September 30, 2025 • 48 mins
Chip Scoggins, Ryan Burns and Justin Gaard recap the Gophers back and forth victory over Rutgers and specifically discuss the great effort from quarterback Drake Lindsay to help bring it home. The defense made some great adjustments as the game went on, the guys discuss the Gopher coordinators getting the win over some of their mentors. Anthony Smith looks like a first round pick, safety Kerry Brown had perhaps his best game and Koi Perich bounced back nicely from his struggles at Cal. At the end of the show they recap the weekend in the Big Ten including Oregon/Penn State, Illinois/USC, Indiana/Iowa and do a quick preview of Ohio State.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Glenn Mason said a long time ago at the University
of Minnesota, you need a Pair and a Spare. Thank you, PJ.
It is time for another edition of the Pair and
a Spare podcast. I'm justin Guard from Kfan, Chips Coggins
from the Minnesota Star Tribune, Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated
dot Com. We are presented as always by our great
partners at Jack's Cafe, and we were right in the
thick of it. Now, guys, the Big Ten season is
(00:21):
officially underway. The Gophers beat Rutgers last week. They go
to a high estate next weekend Saturday, a night game,
which Burns he's very excited about. He's always wanted to
spend an entire day in Columbus waiting for football, and
now he gets to do that. How are we doing, fellas,
how's everything going there after one Big Ten week for
the Gophers.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm not grumpy, if that's what you're asking me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I am a little bit. I am a little bit
because we got the we got you know, the kicktime
for this, and you were upset about it. We've got
Purdue coming up, and I love how it could be
six or six thirty, and just to make you mad,
they got the six thirty right for the Purdue game
just a half an hour later. For you, why do
you hate night games so much? Why do you hate
electric atmospheres?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Well, I'd argue that eleven am one in the fourth
quarter got pretty electric at honting In Bank Stadium, which
is why there was a key fallse start and Ethan
has one go between the.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Wickeds because of it.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
But it's just now, no one cares about beat writers,
and no one should care about us. We're just media jackals,
we're schmos. I think Chip would probably say nicer things
about the three of us, But it just means you
don't get home until wee hours in the morning, and
then you don't get to turn it off and you
just lay there. And then I get to the end
(01:39):
of the conundrum of I always booked the six or
seven am flight home, no matter where it's from.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I don't know why you beat writers do that. I
don't understand.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
To get back, I got to get back for what.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
The only I agree with Chip on travel wise, and
I know Chip had a lot of disdain for my
fact that when I flew out to cal Berkeley, I
arrived two msp T ten minutes after my plate started boarding.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Unbelievable, just unbelievable, and everything worked out that that would
get a fifteen yard penalty for me for sure.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I think you would eject me and for the game
as well. This would be targeting level for Chips Coggins.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I like night games.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
If the atmosphere is awesome, the atmosphere is gonna be awesome,
and I think that will be this weekend in Columbus
because they've been complaining for I feel like that was
the entire Buckeye fan mantra in twenty twenty four is
stop putting us on big noon games, please, Well it's
homecoming and the Gophers get to come to town and
they've won once there since I think nineteen fifty one,
(02:38):
and that was the two thousand, twenty year anniversary of
the Ron Johnson game.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Oh I was there? Was it my first time there?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I think it was the first time there when Kupito
was the quarterback. But uh, Jack Nicholas dotted the eye
and it was I think I think at that point
he was only like the fourth or fifth band member
to ever non band member to dot the I place
when Nuts and you guys have been obviously their their
(03:09):
band is phenomenal, like that whole pregame show.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I love it. Can we can we agree on that?
Justin nobody loves the band more than Mike Grim.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
No, he tells me that every.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Week the Ohio State Man or just any band.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Just any band, I'll come up from the pregame show
and I'll come up, you know, kind of do our
last like, you know, fist bumps to the crew, like
make sure you got my wireless stuff, and Grim and
people watching on YouTube can see me. He's always just
got his phone out just filming the band information.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I gotta be honest with you. The marching bands are
one of the things I love about college football. I mean,
of course, you know, like selfishly, like when Tennessee goes
up and down and then they the tea parts and
they run out Ohio State, I mean Gopher's band up
and down making the amp. I mean, it's one of
the joys of college football.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I do.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I'm with Grim on this one. I'm Grim on the band.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
All right, We'll show up to the Ray Christiansen press box.
I'll be for you twenty two minutes before kickoff every Saturday, and.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Me and Graham because we share a birthday, we share a.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Love for Oh that's right. Yeah, and you guys gets.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Older though he's a year he's a year older than me.
I'll see.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, let's talk about Gophers Rutgers a lot to get
into there. Chip you wrote about it, you made it, yeah,
your column, And I think that is the A topic
for me. Probably the B topic and the C topic
is the red Shirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsay was as
advertised on Saturday against the Scarlet Knights, he was terrific.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And how about when's the last time PJ. Flack walked
into the halftime locker room and said, run game, forget it,
don't even try to run. We're ripping up the game play.
We're not going to run it. We're putting the ball
in the quarterback's hands and we're gonna throw it. We're
gonna drop back twenty times in the third quarter alone.
I tell you, every time I watch Lindsay and more
(04:58):
impressed with him for a a lot of reasons. I mean,
the dude has a you know, on arm, obviously, but
accuracy putting the ball where it needs to go. The timing,
just the decision making where to go. But more than anything,
just how he looks running the offense. He looks so
poised to mature running you don't ever see him really
(05:18):
get rattled. He's just you know. And they said as
Burns after the game there late in he was like,
that was his first, like gotta have it drive of
his career.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
There wasn't one in the first couple of games, but
that's the first one where he said, hey man, you
got to score here, like down for six a half minutes,
they may not get the ball back. If you have
to punt here, it may be over. And if they
lose that game, the narrative and tones a lot different.
And he just goes out and dissects him, just carves
him up. Twenty one twenty two went six to seven
(05:50):
for seventy two yards in that drive. I mean, it
gets the real deal. I mean he is a really
good quarterback.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
With the asterisk of course off it's rotill a big
ten defense. We talked about it on the preview, but
when you.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Go twenty three to twenty eight, hold on, just pause.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I love how a guy who's been a coordinator for
fifty two years. We're just giving an asterisk. Or's like, hey,
we all know he sucks, all right, we all get it.
I just love that. That's so if a guy who
just keeps getting jobs, we're like, well, yeah, it's a
Rob Smith defense, Like, let's see him go up against
Phil Parker somebody like that. Just ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
It's just ridiculus been raised in this media market for
too long.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
With you.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You're not wrong though.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
No kidding, my goodness, but anyway, go ahead, you can
plat it.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Eighty passes in the second half, two hundred something yards,
a couple of touchdowns. He just doesn't get sped up.
And I also will give whether it's Fleck or whether
you want to give Greg Harbo credit for You're down
fourteen to nothing, and I think guards that you had
texted me or I had texted you, and it's just
it was dead on the sidelin in the stands Athan
(07:02):
puts his hand to the to his helmet after they
go fourteen nothing, there's nothing going right, and Harbo first
and ten from the nineteen yard line dials up a
play action shot and it's the longest play I think
in Huntington Bank Stadium history is that.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Is that what it is now? Seventy eight yards on
that Jalen Smith connection.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yes, and I texted you about something else you texted
me at eleven fifty one. I won't read what you
wrote because I don't think people in the Gopher football
building want people to see what you wrote to me,
So I'm not going to heut you. Oh boy, eleven
fifty one, I wrote, needs someone to do something, and
I think as I hit send, the ball was in
(07:42):
the air. Drake Jalen Smith, and I just wrote back
that works at eleven fifty four. Eleven fifty one to
eleven fifty four. But that was it right because it
was dead. It was not a good vibe and how
could it be. The defense couldn't stop Athan and the
offense wasn't doing much.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
And that's why, even though the head coach may tell
you he doesn't believe in momentum, ten minutes of real
time later, the game is tied fourteen fourteen. Everything is
going Minnesota's way, The stands are back into it, the
team believes again, and it was a brand new ballgame.
But because Harbo and Drake hit the shop play, when
the shop play goes really well, that's what can happen mean, I, well,
(08:24):
we have been waiting for for some time and they
finally hit one.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
You guys mentioned his command. I would love to And
I actually talked to Tanner Morgan about this. Oh good
for me. He's on the Fox nine pregame show. Now
he's going to join us, I think for most of
the rest of the season. And we were texting after
the game and I said, I would love to sit
with you or you know, someone like Daniel House who
knows all the you know, the ins and the outs,
the formations and the checks and the schemes and everything,
(08:49):
because as you guys know, I don't know any of
that stuff. I don't really know what I'm doing down there.
I'm just watching the watching the ball. You're doing a
great job, honey, thank you. Yeah, fifteen years later, I'm
still fooling them. So, like, just go back and watch
the first drive of the third quarter and just Lindsay's
control of everything after they came out of halftime, like
he's got you know, he's moving people around, he's telling
(09:11):
this guy to go there, he's switching to play at
the line of scrimmage. He's doing he's recognizing something. Here
comes the blitzer. Oh, I'll just throw it right there
past that guy. Like you can tell he's just locked
in on everything they're trying to do. And I would
love to sit with someone to explain and to show
me what he's doing and how he's doing it and
what he's doing because it's very different than what we
(09:32):
were used to with Gopher football and what we saw
even on Saturday with the all right, we're ready. I'm
gonna look over to the coach. All right, we're ready.
I'm gonna look over to the coach. Oh now we're ready.
Like it's just such a different world. And I'm not
saying one's better than the other. It's just as I'm
watching that in real time on the in the third quarter,
(09:52):
they're coming towards the student section and I was standing
on that side and I'm just watching him conduct everything.
I'm like, that is it's just a impressive. It's just
impressive how much handle he has on it.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, and or what four starts into his career. I
mean this is four starts and I do uh apploud
harbo because he went tempo there to start the third quarter,
like get him in a rhythm. Let's let's speed us up.
Let's let him just kind.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Of end on that scoring drive to win the game.
They win.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, let's just let's let's like literally what PJ said,
let's put the ball in his hands and just let
him go run the offense. And basically said, we can't
run the ball. We're not even gonna try. And that's
so anti what we've seen from Fleck. It's like, stick
with it, stick with it, you know, we've seen it historically,
and like this is like, no, we got a guy,
a quarterback who can run this offense and can command it.
(10:44):
And I mean, what do he throw? Forty one.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
One?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, forty one? Well he dropped back to.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Pass in that third quarter alone twenty times.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
M hm. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I don't have the stats.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
I asked Carl Anderson with Minnesota Communications, and those nineteen
past attempts that Drake had in the third quarter were
the most that he's tracks since I believe twenty nineteen. Yeah,
adapt die on the vine, and they're adapting to a
running game that has stalled without Darius.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
And we've seen this before.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
But I also think, I mean, justin you talk about
the way that Drake was conducting it, I felt like
they ran the same play in so many different ways.
And that's kind of what Harbo has talked about. They
want to make the same look different and the different
look the same. And what I'm referencing is you'd saw
them go trips on one side and they would motion
(11:39):
what if they were trying to find out are they
in man or are they in zone? And with the motion,
Drake knew if he follows man, if he stays but
and they pass him off its own, and then I
know where the route combinations and where I need to go.
It doesn't have to be overly complicated with this thing.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, and I do like the Jalen Smith touchdown. I
think Burns it might have been you had asked that,
uh he's he looked up. I don't know if it's
supposed to be a run play there or what, but
he looked up. He saw that the guy was not
playing press coverage, so he did something. He looked at.
Jalen gave the signal and then just basically popped up
and threw it and let Jaylen Smith use his strength
(12:18):
and you know, the bulldoze his way into.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
His like.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
That. That just to me and maybe all quarterbacks can
do that. I don't know. I didn't play the position,
but but you're talking about a freshman who's four games
into his career recognizing that just say, hey, he's playing
off coverage, which I'm gonna throw it out to my playmaker,
go make it play. That's that's to me, that's that's
great awareness. And again, he's four games into his career.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
It had the coaching staff having the trust in him
to allow him to make that check. Yeah, at the
line of scrimmage is another part of it, where it's
the veteran quarterback presence, but in his fourth career start.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
And the second part of what you said there chip
getting into your playmakers. We have to talk about them too, right,
because Yeah, a lot of guys made catches, like not
just easy ones like Jalen Smith, I mean Lemechy, Brockington, Tracey,
I'm on here. The last couple of weeks, Javon Tracy,
we've seen thought the tight ends were great. Burnsy, you know,
catching balls in traffic, you're the tight end of the group,
you know, catching it over the middle knowing you're probably
(13:15):
gonna get smacked. There were you know, three or four
of those, and we talked about drops for the first
month of the podcast. I don't remember one off the
top of my head, and guys were and if it was,
if there was one, it didn't derail any of the drives.
Guys were making plays that were coming their way. The
ball was spread around. How many guys had tark ten, well,
seven or eight caught balls.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, I had in my column that seven receivers had
at least three catches. And I remember going back to
that the one immediate thing we had at one of
the open practices of fall Camp, and and PG said,
we have a lot more options now than we had,
you know last year. Last year, you knew it was
Daniel Jackson or Elijah Spencer those who were catching the
(13:57):
balls the majority what was it the number burns, you like,
seventy five percent something, Yeah, And I and I remember,
you know, he said, we have a bunch of different
guys in first couple of weeks. I'm like, okay, where
are they?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
You know?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
But this this is the game where you finally saw
Tracy and and all these guys kind of step forward
and make plays. And so yeah, it was seven guys
catching at least three passes. I mean, for for a quarterback,
a young quarterback. That's got to give him confidence too
that he just doesn't have to lock in on one
guy or two guys that okay, he trusts you know
(14:30):
a number of different guys that I mean, he clearly
has trust with these guys to throw tight spots and
expect that they're gonna make plays. I mean, and I
asked Ethan about it, and he said, well, yeah, we'll
get to Ethan. I asked Drake about it, and he
said that this goes back to the off season. All
the work they did in the off season, all the
you know, the work they do there. That's where you
develop this confidence in being all just spread the ball
(14:54):
around like that.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
DJ keeps talking about his state championship game Drake being
the greatest performance he's ever seen. That we need. We
need to go back and watch it like a parentis
fare watch party of the Arkansas State championship game in
twenty twenty three. I think it would have been December
of twenty twenty three. I want to keep watching that game.
But I mean, they his the love they have for
(15:16):
him is being rewarded, right Burnsy, I mean, it's paying off.
You can see why they why they like him, and
it's makes it fun. I mean, Saturday was a fun game.
And buckle up, by the way, I think all of
the rest of them are going to be like this too.
We talked about this last year, like you tweeted out
the win percentage stuff burns Y, which was like an EKG,
you know, just bouncing all over the places Minnesota. Yeah, exactly.
(15:39):
It's going to be like that pretty much the rest
of the way, right for most of these games. So
buckle up because it's gonna be it's going to be
a ride. I think you got to.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Take care of business at home, and we talked about
that before the season. You know, three and zero at home,
they've got after this upcoming weekend of Columbus three year,
next four at home with Purdue, Nebraska and Michigan in state,
you got to go at least two and one in
that stretch. And that's not going to be easy to do, right,
But if you can have the type of performance where
(16:10):
we talked about all offseason, their performance in one possession
games and then they stunk against Cal in that same
regard where you get into the final ten minutes of
the game and you don't perform final twenty minutes a game,
you don't perform, and they performed down.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
The stretch in this one.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I also think if we're going to talk the way
that we did about Harbo and Collins getting out coached
in cal which I think is true, I also think
you got to say the adjustments that the two young
coordinators made in the final forty minutes of the game
where Minnesota outscores them thirty one to fourteen. Ye against
their former teachers in Kirk Shiraka and Rob Smith. You've
(16:48):
also got to give Harbo and Collins credit with they
bounced back from I think not their best coaching performances
of their young coordinator careers to they were a big
part of the reason why Minnesota walked away with victory.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I was thinking about that on that last Rutgers drive.
You talk about Chip the big gotta have it moment
for Drake Lindsay, That's the biggest moment of Danny Collins' career, right, Yeah,
get the stop against a you know, experienced, veteran, highly compensated,
really good offensive coordinator, Kirk Shiraka. It's like, here you go,
(17:21):
big boy, like you wanted to be a defensive coordinator
in the Big ten. We got to have a stop here,
and thankfully Rutgers helped them.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Right, It doesn't quite a snap in between the quarterbacks slags, but.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
You keep them in front of you. Make him do
another snap, make him do another play. But I was
thinking of the same thing, Burns. You like, what a
moment for him, for Danny Collins specifically because Harbo's kind
of done this now for a couple of years obviously,
but that's the biggest spot for Danny Collins. And to
your point, to switch mid stream, and I heard the
Gopher Gerdiron podcast Derek Burns talking about exactly kind of
(17:54):
what they did and how it changed things for you know,
the Rutgers offense and made it more difficult. You absolutely
have to give him credit and hopefully that gives him,
not that he needed confidence, not that he didn't know
what he was doing before, but you gotta feel it.
That's got to feel good for a young guy, especially
that game Burnsy's narrative Street Game, with all the back
(18:14):
and forth, there was a lot on the line there
in a lot of different ways, and it was cool
for the young quarterback to get one on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
It was It was a weird game for the defense
where you set New Fleck era highs and tackles for
lost in sacks.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
But you should have given up over thirty points and
you gave up twenty eight.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Just a very boom or bust. It was either a
four yard sack or a third and fifteen run that
goes for twenty eight yards.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
It just I'm filing those away too, I know, I know.
PJ specifically said to Andy Grider, you know this is
a great game for you. Remember that, all of you.
When it's third and seven at cal and he hands
it off to Cam Davis, just remember that. Okay, you
can get first ounce. Pittsburgh Steelers just did it to
the Viking on Sunday in Dublin. It happens every once
in a while.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
You're right, I mean, and we talked about beforehand. Those
record receivers are good. I mean, when you have a
six six, two hundred and twenty five pound receiver, he's
going to make plays.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I thought eighth and threw about four balls that could
have been picked off that they just they didn't come
down with. They got you know, one, but and.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Then they would score the next play.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Have an opportunity to turn them over. We'll get it,
and then he would score.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Then they would even and you guards a year on
the the field and saw the running backs closer than
I mean. There was a lot of mistackles that last drive.
I mean there was like three, you know, one run.
I don't know if that guy was powerful or what,
but I didn't think they You're right, it was kind
of a polar performance, burnsy, whereas like they'd either make
(19:50):
a really good player or a guy would break three
tackles and have a long run. But they made key plays,
you know, I mean, and they got a fortunate break
there when when Ethan wasn't ready for the snap. But
I agree with Danny Collins. I thought he made some
really nice and obviously hard about two, but I thought
Danny made some really nice adjustments to create more pressure
(20:12):
and try to get eighth in the because we said
going in, he'll throw you an opportunity to intercept it,
and I felt like they had opportunities to have more
interceptions than what they finished with.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
We're just so easter the famine and it was just
I was guard so you couldn't see me.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
I was so mad up in the press box, but
second and fifteen, first down, second and eleven, third and eleven,
first down, drop pick, touchdown on the next play.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Just yeah, you didn't know what you were going to get. Now,
two players I do.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
Want to highlight, specifically, Carrie Brown had his best season
with huge moments and his interception. He played it perfectly
where he's trying to show that he's going to be
a man. But you see right at the break he
gets his eyes back right his Ethan is throwing it
dropped in his own coverage.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
We talked about it on this podcast.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Changed the picture on Ethan and he gets a gift
a couple of huge pass breakups in the fourth quarter,
plus that tackle in space on the third and twenty eight.
If he misses that tackle and it's a forty nine
yard field goal instead of fifty six, I think that
field goal is good and we get into overtime.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Can I tell you about that play too, because I
talked about it on the broadcast. Go back and watch
that play where he started from and how quickly he
realized where he needed to go. You know, it's just
good coaching, it's good scouting to know what you're doing,
Like he knew that was his responsibility. He knew that
they were trying to get that guy, and he started
(21:42):
like the second the ball was snapped, probably fifteen twenty
yards away and just kind of diagonally cuts all. It
wasn't like he was just there waiting like he had
to read it. He had to get there. And that
was another one that just happened to be in my
frame of vision where I'm just kind of watching him
pre snap get to where he needs to go. Super impressive.
I mean, when you have smart players that know what
they're doing, and you're right burns Ey like they're trying
(22:04):
to get just every single yard they can to get
a decent shot at a field goal. And the guy
they brought out for the fifty six yard er, like
it got there, it had plenty of leg, Like it
had plenty.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
Of leg, and so I'm telling it, I think it
would have been good from forty nine if not, but
the other guy and he continues to somehow fly under
the radar. Now, I think this is a more national
statement than it is locally. Anthony Smith correct. I looked
this up yesterday because he was the Shrine Bowl Player
of the Week. Anthony Smith go for defensive lineman number
(22:37):
zero has sixteen and a half tackles.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
For loss in his last eleven games.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
Yet I don't know that I've seen a single NFL
draft analyst or big national, big ten person come out
and say we've said it on this podcast, and I
think he's going to be the next first second round
pick to continue the streak.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
He continues to play like it.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
I believe he's now had nine consecutive games with at
least one tackle for lost.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Chip.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, I mean we said it after the game won,
and I think it probably holds up all the way through.
He's playing like a high NFL draft pick. He just is.
I mean, he this is a guy where the thing
I appreciate is you had high expectations for him coming
to season, like he needs to be, you know, your
(23:24):
best player on defense. I know we talk about Coy
a lot, but I think Anthony Smith needs to be
your best player in defense. He's doing it. He's putting
up the stats, he's he's a game changer. He's showing
up every week. He's impacting the game. So it's not
surprising to us. You know, I don't know what if
national people are going to pay attention, but I think.
I think locally people appreciate how good a player he is.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
And he'll get some run Saturday night, you have to
yeah on the NBC broadcast. Yeah, he's playing great. Could
have done without him barking at me on the field
post game.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
The dog I heard about that, the dogs.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Go for football. He just there's always something like every week,
you know, they have a theme, and you know the
players they all buy into it, like they're all million
miles an hour neckton mentality and yeah, it's it's you know,
it's it's a career highlight to be a forty three
year old man getting barked at by a college kid
on the field after a big ten Vigon. The PJ
(24:21):
barked at me in the in the locker room because
it was something about hunting dogs, and I wanted to
be like, PJ, you've never hunted in your life. You
and I have never hunted.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Part of his postgame presser was he was trying to
talk about like hunting pheasants or.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
He couldn't get through it, not dogs and no idea.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
What he's He's like, what else do you hunt? I
don't know what the animals?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, no idea there's no he had no idea, and
I let it go because I'm I'm not one to
criticize somebody's hunting bona fide spurns. You know that.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
I know keep in the hunting community here.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
The sportsmen or sports women community were very accepting of
all people.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
If you want to join us, guardsy, yeah, So go
back and listen to the postgame interviews if you want
to hear so grown men bark at other grown men's
that's how it goes. Eighthan calliac mannis you mentioned it
started the game ten of thirteen, one hundred and twenty
nine yards and two touchdowns. His rating was two eleven
point zero five, which I didn't even know you could
get that high, but that's how well he was playing.
(25:17):
You may have seen him gesture to the student section
after the second touchdown that he could not hear them,
and just for fun, I looked it up. After that gesture.
He was eleven of twenty one for one hundred and
twenty yards and a pick for a ninety point eight
six rating. I think I texted you Burnsey. The first
three passes after that gesture, two of them should have
been picked, one of them was, and It didn't sound
(25:39):
like he could hear the snap count on the final
drive either, because the snap went between his legs and
they lost the game. Anything you guys want to add
about that, I think it.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Means a little bit more for the narrative streak coming
back in. You think he didn't hear the booze as
he walked out onto the field to start this game.
You don't think he now regrets putting his hand to
his helmet. No, no one forced him to do that,
No one told him to do that, so silly. I
think both things with Athan er Drue. I think he
looks improved, and I think he looks largely pretty good
(26:09):
in that system with Kirk Shiaka and the way he
should as a senior quarterback. But he still makes decisions,
and it's the ten to fifteen percent of decisions in
a game that Minnesota, just like they did last year,
didn't get enough takeaways for what the opportunities were.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
But Chip, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, you know, he's clearly better than he was here. Obviously,
those receivers are good. I mean, his receivers are good.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
And that tailback I thought was pretty good too.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, and I mean a couple of throws on the
first couple of drives where he's thrown it to the
out breaking rounde. I mean, those are nice throws. But
when you cup your ear and you're doing that early
on and then you come back and really just throw
a horrific interception, that changes the game. I mean, obviously
the bomb changed the game, but then to come back
and set them up, you know, deep Donner, we can
score again. It was he he looks, you know, more
(27:01):
comfortable in that system. But you I agree. He also
could have had about four picks in that game for
the Gophers that made a play. So he still makes
decisions that hurt the team.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Yeah, I feel like every throw could be a touchdown
or an interception. It's just kind of a it's kind
of a high wire act. Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I'm sorry, Rumm, Gophers had the best quarterback on the field.
They just did.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
His touchdown pass was a rocket between three Gophers right
over the MA I mean, just a hell of a
throw right. Well, you had texted me it was an
Eddie Gordado fastball, of which I agreed with Eddie Gordado. Wow,
way to date ourselves? I mean, can we every day?
How dare you Can we go a little bit more
current here? My goodness, you are like one of the
(27:51):
old guard media guys. Now, Jesus, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Is Joe Nathan still around?
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Can we go to Nathan? Yeah? That's oh, my goodness.
Coy Parritch nice bounced back for him, as expected. It
had had a little bit of a circus on a
couple of the returns and then the punt and then
the kickoff to start the second half. That was right
in front of me, and I'm watching the ball and
I'm like, why is Coy sprinting to the back line
too short? Yeah? And it's like what And again, I'm
(28:19):
not a punt returner. I'm not a kickoff returner. But
it's almost like you can't see things sometimes, which is
bizarre because again, that was a very returnable kick and
he somehow retreated all the way back to the goal
line and then had to sprint way back up, so
he must have just misjudged it right off the bat,
so to speak.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, the sack was nice and he got a big
hit on eighthan you know the kick return there. Can
we talk about yeah, can we talk about the.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Like change the way that he looked a little frazzled after.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I mean, he got that's a big time lick. Yeah,
there's a big time hit. Can we talk about the
final eight though? And he sets him up for a
you know with the kick return and then the end
of the sequence there at the end of the first half,
Like I in Pj's not the only and Greg Harbrough
is not the only one to do is But it
shotgun third and one, fourth and short drives me crazy.
(29:09):
It just does. I don't know why coaches do that.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I'll be more explicit when I say shotgun on third
and fourth in inches should be abolished in the lower
forty eight states. The punt it to the moon, set
it on fire. Never under any circumstances do I ever
want to see that ever again, especially when it's not
just go under center and run that.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Give a six foot five quarterback.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
And I know they're trying to take hits off of him,
but with the lack of push you're getting from your
offensive line. And I think where I'm at with this
offensive line is they are among the most athletic that
Fleck has had, which is why they're so good in
past protection. But they struggle with physicality and they struggle
with knockback. And I don't know what the answer is
(29:53):
to the short yardage woes other than hopefully Darius Taylor
is back very soon. But yeah, Jeff, I'll just say it,
I hate you saw me losing my mind in shotgun,
third and fourth and short hard.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
We need the camera on you during the games, Burnsy.
This is what I'm learning those cameras on great.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Well, it's just, yeah, idiot.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
You don't back up five yards to get seventeen.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Inches in this aspect. Well, especially when they they were
under center for like the first twenty plays of the game,
like they were, they were going under center a lot,
and they ran one push push in the first game.
It didn't work, and it's like they're done with it.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Yeah, it's like Fleck just said, Nope, we're never going
to do that again.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
We're not doing that again because I thought the same thing.
It's like, it's so deflating. It's third and one and
fourth and one to not get it like.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
And then to give up the touchdown.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Well then you you mentioned that, so Koy returns it
to the thirty two and it felt like Fleck and
I we asked them about it afterwards. In his mind,
he there were three options there. Well, the three options
were end zone shot. You had eight seconds left, but
you had no timeouts. You had quick out to the
sidelines to get eight yards or whatever that is, or
(31:02):
kickfield goal. Fleck talked about how he didn't want to
take an end zone shot because of an interception, which
is so unbrand for Fleck in terms of what is
the worst thing that could possibly happen, That's the one
I'm going to assume in that situation is gonna happen.
He didn't want to take the sideline shot because he
didn't want to get tackled in bounds and not get
(31:22):
an attempt. But it felt like by the time he
figured out that he wanted to take the field goal
right away. You saw this Guardsy Brady Dennibergg, their kicker
had gone back to the net to kick.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah, he was standing right next to me.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Yeah, that is their own twenty five yard line.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
So we had to run fifty five yards out onto
the field and I don't know why they didn't just spike.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It to give that's the play.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Yes, just give everybody a chance to take a breath.
Set up your field goal operation it was rushed out
onto the field, it was pushed right.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
The whole thing seemed a little frazzled there at the end.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Chipper Well and PJ said he at first he was
going to run a play and then he changed his
mind basically, and so that's when Brady went back and
was going to kick the thing, and then he said, no,
let's kick it right now. I just think no in
the stats and you've repeated him on this kicker at distance,
You've got to run a play there to try to
shorten the distance for him. You got to have something
(32:23):
in your arsenal where it's a quick out to the
sideline that you can get out of bounds, just a
quick hitter they get just seven yards. I mean, you
have to try to make this a more manageable kick
for him. So it was I think Pj's indecision there
created kind of a rush situation where the whole thing was,
the timing of everything was off.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
I think the play was despite it.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
If everybody an opportunity to look at it for an
extra twenty five thirty seconds with a clear mind, or
just give your kicker a chance to catch his breath
after running fifty yards onto the field, but hindsight is
always twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
All right. We got fifteen minutes before projects has a
heart out, so we're gonna fly through some stuff after
we talk about our great partners. At Jack's Cafe Jaxcafe
dot com. We had our anniversary couple last week and
we want to help promote a little bit as we're
basically going to October. And again, PJ is probably going
to this because now he's a big hunter. The Hunter's
(33:20):
Dinner at Jack's Cafe, Burnsy. You don't even know about
this yet because you're not on the group text. We'll
try to include you for next time. The Hunters Dinner,
and I'm aware. The Hunter's Dinner at Jack's Cafe Tuesday,
November fourth, it's the six o'clock kind of start time.
You get a greeting cocktail and or dirvs. How about
some of these or dervs coffee crusted ostrich with Jimmy churry,
(33:44):
jerked alligator baby back ribs was blood orange rum glaze.
I don't know how to pronounce this word. Camel kofta
and cilantro, Sasaki, kangaroo CANape. We've got sushi, We've got tuna, tartar.
We've got potato cups. And then the five course meal
Burnsy grilled Icelandic Wolfish taco, split, pea soup, wild rice, salad,
(34:09):
grilled venison, chop all venison even I know venison is good.
And then dessert is a chai curd with pineapple syrup.
And then they have for guys like chipping me what
you need to pair the drinks with. You've got a pilsner,
You've got an e pa, You've got a winter ale,
you've got a tropical I p a. This is the
(34:29):
Hunter's Dinner on Tuesday, November fourth. You can get all
the info at Jackscafe dot com. It's not the menu, chipper,
Look at that mean? Did you hear that?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
I Am not a hunter, but I would eat that menu?
Like that sounds outstanding? How about Bill coming up with this?
You know this menu just excellent. Let's get a lot
of people going there. I know we have I know
we have hunters. Well, we got a bow hunter here.
I know we got a lot of hunters that are
that listen to this. So let's let's uh, let's pack that.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Place before Burnsy. Ways in, you don't do reservations online
for this. For this one, you have to call and
the numbers on the website Jackscafe dot com, but I'll
give it to you here as well. Six one two
seven eight nine seven nine seven. That's extension one six
one two seven, eight nine seven nine seven Extension one Burnsey.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
I mean that sounds delightful, especially with that next weekend
is gun opener across the state for deer hunters across
and it is a bye week from Minnesota, so you
don't have anything to look forward to other than going honey,
might as well go to Jack's Cafe and take part
in what sounds like a very delightful meal.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
And we will tweet about this as well. But they
are also back at it in a Minnesota Monthly Restaurant
Legends bracket challenge and Jackson we helped him out with
the patio last year. We want to help this year
as well. Minnesota Monthly dot comfer infull there. We'll tweet
that out. But we'd love for all of our listeners
to vote, support bills, support the staff, support Jack's Cafe.
So we got a lot going. We got a lot
(35:54):
going with Jack.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Let's get that championship guards.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
On the patio.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
It's a legendary. It's a legend.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Brackets, not legend, no leaders, no equivocation, not legends and
leaders exactly. All right, make your reservations for the Hunter's
dinner or just brunch, date night, whatever you want. Group
parties from fifteen to four hundred. As we're approaching the
holiday season. You know they're gonna take great care of
you at Jack's Cafe. Learn more at jackscafe dot com.
(36:23):
Game of the Night in the Big Ten. So we
got about ten minutes here, Let's do about two and
a half minutes on each of these games. Oregon and
Penn State. A furious rally and then a double overtime
and the white out and the craziness, And what's the
takeaway from Oregon going into State College and knocking off
the Nitney Lyons Burnsy.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
I would say it was almost the fans afterwards chanting
fire James Franklin. I know it's they are so tired
of big game James not showing up in that instance,
and I just I understand it. But I'm also thinking
to myself, aren't you a team that was in the
final four last year at college football? Semi finalists? Like,
(37:07):
what are we even discussing Chip.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
That's the state of sports. It's the state of sports man.
But what is the stat they're for and whatever it
is against top ten teams. But my takeaway is Oregon's
really fast, the quarterback more is very good. They get
some their defenses legit, I mean they're they're good. Yeah,
I mean it's we said Penn State, though, if you're
(37:30):
gonna go from being a really good or a great
team to you know up bresh on that, you gotta
win those games. And I give credit to the Oregon
coming in there in the way they play well.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
The nice thing for Penn State, like Ohio State learned
last year, everything you want is still on the table,
right because of the expanded playoff, everything you want is
still on the table. Obviously, you don't want to lose
that game. You have them at home, it's to light out.
It's a disappointing loss, but your season's not over that.
James Franklin, here's my favorite part is he was asked
about because they had a buy That's the other reason
(38:02):
why people were annoyed. Did you spend too much time
recruiting during the bye? You know, he's James is like,
come on, I mean we planned for the game. You know,
we've been working on Oregon all summer. I mean they
didn't they hire a coach specifically that coached against Oregon
twice last year, like they have. That's my favorites. Like
do you think maybe you should have not recruited as much?
Like really, like that's what we're going with, Like you
(38:25):
think James forgot he had a game, like the coaches.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
The runways too short? Come on, man, it's just that
they got. They lost to a good team.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Yeah, exactly in overtime, right, Like Oregon's good too, But yeah,
it's it's all right. Illinois bounced back in a big way.
That was at the same time as the Gopher game, right,
because yeah, I didn't I didn't see much of this one.
But speaking of the win percentages, you know, fluctuating on
that one. That was a crazy game, and Illinois walks
(38:56):
him off and USC now loses another big ten game.
It's not going well in the Land of Troy. They're
not very happy. Speaking of coaches, with Lincoln Riley and
how it's gone.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
I think that fan base almost runs as hot and
cold as you will see a fan base where last week,
going into that game. It was We're the greatest in
the country, Matt Lioner, Reggie Bush, here we come, this
is the season, and now it's fire Lincoln.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Maybe going from as we spoke about playing.
Speaker 4 (39:25):
A nine pm local time to nine am in a
cornfield against a team that just got throttled. And I
think we have a lot of respect on this podcast
for what Brett Bieliman does and how he coaches and
got that team to rebound that would have that game
would have not even been close if Illinois doesn't fumble
into the USC end zone.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
I don't know. I just think USC has to prove it.
And we've seen this before.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
They come out hot and then they have to go
to the Midwest and they struggle, and we saw it
last year in Minnesota. Deserves credit for beating them, obviously,
but they struggle in these Midwest games.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah, I mean, you get beat them. A credit for
rallying is I mean it was a really bad loss
that they had. When you get taken apart like that
in a primetime game, to come back and respond against
you know, I would say USC is a good team,
but obviously they have a lot to prove in terms
of consistency. I mean, we've seen this before where they
have a you know, a couple wins and everybody thinks
(40:22):
that they're Pete Carroll's, you know back in all this,
and then and then they they lay an egg. So yeah,
they when they have to travel uh east uh to
play they they've had problems. But to me to take away,
this is just Belama's ability to get his team regrouped
after a bad loss.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
And every game in the Big Ten is going to
be like this.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
That's how it is.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
It's just everybody's got to buckle up because he's.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Been wanting parody, and now we have seen as much
parody as we continue to see outside of a handful
of teams in the Big ten.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Or even three.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
We've said the last couple of years, the gap between
two and fifteen, two and fourteen in this league or
three and fourteen, it's just not that that high. I mean,
you have to be able to deal with different circumstances,
going east, going west, time zones. I mean, they're good
(41:18):
players here, they're good coaches. I mean they you know,
good teams.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
We wanted parody forever and now people move the goalposts
and say mediocrity. It's all mediocrity. It's like, well it
might be or everybody's just kind of good. Yeah, you
can't make mistakes, you can't make turnovers, you can't miss kicks,
you can't get like the margins are very small, and
let's go right into the next game. We mentioned Indiana
just boat racing Illinois last Saturday night looking like a
(41:43):
top ten team. They were in the fight of their
life against the Iowa haw Gys at Kinnick Stadium. That
looked like it was going to be one of those
classic Iowa games where they just played great defense, hang around,
make enough plays, you know, leading to halftime, the whole bit,
and Indiana found a way to just grease out a game,
not their preferred way to play. I wouldn't think ferns
(42:05):
and win, but they did just enough to survive the
scare at Kinnick.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
Well, you saw Phil Parker have an uncharacteristic I would say,
almost gaff like from him, where at the end of
the game there he ran the same thing three different times,
and on third and ten at midfield they finally got
one made one man miss and they.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Go score the game winning touchdown. The other part of
it is I know that I was got the bye week.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Now, I would love to know what Mark Ronowski status
is because he departs from the game. Parents is talking
about afterwards how he couldn't decelerate and it's a knee injury.
I mean, that's scary, scary news to me. Chipper, if
you're an.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Iowahaw Kye fan, yeah, I mean obviously you mean that
for them, that's you know, you gotta have him. I
mean that that offense obviously you know they struggle.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
He is there.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
But to me, for Indiana, that was impressive because much
like Bielman, you come off this huge win, everybody's you know,
talking about you and giving you the flowers and roses
and all that. You have to go into a tough
place to play. I guess a team that has a
formula it always has magic there. To me, college football,
(43:18):
and you can say pro football too, is like I
think fans and media sometimes expect you to have your
a game every week. It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen.
That's not realistic. The good teams find a way when
it's when you're not at your best or when the
other teams has done something to affect you to where
you're you know, you're in a as you go to
(43:39):
a greasy game where good teams find a way to
win those they find way close games when you're not
your best. And that's an impressive win by Indiana, I
think because just a huge human emotion of coming off
this huge performance where you feel like you're top of
the world and you have to go and play in
a tough environment and you're maybe not playing the way
you want to but still to win. That could be
(44:01):
one where you look back at the end of the seasons, like,
you know, that was a pretty everybody. I'll talk about Illinois,
but that was a pretty impressive win. What they did
the next week, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
Having to back up the emotion and that play, Kinnick
was ready to go, right. I mean, people were saying
it was as loud as it's been in a couple
of years. Pat Anger, their old you know gray linebacker
who does their radio, said he couldn't even hear himself
think at times during that game because it was so loud,
and which makes sense, right. I mean, I was been
selling out every game, But you're right, burns Ey, the
(44:29):
Gronowski thing is going to be the thing to watch
now for the next couple of weeks because mobility is
a big part of his game, as we've learned, right
even going back to the Rutgers went in the fourth
quarter with a couple of touchdowns there and also an
ear to the student section, But the game was the
game was a little bit more in hand when he
did it as opposed to when Ethan did it. All right, Ohio,
(44:50):
go ahead.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
I always got some very important games off the buy.
I'll remind everyone that next week is their trip to
Camp Randall, where as Chip has reminded us all off
season forty t push ups every single day for the
Wisconsin Badgers, remind themselves of how many points the Iowall
Bet Iowa Hawk guys put up on them, and then
before Minnesota comes to town, they get the fighting James
Franklin's So if this season is going to stay, I'll
(45:13):
remain on track for them to win their eight nine
games every year with the voodoo of.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
Kirk Farrence and special teams and defense and timely bounces.
They need Gronowski to be a big part of that.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Somebody speaking of the only thing we'll say on Wisconsin
before we have to go is they got their kick
time for that Iowa game. I think it's a night game.
And one of the comments, so I just looked at
the comments underneath Wisconsin's announcement, you know, because it's Iowa Wisconsin.
Somebody said, I have tickets to a comedian that night.
I guess I'll have to decide which is funnier, Badger
(45:45):
football or.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Shane Gillis's great O'll standy.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
It's tough. It's tough sixty seconds on Ohio State burnsy
as we go. Hopefully I won't have any stories next week.
I've done a lot of due diligence on which pass
I need to make sure I can do my job
at Ohio Stadium. At the Horseshoe, I'm doing a lot
of mental preparation for an encounter with my favorite redcoat
(46:12):
security guard that I'm sure still works there. So I'm
a little nervous about the trip for those reasons. What
do we think about the Buckeyes The number one team
in the country.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
Yeah, I think they deserve it, And whether you want
to put them in the same tier is Oregon in Miami,
I would agree with you. Their defense specifically is tremendous.
They have playmakers at every level. I think they got
the best safety in America and Caleb Downs. They got
the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on
their defensive line who had five tackles for loss last week.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
And they have not given up in.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
Any single game ten points yet Matt Patricia going from
Rob Smith to Matt Patricia and the like. This isn't
meant as a slide at flex roster. But the talent
discrepancy that they have one through eleven versus is whatever
Ohio State trots out onto the field. Now, Ohio State's
got two, if not two and a half times the
(47:05):
budget that Minnesota has.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
But yeah, I mean I think you know what he yeah, Yeah,
it's the school whose former athletic director said we're going
into We're going thirty million into the red because we
need football to be good. Meanwhile, here it was like
four million dollars and we had fifty two stories written
about it. Like, I mean, it's just is what it is, right,
it is what it is. Rutger's going seventy million in
the budget in the depths of two years out of four.
(47:28):
It's insanity. But that's yeah, but they gotta go play, right,
I mean, that's you gotta go play Yeah to your point.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
Four games at defense is given up two touchdowns, twenty
two total points. I mean, number one and easily in
college football. Obviously huge test for them. It starts up front.
The Gopher's offense line has to be able to do something.
They got to protect it, Drake. I don't know how
(47:57):
effectively they're gonna be able to run the ball, but
that's obviously a big time step up in talent that
they're gonna face on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
Looking forward to it. Burns, you drink some coffee on
Saturday and we'll see you in Columbus. Buddy, sounds good
to me. He's Ryan Burns, He's Chips Goggins. I'm justin guard. Reminder,
thanks to our great partner at Jack's Cafe. Learn more
about the Hunter's Dinner at Jackscafe dot com. You can
make your reservations by phone there. Appreciate their support for
another season and check out their website Jackscafe dot com.
(48:24):
We'll talk to you next week on the Pair in
a spare podcast.
Glenn Mason said a long time ago at the University
of Minnesota, you need a Pair and a Spare. Thank you, PJ.
It is time for another edition of the Pair and
a Spare podcast. I'm justin Guard from Kfan, Chips Coggins
from the Minnesota Star Tribune, Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated
dot Com. We are presented as always by our great
partners at Jack's Cafe, and we were right in the
thick of it. Now, guys, the Big Ten season is
(00:21):
officially underway. The Gophers beat Rutgers last week. They go
to a high estate next weekend Saturday, a night game,
which Burns he's very excited about. He's always wanted to
spend an entire day in Columbus waiting for football, and
now he gets to do that. How are we doing, fellas,
how's everything going there after one Big Ten week for
the Gophers.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm not grumpy, if that's what you're asking me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I am a little bit. I am a little bit
because we got the we got you know, the kicktime
for this, and you were upset about it. We've got
Purdue coming up, and I love how it could be
six or six thirty, and just to make you mad,
they got the six thirty right for the Purdue game
just a half an hour later. For you, why do
you hate night games so much? Why do you hate
electric atmospheres?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Well, I'd argue that eleven am one in the fourth
quarter got pretty electric at honting In Bank Stadium, which
is why there was a key fallse start and Ethan
has one go between the.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Wickeds because of it.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
But it's just now, no one cares about beat writers,
and no one should care about us. We're just media jackals,
we're schmos. I think Chip would probably say nicer things
about the three of us, But it just means you
don't get home until wee hours in the morning, and
then you don't get to turn it off and you
just lay there. And then I get to the end
(01:39):
of the conundrum of I always booked the six or
seven am flight home, no matter where it's from.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I don't know why you beat writers do that. I
don't understand.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
To get back, I got to get back for what.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
The only I agree with Chip on travel wise, and
I know Chip had a lot of disdain for my
fact that when I flew out to cal Berkeley, I
arrived two msp T ten minutes after my plate started boarding.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Unbelievable, just unbelievable, and everything worked out that that would
get a fifteen yard penalty for me for sure.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I think you would eject me and for the game
as well. This would be targeting level for Chips Coggins.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I like night games.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
If the atmosphere is awesome, the atmosphere is gonna be awesome,
and I think that will be this weekend in Columbus
because they've been complaining for I feel like that was
the entire Buckeye fan mantra in twenty twenty four is
stop putting us on big noon games, please, Well it's
homecoming and the Gophers get to come to town and
they've won once there since I think nineteen fifty one,
(02:38):
and that was the two thousand, twenty year anniversary of
the Ron Johnson game.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Oh I was there? Was it my first time there?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I think it was the first time there when Kupito
was the quarterback. But uh, Jack Nicholas dotted the eye
and it was I think I think at that point
he was only like the fourth or fifth band member
to ever non band member to dot the I place
when Nuts and you guys have been obviously their their
(03:09):
band is phenomenal, like that whole pregame show.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I love it. Can we can we agree on that?
Justin nobody loves the band more than Mike Grim.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
No, he tells me that every.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Week the Ohio State Man or just any band.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Just any band, I'll come up from the pregame show
and I'll come up, you know, kind of do our
last like, you know, fist bumps to the crew, like
make sure you got my wireless stuff, and Grim and
people watching on YouTube can see me. He's always just
got his phone out just filming the band information.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I gotta be honest with you. The marching bands are
one of the things I love about college football. I mean,
of course, you know, like selfishly, like when Tennessee goes
up and down and then they the tea parts and
they run out Ohio State, I mean Gopher's band up
and down making the amp. I mean, it's one of
the joys of college football.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I do.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I'm with Grim on this one. I'm Grim on the band.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
All right, We'll show up to the Ray Christiansen press box.
I'll be for you twenty two minutes before kickoff every Saturday, and.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Me and Graham because we share a birthday, we share a.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Love for Oh that's right. Yeah, and you guys gets.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Older though he's a year he's a year older than me.
I'll see.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, let's talk about Gophers Rutgers a lot to get
into there. Chip you wrote about it, you made it, yeah,
your column, And I think that is the A topic
for me. Probably the B topic and the C topic
is the red Shirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsay was as
advertised on Saturday against the Scarlet Knights, he was terrific.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And how about when's the last time PJ. Flack walked
into the halftime locker room and said, run game, forget it,
don't even try to run. We're ripping up the game play.
We're not going to run it. We're putting the ball
in the quarterback's hands and we're gonna throw it. We're
gonna drop back twenty times in the third quarter alone.
I tell you, every time I watch Lindsay and more
(04:58):
impressed with him for a a lot of reasons. I mean,
the dude has a you know, on arm, obviously, but
accuracy putting the ball where it needs to go. The timing,
just the decision making where to go. But more than anything,
just how he looks running the offense. He looks so
poised to mature running you don't ever see him really
(05:18):
get rattled. He's just you know. And they said as
Burns after the game there late in he was like,
that was his first, like gotta have it drive of
his career.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
There wasn't one in the first couple of games, but
that's the first one where he said, hey man, you
got to score here, like down for six a half minutes,
they may not get the ball back. If you have
to punt here, it may be over. And if they
lose that game, the narrative and tones a lot different.
And he just goes out and dissects him, just carves
him up. Twenty one twenty two went six to seven
(05:50):
for seventy two yards in that drive. I mean, it
gets the real deal. I mean he is a really
good quarterback.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
With the asterisk of course off it's rotill a big
ten defense. We talked about it on the preview, but
when you.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Go twenty three to twenty eight, hold on, just pause.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I love how a guy who's been a coordinator for
fifty two years. We're just giving an asterisk. Or's like, hey,
we all know he sucks, all right, we all get it.
I just love that. That's so if a guy who
just keeps getting jobs, we're like, well, yeah, it's a
Rob Smith defense, Like, let's see him go up against
Phil Parker somebody like that. Just ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
It's just ridiculus been raised in this media market for
too long.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
With you.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You're not wrong though.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
No kidding, my goodness, but anyway, go ahead, you can
plat it.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Eighty passes in the second half, two hundred something yards,
a couple of touchdowns. He just doesn't get sped up.
And I also will give whether it's Fleck or whether
you want to give Greg Harbo credit for You're down
fourteen to nothing, and I think guards that you had
texted me or I had texted you, and it's just
it was dead on the sidelin in the stands Athan
(07:02):
puts his hand to the to his helmet after they
go fourteen nothing, there's nothing going right, and Harbo first
and ten from the nineteen yard line dials up a
play action shot and it's the longest play I think
in Huntington Bank Stadium history is that.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Is that what it is now? Seventy eight yards on
that Jalen Smith connection.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yes, and I texted you about something else you texted
me at eleven fifty one. I won't read what you
wrote because I don't think people in the Gopher football
building want people to see what you wrote to me,
So I'm not going to heut you. Oh boy, eleven
fifty one, I wrote, needs someone to do something, and
I think as I hit send, the ball was in
(07:42):
the air. Drake Jalen Smith, and I just wrote back
that works at eleven fifty four. Eleven fifty one to
eleven fifty four. But that was it right because it
was dead. It was not a good vibe and how
could it be. The defense couldn't stop Athan and the
offense wasn't doing much.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
And that's why, even though the head coach may tell
you he doesn't believe in momentum, ten minutes of real
time later, the game is tied fourteen fourteen. Everything is
going Minnesota's way, The stands are back into it, the
team believes again, and it was a brand new ballgame.
But because Harbo and Drake hit the shop play, when
the shop play goes really well, that's what can happen mean, I, well,
(08:24):
we have been waiting for for some time and they
finally hit one.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
You guys mentioned his command. I would love to And
I actually talked to Tanner Morgan about this. Oh good
for me. He's on the Fox nine pregame show. Now
he's going to join us, I think for most of
the rest of the season. And we were texting after
the game and I said, I would love to sit
with you or you know, someone like Daniel House who
knows all the you know, the ins and the outs,
the formations and the checks and the schemes and everything,
(08:49):
because as you guys know, I don't know any of
that stuff. I don't really know what I'm doing down there.
I'm just watching the watching the ball. You're doing a
great job, honey, thank you. Yeah, fifteen years later, I'm
still fooling them. So, like, just go back and watch
the first drive of the third quarter and just Lindsay's
control of everything after they came out of halftime, like
he's got you know, he's moving people around, he's telling
(09:11):
this guy to go there, he's switching to play at
the line of scrimmage. He's doing he's recognizing something. Here
comes the blitzer. Oh, I'll just throw it right there
past that guy. Like you can tell he's just locked
in on everything they're trying to do. And I would
love to sit with someone to explain and to show
me what he's doing and how he's doing it and
what he's doing because it's very different than what we
(09:32):
were used to with Gopher football and what we saw
even on Saturday with the all right, we're ready. I'm
gonna look over to the coach. All right, we're ready.
I'm gonna look over to the coach. Oh now we're ready.
Like it's just such a different world. And I'm not
saying one's better than the other. It's just as I'm
watching that in real time on the in the third quarter,
(09:52):
they're coming towards the student section and I was standing
on that side and I'm just watching him conduct everything.
I'm like, that is it's just a impressive. It's just
impressive how much handle he has on it.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, and or what four starts into his career. I
mean this is four starts and I do uh apploud
harbo because he went tempo there to start the third quarter,
like get him in a rhythm. Let's let's speed us up.
Let's let him just kind.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Of end on that scoring drive to win the game.
They win.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, let's just let's let's like literally what PJ said,
let's put the ball in his hands and just let
him go run the offense. And basically said, we can't
run the ball. We're not even gonna try. And that's
so anti what we've seen from Fleck. It's like, stick
with it, stick with it, you know, we've seen it historically,
and like this is like, no, we got a guy,
a quarterback who can run this offense and can command it.
(10:44):
And I mean, what do he throw? Forty one.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
One?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, forty one? Well he dropped back to.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Pass in that third quarter alone twenty times.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
M hm. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I don't have the stats.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
I asked Carl Anderson with Minnesota Communications, and those nineteen
past attempts that Drake had in the third quarter were
the most that he's tracks since I believe twenty nineteen. Yeah,
adapt die on the vine, and they're adapting to a
running game that has stalled without Darius.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
And we've seen this before.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
But I also think, I mean, justin you talk about
the way that Drake was conducting it, I felt like
they ran the same play in so many different ways.
And that's kind of what Harbo has talked about. They
want to make the same look different and the different
look the same. And what I'm referencing is you'd saw
them go trips on one side and they would motion
(11:39):
what if they were trying to find out are they
in man or are they in zone? And with the motion,
Drake knew if he follows man, if he stays but
and they pass him off its own, and then I
know where the route combinations and where I need to go.
It doesn't have to be overly complicated with this thing.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, and I do like the Jalen Smith touchdown. I
think Burns it might have been you had asked that,
uh he's he looked up. I don't know if it's
supposed to be a run play there or what, but
he looked up. He saw that the guy was not
playing press coverage, so he did something. He looked at.
Jalen gave the signal and then just basically popped up
and threw it and let Jaylen Smith use his strength
(12:18):
and you know, the bulldoze his way into.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
His like.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
That. That just to me and maybe all quarterbacks can
do that. I don't know. I didn't play the position,
but but you're talking about a freshman who's four games
into his career recognizing that just say, hey, he's playing
off coverage, which I'm gonna throw it out to my playmaker,
go make it play. That's that's to me, that's that's
great awareness. And again, he's four games into his career.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
It had the coaching staff having the trust in him
to allow him to make that check. Yeah, at the
line of scrimmage is another part of it, where it's
the veteran quarterback presence, but in his fourth career start.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
And the second part of what you said there chip
getting into your playmakers. We have to talk about them too, right,
because Yeah, a lot of guys made catches, like not
just easy ones like Jalen Smith, I mean Lemechy, Brockington, Tracey,
I'm on here. The last couple of weeks, Javon Tracy,
we've seen thought the tight ends were great. Burnsy, you know,
catching balls in traffic, you're the tight end of the group,
you know, catching it over the middle knowing you're probably
(13:15):
gonna get smacked. There were you know, three or four
of those, and we talked about drops for the first
month of the podcast. I don't remember one off the
top of my head, and guys were and if it was,
if there was one, it didn't derail any of the drives.
Guys were making plays that were coming their way. The
ball was spread around. How many guys had tark ten, well,
seven or eight caught balls.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, I had in my column that seven receivers had
at least three catches. And I remember going back to
that the one immediate thing we had at one of
the open practices of fall Camp, and and PG said,
we have a lot more options now than we had,
you know last year. Last year, you knew it was
Daniel Jackson or Elijah Spencer those who were catching the
(13:57):
balls the majority what was it the number burns, you like,
seventy five percent something, Yeah, And I and I remember,
you know, he said, we have a bunch of different
guys in first couple of weeks. I'm like, okay, where
are they?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
You know?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
But this this is the game where you finally saw
Tracy and and all these guys kind of step forward
and make plays. And so yeah, it was seven guys
catching at least three passes. I mean, for for a quarterback,
a young quarterback. That's got to give him confidence too
that he just doesn't have to lock in on one
guy or two guys that okay, he trusts you know
(14:30):
a number of different guys that I mean, he clearly
has trust with these guys to throw tight spots and
expect that they're gonna make plays. I mean, and I
asked Ethan about it, and he said, well, yeah, we'll
get to Ethan. I asked Drake about it, and he
said that this goes back to the off season. All
the work they did in the off season, all the
you know, the work they do there. That's where you
develop this confidence in being all just spread the ball
(14:54):
around like that.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
DJ keeps talking about his state championship game Drake being
the greatest performance he's ever seen. That we need. We
need to go back and watch it like a parentis
fare watch party of the Arkansas State championship game in
twenty twenty three. I think it would have been December
of twenty twenty three. I want to keep watching that game.
But I mean, they his the love they have for
(15:16):
him is being rewarded, right Burnsy, I mean, it's paying off.
You can see why they why they like him, and
it's makes it fun. I mean, Saturday was a fun game.
And buckle up, by the way, I think all of
the rest of them are going to be like this too.
We talked about this last year, like you tweeted out
the win percentage stuff burns Y, which was like an EKG,
you know, just bouncing all over the places Minnesota. Yeah, exactly.
(15:39):
It's going to be like that pretty much the rest
of the way, right for most of these games. So
buckle up because it's gonna be it's going to be
a ride. I think you got to.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Take care of business at home, and we talked about
that before the season. You know, three and zero at home,
they've got after this upcoming weekend of Columbus three year,
next four at home with Purdue, Nebraska and Michigan in state,
you got to go at least two and one in
that stretch. And that's not going to be easy to do, right,
But if you can have the type of performance where
(16:10):
we talked about all offseason, their performance in one possession
games and then they stunk against Cal in that same
regard where you get into the final ten minutes of
the game and you don't perform final twenty minutes a game,
you don't perform, and they performed down.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
The stretch in this one.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I also think if we're going to talk the way
that we did about Harbo and Collins getting out coached
in cal which I think is true, I also think
you got to say the adjustments that the two young
coordinators made in the final forty minutes of the game
where Minnesota outscores them thirty one to fourteen. Ye against
their former teachers in Kirk Shiraka and Rob Smith. You've
(16:48):
also got to give Harbo and Collins credit with they
bounced back from I think not their best coaching performances
of their young coordinator careers to they were a big
part of the reason why Minnesota walked away with victory.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I was thinking about that on that last Rutgers drive.
You talk about Chip the big gotta have it moment
for Drake Lindsay, That's the biggest moment of Danny Collins' career, right, Yeah,
get the stop against a you know, experienced, veteran, highly compensated,
really good offensive coordinator, Kirk Shiraka. It's like, here you go,
(17:21):
big boy, like you wanted to be a defensive coordinator
in the Big ten. We got to have a stop here,
and thankfully Rutgers helped them.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Right, It doesn't quite a snap in between the quarterbacks slags, but.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
You keep them in front of you. Make him do
another snap, make him do another play. But I was
thinking of the same thing, Burns. You like, what a
moment for him, for Danny Collins specifically because Harbo's kind
of done this now for a couple of years obviously,
but that's the biggest spot for Danny Collins. And to
your point, to switch mid stream, and I heard the
Gopher Gerdiron podcast Derek Burns talking about exactly kind of
(17:54):
what they did and how it changed things for you know,
the Rutgers offense and made it more difficult. You absolutely
have to give him credit and hopefully that gives him,
not that he needed confidence, not that he didn't know
what he was doing before, but you gotta feel it.
That's got to feel good for a young guy, especially
that game Burnsy's narrative Street Game, with all the back
(18:14):
and forth, there was a lot on the line there
in a lot of different ways, and it was cool
for the young quarterback to get one on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
It was It was a weird game for the defense
where you set New Fleck era highs and tackles for
lost in sacks.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
But you should have given up over thirty points and
you gave up twenty eight.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Just a very boom or bust. It was either a
four yard sack or a third and fifteen run that
goes for twenty eight yards.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
It just I'm filing those away too, I know, I know.
PJ specifically said to Andy Grider, you know this is
a great game for you. Remember that, all of you.
When it's third and seven at cal and he hands
it off to Cam Davis, just remember that. Okay, you
can get first ounce. Pittsburgh Steelers just did it to
the Viking on Sunday in Dublin. It happens every once
in a while.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
You're right, I mean, and we talked about beforehand. Those
record receivers are good. I mean, when you have a
six six, two hundred and twenty five pound receiver, he's
going to make plays.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I thought eighth and threw about four balls that could
have been picked off that they just they didn't come
down with. They got you know, one, but and.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Then they would score the next play.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Have an opportunity to turn them over. We'll get it,
and then he would score.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Then they would even and you guards a year on
the the field and saw the running backs closer than
I mean. There was a lot of mistackles that last drive.
I mean there was like three, you know, one run.
I don't know if that guy was powerful or what,
but I didn't think they You're right, it was kind
of a polar performance, burnsy, whereas like they'd either make
(19:50):
a really good player or a guy would break three
tackles and have a long run. But they made key plays,
you know, I mean, and they got a fortunate break
there when when Ethan wasn't ready for the snap. But
I agree with Danny Collins. I thought he made some
really nice and obviously hard about two, but I thought
Danny made some really nice adjustments to create more pressure
(20:12):
and try to get eighth in the because we said
going in, he'll throw you an opportunity to intercept it,
and I felt like they had opportunities to have more
interceptions than what they finished with.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
We're just so easter the famine and it was just
I was guard so you couldn't see me.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
I was so mad up in the press box, but
second and fifteen, first down, second and eleven, third and eleven,
first down, drop pick, touchdown on the next play.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Just yeah, you didn't know what you were going to get. Now,
two players I do.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
Want to highlight, specifically, Carrie Brown had his best season
with huge moments and his interception. He played it perfectly
where he's trying to show that he's going to be
a man. But you see right at the break he
gets his eyes back right his Ethan is throwing it
dropped in his own coverage.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
We talked about it on this podcast.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Changed the picture on Ethan and he gets a gift
a couple of huge pass breakups in the fourth quarter,
plus that tackle in space on the third and twenty eight.
If he misses that tackle and it's a forty nine
yard field goal instead of fifty six, I think that
field goal is good and we get into overtime.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Can I tell you about that play too, because I
talked about it on the broadcast. Go back and watch
that play where he started from and how quickly he
realized where he needed to go. You know, it's just
good coaching, it's good scouting to know what you're doing,
Like he knew that was his responsibility. He knew that
they were trying to get that guy, and he started
(21:42):
like the second the ball was snapped, probably fifteen twenty
yards away and just kind of diagonally cuts all. It
wasn't like he was just there waiting like he had
to read it. He had to get there. And that
was another one that just happened to be in my
frame of vision where I'm just kind of watching him
pre snap get to where he needs to go. Super impressive.
I mean, when you have smart players that know what
they're doing, and you're right burns Ey like they're trying
(22:04):
to get just every single yard they can to get
a decent shot at a field goal. And the guy
they brought out for the fifty six yard er, like
it got there, it had plenty of leg, Like it
had plenty.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
Of leg, and so I'm telling it, I think it
would have been good from forty nine if not, but
the other guy and he continues to somehow fly under
the radar. Now, I think this is a more national
statement than it is locally. Anthony Smith correct. I looked
this up yesterday because he was the Shrine Bowl Player
of the Week. Anthony Smith go for defensive lineman number
(22:37):
zero has sixteen and a half tackles.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
For loss in his last eleven games.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
Yet I don't know that I've seen a single NFL
draft analyst or big national, big ten person come out
and say we've said it on this podcast, and I
think he's going to be the next first second round
pick to continue the streak.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
He continues to play like it.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
I believe he's now had nine consecutive games with at
least one tackle for lost.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Chip.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, I mean we said it after the game won,
and I think it probably holds up all the way through.
He's playing like a high NFL draft pick. He just is.
I mean, he this is a guy where the thing
I appreciate is you had high expectations for him coming
to season, like he needs to be, you know, your
(23:24):
best player on defense. I know we talk about Coy
a lot, but I think Anthony Smith needs to be
your best player in defense. He's doing it. He's putting
up the stats, he's he's a game changer. He's showing
up every week. He's impacting the game. So it's not
surprising to us. You know, I don't know what if
national people are going to pay attention, but I think.
I think locally people appreciate how good a player he is.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
And he'll get some run Saturday night, you have to
yeah on the NBC broadcast. Yeah, he's playing great. Could
have done without him barking at me on the field
post game.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
The dog I heard about that, the dogs.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Go for football. He just there's always something like every week,
you know, they have a theme, and you know the
players they all buy into it, like they're all million
miles an hour neckton mentality and yeah, it's it's you know,
it's it's a career highlight to be a forty three
year old man getting barked at by a college kid
on the field after a big ten Vigon. The PJ
(24:21):
barked at me in the in the locker room because
it was something about hunting dogs, and I wanted to
be like, PJ, you've never hunted in your life. You
and I have never hunted.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Part of his postgame presser was he was trying to
talk about like hunting pheasants or.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
He couldn't get through it, not dogs and no idea.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
What he's He's like, what else do you hunt? I
don't know what the animals?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, no idea there's no he had no idea, and
I let it go because I'm I'm not one to
criticize somebody's hunting bona fide spurns. You know that.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
I know keep in the hunting community here.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
The sportsmen or sports women community were very accepting of
all people.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
If you want to join us, guardsy, yeah, So go
back and listen to the postgame interviews if you want
to hear so grown men bark at other grown men's
that's how it goes. Eighthan calliac mannis you mentioned it
started the game ten of thirteen, one hundred and twenty
nine yards and two touchdowns. His rating was two eleven
point zero five, which I didn't even know you could
get that high, but that's how well he was playing.
(25:17):
You may have seen him gesture to the student section
after the second touchdown that he could not hear them,
and just for fun, I looked it up. After that gesture.
He was eleven of twenty one for one hundred and
twenty yards and a pick for a ninety point eight
six rating. I think I texted you Burnsey. The first
three passes after that gesture, two of them should have
been picked, one of them was, and It didn't sound
(25:39):
like he could hear the snap count on the final
drive either, because the snap went between his legs and
they lost the game. Anything you guys want to add
about that, I think it.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Means a little bit more for the narrative streak coming
back in. You think he didn't hear the booze as
he walked out onto the field to start this game.
You don't think he now regrets putting his hand to
his helmet. No, no one forced him to do that,
No one told him to do that, so silly. I
think both things with Athan er Drue. I think he
looks improved, and I think he looks largely pretty good
(26:09):
in that system with Kirk Shiaka and the way he
should as a senior quarterback. But he still makes decisions,
and it's the ten to fifteen percent of decisions in
a game that Minnesota, just like they did last year,
didn't get enough takeaways for what the opportunities were.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
But Chip, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, you know, he's clearly better than he was here. Obviously,
those receivers are good. I mean, his receivers are good.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
And that tailback I thought was pretty good too.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, and I mean a couple of throws on the
first couple of drives where he's thrown it to the
out breaking rounde. I mean, those are nice throws. But
when you cup your ear and you're doing that early
on and then you come back and really just throw
a horrific interception, that changes the game. I mean, obviously
the bomb changed the game, but then to come back
and set them up, you know, deep Donner, we can
score again. It was he he looks, you know, more
(27:01):
comfortable in that system. But you I agree. He also
could have had about four picks in that game for
the Gophers that made a play. So he still makes
decisions that hurt the team.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Yeah, I feel like every throw could be a touchdown
or an interception. It's just kind of a it's kind
of a high wire act. Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I'm sorry, Rumm, Gophers had the best quarterback on the field.
They just did.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
His touchdown pass was a rocket between three Gophers right
over the MA I mean, just a hell of a
throw right. Well, you had texted me it was an
Eddie Gordado fastball, of which I agreed with Eddie Gordado. Wow,
way to date ourselves? I mean, can we every day?
How dare you Can we go a little bit more
current here? My goodness, you are like one of the
(27:51):
old guard media guys. Now, Jesus, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Is Joe Nathan still around?
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Can we go to Nathan? Yeah? That's oh, my goodness.
Coy Parritch nice bounced back for him, as expected. It
had had a little bit of a circus on a
couple of the returns and then the punt and then
the kickoff to start the second half. That was right
in front of me, and I'm watching the ball and
I'm like, why is Coy sprinting to the back line
too short? Yeah? And it's like what And again, I'm
(28:19):
not a punt returner. I'm not a kickoff returner. But
it's almost like you can't see things sometimes, which is
bizarre because again, that was a very returnable kick and
he somehow retreated all the way back to the goal
line and then had to sprint way back up, so
he must have just misjudged it right off the bat,
so to speak.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, the sack was nice and he got a big
hit on eighthan you know the kick return there. Can
we talk about yeah, can we talk about the.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Like change the way that he looked a little frazzled after.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I mean, he got that's a big time lick. Yeah,
there's a big time hit. Can we talk about the
final eight though? And he sets him up for a
you know with the kick return and then the end
of the sequence there at the end of the first half,
Like I in Pj's not the only and Greg Harbrough
is not the only one to do is But it
shotgun third and one, fourth and short drives me crazy.
(29:09):
It just does. I don't know why coaches do that.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I'll be more explicit when I say shotgun on third
and fourth in inches should be abolished in the lower
forty eight states. The punt it to the moon, set
it on fire. Never under any circumstances do I ever
want to see that ever again, especially when it's not
just go under center and run that.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Give a six foot five quarterback.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
And I know they're trying to take hits off of him,
but with the lack of push you're getting from your
offensive line. And I think where I'm at with this
offensive line is they are among the most athletic that
Fleck has had, which is why they're so good in
past protection. But they struggle with physicality and they struggle
with knockback. And I don't know what the answer is
(29:53):
to the short yardage woes other than hopefully Darius Taylor
is back very soon. But yeah, Jeff, I'll just say it,
I hate you saw me losing my mind in shotgun,
third and fourth and short hard.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
We need the camera on you during the games, Burnsy.
This is what I'm learning those cameras on great.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Well, it's just, yeah, idiot.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
You don't back up five yards to get seventeen.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Inches in this aspect. Well, especially when they they were
under center for like the first twenty plays of the game,
like they were, they were going under center a lot,
and they ran one push push in the first game.
It didn't work, and it's like they're done with it.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Yeah, it's like Fleck just said, Nope, we're never going
to do that again.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
We're not doing that again because I thought the same thing.
It's like, it's so deflating. It's third and one and
fourth and one to not get it like.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
And then to give up the touchdown.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Well then you you mentioned that, so Koy returns it
to the thirty two and it felt like Fleck and
I we asked them about it afterwards. In his mind,
he there were three options there. Well, the three options
were end zone shot. You had eight seconds left, but
you had no timeouts. You had quick out to the
sidelines to get eight yards or whatever that is, or
(31:02):
kickfield goal. Fleck talked about how he didn't want to
take an end zone shot because of an interception, which
is so unbrand for Fleck in terms of what is
the worst thing that could possibly happen, That's the one
I'm going to assume in that situation is gonna happen.
He didn't want to take the sideline shot because he
didn't want to get tackled in bounds and not get
(31:22):
an attempt. But it felt like by the time he
figured out that he wanted to take the field goal
right away. You saw this Guardsy Brady Dennibergg, their kicker
had gone back to the net to kick.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah, he was standing right next to me.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Yeah, that is their own twenty five yard line.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
So we had to run fifty five yards out onto
the field and I don't know why they didn't just spike.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It to give that's the play.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Yes, just give everybody a chance to take a breath.
Set up your field goal operation it was rushed out
onto the field, it was pushed right.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
The whole thing seemed a little frazzled there at the end.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Chipper Well and PJ said he at first he was
going to run a play and then he changed his
mind basically, and so that's when Brady went back and
was going to kick the thing, and then he said, no,
let's kick it right now. I just think no in
the stats and you've repeated him on this kicker at distance,
You've got to run a play there to try to
shorten the distance for him. You got to have something
(32:23):
in your arsenal where it's a quick out to the
sideline that you can get out of bounds, just a
quick hitter they get just seven yards. I mean, you
have to try to make this a more manageable kick
for him. So it was I think Pj's indecision there
created kind of a rush situation where the whole thing was,
the timing of everything was off.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
I think the play was despite it.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
If everybody an opportunity to look at it for an
extra twenty five thirty seconds with a clear mind, or
just give your kicker a chance to catch his breath
after running fifty yards onto the field, but hindsight is
always twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
All right. We got fifteen minutes before projects has a
heart out, so we're gonna fly through some stuff after
we talk about our great partners. At Jack's Cafe Jaxcafe
dot com. We had our anniversary couple last week and
we want to help promote a little bit as we're
basically going to October. And again, PJ is probably going
to this because now he's a big hunter. The Hunter's
(33:20):
Dinner at Jack's Cafe, Burnsy. You don't even know about
this yet because you're not on the group text. We'll
try to include you for next time. The Hunters Dinner,
and I'm aware. The Hunter's Dinner at Jack's Cafe Tuesday,
November fourth, it's the six o'clock kind of start time.
You get a greeting cocktail and or dirvs. How about
some of these or dervs coffee crusted ostrich with Jimmy churry,
(33:44):
jerked alligator baby back ribs was blood orange rum glaze.
I don't know how to pronounce this word. Camel kofta
and cilantro, Sasaki, kangaroo CANape. We've got sushi, We've got tuna, tartar.
We've got potato cups. And then the five course meal
Burnsy grilled Icelandic Wolfish taco, split, pea soup, wild rice, salad,
(34:09):
grilled venison, chop all venison even I know venison is good.
And then dessert is a chai curd with pineapple syrup.
And then they have for guys like chipping me what
you need to pair the drinks with. You've got a pilsner,
You've got an e pa, You've got a winter ale,
you've got a tropical I p a. This is the
(34:29):
Hunter's Dinner on Tuesday, November fourth. You can get all
the info at Jackscafe dot com. It's not the menu, chipper,
Look at that mean? Did you hear that?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
I Am not a hunter, but I would eat that menu?
Like that sounds outstanding? How about Bill coming up with this?
You know this menu just excellent. Let's get a lot
of people going there. I know we have I know
we have hunters. Well, we got a bow hunter here.
I know we got a lot of hunters that are
that listen to this. So let's let's uh, let's pack that.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Place before Burnsy. Ways in, you don't do reservations online
for this. For this one, you have to call and
the numbers on the website Jackscafe dot com, but I'll
give it to you here as well. Six one two
seven eight nine seven nine seven. That's extension one six
one two seven, eight nine seven nine seven Extension one Burnsey.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
I mean that sounds delightful, especially with that next weekend
is gun opener across the state for deer hunters across
and it is a bye week from Minnesota, so you
don't have anything to look forward to other than going honey,
might as well go to Jack's Cafe and take part
in what sounds like a very delightful meal.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
And we will tweet about this as well. But they
are also back at it in a Minnesota Monthly Restaurant
Legends bracket challenge and Jackson we helped him out with
the patio last year. We want to help this year
as well. Minnesota Monthly dot comfer infull there. We'll tweet
that out. But we'd love for all of our listeners
to vote, support bills, support the staff, support Jack's Cafe.
So we got a lot going. We got a lot
(35:54):
going with Jack.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Let's get that championship guards.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
On the patio.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
It's a legendary. It's a legend.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Brackets, not legend, no leaders, no equivocation, not legends and
leaders exactly. All right, make your reservations for the Hunter's
dinner or just brunch, date night, whatever you want. Group
parties from fifteen to four hundred. As we're approaching the
holiday season. You know they're gonna take great care of
you at Jack's Cafe. Learn more at jackscafe dot com.
(36:23):
Game of the Night in the Big Ten. So we
got about ten minutes here, Let's do about two and
a half minutes on each of these games. Oregon and
Penn State. A furious rally and then a double overtime
and the white out and the craziness, And what's the
takeaway from Oregon going into State College and knocking off
the Nitney Lyons Burnsy.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
I would say it was almost the fans afterwards chanting
fire James Franklin. I know it's they are so tired
of big game James not showing up in that instance,
and I just I understand it. But I'm also thinking
to myself, aren't you a team that was in the
final four last year at college football? Semi finalists? Like,
(37:07):
what are we even discussing Chip.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
That's the state of sports. It's the state of sports man.
But what is the stat they're for and whatever it
is against top ten teams. But my takeaway is Oregon's
really fast, the quarterback more is very good. They get
some their defenses legit, I mean they're they're good. Yeah,
I mean it's we said Penn State, though, if you're
(37:30):
gonna go from being a really good or a great
team to you know up bresh on that, you gotta
win those games. And I give credit to the Oregon
coming in there in the way they play well.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
The nice thing for Penn State, like Ohio State learned
last year, everything you want is still on the table,
right because of the expanded playoff, everything you want is
still on the table. Obviously, you don't want to lose
that game. You have them at home, it's to light out.
It's a disappointing loss, but your season's not over that.
James Franklin, here's my favorite part is he was asked
about because they had a buy That's the other reason
(38:02):
why people were annoyed. Did you spend too much time
recruiting during the bye? You know, he's James is like,
come on, I mean we planned for the game. You know,
we've been working on Oregon all summer. I mean they
didn't they hire a coach specifically that coached against Oregon
twice last year, like they have. That's my favorites. Like
do you think maybe you should have not recruited as much?
Like really, like that's what we're going with, Like you
(38:25):
think James forgot he had a game, like the coaches.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
The runways too short? Come on, man, it's just that
they got. They lost to a good team.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Yeah, exactly in overtime, right, Like Oregon's good too, But yeah,
it's it's all right. Illinois bounced back in a big way.
That was at the same time as the Gopher game, right,
because yeah, I didn't I didn't see much of this one.
But speaking of the win percentages, you know, fluctuating on
that one. That was a crazy game, and Illinois walks
(38:56):
him off and USC now loses another big ten game.
It's not going well in the Land of Troy. They're
not very happy. Speaking of coaches, with Lincoln Riley and
how it's gone.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
I think that fan base almost runs as hot and
cold as you will see a fan base where last week,
going into that game. It was We're the greatest in
the country, Matt Lioner, Reggie Bush, here we come, this
is the season, and now it's fire Lincoln.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Maybe going from as we spoke about playing.
Speaker 4 (39:25):
A nine pm local time to nine am in a
cornfield against a team that just got throttled. And I
think we have a lot of respect on this podcast
for what Brett Bieliman does and how he coaches and
got that team to rebound that would have that game
would have not even been close if Illinois doesn't fumble
into the USC end zone.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
I don't know. I just think USC has to prove it.
And we've seen this before.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
They come out hot and then they have to go
to the Midwest and they struggle, and we saw it
last year in Minnesota. Deserves credit for beating them, obviously,
but they struggle in these Midwest games.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah, I mean, you get beat them. A credit for
rallying is I mean it was a really bad loss
that they had. When you get taken apart like that
in a primetime game, to come back and respond against
you know, I would say USC is a good team,
but obviously they have a lot to prove in terms
of consistency. I mean, we've seen this before where they
have a you know, a couple wins and everybody thinks
(40:22):
that they're Pete Carroll's, you know back in all this,
and then and then they they lay an egg. So yeah,
they when they have to travel uh east uh to
play they they've had problems. But to me to take away,
this is just Belama's ability to get his team regrouped
after a bad loss.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
And every game in the Big Ten is going to
be like this.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
That's how it is.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
It's just everybody's got to buckle up because he's.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Been wanting parody, and now we have seen as much
parody as we continue to see outside of a handful
of teams in the Big ten.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Or even three.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
We've said the last couple of years, the gap between
two and fifteen, two and fourteen in this league or
three and fourteen, it's just not that that high. I mean,
you have to be able to deal with different circumstances,
going east, going west, time zones. I mean, they're good
(41:18):
players here, they're good coaches. I mean they you know,
good teams.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
We wanted parody forever and now people move the goalposts
and say mediocrity. It's all mediocrity. It's like, well it
might be or everybody's just kind of good. Yeah, you
can't make mistakes, you can't make turnovers, you can't miss kicks,
you can't get like the margins are very small, and
let's go right into the next game. We mentioned Indiana
just boat racing Illinois last Saturday night looking like a
(41:43):
top ten team. They were in the fight of their
life against the Iowa haw Gys at Kinnick Stadium. That
looked like it was going to be one of those
classic Iowa games where they just played great defense, hang around,
make enough plays, you know, leading to halftime, the whole bit,
and Indiana found a way to just grease out a game,
not their preferred way to play. I wouldn't think ferns
(42:05):
and win, but they did just enough to survive the
scare at Kinnick.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
Well, you saw Phil Parker have an uncharacteristic I would say,
almost gaff like from him, where at the end of
the game there he ran the same thing three different times,
and on third and ten at midfield they finally got
one made one man miss and they.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Go score the game winning touchdown. The other part of
it is I know that I was got the bye week.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Now, I would love to know what Mark Ronowski status
is because he departs from the game. Parents is talking
about afterwards how he couldn't decelerate and it's a knee injury.
I mean, that's scary, scary news to me. Chipper, if
you're an.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Iowahaw Kye fan, yeah, I mean obviously you mean that
for them, that's you know, you gotta have him. I
mean that that offense obviously you know they struggle.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
He is there.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
But to me, for Indiana, that was impressive because much
like Bielman, you come off this huge win, everybody's you know,
talking about you and giving you the flowers and roses
and all that. You have to go into a tough
place to play. I guess a team that has a
formula it always has magic there. To me, college football,
(43:18):
and you can say pro football too, is like I
think fans and media sometimes expect you to have your
a game every week. It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen.
That's not realistic. The good teams find a way when
it's when you're not at your best or when the
other teams has done something to affect you to where
you're you know, you're in a as you go to
(43:39):
a greasy game where good teams find a way to
win those they find way close games when you're not
your best. And that's an impressive win by Indiana, I
think because just a huge human emotion of coming off
this huge performance where you feel like you're top of
the world and you have to go and play in
a tough environment and you're maybe not playing the way
you want to but still to win. That could be
(44:01):
one where you look back at the end of the seasons, like,
you know, that was a pretty everybody. I'll talk about Illinois,
but that was a pretty impressive win. What they did
the next week, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
Having to back up the emotion and that play, Kinnick
was ready to go, right. I mean, people were saying
it was as loud as it's been in a couple
of years. Pat Anger, their old you know gray linebacker
who does their radio, said he couldn't even hear himself
think at times during that game because it was so loud,
and which makes sense, right. I mean, I was been
selling out every game, But you're right, burns Ey, the
(44:29):
Gronowski thing is going to be the thing to watch
now for the next couple of weeks because mobility is
a big part of his game, as we've learned, right
even going back to the Rutgers went in the fourth
quarter with a couple of touchdowns there and also an
ear to the student section, But the game was the
game was a little bit more in hand when he
did it as opposed to when Ethan did it. All right, Ohio,
(44:50):
go ahead.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
I always got some very important games off the buy.
I'll remind everyone that next week is their trip to
Camp Randall, where as Chip has reminded us all off
season forty t push ups every single day for the
Wisconsin Badgers, remind themselves of how many points the Iowall
Bet Iowa Hawk guys put up on them, and then
before Minnesota comes to town, they get the fighting James
Franklin's So if this season is going to stay, I'll
(45:13):
remain on track for them to win their eight nine
games every year with the voodoo of.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
Kirk Farrence and special teams and defense and timely bounces.
They need Gronowski to be a big part of that.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Somebody speaking of the only thing we'll say on Wisconsin
before we have to go is they got their kick
time for that Iowa game. I think it's a night game.
And one of the comments, so I just looked at
the comments underneath Wisconsin's announcement, you know, because it's Iowa Wisconsin.
Somebody said, I have tickets to a comedian that night.
I guess I'll have to decide which is funnier, Badger
(45:45):
football or.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Shane Gillis's great O'll standy.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
It's tough. It's tough sixty seconds on Ohio State burnsy
as we go. Hopefully I won't have any stories next week.
I've done a lot of due diligence on which pass
I need to make sure I can do my job
at Ohio Stadium. At the Horseshoe, I'm doing a lot
of mental preparation for an encounter with my favorite redcoat
(46:12):
security guard that I'm sure still works there. So I'm
a little nervous about the trip for those reasons. What
do we think about the Buckeyes The number one team
in the country.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
Yeah, I think they deserve it, And whether you want
to put them in the same tier is Oregon in Miami,
I would agree with you. Their defense specifically is tremendous.
They have playmakers at every level. I think they got
the best safety in America and Caleb Downs. They got
the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on
their defensive line who had five tackles for loss last week.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
And they have not given up in.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
Any single game ten points yet Matt Patricia going from
Rob Smith to Matt Patricia and the like. This isn't
meant as a slide at flex roster. But the talent
discrepancy that they have one through eleven versus is whatever
Ohio State trots out onto the field. Now, Ohio State's
got two, if not two and a half times the
(47:05):
budget that Minnesota has.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
But yeah, I mean I think you know what he yeah, Yeah,
it's the school whose former athletic director said we're going
into We're going thirty million into the red because we
need football to be good. Meanwhile, here it was like
four million dollars and we had fifty two stories written
about it. Like, I mean, it's just is what it is, right,
it is what it is. Rutger's going seventy million in
the budget in the depths of two years out of four.
(47:28):
It's insanity. But that's yeah, but they gotta go play, right,
I mean, that's you gotta go play Yeah to your point.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
Four games at defense is given up two touchdowns, twenty
two total points. I mean, number one and easily in
college football. Obviously huge test for them. It starts up front.
The Gopher's offense line has to be able to do something.
They got to protect it, Drake. I don't know how
(47:57):
effectively they're gonna be able to run the ball, but
that's obviously a big time step up in talent that
they're gonna face on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
Looking forward to it. Burns, you drink some coffee on
Saturday and we'll see you in Columbus. Buddy, sounds good
to me. He's Ryan Burns, He's Chips Goggins. I'm justin guard. Reminder,
thanks to our great partner at Jack's Cafe. Learn more
about the Hunter's Dinner at Jackscafe dot com. You can
make your reservations by phone there. Appreciate their support for
another season and check out their website Jackscafe dot com.
(48:24):
We'll talk to you next week on the Pair in
a spare podcast.
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