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Speaker 1: Now, one guy who has an objectivity about him because

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Speaker 1: he has to is Todd Blackletch, who of course is

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Speaker 1: with NBC when it comes to Big ten college football.

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Speaker 1: And I want to get the objective side of it,

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Speaker 1: because listen, I'm going to be a homer today because

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Speaker 1: I never thought i'd see it at fifty three years old,

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Speaker 1: that Indiana is right here, and I know how good

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Speaker 1: Ohio State is. But Todd black Litz joins us now

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Speaker 1: on the Java House Peel and poor guest line to

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Speaker 1: break down this game. Todd, it is a pleasure. How

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Speaker 1: are you?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing good, Jake, how are you doing?

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Speaker 1: You know? Hey, I'm I'm not gonna lie to you, man.

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Speaker 1: I'm fired up because I never thought i'd see it. Man,

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Speaker 1: I never ever thought i'd see it.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: I know Ohio State is outstanding. I know they're outstanding.

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Speaker 1: But let's begin with Indiana and this story of Kurt Signetti.

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Speaker 1: And it's not a news story, Todd, it's season two

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Speaker 1: of it. But as somebody who's been around the game

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Speaker 1: a lot, to what do you pinpoint the ability of

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Speaker 1: this guy to get this program to this point.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know it is the second year, but it's

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Speaker 2: no less remarkable still, I mean the job that he

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Speaker 2: has done and the turnaround and how immediate the turnaround

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Speaker 2: has been, and bringing the guys in from JMU, whether

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Speaker 2: it's staff guys or players that ended up being outstanding

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Speaker 2: Big Ten players as well. It's it truly is remarkable,

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Speaker 2: and it obviously started with him and starts with him

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Speaker 2: and his leadership and his process and culture. And I mean,

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Speaker 2: I think it's one of the great great stories of

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Speaker 2: college football since I've been covering it. You know, I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, what Nick Saban did at Alabama over a

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Speaker 2: period of time and just the championship level caliber that

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Speaker 2: he had that program, man, was an amazing story to

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Speaker 2: me also, But this what Percy that has done is remarkable.

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Speaker 2: And I think they're you know, I don't think they're

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Speaker 2: going anywhere soon, you know. I think they're better this

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Speaker 2: year than they were a year ago. And uh and

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Speaker 2: they were pretty good last year.

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Speaker 1: When you look at and you played obviously Todd, you know,

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Speaker 1: for the biggest of programs, right, I mean at Penn

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Speaker 1: State and when you're playing for a legendary coach and

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Speaker 1: Joe Paterno and national championships and all of that. At

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Speaker 1: Penn State. It's kind of expected when you go there, right,

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Speaker 1: I mean, you knew what the pressure was going to

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Speaker 1: be from the time that you arrived. In Indiana's case,

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Speaker 1: and I know, again it's year number two and they

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Speaker 1: have become accustomed to winning under Kurt Signetti. But at

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Speaker 1: the same time, there is so much at stake with

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Speaker 1: this game in their home state against that program. Right,

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Speaker 1: do fans fans get nervous about it? Do you think

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Speaker 1: players do?

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Speaker 2: I don't think they get nervous. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 2: there's a there's a normal energy, and you know, everybody

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Speaker 2: has butterflies, you know, before a game of this magnitude.

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Speaker 2: But then once, you know, once kickoff starts and you

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Speaker 2: start playing, it just gets back down to playing and

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Speaker 2: playing ball, you know, and doing what you've done week

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Speaker 2: in and week out. And again, you know, in the

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Speaker 2: case of Kurt Signetti and his staff, and the same

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Speaker 2: thing I would say with Ryan Day and his staff.

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Speaker 2: You know, they they have a process in place, a

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Speaker 2: day to day, practice to practice, game to game process

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Speaker 2: that doesn't deviate just because this is a different caliber

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Speaker 2: of game. I mean, they treat everything the same way.

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Speaker 2: It's in a different venue. You know, be a different

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Speaker 2: crowd makeup kind of thing. But at the same time,

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Speaker 2: they're going to stick to their process, and I think

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Speaker 2: both of them are very confident in the process and

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Speaker 2: then you know the way they do things.

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Speaker 1: I've been Todd Blackledge is my guest. He's on the

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Speaker 1: job of house peeling for guest line top. When you

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Speaker 1: look at this game, and I know Ohio State's outstanding,

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Speaker 1: so too is Indiana. You know, this really is to

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Speaker 1: some extent like that that little Spider Man gift right

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Speaker 1: of two strengths looking at one another because both teams

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Speaker 1: seemingly do the same things. Well, which which of these

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Speaker 1: two teams has the vulnerability that is more easier to

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Speaker 1: expose for the other?

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Speaker 2: Well, that's you know that that's gonna be a fun

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Speaker 2: thing to watch. I don't know. I would not say

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Speaker 2: that either team has a glaring vulnerability. You know. I

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Speaker 2: think they're both really well coached teams. I think they're

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Speaker 2: really solid in all three phases of the game, and

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Speaker 2: I think that's why they are where they are and

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Speaker 2: both being undefeated. You know, the one thing I will

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Speaker 2: say when I studied Indiana's game against Penn State, because

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Speaker 2: I had Penn State Nebraska, you know, a couple of

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Speaker 2: games after that. But when I studied that game, you

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Speaker 2: know it, it concerned me a little bit that the

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Speaker 2: protection for mendo Mendoza was you know that he was

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Speaker 2: running for his life some you know. Now, he came

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Speaker 2: back at the end and led a great drive and

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Speaker 2: the protection was good enough in that last drive for

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Speaker 2: him to hit some big time throws and but for

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Speaker 2: a lot of that game he under duress and so

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Speaker 2: that you know, that was the one little red flag maybe,

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Speaker 2: But again, I think the other part of that, you know,

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Speaker 2: he was playing without his favorite target and one of

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Speaker 2: his best receivers in Surat, and so you know that

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Speaker 2: took us something away from their past game. But I

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Speaker 2: think that that's you know, if I'm Indiana, that's my

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Speaker 2: first thing I've got. I've got to figure. I got

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Speaker 2: to make sure I protect the quarterback, you know, and

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Speaker 2: that's because he gives them a chance and you know,

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Speaker 2: as a you know, as a dual threat guy. And

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Speaker 2: I do think his legs in this game can be

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Speaker 2: a real factor. You know, at your point in the

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Speaker 2: season now where you know you you you don't hold

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Speaker 2: anything back. You give it your best shot and I

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Speaker 2: think that's Kurt Signetti's personality. I think that's Mendoza's personality.

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Speaker 2: And I think that, you know, part of their plan

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Speaker 2: will will involve him making plays with his legs as well.

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Speaker 2: I think he is more of a threat to do

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Speaker 2: that than Julian's saying is on the other side.

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Speaker 1: That's okay. So let me ask you this, Todd Blackledge,

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Speaker 1: my guest, Indiana does have an ability to get to

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Speaker 1: quarterbacks on their defensive front. I mean, their pass rush

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Speaker 1: is very stout. But does that matter against saying I

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Speaker 1: haven't seen him enough to know how he is when

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Speaker 1: he has to kind of if he's got to be

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Speaker 1: slippery in the pocket. I know he's an incredibly accurate passer,

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Speaker 1: but is he Can you disrupt him at all?

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Speaker 2: Well? I think you can, and I think you have to.

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Speaker 2: I mean, if you want to have a chance to

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Speaker 2: beat them, you have to find ways to make him uncomfortable.

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Speaker 2: Because this is a team. This is not like some

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Speaker 2: other Ohio State teams I've seen in the past, or

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Speaker 2: most college football teams. This is a team that throws

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Speaker 2: the ball better than they run the football. And you know,

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Speaker 2: I think their running game has gotten better. I think

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Speaker 2: Bo Jackson has kind of e merged as their feature back.

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Speaker 2: I think the left side of their offensive line from

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Speaker 2: a run blocking standpoint, is very solid, better than the

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Speaker 2: right side of their line. But the biggest thing they

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Speaker 2: do in the best thing they do because of the

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Speaker 2: skill set of Julian saying, and then the skill set

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Speaker 2: in particular of the guys out out wide, you know,

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Speaker 2: and Tate and Smith and now the tight end Max Claire,

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Speaker 2: is throw the football, and so you have to defend them,

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Speaker 2: maybe even a little bit more so like you would

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Speaker 2: defend an NFL team, which is we've got to affect

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Speaker 2: the quarterback. You know, we want to defend the run.

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Speaker 2: But you don't go into playing Ohio State saying we

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Speaker 2: have to we have to stop the run. That's first

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Speaker 2: and foremost. We have to stop the run because they'll

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Speaker 2: throw it, you know. And if you can't make the

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Speaker 2: quarterback uncomfortable, if you can't give him different looks, if

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Speaker 2: you can't put a little pressure on him, make him

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Speaker 2: hold the ball a little bit longer, get him out

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Speaker 2: of his comfort zone. He's just too accurate of a passer.

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Speaker 2: And those guys on the outside, you can't cover them.

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Speaker 2: So you know on a consistent basis, So so yes,

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Speaker 2: you have to find a way to make him uncomfortable.

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Speaker 2: And I think that Indiana, you know, with their simulated

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Speaker 2: pressures and the way they kind of do things defensively,

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Speaker 2: I think they have a chance to do that.

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Speaker 1: Todd, do you believe that regardless of what happens in

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Speaker 1: this game? And I know how bad Indiana fans want to,

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Speaker 1: you know, especially when to beat Ohio State, because to

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Speaker 1: be the best, you got to beat the best, right,

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Speaker 1: But h do both of these teams deserve a first

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Speaker 1: round by regardless of what happens tomorrow?

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Speaker 2: Uh, it's a good question. I don't. I don't know

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Speaker 2: if I don't know that that will happen, you know,

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Speaker 2: And I don't know for sure, you know, based on

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Speaker 2: the based on last year, whether that first round by

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Speaker 2: is a great thing or a point, you know, a

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Speaker 2: point I think. I think if you're playing well and

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Speaker 2: you've got things on a role, and you're healthy, you know,

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Speaker 2: I think most guys want to keep playing, you know. Now,

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Speaker 2: if you get some guys banged up in this game

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Speaker 2: and you need a little extra time, then then then

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Speaker 2: it can be beneficial. But but I'm not sure it's

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Speaker 2: the greatest thing to have. If you get a home game,

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Speaker 2: you know, and another chance to play in front of

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Speaker 2: your home crowd in December, and a playoff mode would

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Speaker 2: be pretty awesome.

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Speaker 1: Lastly, Bo Jackson, you mentioned the running back for Ohio State.

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Speaker 1: We have mentioned it several times this week. He is

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Speaker 1: of no relation. He is, of course, of the same name,

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Speaker 1: but no relation to the Bo Jackson Heisman winner and

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Speaker 1: legendary running back out of Auburn. Sometimes I feel bad

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Speaker 1: when guys have the same name of great players, because

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Speaker 1: that means one of the two kind of gets lost

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Speaker 1: in it and no bigger example of that, and both

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Speaker 1: of them are fabulous players. Kurt Warner the quarterback. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: I think Todd made people some people forget about Kurt Warner,

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Speaker 1: the running back and the one that you played with

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Speaker 1: at Penn State and went on to Seattle. I think

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Speaker 1: is one of the most underrated and underappreciated running backs

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Speaker 1: of the late eighties.

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Speaker 2: Tell me I'm wrong, Well, I see, you know, I'm

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Speaker 2: pretty biased, but I thought he was the best guy

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Speaker 2: I ever played with ever teammate. He was an outstanding

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Speaker 2: player at Penn State, and even though his career was shortened,

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Speaker 2: you know, by a knee injury. When he was in

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Speaker 2: the NFL, he was still incredibly productive, made a couple

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Speaker 2: of Pro Bowls, got the Seahawks into the playoffs. He

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Speaker 2: was a great, great player, and he had the ability

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Speaker 2: to you know, to me, his superpower as a running

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Speaker 2: back was he had the ability to cut and move

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Speaker 2: laterally without losing speed. And you know, just very few

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Speaker 2: guys that I've seen, you know, have that ability to

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Speaker 2: do that. But he was. He was a special player.

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Speaker 1: Over fourteen hundred yards on two occasions, for over one

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Speaker 1: thousand yards in his NFL career. Loved Kurt Warner, and

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Speaker 1: I love those Seahawks uniforms, so there's probably a bias

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Speaker 1: for me there as well. Loved him Todd one time.

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Speaker 2: What's that funny? I was just gonna say one thing.

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Speaker 2: That's funny. You talked about Bo Jackson and having the

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Speaker 2: same name. The irony of that is his actual real

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Speaker 2: Oh I know, LaVar, Yeah, but he knows by both

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Speaker 2: if you're not related to either one.

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Speaker 1: Of course, here's the thing, Todd, let's be real, okay,

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Speaker 1: I mean he's going to be fine no matter which

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Speaker 1: one of those he replicates, right, I mean either one.

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Speaker 1: He gets the career of either one of those two guys.

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Speaker 1: He's in pretty good shape.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, Todd.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate the time. I know it's a busy time

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Speaker 1: and certainly enjoy watching you with all of your coverage,

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Speaker 1: especially on NBC. And appreciate the.

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Speaker 2: Time today you got it man, enjoy the weekend.

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Speaker 1: Appreciate it. Todd Blackliss joining US Java House, Peel and

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Speaker 1: Port guest