January 10, 2025 • 22 mins
Excitement builds as the Texas Longhorns prepare to face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl, highlighting themes of resilience and community amid real-life events. The episode explores coaching legacies, team strategies, and the impact of rising star players while encouraging fan engagement ahead of the thrilling matchup.
• Overview of the Texas Longhorns' emotional preparation for the game
• Discussion on Steve Sarkisian's coaching impact on the team
• Accounting for social challenges contextualizing college football
• Breakdown of Texas defense against Ohio State's offensive strengths
• Exploration of player narratives, including NIL influences
• Predictions around game outcomes and rallying community support
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Hello Longhorn Nation .
Great time to be a LonghornNation.
Great time to be a Longhorn.
Not a better place to watch agame in town than Dirty's, about
100 years old.
We just came in 299.
So come see us.
Come see us win this nattyMen's and women's basketball.
We got it here.
Hook them good protection.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
It's for kayla louis touchdown our defense won that
football game for us.
We were struggling, struggling.
They gave us a chance, theygave us an opportunity at the
end and somehow, someway, wepulled it out 55 seconds to play
(01:29):
.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
How about?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
that Steve Sarkeesian back in his days as a Brigham
Young Cougar, the quarterback,the QB1, man.
I remember that, like it wasyesterday, he got to play in the
Cotton Bowl and led BYU to a14-1 record and a finish in the
top five in the country of that96th season, the same season in
(01:52):
which Stark and BYU beat TexasA&M.
I believe it was up in Provo,utah.
I am Sean Clinch, the host ofStories Inside the man Cave, and
of course let's talk about it,this series and this series is
brought to you by, in particular, honest Plumbing and Air.
But a big shout out to each ofour sponsors Jim Saston State
(02:15):
Farm, dirty Martins Place, aniconic Austin original, which
celebrated its well it's aboutto celebrate its 99th year.
Hargrove Roofing know who's onyour roof?
And of course, honest Plumbingand Air, as I mentioned, where a
handshake still means something.
Man, today is the day Later.
Tonight, sark will return to theCotton Bowl Classic game, but
(02:40):
not inside the Cotton BowlStadium.
Since 2010, it's been at JerryWorld in Arlington.
Will the Longhorns knock offOhio State to play Notre Dame
for the national championship?
Let's talk about it.
All right, the formalities aredone.
(03:32):
Texas and Ohio State have beenin the DFW Metroplex for the
last two or three days.
All the preparation is done.
Now we're here.
We are here, finally, after allthe talking, everything, the
Buckeyes and Longhorns will playfor a spot in the CFP National
(03:53):
Championship game to meet NotreDame, who beat Penn State in a
great semifinal game last night.
Wow, this is thrilling and allthe talking's done.
Now you got to prove it on thefield.
Before we get going, be sure tofollow us on each of our social
media platforms Facebook, igxand subscribe for free to our
(04:17):
YouTube page and to our TikTokpage as well.
I appreciate it and you know.
Share it all the content withyour friends, family, whatnot?
Tell people about it, follow,comment along.
Man, we've had a good time withthis since the CFP began.
All right, here it is CFP FinalFour Texas and Ohio State two
(04:42):
of college football's bluebloods but unfortunately there
has been a couple of tragediesand more important things than
any college football game andSteve Sarkeesian, the Texas head
football coach, addressed thatnamely the fires in LA, which
has been really tough to watch.
(05:02):
I've had two friends, one ofthe fires on the north side of
Pasadena, which floated all theway to his yard six and a half
(05:26):
miles south of Pasadena.
It is the scenes, the video.
It's absolutely just depressingand you feel for each of the
families and everyone involved,and Sark made it a point to talk
about that before anythingabout this game.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
What has happened in Los Angeles right now is
unfathomable.
Being from Los Angeles, a lotof friends and family there that
are affected, and so I justhope everybody out there can
keep their thoughts and prayerswith those and obviously those
in New Orleans with some of thetragic events that have occurred
.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, it's been a really tough couple of weeks
here in our country.
Mother nature, people with badintentions, and I really hope
that everyone involved isblessed with some type of
closure and comfort, becausethis is unnecessary and it's
(06:25):
really hard.
It's been hard, but I will saycollege football is a good
outlet.
As for the game, ryan Day, theOhio State coach, who's honestly
been through the ringer fromthe Ohio State fans because they
got beat by Michigan.
Well, they made up for it andhe was quick to point out this
game and the opportunity to playa great program, a story
(06:48):
program, like Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Very, very talented, well-coached.
Played in big games before, andso it's a great opponent and
it's going to be a greatatmosphere.
Our team's very, very excitedabout playing in it.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, and everyone's excited about this, everyone, I
mean, between the weather inDallas-Fort Worth which right
now, depending on what timeyou're seeing this, on this
beautiful Friday, it's stillgoing to be cold, not as cold,
and I'm sure there's some snowand ice on the ground, the
remnants of those storms whichrolled through the Metroplex and
(07:26):
other parts of Texas.
Of course, back in Austin wejust got, it was miserable cold
and rain, but now we can focuson the game.
Everyone there, I hope, made itsafely.
I know there was a fewstretches of the Dallas-Fort
Worth area where you had to takeit slow because of the sliding
on the icy streets.
(07:46):
But one topic is why is UP'sdefense in particular since the
CFP started?
You look at the two gamesagainst Clemson and Arizona
State.
Well, they found soft spots inthat Texas defense which we
didn't see during the 12-gameregular season.
(08:09):
Well, michael Taft, for thepride of Westlake High School,
who is arguably one of the best,or the best, safety in American
All-American former walk-on, bythe way, if you haven't heard
that story, he gave a goodreason and it's because you have
smart coaches.
All of these college footballplayoff programs have amazing
(08:30):
coaches, or they wouldn't bethere and Michael Taft really
gave a great explanation as towhy this Texas defense has given
up more yards than normal,because it is a top three
defense in the country.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
Yeah, just communicate, just communicate
with one another.
You know, I think you got 10days to prepare for each one of
these games.
Arizona State had 20 days toprepare for their game, to
prepare for their game.
And so you know you have 15games on tape of what type of
(09:05):
schemes you run.
And so I think you know withevery defense there's always,
you know, a beater to a defense.
That's why defense coordinatorsare always on the sideline
throwing their hats, throwingtheir headsets down, because
there's always some type ofbeater to every single defensive
scheme.
And so you know, when you havethat much tape out there, all
the games that we've played, and10 days to get ready for that
(09:28):
and to scheme a defensive backgroup, then I think that
happened.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Yeah, great explanation from Michael Taft.
And if you really look at OhioState's, their body of work
resume, so to speak.
I mean after that loss toMichigan, a team in which Texas
beat early in the season bigrivalry game.
It is heated, it's a lot ofhatred, whatnot, but they
regrouped.
But Ohio State regrouped andabsolutely dominated Tennessee
(09:58):
and the one seed Oregon andreally got after them quickly in
the first quarter.
I mean jumped on top of them soquickly that both Tennessee and
Oregon basically said mercy.
Oregon did make a comeback.
But he's right.
Michael Taft is right.
You have these coaches, you getmore and more tape on film and
(10:23):
you're being exposed.
So every defense, as he says,has a weakness.
It's a matter Can you expose it?
Ohio State's front four defense,number one in the country,
total defense and scoring.
Ohio State says number one inthe country, total defense and
scoring.
Ohio State says but this issomething that Texas can use or
(10:45):
is probably in their game plan.
It's all about the counter,countering what the opposing
team's game plan is.
And on offense they have somany weapons.
Quarterback Will Howard, theformer Kansas State quarterback.
He's been really good, over3,500 yards of total offense
(11:05):
this season.
Jeremiah Smith, an incrediblefreakish
will-be-a-superstar-on-Sundaysreceiver.
It's going to be interesting tosee that matchup tonight, him
against the Jim Thorpe Awardwinner, that being Jadae Barron.
And there's so many otherplayers I'm not mentioning.
(11:29):
But you would like to thinkthat if Texas maintains the edge
and limits the Ohio State bigplays to three or less and
defense has to force turnoversto make up for what Ohio State
is scheming for, that has giventhe perception through the stats
(11:52):
that this Texas defense hasbecome a little leaky.
And Texas on the offensive sidehas to do what they have done
these last two CFP games andthat is jump on our opponents
early.
But Joel Klatt, he'll talkabout that when we get to the
second segment, talking aboutthat and the trends of both Ohio
(12:16):
State and Texas, what we'veseen from the eye test and,
statistically, two teams goingdifferent directions.
But you could also say a win isa win and that's what's so
exciting about this matchup.
None of us know, none of us haveany clue of what's going to
happen tonight.
Plus, you've got Texas anunderdog.
(12:38):
I still believe you want, ifyou're a Texas fan, underdog.
I still believe If you're aTexas fan, you want this
Longhorn team.
You want that point spread inVegas to keep rising, because I
think this team plays reallywell when they're doubted, and
they've proven so many, manytimes in the not-too-distant
past.
I mean, just remember Alabamalast year.
(12:59):
No one gave Texas a chance.
That's what the beauty of thisis, and a trip to the national
championship game on the line.
Before we hit a break there wasa.
I think Sark made a really goodresponse when he was talking
about this new era of the CFP tothe 12-team format.
I love it.
(13:20):
Tell me what you think.
I really want to know what youthink.
Hit me up on Twitter about thisnew 12-team format.
I think it's great.
I think it's going to getbetter.
I think we're going to have theopportunity to see more
on-campus games if they canexpand to 14, 16 teams.
But you know there are noundefeated teams and that's the
(13:44):
era of product, of the era ofname, image and likeness and the
transfer portal.
And Sartre gave his responseand he's not wrong.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
I mean, Coach Day's done a great job.
He's got a tremendous staff,great talent on their team.
They've navigated the seasontremendously.
You know, I think in this dayand age of college football, to
think that you're just going togo unblemished is probably not
realistic.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Not at all.
Not at all.
If a team does go undefeated,if your team is that team that
goes undefeated unless you'rejust too deep, of future NFL
studs that are all fullydeveloped, nfl studs that are
all fully developed that's not agood position to be in to be
undefeated, in my opinion, inthe CFP, because you are ripe
(14:28):
for an upset.
That's just my opinion on that.
We're going to take a quickbreak here on episode 445.
And on the other side we'regoing to talk about predictions
and reasons why Texas or OhioState will play Notre Dame in
the national championship game.
I'll see you on the other sideof this break.
(14:51):
Honest is a strong word and weall need honesty when it comes
to plumbing and HVAC needs,somebody who will take care of
the repairs efficiently and withquality.
Honest Plumbing and Air is whoI trust and they take pride in
that word.
Honest Plumbing and Air.
Where a handshake still meanssomething.
The Saxton name resonates inAustin.
(15:18):
Jim's late father, james Saxton, is a Longhorn legend, a
Heisman finalist while playingfor Darryl K Royal, and Jimmy is
a UT football legacy fromWestlake.
He has been insuring Austin fordecades.
He and his staff will give youold school hospitality when
servicing your insurance needsno-transcript.
(15:57):
That's Texas Longhorn Widereceiver signing, getting ready
for the All-American Bowl.
The top high school footballtalent in the country, jamie
French, you saw it.
He's predicting a big Texas win.
You could call it an upset, butaccording to how they're seeded
, it's not an upset and alsoit's not out of the question.
(16:20):
Texas will roll in this game.
You've had multiple enough timein between the last CFP games
and the semifinal.
You have time for both teams.
Injured players who arequestionable are playing, like
(16:41):
Cam Williams for Texas on theO-line.
He will be playing and otherplayers.
Everybody's banged up this timeof year, but that time was
necessary for every player onevery team.
So you really don't know.
I know on paper, and I evensaid it before the year, that
top to bottom, ohio State isperhaps the best team in the
(17:04):
country.
I'm not going to waver on that.
But like Jamie French, theTexas Longhorn signee, I still
believe anything can happen inthis game In Arlington, a place
where Ohio State has experienceplaying, but Texas too, having
won the Big 12 championship atJerry World last year.
(17:25):
But Joe Clyde, a guy who Ireally respect, the former
Colorado quarterback.
He's a good analysis analyst.
Excuse me, it's just a questionhe talked about and he was just
spitting facts of why he thinksOhio State has the upper hand
(17:46):
in this game.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Texas has to survive.
The first quarter, ohio Statejumped out 21-0 on Tennessee,
then 34-0 on Oregon.
Those are the leads in thefirst two playoff games.
If that's the case, it's a wrap.
Both of those games were a wrap.
Tennessee was not coming backfrom a 21-point deficit.
Tennessee was not coming backfrom a 21-point deficit.
Oregon was not coming back froma 34-point deficit.
That is not happening.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay, he makes a valid point and the beauty of
this is all the talk, all thestorylines and I know in some
matchups you just don't match upwell against teams.
But I think this Texas teamresponds to adversity so well.
Ohio State is playing with thatme against the world type
(18:31):
approach.
They've been hearing thecriticism since they lost to
Michigan.
Look what they've done and theyhave some dogs on that team.
There is absolutely no doubtabout that.
But Texas is seasoned.
They have a lot of guys who aregoing to be in the NFL next
season.
By the way, this friend of mineright here, the Stuy, and he
(18:53):
looks better today.
It's a matter of days beforethis guy is gone and I look like
I'm not.
I didn't get into a big fight,get my butt kicked or anything
like that, but the sty is almostgone.
But man, I'm really leaningtoward Texas.
I really am.
I was really.
I thought the season wasperhaps going to end tonight up
(19:18):
until yesterday, was perhapsgoing to end tonight up until
yesterday.
Then I started thinking youknow, this underdog role is
significant.
I'm going to take Texas.
I know I said it in the priorepisode.
I'm going to go ahead and sayit's going to be 23-17 Texas.
These defenses are going to getafter each other.
(19:39):
Hey Ben tell me something good.
Hey, tell me something good.
Hey, tell me something good.
We love ending on positivity.
Quinn Ewers He'll go down asone of the best Quarterbacks,
easily top 10, perhaps top 5, inUT football history.
We know a lot of these playersstay in IL era, are paid very
(20:06):
nicely, if you will, but he wastalking about what he does with
his NIL money and this issomething not only good but
great.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Just being able to give back to my parents and I
actually have my.
I get to, I get to pay my mom asalary, which is nice, just
because you know all the effortand work they put into me.
Growing up I mean they both wewere living in South Texas.
They both quit their jobs andmoved up to Southlake.
(20:38):
We really lived in theGrapevine area first and then
just for them and all the workthat they put in for me and my
two sisters is, I mean, evenwhat I give back can't describe
how thankful I am for everythingthat they do for me.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Man, that's beautiful .
That is beautiful.
Shout out to you Quinn, yoursand I know there are probably
more players like him.
His mom is his only employeeand she manages his finances,
which is a good thing, and youknow it's being smart.
And you know, when he went toOhio State by reclassifying not
(21:15):
playing his senior year at SouthLake Carroll for Riley Dodge
reclassified, reported to OhioState midway through camp, was a
backup to, or one of thebackups to, cj Stroud Learned a
lot and Quinn has plenty of tiesto these current Buckeyes.
Don't forget that.
So there's that element and Ican't wait.
(21:36):
This is going to be a beautifulday leading up, can't wait.
And man, the Cotton Bowlscollege football playoff
semifinal man Texas and OhioState man, hit me up with the
comments on Facebook, on thepodcast Facebook page, instagram
and Twitter.
Let's talk about this with thisepisode, because I would love
(21:57):
to hear what you have to say.
Man, cheers to you.
Cannot wait for tonight.
And it is, man, I'm absolutelyblown away because Notre Dame
barely got by Penn State 27-24.
They were awaiting the winnerbetween Texas and Ohio State.
(22:18):
So whenever you have anopportunity to talk college
football and the CFP and theLonghorns and Buckeyes with a
chance to play for the nationalchampionship.
It's always good to talk aboutit.
Outro Music.
Hello Longhorn Nation .
Great time to be a LonghornNation.
Great time to be a Longhorn.
Not a better place to watch agame in town than Dirty's, about
100 years old.
We just came in 299.
So come see us.
Come see us win this nattyMen's and women's basketball.
We got it here.
Hook them good protection.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
It's for kayla louis touchdown our defense won that
football game for us.
We were struggling, struggling.
They gave us a chance, theygave us an opportunity at the
end and somehow, someway, wepulled it out 55 seconds to play
(01:29):
.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
How about?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
that Steve Sarkeesian back in his days as a Brigham
Young Cougar, the quarterback,the QB1, man.
I remember that, like it wasyesterday, he got to play in the
Cotton Bowl and led BYU to a14-1 record and a finish in the
top five in the country of that96th season, the same season in
(01:52):
which Stark and BYU beat TexasA&M.
I believe it was up in Provo,utah.
I am Sean Clinch, the host ofStories Inside the man Cave, and
of course let's talk about it,this series and this series is
brought to you by, in particular, honest Plumbing and Air.
But a big shout out to each ofour sponsors Jim Saston State
(02:15):
Farm, dirty Martins Place, aniconic Austin original, which
celebrated its well it's aboutto celebrate its 99th year.
Hargrove Roofing know who's onyour roof?
And of course, honest Plumbingand Air, as I mentioned, where a
handshake still means something.
Man, today is the day Later.
Tonight, sark will return to theCotton Bowl Classic game, but
(02:40):
not inside the Cotton BowlStadium.
Since 2010, it's been at JerryWorld in Arlington.
Will the Longhorns knock offOhio State to play Notre Dame
for the national championship?
Let's talk about it.
All right, the formalities aredone.
(03:32):
Texas and Ohio State have beenin the DFW Metroplex for the
last two or three days.
All the preparation is done.
Now we're here.
We are here, finally, after allthe talking, everything, the
Buckeyes and Longhorns will playfor a spot in the CFP National
(03:53):
Championship game to meet NotreDame, who beat Penn State in a
great semifinal game last night.
Wow, this is thrilling and allthe talking's done.
Now you got to prove it on thefield.
Before we get going, be sure tofollow us on each of our social
media platforms Facebook, igxand subscribe for free to our
(04:17):
YouTube page and to our TikTokpage as well.
I appreciate it and you know.
Share it all the content withyour friends, family, whatnot?
Tell people about it, follow,comment along.
Man, we've had a good time withthis since the CFP began.
All right, here it is CFP FinalFour Texas and Ohio State two
(04:42):
of college football's bluebloods but unfortunately there
has been a couple of tragediesand more important things than
any college football game andSteve Sarkeesian, the Texas head
football coach, addressed thatnamely the fires in LA, which
has been really tough to watch.
(05:02):
I've had two friends, one ofthe fires on the north side of
Pasadena, which floated all theway to his yard six and a half
(05:26):
miles south of Pasadena.
It is the scenes, the video.
It's absolutely just depressingand you feel for each of the
families and everyone involved,and Sark made it a point to talk
about that before anythingabout this game.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
What has happened in Los Angeles right now is
unfathomable.
Being from Los Angeles, a lotof friends and family there that
are affected, and so I justhope everybody out there can
keep their thoughts and prayerswith those and obviously those
in New Orleans with some of thetragic events that have occurred
.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, it's been a really tough couple of weeks
here in our country.
Mother nature, people with badintentions, and I really hope
that everyone involved isblessed with some type of
closure and comfort, becausethis is unnecessary and it's
(06:25):
really hard.
It's been hard, but I will saycollege football is a good
outlet.
As for the game, ryan Day, theOhio State coach, who's honestly
been through the ringer fromthe Ohio State fans because they
got beat by Michigan.
Well, they made up for it andhe was quick to point out this
game and the opportunity to playa great program, a story
(06:48):
program, like Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Very, very talented, well-coached.
Played in big games before, andso it's a great opponent and
it's going to be a greatatmosphere.
Our team's very, very excitedabout playing in it.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, and everyone's excited about this, everyone, I
mean, between the weather inDallas-Fort Worth which right
now, depending on what timeyou're seeing this, on this
beautiful Friday, it's stillgoing to be cold, not as cold,
and I'm sure there's some snowand ice on the ground, the
remnants of those storms whichrolled through the Metroplex and
(07:26):
other parts of Texas.
Of course, back in Austin wejust got, it was miserable cold
and rain, but now we can focuson the game.
Everyone there, I hope, made itsafely.
I know there was a fewstretches of the Dallas-Fort
Worth area where you had to takeit slow because of the sliding
on the icy streets.
(07:46):
But one topic is why is UP'sdefense in particular since the
CFP started?
You look at the two gamesagainst Clemson and Arizona
State.
Well, they found soft spots inthat Texas defense which we
didn't see during the 12-gameregular season.
(08:09):
Well, michael Taft, for thepride of Westlake High School,
who is arguably one of the best,or the best, safety in American
All-American former walk-on, bythe way, if you haven't heard
that story, he gave a goodreason and it's because you have
smart coaches.
All of these college footballplayoff programs have amazing
(08:30):
coaches, or they wouldn't bethere and Michael Taft really
gave a great explanation as towhy this Texas defense has given
up more yards than normal,because it is a top three
defense in the country.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
Yeah, just communicate, just communicate
with one another.
You know, I think you got 10days to prepare for each one of
these games.
Arizona State had 20 days toprepare for their game, to
prepare for their game.
And so you know you have 15games on tape of what type of
(09:05):
schemes you run.
And so I think you know withevery defense there's always,
you know, a beater to a defense.
That's why defense coordinatorsare always on the sideline
throwing their hats, throwingtheir headsets down, because
there's always some type ofbeater to every single defensive
scheme.
And so you know, when you havethat much tape out there, all
the games that we've played, and10 days to get ready for that
(09:28):
and to scheme a defensive backgroup, then I think that
happened.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Yeah, great explanation from Michael Taft.
And if you really look at OhioState's, their body of work
resume, so to speak.
I mean after that loss toMichigan, a team in which Texas
beat early in the season bigrivalry game.
It is heated, it's a lot ofhatred, whatnot, but they
regrouped.
But Ohio State regrouped andabsolutely dominated Tennessee
(09:58):
and the one seed Oregon andreally got after them quickly in
the first quarter.
I mean jumped on top of them soquickly that both Tennessee and
Oregon basically said mercy.
Oregon did make a comeback.
But he's right.
Michael Taft is right.
You have these coaches, you getmore and more tape on film and
(10:23):
you're being exposed.
So every defense, as he says,has a weakness.
It's a matter Can you expose it?
Ohio State's front four defense,number one in the country,
total defense and scoring.
Ohio State says number one inthe country, total defense and
scoring.
Ohio State says but this issomething that Texas can use or
(10:45):
is probably in their game plan.
It's all about the counter,countering what the opposing
team's game plan is.
And on offense they have somany weapons.
Quarterback Will Howard, theformer Kansas State quarterback.
He's been really good, over3,500 yards of total offense
(11:05):
this season.
Jeremiah Smith, an incrediblefreakish
will-be-a-superstar-on-Sundaysreceiver.
It's going to be interesting tosee that matchup tonight, him
against the Jim Thorpe Awardwinner, that being Jadae Barron.
And there's so many otherplayers I'm not mentioning.
(11:29):
But you would like to thinkthat if Texas maintains the edge
and limits the Ohio State bigplays to three or less and
defense has to force turnoversto make up for what Ohio State
is scheming for, that has giventhe perception through the stats
(11:52):
that this Texas defense hasbecome a little leaky.
And Texas on the offensive sidehas to do what they have done
these last two CFP games andthat is jump on our opponents
early.
But Joel Klatt, he'll talkabout that when we get to the
second segment, talking aboutthat and the trends of both Ohio
(12:16):
State and Texas, what we'veseen from the eye test and,
statistically, two teams goingdifferent directions.
But you could also say a win isa win and that's what's so
exciting about this matchup.
None of us know, none of us haveany clue of what's going to
happen tonight.
Plus, you've got Texas anunderdog.
(12:38):
I still believe you want, ifyou're a Texas fan, underdog.
I still believe If you're aTexas fan, you want this
Longhorn team.
You want that point spread inVegas to keep rising, because I
think this team plays reallywell when they're doubted, and
they've proven so many, manytimes in the not-too-distant
past.
I mean, just remember Alabamalast year.
(12:59):
No one gave Texas a chance.
That's what the beauty of thisis, and a trip to the national
championship game on the line.
Before we hit a break there wasa.
I think Sark made a really goodresponse when he was talking
about this new era of the CFP tothe 12-team format.
I love it.
(13:20):
Tell me what you think.
I really want to know what youthink.
Hit me up on Twitter about thisnew 12-team format.
I think it's great.
I think it's going to getbetter.
I think we're going to have theopportunity to see more
on-campus games if they canexpand to 14, 16 teams.
But you know there are noundefeated teams and that's the
(13:44):
era of product, of the era ofname, image and likeness and the
transfer portal.
And Sartre gave his responseand he's not wrong.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
I mean, Coach Day's done a great job.
He's got a tremendous staff,great talent on their team.
They've navigated the seasontremendously.
You know, I think in this dayand age of college football, to
think that you're just going togo unblemished is probably not
realistic.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Not at all.
Not at all.
If a team does go undefeated,if your team is that team that
goes undefeated unless you'rejust too deep, of future NFL
studs that are all fullydeveloped, nfl studs that are
all fully developed that's not agood position to be in to be
undefeated, in my opinion, inthe CFP, because you are ripe
(14:28):
for an upset.
That's just my opinion on that.
We're going to take a quickbreak here on episode 445.
And on the other side we'regoing to talk about predictions
and reasons why Texas or OhioState will play Notre Dame in
the national championship game.
I'll see you on the other sideof this break.
(14:51):
Honest is a strong word and weall need honesty when it comes
to plumbing and HVAC needs,somebody who will take care of
the repairs efficiently and withquality.
Honest Plumbing and Air is whoI trust and they take pride in
that word.
Honest Plumbing and Air.
Where a handshake still meanssomething.
The Saxton name resonates inAustin.
(15:18):
Jim's late father, james Saxton, is a Longhorn legend, a
Heisman finalist while playingfor Darryl K Royal, and Jimmy is
a UT football legacy fromWestlake.
He has been insuring Austin fordecades.
He and his staff will give youold school hospitality when
servicing your insurance needsno-transcript.
(15:57):
That's Texas Longhorn Widereceiver signing, getting ready
for the All-American Bowl.
The top high school footballtalent in the country, jamie
French, you saw it.
He's predicting a big Texas win.
You could call it an upset, butaccording to how they're seeded
, it's not an upset and alsoit's not out of the question.
(16:20):
Texas will roll in this game.
You've had multiple enough timein between the last CFP games
and the semifinal.
You have time for both teams.
Injured players who arequestionable are playing, like
(16:41):
Cam Williams for Texas on theO-line.
He will be playing and otherplayers.
Everybody's banged up this timeof year, but that time was
necessary for every player onevery team.
So you really don't know.
I know on paper, and I evensaid it before the year, that
top to bottom, ohio State isperhaps the best team in the
(17:04):
country.
I'm not going to waver on that.
But like Jamie French, theTexas Longhorn signee, I still
believe anything can happen inthis game In Arlington, a place
where Ohio State has experienceplaying, but Texas too, having
won the Big 12 championship atJerry World last year.
(17:25):
But Joe Clyde, a guy who Ireally respect, the former
Colorado quarterback.
He's a good analysis analyst.
Excuse me, it's just a questionhe talked about and he was just
spitting facts of why he thinksOhio State has the upper hand
(17:46):
in this game.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Texas has to survive.
The first quarter, ohio Statejumped out 21-0 on Tennessee,
then 34-0 on Oregon.
Those are the leads in thefirst two playoff games.
If that's the case, it's a wrap.
Both of those games were a wrap.
Tennessee was not coming backfrom a 21-point deficit.
Tennessee was not coming backfrom a 21-point deficit.
Oregon was not coming back froma 34-point deficit.
That is not happening.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay, he makes a valid point and the beauty of
this is all the talk, all thestorylines and I know in some
matchups you just don't match upwell against teams.
But I think this Texas teamresponds to adversity so well.
Ohio State is playing with thatme against the world type
(18:31):
approach.
They've been hearing thecriticism since they lost to
Michigan.
Look what they've done and theyhave some dogs on that team.
There is absolutely no doubtabout that.
But Texas is seasoned.
They have a lot of guys who aregoing to be in the NFL next
season.
By the way, this friend of mineright here, the Stuy, and he
(18:53):
looks better today.
It's a matter of days beforethis guy is gone and I look like
I'm not.
I didn't get into a big fight,get my butt kicked or anything
like that, but the sty is almostgone.
But man, I'm really leaningtoward Texas.
I really am.
I was really.
I thought the season wasperhaps going to end tonight up
(19:18):
until yesterday, was perhapsgoing to end tonight up until
yesterday.
Then I started thinking youknow, this underdog role is
significant.
I'm going to take Texas.
I know I said it in the priorepisode.
I'm going to go ahead and sayit's going to be 23-17 Texas.
These defenses are going to getafter each other.
(19:39):
Hey Ben tell me something good.
Hey, tell me something good.
Hey, tell me something good.
We love ending on positivity.
Quinn Ewers He'll go down asone of the best Quarterbacks,
easily top 10, perhaps top 5, inUT football history.
We know a lot of these playersstay in IL era, are paid very
(20:06):
nicely, if you will, but he wastalking about what he does with
his NIL money and this issomething not only good but
great.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Just being able to give back to my parents and I
actually have my.
I get to, I get to pay my mom asalary, which is nice, just
because you know all the effortand work they put into me.
Growing up I mean they both wewere living in South Texas.
They both quit their jobs andmoved up to Southlake.
(20:38):
We really lived in theGrapevine area first and then
just for them and all the workthat they put in for me and my
two sisters is, I mean, evenwhat I give back can't describe
how thankful I am for everythingthat they do for me.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Man, that's beautiful .
That is beautiful.
Shout out to you Quinn, yoursand I know there are probably
more players like him.
His mom is his only employeeand she manages his finances,
which is a good thing, and youknow it's being smart.
And you know, when he went toOhio State by reclassifying not
(21:15):
playing his senior year at SouthLake Carroll for Riley Dodge
reclassified, reported to OhioState midway through camp, was a
backup to, or one of thebackups to, cj Stroud Learned a
lot and Quinn has plenty of tiesto these current Buckeyes.
Don't forget that.
So there's that element and Ican't wait.
(21:36):
This is going to be a beautifulday leading up, can't wait.
And man, the Cotton Bowlscollege football playoff
semifinal man Texas and OhioState man, hit me up with the
comments on Facebook, on thepodcast Facebook page, instagram
and Twitter.
Let's talk about this with thisepisode, because I would love
(21:57):
to hear what you have to say.
Man, cheers to you.
Cannot wait for tonight.
And it is, man, I'm absolutelyblown away because Notre Dame
barely got by Penn State 27-24.
They were awaiting the winnerbetween Texas and Ohio State.
(22:18):
So whenever you have anopportunity to talk college
football and the CFP and theLonghorns and Buckeyes with a
chance to play for the nationalchampionship.
It's always good to talk aboutit.
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