All Episodes

October 23, 2025 • 13 mins

Rick Neuheisel, former Washington Head Coach turned CBS Sports Analyst, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the Huskies loss at Michigan last week, a war of words between Montana and Sacramento State right now, UCLA’s winning streak, the search for a coach at Florida, Illinois ahead for UW, Big Ten travel, and WSU vs Toledo.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Your home for college football Saturdays is live with CBS
Sports analyst Rick Neuheisel, powered by Taco Time. Hungry at
Taco Time, It's easy to create exactly what you're craving,
and we wouldn't have it any other way. How do
you Taco Time, customize your meal and order ahead on
the Taco Time Northwest Taco Time Time for something different?

(00:25):
Now with Rick Neuheisel, here's Softy and Ditch.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I'd like to point out, by the way, before we
start talking college football games this weekend, that Rick new
Heiseel is now riding a three game winning streak. Boys
and Girls came through with tempo in a big way,
given the points over Charlotte hammering them this weekend.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
He began the year one in five.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
He is now crawling back to a game under at
four and five on the year, and he's won three
in a row.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
How about that coach? How about that run? Baby?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
How about me starting the show giving you full credit
like I promised.

Speaker 4 (00:57):
At a boy, I'm proud of you. Let's let's not
talk about it. Let's just see if we can keep
it going.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Done done, done, All right, Well, let's go back, first
of all, before we talk about this Saturday's game and
all the action happening this weekend, man Rick, The Dogs
were right there seven to seven at halftime against Michigan.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
You know what it's like to coach in that stadium.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
The last two times I was there with you back
in two thousand and two and then went with Jimmy,
you know, just a couple of years ago, things didn't
go so well. They didn't go well again to mont
Williams comes out and throws three picks in the second
half and the Huskies lose again to Wolverines. I mean,
how do you explain the offense just melting down on
the second half like that.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, it was absolutely a tough, tough second half for
the Dogs. Listen, at the end of the day, it
comes down to turnovers. You can't turn it over. It's
an old cliche, it's coach speak one oh one, But
when you turned the ball over and give short fields,
you're in harm's way, especially when you get a crowd involved.

(02:06):
And you know that was That's a tough place to
play anytime, as you know having been there with the
team on a couple of occasions. But to win, you
have to make those plays and you've got to cause
those turnovers, and that just wasn't to be on that
particular Saturday.

Speaker 5 (02:26):
How much of a concern should there be in DeMont
Williams when the competition steps up. I mean, through three
interceptions against Michigan, they scored seven points. They scored six
against OSU. Last year, they scored six against Penn State
when he played half that game. I mean, how much
how much concern should there be because he is a
smaller quarterback and that's first interception certainly was because he

(02:47):
was short and he couldn't see the guy cutting across
the middle.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
You know, that's always going to be an issue. That's
something he can't control. I think that, you know, if
I were in the play caller's position, I'd move him
a little bit more, give him some free opportunities to
look down the field without that big pocket in front
of him. But at the day's end, I still think

(03:13):
he's one of the really talented guys out there. And
when you play against these really talented fronts, which Ohio
State and Michigan both are, it's not as easy to
make the kind of you know, jaw dropping moves that
he makes against the rest of his name so if
you get comfortable living off of that, you're gonna have
problems when it's not there for you.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, Rick new Hazle with us and Rick is not
very often that we talk FCS football on this segment
with you. But were you tracking what your old special
teams coach Bobby Howk is going back and forth with
this week with Sacramento State before the.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Big game with Montana Friday night? How about that.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
There's some there's some talk huh big, clearly shocking, knowing
Bobby like I know it, Well, where.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Is that coming from?

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Is that because Dick and I were surmising on the air, Well,
this is just them trying to drum up this broadcast
on ESPN two, which they've done because I'm going to
go watch the game tomorrow night.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
I don't know where it comes. You know. Brendan Mary
and the head coach at sax State, he used to
be Troy Taylor, who was a GA of mine when
I was coaching at Colorado. Troy went to Stanford and
got let go this year for some kind of crazy reasons,
and I know he's suing the school and so forth.
Bobby and I have been together a long time now,

(04:35):
that's Ben and Mary and at Sacramento State. And he's
the guy that wouldn't pay that Matthew Seluca at UNLB
last year when Seluca said I'm not playing anymore. Yes,
that's the same guy. So he didn't have much to
say on that topic. So maybe he just desired of
not talking. He wants to talk now, Rick.

Speaker 5 (04:55):
The beloved Bruins are on a three game winning streak
and they're rolling in.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
In to take on the undefeated. Who's your sigh?

Speaker 5 (05:02):
Is there an upset waiting for Jerry Newheisel's greatest win
of his career?

Speaker 3 (05:07):
If he can get that one twenty six points? That
seems like a big number to lay for.

Speaker 4 (05:11):
The climb from twenty four and a half to twenty
six and a half. Yeah, So what did the guys
in dumb and Dumber say? So you're saying there's a chance. Yeah,
that's exactly where we are.

Speaker 5 (05:23):
You know.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
I heard Urban Meyer talk about how you win a
game of this kind where you're big underdog, and he says,
you don't talk about winning, You talk about making a
five yard gain on this play and pushing the pile.
So you get a three yard gain on this play?
And now it's third and two and you convert, and
all of a sudden you break a tackle and there's
a twelve yard gain and the next thing you know,

(05:44):
you're down there in the red zone and somebody makes
a great catch and you play like that. And this
is going to be a party in Bloomington for all
the people who've been waiting for this forever. This is
the losingest program in the history of college football, and
yet now they have the bello of the ball in
Kurt Signetti. He just got a ninety six million dollar raise.

(06:07):
You can imagine how the signetti. Confetti's going to be
flying all over the place. So how you win this game?
It is what I told Marcus and all those guys,
is we're going to make him in about the third
quarter look up and go, wait a minute, we're only
ahead by three, or we're behind by three, and they'll
wake up and they'll get into it. But instead of

(06:28):
being raucous, they're going to be nervous. And that's how
you strike. Anyway, it sounded good when I told the kid.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, Rick new Hazel's with us, and Rick two weeks
ago is James Franklin last week it was Billy Napier.
Two schools are going to spend about seventy million dollars
to get rid of their coaches. So I guess the
question is where does Florida now go from here? And
should Husky fans even be thinking about jetfish in that?
Regarding Gainesville, you know, having spent time with Jed this summer,

(06:58):
I know he loves it in sat So I would
if he were to get interested in that job.

Speaker 4 (07:04):
It would be something I would be surprised by. Obviously,
it's where he went to school, so it's an easy,
you know, connection to make. But he's made most of
his life at least as a head coach on this
side of the country, on the west side of the country,
and so I think that he's probably very much in

(07:25):
the long haul. He may want to talk to the
ad about an extension should the thing gets heated up,
which is probably what Lane Kiffin's going to do at
Ole miss Right. But I mean, this is the leverage
limbo that is the agent's world. Jimmy Sexton and all
the different guys out there are working the phones trying

(07:46):
to make deals because it's not just for the guy
who gets the job. It's for all the guys that
got their name in the paper about the job.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Rick, what do you make of the fighting a line.

Speaker 5 (07:56):
They've been blown out twice by the two really good
teams they face, but they have an impressive win over
a USC So what type of team are we going
to see coming into Montlake on Saturday.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
I think it's a little bit different than what you
would expect from Brett Beelman teams. I don't see them
as overly physical. I see them you know, you're able
to run the ball. They've given up a number of
games over two hundred yards on the ground. I see
this as but their their quarterback is their key. Luke

(08:28):
Altmeyer is a player. I think he has at least
six come from behind victories, maybe seven. He had five
coming into the year, which was the most of any
returning quarterback, and he did it again against s SE
and maybe another time. So that's the key. The defense
is going to have to keep an eye on Altmeyer

(08:48):
and make sure they corral him if they're going to
have success against Illinois. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well, we talked about, you know, the travel in this conference,
and god, it just still feels like it's a thing,
man that people are still kind of trying to figure
this out.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
I mean, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
I guess My question is how long is this going
to be a freaking topic for because I'm getting kind
of sick and tired.

Speaker 3 (09:09):
Of talking about it.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
You know, Lincoln Riley talking about it, Franklin was talking
about it. Mick cronin basketball coach at UCLA, we mentioned
that to you, talking about is this still a thing
or is this just.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
An excuse that coaches like to keep in their back pocket.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
Well, it's not a thing if you did it once
and maybe twice. But the hangover and what you get
in practice when you come back and you're missing some
sleep or your timing is off the practices, aren't it,
chrisp And so you go into games with less confidence

(09:43):
and it just has a residual effect. And it's sif
part and parcel of the you know, the four West
Coast schools being a part of the Big ten, and
you know, whether you're going to the Midwest, you're going
all the way across to the East coast. It is problem.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Now.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
You do everything you can to use the science and
you know, but they're school involved and it something's got
to give and That's why I hope someday we get
back to divisions in these conferences so there's less of it.
Twice a year would be okay, four times a year?
Is it a little overwhelming?

Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well?

Speaker 5 (10:19):
Rick, I got a factor fiction pick to make in
a couple of minutes, and I looked at this Wazoo
Toledo game in Pullman, and I'm like, what am I
missing here? The Cougs are one and a half point
underdogs to the Rockets.

Speaker 3 (10:30):
What is what is Toledo bringing into Pullman?

Speaker 4 (10:34):
Nobody is paying attention to? Is it zebby echo Yevy?

Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yes, no one's.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
Paying attention to that guy. He almost pulled up two
unbelievable upsets. They were at Oh Myths and got within
a field goal of that game, having the lead for
much of it. And then at Virginia who's only got
one loss, and is you know, kind of the darlings
of the ACC right now? They win, they they have
a safety late in the game that ends up costing

(11:03):
them that game. This kid is really good. I loved
Zebbie kouts in Washington State this week especially. Are we
gonna get any weather in Pullman?

Speaker 5 (11:13):
Little ram but shouldn't be bad not as bad as Seattle.

Speaker 4 (11:18):
And remember those teams in the MAC are not traveling
it to kind of lush accommodations that those power schools
are traveling with. I love the Cougars in this spot.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
I love it all right. Well, let's get to it then,
because this is the big one. This is the moment
that all of us have been waiting for. We can
get back to five hundred rick with our Taco Time
pick of the week. I'm gonna go with a chicken
soft taco, Crispy burrito, large Coke zero, just you know,
my consistent favorite menu items on the menu. I'm boring,
but I'm consistent. So to get back to five hundred,
your Taco Time pick of the week is.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
What no one ever called you, boring, Saftie.

Speaker 3 (11:57):
Plenty of people have trust me.

Speaker 4 (12:01):
We are going with an old assistant coach of mine.
He coaches for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Clarkley is his name.
They are I think a two and a half point
favored over Missouri game day is going to be there.
The city of Nashville will come ablaze with Commodore fever.

(12:21):
And this is like never happened before. They when they
were favored last week against LSU was the first time
since the late seventies they've been favored against an SEC team,
and it was the first time against LSU they were
favored since nineteen forty seven. So I love what's going on.
And it's no accident that Diego Pappy is the real deal.
He gives them an edge. Give me the Commodores. I'll

(12:44):
lay the two and a half over Missouri.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
Vanderbilt minus to two and a half against Missouri on Saturday.
All right, Rick, great stuff.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
But sprinkle a little on those cougars. Sprinkle a little
on those cougar.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Just a little. I like it.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
I like it a little side action. Rick, you're the man.
Great stuff, and we're talking a week bude, see you boy.

Speaker 4 (13:04):
Take guys,
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.