8/28/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Covers the Bengals like ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
That's us. Good afternoon on Mollif this is ESD at
thirteen thirty, Thank you for listening. Hope you're having an
awesome Thursday afternoon.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Where I am, it is gorgeous in the home Broadcast
booth at Arrowhead Stadium where tonight Dan Horde and Jim
Kelly will broadcast the UC Nebraska game Tony Pike on
the sideline. That game is on seven hundred WLW tonight.
The last time I was in this stadium, I was
pretty much sitting opposite of where I am right now,

(00:39):
in the second to last row of I don't know
the section above the thirty yard line to my left,
and that is the coldest I have ever been in
my life. Today is like the exact opposite. It is
going to be a perfect night for football here in
Kansas City. Right now, the temperature is eighty degrees. There
ain't a cloud in the sky, and I've been asked

(00:59):
this question a lot over the last I don't know
eight months mo W and UC plays in Kansas City
against Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Since this was supposed to be.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
A game that originally was going to be played at
Knippert Stadium and then it was moved to Indianapolis. Is
the Seapaul logo going to be on midfield? I am
literally on the fifty yard line right now. I've tweeted
out a photo. The Arrowhead Stadium is empty, The parking
lots are for the most part empty. Tailgating hasn't started yet.

(01:34):
Kickoff is still six hours away. The Seapaul logo is
not at midfield. In fact, I didn't know until like
two days ago that this game is being called the
Battle Sports Classic. So there's a Battlesports Classic logo at midfield.
There is Cincinnati in the end zone to my left,
there's Nebraska in the end zone to my right, and

(01:55):
there's two big twelve logos on the field. There's also
two Battle logos on the field. So I've gotten this question.
I've gotten this question. I got here to Arrowhead Stadium
at what have been like what would have been like
one fifteen back in Cincinnati. Obviously we're on Central Time,
and I've had four people text me, is the Seapaul
logo at midfield?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
No, it's the.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Battlesports Classic logo. Roddy Jones is calling tonight's game for ESPN.
He is going to join us coming up in just
about ten minutes. Full show preview is available on Twitter
at moeger. It's a service of Emory Federal Credit Union,
your credit union with heart since nineteen thirty nine. Go
to EMORYFCU dot org. There is a lot to get

(02:38):
to today. Obviously, the last remaining heir of the Reds balloon,
it felt like, came out last night. We will spend
some time on what happened in Los Angeles and where
things stand right now. I am skeptical for the first
time all season long that this team is going to
finish with a win record. And maybe that matters, and

(03:02):
maybe that doesn't. Maybe there's no major difference in your
mind between the Reds winning. I don't know, seventy eight
games or eighty one games or eighty two games. I'm
with you, like, if you don't make the postseason, who cares?
We will get to that. Some Bengal stuff to discuss.
I didn't have a chance yesterday to be on the air.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
I was traveling here. Didn't have a chance yesterday to
be on the air.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
When the Bengals signed Dalton Reisener, not that anybody needed
my two cents, but I'll throw it in anyway. It
did feel like to me on social media, like optimism
for the Bengals in twenty twenty five kicked into hyper
drive when we found out the Bengals have signed Dalton Reisner.
We'll get to that a little bit later on Tony
Pike's gonna join us later on this hour the game tonight,

(03:43):
Chad and I were just discussing. It's a similar theme.
It is a golden opportunity for the UC Bearcats to
send a message and send a message you could talk
about nationally, I focus a little bit more so locally.
It's a chance to send a message that, all right,
this program's about to experience a turnaround, and one game

(04:04):
does not a season make, especially in this era of
college football, and you know they still have to get
through the Big twelve. But let's be honest, people's attention
spans are really short. A lot of folks are going
to give you one chance to make an impression. I
think you'll have a lot of people paying attention to
U see football tonight that maybe checked out early last
season or didn't even pay attention last season that I

(04:26):
think will give the Bearcats a chance tonight to show
who they are, to show what they're made of, and
to prove that not only can this season be a
successful one, but that the program under Scott Saderfield in
year three is moving in the right direction. That doesn't
mean that if you see loses tonight they can't have
a good season. Nobody would say that. But let's be honest, man,

(04:47):
this is a little bit of a different animal. This
is going to be played in a very, very partial crowd.
I did see some UC fans last night, but it's
going to be a very pro Nebraska crowd. The Kansas
City Royals tomorrow night next door having Nebraska Night, inviting
people to stick around for the weekend series they have
at Kaufman Stadium. It's a Big ten opponent, it's a

(05:11):
name brand opponent. It's also an opponent that's not awesome. Now,
Nebraska may end up having a great year. Matt Ruhle
in college football his third season, there tends to be
a massive jump in wins. That happened at Temple, it
happened at Baylor. The folks in Lincoln and elsewhere are
expecting it to have with the corn Huskers.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
This season.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
But in the Big Ten they're not a power, right.
It's been a long time since Nebraska was really nationally relevant.
This isn't uc playing at Michigan early in the twenty
seventeen season. This isn't the Bearcats playing the Buckeyes in
Columbus early in the twenty nineteen season, games that you
knew they essentially have no chance of winning. They've got
a shot tonight. Can they take advantage from a matchup perspective?

(05:57):
I guess some of the things I wonder tonight. Can
the Bearcats have the better quarterback this evening? They don't
have the more well known quarterback, but can they have
the better quarterback this evening? By everybody's account and including mine,
not at practice every single day like people like Chad
Brendall and Scott Springer and others. But Brendan Sorosby has
had a really good camp. He's physically remade his body.

(06:19):
He's got some athletes to throw to. What I want
to know is does the Brendan Soresby from the Texas
Tech Game last year show up? Or does the Brendan
Soorsby who felt gun shy last year's show up? And
can the Bearcat's track stars on the outside actually make
football plays. Can Joe Royer be the best player on
the field. We talk often about like he's an NFL
tight end, and at times you saw why. Last season,

(06:41):
there were also times where it felt like he just
kind of disappeared from the offense, and that's through no
fault of his own. I think if there's a question
mark in terms of position groups, it's secondary and I
think for UC specifically, corner UC's corners are gonna get
tested tonight. Number one. Can the guys who start pass
those tests? Number two, I think there's a lot of folks,

(07:03):
myself included, who are worried about cornerback depth. Does that
depth get tested tonight? Do the Bearcats pass it? There's
a lot to get to with this game this evening.
You'll hear it tonight on seven hundred WLW from Arrowhead
Stadium v Battle Sports Classic. We have a lot to
get to between now and six o'clock. We're gonna break
a few minutes early because Roddy Jones told us he

(07:24):
can do three fifteen. He's calling the game tonight for ESPN.
And when Roddy Jones says I can do three fifteen.
You break early so you could talk with him at
three fifteen. He'll join us next at three fifteen on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (07:38):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (07:46):
Trust the same team for your care that keeps the
UC Bearcats on the field. Count on U see Health
Orthopedics and sports Medicine no matter the injury, visit you
seehealth dot com. He's found two seventy five. It is
an exit on the off ramp two Dixie Highway. A
five minute delay frontback from Erlanger on northbound seventy five.

(08:06):
Another accident, this one off on the right shoulder after
Paddock Road, and one more crash on Mitchell Over at
seventy five. I'm at Ezelk with traffic.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
Three o'clock on ESPN fifteen to thirty.

Speaker 6 (08:17):
I'm Lager.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Thank you so much for listening.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Tonight's golden opportunity for the UC Bearcats opening up the
season in Kansas City against Nebraska. You can listen to
the game on seven hundred WLW, the game on ESPN,
and on the call the all time Georgia Tech great
Roddy Jones joins us. He's a color analyst for ESPN
college football. Doesn't get a chance to call a lot

(08:42):
of Big Ten football games, but he gets a chance
to call the corn Huskers and Bearcats.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Now I read today they're growing up. You were actually
a little bit of a corn Huskers fan.

Speaker 7 (08:52):
Yeah, so I appreciate you having me.

Speaker 8 (08:54):
I would not say I was a Cornhuskers fan, but
like Nebraska was my favorite team to play with on
the MTAA video game, it was Eric Crouch sort of
had my imagination. I root it for whoever was good.
So it was Florida State, it was Florida State, it
was when it was Nebraska, it was Nebraska, like when
they were the best teams in the country. Barrett Crouch

(09:15):
was one of my favorite players for sure. So it
wasn't like I was. I was a Nebraska fan growing up.
But with the first year I got the games, the
year Eric Crouch went off, and so yeah, I played
with Nebraska ton and it was a ton of fun
to do running the option with a guy who was
that fast.

Speaker 7 (09:33):
So you know, I think I was a kid. I was.

Speaker 8 (09:36):
I was selling my services of my fandom to the
highest bidder. And now it's bitter was whoever it was,
winning national championships.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
I can I can relate to that. Well, we'll talk
about the corn Huskers here in a second, with both teams.
And it doesn't matter which Week one game you're calling.
In this day and age, there's more unknowns than ever before.
What are you looking forward to finding out about the
Bearcats tonight?

Speaker 7 (09:58):
I think a number of things people.

Speaker 8 (10:00):
Among them is whether or not this retooled receiving corps
can help out Brendan Soresby.

Speaker 7 (10:06):
I think Brendan Soorsby is incredibly talented, and I think
that he's a guy that, with the right supporting cast,
is some targets that can get open. He can be
one of the.

Speaker 8 (10:16):
Best quarterbacks in the Big in the Big twelve. And
I'm not talking about like best you know, ten quarterbacks.

Speaker 7 (10:21):
I'm talking about that of the league. I'm talking about
like one that's two or three.

Speaker 8 (10:25):
I think he's that talented, and he possesses a skill
set that not many guys in a conference do.

Speaker 7 (10:30):
It certainly is running, but the guy can make every
single throw of the field.

Speaker 8 (10:34):
And it's sort of a cliche shape thing to say,
but the way he rips the ball, he can drop
the ball to the sidelines. I just have really enjoyed
sort of digging into his gam more. I mean, we
saw him last year in Colorado, but being able to
watch sort of a full body of the season, taking
stock at different points in the season, when you have
the full the full the full season in front of

(10:57):
you or behind you to a different perspective. So if
the receivers that they brought in can.

Speaker 7 (11:05):
Be as explosives as they expect him to be, then
I think he could have a big year. So I'm
interested to see Cyrus Allen. I'm interested to see Jeff Caldwell.
I'm interested to see Goodie.

Speaker 8 (11:16):
Because I think those guys are sort of the key
to Cincinnati's offense taking a big step forward.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, there's there's a lot more team speed, I guess
for me, you know, And you mentioned Brendan Sorosby last season. Boy,
the first seven or eight games he was terrific, and
then down the stretch he got a little gun shy.
And I'm I'm sort of curious in what is effectively
going to be a road situation against a big time opponent.
Is there's the capability to make big throws. I think

(11:42):
sometimes last year, there was an unwillingness to throw downfield,
and I'm kind of wondering if that is a thing
of the past, or if in a big situation that
presents itself tonight.

Speaker 8 (11:52):
So I didn't I didn't see a lot of opportunities
to throw down field where guys were open and he's
not pulling the trigger. I just think I think that
what happened with Brendan towards me at the end of
last year is he was having to throw into coverage
so much and not necessarily.

Speaker 7 (12:07):
Like three guys around a guy. But we saw the
game against.

Speaker 8 (12:10):
Colorado, and in that Colorado game and throughout the season,
we had Colorado four times, so we became very familiar
with him, and by that time we'd had him twice
and so you know, going into the game, it's about, Okay,
can you run the ball against heavy boxes when Colorado
has more guys around the line of scrims and you
have to block. And if you can't do that, which
is hard for most teams to do, can you get
open against manda man coverage?

Speaker 7 (12:32):
Because that's what Colorado was going to do. They're going
to stick shylock standers in the middle of the field.
They were going to tell DJ mckinne, who's going to
be in the NFL next.

Speaker 8 (12:39):
Year playing corner, and Travis Hunter, who's in the NFL
now playing whatever he wants to play, and the rest
of that group, Colton Hood and that group to hey,
go go play Manda man against the receivers and we'll
let everybody else stop the run.

Speaker 7 (12:53):
And that game was.

Speaker 8 (12:54):
Sort of a start of everybody challenging Cincinnati to beat
man coverage.

Speaker 7 (13:00):
I mean, they could not do it against Colorado. Travis
Hunter went and covered Joe Royer and erased him from
the game. The receivers on the outside couldn't get open.

Speaker 8 (13:08):
Against Colorado's physical, physicality and length, and you saw that
pop up again again. I always State doesn't play a
lot of man coverage, but West Virginia challenged them. Can
the State challenge them? And TCU certainly challenged them, and
they could not get open. So I think Brandon Soresby
just ran into a scheme issue, a scheme in personnel issue.
They found the scheme that formixed Cincinnati's personnel on the edge,

(13:31):
and he wasn't able to do anything with it because
as a quarterback, you can't throw it to guys that
aren't open.

Speaker 7 (13:37):
So that was sort of more the issue to me
with Soresby. At the end of last year, teams figured out.

Speaker 8 (13:42):
That, hey, look if we just splowed up to stop
the run and we can play man coverage behind, they
can't get open, which is why they there was such
an emphasis on speed in the offseason.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
Roddy joneses with us ESPN has the game tonight, nine o'clock.
Nebraska years rematt rule another season. Dylan Royola. I'm excited
to watch him tonight just because we've you know, he's
so well known for a lot of different things. I
think there were times last year where you you, if
you're a Nebraska fan, you loved what he did. And
there were times last year where he made some decisions

(14:14):
that you were like, you know what, I can't wait
for him to put those behind him. What's the biggest
question for you about the corn Husters tonight?

Speaker 7 (14:22):
The development of Dylan Royola is the is the first one,
and I think there were a couple of things that
sort of played.

Speaker 8 (14:29):
Him last year. One of them is skinatics. I think
that offense had too much stuff in it last year,
Like I don't think I had a true identity. I mean,
they wanted to run a football, but how they wanted
to run a football and what they wanted to do
off of it, and.

Speaker 9 (14:45):
You switching up not necessarily game plans week to week,
but but sort of what they leaned on week to
week was something that that Nebraska is going to streamline
under Dana Holgerson.

Speaker 7 (14:57):
He felt like they had too much offense in and
so they will have less offense.

Speaker 8 (15:00):
It will be a more it will be able to
be a more heath cohesive game plan on a week
two week basis.

Speaker 7 (15:08):
Secondly, he's got to be better with his eyes.

Speaker 8 (15:09):
I thought, you know, the interceptions last year, most of
them were him staring down receivers and.

Speaker 9 (15:15):
People being able to.

Speaker 8 (15:16):
Sort of track under them and pick the ball up.
But they got to protect them better. They weren't had
a great protection team last year.

Speaker 7 (15:21):
That offensive line should be better.

Speaker 8 (15:22):
It's one of the most experienced in the country in
terms of both starts and games played, so that offensive
line should should take a step forward. So that's the
biggest thing. I think the biggest question overall for Nebraska
is defensive line wise. They should feel good about the
lineback and cord. They should feel pretty good about the secondary,
but they had some really good players in the defensive

(15:44):
line that are that they lost in the off season.

Speaker 7 (15:46):
So defensive line is going to be a lot.

Speaker 8 (15:48):
Smaller and have to rely a lot more on movement,
which is interesting because you know, I covered Scot's oudifield
a lot at Louisville, and I covered them an app
state before that. Being from Georgia, you know those games against.

Speaker 7 (15:59):
Yet the Southern. I actually did a game at Stay
Georgia Southern and he was there. So the thing that
can disrupt this offense for Cincinnati if they are heavy
outside or mid zone is penetration. And sometimes when you
get some of these lighter fronts that slant and stunt
a lot, they can current me a bunch of negative plays.

(16:20):
The flip side of that is if you catch them
in the right stunt or the right slant, you can
gash him big time. And so that sort of dynamic
it's going to be interesting because Scott Satafil has a
tolerance for negative plays. It's okay, he understands they're going
to come.

Speaker 8 (16:35):
But the hope is that you get a bead on
when they slant, when they stunt, and you're able to
gash them with some stuff, and Brendan's always these legs
are certainly an equalizer in that as well. So the
Nebraska defensive line is a big question because of how
different they're going to look from what they did a
year ago.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
One morn. I'll let you go defensively. You know, Dante
Corleone is coming off a normal offseason, which was not
the case for the opener last year. They're healthier on
the defensive line, lots of guys back in the linebacker group.
I think if there's one question that a lot of
Bearcats fans have, it's can the secondary hold up, especially
at corner?

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Would you would you echo that?

Speaker 7 (17:14):
Yeah, that's that's a major question.

Speaker 8 (17:17):
I agree, like the defensive line should be really good.

Speaker 7 (17:21):
Type of vite with that.

Speaker 8 (17:23):
Using those three defensive lineman the way he does bigger
bodies certainly helped. And having Jalen Hunt back is a
big one. Micael Coleman too, But but Jalen hunts to
three hundred and fifteen pounds, can play the interior, can
play on the edge like the guys.

Speaker 7 (17:37):
The guy's is a chess piece that not many people have.

Speaker 8 (17:40):
And then I think depth wise and you've got a
guy like Rob Jackson coming off the bench.

Speaker 7 (17:45):
I think that's certainly and ce J m.

Speaker 8 (17:48):
Crace played a ton of ball over the course of
his career at Virginia Tech. This is here in a
ton of games. I think that capt is there. You
mentioned the lineback and corp I'm not going to go
deep into that. With Jack king Jet and Jake Goldey
and Sydney Colvin and Johnason Thompson like they're going to
be fine. There the fact that Logan Wilson is sliding

(18:08):
over to corner.

Speaker 7 (18:10):
From the safety position. He feels like he is a
natural corner, but that is a it's a question.

Speaker 8 (18:19):
We haven't seen it a ton, so that's the question.
Then getting Matthew mcdom over from Coastal Carolina, I think
it's a big get anytime you get a first team
All Sunbelt Conference guy. So the retooled secondary is probably
the biggest question that I have about the Cincinnati defense.
It's almost the opposite of Nebraska's defense, where it's the
defensive line and the secondary. He's got three captains in it.

(18:41):
This is a defense that should be really good in
the front, but the secondary, especially at corner, it's certainly
a big question Mark Roddy.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
Awesome stuff, man, I know you have a broadcast to
get set for. I appreciate the time. We'll let you go.
Thanks so much.

Speaker 7 (18:57):
Yeah, thank you guys for having me have a goe
you got.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
Roddy Jones at Georgia Tech was awesome and does a
nice job for ESPN.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
Good stuff there.

Speaker 3 (19:06):
The game tonight on ESPN, and of course you can
listen to it on seven hundred WLW twenty seven after
three o'clock you see in Nebraska from here at Arrowhead Stadium.
We'll get to the Reds from last night coming up
in the four o'clock hour, and a few thoughts on
what the Bengals have done over the last twenty four hours.
They've made the Dalton Reisner signing official today. We'll spend

(19:27):
some time on that in just a bit. It's Week
one of college football. There's a full slate tonight. We'll
try to make some money on it with our guy
Lee Sterling. Next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (19:45):
UC Bearcats on the field. Count on U see Health
Orthopedics and sports Medicine. No matter the injury, visit you
seehealth dot com East found two seventy five. It is
an accident on the off ramp two Dixie Highway, a
five minute delay frontback from Erlanger on northbound seventy five.

(20:06):
Another accident, this one off on the right shoulder after
Paddock Road, and one more crash on Mitchell Over at
seventy five. I'm at Ezelk with traffic this report huh.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
No one covers the Bengals Like ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's
sports station a night.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
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From their family to yours for life Kelsey chef dot com,
UC and Nebraska tonight from here at Arrowhead Stadium. That
game will kick off at nine PM this evening on
seven hundred w wel w All starts pregame coverage at
a pm. Also tonight, the Miami RedHawks on the road
in Madison to take on Luke Fickles Wisconsin Badgers. The
Bengals made it official they have signed Dalton Reisner. They

(20:52):
also added tackle Javon Foster to the practice squad. He
appeared in four games for the Jags last year. He
was taken in the fourth round of the twenty twenty
four draft. Reds are off heading back to Cincinnati late
last night after getting swept by the Dodgers. They open
up a three game series against the Cardinals tomorrow night.
Cincinnati is currently four and a half games out of

(21:14):
that last wildcard spot. The New York Mets do play
tonight hosting Lee Sterlings Miami Marlins, so Cincinnati can either
fallout to five back, or if the Marlins can help out,
Cincinnati would be four back heading into the weekend. Also tonight,
Florence on the road at Evansville. Lee Sterling joins us
on Thursdays. Paramount sports dot Com makes us some money
on college and pro football. We'll talk pro football next week,

(21:37):
but we've got some college games to discuss le. It's
awesome to have you as always.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
How are you?

Speaker 10 (21:44):
Yeah, I'm good, but my Mimi Marlins not so good. Actually,
I think the only memorabilia I have from them is
an opening game program first game ever nineteen ninety three.
I think I have one of those ice cream little caps,
the plastic caps, and one of the two championships. I
think I have one of their hats. That's it given away.

(22:04):
All the other stuff just can't do it.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
Wow, Well you lea sound like a lot of Reds
fans these days. Unfortunately, we will see. Let's let's start
with let's kind of work a little bit backwards. Let's
let's beget on Sunday right Notre Dame in Miami, the
Fighting Irish a slight two and a half point favorite.

Speaker 10 (22:25):
Yeah, so the weather could be a factor here. Just
found out the forecast could be raining for two days straight.
So you got to pay attention to weather, even in
late August, early September. First time they met since twenty seventeen,
and a lot of people remember that game to top
ten teams here where Mimi won the game forty one day.

(22:45):
It is sold out, It is going to be rocking.
Just found out they're opening up the tailgate area at
eight a m. For the seven to thirty game at
night here. Mimi not going to be explosive here without
cam Ward, but Carson Beck should be fine here.

Speaker 7 (22:59):
He's healthy again. His receivers last year at Georgia.

Speaker 10 (23:02):
Were not good at all, and I just think they're
gonna run the ball more that top five offensive line.
They have a bevy three really good running backs here
and defense which was horrible down the stretch. Mario Christovaal
went out and got Corey Heathersman from Minnesota and he
did a great job with mediocre talent. I think the
Irish is going to be good.

Speaker 7 (23:22):
I like CJ.

Speaker 10 (23:22):
Car their new quarterback, but he has never taken a
snap in college football. Here. Wrong team favored Miami outright
twenty three twenty All.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
Right, let's go to Saturday at noon the defending national
champion Ohio State Buckeye's home favorites against Texas.

Speaker 10 (23:42):
Yeah, and Ohio State was probably the better team last
year one twenty eight to fourteen, but Texas was right there.
They were at the one yard line with less than
four minutes ago, looking to tie the game, and what
is Steves Arkisian do. Puts his quarterback in the spread
and they ended up snapping the ball.

Speaker 7 (24:01):
And running a toss sweep. It loses seven yards.

Speaker 10 (24:04):
Next play he gets hit, fumbles taken back for a touchdown.

Speaker 7 (24:08):
Game set match.

Speaker 10 (24:09):
They also lost their best receiver early in that game
that was a huge loss. Now things have changed. We've
got Ohio State loss seven of the top nine tacklers
from last year. Also, they're going to try to play
this game with Julian saying here he has played limited
snaps and arch Manning, I think he is the real
deal here. And both coordinators are back for Texas Ohio

(24:32):
State new coordinators also, So I know the game's in
the horseshoe, but I think the Texas is the better team.
And also looking for revenge here, we're going to go
another wrong team favorite Texas exact that revenge here.

Speaker 7 (24:46):
Twenty four to twenty wow.

Speaker 3 (24:48):
Lee Sterling Paramount Sports, Paramount sports dot com on Twitter
at Paramount sports takes the Longhorns. All right, I'm in
Kansas City, Lee. The Bearcats six and a half point
dogs on a neutral field that is going to be
not so neutral. With all the Huskers fans here tonight,
can the Bearcats at least keep this close?

Speaker 10 (25:10):
Well, they just did a poll and they found that
Nebraska will have ninety three point six percent of the
fans there.

Speaker 7 (25:15):
So you know, if you win, you're gonna be one.

Speaker 10 (25:20):
Of a few team fans here walking out happy after
this game. Now, I think Cincinnati's fine, but I think
Nebraska's on the way up. Dana Holgerson, the new offensive coordinator,
came in for the last four games last year. What
did he do when he ended up starting at Oklahoma
State as a coordinator? Well, first year took the team
from seventy and yards per game ten number three. His

(25:42):
first year's offensive coordinator at West Virginia led him to
a Big East championship. I just think he's one of
those guys better as a coordinator than a head coach.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Here.

Speaker 10 (25:51):
Nebraska also finally recruiting well top twenty recruiting and also transfers.
Cincinnati just doesn't have the game breakers here on offense.
Need long, methodical drives. That's why they were minus four
and turnovers last year and leads.

Speaker 7 (26:05):
To a lot of penalties.

Speaker 10 (26:06):
Things like that, And Cincinnati just five and fifteen straight
up versus Power Conference team and teams here in Scott
Sadderfield's two seasons here. They need a breakthrough, but not
happening tonight. The right team is favorite, hate to say it,
Nebraska thirty to twenty.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
All right, Lee Sterling, Paramount Sports dot Com. You hear
the disappointment in my voice, lead, but I understand the rationale.
You do one more a game tomorrow. Are in slight
favorite against Baylor.

Speaker 6 (26:36):
They want to get my game of the week.

Speaker 10 (26:37):
Have a real strong opinion on this game under the
radar compared to all the other teams out there. You
want to get this game just called eight hundred, four
hundred and nine seven four one first ten callers get
for free Auburn and Baylor. Huge game for both teams
and both coaches. And you want to hop on board.
We now have a service where you can get player

(26:58):
props college football in the NFL. Well people love to
bet them tire season five ninety seven or our phone
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(27:18):
save one hundred just one place Paramount sports dot com.

Speaker 3 (27:22):
Can't beat a Paramount sports dot com. Follow Lee on
Twitter at Paramount Sports. Awesome to have you can't wait
to talk to some NFL next week. Lee, Thanks so much.

Speaker 7 (27:33):
Thanks both, Take care be safe.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
Check out Paramount sports dot com. Lee picking the corn
Huskers and the Longhorns nineteen away from four o'clock ESPN
fifteen thirty. Next hour, Chad Brendle on the Bearcats, and
our guy, Dan Klaskins is gonna help us with our
fantasy football. You shouldn't have drafted already, so hopefully you haven't,
and then you'll be with us when Dan gives us

(27:57):
some fantasy football advice. Little bit after a four thirty,
nineteen away from four o'clock, try to squeeze a phone
CALLAR two in his well five one three seven, four
nine fifteen thirty and eight six six seven oh two
three seven seven six. Tony Pike just walked into the
broadcast booth and so we'll have his season preview report
next on ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati Sports Station, Cincinnati's ESPN

(28:22):
fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (28:27):
UC Bearcats on the field. Count on you see Health
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, no matter the injury visit U
seehealth dot com. Northbound seventy five after Paddock, the right
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(28:47):
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Speaker 1 (28:55):
He's a season preview report brought for you by Kemba
Credit Union on your official home of the Cincinnati Bengals,
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
It is fourteen away from four o'clock. This is ESPN
fifteen to thirty. Joining me here at Arrowhead Stadium. He'll
be on the sideline tonight on the UC broadcast on
seven hundred WLW for a season preview report the Hall
of Famer Tony Pike.

Speaker 11 (29:22):
Hi, Tony, Wow, how are you doing?

Speaker 5 (29:24):
Mo?

Speaker 11 (29:24):
This is fantastic. What a setting we're at here today.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
It is gorgeous day. This stadium. I know in Cincinnati
we don't want to admit this. The stadium I think
is pretty cool.

Speaker 11 (29:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (29:35):
The noise that comes from this stadium, and when you
see it's kind of unique because there's not like an
overhang that you think to like funnel noise in. It
is just a huge concrete parking lot in two stadiums.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
So we're going to preview some seasons. I went plural.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
I think today's day we could talk about the Bearcat
season even better. What is your biggest question?

Speaker 12 (29:54):
Secondary? In particular, I think the corner, because you know
it's odd. There's a lot lot of similarities with the Bengals,
and U see that. I like offensively, Brendan Sorsby. Your
quarterback is back. You've got two running backs on the
dok Walker Award watch list. You've got a tight end
who broke Travis Kelce's receptions record last year. He comes back.

(30:15):
I think they've done a good job on the offensive line,
and because of injuries last year, MO I thought a
lot of guys had to play on the defensive line,
and now you've got guys healthy. Dante Corleone's had a
full offseason. I like him up front. It's a unique defense,
but the secondary, especially corner, still gives me a little concern.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
What I'm looking forward to tonight is to see how
they use Joe Royer, because we can make a big
deal about well, they have more athleticism on the outside,
bigger playmaking ability. They're going to be able to challenge
teams downfield. All that's well and good. There's nobody out
wide receiver who's caught more than twenty five passes at
the FBS level. Joe Royer broke the school single season
record for catches by a tight end, which at this

(30:55):
school is saying something. Yet at times last year you
and I both felt like either he disappear or they
just kind of ignored them. I want to see Joe
Royer be the best player in the field tonight.

Speaker 7 (31:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (31:05):
I don't think you can go into games and say, Okay,
they're gonna double team Joe Royer, so we've got to
go elsewhere. And I do think they have the ability
with their running game and the wide receivers that are
here now to do that. But you can't let a
defense dictate to you. You know what you're going to
be doing with one of your better players. Everything starts
and stops with Royer. What they can do in the
quarterback run game, what they can do in the run game,

(31:26):
the shots they can take over the top. You've got
to make him a focal point early and from a
quarterbacks perspective, if you get those those tight end completions,
those easy completions early, you just it's like a basketball
player that sees a free throw going, You just start
to feel better about things and your confidence starts growing.
I would like to find him early and often. I
would target him easily over ten times.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
I would agree.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
And if they if they make him a priority, and
he should always be a priority, but if they make
him a priority and the dudes on the outside are
as good as everybody else seems to think, than I
think this offense can take off. I still and look,
there might have been good reasons for it. I still
want to see which Brendan Sorosby shows up. I think
he's remade himself a little bit physically. I know he's

(32:11):
had a good fall camp. I think he has more
guys to throw to. I saw at the end of
the season last year, and there might have been good
reason for it. I saw a gun shy quarterback in
this atmosphere against this opponent.

Speaker 2 (32:22):
Our guy can't be gun shy.

Speaker 11 (32:23):
Yeah, you can't be that tonight. You've literally got to
let it fly.

Speaker 12 (32:26):
I'm with you, though, Like physically seeing Sowersby, he looks
much much more physical, like he's put on the weight.
He's put on the muscle. He's got a better compliment
of weapons all round him. He just has to put
it together. In so much of the position. Like I
said before, it's about the confidence that you have as
a quarterback, getting him some early completions, getting him into
a rhythm early. And I would let him use his

(32:47):
legs early as well, because it much to like Joe
Burrow wanting to play in the preseason.

Speaker 11 (32:51):
You don't get that in college.

Speaker 12 (32:52):
So let him get hit early, let him, let him
feel like he's he's in the heart of the game,
and then build from there with soresby.

Speaker 2 (32:58):
Well, everybody talks about the co owners.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
You know, in this day and age of college football,
you're just looking for where there's continuity anywhere, and there
is on the defense. There is a linebacker, there is
to a degree on the defensive line, especially when you
consider that Dante Corleone is coming off a normal offseason.

Speaker 12 (33:14):
I would say the word continuity it rings true, but
also in today's day and age of football, it's rare.
I mean, it's very rare that you get a core
nucleus back of top end players that played meaningful snaps
for this team last year. Because normally in today's world.
If that happens, some of those guys are going to
go elsewhere. They're going to get more money somewhere, They're
going to go to the NFL. It's a rare roster

(33:36):
construction in today's football, and you have to take advantage
of it.

Speaker 11 (33:39):
If you're the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
Let's us switch gears.

Speaker 3 (33:42):
Yesterday, while we were getting set to take off for
Kansas City, we saw that the Bengals made it official.
The hunt for Dalton Riisner ends up with him in Cincinnati.
And it feels to me, Tony, and I said this
to you yesterday, like I look at social media and
an off season that has kind of been defined by, gee,
you know, feeling underwhelmed about what the Bengals did in

(34:03):
free agency, all the concerns about the offensive line, all
the concerns about the defense. Suddenly all that went away
and this surge of optimism permeated through the fan base.
Was that surge of optimism justified based on Dalton Reisner?

Speaker 12 (34:16):
Well, if you think Minnesota last year, Cincinnati now Canton
would be the next stop based on everything I read yesterday, No,
it is. I think I equate this to the same
way we talked when Noah Fan became a Cincinnati Bengal,
when that news broke yesterday, where the Bengals better than
they were before? And I think yes, if you look
at just the sheer numbers out of pass protection, he

(34:38):
doesn't give up sacks.

Speaker 11 (34:39):
That's what he's best at.

Speaker 12 (34:41):
That's our biggest concern in Cincinnati is protecting Joe Burrow.
So if you go based on what he's done in
his career, then you would say, Okay, that's a upgrade
for this offensive line.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
Would you start in Week one?

Speaker 11 (34:53):
Absolutely?

Speaker 12 (34:54):
I've only because of what I've seen from Lucas Patrick
up to this point.

Speaker 11 (34:58):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 12 (34:58):
I've seen I've I've seen him get beat with moves.
I've seen him get bull rushed, I've seen him get
beat with speed. I saw Chris Jenkins throw him eight
yards back down the field and no offense to Chris Jenkins.
But I know Mason Graham is a very good player.
I know Miles Garrett is one of the best, if
not the best, edge rushers in the game. I'm not

(35:19):
taking any chances I would against Cleveland and what they
possessed defensively and offensively. If you've got to shrink down
some of the protections for him to be more comfortable.
I would rather do that than run the risk of
Lucas Patrick out there.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
Yeah, I would agree, and I would I would assume
that Dalton Reisner can be a quick study.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
He's done this before where he's joined the team.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
Maybe not this late, but the last two contracts he
has signed, he has signed well after mini camp. In
one case, you know, training camp had already pretty much ended.
So this is something he has done before. So with
what they did yesterday, you had a lot of folks
and again this is social media saying well, see, look
they had a great offseason. You assess how would you
describe the Bengals offseason incomplete?

Speaker 12 (36:04):
You know, because I thought about this driving over to
the stadium today in terms of the Bengals and all
the conversations you and I had when the season wrapped
in disappointment last year, because they were so close, and
you looked at all of the the one or two
things that could have happened in each game that could
have gotten you over the hump and been in the playoffs,
and I think everything that we highlighted the day when

(36:27):
the season ended is still a question mark for this team.
Even with Dalton Reisner, I still worry about the offensive line,
even with Al Golden, I still have a significant concern
about a defense that was terrible last year. So it's
incomplete to me because I hope Shamar Stewart's an upgrade.
They just got Trey Hendrickson back, they had Reisner, but
we're still talking about the same questions we had going

(36:48):
into the offseason with the season ending.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Yeah, I am excited.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
Or at least optimistic about nearly every player they have acquired,
both in the in free agency and in the draft.
I just wish there were one or two more of them,
especially in the secondary. Yep, I just I wish defense
is a concern. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's we've
made this comparison before. It's not unlike what we said
about the Reds. You know, we were okay with the
individual additions. We just wish there would have been more

(37:16):
of them. I think the same logic applies.

Speaker 12 (37:18):
Yeah, very very mirrored franchises in the fact that there
are glaring holes that it feels like a lot of
people can see, Yeah, except the people constructing the roster.

Speaker 6 (37:29):
Right.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
Tony Pike back with this at four forty five I'm
just hang here. You're just gonna sit here and hang out.
You got like a bowl of skittles.

Speaker 12 (37:36):
Yeah, there's the only thing they head out so far
as skittles and gummy bears down there.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
Right up my alley.

Speaker 12 (37:41):
So this is art better than you know, three quarters
of the pregame meals that we've seen on the road.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
This is very, very true. By the way, I don't
think anybody and I got here. I got here like
one fifteen Kansas City time. I know nobody in Cincinnati
wants to hear this either. The staff here at this
stadium the friendliest of all time, unbelievable, never more accommodating,
they know, they tell you where to go, just awesome.

Speaker 12 (38:01):
Yeah, could not be nicer getting into this place and
then like you literally park and walk like ten feet
and you're walking right down into the tunnel.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:08):
It's a top notch, first class all the way. All right,
we are broadcasting from Arrowhead Stadium. Tony Pipe back with
me at four forty five, and you'll hear him tonight
on the UC Football broadcast along Dan Horde, Jim Kelly,
and myself. That's at eight o'clock with kickoff at nine
on seven hundred wl W. Chad Brendel joins us every Thursday.
He's gonna be with us at four to twenty, and

(38:30):
our guy Dan Klaskins as well. It's gonna help us
with our fantasy football drafts. He joins us every Thursday.
Brendanman and Jones on baseball coming up as well. Some
thoughts on the Bengals, and you know, last night felt
like the latest. Well that's it as it relates to
the Cincinnati Reds. Unfortunately, I feel like it is. We'll
get to that coming up here in a bit at

(38:50):
Mulegger on Twitter. Thanks to Delta Dental Deltadental building healthy, smart,
vibrant communities for all. Checkout Delta dentalh dot com. It's
coming up on four o'clock. Podcasting from Arrowhead Stadium today
on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports station.

Speaker 7 (39:05):
I have heard in fifteen thirty Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
All right, Jack sas ten minutes after four o'clock. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm Oegger.

Speaker 3 (39:16):
I hope you're having an awesome Thursday afternoon. We are
way above on the ninth floor of Arrowhead Stadium, Cincinnati
and Nebraska kicking off in just about five hours. You'll
hear the game live tonight on seven hundred WLW. I
am in the home broadcast the Bearcats of the home team.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
Now, I started the.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
Show by mentioning this because I've gotten this question a
lot when we found out that this game was going
to be moved from Indianapolis, and obviously the game was
originally scheduled for Knippert Stadium, I must have heard eight
dozen times. Is the Sea Paul going to be at midfield?
I've gotten this question a lot over the last twenty
four hours. I've gotten this question a lot since I

(39:56):
got here early this afternoon and tweeted a photo of
myself arriving at Arrowhead Stadium. No, the Seapaul logo is
not at midfield, and so now we can have a
football game tonight with the Battle Sports Classic I have.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
It's the Battle Sports Kansas City Classic.

Speaker 3 (40:13):
I did not know that that's what this game was
until like yesterday, maybe the day before the battle.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
I don't know what Battle Sports is.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
I don't know if the game is going to be
a classic, but the game tonight is the Battlesports Kansas
City Classic. The Battlesports Kansas City Classic logo is at midfield.
There's Cincinnati in one end zone, Nebraska in the other
end zone. I don't think that's a surprise to anybody.
It looks like it would for a bowl game. So
we have a gorgeous afternoon here in Kansas City, and
it looks like we're gonna have a great night for football.

(40:42):
Pregame coverage on seven hundred WLW starts today o'clock kickoff
at nine pm. Chad Randle joins us every Thursday, and
he's gonna talk about tonight's game with us coming up
in just about fifteen minutes. Tony Pike rejoins us later
on this hour, and we'll talk some fantasy football with
Dan Klaskins slash Dalton Reisner thoughts here in just a

(41:03):
bit last night felt like whatever air was remaining in
the balloon that is the Red season and their postseason
hopes came out. Now, let's be honest, there have been
a handful of times this year where we have done that, right,
We've done the thing where it feels like, all right,
the season's teetering on the brink, or one more loss
and it's over, the season's about to spiral. Down the drain,

(41:24):
but getting swept for the first time this season, losing
three straight in Los Angeles, having the series in Arizona
go the way it went. The deficit now four and
a half games. That is not insurmountable, but it's also
pretty damn significant. The Mets played tonight, and so maybe
the Reds can gain a half game. They have put themselves, though,

(41:44):
in a position for a team that doesn't have a
winning streak longer than five games, they're gonna have to
win a whole lot of games in a very condensed
amount of time. They've got that Mets series next weekend
at GABP, and you know, maybe that's a last chance.
Maybe they sweep that series. I've always looked at that
series as one where if they could go into it ahead,

(42:07):
if they could go into it leading New York, and
then you know, you take two out of three, you
gain a game, you put that in the rearview mirror,
three clicks off the calendar, or if you can sweep it,
you know, perhaps you don't put the final nail in
the Mets coffin, but you put one now. It certainly
is feeling like that series, and I know the Reds have,
you know, two more series before New York comes to

(42:29):
town next weekend, but it feels like that series could
be their last chance at making any noise in the
wild card hunt. The Reds struck out nineteen times last
night the numbers and Noelle Marte did hit a home run,
which was nice because when he swings the back, good
things happened. When he bunts, bad things happen. I don't know,

(42:50):
I don't know if this is a lot. It feels
like a lot. But in the second half of the season,
the Reds have scored three or fewer times. I think
the number is now twenty two times. I had this
in front of me, and amid all my disorganization and
the stuff that I've had in front of me, I

(43:12):
lost the exact number. But in the second half of
the season. Look, it's not like they were a great
offensive team in the first half, but in the second
half of the season, the Reds offensively have had a
whole lot of games where they've only scored three runs
or fewer, including last night. And we could talk about

(43:34):
the starting pitching and how Terry Francona uses the bullpen.

Speaker 2 (43:39):
I've got it here now in.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
Eighteen of the thirty seven games they've played in the
second half of the season, eighteen of thirty seven, so
nearly half they have scored three runs or fewer. There
is a startling lack of pop. They've failed to hit
a home run in twenty one of the thirty seven games.
Hopefully I'm not throwing too many figures at you here,
but in twenty one of their thirty seven games they

(44:04):
have not homered. In eighteen of the thirty seven games
they've played since the break, they've scored three runs are fewer,
so they don't hit a lot of home runs. They
also don't manufacture runs well enough, so you could say,
well they lean into manufacturing runs and speed and high
on base percentage, then they're leaning into something that they

(44:25):
either don't do well or don't have, so like next year,
they got to figure that out, whether it's finding a
whole bunch of dudes who can mash and hit home
runs at a home run friendly park, or find guys
who are better at helping them excel at the style
of play that it feels like they want to play,

(44:45):
which is getting a lot of guys on base, running
bunting at times. If that's what you're in love with
manufacturing runs, hitting doubles, getting guys on base. They don't
have enough guys who can help them be good at that.
I would love to see them find home run hitters
because I like home runs. But you know, you have
nine guys in a batting order. You can get a

(45:06):
combination of players who are good at getting on base
and hitting home runs. And you know what, you can
actually find players who are good at both. So there's
a couple of different things here. Number One, there's Sal
Stewart not being called up yet. Many have speculated that
he's going to be called up this weekend the rosters
expand maybe he on his own isn't good enough without

(45:28):
having ever played in the big leagues to help them
fix their offensive issues. But it is staggering that they
haven't called them up while they have been, you know,
dealing with such a stark.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
Lack of offense.

Speaker 3 (45:42):
And if the answer is, well, they're not sure where
he's gonna play. This is a team that has put
outfielders in the infield, I'm sorry, infielders in the outfield
on multiple occasions. We've had Santiago Espinol playing right field.
We've tried Noel ve Marte in center, and I actually
tend to think Noel ve Marte is going to be
okay right fielder. You have a DH like, really the

(46:04):
big hang up is you're not sure where Sal Stewart
is gonna play. But frankly, the conversation now becomes more
about next season than this year, and it's up to
the Reds to change that, and maybe they will. They're
gonna have to play five hundred baseball the rest of
the way just to finish with more wins than losses.
And let's be honest, if they're eighty two eighty and

(46:27):
on the outside looking into the postseason, that's not gonna
feel like a success. And So if this continues, and
when I say this, the Reds being on the outside
looking in, I think the franchise is gonna find itself
at a crossroads because I think it's gonna be fair
to say at that point that this plan hasn't worked.

(46:50):
It's had its successes, and it's had its moments where
it's felt like it was working. But if where the
Reds are right now is where in just over four weeks,
you're not going to find anybody who cares about this
team who follows this franchise, who will allege that the

(47:12):
Reds plan is paying off. I know I've gone through
this on multiple occasions. But like this plan, like what
the Reds are doing, started at the end of the
twenty twenty season, and if you remember, that was obviously
the COVID year Dick Williams left, and the Reds started
to send a very clear signal they were not going

(47:32):
to make the team better by adding from the outside,
and that they as soon as possible, would be moving
on from players who cost a lot. They gave away
Rice e Iglesias, they gave away Archie Bradley, and then
a year later, after the twenty twenty one season, Nick
Castianos has gone, they move on from Tucker Barnhardt. At
the end of the lockout that winter, they trade away

(47:53):
Sonny Gray and auhaneus Hoarez. So this plan has been
in motion since the end of the twenty twenty season.
The idea behind this plan, I think maybe I'm wrong,
was by the middle of the decade, the Reds will
be contenders. Maybe they're not the best team in baseball,
maybe they're not winning one hundred games, maybe they're not

(48:13):
quite yet ready to hoist a World Series trophy. But
if I would have said to you or anybody else
at any point in twenty twenty two that by the
end of the twenty twenty five season the Reds will
be on the outside looking into the playoffs, nobody would
have felt like that.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
Was a success. And yet here we are.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
So when a plan isn't working, it necessitates self reflection, right,
you look inward. Why hasn't it worked? And what do
we do now? Is it carry it forth with the
same is it run it back? Is it stay on
the course? Is it start something different? Is it swap

(48:53):
out nit crawl for somebody else. Is it promote somebody
who's already in the organization? Is it higher from outside?
I'd like, I don't know. One of the frustrating things, though,
is like, by now I think we were all hoping
man Ellie Dela Cruz will be firmly established as a
terrific everyday player. And Ellie has made a couple of

(49:14):
All Star teams, and he's the best player on the team,
and we all love watching Ellie Dela Cruz. But his
batting slump this summer has been very, very harmful to
this club. His issues in the field have triggered some
very good conversations about whether or not he'll ever be
as good at shortstop as he needs to be, and
if he's better off playing somewhere. You could take Ellie

(49:35):
Dela Cruz and put him on a list that includes
a fair number of guys that by now were supposed
to be established cornerstones, established foundational pieces, like Matt McClain.

Speaker 2 (49:48):
Look, I'm not giving up on Matt McClain.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
It's fair to say, you know, Look, the dude may
have struggled in large part because he didn't play at
all in twenty twenty four. That's fine, but have to
have a backup plan in case Matt McClain next year
is the same player he's been this year. Like, I
don't know about Matt McClain, Christian and Carnassi on strand

(50:10):
by now was supposed to be like an anchor, a
guy holding down first base.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
Uhuh.

Speaker 3 (50:15):
A dude spent more time in Louisville and on the
injured list than helping out the Cincinnati Reds this season.
Tyler Stevenson, what do you do with him moving forward?
Like I feel like we all like Noelvee Marte, I
feel like they're starting pitchers. We feel pretty good about
Andrew Abbott's great, Nicoldolo's good, Hunter Green's good, although fair
to wonder if he could stay healthy. Like at this

(50:37):
stage in the plan, two things were supposed to have happened. One,
they were supposed to be contenders. They were supposed to
be in the postseason. They were supposed to be doing
more than playing meaningful baseball in late August. They were
supposed to be seriously challenging to play in October, and
quite frankly, they were supposed to be playing in October.
That feels unlikely. But the other thing that was supposed

(50:59):
to have had was it wouldn't going to be very
hard to look at the team, the roster and go,
here are the best players. Here are the guys that
are the foundational pieces. Here are the guys may be
worth investing in long term. Here are the guys you're
building around. Here are the players you can count on.
That hasn't happened. That's deeply frustrating. And so now this offseason,

(51:21):
unless there's some sort of sudden turnaround, and I certainly
hope there is, where do you even begin? Where do
you even begin in ensuring that the second half of
the decade is better than the first half, and ensuring
that either the plan that they've been working on for
years now finally pays off, or that your new plan works.

(51:44):
This franchise is at a very interesting place. It's a
sixteen minutes after four o'clock. Cincinnati and Nebraska play an
interesting football game tonight. Chad Rendel joins us to talk
about it next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 4 (51:57):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPY fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (52:05):
UC Bearcats on the field. Count on uce Health, Orthopedics
and Sports Medicine no matter the injury. Visit u sehealth
dot com. Eastbound two seventy five after Montgomery Road. It's
an accident off on the right shoulder. Traffic is slowback
from Mostellar about a five minute delay.

Speaker 11 (52:25):
Glenway Avenue.

Speaker 5 (52:26):
It's an accident at Glen Crossing Way and one more
crash on Paxton Avenue at Observatory. I'm at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
It is twenty minutes after four o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Loeger Tony Pike joins us a little bit later on
Dan Clastin's as well on fantasy football, and Brendaman and
Jones on baseball.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
All between now and five o'clock.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
I am broadcasting from Arrowhead Stadium tonight at Cincinnati and
Nebraska in the season opener for both. Chad Brendel all
over UC football for Bearcat Journal dot Com. His guy
Keithan Nickoson is here in Kansas City chats with us. Now, Hi, Chad,
how's it going.

Speaker 6 (53:05):
I'm what how's the home press box media room at
Arabhead Stadium.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
I have only been in our booth. I haven't been
to the main press area. Tony and I were talking
about this though, before you know, we've I've been at
a lot of stadiums, a lot of college stadiums, and
the folks here, like working in security and the stadium staff.
I'm not sure I've ever met friendlier people.

Speaker 7 (53:36):
Is how is security?

Speaker 2 (53:38):
That is it?

Speaker 7 (53:39):
Like?

Speaker 6 (53:39):
Does it feel like they're anticipating somewhat important in the building.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
Right about twenty minutes ago, a police officer came into
our booth with a bomb sniffing dog. I don't want
to say that doesn't happen. It's standard, It's standard, but
there was an urgency. See, like I'll admit this. The
bomb sniffing dog will sometimes sometimes come into the broadcast
booth and you get the sense like, all right, we're

(54:08):
doing this because we have to check off a box.
I got the sense like this bomb sniffing dog new
he he had some pretty heavy responsibilities tonight. So I
have heard no one say that they know that Taylor
is not coming.

Speaker 6 (54:23):
She's in From what I know, she's in Kansas City,
or at least has been this week. Travis had said
he's coming.

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 6 (54:33):
You know. I'm just saying, like you're gonna you're you
might be. You might bump into the Lucky couple. And
I'm sure like Travis.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
Knows you, right, I've met Travis.

Speaker 7 (54:43):
Yes, yeah, you might bump into Taylor tonight.

Speaker 6 (54:47):
You never know. If you see Craig carry.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
I definitely was if if Taylor Swift is here, my
eight year old daughter, when she finds this out probably tomorrow,
is going to lose her mind.

Speaker 7 (55:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (55:01):
Imagine what my fifteen year old daughter is going to do.
Because I wouldn't go because I had to be at
the Holy Grail to night.

Speaker 7 (55:08):
And uh, I'm in trouble.

Speaker 3 (55:11):
And if Taylor Swift is shown on television wearing Bearcat gear,
then my daughter, who let's be honest, doesn't care, will
be a very very quick overnight convert.

Speaker 6 (55:25):
My daughter has already rejoiced in the fact that it's
possibility that Taylor Swift is going to have her name
as her last name, because, as you know, Kelsey was
named after Jason. So yeah, she's pretty excited about it.

Speaker 3 (55:45):
Is Taylor Swift, if she is here tonight, is she
going to see a bear Cat victory?

Speaker 6 (55:53):
I think Cincinnati can win. Here's what I'm going with
an old Marvin Lewis phrase. It's maybe the most popular
Marvin Lewis rays see better than I hear, and I
need to see this team in a close game, high
leverage situation, find a way to win instead of finding

(56:14):
a way to lose. Far too often in the Scott
Saderfield era, there have been winnable games that they have
not figured out whatever it takes to get across the
finish line. And I need to see that from this team.
I think they can win. The more I've researched this
Nebraska team, I don't think Cincinnati's not far off from

(56:37):
from what I read people think about Nebraska.

Speaker 7 (56:41):
So they can win.

Speaker 6 (56:42):
I just I need to see that they go out
they don't make a huge special teams there or they
don't you know, Brendan Soresby tries to do too much
and throws a pick and you know just the things
that have screwed this up the past two years. I
need to see that they're dint this year and if
they show that they can absolutely win this game.

Speaker 3 (57:05):
There's going to be a moment tonight where something bad happens. Right,
it's football. Yeah, Over the last two years, those moments
have always snowballed. So it's so cliche to say I
want to see how they handle adversity, But the Bearcats
at the last two years have handled it poorly, and
so many times you in real time have said, there
it is, there is the play, There is the moment

(57:26):
that since this game going in the wrong direction, when
one of those happens tonight, I want to see how
this team responds.

Speaker 6 (57:33):
Yeah, that's the critical thing for this team. There is
enough talent to be a really good team in the
Big Twelve this year.

Speaker 7 (57:39):
Like I'm not ready to say they're good enough.

Speaker 6 (57:41):
To win the Big twelve, or you know, whatever the
case may be. But they are good enough to be
very competitive and to win more than they lose in
this league in twenty twenty five. How they handle that adversity,
how they deal with things going sideways, is going to
tell the.

Speaker 3 (58:00):
Tail Where on the field, if anywhere, is Cincinnati better
than Nebraska.

Speaker 6 (58:08):
Tight end. I think that's a significant better running back.
I think is probably a significant better defensive line is
fascinating too. I think Nebraska's got the better offensive line.
I think the quarterbacks are about the same. I think
both receiver groups have an element of unknown. Defensive line.

(58:29):
I don't know, like Cincinnati should be better on the
defensive line if you value they've got the best player,
they've got experience, They've got some guys that are coming
back that from injury that weren't able to help last year.
Nebraska is very talented, but they're very inexperienced upfront. Nebraska
has the better secondary, So I guess ultimately I'd go

(58:52):
tight end at running back for sure. I think Cincinnati
has a better group and linebacker.

Speaker 7 (58:57):
I'll go linebacker too.

Speaker 3 (58:59):
Yeah, I linebacker jumps off the page to me as well, Chad,
It's always awesome to have you.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
Thank you as always.

Speaker 7 (59:07):
MO.

Speaker 6 (59:07):
Tell Taylor that Kelsey said Hi, if you get a chance,
and then I can be like Mo told her, you
said Hi.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
You know, I will, I will, I am. I'm hopeful.

Speaker 3 (59:18):
I'm hopeful that we can get her on the broadcast tonight.
You know, whether it's on the side. I don't think
Taylor is going to be on the sideline, but if
Tony's down there, you know, you know, maybe he stick
a microphone in front of her face, or if we
could somehow get her to come from wherever she watches,
which is some sweet here up to the UC broadcast booth.
She is, she is more than we'll let her. We'll

(59:38):
let her sit in with Dan and Jim. I mean
she can host the pregame show. Anything she wants she
can have.

Speaker 7 (59:45):
I love it. Thanks, my appreciate you.

Speaker 3 (59:48):
Chad Brandle tonight at the Holy Grail, he's watching the game.
Go join him at Bearcat journal dot com. Is watch
party for road games at the Holy Grail On Twitter
at Chad Brandle. Twenty seven after four o'clock. Brendan Jhones
on baseball coming up about twenty minutes, Scott Springer from
the inquirers here. He is going to join us in
the five o'clock hour as well. We got a lot
to get to. Sports headlines next on ESPN fifteen thirty

(01:00:12):
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:00:13):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 5 (01:00:18):
From the UC Health Traffic Center. Trust the same team
for your care that keeps the UC Bearcats on the field.
Count on UCE Health Orthopedics and sports Medicine no matter
the injury. Visit u sehealth dot com. On Harrison There's
an accident over at New Haven Road, another crash on
Martin Luther King Drive at Dick Smith Avenue, and also

(01:00:39):
got an accident on Pexton Avenue at Observatory. Slow traffic
on eastbound two seventy five between Lebanon Road and Loveland
Madeira Road a four minute delay. I'm at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 3 (01:00:51):
Sports Headlines are a service of Kelsey chervala home of
lifetime powertrain protection and guarantee credit approval from their family
to yours for life chev dot com. The twenty twenty
five UC football season begins tonight, Cincinnati taking on Nebraska
here in Kansas City. Bearcats are six and a half
point underdogs Tonight's game kicks off at nine o'clock. You'll

(01:01:13):
listen to it on seven hundred WLW, beginning with pregame
coverage at eight pm. Also tonight, the Miami RedHawks are
in Madison to take on Wisconsin. That game also starts
at nine o'clock. Bengals officially signed Dalton Reisner today, boosting
their offensive line. Cincinnati also signing tackle Javon Foster to
the practice squad. He was drafted by the Jaguars in

(01:01:35):
the fourth round last year and played in four games
as a rookie. Last season. He was among Jacksonville's training
camp cuts and off.

Speaker 2 (01:01:43):
Day for the Reds.

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
They begin a nine game homestand tomorrow Cardinals in town
first of three six forty Tomorrow night seven hundred WLW,
Cincinnati got swept in Los Angeles, so the Reds are
now four and a half games out of the last
wildcard spot. The Mets, who lead them, played tonight against
the Miami Marlins, and the Florence Yaws on the road
tonight against Evansville. That game starts at five thirty five.

(01:02:07):
Dan klaskins with some fantasy football advice next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 4 (01:02:11):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from.

Speaker 5 (01:02:17):
The UC Health Traffic Center. Trust the same team for
your care that keeps the UC Bearcats on the field.
Count on U see Health Orthopedics and Sports Medicine no
matter the injury. Visit you Seehealth dot com. Westbound seventy
four after North Bend Road. It's an accident off on
the right shoulder Martin Luther King Drive. Another crash at

(01:02:37):
Dick Smith Avenue on Paxton Avenue. Still got that accident
at Observatory, and it's a new accident in on Winton
Road at spring Grove Avenue. I'm at Ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
All right, twenty one away from five o'clock.

Speaker 3 (01:02:51):
This is ESPN fifteen to thirty, Boggor Tony Pike in
just a few minutes. But on Thursdays at this time
we talked fantasy football.

Speaker 2 (01:03:00):
Hopefully you haven't drafted yet.

Speaker 3 (01:03:02):
Today we're going to talk wide receivers and tight ends
with our guy, Dan Claskins.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
Follow on Twitter at Dan Klaskins.

Speaker 3 (01:03:09):
He is the host of Fantastics Insider Football on Serious
XM Fantasy and has joined us every Thursday since the
year I started doing this show.

Speaker 2 (01:03:17):
Dan It's awesome to have you.

Speaker 13 (01:03:19):
How are you, Oh, Moe doing grave? We got some
football to watch tonight. Hopefully you bring home a winner, my.

Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Friend, so so be a very happy man. Be a
very happy man.

Speaker 3 (01:03:30):
If I ace my fantasy draft, which is on the
eve of the NFL opener next week, so I'm taking notes.
We're talking wide receivers and tight ends today. Let's start
at wide out. Give me sort of an overall draft strategy.

Speaker 13 (01:03:43):
Yes, I mean wide out is a position that obviously
your league scoring is going to have a matter in it,
but regardless of your format, wide receivers are of a
premium and mo, here's the thing about receivers, they're the
safest bets early in the draft too, because generally their
most predictable statistically, and their ability and injury concerns Aren't
that that you have in some of the other positions.

(01:04:04):
That said, I definitely am not going to leave the
first two rounds of any draft without a wide out.
But I definitely think that depending on how many teams
in your format, you can.

Speaker 7 (01:04:13):
Sort of spread it around.

Speaker 13 (01:04:14):
There's a lot of value at all parts of the
draft at the position, but you want to have at
least one, if not two stud options that are going
to be consistent performers.

Speaker 3 (01:04:24):
All right, let's go through some tiers and we'll play
the same game we did last week. Draft or pass
will go early rounds, mid rounds, late rounds. Give me
a draft or pass for each.

Speaker 13 (01:04:36):
Yeah, let's start at that wide receiver early round slot.
And you know when I say early rounds. Obviously with receivers,
most of the top twenty receivers, just as an FYI,
are off the board in the first three rounds of
most drafts. Twelve teamers anyway. So the guy that I
think is being a little undervalued right now was last
year's overhype. It's the post type sleeper of Marvin Harrison Junior.

(01:04:59):
A year ago, at this time, everybody was thinking he
was gonna go ahead and get that Hall of Fame
jacket put on him. It was a disappointing season in Arizona,
not just for him, but Kyler Murray.

Speaker 7 (01:05:08):
The offense.

Speaker 13 (01:05:09):
Well, they're all healthy now, and I don't think their
defense is that good. I still believe in the talent,
although maybe not as much as we believed a last year.
At this time, he's currently being drafted as wide receiver fifteen.
I think he has a back end wide receiver one upside,
and the further he falls, the more I like him
on the draft. On the pass list in the early
rounds is Kart Wilson goes back to what we were
talking last week. The Jets want to run the football.

(01:05:30):
I do believe in Wilson's talent. I don't believe in
Justin Field is the prolific quarterback passer. Wide receiver fourteen
just a little too rich for my blood. I look
at some of the other whiteouts going in that arem though,
and they seem much safer than Wilson, who has a
floor that's a little bit lower than normal because of
that quarterback play I've mentioned. As we get to the
mid rounds of the draft, now you're getting into your

(01:05:50):
wide receiver three range, and there's a lot of guys
I like in this range, to be clear, but one
of my favorites is Ricky Piersall. San Francisco is decimated
at receiver in terms of injuries, and they did get
some encouraging is with Jawan Jennings, but Deebo Samuel he's gone,
and then it's mostly just a cast of others they
wait for Brahm and I used to get back pearsall.
A first round pick a year ago is a guy

(01:06:12):
that they're heavily invested in. I think, well, if he
can stay healthy, produced big numbers here, especially in PPR league,
I'm passing in those rounds. Wide receiver thirty seven right now.
Chris Alavia a name I like. I like the talent.
It's not like the quarterback Spencer Rattler the Saints or
a mess. I'm really passing on all of New Orleans players.
And then when we talk about late round wideouts one,
I really like Cedric Tillman. I like him a little

(01:06:33):
bit better now that Joe Flacco is under center. But
this is a wide receiver three potential breakout in Cleveld
when the team I expect to be playing from behind.
I know Jerry Judy, you know, he has the name
of recognition and definitely played well last year. But Tillman
is the breakout player here, and you're paying next to
nothing for a guy that, hey, I'm fine with as
a wide receiver five. I think he might actually turn

(01:06:54):
out to be a wide receiver three. And then I'm
passing on Darnell Mooney in that category. He's been banged
up most of training camp in the preseason. He's still
injured as we speak, but somehow he's getting drafted even
ahead of Tilman two spots. He's wide receiver of fifty seven.
He's better left off your draft board altogether.

Speaker 3 (01:07:11):
Dan Klaskins is with us talking fantasy football. Let's play
the same game with tight ends draft or pass per tier.

Speaker 13 (01:07:19):
Yeah, tight ends super easy for me though, I'm either
going to grab an elite tight end, and I certainly
believe the Brock Bowers that trade McBride's the George Kittle.
That's my elite tier. If you want Bowers or McBride,
good luck or a second or maybe even the early
third round picking well worth it if you ask me.
George Tittle is sort of the last of that tear.
After that they're to drop off. And if I don't

(01:07:39):
get one of those first three guys, I'm going to
wait all the way to the very end and then
probably stacked up on some sleepers. So as we go
through each of these different rounds and parts of the draftier,
generally speaking, tight end is a position I'm either going
to go elite or I might punt all together.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
Dan Klaskins is with us.

Speaker 3 (01:07:59):
All right, you've got your pre season primer podcast series
out right now, tell us about it.

Speaker 13 (01:08:05):
Yeah, well, I'm sorry there, Mo, I didn't miss out
of my past draft there. I thought we were just
talking strategy souks. Yeah, quickly the early round guys I
like I mentioned George Kittle is definitely the guy I
like in the early rounds.

Speaker 7 (01:08:22):
Because he's the last of the three.

Speaker 13 (01:08:24):
I certainly like Browards and mcbridey's tight end three. Travis Kelcey.
He's sort of the first of the next tier of
tight ends and I just think he'll be over drafted.
He's tight end six now, although with Rossie Writs's early
seasons suspension, he's gonna needed to be counted on there
and that she's passing attack he gets in the mid rounds.
I'm not drafting a lot of tight ends there as
I as you heard of my strategy. But one I

(01:08:44):
do like is Evan Ingram tight end nine. I love
him going to Denver with Sean Payton's offense, Bo Nicks
and she and her his second season going to get
a valuable option there. But Mark Andrews a name among
many there in the middle tier that I'm just sort
of passing on. I mean, I am't worried about likely
when if he ever gets healthy. But in general, Andrews's
touchdown or bus and then some late round names.

Speaker 7 (01:09:05):
Brenton Strange like him.

Speaker 13 (01:09:06):
Quite a bit of the Jacksonville Jaguars. I also like
Mason Taylor, the rookie for the judge. A little bit later, I.

Speaker 7 (01:09:13):
Was torn on those two to include.

Speaker 13 (01:09:14):
But John Newsmith, you know, we played had a big
breakout Miami last year's with Pittsburgh, now they've got a
couple tight ends and a forty something in the ear
old quarterback. I'll find something better if I'm looking for
a tight end two than John new Smith. But as
you mentioned, the preseason podcast series Fantastics Insider Football is
the show I do.

Speaker 7 (01:09:31):
I'm serious.

Speaker 13 (01:09:32):
We have a podcast out for the preseason.

Speaker 7 (01:09:34):
We already have five episodes out there. You can get
it wherever you.

Speaker 13 (01:09:36):
Listen or at Insider football dot com is where that
website is hosted at where By the way, you can
also check out our Draft Advisor tool free trial over
there if you got a draft coming up.

Speaker 7 (01:09:46):
Still, it's a pretty cool tool.

Speaker 13 (01:09:48):
It tells you who to pick based off of your
league rules and as the draft goes picked by pick
changing in real time. You can check all that out
over at insider football dot.

Speaker 2 (01:09:57):
Com insider football dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:10:00):
Follow Dan on Twitter at Dan Klaskins and catch him
on the Fantastics Insider Football Show on sirius XM. Fantasy Dan.
Always awesome to have you. I will not tell Travis
Kelcey you're passing on him. If we see him tonight.

Speaker 13 (01:10:15):
Yeah, yeah, you can tell him.

Speaker 7 (01:10:16):
I don't care if he knows, right, good luck. Hopefully
he's did it root on a their catch victory.

Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
Let's hope. So all right, you're the man. We'll talk
next week about week one.

Speaker 7 (01:10:26):
Say traveled, my friend, you got it.

Speaker 3 (01:10:29):
Thank you so much, Dan Claskins sirius XM on Twitter
at Dan Klaskins.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
Time now for Tony Pike.

Speaker 1 (01:10:37):
He's the season preview report, brought to you by Hollywood
Casino Lauren spurg on your official home of the Cincinnati Bengals,
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:10:50):
Tony with me here in the broadcast booth at Arrowhead Stadium.

Speaker 2 (01:10:54):
Looks like you enjoyed those skittles.

Speaker 11 (01:10:55):
Skittles were great. Fresh.

Speaker 2 (01:10:58):
That's a fresh batch.

Speaker 12 (01:10:58):
Of skittles they got in the the kitchen down there.
Starting to feel more and more like it though. These
tailgate lots are filling up. Yeah, a little bit of
a foemo sets in. Yeah, with some of these very
nice setups. It is a as you mentioned earlier, it's
a perfect day weatherwise.

Speaker 2 (01:11:13):
It's awesome.

Speaker 11 (01:11:13):
It's gonna be awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:11:14):
This is and again it's Kansas City, it's the Chiefs.
We're in Cincinnati. You're not supposed to say anything nice
about the Chiefs. But but having come to two games
here as a fan, there's nothing nearby, like, there's no
there's no Holy Grail, right, there's there's no banks. If
you want to hang out before the game, you could
either I guess, stand in the parking lot of the
BP gas station across the street, or your tailgating. This

(01:11:38):
is one of the cooler tailgating scenes I've ever been
a part of. And I guess they opened up the
lots at it would have been three o'clock here, a
local time, and just the steady stream of cars and
it's not as full as it's gonna be. But in
about two hours, as we sit when we look out,
it's gonna look pretty awesome.

Speaker 11 (01:11:57):
You can't wait now.

Speaker 12 (01:11:59):
I mean it was like apprehension going into the game,
because you obviously always want home games and you want
to to be a part of atmosphere at Nippert Stadium.
But being here and now feeling the game day vibes,
this is a cool setting.

Speaker 3 (01:12:13):
It's a cool setting. I think it should be a
terrific game. We'll talk in greater detail about the game
and the season. I think they're gonna go seven and five.

Speaker 12 (01:12:21):
Tone yourself, eight and four, eight and four, eight and four. Gosh,
I'm so bullish on them. I'm a little bit of
a Homer pick, but I am bullish on them offensively
because it like Scott's Sudderfield has always been known for balance, right,
and when he gets his guys in place, which I

(01:12:42):
feel like he certainly does on the offensive side of
the ball. I think this is a very very hard
team to play against offensively. And we watched Week zero
last week. I saw Kansas State and I saw Iowa State,
and I know that's tough field conditions, but I didn't
walk away from watching that game thinking, man, both those
teams are unbeatable, right. I just think there's a lot
of uncertainty in the Big Twelve, and I think if

(01:13:04):
you can get off to the start you need tonight,
I think eight is more than able to accomplish.

Speaker 2 (01:13:11):
I think eight's doable.

Speaker 3 (01:13:13):
I think seven is a little bit more doable, which
is that's an obvious statement. I think to me, seven
is a little bit more realistic.

Speaker 11 (01:13:20):
Is seven your minimum?

Speaker 2 (01:13:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:13:22):
Yeah, I think they hit the minimum. The schedule is
more favorable. Seven's minimum, and seven is what I think
they're gonna hit. And what I want to do is
walk away from tonight thinking that there's a world where
we could talk about the Bearcats factoring in the Big
twelve race, which I think is very, very wide open.

Speaker 12 (01:13:39):
I think you could find a two or three lost
Big Twelve champion this year. Yes, just because of how
even it feels like the conference as a whole is.
If you're looking at the teams right now, what would
happen to this team that they go under the seven?

Speaker 11 (01:13:53):
And what would happen to they go over the seven?

Speaker 3 (01:13:56):
If they go under the seven, I think you're going
to have a hard time convincing anybody that the status
quotion remained for twenty twenty six. Yeah, Tony Pike one
more on the bearrick Cats, and we'll do some more
UC and then some Bengals the next time you join
me at five forty five. One thing we've talked about
a lot with this team, I think more off air
than on I'm really interested in seeing if the special

(01:14:18):
teams plays improved and how many times last year did
things start to fall apart toward the end of the
first half because they either mismanaged or had bad luck
at times over the final two minutes of the first half.

Speaker 12 (01:14:29):
Do you just think of games that they mismanaged, that
they had a costly turnover, that they missed a field goal,
that they let another team go down the field and
kick a field goal, they had a bad punt. Special
team's airs were one of those things that until you
like dive back into everything that happened last year, and
we talked about it with the Bengals at times as well.
You could probably point to two or three losses last

(01:14:49):
year that not solely were given away because of special teams,
but special teams won a long way in deciding how
those games and those outcomes were. And there's such momentum
plays at the college level that when you do miss
a kick it feels like almost turning the ball over,
and then the team goes down there and takes advantage
of it, and then it feels like you lose grass
with that momentum, Tony.

Speaker 2 (01:15:10):
Pike joins us again.

Speaker 3 (01:15:10):
Coming up at five point forty five, we'll talk Bengals
off season as it's been rounded out, and a little
bit more on the Bearcats as well. It's the day
we can get away talking you see football in our
season preview reports, because well, the Bearcats are playing at
the stadium we are sitting in right now.

Speaker 2 (01:15:24):
It's time for Brenneman and Jones on Baseball Men the summer,
one thousand.

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Dollars and a trip to our iHeart Radio Music Festival.
Text the nationwide keyword win to two hundred two hundred.
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Speaker 7 (01:15:43):
Hundred two hundred.

Speaker 1 (01:15:45):
No one covers the Bengals like ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's
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Speaker 3 (01:15:53):
All right, what's up? Good afternoon, Mowagger ESPN fifteen thirty.
It is the mikelov Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour. Thanks
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Speaker 2 (01:16:04):
Hopefully, hopefully you've.

Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Taken Tomorrow off and you are starting right now a
four day Labor Day weekend filled with football and fireworks
and ice cold mic Ultra perfect for the ball game tonight.
Perfect no matter what you're doing this weekend, Superior Taste
Superior light Beer. Please drink responsibly. I am broadcasting from

(01:16:28):
Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. We are right now four
hours away from kickoff Cincinnati and Nebraska. We have an
absolutely stunning day for football. Temperature right now eighty one degrees.
The tailgating lot is filling up. Our perch up here
in the home broadcast booth is high enough that you
could look out really right across from us, beyond the

(01:16:49):
stadium and see the Royals Ballpark. These two stadiums are
next to each other, and if you look to our
right and to our left, you could see parking lots
that are getting more and more full by the minute,
and lots and lots of Nebraska tents and flags. This
is going to be a very pro Huskers crowd tonight,
a good setting for what we hope is a good
football game tonight. I have started the hour at three o'clock,

(01:17:12):
four o'clock, and five o'clock by answering the question.

Speaker 2 (01:17:14):
I have gotten more than any.

Speaker 3 (01:17:17):
Since we found out that this game was gonna happen
in Kansas City, and I've gotten that question. I've had
people text me since I have who apparently aren't listening
to their friend Moe because I've answered this question at
three o'clock and at four o'clock, and I'll answer it now. No,
the Seapall logo is not at midfield. It's the Battle
Sports Kansas City Classic. I had no idea that's what

(01:17:40):
they were calling this game until like yesterday. But it's
the Battle Sports. I don't know what Battle sports is
battle Sports Kansas City Classic, and so at midfield it's
not at Kansas City Chiefs logo. It's not a Bearcat Seapoul,
it's not a Nebraska end For what that's worth, it's
the Battle Sports Kansas City Classic logo. Cincinnati is in

(01:18:02):
the end zone, painted in the end zone to our left,
Nebraska painted in the end zone to our right. It
looks like a bowl game. There are big twelve logos
on the field. For what that's worth, we've talked about
this as an opportunity for the Bearcats extensively over the
last couple of months, and it really is. You know,

(01:18:22):
folks have made the comparison to the game in twenty
eighteen Cincinnati went to the Rose Bowl to take on UCLA.
Ended up not being a very good UCLA team, but
that was an opportunity to grab people and make them
pay attention. I think there are going to be a
fair amount of folks who tonight maybe didn't pay attention
to the Bearcats in the second half of the season
last year, and for good reason. But tonight they'll give

(01:18:43):
them their eyeballs or give them their ears and give
them a chance. Let's see what Scott Siderfield has year three.
Let's see what the Bearcats look like year three of
the Big twelve. Let's see what UC looks like after
another offseason of bringing in players via the transfer portal.
Let's see how Brendan Sorosby looks. Let's see how some
of the players who come back on defense. Let's see
if they can make for a unit that is just
overall top to bottom better than last season. You only

(01:19:07):
get so many chances to make an oppression. You only
get so many chances to make people per c Cup.
Let's be honest, Nebraska is a big name and a
program that in the seventies, eighties, and.

Speaker 2 (01:19:18):
Nineties was awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:19:20):
Nebraska football hasn't been a powerhouse in a very long time.
Now they may be quite good. A lot of folks
love Dylan Royola. Matt Ruhle has a track record at
Temple and at Baylor of really starting the turnaround in
year three at those programs. This is year three for
him and Lincoln. There are some folks who, when they're

(01:19:40):
asked to name, you know, dark horse college football playoff
teams have mentioned Nebraska. But this isn't Cincinnati going to
Ohio State. This isn't the Bearcats going to Michigan now.
It's also not the Bearcats going to South Bend. They
were favored that day and for good reason.

Speaker 2 (01:19:57):
They were the.

Speaker 3 (01:19:57):
Better team and the game that day proved it. But
it's still a name brand. It's a pretty big audience tonight,
I think on ESPN. The NFL is not underway yet.
I think tonight really for me, feels like the signature
game of Week one. It's a big twelve versus Big ten.
I think you're going to have a lot of folks
paying attention tonight who are going to give the Bearcats

(01:20:19):
one chance. Can Cincinnati Football take advantage of that chance
and send the message that this program is headed in
the right direction, and then twenty twenty five is going
to yield far better results than twenty twenty three in twenty.

Speaker 2 (01:20:34):
Twenty four more mechanically. A couple of things that I'm
curious about.

Speaker 3 (01:20:37):
Number one, the practice that I went to a couple
of weeks ago. I came on the air and said, boy,
it's striking how much more team speed the Bearcats have.
They've got some guys on the outside who just athletically
looked the part Jeff Caldwell from lynden Wood, And you're
being reasonable if you wonder where Lyndenwood is made Bruce
Feldman's Freaks list because of his just athletic profile and

(01:21:00):
the tools that he has. Does that translate into production
the athleticism they have on the outside turn into production
on the outside. Does this offense, which as the season
went on last year, it kind of felt like to
use a Dave lapamism, it felt like it went into
a phone booth. Can they test teams downfield? Can Joe

(01:21:21):
Royer be the best player on the field. You know,
Tony and I are going to talk about this a
little bit later on, but one of the more frustrating
things for me watching the Bearcats last season was Joe
Royer had a good year, set the school's all time
record for tight end catches in a season, which at
this school is not insignificant, But there were times last
year where you wondered, where is Joe Royer and why
aren't they throwing him the football? I think when you

(01:21:43):
see has it, he's got to be the best player
on the field tonight. Can the collection of running backs
they have shortened the game a little bit? If that
ends up being a part of the strategy. I can't
wait to watch Towie Walker tonight. Cand they got from Wisconsin.
Who you're gonna hear in the pregame show tonight? Who
just runs people over? Can he run over big ten defenders?
Can the Bearcats hold up in the back end? I

(01:22:05):
think if you talk to anybody who has followed this
program and Chad Brend, Chad Brenda and I talked about
this in the four o'clock hour. The big concern defensively
is at corner. It's depth at corner. I think that's
worth paying attention to tonight. There's also this. This is
something else Chad and I talked about. If you think
of last year as Bearcat's team, you think of the

(01:22:27):
last five games and how it unfolded and how Brendan
Sore hasby looked at times gun shy. But I also
think of, and not just the last five games either,
how many times did the wheel start to fall off
at the end of the first half, where maybe it
was a missed kick, maybe it was a different type

(01:22:47):
of special team's mistake, Maybe it was just an offensive
execution error. Maybe it wasn't getting off the field on
the opponent's last possession of the half. But last season,
in the final two to five four minutes of the
first half, if it could go wrong, it did, and
sometimes that set the stage for disaster, the Pit game,

(01:23:08):
the Texas Tech game. Do those mistakes get cleaned up?
Part of it was game management, part of it was execution,
Part of it was special teams. When I think of
last year as Bearcat's team, it sores me and the
offense and what they couldn't do and at times not
really being able to match the physicality of some of
the Big twelve teams they played. But I also think

(01:23:29):
of special teams last year that were an absolute train wreck.
And look, I love Carrie Colmes, we all do. The
reality is his unit last year was not very good.
They have a new special teams coach, one that they
hired after spring ball. Does the special teams help the
Bearcats win inside the margins? Because last year, and it
wasn't just missing field goals, it was the punt coverage,

(01:23:52):
it was assignment errors in the punt return.

Speaker 2 (01:23:56):
Game, it was kickoff issues.

Speaker 3 (01:23:59):
You name an area of special teams for the Bearcats
last year, and I could point to an area where
at the end of the year specifically, but really all
season long, they were just awful. I'm kind of curious
tonight does does that change? Do we start to see
a special teams unit that could be a weapon that
can help the Bearcats win games? Last year when or
this year? When last season it was a liability emotionally speaking,

(01:24:24):
this is gonna be an incredible atmosphere, but it's also
gonna be, I think, needless to say, a very pro
Nebraska atmosphere. Maybe ninety to ninety five percent of the
ticket sold going to Nebraska fans. So there's gonna be
a moment in tonight's game, because it's football where something
starts to go wrong, and really good teams take that

(01:24:45):
thing that feels like, all right, this is the start
of things going wrong, and they make that a one off.
They ensure that things don't unravel. Last year's team, those moments,
those moments didn't just go poorly. Those moments just sort
of felt like the beginning of the end, and they
often were. The Bearcats couldn't recover when something goes wrong
tonight can they and can they make big plays when

(01:25:08):
this game is hanging in the balance in the second half?
And last year often the answer was no. So I'm
excited for this tonight. I do not think tonight's game
is one of these insurmountable games against a powerful opponent
that the Bearcats have played in in the past. I
don't know how good Nebraska is. I don't know how
good you see is. I do think it's fair to

(01:25:30):
state that it feels like coming into the season, this
is the best squad that Scott Saderfield has had. But
there's a difference between being the best squad that Scott
Saderfield has had and Scott Saderfield actually having a good team.
They do have some good things going for it. Can
they win in those areas where they couldn't win last year?
And can they avoid some of the mistakes that just

(01:25:51):
doomed them last season.

Speaker 2 (01:25:53):
I can't wait to find out.

Speaker 3 (01:25:55):
We've got the game for you from right here in
the broadcast booth at nine o'clock. Pregame coverage at eight
on seven HLW. The Reds lose last night. They do
get swept for the first time all season long. The
deficit is four and a half games. The reality is this,
in year five of this plan, there are more uncertainties

(01:26:15):
than answers. There are more questions than answers as it
relates to the Cincinnati Reds. Look, they have twenty eight
games to go, and they may go in a role
here and make us forget about that series in Los Angeles.
They may overcome four and a half games. How they
may gain a half game tonight because while the Reds
are off, the Mets do play.

Speaker 6 (01:26:31):
But we.

Speaker 3 (01:26:34):
Could talk about what the Reds need to add from outside.
And you know, one thing that would be nice would
be the next year in the outfield, they actually have
outfielders or at least players who have experience playing the outfield.
But if you look at so many players who by
now were supposed to be not necessarily stars, but like
established pieces, key cornerstones, legitimate like this guy is not

(01:26:58):
moving from this position. He's a guy built around He's
maybe a guy we extend those players. There's a lot
of guys I just don't know about. Matt McLean. Honestly,
to a degree, Elie dela Cruz. This team was built
around Ellie dela Cruz being great this season. He's not
been great this season, call it what it is. And
in the second half of the plate he's a times

(01:27:19):
been awful and defensively at times the same.

Speaker 2 (01:27:22):
And I love Ellie de la Cruz. It hurts to say,
but I think it's true.

Speaker 3 (01:27:26):
So there's twenty eight games to go, and you don't
want to give up and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:27:31):
I understand it.

Speaker 3 (01:27:31):
But if this keeps going the way it's going, we're
gonna get to an offseason where not only do you
wonder where do you go from here?

Speaker 2 (01:27:40):
I think you kind of wonder.

Speaker 3 (01:27:42):
What do we actually have to go forward with? That's
not in the starting staff. More on that coming up
a little bit later. On No Real Bengals News today,
Dalton Riisner signed his contract. They made that official today.
You might take it simply this fine. That's fine, but
it's not unlike what I just said about Scott Saderfield.
You know, people have said often on social media, this

(01:28:02):
is poised to be the best offensive line that Joe
Burrow has played around or played behind as the quarterback
of the Bengals, and I agree with that. But there's
a difference between having the best offensive line that Joe
Burrow has played behind and Joe Burrow playing behind a good,
legitimately good offensive line. By the middle of the season,

(01:28:24):
I want to be able to say that he's playing
behind one. It is seventeen minutes after five o'clock. Scott
Springer just walked into our broadcast booth covering the Bearcats
for the Inquirer. He's going to join us next on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:28:36):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 5 (01:28:42):
From the UC Health Traffic Center. Trust the same team
for your care that keeps the UC Bearcats on the field.
Count on you see Health, Orthopedics and sports medicine, no
matter the injury. Visit you Seehealth dot com. Northbound seventy
one before Redbank Road. It's an accident that's off on
the right shoulder. Another accident onto the right shoulder. This

(01:29:02):
is on northbound seventy five after Sharon. And one more
accident in westbound seventy four after north Bend. That one
also off on the right shoulder. I'm at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 3 (01:29:12):
Twenty two after five ESPN fifteen thirty MO Edgar broadcasting
from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, U See and Nebraska tonight.
We are under four hours away from kickoff, covering the
game and covering the Bearcats for the Inquirer and Cincinnati
dot Com. Joining me in the broadcast booth, our friend,
Scott Springer, what is going on? Your first time at
Arend Stadium?

Speaker 15 (01:29:33):
Yeah, this is big. I made it through the cornfield
the witchtock out there and didn't hit anyone in their tailgate.
They said they were going to open these lots at
three thirty, so I kind of wait, and then you
get stuck in traffic, and then you see what's here.
These people have been here for a while, and so
far I've not seen any Nebraska fan not carrying a cooler.

Speaker 3 (01:29:55):
I got here at like one fifteen, Yeah, here in
Kansas City time, and I was mildly surprised. I didn't
see Nebraska people trying to sneak in. And then right
before we got to where they like let you in,
there was a truck full of Huskers fans just waiting
for them to open.

Speaker 2 (01:30:11):
The gates two hours later. Oh yeah, it had to
be first in line.

Speaker 15 (01:30:14):
Make the mad dash, I mean. And there's all sorts
of shades of red that I've seen. If you at
home have some fishes, big boy suspenders, you could come
to this game because I have seen people wearing that.
Everyone has an n red shirt and an inn and
they're in every restaurant and and every hotel.

Speaker 3 (01:30:33):
But it's you know that speaks to one of the
variables tonight that I think is going to be interesting
is can can can Cincinnati handle the crowd? Can they
handle the atmosphere, especially when something goes wrong.

Speaker 15 (01:30:44):
Well, if you can handle this, I think you can
handle quite a bit. Because this is going to be
a big time atmosphere. It probably would have been a
lot worse at at Lincoln. Uh, They're financially fortunate that
this is happening here. But you know, you can take
a cross out of a game pretty quick. You've seen
it at South Bend and other places. So, and we

(01:31:05):
talked before how this reminds me a ton of the
twenty eighteen UCLA season opener where they had a bad
four in eight season and then you know, you go
out there and you're in, oh my goodness.

Speaker 11 (01:31:15):
UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

Speaker 15 (01:31:17):
Then suddenly, well des Ritter comes in and Michael Warren
runs all over and they make a gutsy fourth down
call at the end to go forward and they win.
So it would be very similar. It would not be,
you know, U see's biggest win, no at all, No,
but it would rank among them, I would think. But

(01:31:37):
there have been much more better wins. But this would
be a key win, big momentum shifter for either team
because both teams are in the same predicament.

Speaker 3 (01:31:47):
It would be the biggest win by far for this
coaching staff.

Speaker 2 (01:31:50):
Oh, I think what matters the most.

Speaker 3 (01:31:51):
And you know I've that game in twenty eighteen made
people perk up. I think you're going to have a
lot of folks, and I've talked about this all day today.
I think you're gonna have a lot of folks who
give the Bearcats a chance tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:32:02):
Okay, I'm gonna pay attention.

Speaker 3 (01:32:03):
Let's see which a guy Year three Scotts Sadderfield, Year three,
Big twelve. It is a great opportunity for this program
to take advantage and show those folks that this thing
is going in the right direction and generate some buzz
and create some interest and get people excited about barcat
football a game.

Speaker 15 (01:32:19):
The unfortunate thing is, whoever lose is just going to
go off the deep end. I mean, because I got
my guys that follow me on X and if it's down,
if it's ten to nothing early in the first quarter,
it's going to every naysay or doom say or pessimistic
dude is going to be tweeting left and right.

Speaker 2 (01:32:35):
We don't know anyone that does that, do oh not
at all. Oh no, no. But that's just the way
it goes.

Speaker 15 (01:32:40):
And it's going to be unfortunate because it's not going
to make or break either team season. There's so much
more football to play, and you have seven home games now.
I think I think they can. Did I predict them
to win? No, I have not seen Nebraska. I have
not seen what they have. All I've seen is you
see against UC so I think U see looks pretty good.
I think they look a lot better and in so
many physicians. But just from the standpoint of the crowd

(01:33:03):
and the numerical evidence, I felt it was irresponsible to
take Cincinnati. Do I think they can win, Yes, wouldn't
surprise me. But my pick was Nebraska. Yeah, those are
my reasons.

Speaker 3 (01:33:14):
Twenty four to twenty one. You could read that at
Cincinnati dot com. So they're better from last year where
they most improved from a year ago.

Speaker 15 (01:33:21):
Receiver which is odd because you basically wiped out your
receiver room. But these guys have made plays. Now we'll
see if they make plays against Nebraska in the Big Ten.
But you got guys that are so much faster, And
I really like Cyrus Allen. He's a guy that's just
made so many plays. And you know, he's not been
talked about as much as Jeff called well because Jeff

(01:33:42):
has the size and the jumping ability and all that,
and Caleb Goodie is still is the faster one. But
Alan can really make some plays and finds a way
to get open and then you like his Jamar.

Speaker 2 (01:33:53):
Chase like attitude where he says, hey.

Speaker 15 (01:33:55):
I'm always open. He right, like the seven to eleven
guy like Jamar, you know, I'm always open. Sore as
he says, he keeps coming back. He goes, you know,
I'm open all the time, never been covered.

Speaker 2 (01:34:05):
Sign me up for a guy like that.

Speaker 3 (01:34:07):
I think if there's a concern that I hear echoed most,
it's how they're going to hold up in the secondary
and specifically at corner.

Speaker 15 (01:34:14):
Right well, you have new corners and they're five to nine.
Matthew McDoom is very fast. You know, he's the guy
with the twenty three miles per hour on the Catabult,
which is about where you run, I know, about as
fast as you'll be running out of here. Yeah, but
yeah that's cooking. That's like sub four three forty speeds.
So even if he messes up, he can make it up.

(01:34:36):
But hopefully he doesn't mess up. So he's on the
one corner, then Logan Wilson on the other, and he's
experienced and he talks a pretty good game too. They
have the defensive back mentality down because they all talk,
and Christian Harrison is the one that I really liked,
you know, watching this this summer. And he's got the
background with his father and all, and he's played at Tennessee,

(01:34:56):
so this atmosphere is not going to face him. He's
been at Neiland Stadium one hundred thousand strong, so that
he's not going to be too worried about that. But
there are guys, let's face it, you know, Lyndon wood
in here vastly different.

Speaker 3 (01:35:09):
They were a disaster at the end of the first
half last year, I.

Speaker 15 (01:35:13):
Mean, and at the beginning of the second half of
the middle eight.

Speaker 3 (01:35:15):
Yeah, so that those those four minutes prior to halftime,
in the four minutes coming out, they were a train wreck.
That wasn't all special teams, but it was a lot
of special teams. And one of the things I'm looking
forward to tonight is let's see how they handle those
situations in the middle of the game. But also special
teams has to be markedly better because it was a
train wreck last year.

Speaker 15 (01:35:34):
Well, Max Fletcher probably should have been punting last year.
I don't think Mason was one hundred percent, but they
saved a year for him and so he's punning now
and then you get another year out of him. The
long snapper Stein was with him at Arkansas, and Max
was the holder for the dude from Jacksonville to.

Speaker 2 (01:35:55):
Kick that seven yarder.

Speaker 15 (01:35:56):
His name escapes him right now, but I guess when
you kick the ball seventy yards someone ought to remember
your name. But you know, I'm like a Tom Dempsey,
you know, in that.

Speaker 2 (01:36:04):
Funky shoe, the weird shoe. Yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:36:06):
Yeah, But anyway, anyway, I think that part of it
is nice. You have a snapper and a holder that
that that you're familiar with, and Max can bring rain.
They might need it around here, I don't know. And
then Russnak has been good, you know. Now he's not
made everything in camp, but he was eleven for eleven
last year playing for Charlotte. He does have decent range,

(01:36:29):
maybe fifty seven in that rain, possibly he probably can
go go further, but it just depends. And there's so
much involved in a long kick. And you know, we're
all spoiled now where you know it used to be
if a guy kicked a fifty yard field goal, Oh
my god, you know, fifty yard field goal. Way back
when with the Bengals, Jim Reach kicked you know, like
forty forty five, and then and then they brought old

(01:36:50):
Lee Johnson out for the fifty yard try, and if
he made one, it's like Lee Johnson fifty yards.

Speaker 2 (01:36:56):
Well, now it's commonplace.

Speaker 14 (01:36:57):
You know.

Speaker 15 (01:36:57):
If money Mac misses a fifty yard for the Bengal,
people are mean tweeting you, and probably the same in
college football. So as Russianax said himself, it's like, you know,
sixties and the new fifty.

Speaker 3 (01:37:11):
Awesome stuff. I can't thank you enough. I appreciate the time.

Speaker 15 (01:37:14):
What was a long walkdown here. I'm gonna have to
have a cold beverage now, but it'll be a coke.

Speaker 3 (01:37:19):
They I was going to say, you want a cold beverage?
I see now hundreds of cars with people who would.
I'm sure be happy to give you one because you're
not wearing any bearcag here because you're an objective journalist.

Speaker 15 (01:37:29):
Right well, that's those are things that don't mix with
the covering the game. So well, I'm having a nice
lemonade right now. Very good, very tasty, very good. I'm
enjoying a diet coke.

Speaker 3 (01:37:39):
Scott Springer, Cincinnati dot Com, The Cincinnati Inquirer.

Speaker 2 (01:37:43):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 11 (01:37:43):
Man.

Speaker 3 (01:37:44):
We'll have sports headlines on our guy, Roddy Jones, who's
calling the game tonight for ESPN.

Speaker 2 (01:37:48):
Next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (01:37:51):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 11 (01:37:55):
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Speaker 5 (01:37:58):
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Two minute delay overall in that spot. Another crash westbound
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Speaker 3 (01:38:27):
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to yours for live kelseyshev dot com. Tonight it's Cincinnati
and Nebraska, the season opener for both here at Arrowhead
Stadium in Kansas City.

Speaker 2 (01:38:43):
Kickoff at nine o'clock.

Speaker 3 (01:38:45):
Pregame coverage at eight pm on seven hundred WLW. The
Bearcats a six and a half point underdog. Miami opens
up the season tonight against Luke Fickles Wisconsintine That game
in Madison at nine PM. As well, the Bengals may
official they have signed Dalton Reisner to a contract. Cincinnati
has also added another offensive lineman, Javon Foster, signed to

(01:39:08):
the practice squad.

Speaker 2 (01:39:09):
He was with the Jaguars last year.

Speaker 3 (01:39:11):
Picked in the fourth round of the twenty twenty four draft,
played in four games as a rookie for Jacksonville last year.
The Micah Parsons saga for the Dallas Cowboys has ended.
They have traded him to the Green Bay Packers in
exchange for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first round picks.
Reds are off tonight, Cardinals Intown tomorrow, first of three.

Speaker 2 (01:39:31):
Cincinnati four and a half behind New York.

Speaker 3 (01:39:34):
The Mets play the Marlins tonight and the Florence You
also have a road game this evening at Evansville. Roddy
Jones is a color analyst for ESPN. He's got the
game tonight on ESPN, Cincinnati versus Nebraska. In this day
and age of college football, Roddy, there's obviously more unknowns
than ever. Tons for the Bearcats, tons for Nebraska. Let's

(01:39:55):
start with you, see, what are you looking forward to
learning about Cincinnati tonight.

Speaker 7 (01:40:00):
I think a number of things.

Speaker 8 (01:40:01):
I think chief among them is whether or not this
retooled receiving corps can help out Brendan Soresby.

Speaker 7 (01:40:08):
I think Brendan Soorsby is incredibly.

Speaker 8 (01:40:10):
Talented, and I think that he's a guy that, with
the right supporting cast, is some targets that can get open.
He can be one of the best quarterbacks in the
Big in the Big twelve.

Speaker 7 (01:40:20):
And I'm not talking about like best you know, ten quarterbacks,
and I'm talking about to that of the league. I'm
talking about like one of two or three.

Speaker 8 (01:40:27):
I think he's that talented, and he possesses a skill
set that not many guys in a conference do. It
certainly is running, but the guy can make every single
part of the field.

Speaker 7 (01:40:36):
And it's sort of a cliche shaping.

Speaker 8 (01:40:37):
To say, but the way he rips the ball, he
can drop the ball to the sidelines. I just have
really enjoyed sort of digging into his game up more.
I mean, we saw him last year in Colorado, but
being able to watch sort of a full body of
the season.

Speaker 7 (01:40:52):
Taking stock at different points in the season.

Speaker 8 (01:40:55):
When you can have the full the full, the full
season in front of you or behind you, just gives
you a different perspective.

Speaker 7 (01:41:03):
So if the receivers that they brought in.

Speaker 8 (01:41:07):
Can be as explosives as they expect them to be,
then I think he could have a big year.

Speaker 7 (01:41:13):
So I'm interested to see Cyrus Allen. I'm interested to
see Jeff Caldwell. I'm interested to see Goodie.

Speaker 8 (01:41:19):
Because I think those guys are sort of the key
to Cincinnati's offense taking a big step forward.

Speaker 3 (01:41:24):
Yeah, there's a lot more team speed, I guess for me,
you know, And you mentioned Brendan Sorosby last season. Boy,
the first seven or eight games he was terrific, and
then down the stretch he got a little gun shy.
And I'm sort of curious in what is effectively going
to be a road situation against a big time opponent,
is there's the capability to make big thros. I think

(01:41:44):
sometimes last year there was an unwillingness to throw downfield,
and I'm kind of wondering if that is a thing
of the past, or if in a big situation that
presents itself tonight, So.

Speaker 8 (01:41:54):
I didn't I didn't see a lot of opportunities to
throw down field where guys were open and he's not
pulling the trigger. I just think I think that what
happened with Brendan towards me at the end of last
year is he was having to throw into coverage so
much and not.

Speaker 7 (01:42:09):
Necessarily like three guys around a guy. But we saw
the game against.

Speaker 8 (01:42:13):
Colorado, and in that Colorado game, and throughout the season,
we had Colorado four times, so we became very familiar
with him, and by that time we'd had him twice,
and so you know, going into the game, it's about, Okay,
can you run the ball against heavy boxes when Colorado
has more guys around the line of scrimmers and you
have to block. And if you can't do that, which
is hard for most teams to do, can you get
open against bandam man coverage?

Speaker 7 (01:42:34):
Because that's what Colorado was going to do. They're gonna
stick Charlotte standers in the middle of the field.

Speaker 8 (01:42:38):
They were going to tell DJ McKinney, who's going to
be in the NFL next year playing corner, and Travis Hunter,
who's in the NFL now playing whatever he wants to
play and.

Speaker 7 (01:42:47):
The rest of that route.

Speaker 8 (01:42:47):
Colton Hood and that group to, hey, go play man
to man against the receivers and we'll let everybody.

Speaker 7 (01:42:54):
Else stop the run. And that game was.

Speaker 8 (01:42:56):
Sort of a start of everybody challenging Cincinnati to beat
man coverage. I mean, they could not do it against Colorado.
Travis Hunter went and covered.

Speaker 7 (01:43:06):
Joe Royer and erased him from the game. The receivers
on the outside couldn't get open against Colorado's physical physicality
and length, and you saw that pop up again again.
I ways State doesn't play a lot of.

Speaker 8 (01:43:16):
Man coverage, but West Virginia challenged them, Kansas State challenged them,
and TCU certainly challenged them, and they.

Speaker 7 (01:43:23):
Could not get open.

Speaker 8 (01:43:24):
So I think Brandon Soresby just ran into a scheme issue,
a scheme in personnel issue. They found the scheme that
formixed Cincinnati's personnel on the edge, and he wasn't able
to do anything with it because as a quarterback, you
can't throw it to guys that aren't open.

Speaker 7 (01:43:39):
So that was sort of more.

Speaker 8 (01:43:41):
The issue to me with Sorosby. At the end of
last year, teams figured out that hey, look if we
just splowed up to stop the run, and we can
play man coverage behind they can't get open, which is
why they there was such an emphasis on speed in
the offseason.

Speaker 3 (01:43:56):
Roddy joneses with us ESPN has the game tonight at
nine o'clock. Nebraska Year three. Matt Ruhle another season. Dylan Royola.
I'm excited to watch him tonight just because we've you know,
he's so well known for a lot of different things.
I think there were times last year where you, if
you're a Nebraska fan, you loved what he did. And
there were times last year where he made some decisions

(01:44:16):
that you were like, you know what, I can't wait
for him to put those behind him. What's the biggest
question for you about the corn Husters tonight?

Speaker 7 (01:44:24):
Well, in the development of Dylan Royola is the is
the first one, And I think there were a couple
of things that sort of played him last year. One
of them is schmatics.

Speaker 8 (01:44:34):
I think that offense had too much stuff in it
last year, Like I don't think I had a true identity.

Speaker 7 (01:44:40):
I mean, they wanted to.

Speaker 8 (01:44:41):
Run a football, but how they wanted to run a football,
what they wanted to do off of it, And he
was switching a not necessarily.

Speaker 9 (01:44:49):
Game plans week to week, but but sort of what
they leaned on week to week was something.

Speaker 8 (01:44:54):
That that Nebraska is going to streamline under Dana Holgerson.
He felt like they had too much offense in and
so they will have less offense. It will be a
more it will be a more cohesive game plan on
a week two week basis.

Speaker 7 (01:45:10):
Secondly, he's got to be better with his eyes.

Speaker 8 (01:45:12):
I thought, you know, the interceptions last year, most of
them were him staying down receivers and people being able
to sort of track under them and pick the ball off,
and they got to protect them better. They weren't had
a great protection.

Speaker 7 (01:45:22):
Team last year. That offensive line should be better.

Speaker 8 (01:45:25):
It's one of the most experienced in the country in
terms of what starts and games played, so that offensive
line should should take a step forward. So that's the
biggest thing. I think the biggest question overall for Nebraska
is defensive line wise. They should feel good about the
lineback and cord. They should feel pretty good about the secondary.
But they had some really good players in the defensive

(01:45:46):
line that are that they lost in the off season.
So defensive line is going to be a lot smaller
and have to rely a lot more on movement, which
is interesting because you know I covered Scott's out if
here a lot at Louisville, and I covered him an
app state before that, being from Georgia, you know those
games against Georgia Southern. I actually did a game at Stute,
Georgia Southern and.

Speaker 7 (01:46:04):
He was there.

Speaker 8 (01:46:06):
So the thing that can disrupt this offense for Cincinnati
if they are heavy outside or mid zone is penetration.
And sometimes when you get some of these lighter fronts
that slant and stunt a lot, they can prevent me
a bunch of negative plays. The flip side of that
is if you catch them in the right stunt or
the right slant, you can gash in big time. And

(01:46:29):
so that sort of dynamic it's going to be interesting
because Scott Sidifer has a tolerance for negative plays. It's okay,
he understands they're going to come. But the hope is
that you get a bead on when they slant, when
they stunt, and you're able to gash them with some
stuff and bring its.

Speaker 7 (01:46:43):
Always.

Speaker 8 (01:46:43):
These legs are certainly an equalizer.

Speaker 7 (01:46:47):
In that as well.

Speaker 8 (01:46:47):
So the Nebraska defensive line is a big question because
of how different they're going to look from what they
did a year.

Speaker 3 (01:46:53):
Ago one morning. I'll let you go defensively. You know,
Dante Corleone is coming off a normal offseason, which was
not the case for the opener last year. If they're
healthier on the defensive line, lots of guys back in
the linebacker group. I think if there's one question that
a lot of Bearcats fans have, it's can the secondary
hold up, especially at corner?

Speaker 2 (01:47:13):
Would you would you echo that?

Speaker 7 (01:47:16):
Yeah, that's that's a major question.

Speaker 8 (01:47:19):
I agree, like the demons of line should be really
good type of bite that that using those three defensive
lineman the wa he does, bigger bodies certainly helped. And
having Jalen Hunt back is a big one and Michael
Coleman too, But but Jalen hunts to three hundred and
fifteen pounds, can play the interior, can play on the
edge like the guy is the guy who's is a

(01:47:41):
chess piece that not many people have. And then I
think depth wise, and you've got a guy like Rob
Jackson coming off the bench, I think that certainly, and
see Jener Crace played a ton of ball.

Speaker 7 (01:47:51):
Over the course of his career at Virginia Tech.

Speaker 8 (01:47:53):
This is perre in a ton of games. I think
that capt is there. You mentioned the line back and corps.
I'm not going to go deep into happy with Jack
Dingle and Jet and Jake Godey and Sydney Colvin and
Johnathan Thompson like they're.

Speaker 7 (01:48:06):
Going to be fine there. The fact that Logan Wilson
is sliding over to corner from the safety position. He
feels like he is a natural corner.

Speaker 8 (01:48:18):
But that is a it's a question. We haven't seen
it a ton, so that's the question. Then getting Matthew
mcdoon over from Coastal Carolina, I think it's a big
gain anytime you get a first team All Sun Belt
Conference guy.

Speaker 7 (01:48:31):
So the retooled secondary is.

Speaker 8 (01:48:33):
Probably the biggest question that I have about the Cincinnati defense.
It's almost the opposite of Nebraska's defense, where it's the
defensive line and the secondary. He's got three captains in it.
This is a defense that should be really good in
the front, but the secondary, especially at corner, it's certainly
a big question.

Speaker 3 (01:48:52):
Mark Roddy, awesome stuff, man. I know you have a
broadcast to get set for. I appreciate the time we'll
let you go. Thanks so much.

Speaker 7 (01:48:59):
Yeah yeah, thank you guys for having me have a
go on.

Speaker 3 (01:49:02):
Roddy Jones, who was a heck of a running back
at Georgia Tech, part of the ESPN broadcast tonight. Tony
Pike was a heck of a quarterback at u SEE.
He's a part of the broadcast on the radio tonight.
His season preview report.

Speaker 4 (01:49:12):
Is next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic from the.

Speaker 5 (01:49:19):
UC Health Traffic Center. Trust the same team for your
care that keeps the UC Bearcats on the field. Count
on u SEE Health Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, no matter
the injury. Visit u sehealth dot com. Westbound two seventy five.
It's an accident on the off ramp to Dixie Highway.
The right shoulder is blocked on that ramp. Southbound seventy

(01:49:40):
one at Ronald Reagan Highway. Another crash of this one
off on to the left shoulder and westbound Norwood lateral
accident on the off ramp to northbound seventy five. I'm
at exelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:49:51):
This report is sponsored.

Speaker 1 (01:49:53):
This is the season preview report got for you, Bye Skyline.
Shelley feeling good, Skyline Dog on your official home of
the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:50:09):
One more season preview report with Tony Pike. Tony, you
and I yesterday were together. Neither of us were on
air when the Bengals. We found out the Bengals have
signed Dalton Reisner, and I felt like on social media
there was this instant surge of optimism. Is that optimism
based on signing him justified?

Speaker 12 (01:50:28):
Well, if you think Minnesota last year, Cincinnati now Canton
would be the next stop. Based on everything I read yesterday, No,
it is. I think I equate this to the same
way we talked when Noah Fan became a Cincinnati Bengal.
When that news broke yesterday with the Bengals better than
they were before, and I think, yes, if you look
at just the sheer numbers out of past protection, he

(01:50:50):
doesn't give up sacks.

Speaker 11 (01:50:51):
That's what he's best at.

Speaker 12 (01:50:52):
That's our biggest concern in Cincinnati is protecting Joe Burrow.
So if you go based on what he's done in
his career, then you would say, Okay, that's a upgrade
for this offensive line.

Speaker 2 (01:51:03):
Would you start in Week one? Absolutely?

Speaker 12 (01:51:06):
I've only because of what I've seen from Lucas Patrick
up to this point. Mmm, like I've seen I've seen
him get beat with moves. I've seen him get bull rushed,
I've seen him get beat with speed. I saw Chris
Jenkins throw him eight yards back down the field and
no offense to Chris Jenkins. But I know Mason Graham
is a very good player. I know Miles Garrett is

(01:51:27):
one of the best, if not the best, edge rushers
in the game. I'm not taking any chances I would
against Cleveland and what they possessed defensively and offensively. If
you've got to shrink down some of the protections for
him to be more comfortable, I would rather do that
than run the risk of Lucas Patrick out there.

Speaker 3 (01:51:45):
Yeah, I would agree, and I would I would assume
that Dalton Reisner can be a quick study. He's done
this before where he's joined the team. Maybe not this late,
but the last two contracts he has signed, he has
signed well after Minnie camp. In one case, you know,
training camp had already pretty much ended, So this is
something he has done before. So with what they did yesterday,

(01:52:07):
you had a lot of folks and again this is
social media saying, well, see luck, they had a great offseason.
How would you assess how would you describe the Bengals
offseason incomplete?

Speaker 12 (01:52:16):
You know, because I thought about this driving over to
the stadium today in terms of the Bengals and all
the conversations you and I had when the season wrapped
in disappointment last year, because they were so close and
you looked at all of the the one or two
things that could have happened in each game that could
have gotten you over the hump and been in the playoffs,
and I think everything that we highlighted the day when

(01:52:39):
the season ended is still a question mark for this team.
Even with Dalton Reisner. I still worry about the offensive line,
even with Al Golden. I still have a significant concern
about a defense that was terrible last year. So it's
incomplete to me because I hope Shamar Stewart's an upgrade.
They just got Trey Hendrickson back, they had Reisner, but
we're still talking about the same questions we had going

(01:53:00):
into the offseason with the season ending.

Speaker 2 (01:53:03):
All right, Tony, thank you so much. Tony joins me tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (01:53:06):
Three forty five, four forty five and five forty five
for the last day of season preview reports. Tony is
with US tonight here at Arrowhead Stadium as we get
set for Cincinnati versus Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (01:53:18):
He'll be on the Bearcat's sideline.

Speaker 3 (01:53:19):
Our pregame coverage on seven hundred WLW will begin at
eight o'clock. Kickoff tonight is at nine pm. You see
versus Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (01:53:28):
This is a game.

Speaker 3 (01:53:29):
We've talked about it all afternoon. Frankly, we've talked about
it for the better part of the last six weeks.
Scott Springer was with US earlier and talked about like
this wouldn't necessarily be the biggest Bearcat's victory of recent vintage,
but it would be the biggest one easily of Scott
Saderfield's time at Cincinnati, and would go a long way
toward not just jump starting the twenty twenty five season

(01:53:50):
to a degree, just sort of jump starting and reigniting
the program to a large degree. See if they can
do that tonight against Nebraska. We're back at it tomorrow
at three five on ESPN fifteen thirty. Tomorrow is our
last Friday show of the year because Bengals pep Rally
takes over for US two weeks or I'm sorry one
week from tomorrow, so we have that at three oh five,

(01:54:11):
we'll talk you see versus Nebraska, look ahead of the
Reds and Cardinals, and I guess start to look ahead
to the first Bengals game as well. Anything you might
miss find it on the iHeartRadio app podcast at this
show or a service of long Neck Sports Grill. If
you're in Northern Kentucky, or heck, even if you're not,
drive to Northern Kentucky, because there's three awesome long Next locations.

(01:54:32):
They'll have tonight's game, they'll have Wisconsin versus Miami. You
got Wilder, you got Hebron, you got Richwood. And remember
there is a no better place for your fantasy football
drafts than a long Next Sports Grill.

Speaker 2 (01:54:45):
That's it for us.

Speaker 3 (01:54:46):
We're back at it tonight eight o'clock on seven hundred
WLW with the Americat pregame show and then the game
at nine pm. Back in studio tomorrow at three oh five.
This has been the michelob Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour.
Enjoy the rest of your ninth Thanks to Tarn Bland
for producing back in Kenwood, and we'll talk to you
tomorrow here at three oh five on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station, Men summertime

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