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This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and
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availability various 18 hey, it's day three of SEC media days. Over the last handful of years we've been in Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville and our first foray, our maiden voyage to Tampa where we've had four coaches a day for four days. Here are the quartet today. Critical year three for Kalyn DeBoer at Alabama. Critical year one for John Sumrall at Florida, first full year for Pete Golding at Ole Miss. And off their first College Football Playoff appearance, we'll see how Mike Elko and the Aggies do. And with that we welcome you Inside College Football Live. I'm Zubin Mahanty. Here is the stat of the day. Off the top this year in salary, Calyn DeBoer will make more money than Nick Saban ever did in any single year at Alabama. And if that's the case, you better get the quarterback decision right. That's the big decision for the Crimson Tide. Let's run you through how we got here. I obviously everybody knows last year Ty Simpson was there. He's off to the NFL first round draft pick of the Rams where he appears to be the future. So who is the future at Alabama? Austin Mack spent a couple years as a backup with DeBoer in Washington. Can't underrate that. He also did play in some mop up duty at the Rose bowl and that lost Indiana for whatever that's worth. Then there is going to be the highly touted Kelon Russell, number one dual threat quarterback in the 2025 recruiting class. Coach DeBoer sizing it up.
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Both of them are more than capable. I think they're high level elite quarterbacks. Fortunately we have both in our program and it's going to be a competition that's going to be lead to a tough decision. It's one that we're fortunate to have and it's going to be one that when we do make the decision that we'll be confident we'll do a great job because they are two guys that are well respected by our entire football team.
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Really.
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I've just seen them like reflect off of each other and you know, just continue to grow day in and day out.
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And it's been super exciting just because I've watched both of them work at
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a extremely high level. It's just been exciting to see just because I know I'm getting their best every single day.
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That was Ryan Coleman Williams changing his name, adding his mother's last name out there. An homage to mom. Great to see him. Who will he be catching passes from? That's the question. Great to see. Greg McElroy, Dusty Dvorachek, Pete Thamel all right Pete, let's just start with you. What do you have on intel for what is always one of the most scrutinized people in all of college football? Alabama's starting quarterback well, Zubin, there are
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two types of modern camp quarterback battles. There are the let's call it a battle so the guy doesn't transfer battles and then there's the actual battles where we need to see who's going to win. And this Alabama battle falls in the latter category. Two similar style quarterbacks Zubin Caleb told me he'd like to make a decision on on either Austin Mack or Keelan Russell. With about a week and a half remaining in camp as they go into the second scrimmage, Austin Mack more of a pure drop back guy. Keelan Russell, guys has a little bit more wiggle. Caleb DeBoer used a phrase to describe him that no one ever described Greg McElroy as. He said he has Houdini moves. I can assure you that did not leave the lips of anyone on Nick Saban's staff when Greg was there.
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Not true.
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But just we'll move on. I'm not taking the low hanging fruit looking at the quarterback spot. I think a lot of it actually depends on what the offense's identity needs to be. Last year it's widely acknowledged that the Alabama Crimson Tide struggle to run the football. So if for whatever reason that is a continuing problem for the Tide, then you might lean towards the slightly more mobile Keelan Russell. He's younger, he might make a mistake or two, but his mobility and just how dynamic he is as a player could open things up in the run game. But if for whatever reason the offensive line improves greatly, I could see the offense maybe leaning a little bit more towards Austin Mack because they have a more traditional run game. Austin Mack has been in the program now for several years. He's got great understanding for what Calen DeBoer's offense is supposed to look like. He's really accurate, he's really big, he's really strong and he can pull push it down the field like what Pete said. Keelan Russell has some things you just flat out can't teach, but sometimes those aren't on display all the time in a scrimmage setting because they blow it dead too quickly. His best play might actually be in real game time situation. So if he does win the job, it might be in the regular season when both are getting a decent look against a team like East Carolina.
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In Week one they flipped Keelan Russell from smu. Let's see if he can flip the script and end up becoming their starter. One thing Greg hit on there and Dusty I want to talk about with you in just a second is Alabama's rushing, which has been pretty poor not just by their standards but by really anybody in the fbs. You just don't see these numbers on the extreme right column ever associated with the University of Alabama on any statistical measure. Greg talked about it. Dusty, why don't you follow up on it. What's been the problem and how can they fix their once potent Russian attack?
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They've had talent on the offensive line, Zubin, but there's been no continuity and that's one thing that Caleb debord talked about today. They got to be more get more together as they work and they're going to have all new pieces. Five new starters likely on this offense. They do have some talent coming back. Michael Carroll. Carroll is a guy that Caitlin abortly talked about and it's really going to come on Adrian Clem, the new offensive line coach who was just brought in and February they have to get that rushing game going. It was one of the biggest points of emphasis today from Kaylin DeBoer that yards per carry is the lowest it's been in Tuscaloosa since 1998. Whichever quarterback wins this job, they need a running game to support them. That's where I kind of wonder if you bring in a Keelan Russell who's got some Greg McElroy like type athleticism and he's able to move around. Does that help the rushing attack and something that needs a true injection here coming up this season, no doubt.
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And I think it's fair to say that Lane Kiffin pulled a his Pete would say Houdini act by getting out of Ole Miss and heading off to lsu. So where does that live? The Rebels? That's where they are. Up next here on College Football Live. You know the story lines. Pete Golding beginning his first full season after the lane train left for Baton Rouge. They ended up going to the Playoff made the national semifinals. Lost a heartbreaker. 2 Miami, Trinidad, Chambliss, Kewan Lacey. 1, 2. Punch. Ranked second in the FBS yards per game last season. They can absolutely fill it up through the air and on the ground. And obviously they have a huge schedule on tap, headlined by Lane's return to Oxford in Week three. They're going to play Texas now for just the second time in 100 years as well. We'll look forward to that. But Golding at the podium today, he knows what you're wondering, and he provided the answer.
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I have no ill will towards Coach Kiffin. He texts me on a regular basis, and there are certain things that we'll talk about and there are certain things that we don't talk about. And I probably shouldn't say this, but I don't care. All right, Like I told an Ole Miss group the other day, at 21, I said, all right, in 2021, if you said you can look in 2025 and you're about to be 11 and one to go to the playoff, would you take it if your coach was leaving, they're like, hell, yeah. I was like, you would. Everybody won from it. It's okay. Keith, like, you made a great hire. You did a great job. Every place isn't for everybody. That's coaches, that's players.
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That's your job.
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That's everything, and that's okay.
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And Keith, there is athletic director Keith Carter, who, in my estimation, did an unbelievable job holding the situation together last year. It could have went haywire, but he kept it in place. Pete, I want to go to you. He basically laid down the gauntlet. I mean, what are the expectations here coming off? Arguably, I know they had some great teams in the 60s, but arguably their best season in modern history.
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Zubin. It remains to be seen whether Ole Miss is going to win multiple playoff games again, but Pete Golding is now the heavy favorite for winning media days. He came in and he was disarming. He was charming. He was authentic. It was like drinking a can of Celsius listening to him after. You know, there can be a lot of one game at a time at these things. He told us in the ESPN.com run that he actually bought his house that he currently lives in from Lane Kiffin. The one thing that really resonated here was that he got into the tampering allegations that Clemson had made against him. He basically said, this is a broken system and recruiting hasn't been moral for 100 years. A refreshing start to the Pete Golding era. At media days
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and Pete Golding's got to be so excited because I think he's got the best quarterback in the SEC and arguably the best quarterback coming back in college football. Trinidad Chambliss is electric and what we watched him do last season I think is just a glimpse. I had a chance to spend some time with him here today and he is exuding confidence and he said he's just continuing to learn and learn and learn. They go get John David Baker who was with Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin just two years ago and he had been there for three years. He goes to East Carolina and he's going to implement essentially the exact same system, similar tempo, similar style. So that continuity is there. But for Trinidad Chambliss, who I think is going to pick up right where he left off and he's got arguably the best running back in the SEC to have the football to Kewon Lacy with 24 touchdowns this offense, I don't think Greg's going to miss a beat.
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Well, I think system wise carryover is great. That's so helpful on a quarterback. You're dealing a hot hand at the end, like keep that momentum going throughout the off season. I think when you look at Ole Miss and what's been lost and all the focus on Lane Kiffin, the Golding dynamic is that they actually upgraded on several different fronts to defensively, they were remarkably thin last year. Philosophically, most of the resources that Ole Miss had went to the offense last year. The defense, however, they've upgraded in certain spots. They went out and got some key additions. They are deeper along the defensive line, they feel better about their linebacker play. They think the safety spot, which was a problem area last year, they think they've upgraded there and they have better depth at corner and competition as well. The biggest question for me for Ole Miss this year, I think they have a chance to be better, but it assumes the wide receivers don't drop off significantly. They had a dynamic tight end last year and Daquan Wright, they had two big time wide receivers and Trey Wallace and Dejon Stribling. Dejan Stribling was the first pick of the second round last year. So I think if they can adequately replace their personnel at wide receiver, they have a chance to actually be better last year. Will they make it as far, I don't know, but I think collectively as a whole they could take a step forward.
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All great points and I just wanted to accentuate what Pete said about the transfer scandal involving Luke Forelli. That was his first kind of big test going ted on tet with D that could have swallowed a much smaller head coach, but he came out of that looking okay. Now the big challenges are ahead. Still to come here on College Football Live. Marcel Reed's going to join the show and he said something today at media days that caught all of the Aggies media flat footed. He's not flat footed. Look at him. He'll join us next and I'll ask him about just that answer as we roll through day three of SEC media days. And that is Marcel Reed suited, booted, ready to hit the set with me right after this.
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deserves to be seen as one of
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the top quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference.
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He's thrown the ball well. His ability to scramble, he plays winning football. Reed flushed out, throws, caught.
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Touchdown.
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Down haggies.
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Wow.
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Fourth in the game.
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Reed pumps fires. Caught. Touchdown.
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Reed on the keeper.
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Touchdown.
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He is a danger from anywhere on
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the field to start with his leg
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A and M. Incredible comeback, one of
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the greatest we've seen.
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The biggest comeback in program history.
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Apologies to South Carolina fans that had to watch that Marcel Reed pulling out one of the most magical finishes of last season. This is some good company. 3,000 passing yards, 400 on the ground and 10 wins for an Aggie quarterback. Only Johnny Manziel who hoisted the Heisman Trophy is on that list with Marcel Reed. And Marcel Reed joins us here on College Football live. It is great to have you here. There are five captains for the Texas A and M Aggies. You are one of them and I know leadership means a ton to you. What does it mean to you to Be a captain and what do you expect to do with it?
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Yeah, it's an honor. I always love when your teammates and your coaches can honor you with the captain's badge across your nameplate. So I'm just happy that they did that for me. And, you know, I'm going to give my team 110% every single day, do anything that I possibly can to, to promise them some success. So I appreciate them for doing that and I'm gonna live up to it for sure.
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I love how you said all 85 get here in different ways. You gotta connect with different people in different ways. It's a really mature way to look at it. Now to the hard hitting question, why do they call you the Gingerbread Man?
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That means he can't catch me.
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Now, I heard you don't love that nickname. You would prefer Dragonfly? Is that what I heard?
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Dragonfly is cool too. You know, I don't know if you've ever tried to swat a Dragonfly before, but it's pretty hard to do.
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Is that sort of like it's hard to bring you down? Is that what I'm saying? It's kind of hard to catch you, Is that what you're saying?
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It's hard to touch me, hard to bring me down, everything. Hard to get close.
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I love it. Let's talk a little bit more about that. You said you want this year the offense to be able to utilize more of your dual threatability than we have the last couple of years. I mean, how does the offense do that?
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Yeah, you know, we do some things like, you know, stretch the pocket a little bit, get some rollout stuff going. But, you know, a lot of teams always try to stop it. So, you know, I'm going to do whatever I can to present that when the opportunity presents itself. But other than that, I'm just going to trust my read and, you know, trust my old lineman and the running backs too.
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You know, I said before the break there was a lot of eyebrows raised among the team, Texas A and M media. Enter the SEC media. When you said earlier today that, you know, I might be back in 27, why is that something you're thinking about right now?
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I mean, when you get asked the question, I really didn't, you know, give him a sure answer, but I still have two years left, so it's up in the air. Whatever happens, happens. But there's a possibility.
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What do you think the difference that Mike Elko has brought to the program, in your view?
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I think he just, you know, true honesty He's a really good coach, and he's one that's gonna, you know, tell you straightforward. And I think that's what a lot of people look for and respect in coach Elko. And that's what a lot of recruits look for, too. It speaks a lot of volume to why we have the number one recruiting class in 202027 right now. A lot of these parents appreciate, you know, the staff that he has and what he does for this program and also the character that he builds within his players.
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Yeah, maybe. Maybe those recruits will see in 2027. We'll have to wait and see. Hey, last thing for you. Last year on college game day, one of the great breakout moments that people loved was you coaching the Aggieland flag football team. Guys like half your age, maybe a third of your age. What was that experience like? Are you going to be back as coach Reed with the whistle?
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Yeah, I know that's always fun. You know, they host practice a couple. Couple minutes down away from my house. So me and a couple other teammates like Reuben Owens, Terry Bussey, and we all just go out there and, you know, you know, play with these kids while they're doing flag football stuff and just kind of get back to the community. We love spending time with them. You know, they're always a great time and, you know, their parents are amazing. So any time we get the chance to after practice or something like that, we'll go show some love.
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Good stuff. They're the class of 2037, so we're talking on 2037. It's never too early, as you know.
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Never too early. Yeah.
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No doubt. Pleasure to talk to you, and I hope we see you for maybe one, if not two more college seasons. Best of luck this season in College station.
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D
I appreciate it. Thank you.
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That's Marcel Reed. Tale of two seasons. Marcel knows this well. A and M has had some really quick starts, and then they've kind of faded to the finish. Head coach Mike Elko knows it's just a constant improvement method that eventually will get it done. I just think maybe a better understanding again of what we need to do to be successful. I think one of the things we've tried to do is build that foundation of work ethic throughout the off season in those moments when nobody's watching, in those moments when people. People aren't paying attention. And I think each year that has grown, and I think this group probably understands that better than any other group that we've had. I just think that work ethic and that commitment to Being great is probably at a level a little bit higher than it's ever been. Results have been pretty darn good. Greg and Dusty are back. Dusty to you. I struggle with this a little bit because a team that won 11 games had a great season in my mind, but it, it wasn't great the way that it ended. What are the expectations heading into 26 for you?
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Look, talking Mike Elko. Today they expect to be back in the College Football Playoff and be in the mix to be in Atlanta for an SEC championship. They're hungry after last season with Marcel Reed. One thing I want to see, better consistency, you know, throwing the football, especially intermediate with accuracy, taking better care of the football. 14 turnovers a season ago, Pullman Wiggins, the receivers coach, promoted from within to be the offensive coordinator. So they'll keep some continuity. It's a very talented wide receiver core and I love what Marcel said about moving the pocket, Greg, getting him outside. I think that's oftentimes when he's at his best. But I think if he can be more consistent and eliminate those turnovers, it's going to give Texas A and M an opportunity to be back in the playoff a second straight season.
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Yeah, no one denies just how dynamic he is. I mean, just watch him take off, watch him run. You look at the speed numbers, he's one of the fastest quarterbacks in the country, especially when he takes off against lsu, splits the safeties and he's out the gate. Not a lot of people could do that regardless of position. So he's dynamic. I think utilizing his legs is probably the next step of this offense's evolution. And he said rolling out a little bit, giving him some run pass options. Don't turn a guy that's an electric playmaker, don't turn him into a drop back passer. That can be a variable of his game. It doesn't mean to be who he is on 90% of the offensive snap. So I want to see adjustments there. I also think there's areas where he can clean up the fundamentals a little bit more to keep a wide base, keep his feet planted in the ground. That will lead to more underneath and intermediate accuracy. And the big thing for him is just don't miss layups, simple as that. There's a lot of open receivers that are underneath, that are very easy throws, throws that he could make in his sleep, but occasionally they drifted inaccurately last year. If he can just clean those up, give these receivers plenty of chances to run after catch, this offense could be just as explosive. It was a year ago and in some cases maybe even better with the addition of a couple key pieces at the wide receiver court.
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100%. He did say earlier today, I made some mental mistakes and I've got to clean those up, especially the easy ones. When College Football Live continues. John Sumrall, Florida's first year coach, took the podium today and had some very interesting thoughts on his colleagues. Conversation with Lane Kiffin. Take you inside their cell phone chat next.
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We're back on College Football Live. Great to see the old ball coach on your screen there. He dubbed media day's talking season. Urban and Steve, incredible in their run. Sumrall has a lot of work to do because their successors, not so much. Sumrall knows the road ahead.
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It takes what it takes to be great. There are no shortcuts. I don't care if you've been winning or you hadn't been winning. 4 and 8 last year is not okay at the University of Florida. We got to fix that. We've got to get better every day. We can't waste a day we're nowhere near arrived. Like we can't waste a practice rep. And we have a long way to go. I'm not trying to temper expectations. My expectation is to win. Every time we play. We have a freaking long way to go.
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This guy's so big. We had comments from him sitting and standing. Pete, let's begin with you. What are the year one expectations here at Florida?
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John Sumrall told me today that they are not going to imminently recreate the Urban Meyer era, but he believes there is a path there. Zubin, he said they're not in the top three in the SEC in nil spending. They're also not in the bottom three. And Dusty, he left us with a memorable quote. He said whoever said less is more, never had less.
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That's good.
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Look I love this higher P I think John Sumrall is the guy at Gainesville. The edginess, the toughness and he's very charismatic. But in year one look I think seven, eight wins is possible. I think by year three they're competing in the upper echelon of the sec but he had a lot of holdovers. They brought in some new pieces. Love the coordinator hires but it's going to take some time to compete for SEC championships and college Football playoff spots.
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Greg, I don't expect an SEC championship game appearance. I don't expect anything like that. I can promise he's gonna be a hard out. They were hard out last year and they just couldn't get out of their own way. This is a talented roster. I think he's underselling how good they are. They might have the best wide receiver core in the league. They're going to be elite potentially in certain spots on defense. If they can get quarterback right their elite at running back then get quarterback right and they can get the offensive line playing at a better level than they did last year then I think Florida's got a chance to surprise people.
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Yeah, we got a heart out too because this show's only 30 minutes so I have a quickly can remind you tomorrow Lane, Kiffin, Trinidad Chambliss and Arch Manning will all join us on College Football Live and we will see you tomorrow.
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