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Chip Patterson
Heading out of town this weekend for a big football game. You know, cheering, tailgating, the whole experience. But while you're soaking in all the excitement, you might have realized something. Your home could actually be doing something while you're away. That's right, you can host your home on Airbnb while you're gone. And it's such a practical way to earn a little extra money. I started thinking about it for myself. A few nights of hosting could help cover part of a trip or even fun tickets to another game. It's easy. It doesn't take over your life. You just make your space available and let others enjoy it while you're out having fun. We've seen the benefit of it with family here in North Carolina. You're away and then you come back to a little extra cash and no hassle at all. So if you've got an upcoming trip, whether it's a football weekend, a quick getaway, or a family visit, home hosting really does feel like a smart move. Seriously, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much@airbnb.com host 250 years.
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Danny Cannell
Welcome Back to the COVID 3 podcast.
Tom Fornelli
With your hosts, Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli.
Danny Cannell
Danny Cannell and Bud Elliott.
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It's your call for the best college football coverage.
Danny Cannell
From national signing day to the national championship and everything in between. CBS Sports presents the COVID 3PO.
Chip Patterson
And welcome back to the COVID 3 podcast here on CBS Sports, That's Tom Fenelli. That's Danny Cannell. I'm Chip Patterson coming to you live@YouTube.com cover3 and everywhere. Get your podcast on demand. Thanks for hanging out. Smash that, subscribe, smash that like and come and join us in the chat. AKA the COVID 3 tailgate, where Jack said Spotify wrapped. Told me I spent 10, 609 minutes listening to cover three this year.
Tom Fornelli
And.
Chip Patterson
And Jerry has identified himself as a top point 1 percenter per the YouTube recap, adding, we are all sickos. Jack, Jerry, everybody in the tailgate. Keep it coming. Show it on social media, Whether it is YouTube recap, whether it is Spotify wrapped. No. Be proud of that sicko status and being a part of the COVID 3 tailgate because we really, really do appreciate you.
Tom Fornelli
And.
Chip Patterson
And if anybody just happens to not realize how awesome it can be spending more than 10,609 minutes listening to the COVID 3 podcast in a single year, well, now, that's a great way to spread the word. We appreciate. I know everybody's seen it. It's great to see everyone showing their appreciation for the show.
Danny Cannell
Love that.
Tom Fornelli
I don't know that I've listened to that many minutes of this show. And I'm on it.
Danny Cannell
I might have on my Sunday morning jogs when I go listen to the instant reaction show.
Chip Patterson
If we were to actually know when a host is listening or not listening during the show, I think, I think Danny might be second.
I think, I think that I listen the most. I think, I think Danny, if you include his listening on the runs, that's. He probably listens the second most. And then it's TBD between you and Bud on that one.
Tom Fornelli
You know, I'm gonna go. I'm in third.
Chip Patterson
Okay. Bud's in fourth. That's okay. Whoops.
Tom Fornelli
We.
Chip Patterson
We figured that out. By the way, Bud is not in jail. He's actually doing the heavy lifting, which might be community service, honestly, because he is covering national signing day.
Tom Fornelli
When.
Chip Patterson
And I looked at this last night, 148 of the top 150 prospects are committed as of Tuesday night. And this is the early signing day. However, we're always looking at flip watch. And one of the things that Bud is doing, CBS Sports HQ, the CBS Sports college football YouTube channel, as they are giving you nonstop coverage, he's at least able to digest it, right? This is why this position was good for this team. These are the moves that this coaching staff has made. And those are the lessons that I enjoy learning. Those are the lessons I'll Be checking out and we will be bringing you a best of Buds signing day recap here@YouTube.com cover three and in the audio feed wherever you get your podcast.
Tom Fornelli
So a huge signing day for the Pac 12.
Chip Patterson
For the new Pac 12 like Boise.
Tom Fornelli
State and I'm just saying USC and Oregon with the top two classes in the country. Pac 12.
Chip Patterson
I do I look whatever. Quick sign.
Danny Cannell
I was like, man, Jim Moore is crushing it.
Chip Patterson
As Lincoln Riley's name continued to be floated by, you know, NFL writers or, you know, I just, I could not come back to the fact that they just invested all this money, all this time and all this energy to build out a new personnel department. They had 30 plus commits in a class that ranks number one in the country. It just seemed very silly to me that Lincoln Riley, as much of a flashy name as he may be and as many insiders tried to say, representatives of. I just, I, if, if I am someone who invests that much in a project, I don't think that I leave it. So, yeah, I mean, if they close this thing out. USC has not had a number one class in the Lincoln Riley era. And so this is a big day for the Trojans, the Big Ten Trojans, of course, at this point. All right, before we get into some coaching carousel talk, including a retirement at Kansas State, catching up on some of the hires at ucla, Kentucky, Cal and more, we got some big games this weekend. Why don't we break them down?
Number one, verse, number two, 12 and O against 12. 0 Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana. Red everywhere in that stadium as Ohio State and Indiana faithful will pile in for what should be an absolutely colossal matchup. Of course, Ryan Day and Kurt Signetti did play last year. It was a game that Ohio State was able to win at the lines of scrimmage. It was a game where Ohio State was kind of able to get an advantage and put them in a little bit of a sleeper hold the rest of the way. Final score in that game, 38 Ohio State 15 for Indiana. So I wanted to start with this, Tom. What has changed? What has been? What, what have been? Because I know there are multiples, including the quarterback, you know, Fernando Mendoza, one of the best players in the country. But what have been, some of the ways that Indiana has changed the math on this matchup in your eyes?
Tom Fornelli
I, I think the biggest changes are on the lines of scrimmage.
Chip Patterson
I agree.
Tom Fornelli
I think if you looked at Indiana last year, I mean, they had a good quarterback, but they've upgraded at quarterback. They had good rece and they've got those guys back and they're just deeper at that spot. And they had good guys on defense, particularly in the back seven. Like the Angelo Pons was a very good player for them last year. Defensive line, they were good. It's just their offensive line was not nearly good enough to really deal with the Ohio States of the world, the Notre Dames of the world. They couldn't protect those guys. They couldn't do what they were able to do on offense against everybody else. So Indiana goes out this year when they go get their portal class. They upgraded their offensive line and they did a great job because the guys that they brought in have been hits. They, they haven't missed out on any of them. And it has improved that line overall. So they are stronger along the lines of scrimmage, which puts them in a position to where they can now go on the road and face Oregon, which is a team that has NFL players on its offensive and defensive lines and hang and beat them and, you know, not, I mean, obviously they beat him in the scoreboard, I'm saying on the field, during every play, on the long lines of scrimmage, they were beating Oregon. And that's a very good Oregon team. So I, I think that to me is the largest reason for the upgrade. And then I would say the second biggest reason is Fernando Mendoza, because I loved Curtis Rourke. Curtis Rourke was a great college quarterback. Loved him at Ohio, loved what he was able to do for Indiana. Fernando Mendoza is an NFL quarterback and that is a difference maker because he's able to make throws in that offense that Rourke wasn't, which opens things up down the field, which then opens things up for you in the running game. So I think the combination of the improved offensive line and the upgraded quarterback are the reason why you look at this Indiana team. They're undefeated, they're number two in the country. And as we talked on Saturday night, Bud's not here. He can't defend himself. Bud said the spread was going to get closer to a touchdown. I said it was going to get closer to three points. I'm, I'm right like India, it's down to four and a half from opening at five and a half. So I, I just think that when people look at this team, like maybe they haven't paid that much attention to him since the Oregon game because they really haven't been any quote, like big games, but like, they're really good. And I do think that this is going to be. We saw last year, it was until the Caleb Downs punt return that kind of blew it open and changed that game. Like they were hanging. They were never really a threat, but they were hanging around. I think they will be able to do a little more than hang around in this one. I think they're going to be able to make some noise.
Danny Cannell
Agreed. They're a better football team. To put it in the words of Kirk Signetti, when I asked him what did he learn from last year when they lost to Ohio State and Notre Dame, he said we needed more dudes. They went out and got them. Like they went out and got, you know, a couple offensive linemen. They went out and got a couple of defensive linemen. They've added playmakers to this roster. It does show you like, it's funny how we position these Vanderbilt Ninia sort of like these Cinderella stories. No, they're just all of a sudden they've committed financially to the sport of football and they're competing on a level playing field as opposed to historically always playing with lesser talent. Now they've got, now they don't have as much talent as Ohio State's roster, but they have a lot closer. The gap has been closed by the players. They've went out and gotten it. And I do think Fernando Mendoza is a drastic difference because even Curtis work as good as he was. Remember how banged up he was at the end of last year and they were talking about, you know, his acl, which I think was, you know, he tore on it. Yeah, exactly. I forget what the medical, you know, actually injury was, but he was like a statue back there. He could not move at all. And not only do you get an upgrade to somebody who's a better passer, but he's also mobile so they can move around the pocket. He can escape pressure if it's there. So I think this is a drastically different Indiana team than last year's. And as Tom pointed out, I thought last year's game, as much as it felt like domination and everybody's like, see, Indiana sucks, they don't belong. Their defense actually did a pretty good job against Ohio State's offense. Now some of that could have been game dictated because Ohio State was with a lead, but I still thought their defense last year played pretty good against Ohio State's offense.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, I would agree with that. What about the Ohio State side, Danny, the Buckeyes, I mean they lost 15 or 14 NFL draft picks and now here they are again with what is like the number one team in the country, positioned to maybe go back to back. And as Tom fornelli I'm going to keep repeating it because it's a pretty good, pretty good thing to throw on the record that if Ohio State wins the first two years of the 12 team playoff in back to back fashion, it is, as Tom mentioned, one of the most impressive feats in college football.
Tom Fornelli
Not one of it is the going.
Chip Patterson
Back to back, Back to back 12 Team CFP winners. What, how is the math changed in terms of the way that you evaluate? Because I think it's a very different team even at the level in terms of trying to figure out how to prepare for them.
Danny Cannell
They're a better football team too. I think that, I think they're a better football team than they were last year as national champions. They're, they're more complete. The thing I love about this team, specifically with the offense is I love how Ryan Day has managed this roster, managed younger team and specifically the offense. Like I remember and I took some heat from Ohio State fans, like I don't know if, if Ryan Day trusts Julian saying, and they were all like, oh, what are you saying? Like, like, no, he didn't have to, he didn't have to risk him. He was pretty close to the vest. He had him throw some, but he didn't want to just throw him to the wolves. And then he started opening up more of the offense and then all of a sudden Julian, Stan starts to flourish and he gets better. And then, and then I remember after the Wisconsin game was like, where, where's their weakness? Like, well, they're not running the football really good. Well, if you looked at the last four games of the season where Bo Jackson is rattled off three, four out of the five final games of the season, Bo Jackson has rushed for over 100 yards. And it was interesting because when we were talking about that was after the Wisconsin game, which they dominated, but they didn't run the football in that game. So then it was like, all right, we figured out Julian saying, first we kind of figured out some of this shorter passing game, then we open it up. Now we're working on the run game. Like it's all been a culmination. And I think this ties in with the load management stuff that Ryan Day talked about. It's not how you're playing in September, October, it's how you're playing in November, December and January. And I think this team is like primed to just peak at the right time.
Chip Patterson
The Michigan game, by the way, the first time Bo Jackson's had more than 20 carries in a game. Tread on the tires Deep room. CJ Donaldson gets in there. I know people's was a little bit more of a factor early on, but I, I thought, man, it's way different than when you had Quinn shot Judkins and Travion Henderson back there. And it's not going to be that, but they still have very much with their commitment to it, I think improved their run game in a big way.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. And to further that point, like Ohio State has run the ball on over 60 of its snaps three times this year. One was the opener against Texas, which obviously it's your freshman quarterback. You're not gonna, you know, his first start, you're gonna try to take as much off his plate as possible. Then the last two were the last two games against Rutgers and against Michigan. So it. There is kind of like if you start looking like Danny's kind of touching on. You do feel like there's a method to the madness of what they've been doing all year where it's like every single week they're just kind of stacking more and more and working on of thing to that way they can peak at the right time, which is not all that different than what they did last year. It's just the difference last year was they lost a couple games on the way. This year's team has been undefeated. So I, I do think the primary difference is a. You might have the greatest college football defense we've ever seen. Like, I can't remember what the stat was that they showed on the broadcast after the game, but I think it's the first team ever to go through a whole season without allowing 17 points. Like, that's incredible. And then you look at the offense like, Will Howard was a very good player for Ohio State. Will Howard did a lot of great things for them. He really helped them out in the red zone because his legs gave them a dynamic that they hadn't had inside.
Chip Patterson
Big body, you know, banging short yardage situations.
Tom Fornelli
He was, he was very much like a, like a plow in the, in the red zone to get, get into the end zone. And then you combine him with Judkins and they were really difficult to stop once they get inside the five. But now with saying, your passing game is far more open than it was with Will Howard because saying can make throws that Will Howard just couldn't. So you're able to better take advantage of the talent you have at receiver than you were able to with Will Howard. Although that's not a knock on Howard. He did a very good job taking advantage of it just now you can do more. Like if you watch their passing game, they're doing more things. So I, I do think that this team is better than last year's team. And I think that overall, like last year's team was very veteran, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. And they were talented. Like these guys were all going in the NFL draft. But I think this defense is more talented and it's more athletic. And I think you're going to see like you saw those guys going in the third, the fourth, the fifth round last year. I think you're looking at a bunch of first and second rounders on this defense and that, you know, Caleb Downs obviously was there both years and other guys in the secondary. But I mean, in that front seven, I think, I think they've just gotten far more athletic, which has made them all that much more difficult to deal with.
Chip Patterson
But some of them are, some of them are returning guys who've just made a jump, who've been, I mean, Kaden Curry is your perfect example of somebody who's gotten a little bit more. A little bit more. Orville Reese, another guy who has just made a jump in a really big way. Caden McDonald. Right. I mean, just a, just really, really impressive coaching development all across the board here. So what's the X factor? How where is this game decided?
Tom Fornelli
In Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Field.
Chip Patterson
You ran the numbers for me, Tom? Can you not do more?
Tom Fornelli
I can't run the numbers on this game. I mean it was very obvious who the two teams that were going to be playing in this game was. But I don't know, man. Like if you look at Ohio State, I tweeted this out I couple days ago, like the Big Ten standings, if you went against the spread, Ohio State's 90 straight up and 81 against the spread. So like it does, based on how things have worked out, like, my initial gut reaction is, okay, well, Ohio State's going to win this game. Ohio State's the best team in the country. And I still think Ohio State is the best team in the country, win or lose, depending on how this one looks. But I do think Indiana's got a very good shot of winning this football game. I think the one thing I'm most confident in is that it won't be a shootout because I do think Ohio State's defense is legit and I do think they can slow down Indiana, but I also think Indiana's defense can slow down Ohio State.
Danny Cannell
I'll say.
Whatever team can rattle, throw off pressure, the opposing Quarterback.
You know, and there's a chance that maybe both of them do like to. You're talking about the defensive performance, and then it becomes like, who forces the big mistake? Because I mean this. If this game is lower scoring, it could be the difference between an interception, a pick six, something that kind of really turns the momentum of a game. So I'll say from that standpoint, it's who. Who can harass, you know, who can turn these quarterbacks who have been awesome, who can turn them into pedestrian quarterbacks.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. And I think that's a great point because if you look at the numbers, like, the one thing we don't know about saying yet is he hasn't been pressured a whole hell of a lot this year. Like, Ohio State's offensive line has done such a good job. Like, Texas was the only game where he really felt under fire. That's his first start. But since then, like, if you look at the numbers, the pressure rates against Washington were high. They were high against Penn State. I would say Penn State did the best job by far of any team that Ohio State's face since Texas doing that. But a lot of that was because of what they were doing, were longer developing routes. So saying was just kind of holding it more than he was under fire. So if Indiana can get him pressured. We haven't really seen him a lot in that situation. And the one time we did see him, he didn't have the greatest game.
Contested catches.
Chip Patterson
That's when I keep coming back to. Because especially with Elijah Surratt back in the lineup. Remember, we had Becker emerge as. As another when Surratt was out, Omar Cooper, somebody who can obviously make athletic grabs. And I don't need to spend many words to describe to you that yes, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate can go make contested catches as well. I come back to those Clemson, Alabama epics, and it just came down to, you know, who could go up there and grab those jump balls. You know, you had an NFL quarterback. We've got two NFL quarterbacks. You've got defenses that are loaded with future pros. And, yes, Indiana, too. I think Indiana's got future pros on that defense as well. All American candidates, future NFL draft picks. So it's the guts to let it go as a quarterback, the confidence in your wide receiver to go make a play. The wide receiver and the DB battling it out and then. And I hate this last piece, but it has to be acknowledged because this big game breakdown, I'm not going to make this part of my locks, but how they're calling the game. You know, like, how, how much are, how much are d' Angelo Ponds or how much are Caleb Downs? I think, how much are these defensive backs going to be able to put their hands on the wide receivers? How strong are these wide receivers to make plays through it? I, I think that that's going to be the spot where, like, if you're Indiana, I kind of think that you've got the big bodied wide receivers to be able to just go make plays. We'll see. That's going to be one spot that I'm going to keep an eye on.
Tom Fornelli
I do think one interesting aspect of this game, like, I do think getting off to a good start is important for Indiana because Indiana has not really been in the position like we saw against Penn State. They had the comeback. That was the only time that they were in a spot where they were truly in trouble. Like, even if you go to the Oregon game, they were never trailing in that game. Like, Oregon tied him a few times if they were never trailing. And I don't think I, I do wonder mentally if Indiana falls behind early by Ohio State. And you just know how good that defense is. If it just kind of creeps in. It's like, oh, man, we're done. We got no chance here. Like, we got to come back against these guys.
Danny Cannell
What, what do you, Noah, our lovely producer at hq, obviously not a huge fan. He's like, are you on cover three? I'm like, yeah, I'm working. He should know that this is the point of listening. Just unbelievable. Unbelievable.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, the, yeah. Becker at six four, E.J. williams is six three, Surratt six two. You know, it's, we'll see, we'll see if they're gonna be able to, to, to go out there and make those plays. Anything else here? What, what do you have your eyes on?
Tom Fornelli
I, I, I've seen some talk about, like, what do either of these teams care about? Like, what, why do they even need to try? Ohio State hasn't won the Big Ten since 2020. They've watched Michigan do it three times. I guarantee you Ohio State would really like to win the conference and Indiana wants to win the Big Ten. It, when was the last time Indiana did so? They're playing for the one seed and they're playing for a conference title. They're going to show you plenty.
Danny Cannell
I'd say, and I can't even tell you who they are, but if this game is close and these, like, we talk about the quarterbacks not being under pressure, neither of These kickers have been under much pressure, you know, like, and if there is a game, you know, if there is a game winning situation, I don't know who to trust.
Tom Fornelli
Don't put it in the feet of your kicker.
Danny Cannell
Yes, please don't.
Chip Patterson
I mean, you are indoors.
Danny Cannell
Yeah. It should be fine.
Chip Patterson
Right? What about so 47 and a half is. You're both sort of hinting at, you're expecting a lower scoring game. It was a fast track.
Danny Cannell
Yeah, I know. That's why I'm like, I don't know. Because you talked about the playmakers on the field for Indiana and we didn't even have to talk about Ohio State's playmakers. Everybody knows who they are.
Tom Fornelli
I mean, I'm, I'm leaning towards it, but I'm not, I gotta write my column later today, so I haven't really dug into it that much from the gambling aspect. But, yeah, I am leaning towards the under here. Yeah. Also, I will say, because I mentioned it, Indiana's last conference title was 1967. That was a split. Their last outright 1945.
Chip Patterson
Also, if we're gonna say, I don't know, I don't know who I would give the coaching edge to.
But these are two of the best coaches in the sport right now, and we have had discussions with both of them, you know, over the last couple of years. Ain't no part of Ryan Day or Kurt Signetti that lets me think that they want anything other than to win this football game. And that message will be sent throughout the building. That message will be loud and clear. There ain't no. All right, boys, let's just take it easy, you know, like, what does it even mean? Like, we've got buys like that. That does not exist. These are Capital C competitors. You think it exists?
Danny Cannell
I'm just saying we've seen, like, what if Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate are kind of like, oh, that first series, I don't know, just kind of tweak something.
Chip Patterson
Then that's a Jeremiah Smith or a Carnell Tate decision from the, from the coaching staff, then this is, I, I, I think that this is going to be a message that is that loud and clear.
Danny Cannell
I hope so.
Chip Patterson
All right, coming up on the other side, we turn our attention to the SEC Big 12 ACC coaching carousel and more next.
Tom Fornelli
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Chip Patterson
Back Here on the COVID 3 podcast, Atlanta the Big Body Ben's Georgia will be taking on Alabama. This is the fifth time that Georgia and Alabama have played for the SEC championship in Atlanta since the game was founded in 1992. Does anybody know what the scoreboard reads.
Tom Fornelli
In those matchups in Atlanta?
Chip Patterson
No. The. The SEC championship.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
So in Atlanta, I would assume so.
Danny Cannell
I was always in Atlanta.
Tom Fornelli
I mean, Alabama's won them all. Right.
Chip Patterson
It's four for Alabama, zero for Georgia. The Bulldogs are two and a half point underdogs and have never beaten Alabama in the SEC Championship game. That would be the 2012 SEC championship game. That would be the 2018 SECC SEC championship game, 2021 SEC championship game and 2023 SEC championship game. And yeah, if you want to tack on the. The Tua to DeVonta Smith as just a little bit more of nightmare fuel for Georgia fans after the Bulldogs blew a 130 lead in that national championship game in this very same building. Yeah, there's a, there's a lot of vibe stuff going on here for the Dogs.
Tom Fornelli
So are you saying Georgia would rather play this game in Indianapolis because that's the last time they beat Alabama?
Danny Cannell
Yeah. Hey there.
Chip Patterson
There you go. That was, that could, that could be a great call here. So what are you concerned from the Alabama side? You know, I just sort of gave you the, the fan sort of the way that fans are feeling about this. Are you concerned from what we've seen from Alabama in the last couple of weeks?
Tom Fornelli
Yes.
Chip Patterson
Okay. That's real concern that like this, this ain't a switch that can be flipped where all of a sudden they're going to get back to the very best versions of themselves because they have not shown the best versions of themselves in the last couple weeks.
Tom Fornelli
I mean, it's very possible they could, they're a very talented team. You could see them get their act together. But just, I mean, I talked about it on Saturday night. Like the last month, Ty Simpson and that offense have been not at where they had been. I mean, and again, this was an offense that all year has been playing one handed because they haven't really been able to run the ball. And we saw them run the ball a little bit against Auburn. It's just. And it was encouraging. But you know, Jim Miller's banged up. We don't know how healthy he is. They lost Cuevas. He's probably going to be missing this game. And I think these are big deals for them on offense. But just overall, like Ty Simpson has looked more rattled in the pocket and I think part of that has been the protection in the past rushes he's been facing. But I just, I worry that when you ask a quarterback to pretty much be your offense for an entire season and to carry you that as it goes on and that weight just kind of starts to get heavy and you start feeling like you have to do everything. You start pressing and you start maybe trying to do too much. I kind of feel like Ty Simpson, when I watch him play is trying to do a little too much right now. And I think that that is a concern. But the good news is he's going up against one of the worst pass rushes in the country statistically. So maybe he's going to have all day in the pocket to pick him apart.
Danny Cannell
That was the one thing that I remember watching distinctly in the game in Athens, was Ty Simpson just patting the ball a couple times. Then it was like, oh, there's a guy and just ripping it. I mean, he had all day to throw. But I almost do feel like the. Specifically with this matchup with Georgia's inability to rush the pass for most of the year, all of a sudden they're starting to get home a little bit more. They've been a little bit more successful and Alabama's pass protection has broken down some as teams have been like, oh, they really can't run the football. Like, they haven't been worried about that. Like, so I feel like these two. Alabama's offense headed the wrong direction. Georgia's defense is headed in the right direction. Feels like it should be George's time for the taking.
Chip Patterson
Hey, Kirby's only one in seven against Alabama. What could go wrong, right? Jeez. What about the Gunner Stockton of it all? How Georgia's offense they were?
Danny Cannell
I was surprised. Do you think the Georgia. Georgia Tech game was more like, we're in control of the game. Let's not screw this up. Let's just win. Because they were a little bit more conservative on offense than they have been. You know, at other times this season. I thought Gunner Stockton was going to put up big numbers. He did not.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, I thought it was. I thought it was sneaky, disrespectful. They treated Georgia Tech like Charlotte and Marshall and all these like, no, we've done enough to win the game. Let's pack it up now.
Tom Fornelli
Right.
Chip Patterson
But early. But early. Yeah.
Danny Cannell
And without much of a lead.
Tom Fornelli
No, they didn't have to.
Chip Patterson
Boy game.
Danny Cannell
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
I don't know what to make of the Georgia Tech game, which, by the way, was also in this very same building, you know, about 11, eight days from. From when kickoff is going to be. Does Georgia feel like the third best team in the country to you?
Danny Cannell
I think there's a lot of that different. I think they're in a Whole slew of teams that are kind of tied for fifth.
Chip Patterson
That's what I kept saying is like, we got a one and a two and we got like four teams tied for fifth. Yeah, you get, you can tell, you can tell me, you tell me. Oregon's the fifth best team in the country, Georgia's fifth best team in the country. But it's, it's, it's a spot where for the dogs, you have to make sure that all of this defensive progress that's been made, it has to show up, you know, because Kalyn DeBoer had Georgia's number in the first half of that game earlier this season. Now, credit to the Bulldogs went into halftime, made the adjustments, clawed back into that game. If Cash Jones shakes off that tackler, they convert the fourth down. Who knows, Maybe Georgia wins that game, which would be absolutely massive. But I still, and you know, even going back to last, even going back to last week in the Iron Bowl, 17 point lead, that Alabama Blue, they got that 17 point lead by a fast start. Do you expect another fast start for the Tide?
Tom Fornelli
See, that's, that's an interesting thing to consider though, because that's the one thing about these rematches where when you've seen what the other team has done and you figured things out, because as you mentioned, like, every point Alabama scored in that game came in the first half.
Chip Patterson
Every one of them.
Tom Fornelli
They did not score in the second half. And you can look at it and on the flip side, the one thing Georgia did do well in the game, I mean, they ran the ball very, very well. Chauncey bowens averaged nearly 10 yards per carry as a team. They averaged about 7 yards per carry. So does Alabama come into this one like Alabama's run defense is not elite, but it's good. Do they come into this game having made adjustments to take that away to kind of force Gunner to do it more, kind of like Ty Simpson style, Put it all on your back. And is that a very good thing for Georgia? I think it could be, but I don't know like I, I do, if I'm Alabama, I am certainly probably prepping something different than what I showed in that game because it was clear Geor figured out how to take it away. And I don't think that's an impossible thing for Alabama to do. They've got Kaylin DeBoer, they've got Ryan Grubb. Those two guys have been doing it for a very long time. I think they can figure some stuff out that they think will work against George and Bring it out. But I don't know that that's the thing about these rematches because the teams kind of have a better idea of what works and what doesn't and you don't know who's going to adjust better than the other. But I will say, based on what we have seen in the second half of games all year, do kind of give Georgia an adjustment edge.
Danny Cannell
Yeah. And even in that game, you know, in the first time, Alabama had two 14 play drives in the first half of the game against Georgia. That was wild to see in Athens, a team like methodically marching the ball down the field against a Georgia defense. I don't think that happens again. You know, I think you could see a big play potentially. That's where I think, you know, I think Kirby will make the adjustment. And I do see, I think Alabama will struggle more offensively. I think their plays, their offense will come more from big plays in last year.
Chip Patterson
Kalyn DeBoer's first matchup with the Bulldogs last season, 30 points in the first half, 11 in the second half in this game. As we in the game earlier this season, 24 in the first half, 0 in the second half. So averaging 27 first half points per game in two games against Georgia. Averaging a little under a touchdown in second halves against Georgia. Fast start for the Todd. Unfortunately not unfortunately, but to me certainly feels crucial to give yourself the best chance to be able to win.
Tom Fornelli
Fun little fact here.
Chip Patterson
Yep.
Tom Fornelli
We've talked about Alabama's rushing offense not being good all season. There's only one game all year in which they have not managed one explosive run. Do you want to guess which one it was?
Chip Patterson
Was it Georgia?
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
Because Georgia's run defense has mostly been there throughout the whole year. We've just, we have decried or we have wanted for a little bit more in terms of that classic Michael Williams coming through with the strip sack. You know, take it back even further to the title teams. We, we don't have that. But they have been rock solid. They have rock solid all throughout.
Danny Cannell
Well, let's say Georgia's up by two touchdowns. Let's say 10 points. 11. 11 points and they have the ball and they're listening to the Georgia Florida game and they could score another touchdown. Do they do the SEC a solid and take a knee?
Chip Patterson
No.
Danny Cannell
Or do they go for the jugular and try to kick Alabama out?
Tom Fornelli
I think they just try to win the football game. Yeah.
Chip Patterson
You can get injured in practice on a Tuesday, you know.
Danny Cannell
Yeah, that's a good line.
Chip Patterson
So good. Yeah. Fun, fun game. I mean just I'll be, I'll be live blogging this one for CBSSports.com we haven't been doing as many live blogs this season but when you get, when that request comes in, especially for a game like this, more than happy to, to, to step up and do that. So check it out. CBSSports.com and of course the game 4pm kickoff from Atlanta. Speaking of tough to beat a team twice. What about is, is there any BYU crumble cookie bump coming? You think, you think the boys, you think, you think Bear and Tiger and all.
Danny Cannell
Coach is crying how much he loves you and that, that reception. I do think there will be a bump. I don't know if it'll be enough of a bump.
Chip Patterson
Right. I don't know. I don't know if it'll be enough of a bump to overcome one of the best defenses in the country. But I was thinking about this, Danny. Like BYU's defense played okay in that game. They had to deal with short fields. They had to deal with a minus three turnover margin.
They just can't, they cannot make it easy on Texas Tech. And if they don't, then they'll have a chance. But man, they've got to, they got to find a way to block Hunter and Bailey and the rest of that defensive front, Rodriguez, and it avoid the strip sack that sets up the easy touchdowns. Because I think BYU's defense in the first game was solid enough that I think it will be difficult for Texas Tech to string together 10, 11, 12 play, 75 yard drives type stuff.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, but BYU also has to put those together.
Chip Patterson
I know, but it was a, they got rocked in the first game on the scoreboard.
Tom Fornelli
They, they got rocked on the field too. Chip. Like Bud is not here. But I will ask Bud's favorite question. Are we sure that these guys can block Texas Tech? No, we know that they can. No, we know that they can't. Now, you know, taking what Bud says, I'm going to go against Bud where injury or turnovers are lucky. No, they're not. BYU had three turnovers in that game and it was largely because Texas Tech was beating the hell out of them and forced those turnovers like they were just overpowered. So I, this is a different situation to me than the Georgia Alabama rematch because I do feel like those teams are more evenly matched. I don't think these teams are that evenly matched. I, I think that, you know, I, I mentioned earlier in the show that Ohio State has one of the greatest defenses of all time. And I think that has really overshadowed the fact that Texas Tech's defense is also really, really good. Like, it is along the lines of the Georgia defenses that we have seen in recent years. Now, granted the competition, you're going to argue they're playing in the Big 12, it's different than Georgia playing in the SEC at the time, blah, blah, blah. I don't care. I'm just talking about when going against the teams that they are facing and the team that they are facing this weekend, this defense is exceptional. Like when we were putting together our All America teams this week. I don't know if you put your ballot together this morning. There's legitimately an argument to put three of Texas Tech's defensive linemen on your first ballot.
Chip Patterson
I think got cut and I did not feel good dropping Lee Hunter from the ballot, but that was just. There were other interior defensive linemen.
Tom Fornelli
I agree with you, though, and I, I like byu. It's just we have seen in this matchup, they just didn't have the dudes. Doesn't mean they can't win this game. They could force Texas Tech into those mistakes. They could try to, you know, get, you know, get the ball, a couple turnovers, get some of those quote, unquote lucky bounces. Maybe Baron Morton, who's been banged up, goes out with an injury and now you got your backup. So, like, I, I don't. I'm not ruling BYU's chances out. I am just highly skeptical based on what we saw in the first matchup, that enough has changed for both of these teams to think BYU is going to be able to make up that deficit.
Chip Patterson
Not even Bears haunches can overcome the All American.
Danny Cannell
They just could not run the football. Yeah.
Tom Fornelli
L.J.
Danny Cannell
Martin, it was not. They held him to 67 yards.
Chip Patterson
Yeah.
Danny Cannell
Now it was in Lubbock.
It was in Lubbock. That was an incredible home field advantage. Game day was there. It was off the charts.
But, like, is a neutral field going to do that much of a difference? No, I just. And I did think for the first time that Barry Bockmire was clearly rattled, which you would expect a true freshman quarterback to do.
I mean, maybe they run the ball a little bit better and their defense keeps them in it. Like, I think that's the recipe for a BYU upset is a low scoring game where it's, you know, 13 to 10, 17, 14, something like that, and you're able to run the football a little bit more effectively. But I don't think they're going to score that Many points. You know, maybe you get a pick six. Baron. Baron Morton I think is a liability for Texas Tech. That's the one thing that because we I remember us discussing that game. It was like, man, it felt like Texas Tech dominated. That game should have been 45 to 9 and they didn't because I thought Baron Morton missed some throws.
Tom Fornelli
And you mentioned Texas Tech and the run defense in that game. Like that's every week. Nobody's run the ball on Texas Tech like they are. If you look at EPA, they are at 0.38 per rush. EPA, that's number one in the country. Second place is Ohio State at 0.28. So like a full percentage point pretty much ahead of Ohio State. Like nobody has run the ball on this team. BYU is not a passing team. BYU's only real method of success on offenses they throw the ball but it's through running it and Texas Tech's not going to let them do it.
Chip Patterson
Under.
Tom Fornelli
It was it hit. The first game was 36. I can't remember what the posted total was, but I guarantee you is much higher than 36.
Chip Patterson
And is there any negative side of Kalani Sataki allegedly going to an Altoona, Pennsylvania sheet? Stipid. Go tell Pat Crafty ain't taking that job.
Tom Fornelli
I don't think Kalani was there, Chip.
Chip Patterson
You think it was Photoshopped?
Tom Fornelli
Just maybe.
Chip Patterson
Okay, again I said I don't care if it's photoshopped or real or not. I just thought it was funny. Okay, last one. True. True. Mid game breakdown even before the Watch your mouth.
Danny Cannell
There's two great quarterbacks going toe to toe.
Chip Patterson
I it is two good quarterbacks going toe to toe. Yes. Chandler Morris going up against Darian Minsa.
The first game again was 31 to 3 going into the fourth quarter. Final score 31 to 17. 34 to 17. Excuse me, forgot the late Virginia field goal. So what's different and what are the expectations for this matchup again? Another rematch from a game this one happened just a couple weeks ago?
Tom Fornelli
We got to ask ourselves, like you mentioned, it was 313 after 3/4. Was Duke setting Virginia up the rematch? Like was Duke playing the long game?
Chip Patterson
Did Duke know that Clemson over Louisville 20 to 19 were Louisville missed two field goals in the final two minutes would propel them to the ACC championship game based on win percentage of conference opponents. Did they? I don't know. Here's what I do know. Since the start of November, which is on the other side of an off week, Duke's defense, their best performance was Against North Carolina, which.
Everybody else, that they've played any offense with a pulse since the start of November, it's kind of. Kind of carved Duke up a little bit. Not necessarily what you would expect given Manny Diaz's own defensive history, but this season, they've. They've had trouble being able to go out there and get stops. Now, I think Darian Mensah can score on a lot of defenses, including Virginia's. Heck, that's why we've got a total here that you see on the screen@YouTube.com cover3 that is remarkably higher than a lot of the other games that we have been discussing. But can it be enough? And can Virginia get stops? Can Duke get stops? What's the expectation?
Tom Fornelli
I. I'm not confident that Duke will get enough stops because, as you mentioned, I'll put some numbers to it. Chip points allowed per drive by month for Duke. August, 1.55. It was one game. 2.45 in September, 1.95 in October, 33.04 in November.
Chip Patterson
Like, that means every single time the opponent got the ball, they at least got a field goal on average.
Tom Fornelli
And when you look across the board at, like, the stats I care about, I'm looking at them right now. The last month, just everything has gotten significantly worse. They are in a bad place defensively. I mean, I don't know if it's just everything's kind of on tape. So their opponents have figured stuff out that maybe was confusing teams earlier in the year, and now everybody's just like, okay, this is what they're doing. Doing when they do this. But defensively, this team is a mess. Offensively, I think Virginia, I don't. They're not. I mean, it's. Neither of these teams is elite at anything. But I think offensively, Virginia is good enough to. Whereas we saw in the first game, I do think they will be able to move the ball. I think the bigger question in this one will be, can Duke have a better offensive performance in this game than they had in the first one?
Danny Cannell
Yeah, that's their recipe is sort of the opposite of the BYU having a chance. This one has to be a shootout for Duke to want to win, which we could see. I mean, that's why the point total is high. I just go back, and I was watching the UConn game, and it was like, UConn had the lead, and then Duke would score, and you'd be like, all right, well, now they gotta buckle down and get a stop. And they just could not stop. Yukon's offense. And so I don't picture them getting many stops. I want to say mackenzie said that their Sportsline model had Duke as a favor favorite.
Chip Patterson
Yeah.
Danny Cannell
You think that makes sense?
Chip Patterson
I don't agree with it, but I know that the early action on this included a. Like, as soon as it was posted, it bumped down to two and a half. And then I think it's gone back up to three and a half. There is a, there is a, there is a corner of the, I guess the sports betting world that probably does believe Duke's just unlucky. You know, like if, if you think that turnovers are all luck and have nothing to do with, I don't know, your ability to hang on to the damn football. Right. Like, turnovers can be a skill to some. To some way. If you look at the yardage differentials, the success rate differentials, like you go back to the Georgia Tech game, you go back to some of those earlier games, then yes, you may feel as though Duke is due. I do not. I want to make it clear I am not in that category. I think that Duke's issues with turnovers, I think Duke's issues with special teams and the kicking game, I think that that is just kind of who they've been this season. And I think you cannot imagine as though the coin's going to flip the other way because do you know what this is? This is the coin flipping the other way from what happened last year. They won nine games last season. What, five of them were one possession games, maybe even six of them were one possession games. So the water is finding its level. I don't, I don't know if I'm going to jump on the other side of. I'm not going to jump on the other side. Just thinking that Duke's due to not turn it over, especially in this spot.
Tom Fornelli
I'd like the, the turnover thing just something I've been written about for a few years now. If you look on the season turnover margin, Duke's 25th, they've got a positive turnover margin. So even if you want to argue that's luck, argue it's lucky. When it comes to points off of Turnover margin, Duke 65th. Duke's not unlucky. They're just not good enough to take advantage of the turnovers.
Danny Cannell
I mean, Duke was only 14, 13 versus Big Ten powerhouse Illinois. So I mean, clearly they're capable of playing against the best competition in the.
Tom Fornelli
Country if they just hadn't turned the ball over five times and I think.
Danny Cannell
Four more in the red zone. Weren't they?
Chip Patterson
Yes.
Danny Cannell
If they just hadn't done that, they would have won.
Chip Patterson
All right, coming up on the other side, we'll check in with day trading. Danny, get a little coaching carousel update and then maybe a quick run through some of the biggest storylines from the rest of championship weekend and more nukes.
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Chip Patterson
Back here on the COVID 3 podcast, it's always, you know, fiscally responsible to check in with your financial advisors. We're starting the last month of the year. Make sure you got everything buttoned up. Let's check in with the trading Danny.
Danny Cannell
All right, let's start it off a little bit of coaching carousel kind of impact that it has some buys and sells based off of that.
Specifically because out of the goodness of his heart and this is a good man move to make Lane Kiffin saying, you know What, Charlie Weiss Jr. You can go back. I'm a good guy. I didn't mean anybody any harm. We don't want to harm the place that I left. He is allowing to go back. I actually am buying this as Ole Miss because I I was concerned about Ole Miss offensively with Joe Judge potentially being the offensive play caller. Now that Charlie Weiss is back, I am buying Ole Miss as a team that could win a playoff game that could maybe, you know, win two games that could make a little bit of a run. I don't think I view them as a national championship contender, but I am buying Ole Miss and I would have sold them had Charlie Weiss Jr. Been gone, not been around, and they're kind of left to kind of figure it out with their top three offensive minds gone. So I'm buying Ole Miss here with Charlie, Charlie Weiss Jr. Back in the mix.
Tom Fornelli
Nice guy, Lane Kiffin. Wonderful human being. Although, I mean, his players seem to disagree, at least his former players, very publicly disagreeing with some of the things Lane said about the way he said things went down in that team. Yeah, the players, much like Lane said all of national media felt he should have stayed and been able to coach the team when it was just Kirk and Nick.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, his, the, the Ole Miss players who've been retweeting Lane's statement with that's not what happened. That's not what you said. It's a very different message.
Danny Cannell
Oh, you guys saw the, the defensive tackle on his tick tock, right? John Seaton. He doesn't play a lot, but he did transfer from Elon, shout out to Elon and he did his tick tock where he reenacted. He was like, all right guys, let's go get him. And then he takes a phone call and he goes, what? How much am I going to get? And he's like, all right, see you. And he puts up the deuces and takes off. Even though I don't think it was incredibly accurate because I don't think it was about the money. I think it was about better opportunity. But yes, and I do think this is actually another reason to buy Ole Miss. I do think this team could be galvanized around each other, around the controversy. Lane Kiffin leaving. Let's rally around Pete Golding. So I think they could be pretty dangerous.
Tom Fornelli
I am just nice guy, Lane Kiffin. Wonderful guy. Letting Charlie Weiss Jr. Go back to Ole Miss. I'm going to read something from ESPN.com which is totally not related to this. Just going to read it. Kiffin, who agreed to a seven year contract with LSU on Sunday that will pay him 13 million annually, will receive the same College Football Playoff bonus from LSU that he would have if he had remained with Ole Miss through the postseason. That begins with $150,000 bonus for the Rebels participation in the first round college football playoff game increases to 250 grand for participation in a quarterfinal and tops out at 1 million if ole Miss wins the national title. I think that had anything to do with sending Charlie Weiss back to Ole Miss.
Chip Patterson
Well, now being a nice guy, now I've got to decide whether I want to tank the game to keep Lane Kiffin from Getting paid or win the game and have him make money off of this.
Tom Fornelli
I wonder if those things are related. That's all I'm asking.
Chip Patterson
Also, I liked in the nice guy, Lane Kiffin. Great guy, Lane Kiffin. He said in his statement, which again, no one asked for, that he hopes that this would allow the selection committee not to hurt Ole Miss. And Heather Dennis came out and was like, they were done at noon.
Danny Cannell
You released this at 2pm like, not impacted at all.
Chip Patterson
Impacted at all. So Ole Miss moved up. Even with no Charlie Weiss and no Lane Kiffin, they still moved up one spot in the rankings. Again, a good sign for Ole Miss and their College Football Playoff future.
Danny Cannell
Just wait till he donates all those winnings to a dog adoption place so they can adopt Juice given.
Chip Patterson
Also, I am buying everybody from that hot yoga studio airing out all the insane things that he'd been doing.
Danny Cannell
Oh, yeah.
Tom Fornelli
Oh, I've not heard any of this.
Chip Patterson
Just, like, just getting up, walking around, knocking somebody over when they're doing a plank. Yeah, I had the app on his phone, so he would change the humidity and like, all of a sudden turn it way up, and everything would be fogging up. You couldn't see anything. He had golf balls that he would just roll around in the middle of these hot yoga sessions.
Tom Fornelli
Very, very nice. Mature man. Definitely not an overgrown child.
Chip Patterson
Nice guy, Lane Kiffin. Great guy, Lane Kiffin.
Danny Cannell
All right, I have another purchase. I'm gonna buy John Sumrall to Florida. I do think it was one of my favorite hires. I cannot believe they have to do a PR campaign to try to show some support and, like, hey, let's rally behind it. This isn't Lane Kiffin, but we can still be Okay. I think that's ridiculous. I will say this. I will buy it even more if he's able. Now we'll see who he gets, his offensive coordinator. But if he gets Cade Bell, son of Kerwin Bell, former Florida quarterback who is at pit, who has crushed it, I. That, to me, would make Florida very dangerous. Now, it doesn't have to be Cade Bell. He could get some other impressive offensive mind. But I think Cade Bell is one of the best coordinators that they've got out there in the game right now. We saw the job he's done at Pitt with Mason Hill. Who knows? Maybe that's one where he brings them with him. But I think that would be absolutely a home run.
I think.
Tom Fornelli
You know, you mentioned Lane giving money to a shelter to save dogs. I feel like Florida fans maybe have, like, a Battered dog syndrome. Like, you go to rescue those dogs, and maybe their last home wasn't very great. So they're very, very shy. You got to just kind of show them love slowly to help bring them along, to make them, you know, a happy, healthy dog living at home. I think that Florida's fans have been through a lot with that football program in recent years in their last few coaches, where they're just. They're scared. I get it. You know, you're going Back to the G5 for another G5 coach from the state of Louisiana. Oh, God, here we go again. But I agree with you. I think it is a great hire for Florida.
Chip Patterson
Florida fans are an emotional bunch, and I.
I thought it was amusing. I didn't enjoy it, but I thought it was amusing to watch Florida fans literally retweet themselves where the original tweet was, how horrible the hire was. And then after Summerall bodied that press conference, they were all like, I'm in. We're winning the national champions.
Seriously, if you haven't gotten a chance to see it, John Summerall won the press conference. Yeah, he came out on fire. And all those Gator fans. And maybe again, maybe it speaks to the broken. The broken status, the broken emotional status of a Florida fan after four failed coaching tenures that you do have these huge swings from it's all over to we're winning it all. But some are all seem to do that. I'm in. I mean, obviously, we've been big fans.
Danny Cannell
Asking about a G5 coach, like, and how he was very delicate because he didn't want to throw Billy Napier on the bus. But he's like, I'm not Billy Napier. He's like, I'm a winner, and winners win. I'm going to win. Yeah, it was. And he was right. Like, there is no. There's no formula. It's not the great coordinator. Like, sure, that has worked before, but group of five coaches have worked before. Like, there's no formula. Just go hire the right guy. And I think they might have stumbled into the right guy.
Tom Fornelli
Five coach.
Danny Cannell
What's that?
Tom Fornelli
Urban Meyer was five coach.
Danny Cannell
Actually, a lot of them have come from there. I am. I said this after this whole thing shook out. I'm selling LSU and Ole Miss, that in three years, both of these programs, I think both of them are going to be worse. Worse off than they think they're going to be right now. Maybe not Ole Miss, because I don't know how Ole Miss feels about the future of their program, but I don't Think they're going to see the success they had with Lane Kiffin. I think their schedule gets a lot tougher. Pete Golding is walking in next year at Florida, at Oklahoma, at Texas, at Vanderbilt, plus an additional Power 4 game that they're going to have to add to the schedule because Greg Sankey saying, power four plus one more. And then you had Lane Kiffin this year. Eight power four teams, four group of five. Like a lot of it has been scheduling with lsu. Again, like, everybody's like, oh, I'm a super defender of Lane Kiffin. I think I do not get the over the top absolute pandemonium that we saw in desperation to go get Lane Kiffin. I think he's a really good coach, but I think he clearly has some flaws and I don't know if LSU is going to get what they think they're getting, which they probably thought they were getting with Brian Kelly. You know, it's like what every coach, every program thinks you're going to get is, oh, this is the guy. He's going to bring us multiple national titles. I think in three or four years. They're going to be some LSU fans that are saying, oh, here we go again. And we're going to be having the same discussions about LSU.
Chip Patterson
You didn't see. So you're not in on four year prediction for Lane Kiffin. Three playoff appearances, one national title. No.
Danny Cannell
I don't even know if it's going out on a limb. This might be. Not even. This is probably a pretty normal take because I just don't know if it works. All his anti. I thought he was perfect for Ole Miss, like in a program like Ole Miss. And even Kirk Signetti was pretty, but he. When Kirk's and daddy was Indiana, he was asked like, why, you know, you were very bold. You said you were going to beat Purdue and then you said, oh, yeah, I'm going to beat. You know, Purdue sucks, but so does Michigan and Ohio State. He's like, we needed some juice.
Chip Patterson
We said I needed to shake it, shake things up.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
Danny Cannell
When you kind of needed some attention, people talking about you, I think Ole Miss needed that. LSU doesn't need any unwanted attention. They don't need cryptic tweets and they're going to get it. Like, they're going to get a lot of trash talk and stuff. So I don't know if it works well at lsu. This one kind of encompasses all that we've seen. We haven't even talked about some of this news. Man, I want to sell, like, I was very bullish on Oregon coming into the College Football Playoff. But now with not one, but two, both offensive and defensive coordinators going to other jobs. Josh Lupoita, Cal, Will Stein to Kentucky, I'm like nervous like, and I know they're staying there, like, sure. But that double minded. Your mind is preoccupied. You're doing two things at once. I have to believe it has some impact on the game plan and your ability to do your job correctly. And sure, I think you could win a playoff game, but the deeper it goes, the closer you get to the portal, the, the transfer portal. Like, I just, it has me concerned. So not only am I selling Oregon, I don't know if I'm going to sell Ohio State with Brian Hartline going to usf because I still think Ryan Day is probably the guy that was doing most of this offense. So I don't think, I think it's as significant. But the group of five representative, whether it's Tulane or North Texas, I'm kind of worried about them, which I'd be worried about them anyway. They're not that good. But I just, I think that this is a major problem that didn't get discussed because everybody's like the calendar around Lane. Calendar is an issue with a lot.
Chip Patterson
Of these programs for Oregon and we can even, you know, peel off into some of these other ones.
I do think they've got an advantage that maybe some others don't. Dan Landing accepted the Oregon job in early December of 2021 and then Georgia went and won the national championship with him as defensive coordinator. While he was also trying to navigate setting up the Oregon football program like one of the true, you know, big behemoths of the sport. Now it was a program that certainly had slid off the tracks a little bit that last year or two under Mark Helfrich. But if there's anybody that I would want, if I'm an Oregon fan, that whether it's Will Stein at Kentucky or Tasha Lupoit Cal, the fact that their boss Dan Lanning went through this process, it was a 14 playoff, not a 12 team playoff calendar. Slightly different, but I still think that's got to be that. There's got to be some positive to that. The fact that Dan Lanning went through that exact same thing.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, I mean it's, it's an interesting situation and it's when we really don't have a huge sample size of what the impact will be. But I do think Oregon specifically, like listening both of your coordinators, even if they're sticking around like, whether it impacts them in the playoff or not. I do think this will be a very interesting test for Dan Lanning going into next season and that he has to replace both coordinators. And remember, like, coordinators, when they move on and they bring their staffs with them, they tend to go through guys that they know. And so, like, odds are Lupoi and Stein won't be the only members leaving that Oregon staff. They might be getting, you know, raises at Cal and at Kentucky. So it's gonna be really interesting overall to see what happens with that coaching staff.
Chip Patterson
Real quick, let me jump in here because I need to correct myself. He was after Cristobal, who was after Helfrich, and Crystal Ball did have Oregon playing in a Pac 12 title game. I just. As we're sitting here talking, I'm pulling it off my head. So excuse and moi. My apologies. Mea culpa. I had my Oregon timelines messed up.
Danny Cannell
But don't forget the Willie Tagard era.
Chip Patterson
And the Willie Tagard era.
Tom Fornelli
Could everybody please tweet Chip learn ball? Yeah, let him know he made a mistake even though he's already corrected it. If you're listening.
Chip Patterson
Even though I've already corrected it.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, I want chips mentions for the next four days to be Chip. He replaced Helfrich or Crystal Ball, not Helfrich.
Danny Cannell
For my final exercise here, I'll ask you guys a simple question. I will give. I wish I would have had Mikey had a graphic for this because I have two stocks and I need to tell you which one you're gonna buy as a national champion. So you have stock A. This is after an entire season. Stock A finished the season 11 and 1, played six top 25 opponents, won those games. The five wins by an average margin of victory of 23.4 points a game. Stock B played three top 25 opponents, won those games by 4.6 points per game. Average margin of victory. Stock a. With those six top 25 wins, their only loss came to number two, the 2 ranked team in the country by seven. Stock B lost to the 17th ranked team in the country by two. Who would you buy as a national champion of those two teams?
Tom Fornelli
So is this Miami and Oregon?
Danny Cannell
No, this is not.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, don't spend too much time trying to guess.
Danny Cannell
Yeah, don't try. This is not.
Tom Fornelli
This.
Danny Cannell
This could. This is just. Just two blank teams. Just don't even. Now, this is your national champion. This is not a college football playoff.
Tom Fornelli
Oh, okay.
Danny Cannell
This is an entirety of a season. 6 Top 25 wins, average margin, victory 23.4 versus 3 Top 25 wins average. March of victory 4.6. Your only loss was to number two for the team with six top 25 teams. Your only loss. The other one was the number 17 by 2.
Just say stock A or stock B.
Tom Fornelli
Team A or T?
Chip Patterson
B. Hey, yeah.
Danny Cannell
The team with six top 25 wins that dominated those wins, right? Suck it, Notre Dame. That's right. Don't tell me about, oh, we stole this robot. Head to head matters. Head to head. The resumes were not similar in 1993. Your soul team that won the national championship in 1993. Thank you. Case closed. I needed a graphic for that one. Notre Dame fans out here. What about head to head? Did it matter in 93? What happened then?
Thank you.
Let's go.
My good.
Chip Patterson
We were out here guessing.
Danny Cannell
She was going right over. We're gonna do it again with Bud. We're gonna create a graphic. We're gonna see what Bud can do. Stock A or stock B. That's right.
Chip Patterson
God, that was so good.
Tom Fornelli
Oh, yeah.
Chip Patterson
We're sitting here. We're like, okay, so that one's Oregon.
Tom Fornelli
When he said that they lost the number two, I'm like, okay, Oregon lost Indiana.
Chip Patterson
God, was so good.
Danny Cannell
Who lost to 17?
Tom Fornelli
I'm like, is Texas 17? Is this Oregon Oklahoma? What am I doing?
Danny Cannell
I just set it up like the entirety of the season is done. It probably could have done a better job of that, but no, no, no, no, no.
Chip Patterson
You needed. You needed right the wrong way. Clear cut.
Danny Cannell
It shouldn't have been, like, wasn't hard. It's easy.
Chip Patterson
Then all of a sudden, Danny stopped walking with a limp and started walking straight. And we dropped our coffee cups.
So good. Oh, yeah, that's good.
Tom Fornelli
All right.
Chip Patterson
Anything else?
Danny Cannell
That is. That market is closed.
Chip Patterson
God, that's awesome.
We mentioned with just the few minutes we got left of some of these. Of some of these recent coaching carousel updates, what's. What really stands out as significant? What are you keeping your eyes on or moved by?
Danny Cannell
Oh, we didn't mention the. Chris Kleiman stepping down. Colin Klein in. That's another. Another playoff team that has a distracted coach. You know, I think it's a great. I think Colin Klein going back, it said Chris Kleiman stepping down.
I think this is one where they kind of got together and we're like, look, we want to do something different. And Chris Kleiman was like, all right, I get it. Like, that's your guy. I mean, save some face.
Tom Fornelli
Now all. Now that all this has happened, unsubstantiated rumors time that I ever brought up on the show. Like, I had heard Chris Kleiman was close to taking the Arkansas job a few weeks ago, and I thought that was going to happen. And then shortly after that, we got the press conference where he was talking about how he was, you know, just tired of everybody saying he sucks and how he's given his life to this job and now he's retiring. Yeah, I. I do feel like this has been kind of a soft firing, I guess, is a way to put it.
Chip Patterson
Hey, let's call it a reboot. Let's call it. Let's call it a brand refresh. You know, we're gonna flush out all of this season, which has been a no good, very bad season for Kansas State football. We're gonna bring back Colin Klein, and he's gonna have the chance to be able to be the face, unlike some. I mean, I don't mean. I'm not meaning this as a shot, but Colin Klein is also one of the top offensive coordinators in the country. I mean, he's. This is not a. We're gonna get the guy who played here, and he's just gonna be a rah rah. I mean, he's. He's a very good coach ready for this kind of challenge.
Tom Fornelli
I think that there was a lot of pressure in Manhattan where they were worried if they waited, Colin Klein would end up getting another job and that it might be more difficult to convince him to come.
Chip Patterson
Very interesting.
South Florida, Brian Hartline.
Danny Cannell
That one's for the Dolphins. Like, he's got a little bit of Florida, you know, familiarity. He's recruited there.
Tom Fornelli
Well, got an arm sleeve. He's. He's ready for Florida.
Chip Patterson
And. And what does this mean for Ohio State's offensive coordinator?
Tom Fornelli
I don't know what he's gonna do.
Danny Cannell
Kelly, come back.
Chip Patterson
Kelly, come back.
Tom Fornelli
Good. He could.
Danny Cannell
He very much could. For the title run.
Chip Patterson
You could do that, right?
Danny Cannell
Absolutely.
Tom Fornelli
You could bring him as an analyst. Yeah. Yeah.
Chip Patterson
All right. Anything else? We want to hit 2.
Danny Cannell
What is Penn State going to do?
Tom Fornelli
I was going to recommend that. I was going to recommend that Penn State hires a coach. Yes.
Danny Cannell
That would be nice.
Chip Patterson
There for those. Again, like, one of the storylines that I'm sure Bud is talking about right now is that Penn State's recruiting classes.
Danny Cannell
130. Something historically bad.
Chip Patterson
I mean, this is like everyone. I haven't. I haven't gotten a chance to check the college football workroom, but the conversation that is at least being posed is, is this one of the Worst recruiting collapses in the recruit modern recruiting era.
To go. Yeah, to go from where you were at the beginning of this season, what you had lined up.
Tom Fornelli
I mean, they're like what, 140th nationally. And I think they lost another kid today before we started the show, so they might have fallen even further.
Chip Patterson
So. Yeah, not great. Bob, what about the rest of championship weekend? North Texas two lane that gotcha.
Double distracted coach. Bowl.
Danny Cannell
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
Double foot out the door.
Tom Fornelli
Bowl.
Chip Patterson
We'll see.
Tom Fornelli
Nothing on the line.
Chip Patterson
Troy at jmu.
Tom Fornelli
The funniest point favorite.
Danny Cannell
Jmu.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
Funny.
Tom Fornelli
No, wait, that game's on Friday night. Never mind.
Chip Patterson
Funniest possible outcome is Troy winning is.
Tom Fornelli
Like Duke wins and then Troy wins.
Chip Patterson
So then Duke has the. Yes.
UNLV at Boise State went decidedly the Broncos way the first time. That was in Albertson Stadium. We were back in Albertson Stadium.
Rebs got anything for him?
Tom Fornelli
We'll find out.
Chip Patterson
Okay. Kennesaw State at Jacksonville State.
Tom Fornelli
The only two good teams in that league. I watched a lot of Conference USA football this year on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Felt like I was being held hostage for a whole hell of a lot of it. Those two are actually. Okay, look, that'll be a fun game.
Chip Patterson
It'll. I think it'll be a very fun game. I'm excited about that one. Both of them also are coming into this game off kind of bananas. 12th games of the season for Kennesaw. It was a 48, 42 win in double overtime at Liberty. Jacksonville State had a game winning field goal with 28 seconds left against Western Kentucky. It was, it's, it was, it was bananas for both of these teams. So they're both coming in vibing a little bit. And then finally, as. As is tradition, Saturday noon eastern time, you might be watching down in Dallas, but you, you know, you know, Ford Field will have a. Have a screen. Ford Field will have a piece of. Ford Field will have a piece of my heart. The Redhawks, Miami Ohio, Chuck Martin and the crew hoping to have a better showing than they did last year when they got stuffed into a locker by Ohio. Western Michigan has had a very good season this year. Seven and one in conference play. What do we. What are we looking for? What are we expecting in our final edition of maxion for the 2025 college football season?
Tom Fornelli
Give me the team that's been there before and that's out for revenge.
Chip Patterson
That's on my notepad. I said Chuck Martin, revenge game. Also of note that.
The player who had both of Miami Ohio's touchdowns and a 26 to 17 home win against Western Michigan is no longer with the team. We didn't spend a lot of time talking about Daquan Finn just bouncing, but it'll be in Thomas got. Kowski has had a couple games to get under his belt, including a very good performance against Ball State. So that's sort of another piece of this. While it is a rematch like some of these other games, Miami Ohio has changed with a, with a quarterback who up and left the team in the middle of the season. So it's, it's a, it's a good one. Fun times. All right. We will be back Thursday, 11am Eastern Time to give you our championship locks, maybe a little bit of a coaching carousel update and more. So come and hang out YouTube.com3 and you can follow him on Twitter at Tom Frinell. You can follow him at Danny Cannell. Can you follow me at Chip underscore Patterson? Gentlemen, thank you very much.
Tom Fornelli
Thank you.
Danny Cannell
See you. ACC's up six three in the SEC challenge.
Tom Fornelli
Now streaming on Paramount Plus. Dearest Eva, I think about you all the time.
Danny Cannell
Once I find you and your daughter.
Tom Fornelli
Then I will kill you both.
Chip Patterson
Those words and those threats were absolute psychological terrorism.
Tom Fornelli
Surviving 12 years of terror.
Danny Cannell
You begin prepared for my arrival.
Chip Patterson
Oh, my God. He found our house. And he was coming.
Tom Fornelli
My nightmare stalker. The Eva LaRue Story. Now streaming on Paramount Plus.
Episode Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Danny Kanell (Bud Elliott on assignment)
The Cover 3 crew dives deep into Championship Week, offering in-depth breakdowns of the biggest conference title games, detailed thoughts on Ohio State–Indiana, SEC title history between Georgia and Alabama, and the biggest narratives around coaching carousel moves and signing day results. With their signature humor, the hosts balance tactical football talk with locker-room banter and reflections on key storylines from a wild 2025 season.
"Be proud of that sicko status and being a part of the Cover 3 tailgate because we really, really do appreciate you."
Bud Elliott's Absence: Bud is away covering National Signing Day, tracking commitments and flips.
USC's Recruiting Surge:
"You might have the greatest college football defense we've ever seen... first team ever to go through a whole season without allowing 17 points."
"They went out and got, you know, a couple offensive linemen. They went out and got a couple of defensive linemen. They've added playmakers to this roster."
"It just came down to... who could go up there and grab those jump balls. You know, you had an NFL quarterback. We've got two NFL quarterbacks, you've got defenses that are loaded with future pros."
"The Bulldogs are two and a half point underdogs and have never beaten Alabama in the SEC Championship game."
"Ty Simpson... has looked more rattled in the pocket... you start pressing and you start maybe trying to do too much."
Danny Kanell’s “Stock A or B” setup to dunk on Notre Dame’s 1993 title argument (66:43)
“Who would you buy as national champion... Stock A or Stock B?”
Playful ribbing among hosts throughout the segment:
This episode is a quintessential Cover 3 experience—lively, insightful, and rich with both tactical football analysis and sharp, comedic banter. Whether you follow playoff-bound blue bloods or the MAC’s finest—or just love the drama of “coaching carousel” season—this episode primes you with the narratives and X-factors you’ll need to enjoy Championship Week at any depth.
Memorable closing line:
Danny (68:44): "You needed. You needed right the wrong way. Clear cut."
Chip (69:02): "So good. Oh, yeah, that's good."
Fans, sickos, and college football obsessives: enjoy the ride into the postseason!