January 9, 2026 • 37 mins
Dan and Aaron discuss the rough night that the officials had Thursday night in the national semi-final game, both on the field and in the booth. Dan and Aaron welcome FSR betting analyst Jared Smith onto the show to preview the weekend of football wagering. Dan and Aaron talk about the Miami Dolphins and their search for a head coach.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Darn right, it's go time. Is It's a time that
we get these officials out of the booth when it
comes to our broadcast. Boy, great night for Miami. Not
so much for those that wear the black and white
uniforms on the football field, the officials, or at least
the official in the booth. He is herein Torres. I'm
Dan Byer, but we're not the only ones here hanging
(00:28):
out at Fox Sports Radio on a Friday. Jason Stewart,
Iowa Sam, Isaac Lohencron. It's a great weekend for Iowa Sam.
You know how come I know this because Iowa Sam
was jacked up to talk some college football today, so
ja Our pre show meeting was good, twenty minutes just
talking about the old CFB, and I knew Sam was
(00:49):
in a good mood because of it. Just love talking
shop about it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I will say, you know, the sec chant has been
well known for years. Sam tried to get a big ten,
big ten ten chance.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
That was Christopher Fett.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Didn't really click the way I think Sam was hoping for.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm not Big ten big. I told you I hated
Big ten teams, and so the SEC started the SEC
chance None'm I go, I gotta kind of support the
other schools. But growing up being a Big ten guy,
I didn't like any of the other schools in the conference,
and so I thought it was so weird that the
SEC was claiming ownership when one team would win and
then all of the other teams felt like they had
a share of the title. It never made any sense
to me, by the way.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I know we got to get to the referee stuff,
but for half a second, I just want to say,
I do start to wonder was the SEC always actually
that dominant or was just Nick Saban that good? Like
if Nick Saban was was never born, certainly other teams
would have been good, and LSU would have had their
moment and Georgia would have had their moment. I think
the last fifteen years would have probably ended up being
(01:50):
a lot more balanced if Nick Saban had never been born.
I know it's another conversation for another day, But with
the the SEC supremacy was basically the Nick Saban supremacy.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So I think the top the Big Ten is really
really good. And I don't think that the bottom of
the Big Ten is good, but I think that the
top is really really good. And that's how I feel
like the SEC, like the top top. Whether if you
want to put Florida, Alabama, Georgia in, if you want
to put LSU Alabama, Georgia, whatever, whatever trio you want
(02:23):
to put, because it did vary a little bit for
your Auburn putting Auburn in, you can put them as
a part of the conversation. I do think that those
teams enduring that era, that they were that good. I
just think then we got this inflated sense of self
or they did that because they had the three best teams,
it also meant that they had the other eleven great teams,
(02:47):
and I don't think that was necessarily the case. So
even five, six, and seven, I don't think we're that
we're that good. But I do think that the top
of the SEC was superior to everyone else in college
football at one point in time. Iowa Sam I.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Would agree with that because Iowa was always beating that
like six or seventh ranked team in the Outback Bowl.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So there you have it. Yeah, and they beat this
year on the Relia Quest.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Formally Fanderbilt, who was kind of a fringe playoff team
ten and two. They were the only ten and two
in the Sorry, the only ten and two team in
the SEC left out of the playoff.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
We laughed, we would when the bowl game started to
take on the sponsors and we would make fun of
all the different wacky sponsors. But who doesn't miss the
Outback Bowl, right.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
It's it rolls off the tongue better than relya Quest,
I'll just say that. And it was a long time sponsor.
I know it used to be the Tangerine Bowl, right,
it was the Hall of.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Fame game for a while.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
But like it once, like a sponsor has a bowl
game for a long time, you were like, you start
to love it. You're like, okay, I can get behind this.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Also, because they had the promotion, if one team won,
you could get the bloomin Onion. But if another team won,
there was the other Apple TiSER that they have at Outback,
so there was it was depending on which team won
the game, you would have a rooting interest. But I
also think when you see the popularity of how the
Pop Tarts Bowl is taken over the Duke's the Mayo
(04:13):
Bowl and dumping Mayo like that whole thing ended up
taking on a life of its own, and I think
now we miss some of those sponsors that are no
longer there. I saw last night somebody's like, it's always
the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Tomate.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Sorry, I think food food sponsors for bowl games is
so perfect because you put food into a bowl.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I just thought about that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I was gonna say, the best return on investment ever
from one of those things. Maybe pop Tarts surpassed it
this year. But when Brent Musburger said this one's for
all the Tostitos, and I think it was Oregon Auburn
back in whatever it was twenty eleven.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
He used that reference. Actually, even in Ohio State Miami
that season. I didn't even know there was there was some, yeah,
some reference made, but yeah, you're absolutely right the Tostitos
Bowl then, and people would look at the Tostito's logo.
I'll be like, I think it's great stuff, But sorry, Verbo.
There were some people who were not happy last night
that Tostitos was not sponsoring the Fiesta Bowl. There are
(05:10):
also some people that were not happy in the officiating
and the officiating is where we want to go because
last night, this is what happened in the first half
of the game between Ole Miss and Miami. We'll let
the audio from ESPN and rules analyst Bill Lemagnier. It
gets the toss from Chris Fowler take it away early
(05:32):
rep for Bill Lemonnier. Are rules expert here, Bill, your
quick take on this one.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
But definitely defensis player, strong hit to.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
The head, neck area. I just shouldn't take long.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Thankfully, Tony got up and got off the field. And
Tony's in the tent. Call going into the tent as well,
but he may be removed from this football game after
look at at all these different.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
Hits, routine that they have to check out Tony after
a hit like that in the tent.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Those slow motions, here's real speed.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
And so we're getting the sense this is targeting again.
Someone's going to be ejected because.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
Right the rules of protect a defensive player, right the
offensive player that's defenseless.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
It's a matter of time before we're going to kick
someone out because of what Bill Lemonnier just told us
after review. There is no foul for targeting to play.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
It's the play is the first down you disagree with me,
they're looking.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
They also have to have an indicator in there, and
I don't you know a launch the thrust that type
of thing and running straight into him. They've deemed that
that is not okay.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
That's it's amazing when hearing a seventy five year old
man say thrust, that's not the worst part of the
piece of it. It's the complete one eighty on his
position after he was proven wrong. Yep, right, But it
was what are you there for? What are you there for?
And I think there's a bigger question on the broadcast
(07:04):
what is the role of it? And I give Fox
credit because Fox was the one who brought in Mike
Pereira and Dean Blandino in the first to do this
football wise, But I'm a golf guy. You guys know this.
Golf always had a rules official available for the broadcast,
specifically for an event like the US Open. And what
(07:25):
makes it so great with the rules of golf is
there is no subjectivity. If a guy hits the ball
out of bounds and it crosses a red line, the
rules official would be brought in to tell you where
across the hazard where he can drop it. What are
his options. He wasn't guessing at where the ball crossed
the out of bounds line or where across the hazard.
(07:47):
There's none of that. Like the rules are black and white,
and now in football where it isn't, there's a lot
of gray areas. To have an official up there and
tell you one thing, then the onfield official reverse it
and not have the replay official then either contradict what
the official is saying. To me is just awful and
(08:08):
a complete waste of all of our time. I I
it was Aaron. It was ridiculous last night, and it
makes me wonder why do we have people in the booth.
Then it's not that they don't get it right, but
now you're changing the way that you saw the play
a minute ago. I think that's BS. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
No, I could see the argument of if the ref
just called something different, you saying I fundamentally disagree. But
here is the argument for why in theory he made
this call. He did pivot pretty hard. Though he did
pivot pretty hard there. I will say I'll give credit
to our executive producer Jason Stewart because he said this
(08:43):
in the pre show meeting. I just think it shows
how subjective. All of these calls are to begin with
when the guy who's supposed to be the expert doesn't
either doesn't know the rule, doesn't understand the rule, or
just gets it wrong. And I think that's probably a
fun an issue with not only the targeting stuff, but
also which I'm sure we'll talk about before the end
(09:04):
of the segment, the past interference to end the game
as well.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, it's it was a bad look. Jay, You loving
the officials in the booth. I'm guessing not so much.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Well, you know my overall stance guys on predictions specifically
in our industry, there are loads of hosts throughout our
industry that just fill their shows with the predictions so
that the ten percent of the time they could when
the prediction comes true, they could put it on Twitter
and be like, I'm just gonna lead this here. There's
loads of a host that do that, okay, and I
can't stand it. Predictions don't serve anybody, specifically the listeners,
(09:36):
And why would you have your expert do the prediction.
Just explain to us what the officials are contemplating in
the moment, and then after the fact, explain why they
decided that way when you do the prediction, you're exposing
your network for the choice that they made of you
as the expert, and you're exposing the officials on the
(09:56):
field like you're undercutting everybody. Like why the rush to predict?
I don't get that.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I don't either, and especially too he was peacockying it.
It should be pretty quick, right, like, let's step aside Fouler,
this is La Monnier time, Isaac Lohnkron, what do you got.
Speaker 7 (10:13):
Fox's decision to start this whole officiating analyst role with
Mike Pereira and then after that Dean Blandino was revolutionary.
So I feel that the two of them, as well
as Gene sterotare over at CBS, are the gold standard.
Now it's gotten to the point where everybody is inserting
(10:35):
a rules analyst into their telecast, even in different sports,
and it's starting to be sort of a set of dilution,
and I feel, and Jason hit on this, the role
of the officiating analyst has started to transition to the
detriment of the viewing experience, from a true analyst who
(10:57):
explains the rules and puts everything into perspective into a
judge and an opinionator who says good call, bad call,
which is an opinion just like the analyst on the
broadcast can do. I feel the role is transitioning to
a place where it does not serve the viewer. It
needs to be sort of a contextual clarification role. Here's
(11:21):
what they're looking at.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Sure, And I would say, like again, I think that
golf was the front runner in this because they had
gone on for decades, not to the extent of football,
but they actually had someone to explain the rules. And
the rules are pretty They're complicated, but they're black and white.
That's one or the other, and that's what it's going
to be. There's not a lot of wiggle room. What
we're finding out with more and more of this is
(11:42):
how much wiggle room that there actually is. And I
also look at honestly, I'll blame ESPN because when you
listen to an ESPN college football broadcast, specifically with Fowler
and Herb Street, everything is ho hum, smooth and good
to go. You don't want much conflict, you don't want
stuff contrasting each other. It's a smooth follower as smooth
(12:04):
and in his delivery, Herb Street saying what he does,
doesn't get real deep, just does kind of top of
the line stuff and moves on and you don't get
any of that conflict in a booth. Not that people
want to listen to conflict, but that's what it sounded like.
For one way. It's called targeting. Yep, gonna go targeting, yep,
that's absolutely targeting. This should be quick. No targeting on
the play yep. Well what they were looking for was
(12:25):
a thrust here, and that's all smoothing it over and
making it real nice, which is I think something that
ESPN wants, but I just think it completely did not
serve the viewer last night.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Well, I was gonna add to what is funny is
and you rarely see this is the rare either analyst
or play by play guy that will just openly just
call the rules analyst an idiot and just disagree with him.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Because usually, to Isaac's.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Point, it's an analyst, it's not an analyst, it's an expert.
It's somebody that's official. His word is the final word.
And the one guy that stands out watched tonight, Sean
mcda will be like, if there's like a questionable targeting
and the rules analyst comes on and whatever, that's got
to be targeting, textbook targeting. But Sean McDonald just be like,
(13:09):
well that's a stupid rule. Then well we need to
get that rule out. And it's like you don't see
that very often. But I also do enjoy the friction
of when an analyst or a play by play guy
will say, Okay, maybe that is the interpretation of the rule,
but I just fundamentally disagree with that actual interpretation.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
I was Sam, you know what also I think is
stupid is the term indisputable video evidence. I'm just tired
of it. It's been around forever. Video evidence is inherently disputable. Okay,
people see things different ways. That's happening right now in
our country. So basically we need to get rid.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Of that term.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
We need to call it like overwhelming video evidence something
like that, Like it's just indisputable. It's such like a
cut and dry thing that people see things differently, and like,
we just it's just a term that I just peep.
They use it like it's just it's so valid and
it's not. It's just a terrible term.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And I think last night it was also a blending
of people who like or dislike replay, and then we
have the conversation that we're also talking about here is
an official and how you use the official throughout that game.
To Jason's point of if Bill Lemonnier comes on and says,
this is what the officials are looking at and gives
(14:27):
everything that he said after the point, and then the
call is made, he then could give his opinion on
what it actually was. If he said they're looking for
a thrust, if they're looking for a launch in all
of those things, that's how you go about it, and
that's what I think Pereira and Blandino do. And then
(14:49):
ultimately in the end maybe you'll let Herbstreet or Follower
draw their conclusion or Lamannier comes in. But it also
when you're doing this, puts a real big spotlight on
the inconsistent sees of officiating at the college level and
in the National Football League. And I think that Sterotory
and Blandino and im Pereira think more like the officials
(15:10):
are all kind of in the same group. College football.
You have packed twelve big twelve officials. He had packed
twelve officials that one day, acc SEC big ten officials
from all different leagues and then they're not. It's not
necessarily necessarily the same, and so you're getting a wide
variety of different calls. And I think that last night
(15:31):
just put a magnifying glass under maybe how how poor
the officiating could be in college football. Even though ultimately
I think they got the play right, like they got
the call right in the players going for the the
defender going for the football, that it wasn't targeting, that
was great. But if a guy up in the booth
is trying to go through what he thinks. If Bill
(15:52):
Lemonnier was on the field, he you know, would have
called that targeting and kicked the guy out. Just weird.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
I don't know if it was Isaac or Aaron, but
I think that there still is a necessity for it.
I think it's a good idea that every league should do,
because remember there was a play in the World Series.
There was one of those plays where a throw hit
the runner and there was like question about whether he
was in the baseline or not. And I remember in
(16:18):
the time thinking that not having an umpire in the
booth to at least get the clarification of the rule
is a big miss here because that broadcasters weren't hitting
on what the exact rule is, because maybe they don't
know the exact rules. So I think there's a necessity
for it. I think the viewer expects to be informed.
I just think that when you get into the prediction part,
(16:39):
this is what they will call that exposes everybody.
Speaker 7 (16:42):
And I will say this, broadcasters desperately themselves want to
know the rules and get them right. But there's so
much other information that a broadcaster needs to know. An
officiating analyst, that's their specialty, that's their rule book, and
there's so many unusual rules in any rule book that
(17:04):
nobody knows about except people who are professional officiate professional officials,
that that is their role to know in case an unusual,
rare situation comes up that only someone who is a
professional officiate official would know.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Football is tough, Basketball is tough. I think baseball is
more long along the lines of golf. It either is
or it isn't. And maybe in a lot of cases
of what the actual rule is. What did you say, Sam,
You said tennis in my ear.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I'm sorry, I just say tennis is something like it's
over the liner. It's not like I know you guys
are talking about different things here.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Yeah, that's in or out, you know sort of thing.
But yeah, the actual like imflemation of of the rules.
You know, the golf rule book is you know, section six,
you know, to a blah blah blah, and there's there's
a lot to it, so you need someone there and
it aids to it. But football is football is a
tough one. I know we only have half a second here,
but I will ask you really quick. I have long
(17:57):
believed that, especially we're talking about college FOOTB games specifically,
if you're gonna send Trinidad Chambliss, Keywon Lacy, whoever up
to the podium to talk after a loss, the referee
should be available to the general public.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Do you agree with that or not? Like a referee
should have to take the podium and if there are
questions should have to answer them.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I don't think they should be protected. Yeah, I think
like in the NFL they aren't. You can request to
speak with that, you know, with a pool reporter and
have that sort of clarity. So I think in a way, yes,
I just wouldn't want to sit through any refereeing press conferences. No,
I understand. Yeah, that's just like all right, you can
go Torres, you can go cover that see if it
was holding in the second quarter or not, because you
(18:37):
know they you know it would you know.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Right, It's like Major League Baseball. It's like it's nice
to have the manager available. Even though out of one
hundred and sixty two games, there's maybe like six that
you actually need something noteworthy after a game, but it's
still good to have them there when you need them.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
It's good to have Jared Smith with us. He's gonna
come up next, give us a preview of the NFL
wild Card weekend, and even a look at tonight's Oregon
Indiana game. Of course, Jared co host of Countdown to Kickoff,
presented by Bett MGM every Saturday morning. Jared's gonna join
us next. He's erin Torres. I'm Dan Byer, That's Isaac Lowincrown,
Jason Stewart and Iowa Sam.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
App Fox Sports Radio. I'm Dan Byer, He's erin Torres.
Jason Stewart, Iowa Sam, Isaac Low and Crown hanging out
with us on this Friday for over forty years. Tyrak
has been helping customers found the right tires for how,
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(19:40):
buying should be. Am I wrong about Bill Lamanier? Like
he feels like that old teacher when you were in
middle school or junior high that you just just couldn't
relate to and was just always a grouch and a crab. Anybody,
anybody else get that sense? I? Yes, Isaac does.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Until he took that victory lap, I was like, but
it was such a definitive this is how it's gonna
go down.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
And then it didn't.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
It was off the bleachers, Get off the bleachers? Yes,
yes Hm. Jared Smith joining us now. Countdown to Kickoff
presented by Bett mgm every Saturday morning here on Fox
Sports Radio. He's the co host alongside Brian Noen Rich Ornberger,
airing between nine o'clock Eastern Time going up until noon Eastern.
(20:24):
You can listen well I haven't any of our Fox
Sports Radio a Philates or the iHeartRadio app again, all
presented by Bett mgm. Do you get that sense with
Bill Lamannier, the ESPN rules official, just that cranky teacher
that you had back in the day that just never
saw your side of things.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
Nobody really knows what any call is anymore. I think
when I watch these games. For example, I watched the
play the last play of the game last night, which
I didn't classify as a hell mary from the thirty
five yard line, Like, I think that was a little
bit closer than that. It looked like p I to me,
And I know you swallow the whistle on that situation.
I get it. But if that play happens in the
(20:59):
first quarter, they call PI, like, I think that's the
bar that I kind of set. So I don't think
anyone really knows what any penalties are anymore. In the
NFL and in college. I've been on this soapbox for
the last couple of months. I think we need to
make every penalty reviewable by the replay assist. I'm not
saying we have to stop the game and replay it,
but I think if it's a blatant error, I think
(21:20):
the replay the eye and the sky should correct it.
And I think that's kind of the vibe I get
because officiating in college and the NFL has never it's
in an all time.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Get ready for those five and a half hour football games,
Jared Smith, I mean, geez, I didn't even get to
the pass interference Aaron and I disagree. I thought it was.
I thought that your point was my point as well.
It was at the thirty five. Wasn't necessarily a hail
mary situation. Also, it's not the NFL. The ball doesn't
get placed at the one. It would have been a
fifteen yard penalty, and there still would have been an
(21:49):
opportunity for Miami to really have an opportunity to defend that.
But pass interference calls or non calls in Miami a
thing when it comes to college football postseason. Let's get
some Tonight's game Oregon Indiana rematch of the Big Ten
regular season matchup that they had in October. Whose side
(22:10):
are you on tonight in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta?
Speaker 6 (22:13):
Well, market wise, right, this thing's been sitting three and
a half pretty much all week. And of course, if
you're into the gambling sphere, you know that three is
a very important number in football. It's called a key number.
In college it lands about ten percent of the time,
so on or off that number is very important. You
saw a lot of people betting Indiana this week at
three and a half didn't care that, you know, the
(22:34):
hook is, as we call it, was on that key number.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Well, there are.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
Some pretty significant wagers happening today on Oregon. Some sharp
betters in town really really like the Ducks at plus
three and a half. So now we're seeing it go
on to that key number of three at three. I
like Indiana, and I think it's just a matter of
I think optics matters. Like Indiana clearly is the best
team in college Fooball right, Now, does that mean they're
gonna win tonight? No, but they are a worthy favorite,
(23:02):
and I think when you look at their offense, it's
it's a lot of simplicity with their run game. They
actually had their lowest rushing game of the season in
the first matchup against Organ, just three point three yards
per carry, and they had zero runs of fifteen or
more yards. I do like Dan Lannings defense. They are
built from from the bottom up. The two big tackles
Alexander and Washington. They really won that battle in the
(23:23):
first matchup. The linebackers are good at the second level betcher,
Mixon and Jackson did a good job kind of cleaning
things up. I think those two middleman Alexander and Washington
are gonna be key tonight. Mendoza didn't play well in
the first matchup. It was the second worst passing great
of the year. Oregon really got pressure on Mendoza and
on the other side, there was even more pressure on
Dante More almost a fifty percent pressure rate for him.
(23:45):
So both quarterbacks struggled. Both run games struggled. I think
Indiana made a few more plays than Oregon did. But
I'll be honest when I when I look at this game,
it definitely feels like a toss up, and once we
get the value onto that key number of three, I
think that's where I feel comfortable laying the points with
the Hoosiers before we.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Get to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Just one more college football question, you know, Dan and
I opened this show like so many did today, about
you know, downfalls. Maybe a little bit of a heavy word,
but the SEC clearly is not what it used to
be in terms of results, and I was just curious
if you had any kind of metrics or data from
the betting world, whether it's you know, how you rank.
I'm blanking on the right word the verbiage here, but basically,
(24:27):
do you have like empirical data in what you do
that shows that the SEC isn't what it was even.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
Three four years ago. It's a great question, Aaron. I
think ratings wise, yes, I think the SEC dominance is
starting to be tapered a little bit. For example, last year,
Organ was the best team in the country all year
long and then they got exposed by another Big ten team.
But in terms of the power ratings, I don't think
(24:53):
you're seeing as many SEC teams in that elite tier.
And then they get these cross pollination matchups in the
bowl games and they were terrible. I mean it was
absolutely awful. I think I tweeted out last night the
only SEC postseason wins against non SEC teams were all
miss over Tulane and Texas over Michigan, who didn't have
a head coach. And obviously they're going through a lot
right now with their program. The SEC finished two and
(25:14):
eight straight up and against the spread, so sometimes right
they're winning games but not covering well. They weren't winning
or covering one and three in the CFP against non
SEC teams so I think you can absolutely make the
case that NIL. Right, it used to be the rural
gas stations out and you know in you know, Alabama,
Mississippi would be you know, spending all this money for
these players, and that was the only way to pay players. Well,
(25:36):
now you can pay players in many different ways, and
I think you're starting to see the diversity of funds
really have an impact on the overall landscape of college football.
I mean, go back and just look at who's played
in the National Championship game over the last I don't
know decade. I mean it's it's Michigan, it's Washington, it's
Ohio State. You get Oregon and Indiana in the championship,
(25:58):
you know, semi final tonight, you have you have Notre Dame.
So it's just I think it's starting to spread out
in terms of it's not going to be all SEC
dominance from here on out. I think the NIL and
the portal is really a level the playing field.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
All right, let's switch gears with Jared Smith. He's Aaron Torres.
I'm Dan Byer to the National Football League. You guys
will be previewing a wild card weekend with two games
coming up on Saturday. I want to start with the
nightcap in Chicago. Packers one and a half point favorite
over the Bears in their NFC Wildcard showdown. Always will
be a chilly night in Chicago. But why is Green
(26:33):
Bay favored in this matchup between NFC North rivals.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
I'll be honest, I don't know, Dan, I mean, I
do know.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
It's the VOA.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
It's you know, all these metrics that they look at
that cook up these ratings that makes green Bay a
you know, for you to be a road favorite, usually
you get at least one or two points for being
at home, and green Bay being a favorite in the
game means they are at least three points better than
(27:04):
Chicago on a neutral field. I don't know if I
agree with that. And first of all, green Bay is
missing their best pass rusher, and I think their defense
has definitely taken a little bit of a step back
without Michael Parsons. Secondly, at what point do we ignore
some of the metrics and we say Chicago is just
really good at winning close games. They've done it all year,
(27:26):
and I think a lot of that's coaching, a lot
of that's mental toughness. Those are things that can't be
baked into a number that can't be accounted for on
a spreadsheet. These are intangibles, and then you throw in
the momentum factor. Green Bay's lost four games in a row.
That's only happened once in the last twenty five years
a team entering the playoffs on a four game losing streak.
(27:46):
It was last year. It was the Steelers, and then
they got beat by two touchdowns by the Ravens in
the wildcard round. So I think it's pretty disrespectful that
Chicago is playing a divisional opponent in a division they won,
and they're a home underdog in the playoffs. And again,
I know why it's happening, but it's really remarkable.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
This is where I come from, the the just the
average fan, average Joe's scenario is, I remember what happened
with Bears Packers in Soldier Field. I remember what happened
at lambeau Field. Those are two very close games, but
I mean, the Packers go in and almost upset Chicago,
but they don't get an on side kick, and the
Bears score and end up rallying and get the win.
(28:29):
Like I remember all of that. I just feel like
Las Vegas was smarter than me, you know what I mean,
Like I saw green Bay. Yeah yeah, and that's what
we always hear, yes, yes, And so I thought it
would be like, Okay, this is how it's going to
play out. But Vegas still is saying that it's it's
green Bay. And that's what kind of you know, just
caught me by surprises. I just think most of us
(28:51):
Joe's would think, like, all right, even though they lost,
they were tight games, it's gonna be the Bears in
the playoffs. But that wasn't the case.
Speaker 6 (28:58):
There's no doubt that the sharper side is, but that
doesn't mean the sharper side always wins. So and here's
another reason why I think Green Bay is getting some love.
There's a trend out there that's a very popular trend.
It's very profitable trend. Right, quarterbacks that have playoff experience
playing a wildcard game because it has to be wildcard
game unless I guess the team is in the number
one seed in the divisional round against a quarterback making
(29:20):
his playoff debut. So the quarterbacks that are making their
playoff debut are covering at around thirty four percent twenty
wins thirty nine losses in one push against the spread
and twenty and forty straight up. So out of sixty
games where the playoff debutante has gone up against a
playoff veteran in terms of quarterbacking, only twenty straight up wins.
(29:44):
So obviously, with this game being a pick on it,
it's not going to really come down to the spread.
Most likely it's going to be whoever wins the game
will obviously cover. And that's why I think Green Bay's
getting some love. But again I don't know how much
I buy that, because it just I think Chicago you
have to at some point them credit for winning these games,
and those are things that maybe aren't fully baked into
the number. So I'm on the Bears. I'll go down
(30:07):
with the Caleb Williams ship and the Ben Johnson ship.
If Jordan Love comes in there and smacks them around,
I'll tip my cat. But if you're giving me any
value as an underdog for a divisional winner facing a
divisional opponent at home in the playoffs, I can't not take.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
That very quickly.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
I'll ask you about another one and a half point
home favorite, at least according to the book that I'm
looking at, or road favorite. I think as at home favorite,
road favorite Buffalo Bills. We know what's at stake for them.
We know, frankly, what's its sake for everybody in that
building from Sean mcdermotton down. How do you see this
one playing out?
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Yeah, this is a toss up game for sure. I mean,
the Jacks are arguably the hottest, hottest team in the NFL,
eight to zero straight up and against the spread over
their last eight.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
The Bills.
Speaker 6 (30:48):
We've seen this before with Buffalo in the postseason. These
games typically go over. In fact, of the last ten
playoff games for the Bills, eight of them have gone
over the total, and in seven of those ten, Buffalo
scored at least twenty seven points. It's fair to say
the Bills defense is maybe a little bit unlucky this year.
I know they've been a downtrodden unit. But again, peeling
(31:09):
back to curtain for how I analyze games, Buffalo is
a top five pressure eighteen, but just eighteenth in quarterback
sack percentage. What does that mean? They're generating pressure, they're
just not finishing the deal. And sometimes you know, the
sacks can be a little bit fluky sometimes where you
generate the pressure but you don't necessarily get home. You
still impact the quarterback, and Buffalo I think has done
a better job than maybe some of the numbers reflect
(31:30):
impacting the quarterback this year. Joey Bosen needs to be
really good in this game. He got some full practice
in this week. That's a good sign. And Trevor Lawrence, Right,
you go from twelfth in EPA to twenty third when
pressured this year. So when he's kept clean, he's a
top ten, top fifteen quarterback. When he's not well now
he's a bottom ten quarterback. So the Buffalo run game
I think will be key here. We've seen the Jags
give up some big quarterback run games, right, gave up
(31:52):
sixty to Mahomes on Monday Night Football. They gave up
forty to Bryce Young earlier this year, even gave up
thirty nine to Brady Cook a few weeks ago. So
if Josh Allen's foot is healthy, the high leverage games,
Aaron is where I see the quarterback run game becoming
more of a factor. I would say Trevor Lawrence is
in that category as well. Both of those quarterbacks, they're big,
they're strong the game. Obviously, both teams need it like
(32:13):
blood I would say quarterback run game would be my
first prop. Angle both quarterbacks over their rushing yards and
rushing attempts prop, and then I think this is going
to be a higher scoring back and forth game.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
He's Jared Smith, our Fox Sports Radio betting analysts and
co host of Fox Sports Radio's Countown to Kickoff with
Rich Hornberger and Brian know Airs each Saturday between nine
in noon Eastern Time. Listen live on any of our
Fox Sports Radio affiliates or on the iHeartRadio app. It's
all presented by Bett MGM. Jared always appreciate the knowledge.
Can't wait to listen tomorrow morning. Thanks man, good stuff, guys,
(32:45):
good luck this weekend.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
He's Ered Torres. I'm Dan by our Fox Sports Radio
De Costa into the weekend the Commasara Iowa, Sam Isaac
Lohncron and Jason Stewart Love a little Falco got more
hits than you would believe. Rip to Falco. The Miami
Dolphins have hired a general manager coming in the form
(33:18):
of Green Bay Packers executive John Eric Sullivan. Two things
at play here. First of all, let's get to something
that was pointed out by Peter Schrager of ESPN. When
you're looking at connections, and you're looking at teams filling
the GM roles, and there are two of them, the
Dolphins and the Falcons. If one GM comes from one team,
(33:39):
guess what he may bring along somebody from that same team.
Joe Shane and Brian Dable package deal when they came
from Buffalo to the New York Giants. Dolphins probably hoping
for more success than what the Giants had, but could
be a spot for Jeff Haffley, the Packers defensive coordinator.
But it's also interesting because it felt like the Dolphins
were maybe firing Mike McDaniel so they could get a
(34:00):
shot at John Harbaugh and Tony Grossi on ESPN Cleveland
earlier today said that Harbaugh wanted to pick his own
general manager or bring in his own GM. We had
asked Mark Dominic about that, said, maybe that's not necessarily
the exact black and white situation that if you run
a few names by Harball he may be good with.
But interesting that the Dolphins who have worked for months
(34:23):
in trying to find a new GM find one from
Green Bay where one of their assistants could be a
head coach. I don't know if that signals that Harbaugh
is in or out, but I just find it unique
considering the timing of the McDaniel firing this week, which
came after the Harball firing, which wasn't alongside the other
ones that came Monday. Yeah, you know, I don't surprise prize.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
I don't have any inside information in this, but you
start putting the puzzle pieces together. It's also worth noting
we had Mark Dominic on the show in our one,
and he seemed to indicate that he believes it could
very much be in play. Steven Ross, of course, has
a relationship with the Harbaugh family, tried to hire Jim
multiple times. He's a Michigan guy, so it gets interesting,
and this John Eric Sullivan twist certainly adds to it.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
And I know that John and Eric Sullivan's twist is
also intriguing to Jason Stewart because of the hyphenated first name.
This caught you a little off guard, Jay stew.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
That's a weird one.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
John Eric.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
You don't find a lot of hyphenated first names. And
I'm just wondering if his nickname like behind his back
is generic. It's he and looking at his pictures a
very generic guy too, it would probably be the case.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Here's here's where I thought it was interesting. John j
O N but Eric E er I C so Eric
most of the times spelt with the C. John though
most of the time spelt spelled with an H. So
drop the H but kept the C. Wasn't an Eric
with a K, which I thought maybe like John, Eric
(35:53):
would then be like, well, of course he's from Finland,
you alrighty sees from Norway like it's very Scandinavian, but
it is. It is does take some getting used to.
Like even Carl Anthony consons. The only one I could
think of, Yeah where I it says Town's on the
back and that should tell you everything was Shay Gilgess Alexander.
We see the gildess Alexander, but I forget that his
(36:16):
name is Carl Anthony and that his last name isn't
Anthony Towns. Oh, yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
No, it took me a while to get the hyphenated
first name. That's the only other one I can think
of Also, yeah, John John Eric Sullivan is not from Finland, Columbia,
South Carolina. Could it be further from Finland?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
If it was, if there was a K, I would
have thought maybe the Scandinavian. Maybe maybe not well, Hed.
Speaker 5 (36:40):
Put an h at the end of eric like take
the from the John put it at the end of Erica.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
The only one, the only other instance I could think
it was Anne Margaret just typhoning.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Okay, yeah, I how about this, like how plain names
do you hyphenite? This would be like this is Bill
Dave Johnson, right, like like Bill Dave Mark Tom all right,
I guess was it was it Mark Paul Gossler. That'd
be kind of along the same lines. Yeah, that's probably
the movie equivalent of John Eric Sullivan. He's eron Torres.
(37:10):
Listen to him Sunday, Listen to Saturday. Listen to me
Sunday on Fox
Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Darn right, it's go time. Is It's a time that
we get these officials out of the booth when it
comes to our broadcast. Boy, great night for Miami. Not
so much for those that wear the black and white
uniforms on the football field, the officials, or at least
the official in the booth. He is herein Torres. I'm
Dan Byer, but we're not the only ones here hanging
(00:28):
out at Fox Sports Radio on a Friday. Jason Stewart,
Iowa Sam, Isaac Lohencron. It's a great weekend for Iowa Sam.
You know how come I know this because Iowa Sam
was jacked up to talk some college football today, so
ja Our pre show meeting was good, twenty minutes just
talking about the old CFB, and I knew Sam was
(00:49):
in a good mood because of it. Just love talking
shop about it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I will say, you know, the sec chant has been
well known for years. Sam tried to get a big ten,
big ten ten chance.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
That was Christopher Fett.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Didn't really click the way I think Sam was hoping for.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm not Big ten big. I told you I hated
Big ten teams, and so the SEC started the SEC
chance None'm I go, I gotta kind of support the
other schools. But growing up being a Big ten guy,
I didn't like any of the other schools in the conference,
and so I thought it was so weird that the
SEC was claiming ownership when one team would win and
then all of the other teams felt like they had
a share of the title. It never made any sense
to me, by the way.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I know we got to get to the referee stuff,
but for half a second, I just want to say,
I do start to wonder was the SEC always actually
that dominant or was just Nick Saban that good? Like
if Nick Saban was was never born, certainly other teams
would have been good, and LSU would have had their
moment and Georgia would have had their moment. I think
the last fifteen years would have probably ended up being
(01:50):
a lot more balanced if Nick Saban had never been born.
I know it's another conversation for another day, But with
the the SEC supremacy was basically the Nick Saban supremacy.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So I think the top the Big Ten is really
really good. And I don't think that the bottom of
the Big Ten is good, but I think that the
top is really really good. And that's how I feel
like the SEC, like the top top. Whether if you
want to put Florida, Alabama, Georgia in, if you want
to put LSU Alabama, Georgia, whatever, whatever trio you want
(02:23):
to put, because it did vary a little bit for
your Auburn putting Auburn in, you can put them as
a part of the conversation. I do think that those
teams enduring that era, that they were that good. I
just think then we got this inflated sense of self
or they did that because they had the three best teams,
it also meant that they had the other eleven great teams,
(02:47):
and I don't think that was necessarily the case. So
even five, six, and seven, I don't think we're that
we're that good. But I do think that the top
of the SEC was superior to everyone else in college
football at one point in time. Iowa Sam I.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Would agree with that because Iowa was always beating that
like six or seventh ranked team in the Outback Bowl.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So there you have it. Yeah, and they beat this
year on the Relia Quest.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Formally Fanderbilt, who was kind of a fringe playoff team
ten and two. They were the only ten and two
in the Sorry, the only ten and two team in
the SEC left out of the playoff.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
We laughed, we would when the bowl game started to
take on the sponsors and we would make fun of
all the different wacky sponsors. But who doesn't miss the
Outback Bowl, right.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
It's it rolls off the tongue better than relya Quest,
I'll just say that. And it was a long time sponsor.
I know it used to be the Tangerine Bowl, right,
it was the Hall of.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Fame game for a while.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
But like it once, like a sponsor has a bowl
game for a long time, you were like, you start
to love it. You're like, okay, I can get behind this.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Also, because they had the promotion, if one team won,
you could get the bloomin Onion. But if another team won,
there was the other Apple TiSER that they have at Outback,
so there was it was depending on which team won
the game, you would have a rooting interest. But I
also think when you see the popularity of how the
Pop Tarts Bowl is taken over the Duke's the Mayo
(04:13):
Bowl and dumping Mayo like that whole thing ended up
taking on a life of its own, and I think
now we miss some of those sponsors that are no
longer there. I saw last night somebody's like, it's always
the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Tomate.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Sorry, I think food food sponsors for bowl games is
so perfect because you put food into a bowl.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I just thought about that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I was gonna say, the best return on investment ever
from one of those things. Maybe pop Tarts surpassed it
this year. But when Brent Musburger said this one's for
all the Tostitos, and I think it was Oregon Auburn
back in whatever it was twenty eleven.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
He used that reference. Actually, even in Ohio State Miami
that season. I didn't even know there was there was some, yeah,
some reference made, but yeah, you're absolutely right the Tostitos
Bowl then, and people would look at the Tostito's logo.
I'll be like, I think it's great stuff, But sorry, Verbo.
There were some people who were not happy last night
that Tostitos was not sponsoring the Fiesta Bowl. There are
(05:10):
also some people that were not happy in the officiating
and the officiating is where we want to go because
last night, this is what happened in the first half
of the game between Ole Miss and Miami. We'll let
the audio from ESPN and rules analyst Bill Lemagnier. It
gets the toss from Chris Fowler take it away early
(05:32):
rep for Bill Lemonnier. Are rules expert here, Bill, your
quick take on this one.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
But definitely defensis player, strong hit to.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
The head, neck area. I just shouldn't take long.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Thankfully, Tony got up and got off the field. And
Tony's in the tent. Call going into the tent as well,
but he may be removed from this football game after
look at at all these different.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
Hits, routine that they have to check out Tony after
a hit like that in the tent.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Those slow motions, here's real speed.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
And so we're getting the sense this is targeting again.
Someone's going to be ejected because.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
Right the rules of protect a defensive player, right the
offensive player that's defenseless.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
It's a matter of time before we're going to kick
someone out because of what Bill Lemonnier just told us
after review. There is no foul for targeting to play.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
It's the play is the first down you disagree with me,
they're looking.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
They also have to have an indicator in there, and
I don't you know a launch the thrust that type
of thing and running straight into him. They've deemed that
that is not okay.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
That's it's amazing when hearing a seventy five year old
man say thrust, that's not the worst part of the
piece of it. It's the complete one eighty on his
position after he was proven wrong. Yep, right, But it
was what are you there for? What are you there for?
And I think there's a bigger question on the broadcast
(07:04):
what is the role of it? And I give Fox
credit because Fox was the one who brought in Mike
Pereira and Dean Blandino in the first to do this
football wise, But I'm a golf guy. You guys know this.
Golf always had a rules official available for the broadcast,
specifically for an event like the US Open. And what
(07:25):
makes it so great with the rules of golf is
there is no subjectivity. If a guy hits the ball
out of bounds and it crosses a red line, the
rules official would be brought in to tell you where
across the hazard where he can drop it. What are
his options. He wasn't guessing at where the ball crossed
the out of bounds line or where across the hazard.
(07:47):
There's none of that. Like the rules are black and white,
and now in football where it isn't, there's a lot
of gray areas. To have an official up there and
tell you one thing, then the onfield official reverse it
and not have the replay official then either contradict what
the official is saying. To me is just awful and
(08:08):
a complete waste of all of our time. I I
it was Aaron. It was ridiculous last night, and it
makes me wonder why do we have people in the booth.
Then it's not that they don't get it right, but
now you're changing the way that you saw the play
a minute ago. I think that's BS. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
No, I could see the argument of if the ref
just called something different, you saying I fundamentally disagree. But
here is the argument for why in theory he made
this call. He did pivot pretty hard. Though he did
pivot pretty hard there. I will say I'll give credit
to our executive producer Jason Stewart because he said this
(08:43):
in the pre show meeting. I just think it shows
how subjective. All of these calls are to begin with
when the guy who's supposed to be the expert doesn't
either doesn't know the rule, doesn't understand the rule, or
just gets it wrong. And I think that's probably a
fun an issue with not only the targeting stuff, but
also which I'm sure we'll talk about before the end
(09:04):
of the segment, the past interference to end the game
as well.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, it's it was a bad look. Jay, You loving
the officials in the booth. I'm guessing not so much.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Well, you know my overall stance guys on predictions specifically
in our industry, there are loads of hosts throughout our
industry that just fill their shows with the predictions so
that the ten percent of the time they could when
the prediction comes true, they could put it on Twitter
and be like, I'm just gonna lead this here. There's
loads of a host that do that, okay, and I
can't stand it. Predictions don't serve anybody, specifically the listeners,
(09:36):
And why would you have your expert do the prediction.
Just explain to us what the officials are contemplating in
the moment, and then after the fact, explain why they
decided that way when you do the prediction, you're exposing
your network for the choice that they made of you
as the expert, and you're exposing the officials on the
(09:56):
field like you're undercutting everybody. Like why the rush to predict?
I don't get that.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I don't either, and especially too he was peacockying it.
It should be pretty quick, right, like, let's step aside Fouler,
this is La Monnier time, Isaac Lohnkron, what do you got.
Speaker 7 (10:13):
Fox's decision to start this whole officiating analyst role with
Mike Pereira and then after that Dean Blandino was revolutionary.
So I feel that the two of them, as well
as Gene sterotare over at CBS, are the gold standard.
Now it's gotten to the point where everybody is inserting
(10:35):
a rules analyst into their telecast, even in different sports,
and it's starting to be sort of a set of dilution,
and I feel, and Jason hit on this, the role
of the officiating analyst has started to transition to the
detriment of the viewing experience, from a true analyst who
(10:57):
explains the rules and puts everything into perspective into a
judge and an opinionator who says good call, bad call,
which is an opinion just like the analyst on the
broadcast can do. I feel the role is transitioning to
a place where it does not serve the viewer. It
needs to be sort of a contextual clarification role. Here's
(11:21):
what they're looking at.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Sure, And I would say, like again, I think that
golf was the front runner in this because they had
gone on for decades, not to the extent of football,
but they actually had someone to explain the rules. And
the rules are pretty They're complicated, but they're black and white.
That's one or the other, and that's what it's going
to be. There's not a lot of wiggle room. What
we're finding out with more and more of this is
(11:42):
how much wiggle room that there actually is. And I
also look at honestly, I'll blame ESPN because when you
listen to an ESPN college football broadcast, specifically with Fowler
and Herb Street, everything is ho hum, smooth and good
to go. You don't want much conflict, you don't want
stuff contrasting each other. It's a smooth follower as smooth
(12:04):
and in his delivery, Herb Street saying what he does,
doesn't get real deep, just does kind of top of
the line stuff and moves on and you don't get
any of that conflict in a booth. Not that people
want to listen to conflict, but that's what it sounded like.
For one way. It's called targeting. Yep, gonna go targeting, yep,
that's absolutely targeting. This should be quick. No targeting on
the play yep. Well what they were looking for was
(12:25):
a thrust here, and that's all smoothing it over and
making it real nice, which is I think something that
ESPN wants, but I just think it completely did not
serve the viewer last night.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Well, I was gonna add to what is funny is
and you rarely see this is the rare either analyst
or play by play guy that will just openly just
call the rules analyst an idiot and just disagree with him.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Because usually, to Isaac's.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Point, it's an analyst, it's not an analyst, it's an expert.
It's somebody that's official. His word is the final word.
And the one guy that stands out watched tonight, Sean
mcda will be like, if there's like a questionable targeting
and the rules analyst comes on and whatever, that's got
to be targeting, textbook targeting. But Sean McDonald just be like,
(13:09):
well that's a stupid rule. Then well we need to
get that rule out. And it's like you don't see
that very often. But I also do enjoy the friction
of when an analyst or a play by play guy
will say, Okay, maybe that is the interpretation of the rule,
but I just fundamentally disagree with that actual interpretation.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
I was Sam, you know what also I think is
stupid is the term indisputable video evidence. I'm just tired
of it. It's been around forever. Video evidence is inherently disputable. Okay,
people see things different ways. That's happening right now in
our country. So basically we need to get rid.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Of that term.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
We need to call it like overwhelming video evidence something
like that, Like it's just indisputable. It's such like a
cut and dry thing that people see things differently, and like,
we just it's just a term that I just peep.
They use it like it's just it's so valid and
it's not. It's just a terrible term.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And I think last night it was also a blending
of people who like or dislike replay, and then we
have the conversation that we're also talking about here is
an official and how you use the official throughout that game.
To Jason's point of if Bill Lemonnier comes on and says,
this is what the officials are looking at and gives
(14:27):
everything that he said after the point, and then the
call is made, he then could give his opinion on
what it actually was. If he said they're looking for
a thrust, if they're looking for a launch in all
of those things, that's how you go about it, and
that's what I think Pereira and Blandino do. And then
(14:49):
ultimately in the end maybe you'll let Herbstreet or Follower
draw their conclusion or Lamannier comes in. But it also
when you're doing this, puts a real big spotlight on
the inconsistent sees of officiating at the college level and
in the National Football League. And I think that Sterotory
and Blandino and im Pereira think more like the officials
(15:10):
are all kind of in the same group. College football.
You have packed twelve big twelve officials. He had packed
twelve officials that one day, acc SEC big ten officials
from all different leagues and then they're not. It's not
necessarily necessarily the same, and so you're getting a wide
variety of different calls. And I think that last night
(15:31):
just put a magnifying glass under maybe how how poor
the officiating could be in college football. Even though ultimately
I think they got the play right, like they got
the call right in the players going for the the
defender going for the football, that it wasn't targeting, that
was great. But if a guy up in the booth
is trying to go through what he thinks. If Bill
(15:52):
Lemonnier was on the field, he you know, would have
called that targeting and kicked the guy out. Just weird.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
I don't know if it was Isaac or Aaron, but
I think that there still is a necessity for it.
I think it's a good idea that every league should do,
because remember there was a play in the World Series.
There was one of those plays where a throw hit
the runner and there was like question about whether he
was in the baseline or not. And I remember in
(16:18):
the time thinking that not having an umpire in the
booth to at least get the clarification of the rule
is a big miss here because that broadcasters weren't hitting
on what the exact rule is, because maybe they don't
know the exact rules. So I think there's a necessity
for it. I think the viewer expects to be informed.
I just think that when you get into the prediction part,
(16:39):
this is what they will call that exposes everybody.
Speaker 7 (16:42):
And I will say this, broadcasters desperately themselves want to
know the rules and get them right. But there's so
much other information that a broadcaster needs to know. An
officiating analyst, that's their specialty, that's their rule book, and
there's so many unusual rules in any rule book that
(17:04):
nobody knows about except people who are professional officiate professional officials,
that that is their role to know in case an unusual,
rare situation comes up that only someone who is a
professional officiate official would know.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Football is tough, Basketball is tough. I think baseball is
more long along the lines of golf. It either is
or it isn't. And maybe in a lot of cases
of what the actual rule is. What did you say, Sam,
You said tennis in my ear.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I'm sorry, I just say tennis is something like it's
over the liner. It's not like I know you guys
are talking about different things here.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Yeah, that's in or out, you know sort of thing.
But yeah, the actual like imflemation of of the rules.
You know, the golf rule book is you know, section six,
you know, to a blah blah blah, and there's there's
a lot to it, so you need someone there and
it aids to it. But football is football is a
tough one. I know we only have half a second here,
but I will ask you really quick. I have long
(17:57):
believed that, especially we're talking about college FOOTB games specifically,
if you're gonna send Trinidad Chambliss, Keywon Lacy, whoever up
to the podium to talk after a loss, the referee
should be available to the general public.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Do you agree with that or not? Like a referee
should have to take the podium and if there are
questions should have to answer them.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I don't think they should be protected. Yeah, I think
like in the NFL they aren't. You can request to
speak with that, you know, with a pool reporter and
have that sort of clarity. So I think in a way, yes,
I just wouldn't want to sit through any refereeing press conferences. No,
I understand. Yeah, that's just like all right, you can
go Torres, you can go cover that see if it
was holding in the second quarter or not, because you
(18:37):
know they you know it would you know.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Right, It's like Major League Baseball. It's like it's nice
to have the manager available. Even though out of one
hundred and sixty two games, there's maybe like six that
you actually need something noteworthy after a game, but it's
still good to have them there when you need them.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
It's good to have Jared Smith with us. He's gonna
come up next, give us a preview of the NFL
wild Card weekend, and even a look at tonight's Oregon
Indiana game. Of course, Jared co host of Countdown to Kickoff,
presented by Bett MGM every Saturday morning. Jared's gonna join
us next. He's erin Torres. I'm Dan Byer, That's Isaac Lowincrown,
Jason Stewart and Iowa Sam.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
App Fox Sports Radio. I'm Dan Byer, He's erin Torres.
Jason Stewart, Iowa Sam, Isaac Low and Crown hanging out
with us on this Friday for over forty years. Tyrak
has been helping customers found the right tires for how,
what and where they drive. Ship Fast and free back
by free Road has a protection with convenient installation options
like mobile tire installation tyraq dot com The way tire
(19:40):
buying should be. Am I wrong about Bill Lamanier? Like
he feels like that old teacher when you were in
middle school or junior high that you just just couldn't
relate to and was just always a grouch and a crab. Anybody,
anybody else get that sense? I? Yes, Isaac does.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Until he took that victory lap, I was like, but
it was such a definitive this is how it's gonna
go down.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
And then it didn't.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
It was off the bleachers, Get off the bleachers? Yes,
yes Hm. Jared Smith joining us now. Countdown to Kickoff
presented by Bett mgm every Saturday morning here on Fox
Sports Radio. He's the co host alongside Brian Noen Rich Ornberger,
airing between nine o'clock Eastern Time going up until noon Eastern.
(20:24):
You can listen well I haven't any of our Fox
Sports Radio a Philates or the iHeartRadio app again, all
presented by Bett mgm. Do you get that sense with
Bill Lamannier, the ESPN rules official, just that cranky teacher
that you had back in the day that just never
saw your side of things.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
Nobody really knows what any call is anymore. I think
when I watch these games. For example, I watched the
play the last play of the game last night, which
I didn't classify as a hell mary from the thirty
five yard line, Like, I think that was a little
bit closer than that. It looked like p I to me,
And I know you swallow the whistle on that situation.
I get it. But if that play happens in the
(20:59):
first quarter, they call PI, like, I think that's the
bar that I kind of set. So I don't think
anyone really knows what any penalties are anymore. In the
NFL and in college. I've been on this soapbox for
the last couple of months. I think we need to
make every penalty reviewable by the replay assist. I'm not
saying we have to stop the game and replay it,
but I think if it's a blatant error, I think
(21:20):
the replay the eye and the sky should correct it.
And I think that's kind of the vibe I get
because officiating in college and the NFL has never it's
in an all time.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Get ready for those five and a half hour football games,
Jared Smith, I mean, geez, I didn't even get to
the pass interference Aaron and I disagree. I thought it was.
I thought that your point was my point as well.
It was at the thirty five. Wasn't necessarily a hail
mary situation. Also, it's not the NFL. The ball doesn't
get placed at the one. It would have been a
fifteen yard penalty, and there still would have been an
(21:49):
opportunity for Miami to really have an opportunity to defend that.
But pass interference calls or non calls in Miami a
thing when it comes to college football postseason. Let's get
some Tonight's game Oregon Indiana rematch of the Big Ten
regular season matchup that they had in October. Whose side
(22:10):
are you on tonight in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta?
Speaker 6 (22:13):
Well, market wise, right, this thing's been sitting three and
a half pretty much all week. And of course, if
you're into the gambling sphere, you know that three is
a very important number in football. It's called a key number.
In college it lands about ten percent of the time,
so on or off that number is very important. You
saw a lot of people betting Indiana this week at
three and a half didn't care that, you know, the
(22:34):
hook is, as we call it, was on that key number.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Well, there are.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
Some pretty significant wagers happening today on Oregon. Some sharp
betters in town really really like the Ducks at plus
three and a half. So now we're seeing it go
on to that key number of three at three. I
like Indiana, and I think it's just a matter of
I think optics matters. Like Indiana clearly is the best
team in college Fooball right, Now, does that mean they're
gonna win tonight? No, but they are a worthy favorite,
(23:02):
and I think when you look at their offense, it's
it's a lot of simplicity with their run game. They
actually had their lowest rushing game of the season in
the first matchup against Organ, just three point three yards
per carry, and they had zero runs of fifteen or
more yards. I do like Dan Lannings defense. They are
built from from the bottom up. The two big tackles
Alexander and Washington. They really won that battle in the
(23:23):
first matchup. The linebackers are good at the second level betcher,
Mixon and Jackson did a good job kind of cleaning
things up. I think those two middleman Alexander and Washington
are gonna be key tonight. Mendoza didn't play well in
the first matchup. It was the second worst passing great
of the year. Oregon really got pressure on Mendoza and
on the other side, there was even more pressure on
Dante More almost a fifty percent pressure rate for him.
(23:45):
So both quarterbacks struggled. Both run games struggled. I think
Indiana made a few more plays than Oregon did. But
I'll be honest when I when I look at this game,
it definitely feels like a toss up, and once we
get the value onto that key number of three, I
think that's where I feel comfortable laying the points with
the Hoosiers before we.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Get to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Just one more college football question, you know, Dan and
I opened this show like so many did today, about
you know, downfalls. Maybe a little bit of a heavy word,
but the SEC clearly is not what it used to
be in terms of results, and I was just curious
if you had any kind of metrics or data from
the betting world, whether it's you know, how you rank.
I'm blanking on the right word the verbiage here, but basically,
(24:27):
do you have like empirical data in what you do
that shows that the SEC isn't what it was even.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
Three four years ago. It's a great question, Aaron. I
think ratings wise, yes, I think the SEC dominance is
starting to be tapered a little bit. For example, last year,
Organ was the best team in the country all year
long and then they got exposed by another Big ten team.
But in terms of the power ratings, I don't think
(24:53):
you're seeing as many SEC teams in that elite tier.
And then they get these cross pollination matchups in the
bowl games and they were terrible. I mean it was
absolutely awful. I think I tweeted out last night the
only SEC postseason wins against non SEC teams were all
miss over Tulane and Texas over Michigan, who didn't have
a head coach. And obviously they're going through a lot
right now with their program. The SEC finished two and
(25:14):
eight straight up and against the spread, so sometimes right
they're winning games but not covering well. They weren't winning
or covering one and three in the CFP against non
SEC teams so I think you can absolutely make the
case that NIL. Right, it used to be the rural
gas stations out and you know in you know, Alabama,
Mississippi would be you know, spending all this money for
these players, and that was the only way to pay players. Well,
(25:36):
now you can pay players in many different ways, and
I think you're starting to see the diversity of funds
really have an impact on the overall landscape of college football.
I mean, go back and just look at who's played
in the National Championship game over the last I don't
know decade. I mean it's it's Michigan, it's Washington, it's
Ohio State. You get Oregon and Indiana in the championship,
(25:58):
you know, semi final tonight, you have you have Notre Dame.
So it's just I think it's starting to spread out
in terms of it's not going to be all SEC
dominance from here on out. I think the NIL and
the portal is really a level the playing field.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
All right, let's switch gears with Jared Smith. He's Aaron Torres.
I'm Dan Byer to the National Football League. You guys
will be previewing a wild card weekend with two games
coming up on Saturday. I want to start with the
nightcap in Chicago. Packers one and a half point favorite
over the Bears in their NFC Wildcard showdown. Always will
be a chilly night in Chicago. But why is Green
(26:33):
Bay favored in this matchup between NFC North rivals.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
I'll be honest, I don't know, Dan, I mean, I
do know.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
It's the VOA.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
It's you know, all these metrics that they look at
that cook up these ratings that makes green Bay a
you know, for you to be a road favorite, usually
you get at least one or two points for being
at home, and green Bay being a favorite in the
game means they are at least three points better than
(27:04):
Chicago on a neutral field. I don't know if I
agree with that. And first of all, green Bay is
missing their best pass rusher, and I think their defense
has definitely taken a little bit of a step back
without Michael Parsons. Secondly, at what point do we ignore
some of the metrics and we say Chicago is just
really good at winning close games. They've done it all year,
(27:26):
and I think a lot of that's coaching, a lot
of that's mental toughness. Those are things that can't be
baked into a number that can't be accounted for on
a spreadsheet. These are intangibles, and then you throw in
the momentum factor. Green Bay's lost four games in a row.
That's only happened once in the last twenty five years
a team entering the playoffs on a four game losing streak.
(27:46):
It was last year. It was the Steelers, and then
they got beat by two touchdowns by the Ravens in
the wildcard round. So I think it's pretty disrespectful that
Chicago is playing a divisional opponent in a division they won,
and they're a home underdog in the playoffs. And again,
I know why it's happening, but it's really remarkable.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
This is where I come from, the the just the
average fan, average Joe's scenario is, I remember what happened
with Bears Packers in Soldier Field. I remember what happened
at lambeau Field. Those are two very close games, but
I mean, the Packers go in and almost upset Chicago,
but they don't get an on side kick, and the
Bears score and end up rallying and get the win.
(28:29):
Like I remember all of that. I just feel like
Las Vegas was smarter than me, you know what I mean,
Like I saw green Bay. Yeah yeah, and that's what
we always hear, yes, yes, And so I thought it
would be like, Okay, this is how it's going to
play out. But Vegas still is saying that it's it's
green Bay. And that's what kind of you know, just
caught me by surprises. I just think most of us
(28:51):
Joe's would think, like, all right, even though they lost,
they were tight games, it's gonna be the Bears in
the playoffs. But that wasn't the case.
Speaker 6 (28:58):
There's no doubt that the sharper side is, but that
doesn't mean the sharper side always wins. So and here's
another reason why I think Green Bay is getting some love.
There's a trend out there that's a very popular trend.
It's very profitable trend. Right, quarterbacks that have playoff experience
playing a wildcard game because it has to be wildcard
game unless I guess the team is in the number
one seed in the divisional round against a quarterback making
(29:20):
his playoff debut. So the quarterbacks that are making their
playoff debut are covering at around thirty four percent twenty
wins thirty nine losses in one push against the spread
and twenty and forty straight up. So out of sixty
games where the playoff debutante has gone up against a
playoff veteran in terms of quarterbacking, only twenty straight up wins.
(29:44):
So obviously, with this game being a pick on it,
it's not going to really come down to the spread.
Most likely it's going to be whoever wins the game
will obviously cover. And that's why I think Green Bay's
getting some love. But again I don't know how much
I buy that, because it just I think Chicago you
have to at some point them credit for winning these games,
and those are things that maybe aren't fully baked into
the number. So I'm on the Bears. I'll go down
(30:07):
with the Caleb Williams ship and the Ben Johnson ship.
If Jordan Love comes in there and smacks them around,
I'll tip my cat. But if you're giving me any
value as an underdog for a divisional winner facing a
divisional opponent at home in the playoffs, I can't not take.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
That very quickly.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
I'll ask you about another one and a half point
home favorite, at least according to the book that I'm
looking at, or road favorite. I think as at home favorite,
road favorite Buffalo Bills. We know what's at stake for them.
We know, frankly, what's its sake for everybody in that
building from Sean mcdermotton down. How do you see this
one playing out?
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Yeah, this is a toss up game for sure. I mean,
the Jacks are arguably the hottest, hottest team in the NFL,
eight to zero straight up and against the spread over
their last eight.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
The Bills.
Speaker 6 (30:48):
We've seen this before with Buffalo in the postseason. These
games typically go over. In fact, of the last ten
playoff games for the Bills, eight of them have gone
over the total, and in seven of those ten, Buffalo
scored at least twenty seven points. It's fair to say
the Bills defense is maybe a little bit unlucky this year.
I know they've been a downtrodden unit. But again, peeling
(31:09):
back to curtain for how I analyze games, Buffalo is
a top five pressure eighteen, but just eighteenth in quarterback
sack percentage. What does that mean? They're generating pressure, they're
just not finishing the deal. And sometimes you know, the
sacks can be a little bit fluky sometimes where you
generate the pressure but you don't necessarily get home. You
still impact the quarterback, and Buffalo I think has done
a better job than maybe some of the numbers reflect
(31:30):
impacting the quarterback this year. Joey Bosen needs to be
really good in this game. He got some full practice
in this week. That's a good sign. And Trevor Lawrence, Right,
you go from twelfth in EPA to twenty third when
pressured this year. So when he's kept clean, he's a
top ten, top fifteen quarterback. When he's not well now
he's a bottom ten quarterback. So the Buffalo run game
I think will be key here. We've seen the Jags
give up some big quarterback run games, right, gave up
(31:52):
sixty to Mahomes on Monday Night Football. They gave up
forty to Bryce Young earlier this year, even gave up
thirty nine to Brady Cook a few weeks ago. So
if Josh Allen's foot is healthy, the high leverage games,
Aaron is where I see the quarterback run game becoming
more of a factor. I would say Trevor Lawrence is
in that category as well. Both of those quarterbacks, they're big,
they're strong the game. Obviously, both teams need it like
(32:13):
blood I would say quarterback run game would be my
first prop. Angle both quarterbacks over their rushing yards and
rushing attempts prop, and then I think this is going
to be a higher scoring back and forth game.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
He's Jared Smith, our Fox Sports Radio betting analysts and
co host of Fox Sports Radio's Countown to Kickoff with
Rich Hornberger and Brian know Airs each Saturday between nine
in noon Eastern Time. Listen live on any of our
Fox Sports Radio affiliates or on the iHeartRadio app. It's
all presented by Bett MGM. Jared always appreciate the knowledge.
Can't wait to listen tomorrow morning. Thanks man, good stuff, guys,
(32:45):
good luck this weekend.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
He's Ered Torres. I'm Dan by our Fox Sports Radio
De Costa into the weekend the Commasara Iowa, Sam Isaac
Lohncron and Jason Stewart Love a little Falco got more
hits than you would believe. Rip to Falco. The Miami
Dolphins have hired a general manager coming in the form
(33:18):
of Green Bay Packers executive John Eric Sullivan. Two things
at play here. First of all, let's get to something
that was pointed out by Peter Schrager of ESPN. When
you're looking at connections, and you're looking at teams filling
the GM roles, and there are two of them, the
Dolphins and the Falcons. If one GM comes from one team,
(33:39):
guess what he may bring along somebody from that same team.
Joe Shane and Brian Dable package deal when they came
from Buffalo to the New York Giants. Dolphins probably hoping
for more success than what the Giants had, but could
be a spot for Jeff Haffley, the Packers defensive coordinator.
But it's also interesting because it felt like the Dolphins
were maybe firing Mike McDaniel so they could get a
(34:00):
shot at John Harbaugh and Tony Grossi on ESPN Cleveland
earlier today said that Harbaugh wanted to pick his own
general manager or bring in his own GM. We had
asked Mark Dominic about that, said, maybe that's not necessarily
the exact black and white situation that if you run
a few names by Harball he may be good with.
But interesting that the Dolphins who have worked for months
(34:23):
in trying to find a new GM find one from
Green Bay where one of their assistants could be a
head coach. I don't know if that signals that Harbaugh
is in or out, but I just find it unique
considering the timing of the McDaniel firing this week, which
came after the Harball firing, which wasn't alongside the other
ones that came Monday. Yeah, you know, I don't surprise prize.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
I don't have any inside information in this, but you
start putting the puzzle pieces together. It's also worth noting
we had Mark Dominic on the show in our one,
and he seemed to indicate that he believes it could
very much be in play. Steven Ross, of course, has
a relationship with the Harbaugh family, tried to hire Jim
multiple times. He's a Michigan guy, so it gets interesting,
and this John Eric Sullivan twist certainly adds to it.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
And I know that John and Eric Sullivan's twist is
also intriguing to Jason Stewart because of the hyphenated first name.
This caught you a little off guard, Jay stew.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
That's a weird one.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
John Eric.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
You don't find a lot of hyphenated first names. And
I'm just wondering if his nickname like behind his back
is generic. It's he and looking at his pictures a
very generic guy too, it would probably be the case.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Here's here's where I thought it was interesting. John j
O N but Eric E er I C so Eric
most of the times spelt with the C. John though
most of the time spelt spelled with an H. So
drop the H but kept the C. Wasn't an Eric
with a K, which I thought maybe like John, Eric
(35:53):
would then be like, well, of course he's from Finland,
you alrighty sees from Norway like it's very Scandinavian, but
it is. It is does take some getting used to.
Like even Carl Anthony consons. The only one I could
think of, Yeah where I it says Town's on the
back and that should tell you everything was Shay Gilgess Alexander.
We see the gildess Alexander, but I forget that his
(36:16):
name is Carl Anthony and that his last name isn't
Anthony Towns. Oh, yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
No, it took me a while to get the hyphenated
first name. That's the only other one I can think
of Also, yeah, John John Eric Sullivan is not from Finland, Columbia,
South Carolina. Could it be further from Finland?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
If it was, if there was a K, I would
have thought maybe the Scandinavian. Maybe maybe not well, Hed.
Speaker 5 (36:40):
Put an h at the end of eric like take
the from the John put it at the end of Erica.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
The only one, the only other instance I could think
it was Anne Margaret just typhoning.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Okay, yeah, I how about this, like how plain names
do you hyphenite? This would be like this is Bill
Dave Johnson, right, like like Bill Dave Mark Tom all right,
I guess was it was it Mark Paul Gossler. That'd
be kind of along the same lines. Yeah, that's probably
the movie equivalent of John Eric Sullivan. He's eron Torres.
(37:10):
Listen to him Sunday, Listen to Saturday. Listen to me
Sunday on Fox
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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