September 4, 2024 • 42 mins
Colin points out the major difference between Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson as the Chiefs and Ravens prepare to kickoff the NFL season tomorrow night. He reacts to the latest AP Poll in college football and what the new BIG 10 and SEC tells us about the 12-team playoff format. Plus, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian joins the show to talk about how this year's team stacks up against last year's roster that made the college football playoff
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh here we go, how luck here Wait, nobody's got
it better than us. It is a Wednesday Joel Clattenin
hour live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you
may be and however.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
You may be listening.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Thanks for making us part of your day. Not going
to roll the sleeves up for another hour because this
has such an easy lift this time of the year,
there's so many things to talk about j Matt. Tomorrow,
the NFL season starts, and it's not just that it's
just not a game. It's Mahomes, it's Lamar, it's Baltimore,
it's Kansas City heavyweight fight. That's been one siding so far.
(01:03):
I'm already sick in the seats. I mean Tannis Kelsey,
Taylor's FLI doctor.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Malmesam can be be done with these guys.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Good. Well, let's talk about tomorrow's NFL start, because it's
fascinating and it's been one sided and it probably shouldn't be.
I've argued before, I think Baltimore may be the best
run organization in the sport. And if they're not, it's
Kansas City. Two great coaches, two great owners, excellent executives,
(01:30):
usually excellent coordinators and defenses. The difference has been Mahomes
and Lamar. And it's not just that Mahomes is better
than Lamar. Mahomes is better than everybody in the last
twenty years not named Tom Brady. It's that Lamar falls
off a cliff against Kansas City. And you know, I
love Lamar. I've been saying this forever, this is Hall
(01:50):
of Famer. But when these two meet head to head,
Lamar can't complete fifty six percent of his throws. His
passer rating is like CF and this is one of
the most gifted quarterbacks I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
What the hell happens?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So clearly this rivalry, it's not about the coaches, not
about the owners, not about the draft picks, not about
the defense. It's been about Lamar regressing. Why, So let's
start with this. Mahomes is a better player. Okay, he's
better than everybody. He's better than everybody not named Brady
in the last two decades, he'd better than everybody. But
why is he falling off a cliff? And I'll let
(02:25):
me theorize why I believe this to be so. Lamar
Jackson is twenty and one. That doesn't even make sense
against the NFC. And I mean he's blown the doors
off teams like Good Detroit, San Francisco. He's twenty and
one against the NFC. Why Because if you don't face
Lamar Jackson regularly, it's like growing up in San Diego
(02:48):
and trying to drive on ice. You can read a manual,
it's not gonna work. You've got to be on ice,
driving on that ice in Milwaukee and Minnesota for years
to figure it out. That hyper speed is like nothing
we've seen. It's like Michael Vick, but way faster, way twitchier.
It's like being a parent. Your grandparents give your heads up,
your neighbors, your friends. Yet doctor Spock didn't give your
(03:09):
heads up on the smells of it. And so if
you've never faced Lamar or faced him infrequently, there's nothing
like him. You have nobody on your roster to duplicate him.
But if you face him regularly, I had a GM
telling me this year's ago, you get him a second
time in a season, and Steve spag Noa now faces
on on a fairly regular basis. You can have game
plan for him, but you couldn't game plan for Brady,
(03:33):
and you can't game plan for Mahomes. Because what makes
Brady and Mahomes so brilliant. You took away the deep
mall from Mahomes. He's like, okay, death by a thousand cuts.
You took away Randy Moss from Brady. Okay, it's death
by a thousand cuts. Is that both Mahomes and Brady
have a second pitch, a third pitch, a fourth pitch.
(03:55):
And that's why there's two greatest quarterbacks in my opinion
of all time. Nolan Ryan had a great fastball, and
if it was Hummon, we make it a no hitter.
But he won fifty two percent of his games. Clayton
Kershaw didn't throw that hard. He went over sixty right
and didn't have all the no hitters. And so I
(04:15):
think what Lamar is developing, and I've always said he's
a better passer than he gets credit for. I watched
the games. You watch the games. It's not a liability.
But Brady and Mahomes have mastered the pocket to a
level that I mean, there's only a couple of people
like a Peyton Manning a Marino in lway that even
rival it, and Aaron Rodgers a Marino. I mean, there's
(04:38):
just a handful of breeze handful of guys ever, that
have rivaled it. And so that's what's fascinating about Lamar
Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. It's not that Mahomes is winning,
It's that Lamar falls off a cliff and it does
appear I'm not saying Lamar's Nolan Ryan, but it does
kind of feel like if Lamar's run game is in
(05:00):
iplemented and Hammond lights out, if you can slow that down,
if you're hitting a fastball, it doesn't feel quite the same.
And I think that's been the secret sauce for Kansas
City is the frequency in which they see him right
the frequency there's a bit of a game plan. There
(05:20):
is no game plan for Brady, there is no game
plan for.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Mahomes.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
There is none. He may not run the entire game.
Fourth quarter, bad Wheels takes off forty five yards. There's
no game plan for him. And that's why he keeps
both of them. Brady Mahomes keep hoisting trophies. All right,
So the last episode of Hard Knocks last night with
the Chicago Bears. Final episodes. So what makes the Bears
(05:51):
and Caleb Williams so fascinating? I'm looking at all these
one o'clock game Sundays, Titans Bears unlocked. I may not
even go red zone. I may just turn that thing
on and watch every play like it is fantastic. And
what makes Chicago so fascinating is that they've done virtually, No,
it's not virtually. They've done the impossible. In the NFL,
(06:15):
They've never had a great quarterback ever for an extended period.
The Chargers, the Chargers, they're charging. They've had rivers, they
got Herbert, they had breeze, they had fouls. Niners have
had four or five. Packers have had four or five,
Eagles have had three or four or five. There's none.
(06:36):
Never had a single quarterback ever throw for over four
thousand yards. That's like being a casino and never making money.
People go to your casino and give you money. The
casino always wins. One hundred years running a casino, yeah
we never made a profit. How do you not have
one quarterback ever that's thrown for four thousand yards? They
don't have a quarterback that's ever thrown for over thirty touchdowns.
(06:56):
Even Blake Bortles did that in Jacksonville. That's going on
with Chicago the weather. No, it's not because Green Bay
and Buffalo had it all the time. What it is,
it's cultural, it's systemic. And I'll give you an example.
So when they hired a coach years ago, is the
league's pivoting to offense? The rules are all offense. The
(07:17):
oldest owner in the NFL, Missus McCaskey. Who does she
rely on? Bill Pollian eighty years old? I love Bill,
I know Bill, but Bill old school. Let's go with
a defensive coach. Jeffrey Lourie Verry produced a lot of
movies in Hollywood. Jeffrey Lewie. If you look at his businesses,
(07:39):
always on the cutting edge. He just keeps hiring offensive coaches,
getting quarterbacks, offensive coaches, mobile quarterbacks, offensive coaches. You look
at staying Kronkey again, LA a lot of business, cutting
edge of stuff. Let's go hire Sean McVay thirty years old.
Less sneed young GM. They're constantly moving. They're kind of
(08:03):
progressive creators Jeffrey Lorie Stan Cronkey, always trying new stuff.
But they have their values, they have their formulas like
everybody else. So to win in Chicago isn't just about
being really talented. Caleb Williams and it's unfair will have
to be transformational because the oldest owner. They're still celebrating
(08:28):
the nineteen eighty five Chicago Bears. The Bears have done
virtually the impossible. They're a casino that doesn't make money.
How in the world can you not one time have
quarterback to over thirty five touchdowns?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
All the rules have changed.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
How you do it when you're clinging to the past.
You do it when you celebrate a team from nineteen
eighty five. That's what Caleb Williams will have to overcome.
Moratorium on celebrating the eighty five Bears. It's enough, it's great,
(09:06):
let's move past that. I mean, the Rams aren't even
celebrating their title team from two years three years ago
in LA like they moved on from Aaron Donald. They
moved on. They don't talk about it. It's the next thing.
So good luck to Caleb Williams. He's gonna need it
because it is. It is incredible. When you look at
(09:28):
this league, you know, you sometimes you think, you know
all these billionaire owners is not the way it works.
It's not even with coaches, gms, quarterbacks or owners or
ownership groups.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
It's not even.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I don't care if it's fair. They may all be billionaires,
they're different and Chicago's been like different on the bad
side of.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It, all right. J Mac Joel Platt one hour.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Steve Sarkesan stops by today the Pittsburgh steel As spending
more money on on defense. Tell me if you've heard
that before the Niners did something. Do you see what
the Niners did? I don't think so. I'm so locked
in on the Jets. I think I missed the Niners.
Oh the fringing up the cap space?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Is that what you're talking about?
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Now?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Okay, Yeah, it's funny how the smart people figure out
ways to find money. A little easier to do that
with rock Party making like eight hundred thousand dollars. Oh,
but they've had all these great players pre Rock Purty.
Why do they keep being able to afford all these
great players that should be the Dallas model?
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Huh?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Why can Dallas not have as many players? And the
Niners have like nine Pro bowlers and they're paying all
of them. They're paying all of them, and they're gonna
continue to pay all of them. Why is that? We'll
talk about that coming up.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Neon Easter nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Oh, we got so much going up this weekend. Texas
Michigan on Fox. That's gonna be so good. That's gonna
be so good. Colorado, Nebraska, keep your eye on that.
I'm still kind of floating on that La Cloud nine
with USC's win over LSU. I'm not gonna lie. Oh.
(11:08):
I slept like a baby last night. I had a
little National Championship crowns sheep bring USC gear jumping over
that National Championship fence. Slept like a baby. So the
AP top ten is out. I hope you're sitting down
for this revelation. It may catch you off guard. Of
(11:29):
the top ten teams in the country. Five are SEC, JMAC,
four are Big Ten, and one is Notre Dame, who,
in my opinion, should join the Big Ten academically in football,
they feel like the right fit. Nine of ten and
Notre Dame, which is in the Midwest and is a
big brand and should be a Big ten school. And
(11:51):
if I had to fit two more teams in here,
in my opinion from what I've seen, it would be
USC and Tennessee a Big Ten and an SEC team.
You can alter and change college football transfer portal, nil
conference realignment, dispan the PAC twelve folks. You can change
the tax system. Rich people going to stay rich. You
(12:15):
can occupy Wall Street forever, Berckshire, Hathaway, Blackrock will be
at the top. The only college football program that has
entered the national Championship discussion on a regular basis in
the last fifty years Oregon because of a brilliant man
named Phil Knight, his company, Nike, and their vision. I
(12:38):
watched them map it out when I work there.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
TCU was interesting for a moment. Boise State will get
an occasional upset, but come on, now, it's the same
big dogs. And if you think in a twelve team playoff.
A liberty, a Boise State of Houston can line up
four times again against the big dogs. It's not gonna happen.
(13:03):
You don't have the dogs for this idea or odd
It's March madness. We've seen it before. In March madness,
it's much more popular. You only have five starting players.
If you have a great NBA talent, you can win
multiple games. Colin, what about Gonzaga, Well, Gonzaga is a
blue blood and they still don't have a title. But
they're a blue blood. They got three or four NBA
(13:24):
guys every class, they got NBA dues everywhere, and for
the record, they still don't have a title. So in
March madness, it is dominated by the blue bloods in
college football with all those NFL bodies. In no way
a liberty, even a Utah which is a great program,
lining up week after week after week after week four
times three maybe probably four times to win a Natty
(13:47):
not gonna happen. So people are paralyzed by it. But
you know, you can convince me that NFTs of the future.
Now it's stocks, it's equities, it's bonds, it's real estate.
You can sell me on all this stuff. It's the
same teams Bama, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma. USC now
(14:08):
has the right every time, USC's got the right coach.
They're battling for Natties Oregon and Phil Knight's money, Penn State, LSU.
It's the same teams. Don't fear change if you don't
love change. College football, for most of my life didn't
provide much change. But now in the last three years,
(14:28):
it's been nothing but change, and it's the same teams
in your top ten.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and newon Eastern non Am Pacific.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
He's Mike Krmen, I'm Dan Byern. We have a fantasy
football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's right, Dan.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find
the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup, sit starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmon and
Meat Dan Bayer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
And with that, the voice of college football at Fox,
Joel Klatt joining us for his first Wednesday visit. Oh,
and what a visit it will be. I don't know
if you got it. I don't know if you've got
a heads up on it. But somebody down there and
Los Angeles had quite a weekend in Vegas. Did you
(15:28):
hear about that?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I did hear about that. I did hear about that. Yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
You're from Colorado. Yeah, and let me identify. Sometimes I
just always just can't wait to where this is gonna go.
I'm so interested right now.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So as a.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
USC insider, I've watched the score points with Sark Lane
and Clay Hilton. That was the first game since Pete
Carroll where they went up against the big Dog, and
I would argue were more physical than LSU, an SEC team.
I don't want to hear about LSU is not good.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
They're LSU.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Well, they have two guys that are probably first round
tackles and the tight ends a stud and the linebacker.
First time since Pete Carroll, it wasn't first quarter, second three.
By the end of that game, they were hitting running
backs and knocking them off their feet saw four times.
The defense was such a substantial upgrade it was almost shocking.
(16:28):
It was, you know, and it was almost like, well, wait,
is LSU good up front? And then you have to
remind yourself like, yeah, those tackles are that good.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I will tell you.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I've always felt like, if you can just get aligned properly,
if you can know your assignment and do it with
any amount of effort and then run to the football,
you can play adequate defense. Like just on those things.
Those are kind of basics, wouldn't you say, Colin. And
unfortunately for USC and Lincoln Riley last year and really
some of the last two years, they were so far
(17:02):
out of position as far as being in the right
gap being fundamentally so, they couldn't even get into the
align and assign portion. So even if guys were trying
to fly around, they weren't tackling very well, and the
effort then never even paid off. Even if they were
trying really hard, it didn't pay off because the alignment
and the assignment weren't there. Now, what you see with
(17:23):
Danton Lynn is that they were in the proper positions
and then all of a sudden the effort was rewarded,
and then all of a sudden you get more effort,
and so it's it's like this feedback loop where they
started to have success and they're like, oh, wait, we
are better than everybody thinks, we are better players than
everybody thinks. We are highly recruited, we are talented, and
we are physical. And then you started to see that
(17:44):
play out during the course of that second half. And
I think that was what was most surprising for everybody
watching that game is that it wasn't forty two forty one.
USC and LSU went in there and they got in
a fistfight in the second half, and yes, and it
was an impressive win for us, and it was a
really big win for the Big Ten because of what
(18:06):
everything that we talked about in the off season. Remember
I told you, I told you all the way back
in July. I said one, I think USC is going
to beat LSU. That was number one and number two.
When and if they do, they will immediately be a
playoff contender, a CFP contender because of what that means
in the narrative between the two conferences. Because these two
(18:26):
teams you can say pretty confidently we're sitting in the
preseason in a very similar spot within their conference, and
that both felt like twelve thirteen in the country.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, that's right. I thought that I thought that USC was.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Underrated by the AP, so I thought that they were
right around fifteen or something along those lines, and in
a very similar spot within their conference in the Big
Ten as LSU was in the SEC. So, now, like
it or not, folks, college football is still a narrative business,
and it's still subjective, and we're still gonna assign twelve
teams and some of these at large teams based on
(19:03):
narrative and subjective viewpoints. And you've got a direct win
of USC over LSU. So it's big for the Big
Ten and it's massive for US. You and I both
talked about this. USC gets Penn State and Notre Dame
at home, and they don't face Ohio State in Oregon. Yeah,
it's a favorable schedule for USC. Not this weekend, next weekend,
and that's gonna be I think, kind of a low scoring,
(19:23):
another physical, tough game. Well, USC's got it. I remember
remember when I told you everyone was saying, like, oh,
their schedule is tough. I'm like, no, no, no, no,
their schedule is actually really good. They got a huge break,
a huge break. They don't travel east and have to
play a cold November game. That's that's number one, because
that's what everyone would immediately assume, and so they don't
have to do that. They get Penn State at home,
(19:45):
which is a great get for them, and Penn State
looks to be an elite team and played well against
West Virginia. And then the other big piece of this
was you get Michigan before they develop into the tough,
hard nosed Michigan that inevitably will show up in November.
You get them in September. That's a great schedule for USC.
I was saying this to a friend over the weekend.
If my son played quarterback, he'd be tall, lanky, with
(20:07):
a great, great pocket present and I'm sure you would
process information quickly. You would know what he's seeing and
he could react right away, just like Tom Brady. I said,
I'd send him to two coaches, Sark or Lincoln Riley.
And I want you to address this. I watched Middle Moss.
He got one start, big stage, high leverage, sophomore wide receivers,
(20:27):
freshman left tackle, freshman right guard. He looked like a
four year start.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Yes, so I love that you brought this up.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
In the heck, does Lincoln Riley do to get these
quarterback transfers. Baker Kyler, it doesn't matter where guys come from.
You give him an off season with a guy as
a starter taking first team snaps.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
They all look like this.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Do you know what he gives this quarterback? Answers, answers
and options. That's what Lincoln Riley and Sark to that matter,
you can. You can lump him into this and Lane Tiffin,
all the great play callers, even Andy will do this
to a certain extent. They give their quarterback answers and options.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
What is the defense doing?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
What are they trying to do to me? What do
I have in my toolbox that I can combat that
with on every play? And Lincoln does this as good
or better than anybody. Is that he trusts his quarterback
to put the football where the defense tells him to
put the football. Not where Lincoln wants him to throw it,
but where does the defense tell me this football should go.
(21:32):
How about the evidence of some of those run plays
late in the second half or on third down? Why
why do they do that? It's not because Lincoln Riley
is brilliant. It's like, oh, he timed that run call brilliantly.
That's not a run call. That is a play with options.
It's a package play with options, and the quarterback, Miller
Moss says, what is the defense doing? Okay, I have
(21:53):
answers and options for how to combat that, and then
he uses those. Now, this is what's not a very
popular take because Caleb was such a generationally talented player
at quarterback. But Caleb didn't always go in the right
spot with the football based on what the defense was doing,
(22:13):
because he thought to himself, listen, I'm a generational talent
and I'm going to make this play. And then a
lot of times it worked. So this is not a knock.
It's just a framing of what's going on with Miller Moss,
who is not going to play outside of the system.
Baker didn't play outside of the system. Jalen didn't play
outside of the system. Guess who else didn't play outside
(22:35):
of the system. For Sarkesian late in his career as
an old journeyman, gets one year to start Mac Jones,
who quarterback one of the great offenses in college football
history in twenty twenty with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Miller
Moss feels a lot like mac Jones from Alabama, and
(22:55):
they have guys that give them answers and options. That's
why you run the football on third and eight and
get it. It's not a lucky play call. It's that
the defense tells you you should run the ball based
on the ratios and the numbers. Why do you throw
the ball in certain spots and it's always open? Well,
because he gives you answers and options. It's a long
winded answer to tell you, like, if I'm a quarterback,
(23:16):
I want to play for a guy like that. He
broke forty four records at Colorado. Of course, most have
been broken since. But Joel Cloud is joining us.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Okay, okay, it's true, It's true, and they should be.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, they outlawed the pend I also, do you know.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
What record I didn't hold though? What's that?
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Thankfully career interceptions thrown? I was close.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
I was charging after that thing, didn't quite get it.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Congratulations. Let's move on to relevant stories. Texas Michigan, Texas Michigan.
I don't I don't like this matchup for Michigan.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Texas is really really good.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
I don't think they're going to move the ball on Texas.
I don't know, I'm not as concerned about Michigan's offense
as some You know, what I'm concerned about Texas speed.
Texas looks like Alabama has looked and Georgia has looked
that they started a little bit of that last year. Yes,
they didn't have the back end defensively, but you watch
them against Alabama, you're like, oh, wait a minute, they
can run and they're just.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
As big as Alabama.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
That's exactly right, Texaly. That's what Sark is building. He
left Alabama and he left the Nick Saban tree, and
that's what he's building from a roster. And what I
like about what Sark has done is that he didn't
go try to copy Nick Saban from a personal personality
standpoint or philosophy, but he did look at that roster
at Alabama and say, oh, yeah, that's how you win,
(24:33):
that's how you went. This looks like an early two
thousands USC team. It looks like the Alabama teams and
the Georgia teams. They're big, they're experienced upfront. In fact,
four of their offensive lineman this is their third year
starting their veteran They're as good of an offensive line
as anybody in the country. And you you couple that
with a quarterback that I think is as good as
(24:54):
anybody I do, and I think he's going to be
a Heisman.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Guy at the end of the years.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
For me, I mean his Drew Lockey to me, I
don't know if I will be as high on Quinn
in the draft process as I am for him for
Texas now. And I think those can be two truthful
state different Okay, so to your point, yeah, but having
said that, he's an experienced guy with a lot of
(25:19):
confidence that has weapons around him, and this is going
to be a difficult game for Michigan. I will say this,
and I know you love like you love history. We
sat on a desk together. It might have been like
one of your first weeks at FS at Fox at
Fox Sports. It was Jim Harbaugh's first game. I remember
that Utah at Utah, and that came up this week
(25:45):
in my memory. And it wasn't because you were blowing
me away with smart takes, although I'm sure they were fine.
It was more so this Michigan team reminds me more
of those early Harbaugh teams. Jake Rudoc at quarterback, Will
in Spate at quarterback, developing trying to be tough upfront,
leaning on the run game, really good defense, tough defensive
(26:08):
line that can play limitation offensively, a limited offense, but
trying to get it done. Complimentary football. Both of those
teams in twenty fifteen and sixteen one to ten football games.
In fact, in sixteen, you know, they were that overtime
game with Ohio State away from going and playing for
a Big Ten championship. So I still think that Michigan
can be very good. I just think that they're vastly
(26:30):
more limited than what they were a year ago when
they had all of that NFL talent, namely at the
quarterback position and JJ McCarthy. So that's how it frames
in my mind. And I think it's an uphill battle
for Michigan this week because Texas is really good. And
remember this, the last game Texas played, their defense was
(26:50):
riddled with mistakes. They didn't play well against Washington right
their whole offseason. The offense is fine. Tend to look
at what was your last game, like like Miller moss
last game Louisville Holiday Bowl, got some confidence, Sure, Texas
got Washington just was a hot knife through that secondary.
And I think Texas going to come with a chip
on their shoulder to prove to everybody we're not just flashy.
(27:13):
We can hit you in the mouth and play defense well.
Texas this year reminds me a lot of what Michigan
was a year ago. A team that lost in the
previous semi final, and you could see the train coming
all off season and you can see and you're like,
oh man, they're really experienced.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Oh man. Their quarterback is very good college quarterback there.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
They've got talent, they've got speed, they've got toughness, and
they've got a culture. And like Texas is real, they're
going to be a problem for Georgia, They're going to
be a problem for anybody in the country. Texas is
legitimately a national championship contender, and at least in this September,
with this roster, with all the newness at Michigan, I
can't in good conscience say that Michigan is a true
(27:54):
national title contender right now. They might develop into that.
I'm not sure the Wilton Spate two thousand and six
team team did. They developed into that late nest season
behind an incredible defense, and maybe that happens this year
for Michigan. But right now, Texas is the team that
walks in there. But with that, by the way, with
that expectation comes an immense amount of pressure they If
(28:16):
they lose this game.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
To this Michigan team, that is awful, awful for them.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
And their fan base and their narrative and their momentum
because of the expectations of what we just talked about.
So that's on Fox. Texas at Michigan, first top ten matchup.
It's gonna be such good TV.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Yeah, it'll be great. That's good. I'm happy for you.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I am. I appreciate I poke you a little bit,
but I am happy. You know what, you still hold
reciprocal Colorado record. Some of them they're they're they're deep
down and they got something like that, you know, like
most drop snaps. Okay, so I'll get the Clemson next week.
Florida State's done.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
I'm gonna throw it. I you and I liked Oregon
a lot. Yeah, time out.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I don't know what that was, but that doesn't look
like correctable in a week. Well, that was the most
could have won that game. Yeah, And by the way,
if Idaho would have won, that would have been a
bigger upset than the app State Michigan game from the
early two thousand, so that would have been the biggest
upset in sure.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Four star guys. All we know Dan Lanning's a good coach.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
What was that? That was as concerning as any game,
and in the first week of the season, there's no
question about it.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
And here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
It's because it's not like they went out there and
turned the ball over seven times and we're all of
a sudden in a close game. Dylan Gabriel threw for
incredible production, including forty one of fifty. They had to
throw fifty passes against Idaho. That is concerning, to say
the least. If I'm Dan Lanning, I'm going in there
and it's it's fire and brimstone all week with that team.
(29:47):
Because a lot in a lot of respects. You've got
to take this team that won the football game and
treat them like losers, right, You've got to take them
and humble them down and say this has got to
get better. Namely the offensive line. No, the offense up
line was a problem. Three starters back. They ran the
ball for under three yards per carry against Idaho. Five
(30:07):
of their eight penalties were on the offensive line and
they gave up three sacks, and you might say to yourself, like, well,
three is not not terrible.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
They give up five all last season.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
And all last season starters they return. These are four
and five star guys. Yeah, they're good players. They recruit
high end linemen, they're they're good players.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
And and you know this Oregon team.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
I'm gonna I'm going to run ride with Oregon this
week and say, okay, that's what I boy. I'm going
to give you your pass and say you're going to
go back to the grindstone and you're going to correct
those issues. Poise State comes in. By the way, Boise
State has never lost to Oregon. They're three and zero
against Oregon in their history. I know that that sounds crazy,
(30:52):
but good program. Ashton Gent They're running back is an
excellent player. That might be the top running back taken
in next year's NFL draft, just to he's he's that good.
But I think Oregon writes the ship and I think
that they went in a big way. I'm watching that
thinking we got ourselves a problem. Yeah that was that
was There's Clatt's top ten. Oh there does Apparently, as
(31:14):
I said to Clatt on Twitter, he does he only
has direct TV. He did not see the USC game.
Clatt does not have USC in that physicality and Miller moss.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
I put them at eleven.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Okay, I was, I don't understand what your I watched
the Oregon and I watched USC. Like I said, I'm
gonna give I'm giving Oregon one last chance.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
I felt the same way.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I'm like, no, this is something happened that the bus
broke down. They were playing, not in cleats, they're playing
in I don't know, I don't know what that was.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Man.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
You know what was so great about that Week one
of college football?
Speaker 4 (31:51):
No?
Speaker 3 (31:51):
So good?
Speaker 1 (31:51):
It wasn't just like, well, Georgia and Alabama looked good.
I mean, Georgia looks great. You've got freshmen for for
Ohio State, Texas looked great, Dame with a big win.
Bama looks like they're rolling with a young wide receiver
that could be Divor's next a doonsday.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
You've got Miami oklahom like.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
You've got a lot of really great storylines, including West
Coast football.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
USC with that huge win that was really big.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
It really was. Let me I got something else here.
I was gonna bring up, Oh you.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Didn't even bring up Colorado Nebraska. It's a huge game. Okay,
I'll just listen.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
I was for Dion Sanders. I think he has brought
awareness to the program and energy and he can recruit.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
I like Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
I think Nebraska is the sleeping giant in the country.
They're gonna knock off good teams, including USC as that
Sandwich game right in the middle of like Pen It's
like UCLA, Penn State, Nebraska.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Think of it this way.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
For Nebraska, you'll love this. Last year they won. They've
lost four games by a field goal, and those four games,
they turned it over seventeen times. Fourteen of them were
by quarterback Dylan Rayola. The true freshman doesn't have to
be great. He just has to be a net positive
for them to turn into an eight to nine, maybe
(33:09):
ten win team. If they're able to beat Colorado on
Saturday night, they'll be undefeated facing Ohio State, which means
even if they lose that game, they'll go into November
as an eight and one team playing legitimate college football
playoff games. You know, coaches love Matt Rule. I told
the staff this this morning. People can say what they
want about the Carolina experiment. But nothing works in Carolina.
(33:30):
Matt Rule is one of those guys when you talk
to other coaches. You talked turban Meyer, He's like, no,
that dude can go. Matt Rule does stuff, guys rip off.
The problem for Nebraska and Matt is that Colorado has
three or four players that are better than any player
than Nebraska has. I think so this is the problem
for Nebraska is the better team, I will fully admit,
(33:53):
But if Shador goes off and Travis has a couple
of picks, Colorado could easily win this game because those
two guys are just better than everybody else. Travis maybe
the best player in the sport this year.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
I think he is.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
I think I think he's probably the best overall player.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Clatt is excellent. I'm gonna give you a on this one. Wow,
you brought it the fact that you had all those
numbers up there. I'm a high processor. You are. You
can trust you on third and three to audible to
a third play?
Speaker 3 (34:18):
What I like about it?
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Sometimes even a four ROH was like, well, now you're
pushing your luck. I don't want a fourth read from Clatt.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
You just let her rip, Okay, be sure to catch
live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon eastern non
am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
All right, Steve sarkasan fourth year at Texas, here we go,
joining us live game of the weekend against Michigan former
head coach at Washington USC. I'm so fired up for
this stuff. You had a lot of influences. You had
Pete Carroll, you had Dan Quinn, you had Nick Saban,
but yet you've developed your own program. I can feel
the swagger, I can feel the attitude. Here's my question.
(34:59):
I think all of our in the media are too
tough on coaches. I feel this is actually your first
team and roster that I look at and I go, oh,
that's a national championship team. I looked at you last
year and I thought they're close, But I don't trust
the back end. Is that fair to say? That's not
a knock on last year's team, But I feel this
team's different. I just do, Sark, What do you think? Well?
Speaker 6 (35:21):
I thought we were pretty good last you know, we
ran in, we ran into a hot Michael Pennix there
in the semis. But hey, that we didn't play our
best game on either side of the ball. But you know,
I like our team this year.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
I would think, you know, when you look at our.
Speaker 6 (35:36):
Roster, I think we only have four or five guys
on our team that that were here before I got here.
The rest of the players we recruited, a lot of
these players have been here for you know, two, three
and four years now and have really grown up in
the culture and understand what we're about and got great leadership.
But I also think we've got great depth. I would
say the one thing about this year's team is we
definitely have more depth than we've had in any of
(35:58):
our other years and are too deep. Sometimes you can't
tell the difference between our ones and our twos, and
and that's great for us. That's that's great for us
right now early in the season where we can play
a lot of players, especially in the heat when we're
at home. But also for the longevity of this season.
You know, to think that we kicked off August thirty first,
and we're hoping to play January twentieth, you know we're
gonna need We're gonna need all the depth that we have.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Okay, you lost a great tight end. You lost two
great receivers, one of them late first of the Chiefs,
you lost a running back. I like, are you going
to be as dynamic offensively, because that's a lot of
NFL talent that walked out the door.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
We lost three receivers. The other ones playing for the
Rams now too.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Jordan, Right, that's right, yeah, Jordan.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (36:37):
You know what I liked about the way we played
Saturday was the efficiency we played with offensively. You know,
we've I think there's a there's a nice blend of
new faces on our offensive side of the ball. You know,
we have some transfers at receiver and tight end, but
we also have some true freshmen that have stepped up.
But we also have some guys that kind of you know,
(36:58):
waited their turn last year. But I think that the
most important thing is we've got a veteran offensive line.
We were turning four of our five starters on the
offensive front. You know, we've got a third year starting quarterback.
And so if you want to be good on on
the offensive side of the ball, the quarterback the offensive
line are critical. And then I think we filled in
some nice pieces around those those elements. And and like
I said, I thought we played really efficient game Saturday.
(37:21):
We showed the explosiveness, we showed the speed and space,
we showed the physicality and which we which we like
to play.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
With Quinn yours. Now, now, is there an advantage to
play in Michigan early? Harball's gone new staff, although it's
the same kind of physical culture. This a b This
is a is a tough one. This is a blue blood.
It's a big game, it's high leverage. Is it an
advantage to play Michigan early?
Speaker 6 (37:48):
I don't know, You know, there are some there's plenty
of new faces, you know, and I think there's one
thing about Michigan that that what coach Harbaugh did and
now what what coach Moore is doing. Is when you
think about this program's three consecutive years they've gone to
the College Football Playoff. Naturally, that's capped off last year
with them via National champs. You know the amount of
(38:09):
draft picks that they've had thirteen, I believe last year.
I think they're forty one and three in their last
forty four games. They've won sixteen games in a row.
They've won twenty three straight games at home in the
Big House. So this is a great program. As much
as it is about the team, this current team they have.
It's about the program, the development, what they've done, and
so the harder part for us isn't about that they're
(38:31):
going to be a quality opponent. It's about some of
the new faces. And then, naturally, from a staff perspective,
wink Martin Dale's a defensive coordinator. You know, we've only
got one game sample size of him as a defensive
coordinator at Michigan, So some of those things can be
a little bit more difficult. But at the end of
the day, it's a great opportunity, you know, to go
play Michigan in the big House, first time ever calling
(38:51):
in the regular season that Texas is meeting Michigan. And
so when you two think about those two iconic programs
coming together, and it's pretty mumbling for myself that I
get to be on the sideline leading leading the Texas
long home.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
What did you say to Quinn yours you give you
You played quarterback in college, You've had a lot of
great quarterbacks. What was the one thing after the season
that you told Quinn of yours? Hey, you know, I
mean you do this with all your quarterbacks. Here's what
we're going to work on in the off season. What
is the one thing that you said, Hey, let's get
better at this. Because you've you've made your mark with him,
there's no que even diet wise, you've changed it. What's
(39:27):
the one thing you said, Quinn, let's work on this.
Let's make this a point of attack in the off season.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
This is your team, go lead them. Really, it was
about leadership. We knew we were going to have to
replace all those pieces, and we knew we were going
to have to bring in some transfers. We knew we
were going to have to rely on some young players
on the perimeter, and it was going to take Quinn
leading them. It was going to take Quinn getting the
rapport with those receivers in the tight end. It was
going to take Quinn stepping up into that leadership role
(39:55):
where Jordan Whittington and Jalen Ford and those guys have
moved on from. And so that's been our focus and
he's done a tremendous job of that. You can feel
his presence. I think he instills confidence and belief into
everybody in the organization, not just his teammates, and that's
what quarterbacks do. That's why it's the most important position
in sports. You know, you know, if you've ever you know,
(40:17):
you've ever been to Gillette And when when Tom Brady
took the field, it was almost like a sigh of
relief for everybody in the stands, like, Okay, Tom's here,
We're good to go. And I'm sure it's the same
way in Kansas City with Pat Mahomes and so on
and so forth. So the quarterback is a powerful guy,
not only with his play, but I just think in
the presence and the leadership that he provides.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
A couple of minutes left, I would argue in a
twelve team playoff, if I was a coach, I think
I think i'd be more aggressive because sometimes in college
football's history, it's like I'm not saying anybody coaches not
to lose, but I think everybody's gonna lose a game, potentially,
even the good teams that does the twelve team playoff?
Does it matter to you at all or is it
(40:59):
like just go Saddays or Saturdays.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
I mean, I think it matters.
Speaker 6 (41:04):
There's still some strategy involved, especially if you if you
have to play in the first round, you'd should love
to have home field advantage and get a home game
and not have to go back to Michigan in December, right,
and you sure would love to win your conference and
to get a buy in the first round, So you know,
I do think that matters, don't. I don't think we're
(41:25):
out here just trying to be reckless and take shots
and go forward on fourth down. I do think there's
a rhyme and reason to everything that we're trying to
accomplish and what we're trying to do and develop in
our team and our program. But in the end, I
do think it allots you to play in games like
this and not feel like, man, if we don't win
this game, we have to be perfect the rest of
(41:46):
the way. I do think it allots you to expose
your team to some tough environments, to play against quality opponents,
to get yourself ready for conference play, and then not
have to feel the repercussions if you don't come out
on top. On the flip side of that, man, it
can be it can serve as a great springboard if
you know you're going to going to the big House
and get this win. What what it can do for
(42:07):
the rest of your season and the confidence of some
of the players in your program that are just getting
the you know, maybe their second game of exposure to
to big time football.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Twelve and two won the Big Twelve. They're pivoting to
the SEC, and I think their roster, along with Georgia,
is the best in that conference. I only got a
minute left. I know you coached Texas. Did you just
get a couple of minutes of that USC game at all?
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Sark? Did your TV?
Speaker 6 (42:29):
How did I know you were gonna ask me?
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Man?
Speaker 1 (42:31):
How did I know?
Speaker 5 (42:32):
You were so giddy?
Speaker 6 (42:33):
You? You were so giddy you probably went for a
walk the next morning right around Manhattan beach Man and
you were just you were kind of throwing throwing your
your victory sign up there, just just excited about it.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Hook them, great thing, you, Sark.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh here we go, how luck here Wait, nobody's got
it better than us. It is a Wednesday Joel Clattenin
hour live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you
may be and however.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
You may be listening.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Thanks for making us part of your day. Not going
to roll the sleeves up for another hour because this
has such an easy lift this time of the year,
there's so many things to talk about j Matt. Tomorrow,
the NFL season starts, and it's not just that it's
just not a game. It's Mahomes, it's Lamar, it's Baltimore,
it's Kansas City heavyweight fight. That's been one siding so far.
(01:03):
I'm already sick in the seats. I mean Tannis Kelsey,
Taylor's FLI doctor.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Malmesam can be be done with these guys.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Good. Well, let's talk about tomorrow's NFL start, because it's
fascinating and it's been one sided and it probably shouldn't be.
I've argued before, I think Baltimore may be the best
run organization in the sport. And if they're not, it's
Kansas City. Two great coaches, two great owners, excellent executives,
(01:30):
usually excellent coordinators and defenses. The difference has been Mahomes
and Lamar. And it's not just that Mahomes is better
than Lamar. Mahomes is better than everybody in the last
twenty years not named Tom Brady. It's that Lamar falls
off a cliff against Kansas City. And you know, I
love Lamar. I've been saying this forever, this is Hall
(01:50):
of Famer. But when these two meet head to head,
Lamar can't complete fifty six percent of his throws. His
passer rating is like CF and this is one of
the most gifted quarterbacks I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
What the hell happens?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So clearly this rivalry, it's not about the coaches, not
about the owners, not about the draft picks, not about
the defense. It's been about Lamar regressing. Why, So let's
start with this. Mahomes is a better player. Okay, he's
better than everybody. He's better than everybody not named Brady
in the last two decades, he'd better than everybody. But
why is he falling off a cliff? And I'll let
(02:25):
me theorize why I believe this to be so. Lamar
Jackson is twenty and one. That doesn't even make sense
against the NFC. And I mean he's blown the doors
off teams like Good Detroit, San Francisco. He's twenty and
one against the NFC. Why Because if you don't face
Lamar Jackson regularly, it's like growing up in San Diego
(02:48):
and trying to drive on ice. You can read a manual,
it's not gonna work. You've got to be on ice,
driving on that ice in Milwaukee and Minnesota for years
to figure it out. That hyper speed is like nothing
we've seen. It's like Michael Vick, but way faster, way twitchier.
It's like being a parent. Your grandparents give your heads up,
your neighbors, your friends. Yet doctor Spock didn't give your
(03:09):
heads up on the smells of it. And so if
you've never faced Lamar or faced him infrequently, there's nothing
like him. You have nobody on your roster to duplicate him.
But if you face him regularly, I had a GM
telling me this year's ago, you get him a second
time in a season, and Steve spag Noa now faces
on on a fairly regular basis. You can have game
plan for him, but you couldn't game plan for Brady,
(03:33):
and you can't game plan for Mahomes. Because what makes
Brady and Mahomes so brilliant. You took away the deep
mall from Mahomes. He's like, okay, death by a thousand cuts.
You took away Randy Moss from Brady. Okay, it's death
by a thousand cuts. Is that both Mahomes and Brady
have a second pitch, a third pitch, a fourth pitch.
(03:55):
And that's why there's two greatest quarterbacks in my opinion
of all time. Nolan Ryan had a great fastball, and
if it was Hummon, we make it a no hitter.
But he won fifty two percent of his games. Clayton
Kershaw didn't throw that hard. He went over sixty right
and didn't have all the no hitters. And so I
(04:15):
think what Lamar is developing, and I've always said he's
a better passer than he gets credit for. I watched
the games. You watch the games. It's not a liability.
But Brady and Mahomes have mastered the pocket to a
level that I mean, there's only a couple of people
like a Peyton Manning a Marino in lway that even
rival it, and Aaron Rodgers a Marino. I mean, there's
(04:38):
just a handful of breeze handful of guys ever, that
have rivaled it. And so that's what's fascinating about Lamar
Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. It's not that Mahomes is winning,
It's that Lamar falls off a cliff and it does
appear I'm not saying Lamar's Nolan Ryan, but it does
kind of feel like if Lamar's run game is in
(05:00):
iplemented and Hammond lights out, if you can slow that down,
if you're hitting a fastball, it doesn't feel quite the same.
And I think that's been the secret sauce for Kansas
City is the frequency in which they see him right
the frequency there's a bit of a game plan. There
(05:20):
is no game plan for Brady, there is no game
plan for.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Mahomes.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
There is none. He may not run the entire game.
Fourth quarter, bad Wheels takes off forty five yards. There's
no game plan for him. And that's why he keeps
both of them. Brady Mahomes keep hoisting trophies. All right,
So the last episode of Hard Knocks last night with
the Chicago Bears. Final episodes. So what makes the Bears
(05:51):
and Caleb Williams so fascinating? I'm looking at all these
one o'clock game Sundays, Titans Bears unlocked. I may not
even go red zone. I may just turn that thing
on and watch every play like it is fantastic. And
what makes Chicago so fascinating is that they've done virtually, No,
it's not virtually. They've done the impossible. In the NFL,
(06:15):
They've never had a great quarterback ever for an extended period.
The Chargers, the Chargers, they're charging. They've had rivers, they
got Herbert, they had breeze, they had fouls. Niners have
had four or five. Packers have had four or five,
Eagles have had three or four or five. There's none.
(06:36):
Never had a single quarterback ever throw for over four
thousand yards. That's like being a casino and never making money.
People go to your casino and give you money. The
casino always wins. One hundred years running a casino, yeah
we never made a profit. How do you not have
one quarterback ever that's thrown for four thousand yards? They
don't have a quarterback that's ever thrown for over thirty touchdowns.
(06:56):
Even Blake Bortles did that in Jacksonville. That's going on
with Chicago the weather. No, it's not because Green Bay
and Buffalo had it all the time. What it is,
it's cultural, it's systemic. And I'll give you an example.
So when they hired a coach years ago, is the
league's pivoting to offense? The rules are all offense. The
(07:17):
oldest owner in the NFL, Missus McCaskey. Who does she
rely on? Bill Pollian eighty years old? I love Bill,
I know Bill, but Bill old school. Let's go with
a defensive coach. Jeffrey Lourie Verry produced a lot of
movies in Hollywood. Jeffrey Lewie. If you look at his businesses,
(07:39):
always on the cutting edge. He just keeps hiring offensive coaches,
getting quarterbacks, offensive coaches, mobile quarterbacks, offensive coaches. You look
at staying Kronkey again, LA a lot of business, cutting
edge of stuff. Let's go hire Sean McVay thirty years old.
Less sneed young GM. They're constantly moving. They're kind of
(08:03):
progressive creators Jeffrey Lorie Stan Cronkey, always trying new stuff.
But they have their values, they have their formulas like
everybody else. So to win in Chicago isn't just about
being really talented. Caleb Williams and it's unfair will have
to be transformational because the oldest owner. They're still celebrating
(08:28):
the nineteen eighty five Chicago Bears. The Bears have done
virtually the impossible. They're a casino that doesn't make money.
How in the world can you not one time have
quarterback to over thirty five touchdowns?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
All the rules have changed.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
How you do it when you're clinging to the past.
You do it when you celebrate a team from nineteen
eighty five. That's what Caleb Williams will have to overcome.
Moratorium on celebrating the eighty five Bears. It's enough, it's great,
(09:06):
let's move past that. I mean, the Rams aren't even
celebrating their title team from two years three years ago
in LA like they moved on from Aaron Donald. They
moved on. They don't talk about it. It's the next thing.
So good luck to Caleb Williams. He's gonna need it
because it is. It is incredible. When you look at
(09:28):
this league, you know, you sometimes you think, you know
all these billionaire owners is not the way it works.
It's not even with coaches, gms, quarterbacks or owners or
ownership groups.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
It's not even.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I don't care if it's fair. They may all be billionaires,
they're different and Chicago's been like different on the bad
side of.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It, all right. J Mac Joel Platt one hour.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Steve Sarkesan stops by today the Pittsburgh steel As spending
more money on on defense. Tell me if you've heard
that before the Niners did something. Do you see what
the Niners did? I don't think so. I'm so locked
in on the Jets. I think I missed the Niners.
Oh the fringing up the cap space?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Is that what you're talking about?
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Now?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Okay, Yeah, it's funny how the smart people figure out
ways to find money. A little easier to do that
with rock Party making like eight hundred thousand dollars. Oh,
but they've had all these great players pre Rock Purty.
Why do they keep being able to afford all these
great players that should be the Dallas model?
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Huh?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Why can Dallas not have as many players? And the
Niners have like nine Pro bowlers and they're paying all
of them. They're paying all of them, and they're gonna
continue to pay all of them. Why is that? We'll
talk about that coming up.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Neon Easter nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Oh, we got so much going up this weekend. Texas
Michigan on Fox. That's gonna be so good. That's gonna
be so good. Colorado, Nebraska, keep your eye on that.
I'm still kind of floating on that La Cloud nine
with USC's win over LSU. I'm not gonna lie. Oh.
(11:08):
I slept like a baby last night. I had a
little National Championship crowns sheep bring USC gear jumping over
that National Championship fence. Slept like a baby. So the
AP top ten is out. I hope you're sitting down
for this revelation. It may catch you off guard. Of
(11:29):
the top ten teams in the country. Five are SEC, JMAC,
four are Big Ten, and one is Notre Dame, who,
in my opinion, should join the Big Ten academically in football,
they feel like the right fit. Nine of ten and
Notre Dame, which is in the Midwest and is a
big brand and should be a Big ten school. And
(11:51):
if I had to fit two more teams in here,
in my opinion from what I've seen, it would be
USC and Tennessee a Big Ten and an SEC team.
You can alter and change college football transfer portal, nil
conference realignment, dispan the PAC twelve folks. You can change
the tax system. Rich people going to stay rich. You
(12:15):
can occupy Wall Street forever, Berckshire, Hathaway, Blackrock will be
at the top. The only college football program that has
entered the national Championship discussion on a regular basis in
the last fifty years Oregon because of a brilliant man
named Phil Knight, his company, Nike, and their vision. I
(12:38):
watched them map it out when I work there.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
TCU was interesting for a moment. Boise State will get
an occasional upset, but come on, now, it's the same
big dogs. And if you think in a twelve team playoff.
A liberty, a Boise State of Houston can line up
four times again against the big dogs. It's not gonna happen.
(13:03):
You don't have the dogs for this idea or odd
It's March madness. We've seen it before. In March madness,
it's much more popular. You only have five starting players.
If you have a great NBA talent, you can win
multiple games. Colin, what about Gonzaga, Well, Gonzaga is a
blue blood and they still don't have a title. But
they're a blue blood. They got three or four NBA
(13:24):
guys every class, they got NBA dues everywhere, and for
the record, they still don't have a title. So in
March madness, it is dominated by the blue bloods in
college football with all those NFL bodies. In no way
a liberty, even a Utah which is a great program,
lining up week after week after week after week four
times three maybe probably four times to win a Natty
(13:47):
not gonna happen. So people are paralyzed by it. But
you know, you can convince me that NFTs of the future.
Now it's stocks, it's equities, it's bonds, it's real estate.
You can sell me on all this stuff. It's the
same teams Bama, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma. USC now
(14:08):
has the right every time, USC's got the right coach.
They're battling for Natties Oregon and Phil Knight's money, Penn State, LSU.
It's the same teams. Don't fear change if you don't
love change. College football, for most of my life didn't
provide much change. But now in the last three years,
(14:28):
it's been nothing but change, and it's the same teams
in your top ten.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and newon Eastern non Am Pacific.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
He's Mike Krmen, I'm Dan Byern. We have a fantasy
football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's right, Dan.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find
the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup, sit starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmon and
Meat Dan Bayer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
And with that, the voice of college football at Fox,
Joel Klatt joining us for his first Wednesday visit. Oh,
and what a visit it will be. I don't know
if you got it. I don't know if you've got
a heads up on it. But somebody down there and
Los Angeles had quite a weekend in Vegas. Did you
(15:28):
hear about that?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I did hear about that. I did hear about that. Yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
You're from Colorado. Yeah, and let me identify. Sometimes I
just always just can't wait to where this is gonna go.
I'm so interested right now.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So as a.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
USC insider, I've watched the score points with Sark Lane
and Clay Hilton. That was the first game since Pete
Carroll where they went up against the big Dog, and
I would argue were more physical than LSU, an SEC team.
I don't want to hear about LSU is not good.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
They're LSU.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Well, they have two guys that are probably first round
tackles and the tight ends a stud and the linebacker.
First time since Pete Carroll, it wasn't first quarter, second three.
By the end of that game, they were hitting running
backs and knocking them off their feet saw four times.
The defense was such a substantial upgrade it was almost shocking.
(16:28):
It was, you know, and it was almost like, well, wait,
is LSU good up front? And then you have to
remind yourself like, yeah, those tackles are that good.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I will tell you.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I've always felt like, if you can just get aligned properly,
if you can know your assignment and do it with
any amount of effort and then run to the football,
you can play adequate defense. Like just on those things.
Those are kind of basics, wouldn't you say, Colin. And
unfortunately for USC and Lincoln Riley last year and really
some of the last two years, they were so far
(17:02):
out of position as far as being in the right
gap being fundamentally so, they couldn't even get into the
align and assign portion. So even if guys were trying
to fly around, they weren't tackling very well, and the
effort then never even paid off. Even if they were
trying really hard, it didn't pay off because the alignment
and the assignment weren't there. Now, what you see with
(17:23):
Danton Lynn is that they were in the proper positions
and then all of a sudden the effort was rewarded,
and then all of a sudden you get more effort,
and so it's it's like this feedback loop where they
started to have success and they're like, oh, wait, we
are better than everybody thinks, we are better players than
everybody thinks. We are highly recruited, we are talented, and
we are physical. And then you started to see that
(17:44):
play out during the course of that second half. And
I think that was what was most surprising for everybody
watching that game is that it wasn't forty two forty one.
USC and LSU went in there and they got in
a fistfight in the second half, and yes, and it
was an impressive win for us, and it was a
really big win for the Big Ten because of what
(18:06):
everything that we talked about in the off season. Remember
I told you, I told you all the way back
in July. I said one, I think USC is going
to beat LSU. That was number one and number two.
When and if they do, they will immediately be a
playoff contender, a CFP contender because of what that means
in the narrative between the two conferences. Because these two
(18:26):
teams you can say pretty confidently we're sitting in the
preseason in a very similar spot within their conference, and
that both felt like twelve thirteen in the country.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, that's right. I thought that I thought that USC was.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Underrated by the AP, so I thought that they were
right around fifteen or something along those lines, and in
a very similar spot within their conference in the Big
Ten as LSU was in the SEC. So, now, like
it or not, folks, college football is still a narrative business,
and it's still subjective, and we're still gonna assign twelve
teams and some of these at large teams based on
(19:03):
narrative and subjective viewpoints. And you've got a direct win
of USC over LSU. So it's big for the Big
Ten and it's massive for US. You and I both
talked about this. USC gets Penn State and Notre Dame
at home, and they don't face Ohio State in Oregon. Yeah,
it's a favorable schedule for USC. Not this weekend, next weekend,
and that's gonna be I think, kind of a low scoring,
(19:23):
another physical, tough game. Well, USC's got it. I remember
remember when I told you everyone was saying, like, oh,
their schedule is tough. I'm like, no, no, no, no,
their schedule is actually really good. They got a huge break,
a huge break. They don't travel east and have to
play a cold November game. That's that's number one, because
that's what everyone would immediately assume, and so they don't
have to do that. They get Penn State at home,
(19:45):
which is a great get for them, and Penn State
looks to be an elite team and played well against
West Virginia. And then the other big piece of this
was you get Michigan before they develop into the tough,
hard nosed Michigan that inevitably will show up in November.
You get them in September. That's a great schedule for USC.
I was saying this to a friend over the weekend.
If my son played quarterback, he'd be tall, lanky, with
(20:07):
a great, great pocket present and I'm sure you would
process information quickly. You would know what he's seeing and
he could react right away, just like Tom Brady. I said,
I'd send him to two coaches, Sark or Lincoln Riley.
And I want you to address this. I watched Middle Moss.
He got one start, big stage, high leverage, sophomore wide receivers,
(20:27):
freshman left tackle, freshman right guard. He looked like a
four year start.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Yes, so I love that you brought this up.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
In the heck, does Lincoln Riley do to get these
quarterback transfers. Baker Kyler, it doesn't matter where guys come from.
You give him an off season with a guy as
a starter taking first team snaps.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
They all look like this.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Do you know what he gives this quarterback? Answers, answers
and options. That's what Lincoln Riley and Sark to that matter,
you can. You can lump him into this and Lane Tiffin,
all the great play callers, even Andy will do this
to a certain extent. They give their quarterback answers and options.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
What is the defense doing?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
What are they trying to do to me? What do
I have in my toolbox that I can combat that
with on every play? And Lincoln does this as good
or better than anybody. Is that he trusts his quarterback
to put the football where the defense tells him to
put the football. Not where Lincoln wants him to throw it,
but where does the defense tell me this football should go.
(21:32):
How about the evidence of some of those run plays
late in the second half or on third down? Why
why do they do that? It's not because Lincoln Riley
is brilliant. It's like, oh, he timed that run call brilliantly.
That's not a run call. That is a play with options.
It's a package play with options, and the quarterback, Miller
Moss says, what is the defense doing? Okay, I have
(21:53):
answers and options for how to combat that, and then
he uses those. Now, this is what's not a very
popular take because Caleb was such a generationally talented player
at quarterback. But Caleb didn't always go in the right
spot with the football based on what the defense was doing,
(22:13):
because he thought to himself, listen, I'm a generational talent
and I'm going to make this play. And then a
lot of times it worked. So this is not a knock.
It's just a framing of what's going on with Miller Moss,
who is not going to play outside of the system.
Baker didn't play outside of the system. Jalen didn't play
outside of the system. Guess who else didn't play outside
(22:35):
of the system. For Sarkesian late in his career as
an old journeyman, gets one year to start Mac Jones,
who quarterback one of the great offenses in college football
history in twenty twenty with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Miller
Moss feels a lot like mac Jones from Alabama, and
(22:55):
they have guys that give them answers and options. That's
why you run the football on third and eight and
get it. It's not a lucky play call. It's that
the defense tells you you should run the ball based
on the ratios and the numbers. Why do you throw
the ball in certain spots and it's always open? Well,
because he gives you answers and options. It's a long
winded answer to tell you, like, if I'm a quarterback,
(23:16):
I want to play for a guy like that. He
broke forty four records at Colorado. Of course, most have
been broken since. But Joel Cloud is joining us.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Okay, okay, it's true, It's true, and they should be.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, they outlawed the pend I also, do you know.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
What record I didn't hold though? What's that?
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Thankfully career interceptions thrown? I was close.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
I was charging after that thing, didn't quite get it.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Congratulations. Let's move on to relevant stories. Texas Michigan, Texas Michigan.
I don't I don't like this matchup for Michigan.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Texas is really really good.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
I don't think they're going to move the ball on Texas.
I don't know, I'm not as concerned about Michigan's offense
as some You know, what I'm concerned about Texas speed.
Texas looks like Alabama has looked and Georgia has looked
that they started a little bit of that last year. Yes,
they didn't have the back end defensively, but you watch
them against Alabama, you're like, oh, wait a minute, they
can run and they're just.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
As big as Alabama.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
That's exactly right, Texaly. That's what Sark is building. He
left Alabama and he left the Nick Saban tree, and
that's what he's building from a roster. And what I
like about what Sark has done is that he didn't
go try to copy Nick Saban from a personal personality
standpoint or philosophy, but he did look at that roster
at Alabama and say, oh, yeah, that's how you win,
(24:33):
that's how you went. This looks like an early two
thousands USC team. It looks like the Alabama teams and
the Georgia teams. They're big, they're experienced upfront. In fact,
four of their offensive lineman this is their third year
starting their veteran They're as good of an offensive line
as anybody in the country. And you you couple that
with a quarterback that I think is as good as
(24:54):
anybody I do, and I think he's going to be
a Heisman.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Guy at the end of the years.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
For me, I mean his Drew Lockey to me, I
don't know if I will be as high on Quinn
in the draft process as I am for him for
Texas now. And I think those can be two truthful
state different Okay, so to your point, yeah, but having
said that, he's an experienced guy with a lot of
(25:19):
confidence that has weapons around him, and this is going
to be a difficult game for Michigan. I will say this,
and I know you love like you love history. We
sat on a desk together. It might have been like
one of your first weeks at FS at Fox at
Fox Sports. It was Jim Harbaugh's first game. I remember
that Utah at Utah, and that came up this week
(25:45):
in my memory. And it wasn't because you were blowing
me away with smart takes, although I'm sure they were fine.
It was more so this Michigan team reminds me more
of those early Harbaugh teams. Jake Rudoc at quarterback, Will
in Spate at quarterback, developing trying to be tough upfront,
leaning on the run game, really good defense, tough defensive
(26:08):
line that can play limitation offensively, a limited offense, but
trying to get it done. Complimentary football. Both of those
teams in twenty fifteen and sixteen one to ten football games.
In fact, in sixteen, you know, they were that overtime
game with Ohio State away from going and playing for
a Big Ten championship. So I still think that Michigan
can be very good. I just think that they're vastly
(26:30):
more limited than what they were a year ago when
they had all of that NFL talent, namely at the
quarterback position and JJ McCarthy. So that's how it frames
in my mind. And I think it's an uphill battle
for Michigan this week because Texas is really good. And
remember this, the last game Texas played, their defense was
(26:50):
riddled with mistakes. They didn't play well against Washington right
their whole offseason. The offense is fine. Tend to look
at what was your last game, like like Miller moss
last game Louisville Holiday Bowl, got some confidence, Sure, Texas
got Washington just was a hot knife through that secondary.
And I think Texas going to come with a chip
on their shoulder to prove to everybody we're not just flashy.
(27:13):
We can hit you in the mouth and play defense well.
Texas this year reminds me a lot of what Michigan
was a year ago. A team that lost in the
previous semi final, and you could see the train coming
all off season and you can see and you're like,
oh man, they're really experienced.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Oh man. Their quarterback is very good college quarterback there.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
They've got talent, they've got speed, they've got toughness, and
they've got a culture. And like Texas is real, they're
going to be a problem for Georgia, They're going to
be a problem for anybody in the country. Texas is
legitimately a national championship contender, and at least in this September,
with this roster, with all the newness at Michigan, I
can't in good conscience say that Michigan is a true
(27:54):
national title contender right now. They might develop into that.
I'm not sure the Wilton Spate two thousand and six
team team did. They developed into that late nest season
behind an incredible defense, and maybe that happens this year
for Michigan. But right now, Texas is the team that
walks in there. But with that, by the way, with
that expectation comes an immense amount of pressure they If
(28:16):
they lose this game.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
To this Michigan team, that is awful, awful for them.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
And their fan base and their narrative and their momentum
because of the expectations of what we just talked about.
So that's on Fox. Texas at Michigan, first top ten matchup.
It's gonna be such good TV.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Yeah, it'll be great. That's good. I'm happy for you.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I am. I appreciate I poke you a little bit,
but I am happy. You know what, you still hold
reciprocal Colorado record. Some of them they're they're they're deep
down and they got something like that, you know, like
most drop snaps. Okay, so I'll get the Clemson next week.
Florida State's done.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
I'm gonna throw it. I you and I liked Oregon
a lot. Yeah, time out.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I don't know what that was, but that doesn't look
like correctable in a week. Well, that was the most
could have won that game. Yeah, And by the way,
if Idaho would have won, that would have been a
bigger upset than the app State Michigan game from the
early two thousand, so that would have been the biggest
upset in sure.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Four star guys. All we know Dan Lanning's a good coach.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
What was that? That was as concerning as any game,
and in the first week of the season, there's no
question about it.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
And here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
It's because it's not like they went out there and
turned the ball over seven times and we're all of
a sudden in a close game. Dylan Gabriel threw for
incredible production, including forty one of fifty. They had to
throw fifty passes against Idaho. That is concerning, to say
the least. If I'm Dan Lanning, I'm going in there
and it's it's fire and brimstone all week with that team.
(29:47):
Because a lot in a lot of respects. You've got
to take this team that won the football game and
treat them like losers, right, You've got to take them
and humble them down and say this has got to
get better. Namely the offensive line. No, the offense up
line was a problem. Three starters back. They ran the
ball for under three yards per carry against Idaho. Five
(30:07):
of their eight penalties were on the offensive line and
they gave up three sacks, and you might say to yourself, like, well,
three is not not terrible.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
They give up five all last season.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
And all last season starters they return. These are four
and five star guys. Yeah, they're good players. They recruit
high end linemen, they're they're good players.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
And and you know this Oregon team.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
I'm gonna I'm going to run ride with Oregon this
week and say, okay, that's what I boy. I'm going
to give you your pass and say you're going to
go back to the grindstone and you're going to correct
those issues. Poise State comes in. By the way, Boise
State has never lost to Oregon. They're three and zero
against Oregon in their history. I know that that sounds crazy,
(30:52):
but good program. Ashton Gent They're running back is an
excellent player. That might be the top running back taken
in next year's NFL draft, just to he's he's that good.
But I think Oregon writes the ship and I think
that they went in a big way. I'm watching that
thinking we got ourselves a problem. Yeah that was that
was There's Clatt's top ten. Oh there does Apparently, as
(31:14):
I said to Clatt on Twitter, he does he only
has direct TV. He did not see the USC game.
Clatt does not have USC in that physicality and Miller moss.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
I put them at eleven.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Okay, I was, I don't understand what your I watched
the Oregon and I watched USC. Like I said, I'm
gonna give I'm giving Oregon one last chance.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
I felt the same way.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I'm like, no, this is something happened that the bus
broke down. They were playing, not in cleats, they're playing
in I don't know, I don't know what that was.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Man.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
You know what was so great about that Week one
of college football?
Speaker 4 (31:51):
No?
Speaker 3 (31:51):
So good?
Speaker 1 (31:51):
It wasn't just like, well, Georgia and Alabama looked good.
I mean, Georgia looks great. You've got freshmen for for
Ohio State, Texas looked great, Dame with a big win.
Bama looks like they're rolling with a young wide receiver
that could be Divor's next a doonsday.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
You've got Miami oklahom like.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
You've got a lot of really great storylines, including West
Coast football.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
USC with that huge win that was really big.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
It really was. Let me I got something else here.
I was gonna bring up, Oh you.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Didn't even bring up Colorado Nebraska. It's a huge game. Okay,
I'll just listen.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
I was for Dion Sanders. I think he has brought
awareness to the program and energy and he can recruit.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
I like Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
I think Nebraska is the sleeping giant in the country.
They're gonna knock off good teams, including USC as that
Sandwich game right in the middle of like Pen It's
like UCLA, Penn State, Nebraska.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Think of it this way.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
For Nebraska, you'll love this. Last year they won. They've
lost four games by a field goal, and those four games,
they turned it over seventeen times. Fourteen of them were
by quarterback Dylan Rayola. The true freshman doesn't have to
be great. He just has to be a net positive
for them to turn into an eight to nine, maybe
(33:09):
ten win team. If they're able to beat Colorado on
Saturday night, they'll be undefeated facing Ohio State, which means
even if they lose that game, they'll go into November
as an eight and one team playing legitimate college football
playoff games. You know, coaches love Matt Rule. I told
the staff this this morning. People can say what they
want about the Carolina experiment. But nothing works in Carolina.
(33:30):
Matt Rule is one of those guys when you talk
to other coaches. You talked turban Meyer, He's like, no,
that dude can go. Matt Rule does stuff, guys rip off.
The problem for Nebraska and Matt is that Colorado has
three or four players that are better than any player
than Nebraska has. I think so this is the problem
for Nebraska is the better team, I will fully admit,
(33:53):
But if Shador goes off and Travis has a couple
of picks, Colorado could easily win this game because those
two guys are just better than everybody else. Travis maybe
the best player in the sport this year.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
I think he is.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
I think I think he's probably the best overall player.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Clatt is excellent. I'm gonna give you a on this one. Wow,
you brought it the fact that you had all those
numbers up there. I'm a high processor. You are. You
can trust you on third and three to audible to
a third play?
Speaker 3 (34:18):
What I like about it?
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Sometimes even a four ROH was like, well, now you're
pushing your luck. I don't want a fourth read from Clatt.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
You just let her rip, Okay, be sure to catch
live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon eastern non
am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
All right, Steve sarkasan fourth year at Texas, here we go,
joining us live game of the weekend against Michigan former
head coach at Washington USC. I'm so fired up for
this stuff. You had a lot of influences. You had
Pete Carroll, you had Dan Quinn, you had Nick Saban,
but yet you've developed your own program. I can feel
the swagger, I can feel the attitude. Here's my question.
(34:59):
I think all of our in the media are too
tough on coaches. I feel this is actually your first
team and roster that I look at and I go, oh,
that's a national championship team. I looked at you last
year and I thought they're close, But I don't trust
the back end. Is that fair to say? That's not
a knock on last year's team, But I feel this
team's different. I just do, Sark, What do you think? Well?
Speaker 6 (35:21):
I thought we were pretty good last you know, we
ran in, we ran into a hot Michael Pennix there
in the semis. But hey, that we didn't play our
best game on either side of the ball. But you know,
I like our team this year.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
I would think, you know, when you look at our.
Speaker 6 (35:36):
Roster, I think we only have four or five guys
on our team that that were here before I got here.
The rest of the players we recruited, a lot of
these players have been here for you know, two, three
and four years now and have really grown up in
the culture and understand what we're about and got great leadership.
But I also think we've got great depth. I would
say the one thing about this year's team is we
definitely have more depth than we've had in any of
(35:58):
our other years and are too deep. Sometimes you can't
tell the difference between our ones and our twos, and
and that's great for us. That's that's great for us
right now early in the season where we can play
a lot of players, especially in the heat when we're
at home. But also for the longevity of this season.
You know, to think that we kicked off August thirty first,
and we're hoping to play January twentieth, you know we're
gonna need We're gonna need all the depth that we have.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Okay, you lost a great tight end. You lost two
great receivers, one of them late first of the Chiefs,
you lost a running back. I like, are you going
to be as dynamic offensively, because that's a lot of
NFL talent that walked out the door.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
We lost three receivers. The other ones playing for the
Rams now too.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Jordan, Right, that's right, yeah, Jordan.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (36:37):
You know what I liked about the way we played
Saturday was the efficiency we played with offensively. You know,
we've I think there's a there's a nice blend of
new faces on our offensive side of the ball. You know,
we have some transfers at receiver and tight end, but
we also have some true freshmen that have stepped up.
But we also have some guys that kind of you know,
(36:58):
waited their turn last year. But I think that the
most important thing is we've got a veteran offensive line.
We were turning four of our five starters on the
offensive front. You know, we've got a third year starting quarterback.
And so if you want to be good on on
the offensive side of the ball, the quarterback the offensive
line are critical. And then I think we filled in
some nice pieces around those those elements. And and like
I said, I thought we played really efficient game Saturday.
(37:21):
We showed the explosiveness, we showed the speed and space,
we showed the physicality and which we which we like
to play.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
With Quinn yours. Now, now, is there an advantage to
play in Michigan early? Harball's gone new staff, although it's
the same kind of physical culture. This a b This
is a is a tough one. This is a blue blood.
It's a big game, it's high leverage. Is it an
advantage to play Michigan early?
Speaker 6 (37:48):
I don't know, You know, there are some there's plenty
of new faces, you know, and I think there's one
thing about Michigan that that what coach Harbaugh did and
now what what coach Moore is doing. Is when you
think about this program's three consecutive years they've gone to
the College Football Playoff. Naturally, that's capped off last year
with them via National champs. You know the amount of
(38:09):
draft picks that they've had thirteen, I believe last year.
I think they're forty one and three in their last
forty four games. They've won sixteen games in a row.
They've won twenty three straight games at home in the
Big House. So this is a great program. As much
as it is about the team, this current team they have.
It's about the program, the development, what they've done, and
so the harder part for us isn't about that they're
(38:31):
going to be a quality opponent. It's about some of
the new faces. And then, naturally, from a staff perspective,
wink Martin Dale's a defensive coordinator. You know, we've only
got one game sample size of him as a defensive
coordinator at Michigan, So some of those things can be
a little bit more difficult. But at the end of
the day, it's a great opportunity, you know, to go
play Michigan in the big House, first time ever calling
(38:51):
in the regular season that Texas is meeting Michigan. And
so when you two think about those two iconic programs
coming together, and it's pretty mumbling for myself that I
get to be on the sideline leading leading the Texas
long home.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
What did you say to Quinn yours you give you
You played quarterback in college, You've had a lot of
great quarterbacks. What was the one thing after the season
that you told Quinn of yours? Hey, you know, I
mean you do this with all your quarterbacks. Here's what
we're going to work on in the off season. What
is the one thing that you said, Hey, let's get
better at this. Because you've you've made your mark with him,
there's no que even diet wise, you've changed it. What's
(39:27):
the one thing you said, Quinn, let's work on this.
Let's make this a point of attack in the off season.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
This is your team, go lead them. Really, it was
about leadership. We knew we were going to have to
replace all those pieces, and we knew we were going
to have to bring in some transfers. We knew we
were going to have to rely on some young players
on the perimeter, and it was going to take Quinn
leading them. It was going to take Quinn getting the
rapport with those receivers in the tight end. It was
going to take Quinn stepping up into that leadership role
(39:55):
where Jordan Whittington and Jalen Ford and those guys have
moved on from. And so that's been our focus and
he's done a tremendous job of that. You can feel
his presence. I think he instills confidence and belief into
everybody in the organization, not just his teammates, and that's
what quarterbacks do. That's why it's the most important position
in sports. You know, you know, if you've ever you know,
(40:17):
you've ever been to Gillette And when when Tom Brady
took the field, it was almost like a sigh of
relief for everybody in the stands, like, Okay, Tom's here,
We're good to go. And I'm sure it's the same
way in Kansas City with Pat Mahomes and so on
and so forth. So the quarterback is a powerful guy,
not only with his play, but I just think in
the presence and the leadership that he provides.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
A couple of minutes left, I would argue in a
twelve team playoff, if I was a coach, I think
I think i'd be more aggressive because sometimes in college
football's history, it's like I'm not saying anybody coaches not
to lose, but I think everybody's gonna lose a game, potentially,
even the good teams that does the twelve team playoff?
Does it matter to you at all or is it
(40:59):
like just go Saddays or Saturdays.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
I mean, I think it matters.
Speaker 6 (41:04):
There's still some strategy involved, especially if you if you
have to play in the first round, you'd should love
to have home field advantage and get a home game
and not have to go back to Michigan in December, right,
and you sure would love to win your conference and
to get a buy in the first round, So you know,
I do think that matters, don't. I don't think we're
(41:25):
out here just trying to be reckless and take shots
and go forward on fourth down. I do think there's
a rhyme and reason to everything that we're trying to
accomplish and what we're trying to do and develop in
our team and our program. But in the end, I
do think it allots you to play in games like
this and not feel like, man, if we don't win
this game, we have to be perfect the rest of
(41:46):
the way. I do think it allots you to expose
your team to some tough environments, to play against quality opponents,
to get yourself ready for conference play, and then not
have to feel the repercussions if you don't come out
on top. On the flip side of that, man, it
can be it can serve as a great springboard if
you know you're going to going to the big House
and get this win. What what it can do for
(42:07):
the rest of your season and the confidence of some
of the players in your program that are just getting
the you know, maybe their second game of exposure to
to big time football.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Twelve and two won the Big Twelve. They're pivoting to
the SEC, and I think their roster, along with Georgia,
is the best in that conference. I only got a
minute left. I know you coached Texas. Did you just
get a couple of minutes of that USC game at all?
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Sark? Did your TV?
Speaker 6 (42:29):
How did I know you were gonna ask me?
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Man?
Speaker 1 (42:31):
How did I know?
Speaker 5 (42:32):
You were so giddy?
Speaker 6 (42:33):
You? You were so giddy you probably went for a
walk the next morning right around Manhattan beach Man and
you were just you were kind of throwing throwing your
your victory sign up there, just just excited about it.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Hook them, great thing, you, Sark.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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