Best Bowl Performances and National Championship Preview: Alabama Defense and Best Bets

Joe Lisi, Rich Cirminiello and special guest Terry Bowden review the best bowl performances of the 2018-2019 College football season. Then, they examine Alabama's defensive players for the national championship and provide their best bets. #FNTSY #FNTSYRadio #NCAA #CollegeFootball #FantasyCollegeFootball #BowlGames #NationalChampionship #Alabama #Clemson #BestBets #Bets #Betting #Defense

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, thanks for downloading the podcast, and remember, if you
want to listen live, download the I Heart Radio app,
download the tune and app and just search for Fantasy
Sports or Radio Network and you could listen to this
program live. Also, if you want to watch the video
of this podcast, check us out on YouTube, on twitch,
or on Periscope and type in you guess did Fantasy

(00:23):
Sports Network. You'll find us there. Enjoy the show and
thanks for listening. You're listening to the Fantasy Sports Radio
Network's College Football Today. That sounded like Nick Saban coaching

(00:53):
up that Alabama defense. I get here in Bobby Boucher.
When producer could they could Trevor Lawrence gets hot. I
know Alabama fans will hate me a heck of a
Bobby Body impression. He does, he got, He gets me
all pumped up. I want to run through the brick
wall in a couple of minutes. But when you look
at this Alabama defense given up a hundred and twenty

(01:15):
rushing yards for a game, they're giving up a hundred
eighty seven passing yards to opposing offenses. Their plus eight
and turnover margin you mentioned in the last segment, Rich,
They're not the same dominant defensive unit that we've seen
in years, passed with guys like Jeremy Pruitt and Kirby
Smart at the helm. This is the worst rushing defense
in Alabama history since prior to two thousand and nine.

(01:39):
Now you're talking about teams that for years lead FBS
in terms of rushed defense right around sixty sixty five yards.
Maybe they got up to Maybe this hundred and twenty
yards per game is not just on the defense. It's
because of the up tempo maybe with two and the
ability to stretch defenses that they're just scoring so quickly

(02:00):
that keeps coming back out on the field from multiple place. Yeah,
and the defense has less rest than it in the past.
Maybe time of possession is not something they're dominating as
much in the past. I I think this defense can
be run on. There is one exception. To me. The
best player in this game, either side of the ball,
either team is quinnin Williams. And this is this is

(02:22):
really a testament to Alabama football because this time last year, Joe,
we weren't talking about Quinn and Williams. We're talking about
other guys, and and next year we'll be talking about
other guys that maybe we're not talking about now. Just
every year it's it's a new star. Quinn and Williams
is one of those defensive lineman that just puts offensive

(02:42):
lineman on skates. He gets off the snaps so fast,
he has violent hands, his ability to cause disruption, that
for me, is going to be the biggest problem for
the Clemson offense. If they can contain number ninety two,
they have a shot to be very successful offense. And
I'm glad you said that because we were gonna talk
about the best NFL draft twins. I think Jonah Williams

(03:04):
may be the biggest NFL draft choice. He will line
up against Clinton Williams a little bit. I think that'll
be a factor not just of which guy's the higher
draft choice, but in the outcome of this game, because
I think he may be the highest draft choice out
there on the field today. Offensive lineman don't get the credit,
They don't get talked about as much. But when it
comes to the draft, a guy that can play left tackle,

(03:25):
a guy that can protect the quarterback, a guy that
can take that first step backwards like he can is
so critical. And if he can turn out to be
the first round draft pick that many think he will
be the first guy picked from this game. Um, that'll
do a lot to take care of the second uh
and Quinlan if he can do something to slow that down,
because that's the NFL scouts want to see you play

(03:46):
against the best talent. That'll be the that'll be the
matchup they watch all day if they can get it,
which is a great point. NFL scouts will be obviously
in attendance in Santa Clara. It's great because because these
are the types of games that you want to see
a kid elevate the level of his play. And I
like that coach brought up Joe Williams because Joah Williams
is the kid in California. And then this is also

(04:08):
a testament to nix ability. He wants a kid bad
enough he can go out as far as California, bring
him to Tuscaloosen. That's a great point. I think when
you look at this matchup in terms of their defense.
If you're Clemson, any pitch, any any swing pass in
the perimeter and he slant and he hits take that
he's of the game plan. And if it's on a

(04:30):
piece of paper, if it's on the flace, throw it
in the fireplace and take that iPad and burn it
or whatever, because coach, I've seen offensive coordinators attack Alabama
sideline to sidelines side because it's the safe play. And
I'll say this, even if you throw an in completion,
you have to loosen them up to think pass on

(04:52):
first and second down. Now, Clemson from a schematic standpoint
and a personnel standpoint can play with Alabama straight up,
but less your teams can't. So that's why from a
game plan perspective, you need to think outside the boxing.
You need to be aggressive. But even if you're clepsing,
you saw what he did last year in terms of
handcuffing the offense, putting them in long third down situations.

(05:16):
Well yeah, and you talk about attacking the outside. That's
why you see this bubble or hitch screen so much
on the outside the quick because all they're doing, though
is trying to loosen up the middle. Because if you
think of seven people in the box, you think of
outside linebackers. Are they leaning towards the inside of the
line or they leaning toward the outside receivers? That leaning
is all you need to block one of those guys

(05:38):
with an angle. But you've got to get the ball
outside very quickly enough time to open up the middle.
I think that's gonna be important with the type of
defense they've got, is to get that ball out there
with a quick pop. Get those outside linebackers having to
run outside away from the ball as opposed to taking
you know, on the snap of the ball, are their
first steps one or two steps towards the ball or
their first steps one or two steps out. That's the

(06:00):
difference a lot of times in making your inside game work. Yeah,
we talked about it last week in terms of having
that quarterback in the secondary, Eddie Jackson a few years ago.
Minca Fitzpatrick. We I still don't see it with Thompson,
And that was close with Thompson, close, but I just
not enough experienced, Like he's as versatile as Minka was. No.

(06:21):
Pretty high. That bar is pretty high, though. I think
if de yeah, he had to Yeah, I don't. I
don't think Deonte Thompson Again, I think he's strictly a safety,
but extraordinarily instinctive. I mean this to me is a
vintage Alabama defensive player, super smart, high football I you
anticipates very well, doesn't have the covered skills in the

(06:43):
back pedal to be a corner of the way, and
Eddie Jackson or a Minka can sort of, you know, uh,
freelance in those positions. But I think if the Deantey
Thompson returned next year, which I don't think he will,
if he returned to school next year, I think he
could develop into that hype of a player. I think
it's possible. One stat I wanted to throw out. I
know stats get a little bit overstated, but sometimes you

(07:05):
have to dig a little bit deep in terms of
past plays of twenty or more yards. This year, Alabama's
secondary seventy third in the nation. They've allowed forty three.
It reminds me a little bit of Ohio State has
state great athletes, former four star, five star kids. Jordan
Fuller in the like Jeffrey Acuda gave up a lot
of big plays Alabama the same way. I I think
Clemson is gonna land some blows on deep balls a

(07:28):
couple of times in this game. Coach, can you see,
because I think a game plan two is misdirection in
terms of you start to sweep your play action and
then you roll Lawrence out. In terms of getting that
Alabama defense out of position in terms of waggle routes.
Can that be a matchup in terms of backside passes
in terms of an over aggressive defense. Anytime you play

(07:48):
a team with talented people that can run fast, you
gotta remember two steps very fast in the wrong direction
are awful good to have. So the fast you are,
if your steps are going the wrong way, for at
least one step, that gives you a chance to get
it back. So even if it's only for a five
yard game, be able to come out and roll out
off the back side and get your first downs, get
your short yards, get it down to second and short,

(08:11):
you're really helping your football game. The other thing is
just a play action pass where you're vertically attacking these
defensive backs at their right at them with your wide receivers.
Because the one thing that that sometimes hurts Alabama, they're
not gonna change their style of play. They teach a
style of play that can win championships. And sometimes when
you've got a little less athlete back there at that position,

(08:32):
or one with less experience, that style of play, that
aggressive style of play gets in trouble. That's why they
give up. I think the deep balls They're still trying
to play Alabama defense with some guys that aren't playing
quite at Alabama's level of defense. What's interesting is you
look at some of the quarterbacks that they face this year. This,
by far, in my opinion, is the best quarterback pure
pass or better quarterbacks they faced. Give through the names.

(08:57):
Jowan Pass week One, just Justice Hansen, Okay, Justice has
a nice, nice quarterback, Kahama Transfer, Yeah, d you have
Drew Lock, Garantano, Joe Burrow, Nicky Fitz, Jared Stidham, Jake From,
and Murray. There's some decent quarterbacks though. Drew Lock. Drew Lock,

(09:20):
but he'll still make NFL rosters. Jake Drew Locks. Clemson's
offensive line maybe you know. But the problem is is
at the point of attack, they don't have enough time
to throw passes. Clemson's offensive line can go toe to
toe with the defensive front seven of Alabama, So at
the point of attack they're gonna give Trevor Lawrence sometime.

(09:40):
Jack From was really good against that album From that
was one of the best games of his career. I
thought he was super smart, aggressive on early on first
and second down. They did not run Sony Michelle and
Nick Chubb until later in that second half after they
established the passing game, Cheat established it on first and
second No, I want to see show up who didn't
really show up this year? And I expected, you know,

(10:01):
I thought would be Quinin Quinn Williams this year, but
wasn't with ray Kwon Davis. Ray Kwon Davis was supposed
to be at the level of a Quinnin Williams this
year just didn't get there. So when we talk about
NFL potential and making an NFL statement on the flanks,
particularly ray Kuan, but also Isaiah Bug. Now, Isaiah Bugs
had a very good year, ray Kuan did not. Ray
Kwon has that enormous body, those huge hands, big wingspan,

(10:26):
just didn't deliver. I wonder if he shows up on
Monday night. What's interesting to coach when you look at
the landscape of college football Rich and I touched on
it that with the five wide and the new type
of evolution and offense, we're seeing a slow transition to
where linebackers might be non existent in terms of you
might have safeties at the linebacker position because of their
ability to run sideline to sideline. Yet you look at

(10:48):
both of these teams they find athletic talent that are
also not just good in terms of past coverage, but
in run support. And that's what you need in terms
of a front seven, a dominant seven. Why isn't that
these two teams can do it but others can't. Well,
I think the evolution UH started even back to the
nineties when we spread offices out. I know, but Derrick

(11:09):
Brooks at Florida State. These got to start out as safeties.
Then after they get a little bit older, they moved
down to become linebackers. We've seen that at Alabama, at
Clemson as well. UM, and what happens over the years
they move these guys and change their position in the
off season. Now we've even gone to a different level.
We've gone to nickel and dime defenses now where you're
actually your secondary guys are playing in the game more

(11:31):
than you're outside linebackers at least one of them, and
to give yourself the type of personnel that's gotta play
against these offensive players. So really it's to the point
now we're not looking at linebackers that can cover the past,
but but safeties that can play the run when they
have to. UH. And that's kind of what we're looking
for now, because the that's the evolution of the game,
and that's where we are right now. Yeah, it should

(11:51):
be interesting. I mean again, I think if you're Clemson,
you want to score first. Put the pressure on that defense. Again,
I think the screen game it will be big here.
I think et N feast. I think they're gonna look
to spread them wide and then attack them vertically. That's
why I think when you look at the rush, George,
I think you look at some of these totals in Vegas,
very low for that matter, in terms of their overall

(12:13):
yearly capacity and production. I mean from a game to
game perspective, low totals across the board, I think, yeah.
I mean a lot of that's gonna be dictated by
the tempo of the game. I mean, if this is
a close, hard fawk game, you could see those numbers
go over. If if somebody gets out to a quick lead,
gets off to a big cushion and has to abandon
the run. Look more towards the past again, I'll say it,

(12:35):
I said it earlier. I think this game will hinge
less on Damien Harris and and uh Travis et N
and more on the quarterbacks. I really think these coaches
are confident in their young quarterbacks, want a sophomore, want
a true freshman, kids with still limited experience. Even to
As only started what twelve thirteen games in his entire career,
So I think these coaches are confident in their players,

(12:56):
love the targets that they have on the outside. And again,
I think plays really well into that philosophy, Joe, because
the corners, the defensive backs very good, but not at
the level that we're accustomed There there's there There's no
Mackenzie Alexander necessarily on Clemson, and Alabama doesn't have that
make of Fitzpatrick. So I think there will be plays
to be made in the secondary. And you look at
third down defense both, I mean Alabama holding opposing offenses

(13:19):
thirty percent on third down. So I think when you
look at both of these quarterbacks too, if you put
them in long third down situations, forced them to read coverage,
you have an advantage. So with the freshman quarterback, and
he's been unphased up until this point, but we saw
sometimes in terms of his progression in that game against
Order Dame where they got them into long third down situations,

(13:41):
didn't make the best read. So if you're Nick Saban,
you're that defensive staff, how do you affect Trevor Lawrence
in terms of this matchup? In terms of a defensive
game plan. I still think you've got to mix up
Your coverage is a disguise a little bit. One thing
Nick has been a master of of disguising his coverage
is and not giving a quarterback what he thinks he's
gonna see. After the ball is snaffed, he sees something different.

(14:03):
And that's one thing you can do a little bit
without changing the quality of your of your of your talent,
or the level of talent that a particular player has,
to give them a little something different, uh to look at.
So they don't. They don't. They're not comfortable because I
don't care what you say. Trevor has not seen everything.
He may be poised, he may be uh relaxed, he
may be a very unique talent that he's very He

(14:26):
just he just not He doesn't get flustered. I think
that's what the players talk about him. He's always relaxed,
he's always calm. But there's a factor in football. Once
you've seen something once or twice or three times, you've
seen things, and when you see it again, you react
to what you saw before. He still lacks that inventory
of history in his game starts. He lacks a lot
of that inventory. And I think that's where Nick Saban's

(14:47):
an old secondary coach, will have some things he can
do with his secondary secondary to make it a little
bit more difficult for Trevor. Think an interesting point it
is because turnovers too. We we are about this all
the time. People think, oh, it's just the way the
ball bounces. When you're consistently positive in turnover margin each
and every year, it's taught from the defensive staff. And

(15:11):
that's the one thing I think when you look at
Clemson over the last few years, when they first made
it back in two thousand and fourteen, they were negative
in turn turnover margin and that was the year that
Alabama was negative as well. This year plus eight and
turnover margin last year they were plus fourteen. I mean,
that's the one thing Alabama does better than anybody in
big games. They forced turnovers. Coach, talking about Lawrence, it's

(15:32):
something I haven't seen though. If you remember, the phrase
knots came up a couple of years ago for Alabama,
non offensive touchdowns they had. I don't remember the number
of you think it was almost like they went on
a run where I think they had games where they
they I think they had double digit non offensive touchdowns.
Hasn't been that kind of a season. Still taught, still athletic,

(15:53):
but in terms of that disruption to to turn takeaways
into points, I haven't seen that this year from Alabama.
Maybe that changes, maybe that changes against Climb and maybe
they can disrupt Trevor Lawrence if that does happen. These
teams to me are so close guys, that that one play,
that one possession that changes, that one non offensive touchdown,

(16:14):
that could be the difference between victory and loss. Yeah,
I mean, I mean with these teams, both of them
are exceptional at turnover margin. Now you're talking who's gonna
have to who's gonna have two instead of one, who's
gonna have one instead of none? That may be the factor.
You know, it doesn't look like a huge factor in
the big scheme of things, but when it came into
a game, that's a one touchdown difference then one turnover,

(16:34):
one one ball that doesn't bounce your way, and getting
back to turnovers, I'd always a coach, and I've studied
this a long time. I think the way the ball
bounces is luck. Once balls knocked out or popped up
in the air, it's luck. But people consistently force the
fumble by stripping. They force it by the way they
break and get their eyes of the ball. So I

(16:54):
think it is coached causing a fumble or causing a turnover.
It's pretty lucky. When the ball start, it's bouncing, whether
it goes your way or their way, it should be.
We'll see that it's an eight o'clock game where we
come back, we'll be talking about some best Bowl performances. Joelici,
Rich Sermonello and Terry Bound live from New York, keeping wordess.

(17:30):
Did you know that? You can listen to this show
live on the award winning Fancy Sports Radio Network. Listen
on the I Heart Radio app to tune in radio app,
or download the Fancy Sports Radio Network app. The Fancy
Sports Radio Network is the only totally free three sixty
five fancy sports network of his kind without a subscription.
Check out YouTube live on the Fancy Sports Network YouTube

(17:52):
page and participating the program in there, where you can
ask questions, discuss the topics with other fantasy enthusiasts. I'll
tell anyone that you disagree. Calling to your favorite show
and actual your question. The numbers A full four eight
four f N T S y as eight four four
eight four three six eight seven nine Defensis Posts Radio Network,
Your Free fancy saw us twenty four hours a day

(18:30):
back on college football today. Joe was bumping us. Yeah,
I love that. Gabe will be coming on I think
around twelve forty with his best bets. But we were
talking to all ball season off the record, Rich and
I about some of our teams. Wake Forest stepped up
with Jamie Newman, Army with Hendrick Hopkins five touchdown runs.

(18:52):
I mean there were some dynamic performances. Matt Rubin Baylor
with a gutty win over Vanderbilt, and I'll credit Mike Leach.
I mean to get off the Schneider win that ballgame
against a gutty team in Iowa State with Brock Purty.
I mean they were in a position to get that victory.
I mean that's just dynamic performance. Yeah, you know what,

(19:13):
we talked a lot about it. Um. I think the postseason,
Joe is, is oftentimes a cappult to next season. You
can look at it multiple ways. Maybe Kentucky I think
was about two thousand and eighteen. You said it to
you know, before the bull season, You're calling I'm looking
towards Kentucky. And when the bull picks came out, we picked.
We both picked that Pens State. I took myself out

(19:35):
of mc Sorley would be the difference, and that defense
by by Stoop stepped up. I mean, I was very
impressed with that. That's a big Bowl win for them.
Huge That was a two thousand and eighteen Bowl victory.
But there are other programs like Baylor's win was for
two thousand and nineteen. Yeah, I mean great for the seniors,
it's awesome. But I think certain programs, especially the ones

(19:57):
that the trajectory is headed in this direction. I think
those Bowl victories really go a long way. I love
to watch the young players that stand out. The one
that we talked about yesterday just off camera was Mohammed Ibrahim,
the running back from Minnesota. Looked like the kind of
kid who winds up in places like Columbus and ann Arbor.

(20:17):
Now p J. Fleck has a young kid freshman this year,
thrust into the situation because Rodney Smith was injured. This
kid went for over two hundred yards against Georgia Tech
and was about we talked about low uh low body strength,
right leg strength. That kid is a beast below the waist.
I think he's gonna have a great sophomore season. As

(20:38):
as leading your team to a bowl win back in
two thousand and sixty and I have to add first
bowl win in FBS history four Acron. You got the
victory by two points over Utah State. How important is
that to carry into the off season to get the
bowl victory for for a rebuilding program, especially when you're
looking to recruit Yea. A couple of the reasons of

(20:59):
bull First of all, getting to a bowl if you're
at a mid major level like like the MAC, where
you're playing your three or four nonconference games, like our
nonconference games this year, we're in Nebraska to Northwestern Dilawa State,
and at the end, for good measure, we had in
South Carolina at the end. And so you fight hard
to get seven wins. You know six probably won't get

(21:20):
you into a bowl, and so it means a lot
to your program. First of all, it gives you a
whole three or four weeks of practice to now prepare
maybe two weeks for an early bowl. But it's almost
like a spring ball. Now your young guys can practice
and then too. I think it really does prepare the
enthusiasm excitement of your team. Many of us consider that
bowl the first game of the next year. It gets

(21:40):
you into that. So you can't take it just as
a reward. You gotta be a real, real careful because
you get blown out, you get in trouble. We mentioned Houston.
You look at that score of that game against Army
and you don't know what happened entirely, but it wasn't good.
And I I regret that they fired their coach based
on that, considering he's in a bowl game and had
had had his team playing what they like they did.

(22:00):
But the fact is it's kind of important. And I say,
awferd to you look at the year they're having, and
I know coach over there, they're kind of unhappy because
if you don't think Alabama's out there every time Alabama wins.
I know I was the head coach at Auburn. Every
time they take their team to a championship, you the
you they've just put another nail on your coffin over
there if you don't get close, and that was a
big win for them, uh just as UHM, it was

(22:23):
a tough loss at Houston. Yeah, it's it's interesting because
I think for the quarterback position, when you have a
young quarterback, we've seen some freshman quarterbacks Jamie Newman, for wake,
for a step up. The extra weeks of preparation benefited him.
A quarterback that will probably be mentioned with some of
the top quarterbacks in the Big Twelve, Charlie Brewer. The

(22:44):
weeks of preparation benefited a young quarterback from being able
to break down game film, being able to read coverages
and prepare and that's important as well to kick start
a team for the upcoming season. Yeah. I couldn't agree more.
I know from from our standpoint, we you this for
a living, so our analysis is three d sixty five
days a year. A lot of our two thousand and

(23:05):
nineteen analysis began in the postseason. Didn't really have a
great chance to watch Zack Wilson, the quarterback from from
b y U during the regular season. B y U
was off our radar. We weren't spending a lot of time.
There were in a lot of Marquee games. After that
big upset of Wisconsin, I don't think we talked about
b y U much, but we watched that game against
Western Michigan completes I think eighteen of eighteen passes, and

(23:28):
we were talking on the phone when that game was
going on, and I'm like, man, this kid looks really good.
So you have a chance to do some advanced scouting
during the postseason. One props I want to throw out
to you was Virginia. You were on Virginia for much
of the season. I liked South Carolina. The Belk Bowl,
you were all over Virginia and Bronco Menden Hall and
they come out and they pitch a shutout against Jake
Bentley and South Carolina. So again, a coach in a

(23:50):
program that's headed in the right direction, exacerbated by that
Bowl victory twenty eight and nothing over an SEC team,
very impressive. I think. I think when you're we're looking
at a game, or betting on a game, or just
look at a game a lot of a game. You
got to be careful in program about bowl games as
to which team is motivated to play, which team is not.
It is huge in a bowl game, So many people

(24:11):
see bowls as a reward. Others see it as a punish. Really,
we didn't have the year we wanted. That's not the
ball we wanted to go to. It stoptnight with Georgia
wasn't ready to play, period. They were not ready to
play South Carolina I don't think was ready to play
even though they Virginia. I agree with you there, what
a great job he's done there, but they weren't ready
to play again. Whatever it is you better you can

(24:32):
look and try to look and say which one don't
quite look like a game they wanted to be. I
remember when I was young graduate assistant. You know, sometimes
when you're a graduate assistant, you can hang around the
locker room and the players will gotta let you hang.
And I was down at Florida State way back in
the seventies, and back then there weren't as many bowls,
and if you went to a bowl like Above Atlanta,
it was a punishment bowl. As you live in Florida

(24:53):
and you play your games in Florida, last thing you
want to do is around Christmas time or New Year's
go play up north outside, you know, Memphis or something.
And they would call him the punishment bowls. Uh, but
say you gotta watch closely as to which guy and
my dad did a great job of winning bowl. That's
one of his legacies, I think is how successfully was
and figuring out how to get your kids excited. He

(25:14):
never would let them pick the bull site. That was
one of his rules. He'll pick that one, not let
them pick it. But I think you gotta be watching
teams because there are a lot of teams they go
into bowls and the kids just don't get up and
ready to play. The prime example for me was you
mentioned Georgia. How about Michigan. I mean Michigan, the way
they the season, you can't finish that year. Now he

(25:34):
was just Don Brown. I mean there's a lot of
pressure on that. There's a lot of pressure on Jim Harbaugh,
who you know, admittedly has elevated that program by every
measure since he got there. Right, he took over a
difficult situation from Baty Hoke and and and elevated quickly.
But but then since that point though, they have sort
of plateaued. And and Florida to Florida and Dan Mullen,

(25:56):
that game was a big deal, that was a reward,
been a punishment and Florida comes in looking for that
tenth victory and Dan Mullen thinking, you know what, I'm
gonna compete in the SEC East sooner than later than
people think. They go out and win forty one to fifteen.
That's a huge victory for the Gators. And I'll give
you props. Best bet for you was Texas A and M.

(26:16):
You came out, you nailed it. And the pressure on
Jim Mo to win that ball game because you're you're
being paid seven and a half million dollars, You're not
being paid to lose ball games. And in terms of
when when you look at that type of I want
to say situation, it used to be coach where you know,
the Bowl game, if you're not playing for a national championship,
you could roll the dice a little bit in terms

(26:38):
of opening up the playbook. You could throw some reverses,
you could do maybe you know, run some different types
of formations that maybe the kids didn't do in the
in the regular season. You could you can improvise a
little bit more. Well, now we're seeing teams like Texas
A and M, where hey, you're being paid seven and
a half million dollars, seventy five million over ten years,

(26:59):
Kevin sumone and get it done in a bowl game.
You better win this ball game. So we're not seeing
so much so much razzle dazzle as opposed to just
dominate and just put the pedal to the metal. It's
a sidebar. But having coached in the Western Division of
the SEC, can you imagine in Jimbo Fisher, He's he
was the first quarterback I ever sign and coach for me,
for he was with me fourteen years. He's got a

(27:21):
fantastic contract. But you could imagine going to the West
and being expected to win it all because you're getting
paid like that. That means you gotta be Alabama, l
s U, Auburn, even Mississippi State, and one of these
days Arkansas get back. You can easily be fourth in
your own division and be a good football team, but
not good enough to for that salary that they ask
you to play. And so I think that's it's it's

(27:43):
important again. Bowl bowl seasons and bowl games are very
very important. Uh And and again you gotta watch and
see which teams. It means a lot too, because I
think that that's a factor in how they're gonna play Yeah,
it's interesting too. In terms of recruiting, we talked about
we talked about Florida with dam Owen. When you know
you have teams like well when Mark Rick who was
there with Miami, uh, he had to go up against him,

(28:06):
Charlie Strong, you go up against Lane Kiffin, butch Davis,
I mean those are teams UCF would uh hyper there.
I mean, so there's a lot of in state talent
that you have to recruit against. You better win that
bowl game because you might not get the best in
state talent. And for Florida that's unacceptable. Yeah. I think
sometimes coach, you can tell me if I'm right or wrong.

(28:27):
I think the the early climate of the next year
sometimes is dictated by how you finish. If you're embarrassed
in the postseason, you know, you kind of sluggishly go
into the off season and maybe a little harder to
motivate kids during those early morning workouts. Say, for example,
at Akron UH, in the three years prior to this year,
we went to our two bowl games and three years

(28:48):
that all been to three guilt Bowl games in history.
And in nineteen seventeen we won our division to play
the conference championship. We went to a bowl game against
Florida Atlantic and we didn't play well. They'de his fifty
maybe fifty two to three, but it ended up putting
a negative spin. It was just and again it happened,
and uh, and we couldn't stop it, and it happened,
but it put a whole negative spin. They have to

(29:09):
get through. And our players had done so much in
the previous three years. They had the most successful three
years in Acron history in those previous three but that
bad loss was one of those that you had to
now psychologically as a coach, you gotta pull them out
of that. You gotta say, kids, let's let's move forward
from there, you know. And again I was glad that
they did. They came back and beat the Brandon Northwestern

(29:30):
that the following year in the second game. But those
are hard to overcome if you let yourself get down.
And coaches understand better than players. Coaches know what might
be on the line you have. Michigan players may know
a lot and they should know that if they don't
beat Ohio State a lot, they better win a lot
of ball games because it puts it, it puts it
on it puts it on edge, you know, and they
hadn't beaten Ohio State a lot lately. It's like unrealistic

(29:51):
though expectations. I mean, every team now thinks they can
win in a national championship. Every team thinks they should
be twelve and old year. Very few that legitimately can exactly,
very exactly. But why why why did why did Nick
Sabe decide he has to be the place? Like to me,
he's smart and not He's not only an incredibly hard
worker and and and a well learned worked his life

(30:11):
to work to where he is, but he made sure
he ended up in places like Elisu in Alabama because
they can give him what he needs to lead a
program to the national championship. And very few, as you said,
are able to put their assets together on a house
state in Oklahoma, Southern cal If they get the right
guy in there, they're gonna have the assets the ability
to take their team to Anctionally, I think Texas has

(30:32):
that potential. Should be there. Yeah, Texas can certainly be there.
They have the resources, they have the fan base, they
have the facilities. Uh, they have the recruiting landscape. I
mean it's all there. That and listen, Georgia didn't show up.
I think Georgia is the better football team. They played
that game ten times, Georgia wins eight to nine times,

(30:53):
and then they play in the regular season. I think
Georgia dominates. But but for Texas, that's a great selling
to the win. They played like for tom when you
watch the way they jumped around on the field, they
played with enthusiasm. You can just see it on the field.
Those guys wanted them win a football game. I think
you look at the Big Twelve. I was I was
impressed with the Big twelveall I was impressed. Not so
much Oklahoma. We knew we're getting with at least then,

(31:17):
and they made adjustments. But the Big Twelve impressed me.
You have teams and one of the coaches that you
coached in at Toledo, Matt Campbell, has brought a physical,
blue collar type of mentality, and we're seeing a trickle
down within the conference. We're seeing a coach uh now
for Baylor, Matt Rule that came from Temple, another blue
collar guy. We see North Dakota State's head coach now

(31:40):
taking over the reins at Kansas State. The blue collar
type of mentality smiles. Do you think we're seeing a
changing of the guard, going back to maybe more offense
and defensive line play alla SEC and more outside of
this you know, traditional five wide type of offense there
that I was saying again, everybody that either wants to
hie are a Nick Saban guy or or or try

(32:02):
to emulate the style of play. And there's still a
very physical style of play. Now whether you can do
that with the talent, because I've always felt that if
you have a better center than the other guy, a
better guard, a better tackle, a better tight end, better fullback,
you can overpower them. If you don't, you may have
to spread it out. But I think everybody wants to
try to emulate the type of offense that that has,

(32:22):
and I do think things go in cycles. You know,
there's an old saying that the first coach to put
the wishbone in one the national championship, the last guy
to take it out got fired. And you've got to
be on the front end of of a curve. Football
just changes every couple of decades, and you've gotta be
willing to change with the times. And I think very
much that could be the case. We are finding too
that very There are a lot of coach out that

(32:43):
can really put a lot of points on the board,
but their defense and defenses go to trash. Their defenses
end up not becoming anything because there's so much emphasis
on hurry, perry up offense, off its offense that you
don't play the kind of game that allows a defense
to get pride in the numbers that they wanna have. Well.
I think will be a to do is look at
Alabama and Clemson. I mean, these have been the dominant
forces for the last five years. These are the two

(33:04):
participants Monday Night. These are the two teams that have
done the best job of creating defensive pressure in the
entire country onty teams. Number one is Clemson. Number two
is is Alabama, not just in terms of sacks, but
general defensive pressors. So if you want to win a
national championship, you still have to play defense on that
point and your big twelve point great higher, not good higher,

(33:26):
great higher. By Oklahoma to pull Alex Grinch away from
Ohio State, the defensive coordinator, one of the rising stars
among young defensive coaches. I think he'll be a head
coach before too long. For Lincoln Riley to pull him
out of Columbus. Remember what he did at Washington State
the year I mean before Tracy Clay's Alex Grinch was
turning Washington State at least into an opportunistic defense. Never

(33:49):
gonna be great, They're never gonna be air tight, but
they were opportunistic Hercules mata Offa, those types of fast,
undersized defensive linemen. That was Alex Grinch, and now he's
in Oklahoma. So Sooners realized, if if we want to
go beyond just being big twelve champs gotta play some
degree you want to be elite, you need to do
it on the defensive side of the ball. But I'm

(34:10):
gonna say a little bit further. If you're gonna be elite,
you need to get big people. You need to be
able to recruit big people. We talked about this Joe
during the week. Offensive line as well as defense. Defensive
line first, offensive line second. The pool of recruitable athletes
out of high school that are talented and big is
much smaller than other positions, and so only the elite
teams get them. You've got to move into that level

(34:31):
first where you get elite defensive lineman, and then second
you get elite offensive lineman because there's a very small
pool in America of big guys that have the athletic
skills of a little guy. And that's really what you're
looking for, is a big guy that plays like a
little guy. Sometimes you'll see a big guy with little
old ankles or little old calves, and that's because he's
a little guy a big guy's body, and you really

(34:52):
look for that. And that's what Clemson has, that's what
Alabama has. And along with a mentality of a strong defense,
it starts, it's it remains in the trenches and in recruiting.
Somehow you've got to eject, inject yourself into that level,
that elite level of schools that can attract that small
pool of big athletic football players. Yeah, before game comes

(35:13):
on at twelve forty, I do want to just rapid
fire picks for the National Championship game. My best pet. Well,
we'll get it on the back end, but I'm looking
towards the over in this matchup. I think we're all
in agreement of that not the best bet for me,
but I agree this game will go over. Believe it,
word over when we come back will be joined by
game time decisions, host game Marenzi, what is best bets

(35:35):
and locks for the upcoming weekend in national championship game
from the NFL to the NBA. Daily Roda dot Com
is the place to win millions in daily fantasy. You
can get the best DFS NFL coverage all season long
for a price of one, or dominate the entire Daily

(35:58):
Fantasy Sports round with the Elite package a month. If
you use the promo code f n t s Y,
you get ten percent off your Dailey Rodo package. Go
to Daily rodo dot com, pick your NFL early package,
enter promo code f n t s Y, and you'll
be on your way to becoming the next Daily Rodo millionaire.

(36:28):
You got what I need al right? We are back
on college football today. The Daily rodo dot Com partnership
with Data Golf is also back for two thousand and
nineteen with all new premium fantasy golf and betting tools.
Check out the all new lineup Optimizer with custom settings
and advanced grouping, customizable projections for fan duel and DraftKings,

(36:51):
ownership projections, p g A finished probabilities and simulator outright,
and top twenty market betting tools. Head to head and
three ball betting tools, p G, a pro tip, subscriber, chat,
and more. Go to Daily rodo dot com. Click on
Go Premium, choose golf and enter the promo code golf
nineteen for a ten percent discount. That's Daily rohdo dot com.

(37:14):
Click on Go Premium, then click on golf and enter
the promo code golf nineteen for a ten percent discount. Yeah.
I'm not a big fan of watching golf, but I
can tell you if I had some action on it
at Daily Roado, would I would be more inclined to
care watch four hours of It's not. But if you're like, uh,
is Ernie el is still a golf Yeah, Greg Norman,

(37:38):
he's on the sea in the I don't know if
any else is even a person, to be honest, yes,
yes he was, Like he was my favorite the Chick
fil A. Have you ever done that coach the Chick
fil A Golf tournament, I've never doname. Yeah. What they
do is they pair up coach is I've been to

(38:00):
this event multiple times. They pay up college football coaches
like former players. Steve Spurrier I think was with Shannon Sharpe. Yeah,
he did. This was a couple of years ago. It
goes every year. That goes every every year, down in
down outside of Atlanta. My my favorite golf event. Sevy
bias Stero, who was the arts still remembering from Kentucky.

(38:21):
I thought he was the art still a Kansas City
defensive arm. Yes, even the first round draft choice and
a heck of a golf against. It was that seventies. Yes,
I played against Dark Steele West Virginia. He just got
inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. I think
still was art still when when you're when when your
dad was on it, and I think he was there

(38:42):
as well. I could be wrong. Got a double chess.
Steve Spurrier's wife Jerry shout, Oh my god. She she
is an athlete, didn't she She is an athlete. She
was she was walking. She's like, listen, come on, you
gotta come come walk with me. I need someone to
walk around the golf course. She was like running circles
around me. So I'm I'm curious to know before before
the game, because you said, you know, you know coach

(39:03):
Spurry or and his wife very well. Like so like
back in the day, Florida Auburn, You're sitting there and
you always see like you know, they'll show like Lincoln
Riley and they'll show Nick talking what what is what
is really going there? You're talking just small talk, right,
but you know it's it's mostly small talk. Spurry was
not my contemporary. He's a little bit you know, I
was a little bit younger, and he wasn't really my
dad's total contemporary. But and so but he and I

(39:26):
we we we had a six years we played against
each other. We would go on these Nike trips. These
are sponsors would take this on these week long trips,
all the coaches that were sponsored by Nike and uh,
and my wife and his wife got to know each
other real well. We enjoyed each other. My dad's kind
of an old go to bed at eight o'clock. You're
not gonna have a beer with with Steve, you know,
like like I might have done right and uh, but

(39:48):
we always had a good relationship. But there's nothing before
the game. It's usually just small talk, you know. But
I think there's there's a lot less an a mosty
than people think. I think Florida Florida State is a
robbery that's like Ohio State in Michigan. You don't even
look like you're having a whole lot to talk about
in the middle of the field, even though you might
in a private way. Um, you don't even want to
look that way because fans don't want to believe that

(40:10):
you're even friendly with each It's like a Democrat and
a Republican fraternizing. Your base just doesn't want to see that, basically,
especially if they if they're on the losing end, you
don't want to see like Lincoln Riley. You know, that's
that's the thing. So we talked before the break about
the over. In terms of this matchup, I like the
over will go rapid love it. I love it, I do.

(40:33):
I think. I think this is a thirty three thirty
game somewhere in that neighborhood which would put us over.
But I think it will be a little bit tankers
get into. Don't don't laugh. I think I think both
offenses are gonna be aggressive early on because they're gonna
want to well, I think for two, or you want
to get him into a rhythm, see how if he's healthy.

(40:53):
And number two, I think if you're Trevor Lawrence, you
want to get that scare or that nervousness right out
of the way. All players that give them the ability
to just wing it, and I think that could lead
to big players, could lead to penalties, to pass interference,
and I think you're gonna have some early opportunities. Both
teams traditionally in all of their ball games jump up early,
so that should lead to the over in this matchup.

(41:15):
They both have the ability to score points and because uh,
the other team does, it forces each one um to
pursue each other, continue to pursue each other. You know,
somebody's not playing very well, you can it can die
down pretty quick if you're out there and making a dominant.
I don't know that I'll see forties, but I definitely
see thirties. I'll see this game go on that and
being an over, yeah, it would be sho I'd be
shocked if we're looking and this is a ballgame twenty

(41:38):
four to seventeen, what about you know, three minutes left?
And that's the thing to look at. Look at last
year in terms of if you're gonna wager on this
type of total with fifty nine and a half, you
really never out of a ball game. Look at last year.
Everything went right for Georgia and Alabama go under, game
goes to overtime, and then all of a sudden, now

(41:59):
you have an over. The game landed on forty nine.
It was right around forty six and a half. So
I like the over. That's one. That's my best play.
But I like Clemson tea. I do too. That that
was that was my as I. As I watched the
game's last weekend, the team that impressed me most of
all was Clemson. I I really thought Clemson, on both

(42:20):
sides of the ball was the most dominant. Alabama was fantastic,
and maybe they could have run away and hit if
it was a different type of a game, different type
of an offense. But the defense of Clemson, even without
dextra Lawrence against a a good, not an elite, but
a good a Notre Dame offense. But over the second
half of the season, they've gotten better and better and better.

(42:40):
And I'm just enamored with this Trevor Lawrence. I think
he's a once every ten years, maybe even a once
every generation type quarterback. I I think he's here for
three years. I think he's the top overall pick in
the NFL draft when he's done. I know I'm getting
a little bit ahead of myself. But the way he
throws with anticipation, the way he checks down again, the
poise that he shows in the pocket, maybe Nick will

(43:01):
show him something he hasn't seen. Certainly a possibility. I
like Clemson to win this game out right. I think
we're gonna see a true freshman quarterback lead of victory
in the National Championship Game for a second straight year,
and it will be on the right arm of Trevor Lawrence.
I think that's the problem I have right now because
I coached through the season and didn't watch Trevor each
and every game. I can read the articles and I

(43:23):
can look at the statistics, but my old coaching habit,
my old coaching uh uh mind says this is a
bigger game than the rest of them. It's a little
bit different. It comes down to him having a little
bit less experience. And so I I see uh Alabama
holding on and winning to winning the ball game, and

(43:43):
kept covering the line. Um. But it's because I believe
that this is another level that when it comes down
to it, it's just a little bit different. And so um,
I think the quarterback be honest with the quarterback. The
fact that you've got to UH and you've got a
little more experience there, I think to me, that'll be
the fact. Here's the thing too, when you look at
both national championship games, not the game last year, Alabama

(44:05):
was favored by eleven and a half points, but both
National championship games prior to this point was six, six
and a half point number for Alabama. And then we're close.
Alabama won forty five to forty the first year and
the last year, UH two years ago, Clemson won thirty one.
So it's been right in that area of five points
either way. So I think I don't think you'll see

(44:26):
above seven. I don't think you'll see below five in
this matchup. I don't think the spread comes into factor
that that much. I think we're gonna see about a
ten point when I think it could be three to
seven points either way. We'll get a late field goal.
I don't think this game will go to overtime. That's
just the way I see, and I think one team
will be able to to pull away in the second half.
But you look at some of these prop bets overall.

(44:47):
We talked about Clemson Trevor Lawrence under twenty two and
a half completions. I think it's over. Um. You look
at his touchdown passes to uh, I think that's right.
Theref Clemson wins, it's gonna be on the arm of
traveler Lawrence. So I would say over in that matchup right,
over three t d passes against Alabama for him for
him to get the three yeah free, he could push

(45:09):
at too. I I think he gets at least two.
Um had three last weekend. Uh, Gun to my head,
I would take the over. But that's tough against Alabama.
But but again, like what what we talked about a
lot during the show was Alabama secretary secondary vulnerable to
the beat deep ball. They've given up forty three plays
of at least twenty yards, which is seventy three nationally.

(45:32):
Very un characteristic of the Alabama defense. I think you
could beat them over the top. One thing I wanted
to bring up from a coaching standpoint, uh, Nick is
the best, maybe the best of all times. Something we
can debate. UM. But Dabbo in his last nine Bowl
Slash Playoff games seven and two outright eight and one
against the spread. So he is getting to a point

(45:54):
where he's not in the Nick Saban territory getting close
can't be because of the National championship. But in terms
of big game, I mean, he's knocked off Ohio State,
He's knocked off Oklahoma back in two playoff appearances. Put
this coach l s U how many more teams can
he knock off in a big game in a huge spot.

(46:15):
I would put him up against just about anyone on
this side of Nick Saban as an underdog. You want
to give me some points. See what I looked at
this game in terms of personnel, season statistics. I don't
think the gap between these two teams is five or
six points on a neutral field in Santa Clara. I
think it's lower. I think it's more like two or
three points. I think you're getting a bit of a

(46:36):
premium because it's Alabama, and and Alabama probably deserves that
because they've been there, and they've done that under this
coach so many times. I think, I think Davin, though
I think about Dad, but he's gotta be to Alabama
to getting that rarefied the rarefied area that Nick is.
Six national championships remarkable about different and and and and

(46:57):
it kind of like super Bowls in NFL cor Backs.
You have to win it all to be recognized as
the greatest. And right now, Nick Saban is right there
and Dabo has got his team right there there there,
every but you gotta he's gotta, he's gotta make that win.
He's gotta make that win unless next getting out. He's
got to make that transition of beating this guy here
because this guy didn't going anywhere right now. Yeah, it's

(47:17):
incredible because you think about some of the other coaches
that are named there's underdogs. We hear Tom Herman justin Flente,
Vegas loves them, But what about Campbell, Mac Campbell? What
about Tabo as an underdog? I I want my chips
in on all in, all in, out of all the coaches,
you know, in terms of the Power five right now
that the kids will be ready and the Nicks kids
will be ready. I don't think either team is gonna

(47:39):
lay an egg Monday night. I think both. I think
anything less than a classic, anything less than a well
played game with some spectacular plays that's competitive deep into
the second half, for me, would be a disappointment. You know,
these are these are the two teams that we expect
to be here these are the two teams that have

(48:00):
the best athletes, the most NFL ready athletes. Seeing them
line up, I mean, this is why we do what
we do. This is why we love what we do.
This is the matchup that we've been wanting to see.
This is what I want to see. A couple of
rapid fires props on two over under over twenty two
and a half completions, uh twenty four last week in

(48:24):
a game in which he needed to, I'd probably take
the under. You think you think the under, I think
maybe the under on that one. All right, touchdown passes,
he's a tinge high, a tinge higher than two and
a half two and a half. Uh wow. I love
the kid. I love the kid. I'd have to take
over across the board. You know why, because if you're taken,

(48:45):
I'm there. You can't watch the game, Joe, I can't
remember the game. The last time I saw a kid
place passes so consistently as accuracy, we saw it really
for the first time in the National Championship game that
dropped pass to Davante Smith, and then this year, I
mean his ability that was a breakdown. So you're saying

(49:10):
it's completed that pass and you know, I love rooting
for Georgia, but that that games here, I see that
guy breaking first of all, after the sack, they're jumping
up and down. If I'm Kirby on the sidelines, that
kid doesn't even get on the bus line out. Sorry,
get over. I know you can't do that. Obviously you
can't do that in this day and eight. But back

(49:30):
in the day you could do that. Right, he's walking
on from man. I mean you think too, you think
to uh two and a half touchdown passes in this
ball game where you think over I think you go
over that. I think I think he's got to. Yeah,
here's interesting in terms of these two guys, Jerry Judy
seventy four and a half, he's the highest one across
the board in terms of complete reception yards and then

(49:52):
Damian Harris fifty one and a half. Which my only
concern about any Alabama player is Nick's gonna ride the
hot hand and there are other options. Now, if trayvon
Mullen happens to lock down Jerry Judy, who is going
to turn his attention to Henry Ruggs or Smith or
Jaylen Wattle. I don't think we've mentioned Wattle much. He's
not on the board. He's not not not from what

(50:14):
I could see, Henry Ruggs forty nine and a half
receiving yards and you look at you look at Smith
forty seven and a half. Yeah, Devanta, Devanta. I think
he's running on Sundays, Smith kid. But I'm saying I'm
saying low. I mean for the time. But again I'm

(50:36):
averaging three yards per game. The problem I have is
there so many options. If you're telling me that it's
one kid, I I would rather lock in on or
on an E. T n is the main guy. I
would take definitely under on him. In terms of Russia uns,
I think that's a That's where I I'd rather make
a pick on a kid where he's the main guy
in the offense. I'm worried about Alabama because you have

(50:59):
four or five six different options. I don't know what
hand is gonna be. I think I think you have
to have you don't know who's gonna have the hot hand.
I think that I think it could be one. It'll
be one of them. You don't know which one. And
I think and I think that actually goes for both teams.
I think they both have enough bullets in their gun
that you know, you know which one is gonna be
the guy that gets up for the guy that makes

(51:21):
the play. Is there something that you when they come
on the sidelines, you see it in their in their
mindset that you see it from the way they carrying
theirselfs Maybe he didn't produce so much, but he's into
the game more than another guy. Yeah, you get some
guys that are locked in, pretty good guys that you
can see, get me that ball, give me that ball.
They'll give you that look in your eye. You can
respond to whether this it's the right look. But you

(51:41):
see it, uh quite a few times for players like that.
I think mostly you make adjustments during the game as
to how they're starting to overplay one and play less
on the other, and they play calling tries to direct
it towards that guy, that they're taking a little less
pressure on this guy to put double pressure on that guy,
and that when you try to take advantage of it. Well,
I could tell you if this game starts getting close

(52:03):
and Nick could smell the seventh National championship and something
goes a little awry, you're gonna see him. You're gonna
see him lace into somebody the way he did. You're
gonna say, see him go to Jailen, Oh, Jalen Hurts. Well,
I was gonna bring that up to I think it's
all hands on, Duck. I mean, tell me if I'm wrong.
I mean, you're winning a national championship to a, no
to a in that type of landscape, you go to

(52:25):
win the game. If he's not, I think I think
I think it's all too But the one thing I
want to point out is um the fact that Jalen
Hurts stuck it out this season and one that SEC
title game. Now Alabama would have been the playoffs anyway,
we might have still been talking about this game. But
I thought that was the epitome of Alabama. The one
thing I see from Alabama Clemson as well, but really

(52:46):
Alabama a lot of selfless kids. I I don't see it.
I'm not close enough to be able to say mine
in that locker room, but I don't see a lot
of ego. And these kids just want championships. That's what
will be going for Monday. But again, just to wrap
it up, like Clemson, you like Clemson, coach likes Alabama
on the all on the over, and I think we're
all rooting for a classic as yeah. I mean it

(53:08):
should be a dynamic game for Rich Sermonello, Terry Bowden,
I'm Joe. Weisi have a great weekend. Everyone enjoy the
game on Monday Night. We'll see you next year.