WEBVTT - First Place Losers: Part 2 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:06.880 Welcome to the solid verbal. I'm that for me. I'm 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.680 a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well, 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:11.639 I want to be happy. You want to be happy 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:16.040 for dake Edo State. Is that woo woom? And Dan 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:21.640 and Tie, welcome back to the solid verbal, boys and girls. 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:25.480 My name is Ty Hildebrandt, joining me as always still 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:31.400 way over there in beautiful sunny southern California. My man 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:32.800 Dan Rubenstein, sir, how are you. 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.880 I've got a little indigestion. Oh, all things considered, Yeah, 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.480 what they made breakfast tacos for lunch, and they were 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:45.239 a little spicy, and I I think I overestimated my 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.080 ability to handle the spice, or underestimated, as it were. 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:50.320 And so here we are. I feel good, though, And 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:54.000 there's something about some of these teams that we're discussing 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:57.560 on part two of First Place Losers that it's definitely 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:01.080 gonna cool off my digestion track with some of what 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.639 they did or didn't accomplished high So I'm confident I'm 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.200 going to make it out on the other side. 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:09.560 Here likewise, as well, to say thet Hello, welcome back, 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.560 I'm Tie, He's Dan. We are the solid verbal. Yes, 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:17.040 we are still podcasting about tangential college football topics. If 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.640 you will still some doubt as to what's going to 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:22.680 happen this season, I'm going to try and hope for 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:26.040 the best, maybe expect a little bit of the worst. Nonetheless, 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:28.080 we are going to be on a schedule here. We're 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.720 talking every week at a minimum, We're going to be 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:33.560 doing some video stuff. We got all sorts of cool 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.280 stuff still in the chamber. As it is only mid 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:39.120 May right now, Dan, I get a long way to 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.880 go between now and whatever comes this fall time is 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.840 a flat circle tie. That being said, don't forget to 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.120 follow along on our Instagram feed at solid Verbal. We 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.960 also have a Twitter, we have a Facebook, and of 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:57.080 course there is a popular subreddit at soliverbal dot reddit 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.560 dot com. If you'd like to join in on the 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:05.000 fun talk about the verbal long after the final bell. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.359 Also going out to our website at solid verbal dot 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.960 com and sign up for the newsletter. Because when we 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.440 have cool things to talk about, and I promise you 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.120 we will have cool things to talk about, that would 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.000 be your first stop if you want to be the 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:21.680 ones to get that information before anybody else. 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:24.320 I would also say throw us a note at solidverbal 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.280 at gmail dot com, I'm behind and answering. We're behind 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.560 and doing qa Q and A episodes. But as we 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:33.080 get into warmer months, tie, we're going to need to 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.480 hear from the finest and most elite of verbal ers, 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.080 both on the subreddit and at solid verbal at gmail 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:43.480 dot com, the real ones, no tie, solid verbal at 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.639 gmail dot com, soliverbal. 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.800 At gmail dot com. We do read every message. No 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:52.200 more nudes. Let's plant the flags we As the messages 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.160 come in, we do read every one of them. Yes, yes, 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:59.320 but no more nudes please. Okay. On that note, we 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:03.520 have got much to get through. Last week, we did 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.919 something called first place Losers. It was we did runners 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.520 up between the two thousand and five season in two 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.840 thousand and nine college football season. Not only did we 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.400 talk about each of those teams and put their seasons 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:20.079 and their final games and context, we also ranked them 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.280 against one another. At the end of that deathmatch, we 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:27.040 had two thousand and five USC effectively running the table 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.960 in that first grouping of five and coming out on 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.320 the other end. So as we get into some of 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:34.680 these teams, we're going to compare them all to two 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.720 thousand and five USC. And see how they rank till 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:38.120 the plan. 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.600 Yeah yeah, I mean, there's no right answer here, but 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.440 it's our show, so who cares. I am ready to 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:49.280 do this, especially since this is going to be us 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.000 dissecting and diagnose everything that went wrong with a couple 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:55.920 of unfortunate versions of our favorite teams. 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:58.920 We get to talk about Oregon twice in Notre Dame once. 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.200 Why are we doing on the show again? It was 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:02.680 your idea, don't ask me. 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.600 Because we are honoring teams that came up just shorts 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.360 and here's okay, this is what I'm going to ask you, Ty, 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:12.120 Let's just let's be organized for once in our lives. 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:13.920 What yeah, I know. 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.960 Okay, here, here are I've come up with five questions, Ty, 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:20.279 what is what is the sort of season that led 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.760 this team to this point? So in our first case 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.680 would be the twenty ten Oregon team. We are not 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.680 going to be labor Oregon Auburn since we've already discussed 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.120 this game on our our rewatch game from a few 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.520 weeks ago, but we'll put into more context and talk 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:36.880 about the season a little bit more around it. Could 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:40.200 Oregon have beaten Auburn or you know, any of these teams. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.320 So could this first place loser have beaten the first 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.040 place team ultimately? What held them back? Is there a 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.719 decent what if about another team perhaps also high up 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:53.480 in I think all of these are BCS rankings this episode, right, 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.719 I think Florida State, Auburn. Oh no, we have the 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:57.880 first playoff, the first first world playoff? 0:04:57.960 --> 0:04:58.680 Yeah? Yes? 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:03.160 Is there a decent about other teams just missing out? 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.479 And how did this first place loser follow it up 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:09.000 the next year in the near future whatever? I think 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:11.520 those are the five things we're going to focus on. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.520 How does that sound? That sounds good to me? 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:17.800 And why don't we start in twenty and ten with 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:23.240 your Oregon Ducks. The Oregon Ducks that year went nine 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.280 to zero on the PAC twelve. They won the PAC twelve, 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.200 finished twelve and one, but only after losing in a 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.920 game we previously discussed, a National champions game. We were 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.719 both at by a twenty two to nineteen score to 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.640 the Auburn Tigers, and of course Cam Newton. Now, just 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.520 to go back and provide some context here, it was 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.800 a very good Oregon offense. They were fifth according to 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:51.760 the SMP forty seven points per game. Defense was actually 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.720 really good too, which isn't something you always think of 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.640 when you hear the Orgon Ducks. The chip Kelly organ 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:04.040 Ducks buteenth in the S and P Plus averaged somewhere 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:07.279 in the vicinity of eighteen nineteen points a game overall. Again, 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:09.240 according to S and P Plus, they were the third 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:15.279 best team that season, allowing eighteen nineteen. Yeah, allowing eighteen nineteen. Sure, 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.880 So I guess with that kind of as the as 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:24.080 the groundwork here, Dan, what say you about this team 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:26.560 and what led them to this point of even getting 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:27.560 into this football game. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:30.400 So the context that you need to keep in mind 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:32.760 is this is year two of Chip Kelly as the 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.600 head coach, year four of Chip Kelly in Eugenie, he 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.840 was the offensive coordinator for two years, as everybody remembers. 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:42.000 Jeremiah Masoli led the team to the Rose Bowl in 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:44.520 two thousand and nine. Also, that was the season Lagarrett 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:47.280 Blunt was suspended for a good chunk of the season 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.240 after punching Byron Hout of Boise State out or punching him. 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.360 After they lose that game. In two thousand and nine, 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.400 Jeremiah Massoli leads them to the Rose Bowl and then 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:01.080 the following early spring is arrested for theft, stealing I 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:03.960 think a laptop and a guitar. He is suspended for 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.760 the season. So Darren Thomas, who had been in the 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:10.280 program for a couple of years, he comes in and 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.560 leads the team to an undefeated record in his first year, 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:17.360 starting no Jeremiah Masoli. Obviously, Massoli eventually makes his way 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.559 to Ole Miss. But Oregon really they have, I guess 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:25.160 a couple scares, but they have a successful season. It's 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.240 not a crazy talented team, but they They end the 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.280 season in a three point loss to Auburn. As we've 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.840 discussed Cam Newton and Auburn, Michael Diery in my humble 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:37.800 opinion was down they're scares. Their scares were limited to 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:40.960 a fifteen to thirteen win at Cal and then going 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.880 down twenty one to three to a crazy talented Stanford 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:48.280 team in Jim Harbaugh's final season. This is in Eugene 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.400 and they go on a forty nine to ten run 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.520 from that point on and drop fifty on Stanford. They 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.760 win that game fifty two to thirty one. Otherwise close 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:01.080 call wise, they don't really exist and not a crazy 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:02.080 non conference schedule. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:02.880 They win at Tennessee. 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:07.200 There's a lightning delay in that game, but ultimately a 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.960 really successful season there. I don't think they've maxed out 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:12.360 the sort of Chip Kelly or the Chip Kelly ish 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:14.280 era with Mark Helfrich at the tail end of it. 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.520 But a solid team, an experienced team, and a well 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:22.000 coached team that didn't really have too much in doubt 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:23.840 before the National Championship game. 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.400 Let's go back to Darren Thomas for a second. As 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:30.600 he said, interesting circumstances that brought him to be the 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:34.960 signal caller for the Ducks that year. Came in through 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.800 thirty touchdowns, ran for five more. He was not a 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.240 guy that was going to blow you away, but he 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.960 was remarkably consistent. Each year he played again a little 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.920 bit better, and he was really good for that system. 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.200 He could use his legs if he had to. He 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:52.280 obviously could hand the ball off to a Michael James 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.080 who was sort of the feature back and had almost 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:58.920 two thousand yards from scrimmage in that two thousand finalists, Yeah, 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.960 twenty ten campaign. Heisman finalists. For sure that the offense 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:05.160 as a whole was largely a function of what well 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:08.240 Mike could do in space, but Darren Thomas was the 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.400 He was a trigger man. So whether he's handing it 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.200 off to James or whether he was throwing the football 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.760 to Jeff Mayl, who benefited greatly from well Mike as well, 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:20.360 he was sort of the guy who really made the 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.240 whole thing work. And he did a hell of a 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:24.480 good job. He really did. I remember going back and 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:28.840 watching this game and we commented in our previous show 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:30.679 about how he had some early yips and there were 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:32.840 some throws that he missed, and maybe he didn't look 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.600 like his optimal self, but still, by and large over 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:38.520 the course of the season, if it weren't for him 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:40.600 having such a good campaign, none of this happens. 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.760 Yeah, he is an all time underrated Oregon quarterback. He 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.240 put up great numbers, he led them back in big 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:51.160 games and wins the Rose Bowl the next season against Wisconsin, 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.120 and does have a bit of a down game but 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:55.880 makes some big plays in the second half against Auburn. 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:58.760 So he is ultimately a good but not great Oregon 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.320 quarterback who accomplished great things. 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.680 On the defensive side of the ball. As I mentioned, 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.839 a pretty good defensive team for Oregon. Remember this is 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.960 a team with Casey Matthews. He had seventy nine tackles, 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:16.400 a bunch for loss. Cliff Harris, John Boyette or fierce 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.199 in the defensive backfield, eleven interceptions combined between the two 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.000 of them. Cliff Harris was great at four touchdowns on 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.600 special teams, Kenny Row at seven sacks. So they had players. 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:28.720 I don't know if they had the high end talent 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:30.240 that we're going to talk about when we get to 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:35.560 twenty fourteen Oregon, but certainly enough enough of a presence 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.560 on defense to keep this team in games, and as 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.000 we saw in the National Championship, held a really good 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:44.080 Auburn offense down to what twenty two points? They're pretty good. 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:48.480 Yes, they were absolutely pretty good. And they were just 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.720 solid all around. They had built depth. This is you know, 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.040 Mike Bolotti leaves Chip Kelly a nice roster, chip Kelly 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:58.120 builds upon it. But theirs speed, there's intelligence on this defense, 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:02.640 there's depth and that that ultimately, especially with Chip Kelly 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.240 bringing in a new defensive line coach, paired with Nick Aliotti, 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:09.720 the longtime defensive coordinator, they absolutely were a National Championship 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.840 caliber team, not just offense. 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.720 With that being the context for how they got here. 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:19.160 I think we've already established that they could have won 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.320 this game. This is a close National Championship game. Sure 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:25.080 what ultimately held them back? 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:30.839 They lost moments early on in the National Championship. You 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:32.480 know they're near the goal line, they go for it 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:33.880 on fourth down, they don't get it. 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:35.439 They allow Nick. 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.600 They're trying to read Nick Fairley an unstoppable force, and 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.319 that works out really poorly for Oregon. Of course, the 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:45.600 unstoppable defensive tackle that year for Auburn, and so they 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.520 lose moments. Cam Newton does a terrific job of finding mismatches, 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.000 especially you mentioned Kenny Rowe. A great pass rusher, not 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.280 so great when he's caught on a wheel route with 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.640 a running back or a tight end. And Auburn won 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.800 those moments in a very big way. They make the 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:01.560 pl a the end of the game, whether or not 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.400 you think Michael Dyer was down. Michael Dyer made that 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:06.720 play and kept running, and so Michael Dyer made a 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.280 play that sets up the game winning field goal. And 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.240 even though Cam Newton the Heisman Trophy winner and just 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:16.840 an all time physical legend for Auburn and college football, 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:22.680 Oregon just didn't have the performance maybe on the coaching 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.400 staff in those big moments then when they were knocking 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.839 on the door to score at various times. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.920 Is there and I know we're we're really playing into 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:35.960 your wheelhouse with this question. Is there a scenario and 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:40.880 interesting what if scenario that could have involved a different 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:45.880 team not named Oregon? This is a great question. What 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:52.880 do you think ty TCU? TCU I think was in 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:58.240 the Mountain West at the time. But when thirteen and 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:05.559 oh after winning over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, that 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:07.839 was a good TCU team. That was a team with 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.280 Andy Dalton. I want to say, sure, Andy Dalton, Ed 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:16.040 Wesley remember him, of course, Wayman, James, Jeremy Curley. They 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.680 had some players on that team. They're really really good, 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:22.040 really solid. We were in this era where group of 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.960 five teams were even less valued than they are now, 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:31.600 and perhaps TCU didn't get a fair shake. It probably 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:33.400 was never in the cards for them, but they rose 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.760 to the polls like they finished third or I don't know, 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:39.640 pretty high up, definitely in the top five when all 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:41.520 was said and done. So I don't know if it's 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:43.800 so much of what if, but definitely a curiosity for 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:49.199 me would have been TCU TCU because of their defense. Absolutely. 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.679 I'm looking at the polls right now, I'm trying to 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.280 say where they finished, but they either finished second or third. 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.200 I'm looking at the wrong Wikipedia page. 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.520 Ty. Don't you hate it when that happens. Yeah, I 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.400 think they finished third or fourth, So they get third 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.960 or fourth. Okay, So the TCU team from the problem 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.040 is certainly they're playing in a group of five divisions, 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.560 so they're just not going to get the respect. And 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:14.600 TCU fans will certainly say that should have been us 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:17.000 in the National Championship. We could have beaten Auburn. You 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:19.600 know what, their defense is such or was such in 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.080 twenty ten, they should have been able to hang. They 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.880 have an NFL quarterback in a defense Andy Dalton's certainly 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:27.560 a Winter wonder and taking down Wisconsin and the Rose 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:29.600 Bowl that year. I don't know that they have. 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:33.520 The overall team speed and offensive skill to do it, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.240 but they certainly had the defense. If Oregon had the defense, 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:38.920 there's an argument to be made that certainly TCU had 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.360 a better defense TCU, though they did have a common 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:44.280 opponent with Oregon. TCUO beats a five and seven Oregon 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.480 State team by nine. I think Oregon beat them by 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.280 seventeen or eighteen points, So if there's any sort of 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.440 comparison there, there's that. Stanford finished the year as an 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.520 extremely strong and talented team, but as mentioned, they lose 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:59.200 to Oregon by three touchdowns. Twenty ten Ohio State, which 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.520 I think ultimately they don't have any wins that year 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:06.240 because of the NCAA. Looking back at some ineligible players, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:11.560 namely I guess Terrell Pryor, they finish I think what 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.600 twelve and one themselves, they win the Sugar Bowl. Outside 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.520 of that, I don't think there's a strong enough case. 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:20.120 I think there are interesting teams. Wisconsin loses the Rose Bowl, 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:22.280 so it's hard to say that they could have hung 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:26.000 with Auburn. But we can talk about twenty eleven Wisconsin 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:28.600 a little bit with Russell Wilson in that amazing offense, 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:30.920 but I don't think the twenty ten version of the 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.720 Badgers are there. So outside of that, the only other 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:35.320 team left if we're going to talk about a group 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.040 of five team and it's probably a better team than TCU, 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:44.080 is Boise State. Well, yeah, Boise State is incredible this year. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.600 They in terms of the points per drive, they're number 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:49.040 one in both offense and defense. They have a really 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:51.760 strong quarterback. This is as talented a Boise State team 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.240 as there was. They lose that game to Nevada, which 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.040 I watched the last couple minutes of that tie. I 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.880 felt I felt like I was watching some be like 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.760 be dumped in a public place the last four minutes 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.360 of that game with missing those field goals. But ultimately no, 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:09.720 I think Oregon was the right team to try and 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.160 challenge Auburn, and they were right there for good reason. 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.440 Final question, which maybe we could get to at the end, 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.640 comparisons to two thousand and five USC Why don't we 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.560 save that for the very end. I'll write that down. Okay, okay, 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:25.520 fair enough, Let's move on to two thousand and eleven. 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:33.080 Your LSU Tigers, Dan mine yours the LSU Tigers eight 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:36.240 to zero in the SEC. This was the nine to 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:38.520 six year. This is the game of the century year. 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:43.360 Incredible defenses both for LSU and Alabama. You'll remember they 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:48.320 played in November, a nine to six overtime slugfest that 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:52.720 went to LSU. There eventually was a rematch in the 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:59.360 National Championship between LSU and the Alabama Crimson tied won't behold. 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:03.240 LSU lose that game twenty one to nothing in the 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:07.600 National Championship. So I went back and I looked at 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:08.480 this one dan. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:13.119 One touchdown though one touchdown from one Touchdowntional Championship. 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.120 Yeah, I'm curious if you would like to provide any 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:21.400 more context than just nine to six, because truly nine 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.800 to six does a lot of lifting there. Talk about 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:25.479 nine to six to a college football fan, I think 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.240 they know exactly what you mean. But what else was 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:29.919 going on in and around the world of college football? 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:34.080 How did we arrive at this point where a rematch 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:36.720 in a national title game, which at the time it 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.560 was like, haresy, Oh my god, so much controversy. I 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:42.440 remember we talked about it on the show, a rematch. 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:45.400 Who wants a rematch? Of course SEC people they wanted 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.120 the rematch, but no one else wanted the rematch. How 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.240 did we get to this point that a rematch was possible? 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.879 And depending on what you think about TV ratings, really 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.080 nobody wants the rematch. Not a lot of people watch 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.399 this game, which is fine. LSU starts the season with 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.320 the previous first time loser. I don't know if it 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:08.200 happened in that quick order in previous instances looking back 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.159 and forward. But LSU opens up the season in Jerry 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.760 World with Oregon. So this is a first time loser 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:16.560 that largely returns a good amount of players and adds 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:20.240 a couple of interesting skill players. But ultimately Honey Badger 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.640 and the LSU defense are too swarming and too good. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.800 They win that game forty to twenty seven. They don't 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.399 score a ton against Mississippi State in Starkville, but they 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.560 get the job done. I don't think they scored twenty 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.679 points in that game. This was a team that was 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.840 led by an absurd defense. If Alabama had this all 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:40.520 time amazing historic defense in twenty eleven, which we can 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:44.120 agree they did, LSU was right there. LSU was right 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.240 there in terms of talent, in terms of performance under 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:50.159 John Chavis. They win that game nine six against Alabama, 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.800 but ultimately the rest of the season there's not a 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:57.720 lot of competition within the SEC. They beat down Florida 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:02.240 I believe in Depth Valley by like thirty points. The 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.639 Auburn game isn't particularly close, so they do score points 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:08.479 with as much flak as the less miles offense. And 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.919 what it turned into later on this was a coordinator 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:17.239 thrown into service. It's Greg Stude rahwa I always going 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:20.680 to screw up that pronunciation because Steve Cragthorpe gets sick 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:24.320 before the season. So that's it's an admirable job having 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:28.160 a coordinator thrown into the pressure like that. Jordan Jefferson 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.600 has legal issues going into the season and he is 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.320 suspended and there's some you know, there's controversy about what 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:38.000 his actual involvement was in a bar fight down in Louisiana, 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.080 and he was charged with felonies, but then it was 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.040 reduced to misdemeanors and he had all sorts of people 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.320 that testified and on his behalf saying he was trying 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:48.119 to break up the fight. So there's all all sorts 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:52.479 of news stories in controversy around the offense. It's a 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:56.320 very young LSU offense, especially at receiver. It's what a 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.240 young Odell Beckham, a young Jarvis Landry, and then we 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.400 have Ruben Rand and Russell Shephard, so a crazy talented 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:06.520 man receiver corps. Running back wasn't especially great. Quarterback wasn't 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:09.879 especially great, splitting time with Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson, 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.560 but the speed and talent at receiver paired with the 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.440 talent all over the defense. So it's what Morris Klayburn, 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:20.800 Morris Claiborne, Honey Badgers, Hiram Matthew and then Sam Montgomery 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.720 and Barkhevius Mingo and Kevin Minter in the middle. Eric 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:27.200 Reid is at safety, Craig Loston. So this is it's 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:30.720 a crazy talented team that doesn't fully have its act 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:36.119 together on offense and they don't ultimately cross midfield in 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:38.520 the National Championship game. And this is a great what 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:40.760 if about other teams? What do you remember about this 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:42.160 twenty eleven LSU team? 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.680 I think I don't know if it's so much a memory. 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.320 I got a lot out of just looking back, and 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:51.560 I think we now have a real appreciation for the 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:54.920 skill talent on that team. This was a run heavy team. 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:58.600 They rotated Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson at quarterback depending 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:03.880 on the situation and suspension situation and whatnot. But Spencer 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:07.440 Ware and Michael Ford got the Lion's share of the carries, 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:09.919 and Albert Blue and Kenny Hilliard both were worked in. 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:13.360 But this was a run heavy offense. What's really crazy 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.879 to me is what you alluded to before they legit 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:21.000 had four wide receivers. They had six wide receivers who 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:23.240 played in the league, but they had four that ended 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:27.320 up being what I would consider legit NFL receivers in 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.000 Obij and Jarvis Landry, both of whom are very young, 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:33.639