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Speaker 1: take care of you this football season, traveling to watch
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Speaker 1: All right, listen, this is just for Trojan fans. But
Speaker 1: here's about twenty minutes my thoughts on the season overall,
Speaker 1: because you know, I'm into that recruiting stuff and portal stuff,
Speaker 1: and I think it's one of my favorite parts and
Speaker 1: volume that I just if I'm in the mood, I
Speaker 1: went for an hour walk, got a coffee and thought,
Speaker 1: had so many thoughts ruminating in my head, and I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, I want to get it out there. So
Speaker 1: I'm going to be watching football all day anyway. So
Speaker 1: let's talk about Lincoln Riley that time out late in
Speaker 1: the game. After the game, he went out and said, listen,
Speaker 1: ten minute on the field, you know, pick your poison,
Speaker 1: we call the time out. It all worked out. I
Speaker 1: did not like them moving away from the running game
Speaker 1: at the end of the first half and early in
Speaker 1: the third quarter. I think they have found a star
Speaker 1: running back in Brian Jackson, who's got a Lendale White feel.
Speaker 1: I think they've really found he looks like the most
Speaker 1: formidable power back they have had since the Pete Carroll era.
Speaker 1: I think you have a star in the freshman Brian
Speaker 1: Jackson out of Texas two thirty five, powerful, decisive, hits
Speaker 1: the hole moving forward. That's a Sunday player that looks
Speaker 1: like a Sunday running back. He's not gonna blow down
Speaker 1: the sidelines. He's not a speedback, but he is a
Speaker 1: power back and he can find the whole decisively. I
Speaker 1: really like him. More on that later. But Lincoln Riley's here.
Speaker 1: He's got a long contract. They put three hundred million
Speaker 1: into the facilities, the collectives up to eighteen million. They
Speaker 1: can buy some of the best players. In my opinion,
Speaker 1: the need for this program is a general manager above everything.
Speaker 1: The current people in place are allies of Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 1: To me, that's not good enough. If you want to
Speaker 1: compete with the big boys, you have to go hire
Speaker 1: a former NFLGM. You know, there's a lot of people.
Speaker 1: You could hire Chris Peterson and just say Chris, you're
Speaker 1: the general manager. Run the program. That'd be one of
Speaker 1: the first guys I called. I'm not sure he has
Speaker 1: any interest. He now works at Fox as a broadcaster.
Speaker 1: But that's the number one need of the program. To
Speaker 1: get to the big boys, you got to get a
Speaker 1: general manager, and the current people in place, to me,
Speaker 1: aren't at the level necessary. The second thing I would
Speaker 1: talk about is I didn't like all the play calling.
Speaker 1: I thought going away from Brian Jackson in the run
Speaker 1: game a couple different times wasn't prudent, but it all
Speaker 1: worked out. Let's talk about the season that just passed.
Speaker 1: You beat eight and four LSU to start, and you
Speaker 1: beat eight and four Texas A and M, and you
Speaker 1: lost in overtime to a Penn State team that's vying
Speaker 1: from the national championship. The Maryland lost was awful, Rutgers Washington,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, but you went to against the SEC.
Speaker 1: I think that's as many wins as Oklahoma had against
Speaker 1: the SEC. And again you had Penn State in a
Speaker 1: tough spot. Penn State's a better team, clearly so. And
Speaker 1: also the schedule last year, the schedule with first year
Speaker 1: starter Miller Moss. You opened up LSU and then you're
Speaker 1: at Michigan a couple of weeks later next year. The
Speaker 1: schedule is about as easy as you can get in
Speaker 1: the Big Ten. Missouri State and Georgia Southern to start
Speaker 1: a notch below LSU at Purdue, Michigan State at Illinois,
Speaker 1: and then idle. You all have two weeks to prepare
Speaker 1: for Michigan and their freshman quarterback. That's a lot different
Speaker 1: than LSU and a couple of weeks later at the
Speaker 1: Big House with Miller Moss. That's a whole different scenario.
Speaker 1: So the schedule plays into their favor. Two weeks to
Speaker 1: prep for a powerhouse in Michigan. That's good. Quarterback Jaden Mayava.
Speaker 1: He's a little too reckless for my taste, but he's
Speaker 1: a sophomore and from UNLV to USC, he stepped up
Speaker 1: in competition, started late in the year. He's never had
Speaker 1: a real off season. With Lincoln Riley, I don't necessarily
Speaker 1: think they're going to bring a quarterback in. He's a sophomore.
Speaker 1: I mean, you saw from first half to second half
Speaker 1: the difference in him last night. I mean, he's got
Speaker 1: when he steps into it, he's got an arm. He
Speaker 1: looked anxious. He's a player that's I think as good
Speaker 1: as his confidence. I thought he was very confident late.
Speaker 1: He lacked confidence early when they fell behind. Too many
Speaker 1: balls are thrown in harm's way. But again, he's a sophomore.
Speaker 1: He's never had an off season program with Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 1: They're also bringing in a five star high school kid
Speaker 1: from southern California. I'm not sure they're going to go
Speaker 1: outside the program. Will he get better? Absolutely? Is he
Speaker 1: an elite college quarterback? To me, very debatable, i'd lean know,
Speaker 1: but you know, you start looking around at the teams
Speaker 1: vying for national championship, not all of them have NFL quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: You don't have to have an NFL quarterback the positives
Speaker 1: on the roster. Let's go back to Brian Jackson. Six
Speaker 1: feet two thirty feels like a Lendale White would be
Speaker 1: my comp really really big time player. I mean that
Speaker 1: go there. They got backup offensive lineman and he is
Speaker 1: finding big holes. Decisive, not a burner, but decisive power back.
Speaker 1: Kind of a one step cut guy like Zach Charboney
Speaker 1: was at UCLA. Sort of a goes one cut off
Speaker 1: to the races. I like him a lot. Jacoby Lane,
Speaker 1: mackay Lemonar obviously elite receivers. I think too much is
Speaker 1: made of Deuce Robinson and Branch transferring out of the program.
Speaker 1: I thought it was too cluttered. Last year Hudson as well,
Speaker 1: I thought it was too cluttered. I think I think
Speaker 1: that the reality is guys want touches and wide receiver
Speaker 1: Nfler College has always been a little higher maintenance positions.
Speaker 1: Guys want touches. Jacobe Lane's a Sunday player. He'll come
Speaker 1: back as a junior one more year at US. That's
Speaker 1: your number one. Lemon is a one, A outstanding. Then
Speaker 1: you're gonna have upgrades at tight end. The tight end
Speaker 1: position I think will be have more dynamic playmakers next year.
Speaker 1: Some of the kids in the program now are bigger, stronger.
Speaker 1: Lincoln Riley doesn't use a tight end a ton anyway.
Speaker 1: But you know, when I look at what USC brings
Speaker 1: back in the skill department, even the quarterback moves pretty well.
Speaker 1: I like their foundation. It's also my biggest complaint this
Speaker 1: year is they just didn't have enough NFL bodies on
Speaker 1: the offense, offensive line and defensive line. They just didn't
Speaker 1: have any depth. Next year they bring back Elijah Page.
Speaker 1: He'll play he'll be a top two or three left
Speaker 1: tackle in the Big Ten. Probably is last year at USC,
Speaker 1: hopefully not. Tobias Raymond is certainly I thought last night
Speaker 1: he's your right tackle. Been in the program three years,
Speaker 1: big hard working kid. Long and then Justin Tuhanu, who
Speaker 1: got duty last night as a freshman from Huntington Beach.
Speaker 1: I think he's tremendous. I've been telling a couple of
Speaker 1: people in the program, I'm like, that's your kid. So
Speaker 1: you have three capable starting offensive tackles this year. I
Speaker 1: thought it was Page, who was a red shirt freshman.
Speaker 1: That's just not good enough in the Big Ten. I
Speaker 1: think you could probably bring in a transfer if you
Speaker 1: wanted to compete for a job at right tackle. But
Speaker 1: you're bringing into excellent, four star offensive tackles who can
Speaker 1: red shirt and then play. I really honestly feel good
Speaker 1: about the offensive tackle position for the first time in
Speaker 1: maybe twelve to fifteen years. Between Page, Raymond, and tu
Speaker 1: and new those are NFL bodies. However it plays out
Speaker 1: for their careers, I don't know, but I feel really
Speaker 1: good about that. The other thing that's been I remember
Speaker 1: years ago talking to Urban Meyer about this. I said California,
Speaker 1: whatever it is, just does not produce. For a state
Speaker 1: of thirty eight million people, it does not produce a
Speaker 1: lot of great defensive line bodies. Maybe it's the diet hell,
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's the California diet. Who knows. And
Speaker 1: we had talked about that. I remember at the time saying,
Speaker 1: if I ever went to USC, he goes. You know,
Speaker 1: you just got to live in Houston, in Atlanta, and
Speaker 1: you know areas of the country that produced three hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty five pound defensive linemen. For whatever reasons, California
Speaker 1: doesn't produce a ton of those players. You often have
Speaker 1: to leave the state, and that's what Lincoln Riley's done.
Speaker 1: I think Floyd Bouchard, Miami Beach defensive tackle that will
Speaker 1: come in this year as a true freshman, probably won't
Speaker 1: play a lot. He'll be rotational. Looks like an SEC
Speaker 1: interior defensive lineman. Jakeem Stewart, another from the South Louisiana
Speaker 1: looks like an SEC defensive linement. Some of this stuff
Speaker 1: is aesthetics. We've just been too small in the trenches.
Speaker 1: Two and seventy five pound defensive linemen Jamal Jarrett from
Speaker 1: Georgia's coming in as a transfer, big body, Keishawn Silver
Speaker 1: from Kentucky, big body. So I just I feel like
Speaker 1: the look of the defensive line looks more like you
Speaker 1: get at a Michigan or a Clemson or in LSU.
Speaker 1: Are they all great players? Probably not, But that has
Speaker 1: been my complaint now for several years running. We just
Speaker 1: don't have enough left tackle NFL Sunday bodies in the program.
Speaker 1: I think now we have three. We don't have enough
Speaker 1: NFL bodies in the defensive interior. Now we have three
Speaker 1: or four. So and there's a couple of freshmen this
Speaker 1: year that played a little bit. They did play in
Speaker 1: the Bowl. So I think that's very promising to me
Speaker 1: because I think when you move into the Big ten,
Speaker 1: the weather's overrated. I mean, let's be honest. College football
Speaker 1: games are September, October, November, and you maybe have one
Speaker 1: in December, right, you know, if usc made the playoff,
Speaker 1: you know they maybe have a cold game on the
Speaker 1: road somewhere up north. That's that's fine. Remember your your
Speaker 1: last regular season game is gonna usually be potentially with
Speaker 1: the UCLA so Homer away. The weather's fine. I think
Speaker 1: the weather aspect is overstated. I do think what the
Speaker 1: Big Ten is and you've seen this with Oregon. Oregon
Speaker 1: has had elite offensive and defensive line recruiting with Dan
Speaker 1: Lanning and Mario Cristobal and the transfer portal. They're bigger,
Speaker 1: they're bigger and they have more size up front. Oregon's fast,
Speaker 1: that's their bread and butter. And USC teams again, plenty
Speaker 1: of receivers and corners, safeties, wide outs in southern California.
Speaker 1: But the big bodies are what the Big Ten has.
Speaker 1: And as college football schedule is now longer, you go
Speaker 1: to a twelve team playoff off the regular season, there's
Speaker 1: no reason to load up and play an LSU to
Speaker 1: start the season. You're just begging for injuries. Would I've
Speaker 1: said this, I'd move Notre Dame off the schedule. There's
Speaker 1: no reason if I have to play Ohio State, Oregon,
Speaker 1: Washington will be better, Michigan Penn State. Why schedule potential losses.
Speaker 1: Have a couple of cupcakes early or winnable games. Get
Speaker 1: your quarterback, get your young freshman looks, get your offensive
Speaker 1: line right. By week three or four or five. When
Speaker 1: you have to go to an Illinois you know, don't
Speaker 1: be a romantic Let baseball have all the purists get
Speaker 1: the Notre Dame game. Look at USC schedule going forward,
Speaker 1: plush the twelve team playoff. You're trying to get into
Speaker 1: that thing. It's like political races. You can talk about
Speaker 1: where you stand on this, shue this issue, and where
Speaker 1: you stand on that issue. Get elected, all right. Have
Speaker 1: policies that most people can embrace and put their arms around.
Speaker 1: The game is get elected not being strident and a
Speaker 1: purest and precious on certain issues that can alien and
Speaker 1: alienate a large part of your contingency. It's the same
Speaker 1: in football schedule to win games. Nick Saban for a decade.
Speaker 1: Look at that out of conference schedule. He wasn't going
Speaker 1: on the road his last eight nine years at Alabama
Speaker 1: if he didn't have to. Why would you do that?
Speaker 1: Why would you ever want to go to South Ben
Speaker 1: against Marcus Freeman and that roster. It's idiotic. Why do
Speaker 1: you want to play LSU Play them in the playoff
Speaker 1: if you have to, But just don't outthink the room
Speaker 1: soft early schedule, cross your fingers on where you get
Speaker 1: your buy and get to the playoff. That's all that matters,
Speaker 1: not the romance of playing Notre Dame and the four Horsemen,
Speaker 1: get over it. That's not the game. Nick Saban always
Speaker 1: understood that, you know, make sure they had their buys
Speaker 1: before some of their biggest games, the LSU game and
Speaker 1: it was Cupcake City. Any moment he could give, you know,
Speaker 1: starters thirty snaps instead of sixty or seventy against Georgia
Speaker 1: or Florida or somebody in the SEC. So the schedule's
Speaker 1: weaker next year. I'm not sure what they're going to
Speaker 1: do at quarterback. I think they're going to go with
Speaker 1: the guys they have. They have a start at running back,
Speaker 1: two stars at receiver, ample size up front. Some of
Speaker 1: it's very very young, but that's okay. I just think
Speaker 1: you have to take a deep breath on this stuff.
Speaker 1: Lincoln Riley's not going anywhere. I thought that win, to
Speaker 1: finish with the winning record mattered. It makes the off
Speaker 1: season better. They've already gone to the portal for a
Speaker 1: running back needed they needed a back up running back
Speaker 1: now that Brian Jackson looks like the starter for a kicker,
Speaker 1: two interior defensive linemen and a corner again, I could
Speaker 1: see them bringing in maybe a senior offensive tackle, not
Speaker 1: a left tackle, but just for rotational purposes, injury purposes.
Speaker 1: It's a long shlog of a regular season. I think
Speaker 1: they need a linebacker, an active, rangey linebacker somewhere. I
Speaker 1: like some of the young freshmen that will now be
Speaker 1: sophomore as a red shirt freshman at linebacker. I think
Speaker 1: they've recruited it pretty well the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: but they probably know need to go get sort of
Speaker 1: an upper class linebacker. But this the first year Lincoln
Speaker 1: Riley had the program. The first two years it was
Speaker 1: very much about the transfer portal, and I am disappointed
Speaker 1: with a Southern California recruiting. Not gonna lie about that.
Speaker 1: But you know, you start looking around college football, it's
Speaker 1: a new world. Ohio State had two huge regular season games.
Speaker 1: Oregon Michigan lost both that are in the playoff, and
Speaker 1: the Penn State game close. You know, the world's changed.
Speaker 1: You're gonna lose games. You can look at USC schedule.
Speaker 1: You know you could see a game at Notre Dame
Speaker 1: that's going to be really tough. You know Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: Riley Leonard's going to the pros. You know, there's rumors
Speaker 1: that they they may be in the portal for a
Speaker 1: quarterback at the college level that many of you have
Speaker 1: seen play for a big program. So I won't give
Speaker 1: that away yet, but don't be surprised if a very
Speaker 1: very well known college quarterback transfers to Notre Dame wants
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and I think they're in a good spot.
Speaker 1: I just I got to tell you, Brian Jackson, that
Speaker 1: running back, that was a revelation. That's a real thing.
Speaker 1: That's a big ten running back. That's not a guy
Speaker 1: that's moving around in shifty and you know, five eight
Speaker 1: and like one ninety five and can make you miss
Speaker 1: in space. No, No, that's six foot two thirty five,
Speaker 1: plant the foot, decisive head down four yards become six.
Speaker 1: That was a real revelation to me. And the O
Speaker 1: line and d talent, the aesthetic, the optics is big,
Speaker 1: long Sunday looking bodies. So there you go. That's what
Speaker 1: I got this morning. I don't know what that was,
Speaker 1: but that's what I got this morning. You know what, Saturdays,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna shower it. I don't think I'm gonna
Speaker 1: sit and watch football. I got a little gumbo in
Speaker 1: the fridge and I'm gonna dive into that thing. It's
Speaker 1: not gonna be the healthiest day for me. Hey, I
Speaker 1: can't eat blueberries in Canalo three hundred and sixty five
Speaker 1: days a year. May have a shot of bourbon, some gumbo.
Speaker 1: Let's live a little right fight on Trojan Fans. The
Speaker 1: volume College Football Reactions presented by JLab. Jaylab has the
Speaker 1: best audio products in the game. They're ready to take
Speaker 1: care of you this football season, traveling to watch your
Speaker 1: favorite team, or just streaming the game at home. Find
Speaker 1: the Blue Box at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, or go
Speaker 1: to JLab dot com. Love their stuff. The Blue Box