← Cover 3 College Football
Cover 3 College Football
🚨 CFP National Championship Instant Reaction | Indiana Holds Off Miami
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- [00:00]
Chip Patterson
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- [02:12]
Bud Elliott
Welcome Back to the COVID 3 podcast with your hosts Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli.
- [02:17]
Tom Fornelli
Danny Cannell and Bud Elliott. It's your call for the best college.
- [02:22]
Bud Elliott
Football coverage from Training Day to the national championship and everything in between. CBS Sports presents the COVID 3 podcast.
- [02:33]
Chip Patterson
And welcome back to the COVID 3 podcast here on CBS Sports. That's Tom Fenelli, That's Bud Elliott. 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 Three tail gay. Where they like we are celebrating the Indiana Hoosiers 27, 21 final score. I mean banger of a game, like just really fun national championship game. Was it clean? No. Was it well officiated?
- [03:12]
Bud Elliott
No.
- [03:13]
Tom Fornelli
Yes.
- [03:14]
Chip Patterson
All the way across.
- [03:16]
Tom Fornelli
Yes. Okay. They let him play football tonight, Chip. Oh, settle the game with ticky tack penalties. They let him play football. Yeah.
- [03:24]
Bud Elliott
Guys, I want to give you a hug for this great season we just had on cover three. And I think the refs would allow me to hug you all like that. Just like they allowed them exactly.
- [03:34]
Chip Patterson
Full, no blood, no foul rules really from the get go and throughout. So I will say that they were at least consistent. It is not. Listen, that is not the. I just thought about clean game. You know, both teams are making some mistakes. Lots of different ways to unpack this. But the. The final score again. Indiana 27, Miami 21. Confetti's falling. As we are coming to you live at 11:22pm Eastern Time. The tailgate is absolutely rocking. Here's what we're gonna do. We are going to just talk about the game itself as it was and the same way we would on any other, you know, a Saturday night instant reaction show. Then we'll take another look at Indiana. Sort of try as best as we can at this, this late hour to be able to, you know, place them among the national champions, Both within the 21st century, the college Football Playoff era, things of that nature. Also a moment for Miami, you know, make sure that we celebrate what they were able to accomplish with this playoff run with this season year four under Mario Cristobal. Maybe a little way too early thoughts on next season and so much more so. But as you were watching this where clearly things changed for Indiana's offense in the second half and that changed the game. What changed to you in the credit blame department? Like the lack of third down success, the inability to move the football. I mean the. They obviously had the got to have it touchdown for Fernando Mendoza. Incredible play that'll go down forever. But for a lot of that second half, this Hoosiers offense just. It's kind of stuck in the mud. How did you see that happen? Why do you think it happened?
- [05:20]
Bud Elliott
So let's kind of go back to big game breakdown from. I kind of forget what day it is this time of year. But like we talked about, with Lucas out Miami slot corner in the first half, would they decide to play back and try to play red zone roulette and just. Just let the front get home or would they maybe because they don't trust their backup. Just blitz a lot more to make him cover less long. And in the first half you saw Miami bring quite a few pressures, right? In the second half, I think you saw a little bit less of that, but you saw Miami play a lot more press coverage. Indiana is already a heavy RPO team, right. And for those of us at home, like, we're not talking about like quarterback keep right, it's either handoff or, or throw to whatever, like, you know, behind whatever defender you're reading or throw off whatever defender you're reading. And Miami went a lot more man in the second half. I thought Indiana got away a little bit from some of the crossers that they were getting them on in the first half against that. And then ultimately Miami just basically said, hey, can you guys make back shoulder after back shoulder, especially in a game that is being officiated? And I think kind of both sides in a way that is allowing the defensive backs to grab quite a bit. And like go back to the Oregon game. Indiana was 5 of 5 on contested catches in that game before garbage time hit. And tonight they had, I think two that were not caught in second half and. And two or three really big ones that were. So, you know, they became more true 50, 50 balls as opposed to like 100 God mode balls like Indiana was playing against Oregon. So I thought that was a major key. Indiana did run the ball pretty well in, in the second half. Mixing up the run looks that they really have a nice variety of run scheme to throw at you and some really smart offensive linemen and Mendoza obviously who can make those checks. But I think that's a lot of what it was. And Indiana had to go so much more RPO in this game because like they were just getting smoked so bad on the offensive line by Miami's defensive front that they're like, all right, anytime we have to go like true pass pro, it's dangerous and like we're obviously Mendoza's getting popped and Signetti complained about it to the sideline reporter. They're going to the half. But I'm rambling here. They had to go a lot more rpo. Miami adjusted to that. The adjustment that Indiana had to make was throw and complete those, those back shoulder throws. And that's hard to do when you're getting grabbed a lot. And also Miami has some good DBs and ultimately Indiana made enough of them to keep drives alive and go down there and win the ball game.
- [07:47]
Tom Fornelli
If you look at the total numbers, like Indiana second half wasn't really different than the first half as far as, like, yardage and yards per play. It's just they leaned more into the run game, and kind of, as Bud was talking about, they were kind of forced into it based on how Miami was defending the RPOs in the second half. And I mean, they were. They averaged 2.9 per carry in the first half. They averaged 2.9 per Carry in the second half. The difference is they ran the ball 27 times in the second half compared to 18 in the first. And even on first downs, they ran the ball, you know, four times and then on nine snaps, and they only ran it three times on 11 snaps in the first half. So they just kind of had to change what they were doing. It's just Miami's defense, honestly, did an incredible job all night. Like, Miami's defense did everything that it could have done. Now, it could have tackled better, but that's been a problem for them all year. But all things considered, when you look back at what Indiana offensively was able to do to Alabama, what it was able to do to Oregon, like, they weren't nearly as effective in this game as they were in those first two. They averaged only 4.4 yards per play. Miami actually outgained them. It's just offensively, Miami didn't do enough to win this football game. And then you put the block punt in there, and there's seven points, which guys. It was a final score, 27, 21. The block punt loomed pretty damn large in the end. So, like, Miami's defense did its job, its offense just didn't. And I. I mean, he had the pick to end the game, but it's. It's been a problem for them all year. And we. We discussed it when they first brought him in. Like, you do not regret bringing in Carson Beck. You got to the national title game, return on investment paid off. It's just he did not have the zip on his arm all year, and it makes it difficult in games like this against other really good teams, particularly when you're trailing, to get back into it. And we saw what happened at the very end when Carson finally had to start pushing the ball down the field. It just. It was a dying duck that landed in the arms of a defensive back who had 20 minutes to wait for it to get to him, and that's just how it ended. So, like, Mark Fletcher did everything he could. Wasn't enough. I think the other difference is they got the ball to Tony on the underneath routes. And we saw against A M, we Saw against Ohio State, we saw against Ole Miss on a lot of those, he was able to break free and get a whole hell of a lot of yak. And he had the one really long play in the third quarter. I think when they went tempo there for a bit. He had. It was like the 41 yard game.
- [10:14]
Chip Patterson
But they did good jobs of bringing his. Like they were holding on to his shoelaces.
- [10:17]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, there were a lot of. There were a lot of dump offs to him on third and seven that they were tackling him after four yards and putting them in fourth down. Just. He couldn't do the stuff he'd been typically been doing the first three rounds in all season. And you got to give Indiana's defensive backs credit there. They made the tackles. Miami's didn't.
- [10:33]
Chip Patterson
The, I guess the impetus for my starting question was three drives in the third quarter for Indiana. 13 plays, 26 yards, you know, like that, that, that all of a sudden, like, things, things really started to shift and obviously, you know, Miami finally scored some points, got a little bit of life. The big Mark Fletcher run just sort of changes the, the bounce of the sideline of the stadium, of everything else. But I mean, just in real, like you said, Tom, you got a blocks punt, you've got a missed field goal, final score is 27, 21. You are, you are heartbroken. But man, this was a, this was a, this was a game thanks to the efforts of Miami in the second half, because it did not feel like we were pacing in this direction at halftime.
- [11:19]
Bud Elliott
And it probably could have been even worse, to be honest. Miami had several critical penalties that were for a time there, basically the only first downs Indiana was getting in that second half. And like, it was a fun game of adjustments, you know, like, I. Not, like, it's hard to call a game live, right? So I'm not trying to knock on Herb street here, but like, early in the third quarter, he's like, Miami's doing a great job of moving guys around to keep any nsds off balance and use a lot of motion and steal their eyes like they are. I was like, I, I would like to see that. So maybe, maybe Kirk had like vision into the future, because at that point they actually started to do it and it started to work pretty well and they were keeping Indiana off balance. But, you know, one thing Indiana did a great job of is they never let Miami take the top off their defense. There were no balls completed over the top that I, that I recall. I don't think any.
- [12:07]
Chip Patterson
Right. C.J. daniels was like running around wide open in the middle of the field on that one play. But that's not a play over the top as it is like scramble drill that he just happened to get open for.
- [12:17]
Bud Elliott
Indiana did a great job of sniffing out what was play action and what was not. Like you, I thought Miami would be able to play action some. They had some success out of pistol with the run stuff. I was looking for a little bit more off that pistol stuff like in the third quarter when Miami started running the ball better. They did a nice job with some of the pistol stuff. Learn more those downhill looks, I thought they were going to come back to that maybe with some play action stuff. The broadcast did indicate that Indiana seemed to have a good tell on when Miami was going to run some of those tunnel screens that they killed Ole Miss on. And Miami's real. Yeah.
- [12:50]
Tom Fornelli
It's however they same motion every single time they ran that play.
- [12:54]
Bud Elliott
Yeah.
- [12:55]
Chip Patterson
What about breaking the tendency on the short Fletcher touchdown run? Because Indiana reacted like they had it scouted and ready to go with the over commitment to the perimeter which.
- [13:05]
Bud Elliott
That's an old school wing T play. I mean like, like that.
- [13:08]
Chip Patterson
That's Indiana was expecting it to. To get outside and shifted everybody like they were doing the alerts and then Fletcher just able to strut right in for the touchdown. I thought that was a. You talk about trying to break your own tendencies. Take their super scouting and use it against them. That felt like one of those moments from home.
- [13:27]
Bud Elliott
That's an Andy Reid thing that I think he stole from like some of those like like the wing and T teams, you know, from like 100 years ago. Right, right, right. Yeah, exactly like that. Teams have to get creative in the red zone and that was a nice play call there by, by Shannon Dawson. But should you talk about play call? All right, so I don't think Kurt Signetti purposely took a timeout to take the field goal team off to bait Miami into putting their pass rusher package on the field. I'm not going to give him that much credit but damn sure if that didn't work out, man.
- [14:04]
Tom Fornelli
Maybe they get.
- [14:05]
Bud Elliott
Their lightning team or, or you know, speed, whatever Turbo team, whatever. Like they. I don't know what Miami calls it but like a lot of teams have a code for it. It's like as far as what their personnel package is like obvious passing down stuff and to call and run QB draw. That's ballsy. It's really kind of an all or nothing call and man, but I guess on. On 4th and 5 everything's an all or nothing call, right? Yeah. And they did a good job. And honestly, like, usually like running in second long is kind of a dead play and usually like an incorrect play. But like Indiana does a nice job of getting back on schedule with, with runs on, on passing.
- [14:41]
Chip Patterson
Four or five hard yards.
- [14:44]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, they have done that a lot this year where they'll be in what you think is a passing down and they just hand it off like second down, third down. And we saw them do it a couple times on third down this game, like third and six, third and seven. There was the one where they handed off to Black and picked up the first down. I think it was like a 15 or 16 yard game. It's like they, they don't have tendencies or at least their tendencies kind of go against type.
- [15:06]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, yeah, they do a really good job of self scout for sure. And they just play tough, man. Like Miami clearly had the plan to, to rough up Mendoza. He looked off like part of this game and they, they popped him like that was. And then it was like a 90s national, like, like 1990s game. We're like, all right, we're gonna like, this guy was so well protected and just so perfect the last two games. Our, our only real shot is to hit him and hit him often.
- [15:31]
Tom Fornelli
And they did.
- [15:32]
Bud Elliott
And I thought they rattled him a little bit.
- [15:35]
Chip Patterson
16 for 27 for 186 yards. That is 59 completion percentage from your Heisman Trophy winner. He obviously has the touchdown run, which, you know, immortalizes his part in this Indiana national championship game win. But I, I agree. Not his best game.
- [15:55]
Tom Fornelli
No.
- [15:55]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, like, it was shocking just in relief of how well he played the prior two games.
- [16:01]
Chip Patterson
Right.
- [16:02]
Bud Elliott
That like he made a couple misreads and he made a couple of throws that were like perfectly placed. And we, I mean, hell, we talked about this for two weeks now or 10 days or whatever. It was like, guys, if he plays as well as he has played the last two games, Miami is cooked regardless of what else they do. And he just played like a, I would say like good game relative to how much pressure Miami was putting on him. And that gave Miami a chance. And ultimate Indiana, like, they get the dub and they're national champions.
- [16:29]
Tom Fornelli
And that was probably his worst game as a passer since the Iowa game. But even in the Iowa game, he hit like big throws and he had a couple touchdowns. He didn't have those today, like, credit again. I mean, we talked about.
- [16:40]
Chip Patterson
Saved his ass on a couple of plays.
- [16:41]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, yeah, we talked about it. During the week too. Like their tackles were a problem for them against Alabama and they were huge problem for him tonight. Like you have to. The Miami pass rush did its job. Like they were in his ass and he was very much feeling the heat. You could tell he was getting sped up back there because he was getting rid of the ball even on the non RPOs. The one thing about Mendoza is he'll stand in the pocket and he'll wait. He was not looking to sit around and wait for guys today. He was firing the ball early.
- [17:12]
Chip Patterson
So what. I mean, you know, again we're, we're sitting here. The game went final 17 minutes ago. What better time to ask so what's Indiana's legacy?
- [17:25]
Tom Fornelli
They broke the blue chip ratio.
- [17:26]
Bud Elliott
They did. It was all wow, yeah, we talked about something's gonna break it at some point.
- [17:33]
Tom Fornelli
I didn't think he was gonna. Indiana, they expanded though. That's the thing. Like I figured after they got rid of the four teams, I was like, well now there's this thing's gonna live forever.
- [17:42]
Bud Elliott
I mean, I think it's, it's, it's a testament to how well they play that they had to go through like a couple like, you know, teams that do recruit in that way and you know, like we thought it would be a really, really good quarterback that did it. Like they played so well. Like they don't make any, they made some mistakes tonight but like they generally play like, like mistake free football and like, I mean you got to give those guys credit. They play their ass off. They're super, like super well coached and they broke the blue chip ratio. Like that's. I don't think I saw Indiana coming doing that. Like I thought it would have been like maybe the, you know, Marcus Mariota Oregon team or one of those type of teams that was, you know, like close and they finally like hit early maybe in their developmental cycle on or on a stud quarterback. But for Indiana, do it as wild. Like we're gonna be talking about this for a long time. Not the blue chip ratio piece but like the. Although we'll have some of that clearly. But like the, you know, how much hope does this give other fan bases now? Like if Indian. If Indiana can do it far too much.
- [18:40]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
- [18:40]
Bud Elliott
Oh, for sure. Yeah. There's some. Shoot.
- [18:45]
Tom Fornelli
There are Oklahoma State fans right now who are convinced that Chad Morris is going to get them to the national title game in two years.
- [18:53]
Bud Elliott
Eric, that's good, that's good for our business though, man.
- [18:56]
Chip Patterson
Well, that is, I, I think that. And first of all, just a little, little side shout out here to, to Brandon Marcelo, our colleague. I will admit, even here early in the show, like, finishing the season can be tough, especially in the expanded playoff era. I mean, we've been running hot since July and since like mid July. And everybody has, like, I'm not just saying us, but everybody has. I thought Brandon finished the season really, really strong. And one of the things he did was he talked to other miracle unprobable champions from across all sports, you know, to get their perspective on Indiana to have. And I would offer like, there's gonna be a lot of great content on CBSSports.com he is among the, the writers that are there right now and, but you know, he's, he's offered several pieces, but that was one of them. And that's the thing that keeps being a reoccurring theme through all of the reporting, the conversations and whether it's written word or us talking to somebody, it is a one of one. This thing cannot be copied. This is the perfect combination of coaching and investment and like the right pieces that they got because they flipped last year's roster and it was good enough to make the playoff, but it wasn't good enough to do this. So then they had to go and they had to do it again. I mean, how many times are we going to get a situation where one of these schools that's trying to be the next Indiana hires a coach who has an offensive and defensive coordinator that have been with him since Division 2, you know, like.
- [20:36]
Bud Elliott
Right.
- [20:36]
Chip Patterson
It's just like a lot of things. I think that this is a true supernova. Does it give other programs and schools hope? Yes. Can this, can this, can Indiana be replicated? I say no. The only way it can be replicated is if Indiana goes and does it again. Because this is, this is a people situation and Kurt, and Kurt Signetti is the right person. Indiana had the right people to agree to everything that needed to happen. I, I think that it is very difficult to imagine all of these things lining up for another school to this manner. Right. Two years and you're hosting the. Hoisting the national championship trophy.
- [21:18]
Bud Elliott
I, I would mostly agree, but also like, we don't know when the next time is. We're going to have like very changing like landscape of sport, market conditions, etc. Right. Like Portal plus Nil coming along at the same time is probably like the greatest disruptive force to like the power structure of the sport since. I mean, what like, like, like migration from the Rust Belt plus the advent of air conditioning and mosquito control, segregation. Right. Okay. Yeah.
- [21:50]
Tom Fornelli
That's. Yeah.
- [21:51]
Bud Elliott
Even more. Right. Like, like, I mean, those are things that change the sport, like, pretty drastically.
- [21:56]
Chip Patterson
Yeah.
- [21:56]
Bud Elliott
And if you, like, are, you know, someone who embraces integration for being. Yeah, sorry. Yeah. Like, if you're somebody who embraces the Right on Martin. That is true.
- [22:07]
Chip Patterson
Happy.
- [22:08]
Bud Elliott
If you're somebody, like, who embraces, like, the newness of the sport. Right. And like, you embrace technology and you embrace different ways of doing things, like, I, I and, and you're, like, looking for market inefficiencies. I, maybe it can be done again. Hell, maybe Indiana stays ahead of the curve. Who knows?
- [22:26]
Chip Patterson
Is this so the Big Ten has now won the last three national championships, and they have done it with Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana. Big Ten, best conference in college football.
- [22:48]
Tom Fornelli
If we use the same method that we did and we said the SEC was then, hell yes, it is.
- [22:55]
Bud Elliott
Yeah.
- [22:55]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. Why did the SEC say it was the best? Because they want, all the time, a bunch of different schools.
- [23:04]
Chip Patterson
I think the, the reason why I enjoy and think that there are some takeaways from that run is that it was the old blue blood, the only team that was worth a damn in terms of national championship competition for a decent period of the modern era. Right. They, they were your last national champion in 14. But also even to stretch it back, at least they were playing for it. Right. Like all Those years between 02 and 14 when Ohio State at least had, like, a seat at the table, you know, they were there, they were playing for it, and then Indiana. So it's like you've got full past, present, future kind of thing going on in terms of these three national champions all representing sort of different identities within the Big Ten family.
- [23:52]
Bud Elliott
So I, I understand the argument for the SEC being the best as far as, like, they're probably like, the best one through 10. But where that falls apart for me is equally waiting 1 in 10. Right. And I think you need, like, to Tom's point, just to kind of tug on this thread a little more.
- [24:10]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
- [24:11]
Bud Elliott
When we were saying SC is the best, it's because they had, like, the best team in the sport for a pretty good long while now. The Big Tens had that. And the Big Ten at the top is fairly deep. You know, like, who is the second best team in the sport this year? I think you can, like, really reasonably argue is Ohio State.
- [24:28]
Chip Patterson
Yeah.
- [24:29]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
- [24:29]
Chip Patterson
I'm not putting that as my final ranking for our CBS Sports 136, but I would agree that if you wanted to say Ohio State, it was number two behind Indiana. I wouldn't, I wouldn't say that your ballot is wrong. It would just be a difference of opinion.
- [24:46]
Bud Elliott
Yeah. Like for at least most of the season, they look like the best or second best team. Yeah. You know, so, yeah, I think the Big Ten this year ended up being the best league. And you know what, if you, if you're in Iowa or a Wisconsin or an Illinois or, you know, a Washington, hell, if you're Oregon, you're like, all right, we can get there too. This is kind of where that Hope thing, you know, plays into it. Those Indiana fans were loud, too.
- [25:14]
Tom Fornelli
A lot of them. Gotta say, you know, we had that clip a couple weeks ago. Not even a couple. Yeah, it was a couple weeks ago at this point where Danny was talking about it. And I told him, I said, don't be surprised. There are more Indiana fans in Miami for this game. It was on Instagram and I saw a lot of comments from Miami fans in my Instagram feed the last couple weeks telling me I was an effing moron that Miami was going to fill that place up. Oops.
- [25:42]
Bud Elliott
It was a hard ticket to get. Yeah, I, like four or five grand.
- [25:46]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. But I, I'm told that, like, Ticketmaster has like a six year payment plan from some people who may or may not have found that out. Six year to get to the game.
- [25:59]
Chip Patterson
What, how, what does that do to your credit score? Yeah.
- [26:02]
Tom Fornelli
What is the interest? I told him, I, you know, I said, hey, man, you know what?
- [26:07]
Chip Patterson
Cool.
- [26:10]
Bud Elliott
That's.
- [26:11]
Tom Fornelli
That's you, man.
- [26:11]
Chip Patterson
Some unique financial models being used these days. What's the treasury yield say about this Ticketmaster payment plan?
- [26:21]
Bud Elliott
Oh, okay. It's through all these. I don't think it's in house.
- [26:25]
Chip Patterson
Yeah. Well, no free ads to the third offering interest rates on tickets.
- [26:34]
Tom Fornelli
Wow. There's. There's never a shortage of companies willing to put you in debt.
- [26:37]
Chip Patterson
That's really all that you gotta remember 100%. All right, let's. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back, do a little bit of a quick Miami postmortem and then sort of, you know, any more big picture takeaways, Anything else from the game specifically, by the way? Like, just the, the aspects of it that you, you want to peel apart.
- [26:59]
Bud Elliott
I thought like the end of like Indiana's final drive was really interesting because on second and one, where Indiana fall starts Miami really, with one timeout, should jump off sides there intentionally.
- [27:18]
Tom Fornelli
When was it? Wait, when?
- [27:19]
Bud Elliott
So second and one, I think it was like a minute 39 left. Miami only has one timeout, right?
- [27:28]
Tom Fornelli
Okay.
- [27:29]
Bud Elliott
I was like. I was like, Miami's got to be jumping off sides here on purpose. And they were lining up and they weren't. I was like, oh, my God. They're. This is like a pretty bad game. Management error. And then they got bailed out because Indiana fall started. But like, the odds that, that Indiana converts second and one are astronomically high. And then you are totally screwed if they get a new set of downs there. You see what I'm saying? Like, like the game is over.
- [27:54]
Chip Patterson
I had, by the way, it. It wasn't a ton, just four accepted penalties for 23 yards for Indiana. But the team that doesn't beat itself having a couple of big time, you know, there was just a. Just a couple spots where you're like.
- [28:13]
Tom Fornelli
Okay, brother, they were giving up. You don't need to be. I, I understand. Like in the moment it is so hard to like, I. Because you're like, I gotta get this tackle. I gotta stop them. But just like in that moment, bro, they're handing off on third and 17. Don't worry, somebody will tackle him. Just let him go.
- [28:31]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, that was. That was wild.
- [28:34]
Chip Patterson
It was wild.
- [28:35]
Tom Fornelli
Another thing in my notebook, I will say, like, shout out. You know, Elijah Sarat, I've never seen him struggle that much. Oh, that was a very. I mean, he had the drop. Later you could see he was getting kind of frustrated. So shout out Frederic, man. Because I thought he did a fantastic job on Elijah. Kids a stud. Yeah, like he was getting phys. I mean, obviously they were all getting physical, each other. The rest were letting them just beat each other up, which I'm fine, but just he made Seurat uncomfortable and Surat was struggling to get that physical contact to make place.
- [29:11]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, the, the best success that I feel like Indiana was having was either Becker making an incredible contested catch or some good Cooper, you know, catches it with a little bit of space, maybe is able to. To run, make some good runs up field. But yeah, not the Surratt domination game. Miami did have a little stars. Have to be your stars. It's the title game. Best players got to be your best players. Mark Fletcher finishes with 6, 17, 17 rushing attempts, 112 yards, two touchdowns. Obviously the 57 yard score was a big one. And then Malachi, Tony, 12 targets, 10 catches on those 12 targets, 122 yards and a score. So, yeah, definitely stars showed out in a big way. The balance rushing attack for Indiana. You had Black leading the way we were talking about his running style being very effective. 79 yards on 17 attempts. Hemby with 60 yards on 19 attempts. Neither of them crazy. Like not a single run over 20 yard between the two of them averaging you know, between three and a half, four and a half yards per carry but just some good hard running in the second half that that allowed Indiana to be able to get the plays they needed, especially in a wild fourth quarter. 24 fourth quarter points in this game.
- [30:34]
Tom Fornelli
Didn't smoke it through the filter chip.
- [30:36]
Chip Patterson
I know it's tough. I will say shout out to our friend Mackenzie Brooks. This is I think she said every fourth quarter over has hit in the College Football Playoff. Take that as a little note down. Every fourth quarter over is hit and of course that happened with a 24 point fourth quarter this this year. Coming up on the other side a little bit more on Miami what they did to get here. Plus early look ahead to 2026 and more next.
- [31:11]
Bud Elliott
Need Contract Help for those workload peaks and backlogged projects, you're not alone.
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Tom Fornelli
At Robert Half, we found that 67%.
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Bud Elliott
Of companies surveyed said they will increase.
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Tom Fornelli
Their use of contract talent.
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Bud Elliott
That's why our recruiters leverage their experience.
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Tom Fornelli
And use award winning AI to quickly.
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Bud Elliott
Find the skilled candidates you want.
- [31:29]
Tom Fornelli
Learn about our specialized talent in finance, accounting, technology, marketing, legal and administrative support. At Robert Half, we know talent. Visit roberthalf.com talent today we spend over.
- [31:42]
Chip Patterson
690 minutes a week thinking about football. Yeah, that's more than 11 hours watching.
- [31:47]
Tom Fornelli
Highlights, arguing rankings, running mock drafts. It's what makes NFL fans the most passionate fans in the world. And we know sometimes it only takes one play to win the game.
- [31:58]
Chip Patterson
One quick decision during a timeout can change everything.
- [32:01]
Tom Fornelli
Same goes for game day in real life. We spend hours prepping food, setting up TVs, planning the perfect tailgate. But what about planning how you'll get home? Think about how long it takes you.
- [32:12]
Chip Patterson
To smoke ribs or make your famous chili. Now think about this. It only takes one minute to make.
- [32:18]
Tom Fornelli
A plan so you don't drive impaired. Whether you're hosting, heading to a friend's place, or catching the game at a bar. Plan ahead, Take a minute. Make a plan. Never Drive impaired. This message was brought to you by.
- [32:30]
Chip Patterson
Diageo Mad and the NFL.
- [32:32]
Tom Fornelli
Please drink responsibly.
- [32:34]
Chip Patterson
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- [33:07]
Bud Elliott
Audio.
- [33:10]
Chip Patterson
Back here on the COVID 3 podcast as the Indiana Hoosiers are still on the field celebrating what was a national championship win. 27, 21. Since they are hoisting trophies, I think it's probably time that we do it as well as. As you can see right here, this is the cash app trophy. Our thanks to Cash app for sponsoring the locks all season long. Our thanks to you, the COVID 3 tailgate, for riding along. You get up the likes, we give you the locks. The locks move the lines, and we all end up going home happy. The Cash app trophy. This thing is something that I'm very, very happy to accept from. From the locks season competition. So I will look forward to defending this as we run it back again next season.
- [34:02]
Tom Fornelli
Hold on to it while you can, Chip. I'm coming for it.
- [34:06]
Bud Elliott
Good job, buddy.
- [34:08]
Tom Fornelli
You know, and finally, the ACC did win something.
- [34:10]
Bud Elliott
Oh, oh.
- [34:14]
Chip Patterson
Listen, listen, if. Don't, don't, don't let Drake may win a Super Bowl. All right? We'll have Bill. We'll have Billy Belichick twisted and, like, fits. How's Billy Belichick gonna try to decide between celebrating North Carolina's greatest quarterback in school history and also celebrating the Patriots at the same time?
- [34:41]
Bud Elliott
And, yeah, watching, like, like the. The last month. If you're like a football fan in Houston, you hate the quarterback position now because, like, you, you, you. You were having a nice run with A M and. And the Texans. And then like, my buddy's an Aggies Texans fan, and he's like, dude, I hate quarterbacks. Yeah.
- [35:02]
Chip Patterson
No. Is there another team that you think could have fared better than Miami in this spot?
- [35:13]
Bud Elliott
I mean, I would say Ohio State. They played them, like, to the final. Final whistle, I guess.
- [35:21]
Tom Fornelli
Iowa, Penn State. You know what? Here's something for you, because I think.
- [35:26]
Chip Patterson
The answer might be that Miami was built right to be able to play. We talked about.
- [35:30]
Tom Fornelli
This was a bad matchup.
- [35:32]
Chip Patterson
This was a bad. This is. This is it. Like, this is exactly the team that could have really caused problems for Miami, for Indiana and sure enough, Miami was able to do it.
- [35:44]
Tom Fornelli
I don't, I don't want to again, totally worth the investment. Miami would do it 100 out of 100 times again. Does Miami win that game tonight if Darian Menz is their quarterback this year? Oh. Or if Cam Ward. Because they're still there.
- [36:01]
Chip Patterson
Oh, came Ward, I think is. Yes.
- [36:03]
Bud Elliott
Yeah. I mean, came over. There's number one pick. Yeah.
- [36:05]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
- [36:06]
Chip Patterson
Cam Ward just had a horrendous defense. He was that took the field when he said okay.
- [36:10]
Tom Fornelli
So yeah, Cambord's unobvious, but like, if they have Mensa because like they just. Beck couldn't give him anything. Like, he made a couple nice throws when he got like 20 minutes, but like as far as he got a.
- [36:21]
Chip Patterson
Lot of time too.
- [36:22]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, it's like there was so often where he had plenty of time and he just couldn't find anything downfield and he would just dump it off and.
- [36:30]
Bud Elliott
It'S like an Indiana really didn't have to respect the pass much. No, I think that's one of the reasons why they had as much success against, against the Miami run game as they did.
- [36:40]
Chip Patterson
So what is the, what's the final takeaway here for Barrio Cristobal and the Canes?
- [36:45]
Tom Fornelli
Great season. Yeah, incredible season. And I mean, they're gonna, they're getting a lot of key players back. They're also losing a couple huge guys on defense, obviously, but they've like, you saw like the one play from Lightfoot where he absolutely. Was it Black or Hemby who he destroyed? He destroyed somebody.
- [37:03]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was him.
- [37:04]
Tom Fornelli
And like the knock on Lightfoot all year is like, well, he's not strong enough yet. He's got to put on weight. He's, you know, whatever. He's not, he's all speed. He's not strength yet. And then he just put that kid on his ass. So you've got Lightfoot coming back. You're gonna have really good pass rushers again next year. You're probably going to have Dari Mensa. You're still going to have Mark Fletcher Jr. You're still going to be strong along the lines of scrimmage. You're still going to be very good next year. Now, do you get to the title game? I don't know. But you're still going to be pretty damn good.
- [37:32]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I mean, I, I, I would expect them to take somewhat of a step back next year. You do still have Tony Marion and Daniels were both redshirt seniors, so we'll see if a Guy liked like Josh Moore or Trader can step up. They are losing some real special pieces that I don't know that you can just like. And I mean that first big class that Mario signed, they really hit on him, you know, Bane, Maui, Noah, those guys are almost certainly gone. I would have to assume so. Cooper's the right guards are four year starters. A senior, I can't imagine that he can come back. Brockermeyer was red, right? Bell was a senior. I don't know if the JUCO stuff, if he has any time left. I don't think so. McCoy's a redshirt junior, so I assume.
- [38:19]
Tom Fornelli
He could come back.
- [38:19]
Bud Elliott
Brockermeyer, the center who was a fifth year transfer in, he's gone. So they're, they're gonna lose four out of five in the office of line, I think. Unless Bell comes back somehow and then Mesador is I guess sixth year senior, I think. Right. So he's gone. Bane's gone. Moten is a fourth year junior. I would assume he's gonna go, but I don't know that. Blay was a fifth year senior, so he's gone. Armando Blunt is like, like, you know, obviously really talented. Lightfoot, they'll be good. And then I'm not just trying to read down their whole depth chart, but like they are losing a lot of like their best players and then also some of their most experienced players, like Besaint's a senior. Muhammad Torre was, was a grad, so he's gone. Keonte Scott was a fifth year guy. He's gone. Kobe Thomas was a fifth year guy, so he's gone. But you get Lucas back, right? You get demari Brown back.
- [39:13]
Tom Fornelli
I think.
- [39:13]
Bud Elliott
Unless he wants to go pro. He's a red shirt sophomore. Frederick can't go pro because he's a true sophomore.
- [39:20]
Chip Patterson
Fitzgerald freshman.
- [39:22]
Bud Elliott
Right. So like this could be fine.
- [39:26]
Tom Fornelli
Does Ms. Danger have any eligibility left? Who?
- [39:35]
Bud Elliott
Not familiar with that name? Tom.
- [39:36]
Tom Fornelli
Oh, okay.
- [39:37]
Chip Patterson
Hey. No, she got more TV time than Irvin did.
- [39:41]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, that's, that's, yeah.
- [39:43]
Tom Fornelli
Listen, that was not, don't hear me complaining.
- [39:46]
Chip Patterson
That was not on my bingo card that given the way that everything had gone that, that Ms. Danger would get more, more television time than Michael Irvin. But I, I, I, I wasn't tracking it, but my, my estimation of what I just saw said that the ESPN cameras were doing a better job finding her than most of the other hall of Famers, you know, the other.
- [40:16]
Bud Elliott
Too many breaks.
- [40:29]
Tom Fornelli
All right, top. No, never mind.
- [40:35]
Bud Elliott
All right, so if you got a deep roster here, like Miami does. We need to make sure.
- [40:41]
Chip Patterson
What about the Indiana next year? What about next season for Indiana? We know they'll have Josh Hoover as their quarterback. We've seen a lot of the transfer portal additions. Becker's a true sophomore. I believe so, yeah, he can't go. But we're losing Cooper and we're losing Surratt losing. I mean, the Kale Camaro with the blocked punt, he came from James Madison. You know, like all, all the JMU guys at this point have to be basically cycled out.
- [41:07]
Tom Fornelli
Like Landino's back on defense, but I think. And they've got a couple other young guys in the front seven that they're high on, but I don't. I think like the majority of their production is gone.
- [41:18]
Bud Elliott
Cooper. Cooper's a fourth year junior, so he could go. I don't know if he's guaranteed to go. Nowikowski was a fifth year senior, so like the tight end, I assume he's gone State. Like all three of their top tight ends were seniors out of eligibility. Coogan, the center who played really well. He's gone. Yeah, I mean, they're still going to be a good team, I think. Yeah, they're gonna be like the portal. Their portal hall, which we'll talk about more on Wednesday as well. Like kind of a final portal review here. If Mensa can go ahead and figure out what he's doing, be nice, but we'll like. Yeah, to Tom's point, they do lose.
- [41:58]
Tom Fornelli
Quite a bit and we'll see. Like, can Josh Hoover be Fernando Mendoza? Like, which Josh Hoover do you get? Do you get the one from two years ago who reigned in the turnovers and played really damn well? Or do you get the guy who kind of regressed? Now I will say, if you're Indiana, Fernando had turnover problems last year too, especially when Cal was playing the better teams and he reined it in. So maybe you can, you know, develop Josh Hoover that same way. Because Josh Hoover's a talented guy. I don't think he's number one pick kind of talent that Fernando can be, but I think he's a very good college quarterback.
- [42:35]
Bud Elliott
They get pawns back, right?
- [42:37]
Tom Fornelli
They could. I don't know if they will. Like, he's in. I think Mel's got him at like one of his top corners. I mean, I. It's going to be interesting to see what the NFL thinks of him just because he's like 5, 8, 5, 9. But I would.
- [42:53]
Bud Elliott
I gotta think he would make.
- [42:56]
Tom Fornelli
I don't think he's gonna Be like a first day pick or a second day.
- [42:59]
Bud Elliott
Right.
- [42:59]
Tom Fornelli
He might be so, like. Yeah, he might.
- [43:00]
Bud Elliott
So if you can make high six figures, low seven figures coming back to school. Yeah, that might be a smart idea.
- [43:07]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. Like, I love the kid, I just don't. I wonder how NFL teams will feel because of his size.
- [43:13]
Chip Patterson
I did not, I did not task this because I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm. That's not my job. If you were tasked with having to be on the way too early duty. Right. Everybody has to be. I, I'm not really interested in outside the top 10 because, sure, you could literally say whoever. But Indiana's in the top 10, right.
- [43:41]
Bud Elliott
For next year?
- [43:42]
Chip Patterson
Yes. Yeah.
- [43:45]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I, I think so. Okay. If you had it, if you really, really, really worked ahead on this and you want to make me an argument, I would listen to it. But I think their portal hall, plus their proof of concept and the fact they haven't lost any coaches would lead me to think they're still top 10 next year.
- [44:02]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, I do wonder. Like, I, I'd have them in my top 10 for sure. I'd have them in my top five. I just, it's gonna be interesting to see how they're viewed by like everybody or if like this, since they're Indiana, even though they're the national champs, if people will rush to put teams like LSU and others ahead of.
- [44:17]
Chip Patterson
Oh, no, it's gonna be Texas. That's gonna be.
- [44:19]
Tom Fornelli
Right. Texas. I understand they've got Notre Dame coming. Yeah. But I'm saying it's like the other teams who maybe were disappointing this year, but are going to get a ton of hype in the off season. Like I saw a top, a way too early one today that had, you know, your requisite like 9 or 10 SEC teams in the top 25. They had Penn State at 13, despite the fact that Penn State is basically Iowa State. But now it's playing a Big Ten schedule. So it's just, it's going to be interesting to see how people view Indiana.
- [44:45]
Bud Elliott
On our friends at FanDuel for the top five early national title favorites are not SEC teams, were they.
- [44:55]
Chip Patterson
Are they playoff teams? Plus Notre Dame?
- [44:58]
Bud Elliott
Yes.
- [44:59]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, that's. To me, that's the way that it, it builds out is you, you look at Indiana and Ohio State. I would say Texas. You look at Texas and Georgia. You look at, oh no, say Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Georgia. Notre Dame, Texas Tech. And that's kind of it like, that's my top. I think that's My top crust. I'm not. I don't have the FanDuel odds right now, but I think that's the way that I would sort of like, basically grab the very top tier of each conference and sort of throw them all in a bowl.
- [45:36]
Tom Fornelli
I'm. I'm in Illinois, so Illinois isn't listed, but I'm assuming they're in the top 10.
- [45:42]
Bud Elliott
I would. Let me check here. They are. Well, sec bias from FanDuel. Yeah, right now, but LSU, interestingly, the second highest. The second highest sec team.
- [45:57]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, I'm not in on LS.
- [45:59]
Bud Elliott
I don't know if I'm there.
- [45:59]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, I'm not there.
- [46:00]
Tom Fornelli
Land. If they land seating, though, I'd start buying in. Yeah, the big need.
- [46:09]
Chip Patterson
I think Miami is a perfectly sensible 12.
- [46:16]
Tom Fornelli
Though. Right.
- [46:17]
Chip Patterson
See, I mean, yeah, definitely still the favorite in the acc, but it's like they would occupy a spot nationally like a Texas A and M or like an Ole Miss. You know, the teams they just beat in the College Football Playoff. But just you. You acknowledge the overall health of the program, the talent in the locker room, in the building. There is obviously turnover coming in and out, but you. You have to put them before you start reaching down into your usc, your Louisville, your. You know, those teams that are going to occupy the back half of a top 25.
- [46:44]
Tom Fornelli
Still on FanDuel. Chip, who's the favorite to win the Heisman right now?
- [46:50]
Chip Patterson
Right now? Jeremiah Love. Love's gone. Who is it?
- [46:55]
Tom Fornelli
It's not saying.
- [46:55]
Bud Elliott
T.J. carr.
- [46:57]
Tom Fornelli
Yep. See, I would have thought it'd be arch.
- [47:02]
Bud Elliott
Man. Like some of these SC teams, you're like, hey, do we trust Stark's operation here? Right. To. Do we think Kiffin can get this thing rolling immediately?
- [47:14]
Chip Patterson
I would feel if I'm. If I was again tasked with this, I would be ready to throw Texas up there based on the very, very blatant all in approach. Like, it is Almost Ohio State, 24 levels of all in right now. Would you agree? I mean, do you remember, like, was like.
- [47:36]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I just trust Ryan Day a lot more than I trust Sark.
- [47:40]
Chip Patterson
I don't know if we said that a couple years ago when he was losing to Michigan every single year.
- [47:44]
Bud Elliott
That's fair.
- [47:46]
Chip Patterson
But, like, when we saw. It's like, wait, hold on there. Why do they need Quinn? Sean Judkins? They have Travion Henderson. Like, why? Why? Oh, my God, they got Caleb Downs. Oh, wait, why? Wait a second. Why'd they get hit? Will Howard, too. I thought Will Howard was going to Miami or usc. He's going to Ohio State. I mean, it was just, you know, like we kind of saw that thing build in a way where, you know, you were looking at Texas and you're like Cam Coleman, Relique Brown and Hollywood Smothers. Oh, God. You know, I just, I'm kind of sensing that all in that all in approach where. Hey, look, Texas was number one in the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time in school history. And they laid a fat egg in week one and couldn't get it done in some of the biggest games of the season. Just because they would start a year with the talent requisite of that kind of ranking doesn't mean that they would finish it. But such is the nature of of the preseason rankings. Anything else from the the night, the season as a whole. I love you guys. Thank you so much for doing all these reaction shows. Cover three tailgate. You guys rock. Yeah.
- [48:53]
Bud Elliott
Thank you to the tailgate. All of our fans, like it's been an incredible year.
- [48:58]
Tom Fornelli
Thank you. Love you guys. Love the listeners, love the viewers, love the sport. Off season. We're not going anywhere. We'll be right here three times a week. Season never ends around here.
- [49:11]
Chip Patterson
I know it was a time. There was a time years ago when you go to the national championship game and you'd pour it out and then everyone would just leave you alone for a little while. But as Bud mentioned, we are thrilled to be back here on Wednesday.
- [49:28]
Tom Fornelli
No, Coop.
- [49:29]
Bud Elliott
Coop's doing portal.
- [49:31]
Chip Patterson
Okay. So Coop coming. Okay. Cooper Patagna joining us for Wednesday's show. Full transfer portal recap. Very excited to be able to do that. So. But yeah, we will still be here Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 11:00am Eastern Time. Will be getting you set with summer school and all those schedules as they become more pertinent over the course of the spring months. But yeah, Cover three podcast ain't going anywhere. Where we're very excited to be able to continue the conversation, both wrapping up the season that was and then also advancing into the 2026 season. Yes, Brandon, I see you spring practice less than 30 days away.
- [50:11]
Bud Elliott
Seriously, some places, who is doing Spring in February 19?
- [50:19]
Tom Fornelli
Sociopaths.
- [50:22]
Chip Patterson
I. So David Cutcliffe, I remember, used to do it at Duke and he would be out there like, Alabama's sleeping right now. You're out here working.
- [50:40]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, Coach Alabama wins a lot more games than we do. Maybe you should rethink this.
- [50:44]
Bud Elliott
Oh, that was the year they opened with Alabama, right?
- [50:46]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I went out to one of their spring practices and you heard I was like, I mean you are not technically wrong, Coach.
- [50:55]
Bud Elliott
Sleep is important, guys.
- [50:56]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, absolutely. Hey, Coach Signetti said He slept until 9:30am this morning. He was so confident about his game plan. Wonder if he felt the same way midway through the third quarter.
- [51:08]
Tom Fornelli
Slept until 9:30 because he was up till 6 finishing the game plan.
- [51:14]
Chip Patterson
Oh man. We will be back, as we mentioned, Wednesday 11:00am Eastern Time. Also a reminder that now that we get into the course of the next couple of weeks and months, we want to hear from you. So the COVID 3 tailgate always does a great job of being able to deliver mailbag questions. We'll tackle some sort of in the flow of the regular regularly scheduled shows. Sometimes we'll make a whole episode just tackling a whole bunch. If you want to get to us through Apple podcasts and the reviews. If you want to get in Spotify comments, that's another spot where if you want to drop some observations, some questions, we can grab them, throw them in a future mailbag episode. As always, you can reach out to us on social media. All ideas are welcome. And then of course, those of you who show up in the COVID 3 tailgate live at YouTube.com Cover 3, when you get the conversation started early, you drop a couple questions for us. We see them when we get ready to start the show. We'll be grabbing a couple those every single episode as well. Thanks again to Mikey for always staying up late with us. And his night is never done when we sign off, so let's allow him to be able to start the next step of his process. So you can follow him on Twitter Tom Fradel, you can follow him@Blood Elliot3. You can follow me at gfpatterson. Gentlemen, thank you very much.
- [52:39]
Tom Fornelli
Thank you everyone. See y' all. In the UEFA Champions League, every moment is a story, but Kaka scores, and every great story needs an audience. The UFA Champions League stream every goal, every game live exclusively on Paramount plus.