# CFP Quarterfinal Previews + Kyle Whittingham Hired By Michigan | College Football

An episode of [The Solid Verbal College Football Show](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/270037732), 29 Dec 2025, 1 h 35 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/21437ee1-47d9-4b16-8696-b30d011a2c26/3b1d9443-0e60-4d62-9d39-b3c20154c472/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=51c7e0eb-425c-4d93-b5a8-b30d011a2c46

The CFP Quarterfinals are upon us! In this episode, Dan returns from vacation and Ty bounces back from a Christmas illness to discuss the next four games of the College Football Playoff. We've got four bangers in store for us as Miami plays Ohio State in Cotton Bowl, Oregon battles Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl, Alabama takes on Indiana in the Rose Bowl and Ole Miss plays a rematch with Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. We talk through our biggest questions, keys to victory, and random observations that will make or break the next round of the CFP. Plus, we start off by recapping the news that former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was tabbed by Michigan as its next head football coach. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 5:26 - 3 CFP Quarterfinal Questions 25:28 - Miami vs Ohio State CFP Preview 40:46 - Oregon vs Texas Tech CFPPreview 57:28 - Alabama vs Indiana CFPPreview 1:16:26 - Ole Miss vs Georgia CFP Preview Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal.
[0:04] Speaker 2: Holl that for me. I'm a man, I'm forty. I've
[0:08] Speaker 2: heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy.
[0:10] Speaker 2: You want to be happy for a day? Edo State
[0:13] Speaker 2: is that?
[0:13] Speaker 1: Whoo whoo?
[0:14] Speaker 2: And no them?
[0:16] Speaker 1: And Tie Janner Rovin Steve, welcome back, my friend.
[0:20] Speaker 2: How are you? I'm doing so well, Tied. I'm doing
[0:23] Speaker 2: so well even though it's frigid here in the Chicagoland area,
[0:26] Speaker 2: and I came from a much warmer place. We haven't
[0:28] Speaker 2: recorded in some time, and so a piece of me
[0:31] Speaker 2: was just missing, Tie, A piece of me was just unfulfilled.
[0:35] Speaker 2: And so now that I'm back with my computer and
[0:39] Speaker 2: my microphone and this beautiful camera and this beautiful internet connection, Tie,
[0:43] Speaker 2: I couldn't be more thrilled to catch up on all
[0:46] Speaker 2: things I guess college football news briefly and then into
[0:50] Speaker 2: four ginormous matchups.
[0:53] Speaker 1: We do have some bangers, don't we absolutely? And going
[0:56] Speaker 1: through these, man, I was like I was fired up.
[0:58] Speaker 1: We got some bangers here to talk. We were going
[1:01] Speaker 1: to talk about them a few days earlier, but I
[1:04] Speaker 1: got real sick and I couldn't even string a sentence together.
[1:07] Speaker 1: You gave me a call after I sent you a
[1:10] Speaker 1: note that hey, I'm I'm not sure how this is
[1:13] Speaker 1: gonna go. And I could only imagine I sounded like
[1:16] Speaker 1: the Night of the Living Dead. It did not seem
[1:18] Speaker 1: as if I made a very positive impression on you
[1:20] Speaker 1: in that initial phone call.
[1:22] Speaker 2: It was it was a little bit you know who
[1:24] Speaker 2: Harvey Firestein is, the like legendary like Broadway actor. He's
[1:28] Speaker 2: been in movies. He was a misusdoubt fire It sounded
[1:31] Speaker 2: like Harvey Firestein was sick. It was like I called
[1:34] Speaker 2: and oh, I oh, I sound like you had a
[1:39] Speaker 2: weird like a deeply Brooklyn or Queen's accent.
[1:42] Speaker 1: It was not recordable, is what I would say. Well,
[1:46] Speaker 1: I'm going to try and give this a go. I
[1:48] Speaker 1: do have water close by. Forgive me if I have
[1:51] Speaker 1: to hit the dump button every now and again, because
[1:53] Speaker 1: there will be coughs throughout the course of the next
[1:56] Speaker 1: hour or so. But welcome back, one and all. We
[1:59] Speaker 1: are doing this live on YouTube on on Monday, which
[2:02] Speaker 1: is not something we normally do, but it is the
[2:04] Speaker 1: reason for the season because as we turn the page
[2:07] Speaker 1: now into the college football playoff quarterfinal round, as we
[2:11] Speaker 1: get into twenty twenty six, the schedule is all jacked up. Man,
[2:14] Speaker 1: everything's different. Yeah, doesn't feel the same. We're all discombobulated
[2:19] Speaker 1: after months on end of the season revolving around Saturdays.
[2:23] Speaker 1: Now they change when they play the games. So we
[2:26] Speaker 1: will get into that. As we said, four big ones.
[2:29] Speaker 1: We will first start off with the news of the
[2:33] Speaker 1: week of the I don't know ladder stages of the
[2:37] Speaker 1: college football coaching tarausel. We'll talk about that here in
[2:40] Speaker 1: just a minute. Please make sure you hit follow, Please
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[2:46] Speaker 1: on how to play bowlmingo dot com. That is where
[2:50] Speaker 1: you can find the action if you want to get
[2:52] Speaker 1: in on all the fun of our postseason bowl game.
[2:56] Speaker 2: Yes, free for all.
[2:57] Speaker 1: You just got to sign up as a freer paid
[2:59] Speaker 1: member at our Patreon again. You can go to playbolbingo
[3:03] Speaker 1: dot com for more info on that. We will be
[3:06] Speaker 1: releasing a new card as soon as we can, as
[3:08] Speaker 1: soon as we know what the college football playoff semi
[3:12] Speaker 1: final matchups will be. Otherwise we wouldn't have anything to
[3:14] Speaker 1: really bet on, so we'll talk about that. But playbowlbingo
[3:18] Speaker 1: dot com is your portal into all things for ballerhood.
[3:21] Speaker 1: If you want to be part of that game. It's free.
[3:24] Speaker 1: You can play for fabulous prizes against super bowler hed Dan.
[3:27] Speaker 2: Yes, highly recommend super fun an annual Bowl tradition as
[3:32] Speaker 2: is tie and just his laser focus on the Pinstripe Bowl.
[3:36] Speaker 2: His national champion, Clemson Tigers, needed four full quarters to
[3:41] Speaker 2: score ten points.
[3:42] Speaker 1: I'll have you know that my national champion was a
[3:44] Speaker 1: Penn State Nitney Lions.
[3:45] Speaker 2: Oh excuse me, number one team in America.
[3:48] Speaker 1: I predicted a Penn State Clemson matchup in the national championship.
[3:54] Speaker 1: Who's to say what your national championship is? If you're
[3:58] Speaker 1: listening at home, maybe your national championship was the Pinstripe Bowl.
[4:02] Speaker 2: That's true. That is relative, is it not. That's the
[4:06] Speaker 2: the Tom Allen tissue between those teams. I don't know,
[4:12] Speaker 2: that's that's my original thought anyway. Yes, we've had Bowl games.
[4:15] Speaker 2: We've had some entertaining Bowl games right North Texas in
[4:17] Speaker 2: a shootout. We had the Pop Tarts Bowl with BYU
[4:20] Speaker 2: coming back to beat Georgia Tech. We had a crazy
[4:23] Speaker 2: Hawaii Bowl with Cal blowing what a twenty one to
[4:26] Speaker 2: nothing league and then a fight from a fight fight end.
[4:29] Speaker 2: It was a pretty ugly situation at the end there
[4:32] Speaker 2: for callin Hawaii, but a nice win for Hawaii in
[4:34] Speaker 2: front of their home home fans. So a bunch of
[4:36] Speaker 2: fun bowl games, even if there have been a good
[4:39] Speaker 2: amount of opt outs. We've got a couple like heavyweight
[4:42] Speaker 2: programs playing in bowl games. I've got a Michigan Texas
[4:45] Speaker 2: Bowl game in Orlando coming up here. But uh, yeah,
[4:49] Speaker 2: I guess beyond the portal news and there have been
[4:52] Speaker 2: some huge names quarterback otherwise, a lot of defensive linemen,
[4:56] Speaker 2: which we'll get into.
[4:57] Speaker 1: We'll get into on an upcoming episode, we promise.
[4:59] Speaker 2: Yeah, So we're gonna do a portal show because I
[5:01] Speaker 2: think the portal officially opens and we're recording this on Monday,
[5:04] Speaker 2: the twenty ninth, on the second. So, and the portal's
[5:07] Speaker 2: a little bit different given who's playing when in the
[5:09] Speaker 2: college football playoff. Obviously it extends for teams playing in
[5:12] Speaker 2: the National Championship game. But we will be seeing a
[5:15] Speaker 2: lot of huge names and we'll be doing a portal
[5:17] Speaker 2: show here in the next few days. But I think
[5:20] Speaker 2: we should. Unless you have any sort of housekeeping or
[5:23] Speaker 2: any sort.
[5:23] Speaker 1: Of atjection, I want to dive right in, baby.
[5:26] Speaker 2: We should talk about the Michigan Wolverines amateur football program.
[5:32] Speaker 2: Set all settle, hold on, hold on, hold on before
[5:34] Speaker 2: you go, Okay, the coaching, it's the roar.
[5:42] Speaker 1: You know what the roar means, don't you? The roar
[5:45] Speaker 1: means we've got another coach and change. It obviously made
[5:49] Speaker 1: pretty big news when Michigan moved on from Sharon Moore.
[5:53] Speaker 1: Given circumstances in ann Arbor, Michigan had been rumored with
[6:00] Speaker 1: a bunch of other names, right, Kaylin de Boorr was
[6:03] Speaker 1: up there, Jeff Brohm was up there, are guy Jed
[6:05] Speaker 1: Fish was up there. You name it. All the big
[6:09] Speaker 1: names were at least asked. Kenny Dillingham another one got
[6:13] Speaker 1: his extension in Arizona. Yeah.
[6:15] Speaker 2: I think Todd Mounkin had a conversation reportedly yeah with Michigan.
[6:18] Speaker 1: Heard all sorts of names. But in the end they
[6:21] Speaker 1: go for the recently retired now out of retirement, Kyle Whittingham.
[6:28] Speaker 2: To be hold on, let me push back a little.
[6:30] Speaker 2: He never used that word. He never used the retirement.
[6:33] Speaker 1: Well, he retired from Utah. The terminology back from Utah
[6:39] Speaker 1: is the terminology that was used, and I think it
[6:41] Speaker 1: was very carefully used. Was stepping down. He never used
[6:45] Speaker 1: the word retire, so I just want to be clear, Well,
[6:50] Speaker 1: step up, it doesn't matter, but correct, he stepped up.
[6:53] Speaker 1: There's a difference from Utah, where he had been in
[6:56] Speaker 1: some capacity since nineteen ninety four. He's been the head
[6:59] Speaker 1: coach now since two thousand and five, one seventy seven
[7:04] Speaker 1: and eighty eight. His career record as coach of the youths,
[7:09] Speaker 1: he has never coached east of the Great State of Utah.
[7:12] Speaker 1: Beh but was very much on the market after stepping
[7:16] Speaker 1: back from Michigan. As you said, did give that carefully
[7:19] Speaker 1: worded statement, thought it was time to step back at
[7:23] Speaker 1: Utah turn it over to his predecessor.
[7:26] Speaker 2: But he was out there.
[7:28] Speaker 1: Kyle Whittingham was a name obviously early on in the search,
[7:31] Speaker 1: garnered some interest. Could he be interested in that Michigan job?
[7:34] Speaker 1: I know his name kind of waxed and waned a
[7:37] Speaker 1: little bit. Would he be interested? Would that be a fit?
[7:40] Speaker 1: They make it official, it is in fact going to
[7:42] Speaker 1: be Kyle Whittingham taking over at Michigan. I really like
[7:46] Speaker 1: Kyle Whittingham. I'm curious to ask you if you like
[7:51] Speaker 1: the Kyle Whittingham higher because I think they are almost
[7:54] Speaker 1: two separate questions, where are you at? I know you
[7:57] Speaker 1: made the video from the boat, which is awesome and
[7:59] Speaker 1: did well.
[8:00] Speaker 2: Than it took maybe three hours to upload, gave him
[8:03] Speaker 2: the speeds available to me. But yes, that was what
[8:06] Speaker 2: about a seventy five second video on my phone? Took
[8:08] Speaker 2: quite some time to get to you what we got there.
[8:11] Speaker 1: I think we both like Whittingham the guy, and I
[8:14] Speaker 1: could definitely talk about the pros of bringing that guy
[8:16] Speaker 1: to an arbor given circumstances. But let's talk about the
[8:20] Speaker 1: higher is the.
[8:21] Speaker 2: Podcast on the show? Has he been on this show
[8:27] Speaker 2: brought home? Remember Hall was on the show.
[8:29] Speaker 1: I don't think Whittingham was on.
[8:30] Speaker 2: Maybe that's the connection. Okay, So my initial reaction was, huh,
[8:36] Speaker 2: I guess good for them at something like that. That's
[8:39] Speaker 2: those are the words that rattled through my pe brain
[8:41] Speaker 2: when I saw that. It was. I think the circumstance,
[8:44] Speaker 2: if you go back to the start of what you
[8:46] Speaker 2: were talking about, seems to be given some reporting, given
[8:50] Speaker 2: some conversations I've heard, to whatever extent they're true. What
[8:54] Speaker 2: has sort of come up time and time again was
[8:58] Speaker 2: he wanted to retire legitimately the past couple years he
[9:01] Speaker 2: had been through a lot, given the tragedies with players
[9:04] Speaker 2: on his roster which were just horrible in Salt Lake City,
[9:08] Speaker 2: that he had been there for a long time, that
[9:10] Speaker 2: he had taken this team from obviously the Mountain West
[9:14] Speaker 2: to the Pac twelve and now the Big twelve. It's
[9:15] Speaker 2: just a lot of changes, a lot of wear and tear,
[9:18] Speaker 2: and you just don't see that many coaches stay at
[9:20] Speaker 2: one place for that long. Obviously was incredibly successful right
[9:24] Speaker 2: when he took over that program from Urban Meyer. So
[9:26] Speaker 2: good by the way Sidebark, good for Michigan for turning
[9:28] Speaker 2: to tried and true urban myertory. That's kind of funny
[9:32] Speaker 2: in its own way. And it seemed like he was
[9:35] Speaker 2: not going to step down, but he was going to retire,
[9:37] Speaker 2: that he had been through it and that he had
[9:40] Speaker 2: indicated in some fashion to those behind the scenes that
[9:43] Speaker 2: he was ready to retire these past couple years, and
[9:48] Speaker 2: then sort of had a change of heart and decided
[9:51] Speaker 2: he wanted to keep coaching. And the word is again,
[9:57] Speaker 2: I don't have a confirmation from within the Utah Athletic
[9:59] Speaker 2: Department that he's that he wanted to keep going and
[10:01] Speaker 2: sign a new deal with Utah they have their coach
[10:03] Speaker 2: in waiting and his defensive coordinator, Morgan Scaley, who's been
[10:06] Speaker 2: very very good for a long time at Utah, at
[10:09] Speaker 2: least as an on field coach, and they had this
[10:15] Speaker 2: weird situation where they wanted to move on to the future,
[10:18] Speaker 2: though had to respect everything he had accomplished there, and said,
[10:21] Speaker 2: why don't you just coach twenty twenty six and we'll
[10:23] Speaker 2: make that transition, and he wanted more time. He re
[10:26] Speaker 2: energized to whatever extent and gave a statement in fact,
[10:30] Speaker 2: talking about like I don't want to overstay my welcome
[10:32] Speaker 2: and I just want to leave before that happens. And
[10:35] Speaker 2: so like there was you could use this jigsaw puzzle,
[10:38] Speaker 2: use the pieces to piece together what was sort of happening,
[10:41] Speaker 2: especially with what all the word has been behind the scenes.
[10:44] Speaker 2: He steps down. Michigan's in this terrible situation where they're
[10:48] Speaker 2: going after guys. They're not going after guys, but it's
[10:50] Speaker 2: reported they're going after guys. It's late in the process
[10:53] Speaker 2: and there just isn't that sort of interest from the
[10:57] Speaker 2: names that they are rumored to be chasing in the
[10:59] Speaker 2: way that they'd like read Colon Klein, Deboor and Obviously,
[11:04] Speaker 2: Alabama wins its opening round matchup, and the word was
[11:06] Speaker 2: Michigan was hoping that they wouldn't win because they're banking
[11:09] Speaker 2: on Alabama being sort of sour on him and not
[11:11] Speaker 2: offering him a big deal after losing an opening round
[11:14] Speaker 2: game in the College Football Playoff, and they win the game.
[11:17] Speaker 2: He's happy in Alabama. He talks about how happy he is.
[11:20] Speaker 2: He's not entertaining anything. Whatever, they move on, they interview guys,
[11:25] Speaker 2: or they talk to agents, whatever the process is, and
[11:28] Speaker 2: they land with Kyle Whittingham kind of falling into their lap.
[11:34] Speaker 2: My thought on Kyle Whittingham is he's legitimately an excellent coach. Now,
[11:40] Speaker 2: the question then becomes, is he an excellent coach for
[11:43] Speaker 2: this specific place which you mentioned has not left that
[11:46] Speaker 2: state in quite some time and recruited that state in
[11:51] Speaker 2: Idaho and California and that sort of part of the
[11:53] Speaker 2: country not in a national way or a heavily regional
[11:56] Speaker 2: way that Michigan recruits and that they had to on
[12:00] Speaker 2: a success with under Jim Harbaugh and recruited very well
[12:02] Speaker 2: with Shrowan Moore going into places like Texas and stuff
[12:04] Speaker 2: like that. So the question then becomes what is Kyle
[12:08] Speaker 2: Whittingham's ceiling? What is Kyle Whittingham's floor? How long will
[12:12] Speaker 2: he be there? Given his age at what sixty six?
[12:14] Speaker 2: And he signed a five year deal with Michigan. Do
[12:16] Speaker 2: I have that correct? For about eight and a half
[12:17] Speaker 2: million per somewhere in that range.
[12:19] Speaker 1: Yep.
[12:21] Speaker 2: He was great at Utah because they played really good football.
[12:27] Speaker 2: They developed really well, especially along the lines. He got
[12:30] Speaker 2: better as a recruiting recruiter as time went on, especially
[12:34] Speaker 2: along those lines. You know, guys like Jalen Johnson and
[12:37] Speaker 2: Clark Phillips were huge successes in the secondary. They recruited
[12:41] Speaker 2: tight end and developed tight end pretty well to really
[12:44] Speaker 2: well in some cases recently had what Dalton Kincaid and
[12:47] Speaker 2: Brent Keefey, Brandt Keefey, guys like that were great and
[12:53] Speaker 2: mentioned the lineman already, But now it's can he recruit
[12:56] Speaker 2: to Michigan in the way that Jim Harbaugh did and
[12:59] Speaker 2: develop and when when you now are looking down a
[13:03] Speaker 2: schedule of take your pick Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State,
[13:07] Speaker 2: Indiana like schools like legitimately USC right USC just demolished
[13:11] Speaker 2: them this year. He hires BYU's defensive coordinator reportedly and
[13:17] Speaker 2: j Hill, who's good, maybe not excellent, but I mean
[13:21] Speaker 2: have a really strong defense at BYU. Is an impressive thing.
[13:24] Speaker 2: BYU is in the Big twelve championship game, bringing over
[13:27] Speaker 2: like yeah, I mean the the BYU linebackers, especially this year,
[13:30] Speaker 2: we're otherworldly. I like J Hill, and I think the
[13:34] Speaker 2: word is Jason Beck, but nothing official bringing offensive coordinator
[13:40] Speaker 2: to Michigan. So the question is, again, what's that ceiling?
[13:45] Speaker 2: What is Bryce under would think of the higher they've met?
[13:47] Speaker 2: He started meeting with players. You know, guys like Andrew
[13:51] Speaker 2: Marsh who look like they are long term potential game changers,
[13:54] Speaker 2: all conference type players, you know what the guys on
[13:57] Speaker 2: defense coming in or young younger players on defense. The
[14:00] Speaker 2: portal look like when you know Whittingham has a chance
[14:02] Speaker 2: to speak with his players and sell them on his
[14:05] Speaker 2: vision for Michigan and how close can they get to
[14:11] Speaker 2: where they were two three years ago when Kyle Whittingham
[14:14] Speaker 2: is not known as that killer roster builder because Utah
[14:19] Speaker 2: didn't win those conferences, right, they got close I think
[14:22] Speaker 2: one or two years Oh no, sorry, they did win
[14:25] Speaker 2: the PAC twelve, right, They beat USC in a PAC
[14:27] Speaker 2: twelve championship game, and got to the Rose Bowl and
[14:30] Speaker 2: lost to Penn State if I have my years correct,
[14:33] Speaker 2: but was never a playoff presence at Utah.
[14:37] Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, so look a couple of things as
[14:40] Speaker 1: your Yeah. Sorry, I just have a lot of Kyle
[14:42] Speaker 1: Winningham thoughts. He's very I mean, look, all things considered,
[14:44] Speaker 1: Michigan could have done a lot worse. That's really late
[14:47] Speaker 1: in the game. It was awkward. It was never going
[14:48] Speaker 1: to be good. I mean from a pr standpoint, it's
[14:51] Speaker 1: been horrible for Michigan. Yes, and so I think to
[14:53] Speaker 1: go out and get a guy like this. He's just
[14:55] Speaker 1: available on the open market. It fits if it's really well.
[15:01] Speaker 1: He does like to play a physical brand of football,
[15:03] Speaker 1: which is going to be I think largely compatible with
[15:06] Speaker 1: what Michigan's been building. Agree, So that part works. The
[15:09] Speaker 1: other part that works really well is that Michigan needed
[15:11] Speaker 1: an adult. They needed a grown up to come in
[15:14] Speaker 1: and stabilize things. And Kyle Whitningham is that I saw
[15:16] Speaker 1: somebody put out on social media. He's been on Instagram
[15:20] Speaker 1: eleven years, has never posted once, thankfully follows five women,
[15:24] Speaker 1: most of whom are related to them, all of whom
[15:26] Speaker 1: appeared clothed in their photos. I hate to make that joke,
[15:29] Speaker 1: but that's where we're at with Michigan. Okay, totally so
[15:32] Speaker 1: on the heels of what has been a very tumultuous run.
[15:34] Speaker 1: Now if only in the PR department on the Michigan.
[15:37] Speaker 2: Way, not just shown more. It's ongoing Matt Weiss thing.
[15:41] Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot of a lot going on with
[15:44] Speaker 1: that program. Harball was very successful, but there has been
[15:48] Speaker 1: some controversy that has followed. So they needed this guy
[15:51] Speaker 1: right now to come in and to stabilize the ship.
[15:54] Speaker 1: Be an adult. He will do that almost immediately. The
[15:59] Speaker 1: con that I see is that, as you mentioned, sixty
[16:03] Speaker 1: six years old, all right, doesn't mean he can't be
[16:05] Speaker 1: there forever. Yeah, for what it's worth, looks like he
[16:08] Speaker 1: could play linebacker. I was gonna say, sidebar. Yeah, we
[16:11] Speaker 1: should all be so lucky. I'll look like Kyle winning
[16:13] Speaker 1: him at sixty six, right. Yeah. If his defensive lines
[16:16] Speaker 1: are as strong as his hairline, he's great. He'll be
[16:18] Speaker 1: great for a long time at Michigan. Yes, I like
[16:21] Speaker 1: the guy a lot. I always have. His Utah teams
[16:26] Speaker 1: were solid, but they rarely overachieved.
[16:28] Speaker 2: I wouldn't say I think solid is under selling it.
[16:31] Speaker 2: When Utah was healthy, when they had a healthy quarterback,
[16:34] Speaker 2: when they had Cam Rising for fourteen years, Travis Wilson
[16:37] Speaker 2: for fourteen years, This was a legitimately very good program.
[16:40] Speaker 1: I just always was left wanting more from his Utah squads,
[16:45] Speaker 1: which is why I say rarely overachieved. And that's a
[16:47] Speaker 1: relative scale as well, And I'm just speaking personally. Yeah,
[16:51] Speaker 1: but that part, for me feels like that's going to
[16:54] Speaker 1: be a real question that I think is legitimate. What's
[16:58] Speaker 1: the staff look like beyond if it is Jay Hill,
[17:01] Speaker 1: if it is Jason Beck. I haven't seen confirmation on
[17:04] Speaker 1: either for what it's worth, but I've been under the
[17:07] Speaker 1: weather here for the last week.
[17:09] Speaker 2: That seems to be the expectation.
[17:11] Speaker 1: Seems to be the expectation. But if that's the way
[17:13] Speaker 1: that they go, I think that would be a nice
[17:15] Speaker 1: boost the roster. You brought this up in the video
[17:18] Speaker 1: that you recorded, but you mentioned Bryce Underwood. I would
[17:20] Speaker 1: also throw Jordan Marshall in there. You mentioned Andrew marsh
[17:23] Speaker 1: I would throw Cole Slivan in there, the linebacker, right.
[17:26] Speaker 2: My expectation is tight ends.
[17:27] Speaker 1: Yeah, My expectation is that he'll have no trouble keeping
[17:31] Speaker 1: running backs in linemen and certainly defensively, there's a bit
[17:35] Speaker 1: of a track record there, a proven track record for
[17:37] Speaker 1: developing those guys and putting a good unit out on
[17:40] Speaker 1: the field. But quarterback wide receiver, what does the development
[17:45] Speaker 1: look like on that front? And are those guys, notably
[17:49] Speaker 1: bryce under what Andrew marsh guys like that. Are they
[17:51] Speaker 1: spooked by whatever they have seen from Kyle Woodingham's previous
[17:56] Speaker 1: tenure at Utah. I don't know, right, I don't know.
[17:59] Speaker 1: Certainly be a market for those guys they decide to
[18:02] Speaker 1: throw their name in the portal. Yeah, So I like
[18:04] Speaker 1: it on some levels. On others, I remain a bit
[18:08] Speaker 1: skeptical to see whether or not it's going to work
[18:10] Speaker 1: longer term. But I think all things considered, again, if
[18:12] Speaker 1: you're Michigan, like much like it.
[18:15] Speaker 2: Was at Penn State, it got laid early.
[18:17] Speaker 1: To have Matt Campbell, to have Kyle Whittingham essentially fall
[18:20] Speaker 1: off the back of a truck into your open arms,
[18:24] Speaker 1: that's a pretty good place to be. So I would
[18:26] Speaker 1: grade the high I don't know what I would grade
[18:28] Speaker 1: the higher B plus if you're Michigan a minus of
[18:32] Speaker 1: all available options. I think they got a guy that
[18:36] Speaker 1: can step in and at least provide much of what
[18:38] Speaker 1: they need right from the get go. So kudos to them.
[18:41] Speaker 2: And I would say, by the way, we're talking about
[18:44] Speaker 2: comparing what Michigan might be able to do under Kyle Whittingham,
[18:48] Speaker 2: when you weigh them against you know, obviously Ohio State,
[18:52] Speaker 2: Penn State, Oregon the best of what they can accumulate
[18:54] Speaker 2: in terms of talent and roster depth. We're also living
[18:57] Speaker 2: in a portal era. We're also living in a time
[18:59] Speaker 2: where Michigan is one of a handful of schools nationally
[19:03] Speaker 2: where players grow up just wanting to go there no
[19:05] Speaker 2: matter who the coach is right that it's a cell
[19:08] Speaker 2: itself type of school and was reinforced under Jim Harbaugh.
[19:12] Speaker 2: No matter all of the recent turmoil, there are still
[19:15] Speaker 2: kids across the Midwest, across the country with connections. Obviously,
[19:18] Speaker 2: Jim Harbaugh did a great job, you know, going through
[19:20] Speaker 2: the South and going to Texas, stuff like that, to
[19:23] Speaker 2: really raise the Michigan flag more than it had been previously.
[19:28] Speaker 2: But in the portal era, if he's able to maintain that,
[19:31] Speaker 2: the obvious concern once the players are there is that
[19:33] Speaker 2: he was never able to figure out an offense that
[19:36] Speaker 2: could develop a legit killer at quarterback with a downfield
[19:39] Speaker 2: passing attack that would scare teams. And that's exactly where
[19:43] Speaker 2: Michigan fans have been these past couple of years. Where
[19:46] Speaker 2: is that guy is Bryce Underwood, that guy is Chip
[19:49] Speaker 2: Lindsay that coordinator? Are these receivers? Can we find a
[19:52] Speaker 2: guy in this receiver? And like never happened at Utah
[19:55] Speaker 2: that they found. You know, obviously, Jason Beck this year
[19:58] Speaker 2: did a good job with Utah on the ground, but
[20:00] Speaker 2: it just never happened no matter who the quarterback was.
[20:03] Speaker 2: And I don't know if that was by design, but
[20:06] Speaker 2: if you're looking at something that Utah was not able
[20:08] Speaker 2: to accomplish, they were never really able to figure out
[20:11] Speaker 2: that level of aggression and Michigan won without it. They
[20:15] Speaker 2: won the National Championship without it. But in order to
[20:18] Speaker 2: have that pitch, I don't know that my first call
[20:22] Speaker 2: would be Kyle Whittingham, But for all all the reasons
[20:24] Speaker 2: we mentioned otherwise, it seems like they're going to be
[20:28] Speaker 2: in a really good place. My gut, given the circumstance,
[20:31] Speaker 2: given what the Big Ten looks like, is and this
[20:34] Speaker 2: was my initial gut thing was like, if they could
[20:37] Speaker 2: get to the point where they look like the best
[20:39] Speaker 2: of Paul Christ at Wisconsin right running the ball killer
[20:42] Speaker 2: defense in the Big Ten could beat legitimately anyone until
[20:45] Speaker 2: maybe the Big Ten championship game when they couldn't quite
[20:48] Speaker 2: match up against teams like Ohio State. If they can
[20:51] Speaker 2: get there in the next couple years, I mean, that's
[20:53] Speaker 2: kind of like a huge one, isn't it.
[20:57] Speaker 1: Who what Michigan's been, is it not? Is that they
[21:00] Speaker 1: were a brand of football they've been playing.
[21:02] Speaker 2: They were a better version of what Paul Chris was.
[21:05] Speaker 2: I'm saying if they can get to like the best
[21:07] Speaker 2: of like late teams Wisconsin.
[21:09] Speaker 1: Fair enough. But this is why I say that it's
[21:11] Speaker 1: at least compatible on some level, definitely right because witting
[21:14] Speaker 1: Handle will want to play that style of football. I mean,
[21:17] Speaker 1: we talk about it often. We've talked about it. I
[21:19] Speaker 1: feel like a multitude of times here now through the
[21:22] Speaker 1: coaching carousel where a coach didn't work out because they
[21:25] Speaker 1: came in. I mean, we're dealing with it right now
[21:26] Speaker 1: with Luke Fickle at Wisconsin, where at least initially tried
[21:30] Speaker 1: to play a brand of football that didn't seem compatible
[21:32] Speaker 1: with what Wisconsin had been. Granted, that's not everything, but
[21:36] Speaker 1: I think in this case it fits at least with
[21:38] Speaker 1: the roster that they've gone in hand. We'll see if
[21:39] Speaker 1: he can retain it. We'll see what the staff does
[21:42] Speaker 1: look like. There are, you know, some reported names out there,
[21:45] Speaker 1: But once some of that stuff becomes a little bit
[21:48] Speaker 1: more finalized, we can revisit yep and give you an
[21:52] Speaker 1: update on our sense for where things are at. But again,
[21:55] Speaker 1: I'll just I'll resort back to my line. All things considered,
[21:59] Speaker 1: this is a very very good hire from Michigan.
[22:01] Speaker 2: I think so too. I think so too. It's not
[22:04] Speaker 2: looked at as a dozen year higher No, no, but
[22:06] Speaker 2: I don't think those exist anyway. So it doesn't matter.
[22:08] Speaker 2: If he can get Michigan, you know, back to solid
[22:11] Speaker 2: ground in the next year or two, he pays for itself.
[22:16] Speaker 2: Let us know your thoughts, solid Burbo at gmail dot com. Dan,
[22:18] Speaker 2: you want to talk some playoff games. I can't wait.
[22:23] Speaker 1: Til we got four of them. We got four of
[22:28] Speaker 1: them for you. It is a college football playoff quarterfinals.
[22:34] Speaker 1: These games are bangers. I have a few questions for
[22:38] Speaker 1: you before we get started, pure higher level stuff.
[22:41] Speaker 2: Okay, I can't wait.
[22:42] Speaker 1: I want you to answer them vaguely. Okay, generally, I
[22:47] Speaker 1: don't want you to give away your picks or your
[22:49] Speaker 1: predictions or anything like that, but just lay the land
[22:52] Speaker 1: type stuff. Okay, three questions. Are you ready?
[22:56] Speaker 2: I'm ready? One is they're a team.
[23:00] Speaker 1: Were there a group of teams among these eight that
[23:04] Speaker 1: we're going to discuss here today that you looked at it,
[23:08] Speaker 1: looked at the matchup and you said, ah, they can't win,
[23:10] Speaker 1: they cannot win this game.
[23:14] Speaker 2: No, there is not a team of this eight that
[23:17] Speaker 2: I look at and say this is this moment is
[23:20] Speaker 2: too big, This matchup is too big for them. Whether
[23:22] Speaker 2: it's roster, whether it's situation, whether it's matchup whatever. No,
[23:25] Speaker 2: there's not one of those eight.
[23:27] Speaker 1: That was the first thing that I thought of when
[23:29] Speaker 1: I went through all these matchups. There was not a
[23:31] Speaker 1: single team in this group of eight that I looked
[23:33] Speaker 1: at and I said, ah, there's no way they're completely overmatch.
[23:36] Speaker 1: We had that in the previous round we did. That
[23:38] Speaker 1: was the argument against the way that the playoff is
[23:41] Speaker 1: set up.
[23:41] Speaker 2: Don't get me started.
[23:42] Speaker 1: Time that a whole out of the episode, right, Yeah,
[23:45] Speaker 1: But there weren't any of those matchups here, which I
[23:47] Speaker 1: thought was a good sign, at least for us at home.
[23:50] Speaker 2: It seems that everybody has something that, if they are
[23:53] Speaker 2: operating at to their fullest, can do that something well
[23:58] Speaker 2: enough to win two.
[24:00] Speaker 1: This is a huge storyline last year this year, did
[24:06] Speaker 1: you look at any of these matchups and factor in
[24:09] Speaker 1: the rust factor? I've got your quoting.
[24:12] Speaker 2: I studied rust this morning. I wanted to get it right.
[24:15] Speaker 2: The oxidation, oxidization. You can't even get the word right.
[24:20] Speaker 2: I can't even get the word right. But yeah, the
[24:21] Speaker 2: presence of moisture getting that yellowish brown on iron or steel. Yeah.
[24:27] Speaker 1: Did you just want to go back to your vacation
[24:29] Speaker 1: spot and let me know when you're in the right
[24:31] Speaker 1: headspace to do an episode of this magnitude?
[24:33] Speaker 2: Don't threaten me with a good time, ty.
[24:35] Speaker 1: How many of the matchups did you look at and
[24:39] Speaker 1: seriously consider rust?
[24:41] Speaker 2: All?
[24:42] Speaker 1: All?
[24:43] Speaker 2: Yeah, all of these matchups I seriously considered rust. Obviously,
[24:46] Speaker 2: we're going to have a layoff four teams, Like, what
[24:48] Speaker 2: is it going to be? It's a layoff for Ohio State,
[24:50] Speaker 2: a layoff for Georgia, a layoff for Indiana, and a
[24:53] Speaker 2: layoff for Texas. Tech of somewhere in the vicinity of
[24:58] Speaker 2: twenty six twenty seven days right, Third and.
[25:01] Speaker 1: Final question, how many games did you look at and
[25:07] Speaker 1: you felt you were on the fence. You might still
[25:09] Speaker 1: be on the fence about who the winner is going
[25:11] Speaker 1: to be? Not points spread right outright winner two of
[25:17] Speaker 1: these games. I'm on two as well. We're going to
[25:22] Speaker 1: agree again, which is bad news for you, but I
[25:25] Speaker 1: already know which two they're going to be.
[25:27] Speaker 2: Okay, let's start at New Year's Eve.
[25:30] Speaker 1: As you know, we got this great new tradition where
[25:32] Speaker 1: they play a game of New Year's Eve in our
[25:36] Speaker 1: Bowl bingo matchup. As one of my thy goofy props,
[25:41] Speaker 1: I had that this game will finish after midnight as
[25:45] Speaker 1: something that people could select.
[25:46] Speaker 2: Oh, okay, midnight Eastern.
[25:48] Speaker 1: In then Eastern It would take a lot. But of course,
[25:51] Speaker 1: of talking about the Good Year Cotton Bolt Classic, Dan,
[25:55] Speaker 1: it is going to be called by Dave Passion, Dusty Devorceek,
[25:58] Speaker 1: and Quinn Kessnick down on the sidelines grew his hair out,
[26:01] Speaker 1: kind of threw me for a loop earlier this year.
[26:03] Speaker 2: Oh nice, okay.
[26:05] Speaker 1: Seven thirty on ESPN. It is the ten seed the
[26:08] Speaker 1: Miami Hurricanes. It is the two seed Ohio State Buckeyes.
[26:13] Speaker 1: Ohio State currently favored by about nine points, depends where
[26:17] Speaker 1: you look. I've seen it at eight and a half.
[26:19] Speaker 1: I've seen it at nine and a half. Let's go
[26:21] Speaker 1: with nine. But the difference, okay, clean nine, you're over.
[26:24] Speaker 2: Under is forty two and a half.
[26:25] Speaker 1: For what it's worth, the sp plus has Ohio State
[26:28] Speaker 1: favor by ten and a half points in this game.
[26:32] Speaker 2: And notably, the winner is going to play in.
[26:34] Speaker 1: The Verbo Fiesta Bowl. Verbo not a sponsor. Could be
[26:37] Speaker 1: next Thursday or the following Thursday, I should say, which
[26:41] Speaker 1: would be January the eighth. These teams have only played
[26:46] Speaker 1: five times in their history. Ohio State leads the series
[26:49] Speaker 1: three to two, although technically it is two to two
[26:53] Speaker 1: because the win in twenty ten was vacated the other
[26:57] Speaker 1: kind of vacation, which I hate. I hate. I will
[27:02] Speaker 1: say that this game gave me a very strong sense
[27:06] Speaker 1: of nostalgia because some of us are old enough to
[27:09] Speaker 1: remember the two thousand and three Fiesta Bowl. That's the
[27:11] Speaker 1: one that Ohio State won. I don't know if you
[27:13] Speaker 1: remember that game.
[27:14] Speaker 2: Yep.
[27:15] Speaker 1: That game had a heavy influence in me as a
[27:17] Speaker 1: college football fan. Yeah, for sure, not just like the
[27:20] Speaker 1: drama of it, but like the Willis mcgahey injury in
[27:23] Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, which I still remember like it was yesterday.
[27:27] Speaker 1: So many memories for me came from that game, and
[27:31] Speaker 1: I think played like a large part in me doing
[27:33] Speaker 1: this now because I just remember the drama that surrounded it.
[27:37] Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember where I watched from for sure.
[27:40] Speaker 1: So my big question about this game is whether we're
[27:43] Speaker 1: going to see another game of pick a ball?
[27:46] Speaker 2: We got too lost in the way that we saw
[27:48] Speaker 2: from last week Miami Tech A.
[27:50] Speaker 1: And m Yeah.
[27:52] Speaker 2: Well, whether it's not a factor, it's indoors, and I
[27:54] Speaker 2: thought Weather it was a major contributing wa actor to
[27:56] Speaker 2: some struggles. Yeah, sure, And we saw kicking disaster is
[28:00] Speaker 2: last week or I guess last round, whatever it is.
[28:03] Speaker 2: I think it's a worthwhile question. Continue it's a pick
[28:05] Speaker 2: a ball question. But we got two great teams.
[28:09] Speaker 1: They just happen to be among the least explosive in
[28:11] Speaker 1: college football. So with that as the backdrop, Dan, what
[28:17] Speaker 1: comes to mind first when you're trying to break this
[28:19] Speaker 1: game down, where's your head at?
[28:21] Speaker 2: Is Ohio State not explosive this year? I don't have
[28:24] Speaker 2: it in front of me. No, Oh, okay, they were.
[28:27] Speaker 2: They were more delivered this year.
[28:29] Speaker 1: They have explosive players.
[28:30] Speaker 2: That's true. I'm looking at it right now. Yeah, yards
[28:32] Speaker 2: per successful play one hundred and eighth in the country.
[28:35] Speaker 1: Yeah, which is which I think is probably going to
[28:39] Speaker 1: be weird for some people to hear. Like, we don't
[28:41] Speaker 1: really talk about Ohio state.
[28:43] Speaker 2: In those states, it was a lot of heavier sets
[28:46] Speaker 2: this year. They played slower, so they weren't able to
[28:49] Speaker 2: sort of maybe generate plays that ended up with misstackles
[28:51] Speaker 2: because they're playing quicker and wearing down defense whatever. And
[28:54] Speaker 2: that was by design that they have fresh legs for January.
[28:57] Speaker 2: You know what, How they beat Washington, how they beat
[29:00] Speaker 2: whoever during the regular season is not as important as
[29:02] Speaker 2: how they beat in this case, Miami as we head
[29:05] Speaker 2: into the new year. All worthwhile. So do you want
[29:09] Speaker 2: my read on this? I do.
[29:11] Speaker 1: I do. And one final point on the explosiveness thing,
[29:13] Speaker 1: it's not everything. It is one of the indicators that
[29:16] Speaker 1: I know you and I like to look at. And
[29:18] Speaker 1: it certainly doesn't mean that they don't have big plays
[29:20] Speaker 1: in them. Okay, we know that they've got big players
[29:23] Speaker 1: who can make big plays. But if we take the
[29:27] Speaker 1: overall profile of what Ohio State did this season, either
[29:30] Speaker 1: because of the heavier sets or playing slower, or you know,
[29:33] Speaker 1: maybe a very deliberate effort to try and minimize how
[29:38] Speaker 1: many plays they were running, knowing that they were in
[29:41] Speaker 1: this thing for the long haul. Whatever reason. In terms
[29:45] Speaker 1: of all the explosiveness numbers that we look at, they
[29:47] Speaker 1: came up much lower this year. Miami, maybe for a
[29:51] Speaker 1: different reason, is sort of similarly formulated. So with that
[29:57] Speaker 1: as the backdrop, yes, take it.
[30:01] Speaker 2: Okay, So if we were finally able to see a
[30:04] Speaker 2: weakness in Ohio State, and there's conversations about the Ohio
[30:07] Speaker 2: State offensive line during the season, you know, as they
[30:10] Speaker 2: were up and down running the ball. I thought they
[30:11] Speaker 2: got to a pretty nice place by the end of
[30:13] Speaker 2: the season running the ball. But offensive line and the
[30:17] Speaker 2: way it was exposed against Indiana, who had Julian Sayin
[30:21] Speaker 2: on the run and had him confused, had this offensive
[30:24] Speaker 2: line they had to make changes at halftime dealing with
[30:27] Speaker 2: a beat up offensive line on the inside a little bit,
[30:30] Speaker 2: I believe that taking that question into a game against
[30:37] Speaker 2: Miami's defensive front should be worrying to a certain level.
[30:42] Speaker 2: To say, Miami's defensive front, especially what they are on
[30:45] Speaker 2: the edges. To say that they're legit is sort of
[30:48] Speaker 2: under selling. This is an excellent group that can get
[30:52] Speaker 2: after a quarterback and cause havoc. Yeah, and so my
[30:57] Speaker 2: main focus on what Ohio State does when they have
[30:59] Speaker 2: the ball is if they do struggle, how do they adjust?
[31:02] Speaker 2: How do they adjust to Miami's chaos in a good way?
[31:06] Speaker 2: Is it a screen game thing? Is it, you know,
[31:09] Speaker 2: going to the perimeter a little bit more? Is it,
[31:11] Speaker 2: you know, getting the ball out quickly? Is it more
[31:13] Speaker 2: rpo stuff? That to me is a huge question for
[31:16] Speaker 2: Brian Hartline and Ryan Day as they call this offense.
[31:19] Speaker 2: Brian Hartlin, by the way, also the coach of USF.
[31:21] Speaker 2: As they prepare for this game, you have all sorts
[31:24] Speaker 2: of fun. You mentioned the National Championship rematch from twenty
[31:27] Speaker 2: plus years ago. But like Jeremiah Smith is a Miami
[31:30] Speaker 2: in South Florida legend in this one. So there's gonna
[31:32] Speaker 2: be a motion there from their most explosive player. I
[31:37] Speaker 2: think the key for Miami right is possessing the ball.
[31:40] Speaker 2: They're coming off a game with Mark Fletcher's Game of
[31:42] Speaker 2: his life on offense. I think when Miami has the ball,
[31:47] Speaker 2: it's what are they doing outside of the wizardry of
[31:51] Speaker 2: Malachai Tony. Last game it was Mark Fletcher. I think
[31:56] Speaker 2: Miami fans are still kind of if you, you know,
[31:58] Speaker 2: pulled them aside and say, how'd you feel about that
[32:01] Speaker 2: play calling against Texas A and M I don't think
[32:03] Speaker 2: they're super pleased. How long it took to just give
[32:06] Speaker 2: Mark Fletcher the ball on the inside with how he
[32:08] Speaker 2: was running. And so what does Miami look like creatively?
[32:11] Speaker 2: What do they look like on third and fourth and short?
[32:15] Speaker 2: How obvious are they in the red zone? This good
[32:17] Speaker 2: red zone offensive team. I just I'm not sure I
[32:21] Speaker 2: see away for Miami to win this game if the
[32:25] Speaker 2: final score isn't similar to what it was in the
[32:29] Speaker 2: the Big Ten championship game. Yeah, p Ohio state that
[32:31] Speaker 2: it's in that seventeen thirteen because I just the lack
[32:36] Speaker 2: of creative pop from this Miami offense outside of feeding
[32:40] Speaker 2: Malachai Tony worries me a little bit. That like we
[32:44] Speaker 2: talk about winter wonders and I just don't think, you know,
[32:47] Speaker 2: I like some of the younger guys or Art Pringle,
[32:49] Speaker 2: who was not a factor against Texas A and m
[32:52] Speaker 2: There's a lot to love about this Miami team, but
[32:55] Speaker 2: do they have guys who match up with this Ohio
[32:57] Speaker 2: State defense in a neither like fifty to fifty way
[33:01] Speaker 2: or you can't hang with this guy way. And it's
[33:04] Speaker 2: hard to put that put a plural on guy there,
[33:07] Speaker 2: and so yeah, I just I think you need that
[33:10] Speaker 2: to get to twenty seven points to twenty four points
[33:13] Speaker 2: against this Ohio State defense. And short of Miami fully
[33:18] Speaker 2: controlling the rhythm of this game and slowing it down
[33:24] Speaker 2: and capitalizing the red zone, you know, turning fourth and
[33:28] Speaker 2: ones into first and goals kind of thing and punching
[33:31] Speaker 2: it in, I just it's hard for me to see
[33:34] Speaker 2: a way for Miami to get to that whatever twenty
[33:38] Speaker 2: three twenty six point threshold. And look, Indiana had that blueprint.
[33:41] Speaker 2: You can beat Ohio State and keep it a low
[33:43] Speaker 2: scoring game and win those moments and hit those big
[33:46] Speaker 2: plays and rush the hell out of the passer. I
[33:49] Speaker 2: just don't think Miami's built for it in this specific way.
[33:52] Speaker 2: I don't think the rust is going to be a
[33:54] Speaker 2: huge factor for Ohio State. They showed last year not
[33:56] Speaker 2: playing in the Big Ten championship game, came out, you know,
[33:58] Speaker 2: on fire at home against Tennessee and then a go
[34:01] Speaker 2: again against Oregon. I think their plan is going to
[34:04] Speaker 2: be sound, but this is not an Ohio State team
[34:07] Speaker 2: that was built like last year's team, and in terms
[34:09] Speaker 2: of experience, in terms of pop all around. You know,
[34:12] Speaker 2: those running backs were terrific for Ohio State last year
[34:14] Speaker 2: in a way that like bo Jackson can be sometimes
[34:17] Speaker 2: but is not like the star of the show in
[34:20] Speaker 2: that same way. So I think Ohio State wins, but
[34:25] Speaker 2: I don't see them running away with it because of
[34:27] Speaker 2: Miami's defensive, defensive front. So yeah, in my heart, I
[34:32] Speaker 2: have this as like twenty one to fourteen Ohio State.
[34:35] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, let me back up a little
[34:38] Speaker 1: bit please. A lot's been said this year about the
[34:43] Speaker 1: Ohio State defense being a brick wall and it's probably
[34:47] Speaker 1: the best defense in the country. Would you agree with that?
[34:52] Speaker 2: I think so yeah.
[34:54] Speaker 1: I mean, I think they're incredible, and I'm super curious
[34:58] Speaker 1: to see how they fare against Miami's line and what
[35:01] Speaker 1: they throw at Carson Beck, and how they fare against
[35:04] Speaker 1: Malachai Tony and how they present some new wrinkles that
[35:08] Speaker 1: maybe can confuse what Miami is trying to do. That
[35:12] Speaker 1: to me is one chess match. I am most interested
[35:15] Speaker 1: in something that you mentioned earlier though, Okay, and that
[35:17] Speaker 1: is a different kind of challenge for this Ohio State
[35:20] Speaker 1: team because of the combination of Miami's physicality and aggressiveness upfront.
[35:26] Speaker 1: And this isn't to say they haven't played good defenses
[35:28] Speaker 1: this year, we know they have. I just think Miami
[35:31] Speaker 1: is a very different mix that's going to ask some
[35:34] Speaker 1: new questions of Ohio State. How is their line going
[35:38] Speaker 1: to deal with Ruben Bayin and a Keen Mesador. This
[35:41] Speaker 1: is a Miami front that is an absolute wrecking ball.
[35:44] Speaker 1: As you said, they're a havoc defense, And I brought
[35:48] Speaker 1: this up a little bit when Miami played Texas A
[35:50] Speaker 1: and m But Miami is top twenty in the nation
[35:53] Speaker 1: and blitz is per drop back. They're also really good
[35:55] Speaker 1: at getting pressure without blitzing. And furthermore, this is a
[35:59] Speaker 1: playmaking set secondary. You are not going to go out
[36:02] Speaker 1: there or an out athlete these guys. This is a
[36:05] Speaker 1: defensive athletes. So this for me is a really good
[36:09] Speaker 1: test of how good Ohio State really is offensive.
[36:13] Speaker 2: Miami's defense has a lot, They have a lot to
[36:15] Speaker 2: offer athletically on all three levels.
[36:17] Speaker 1: One percent, and so I think, like this is what
[36:20] Speaker 1: you want to see if you're getting to this stage
[36:22] Speaker 1: of the playoff. You want to see the best against
[36:24] Speaker 1: the best, and I think this is going to be
[36:25] Speaker 1: a really interesting test for that Ohio State offense. So
[36:30] Speaker 1: I agree with everything you're saying one hundred percent. If anything,
[36:33] Speaker 1: I'm just trying to reinforce it. I do think if
[36:36] Speaker 1: Miami's going to win, they need to play the kind
[36:37] Speaker 1: of game that they played against A and M. It
[36:39] Speaker 1: needs to be low scoring, it needs to be ugly,
[36:41] Speaker 1: and maybe we call it a rock fight, maybe you
[36:43] Speaker 1: call it a slug fest, maybe you call it defense
[36:45] Speaker 1: wins champ, whatever, whatever your preferred nomenclature. It needs to
[36:49] Speaker 1: be that style if Miami is going to win this game.
[36:53] Speaker 1: On the flip side, I have been on the fence
[36:57] Speaker 1: about this game. Yeah, I have been on the fence
[37:00] Speaker 1: about this game. And my biggest concern here is that
[37:04] Speaker 1: Miami isn't really explosive enough to challenge this Ohio State defense.
[37:12] Speaker 1: You know. The counterpoint is, while I said the same
[37:14] Speaker 1: thing against A and.
[37:16] Speaker 2: M you know, and they came away with more chunk
[37:21] Speaker 2: plays in that game.
[37:23] Speaker 1: They were the more explosive team against Texas A and
[37:26] Speaker 1: m It's a big part of why they won. I
[37:29] Speaker 1: just think this Ohio State defense has played at such
[37:31] Speaker 1: a high level. I think Matt Patricia has done an
[37:34] Speaker 1: excellent job. Never mind what we thought of the higher
[37:37] Speaker 1: when they made it before the season. He has clearly
[37:39] Speaker 1: worked out and I think they're going to be adding
[37:42] Speaker 1: new wrinkles to this one here that can confuse Carson Beck,
[37:47] Speaker 1: can maybe force him into taking some risks, which is
[37:50] Speaker 1: not something I feel great about. From Afar.
[37:53] Speaker 2: I would also add in terms of Miami's potential favor
[37:58] Speaker 2: is they have a clearly more seasoned quarderback in Carson Beck.
[38:01] Speaker 2: For whatever his mistakes have been this year, they do
[38:04] Speaker 2: Carson Beck has played in more big games. Yeah, Julian
[38:09] Speaker 2: Sayan's never started a playoff game, it's never won a
[38:12] Speaker 2: Big Ten championship at Ohio State. He's beaten good teams.
[38:17] Speaker 2: But in terms of a stage like this, Carson Beck
[38:21] Speaker 2: has been on it more. And so if you're asking
[38:25] Speaker 2: me who has like the potential for a more catastrophic
[38:27] Speaker 2: first quarter, I think it's Julian.
[38:29] Speaker 1: San couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more.
[38:32] Speaker 3: But to what degree this is in a shanti game, Dan,
[38:40] Speaker 3: I was this close to picking Miami out right, okay,
[38:43] Speaker 3: and it would not surprise.
[38:44] Speaker 2: Me at all.
[38:45] Speaker 1: Off the end actually ended up winning, Okay, but it
[38:49] Speaker 1: is about trust and.
[38:53] Speaker 2: Heaven strike me down. Yeah for saying what I'm.
[38:58] Speaker 1: About to say. Okay, which coach do you trust more
[39:01] Speaker 1: in a big game?
[39:02] Speaker 2: Well? Ryan Day? Yeah, trust Ryan Day.
[39:05] Speaker 1: Man.
[39:07] Speaker 2: Well there's also the not to cut you off, TI
[39:11] Speaker 2: continue if you want to talk more about Ryan Day.
[39:13] Speaker 1: I trust Ryan Day more than Crystal Ball in a
[39:15] Speaker 1: big game. I don't trust Carson Beck with the game
[39:19] Speaker 1: on the line, even though he is as he said
[39:22] Speaker 1: rightfully so he's a grizzled veteran at this point. And
[39:26] Speaker 1: I trust the Ohio State offense to find a big
[39:28] Speaker 1: play more when they need it than I do this
[39:32] Speaker 1: version of the Miami offense. Yeah, but I think it
[39:36] Speaker 1: is a close game. I think is a good game.
[39:38] Speaker 1: I do think it is more defense minded. I'm on
[39:41] Speaker 1: Ohio State twenty to sixteen. I've got the buck guys
[39:44] Speaker 1: moving on to the Fiesta Bowl. Okay.
[39:46] Speaker 2: So that's kind of one touchdown for Miami and three
[39:49] Speaker 2: field goals pending two touchdowns in a safety, I guess.
[39:52] Speaker 2: But yeah, my only the concern to just expand on
[39:56] Speaker 2: the Julian Saying thing is like he's never played on
[39:59] Speaker 2: this level, and you're just like, we haven't seen it
[40:01] Speaker 2: from Juliansaye. Right, We saw it with you know, the
[40:04] Speaker 2: Michigan game. That was an impressive performance all things considered
[40:07] Speaker 2: in the weather. We saw them hold on against Texas
[40:10] Speaker 2: to start the season. We saw Julian Saying come up
[40:12] Speaker 2: short with the Ohio State offense at the end of
[40:14] Speaker 2: the Indiana game. But I'm going to go back to
[40:19] Speaker 2: my tried and true if it's a blowout, I just
[40:23] Speaker 2: don't see any way that Miami comes out on top
[40:27] Speaker 2: in a blowout. And that's generally where I and could
[40:30] Speaker 2: be wrong. Miami could win this game thirty four to ten.
[40:32] Speaker 2: But if you told me the final score was thirty
[40:34] Speaker 2: four to ten and I could bet one thousand dollars
[40:37] Speaker 2: on who has thirty four, I think I would go
[40:40] Speaker 2: with Ohio State without thinking about.
[40:41] Speaker 1: It right now? Yeah, all right, okay, let's go to
[40:47] Speaker 1: New Year's Day Dan twenty twenty six. All right, getting
[40:54] Speaker 1: hold like.
[40:54] Speaker 2: A fake year to me. By the way, here's a
[40:56] Speaker 2: quick sidebar between games this freaking playoffs take forever. Come on, guys,
[41:03] Speaker 2: let's figure out a way to get three rounds in
[41:06] Speaker 2: three weeks, get to New Year's enormous national championship, and
[41:10] Speaker 2: just celebrate a hell of a season. Like, Holy hell,
[41:14] Speaker 2: is this taken forever? The amount of time off like
[41:17] Speaker 2: the NFL teams have played five games in the time
[41:20] Speaker 2: it's taken to get from like the conference championship game
[41:22] Speaker 2: to the first and second round. It's insane.
[41:25] Speaker 1: Continue college football calendar is a popular point of contention.
[41:31] Speaker 2: It's insane the most a rhythmic like eleven, twelve, thirteen
[41:35] Speaker 2: days between playoff rounds.
[41:36] Speaker 1: You got too many bowl reps with the multicolored jackets
[41:41] Speaker 1: that need to get their cut and need to make
[41:43] Speaker 1: sure they're involved. And that's how we spread this out
[41:46] Speaker 1: and we make this as complicated as it is, and.
[41:50] Speaker 2: I mean it's scared of TV stuff with the NFL, Like,
[41:54] Speaker 2: just play football and let everything fall into place.
[41:57] Speaker 1: Play every game on like a Wednesday, whatever it is is,
[42:02] Speaker 1: play it, wait ten days after the season whatever, every
[42:06] Speaker 1: game Wednesday after Wednesday after Wednesday, and then we're done. Yeah.
[42:10] Speaker 2: I think we'll get there. I think we'll get there.
[42:12] Speaker 2: I think we'll probably dump conference championships. Everybody will play
[42:15] Speaker 2: their twelve. We'll get the teams in. The playoff starts
[42:18] Speaker 2: the first week of December and goes and goes and goes,
[42:20] Speaker 2: and we're good.
[42:20] Speaker 1: Continue high noon, New Year's Day, ESPN Joe Tes Jesse
[42:26] Speaker 1: Palmer on the call. Number five seed your Oregon Ducks,
[42:30] Speaker 1: a two point favorite, squaring off against the number four
[42:35] Speaker 1: seed Texas Tech Red Raiders Big twelve Conference champion. You're
[42:41] Speaker 1: over under here is fifty three and one half points.
[42:44] Speaker 1: For what it's worth, The sp plus says that the
[42:47] Speaker 1: wrong team is favored. Texas Tech should be favored by
[42:50] Speaker 1: two and a half points. Okay, we can debate the
[42:53] Speaker 1: merits of that if we want. The winner here will
[42:55] Speaker 1: play in the Chick fil A Peach Bowl on Friday,
[42:59] Speaker 1: January the ninth of Note for your Oregon Ducks. They
[43:07] Speaker 1: are going to be playing this quarterfinal matchup the opposite
[43:11] Speaker 1: corner of the good old US of A at noon
[43:14] Speaker 1: Eastern time, which is a body clock situation, is it not?
[43:20] Speaker 2: I sort of. I think they left today so for
[43:23] Speaker 2: a Thursday at nine am body clock situation. They'll be
[43:28] Speaker 2: in Miami Monday Tuesday Wednesday night, So I don't know
[43:31] Speaker 2: if you can use that as an excuse in the
[43:33] Speaker 2: same way that like if you're traveling Friday afternoon for
[43:35] Speaker 2: a Saturday morning game. I don't know, ty why anybody
[43:38] Speaker 2: who's listened to this show knows that Tie is the
[43:40] Speaker 2: smart one and I'm just here for looks.
[43:43] Speaker 1: Sure that's exactly what That's what everybody thinks.
[43:45] Speaker 2: Yep.
[43:47] Speaker 1: Stylistically, I think this is a really interesting matchup for
[43:51] Speaker 1: this specific reason.
[43:54] Speaker 2: Texas Tech is.
[43:58] Speaker 1: Used to facing man average about thirty five percent of
[44:01] Speaker 1: the time. Oregon plays a fifty five percent of the time.
[44:05] Speaker 1: So yes, that might create some matchups for Baron Morton,
[44:10] Speaker 1: particularly in the slot where he likes to throw most
[44:12] Speaker 1: of his passes. That's where most of them have gone
[44:14] Speaker 1: this year on the text Tech offensive side. But if
[44:17] Speaker 1: you can't find the right matchups, I'm curious to see
[44:21] Speaker 1: if Texas Tech's got to break some tendencies. Like I said,
[44:24] Speaker 1: they like the throw to the slot, but might they
[44:26] Speaker 1: start throwing two guys coming out of the backfield hasn't
[44:29] Speaker 1: really been a huge part of their offense this season,
[44:31] Speaker 1: but Jacoby Williams has been over twelve yards per catch.
[44:35] Speaker 1: Could see some more of that against Oregon either way.
[44:41] Speaker 1: Either way, I think Texas Tech needs to have a
[44:43] Speaker 1: little bit more balance, And I think they've got to
[44:46] Speaker 1: get Cameron Dickey and or Jacoby Williams going on the ground.
[44:50] Speaker 1: And it does not matter to me whether they're handing
[44:52] Speaker 1: it off or throwing it to him out of the backfield,
[44:54] Speaker 1: a quick pass and extension of the run game as
[44:57] Speaker 1: it where or whatever. I don't necessarily try Baron Morton
[45:00] Speaker 1: to just go out there and win it on his own.
[45:03] Speaker 1: I think they need balance. I think he needs to
[45:06] Speaker 1: have a little bit more of a supporting cast if
[45:08] Speaker 1: they're going to do this thing against Oregon. Now, Baron Morton,
[45:11] Speaker 1: I know Texas Tech people are gonna comment on this.
[45:13] Speaker 1: We've gotten all year. Baron Morton has had a very
[45:17] Speaker 1: good year.
[45:19] Speaker 2: For what it's worth. Beat up, but yes, beat up
[45:22] Speaker 2: for what it's.
[45:23] Speaker 1: Worth, though, And I know that what I'm about to
[45:25] Speaker 1: say here is also a point of contention. Okay, if
[45:28] Speaker 1: you trust things like passer grades, I know it's a
[45:32] Speaker 1: subjective measure. His passer grades have not been great against
[45:36] Speaker 1: the better teams on the schedule. He finished the year
[45:39] Speaker 1: about the fortieth or so highest graded pastor in college
[45:42] Speaker 1: football games against Arkansas Pine Bluff and Kent State and
[45:46] Speaker 1: Oregon State and UCF in West Virginia, those games are
[45:49] Speaker 1: doing a lot of work to pull up that average.
[45:53] Speaker 1: I like Baron Morton, I do. I just think there
[45:56] Speaker 1: needs to be more to this Texas Tech offense of
[45:59] Speaker 1: attack against a very good Oregon defense, a good not
[46:02] Speaker 1: great Oregon defense. If they're going to pull out and
[46:05] Speaker 1: merge the victor here. That's where I'm at on this.
[46:09] Speaker 1: So what those wrinkles are, how they incorporate that balance,
[46:14] Speaker 1: That to me remains a big open question because I
[46:17] Speaker 1: think this is a very very good defense. They have
[46:19] Speaker 1: not seen a defense this good all year. That's where
[46:22] Speaker 1: I'm at.
[46:24] Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, bar Morton is somewhere around like against the
[46:29] Speaker 2: ranked teams that they've played, which I guess is two
[46:31] Speaker 2: games against BYU in a game against Utah, he's somewhere
[46:35] Speaker 2: around the thirty fifth to forty fifth best quarterback in
[46:38] Speaker 2: America from a pure statistical standpoint. Obviously, different quarterbacks play
[46:43] Speaker 2: a different number of teams, and ranked is all relative
[46:45] Speaker 2: and everything like that. I think he's had a good
[46:47] Speaker 2: year and he's been beat up. Will Hammond stepped in
[46:49] Speaker 2: obviously had a big fourth quarter against Utah. I believe
[46:52] Speaker 2: didn't have a great game against ASU and that loss.
[46:54] Speaker 2: So it should be noted their one loss against ASU
[46:56] Speaker 2: was not a Baron Morton game on the road, and
[46:59] Speaker 2: ASU was a defending champ and played in the playoff
[47:02] Speaker 2: last year. Disappointing season ultimately with Sam Levitt's injury. But
[47:06] Speaker 2: that's that's the one game. Yeah, Okay, I am not
[47:10] Speaker 2: going to say what I said when I previewed Oregon Indiana,
[47:14] Speaker 2: which was I don't know how many players on Indiana
[47:16] Speaker 2: would start for Oregon. I'm not saying, don't say don't
[47:19] Speaker 2: do that again to yourself because I'm not doing it again,
[47:21] Speaker 2: period and arrows.
[47:22] Speaker 1: From the Indiana community on that.
[47:24] Speaker 2: One, you know what sidebar rightfully, So that was a
[47:26] Speaker 2: stupid thing to say. When I look at the position
[47:30] Speaker 2: groups in this game, I think I give far more
[47:33] Speaker 2: advantages to Oregon with clear advantages I think to Texas
[47:37] Speaker 2: Tech on the edge, and an overwhelming advantage to Texas
[47:40] Speaker 2: Tech at linebacker. But in terms of talent on hands
[47:44] Speaker 2: and right that even even if Oregon has more talent
[47:47] Speaker 2: across the board, we know defense, for example, can be
[47:50] Speaker 2: greater than the sum of its parts, and offense a
[47:52] Speaker 2: lot has to do with coordinator and rhythm and quarterback whatever.
[47:56] Speaker 2: I think Oregon is a more talented team who played
[47:59] Speaker 2: a tougher schedule. Now, if Texas Tech's defense is in
[48:04] Speaker 2: fact as terrific as the numbers imply, then their results
[48:11] Speaker 2: completely reflect that. Right that they're holding teams to zero,
[48:14] Speaker 2: seven to six, ten, whatever they're playing four full quarters,
[48:18] Speaker 2: they're creating havoc, and especially at linebacker and especially at
[48:22] Speaker 2: turning teams over. This Texas defense, Texas Tech defense, excuse me,
[48:26] Speaker 2: no insult implied, was at times or even like mostly
[48:31] Speaker 2: overwhelming to the teams that they faced, including the best
[48:35] Speaker 2: teams that they face. To be clear, I think Texas
[48:39] Speaker 2: Tech this year has been nothing short of excellent period.
[48:43] Speaker 2: I'm not talking about the schedule. They've performed against the
[48:45] Speaker 2: schedule like an elite team should have performed. I'm waiting
[48:48] Speaker 2: on the discount in the MiG twelve though. I'm not.
[48:51] Speaker 2: There's no butt Texas Tech is excellent period.
[48:53] Speaker 1: But there's going to be a transition here. I can
[48:55] Speaker 1: feel everybody what everybody watching and listening can feel the
[48:58] Speaker 1: transition coming.
[49:01] Speaker 2: I also think Okay, Oregon's ceiling is higher because of
[49:06] Speaker 2: their offense. I think the best of Oregon's to offense
[49:09] Speaker 2: and the best of Oregon's defense combined will play at
[49:13] Speaker 2: a higher level. If I'm gonna mention Winter wonders in Miami,
[49:15] Speaker 2: Ohio State, I'm gonna mention it here. I think Oregon
[49:19] Speaker 2: has the potential for more explosion on a big stage
[49:21] Speaker 2: at running back, receiver, and tight end than Texas Tech does.
[49:24] Speaker 2: I think the best of Dante More is better than
[49:27] Speaker 2: the best of Baron Morton. I think the best of
[49:29] Speaker 2: the Oregon offensive line is better than the best of
[49:32] Speaker 2: the Texas Tech offensive line, which, by the way, I
[49:35] Speaker 2: think is like the most penalized offensive line in America.
[49:38] Speaker 2: I believe they're left tackle and Howard Samson has something
[49:41] Speaker 2: like fourteen or fifteen penalties this year. That's too many.
[49:44] Speaker 2: If you're going to talk about a close matchup, you
[49:47] Speaker 2: got to talk about hidden yards, and I think those
[49:49] Speaker 2: may exist more for the Texas Tech offense. Again, this
[49:53] Speaker 2: Texas Tech offense at its best has been outstanding. Hasn't
[49:57] Speaker 2: been a great red zone offense. The organ has not
[49:59] Speaker 2: been a red great zone defense situation. If we're talking
[50:04] Speaker 2: about the best of these two teams, including rust factor,
[50:08] Speaker 2: which Texas Tech has that Oregon doesn't. I don't love
[50:11] Speaker 2: that this game is in Miami for Oregon traveling cross country,
[50:14] Speaker 2: but they'll have time there. I think the best of
[50:17] Speaker 2: this Oregon defense, and I don't care that much about
[50:20] Speaker 2: the second half of James Madison, who was forty eight
[50:22] Speaker 2: to thirteen near the fourth quarter and they pulled starters.
[50:26] Speaker 2: It doesn't bother me that much. And maybe I'll just
[50:29] Speaker 2: be flat out proven wrong here. I think if Oregon
[50:32] Speaker 2: is able to block inside, because they're gonna have everybody's
[50:36] Speaker 2: gonna have trouble with Texas Tech's edges, Romelo Height and
[50:38] Speaker 2: David Bailey, they're just really, really, really good. I think
[50:42] Speaker 2: if Oregon's able to get some push on the inside,
[50:44] Speaker 2: if Jordan Davison is healthy, he left the James Madison
[50:47] Speaker 2: game beat up, but by all accounts is ready to go.
[50:51] Speaker 2: If they're able to move the ball on the inside
[50:52] Speaker 2: and stay ahead of the chains, I think Texas Tech's secondary. Again,
[50:57] Speaker 2: if Oregon's able to block someone, what these edges, because
[51:01] Speaker 2: they're not going to be able to completely block them.
[51:02] Speaker 1: They're just too good. I have some thoughts on that,
[51:06] Speaker 1: but continue.
[51:07] Speaker 2: I think the Texas Tech secondary can be had down
[51:10] Speaker 2: the field provided Oregon blocks up these edges.
[51:13] Speaker 1: I like agree with that completely.
[51:15] Speaker 2: Oregon healthy at receiver and now healthy with two outstanding
[51:19] Speaker 2: tight ends and Kenyon Sadek and Jamari Johnson adding to
[51:22] Speaker 2: Coreyan Moore. Malik Benson's been a revelation. Jeremiah McClellan's been
[51:26] Speaker 2: very stuart going to play. I don't think so, Okay,
[51:30] Speaker 2: I just don't think so. I don't know. Uh, he
[51:33] Speaker 2: warmed up and then was in street clothes for the
[51:34] Speaker 2: James Madison game. I just think there's more in the
[51:38] Speaker 2: way of Winter Wonders and I come back to look,
[51:41] Speaker 2: the path for Texas Tech is easy. You just get
[51:43] Speaker 2: in Dante Moore's head and you turn them over, and
[51:45] Speaker 2: that's the game, right that Texas Tech can just sit
[51:47] Speaker 2: on Oregon in the second half, if they're up seventeen
[51:49] Speaker 2: to seven, that's that's exactly what would play into Texas
[51:53] Speaker 2: Tech hand, Texas Tech's hand. My concern for Texas Tech
[51:57] Speaker 2: is their offense, their offense slowing down in the red
[52:00] Speaker 2: zone even against Oregon's bad red zone defense. That it's
[52:05] Speaker 2: a bigger stage than Texas Tech is used to. It's
[52:08] Speaker 2: a bigger stage than Joey Maguire's used to. I think
[52:11] Speaker 2: they're gonna be really competitive in this game. I think
[52:13] Speaker 2: Oregon wins this game by a touchdown. I think it's
[52:15] Speaker 2: back and forth, and ultimately in these moments, it's a
[52:18] Speaker 2: quarterback in Winter Wonders thing for me, and so I
[52:22] Speaker 2: have Oregon twenty seven to twenty.
[52:25] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think you I agree with most
[52:28] Speaker 1: of what you said.
[52:29] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[52:29] Speaker 1: For me, the biggest key is that Tech pass rush
[52:33] Speaker 1: because it's body engine for the defense all year. And
[52:37] Speaker 1: one other thing that you mentioned, I know you point out,
[52:39] Speaker 1: like the Texas Tech offensive line. I'm curious to see
[52:44] Speaker 1: what happens on the right side of that Oregon offensive
[52:46] Speaker 1: line because A numbers say that Oregon's very vulnerable at
[52:49] Speaker 1: right tackle, which is something to watch, do they add?
[52:52] Speaker 3: Yes?
[52:52] Speaker 2: And no?
[52:53] Speaker 1: I mean, I mean of the spots on that line statistically,
[52:57] Speaker 1: that is the spot you attack. So how to shold
[53:00] Speaker 1: attack that? I don't know. I'm curious to see from myself.
[53:03] Speaker 1: But back to what you said and just the broader
[53:05] Speaker 1: point here. Okay, Now imagine, by.
[53:07] Speaker 2: The way, related, how does Oregon adjust because they really struggled.
[53:10] Speaker 2: Dante mor struggled against Indiana when they did not know
[53:13] Speaker 2: where the pass rush was coming from. Yeah.
[53:16] Speaker 1: I like the Oregon offense because of its balance, because
[53:20] Speaker 1: they can run, because they can throw, and most importantly
[53:24] Speaker 1: now because they're a little bit more healthy and they've
[53:26] Speaker 1: been I don't know if Dante morr is coming back
[53:31] Speaker 1: next year or not. You would probably know that better
[53:34] Speaker 1: than me.
[53:35] Speaker 2: Open question. In this moment. There have been a couple
[53:37] Speaker 2: guys returning that maybe points to it. But it's not
[53:41] Speaker 2: a great quarterback class.
[53:43] Speaker 1: No.
[53:43] Speaker 2: I mean, like the Cade club Nick and Drew allrization
[53:46] Speaker 2: of this year's class has made it a really nice
[53:49] Speaker 2: year to be a high level prospect, which Dante Morr is. Yeah,
[53:53] Speaker 2: And so my point is that.
[53:55] Speaker 1: This is the type of game for Dante Moore that
[53:58] Speaker 1: could raise the volume on him as the number one
[54:01] Speaker 1: quarterback off the board.
[54:02] Speaker 2: Totally.
[54:04] Speaker 1: I love this tech defense. I've loved them all year.
[54:07] Speaker 1: They're front seven the way that She'll would in his
[54:10] Speaker 1: first year, by the way, and Lubbock has schemed the
[54:14] Speaker 1: tech line to like unlock the linebackers and the edge
[54:18] Speaker 1: defenders and all that. All that stuff is damn impressive
[54:21] Speaker 1: and I think for sure it is a huge challenge
[54:24] Speaker 1: for Oregon, but I also like the matchup of the
[54:28] Speaker 1: Oregon receivers against the Tech secondary, and I think there
[54:33] Speaker 1: will be some really big opportunities for Oregon to take
[54:36] Speaker 1: some shots downfield, especially if they can get the ground
[54:39] Speaker 1: game going.
[54:40] Speaker 2: And that's where ASU, by the way, succeeded. Sam Levil
[54:43] Speaker 2: was able to avoid the pass rush, which did beat
[54:45] Speaker 2: the ASU offensive line, but he was able to buy
[54:48] Speaker 2: himself time and they were able to make Hay downfield.
[54:51] Speaker 1: We have not seen Tech play that many teams that
[54:54] Speaker 1: pose a vertical threat, and I look for someone like
[54:57] Speaker 1: a Kenyan Sadik tight end to have a monster game
[55:02] Speaker 1: attacking this seams. I think between the hashes down the
[55:05] Speaker 1: middle of the field is where I am looking.
[55:07] Speaker 2: Here some good linebackers and coverage for Texas Tech.
[55:09] Speaker 1: They are, but I think I think there is a
[55:12] Speaker 1: matchup that can be exploited on the Oregon side.
[55:15] Speaker 2: Okay, and.
[55:17] Speaker 1: There could be even more opportunities if they aren't able
[55:20] Speaker 1: to get that pressure, which is what I come back
[55:22] Speaker 1: to when I say that pass rush. The effectiveness of
[55:25] Speaker 1: that pass rush is going to be key because Dante's mobile,
[55:30] Speaker 1: He's better outside the pocket. You can make that Cads
[55:32] Speaker 1: are a very strong case there, and he's very good
[55:35] Speaker 1: at keeping his eyes downfield, So I even if they
[55:39] Speaker 1: scramble him out of the pocket, he keeps his eyes downfield.
[55:43] Speaker 1: He's going to look for big weapons like Sadiq, and
[55:45] Speaker 1: I think that is the matchup to exploit. That is
[55:48] Speaker 1: what I am looking for here. Tech pass rush. Even
[55:51] Speaker 1: if they get pressure, what does Dante do and are
[55:54] Speaker 1: they able to stretch the field vertically? I think that's
[55:58] Speaker 1: what this game hinges on. I also wavered on this
[56:01] Speaker 1: game because it is not hard for me to come
[56:04] Speaker 1: up with a scenario in which Texas Tech pulls the
[56:06] Speaker 1: out right upset. But I'm gonna go with Oregon. I
[56:12] Speaker 1: like the matchups. I think the matchups are in their favor.
[56:16] Speaker 1: I think it is lower scoring. I've got it at
[56:17] Speaker 1: twenty three seventeen Ducks win.
[56:20] Speaker 2: I think if Oregon turns the ball over twice, they're
[56:24] Speaker 2: in a lot of trouble truly. But short of that,
[56:30] Speaker 2: I do think in January, which technically this is right
[56:34] Speaker 2: January first. First, Yeah, happy, we're talking about Winter Wonders Year.
[56:39] Speaker 2: Happy New Year to you as well. In advance, the
[56:43] Speaker 2: ten these types of teams tend to be the when
[56:46] Speaker 2: you have too many I'm trying to not say questions
[56:50] Speaker 2: and answers, but too many questions that need answers. Go
[56:57] Speaker 2: with the team that poses those questions that I mention it.
[57:00] Speaker 1: I think this is probably our last show of twenty
[57:02] Speaker 1: twenty five.
[57:05] Speaker 2: That's true.
[57:06] Speaker 1: It didn't even dawn on me. But yeah, Happy New
[57:09] Speaker 1: Year to everybody.
[57:09] Speaker 2: Are you proud of yourself so far? Do you think
[57:12] Speaker 2: you're doing this here? Justice twenty twenty five? I'm okay
[57:15] Speaker 2: with it? So no, are you happy with this show?
[57:17] Speaker 2: As like a bow?
[57:19] Speaker 1: I'm surprised if my voice hasn't cut out yet.
[57:21] Speaker 2: You sound great, Ty, You're nailing it.
[57:23] Speaker 1: But we got two more games to do and a
[57:25] Speaker 1: long way to go, brothers, so we'll see. Let'st out,
[57:27] Speaker 1: Let's go, Let's go to the Rose Bowl presented by
[57:30] Speaker 1: Prudential The Big Rock.
[57:33] Speaker 2: Is it bad weather in the forecast in the Rose Bowl?
[57:36] Speaker 2: I don't know you're the weather man here, oh, Ty,
[57:38] Speaker 2: I just I live in so much bad weather that
[57:41] Speaker 2: it all runs together. You just want everybody to have
[57:44] Speaker 2: to deal with it. Two Saturday, there is rain in
[57:47] Speaker 2: the forecast in Pasadena, I don't know to what extent
[57:52] Speaker 2: it's been a rainy week or so in California, but
[57:55] Speaker 2: this would be on Thursday, right.
[57:58] Speaker 1: This is on Thursday, Yes, sorry, first four pm Eastern
[58:01] Speaker 1: time in ESPN. It is number nine the Alabama Crimson
[58:06] Speaker 1: tied versus number one Indiana Whoho Hoosiers. They are favored
[58:11] Speaker 1: by seven. The over under here is forty eight and
[58:13] Speaker 1: a half points. The sp plus is Indiana favored by
[58:16] Speaker 1: thirteen and.
[58:17] Speaker 2: One tenth of a point. Sheesh.
[58:21] Speaker 1: The winner would play the winner of your Oregon Ducks
[58:24] Speaker 1: and the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Chick fil
[58:26] Speaker 1: A Peach Bowl Friday the ninth.
[58:31] Speaker 2: Eighty seven percent chance or eighty seven percent coverage whatever
[58:34] Speaker 2: of precipitation at kickoff woohoo.
[58:37] Speaker 1: Earlier kickoff too, they moved it up to four. It's
[58:40] Speaker 1: a big deal because of the sunset or whatever.
[58:43] Speaker 2: We need it. What a full.
[58:45] Speaker 1: Circle moment for these coaches. We got Kurt Signetti, who
[58:50] Speaker 1: used to be an assistant at Alabama under Nick Saban,
[58:53] Speaker 1: and Caitlin de Borr, who used to be an offensive
[58:55] Speaker 1: coordinator at Indiana, and then we got the fan base
[58:59] Speaker 1: side of it, which is an Indiana team that's historically
[59:02] Speaker 1: been one of the worst in college football, but is
[59:05] Speaker 1: somehow now the number one overall seed against Alabama, ever,
[59:09] Speaker 1: the blue blood who was basically one of the last
[59:11] Speaker 1: two in the field. What a tangled web this sport weaves.
[59:16] Speaker 2: It's great.
[59:17] Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you a question to start off
[59:19] Speaker 1: our our little capsule here.
[59:21] Speaker 2: Do you have your arnold sounds on? Ask you a question.
[59:24] Speaker 2: What isn't that from kindergarten cop? I know your sounds
[59:26] Speaker 2: are all messed up. I'm sorry for putting you on
[59:28] Speaker 2: the spot.
[59:28] Speaker 1: They screwed me over something fierce with this with this
[59:31] Speaker 1: soundboard app that I use in the.
[59:32] Speaker 2: Ipay, I'll just play this in its stead.
[59:36] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[59:36] Speaker 2: There's a sound.
[59:37] Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask one question of you to start this off.
[59:41] Speaker 1: The mainstream school of thought with this matchup, immediately after
[59:45] Speaker 1: Alabama won the last game, the overwhelming sentiment was that
[59:50] Speaker 1: Indiana is gonna win handily because they're better coached and
[59:55] Speaker 1: they're more well rounded. And from what I could gather,
[59:58] Speaker 1: there seem to be somewhat unanimous approval of that point
[1:00:04] Speaker 1: of view. Pick your talker. I don't know. I'm not
[1:00:09] Speaker 1: even gonna name names, but everybody I saw seem to
[1:00:12] Speaker 1: be kind of coalescing around this point, whether it was
[1:00:15] Speaker 1: the talkers or even the sp plus again thirteen points.
[1:00:21] Speaker 1: Everybody seemed to be kind of going that direction. But
[1:00:25] Speaker 1: that runs counter to the public betting trends, which is
[1:00:30] Speaker 1: among this field now of four games, the most lopsided
[1:00:33] Speaker 1: in terms of percentage of bets, percentage of money. You've
[1:00:38] Speaker 1: got seventy seven percent of the bets on Alabama. You
[1:00:40] Speaker 1: got sixty six percent of the money on Alabama plus
[1:00:43] Speaker 1: the seven. So what I'm asking here is is there
[1:00:48] Speaker 1: something that talkers are missing or is there something that
[1:00:53] Speaker 1: the public is missing just because they like to go
[1:00:56] Speaker 1: with the blue blood.
[1:00:57] Speaker 2: Right that this moment is too big for indyannare familiar
[1:01:00] Speaker 2: with Alabama in a stage like this, and you know,
[1:01:02] Speaker 2: obviously Indiana has more of the Russ factors, So it'll
[1:01:05] Speaker 2: be whatever it is twenty five to twenty four days
[1:01:07] Speaker 2: between Big Ten Championship game and the Rose Bowl. And
[1:01:10] Speaker 2: we saw how that worked out for Oregon last year
[1:01:12] Speaker 2: in this stadium. I don't know, like I understand why
[1:01:18] Speaker 2: you would like Alabama some in this game. You're more
[1:01:21] Speaker 2: familiar with them. They did just play a game. There's
[1:01:23] Speaker 2: more rhythm to Alabama they are seeing. I mean, both
[1:01:25] Speaker 2: of these teams are kind of beat up along the
[1:01:27] Speaker 2: defensive line. Was it Stephen Daily? I think either led
[1:01:30] Speaker 2: the nation or one of the leaders in tackles for loss.
[1:01:34] Speaker 2: Indiana out for this game, out for the season, I
[1:01:36] Speaker 2: believe after the Ohio State game, and Alabama has been
[1:01:39] Speaker 2: down with Tim keenan lt Overton, guys like that, big contributors.
[1:01:44] Speaker 2: But the Alabama defensive line in that second half against Oklahoma,
[1:01:46] Speaker 2: especially against the past, really came to play. I lean
[1:01:53] Speaker 2: Indiana in this. I'm not with the public where like
[1:01:57] Speaker 2: Alabama's like the name and has the play makers. I
[1:02:01] Speaker 2: think Indiana is the better team. I think they have
[1:02:03] Speaker 2: more ways to win. I think they can win ugly.
[1:02:06] Speaker 2: I think they can win in a shootout. I think
[1:02:08] Speaker 2: they have the better quarterback. I think in terms of
[1:02:13] Speaker 2: offensive rhythm, I think they're in a better place than
[1:02:15] Speaker 2: where Alabama's been against the better teams this back half
[1:02:18] Speaker 2: of the schedule. They can run the ball, they can
[1:02:20] Speaker 2: throw the ball, they can protect strategically, They're in a
[1:02:24] Speaker 2: really good place. They're super well coached, whereas Alabama is
[1:02:26] Speaker 2: sort of catches catch, can I didn't like how they
[1:02:29] Speaker 2: came out against Oklahoma in terms of how prepared they
[1:02:31] Speaker 2: were lack thereof. I just think Indiana is a more
[1:02:34] Speaker 2: buttoned up team. I think Indiana has just been a
[1:02:38] Speaker 2: killer and Alabama has struggled, and they had a great
[1:02:43] Speaker 2: second half against Oklahoma, but the way they came out
[1:02:46] Speaker 2: in that game still concerns me and gives me pause.
[1:02:50] Speaker 2: I don't know, it would just be such a shocker
[1:02:53] Speaker 2: if Indiana was not ready for this game, even with
[1:02:56] Speaker 2: the extended layoff. I think the hallmark of this team
[1:02:59] Speaker 2: is just the effort and the execution and how well
[1:03:01] Speaker 2: coached they are, and so it just does not seem
[1:03:05] Speaker 2: like an Indiana thing at this point. As strange as
[1:03:07] Speaker 2: it is to say, I know, I know that Indiana
[1:03:10] Speaker 2: is a team that is unprepared for a game like this,
[1:03:14] Speaker 2: after what they showed against Ohio State, what they showed
[1:03:16] Speaker 2: against Oregon, flying to the West Coast earlier on in
[1:03:18] Speaker 2: the season. The rest is real. You know, It's been
[1:03:21] Speaker 2: a whirlwind few weeks, you know, for Nadal Mendoza winning
[1:03:23] Speaker 2: the Heisman. It's just a very different time for Indiana football.
[1:03:26] Speaker 2: This is a new stage for this program. I mean
[1:03:29] Speaker 2: they were in the playoff last year, but it was
[1:03:32] Speaker 2: it was a road game in state. It's sort of
[1:03:33] Speaker 2: it's a different deal when you're in Pasadena and you're
[1:03:36] Speaker 2: going through you know, all the all the press and
[1:03:38] Speaker 2: all the hooplah, you know what it is.
[1:03:40] Speaker 1: But it isn't because I think you could. I thought
[1:03:43] Speaker 1: about this a lot. I think you can make the case.
[1:03:45] Speaker 1: At the big stage was the Big Ten Championship against
[1:03:48] Speaker 1: Ohio State.
[1:03:49] Speaker 2: Again also in state though right state in state.
[1:03:51] Speaker 1: But but to me, just in terms of significance, of course,
[1:03:56] Speaker 1: winning a playoff game moving on having a shot at
[1:03:59] Speaker 1: the national championship, that's a whole other echelon, But in
[1:04:03] Speaker 1: terms of true symbolism relative to where Indiana has been
[1:04:09] Speaker 1: beating Ohio State, I don't care where that game is.
[1:04:12] Speaker 1: You could play that game on Mars for all I care.
[1:04:14] Speaker 2: Totally.
[1:04:15] Speaker 1: Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship is about as
[1:04:17] Speaker 1: big as it gets for a program that has basically
[1:04:20] Speaker 1: been a doormat for the entirety of its history in
[1:04:22] Speaker 1: the football side, so't I don't necessarily buy the argument
[1:04:26] Speaker 1: this is going to be too big for Indiana. They
[1:04:28] Speaker 1: now they have a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. They have
[1:04:31] Speaker 1: a very balanced offense. As you said, it can win
[1:04:33] Speaker 1: a bunch of different ways. They have three backs that
[1:04:35] Speaker 1: are averaging five yards per carry. Even Fernando or Mendoza
[1:04:38] Speaker 1: can run a bit, he's not definitely. Yeah. The biggest
[1:04:43] Speaker 1: issue that I see for Indiana as this Bama is
[1:04:48] Speaker 1: not great at pressuring the quarterback. They don't blitz a
[1:04:51] Speaker 1: whole lot. They're content to just sort of sit back
[1:04:54] Speaker 1: and play zone. Be a top ten caliber defense, get
[1:04:58] Speaker 1: the ball back to the offense. So they've been very
[1:05:00] Speaker 1: good at this year. It's a good defense. Most of
[1:05:03] Speaker 1: their playmaking has come from their back seven. We have
[1:05:08] Speaker 1: seen this almost exact formula against Indiana all year. They're
[1:05:14] Speaker 1: not gonna blitz them because Mendoza's two get at figuring
[1:05:16] Speaker 1: it out after the snap, and so how do you
[1:05:20] Speaker 1: stop that? How do you stop Indiana when you're not
[1:05:23] Speaker 1: necessarily gonna bring everything at him. I have a real
[1:05:27] Speaker 1: question about red zone. This is a very good Alabama
[1:05:33] Speaker 1: red zone defense. They're gonna go out there, they're gonna
[1:05:36] Speaker 1: play ben don't break. They're gonna force a lot of
[1:05:39] Speaker 1: short stuff underneath. They're gonna make Indiana be super efficient
[1:05:43] Speaker 1: to beat them. Alabama needs to force threes instead of sixes.
[1:05:49] Speaker 1: And that's the formula that I think we're gonna see here,
[1:05:52] Speaker 1: and so I say, yes, this is the big issue
[1:05:54] Speaker 1: for Indiana. I mean, Indiana has been a very good
[1:05:56] Speaker 1: red zone offense in their own right. But I just
[1:05:59] Speaker 1: expect we're going to see two versions of the Alabama defense.
[1:06:01] Speaker 1: We're gonna see one between the twenties and then another
[1:06:04] Speaker 1: once they get down into the red zone. I think
[1:06:08] Speaker 1: Indiana's gonna have a lot of success nickel and diming
[1:06:10] Speaker 1: their way down the field. But I am watching for
[1:06:13] Speaker 1: the red zone. Watch for the red zone. It's true
[1:06:19] Speaker 1: in every game. I think it is especially true in
[1:06:21] Speaker 1: this one. If the Alabama wants to have any kind
[1:06:23] Speaker 1: of chance here now, now the whole idea goes up
[1:06:27] Speaker 1: and smoke. If Indiana starts ripping off big runs, connects
[1:06:30] Speaker 1: some big passing plays, or anything like that. But I
[1:06:34] Speaker 1: expect Alabama to play a lot of bend, don't break,
[1:06:37] Speaker 1: and to tighten up, especially doubly so once they get
[1:06:41] Speaker 1: down inside the red zone. And this is where we're
[1:06:43] Speaker 1: gonna need to see what out what Indiana's made out of.
[1:06:46] Speaker 1: Can Indiana continue to convert maybe it's the stage, maybe
[1:06:50] Speaker 1: it's the weather, maybe it's just I don't know. But
[1:06:53] Speaker 1: can Indiana continue that trend of being a very good
[1:06:55] Speaker 1: red zone offense against a very good red zone defense
[1:06:59] Speaker 1: that I think is and be ready to bat in
[1:07:00] Speaker 1: the hatches and force those field goals at all cost?
[1:07:05] Speaker 2: Yeah, I look, I would expect to see some of
[1:07:08] Speaker 2: Fernando Mendoza's legs in the red zone too. I think
[1:07:11] Speaker 2: that's all weaponed.
[1:07:12] Speaker 1: I think we should. I absolutely think that's something they
[1:07:15] Speaker 1: should do.
[1:07:16] Speaker 2: I'm curious to see. And this again goes back to
[1:07:19] Speaker 2: my the Winter Wonders thing. Who on Indiana, especially in
[1:07:23] Speaker 2: the red zone, as you mentioned, who on Indiana at receiver,
[1:07:27] Speaker 2: at tight end, whatever can force the issue can win
[1:07:31] Speaker 2: fifty to fifty balls in the corner of the end zone,
[1:07:33] Speaker 2: right like they obviously made plays against Ohio State Penn State.
[1:07:37] Speaker 1: I mean, I have nightmares about that play.
[1:07:39] Speaker 2: Omark sure, sure, sure, and Omark Cooper was hurt but
[1:07:42] Speaker 2: seems to be like he's all right. So they should
[1:07:43] Speaker 2: have Cooper and Becker and Surat like they should have
[1:07:46] Speaker 2: their guys. But if there was anything we saw last
[1:07:49] Speaker 2: year in the playoff, different team, I'm only using this
[1:07:52] Speaker 2: as a half example. This is not a full thing.
[1:07:54] Speaker 2: It's they didn't have those guys against Notre Dame perform
[1:07:58] Speaker 2: and force the issue. Right, different quarterback, different team, so
[1:08:02] Speaker 2: much different, better team, much better. So this year is
[1:08:05] Speaker 2: a better team. Yes, So I'm just curious who that
[1:08:08] Speaker 2: guy is to force the issue against the talent on Alabama.
[1:08:12] Speaker 2: And honestly, you can very easily say the thing the
[1:08:16] Speaker 2: same thing on the flip side, who on Alabama? With
[1:08:20] Speaker 2: the sort of disappearance of Ryan Williams for extended stretches.
[1:08:23] Speaker 1: He's been with a witness protection program since like week two.
[1:08:26] Speaker 2: Dan, we saw some from Brooks. We've seen guys step up, Quavis,
[1:08:30] Speaker 2: We've seen guys for a quarter for a drive, whatever,
[1:08:32] Speaker 2: step up in a big way. I think it's only
[1:08:35] Speaker 2: fair to point out the same thing with how Ohio
[1:08:37] Speaker 2: State struggled against this Indiana defense. Who on Alabama? Especially
[1:08:41] Speaker 2: because we know it's likely not going to be what
[1:08:43] Speaker 2: appears to be a healthy jam Miller, but it's not
[1:08:45] Speaker 2: going to be the run game. It's Alabama.
[1:08:48] Speaker 1: It's a one dimensional offense. It is a one dimensional
[1:08:51] Speaker 1: Alabama offense that's going to put a lot of strain
[1:08:55] Speaker 1: on Ty Simpson to make the right reads and accurate
[1:08:58] Speaker 1: throws full stop. That is the offense.
[1:09:01] Speaker 2: So who is So it's Ty Simpson in the rain,
[1:09:05] Speaker 2: like Fernando Mendoza in the rain. Who are the guys
[1:09:08] Speaker 2: who can force the issue and are just like, well,
[1:09:11] Speaker 2: this guy's unguardable and went for five catches one thirty
[1:09:14] Speaker 2: eight and that was the difference. And whichever team has
[1:09:17] Speaker 2: that guy I think is likely winning this game. Because
[1:09:22] Speaker 2: if you're gonna nitpick Indiana, it's what I already said,
[1:09:26] Speaker 2: it's more situational right the time off that they're going
[1:09:28] Speaker 2: across the country Rose Bull stage, they haven't you know,
[1:09:31] Speaker 2: the a rhythmic nature of this whole thing that like,
[1:09:35] Speaker 2: Indiana's played a lot of big games either during the
[1:09:37] Speaker 2: regular season or in state with the Notre Dame Ohio
[1:09:39] Speaker 2: State game, Like this is a different beast, and it's
[1:09:44] Speaker 2: a different beast on a certain level of Kaylin de
[1:09:45] Speaker 2: Boorn Alabama as well. But I just that's the only
[1:09:49] Speaker 2: novel element to this Indiana team because otherwise they're just
[1:09:52] Speaker 2: kicking ass. So I'm taking Indiana here. What was the number?
[1:09:56] Speaker 2: One more time?
[1:09:57] Speaker 1: I've got it at seven right now now.
[1:10:01] Speaker 2: Okay, I have Indiana winning this game thirty to seventeen
[1:10:04] Speaker 2: and covering.
[1:10:05] Speaker 1: Okay, so you are going two scores.
[1:10:07] Speaker 2: I am going two scores.
[1:10:08] Speaker 1: Wow.
[1:10:09] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Alabama's been sort of getting away with
[1:10:13] Speaker 2: it for too long.
[1:10:15] Speaker 1: I think that's a fair point of view. I think
[1:10:18] Speaker 1: what Alabama did against Oklahoma was impressive, though I agree,
[1:10:22] Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to undersell what they did. Yeah,
[1:10:26] Speaker 1: maybe they came out and didn't look prepared, but the
[1:10:28] Speaker 1: way they got that thing back on track and one
[1:10:31] Speaker 1: going away says a lot about the character of that team,
[1:10:35] Speaker 1: and I just want to reemphasize that. I thought that
[1:10:38] Speaker 1: was really impressive, the way they cashed in on the
[1:10:41] Speaker 1: Oklahoma mistakes and then kind of turned that into momentum
[1:10:45] Speaker 1: and they wrote that one out. That to me, it
[1:10:50] Speaker 1: stands for something and I think it speaks volumes about
[1:10:53] Speaker 1: what Kailen Debor is built.
[1:10:55] Speaker 2: So, but they also did that against like the ninetieth
[1:10:58] Speaker 2: best offense. Listen, I get it, I get it, Dan,
[1:11:00] Speaker 2: I totally get it.
[1:11:01] Speaker 1: But I just I have made a lot of hay
[1:11:05] Speaker 1: on this show going at Alabama for them getting in
[1:11:08] Speaker 1: the playoff and for the way they closed out their season,
[1:11:10] Speaker 1: and how the offense has had diminishing returns and this
[1:11:14] Speaker 1: and that, and I know Alabama fans are probably tuned
[1:11:16] Speaker 1: out at this point, So this is not about dunking
[1:11:20] Speaker 1: on Bama. What they did in Round one against Oklahoma
[1:11:24] Speaker 1: on the road on a front and that was really
[1:11:26] Speaker 1: impressive to me. There is still a lot of receiving talent,
[1:11:30] Speaker 1: and running back talent, but totally more notably receiving talent
[1:11:35] Speaker 1: on this roster. And you mentioned a bunch of them,
[1:11:37] Speaker 1: Jeremy Bernard and Isaiah Horton and Lottie Brooks and even
[1:11:39] Speaker 1: Ryan Williams if he should emerge from witness protection at
[1:11:43] Speaker 1: some point. Josh Clavis, Right, there's a lot here that
[1:11:46] Speaker 1: I think you got to like about this team. I'm
[1:11:50] Speaker 1: not sure it's enough against a defense that knows their
[1:11:53] Speaker 1: one dimensional, that knows the Alabama offense is one dimensional,
[1:11:57] Speaker 1: and a defense by the way, that held down both
[1:11:59] Speaker 1: Oregon into High State. But I do not want to
[1:12:04] Speaker 1: go deeper into this preview with that without at least
[1:12:07] Speaker 1: crediting what Alabama has donecause they've been very very good. Yeah,
[1:12:10] Speaker 1: and they were a very very good Round one after
[1:12:13] Speaker 1: the first.
[1:12:13] Speaker 2: Quarter, If like the okayist or like the most pretty
[1:12:17] Speaker 2: good quarterback in America was playing for Oklahoma. Yeah, I
[1:12:20] Speaker 2: don't think we're having this made me different, Like if
[1:12:23] Speaker 2: it's like a Brendan Sorosby or arch Manning.
[1:12:26] Speaker 1: You know, this is where I say, if I had wheels,
[1:12:28] Speaker 1: there'd be a bicycle.
[1:12:29] Speaker 2: Totally true.
[1:12:32] Speaker 1: But on the Indiana defense side, if we're going to
[1:12:37] Speaker 1: bring up havoc with respect to other defenses, this is
[1:12:41] Speaker 1: the top havoc defense in college football. And it's an
[1:12:44] Speaker 1: interesting combination because they're a havoc defense that forces a
[1:12:49] Speaker 1: lot of big plays, interceptions, sacks, tackles for loss, you
[1:12:52] Speaker 1: name it, fumbles. But they also play the highest percentage
[1:12:56] Speaker 1: of zone eighty seven percent of the time of any
[1:13:00] Speaker 1: team in college football. I watched a bunch of videos
[1:13:04] Speaker 1: this week showing how Indiana and Bryant Haynes, their defensive coordinator,
[1:13:09] Speaker 1: are running a scheme that is more akin to the
[1:13:11] Speaker 1: NFL than college football. There's a lot of nuance here.
[1:13:15] Speaker 2: Cool.
[1:13:16] Speaker 1: It reminds me a little bit of the Iowa rushing offense.
[1:13:21] Speaker 1: How it seems simple, but then when you pop the
[1:13:23] Speaker 1: hood and you try to understand it, there's a lot
[1:13:25] Speaker 1: there's like a lot of small wrinkles that don't meet
[1:13:28] Speaker 1: the eye initially, and it sort of underscores the point
[1:13:32] Speaker 1: on coaching and discipline. You cannot run a system like
[1:13:36] Speaker 1: this unless you're very disciplined and you have good communication. Now,
[1:13:42] Speaker 1: what they don't do is blitz you a whole lot.
[1:13:45] Speaker 1: That is a different formula than we have seen against
[1:13:48] Speaker 1: Ty Simpson down the stretch. Right the Auburn game comes
[1:13:51] Speaker 1: to mind. They blitzed the crap out of them. They
[1:13:54] Speaker 1: had some success, they almost could have won that game.
[1:13:58] Speaker 1: But that is not Indiana. Indiana is not a heavy
[1:14:01] Speaker 1: blitzing team at all. So I'm curious to see if
[1:14:05] Speaker 1: they are able to confuse that Alabama passing attack by
[1:14:09] Speaker 1: doing their normal thing and running a very nuanced zone setup,
[1:14:14] Speaker 1: or if they're going to have to over commit and
[1:14:16] Speaker 1: break ten and see a little bit and blitz a
[1:14:17] Speaker 1: little bit more.
[1:14:18] Speaker 2: M The Alabama offensive line can be had it it
[1:14:22] Speaker 2: can be.
[1:14:23] Speaker 1: But the Alabama offensive line has also held up pretty
[1:14:25] Speaker 1: well in the face of some of that pressure that
[1:14:27] Speaker 1: they've seen down the stretch.
[1:14:29] Speaker 2: Well, that stretch included the Georgia's SEC championship game.
[1:14:31] Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. So I am very curious to see
[1:14:37] Speaker 1: what Indiana's defense looks like. Are they able to get
[1:14:39] Speaker 1: pressure on? Ty Simpson. By the way, when I say
[1:14:42] Speaker 1: the normal thing, I got air quotes going here. It's
[1:14:44] Speaker 1: the seventeenth best pressure rate in the country in terms
[1:14:49] Speaker 1: of their defense, So they get pressure without blitzing.
[1:14:51] Speaker 2: But they're playing this game on the field tied on.
[1:14:55] Speaker 1: So I'm just curious to see how that manifests in
[1:14:59] Speaker 1: this game. Because Ty and we could talk about Fanana
[1:15:01] Speaker 1: Mendoza and how he diagnoses the play after the snap
[1:15:05] Speaker 1: and almost went to an IVY League school and got
[1:15:08] Speaker 1: a business degree from Berkeley or whatever, who.
[1:15:11] Speaker 2: Among us, Ty didn't nearly end up at Yale.
[1:15:13] Speaker 1: We could talk about all of that until we're blue
[1:15:15] Speaker 1: in the face. Tie Simpson's that pretty good too, It's
[1:15:18] Speaker 1: pretty good. So I want to see how he diagnoses this.
[1:15:22] Speaker 1: And I think that in and of itself is going
[1:15:24] Speaker 1: to have a very large part to play and who
[1:15:27] Speaker 1: ends up winning this one. But I just think in general,
[1:15:31] Speaker 1: the fact that we've got two zone heavy defenses that
[1:15:34] Speaker 1: don't like the blitz and two quarterbacks that are both
[1:15:36] Speaker 1: very good at figuring things out. Yeah, along the way,
[1:15:39] Speaker 1: someone's going to have to break a tendency and force
[1:15:41] Speaker 1: the issue in the rain. In the rain, thank you.
[1:15:45] Speaker 2: Your voice sounds great.
[1:15:47] Speaker 1: It's it's starting to peter out. I can fish.
[1:15:49] Speaker 2: It's okay, it's okay. It's not showing to get tired,
[1:15:53] Speaker 2: starting to peter out. That was that old Alabama like
[1:15:55] Speaker 2: Scott cochrane thing. You never put your hands on your knees, right, yeah,
[1:15:59] Speaker 2: you never give that tell that you might be tired.
[1:16:02] Speaker 2: And I'm almost out of water. Uh oh.
[1:16:06] Speaker 1: Indiana wins twenty seven to seventeen.
[1:16:10] Speaker 2: All right, so we both have Alabama scoring seventeen in
[1:16:12] Speaker 2: a losing effort. I have them going to thirteen. You
[1:16:14] Speaker 2: have them barely covering one game left. Okay, you want
[1:16:21] Speaker 2: to head to your corner so your trainer can get
[1:16:23] Speaker 2: you some water.
[1:16:24] Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep going, man, Okay, All stage, Sugar Bowl
[1:16:28] Speaker 1: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy eight PM, ESPN, Number six seed
[1:16:35] Speaker 1: Ole Miss Rebels, Number three seed Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia favored
[1:16:39] Speaker 1: by six and a half points.
[1:16:41] Speaker 2: You're over under.
[1:16:42] Speaker 1: Here is fifty six and a half. So somebody's looked
[1:16:44] Speaker 1: for some points. The sp plus has it as a
[1:16:48] Speaker 1: point three point difference. Wow, not even one whole point
[1:16:53] Speaker 1: point three in favor of Georgia. Yeah, the winner goes
[1:16:59] Speaker 1: the Yes, the bawl again, they'd be playing the winner
[1:17:02] Speaker 1: of the Miami Ohio state game. He seems played already.
[1:17:07] Speaker 1: We saw this game the rematch rematcher eight correct in Athens. Yep,
[1:17:12] Speaker 1: Georgia one forty three to thirty five, a really good game.
[1:17:16] Speaker 1: Georgia was down in that one by nine points going
[1:17:20] Speaker 1: into the fourth quarter. They ripped off seventeen unanswered. They
[1:17:22] Speaker 1: won going away. Got a different coaching matchup this time.
[1:17:27] Speaker 1: Lane Kiffin took his hot yoga to Baton Rouge.
[1:17:30] Speaker 2: So is that true? Hold on, let me fact check this.
[1:17:33] Speaker 2: He posted a hot yoga picture.
[1:17:35] Speaker 1: I don't know.
[1:17:35] Speaker 2: If you saw that, he's already doing the yogs and
[1:17:37] Speaker 2: Baton Rouge.
[1:17:39] Speaker 1: You could argue it's the only reason he took it.
[1:17:41] Speaker 2: Oh, okay, there's the better yoga scene I Louisiana.
[1:17:45] Speaker 1: Okay, I am not connected to the hot yoga scene
[1:17:48] Speaker 1: in Baton Rouge the way maybe I should be as
[1:17:49] Speaker 1: a college football podcaster.
[1:17:51] Speaker 2: Excuse, come on, get that downward dog research in.
[1:17:54] Speaker 1: Come on, Pete Golding is going to be on the
[1:17:57] Speaker 1: sidelines for the Rebels was on the sidelines against Ulane
[1:17:59] Speaker 1: and they won that one by a lot. Yeah. I
[1:18:04] Speaker 1: don't think it's a stretch to say that Kirby Sparts
[1:18:06] Speaker 1: got the coaching advantage in this game. But see what happens.
[1:18:10] Speaker 1: Pete Golden deserves a shot. I asked the question at
[1:18:15] Speaker 1: the very top about rust. This is the game where
[1:18:20] Speaker 1: I think rust could factor in.
[1:18:22] Speaker 2: By the way, works really well with your Ashanti drop.
[1:18:25] Speaker 2: It's about rust, babe, right, rust rust rust.
[1:18:30] Speaker 1: That's not bad, thank you. Georgia was playing with such
[1:18:37] Speaker 1: momentum down the stretch. Now to put the brakes on
[1:18:40] Speaker 1: for twenty four days.
[1:18:43] Speaker 2: Great for health, he the way, but disrespectful illusion with
[1:18:48] Speaker 2: an a disrespectful reference with the brakes and George's driving
[1:18:53] Speaker 2: issues off the field, come on where I was going
[1:18:55] Speaker 2: with it. But okay, disrespect Okay, I know I'm just kidding.
[1:18:59] Speaker 1: I kind of think that rust factor benefits all miss here,
[1:19:03] Speaker 1: I really do. I went back this morning. I rewatched
[1:19:06] Speaker 1: the game for like the fourth time. No, not a
[1:19:11] Speaker 1: lot of defense in that first game.
[1:19:13] Speaker 2: No, right, seventy eight total points.
[1:19:15] Speaker 1: You're looking at that from afar, You're not thinking there
[1:19:17] Speaker 1: was a lot of defense there? Wasn't a lot of defense.
[1:19:20] Speaker 1: We had a monster game from Gunner Stockton, we had
[1:19:22] Speaker 1: a good game from Lost and Lucky had three touchdowns.
[1:19:25] Speaker 1: We had two hundred and twenty one yards on the
[1:19:26] Speaker 1: ground for Georgia. They only got better from that point
[1:19:31] Speaker 1: and it culminated with what they did in the SEC Championship.
[1:19:34] Speaker 1: So now I'm thinking to myself, like, all right, how
[1:19:38] Speaker 1: big of a factor should rust? Will Rust play? Because
[1:19:41] Speaker 1: we saw it last year? You know, this is not
[1:19:44] Speaker 1: like a thing I'm making up. Maybe the seating had
[1:19:47] Speaker 1: something to do with what we perceived at the time
[1:19:50] Speaker 1: to be russed. But none of the teams that came
[1:19:53] Speaker 1: off of first round by one their quarterfinal matchup in
[1:19:56] Speaker 1: last year's playoffs.
[1:19:57] Speaker 2: So where yet, how big of a rush should it play?
[1:20:02] Speaker 1: Will it play in this game? Or are we going
[1:20:05] Speaker 1: to be two dorks who just go with every favorite team. No.
[1:20:10] Speaker 2: I actually do like Ole Miss in this game, and
[1:20:11] Speaker 2: I hate that I like him on a certain level
[1:20:13] Speaker 2: because I think the best of Gunner Stockton, which is
[1:20:17] Speaker 2: by the way, was on display in this Whole Miss game.
[1:20:20] Speaker 1: He was great. He was really good in that first game.
[1:20:24] Speaker 2: The best of Georgia eventually came to fruition in this game.
[1:20:29] Speaker 2: They stopped Keiwan Lacy, who was beat up in the
[1:20:31] Speaker 2: two lane game as with Trinidad Chambliss upper body stuff
[1:20:34] Speaker 2: for Chambliss, but came back and played well. I think
[1:20:39] Speaker 2: the rust is probably most apparent in this Georgia situation,
[1:20:43] Speaker 2: just because of how well they played down the stretch,
[1:20:45] Speaker 2: even with losing or not losing, but even with losing,
[1:20:50] Speaker 2: the explosive nature of this that this offense can have
[1:20:53] Speaker 2: against Georgia Tech, right they could not figure out Georgia
[1:20:55] Speaker 2: Tech in that rivalry game in Atlanta. I think with
[1:21:00] Speaker 2: how they finished the year against Alabama and the emotion
[1:21:04] Speaker 2: involved in you know, Kirby finally beating Alabama for the
[1:21:08] Speaker 2: first time in a while and doing so on that
[1:21:12] Speaker 2: kind of stage, in that manner, and then just stopping
[1:21:16] Speaker 2: right kind of concerning to me. Georgia has some key injuries.
[1:21:23] Speaker 2: Obviously Ole Miss has injuries to everybody's beat up at
[1:21:25] Speaker 2: this point, but you know, with what they've had to
[1:21:28] Speaker 2: deal with that linebacker and now losing what Drew Bobo
[1:21:31] Speaker 2: at center for the year, and that was you know,
[1:21:32] Speaker 2: a few games ago, a couple of games ago. But
[1:21:35] Speaker 2: there's some key guys who are who are limited or
[1:21:38] Speaker 2: just full on out. For Georgia, I come back to
[1:21:41] Speaker 2: the fact that Georgia barely won this game at home
[1:21:44] Speaker 2: with Gunner Stockton playing the game of his life. It
[1:21:47] Speaker 2: doesn't mean he has an improves and sent which I
[1:21:48] Speaker 2: think he clearly has. It doesn't mean he can't replicate it.
[1:21:52] Speaker 2: He clearly can. I think, not only are you dealing
[1:21:54] Speaker 2: with the rust issue for Georgia, you're dealing with the
[1:21:58] Speaker 2: difficulty of beating a very good team twice in the
[1:22:00] Speaker 2: same season that ole Miss has afforded the opportunity to
[1:22:05] Speaker 2: correct what Georgia was able to exploit in a mysterious way.
[1:22:11] Speaker 2: Whereas ole Miss knows how Georgia succeeded against ole Miss,
[1:22:16] Speaker 2: and ole Miss obviously succeeded against Georgia as well. But
[1:22:19] Speaker 2: I don't know, there's something that I think ole Miss
[1:22:22] Speaker 2: has a slight diagnostic advantage here. Maybe I'm right, maybe
[1:22:26] Speaker 2: I'm wrong, I don't know, But there's a reason why
[1:22:27] Speaker 2: it is tough to beat a very good team twice
[1:22:30] Speaker 2: diagnostic here. Hi, I'm just I'm mostly looks. Mostly looks.
[1:22:34] Speaker 1: I mean, we're doing this show on like a fifth
[1:22:36] Speaker 1: grade level. But when you pull in diagnostics out, it
[1:22:39] Speaker 1: lends me to we're in middle school degree, Dan, Come on.
[1:22:43] Speaker 2: That's not going that far. I like ole Miss here.
[1:22:48] Speaker 2: I like the explosive nature the game is inside. I
[1:22:51] Speaker 2: kind of like the emotion involved. I kind of like
[1:22:53] Speaker 2: the lack of Russ for ole Miss. I think it
[1:22:56] Speaker 2: comes out in this game. I do think it's a
[1:22:58] Speaker 2: shootout once again. I have ole Miss winning this game
[1:23:01] Speaker 2: thirty five thirty three, So I guess that what that
[1:23:05] Speaker 2: overhits for me?
[1:23:06] Speaker 1: Thirty five thirty three. Wow, that'd be fun. Yeah.
[1:23:09] Speaker 2: I think they're able to generate big plays. I like
[1:23:12] Speaker 2: the rhythm, and I'm sure Georgia is going to do
[1:23:16] Speaker 2: what a lot of these teams have done, and they
[1:23:17] Speaker 2: play like the eleven on eleven and they play you know, Oregon.
[1:23:20] Speaker 2: They made a big deal of Oregon playing the sort
[1:23:22] Speaker 2: of simulated game the week before. JMU Like, I don't
[1:23:24] Speaker 2: think George is going to be terribly rusty, but I
[1:23:28] Speaker 2: think Georgia wins this game a week after the SEC Championship,
[1:23:31] Speaker 2: possibly comfortably. I think the explosive nature of the ole
[1:23:36] Speaker 2: Miss offense to me, the big difference is how much
[1:23:39] Speaker 2: can ole Miss get off the field on third and medium,
[1:23:41] Speaker 2: third and short. I don't love this ole Miss run defense,
[1:23:44] Speaker 2: and the best of Georgia on the ground can be
[1:23:46] Speaker 2: super impressive. I think we go back and forth in
[1:23:48] Speaker 2: this game. I think ole Miss pulls it out.
[1:23:52] Speaker 1: Man. I went back and forth on this game too.
[1:23:56] Speaker 1: I yeah, this one in particular, and I was curious
[1:24:01] Speaker 1: to see where you came down in this. Yeah.
[1:24:05] Speaker 2: I went into this thinking obviously Georgia. And now my
[1:24:08] Speaker 2: problem is my pick goes against all the three other
[1:24:13] Speaker 2: picks that I think one of the best things to
[1:24:17] Speaker 2: do and trying to figure out the unfigure out able.
[1:24:20] Speaker 2: There you go, there's my counter to diagnostic. I just
[1:24:22] Speaker 2: invented a word is if the final score is thirty
[1:24:25] Speaker 2: four to ten, who is the most obvious team to
[1:24:28] Speaker 2: you that scored thirty four? And if the final score
[1:24:31] Speaker 2: of this game is thirty four to ten, I think
[1:24:34] Speaker 2: I would pretty strongly lean Georgia.
[1:24:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, so what I.
[1:24:38] Speaker 2: And I'm going against that tie because that way I
[1:24:41] Speaker 2: can sit on the fence.
[1:24:43] Speaker 1: Well, like I said, I went back and rewatched it
[1:24:46] Speaker 1: this morning. I feel like I rewatched this game so
[1:24:49] Speaker 1: many times. I have this game like down in memory
[1:24:52] Speaker 1: at this point, I expect that this game is going
[1:24:55] Speaker 1: to have some similarities but also some key differences and
[1:24:59] Speaker 1: so few things that come to mind for me. One,
[1:25:03] Speaker 1: if you go back and watch that first game, Georgia
[1:25:05] Speaker 1: did a lot of side to side stuff, a lot
[1:25:08] Speaker 1: of trying to pull all Miss apart horizontally, and then
[1:25:13] Speaker 1: they found success running up the middle. I mentioned the
[1:25:16] Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty some odd yards on the ground.
[1:25:18] Speaker 1: It was. It was a lot of doing just that.
[1:25:20] Speaker 1: Pull him apart inside zone, up the middle, go back
[1:25:24] Speaker 1: and rewatch you can't miss. It sticks out like a
[1:25:26] Speaker 1: sore thumb. I think we're going to continue to see
[1:25:29] Speaker 1: some of that from the Georgia offense in this game.
[1:25:32] Speaker 2: Two.
[1:25:34] Speaker 1: One thing that I hope Georgia will fix from thee
[1:25:38] Speaker 1: I'm not rooting for any team, but from Georgia fan perspective,
[1:25:41] Speaker 1: one thing that I hope Georgia will fix is how
[1:25:43] Speaker 1: they played Trinidad Chambliss. They need to do a much
[1:25:47] Speaker 1: better job keeping him inside the pocket. He killed him
[1:25:50] Speaker 1: when he broke contained in that first game. And for me,
[1:25:53] Speaker 1: this is the biggest key to the game. If you're
[1:25:56] Speaker 1: all Miss, you're Charlie Weis junior, who is still on
[1:25:59] Speaker 1: the staff and still call the place. You want to
[1:26:02] Speaker 1: get him outside. You want to put him in a
[1:26:05] Speaker 1: position where he is making Georgia defenders either commit to
[1:26:09] Speaker 1: him running or dropping back and allowing him to run.
[1:26:13] Speaker 1: That definitely put Georgia in a box in that first game.
[1:26:17] Speaker 1: So do more of that if you're all missed, and
[1:26:19] Speaker 1: if you're Georgia, please stop that because that gave them
[1:26:22] Speaker 1: headaches at least for the first three quarters of the
[1:26:24] Speaker 1: game before they figured it out and then three ole
[1:26:29] Speaker 1: miss needs to get more out of Kiwan Lacy if
[1:26:32] Speaker 1: they want to win this game. He had two point
[1:26:34] Speaker 1: six yards per carry in that first meeting. They couldn't
[1:26:37] Speaker 1: get him in space at all.
[1:26:39] Speaker 2: It was even less by the way you take away
[1:26:41] Speaker 2: his one like a ten or twelve yeah run, it
[1:26:43] Speaker 2: was nothing. They fact could not get him in space.
[1:26:47] Speaker 1: He got gobbled up by the interior of that Georgia
[1:26:50] Speaker 1: defensive line. They got to find a way to get
[1:26:52] Speaker 1: him to the edge. I don't know if it's through
[1:26:54] Speaker 1: the passing game as an extension of the run, or
[1:26:56] Speaker 1: if they scheme up the way that they're running a
[1:26:58] Speaker 1: little bit differently, but they got to do something to
[1:27:01] Speaker 1: get him a little bit more wiggle room because that
[1:27:02] Speaker 1: dude's an athlete and they did not utilize him to
[1:27:05] Speaker 1: his full capacity in that first matchup. What stands out
[1:27:09] Speaker 1: to me, though, and we saw this the deeper we
[1:27:12] Speaker 1: got into that game against Ole Miss the first time around,
[1:27:16] Speaker 1: and especially so the deeper we got into the season
[1:27:19] Speaker 1: with Georgia, Georgia cleaned itself up on defense a lot,
[1:27:24] Speaker 1: especially as they got deeper into the year. Georgia is
[1:27:29] Speaker 1: better along the lines. They are better along the lines
[1:27:32] Speaker 1: than Old Miss, and I think their defense improved dramatically
[1:27:36] Speaker 1: since that first game. So my sense is that they
[1:27:40] Speaker 1: are better along the lines than they were when they
[1:27:44] Speaker 1: first played back on October the eighteenth, and they're still
[1:27:48] Speaker 1: better now and this is going to be a different
[1:27:51] Speaker 1: matchup because of that improvement. They're just a better team
[1:27:55] Speaker 1: now than they were, so rust being what it is,
[1:27:58] Speaker 1: could definitely play a fact. I want the points here,
[1:28:04] Speaker 1: but I think george is winning. Okay, I've got it
[1:28:07] Speaker 1: at thirty one to twenty seven Georgia. I think it's
[1:28:10] Speaker 1: a good and if Old Miss, much like the Miami
[1:28:14] Speaker 1: game that I talk about I had talked about at
[1:28:16] Speaker 1: the beginning, if you come to me on January the second,
[1:28:21] Speaker 1: or whenever we do our live stream. I guess we're
[1:28:22] Speaker 1: doing a last stream after this on New Year's Day?
[1:28:24] Speaker 1: Is that the plane? Yes, So this show will be out.
[1:28:28] Speaker 1: Our next show will.
[1:28:28] Speaker 2: Be out on if your voice makes it.
[1:28:31] Speaker 1: If my voice makes it, our next show will be
[1:28:32] Speaker 1: out on Friday, January the second.
[1:28:36] Speaker 2: Bright Yeah, late night Thursday night stream recording of it
[1:28:40] Speaker 2: Friday morning.
[1:28:41] Speaker 1: If we record that show and it's Ole Miss and
[1:28:44] Speaker 1: Miami winning those games, I would not be surprised at all.
[1:28:48] Speaker 1: I could definitely look at this game the first time
[1:28:50] Speaker 1: around and come up with a few things that maybe
[1:28:53] Speaker 1: Old Miss could have done differently that would have yielded
[1:28:57] Speaker 1: different results, that will yield different results time around. I
[1:29:00] Speaker 1: also think, and we haven't mentioned this at all.
[1:29:03] Speaker 2: Henry Parrish, by the way, Parish, who Ole Miss Miami?
[1:29:06] Speaker 1: So much of the focus is on Lane Kiffin leaving,
[1:29:09] Speaker 1: but we also should maybe focus a little bit on
[1:29:14] Speaker 1: what Lane Kiffin leaving does for the mentality of this
[1:29:17] Speaker 1: Old Miss team. Also true, I thought they played with
[1:29:20] Speaker 1: real purpose against Tulane, and granted that might have been
[1:29:23] Speaker 1: a mismatch.
[1:29:24] Speaker 2: And they were at home.
[1:29:25] Speaker 1: It knew that going in, and it was at home.
[1:29:26] Speaker 1: There was a lot working to their advantage. But this
[1:29:29] Speaker 1: is a really strong group of athletes out there. They
[1:29:35] Speaker 1: might be more athletic than Georgia, and so that should
[1:29:38] Speaker 1: not be overlooked going into a matchup like this.
[1:29:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, I like this team.
[1:29:44] Speaker 1: I just think I like the matchup a little bit
[1:29:46] Speaker 1: more for Georgia right now. So I'm going to thirty
[1:29:47] Speaker 1: one twenty seven.
[1:29:49] Speaker 2: That's all all reasonable.
[1:29:52] Speaker 1: So we really only disagree on one game. That's this one.
[1:29:59] Speaker 1: Let ustart you your thoughts soliverbo at gmail dot com. As
[1:30:02] Speaker 1: I said, uh, this is gonna be our final show
[1:30:04] Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five. Hope everybody enjoys their New year.
[1:30:09] Speaker 1: Please stay safe out there, Please enjoy your evening out there.
[1:30:13] Speaker 1: Please come on back on New Year's Day at midnight
[1:30:15] Speaker 1: if you're able to stay up to midnight for a
[1:30:18] Speaker 1: second consecutive night. If that's your thing, hop on the
[1:30:22] Speaker 1: stream with us.
[1:30:23] Speaker 2: Any any special plans watch these games with anybody? Cook
[1:30:27] Speaker 2: something special?
[1:30:28] Speaker 1: I don't know.
[1:30:29] Speaker 2: I don't think so, I don't know where it. No,
[1:30:35] Speaker 2: I don't I don't think I got an big plans.
[1:30:36] Speaker 2: I'll make the bean dip Okay's delicious. Yeah, post of
[1:30:40] Speaker 2: the recipe before. It's like a Chriso beanedup delicious.
[1:30:43] Speaker 1: I haven't cided yet. Okay, we'll figure it out.
[1:30:46] Speaker 2: Mama h involved, Uncle Joe. I saw paid interested in
[1:30:50] Speaker 2: these games. I think we are in our.
[1:30:52] Speaker 1: Own little like hermetically sealed bumble over here, because we're
[1:30:56] Speaker 1: both sick, me more so than Kate. But we're not
[1:31:02] Speaker 1: inviting people to be around us because I still kind
[1:31:06] Speaker 1: of sound like hell, and I'm coughing a lot more
[1:31:09] Speaker 1: than I have been on this stream weirdly, like I
[1:31:12] Speaker 1: don't know if I'm mustering the energy to suppress the cough.
[1:31:15] Speaker 2: You got some humidifiers going.
[1:31:18] Speaker 1: Literally every humidifier is going right now. I've tried everything
[1:31:21] Speaker 1: to reboot my voice and reboot my sound good. I
[1:31:25] Speaker 1: don't feel good, but I'm doing my best.
[1:31:28] Speaker 2: Over here, is somebody ready for you as soon as
[1:31:31] Speaker 2: you hit stop on this stream and recording, is somebody
[1:31:33] Speaker 2: ready for you with one of those giant foil blankets
[1:31:35] Speaker 2: like you just ran an iron Man to collapse in
[1:31:38] Speaker 2: two Have you ever had the feeling.
[1:31:42] Speaker 1: When you're doing a show like this, when you're in
[1:31:44] Speaker 1: the throes of anything, And I know I've definitely had
[1:31:47] Speaker 1: this at night when we do our streams.
[1:31:48] Speaker 2: Yeah, by the way, drop in the comments any recommendations,
[1:31:51] Speaker 2: Tye will take it all.
[1:31:52] Speaker 1: Yeah, whatever, I'll to please soliverable gmail dot com if
[1:31:55] Speaker 1: email is your chosen thing. Whatever. I've had on several
[1:32:00] Speaker 1: ocasions throughout the course of this recording where I started
[1:32:03] Speaker 1: feeling lightheaded, like I might blackout.
[1:32:05] Speaker 2: Yeah, whoa.
[1:32:06] Speaker 1: Yeah, by the way, where you kind of lose track
[1:32:09] Speaker 1: of what you're saying and it gets like everybody's had
[1:32:12] Speaker 1: that from time to time, when you're in the middle
[1:32:13] Speaker 1: of something and the energy removes itself from your body.
[1:32:17] Speaker 1: I've had that happen.
[1:32:18] Speaker 2: It's like in the middle of a PowerPoint.
[1:32:20] Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just I'm I'm I'm I'm fighting through it.
[1:32:24] Speaker 2: Man, Any any available come to your house. IVY services
[1:32:32] Speaker 2: in the Lehigh Valley I did not a sponsor. Could
[1:32:35] Speaker 2: be I didn't look that up, but could be.
[1:32:37] Speaker 1: Yeah, it could be.
[1:32:38] Speaker 2: I think they exist for people with like really truly
[1:32:41] Speaker 2: horrible sicknesses or truly horrible hangovers, with people with too
[1:32:46] Speaker 2: much money.
[1:32:47] Speaker 1: I did try liquid iv no former sponsors still could be,
[1:32:53] Speaker 1: and I found that it irritates my throat to the
[1:32:56] Speaker 1: point where I just start coughing uncontrollably, So I stopped
[1:32:58] Speaker 1: that now and I'm I'm back on the sauce. The
[1:33:01] Speaker 1: sauce being straight water.
[1:33:03] Speaker 2: Yeah, get a ton of sleep as well. Don't talk
[1:33:05] Speaker 2: to anybody but myself. Why don't we leave it there.
[1:33:10] Speaker 1: Please do throw us a follow or a subscribe if
[1:33:13] Speaker 1: you have yet to do so. Please do follow along
[1:33:17] Speaker 1: on social media so that you don't miss any of
[1:33:19] Speaker 1: our postings about when the next round of Bolbingo is
[1:33:22] Speaker 1: going to be available. I got to talk to our
[1:33:24] Speaker 1: guys to figure out when we can get a new
[1:33:26] Speaker 1: card up there. It might not be until next week,
[1:33:29] Speaker 1: simply because I can't put another card out until we
[1:33:32] Speaker 1: know what the playoff matchups are going to be for
[1:33:34] Speaker 1: the semifinals.
[1:33:34] Speaker 2: Oh so true, So.
[1:33:37] Speaker 1: Bear with me on that front. We've had really good participation,
[1:33:39] Speaker 1: just as we did last year. Again, it is free
[1:33:42] Speaker 1: for all to play. We would encourage everybody to play
[1:33:44] Speaker 1: for fabulous prizes. But again, give me a little bit
[1:33:48] Speaker 1: of grace here. I'm behind on my prizes, I'm behind
[1:33:51] Speaker 1: on my announcements, I'm behind on literally all things involving
[1:33:55] Speaker 1: my life right now. Yeah, because I got really sick
[1:33:58] Speaker 1: right after Christmas Eve.
[1:34:00] Speaker 2: Yeah, so do my bet that will teach you ty
[1:34:04] Speaker 2: to party with the Laker girls in Macau.
[1:34:07] Speaker 1: I know this always happens when you do this, it does, Okay.
[1:34:11] Speaker 1: All that being said a ninety minute stream. A lot
[1:34:15] Speaker 1: going on here. We appreciate everybody stopping on by. Happy
[1:34:19] Speaker 1: New Year to you and yours as you are listening
[1:34:22] Speaker 1: to this, hopefully before twenty twenty six, so that some
[1:34:27] Speaker 1: of these predictions aren't completely obsolete. Noep, but it has
[1:34:32] Speaker 1: been a fun year and it looks to be another
[1:34:34] Speaker 1: fun round of college football playoff games, so I'm excited.
[1:34:37] Speaker 2: Agree. Can't wait.
[1:34:38] Speaker 1: Go get some rest for that guy there, my good
[1:34:40] Speaker 1: friend Dan Rubinstein. From myself, Tie Hildebrand, thanks as always
[1:34:44] Speaker 1: for downloadie, for listening, for supporting what we do. We'll
[1:34:47] Speaker 1: talk to you all in twenty twenty six. They saw it.
[1:34:50] Speaker 2: Peace,

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