1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: Shortly after the Big Ten restarted its fall football season, 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: the PAC twelve followed suit and announced its own plans 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: to restart operations. College football was back. The plan seven 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: games in seven weeks starting in early November. 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 2: The thing that jumps out to me though not a 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 2: lot of wiggle room here. 7 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:21,479 Speaker 1: You're starting the. 8 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 2: Season November sixth, seven games in seven weeks, and it's 9 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 2: not out of the realm of possibility to think some 10 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 2: of these games and that PAC twelve might get postponed. 11 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: The PAC twelve had been the lone holdout among the 12 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: Power five conferences, due in part to a complex web 13 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: of state and local protocols. 14 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, and the PAC twelve had to negotiate with California, 15 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 3: with four of their teams USLA, USC, Cow and Stanford 16 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 3: in the state of California, and the rules dealing with 17 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 3: COVID in that state were making it difficult for the 18 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 3: PAC twelve to come back and play football. 19 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: The national conversation quickly shifted to whether the PAC twelve 20 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: could place a team in the College football playoffs at 21 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: the end of the year. 22 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 2: If there's an undefeated PAC twelve champion that's played only 23 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,320 Speaker 2: five or six games, how does the College Football Committee. 24 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 2: Compare that with another resume from another school and another 25 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 2: Power five conference that's maybe played ten, eleven or twelve games. 26 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 4: That remains to be. 27 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: But looking back, the playoff was secondary. No conference had 28 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: more challenges than the PAC twelve. The real story was 29 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 1: that they managed to play at all. From the solid 30 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 1: verbal this is a special production. So now what Welcome back? 31 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: I am Ty Hildenbrandt. I am joined as always by 32 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: my co host Dan Rubinstein, our resident PAC twelve afficionado, Daniel. 33 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: The PAC twelve after everything did play football in twenty twenty. 34 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: The news broke on September the twenty fourth that games 35 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: would be starting the first week of November. At this 36 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: point in time, what we're doing shows we're talking about 37 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: some of the action at that point that had kicked 38 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,679 Speaker 1: off around college football. As a PAC twelve fan, though, 39 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: what is going through your mind hearing that they're going 40 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,239 Speaker 1: to play but it's going to be a bit of 41 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: a late start. 42 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 5: I mean, there was, if I can remember correctly, I 43 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 5: just I remember not fully knowing what the PAC twelve 44 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 5: was thinking they were the ones who weren't really They 45 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 5: were commenting and they were taking a very conservative approach, 46 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 5: especially given the approaches of the member states within the conference, 47 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 5: and so I think I was trying to figure out 48 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 5: how we could get a Pack twelve season, But at 49 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 5: the same time, California, which of course has by my account, 50 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 5: four pack twelve schools, not letting people gather in larger 51 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 5: groups than very small numbers, a much smaller number than 52 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 5: what it would take to have coaches and staff members 53 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 5: and players on a practice field. So I just I 54 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 5: remember thinking, how is this all going going to work? 55 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 5: That the PAC twelve is saying, you know, we're exploring 56 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 5: all of our avenues, where at the same time you 57 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 5: have the Big twelve and the SEC and sort of 58 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 5: the Big ten at a certain point. But certainly the 59 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 5: ACC all of these conferences were all saying full speed 60 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 5: ahead or full speed ahead, but we're going to take 61 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 5: the proper precautions, that kind of thing, that there's no change. 62 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 5: We're going to listen to the doctors, we're going to 63 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 5: listen to the medical advisors. And the PAC twelve always 64 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 5: just seemed a little bit more reserved on that front. 65 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, In going back and refreshing my own memory, trying 66 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: to remember how I felt at the time, I stumbled 67 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: across this PSA that the PAC twelve networks for running 68 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: the PAC. 69 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 3: Twelve conference that its membered universities are excited to be 70 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 3: back playing the sports we all love. 71 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 5: But in order to get back to competition, the PAC 72 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 5: twelve universities and student athletes are taking many steps and 73 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 5: following important guidelines. 74 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 4: So now it's how it's turnt to do the same. 75 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 3: Please follow your state and local health official guidelines as 76 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 3: you enjoy PACK twelve competitions wherever you are. That includes 77 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 3: wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance, avoiding poose contact with 78 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 3: those not living in your household, and wash your hands 79 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 3: often with. 80 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 4: Soap and water tanks. Fans for doing your parts cheerious. 81 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: Possibly, So, look, that was obviously very well intentioned. I 82 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: get the point. It also sort of has a dash 83 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: of dystopia in it, doesn't it. 84 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 5: Of course? Yeah, no, there is a what was it 85 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 5: Starship Troopers where it was like do your part, and 86 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 5: I mean that was about battling bug aliens, which it 87 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 5: was a fantastic movie to I don't know if you've 88 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 5: seen it lately, but really good movie. But yeah, there 89 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 5: was that element that it was a little too happy 90 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 5: friendly not joyous, but a little too upbeat for the times. 91 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: It was so hard to ignore that dystopian quality to 92 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: it at the time. It's even harder after the fact. Yeah, 93 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: this whole season that we saw in twenty twenty was forced, 94 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: was awkward, was very uncertain along the way. Ultimately they 95 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: were able to pull it off, and we wanted to 96 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: focus on what took place out on the West Coast 97 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: because so much of the conversation was around the Big 98 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 1: ten at least it was last week here in solid 99 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: verbal Land, Yeah, but out west it was almost an 100 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 1: entirely separate animal. So to dive in, we called up 101 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: our longtime friend Yogi Roth. 102 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 4: I'm an og I feel like with like true og man. 103 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 4: I mean we're double digits now in years i'd imagine. 104 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 2: So. 105 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: Yogi's a broadcaster right for the Pac twelve networks. He's podcaster. 106 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: Go and listen to the Yogi Roth Show podcast you 107 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: should all subscribe to if you don't ready. He's a filmmaker. 108 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: Yogi's a thoughtful guy, really really thoughtful guy. We wanted 109 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: to bring him on to talk a little bit more 110 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: about what he was seeing on the ground around the time. 111 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: This is all going on Dan. 112 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think the country had a clue what 113 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 4: it was like out west, much like I don't have 114 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 4: a clue what it was like in Florida. Either everybody 115 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 4: was so inundated with their own realities or their own 116 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 4: chaos or their own problem solving on their respective campus 117 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 4: or their respective lives that it was hard to pay attention, 118 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 4: right because you just kind of clumped in and everybody 119 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 4: had the same issues. But you know, Dan, because you've 120 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 4: got roots out on the West Coast obviously with your 121 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 4: family and I'm living it, it was dramatically different. 122 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:23,840 Speaker 1: So you spent a good chunk of your summer on 123 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: the West Coast. I think around this point in time 124 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: you were in Chicago, but certainly throughout the summer when 125 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: we were really living through the height of uncertainty around 126 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: the virus and where it was going next, you were 127 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:41,359 Speaker 1: out there. What was different out west compared to you know, 128 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: the time you spent back east in New York City. Well, 129 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: it was very early on in New York, so no, 130 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: everybody was fully in the dark, and New York was 131 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: the epicenter of everything back in March early April when 132 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: we were there, So I mean the difference was I 133 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: was going outside a lot more in California than I 134 00:06:58,160 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: was in New York, just because I had no concent 135 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: that I was hearing ambulances and all sorts of stuff. 136 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 5: It was. It was a pretty bleak time in New 137 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 5: York in late March, obviously, So the big difference to 138 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,239 Speaker 5: me was California was just sort of more removed from everything, 139 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 5: even though things were happening up in the Seattle area 140 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 5: of course, where that things seemed to have started at 141 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 5: least one of the places the COVID outbreak began, but 142 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 5: it was I think it was more laid back. People 143 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 5: are literally and figuratively on top of each other in 144 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 5: New York, and it was a little more spread out 145 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 5: in my situation in California. That's as much context as 146 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 5: I can give you in terms of differences, because people 147 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 5: in California were being very, very careful, cautious, and there 148 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 5: was the you know, the same regulations in terms of 149 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 5: how many people were going into supermarkets and things of 150 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 5: that nature. So no, it was it was definitely a 151 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 5: different and weird time, and it was very difficult to 152 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 5: anticipate what a football season would look like. I think 153 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 5: people knew that you know, you're much safer outside, and 154 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 5: you know, it's prolonged contact indoors, which seemed to be 155 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 5: the biggest risk. That were early studies that pointed to that. 156 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 5: So in terms of outdoor football games, you know, there 157 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 5: were obviously two pretty big camps of people, you know, 158 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 5: one saying, you know, they're young, it's outside, you know, 159 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 5: the risk is pretty minimal with younger, healthy people. And 160 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 5: then another camp said, you know, all it takes is 161 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 5: one nightmare scenario and it's going to shut everything down. 162 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 5: And so I tended to be more conservative in that, Like, 163 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 5: it was such an unknown in the spring and summer 164 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 5: that I was like, we should wait as long as 165 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 5: possible to we have as much information as possible. 166 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: I was. 167 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 5: I was definitely not as gung ho as some were, 168 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 5: but I just, you know, I wanted to for me, 169 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 5: as a dumb person, wanted to gather as much information 170 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 5: before having a strong take. 171 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think for what it's worth, the PAC 172 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: twelve took a similar approach, certainly the state of California did. 173 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: On the whole. California enacted some pretty strict protocols and 174 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: as you heard at the top of the show, as 175 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: we'll learn more about as we go through our interview 176 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: with Yogi and some of the clips. It was a challenge. 177 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: It was a challenge figuring out ways to work around 178 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: those protocols, especially to be the last conference, the last 179 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: group of teams to the party. This is I think, 180 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: what we're going to find out as we go through 181 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: and learn a little bit more about these scenarios. For example, 182 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: let's take into account what happened at USC USC football. 183 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 4: For instance, we began our season in the Pac twelve. 184 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 4: November seventh was the first game. Came back to training 185 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 4: camp about six weeks prior to that, So the week 186 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 4: before training camp began was when USC football players were 187 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 4: allowed in their weight room, allowed in their campus, allot 188 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 4: on their facility. 189 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: To further the point, about a week before being allowed 190 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: on campus. This is a zoomed outview of what was 191 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: going on in California, not just at USC, but all throughout. 192 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 5: And you have to remember USC was one of the 193 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 5: very early schools to say were not allowing people on 194 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 5: campus to go to class, and so that was sort 195 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 5: of an early indication that things were gonna be very 196 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 5: different out west. That we were having this conversation of like, sorry, 197 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 5: USC is gonna play football, but students aren't allowed on 198 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 5: campus or in class? Like what is what is the 199 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 5: rationale there? And obviously everything came together to whatever degree 200 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,960 Speaker 5: of success you want to place on it. But it 201 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 5: was one of those things where when USC made that 202 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,839 Speaker 5: announcement as a private school, so this is not necessarily 203 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 5: the state of California and the UC system making a 204 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,079 Speaker 5: mandate from above, but USC seemed to be pretty proactive. 205 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 5: We're like, well, how is and this is to Yogi's point, 206 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 5: how how is the USC football team going together? How 207 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 5: are they going to have like a defensive backs meeting? 208 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 5: How are they going to you know, there's zoom and 209 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 5: everything like that, but you know, how are they going 210 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 5: to do walkthroughs? How are they nobody's on campus, nobody's 211 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 5: allowed like so that to me was an early indication 212 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 5: of oh, okay, so what is the season and going 213 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,439 Speaker 5: to actually happen because it's not looking good. And something 214 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 5: else that Yogi alludes to but doesn't say directly, which 215 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 5: is sort of an elephant in this room, is states 216 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 5: were pretty much split. A number of states were a 217 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 5: lot more aggressive in terms of how locked down things were, 218 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 5: and it came down to a lot of politics, and 219 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 5: it came down to governor ideologies and how well states 220 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 5: wanted to appear to the White House or the CDC. 221 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 5: Like there was just there were so many variables at 222 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 5: play with how states approached everything as it relates to 223 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 5: outdoor activities and college sports and gatherings, and certainly in 224 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 5: the South and in the Midwest, there is a cultural 225 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 5: element to college football that doesn't exist with that same 226 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 5: fervor on the West Coast. And so Stanford playing football 227 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 5: or not playing football, there weren't going to be riots 228 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 5: on the streets of Palo Alte either way. There weren't 229 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 5: going to be riots on the streets of Tempe or 230 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 5: Sla Cea or you know, Westwood. That just is not 231 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 5: the environment. It doesn't mean that the die hards of 232 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,199 Speaker 5: those programs are any less die hard. I mean it 233 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,080 Speaker 5: might than you know, an Auburn die hard or a 234 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 5: Clemson diehard, ort Ohio State diehard. But there was that 235 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 5: element where college football was more losable on the West 236 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 5: Coast than it was other places. 237 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 4: A lot of the schools, specifically in California or players 238 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 4: from California that went home, they also couldn't go work 239 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 4: out in gyms, right, So it wasn't like they'd go 240 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 4: to the latest twenty four hour fitness or whatever you know, 241 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 4: gymnasium you want to go to and work out. They 242 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 4: couldn't even to their high school gym. So no one 243 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,719 Speaker 4: was training, right. Other than the viral videos that we loved, right, 244 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,679 Speaker 4: it was players creating weight rooms, you know, with logs 245 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 4: or their garage. Yeah, funny, cute, cool, creative and genius, 246 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 4: but not the caliber of what happened in Alabama with 247 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 4: their players or at Georgia with their players. I think 248 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 4: they sent pelotons home to them, right, Or at Florida 249 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 4: or in other states, it was just so different. 250 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: On the topic of not being able to train. Certainly, 251 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: this was also the case at the high school level, 252 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: which Yogi didn't really mention. But as a Notre Dame fan, 253 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: you know, I've talked a lot about Tyler Buckner, but 254 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: he's a good example. Their top quarterback recruit from Wijoya, California, 255 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: didn't play his senior season because of COVID, ends up 256 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: enrolling early, thankfully, looked good in the spring game. Could 257 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 1: end up maybe getting snaps this year, who knows, But 258 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: how many other high school recruits missed out on that 259 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: extra year of development, certainly on the college level. Sure 260 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: they played games, everyone did an admirable job putting on 261 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: the season. To some extent, it does feel, at least 262 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 1: from our vantage point, like a little bit of a 263 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: lost year. 264 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 4: Though. 265 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 5: Oh yeah, I remember top recruits on the West Coast 266 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 5: actively flirting with or actually following through with playing their 267 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 5: high school football in other states, or at least attempting to. 268 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 5: You know, Jake Garcon with somebody who I mean, that's 269 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 5: a whole other story. He's now at Miami, but he 270 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 5: attempted to play high school football in Georgia, and there 271 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 5: was the rush probes thing in Valdosta, and there were 272 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 5: guys that were going from I think one of the 273 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 5: top recruits who may still be uncommitted at the time 274 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 5: of recording this, from the state of Washington, who had 275 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 5: postponed until spring if he was going to I know 276 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 5: Brandon Huffman has talked about it was going to play 277 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 5: his high school senior season in Utah, like just because 278 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 5: there were different states approaching the situation in different ways, 279 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 5: and so it threw everything in flux culturally, and I'm 280 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 5: sure with regard to recruiting, that certain guys had the 281 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 5: opportunity to advance their profile with the senior season, and 282 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 5: certain guys like you guy you mentioned Tyler Buckner in 283 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 5: the San Diego area just didn't have a senior year. 284 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: On the college level. It's not that players didn't develop, 285 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: it's I think that their development may have been capped 286 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: to some extent because of circumstances. I asked Yogi about that. 287 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 1: Was there any concern with regard to player develop I. 288 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 4: Don't think development was ever a dramatic concern. I think 289 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 4: narrative was a bigger concern. In recruiting was a bigger 290 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 4: concern in my opinion. If you're Arizona State, you basically 291 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 4: a roll in USC up until last minute of the 292 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 4: game that they can miracless come back, But then you 293 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 4: don't play for a month, Like, what are the thoughts 294 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 4: around that program? They're not what it could have been 295 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 4: last year. How are you going to do in recruiting? 296 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 4: Our team is going to continue to come into the 297 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 4: footprint and try to recruit players in your neighborhood. So 298 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 4: I think that was a general narrative out here, A 299 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 4: little bit of a fear in that regard, but once 300 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 4: they got going, I think that clearly didn't necessarily happen. 301 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: Do you remember what it was like trying to preview 302 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: pack twelve games last year? 303 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 5: Yeah, well, first of all, we didn't know if they 304 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 5: were going to be canceled. I mean, certainly that happened 305 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 5: in many conferences, that games will be canceled after we 306 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 5: recorded midweek, but especially with the Pac twelve, it wasn't 307 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 5: even that a game could be canceled. It could be 308 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 5: that like, oh, we just previewed Colorado Washington State or something, 309 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 5: and now Colorado's playing San Diego State after we record. 310 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 5: There were all sorts of elements to not just confusion 311 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 5: but just having no idea what was going to happen 312 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 5: In the forty eight to seventy two hours after we recorded, 313 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 5: Yogi told a funny story about that Colorado game. I'll 314 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 5: come back to that in a second, but I remember 315 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 5: vividly trying to put together our little Google sheet that 316 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 5: we use week in and week out to preview games, 317 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 5: and I just kept having to change it because I 318 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 5: remember at the time and I forget which teams were involved, 319 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 5: but there were rumors about who was going to be 320 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 5: playing and who wasn't going to be playing. And I 321 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 5: feel like at some point with the PAC twelve, we 322 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 5: just sort of gave up. And it wasn't for lack 323 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 5: of trying. It was just because it was such a 324 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 5: moving target. I can only imagine how difficult it must 325 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 5: have been to prove out to recruits. Yeah, like, you're 326 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 5: going to want to come to our school, even despite 327 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 5: the fact everyone knew what was going on, everyone knew 328 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 5: the circumstances, and how awkward it was across the board. 329 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 5: It was just really hard to establish yourself as a 330 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 5: place that kids might want to go, doing it through 331 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 5: zoom not being able to have them on campus in 332 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 5: the case of ASU not playing for a month, that 333 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 5: is really hard to compensate. Brutal, and I think on 334 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 5: the subject of recruiting, you have to remember that. And 335 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 5: this is not an excuse making exercise, especially because I 336 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 5: root for a team that happens to even through twenty 337 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 5: twenty and all the oddities of the season, they still 338 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 5: recruited very well. 339 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: But the PAC twelve does not have a number of 340 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: hot spots for top flight recruits. Schools like Stanford and 341 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: ASU and Washington. They're far away from each other, and 342 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: you know there's Seattle Area football and Phoenix Area football. 343 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: There are players in these areas, but these are schools 344 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,400 Speaker 1: that rely on bringing in kids from far away places, 345 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 1: relatively far away places. You're bringing in kids from California 346 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: if you're Washington or Washington State in a normal season, 347 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: if your Oregon, you're recruiting nationally. For USC you're certainly 348 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: kind of rooting or recruiting nationally. 349 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 5: You know, schools like. 350 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:03,439 Speaker 1: Utah recruit a lot locally, but you require flights to 351 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: get to Pack twelve schools from their recruiting bases. And 352 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 1: so when they don't play, I mean, what you have 353 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 1: like the Big Twelve starting some playing non conference games 354 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: or whatever, and early to mid September, the SEC begins 355 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,719 Speaker 1: late September. You're talking about weeks and weeks, if not months, 356 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: of other places playing and putting themselves out there. And 357 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,919 Speaker 1: you can watch a Florida game, you can watch a 358 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: Texas game, and the Pac twelve just doesn't exist. It's 359 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,359 Speaker 1: already a power conference that's lagging behind the other power conferences, 360 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: and now they're losing even more relevance. They're losing airtime, 361 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: they're losing a conversation component, to the conference, and so 362 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: they're falling so far behind and they already were there. 363 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: And so it's another element to the PAC twelve's narrative 364 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,919 Speaker 1: the PAC twelve season of like, even when they're playing, 365 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: there aren't people in the stands and large, Whereas if 366 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 1: you watch you know, Florida games or a Texas A 367 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: and M game or something. 368 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 5: There are people there. A recruit can come unofficially visit 369 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 5: and sit on the twenty yard line and take in 370 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 5: Kyle Field or the swamp or wherever, and the PAC 371 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:18,119 Speaker 5: twelve is just not there, just in the ether. So 372 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 5: we titled this episode Quirks out West. We talked about 373 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 5: one with the USC, let's talk about Let's talk about 374 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 5: some other ones that Yogi saw firsthand. 375 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 4: Thanksgiving Thursday night, I got a call and it was Colorado, Utah, Washington. 376 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 4: All these teams were impacted. And they're like, hey, Colorado 377 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 4: is going to play San Diego State. You're calling the 378 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 4: game in two days. Okay, no problem for a broadcaster, 379 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 4: We'll figure it out. But the coaching staff was at 380 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 4: home with their family Colorado and then they went back 381 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 4: to the office eight o'clock that night to install game plan, 382 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,160 Speaker 4: figure out who the heck the Aztecs were personnel wise, 383 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 4: installed the game plan Friday morning and played at two 384 00:19:57,760 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 4: o'clock Saturday afternoon. 385 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 1: And you may RecA that ended up being a thorny 386 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: game for Colorado because they were undefeated. But the rules 387 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: at the time in the PAC twelve stated that the 388 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: conference games would be counted towards the PAC twelve championship, 389 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: not the non conference games. So there was some debate 390 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 1: as like, all right, well, depending how this shakes out, 391 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: is Colorado even going to be eligible if they win 392 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: all their games? That was a quirk what two days 393 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 1: in advance. There were also some quirks on game. 394 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 4: Day Washington State and Cal They're supposed to play at 395 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:29,760 Speaker 4: Wazoo Col's there. They're on the bus to the game 396 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 4: and they find out due to contact tracing that a 397 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 4: position groups wiped out. They canceled the game the day 398 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 4: of the game. 399 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: Canceled the game the day of the game. I think 400 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: we had previewed that one, and that may have been 401 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,239 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why we eventually decided to give up. 402 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 5: Correct, Yeah, it's it was. It was hurting cats. There 403 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 5: was no way to know exactly what was going to happen. 404 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 5: I mean, we brought this up with Yogi too, and 405 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 5: we'll get to it, I'm sure. But like Colorado sent 406 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 5: an equipment truck halfway to Los Angeles this so it's 407 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,159 Speaker 5: not like the schools were anymore in the No, there 408 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 5: were all sorts of contingency plans. There were all sorts 409 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 5: of stories popping up that seemed unimaginable as college football fans. 410 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: That was a case where the Wazoo Cow game was 411 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: canceled essentially on the bus ride to the game. Do 412 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: you do you remember the very first game that Cal 413 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: played this past fall against the Sunday game. Yeah, Sunday game. 414 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: They go out, they lose by twenty four, thirty four 415 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: to ten at UCLA outgained by almost three hundred yards. 416 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 1: They give up almost two hundred and fifty on the ground. 417 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: We're watching this from afar. We're thinking, Okay, this is 418 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: this is probably not going to be a great Cal team. 419 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: Here's the backstory. 420 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 4: You look at Cal ucla first game of the year, 421 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 4: right for the Cal Bears, they got impacted as hard 422 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 4: as anybody, and they're playing was a nine am game 423 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 4: on a Sunday, and they get rolled because their defensive 424 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,360 Speaker 4: line hadn't practiced together, and then they were available to play, 425 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 4: so they played the game on a Sunday. 426 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: Cal had all to quirks dan cal. 427 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 4: Met as physician groups in their stadium. I saw it 428 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 4: in the spring because they were doing in the spring still, 429 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 4: and they got dressed outside like they hadn't been in 430 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 4: their locker room. I called their game spring I think 431 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 4: March sixteenth or eighteenth or something like that. They still 432 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 4: hadn't been in their locker room, right, So just think 433 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 4: about that. I don't know what it was in Alabama 434 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 4: or Clem Center, Oklahoma, but I guarantee you sure as 435 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 4: hell was in March sixteenth by the time those teams 436 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:27,320 Speaker 4: are allowed in their locker room. It was probably wasn't 437 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 4: even September sixteenth by the time they were allowed in 438 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 4: most of their locker rooms. 439 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: So Cal is definitely on the rushmore of odd football 440 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: quirks during the fall football season. And you know, at 441 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: least in week one, I think it certainly manifested itself. 442 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 5: Cal starts the season by the way oh and three, 443 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 5: and then they beat the eventual conference champion Oregon at home. 444 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:57,959 Speaker 5: They had the crazy weird ending against Stanford. It was 445 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:04,200 Speaker 5: an entirely strange, beyond words season for the Cal Golden Bears. 446 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, what was the season like for the Oregon Ducks? 447 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:13,120 Speaker 1: Because going into the season, Oregon was at least whatever 448 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: we expected the Pac twelve season to be. Oregon was 449 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: sort of like the odds on favorite to win that 450 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: they had some opt outs, right, it wasn't nearly the 451 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,239 Speaker 1: team that we would have expected otherwise. What was it 452 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:26,400 Speaker 1: like being an Oregon fan? 453 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 5: Not great, Bob, But it's okay. They still won the 454 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 5: conference and that's fine and that's good. It was a 455 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,719 Speaker 5: strange year. So you had the opening game against Stanford 456 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 5: where right before the game, it's Davis Mills and I 457 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 5: believe Connor Weddington our last minute scratches because they test 458 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 5: positive for covid or they came in contact and it's 459 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 5: a contact tracing thing. But they're unavailable for that opening 460 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:55,120 Speaker 5: weekend game. That's November seventh, Saturday, the seventh. Oregon played 461 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,439 Speaker 5: largely pretty well the next couple weeks and they almost 462 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 5: lose to use backup quarterback, and then they they lose 463 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 5: a weird tight one that everybody was watching Thanksgiving weekend, 464 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 5: the Oregon State rivalry game and then they lose to Cal. 465 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 5: It's it's easy for me as an Oregon fan to 466 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,119 Speaker 5: look back and say, well, they don't have a season 467 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 5: or an off season, but that's everybody. They have a 468 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 5: new offensive coordinator with a new quarterback. But they looked 469 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 5: pretty good together. They scored like forty points a game 470 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 5: those first two weeks, and the defense had returned a 471 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 5: bunch of guys up front, but basically the secondary, a 472 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 5: corner opted out and then opted back in diamidor Lenore. 473 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 5: But they lost four effective starters in their secondary opting out, 474 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 5: and they're all American and now top ten draft pick 475 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 5: Pine Sewul starting left tackle. So it was at the 476 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 5: same time easy too, and it also made it more 477 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,360 Speaker 5: difficult as an Oregon fan to watch a team that 478 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:56,919 Speaker 5: in the back of your mind you're like, well, this 479 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,360 Speaker 5: isn't what the year was supposed to feature in terms 480 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 5: of personnel, and they end up losing in the I 481 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,119 Speaker 5: think it was the Festa Bowl against Iowa State, but 482 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 5: that the USC win in the I guess it is 483 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 5: a walkover. That's the tennis term when a player is 484 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 5: not able to play and the other player just advances 485 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 5: to the next round. Oregon can't play Washington because of 486 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 5: Washington COVID issues, and Washington is unable to play in 487 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 5: the PAC twelve championship game against USC, and there's a 488 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 5: groundswell of people saying, well, why isn't it Colorado because 489 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 5: they have a better record than Oregon organist two losses, 490 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 5: But of course Colorado's in the South, and so the 491 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 5: by laws or the adjusted laws of PAC twelve competition said, well, 492 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 5: the next best team in the North is going to 493 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 5: go to the championship game, and that is Oregon. And 494 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 5: Oregon hangs on to beat USC in a really strong 495 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 5: defensive performance. But it's it's very easy to say Oregon 496 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 5: got lucky because of Washington ended up in that game 497 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 5: and took advantage of the opportunity and won the game. 498 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 5: But it still feels a little bit off. It still 499 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 5: feels weird to me to get through to that point. 500 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 5: I don't and I'm not advocating that Colorado should have 501 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,639 Speaker 5: or USC should have just been given the title. I 502 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 5: liked that there was a game, and I like that 503 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 5: my team won, but it still doesn't feel fully normal. 504 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 5: That's my general reaction, and that I'm happy that the 505 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,360 Speaker 5: opt out guys. I think all of them got drafted 506 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 5: or most of them got drafted, and pine sewell didn't 507 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 5: play down and went in the top ten and was 508 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 5: seen as the generational talent that he showed himself to 509 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 5: be his first two years. But I'm excited as an 510 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 5: Oregon fan to look at the roster and say, the 511 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,640 Speaker 5: all of these guys are going to be playing come 512 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 5: the fall. And I understood why guys opted out. I 513 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 5: wasn't angry, it just made sense. But I'm excited that 514 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 5: what I believe Oregon to be at full strength will 515 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,640 Speaker 5: be what we should be getting this Yeah. 516 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: And I the reason I mentioned Oregon is because Oregon 517 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: was one of those teams that was really affect particularly 518 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: hit hard yeah by the opt out. Stanford being another 519 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: one that had some issues around that as well. I 520 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:17,399 Speaker 1: asked Yogi, like surprised, not surprised by the number of 521 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 1: opt outs. Where did he come down? 522 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 4: I was surprised with how many guys played. Honestly, you know, 523 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,639 Speaker 4: Pine sewel opting out, Javon Holland opting out Walker, Little 524 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,159 Speaker 4: opting out kind of get it right, you expect it, 525 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 4: especially with the shortened season. Cam Binen was one of 526 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,400 Speaker 4: the better stories. Ops out, ops back in. They lose 527 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 4: their first two games, and you're saying, just shut it down, bro, 528 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 4: you got four games left. Nobody on your team is 529 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 4: going to criticize you. And he's like, no, I wanted 530 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:45,920 Speaker 4: to finish this thing. 531 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: I wanted to finish this thing. He brought up Justin 532 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: Fields as well. It's not a Pac twelve example, but 533 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: Justin Fields was kind of caught up in this for 534 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 1: a little bit where there was some speculation would he play, 535 00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: would he not play? 536 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 4: Justin Fields to me, the criticism he had around the 537 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,879 Speaker 4: draft through my mind because I would have probably opted 538 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 4: out if I was him. He was one of the 539 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 4: better players in the country. Not only did he opt in, 540 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 4: but he led like the player led movement to play 541 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 4: in the Big Ten. So I think we saw a 542 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 4: lot of character revealed around certain players and reasons why 543 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 4: they wanted to opt in or opt out. 544 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 1: What I didn't get at all was why teams wanted 545 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 1: to play in Bowl games. It didn't make any sense 546 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 1: to me whatsoever. 547 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 5: I understood why, I mean, I understood why they didn't 548 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 5: want to play, and I understood why they did want 549 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 5: to play, And I mean it was just sort of 550 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 5: it came down to what kind of season behind the 551 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 5: scenes that team went through. And I'm sure a number 552 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 5: of teams that did go to Bowl games voted and 553 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 5: the players and coaches said, yeah, we want to play 554 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 5: one last time this year. But I understand on the 555 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 5: same level, like guys wanting to see their family that 556 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,479 Speaker 5: they haven't been able to see in months and months, 557 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,200 Speaker 5: saying I think we're good. I think we're good with 558 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 5: quarantining on campus, the. 559 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: Bulls and the decision to put them on to me 560 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: was very curious, and you know, I get it like 561 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: you I get it. I understand the logic of it, 562 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: but just hearing all the protocols that were in place, 563 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: knowing that the PAC twelve was already a bit behind 564 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: the eight ball because of the late start, because of protocols, 565 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: not being able to get with their teams the way 566 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: others around the country may have, it didn't make sense 567 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,720 Speaker 1: to me why they'd want to play yogi. To some extent, 568 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: I think fell into that same category, and that's. 569 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 4: Why I'd end up problem with teams opting out of 570 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,400 Speaker 4: bowls because kids haven't seen their parents in so long, 571 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 4: and granted you're twenty one, you're twenty or like we 572 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,360 Speaker 4: could say, hey, you're old enough, you're good, but some 573 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 4: of these guys needed something consistent and they didn't want 574 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 4: to take that away from them. And they can play 575 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:40,880 Speaker 4: in a bowl game on the twenty eighth of December, 576 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 4: but keep them on campus because the final game was 577 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 4: the seventeenth or whatever it was. 578 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, a really good example of USC. 579 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 4: Right, Like a lot of these teams did so well. 580 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 4: I tried to hang on, like SC tried to hang on, 581 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:54,520 Speaker 4: and they would have been under the number. So they 582 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 4: opt out for a bowl game, get crushed by the media. 583 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 4: Of course everybody in the East coast SC lose to Oregon. 584 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 4: It's a saw program. Well, what they'd learn a month 585 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,720 Speaker 4: later is that Keton Slowas wouldn't have played. They would 586 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 4: have been under the limit. I don't think I'm browns 587 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 4: I'm in ros Saint Brown would have played. Their left 588 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 4: tackle wouldn't have played, Like what are we doing? 589 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 5: At some point, that was a little bit of the situation, 590 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 5: and that was more for draft reasons because they were 591 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 5: at the game. But if you remember Florida Oklahoma in 592 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 5: that bowl game, Kyle Trask played a quarter, you know 593 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 5: there was just you know, no, Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Tony, like, 594 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 5: it's just it watching Florida get shelled by Oklahoma's like, 595 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 5: we're watching the twos and threes of Florida playing this 596 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 5: major bowl game, Like is this good television? Is this 597 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 5: what we want the Bulls to be? And so that 598 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 5: sort of became an example early on of a bigger 599 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 5: bowl game that was not entirely watchable. 600 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:52,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, so all right to recap here being a player, 601 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: especially in the Pac twelve, sounds like there were a 602 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: lot of challenges there. We asked Yogi a little bit 603 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: behind the scenes, what was it like to be a coach? 604 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 4: Here's one for you. Most coaches around the country and 605 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 4: every fan would think. A coach goes to practice with 606 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 4: his team, I don't care what conference ran in the pandemic, 607 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 4: and then practice ends, you go watch the film in 608 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,240 Speaker 4: the facility. Stafford coaches didn't go in their facility once 609 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 4: all season. They drove home to their home and it's 610 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 4: not like every GA lives on campus, so to go 611 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 4: wherever they're off campus home was and then they log 612 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 4: into their zoom, watch the film, grade the film, have 613 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,480 Speaker 4: the meeting. So I think you put that into context, 614 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 4: let alone new coordinators. A lot of new coordinators last 615 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 4: year in the PAC twelve. They never once met with 616 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 4: a team their side of the wall. Todder Orlando never 617 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 4: once met with the defense because you couldn't meet at 618 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 4: a hotel the day before a game, right, So you 619 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 4: just went on the practice field and kind of figure 620 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 4: it out and walk through. So I don't care if 621 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 4: you're Nick Saban or Pete Carroll or a coach that 622 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 4: people don't think is an elite level coach, Teaching a 623 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 4: game like this and a new system is hard. So 624 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 4: I look at the success rate of our teams out here, 625 00:31:58,280 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 4: and I'm like, it's a hell of a year. 626 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,640 Speaker 1: Todd Orlando could not meet with the defense, Dan. 627 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 5: No, and you had all sorts of situations like that 628 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 5: across the conference. Yogi's absolutely right, Like there was. I 629 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 5: remember watching the Oregon offense and thinking how much has 630 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 5: Joe moorehead met in person in a film room with 631 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 5: Tyler Shuck and with the offensive line, and like, how 632 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 5: are these coaches able to communicate when they are just 633 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 5: going out onto the field and trying to squeeze in 634 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,040 Speaker 5: as much teaching and practicing and reps as humanly possible 635 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 5: without a spring camp, without traditional meetings, and they make 636 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 5: the best of it. And I think that's what Yogi's 637 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,960 Speaker 5: referring to that, like, look, it's a successful season because 638 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 5: teams improve, players developed, coaches got to know their personnel. 639 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 5: But it was very, very different and not ideal for anybody. 640 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 4: I interviewed every coach multiple times, from chip on down, 641 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,960 Speaker 4: and everybody was awesome about it. You did not hear 642 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,239 Speaker 4: whiny complaining why can't we, why can't we? Why are 643 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 4: we doing this? Why is this test? What's the PCR? 644 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 4: Nobody was doing that, theirs saying, Okay, this worked, keep 645 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 4: doing it. Maybe this didn't work. How do we adjust 646 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 4: and get our student athletes to play? To the point 647 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 4: of college football is giving these guys a chance to 648 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,719 Speaker 4: compete at what they love. And I think even more so, 649 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 4: while like the image and likeness thing is skyrocketing and 650 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 4: the player's movement skyrocketing, I think the people coaching was like, 651 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 4: I got to get my players an opportunity to go play. 652 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 4: That's what I want to go do. So I think 653 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 4: there was a great collective thought process. I'd imagine around 654 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 4: the country, but for sure because I'm in it, out here. 655 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,040 Speaker 1: We'll cover this more in part too, but I think 656 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: that's a really important takeaway. All too often when we 657 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:45,320 Speaker 1: analyze college football, be it from the podcaster or standpoint 658 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: or just as a fan, I think it's really easy 659 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: to put things in terms of wins and losses. It 660 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 1: was clearly about something different, at least in the PAC twelve. 661 00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: Getting out on the field was it accomplished, and that 662 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: will all too easily be lost five ten months from now, 663 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: years from now, But just just getting out there, I 664 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,640 Speaker 1: think is really just incredible that they were able to 665 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,239 Speaker 1: do it. You know, we asked Yogi again, like what 666 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: are our coaches saying, What are they saying behind the 667 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,120 Speaker 1: scenes about what went on this past year. 668 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:25,960 Speaker 4: I think they all said the same thing, which was like, 669 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,720 Speaker 4: this wasn't in the handbook, right, And I do think 670 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 4: once the chaos calmed down to a degree in terms 671 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,719 Speaker 4: of Okay, this is what we need to do. We 672 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 4: need to test everybody every day, and this is how 673 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:40,359 Speaker 4: we're going to go do it. This is how we're 674 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:41,920 Speaker 4: going to feed guys, this is how we're going to 675 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 4: wait train, this is how we're going to do tutoring. 676 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:45,799 Speaker 4: This is how we're going to do finals. This is 677 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 4: how we're going to do pre draft evals. Once they 678 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 4: figured that out, I think coaches were actually great examples 679 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 4: of staying connected to the moment. 680 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 1: The whole thing up ended, the whole thing up ended 681 00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,839 Speaker 1: DAN starting from scratch. Pretty much across the board. 682 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 5: Oregon ended up playing seven games with the PACK twelve 683 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:06,280 Speaker 5: championship game in their bowl game. Washington played four games. 684 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,719 Speaker 5: We're talking about some teams playing almost twice as many 685 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,760 Speaker 5: games as others in the conference, and just how strange 686 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 5: that must be because obviously with more games comes more reps, 687 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 5: more experience. Whatever there were number of teams was zoo, 688 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 5: I believe only played four games. ASU had the USC game, 689 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 5: as Yogi mentioned in a month off before playing UCLA, 690 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:29,360 Speaker 5: Arizona and Oregon State. So yeah, just getting on the 691 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 5: field thing was easier or just luckier for some teams 692 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 5: than others. 693 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 1: I think looking back, the one observation that really truly 694 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:43,879 Speaker 1: jumps out to me about the PAC twelve is that 695 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: feeling of going through the PAC twelve season as we did, 696 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,879 Speaker 1: previewing games on a weekly basis, and really feeling more 697 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:56,360 Speaker 1: uncertain about the PAC twelve than any other conference in 698 00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: almost a sense of relief when it became apparent that 699 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:01,799 Speaker 1: they weren't going to be part of the playoff. And 700 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: I don't mean that in a sarcastic way, but it 701 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,279 Speaker 1: just would have introduced so much complexity because you never 702 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: knew who was playing when, where on what day, And 703 00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:16,000 Speaker 1: you know, so much of what we do is trying 704 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 1: to put things in context. The PAC twelve, to some extent, 705 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:22,279 Speaker 1: was almost beyond context. It kind of existed in its 706 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: own little silo. And that relief I felt knowing that 707 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:29,719 Speaker 1: we wouldn't have to piece together some level of participation 708 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: in the playoff was selfish, But at the same time, 709 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:35,319 Speaker 1: I feel like I wasn't the only one having those emotions, 710 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,640 Speaker 1: like it was just such a crazy year for the 711 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,080 Speaker 1: PAC twelve trying to get out there on the field 712 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:43,040 Speaker 1: and play the games. That was the accomplishment, That was 713 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,839 Speaker 1: the Blue ribbon for the PAC twelve, just simply being 714 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,360 Speaker 1: out there and giving the athletes a chance to participate. 715 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,239 Speaker 5: And the context you talk about, that's what we do, 716 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 5: putting things into context and the playoff, and it was 717 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,719 Speaker 5: it was always annoying watching certain PAC twelve games, or 718 00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:00,160 Speaker 5: certain PAC twelve teams, or certain games you just across 719 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 5: the country where they're just like, well, if this team 720 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,480 Speaker 5: doesn't win, man, what are their playoff chance? It's going 721 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 5: to be. It's like, this is their second game, it's 722 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:12,799 Speaker 5: their second game of the year, and I just I 723 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 5: wonder what hour or just the conversation in general would 724 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:20,160 Speaker 5: have been, like, let's say USC runs the table and 725 00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:22,759 Speaker 5: they finish whatever it is five and oh, six and 726 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,319 Speaker 5: oh and they beat Oregon, a decent but not great 727 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:29,319 Speaker 5: Oregon team. Is the conversation not just okay, they played 728 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:31,400 Speaker 5: fewer games, and that was like the Dabosweeney thing, like 729 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:32,880 Speaker 5: I'm just not going to let a team in that 730 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,399 Speaker 5: plays seven or eight games. So USC plays five or six, 731 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 5: And you know, what is the conversation around USC if 732 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,320 Speaker 5: they're beating an Oregon with a bunch of opt outs 733 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:45,319 Speaker 5: and you know they have weird random weeks off that 734 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,960 Speaker 5: are out of their control. Are are they playing in 735 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 5: a major bowl game? Are they playing in the playoff? 736 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:53,120 Speaker 5: I mean they're probably playing in a major bowl game 737 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,719 Speaker 5: because they would have won the conference in this scenario, 738 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 5: But like, what how deeply are we putting things into context? 739 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 5: So like, oh, they would have played more games like 740 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:03,200 Speaker 5: we did with Ohio State, but they had cancelations that 741 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,799 Speaker 5: weren't their fault, or they had guys who on other 742 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 5: teams who were opting out, so that win doesn't count 743 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,920 Speaker 5: as much like how deep into the weeds are we getting? 744 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:16,279 Speaker 5: Fortunately we didn't have to have that very awkward conversation 745 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,200 Speaker 5: with regard to a PAC twelve team, but certainly that 746 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,360 Speaker 5: conversation was had around Ohio State five and oh and 747 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,120 Speaker 5: then they beat Clemson in the College semi and so 748 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:27,480 Speaker 5: what does that happen with a PAC twelve that delays 749 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:31,959 Speaker 5: their season like they did? And if us he goes 750 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,760 Speaker 5: four and oh three, like what is the number before 751 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:37,560 Speaker 5: We're like, well, we have to let you know, notre 752 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,200 Speaker 5: dame in front because they go nine and one, Like 753 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:43,439 Speaker 5: what is that conversation like? And I'm glad we didn't 754 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:44,120 Speaker 5: really have to have. 755 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: It close it out with this. I think the PAC twelve, 756 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,239 Speaker 1: maybe more so than any other conference, is just ready 757 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:53,080 Speaker 1: to move on past this. 758 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 4: COVID fatigue was real for all of us, and definitely 759 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:00,359 Speaker 4: for twenty year olds that are used to balling out 760 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:02,359 Speaker 4: and they go and have it a good time. Afterwards 761 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,360 Speaker 4: they were bawling out and then they went back to 762 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,680 Speaker 4: the hotel room, and eight within small groups six feet 763 00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:10,920 Speaker 4: from another from each other. You know that my postgame 764 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:13,919 Speaker 4: interviews with the players were in hotels in a room 765 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:14,840 Speaker 4: all by themselves. 766 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,040 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening to part one of so Now 767 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:24,839 Speaker 1: What Quirks out West. You can hear and watch our 768 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: full interview with Yogi roth out on our Patreon at 769 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:33,160 Speaker 1: verballers dot com. Our Patreon subscribers will also gain access 770 00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:37,640 Speaker 1: to a live discord chat Wednesday, made the nineteenth, at 771 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,880 Speaker 1: five pm, talking more about so now What and what 772 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,720 Speaker 1: Dan and I have learned and most importantly, don't forget 773 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,120 Speaker 1: to come back for part two, where we'll take a 774 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:47,680 Speaker 1: look ahead