Reese Davis (2:15)

Football analysis, predictions and coach interviews.

Brent Musburger (2:18)

Now here's your host, three time All American, seven time Emmy award winner, David Holland. What's up dudes? Welcome on in to Seaball. Get ball. And I think we're going to jump Right in. Because this is what we do. And just talking about, like, I'm interested to see what I've learned throughout college football. Like, we're at the halfway point and now. So I'm going to bring in Wes and Brent at the end of this and I just. I'm going to lay out a bunch of things I learned and I want to hear what they. What I've missed or something. Maybe even that stuck out. But here's my list. So I've learned that Arch Manning is not going to win a Heisman. And I want y' all to debunk this, too. If there's any of this that you don't. You don't agree with, Arch isn't going to win a Heisman. The best three quarterbacks in the SEC are not named Manning, Nussmeier, Lagway, or Sellers, which is. Which is crazy. Clemson isn't winning a national championship. I think everybody agrees with that. Penn State still can't beat a top five team. Ohio State and Oregon just reload and remain the class in the Big Ten. Georgia still can't beat Bama. OU is the most improved team in the country and made the best investments in the off season. When it comes to OCDC, Indiana, Vandy and Ole Miss, they ain't going nowhere. LSU's defense is real. It's back. It's good to see Tennessee does not miss Nico. The ACC has several contenders, which is probably pretty surprising to all of us. And I'm adding Louisville, Miami, fsu, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and none of them are named Clemson or smu, who played for the. For the title a year ago. So, boys, that's what I have learned halfway through the season. Tell me what I missed. Tell me what you don't like. Tell me what you do like. The chat obviously, is going to let us know a lot about what we feel and how we feel. But, Brett, what stuck out. Homogene.

Reese Davis (4:30)

I.

David Pollock (4:30)

What stuck out is that you admitted that Clemson is not winning the national championship.

Brent Musburger (4:34)

Yes.

Reese Davis (4:35)

Your.

David Pollock (4:35)

Your all in tattoo was a farce. It was just a. Did not. You wish it didn't happen.

Brent Musburger (4:40)

No, no, it wasn't. It wasn't a farce. It was. What's that ink called? That. That other ink, the. That comes off the tattoo. But it's like the.

Reese Davis (4:48)

I have no idea.

Brent Musburger (4:50)

It's the one that goes away, you know, like, it's. It wasn't a. It wasn't a permanent tattoo, Brent.

David Pollock (4:54)

Yeah, that's. I mean, it was a good thing. That wasn't permanent But I think Oregon and Ohio State being the class of the Big Ten, I would even, I mean I would even potentially, and I've said this a couple times, Ohio State, maybe even two, three notch. Like, to me, I look at this as if Ohio State doesn't win the whole thing. It's going to be like. Because they've just been on cruise control in these games. I think offensively he's just kind of, hey, I'm just going to ease my QB into it, that sort of thing. But Miami, and that's. We're going to learn a lot about Miami this week, I think, because that environment that they're going into, it's going to be insane on Saturday night.

Brent Musburger (5:39)

But yep.

David Pollock (5:40)

And it's a first kind of true really road game for them. So that was basically.

Brent Musburger (5:46)

Other than that.

David Pollock (5:47)

I said, I mean there wasn't. I don't think you missed anything.

Brent Musburger (5:50)

No. Yeah. I mean it is, it is a, it is a lot to, to, to get. But I think the, if you'd asked me who the like most surprising part of that would have been, like, does anybody imagine like that Nussmeier, Manning, Lagway and Sellers, like they weren't going to be, you know, none of those four would be the best quarterbacks in the sec. Like that's, that's kind of crazy to me that that's probably. And, and that Trinidad Shambless was going to be one of the top three. Because he is, if you don't realize it. Like, I think we're going to find out this week who the best quarterback in the SEC is because Ty Simpson and Pavia can go battle that out like they're both insane. And you saw, you've seen it for Ty Simpson now three weeks in a row. I mean it's, it's been impressive like the last three games, three and over 77%, you know, almost, almost 900 yards, 11 touchdowns and zero takeaways. And I think the line has shown you that it's, it's pretty good. It's not elite, but he knows how to get rid of the football. He knows when to scramble. Like that's the probably the best part so far, not committing a turnover. And then Pavia with 400, 400 yards and six touchdowns last week. And what he does, obviously is a trinidad, you know, 314 against LSU, 71 rush. Like that' just, that's just crazy to me. But, but if you're talking about, you know, Club Nick and the, all the hyped guys before the season that we just Mentioned, you know, Arch and Lagway, like interesting like who bounces back first. And I think Club Nick has a real opportunity this week, man. Like you're playing North Carolina, like you've got to bounce back. Like talking about a preseason miss. Like me on North Carolina saying they were going to win, you know, seven or eight games because of their schedule. Like they have been ungood, very ungood. And listen, I know there's all the things that are going on with, with Bill and maybe the, the 20 something year old is. Is. Is an issue and the, the atmosphere and all the stuff that goes into it and maybe it's just learning college football because that happens. You're going to have to learn. But, but we have seen more with the. With. We have seen more with NFL coaches coming down and having success. That's not a surprise. So Bill doing it though in his 70s, being in the. One of the most winningest coaches you know ever to do it was. Was pretty surprising that he's been ungood. Very ungood. But I expect Club Nick to bounce back this week to interested to watch Arch because he finally went without a turnover. And I think Arch against, against Florida has a chance to after the, after the bye week to decompress. I think we'll see a good version of Arch. I think we'll see the best version of him continue. I think he'll continue to grow and get better. I don't see it with Lagway, man. I don't see the, I don't see that offense bouncing back what it's been relegated to become. It's just, it's just hard. And obviously they face off this week, which I think is, is really, really cool and we'll get to see that. But it's, it's. It's a great topic. It's. It's awesome. Brett, what were you thinking about that like you, you, you, you over there had something to say about the bounce back and who it would be?

David Pollock (9:04)

Well, the first off is if we're taking early victory laps, I'm going to take an early victory lap. On Belichick, you were like, oh yeah, let's go. And I said he didn't pick players very well. That was his problem and he hasn't done that well.

Brent Musburger (9:20)

Well, he wasn't picking the players. He's got a, he's got a general manager now, which is the first time he's ever had that. But yes, I got you.

David Pollock (9:27)

I do agree with Klubnick that he should get back on track because I want, I Actually want to see him because of what Clemson can be. Because Clemson can be big time spoiler. Now the rest of their schedule, they've got SMU at home, Duke at home, FSU at home at Louisville, and, and you never know, maybe the ACC is a lot closer than you think and they can somehow get back in the fight. But that, that's one I want to see. But if you're picking between Arch and Lagway, who has successful, I'm gonna go Arch in this game.

Reese Davis (9:58)

Yeah.

David Pollock (9:58)

Because despite Florida playing really good defense all year, they're last in the power 4 in sack rate and pressure rate.

Brent Musburger (10:08)

So Arch should be banged up like crazy too.

David Pollock (10:11)

Should be nice and comfortable. And if he's not, then okay then, then Florida's done a little fixing on the bye week.

Brent Musburger (10:17)

Well, and even that, just showing the ability to be consistent with his reads. You know, going through it, not rushing, which watch it going back and watching our boy from Penn State, man, Aller is too quick to get off of his first read. It's just, it's. He needs to do a better job of settling his feet and calming down. The Gators are beating, also are beating Texas in the chat. Canes, Cats, heat. I see you. I think that that can happen. I could see a world where that could happen. But the problem is, man, both had by weeks in Florida's offense what they are. I just, I, I understand what you're saying. I think the game could be close, but I don't see it. Rj, we see you in the chat, brother. Why. Why isn't the D line at UGA getting any push or does our D line need another year? A lot of guys that are struggling to win one on one battles and guys that have to develop, guys that have to get better with their hands, guys, guys that have to learn to rush the passer, man. Like the thing about rushing the passer that's really cool and really frustrating is it takes time to figure out like who you are and what you are as a pass rusher. Like, I was very good with my hands with winning with my first step, but then I had to learn the counter move to it. So it's, it's both of it. Like it's both together, but it's experience, it's reps. So there's a ton of youth. Man, we're not used to seeing this with George's line. Like you're just not used to seeing so many guys with inexperience that are developing. And so it will come around, I think. But Next we're going to get to a little food poisoning. A little USC food poisoning. I don't know if you guys have seen it. I'm completely buying this. Completely buying this. You know, USC being sick, missing guys, you know, left and right. Also with the injuries, I do think they were sick. I do think they were down. Their best safety, obviously, the front, the offensive line, too, was down. So I do think this is true. But Lane. Lane is not. Gosh, I always say Lane, by the way. Lane Kiffin. It's not Lane Kiffin, bro. Like, it's Lincoln Riley. Lincoln Riley kind of talked about it and they say, like, not using his excuse. But I'm interested to watch USC get right, get healthy because they were missing so many guys. They still got so much talent. They're still going to be interested. It brings me back to. To Brent, my. My most amazing moment that, that I saw on a football field. And you might have a good one off the top of your head, too, but, like, first game of the season against the Clemson Tigers, and we go up to the line, and as we go to the line, they're going through their cadence. The center gets in his stance and then literally yaks all over the football. Like, yaks all over the football. Like, it was absolutely disgusting. I felt so bad for the quarterback who had to touch it. Like, he had to do it. Like, that is unbelievably awful. And I felt bad for the guy, like, but it. It really was just kind of gross, kind of disgusting. Not something that you ever want to be a part of. But there was chunks on the football. And I. You see it in practice all the time. And I know this is gross for a lot of you people. You people don't understand. Like, a lot of people that didn't play, like, there is so much of that in practice. There's so many people that are. That are yakking. There's so much of. Off to the side, like, stomach upset. People get overheated. It's crazy to think about it, but it is nuts. But we got that the opening game against Clemson and they zoomed in on it. They replayed it, which I'm not sure everybody in the world loved, but it was a real thing. It was pretty, pretty disgusting. But I think usc, I think USC has a chance to prove them wrong. And listen, we did. Something's brewing last week, right? Like, and me and Brent both think, think USC is really good. I think they have a chance if they can get healthy, they can still make some noise, they can still play spoiler. Their defense has to get better, specifically at corner, specifically in the inside. But their their offense is going to score. Their offense is going to be more balanced than they were a week ago when they get healthier because they've got, they got a great running back. They got great receivers too when Lane comes back as well. So there's a lot to like. All right, so let's get the podium Kings.

Reese Davis (14:33)

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Brent Musburger (17:09)

And I think when you start with podium Kings, we got a really special one for you. We got Reese Davis coming up in a few. The silky smooth sounds of Reese Davis. But you know, we'll. We'll start with Podium King. We'll start with Dan Lanning after the Penn State game. You've heard us reference this, but take a gander at old Dan Lanning, our team special special. Just look at that face. I think just, just look at that face. West Dan's face than it is about.

David Pollock (17:40)

His sound bite, David.

Reese Davis (17:41)

That yes, he is the college Dan Campbell.

Brent Musburger (17:44)

You can't tell me that guy wouldn't.

Reese Davis (17:45)

Have eaten a kneecap just then.

Brent Musburger (17:48)

He absolutely would. Like he is. He is that definition like. And if you're doing the cage match thing, I know he's not the biggest, but if we did the college football coaching cage match, I'm not sure I'm betting against that guy in that stare. He's definitely gonna have the best stare down, that's for sure. Saw him go toe to toe with Nolan Smith when he was at Georgia.

Reese Davis (18:08)

And he looked like he was ready to go.

Brent Musburger (18:09)

All right, next one.

David Pollock (18:11)

Lane Kiffin winning the week, as Brent said.

Brent Musburger (18:14)

Here you go after that big win over the Bayou Bengals. Glad they make paid place. I'm looking for wit right now to see if he covered over only with we need to get Reese will ask him about that because I think Lane's the only one that can say that. We'll have to ask him if he knows another coach that's willing to say that. And this is the best one west like so Reese Davis, make sure because because I see you in the room now. We're going to pull you up in a minute, but I want to make sure, Reese, that you see this one, this podium king because you're going to absolutely love it.

Reese Davis (18:48)

I think we're pulling them up right now. DP hello, I'm Rhys Davis and welcome to this ESPN Classic special presentation of the USFL featuring the Memphis Showboats and the Los Angeles Express from April of 1984. I'm Rhys Davis. Thank you for watching ESPN Classic.

Brent Musburger (19:08)

Hands together for Mr. Reese Davis.

Reese Davis (19:13)

Why did you speed it up to one and a half? I sure hope you sped it up just a little bit.

Brent Musburger (19:18)

No, that was. That was normal speed. What are you talking about, Reese? Hey, since that. How old were you that. In that moment, you think, Reese? Guess.

Reese Davis (19:27)

I don't. I'm gonna GUESS I was 20, 29 when I got to ESPN. Started doing sports center when I was 30. Probably 31. 30, 31, something like that.

Brent Musburger (19:39)

Okay. I was just wondering if you'd hit puberty yet. So you debunked that. I just. I was wondering if those.

Reese Davis (19:43)

The answer to that is probably no. Probably.

Brent Musburger (19:47)

All right. RD well, man, thank you so much for having me. We gotta first. We gotta first talk about the daughter's wedding because that was absolutely fantastic. It was good to see you. It was good to see so many friends from. From game day. And. And I would just like to say you're welcome, like, because. Not because I was attending. That has nothing to do with it. But, Reese, like, you spent all that money to make one of the best, greatest weddings ever. And I didn't waste any steak for you. I was going around to all the tables making sure that all the steak got eaten.

Reese Davis (20:18)

Thank you. I appreciate that. I saw people leaving food on the plate. There was so much cake. You know what? I know you don't like wedding cake or any cake, but they told my wife, because this cake is amazing. There's a woman, David, she was born in Vietnam. She went to school in Oklahoma, and then she went to Paris to train to do this. We just stumbled across her. She has a tiny little bakery in Simsbury, Connecticut. And they wouldn't send the wedding cake home with us. Everything else, they sent some leftovers. They said, nope, we don't do that. What are you talking about?

Brent Musburger (20:50)

They just took it home.

Reese Davis (20:51)

I don't know what. I guess they threw it away. I hope the staff at least ate it something. But no, I feel like if you.

Brent Musburger (20:58)

Paid for that, you get it.

Reese Davis (20:59)

I know. That's what I would think.

Brent Musburger (21:00)

That seems you should file a lawsuit.

Reese Davis (21:02)

And thank you for dressing up too. You're welcome.

Brent Musburger (21:07)

Hey, I did say. I told everybody there. You were obviously busy with. With your daughter and your. And she was a beautiful bride. The wedding was unbelievable. I told everybody. I was like, listen, once I got canned from espn, that's the last time I'm putting on a suit ever again. I'm not putting on a suit again. And I live true to my Word. But I did not, I did not wear a, like, bright red T shirt or anything like that.

Reese Davis (21:29)

No, Joyce, you. You look great. I told, I told somebody there, there's another friend of mine, we had our picture taken together, guys that I, that I call my Matt Carriers. But I know that's a different podcast. But I am on him all the time because he introduced me at a speaking engagement. He asked me, he said, how are you going to dress? And I said, just casual. He showed up in like some, you know, quarter zip, like, you know, some Nike thing or something. And I was like, Johnny, I just meant I wasn't wearing a tie. You know, I got it on a sport coat and stuff. So I was like, whatever you do, you cannot wear a quarter zip to the wedding. But any.

Brent Musburger (22:04)

You gotta, you gotta clarify. Casual. Casual for, for some people are different than others. But hey, I do want to tell the suit. The lining of the suit was, was pretty impressive. Like, we had, we had a bet at the, at the table with Desmond Howard and all of us, we were betting the over under on Reese's speech, on how fast he cried. I took the over and completely crushed it because I said, Reese is going to come in with humor. He knows if he starts touching emotional topics, it's over. He's going to cry like a baby. I was like, he's done this before. But to give you all the ultimate experience, he did the scene set at the wedding like he does on college game day. And it was absolutely fantastic. It was unbelievable. Unbelievable wedding. Obviously it was awesome to be a part of and to watch. Liz, she was beautiful and I mean, she's got a stud of a dude too. But as much as we love talking.

Reese Davis (22:56)

About that, he's a great dude.

Brent Musburger (22:58)

Yes.

Reese Davis (22:59)

He talked Colorado football all day. Did you see the, you see the Buffs logo on his wedding cake or on, on the groom's cake?

Brent Musburger (23:06)

That's, that's, that's amazing. He's. He's a die hard Buffaloes fan. Listen, that's great. Like, that's, that's the part of football that you can't even when you lose a bunch. Like to get that out of you, it shouldn't come out.

Reese Davis (23:16)

Like his parents there. Dad's a booster.

Brent Musburger (23:19)

You know.

Reese Davis (23:20)

I probably should tell this story. When they, When Mel Tucker slipped out of town, you know, and went to Michigan State is. If you remember, Ross Dellinger, who wrote for Sports Illustrated, wrote a story about Mel leaving and going to Michigan State. And the title of the article was we were Hoodwinked. The man who said that was Nate's father? Because Nate's father, you know, is in those Colorado booster circles. And he was like, you know, he, he sat there and told us he wasn't going. That he did. And so anyway, so, yeah, they, their college football affiliation runs pretty deep. Yeah.

Brent Musburger (23:57)

Yeah. And that was a significant pay raise for, for Mel Tucker. So it's hard to. It's hard to knock him. All right, Reese, we're. We're about halfway through the season. What, what have you learned halfway through the. This college football season?

Reese Davis (24:09)

I'm not sure there's a dominant team. They're really good ones. I think at the moment Miami deserves to be number one and they might well be the best team. But Ohio State was really impressive Saturday. Now, I didn't. Because of what you just mentioned, what we talked about. I didn't watch the game until this morning. You know, I knew what had happened. But I went back and watched the game this morning and I. Man, they were, they were just. They're terrific defensively and I think saying is going to keep getting better and everybody knows the weapons, but I'm not sure that either of those teams really head and shoulders above everybody else. Think Oregon's really good too. So I think that's the number one thing. And I think the other thing I've learned, David, is I think we're going to have. I think we're going to have some three loss teams in the playoff and I know we're going to have several two loss teams. Yeah.

Brent Musburger (24:58)

Have you, have you changed your mind? Like, I, I think I've. My mind's kind of shifting a little bit this direction. Just. I mean, I was looking at the SEC and I'm like, clearly the best conference. Clearly the best conference top to bottom. So many challengers now. I kind of, I kind of feel a little bit differently about that. I'm not sure there's a, a dominant team. I can find a couple. You already mentioned Oregon and Ohio State. I think I can find a couple in the, in the Big Ten. But who's the best team in the sec?

Reese Davis (25:26)

I don't know. It might be. I. Look, I know Ole Miss is going to get mad at me because a couple weeks ago I still didn't have them ranked and they. Because I just, you know, I was skeptical about him going into the season. Saw them, watch them play Arkansas. I thought they were fortunate to get out of there with that one. But you know what? They're getting better and better. They're certainly always dangerous. Lane's an unbelievable, you know, offensive coach. And I think Chambliss has. I mean, I know Austin Simmons is their guy, and I know what he says, and I keep looking at this guy, and he throws for three bills and runs for 100 every week, and we're close to it. But I. It might be A and M. It might be Ole Miss. You know, I don't know. I thought it was LSU for a while. It's clearly not them. So I think we might be very similar to last year, David, in that there are capable teams in the sec, there are teams that can win the national championship there, but I don't know that there are dominant elite teams in there. There just might be teams that can figure out ways to win big games.

Brent Musburger (26:28)

Well, and we've wanted that for years. Yeah, every fan base has been talking about that. Like, I'm tired of watching this, and I'm tired of watching that. And now we. We finally got it. Like, we've got the parody. So the great Reese Davis joins us here on C. Ball. Get ball. What. What's one thing that we aren't talking about enough? Like, what's one thing in the sport that, like. Because I know you're doing the prep every week, and you're always looking for stuff to uncover and things to talk about and things that people aren't talking about. Is there anything that. That's sticking out with you that, like, this needs to be talked about more?

Reese Davis (27:04)

You know, I would almost say, and I'm not just trying to spread the wealth, but I think it might be that they're. That even though they lost at Mississippi State, a team like Arizona State, a team like Texas Tech, you know, might not be far off from. From being a contender. Maybe we're not paying quite enough attention to the Big 12. I mean, Texas Tech, he played one game for all intents and purposes. You know, the other ones, they did slap Utah, though. They did. I mean, that was a dominant performance, too. You know, we've got a little bit of a film room jinx going with. With Nick's film room thing that we do. We showed Devin Dampier and then we showed Demond Williams, and, you know, they both. They both got bottled up pretty good immediately afterwards. So I think maybe it's that. And if we are in a season in which a lot of different teams could win, then maybe it's one of those teams from a little bit. A little bit off the radar. We're probably. And we're probably still. Even after what they did to Illinois underappreciating Indiana. I mean, you know, I, if one of these, one of these quote unquote big time programs, you know, if I don't some, you know, these guys have coaches, I don't want to act as if I'm calling for jobs, but if there's a big job that opens someplace perceived big job, why would you just not go and see if Kurt Signetti would take the job? I don't care that he's 64. You're not. Coaches generally aren't staying for 15 years any anymore anyway. So try to get six, seven really good years and have it in good shape that you're, I mean, Google him. He's going to win, you know, so that's what I would do. Right. Well, am I wrong? You disagree with me or not?

Brent Musburger (28:41)

No, I, I don't disagree with you. And he can also bring his whole roster from Indiana like he did with James Madison, which would help.

Reese Davis (28:47)

But like, the other thing is he might not want to do it the way the sport is right now. You can win a lot of places. For instance, I don't think it's some foregone conclusion that if you know the job everybody's talking about, they offer it to Lane Kiffin. Why would he take that job? I mean, they screwed themselves up last year. They should have been in the playoff last year. It was nothing about, you know, Ole Miss's money or commitment or players that kept them out. They screwed up. They screwed up a couple of games.

Brent Musburger (29:13)

I think there's also something too, man, like when you get to bring in a guy that like, you bring in a guy like Signetti instant also cache, like, because, because he's gonna, he's gonna be fun because he's a quote machine. Like, he's gonna give, he's, he's gonna say the entertaining stuff. He's gonna take shots, take swipes. Which. Who doesn't love that? Like I, I love a coach that's gonna have a little bit of a backbone. I'm good with that. Speaker 0.

Reese Davis (29:37)

I am too. And I've got your answer from your podium Kings. For just a second you said who else beside Lane could get away with, with that? I've got one for you. Fran Brown.

Brent Musburger (29:51)

Signetti and Fran Brown too.

Reese Davis (29:54)

Yeah.

Brent Musburger (29:55)

Yes.

Reese Davis (29:56)

I love, I love Fran, man. He's, he's great.

Brent Musburger (30:00)

Is, is Lane Kiffin. Like you watch him and you watch him. First of all, I'm sure you watched the special and it was fantastic. Like, loved watching that. Love seeing that. Like, and it's been fun Reese to see a kid, a kid grow up in front of us because that's what he was man like to have that. But like now you watch him and he's winning the portal, you know, like he has that. He's adjusted to college football and what it is. So you think it's about him adjusting more than, than growing as a coach? Or is it a combination of both?

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Brent Musburger (30:40)

I need a coffee.

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Reese Davis (31:50)

Hey, it's probably a combination of both. And I think when you hear Elaine talk and talk about things that are important to him, that he had put at risk through his own decisions, that he is seemingly rectified, that makes you feel better about things for him than anything else. I mean that's a, that's a wonderful thing because it's the thing that lasts. So I do think a lot of it is, is just maturity. A lot of it's growing up. A lot of, you know, look man, we're all. Except you. You're the only one not aging. The rest are getting older and you know, so maybe it's just something that comes along with age, but I'm very happy to see now. He's always been entertaining. He's never. What did they Call him in his family. When he. When he was a kid, I think they called him the helicopter because he would come in and, you know, stir everything up and kick up all the dirt. So he's always going to have that quality. And as you mentioned, we love that. It's fun, you know, it's awesome. It makes it. It gives us something to talk about. He knows that he's. He's great content, so it's, you know, he's never going to lose that. But I think some of the things that were beyond the pale seem to be a thing of the past, and that's probably good for him. Good for Ole Miss and, you know, good for everybody associated with it. Yeah.

Brent Musburger (33:03)

And if you didn't see the documentary, what you missed was the. One of my favorite moments was just what. What Reese just said. Jeff Tedford made him all wear knee braces, and Lane took his knee brace off because he's like, screw this. I'm not getting reps. So coach like kick rocks. And Tedford, like, went and had a talk with him. They go in the back and then he comes out for the team pictures. And homeboy has a polo on. He's no longer a player because. Because obviously Derek Carr had joined the mix and he was clearly going to be the guy. And Lane's like, all right, screw it. Forget this. I'll go, I'll go, I'll go. Move on. I'll go. Be a coach. Like, that is one of the coolest stories that I've ever heard. That's your helicopter right there. Just walking in, stirring it up. I'm not wearing a knee brace. Forget you. And then leaving like, that's. That's how Lane used to be. But let's get some other teams, too, man. What do you feel about A and M? They're obviously ranked high. You know, Gigam's got a chance to continue to grow. The Weapons have been pretty daggum crazy. I mean, they've been. They've been really good. So. But what do you think about the Aggies so far? And are you buying some? Stay in power. You look at them to make the playoffs. Like, how do you feel about the Aggies?

Reese Davis (34:12)

I am buying. I am buying some staying power with them, but I have still. I still want to see some more from Marcel Reed. Now, I know the numbers look great, but I'm talking about down the field, what they've been great at. Craver, Concepcion, They've been great at yards after the catch. So downfield. Downfield's a little bit More, you know, a little bit more suspect. But anybody. I've got high regard for Notre Dame. I think Notre Dame's really good. You go in there, you win the game. Win the game the way they did. Think it builds confidence. So I, I do buy A and M. They've got a lot of guys back. We, I think people sort of overlooked that in the off season through all of the arch Manning craze and people. Texas returned on defense and, you know, and Georgia and is Alabama better and all of this in terms of the sec, I mean, and you sort of look, the fact that A and M had a lot of dudes back, especially the big fellas, and then they really, really supplemented them with guys out of the portal. They've given them some explosive capabilities on.

Brent Musburger (35:20)

The outside, guys that can run. Speaking of explosive capabilities, you work with Nick now, and I want to know. I want to know who told him about putting the white suit on. Was that. Was that. I want to know how that went and, and how, how Coach took that. Was in stride. He was good with it or. Nobody tells me what to wear.

Reese Davis (35:38)

But no, no, no.

Brent Musburger (35:39)

Here.

Reese Davis (35:40)

Here's what happened. So our coordinating producer, Matt Garrett, has this idea, and he calls me and I said, yeah, I'm in. Matt, to his credit, was like, everybody has to be in. Everybody bring a backup suit. And they fitted us. Those were new suits that Haberdashery and State College came up with. It's up in my closet now. Maybe I'll find an occasion to wear it again someday.

Brent Musburger (36:03)

But I just, I can't imagine. First of all, I can't imagine, like, how you felt putting a normal suit on. Because, Mr. Mr. Reese Davis, putting on a suit that is off the rack, not custom, not nice and silky, did. I mean, did you kind of feel like a D lineman like me?

Reese Davis (36:23)

A little bit. I felt. I felt like I was either about to put somebody six feet under or I was about to serve the appetizers. I was either about to lower a cat the in the ground, or I was going to say, would you. Would you like some crudita? You know something?

Brent Musburger (36:40)

I thought you were going to sing some Backstreet Boys to me. That's what I thought you do.

Reese Davis (36:44)

It could have been that there were some memes that said that. But anyway, what happened was, so Garrett goes, well, I'm going to call Nick. And so he calls him. And fortunately for us and the entire bit, which was, I think, Pretty well received, Ms. Terry and Kristen happened to be there, and they thought it was a Splendid idea. So they got, they got Nick on board and then off we go.

Brent Musburger (37:10)

Happy wife, happy life. Amazing. It's very, very simple. What do you think about Pavia this week? Man, I've seen the. I'll be interested too with the film room if y' all do something like this because that offense is one of the biggest pains in the arse. Like they do such a good job of reading different defenders and putting you in conflict all the. It's. It's literally like plugging a dike. Now listen, they don't have the most smashed guys up front that are going to hammer you and the most talent. But stopping Pavia like Bama, obviously off of a big win. Georgia's a huge rival. Like now coming. I think they. Obviously Vanderbilt has their attention, but is. Is Pavia about to. To meet a big test and not respond and. And Vanderbilt going to come back down to earth or do you think Vandy's got some staying power and they're going to go blow for blow?

Reese Davis (38:00)

I think it's going to be a high scoring game because one of the things that Alabama has struggled with and everybody's going to say running quarterbacks, but Alabama's tackle percentage, you know, you get in those deep stats in terms number of tackles made and opportunities for tackles is just about 80%. That ranks like 112th in the country. That's a bad recipe with that guy. They've also given up some scramble yards. Now, Diego hasn't run as much as you've seen this year. He hasn't had to. I, I think, and I think Alabama suspects that there are some wrinkles awaiting them. I do think one of the things. I think Alabama might have gotten a little cute last year and cute's the wrong word. They might have tried too hard to scheme it up because they knew it was difficult to stop. And I think they got their guys playing slow and unsure. But they missed a missed 10 tackles in the game last year and four of them were on Pavia. So that's. I think that's the biggest key to me. When you have a chance to get him on the ground, do you get him on the ground? Because they're not great in run defense. They don't have those big guys that they've had to shut down a conventional running game, let alone one that is as creative as Vanderbilt's. Now I think Alabama is a better team. I think that they will be in a better mental space than they were after because they're in the same place. They've beaten Georgia Last year in a, you know, hard fought, blow for blow, wild, emotional game. So they're in the same spot there. But I do think that they'll be in a better mental place against them. But that doesn't guarantee them much. Vanderbilt's good. And the thing that we talk a lot about. Bama David, think about what's at stake for Vanderbilt if Vanderbilt wins this game. First of all. Well, side note, they're bowl eligible and instead of throwing a parade down Broad street which they've always done when Vanderbilts become bowl eligible. Yeah, whatever. We're trying to go to the playoffs, we're trying to win the sec. Now do I think they're going to win the sec? Probably not. But if they beat Alabama Saturday, they're in it. I mean you, you've got to contend with them and they're certainly, I think they're certainly a playoff contender if they win this game Saturday. It may be. Anyway, it's not like they're going to cancel the season if they lose. No, but, but I think they will certainly announce that they're in the mix if they were to win Saturday.

Brent Musburger (40:31)

Well, and before last year they were owing 60 against top five teams like I'm not. That's, that's pretty good history. That's pretty good.

Reese Davis (40:39)

Do you know and, and even though I grew up there, went to school there, know a lot about the history. I, I learned something from, about Alabama football today that I did not. You know what the worst loss in Alabama history is by, by points. By, by score? Yes. Vanderbilt by 78 to nothing.

Brent Musburger (41:01)

Oh, oh God. What year was that? Like 1912.

Reese Davis (41:08)

I gotta look at my notes. It was like 1906 or something like that.

Brent Musburger (41:12)

And so you were only six years old at that time.

Reese Davis (41:14)

I never should have said that.

Brent Musburger (41:16)

I know better that.

Reese Davis (41:17)

I know better than that. The funny thing about that game is that at least what I read today was that, yeah, it was 1906 that Alabama tried to reschedule the game because they had it said seven of their 11 players. Now I don't know if that meant they had to go recruit other guys off campus or you know, the substitution rules were different. Said seven of their 11 players hurt. So they were like, hey, could we play later? And Vanderbilt's like, yeah, no, what is, we'll just come to 78 to nothing instead.

Brent Musburger (41:50)

Yeah, you're, you're holding that L and liking it and we're going to use that for years to come. Hey, we did Reese. The great Reese Davis joins us. We did, we did this thing the other day, we do a deep dive on different teams, and we did it on Oregon. And I'll be curious to ask your answer to this question. Who would you take in all of college football right now? Take age into account, everything. Who would you take over? Dan Lanning. That means. You know what that means, ladies and gentlemen? That means we asked a pretty good question. If Davis just went, huh?

Reese Davis (42:22)

Yeah, let me. Taking everything into account.

Brent Musburger (42:26)

Yeah, you have to take the ages into account because obviously he's a younger guy, but you can take whatever you want into account and tell me that you're taking who over? Dan Lanning.

Reese Davis (42:36)

Yeah. I mean, there, there are some that, you know, I would think are maybe his equal. I mean, he, he hasn't, he hasn't beaten DeBoer. You know, he's 0 and 2 against him. But I would, I mean, he'd be right at the top of the list. David. It'd be very hard with the way he understands, the way he connects with players and the way he understands the, the bigger picture of college football right now with, you know, acquiring talent. Yeah, he'd probably have to be right at the top of the list. So although the guy, the guy in Athens, you know, the reports of the demise of the guy in Athens has been greatly exaggerated. Okay.

Brent Musburger (43:22)

Okay. All right. So. So I got another question for you then. If that's the, if that's the case, is Georgia more likely to go 10 and 2 or 8 and 4?

Reese Davis (43:33)

10 and 2. They're Georgia. I mean, you know, right now, after having that loss that I didn't think they would have, you know, probably right in the middle is where they'll land, is my guess.

Brent Musburger (43:49)

Yes.

Reese Davis (43:50)

Yeah, I agree, too, but maybe not. But if you tell me, are they going to lose three more or one more, I'm going to say one more.

Brent Musburger (43:59)

Yeah, I think it's. And we talked about it going into the season, man, I just like, who were the All Americans on defense? Who are those guys that, like, because you've been able to take your hat and go, I'm going to hang my hat on this guy, this guy, this guy to rush the passer, to dominate the line of scrimmage. And, man, they got four sacks in four games. And wait a minute. Yep. Ty Simpson just had more time to throw the football and just completed another pass on third down. Like, how do they fix that? Like, I like what I'm seeing from gunner. I like the running game, but defensively, man, it's just so not what I'm. And listen, take Away the. Take away the greatest defensive stretch probably in the history. That will never happen again. And if NIL was in that era, it would have never continued. Like, there would have been guys going all over the place.

Reese Davis (44:47)

But, I mean, that Georgia defense won the super bowl last year. Come on. Yeah, so it's. I, I think they're fine, but that is, that is an era of spoiled defenders, guys who could wreck games. You know, I mean, I remember when that great Tennessee team with Hinden Hooker came down there and played like, even, like, even a guy who didn't have the accolades and didn't, you know, have the accolades of the other guy's head. I remember watching Nazir Stackhouse basically wrecked the game for Tennessee. You know, he was like, okay, my turn here. And, you know, he was terrific that day. I thought, you know, after watching that, he's going to be, you know, ultra league. He's still a really good player. I'm not trying to say he wasn't, but, you know, he didn't probably do what, you know, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, you know, people like that did.

Brent Musburger (45:41)

No, no, there's no doubt. What's, what's, what's fun to watch is it's fun to watch. The parody I love makes it more fun to cover week in and week out. Like, it's not just like, the spreads used to be asinine.

Reese Davis (45:54)

Right.

Brent Musburger (45:54)

It used to be like, crap. Like the Vanity Alabama game used to be like, all right, Najee Harris is going to rush for over 300. Like, that was literally kind of how you thought about. Like they were going to ground and pound to a nub and they would not be able to. Vanity couldn't move the football. And, you know, now all of a sudden, man, it's kind of fun. We get to talk about more, More teams. Which is, which is awesome because there's so many teams that are still in this thing and that's, you know, more cities, more like. Did you ever think you'd do a Vanderbilt at Bama College game day?

Reese Davis (46:24)

No. No.

Brent Musburger (46:25)

I mean, never. Yeah, that was never on the. That wasn't on the. That wasn't on the bingo card at any point.

Reese Davis (46:31)

No, I mean, I think the show's been there one time, like in 2008, and, you know, they, they played Auburn and they, they won that game. But, you know, they've been off the radar, been so bad for so long. And then. I give Clark Lee credit, you were talking about the Kiffin special. If you watch the SEC special too, in the Vanderbilt episode, I Mean, you couldn't help but be impressed with what he's built and also the wisdom to innovate and bring, you know, bring Tim Beck and Diego Pavia in and Jerry Kill and change the, the way he had done things. Realizing you have to be a little bit different at Vanderbilt and they, you know, they've caught lightning in a bottle a little bit with Diego because it's not just the system. You also have this, this guy who just sort of is a swashbuckling kind of quarterback that enjoys that stage and it's really worked for them. And you know, I think, I think they're really, really good. You know, do I think they're going to win the sec? I don't, but I think they might have a say in who does before it's over.

Brent Musburger (47:36)

And just imagine like what could have been for Auburn because Auburn lost to New Mexico State and Diego Pavia think if Auburn went in there and grabbed Diego and had Diego the last two years with that run game, like with those receivers, with that defense, like that could have been something pretty special. Like that might have changed Auburn's folks minds if, if that happened. Last thing, Reese and I'll get you out of here. I want to know what your first job was like, the first job you had that you like. Okay, I can do this. How this started to get you to where you're at.

Reese Davis (48:18)

Oh, you mean TV job. You're not.

Brent Musburger (48:19)

Yeah, yeah.

Reese Davis (48:20)

You're not talking about when I was washing 18 wheelers for warehouser. You're not talking about.

Brent Musburger (48:26)

I just can't. I. I don't believe for a second you did that.

Reese Davis (48:28)

I absolutely did that.

Brent Musburger (48:30)

Did you? In Muscle Shoals, Alabama. That's what.

Reese Davis (48:32)

Yeah. Yeah. This guy had a, this guy who worked for them, had a contract with them and on Saturdays his stepson and I would go up there and we watch those trucks. You make a little. Make a little folding money, you know, a little bit.

Brent Musburger (48:43)

Now that would be like. That would not. Yeah. Anyways.

Reese Davis (48:46)

Yeah. Yeah. The, the first, the first job I had was. Was at the CBS affiliate in Tuscaloosa. Now that's way different from knowing that I could do it. I think, I think probably I, I gained some confidence in Columbus, Georgia, because I was there for a really long time, but I couldn't get out. So when I really felt like I might have something going was when I went to Flint. Now I had confidence in Columbus. But when you aren't getting any sniff at all to go up the ladder, you know, and you're sending out hundreds of tapes and not hearing anything, you question yourself a little bit. And I might have told you this story before, but when I went to. When I went to Flint, I walked into the news director's office a couple of days after or a couple of weeks after I've been there, and I said, why did you hire me? And he said, what? And as I've been trying to move up forever, couldn't get a sniff, why did you hire me? And he said, you know, your station and the technical quality had some issues. He said, obviously, you know, it's a subjective business. He said, but we actually watched your tape and thought, okay, what's it going to look like on our set? What's it going to sound like? And what are his stories going to look like with our photographers and our editors? And he said, we. That was why. And I was there. I refer to him, his name is Jim Bleicher. I refer to him as the man who saved my career. I actually spent an afternoon with him this summer. He and his wife came over and joined Lee and me. We went to one of Christopher's baseball games in Joliet, Illinois. He lives in Chicago now. And so. But he's the guy who saved my career. And I think when he hired me and things went well in Flint, that was, that was when I, when I decided I knew that I could do this for sure.

Brent Musburger (50:35)

That's Flint, Michigan, right?

Reese Davis (50:36)

Flint, Michigan, Yeah.

Brent Musburger (50:38)

Like, it's just so awesome. Again, another story, another week for us here. And just to watch like people believe in you before you believe in you and then what that leads to and it just takes one. It just takes one person. And you took out the, you spit out those tapes. Like nowadays, obviously those wouldn't be tapes now you'd be sending like digital copies out. But you were probably, you were sending the legit tapes, weren't you?

Reese Davis (51:01)

Yeah, I was getting like legit. And. Well, that was another problem too, because our station in Columbus was on three quarter inch tapes and most of the rest of the free world was on beta by then. So there's a possibility they're like, this guy works at a station with three quarter inch tapes. Whoop, you know, and threw it right out. But so I don't know, he's out.

Brent Musburger (51:21)

Of here right away. All right, Reese. Well, you're, you're a great friend. You're great at what you do. Look forward to watching you this weekend. Obviously, I'm sure you'll have something up your sleeves with Vandy and Alabama. That will be fun. And, and unique and cool. But we appreciate your time, big homie, like always.

Reese Davis (51:37)

Yeah, feelings mutual, man.

Commercial Narrator (51:39)

We.

Reese Davis (51:39)

It was a special weekend made even better because the Pollux were with us. We appreciate you guys coming up, man.

Brent Musburger (51:45)

All right. Appreciate you, big homie.

Reese Davis (51:47)

Love you, brother. Love you too, man.

Brent Musburger (51:49)

Peace. Well, he's just. He's one of a kind, man. That dude is exactly what you see is what you get. Just, I mean, unbelievable at what he does. It was. It was a great show. It was fun to. To catch up, fun to talk about all the things we've learned about college football. We appreciate all you guys joining us to liking, to rating, to subscribing, to continue to follow, to continue to watch us on YouTube, all that stuff, man. It's such a blessing to continue to grow. You guys are the reason that we continue to grow. And we will definitely see you here Saturday night for the recap. And not as many good games this week, but it will still be fun. And we'll see y' all soon. Appreciate it.

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Brent Musburger (52:40)

I need a coffee.

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Reese Davis (53:19)

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Reese Davis (53:28)

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