Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid Verbo. I'll that for me.
Speaker 2: I'm a man, I'm for I've heard so many players say, well,
Speaker 2: I want to be happy.
Speaker 1: You want to be happy for Dake Edith State? Is
Speaker 1: that woo woom? And Dan and Tye welcome back to
Speaker 1: the solid verbal boys and girls. My name is ty Hildebrand,
Speaker 1: joining me as always over there in beautiful New York City,
Speaker 1: the one, the only, the host of Sports Wars. Oh wondery.
Speaker 1: Our good friend Dan Rubinstein, sir, how are you?
Speaker 2: I'm great, Tye, and I have a favor to ask
Speaker 2: you before we get into the Conference of Champions.
Speaker 1: You didn't expect that introduction, did you? No?
Speaker 2: I didn't, and I loved hearing it. It was almost like
Speaker 2: going on a late night talk show or you know,
Speaker 2: like they're like they plug the project right off the
Speaker 2: bat from the new movie Adventureland. My favorite to ask, though,
Speaker 2: is my wife Jody with and eye is have a
Speaker 2: bunch of work people over in let's say an hour
Speaker 2: and a half. WHOA so in like a half hour
Speaker 2: maybe forty five minutes? Yeah, forty five minutes. I need
Speaker 2: you to remind me to remind my wife to preheat
Speaker 2: the oven. And put in the charizo bean dip that
Speaker 2: I just assembled that needs to go into the oven.
Speaker 1: It's a two.
Speaker 2: Factor because I didn't want to set my phone alarm
Speaker 2: to go off in the middle of the show. But
Speaker 2: if I think if we work it in organically, and
Speaker 2: even if you're listening to the show, check with me
Speaker 2: via email or Twitter or Instagram whatever to make sure
Speaker 2: I did it, because that would be a real bummer
Speaker 2: if I still hadn't put it in.
Speaker 1: Shit, whenever this goes up, you should actually set your
Speaker 1: phone alarm because when you do that, that'll give me
Speaker 1: enough time to go through our ad read for the evening.
Speaker 1: Oh great, okay, And I'll see if I can maintain
Speaker 1: the pace, the feverish pace, no doubt, as we talk
Speaker 1: about all things packed twelve that we're going to have going.
Speaker 1: I'll see if I can build on that momentum in
Speaker 1: time for you to get back from putting the bean
Speaker 1: dip in the oven. That'd be amazing. Okay. Alarm is set, beautiful, Okay,
Speaker 1: So listen. This show is dropping on Sunday, August the eleventh,
Speaker 1: which means you've got one week to get tickets to
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Speaker 2: And here's the other real like, the actual reason other
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Speaker 1: Of these events. Yep.
Speaker 2: The big thing is we're gonna go out or we're
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Speaker 2: and we are literally cornered. If you want to tell
Speaker 2: us how wrong we are about your team, we really are. Yeah,
Speaker 2: a few quick points about TCU that I feel like
Speaker 2: you missed. Hey, your NC State preview left me wanting
Speaker 2: a little bit more about their offensive line. So there's
Speaker 2: nowhere we can go. And it's not like we can
Speaker 2: ignore your email. It's not like we can ignore your tweets.
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Speaker 2: and we have to listen to your complaints in person.
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Speaker 1: at Soliverble at gmail dot com. Oh that administrative stuff. Aside, Dan,
Speaker 1: what are we talking about today? Reminding me to put
Speaker 1: the dip in the oven, set the phone alarm. I
Speaker 1: did set the phone alarm, right, But you're the two factor.
Speaker 1: You're the two FA. That's how the cool tech people
Speaker 1: or you do MFA two Okay.
Speaker 2: So we are talking about the Conference of Champions and that,
Speaker 2: of course is the PAC twelve, which is not named ironically,
Speaker 2: or at least was not at the time, and we
Speaker 2: have broken the conference up into two divisions, and yes
Speaker 2: it was us who broke it into the North and South,
Speaker 2: and we're going to ask each other questions about what
Speaker 2: we were curious about about the other person's specialty that
Speaker 2: has been assigned. I have the North, which probably makes sense,
Speaker 2: and you have the South, which I think also makes
Speaker 2: sense given your love for a couple of teams there,
Speaker 2: and we're just gonna hash things out. We're gonna sort
Speaker 2: things out both with the Pac twelve's place in the
Speaker 2: college football world the world at large, and figure out
Speaker 2: who's good, who might not be so good, and what
Speaker 2: is intriguing.
Speaker 1: Where would you like to start. I want to start
Speaker 1: with you.
Speaker 2: I want to ask you the first question, Okay, because
Speaker 2: I don't think we've ever seen this level of and
Speaker 2: hype is maybe too strong a word, but this level
Speaker 2: attention preseason on Utah. I feel like every off season
Speaker 2: the storyline is like, well, of course Utah is always
Speaker 2: going to be solid, well always, you should never count
Speaker 2: out Utah, and you know, week in week out, Utah
Speaker 2: can beat anybody, but it's never gotten to the point
Speaker 2: where they're.
Speaker 1: They're the official favorite. Right.
Speaker 2: I think that the Media Day. The PAC twelve Media
Speaker 2: Day voters said Utah is the favorite for the conference, right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: and so that is a heightened alert for the Utes,
Speaker 2: and so I think we should because you're covering the South.
Speaker 2: My question to you is if do you want to
Speaker 2: play any sounds? Do you want to mash buttons?
Speaker 1: OKA twelve? Oh yeah, get a little usc DG. I
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, So my question is if Tyler Huntley,
Speaker 2: the now healthy Tyler Huntley got hurt last year, looks
Speaker 2: like he did last October before he got hurt, you
Speaker 2: taught to me, appears to have the clear best quarterback
Speaker 2: and defense combination in the conference. Sure, that doesn't mean
Speaker 2: the best quarterback, that doesn't mean the best defense, but
Speaker 2: the sum of those parts. Do you believe this tie?
Speaker 2: That's one and two? What or who should ut fans
Speaker 2: be the most concerned about, you know, just looking is
Speaker 2: it their team? Is it other teams? Where's the concern?
Speaker 2: And do you believe in that combination?
Speaker 1: Well, so the concern for me is on defense because
Speaker 1: they're losing their top four tacklers at linebacker Chase Hansen,
Speaker 1: Cody Barton and safety Marquise Blair Coreyan Ballard right up
Speaker 1: the heart of the defense. That's an issue in the secondary,
Speaker 1: in particular, how you replace those two safeties I think
Speaker 1: is of paramount point importance, impointance, important pointance. They're gonna
Speaker 1: move Julian Blackman, who is a second team All Pack
Speaker 1: twelver or to free safety from corner to fill in
Speaker 1: for Ballard, so they've got an answer there. They've also
Speaker 1: got another senior they can plug in for Blair. They've
Speaker 1: also got an All Pack twelve cornerback in the form
Speaker 1: of Jalen Johnson, who I think bolsters that secondary well.
Speaker 1: So even though there is some turnover there, I feel
Speaker 1: comfortable with the answers, and as a whole, it's hard
Speaker 1: not to feel comfortable with Kyle Whittingham coaching the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball, especially when you look at what
Speaker 1: he's got along that defensive front. He said it's the
Speaker 1: deepest front he's ever had. Just about the entire two
Speaker 1: deeped In is back from a year ago. He feels
Speaker 1: like he's got eleven guys that he can rotate in,
Speaker 1: not the least of which is Bradley and a Max
Speaker 1: to Boy. Bradley and Ay, he had a whopping fifty
Speaker 1: two quarterback pressures last year, including eighteen sacks plus hits.
Speaker 1: That's a stat from our friends over at Pro Football Focus.
Speaker 1: Up the middle very strong to All Pac twelve vers
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen. It's a recurring theme on this defense.
Speaker 1: A lot of All Pack twelve talent, which is going
Speaker 1: to bode well for them. So that being said, if
Speaker 1: my concern is up the spine of that defense and
Speaker 1: not with its offense, that's a new place for Utah
Speaker 1: to be, isn't it.
Speaker 2: I think Utah has reached the point where they just
Speaker 2: they get the benefit of the doubt. They defensively, Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: they get the benefit of the doubt. So I know
Speaker 2: your concerns are at you know up the middle, that
Speaker 2: you know, inside linebacker and safety, but there's very little
Speaker 2: when you look at what Utah has done on defense
Speaker 2: this past really decade. I'm looking at the numbers of
Speaker 2: this past decade. They have not allowed more than two
Speaker 2: points per drive. This you know, since two thousand it's
Speaker 2: more than a decades since two thousand and seven. Sure,
Speaker 2: so when you look at Utah, they just put together
Speaker 2: at worst, okay defenses, they've really never let things go
Speaker 2: offensively different thing. We can talk about that, but they are.
Speaker 2: The Utah defense is among the very few things in
Speaker 2: the Pac twelve where I just shrug and say they'll
Speaker 2: be fine.
Speaker 1: They'll be fine. To the larger point though, Yeah, for
Speaker 1: as long as you for as long as I can remember,
Speaker 1: the big question going into the season has always had
Speaker 1: something to do with Utah's offense. This year, it's not
Speaker 1: without offensive questions, mainly because the line has some new faces,
Speaker 1: But the biggest questions are definitely on defense. And as
Speaker 1: I said, linebacker they got Phil Spots and to a
Speaker 1: lesser degree maybe the defensive backfield. I just think you
Speaker 1: need to look at the full picture going into the season,
Speaker 1: where Utah is coming from and where they are now.
Speaker 1: Last year, this is a team that had to deal
Speaker 1: with both Tyler Huntley and Zach Moss going down for
Speaker 1: the year due to injury, and still they won nine games. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now both those guys are back this year, as well
Speaker 1: as Britton Covey, Jalen Dixon the top four other pass
Speaker 1: catchers from a year ago. Sure, the Lions got a
Speaker 1: little bit of turnover there with two new guys coming in,
Speaker 1: but I feel really good about this team, mainly because
Speaker 1: the schedule is so favorable. It's a good team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong. They miss both of Oregon and Stanford.
Speaker 1: Their road games are at USC and Washington, which will
Speaker 1: be tricky, but honestly, everything else seems pretty workable. If
Speaker 1: Utah and stay healthy, veteran offense, really good defensive front
Speaker 1: that's going to give teams fits. I'm looking at Utah
Speaker 1: this year and I'm thinking, all right, the over under
Speaker 1: is nine and a half wins. Yeah, that's very tasty
Speaker 1: to me, Dan, that is extremely tasty. I could envision
Speaker 1: a realistic scenario where I don't feel like I'm being
Speaker 1: over the top, and eleven and one, even twelve and
Speaker 1: zero is possible. Who is Utah's offensive coordinator? Is Andy Ludwig? Oh? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Who is Okay?
Speaker 2: At Wisconsin and everywhere else he leaves and people just exhale.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to put a positive spin on things, Dan.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be the guy who's been in
Speaker 1: sports media so long that everything is viewed with the
Speaker 1: tint of skepticism, So I understand and not bring up
Speaker 1: Andy Ludwig. Well here here, let me ask you this.
Speaker 1: If you were looking.
Speaker 2: At Utah and you're like, oh, Bradley and Nay in
Speaker 2: this defensive line and oh my gosh, year over year
Speaker 2: they keep replacing guys in the secondary and at linebacker
Speaker 2: and they just you know, they maintain that level. And
Speaker 2: now they've hired Brian Van Gorder. Are you saying to yourself,
Speaker 2: Utah will be fine? Like with Whittingham does develop and recruiting,
Speaker 2: I'm not you see, it's personal to me because he
Speaker 2: was at Oregon for two or three years when they
Speaker 2: were not good at all and super predictable in offense.
Speaker 2: My concern with Utah is they have everything in place
Speaker 2: to win the conference and they become a supermodel version
Speaker 2: of cal where the offense just lets them down, lets
Speaker 2: down a really nice defense. Now I know, you know,
Speaker 2: they have the running back, they have a healthy quarterback,
Speaker 2: and I'm the one making the point that the combination
Speaker 2: of quarterback and defense. If Tyler Huntley looks like he
Speaker 2: looked in October, granted with Troy Taylor at offensive coordinator,
Speaker 2: I think it was Stanford. He looked great against USC
Speaker 2: UCLA teams that, to varying degrees, had up and down seasons,
Speaker 2: but he did what good quarterbacks should do against those teams,
Speaker 2: and he was very, very good, and so I'm a
Speaker 2: little bit worried. Even though Brittin Covey's there for his
Speaker 2: five hundredth year, what feels like for Utah. I think
Speaker 2: he went on an LDS mission, But I'm worried that
Speaker 2: we are not going to get the creativity to max
Speaker 2: out the offense that's that's available to the Utes. So
Speaker 2: I would actually go under. I would go nine to
Speaker 2: three and still with a chance to win the conference,
Speaker 2: but I just I can't fully get behind that offense
Speaker 2: doing enough to go like eleven and one. Yeah, all right,
Speaker 2: well that's you. Do you agree with the combination? Is like,
Speaker 2: do you think it's kJ Costello and Stanford? Do you
Speaker 2: think it's Jacobeeson and Washington? Who is the best quarterback defense?
Speaker 2: Combo Herbert and Oregon? Probably not, Well, we'll have to
Speaker 2: talk about probably not Chase Garber's.
Speaker 1: No, no, And it's probably not kJ Costello and Stanford.
Speaker 1: Stanford's defense was a mess last year. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: they'll be better, but yeah, I think Eason, it could
Speaker 1: be Easton and Washington, but Washington's a ton of turnover
Speaker 1: on defense, So I don't know. Maybe it is Utah.
Speaker 2: I think that's the best known QB defense quantity right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well we had to bring up got
Speaker 1: to bring up Andy Ludwig if we're going to do
Speaker 1: a fair preview. But I'm very bullish on Utah. I
Speaker 1: think you are too. All right, Well, let's move on.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Washington. We just mentioned they've got some turnover.
Speaker 1: Nine new faces on defense, four on offense, thirteen in total.
Speaker 1: That of course includes their quarterback. They're going to be
Speaker 1: starting Jacob Eason this season. Maybe, maybe, presumably is twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen going to feel like a rebel the year for
Speaker 1: Washington or do you think they've gotten to a point
Speaker 1: where it's just going to be more like a reload.
Speaker 2: I think it's much closer to a reload. And the
Speaker 2: very few benefits of the doubt units in this conference
Speaker 2: also includes Washington's defense. They lose all four quote starters,
Speaker 2: even though a lot of guys rotate in that secondary.
Speaker 2: You know, Hunter Brian has been playing there for a while,
Speaker 2: Elijah Molden played a good amount, and that secondary is
Speaker 2: and has been incredible. So the benefit of the doubt
Speaker 2: goes to Jimmy Lake and Pete Wakowski, the guys that
Speaker 2: run that defense, and I'm.
Speaker 1: More worried about what they look like upfront.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, they've recruited well there they
Speaker 2: have guys who've played linebacker. Is going to be tricky
Speaker 2: because losing Ben Burke Curven who was a machine among
Speaker 2: others at linebacker, is going to be different. But there's
Speaker 2: enough promise up front, and the recruiting has been so
Speaker 2: good in the back and defense and placing defense is
Speaker 2: so much about effort and buy in that I just
Speaker 2: I give Washington the benefit of the doubt on defense.
Speaker 2: My big question is how different will they really look
Speaker 2: from where they were last year, which is the offense
Speaker 2: more letting the defense down in that alley oop in
Speaker 2: that you know, Jake Browning had some duds cal Colorado
Speaker 2: Oregon was not consistently a nice game for him on
Speaker 2: the road, even though he made a couple of big throws.
Speaker 2: And so Jacob Eason is you normally hear when a
Speaker 2: quarterback is popping a camper're like, oh, this guy special,
Speaker 2: and he doesn't have to be special, but you normally
Speaker 2: hear like, oh, yeah, this is definitely the dude. He's
Speaker 2: a cut above, and everything that is said about Jacob
Speaker 2: Eason in the quarterback battle, it's well, you know, he
Speaker 2: made some big throws, but so did Dylan Morris, so
Speaker 2: did Jake Hayner, so did Jacob Sermon and really hasn't
Speaker 2: separated himself and over strain. They're like, hey, he doesn't
Speaker 2: really I don't know, he's not really a cut above,
Speaker 2: and so even if he starts, I'd be worried about
Speaker 2: the consistency issues, especially downfield. And I like Air Fuller
Speaker 2: and Ty Jones Hunter Bryan is back very good at
Speaker 2: tight end. No more Miles Gaskin, but I still like
Speaker 2: the running backs there. The line should be very very good.
Speaker 2: That is a clear strength. But I'm worried about not
Speaker 2: hearing the oh yeah, this guy's the guy about Jacob
Speaker 2: eeson right, And that's troubling to me. So defensively, much
Speaker 2: closer to a reload, just because of how well they've
Speaker 2: recruited and how well you know, you look at who
Speaker 2: they would lose in twenty eleven, twenty twelve, twenty thirteen,
Speaker 2: twenty fourteen. I know it's different coaches part of that time,
Speaker 2: but year over here they just keep bringing back studs
Speaker 2: and developing him into that system. So last year they
Speaker 2: go what nine and four, A kind of a disappointing
Speaker 2: year given the experience that they had, but I want
Speaker 2: to see them get better. Situationally, they really won with
Speaker 2: turnover margin and discipline.
Speaker 1: I am.
Speaker 2: I think the best case right now for Washington is
Speaker 2: Easton is really good, which I think is possible given
Speaker 2: his arm. They're better downfield, they're more creative in the
Speaker 2: run game, as Miles Gaskins sort of took a step
Speaker 2: back last year, and they go ten and two or
Speaker 2: eleven and one because the schedule's great, the schedules really
Speaker 2: nice BYU feels a little bit trappy on the road
Speaker 2: early on. I think it's a look ahead before the
Speaker 2: USC and on the road against Stanford, but they get
Speaker 2: a buye between Oregon and Utah and they miss what
Speaker 2: I think is going to be a pretty feisty UCLA team.
Speaker 2: So I feel pretty good about Washington. I think their
Speaker 2: bottom if they bought them out.
Speaker 1: It's an eight and four year. It's a Jersey mix
Speaker 1: kind of year for them. What does that mean? Will
Speaker 1: they be a sub.
Speaker 2: Above You can't just make that joke and not go
Speaker 2: out and sell the sponsorship yourself to a sandwich company,
Speaker 2: not an official sponsor, But do you think they're closer
Speaker 2: to their best case or their worst case?
Speaker 1: Given? I mean, you didn't deep dive Washington, But what
Speaker 1: is your feeling? Well, my feeling is that Chris Peterson.
Speaker 1: Part of what he's done is obviously bring Washington to
Speaker 1: a level of prominence that they were hoping for, but
Speaker 1: also raise the floor. And granted there are going to
Speaker 1: be thirteen new faces, but I think those new faces
Speaker 1: are going to be pretty darn good. I am worried
Speaker 1: about the running game a little bit. Losing Miles Gaskins.
Speaker 1: I agree took a step back last I love Salvon Ahamed.
Speaker 1: I love Ahmed. I do. He's got better speed in
Speaker 1: the open field, but I don't know if he's got
Speaker 1: the patience of Gaskin. That's something that they've got to
Speaker 1: try and train into him, and so I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see how the running game goes. Running
Speaker 1: game important for first time starting quarterback or a new
Speaker 1: starting quarterback I guess on a first time for the
Speaker 1: Washington Huskies here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm curious to see if teams employ a very
Speaker 2: similar strategy to what happened last season, which like, just
Speaker 2: make Jake Browning beatch you, just making beatch you because
Speaker 2: he regressed. As much as I didn't want it to
Speaker 2: be the case, I was always impressed with him from
Speaker 2: where he was in twenty sixteen. I know he had
Speaker 2: injury issues and his receivers changed omhere, John Ross, things
Speaker 2: like that, but from where he was in twenty sixteen
Speaker 2: to how he finished as a senior, there was I
Speaker 2: think definitely some appointment and Washington fans would probably be
Speaker 2: the first to tell you that.
Speaker 1: And you know, to your point here and to my point,
Speaker 1: I guess about raising the floor, the line is huge. Line.
Speaker 1: The line is incredible for Washington. That takes a lot
Speaker 1: of the heat off the quarterback and the running game too. Sure,
Speaker 1: it allows those positions to excel.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Trey Adams and Nick Harris are you know,
Speaker 2: among the best duos on the offensive line in the conference.
Speaker 1: For sure. So you're feeling pretty bullish on Washington again,
Speaker 1: I think so. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think just situationally, the fact that their schedule is
Speaker 2: what it is, they don't have an Auburn early on
Speaker 2: the schedule, you know, works out nicely and they'll have
Speaker 2: time to work in new guys on defense. I'm curious
Speaker 2: about the line because that's where they've really whether it
Speaker 2: was Greg Gaines or vite Vea, all sorts of guys
Speaker 2: that really succeeded, especially inside. That's what I'm most curious about.
Speaker 2: What does Washington look like inside on the line and
Speaker 2: inside in the linebacking core because that those guys have
Speaker 2: been the difference maker these past couple of years.
Speaker 1: Well, let me stay with you then, before you have
Speaker 1: to put your dip in the oven, I want to
Speaker 1: talk about I want to talk about your Oregon Ducks. Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't have I don't have a deep, prodding, thrusting
Speaker 1: question about the orgle WHOA, that's my territory. I know
Speaker 1: it is, but Oregon is your territory and I don't
Speaker 1: want to limit your answer here. So okay, I wanted
Speaker 1: to be broad with this question and just ask you
Speaker 1: where does Oregon need to improve the most. Do you
Speaker 1: think they're going to be able to do it? Well?
Speaker 2: I answer actually changed in the last couple of days.
Speaker 2: So the key improvement area for Oregon is the combination
Speaker 2: of creative play calling and receivers improving and part of
Speaker 2: that receiver improvement is guys that are new to the program,
Speaker 2: either freshmen or transfers. So Michah Pittman is the big name.
Speaker 2: He's the younger brother of Michael Pittman, a starting receiver
Speaker 2: USC and son of you know NFL great quote unquote
Speaker 2: Michael Pittman, who is a running back for a couple
Speaker 2: of different teams. He has come in and I think
Speaker 2: he's already on the second team and I think he'll
Speaker 2: work his way into the lineup pretty consistently. So that's
Speaker 2: a nice addition. And then the bane of your Penn
Speaker 2: State existence at receiver, Juwan Johnson. Yes, he steps into
Speaker 2: the fold. I don't know exactly how he's going to
Speaker 2: be used, if he'll be used in the same way.
Speaker 2: I think he'll be looked at as a red zone target.
Speaker 2: I think primarily because of his size, but he certainly knew.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I feel great about bringing in
Speaker 2: a receiver to a core that had some drop issues,
Speaker 2: with a receiver who for sure had some drop.
Speaker 1: Definitely had some drop issues going to Yes, So.
Speaker 2: That combination of figuring out the creativity of finding seven
Speaker 2: yards and getting to second and three finding eleven yards
Speaker 2: because a lot of times justin Herbert locked in on guys.
Speaker 2: Dylan Mitchell was the clear best and he's not back,
Speaker 2: he's in the NFL now, and he.
Speaker 1: Would go he would throw the ball deep.
Speaker 2: He has this giant arm and he would he go deep,
Speaker 2: or he would fire it in for something short or
Speaker 2: try to squeeze something in intermediate. And I want there
Speaker 2: to be some sort of creativity like they showed last
Speaker 2: year later on in the season Arizona State, UCLA, whatever,
Speaker 2: where there were some swing passes, there was motion, there
Speaker 2: was play action, and the better that they got doing that,
Speaker 2: the less they were running it out of the pistol.
Speaker 2: And I said a few weeks ago that I felt
Speaker 2: Oregon had a nine win pistol ceiling. If they're really
Speaker 2: leaning on that pistol, I think I feel that way.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's a little bit harsh. I think if they
Speaker 2: don't get to nine wins, it'll be a combination of
Speaker 2: the pistol in a pretty tricky schedule. But at the
Speaker 2: top they're in good shape with Herbert, who has the
Speaker 2: potential to be the best in the conference and elite nationally.
Speaker 2: Running back is by committee. They don't have like the
Speaker 2: Belkow dude like they had in years past receiver. I've
Speaker 2: mentioned the offensive line might be the best in the country.
Speaker 2: If it's not the best in the country, it's in
Speaker 2: that group. There's a ton of experience. You know, Pinay
Speaker 2: Swell might be a top ten twelve pick when he's
Speaker 2: eligible to come out at left tackle.
Speaker 1: Defensively, I think they're going to get better. I think
Speaker 1: they're going to.
Speaker 2: Get more unpredictable. They add what it was, number one,
Speaker 2: number two red root in the country in Cavon Thibodeaux,
Speaker 2: who at least will be a rushing a rush end
Speaker 2: specialist type linebacker. Their experience, they're okay Troy Dies, you know,
Speaker 2: he's been there now seventeen years and he should lead
Speaker 2: the team in tackles once again. And they're improving in
Speaker 2: the secondary schedule though, like I mentioned, open against Auburn,
Speaker 2: they're at Stanford this year. At Washington, they host Washington State,
Speaker 2: They go to USC, who they missed last year, and
Speaker 2: a lot of that is like I think it's Washington,
Speaker 2: Washington Schools and USC are back to back to back
Speaker 2: in October and early November, so it's a rough there's
Speaker 2: no stretch of ease for Oregon. So the best case
Speaker 2: scenario is, you know, they go ten and two, Justin
Speaker 2: Herberts and Assassin, the receivers improve, the offense takes those
Speaker 2: open yards. It gets creative. Worst cases, they go eight
Speaker 2: and four again and the offense stagnates. They're not that
Speaker 2: great on the road, the defense is inconsistent. So I
Speaker 2: have them squarely between those at nine and three.
Speaker 1: It'd be a good year, though. Would you be happy
Speaker 1: with that? I think so.
Speaker 2: I think so, with the potential depending on who they
Speaker 2: lose to. If they lose the Auburn game, so you're
Speaker 2: only losing two Pac twelve games, so you can get
Speaker 2: into a pretty big Bowl game. I just I'm too
Speaker 2: concerned about the offense and what it looks like on
Speaker 2: the road in big spots, and what it looks like
Speaker 2: down four with three to eighteen left. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to be nearly as confident in this Oregon offense as
Speaker 2: I was in years past when it was working. So
Speaker 2: that's where I think the losses come from, just offensive
Speaker 2: disorder at times.
Speaker 1: I have a more important question, though, Okay, can I
Speaker 1: still make the joke that Oregon's a finesse team because
Speaker 1: you know Mario Chrystobaul has been doing this thing where
Speaker 1: he's trying to be a little bit more physical than
Speaker 1: previous regimes.
Speaker 2: It would be you can criticize Oregon for a lot,
Speaker 2: and I don't think they were ever a finesse team,
Speaker 2: but you can criticize them for a lot or just
Speaker 2: be snarky about them for a lot. Finesse running straight
Speaker 2: between a center and a guard, or between a guard
Speaker 2: and a tackle, between the tackles insisting on running down
Speaker 2: him with a shotgun or a pistol look, and a
Speaker 2: running back directly behind the quarterback running straight downhill doesn't
Speaker 2: feel finasy to me. Damn, I know, I know, we'll
Speaker 2: have to find a new team. So that's where I'm
Speaker 2: at with Oregon. I'm the thing I'm most excited and
Speaker 2: curious for is actually what they look like on defense.
Speaker 1: There's nothing.
Speaker 2: There's not much that I feel like they can evolve
Speaker 2: to offensively with the same people and the same coordinator.
Speaker 2: But they hire a new coordinator in Andy Avolos from
Speaker 2: Poise State, who I think ran a really interesting defense there.
Speaker 2: I think you're gonna see a lot of pre snap
Speaker 2: confusion and unpredictability and I'm I'm all for that. I
Speaker 2: love that kind of thing. So I'm excited to see what.
Speaker 1: They do there. Fair enough for what do you want
Speaker 1: to go next? All right, let's go to.
Speaker 2: I guess we should talk about USC, right, Yeah, we should,
Speaker 2: let's talk about USC. I'm actually so a lot of
Speaker 2: the attention has been on what are they gonna look
Speaker 2: like as an air raid team? What are they going
Speaker 2: to look like? You know, as they get a little
Speaker 2: bit healthier, they're replacing their secondary on defense. If the
Speaker 2: Trojans are going to take and this I think is
Speaker 2: a fair question, if they're going to take a dramatic
Speaker 2: step in either direction, which group will be the cause?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: So if they get well, I'm saying even more specifically, okay,
Speaker 2: what position group will.
Speaker 1: Be the reason?
Speaker 2: So if the most likely dramatic improvement or regression will
Speaker 2: be because of what position group, I would say, there's
Speaker 2: my terreso alarm. So you're having you got the alarm
Speaker 2: right now? I have the alarm right now, I'm texting
Speaker 2: Jody with an eye. Can you preheat the oven to
Speaker 2: four hundred degrees please?
Speaker 1: Okay, So if USC takes a step forward, what specific
Speaker 1: group is responsible for it, Yeah, I think or back
Speaker 1: or back or back. Yeah, I think I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: the offensive line because it has genuinely been the week
Speaker 1: spot for USC the last couple of years, and as
Speaker 1: we just got done mentioning with the Oregon Ducks, with
Speaker 1: the Washington Huskies, even with Utah to some degree, the
Speaker 1: line can paper over a lot of sins and you
Speaker 1: need to be strong in the trenches. I think with
Speaker 1: USC it also has a direct impact on the running game. Now.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the running game is going to
Speaker 1: look like this year, being so maybe they are switching
Speaker 1: to more of an Air Rady type system, but they've
Speaker 1: got so much talent at running back. Wasn't Stephen Carr
Speaker 1: a five star?
Speaker 2: Stephen Carr was a five star the vave Malapi. I've
Speaker 2: definitely got that pronounced wrong. He was like an Army
Speaker 2: All American because he was I'd remember him because he
Speaker 2: was committed to Oregon for a long time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just like we haven't seen any breakouts at
Speaker 1: that running back position, despite the fact that USC seems
Speaker 1: to always have five star talent since the Texas Tesla. Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right. So I'm going to start with the line,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to work backwards. I do want to
Speaker 1: address the question though, that you mentioned about the air
Speaker 1: raid and the offense. I just I look at this team.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's a whole lot of mystery here.
Speaker 1: The offense needs to get better. Anyone who follows USC
Speaker 1: knows that the offense needs to get better. Clay Helton,
Speaker 1: he knew it too. M h. He's not a dummy.
Speaker 1: That's why he fired T Martin. He brought in Cliff Kingsbury. Cliffee,
Speaker 1: of course, was there for what that month month in
Speaker 1: Manhattan Beach, had a lot of fun. Then he went
Speaker 1: to the Arizona Cardinals. Now they bring in Graham Harrell
Speaker 1: from North Texas, which I think is an equally aggressive move.
Speaker 1: That definitely it definitely, let's put this way, signals some
Speaker 1: sort of new philosophy on offense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but Cliff Kingsbury was wildly successful as an offensive
Speaker 2: mind than Graham Harrell. Okay, interesting, intriguing, but.
Speaker 1: I think Cliff was way more proven. I think that
Speaker 1: was more aggressed. Definitely more proven for sure. Okay, The
Speaker 1: question now is what's the realist expectation going from T
Speaker 1: Martin to Graham Harrell. Again more of an air raid guy.
Speaker 1: Doesn't mean he's not going to find some hybrid version
Speaker 1: that works for USC, but there's certainly going to be
Speaker 1: a transition here, and the question everyone's asking is will
Speaker 1: it click fast enough to meet the expectations to save
Speaker 1: Clay Helton's job. For me, I really like JT. Daniels
Speaker 1: at quarterback. He looked really good look the real deal
Speaker 1: last year, and I think he's got a solid wide
Speaker 1: receiver corps that should be primed for a big year.
Speaker 1: Did you think he looked really good last year?
Speaker 2: I thought he did. I thought he showed enough promise.
Speaker 2: Do you know why you thought that? I'm going to
Speaker 2: tell you why you thought that?
Speaker 1: Has he looked he looked good.
Speaker 2: Against Notre Dame, and that's probably when you watched him
Speaker 2: most closely.
Speaker 1: I still think he's got a ton of talent, and
Speaker 1: I feel I feel good about JT. Daniels, and I
Speaker 1: think the receiving corps has a ton of talent with
Speaker 1: Michael Pittman Junior and Tyler Vaughns. He's still there and
Speaker 1: they've got They've got talent up and down the depth
Speaker 1: chart at wide receipt. Still no word if they're going
Speaker 1: to let Bruce McCoy play right, which in case will.
Speaker 2: Be other transfer back is eligible at corner, but I
Speaker 2: haven't heard about brew yet.
Speaker 1: So we'll find out. The point is here, they've got
Speaker 1: talent at wide receiver. If they're going to run more
Speaker 1: air raid stuff, presumably that would be a position that
Speaker 1: that would have a big year. It's just I don't
Speaker 1: know what it's going to look like, and that bothers me.
Speaker 1: I like the talent, but we've liked talent at USC
Speaker 1: for a long time. The line has certainly underwhelmed. That's
Speaker 1: why I mentioned them first. And the running back core.
Speaker 1: I don't know what to expect there right. Defensively, defensively,
Speaker 1: that front has to have an outsized impact here because
Speaker 1: I'm comparing the secondary to Gumby Dan because they're thin
Speaker 1: and green. Oh okay, I think a lot comes down
Speaker 1: to this offense. Is that fair? They've recruited really well
Speaker 1: in the secondary, though, they have, but they're thin and
Speaker 1: they're they've been shaky though. Yeah, you're right, they're young.
Speaker 2: Yes, I think the offensive line will decide things in
Speaker 2: an interesting way, although part of me also thinks they're
Speaker 2: going to design this offense around getting the ball out
Speaker 2: of whoever the starting quarterback's hand is pretty quickly, and
Speaker 2: so to mitigate any of the worries there, because they
Speaker 2: get rid of the offensive line coach last year who
Speaker 2: was there for a little while, and so I think
Speaker 2: Tim Drevno is sliding from running backs coach to he's
Speaker 2: an old Harbaugh guy too, back to the offensive line,
Speaker 2: which is where he was before. So it appears that
Speaker 2: they're going to have a better coaching and more solidified
Speaker 2: situation there on the line. The Mike jinks Hire is
Speaker 2: interesting to me.
Speaker 1: They hire him.
Speaker 2: He was a head coach, but he was at Texas
Speaker 2: Tech under Cliff Kingsbury as a running backs coach and
Speaker 2: did a really nice job with the running backs for
Speaker 2: the Red Raiders. So it's interesting to me to see
Speaker 2: who shines from that running backs group from an all
Speaker 2: purpose standpoint. But even if the line isn't great, if
Speaker 2: they're getting the ball out of the hit, they're getting
Speaker 2: it to whoever you mentioned, Michael Pittman and Tyler Vaughn's
Speaker 2: and Devin Williams and all these guys that are really
Speaker 2: really talented and they're just getting to them immediately. It
Speaker 2: feels like they're gonna be in a much better place.
Speaker 2: They were awful on third down last year. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: if they just if they can pump out six seven
Speaker 2: yards on first down more often than not. There they
Speaker 2: had like the eightieth or ninetieth best offense in the
Speaker 2: country last year. It was We're going to be immediately
Speaker 2: a top twenty or thirty offense just from doing that.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you the biggest fly in this college
Speaker 1: football ointment, oh place. This schedule is unrelenting. Whoa, it's
Speaker 1: such a big start. It is unrelenting. They've got Stanford,
Speaker 1: Utah and a road game against Washington all in September. Yeah,
Speaker 1: then there's a bye week before they go to Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: They've also got Oregon in the first week of November
Speaker 1: and a road game at ASU that has not historically
Speaker 1: been great to USC. The very next tarmac firing filled. Yeah,
Speaker 1: not the problem Clay Helton, who everybody loves but no
Speaker 1: one would recognize in Hudson News. As we've elaborated on
Speaker 1: the show, I love that stupidity of the statement. Yeah,
Speaker 1: nine and three may be the absolute ceiling for USC
Speaker 1: given the schedule, and that could be a problem for
Speaker 1: him if.
Speaker 2: They go nine and three and win the Alamobile and
Speaker 2: get to ten and they beat I don't know who
Speaker 2: they would play in the Alamobile, but if they beat
Speaker 2: somebody in the top twenty ten wins with the top
Speaker 2: twenty Bowl win, is that enough?
Speaker 1: Just show improvement, okay, show improvement from start to finish.
Speaker 1: That might be enough. If you win eight wins.
Speaker 2: I don't think that's enough. I think, yes, an admirable
Speaker 2: eight wins where you just barely lose to Washington, it
Speaker 2: just barely and you look competitive. I don't think that's enough.
Speaker 2: I think that number is it's a red number. That's
Speaker 2: the scarlet number for USC. I think they're cardinal and gold.
Speaker 2: But it's close enough. Eight wins is not enough. A
Speaker 2: wins is just not enough. I think it's it's gonna
Speaker 2: take nine with wins over big teams, and maybe they're
Speaker 2: there's a context for why they lose a couple of games.
Speaker 1: Quarterback.
Speaker 2: It's hurt they you know, some some explanation. I think
Speaker 2: in all likelihood it has to be double digit wins
Speaker 2: for for Clay Hell to keep his job, and double
Speaker 2: digit wins winning the conference probably doesn't. Don't They also
Speaker 2: have Fresno to open the year. Yeah, Fresno's a good team. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Fresno's been putting out top ten defenses. So Fresno Stanford,
Speaker 2: they're going. They're on the road at BYU, who's got
Speaker 2: a promising young quarterback. I think USC wins that game.
Speaker 2: But in terms of there's there's no letting off the pedal.
Speaker 2: Fresno Stanford BYU, Utah, Washington, Notre Dame, UNREMT that's going.
Speaker 2: That's going into an Arizona game where there might be
Speaker 2: the single most dangerous quarterback in the conference. You might
Speaker 2: talk Do you want to talk about Arizona next?
Speaker 1: I'll talk about Arizona next, Yes, please do. What's your
Speaker 1: question about Arizona? I do have that question about Arizona.
Speaker 2: That is the least interesting question there is because it's
Speaker 2: what everybody kind of wants to know. Am I going
Speaker 2: to get to watch fun Khalil Tate in twenty nineteen?
Speaker 2: I know last year that the nol Mazzoni offense where
Speaker 2: he was, you know, getting used to being more of
Speaker 2: a pocket guy and not really in that rich Rod
Speaker 2: Mold of all sorts of his own reads and just
Speaker 2: doing it all himself. Can he do it all himself?
Speaker 2: Again please, because the defense is not going to be
Speaker 2: super good and so it's not they will find themselves
Speaker 2: in a well, they're down forty to twenty eight with
Speaker 2: eleven minutes left.
Speaker 1: Sure, it's Tate time. Tate time. Nice, that's it I'm begging. Okay,
Speaker 1: So you mentioned the defense. They gave up thirty two
Speaker 1: points six points per game last year. Yeah, they did.
Speaker 1: That was almost as bad as Oklahoma for content.
Speaker 2: The Tate Show with I was doing like a late
Speaker 2: show thing and then it just didn't all add up.
Speaker 1: Sorry. The issue is defense, for sure. Okay, let's get
Speaker 1: back to the elephant in the room here. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: want to believe they get better on defense. The linebacking
Speaker 1: corps should be okay, Okay, Well, I am kicking myself
Speaker 1: personally that I did not include Colin's Schooler on my
Speaker 1: dude watch list.
Speaker 2: Oh man, Actually, can I jump in right here please.
Speaker 2: The reason I said that my answer about Organ's receivers
Speaker 2: has changed in the last couple of days is because
Speaker 2: starting receiver Brendan Schooler, yes, broke his foot and he's
Speaker 2: out six to eight weeks. His younger brother, who you're
Speaker 2: about to talk about. It's a very, very good linebacker
Speaker 2: for Arizona.
Speaker 1: Really good linebacker. And again, this isn't a program recently
Speaker 1: that has been that notable on the defensive side. Of course,
Speaker 1: he had Scooby Wright a couple of years ago, but
Speaker 1: otherwise not a lot to love on the defensive side.
Speaker 1: Colin Schooler is one of those names you should watch
Speaker 1: out for. And the secondary is three starters back and
Speaker 1: they should be okay. So I don't know if I'll
Speaker 1: believe in any defensive improvement until I see it, but
Speaker 1: they can't get a whole lot worse than they did
Speaker 1: a year ago. Good news, bad news situation for the
Speaker 1: Wildcats is this. I think there is a ton of
Speaker 1: reason for optimism, not just seeing Khalil Tate in the backfield,
Speaker 1: but also JJ Taylor. That's exciting. Preview after preview, rider
Speaker 1: after writer, everybody who's writing a preview about Arizona this
Speaker 1: year is focusing on those two guys and how much
Speaker 1: fun they're going to be. I'm with them. I'm excited.
Speaker 1: The problem the bad news is that eventually it hits
Speaker 1: you like, oh God, this is all on Khalil JJ Taylor,
Speaker 1: isn't it. It's fine by me, It's fine by me
Speaker 1: as a fan, if you're an Arizona fan, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: not sustainable. But as a college football fan, yeah, you're
Speaker 1: going to find some games where they're down forty to
Speaker 1: eighteen late and we're going to see some creative stuff.
Speaker 1: Last year, the main reason I believe we saw a
Speaker 1: different Khalil Tait was because he heard his ankle in
Speaker 1: the second week of the year and he didn't run
Speaker 1: as much. Yeah, and it's new coach, new system. This
Speaker 1: a coach new system. But Kevin someone was very clear,
Speaker 1: very clear in saying that, Yeah, Cleil Tait's really good
Speaker 1: when he can run the ball, and he just didn't
Speaker 1: run the ball last year. He was hurt. So hopefully
Speaker 1: he's healthy this year and we could see more of that.
Speaker 1: And let's talk about JJ Taylor. We talked about him,
Speaker 1: I think on our Dude Show. If we didn't, maybe
Speaker 1: we should have, but implied established dude, but a revelation
Speaker 1: in his sophomore year had over fourteen hundred yards. Dudes,
Speaker 1: only five six, not big by any stretch, but a
Speaker 1: ton of fun to watch out there. The absolute wishing
Speaker 1: on a star best case scenario for Arizona is like
Speaker 1: seven and five. Yeah, I think that's right. Seven and five.
Speaker 1: I can't go more than seven and five. Texas Tech
Speaker 1: in week three should tell us a lot. Listen to
Speaker 1: the road schedule. Did you see this? I don't have
Speaker 1: it in front of me, but I'm winning at USC,
Speaker 1: at Stanford, at Oregon, at Arizona State. And that's in
Speaker 1: addition and territorial by the way, to home games against
Speaker 1: Washington and Utah. So not easy for Arizona. What do
Speaker 1: they miss from the north? Do they miss Wazoo? They
Speaker 1: miss Wazoo. Oh, that's pretty good, but otherwise it's a
Speaker 1: murderer's row. Doesn't relent at all. And seven and five
Speaker 1: is probably your best case scenario.
Speaker 2: So that means the defense in a best case scenario
Speaker 2: goes from being below average because they did improve last year.
Speaker 2: They go from being not great to all right. You know,
Speaker 2: take the good, you take the bad. That kind of
Speaker 2: thing for Arizona and Khalil Tate returning to form as
Speaker 2: essentially a borderline Heisman candidate. Yes, okay, I'm curious about
Speaker 2: the receivers. If they have those, go to guys that
Speaker 2: will pair well and keep defenses honest or teams are
Speaker 2: just going to keep spying on Tate and you know,
Speaker 2: make his life miserable as often as possible.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, where do we want to go from here?
Speaker 1: I want to talk about Wazoo since you brought them up. Yes,
Speaker 1: great story. Last year, both sides of the football, right,
Speaker 1: Gardner Minshew has a breakout campaign. Tracy Clays his first year,
Speaker 1: Remember they brought him in to try and help the defense.
Speaker 1: That went very well, good defensive mind. This year, now
Speaker 1: they're in a different place, a familiar place, but a
Speaker 1: different place, bringing in another transfer quarterback because of the system. Now,
Speaker 1: is it fair to say that the Wazoo offense is
Speaker 1: completely relying upon the success of their newest transfer quarterback.
Speaker 2: Yeah, They're only going to go as far as their
Speaker 2: quarterback takes them. I think it's more than that. But
Speaker 2: because of the way Washington State's offense runs through the quarterback,
Speaker 2: as the quarterback is responsible for both the passing game
Speaker 2: and in some ways the running game, with short little
Speaker 2: passes to running backs out of the backfield and screens
Speaker 2: to the receivers. Yes, the good news for Gaje Gubrud
Speaker 2: allegedly gauge, but come on, it's gotsche The good News
Speaker 2: room is. He had a bunch of coordinators at Eastern.
Speaker 2: He had Bo Baldwin running things on offense and Troy
Speaker 2: Taylor who ended up at Utah. He's year over year.
Speaker 2: Has had to get used to being thrown into a
Speaker 2: new situation. Now going to Washington State and playing against
Speaker 2: PAC twelve competition every week, it's different animal. It's for sure,
Speaker 2: different animal. We saw Vernon Adams do it from going
Speaker 2: from Eastern Washington to a PAC twelve North team and
Speaker 2: looking sensational, and it could happen again for Washington State
Speaker 2: here quarterbacks are different and relying on this sort of
Speaker 2: year over year thing. It's real tricky again. I saw
Speaker 2: it with Dakota Prucop coming in a year after Vernon Adams.
Speaker 2: Different quarterback for sure. It's just tough to the lightning
Speaker 2: in a bottle of Gardner Minshew happening again. I think
Speaker 2: the odds are not great, but they've been built well enough.
Speaker 2: Washington State. They are right now in a probably better
Speaker 2: place than Oregon. They've beaten the Ducks four straight years,
Speaker 2: and a couple of those times pretty emphatic. They go,
Speaker 2: they win ten games. Last year, they lose the Wonky
Speaker 2: Game to USC with the referee issues and the late hits,
Speaker 2: and then obviously they're nailed down by the Husky Hammer. Hey,
Speaker 2: that's pretty good. That's your nickname in high school. So
Speaker 2: the offense is very very good. So yes, it's going
Speaker 2: to depend on guy Ja Gubrud. They had trouble running
Speaker 2: last year, which would have taken off some of the
Speaker 2: heat from Gardner Minshew in a couple of those games.
Speaker 2: They didn't go downfield as much as they have and
Speaker 2: so I wonder what that looks like with a really
Speaker 2: nice receiving core back tay Martin des Patman. Jamiir Calvin
Speaker 2: inside is really good. I think he had a huge
Speaker 2: conversion on third down against Oregon last year. The line
Speaker 2: should be pretty good even without Andre Dillard, who now
Speaker 2: is sort of your neighbor, right, He's an eagle, sort of,
Speaker 2: isn't he? Yeah, sort of your neighbor sort of. A
Speaker 2: couple hours the defensive lines rebuilding, but they bring in
Speaker 2: a nice transfer. I think his name is McDougall from
Speaker 2: West Virginia. They've got rotations, back, rotation guys back at linebacker.
Speaker 2: I think secondary is gonna be a little bit tough.
Speaker 2: They lost Jalen Thompson, who was even potential All American
Speaker 2: but certainly All Conference. He had an nc DOUAI violation.
Speaker 2: I think declared for the supplemental draft.
Speaker 1: Schedule's nice. Schedule's nice.
Speaker 2: I know they have Houston early on and they're at
Speaker 2: Oregon Washington, but it's all pretty cushioned. They have Colorado
Speaker 2: before Oregon, they have I think it's Oregon State at
Speaker 2: home before Washington. So yes, it depends on him. He
Speaker 2: was a good quarterback, had a foot injury last year
Speaker 2: that I think he's still trying to shake a little bit,
Speaker 2: but I think he's ultimately going to be fine. So
Speaker 2: the best case scenario is Gajay is minshew esque, the
Speaker 2: defense stays fast and dangerous, they keep winning the close ones.
Speaker 2: They had some fifty to fifty games last year. I
Speaker 2: think Cal was real close. And the worst case scenario
Speaker 2: is it's just too much to ask for two grad
Speaker 2: transfer quarterbacks in a row to generate that lightning in
Speaker 2: a bottle, and the defense leaks a bit a little
Speaker 2: bit in the secondary, and it's a tough quarterback road
Speaker 2: for Washington State. They have Derek King Houston, they have
Speaker 2: I think what's going to be We're going to get
Speaker 2: to him probably next dt R, Dorian Thompson Robinson, the UCLA.
Speaker 2: They've Tyler Huntley, Stephen Montes, Justin, Herbert kJ Costello, and
Speaker 2: potentially a very good Jacob Easton or whoever starting at Washington.
Speaker 2: So that's the worst case, and they would in that
Speaker 2: case go seven to five and six or six and
Speaker 2: six something like that. This all seems right to me, Dan,
Speaker 2: Are they in a better place to you than Oregon
Speaker 2: with how they've been these past few years where you
Speaker 2: are feeling more confident that they will figure things out.
Speaker 2: I'm feeling more confident because they have despite maybe the
Speaker 2: stigma that Mike Leech had about coaching defense, they've actually
Speaker 2: been pretty good on defense last couple of years, and
Speaker 2: that to me has been a steadying force.
Speaker 1: Right. So I guess with that in mind, I would
Speaker 1: I'd be inclined to answer, Yes, I think it's close, though,
Speaker 1: I mean it's close.
Speaker 2: Who is more able to say we have got a
Speaker 2: great blank and it's I think it's Washington State in
Speaker 2: their offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're right there. There's been a level
Speaker 1: of consistency at Wazoo that's been admirable. Danger got a
Speaker 1: credit Mike Leach for that. He's done a good job
Speaker 1: for sure. But we'll see you at the new quarterback.
Speaker 1: What's your ceiling for Wazuo this season?
Speaker 2: Ceiling if if Gaja goobrued works out and the defense
Speaker 2: you know, is able to replace guys and work rotation
Speaker 2: guys in nicely. I think Washington State has like a
Speaker 2: man nine and three again with a chance to win
Speaker 2: ten in a bowl.
Speaker 1: Let's do Ucla. What do you got for me on Ucla? Man?
Speaker 2: This is gonna be very similar to my kalil take question.
Speaker 2: Am I going to get to watch Chip Kelly football
Speaker 2: Capital F football in twenty nineteen in a way that
Speaker 2: will make me? This is a complicated, baggage filled It'll
Speaker 2: make me happy, it'll make me sad, It'll make me
Speaker 2: a little scared watching UCLA? Or is that is that
Speaker 2: a twenty twenty combo of emotion?
Speaker 1: Is this? Is this you being invited to an ex's wedding?
Speaker 2: Not anymore? He's already been back to Eugene at this point.
Speaker 2: I just it would be fun to see a good UCLA.
Speaker 1: So you've you're you're burying the past.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we had our great times. It was passionate,
Speaker 2: memorable and I'll remember it forever. I just now I
Speaker 2: want to see somebody live well.
Speaker 1: As a Southern California kid, Yeah, growing up watching sports,
Speaker 1: were you more inclined towards USC or Ucla? Oh? Ucla
Speaker 1: for sure, really for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I really liked the basketball team. So they won the
Speaker 2: national championship and what ninety.
Speaker 1: Four early the tias Edney team.
Speaker 2: Tias Edney over Miszoo and yeah, yeah, I was about
Speaker 2: to say Kyler Murray, but that is not correct. Different player. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that team was incredible and so that really got me
Speaker 2: going with UCLA, as did like the cade McNown era.
Speaker 1: In oh yeah, middle late nineties.
Speaker 2: So I was into that and so I've talked about
Speaker 2: this that that cade McNown Ucla lost to Miami at
Speaker 2: the end of the season. That was postponed from the
Speaker 2: beginning of the season when UCLA was about to, I
Speaker 2: think go to the national championship if they win that game.
Speaker 2: That was Edger and James ran for five thousand yards
Speaker 2: on a Nick Aliotti defense for UCLA.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Ucla went three and nine last year.
Speaker 1: It was not a good season in Westwood, but they
Speaker 1: were super young and They're still young this year, they
Speaker 1: will be better, will be better this season. I am
Speaker 1: super interested in your boy Dtrnson Robinson, their quarterback, as
Speaker 1: well as Joshua Kelly and how our boy Charles chip
Speaker 1: Kelly is going to use both of them. As you know,
Speaker 1: Chippers got a knack for the whole running thing, and
Speaker 1: Joshua Kelly really came into his own towards the end
Speaker 1: of last season. Elsewhere, the wide receiver corp is mostly back.
Speaker 1: They got four guys on the line that are back.
Speaker 1: The defense was super young again last season, mostly mostly
Speaker 1: back this year. So I don't know if I have
Speaker 1: any deep level of analysis on the UCLA Bruins, just
Speaker 1: that they were so young last year learning a new system.
Speaker 1: Most of the team is back. I think it has
Speaker 1: to improve. Now to what end will it improve? That's
Speaker 1: hard to say, Dan, because when you look at the schedule,
Speaker 1: it truly qualifies as manslaughter in like one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty countries. This schedule is brutal. Opening the year at Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Not a bad team, right, They'll be better this year,
Speaker 1: for sure, not a bad team. Then they come back
Speaker 1: home against San Diego State, which is no pushover the
Speaker 1: next week they host Oklahoma, difficult game potentially zero to three, potentially,
Speaker 1: and then the Pac twelve road schedule is nuts at Wazoo,
Speaker 1: at Zona, at Stanford, at Utah, at USC. Are you
Speaker 1: freaking kidding me with this? That's a rough. That's a rough.
Speaker 1: They could improve by leaps and bounds, and the best
Speaker 1: case scenario still might only be six and six. That's
Speaker 1: how tough this schedule is. That's one hundred percent more wins.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent more wins? Yes? Is my math? Does
Speaker 1: my mat check out? Three? Nine to six and six? Yes,
Speaker 1: one hundred percent more wins. You're right?
Speaker 2: They miss Oregon though, right, they miss organ Yeah, they
Speaker 2: miss Oregon and Washington. Is that how I'm reading this correctly?
Speaker 2: So that's at least some relief. There's at least something
Speaker 2: there that it could be worse. The back half of
Speaker 2: their schedule is pretty rocky. The middle of their schedules
Speaker 2: all right, beginning as you mentioned, is you know that
Speaker 2: through the Arizona game late in September, that's tough.
Speaker 1: I am.
Speaker 2: I'm very excited for DTR. I'm they have speed at receiver.
Speaker 2: I think whatever they lack in talent, they are gonna
Speaker 2: be one of the few teams in the country that
Speaker 2: they can say we can outscheme people, we can add
Speaker 2: wrinkles that make our offense hum more smoothly than it
Speaker 2: should all things considered defensively. Have a lot of questions defensively.
Speaker 2: What they look like on the road. Yeah, so last
Speaker 2: year on the road, UCLA gives up forty nine, thirty eight,
Speaker 2: thirty or they give up seven in a win.
Speaker 1: To cal which is great.
Speaker 2: They give up forty two to Oregon, thirty one to Asu,
Speaker 2: and then they finish the season, and I would consider
Speaker 2: this a bright spot. God Wilton spate through for almost
Speaker 2: five hundred yards against Stanford in a shootout loss to
Speaker 2: the Cardinal in Pasadena, so they're in a decent enough place.
Speaker 2: Dtr will be healthy. What he looked like against Washington,
Speaker 2: especially as they almost upset them in the Rose Bowl.
Speaker 2: I think we're gonna get a lot more of a
Speaker 2: full off season. The Chip Kelly program, I think, is
Speaker 2: gonna pay a good amount of dividends. They're gonna be fun.
Speaker 2: They're gonna be a fifty to fifty team. They're gonna
Speaker 2: plan a lot of like thirty eight thirty five types.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that's a great argument against your
Speaker 1: theory that this could be the last year for Charles
Speaker 1: Chip Kelly. There's so many I don't think we'll have
Speaker 1: to do with what they look like on the field though,
Speaker 1: so well, that's potentially true, so much youth. I think
Speaker 1: Dorian Thompson, Robinson and Joshua Kelly should be awesome in
Speaker 1: the backfield. Very curious to see if we get that
Speaker 1: retro Chip style of offense. That would be fun. Like
Speaker 1: I do.
Speaker 2: I'm worried about them up front, but I like their
Speaker 2: their linebackers on defense. I like, God, he feels like
Speaker 2: he's been here forever. It's Kaishaan Lucier South. Yeah, he was,
Speaker 2: He's been there for a good amount of time. And
Speaker 2: Chris Barnes was really nice as well.
Speaker 1: Last year. He was all over the place.
Speaker 2: So if he can be if they can look like
Speaker 2: what they did at linebacker like four years ago, the
Speaker 2: Anthony Barr era, Yeah yeah, that's it's a high bar.
Speaker 2: But at least when you have those guys cleaning things up,
Speaker 2: you can get off the field, and that's that's enormous.
Speaker 1: Hey, Dan, when you were in school, what was like
Speaker 1: the cool thing you have, like a trendy thing when
Speaker 1: you were in school in high school. Growing up, you
Speaker 1: went to like angel Dust saying no slap bracelets. In
Speaker 1: high school was that? That was probably? I am That
Speaker 1: was probably elementary school for both of us. Right, High
Speaker 1: school was POGs Now ska ska. People listen to SKA.
Speaker 1: You're talking about like collectibles, Yeah, like a Rubik's cube
Speaker 1: or like Pokey. We were before Pokemon, quicksilver shirts, quick.
Speaker 2: Airwalks, Yeah, a lot of you know what it was
Speaker 2: that skater shoes like DVS airwalks, vans.
Speaker 1: That was very big, the coolest thing in school. Now
Speaker 1: they're Bombas socks. Oh, absolutely, And I have something to
Speaker 1: say about this. They have the most comfortable kid socks ever.
Speaker 1: They're designed with several comfort innovations that helped make them
Speaker 1: feel better than any other kids sock ever made. They're colorful,
Speaker 1: literally bursting with color. Dan you know this. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: even have a little colorful b on them. Bombas donates
Speaker 1: a pair of socks for every pair purchased. So great.
Speaker 1: You should get some for yourself too. We've got Bombastan.
Speaker 1: They actually were kind enough to just send us a pack.
Speaker 1: I have yours downstairs of No show socks, which I've
Speaker 1: been into.
Speaker 2: I'm full no show life. Other than when I have
Speaker 2: to wear a suit. I'm a no shower now.
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Speaker 1: back to school, why not do it with Bombas. They
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Speaker 1: of Bomba socks here, got a whole drawer full of them.
Speaker 1: Can't recommend them highly enough.
Speaker 2: I remember when I was whatever, it was, fifth grade,
Speaker 2: eighth grade, whatever, where I get these socks and popular brands,
Speaker 2: whether in Nike, whatever, Adidas and the elastic wares, and
Speaker 2: you're like, Wow, I can't wear these anymore. These look
Speaker 2: like clown socks. I've had the original pairs of Bomba
Speaker 2: socks that they sent us. I don't know when we
Speaker 2: started partnering with them seven twelve one, two thousand and
Speaker 2: one predated podcast by five years. Yes, I still have those.
Speaker 2: I still work out in them. The elastic hasn't changed.
Speaker 2: They're just as comfortable. They've got that mid soul like webbing,
Speaker 2: the beehive type webbing thing. I could not be a
Speaker 2: bigger fan of them. I actually just watched a video
Speaker 2: about the company. I didn't know we were talking about
Speaker 2: Bombas tonight. I just watched the video. They're doing great.
Speaker 2: The socks are wildly popular.
Speaker 1: Get in on this chase good stuff.
Speaker 2: What's worse than throwing out a pair of socks? You're like, well,
Speaker 2: now I gotta go buy more. Because these things couldn't
Speaker 2: hold elastic for a year, they last forever. According to me,
Speaker 2: I do not guarantee that.
Speaker 1: Hey, while we're at it, while we're doing advertisements. I
Speaker 1: mentioned it at the top of the show, but I
Speaker 1: did want to call out something that you're doing. You're
Speaker 1: doing another podcast, which I'll never let you live down.
Speaker 1: But it's okay. I do it alone. I don't have
Speaker 1: another co host. You do it alone. You're not technically
Speaker 1: cheating on me, so it's cool. Yeah, but sports Wars
Speaker 1: has dipped into a college football arc, has it not? Yeah,
Speaker 1: we are.
Speaker 2: As we were recording this in the middle of the
Speaker 2: world's largest outdoor cocktail party, deep Diving Florida, Georgia or
Speaker 2: depending on who you are, Georgia Florida, and just the
Speaker 2: history of the show, the big names, the big stories
Speaker 2: and like why they hate each other and the baggage
Speaker 2: that everybody has. If you're a Florida fan looking back
Speaker 2: at the herschel Walker Georgia teams or what they've done
Speaker 2: these past couple of years are if you're a Georgia
Speaker 2: fan and Steve Spurry or era where they just wreck them,
Speaker 2: especially wrecking them in Athens, which I had totally forgotten
Speaker 2: about when they were remodeling in Jacksonville. So we go
Speaker 2: through all the old stories and bring it up to
Speaker 2: current day. We're doing the cocktail party, and then we're
Speaker 2: doing Red River, Oklahoma, Texas Texas Oklahoma and going through
Speaker 2: the history there. We figured we'd start with the two
Speaker 2: big weird neutral site rivalry games. Would love to do
Speaker 2: Army Navy, so that's also a neutral site rivalry game.
Speaker 2: But these these really sang to me and they're really fun.
Speaker 2: So I recommend Sports Wars wherever you're listening to this
Speaker 2: right now, go download Sports Wars. Really good for like
Speaker 2: a flight or just a car ride to zone out
Speaker 2: to weird sports stories.
Speaker 1: With I enjoyed. I only had a chance to listen
Speaker 1: to the very first for the Georgia episode, Thank you Well.
Speaker 2: The new for the second one came out literally today
Speaker 2: as we were Yeah, so I had never for a
Speaker 2: chance to listen to it yet. But it's cued up,
Speaker 2: but it's ready to go. Good stuff, man, keep up
Speaker 2: the good work. They wouldn't let me do my spury
Speaker 2: or impression I wanted to do it.
Speaker 1: Weal, weal, Sorry, ty Dan, I want to talk about Stanford.
Speaker 1: I am concerned about Stanford. I am concerned because there
Speaker 1: are lingering questions at running back, at offensive line, on defense.
Speaker 1: All three of those positions were underwhelming last year. What
Speaker 1: the heck is going on with Stanford's identity is David Shaw?
Speaker 1: Is he going to rediscover that physicality, that brand of
Speaker 1: football that really brought Stanford to prominence here of late
Speaker 1: or are we watching a program that is somehow evolving
Speaker 1: into something else?
Speaker 2: Are you asking if David Shaw went on like an
Speaker 2: Eat Prey, Love, find himself vacation to figure out who
Speaker 2: he really wants to be.
Speaker 1: Look, you can call it whatever you want, But what
Speaker 1: are we in the midst of here? Is he trying
Speaker 1: to get back to basics or is he trying to
Speaker 1: do something different with this team.
Speaker 2: I think he's going to try to do something a
Speaker 2: little bit differently with the same Stanford DNA, as much
Speaker 2: as that sort of conflicts as a sentence, I think
Speaker 2: they're going to still play relatively in a relatively conservative fashion.
Speaker 2: But when they saw that the run was not there
Speaker 2: last year, they leaned heavily on with a Cadence Smith
Speaker 2: and Kolby Parkinson and.
Speaker 1: Jj are.
Speaker 2: Fago Whiteside and Trent Or when they really started to
Speaker 2: air it out and throw the ball down field, and
Speaker 2: when they had success it was because of that, and
Speaker 2: Bryce Love was beat up and certainly didn't have the
Speaker 2: return season that he thought he would. So I don't
Speaker 2: think they are going to be putting in ten offensive
Speaker 2: linemen at the same time like they were wont to
Speaker 2: do in year's past. But I think they're still going
Speaker 2: to try to be that team that uses power to
Speaker 2: set up downfield stuff to set up play action. I
Speaker 2: just don't think they're going to get the same amount
Speaker 2: of success doing so, and they will adjust accordingly. They'll
Speaker 2: throw on first down a little bit more. They're going
Speaker 2: to air it out a little bit more. I know
Speaker 2: they don't have necessarily the game changing receivers, but the
Speaker 2: Kolbe Parkinson's still there, and he's a very good tight end.
Speaker 2: Cameron Scarlett's guy at running back. I'm curious to see
Speaker 2: what they look like because kJ Costello is very quietly
Speaker 2: maybe the most talented quarterback in the conference.
Speaker 1: Well, next my question was going to be about kJ
Speaker 1: Costello because it does seem as if now they're trying
Speaker 1: to run the offense through him. For a while, it
Speaker 1: was Christian McCaffrey and then Bryce Love sure, and you
Speaker 1: know they got serviceable play out of guys like Kevin Hogan.
Speaker 1: But not since Andrew Luck have we really had a
Speaker 1: quarterback around whom it felt, Oh, David Shaw was truly building.
Speaker 1: I think we've got that now with kJ Costello, don't.
Speaker 2: We First of all, First of all, in this house,
Speaker 2: we celebrate Kevin Hogan. Kevin Hogan was really good. I'm
Speaker 2: not diminishing Kevin Hogan. Did he in the NFL for
Speaker 2: a little bit?
Speaker 1: I have no idea. I don't care, I don't That's
Speaker 1: not what I do on Sunday. Well, I'm just saying
Speaker 1: he was pretty good.
Speaker 2: He was zone right at least he was a long
Speaker 2: time starter who won big games and big got them
Speaker 2: to big ball games. I mean, they weren't going to
Speaker 2: Rose Bull. After Rosebull. They were in a great place
Speaker 2: with Kevin Hogan. Kevin Hogan was fine. They weren't building
Speaker 2: around him like he was Andrew Luck. Yes, in terms
Speaker 2: of talent, throwing the ball downfield, and size and athleticism,
Speaker 2: kJ Costello is you know, every pretty much every team
Speaker 2: in the country should be jealous outside of about five
Speaker 2: or six that Stanford has, kJ Costell. The big question
Speaker 2: to me is what can the defense do in doing
Speaker 2: their part because last year we saw a backslide that
Speaker 2: was unexpected given where Stanford was defensively even three, four
Speaker 2: or five years ago, putting out top ten fifteen defenses nationally.
Speaker 2: So at end, they're pretty strong on the line, they're
Speaker 2: pretty good at outside linebacker. It's up the middle, which
Speaker 2: seems to be an issue everywhere in the Pac twelve North.
Speaker 2: It seems up the middle, you know, playing tackle, playing inside,
Speaker 2: on the linebacking core. They're pretty thin there. They have
Speaker 2: maybe I don't know if he's the best corner in
Speaker 2: the conference. But Paul Sinadibo is he's a ball howking
Speaker 2: star tie.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Everywhere else though in that secondary is sort of wait
Speaker 2: and see. But I think having they have pieces to
Speaker 2: potentially have not a special but a pretty good defense,
Speaker 2: which would be an improvement. So I'm not with Stanford
Speaker 2: where I am with Utah and Tyler Huntley in their defense,
Speaker 2: but I think potentially they could be close. I like
Speaker 2: Lance Anderson as a defensive coordinator. So I'm buying Stanford
Speaker 2: stock like I tend to do this time of year. Sure,
Speaker 2: always always buying Stanford. But we talk about how USC
Speaker 2: opens the year and a couple of other openers. Stanford's
Speaker 2: got themselves September.
Speaker 1: Well, if you're talking about defense, dan yeah being a
Speaker 1: question mark. Look at the schedule. You don't like what
Speaker 1: you see through the first six weeks of the year.
Speaker 1: They open up at home against Northwestern, which wasn't.
Speaker 2: That the body Clock game a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2: It's weird, weird, long longer ago than that. But yeah,
Speaker 2: it's what Hunter Johnson's team now. Hunter Johnson's team.
Speaker 1: Now. We're going to preview the Big Ten next that'll
Speaker 1: be on Wednesday, so stay tuned for that. But then
Speaker 1: at USC in week two, at UCF in week three,
Speaker 1: which is intriguing. It's Wimbush time. Oregon back home the
Speaker 1: following week. Should have lost last year but pulled it out.
Speaker 1: There's an Oregon State road game in there before they
Speaker 1: come back home against Washington. That's all before the bye
Speaker 1: week on oct Over the twelfth. So defense is going
Speaker 1: to be a real question mark through the first half
Speaker 1: of that schedule at least.
Speaker 2: So the good news is, I mean, talk about Utah
Speaker 2: missing Stanford, then it's probably good that Stanford misses Utah
Speaker 2: of their drive towards getting back near the double digit
Speaker 2: win and mark of their schedule of their program. So
Speaker 2: the back half of their schedule is at least manageable
Speaker 2: in that there's not two brutal weeks in a row.
Speaker 2: It's Washington, Ucla, Arizona, Colorado. They have Wazoo before Cal,
Speaker 2: which I think is striking in their differences, and it's
Speaker 2: on the road in Pullman, and they have Cal the
Speaker 2: week before Notre Dame, right, so they have the wonky
Speaker 2: rivalry game with Cal before the end of their season.
Speaker 2: So it's a tough schedule for sure, but having a
Speaker 2: quarterback who can I think you're feeling confident at least,
Speaker 2: you know, down three with a minute forty seven left,
Speaker 2: you're like, all right, we're not out of it. Where
Speaker 2: some teams you're down closely you're like, well it was nice.
Speaker 2: So I like that about Stanford. I don't think they're
Speaker 2: getting a double digit wins, but I think they're going
Speaker 2: to be. They're going to be a more interesting, impressive
Speaker 2: team this fall. I want to stay with you and
Speaker 2: talk about Cal now, Okay, so I love talking about Cal.
Speaker 1: I love Cal. Here's the question, and I am rooting
Speaker 1: for Cal. I was really high on Cal a year ago,
Speaker 1: m and that didn't work out. The whole Bauer hour
Speaker 1: thing was sort of a disaster. Yeah, I would say,
Speaker 1: so he's no longer the quarterback. But we're at a
Speaker 1: place now where we look at Cal and I think
Speaker 1: we're both pretty excited about the defense. But the offense
Speaker 1: is a huge question mark, and I'm just wondering if
Speaker 1: there's any way to avoid Cal being one of those
Speaker 1: teams that we joke about halfway through the year being
Speaker 1: one of the half teams where they're really good on
Speaker 1: one side, of the ball and then aggressively mediocre on
Speaker 1: the other.
Speaker 2: Oh Man, that would be that's aggressively mediocre. Is the
Speaker 2: nicest thing that anybody has said about the twenty eighteen
Speaker 2: Cal offense. No, those those half teams, whether it was
Speaker 2: the Boston College there was the last Don Brown Boston
Speaker 2: College defense and what they looked like on offense. What
Speaker 2: twenty fifteen miszoo, you know, the Texas Tech teams during
Speaker 2: the Cliff Kingsbury time, there were some horrid units on
Speaker 2: the other side of the field from a pretty excellent
Speaker 2: one and that was It's no different.
Speaker 1: With Cal last year. So is there hope this year
Speaker 1: that they.
Speaker 2: That they're like a seventy two percenter instead of a
Speaker 2: half team? Yeah, yes, probably.
Speaker 1: Why do you feel that way about this offense?
Speaker 2: Well, it could be a different Starting quarterback Chase Garber's
Speaker 2: wasn't great, but it could be. Was it Devon Modster,
Speaker 2: the UCLA transfer they're battling right now. Yeah, Brandon mcawayane's
Speaker 2: moving to running back. Chris Brown was at least serviceable.
Speaker 2: They get CoA Crawford, the Michigan transfer receiver, They've only
Speaker 2: gotten more talented. They were basically only okay, on offense
Speaker 2: running the ball was Patrick Laird last year and he's
Speaker 2: gone on. But with how much they return on defense,
Speaker 2: I understand that means the degree to which their half
Speaker 2: team can only go up because on all three levels
Speaker 2: they're bringing back their best players essentially. But I think
Speaker 2: it has to get better. I think they reached rock bottom,
Speaker 2: so I think they can simply be bad. I think
Speaker 2: they can simply be not great, and that would lift
Speaker 2: them up. They win what they go seven to five
Speaker 2: last year with nothing on offense correct, and then I
Speaker 2: mean it's what six and six if you include the
Speaker 2: bowl game and the fact that one of those wins
Speaker 2: was against an FCS team, but nothing the ugliest bowl
Speaker 2: game in the best possible way in the Cheese Bowl
Speaker 2: against TCU, and they're a bowl team with nothing on offense. Essentially,
Speaker 2: they lose their best receiver before the season starts last
Speaker 2: year to transfer. I think it's something to build on.
Speaker 2: I think you're like, Okay, well we were able to
Speaker 2: win without an offense, so even if we have a little,
Speaker 2: it's an improvement, and so I think they're going to
Speaker 2: get there. I think they can get to not great,
Speaker 2: win an extra game and go to eight and four
Speaker 2: as a best case is six and six, five and seven.
Speaker 2: But man Evan Weaver and Cameron Good it's probably the
Speaker 2: best linebacker duo in the conference.
Speaker 1: Correct.
Speaker 2: Up front, Luke Beckett was a monster at times last year,
Speaker 2: especially that USC game. And then these are both not
Speaker 2: their best units on defense because their secondary is locked
Speaker 2: in with you know, Ashton Davis is an All American
Speaker 2: caliber safety. Jalen Hawkins also really good at safety, and
Speaker 2: then they've had Cam bindenm and Elijah Hicks on both
Speaker 2: sides for what feels like eleven years at corner. They're
Speaker 2: so locked in on defense that the offense is going
Speaker 2: to have every advantage the offense should be starting on
Speaker 2: third base. And so for that reason, for that reason,
Speaker 2: my chips are being pushed to the center of the table.
Speaker 2: Not that KL is going to be a good team,
Speaker 2: but that KL is going to be a nasty team.
Speaker 1: If Kl's a nasty team. Am I allowed to talk
Speaker 1: about Evan Weaver as the newfound dream Weaver in sing this? Sure?
Speaker 2: But you got to keep it going all season long
Speaker 2: through thick and thin dream Weaver.
Speaker 1: How's that also nasty time? But Cal?
Speaker 2: The CAL defense is legitimately fun to watch. Evan Weaver
Speaker 2: is a converted defensive lineman and just wrecking shop had
Speaker 2: like one hundred and fifty some odd tackles last year.
Speaker 1: I love it all Right? Do you want to answer
Speaker 1: the final question on your side? And then I'll get
Speaker 1: three in a row? Oh my gosh. Sure you want
Speaker 1: to talk Oregon State football. I want to talk Oregon
Speaker 1: State football. Our friend Bill Connolly. Bill Connolly has Oregon
Speaker 1: State projected for two point six wins this year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: one of them is over cal Poly. I want to
Speaker 1: know who the other one is over, and I'm going
Speaker 1: to read the Oregon State schedule here. I want you
Speaker 1: to tell me who you think the most likely second
Speaker 1: victory or third victory, if you're feeling dangerous, would be over. Okay,
Speaker 1: you're ready, Yep, I'm ready. First week of the year,
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State at home.
Speaker 2: Don't have a quarterback. I'm not confident though, so I'm
Speaker 2: going to say no at whole.
Speaker 1: Second week of the year. Possible, possible. Why is it
Speaker 1: tough out, but possible?
Speaker 2: Cal Poly pretty much by the way, shout out San
Speaker 2: Luis Obispo.
Speaker 1: I would move there in a second. Then we get
Speaker 1: into the real meat out of the PAC twelve schedule
Speaker 1: home against Stanford.
Speaker 2: If you're a believer in the body blow theory. Stanford
Speaker 2: has Oregon the week before, they play Oregon State. Two
Speaker 2: teams that are just going to be mashing each other
Speaker 2: on in the trenches.
Speaker 1: Next week at UCLA, I don't think they.
Speaker 2: Get the UCLA defense in the stronger part of Oregon States.
Speaker 2: Definitely be offense. They have Jamar Jefferson maybe the best
Speaker 2: running back in the country. You've probably never seen, good
Speaker 2: shape of receiver, offensive lines, experience not great, but not bad.
Speaker 1: Home against Utah, tough to Utah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they have Wazoo the week before, as we mentioned,
Speaker 2: which is tough, tough game. That's Utah is going to
Speaker 2: probably win that game.
Speaker 1: Yeah. At Cal at Arizona, Washington, Arizona State, at Wazoo
Speaker 1: at Oregon. Can you find another win in there that
Speaker 1: you're confident in outside Cal Poly, Yes.
Speaker 2: They don't have Colorado, who they beat in Boulder last
Speaker 2: year in overtime, right, Yes, so that's too bad for
Speaker 2: my case. It's gonna be on the road at UCLA
Speaker 2: or at Cal. I think is the most likely because
Speaker 2: those are two teams with pretty big questions on one
Speaker 2: side of the ball, and it happens to be that
Speaker 2: UCLA's defense is not great, and there's Oregon State's strength,
Speaker 2: and Cal's offense isn't great, so perhaps they can't again
Speaker 2: take advantage of Oregon State's pretty lackluster defense. So one
Speaker 2: of those is where the win's going to be.
Speaker 1: Do we feel like Oregon State showed signs of promise
Speaker 1: last year? Oh? Yeah.
Speaker 2: They were down a touchdown to USC going into the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, they were down five going into the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter against Washington State, and they beat Colorado in Boulder.
Speaker 2: They ran all over Ohio State for a chunk of
Speaker 2: that game, and I think they beat Colorado with that
Speaker 2: Labiska chanault. But like your favorite word, that the feistiness
Speaker 2: was there for long stretches, which is all things considered,
Speaker 2: not so bad.
Speaker 1: What do they need to do in twenty nineteen for
Speaker 1: you to continue feeling like they've got things going in
Speaker 1: a good direction.
Speaker 2: And he's run the ball. I mean, if their offense
Speaker 2: is average, which it definitely can be, whether it's Jake
Speaker 2: Luton or Luton Luton, Free Luton Luton Luton or the
Speaker 2: Nebraska transfer Tristan Gebia Jebia. Yeah, I mean what Jonathan
Speaker 2: Smith did at Washington, if he can be seventy percent
Speaker 2: of that this year. If the Oregon State offense, they're
Speaker 2: going to be a not fun team to play. That's
Speaker 2: as nice as I can probably say about them. Because
Speaker 2: the defense is it's improving at a very slow pace,
Speaker 2: not like the offense is. The offense has gotten good transfers.
Speaker 2: It's what the Nebraska quarterback anti John Lindsay comes from Nebraska,
Speaker 2: who is a former blue chip a linebacker's gotten a
Speaker 2: little bit better. So yeah, I think the best case
Speaker 2: scenario for them is the offense is legitimately okay and
Speaker 2: the defense is only not great, just to take phrasing
Speaker 2: from other teams, and the best case is they go.
Speaker 1: Four and eight four innate. I would agree with that.
Speaker 2: If it's more of the same and the offense isn't
Speaker 2: good enough to overcome a still lowly defense, it's two
Speaker 2: and ten again probably all right, And even then you
Speaker 2: were searching for that second win, So I guess it
Speaker 2: might be two ten, one and eleven, But I'm more
Speaker 2: confident in two to four wins than anything else.
Speaker 1: Where do you want to go next year?
Speaker 2: Three left all right, let's go to Asu because you
Speaker 2: told me earlier that you feel the tingles about Asu.
Speaker 1: I do. I do feel the tingles, Dan.
Speaker 2: So okay, let's hone in on a more specific question
Speaker 2: about Asu other than something about your tingles. Their offensive
Speaker 2: output was pretty similar in twenty seventeen and eighteen between
Speaker 2: the Todd Graham and Herm Edwards era, but the defense
Speaker 2: last year took a pretty impressive step forward. Where's the
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen jump more defense or the offense with a
Speaker 2: new quarterback makes a jump after they didn't last year?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Well, it's a tough question for me to answer because
Speaker 1: I s feel like the quarterback competition, at least as
Speaker 1: of now, is really a race to see you who
Speaker 1: hands the ball off to Eno Benjamin a thousand times
Speaker 1: this year, which is the smart thing, And there's not
Speaker 1: a lot of depth along that line, so they've all
Speaker 1: got to stay healthy. But at least on paper, the
Speaker 1: running game looks like it's going to be in a
Speaker 1: good spot with Eno Benjamin again and they're going to
Speaker 1: probably give him the ball a ton. So I guess
Speaker 1: with that being said, I'm looking at defense as my
Speaker 1: biggest question mark. We'll talk about the quarterback position really momentarily. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I got a lot of nice players there.
Speaker 1: They do, they do. I'd like to see him take
Speaker 1: another step forward. The defensive line sees some turnover. I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing a lot more of Jermaine Woll,
Speaker 1: who looked great as a true freshman a year ago.
Speaker 1: He did. Very excited to see him. And a really
Speaker 1: exciting linebacker corps as well, with Merlin Robertson and Darien
Speaker 1: You ever see a picture of Merlin Robertson. Oh he's
Speaker 1: a monster. It's a man. He's forty. Yeah, Tyler Johnson
Speaker 1: also in the linebacking corps. I've got it bolded here
Speaker 1: on my note sheet. They're very, very stout. The secondary
Speaker 1: is developing. Both corners are back. Should see some improvement
Speaker 1: at safety now. If they can collectively grow and get better,
Speaker 1: that's an asset to have in the Pac twelve, sure,
Speaker 1: a true asset to have. They can take a step
Speaker 1: forward there. I think it serves them well. It also
Speaker 1: serves them well in some of these road games that
Speaker 1: they have. I'm looking at Michigan State in Week three,
Speaker 1: which is I'm viewing that as a Bell Weather game.
Speaker 1: Michigan State has like nineteen starters back this year. Maybe
Speaker 1: not the most exciting team in college football, but it's
Speaker 1: a veteran group nonetheless.
Speaker 2: And their offensive coordinators was their PA announcer last year,
Speaker 2: and their defensive coordinator was the mascot he played Sparty
Speaker 2: last year. The defensive line coach ran the website up
Speaker 2: Charizo alarm.
Speaker 1: Your alarm's going off just in the nake of time here. Yeah.
Speaker 1: My point is this, I think they need that defense
Speaker 1: as a stabilizing force while they try to figure out
Speaker 1: what exactly they're doing on offense with their new quarterback
Speaker 1: for sure, with their line. They got that road game
Speaker 1: in Week three against Michigan State, which is important elsewhere,
Speaker 1: a road game in mid October against Utah which will
Speaker 1: be tough, home against Wazoo, USC and Oregon. The schedule
Speaker 1: works out, Okay. I feel really good about ASU getting
Speaker 1: to eight wins, maybe even more. Wow, I do I
Speaker 1: really do? My biggest question though, not where's the jump
Speaker 1: going to be? My biggest question is on offense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what it look like throwing the ball? Right now? The
Speaker 1: favorite at starting quarterbacks seems to be Dylan Sterling. Cole
Speaker 1: mm Hm he's a junior, but there's a ton of
Speaker 1: steam on Jaden Daniels, who's a four star true freshman,
Speaker 1: got an offer from Bama and a handful of other
Speaker 1: West Coast schools with picked ASU. He was really good
Speaker 1: in spring. He opened a lot of eyes. He may
Speaker 1: not be the guy right away, but I think it's
Speaker 1: only a matter of time before we see him.
Speaker 2: Okay, I don't know if who's who's catching those passes
Speaker 2: because Nikhil Harry, I mean, Frank Darby is very good too,
Speaker 2: but Nikhil Harry was such a big part both in
Speaker 2: what he did and his his gravity exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: So I think initially the focal point of the offense
Speaker 1: is going to be handing the ball off to Eno
Speaker 1: Benjamin m hm. He does have experience blocking in front
Speaker 1: of him, but just not a lot of depth. So
Speaker 1: staying healthy up there is going to be the key.
Speaker 1: Running backs should be in the pretty good spot given it.
Speaker 1: Eno Benjamin and he had a ton of work last year.
Speaker 1: But Nikhil Harry's gone out wide, as you said, and
Speaker 1: I think the wide receiving corp is fine. They just
Speaker 1: they don't have a weapon like Nikhil Harry. They don't
Speaker 1: have that alpha, that true playmaker that when you look
Speaker 1: at the depth chart, that's who they're going to be targeting.
Speaker 1: So I think that guy needs to develop in order
Speaker 1: for me to feel better about this offense. Is certainly
Speaker 1: the wide receiving corps is only a bit of a
Speaker 1: safety valve. Yeah. I mean I'm not going to feel
Speaker 1: great about the quarterback position until that true number one
Speaker 1: target develops. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And the good news is so the games they lose,
Speaker 2: they're competitive in. They lose to Oregon by too late,
Speaker 2: Stanford was close, Colorado was close, and that's not a
Speaker 2: great loss losing Colorado last year, but the Washington game
Speaker 2: was very close. San Diego State probably shouldn't have lost
Speaker 2: San Diego State. It was not a great ass tag
Speaker 2: team last year, but even in their losses, they never
Speaker 2: were outclassed by anybody and perhaps until Presno State in
Speaker 2: the bowl game. But it's something that I feel a
Speaker 2: lot better than I thought I would going into the
Speaker 2: Herm Edant Sarah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel for as much fun as we made
Speaker 1: of Herm Edwards and the awkward introduction at ASU, this
Speaker 1: is a pretty good team. This is this is a
Speaker 1: pretty good team. They've got a good defense. They got
Speaker 1: to figure out quarterback, they got to stay healthy along
Speaker 1: the line. But there are weapons here. If they can
Speaker 1: figure it all out and piece piece the machine back together,
Speaker 1: I think it. I think it's gonna be a good
Speaker 1: year for Issue. So I'm excited about them not going
Speaker 1: crazy like I did a couple of years ago, and
Speaker 1: I picked them to the playoff. Yeah, but this this
Speaker 1: should be a pretty good team in the Pac twelve.
Speaker 1: I like it. I like no more sitting on the
Speaker 1: fence for ty hilden brand I'm not not at all.
Speaker 1: Where are we going next? All right, let's go. Let's
Speaker 1: go to Colorado. I want to go back to Boulder.
Speaker 1: I miss Boulder. The number one thing. I believe you.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about you, Tyler hilden Brandt. To be most confident,
Speaker 2: it is your boy. Stevie Montes to Laviska shanof Scott
Speaker 2: Stevie Montes.
Speaker 1: Stevie Montes feels like he's been there about as long
Speaker 1: as Joel Stave was at Wisconsin. There's something about the
Speaker 1: Mountain region. Let's go through it.
Speaker 2: Kellen Moore and Brett Rippon eleven years a piece of
Speaker 2: pois state. Sure, Taysom Hill, Chuckie, Keaton Tanner Mangum is
Speaker 2: going to be what a true sophomore this year?
Speaker 1: I think so.
Speaker 2: There's something about that Idaho, Utah, Colorado triad that that
Speaker 2: keeps people young in playing college football for many, many years.
Speaker 1: If you went, if you went to one hundred college
Speaker 1: football fans, yeah and ask them, is Kellen Moore playing
Speaker 1: quarterback this year for Boise State? What percentage would answer? Yes?
Speaker 2: They would there would there would be eight percent, no,
Speaker 2: fourteen percent of people. I was like, the sort of
Speaker 2: skinny lefty Yeah, yeah, I think he Yeah, I think
Speaker 2: I saw him in a preview.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's back. Could you get to forty percent with that?
Speaker 1: I think you could. Is he not the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator? Now he's something like that, He's I think
Speaker 1: he's done well for himself. But to your point, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure college football fans that don't listen to our
Speaker 1: show would know that that's it's.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent true. So those that connection Stevie montees
Speaker 2: Lavisque Schnaults, we know that's gonna make for like a fun,
Speaker 2: lethal stew Right good situation. Yeah, especially since Katie Nixon
Speaker 2: is also there and take some of the attention away.
Speaker 2: But if you were to turn that stew into a
Speaker 2: complete meal tie, what is what is the buff's best
Speaker 2: side dish to go back to a bowl with. I
Speaker 2: don't know where I'm going with this comparison, but what's
Speaker 2: the side dish if that's the number one thing?
Speaker 1: If it is all right? Well, first off, let me
Speaker 1: back up here. Colorado was a new coach, Yes they do.
Speaker 1: Colorado went five and seventy year ago. Their new coach
Speaker 1: is Mel Tucker. He's been a defensive guy his entire career,
Speaker 1: most recently at Georgia and Alabama, but way back when
Speaker 1: was at LSU and Ohio State. And he's got some
Speaker 1: experience in the NFL, so he's been around, good experience
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball. As you said,
Speaker 1: good situation for him in year one with Stevie Montes
Speaker 1: our boy and La Discas Shenault also our boy, Everyone's boy.
Speaker 1: Really yeah, of course, less than ideal situation along the line,
Speaker 1: loses three starters, loses his top two running backs as well.
Speaker 1: Not feeling very optimistic about that offense outside of the
Speaker 1: Stevie Lniska combo. I'm intrigued by their defense though, because
Speaker 1: they're very young and this is a defensive minded coach.
Speaker 1: Mustafa Johnson is the most experienced member of the front
Speaker 1: seven and he's just a junior. And I think, I
Speaker 1: just I keep coming back to this. I think it
Speaker 1: works really well for mel Tucker. Maybe not this year,
Speaker 1: maybe in year's two and three, Okay, and probably not
Speaker 1: with this schedule, but I'm just so curious to see
Speaker 1: what he does with the defense, with a defense this
Speaker 1: young that I guess, if I'm forced to pick, that's
Speaker 1: the side dish that I'm intrigued by. You know, that
Speaker 1: front of defense. That's the stuffing mixed with pineapple, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe not my first choice, but it's intriguing stuffing
Speaker 1: in pineapple zoo? Do you put pineapple in you? You
Speaker 1: can make pineapple stuffing? Yeah? Is that something that you
Speaker 1: would be on your Thanksgiving table in the right situation.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like, it's like that. It's interesting. I
Speaker 1: just thought you that's the first thing you went to
Speaker 1: as a side dish. It's I don't know, Dan, it's
Speaker 1: been a long day at the mysterious day job. I'm
Speaker 1: standing up. It's the last team we're talking Colorado. Give
Speaker 1: me a break here. Okay, all right, you've earned a break. God.
Speaker 2: So what what does their schedule look like? That seems
Speaker 2: unmanageable to you?
Speaker 1: Nebraska Week two? Yeah, at Arizona State, at Oregon, at
Speaker 1: Wazoo home against USC. They close out the year with Stanford,
Speaker 1: Washington and at utah Mm hmm. That ain't easy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're gonna be interesting on offense. It's
Speaker 2: it's tough to find because they started the season out
Speaker 2: so well last year and just completely collapse. And some
Speaker 2: of that obviously has to do with key injuries at
Speaker 2: a couple different places, but it's going to take a while.
Speaker 2: It's hard for me to see them as a bowl
Speaker 2: team unless they're just over the top explosive on offense
Speaker 2: and they win those fifty to fifty games. They won
Speaker 2: that game against Nebraska last year with the wild.
Speaker 1: Ending, I think.
Speaker 2: But the Huskers are a much better place in Colorado.
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're better or worse, but they're
Speaker 2: in a much newer place with a new coach and
Speaker 2: a new staff calling plays. So it's tough for me
Speaker 2: to see them bowl eligible this year.
Speaker 1: But I think I'm with you.
Speaker 2: Saying that, you know what, and I think there's more
Speaker 2: talent there than we might think about with how they
Speaker 2: finished out last year. The defense has gotten too a
Speaker 2: pretty interesting place. They have good receivers. It's just the
Speaker 2: week to week consistency with As you mentioned, Roade Oregon road,
Speaker 2: Wazoo playing at UCLA is not particularly tough. But you know,
Speaker 2: the quote unquote rivalry game against you on the road,
Speaker 2: it's it's rough, man.
Speaker 1: It just is. End of the year is really tough. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you'd know the wins. You hope that maybe they
Speaker 1: get better by that stage of the season. But Stanford
Speaker 1: Washington at Utah not the easiest way to close out
Speaker 1: your campaign.
Speaker 2: No, And it could be an even feistter UCLA team.
Speaker 2: It could be a wide open, fun usc team. And
Speaker 2: we know Wazoo is just going to be, if nothing else,
Speaker 2: an incredibly tough out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I don't know. I mean the back half.
Speaker 1: I like the hire of Mel Tucker, and we've had
Speaker 1: guests on this show throughout the off season saying that
Speaker 1: Mel Tucker seemingly is a pretty good hire. I'll hire
Speaker 1: that people are excited about. Yeah, I think I mean
Speaker 1: that camp it's just it's like so many other programs,
Speaker 1: it's going to take a while to get there. Like that,
Speaker 1: he's got a young defense that he can mold and
Speaker 1: at least in year one Stevie Montes Laviska Chanault should
Speaker 1: make these games very watchable.
Speaker 2: The thing that has me a little bit worried, and
Speaker 2: maybe this is has been adjusted and maybe the attitude
Speaker 2: has changed a little bit, But when he got there,
Speaker 2: the sort of cliches that he gave and his press
Speaker 2: conference is just we're going to be old school, yeah tough,
Speaker 2: We're going to you know, we're gonna run the wall
Speaker 2: and that. First of all, it doesn't mean anything either
Speaker 2: way necessarily, but that mindset, I think gets in the
Speaker 2: way of progress, gets in the way of interesting hires
Speaker 2: to run an offense that you are locked into ways
Speaker 2: that will set you back instead of moving you forward.
Speaker 2: But I'm hopeful, I'm hopeful because of his experience on defense,
Speaker 2: that you know, the defense is going to jump from
Speaker 2: being okay to pretty good pretty quickly, because I believe
Speaker 2: in him as a recruiter and I believe in him
Speaker 2: as somebody who can put together a nice defense.
Speaker 1: Alrighty, there you have it all twelve of the PAC
Speaker 1: twelve here on the show. Please do right Insuli Verbal
Speaker 1: at gmail dot com, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, read it.
Speaker 1: Let us know what we got right, what we got wrong,
Speaker 1: who you're picking to win the conference? Doing our best
Speaker 1: here to try and go through all the teams. Give
Speaker 1: you a portal into what's going on at all twelve
Speaker 1: of these schools and really all of the Power five
Speaker 1: schools and some group of fives. As we progress through
Speaker 1: here the month of August talking about like twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: college football season. Dan. One final note, please Dan, please,
Speaker 1: only a few days left. I need you to make
Speaker 1: your most desperate plea to all the reballers who might
Speaker 1: be in North Texas. Might be a plea see area.
Speaker 1: Please do give us your best sell job for why
Speaker 1: they should come out to the show.
Speaker 2: We don't need them. I don't need to plead with them.
Speaker 2: They know what they're getting with us. They're gonna show,
Speaker 2: not just two people talking on stage. You're gonna show.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna plead with you. You should come. I think
Speaker 2: you should come, and it's gonna be a great time.
Speaker 2: I cannot wait to do these shows. We got a
Speaker 2: bunch of different things planned it's gonna be a great
Speaker 2: time coming out at the Alamo Draft House. We have
Speaker 2: a big old screen behind us doing stuff on the screen.
Speaker 2: Same with DC and Union State. I've got a couple
Speaker 2: of incredible shows planned and just the dancing, the spectacle,
Speaker 2: the fireworks, the pyrotechnics. Tie has been doing back handsprings
Speaker 2: for months preparing. I just yeah, soliverbletickets dot com, slash Texas,
Speaker 2: solidverbaltickets dot com, slash DC, get on there. We're running
Speaker 2: low on tickets. I would recommend them. There's air conditioning,
Speaker 2: the Shiit contenders. I just those are two boxes that
Speaker 2: if those are checked, I'm in.
Speaker 1: I'm there. Bring a friend. Yeah, everybody knows somebody. If
Speaker 1: you listen to this show, you know somebody else who
Speaker 1: likes college football. Bring a friend with you. Even if
Speaker 1: they don't listen to this show, bring them along. We're
Speaker 1: gonna make it fun. We've done enough live shows now
Speaker 1: to know what we're doing our way around a live show.
Speaker 1: Damn it, this is true. It's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of fun, even if they're not the biggest college football fans.
Speaker 1: We promise. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Can I ask you a question though about the PAC twelve,
Speaker 2: Please will this conference acquit itself as a conference, fairly
Speaker 2: or unfairly? As you know, how they look early in September,
Speaker 2: how they look in bowl season, who's at the top,
Speaker 2: and how they are perceived nationally? Will they perceive well?
Speaker 2: Will the PAC twelve look better nationally to you in
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, say stay better?
Speaker 1: Worse? No, They're going to kill each other off. So
Speaker 1: if you're asking this, if you're asking this within the
Speaker 1: framework of the existing playoff system, I don't think the
Speaker 1: PAC twelve gets in. I think they all kill each
Speaker 1: other off. Who's in the championship game? The PAC twelve
Speaker 1: championship game Utah and the winner of Oregon Washington. Okay,
Speaker 1: who wins that game? It's in Seattle. Games in Seattle.
Speaker 1: I will go with Utah. No, No, I mean who
Speaker 1: wins the Organ Washington game? Utah.
Speaker 2: If Utah wins the Organ Washington team, oh my god,
Speaker 2: I'll out say everything about Andy Ludwig.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go Oregon. Okay, Oregon, Utah. Let's you know what,
Speaker 1: let's double up WI. On that note, for everyone out there,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening to the show. We
Speaker 1: will catch you all in a few days when we
Speaker 1: talk about the Big Ten. For that go over there
Speaker 1: my good friend Dan Rubenstein, for myself, Tie Hildebrand. Enjoy
Speaker 1: the rest of your week if you're listening on the weekend,
Speaker 1: your day at work, whatever you're doing, stay solid, Peace,