Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff Presented by BetMGM!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you ready to witness football fans? Welcome to the
biggest tailgate party in the nation that me bro Fox
Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by be make It Legendary.
We're setting you up with the information you need to

(00:21):
watch your team win.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Let's go.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
We're here to break it all down. This is Fox
Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Matt m a. No,
we're live from your tail game. Here's Brian Nook, former
Penn State All American, Rich Hornberger, and FSR betting analyst
Jared Smith.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Oh what is going on? Welcome in here as we
get you all set for college bowl games, college football
playoff games, NFL games. It is a ball buffet in
full effect over here at Good morning, Rich, Good morning Jared.
I think we got Rich on the road here today.
We got the AS texts in action tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Huh.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
We have the az techs an afternoon kickoff at the
New Mexico Bowl. I'll be on the call for that
game against the Mean Green North Texas, so looking forward
to that one. Although, like you guys have been watching
throughout bowl season, I have absolutely.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
No idea who's going to be on the field. For
either thesemes, right, I.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Say that weird. It's so weird, isn't it?

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, so great, it is.

Speaker 4 (01:32):
It's very challenging for a broadcaster, but the people I feel. Look,
I'm going to be there and those checks will clear
and life's good.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Right.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
But here's the thing, And you'll never hear me complain
about being able to go and watch ball from the
best seat in the house. But here's the thing. This
sport is about the fans. All sports are about the fans,
and I think right now, college football, for reasons, is
handing in a lesser and lesser product with the way

(02:06):
things are set up, with transfer, portal and coaching changes.
Like we got two teams who between the two of them,
we don't we don't even have the same coaching staff.
Then the last game of the regular season, So I digress.
I'll step down from the soapbox to say I love
football and I can't wait to call this football game.

(02:26):
But it's just gonna look a lot different to the
fans of North Texas and San Diego State than it
did the final game of the regular season.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
And that's just where we're at in college football right now.

Speaker 5 (02:37):
And just imagine if the committee got the playoff right,
and we wouldn't have had to watch JMU and Tulane
just get absolutely blasted last Saturday.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
We could have watched me.

Speaker 5 (02:46):
Did they ever Oregon play notre ed A or Oregon
play BYU?

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I think those now, to be fair, those games. One
of those games might have been a blowout too.

Speaker 5 (02:57):
You never know, but I think it's impossible for anyone
to look at me in the eyes and say, yeah,
JAMU is a playoff team this year. I just I'm sorry,
I just I'll never get there on this inclusivity stuff
with football. Basketball is a different sport. Don't give me
the it works for March Madness. There's sixty eight teams,
we have twelve. The rosters are different, you need more players.

(03:20):
Totally different sport, not the same, not the same argument.
I hear that all the time. I put that take
out there.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
It's like, oh, it works for March madness. Basketball is
a different sport, apples to oranges. But I digress too.
Good morning everyone, man. If we go down the train
the street of what I rather would have seen, I
rather would have seen my Irish against old Miss than
yeah miss smacking around, yeah smacking around a two lane again,

(03:50):
you know. So, but hey, that's the system that we
have right now. We'll see what tweaks they make going forward.
But I'll tell you a school that made a huge tweak.
How about Michigan hiring Kyle Whittingham kind of out of nowhere.
This was going to be the Swan song. You know,
he was going to coach the Bowl game at Utah
and that was going to be it head coach for
over two decades there. And now the next thing we know,

(04:12):
Michigan with their goofy timeline, right, Sharon Moore got fired
four cause after the whole coaching carousel was pretty much
over with, and they end up with Kyle Whittingham, who's
a respected name. Could do a whole lot worse than
Kyle Whittingham in the situation that Michigan was in. So
now all of a sudden, Kyle Whittingham's like, buy you's sorry,

(04:33):
You're on your own in the bowl game. I gotta
go to the mazing Blue over here. I got work
to do.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Man.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
So he's joining Michigan right away and sixty six years old.
I don't know how long he wants to keep coaching,
but for the short term, this is a great hire
for Michigan because they were left like the music ended
and there were no there was no seats available, there
was nowhere to sit. All these coaches had been hired

(04:59):
at these new places. So to get Whittingham I think
that's a great get for Michigan for the short term.
And you want to you know, established culture, you know,
make everything steady, get rid of all the craziness that
was transpiring with you know, Charon Moore hooking up with
undergrads and you got you got to have something steady, firm.

(05:19):
That's whittingham Man. So for the short term I love it.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
Yeah, on the con side, and I'll lead with that
before we get to the pros, which I think outweigh
the negatives by leaps and bounds. Here he's going to
finish this contract when he's seventy one. You know, you
look at the age of a head coach and you say, well,
does that really matter anymore? You know, guys are able
to keep in shape and cognitively be there the whole way.

(05:45):
But yeah, look, I played for a seventy year old
coach in college. He was closer to eighty than he
was to sixty. And to be perfectly honest with you.
There there is a generation gap or a couple when
you have that situation, and so relating to the locker
room is going to be a challenge the further and

(06:07):
further that gap becomes. So that's something that obviously he's
gonna have to focus on in his journey as a
head coach as he gets up there. But but you know, look,
the pros are they're not gonna have to worry about
interns now with Kyle Whittingham. That guy is as steady
as steady gets. I mean, this is a guy who
cares about football and football and football. You're not gonna

(06:30):
have any of the extracurriculars and what That's what Michigan needs.
They need a football man to head up this program.
They can't have any Shenanigans, you know, because look they
they didn't hire Sharon Moore as much as adopt him
from the Jim Harbaugh coaching tree. And let's be honest,
that coaching tree wasn't or the way the program was

(06:54):
being run while Jim Harbaugh was there. It's not exactly
like he was a choir boy either. I mean, that
whole that whole situation got real Dicey and he got
out of Dodge and he went, I'm going to the NFL.
Piece out, Everybody go Michigan. I'm a Michigan man until
I ain't because the scene's getting a little too hot. Well,

(07:15):
you know, with Kyle Whittingham getting back to this higher there's.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Gonna be none of this.

Speaker 4 (07:19):
I mean, he's had a clean coaching record his entire
time at Utah, his entire time before that. They're gonna
have a strong defense, They're gonna have a strong running game.
They're gonna emphasize of building this team from a recruiting
standpoint from the inside out. That means having a tremendous
defensive line, a tremendous offensive line. I mean, Michigan for

(07:40):
the next five years is going to feed into the
NFL some well groomed offensive and defensive lineman because that's
what he's all about. That's what he's gonna try to
do at the big ten level. And I think it's
a solid higher.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, I agree everything Rich said.

Speaker 5 (07:56):
I think there's definitely a level of professionalism with Kyle.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
You got let me ask you guys a question. Do
you guys believe in coincidences?

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yes, something y out. But yeah, of course I believe
in coincidence.

Speaker 5 (08:07):
So Sharon Moore was fired on December tenth, it was
a Wednesday, and then it was basically the next day
that Kyle Whittingham announced he was stepping down, like literally
the next day. And it was also the day after
Utah made their big announcement with their deal with the

(08:27):
private equity firm, So it was like a in a
twenty four to forty eight hour span, it was Sharon
Moore fired, Utah announces massive groundbreaking private equity deal, then
Kyle Whittingham steps down, and now two.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Weeks later he's that coach of Michigan.

Speaker 5 (08:42):
Again, I do sometimes believe in coincidences, lesser these days,
after you go through more life, you realize that everything's
kind of connected. I thought the timeline of that was
just fascinating. I'm not saying there's any funny business going
on or anything.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
I just thought it was a.

Speaker 5 (08:56):
Very fascinating timeline that it was almost back to back
to back where you had the Utah deal announced, Sharon Moore, fired, Whittingham,
steps down, and now literally within two weeks he's the head.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Coach of Michigan.

Speaker 5 (09:09):
And I thought it was very fortuitous timing for Michigan, because,
as Brian alluded to at the top of the segment,
they could have been left out in the cold here
because of the timing of the shro and more stuff.
I mean that you want to talk about the worst
possible time. There's never a good time for what happened
to happen, But that was the worst possible time. It
was right smack dab in the middle of the portal

(09:31):
and all of the recruiting stuff that goes on right
yet signing day, the portal period will open up in
a couple of the transferportal period open up in about
a week. I mean, it was like peak recruiting time,
and it was like whoa Like, now Michigan doesn't have
a head coach, like they were on the verge of

(09:52):
really missing out and really losing a lot of recruits.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
I don't know how many they'll be able to keep.

Speaker 5 (09:57):
We'll see what the portal looks like, We'll see what
price Underwood' decision, like, like all of these things are now
going to be a little bit I would say cleaner
now that they have a coach that I think can
handle his business. But if it wasn't going to be Whittingham,
like if the Utah thing didn't work out in Michigan's favor,
where Whittingham did step down because make no mistake about it,

(10:18):
he wasn't fired, He wasn't let go like he chose
to step down. And I think it's been in the
works for a while based on what I heard, that
this was the year he was going to do it.
But it was a very, i would say again, unique
exit for him for a guy that's been there for
a very long time, to not really be fired, to
be pushed out like it was kind of a mutual thing.

(10:40):
And the timing of it, I think for Michigan was
awful on the Sean More end, but it kind of
like they kind of luck boxed. Both Penn State and
Michigan both kind of failed up to a pretty damn
good head coaching person. And I think that is is
always funny when it works out that way, because it
wasn't either of those teams plans to land Campbell or Whittingham,

(11:02):
but it does seem like it kind of worked out
for both programs.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
You know, I do get because if it wasn't going
to be Kyle Whittingham, it might have been Biff Pogi,
who was the interim head coach, where there were a
lot of things written about that, where hey, maybe for
a year or two, he's the interim guy and they
name him the head coach, and he's there for he's
a bridge guy, you know, he's there for a little
bit of time and try to steady everything. But I

(11:25):
get ed Orgeron at USC vibes right from Biff Pogi
at Michigan, where both both both schools looked at these guys,
is like they're interim guys, Like I don't know if
we really would right, Like, don't you feel like that
with Biff? But it didn't come to that for Michigan
they were able to hire Whittingham. And I think what's
interesting too is you got to immediately recruit price Underwood.

(11:49):
That's the first item of business for Kyle Whittingham. And
I want to see I want to see going forward.
I would like to suggest two recruiting grades. Right, it's
the obvious one, which is the high school guys that
you recruit, like, hey, Michigan is fifth in recruiting that.
I want to also hear another list, which is the
guys on your own team that you're constantly recruiting, right

(12:10):
I want to know what the rankings are in terms
of who's lost the most. I want to see a
little you know, one through five, one through ten, as
far as that goes, who's lost the most talent. It's
one thing to get talent coming in, but how much
talent is going out? And so right now, for Kyle
Winningham at Michigan, job number one is to recruit the
guys you already have because they might not be there anymore.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
It's a good point.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
Did we lose Rich I don't know.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
He might be.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
He might have lost for he's getting ready for the
new Mexicans. Might he might be betting the Hoosiers. No,
he wouldn't do that.

Speaker 5 (12:45):
He's throwing his money away. We're gonna follow that one
a little bit later. Listen, the recruiting situation in college.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Foot for right now is an absolute disaster.

Speaker 5 (12:58):
It's and it's not because it's changed a whole lot
from what happened in the last couple of years. I
think the transfer portals changed things a little bit, but
the transferport has been around for a few years. It's
really the timing of everything. It's the calendar, and it
goes back to Rich's point from the top of the
Segment's it's about where these teams are situated when the

(13:20):
most important games are being played.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Let's compare.

Speaker 5 (13:23):
I know I said don't compare this sport to March Madness,
but let's compare the schedule. At least imagine the Sweet
sixteen is about to start and Rick Patino is coaching
Saint John's and all of a sudden he decides to
leave and go back to Louisville, like in the middle
of this in the March Madness tournament. Like that's kind

(13:45):
of the equivalent of what we're dealing with here. A
and m was dealing with it. Their offensive coordinator was gone.
Oregon's got both coordinators that are gone. We've got the
old missed situation. And obviously the bowl games are different
because they're not playoff games. But we have teams that
are in the playoff that have coaches that are all
over the map, like literally, uh, you're gonna see Ryan
Day Ohio State, Yeah, callin plays.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Callin plays. He hasn't done that in two years.

Speaker 5 (14:09):
And that's because Brian Hartline, of course, going to USF
like this is unprecedented territory. And that is not a
product of the coaches trying to get theirs. They are
handcuffed by the calendar. And until we change the calendar
and back this recruiting train up a little bit, this
is what it's gonna be, and the coaches just kind

(14:31):
of have to adapt to it.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, like we're gonna see coaches on the move here
and there. You can't have the portal on top of it.
You can't have the portal the wind the only window,
not like two windows, and this is one of the
first two. And no, this is the only one. And
it's smack dab during the playoff. Like you gotta you
gotta change the timeline. It can be done. It has

(14:53):
to be done. You gotta start this season earlier. If
that what what? What's what has to happen? You just
can't have the window open. You would never have NFL
free agency open. Smack dab during the NFL playoffs. Now,
that's exactly what you have in college football. It makes
absolutely no sense. I know, you got to get these
kids cleared so they can go to school, and you

(15:15):
know there's a whole process to be able to do that.
You need some ramp up time. But there's a way.
There has to be a way to not have free
agency open during the college football playoffs. Well, you just
nailed it. You have to get them into school.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Why what? Like?

Speaker 5 (15:30):
And I know that sounds crazy because they're student athletes,
but can we stop tying the calendar for sports and
college football to the academic calendar?

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Enough?

Speaker 5 (15:40):
This is minor league football at this point, they're not
student athletes anymore. We have grown past that point where
we need to make sure they're registered for history class
and calculus like it's that needs to stop. And I
know that makes it seem like they're better than the
average student, but let's be honest, they are and we
have to just look at this through the lens of truth.

(16:02):
These are not students anymore. We have grown past that
at these at these prestigious universities, and don't get me wrong,
they are prestigious learning higher you know, institutions of higher learning.
But we have now separated the classes. It is football
and it is everything else and the football players. Unfortunately,
because of this situation we have with the portal, we

(16:24):
need to make adjustments on the academic calendar. We cannot
be waiting for some admissions director to allow these kids
in before we can get like. It's just I think
we need to clean that process up, and I do
think it starts with unlinking the academic calendar to the
athletic calendar.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
All right, that's shared Smith FSR Betting analyst Rich Orenberger
with US Penn State All American. He stepped out. He's
a fading BAMA on the BEDMGM app Smart Move, Smart
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(17:02):
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parlay bets and more Today Again, the bonus code is
countdown BETMGM. Make it legendary. Coming up next. They do
say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
So before we get into the playoff games, how about
we start with the Great Breakfast Bowl game. Huh, how

(17:25):
about that? We'll do that right around the corner. It
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by BETMGM.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 6 (17:49):
Yeah, but instead of us telling you how great we are,
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Speaker 2 (17:55):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.

Speaker 3 (17:59):
What are you doing?

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Dirupting o promo? Yeah, it wasn't talking about you.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
You took those clubs totally out of context.

Speaker 6 (18:06):
Oh yeah, Well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
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Speaker 2 (18:09):
Let me put this into context.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
Shut up. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (18:13):
Anyway, just listen to the Paul and Toni Busco Show
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Speaker 2 (18:21):
It is Fox Sports Radios. Countdown to Kickoff presented by
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(18:42):
personalized rewards, and new players can receive up to fifteen
if they don't win their first bet. That is code
countdown in the BETMGM app. Okay, before we get to
the playoff games, we've got four good matchups. How about
you start off with a little bit of a breakfast
if you will. You know when you have breakfast. This

(19:03):
is an afternoon game, so it's not the first game
of the day, but a three point thirty pm Eastern kick,
you know, right around noon West Coast time, nuonish. You
know you still might be rolling out of bed late
Friday night. You know, get you some pop tarts, right,
I go cherry pop tarts myself. I've toasted great, untoasted
just as good apple cinnamon. That's right. You could go

(19:25):
apple cinnamon if you would like as well, but I
go cherry myself. That's my go to. You got Georgia
Tech against BYU in the pop Tarts Bowl. It's a
good matchup. I like the quarterback matchup with Haines King
bear Bachmeyer number forty seven. I still can't get over there.
It has done his thing. True freshman quarterback had a really

(19:45):
good season. A shame he got banged up in the
Big twelve championship game against Texas Tech. He was literally
on one leg. He was on one wheel and can't
move around, couldn't scramble, extend plays, pick up yards with
his legs, and that completely bogged down the BYU offense.
But the only team that BYU has lost to this

(20:06):
season is Texas Tech. Now, granted they got blown out
both games, but against Georgia Tech, it's a good matchup.
I'm interested in this game. Little pop Tart's action here,
and I love the end zones decorated very nicely with
the Pop Tarts vibe on the field in the end zones.
Very nice with the sprinkles and all that good stuff.

Speaker 5 (20:25):
Yeah, this is I think of the matchups that aren't
in the CFP, I think this is one of my
favorite ones. A big fan of bear Bachmeyer. I've watched
a ton of film on him this year. Wasn't right
with the Big twelve championship prediction that he would be
able to do enough to keep that Texas Tech defense
at bay. But I'll be honest, the more film I
watch on Texas Tech, oh my goodness, gracious, that's the

(20:47):
nastiest defensive line in the sport.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
People. Just wait till that game against Oregon next week.
I think that game is going to be an absolute war.

Speaker 5 (20:56):
BYU to me, is kind of going through some trainition,
really tough situation in the backfield for them.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
So LJ. Martin is one of the best backs in.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
College Football's out the surgery and the backup is also
out Moa.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
I think that's his name. I always get his name wrong,
so own Moa.

Speaker 5 (21:17):
So you've got two backup or two running backs both
out for BYU in this game. I think that's gonna
give BYU a little bit more freedom and bear Bachmeyer
a little bit more freedom. Like it's always interesting when
I'm handicapping bowl games that don't matter, and they all matter,
but obviously the College wall playoffs really matters, and these
games are kind of like exhibitions on display. The situation

(21:43):
and the mentality, to me, is the most important thing,
and sometimes it stares you in the face, like it
just hits you right.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
Over the head.

Speaker 5 (21:51):
Who the more motivated team is For BYU, You're coming
off of a game against Texas Tech where you got
absolutely blasted, like you got your lunch handed to you.
And even though this game technically doesn't matter, I always
say that you don't want to end.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Your season on a sour note.

Speaker 5 (22:08):
And if that's the last thing that you were dealt,
is Texas Tech just handing you your lunch for sixty minutes.
I can see BYU being very up for this game,
and I think they've got something to prove right and
I would have loved to see. And I understand why
Notre Dame opted out because they wanted to put Notre
Dame in BYU in this game together and make it
the Snub Bowl, but Notre Dame was having none of it.

(22:32):
I think BYU is gonna come out a little bit upset.
I think they're gonna come out pissed off. I like
teams that are coming off of all blowout in their
conference championship game if they do play in a non
CFP game, I think those teams have.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
A little bit of an extra chip on their shoulder.

Speaker 5 (22:46):
And Bachmeyer, who's a freshman quarterback that's trying to get
some momentum heading into a sophomore year.

Speaker 2 (22:50):
I can see him having a really good game. I
think rich Meister is back in with us too. You
got them pop parts Bowl. Actually, we'll have a pop
partt you enjoyed the most there, you know what?

Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yeah, I had to leave because I heard the toaster pop.
And so s'mores. Smores is my favorite flavor of solid.
I mean it's an oldie, big goodie. Yeah, I mean,
I I.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
Agree with the emotion behind both of these teams in
this game. I think I think in a lot of ways,
these Bowl games offer an opportunity for a little bit
of on field vent session for the players who are
still available to play. You know, speaking about this game analytically,
like what I think we're going to see is two

(23:35):
games or two teams in this game who like to
run the football, who run the football really effectively, and
we're going to see that being the focus, especially with
rosters turning over and you know, you you have nil
holdouts and you have transfer portal, you know, announcements the
day of the game and things like we've seen across

(23:58):
college football's landscape over the past couple of years, but
has been accentuated this season. I think I think we're
gonna see a more simplistic game plan from both these teams,
where you lean into what you do really well, which
has run the ball. I mean the Cougars, They've rushed
it for close to one hundred eighty five yards per
game on average. We know Georgia Tech likes to run

(24:19):
the football. So then looking at it from the betting
or the handicap standpoint, I think the under is probably
in play today. You know, you think about what happens
when you focus on the run game for one team
or or both teams in this in this occasion, the
way I think this game could go, I think this
could be a more low scoring affair. So yeah, I mean,

(24:41):
looking forward to it, I think that I think that
anytime you get a good matchup, and I believe this
is a good matchup in a bowl game, it should
be exciting. But I do think if you're you're thinking
this is going to be a downfield game where both
teams are going to air it out a ton, I
don't think this is the game for you. I think
it's going to be a little bit more of a

(25:02):
slug fast up front.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Okay, So that's a good way to start bowlseason, if
you will. As we are where we are in this,
you know, in this stage of it where you get
your little breakfast pop tarts action, Now we get the
main course. Yeah, we get a four course dinner over here.
Right with these four college football playoff games, the first
one will be on Wednesday, that'll be New Year's Eve,
the Cotton Bowl. We've got Miami against Ohio State. Ohio

(25:28):
State a very healthy nine and a half point favorite here,
and man, you can't help but think about the last
game Ohio State played. They played IU. They had all
kinds of trouble against the pass rush of the Hoosiers.
What do you think is going to happen against Miami.
Miami's defensive line is nasty. Ruben Bain, Junior mesidor these
guys can get after the quarterbacks. I'm really interested to

(25:50):
see how Ohio State's offensive line handles the pass rush
of Miami. Miami plays good rush defense as well, so
just when Ohio State has the ball, I can't wait
to see that. And I'm also interested in Carson Beck, right,
like Can Carson Beck play a good football game? Can
he be mistake free, turnover free, at least not have

(26:12):
like three or four turnovers? Okay, you have one. He
threw into double coverage. You got a little greedy, fine, Okay,
we'll give you a mull again. But can't be more
than one. Can he play a clean game? He's thrown
the ball quickly two point three to three seconds, the
third fastest in the entire FBS. That's a good sign
against Ohio State. But he's gonna have to get rid

(26:35):
of the ball quickly. Both quarterbacks are get rid of
the ball quickly, be smart with it, mistake free, as
close to mistake free as possible. But that's a lot
of points in my book. With that defense that Miami
has nine and a half, that's not gonna be easy
to cover. I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Yeah, Yeah, I agree. I think.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
I think what we're going to see is exactly what
you just said. We're gonna see the more mistake free
team win this game. And I feel like going against
a Matt Patricia defense like you're going to see with
Ohio State, where they're going to disguise coverages, especially with

(27:12):
the bye week, they're going to have extended time to
work on things that they do well, which is you know,
show blitz and bail or you know, blitz from depth
where the picture changes at the snap of the football.
One thing that's really come to light recently in college
football with some of these multiple bye week opportunities for teams.

(27:34):
You know, certain teams, especially if you're playing into the
college football you're going to get three bye weeks during
a season and some length of time in between games
at times if you continue on the path toward a
national championship or national championship birth, which gives these coordinators
a lot more time to tinker with stuff, and sometimes
you can over tinker, but sometimes you know, it's just

(27:56):
enough time to get in the lab and really create
something special. So I think in the case of Miami, man,
you're gonna have to adjust at halftime.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
You're gonna see some stuff.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
They've had a lot of time to work on some stuff,
So you better be ready for some specials, both defensively
and offensively and have some good halftime adjustments. So I
think this is gonna be a game of two halves.
And then you know, if if you're Ohio State, you
gotta find a way to knock off the stale. You
gotta find a way to knock off the rust. You've

(28:29):
been sitting around for a little while. You gotta oil
the joints and get out there and make sure you
don't get off the bus in the second half. That
you remember the game starts at kickoff, because that's a
long two week wait before facing your first opponent in
the college football playoff.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Yeah. Pressure and time.

Speaker 5 (28:46):
Those are the two things that I noticed in this
game when I did my deep dive. I mean, Baine
and Mesador were unbelievable against A and M last week,
guys eighteen combined pressures, they were a problem, big problem
Miami at two and a half seconds or less. This year,
they have the second most pressures in the second most sacks.
So even when quarterbacks get the ball out quick, they

(29:08):
still are generating pressure and creating havoc. Now, Julian Saane's
been fantastic getting it out quick this year. Eighty percent
completion rate, sixth highest in the FBS. Eight yards per
tenp top five passing grade when throwing it at two
and a half seconds or less, So that quick.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
Passing game is gonna be huge.

Speaker 5 (29:26):
Can Miami get the kind of pressure on saying that
Indiana got in in the Big Ten title game.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
How much will Miami.

Speaker 5 (29:32):
Blitz and leave those corners one on one on the
outside with Tate and and Smith and Innos in that
elite group of Ohio State receivers. We saw Miami actually
blitz Marcell read a lot, But that's a very different vibe.
Marcel Reid, to me, is not the same quarterback as
Julian saying. Nor does A and M have the same
receiving group as Ohio State. So if you blitz, saying,

(29:55):
you leave your corners a little bit vulnerable, and really
bo Jackson is the one who creates the balance. Two
freshmen nearly seven hundred yards after contact. That's the most
among power for freshmen this year. Can Ohio State create
that balance and create that uncertainty?

Speaker 2 (30:11):
Are you gonna throw it? Are you gonna run it?

Speaker 5 (30:13):
If Miami's stopping the run and it's all on Julian saying,
it's gonna be a lot harder. On the other side,
Brian mentioned it. Carson Beck very good at getting the
ball out quick. His average time to throw right this
year two point three seconds. That's the third fastest in
college football. Miami does a really good job at protecting.
They've got a great offensive line. The key is when
Beck actually is blitzed and pressured, that's when his time

(30:37):
to throw rate drops from about two point two down
to three point three.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
And what to me.

Speaker 5 (30:44):
That means is he's just not as decisive when the
picture changes.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
And I think that's gonna be key.

Speaker 5 (30:50):
I do think if I was Matt Patricia, I would
blitz the heck at a Carson Beck.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
I would make him get the ball out quick.

Speaker 5 (30:57):
I would make him make quick decisions because when you
pressure him, that's when things get a little bit muddy.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
Again. When he's kept clean and he's.

Speaker 5 (31:04):
Been kept clean a lot this year because Miami's offensive
line is elite, he gets it out fast. He makes
easy decisions. He is a point guard distributor. But when
you blitz him and you get pressure on him, he's
kind of an average quarterback. I would say maybe below average.
He can't use his legs right. When you blitz a quarterback,
you activate their legs. That's not something that's a factor
with Carson Beck. And I do think if if I

(31:26):
was Matt Patricia, I would be sending dudes styles Reese
off the edge. I mean, they've got guys up front too.
They trust their front four. They love the inside guys
that can stop the run. They don't have to bring
extra pressure to commit. I really think the Ohio State defense,
to me, is the unit that's going to cause the
most havoc in this game.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah, no, we mentioned it while you were gone, Rich.
We just assumed that you stepped off to fade Alabama.
You were backing the Hoosiers on the BEDMGM apps. That's
what we concluded. But Ryan Dawn, you know me so well.
I know, I absolutely know over years. You don't think
I know my guy, Rich, Oh, of course I know you.

(32:06):
Ryan Day calling the offensive place for the Ohio State No,
Brian Hartline. He's still on the staff, but he's the
new head coach at South Florida, And so Ryan Day
was like, hey, you know, you're you're pulled in two
different directions. You know, he's getting South Florida things in
order to program off the ground the whole thing, like
his tenure started. So Ryan Day calling the offensive plays

(32:27):
I really want to see for both teams. Right when
you're you're throwing short, short, short, Ohio State, do you
have that where the corners are just biting, like here
comes the hitch and it's a hitch and go and
it's like, oh no. Do we start seeing those variations
Once the defensive backs get used to quick passes, quick passes,
then then you throw out the bag of tricks and

(32:50):
you hit them with the Oki dok. You know, you
do a little slant and go, a little hitch and
go those sort of things. You could see some big
plays after all these quick passes. So it's something to
keep in mind. The other thing that I think of
is this is the exact opposite position for Ohio State
compared to last season where if you think of last season,
they played in the first week right and they dusted

(33:12):
Tennessee and then they parlayed that into dusting Oregon and
Oregon to your point, Rich you talked about this, you
had to oil the joints up here. You know, Oregon
looked like a team that was stale. And so for
all these four teams that had buys, who looks the
most stale, you know what I mean? And who looks
like they're fresh, they're ready to go? Like the bye

(33:34):
week did them good. But that's something to keep an
eye on. I don't want to make it sound like
because Ohio State got a bye week, like they're screwed
here or so. I'm not saying that. It's just the
complete opposite spot that they were in last season where
they played Week one and then they looked amazing in
the second week. So without playing last week, without playing
in the first round, how did they look now after

(33:56):
Miami their opponent played last week and played a against
A and.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
M Yeah, amazing defense and also really patient, good technical
football Offensively, I thought Beck looked like he was taking
his time but also getting the ball out in time. Really,
That's that's what it looked like, is is the ball
was just coming out, you know what I mean like it.

(34:21):
You know, he would hit the final step in his
drop and the ball was on time. A lot of
the routes that you have to throw in college football
to defeat some of these more advanced coverages that you're facing,
especially when you get to this level the College Football Playoff,
where all these teams are good, a lot of NFL
talent on the field, Like you're you're going to have
some elite coaches, elite thinkers at coordinator positions on these teams.

(34:46):
You know, you really have to have a great plan
to defeat all that I think Miami did last week
against A and M. And I also think that they
made Marcel read hustle up his his his.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
His throwing time, So it felt like the exact opposite.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
Was happening for A and M, where he was just
you know, it felt like his feet were on fire
the whole time. And that's what Ohio State needs to
get away from is getting in the situation where you
have these long, laborious, you know, passing plays where you're
taking deep.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Drops and you're taking a lot of time on the routes.

Speaker 4 (35:23):
Like I think the quick game is going to be
where they need to start, where they need a major
and then, like you said later in the game, open
up the passing game a little bit. But a tough
draw for Miami having to plan for a different coordinator.
You know that they're going to be turning on some
old film of Ryan Day calling the plays.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
And see if he has any tendencies.

Speaker 4 (35:42):
It does switch things up, even though it's the same staff,
having a different play caller changes because every play caller
has their own DNA.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Interesting there he is. That's rich Heron Berger Penn State,
All American, A lover of s'mores flavored pop tarts. We
have Jared Smith FSR Betty analysts. We don't know your
favorite flavor.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
I don't even remember the last time I ate a
pop tart, but if I had to choose one today,
I'll be honest. Brown sugar is really underrated when you
put that sucker in the toaster.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
Really underrated brown sugar toasted. I'm Brian, no cherry pop tarts.
My go to call me plane, call me simple. I'm
a man of simple taste. You know I don't have
to be a clectic over here. Hey, every time you
make a wager at BETMGM, you earn BETMGM rewards points
that can be redeemed for things like bonus bets or
converted to MGM rewards points that can be used toward
dining shows and hotel rooms at over twenty MGM resorts.

(36:33):
And be sure to follow BETMGM across all socials at BETMGM.
Coming up next to parlay platter, which have one selection
for you, we pool it together for a greater payout.
We will compare notes right around the corner it is
Fox Sports Radios count Down to Kickoff, presented by BETMGM.
It is Fox Sports Radios count Down to Kickoff, presented
by bet MGM. Feeding off the success of our college

(36:57):
basketball bracket challenge each March, decided to do a bracket
challenge for the college football Playoff. That's right now that
there are eight teams left, it's Bracket Challenge time. Compete
against our Fox Sports Radio hosts and against fellow listeners
to see who has the best college Football Playoff bracket.
Play for your chance to win one thousand dollars. You

(37:17):
don't even have to pay to enter, It's free. Visit
Fox Sports Radio dot iHeart dot com to register, get rules,
and to fill out your bracket. Entry will be open
until just before kickoff at seven thirty pm Eastern Time
on New Year's Eve, so get it done before then. Again,
fill out your bracket at Fox Sports Radio dot iHeart
dot com for your chance to win one thousand bucks.

(37:41):
Just make sure to fade Bama. It's my piece of
advice right there. All right, we got the parlay platter
to do. Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
Check this out with our lay letter.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
All right, we just have one selection for you. We
pull it together for a greater payout. Jared, we start
with you, what do.

Speaker 5 (37:57):
You like, Well, let's go Homer rives here today, because
let's be honest, the parlay platter is supposed to be fun.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
I was looking at the dogs today that I like.
Not much stood out to me.

Speaker 5 (38:08):
But I think we're just gonna go full Homer and
give you a Pen State on the money line. But
I do have some reasoning for it. Okay, I do
think Clemson is not. If I had to pick the
two sides that are more up for this game, like
which side is more up for this game? I think
it's gonna be Penn State. Clemson's got a ton of
opt outs defensively, I mean, they their defense and they

(38:28):
are known for their defense.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
Seven starters opting out of this game. Woods Parker, Kate
Hart would as Terrell.

Speaker 5 (38:36):
I mean, there are a lot of pieces missing for Clemson.
There's some pieces missing for Penn State too. We'll see
what the k tron Allen situation looks like. He's going
to the Senior Bowl. I heard he might play like
a snap and then just collect his pay check and
sit out the rest of the game. Same thing with
then identa sudden. But what have we known and noticed
about Penn State.

Speaker 2 (38:54):
Down the stretch under Terry Smith.

Speaker 5 (38:56):
They are fighting man like, they are not rolling over
and dying. So this is a toss up game at
the two and a half points bread less than a
field go Clemson this light favorite. I think Penn State
is going to be fighting for Terry Smith to get
him this ballwin before the Matt Campbell er officially begins.
So I'll give you a Penn State on the money
line at plus one point fifteen to start the plotter.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
Okay, yeah, a little more straight up in terms of mine.
I'm just taking an under in a NFL game that's
going to be played today. You have the Chargers, who
clinched the playoff spot, but are looking to get that
number one overall seed if they can beat the Houston Texans.
And look, the reason why I think this goes under

(39:34):
the thirty thirty nine and a half total is because
LA has given up a league low two hundred and
fifty four and a half yards over the last eight games.
The Texans are on pace to be the first team
in seventeen years to allow two hundred and fifty passing
yards or excuse me not allowed two hundred and fifty
passing yards in a single game of the NFL season.

(39:57):
And then on top of that, they're leading the league
into in terms of the Houston Texans defensive both points
allowed and total yards allowed. So give me the under
in that game all day long. I think it's gonna
be a slug fest and a chess match between Stroud
and Herbert operating against the NFL's two top defenses are
two of the NFL's top defenses.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
I like it.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
I smo, you're cooking right there. Let me bring this
parlay on home by fading Bama. Huh, that's the great
way to camp this thing off. Give me IU minus seven.
We've been through it. Bama can't run the ball, their
pass rush is weak. That's a bad combination against the Hoosiers.
By the way, Ty Simpson is inconsistent. Bama is not

(40:39):
to be trusted. They are not, in my opinion, one
third of this program here they are fools gold. Now
the two other thirds they ammittee disagree with that, but
that's the beauty of the parlay platter. You got to
dance with the devil sometimes. So give me IU minus seven,
and I just love the idea of you guys having
to root for IU to bring this platter on homes.

(41:02):
Hopefully your legs are correct and it comes down to that, baby,
That's what I'm hoping for.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
Seven to one. You go.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, nice payout all right? Coming up next a coach
with some interest thing words. Oh what is going on?
Happy Saturday to you as we get you all set
for some bowl games, some NFL games. A little hybrid today,
Love this, love this. Two good NFL matchups. So why
you do have backup quarterbacks in the Ravens Packers game?

(41:32):
Reminds me the one time I went to Lambo. My
mom took me there for my birthday November fourth. I
found out the other night doing some fill in radio
for Big Ben Maler. Matthew McConaughey was born November fourth
as well. Also did he how about that? Did he
bourn November fourth? Puff?

Speaker 3 (41:49):
Daddy?

Speaker 2 (41:50):
Wow? So kind of interesting right there, the sports tie
and I always remember Dez Bryant, you know, throw up
the x DES was born November fourth. But anyway, we
went there on November fourth. It was the game where
Aaron Rodgers got hurt. He broke his collar bone. So
it turned into it. Jay Cutler was already hurt, so
it turned into Josh McCown against Seneca Wallace.

Speaker 3 (42:10):
I was in.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
I was at the Frozen Tundra for that showdown right there.
But you know, shades of that, It's gonna be Malik
Willis and the Packers hosting what looks to be Tyler
Huntley in the Ravens with Lamar Jackson out with a bruise,
out with a bruce. You gotta be kidding me. More
on that next hour, that's I want to see how
the former offensive lineman see what he thinks about that

(42:32):
in rich Oh. But we set our sites on college football,
and I love this. A coach actually said something against
his team and for the betterment of college football, we'll
share that with you in a couple of seconds. Throughout
the entire football season, bet MGM will offer all different
types of no sweat tokens and odds boost tokens. Be
on the lookout for no sweat same game parlay tokens,

(42:53):
parlay boost tokens, and much more. Okay, before we get
knee deep into the handicap of Oregon versus Texas Tech,
which is a brilliant matchup, there should be an absolute
like Slugfest fifteen round heavyweight fight. But I love what
Oregon's head coach Dan Lanning had to say. He was
talking about the fact that this is at a neutral site.

(43:15):
Games the Orange Bowl, so we're in Miami over here, right,
and he said the way we do playoffs in college
football is messed up. In my opinion, this game should
be played at Tech. There should be a home field
advantage for them. A men totally agree with it. I've
been squawking ever since we went to twelve teams. We
should have all home playoff games except a championship game.

(43:39):
I think it should be exactly like the NFL. They
have all home games except the Super Bowl, which is
at a neutral site. I would put the championship game
at the Rose Bowl every single freaking year, and I
would have home games throughout. That's a way to keep
the importance of the regular season intact. If you're fighting
for Hey, we got a chance to be a two seed.

(44:00):
That could mean home field advantage throughout the whole playoff.
You think teams are just gonna rest that, No, I
think that makes things a lot more important, and especially
if we eventually go to sixteen teams. I would love
to see home games throughout. I just don't see how
this is a better situation for college football. Where are
you telling me, like Ole Miss Georgia between the hedges

(44:22):
is worse than a neutral site Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Like,
give me home games all day. I don't see how
bowl games are enhancing the playoff at all. They're taking
away from how special they could be.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
I completely agree with Dan Lanning. I completely agree with
what you just said, Brian. I look at bowl season
as a confusing mishmash of.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
The past and the present.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
It's like it doesn't know what it wants to be
right now.

Speaker 3 (44:55):
And I say bowl season.

Speaker 4 (44:56):
And it's weird to even say that, because the college
football Playoff.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
Isn't really bulls He's in.

Speaker 4 (45:03):
It's its own separate entity, but it still has these
ties to these these games which are now starting to
feel less less important because you know, we know what
the matchups are. And Dan Lanning, you know what I
love about Dan Lanning is he's not a hypocrite in
in in this situation. So many coaches, they might they

(45:26):
might quiet down when they're their team is in. Uh,
isn't the the benefactor of a situation like this, like
where obviously Texas Tech is seeded higher and they would
be hosting them. You know, you quiet down about this point,
you know, whereas if it were you know, Oregon, who
you know, potentially could host at their place, you know,

(45:47):
you know, maybe there would be a little bit more
chest stumping on the.

Speaker 3 (45:50):
In the in the in the you.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
Know, the universe of the Duck fans getting behind a
rally and cry from their head coach saying, hey, we
need to have home games for playoff teams and blah
blah blah.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
No that's not what he did.

Speaker 4 (46:03):
You know, because who knows, maybe there is going to
be a situation here coming in this postseason or in
postseasons come where Oregon, who's sort of one of these
new money, upstart NIL led teams that is going to
have many more college football playoff berths. As you know,
we know that's going to be expanded probably in the
years to come. I support this message. I support it

(46:27):
because he would not be the benefactor of it this year,
and he's still saying it. It means that he walks
this stuff, that he wants this to change for the better,
and I do agree with you. I think some of
these matchups would benefit a great deal from it. Now
what we see some more lopsided outcomes potentially than we
already are. Yeah, that may happen too, especially if they

(46:48):
do decide to expand the postseason. But will it make
for more exciting, magical moments with fully enthralled fan bases,
you know.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Showing up? Yeah? So I agree with Dan Landing here.

Speaker 4 (47:03):
I think that these these playoff games should be played
in more home stadiums.

Speaker 2 (47:10):
There's zero doubt about it.

Speaker 5 (47:11):
I mean, the only issue is, then what do you
do with these prestigious ballgames? And that is the thing
that's going to prevent this from happening. And there's a
lot of really smart ideas that we could implement in
college football, changing the transfer porter rules, changing all the
calendar and all that stuff. I just don't know why
they don't want to rip this thing up and start
from scratch. I mean that that's what it would be,

(47:34):
because then you've got the Orange Bowl and the Cotton
Bowl and the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl, and
you don't have premier teams to play in those games,
and those bowl game people like there's all these you know,
these groups of people that run the bowl games, they
would riot, and I don't know what the reaction would be.
Now does that mean that they're right. No, doesn't mean

(47:55):
they're right. But there's a lot of money involved here,
and money moves the needle. So well, I don't know
what the answer would be to give those bowl games
something else that would move the needle.

Speaker 2 (48:07):
But when you take those teams off the.

Speaker 5 (48:10):
Table, now, maybe maybe we just call it the Rose
Bowl and just play it at Indiana Stadium. Like, I
don't know what the answer is, but like like those
bowl game administrators, Brian would riot.

Speaker 2 (48:25):
If we ripped those games basically out root from stud
You're right, and I'm like let them, you know, screw
the bull games, Like it's not helping college football. Like
do you let them tell you what's what? Or do
you tell them what's what?

Speaker 3 (48:41):
Right?

Speaker 2 (48:41):
Like college football should be like all right, we're playing
these games at home stadiums. It's better for the college football,
it's better for the TV products, better all the way around.
Like why are we going to the Fiesta Bowl to
play a neutral site game when we could play in
a like a frenzied atmosphere. It just doesn't make any
sense to me, Like, what's better? Is it the Cotton
Bowl at a neutral site or is it at the

(49:04):
Shoe at Ohio State. I'd much rather see home games here,
So at least we're on the same page on that.
We'll remember that when Bama, when that discussion rolls around here.
We can't agree at times. But you do get Oregon
Texas Tech. It is at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
This will be on Thursday, January first, And what a matchup, man.

(49:24):
You look at just trench warfare over here. Man, Oregon
when they have the ball, their offensive line is really good,
their running game is outstanding. Texas Tech arguably has the
best run defense in the entire country. Their defensive line
is awesome. They're front seven really really good. And on
the other side of the ball, when you look at

(49:45):
what Texas Tech does with that gap running scheme, the
former offensive lineman could break that down if he so chooses.
But Oregon's really good when they're facing gap running schemes.
So who's going to be able to run the ball
more effectively is a big deal. Dante More is on
fire right now. Can't wait for this matchup. It is
an outstanding matchup in the Orange Bowl between Oregon and

(50:08):
Texas Tech.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
Yeah, I love this matchup. Obviously, It's the.

Speaker 4 (50:12):
Closest to a pick them of any matchup we're going
to have potentially this entire playoff season, which is incredible
that you even get one like this, super evenly matched
and to your point, Yeah, I do think that we're
going to really spotlight when Oregon's defense is on the

(50:32):
field against this Texas Tech offense and specifically the run game.
I think the offense analytically for Texas Tech is the
weakest unit on the field between Oregon's offense and defense
and Texas Tech's offense and defense. You know, their success
rate is well below that of their defenses, and of

(50:54):
course Oregon and Oregon's offense and defense. But that gap
scheme that they run, they're effective with it.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
You know.

Speaker 4 (51:00):
What it amounts to is a lot of double teams
at the point of attack and a lot of opportunities
to get these hard down blocks to the play side
against opponents.

Speaker 3 (51:14):
And when you can.

Speaker 4 (51:15):
Do that effectively, you can really move defensive lineman and
get off the ball and get to the second level
and get those linebackers covered up. Really quick and create
some lanes for your running backs. Here's the problem. If
you're not effective, or if you're playing against a team
that does a really good job of splitting doubles where
they can anchor down and resist being moved away from

(51:38):
the line of scrimmage, it gets really contracted and compacted
in the inside running game real fast, and so then
it's easier for your safety safeties to come down and
read run and make tackles either closer to the line
of scrimmage or in the backfield potentially. And then obviously
those second level players, those those linebackers, if your defensive

(52:02):
line and Oregon's got a really talented group up front,
if they can anchor down against those doubles, you let
them roam free.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
It creates a lot of traffic inside.

Speaker 4 (52:12):
So that is going to be what we are going
to you know, from an analytical perspective, really watch is
can Texas Tech run the football against Oregon's defense, And
if they can't, this game could get real.

Speaker 3 (52:26):
Tough for the Raiders.

Speaker 4 (52:27):
I'm really really excited for this game though, because, you know,
for a multitude of reasons, but this is the best
matchup we have on the.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
Dockets so far war in the trenches.

Speaker 5 (52:38):
This will be the most physical game of the entire
college football season.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
Perhaps it really might. I do like the Texas Tech
run game.

Speaker 5 (52:46):
Dickie More of the bruiser stocky five ten, two fifteen,
and then Williams is the burner on the outside five ten,
one eighty five. They use them in various ways if
they can get around the corner. And this is where
the Organ linebackers are going to be huge, right that
gap scheme, try to get around the edge. They like
to pull their offensive lineman a lot betcher and mix,

(53:07):
and the two Organ linebackers are going to be key here.
You've got to be able to go sideline a sideline,
especially Williams. If he gets around the edge on you,
he will take it the distance.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
I don't fully trust Baron Morton.

Speaker 5 (53:16):
Right. If you ask me who the better quarterback is
in this game, very easy answer for me. It's obviously
Dante More might be the best quarterback, might be number
one in the NFL draft. You never know, depending on
how he plays over the next a few weeks. But Morton,
to me, when he's in a clean pocket, twenty big
time throws. That's top ten in the country. When he's
not in a clean pocket. When the picture gets muddy,
he drops outside the top one hundred and zero big

(53:37):
time throws to five turnover where he plays.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
So you need to keep Morton clean and.

Speaker 5 (53:41):
It'll be the offensive line for Texas Tech trying to
do a good job of that. I really like to
tackle Samson and Potting against these Oregon defensive ends to.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
Odi and uey Ungilala.

Speaker 5 (53:51):
That is going to be a big matchup. Morton's not
a great improviser. He needs to be on time and
he needs to be clean, kept clean in order for
him to get the ball out quick. The other side
of the ball is really strength on strength. The Oregon
run game best in the country against that Texas Tech
front four, which make no mistake about it, this is
the nastiest front four in college football. Bailey Height Hunter

(54:13):
Holmes like these guys are absolute beast. They don't need
to bring extra bodies into the box to get pressure
on you with their front. One hundred and thirty five
pressures twenty two sacks combined for Bailey in height off
the edge this year. The one game that Oregon lost
this year against Indiana, Indiana got really good pressure off
the edge. They made Dante more very uncomfortable in the pocket,

(54:36):
and that is the recipe for Texas Tech.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
In the run game for Oregon.

Speaker 5 (54:42):
This is where I think things are gonna get real nasty.
Noah Whittington, Jordan Davis, and Dierre Hill all three guys
the backs for Oregon. They all bring something a little
bit different to the table, but Texas Tech is elite
in the run fits. Jacob Rodriguez might be the best
overall player in college football. Lot of diehards wanted him
to be on the Heisman podium. You can make the
argument about whether or not a linebacker is a Heisman guy.

(55:04):
But Oregon is the number one gap team in the country.
Their left guard, Emmanuel Pregnant is a freak and Sadiq
the tight end like these guys will move, they will pull,
they will get to the edge. They are nasty run
blocking and I cannot wait to watch Texas Tech try
to stop the organ run game. That is going to

(55:25):
be the best strength on strength matchup of this quarterfinal round.
And I give a slight edge to Texas Tech just
because of talent, but man, Oregon is so smooth and
they're very good at getting into and out of place
because Dante more is kind of unflappable. He is one
of the most poised quarterbacks I've seen at his age level,

(55:45):
considering he doesn't have a ton of experience, but he
has handled all of the pressure just incredibly well this year.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
Yeah, it's funny too, because last thing I'll say is,
I think Oregon they still don't get full credit for
being as physical as they are. I don't know, it's
just one of those things where they're commonly thought of
as like the Chip Kelly era and they're running a
bunch of bubble screens and they'll knock you around. Man,
They'll knock you. They've knocked you around for years. You know,

(56:12):
very physical team. Go look at Kenyan Sadik to tight
end and tell me that's not a physical team. That
is a physical specimen right there. Like, So, I don't know,
I just think Oregon. There are certain teams where if
you say Ohio, oh, Ohio State man physical, like Alabama,
oh physical right like, and then you get to Oregon
and it's like, yeah, they're kind of finessa. No, they're

(56:33):
physical too, man, they just don't get the props that
they deserve for that. All right, We've got Rich Orenberger.
He knows physicality form a Penn State all American. Jared Smith,
FSR betting analyst, I'm Brian Note. Register with bet MGM
to get instant access to the best variety of parlay
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and much more. New players can receive up to fifteen

(56:55):
if they don't win their first bet, place your money line,
parlay bets and more. Today again, the bonus code is
countdown BETMGM, make it legendary. Coming up next, our main man,
Seamus McGee from BETMGM gets all set for these bowl games,
the college football playoff games. Maybe a little NFL is
too well, maybe we'll sprinkle. Look, maybe we'll have an

(57:17):
NFL shamous special. Is that possible? It's pretty mainstreams. We'll
see what he has in store for us. It is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by BETMGM. It
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(57:39):
our best videos from all of our shows. And don't
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YouTube and subscribe. All right, let's do this.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
Follow the money, real good money.

Speaker 3 (57:57):
Ah.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
Yes, we are welcoming in our good friend Seamus McGee,
team lead of sports Trading at bet MGM. Good morning
to you, Seamus. Okay, so we got ball galore. It
is a ball buffet college football games, NFL games? Is
there in either is there a great need for BETMGM
a great need or two in terms of what would

(58:19):
be the best outcome for the book.

Speaker 7 (58:23):
Hey guys, great to be back. We're gonna start bright
and early with this PIT ECU game kicking off shortly.
We took a couple pretty large wagers on PIT minus
ten and a half before the move, so we're gonna
need ECU to cover ten if lines moved a little
bit here. But ECU plus ten and a half is

(58:43):
really gonna really get us going today at the foot
or the punters are going to have a really good
start to their day with as you said, a ton
of football today.

Speaker 5 (58:52):
Yeah, yeah, I'm on the under and I bet the
first half and first quarter under in that game. For
anyone who wants some early action, the game starts in
about the minutes.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
You got to listen. If you're betting college football, you
got a bet on the Military Bowl. I mean, that's
like basically a rule.

Speaker 5 (59:07):
The other ball games today. Like again, we're kind of
in that no man's land right now. No college wall
playoff games for a few days. So the next I
think there's eight of the twenty non CFP games will
be going off today. Has it been a difficult ball
season for you guys in terms of the opt outs
and all the movement. I feel like by now, we've
been in this process for a few years, Seamus, you're

(59:27):
probably used to just the frenziness of this time period.

Speaker 7 (59:31):
It's the same story every year. I mean, we were
aware of what's going on, especially with the portal now
and people opting out for the drafts. So try to
be a little more diligent. Got back someone that's the
closer we get to kick off. But I mean it's
been okay results wise for us. A couple CFT results

(59:52):
in our way that Miami game last week. We got
crushed pre match on Miami outright, but in play we
took a lot of ad that money line and it
really kind of saved the day for us.

Speaker 4 (01:00:04):
Wow, you got NFL kicking off on Saturdays as well.
Your really good matchup between the Texans and Chargers, both
teams with big aspirations. Texas may be the hottest team
in football right now and then Ravens Packers a little
bit of a dud. But there's been a little bit
of movement with this line. Which game specifically, I mean

(01:00:29):
from a betting standpoint, not from a viewership standpoint, is
more interesting to you today A.

Speaker 7 (01:00:35):
Lot of you the Texas Chargers with all the you know,
the playoff implications, the one Seeds still up for grabs
and definitely getting the most handled that we're seeing today.
So definitely Houston versus that way in that one not
really in need. Money's going both ways on that one
as well. So looking like a decent book for BETHAMGM
right now.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
How about if we look forward to Wednesday and Thursday,
the college football playoff matchups. You look at Oregon Texas
Tech is the shortest line everything else right around a
touchdown Ohio State favored by nine and a half. Any
leans for you, any anything that you like in terms
of a side in any like of those eight teams,
which team do you like the most with the points

(01:01:15):
spread in mind, I've.

Speaker 7 (01:01:17):
Been high on Texas Tech all year, so that's probably
my strongest lean that I have personally this Indiana and
Outbami and I am right at the number. If I
had to pick a side there, I think I'd lean
towards Indiana. But I think Miami can hang around with
this defense with Ohio State. Maybe Miami first half is

(01:01:38):
a better play than a full game, you know. Maybe
Ohio State, you know, kind of opens it up in
the second half. But it's hard to fade the buck
guys after where we saw in the playoffs last year,
Like this team just shits a different gear once they
hit the tallest football playoffs.

Speaker 2 (01:01:54):
Yeah, I'll be honest.

Speaker 5 (01:01:55):
I think of all the four games, I think Tech
is a dog. Is the one I'm looking at the most.
I think they're like I think it goes back to
what I watched with Indiana. Oregon had a lot of
problems against Indiana's defensive line and listen, Seamus, I know
Indiana is great, but I think Texas Tech's defensive line
is better than Indiana's. And if they gave Oregon so

(01:02:18):
many problems in Eugene, what are they going to do
in a game on a neutral site where you don't
think they're going to have any issues with the snapcount
getting off the ball?

Speaker 7 (01:02:27):
And then I mean last week, you know, the game
really went off the rail for Jami at the end
of the second quarter, but this was a six point
game JMU at first in goal, they are moving the
ball like pretty decently. On this defense. I've been high
on Texas Tech all year. I think this defense is
very legit that I think this is an SEC caliber defense.

(01:02:48):
So I really like Texas Tech in this matchup.

Speaker 4 (01:02:52):
Out of curiosity, one of the bigger dogs. I guess
they're the third biggest dog on the board, So I mean,
that's not it's not unreasonable. But Ole Miss, they are
there dog six and a half against Georgia. How how
different would that point spread look if Lane Kiffin was

(01:03:13):
at the.

Speaker 3 (01:03:14):
Helm M.

Speaker 7 (01:03:16):
I'd say max a point and a half two points.
If Skiffin was coaching this game, I would definitely be
all over all Miss. I do like Golding. I think
he's going to be a good coach for Ole Miss,
But I am a little hesitant with you know, all
the turnover going on. But this was a great game
in Athens that we had it. Almoss was leading for

(01:03:37):
a lot of that game too, so I could see
them covering this game. Know I was shot to it
out right, but I think I feel a little more
comfortable if Lane was on the sideline.

Speaker 2 (01:03:48):
Okay, time for the Seamus Special. I did mention a
couple of minutes ago we got two NFL games. Could
Seamus go from like backwoods football games to the NFL
like a mainstream as it? Where are you taking us
for the shame as special today, Buddy?

Speaker 7 (01:04:05):
An NFL game? I mean, come on, how long I'm
making coming on this show?

Speaker 3 (01:04:11):
I hear you.

Speaker 7 (01:04:13):
But you know there is a there's a ton of
sports on today. Is all Premier League's on right now?
We've got the World Juniors up in Minnesota right now.
But I am going to go to the Pop Tart Bowl.

Speaker 4 (01:04:23):
Uh you know.

Speaker 7 (01:04:24):
I uh my granddad born and raised in Atlanta. I
love Georgia Tech. With that, I think both teams it's
gonna be a good game. I think both teams I
feel like have a little meat left on the bone
from each of their seasons this year. But I like
Georgia Tech. I think Haines king playing is a big deal.
And I think I've said it before it to a
couple of buddies that I just I go broke dating

(01:04:46):
b Yu, so might as well continue at tend the year?

Speaker 3 (01:04:50):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
Why not camp it off in style?

Speaker 3 (01:04:51):
All right?

Speaker 2 (01:04:52):
Before you go? Bonus question?

Speaker 3 (01:04:53):
So Rich?

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
He goes s'mores pop tarts. Jared. He hasn't had a
pop tart in a very long time. Health conscientious guy,
but he said, you know, brown sugar. If I have
to go on the way back machine, right, I go
cherry pop tarts. What do you go with? Seamus? We
all have to know.

Speaker 7 (01:05:09):
Frosted strawberry A class that grew up on those Britton
butter It's just an easy one for me there. I
don't try to go crazy with some other flavors. Just
frosted strawberry for me.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
There, you go, very nice, totally respectable right there? All right, Seamus,
good stuff as always, Bud. Hope you have a good day.
We'll catch you soon.

Speaker 7 (01:05:29):
Enjoy the games, guys, I'll be Alladay's.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
Same to you.

Speaker 3 (01:05:31):
There.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
He is Seamus McGee, team lead of sports Trading at
bet MGM. Good stuff is always with the Seamusmeister right there.
All right, we go straight from that to the NFL.
How about Texans at the Chargers today? They get the
double header started and the Chargers zero point and a
half favorites here and Rich you talked about it, man,

(01:05:52):
this could be absolutely be a slug fest. Not a
ton of points going on here. Think about this. Both
defenses are top ten again, he's the rush, they're both
top ten against the pass. They're both top ten in
scoring defense, right, so it's hard to run run it
on him, hard to pass it on them, hard to
score on them. So yeah, I think points are gonna
be at a premium in this one. And I can't

(01:06:14):
get over Justin Herbert where he's got a lot of
offensive line issues in terms of injuries. And you look
at a relentless pass rush with the Texans with Will
Anderson junior daneil Hunter. So it could be tough sledding
for the Chargers offense in this one today.

Speaker 3 (01:06:31):
Yeah, there's no doubt. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:06:33):
I mentioned some of this during the parlay platter. I
took the under thirty nine and a half in this game,
and I really do think it's going to be a
slug fest. Houston obviously one of the league's top defenses.
I'm gonna rewind the clock all the way back to
the beginning of this year. Now, I understand twenty twenty
five is about to come to a close. But in

(01:06:54):
the postseason, Justin Herbert he threw four picks against this
Houston defense. Okay, that's one more pick than he threw
all season long. He threw four against the Houston Texans defense.

Speaker 3 (01:07:11):
I mean that.

Speaker 4 (01:07:11):
Look, I realize we're talking about a year's time. You know,
he's got a new girlfriend since then, He's played a
lot of football since then. The Chargers are a completely
different team this time around than they were the last
time they faced the Houston Texans. But that's the same quarterback,
and that's the same defense by and large. You know,

(01:07:33):
there have been some players changes, it changed, and but
that's the same coordinator.

Speaker 3 (01:07:38):
This is going to be a tough game for Justin Herbert.

Speaker 4 (01:07:41):
Now, Jim Harbaugh, smart coach, offensive minded coach, really good
with quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (01:07:48):
He's going to limit the damage that Justin can do.
To himself.

Speaker 4 (01:07:52):
But I'm telling you this is gonna be a game
where points and yards are going to becoming sparingly.

Speaker 3 (01:07:58):
It's gonna be a field position game. I think this.

Speaker 4 (01:08:02):
I think this game is gonna come down to turnovers
and special teams moments. If you have a huge return,
you know, some one of these teams gets out to
midfield and they shortened the field, the difference of this
game will be three points.

Speaker 3 (01:08:17):
You know. It's not gonna be one of those games
where we go, oh wow.

Speaker 4 (01:08:19):
You know that Texans ended up blowing them out, you know,
by twelve points in the victory over No, no, no, it's
gonna be a field goal. It's gonna be you know,
a two point conversion somewhere. It's gonna be a game
of inches and and and micro mill meters. It's going
to be a ridiculous thin margin today between these two teams.

Speaker 5 (01:08:41):
Yeah, Texans are coming off that win over the Raiders
where you're like, wait a minute, that game was kind
of close.

Speaker 2 (01:08:46):
It was.

Speaker 5 (01:08:46):
It was a two touchdown spread, and the Raiders actually
won the box score pretty handily, like they were plus
one and a half net yards per play, But the
big turnover was the pick six, and that kind of
put Vegas behind the eight ball and they just couldn't
recover from it. But again, they kind of outplayed Houston
down to down in that game. Now you could say
that the Texans were looking ahead to this game. This

(01:09:07):
game's massive. The Chargers are coming off a blowout loss
over the Cowboys where they were inexplictably an underdog in
that game. But this is not the Cowboys defense they're
facing today. Like they gained over seven yards per play
against Dallas. They were just you know, Herbert was just
kind of chilling back there in the pocket. Quintin Johnston,
the kid from Ole Miss, the Harris kid, was making.

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
A bunch of plays down the field.

Speaker 5 (01:09:28):
Lad McConkie was doing his thing in the intermediate game,
like the Chargers were kind of doing whatever they want.
Now you face the Texans defense that I think if
there was one defense that could get the most create
the most havoc from the fact that the Chargers offensive
line is a complete and utter train wreck, I think
it might be this Texans defense. It might be the

(01:09:48):
one defense that the Chargers don't want to play, and
it's the one that they have to play now. The
irony is if they can somehow win this game and
it sets up the massive game week against the Broncos. Yeah,
it would be an AFC West Championship game, which would
be awesome. And here's even the better rub. If we

(01:10:09):
could somehow get New England to clinch the one seed
and the Chargers to clinch the two, and if the
Colts can figure out away somehow, by the grace of God,
to get into the playoffs. There is an outside chance,
a small chance, but an outside chance. It could be
Chargers two seed, Colts seven seed, first round Philip Rivers

(01:10:34):
playing the Chargers in the postseason. That would be an
epic script. I don't know if it's gonna happen, probably not,
but it would be an epic script.

Speaker 2 (01:10:42):
That would be fun. Very outside, very unlikely, but it could.
Is a chance, chance to tell me, there's a chance. Yeah,
a big game, like you're talking about, Jared for the Chargers.
I think it's a bigger game for them, just seeding
purposes wise, right, Like you have a chance to move
up to the two, you have an outside chance to
move up to the one. Like what a huge game

(01:11:03):
that would be If it's Week eighteen, Chargers at the
Broncos for the division, probably for the one seed or
at least one seed implications. I don't know how it
would shake out exactly what the Patriots involved there, but man,
that's enormous stuff. So I'll tell you what. The Broncos
will be at home watching this one saying, go Texans, right.

(01:11:25):
They want the Chargers out of this thing. So big
playoff implications in this one. It should be a lot
of fun. And like you're talking about Rich, you look
at Herbert twelve interceptions this season. That's a lot for him.
You know, he's protected the ball pretty consistently throughout his career,
and so to have twelve interceptions, and again the matchup, man,

(01:11:47):
like you might see this and prop it up. We're
a little interception prop here where the Texans are interception savvy,
you know, and you got an offensive line it's a
little leaky. It just lends itself to that where the
pass rush starts to get home and you gotta get
rid of it, and you get rid of it in
the wrong spot. Could absolutely see that happening. But both

(01:12:08):
teams are hot. Chargers of one four straight. Texans have
won seven straight. Pretty quietly, I would say but yeah,
there's a little funny taste in your mouth after barely
beating the Raiders. We'll see what they can do on
the road today against the Chargers. One last thing. I'm sorry,
very very excited about it, but you're starting to see
this is the time that the quarterbacks that can move around,

(01:12:31):
they take the training wheels off. You start to see
them run a lot more, use their legs, pick up yardage,
sometimes chunks of yardage. So keep your eye on Stroud
and Herbert today running a little bit more. Especially Stroud.
His rushing yards prop is at ten and a half.
I mean, you don't see Stroud getting over that. With
the Chargers their defense, you know, the decent pass rush,

(01:12:54):
not a great Texans offensive line. I could absolutely see
Stroud going over that today.

Speaker 4 (01:12:59):
It is so crazy you said that, because I mean
that what a tease for prop it up. We might
be taking opposite quarterbacks on that game because I do
think that the rushing prop is in play. You're gonna
have two defenses who are going to be hard after
these quarterbacks.

Speaker 2 (01:13:18):
You're gonna have opportunities to run.

Speaker 4 (01:13:21):
So you know, both of these teams have had production
against opposing quarterbacks using three and four man rushes, which
you know for a pocket passer that that can be
a little rough, because right you can send seven or
eight back in coverage when you have only three or
four rushing.

Speaker 3 (01:13:39):
But against a mobile quarterback like Stroud, like like.

Speaker 4 (01:13:42):
Herbert, and I would say Herbert's more mobile than Stroud,
but you're going to have opportunities for them to get
out of the pocket, extend the play or take off
and run the football for key first downs, especially on
third down opportunities where it's third and medium, stuff like that.
So I do think the rushing prop is in play
for both of these qbs. I think it's a great game.

(01:14:03):
I think it's a great matchup. I think you said
it right. The Texans are really kind.

Speaker 3 (01:14:08):
Of low key. One of the hottest teams in football.

Speaker 4 (01:14:10):
The AFC South does not get publicized very well outside
of Philip Rivers coming out of retirement after five years
playing at forty four years of age. But I mean,
think about the other two teams in that division besides
the Colts, I mean the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the
hottest teams in football.

Speaker 3 (01:14:27):
Texans won of the.

Speaker 4 (01:14:28):
Hottest and they're sneaking up on people. Still, if they
beat the Chargers, people will start talking about the Texans
and their playoff hopes. But in terms of right now,
the Chargers need this win like blood. So I mean,
if I had to choose the side, I guess I
would lean Chargers.

Speaker 3 (01:14:46):
But I'm really all over the point total in this game.
I think thunders in play.

Speaker 2 (01:14:50):
No good stuff absolutely. That's rich Onberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst on Brian No. Be sure
to check out the new looking features in the bedmg
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(01:15:11):
new rewards hub with all of your personalized rewards, and
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in bonus bets with bonus code countdown if they don't
win their first bet. That's code countdown in the BETMGM
app All right, coming up next? Prop it up, man,
You talk about an extended tease for this thing. Huh,
We're already talking about interception props, rushing total props for quarterbacks.

(01:15:35):
We're knee deep already. We compare more notes right around
the corner. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented
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Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Kobe brings me out beyond the arc. How a switch
go to imb? Kobe wants it, feels it steps back.

Speaker 5 (01:16:12):
We got it big time, shot Toby White.

Speaker 3 (01:16:17):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (01:16:18):
Compliments of Bulls Radio Network as doubles, they took down
the Sixers one oh nine to one oh two. Very
nice to see my Bulls win a game. You know,
hovering around five hundred but trying to make progress. The
bench was fired up a facial you know, a dunk
right on Joel embiid to really get the the comeback
coming going there down the stretch in that one. All right,

(01:16:40):
enough jibber jabbering, it is time for prop bets.

Speaker 3 (01:16:43):
Let's do this prop it up player plays?

Speaker 2 (01:16:49):
All right, Jared, we start with you. What is a
prop that you are hot and heavy on today?

Speaker 4 (01:16:55):
Sir?

Speaker 5 (01:16:55):
Well, let's go to the Gator Bowl tonight, and how
do we take advantage of the How do we take.

Speaker 2 (01:17:01):
Advantage of the uncertainty?

Speaker 3 (01:17:02):
Well, there's two.

Speaker 2 (01:17:03):
Sides of the market.

Speaker 3 (01:17:04):
You can bet.

Speaker 2 (01:17:04):
You can bet the over or you can bet the under.

Speaker 5 (01:17:06):
What side do you think we're gonna lean on here
when we're talking about opt out today?

Speaker 3 (01:17:11):
It's the under?

Speaker 5 (01:17:12):
Jamari Taylor for jinior running back. His prop number is
set at seventy seven and a half rushing yards at
bet MGM.

Speaker 3 (01:17:19):
Taylor is going.

Speaker 5 (01:17:20):
To the Senior Bowl. His NFL journey is about to start.
This game is a glorified scrimmage for him. We heard
Tony Elliott quote deliberating about whether or not he's going
to play. Here are the two scenarios I see. One
he doesn't play, and you'll get your money back from
making this wager. He just sits out the game and
doesn't even appear. Or two he does what I think
a lot of some of these key players might be doing. Also,

(01:17:43):
Ka Tron Allen's on this list for Penn State today.
Some of them get paid just for suiting up and
playing in the game. Doesn't really matter how much they play,
as long as they appear in the game, and then
they go to the bench because they don't want to
get hurt because they're about to go to the Senior
Bowl and go to the NFL. So if that's the
scenario today, well then Jamari Taylor under seven he's even
and a half rush yards, I mean, goodness, great.

Speaker 2 (01:18:01):
For first of all, Missouri's defense.

Speaker 5 (01:18:03):
Is great, top thirty across the board in almost every metric,
especially upfront, and I don't think Taylor is going to
be running as hard as he normally does. So if
you want to play the opt out angle with the
bowl games, look to the under. And that's where we're
going with Jamari Taylor today, under seventies, even and a
half rush yards.

Speaker 3 (01:18:19):
All right, very good? Okay, I think Brian No gave us.

Speaker 4 (01:18:23):
A clue as to where he's going with his prop bets,
So I'm going to try to do the opposite, but
stay in the same game. If you follow me here.
We're just talking about Chargers Texans. We're talking about how
both of these teams play significant defense. I mentioned that
the Texans, for the first time in seventeen years, may

(01:18:44):
may hold every single passer they face to two hundred
and fifty yards around here. Okay, that's insane. Also good
defense against the run. So what does that mean? If
you want to establish a run game, you gotta get creative.
I think there's gonna be broken plays. I think Justin
Herbert's gonna happen to run with the football in his hands.
He averages over thirty yards.

Speaker 3 (01:19:04):
A game ish in terms of his rush yard.

Speaker 4 (01:19:08):
The prop right now is set at twenty three and
a half.

Speaker 3 (01:19:11):
I'm taking the over.

Speaker 4 (01:19:13):
I think he's gonna have to get creative in the pocket.
I think he's gonna run for some key first downs
in this game. So give me Justin Herbert over his
rushing total against the Texans.

Speaker 3 (01:19:22):
I like it.

Speaker 2 (01:19:23):
Great minds thinking similarly, you know I'm gonna go with
Justin Herbert, and I hate that this sounds like a
knee jerk reaction for the playoff game last season where
Herbert threw four interceptions. But it's not as much that
it's really the formula. It's that the offensive line for
the Chargers is panged up. Both their starting tackles are out.

(01:19:45):
You're going up against a ferocious pass rush in the Texans,
and you look at them being both teams. Interestingly enough,
if you look at the interception numbers for the season,
both teams have exactly seventeen interceptions a piece, both defenses due.
So you could look at Stroud as well, maybe throwing
a pick with a lacklusser offensive line. But I like

(01:20:06):
Herbert night twelve interceptions this season. That's a lot for him.
I think that the Texans pass rush is gonna get home.
It's gonna pressure him, and you're looking for one bad decision,
one quick throwaway, oops, wrong spot, one tipped ball, one
goofy thing happening, and it's an interception. So I've got
Herbert throwing a pick. Technically, on the app it would

(01:20:28):
be over point five in terms of the interceptions. So yeah,
I like Herbert's throw a pick from this That's what
I'm going about.

Speaker 3 (01:20:36):
I like it.

Speaker 5 (01:20:37):
The other problem on today is the bear Bachmeyer passing
yards over. I think Georgia Tech's actually gonna get off
to a good start, and I think Bakmeyer is going
to be in a negative game script and no l J.

Speaker 2 (01:20:47):
Martin for the coop. Yeah today, all right, coming up next.
The last time these teams faced each other, one team
smacked the other team. Oh what is going on? Happy
Saturday to you, Happy Holidays to you. I hope Christmas
was great. You know, we'll rich you a happy New
Year already. That's how festive we are. We're feeling the
holiday spirit over here, and we're feeling the ball buffet

(01:21:08):
today all these college football bowl games. Yeah, a game
kicking off already, we're still on the air. Yeah, normally
it's an hour until kickoff right now, it's a negative
two minutes to kick off. Now we're already. We're already
underway over here with the what do we have? What's
this first quarter under? That's the play and the first
half under? Oh you're on this game?

Speaker 3 (01:21:30):
Huh yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:21:30):
Oh, come on, listen.

Speaker 5 (01:21:32):
How often do we get an opportunity to be on
the air during a bowl game.

Speaker 2 (01:21:35):
I've got to get some action down, come on. Yeah,
he's hot and heavy on Pitt in East Carolina. Would
you say the first quarter or the first quarter.

Speaker 5 (01:21:43):
Under thirteen and a half, first half under twenty seven
and a half. No starting quarterback for ECU today, howser
is out. This pit defense actually pretty good and they're
coming off a blowout against Miami, so I think they're
gonna be up for this game. And no Desmond Reid,
who's the star running back for Pitt.

Speaker 2 (01:21:58):
Okay, there you go. Look at that. How about that
for a breakdown? Love that.

Speaker 5 (01:22:04):
This is what I do, guys, This is what I do.

Speaker 4 (01:22:10):
Yes, I this is this is more of what I
was expecting from the Seamus Special.

Speaker 3 (01:22:17):
But Jared, you're right.

Speaker 4 (01:22:18):
I mean, and that's the other thing, kind of the
fun kitchy part about Bowl season that I still do
love and admire is the haphazard nation or or or
way that that they're they're slated. The the nature of
Bowl games is, you know, basically wherever there's a time slot,

(01:22:39):
since we know that the majority of Americans are either
you know, working a reduced holiday schedule or potentially off
completely during the holiday season. Yeah, let's just have you know,
a random kickoff at ten am on the West coast.
You know, it's it just works, It's it's perfect. I

(01:22:59):
love that stuff so much. I think it's a lot
of fun.

Speaker 2 (01:23:03):
You know, before we get to a playoff matchup here,
just the thirty seconds. Give me like a thirty second
spiel if you will, I go Spiel. I put the
h in there. Some say speel, I go spiel thirty seconds.
I think a lot of the Bowl season, we're talking
the non playoff games. It's what you want to focus on,
you know what I mean. Like if you want to

(01:23:24):
focus on all the opt outs and this guy's out,
this doesn't mean as much as it once did. You
could focus on that, or like last night I was
watching Minnesota beat New Mexico. Game goes to overtime. It's
a brilliant catch to win it for Minnesota. They're acting
like they won the Super Bowl, you know what I mean,
Like these kids go out there and try to kill
each other. So you can either focus on the opt

(01:23:46):
outs or just focus on the effort and how much
these guys want it, like they're still competitors out there,
even though it's like quote unquote a lesser Bowl game
and quote unquote it's not meaning what it once did.
You can still focus on you know, they're going out
there and giving full effort. The kids that are on
the field. So that's my spiel as far as that goes.

(01:24:07):
How about the playoffs, hero, we got Ole Miss against Georgia.
It is the All State Sugar Bowl. This is Thursday,
on a New Year's Day. And I mentioned that when
these two teams met each other in the regular season,
one team smacked around the other team. Now that would
be specifically in the fourth quarter where Georgia put the
wood to ole Miss outscored him seventeen to nothing. And

(01:24:31):
that was after the game where Kirby Smart was like,
the one thing we are we're hard to kill and
I'm like, that's right, and Oklahoma was like, let's rip
that saying off like Oklahoma, it's like sweatshirts and hoodies.
Hard to kill him. Like that's a Georgia thing over here.
But Georgia rushed for two twenty six against ole Miss
last game, and uh, ole Miss, they like to they're

(01:24:55):
not very good defending the like the perimeter. In the
passing game, they're not good outsid the numbers, and that's
where Gunner Stockton really loves to throw the football. So
that's a mismatch as well. And of course no Lane
Kiffin in this game for Ole miss either.

Speaker 4 (01:25:09):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, well, no Lane Kiffen, but they
look great to give the Rebels their due. In the
first game without Kiffin, they dominated Tulane again, but this
time to the tune of forty one to ten. In
round one, however, there were some bumps along the way,
Chambliss and Lacy going down with injuries. It looks like

(01:25:31):
Chambalish will play. Lacy is still questionable. I'm actually not
sure if that's up to date information or if he's
more you know, closer on a timeline to being available
for this one. But I don't know if that matters
because Georgia found a way to shut down Lacy in
the last matchup.

Speaker 3 (01:25:50):
Anyways, I it's it's gonna be interesting this game.

Speaker 4 (01:25:56):
I think that the Bulldogs improved since last time they
faced each other. I don't think that I don't think
that this is the same Georgia team. I don't think
it's the same Rebels team for more obvious reasons without
Kiffin at the helm. But Georgia's defense hasn't allowed more
than twenty one points in the final stretch of their

(01:26:19):
games after they saw Mississippi, and they've only allowed a
total of twenty nine points in their last four games,
So Georgie's defense has really battened down the hatches. My
question is when the Rebels offense is on the field,
are they going to be able to move the ball
against Georgia.

Speaker 2 (01:26:38):
Yeah, so let's go. Because I did a deep dive.

Speaker 5 (01:26:41):
Actually last night, I went back and I watched the
entire offense for ole Miss against Georgia. In this game,
here are some things that I noticed. First of all,
Trinidad Chambliss. It was a season low completion rate for him,
season low passing grade, so he didn't really throw it
that well. Even though again ole Miss was up in
the game and they were playing well, he specifically did
not play his best game.

Speaker 2 (01:27:02):
And the other thing I noticed too.

Speaker 5 (01:27:04):
Is Georgia played a ton of man coverage, significantly more
man coverage than they took typically played. They played man
coverage at around a forty percent rate. They're usually around
a twenty percent rate for the year. They're a heavy
zone team. They like to mix up their zone looks
and they like to disguise it and then bring pressure
off of it. But they ran eleon a lot of
man coverage against ole Miss, and maybe that's twofold a.

Speaker 2 (01:27:28):
They didn't fully believe.

Speaker 5 (01:27:30):
That the old Miss receivers could get separation, and they
wanted Chambliss to have to make throws into tight windows.
Ole Miss did a good job though, with Yak one
hundred and ninety nine yards after the catch, which is
a strength for them. Stribbling Wallace, Caden Lee, Douce, Alexander
like these are very good weapons. But I think Georgia's
defense is playing better now than it was two months ago.
When these two teams first played, Chambliss only went two

(01:27:53):
for eleven on throws ten or more yards down the field.
And he's been one of the best deep throwers in
the country this year, but again in this specific game
two months ago, he didn't play that well. The one
thing he did do very well that was a factor
time and time again, especially in the red zone and
on third downs. His legs are a problem, and if
you're playing man to man, that means the defensive backs

(01:28:15):
have their backs to the quarterback. Right when you're in zone,
it's eyes on quarterback. When you're in man, you're running
with those receivers and that's where the quarterback's.

Speaker 2 (01:28:24):
Legs can be a problem. So We'll see how.

Speaker 5 (01:28:27):
Georgia and defensive coordinator Glenn Schuman decides to play this.
I think they'll go heavy man again. But there is
something to be said.

Speaker 2 (01:28:35):
And Brian, I'm.

Speaker 5 (01:28:36):
Sure you know this because you watched a ton of
Georgia over the years. When you play Kirby Smart for
a second time in the same season, I give the
edge to Kirby Smart because I think his analysts and
the way he goes about his business is significantly more
buttoned up than any other coaching staff in the country.
And I think right we saw it with Alabama. They

(01:28:57):
played Georgia early in the year on the road and
they moved it really well in that game. They converted
a ton of third downs and they won the game.
Then they played them for a second time in the
SEC Championship game and Kirby Smart slammed the door shut.
So I think this is advantage Georgia on defense because
you put all this on tape and you allow the
Georgia coaching staff to make the adjustments. And I do

(01:29:19):
think they all miss ain't scoring thirty five in this game.

Speaker 2 (01:29:21):
Let's just leave it at that. Yeah, I love Georgia, man,
They're I don't know how I can put this. They're
they're a gritty team. You typically see this grit with
much much lesser talented teams, You know what I mean,
They're just gritty. We're just gonna fight you all game long.
Georgia has talent, like real talent, and they're gritty as
if they don't.

Speaker 3 (01:29:41):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:29:42):
That's that's the best compliment I could give them is
they just battled you the whole game, man, And their
defense has really been nasty. They the SEC Championship game
that was a beat down of Alabama, who's got weapons offensively,
and so I really like how the Georgia's defense is playing.
And look, man without Lane Kiff, and it's hard to

(01:30:03):
see Old Miss winning this game. I have a hard
time seeing Ole Miss covering. I like Georgia in this game,
and I've liked him throughout the season. The one thing
I would say about Old Miss that you really need
to change from the first game. You gotta get the
running game going. You gotta find a way to get
Key one Lacy going only thirty one rushing yards on
twelve attempts last game against Georgia, Like, that's got to change.

(01:30:25):
It can't just be Chambliss doing his thing with his
legs and throwing the ball. You gotta have Keywan Lacy.
He's a big playmaker for ole Miss, and he was
completely held in check. It's gonna be tough against that
Georgia rush defense, but I think you gotta find a
way to get Lacey going.

Speaker 3 (01:30:41):
Yeah, you absolutely do.

Speaker 4 (01:30:43):
You know what's gonna be interesting is Oddly, the more
I think about this game and think about what I
expect to see this game, the more I think it
reminds me of we were just talking about Texans Chargers
one of these late season or in this case, post
season battles where you have two teams that have really

(01:31:03):
honed a fine edge defensively and they don't they give
ground grudgingly, they don't give up a ton of points either.

Speaker 3 (01:31:13):
Defense.

Speaker 4 (01:31:14):
I think this could be a little bit more of
a Rockham SoC Them game. I definitely feel that way
about the Oregon matchup. I think that is obviously the
most even matchup that we're gonna have in the postseason.
But defensively, I think this could be you know, Georgia
Ole Miss, They've seen each other already this season. This
could be another one of those low scoring affairs where

(01:31:37):
the team that makes the mistake or the couple mistakes
that really seal their fate is going to be the
team that loses. I don't think there's gonna be much
margin for error in this game at all because of
how well the defensives have played down the stretch of
the season. So this isn't gonna be a two lane outcome.

(01:32:00):
This isn't going to be a cake walk by any
stretch of the imagination for the Rebels, and they know that,
And I don't think it will be as as high
a scoring game even as the last time they faced
each other.

Speaker 5 (01:32:14):
Yeah, the best running plays for all missing the first
game was definitely Chambliss Lacey had thirty one yards. As
a team, they only had nineteen yards before first contact
on the ground. So to Brian's point, like it's just
if the running game is not there, and it's a
lot of inside zone, it's a lot of RPO, and
George's gonna sniff this out, like you're not gonna beat

(01:32:34):
them horizontally because they're just gout. They have so many athletes,
So unless you're you're.

Speaker 2 (01:32:39):
Pulling guys and moving people off the ball at the
line of scrimmage.

Speaker 5 (01:32:43):
You were not gonna gain much yards on the ground
against this Georgia defense. Let's talk about the other side
for a little bit. The Georgia offense against the Old
Miss defense. Like I thought, All Miss uh held up
okay in the first half, and then things just kind
of fell off the rails. They struggle in zone coverage
to diagnose the crossers, and that's what that's what Georgia
loves to do.

Speaker 3 (01:33:03):
Right.

Speaker 5 (01:33:03):
You've got a very horizontal passing game for Georgia. They're
really good at yak. I think they're really good at
attacking outside the numbers. Gunner Stock then this year actually
leads the nation in adjusting completion rate throwing outside the numbers.
He's got a really good receiver Zacharia Branch, who can
really stretch you with the screen game and the short
quick passing game.

Speaker 2 (01:33:23):
And I love the tight ends Delp and Lucky.

Speaker 5 (01:33:25):
I mean, Georgia just seems to always have a stud
tight end who can make plays vertically and also can
can can block. And that's really what makes the Georgia
run game go. Is they all block like the Georgia.
Georgia is a nasty football team on the outside blocking
their receivers.

Speaker 2 (01:33:42):
They're tight ends. They get after you.

Speaker 5 (01:33:44):
And that's where I think Ole Miss is going to
struggle a little bit because they really they struggled to
defend inside zone in the first game.

Speaker 2 (01:33:50):
Georgia was much more physical. They ran for over two
hundred and twenty yards.

Speaker 5 (01:33:53):
One hundred of that two twenty was specifically on inside
zone plays about five and a half yards per carry.
The two d tack for the Rebels are gonna be huge,
Harrison Eccles. They really struggled to get pushed in the
first game against that Georgia offensive line.

Speaker 2 (01:34:05):
The linebackers have to be good at fits.

Speaker 5 (01:34:07):
I there's not a lot that I really like for
All Miss schematically here, but it's an SEC game. It's
a team that I think has shown you some fight
in All Miss despite the lan Kiffin saga. And I'll
be honest, I think the best story or one of
the best stores in college football this year Brian is
Trinidad Chamblis. I mean, this kid was playing at Farris

(01:34:28):
State last year. He is in the final eight of
the College Football Playoff and he was a Heisman hopeful
like he was. I think in the top ten. I
think e finished seventh or eighth in the Heisman voting. Again,
this kid was playing D two at Farris State last
year and he is in the SEC holding his own
against some of the best players in the country. So
I think this is where the story ends for him.

(01:34:51):
But we have to tip our cap to Trinidad chamblas
one of the best narratives and stories in college football
in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (01:34:58):
Absolutely not a noticeable drop off at all. You know,
like the starter goes out, here comes Chambliss and you're like, man,
this guy can play like he's got some skill here.
Also something else interesting, how about Georgia's season ending at
the Sugar Bowl last year? They were right back here
at the Sugar Yeah, lost to Notre Dame. Remember before
halftime Gunner Stockton had that huge turnover and that that

(01:35:21):
really swung the game in Notre Dame's favor. So right back,
same stadium, same bowl game, trying to prevent the same outcome.
So kind of funny how that worked out for the Dogs.
But I love their chances in this one. See how
it shakes out. Right, We've got rich Orenberger, Penn State
All American jeer at Smith FSR Betting analyst, very good
start in the Military Bowl. As far as the under

(01:35:43):
a first quarter first half defense. I won't say it
very loudly, but Pitts offense going backwards in the wrong direction. Man, Like,
East Carolina had a decent first drive. They were in
field goal range and it was third and long, and
I'm thinking, man, you gotta love a feel goal. When
you're on the under thirteen and a half, you still
need two touchdowns to kill you, right, And then he

(01:36:06):
took a sack and the didn't even get a fieldal
So I'm like, man, props to Jaredy's off to a
good start. At least we'll see if I just completely
jinxed it or not.

Speaker 5 (01:36:16):
It's okay, Yeah, you have no control over the outcome, right,
that's true.

Speaker 2 (01:36:19):
I'm Brian though.

Speaker 3 (01:36:20):
Hey.

Speaker 2 (01:36:20):
Bet MGM players will receive college Football odds boost tokens
and college Football parlay boost tokens throughout the season to
use on college football bets score extra winnings if your
bet with the token applied wins. Check it out in
the bet MGM app coming up next. I just don't
see a legitimate defense of this guy. We'll get into

(01:36:41):
that coming up. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to
Kickoff presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown
to Kickoff presented by bet MGM. With the iHeartRadio app,
you can stream us wherever you happen to be. Catch
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Just search Fox Sports Radio in the app to stream

(01:37:04):
us live all day, every day, and be sure to
select Fox Sports Radio is one of your presets in
the iHeart app, so it'll always pop up at the
top of your screen. All Right, we get to the
NFL before we have a knockdown, drag out argument for
the ages. That's the way it goes, contractually obligated whenever
we talk about Alabama. So that's that's on the way.

(01:37:26):
We've got the Packers favored by three points against the Ravens.
Total is now at thirty eight and a half, and
that would be because starting quarterbacks is probably not gonna
be playing in this game. No Jordan Love, he's been
ruled out concussion, you know, protocol, the whole thing. Malik
Willis will be in there, and Lamar Jackson is listed
as doubtful so if he can't go and it doesn't

(01:37:48):
look like he will, it would be Tyler Huntley. So
now here's the thing. If you look at this matchup,
and I'm really curious to hear what Rich has to
say former NFL player, but my view on this, Lamar
Jackson has a back contusion. He has a bruise that
he took a knee to the back against the Patriots

(01:38:09):
and he never got back in the game. I thought
he'd be back in the second half. That's a gots
the have it game. They lost the game, and that's
why the situation is so dire. The Ravens have to
beat the Packers or their season is a rap. And
even if they beat the Packers, if the Steelers win
on Sunday, they beat the Browns tomorrow, the Ravens are done.

(01:38:31):
So that was a huge game against the Patriots last week,
and Lamar didn't get back into that thing. Right after
the game, he was ruled day to day with this bruise,
and now he's doubtful against the Packers. And I just
look at this and I'm like, how many quarterbacks in
the NFL today with the same injury would find a

(01:38:51):
way to get out there, and the answer is many,
are you telling me Josh Allen with a bruised back,
he's not getting back on the field. There are a
lot of quarterback that would be out there. And that's
just how I look at this one. With Lamar. It's
not you know, he's got a shoulder injury and man,
he's it's like a four to six week timetable and

(01:39:11):
it's I'm not looking at him sideways for not getting
on the field for that, But when it's a bruise,
you're day to day with a bruise, Dude, Like, what
are we doing at this point? That's just how I
see it. I just don't see how Lamar is not
playing this game nor the second half against the Patriots
last week. It's just crazy to me. I think we

(01:39:32):
might have lost rich there.

Speaker 3 (01:39:33):
No, no, no, I'm back.

Speaker 4 (01:39:34):
I oh, you've had my volume nom turned way down
because well, while Brian you were talking, I didn't want
to interrupt you. There were a couple of there were
a couple of things that you said that I'm struggling
with now I'm there. These just might not be things
that a lot of people think about when it comes

(01:39:56):
to injury report that when when you play and you walk.
How deceptive these injury reports are and can be.

Speaker 3 (01:40:05):
There's a lot of gamesmanship. It's sort of like the
game behind the game.

Speaker 4 (01:40:10):
So first off, I it's possible that Lamar Jackson isn't
nearly as injured as the Ravens are are showcasing him
to be. You know what I mean, Like, there is
some gamesmanship when a quarterback leaves a game and you
know it's a game that you know you're you're gonna

(01:40:32):
lose anyways, or he's honestly too injured to return so
he doesn't return to the game, whatever the situation may be,
where you now have a week to sort of play
a little.

Speaker 3 (01:40:42):
Cat and mouse.

Speaker 4 (01:40:43):
You're forcing a team to get ready for Tyler Huntley,
but the same token, what if they see some Lamar Jackson.
You gotta prepare two very different game scripts for these
two very different quarterbacks. They have some similarities, but Lamar
Jackson is markedly different than Huntley. That's one way to
look at this. The other way to look at this

(01:41:04):
is just because the injury report says back contusion doesn't
necessarily mean that's what he's playing through.

Speaker 3 (01:41:12):
It could be a much more severe situation.

Speaker 4 (01:41:15):
He may have been dealing with, you know, a herniation
of one of his discs for the majority of the season.
That knee of the back might have flared up, a muscle,
it may have leaned on a nerve, and for anybody
who's been through any sort of sciatica pain, they know
the deal like it can shut down a half of
your body. So depending on how severe this injury is,

(01:41:39):
they also may not be putting the full injury on
the report. And there are certain injuries that never get
reported by the way. You know, it's the NFL. Guys
are playing banged and bromped and bruised all year long,
and they want to disguise things until the end of
the season when you hear, oh wow, that offensive lineman
or that defensive end or that linebacker or that running
back is going to have knee surgery in the offseason.

(01:42:01):
Where did that come from. Well, he's been battling it
all year long. They just never put it on the
injury report because he was never doubtful for a single game.
You know, it's the injury report is weird. So I
guess I'll sum it up by saying my expectation is
Lamar Jackson will actually play, and if he doesn't, my
guess is because they are putting an injury on the

(01:42:24):
report that meshes up with what you saw in the field,
but it may not be the whole story.

Speaker 5 (01:42:31):
Yeah, I can't speak to that as much as rich
cann and I don't want to pooh poo any of
the injuries that these guys suffer. I mean, I'm sitting
here on my couch rooting for rooting for no points
in a stupid Bowl game, while these guys are out there,
you know, risking life and limb, you know, going to
battle every single week. So I certainly understand that there
is an element of there's an element of risk that

(01:42:53):
is involved with these players, especially the quarterback position when
Lamar's making a gajillion dollars and they just don't want
him to be, you know, on the shelf for an
extended period of time. To me, I think there is
an element also of excitement that goes into these games
when the backups do play.

Speaker 2 (01:43:11):
And Brian, you mentioned this.

Speaker 5 (01:43:12):
A little bit at the top when we're talking about
some of the Bowl games and the opt outs. It's
an opportunity for Tyler Huntley, you know, and This is
a guy that's been around the block. And I feel
the same way about Malik Willis on the other side,
another guy that's had a lot of success coming in
the relief role. And you get these quarterbacks that come
in and really get the showcase what they can do
at the backup level, and it's money for them, it's

(01:43:35):
a job for them, it's security for them down the road.
So yeah, obviously the game loses a lot more luster
when it's Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson. Then all of
a sudden, now it's Huntley versus Willis. It doesn't have
the same sex appeal as the game might have had
to the TV ratings and all the fun watching it.
But anytime you get these backups that come into the game,

(01:43:57):
I always look to see how they operate and how
they handle the moment. And I give Malik frankly, Malik
Willis a lot of credit. And Tyler Huntley Huntly played well,
I thought in the Patriots game in the second half
as a defense for Baltimore, just couldn't get off the field.
And for Malik Willis, I mean, I feel like Brian
he's done it time and time again where he gets

(01:44:18):
called off the bench and all of a sudden, the
offense is running pretty well, like he can run it
really well. He's shown some ability to throw it. So
it's obviously disappointing, and I'm sure there's an element of
the injury risk that is, you know, kind of underreported,
But I try to spin it positively and focus on
the opportunities that these backup quarterbacks get late in the year.
And if you've done your homework and you know what

(01:44:42):
attributes these quarterbacks bring to the table, it actually does
present betting opportunities because sometimes the odds move a little
bit too much.

Speaker 2 (01:44:50):
In one direction based off of these moves. Well, I'll
agree that Malik Willis has played well for the Packers.
He looks like a completely different quarterback than the short
sample size that we got with him with the Titans.
He looks completely different with Matt Lafleur. So that part
is true. The other part, though, with the Lamar injury,
is if we're playing this game of in order for

(01:45:12):
this to be true, right, in order for it to
be true that, let's just say Lamar's back injury is
way worse. The injury report is you know a mixture
of let's not let the true story out there mixed
with you know, let's uh the little gamesmanship over here.
In order for that to be true, the Ravens wouldn't
have said what they've said. Like, there are reports that

(01:45:33):
the Ravens are like, yeah, we thought he he'd be
okay to play in this game against the Packers. If
this was a much more severe injury against the Packers,
they one wouldn't think that. They two certainly wouldn't say that.
So I don't buy any of that. I just don't like.
It doesn't make any sense for the Ravens to be like, yeah,
we thought he'd be out there. If it was more serious,
they wouldn't think or say that. So I just don't

(01:45:54):
I don't buy it. I don't buy it at all.
But you know whatever, we have two different perspectives. And
that's the per perfect segue to Alabama versus Indiana, is
it not? And I was just thinking about this with
IU favored by seven. I'm gonna try to be as
Christian as possible about this, Okay. I was thinking, like,
what makes Rich and Jared turned into like roll Tide

(01:46:18):
Barracudas when I start talking about Alabama and what I
came up with is I'm not talking trash about any
of Alabama's wins, Okay, I'm really not. What I'm looking at,
more so than anything, is their formula. What's their formula
for success and how likely is it that it will

(01:46:39):
be sustainable? And I just don't see that formula being sustainable.
So maybe that's the disconnect where I'm not like, oh,
they got a lucky break here, they got a lucky
break there against Oklahoma, which is true, but it's not
taking credit away from their win. They did some good
things in that game, they took advantage of some miscues
in that game, they won the game. I'm not taking

(01:47:00):
any credit away from them winning. But what I'm looking
at is the formula for that win and how likely
it is to translate to the next win or the
next game. They've won eleven games, They've had some impressive performances.
They're not a dud team. But I just think for
anybody who thinks they've got the real goods, I don't
think they do. I think they're fools gold and I

(01:47:21):
just look at no running game. I don't say they're
going to run the ball against Indiana. They don't have
a good pass rush. That's a horrible thing to have
against Fernando Mendoz who just won the Heisman. And I
just don't trust Tys Simpson, who's been good and bad.
He's been inconsistent down the stretch of the season. I
just don't see that turning into gold for role Tide.

(01:47:43):
I don't think any of that is unfair. But just
so you guys know, I'm not taking credit away from
any of their eleven wins. I just questioned them in
the next game getting a win, and in particular against IU,
I just don't see it for them.

Speaker 4 (01:47:56):
Yeah, I mean, I definitely disagree with with the thought
process about Alabama, and we've outlined that. I think I
think the main issue and I don't want to speak
for Jared because he'll have his opportunity to respond, But
my main issue with the way you've talked about Alabama
this year because again, I mean, I'm not a fan

(01:48:19):
of Alabama. I'm not I am not pot committed to
them at all. If I'm speaking completely transparently, I haven't
even put a single dollar on the Crimson time this
year in terms of bets, you know, to win or
lose or otherwise, Like I literally have put zero action

(01:48:39):
on Alabama in any of their games or futures this season,
So I have literally nothing riding on these comments, the
verbiage of calling them frauds or or you know, I
mean some of the tweets you've put out about them,
because obviously, you know, it's felt like you've been hooking

(01:49:00):
the hornet's nest, and me and Jared have rushed to
their defense. I wouldn't say it's so much rushing to
their defense. For me, it's more of like, are you
sure you want to call them frauds? Brian? Are you
sure you want to be that strong with the words
you're using, because it doesn't seem like it fits the
picture to me. Like ty Simpson, there's a lot of

(01:49:22):
things he isn't, but a couple of the things he
is is composed, poised. He's a great deep ball thrower.
He does a really nice job in the pocket with
his feet. If you look at his feet, even under pressure,
they're pretty quiet. He throws the ball in time. He
plays on time, which means that when he gets to

(01:49:44):
the first hitch, you know, he moves on to his second,
you know, progression, and then his second hitch he moves
on to his third progression, and this guy understands offensive football,
and he's a big driving force behind Alabama this season
when as many games as they have, especially with a
slightly down year defensively and definitely a down year offensively

(01:50:09):
in terms of their run game, they've really had to
be more quarterback and receiver reliant this year than past
teams we've seen fielded by Alabama. I don't I don't
disagree with a tremendous amount about the way you analyze
Alabama crimson type football this season, because I think you've
said a lot of poignant things about the way they've

(01:50:30):
played this year and have agreed with some of it.
I just don't think they're frauds, and I don't think
I don't really understand how anybody who's watched them and
I know you have, can can characterize them as frauds.

Speaker 2 (01:50:44):
Yeah, I think some of it. He just wants to
poke the bear a little bit with us.

Speaker 5 (01:50:47):
I think that's part of the fraud comment or the
fools gold comment. I think he knows he's trying to
get under our skin. I think there is a certain
element of unbalanced to their offense that I agree with
The part that I disagree with is the path. It
is possible for Alabama to win this game without running

(01:51:08):
it very effectively. They just have to keep Indiana honest,
and they kept Oklahoma honest.

Speaker 2 (01:51:14):
They had a handful of runs that were.

Speaker 5 (01:51:17):
Successful in the game, and it kept Oklahoma honest enough
to where then Ty Simpson can do what Rich said,
and the phrase that Rich is alluding to is called
clicking through reads, and earlier in the year, I said
from the neck up, ty Simpson is the best quarterback
in college football. There is nobody that clicks through reads

(01:51:37):
and progressions better than him. There are NFL quarterbacks that
aren't doing it at his level. There is one particular
play against Oklahoma where it was front side curl, not open, middle, hook,
not open, backside deep over open, rip it first down Like.
There are not a lot of quarterbacks, I would say,

(01:51:59):
maybe no quarterback in college football who can do that,
because when Marcel Reid or John Mattier try to do it,
like their eyes get all shaky and their feet get
all happy, and it's just the brother they're frantic. And
that's where I think Ty Simpson is the best quarterback
in college football.

Speaker 2 (01:52:14):
From the neck up.

Speaker 5 (01:52:15):
Now, does that mean he's gonna solve this Indiana defense.

Speaker 3 (01:52:18):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:52:19):
In Indiana's defense is legit. Look at they did the
Dante more So, I do think Alabama has to run
it just a little bit. I would say they need
ten to fifteen runs in this game that are quote
unquote successful four to six yards, just so they can
get into second and five and not second and eight,
just so they can go from second and ten to

(01:52:40):
maybe third and five and not be in third and eight,
third and nine. So that's the part where I disagree
with Brian the most because I think he's very anchored
to this opinion that because Bama struggles to run it,
they have no shot.

Speaker 2 (01:52:53):
It's over. They're done. Fools, gold fraud can't do it.

Speaker 5 (01:52:56):
Where I think there is a path for Tyson in
this elite receiver group. Lots of Brooks broke out against Oklahoma.
We know how good Horton and Ryan Williams can be.
The tight end Quavis, I think, is one of the
best pass catchers in college football at that position. I
do think there is a path for Bama to win
this game without running it. And let's say they do

(01:53:17):
find a little bit of traction in the running game.
Indiana is not going to be playing that. So there
is an element to this where I think you have
to at least give Alabama credit for how good they
are in the passing game, where maybe their running game
isn't as good, but they're so good in the passing
game that they can overcompensate and they only need to

(01:53:38):
do a little bit in the running game to keep
the Indiana defense or any opponent that they're playing honest.
On the other side, I think this defense is really good.

Speaker 2 (01:53:46):
I think the.

Speaker 5 (01:53:46):
Pass rush is not as prolific, but they've got a
top five coverage grade. They sacked John mcteers six times,
and they can force quarterbacks to hold on for it
for too long because of how good and how confusing
their own scheme is.

Speaker 2 (01:54:02):
Uh Like, just so everybody knows, I would never say
Alabama has no chance to win this one particular game.
I am saying there's no chance they win a championship.
There's no way they're going through Indiana, the winner of Oregon,
Texas Tech and whoever they would face in the championship.
There's no chance. But for one particular game, oh absolutely, like,

(01:54:22):
they absolutely have a chance even without a running game.
I just don't think the running game is gonna do
a whole lot. They ran for one point one yards
per carry against Oklahoma. I don't see they're having great
success against against IU. I don't see them doing much
at all on the ground. But yeah, of course, in
a one game scenario, neutral site, they absolutely have a

(01:54:43):
shot to beat Indiana. I just think this last thing
I'll say about it is I think one thing that
makes life even harder for Indiana for Alabama when they
are the overmatched team in this matchup is what happened
against Oklahoma where they had this huge come from behind win.
They're down seven team to nothing and they come back
and win that game. I think if Indiana has a lead,

(01:55:04):
if they're up, let's say they're up by ten, fourteen
in the second half, they're gonna be more than aware
of how Alabama came back and won the last game.
So they're not gonna let them breathe if IU gets
up on them. The players, the coaches, everyone's gonna be
well aware, Hey Bama came back last last game. It's
not over yet. Like that's gonna make life even more

(01:55:25):
difficult for Alabama. So yeah, I will happily fade them.
I just I think they're fugazy. I don't think they
have the goods and their formula is sustainable to just
write it on out to have win after winning the playoff.
I think that the the the magic Carpet ride is
coming to an end very soon, is what I think.
But hey, we've got rich Oronberger, Penn State All American,

(01:55:48):
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst, I'm Brian Nell. Coming up next.
We've got picks Galore rapid Fire. We have almost a dozen,
almost almost double digit picks for you collectively coming up next,
so we'll share those with you. It is Fox Sports
Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Bet mgm. It is
Fox Sports Radios count Down to Kickoff, presented by Bett mgm.

(01:56:12):
If you missed any of today's show, you'll want to
catch the podcast. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you
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and you can even provide a review.

Speaker 3 (01:56:24):
Again.

Speaker 2 (01:56:24):
Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts,
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(01:56:45):
follow on X can see our smiling faces, get all
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They have got you covered in less than ten American
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All right, we got some picks to make. Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (01:57:06):
Rapid fire, alright.

Speaker 2 (01:57:09):
Three selections for each of us. The only bad news
shared is this brilliant selection of under first quarter, under
first half pittneyet Carolina. It's not rapid fire, and it's
the light thing, but you look brilliant so far. Can
you continue your brilliance with your three picks?

Speaker 3 (01:57:23):
Can?

Speaker 5 (01:57:23):
I got like a half a bonus credit for nothing?

Speaker 2 (01:57:28):
It's already kicked off. You know what I got.

Speaker 5 (01:57:30):
I got money in my account because I won the
bet already. And it looks like this first half on
is gonna come up to all right, I'll give you.
I'll give you three plays, two of them are gonna
happen today, and i'll give you my favorite collegrawall playoff bet,
which is gonna come up next week on New Year's Day. First,
let's start with the game today one NFL. Let's start
with the Chargers team total under twenty and a half.
If there is one defense that this Chargers offensive line

(01:57:52):
is a terrible matchup for, it is the Houston Texans.
Justin Herbert is a warrior man. He's been under duress
a season, but this is a really tough situation today.
The Texans, they need the game like blood. The Chargers
obviously want to win the West, but they're in the
playoffs no matter what. Houston still has some work to do.
So I will take the Chargers team total under twenty

(01:58:13):
and a half. We're gonna take Bear Bachmeyer over to
eighteen and a half passing yards. Again, this is a
very good matchup for Bear coming off the Texas Tech game,
which was a bad matchup for him against Georgia Tech.
They've given up a ton of passing yards. Dylan Lone
are going to Boston College, CJ.

Speaker 2 (01:58:27):
Bailey at NC State.

Speaker 5 (01:58:28):
Both those guys went off for three hundred plus against
his Georgia Tech secondary this year. Noel J Martin Nocion
moa for BYU. A lot of passing today for the Kugs,
and I'll go Texas Tech plus one and a half
against Oregon.

Speaker 2 (01:58:39):
I think the wrong team's favored in this game.

Speaker 5 (01:58:41):
I think Texas Tech is the nastiest defense in college football,
and I think they are going to make life miserable
for Dante More in the Orange Bowl.

Speaker 4 (01:58:47):
All right, let's go to the NFL first, and then
we're gonna finish with two football games played in baseball stadiums.
Let's go to Green Bay against the Baltimore Ravens. Thirty
eight and a half is the total potentially two backup
quarterbacks starting these games. Look, the Ravens defense isn't great.

(01:59:07):
Micah Parsons is out for the Green Bay Packers, but
I think this is gonna be a low scoring game.

Speaker 3 (01:59:12):
Plus weathers in play.

Speaker 4 (01:59:14):
Here give me under the thirty eight and a half
Penn State Clemson Pinstripe Bowl. It's being played in New York.
It's gonna be a heavy Penn State crowd. I like
the Nitney Lions in this game. So give me the points.
I'll take the two and a half. I'm on Penn
State side. All right, Army, Yukon Armies favored eight and

(01:59:36):
a half. Tough season for Yukon Fenway Bowl. You know
there's gonna be a lot of Yukon fence, but I
don't think that defense can stop Army's offense.

Speaker 3 (01:59:45):
Give me Army favored by eight and a half.

Speaker 2 (01:59:48):
Okay, all right, let me start it off with fading Alabama.
Give me IU minus seven. Look, I think honestly, if
we put Alabama in like Vanderbilt uniforms, no running game, week,
pass rush, inconsistent quarterback play, I think I you would
be a bigger favorite. I think the brand name of
Alabama is factoring into how some people are betting this game.

(02:00:12):
Not everybody, but some people. So I like IU minus seven.
Give me Miami, give me the you give me the points,
give me, give me, give me, give me. Give me
nine and a half against Ohio State. I think they
have the pass rush to make life miserable for Julian
saying I like getting points and I'm rolling with Kirby
Smart and the dogs. I just think they've got the good,
scrappy tough, give me minus six and a half for
the Dogs.

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