Speaker 1: Three two one zero all engine running lift off.
Speaker 2: We have a lift off.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the UFO Show.
Speaker 2: Dan, I have Ty Hildebrand. He is Dan Rubinstein. This
Speaker 2: is the solid verbal. It's our Friday UFO show today,
Speaker 2: the Unsuspecting Friday Orbit Daniel, which we'll explain in a
Speaker 2: little bit. Sir, how are you?
Speaker 1: I'm pretty good? I showered, cleared the mind, feeling focused
Speaker 1: and centered. We're recording the UFO Show and then that's
Speaker 1: going to be followed by the Bruin a for the
Speaker 1: Patreon subscribers that can be found at verballers dot com.
Speaker 1: But really feeling quite good, Ty, I don't know what
Speaker 1: it is, but because you came up with this fantastic
Speaker 1: theme for the UFO Show, because the questions are really
Speaker 1: inspiring a bunch inside of my brain for the brune.
Speaker 1: Hopefully you are you see that. I have so much
Speaker 1: excitement that the pop filter keeps moving on my micro flooring,
Speaker 1: so much electricity. Okay, so yeah, quite excited for this recording, Sash.
Speaker 2: Don't forget, as Dan mentioned, for Ballers dot com, if
Speaker 2: you're interested in checking out our Patreon and all the
Speaker 2: cool stuff we're doing over there. If you want to
Speaker 2: listen to and watch the Brune. You can do so
Speaker 2: on the Patreon.
Speaker 1: We're gonna drink beer and go places, right, is that
Speaker 1: what's happening on the Brune every week. We're drinking beer
Speaker 1: and going places.
Speaker 2: That is what we do. That is what we do.
Speaker 2: I've got my Soliverble pint glass here, which I will
Speaker 2: brandish proudly. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Same. All I'm gonna say about the Bruine is it's
Speaker 1: a it's a bigger, better, more open and thorough Tie
Speaker 1: hilden Brand.
Speaker 2: That's right. I think that's right. Then you get on here.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's all.
Speaker 2: I think that's right. Uh. Soliverble dot com is our website.
Speaker 2: That's where you can subscribe to the show. Also the newsletter.
Speaker 2: You can find it out there. All the usual hotspots right, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
Speaker 2: Got a YouTube channel where we post some of the clips.
Speaker 2: We obviously post larger ones on the Patreon feed. Why
Speaker 2: don't we jump into news? Okay, the last breaking news
Speaker 2: drop that we did took a little bit out of
Speaker 2: the voice. Boop boop boop.
Speaker 1: Hey Hey hey what was Carol Baskin say?
Speaker 2: Hey?
Speaker 1: I like cool cats and kittens?
Speaker 2: Hey all you have cool cats? And kittens.
Speaker 1: It's time for breaking news. Boo boop.
Speaker 2: So I think we've got what is it, fifteen more
Speaker 2: games that have been canceled or postponed this week. As
Speaker 2: per usual, now, it's just kind of the table stakes
Speaker 2: we go on out there. We do our preview show,
Speaker 2: it drops on a Wednesday morning at six am Eastern,
Speaker 2: and we just sort of expect that along the way
Speaker 2: there will be announcements. There could be some additional announcements
Speaker 2: before the end of this recording. But here's what we got.
Speaker 2: Games that have been canceled or postponed. Ole miss at
Speaker 2: Texas A and m Georgia Tech at Miami, Charlotte at Marshall,
Speaker 2: Texas at Kansas Central, Arkansas at Louisiana. We've got wake
Speaker 2: Forest at Duke Arizona State at Colorado, Houston at SMU,
Speaker 2: Navy at South Florida, Ohio at Miami Ohio, Utah State
Speaker 2: at Wyoming, UAB at UTEP, Louisiana, Monroe at Louisiana Tech,
Speaker 2: you NLV at Colorado State, and recently Michigan State at
Speaker 2: Maryland as Mike Loxley has reportedly tested positive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one of I believed twenty three positive tests. In
Speaker 1: the past week or two. So Maryland is certainly not
Speaker 1: in a good spot with regard to positive.
Speaker 2: Testing, not trending in a great direction. This was much
Speaker 2: the case a week go. Hopefully there aren't more games
Speaker 2: that are added onto this list because it's already quite lengthy.
Speaker 2: But you know, it's only Thursday right now at time
Speaker 2: of recording, so there's plenty of time for things to
Speaker 2: go sideways in a few of the other contests.
Speaker 1: Yeah, hopefully it doesn't. But yeah, last week was fifteen.
Speaker 1: We're at fifteen right now.
Speaker 2: Correct, That is correct?
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, And so we've got half of Thursday and
Speaker 1: all of Friday and perhaps into Saturday for more. Hopefully
Speaker 1: the number is zero moving forward. Also notable JT.
Speaker 2: Daniels. You may remember that name. He transferred over to
Speaker 2: Georgia from USC. He got hurt last year at USC,
Speaker 2: couldn't play, transferred over, got immediate eligibility with Georgia. We've
Speaker 2: been waiting for a while for him to be cleared
Speaker 2: medically to actually go out there and play on a Saturday.
Speaker 2: And clearly we've talked a lot about Stetson Bennett and
Speaker 2: Dwan Mathis and the quarterback and more broadly the offensive
Speaker 2: situation at Georgia. Jamie Newman opting out for sure, Jamie
Speaker 2: Newman Right, it's been a bit of a revolving door
Speaker 2: at the quarterback spot for Kirby Smart. JT. Daniels is
Speaker 2: going to be getting to start this Saturday evening in
Speaker 2: Sanford Stadium against Mississippi State. So this much awaited arrival
Speaker 2: of JT. Daniels is set to begin. We'll have to
Speaker 2: see if he gives them anything more at the quarterback spot.
Speaker 2: I think he will. I know you and I kind
Speaker 2: of disagree to what extent we should be excited about
Speaker 2: what we already know of JT. Daniels at USC But yeah,
Speaker 2: it's I think a good time for Georgia to be
Speaker 2: able to trot somebody else out there, because that quarterback
Speaker 2: spot in particular has definitely been a bit of a
Speaker 2: pain point over the last couple weeks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I suppose if he looked incredible in practice
Speaker 1: after the Alabama game before a bye week before Kentucky,
Speaker 1: then we probably would have seen him then. Incredible physically
Speaker 1: and incredible in terms of picking up the offense. I
Speaker 1: imagine it's more physical than the latter with regard to
Speaker 1: why we haven't seen him yet with some of Stetson
Speaker 1: Bennett's struggles. There are four games left. Obviously this year
Speaker 1: does not count eligibility wise to anybody who doesn't want
Speaker 1: it to count for them. So that's not a you know,
Speaker 1: a red shirt deal like it would be having those
Speaker 1: four four game maximum under his belt. So I'm hopeful
Speaker 1: that they Georgia has just reached a point where they
Speaker 1: are ready to see JT. Daniels and he has reached
Speaker 1: a point physically where you know, he looks good and
Speaker 1: ready to close out these these last four regular season
Speaker 1: games for the Dogs. So hoping to see a little
Speaker 1: more spark from this Dog offense.
Speaker 2: And speaking of the quarterback position, our final news tidbit here,
Speaker 2: Florida State is likely going to start Jordan Travis at
Speaker 2: quarterback against Clemson, and that's because Chubb A. Purdy had
Speaker 2: season ending surgery dan so it was on his collar bone.
Speaker 2: He broke it during a preseason scrimmage and aggravated it
Speaker 2: during the game this past Saturday against NC State. He
Speaker 2: underwent surgery for the original injury, and apparently he was
Speaker 2: always going to need a follow up procedure to remove
Speaker 2: a plate and some screws, but that surgery was obviously
Speaker 2: expedited because of what went down this past week. So
Speaker 2: sucks that he's not going to be out there, but
Speaker 2: you know, to some extent, this was at least an
Speaker 2: expected procedure for him.
Speaker 1: If he is the future, protect your future. No point
Speaker 1: in him gutting something out for the rest of Florida
Speaker 1: State season.
Speaker 2: I agree, that is all I have, Dan, Do you
Speaker 2: have anything further, No.
Speaker 1: I think that's all that's worthwhile to talk about. Perhaps
Speaker 1: we will have something out, but there's always online to
Speaker 1: talk about it further. So I think we move forward
Speaker 1: with our game unsuspecting Friday Orbit.
Speaker 2: Are you familiar with the online game among Us before today? No?
Speaker 2: I wasn't among us. So today's game is based, however,
Speaker 2: loosely on the popular online game among Us. It's a
Speaker 2: fun game. It costs like five bucks. It's gained a
Speaker 2: lot of popularity in the age of COVID, where people
Speaker 2: are trapped inside and playing more virtual games and connecting
Speaker 2: online than ever before. In this game, it's one of
Speaker 2: those deals where you're all in a space capsule spaceship
Speaker 2: and one in some cases two of your crewmates have
Speaker 2: been replaced by parasitic shape shifters. Daniel m hm.
Speaker 1: Of course. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: Their goal is to eliminate the rest of the crew
Speaker 2: before the ship reaches home. The impostor or posteurs will
Speaker 2: sabotage the ship. They'll sneak through events, they'll deceive, they'll
Speaker 2: frame others to remain anonymous.
Speaker 1: And kill off the crew intentionally, morbid dark.
Speaker 2: It is twenty twenty here we are.
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 2: We are playing a modified version of that.
Speaker 1: Okay, how does it go?
Speaker 2: In our version? I'm going to talk about four ships
Speaker 2: of college football coaches. One coach on each ship is
Speaker 2: secretly destroying their respective football program, not necessarily the others
Speaker 2: on the ship. It's a brotherhood, this coaching rank.
Speaker 1: Okay, so this is it's a squadron of ships, and
Speaker 1: we need to figure out which captain is sabotaging. Is traitorous?
Speaker 1: Is treasonous? Is subverting the goals of the ship for
Speaker 1: his own game.
Speaker 2: To some extent? Yeah, except it's not so much a
Speaker 2: crime against the other coaches on the ship. It's really
Speaker 2: against their respective program.
Speaker 1: You get the true, right, So we're figuring out which
Speaker 1: ship is being subverted.
Speaker 2: Okay, we're figuring out who on each ship is secretly
Speaker 2: destroying their football program. All right, so here's the deal.
Speaker 2: Let's go to ship number one. Here are the crew
Speaker 2: members on ship number one. Dan, We've got Jim Harbaugh
Speaker 2: coach of Michigan, Justin Foo and Ta Foo and Ta
Speaker 2: coach of Virginia Tech, Dana Holgerson of Houston, and David
Speaker 2: Cutcliffe of dh whoa David Cutcliffe of Duke.
Speaker 1: So I need to figure out or we need to
Speaker 1: figure out which of these four. So Jim Harbor as
Speaker 1: it relates to Michigan, Justin Fan, is it relates to
Speaker 1: Virginia Tech, Dana Holgerson as it relates to Houston, David
Speaker 1: Cutcliffe as it relates to Duke, who is working against
Speaker 1: their own team? Among these four.
Speaker 2: Coaches, that is correct, who is most working against their
Speaker 2: own So it's not Jim Harbaugh trying to murder Dana
Speaker 2: Holgerson or versa. I don't think they would get along
Speaker 2: to you weirdly, yes, weirdly yes, like I think it
Speaker 2: would be. I think the road trip would start out
Speaker 2: awkwardly and with a little bit of bitterness at the
Speaker 2: first rest stop, but then they'd be singing like Chris
Speaker 2: Farley and Tommy Boy with David Spade. Yeah, that's where
Speaker 2: I think we're going with this. Okay, anyway, so are
Speaker 2: we each waging in.
Speaker 1: Or is it just me?
Speaker 2: No, it's a conversation, Dan, Okay, it's a conversation. So
Speaker 2: here's the lay of the land here. The hardball thing
Speaker 2: is well documented in the national media, among Michigan media,
Speaker 2: certainly among the two of us on this show.
Speaker 1: Mm hm.
Speaker 2: We haven't talked a whole lot about Fuente, Holgerson and Cutcliff.
Speaker 2: I think cut Cliff's are really tough sell here because
Speaker 2: it's Duke.
Speaker 1: And he's the best modern duke coach, without a doubt,
Speaker 1: best modern duke coach, without a doubt. The program has stalled.
Speaker 2: It has stalled, and if anything, has gone a little
Speaker 2: bit in the wrong direction. But still, relatively speaking, I
Speaker 2: don't think it's a situation where what Cutcliff's doing is
Speaker 2: actively bringing Duke down. So I think that narrows the
Speaker 2: field to Harbaugh, Fiuente and Holgerson. Dan, does it make sense?
Speaker 1: Yeah, they go what five and seven last year? They're
Speaker 1: not playing well at the moment, but before that seven, six,
Speaker 1: eight and five they had you know, a ten win
Speaker 1: season twenty thirteen, nine eight, So they're like, these are
Speaker 1: including bulls. So yeah, I could see why you would
Speaker 1: think it's headed in the wrong direction. But it's Duke.
Speaker 2: It's still Duke of the remaining three yea who's actions
Speaker 2: as head coach are most actively bringing down their program.
Speaker 1: So I don't think Jim Harbaugh's is intentional, Like I
Speaker 1: don't think. I mean, I don't think anybody's intentionally really,
Speaker 1: But you know, if there is a crime with Jim Harba,
Speaker 1: it's a crime of passion. He loves Michigan football too
Speaker 1: much to let it go to the hands of anybody else,
Speaker 1: so he's destroying it from with it. And I don't
Speaker 1: think it's Harbaugh. I don't think it's twenty. I think
Speaker 1: it's Holgerson. I think the whole red shirting debacle last year,
Speaker 1: where after the slow start and the injuries and the transfer, like,
Speaker 1: I think that decision and we saw reports of a
Speaker 1: chasm I think between Dana Holgerson and the players pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: There were reports, I think from a couple offensive linemen.
Speaker 1: I think that would be the move right there. I
Speaker 1: think if I were to put this game on any
Speaker 1: of these coaches right now. I have it on Dana
Speaker 1: Holgerson that he is a captain without a plan and
Speaker 1: that's actively working to disrupt the well being of his ship.
Speaker 2: How do we feel about so I agree with you
Speaker 2: that Holgerson's probably the answer here. How do we feel
Speaker 2: about Flente? You know, we haven't talked a whole lot
Speaker 2: about Virginia Tech this year because, yeah, it's been a
Speaker 2: weird year. They're what four and four now overall. Fuente's
Speaker 2: first season was ten and four overall, won the Coastal,
Speaker 2: won the Belk Bowl. Seemed like things were going in
Speaker 2: a good direction. But since then it's been kind of
Speaker 2: a slow drip. Nine and four the next year, second
Speaker 2: in the Coastal lost the bowl game. Twenty eighteen, six
Speaker 2: and seven overall, third in the Coastal lost the bowl game.
Speaker 2: Last year eight and five, second in the Coastal lost
Speaker 2: the Belk Bowl. Yep, who knows what we make of
Speaker 2: this year? Who knows where they finish in the ACC
Speaker 2: as a whole, right, I mean, to some extent we
Speaker 2: throw all the records out, literally the window in twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: But you know, there's a lot of discontent. I think
Speaker 2: in the Virginia Tech universe because it's tough to follow
Speaker 2: a legend. It's tough to follow up Frank Beemer, who
Speaker 2: had a ton success in Blacksburg for so long, and
Speaker 2: outside of Hendon Hooker, I know, I've compared Virginia Tech
Speaker 2: a bit to kind of like the Northeastern TCU. There's
Speaker 2: kind of that feel of inconsistency and treading water there.
Speaker 2: Sure is it fair to even put Fuente on this ship? Sure?
Speaker 1: I mean with the direction of the defense, which I
Speaker 1: think is improving and will improve. But of course he
Speaker 1: keeps Bud Foster on and so there's the continuity thing,
Speaker 1: and I don't know if it fully became his program
Speaker 1: until Bud Foster retired. So yes, the answer is yes,
Speaker 1: because of the loss is the way, the spectacular ways
Speaker 1: in which Virginia Tech loses, that preparation, those in game adjustments,
Speaker 1: those in game decisions. What losing by Liberty it's a
Speaker 1: three point game. They lose by Miami, it's a one
Speaker 1: point game. The North Carolina game was wild. I think
Speaker 1: they came back and then North Carolina had to score
Speaker 1: a bunch of points. Other than that North Carolina game,
Speaker 1: their win expectancy was in the positive for the other
Speaker 1: three losses. They should have beaten Wake, they should have
Speaker 1: beaten Liberty, and they should have beaten Miami. And so
Speaker 1: the in game element of Justin Fuente on this list
Speaker 1: actually makes some sense.
Speaker 2: All right. So our answer then is going to be
Speaker 2: Dana Holgerson.
Speaker 1: Dana Holgerson, yep, oh, Mary morbid, it's just the slow
Speaker 1: drum beat of horror.
Speaker 2: Dana Holgerson on Ship one.
Speaker 1: We've got so is that somebody beating the parasite with
Speaker 1: a metal I instrument?
Speaker 2: No, I think that was the parasite murdering one of
Speaker 2: the non parasites with some.
Speaker 1: Sort of instrument. Wow, Okay, alright, p Clayton too. And
Speaker 1: I guess look, we're all big boys here, Dan, I
Speaker 1: cast we're all big boys in twenty twenty is dark
Speaker 1: ear okay, Chumber two, don't care what you're into, doesn't matter,
Speaker 1: it's all dark. Okay, steer into it.
Speaker 2: Ship two Gus Malson from Auburn, Scott Frost of Nebraska,
Speaker 2: Kevin Someone Arizona, and Gary Patterson of TCU. This is
Speaker 2: a very tough ship, very tough ship to try and
Speaker 2: figure out Dan, which of these coaches again, is either
Speaker 2: on purpose I hope not on purpose, or yeah, not
Speaker 2: on purpose bringing down their program more than the others.
Speaker 2: Any thoughts.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure, Kevin, someone's heart is in it enough
Speaker 1: to give the effort to thoroughly take down Arizona. That's
Speaker 1: a guest from Afar. I don't know. You have to
Speaker 1: be a motivated parasite, right, you have to have some
Speaker 1: sort of motivation here. The interesting question to me is
Speaker 1: not which of these coaches is actively try trying to
Speaker 1: subvert their program and is that militaristic, murderous parasite from within,
Speaker 1: but who of these coaches, Gus Malson, Scott Frost, Gary
Speaker 1: Patterson is doing the most damage to the mental health
Speaker 1: and wellbeing of their team's fan bases.
Speaker 2: Okay, this look, this is open to interpretation.
Speaker 1: Open to interpretation, Dan, Yeah, that's where I'd like to go,
Speaker 1: because to accuse somebody of mutinous behavior is that's heavy,
Speaker 1: even for twenty twenty, even if it's even if it's
Speaker 1: by accident, that's true, right, Like we're just talking about
Speaker 1: not people who wish to do harm to their programs,
Speaker 1: with people who are doing harm without knowing it. So
Speaker 1: between Gary Patterson and the almost no offensive evolution and
Speaker 1: momentum forward these past few years. Scott Frost, who with
Speaker 1: now years and years into his tenure, what we're three
Speaker 1: years in now doesn't seem all that different. And the
Speaker 1: ways that they've lost Nebraska have been both spectacular and
Speaker 1: heartbreaking because it's been in the last second and also
Speaker 1: just not competitive at all. And then Gus Malson just
Speaker 1: anytime you think Auburn's really good, they just look awful
Speaker 1: and vice versa. I'm gonna say Gus Malson. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say Gus because the hope that Auburn gives its fan
Speaker 1: base at multiple times these past few years, Iron Bowl wins,
Speaker 1: NFL draft picks, recruiting classes, they're on a level that
Speaker 1: Nebraska and TCU are not. So I'm gonna say what
Speaker 1: Gus Malson has done in weaponizing hope is ultimately is
Speaker 1: ultimately the most violent emotional harm anybody has done to
Speaker 1: a fan base. Of these three coaches.
Speaker 2: I think Malson's got be the answer. I think it's
Speaker 2: I think it's it's got to be the answer. When
Speaker 2: I look at these four, I said it's got to
Speaker 2: be malas On. I don't know how like you can't
Speaker 2: blame Scott Frost. Scott Frost is starting from a different point,
Speaker 2: and I do believe that if given enough time, he
Speaker 2: can build it up. But it's gonna take some time.
Speaker 2: It's gonna take some time. Kevin Someone, Look, Kevin Someone,
Speaker 2: does not feel all that different to me at Arizona
Speaker 2: than he did at A and M. He had better
Speaker 2: players at A and.
Speaker 1: M, right hired some of the same assistants, some.
Speaker 2: Of the same assistants. Feels basically like the exact same
Speaker 2: like outcome here, and so if that's not long for Tucson,
Speaker 2: that would compute for me. But I just think it
Speaker 2: is who he is. He's not doing anything different, and
Speaker 2: Arizona signed up for it. They just knew what they
Speaker 2: were getting. The Gary Patterson is interesting. Patterson, if you've
Speaker 2: seen him on any of the ESPN Film Room broadcasts
Speaker 2: during the National Championship, is he's like a football savant.
Speaker 2: He's dominated him, he dominates him. He doesn't shut up,
Speaker 2: but he knows what he's talking about. He's a good coach.
Speaker 2: It's a great watch. If anything, he's he's a little
Speaker 2: intimidating just as a football presence. When he's on those
Speaker 2: broadcasts because he knows so damn much. But it does
Speaker 2: feel like we've gotten to a point with TCU where
Speaker 2: perhaps that Virginia Tech slash TCU comparison holds, because there
Speaker 2: is a there's a treading water type of feel to
Speaker 2: this program, especially on offense. Especially on offense now Max
Speaker 2: Duggan has been a bit of a revelation. It's just
Speaker 2: been kind of disappointing that they haven't really been able
Speaker 2: to build up a whole lot around him. Defense is
Speaker 2: always solid, but you do have to wonder a little
Speaker 2: bit if there's some sort of stubbornness or some sort
Speaker 2: of quality there that is preventing them from getting to
Speaker 2: the next level offensively, even though presumably they've they tried
Speaker 2: to get the band back together on offense right with
Speaker 2: their hirings, and you know they're trying to really get
Speaker 2: this thing going. It just hasn't quite materialized. So I
Speaker 2: think you could make a case for Patterson, but I
Speaker 2: think the Malson answer is just too compelling, especially if
Speaker 2: you want to frame it as someone who's trying to
Speaker 2: do harm to the fan base, either intentionally or not.
Speaker 2: The whole will they won't they complex of Auburn being
Speaker 2: good year in and year out is frustrating for us frankly,
Speaker 2: as like podcast hosts, not even Sharburn fans per se.
Speaker 2: So eventually, one of these days that ride will be
Speaker 2: over for Melson, but it will probably be when you
Speaker 2: least expect it because he's been here before. I know,
Speaker 2: we've talked about it at nauseum about ah, this is
Speaker 2: going to be it for Melson, and it doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like it ever is. So one of these days it'll
Speaker 2: catch up to him. It just hasn't yet and probably
Speaker 2: won't in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that the Patterson thing is more just
Speaker 1: the ship needs repairs. We need engineers to look at
Speaker 1: the thrusters. What should we do. He's like, ah, I
Speaker 1: got it, I know what's going on here. And he's
Speaker 1: not very good at diagnosing offensive issues and finding the
Speaker 1: engineers and mechanics to diagnose everything on the ship. And
Speaker 1: that's that's a problem.
Speaker 2: Our answer here than is Gus Malson, Right.
Speaker 1: Gus Mileson absolutely has weaponizing.
Speaker 2: Hope gets dark. That's quite the sound effect, isn't.
Speaker 1: It, And really cuts cuts pretty deep.
Speaker 2: Tie Ship number three m clay Helton USC, David Shaw Stanford,
Speaker 2: Mike Leach new Hire at Mississippi State, Sure, Dave Dorin
Speaker 2: at NC State. So we could go a number of
Speaker 2: different directions here, But who's doing harm to their program
Speaker 2: without knowing it? Who is doing harm to the fan
Speaker 2: base without knowing it? Maybe without trying? There are a
Speaker 2: couple names on this list that I think are compelling.
Speaker 2: So the Mike Leach one, I think is somewhat obvious
Speaker 2: because whenever Leach is out of place for an extended
Speaker 2: period of time, it seems he wears out as welcome.
Speaker 2: Where's out as welcome? Happened at Texas Tech, obviously at Tech,
Speaker 2: happened a bit at Wazoo. The early going in Starkville
Speaker 2: has not been great, but no to say, well, the
Speaker 2: early early going was amazing. The early early going the
Speaker 2: first week, yeah, incredible. But since then I left a
Speaker 2: little bit to be desired.
Speaker 1: Just got awful. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The Clay Helton answer, I think is one that Look,
Speaker 2: if you read the description for this show, if you've
Speaker 2: listened to the first two ships, you knew Clayhilton coming.
Speaker 2: We're going to talk more about Clay Helton. Right, Let's
Speaker 2: talk about David Shaw, though, let's talk about David Shaw.
Speaker 2: Stanford has very notably taken a step back, then, very
Speaker 2: notably taken a step back. Is that because of Shaw?
Speaker 2: Is that because of talent? Is it because Shaw not
Speaker 2: getting the right talent or the right coaches? What is
Speaker 2: going on at Stanford? How much of that do we
Speaker 2: place on Shaw?
Speaker 1: Well, they had a bunch of transfers this year, a
Speaker 1: bunch of seniors transferred out. I think because they didn't
Speaker 1: get into grad school at Stanford. I think things shifted
Speaker 1: in the way that admissions worked there. So their depth
Speaker 1: has taken a hit. They've missed on a couple quarterbacks
Speaker 1: basically since Kevin Hogan and Well regarded highly recruited quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: four or five star guys. And defensively, the talent hasn't
Speaker 1: been there like it was seven nine years ago. They have,
Speaker 1: you know, this linebacker's good, or this corner is really good,
Speaker 1: or this safety's good. There's NFL level talent on that defense.
Speaker 1: But it's just the depth isn't there. And so that's recruiting,
Speaker 1: that's evaluation, that's development, that is assistant hires. And so
Speaker 1: I think David Shaw sort of falls under the Gary
Speaker 1: Patterson element to me where still is well regarded for
Speaker 1: good reason. Everybody likes David Shaw. He's smart, he's thoughtful.
Speaker 1: He has by and large succeeded at a place that's
Speaker 1: pretty difficult to succeed at in Stanford. As great a
Speaker 1: school as it is, as you know, great a location
Speaker 1: weatherwise and everything like that as Stanford is.
Speaker 2: It's tough there.
Speaker 1: It's tough to attract assistance, cost of living super high.
Speaker 1: I get it, but I don't think he is. I
Speaker 1: don't think he has that switch where what he's doing
Speaker 1: is so actively working against the program. I wish he
Speaker 1: would be a little bit more aggressive on offense with
Speaker 1: play calling and you still, you know, far far too
Speaker 1: conservative for me in what Stanford needs. Dave Dorn n
Speaker 1: C State's having a nice enough year, a nice enough
Speaker 1: bounce back. I don't love their staff, and especially on
Speaker 1: the offensive side. You know, Hirington back is never an
Speaker 1: excitement thing for me. But has NC State lost to
Speaker 1: anybody they shouldn't have this year, Like given the depths
Speaker 1: where the Wolfpack were last year, I guess maybe you
Speaker 1: can argue Pitt with some of the lows of Pitt,
Speaker 1: but they lost to Kenny Pickett, I believe, and they
Speaker 1: lost by a point on the road. They beat Virginia,
Speaker 1: they beat Duke. They lose to North Carolina, which fine,
Speaker 1: you can give up fifty North Carolina. A lot of
Speaker 1: teams are in North Carolina's just better than NC State.
Speaker 1: And I know n C State was at a much
Speaker 1: better point three four five years ago, but even still,
Speaker 1: they had a really an incredible shot to beat Miami.
Speaker 1: They just beat Florida State. In retrospect, the win over
Speaker 1: Wake Forest looks better than perhaps it did early on.
Speaker 1: And yes, you lose to Virginia Tech, that's fine. We're
Speaker 1: talking about losses till at top thirty, top forty schools.
Speaker 1: NC State is squarely an average to maybe above average
Speaker 1: team in the ACC. Yeah, and guess called Dave dorn
Speaker 1: for as a saboteur in this situation.
Speaker 2: Situation, Guess what had he not gotten hurt, Devin Leary
Speaker 2: probably would have been there. They're star quarterback this year
Speaker 2: he had.
Speaker 1: Probably it's Miami.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a pretty impressive showing. The Bailey Hawkman's been fine
Speaker 2: the early going. But Hawkman has been fine. Yeah, he
Speaker 2: has been fine, So I agree with you. I don't
Speaker 2: think it's Dave Dran. I don't think it's David Shaw,
Speaker 2: But let's talk about Clay Helton. Clay Helton. If you
Speaker 2: go on out to any website that tries to track
Speaker 2: coaches on the hot seat, you're going to find Clay Helton,
Speaker 2: if not at number one, at least in the top three,
Speaker 2: top five. He just has to be there because USC
Speaker 2: is never void of talent. They've always got it. They're
Speaker 2: in a fertile part of the country. When it comes
Speaker 2: to recruiting, it's a program that sort of recruits itself
Speaker 2: and at least in the early going, I think so
Speaker 2: you would know better than me, but they've never had
Speaker 2: probably getting football players to go to USC didn't recruit.
Speaker 1: It took a year off of recruiting itself. Yeah. Uh,
Speaker 1: down to Coronado Island.
Speaker 2: It's it's a wonder that we're in twenty twenty talking
Speaker 2: about Clay Heilton. This is another guy who was reportedly
Speaker 2: getting fired a handful of times and still hasn't don't
Speaker 2: know if it's going to happen in twenty twenty given
Speaker 2: the climate, but it does not feel like he is
Speaker 2: long for USC. The question I guess would be USC
Speaker 2: twelfth out of twelve.
Speaker 1: In the class of twenty twenty. In the PAC twelve
Speaker 1: twelfth only twelve commitments two Blue Chips out of those twelve.
Speaker 2: The question that I have is is Clay Helton doing
Speaker 2: anything more wrong than any of his predecessors, Like, is
Speaker 2: he worse than the last guy? Is he doing something
Speaker 2: that is actively dragging this program?
Speaker 1: I think the anger among USC fans, if we're gonna
Speaker 1: look at the fan base, is more with the administration.
Speaker 1: Like I don't think people fault USC for making the
Speaker 1: decision to hire Clay Helton given the success he had
Speaker 1: as an interim coach, but given the extension I believe
Speaker 1: after the Rose Bowl. Maybe that's wrong, but I'm going
Speaker 1: to put it out in the universe anyway. I'll look
Speaker 1: it up as I'm talking. And the opportunity to replace
Speaker 1: him with somebody that fans felt would do a better
Speaker 1: job at USC and the administration not doing that, be
Speaker 1: it for financial or otherwise reasons. I don't hold it
Speaker 1: against Clay Helton. I think it's more of the like,
Speaker 1: remember somebody tweeting CJ McCollum to like, win a playoff
Speaker 1: series before you can talk or something like that, right,
Speaker 1: And CJ McCollum tweeted back, I mean we love CJ.
Speaker 1: McCom He's Lee high right, Yep, I'm trying, Jennifer. I
Speaker 1: feel like Clay Helton is squarely in the I'm trying
Speaker 1: Jennifer mode. He really is trying. He's just the Clay
Speaker 1: Healthlton ship doesn't have the thrusters. It doesn't. It just doesn't.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to go with Leech here. I think
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with the arrogance of Leech, the public
Speaker 1: behavior of Leech, the sort of self awareness about the
Speaker 1: Mike Leach brand above all else about him, the disconnect
Speaker 1: with the Mississippi state culture upon arriving in Starkville. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go Leech here.
Speaker 2: Don't hold back, man, tell us what you really think. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think that's an easy one. I think it is, too,
Speaker 2: because do you see players just full on bailing. There's like, nah,
Speaker 2: I'm done full on bailing. Yeah, Dorin, Shaw and Hilton
Speaker 2: are all trying their best. They're trying their best, and
Speaker 2: you know, I think in at least two of those cases,
Speaker 2: it's a tough place to win. The Clay Hilton thing,
Speaker 2: that ship's been taking on water for a while, not
Speaker 2: to mix our metaphors here being an outer space and all.
Speaker 2: But you know that's not necessarily news. The Leech thing
Speaker 2: came in, and it's caught a lot of people by
Speaker 2: surprise when he took that job, and obviously caught the
Speaker 2: sec by surprise with kJ Costello throwing for a record
Speaker 2: amount of yardage in week one, and then things have
Speaker 2: really gone sideways.
Speaker 1: Do you hear a giant mower outside?
Speaker 2: It's that time of the week again, isn't it.
Speaker 1: That time of the week. Absolutely was. I was so hopeful.
Speaker 1: I'm ready with song to essentially celebrate you saying Clay
Speaker 1: Helton is a nice guy. Everybody says Clail is a
Speaker 1: nice guy, and you didn't do it. But I'm so
Speaker 1: upset because I was ready with a song.
Speaker 2: Well, the thing is dan about Clay Helton. Everybody says
Speaker 2: I'm a nice guy. You know.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we didn't do a fantasy thing this year
Speaker 1: because it's just you. You control a fantasy thing about
Speaker 1: Clay Helton is a.
Speaker 2: Nice It's true, It's true.
Speaker 1: All right, Yeah, I was ready.
Speaker 2: Leech is our thanks are here. Just get this out
Speaker 2: of our system. Have to do it, man, Oh my God,
Speaker 2: it's going to haunt your dreams brutal. The last ship
Speaker 2: this is, I think the hardest Tom Herman. Tom Herm
Speaker 2: immediately selected somebody Chip Kelly at UCLA, Jeremy Pruett at Tennessee,
Speaker 2: and Dino Babers at Syracuse Dan. I don't think there's
Speaker 2: an obvious answer here. Again, who is either knowingly or
Speaker 2: unknowingly bringing their own program down, knowingly or unknowingly putting
Speaker 2: their fan base through undue anguish? Who is your eye
Speaker 2: drawn to here, Charles chip Kelly? Really why the recruiting thing?
Speaker 2: UCLA is not a difficult place to recruit too. Yes,
Speaker 2: there are academic standards, but they have long recruited very,
Speaker 2: very well in Southern California. I like to make the argument, though,
Speaker 2: that some Southern California talent is wildly overrated for whatever reason,
Speaker 2: just because everybody wants Southern California players to be really good.
Speaker 2: Where the culture of high school football isn't necessarily robust
Speaker 2: enough to produce as much blue chip talent as people
Speaker 2: perceive it to produce. I think what Tom Herman has
Speaker 2: attempted to do is hires have not always been on point.
Speaker 1: We've talked about beck Meyer syndrome. I think he is
Speaker 1: turning over every rock. I think he really is trying.
Speaker 1: I don't think his actions point to something so egregiously wrong.
Speaker 1: It doesn't look like it's fully working out, that his
Speaker 1: decisions haven't worked out. Same with Jeremy Pruitt. Although the
Speaker 1: recruiting is there, some of the improvement is obvious. Some
Speaker 1: of it it just look at twenty twenty isn't as obvious.
Speaker 1: But the defense isn't the problem in Tennessee largely. They've
Speaker 1: got guys on defense. They recruited the offensive line pretty well.
Speaker 1: Dino Babers. That's just a tough job. He did a
Speaker 1: good job with the players he inherited. I mean, the
Speaker 1: quarterback injuries have been brutal. Offensive line injuries have been brutal,
Speaker 1: and I you know, I don't know if there's a
Speaker 1: reason that we can point to so many injuries and
Speaker 1: so much dumb luck with Syracuse. But I don't think
Speaker 1: it's Babors. I think he's a totally good coach. I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's worth having a conversation about as
Speaker 1: an upper power five level candidate like he has been
Speaker 1: these past couple of years. But I think he's fine
Speaker 1: chip though with the recruiting he's done at UCLA. I'm
Speaker 1: never a huge fan of building hope around a guy
Speaker 1: who is on his way down, and like it or not,
Speaker 1: the reality is, you go up to Philly and then
Speaker 1: things go downhill. It in Philly, go to San Francisco.
Speaker 1: It was just not going to work out in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: He's only there for a year, the ownership and he
Speaker 1: apparently didn't get along, and so he takes a year off.
Speaker 1: And he's like, well, I like the West Coast, and
Speaker 1: UCLA is you can you can bring talent there, and
Speaker 1: the Pac twelve is pretty winnable, and I think he
Speaker 1: is it appears to be. And listen, nobody loves the
Speaker 1: Heights of Charles ship Kelly more than I. But his
Speaker 1: tenure at UCLA points to I don't know if it's arrogance.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's just a stubbornness of like,
Speaker 1: this is how I succeeded at Oregon, this is how
Speaker 1: we will succeed at UCLA. And to not recruit on
Speaker 1: a level fitting of the Bruins and expecting to outperform
Speaker 1: the talent you bring in, I don't know it just
Speaker 1: strikes me as working against the program and working against
Speaker 1: the ceiling of the program, which Jim Mora was a
Speaker 1: totally good coach. At his best, Ucla was a competitive team.
Speaker 1: Ucla filed it some you know, some years it was
Speaker 1: an incredible defense. Some years it was you know, I
Speaker 1: remember those Paul Perkins offenses. Brett Hunley. I just UCLA
Speaker 1: should always be an eight ish win caliber team, and
Speaker 1: they're just not, and they haven't looked anywhere near it
Speaker 1: years years now into Chip Kelly's tenure.
Speaker 2: There counterpoint counterpoint to Herman.
Speaker 1: Okay, give me the answer for Herman.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I have any answers on this ship.
Speaker 2: I don't know if any of them are Well.
Speaker 1: If you're firing two coordinators the same year, that's on
Speaker 1: you that you hired coordinators, that we're we're both not
Speaker 1: working out and both not taking the program in a
Speaker 1: direction that matches your vision.
Speaker 2: If you truly want to pivot and talk about the
Speaker 2: effect on a fan base, the Herman angle is interesting
Speaker 2: to me, you know, like I think if you look
Speaker 2: at Baber's there's not really a fan base angle there
Speaker 2: with Syracuse. There are Syracuse people who listen to this show,
Speaker 2: but you know, the Texas fan base is much more notable.
Speaker 2: The Jeremy Pruett angle is interesting. I think there's a
Speaker 2: recognition among the Vols base that there's a deficiency at
Speaker 2: quarterback that they need to solve. They haven't yet, but
Speaker 2: it does feel like the Allen has gotten better and
Speaker 2: the team as a whole, the depth and whatnot is
Speaker 2: it's getting there. Chip Kelly, Ucla that fan base. You
Speaker 2: could tell me probably better than anyone about the UCLA
Speaker 2: fan base. I don't know if it's quite as hungry
Speaker 2: for a national championship or even a nine win season
Speaker 2: as they are in Texas.
Speaker 1: I think they're just they're hungry for competence. That's hungry
Speaker 1: for at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Tom Herman thing, though, like the whole is
Speaker 2: Texas back question, it is of course a stupid joke
Speaker 2: at this point and way overplayed. But to your point
Speaker 2: about UCLA, like they should at least be a eight
Speaker 2: win program, should at least be competent.
Speaker 1: Of course, in a time where USC is down, it
Speaker 1: does feel like Texas should be getting a lot more
Speaker 1: out of this program, and it's felt that way for
Speaker 1: a while. But think of the hype that followed Tom
Speaker 1: Herman to University of ten at Austin, Sure and beat
Speaker 1: out LSU for him. Yup.
Speaker 2: And there's no doubt. There's no doubt in my mind
Speaker 2: that he has gotten them up for big games. He
Speaker 2: is a big game coach, Tom Herman, and he's been
Speaker 2: on this show. We love Tom Herman. I think he's
Speaker 2: a smart dude. I think he's a good coach. He's
Speaker 2: a nice guy. But it feels to me like there's
Speaker 2: there's a lot of meat left on that bone. And
Speaker 2: if you're a Texas fan, if you're watching this team
Speaker 2: week in and week out, if you are feeling like
Speaker 2: the talent is there to try and organize better and
Speaker 2: potentially win the Big twelve, get a chance into that playoff,
Speaker 2: like I understand coming away very unsatisfied and a bit
Speaker 2: aggravated by that, even if you still generally like Tom Herman.
Speaker 2: So I think there is a case to be made
Speaker 2: for him over Chip Kelly, because I know that the
Speaker 2: fan base is just it has much higher expectations, let's say,
Speaker 2: than they do a UCLA.
Speaker 1: Well here's the other thing with Texas, right, they're in
Speaker 1: year four. Now, this is a very different year for everybody.
Speaker 1: It's not an excuse, but it's just a reality. Right,
Speaker 1: It's different for everybody. Penn State in a normal year
Speaker 1: probably doesn't look like this, right, Michigan in a normal
Speaker 1: year probably doesn't look like this.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: It speaks to their ability to push through adversity and
Speaker 1: obstacles and things like that, and it's not a great
Speaker 1: look for schools like that. There's just I don't know
Speaker 1: if you have friends like this or solid wife Kate
Speaker 1: has friends like this, where there's just there's always something.
Speaker 1: You're like, hey, do you want to meet up for
Speaker 1: lunch and like, well, yes, but there's always something. There's
Speaker 1: always something. With Texas playing against Texas Techa a pretty
Speaker 1: flawed team and year two of a new coach sixty
Speaker 1: three to fifty six. Last year, you're playing against the
Speaker 1: Kansas team, an awful, awful Kansas team, and they fire
Speaker 1: their offensive coordinator, they make an analyst, they're new coordinator.
Speaker 1: I believe that was the order of succession, and they
Speaker 1: it's like sixty to fifty nine, fifty nine, fifty seven.
Speaker 1: The Oklahoma game goes a bajillion overtimes and they lose,
Speaker 1: so like they're giving people hope that they're on Oklahoma's
Speaker 1: level and they play Oklahoma State, they play terrible, but
Speaker 1: they win a clunker against a good team.
Speaker 2: You're like, Wow, we have the ability to win our club.
Speaker 1: There's always something. It's always something with Texas, And I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's a recruiting thing. I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's a culture thing. I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: coordinator or an assistant, a malaise, a game planning, a
Speaker 1: treating their five star players like celebrities, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: it's always something. Texas can't just go ten and two
Speaker 1: and beat everybody they should and maybe everybody they should
Speaker 1: comfortably and lose to teams that.
Speaker 2: Are slightly better. Can't do it.
Speaker 1: Always something ty that's the case for Tom Herman to
Speaker 1: me in year four, he doesn't have them at least
Speaker 1: to that point where they're just outclassed, but they beat
Speaker 1: everybody they should. I think I think the answer is
Speaker 1: still Chip Kelly. Okay, my case is more convincing there
Speaker 1: that in terms of this game.
Speaker 2: In terms of this game, I think the answer is
Speaker 2: still Chip Kelly. But this is hard for me. This
Speaker 2: is a tough one for me. I really wavered between
Speaker 2: Herman and Kelly, But I.
Speaker 1: Still don't fully understand the game just going. They're just
Speaker 1: going from a gut here.
Speaker 2: If we put Chip Kelly, Mike Leach, Gus Malson, and
Speaker 2: Dana Holgerson on the ship, who is the chief among.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, those Champions League parasite? Yeah, so who
Speaker 1: is sabotaging? Who is subverting? Oh Man? From a leadership position?
Speaker 1: We're asking who, either voluntarily or involuntarily is doing the
Speaker 1: most harm the program that they are at, or with
Speaker 1: your new twist, put the fan base through anguish hard that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, Gus is still he's still doing more good
Speaker 1: than the others, right, Dana Holgerson at Houston, Mike Leach
Speaker 1: a Mississippi State, Chip Kelly at UCLA. Gus has done
Speaker 1: far more good for Auburn. He's taking them to what
Speaker 1: a national championship he's taken, He's won the SEC, He's
Speaker 1: beaten Alabama multiple times, he had you know, was the
Speaker 1: coach of the most memorable play in recent and modern
Speaker 1: college football history in the kick six, the offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: on the CAM team. So there's good will. I think
Speaker 1: it's got to be Leach, right, I think it's Leech
Speaker 1: it's got to be Leach because he's just getting started.
Speaker 2: He's just getting started, which we have seen coaches, Oh god,
Speaker 2: he goes through you.
Speaker 1: We've seen coaches start off disastrously as they try to
Speaker 1: shift the direction of a program, perhaps schemat culturally, whatever.
Speaker 1: So it wouldn't surprise if as Mike Leach got more
Speaker 1: of his own guys made you know, shifts with the
Speaker 1: assistance or whatever, that Mississippi State become a threat in
Speaker 1: the SEC. Year one was always going to be rocky.
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody predicted to this extent, but it's
Speaker 1: a tough year one for anybody given the circumstances.
Speaker 2: And it's a wild ride too. It's a wild ride
Speaker 2: after that Week one experience to kind of end up.
Speaker 1: That's the thing too though. I mean we've we've reevaluated
Speaker 1: where LSU is as a as a team and as
Speaker 1: a program right now. So let's see Texas Tech his
Speaker 1: first year, and they were in a better place, I
Speaker 1: believe when he took over in two thousand. They go
Speaker 1: seven and six. Washington State absolutely in the dumps, they
Speaker 1: go three to nine, one in eight in the then
Speaker 1: Pack twelve. Yeah, I was a Pack twelve by twenty twelve.
Speaker 1: That was the first year I believe of it. One
Speaker 1: in eight is these are his pack twelve records, So
Speaker 1: he's almost in a Bell curve like parasitic place. One
Speaker 1: in eight, four and five, two and seven auspicious but
Speaker 1: showing some some feist, some improvement six and three, seven
Speaker 1: and two, six and three, seven and two. Holy hell,
Speaker 1: what a stretch twenty fifteen to twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: three and six. So you know, bringing in JC quarterback
Speaker 1: after JC quarterback with what Anthony Gordon and who's the
Speaker 1: quarterback for the Jaguars now that was there? Jor snash Garment.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So that's never a great sign where you're not
Speaker 1: developing quarterbacks and you're relying on JC guys year after year.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, starting out, it's it could be the
Speaker 1: bottom of the Bell curve, but there's it feels like
Speaker 1: there's going to be a curve in Mississippi state one
Speaker 1: way or the other.
Speaker 2: Let's play it just one more time, just you know,
Speaker 2: just to really drive home point.
Speaker 1: Oh, which of these teams? Okay, so let's stick with
Speaker 1: my my slight pivot. So of all these what sixteen teams?
Speaker 1: Yeap do you think is the absolute worst fan experience
Speaker 1: in terms of I'm a fan of X team and
Speaker 1: they do nothing but haunt my dreams, whether it's giving
Speaker 1: me hope and then tearing it down or just beating
Speaker 1: me down to such an emotional low point that I
Speaker 1: no longer can feel things.
Speaker 2: I think it's got to be Nebraska.
Speaker 1: You think Scott, the Scott Frost relationship to Nebraska fans
Speaker 1: I a most brutal.
Speaker 2: I'm not even counting Scott Frost in that equation. I'm
Speaker 2: just saying that the combination of and we see it
Speaker 2: like Notre Dame. Notre Dame's a good example, right, a
Speaker 2: traditional blue blood. It's a lot of success. Over the years,
Speaker 2: the game, to some extent has kind of moved at
Speaker 2: a faster pace than the institution could keep up with.
Speaker 2: And for a long time with Notre Dame, it was
Speaker 2: the same deal where the expectations did not change, but
Speaker 2: the game around the program did.
Speaker 1: But now that they've admitted that their independence is no
Speaker 1: longer a defining factor of their program, well they've taken
Speaker 1: nice steps forward.
Speaker 2: They've closed the gap. They've closed the gap, and they've
Speaker 2: taken that You're right, they've taken great steps forward, and Nebraska,
Speaker 2: to me, feels like they are in that they're kind
Speaker 2: of trapped in that limbo state where the expectations are
Speaker 2: still there, maybe not quite to the same extent as
Speaker 2: they were at Notre Dame, but they're still there, and
Speaker 2: the program is constantly trying to figure out ways to
Speaker 2: play catch up, and a lot of that pressure now
Speaker 2: is on Scott Frost to deliver. I hope he gets
Speaker 2: time to do so, because I believe he is the
Speaker 2: right guy for the job if given the opportunity. I've
Speaker 2: given enough time to But I can imagine being a
Speaker 2: fan of that program and just kind of constantly wondering
Speaker 2: when is it going to happen, When is it going
Speaker 2: to happen? Is this the year that we see some
Speaker 2: progress that we can build on to take that next
Speaker 2: step to get there? So for me, I think it's Nebraska.
Speaker 2: You can make a case for Virginia Tech as well.
Speaker 2: I don't know if expectations at Tech are are ever
Speaker 2: going to be as high as they would be at
Speaker 2: a place like a Nebraska.
Speaker 1: Men, Virginia Tech hasn't been that good in a long time.
Speaker 2: Though It's been a while, right, It's been a long time. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so you could make the case, but I think it's
Speaker 2: to a much lesser degree.
Speaker 1: Okay, So the coaches who have teased though that have
Speaker 1: teased their fan bases with recent enough success. So you
Speaker 1: have Tom Herman and the Sugar Bowl with Texas, right,
Speaker 1: they're like, oh my god, we've ascended to this level.
Speaker 1: We're a New Year's six program. We beat this blue
Speaker 1: blood in Georgia, fellow blue blood in Georgia, and we
Speaker 1: have turned a corner. It seems like since that moment
Speaker 1: it has been nothing but pain as a Texas fan
Speaker 1: that they did make what the Big twelve Championship game, like,
Speaker 1: they're you know, they're they're performing well enough at times,
Speaker 1: but their lows are so even they're wins, in those lows,
Speaker 1: they're always something factor that's brutal as a fan, TI
Speaker 1: you know this, Yeah, I would say the Gus Malsonics
Speaker 1: experience has been trying, for sure, really really trying. I
Speaker 1: think it's probably worse to be a TCU fan than
Speaker 1: an Auburn fan, considering that TCU was right there on
Speaker 1: the edge of the playoff. They win the Rose Bowl
Speaker 1: twenty ten, they had an amazing I think twenty fourteen
Speaker 1: season with Ravon Boykin, and they're right there. They lose
Speaker 1: sixty one to fifty eight to Baylor, and that changes
Speaker 1: the calculus of everything. And then there's just this hunt
Speaker 1: to recapture, right that these like this failed dog, the
Speaker 1: bounty hunter character in Fort Worth, that they're always hunting
Speaker 1: to recapture and that is maddening to me that they
Speaker 1: were so crazy Razor Thin close to symbolically making that leap,
Speaker 1: Whereas the Nebraska experience was always I mean, it was
Speaker 1: fine during the bow Polini. I mean not five volatile
Speaker 1: during bow Polini. But I don't think Scott Frost has
Speaker 1: done anything other than the outside expectations to do too
Speaker 1: much harm. It's been rough the way Nebraska has law.
Speaker 1: It's rough, Don't get me wrong, It's definitely rough. Arizona
Speaker 1: I don't think qualifies here. USC is tough because they
Speaker 1: had that blip with the Rose Bowl, the twenty seventeen
Speaker 1: team Sam Darnold, but they've largely not been consistently good
Speaker 1: for over a decade. You have your a Lane Kiff
Speaker 1: in season and then that's sort of it. NC State
Speaker 1: I don't think qualifies here. They're down, but they don't
Speaker 1: qualify UCLA doesn't qualify the Tennessee experience. Hmm. Interesting. The
Speaker 1: Tennessee experience has been it has to have been awful.
Speaker 1: I don't know that they've had the hope. I mean,
Speaker 1: they've had the off season hope, but they haven't had
Speaker 1: the in season winning hope. They haven't, you know, they
Speaker 1: don't all of a sudden trounce Florida or beat Alabama
Speaker 1: and like okay, we've broken through and then that have
Speaker 1: them have it ripped from them. So I think they're
Speaker 1: close to being in that category. But I think it's
Speaker 1: more Texas and Michigan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I'm with you, Dan, I really do.
Speaker 2: I think it's.
Speaker 1: Texas, Michigan. Maybe a dash of TCU, a dash of
Speaker 1: powdered frog.
Speaker 2: I hear you. I still think I go Nebraska, Okay,
Speaker 2: but I hear you.
Speaker 1: Is Nebraska's best recent win the lost to Ohio State
Speaker 1: two years ago?
Speaker 2: It might be.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think like, hey, look, I mean if you
Speaker 1: look at any article, like longer article about Nebraska's offense
Speaker 1: and Adrian Martinez, which was just bench, it's it's man,
Speaker 1: look at look at that spark he had that that
Speaker 1: stretch of games in the back half of twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: really gave Ohio Say everything they could handle. It's the
Speaker 1: best recent win.
Speaker 2: Weird game today, Dan, I loved it.
Speaker 1: I loved every second. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Way in Solid Verbal at gmail dot com. Don't forget
Speaker 2: to give us a call as you're watching the games
Speaker 2: here in week twelve, four oh eight Verbal one is
Speaker 2: the reverblind four oh eight eight three seven two two
Speaker 2: five one. We will cut those up on Sunday and
Speaker 2: play them as part of our reverbs segment. Dan, We're
Speaker 2: going to hit the stop button now and then we're
Speaker 2: going to do our bruin A. I've got a beer
Speaker 2: here next to me that will put hair on your chest.
Speaker 2: I don't think you could handle this beer.
Speaker 1: I definitely couldn't. I'm not with that description, absolutely not.
Speaker 2: So with that being said, I think this is where
Speaker 2: we bid everyone a fond to do and wish everyone
Speaker 2: well for the weekend. Stay safe and by all means
Speaker 2: stay solid.
Speaker 1: Peace.