in particular.
And I was telling my buddy, he didn't look settled.
He didn't look very happy with his bullpen. I told him,
I said, you know, sometimes guys have bad warm-ups, and

(51:24):
they go in and do fine. When he got in
a little trouble in the second, he got out of it.

Speaker 3 (51:28):
That's the key.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
He got out of it. He's right in the show.

Speaker 22 (51:32):
Had a high pitch count through about four innings, but
he locked down and he got through six innings. And
that's a positive thing. But what I really want to
talk about is, you know, Brent Strom came back to
the club. He spent the whole game in the bullpen,
all right?

Speaker 1 (51:47):
And I think you're going to see some improvement.

Speaker 22 (51:50):
I think it's a great strategic move to have him
out there. It's like having your... your grandpa all around,
you know? He just kind of steadies the ship. So
I expect to see some improvement from the pitching staff,
especially the bullpen. He's out there working with those guys,
just talking to them. Everybody talks to him. And I
think he's going to be a positive addition to the

(52:11):
club going forward.

Speaker 8 (52:13):
Yeah, I mean, it's obviously a huge reason. Appreciate the call, Tony.
Why he's here is to be able to, I mean,
lend another set of eyes. I mean, but it is
also as well. I mean, it's nothing necessarily against what
Josh Miller has done. I think he's tried to do
the best he can with what he's got at a
certain point. And Ethan Katz, too, as well, who is
the assistant pitching coach. But clearly, this is one of

(52:36):
those things that the Astros realize the pitching has to
be better if they're going to have any opportunity to
be able to compete this year. And that's why Brent
Strom is here. But, I mean, his tutelage, we've seen
the results of it in the past. Now, does he
have the same pitchers that he had back when he
was really having this thing rocking and rolling?

Speaker 5 (52:54):
No, of course he doesn't.

Speaker 8 (52:55):
But can we see incremental improvement out of guys in
certain cases?

Speaker 5 (52:59):
That might be enough. So, yeah, that's a huge reason
why he's here.

Speaker 8 (53:03):
And it's interesting you said that, too, about his side session,
Hunter Brown, that is. I go back to a story
that I remembered a few years ago when I was
in my previous market, we had Tom Glavin on and
Glavin said that there were so many times where it was,
he had a terrible bullpen or maybe it was John
Smoltz that said this, but it was one of the two.
where they were like, it was so weird that I

(53:25):
would go out there and then be, you know, walking
back in and be like, man, you know, this is
going to be a bad day. And all of a
sudden it was a good one. I mean, because I
think in some ways it's kind of one of those,
you get the bad shots out of the way, like
in golf, if you're on the driving range trying to
get loose and, you know, you're hitting some hosel rockets,
it's not going well. So then you're not feeling good
about heading to the first tee. And then you kind

(53:47):
of just loosen up a little bit because you're just like, well,
I guess it's going to be one of those days.
So you kind of take the pressure off yourself a
little bit. Maybe that's what happens. I mean, maybe it's
one of those that you don't throw the good pitches
in the bullpen, so you're able to get through the
bad stuff right there, kind of clear your head, maybe
get a drink of water, something like that, and then
go out there and you're like, oh, okay, that was
misleading a little bit. Maybe that was the case with

(54:09):
Hunter Brown yesterday, but it was good to see him
be able to kind of get through A little bit
of the rockiness in the second inning, and then settle
in and give you a six strong yesterday. So now
out of the last two Astros starts, you've gotten 13
innings out of those groups, and only two runs given up.
So love to see it out of Hayden Wisniewski, and

(54:31):
absolutely love to see it yesterday out of Hunter Brown.

Speaker 5 (54:33):
That is for sure. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in.

Speaker 8 (54:40):
Nick Casario, of course, talked earlier this week about Tank
Dell and why he is on the IR because, again,
it is one of those things where you know that
Adam Wexler is out of practice all the time. And
of course, you listen to him regularly. from two to
six every single weekday with Adam Clanton. He's all over
the Texans. I mean, he's Texans Wex for a reason.

(55:00):
And I mean, he's told you, anybody else that follows
this team has told you that it was a pipe
dream to believe that Tank Dell was going to be
ready to go for the start of the season. And
I understand he's on short-term IR, which means that he
will be out at least until the fourth week of
the season. I've continued to say this and will continue
to say it. Even when he is able to be activated,

(55:23):
Tank Dell will be inactive for at least a couple
of weeks after that. I would probably expect we're not
seeing Tank Dell until late October at the earliest. And
it's not necessarily that it's a failure or if this
is kind of one of those where I get it,
we're kind of conditioned with the return to play from
guys with the Astros where it's like, oh no, are

(55:44):
the Texans starting to do this thing too? But again,
like you have to remember that his knee was obliterated
a year and a half ago.

Speaker 5 (55:53):
Absolutely obliterated.

Speaker 8 (55:55):
And that was after a year before where he broke
his lower leg in that game against the Denver Broncos,
which of course, a lot of us after the fact,
looking at Bobby Sloic being like, why are you having
a guy that's five, eight, 165 pounds near the line
of scrimmage? That makes zero sense to do that. What
do you think he's going to do? He's going to
block a linebacker. He's going to, he's going to chip

(56:17):
a defensive end. Like, seriously, what are we thinking he's
going to be able to do in that spot? And
he gets rolled up on a play and he's out
for the season. So neither here nor there.

Speaker 5 (56:28):
It's in the past.

Speaker 8 (56:29):
But with Dell, again, it's one of those where not
only missing all of last season, but with the time
that he missed with the other two injuries, it's almost
like he hasn't played football in two years to a
certain point here. So there's a lot that goes into, yes,
he's got the athleticism. He's got all of those things.

(56:49):
But as I've continued to warn people against, it's not
exactly a shoo-in that he's going to be that guy,
at least this year. There's a lot of buildup that happens.
There's a lot of stuff that goes into being able
to be ready for a season that there's a reason
why a couple of years ago, and I've brought this
up before where I, in no uncertain terms, believe that

(57:11):
D'Amico Ryans was talking about Laramie Tunsil of saying, you've
got to be basically ready to go by April because
if you're not, then you're behind and it's going to
be hard for you to be able to catch up. Well,
now Tink Dell, again, I mean, he's been working. Nobody's
going to doubt that. He's trying to be able to
get back out on the field. But a huge part
of it, too, is being able to build up his speed.

(57:31):
And Nick Casario even saying as much in a local
radio interview yesterday of saying that that is something that
they're still working on with him is trying to regain
his top end speed. Because clearly, we know with Dell,
that's a huge calling card for his game. is being
able to not only make cuts, make breaks, but also
being able to outrun people. That's a huge, when you're 5'8,

(57:54):
165 pounds, you got to be able to have that
in your bag, 5'9. But you get my point here.
He's not the biggest guy. That's what he's got to
have in his bag. And he's not there yet. It's
not necessarily a failure on the Texans' part, not necessarily
a failure on his part, because I think we all
knew that this was going to be a slow and

(58:14):
steady thing. And as I told you on an earlier
show this week, this was absolutely going to be playing
the long game here, because the Texans could care less
about Tank Dell being ready to go in September and October.
They're not worried about that. He's shown he can play
September and October football. They need Tinkdale to play November, December, January,

(58:34):
hopefully even February football is what they need him to play.
So I'm with them. in terms of taking this easy.
And little by little, we'll see him out there. I'm
sure with the limited time that the media gets to
see players on the field during regular season practice, you'll
probably week by week start to see him get a
little bit more and a little bit more. And we

(58:55):
ask D'Amico Ryans about it, and D'Amico Ryans will probably
give us as little of an update as possible because, well,
I mean, when he has to put Tank Dell on
the injury report, that's when we can probably get a
little bit more. But aside from that, it's kind of
D'Amico Ryan's handles it out.

Speaker 5 (59:11):
Of sight, out of mind.

Speaker 8 (59:12):
If I don't have to talk about somebody's injury, I'm
not going to talk about somebody's injury.

Speaker 5 (59:16):
And we always see how it goes during the week.
It is a tale.

Speaker 8 (59:20):
As old as D'Amico Ryan's being the head coach of
the Texans, that you ask a guy, or you ask
him about a guy after a game on Sunday, we'll
see how the week goes. He gives you that every
single time. Wednesday, that's when the injury report comes out.
Then he'll give you a little bit more. And then Thursday,
a little bit more, because then you see if they're
limited or DNP or any of those things. And that's
how he handles the injury situations. So it is going

(59:43):
to be a little bit of, they're going to just
give you enough information But soon enough this season, we
will see Tank Dell on the field. But getting reports
like this is not necessarily shocking. I think we expected this.
If you didn't expect this, then at a certain point,
I think you were expecting something that just wasn't going
to become a reality no matter what. So now, I mean,

(01:00:03):
being able to try to work his way back in,
that's what this is all really about. This is about
we need this guy to be with us when it
comes to playoff time. That's when we want this team
playing our best football. That's when we want our best
guys out there, and preservation is obviously a huge part.

Speaker 5 (01:00:19):
Of that, and that's exactly what they're doing here.

Speaker 8 (01:00:20):
They're preserving, but also trying to get him back up
to that spot. So when I see headlines like this,
it doesn't necessarily scare me. It doesn't necessarily surprise me.
It's a little bit of, this is what I expected
to see all along, and this is what we're getting
now out of Tank Dell.

Speaker 5 (01:00:36):
713-212-5790 is the number to get in.

Speaker 10 (01:00:37):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (01:00:42):
Seems like CJ Stroud might be taking a gamble on himself.
And I think the Texans know that. And in a
weird way, they might be okay with that. We'll talk
about it right here as we continue the Texans conversation.
You want to get in on it here in the
11 o'clock hour, 713-212-5790.

Speaker 5 (01:00:53):
Again, it's 713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (01:00:54):
So we continue to roll along here on a Friday.
It is the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 5 (01:01:04):
A Friday.

Speaker 8 (01:01:04):
Hey, by the way, too, it's one of those live
radio happens sometimes and have definitely wanted to get you
fired up for the college football season. And we're going
to do that here in about 10 minutes because my
good buddy, Will Matthews, former Texas Longhorn, and currently doing
sidelines with Craig Way and Roger Wallace and the crew
there on the radio side, which, of course, you'll be

(01:01:24):
hearing all season long right here on Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 5 (01:01:27):
He is going to hop on with us.

Speaker 8 (01:01:29):
To preview the longhorn season and of course they get
things going tomorrow afternoon over there in austin that's gonna
be a hot one right there 230 kick there at
dkr man that's one of those that i understand people
are gonna be you know lubing up just a little
bit to head in there but uh You might want
to throw some of the clear liquid that doesn't come

(01:01:50):
out of a Tito's bottle. You might want to throw
that in there just a little bit, especially for how
warm it's going to be in there. So good luck
to you on that. But Will Matthews is going to
be hopping on with us. So look forward to him
joining up with us. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in.
One more quick Texan thought here. So a couple of
days ago, we get Jeremy Fowler, ESPN, reporting something that,

(01:02:13):
I mean, just on a hunch from what Nick Casario
said earlier in the week, I had said, oh, they
got a contract offer in front of them. And I mean,
people had told me as much. And I think a
lot of us could probably guess that, too, because, I mean,
the whole point of negotiations is soon enough somebody slides
a number across the table and it's just like, hey,
what do you think of that? And then you look

(01:02:34):
at it and you either give them the thumbs up,
you shake hands, and then soon enough you put pen
to paper, or you then look over to your representation.

Speaker 5 (01:02:42):
You guys talk for a second. Hey, can you give
us a minute?

Speaker 1 (01:02:44):
Yeah, sure.

Speaker 8 (01:02:44):
And then you come back into the room and you
got a new number written on that page and you
slide it back over to them.

Speaker 5 (01:02:49):
That's how this all goes. So an offer is out there.

Speaker 8 (01:02:53):
And at least that the offer reported by Jeremy Fowler
is that it starts with a five. It's in the
fifties right there where supposedly CJ is looking to get
into the sixes, which at the current moment, AAV wise
for quarterbacks, I think there's two. I know Patrick Mahomes
is one of them. I want to say that Josh
Allen is the other one. So some people might look

(01:03:16):
at that and say, well, wait a minute, CJ, like
you're not a top five quarterback. So, I mean, that's
where you would think that that guy gets that type
of money. But two, at the same time, I mean,
I think that it's a little bit from his side
of looking at it and saying, I can do a
lot better. I mean, it is also, too, one of
those that, I mean, you hear people say it all
the time where you're at the table in Vegas and

(01:03:37):
you're on a little bit of a heater and, you know, hey, man,
you got a pretty good stack right there. No, no,
I can do better. Then it's kind of like, well,
you're starting to do less better. So, you know, at
that time, kind of don't, you know, what does Kenny
Rogers say? Don't start counting your money at the table.
You know, you got to know when to hold them.
You got to know when to fold them. Know when
to walk away. That was the key part right there.

(01:03:58):
The wise sage, Kenny Rogers, the gambler, he told us that.

Speaker 5 (01:04:02):
And some of us have not listened to it before.

Speaker 8 (01:04:04):
And some of us have and been able to head
back to the cage and be able to get some
of the green stuff heading back over your way.

Speaker 5 (01:04:10):
That's a good feeling.

Speaker 8 (01:04:11):
The worst feeling is at a casino when your checks
are out and then you got to go to the
ATM and be.

Speaker 5 (01:04:18):
Able to add some more. That's not exactly what you want.

Speaker 8 (01:04:21):
But in this case, it's nice whenever they slide money
back to you because, well, then you got over on them.
So you're able to at least come out of there
with some green. But in this case right here with C.J. Stroud,
I think it's good on both sides. I think the
Texans giving him an offer, they're very encouraged by what
they saw this offseason out of him, that they kind

(01:04:43):
of feel like that there is another version of C.J.
that we're seeing, that I think right or wrong after
his rookie season, he might've been smelling himself just a
little bit. Like he might have been thinking, okay, if
I did this, my rookie season, that's the way it's
going to be going forward. But then humility is a
week away. Humility in this case is just a year away.

(01:05:05):
And I think CJ got his comeuppance a little bit.
He was humbled a little bit in year two, still
able to get him the divisional round, but it wasn't
necessarily the season that we expected. And then in year three,
The playoffs, both games, because a lot of us focus
on the New England game, and for good reason, but
it wasn't like he was necessarily all that great in
the Steelers win either. The way that he played in

(01:05:26):
that one, the only thing that was saving you was A,
your defense, and B, that you had an aging Aaron
Rodgers on the other side that is not the same
Aaron Rodgers that he used to be, and he proved that,
especially in the second half. You showed from beginning to
end that you were the much better team, and you
handled the Steelers the way that you were supposed to.
But for CJ Stroud's part of it, I appreciate his confidence.

(01:05:47):
I think that shows you that he believes that this
is going to be back to 2023. And if that's
the case, and he looks like that guy again, and
he's a reason why you're winning ballgames, because in 2023,
the defense was good.

Speaker 5 (01:06:00):
It wasn't where it is right now.

Speaker 8 (01:06:02):
And I mean, I go back to the game when
you beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that year.

Speaker 5 (01:06:07):
You won that game because of the play of C.J.

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
Stroud.

Speaker 8 (01:06:10):
He orchestrated that final drive and was able to get
you into the end zone to win a close one
there because of his play. That was a rookie that
did that. So when you saw that, people were excited
about what he could bring. And I mean, he showed
you from beginning to end that he was able to
have that type of play in him. So I appreciate
that he's got the confidence in himself, and I think also, too,

(01:06:31):
the Texans see, yeah, he could get back to that
guy this year. And if that's the case, then we're
going to hope that he took this gamble because then
we're going to have to come back to the table
with a lot larger of a number, and that's something
that could be interesting to see. 713-212-5790 is the number
to get in.

Speaker 5 (01:06:48):
As I mentioned, let's talk some Texas football.

Speaker 8 (01:06:50):
We're going to do that coming up right now with
my good buddy Will Matthews of the Texas Longhorns football
broadcast on the radio. We'll be catching up with him
as we continue here. It is the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 5 (01:07:03):
A Friday.

Speaker 8 (01:07:04):
Strohs back to action tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks after
taking three out of four from the Chicago White Sox.
6 o'clock Astros on deck for that. Tomorrow afternoon starting
at 1.30 you're going to be able to hear this
man on the sidelines as Craig Way, Roger Wallace up
in the booth calling the Texas Longhorns taking on Texas
State and he of course is former Texas running back

(01:07:25):
Will Matthews joining us Well, it's always great to catch
up with you, man. Hopefully you are fired up for
the season. I know that you are and even to
as well. Can you maybe even tell us what you're
doing here after you get off the phone with us
this morning?

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
Yeah, yeah, I am.

Speaker 3 (01:07:42):
First of all, let's talk about the first thing. I
am so fired up.

Speaker 11 (01:07:45):
We have been talking about the beginning of this season
from the last play that Texas played against Michigan. And,
you know, you've seen the things on social media, 100 days,
99 days. Well, we're right at the doorstep of the
first game of the season against Texas State. And what
I'll be doing right after this call is Texas just

(01:08:07):
opened their new indoor facility.

Speaker 3 (01:08:08):
I think the guys have practiced.

Speaker 5 (01:08:09):
There a little bit.

Speaker 11 (01:08:11):
But they're bringing a group of ex-players and some people
through the facility to see what that place looks like.

Speaker 3 (01:08:17):
And I am so excited.

Speaker 11 (01:08:19):
Nothing says the beginning of a season like, you know,
some indoor facility.

Speaker 5 (01:08:24):
Oh, of course.

Speaker 8 (01:08:25):
I mean, it's all intertwined. Everybody's got to have their
indoor facility. Everybody's got to have a great weight room.

Speaker 5 (01:08:30):
You know, the great.

Speaker 8 (01:08:31):
players lounge, you know, all of those things. I mean,
everything that I'm sure probably you walk through, Will, as
a lifetime Longhorn, and you go through and you're like, man,
this would have been nice when I was a player.

Speaker 11 (01:08:43):
Yeah, I mean, so there's a couple of things that
are different between my era and now. We thought we had,
we made it when we got here, but these guys
make a little more money than we did.

Speaker 3 (01:08:54):
You weren't allowed to make any money during my time.

Speaker 11 (01:08:56):
And, you know, good for those guys being able to
take advantage of their name, image, and likeness. But kind
of the interesting thing is sometimes you'll see a Lamborghini.

Speaker 3 (01:09:05):
Going by and guys have deals all over the place.

Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
And so.

Speaker 11 (01:09:08):
It'd have been nice to get a little bit of that,
but excited for the guys to get going this season.

Speaker 8 (01:09:12):
Yeah, no question about it. And a lot of anticipation
for this season too. A lot of people believe in
this Texas team can do some really serious damage, not
only in the SEC, but beyond.

Speaker 5 (01:09:22):
Let's start first.

Speaker 8 (01:09:23):
I mean, obviously the offense and everybody wants to look
to number 16, Arch Manning, but clearly a lot of
upgrades made to the guys that he's going to be
thrown to. And Cam Coleman primarily is the guy that
a lot of people looking at. What do you expect
to see from this Texas group of receivers this year?

Speaker 11 (01:09:41):
You know, it's an interesting thing. We've been talking about
it a lot, and it just seems like those guys
have come to take care of business. When the addition
with Cam Coleman, I really think that not only did
the broader UT community say, wow, they're really going after
the best so that they can do what they haven't

(01:10:01):
been able to do since 2005, but but that has
raised the bar across the team. And especially in that room,
I'm excited to see what they're doing. Coach had a
lot of praise and being out there at practice and
watching Mosley, Wingo, and also Jermaine Bishop. My goodness, they've
got some star power and some firepower in that room.

(01:10:23):
I can't wait to see how Sark gets them all
connected to that offense. And I tell you what, we
were all seeing what Cam Coleman can do. I can't
wait to see that on the field tomorrow.

Speaker 8 (01:10:33):
And I mean, just what a difference a year makes
as well, because I mean, you're going to get Ohio
State next week. But last year had a week one
right there on the road. Hey, good luck, Arch Manning.
You got a lot of expectations on you. We're going
to throw you against one of the best teams in
college football.

Speaker 5 (01:10:48):
Have fun.

Speaker 8 (01:10:49):
But I mean, just with this gauntlet of a schedule
that Texas has this year, how nice is it for
them to not have to have a test like that
right out the gate?

Speaker 11 (01:10:59):
You know, I think there's with every team, especially early
on in the season, if you look at it in
the NFL, they've got their preseason games to kind of
iron through some of that. What are the matchups we
want to work through? Who are the guys that we
are maturing? Who are the guys that we think are
going to be on that 53 man? And it's because
of that, that when they walk into the season, they're
ready to go. Now, Texas has had a very successful

(01:11:22):
camp this fall. Not many injuries, a lot of growth
and a lot of experience there. But they can use
this game to go out and just see who's doing
what and who is going to be able to stand
in the limelight and make the right play at the
right time. Not many questions as it relates to talent
on the Texas team.

Speaker 3 (01:11:43):
There's talent from top to bottom.

Speaker 11 (01:11:45):
But who has the experience and who has the focus
and who's going to be ready to play on Saturday?

Speaker 8 (01:11:49):
And then a couple of more on the offense. I mean, clearly,
you know, I've brought up arch twice now and I mean,
push back if I'm wrong here, Will, I kind of
feel like as the season went along last year, we
saw him kind of come out of his shell and
become the quarterback that we thought that we were getting.
It seemed like that Texas OU was really when that happened.
What changed for him? What, what, what allowed him to

(01:12:10):
loosen up and start playing better last year?

Speaker 11 (01:12:13):
You know, and just kind of listening to Sark and
getting to know some of the team, it felt as
if he was trying to be something.

Speaker 3 (01:12:22):
And what I've.

Speaker 11 (01:12:23):
Learned from my time as playing and also just being
around athletes, it's your athletic ability. It's your decision making.
It's your pedigree that got you here. Just play ball
and have a good time. Unfortunately, we didn't really get
to see that step forward until after the Florida game,
which pushed Texas out of that playoff run. But that

(01:12:46):
way he played ball down the stretch really showed me
that he just went back to the backyard kind of mentality.
Let's just... Throw the ball. He was the number one rusher,
most explosive. He had the most explosive plays. He's got
that ability. And to be able to put it on
showcase and fast forwarding to this year where he has
the talent, he has got the pieces on the offensive line.

(01:13:09):
And we haven't even said anything about that running back room.
I'm excited about Relique in Hollywood. I think we're going
to get something special this year.

Speaker 8 (01:13:17):
Yeah, I mean, and that's where I wanted to go because,
I mean, you mentioned the offensive line and that was
a little bit of a concern last year. But I mean,
with that running back room, I mean, is it kind
of feel like he's going to have a strong compliment
to be able to go along with what he can
do in the past game?

Speaker 3 (01:13:31):
It really is.

Speaker 11 (01:13:31):
And I'm excited to see what happens when Texas has
a functional run game for the last few years. It
felt like that run run game has been sluggish. And
also the running backs were getting hurt. I mean, we
lost five. three of those guys just a year ago.
And we had to piece things together. And of course,

(01:13:53):
we had some serviceable talent that kept us in games
and kept the run game going. But what's going to
happen when you get those big nasties up front? and
they're opening holes for these explosive backs, I think it's
going to take the pressure off the whole rest of
the offense.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
Allow Stark.

Speaker 11 (01:14:15):
To manage the time and also be able to open
his bag and pull out some of those plays that
we may not have been able to run, which will
open up things for Big 16 and allow Manning to do.

Speaker 3 (01:14:27):
What he does. I just can't wait.

Speaker 5 (01:14:31):
He's Will Matthews.

Speaker 8 (01:14:32):
You're going to hear him on Texas football broadcast doing
sidelines along with Craig Way and Roger Wallace right here
on Sports Talk 790. All season long, of course, former
Texas Longhorn football player, too, as well. Running back there
during his time on the 40 acres. Hey, defensive side
of the ball. I mean, had a lot of guys
that go out the door. So, I mean, it's one

(01:14:52):
of those that you have good players. Well, then you
lose good players to the NFL. But where do you
think the strength of that group is going to be?

Speaker 3 (01:15:00):
You know, I think.

Speaker 11 (01:15:02):
Raheem Biles and Friar, right in the middle, there has
been a lot of talk about them as well as
their playmaking ability. I mean, we have seen that from
they were at Florida State and also at Pitt, what
they were able to do there. But we're talking about change.
what they're doing in training camp, it's been super special.
Those guys have been making it a problem for Arch.

(01:15:23):
And I love that because one of the things that
was special about the time that we were here, I
knew I was playing against Derrick Johnson. And if I
could best him in practice, I knew that I would
be able to do that in a game. And so
I think that raises the bar, not only for the defense,
but for the offense. We've got six, seven, eight guys

(01:15:43):
up front right in the middle, led by my guy,
Hiro Kanu. And I mean, there is just some big
humans in that space who are going to do.

Speaker 3 (01:15:51):
Some special things. We've got the defensive backs. I'm feeling great.
And you know what?

Speaker 11 (01:15:56):
I also want to see young guys like Jonah Williams,
who also plays baseball, get his opportunity to have a
season where there are no injuries. The sky's the limit
with what's possible. And I think it starts right there
with those linebackers.

Speaker 8 (01:16:12):
And Will, I mean, you're closer to the program that
I think a lot of people are, but I'm sure
that even the decision to go away from Pete Kwiatkowski
last year was even surprising to you. But then when
you see who they bring back in, what do you
think Will Muschamp brings back to this program? Like, where
do you think he's going to really shine as a
defensive coordinator?

Speaker 11 (01:16:32):
Well, I mean, just being in practice and hearing his
voice as it cuts through the air and what happens
to the defense when he brings that intensity. I was
just with a friend of mine, lifetime Longhorn, Alex Okafor,
who played for him right after me in those early
2000s when he was his first round as a Texas coach.

(01:16:53):
And he said there was just an uncomfortability about every
day knowing that I needed to be focused, I needed
to be mature, and I needed to execute. I think
that alone permeates through the whole defense, and you're starting
to see guys being held accountable for the plays that
they're playing.

Speaker 3 (01:17:13):
And it's not a bend and don't break defense.

Speaker 11 (01:17:15):
PK did a wonderful job, but I love, especially as
we continue to push our weight forward, and establish ourselves
in the SEC that that we are hungry and we
are going after quarterbacks that we make people pay for
trying to run an offense against our defense and so
I'm excited to see.

Speaker 8 (01:17:36):
That get you out the door on this again Will
Matthews you hear him doing sidelines on the Texas football
radio broadcast that of course we'll have right here on
Sports Talk 790 all season long I mean, you were
there when things were really good, Will. And I mean,
it seemed like every single year it was, OK, we'll
at least win 10 games. Now, do we get into
the BCS? Things like that. And then, of course, now

(01:17:57):
it's into the college football playoff. But I mean, like
I said, you're there every single day. I mean, how
nice is it to be able to go into a
season and realize that huge expectations are warranted?

Speaker 11 (01:18:10):
Yeah, I mean, finally, and last year we had some
pretty huge expectations going into the season. And whether they
were misplaced or whatever happened when that first snap went
off and we were in Ohio State, we really saw
that we may not have had the pieces and we
may not have had the maturity and the scheme to

(01:18:31):
get it done in the way. But I tell you what,
the way they have retooled, the way that they hit
the portal, I think there's 41 new faces between high
school guys coming in.

Speaker 3 (01:18:40):
As well as portal players.

Speaker 11 (01:18:42):
The way that they're building culture and the way that
they are planning to be the best and to win,
it really does feel like it is the year to
drink the Kool-Aid, finally. And now it's time, we gotta
put up or we gotta shut up. And so we
got the people, it's not about talent, we just gotta

(01:19:02):
get it done on Saturday.

Speaker 8 (01:19:04):
Well, it's a position that almost every single college football
fan base wants to be in.

Speaker 5 (01:19:07):
There's no question about it.

Speaker 8 (01:19:08):
Again, you're going to hear this man all season long,
as you have here on Sports Talk 790, working alongside
Craig Way and Roger Wallace. He is a lifetime Longhorn
at Will Matthews. And Will, appreciate your time, man. It's
always great to catch up with you. Have a great season.
And I'm sure we'll probably be catching up with you.
We'll be bothering you here at some point here.

Speaker 5 (01:19:27):
Down the road.

Speaker 3 (01:19:29):
I hope so.

Speaker 1 (01:19:30):
You better.

Speaker 5 (01:19:30):
There you go. There you go.

Speaker 8 (01:19:32):
Will Matthews again. Appreciate it, man. We'll catch up soon.
All right. So, I mean, with the Longhorns this year,
as I mentioned, I mean, yeah, next week, Ohio State. Oh,
two weeks from there, you got to go to Neyland
and take on Tennessee. Then you get Texas OU. A
lot of people believe in Florida this year.

Speaker 5 (01:19:47):
Then Ole Miss. I mean, it ain't going to be
an easy road for the horns this year.

Speaker 8 (01:19:52):
And there's a lot of expectations in College Station, too,
as well. And 45 minutes from now, my good buddy
Mark Passwaters from Aggie Huddle, he's going to hop on
with us and we're going to talk some Aggies, too.
So I'm sure that there's probably Aggies out there that
have been like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean,
you're talking LSU, you're talking Texas, which we have both
of them here on our airwaves. So all is fair.

(01:20:13):
You know, I mean, it's only fair, I would say
on that. But yes, we do realize that there's a
lot of you clad in maroon and white here in
this town. So we want to take care of you
too as well. So we'll do that exactly in 45 minutes.
Like I said, Mark Passwater is going to be hopping
on with us. I mean, I said at the beginning
of the show, there's one day a year that we
can really kind of dive into college football.

Speaker 5 (01:20:32):
And this is one of them. And I understand that
it's not everybody's.

Speaker 6 (01:20:35):
Love, but.

Speaker 8 (01:20:37):
Definitely want to try to take care of as many
fan bases as possible, but also going to get back
into tons of Astros conversation.

Speaker 5 (01:20:43):
We got that.

Speaker 8 (01:20:44):
A little bit of news from yesterday that we didn't
have a chance to really get into. That's Amin Thompson
being extended. Get into that, too, as well. And plus,
plenty of Texans conversation. I mean, it's pretty much anything
and everything here. It literally is. A little bit of this,
a little bit of that here on the show today.
But the Amin Thompson conversation. A full plan in place
over there for the Rockets, and we'll see how it

(01:21:04):
pays off this season. Talk about it right here as
we close out the 11 o'clock hour on the Dan
Matthews Show right here on your home of the Astros
and the Rockets, Sports Talk 790. It's been a fun
show already to this point. We're approaching halftime here. Then
we get you into the afternoon hours, lunch hour coming
up ahead as we'll continue to talk Strohs. They win yesterday,

(01:21:26):
6-2 over the White Sox, take three out of four
in that series. Next up, the Arizona Diamondbacks, good series
for the Strohs before an off day Monday and then
road trips to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay before you come
back home for your final homestand of the season. I mean,
it's the homestretch, literally is. Your two games up on
the Rangers. So again, Astros on deck coming your way

(01:21:47):
six o'clock tonight. Get you ready for the Strohs and
the Diamondbacks. You also have college football firing up this weekend.
It even started up last night, but you're going to
get the Longhorns tomorrow right here on Sports Talk 790
at 130 before them over on KPRC 950. You get
U of H and Oregon State. And then tomorrow night
on KPRC 950, you're going to have LSU and Clemson.

(01:22:09):
And just a reminder, Stroh's tomorrow night going to be
over on NewsRadio 740 KTRH. So if you're turning in
here and you're like, wait a minute, where are the Stroh's? Yep,
they're right there. NewsRadio 740 KTRH starting at five o'clock
with Astros on deck.

Speaker 5 (01:22:23):
713-212-5790 is the number to get in.

Speaker 8 (01:22:24):
And like I said, I mean, this time of the year,
We're a month away from the Rockets getting on the
floor for training camp. And then, of course, like Halloween
right around there is when the season gets underway. So
late October, early November. So, I mean, we got a
little bit of time. But clearly yesterday, the news about

(01:22:45):
Amin Thompson and hadn't really had a chance to get
much into that. It's not necessarily a surprising move out
of the Rockets to extend Amin Thompson, but two, at
the same time, I mean, the plan is very much
in place. They have told you, we're going to continue
to roll with this young core. We're going to continue
to go with him. with Jabari Smith Jr., with Tari Eason.

(01:23:09):
Trying to think who else I'm leaving out of that
young core, but that's what the Rockets are going with.
And in certain cases, a lot of us came out
of last season saying, man, you know, Rafael Stone, you
got to make some adjustments, man, because this now has
shown you two years in a row that this is
not a team that necessarily can take the next step.

(01:23:29):
I think that if nothing else, with his deal, and then,
I mean, you throw Alperen Shingun in there, too. I mean, clearly,
you know, he's a guy that you really count on. But,
I mean, it is one of those that they believe
that Amin Thompson, with the return of Fred VanVleet... And
clearly to drafting Bruce Thornton. I think that's another guy that,
you know, it was the point guard issue last year.

Speaker 5 (01:23:50):
Didn't have one.

Speaker 8 (01:23:51):
So I'm in Thompson's got to be that guy. And
he's now having to play quarterback when he's basically been
a wide receiver in certain cases. And I think that
for the most part, he did fine last season, but
he wasn't Fred Van Vliet. And obviously you saw at
times they disjointed offense and offense that would turn the
basketball over quite a bit. And an offense that clearly

(01:24:12):
was not what they were hoping that they were going
to see last season. Well, obviously, you've made some adjustments.
I mean, Marcus Smart being here, Bogdan Bogdanovich. That's another adjustment.
You had a depth problem at a certain point last season.
You basically could play six guys and feel good about them.
That's where the Rockets got to. And this roster got
a lot shorter without Fred Van Vliet. So now this

(01:24:34):
is the season that I think the Rockets and that
move yesterday told you, okay, what you were expecting to
see last year, we're going to try to see it
this year.

Speaker 5 (01:24:43):
And that's what is going to be the case study.

Speaker 8 (01:24:45):
And if it leads to the same results, then I
think next offseason becomes a very interesting one for Rafael
Stone in this team, because then they would say, OK,
we've gotten as far as we can with this. Now
we've got to start to make some adjustments to this roster.
And it might mean that Atari Easton is not here
or a Jabari Smith Jr.

Speaker 5 (01:25:04):
Is not here. That's when you see those moves being made.

Speaker 8 (01:25:07):
But it's clearly a finite window right now because Kevin
Durant's probably got about another year or two left in him.

Speaker 5 (01:25:12):
That's about what he's got.

Speaker 8 (01:25:13):
So you want to try to capitalize on the good
basketball that he's still got in him, but also to
being able to see this young group, be able to
take that next step forward and be able to get
this team into the Western Conference semis and get them
maybe even to the Western Conference finals. And who knows,
maybe even beyond trying to close that gap on Oklahoma
City and San Antonio. And the Rockets feel like they're

(01:25:34):
close to being able to do that. That move yesterday
showed you exactly that. But now it's just going to
be a question of health and also depth. which I
think they feel good about the second part. Now it's
just going to be the first part is being able
to see that play out this season. 713-212-5790 is the
number to get in.

Speaker 4 (01:25:52):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (01:25:52):
Just in time for our good buddy, young Josh Jordan
to hop in here because Josh, I've been calling for it.
I've been calling for it with the Astros and thank you, God.
They finally delivered yesterday. We'll have that for you to
open up the noontime hour, getting a lot of Astros discussion.
My good buddy Mark Passwater's AggieHuddle.com is going to hop
on with us here in about 30 minutes as we

(01:26:14):
keep it rolling here on a college football Friday.

Speaker 5 (01:26:18):
Football season's here, baby. Rejoice.

Speaker 8 (01:26:21):
And as we continue here on the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790. And that's hammered deep to left field.
Antonacci is back at the wall looking up.

Speaker 3 (01:26:30):
See you later!

Speaker 5 (01:26:33):
Two-run home run.

Speaker 2 (01:26:34):
Jose Altuve into the Landry's Crawford boxes. And it's 2-0 Astros.

Speaker 5 (01:26:39):
Altuve's 15th.

Speaker 6 (01:26:41):
Two-out lightning again for the Astros. This time it's Altuve.
An elevated fastball that he got on top of and
clipped it out of here.

Speaker 1 (01:26:51):
Here's the 2-1.

Speaker 6 (01:26:53):
That's a breaking ball. Hit into right center field. Hit
very well. Back on to Peters, and.

Speaker 5 (01:26:57):
It's off the wall.

Speaker 6 (01:26:59):
Astros will score two. Varshow racing for third. They're thinking
about sending him. No, they'll hold him at third base.
It's a triple for Dalton. The Astros lead 5-2. Third
triple of the season for Dalton Varshow, and the Astros
strike with two outs again.

Speaker 2 (01:27:16):
He was a little fooled on that pitch. Kept his
hands back and still was able to drive it. Extra
base hits that score multiple runners?

Speaker 8 (01:27:26):
Who are you? You're not the Astros. You don't do
those things. That's very out of character for you. I'm
pleasantly surprised. Well, that is how Thursday afternoon's game over
at Dyken Park went because you scored two in the first.
Thank you, Jose Altuve. Nice little two-run homer going above

(01:27:47):
the Crawford boxes. Love to see that. And then you
get an Isak Paredes double to score one. But then
a couple of guys get out, so you're just like, yeah, no,
here it goes again. And Dalton Varshow, let's be honest here,
it's not been great with him in these spots. And yesterday,
Dalton Varshow said, you know what, you have a little faith.

(01:28:08):
I'm going to reward you even though that you are
showing very little faith in me. And he does exactly that.
Two-run triple right there. He only has to stay on
third for a couple of more pitches because then Christian
Walker promptly put in a nice little RBI single up
the middle to make it 6-2 Strohs. That score would stick,
and it was definitely a much more enjoyable game. Thursday

(01:28:30):
afternoon over there at Dyken Park, because not only was
it enjoyable for you being able to get the win,
but it was also enjoyable in the fact that you
win three out of four against the first place.

Speaker 1 (01:28:40):
Team.

Speaker 5 (01:28:40):
That's nice to see.

Speaker 8 (01:28:42):
And it's also to the style that they did because
Josh Jordan, we've talked about it numerous times. that it
seems like that this offense moves and stalls out with
how Jeremy Pena and Jordan Alvarez go. They went a
combined 0 for 6 yesterday, but you got 3 through
9 in the order, able to back you up with
8 hits and 6 runs.

Speaker 5 (01:29:03):
Love to see it. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Speaker 21 (01:29:05):
The thing with Varshow is obviously you hit on it.
It hasn't been great since he's come over, but when
he has made an impact, it's been in some big spots.
And that triple I thought was a huge spot there.
Almost had another home run. He's had several right to
the wall where he's had a little bit of bad luck.
And I heard your conversation about Hunter Brown a little
earlier today when things got a little rocky and he
gave up those two runs. What I noticed is when

(01:29:27):
the Astros picked him up and Varshow got that triple
and they scored some more runs and got him the
lead back, he didn't look back after that.

Speaker 5 (01:29:34):
He was like, I got you. He went into like
bulldog mode and it was over. No, definitely was.

Speaker 8 (01:29:39):
And I mean, he's also backed up by three solid
innings out of your bullpen, three scoreless innings out of
a much more rested bullpen because, well, it's funny whenever
your starters go a little bit deeper in the games
and you don't have to use these guys as much
how they can look. And I think the last couple
of games show you with that back into the bullpen.
Like I would probably guess that today, Brian Abreu is

(01:30:01):
down because now you've used him the last couple of nights.
So You would think that that's probably going to be
the case with him, but you actually didn't even have
to use Josh Hader yesterday.

Speaker 5 (01:30:13):
That was nice, too.

Speaker 8 (01:30:14):
High leverage blue ball coming in. High leverage blue ball.
What have I told you? The HLB, man. And oh,
by the way, too, I mean, even with him going
into high leverage, my man has just over a three ERA, 3.02.
I mean, it's one of those that at the end
of the season, you want to give out individual awards

(01:30:35):
of how guys have looked.

Speaker 3 (01:30:37):
And A.J.

Speaker 8 (01:30:37):
Blue Ball, I think if there is an individual Astros
team award given out of the most reliable reliever, well,
it would be that guy who leads Major League Baseball
in relief innings with now 86 and a third.

Speaker 21 (01:30:54):
It's not even that close either with him and the
guy in second place. They put up that graphic on
Space City yesterday. He's been amazing. The other thing, to
a lesser extent, that I liked with Bennett Sousa has
been struggling, right? We've been talking about it on the show.
And who's he been struggling against mostly?

Speaker 5 (01:31:09):
Lefties.

Speaker 21 (01:31:10):
Most of the year, that's the way it's been. Over
the course of his career, that hasn't been the case,
but this year it has.

Speaker 5 (01:31:15):
Look at Espada.

Speaker 21 (01:31:16):
He's learning from his mistakes, puts them in against a
couple righties, very effective, and then he gets a lefty out.
Building off that confidence a little bit. And sometimes analytics
from year to year, they change. And as a manager,
you have to adapt to that kind of stuff. And
I like that a spot is like, okay, let's put
him against some righties here. And sure enough, you get
two quick outs and then he's actually effective against the lefty,

(01:31:39):
gets out of the inning there with the strikeout and
didn't give up any hits.

Speaker 8 (01:31:43):
Yeah, I mean, we're feeling a lot better about this team.
And I mean, especially too with how they not only
played in this series, but I mean, one more win
over the weekend gives you a second straight winning week. Now,
you'd like to see them get two more wins at
least and be able to win a series. But, I mean,
you start putting together winning weeks, especially this time of

(01:32:04):
the year. That's when you set yourself up to be
able to start dreaming about better things. And the Astros
able to get off to a good start here. I mean, tonight,
even though Merrill Kelly has not been great this season.
You still expect a strong pitching performance out of him.
And it's not exactly like the Arizona Diamondbacks are just
a bunch of schlubs over there. I mean, you saw

(01:32:24):
what happened earlier in the stretch of struggles for the
Astros going to San Diego and playing against a Padres
team that had been playing really good baseball. And you
got them right in the middle of that. And now
you see how tough it's been. So at least at
the time, they showed you, oh, no. I mean, yeah,
the Dodgers are really good, but we got some good

(01:32:46):
teams out here in the Western Division. And this one's
not going to be easy this weekend. And you'd like
to be able to see them. I mean, two out
of three this weekend gives you a five and two
week after you just went four and two the week before.

Speaker 5 (01:32:57):
This is the way. That's how this is done.

Speaker 8 (01:32:59):
This is how you make yourself feel better about the
postseason is putting together performances like this.

Speaker 1 (01:33:04):
100%.

Speaker 21 (01:33:05):
And out of your regulars over the last seven days,
you have one guy hitting over 263. And guess who
that would be? That would be Nick Allen hitting 400.
I don't even know if you'd call him a regular.
Velasquez is in there too, but limited appearances. But you
get my point. Jordan, 263 over the last week. He's
your best regular hitter in the lineup. And they still

(01:33:27):
put these numbers up, these wins against quality ball clubs
for the most part.

Speaker 5 (01:33:30):
I know the Mets aren't great, but they do have
a lot of talent. But Point in case. It's the pitching.
The pitching has been fantastic.

Speaker 21 (01:33:37):
Maybe the bats will get hot and we'll be really
in store for something special.

Speaker 8 (01:33:42):
That would be nice to see. It'd be a sight
for sore eyes. And yesterday was definitely that. I mean,
especially too with runners in scoring position where the Astros
hit an even 300 yesterday with runners in scoring position.
Not saying that's going to be the case every single game,
but I mean, where you're having like the one for 13s,
I mean, two for 15s, things like that. That's not

(01:34:02):
winning baseball, but being able to, in those spots, be
able to capitalize on it, and that's exactly what the
Astros were able to do. I mean, that was the
most encouraging there in the third inning, was exactly what
we've been calling for, Josh, for them to be able
to put together a strong inning, to be able to
put a crooked number up on the board, and they
were able to do exactly that. I mean, it's one

(01:34:24):
of those that would you like to see maybe even
A couple of more nice innings and be able to
really run away with one.

Speaker 5 (01:34:30):
Sure, you would. And maybe they're building up to that.

Speaker 8 (01:34:32):
But at least yesterday, I mean, Varshow, who, yes, I
think we've been a little tough on because. I would
say that these last couple of weeks, he's actually been
a pretty strong contributor with the bat. He had a
good couple of series up in New York and able
to come through with that big hit yesterday. I mean,
I think he's basically being what you've expected of him

(01:34:53):
to be, a middle to back end of your batting
order type of presence there.

Speaker 21 (01:34:58):
Yeah, and he's got some power. You like to see that.
I thought of you yesterday, too. Yiner with two more
clutch challenges, man.

Speaker 1 (01:35:05):
Dude.

Speaker 5 (01:35:05):
Man, he's been on a heater. I'm telling you, man.

Speaker 8 (01:35:08):
I mean, for all of the criticism that Yiner Diaz gets,
the one thing you can't criticize him for is that
man knows the strike zone.

Speaker 5 (01:35:16):
He knows how to challenge.

Speaker 8 (01:35:17):
So when you see Yiner tapping the top of the helmet,
you're not like, oh, what are you doing, man? Like,
you actually are kind of like, okay, he's probably going
to win this one.

Speaker 5 (01:35:26):
And sure enough, he does. So good on Yiner.

Speaker 8 (01:35:29):
And he also had a couple of at least one
nice knock yesterday. So, I mean, he even is starting
to kind of come around with the bat. I mean,
I've said it numerous times. Your catcher is hitting in
the 250s, 260s. Your catcher is swinging a good bat.
And I understand that it hasn't been as regular as
it used to be for Yiner Diaz. But still, I mean,

(01:35:49):
you get a guy hitting like that in the eight
spot in your order. You feel a lot better about
your order.

Speaker 21 (01:35:56):
Oh, absolutely. I just wanted to pull up his numbers.
I'm kind of curious where he's at now on the season. 257,
701 OPS. Out of your catcher, it could be a
lot worse. It definitely could be. So, yeah, like I said,
it's been a nice little stretch here for the Astros.
I'd like to be able to continue it this weekend.
Christian Javier going to get the ball tonight against Merrill Kelly.

Speaker 5 (01:36:16):
And again, we'll have it right here.

Speaker 8 (01:36:17):
Sports Talk 790 starting at 6 o'clock with Astros on deck.

Speaker 5 (01:36:21):
We'll continue the Astros discussion. You want to get in
on the Strohs.

Speaker 12 (01:36:25):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 5 (01:36:25):
Again, it's 713.

Speaker 3 (01:36:28):
2-1-2-5-7-90.

Speaker 8 (01:36:30):
You also have a lot of college football conversation. We've
already had some of it here on the show. Matt Moscona,
ESPN 104.5. He joined us a little bit earlier on
to talk everything happening with LSU because it seems like
all of the talking points about LSU this week has
been anything but a huge game that they have against Clemson.
And then, of course, Will Matthews, former Texas Longhorn, who

(01:36:52):
does the sidelines with Craig Way and Roger Wallace.

Speaker 5 (01:36:55):
On the radio side. And he joined us.

Speaker 8 (01:36:58):
And coming up here in about 15 minutes, our good buddy,
Mark Passwaters, or excuse me, AggieHuddle.com is going to be
joining us. See him in the ESPN mode right there,
kind of, but no, Aggie Huddle. So we'll get a
look at how Mike Elko's team is going to look
this season. So looking forward to all of that as well.
But you also get involved in the show too. We

(01:37:20):
always love your involvement at 713-212-5790.

Speaker 5 (01:37:24):
Again, it's 713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (01:37:25):
It's not exactly like we needed to know this about
Hunter Brown, but it was cemented in a huge way
yesterday because he shows you that he is definitely not
this guy. We'll have that for you. Talk about it.
Do all of those things right here on a Friday.
It is the Dan Matthews Show on your home of
the Astros and the Rockets.

Speaker 5 (01:37:44):
Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 8 (01:37:44):
We're not giving away things and neither are the Astros
being able to win yesterday 6-2 over the White Sox
trying to continue their winning ways with the Arizona Diamondbacks
coming into town. That series gets going tonight. 6 o'clock
Astros on deck to get you set. Astros winning yesterday
6-2 over the Sox. The Rangers also beat the Rays,
so that means they stay two games back of you.

(01:38:06):
But the Mariners coming back home from a rough trip
out east, well, they didn't start off at home very well.

Speaker 1 (01:38:12):
Thank you, A's.

Speaker 8 (01:38:13):
Two nights in a row you help out the Astros.
So now the Strohs, six games in front of Seattle.
713-212-5790 is the number to get in on the phone lines.
In addition to the Astros and their hot hitting ways yesterday,
I mean, at least there in the third inning, that
was nice to see. You also had Hunter Brown where

(01:38:33):
they back him up about an inning and a half
after he had a rough second yesterday.

Speaker 5 (01:38:38):
And that was one that.

Speaker 8 (01:38:40):
You're driving around, you're listening to it, as I was,
and it's base hits, 0-2 base hit, things like that,
and you're just like, oh, man, this is frustrating. Well,
if you felt frustrated, so did the ace of your staff.
Listen to Hunter Brown talk about how that second inning
went yesterday, and I want you to keep one word
in mind as you hear this, accountability.

Speaker 10 (01:39:00):
I was kind of dragging my blanket a little bit
after the second inning. I couldn't believe that. I mean,
I'm better than that, you know, than to... than to
do that. But I mean, that was unbelievable, honestly.

Speaker 5 (01:39:14):
Unbelievable, honestly.

Speaker 8 (01:39:15):
I mean, I love the only thing that Hunter was
missing right there was, yeah, who does that? I mean,
I appreciate that type of accountability out of the ace
of your staff of where he says, my job is
to be able to come out here, put zeros up
on the board and be able to get a lot
of innings. And that was that second inning yesterday where
I think he threw 28 pitches in that inning. So

(01:39:37):
you're already thinking to yourself, man, you know. Hunter is
one of those guys. That's a non-negotiable. Like we have
to have that guy go deep in the games. So
probably that ending cost him one more yesterday. I mean,
I think that he, if he probably was about that
85 pitch range, if he gets through a quick sixth inning,
then we're seeing him go back out for a second
straight start into the seventh inning where the week before

(01:39:59):
he was able to get through the seventh yesterday, he's
able to give you a six. And I think that
the other part of it too, Josh is we've seen
this guy before. be able to be high up in
the pitch count and still go to Joe Espada and say,
you're not taking me out. And I think that that
probably happened yesterday where he's at 88 pitches and I

(01:40:19):
see him go through the fifth and I'm thinking to myself,
I could see Joe going away from him right here.
I absolutely could. But you almost wonder if it was, hey,
you're at 88. No, you're sending me back out there.
Like I'm going back out there. And also too, I mean, again,
maybe Joe kind of still feels bad about the Hey,
I didn't point to the bullpen.

Speaker 5 (01:40:40):
Actually, I did. I'm sorry. That's on me.

Speaker 8 (01:40:42):
And I mean, it was a bad moment there at
that time, but maybe that was.

Speaker 5 (01:40:47):
A little bit of making it up to Hunter yesterday.

Speaker 8 (01:40:49):
Those pitches that I took away from you to be
able to finish up that inning against the A's. Well,
I'm going to give them back to you. And he
rewarded Joe with his beliefs there because he goes back out.
It only needs 13 pitches there in the sixth inning.

Speaker 5 (01:41:01):
Gets through.

Speaker 8 (01:41:02):
I mean, my God, we saw a pitcher go 101 pitches. Josh,
I mean, do we need to alert the authorities? Do
we need to let anybody know about this? Or are
we going to be just fine of Hunter Brown going
101 pitches yesterday and being able to get through it?
Let's get the Guinness Book of World Records people to
hear about this. I thought about that too earlier, Dan,
because on the 100th pitch, he threw a slider right

(01:41:22):
on the outside corner. Yiner asked for the check swing,
didn't get it. Probably, even though he was great with
challenges yesterday, probably should have challenged that as a strike.

Speaker 21 (01:41:31):
Hunter thought it was a strike. was walking off the mound, basically.
So then, nope, it was a ball. Had to grit
it up again. The inning's not over. And then he
just paints a fastball on the outside corner, inning over.
So I'd love to see that grit from Hunter. Well,
it's not only the grit from him. I mean, he's
shown you numerous times that fastball, you're not hitting it.
This is what's coming at you. And outside the second

(01:41:53):
inning yesterday, that's what he was able to show you.
But the accountability part of it all, too, of what
he said there, of dragging my blanket a little bit.
Because he did have frustrating things happen and he continues
on the conversation, which we won't play that part for you,
but where he was like the second run scored where
he's like, Pena gets to that ball. He's like, I

(01:42:14):
don't know how the hell, you know, he's not able
to get the out right there. Not saying like, you know,
like what, what the hell is Pena doing, but just
like kind of pointing to that's the frustration of baseball
is like, that's that guy makes that play nine times
out of 10 and, And I mean, it just kind
of added to the frustrations of the inning. But there
was somebody else that we used to see that would
have an inning like that. And it was also to something, Josh,

(01:42:37):
that whenever Fromber would pitch, if he had one of
those cappers, nubbers, little you know just dribbler up the
third baseline that seemingly was the one that you saw
a fromber that you're just like oh no like he's
gonna be frustrated with that because it is one of
the most frustrating things as a pitcher especially throwing the
guys that are swinging wood bats because you will break
some hands on those and you're just like i made

(01:43:00):
my pitch like i absolutely handcuffed the guy and he's
still on first base because he got a base hit
like i don't understand how that happens swinging bunts, man.

Speaker 5 (01:43:08):
It's the part of baseball.

Speaker 21 (01:43:09):
And yeah, sometimes you get, instead of rewarded, you get
penalized for making a great pitch, getting it off the
end of the bat or a jam shot there. And
you're right with Fromber, man. He could go to negative
town real quick with that kind of stuff. And especially
after giving up home runs, drilling guys in the square
of the back.

Speaker 5 (01:43:25):
Thank God we haven't seen Hunter Brown do anything like that.

Speaker 8 (01:43:28):
It is a saying in baseball, don't take yourself out
of the game. And there were too many times where
we would see Fromber take himself out of the game
because of plays like that. Whereas Hunter Brown, you even
heard what he said, where it was, I can't do that.
I can't do that to this team. I can't do
it to myself. I'm better than that. That's not exactly

(01:43:48):
what you're looking to see out of me. And he
was able to respond in sort yesterday, where he's able
to give you the scoreless third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.
and be able to send you on to a win.
So that's how it all works out yesterday. Stroh is
able to get the win, trying to get another one tonight. Again,
Christian Javier getting the ball against Merrill Kelly, and we'll

(01:44:09):
have it right here for you starting at 6 o'clock
with Astros on deck.

Speaker 1 (01:44:12):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 5 (01:44:13):
Get it 713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (01:44:14):
Let's get back into a little bit of college football.

Speaker 5 (01:44:18):
Let's talk the Aggies.

Speaker 8 (01:44:19):
We're going to do that with my good buddy Mark
Passwaters from AggieHuddle.com. He hops on with us right here
on your home of the Astros and the Rockets, as
well as Texas Longhorns football and basketball and LSU here
in Houston.

Speaker 5 (01:44:32):
Sports Talk 790. On the Dan.

Speaker 8 (01:44:34):
Matthews show, Sports Talk 790. Strohs winning yesterday afternoon, 6-2
over the White Sox, taking three out of four in
that series. Next up, Arizona Diamondbacks tonight, 6 o'clock Astros
on deck.

Speaker 5 (01:44:46):
Get you set up for that.

Speaker 8 (01:44:46):
And you got college football all over the weekend slate here.
And of course, here on Sports Talk 790, KPRC 950,
and then the Strohs tomorrow night on News Radio 740 KTRH.
But we're talking Aggies right now. My good buddy, Mark Passwaters, AggieHuddle.com.
And Mark, we'll talk a lot about the team as
a whole this season, but I understand a nice little

(01:45:09):
honor unveiled earlier today to an Aggie legend?

Speaker 1 (01:45:13):
Yeah, R.C.

Speaker 9 (01:45:14):
Slocum got a statue at Kyle Field, and I think
that it's well-deserved. Not Now, just for what he did
as a coach, and obviously he has probably the best record.

Speaker 1 (01:45:28):
Of success at A & M.

Speaker 9 (01:45:31):
I know some people will argue about Jackie Sherrill, but
in terms of consistent long-term success, nobody beats RC.

Speaker 1 (01:45:38):
And it's not just for the success that.

Speaker 9 (01:45:41):
He had as a coach, but what he did for
the university. You're talking about a guy who came out
of retirement twice this to serve as an interim ad, uh,
when they went searching for Ross Bjork eventually, and now
Trev Alberts.

Speaker 1 (01:45:57):
Uh, and this is a man who was fighting cancer
at one point.

Speaker 9 (01:45:59):
So, you know, he was literally, you know, to say
he put his life on the line for the university,
maybe a bit much, but not a ton. And, uh,
you know, he's just a genuinely good man. I met
him for the first time when I was a a
nobody schmo kid at A & M in 2000.

Speaker 1 (01:46:17):
And we've been in touch since then.

Speaker 9 (01:46:20):
You know, yearly at the very least. And he's always
been kind and generous with his time. So, you know,
round of applause to him. He deserves it.

Speaker 5 (01:46:27):
No question about it.

Speaker 8 (01:46:28):
And I mean, it is also too, I mean, something
I was thinking about when talking about this with you
is that Isn't that kind of the age-old tale of
be careful what you wish for because you just might
get it? I mean, when they whizzed him away as
the head coach the first time, it was obviously people
who were, oh, we can do better here. And then
you find A & M for about 25 years wasn't
doing better.

Speaker 9 (01:46:50):
Yeah, I mean, he was at a point, you know,
fair or not, where it was a generational change, and
a lot of that change was being driven by Mack
Brown in Austin. and the support that that athletic department
had for the football program. And a lot of RC's

(01:47:10):
problems were not just, you know, the unwillingness to adapt or,
you know, kind of almost Jimbo-ish, but he got no
support from... Wally Groff and the athletic department.

Speaker 1 (01:47:25):
And that put A & M behind the eight.

Speaker 9 (01:47:27):
Ball because Texas poured a ton of money into their
football program around the turn of the century.

Speaker 1 (01:47:33):
And A & M just couldn't keep pace.

Speaker 9 (01:47:34):
And then they made one bad decision after another, starting
with Dennis Franchione instead of some guy who was coaching.
and doing really well at Bowling Green and then took
a year at Utah and was really good too. So
a guy named Urban Meyer, who was the other guy
they looked at, allegedly, when RC was removed. But, you know,

(01:47:56):
the guy could have had all the hostility in the
world because Franchione treated him like garbage. He was kind
of pushed to the side, but he has shown loyalty
and love to A & M and when he didn't
have to. And I think that he deserves the honor
and the credit that he's getting today.

Speaker 8 (01:48:16):
Again, Mark Passwater, zaggyhuddle.com, hopping on with us. Talk some
Texas A & M here as they get ready for
the season. And that season gets underway tomorrow night over
there in Kyle Field, taking on Missouri State. Just, you know,
kind of broad view with this team. Everybody looks for strengths.
Where is the strength of this team? Where do you
think they're going to really show up the most this year?

Speaker 9 (01:48:38):
You know, honestly, and this is very strange to say
in this day and age, I really think it's death.
You take a look at the two deep of just
about any team.

Speaker 1 (01:48:46):
They may have outstanding talent.

Speaker 9 (01:48:49):
Starting, but there's a fall off when they, you know,
those guys come to the sideline to relax.

Speaker 1 (01:48:54):
Or, you know, get out of the heat.

Speaker 12 (01:48:58):
A & M.

Speaker 9 (01:48:58):
Probably has the most complete team, I think, this year
that they've had, shoot, I don't know, maybe going back
to R.C., And there's just not.

Speaker 12 (01:49:09):
A whole lot of holes.

Speaker 9 (01:49:10):
There aren't a lot of guys that people know about yet,
but they're probably going to know about here pretty quickly.

Speaker 1 (01:49:16):
They made some.

Speaker 9 (01:49:17):
Really good moves in the transfer portal, loaded up on
the defensive line. If the offensive line, which appeared to
really start to come together in the summer, is good.
They've got a ton of weapons for Marcel Reed. I
think the running backs are good. Uh, you know, there's
just not a whole lot of places where you can
sit there and say, oh, geez, if they have an injury,

(01:49:40):
they're in serious trouble at this position.

Speaker 8 (01:49:42):
And I mean, he kind of led me right into
the next question. I mean, is the majority of this
roster turnover from the transfer portal or do they have
a pretty good amount of retention on this roster?

Speaker 9 (01:49:54):
Actually, they have a very good amount of retention on
the roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
They lost Casey Concepcion, but outside of that, a lot
of the guys that put up numbers are still there.
And honestly, I might probably just give the defense short
shrift because if you take a look at what they
bring back defensively, three of their top four tacklers are back.

Speaker 1 (01:50:18):
Damian Sanford, a Katie guy.

Speaker 9 (01:50:22):
Marcus Radcliffe and Dalton Brooks, the two safeties, those guys
are two, three and four behind Tori and York and
tackles last year. And York got replaced by the guy
who had the most solo tackles in the country and
Ray Coney.

Speaker 1 (01:50:34):
But they still have DJ Hicks.

Speaker 9 (01:50:36):
They have Marco Jones, who I think is somebody people
are going to learn about real fast.

Speaker 1 (01:50:41):
This guy's a defensive end and he's a freak of nature.
He's good. He's really impressive.

Speaker 9 (01:50:48):
And you know, you got Des Ricks and Julio Humphrey
at corner. You bring in Ricky Gibson from Tennessee. They've
just got a lot of real capable guys.

Speaker 1 (01:50:58):
And I think that.

Speaker 9 (01:50:59):
Mike Elko and his staff, they haven't necessarily gone after
the headliners like Jimbo did, but they've got guys that fit.

Speaker 1 (01:51:06):
In their system. And I think that's probably the better
course of action.

Speaker 8 (01:51:10):
And I mean, speaking of Elko, I mean, you know, Mark,
you were there, obviously, when there were the reports out
there that they were going to go after Mark Stoops.
And of course, the fan base wasn't so excited about that.
And then Elko was a guy that seemingly had a
lot of people become huge fans of him when he
was Jimbo's DC, but Is there a feeling like he
finally is the guy that was able to create a

(01:51:32):
culture and something that is stable as opposed to trying
to get those great results, trying to have those great
teams and not necessarily having the program-wide success?

Speaker 9 (01:51:43):
Yeah, I mean, I don't like to boast about stuff,
but I was actually the one who broke the Stoops
thing on Twitter, and I've never seen a nuclear fallout
like that. And for them to go back and get Elko,
it's kind of like they were saved from themselves. Elko
is extremely intelligent. He's always got a plan laid out.

(01:52:05):
The amount of buy-in that he gets is impressive.

Speaker 3 (01:52:09):
He's always here.

Speaker 9 (01:52:10):
Everybody has a plan. Everybody has an idea of what
they're going to do, and they talk about the culture
of the program. But then you take a look at
how Elko has done it. That locker room was a
disaster under Fisher. And you haven't heard a thing about

(01:52:31):
anything going on in there since Elko got there. And
I think that's a credit for him not only looking
for talent but for character and having a closer grip
on what's going on in that locker room. So, yeah,
I think people– you know this as well as anybody.
There's always angst amongst the 12th man. There's always something

(01:52:52):
worried about, you know, this is going to go wrong,
this is going to go wrong, you know, battered Aggie syndrome.
I think with respect to Elko, this is probably the
calmest I've seen this fan base probably since 2012.

Speaker 8 (01:53:07):
Well, and getting the college football playoff definitely helps out
with that for sure. Again, he's Mark Passwater's AggieHuddle.com as
the Aggies try to get back to that point even
beyond this season. And obviously a guy that a lot
of people want to know how he can be able
to bounce back from last season, Marcel Reed. I mean,
the last time we saw Marcel Reed was an interception

(01:53:27):
in the end zone to end the season. But how
has he been able to bounce back from that? And
what do you expect to see out of him this year?

Speaker 9 (01:53:34):
Well, I think the first thing that stands out about
his recovery is his willingness to take responsibility. I mean,
he sat there and he looked at the film. He
swallowed his pride and made the harsh statements of himself that.

Speaker 1 (01:53:49):
Yeah, I've got to play better.

Speaker 9 (01:53:50):
And he went out and he worked offseason very diligently.
with Ray Christensen, one of the better independent quarterback coaches.
He's the one who works with Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes.
He's got a good rapport with the new quarterback's coach,
Joey Lynch. And one thing that has stuck out to

(01:54:13):
me is the consistency of his mechanics. And this is
one thing, you know, you can blame my dad for this,
but I'm always into mechanics, you know, be it baseball
or football.

Speaker 1 (01:54:26):
And the consistency of his.

Speaker 9 (01:54:27):
Motion looks so much better this year than it has
in past years.

Speaker 1 (01:54:32):
It's repetitive.

Speaker 9 (01:54:34):
And, you know, you hear people talking about the accuracy
has improved. Well, if your mechanics are consistent, then yes,
your accuracy is going to improve. And if he takes
a step from season two to season three, the way
he did from season one to season two, this is
one of the best, better quarterbacks, not just in the sec,
but maybe more than that. So I'm excited to see
what he can do and whether or not that repetition

(01:54:56):
continues once the lights come on.

Speaker 8 (01:54:59):
And I mean, this is a schedule too, that, I mean,
it starts off a little softer with, I mean, this one,
we'll see what Arizona state is next week. Then Kentucky
comes in But then LSU kind of starts to ramp
this thing up. But Mark, I mean, I look at November.
It doesn't seem like that the SEC did the Aggies
any favors with that November slate. How do you think
this team's going to look once they reach that four-game stretch?

Speaker 9 (01:55:21):
That's a good question. I think record-wise, they're going to
be in good shape. Will that depth be tested? That's
the big question.

Speaker 1 (01:55:30):
Because if the depth is tested and it succeeds, then
they're fine.

Speaker 9 (01:55:35):
If they don't have to press that depth, if they're
still healthy... then they can go into that November stretch
at OU, with Tennessee, Texas. They can go in there
with a lot of confidence because, one, they'll know they've
got their guys, and two, if they're at that point
and they've got the same fellows out there and they're

(01:55:56):
not hurt or there haven't been injuries, then they're in
good shape because they picked the right guys to begin with.

Speaker 8 (01:56:03):
Mark Passwaters, again, from AggieHuddle.com, talking Texas A & M,
getting ready for the college football season. They fire things
up again tomorrow over there in College Station, taking on
Missouri State. Mark, it's always great to catch up with you, buddy.
I mean, at least the Astros. I know you're a
big Astros fan, too. They're starting to play better baseball.
So it's that time of the year where we get

(01:56:25):
this cross-section of sports.

Speaker 5 (01:56:26):
You can't beat it.

Speaker 9 (01:56:28):
No, it's a good time. And now the heat will
turn down a little bit. We'll be at the perfect
time of year.

Speaker 8 (01:56:33):
Well, I mean, we're going to be waiting a couple
more months for that one, buddy, unfortunately. You know that
as well as anyone. I mean, there's a good chance
that we're wearing shorts on Thanksgiving. We know life down here.

Speaker 12 (01:56:44):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:56:45):
Wouldn't trade it.

Speaker 8 (01:56:45):
No, for sure. Again, he's Mark Passwaters. Mark, appreciate it, buddy.
We'll catch up with you again here very soon.

Speaker 1 (01:56:51):
All right, bud. Take care.

Speaker 5 (01:56:52):
There you go. Mark Passwaters again, AggieHuddle.com.

Speaker 8 (01:56:55):
And talking about Texas A & M, feeling good about
that program this year. And it seems like there's a
lot of programs around here that people have good high
expectations for. And if you missed it yesterday, Matt Thomas
catching up with U of H head coach Willie Fritz.
Definitely do want to have that visit for you in
the 1 o'clock hour. So we'll have that coming up
at 1.30. And then I mentioned about 15 minutes from now,

(01:57:17):
my good buddy Lee Sterling from Paramount Sports.

Speaker 5 (01:57:19):
You want the... the action side of things this weekend.

Speaker 8 (01:57:23):
You're trying to be able to put together a nice
little bankroll here in the season. We'll try to help
you do that. Again, Lee Sterling, Paramount Sports, he's going
to hop on with us. So look forward to getting
the Vegas side of things here as we head into
the first college football weekend. But definitely do want to
get back into the Astros discussion because while some of
you might not be bullish about this team being able

(01:57:43):
to have a path towards postseason success, Well, there's somebody
out there that thinks that this team is set up
to be able to have some. We'll have that for
you here as we continue. It is the Dan Matthews
Show on a Friday. Hanging out with you. Sports Talk 790.
In about 10 minutes, trying to help you with that bankroll,
especially with this college football season. And our good buddy

(01:58:04):
Lee Sterling from Paramount Sports going to hop on with
us as the Astros.

Speaker 5 (01:58:08):
Also a huge topic conversation.

Speaker 8 (01:58:10):
Winning yesterday afternoon 6-2 to send the White Sox out
of here losers of three of their last four against
the Strohs so love to be able to continue the
winning ways tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks against six o'clock
Astros on deck to get you set up for that
one You also have college football all over the iHeartRadio
family of stations here. And, of course, we'll have the

(01:58:31):
Longhorns and Texas State coming your way, 1.30 tomorrow, right here,
Sports Talk 790. The Stroh is going to be over
on NewsRadio 740 KTRH starting at 5 o'clock with Astros
on deck. And then U of H Cougars, like I said,
about 40 minutes from now, we'll hear from head coach
Willie Fritz as he visited with Matt and Ross yesterday

(01:58:51):
on the morning show. Have that for you. And the
Cougs taking on Oregon State. You can get that coverage
starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow over on KPRC 950. And
also on 950, you're going to have LSU Clemson tomorrow night,
5 o'clock, getting you set up for that one. 713-212-5790
is the number to get in. And as I've continued

(01:59:13):
to tell you with the Astros trending towards earning a
postseason spot, that seeding obviously matters like nobody's business. And
right now they're a game and a half behind the
White Sox for the second seed in the American League.
So one really good series out of you and you
could be the second best record in the American League.

(01:59:33):
That's where things are at this moment with the Astros,
where not only are you trying to fight off the Rangers,
but you're also trying to be able to not only
win the division, but get into that second spot. But
where it stands right now, and this was pointed out
by The Athletic, as it was Zach Meisel, Corey Stavenhagen,
and Tim Britton talking about how in an upside-down American

(01:59:57):
League game, The worst playoff teams might have the easiest path.
Think about that, how crazy it is. Because of how
the American League East has played this season, that your
three best teams in the American League are all there
right there in the Eastern Division. That's, of course, the Rays,
the Yankees, and the Red Sox. But the problem is

(02:00:18):
with the Yankees and the Red Sox, there is no receding.
So you're the fourth and the fifth in the fifth
spot teams. Because, of course, the division winners are one
through three. That's how this all works. So let's just
say that chalk holds right now in the Astros finish
as the third division winner in baseball.

Speaker 5 (02:00:36):
OK, fine.

Speaker 8 (02:00:38):
Wildcard round it is taking on the Guardians there in
the first round. And, of course, Cleveland would come here
and play you. You've been able to handle the Guardians
pretty easily this year, and you'd like to be able
to do the same thing in the postseason. Obviously, two
out of three series, anything can happen. Postseason baseball, same
deal there. But playing at home against a Guardians team

(02:00:58):
that you've been able to have a lot of success
against this season, you'd like your chances in that. So
then you move on and face the White Sox. Same
deal there. You've been able to play them pretty good
this season. As a matter of fact, you played them
seven times this year. You came out of it winners
in five of those times. So you like your chances
even there. So the LCS is not necessarily out of
the question for the Astros this year. And with this

(02:01:21):
Astros team, and I understand how people feel about them.
I get it. I understand their pitching deficiencies. I understand
their inconsistent offense. It's not the best performing Astros team
that we've seen during the runs of getting to the LCS.

Speaker 5 (02:01:35):
I understand that.

Speaker 8 (02:01:36):
But as I've continued to say, as long as I
got Jose Altuve in that clubhouse, and as long as
I've got Jeremy Pena in Jordan Alvarez, and more than
likely Carlos Correa, part of this too, because he was
over there at third base taking grounders yesterday. He is,
I believe right now, already in West Palm Beach and
will start going through game situations, trying to build himself

(02:01:57):
up for a return here in September. But as long
as I have those guys that are on my team
and know what postseason baseball is about and have been
successful in postseason baseball, I'm Again, I like my chances
of being able to have a run at it. So,
I mean, it's one of those right now that let's
just say that it plays out the way that I
just said, and you're able to get through either of

(02:02:18):
those two teams. Even if you just in the divisional round,
if you say play the White Sox there and you're
able to win three out of five against them and
you move on and you face whoever comes out of
that group between the Red Sox, Yankees and Tampa Bay
Rays in the LCS, it's not exactly like those teams
have necessarily been ones that scare you either.

Speaker 5 (02:02:37):
I mean, here it is.

Speaker 8 (02:02:39):
And obviously feeling a lot better about this team than
I felt about a week ago. But it's not like
there's anybody in the American League that you look at
and say, far and away better.

Speaker 5 (02:02:49):
Like record wise, Tampa Bay.

Speaker 1 (02:02:51):
Sure.

Speaker 8 (02:02:51):
You could make that argument. But are you necessarily scared
of Tampa Bay? You took two out of three when
you played them here. You're going to get another opportunity
next weekend against them. And maybe coming into that series,
we will feel a lot different about them. But it's
not all the realm of possibility that the Astros team
makes a run through the American League and faces whoever
comes out of the National League in the World Series.

Speaker 5 (02:03:10):
Not whatsoever.

Speaker 8 (02:03:11):
And would it be kind of shades a little bit
of 2005?

Speaker 1 (02:03:15):
Sure.

Speaker 5 (02:03:15):
You can make that argument.

Speaker 8 (02:03:17):
But then again, that was a team that offensively was
being driven by guys that were having unreal career seasons.
And then you saw it pretty quickly the following year.

Speaker 1 (02:03:25):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 8 (02:03:26):
Morgan Innsburg's not that guy. Jason Lane's not that guy.
Mike Lamb, same deal there.

Speaker 5 (02:03:30):
Shocking.

Speaker 1 (02:03:30):
I know, right?

Speaker 8 (02:03:32):
But still, I mean, you're at least in a much
better position than you were to have sustained success than
you were back at that point.

Speaker 5 (02:03:39):
Getting to the World Series, I've said it numerous times.

Speaker 8 (02:03:42):
Might have been one of the worst things that could
have ever happened to this organization because you had an
unrealistic sense of how good this team was. Whereas now,
I think they understand where this team is at this
moment and understand that you're not guaranteed to have prolonged success.
So you might have to reimagine this thing just a
little bit. But at least to see this current group
get one more really good shot at it, I'm for it.

(02:04:03):
And hopefully the Astros are able to make that happen
this year. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in. Like
I said, let's get the action side of things, not
only for this college football weekend, but also, too, for
the season as a whole. Our good buddy Lee Sterling
at Paramount Sports, he's going to hop on with us
as we continue here. It is the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 5 (02:04:25):
Yes, indeed.

Speaker 8 (02:04:27):
As we get into the 1 o'clock hour here on
a Friday, Dan Matthews hanging out with you. Astros winning
yesterday 6-2 over the White Sox. Three out of four
go their direction in that series. Next up, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
6 o'clock, Astros on deck. Get you set up for
that tonight. But again, like I mentioned, the opening weekend
of college football and a man who is going to
be all over it and joining us all season long, ParamountSports.com.

Speaker 5 (02:04:50):
He is Lee Sterling, and he joins us here.

Speaker 8 (02:04:54):
Lee, it's great to catch up with you again, man.
Fired up for a football season. I know this is
like accountants during tax time. It's their busy season. So
this is your busy season as almost an auditor of sports.

Speaker 1 (02:05:08):
Good.

Speaker 23 (02:05:09):
I was even starting watching. spring games in late March,
early April. So you got to monitor also social media.
One of the teams that was on my radar was UMass.
I mean, I'd heard about that. this transfer quarterback that
came over from Virginia Tech. And they actually have some
recruits for the next two years, I'm hearing, some four-

(02:05:30):
and five-star kids. So UMass, they may just not be
a basketball school anymore.

Speaker 8 (02:05:36):
Yeah, the Calipari-Marcus Camby years could be forgotten about pretty
quickly by the football team in Yeah, how about that
for Rutgers, too? Not only paying them over a million dollars,
but then a sad sack of a fireworks show after
you just got pasted in that game.

Speaker 5 (02:05:52):
It's not a good look, that's for sure.

Speaker 8 (02:05:53):
But we've got a handful of games that we're going
to go through here again as we get the college
football weekend underway and a game you're going to hear
here tomorrow on Sports Talk 790 being your Houston home
for Texas Longhorns football. It's the Horns and the Bobcats.
Big number for the Longhorns, but how do you see
this playing out?

Speaker 23 (02:06:10):
Yeah, and I think that Texas obviously wants to make
sure They get some wrinkles worked out. Their short passing
game was lacking last year. Arch Manning, his mechanics sometimes
just were not great. And Texas State is the type
defense that should be able to have a lot of
success against. But my former alma mater, Texas State, they've

(02:06:31):
got a quarterback, kid Brad Jackson.

Speaker 3 (02:06:33):
I mean, you talk about a kid that does everything.

Speaker 23 (02:06:35):
Last year through for almost 3,300 yards and 21 touchdowns,
and running the football ran for almost 750 yards and
17 touchdowns. So when you have a large spread like this,
what happens is even though a team might give up
some points, if they can move the chains and get
first downs and score high teens, low 20s, Texas is

(02:06:58):
going to have to score in the 50s just to
have a chance to cover. I think Texas is going
to score 50 points. I'm scoring 51, but I also
have Texas State scoring 24.

Speaker 3 (02:07:08):
So I think the back door is going to be open.
I like Texas State. They get the bacon here.

Speaker 23 (02:07:13):
Texas might be peeking ahead to Ohio State and getting
some revenge for next week.

Speaker 8 (02:07:19):
And we're going to save the LSU-Clemson game for the
final stretch here. But another game that we're going to
have here on one of our family of stations, of course,
the U of H Cougars hosting Oregon State. Willie Fritz,
year three, 10-win season last year. How do you see
the Cougs playing in this one?

Speaker 23 (02:07:34):
Oh, I mean, you talk about a team that wants
to make sure that there is no doubt in this game.
That's the Houston Cougars. I mean, look what happened in
the game last year. They needed a couple touchdown passes.
They just were sleepwalking at first. And I'm looking at
this Oregon State team that couldn't even really decide on

(02:07:57):
a quarterback. They just don't have the money in their
NIL collective to be competitive. So I think that Houston
was 4-1 because of the result last year. And they
want to get to a big lead here and play
a lot of players.

Speaker 3 (02:08:12):
As long as the.

Speaker 23 (02:08:14):
Back door is not open, I think Houston's the right side.
20 and a half, I think, might even be light here.
I expect Woodman to have a big game. They're going
to play the backup quarterback. Not much of a drop-off there.
I want to see what he can do. I just
think that this team is going to possibly be clicking
on all cylinders right out of the gate.

Speaker 3 (02:08:32):
Sometimes you've got to lay it if you want to
play it. Cougs here, I think they win easy.

Speaker 1 (02:08:36):
Here, 48-13.

Speaker 8 (02:08:37):
Yeah, taking and giving here in the early going of
these first couple of games. Hey, another one, too, that's
going to be one that I think kind of flies
under the radar this weekend in terms of high-profile matchups.
New head coach there at Auburn, Alex Golish, and, of course,
thought that Dave Aranda was going to be on his
way out at Baylor, but not the case. And Auburn
taking on Baylor. Seven and a half is the line here.

(02:09:00):
How do you see this one shaking?

Speaker 23 (02:09:02):
Well, how big a game is this game for Dave Aranda?
They get off to a poor start. He may not
make it through the midseason. They're really good, I think,
defensive mind, but Auburn. They just didn't know what to
expect in the game last year, and Auburn played their
best game in five years. So I think Dave Aranda
is going to put.

Speaker 3 (02:09:21):
All his marbles here in one basket. I also like
his quarterback, DJ Lagway.

Speaker 23 (02:09:25):
I thought he was only maybe 75, 80% last year.
I thought Florida was protecting him. They couldn't take any chances.
They knew if he went out. But when you do that,
you're playing with at least one or two hands behind
your back. So I think DJ Lagway has something to
prove here. I think he's going to surprise some people.
And on the other hand, I think people might be

(02:09:46):
building up Byron Brown maybe just a little bit. I
think he's a good quarterback, good runner. But I think
his passing is inconsistent. He reminds me of Lenora Sellers here.
So they only totaled when he was at South Florida,
30 total points in their games last year against Miami
and Florida combined. So I think Auburn might be a
little bit overrated here. I think they'll be good, but

(02:10:09):
it might take some time. And this game reminds me
of North Carolina. I think Baylor's going to come to
play here. It's on a neutral side here. Wrong team favored.
I like Baylor straight up 31-27.

Speaker 1 (02:10:21):
Wow. Okay.

Speaker 8 (02:10:21):
Yeah, that's going to be an interesting one. And of course, too,
it's in the Age of name, image and likeness. That
game moved to Atlanta with this being a cash game
for a lot of these guys for being able to
make some money in this one.

Speaker 3 (02:10:35):
All right.

Speaker 8 (02:10:36):
So finally, as I mentioned, I mean, four games that
mean you were going to focus on this week and
the one that I think is going to garner the
most headlines, obviously, for a lot of the stuff off
the field. And that is LSU and Clemson. And obviously
it's the first game Lane Kiffin home. These two teams
played each other last year. It was a knockdown drag
out one LSU was able to win that one. Do

(02:10:57):
you see Dabo Sweeney and Clemson being able to maybe
pull off a surprise here?

Speaker 23 (02:11:02):
So I thought his talent was pretty good last year.
I thought that they way underperformed. I mean, seven and
six record. And maybe Dabo has kind of reached an
expiration point.

Speaker 3 (02:11:14):
And guys like John Harbaugh, really good coaches.

Speaker 23 (02:11:18):
But the message sometimes, these guys tune it out after
a period of time, and that might be the case.

Speaker 3 (02:11:24):
Kate Klubnick, I thought he was.

Speaker 23 (02:11:26):
A good quarterback, but He just couldn't get him to progress.
He goes to the chess camp. Look how good he looks.
And then their defensive line, great names, guys that were talented,
but didn't get the job done. Four of the five
of those top five defensive linemen moved on.

Speaker 3 (02:11:44):
So maybe it's time here.

Speaker 23 (02:11:46):
I know he'd maybe like to end things on a
positive note, maybe move on to Alabama if things don't
work out there.

Speaker 3 (02:11:52):
But They're going to face an LSU team super talented.

Speaker 23 (02:11:56):
They couldn't run the football last year, just 104 rushing
yards per game, which placed them 118th out of 134 teams.
So they're going to have to improve on that. But
they got the best transfer offensive lineman, in my opinion,
out of Colorado.

Speaker 3 (02:12:10):
Kids, it's going to be a first rounder. If he
stays healthy, a couple receivers, a couple more linemen, and
Sam Levitt.

Speaker 23 (02:12:18):
I believe one of the top five quarterbacks when he's healthy,
and he's healthy, at least he is right now until
he starts getting nicked up. So I think the place
is going to be jumping in Baton Rouge here. I
like the LSU Tigers here, 30-17 over the Clemson Tigers.

Speaker 8 (02:12:35):
I'll be in the building for it. It's going to
be a lot of fun, Lee. Again, he's Lee Sterling,
Paramount Sports. Lee, before we get you out the door,
tell folks where they can find you.

Speaker 23 (02:12:44):
Yeah, if they want to check out the website, go
to ParamountSports.com. I'm not going to sell anything to football
this week. I want you just to go to the
website and where it says join our mailing list. If
you go to the homepage, just click that on and
just fill that out. Just takes a minute or two,
and we will email you three selections for tonight for free.

(02:13:07):
I just feel that if I can win for you,
go 2-1 or 3-0, you're going to want to strongly
consider ParamountSports.com. I'm a former college quarterback, played at the time.
It was Southwest Texas State, now Texas State University. And
we've won 32 out of 33 years. We've won six
of the last seven Super Bowls and national championships in

(02:13:27):
college football. So you're looking for someone that can put
in the work and get results, check it out. And
like I said, fill it out, join our mailing list
at paramountsports.com and hopefully have a nice weekend for you.
Put a little jingle in your pocket and you consider
us for the future paramountsports.com.

Speaker 1 (02:13:46):
There you go.

Speaker 8 (02:13:46):
You can find them on Twitter as well at paramount sports.
He's Lee Sterling. He's going to join us every single
Friday here on the show.

Speaker 10 (02:13:52):
Lee.

Speaker 5 (02:13:52):
Hey man, really appreciate the time. Always great to catch
up with you.

Speaker 8 (02:13:55):
And next week when we talk with you, we get
fired up for Texas season in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (02:13:59):
So looking forward to it, my man.

Speaker 23 (02:14:01):
Yep, it should be a great, great weekend this weekend
and next weekend.

Speaker 3 (02:14:05):
Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 1 (02:14:06):
There you go.

Speaker 5 (02:14:07):
Lee Sterling again. Find him.

Speaker 8 (02:14:09):
At ParamountSports.com and on Twitter at Paramount Sports. And of course,
this weekend with the games going on, I mean, it's
not only just, you know, LSU Clemson. I mean, that's
a lot of fun. Looking forward to that one. But
I mean, you get Ole Miss Louisville. That's going to
be a fun one. I mean, Notre Dame and Wisconsin
from Lambeau Field. I mean, it might not be the

(02:14:32):
highest profiled opening weekend that we've seen in recent years.
Cause I mean, we've had some really good ones, but
still got a lot of good action to be able
to kick off the season. So looking forward to talking
college football, NFL as a whole with Lee, as the
season goes on. So again, paramount sports.com is where you
can find his work.

Speaker 5 (02:14:50):
All right.

Speaker 8 (02:14:50):
So Let's continue the conversation as we do want to
continue talking the Astros. That is fair game. We've talked
a lot of college football. You want to get some
college football thoughts in?

Speaker 5 (02:15:01):
Absolutely.

Speaker 8 (02:15:01):
Please do, because I know a lot of you fired
up for the season. So do want to do that.
But a Texan season prediction. I mean, we are over
a week away from the Texans getting going. And somebody's
got a prediction out there that might just might have
you jumping for joy.

Speaker 5 (02:15:16):
We'll talk about it right here.

Speaker 8 (02:15:18):
As we continue on a Friday edition of the Dan
Matthews show sports talk at seven 90.

Speaker 5 (02:15:22):
It's been a wall to wall one today. Been a
lot of fun.

Speaker 8 (02:15:26):
And looking forward to talking with you as well at 713-212-5790.
I mean, starting all the way back in the first
hour of the show, our good buddy Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5.
Clearly a lot of stuff happening with LSU, talking with
him about the Tigers, talking with my good buddy Will
Matthews from the Texas Longhorn Football Radio broadcast with Craig

(02:15:50):
Way and Roger Wallace. Of course, you're going to hear
them tomorrow starting at 1.30 as the horns take on
Texas State. Then also talking Aggies with Mark Passwaters, trying
to earn you some money with our good buddy Lee
Sterling from ParamountSports.com. Coming up here in about 10 minutes,
earlier this week, Matt and Ross having a chance to
catch up with Willie Fritz, head coach over at University

(02:16:12):
of Houston. So definitely want to get you Coug fans
fired up for the college football season because I've said
it numerous times. I mean, I think that U of H,
their biggest test obviously is going to come early in
Lubbock against Texas Tech. They go into Lubbock and win
that game. You can start thinking about this team being
a college football playoff team. I'm that serious. I think

(02:16:32):
they are that good this year. I think the schedule
lines up for them to be able to make a
run through the Big 12 and be able to get
to Arlington for the Big 12 championship. And of course,
if you're there at 11, maybe even 12 wins at
that point, then for sure, you can think about college
football playoffs. So I'm a big believer in Willie Fritz.
And I think that that program could really be set

(02:16:52):
up to have some fun times here in 2026.

Speaker 5 (02:16:55):
So we'll be letting you hear a.

Speaker 8 (02:16:58):
Little bit of that and also continuing to talk Astros
as they just took three out of four from the
White Sox.

Speaker 5 (02:17:04):
Went in yesterday 6-2.

Speaker 8 (02:17:07):
Over the White Sox as they were able to win
that series and now get ready for the Arizona Diamondbacks game. Again,
6 o'clock Astros on deck for that tonight. Christian Javier,
Merrill Kelly, your mound matchup for the opener of this series.
And as I mentioned too, college football firing up. We
saw it last night. Blocked field goal from Colorado being

(02:17:27):
able to beat Georgia Tech to fire up the college
football season. But the Cougs going to be home for
Oregon State. You can listen to that over on KPRC
950 starting at 10 o'clock. Told you about Texas and
Texas State right here. The Astros tomorrow night going to
be over on News Radio 740 KTRH. So five o'clock
for that one is the Strohs and Diamondbacks second game

(02:17:48):
of the series. And then also at the same time
over on KPRC 950, that's where you can find LSU
and Clemson coverage getting underway. before they kick off there
at Tiger Stadium. 713-212-5790 is the number to get in
on the phone lines. And it is that time of
the year, too, where season predictions, win totals, all of

(02:18:08):
those things. I mean, it's usually a little bit earlier
on in the offseason, but we're less than a week
away from the NFL getting started because the NFL is
going to start on a Wednesday night this year. Not
going to be the customary Thursday night. where the Super
Bowl champions get to bring the Lombardi trophy back out.
They hoist up the banner, all that kind of stuff.
We've seen how this goes, and championship teams usually get

(02:18:30):
that treatment in whatever league they start in. So in
this case right here, Seahawks and the Patriots going to
open up on Wednesday night. Then, of course, we're going
to get the Australian game between the Rams and the 49ers, too.
And then is there a third one that's earlier on
in the week, Josh? I'm trying to remember. If there
is one, are they doing another? I think just Wednesday

(02:18:51):
and Thursday, right? Okay, so yeah, so just those games
right there. So that's what you get to fire up
the season. So CBS Sports, of course, going through their
win totals for the season. And this is done by
Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports and a lot of different
people on their staff as well. Jared Dubin, Jordan Dajani.

(02:19:12):
as well as Emory Hunt, Carter Bonds, Josh Edwards, Zach Pirellas,
Garrett Padel, John Breach. And they've been 4-0 over the
last couple of years, including the guy that I mentioned
there at the beginning. So you get to the Houston Texans,
and the over-under was already incredibly low. And I told
you all at the beginning, go ahead and hammer the
over in that number. Because if this was a team

(02:19:34):
last year that was as inconsistent as they were offensively
in a defense that we expect to be exactly what
they were last year, and who knows, maybe even better.
nine and a half. Like, are you trying to give
away money Vegas? Is that what you're trying to do now?
I mean, again, Vegas has those big buildings out there
and we live in the houses we do for a
reason because, well, the house always wins, but also too,

(02:19:56):
then we get into a game where it's like on
the surface, you're looking at it and being like, Oh,
come on, how do you get to that number? And
then it's kind of being sweat out. And you're like, man,
These people, they know exactly what they're doing. But Jordan
Dajani says over nine and a half. And Dubin says
the over nine and a half as well. But Dajani,
Texans have the best defense in the NFL. Good receiving

(02:20:19):
core and an upgrade at running back with David Montgomery.
Imagine if the quarterback starts playing well again. Texans could
win the Super Bowl. Houston has won double-digit games each
season where C.J. Stroud's been the QB. I love him
to bounce back and win the division. And then Dubin
says the same thing about the defense. Good enough for
the Texans to reach this number. They won 12 games

(02:20:39):
last year and should have a better offense than they
did a year ago. Yeah, I mean, when I saw
that 9.5, I was just like, I immediately hammered it.

Speaker 5 (02:20:47):
Immediately.

Speaker 8 (02:20:48):
Because, as I've said, 12 wins with the schedule the
Texans have this year could be very easily attainable for them. Now,
it is one of those where injuries aside, which... Let's
also remember D'Amico Ryans has been pretty fortunate in his
first three seasons when it comes to injuries. They have
not been ravaged by them very much. You've had some
guys here and there go out for at times. I mean,

(02:21:10):
we've seen Nico Collins. He misses a week or two
a season. CJ Stroud with concussions has missed a couple
of weeks in his first three seasons.

Speaker 5 (02:21:19):
So that does happen.

Speaker 8 (02:21:21):
But I'm talking about the debilitating ones like this guy's
done for the year with an Achilles, with an ACL,
anything like that. I'm hoping that the Texans can avoid
that again, because depth wise, they're in the best position
this organization has ever been in. But at the same time, though, too,
I mean, we've seen seasons around here again coming out
of the 09 season. You thought to yourself, man, Gary

(02:21:42):
Kubiak and the guys were right on the doorstep being
able to make the playoffs next year.

Speaker 5 (02:21:46):
They absolutely will.

Speaker 8 (02:21:48):
Then you had Connor Barwin turn his ankle sideways. Then
you had D'Amico Ryan's tear and Achilles and injuries all throughout.

Speaker 5 (02:21:55):
And then they even followed into the following season, too.

Speaker 8 (02:21:58):
I remember being at that Texans-Steelers game, and you see
Andre Johnson go down, and you're just like, come on, man, seriously?
And it was hamstring one. And then it was later
on in the season, same deal again. You're just like,
come on, no way. So the good news is you
only have two hamstrings, so he couldn't hurt himself again.
But still, I mean, that's what these seasons are dependent upon,

(02:22:21):
is the Texans have a lot of really good frontline players,
for sure. But now it's also to making sure that
you're able to keep these guys healthy all the way through.
And if they are, yes, way above the nine and
a half this season.

Speaker 5 (02:22:35):
No, I agree.

Speaker 21 (02:22:35):
We did our Texans on Tap podcast last night. Shameless
plug here. Myself, Charlie Polillo, Brandon Strange.

Speaker 3 (02:22:41):
Plug away!

Speaker 21 (02:22:42):
We do a Texans on Tap podcast. We did our
predictions for the season. We all predict the Texans to
win 12 wins, or to win 12 games last night.

Speaker 5 (02:22:50):
Check it out.

Speaker 21 (02:22:50):
Texans on Tap is the YouTube channel. And Stone Cold Strohs,
the most viewed Astros podcast in the world, at Stone
Cold Strohs on YouTube. But yeah, we think 12 wins is...
is pretty realistic for this team. Charlie even predicted them
to go to the Super Bowl, man. So there's a
lot of excitement around this team. One thing I wanted
to bring up with you, Dan, because I wasn't here

(02:23:12):
for this part, was the Tank Dell conversation. And what
concerns me is Casario's comments on the flagship about, is
he going to reach that top-end speed? Coming back from
these injuries, that's something they're still waiting on. And what
concerns me a little bit is him saying that when
Tank came out at the combine before any of these
leg injuries, he ran a 4.49.40. He's always been quicker

(02:23:35):
than he is fast. I mean, you think about 4.49,
that's Keyshawn Booty. Like, he ran that time. And even
Higgins ran a faster 40. So it just makes you
wonder if they're concerned about his deep speed at this point.
And he was around a 4.5 guy to begin with.
That might be asking a lot for him to get
back to that after all these leg injuries.

Speaker 8 (02:23:55):
Well, I mean, and that's something that I think that
if we were being honest with ourselves, we had that
concern all along. Because, I mean, just thinking that Tank
Dell is going to come back and immediately be back
to the guy that he was, I just don't think
is reality. I mean, you factor in as much time
as he's lost, Josh. I mean, it's almost two years
of football that he's lost. And thinking that he was
going to come back and be ready to go in

(02:24:16):
week one was a pipe dream all along. I mean,
the fact that some people might have been surprised by
him going on IR, it's just kind of like, where
you been? He hadn't been on the field. He hadn't
been practicing. He's been doing mostly stuff off to the
side and individual work. That's not to show you that
that guy's going to be ready to go for the season.
But then, as I mentioned earlier, too, you're playing the
long game here. You want to try to build him

(02:24:38):
up and have him be that guy in mid to
late November, December. Areas of the season that at least
a couple of times during his career, he's not been
able to get through healthily. So I understand that both
of them have been pretty bad luck injuries for him.
I mean, the one that he had, which I mean,
if you want to talk about being played wrong, in

(02:24:59):
terms of having him go towards the line of scrimmage
there and then getting rolled up, which you're just like,
I don't really understand why you have him there. And
then of course, having a receiver dive into his knee
was not ideal for him either. So it's not like
it's been one of those where it's, him not being
in shape and ready to go for the season.

Speaker 5 (02:25:16):
He's had some bad luck here, for sure. Let's not
forget he got shot in the leg, too. He's had
three significant leg injuries.

Speaker 8 (02:25:22):
My guy really seriously might need to start carrying a
lucky rabbit's foot around with him or something. Put a
horseshoe in his bag. Do something, man. Because, yeah, Tank
has had some times here. He's got to be walking around,
looking up, waiting for a piano to fall on his head.
I mean, it's almost like you start to wonder, is
the movie Final Destination a real thing here? he's skating by.

(02:25:44):
So Tank, man, do what you can. Try to be
able to make your way through. But no, I mean,
these are all valid concerns. And again, I think this
is why you see the team taking the approach they're
taking with them here at this moment.

Speaker 15 (02:25:56):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (02:25:56):
Again, it's 713-212-5790. As I mentioned, Coug fans, don't ever
say I don't do things for you because your head coach,
Willie Fritz, on with Matt and Ross and wanted to
give you a chance to be able to hear that
visit as we get you fired up for your college
football season. So we'll do that right here as we
continue on the Dan Matthews Show Sports Talk 790.

Speaker 5 (02:26:19):
Appreciate you all hanging out with us here on a Friday.

Speaker 8 (02:26:22):
It is the Dan Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. Of course,
I'm the Dan Matthews part of it. He's the young
Josh Jordan part of it. And always great to be
able to have you on board with us as the
Strohs getting ready for the Arizona Diamondbacks after taking three
out of four. to start the week against the Chicago
White Sox winning yesterday afternoon, six to two and tonight,

(02:26:43):
six o'clock Astros on deck.

Speaker 5 (02:26:45):
You set up for that one.

Speaker 8 (02:26:46):
Again, you got college football coming your way all throughout
the I heart radio family of stations that we have here.
And the UH Cougars going to be one of them
getting their season started tomorrow in the late morning into
the early afternoon. And earlier this week, Head coach Willie
Fritz joining Matt and Ross on Matt and Ross in

(02:27:06):
the morning and starting off the conversation of talking about
a team that comes off a 10-win campaign a year
ago with a lot of players returning from that squad.

Speaker 15 (02:27:15):
Yeah, we've done a really good job recruiting the last
couple years and a lot of those young kids are
starting to get where they're either starting or playing a
bunch and it's given us a little bit more depth
than what we've had in the past and then I
think we've done a really good job in the portal.
We The thing when you go out in the portal
is you try to find guys that can give you
immediate help in a position that maybe you need immediate

(02:27:38):
help at. And also a guy that's going to fit
in your culture. And we've done a good job in
both those areas. You talk about the offensive line. We
brought in three guys. Two guys were all conference in
the MAC. One at Toledo and the other one wanted Miami, Ohio.
And then another young man that played for me at Tulane.

(02:28:00):
shot rehearsed. He was an all-American type guy. So we're
able to bring guys in quickly at that position. And
then we've got some young guys that really need another
year of development, could possibly play quite a bit this year.
You don't have to throw them in the fire against.

Speaker 3 (02:28:18):
A Big 12 competition.

Speaker 15 (02:28:20):
Kind of let them develop and get better each and
every week. So we've tried to do that across the
board at all positions.

Speaker 14 (02:28:29):
Well, now Willie, with his five for five, you're not
having to worry about red shirts, how many games they play,
and that kind of thing. Does that open up some
guys to play some, at least maybe in non-conference play,
to figure out who is ready to play for you
in Big 12?

Speaker 3 (02:28:42):
Exactly right.

Speaker 15 (02:28:44):
In the past, there was four games, and when you
played the fifth, it counted as a season. You're very
mindful of that. You didn't want to play a guy
four snaps, fifth game, and that's all he plays the
rest of the season You know, so now the kids
know that, you know, one play counts as.

Speaker 3 (02:29:02):
A season, zero plays counts as a season.

Speaker 15 (02:29:05):
You know, 500 snaps counts as a season. So I
think there's a lot more competition in the kicking game.
You know, if I was a young man, I'd try
to get on the field any way I could. That's
a true for us because that's going to allow you
to get some experience. And that's the only way you're
going to be able to play. This year's count is

(02:29:26):
a season anyway. So we've had some good competitions. in
the special teams area.

Speaker 14 (02:29:31):
Is that where you would say is your biggest competition
going into this first game? Because I would like to
ask you, you know, does the receiver room do great?
Did the linebackers, where, where has it been where you've
spent more time going? I'm not sure what I want
to do just yet.

Speaker 15 (02:29:46):
Well, you know, special teams is so hard to, you know,
replicate real plays in the special teams and preseason camp.
Cause you know, those are, you know, you're running 60
yards and you're, two guys running into each other. You know,
football's a collision sport, not a contact sport. And that's
the tough one for game one. You know, punt coverage,

(02:30:09):
punt protection, kickoff coverage, you know, blocking for guys on
a kickoff return, you know, understanding how to catch punts
in traffic and keeping guys away. So, you know, that'll
be the first time we've done actual live reps in
the kicking game. you know, this fall, you know, we

(02:30:30):
usually just save them for the games and, and go
all the way up until that point of tackling. Cause
there's a lot of bodies around, you know, I'm, I'm
trying to, we still don't have the depth and I
don't know if anybody does. You'd like to have, you know,
in college football, it's more difficult now than it used
to be, but you know, I don't want to get
anybody hurting practices because of that depth factor. And, you know,

(02:30:52):
the big injuries in football occur, body to ground contact,
not body to body contact when you're tackling and and, uh,
doing all those kinds of different things. That's when you
have some guys that get on the ground. So we
try to eliminate that as much as we can until
game day.

Speaker 14 (02:31:07):
Uh, my Cougar friends. So obviously we all watch Connor
really develop as a quarterback and got better and better
as the season progressed. You've obviously brought a young man
in Keyshawn who is highly recruited. Um, and, and I
don't know if you can tell, but, uh, can't, I'm
assuming there's going to be plays for both of them,
you know, throughout the course of the year. Is that,
is that fair to say?

Speaker 15 (02:31:27):
Yeah, we're, uh, you know, I'm just really excited. I
got two, you know, I've never had a five-star quarterback.
One year, I think I had five one-star quarterbacks. Does
that count as a five-star quarterback?

Speaker 5 (02:31:37):
No, coach, it does not. No, it does not.

Speaker 15 (02:31:41):
But those two guys are, they're really, really good teammates.
They really do a great job of pushing each other
and supporting each other. And, you know, Connor, I thought,
came on at the end of the year. He played
a great game in that Texas Bowl, you know, and that's,
you know, allowed him to kind of springboard into this season.
He was the MVP of that game. And then Keyshawn

(02:32:03):
got in here in January, which was really, really important.
You know, football is a very, very complex game. There's
a lot going on, you know, post-snap, pre-snap, whatever, meetings
during the week. And luckily for us, those two guys
are really, really smart. Yeah, but we're excited about both

(02:32:24):
those guys having them– you know, lead our team, lead
our offense this year.

Speaker 14 (02:32:29):
And last question, you're taking on an Oregon State team.
You beat them last year, but it's a completely different squad,
as is most of the case. New coach, he comes
from Alabama, new quarterback. Do you, when you scout, especially
a first opponent, do you go back to where the
previous coach spent time and collected formations, or how do
you do it?

Speaker 5 (02:32:46):
Because it is such a new situation.

Speaker 3 (02:32:48):
No, exactly right.

Speaker 15 (02:32:49):
You look at where the head coach came from, where
the coordinators came from. We study a bunch of that,
and then you know, my coaches got sick of me
talking about, you know, what ifs, you know, keep looking
at what ifs, you know, you need to have your
complete and total package available to offensively, defensively kicking it.
Cause they might do something totally different. You know, you

(02:33:11):
weren't prepared for it. You always get that week one.
They're going to get that from us. There's going to
be some things we're going to do that, you know,
they're not prepared for, you know, they worked on what
ifs as well. So that's a big part of game one. And, and, uh,
We feel like we're completely prepared, but it's difficult for

(02:33:31):
week one to be able to do that.

Speaker 5 (02:33:34):
There you go.

Speaker 8 (02:33:36):
U of H head coach Willie Fritz joining Matt and
Ross in the morning.

Speaker 5 (02:33:40):
See, who says you don't get Matt and Ross in
the midday anymore? I don't get it.

Speaker 8 (02:33:44):
But anyway, no, it was a good conversation with Willie Fritz.
Fired up for the season. And of course, as I mentioned,
the Cougs going to be over on KPRC 950 starting
tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. as they welcome in Oregon State.
to get the season underway. 713-212-5790 is the number to
get in. Again, it's 713-212-5790. I get one Astros note

(02:34:10):
here because an unlikely hero for the Astros that we've
been seeing talk about that. Gets you ready for the
college football weekend as a whole. And for somebody else
in the sport, not named Lane Kiffin, has been dealing
with a lot and Seems like they're dealing with even
more now. We'll have that for you before we close
things out here on a Friday edition of the Dan

(02:34:32):
Matthews Show, leading you up to the A-Team with Adam
Clanton and Adam Wexler coming your way at 2 o'clock
right here on your home of the Astros and the Rockets,
Sports Talk 790. a friday edition of the dan matthews
show sports talk 790 appreciate all of you who make
us who we are on a daily basis you get
adam clinton adam wexler coming your way here in about

(02:34:55):
10 minutes to send you on into the weekend carrying
you right up to six o'clock astros on deck get
you set for them in the arizona diamondbacks they'll be
wearing that friday orange over there at dyken park so
i mean It's one of those that one of my
favorite Friday night games is the one leading into Labor
Day weekend. I mean, just think about it. You know,

(02:35:15):
you're fired up. It's going to be a long weekend.
I remember it on my birthday. One year they played
the Yankees on a Friday night, early interpitched. It didn't
go well. The Yankees got after him, but still, I mean,
the vibes were great. College football the next day, just amazing.
And then, of course, you get that Monday off, and
you're right back to it on the following Tuesday. So
Stroh's getting after it tonight, and you get college football

(02:35:37):
all throughout the iHeartRadio family of stations tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (02:35:41):
Starting at 10 a.m.

Speaker 8 (02:35:43):
The man you just heard from earlier this week on
Matt and Ross in the morning, head coach Willie Fritz
and the U of H Cougars get their season underway
11 a.m. tomorrow, but 10 o'clock coverage going to get
started on KPRC 950, and they're taking on Oregon State.
And then 1.30 over here on Sports Talk 790, you're
going to have Texas and Texas State. And then 5

(02:36:05):
o'clock over on NewsRadio 740 KTRH. Got the Strohs and
the Diamondbacks. And then 5 o'clock on KPRC 950. Tomorrow,
you're going to have LSU and Clemson. 713-212-5790 is the
number to get in. One of the most unlikely heroes
for the Astros, at least these last few games.

Speaker 5 (02:36:26):
You know what? I got to give credit where it's due.

Speaker 8 (02:36:28):
Dalton Varshow has actually started to swing a pretty decent
bat for the Strohs. as he comes through yesterday with
the two-out, two-run triple.

Speaker 5 (02:36:36):
You love to see that.

Speaker 8 (02:36:37):
He comes around the score on his former Diamondbacks teammate,
Christian Walker, bringing him home with an RBI single. Nice stuff,
but I mean, the homer last week, couple of big
hits against the New York Mets.

Speaker 5 (02:36:49):
That was awesome.

Speaker 8 (02:36:51):
And then yesterday able to come through in a very
huge spot. Now, I mean, the last three games, he
wasn't great. He was one for 11, but the one
was the one that mattered the most, but then able
to have a couple of hits and back-to-back games against
the Yankees. And then of course, as I mentioned too,
able to knock in a crucial run against the Mets.
So that's a guy that, again, I think in some

(02:37:13):
ways we were expecting a little bit too much and
putting too much on him in terms of what he
could bring, because ideally Dalton Varshow in this offense would
be hitting sixth or seventh. Like that's where you would
really like to have him be able to contribute and
help your team out. And I got to tell you, Josh,
I like the way that Joe has balanced out this
order of having Yiner Diaz and Cam Smith down in

(02:37:36):
that 7-8-9 portion of the lineup to be able to
kind of give you a little bit of thump right there,
leading you back up to Peña and Jordan Alvarez. And
at least the last few games, it's worked out incredibly
well because I mean, Shroes just took three out of
four in this one. Two out of three against the Mets,
two out of three against the Yankees. So three straight
winning series for the Astros, especially coming out of that

(02:37:57):
A series where it seemed like this is starting to
look a lot like last year.

Speaker 5 (02:38:02):
No, I agree. Varshow, man, he makes them count when
he gets the big base hits.

Speaker 21 (02:38:05):
And the other thing, a little more credit here to
Joe Espada. I like that you didn't have to use
Okert or Hader in the finale of that White Sox game.
You got them ready to go against the Snakes tonight. Well,
and remember what I said, too, as well, about being
able to... preserve those guys in the back end of
the bullpen as much as you've been able to in

(02:38:27):
these last couple of games. Definitely nice to see.

Speaker 1 (02:38:31):
713-212-5790.

Speaker 8 (02:38:32):
If I have time, I'll give you the other thing
that I mentioned too as well, but you give us
a shout on the phone lines. I want to give
you an opportunity, and since I just talked to Astros,
I know that's exactly where Logan on the southwest side
wants to go.

Speaker 5 (02:38:43):
Logan, good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (02:38:44):
How you doing?

Speaker 12 (02:38:46):
Pretty good about you. I think you're as much as
informed as anybody on the radio. And I just got
to ask you a question. And when, having said that, okay,
you just spent the last 20 or 30 minutes, a
segment ago talking about multiple injuries, not just the Texans,
but every team in the league. Now, And then you
got house money, 9%, and all this doing this in
the first game. We don't know. It's my opinion, and

(02:39:07):
I'll just be real quick. We don't know anything. And
unless you got two ways to do it, you can
put a match to a bunch of money. You got
all your bills paid. You can either put a match
to a bunch of discretionary income, or you can go
ahead and bet it if there's no client either way.
you don't know. Nobody knows right now in game number

(02:39:28):
one of the NFL season, whether any quarterback, including CJ
Stroud or anybody, I don't care what you call about
the defense.

Speaker 1 (02:39:36):
They're going to go to the Superbowl.

Speaker 12 (02:39:37):
They're going to do this, whether he's going to throw
10 interceptions or 10 touchdowns, you don't, nobody knows. So
let's not wait till let's wait till the second game
and see, don't, I mean, is that make any sense?

Speaker 1 (02:39:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (02:39:51):
I mean, I go for it all in the first game.

Speaker 8 (02:39:53):
I mean, I don't think anybody's saying go for it
all in the first game. Appreciate the call, Logan. I mean,
we've got just a couple of minutes left, but I,
unless I've been doing a different radio show in my mind,
I don't think I said any of those things.

Speaker 5 (02:40:05):
I mean, yeah, there's no such thing as a sure thing.

Speaker 8 (02:40:08):
It's called gambling for a reason, because I mean, if
we all knew, if we all had the, whatever sports
almanac that Biff Tannen was able to get his hands
on and then be able to build a you know,
whatever his casino was and, you know, be able to
have his guys rough up Marty McFly and say, come on, son,
we can do this the hard way, or we can
do it the easy way. Then Marty gets bonked on

(02:40:29):
the back of the head and you just hear him
kind of fading away the easy way. I mean, you know,
aside from having that, I mean, you know, nobody knows,
but I mean, it's just going off of what we
feel about this team and the belief that we have
in the work that Nick Casario and D'Amico Ryan's been
able to do to build up this roster. So yeah,
I don't think anybody's saying that you go into that

(02:40:51):
Buffalo game and win. As a matter of fact, Logan,
I've said that the tougher game, I think is going
to be the second game against Cincinnati.

Speaker 5 (02:40:58):
That's the one that concerns me a lot more than Buffalo.

Speaker 8 (02:41:01):
Buffalo's good, but I think Cincinnati, if they've got things
figured out on the defensive side of the ball, then
also with Joe Burrow being able to stay healthy, that's
a team that you might have to contend with even
more than Buffalo this year.

Speaker 5 (02:41:13):
At least I think so.

Speaker 8 (02:41:14):
And I know that some people are going to say, oh,
it's only because that guy that wears number nine over there. No,
he's a huge reason when healthy, he's shown you how
good he is. All right, so got just a few
seconds left. Things are not going well for North Carolina.
Did you see the most recent report, Josh, about Steve Belichick?

Speaker 9 (02:41:29):
Oh, no.

Speaker 5 (02:41:30):
What's going on?

Speaker 8 (02:41:31):
Apparently, according to reports, under investigation for doing drugs and
also providing drugs to at least one player.

Speaker 5 (02:41:41):
Not good.

Speaker 8 (02:41:42):
Yep, WRAL-TV up there in North Carolina with that one.
And with that, we send you into the weekend. You
got Adam and Adam coming your way next. He's Josh Jordan,
Dean Matthews. As you got the A-team, 2-6 right here.
We will talk to you on Tuesday. Everybody have a
great weekend.

Speaker 5 (02:41:58):
Goodbye now.