BEST OF CFB WEEK 1 PART 1: Colorado takes Home Opener L + Alabama DETROYED

Summary

Club Shay Shay: "Best of CFB Week 1 Part 1: Colorado Takes Home Opener L + Alabama Destroyed"

Host: Shannon Sharpe (with Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson, and guest Johnny Manziel)
Date: September 3, 2025
Podcast: Club Shay Shay by iHeartPodcasts & Shay Shay Media

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Episode Overview

This episode kicks off the college football season with Shannon Sharpe and Ocho Cinco breaking down some of the biggest games from Week 1, focusing particularly on Colorado’s home opener loss to Georgia Tech and Alabama’s shocking defeat at the hands of Florida State. They are joined by Johnny Manziel for the analysis of Alabama and broader college football landscape changes.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Colorado's Troubling Home Loss to Georgia Tech

Segment: [02:51]–[15:45], [20:03]–[24:53]

• Game Recap: Georgia Tech defeats Colorado 27-20 at Folsom Field, leaning on a run-heavy attack with 47 rushes for 327 yards, including a late, decisive 45-yard TD.
• Colorado’s Struggle Without Shador Sanders & Travis Hunter: Host Shannon Sharpe notes the intrigue of seeing Colorado in a "new era" without last year’s stars ([06:00]).
• Defensive Breakdown:
  • Ocho Cinco is blunt: "I was disgusted watching this game... Georgia Tech runs the football. It’s like if you play the Naval Academy or Army, you know they gonna run the football... What about your gap integrity? What about, what about your contained responsibility?" ([02:51])
  • Shannon agrees: "Defensively, Colorado has to be able to stop the run because now it’s out there on tape. What do we do when we play against the Colorado Buffaloes to have success? We run." ([06:00])
• Missed Opportunities:
  • Ocho points to Colorado getting three turnovers in the first quarter but only scoring seven points: "You supposed to have a bear. They didn’t and they got what they deserve." ([05:29])
  • Shannon laments poor clock management and not using timeouts late: "You got two timeouts, and you don’t use any... you go into the locker room with ’em." ([08:33])
• Offensive Critique: Salter, Colorado’s QB, misses key throws. Ocho comments, "Bro, you don’t have to impress us with every throw of your arm. You’re missing routine throws." ([07:58])

Memorable Moment

• Shannon on physicality in football:
  "You’re asking the one man to move another man against his will. Now, I know Colorado didn’t want to leave that... that A gap... I know they didn’t want to leave it. But Georgia Tech said, you getting your ass up out of here." ([11:28])

Notable Quotes

• Ocho: "In practice, they looking like Deion Sanders breaking on the ball. Now they get in the game, they looking like Colonel Sanders. Fried chicken, man." ([15:23])

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2. Alabama "Destroyed" By Florida State – Changing of the Guard?

Segment: [42:14]–[56:54]

• Historic Loss: Unranked Florida State beats No. 8 Alabama. Ty Simpson, Alabama's QB, was pressured all day and ineffective under duress.
  • Ocho highlights the rarity: "Coach Saban was there damn near two decades and he might have lost four unranked teams in his whole tenure. [DeBoer] just lost his fourth game to an unranked team." ([43:16], [53:07])
• Fear Factor Gone: Johnny Manziel points out, "The fear aspect of what Alabama is, is completely gone. And nobody’s scared of them boys. Not Vandy, not Kentucky, not nobody." ([45:05])
• NIL Impact: The hosts stress NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) has leveled the playing field. Shannon explains, "When Saban was there, this was pre-NIL... so all the talent and the players that used to go to Alabama... everybody going all over the place because teams have money and players don’t want to sit and wait behind anybody else." ([43:50])
• Talent Drop-Off: Ocho lists Alabama’s previous talent at every position and says, "They just have guys now. Ain’t nobody jump off the page at you." ([46:51])
• Defensive Failings: "They got ran on 49 times for 230. Coach, you don’t run on Bama. Bama don’t let you run." ([49:21])
• Lack of Standout Players: Multiple times, Shannon and Ocho note the absence of "stars" or impact players on Alabama.

Memorable Quotes

• Ocho: "When half—that’s half the battle, it’s fear. That’s one of your biggest strengths is another man’s fear. Well, they don’t have that anymore." ([45:59])
• Shannon: "That’s the whole point... That’s when you actually pop out and you show off. When you’re playing against the top talent, you’re playing against the good teams, these are the games you’re supposed to pop out." ([48:23])

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3. LSU Outslugs Clemson on the Road

Segment: [59:00]–[65:12]

• Game Recap: No. 9 LSU goes into Clemson (No. 4) and grinds out a physical 17-10 win, led by QB Garrett Nussmeier.
• Significance: Both Ocho and Shannon praise LSU for "winning the kind of game they normally lose early in the season." ([62:21])
• LSU’s Receiver Woes: Shannon says, "LSU to me, is now wide receiver university. I don’t see that dog... I don’t see that one out there that can make a difference for LSU." ([61:05])
• Defensive Battle: Both agree the game was driven by strong, physical defense, with points hard-earned.
• Clemson Outlook: Johnny feels Clemson shouldn’t feel too down given their schedule, but: "Everything’s going to go through that guy number two for Clemson, and if he doesn’t put a touchdown on the board, you know they’re usually not going to come out with a win in that situation." ([62:56])

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4. NIL, Parity, and the Evolving College Football Landscape

Segment: [53:43]–[57:34]

• Discussion: All speakers reflect on how NIL money and big-pocket donors (e.g., Nike at Oregon, tech billionaires at other schools) are changing recruiting. "Now it ain’t no Dodge Chargers... These guys got Ferraris, Johnny. These guys got Lambos, these guys driving Cullinans and McLarens. And 18, 19 year olds." ([55:21])
• Talent Distribution: Shannon and Ocho agree—Bama still gets five-stars but not in the numbers (or of the same quality) as before. "It does look like... Alabama still get five star recruits, but they don’t look like the five stars they normally get." ([56:54])
• Star Ratings Skepticism: Shannon questions recruiting services: "From the people that are supposed to be these four and five stars. When the lights were bright tonight... the stars didn’t come out." ([57:36])

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Notable Quotes & Fun Moments

• Ocho on College Partying after Losses ([28:03]):
  "I'm looking at the guys filing out. Man, they hurrying back, Ocho, to sh... Especially if we home. They hurry up and shower and go to the parties. I'm like, you sorry, mofos. Y' all want people to see y' all just lost."
• Shannon on Winning and Accountability ([32:32]):
  "I’ve always been one of these guys that work so hard for it. The more you put into something, the more it hurt when it doesn’t work out in your favor."
• On Colorado's Defensive Performance ([14:53]):
  "I see dbs giving up the outside arm and the guy running down the sideline. Constantly, I see off defensive lineman, I'm like, bro, that is your gap. How you let that man get you up out of there?"
• Johnny Manziel on Alabama’s Lost Aura ([45:05]):
  "The fear aspect of what Alabama is, is completely gone... Nobody's walking in and seeing Alabama on the schedule and having any kind of shake, any kind of fear. Nothing."
• Ocho on NIL-fueled Recruiting ([55:21]):
  "It's hard when you got these deep pocket donors ... Now it ain't no Dodge Chargers ... these guys got Ferraris, Johnny. These guys got Lambos, these guys driving Cullinans and McLarens."

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Colorado-Georgia Tech Full Breakdown: [02:51]–[15:45]
• Clock Management Critique (Colorado): [08:33]
• On Alabama’s Dynasty Era Ending: [42:14]–[48:23]
• NIL’s Impact on College Football Landscape: [53:43]–[57:34]
• LSU’s Victory at Clemson: [59:00]–[65:12]

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Episode Tone & Style

The episode keeps a lively, unscripted locker-room energy, with sharp, sometimes blunt takes ("You don’t have to impress us with every throw of your arm... You’re missing routine throws," [07:58]), frequent humor and storytelling, and an undercurrent of football wisdom from players who've seen both the college and pro games shift over decades.

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Takeaways

• Colorado remains defensively vulnerable, especially against the run, and clock mismanagement cost them dearly even while Georgia Tech offered chances.
• Alabama's mystique is gone, and the new era of NIL has fragmented talent across the college football landscape.
• LSU makes a statement with a physical road win at Clemson; both teams still searching for their next superstar skill player.
• The College Football landscape is in a historic period of transition with empowered players and donors, leading to both parity and unpredictability.

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For detailed play-by-play analysis and plenty of laughs, this episode is a must for fans tracking the big stories—and big shifts—in college football in 2025.

Transcript

[Shannon Sharpe]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Today Show Host]

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[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

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We're getting back to all of it and the best way to start is together.

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Watch the Today show weekday mornings at 7:00am on NBC.

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VGW Group void we're prohibited by law 21 plus terms and conditions apply. Hello, it's your favorite sports thunk here. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button to join the fastest growing community on YouTube. Remember, Nightcap doesn't happen without you, so please subscribe or you're going to make Ocho cry. College football is officially back. We had some games last week, but now the real game start to come. And. And tonight's game, Georgia Tech go on the road. And in Folsom Field at CU, they win 27 20. Hayes King, 13 of 21 43. He threw an interception, but it was his legs that was the difference. 19 rushes, a buck 56, three rushing. Touchdown. The last one, 45 yards to put them ahead with a minute and seven seconds left in the ball game. And they go on the road and they Defeat the Buffaloes 27 20. The first game without your door Sanders and the receiver Travis. So Colorado is on the new era now. Hey, Caitlin Salt, I think that's his name. 17 to 28, 159, one touchdown. They ran the ball really well. 31 for a buck 46. But it was Georgia Tech. 47 rushes, 327 yards. Ocho. Yeah, I was disgusted watching this game. I say, what about gap integrity? What about contained? Georgia Tech has run the football since I was a kid. Even when they had Megatron, they ran the damn football. When they had Demarius Thomas, they ran the football. Georgia Tech runs the football. It's like if you play the naval Academy or army, you know they gonna run the football. Ocho, I'm like, livingston, are you gonna make any adjustment? Guys, what is your responsibility? What. What about your gap of integrity? What about, what about your contained responsibility? I'm like, this is utterly ridiculous. And quarterback Salter, bro, you missed entirely too many throws. He missed entirely too many throws. Oo and number. And number 20 got a nice set of hands on him. The running back, bro. He wide open. And I hate when quarterbacks do this. Oo when you miss a throw, you go to the running back or you go to the wide receiver. I want you. No, bro, I was right there. Put it on me. All you had to do is hit me right here. Don't talk about.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's it.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Don't do that. Don't do that. You effed it up and he had the guy on 30, 10. He missed entirely too many throws, but their defense let him down tonight. You can't let somebody come into your building and run the ball 47 times for 320, 20 yard. Hold on, let me see before you go. O let me see what.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, sir.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I play, see if I want to see. No, I want to go back. Box score, man. Oo, this was. I'm like. But I knew I. I was on the phone with my brother early in the game. I say spank a team, give you three turnovers at home in the first quarter, and you only score seven points. You telling that team, beat me, beat me, kick our ass. Yeah, you supposed to have a bear. They didn't and they got what they deserve. Go ahead. Oh, I'll fight in a second.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Go ahead, I say. Listen, what I was going to say is, obviously we all want to see what color Colorado would look like without Shador Sanders, without Travis Hunter, and they didn't look that bad. First game of the season, you want to get the kinks out. You want to see what areas you need to improve in. Obviously, we see defensively. Defensively, Colorado has to be able to stop the run because now it's out there on tape. What do we do when we play against the Colorado Buffaloes to have success? We run.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

That was the issue last year, though. Oo, damn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That was the issue last year. Obviously, Georgia Tech showed that that's a. Is that. That's an area that hasn't been filled. So that needs to be addressed. Boom. For me, for me, the beginning of the game, Georgia Tech tried to hand. Hand the game to Colorado. They tried to hand the game to. I'm saying, well, God damn, in my mind, I'm looking, boom. After the first turnover, Odin boy went down and scored. And then it was two more turnovers after that. I'm like, well, all right, I don't like the way this is looking because you got the ball back two more times.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Three turnovers in the first quarter for.

[Shannon Sharpe]

From Georgia Tech, and you only do something with it one time. I say, you know what? It's going to come down. It's going to come down to the end. It's going to come down to the end because offensively, they're not doing enough. They're not doing enough offensively to. To put me at ease and to put, you know, to make me calm. Because for one, the first turnover, it was all the way in your territory, so of course it was easy go down and score. But the other two, it seemed like you really couldn't move the ball.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Didn't.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You couldn't. You really couldn't move the ball. You. You. You tried. You tried. You tried everything you could to establish the run. The. The run was. It was.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

They ran for O. They ran I mean, they. They ran for 146 yards.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, but obviously, unk. It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You. You want.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You want a happy balance of both, you know, to. To. To kind of keep the. Keep the defense, you know, on. On. On their heels on not knowing what's going to come. Are they going to run it? Are they gonna throw it? But they weren't good enough in the air either, huh?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Well, that's. Look, I think he has tremendous arm talent, but, bro, you don't have to impress us with every throw of your arm. You're missing routine throws. He's gonna have to learn how to throw better on the move, because on the move, he's not very good. And you know, we g. We gonna be nice. Oo, cuz these are college kids. These aren't professionals. Although some are making week one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's week one, too. It's week one.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Ocho, throw it on the move. Y' all should be able to. Week one, week. No. One week, anything. You should be able to throw. Ocho, the throws that he's missing because that's third down. You're off the field.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You want to stay on the field. I want another crack. Give me four more cracks at you. Right. And we saw him miss numerous throws the second time he had an opportunity. Ocho, why would it. He could have ran the ball to the end zone instead of throwing it. Yeah, bro, we understand that you have a nice arm. I mean, we saw him launch at 60, 65 yards. But, bro, sometimes you gotta understand, okay, this is an opportunity for me to. That was not the time for you to try to dazzle, try to impress us with your arm, pick up the first down. And another thing, Ocho, then I'm gonna turn it back over to you. I don't know what Coach Primdon was thinking. They got the ball back with a minute and seven seconds in the ball game. You got two timeouts, and you don't use any. You know, you took those same two timeouts, you had to start that drive, and you go into the locker room with him. So you throw one pass behind the line of scrimmage, you get tackled, you don't call timeout. You throw, complete another pass on second down, you don't call timeout. And then the quarterback picks up a third down, but he burns 8, 9, 10 seconds on the clock.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What the hell are y' all doing on the scramble? I'm not sure what was going on in that situation. Obviously, you want to use those timeouts. You know, to give yourself as much time as possible, continue running plays, to try to get down in some. In. In. In some type of range, to throw a Hail Mary pass. I'm not sure what the. What the issue was there, but listen, they got some stuff they need to work on. They have some stuff they need to work on. I'm. I'm sure prime is glad that college football is back. We're out there playing against opponents and not just ourselves, so we can see what areas we need to get better at. Obviously, some areas, some of the same stuff that we had issues with last year. I'm gonna start with just the running game. Being able to stop the run game, having. Having the. Hey, listen. Having the meat and potatoes. To be able to compete up there in the trenches and stop people from running down your goddamn throat.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

320.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's where it's.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

320.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot too, boy. Oh, that's. That's a whole lot.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Running the football and stopping to run is about will. It's about want to. Because schematically, I can't do anything. Ocho. They weren't doing anything. He faked the toss. And then they pull a guard or they pull a double guard or tackle, or they'll pull a guard and they'll pull the running back. That's all they were doing. They weren't doing anything the past game schematically. Ocho, I can scheme people when I run the football. It wasn't nothing fancy. It was nothing. It was. Our guys kicked your guys ass. That's what we did. That's why football is the. For me, mentally, the toughest work. Because you know why, Ocho? You're asking the one man to move another man against his will. Now, I know Colorado didn't want to leave that. That patch of grass, that. That. That A gap, that B gap, that C or contained. I know they didn't want to leave it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

But Georgia Tech said, you getting your ass up out of here. You getting up out of here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

And I'm like, bro. What Livingston. I know a. I look, you go back and you watch the film. There's a lot there. There is not. You didn't really do a whole lot good other than the fact, you know, when they got the lead, I mean, you came down, they got wing, got 20, you matched them. But then they go right back down the field, right back down the field and they ran the football. Ocho, do you know what it takes to take the goal 75 65, 70 yards, and I just run it. I think it threw one pass. I think it threw one pass.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah. On. On the ground at that. On the ground today. Hey, listen, you know. You know the difference. You know the difference. And what matters when it comes to wins and losses. What you got up there in your front. What you got up there in the trenches? You ain't gotta. You ain't gotta. Listen, if you ain't got enough meat and potatoes up there in your front. In. In your front yard, and you got. You know, them boys ain't got enough rocks in their back pocket. You can get. You gonna get moved around. You can get pushed around. You know, you understand that. And that's what you saw tonight. Week one. The same issues you had last year. And there's only one way to fix it. You got to get them big hogs up there. You got to. That's the only way to stop it. And then if you don't have the size, you got to have people that want it, people that got this, that want to come downhill corner. Well, you know what? You want to move me against my will? Well, let me show you. I'm not one of those that you just going, hey, I ain't going nowhere. I ain't going. I'm coming to the party. It don't matter what time I get there, but I'm going to be there.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Corners, Ocho, whatever happened to I'm not going to let my outside arm get pinned? You never give up that leverage. Where the hell leverage where it's contained? Don't know. I mean, I'm sure it's hard for me to believe when with the personnel that time has on that staff, they don't teach leverage, they don't teach contain. They don't teach gap, responsibility, gap integrity. I refuse to believe that. And constantly I see. I see dbs giving up the outside arm and the guy running down the sideline. Constantly, I see off defensive lineman, I'm like, bro, that is your gap. How you let that man get you up out of there? That is your gap.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And. And the funny thing about it is coaches can coach it and repeat it over and over and over and over as many times they want, but when the bullets is flying off, you have one responsibility, to take what you're taught and execute the X's and o's. That all comes down to want to. That all comes down to want to. At the end of the day, Ocho.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Here'S. Here's the thing. When you walking through something, it's Easy. But if you want to find out what a man can do, put him to the test. The test is window hut. When that ball moves, that's the test. See, I know what you. I know what you're doing when you walking through, I know what you're doing. But if you want to know what a man can really do, put him to the test. Put his ass under the gun, and let's see what he does. Because I've seen so many guys, and you have, too, in practice. Yeah, they look like Odell Becker catching the ball. They running the ball.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm like, well, damn, look at how.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You break on the ball. Deion Sanders and then get in the game and he playing like Colonel Sanders. I'm like, oh, no. Hell no. Bad, please. So, man, Chad, I'm sorry, Chad. I'm on one tonight, if you guys could tell. That Colorado game, they got me pissed off. I don't know. I'm to the highest festivity. Is that a word?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Hey, who they playing like?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Colonel who? Yeah, I mean, in practice, they looking like Deion Sanders breaking on the ball. Now they get in the game, they looking like Colonel Sanders Fried chicken, man. And I'm looking and I ocho, I understand some of these guys. I mean, I mean, starting for the first time, the bright lights.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, but that's.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

But that's what makes us who we are. To being able to perform under duress, under adversity, and not forget that. I can't get my eyes out. Armpit. I got to. I got to hold contained. I've got to maintain my leverage. I got to have sound gap responsibility. And you can't throw that out the window because now all of a sudden, they firing off the ball. That's the thing. You got to be able to hold that. And Chad, I'm not. Look, maybe I'm using turn, but you watch the game. You saw what I saw. Hell, my old ass could have ran through some of them holes. Now, I wouldn't have got no 45 yards, but I'd have got a first down. I'm like, damn. You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

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[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Babe got cut. Look, it's the first game oo and for me, I've always felt that I wanted at home, especially the first game oo. I got, I got. I got a whole serve at home.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Got to win.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

That got to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And listen, they, they. They had plenty opportunities. They had opportunity. When they got those two, those that second and that third turnover and do. And didn't do anything with the ball, I said, it's going to be a long.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I told, I told spag. I said, Colorado, that, that, that should.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Have set the tone for the game right there.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Should have put him down and worst case scenario, put them down 13 nothing, 17 nothing at. At worst case. But with three turnovers and that team's on the road, you're in your home. It can't be 7 nothing going into the second quarter. It cannot be. It cannot be.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And it puts all the. It puts all the pressure back on Georgia Tech the half.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Go ahead. Go ahead.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, I was gonna say it puts all the pressure back on Georgia Tech where you won't have that comfortability of being able to run the ball all second half. All second half long.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Cause guess what, Ocho, I still got. I still. Hey, you didn't take me out. You didn't take me out of what I want to do because it's only 7 nothing. Now. Maybe if it's 17 nothing. Maybe if it's 21 nothing, I force you to throw the.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Got to change the game.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Thank you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But now I gotta change the game.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Even with these turnovers, you allow me to still stay in my comfort zone.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Hey, I don't know how to do it, Ocho, but most of the time, if somebody, if you don't make somebody get up out. If you got. If you rent an apartment, if you. You somebody landlord and they go and they go a month or two and they ain't paid you your money, there's a good chance they're not gonna pay you in week three, a month, four month, five month, six.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So they squatting. They squatting.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Basically, I've got them. Okay, guess what? You come home in a lock it padlocked or the locks changed, huh? And then I don't know why. I don't know what happened. I know what happened. You 13,000. You're 15,000 in the rears on rent. And I've got responsibility. I got banks that want their mortgage on this building. And you talk about, hey, man, that bank don't want to hear nothing about you lost your job, right? Cause I can't. You know what? I'm gonna bring you your money next month because, you know, a couple of my tenants lost their job. They're not trying to hear that, Ocho. So in this situation right here, all Colorado did was yell across the field, hey, appreciate them. Three turnovers now kick our ass.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, that's it.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Three turnovers in the first quarter. Oh, choke.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, you got. You got to do something with that. To the second one. I say, okay, if they get another one, we got. We got. We got to. We got to find a way to get the game out of their hands. You get it? Make it a little easier on the back end. But once they. After that second one and they went damn, damn near, damn near three and out, they did damn near. I might. Might as well have been. I said, you know, it's gonna be a long.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

No, I knew. I knew they wouldn't win in this game once they got them three turnovers in the first quarter and they only came away with seven points. And. And you allow Georgia Tech to stay within the scheme of what they want to do. The first thing I want to do, if you are a running team, I want to get you out of that. I don't want you to be able to run the football. I want to. What is. What do you do? What is the second best thing that you do? I want you to play to that. I don't want you to play to your strength, Ocho. I want you to play to your weakness. And if you beat me with your weakness, Ocho, I come to the center of the field. Congratulations. Good job. Hey, stay healthy. I'll see you down the road, Coach. But I'm not going to let you beat me when I know that's what you want to do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

But like I said, the D coordinator, I understand y' all put a lot of time in because you know what Georgia Tech does. Georgia Tech wants to run the football. But your gap integrity, your leverage, your contain was piss poor. And that'll cause you to lose a lot of games. That'll cause you to lose a lot of game. We had this conversation last year when they played Kansas. We've had these conversations over the years when we're discussing Colorado about being able to stop the run. Now, one thing I will say, Ocho, they look better in pass protection. That left tackle gonna go play the Next level. That Left tackle, number 77, he gonna go play at the next level. He gonna be playing on Sundays. But they got to do a better job. I don't care how good you are offensively, if you cannot stop the run, because they're just. I mean, think about it. They still have five more minutes of possession with three turnovers. And a lot of turnovers are like two plays, one play turnover, three plays, turnover.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You give him. You give them the ball back too fast. You're not doing nothing with it. Not doing. You're not. Not doing nothing with it.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Man, I jump, man, I was. Man, I was so frustrated because I'm like, bro.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, hold on. You think you frustrated tonight? Wait till you wait. Wait till you see tomorrow's game. You might be frustrated again.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Who. Who play tomorrow? Oh, Clemson.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, Texas and Ohio State. What you mean?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Look, I. I think the thing is, Ocho, when games, if you know somebody, I'm gonna be watching. Cause I like Sark. I know Sark. He and I, we communicate. So, yes, I'm. I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be pulling for Sark. Oh, I'm sorry, Chad. Yeah, I'm gonna be pulling for Sark because I like him. But, you know, when, you know, time. You kind of vested, you know, you and I both have gone to see. You watched them play. It's a great atmosphere. And this was a winnable game for Colorado, but they did everything they possibly could to help Georgia Tech steal it from them. Well, Georgia Tech didn't steal it. They went on the road. They outplayed them. And coach says, look, we got. We. We give their defense credit because the defense bowed their back because they got the three. They only gave up seven points on those three turnovers.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

So that could have. They could have gotten. They could have gotten out of hand. Colorado took care of the football. They didn't turn it over, not one time. They had less penalties. But when you. When you let a team go run for 3, 23, 20. I mean, first of all, 200 yards, a lot. Would you start letting teams get 300, 400 yards running on you, man? Please. Please. Yeah, but I'm sure Coach Prime. I don't know how they do it in college, Ocho. I mean, we played on. We played Saturday. We was off Sunday. Unless we play like horse, and coach will make us put our uniforms on and go practice. Go practice.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I was thinking about that. Ojo, you. Ocho, do you know. I mean, think about it, Ocho. If you played the game on Monday, I mean, Sunday and coaching. You was in Cincinnati. They said, ocho, put your pads on. We going to practice on a Monday.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't know about that. Hey, listen. Hey, grown folk now. Grown folk, that ain't gonna work. We are not putting no pads on after playing a three hour game on a Sunday. That's not happening. I'm not sure who the team captain would be, but I can guarantee you they will not be in no pads after game day. Uncle, you already know how we feeling after what? Game day?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know how long it take to get out of bed after a game?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Man, please put on some pads. Pads who shoot now Ain't happening.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

But they'll probably have tomorrow off. Come in Monday, watch the tape and get ready because it's a fast turnaround. Ocho, you can't. You can't let this linger. That stench is there. Not long. It's just something about Luke. Look, it's been damn near 40 years since I was in college, Ocho, but there's something about. And I was never a big guy that went out after the game. But I can assure you, if we lost, you were gonna see Shannon Sharp face on campus. Oh, hell no. You. First of all, you barely saw me after a win. Barely. I'm talking about maybe. I think I went to maybe one party in four years of college. I ain't. No, no, no. And we lose.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I'm looking at the guys filing out. Man, they hurrying back, Ocho, to sh. Especially if we home. They hurry up and shower and go to the parties. I'm like, you sorry, mofos. Y' all want people to see y'.

[Shannon Sharpe]

All.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Y' all just lost.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, but I, I, I tell you what, though. This is how I look at it. And I'm gonna be honest. You have to think my time during my tenure in Cincinnati. We had what, maybe one, maybe two winning seasons, my entirety when I was there. So I had no choice but to handle my business week in and week out, whether we're winning or losing. Because I'm stepping outside. I'm stepping outside. And I can tell you I knew exactly where I was at because I had friends of mine that I met. Maine, Rico. Los. All them boys down there in Cincinnati as a group of five. We've been friends since 2001. I have no other outside friends outside of those I met on the first day I got lost in Cincinnati. First day. Still friends to this day. Dude, we used to go to Annie's after every game we play at 1 o' clock. The game ended at 3. We had jail examiners at 6 o'. Clock. And then when 10 or whatever call, roll around. Oh, I'm going out. I'm going out because I'm trying to enjoy myself, get some of the soreness out, Walk around, you know, have a little fun, talk to some of the fans, you know, the dudes out, you know, out the hood that be out off a short vine and wherever they from, you know, just. Just talk football. I like that. Like that. I was. I was more of a people person, you know, during that time and love to talk the game of football, whether we were losing or winning. And I would always show my faith whether we were losing or winning. I mean.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I mean, one of the worst times I had, Ocho, I was in Baltimore and we had made. I had already made reservations at Ruth, Chris. I had all brought everybody in and we lost the game. If I didn't have my mom and my sister and all them kids, I'd cancel that. Hell no. I would get takeout. I would get takeout. We lost the game. Hey, Sean, we going by such and such. Nah, I'm going on home. I'm going home. Hey, I'm a sore loser. I'm a worse winner. But I don't want to be around nobody. I know how I am. I'm moody, I'm irritable. Because guess what? That's why y' all lost. Y' all out here party. You need to be home in your playbook. You need to be studying your play. You know what I'm saying? Don't you try to hear that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right, right.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Let me take my black ass home. So mo and think about, man, what could I have done differently, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, hey, I was hanging with. With us.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I was hanging with us.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We have a game. We have a game of. Obviously we play one o'. Clock. Now, I swear for God, you would think I wasn't even a football player, but one. Not just player, but a star football player. Because if you want catch me at the football game before me and the fellas go eat dinner, you can just catch me on short vine. You can catch me down the way. I go see my little young bulls that enjoy the game of football. I sit there with them, talk about the game for a little bit, you know, chit chat. We on the corner, Unc. We on the corner in Cincinnati. Just chilling.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Ain't nothing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm going home talking football for about an hour or two. I sit there with them, smoke a cigar after the game.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Boom.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I go down to Jay Alexander's. My routine was the exact same for a decade straight. It never changed.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Well, I don't know if they still in existence, but I would go, I would call, I would get Black Eyed Pea was the name of the restaurant. I would get the grilled chicken or the country fried steak. I would get colonel I would get rice. I would get kernel corn, and I would get black eyed peas. I'd get a combination of like lemon tea, lemon raspberry tea or something. And I'm going home. Yeah, that's it. I'm going home. I want to be miserable by myself. I don't want to see nobody. I want to talk about. I don't want nobody. Tell me you played a good game because I played like dog. I don't care If I had 150 right. I played terrible. I didn't play good enough to win. And I don't. I don't want nobody to try to pat me on the back. You guys are gonna get. No, we're not. No, I, I don't know what's going to happen after. I'm talking about this game. So I, I knew. I know how I am. I've always been like this. We lost the game in high school. Hey, Shot, we going, man. I'm going home. Coach, take me home. If we win, your boy. Hey, your boy. Hey, I'm gonna walk the streets with y', all, right? But if we lose, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Yeah, you, you. You a see me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you take. You taking.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Nah, nah, because I know, because O. I've always been one of these guys that work so hard for it. I. I know what I put in. And the more you put into something, the more it hurt when it doesn't work out in your favor.

[Shannon Sharpe]

See, I like what you just said. You know what you put in. I, I understand what I put in. I understand the work I put in to make sure I. It's a team game, right? It's a game when it comes, when it, when it, when it comes time to get paid, you get paid individually.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You do. You definitely do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I made sure I did my part. If things don't now, if the other 10 don't do what they supposed to.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Do, that ain't your fault.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, I'm not punished. I'm not gonna punish myself. I'm finishing myself. Why I'm. Am I not going nowhere? Because y' all saw. I'm gonna get out here. I'm gonna go get my J. Alexanders, I'm gonna talk to my homeboys, you know, and I'll go out. I'm gonna go to Annie's and I'm gonna enjoy myself. Now, I don't drink no alcohol, but you know, I got my fellas with me. I got my fellas with me. I'm. Make sure they have a good time, man.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Oh, a transformer just hit Joe's house. And so he ain't got no power. Joe got buzzard. Look. He need to move.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, hey, Joe. Hey, Joe over there on a hundred million dollar property. A hundred million dollar property. 273, 000 square feet and ain't got no power. With a goddamn generator. Joe. Joe with a generator. I know you got a generator out there, Joe.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Everybody should have one. Atlanta. Cause them pop up. Storms gonna pop up and knock it out. Go knock your power out.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hold on. Can Joe see us right now? Hey Joe, can you see us?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

He got no power.

[Shannon Sharpe]

N. He got a cell phone.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Internet.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't got. Come on now.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Internet.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't. You. You need LTE or a G. G5. What you call it? What you call the provider.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

5G.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. I don't require nothing. Your phone should work. Joe. FaceTime me. Joe, if you can see, he can't FaceTime you. Yes, you can't. But the Internet in the house has nothing to do with your cell phone working, man.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Look here. Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And he can FaceTime. I could just hold the phone up. He could still be part of the show.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Coach prime, who was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer and needs frequently use of the restroom, no longer has to travel far. He has a portable toilet next to Colorado's bench to accommodate him following bladder reconstruction surgery and is sponsored being bad time by this b.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, hey. That.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

That.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That depends. I know they. I know they paying well.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Oh yeah, for sure.

[Shannon Sharpe]

See a lot of.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Because a lot of people embarrassed.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I wish I would. Why? You know how many zeros? Probably.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I'm behind that. Right?

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

A lot of people are back. Don't want people to know that they have to wear adults underg. You know what I'm saying? Like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You got to understand who prime is. You gotta Prime. Is he ones. He's. He's one that could wear any and everything on his shoulders. Don't give a damn with none of y' all on the outside thing.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

People wear them, but they. They don't want to advertise it. But like you said, you know. You know what I'm saying? Hey, hold on. They make them for a reason. Anytime they make something somebody is purchasing It. So it's a lot of, you know, sometimes women, after they have kids, it takes a while for them. For those muscles to. To get back strong again. Sometimes men, they have bladder cancer, they have prostate, they have issues. It's. It's. It's hard. And some, you know, hey, my grandmother. My grandmother wouldn't wear them. She said, libby, I want my dignity. So. My grandmother wouldn't wear my. My grandmother wouldn't wear them. And, you know, she. Obviously she passed. I think Randy was 88. She had May in May. She was 88. So she passed in. In July. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So listen, I tell you what. Depends if you see this. Come on, holl at your boy.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Ain't nothing wrong with you. Hey, but sometimes I do be thinking about getting me a goose, man. I'd be tired of walking to the bathroom, man. I just need to get me a goose and go right inside the bed.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, hey, give me. Give me something where I can just roll over to the right and roll over to the left. I don't want to get up out of bed anyway because I keep. I keep. I keep upstairs, boy, by 60 degrees. Hey, 60 degrees. It's freezing up there. So when I got to get up in the middle of the night, sometimes I don't want to do that. I could always use some Depends.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I'm gonna date myself here. And if you. If you my age or older and you're from the south, you know what I'm talking about. Hey, I'm gonna get me a night pot or a slop jar. See, if you from the south and you my age or older, you know, exactly. They call them pea pots. They call them night pots. They call them slop jars.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I ain't never heard you Google it.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

That's what. Every time I say something, I see it. Hey, you know that. What that mean? That's she. Immediately, anytime I say something on joke, I can see the fake. But. Yeah, but I mean, look to where it depends. That's the least of. That's the least of the issues. I was. I'm glad they caught this in time. I mean, think about it, boy. Hey, God. Good God. Great. And what he instilled in man to take his bladder and reconstruct it and use a small man, please, man. But I like that if anybody look this man, that joke with time, his attitude about anything, he'll make anything positive. It could be the worst situation. He's one of the few people, no matter how bad a situation is, is he can make it positive. Yeah, he can make light of a situation, make it pop a and you hey. And the next day, you know a like when I did the interview and I know a lot of you guys have seen the interview when I went up there and I started getting on everybody's toes that he wouldn't have it any other way because he, like, you know, if it was on the, if, if it was you, you know, I get you. I'm like, absolutely. I know. Yeah, that's absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I know the joke's gonna fly now. That's something that's gonna always happen.

[Today Show Host]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Julian Edelman]

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[Today Show Host]

Good morning. Welcome to Today.

[Today Show Announcer]

From back to school to tackling your to do list, the Today show is your best start to the day.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

It's a new season and every morning we're here to help you take it all along. As the forecast calls for for football.

[Today Show Announcer]

All across the country, blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.

[Today Show Host]

We're getting back to all of it, and the best way to start is together.

[Today Show Announcer]

Watch the Today show weekday mornings at 7:00am on NBC.

[Julian Edelman]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

We, well, we all, we all have that type of relationship, though.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Oh, you okay. That's why. Hey, you okay? You good, man? You know I'm good. Oh, you should have told me that. You should have said nah, should have told me that. I gotta get you. Florida State pulls the upset. Unranked Florida State takes down the number eight team in the country. Ty put pressure on Ty Simpson all, pretty much all day. He was pressured on 16 or 51 drop backs, one of 10 for 30 yards with three sacks when pressured. Simpson was not on the same page as Ryan Williams, who left the game late with a concussion. Simpson was just 5 of 11 when targeting him or three on passes thrown more than five yards down the field. Kaylin, I was, I was thinking to myself, johnny and Ocho, I was like, man, look here, I understand a. There's not a college coach that's going to be Coach Saban, but you can't, you can't. He's lost to four unranked teams in 14 games. Coach Saban was there damn near two decades and he might have lost four unranked teams in his whole tenure. And I was like, man, they might get rid of Kaylin DeBoer, but I looked at that buyout. He has a $70 million buyout. Ain't got them deep pockets like y' all got Johnny down at Texas A and M where y' all got a Jimbo up out of there for 77 million. They ain't got pockets like that. So, so o, let me ask you this. You watch, you watched Alabama oh, yeah. Coach Saban's not walking through that door anytime soon. Okay. Coach Saban's not walking through that door ever. Yeah, when you look at Alabama, they don't even look the same. They don't have the same swagger. They don't even take the field to save.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, Unk, you got to understand, of course they don't look the same. This is. This is what we're seeing now. When Saban was there, this was pre nil, huh? This was pre nil. Nil came along and even the scoreboard all the way across. So all the talent and the players that used to go to Alabama where everybody would go and have to wait in line, they got receiver after receiver after receiver, quarterback after quarterback after quarterback, running back at the running back, at a running back, everybody going all over the place because teams have money and players don't want to sit and wait behind anybody else. They want to play. Right now, money talks. What is. Which is one of the reasons why Nick Saban left because the. Even the. The playing field has. Even where the level of talent is scattered across everywhere where now most of the part coaching comes into play. And coaching is that much more important. Is that much more important now because Florida State today, I'm not going to say they embarrassed Alabama, but I guarantee you a lot of people, a lot of people, especially if you gamble, I guarantee you had Alabama to win. I guarantee you had Alabama to win.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Johnny, what you think, what didn't you like about what you saw from Alabama and what did you love about what you saw from the Seminoles?

[Johnny Manziel]

I mean, I think Castellano's for Florida State jumped off the page in every aspect of everything. You know, you look at what they did. He only threw the ball nine times. That's super effective. To be able to go put 31 points up and you only throw the ball. You're only 9 of 14 for 152. That's efficient. The one thing that I will say that I think in the past, you walk in facing Alabama team, you probably got a little fear. This is Bama, the team that's been a dynasty, the team. You got a little fear. That fear aspect of what Alabama is, is completely gone. And nobody's scared of them boys. Not Vandy, not Kentucky, not nobody. Nobody's walking in and seeing Alabama on the schedule and having any kind of shake, any kind of fear. Nothing. They've been getting wiped the last couple years. You say that buyouts deep, but like they're not going to sit here and let this Stand for sure. They'll go find it in wood somewhere.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

They, they, they absolutely will. Cause I was thinking the same thing, what they said about Jimbo. Because prior to Jimbo, the biggest college buyout was Gus Mozan when he got 21 million to leave Auburn. And basically you tripled, damn near quadruple that with this buyout for Jimbo. But you're absolutely right. When you're Alabama and you've had to expect and you've done what you've done six national championships, you lost another two times in the championship game, you're damn near. They called it the Alabama Invitational because Alabama was in it every year and people had them with a chance to win it every year. You can't count Alabama out. You can't count Alabama out. But like you said, Johnny, nobody fears Alabama anymore. And when you don't, when half that's half the battle, it's fear. That's one. That's one of your biggest strength is another man's fear. Well, they don't have that anymore. And I'm looking at Alabama, Ocho.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

They ain't got the same level of talent. No, you're absolutely right. When you look at, you look at the running backs, it was Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson and this one and that one. And you look at. And Derrick Henry and Jameer Gibbs and this one and that one, you go, you go look at the wide receivers, you went to Julio and Ridley and Cooper and this one and that one and Judy and back to back, you look at the quarterbacks, you look at those big D linemen they used to have. You look at the DBs, they don't have that no more. They just have guys now. Ain't nobody. When have you watched the game, Johnny? And you played against them. When can you honestly say you watched an Alabama team and ain't nobody jump off the page at you? Ain't nobody like, damn, ain't nobody gonna find.

[Johnny Manziel]

Not since the Georgia game. Not since the Georgia game last year where Ryan Williams did his thing and absolutely went crazy. He's seen one player stand out where you're like, okay, this guy is a level of talent of Alabama that we're accustomed to seeing. Everything else, you may see a splash or a dash here or there, but you're not seeing it consistently week in and week out like you're accustomed to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the funny thing too is I said something about for me obviously being a receiver and thinking about college football and thinking about all the players have been promoted and advertised as opposed to be you Know them boys and me saying like nobody popped out to me on film today. And people, and people in the chat saying, it's only week one. Yeah, week one. Yes, it's week one. That's the whole point.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You allowed to pop out just because it's week one. That don't mean you can't flash. That doesn't mean you can't show.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what I'm saying. What do we talk about? It's only week one. Yes. That's when you actually pop out and you show off. When you're playing against the top talent, you're playing against the good teams, these are the games you're supposed to pop out. Because when you get to the next level, every week is the same thing. Every week you play in the NFL, it's them boys, you playing against them boys. So I'm expecting, I was expecting, I was expecting maybe, maybe coaches wanted to call conservative games. Maybe they want to feature the players that we've all been noticing on commercials and seeing over and over and over. So maybe, maybe next week, maybe the week after, I don't know, at some point the games of the day were, were okay. The Alabama, Alabama and Florida State game to me was probably the best and the most exciting with the Clemson, the Clemson game following after that. But there's one more game we haven't talked about yet. That was the absolute snooze fest. I'll wait till we get there.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

When I look, think about Alabama, the one thing Alabama could do was stop the run. You know Coach Saban, Johnny, you had to throw. The thing that gave coach Saban problem, has always given Coach Saban problems. The dual threat quarterback and the guy that could pass the football. You go back and look when they lost to Oklahoma, Trevor Knight, I think that was his name. You look at what he did to them in the Sugar Bowl. He stood back there and he threw the ball. Now the thing that gave him the most problem is a dual threat quarterback. A guy that could throw the ball and run. You look at John, you look at Johnny Manziel, you look at Deshaun Watson, you look at guys that Cam Newton, you look. Damn. It just so happens you're talking about two guys won the Heisman Trophy. One guy was one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL before the injuries and, and things off the field took place, you see. But they got ran on 49 times for 230. Coach, you don't run on Bama. Bama don't let you run. They stuff your run and Then they go hunt your quarterback. They can't really hunt the quarterback. They really can't consistently stop the run. And Castellanos was doing whatever he wanted to do. Like you said, Johnny, extremely efficient in the passing game. Only threw the ball 14 times. But when you can't and you know, Gus, Mo's on. You know what he wants to do. He wants to run the football. He wants to give you a lot of misdirection. He's going to run jet suite. He's going to run your quarterback. He's going to run his quarterback. That's what he does.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey. Hey. Florida State almost lost. Not almost lost that game, but almost letting them boys back in the game, too. After the. After the second half, that second half and third quarter, every. Everything started being conservative. Everything started being conservative. The three and outs giving Alabama the ball back, allowing them to have a chance to get back into the game. Now, if it was the old Alabama or a team that was a little bit more competent and efficient with the ball, hell, Alabama could have came back and won that game with as conservative as Florida's plate. Florida State played in that second half.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Well, old Alabama wouldn't have been behind like that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That too.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Go ahead, Johnny.

[Johnny Manziel]

No, I think. I think you look at what Alabama wants to do, in the past, they would always say, listen, we're going to go man on man. We're going to take our best versus your best and we're going to lock you down. Times, like we said in the past where they've, you know, had success against in Alabama has been when, you know, they're running man coverage, running down the field, the quarterback's able to escape, to contain and be able to get out. But this is a team that just doesn't even resemble that. Like, we're going to put our best corner against your best receiver and body and throw him out of bounds and bully him up or, you know, we're going to take our best edge rusher and just absolutely mop you all day long. You don't. You're not used to seeing an Alabama team get pushed around, especially in the trenches.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

No. And I think, yeah. And plus they can't run the ball like they used to. You know, Alabama get them hogs up and I'm looking at the offensive line. They go, 673-40-6737, 26, 6. I'm like, Bro, y' all big for no reason. Why the hell you that big if you can't block, if you ain't moving? Oh, Joe, you got to move Furniture. You that big.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I said, y' all that big and can't block the sun out your eyes. I was like, well, damn. Ain't no pay, no sense of being. Ain't no sense of being that big if you ain't gonna move something. Yeah. I'm like, well, Damn. I mean, 29 rushes for 87 yards, Ocho. 27 rushes, 89 yards.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Three yards of carry.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Florida State look good on Florida. I'm talking about all three levels up front, second level and the secondary. I really want to know, Chad, I don't know if you guys know if you remember Earl Little that played for the Cleveland Browns. Is that his son? Little Junior? Hey, he was old.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You talk about the DB Earl Little, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes. Earl Little went to North Miami. Down here in Miami.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I think that is his son.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You think so? Man, he would. Baller boy.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Nick Saban coached 230 games at Alabama. He had four losses to unranked teams during his stretch. Kalen DeBoer has coached 14 games, and he just lost his fourth game to an unranked team since 2007. In games of which Alabama was favored by at least 14 points, Coach Saban is 131 and 2. Kaylin de Boer is 4 and 4. They get you up out of there. You don't want to be the man. You don't want to be the man to follow the man. You want to be the man that followed the man that followed the man. So I want to be the guy that came after the guy that followed Coach Saban. I don't want that pressure. You don't want to follow Coach Bryant. You don't want to follow a Nick Saban. You don't want to follow one of those. The Barrett Switzer or those air procedures, one of those mythical coaches. You want to be the guy that followed the guy that followed him. Because now that's what I'm going up against. Because I've got some separation between me and Coach Saban. I've got separation between me and one of these historic great coaches. The question that I have for you, Johnny, is that do you believe the NIL would be the death of the sec?

[Johnny Manziel]

No, I. I don't think so. I think the south will only. The SEC in that conference will only find a way to work around it and do what they need to do. There's too much money there. There's too much in these collectives to be able to make it. To make it successful. I think we'll see some more. I think we'll see different programs, different teams, same Georgia, Alabama, the same couple little pockets of teams that have been winning the sec. So I think it'll give some disparity in that regard. But, you know, for the most part, I think the SEC is aligned for whatever moves forward in the college football nil landscape. Whether it's getting to bigger conferences where we only have three big conferences throughout the country or four or whatever it may be. I think the SEC can keep accumulating teams, more teams, and end up being, you know, the biggest conference, 16, 20 teams. You know, when it's all said and done, this stuff kind of plays itself out.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Oo what you thinking? Because you look at Underwood, we might, I think we might touch on him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You get Larry Ellison, one of the top three richest men in the world, he underwrites it. You give Dave Port north from Barstool, you get a Tom Brady says, hey, I'll personally help you out and mentor you and coach you and you give a kid, a 18 year old 12 and a half million dollars, say, come on down here, this is what we got for you. It's hard when you got these deep pocket donors. You get a team like an Oregon and you got Nike and you got that field night dollars and you get all those uniforms and you. So now it ain't no Dodge Chargers, it ain't no challenges. These guys got Ferraris, Johnny. These guys got Lambos, these guys driving Cullinans and McLarens.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

And 18, 19 year olds.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah. Listen, hey, the landscape has changed. The landscape, the landscape has changed and it's eat. Like I said, I said it's it even the playing field and I think it's good. I think it's good for the players. I think it's good for the player because not only are you able to obviously get money for playing a sport you love, you're able to help your family out. You're able to help your family early now, long as you can stay focused and understanding that you got this money as just a jump start for your bigger dream, for your business of making it to that next level where the real money is as long you can lock in, stay focused and do what you need to do. I think I like it because like Johnny said, it adds some disparity obviously to college football in general and even the playing field where everybody gets the talent instead of one or two or three or just three teams getting everybody.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

You're right, because it sure, it sure seems that way now. It does look like. I mean, I know Look, Alabama still get five star recruits, but they don't look like the five stars they normally get. It seemingly Ohio State are getting those guys now and they're like you said, I mean, if they're 25, 35 star, Alabama's getting one or two where they normally have two running backs, two wide receivers, three D linemen, two old linemen, a corner, the number one, the number two or three dual threat. They don't. Those guys don't look like the same caliber player that they normally once have had, had. And I think you guys are right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you know what? I have a question too.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Go ahead, Johnny.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Y' all could probably help me out when it comes to these stars and whoever is rating them.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

From the people that are supposed to be these four and five stars. When the lights were bright tonight, when the lights were bright today, in general, the stars didn't come out. The stars didn't come out at all.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

What. And that's the thing, what you alluded to, you say when people, you, you tweeted what you tweeted and people say, well, Shannon, they said Ocho. Well, it's just the first game doesn't matter if you, if you are who you say you are. First game, second game, third game, first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, it does not matter.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Johnny Manziel]

You're like a pit bull on a leash when this first game comes up. You're, you're sitting there, you know, you got bang, bang plays going across the middle and you can't touch each other and you're running by and you're barking. This is what you're doing all training camp. You're fake blowing stuff up. You have the sacks whistle are blown that you'd be like, boy, if that was in a game, we'd. I tore your ass up. Like, that's what you're doing all spring and all training camp.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Johnny Manziel]

So now you're off the leash. This is your time to run free. First time on a field, maybe in front of the lights.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Yeah.

[Johnny Manziel]

It can hit you a little weird a couple spots, but when it comes down to it, a dog is a dog and it's time to be off the leash.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Oh, all right, let's get into it right now. The game that just went off. Lsu, the number Tiger. Number nine. Number. Number nine. Excuse me. LSU Tigers go on the road into. First time in a long time. You've had two Death Valleys. That's what Clemson called their home, Death Valley. That's what LSU calls their home, Death Valley. So one Death Valley went into the other Death valley. So number nine, LSU go on the road, take down the number four Clemson Tigers by the score of 17 to 10. Nussmeier. Garrett Nussmeier played extremely well. John. I thought he played really well. In the second half he calmed down, he showed a lot of poise, a battle back and they got to win a very tough fault victory. Normally early on in the season, these are the type of games LSU normally loses and you see opening. They lost to Florida State, they got blown out and then they lost the year before that they got beat. Now, LSU showed me a little something going on the road in an extremely hostile environment. The number four team in the country and getting a win that was very, very impressive. Johnny, let me ask you this. What did you like about what you saw from lsu?

[Johnny Manziel]

I mean, I think you look at a lot through the game. You see it was kind of stagnant there for a while where nothing was really happening, just kind of just kicking it back and forth waiting for something to happen. But they stayed patient. Nuss Meyer finally got things going a lot better in the second half. They have the turnover in the first half that really killed a lot of momentum. But one of these kind of slugfest games that when you go on the road, you never really know how you're going to win these and get these done. But when you look at the end of the day, you want to have this win. I think they just found a way to get it done in the second half. Nothing too like overwhelming, overpowering or anything like that, but just a solid, you know, one touchdown win.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Ocho, what'd you like about what you saw from lsu considering these are the type of games we talked about that Brian Kelly has seemingly lost early in the season and finding a way to win a game like this, you know, when you be go on the road and you beat the number four team in the country, it doesn't matter if it's 17 team, if it's 17, 16 if it's 11, if it's, if it's 4 to 3, you won.

[Shannon Sharpe]

As long as you get the win. Listen, LSU played extremely well. I think the beginning of the game, it was very stagnant. It was a very defensive game. Obviously most of the time when it comes to college football, even NFL, the defense is always ahead of the offense because all they have to do is read and react and it takes time for offenses to get rolling. And what I did see from LSU and I didn't see enough of, let me tell you what I didn't See, enough of Vonk of LSU is being wide receiver university. LSU to me, is now wide receiver university. I don't see that dog. I don't see that one out there that can make a difference for lsu. And I didn't see that for Clemson either. They're another university that produces some good wide receivers. I haven't seen anybody emerge, actually. Honestly, we talk about not just this game, the entirety of the day throughout college football. Those that I thought are supposed to step up, those that have always been on my radar as really, really good receivers, Nobody really. What's the word? Looking for.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Nobody really stepped up to the front impression.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, nobody. Nobody at all. Especially in this game tonight I was really looking forward to seeing somebody for LSU to make a difference in the game, somebody for Clemson to make a difference in the game. But that didn't happen. It was more of a defense, a defensive slug fest. And the points that were scored, they were earned on every point was earned tonight.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I think LSU will look back on this game and if they see they go and have the type of season that I think guys they want to have, they'll definitely look back at this game. Anytime you can go on the road in a hostile environment, and this is not Clemson's number four team in the country. They have the number three rated overall prospect. He happens to be a quarterback. Clint Kubnick, Kubnick Klubnik. And to go in there and to get that win, I think that tells you. I think Brian Kelly learned something about his team tonight. Johnny. I think he really has. I really think he has a team now that he believes that he can take it anywhere in any environment and get a victory.

[Johnny Manziel]

Yeah, look, this is the playoff team, Clemson from last year. Same quarterback coming back, a lot of the same pieces. So you got to feel like early in the season, you know, this game has been scheduled on their, you know, bulletin board for the whole off season. And they were. They knew what they were coming into to play. And like we said earlier, this is a game LSU normally doesn't come out and win. So for them to do that has to make them feel really good about themselves. I don't see anything in Clemson's game that they should feel too down on. You know, you obviously want to win this game, but going through the ACC and the schedule that they have, they'll be fine. I think they need to continue to have club Nick run the ball, as he did a couple times there, to extend some drives and do some certain things. But listen, everything's going to go through that guy number two for Clemson and if he doesn't put a touchdown on the board, you know they're usually not going to come out with a win in that situation.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Yeah, LSU had to play well. They showed up with t shirts with 1 and oh on it. When you on the road, Johnny and Ocho when you show up on on the road against the number four team in the country and you're wearing T shirts and you already got one and O boy you better come out there boy you better come on out there and play. And they play. They played that second half. They really dominated. They really dominated this game. Nuts like I said nuts like Johnny you 28 of 38, 231 touchdown, not overpowering. He didn't have a 300 yard day. He wasn't 70 plus percent completion percentage but he was solid. He made big time throws when he absolutely had to have them to get a drive, tie the ball game up and then he goes down and get the go ahead touchdown. He was very, very impressive and I think Brian Kelly has to be impressed with his team defensively. They started getting out the club Nick and once they started to put that pressure on they brought a blitz. The guy, a linebacker looped around on 4th and 4 and they turned them over on downs. But LSU, this was an impressive win. Now you go look at it. Texas is in the sec, Georgia is in the sec. There are no, look, there are no E. They're not going to be any cakewalks. I mean even Vanderbilt say hold on, hold on. We're not, we're not your homecoming. Now you know Vanderbilt used to be every Johnny first game of the season was homecoming. Vanderbilt on the schedule. Vanderbilt was like 10 homecomings a season. Yeah. Even when they played.

[Johnny Manziel]

It's a coming out party that day.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

Hey, everybody's thinking about hey I'm going to pad my stats, you know. Hey, hey, the party tonight, I need to, I need to shine. But the s. The SEC is going to be very, very tough. Clemson, I agree with you Johnny. The ACC that look they're not, ain't a whole lot to write home. Now the team that we're about to talk about in a little bit, Florida State, they showed us something. That Castellanos, he showed us something today.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey Florida State. Unc. Hey Johnny. I don't know what Florida State team we saw today but they look really good. Not only offensively which has really been stagnant for a very long time but defensively they came to play Earl a a Unc Little junior Is that Earl little son.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I think so.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It is.

[Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson)]

I think so.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey boy. He nice. Hey, he is nice. Yeah, he nice. He was playing some good goddamn ball like that boy.

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[Shannon Sharpe]

This is an iHeart podcast.