Speaker 1: Welcome to the Solid Verbo. I'm that for me. I'm
Speaker 1: a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well,
Speaker 1: I want to be happy. You want to be happy
Speaker 1: for dake Ado State. Is that? Whoom whoom? And Dan
Speaker 1: and Tye welcome back to the Solid Verbo. Boys and girls.
Speaker 1: My name is ty Hildebrand joining me back over there
Speaker 1: in beautiful New York City, my man Dan Rubinstein and
Speaker 1: Daniel Happy New Year, Happy twenty twenty. How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm great, and I'm especially good.
Speaker 2: Knowing that you open the show without making some sort
Speaker 2: of twenty twenty vision crack really makes me happy.
Speaker 1: Because I'm not even that corny that feels like it's
Speaker 1: going to be late April early May twenty twenty vision.
Speaker 1: Let's make predictions way too early kind of show. But
Speaker 1: we could do a very very cheesy Hindsight's twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Prediction show, or like that is we capture Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean we're recapping our predictions in the Hindsight twenty
Speaker 2: twenty of our preseason predictions. But we have gotten ahead
Speaker 2: of ourselves. It is the new year, which means we
Speaker 2: have a lot of news. We have a lot of
Speaker 2: draft stuff, we have a lot of bowl games to recap.
Speaker 2: We are going to be previewing the national championship game
Speaker 2: on our next episode. Our following episode, we're going to
Speaker 2: deep dive into what's LSU Clemson. That's who see Clemson.
Speaker 1: They are playing for the College Football Playoff national championship
Speaker 1: on January thirteenth, which I will be watching with you
Speaker 1: live for that, And as we alluded to on the
Speaker 1: previous show, we're going to be doing one of our
Speaker 1: only in person shows to recap that national championship. It
Speaker 1: hardly ever happens. So we're excited about next week. Hopefully
Speaker 1: if you're listening to us now, I know you are,
Speaker 1: but hopefully you're as excited as we are for this
Speaker 1: championship game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it should be a terrific championship game. We've had
Speaker 2: some terrific bowl games that have transpired since we recorded
Speaker 2: that we need to talk in depth about. I didn't
Speaker 2: watch a lot of these as they were happening, and
Speaker 2: I went back and rewatched everything I missed because I
Speaker 2: was away, I was on vacation. I was going to
Speaker 2: sleep early because I am an old but I am
Speaker 2: fully caught up and boy died Ty did I say, die,
Speaker 2: YEAHI do.
Speaker 1: I have thoughts. Oh, I have thoughts as well, before
Speaker 1: we before we tackle all those bowl games. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to go crazy with raising the register and
Speaker 1: saying breaking news or anything crazy like that. Boo boo boop.
Speaker 1: But a couple odds and ends that we need to
Speaker 1: discuss first and foremost. Yeah. A Bull Confidence Pool update, Dan, Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm ready. As you know. This year participants over thirteen
Speaker 1: hundred of them. A great turnout in the solid verbal
Speaker 1: Bull Confidence Pool. They're competing for three one of three
Speaker 1: gift cards from our friends over at Roeback. Correct, We've
Speaker 1: got a pretty tight race at the top. Is that true?
Speaker 1: It is true. I'm looking at it right now. I've
Speaker 1: sort of done the math and by my calculations, an
Speaker 1: entry by the name of Keith Richards eighty six. Don't
Speaker 1: know if it is the Keith Richards. Let's assume yes,
Speaker 1: he's got thirty seven potential points remaining if he can
Speaker 1: close it out. If he gets all thirty seven of those,
Speaker 1: he will be the victor. The one pick that I
Speaker 1: am looking at, though, the one entry I'm looking at
Speaker 1: is one. I guess it's number six. Let down look
Speaker 1: ahead Sandwich use their name z Seally. Yeah, seventy one
Speaker 1: points remaining potential points remaining. He can't dethrone Keith Richards
Speaker 1: if both of them get their two remaining picks correct,
Speaker 1: but he can leapfrog some of the other ones.
Speaker 2: I'm jumping seventy three. Oh my gosh, maybe we have
Speaker 2: some controversial system within the ESPN's Bowl mania seventy three
Speaker 2: points remaining.
Speaker 1: But oh okay, I got it wrong. Great.
Speaker 2: I like the takeover. I like the takeover potential of
Speaker 2: Zee Seally. If everything works out. Where are you ty?
Speaker 2: What percentile? How many points do you have?
Speaker 1: I entry? Yeah? So for me, let me pull up
Speaker 1: my entry here. I am currently in the seventy sixth
Speaker 1: percent tile and I have five hundred and eighty four points.
Speaker 2: I'm in the eighty seven point six percent tile with
Speaker 2: six hundred and five points. I have forty eight points
Speaker 2: remaining potentially.
Speaker 1: I don't know how many I have left, but suffice
Speaker 1: to say, you're probably gonna be me.
Speaker 2: If you look at the standings, it'll tell you with
Speaker 2: your entry a top, it'll tell you how many PPR
Speaker 2: you have.
Speaker 1: Oh there it is thirty four thirty four left. So
Speaker 1: I'm in a pretty good position to take you down. Okay,
Speaker 1: well that's fine, Yeah, it's all in good fun. What
Speaker 1: other news do we have? A former solid verbal guest,
Speaker 1: Joe Morehead has been relieved. Oh were you surprised by this?
Speaker 1: I was. Yeah.
Speaker 2: As somebody who lives very far away from Starkfille, Mississippi,
Speaker 2: who does not have his finger on the pulse of
Speaker 2: Klanga Klanga, I assumed he would get at least another year.
Speaker 2: And I understand the frustration among Bulldog fans with you know,
Speaker 2: being out coached in certain scenarios and looking out classed
Speaker 2: in certain scenarios, with inheriting, especially what he did on defense.
Speaker 2: And I know they lost a couple of key cogs
Speaker 2: from the twenty eighteen defense. But I was under the
Speaker 2: assumption that in making that higher that he would be
Speaker 2: given more time to see what he could do with
Speaker 2: his own recruits on either side of the ball and
Speaker 2: with his staff, and you know, improving as a coach. Obviously,
Speaker 2: there were a number of factors. Maybe there was a
Speaker 2: personality fit issue among other things. And you know, we
Speaker 2: saw Mississippi State what they give up a what a.
Speaker 1: Thirty one point run to Louisville after going up fourteen. Nothing.
Speaker 1: Not that bowl games should be be.
Speaker 2: All and all, but they're certainly a platform for people
Speaker 2: to take in your school and your team's ability. And
Speaker 2: that was not a great showing for Mississippi State. And
Speaker 2: as we as we move forward, I suppose Missisippi State
Speaker 2: is going to need to find somebody that they believe
Speaker 2: to be a better fit. They believe to be somebody
Speaker 2: who can prepare a team better than Mississippi State looked
Speaker 2: at times this season. I don't know who that is,
Speaker 2: but if you fire somebody after two years, you should
Speaker 2: probably do it in December to maximize your ability to
Speaker 2: get the best possible candidate for your school and really
Speaker 2: have a plan in place. Yeah, because if the situation
Speaker 2: is so dire that Joe Morehead just cannot be the
Speaker 2: guy in Starkville, fine, okay, but they haven't hired anybody yet.
Speaker 2: Now it will quick turnaround. And the names that have
Speaker 2: been thrown around, and I'm sure you're going to get
Speaker 2: to this, yeah, after I finished speaking. The names have
Speaker 2: been thrown around are not like, oh well, yeah, you
Speaker 2: have to get rid of Morehead to get that guy. Well,
Speaker 2: that's it. It's always the question of who's next. If
Speaker 2: you're going to make a move to your point, what
Speaker 2: is the plan to move forward? I see a lot
Speaker 2: of names here that don't excite me. I see gene Chiswick,
Speaker 2: who's currently an SEC network analyst, as a potential Billy Napier.
Speaker 2: His team is going to play I guess on the sixth,
Speaker 2: So tomorrow we're recording this on this.
Speaker 1: Maybe there have been back channel chats and that's a
Speaker 1: done deal. Billy Napier would be. It would be a
Speaker 1: nice hire. Had a great season at Louisiana. I see
Speaker 1: here this is a Clarion Ledger article. I see LSU
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator dave A. Randa. I don't think that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: I guess it could, but LSU will pay him handsomely.
Speaker 1: I'm sure to keep him on the staff. So a
Speaker 1: lot remaining to be seen on this front. It did
Speaker 1: catch me a little bit off guard as well. You
Speaker 1: would expect, like you said, that maybe they would maximize
Speaker 1: their window to search for a new coach by doing it.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's what Joe Judge.
Speaker 2: I saw Bruce Feldman tweet out, Yeah, potential candidate the
Speaker 2: New England Patriots.
Speaker 1: Patriot, but he's interviewing now over he's interviewing for pro
Speaker 1: jobs as well. So a lot to B C. Jeff Monkin,
Speaker 1: Willie Fritz, Blake Anderson, Mike Leach saw his name, so
Speaker 1: we'll see, I don't know, kind of caught me by surprise.
Speaker 1: Any other any other coaching hires or declarations or non
Speaker 1: declarations that we want to get to here, well, the
Speaker 1: I mean saw JK.
Speaker 2: Dobbins, Jonathan Taylor tailback, Donovan Peoples, Jones, Jerry Judy, Chase Young,
Speaker 2: some some pretty significant names. We've had a couple guys
Speaker 2: say that they're coming back to school, highlighted by I
Speaker 2: think you know, Dylan Moses at Alabama, a big returning
Speaker 2: walker Little to Stanford, a really good offensive lineman. Uh,
Speaker 2: Pat Fryarmuth will be back at Penn State, your guy, yep,
Speaker 2: my boy? I think what Liam Eichenberg back to Notre Dame. Okay,
Speaker 2: rakeem Boyd at Arkansas who put up some numbers of
Speaker 2: this year.
Speaker 1: He was good. Alex Leatherwood, keykog on Alabama's offensive line, though.
Speaker 2: I believe they lose a guard to the to the draft.
Speaker 2: I saw Savon achmed it declared the walk Shington running
Speaker 2: back Elijah Moulden from Washington decided to come back. I'm
Speaker 2: trying to think if there were any other giant, giant
Speaker 2: names that have decided to come back. But yeah, this
Speaker 2: is still a fluid thing. We don't know Tua that
Speaker 2: there's nothing official there. Jake fromm I haven't seen anything yet.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you have. Marvin Wilson decided to
Speaker 2: stay and return to Florida State to be a part
Speaker 2: of the Mike Norvel era. Some transfers all over the
Speaker 2: place that we can get to probably in another show.
Speaker 2: Sure off season wise, but good quarterbacks out there by
Speaker 2: the way. Jamie Newman, Yeah, Jae, where's our transfer portal?
Speaker 1: Son? Jamie Newman going to the portal? Yeah.
Speaker 2: kJ Costello is still out there. Felipe Franks, I saw that,
Speaker 2: you know that. I think it was Dan Mullen recommended
Speaker 2: he go to Washington State and get developed by Mike Leech.
Speaker 2: Anthony Brown, Jet Duffy still out there. So some interesting
Speaker 2: names that we'll pay attention to as we sort things out.
Speaker 2: I guess in the coming weeks once people start landing everywhere.
Speaker 2: I saw Florida with a couple of big transfer recipients.
Speaker 2: Lingard from Miami, a former five star running back. So yeah,
Speaker 2: a lot to sort out. Sean Wade is returning to
Speaker 2: a house state. You'll remember him, yep, from you know,
Speaker 2: being ejected for targeting, but also a very good corner
Speaker 2: for the buck Eyes. So that's a key returning piece
Speaker 2: for the buck Eyes.
Speaker 1: The only other thing that I want to point out
Speaker 1: here is, and I'm sure we'll get to this and
Speaker 1: talk more about it when we get to the Sugar Bowl,
Speaker 1: but Matt Rule. Matt Rule has long been rumored for
Speaker 1: an NFL job. You'll remember the Colts opening like a
Speaker 1: year or two ago, after his first season at Baylor,
Speaker 1: there were rumors that Colts were interested in talking to
Speaker 1: Matt Rule. It seems like the smoke around Matt Rule
Speaker 1: to the NFL is not going away anytime soon. He
Speaker 1: has two interviews set up this week, one with the Panthers,
Speaker 1: one with my New York Giants. Yep. I wouldn't hate
Speaker 1: the move, Dan would be very excited if they got
Speaker 1: Matt Rule. Would feel very sorry for our friends down
Speaker 1: at Baylor to lose a coach of his caliber. But
Speaker 1: now that Matt Rules season is complete. He is testing
Speaker 1: the NFL waters and just something to keep your eye on. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I suppose Lincoln Riley's name is going to come up
Speaker 1: a lot for the Cowboys. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It perhaps has taken a hit with Oklahoma's performance in
Speaker 2: the College Football Playoff. I guess a couple other guys
Speaker 2: you're connected to, YGM declared a while ago?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 2: ALOI Gilman? I always forget his first name. Helo he
Speaker 2: HELLOHI Gilman?
Speaker 1: Yeah he is.
Speaker 2: kJ Hamler declared, yep, Yeah, that's a that's significant, especially
Speaker 2: since what Justin Schorter announced his intention to transfer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, also kind of stinks. Yep. Well, let's I see
Speaker 1: you see the reclamation project that can happen with Juwan
Speaker 1: Johnson's This is a perfect segue into our Rose recap.
Speaker 1: Thank you, all right, Well, why don't we take it
Speaker 1: from there. Okay, let's talk about the Rose bull. Let's
Speaker 1: start there. Okay, granddaddy of them all. It was Oregon,
Speaker 1: it was Wisconsin. It was Oregon twenty eight, Wisconsin twenty seven.
Speaker 1: This was a close game, Dan, very close game. Would
Speaker 1: you call it an exciting game? Sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah, even though there was a lot to be desired
Speaker 2: in terms of disciplined football and offensive consistency and passing
Speaker 2: games and general slop. The actual outcome seemed to be
Speaker 2: in doubt as the game went back and forth and
Speaker 2: needed a very late what an exclamation point with that
Speaker 2: Juwan Johnson's screen pass to win it for Oregon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I couldn't. It was in doubt. It was exciting
Speaker 1: and just a very strange way. A strange way is
Speaker 1: a good way to put it. I had a hard
Speaker 1: time summarizing my feelings on this game because I couldn't
Speaker 1: figure out if it was exciting because it was close,
Speaker 1: or just not exciting at all, or maybe exciting because
Speaker 1: of the circumstances, or I was watching like I didn't
Speaker 1: know how to feel about.
Speaker 2: I think that's what it was. It was exciting because it's,
Speaker 2: you know, the Rose Bowl winding down.
Speaker 1: It's because of the circumstances, right, not because of the offense.
Speaker 1: And of course there were some defensive plays here. As
Speaker 1: you said, this was an ugly offensive game. Five total turnovers,
Speaker 1: a lot of defense. We had some special teams. Oregon
Speaker 1: one with just two hundred and four yards of offense
Speaker 1: thanks to four Badger turnovers, three rushing touchdowns for Justin
Speaker 1: Herbert and they had that cool one handed scoop and score.
Speaker 1: I love that when they do that one handed scoop
Speaker 1: and score from Brady Breeze. Potential All Hair team in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, which we can get to a little bit later.
Speaker 1: As the Oregon fan, clearly you've seen Oregon in close
Speaker 1: game situations. Yeah, throughout the course of this season. Some
Speaker 1: have gone better than others, but this was another one.
Speaker 1: This is on the biggest stage. It clearly meant a
Speaker 1: lot to a guy like Justin Herbert in his senior season.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts in this game and how it shook.
Speaker 2: Out Oregon's defense and special teams not even really special
Speaker 2: teams even though with that the punt return because they
Speaker 2: gave up or wasn't a punt return, it was a
Speaker 2: scoop and score, miss botched punt snap, organ gave up
Speaker 2: a special team's touchdown. Wisconsin didn't get into the end zone.
Speaker 2: The Wisconsin offense didn't get into the en zone until
Speaker 2: right before the half. Oregon's defense did a very good
Speaker 2: job against Jonathan Taylor tailback on the ground. Wisconsin needed
Speaker 2: a number of fourth down conversions to keep drives alive,
Speaker 2: which is fine.
Speaker 1: They got him.
Speaker 2: That big one on the Jonathan Taylor swing pass was enormous.
Speaker 2: Wisconsin has a ceiling, and that's what we've seen, and
Speaker 2: I know they've lost four straight Rose Bulls. Oregon winning
Speaker 2: this game the way they did, I think our pal
Speaker 2: Bill Connelly ESPN had Oregon's offense with a zero percent
Speaker 2: success rate in the third quarter, partially due to the
Speaker 2: fact that they scored the way they did on that
Speaker 2: scoop and score. But when the offense was on the
Speaker 2: field after that opening drive, which when I think seventy
Speaker 2: five yard it's for a touchdown. The combination of Oregon's
Speaker 2: own predictable and lack of execution, as well as Wisconsin's
Speaker 2: defense in concert created a pretty terrible situation for Oregon's offense,
Speaker 2: and they couldn't really get the ball going on the ground,
Speaker 2: and yet they remained stubborn in the pistol and trying
Speaker 2: to go up the gut. As we saw Wisconsin when
Speaker 2: they struggled to get things going on the ground up
Speaker 2: the middle, up the gut, they went to that the
Speaker 2: fly sweep action, which seemed to be really working and
Speaker 2: jumpstarting the Wisconsin offense. So it was a tale of
Speaker 2: Wisconsin being sloppy penalty wise and obviously turnover wise, Oregon
Speaker 2: taking advantage like a good defense and could team I
Speaker 2: suppose would, and a nice play call at the end
Speaker 2: to Juwan Johnson to seal things. Obviously controversy with the
Speaker 2: offensive pass interference with being called on Wisconsin near the
Speaker 2: end of the game. It seemed to be the right call,
Speaker 2: but I it was also very bang bang. Also Wisconsin
Speaker 2: interfered on that long pass that was called fro defensive
Speaker 2: pass interference on or so. I don't know what cancels
Speaker 2: what out, but Wisconsin certainly had all of the opportunity
Speaker 2: in this game to put it away and came up short.
Speaker 1: I want to give credit to Chris Fowler if I
Speaker 1: could for a second here, if we could all just
Speaker 1: take a knee. He worked so hard, so hard to
Speaker 1: make this game feel and sound more exciting than it was.
Speaker 1: That's his job. It is his job, and he did
Speaker 1: a masterful job of it. Aside of the fact that
Speaker 1: it's the Rose Bowl and there's a beautiful setting as
Speaker 1: they pan the southern California sunset, he worked so hard
Speaker 1: to make it sound exciting. I loved his quote on
Speaker 1: Jack Cone did you hear this. Did you hear what
Speaker 1: he said? For Jack Cone? I have this Zach quote,
Speaker 1: I pulled it out. Yeah. Quote not flashy, but certainly
Speaker 1: more than a game manager. If that's not is that
Speaker 1: a compliment? What is that?
Speaker 2: What's the bar for a game manager? Then to Chris Fowl, Wisconsin,
Speaker 2: all of it's good this year when they were really
Speaker 2: on it was Jack Cone taking advantage of a great
Speaker 2: rushing attack and quintet cephas being legitimately the only downfield
Speaker 2: threat that Wisconsin has on the Russ.
Speaker 1: No, but yeah, it was. I feel for Wisconsin fans
Speaker 1: because that offense if Jonathan Taylor is not busting things out,
Speaker 1: and it was not an explosive offense even with him,
Speaker 1: it was much more efficient than explosive. Was not a
Speaker 1: fun watch. It was not a fun watch. And you know,
Speaker 1: Oregon did a good job harassing a lot of Wisconsin
Speaker 1: and what they were trying to do on offense and
Speaker 1: you know, swarming to the ball and forcing turnovers, but
Speaker 1: not in terms of offensive football and TV. This was
Speaker 1: not a remarkable watch. Fair to say, fair to say,
Speaker 1: I love Chris Fowler.
Speaker 2: Good Oregon in the hunt for a new offensive coordinator,
Speaker 2: which hopefully can take things in a more consistent, explosive,
Speaker 2: creative direction.
Speaker 1: Maybe Joe Morehead, who knows Okay would hate but sugar ball.
Speaker 1: Georgia twenty six the Baylor Bears fourteen. A monster game
Speaker 1: here for freshman wide receiver George Pickens for Georgia. He
Speaker 1: was the player of the game because he had twelve
Speaker 1: grabs for one hundred and seventy five yards and a touchdown,
Speaker 1: So big game for him. Also nice game for Zamir
Speaker 1: White who had ninety two yards and a score on
Speaker 1: the ground and Jake From doing more. Jake from things
Speaker 1: twenty to thirty, two hundred and fifty yards passing two
Speaker 1: touchdowns again no interceptions, had some really nice throws in
Speaker 1: this game, really nice dimes that he was just dropping
Speaker 1: in on two of those touchdown passes. And outside of that,
Speaker 1: a really efficient performance by the Georgia offense. Baylor's offense
Speaker 1: held mostly in check. Georgia took away the run almost entirely,
Speaker 1: something like two point two yards per carry for the
Speaker 1: Bears offense. They put a lot of the pressure on
Speaker 1: Charlie Brewer and as a result, the offense held mostly
Speaker 1: in check. Under three hundred yards Brewer actually got dinged
Speaker 1: up in the fourth quarter. He wasn't concussed, thankfully, he
Speaker 1: was a couple of weeks ago, but made it through
Speaker 1: concussion protocol. They took him out out of an abundance
Speaker 1: of caution. Jacob Zino came in, couldn't really get much going,
Speaker 1: and I kind of felt like this game went almost
Speaker 1: entirely the way we expected. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Probably, I mean, Baylor doesn't score in the first half,
Speaker 2: they take away the ground game, they take away some
Speaker 2: of the short passes. And for as good as Baylor's
Speaker 2: been this year, it's been because of their defense. And
Speaker 2: that defense can only hold on for so long if
Speaker 2: they're on the field constantly, and Georgia can say, look,
Speaker 2: we know Denzel Mims is a threat, and they're good
Speaker 2: enough to be able to take him out as often
Speaker 2: as possible, take him away from the offense, and Baylor
Speaker 2: doesn't have a counter punch. If Charlie Brewer and Denzel
Speaker 2: Mims aren't connecting in Charlie Brewer's not scrambling for first downs,
Speaker 2: and they're able to keep him in the pocket and
Speaker 2: confuse him and take advantage of his mistakes, how much
Speaker 2: Baylor can do not at this point in their progression
Speaker 2: under Matt rule on offense. We'll see what happens in
Speaker 2: the I guess he passed concussion protocol, but he's still
Speaker 2: he's taking these hits and he's leaving games in precaution.
Speaker 2: Like I don't know how long this can go on
Speaker 2: for Charlie Brewer and Baylor at a certain point, like
Speaker 2: it just it's a health concern.
Speaker 1: It's a health question.
Speaker 2: On a much more positive front, Georgia looked very good
Speaker 2: and they cared so much more in this game. It
Speaker 2: appeared just with the spirits and what JOI de vive
Speaker 2: that they played with that they didn't fully have last
Speaker 2: year against Texas. In this spot, I thought the offensive
Speaker 2: line did a lot better job protecting Jake from We
Speaker 2: saw that that flea flicker workout. Very strange to see
Speaker 2: Matt Luke already prowling the sidekins taking over for Sam
Speaker 2: Pittman as the offensive line coach for Georgia. Whatever he did,
Speaker 2: perhaps in bowl preparation or in you know, keeping the
Speaker 2: heads of the offensive linemen on straight, especially given the
Speaker 2: new look offensive line that Georgia had given the guys
Speaker 2: that were sitting out.
Speaker 1: Good job, good job.
Speaker 2: I mean, Zamir White looked rand strong ran confidently. Good
Speaker 2: for him with all that the health issues he's had
Speaker 2: in the past, he looks like a future dude. For Georgia,
Speaker 2: DeAndre Swift has declared for the NFL Draft, so that's
Speaker 2: a new look. And I think you were right to
Speaker 2: lead off with George Pickens, especially if he can get
Speaker 2: the sort of mental aspect of football and controlling his
Speaker 2: temper on the field in check. He is as talented
Speaker 2: a receiver as the SEC has moving forward.
Speaker 1: For sure, for sure, and you know what, to his credit,
Speaker 1: he called it out. He said, you know, I've got
Speaker 1: some maturing and growing do and we all do, Tyler,
Speaker 1: don't we all? Don't we all? Ain't that the truth? Man?
Speaker 1: But good game for him, A nice story to see
Speaker 1: him succeed in the way he did get that trophy
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. Georgia wins the Sugar
Speaker 1: Bowl by twelve. Elsewhere the Orange Bowl we had Florida
Speaker 1: thirty six Virginia twenty eight. Now, look, I think there
Speaker 1: is a tenancy to gloss over this one for Florida
Speaker 1: because they were a pretty heavy favorite because they didn't
Speaker 1: win the East, right, but five hundred and forty nine
Speaker 1: yards thirty six points. That is not insignificant because it
Speaker 1: wasn't all that long ago. We were singing a much
Speaker 1: much different tune about Florida's offense. What they did this
Speaker 1: year with a backup quarterback for the majority of the season,
Speaker 1: having to recalibrate the way that Dan Mullen did, for
Speaker 1: my money, one of the better stories in college football.
Speaker 1: Basically no success on the ground. No, not, well, what
Speaker 1: Michael p Ryan in this game against Virginia. Yes, well,
Speaker 1: Michael p Ran in this game had had a very good,
Speaker 1: very good effort here one thirty eight. But to your point,
Speaker 1: I think that's entirely accurate. Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, they struggled to sort of put forth a complete
Speaker 2: offense this year, and they still won games. They still
Speaker 2: exclusively lost to really good teams in what LSU and
Speaker 2: Georgia and took care of business with a backup.
Speaker 1: Quarterback who we not so politely called Calm Calm throw
Speaker 1: Kyle or whatever we called him, and he got the
Speaker 1: job done. He had a nice season, going against a
Speaker 1: Virginia team that certainly beat up on defense and has
Speaker 1: its own questions in terms of how high level they
Speaker 1: could be they were in this game the whole time.
Speaker 1: They were well they were, but they weren't like Florida
Speaker 1: kept them at arm's length for the entire second half.
Speaker 1: They pulled within one score early in the fourth, but
Speaker 1: then Florida answered quickly and just sort of coasted to victory.
Speaker 1: So they weren't out of it. I don't know if
Speaker 1: they were ever truly within striking distance. It didn't feel
Speaker 1: that way. I mean, six points with what twelve thirteen minutes?
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I know. It's just it's not
Speaker 1: a runaway It wasn't a runaway train. You're right, it was.
Speaker 2: The final score is not as accurate as the comfort
Speaker 2: with which Florida seemed to pull away from this game,
Speaker 2: but a nice showing because Bryce Perkins has to do
Speaker 2: it all for Virginia and continuously did all season long.
Speaker 2: I mean, not necessarily against Clemson, but you know, this
Speaker 2: is a good Florida defense that Bryce Perkins was able
Speaker 2: to find whoever has seized to wah whoever in this
Speaker 2: game and just at a certain point he just couldn't
Speaker 2: do everything. But I like the performance. I liked the season,
Speaker 2: and I liked watching my father in law Rome across
Speaker 2: South Florida seeing Virginia fan after Virginia fan, after asking me,
Speaker 2: what do Virginia fans say to each other? Like Texas
Speaker 2: fans say, hook them? He would just go up to
Speaker 2: strangers at tables wearing Who's gear and go up to
Speaker 2: them and say, hey, waho wa, good luck. It felt
Speaker 2: like the mayor of Virginia fandom because he likes no
Speaker 2: having met secret in jokes, having met your father in law.
Speaker 1: Yeah, didn't he do magic tricks for people at an
Speaker 1: Italian restaurant? Yeah, when we were in Chicago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely loves going up to strangers at tables and
Speaker 2: just being friendly.
Speaker 1: Awesome, dude, Yeah, I love the guy all right. Citrus Bowl,
Speaker 1: Alabama thirty five, Michigan sixteen. I like we knew going
Speaker 1: into this that there were some interesting matchups to watch
Speaker 1: and that Michigan had enough talent, I think, to offer resistance.
Speaker 1: The question was how much and for how long? And
Speaker 1: that's kind of been the story of coaching against Nick
Speaker 1: Saban in this one. Michigan played really well for a half.
Speaker 1: They led by two sixteen fourteen after two quarters. Yeah,
Speaker 1: ran well, ran well, sure, second half more of the
Speaker 1: same from Alabama. They rip off twenty one unanswered. They
Speaker 1: win going away. Mac Jones a really nice game three
Speaker 1: twenty seven and three touchdowns, no picks, Najie Harris one
Speaker 1: point thirty six and two touchdowns on the ground, Jerry
Speaker 1: Judy virtually unstoppable, six for two h four and a
Speaker 1: touchdown through the air. It's really just a matter of
Speaker 1: Alabama has a machine. They've got all the talent in
Speaker 1: the world, and it's sucks that they lost to to injury.
Speaker 1: But the other parts don't stop working simply because he's
Speaker 1: not on the field. They knew how to recalibrate the
Speaker 1: game plan. Mac Jones played really well against a good defense,
Speaker 1: and yeah, Alabama, Dan just keeps doing Alabama things. This
Speaker 1: is very true.
Speaker 2: We've talked about what it takes to beat Alabama. Even
Speaker 2: a down Alabama defense, Michigan was able to find some
Speaker 2: success on the ground, some creative play to it was.
Speaker 2: Giles Jackson had a nice day for Michigan, sort of
Speaker 2: an all purpose tight back. Hit a couple carries and
Speaker 2: a few receptions. But you need more than shape Patterson.
Speaker 2: You need more than you need that fearless guide connecting
Speaker 2: with tall physical receivers, which Michigan has Donovan Peebles, Jones,
Speaker 2: Nico Collins, Tariq Black. These are talented dudes, but this
Speaker 2: Michigan offense just wasn't consistent enough from the top to
Speaker 2: get it, John, and I think you were going in
Speaker 2: the right direction. Mac Jones is just a good quarterback.
Speaker 2: I mean, he has these incredible weapons and an incredible line.
Speaker 2: I know all the advantages he has, but he made plays.
Speaker 2: He made throws and that's all you can really ask for,
Speaker 2: and didn't throw pick. And I the Alabama war machine
Speaker 2: is still going strong. And they opened the game up
Speaker 2: with what an eighty five yard touchdown catch Mac Jones
Speaker 2: to Jerry Judy. And you know, we talk about the
Speaker 2: scores misleading what the actual game look like. And I
Speaker 2: know Alabama pulled away late, but that's what good teams do.
Speaker 2: So it was what twenty one sixteen into the fourth quarter,
Speaker 2: deeper into the fourth quarter, and Alabama rode Najie Harris
Speaker 2: to shore and it worked out really well for them.
Speaker 2: They got that late pick, and Alabama, in a game
Speaker 2: where you would understand if they weren't fully motivated against
Speaker 2: a good Michigan team, dug deep and found a way
Speaker 2: to win at the end very comfortably.
Speaker 1: It helps to have Alabama's offensive line, definitely does. But
Speaker 1: that being said, whenever a backup comes in, I like
Speaker 1: to look and try to figure out, like, does this
Speaker 1: guy look comfortable? Yeah, handled pressure, does he look like
Speaker 1: he knows what he's doing? Or is he kind of
Speaker 1: staring at the line in front of him and acting frantic?
Speaker 1: That was not the case here. No, he looked very comfortable,
Speaker 1: very poised, And the numbers bear that out. Three twenty seven,
Speaker 1: three touchdowns, no interceptions.
Speaker 2: Most importantly, Yeah, yeah, Alabama down at halftime.
Speaker 1: But you know those those scrappy underdogs. Yeah no, Lisa,
Speaker 1: all right, Alamo ball. Dan is Texas back? I mean,
Speaker 1: Texas is back to being Texas. Yeah. They win some games,
Speaker 1: they lose other games. Texas is thirty eight. Utah ten
Speaker 1: just got furder Man. I did not see this one coming.
Speaker 1: I can't tell if yeah, I can't tell if Texas
Speaker 1: just smoked Utah, or if Utah didn't want to be there,
Speaker 1: or if it was some combination of both. But Utah
Speaker 1: could not get anything going in this game. This was
Speaker 1: all Texas. It was all Sam Ellinger. He threw for
Speaker 1: three touchdowns, he ran for another. I was most impressed
Speaker 1: watching this one back at the pressure that Texas got
Speaker 1: on Tyler Huntley, Like it just it felt like they
Speaker 1: were constantly in his face, constantly changing the rhythm of
Speaker 1: that Utah offense, and as a result, the youths couldn't
Speaker 1: get anything going. Sam Ellinger did his thing on offense
Speaker 1: against a really good Utah defense. Mind, you don't know
Speaker 1: if it was a bit of a letdown situation for
Speaker 1: Utah being so they lost the Pac twelve game. Typically
Speaker 1: we don't see that from Mi Kyle Whittinghampton. They're very
Speaker 1: good in the postseason. But suffice to say a twenty
Speaker 1: eight point win for Texas would prove otherwise.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not great in the postseason either last year against
Speaker 2: Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl. But Utah had every reason
Speaker 2: to be motivated even after losing the Pac twelve championship
Speaker 2: game the way that they did, because this is still
Speaker 2: a high profile bowl game with everybody watching.
Speaker 1: This was New Year's Eve. I believe this is when
Speaker 1: this went off. I think so New Year's Eve, so
Speaker 1: everybody's watching this game. It's in it's you know, it's
Speaker 1: in a dome. It's in a big dome. You got
Speaker 1: Texas fans all over the place, Utah having an opportunity,
Speaker 1: even with a down Texas to beat a high profile opponent.
Speaker 2: And I think you're right. And I saw some quotes
Speaker 2: after the game that perhaps Utah didn't take this game
Speaker 2: as seriously as they should have. But I'm certainly glad
Speaker 2: we didn't have to watch Utah against LSU. I'm glad
Speaker 2: we didn't have to watch Utah against Clemsoner Ohio State
Speaker 2: after if they don't have the ability to get up
Speaker 2: for Texas and the Alimobile. And again, I understand the disappointment,
Speaker 2: but I'm gonna channel some inner David Pollock here. Texas
Speaker 2: won this game at the point of attack. Texas won
Speaker 2: this game in the trenches. They protected Sam Ellinger well,
Speaker 2: they opened up lanes for Keanta Ingram and Roshan Johnson,
Speaker 2: and Ellinger ran well. And defensively, you're right, they swarmed
Speaker 2: Tyler Huntley. They basically shut down Zach Moss. And Utah
Speaker 2: is a pretty good program. They're not big time, and
Speaker 2: I think Brandon Huffman talked about this on signing Day.
Speaker 2: They're trending in that direction in terms of the talent
Speaker 2: they have. They were missing key guys in the secondary,
Speaker 2: and Texas was able to take advantage of that. But
Speaker 2: Utah didn't have the depth, they didn't have the get up,
Speaker 2: and they didn't have the talent to hang with a
Speaker 2: seven and five Big twelve team. And it's great to
Speaker 2: kill Arizona State and Oregon State and Call and whoever.
Speaker 2: But they played Oregon in USC Washington was relatively close,
Speaker 2: and now losing to Texas, Utah just they have a ceiling.
Speaker 2: They're pretty good, they're not big time. The Texas pressure
Speaker 2: thing really threw me.
Speaker 1: This is not a team that was good at sacking
Speaker 1: the quarterback, really generating pressure all year and they did
Speaker 1: outstanding job. Ten points they didn't score, they didn't get
Speaker 1: at the end. So until what the fourth quarter? Yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: this bally Hood and Bloodwig offense come on all right,
Speaker 1: out back ball. Minnesota thirty one, Auburn twenty four. Dan
Speaker 1: Auburn fricking gets me again. They can every year. I
Speaker 1: can't figure out what to do with Auburn in the
Speaker 1: bowl game. That's okay, it makes it spicy. I should
Speaker 1: have gone Minnesota because of the motivation factor. I should
Speaker 1: have done it. Oh, Auburn tried. They just couldn't really
Speaker 1: do much Tanner Morgan nineteen of twenty nine, but twelve
Speaker 1: of those went to the man, the myth, Tyler Johnson.
Speaker 1: He shares my namesake. He's a boy in a man's body.
Speaker 1: Twelve catches, just like you, ty just like me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: two to four through the air, two touchdowns. He was unguardable.
Speaker 1: Maybe the most exciting game of the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this was fun, especially with the way that Minnesota
Speaker 2: just slowly squeezed the life out of Auburn's defense to
Speaker 2: win this game with what an eight and a half
Speaker 2: minute drive.
Speaker 1: It whoa a big deal for the Minnesota program. It
Speaker 1: can't be. It can't be overstated enough. A remarkable season
Speaker 1: for the Gophers to win the ball game against an
Speaker 1: SEC opponent, A big deal. PJ. Fleck seemingly hanging around
Speaker 1: another year. Yeah, trying to build something up there at Minnesota,
Speaker 1: and it's cool. It's really cool to see.
Speaker 2: As well as he should. I mean, Minnesota played a
Speaker 2: complete game on offense, with you know, getting some bad
Speaker 2: Tanner Morgan thrown into this game. Tyler Johnson's just incredible.
Speaker 2: For as much as we'd like to drool over Rashad
Speaker 2: Bateman Tyler Johnson is now an All timer for Minnesota,
Speaker 2: and to also get it done on the ground, which
Speaker 2: they weren't able to consistently do this year with Mo
Speaker 2: was Abraham ran a lot better than Rodney Smith, a
Speaker 2: bigger play guy at least against a really strong Auburn defense.
Speaker 2: Bow Nick struggled going downfield. They just they were not
Speaker 2: able to be creative enough to overcome what Minnesota was
Speaker 2: doing on defense. And the Gophers did a terrific job
Speaker 2: against Auburn on the ground. So if you force bow
Speaker 2: Nicks to beat you through the air, it's a tough
Speaker 2: ask with what Auburn has creatively. And you know, maybe
Speaker 2: Chad Morris will be a breath of fresh air for
Speaker 2: this Auburn offense. We'll see if Anthony Schwartz. I saw
Speaker 2: some stories about him having to to side now between
Speaker 2: track and football, and that's kind of I mean, I
Speaker 2: like Seth Williams, but that's that big play dude for Auburn.
Speaker 2: If he's gone, I don't know what they look like.
Speaker 2: So big offseason for the Tigers. But I think the
Speaker 2: story here is Minnesota, the way they're able to close
Speaker 2: out this game and the performance they get. I mean,
Speaker 2: that catch early on from Tyler Johnson just the beast
Speaker 2: sirt an absolutely beast. Eleven win Minnesota. I mean, there
Speaker 2: is context to how they got to those eleven wins
Speaker 2: and what the Big Ten look like this season. But
Speaker 2: you know what, it's early January. Who cares good for
Speaker 2: the Gophers. They beat Penn State, they beat Auburn, it did.
Speaker 2: Those aren't bad wins. Lost their offensive coordinator to Penn.
Speaker 1: State, lost their offensive coordinator pen State because he beat Penstate,
Speaker 1: all right, belk ball Kentucky thirty seven, Virginia Tech thirty.
Speaker 1: The Lynn Bowden junior express train keeps on chugging. He
Speaker 1: ran for two twenty three and two touchdowns on thirty
Speaker 1: four carries, also through the game winning touchdown pass with
Speaker 1: fifteen seconds left, furious comeback to give the Cats the win.
Speaker 1: This was feisty started, feisty, feisty start to this one.
Speaker 1: Here a little bit of a scuffle pregame, but a
Speaker 1: cool story, I think really on both fronts if you
Speaker 1: try to put this in context. First and foremost, Lynn
Speaker 1: Bowden Junior basically becoming the quarterback Kentucky having to reprogram
Speaker 1: its entire offense to fit his skill set. They did
Speaker 1: pretty well down the stretch all things considered, So all
Speaker 1: do credit to him to that coaching staff. He probably
Speaker 1: has an NFL future, so I give him kudos for
Speaker 1: playing in this game knowing that he was going to
Speaker 1: take a lick you at thirty four carries. Yeah. Oh,
Speaker 1: I think he definitely does. He's too good not to
Speaker 1: as an athlete. Yeah, absolutely, So all do credit to
Speaker 1: him in the Kentucky staff for reprogramming things and putting
Speaker 1: together just a really positive close to the season. And
Speaker 1: on the Virginia Tech side of things, look the way
Speaker 1: they I think circled the wagons and got things going
Speaker 1: in a good direction after a bit of a rocky
Speaker 1: start was admirable as well. I think they found their
Speaker 1: quarterback and Hendon Hooker. Definitely there's a lot coming back
Speaker 1: next season, and I think a lot of reason for
Speaker 1: optimism going into the twenty twenty seasons. So didn't win,
Speaker 1: here was a very close, very fun game, and I
Speaker 1: think a lot more excitement to come in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: for them. I hope so, because the ACC is thirsty
Speaker 1: excitement and quality, and this year did not really give
Speaker 1: us all that much. Yeah, Virginia Tech You're not wrong,
Speaker 1: I would say, at the very least disappointing in Bud
Speaker 1: Foster's final game to lose to a team without an
Speaker 1: ability to throw the ball Lynn Bowden Junior and his
Speaker 1: game winning throw aside not great, not a great look
Speaker 1: for Virginia Tech. Not Able to get it done themselves
Speaker 1: through the air, though finally able to get it done
Speaker 1: on the ground with some big play running and still
Speaker 1: gave the game away. Was not able to get in
Speaker 1: the end zone in the fourth quarter, and good for
Speaker 1: Kentucky for taking advantage. Good for Kentucky for we'd mentioned
Speaker 1: this in the preview. They can be pushed around up
Speaker 1: front in the run game, which they were at times,
Speaker 1: but they did a good job locking down Virginia Tech
Speaker 1: through the air and sort of confusing Hendon Hooker into
Speaker 1: some bad throws. So really strong way to end the
Speaker 1: season for Kentucky in a very encouraging way. The Music
Speaker 1: City Bowl we had Louisville thirty eight Louisville, Mississippi State
Speaker 1: twenty eight. We already mentioned that Joemo got fired after
Speaker 1: this game, but McHale Cunningham through for two seventy nine
Speaker 1: and two touchdowns. He added another eighty one on the ground,
Speaker 1: Louisville stepped on the gas in the second half. They
Speaker 1: got their eighth win of the season, which if you
Speaker 1: would have said before the season that we'd be talking
Speaker 1: about an eight win Louisville, that would have been a
Speaker 1: hell of a story. That would have been a bit
Speaker 1: of craziness preseason to say eight win Louisville, especially where
Speaker 1: they were last year. But the way that Scott Saderfield
Speaker 1: has come in and made such a dramatic and immediate
Speaker 1: impact on this program is not to be understated. Louisville
Speaker 1: could be back in whatever Louisville context that is before long.
Speaker 1: Very exciting to see them win this Bowl game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I feel about Michael Cunney, Man Cunningham,
Speaker 2: he's full on good Mississippi State after going up fourteen
Speaker 2: nothing to give up what they did into the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter of thirty one straight, it's it's just a rough watch.
Speaker 2: If you're I'm sure a Mississippi State fan. We saw
Speaker 2: Louisville get pushed around by Kentucky on the ground and
Speaker 2: the Bulldogs really not get much going from I know.
Speaker 2: Kylon Hill was hurt, he tried and he was within
Speaker 2: reach of a record, but you know, Klangan not being
Speaker 2: able to run it at all against this Louisville defense, which.
Speaker 1: Is not good. This is not a good Cardinal defense.
Speaker 1: I think eventually it should be, but this is you
Speaker 1: should be able to score more, and you know, good for.
Speaker 2: The Cardinals taking advantage of state mistakes and turnovers and
Speaker 2: everything like that, and finish the season. You know, it's
Speaker 2: a seven and five year with a Bowl win. That's
Speaker 2: how I tend to view these things. But it's not
Speaker 2: unique to Louisville. I think there is, at least going
Speaker 2: into the early offseason in spring ball, every reason to.
Speaker 1: Be pretty excited if you're a Louisville fan. Agree, one
Speaker 1: hundred percent. Nice win for Louisville thirty eight, twenty eight
Speaker 1: again in the Music City Bowl. Dane, Let's let's talk
Speaker 1: about the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl now if we could. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's time as I prepare for this recap and I'm
Speaker 1: not making this up, swear to God. Okay, it's a
Speaker 1: windy day here in eastern Pennsylvania. There is a giant
Speaker 1: barrel of garbage blowing across my backyard. Oh ty, if
Speaker 1: that's not a metaphor for this game. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the hell is Arizona State twenty, Florida State fourteen.
Speaker 1: Eight total turnovers in this football game. That includes six
Speaker 1: by Florida State. So if you got the cold sweats
Speaker 1: thinking back to the two thousand and eight Sun Bowl,
Speaker 1: you weren't alone three to nothing after one quarter, nine
Speaker 1: to nothing at half in favor of ASU. The Knowles,
Speaker 1: to their credit, came back. They made it fourteen to
Speaker 1: nine after three quarters, but then they gave up a
Speaker 1: field goal. They threw a pick six early in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, and that's what did him in. Did not
Speaker 1: a not a particularly fun Sun Bowl to watch. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it's really good when the most extreme weirdo in your
Speaker 1: life finds another extreme weirdo to start a life with
Speaker 1: and get married or whatever. It was nice to have
Speaker 1: these two offensive lines and in case we made offenses
Speaker 1: quarantined in the same place during bowl season. This was ugly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what ASU doesn't score, doesn't get into the end
Speaker 2: zone until the very end of the game. Yeah, what
Speaker 2: ten minutes left in the fourth quarter and still looked
Speaker 2: like the clear better team with what James Blackman was
Speaker 2: throwing up out into the universe and the offensive line
Speaker 2: play in this game. I guess good forray sUAS you
Speaker 2: finished with a strong recruiting class. There's reason for optimism
Speaker 2: with Florida State moving forward and the Mike norvel Era
Speaker 2: and what they've been able to do recruiting, and you
Speaker 2: know what their offense should look like and what they
Speaker 2: return on defense. But good that we could get these
Speaker 2: two teams together to have their little party in l
Speaker 2: Paso and just move forward.
Speaker 1: Move forward, all right? Gator Ball Tennessee twenty three, Indiana
Speaker 1: twenty two. Weird game here? Weird close to this game definitely,
Speaker 1: Let's say, because Tennessee scored twice within thirty seconds late
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, they were down twenty two to nine.
Speaker 1: They steal this one off the back of a truck
Speaker 1: and win by a twenty three to twenty two score.
Speaker 2: Tennessee got, you know, bad, Jarrett Garantano. At the start,
Speaker 2: they had opportunities and you just couldn't connect. I thought
Speaker 2: to a takeaway for Tennessee is how excited people should
Speaker 2: be for Eric Gray, who looked sensational on the ground,
Speaker 2: like a new era of Tennessee offense. We'll see if
Speaker 2: Guarantano can develop or if Tennessee goes after somebody in
Speaker 2: the transfer portal of this offseason. Who knows what happens there,
Speaker 2: But yeah, I thought. Also the story was Tennessee's defense
Speaker 2: doing a good enough job against a strong Indiana offense,
Speaker 2: losing their offensive coordinator and Kaylin de Borr back to
Speaker 2: Fresno State. They did a good job against Indiana on
Speaker 2: the ground, they did a good job against IU in
Speaker 2: the air, through the air, whatever, and still needed everything
Speaker 2: in the world to come back in this game. So yeah,
Speaker 2: weird game, fun game, strange ending, and good for the
Speaker 2: balls who have the pieces. If they can get good
Speaker 2: quarterback play wherever, they should improve upon well, they seven
Speaker 2: and five season via the tennisance at the end, they
Speaker 2: should get to eight or nine wins next year, presumably.
Speaker 2: Jeremy Prowett, I'm I have a healthy amount of optimism,
Speaker 2: not a crazy amount, a healthy amount.
Speaker 1: The Red Box Bowl. I really hate that I can't
Speaker 1: make this joke about Oregon. Yeah, where's my Rose Bowl
Speaker 1: Championship hat? Todd cal riving thirty five Illinois twenty four
Speaker 1: touchdown passes for Chase Garber's makes you wonder about Cal's season,
Speaker 1: what it would have looked like, if Chase Garber's didn't
Speaker 1: get hurt, I think it would have taken on a
Speaker 1: much different feel. But yeah, a good story for Illinois
Speaker 1: to get to this game. I think we both like
Speaker 1: Cal a great deal going into it. Not gonna lie
Speaker 1: and say I watched a whole lot of this game,
Speaker 1: but my main takeaway is nice win for Cal, nice
Speaker 1: cap on the season, and really a story of what
Speaker 1: could have been if their quarterback did not get hurt.
Speaker 1: If their quarterback doesn't get hurt, they beat ASU, they
Speaker 1: probably beat Oregon, and they definitely beat Oregon State. They
Speaker 1: lose to Utah, they lose to SAE because they lost
Speaker 1: both of those games demonstrably well. Who knows where they
Speaker 1: end up bowl wise, But yes, Cal has and had
Speaker 1: a competent offense, if not a pretty good offense, balanced
Speaker 1: offense with Chase Garber's and what Chris Brown in the
Speaker 1: backfield when everybody was healthy there. And it's a bummer,
Speaker 1: but you can get Illinois in the Red Box Bowl
Speaker 1: and beat up Illinois down a number of players on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball. But this wasn't an ALLIONI
Speaker 1: team who was putting a ton of points on teams
Speaker 1: or completely shutting them down. It was a nice improved
Speaker 1: story for the Allion I and Cal does a great
Speaker 1: job on defense. I said, Haven Weaver set some records
Speaker 1: and it was expected, I guess would be what I
Speaker 1: would say. Cal scoring thirty five is new. That's sort
Speaker 1: of a new sensation to me.
Speaker 2: But I don't think Illinois could expect much given you
Speaker 2: know who they are and who they were missing. So
Speaker 2: good for Cal, good for Illinois. Hey, sometimes it's just
Speaker 2: a good story.
Speaker 1: In the Liberty Bowl, we had Navy twenty to seventeen
Speaker 1: over k State. Fun weird game. Yeah, one weird game,
Speaker 1: very weird game. We had Cincinnati all over Boston College.
Speaker 1: We all saw this one coming a mile away. But
Speaker 1: thirty eight to six. In the Birmingham Bowl. Cincinnati wins
Speaker 1: Western Kentucky by three over Western Michigan, twenty three to
Speaker 1: twenty in the First Responder Bowl, and Wyoming by twenty one,
Speaker 1: thirty eight to seventeen over Georgia State in the oft
Speaker 1: forgotten Arizona Bowl.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well let's start there. Xavion Valaday. They built the
Speaker 2: whole thing out of him for Wyoming. He's sensational both
Speaker 2: through the air, big play dude, and on the ground
Speaker 2: goes for over two hundred yards.
Speaker 1: Wyoming.
Speaker 2: I think we both liked Wyoming in this one. In
Speaker 2: the Nova Home Loans. That's right, Arizona Bowl. You mentioned
Speaker 2: what Western Michigan Western Kentucky as good a game as
Speaker 2: the Hilltoppers had on offense. The job they did in
Speaker 2: coming back and winning against Levonte Bellamy and this Western offense.
Speaker 2: Western Michigan offense I thought was pretty admirable. Kansas State
Speaker 2: did a whole lot of bending but actually didn't break
Speaker 2: too often against a Navy team that ran all over them.
Speaker 2: But Navy with that late suffocating drive that ends as
Speaker 2: the clock hit zero field goal, nice win for them.
Speaker 2: They have some missed opportunities very early on. Skyler Thompson
Speaker 2: really struggled against this Navy defense and Kansas State really
Speaker 2: struggled between I guess the twenties against this Navy offense.
Speaker 2: So eleven wins for Navy after a pretty down twenty
Speaker 2: eighteen I color me impressed, high? Yeah, color me impressed.
Speaker 1: Sure. The final game you mentioned was what Cincinnati and
Speaker 1: Boston College.
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Boston College, Yeah BC, didn't I mean AJ Dillon
Speaker 2: sitting out, they lose, they fire their coach they're without
Speaker 2: their coordinator. It's just not going to happen for BC.
Speaker 2: But Cincinnati a relatively easy way to get to what
Speaker 2: they finished with eleven wins, wins, only losing to a
Speaker 2: playoff team in a new Year six team in Ohio
Speaker 2: State and Memphis. A nice complete win for Cincinnati as
Speaker 2: they head into next year with a lot of promise
Speaker 2: young talent. I don't think you mentioned Ohio Nevada, Ohio.
Speaker 2: I guess Weather's a late comeback effort, but they jump
Speaker 2: out to a pretty big lead here. I think they
Speaker 2: were up thirty to nine going into the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: And the end of Nathan Rourke's career ends with a win,
Speaker 2: and the end of Frank Solich and Nathan Rourke's time
Speaker 2: together ends with Frank Solich being doused in French fries.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, right in the famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Dulane
Speaker 2: Monster third quarter after a sluggish first half, comfortably beating
Speaker 2: Southern Miss And as of recording, I think that those
Speaker 2: are all the games.
Speaker 1: Those are all the games. We've got two left. We've
Speaker 1: got the Lending Tree Bowl Louisiana against Miami Ohio. Again.
Speaker 1: We talked about that one before Louisiana a pretty big favorite.
Speaker 1: We'll have to wait and see if Billy Napier has
Speaker 1: ties to that Mississippi State job. And then there's the
Speaker 1: big Tamali. Yeah. Next Monday, January the thirteenth, it is
Speaker 1: number one LSU at fourteen and oh it is number
Speaker 1: three Clemson also at fourteen and oh they're playing the
Speaker 1: championship game in New Orleans, so a bit of a
Speaker 1: home crowd for LSU, I'd say so in the Superdome.
Speaker 1: Currently they are a five and a half point favorite
Speaker 1: over Clemson over under about sixty nine and one half.
Speaker 1: Here is our plan. We're going to preview this game
Speaker 1: about midweek or so. We can't do it yet because
Speaker 1: all the fun little props that we like to include
Speaker 1: as part of the coverage they're not out yet. Okay,
Speaker 1: so we got to give it a few days, let
Speaker 1: the bookmakers do their things so we can have fun
Speaker 1: with it. Hopefully midweek or so, sure, talk turkey. And
Speaker 1: then after that you and I will convene next Monday
Speaker 1: night to watch the game and Tuesday morning, bright and
Speaker 1: early to recap the National Championship.
Speaker 2: All right, I'm ready, I mean, maybe this will be
Speaker 2: our penultimate Tues Cruise, depending on when we record it.
Speaker 2: Maybe we'll structure the National Championship preview the way we
Speaker 2: structured twos cruise. We could do that with various activities.
Speaker 1: We could do that. You're out how we feel. It's
Speaker 1: like a real cruise ship when you've got different activities
Speaker 1: you can do, like the flow Rider pool that.
Speaker 2: We'll do a midnight pizza buffet, we'll have it all.
Speaker 2: We'll recap the National Championship either late Monday night or
Speaker 2: probably early Tuesday and get that out pretty quickly. And
Speaker 2: otherwise we just sail into the off season with an
Speaker 2: unlimited amount of content.
Speaker 1: All right, Dan, Well that is all I have here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we appreciate everyone tuning in again. Happy New Year, thanks
Speaker 1: for stopping on by. We will be with you all
Speaker 1: off season. So if you haven't yet, please do subscribe.
Speaker 1: You can subscribe to the show anywhere you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Dan and I are already planning for a huge twenty
Speaker 1: We're exciting.
Speaker 2: It's true, a lot of stuff to come. Do you
Speaker 2: have a good Christmas? Good New Year's stay up until
Speaker 2: the ball dropping.
Speaker 1: I did make it up until the ball TI up,
Speaker 1: Yeah you did. I did I stayed away? Oh my god, looking,
Speaker 1: I know, upset of the century?
Speaker 2: It was it specifically because you wanted to watch Times
Speaker 2: Square and just ring in the new year, or were
Speaker 2: you just like deep in a Wikipedia black hole learning
Speaker 2: about some spy plane from nineteen seventy three.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not above that, and you know that.
Speaker 1: I absolutely know that. Now I was out. Now I
Speaker 1: did text you Happy New Year around midnight, and oh yeah,
Speaker 1: as you said before on the show, generally we can tell,
Speaker 1: we can tell the alertness level on the other side
Speaker 1: of things based on response times. When I didn't get
Speaker 1: anything within about ten minutes, I knew, oh danz out,
Speaker 1: I was out.
Speaker 2: I think I made it till ten something, Okay, did yeah?
Speaker 1: I leave a very active, exciting life. Ty that wears me. No,
Speaker 1: I stayed awake. I watched it, But there were plenty
Speaker 1: of other instances over the holiday break here where I
Speaker 1: was asleep very early. Ask solid life, Kate, Great, I
Speaker 1: love hearing me for that guy over there, my good
Speaker 1: friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie hild him Brand. We
Speaker 1: will catch you all in a few days. Help you're
Speaker 1: off to a good start in the new year. We'll
Speaker 1: talk to you soon. We meantime stay solid. He