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Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal hull. That for me, I'm

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Speaker 1: a man, I'm for it.

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Speaker 2: I've heard so many players say, well, I want to

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Speaker 2: be happy.

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Speaker 1: You want to be happy for Dake Edo State?

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Speaker 2: Is that?

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Speaker 1: Woo woof? And then and tie Dan Rubinstein. We have

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Speaker 1: one big game left, my friend.

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Speaker 2: The College Football Playoff National Championship takes place this coming Monday,

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Speaker 2: between Notre Dame and Ohio State. We only have one

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Speaker 2: game to preview today, That's true, one game to preview today,

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Speaker 2: my friend. How are you?

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Speaker 1: I'm good. I'm knee deep in Notre Dame Ohio State words.

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Speaker 1: I didn't think I was going to say at the

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Speaker 1: start of the playoff, but seems I think, well, within

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Speaker 1: reason I want to sit, was it? I want to

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Speaker 1: get this right. Ross Dellinger maybe had this as his

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Speaker 1: final two, and you know what, if this were my

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Speaker 1: final two, I absolutely would be bragging about it too.

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Speaker 1: But it's very mid Western. I don't know if that's

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Speaker 1: gonna fully play into our preview itself. It is very

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Speaker 1: traditional and it is very personal for you, it is.

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Speaker 2: Very personal for me. Absolutely, we will get into that

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Speaker 2: and much much more. Thank you all for coming on

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Speaker 2: back here. We got as I said, one big one

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Speaker 2: to preview over the next hour or so. We're going

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Speaker 2: to try and cover this from as many angles as

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Speaker 2: we can. I know you went like full, always sunny,

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Speaker 2: with like the conspiratorial corkboard and Yon string. Well you

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Speaker 2: did the whole Domino effects thing.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I have I have some like how we

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Speaker 1: got here big picture stuff with I was d deep?

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Speaker 1: Was it Mike Mickens, that's the Notre Dame Corners secondary coach. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there's an interesting history with him and Marcus Freeman and

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Speaker 1: Notre Dame and Brian Kelly and recruiting and having an

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Speaker 1: eye for tall, skinny like corners that are incredible. That's

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Speaker 1: not a huge I didn't do a huge conspiratorial thing

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Speaker 1: with that. There's fascinating elements to how we got here,

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Speaker 1: how these programs were constructed, and the different movements throughout

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Speaker 1: college football that helped get us here.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely so today Domino effects, how we got here? Of course,

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Speaker 2: key matchups, big questions. We will give our predictions at

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Speaker 2: the end of the episode. Dan, sound good to.

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Speaker 1: You, sounds great to me.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's do it. Time to help of the week.

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Speaker 2: So I think we sat on one of our previous

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Speaker 2: episodes that we were going down to Atlanta for the

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Speaker 2: game to do kind of like the normal stunt preview

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Speaker 2: that we do most every year with media friends. We

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Speaker 2: booked the flights, we did all that stuff. At present

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Speaker 2: credentials were denied. Wanp womp, Yes, wamp womp. This is

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Speaker 2: one of those things you get with being independent. Now,

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Speaker 2: provided nothing changes, we will do what we do best.

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Speaker 2: We will improvise, We will find a creative way to

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Speaker 2: celebrate the game. So stay tuned all of our social

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Speaker 2: media channels. Stay tuned, of course, to the podcast feed.

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Speaker 2: We got to see if we can get credit for

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Speaker 2: those flights. By the I don't know what the policy is, true,

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Speaker 2: that's true. See see what kind of magic we can

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Speaker 2: pull on that front.

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Speaker 1: By the way, if the Delta CEO is listening to

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Speaker 1: this show and or a paying Patreon verball er, what's up, buddy?

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Speaker 1: What's up sir or ma'am? I did not research the

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Speaker 1: c suite at Delta Airlines, but help some help some

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Speaker 1: guys out.

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Speaker 2: All of that said, if you want to help keep

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Speaker 2: this pirate ship afloat, all you gotta do is hit

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Speaker 2: that follow or subscribe button wherever it is that you

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Speaker 2: If you've already done all of that, and maybe you're

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Speaker 2: feeling a little bit generous going out to verballers dot com.

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Speaker 2: V E R B A L L e r s

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Speaker 2: dot com check out the paid tiers. Of course, as

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Speaker 2: we've said time and again, your support goes a long way.

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Speaker 2: Once you're out there, you can play bowl Bingo. Go

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Speaker 2: to everybody who's a free Patreon member or above. You've

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Speaker 2: got about thirty selections for the college Football Playoff National Championship.

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Speaker 2: You've got to pick six things that you think are

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Speaker 2: going to go down. So playbollbingo dot com. We'll give

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Speaker 2: you more info on all of that and much much more.

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Speaker 2: For the last time, your support is greatly appreciated. Yes, okay,

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Speaker 2: this one is taking place on Monday, January the twentieth,

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Speaker 2: officially at seven thirty pm Eastern Time, in reality, more

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Speaker 2: like seven forty five pm Eastern time. We're all adults here.

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Speaker 2: We don't need to fall for the seven thirty thing.

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Speaker 2: It's going to be about seven forty five playing this

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Speaker 2: in Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Your commentators are going

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Speaker 2: to be Chris Fowler and Kirk Herb Street. If you're

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Speaker 2: really really in the weeds for this one, as I

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Speaker 2: believe Mama h will be, she's already talking about what's

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Speaker 2: the broadcast schedule going to be right?

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Speaker 1: Covered starts at five pm.

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Speaker 2: They're going to have an extended version of College Game

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Speaker 2: Day out on ESPN once the game kicks off. Of course,

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Speaker 2: you've got the main feed with Faler and Herbie that's

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Speaker 2: going to be on ESPN, but you're going to have

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Speaker 2: a field pass with the Scafee Show on ESPN two.

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Speaker 2: Command Center, which is the one with all the stats

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Speaker 2: and a couple different camera angles, that's on ESPNU. We

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Speaker 2: got the skycast on ESPN News. We've got Spanish language

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Speaker 2: on ESPN Deportes, and then we've got Notre Dame at

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Speaker 2: Ohio State Radio feeds as well as the All twenty

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Speaker 2: two out on the ESPN three. I guess app.

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Speaker 1: Yes, Do you know who's doing the halftime show?

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Speaker 2: Is that?

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Speaker 1: In your notes?

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Speaker 2: I have no idea.

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Speaker 1: Kendrick Lamar, No, that's the Super Bowl, isn't it? Is

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Speaker 1: it the super Bowl? It's not the National Championship.

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Speaker 2: I don't think Kendrick Lamar is doing this game. Oh man,

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Speaker 2: maybe he will now that he heard this. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I think you're right. So who's doing halftime tie?

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Speaker 1: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: Bower and Herbstreet are doing we are Davis Booger McFarland

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Speaker 2: is doing halftime show.

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Speaker 1: Doesn't matter.

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Speaker 2: These halftime shows at this game are notoriously terrible anyway,

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Speaker 2: it doesn't matter.

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Speaker 1: I've been let down by Google's AI tie as. I'm

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Speaker 1: sure how.

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Speaker 2: Many people are You do know it's Notre Dame versus

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Speaker 2: Ohio State in this game.

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Speaker 1: Yes, that's not what Google AI has told. It is

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Speaker 1: North Dakota State Montana States in this one. Yeah. Now

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be fun. I'm excited.

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Speaker 2: We have Notre Dame at fourteen and one. We have

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Speaker 2: Ohio State at thirteen and two. At present, the Buckeyes

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Speaker 2: are an eight point favorite. You're over under is forty

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Speaker 2: five and a half. So just a few other factoids

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Speaker 2: with regard to this matchup. Notre Dame got here by

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Speaker 2: beating Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State in that order in

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Speaker 2: the playoffs. For the year, they are twelve two and

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Speaker 2: one against the point spread. Not bad, No, Ohio State

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Speaker 2: definitely a harder road to get here in my opinion,

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Speaker 2: And I say that as a Notre Dame fan Tennessee, Oregon.

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Speaker 2: In Texas they are nine and six against the point spread.

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Speaker 2: And last, but certainly not least if you are into

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Speaker 2: this sort of thing, I really went pretty deep with

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Speaker 2: my coverage, or am I studying to deliver this coverage?

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Speaker 2: I watched a full hour long simulation of this game

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Speaker 2: using the video game.

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Speaker 1: Now, see, that's an actual waste of time. You actually

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Speaker 1: wasted a full hour of your life. I did.

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Speaker 2: Kate said this to me yesterday. Why are you watching that?

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Speaker 2: Is that the game or is that the fake game?

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Speaker 2: I said, it's a video game. No.

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Speaker 1: I want a number of the number of helpful things

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Speaker 1: you could have done for your dogs, your wife, your home.

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Speaker 1: You could have changed out your air filter tie. I know,

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Speaker 1: an hour ea simulation of this game does nothing for anybody.

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Speaker 2: Twenty two to nineteen in favor of Ohio State. Notre

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Speaker 2: Dame jumped out to an early ten zip lead, but

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Speaker 2: then Ohio State can't call him back.

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Speaker 1: Okay, how did we get here?

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Speaker 2: Dan?

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Speaker 1: How do we get to this point?

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Speaker 2: In the season, talk to me about the corkboard and

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Speaker 2: the yarn with the pushpins that you have over there

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Speaker 2: in the lab.

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Speaker 1: This season, I think the likely road for Notre Dame,

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Speaker 1: or the likely moment for Notre Dame that helped to

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Speaker 1: get us here, is Mike Denbrock fully realizing what Lee

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Speaker 1: Leonard is and what he's not and taking that offense

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Speaker 1: to a place where they lean into his strengths, both physically, athletically, whatever,

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Speaker 1: and they're not trying to you know, round shape into

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Speaker 1: a square peg or you know, do you know what

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Speaker 1: I'm saying, square peg into a round hole. Sure, I

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Speaker 1: think that's where we are. And I think it came

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Speaker 1: to a head obviously against Northern Illinois that the offense

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Speaker 1: couldn't get going, that they weren't winning big moments, that

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Speaker 1: they weren't explosive and got going. I think was it

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Speaker 1: a week later against Purdue. It was shortly thereafter theyd

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Speaker 1: be Purdue, like seven hundred and fourty.

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Speaker 2: I mean everybody got going against Purdue, right exactly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So truly I think that was the moment because

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Speaker 1: I think everybody agrees that Mike Denbrock is an excellent

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Speaker 1: offensive coordinator and we saw how explosive the LCU offense

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Speaker 1: was last year, and he, along with the offensive brain

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Speaker 1: trust and the obviously the players for Notre Dame on offense,

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Speaker 1: were able to figure out an identity for this team

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Speaker 1: that resulted in them. You know, obviously they beat Texas

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Speaker 1: A and M week one, and a lot of that

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Speaker 1: was on the ground and winning those big moments late.

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Speaker 1: But throughout the course of the season, they didn't suffer

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Speaker 1: that upset because they weren't trying to do something that

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Speaker 1: they weren't equipped to do. And obviously their opponents weren't incredible,

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Speaker 1: and you know, they were in a bit of a

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Speaker 1: back and forth against USC, for instance, but the defense

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Speaker 1: came through with some big plays late sort of separate

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Speaker 1: Notre Dame from USC. But by and large, when you

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Speaker 1: look at what their game plan was against in the playoff, Indiana,

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Speaker 1: Georgia and most recently Penn State, it's sure there are

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Speaker 1: moments that the offense would like back, you know, Riley

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Speaker 1: Leonards sailing a ball against Penn State over the middle

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Speaker 1: that resulted in an interception. But I would say for

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Speaker 1: the most part, there's a self awareness that developed within

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Speaker 1: the Notre Dame program offensively, because I think we just

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Speaker 1: coming into the season, we had the assumption that this

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Speaker 1: defense was built to be excellent, and you know, from

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Speaker 1: the back end, you know, Jim and Morrison obviously got

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Speaker 1: hurt very early on, but that the defensive line had

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Speaker 1: a ton of experience. Obviously, the linebacking corps had a

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Speaker 1: ton of experience. Secondary was Xavier Watson, Ben Morrison leading

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Speaker 1: the way had a good amount of experience. So that

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Speaker 1: wasn't really an open question heading into the season. It

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Speaker 1: was much more, Okay, we're bringing in another transfer at

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Speaker 1: quarterback from the ACC for the second consecutive year. And

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Speaker 1: if you want to go even bigger picture than just

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Speaker 1: this season, Mike elko leaving probably had something to do

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Speaker 1: with Riley Leonard becoming available on the market for Texas

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Speaker 1: A and M, and so him deciding in Texas A

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Speaker 1: and M finally being done with jimbo Fisher indirectly probably

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Speaker 1: had something to do with Riley Leonard ending up at

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Speaker 1: Notre Dame. So yeah, I think the self awareness about

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Speaker 1: the offense, I think the idea that they weren't going

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Speaker 1: to be bombing the ball downfield, that they were just

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Speaker 1: going to win games on their own terms offensively, I

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Speaker 1: think what however long that process took, whether it was

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Speaker 1: an hour, whether it was three and a half days,

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Speaker 1: whether that was two weeks, I think that was the

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Speaker 1: big shift for Notre Dame that they weren't trying to

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Speaker 1: be something that they were not capable of being.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it did take a while for the offense to click.

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Speaker 2: It really did. And what we saw I think through

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Speaker 2: the first couple games of this playoff, what we saw

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Speaker 2: towards the back half of the schedule for Notre Dame,

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Speaker 2: especially in the passing game. Mike Denbrock so far has

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Speaker 2: been really good at scheming these one on one matchups.

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Speaker 2: We saw it against Penn State and Nias Williams gets

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Speaker 2: open against Kobe King kind of like a wheel out of.

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Speaker 1: Not a big receiving threat all year long, Aias Williams

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Speaker 1: and they had one hundred yards heading into the Penn

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Speaker 1: State or Georgia game. Yeah, exactly.

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Speaker 2: So it's about finding those matchups and he has proven,

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Speaker 2: I think to be pretty good at that and really

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Speaker 2: taking the decision making off of Riley Leonard right. A

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Speaker 2: lot of one quick read and then if not figure

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Speaker 2: something else out that could be a limitation of the

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Speaker 2: passing game. But when it works, it worked well in

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Speaker 2: that case with the Nis Williams. It also worked well

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Speaker 2: in the case with Jaden Greathouse him getting wide open.

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Speaker 2: They're finding ways to get these one on one matchups

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Speaker 2: out wide that Robley Leonard can.

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Speaker 1: Take a shot.

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Speaker 2: Frankly, they're going to need to do more of that

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Speaker 2: against Ohio State otherwise this whole thing is not going

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Speaker 2: to click. I'll talk about that. I want to get

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Speaker 2: to my questions and keys a little bit later on,

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Speaker 2: but for sure that I think understanding of what the

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Speaker 2: offense was and getting everybody on the same page was

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Speaker 2: a huge moment for this team. And we talked about

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Speaker 2: it as we were down the stretch here in the

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Speaker 2: twenty fourth season, Like Notre Dame is really performing at

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Speaker 2: a high level right now. It seems they have a

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Speaker 2: good sense of self and granted maybe the opponents weren't

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Speaker 2: there by some measure, but they were definitely playing with

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Speaker 2: a lot of confidence and running the hell out of

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Speaker 2: the ball on top of all of that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean you can look at micro moments

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Speaker 1: on the season's schedule. Obviously in the playoff, not getting

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Speaker 1: Georgia's starting quarterback as much as it wasn't up and

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Speaker 1: down year for Carson Beck. That helps. Nothing Notre Dame

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Speaker 1: can control. You take advantage of our opportunities. Notre Dame

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Speaker 1: was successful in doing that. So, yes, there are always

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Speaker 1: going to be those micro moments for Notre Dame, because

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Speaker 1: there are micro moments for every team, no matter what

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Speaker 1: their path is. You know, week one of the playoff, whatever,

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Speaker 1: we're opening round of the playoff, getting Indiana at home

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Speaker 1: and starting as quickly as they did, great, that's absolutely

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Speaker 1: in Notre Dame's control. What they were able to do

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Speaker 1: against Penn State in staying patient in the second half huge, huge,

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Speaker 1: because this was not a team that looked like they

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Speaker 1: were in for a win against Penn State. So this

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Speaker 1: was a team that won a lot of moments, that

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Speaker 1: stayed patient, that trusted the game plan, that trusted the coaching,

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Speaker 1: The coaches trusted the players, and at no point did

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Speaker 1: they go and freak out about anything. It seems, even

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Speaker 1: with arguably still the most embarrassing loss of the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty four season, considering opponent, considering expectations of the team

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Speaker 1: that lost, see, I thought that was going to be

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Speaker 1: the moment. It's a low point. It's absolute point.

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Speaker 2: I think it would have been very easy in the

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Speaker 2: immediate aftermath for things to truly come off the swivel. Clearly,

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Speaker 2: if you've got a loss like that, there is something

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Speaker 2: of an inkling to maybe not trust the coaching staff.

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Speaker 2: What are these guys doing? How can we lose a

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Speaker 2: game like this that did not happen here?

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Speaker 1: Right?

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Speaker 2: In reality, the only built from that moment. They got better.

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Speaker 2: Now they're in the National Championship, So that certainly is

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Speaker 2: a moment, maybe the most notable moment for Notre Dame,

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Speaker 2: but definitely getting the offense together was a pretty big

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Speaker 2: deal in its own right.

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Speaker 1: What about Ohio State, It's hard not to say the

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Speaker 1: Michigan loss, because the system we're in affords them that

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Speaker 1: Mulligan to take the loss to Michigan and all of

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Speaker 1: the emotion and depression and rage that comes with losing

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Speaker 1: to Michigan for a fourth straight year. That ultimately they

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Speaker 1: had a week to regroup while the Big Ten Championship

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Speaker 1: was happening, and then they had another couple weeks to

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Speaker 1: regroup while they were preparing to take on Tennessee and

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Speaker 1: sort of understand that they had life now. I would say,

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Speaker 1: this was an off season that probably favored Ohio State

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Speaker 1: more than ninety five percent of the sport that things

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Speaker 1: came together in terms of nil. By the way, this

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Speaker 1: is all a compliment. Let's be very clear, this is

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Speaker 1: all a compliment that Ohio State money behind the scenes

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Speaker 1: recognized that they had the opportunity to retain key players,

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Speaker 1: especially on that defense, and then the opportunity will like, oh,

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Speaker 1: hey Nick Saban retired, Hey Taveris Robinson. Robinson went over

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Speaker 1: to Georgia, where Caleb Downs is from. Caleb Downs is

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Speaker 1: not terribly far from where he grew up from Athens.

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Speaker 1: I think it might be in close to Athens in

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Speaker 1: Atlanta as the crow Flies or whatever. That maybe Ohio

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Speaker 1: State came in second during his recruitment, and this was

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to explore what may have been a tough

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Speaker 1: choice for Caleb Downs during his recruitment to head on

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Speaker 1: up to Columbus and become the most valuable, do everything

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Speaker 1: defensive player in the country. In my opinion, Sure so

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Speaker 1: that plays a huge Kansas State looking at Avery Johnson

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Speaker 1: and saying, you know what I mean, we got something

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Speaker 1: pretty special here. We can afford to, uh, maybe not

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Speaker 1: keep Will Howard around and Will Howard looking around and

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Speaker 1: realizing that maybe he's not as appreciated as he should

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Speaker 1: have been in Manhattan, Kansas. How about Bill O'Brien taking

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Speaker 1: the job at Ohio State as the offensive coordinator. Oh wow, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's easy to forget about that, right, and then moving

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Speaker 1: on to Boston College also to say, maybe they don't

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Speaker 1: have the same hiccups on offense this year bill O'Brien

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Speaker 1: is around and not Chip Kelly. Who's to say. I

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Speaker 1: don't think Alabama fans were terribly sad to lose him,

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Speaker 1: but maybe it just would have been a better fit

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Speaker 1: with Ryan Day in Columbus. So Chip Kelly coming in

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Speaker 1: and being that player, Jeremiah Smith obviously enrolling at Ohio

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Speaker 1: State instead of you know, the pull of staying closer

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Speaker 1: to home in the state of Florida and Miami and whatever.

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Speaker 1: You know, Brian Hartline not getting a you know, a

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Speaker 1: head coaching job somewhere that he may or may not

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Speaker 1: have interviewed for, like Cincinnati, which I don't know if

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Speaker 1: he actually interviewed for, but obviously he's in a huge

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Speaker 1: name as an assistant. And if Heartline ends up leaving,

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Speaker 1: maybe Jeremiah Smith is not in Columbus. So as for

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Speaker 1: the season itself, the Michigan game as a like an

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Speaker 1: opportunity to grow from should your headspace be there rather

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Speaker 1: than waiting in that sadness chacuzie, that's wad waiting in

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Speaker 1: that sadness chacuzzi, and using that as an opportunity to say, Okay,

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Speaker 1: that was a bad game plan. We got destroyed upfront

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Speaker 1: by Michigan's defensive line. We tried to run it too

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Speaker 1: too often when it was clear that maybe the blocking

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Speaker 1: scheme or maybe the players weren't seeing lanes, or maybe

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Speaker 1: the beat up offensive line just wasn't up to the

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Speaker 1: task of the Michigan defensive line, and maybe we were

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Speaker 1: running the we're running routes that were too long developing

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Speaker 1: for Jeremiah Smith and Will Howard just couldn't hang in

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Speaker 1: the pocket long enough to really make those kinds of plays.

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Speaker 1: Or maybe Will Howard was just not confident in that moment.

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Speaker 1: So we need to work on his confidence. It's the

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Speaker 1: next two and a half three weeks and build this

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Speaker 1: offense in a way for the playoff that advantages Will Howard,

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Speaker 1: that makes him feel so comfortable that like, yes, of

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Speaker 1: course he's going to hit a mecha Abuka. There, of

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Speaker 1: course he's going to hit Trey Henderson. There, of course

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Speaker 1: he's going to hit Jeremiah Smith because the offense is

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Speaker 1: so obviously built for Will Howard in this moment, because

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Speaker 1: we could diagnose what went wrong, like when companies hire

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Speaker 1: the people who hacked into their system to sort of

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Speaker 1: reveal the vulnerabilities, like let's go back to square one.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it's Ryan Day going to Chip Kelly. He's like,

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Speaker 1: you know what, I'm going to handle the passing, you

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Speaker 1: handle the running. This is what we're going to do

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Speaker 1: moving forward. Or maybe it's Ryan Day going to Chip

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Speaker 1: Kelly and saying, the entire offense is yours. I'm sorry

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Speaker 1: for meddling. Let's go forward and this is your baby.

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Speaker 1: And maybe the same thing happened for Jim Knowles after

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Speaker 1: that Oregon game in which they really didn't do anything

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Speaker 1: terribly creative upfront with pressuring the quarterback. And there's those

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Speaker 1: All those moments I think have added up to the

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Speaker 1: emergence of this Ohio State machine in the playoff. So

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Speaker 1: I'm still going to point to Michigan because I think

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Speaker 1: it's got to be Michigan. That's the inflection point of like,

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Speaker 1: who are we what can we still accomplish? Are we

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Speaker 1: just going to be down on ourselves? And like, yes,

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Speaker 1: it's effing awful to lose to Michigan four straight years,

385
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Speaker 1: but we don't have to play Michigan again this year,

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Speaker 1: so that's great news.

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Speaker 2: And also it shows a lot of this team's character

388
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Speaker 2: and even Ryan Day's character. I know he's been under

389
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Speaker 2: the gun. Clearly losing to Michigan to some extent invalidates

390
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Speaker 2: any Ohio State season. If you're an Ohio State fan,

391
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Speaker 2: it drives you crazy. He picks himself up after that loss,

392
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Speaker 2: after comparing it to like the death of a family

393
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Speaker 2: member or second to the death of a family member

394
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Speaker 2: on the same plane, for an Ohio State coach and

395
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Speaker 2: for somebody who seems as turmoiled as he was given

396
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Speaker 2: the way to that Michigan matchup, to come back from that,

397
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Speaker 2: for Ohio State to feel like their orders of magnitude

398
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Speaker 2: better as a result, clearly having shown some growth on

399
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Speaker 2: certainly the offensive side of the ball. We could argue

400
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Speaker 2: about defense as well. Right to come back from that

401
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,159
Speaker 2: in the way that they did, I think takes a

402
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,640
Speaker 2: lot I think that's hard. That's a hard stomach punch

403
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Speaker 2: to recover from. So I give them a ton of

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Speaker 2: credit for putting it together better late than never. They

405
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Speaker 2: find themselves in the National Championship now, is eight point

406
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Speaker 2: favorite good for them?

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Speaker 1: I would add that Ohio State is here, not exclusively,

408
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,959
Speaker 1: but in some tiny part because of Yahoo's like Ty

409
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:38,240
Speaker 1: Hildenbrandt calling for an expanded playoff. Let's get more people

410
00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:42,199
Speaker 1: in competing, Let's get them all in. Let's give everybody

411
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,480
Speaker 1: a chance to say, you know what. I know, you've

412
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,040
Speaker 1: lost key games during the regular season, but we got

413
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Speaker 1: to see what you've got in January. Yahoo's like Ty

414
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Speaker 1: hildebrand applying the pressure on the sport on ESPN, putting

415
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Speaker 1: ideas in their head. That's no small feat for why

416
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:04,600
Speaker 1: Ohio State is in this game nil in that it

417
00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:10,520
Speaker 1: ultimately was probably the biggest cause of Nick Saban retiring too. Yeah,

418
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,159
Speaker 1: and so there's a power vacuum within the sport that

419
00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,399
Speaker 1: Ohio State had reached certain highs and whether it was

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Speaker 1: Georgia a couple of years ago in the semi whether

421
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Speaker 1: it was Alabama in the National Championship, what four years

422
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Speaker 1: ago with Mac Jones like having Nick Saban and that

423
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Speaker 1: excellence vacuum in the sport open things up. And I'm

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Speaker 1: not saying Nick Saban and Jalen Moreau are, you know,

425
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Speaker 1: going into Columbus and winning or winning in Sugar Bowl

426
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,439
Speaker 1: wherever they could have played hypothetically this season. But it's

427
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:39,840
Speaker 1: an easier path for both Ohio State and Notre Dame

428
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Speaker 1: and for everybody else that a Nick Saban team didn't

429
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Speaker 1: have two three weeks to prepare to play an extended playoff. Crazy, Yeah,

430
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Speaker 1: I think that's absolutely part of it. When you play

431
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 1: it back like that, it's really funny. It's I don't know.

432
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Speaker 1: And for Notre Dame, like you can rewind and say,

433
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Speaker 1: like Brian Kelly thinking he had a better shot to

434
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Speaker 1: take LSU to a national championship than Notre Dame, which,

435
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,199
Speaker 1: by the way, he was right, he just didn't accomplish.

436
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 1: That's right, he didn't execute. It is easier to build

437
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 1: a better roster at LSU and perhaps the most talented

438
00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 1: state per capita. That is that LSU is such a draw.

439
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,679
Speaker 1: Obviously Notre Dame has to recruit nationally in a way

440
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,080
Speaker 1: that LSU doesn't necessarily have to that they can just

441
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 1: look at Texas and Georgia and Florida, whatever, and stay

442
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,680
Speaker 1: in the region. LSU is an easier place. They've been

443
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,160
Speaker 1: to more national championships recently, or they've been in more

444
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:34,359
Speaker 1: recent national championship conversations and built higher end teams than

445
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,639
Speaker 1: what Notre Dame has built. But Brian Kelly leaving Marcus

446
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,320
Speaker 1: Freeman staying Marcus Freeman seeing seeming like an attractive candidate

447
00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:44,159
Speaker 1: to take over the defense because of what he and

448
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,680
Speaker 1: Luke Fickle accomplished at Cincinnati with Mike Mickens, by the way,

449
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:51,399
Speaker 1: who Brian Kelly had hired before then before Marcus Freeman

450
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,359
Speaker 1: came over. Yeah, the Notre Dame thing, and in a

451
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 1: season in which Notre Dame is not like, this is

452
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,520
Speaker 1: not the best recent passing attack for Notre Dame, this

453
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,680
Speaker 1: is not the most overwhelming offense for Notre Dame. But

454
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,359
Speaker 1: Notre Dame sort of whiffing on offensive coordinator the last

455
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,440
Speaker 1: two years with your guy ty right, Jared Parker was

456
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 1: never my guy. Yeah, I just to be I'm kidding.

457
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,359
Speaker 1: But allegedly behind the scenes, it's Notre Dame not saying

458
00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:23,680
Speaker 1: that they were unwilling to pay, but Notre Dame people

459
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,200
Speaker 1: sort of coming together and saying we don't want twenty

460
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,879
Speaker 1: twenty three to happen again. We are paying whatever it takes.

461
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,440
Speaker 1: And Mike Denbrock is now the highest paid coordinator in

462
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:34,920
Speaker 1: the sport, or at least was. I don't know what

463
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,119
Speaker 1: the situation is now, but he is one of the

464
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,440
Speaker 1: so behind the scenes. Getting together the money people and

465
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 1: getting them on the same page for both Ohio State

466
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:46,960
Speaker 1: and Notre Dame has made a difference.

467
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,680
Speaker 2: Did I catch a little bit of a Tom Platt's voice?

468
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 2: I think I caught a little bit of a Tom.

469
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,359
Speaker 1: I think about the heart, the passion, the love, the commitment,

470
00:23:57,720 --> 00:23:58,720
Speaker 1: and the energy.

471
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:04,320
Speaker 2: You're willing to put into an All right, Dan, let's

472
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,280
Speaker 2: get to some of Tie's big questions for this game.

473
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:09,880
Speaker 1: By the way, how many questions do you have? Because

474
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:14,960
Speaker 1: I have five, ten, twelve questions and eight plus homework

475
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 1: assignments for each team. Continue, I have five big ones. Okay,

476
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,920
Speaker 1: that's probably for the best, and latch.

477
00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 2: Onto any of these or call out your own as

478
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,160
Speaker 2: U see fit. I want to know if Notre Dame

479
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:34,200
Speaker 2: in its secondary can actually match up with Ohio State's

480
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 2: receiving core, not just match up. Man up now Ohio

481
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,640
Speaker 2: State's receiving core. I thought Texas had a really good

482
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 2: game plan last week and repredicted it in our preview.

483
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 2: Play a ton of zone coverage, force, a lot of

484
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:48,200
Speaker 2: underneath stuff.

485
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 1: Don't get beat deep, and they didn't. They didn't.

486
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 2: So the question is, well, why does the Notre Dame

487
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,959
Speaker 2: just do that? Obviously we saw it work. Well, they

488
00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,399
Speaker 2: might mix some of that in, but this is overwhelming me.

489
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,640
Speaker 2: As we have mentioned time and again, a pass defense

490
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,880
Speaker 2: that wants to man you up, and they're better than

491
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,840
Speaker 2: nearly everybody in the country at doing just that seems

492
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,680
Speaker 2: like a bit of a tall order against this receiving corps.

493
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,440
Speaker 2: But before you discount it, before I discount it, this

494
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 2: is what Notre Dame used to get here, right.

495
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,119
Speaker 1: I agree, we're pretty deep into this season.

496
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 2: This is gonna be the sixteenth game for Notre Dame.

497
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:24,320
Speaker 1: They ain't changing.

498
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 2: I mix in some other schemes, but they're gonna go

499
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,399
Speaker 2: with what got them here, and you're gonna see a

500
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 2: lot of that on Monday. So, whether or not you

501
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,200
Speaker 2: believe in Notre Dame's ability to defend Ohio State simply

502
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:38,720
Speaker 2: but playing man defense, we are going to see some

503
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 2: interesting matchups back there. We're gonna see some dueling true

504
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,760
Speaker 2: freshmen between my guy Leonard Moore, maybe the best Leonard

505
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,960
Speaker 2: on Notre Dame by the way, nobody's talked about that,

506
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:51,080
Speaker 2: but yeah, Leonard Moore matched up against Jeremiah Smith. See

507
00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:53,400
Speaker 2: how that goes. We're gonna have man on man matchups

508
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 2: all across the board. Notre Dame again, is really good

509
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,959
Speaker 2: at this Ohio state. Yes, they are going to win

510
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 2: some matchups, but can Notre Dame create a turnover? Two?

511
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,400
Speaker 2: Can Notre Dame play tight enough coverage avoid getting roasted

512
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,920
Speaker 2: in its secondary and create a turnover by virtue of

513
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 2: the fact that they're very good at this, by virtue

514
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:16,159
Speaker 2: of the fact that Xavier Watts is going to be

515
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,400
Speaker 2: playing his normal roverspot at the back end of that defense.

516
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 1: On that point, I don't know how meaningful this is.

517
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 1: One might be able to argue Notre Dame has played

518
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 1: precisely one impressive receiving corps in usc usc Jacoby Lane

519
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 1: and Makhaya lemon Zacharyah Branch and that was their basically

520
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: their lone bad defensive game of twenty twenty four. Agreed,

521
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 1: And if you look at the playoff teams. It's not Georgia,

522
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,120
Speaker 1: it's not Penn It's definitely not Penn State. And even

523
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 1: though receivers are gone for Penn State, they don't have

524
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:57,040
Speaker 1: any Penn State. And it wasn't Indiana in terms of

525
00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: a truly impressive college football receiving corps, and so Ohio

526
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,400
Speaker 1: State has a truly impressive receiving corps. That question is correct.

527
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 1: Continue question number two.

528
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 2: Is Notre Dame good enough to bottle up Trey Henderson

529
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:20,080
Speaker 2: and Quinn Shawn Judkins without over committing. Yeah, And it's

530
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,320
Speaker 2: sort of a related point to the first question. Mind you,

531
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 2: I think Trey Henderson as I went up and down

532
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,040
Speaker 2: this roster and went back and watched what Ohio State

533
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,159
Speaker 2: has been doing lately, he's the guy specifically that scares

534
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 2: me the most in this matchup. Yeah, through three playoff

535
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,159
Speaker 2: games now they keep finding ways to get him meaningful touches.

536
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 2: And it's easy to understand why. Right when you're that

537
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 2: loaded out wide, when your quarterback is playing with so

538
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,159
Speaker 2: much confidence, so much of a defense's attention is in

539
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 2: the passing game, and that's when these backs present a

540
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 2: real problem, especially Trey Henderson. Like we talk about these

541
00:27:57,720 --> 00:27:59,959
Speaker 2: teams all the time, Ohio State notably being one of them.

542
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,360
Speaker 2: Too many ways to win, too many ways to kill

543
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,560
Speaker 2: you on offense. Is that not Ohio State to a

544
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,199
Speaker 2: t right now? That's a real problem. It was for Texas,

545
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,920
Speaker 2: it's been for all the teams that Ohio State has

546
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,639
Speaker 2: played post Michigan. I do think there's a world in

547
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:20,360
Speaker 2: which Notre Dame does a good job on those downfield receivers.

548
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,720
Speaker 2: Maybe they don't shut him down. I think that would

549
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,440
Speaker 2: be impossible. But I think there's a world in which

550
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,800
Speaker 2: they do a good job out wide, but they don't

551
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,360
Speaker 2: have an answer for Trey Henderson. It's one or the other.

552
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,359
Speaker 2: Are you giving your attention to the passing game? Are

553
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:36,359
Speaker 2: you putting your attention on the ground game to do both?

554
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 2: That seems like it's nearly impossible. So I'm curious to

555
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,720
Speaker 2: see if Notre Dame can bottle up Trey Henderson. I

556
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 2: think if he gets going on the ground, I think

557
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,480
Speaker 2: if they get him involved in the passing game, I

558
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 2: think if he's able to rip off some chunk plays

559
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 2: like we have seen these last three games running, that's

560
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 2: going to be a huge issue for Notre Dame on defense.

561
00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, the big thing to me, though, is he's not

562
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 1: necessarily or I shouldn't say he, But the Ohio State

563
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 1: rushing attack has not been the most efficient rushing attack

564
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,880
Speaker 1: in big games, not at all have come. There have

565
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,440
Speaker 1: been explosive moments, that's right. There have been those plays

566
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,280
Speaker 1: where Trey Henderson gets the edge and they get a

567
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 1: great look from the other team, like they did against Oregon,

568
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,520
Speaker 1: or they get a great look like they did against

569
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 1: Texas on the screen pass that went for whatever seventy

570
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 1: five yards. But this has not been an Ohio State

571
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:32,280
Speaker 1: offense that has solved the offensive line running back when

572
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 1: to run, how to run, and are just ripping off

573
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 1: six to seven a carry. That hasn't been And you know,

574
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 1: some of that's obviously losing your starting center and left

575
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,520
Speaker 1: tackle to injury at various points of the season, especially

576
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 1: in or before key games against big defenses. So Ohio

577
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,240
Speaker 1: State they're not a patrick offensive line, but they're trying

578
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,240
Speaker 1: to get the most out of an offensive line that

579
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 1: is not at full strength. But no, they have not

580
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 1: been just smashing teams on the ground for four quarters.

581
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 1: That is a true taken advantage of moments, and that's

582
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:02,800
Speaker 1: what good teams do.

583
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:07,720
Speaker 2: One hundred true and a few of those moments strung together,

584
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,480
Speaker 2: either via Trey Henderson or even quin Shawn Judkins. That

585
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,200
Speaker 2: I think is a really big problem for this Notre

586
00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 2: Dame defense. You just can't have that. You can't have

587
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 2: them bursting off these big plays out of the backfield.

588
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,160
Speaker 2: That kind of throws off the whole rhythm of what

589
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 2: I think they want to do. So second big question

590
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,280
Speaker 2: is what happens for Trey Henderson. Third big question is

591
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:36,120
Speaker 2: this realistically, what can Notre Dame get out of Jeremiah

592
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 2: Love in this game.

593
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:40,880
Speaker 1: He's been dealing with the knee issue.

594
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 2: He's played in all three playoff games, but outside of

595
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:49,800
Speaker 2: that ninety eight yard run against Indiana, his ability to

596
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 2: impact games has been somewhat limited. That doesn't mean he hasn't.

597
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 2: We saw him impact the Penn State game in a

598
00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 2: pretty big way, but he has been hobbled. He has

599
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:02,800
Speaker 2: been limited. Now they've already said he's good to go

600
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,320
Speaker 2: for this game, It'll be interesting to see how they

601
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 2: use him and really the overall Notre Dame philosophy in

602
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 2: the run game. What I found interesting is I was

603
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 2: trying to diagnose this one is after two straight games

604
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,680
Speaker 2: now of talking up how Notre Dame is going to

605
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,640
Speaker 2: need to incorporate more outside stuff, I think the strategy

606
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 2: may now be back to trying to run inside because

607
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 2: Ohio State is just not letting teams get to the outside. No,

608
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,600
Speaker 2: not at all. They're basically forcing everything back to the interior.

609
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 2: I am not trusting that Notre Dame has the answer

610
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,080
Speaker 2: for a guy like a Tyleek Williams, or even if

611
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,040
Speaker 2: you get past that first level, getting past to Caleb Downs,

612
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,400
Speaker 2: who's constantly in the right spot and run support.

613
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 1: And by the way, when you say that Caleb Downs

614
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,720
Speaker 1: is a safety who can play middle linebacker super well,

615
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 1: and a middle linebacker who can play safety super well,

616
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,200
Speaker 1: super well, all in this same package is obviously Sonny

617
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 1: Styles and Cody Simon as well at linebacker.

618
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,920
Speaker 2: But Caleb Downs is the right maker in that defense. Well,

619
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 2: he's the twelfth player on the defense. He increased gives

620
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,720
Speaker 2: them an extra body because of what his versatility allows.

621
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 2: I think the matchup right now in the trenches is

622
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 2: a winning matchup for Ohio State, agree, especially because Notre

623
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,600
Speaker 2: Dame's line is super beat up. Even I would say

624
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 2: the optimal version of Notre Dame's line would have a

625
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 2: hard time against this Ohio State front.

626
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:28,440
Speaker 1: So what does that mean?

627
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,920
Speaker 2: What does that look like at like more RPOs, more

628
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,120
Speaker 2: Reid option, some creativity in the screen game, perhaps to

629
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 2: get Jeremiah Love in space in no universe is Notre

630
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:42,960
Speaker 2: Dame winning this game, to be clear, if it is

631
00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 2: solely on Riley Leonard, go out there and draw something

632
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 2: up in the dirt that's not going to beat this team.

633
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:51,120
Speaker 1: And so maybe it's not Jeremiah Love.

634
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,120
Speaker 2: Maybe it is Anias Williams we mentioned earlier, Jadari and Price,

635
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,240
Speaker 2: who has obviously had some chunk plays throughout the course

636
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,240
Speaker 2: of the playoffs as well. One of these backs needs

637
00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,080
Speaker 2: to step up and give him some pop. It doesn't

638
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,360
Speaker 2: necessarily mean fifteen carries on the ground, one hundred and

639
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 2: twenty yards rushing. Somehow, some way, you got to get

640
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,640
Speaker 2: these guys the ball in space. Otherwise I'm not sure

641
00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 2: they're scoring points.

642
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:13,840
Speaker 1: They need this.

643
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,400
Speaker 2: I think this is like the lynchpin of the offense

644
00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 2: going into this matchup.

645
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 1: So what do they get out of Love?

646
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:20,520
Speaker 2: Really? What do they get out of these three guys

647
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,960
Speaker 2: and what does it look like? What is that strategy

648
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,680
Speaker 2: for doing it again? They're paying Mike Denbrock a lot

649
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:29,960
Speaker 2: of money. He has proven, I think, at least he

650
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:31,280
Speaker 2: did in the last game, that he knows how to

651
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:32,920
Speaker 2: scheme matchups. He's going to need to do a lot

652
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:33,600
Speaker 2: of that in this one.

653
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,240
Speaker 1: It's, by the way, Notre Dame in the bottom third

654
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 1: of the sport in terms of actually generating pop and

655
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:41,520
Speaker 1: now they're going to try to attempt it against arguably

656
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 1: the best defense in the sports, especially at preventing pop.

657
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,000
Speaker 1: So that's it's an enormous question. I think you're right

658
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 1: to say Riley Leonard can't will this team forward to

659
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:52,840
Speaker 1: victory alone.

660
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,200
Speaker 2: It's going to need to be more than just Riley.

661
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 2: It is it is. He can't do it on his own.

662
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,520
Speaker 2: Fourth question is this, Yeah, can the line hold up?

663
00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 2: The offensive line? Can the offensive line hold up other

664
00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:10,759
Speaker 2: than making the national Championship and I guess losing way

665
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,800
Speaker 2: back at the start of the year to NIU, I

666
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,080
Speaker 2: think the story of this Notre Dame season has been injuries,

667
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 2: and especially injuries along both lines. The ones of note here,

668
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:25,919
Speaker 2: at least for this question, are along the offensive line.

669
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 2: So Anthony Knapp, the true fashman left tackle, went out

670
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:32,800
Speaker 2: high ankle sprain against Penn State. He is unavailable for

671
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 2: this one. He's already been ruled out. The other injury

672
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,239
Speaker 2: is at right guard Rocko Spindler. He's been dealing with

673
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,279
Speaker 2: the right ankle injuries since that. I believe Indiana game

674
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,759
Speaker 2: reinjured it last week. He had to come out of

675
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,280
Speaker 2: the game. It sounds like he may play. It sounds

676
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,080
Speaker 2: like he has improved, but I'm not sure what his

677
00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 2: status is going to be.

678
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 1: He is the guy though.

679
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,959
Speaker 2: That position especially is the one that I'm most concerned about,

680
00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 2: because I don't think he looked great before re injuring

681
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,359
Speaker 2: that an. In particular, he was the dude who got

682
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,719
Speaker 2: thrown down at the end of the first half when

683
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:08,040
Speaker 2: Riley got sacked and bombed his head. It just seemed

684
00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:09,759
Speaker 2: like he was playing on one leg. They got to

685
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,200
Speaker 2: get a better version of him than that. If Notre

686
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:16,040
Speaker 2: Dame gets that version of Rocko Spindler against TYLERK Williams, forget.

687
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:20,080
Speaker 1: It, Just forget it and forget it. I am really

688
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:21,040
Speaker 1: worried about TYLERK.

689
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 2: Williams. I'm really worried that they're going to find a

690
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,320
Speaker 2: way to use him as the big time disruptor and

691
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,399
Speaker 2: just murder the interior of the Notre Dame offensive line.

692
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,759
Speaker 2: That concerns me a lot. Now, I guess the good news,

693
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:41,160
Speaker 2: if there is any, is that Charles Jagusa, who originally

694
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,279
Speaker 2: was supposed to be the starting left tackle before he

695
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:44,799
Speaker 2: got hurt at the start of the season. He got

696
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,960
Speaker 2: it started this whole cascade. He has now had time

697
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,680
Speaker 2: to heal. He has now had time to recuperate and

698
00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,160
Speaker 2: come back in. He actually stepped in at right guard

699
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,800
Speaker 2: last week when Rocco went out. He was the team's

700
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 2: highest graded blocker. He is going to play in this game,

701
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,800
Speaker 2: either reck guard or at tackle, honestly, kind of depends

702
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 2: on Rocko Spindler and his health. It may make more

703
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:08,720
Speaker 2: sense to try and put him U against Tyler Williams

704
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,000
Speaker 2: if he is in fact the best block I don't know.

705
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 2: I'm not a line specialist. I'm curious to see how

706
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:17,040
Speaker 2: they deploy him. That'll be a fascinating matchup to watch,

707
00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 2: as will how Notre Dame's offensive line holds up against

708
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,799
Speaker 2: this front, which I think is just nails. They're so good.

709
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:27,600
Speaker 2: Ohio State is upfront. I agree, And then the final

710
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:32,279
Speaker 2: question for me is this, can Notre Dame find any

711
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:36,000
Speaker 2: way to stretch this thing through the air. The answer

712
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:38,680
Speaker 2: this season has been not really, not so much.

713
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:41,919
Speaker 1: We'll get back to you. Yeah, give us two weeks.

714
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:44,600
Speaker 2: We'll get back to you. They got to figure something

715
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:47,160
Speaker 2: out here. You're just you're not going to beat Ohio

716
00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:50,520
Speaker 2: State with three yard pop passes to Mitchell Evans. You're

717
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 2: not going to get into that war for third and

718
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 2: four over and over and over again and expect to

719
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:56,800
Speaker 2: score a ton of points on Ohios. You might get some,

720
00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 2: he probably will, but I don't think that's a long

721
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,480
Speaker 2: term winning strategy against this team over sixty minutes. The

722
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,040
Speaker 2: pickleball approach is not going to do it right. So

723
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,400
Speaker 2: Riley's gonna need to show off some of those skills

724
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,640
Speaker 2: from the Manning Passing Academy, or I don't know, take

725
00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:15,280
Speaker 2: some shots, go on some big runs. Maybe it's another

726
00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:18,560
Speaker 2: opportunity for Jaden Greathhouse to make an impact out of

727
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:20,279
Speaker 2: the slot like it did a week ago. If it's

728
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,960
Speaker 2: not him, maybe it's someone else. It's it's got to

729
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,320
Speaker 2: be someone else, right, it's got to be We know

730
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,920
Speaker 2: Ohio State's going to create chunk plays. Notre Dame created

731
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:30,879
Speaker 2: enough of them a week ago against a good Penn

732
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:34,239
Speaker 2: State defense, enough of them, not a ton, but enough

733
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:37,319
Speaker 2: to win that game. They're gonna need to, I think,

734
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:41,239
Speaker 2: adopt a similar mindset here, and hopefully Mike Denbrock is

735
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,120
Speaker 2: up to the challenge of scheming some guys into one

736
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,319
Speaker 2: on one matchups and making it happen. But unless they're

737
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,560
Speaker 2: able to get some chunk plays, you're just not gonna

738
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:51,800
Speaker 2: beat Ohio State in a phone booth. That's just not

739
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:52,839
Speaker 2: the way this team is built.

740
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,399
Speaker 1: How did uh you said Tosh Baker was the left

741
00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,480
Speaker 1: tackle who stepped in against Penn State. How did he

742
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:00,719
Speaker 1: grade out? Because I don't remember him performing all that.

743
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:04,520
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean it's mixed, and it's at duel

744
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,520
Speaker 2: Carter and dds and you know, sure, yeah, it's mixed.

745
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,680
Speaker 2: I mean, look, the reason that Anthony Napp got that

746
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:13,320
Speaker 2: left tackle spot over Tosh Baker was because Tosh Baker

747
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,600
Speaker 2: wasn't all that impressive in sprint camp, right, and Anthony Nappy.

748
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,359
Speaker 2: He's a little bit undersized, he's under three hundred pounds,

749
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:21,360
Speaker 2: he's only six to four. But they like this technique,

750
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:23,440
Speaker 2: and his technique has improved throughout the course of the year.

751
00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:26,320
Speaker 2: He's been very, very solid that now he's hurt, and

752
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,719
Speaker 2: now Tosh does need to step in in some capacity,

753
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:31,360
Speaker 2: provided they have two spots along the line. Again, I

754
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 2: think it's Jaguso gets the first one. I think he's

755
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 2: going to play regardless, But if in fact they have

756
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:40,360
Speaker 2: two needs for substitution along that line, then Tash is

757
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,760
Speaker 2: going to be deployed back into duty.

758
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:45,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm surprised you to mention Riley Mills and any

759
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 1: of your questions and the whole. Obviously, he got hurt

760
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 1: early on in the playoff and they've performed well without him,

761
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 1: but this is a different animal in the National Championship

762
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:57,239
Speaker 1: game and Howard cross played against benn State. Yeah, I

763
00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:59,840
Speaker 1: think he's but he's still nursing an injury. He's not

764
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:04,320
Speaker 1: at one hundred percent. And that seems to be with

765
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:09,000
Speaker 1: how Michigan was able to be as disruptive as they

766
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:13,600
Speaker 1: were upfront. A way to prevent Ohio State from doing

767
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:17,040
Speaker 1: much is immediately collapsing a pocket and sort of rushing

768
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:21,719
Speaker 1: and rattling Will Howard. The question of what notre Dame

769
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:25,000
Speaker 1: along the defensive line is able to do if, because

770
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,560
Speaker 1: if Wilo State's going to have the ability to generate

771
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,839
Speaker 1: explosive plays regardless of who they play. The only way

772
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:35,400
Speaker 1: you stop that truly is overwhelming a still beat up

773
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:38,320
Speaker 1: offensive line that has performed well more again, more so

774
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,799
Speaker 1: in pass protection than on the ground. So I think

775
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 1: that's a huge point for Notre Dame chances in this game,

776
00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:47,960
Speaker 1: is what can they do to fluster Will Howard?

777
00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:50,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, well they're going to need to because if their

778
00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:54,320
Speaker 2: plan is to go man up across the board and

779
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,919
Speaker 2: they don't have Abdul Carter, there's no Abdul Carter. There's

780
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,839
Speaker 2: no one even close to Abdul Carter that sport really,

781
00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 2: but yeah, in the sport, but certainly on this Notre

782
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:07,360
Speaker 2: Dame defensive line. You know, they're plugging in gaps with

783
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:10,120
Speaker 2: guys like gab Rubio, who's more of a run stopper.

784
00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:12,839
Speaker 2: Howard Cross, the best of Howard Cross can be really good,

785
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 2: but perhaps a bit undersized to try and offer, you know,

786
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,400
Speaker 2: the true like brick wall run support that you might require.

787
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:22,439
Speaker 1: He's quick.

788
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:25,960
Speaker 2: I like him a lot, but as I said with

789
00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:29,400
Speaker 2: regard to that Georgia matchup a few weeks ago, the

790
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 2: injury to Riley Mills definitely put them in an advantage

791
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:35,919
Speaker 2: or disadvantage excuse me, given some of their rotations maybe

792
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,680
Speaker 2: being a bit undersized in the trenches, so it's it's

793
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:40,279
Speaker 2: going to be a push pull. Gab Rubio has been

794
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 2: okay so far in kind of his backup duty for

795
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:47,880
Speaker 2: Riley Mills. Obviously, defenses performed really well. He's not the

796
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,360
Speaker 2: pass rusher of Riley Mills. Again, Riley Mills was a

797
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:53,480
Speaker 2: team captain, led the team in sacks gave Rubio isn't that.

798
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 2: But gab Rubio has I think done an admirable job

799
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:57,759
Speaker 2: in a relief effort here.

800
00:40:58,160 --> 00:40:59,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, what else do you got?

801
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:00,640
Speaker 2: Question one?

802
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:02,640
Speaker 1: So were those five questions for Notre Dame or five

803
00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:05,560
Speaker 1: questions just game overall? Just game overall? Yeah, because that

804
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,439
Speaker 1: was very heavily skewed in an Irish direction in terms

805
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 1: of questions, which I think is fair because if you're

806
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:12,439
Speaker 1: going to ask questions about either of these teams, they're

807
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,040
Speaker 1: the one. They're the team that has more questions. Given

808
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:17,360
Speaker 1: what Ohio State was able to do against Tennis, Oregon

809
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,200
Speaker 1: and Texas in a closer game, obviously, I think they

810
00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:22,799
Speaker 1: only scored twenty one offensive points with the incredible Jack

811
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:27,480
Speaker 1: Sawyer play tacked on top. So I went homework assignments.

812
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:29,880
Speaker 1: That was my tack. They don't have questions necessarily, but

813
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:31,839
Speaker 1: I guess the questions come. And I wrote this down

814
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 1: on the legal Zoom Legal pad here Ty Subway fresh

815
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:38,200
Speaker 1: take legal pad I have. Well, let's start with Ohio State,

816
00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:40,040
Speaker 1: because we just talked a lot about Notre Dame. There

817
00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:43,319
Speaker 1: with your questions. Here are your homework assignments for Ohio State.

818
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,800
Speaker 1: Do not let your guard down against Notre Dame's passing. Okay,

819
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,280
Speaker 1: we can sit here and say Notre Dame's passing attack

820
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:52,759
Speaker 1: has been below average, has not been the major reason

821
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,680
Speaker 1: why they've won. All it takes is one. All it

822
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:57,839
Speaker 1: takes is one play, as we saw against Penn State

823
00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:00,359
Speaker 1: with Jaden great House getting the ball in space, making

824
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,480
Speaker 1: a move and getting into the end zone. We saw

825
00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:05,280
Speaker 1: a big play too, and I probably undersold how successful.

826
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:07,480
Speaker 1: I think there were two or three pretty good plays

827
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:09,640
Speaker 1: downfield for Notre Dame in that game, one of which

828
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:13,120
Speaker 1: was Anias Williams. Honestly, I might even feel better about

829
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:15,440
Speaker 1: Notre Dame through the air if there were Steve Aangelli

830
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:16,480
Speaker 1: sighting in this game.

831
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:18,920
Speaker 2: But that's neither here nor there. Sure, but he did

832
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,719
Speaker 2: put together the string of most impressive past six out

833
00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 2: of seven. He was the best quarterback in the game.

834
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:28,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, cooler heads is my next item for Ohio State.

835
00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:33,400
Speaker 1: So between Trey Henderson getting a fifteen yard penalty, you know,

836
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:36,120
Speaker 1: the personal foul when he punched a Texas player in

837
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:40,239
Speaker 1: the face mask, they had a personal foul for unsportsmanlike

838
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:43,000
Speaker 1: conduct for a late hit type thing on the offense.

839
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:46,320
Speaker 1: Ryan Day estimated that or not estimated, but his claim

840
00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:50,520
Speaker 1: was that four drives basically got wasted because of penalties,

841
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:53,840
Speaker 1: putting Ohio State behind the sticks against Texas. Right, you know,

842
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,040
Speaker 1: an easy way to sort of make the Ohio State

843
00:42:57,120 --> 00:42:59,239
Speaker 1: offense more human, give him a bunch of second and

844
00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 1: twenty twos. Yeah, that's a more human Ohio State offense

845
00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:07,240
Speaker 1: facing third and nineteens, third and fourteen's, first and twenty fives.

846
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,360
Speaker 1: So self inflicted wounds from this Ohio State team that

847
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:12,640
Speaker 1: probably has too many of the season and has obviously

848
00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:15,759
Speaker 1: overcome them. But we saw it against Texas. They just

849
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:19,600
Speaker 1: gave away drives and in a matchup like that, you

850
00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:21,759
Speaker 1: can pay. If Texas scores at the end of that game,

851
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:25,279
Speaker 1: that's twenty one all, and who knows what happens I

852
00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:29,720
Speaker 1: have Yeah, no charity drives Will Howard's legs.

853
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:31,480
Speaker 2: This is it.

854
00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:34,200
Speaker 1: This is the last game. You're not saving Will Howard

855
00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:36,319
Speaker 1: for anything. He saw the huge fourth down.

856
00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:39,399
Speaker 2: I mean, look, if we're going to talk about your

857
00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,680
Speaker 2: attention being diverted as a defense, you focus more in

858
00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:47,719
Speaker 2: the pass, you focus more on the run. Obviously, you

859
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:51,239
Speaker 2: got to play both. A quarterback who can run like

860
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:53,080
Speaker 2: Will Howard. They don't put them on the move often,

861
00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:55,319
Speaker 2: they do it when they have to. But a guy

862
00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:59,720
Speaker 2: like that with that skill set can further complicate whatever

863
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,920
Speaker 2: the is because then you've got to commit resourcescunt buying him.

864
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:05,800
Speaker 2: You've got to know where he is on the field.

865
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:07,560
Speaker 2: He can't just go out there willy nilly and play

866
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,200
Speaker 2: one side of the offense or another. So I've been

867
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:14,719
Speaker 2: screaming for this for what feels like six months now,

868
00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:18,120
Speaker 2: an eternity. I talked about it in the preseason. Will

869
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:20,839
Speaker 2: Howard can run. We've seen him run in spots. They

870
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:23,080
Speaker 2: do not choose to use that side of his game

871
00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:25,200
Speaker 2: a whole lot, but this could be a really good

872
00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:28,120
Speaker 2: opportunity for Ohio State to roll that out even more.

873
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:30,160
Speaker 1: Again, it's the last game, right If you're not going

874
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,279
Speaker 1: to do it now? When will you just wait until

875
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:34,560
Speaker 1: there is a like fourth in inches for the game.

876
00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:37,640
Speaker 1: And Will Howard's in the shotgun and he's flanked by

877
00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:42,239
Speaker 1: both Trey Henderson and Quinn Shawn Judkins, And that's Chip

878
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,040
Speaker 1: Kelly's moment, right, that is the threat of three different

879
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:47,600
Speaker 1: dudes in that backfield. Do we get his own read

880
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,000
Speaker 1: option in the way that we loved at Oregon as

881
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:53,279
Speaker 1: an Oregon people during the Chip Kelly era, that there

882
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:57,000
Speaker 1: are options in those moments, and will Howard's legs keeping

883
00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:00,320
Speaker 1: it in his own read scrambling or even the designed

884
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:02,160
Speaker 1: run like we saw against Texas he was eaten by

885
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:03,800
Speaker 1: the turf Monster, but it was a huge moment that

886
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:06,320
Speaker 1: he sort of went untouched through the middle of that

887
00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:10,160
Speaker 1: Texas defense behind a guard. It was a great moment.

888
00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:13,440
Speaker 1: It was a great call. It worked out perfectly. Curious

889
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:15,920
Speaker 1: to see what will Howard's They're not saving him for anything?

890
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:17,040
Speaker 2: This zip, this zip.

891
00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:20,160
Speaker 1: I remember yelling from the mountaintops about Justin Herbert not

892
00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:22,960
Speaker 1: running for Oregon, and then they won the Rose Bowl

893
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 1: because Justin Herbert ran twenty twenty. Next item on the

894
00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 1: Ohio State homework, diagnose the running back and passing for

895
00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:36,520
Speaker 1: Notre Dame. Where did they get hurt in the red

896
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:40,319
Speaker 1: zone against Texas? Jaden Blue leaking out one of which

897
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:41,919
Speaker 1: he just made a great play. He was a great

898
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:44,239
Speaker 1: pass from Quinny or is the other caught Texas in

899
00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:47,200
Speaker 1: or excuse me, caught Ohio State and a horrible defensive

900
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:49,640
Speaker 1: look in which there were two defensive tackles dropping into

901
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:51,960
Speaker 1: coverage good and one of whom was responsible for the

902
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:54,319
Speaker 1: Jaden Blue side of the field didn't work out.

903
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:56,520
Speaker 2: Set that did not work out well. No one thing

904
00:45:56,560 --> 00:46:00,320
Speaker 2: I would add, And look, it's not unique to Ohio State. Obviously,

905
00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:04,600
Speaker 2: other coaching staffs around college football are worse at this.

906
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:09,600
Speaker 2: But there were moments in that game against Texas, even

907
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:11,720
Speaker 2: though they won, there were moments where it was clear

908
00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:15,440
Speaker 2: either Will Howard was missing guys or the coaching staff

909
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:18,080
Speaker 2: with how they were scheming up a defense where they

910
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:21,440
Speaker 2: were beaten. Yeah, they were beating They missed something and

911
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:24,279
Speaker 2: they were just good enough from a skill standpoint to

912
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:26,520
Speaker 2: work around it. So it's not This is not to

913
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:32,160
Speaker 2: say that Ohio State is bulletproof by any stretch. They

914
00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:34,440
Speaker 2: feel like among the teams that we have seen over

915
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:36,520
Speaker 2: the last month or so, in this tournament. They are

916
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:40,399
Speaker 2: about the most bulletproof. But there were moments last week

917
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,640
Speaker 2: and we saw it against Texas where they were gettable.

918
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,279
Speaker 2: Where to the point I made earlier, you have an

919
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:48,640
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator who knows what he's doing. He can scheme

920
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:50,640
Speaker 2: up a matchup with a guy out of the backfield.

921
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:53,640
Speaker 2: My guess is you will see Notre Dame try some

922
00:46:53,719 --> 00:46:56,040
Speaker 2: similar stuff with Jeremiah Love or a Nias Williams.

923
00:46:56,040 --> 00:47:00,560
Speaker 1: Again, right, I agree, And look, it's we're not talking

924
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:02,560
Speaker 1: about an offense that is known for stretching the field,

925
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:04,560
Speaker 1: So you have to be hyper aware. If the running

926
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:06,640
Speaker 1: backs are going to be a major part of this

927
00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:09,360
Speaker 1: passing attack for Notre Dame, there has to be a

928
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:11,440
Speaker 1: plan in place. And by the way, just on the

929
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:15,200
Speaker 1: topic of guys dropping into coverage from the defensive line,

930
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:19,759
Speaker 1: both Will Howard and Riley Leonard through interceptions to those

931
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,280
Speaker 1: guys that's right in the semi right yep, to defensive

932
00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:25,120
Speaker 1: linemen or linebackers that were on the line dropping back

933
00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:28,239
Speaker 1: into coverage showing a pass rush. So that's something to

934
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:32,160
Speaker 1: pay attention to. It's one of these quarterbacks fully missing

935
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:34,640
Speaker 1: and you've said this throughout the season, like Will Howard

936
00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:36,680
Speaker 1: has one boneheaded play in him per game.

937
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:37,839
Speaker 2: Every game, there's one.

938
00:47:37,920 --> 00:47:39,600
Speaker 1: Does a result in a fumble? Does it result in

939
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:41,959
Speaker 1: a pick or do they just get fortunate that nothing

940
00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:43,040
Speaker 1: catastrophic happened?

941
00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:45,640
Speaker 2: And Will Howard's been really good. It's been actually the

942
00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:48,200
Speaker 2: last couple weeks, he's been incredible. There's one of those

943
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:51,279
Speaker 2: plays per game, one of those plays per game. What

944
00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:53,160
Speaker 2: will Notre Dame do with it when it comes?

945
00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,760
Speaker 1: I have in here for Ohio State. Make Riley Leonard

946
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:01,960
Speaker 1: lick his chops, make him so sure that he's getting

947
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:04,360
Speaker 1: a look that he loves, because that's what the Ohio

948
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:07,239
Speaker 1: State defense has been very good at. Right. They made

949
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:10,840
Speaker 1: Dylan Gabriel think that whether it's in an RPO situation

950
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:12,520
Speaker 1: or when you were is in an RPO situation.

951
00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:14,040
Speaker 2: Oh, this is what I like.

952
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:18,440
Speaker 1: And it's it's that push pull of getting Riley Leonard

953
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:21,560
Speaker 1: a little bit too comfortable that like, Oh, I'm definitely

954
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:24,160
Speaker 1: gonna have Mitchell Evans here because I feel like I've

955
00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:28,239
Speaker 1: cracked the Ohio State defensive code. I think that is

956
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,560
Speaker 1: a key key thing for Ohio State here just in

957
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:32,640
Speaker 1: terms of who they are as a defense, right that

958
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,680
Speaker 1: they are giving a quarterback so much confidence that what

959
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:38,239
Speaker 1: they're seeing is legit, and then they peel out of

960
00:48:38,280 --> 00:48:41,000
Speaker 1: it or they disguise it somehow. That to me is

961
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:45,560
Speaker 1: an interesting homework assignment. Successful pinching. Now you're a big

962
00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:47,600
Speaker 1: pincher in your personal life, you understand this well.

963
00:48:47,760 --> 00:48:48,040
Speaker 2: Pinching.

964
00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:51,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course this is there just can't be gaps.

965
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:53,040
Speaker 1: So Riley Leonard on third and short, fourth and short,

966
00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:56,000
Speaker 1: and you know, we talked about the Ohio State linebackers

967
00:48:56,040 --> 00:49:00,560
Speaker 1: and safeties getting everywhere sideline to sideline. It's the run.

968
00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:03,840
Speaker 1: I don't know, man, this is four huge defensive linemen.

969
00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:07,840
Speaker 1: If they're clogging lanes against Notre Dame, what is the

970
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:10,719
Speaker 1: actual Irish game plan in these big moments If they're

971
00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:13,280
Speaker 1: not going to be able to run through and around

972
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:16,919
Speaker 1: and over guys between the tackles. It's a tall, tall

973
00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:21,239
Speaker 1: ask if Ohio State puts up a wall. And then

974
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:23,400
Speaker 1: for Ohio State as well. I wrote down spy games

975
00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:24,560
Speaker 1: for Riley Leonard.

976
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:25,520
Speaker 2: Good movie.

977
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:27,640
Speaker 1: Love that movie, by the way, I've heard good things,

978
00:49:27,680 --> 00:49:28,120
Speaker 1: haven't seen it.

979
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:29,439
Speaker 2: A great movie.

980
00:49:29,600 --> 00:49:31,680
Speaker 1: Continue, do you want to hear? Do those all make sense?

981
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:33,480
Speaker 1: Do you want to hear Notre Dame homework assignments. No,

982
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:34,640
Speaker 1: I think all those makes sense.

983
00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:36,680
Speaker 2: The only point that I would add when you talk

984
00:49:36,719 --> 00:49:39,919
Speaker 2: about making Riley Leonard feel comfortable, I think the same

985
00:49:39,960 --> 00:49:44,520
Speaker 2: could be said as well about Notre Dame, and we

986
00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:47,480
Speaker 2: will see two great safeties in college football on display.

987
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:52,040
Speaker 2: Caleb Downs is more of the Swiss Army knife. Yes,

988
00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:55,600
Speaker 2: this is not to say Xavier Watts is not NFL.

989
00:49:56,239 --> 00:49:58,200
Speaker 2: Xavier Watts is going to be drafted into the NFL.

990
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:02,000
Speaker 2: But Caleb Downs and Xavier Watts will have more than

991
00:50:02,080 --> 00:50:05,960
Speaker 2: enough opportunity in this game to showcase their play recognition ability,

992
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:09,000
Speaker 2: their run support, and what both of them are good at,

993
00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:12,919
Speaker 2: which is honestly lulling opponents into thinking they have something

994
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:16,560
Speaker 2: that they don't. And Caleb Downs, especially with the way

995
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:19,760
Speaker 2: they have used him these last few weeks, has been incredible.

996
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:22,239
Speaker 2: I mean, he's just showcasing why he was worth going

997
00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:26,120
Speaker 2: out and getting bringing him up to Columbus. So, like

998
00:50:26,239 --> 00:50:30,080
Speaker 2: you said, we'll see what he has to offer Riley

999
00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:32,080
Speaker 2: Leonard in this one. That does kind of scheed me

1000
00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,080
Speaker 2: out a little bit. We'll bit worried about that, but

1001
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:36,239
Speaker 2: give me the Notre Dame assignments. Go ahead, all right,

1002
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:38,360
Speaker 2: here are these different from my questions. I want to

1003
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:42,439
Speaker 2: hear it high and tight. No possession gifts from Notre Dame.

1004
00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:44,920
Speaker 2: Guess what Ohio State was able to do against Texas.

1005
00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:47,600
Speaker 2: Ball came out of arch Manning's hands, Ball came out

1006
00:50:47,640 --> 00:50:49,600
Speaker 2: of Silas Bolden's hands, and obviously at the end of

1007
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:51,080
Speaker 2: the game, ball came out of Quinn you were as

1008
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:54,359
Speaker 2: his hands. Texas has an explosive enough offense at its

1009
00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:56,840
Speaker 2: best that they can overcome those things. Guess who doesn't

1010
00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:00,839
Speaker 2: ye Notre Dame, fight and Irish. No gifts, absolutely no gifts.

1011
00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:03,880
Speaker 2: Keep it high and tight. Get Ohio State's heads a

1012
00:51:03,920 --> 00:51:08,120
Speaker 2: little bit because, as mentioned before, lack of discipline penalties

1013
00:51:08,560 --> 00:51:11,239
Speaker 2: get Ohio State a little bit hot in this game, right,

1014
00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:14,080
Speaker 2: Maybe they're a little bit overheating in a moment like this.

1015
00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:18,360
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe flop Ty do whatever it takes. Maybe go

1016
00:51:18,600 --> 00:51:21,399
Speaker 2: like full alka Seltzer from Little Giants. I use these

1017
00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:23,400
Speaker 2: for acid indigestion or intimidation.

1018
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:27,759
Speaker 1: Yes, I want Ty Hildenbrandt watching this game, yelling over

1019
00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:29,719
Speaker 1: to whoever he's watching the game with, whether it's me,

1020
00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:32,799
Speaker 1: whether it's Mama h whether whoever. Things are running hot,

1021
00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:36,360
Speaker 1: things are getting heated, Okay, Notre Dame wouldn't be the

1022
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:39,520
Speaker 1: worst thing ever for we saw that in spots last

1023
00:51:39,520 --> 00:51:42,480
Speaker 1: week against texts for Ohio State. Protect the protectors, you

1024
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:46,279
Speaker 1: made a point about this quick passes, screens, misdirection RPOs.

1025
00:51:47,080 --> 00:51:48,600
Speaker 1: You're not gonna be able to play this Ohio State

1026
00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:51,720
Speaker 1: defense defense heads up with this offensive line, this version,

1027
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:53,839
Speaker 1: this beat up version of the Notre Dame offensive line.

1028
00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:54,680
Speaker 2: I don't think they can.

1029
00:51:54,920 --> 00:51:57,440
Speaker 1: So you have to if it's Riley Leonard's sprint outs,

1030
00:51:57,680 --> 00:51:59,319
Speaker 1: and this is what they were doing last week too,

1031
00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:02,600
Speaker 1: So this isn't anything news breaking against Ohio State. This

1032
00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:05,399
Speaker 1: is sometimes it's okay to get three yards on first down.

1033
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:08,759
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's just okay to get three to it's second

1034
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:11,320
Speaker 1: and seven is better than second and eleven. Right, So

1035
00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:17,319
Speaker 1: that's on the legal pad. Make Will Howard hesitate see ghosts. Right.

1036
00:52:17,800 --> 00:52:21,080
Speaker 1: Will Howard, very good quarterback, has had stretches this year.

1037
00:52:21,160 --> 00:52:23,480
Speaker 1: Beat against Michigan, beat against Oregon, which, by the way,

1038
00:52:23,800 --> 00:52:25,960
Speaker 1: had a great game against Oregon the first time in

1039
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:29,040
Speaker 1: a losing effort. But just make them hold on to

1040
00:52:29,120 --> 00:52:32,719
Speaker 1: it a tick longer. That to me is interesting. Notre

1041
00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:35,239
Speaker 1: Dame themselves needs to steal a possession. If they want

1042
00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:37,720
Speaker 1: to win this game, there needs to be a short field,

1043
00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:39,960
Speaker 1: There needs to be a long return, there needs to

1044
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:43,640
Speaker 1: be an interception, there needs to be something that there

1045
00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:46,040
Speaker 1: needs to be a it's fourth and two from your

1046
00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:48,640
Speaker 1: own thirty nine. But this is it, go for it

1047
00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:51,520
Speaker 1: right right that seemingly the possession is you got to

1048
00:52:51,560 --> 00:52:53,880
Speaker 1: take that possession. No, that to me is a key

1049
00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:57,840
Speaker 1: for Notre Dame. You gotta stack first downs. This is it,

1050
00:52:58,120 --> 00:53:00,920
Speaker 1: this is Notre Dame is the game. This is the

1051
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:01,680
Speaker 1: hard part, though.

1052
00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:05,160
Speaker 2: I don't know how many first downs you could stack

1053
00:53:05,239 --> 00:53:09,920
Speaker 2: on top of one another consistently against this defense. I agree,

1054
00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:13,920
Speaker 2: you're probably good for one or two longer drives against

1055
00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:17,120
Speaker 2: Ohio State. Everybody gives these up. Yeah, but on some

1056
00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:20,040
Speaker 2: level you're gonna need to have a four play, seventy

1057
00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:23,680
Speaker 2: five yard drive that amounts at a minimum with three points.

1058
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:26,359
Speaker 2: Otherwise you're not gonna beat these guys. Again. You can't

1059
00:53:26,360 --> 00:53:27,759
Speaker 2: beat them in a phone booth. The pick a ball

1060
00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:28,480
Speaker 2: thing ain't gonna work.

1061
00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:31,040
Speaker 1: So I'm cool with some long drives.

1062
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:33,600
Speaker 2: Actually, I would prefer long drives to eat away at

1063
00:53:33,600 --> 00:53:36,800
Speaker 2: the clock, maybe reduce the number of possessions that Ohio

1064
00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:39,400
Speaker 2: State gets now. I'm just not confident Notre Dame can

1065
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:40,839
Speaker 2: play that game sixty minutes through.

1066
00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:43,880
Speaker 1: I have I have an assortment of random keys. You

1067
00:53:43,920 --> 00:53:46,000
Speaker 1: can just react too quickly, by the way, and one

1068
00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:48,319
Speaker 1: of these is Chip Kelly has been in this spot before.

1069
00:53:48,480 --> 00:53:50,239
Speaker 1: Chip Kelly took the twenty ten Oregon team to the

1070
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:53,839
Speaker 1: National Championship. They came out and the entire first half

1071
00:53:54,120 --> 00:53:56,680
Speaker 1: was too Q to'clock for Oregon. In that moment, it

1072
00:53:56,840 --> 00:53:58,680
Speaker 1: was we're gonna go against tendency. We're going to show

1073
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:01,040
Speaker 1: formations that we haven't shown. We're gonna have more dudes

1074
00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:03,840
Speaker 1: in the backfield. And here is the secret nugget that

1075
00:54:03,880 --> 00:54:06,319
Speaker 1: we're gonna do that's gonna blow their minds, is we're

1076
00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:07,920
Speaker 1: gonna leave Nick Fairley unblocked.

1077
00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:13,399
Speaker 2: We were at that speaking of going to national championships.

1078
00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:15,960
Speaker 1: We were at that game. I remember you were screaming.

1079
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:19,000
Speaker 2: You were screaming like as loud as you could in

1080
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:21,680
Speaker 2: the press box without alarming the others.

1081
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:26,880
Speaker 1: Nick Fairley ate, he ate and he kept eating. He

1082
00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:30,320
Speaker 1: was thanksgiving every play. So Chip Kelly overthought the moment

1083
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:33,000
Speaker 1: those fourteen years ago. I'm not over it. Does it

1084
00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:35,240
Speaker 1: sound like I'm over it. No, that was an absolutely

1085
00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:38,240
Speaker 1: winnable game against a very average Auburn defense. Absolutely winnable.

1086
00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:40,640
Speaker 1: It's a poorly refereed game. But that's neither here nor there,

1087
00:54:41,440 --> 00:54:45,719
Speaker 1: of course. Okay, okay, other things I have down here

1088
00:54:45,880 --> 00:54:48,760
Speaker 1: in Apple's text edit, I have down here Riley Leonard

1089
00:54:48,760 --> 00:54:51,640
Speaker 1: against Jim Knowles. Oh yeah, well that goes without saying

1090
00:54:52,680 --> 00:54:55,800
Speaker 1: just it's the vision. It's what what is Riley Leonard

1091
00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:59,759
Speaker 1: looking at pre snap? Is he able to recognize? Is he,

1092
00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:02,319
Speaker 1: you know, in certain circumstances to recognize, you know, man

1093
00:55:02,480 --> 00:55:04,959
Speaker 1: versus own coverage? But maybe one side of the field

1094
00:55:05,080 --> 00:55:06,640
Speaker 1: is this, one side of the field is that the

1095
00:55:06,760 --> 00:55:09,640
Speaker 1: safety's looking here and then the rolling down here, rolling

1096
00:55:09,719 --> 00:55:13,120
Speaker 1: up there, right that Riley Leonard has to be house

1097
00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:16,200
Speaker 1: empty and he has to be able to diagnose the

1098
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:17,320
Speaker 1: rare diseases.

1099
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:22,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think Riley Leonard is somebody that you

1100
00:55:22,160 --> 00:55:23,000
Speaker 2: need to blitz a ton.

1101
00:55:23,320 --> 00:55:24,080
Speaker 1: I don't think so. Either.

1102
00:55:24,160 --> 00:55:26,719
Speaker 2: I think he's got a little bit or maybe Kevin

1103
00:55:26,800 --> 00:55:29,160
Speaker 2: Jennings has some Riley Leonard, or maybe it's vice versa.

1104
00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:32,920
Speaker 2: But this setup where he's actually pretty good when you

1105
00:55:33,040 --> 00:55:36,759
Speaker 2: bring the blitz against him, because of his mobility, but

1106
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:40,000
Speaker 2: isn't as good just broadly speaking, when he's under pressure

1107
00:55:40,040 --> 00:55:41,080
Speaker 2: and not facing the blitz.

1108
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:43,280
Speaker 1: Agree, Ohio State is good enough.

1109
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:46,040
Speaker 2: With its front four to bring that pressure without over

1110
00:55:46,120 --> 00:55:48,879
Speaker 2: committing up front. And so in that event, if you've

1111
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:52,680
Speaker 2: got someone breathing down Riley's neck and he's forced to

1112
00:55:52,719 --> 00:55:56,160
Speaker 2: diagnose a defense that's danger zone, doesn't mean he can't perform,

1113
00:55:56,680 --> 00:55:58,960
Speaker 2: And does it mean that Notre Dame can't scheme somebody

1114
00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:01,120
Speaker 2: open give him a one on one shot out wide.

1115
00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:05,040
Speaker 2: But it definitely is going it's gonna test his processing

1116
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:07,560
Speaker 2: ability in the heat of the battle there in the

1117
00:56:07,640 --> 00:56:08,520
Speaker 2: National Championship.

1118
00:56:08,520 --> 00:56:13,280
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and really the way that teams have been able

1119
00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:17,360
Speaker 1: to succeed against the Jim Knowles and Ohio State defense

1120
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:20,319
Speaker 1: that stacked, you know, on all three levels is you're

1121
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:25,000
Speaker 1: fighting openings in the passing game. That's not necessarily what

1122
00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:28,840
Speaker 1: we've seen from Riley Leonard. You know, we saw it

1123
00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:31,640
Speaker 1: from Quinn yours some with the running back plays in

1124
00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:34,640
Speaker 1: the red zones, a couple of plays downfield, especially early on.

1125
00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:37,000
Speaker 1: We's obviously saw it with Dylan Gabriel and Evan Stewart

1126
00:56:37,040 --> 00:56:39,600
Speaker 1: and Tess Johnson in that first matchup that there are

1127
00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:44,480
Speaker 1: gaps that are left unattended on the field, so I could.

1128
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:49,480
Speaker 2: See them doing something like smoke screens to Jordan Faison,

1129
00:56:50,320 --> 00:56:53,160
Speaker 2: trying to get Ohio State to creep up and then

1130
00:56:54,160 --> 00:56:55,800
Speaker 2: try to hit a big one over the top with

1131
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:57,960
Speaker 2: like a Jaden Greathhouse or one of their other receivers.

1132
00:56:58,040 --> 00:57:00,680
Speaker 2: By the way, there were other shots that Riley missed

1133
00:57:01,360 --> 00:57:04,960
Speaker 2: in that game a week ago against Penn State. There

1134
00:57:05,040 --> 00:57:08,800
Speaker 2: are plays that have been there these last few years running,

1135
00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:12,000
Speaker 2: and they just need to keep doing that. And hopefully

1136
00:57:12,080 --> 00:57:14,200
Speaker 2: he's the better for looking at the tape and learning

1137
00:57:14,239 --> 00:57:16,160
Speaker 2: what he missed. But I think there will be some

1138
00:57:16,280 --> 00:57:19,400
Speaker 2: opportunities to try and get Ohio State to creep especially

1139
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:21,480
Speaker 2: since Notre Dame does have some guys out wide. We're

1140
00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:24,000
Speaker 2: pretty good after the catch. See if you can use

1141
00:57:24,080 --> 00:57:25,880
Speaker 2: that to spring somebody on a deeper route.

1142
00:57:26,920 --> 00:57:30,960
Speaker 1: I have head coach Pregame energy rubbing off oh that

1143
00:57:31,720 --> 00:57:34,600
Speaker 1: there is a certain amount of confidence that Ohio State

1144
00:57:34,640 --> 00:57:37,760
Speaker 1: has come out with and they've performed very well early

1145
00:57:37,840 --> 00:57:40,920
Speaker 1: on in these games, and we saw a struggle from

1146
00:57:40,960 --> 00:57:44,480
Speaker 1: Notre Dame in that first half against Penn State. That

1147
00:57:44,600 --> 00:57:46,920
Speaker 1: to me is interesting because Ryan Day has not been

1148
00:57:46,960 --> 00:57:50,920
Speaker 1: a guy who has won the absolute biggest games of

1149
00:57:51,040 --> 00:57:54,400
Speaker 1: his career, whether it's on the playoff stage against Michigan whatever,

1150
00:57:54,920 --> 00:57:57,680
Speaker 1: that is there going to be that the puckering effect

1151
00:57:57,720 --> 00:58:00,800
Speaker 1: from Ryan Day or from Marcus Freeman because he simply

1152
00:58:01,240 --> 00:58:03,640
Speaker 1: hasn't been in a spot this large ever where Ryan

1153
00:58:03,720 --> 00:58:04,120
Speaker 1: Day has.

1154
00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:06,680
Speaker 2: I think that's a very very interesting point. And I

1155
00:58:06,720 --> 00:58:08,960
Speaker 2: would also add something that we've been talking about here

1156
00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:12,000
Speaker 2: on the show, which is that Ohio State, now three

1157
00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:14,480
Speaker 2: games running in the playoff, has scored a touchdown each

1158
00:58:14,560 --> 00:58:15,600
Speaker 2: of their first three drives.

1159
00:58:15,760 --> 00:58:17,920
Speaker 1: Totally, they have been able to.

1160
00:58:17,920 --> 00:58:22,400
Speaker 2: Start quickly, even if it slowed down in that Texas game.

1161
00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:27,160
Speaker 2: That quick start sets the tone. That quick start puts

1162
00:58:27,200 --> 00:58:30,560
Speaker 2: your opponent immediately on their heels to some extent. And

1163
00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:33,560
Speaker 2: we did see Notre Dame kind of in a similar

1164
00:58:33,640 --> 00:58:36,320
Speaker 2: situation against Penn State where they stayed within themselves. They

1165
00:58:36,360 --> 00:58:39,120
Speaker 2: made some minor tweaks, but they mostly stuck to the

1166
00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:41,280
Speaker 2: same game plan in the second half and ended up winning.

1167
00:58:41,360 --> 00:58:44,320
Speaker 2: But it begs the question, really on both sides of this,

1168
00:58:45,160 --> 00:58:47,640
Speaker 2: if somebody else gets off to a fast start, how

1169
00:58:47,680 --> 00:58:50,280
Speaker 2: do you respond? So I think that's a really, really

1170
00:58:50,360 --> 00:58:52,320
Speaker 2: valuable point in something that we have seen time and

1171
00:58:52,360 --> 00:58:53,360
Speaker 2: again through these playoffs.

1172
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:57,520
Speaker 1: Similarly, I have written this written down as find a

1173
00:58:57,600 --> 00:59:02,360
Speaker 1: way ability and has been the team that has had

1174
00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:05,040
Speaker 1: to tap into that. They were down against Penn State,

1175
00:59:05,040 --> 00:59:06,919
Speaker 1: they didn't have a great first half against Penn State.

1176
00:59:07,160 --> 00:59:11,120
Speaker 1: Things weren't looking good laid against Penn State. They stayed

1177
00:59:11,160 --> 00:59:13,680
Speaker 1: the course, They stayed calm. They were able to drive

1178
00:59:13,760 --> 00:59:15,480
Speaker 1: the field, They were able to set up the game

1179
00:59:15,520 --> 00:59:18,400
Speaker 1: winning field goal. They didn't act as if the body

1180
00:59:18,480 --> 00:59:21,000
Speaker 1: language wasn't there, that all hope is lost kind of thing.

1181
00:59:21,880 --> 00:59:25,560
Speaker 1: They were locked in no matter the situation. Ohio State

1182
00:59:26,120 --> 00:59:29,400
Speaker 1: simply hasn't been in that moment right. It was close

1183
00:59:29,480 --> 00:59:31,720
Speaker 1: against Texas. It was back and forth to a certain

1184
00:59:31,720 --> 00:59:35,240
Speaker 1: extent against Texas, but they haven't found themselves down in

1185
00:59:35,400 --> 00:59:37,760
Speaker 1: that way. They were back and forth against Oregon earlier

1186
00:59:37,800 --> 00:59:40,720
Speaker 1: on in the season. They had the mini scare against

1187
00:59:40,800 --> 00:59:43,680
Speaker 1: Nebraska that truly wasn't I mean, they were just off

1188
00:59:43,720 --> 00:59:46,080
Speaker 1: and they weren't playing well and they made mistakes on offense.

1189
00:59:46,120 --> 00:59:49,680
Speaker 1: But the defense still played well against Nebraska, and they

1190
00:59:49,840 --> 00:59:53,080
Speaker 1: just were full on flat against Michigan. They haven't found

1191
00:59:53,120 --> 00:59:55,680
Speaker 1: themselves down thirteen points in a big game where they're

1192
00:59:55,720 --> 01:00:00,400
Speaker 1: just like, hey, everything's totally good, guys, be cool. I

1193
01:00:00,440 --> 01:00:02,120
Speaker 1: don't know if they're going to see that against Notre Dame,

1194
01:00:02,320 --> 01:00:04,400
Speaker 1: but they just haven't had to tap into that yet.

1195
01:00:05,240 --> 01:00:07,080
Speaker 1: I have down here two minute drill. In terms of

1196
01:00:07,200 --> 01:00:10,600
Speaker 1: quarterback trust, I trust Riley Leonard to find a way.

1197
01:00:10,920 --> 01:00:12,120
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's going to find a way

1198
01:00:12,160 --> 01:00:13,919
Speaker 1: to score a touchdown. I don't know if he's gonna

1199
01:00:13,920 --> 01:00:15,920
Speaker 1: find a way to drive it's down seventy yards, but

1200
01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:17,960
Speaker 1: he'll make place. He's a pain in the ass. He's

1201
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:18,680
Speaker 1: a pain in the ass.

1202
01:00:18,920 --> 01:00:20,440
Speaker 2: He is. He's very good at being a pain in

1203
01:00:20,480 --> 01:00:23,960
Speaker 2: the ass, and that's why they won fourteen games this year.

1204
01:00:24,320 --> 01:00:26,560
Speaker 1: I just have Jeremiah Smith written down here. I have

1205
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:29,520
Speaker 1: Jeremiah Smith written down here because when you need nine

1206
01:00:29,600 --> 01:00:32,240
Speaker 1: yards on a huge fourth and nine, third and nine,

1207
01:00:33,120 --> 01:00:35,440
Speaker 1: Notre Dame doesn't have an answer, because nobody has an answer.

1208
01:00:35,920 --> 01:00:38,560
Speaker 2: Well, we'll see, we'll see if Notre Dame has an answer.

1209
01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:42,600
Speaker 1: Notre Dame has very good corners, corners and Leonard Moore.

1210
01:00:42,760 --> 01:00:46,640
Speaker 2: I am. I am eagerly awaiting the More versus Smith

1211
01:00:47,640 --> 01:00:53,280
Speaker 2: match about wide something that I think is maybe assumed

1212
01:00:53,720 --> 01:00:56,520
Speaker 2: in a big game, but is something we should mention here.

1213
01:00:57,840 --> 01:01:00,160
Speaker 2: If in fact Notre Dame is going to try try

1214
01:01:00,200 --> 01:01:02,040
Speaker 2: to man these guys up, and I believe they will.

1215
01:01:03,760 --> 01:01:05,680
Speaker 2: The way that you beat that, or one of the

1216
01:01:05,720 --> 01:01:08,000
Speaker 2: ways that you attack that, is with a lot of

1217
01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:10,880
Speaker 2: stuff underneath a lot of these man beaters, with guys

1218
01:01:11,080 --> 01:01:15,280
Speaker 2: working across the formation, right, you get guys in space.

1219
01:01:16,280 --> 01:01:19,960
Speaker 2: Suddenly you're relying on your receivers to break a tackle.

1220
01:01:20,880 --> 01:01:23,800
Speaker 2: You're forcing the defense to make an open field stop.

1221
01:01:24,360 --> 01:01:27,400
Speaker 2: Notre Dame's been very good at that this year. But

1222
01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:30,480
Speaker 2: if like a Mecca Abuka is coming across the formation

1223
01:01:30,760 --> 01:01:33,560
Speaker 2: taking a drag over the middle, it's going to be

1224
01:01:33,600 --> 01:01:39,840
Speaker 2: incumbent on a linebacker Christian gray A don show somebody

1225
01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:42,960
Speaker 2: to make that open field stop to prevent him from

1226
01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:45,800
Speaker 2: going full Trey Henderson like we saw a week ago. Yeah,

1227
01:01:46,040 --> 01:01:48,280
Speaker 2: or he ripped off the seventy five yard gain. Tackling

1228
01:01:49,560 --> 01:01:53,120
Speaker 2: maybe the most basic elemental part of any defense needs

1229
01:01:53,160 --> 01:01:55,080
Speaker 2: to be on point, not just for Notre Dame but

1230
01:01:55,160 --> 01:01:56,920
Speaker 2: also Ohio State in a big game like this, but

1231
01:01:57,320 --> 01:01:59,919
Speaker 2: I think especially Notre Dame given what they're up again.

1232
01:02:01,040 --> 01:02:04,240
Speaker 1: OK, this is my final thing in terms of just

1233
01:02:04,480 --> 01:02:10,040
Speaker 1: random stray Apple text edit items, two point conversion creativity.

1234
01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:14,960
Speaker 1: Never would have thought of this until the Georgia Georgia

1235
01:02:15,040 --> 01:02:18,560
Speaker 1: Tech game. Okay, to finish the season, we go to

1236
01:02:18,640 --> 01:02:21,760
Speaker 1: triple overtime, and now it's put up or shut up?

1237
01:02:21,960 --> 01:02:25,760
Speaker 1: How many ridiculous plays do you have or plays that

1238
01:02:25,840 --> 01:02:28,040
Speaker 1: your ninety three percent sure are going to work do

1239
01:02:28,160 --> 01:02:31,640
Speaker 1: you have with tired legs and huge emotions on the line.

1240
01:02:32,200 --> 01:02:33,840
Speaker 1: I don't believe this game is going to come down

1241
01:02:33,880 --> 01:02:37,400
Speaker 1: to that, but I went kind of back and forth

1242
01:02:37,440 --> 01:02:37,680
Speaker 1: on here.

1243
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:39,160
Speaker 2: This is Notre Dame's bread and butter.

1244
01:02:39,600 --> 01:02:42,240
Speaker 1: I think Notre Dame might have a slight advantage. I

1245
01:02:42,360 --> 01:02:45,440
Speaker 1: love Chip Kelly in here because he just screws with

1246
01:02:45,600 --> 01:02:48,640
Speaker 1: teams keys on defense that like, yeah, of course the

1247
01:02:48,680 --> 01:02:51,120
Speaker 1: linebacker should chase a running back here and then does

1248
01:02:51,200 --> 01:02:54,840
Speaker 1: and leave something wide open. I think Chip Kelly has

1249
01:02:54,920 --> 01:03:00,720
Speaker 1: the advantage in terms of creativity and confidence in plays

1250
01:03:00,960 --> 01:03:04,160
Speaker 1: down in the red area. Where Notre Dame has the

1251
01:03:04,240 --> 01:03:12,400
Speaker 1: advantage is Riley Leonard's hips, thighs, quads, ankles, shoulders, elbows.

1252
01:03:12,960 --> 01:03:16,240
Speaker 1: That if you are rolling Riley Leonard out and you

1253
01:03:16,320 --> 01:03:17,600
Speaker 1: were going to say, this is going to be a

1254
01:03:17,640 --> 01:03:20,800
Speaker 1: battle between Riley Leonard and Caleb Downs, Riley Leonard and

1255
01:03:21,240 --> 01:03:25,000
Speaker 1: stunny styles. Whoever is rolling out, I'm going advantage Riley

1256
01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:29,160
Speaker 1: Leonard that at some point it's who can actually run

1257
01:03:29,240 --> 01:03:32,400
Speaker 1: it and run over somebody, And it's Riley Leonard to me.

1258
01:03:32,560 --> 01:03:35,360
Speaker 2: And if you need a trick play, Notre Dame has

1259
01:03:35,480 --> 01:03:38,440
Speaker 2: trick plays. Notre Dame has been showing trick plays all

1260
01:03:38,480 --> 01:03:42,960
Speaker 2: throughout this season. Sure, mostly on special teams, but we

1261
01:03:43,120 --> 01:03:46,560
Speaker 2: have seen clearly a creativity on that level that has

1262
01:03:46,640 --> 01:03:48,440
Speaker 2: been pretty fun a lot. Even if you don't like

1263
01:03:48,520 --> 01:03:50,080
Speaker 2: Notre Dame, some of these plays that they run have

1264
01:03:50,120 --> 01:03:54,320
Speaker 2: been pretty big big. This whole season has been one

1265
01:03:54,840 --> 01:03:58,360
Speaker 2: long setup for a Riley Leonard jump pass. If you

1266
01:03:58,480 --> 01:04:01,080
Speaker 2: run a quarterback right and you run a quarterback left

1267
01:04:01,480 --> 01:04:04,640
Speaker 2: all season long, that on a two point conversion on

1268
01:04:04,760 --> 01:04:07,360
Speaker 2: a fourth and one for the game. The quarterback is

1269
01:04:07,440 --> 01:04:09,960
Speaker 2: taking it and starts heading to the rear end of

1270
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:12,919
Speaker 2: the left guard. You're like, well, here we go again,

1271
01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:16,160
Speaker 2: and there's the jump pass. The whole season has been

1272
01:04:16,200 --> 01:04:19,160
Speaker 2: a setup. I'm sorry if I'm blowing up your spot

1273
01:04:20,480 --> 01:04:23,360
Speaker 2: here from Mike dem not a long con but just

1274
01:04:23,520 --> 01:04:26,640
Speaker 2: like you show something a thousand times, and on that

1275
01:04:26,840 --> 01:04:30,000
Speaker 2: one thousand and first moment.

1276
01:04:30,680 --> 01:04:31,959
Speaker 1: That's where you get the jump pass.

1277
01:04:32,560 --> 01:04:33,240
Speaker 2: All right, we'll see.

1278
01:04:33,280 --> 01:04:35,760
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, we'll see if the game. I can't

1279
01:04:35,800 --> 01:04:38,480
Speaker 1: wait to see if we get to third overtime to

1280
01:04:38,600 --> 01:04:43,040
Speaker 1: triple overtime, that what these Okay, let's look at the

1281
01:04:43,080 --> 01:04:44,520
Speaker 1: back of the playbook. Let's see what we got.

1282
01:04:44,640 --> 01:04:46,800
Speaker 2: Let's see if this goes to three overtimes, you're gonna

1283
01:04:46,840 --> 01:04:47,920
Speaker 2: need to resuscitate me.

1284
01:04:48,040 --> 01:04:50,680
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be dead. Yeah, mom age will be long

1285
01:04:50,720 --> 01:04:53,600
Speaker 1: gone after the first over time. We're not gonna make

1286
01:04:53,680 --> 01:04:57,680
Speaker 1: it the middle of the third quarter. Yeah, give me

1287
01:04:57,720 --> 01:04:58,160
Speaker 1: a pick.

1288
01:04:58,120 --> 01:05:01,080
Speaker 2: Ti my first off, my key here I mentioned it before.

1289
01:05:01,160 --> 01:05:03,400
Speaker 2: Tre Anderson and TYLERK. Williams are the two that I'm

1290
01:05:03,920 --> 01:05:08,560
Speaker 2: most concerned about in the receiving Corps. It like, I'm

1291
01:05:08,560 --> 01:05:11,400
Speaker 2: afraid of all of them, obviously Jeremiah Smith, but pretty

1292
01:05:11,480 --> 01:05:13,680
Speaker 2: much anybody that they choose to send over the middle.

1293
01:05:14,520 --> 01:05:17,840
Speaker 2: Scott Yeah, yeah, like that's putting those guys in a

1294
01:05:17,880 --> 01:05:19,920
Speaker 2: position over the middle to break tackles is going to

1295
01:05:19,920 --> 01:05:22,720
Speaker 2: be something that terrifies me the entirety of this game. Yeah,

1296
01:05:23,440 --> 01:05:25,560
Speaker 2: and you know, more to the point, key players on

1297
01:05:25,640 --> 01:05:27,720
Speaker 2: the Notre Dame side. I think Leonard Moore and Christian Gray,

1298
01:05:27,760 --> 01:05:31,040
Speaker 2: the two starting cornerbacks, how they hold up in space

1299
01:05:31,560 --> 01:05:33,720
Speaker 2: in man coverage if they're playing man, which I believe

1300
01:05:33,760 --> 01:05:37,200
Speaker 2: they will against these Ohio State receivers, that will be

1301
01:05:38,200 --> 01:05:40,160
Speaker 2: instrumental in how this thing plays out.

1302
01:05:41,160 --> 01:05:42,120
Speaker 1: And Roco Spindler.

1303
01:05:43,040 --> 01:05:45,040
Speaker 2: Roco Spindler, Like, we don't call out a whole lot

1304
01:05:45,080 --> 01:05:51,080
Speaker 2: of offensive linemen, but Rocco or his replacement, and how

1305
01:05:51,480 --> 01:05:55,360
Speaker 2: they handle a guy like a Tayleek Williams is I

1306
01:05:55,480 --> 01:05:58,959
Speaker 2: think very important to the overall success of this Notre

1307
01:05:59,000 --> 01:06:03,200
Speaker 2: Dame ground attack, passing attack. Jeremiah Love we can throw

1308
01:06:03,240 --> 01:06:06,360
Speaker 2: in here as well. They need to get something out

1309
01:06:06,360 --> 01:06:08,080
Speaker 2: of those guys. They need to have a really good showing.

1310
01:06:10,360 --> 01:06:12,080
Speaker 2: I think this is going to be a closer game

1311
01:06:12,160 --> 01:06:17,560
Speaker 2: than most people think. I do not believe Notre Dame's

1312
01:06:17,680 --> 01:06:20,560
Speaker 2: defense is going to get blown off the field. I

1313
01:06:20,720 --> 01:06:22,760
Speaker 2: expect that we're going to see one or two picks

1314
01:06:22,800 --> 01:06:26,360
Speaker 2: from Will Howard in this game against really tight man coverage. Okay,

1315
01:06:27,400 --> 01:06:32,160
Speaker 2: my issue is something I said earlier. You cannot put

1316
01:06:32,240 --> 01:06:35,120
Speaker 2: this one solely on the legs of Riley Leonard. You

1317
01:06:35,240 --> 01:06:38,880
Speaker 2: cannot expect Riley Leonard to go out there and provide

1318
01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:41,200
Speaker 2: all the pop for the offense. You cannot expect to

1319
01:06:41,280 --> 01:06:43,160
Speaker 2: send him out there and say, well, if the first

1320
01:06:43,200 --> 01:06:46,360
Speaker 2: read breaks down, just draw something up in the dirt.

1321
01:06:46,440 --> 01:06:49,520
Speaker 2: Be an improviser, be a playmaker. Yeah, that's not going

1322
01:06:49,600 --> 01:06:52,600
Speaker 2: to work. To suddenly think that Notre Dame is going

1323
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:55,440
Speaker 2: to morph, excuse me, into a different offense than what

1324
01:06:55,560 --> 01:06:58,800
Speaker 2: it has been for most of the season against the

1325
01:06:58,880 --> 01:07:01,040
Speaker 2: best team they have played all season, that to me

1326
01:07:01,200 --> 01:07:04,320
Speaker 2: is a stretch. But I do think the defense is

1327
01:07:04,360 --> 01:07:08,640
Speaker 2: good enough, and I do think improvisationally they are good

1328
01:07:08,720 --> 01:07:11,320
Speaker 2: enough to find some big plays down the field and

1329
01:07:11,480 --> 01:07:15,040
Speaker 2: keep this one within a stone's throw. I've got my

1330
01:07:15,200 --> 01:07:18,680
Speaker 2: final as Ohio State twenty six Notre Dame twenty. Ohio

1331
01:07:18,760 --> 01:07:20,120
Speaker 2: State wins, but Notre Dame covers.

1332
01:07:20,240 --> 01:07:22,000
Speaker 1: What's the spread again? Remind me.

1333
01:07:22,320 --> 01:07:23,960
Speaker 2: At time of recording, we have it at eight, but

1334
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,160
Speaker 2: I've seen it eight and a half. I do think

1335
01:07:26,200 --> 01:07:29,280
Speaker 2: we'll see some movement the closer we get to this one.

1336
01:07:29,360 --> 01:07:32,320
Speaker 2: We're recording this on a Wednesday, We've obviously still got

1337
01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:34,600
Speaker 2: some time before people really start crushing that number.

1338
01:07:34,720 --> 01:07:38,360
Speaker 1: I originally went higher scoring for Ohio State. I think

1339
01:07:38,400 --> 01:07:41,120
Speaker 1: Notre Dame's defense is going to limit them well enough

1340
01:07:41,520 --> 01:07:43,520
Speaker 1: in this moment. I just don't know where the points

1341
01:07:43,520 --> 01:07:46,080
Speaker 1: are coming from from Notre Dame. At a certain point,

1342
01:07:48,720 --> 01:07:51,720
Speaker 1: I'm going to say twenty four to fourteen Ohio State

1343
01:07:51,840 --> 01:07:54,320
Speaker 1: low scoring exists. I'm going to say it's relatively low

1344
01:07:54,400 --> 01:07:57,280
Speaker 1: scoring with these two great defenses in this spot. Twenty

1345
01:07:57,320 --> 01:08:00,800
Speaker 1: four to fourteen, Ohio State's the national champion, and so

1346
01:08:01,000 --> 01:08:03,640
Speaker 1: we sort of agree, but I have Ohio State covering

1347
01:08:04,360 --> 01:08:06,280
Speaker 1: we do. I'm gonna I'm gonna give you a bonus

1348
01:08:06,440 --> 01:08:08,800
Speaker 1: question right here where we let the fine people go

1349
01:08:09,040 --> 01:08:12,080
Speaker 1: back to their either ski erging or whatever they're the

1350
01:08:12,120 --> 01:08:14,640
Speaker 1: places they will be from, yes, or the places they

1351
01:08:14,720 --> 01:08:20,519
Speaker 1: feel the most. Who is your favorite Ohio State player ever, ever,

1352
01:08:21,160 --> 01:08:25,000
Speaker 1: ever on the spot? Or okay, who do you consider

1353
01:08:25,120 --> 01:08:28,880
Speaker 1: to be the most dominant, most excellent, most impressive Ohio

1354
01:08:28,960 --> 01:08:33,240
Speaker 1: State player of the solid verbal era? Oh my gosh,

1355
01:08:33,400 --> 01:08:37,360
Speaker 1: I just like naming guys sometimes. Ty assume me. Of course,

1356
01:08:37,400 --> 01:08:38,840
Speaker 1: you put me on the spot with that put are

1357
01:08:38,840 --> 01:08:39,880
Speaker 1: you on the spot? There have been a lot of

1358
01:08:39,920 --> 01:08:42,679
Speaker 1: excellent Ohio State players, but when you think Ohio State excellence,

1359
01:08:42,720 --> 01:08:44,320
Speaker 1: of the past. It can be jeremih Smith. I don't

1360
01:08:44,360 --> 01:08:48,880
Speaker 1: know of the past, you know, fifteen sixteen years Wow,

1361
01:08:48,920 --> 01:08:51,000
Speaker 1: who immediately comes to mind? I don't care if you

1362
01:08:51,080 --> 01:08:53,000
Speaker 1: forget somebody that would have been a better answer on

1363
01:08:53,120 --> 01:08:55,519
Speaker 1: the spot, Yeah, because I had one. I had mine

1364
01:08:55,680 --> 01:08:56,720
Speaker 1: right when I said it, I knew it.

1365
01:08:56,840 --> 01:08:59,639
Speaker 2: The first name that comes to mind is probably somebody

1366
01:08:59,640 --> 01:09:02,800
Speaker 2: along the defensive line, whether it's a guy like a

1367
01:09:02,920 --> 01:09:06,280
Speaker 2: Chase Young or one of the Bosas. I mean, they've

1368
01:09:06,400 --> 01:09:09,840
Speaker 2: just been so good defensively. Yeah, And that's not to

1369
01:09:09,920 --> 01:09:13,040
Speaker 2: take anything away from the incredible offensive guys that they've

1370
01:09:13,080 --> 01:09:15,880
Speaker 2: had as well. They've been nails there as well, But

1371
01:09:16,560 --> 01:09:18,639
Speaker 2: I just feel like along the defensive line, that's where

1372
01:09:18,640 --> 01:09:20,200
Speaker 2: they've really made their hay, I.

1373
01:09:20,240 --> 01:09:22,880
Speaker 1: Said Chase Young. Chase Young is one of the single

1374
01:09:22,960 --> 01:09:25,200
Speaker 1: most impressive college football players in the past, of the

1375
01:09:25,320 --> 01:09:28,240
Speaker 1: of the millennial whatever, so, I said Chase Young. I

1376
01:09:28,240 --> 01:09:29,639
Speaker 1: don't know if you have a favorite. I know you're

1377
01:09:29,760 --> 01:09:32,120
Speaker 1: like all time Notre Dame players rocket Ishmael, but the

1378
01:09:32,200 --> 01:09:35,760
Speaker 1: solid verbal era and I don't know if Tom's Abakowski counts.

1379
01:09:35,800 --> 01:09:39,160
Speaker 1: Something is boxing. Do you have a favorite Notre Dame

1380
01:09:39,160 --> 01:09:41,000
Speaker 1: player which just like that's my guy, cl Comett, that's

1381
01:09:41,040 --> 01:09:41,759
Speaker 1: my guy period.

1382
01:09:42,160 --> 01:09:44,280
Speaker 2: Well, I will say that Jeremiah Love is getting there

1383
01:09:44,520 --> 01:09:49,320
Speaker 2: right now. Okay, Jeremiah Love is definitely getting there. But

1384
01:09:49,800 --> 01:09:52,479
Speaker 2: you know, Notre Dame has had some gosh, I'm probably

1385
01:09:52,560 --> 01:09:53,240
Speaker 2: dating myself here.

1386
01:09:53,320 --> 01:09:54,360
Speaker 1: You're vamping and that's okay.

1387
01:09:54,600 --> 01:09:58,320
Speaker 2: You know, whether it's like the Chase Claypool or Jeff

1388
01:09:58,360 --> 01:10:00,800
Speaker 2: Samarja maybe a little bit before time here of doing

1389
01:10:00,840 --> 01:10:03,679
Speaker 2: the show. Some of these big bodied receivers that they've

1390
01:10:03,720 --> 01:10:05,639
Speaker 2: had out wide have been a ton of a big sure.

1391
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:09,160
Speaker 1: Uh why my boy Golden Tate. Golden Tate not big,

1392
01:10:09,240 --> 01:10:10,720
Speaker 1: but a great receiver. Yeah, right.

1393
01:10:12,160 --> 01:10:14,519
Speaker 2: Will Fuller is one of our favorites here in the show,

1394
01:10:14,520 --> 01:10:17,680
Speaker 2: a big Bill Fuller. You know, some of the explosivity

1395
01:10:17,720 --> 01:10:20,200
Speaker 2: they've shown at the wide receiver position has been a

1396
01:10:20,240 --> 01:10:22,920
Speaker 2: lot of fun. And I know he's been running his

1397
01:10:23,080 --> 01:10:25,160
Speaker 2: mouth now. But Malik's air. I had a moment with

1398
01:10:25,240 --> 01:10:27,400
Speaker 2: my leaksite. Well I was like a high school senior,

1399
01:10:27,479 --> 01:10:29,400
Speaker 2: but yeah, I had a moment with Malik's site.

1400
01:10:29,479 --> 01:10:31,720
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I have an answer for Notre Dame. I

1401
01:10:31,800 --> 01:10:33,439
Speaker 1: have a clear answer, Like when I think about Notre

1402
01:10:33,520 --> 01:10:37,879
Speaker 1: Dame excellence, I just immediately go to this place. Cayle Hamilton.

1403
01:10:39,000 --> 01:10:42,000
Speaker 1: It's Cayle Hamilton's been a lot of good ones, a

1404
01:10:42,080 --> 01:10:45,120
Speaker 1: lot of good ones, unstoppable, unstoppable for us. Okay, that's it.

1405
01:10:45,240 --> 01:10:46,720
Speaker 1: I just wanted to take the opportunity at the end

1406
01:10:46,720 --> 01:10:48,360
Speaker 1: of the show to name a couple guys, Chase Young.

1407
01:10:48,280 --> 01:10:50,280
Speaker 2: And and you for putting me on the spot here

1408
01:10:50,760 --> 01:10:52,320
Speaker 2: and Dann me for not having an answer.

1409
01:10:53,160 --> 01:10:56,960
Speaker 1: He still Curtis Samuel, you know, Dane Sanzenbacher, Devin Smith.

1410
01:10:57,120 --> 01:10:59,200
Speaker 2: It's a little bit of sensory overload because there's so

1411
01:10:59,240 --> 01:10:59,679
Speaker 2: many options.

1412
01:10:59,720 --> 01:11:03,920
Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison Junior, all those receivers, all you know, the

1413
01:11:04,000 --> 01:11:07,320
Speaker 1: receivers of the Ryan Ryan Day era, just one after

1414
01:11:07,400 --> 01:11:07,760
Speaker 1: the next.

1415
01:11:09,000 --> 01:11:13,240
Speaker 2: Let us know your predictions, either in the comments out

1416
01:11:13,320 --> 01:11:16,200
Speaker 2: on Spotify or YouTube, or the email inbox at slid

1417
01:11:16,240 --> 01:11:19,680
Speaker 2: verbal at gmail dot com. Always hit us up on

1418
01:11:19,800 --> 01:11:22,840
Speaker 2: social media, let us know your thoughts on this game

1419
01:11:23,040 --> 01:11:26,920
Speaker 2: and much much more. Please hit follow, please hit subscribe,

1420
01:11:27,000 --> 01:11:29,160
Speaker 2: Please check us out at verbowlers dot com if you

1421
01:11:29,200 --> 01:11:31,800
Speaker 2: want to further support what Dan and I are doing.

1422
01:11:32,200 --> 01:11:35,520
Speaker 2: As for what we are doing for the National Championship,

1423
01:11:36,080 --> 01:11:38,439
Speaker 2: still tbd. We're still trying to sort things out on

1424
01:11:38,520 --> 01:11:41,639
Speaker 2: this end. So once we get a hard and fast

1425
01:11:41,760 --> 01:11:46,240
Speaker 2: idea of our status for Monday and moving forward with

1426
01:11:46,640 --> 01:11:49,280
Speaker 2: recapping this game and talking about all things offseason, we'll

1427
01:11:49,280 --> 01:11:51,719
Speaker 2: make sure we let the verbawler hood know stay tuned

1428
01:11:51,720 --> 01:11:53,280
Speaker 2: to our social channels for all of that.

1429
01:11:53,439 --> 01:11:55,320
Speaker 1: Dan, have you been to any Have you seen the

1430
01:11:55,360 --> 01:11:57,760
Speaker 1: pictures of those like immersive sports bars? Should we do that?

1431
01:11:58,160 --> 01:11:59,560
Speaker 2: I think I was the one who told you about that.

1432
01:12:00,120 --> 01:12:00,439
Speaker 2: You may have.

1433
01:12:01,120 --> 01:12:04,240
Speaker 1: Those are incredible. Yeah, those are cool looking. I love it.

1434
01:12:04,520 --> 01:12:06,040
Speaker 1: I love it. I don't know. We'll figure something out.

1435
01:12:06,160 --> 01:12:06,759
Speaker 1: We'll do something.

1436
01:12:07,080 --> 01:12:09,599
Speaker 2: Give us a holler, of course, if you have yet

1437
01:12:09,680 --> 01:12:12,000
Speaker 2: to do so across any of our channels, or one

1438
01:12:12,040 --> 01:12:15,200
Speaker 2: more time, solivrable at gmail dot com. I've got Ohio State.

1439
01:12:15,280 --> 01:12:18,280
Speaker 2: You've got Ohio State. We think it's close. We will

1440
01:12:18,320 --> 01:12:20,360
Speaker 2: be watching on Monday night for that guy over there,

1441
01:12:20,520 --> 01:12:24,160
Speaker 2: Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie hilden Brandt, thank you as

1442
01:12:24,200 --> 01:12:27,360
Speaker 2: always for your ongoing support. We'll talk to you all soon.

1443
01:12:28,080 --> 01:12:33,400
Speaker 2: In the meantime, stay solid, go Irish peace.