Speaker 1: The volume.
Speaker 2: College football reactions presented by j Jaylab has the best
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Speaker 2: the Alabama quarterback that won a Natty in twenty ten
Speaker 2: with a Crimson Tide. He's the host of OLA's College Football,
Speaker 2: Greg McElroy, who we bring on two or three times
Speaker 2: a year. The latest college football rankings have come out
Speaker 2: BYU is gone. I don't have a problem with it,
Speaker 2: I think, and I'm assuming most of you who've listened
Speaker 2: to my show know what the college football rankings were.
Speaker 2: Oregon one, Ohio State two, Texas three, Penn State four.
Speaker 2: Not sure I buy Penn State, Indiana five, Notre Dame six, Bama,
Speaker 2: who I think is better than advertised at seven, Miami eight.
Speaker 2: Don't know if I buy him, Ole Miss nine, Georgia ten,
Speaker 2: and Tennessee who I had winning the Natty eleven, and
Speaker 2: Boise State twelve. So here's let me just throw this
Speaker 2: out there. For years and years I heard Greg big
Speaker 2: Ten fans always state, why don't we have to go
Speaker 2: south to play our bowl games? So what's interesting is
Speaker 2: Georgia would have to go to Penn State, it's pickham Ole,
Speaker 2: Miss would have to go to Indiana, and Alabama would
Speaker 2: have to go to Notre Dame. I do think that's
Speaker 2: an advantage for cold weather teams over warm weather teams.
Speaker 1: Do you, absolutely that's a huge deal, especially looking at
Speaker 1: the I mean, what did Wisconsin just do this past week?
Speaker 1: I mean, and I know that right now it's not
Speaker 1: frigid temperatures in Madison, but they just got rid of
Speaker 1: their air raid style offensive coordinator because it's hard to
Speaker 1: throw and to be a pass happy offense in November
Speaker 1: in the Big Ten, well raise it by at least
Speaker 1: I don't know, three or four times the intensity in
Speaker 1: the playoff setting in December. I mean, look, I've lived
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati in New Jersey in my time in the NFL.
Speaker 1: The day I left Cincinnati, it was minus thirty two
Speaker 1: degrees wind chill, and I thought to myself, I'm never
Speaker 1: coming back.
Speaker 3: If I have to retire, I will.
Speaker 1: I cannot play in this We don't even have an
Speaker 1: indoor facility at the Bengals, I cannot do it anymore. Yeah, so,
Speaker 1: long story short, I think you go to Columbus, you
Speaker 1: go to Penn State. Depending on the day, it could
Speaker 1: be a three to five point advantage in favor of
Speaker 1: the home team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree with that. It's interesting. I think
Speaker 2: Georgia is better than Penn State, but I do think
Speaker 2: Penn State matches up well with Georgia because Penn State's
Speaker 2: defensive intensity upfront and George's very inconsistent on line. If
Speaker 2: this game was in Georgia, I wouldn't be surprised if
Speaker 2: they won by twenty. But I think it's a weird
Speaker 2: matchup for Georgia, a team I really like. But you
Speaker 2: know this, in the NFL, the two things. There's a
Speaker 2: couple of things that guarantee consistency in the NFL. Beyond
Speaker 2: a great quarter a good defense keeps you in every game,
Speaker 2: and a great old line even on games you don't
Speaker 2: play well, keepshin games like the Detroit Lions. It's hard
Speaker 2: to play bad when you literally have four Pro bowlers,
Speaker 2: three Pro bowlers up front. It just you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. And so when you look at Georgia, I
Speaker 2: love Georgia, but their O line worries me and I
Speaker 2: think they're in consistency. All boils down to their front.
Speaker 2: Do you think they could win a national championship with it?
Speaker 2: I don't think you can win a World Series with
Speaker 2: a bad bullpen or or a Super Bowl or a
Speaker 2: Natty with a bad offensive line. Can Georgia win a Natty?
Speaker 3: Yes they can.
Speaker 1: And while I am totally on board with you, based
Speaker 1: on what we saw against ole Miss, I did that
Speaker 1: game calling and it was it wasn't pretty.
Speaker 3: I mean, they're you know, I.
Speaker 1: Will say this about ole Miss is a defensive line
Speaker 1: like in a gotta have it situation, when those guys
Speaker 1: know it's a contract game, all right, Like buckle up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of guys that are going to be
Speaker 1: a handful, not just at this level, but at the
Speaker 1: next level as well. With all due respect to Penn State,
Speaker 1: do I think they can cause problems for George's offensive line?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 1: Did I think they were going to cause problems to
Speaker 1: Ohio State's offensive line?
Speaker 3: Yes? Did they know?
Speaker 1: And my biggest problem with Penn State has long been
Speaker 1: in the biggest game of the year, they scored six
Speaker 1: offensive points and you can tell me about goal line stands.
Speaker 1: All right, cool, you had a goal line stand, I'll
Speaker 1: raise you. Will Howard fumbling it over the pylon for
Speaker 1: a touch back. So and if not for the pick six,
Speaker 1: I mean, who knows? And to me, I just I
Speaker 1: just don't trust them. I don't think they have receivers
Speaker 1: that can separate. I think their tight end is an
Speaker 1: absolute machine and is pound for pound. If maya a
Speaker 1: Heisman ballot, I think you do too. He's in consideration
Speaker 1: for a Heisman Trophy ballot. Top three.
Speaker 2: Yes, for seventeen catches against USC, the.
Speaker 1: Guy would be a top The guy would be a
Speaker 1: top ten running back in the Big Ten. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's just that versatile, He's just that good. He's the
Speaker 1: closest thing in college football this year to Brock Bowers.
Speaker 1: So I love him. But I don't know about their
Speaker 1: ability to stretch the field. And against teams like Georgia,
Speaker 1: against teams that are at the highest levels of the sport,
Speaker 1: you have to create chunk yardage. You can't just have thirteen, fourteen,
Speaker 1: fifteen play drives. It's just not gonna happen. How did
Speaker 1: Oregon beat Ohio State? They cut the head off the
Speaker 1: snake by hitting forty yard throws down field. And I
Speaker 1: don't think Penn State has that capability, or at least
Speaker 1: I haven't seen anything to make me believe they have
Speaker 1: it at this point of the season.
Speaker 2: So I think Oregon, being a West Coast guy, West
Speaker 2: coast travels pretty easy. I mean, Washington to Arizona State's
Speaker 2: considered a long roady, but you always played it.
Speaker 1: That's been a house of horrors for Washington for a
Speaker 1: long time.
Speaker 2: But Oregon these schools. You know, USC goes to Maryland,
Speaker 2: that's like four road trips in one. It really is.
Speaker 2: So Oregon this weekend goes to Madison. Well, how many
Speaker 2: conference games in a row of they played? I thought
Speaker 2: Oregon looked eight. I think I thought Oregon looked exhausted.
Speaker 2: And so there's there's a game every year where I'm like,
Speaker 2: remember years ago in Ohio State got beat by Purdue
Speaker 2: by like thirty, and You're like, the hell is that?
Speaker 2: I feel like, just take this game out, Just take
Speaker 2: it out, because I think Oregon and ASIN would beat
Speaker 2: him by twenty six neutral feel would beat him by sixteen.
Speaker 2: I still think Oregon's speed is I think Oregon can
Speaker 2: win a Natty. I don't know if they could beat
Speaker 2: Texas player for player, But I didn't take anything negative
Speaker 2: out of the Wisconsin game. I'm like, Oregon's played eight
Speaker 2: straight conference games, they're college kids. They look tired.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, I could not agree with you more.
Speaker 3: You're a football guy, Colin. Yeah, Like you're a foot like.
Speaker 1: You know, you followed the game for a really long
Speaker 1: time and you have covered it as well, if not
Speaker 1: better than anybody in my generation of sports media. You
Speaker 1: are a football guy through and through. You know the
Speaker 1: dynamics of having to play two straight months against quality competition,
Speaker 1: or the dynamics of having to travel out on a
Speaker 1: Thursday for a Saturday night game because you're three time
Speaker 1: zones away. Like, that's a very difficult thing that teams
Speaker 1: have to deal with. Oregon played their C game at
Speaker 1: best offensively, I mean, they did not play well whatsoever.
Speaker 1: Dylan Gabriel threw an uncharacteristic interception on a throw that
Speaker 1: he's made ninety nine times out of one hundred, and
Speaker 1: the one that he doesn't make it's because the receiver
Speaker 1: drops it. He misses the throw inside it's intercepted. They
Speaker 1: couldn't really stretch the field and that's really what their
Speaker 1: offense has decided to do is to create big plays.
Speaker 1: I thought Wisconsin was very disciplined and kind of kept
Speaker 1: it in front of him and didn't and they kind
Speaker 1: of forced Oregon to play a game that they're not
Speaker 1: Super Bowl super comfortable playing. But you know what that
Speaker 1: taught me this past weekend, Colin, was that Oregon is adaptable.
Speaker 1: They're not one of the Oregon of Chip Kelly was, Hey,
Speaker 1: we got out tempo yet, and we're going to have
Speaker 1: better defensive players than you realize. But we want to
Speaker 1: win games thirty five to twenty eight this Oregon. If
Speaker 1: you want to make it a track meet like it
Speaker 1: was at times against Ohio State, cool, We'll win the
Speaker 1: game in the thirties, maybe if the forties that's what's necessary,
Speaker 1: that's what we'll do. But we can also win a
Speaker 1: game in the teams. And I think that this has
Speaker 1: shown the evolution of Dan Lanning and the evolution of
Speaker 1: the program. Whereat the offense doesn't have their best stuff,
Speaker 1: Hey guys, guess what on defense, Let's raise this. Let's
Speaker 1: raise the stakes a little bit, get a little more aggressive,
Speaker 1: and see if we can't dictate our terms and win
Speaker 1: the game with our side of the football. So I
Speaker 1: came away more impressed with Oregon, even in a lackluster
Speaker 1: performance offensively.
Speaker 2: So Greg McElroy is many of you know as a friend.
Speaker 2: Is he and Joel Platter people I really like to
Speaker 2: talk college football with. They're so prepared, and they both
Speaker 2: played the quarterback position. Alabama's fascinating first of all. Jalen Milroll,
Speaker 2: I don't know, and I do this for a living.
Speaker 2: I don't know what to make of him as a
Speaker 2: pro prospect. I really like him as a college quarterback.
Speaker 2: I think he throws a beautiful deep ball. He's got
Speaker 2: really like a Russell Wilson deep ball touch. It's a
Speaker 2: beautiful ball, incredibly catchable. And I think Kaylen de Boor,
Speaker 2: I think we forget that. Kaylen de Boor is a
Speaker 2: great coach and took over a great program. But you're
Speaker 2: instituting your own culture. And I think Nick was more
Speaker 2: of a little bit more of a screamer, a volume
Speaker 2: coach like Loud. That's not Kaylan. He's more of a
Speaker 2: teacher and a mentor. So there's an adjustment for the
Speaker 2: players in Alabama. It's a new way. So they've had
Speaker 2: a couple of really bad halves, really bad halves, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, Okay, but I don't care if you're taking
Speaker 2: If I'm taking over Nike, it's a great company. I'm
Speaker 2: trying to change the culture in institute my worldview. So
Speaker 2: I think Alabama now is actually underrated. I think it's
Speaker 2: gonna I think by the end of this season, you're
Speaker 2: gonna look at them and go, God, they're really good.
Speaker 2: They have an NFL first second round quarterback, they have
Speaker 2: an excellent coach. But so I'm defending Alabama. My take
Speaker 2: is they get cherry picked a little more than most
Speaker 2: teams because they lose Nick and they're gonna lose some
Speaker 2: guys in the portal, and people cherry pick them. It's
Speaker 2: very hard to follow Nick Caleb is Kaylen's learning as
Speaker 2: he goes. Alabama's not Washington, Okay, al The culture's different,
Speaker 2: the demands are different, the intensity, the media. It's a
Speaker 2: relentless job. Washington's not. They got the Seahawks right down
Speaker 2: the road. If you lose, people forget very quickly. I
Speaker 2: think he's done a great job. I think Alabama now
Speaker 2: is underrated. You know the program better than anybody. Am
Speaker 2: I overstating what they can do. I think they can
Speaker 2: win a Natty. In fact, I would take them over
Speaker 2: I would over Georgia. But I don't think that's I
Speaker 2: don't think that's the view of most experts.
Speaker 1: I think that they've been a bit of a punching
Speaker 1: bag this year, understandably because we chase false gods in sports,
Speaker 1: you know, like, do you realize that I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean you you cover the NBA. Did Michael Jordan
Speaker 1: ever miss a game winning shot? Absolutely not, because I
Speaker 1: check YouTube highlights and I don't see a lot of
Speaker 1: misses on there. Like we chase false gods, and I
Speaker 1: feel like, even though we're just one year removed, people
Speaker 1: will look at Nick Saban's tenure and they're going to
Speaker 1: sit there and think, oh, well, he never played close
Speaker 1: against teams after a law after a big win. Oh well,
Speaker 1: he never had a two point win against South Carolina,
Speaker 1: who at the time was like a five hundred football team.
Speaker 1: Oh well, well he never did this, And the realities,
Speaker 1: it's not true. Nick Saban after a win or after
Speaker 1: a loss, excuse me, was like eight and fourteen against
Speaker 1: the spread in the last five years. You know, It's
Speaker 1: like it's like nobody ere in the last ten years
Speaker 1: or something. It was like some absurd number. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's ridiculous. It's not accurate. The people don't want
Speaker 1: to remember that because they just remember the dominance and
Speaker 1: the greatness for so long. And that's not disparging Nick
Speaker 1: at all. I think he's the greatest coach in the
Speaker 1: history of college football. It's just people don't realize that
Speaker 1: he also had teams that had flaws and that had
Speaker 1: growing experiences, and I think this team has had that.
Speaker 1: And the unfortunate thing about this team is his team
Speaker 1: is going to go or at least it has up
Speaker 1: to this point. How their quarterback goes to be. This
Speaker 1: quarterback dependent is a challenge. Your best offensive weapon outside
Speaker 1: of Jalen milro is a true freshman who is an
Speaker 1: undersized wide receiver. It has freak show qualities, but he's
Speaker 1: not you know, he's not Megatron. There's going to be
Speaker 1: some defensive backs that he has a tough matchup against,
Speaker 1: and there's going to be some that he torches. But
Speaker 1: he's young. Your running game is really good, and your
Speaker 1: offensive line is developing into a star. That is what
Speaker 1: I think is most encouraging about where Alabama's going on
Speaker 1: their trajectory. And they're very young on defense with a
Speaker 1: new system, and they've played a little better and better
Speaker 1: down the stretch too. So I think you're buying low
Speaker 1: on Alabama if you buy him now, can they win
Speaker 1: the Natty? I think it's all matchup driven. That's what
Speaker 1: I think is cool about where we're going is it's
Speaker 1: very matchup driven. But I do think they can do
Speaker 1: it if the you know, if things bounce their way
Speaker 1: in they play their a game down the stretch.
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Speaker 2: So Texas is number three. I actually have made the
Speaker 2: argument that getting pushed around and humiliated at home against
Speaker 2: Georgia is the greatest way to lose if they had
Speaker 2: a lost to Georgia on a bad call or a
Speaker 2: fluky fumble. Texas is usc. It's a glamour program that
Speaker 2: gets arrogant very quickly because it's in a great college
Speaker 2: town with lots of options, beautiful people, music, and food.
Speaker 2: It's cool. Most college towns aren't cool. It's like when
Speaker 2: I worked at ESPN.
Speaker 3: Come on, there's a lot of cool college towns. I
Speaker 3: got to push back there a little bit.
Speaker 2: Right now, Oh, I think Austin and La are in
Speaker 2: Miami Corala.
Speaker 3: They're very cool.
Speaker 2: Fair enough, so I learned years ago when I worked
Speaker 2: at ESBN. It's a sports factory, and it's easy to
Speaker 2: be a sports factory because there's nothing to f and
Speaker 2: do in Connecticut. You go to Fox a Fox, You're
Speaker 2: not going to stay there for an extra hour and
Speaker 2: a half. You got a cute girlfriend. You go to
Speaker 2: Santa Monica. You'll have you know, you'll have a margarita.
Speaker 2: And so I think Texas and USC get very confident,
Speaker 2: very quick. It's a bigger city media, it's a more
Speaker 2: national market like Austin's a cool market. So I think
Speaker 2: getting pushed around by Georgia was perfect. It keeps them humble,
Speaker 2: and now they've kind of slid under the radar because
Speaker 2: a lot of people sold their stock. I still think,
Speaker 2: I test Texas is the best team when I watch
Speaker 2: them size speed. Georgia looks like some of Nick Saban's
Speaker 2: National championship teams. Right or wrong.
Speaker 1: I love Texas's ceiling. Why haven't they scratched it? That's
Speaker 1: my problem because I think if you want to bottle
Speaker 1: up their best performances, and at this point, maybe the
Speaker 1: Michigan game was it.
Speaker 3: Maybe that was the best performance.
Speaker 1: Maybe they broke Michigan and had that game not gone
Speaker 1: that way, maybe Michigan be a different team. But here's
Speaker 1: my problem with them.
Speaker 3: Call it.
Speaker 1: I watched them, and I'm talking more specifically to their offense.
Speaker 1: I like their defense a lot. I think their defense
Speaker 1: is really good, and I think their offense looked great
Speaker 1: against Florida. Why don't I get that version of Texas
Speaker 1: on offense every week? I mean, you have really no excuse.
Speaker 1: You have a veteran offensive line, you have a veteran quarterback.
Speaker 1: You got really talented and deep group of wide receivers
Speaker 1: and weapons. Your tight end is very difficult to cover
Speaker 1: in a matchup problem. You have a run game that
Speaker 1: can get complex in a hurry, and an RPO and
Speaker 1: a system that can make it very difficult on the
Speaker 1: posing defenses. Why is it that we're playing sideline to
Speaker 1: sideline so much? Like why don't we take the top
Speaker 1: off the defense? Why don't we throw it downfield? I
Speaker 1: just I think Texas's offense is looking a lot like
Speaker 1: NFL offenses right now, where I just get so tired
Speaker 1: of the dink and dunk, catch and run, Like take
Speaker 1: throw it down field, like you have Josh Allen and
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes. Throw it forty yards down field, and let's
Speaker 1: see what we got like this whole you know, sideline
Speaker 1: to sideline, five yards down the field, catch, run, high
Speaker 1: percentage efficient, stay ahead of the change. We're gonna play analytics.
Speaker 1: You got four downs to get it in plus territory.
Speaker 1: Like to me, that's great, it works, it wins, but
Speaker 1: it's boring, like take some shots, and I just think
Speaker 1: Texas has yet to do that with great conviction. I
Speaker 1: think it's in there, it just hasn't happened yet, and
Speaker 1: I'm hoping that we see it before the season runs out,
Speaker 1: because I gotta be honest with you, callin like, I
Speaker 1: think Texas is in a position right now where they're
Speaker 1: number three in the country according to the College of
Speaker 1: Ball Playoff Committee, but if you really look at their resume,
Speaker 1: they haven't really earned that spot. That's almost exclusively on
Speaker 1: EE tests. And if they were to win against Kentucky
Speaker 1: this week, which is expected, they're a three touchdown favorite,
Speaker 1: and then lose to A and M next week, their
Speaker 1: best win might very well be a six and six
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt team, and that's not going to be enough to
Speaker 1: unseat an Ole Miss or a Tennessee or another team
Speaker 1: in the SEC that's ten and two with a much
Speaker 1: stronger resume. So I think Texas needs to play well
Speaker 1: down the stretch because I think next week becomes a
Speaker 1: playoff game if they don't play well and if they lose.
Speaker 2: Having played the quarterback position, I've said this, I think
Speaker 2: Shdur Sanders is the best quarterback I've seen. I think
Speaker 2: he's athletic, but he really prefers sitting in the pocket.
Speaker 2: I think sometimes he holds the ball a little long,
Speaker 2: but he throws off platform. He can throw moving left, right,
Speaker 2: moving up in the pocket, back rolling. I think he
Speaker 2: throws a really pretty catchable, accurate football. He can be hurried,
Speaker 2: he can be frenetic, and he's still accurate. Cam Ward
Speaker 2: is a lot of backyard football stuff that I don't
Speaker 2: think translates to the NFL very well. He'll make a team,
Speaker 2: somebody will roll the dice on him, and if he
Speaker 2: gets a good old line in playmakers, he'll have some success.
Speaker 2: I don't think it feels as sustainable, though Cam's talented
Speaker 2: as Shahduur Sanders.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2: The Cowboys, you know the NFL. Michael Irvin told me
Speaker 2: today Colorado football.
Speaker 3: We know this.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's the republic. What do they call it.
Speaker 2: There's a joke conservatives called Boulder the Republic of Boulder
Speaker 2: or something. It's a quirky town, very left leaning. It's
Speaker 2: a good time.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: It's not a it's not a legitimate, well healed, strongly
Speaker 2: capitalized college football program. Dion has made it really fun
Speaker 2: and deserves all the credit. I think. I think Dion
Speaker 2: would take the cowboy job, and shaduor Sanders, I think
Speaker 2: he's going to be a really good pro. When you
Speaker 2: watched Colorado, I would love to see them get in
Speaker 2: because I think they have arguable the two best college
Speaker 2: football players. What do you make of Colorado? I didn't
Speaker 2: buy them at all early in the season, and now
Speaker 2: I watch them and I'm like, Warren SAPs done a
Speaker 2: pretty good job. They're pretty stout up front. I kind
Speaker 2: of buy them because I just think if you have
Speaker 2: the best college quarterback, it's probably worth two touchdowns in
Speaker 2: college football probably.
Speaker 1: I think that Shador is probably the best pro prospect
Speaker 1: right now. I agree with you on the shot clock
Speaker 1: in the pocket and the pocket mobility stuff and the
Speaker 1: awareness of the rush is something that I am concerned about, yeah,
Speaker 1: as it translates to the next level. I just having
Speaker 1: been back there and been in an NFL pocket, like
Speaker 1: there are very few clean pockets now. It's a lot
Speaker 1: cleaner now because of the RPO and some of the
Speaker 1: stuff that you know, you just can do a lot
Speaker 1: of different things, and one you can't hit quarterbacks, so
Speaker 1: that's beneficial as well. But I look at Colorado right
Speaker 1: now and they have thirty three sacks. That's made them different.
Speaker 1: They're in the top half of the country in rush defense,
Speaker 1: which is a huge difference from a year ago. They
Speaker 1: always had wide outs, The offensive line has been fine,
Speaker 1: but they really at the same time, have they played
Speaker 1: a defense that's anywhere near the caliber of what they
Speaker 1: would see when they get in the college football playoffs.
Speaker 3: And I think the answer to that is no. And
Speaker 3: I think they would struggle.
Speaker 1: And you make it a perimeter game, make it a
Speaker 1: catch and run game, and their weapons against your weapons,
Speaker 1: and let's see what happens and Travis Hunter has two
Speaker 1: picks and locks down one side of the field and
Speaker 1: you know, and goes off for a buck sixty in
Speaker 1: the air. Could that happen? Absolutely, But ultimately I don't
Speaker 1: think it would end very well given the sheer quantity
Speaker 1: of NFL level defensive players that every playoff team at
Speaker 1: the top of the league's will be able to trot
Speaker 1: out onto the field. So I would love it. I've
Speaker 1: been shamelessly rooting for them one because every former player
Speaker 1: thinks they could coach, you know, just not many of
Speaker 1: us get that opportunity. So to see Dion make the
Speaker 1: most of this opportunity gives all of us hope that
Speaker 1: maybe we could do it too. That's for That's one
Speaker 1: and two. I think it's just been cool to see
Speaker 1: that it doesn't have to be done a certain way.
Speaker 1: There's this expectation that this tried and true way, this
Speaker 1: is how you build a program, this is how you
Speaker 1: do it, and it's not necessarily always going to be
Speaker 1: the same. It depends on the place, it depends on
Speaker 1: the coach, depends on the personality. And it's been refreshing
Speaker 1: to see somebody that's done it a little different and
Speaker 1: that has not made a lot of friends along the way.
Speaker 1: Like he's kind of, you know, gone anti establishment and
Speaker 1: say this is how we do it, and so be
Speaker 1: it if you don't like it, and that to me
Speaker 1: is refreshing. So I'm happy for him, and I hope
Speaker 1: they went out. I'm not gonna apologize in saying that
Speaker 1: I hope we see him in the playoff.
Speaker 2: So I made the argument the other day, I don't
Speaker 2: I thought the win over Penn State. Penn State had
Speaker 2: opportunities to win that game. And I'm not saying Penn
Speaker 2: State's not worthy of the playoff, but if Indiana beat
Speaker 2: Ohio State and Oregon beat Ohio State, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: the two best teams they've played, because if Indiana beats
Speaker 2: Ohio State, they're for real now they're a thirteen point
Speaker 2: Underdine probably won't, but I made the argument is if
Speaker 2: Ohio State lost to Oregon in Indiana, man, I that
Speaker 2: doesn't I mean that you're certainly not getting a home
Speaker 2: game from me in the playoff. What do you make
Speaker 2: of Ohio State? I call them the whack a mole team.
Speaker 2: Every time I'm watching it, something else pops up that
Speaker 2: worries me. Ye first it was their defense Oregon. Then
Speaker 2: it was their offense Penn State, or it was their
Speaker 2: offense against Nebraska, and then it was their quarterback play
Speaker 2: Will Howard against Penn State. And I'm like, something's off.
Speaker 2: There's just something. And by the way, I felt this
Speaker 2: for the last two to three years against Michigan, where
Speaker 2: Michigan had an absolute identity Nick Saban's team's identity. What
Speaker 2: is Ohio State in your eyes? Beyond talented?
Speaker 1: I think they're I ain't. They're a team that wants
Speaker 1: to be rugged, but they still have a bun, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like they want to be rugged,
Speaker 1: but they still have a lot of sports cars. It's like,
Speaker 1: you know, they they they have a dirt road that
Speaker 1: you have to run in the Big ten to win
Speaker 1: a championship, and they can't decide if they want to
Speaker 1: take their you know, Ford F one fifty or their
Speaker 1: GMC Sierra, or if they just want to say forget it, well,
Speaker 1: who cares if we if we blow an axle, Like,
Speaker 1: let's drive the Ferrari and see what happens. I think
Speaker 1: that there is a bit of an identity. Do they
Speaker 1: want to be a running team? They want to utilize
Speaker 1: quarterback run? Do they want to do they want to
Speaker 1: be a passing team? Are they a team that wants
Speaker 1: to work off play action? Like I think they can
Speaker 1: do all those things. I think they do everything well,
Speaker 1: but they don't do anything elite, and that to me
Speaker 1: is a little bit jaw dropping given their personnel. Like
Speaker 1: I think they have a good defensive line, I don't
Speaker 1: think they have an elite defensive line. Like I think
Speaker 1: they have good run stopping defensive ends, but I don't
Speaker 1: think they have defensive vends that scare me to death.
Speaker 1: And I can put my tackles on one on one
Speaker 1: against them in an obvious passing situation. I think they
Speaker 1: have really athletic linebackers, and I think those guys are
Speaker 1: actually an upgrade from what they've had in the past.
Speaker 1: But I also think they can sometimes over pursue and
Speaker 1: Oregon hit them with some misdirections to my violation stuff.
Speaker 1: I hate they have really good corners, but I also
Speaker 1: don't know if those corners have seen elite elite level
Speaker 1: wide receivers outside of that game against Oregon. And guess what,
Speaker 1: every team they play in the playoff will likely have
Speaker 1: elite level wide receivers. So it's a roundabout way of
Speaker 1: saying I think Ohio State has a crazy high ceiling
Speaker 1: and if they ever put it all together, it'd be
Speaker 1: a special thing for all of us to watch. But
Speaker 1: it's Week eleven. Yeah, what are we waiting for? And
Speaker 1: I hope badly it happens this week and not because
Speaker 1: of Indiana or anything. I just want to see it.
Speaker 1: You don't accumulate that many pros on one roster and
Speaker 1: not just want something more. It feels a little bit
Speaker 1: like the twenty fifteen team, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Like when they were in twenty fifteen, they had the
Speaker 1: best roster, but they didn't have the best team. And
Speaker 1: I don't know why that was.
Speaker 2: I made this argument. I think to Urban Meyer a
Speaker 2: year ago, I said, they're receiving recruiting has been so good.
Speaker 2: Brian Hartline, I mean, it's just all five star guys
Speaker 2: that even at practice, it's art, it's beautiful, and it's
Speaker 2: hard not to be seduced as a head coach when
Speaker 2: you're looking at these incredible first round wide receivers and
Speaker 2: you have good backs, not pedestrian, they're good backs. You
Speaker 2: have world class receivers. And I think at practice, I
Speaker 2: think in game in film rooms, it's literally like putting
Speaker 2: ice cream in front of an eight year old. It's
Speaker 2: like I'm going to eat it, even if I know
Speaker 2: it's not good for me. And I think, what's happened.
Speaker 2: They're receiving. Recruiting is so good that it's seductive, and
Speaker 2: they sometimes whenever they have a bad drive, we're throwing
Speaker 2: the ball, We're going to the perimeter, and it's like
Speaker 2: this happens now. Saban his recruiting on the perimeter was
Speaker 2: great as well. But the culture of Alabama was really
Speaker 2: about physicality, and when I thought Michigan separated from Ohio State.
Speaker 2: It wasn't better players until the very last team. It
Speaker 2: was a better identity and understanding of what they were. Hell,
Speaker 2: they beat Penn State. They didn't throw a pass in
Speaker 2: the second half on the road. So I think this
Speaker 2: may not make sense, but you know a little. You
Speaker 2: know some of this in the NFL. If your best
Speaker 2: athletes are on the perimeter, it's seductive. You're going to
Speaker 2: be a morphinesse football team Cincinnati between losing Joe Mixon,
Speaker 2: Higgins and Chase. Of course, you're gonna throw the ball.
Speaker 2: It's just it's too appealing not to. And I feel
Speaker 2: like with Ohio State, I don't know if they need
Speaker 2: an eight minute drive to kill the clock. Is it
Speaker 2: in them running the ball and eating up clock? Is
Speaker 2: it in them? I don't know if it is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's perfectly fair.
Speaker 1: And they're also sometimes when I watch Ohio State and
Speaker 1: I felt like this a little bit like when I
Speaker 1: watched the Lincoln Riley led Oklahoma teams.
Speaker 3: And this is not comparing Ryan Dade and Lincoln Riley,
Speaker 3: this is.
Speaker 1: Not I just feel like they look at a six
Speaker 1: yard gain like it's a failure. You know what, I mean,
Speaker 1: like sometimes when I watch them, it's like, oh, handoff
Speaker 1: to Judkins up the middle, gain of five at second
Speaker 1: and five, it's like guys are walking back to the
Speaker 1: you know, their heads are hung.
Speaker 3: It's like that was a great play.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just think there is such pressure to
Speaker 1: not just perform at a high level, but to have
Speaker 1: a highly intoxicated offense that goes up and down the field.
Speaker 1: But also when you have an offense that can score fifty,
Speaker 1: you're hanging your defense out to dry.
Speaker 3: So then if you.
Speaker 1: Want to lean into your offense, now everyone's gonna call
Speaker 1: you soft because that's that's what people have been saying
Speaker 1: for the last two years. That's why you lost to
Speaker 1: Michigan because you're quote soft. That's not true. We aren't soft.
Speaker 1: And just Michigan was the better team on that day.
Speaker 2: And Michigan last year had better personnel. They were stacked.
Speaker 1: It wasn't close. They were they were significantly more talented,
Speaker 1: and look at the.
Speaker 2: Draft they that, yeah, there's still more Michigan guys exactly.
Speaker 3: So I just think that I think that I think
Speaker 3: Ohio State needs to just stay the course. Man.
Speaker 1: They they're really talented. Don't try to be Michigan that
Speaker 1: has a good quarter. Don't try to be Michigan. Don't
Speaker 1: try to be penst It.
Speaker 3: Just don't.
Speaker 1: Don't try to be twenty fifteen Ohio State. Just be you,
Speaker 1: and you, the you that you are right now is
Speaker 1: plenty good enough to go win a national championship. But
Speaker 1: I think it's going to require improved offensive line play,
Speaker 1: which we've seen it's been better the last few weeks.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to require slightly more aggressive defensive
Speaker 1: philosophy with pressures and being able to ramp things up
Speaker 1: a little bit. And I think it's going to require
Speaker 1: them being a little bit more willing to roll the
Speaker 1: dice on the perimeter some of their coverages.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 1: Don't think you can play quarters all the time beat
Speaker 1: high level teams. I don't think you can play press
Speaker 1: man all the time beat high level teams. I just
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be interesting to watch them. I think
Speaker 1: there's plenty of talent in there. I just I think
Speaker 1: you're right. I think it comes down to identity and
Speaker 1: how they want to play into it.
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Speaker 3: Really is.
Speaker 2: Finally Brian Kelly, So, I do think it's harder to
Speaker 2: create cultures in the transfer portal and il era. You're
Speaker 2: walking on eggshells, you know. If a guy I mean,
Speaker 2: if you have three receivers and ones not getting reps,
Speaker 2: I mean, you can coach as hard as you used to,
Speaker 2: and I thought Brian was over the top with his
Speaker 2: sideline annex. But you know this college football. I've heard
Speaker 2: that more than once. He's not the only coach to
Speaker 2: ever do that. But with USC, there's limitations a their offenses.
Speaker 2: All kids outside of Woody Marks in the center, they're
Speaker 2: all coming back, really really young team, And I get
Speaker 2: the exact same USC team every Saturday. They lead in
Speaker 2: the fourth, but they can't extend drives because the O
Speaker 2: line is a year away, and they just can't put
Speaker 2: teams away. But I feel like I get the exact
Speaker 2: same team every game, even the Maryland lost the Nebraska win,
Speaker 2: It's the same team. With LSU, it's all over the map.
Speaker 2: But I also feel that Brian Kelly's personality is all
Speaker 2: over the map. It's the Southern twang, it's screaming, it's fun.
Speaker 2: He's a combustible, emotional guy, and I feel like it's
Speaker 2: feeding into LSU. I thought it would work. I thought
Speaker 2: it was a perfect fit. Something is off. What is it?
Speaker 3: Well? I think I think it's it's all fair well one.
Speaker 1: I still think it's gonna work. I just know that
Speaker 1: program too well. Calling It's like you just can't screw
Speaker 1: it up. It's just there's too many guys. Now you
Speaker 1: don't have the built in advantage of pre nil that
Speaker 1: you once had because guys are now willing to listen
Speaker 1: to overtures from other places. So there there was a
Speaker 1: time where like every coach in the country is trying
Speaker 1: to get the Monroe Louisiana because they had the best
Speaker 1: offensive line of defensive line talent in the world, like
Speaker 1: per capita, like you get, like, look at the NFL
Speaker 1: guys from Monroe Louisiana.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just ridiculous.
Speaker 1: So they had a little bit of a stranglehold on
Speaker 1: that part of the country and and now that you know,
Speaker 1: the lid is off. But what I would say about
Speaker 1: Brian Kelly is that they are relying on personnel on
Speaker 1: the defensive side that is just not good enough. They're
Speaker 1: just not talented enough. And I think they have enough offensively.
Speaker 1: I think their quarterbacks fantastic when he knows what color
Speaker 1: jersey they're wearing, which is not always a guarantee with
Speaker 1: nus Meyer. He will take some risks and unnecessarily so
Speaker 1: I don't think they've been committed enough to the run game.
Speaker 1: And I also don't think that they are a team
Speaker 1: right now that if their offense doesn't have their a
Speaker 1: game that they can win. Like their defense struggles and
Speaker 1: they have a good coordinator, they just don't have the
Speaker 1: person now. And when we think LSU personnel on defense
Speaker 1: and the best, like very few from this year's group
Speaker 1: would be starting on some of the best LSU teams
Speaker 1: on that side of the block.
Speaker 2: No, I think that's I think that's fair. And I
Speaker 2: when I watch him, I kind of feel half to
Speaker 2: half game to game, I'm not exactly sure.
Speaker 3: What I get.
Speaker 2: At their very best, they're really good, but they're just
Speaker 2: wildly inconsistent. And I thought it would work. I really did.
Speaker 2: I was like one of my strongest takes, like this
Speaker 2: dude won Cincinnati. I mean, people forget Notre Dame. Notre
Speaker 2: Dame is hard. You have a religious umbrella. It is
Speaker 2: a cold, northern small town, academically harder than average. It's
Speaker 2: hard to get all the academic schools Northwestern, Stanford, Notre Dame.
Speaker 2: Have they ever all been good at once? It's hard.
Speaker 2: And I've talked to Notre damers like it's it's it's
Speaker 2: no day at the beach and frankly that part of
Speaker 2: the country. You have to get on a plane for
Speaker 2: every single recruit. So I to win at Notre Dame,
Speaker 2: I think has always been I think in the seventies
Speaker 2: and eighties it was a glamour program that's just another
Speaker 2: cold weather place. I think it's hard, and you know,
Speaker 2: there's there's limitations on. They've always had this austere feeling
Speaker 2: about what they are and it's like, just pay the
Speaker 2: tight end six hundred thousand to be done with it.
Speaker 2: I think I think Notre Dame still kind of struggles
Speaker 2: sometimes with hey, we're above that.
Speaker 3: No they're not.
Speaker 2: Florida State's paned, go pay it, let's get move on.
Speaker 2: If they're so, we're gonna wrap it up here. If
Speaker 2: I said, forget the national championship, but somebody in this
Speaker 2: playoff is going to win three games and we're all
Speaker 2: going to look up and go, man, did we look
Speaker 2: past them? It? Is there a team because I don't know.
Speaker 2: I I think Tennessee is a matchup team. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: may not be a year. Is there a team in
Speaker 2: here that you do things undervalued?
Speaker 3: Yes? Ole Miss.
Speaker 1: Now, Ole Miss has a bit of a unique circumstance
Speaker 1: surrounding their program and the way they've compiled their roster.
Speaker 1: So I think in the regular season with ole Miss,
Speaker 1: I think Lane would admit this culture is something that
Speaker 1: is going to be a challenge. Yeah, having guys that
Speaker 1: are just universally invested in the place because they've been
Speaker 1: there for six months, how do you develop any type
Speaker 1: of appeal for the community or for the university, Like
Speaker 1: I'm here to play ball, I'm doing this, like I'm
Speaker 1: getting paid this, Like this is what we do. So
Speaker 1: as a result, I thought that there would be games
Speaker 1: this year that would be close because guys weren't going
Speaker 1: to be all in on a week to week basis.
Speaker 1: That happened against Kentucky and it also happened against LSU.
Speaker 1: They had no business losing either game.
Speaker 3: None.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm talking they completely They played their D
Speaker 1: game and if they had one fourth and seven stop
Speaker 1: on their on the Kentucky twenty yard line on a
Speaker 1: deep ball down the left side, game over, ole Miss wins.
Speaker 1: And they had nuss Meyer wrapped up three different times
Speaker 1: on the game winning drive that are the game tying
Speaker 1: drive that sent it to overtime against LSU, Like that
Speaker 1: had no business losing either game. I've seen them at
Speaker 1: their best and I've seen them at their worst, and
Speaker 1: I'm telling you you do not want to see them
Speaker 1: at their best.
Speaker 3: They are that good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they have weapons, and they have players, and
Speaker 1: they have defensive linemen that can take over the game
Speaker 1: at three different positions. And you can do that at
Speaker 1: three different positions your cook with gas.
Speaker 2: So if Sark meets Kiffen in the Natty, You're not shocked.
Speaker 3: I would not be shocked at all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, as crazy as we keep talking about Indiana and
Speaker 1: how is Indiana. Ole Miss, up until a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago, had never in the history of the state
Speaker 1: of Mississippi as a team won eleven games, So we
Speaker 1: have seen like Indiana just won ten for the first time.
Speaker 1: Ole Miss won eleven for the first time last year,
Speaker 1: So I mean we are I mean, Lane Kiffen is
Speaker 1: in uncharted territory with what he's done at that program,
Speaker 1: deserves immense credit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't don't judge a coach by his first job.
Speaker 2: Lane has resurrected his career. Sark had some personal demons,
Speaker 2: overcame those, but Sark was Everybody kind of felt like
Speaker 2: Sark was gonna work even the Washington job. Growing up
Speaker 2: around that program. They were a disaster when he took
Speaker 2: it over, and they immediately he got him seven wins nine.
Speaker 2: He knew what he was doing. Yeah, Lane Kiffin had
Speaker 2: to go backwards before he could step forward. But I
Speaker 2: easy guy to root for. He can be self deprecating.
Speaker 2: He's really good. He had a rougherly struggle, fired in
Speaker 2: an airport in Los Angeles, had the deal with old
Speaker 2: Al Davis. I'm happy for Lane, all right. Greg McElroy
Speaker 2: a Natty in twenty ten with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Speaker 2: We've taken too much of his time. We do this
Speaker 2: a couple times a year, and mental respect for you
Speaker 2: and your knowledge of the game. You're really really good
Speaker 2: for our audience. You know, I love you and you're
Speaker 2: just terrific. And thank you again.
Speaker 3: You're a great friend. Calin, You're the best that's ever done.
Speaker 3: In my opinion, I'm always grateful to spend the time
Speaker 3: with you. Buddy.
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