← The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
Indiana beats Miami 27-21 in National Championship Game; Big Ten wins third straight Natty
01:03:49
The Indiana Hoosiers completed a 16-0 season and won the College Football Playoff National Championship with a 27-21 win over the Miami Hurricanes on Monday night.
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- [00:02]
Modelo Announcer
Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football. College football season is Modelo season and the season has officially kicked off. The Modelo recruiter is back in action looking to reward full time fans who give their all for their team and their school week in and week out. If you're listening to this, you've been recruited. So lace em up and get out there and don't forget to make time for a well deserved ice cold reward. Because college football wouldn't be the same without you. So grab yourself a Modelo and enjoy the official beer sponsor of the College Football Playoff Modelo.
- [00:56]
Bill Landis
Honey, do not make plans. Saturday, January 24th. Okay. Why? What's happening? The Walmart wellness event. Flu shots, health screenings, free samples from those brands you like. All that at Walmart.
- [01:05]
Doug Le Maurice
We can just walk right in, no appointment needed.
- [01:08]
Bill Landis
Who knew we could cover our health and wellness needs at Walmart? Check the calendar. Saturday, January 24th Walmart wellness event.
- [01:14]
Doug Le Maurice
You knew?
- [01:15]
Bill Landis
I knew.
- [01:16]
Grainger/Walmart Announcer
Check in on your health at the same place you already shop. Visit Walmart Saturday, January 24th for our semi annual wellness event, Flu shot. Subject to availability and applicable state law, age restrictions apply. Free sales samples while supplies last.
- [01:27]
Bill Landis
Revitalize your bathroom with big savings at lowes. Get up to 40% off select vanities and free delivery during our bath savings event. Plus get up to 40% off select shower heads. No matter what style you're looking for, we've got you covered. Shop for your bathroom refresh at lowes. We help you save while supplies last selection varies by location. Welcome back to the home of college football, Doug Le Maurice and Bill Landis Here on the Bill and Doug show, the Indiana Hoosiers, your national champions for the 2025 college football season. Finishing it off with a 2721 win over Miami. Bill Landis, three straight national championships for the Big Ten, Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana. What'd you think of the Hoosiers?
- [02:27]
Doug Le Maurice
Gutsy. Like honestly, like not playing all that great in the second half, but absolutely answering the bell every time they, they had to just like, yeah, just, you know, doing kind of doing what they do, doing what they've had to do in some other close games this year. They just, just find a way to win. That was actually, I think, sort of the more defining quality of Indiana this year. Right. Everybody focuses on the blowouts and the fact that they kicked Oregon's butt and, and really put it on teams when they can. But I think the thing that was far more Instructive about them was their way they were able to pull out wins when it got pretty adverse and they weren't trailing in this game, but it got pretty dicey and they made the plays they had to make to win the national championship.
- [03:08]
Bill Landis
You could have brought up that point about how it's more instructive to talk about their close wins when I was picking them to score 56 because they scored 56 four other times this year. And I was like, I don't think this thing's within. And you're like, actually, it's more instructive to look at their tight wins over Iowa and Penn State. Thanks now, Landis. Thanks for saying it.
- [03:27]
Doug Le Maurice
Now, you could have changed your score. When I picked Miami to win 24, 21.
- [03:33]
Bill Landis
I just want to be. I just want to be right without you once. Normally, the only time I'm right is when I'm with you. So you definitely had game flow on this. It's like, you picked Miami. I picked Indiana. I picked Indiana. Blowout. This was not a blowout, but I do think did. Let me tell you, when I bought this sword, and if you're listening on a podcast, I'm holding a sword. When I bought this sword, I anticipated that I may run this sword through Southern football on behalf of the Ohio State Buckeyes. I anticipated that maybe I would run it through on behalf of the Michigan Wolverines. I anticipated maybe I would run it through on behalf of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Oregon Ducks. Never did I anticipate that I would take the soul of Southern football with this baby on behalf of Kurt Signetti and the Indiana Hoosiers. Like, this is one of those. I don't think. I don't think you can be too hyperbolic with this, right? And we've been talking about it all year, but now that it's officially happened, it is. I wish I was more prepared to say it is the most amazing turnaround in college sports history in. But the thing, I was talking about this, and I said this the other day on something like, we have a lot of underdog references, but we have underdog moments, right? It's like the. The 1980 U.S. olympic hockey team, right? Or Villanova over Georgetown in 1985. It's about an underdog moment. It's an un. Like a. It's an eight seat over a one seat. It's. It's George Mason. Like, they made like a Final Four run, but they didn't get all the way over the top. But they also weren't the Most Dominan during an entire season. That's what I think. This is un. This is what's unmatched. Yeah, this is. This is an. A Villanova, Georgetown reference is over the head of, like, a bunch of this audience because it happened 40 years ago. But Indiana is both Villanova and Georgetown. They are both the underdog and the monstrous favorite. That's the thing that we've never seen before. There's nothing really about Indiana but the team tonight that is underdog. This is an underdog.
- [05:40]
Doug Le Maurice
They have.
- [05:42]
Bill Landis
They have great players. It's the program that is. That's an underdog. It's the history that's an underdog. This is more like if Hickory had a bunch of guys transfer in and went 40 and 0 and dunked on everybody. Right? That's what this is. This isn't a bunch of little upstarts. This is a new coach showed up and had a bunch of guys from his old school in the back of his van and they got out on the field and blew everybody's doors off. Off the whole year. That's a much different movie than, like, how did we go on this miraculous run for a week? It's like, no, this has been two years of this stuff. I don't. I don't think it compares to anything.
- [06:19]
Doug Le Maurice
I don't think it compares to anything. But I also, like, it makes it difficult to, like, really sort of characterize. Right. Like, it's almost like you don't know what to say other than, I can't believe it happened. Right? And like. Which is like, the. Whatever kind of simplest thing you can say about it, but the fact that they weren't scraping their way to wins to get to this point when no one expects. They were the number one team in the country for half the year, and they were favored by more than a touchdown to win the national championship. Right? They. They are not like, you know, in.
- [06:50]
Bill Landis
In.
- [06:52]
Doug Le Maurice
I think if you were to look at it and people were doing this right. I think it even happened with some of the pregame picks on espn. Right? Like, there. There was still this thought that there's just no way a team that's built this way could really pull this off in the end. So I think in that way, there is a bit of an underdog mentality. Like, until the end. I do think there was some element of Indiana being doubted or at least like, yeah, we're really struggling to wrap their minds around the idea of Indiana actually winning a national championship until they saw it, frankly, like, I kind of felt that way sometimes. But Underdog also feels like you're taking something away from me. Yeah, they're not that. Which just makes it all the more kind of wild to be sitting here talking about a national champion Indiana team that was like, wire to wire. The best team in the country.
- [07:38]
Bill Landis
Yeah, it's. I was. I was watching the game with some family here. I'm in my second studio here at my sister's house, and so we were watching stuff, and I was, like, explaining, like, the whole thing. And I bet you. Don't you think that was happening across America tonight? And another, like, people are sitting down for the national championship game. And there are the people who know college football and been following college football all year, and there are people who are like, oh, it's national championship. I'll watch that. And you're trying to explain this. It's like, okay, so there was this guy, and he was old, and he was. That's like, we're going through. Well, he was at iup, and then he was at Elon, and then he was a jmu. And like, this guy over here, that coach has been. And. But there was a part where I'm going through. It's like. So I said, you know, there's like, there's six guys, a bunch of guys followed him from his old team, and there's, like, still six guys on this Indiana team who followed him from JMU who are really important. It was like, oh, did you see the guy who just knocked that pass down? D' Angelo Ponce? He fought him from jamu. Oh, you see that guy who made that tackle in the hole just now in Fisher? He fought him from jmu. Oh, do you see the guy just blocked the punt? Mikhail Kamara, he fought him from jmu. Oh, did you see the guy who just caught that first down pass? Elijah Surat, he fought him from jmu. And it's like, there is, like, that. I think, like, if you're gonna, like, like, really dig into the script, that's like, this group of people. And I. I don't. It almost, to me, doesn't matter where you came from. Like, if Matt Campbell does this at Penn State and two years from now, it's Matt Campbell and, like, six or seven guys who followed him from Iowa State and they're playing for the national championship, that also would be remarkable. It's more remarkable because it's Indiana and because it's JMU guys. But this collection of people who started something at one school and kind of brought it wholesale to another school, and then Got it over the top and then all these other people who mattered too. That is maybe the most remarkable thing, that they picked up a winning program and brought the staff and the boss and the best players and they dropped it in a new place and won from the jump.
- [09:30]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, yeah, no, you're right, it is, that probably is the most remarkable part. I just like, I don't, I truly like really don't know how to process it if I'm being honest. Like even like sitting like as, like this is this window to come out of nowhere. I think everybody kind of wrapped their minds around the idea of like Indiana is probably going to win the national championship probably around the time they beat Ohio State for the Big Ten title. But, but, but even now that we're sitting here with it, it is still a little hard to, to, to fathom. But yeah, I think, I don't know what people will like when they, when they look back on this. It will be the most remarkable thing if they will look at it from that sort of holistic view that you just sort of laid out or if it'll just be more about the maniacal, grumpy coach on the sideline peering, appearing over his glasses and never looking happy up until the game was over. Yeah, I, I, I don't know. But it's all, it's all encompassing, right? It's all, it's all part of the, I mean it's got to be right. It's got to be the best story in the history of college football. Like what? There, there are other like, you know, triumphant moments for sure, and teams that have overcome, you know, probably even stiffer obstacles than what this one did. But for this, they're the all time losing his program. Right? They lost more than where, when he got there, they were like, when he got there, they had lost more than anybody in college football and two years later they're the national champs. Like. Yeah, I don't, I don't know that we have to go dig into the annals of college football and figure out what, what, what we should be comparing this to. I don't think there's anything to compare it to. And I think this the wildest thing we've ever seen in the sport.
- [10:56]
Bill Landis
The thing that I think is interesting about this because there are so many, you know, Sabanesque characteristics and Kurt Signetti, he coached under him and he's grumpy sometimes.
- [11:03]
Doug Le Maurice
Like him.
- [11:06]
Bill Landis
Saban, Saban was this football savant, right, who is, who is at Toledo and is with the Browns and is at Michigan State and then they just lure him south and he goes right, and then he just kind of wins there. And then he, he, he wins, even to a higher degree at Alabama. But not the part about this. I think if this, this particular championship is not just about the leader, it's about the followers. And it's more like a cult in the best sense of the word. Indiana football is a cult because there are the people that were with Kurt Signetti, that he brought them along and they believed in him and went with him. And now it's not just him, but it's this special collection of people. So that is, you know, we're not here to break down what Indiana in 2026 and that that season is going to do other than to say Ohio State at Indiana whenever the Big Ten schedule comes out. Strap up. We're gonna get to. We'll probably get to Bloomington Wednesday night right after Ohio State interviews. We'll be in Bloomington by this one's.
- [12:08]
Doug Le Maurice
This Wednesday night.
- [12:10]
Bill Landis
I mean, I did promise our Substack subscribers we're starting the Ohio State Indiana preview for, for the fall. We're starting it right now because it is going to be the game of the century. It's the two last, the two most recent national champions that are on this stage right now. But that's, you know, it's not about doubting. It's that I think there's something special here. Not just about Kurt Signetti and Mike Shanahan and Bryant Haynes and the other people who came with him, but this collection of players who knew him then came here, helped lead the way. You see that with every coach, right? If you can bring a couple guys who say, like, because I, I, you know, I don't know if he got to Indiana. And the guys who were at Indiana are like this, this guy's a little nuts. And Mikhail Kamara and d' Angelo Pons and Aiden Fresh were like, yeah, yeah, yeah, but just like, give him a chance, right? And like, that's really important to this. Like, that collection of people, I think is special and makes this really special when we think about. And I want to get into the game here shortly, when we think about this 160 season that included beating the number two team in the country in Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. Actually, they were number one then. Indiana was number two, right? So, like, that they beat number one. Like, they got. They had to get there on the way. They went and won at Oregon during the regular season, then beat Oregon again, drubbed them in the playoff. They Beat Alabama along the way. It's one of those things. Like remember when we used to talk about how Indiana didn't play anybody in the non conference? I'm like, get ready, get ready. Old Dominion. Because your phone is going to be ringing off the hook because it's good enough for Indiana. Everyone's playing like three easy ones from now. Like it does right once.
- [13:41]
Doug Le Maurice
That'll be.
- [13:42]
Bill Landis
That was a thing that mattered.
- [13:43]
Doug Le Maurice
I think I'm pretty sure this is right. Christina said this actually go back to look up and see if it was actually the first play. But he said the Indiana's first defensive play this season was an ADR touchdown by old Dominican Dominion.
- [13:55]
Bill Landis
Oh, for real.
- [13:56]
Doug Le Maurice
Oh, wow.
- [13:59]
Bill Landis
Yeah, they've. They forced Indiana into greatness. But this 160 team. How does this go down in the annals of college football history? Like, like beyond the underdog story, just the how good are you story.
- [14:17]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I mean it's not like, it's not like they got the, the benefit of an easy schedule. Right. They had to go to Austin, they had to go to Kinnick. Penn State fell apart, but they still had to go to Happy Valley. And like they had to pull out a win there. Had had to slay Ohio State. There's. They're still. It's dead now, but I think there was. And this was probably the final nail in it, but there's still. There's still something to like dispatching Alabama along the way. I think that that matters. And then you also like beat back the resurgent Miami like trying. Trying to regain its status as, as the. You and. And you don't allow that. You know, I, I think you could make an argument not to take anything away from Indiana that like Ohio State probably had to run like a little bit more of a gauntlet to win the national title last year than Indiana had to run this year. Maybe just Indiana was that much better than everybody they played compared to Ohio State last year. But we look at totality of the season to have to win as many postseason games as they want to go 160 and not have it just be a cakewalk the entire time. I think, I think you have to. You have to at least consider it like the, like the best season ever.
- [15:21]
Bill Landis
Right.
- [15:21]
Doug Le Maurice
I know that there are some other teams that didn't have to play in an expanded playoff that run defeated national champions that you might say, like, you know what? I'd still take that team to beat this Indiana team. And that's I suppose all well and good and also sort of impossible to define, but I, Yeah, I don't. It's hard for me to say that anything other than this Indiana team has come becomes like kind of a defining football team based off what they had to do to win this title.
- [15:42]
Bill Landis
I think it's going to be hard when you try to compare eras, right? This is, this happens in every sport. But if you're trying to line up Indiana and if you start judging them in the history books by their NFL draft picks and how many of their guys went on to have great careers and how many College Football hall of Famers do they have and that kind of thing, and then you're running that up against the best Saban teams. You're throwing that up against 2019 LSU or 2014 Ohio State or you know, the U back in the day, right? And you're running through, it's like, all right, well, like where's, where's your, where's your Sean Taylor and, and, and where's your Joe Burrow and all those kind of things? So I, I think one of those things is, and I think we all realize, like, this is the whole point, the sport's changing and players are on the move and it is harder to accumulate talent at the highest level. And so maybe just like that era is over, that era of like, well, where's your six first round picks now? There's a caveat to that. But like, I do think we may be like in history, maybe the greatest teams going, starting now and going forward aren't going to be as quite as talent rich of the greatest teams of the past by design. That's the whole point of this, this change to the sport. The other thing is Ohio State's gonna have like a gazillion draft picks, right? Ohio State's gonna have four or five guys go in the top 20 of this draft. Miami Ruben Bane, right? People are going to be knocking down his door on draft day and there are going to be people. We'll see what Dante Moore goes on to do in, in, in his career. He's coming back to school. But like Indiana beat Dante Moore twice, like that kind of thing. Part of their legacy I think is going to be like, is it going to be defined by who their own players become or the players they beat? Who do they become? And when you run through and it's like, what, like who are the, who are the all time greats on that Indiana team? And it's like, well, the ball knowers will know. But if, if in the history books we're talking about Dante Moore or Arvell Reese or Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate. Right. Or Reuben Bain. And then it's like, oh yeah, those guys are awesome. I watch those guys play on Sunday every day. Who beat them? Indiana beat all of them. Right. That's going to be part of the defining thing. And I think that, yeah, I think that's going to age very well because I do think in the end like what you can't question, even though I don't disagree with you with like maybe Ohio State had a more difficult playoff path last year. This they did not ease their way through this. Right. Like they played.
- [17:59]
Doug Le Maurice
No, no, no, no.
- [18:00]
Bill Landis
They played the other best teams in the Big Ten. They played Alabama. They played this Miami team that is very talented. It's one of those like, well, Miami upset Ohio State. Well, I already beat Ohio State. It's like they didn't. Who did they, like, who did they luck out by not having to play? Nobody. They would have beaten Georgia. They would have beaten old.
- [18:16]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, there's nobody, there's nobody lingering out there that's like, well you didn't have to see this team.
- [18:20]
Bill Landis
Yeah, so. So that's like a real thing.
- [18:27]
Modelo Announcer
Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football College football season is Modelo season and the season has over. Officially kicked off, the Modelo recruiter is back in action looking to reward full time fans who give their all for their team and their school week in and week out. If you're listening to this, you've been recruited. So lace em up and get out there and don't forget to make time for a well deserved ice cold reward because college football wouldn't be the same without you. So grab yourself a Modelo and enjoy the official beer sponsor of the College Football Playoff Modelo.
- [19:22]
Bill Landis
If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, you know having a trusted.
- [19:26]
Doug Le Maurice
Partner makes all the difference.
- [19:28]
Bill Landis
That's why hands down, you count on.
- [19:30]
Doug Le Maurice
Grainger for auto reordering.
- [19:32]
Bill Landis
With on time restocks, your team will have the cut resistant gloves they need at the start of their shift and you can end your day knowing they've got safety well in hand. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. Let's talk a little ball about the game though, right? Let's talk about the game.
- [19:56]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah.
- [20:01]
Bill Landis
I thought like the first half of Ohio State, Miami is like, oh, I just have a little trouble blocking these guys. Right. And then it feels Like Ohio State in the second half of that quarterfinal. They put in Ian More at left tackle. They put in Josh Padilla, right guard, and they had a better time of it in the second half, right? It felt like. So, like Ohio State's game plan against this Miami front got better in the second half, and that's when Ohio State moved the ball and scored two touchdowns. I got back in the game. I thought Indiana's game plan got looked worse in the second half. Like, they. Like they were getting after him in the first half. But then, like, the first couple drives in the second half was like, they can't block. They had two sacks in the first drive. They can't block these guys at all. I was at halftime thinking, like, yeah, like, Indiana is, like, definitely the better team in the first half. I think they might put this thing away in the second half. And that did not happen. Why?
- [20:52]
Doug Le Maurice
When Miami got Xavier Lucas back, their cornerback, who was suspended for the first half of the game, they. They pressed up their corners. They played more in Indiana's face. They played more man, and Fernando Mendoza had to hold the ball longer. And I think, like, I think maybe Miami's pass rush was winning just as much in the first half as it did in the second half. But Mendoza was able to get the ball out quick in the first half. They were hitting a lot of those rpo, like, kind of like back shoulder hitches. And. And then the second half started. They weren't really able to do that with as much ease. And then when they finally, like, did start to hit stuff, it was like they were throwing slot fades to Charlie Becker, because that's what they do when they get man to man coverage and get. And get pressed up. So it was. It was. I'm a little surprised Miami didn't, like, try to do that more in the first half, even being shorthanded at corner, but they really didn't. And then when they did, it did sort of flip the game a little bit. And then it just. It just kind of forced Mendoza and Indiana to, like, execute at a super high level and, like, a lot of high leverage moments that maybe they weren't finding themselves in routinely in the first half of the game.
- [21:58]
Bill Landis
I. I thought there was a point in the game. It was like, right before. And we were in our substack chat all game. If you guys just watch us on YouTube, man, we're so glad that you're here. We see everybody in the chat. Thank you so much for being here. A bunch of people hanging out. We know a bunch of you are listening back on your podcast feed. Like, subscribe, tell a friend. Hit the notification. Make sure you're following Bill and Doug throughout the off season because we're not going to stop talking just because they're not playing football. But you can also join us on Substack Bill and Doug osu.substack.com we're going to continue covering Ohio State and college football over there. And in our chat I was like about the type. It felt to me there was a point right before the punt block where I thought this is what Ohio State Miami might have been without the pick six. And, and, but like Ohio State got immediately back on its heels in that game because of the pick six. But otherwise, like it felt like, okay, well like if you can manage right. It felt like Indiana Miami was pressuring them early, but like they were managing it a little bit. They were just like, like it not letting it destroy them completely and move it and then, and then again it blocked the punt. I was like, okay, I deleted that comment because it was like, well now everything's changed. Like what, what was that you thought? And, and shout out again to the great. This is what you're missing in the chat. Bill put a photo in the chat of Hideo Hideki Nomo. What's his name?
- [23:15]
Doug Le Maurice
Hideo Nomo.
- [23:16]
Bill Landis
Hideo Nomo. Who's wind up.
- [23:20]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, he was a guy that like all the way up here and then like turned all the way around.
- [23:24]
Bill Landis
Yeah, yeah, you're getting Hideo Nomo Miami punter comparisons in the Bill and Doug chat. You thought the Miami punter was slow. He.
- [23:34]
Doug Le Maurice
Well, yeah, he was. He wasn't. It wasn't blocked particularly well either. Obviously most, most punts that get blocked aren't. But yeah, he just took forever to pump the ball. I felt that on a couple of his earlier punts where like there wasn't a great Indiana rush on the pump, but they still got pretty close to it because it took him forever to get the thing off his foot and it just like came back to bite. It was like the combination of, of a missed block and that super long wind up that I, I don't, I don't know why. I guess like, like they're backed up and he's trying to boom it or maybe I'm not sure. But yeah, he probably, if he would have gotten that thing off, you know, a half a second earlier, it wouldn't have been blocked and it was a really long, really long process to get.
- [24:12]
Bill Landis
It off his foot and it wasn't Like Mikhail Kamara was just kind of just like doing his thing. Right. I mean, it wasn't even like they had a block on, right?
- [24:19]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I don't think they had a block on. No, I just think, yes. Kamara was playing hard.
- [24:23]
Bill Landis
Yeah. Is. Is that like a great team finds a way in a moment like that, or did Miami hand that one to Miami, to Indiana? A little bit. Like, Miami was like, hey, slow ponder on a platter. What do you think?
- [24:33]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I don't know. I'd be interested to see if Kurt Signetti gets asked about that after the game. Maybe they did have something on there that I, That I'm. I wasn't noticing in real time. It just sort of felt like maybe Miami playing with fire a little bit because that was also. Was that the drive where Malachi Tony, like caught the punt backwards on the five yard line? It's like, just let it bounce, man.
- [24:58]
Bill Landis
Just find something you love. As much as college punt returners love catching the ball inside the five.
- [25:03]
Doug Le Maurice
It is remarkable what happened to the rule of put your heels on the 10 and catching if it's over your head.
- [25:10]
Bill Landis
You ever watch a punt bounce? You know how it kind of usually hits and goes bong and like zooms straight forward into the end zone? So, yeah, that was terrible. So. So there was. And this is. Obviously, we know we have a lot of Ohio State fans here in the chat, listening back on the pod, and we certainly appreciate them. And if you're a fan of somebody else, if you're an Indiana fan or a Miami fan or a college football fan, thank you for being here. If you're Northern college football fan, here's the sword. Three in a row for the North. The SEC is mid. The SEC is dead. Carson Beck also mid. I don't want to go to Carson Beck yet. Mid. Come on. Right. Mid. Like, made a couple plays, like, credit to them. The touchdown drive at the end to cut it to one score. But come on.
- [25:50]
Doug Le Maurice
I think. I think did well on the things that were within his physical capabilities. And then when asked to stretch beyond those, not great.
- [25:57]
Bill Landis
I completely relate to that. But I have like. But the point is, if it's a very small subset of things that are within your physical capabilities, it's like, what are within your physical capabilities? Five yard check down. And occasionally, if you rush three and drop eight and I have 11 seconds to throw, I'll occasionally find somebody 20 yards down the field. Those are the two things that I can do. So we know, but like, this is relevant. Anyway, Miami got here by beating the number two team in the country. That was a large upset when Miami beat Ohio State. I think it is frustrating to Ohio State fans that it felt like Miami played a perfect game game or like a very good game. No penalties against Ohio State. Gotta pick six. And this was like another one of those of where, like where was there a slow punter against Ohio State and Ohio State didn't take advantage of it or was the punter not as slow that night? Right. But there were a couple things here, you know, like there was even the play when it kind of didn't matter then. But like in the second half where they were getting a couple sacks on Fernando Mendoza, Indiana runs like a give up play on third and long and they face mask.
- [27:01]
Doug Le Maurice
The right face mask. Yeah, right.
- [27:02]
Bill Landis
Like stuff like that. So there were things, I thought there were moments where more than in that Ohio State game where all credit to Miami, they played like a almost perfect game which is I think which, which is how you win a game like that. And they also had good matchups and they didn't almost play a perfect game today. There were a couple things I thought that Miami was kind of let like handing to Indiana a little bit at moments. Yes.
- [27:26]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I think, I think actually in the end Miami sort of went out as it's normal self, which is a team that is penalized at too high of a level. A team that's like pretty aggressive on defense but often like tackles poorly because of that. And I didn't think they tackled very well in some chemo, especially early at the first half. A lot of what Indiana was able to do kind of sustaining drives was because Miami was missing tackles. And then yeah, the special teams bundle like we're like even the, the clock management at the end of the first half, like, like, like that was really poorly done by, by Mario Crystal Ball. So like Miami, good team with flaws. And the flaws all kind of showed up in this game in a pretty costly way.
- [28:10]
Bill Landis
And then once Miami like sort of handed some things. But they're also like Indiana, just like, like Indiana kind of felt like, man, like are they gonna maybe give this game away? The call when they're up three and they turn down the field goal and they go for it on 4th and 5. The decision to do that and call, which Kurtz Ignati is explaining, explained on the field after the game. It's a quarterback draw that they put in. The quarterback draw is not new. The way they blocked it is different. And then you have it's like everything coming together. It is the decision to do it. That's the boss. It is. We change the way we block this. We put this in for Miami because of this. This is scheming it up which. Which Indiana does at a high level on both sides of the ball. Yes. You think that, right?
- [28:57]
Doug Le Maurice
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [28:58]
Bill Landis
And then it is the Heisman Trophy winner because it wasn't blocked perfectly because Fernando Mendoza had to make a move and then took a shot, spun out of it, dove, took another shot, reached the ball, held on to it. It is a spectacular play by the guy who won the biggest award in sport. Like that moment that I thought for the times when it felt like Miami was like, here's a mistake for you. When it, when it was chopping time. Yeah. So after. It's not after midnight on the east coast yet.
- [29:29]
Doug Le Maurice
I'm not gonna say what I was gonna say.
- [29:32]
Bill Landis
They took it. They took it. The boss said go. The scheme said, here's the play. And then the quarterback bawled out. And that is like. That is a championship moment that I, I don't know how many other teams do that. Right? Are you sure?
- [29:53]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah.
- [29:53]
Bill Landis
Ole Miss and Trinidad Chambliss and Pete Golding do that? Are you sure that Dan Lanning and Dante Moore and Will Stein do that? Are you sure that Ryan Day and the offensive play calling staff and Julian Saying do that? Like there are a lot of great players in college football. I'm not sure I would believe in any other coach, schemer, quarterback trio to create that situation, take advantage of that opportunity and go win the game like that.
- [30:23]
Doug Le Maurice
I agree. I. Maybe this is me being. Is any. Is any part of like the mystique of that undone by them facing basically the exact same situation on their next possession and kicking a field goal that gave Miami the chance to drive and score a game winning touchdown.
- [30:41]
Bill Landis
So let's stay on this first in the moment. What did you think of that they did this? Because again, this is the whole.
- [30:47]
Doug Le Maurice
In the moment. Awesome. Yeah. Like incredible because I couldn't believe they went for it. Yeah. Yeah.
- [30:53]
Bill Landis
You're up three. If you kick a field goal to go up six, all you do is add urgency to the other team because now they need a touchdown to beat you. They can no longer tie with the field goal. What are you doing? You're kicking off, you're. You're setting up a. They can take over the 25. They get a decent return, maybe even better here. Worst case scenario, you don't get it. You pin them deep. Now you've left the field goal to Tie on the board, all of these things. And then they turtled, they hurdled, they got that five yard penalty and instead of it being one yard to go, it was six, right. It was now second and six. And they ran into the line twice. And I was borderline shocked. Given who they have appeared to be all season and especially who they were in that previous moment, which is basically the exact same thing. I was kind of stunned how conservative they played it there at the end.
- [31:49]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I do. I think they really got spooked by them and like, almost understandably so, by the, by the false start penalty. They were, I mean, they were like an inch away from the game basically being over.
- [32:01]
Bill Landis
Yes.
- [32:02]
Doug Le Maurice
And then they got, and then they got the false start penalty to knock them back. And all of a sudden like Miami's back in the game. But it was, it was practically. So the one that they went on was fourth and four from a 12 and the one where they kicked the field goal was fourth and four from the 17. Basically the same situation. Yeah, I was, I was also shocked, like, and I don't want to. When they went for the first time, I thought it was kind of nuts because there was just like enough time in the game that it was like, just take the points. But then it worked and it was an incredible play. And it's a play that people remember forever. But then to not, to not do it the second time, like, you know, trust your defense. They have a tremendous defense or defense had played really well all game. It's the best part of their team. I understand all of that, but just like the, the, the, the swings of the game, I think probably would lead most people to going for it in that scenario if they had already gone for it prior and got it. So yeah, it was surprising. I don't, I, I actually don't think, like, when we think about this game, no one's going to talk about that. They're going to talk about fermented windows are diving over the goal line on fourth and on fourth and four to basically win the game. But I did. It is an interesting sort of juxtaposition to see like Kurt's, Kurt Signetti maybe like lose himself for a brief moment in a pretty, pretty critical juncture of the national championship.
- [33:16]
Bill Landis
I mean, he ended up in that moment, like kind of playing it like every other coach in the world would play it, which is like, the whole point is you're not every other coach in the world. And. But what part of that equation is the fact that Carson Beck is in fact Mid.
- [33:28]
Doug Le Maurice
Sure, yeah. Like I said, like after that field goal, I put in the chat, you know, Carson Beck legacy drive. What else could you possibly want? Like tongue in cheek like everybody was. Because no one was expecting Carson Beck to lead a touchdown drive there for Miami to win. So that factors into it too. Yeah, yeah.
- [33:44]
Bill Landis
I added, He's 11 check downs away from this.
- [33:52]
Modelo Announcer
Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football. College football season is Modelo season and the season has officially kicked off. The Modelo recruiter is back in action, looking to reward full time fans who give their all for their team and their school week in and week out. If you're listening to this, you've been recruited. So lace them up and get out there. And don't forget to make time for a well deserved ice cold reward because college football wouldn't be the same without you. So grab yourself a Modelo and enjoy the official beer, sponsor of the College Football Playoff Modelo.
- [34:47]
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- [35:19]
Bill Landis
So because what happened is now, now here's the thing. He, he hit a couple checkdowns early and well, the first check down worth like 10 yards. He's like, actually, okay, like he might be able to do this. He had plenty of time, no timeouts, but he had like a minute 50. Yeah, the thing about that is you're one slip, one defender falls and you lost. You've lost the national championship. And so I was surprised like as much as like, oh, let's kick the field. Go, go up sex. Believe. Go up 6. Believe in our defense. I also think like, well, let's go for it. Fourth down. If we don't get it, Carson Beck's gonna have to drive 85 yards and we think our defense will stop him. Like, we believe in your defense. And you had a chance to put it away. I was like, the, the two plays go, like, it was such conservative run plays that led into the fourth down. You almost could tell, like they just were Making them burn timeouts. They didn't want to throw it, I do think, and I think, which is why it was like, such a, the QB draw. As much of a great call as it was, it was also, like, the obvious call. I was kind of surprised that Mendoza's legs didn't factor into the game more early on because I think you, I thought you could really feel it in second half. They got into this. It felt like to me, they were running on every first down. They were just running in the line for two yards on first down. And then, like, I was going back through my notes and I was like, oh, wait, no, they don't run in every first down. Look, here's a first down to start a drive where they tried to throw. Oh, and they got sacked. And so I, I do think, because I sort of, again, we discussed this coming out of the Ohio State Miami game was like, okay, they're great. But also, did Ohio State kind of hold the ball and, like, they had a real hole in the offensive line and like, or, you know, is that it did feel like at a point, I thought the threat of Miami's pressure was affecting the Indiana play calling and that they were, I think, doing a lot of, like, run on first down, run on second down. Because they reached the point. It's like, well, we don't want to get a negative play, and if we can get to third and six, we'll take our shot. We still want to be second 14. Right. And I wonder, like, there, it's like, well, why aren't you being more aggressive? Well, we try to throw here. What if we get sacked? What if we get strip sacked? You know, like, what if that we're just. I thought. What did you think of the Miami defensive line? I thought they were pretty good early. They really were impactful early in the second half, and I thought the threat of them lingered over the whole game.
- [37:36]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I felt the same way. I, I, I, I didn't think, like, Mike Shanahan, the Indiana oc, like, actually called, like, that great of a game, or like, everybody could just call, like, a pretty conservative game and really, like, they weren't really trying to attack Miami downfield all that much. I guess there's an element of, like, they were taking what was given to them, especially in the first half with some of the soft coverage, and that was effective. So, like, it's not like it was, it was all poor. But, but I did, I did feel like maybe there was like, an element of, like, we're not sure we can Block them in Indiana's play calling, run and pass. But I will say, like, I thought like the running backs like Keelan Black and. And Roman Hemby both like ran really hard. And I think like a lot of times made something out of nothing. But yes, I felt that. I thought, I thought Bane and Mezador were like as advertised. I thought Ahmad Moten like was unblockable, sort of like in the middle of the defensive line. They really had a hard time handling him. But it also kind of felt like maybe just those three, like, I know like Marquis Leiflitt had that one rush early when he ran over the running back. But I don't know that you felt like the overwhelming sort of like interior depth of Miami's defensive line, but you definitely felt Bane, Mezador and Moton in a way that I did think sort of impacted the way that Indiana wanted to call a game.
- [38:58]
Bill Landis
And this falls under the category of nobody's perfect 1 through 22 with all the guys who are on the field. But. But Ohio State had a situation at right guard that Miami exploited in that game. And Indiana's right tackle situation has been almost as much in flux as Ohio State's right guard situation the whole year. And you could feel that, right like, you could feel that at times. And it's just like, I just don't. And then even like. But then there was a huge play where Carter Smith, the all Big Ten left tackle, got smoked on a play that was like, this really mattered. But I do think they just, I think they concluded. I'm not sure that we can hold up on the right side. There's that. We have to make sure we don't kill ourselves here by giving these guys an opportunity.
- [39:36]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah. Did they end up. I, I saw, I saw Zimmerski out there a little, but when he was out there, they were playing six slimer. Did they play three right tackles in this game?
- [39:46]
Bill Landis
I. Because I thought, well, there was a moment. Zen Mahalski, two time national champion. Congrats to Zen Mahalski was on Ohio State last year, was on Indiana this year. That's a trivia question. You could. There was a moment where I was like, there's Zen Mahalski in the huddle. And then he went to the left side and I was like, did they. They bench Carter Smith because he gave up a sack? It's like, no, they're playing a sixth offensive lineman. But I think they might have been. I thought Mahalski was a right tackle at least a couple times. Right. I don't know.
- [40:15]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I I thought he was. I thought he was, too. So that was. Means it would have played. Three. Three right tackles. And they definitely were doing. I was talking with Zach Osterman, who covers Indiana for the. What's the paper in Indianapolis called?
- [40:28]
Bill Landis
The Bloomington newspaper?
- [40:29]
Doug Le Maurice
No, the Indianapolis Indianapolis Star. Thank you. I was talking to him about, like, the matchup on the line of scrimmage, and he said Indiana does a decent amount of. Of six lineman stuff that he thinks, like, might. He thought, like, might negate some of that. And I think Indiana was relying on that.
- [40:45]
Bill Landis
Were you just, like, talking to him for fun? He's like, talking.
- [40:49]
Doug Le Maurice
Well, he. Yeah, because I'll. I'll out him right now.
- [40:52]
Bill Landis
He.
- [40:52]
Doug Le Maurice
He DM'd me after I tweeted my score and he said, I kind of think Indiana might lose too. I bet he didn't pick it, but he told me he might. He was thinking they could lose.
- [41:01]
Bill Landis
And nobody tweeted me after 66, 14. I don't know. Nobody. There were no Miami beat writers who were secretly like, I also think Miami might lose by 40. So somebody tweeted at me and tell.
- [41:11]
Doug Le Maurice
Me, said, there's no way Miami will score 24 points. And no matter what happened in the game, I was really hoping Miami would at least go three short. Sorry.
- [41:19]
Bill Landis
Yeah. Was this good for college football? What do you think this does? So, like, obviously, Indiana fans, congratulations. Like, unbelievable.
- [41:30]
Doug Le Maurice
I.
- [41:31]
Bill Landis
It is very interesting to me because we got like, a weird final Four in the NFL right now. And like, like, even weirder than college football, I think. Like, if you think like, Indiana, like, who would have had this before the year? It's like, what's your final. Hey, Landis, what's your final Four? Indiana, Oregon, Miami, Ole Miss. What are you drunk? But also, I think we have to start thinking about in the sport.
- [41:55]
Doug Le Maurice
Sport.
- [41:55]
Bill Landis
Thinking about the sport this way. But also, if you would have said Denver, New England, Seattle and the Rams, like, I don't know how many people would have been there either. I am sort of at a mo. Like, the NFL playoffs have had a bunch of super exciting games, but when I think about these four teams, I'm kind of like, I. I don't know. I'll watch it, but I'm not, like, super fired up about it. I don't think. I don't know if people were like, Indiana, Miami. Because, like, Indiana is a better story than anybody in the NFL playoffs, but they put on a game, right? Like, this was.
- [42:26]
Doug Le Maurice
It was a great game. Yeah.
- [42:27]
Bill Landis
This was like a good, high quality, interesting football game. With some great plays by both teams on offense and defense and special teams that sent this season out in a proper manner. Yes.
- [42:42]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, I, I certainly thought so. I don't typically care about these things, but I, I am sort of interested in what the viewership number for this game will be. And even if it's like, whatever, lower compared to past national championships, and I actually don't think it will be because Miami is like a thing in Indiana is a fun story, I don't know that that's like, indicative necessarily of it being bad for the sport. Like, honestly, look at the viewership's down. I, I, I would think that has more to do with like, the structure of how we do this than anything else. Like, we just gotta, like, it's too late. Yeah.
- [43:13]
Bill Landis
Calendar, yeah.
- [43:14]
Doug Le Maurice
Too late in the calendar. And yeah, the NFL play two rounds of playoffs between the semifinals and the national championship for college football. Right. Like, I think those things need to be fixed, but I think if college football is, is sort of on the tracks and heading in this direction of there being some more parody, which I think everyone tends to believe it is, then I think this was a heck of a game to like, get us kind of started on that path and helpful. I think that it was a good competitive game too.
- [43:46]
Bill Landis
Right.
- [43:47]
Doug Le Maurice
Like, I, I think there was a world where it could have been an Indiana blowout. I think less of a world where, yeah, but a Miami blowout. But, but the fact that it wasn't and like two teams put on, I mean, honestly, one of the better championship games of the playoff era. Most of the playoff championships have been blowouts. Right. I think it's great. So I know we'll see what the, what the reaction is, but I, I guess I'm like, like, I don't know that I'm worried, but the fact that like, I sort of feel the same way as you do about the NFL playoffs does have me wondering exactly how this might be received because, like, you and I are like, aren't casual football fans. We do this for a living. We're plugged into it as we could be and, and not that way for the NFL. So I don't know. I, I, I think it's good for the sport. I, I certainly hope we're right about that. But two good teams put on a heck of a championship game. It was really fun to watch. So.
- [44:37]
Bill Landis
Yeah.
- [44:38]
Doug Le Maurice
So, you know, I hope it caught the attention of, of whatever, like casual college football fans that can help the game grow a little bit. Yeah.
- [44:50]
Bill Landis
Do you think this will change how you like, view the sport going into next year? Because I do think I'm gonna, I'm like, really curious. Everything's always behind, right? And so we've been talking about increased parity, flattening of the sport, more opportunities for everybody, but yet almost, you know, the consensus going into this season coalesced pretty quickly around Texas, Penn State, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State.
- [45:21]
Doug Le Maurice
Teams that didn't make the playoff.
- [45:23]
Bill Landis
Right. So, but, but like, honestly, and I saw that like on three won the race to like get its pre, pre too early out. Whatever. Congratulations to them. They won the race and put it out before they even played this game. And they had Ohio State number one. I would love a preseason AP poll where 11 different teams got first place votes. I would love a sport where when you look at predicted national champions from 50 different college football experts, that there's 18 different teams named. Right. I don't think this gets us there, but I think it moves us toward that. And away from Alabama's unanimous number one. Oh, who's going to win the national title? Everyone's either picking Georgia or Ohio State. Like, do, do you think that this, this changes, like it's going to change the sport, but it's gonna, Is it going to change how people think about the sport?
- [46:25]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, but that's just, that's going to be a slow burn, I think. Okay. I don't, I don't know. Like the, I think it takes a lot to kind of crack the hive mind and get to get everybody to, to think differently. And I don't know, like, again, congratulations to all three for getting that thing. And I think it was a six person poll and three of them voted for Ohio State. I, I think it's possible we get like maybe some of that splintering of the vote and the preseason. Eight people going in the next year now if it's splintered among six teams and five of them are blue bloods and then like one of them's Oregon. Like I don't know if that's representative of any change. It might just be representative of like there's not a defending national champ that's bringing everybody back. But if, if. Because the other thing is like, you do have to take with. In the Portal era, you don't really know until teams get on the field a lot of the time. So you'd have to take some pretty wild swings, I think, to like look at the portal and say to yourself, like, I don't know, this team had a good Portal class. I guess I'll pick them to win the national title in the preseason. But I think like, you know, Ohio State, Georgia, like the traditional teams. I think like people give Indiana their respect because of what they've done here. I think Oregon will have some, I think Texas Tech could have some. Right. So I do think there's probably seven, eight teams you could reasonably give a first place vote to going in the next season if you wanted to at like at this particular moment without taking a hard look at it. So if we do get that, then I think that will be representative of a shift. Yes. But I don't think it's going to be a shift that's happening like overnight just because Indiana's now the national champion.
- [48:07]
Bill Landis
So like, isn't there, but isn't there party, like to just be freed up to be like, oh, who's your national championship game? You think next year, like, like Nebraska, Arkansas.
- [48:16]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah.
- [48:17]
Bill Landis
Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, you know, like, because you can, you can do that now.
- [48:22]
Doug Le Maurice
I think, well, like the door is open to do that a little more too. But I also think the door is open to like Penn State. Right. Like, I love the Matt Campbell. I love the Matt Campbell. Hire Michigan. I think Kyle Whittingham's a great coach and he's gonna get them straightened out right away and they got an awesome quarterback and they're gonna be right back in the mix of it. Like so, like we're talking about more traditional powers, but, you know, definitely not teams that six weeks ago anybody would have had circled as teams that can make a run for a national title. Like, I do think you have to, you have to have more of an open mind for just like how the season can play out, I think. And if you're, if you're the kind of person who does your AP poll with a lot like your preseason AP poll with a longer term view and ranking teams by how you think you're going to finish at the end, then I do think you could get some wonky stuff. If you're just like stacking teams because you don't know anything and don't care to project anything, then like that's sort of like the old way thinking that still gets you like the Ohio states and Georgia is dominating most of the first place votes. So I, I wouldn't be able to project, I guess, how people would think collectively about that.
- [49:25]
Bill Landis
Is there anything else you want to say about this game, the way it played out? Some things that popped up during the game. Nobody was surprised that Carson Beck threw a pick at the end. You thought the, you thought it was there. Maybe.
- [49:38]
Doug Le Maurice
It would have been like a heck of a. It would have been a heck of a. Of a hole shot between the corner and the safety. But I thought there was space there to like a strong armed quarterback could have maybe made a pretty incredible throw there.
- [49:50]
Bill Landis
But do this to me.
- [49:52]
Doug Le Maurice
Does not have the juice in his arm.
- [49:54]
Bill Landis
Don't do this to me. Don't do it. Don't do this. Don't do it. Do you want to get me fired? Who could fire me? No one could fire me. You're. Are you my boss?
- [50:05]
Doug Le Maurice
You can get canceled. You could. You can get canceled by the public, I guess, but I won't fire.
- [50:11]
Bill Landis
I think, But I think the public might like it. I just shouldn't say it. Should I say it or not? You did this to me. I don't. I can't say it. I can't say it.
- [50:21]
Doug Le Maurice
I just.
- [50:24]
Bill Landis
I just don't. I can't say it. Wait, what time is it? After midnight? Yeah, it's after midnight.
- [50:29]
Doug Le Maurice
12:12Am yeah, but there's kids.
- [50:31]
Bill Landis
There's kids who listen to this show. I can't say it right. I can't say it. I'll put it in the chat later. I can't say it. Can I say it?
- [50:37]
Doug Le Maurice
I can't know. I don't know what you're alluding to. If you, if you're having this internal dialogue, then probably not, but people, I'm sure, have said worse things. There was another, there was one other play that I thought was.
- [50:51]
Bill Landis
Here's what I'll say. You cannot talk to me about Carson Beck's Instagram and then come on and say that. That was a heck of a whole.
- [50:59]
Doug Le Maurice
Oh, I said it would have been. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [51:02]
Bill Landis
You can't say that.
- [51:03]
Doug Le Maurice
That's fair. Yeah, that's fair. Maybe he'll send that. He'll send that message to somebody later this evening. Who knows.
- [51:08]
Bill Landis
You can't put those two things. I can't. Okay, talk about ball again.
- [51:21]
Modelo Announcer
Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football. College football season is Modelo season and the season has officially kicked off. The Modelo recruiter is back in action, looking to reward full time fans who give their all for their team and their school week in and week out. If you're listening to this, you've been recruited. So lace em up and get out there and don't forget to make time for a well deserved ice cold reward. Because college football wouldn't be the Same without you. So grab yourself a Modelo and enjoy the official beer sponsor of the College Football Playoff Modelo.
- [52:15]
Grainger/Walmart Announcer
If you're an H VAC technician and a call comes in, Grainger knows that you need a partner that helps you find the right product fast and hassle free. And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat. With Grainger's easy to use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have have everything humming right along. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
- [52:48]
Doug Le Maurice
SEC yeah, the second quarter when it was third and long and then there was an offsides penalty, got to the third and eight and on third and eight Indiana ran the ball and got 20 yards and kept the drive alive. And then that was the drive that ended with the Riley Nowakowski rushing touchdown. I thought that was a heck of a call to run there and pick up that first down. And because otherwise they're settling I think like for a decently long field goal, who knows if that would have went in. But instead they took a 10 nothing lead in the second quarter.
- [53:19]
Bill Landis
So one of the things I think we thought after the Ohio State Miami game was like, hey Miami, hard to block. What's your answer other than let's block them like okay, well let's assume that that might be difficult. What else can you do? It did feel like Indiana maybe even if you felt like and it felt like a time just like run, run, throw on third down. But like at least I thought they were at least like trying to adjust to that. I did think Mendoza maybe could have run more but I also thought right some of those times getting pressure from the outside. But then also Moton's blowing up stuff inside. There's maybe not escape hatches in the interior that I think he at times will step up and run. But maybe you can't do that. But like they were your solution. Can't be like, well I don't know know, let's run four verts and just drop back to a seven step drop and hope that we hold up for three seconds because that's our game plan. Which we thought maybe Ohio State did too much of it at the very least like Indiana didn't do that. And I thought the 56 for me is to me is like Indiana comes out, they're ripping RPOs, they're throwing quick back shoulder stuff. They're just Mendoza's running that just like, they're just bing, bang, boom, right. And I like, they did that a little bit in the first half, but it didn't give them, they didn't get them 35 points in the first half, but I thought they had at least they acknowledged. And although early, there were times I thought Mendoza still held it too long. You thought Shanahan maybe didn't call a great game, but at least I thought they didn't just keep doing the same thing and being like, well, I guess we're just gonna get sacked. I don't know. Miami's heart. Miami can be hard to figure out what they're supposed to do when they're getting after you that much.
- [54:48]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, no, I think, I think that's right. I, I, it's just like, it was not super explosive, I guess, but I guess Miami's just hard to be against.
- [54:55]
Bill Landis
Yeah.
- [54:57]
Doug Le Maurice
Because that was true. They not really given up a ton of explosive plays all year or kind of really in the playoff, except for like, the one Jeremiah Smith pass against Ohio State and maybe one or two plays late against Ole Miss. Yeah, I don't, maybe it wasn't a bad game. Maybe it was just a game that was hard to get over them. I'm, I'm not sure. But I, like I said I did, I did think Indiana, like, did a good job of, like, taking what was there in the first half. It just, like, wasn't super exciting.
- [55:26]
Bill Landis
I think the toughest thing for any sport is when you get a team in a championship game, they then comes out and, like, sort of shows it doesn't belong there. That's the kind of the thing. It's like, hey, underdogs are fun along the way, but it's like, do you want them in the national title game? And it's like, that's not what happened. And my 56, 14 was a little bit of like, okay, like, the, it's over for Miami. They probably shouldn't have made it this far. Beck is limited. They're not that dangerous. Like, their front's good, but, like, is the rest of this defense really that? And that's not what happens. So those teams looked like. And again, I just think it's not about whether they'd beat 2019 LSU. It's about, did they get on the field and look like they belonged there? And I thought both teams showed that. And it was a good night for college football. How dead is the SEC and how mid is the sec? And it was already the hay was in the barn on that because there were no SEC teams on the field. But what a great celebration of a lack of SEC teams in the championship game. That also was great, wasn't it?
- [56:20]
Doug Le Maurice
It, yeah. And like, it's especially great, too, because there just would have been some SEC glomming on to Miami winning or like a team that's not from the north in the Big Ten winning if Miami had won this game. So it's nice in the end that they don't even have that to. To hold on to.
- [56:37]
Bill Landis
Yeah.
- [56:38]
Doug Le Maurice
The Big Ten reigns victorious yet again. Yeah, they're super dead. It's great. I haven't heard a peep out of Paul Fine Bomb for like three weeks. Yeah, utterly. Peopless. I'm sure, like, people will be back. They'll get their selective amnesia around July Big Ten media day starts and start banging that drum again about how it's the best league and they're going to produce a national champion this year and then we'll see which Big Ten team is hoisting the trophy in Las Vegas next year.
- [57:12]
Bill Landis
That'd be a heck of a thing if you had a candidate right now for fourth straight Big Ten title, but it's not any of the previous three. So a Big Ten team wins it next year, but it's not Michigan, Ohio State or Indiana.
- [57:26]
Doug Le Maurice
Oregon. I think you'd have to go Oregon. Yeah.
- [57:30]
Bill Landis
As much as I'm not a fan of baby deer, I'm curious about usc. And it's like, oh, wow. Like, do you claim it? And it's like, yeah, we'll claim it. I don't know if they have a DC hired to make or do they promote from within. I don't even know. I don't keep up with the USC happenings. That's not what our show is that this has happened for the day.
- [57:51]
Doug Le Maurice
They're talking to Gary Patterson. That's right. I saw that yesterday.
- [57:53]
Bill Landis
Oh, oh, good luck to them that it's three straight Big Ten teams and that is three straight. If they still run divisions, it'd be three straight teams from the. The Big Ten east, which is also, like, pretty remarkable back at a time when, you know, if you just used to debate these kind of things, like, is the Big Ten east least the best division in college football when it's Ohio State and Michigan and you never would have thought Indiana, but, like, Penn State's in there and what if Michigan State comes back? And so I like. And there's like, there's just. There's nothing about this that's not real. And so I, you know, we will be. I, I think we kind of talked about this. It's like you, you have an idea and you bang a drum, and then it's like it's over. It's like, it's not that we were wrong, it's that we were too right. The debate is dead. The north rules college football. The Big Ten rules college football. I think Notre Dame is going to come out like a house on fire next year. I think Oregon's gonna have that. I mean, the idea of a revamped Penn State that is following a version of the Signetti model and mushing two teams together, you know, Ohio State with Julian Sane and Jeremiah Smith, like, back together. And then obviously it's still a lot of talent there. You hire Kyle Whittingham at Michigan and like that, you know, what if Nebraska or Wisconsin or somebody like that, like, really gets their stuff together finally? I, I, I mean, it is, it's like more true than I ever could have imagined.
- [59:23]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah. It's almost like if, if, yeah, if when we started your crusade, if someone would have told you three, three years down the road there will be triple Big Ten champions, you would think you're getting punked.
- [59:40]
Bill Landis
I don't know. I'm, I've based my career. My, my career is about being wrong. And I mean, it feels so good to be right. I don't know. The south can cram it so hard. The SEC can cram it. The south can cram it. And just a remarkable thing. And I just think about some of the games we're going to get next year. Like, I'm, like, I, I don't, I'm not sure I'm kidding. When I call Ohio State, Indiana next year, the game of the century. And it's one of those things like, when's the last time we had the last two national champions playing against each other in the regular season? It's like, actually it was Ohio State, Michigan this year, but two months ago, to be fair, when that happened, one of the coaches was about to be in jail. So that kind of, kind of threw it off a little bit. This. Let's keep all the coaches out of jail and let the teams play. But Indiana, Ohio State, this is the thing. And again, I hope we don't have to, like, swing a sword and bang a drum. What you, what people think, or once thought Alabama, Georgia was in the regular season or what Georgia, Texas might be. That's what this is. And we don't even have to. It's like, oh, what is this? It's like, I don't know. It's the two best programs in college football playing each other in the regular season and they're right next to each other. They're three and a half hours apart.
- [61:05]
Doug Le Maurice
3Ish. Yeah.
- [61:06]
Bill Landis
And they like, should they compete kind of in every way now? And like, they didn't. They played this year and one team won and they played the year before and the other team won and they both won the last two national titles. And like, this is it. This is the best of college football. And it's indisputable. And I hope Fox is obviously. Fox is gonna. Did you hear? They started. They're calling it Big Eight. They're gonna have a breakfast. Breakfast with the Big Ten. And they're gonna start playing games at 8 o' clock in the morning and they want to kick it off with Ohio State Indiana next year. So they're going to kick it off at 8am Pre game show starts at 5. Gus Johnson said he's not even going to bed the night before. He's just staying up all night. So unfortunately, that game is going to be at 8am because God forbid you do anything fun and put it at night. You got to promote your new thing. That's not a real thing. I hope there's not a Fox person listening to this. Like, wait, breakfast with the Big Ten? Is that the window we've been neglecting is the 8am window. The NFL goes to London to play those games. We don't have to go to London. We can do it in Bloomington, Indiana. It's going to be on at noon. They better make a pregame thing. And if I don't see and who do I want? Who's like a. Like I said, if John Mellencamp doesn't write a new song, I want a John Mellencamp John Legend duet with a new song called Big Ten Brothers. And I want it debuting before the Fox kickoff. And I want this game to feel gigantic. And it is one of those things that the Big Ten is like, the ball is great. Can we make sure everybody is reminded about how great the ball is? Start work. John Legend and John Mellencamp can write a song in a weekend. They have nine months. Start it now. I'll buy the single apple. I'll pay 299 on the apple thing for the single. People will promote it here for free. But. Right. Can we just make sure? Like, do we have to beg for that or are we there now? It's like, no, of course everyone's going to know that Indiana Ohio is State is the biggest game of the college football season.
- [63:12]
Doug Le Maurice
What if Sig's coaching the Steelers? Stop it.
- [63:15]
Bill Landis
He said what do you. Did he announce it post game? Like the Bo Nicks injury is like Kurt Technetti came in and ripped open his chest and had the Steel City logo on. What are we doing? What are you doing? No. Why would you say that? He said he's not an NFL guy.
- [63:29]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, he probably didn't think he was a FBS national championship guy until a couple years ago. I'm just saying if I were the Steelers, I would do it.
- [63:36]
Bill Landis
It. If I was this, I would do it too.
- [63:39]
Doug Le Maurice
Is. But.
- [63:39]
Bill Landis
But are you're Kurt Zetti. What if Kurt. Kurt Signet wants to run it back? Run it back. Sig, come on. What are you doing? Oh.
- [63:46]
Doug Le Maurice
Oh, I brought. No, your candy cigs.
- [63:49]
Bill Landis
Oh, they're upstairs. I brought my sword and my cigarette to cross like four state lines for them to anticipate. This. This is quite a swing. You and I once did a podcast and a series about this. It's all legitimate and. And the thing that I think you can see some teams adapting. I think there are things to learn from Indiana. I think there are things that you don't want to over learn. Right. That you want to acknowledge. Sometimes there's special moments and there's a coach and a staff and a certain group of players. I don't think Indiana is going away, but also I think there was some. Some specificity and specialness to what happened with this particular team. But you can already see Ohio State trying to learn from some lessons from that. And I know someone in the chat had mentioned that they were talking about on the game how many older players there are on Indiana. I think that is just until further notice. I certainly am going to be looking at age and experience when I evaluate if I. In the past, if you looked for sort of like my shorthand when I was a preseason AP voter was always sort of like. Like offensive and defensive lines and who's your quarterback. And then it's like you would look at like who's the third year class? The group of juniors who've been working their way up and before they can go to the NFL. What's that group? I'm. I would certainly look at age and experience and also there needs to be an upside to it. But are you fortified by age and experience? And what Indiana did is no different than what Michigan and Ohio State did. They just did it a little bit of a different way. But that is the One lesson here that like again, if you're Georgia or Ohio State or some of these other programs that were relying on a bunch of new starters, that that's a tough way to go. And Miami had a bunch of men out there also doing their thing. So like, you can have great young stars, you better have a man next to him. So I think in like, that's the new part of this era is that you, okay, show, show me NFL talent. But while you're showing me your 20 year old future NFL star, I would like it if he was surrounded by two 23 year olds and I think tried to learn that lesson this off season. And it's, I think what everyone's going to be doing now.
- [65:53]
Doug Le Maurice
I think that's right. And it's not, as you mentioned, it's not specific to Indiana because Miami was also old, but also like Ohio State's 2024 national title team was very old. Michigan's 2023 national title team was very old. Washington in the playoff that year was super old. Right. Like you're. You can get old via retention or you can get old via portal, or you can make a Frankenstein of both of them. But. But I do think, yeah, old from. From until further notice. Like being old is the way in college football for sure.
- [66:21]
Bill Landis
Get older, die trying. Brought to you by John Legend and John Mellencamp. God, I can't wait. Oh my God.
- [66:28]
Doug Le Maurice
Okay, I read you a funny tweet we got during. During the show. Somebody, Brad Weigel said, how many more days until Lincoln Riley takes a new job because the Big Ten is too difficult.
- [66:42]
Bill Landis
That could be. Yeah. Who knew? Poor guy. He was fling and he flew right into the storm, brother. You know what I'm saying?
- [66:50]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah.
- [66:50]
Bill Landis
You know, you know where I would want to go right now? Like all go to the sec.
- [66:56]
Doug Le Maurice
There's some upward mobility in the sec.
- [66:58]
Bill Landis
Yeah. Who's good? Who's good? I don't even know, like, for real. I guess it's Texas again, because Arch State.
- [67:04]
Doug Le Maurice
Yeah, they'll be the preseason pick to win.
- [67:08]
Bill Landis
Yeah. Because they got Camp Coleman.
- [67:12]
Doug Le Maurice
Right.
- [67:14]
Bill Landis
Okay. Yeah, good luck to them. Ohio State, Texas, early in the season. We'll be there for that. So listen, we're still going to talk. You got ball to talk, we'll find ball to talk. Right? Talk ball.
- [67:27]
Doug Le Maurice
Absolutely.
- [67:27]
Bill Landis
Yeah. So we will anticipate putting like multiple shows a week on this feed, on this YouTube channel, on these podcast feeds, get subscribed so you don't miss anything. I don't know that we'll have a Regular schedule, but we'll just do it on a regular basis because college football doesn't sleep and we have a lot of good stuff planned to keep. Keep talking about. We'll probably have some guests on that kind of thing. And we appreciate you guys being here for another spectacular Big Ten northern college football season. We'd. Let's run down the list of people we'd love to thank. It's me and you, actually. Nobody else.
- [68:05]
Doug Le Maurice
I love to thank Greg Sankey, too.
- [68:08]
Bill Landis
Yeah, like the Greg thinking and Paul not Feinbaum and all the honks, trolls and morons in SEC country who just have nothing left to say. No, we'd like to thank every college football fan, every northern college football fan, every Big Ten college football fan. If there's people for some reason who are SEC fans or southern college football fans who would venture into this, welcome and of course, all the Ohio State fans who make all this possible for us. So you can go find us on Substack. We'll be writing and talking over there. Billanddugosu.substack.com but we certainly appreciate this YouTube audience, this podcast audience. When we do some things that are outside the scope of Ohio State, that's the thing we want to continue to do. We like, we want to be as informed and entertaining and, and like communal with an Ohio State fan base on this channel and what we do on Substack. And then we also want to make sure we check in, in the larger college football universe. So anyway, thanks to you guys for being here. You're the best. Go out tomorrow and just love your neighbor and make fun of the sec. Just walk up. I would dare you. So, like, I, I don't like some of these things that, like, people do on social media just for like a prank or whatever, you know, like, and it changes your behavior because you're trying to create content. I'm not in favor of that. Live your life. Celebrate every day that you get to be part of this great sport. But if you want to find an SEC fan on the street and tell them to cram it and like, send it to me on Twitter, I'd look at it.
- [69:37]
Doug Le Maurice
You'd save it in your phone?
- [69:38]
Bill Landis
Yeah, I'd retweet it. So. With the sword logo. Thanks to you guys for being here. The Indiana Hoosiers. Congratulations to them and that fan base. National champions with a win over the Miami Hurricanes. For now, he's Bill Landis. I'm Doug Lee Maurice. And that was the Bill and Doug showed.