September 21, 2025 • 37 mins
RJ recaps Oklahoma's defensive dominance against Auburn, unpacks Nebraska's loss to Michigan and takes a look at coaches on the hot seat.This is the official YouTube channel for everything Adapt & Respond. RJ gives his strong opinions on the biggest topics in college football, sports and entertainment every week. Tune in live on College Football Saturday Night, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Tuesday Night College Football Playoff rankings revealed and Thursday Night Football. RJ also performs daily segments taking on the biggest breaking news stories in college football and the NFL.What is Adapt & Respond with RJ Young? https://youtu.be/F0jZl9pCcxQ?si=1zskTQ5SaNJXpBSHApple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adapt-and-respond-with-rj-young/id1346315892Spotify podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0E0lv4eh6rK3Ergr2IsjBuRJ on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RJ_YoungRJ on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rjyoungshow/channel/RJ on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJYoungShow/Adapt & Respond on IG: https://www.instagram.com/adaptrespond/Adapt & Respond on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adaptrespond///BIO//RJ Young is the national college football analyst at FOX Sports and host of Adapt & Respond with RJ Young. #CFB #ARRJGET YOUR STICKER! https://forms.gle/y8Tki2sJAGRNumZo7
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It is a start, It's a good start, it's a great start.
It's the first win. And why do we play?
You play to win the game. And what do we want?
I want winners. I'm not bipartisan.
I'm not bipolar. I'm not by DID.
I'm by winning. I went here and I went there.
Well, the board guy is having a hard time, but I am not as
(00:22):
Oklahoma has a resounding top 25win against Auburn.
Let's unpack it. Let's talk about just what we
learned about this Oklahoma teamthat I have ranked at number six
in my Week 4 top 25 and might bemoving up in the AP.
Also want to talk a little bit about what's going on with
Nebraska, who lost a 28th straight to Michigan.
(00:45):
And if we get some time, let's talk about which fan base might
want their head coach fired. What's up, kinfolk?
It's RJ Young. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond,
thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. If you're into that, go ahead
and hit that subscribe button like this video and participate
(01:06):
in the community by answering this question in the comments
below. Where should Oklahoma be ranked
after their really impressive win today against #22 Auburn?
This game was billed as the Jackson Arnold game both for
Oklahoma and for Auburn. Oklahoma, who had Jackson Arnold
(01:27):
start games for them in 2024 andit didn't go well.
The man fumble the football 8 times through three
interceptions and then rather than stick it out and try to
compete for the job with John Material, he decides to transfer
to Auburn where Hugh Freeze thinks he's got 1.
He thinks he's got the guy that everybody thought Jackson Arnold
was. National Gatorade Player of the
Year out of high school, a guy that can run his RPO offense, a
(01:51):
guy that can run and throw. And whenever Hugh Freeze had a
guy that can run and throw, he usually goes and wins 10 games,
going all the way back to his time at Ole Miss and recently
with Kaden Salter at which is not Kaden Salter with going to
mess this up. And aren't I because of Liberty,
who did he have? Malik Willis?
My goodness, there it is right there.
(02:12):
So knowing all of that, what didOklahoma expect about what you
saw there? Because the thing that I thought
was impressive about Jackson Arnold, he wasn't able to do at
a high level at Oklahoma, which has forced the ball downfield.
Now he's got a couple of wide receivers and Cam Coleman and
Eric Singleton that Hugh Freeze wanted him to take advantage of.
And early on, I kept wondering, like, shout out to my home girl
(02:35):
Terry, who asked me dead ass at halftime what is going on?
And I said, we got we got a freshman matched up on Cam
Coleman. That's what it is.
If I can see it, soaking breath intervals.
So what they end up doing is rolling to safety over the top
and trying to force Jackson Arnold to throw the ball to Eric
Singleton a little bit more. And that helped to stem the tide
just a little bit. But I thought it was more
(02:56):
impressive what we got out of the defense because the offense
wasn't really great, but the defense continues to be
outstanding. We're entering Week 5 without
Oklahoma having a single frigging take away on defense.
But it didn't matter in this game as a Sooner sack Jackson
Arnold 10 times. I remember the 2029 sacks, but I
(03:20):
against Kansas, but I also remember Alex Grinch's defense
sacking Sam Ellinger 2019 nine times.
The idea that Oklahoma had got the 9/6 times in a game but
hadn't got the 10, especially with Brent Vinables having been
a defense coordinator Oklahoma for so long, I really wanted
them to get this. And it's A1 score game at the
time. It's 22 to 17.
And I'm thinking, all right, do not sell out to go get this
(03:42):
statistic, don't do that, win the football game.
But what happens? We get to see them come running
free once again and Jackson Arnold on his back in the end
zone for the safety. Now, how far be it from me to
tell you that I knew Brent minimal's calling the defense
meant something different for Oklahoma, but it is one of the
(04:03):
reasons that I ended up ranking them in the preseason top 25 and
in the top 10. Unlike the coaches poll, who
you'll remember did not rank this team in the preseason top
25 and they were starting at 18 in the AP.
They've since moved their way upto 13 and now up to 11 with two
top 25 wins and four and O goinginto an idle week where it feels
like this Oklahoma team can get Texas.
(04:25):
That was not really on the tableto start this season, even with
John material quarterback. But now with a quarterback who
can throw from one 270 yards andhe runs for touchdowns.
Oklahoma has a Heisman finalistsin the lead, right?
It also has an SEC schedule thatis going to push it up the
rankings if it keeps winning because this is the first of
(04:47):
eight SEC opponents they ranked they face.
So the gauntlet has been very well picked up by the Sooners
and said we'll, we'll take that challenge.
For those of you that do not understand, allow me to indulge
with my English professor Brain here.
To throw a gauntlet is to throw a glove on the ground and
challenge an opponent to pick that glove up and fight you.
It's kind of like putting a chipon your shoulder and asking
(05:09):
somebody who wants to fight you to knock it off so we can get to
the getting. I got chip tattooed on my
shoulder to tell you what kind of person I am.
But that is what was in front ofOklahoma when it went to the SEC
and that is what it felt like wewere getting into last year when
we talked about Oklahoma football.
It wasn't that Oklahoma had to play in the SEC.
It's that the SEC had to play inOklahoma, right?
(05:30):
It's that Rorschach in a prison going.
I'm not locked in here with you.You're locked in here with me.
Finished six and seven with two and six in SEC play.
And Brent Vidables knew there had to be some changes.
There were even calls for Brent Vidables to be fired heading
into the season. Myself, no.
(05:51):
Brent understands Oklahoma in a way that very few head coaches
might. He is not going to fold under
that pressure and he's also not going to act as if it's not
there. He is going to say the standard
is winning. This is a man who beat Michigan.
And all I could say was I'm happy that our fans get to
celebrate this. But we reach the standard of
night. We got to keep doing that each
(06:11):
and every day. It's a man that gets up ready to
work. It is a talented grinder.
And as a talented grinder myself, I recognize it.
It is wanting to get up in the morning to attack those stadium
steps. It's wanting to get up in the
morning to attack the day, to not really think about what
happened yesterday, but only what you can achieve right?
As many of you have been a part of this show since the very
(06:33):
beginning, almost eight years ago now, grown from zero to
140,000. All I keep thinking about is I
have to make you proud. I have to keep creating the kind
of content that you want to see and make this kind of a show.
2417 is also a wild score for mebecause Oklahoma need usually
needs to win this game by outscoring people by some
margin. In the Lincoln Riley days,
(06:54):
you're talking about putting up 40 points, 42 points and the
defense not being able to do much of anything in this game.
We didn't see Jackson Arnold have any time to move.
He was just 21 to 32 for 2:20 with the TDs Actually one of his
better past performances all year.
But as he kept dropping back, hekept getting punished again. 10
sacks of Jackson Arnold, 220 past yards with just 67 on the
(07:17):
ground. I thought Jeremiah Cobb would
have had a lot more to do with this game going in.
I also think holding them to three of 15 on 3rd down is
nothing too shabby. But more importantly, there's
room for Oklahoma to grow here. This was by no means a classic
performance on offense or defense.
They had 9 penalties for 99 yards.
I guarantee them to you tomorrowmorning that will be the thing
(07:39):
that Brent Vittles is yelling about. 9 penalties, 99 yards.
Think of all the real estate we gave away.
Think of all the opportunities that we gave away.
And right when it felt like Auburn might have had the score
that would have otherwise brokenan Oklahoma team's back, they
got back on the ball and John Mateer helped orchestrate one of
(08:00):
the great drives of this season.To go back down and not just get
3 points like they had been doing the previous three times
they scored, it was to go get 6.Right?
And the idea that you would havea quarterback who has that kind
of moxie is not new to Oklahoma.It's why John Mateer and Baker
Mayfield feel like much of the same guy.
(08:20):
But it's a little bit better than that.
From a statistical standpoint. I really love this stat.
There have been just a handful of quarterbacks to pass for and
rush for a TD in every game consecutively 9 times or more,
right? D Eric King has the record at 16
consecutive across Houston and Miami.
The other guys on that list are John Metier, who gets to 10
(08:42):
straight with this game, Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman
Trophy, Lamar Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy, and Tim
Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy.
Now marks Mariota ends up playing for a national
championship. Tim.
Tim Tebow ends up winning one. And, yeah, Lamar Jackson played
at a Louisville team that just did not have the kind of talent
around him that is worthy of what he got, say, when he got to
(09:04):
the Baltimore Ravens. But that's not true at Oklahoma.
You have a defense that's just as good as your offense.
And when Oklahoma is balanced, cancel Christmas dog.
It feels like A10 win team feelslike an 11 win team, feels like
the kind of team that can run the table and go undefeated.
And there's still more tests to come.
Auburn is by no means the best team that OU has left on its
(09:24):
schedule, but you would be ridiculous not to think that
this team has really put itself in a great position to make the
College Football Playoff with two ranked wins, top 25 both at
home and Michigan. Getting the win against
Nebraska, which we'll talk abouthere in a little bit, also only
strengthens your resume if you're OU.
If that's not a top ten team in the API, don't know what is.
(09:46):
When you look at the the wins they have and the way that they
were able to get them, our MasonThomas turning into a dude.
I think I was late on Grayson Halton.
I didn't think he was going to be that great.
The idea that Gentry Williams beyour lockdown corner was giving
me the willies right and the what for and how now.
But then you have a guy like Jared Cannock who goes to Brent
Venables and says, hey, I think I can help us offensively.
(10:06):
I think I can help us do more and that's exactly what it is.
I think of him as tree flowers. Some of y'all go all the way
back with Dimitri Flowers understanding what kind of a
fullback he was. But in the passing game, he's
just an unexpected ad in that Dion Dion Birch is still doing
great work there. And then you get Tiantez Lewis,
who's been outstanding. But Isaiah Satanga, man, if that
(10:28):
dude can catch the football likehe was catching the football
today, then you've got a complete set of wide receivers
that you can rely on. I mean, 9 catches for 1:27 in
the TD today, the one they triedto take off the board.
And my favorite part of this game is the surrender Cobra that
we got from Hugh Freeze who was crashing out real time dog.
(10:48):
Like to start the start the game, he's crashing out because
he thought they had an interception, right?
And then at the end of the game,he's crashing out with the hands
on his head because there's nothing he can do out there.
He understands now what Oklahomafans were feeling at Jackson
Arnold was playing. It's not that you wish the man
bad. It's not that he is inconsistent
(11:09):
throwing the ball. It's that he'll hold it long
enough that you can run him down.
And against SEC defenses, you can't outrun these folks.
John Mateer is experiencing thatagainst DJ Durkin's offense.
But the cheeky trick play in thefirst half are also really
loved. Man didn't step out of bounds.
He's taking me on the field. They're not stimulating the
substitution. It's one of those famous hidden
(11:31):
ball tricks, right? You just you lose track of the
guy and he's wide open. You go get your easy 6.
That's what you bring in a guy like Ben Arbuckle to do to go
get you a bucket is the way thatI would refer to.
You have a head coach or an offense coordinator play caller
that can go get you a win that might not have been there.
That's what separates a good coach from a great coach.
And right now you got a 29 year old who is seeing it with a
(11:52):
quarterback that he trusts and an Oklahoma team that is
surging. My goodness, what an outstanding
win for the Sooners. Next.
Get to go right back into that thing against Texas following a
bye week. I'm gonna take a short break
here we come back. Let's talk a little bit about
Michigan. What it's win against Nebraska
means for the Huskers, what it means for Oklahoma.
(12:12):
And is this Michigan team like, you know, good?
(12:38):
Back on Adapt and respond with me, RJ Young.
If you're new to the show, hit that subscribe button like this
video and answer the question inthe comments below.
Did you expect Nebraska to lose a 28th straight two way ranked
opponent? This time it being Michigan 30
to 27. Also, I want to take this
opportunity to tell you got a really cool thing happening at
(13:00):
Oklahoma. I know I just got done with the
segment, but you'll understand once I explain.
Robert Spears Jennings is stepping up in a big way this
season. For every tackle he makes on the
field, he's donating $50.00 to the Pearl House in Ghana and
Stride Bank is matching him dollar for dollar.
That means every stop he makes helps provide hope, healing,
(13:23):
opportunity, protection and education for young women in
West Africa. So when you cheer on Robert
Spears Jennings and the Sooners this season, you're cheering for
the life changing impact or for life changing impact in Ghana.
Learn more to join him in supporting Pearl House at
(13:45):
pearlhouse.org. Really love the Pearl House, my
buddy Steve huge Intuit. They do a lot of good work.
If you've got the time, you should go check it out too and
see what you can't do to help out.
It's really good program. It's really cool what they do.
Steve is going over to go out ofseems like every other six
months or so. One day I might have to go with
him. So the thing that I think is
(14:07):
fascinating about Michigan is I don't know if they're any good.
I I I really don't I don't I my executive editor ends up sending
a text. It's like so that Michigan run
games just going to get better as the season wears on.
I'm like, I don't really know because Nebraska gave up 202
rushed yards to Cincinnati. And while Justice Haynes is a
dude, Bryce Underwood can't be expected to, I guess, throw for
(14:30):
a bunch of yards against Power 4opponents because he threw for
less than 100 against Oklahoma. He threw for just over 100 and
105 against Nebraska, which by the way, has a great pass
defense. But you would expect the number
one quarterback, number one player in the 2025 class to be
able to muster 200 yards a game.He also ain't got that much help
on the outside. Donovan Mccully is not turning
(14:53):
into Braylon Edwards. That's just not what that is
over there. Marlon Klein is not Colston
Loveland, It's not what it is out there.
I think it was more instructive to me that I watched Bryce
Underwood throw a dart on a slant route to Samaj Morgan and
it hit Samaj in the hands and hedropped that mug.
They weren't able to put Nebraska completely out until
(15:14):
the end of the game. And if you expect to play for
the Big 10 championship and Michigan does, you need to be
put in away Nebraska with the quickness and you certainly
aren't giving up 300 yard passing games to Dylan Riola,
but that's what they did. They gave up all sorts of
yardage down the field even as Wink Martindale was calling a
pretty damn good game. The problem I foresee with
(15:35):
Michigan is the one that Oklahoma identified.
Get a win on a get, get a lead on them and then make them play
from behind. Michigan is able to run the ball
when they have a lead. They want to sit on your chest.
They want to take the air out ofthe game and they're going to
continue to do that. It is difficult to play from
behind, Run the football becausethis thing called the clock
keeps running. For those of y'all that are
(15:56):
looking at say, the time stamp on this show, sometimes I have
it at a time when it's supposed to start, doesn't start till
later because the game drags on.Why is the game drag on?
Because you're throwing the football.
Every time we throw the football, we have incompletions.
We stop the clock first downs, we stop the clock running the
ball, clock keeps moving, games are quicker, they keep going.
Michigan wants to have that clock continue to move, whereas
(16:17):
other teams are going to try to find ways to get early leads on
them, make it a 2 score game, and then force rights Underwood
to beat them. Throw in the football because
it's clear that if you were going to play against Michigan,
they are going to probably out rush you.
But you can make them one-dimensional.
You just have to take your opportunities with your offense
to go score. Now that said, Nebraska losing
(16:40):
28 straight to top 25 opponents is wild, especially as Matt Rule
has said this season is a failure if Nebraska doesn't make
the College Football Playoff. You needed this win to have a
sniff of an opportunity to make the College Football Playoff
because you don't have another ranked opponent on your schedule
until Penn State late November. Now, you could be in the
(17:03):
discussion, but anybody that looks at your resume and say
Texas Tech resume who got a top 25 win on the road today is
going to tell you Texas Tech is a better football team.
You're going to get boxed out ofthe College Football Playoff as
a fourth best team by perhaps a number two team in the Big 12 or
even a better team in the Big 10.
I think that they're still building toward having a really
cool season. I think it's been a slow process
(17:25):
back. I think they've gone 3 and O in
non conference games three yearsin a row for the first time
since 2015. They won a bowl game.
They're on a great, great trajectory.
But I also understand Nebraska fans when they say that we're
tired of hearing it. We don't want to hear about us
being back. We don't want to hear about us
being on the verge. One of the things that I think
is important about that is we want Nebraska to be good.
(17:46):
We want Nebraska to pop up and beat teams like Michigan because
there's a certain generation of us.
I'll include myself here. Damn near 40 and older.
Who remembered Nebraska as a terror, who remember Nebraska as
a team you didn't want no smoke with no trouble with no problems
with. Now it just feels like you can
walk into Lincoln, NE and stomp them out anytime you want to.
(18:08):
And while Nebraska didn't get stomped out today, they did
catch another L from a team witha number next to their name.
It's kind of like my axiom with Penn State.
Until Penn State beats a top five team, I'm not ranking them
inside the top five. I don't give a damn that you
beat up on Nevada or Villanova. I care that when Oregon plays
(18:29):
you next week that you can go get a win.
James Franklin's program is 1 in15 against top five opponents
all time at Penn State. Nebraska has to beat top 25
opponents for us to take them seriously now, right?
And I, I feel like that's a problem.
We ranked Nebraska last year offthe win against Colorado because
that's how we felt about Colorado.
(18:51):
As soon as they got to play another ranked opponent, they
lose. Now something's got to give,
something's got to change. I don't know what that is.
Matt Rules got a better understanding of that than I do.
But whatever it is, he ain't done it yet.
And it doesn't seem like a Hail Mary at the end of the first
half is any indicator that you're going to be good.
Like they threw this Hail Mary, they tie the game up, you touch
(19:13):
the touchdown that he shouldn't have got, and they're in a ball
game, they're in it, and then they get a late score and then
it's as simple as, can you get astop inside time?
No, you can't, because Michigan's able to just bleed
you out and make that a problem for you.
As much as I really do enjoy talking about what the College
(19:34):
Football Playoff can be for so many different teams, I have
this real problem with programs that I've already expected to be
there that just can't get it done.
Nebraska is one of those, USC isone of those.
Florida is one of those. I keep going on the list, and I
will, but that kind of sets me up for programs that have been
(19:57):
there and are trying to get their way back.
What is it that you're capable of doing in 2025 as the world
around you is changing? And I think that.
Is where I want to take this topic as we talk about programs
that are off to a really bad start and they might well want
(20:19):
to get their head coach up and out of here.
Take a short break, come back, talk about Dabo Sweeney, talk
about Mike Gundy, Let's talk about Luke Fickle, let's talk
about Sam Pitman, and let's talkabout the new age college
football and what it means for an old guard of head coaches.
(20:59):
Music back on adapt and respond with me, RJ Young.
If you are new to the channel orold to the channel and you have
not subscribed, consider doing that.
Like this video and answer the question in the comments below.
Of the coaches that I'm about toname, which one do you think is
most likely to get the boot? Because that's where we are in
the season now. Now that we've seen Brett Pryde
(21:20):
get pride out of Virginia Tech, we've seen Deshawn Foster need
to find a new home after gettingfired at UCLA.
They're on to trying to figure out what kind of a head coach
they want to hire in 2026 and what the job is going to entail.
I find that that is not just them.
It is right now at other programs that are off to really
crappy starts. Luke Fickle and Wisconsin are in
(21:43):
this moment, right. The difference I think, between
Luke Fickle, though, and say, Dabo Sweeney or Mike Gundy or
even Sam Pittman is he was expected to win right away and
for Wisconsin to be generally good right away.
That's not been the case today. They lost to Marilyn at Camp
Randall and Wisconsin fans were not happy about it.
(22:05):
They were booing and they were yelling and they're pissed.
Fickle is 15 and 15 as Wisconsin's head coach as
Wisconsin's off to A22 start. They got stomped out by Alabama
and then they get beat by Maryland, and his last six games
against Power 4 opponents had been great.
The Badgers trailed 20 to 0 to Maryland today and the Fire
(22:29):
Fickle chant was loud. It is a program that has lost
its way since firing Paul Crist,and I'm sure no Wisconsin fan
expected that to be the case. You were all thinking that
perhaps Paul Crist is a rental, is a rental version of Brett
Bielema, right? We're going to run the football.
We're going to play defense. It ain't going to be exciting.
(22:51):
But we haven't made the College Football Playoff either.
So you fire him thinking that you can go get the guy that was
a nose guard at Ohio State, was a defensive coordinator at Ohio
State, turned Cincinnati into the first Group of Five program
to make the College Football Playoff when it was just four
teams. And then you, you match him up.
He understands in Wisconsin, he's the man.
(23:11):
And I think that's really the problem.
Wisconsin is one of the only FBSprograms, one of the only Power
Four programs that does not haveto compete with anybody else in
the state. It means that any talent that
grows up in Wisconsin, you should be able to rope off.
And what that state does better than almost any other is make
them big and make them fast. That's why the offensive line
has always been a point of prideat Wisconsin, way, way back to
(23:34):
Barry Alvarez. It's why they have running backs
that set records, that rush for 2000 yards, that win Heisman
trophies, Melvin Gordon, Monty Ball, Ron Dane on down the list.
That is not who they have been, right?
You fall into this thing with Braylon Allen and you fumble it.
That should have been the next 2500 yard rusher for me, right?
(23:56):
It should not have been Ashton Gente, though.
It was at 2600. I just thought that Wisconsin
would be in a better spot. You fire Phil Longo because you
brought him in thinking you modernize the offense and get
into a passing game and it doesn't work.
You bring in Jeff Grimes becauseyou know what he was able to do
at Kansas, particularly with Devin Neal at running back, and
get your running game going. It ain't working.
Something's got to give, and right now it doesn't feel like
(24:18):
Wisconsin has any answers in an age where you do have to be kind
to players. Yeah, Yes.
You pay players and you have to treat them like individuals.
You don't get to hold their national letter of Intent over
their skulls like a Sword of Damocles.
That, that that that doesn't work anymore.
Then you hit the portal and theydo.
You are the program that sued a player because he transferred to
(24:39):
Miami. All right.
It's like, hey, you signed a contract.
Well, then don't pay them. Void the contract.
Anybody that's ever had a job will tell you, hey, if I got a
person that's in a job and they don't want to be in that job,
it's best that we just part ways.
It's not best that I pick a fight over this or they pick a
fight over you will work for me.You're not going to get good
work. You'll get malicious compliance
(25:02):
and nobody wants to maliciously comply.
They want to do what I do, whichis wake up every day really
raring to do your job, to reallylove where you work and to enjoy
the work you're doing. The idea of getting sued because
you transferred to Miami from Wisconsin, Yikes.
Meanwhile, Miami looks like a force.
Other head coaches that we got to talk about in this vein.
(25:23):
I didn't expect Dabo Sweeney to be a part of this conversation.
I really didn't even after last week, even after the loss they
took. But Clemson's one in three,
which is their worst start in more than 20 years, that
predates Dabo Sweeney, is their head coach.
Losing to Georgia Tech is one thing, It's a good football
program. Losing LSU is one thing, it's a
good football program. Losing to Syracuse after A10 win
(25:46):
season in which Fran Brown is the reason that you got into the
ACC championship game last year is a terrible look, a horrible
look. Steve and Jelly got knocked out
that game not once, but twice, and they still whooped you.
Jante Cook, who was run out of Texas, run out of Washington,
shows up at Syracuse, takes you for what you have.
(26:08):
Kate Klubnick turns out to be the guy that many of us thought
he might have been right gettingall this hype.
Folks like Dusty Dvorchek and others saying Clemson's number
one team in the country. To me, they're looking more like
2024 Florida State right now than anything else.
And Dabo Sweeney's message is the same one that all other
older coaches have said, Hey, it's not up to me whether or not
(26:28):
get I get fired. We know, dawg.
We we know, you know, we got a we, we got nobody's thinking
about yesterday. We're thinking about what's
tomorrow's going to bring and wegot to go to work.
We know. But are you going to change the
way you do business because the way you do business feels like
it ain't good business for the Clemson Tigers no more.
(26:50):
I don't think they actually wantto fire Dabo Sweeney.
I really don't. I think they want him to get
with the times. I think they want him to look
over there old minutes to see look who's coming up hard on us.
They got a Ferris State quarterback at Trinidad
Chambliss that's putting up 834 yards off into two games.
That boy is thrown for 300 yardsplus in the last two games today
(27:11):
against Tulane, A-Team people thought was good.
That boy 307 yards, 112 on the 114 on the ground.
That's the number 2 quarterback at Ole Miss.
All right, you ain't got them kind of problems at Clemson.
Those are champagne problems at Ole Miss.
Meanwhile, you watch Georgia Tech come in there and they
robbed you for your cookies. Troy was up on you and they let
(27:33):
you win. And then Syracuse said, no, no,
no, we ain't going out like that.
Syracuse, who took a loss to Tennessee and who was running
sprints after beating A9, win UConn.
Some oranges ain't built the same.
Some oranges be built different.Fran Brown, who went on the I Am
Athlete podcast earlier this week.
My homeboys shout out to the queue dogs in the group chat.
They said, RJ, is this your man's?
(27:54):
Yes, that's my man's 'cause he said, hey, how you feel about
the portal? You know, this way I feel about
dudes pushing up on my woman. You know, she fine, It's gonna
happen. It's part of the game.
But not let me find out 'cause you ain't gonna come at me like
that. He used that B word.
I don't use that B word here, 'cause kids be watching the
show. What up?
But he ain't, he ain't one of them.
And that's I like that. Get down.
You can't miss what was already gone and you're gonna recruit to
(28:17):
you. That's what's gonna happen.
I always say this about men who are married or they wiped up.
You got a woman. If you worried about other men,
you believe you've already lost her, period.
Full stop. If you got a woman that is
better than you and you are worried that she is going to
trade up, you didn't already lost, all right?
That ain't the way it's going togo.
(28:38):
If you got to find a woman, you got to expect other men to take
their shot. And you got to be, hey, look, I
recruited and I won. I signed, you know what I'm
saying? I signed her.
As long as I'm doing my job, which is why she signed,
everything else is going to be all right.
It's going to be copacetic. It's funny, as a single man, I
got all this wisdom now for people in relationships because
(28:58):
it feels like that. College football feels like
you're in marriages, feels like you're married until you're not.
And divorce has never been easier, except when it comes to
head football coaches in some instances, Dabo Sweeney's one.
Another one is Mike Gundy. I got to ask quite a bit
yesterday after the University of Tulsa, my alma mater's where
(29:18):
I got my bachelor's degree, beatup Oklahoma State where I was
pursuing my PhD and they said I you ain't gonna make no TU
video. No.
Why? Because they sorry, they're not
good. And I I really am not interested
right now. I'm not got to make stuff that
that I like as much as y'all like it.
And I wasn't feeling it, so I didn't do it.
(29:39):
But you didn't want to talk about my gonna get fired because
he ain't gonna get fired. Not right now.
His buyout is $15 million. And the only person who cared
about Oklahoma State athletics with enough money to do that is
dead and gone. His name is Boone Pickens.
All right, let me tell y'all howmessed up the situation is at
Oklahoma State. So you understand what I'm
dealing with here. And when I tell you that Mike
Gundy runs Stillwater, Mike Gundy runs Stillwater.
(30:04):
He didn't run off not one but 2 presidents, an athletic
director. And he is working for an
athletic director who does not have a contract.
Chad Weinberg is working a la carte.
I don't know. He got no new deal.
So you're asking all these people to make decisions about
what Mike Gundy's going to do. A man who's made more than $75
(30:25):
million as a head coach at Oklahoma State, give or take a
man who was on a five year rolling contract.
And since that's kind of been changed, but it's still going to
cost him an arm and a leg to getrid of him.
And now you have what is conceivably, and I'm going to
quote Bill Haston here, who's covered Oklahoma State athletics
for 20 years, covers them at Tulsa World.
(30:46):
The 2025 Cowboys appear to be the least talented of Mike
Gundy's 21 Oklahoma State football teams.
Zayn Flores ain't it. I thought Haas Haney could play.
I still think Haas Haney could play, but maybe not for Doug
Meacham. Maybe not that offense you're
you're trying, you're trying to stop Tulsa from beating you at
(31:08):
home, a thing they ain't done since 1951.
And you got Dominic Richardson who is running all up and down
you because you ran him off fromOklahoma State.
That's the other thing I can't stand about TU.
We'd be catching Oklahoma State leftovers when it used to be
everybody of substance in the University of in the Tulsa metro
area with the Oklahoma or TU. Now they go to Oklahoma,
(31:31):
Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama.
I'm losing my mind half the timebecause I got kids that I could
quite literally throw a footballfrom my house and hit who are
going to play at Michigan, Ohio State, Texas.
DeMarco Cobb went to Central, hewent to Texas.
Dax Hill went to Booker T, he went to Michigan.
(31:53):
Josh Jacobs went to McClain, he went to Alabama.
And now you're losing the Presley boys.
When one of the Presley boys letme, let me, let me give the
younger Presley his dude Braylon, let me give you a do
lose an older Presley boy to Oklahoma State.
Now. It used to be I could say that
about my Gunny. He would recruit my kids, right?
(32:15):
And they're all my kids, all thehigh school kiddos.
When I talk about kiddos, I talkabout high school recruits.
Nothing that I enjoy more in this game than watching somebody
I've known since 7th or 8th grade grew up to be a 3A3 time
NFL Pro Bowler, you know what I'm saying?
Or get their offer from the one school they want to get their
offer. I always say parents go through
(32:35):
recruiting once, maybe twice if they're lucky in their entire
lives with their children. I go through recruiting 300 * a
year. It's fun.
But in the stars, Oklahoma Stateis concerned.
We're talking about a program that's gone more than a calendar
year without a win against an FBS opponent.
And the last one they had against an FBS opponent was
September 14th, 2024 at Tulsa. Now that Tulsa has beaten you,
(32:59):
we have every indication that weneed to see that you could have
another winless Big 12 season, in which case somebody somewhere
might donate the money for Mike Gundy to stay.
Or if you don't like Oklahoma State that much, maybe you're
going to give enough money for Mike Gundy to stay.
Because you don't want nothing to change about Oklahoma State
(33:20):
football. It's a program that's been
beaten up and beaten down for a long time.
It's an easy target. It's another reason I don't like
really punishing it because short of meat judging, I love
Oklahoma State wrestling. Coach Smith is one of my
favorites. Oklahoma State baseball matters.
Oklahoma State softball has comeup in the world.
(33:40):
It matters. Oklahoma State football still is
distraught. Stir and the drink.
Just like every other power for program that's got a football
team. So one of the reasons that you
get to have your university, if we're being honest about it, and
now it's getting really difficult for Oklahoma State to
recruit players. And if it gets difficult for you
to recruit players, you're goingto have a difficulty winning
games, you have difficulty winning games.
(34:01):
It's going to be difficult for you to make money.
You can't make money. You might have to start thinking
about what the cost is of playing football in 2026 and
beyond because now the money's getting split up like it never
has before. Oklahoma State doesn't get to
keep all of that revenue. It has to share it out.
You have to raise money for name, image and likeness, and
not just for new facilities or new buildings.
Now that money got to go to people that can walk off with it
(34:23):
as opposed to a building that's going to be there forever.
Some changes are probably in theoffing for Mike Gundy, but
usually what happens is they lethim fire the staff and he go
fires a new one. And he's done that the last
three years. You know, like, think about it.
Yeah. Casey Dunn's off the corner.
You got Doug Meecham in the offensive corner.
Dana Hochers didn't even stay inStillwater long enough to buy a
(34:44):
house. You know, you run off Glen
Spencer, who'd been there forever.
Brian Nardo. I mean, goodness me, I can keep
going on the list on this, but Idon't need to.
Because he's been able to turn guys like Wes Lunt and Clint
Chef into dudes, right? That's no longer seems to be
true because the the game has changed.
And if Mike Gundy's time has passed and Mike Gundy's time has
(35:06):
passed, I don't miss the man in your will.
But you're gonna have to change the way you do business, just
like Clemson if you expect to bearound coaching football for
another 5-10 years because the game is no longer the way that
you set it up to be. It's whatever the college sports
supermission says it's going to be.
(35:26):
It's whatever the federal legislation that we might get
passed says it's going to be. And it's what the House first
NCAA settlement says it is. Get with the times, get left
behind. Last guy I want to talk about
just briefly is Sam Pittman, whoyou know how much I love.
But losing to Memphis, it's justthat's that's difficult to
overcome. I get the Memphis has won 17,
their last 19 and they beaten their last four Power 4 pro
(35:49):
opponents. But you had a lead there, dawg.
You had a big lead. I want to say it was 3110 and
Memphis came all the way back toget that win, got Notre Dame
next week. A win against Notre Dame buys
you some good time, buys you some goodwill.
But it would have been better ifNotre Dame was 2 and O and not O
and two, when they when they play Purdue, right?
(36:10):
They're going to be 1 and 2 whenthey play Arkansas next week.
It feels like they're going to have to run the table the rest
of the way or for Coach Pitman to stick around.
I want it to happen one way or another 'cause I think the dude
is good for college football. I think he's good for Arkansas.
I don't think there's anybody inthe world that wants to be the
head coach of Arkansas more thanSam Pittman does.
But that also means you got to start winning some football
games. Never mind.
(36:31):
Arkansas won the Nash Championships in 19601960 and 66
played in 1969 national championship game.
Texas. Yeah, it only matters that they
ain't been no good since 2021. Some got to change.
All right, that is going to do it for tonight's live episode of
(36:52):
ADAPT and respond with me. RJ Young, if you like the show,
you like the channel, let me know that you like the live
shows in the comments below and we will catch y'all on the flip
side, yes. Music.
It is a start, It's a good start, it's a great start.
It's the first win. And why do we play?
You play to win the game. And what do we want?
I want winners. I'm not bipartisan.
I'm not bipolar. I'm not by DID.
I'm by winning. I went here and I went there.
Well, the board guy is having a hard time, but I am not as
(00:22):
Oklahoma has a resounding top 25win against Auburn.
Let's unpack it. Let's talk about just what we
learned about this Oklahoma teamthat I have ranked at number six
in my Week 4 top 25 and might bemoving up in the AP.
Also want to talk a little bit about what's going on with
Nebraska, who lost a 28th straight to Michigan.
(00:45):
And if we get some time, let's talk about which fan base might
want their head coach fired. What's up, kinfolk?
It's RJ Young. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond,
thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. If you're into that, go ahead
and hit that subscribe button like this video and participate
(01:06):
in the community by answering this question in the comments
below. Where should Oklahoma be ranked
after their really impressive win today against #22 Auburn?
This game was billed as the Jackson Arnold game both for
Oklahoma and for Auburn. Oklahoma, who had Jackson Arnold
(01:27):
start games for them in 2024 andit didn't go well.
The man fumble the football 8 times through three
interceptions and then rather than stick it out and try to
compete for the job with John Material, he decides to transfer
to Auburn where Hugh Freeze thinks he's got 1.
He thinks he's got the guy that everybody thought Jackson Arnold
was. National Gatorade Player of the
Year out of high school, a guy that can run his RPO offense, a
(01:51):
guy that can run and throw. And whenever Hugh Freeze had a
guy that can run and throw, he usually goes and wins 10 games,
going all the way back to his time at Ole Miss and recently
with Kaden Salter at which is not Kaden Salter with going to
mess this up. And aren't I because of Liberty,
who did he have? Malik Willis?
My goodness, there it is right there.
(02:12):
So knowing all of that, what didOklahoma expect about what you
saw there? Because the thing that I thought
was impressive about Jackson Arnold, he wasn't able to do at
a high level at Oklahoma, which has forced the ball downfield.
Now he's got a couple of wide receivers and Cam Coleman and
Eric Singleton that Hugh Freeze wanted him to take advantage of.
And early on, I kept wondering, like, shout out to my home girl
(02:35):
Terry, who asked me dead ass at halftime what is going on?
And I said, we got we got a freshman matched up on Cam
Coleman. That's what it is.
If I can see it, soaking breath intervals.
So what they end up doing is rolling to safety over the top
and trying to force Jackson Arnold to throw the ball to Eric
Singleton a little bit more. And that helped to stem the tide
just a little bit. But I thought it was more
(02:56):
impressive what we got out of the defense because the offense
wasn't really great, but the defense continues to be
outstanding. We're entering Week 5 without
Oklahoma having a single frigging take away on defense.
But it didn't matter in this game as a Sooner sack Jackson
Arnold 10 times. I remember the 2029 sacks, but I
(03:20):
against Kansas, but I also remember Alex Grinch's defense
sacking Sam Ellinger 2019 nine times.
The idea that Oklahoma had got the 9/6 times in a game but
hadn't got the 10, especially with Brent Vinables having been
a defense coordinator Oklahoma for so long, I really wanted
them to get this. And it's A1 score game at the
time. It's 22 to 17.
And I'm thinking, all right, do not sell out to go get this
(03:42):
statistic, don't do that, win the football game.
But what happens? We get to see them come running
free once again and Jackson Arnold on his back in the end
zone for the safety. Now, how far be it from me to
tell you that I knew Brent minimal's calling the defense
meant something different for Oklahoma, but it is one of the
(04:03):
reasons that I ended up ranking them in the preseason top 25 and
in the top 10. Unlike the coaches poll, who
you'll remember did not rank this team in the preseason top
25 and they were starting at 18 in the AP.
They've since moved their way upto 13 and now up to 11 with two
top 25 wins and four and O goinginto an idle week where it feels
like this Oklahoma team can get Texas.
(04:25):
That was not really on the tableto start this season, even with
John material quarterback. But now with a quarterback who
can throw from one 270 yards andhe runs for touchdowns.
Oklahoma has a Heisman finalistsin the lead, right?
It also has an SEC schedule thatis going to push it up the
rankings if it keeps winning because this is the first of
(04:47):
eight SEC opponents they ranked they face.
So the gauntlet has been very well picked up by the Sooners
and said we'll, we'll take that challenge.
For those of you that do not understand, allow me to indulge
with my English professor Brain here.
To throw a gauntlet is to throw a glove on the ground and
challenge an opponent to pick that glove up and fight you.
It's kind of like putting a chipon your shoulder and asking
(05:09):
somebody who wants to fight you to knock it off so we can get to
the getting. I got chip tattooed on my
shoulder to tell you what kind of person I am.
But that is what was in front ofOklahoma when it went to the SEC
and that is what it felt like wewere getting into last year when
we talked about Oklahoma football.
It wasn't that Oklahoma had to play in the SEC.
It's that the SEC had to play inOklahoma, right?
(05:30):
It's that Rorschach in a prison going.
I'm not locked in here with you.You're locked in here with me.
Finished six and seven with two and six in SEC play.
And Brent Vidables knew there had to be some changes.
There were even calls for Brent Vidables to be fired heading
into the season. Myself, no.
(05:51):
Brent understands Oklahoma in a way that very few head coaches
might. He is not going to fold under
that pressure and he's also not going to act as if it's not
there. He is going to say the standard
is winning. This is a man who beat Michigan.
And all I could say was I'm happy that our fans get to
celebrate this. But we reach the standard of
night. We got to keep doing that each
(06:11):
and every day. It's a man that gets up ready to
work. It is a talented grinder.
And as a talented grinder myself, I recognize it.
It is wanting to get up in the morning to attack those stadium
steps. It's wanting to get up in the
morning to attack the day, to not really think about what
happened yesterday, but only what you can achieve right?
As many of you have been a part of this show since the very
(06:33):
beginning, almost eight years ago now, grown from zero to
140,000. All I keep thinking about is I
have to make you proud. I have to keep creating the kind
of content that you want to see and make this kind of a show.
2417 is also a wild score for mebecause Oklahoma need usually
needs to win this game by outscoring people by some
margin. In the Lincoln Riley days,
(06:54):
you're talking about putting up 40 points, 42 points and the
defense not being able to do much of anything in this game.
We didn't see Jackson Arnold have any time to move.
He was just 21 to 32 for 2:20 with the TDs Actually one of his
better past performances all year.
But as he kept dropping back, hekept getting punished again. 10
sacks of Jackson Arnold, 220 past yards with just 67 on the
(07:17):
ground. I thought Jeremiah Cobb would
have had a lot more to do with this game going in.
I also think holding them to three of 15 on 3rd down is
nothing too shabby. But more importantly, there's
room for Oklahoma to grow here. This was by no means a classic
performance on offense or defense.
They had 9 penalties for 99 yards.
I guarantee them to you tomorrowmorning that will be the thing
(07:39):
that Brent Vittles is yelling about. 9 penalties, 99 yards.
Think of all the real estate we gave away.
Think of all the opportunities that we gave away.
And right when it felt like Auburn might have had the score
that would have otherwise brokenan Oklahoma team's back, they
got back on the ball and John Mateer helped orchestrate one of
(08:00):
the great drives of this season.To go back down and not just get
3 points like they had been doing the previous three times
they scored, it was to go get 6.Right?
And the idea that you would havea quarterback who has that kind
of moxie is not new to Oklahoma.It's why John Mateer and Baker
Mayfield feel like much of the same guy.
(08:20):
But it's a little bit better than that.
From a statistical standpoint. I really love this stat.
There have been just a handful of quarterbacks to pass for and
rush for a TD in every game consecutively 9 times or more,
right? D Eric King has the record at 16
consecutive across Houston and Miami.
The other guys on that list are John Metier, who gets to 10
(08:42):
straight with this game, Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman
Trophy, Lamar Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy, and Tim
Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy.
Now marks Mariota ends up playing for a national
championship. Tim.
Tim Tebow ends up winning one. And, yeah, Lamar Jackson played
at a Louisville team that just did not have the kind of talent
around him that is worthy of what he got, say, when he got to
(09:04):
the Baltimore Ravens. But that's not true at Oklahoma.
You have a defense that's just as good as your offense.
And when Oklahoma is balanced, cancel Christmas dog.
It feels like A10 win team feelslike an 11 win team, feels like
the kind of team that can run the table and go undefeated.
And there's still more tests to come.
Auburn is by no means the best team that OU has left on its
(09:24):
schedule, but you would be ridiculous not to think that
this team has really put itself in a great position to make the
College Football Playoff with two ranked wins, top 25 both at
home and Michigan. Getting the win against
Nebraska, which we'll talk abouthere in a little bit, also only
strengthens your resume if you're OU.
If that's not a top ten team in the API, don't know what is.
(09:46):
When you look at the the wins they have and the way that they
were able to get them, our MasonThomas turning into a dude.
I think I was late on Grayson Halton.
I didn't think he was going to be that great.
The idea that Gentry Williams beyour lockdown corner was giving
me the willies right and the what for and how now.
But then you have a guy like Jared Cannock who goes to Brent
Venables and says, hey, I think I can help us offensively.
(10:06):
I think I can help us do more and that's exactly what it is.
I think of him as tree flowers. Some of y'all go all the way
back with Dimitri Flowers understanding what kind of a
fullback he was. But in the passing game, he's
just an unexpected ad in that Dion Dion Birch is still doing
great work there. And then you get Tiantez Lewis,
who's been outstanding. But Isaiah Satanga, man, if that
(10:28):
dude can catch the football likehe was catching the football
today, then you've got a complete set of wide receivers
that you can rely on. I mean, 9 catches for 1:27 in
the TD today, the one they triedto take off the board.
And my favorite part of this game is the surrender Cobra that
we got from Hugh Freeze who was crashing out real time dog.
(10:48):
Like to start the start the game, he's crashing out because
he thought they had an interception, right?
And then at the end of the game,he's crashing out with the hands
on his head because there's nothing he can do out there.
He understands now what Oklahomafans were feeling at Jackson
Arnold was playing. It's not that you wish the man
bad. It's not that he is inconsistent
(11:09):
throwing the ball. It's that he'll hold it long
enough that you can run him down.
And against SEC defenses, you can't outrun these folks.
John Mateer is experiencing thatagainst DJ Durkin's offense.
But the cheeky trick play in thefirst half are also really
loved. Man didn't step out of bounds.
He's taking me on the field. They're not stimulating the
substitution. It's one of those famous hidden
(11:31):
ball tricks, right? You just you lose track of the
guy and he's wide open. You go get your easy 6.
That's what you bring in a guy like Ben Arbuckle to do to go
get you a bucket is the way thatI would refer to.
You have a head coach or an offense coordinator play caller
that can go get you a win that might not have been there.
That's what separates a good coach from a great coach.
And right now you got a 29 year old who is seeing it with a
(11:52):
quarterback that he trusts and an Oklahoma team that is
surging. My goodness, what an outstanding
win for the Sooners. Next.
Get to go right back into that thing against Texas following a
bye week. I'm gonna take a short break
here we come back. Let's talk a little bit about
Michigan. What it's win against Nebraska
means for the Huskers, what it means for Oklahoma.
(12:12):
And is this Michigan team like, you know, good?
(12:38):
Back on Adapt and respond with me, RJ Young.
If you're new to the show, hit that subscribe button like this
video and answer the question inthe comments below.
Did you expect Nebraska to lose a 28th straight two way ranked
opponent? This time it being Michigan 30
to 27. Also, I want to take this
opportunity to tell you got a really cool thing happening at
(13:00):
Oklahoma. I know I just got done with the
segment, but you'll understand once I explain.
Robert Spears Jennings is stepping up in a big way this
season. For every tackle he makes on the
field, he's donating $50.00 to the Pearl House in Ghana and
Stride Bank is matching him dollar for dollar.
That means every stop he makes helps provide hope, healing,
(13:23):
opportunity, protection and education for young women in
West Africa. So when you cheer on Robert
Spears Jennings and the Sooners this season, you're cheering for
the life changing impact or for life changing impact in Ghana.
Learn more to join him in supporting Pearl House at
(13:45):
pearlhouse.org. Really love the Pearl House, my
buddy Steve huge Intuit. They do a lot of good work.
If you've got the time, you should go check it out too and
see what you can't do to help out.
It's really good program. It's really cool what they do.
Steve is going over to go out ofseems like every other six
months or so. One day I might have to go with
him. So the thing that I think is
(14:07):
fascinating about Michigan is I don't know if they're any good.
I I I really don't I don't I my executive editor ends up sending
a text. It's like so that Michigan run
games just going to get better as the season wears on.
I'm like, I don't really know because Nebraska gave up 202
rushed yards to Cincinnati. And while Justice Haynes is a
dude, Bryce Underwood can't be expected to, I guess, throw for
(14:30):
a bunch of yards against Power 4opponents because he threw for
less than 100 against Oklahoma. He threw for just over 100 and
105 against Nebraska, which by the way, has a great pass
defense. But you would expect the number
one quarterback, number one player in the 2025 class to be
able to muster 200 yards a game.He also ain't got that much help
on the outside. Donovan Mccully is not turning
(14:53):
into Braylon Edwards. That's just not what that is
over there. Marlon Klein is not Colston
Loveland, It's not what it is out there.
I think it was more instructive to me that I watched Bryce
Underwood throw a dart on a slant route to Samaj Morgan and
it hit Samaj in the hands and hedropped that mug.
They weren't able to put Nebraska completely out until
(15:14):
the end of the game. And if you expect to play for
the Big 10 championship and Michigan does, you need to be
put in away Nebraska with the quickness and you certainly
aren't giving up 300 yard passing games to Dylan Riola,
but that's what they did. They gave up all sorts of
yardage down the field even as Wink Martindale was calling a
pretty damn good game. The problem I foresee with
(15:35):
Michigan is the one that Oklahoma identified.
Get a win on a get, get a lead on them and then make them play
from behind. Michigan is able to run the ball
when they have a lead. They want to sit on your chest.
They want to take the air out ofthe game and they're going to
continue to do that. It is difficult to play from
behind, Run the football becausethis thing called the clock
keeps running. For those of y'all that are
(15:56):
looking at say, the time stamp on this show, sometimes I have
it at a time when it's supposed to start, doesn't start till
later because the game drags on.Why is the game drag on?
Because you're throwing the football.
Every time we throw the football, we have incompletions.
We stop the clock first downs, we stop the clock running the
ball, clock keeps moving, games are quicker, they keep going.
Michigan wants to have that clock continue to move, whereas
(16:17):
other teams are going to try to find ways to get early leads on
them, make it a 2 score game, and then force rights Underwood
to beat them. Throw in the football because
it's clear that if you were going to play against Michigan,
they are going to probably out rush you.
But you can make them one-dimensional.
You just have to take your opportunities with your offense
to go score. Now that said, Nebraska losing
(16:40):
28 straight to top 25 opponents is wild, especially as Matt Rule
has said this season is a failure if Nebraska doesn't make
the College Football Playoff. You needed this win to have a
sniff of an opportunity to make the College Football Playoff
because you don't have another ranked opponent on your schedule
until Penn State late November. Now, you could be in the
(17:03):
discussion, but anybody that looks at your resume and say
Texas Tech resume who got a top 25 win on the road today is
going to tell you Texas Tech is a better football team.
You're going to get boxed out ofthe College Football Playoff as
a fourth best team by perhaps a number two team in the Big 12 or
even a better team in the Big 10.
I think that they're still building toward having a really
cool season. I think it's been a slow process
(17:25):
back. I think they've gone 3 and O in
non conference games three yearsin a row for the first time
since 2015. They won a bowl game.
They're on a great, great trajectory.
But I also understand Nebraska fans when they say that we're
tired of hearing it. We don't want to hear about us
being back. We don't want to hear about us
being on the verge. One of the things that I think
is important about that is we want Nebraska to be good.
(17:46):
We want Nebraska to pop up and beat teams like Michigan because
there's a certain generation of us.
I'll include myself here. Damn near 40 and older.
Who remembered Nebraska as a terror, who remember Nebraska as
a team you didn't want no smoke with no trouble with no problems
with. Now it just feels like you can
walk into Lincoln, NE and stomp them out anytime you want to.
(18:08):
And while Nebraska didn't get stomped out today, they did
catch another L from a team witha number next to their name.
It's kind of like my axiom with Penn State.
Until Penn State beats a top five team, I'm not ranking them
inside the top five. I don't give a damn that you
beat up on Nevada or Villanova. I care that when Oregon plays
(18:29):
you next week that you can go get a win.
James Franklin's program is 1 in15 against top five opponents
all time at Penn State. Nebraska has to beat top 25
opponents for us to take them seriously now, right?
And I, I feel like that's a problem.
We ranked Nebraska last year offthe win against Colorado because
that's how we felt about Colorado.
(18:51):
As soon as they got to play another ranked opponent, they
lose. Now something's got to give,
something's got to change. I don't know what that is.
Matt Rules got a better understanding of that than I do.
But whatever it is, he ain't done it yet.
And it doesn't seem like a Hail Mary at the end of the first
half is any indicator that you're going to be good.
Like they threw this Hail Mary, they tie the game up, you touch
(19:13):
the touchdown that he shouldn't have got, and they're in a ball
game, they're in it, and then they get a late score and then
it's as simple as, can you get astop inside time?
No, you can't, because Michigan's able to just bleed
you out and make that a problem for you.
As much as I really do enjoy talking about what the College
(19:34):
Football Playoff can be for so many different teams, I have
this real problem with programs that I've already expected to be
there that just can't get it done.
Nebraska is one of those, USC isone of those.
Florida is one of those. I keep going on the list, and I
will, but that kind of sets me up for programs that have been
(19:57):
there and are trying to get their way back.
What is it that you're capable of doing in 2025 as the world
around you is changing? And I think that.
Is where I want to take this topic as we talk about programs
that are off to a really bad start and they might well want
(20:19):
to get their head coach up and out of here.
Take a short break, come back, talk about Dabo Sweeney, talk
about Mike Gundy, Let's talk about Luke Fickle, let's talk
about Sam Pitman, and let's talkabout the new age college
football and what it means for an old guard of head coaches.
(20:59):
Music back on adapt and respond with me, RJ Young.
If you are new to the channel orold to the channel and you have
not subscribed, consider doing that.
Like this video and answer the question in the comments below.
Of the coaches that I'm about toname, which one do you think is
most likely to get the boot? Because that's where we are in
the season now. Now that we've seen Brett Pryde
(21:20):
get pride out of Virginia Tech, we've seen Deshawn Foster need
to find a new home after gettingfired at UCLA.
They're on to trying to figure out what kind of a head coach
they want to hire in 2026 and what the job is going to entail.
I find that that is not just them.
It is right now at other programs that are off to really
crappy starts. Luke Fickle and Wisconsin are in
(21:43):
this moment, right. The difference I think, between
Luke Fickle, though, and say, Dabo Sweeney or Mike Gundy or
even Sam Pittman is he was expected to win right away and
for Wisconsin to be generally good right away.
That's not been the case today. They lost to Marilyn at Camp
Randall and Wisconsin fans were not happy about it.
(22:05):
They were booing and they were yelling and they're pissed.
Fickle is 15 and 15 as Wisconsin's head coach as
Wisconsin's off to A22 start. They got stomped out by Alabama
and then they get beat by Maryland, and his last six games
against Power 4 opponents had been great.
The Badgers trailed 20 to 0 to Maryland today and the Fire
(22:29):
Fickle chant was loud. It is a program that has lost
its way since firing Paul Crist,and I'm sure no Wisconsin fan
expected that to be the case. You were all thinking that
perhaps Paul Crist is a rental, is a rental version of Brett
Bielema, right? We're going to run the football.
We're going to play defense. It ain't going to be exciting.
(22:51):
But we haven't made the College Football Playoff either.
So you fire him thinking that you can go get the guy that was
a nose guard at Ohio State, was a defensive coordinator at Ohio
State, turned Cincinnati into the first Group of Five program
to make the College Football Playoff when it was just four
teams. And then you, you match him up.
He understands in Wisconsin, he's the man.
(23:11):
And I think that's really the problem.
Wisconsin is one of the only FBSprograms, one of the only Power
Four programs that does not haveto compete with anybody else in
the state. It means that any talent that
grows up in Wisconsin, you should be able to rope off.
And what that state does better than almost any other is make
them big and make them fast. That's why the offensive line
has always been a point of prideat Wisconsin, way, way back to
(23:34):
Barry Alvarez. It's why they have running backs
that set records, that rush for 2000 yards, that win Heisman
trophies, Melvin Gordon, Monty Ball, Ron Dane on down the list.
That is not who they have been, right?
You fall into this thing with Braylon Allen and you fumble it.
That should have been the next 2500 yard rusher for me, right?
(23:56):
It should not have been Ashton Gente, though.
It was at 2600. I just thought that Wisconsin
would be in a better spot. You fire Phil Longo because you
brought him in thinking you modernize the offense and get
into a passing game and it doesn't work.
You bring in Jeff Grimes becauseyou know what he was able to do
at Kansas, particularly with Devin Neal at running back, and
get your running game going. It ain't working.
Something's got to give, and right now it doesn't feel like
(24:18):
Wisconsin has any answers in an age where you do have to be kind
to players. Yeah, Yes.
You pay players and you have to treat them like individuals.
You don't get to hold their national letter of Intent over
their skulls like a Sword of Damocles.
That, that that that doesn't work anymore.
Then you hit the portal and theydo.
You are the program that sued a player because he transferred to
(24:39):
Miami. All right.
It's like, hey, you signed a contract.
Well, then don't pay them. Void the contract.
Anybody that's ever had a job will tell you, hey, if I got a
person that's in a job and they don't want to be in that job,
it's best that we just part ways.
It's not best that I pick a fight over this or they pick a
fight over you will work for me.You're not going to get good
work. You'll get malicious compliance
(25:02):
and nobody wants to maliciously comply.
They want to do what I do, whichis wake up every day really
raring to do your job, to reallylove where you work and to enjoy
the work you're doing. The idea of getting sued because
you transferred to Miami from Wisconsin, Yikes.
Meanwhile, Miami looks like a force.
Other head coaches that we got to talk about in this vein.
(25:23):
I didn't expect Dabo Sweeney to be a part of this conversation.
I really didn't even after last week, even after the loss they
took. But Clemson's one in three,
which is their worst start in more than 20 years, that
predates Dabo Sweeney, is their head coach.
Losing to Georgia Tech is one thing, It's a good football
program. Losing LSU is one thing, it's a
good football program. Losing to Syracuse after A10 win
(25:46):
season in which Fran Brown is the reason that you got into the
ACC championship game last year is a terrible look, a horrible
look. Steve and Jelly got knocked out
that game not once, but twice, and they still whooped you.
Jante Cook, who was run out of Texas, run out of Washington,
shows up at Syracuse, takes you for what you have.
(26:08):
Kate Klubnick turns out to be the guy that many of us thought
he might have been right gettingall this hype.
Folks like Dusty Dvorchek and others saying Clemson's number
one team in the country. To me, they're looking more like
2024 Florida State right now than anything else.
And Dabo Sweeney's message is the same one that all other
older coaches have said, Hey, it's not up to me whether or not
(26:28):
get I get fired. We know, dawg.
We we know, you know, we got a we, we got nobody's thinking
about yesterday. We're thinking about what's
tomorrow's going to bring and wegot to go to work.
We know. But are you going to change the
way you do business because the way you do business feels like
it ain't good business for the Clemson Tigers no more.
(26:50):
I don't think they actually wantto fire Dabo Sweeney.
I really don't. I think they want him to get
with the times. I think they want him to look
over there old minutes to see look who's coming up hard on us.
They got a Ferris State quarterback at Trinidad
Chambliss that's putting up 834 yards off into two games.
That boy is thrown for 300 yardsplus in the last two games today
(27:11):
against Tulane, A-Team people thought was good.
That boy 307 yards, 112 on the 114 on the ground.
That's the number 2 quarterback at Ole Miss.
All right, you ain't got them kind of problems at Clemson.
Those are champagne problems at Ole Miss.
Meanwhile, you watch Georgia Tech come in there and they
robbed you for your cookies. Troy was up on you and they let
(27:33):
you win. And then Syracuse said, no, no,
no, we ain't going out like that.
Syracuse, who took a loss to Tennessee and who was running
sprints after beating A9, win UConn.
Some oranges ain't built the same.
Some oranges be built different.Fran Brown, who went on the I Am
Athlete podcast earlier this week.
My homeboys shout out to the queue dogs in the group chat.
They said, RJ, is this your man's?
(27:54):
Yes, that's my man's 'cause he said, hey, how you feel about
the portal? You know, this way I feel about
dudes pushing up on my woman. You know, she fine, It's gonna
happen. It's part of the game.
But not let me find out 'cause you ain't gonna come at me like
that. He used that B word.
I don't use that B word here, 'cause kids be watching the
show. What up?
But he ain't, he ain't one of them.
And that's I like that. Get down.
You can't miss what was already gone and you're gonna recruit to
(28:17):
you. That's what's gonna happen.
I always say this about men who are married or they wiped up.
You got a woman. If you worried about other men,
you believe you've already lost her, period.
Full stop. If you got a woman that is
better than you and you are worried that she is going to
trade up, you didn't already lost, all right?
That ain't the way it's going togo.
(28:38):
If you got to find a woman, you got to expect other men to take
their shot. And you got to be, hey, look, I
recruited and I won. I signed, you know what I'm
saying? I signed her.
As long as I'm doing my job, which is why she signed,
everything else is going to be all right.
It's going to be copacetic. It's funny, as a single man, I
got all this wisdom now for people in relationships because
(28:58):
it feels like that. College football feels like
you're in marriages, feels like you're married until you're not.
And divorce has never been easier, except when it comes to
head football coaches in some instances, Dabo Sweeney's one.
Another one is Mike Gundy. I got to ask quite a bit
yesterday after the University of Tulsa, my alma mater's where
(29:18):
I got my bachelor's degree, beatup Oklahoma State where I was
pursuing my PhD and they said I you ain't gonna make no TU
video. No.
Why? Because they sorry, they're not
good. And I I really am not interested
right now. I'm not got to make stuff that
that I like as much as y'all like it.
And I wasn't feeling it, so I didn't do it.
(29:39):
But you didn't want to talk about my gonna get fired because
he ain't gonna get fired. Not right now.
His buyout is $15 million. And the only person who cared
about Oklahoma State athletics with enough money to do that is
dead and gone. His name is Boone Pickens.
All right, let me tell y'all howmessed up the situation is at
Oklahoma State. So you understand what I'm
dealing with here. And when I tell you that Mike
Gundy runs Stillwater, Mike Gundy runs Stillwater.
(30:04):
He didn't run off not one but 2 presidents, an athletic
director. And he is working for an
athletic director who does not have a contract.
Chad Weinberg is working a la carte.
I don't know. He got no new deal.
So you're asking all these people to make decisions about
what Mike Gundy's going to do. A man who's made more than $75
(30:25):
million as a head coach at Oklahoma State, give or take a
man who was on a five year rolling contract.
And since that's kind of been changed, but it's still going to
cost him an arm and a leg to getrid of him.
And now you have what is conceivably, and I'm going to
quote Bill Haston here, who's covered Oklahoma State athletics
for 20 years, covers them at Tulsa World.
(30:46):
The 2025 Cowboys appear to be the least talented of Mike
Gundy's 21 Oklahoma State football teams.
Zayn Flores ain't it. I thought Haas Haney could play.
I still think Haas Haney could play, but maybe not for Doug
Meacham. Maybe not that offense you're
you're trying, you're trying to stop Tulsa from beating you at
(31:08):
home, a thing they ain't done since 1951.
And you got Dominic Richardson who is running all up and down
you because you ran him off fromOklahoma State.
That's the other thing I can't stand about TU.
We'd be catching Oklahoma State leftovers when it used to be
everybody of substance in the University of in the Tulsa metro
area with the Oklahoma or TU. Now they go to Oklahoma,
(31:31):
Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama.
I'm losing my mind half the timebecause I got kids that I could
quite literally throw a footballfrom my house and hit who are
going to play at Michigan, Ohio State, Texas.
DeMarco Cobb went to Central, hewent to Texas.
Dax Hill went to Booker T, he went to Michigan.
(31:53):
Josh Jacobs went to McClain, he went to Alabama.
And now you're losing the Presley boys.
When one of the Presley boys letme, let me, let me give the
younger Presley his dude Braylon, let me give you a do
lose an older Presley boy to Oklahoma State.
Now. It used to be I could say that
about my Gunny. He would recruit my kids, right?
(32:15):
And they're all my kids, all thehigh school kiddos.
When I talk about kiddos, I talkabout high school recruits.
Nothing that I enjoy more in this game than watching somebody
I've known since 7th or 8th grade grew up to be a 3A3 time
NFL Pro Bowler, you know what I'm saying?
Or get their offer from the one school they want to get their
offer. I always say parents go through
(32:35):
recruiting once, maybe twice if they're lucky in their entire
lives with their children. I go through recruiting 300 * a
year. It's fun.
But in the stars, Oklahoma Stateis concerned.
We're talking about a program that's gone more than a calendar
year without a win against an FBS opponent.
And the last one they had against an FBS opponent was
September 14th, 2024 at Tulsa. Now that Tulsa has beaten you,
(32:59):
we have every indication that weneed to see that you could have
another winless Big 12 season, in which case somebody somewhere
might donate the money for Mike Gundy to stay.
Or if you don't like Oklahoma State that much, maybe you're
going to give enough money for Mike Gundy to stay.
Because you don't want nothing to change about Oklahoma State
(33:20):
football. It's a program that's been
beaten up and beaten down for a long time.
It's an easy target. It's another reason I don't like
really punishing it because short of meat judging, I love
Oklahoma State wrestling. Coach Smith is one of my
favorites. Oklahoma State baseball matters.
Oklahoma State softball has comeup in the world.
(33:40):
It matters. Oklahoma State football still is
distraught. Stir and the drink.
Just like every other power for program that's got a football
team. So one of the reasons that you
get to have your university, if we're being honest about it, and
now it's getting really difficult for Oklahoma State to
recruit players. And if it gets difficult for you
to recruit players, you're goingto have a difficulty winning
games, you have difficulty winning games.
(34:01):
It's going to be difficult for you to make money.
You can't make money. You might have to start thinking
about what the cost is of playing football in 2026 and
beyond because now the money's getting split up like it never
has before. Oklahoma State doesn't get to
keep all of that revenue. It has to share it out.
You have to raise money for name, image and likeness, and
not just for new facilities or new buildings.
Now that money got to go to people that can walk off with it
(34:23):
as opposed to a building that's going to be there forever.
Some changes are probably in theoffing for Mike Gundy, but
usually what happens is they lethim fire the staff and he go
fires a new one. And he's done that the last
three years. You know, like, think about it.
Yeah. Casey Dunn's off the corner.
You got Doug Meecham in the offensive corner.
Dana Hochers didn't even stay inStillwater long enough to buy a
(34:44):
house. You know, you run off Glen
Spencer, who'd been there forever.
Brian Nardo. I mean, goodness me, I can keep
going on the list on this, but Idon't need to.
Because he's been able to turn guys like Wes Lunt and Clint
Chef into dudes, right? That's no longer seems to be
true because the the game has changed.
And if Mike Gundy's time has passed and Mike Gundy's time has
(35:06):
passed, I don't miss the man in your will.
But you're gonna have to change the way you do business, just
like Clemson if you expect to bearound coaching football for
another 5-10 years because the game is no longer the way that
you set it up to be. It's whatever the college sports
supermission says it's going to be.
(35:26):
It's whatever the federal legislation that we might get
passed says it's going to be. And it's what the House first
NCAA settlement says it is. Get with the times, get left
behind. Last guy I want to talk about
just briefly is Sam Pittman, whoyou know how much I love.
But losing to Memphis, it's justthat's that's difficult to
overcome. I get the Memphis has won 17,
their last 19 and they beaten their last four Power 4 pro
(35:49):
opponents. But you had a lead there, dawg.
You had a big lead. I want to say it was 3110 and
Memphis came all the way back toget that win, got Notre Dame
next week. A win against Notre Dame buys
you some good time, buys you some goodwill.
But it would have been better ifNotre Dame was 2 and O and not O
and two, when they when they play Purdue, right?
(36:10):
They're going to be 1 and 2 whenthey play Arkansas next week.
It feels like they're going to have to run the table the rest
of the way or for Coach Pitman to stick around.
I want it to happen one way or another 'cause I think the dude
is good for college football. I think he's good for Arkansas.
I don't think there's anybody inthe world that wants to be the
head coach of Arkansas more thanSam Pittman does.
But that also means you got to start winning some football
games. Never mind.
(36:31):
Arkansas won the Nash Championships in 19601960 and 66
played in 1969 national championship game.
Texas. Yeah, it only matters that they
ain't been no good since 2021. Some got to change.
All right, that is going to do it for tonight's live episode of
(36:52):
ADAPT and respond with me. RJ Young, if you like the show,
you like the channel, let me know that you like the live
shows in the comments below and we will catch y'all on the flip
side, yes. Music.
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