Hour 1: 9-0 Team Loses Game Comma, Mario Cristobal Sucks

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz – Episode Summary

Title: Hour 1: 9-0 Team Loses Game Comma, Mario Cristobal Sucks
Hosts: Dan LeBatard, Stugotz, Greg Cody, Mike Ryan, Lucy Rodin
Recording Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

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1. Miami's Disheartening Loss and Its Implications

The episode kicks off with a heated discussion about Miami's unexpected loss, marking a significant setback for a team that was riding high with a 9-0 record. Greg Cody expresses his frustration, saying, “I can't tell you how frustrated I was watching a Miami season die at the feet of Vandenberg” (01:17). Stugotz counters, arguing that while the loss is disappointing, the season isn't entirely over, emphasizing the persistent hopes despite defensive flaws.

2. Critique of Head Coach Mario Cristobal

A significant portion of the conversation centers around head coach Mario Cristobal's strategies and decision-making. Greg Cody bluntly states, “Mario Cristobal sucks” (01:27), critiquing his approach, especially his reluctance to make aggressive plays on fourth downs. The hosts discuss how Cristobal's conservative tactics have repeatedly failed Miami in crucial moments.

3. Defensive Shortcomings: A Deeper Analysis

The Miami defense comes under intense scrutiny, with Stugotz highlighting their poor performance metrics: “Their defensive metrics has a lot of Miami fans were trying to rationalize the defense” (02:03). Mike Ryan adds context by noting, “They're ranked like 65th in FBI plus right now” (02:06). The hosts compare Miami's defensive woes to LSU's struggles in 2019, pointing out that Miami has been pitted against unexpectedly potent offenses despite their own defensive limitations.

4. The Role of Quarterback Cam Ward

Cam Ward's influence on the game is a focal point, with Lucy Rodin praising his abilities: “He throws for 340 yards and three touchdowns when he's not having a really good game” (04:21). However, Stugotz and Greg Cody debate the sustainability of relying heavily on Ward to carry the team, especially when defensive support falters. Stugotz remarks, “Miami lives and dies by that” (04:21), emphasizing the overreliance on Ward's performance.

5. Comparisons with LSU's 2019 Season

The discussion draws parallels between Miami's current defense and LSU's defense in 2019. Stugotz notes, “If you look at the marquee players, everyone can name what they had at wide receiver defensively” (05:46), suggesting that individual talent hasn't translated into cohesive team performance. Mike Ryan further elaborates on the disparity, highlighting the substantial gap between Miami and top-performing defenses.

6. Coaching Decisions and Strategic Flaws

The hosts dissect several coaching decisions that led to Miami's downfall in the game against Georgia Tech. Greg Cody criticizes the inability to adapt game plans against strong opponents: “You're still giving up conversions on third and 18, easy conversions on third and 18” (07:49). Stugotz adds that Miami's defensive coordinators failed to anticipate and counter Georgia Tech's predictable plays, resulting in exposed weaknesses.

7. Future Prospects and Necessary Adjustments

Despite the bleak outlook, the hosts discuss potential pathways for Miami to salvage the season. Stugotz remains cautiously optimistic, stating, “Everything's still out there for Miami” (03:51). However, he emphasizes the urgent need for defensive improvements and smarter play-calling to avoid further losses. The consensus is that without significant adjustments, Miami's chances in the College Football Playoff remain slim.

8. Broader NCAA Coaching Trends

Towards the end of the segment, the conversation shifts to the broader landscape of NCAA coaching dynamics. The hosts touch upon the influence of coaches like Brian Kelly and the shifting power structures within college football. Stugotz observes, “Everybody that you have a pretty strong opinion on, they're going to lay some eggs” (15:45), hinting at upcoming coaching changes and their impact on team performances.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Greg Cody (01:27): “Mario Cristobal sucks.”
• Mike Ryan (02:06): “They're ranked like 65th in FBI plus right now.”
• Lucy Rodin (04:21): “He throws for 340 yards and three touchdowns when he's not having a really good game.”
• Greg Cody (07:49): “You're still giving up conversions on third and 18, easy conversions on third and 18.”
• Stugotz (15:45): “Everybody that you have a pretty strong opinion on, they're going to lay some eggs.”

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Conclusion

This episode provides a thorough and candid examination of Miami's football team's recent setbacks, focusing on coaching decisions, defensive inadequacies, and the pivotal role of quarterback Cam Ward. The hosts blend statistical analysis with passionate commentary, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of the team's current state and future prospects. Whether you're a dedicated fan or new to the scene, this discussion sheds light on the critical factors influencing Miami's season and the broader trends shaping college football today.

Transcript

[Dan LeBatard]

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[Stugotz]

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[Greg Cody]

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[Lucy Rodin]

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[Greg Cody]

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[Lucy Rodin]

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[Greg Cody]

Terms apply.

[Stugotz]

This is the Dan Levator show with the Stuttgarts Podcast.

[Greg Cody]

I can't tell you how frustrated I was watching a Miami season die at the feet of Vandenberg. Recovers your fumble.

[Stugotz]

It didn't die.

[Greg Cody]

Recovers your fumble.

[Stugotz]

Season's not dead. I mean, I would say any hopes and aspirations that maybe this defense, they're not going to improve.

[Greg Cody]

I'm not saying the season's dead because they can't win the rest of their games and then end up in a playoff. That team is too flawed defensively to beat a good offensive team in a playoff game when you need Cam Ward to be perfect. They're not going to. They're not going to run through the playoffs as that team when they can't run easily through Virginia Tech, California and Georgia Tech.

[Stugotz]

I would agree that the defensive performance, I think overall their defensive metrics has a lot of Miami fans were trying to rationalize the defense, say they wouldn't be the first average defense to win a national defense.

[Mike Ryan]

They're ranked like 65th in FBI plus right now.

[Stugotz]

I would say up until like two weeks ago, they were like people were putting up what LSU did in 2019. And I think contextually you had to add that that LSU team ran into really stiff competition. Miami's given up 300 yards to Malik Murphy. Miami got just trounced on the ground to a team that was essentially playing three plays and telling you whenever they were going to be in an obvious passing situation and then converting those obvious.

[Greg Cody]

Passing situations with a freshman quarterback is the Only one they had who wasn't injured and can throw a football like what you just lost to. And the way you just lost to them, to me, was crippling in a way that's exposing.

[Stugotz]

It is exposing in that you couldn't even have your players in position. Everyone knew where those plays were going except for Miami's defensive coordinators who were stunting players at the defensive line and allowing quarterbacks to easily break, contain. I think contextually in a vacuum. If I tell you it's 28 points against Georgia Tech, you got to do better than that. But you're also omitting the fact that Georgia tech should add 35. They did the smart play at the end of the game and also how effective that offensive game plan was. David Lake of Inside the Youth said that Georgia Tech essentially had to thread the needle. This was their only path to victory.

[Greg Cody]

Perfect.

[Stugotz]

And they killed it. They would always get nine yards on first down to make sure they could bleed out an extra two minutes out there. I'd say what happened to Miami's defense is beyond troubling in that you don't really see a path to them just being below average. When the def. When the offense that you're playing is that limited and you still throw up a stinker like that, you're probably not going to do any substantial winning. That being said, everything's still out again out there for Miami. They control their own destiny and they'd be favored to make the College Football Playoff inside their own conference before Saturday.

[Lucy Rodin]

That was another reason why Cam Ward was and is such a great Heisman candidate. Is that the reason they were 90 is that cam Ward was outscoring the other team and his own defensive shortcomings, winning high scoring games, winning comeback games. He failed Saturday and I agree he didn't have a very good game. But here's how good Cam Ward is. He throws for 340 yards and three touchdowns when he's not having a. A really good game. I'm not sure how much his Heisman candidacy was. Was hurt Saturday.

[Stugotz]

Can you imagine if he completes that pass to Jacoby George that was there for him? I think Cam Ward is so tied up with Miami success you can't break yourself of it, the exciting way that he plays. But I also think he creates a lot of problems that aren't necessarily going to be there if you have someone that's in the pocket that's getting rid of the ball in under two and a half seconds. But this is where Miami is right now. They live and die by that. And if they're going to concede nine minute drives to the other team, they need to be efficient. And they're the best short y shortage team in the nation. And they failed miserably on third and shorts that fourth and one call where they decide to get cute and throw Mark Fletcher into the flats and he's not even prepared for a pass. Just what are we doing? We're not going to have that many drives. They're cutting our drives in half here. Let's get the first down. No one's been able to stop Miami on, on fourth and short at all this season. So automatic three yards. Miami got cute. They had fewer chances. Their margin of error shrank and Georgia Tech threads the needle. That's a, that's a loss that hopefully wakes Miami up and it happens at the right time. But when it comes to the defense, I can understand completely why you talk yourself into this team's not winning anything.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, I think just to go back to your point about 2019, LSU on FBI, they were ranked 11th on defense, obviously the number one offense in the country right now. Miami 65th on defense. And that's opponent adjusted efficiency data from BCF Toys. So that is a very large gulf between, you know, not having like the best defense and still winning a championship and having a. Like really, really.

[Stugotz]

Yeah. If you remember that LSU defense, they turned it around later in the year. But if you like, look at the marquee players, everyone can name what they had at wide receiver defensively, who's the best player from that LSU team. Stingley. So they, they figured it out at a certain point in the season. And I'm looking for individual players to rise up on Miami. I don't, I don't see it.

[Greg Cody]

They're not even positioning you for a section for, for a second on wake up calls. Okay. The way that Miami lost. Because I want to be clear about this and this isn't about wake up call. It's not about learning. Okay. Your coach three times decided and failed all three times to go for it on fourth down. I trust my offense like that. On two of those three times I would not. On the third time, I would have taken the points, but I understood what he was doing on each one. And I believe in the idea of arrogantly going down with my best player firing away. But the way that your coach got smoked, smoked by a game plan, the two quarterback thing doesn't work when one of them's hurt and he's the one starting and he can't Throw because he's hurt. And the other one when he's in the game is throwing and you know it. And you're still giving up. Not just conversions on third and 18, easy conversions on third and 18. At the end of the game you need to stop and it's just hand the ball. Everyone knows you're handing off just right around the corner, no problem. Easy, all of it. Easy against your defense. Cam Ward's not excellent enough, even if he's the best player in the country, to overcome the defense and the coaching shortcomings that make it so that Cam Ward has to be better than everyone on the other side and better than everyone on his side. And he was asked to do it on Saturday and could not had the game on thirds and fourth downs, could not convert the things that he needed to convert to be better than everyone who was playing in the game, everyone who was involved in the game. Because to lose to that Georgia Tech team, it's not just that it's a 5 and 4 team. It's not just that it was a double digit underdog. That quarterback system doesn't beat anybody in a meaningful game.

[Stugotz]

No, they're telling you exactly what they're going to do. They're telegraphing what they're doing and you can't stop it. I think that makes the defensive performance all the worse. I think you're right to light up the coaching. I think you're right to light up the defense. I actually think you're letting Cam Ward off easy because the reason why he couldn't do things is because they were dropping eight the entire time. And much like Patrick Mahomes initially when he first saw it, he couldn't take his eyes off the explosive play. Now they came within a half second of finding a wide open Jacoby George in the middle of the field. That essentially would have won them the game. And it was born out of Cam Ward holding the ball too long. But also Cam Ward had so much underneath that entire game and refused to take Mike.

[Greg Cody]

That quarterback situation that you have never loses that game to that other quarterback situation. Never.

[Stugotz]

Actually, no. I would push back on that. That's how this head coach would do it. That's how Brent Key enters a game as a major underdog.

[Greg Cody]

Mario suits him, by the way, because.

[Stugotz]

He'S being owned by him. Because. How would you say? The game.

[Greg Cody]

Not just because of that. Because he took his job.

[Mike Ryan]

Line coach crying because.

[Greg Cody]

Because he came and took his job at Alabama too. Took his job.

[Stugotz]

No, he's a great coach and he knew exactly what kind of game plan he needed to execute. It was a perfectly executed. They kept Miami's offense off the field. That limited the amounts of times that Camboard could get hot and take advantage of their, their shortcomings. Defensively, it was just a great game plan and hopefully it's a loss that Miami can learn from and it comes right at the right time. Everything's still there for Miami, but it would appear that this would be one of the worst defenses in the last 15 years for Miami.

[Greg Cody]

You can't win a championship playing defense like that. It's not, you can't have the, not even the Joe Burrow team.

[Stugotz]

I'd say in a vacuum, if you can hold your opposing defenses and keep in mind, like the challenges that they're going to run into in the cfp, those are teams that are not going to. They're going to look at Miami's tape and still decide we're going to do what we do because we're going to stick to our identity because this defense isn't going to stop us. They're not going in. Oregon's not going into a game that says, you know what, let's have a nine minute drive and keep Cam Ward off the field. So stylistically I actually think it'll work out for Miami in the future, but they need to learn from this. Their next opponent does more misdirection and jet sweeps than just about anybody in the country. They need to fix that. And it was backbreaking to him that 3rd and 18 when you know, okay, the quarterback that they have can't throw. He's hurt. They've been hurt all game. And then a wide open freshman guy just runs for 18 yards. And I don't know, I think it was Mich Powell who's looking the opposite way as guys are running past him and he's like going to a spot that nobody's there. I have no idea where that breakdown was. One of them was a man, one of them was in zone. You had a true freshman and a seasoned veteran there. It's. They got to, they got to clean it up. Thankfully, they have a bye week to clean it up. I still think that this offense, you'll be in any game, you'll be in any game in that cfp. There isn't a dominant team. There isn't a team that I look at on Saturday as I'm like, man, Miami can't make that interesting. Even with as bad as their defense is. If you go in and you just mitigate the damage on defense and you hold teams to under 28kmh gives you a shot.

[Greg Cody]

I agree. I think any good offense, any good offense in that sport smokes you like that. Smokes that defense because it's five yards to carry. That's Georgia Tech. When you know the plays they're running, they're going five yards of carry. They're just mauling. They're telling you what's coming. I can't imagine Mario Cristobal can feel worse losing to that coach that way where you've got the better quarterback.

[Stugotz]

Last year, he could last year, provided.

[Lucy Rodin]

They would feel worse.

[Greg Cody]

Yeah, okay, fair enough. But the stakes were larger this year than they are last year.

[Stugotz]

They played good offenses well, pretty much every offense is good against their defense and they've been able to survive. They played with fire. There was still a path to steal that game despite Georgia Tech playing their game plan perfectly and it caught Miami. Hopefully it can catch Miami at the right time and they can learn from it. Because I do think we've bottomed out as a defense. I don't think that there's a other lower point beyond this. So do what you can with it and mitigate the damage. Play safer and trust your offense. That's your idea.

[Greg Cody]

What are you doing with learning, though? Like, he's going to throw underneath all of a sudden.

[Stugotz]

Like, I think the whole game plan.

[Greg Cody]

Wasn'T even to run the ball. It's just Cam bail us out. I think Cam keep bailing us out. You're better than everybody.

[Stugotz]

Well, he failed too. I think he's not above criticism. I think he'd be hard on his own performance there. Despite the looking at the box score, it was pretty good. But I think defensively they're still way too aggressive. There are things that they can do with personnel. There are things that they can do to play a more complimentary style and like I said, mitigate this damage positionally. Have guys, you know that if a wide receiver goes out wide and Kiko follows him, that's bad. Kiko needs to stay within the hash marks because he's not being effectively blitzed anymore.

[Greg Cody]

Team.

[Stugotz]

The book is out on Miami, and I think the most disappointing part of that performance was Miami has the book that everybody else has and they're getting worse with it.

[Lucy Rodin]

I wrote a poem about the Cowboys.

[Greg Cody]

Sunshine in My Eyes. It's a love song.

[Lucy Rodin]

That's what inspired it.

[Stugotz]

Oh, it's beautiful.

[Lucy Rodin]

Behind you.

[Greg Cody]

It's good.

[Lucy Rodin]

I like what they did there.

[Greg Cody]

Good. Let's see what we have. A poem Not a song, a poem.

[Lucy Rodin]

It's a poem. Sunlight in your eye. CD Lamb asks why Cowboy fans cry. To Mike McCarthy, we say bye. That's it. Beautiful.

[Greg Cody]

It is. Thank you.

[Lucy Rodin]

So nice.

[Greg Cody]

Thank you. It was.

[Stugotz]

It was warm.

[Mike Ryan]

You are your father's son.

[Greg Cody]

A word, Snake. Who would be favored if Mississippi played Miami?

[Mike Ryan]

What? Who do you think?

[Stugotz]

Mississippi minus three.

[Dan LeBatard]

Depends on where.

[Stugotz]

I think that's a great game. It's a great game. Everybody's. It's wide open this year. There isn't. There isn't a single team that I watch that say, man, they're going to just run through this in the cfp. I think Miami presents problems to other teams and I think certainly teams like Oregon and Ohio State, that every. They have every right to be feeling themselves this year. But it's wide open. This is actual parody in the ncaa. I think we'd be fine to react week to week and just say, let's enjoy this ride, see where it takes us. Because we don't have data points to pull when it comes to this sport. We don't have previous experience with a season this wide open.

[Mike Ryan]

That's true. There is, however, not another team in the top 30 right now with the defense that is ranked as low as Miami's.

[Stugotz]

They gotta fix it. They're. The defense that we saw on Saturday is not.

[Greg Cody]

I don't. But I think what you're doing there. They got to learn. Wake up call. They got to fix it. No, they're not good enough like. And it's okay. The way that they're going to win is Cam's got to bail them out like that.

[Stugotz]

I mean, Oregon had major issues across their offensive line the first month of this season, and they figured it out. Teams can figure these things out. Yes, I agree. Damning numbers right now. They're not going to win anything. They might not beat Wake in two weeks if they trot out that very same defense.

[Mike Ryan]

They're going to beat Wake and they're going to be Syracuse and they'll probably win the ACC championship game.

[Greg Cody]

And they can just.

[Stugotz]

And they can.

[Greg Cody]

They can just as easily lose to Syracuse the way they just lost to Georgia Tech.

[Lucy Rodin]

They won't, though.

[Greg Cody]

Well, you say that, but you said it before. Georgia Tech, too. And I've been telling people this team on the road, don't trust them against anybody. Saw him down 35, 10 against California and just saw him lose. This team on the road, don't trust them against anybody because you can't trust that defense. Why would you trust that Defense.

[Lucy Rodin]

There was no question that Georgia Tech was going to be their toughest game of the three left. Their defense has been bad all season.

[Greg Cody]

Road games are hard, man. They're just, they're hard. You can't go into a stadium with no defense and just expect to win a road game.

[Lucy Rodin]

They did it, Cal. I mean, they've done it. They were down 25 points, sand, and they won.

[Stugotz]

Everybody that you have a pretty strong opinion on, they're going to lay some eggs. There's losses on everybody's schedule. Everybody that is awaiting the CFP rankings, that feels good about now, about themselves right now and has vibes running high, they're going to come down crashing back to earth. It is a wide open year. There isn't going to be a perfect team. There's going to be a flawed team that wins this championship.

[Dan LeBatard]

I think the thing is too is this is not the first time this sort of game has happened. Miami has just been able to win. They've been down at half at so many of their games so far. Miami's been playing with their food all year long. So this like just wasn't that shocking to me. Like if they lost to Syracuse, it wouldn't be shocking to me. Wake Forest, that would be shocking to me.

[Greg Cody]

But they can have four losses and it's not the same way that the Chiefs were nine to no. Like there could be four losses on the Miami schedule. Like usually you don't have on a championship team a unit that's bad.

[Stugotz]

Dan they're, they're progressing exactly where they need to be. Mario Cristobal Year I don't disagree with that at all. Year one, lose by a lot. Years to lose by little. Year three win by little. Year four win by a lot.

[Greg Cody]

Mike it's the bandage that Colorado and Miami have. It's not a long term fix. If your solution is I need to have the best quarterback be better than.

[Stugotz]

Everyone else on both sidelines, I actually don't think. I think their identity is what it is. It's fully tied up in Cam Ward. I also think you don't have a lot of these same issues. If Emory Williams is just executing an offense, getting rid of the ball, it's not going to be nearly as sexy. But I think Miami's well positioned to keep this going. This is not a Florida State thing where the bottom falls out.

[Dan LeBatard]

I think it's important to look at a team like Ole Miss. I know you kind of brought them up earlier. Beating Georgia this weekend is because they made crazy moves, especially defensively in the portal, so it kind of all depends on the offseason. It's hard to really predict anybody going forward with players just going left and right everywhere different. Like Ole Miss was able to use the portal so effectively and almost completely fix their defense poem.

[Lucy Rodin]

Really got lost in the shuffle there, huh?

[Stugotz]

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[Lucy Rodin]

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[Stugotz]

I'm not going to apologize. I'm.

[Lucy Rodin]

I wouldn't expect you to apologize. Then you're a giant infant, okay? You have no control over your emotions. You have no control over your emotions when you're calling someone you know an idiot. I don't deserve it, okay? I don't deserve it.

[Stugotz]

All right?

[Lucy Rodin]

And you're a fool for saying it.

[Greg Cody]

Okay, stugots.

[Lucy Rodin]

You're a fool. I was kind of fucking calling somebody or.

[Stugotz]

You're locking in right now. You're locking in on us.

[Lucy Rodin]

Yeah. All right.

[Stugotz]

Let's drop the gloves, pal.

[Greg Cody]

Let's drop.

[Stugotz]

You should be thanking me for what? Every day.

[Dan LeBatard]

For what?

[Stugotz]

For what I've done around this character. And the second shit gets real for you, you want to come at me and call me a fool?

[Greg Cody]

Huh?

[Stugotz]

No, no, no.

[Greg Cody]

Seriously, Jeremy. Seriously, pal.

[Stugotz]

I've added 10 years to your career. This is the Don Levatar show with these two gods.

[Greg Cody]

Greg Cody, who is afflicted with something that has made more and more of an appearance around here over the last couple of years, doing his best show off air, talking to me when we go off air instead of on air. What were you just saying to me?

[Lucy Rodin]

Well, based on the overreaction I heard from you in the last segment, I suggested that the headline for the last segment would be 9, 0 team loses game comma, head coach Mario Crisabal sucks. That was the headline. Okay? Because at 9 and 0, people were like, you know what, he's a good recruiter. He won the portal by getting Cam Ward. Pretty good coach, huge improvement. He loses one game and we're focusing on it. He went for fourth down too much. All of these should have guessed that was a pass coming.

[Greg Cody]

All of these things can be true, including that headline that you just gave us was too long. What I'm telling you about that particular game, Greg Cody is rare as the example that I can give you that is more obvious of a situation that you're getting out coached. When you have those two quarterback situations and what happens with the game planning of the game is not only do they run the ball at five yards a clip, they do the most effective thing, which is keep Cam Ward out of the game. Because they're holding the ball the entire time because your coach has no answers defensively for the one place they have a strength, which is an offense that's super limited on a 5 and 4 team that's telegraphing everything. And still they're doing the dual thing of scoring on your defense and keeping your best player off the field, right? Limiting his possession time like you can't. Rare is the example of something happens that obvious where you're like, you've got the better quarterback and you can't get him on the field because they can run the ball.

[Stugotz]

It literally happened every big upset with undefeated teams. That's, that's how you do it in college football. You control the ball and you keep the great offense. It scores at a great clip and you give them fewer opportunities. They perfectly executed their game plan down to getting 9 yards on first down carries as opposed to 10. They were just perfect. There was still a path to victory. And Miami's offense, you could hold them accountable and say they actually dropped the ball. It was a bad day for the defense and the offense to essentially together put their worst performance of the season. It happens Winning is hard. This season has proven that. Winning is hard week in and week out. Hopefully they can learn from it and improve.

[Lucy Rodin]

And the running game, the run defense by Miami. I don't have the stats in front of me. If I'm wrong, correct me. The run defense has been average but not terrible this year.

[Greg Cody]

It was five yards a carry on Saturday.

[Lucy Rodin]

I'm talking about going into that game. That was an anomaly. Giving up 270 yards rushing. The run deep. I think the pass defense has been worse than the run defense for Miami. But the point is the defense has been bad all year and Cam Ward has been outscoring his own defense and the other team all year.

[Greg Cody]

I can't do this anymore if Mike Ryan's going to give me press conference of. Hopefully we learn from it. Let me switch topics here because I need to get to off roading. Which should be off road, right? It should be off road.

[Mike Ryan]

Miami's run defense factors in somewhere around like 70th right now. Just to tie those, tie a knot on that.

[Greg Cody]

Thank you.

[Lucy Rodin]

But going into that, before giving up 271, it was probably more like 40th or 50th, I'm guessing.

[Greg Cody]

Okay. Important guess that you make. It's still pretty terrible. Off roading.

[Lucy Rodin]

Average, not terrible.

[Greg Cody]

It's pretty terrible. Off roading. Off roading, off roading. It's coming in a second, but I'm scared to do something that I want to do and I'm just not brave enough to do it. I don't know if all of you have seen what Jokic's last nine games have been, but it's all ridiculous. Like, it's just asinine that the man is not playing. You know, he keeps improving statistically, keeps improving. And the thing I'm scared to say is that he's the best basketball player ever. Like, I'm scared to, I'm scared to put him ahead of LeBron and Michael Jordan. But. But this five year stretch, there's just nothing like it. And he, and he's 29, like he's just going to win all the MVP awards because he's somehow getting better, plays all the games and is just statistically across the board. Assists, rebounds, points, efficiencies, like there's just never been anything like this.

[Stugotz]

It's too inflammatory to say he's the greatest ever because that's a conversation that is just reserved for a party of two right now. And it's such a, it's such a movement behind both those players that it's A losing argument. But what I would say is I couch it usually by saying he's the most unstoppable player I've ever seen, just the most dominant. There's nothing that you can do that can really bother him. And even if you take away one aspect of his game, he'll excel at the other ones to the point that you stop doing that. He's just unstoppable.

[Greg Cody]

Basketball can't be played any better than he's playing it. No one has ever played it better than he is playing basketball because it's not just the statistical production, it's the efficiency of it. Like, even Michael Jordan, when he'd scored double digits occasionally would have a 12 point game. Like, occasionally there would be something in there that was four for 19.

[Stugotz]

There would be more games in which Michael Jordan went up against the defense and the defense would feel like, yeah, we did. We did a. We did a good job on him. That feeling is fewer and further between when a defense lines up against Jokic. Lucy, Impossible to stop.

[Greg Cody]

What is the name of this segment? Your last name is Rodin.

[Dan LeBatard]

It is. I'm glad you know it.

[Greg Cody]

This segment is not called Off Roaden.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's Off Roading. Roading. It's a play because, you know, on the Road, like, it kind of sounds like my last name. Yeah.

[Lucy Rodin]

Off Road.

[Dan LeBatard]

I thought it was clever. I didn't come up. My friend Haley did.

[Greg Cody]

How do you feel about this week's edition of Off Roadeen?

[Dan LeBatard]

I actually feel really good about this one. Obviously the game was terrible, but LSU fans are straight up a different breed. They are some of the funniest, most interesting people we have ever talked to. It is such a great atmosphere. I'm so sad the game sucked because I didn't really get to experience, like, Death Valley during a great game. But we had a blast. I would love to go back to Baton Rouge.

[Greg Cody]

Did it smell like Whiskey at the 50 yard line? Like they say night games in Baton Rouge.

[Dan LeBatard]

I think the rain sort of washed that away. I will say I have never been to a school where I've seen them smoke more cigarettes than at LSU. Like cigs everywhere.

[Greg Cody]

Milro had, what was it, 12 carries for 185 yards. That's pretty good.

[Dan LeBatard]

It was like 8 million yards. It was after the second Alabama drive in the first quarter that was like, yeah, this is cooked. We're done. Well, we could go if we wanted, but we stayed the whole time.

[Mike Ryan]

Wow, that's my Heisman Trophy vote.

[Greg Cody]

I mean, 12 carries, 185 yards on top of that, though, it was a night game at lsu. It's supposed to be hard to play at night there. They violated all sorts of animal rights stuff by bringing a tiger across state lines. Yeah, you should be furious, Jessica. Everybody should be furious at doing that to a tiger.

[Mike Ryan]

It was so depressing to watch. I am excited to ask Ron McGill about it tomorrow because that. It truly made me so sad to see that tiger in that cage while everyone was booing it.

[Lucy Rodin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Stugotz]

But if they would have won, though, would have been Electra.

[Mike Ryan]

No one wanted the tiger there. It was just. It was just overall bad.

[Dan LeBatard]

You'll see it in our videos a little bit. Absolutely no one was happy. And it was like 50% of the fans were like, hey, I think it's really messed up to have a tiger on the field during a football game. Like, that's wrong. And the other 50% were like, that should be our tiger on the field during this football game, not the other one.

[Greg Cody]

The thing that I remember about when the University of Miami was at its greatest powers is when they went to LSU and they won at night, like, 44 to 3. And in that game, I saw an LSU receiver chased down by a Miami defensive tackle, Shane Curry. And outside the locker room before the game, they put the sedated tiger in a cage right outside Miami's locker room. And the Miami players came out and were putting their hands in the cage and stuff, like, bothering the. Taunting the tiger.

[Stugotz]

My dad told me that same story when we were watching the game on taunting.

[Lucy Rodin]

He's like, once upon a time, I.

[Stugotz]

Was like, ah, the good old days.

[Greg Cody]

They were taunting the tiger and then it got ruined. I was so excited to see a game there. And then it was rainy and they were all miserable, and it was 44 to 3 or 45 to 3 or something ridiculous. And the whole thing gets rude.

[Dan LeBatard]

On Friday, I went to just see Mike's enclosure. So the tiger that was at the game was Omar. That's different than Mike. But I went to see Mike's enclosure and I was like, you know, I posted something about, like, I don't really agree with this. And a lot of people were like, that tiger lives like a king. That tiger has the best life in the entire world.

[Stugotz]

And then.

[Dan LeBatard]

But when I was standing at Mike's, like, little enclosure, this family came up next to me, and I was eavesdropping on their conversation, as I always am, and I just heard him go, you remember when Meemaw poked Mike with the stick? You remember that? And I was Like, I don't think this tiger lives like a king. I don't think so.

[Greg Cody]

Smoking heaters while everyone smack tiger. Had to be miserable. Had to be miserable. That's an unhappy.

[Dan LeBatard]

Like, come on, it can't be really, really sad. Mike was just pacing back and forth in the enclosure the whole time and he doesn't really come out during game days because it's too overwhelming for him. The tiger that they brought in, they only had on the field for a little bit. He wasn't out there very long. I don't know if it was rain related or what, but it was. And all the fans booed the tiger, by the way. They were so unhappy. Not one single person, except for the governor of Louisiana wanted this tiger at that game.

[Mike Ryan]

Everyone booed the tiger. They also like rolled him out and just floodlights on him while like 90,000 people are screaming the whole thing.

[Dan LeBatard]

I terrifying.

[Mike Ryan]

I hate to be this guy, but like, it really did upset me for the tiger. I just finished watching that chimp documentary on HBO also about the people that have the chimps as pets. And like, I just. These are wild animals. And the cage was so thick that you could barely even see the tiger through it too. And he was probably so scared.

[Greg Cody]

Bit of a liability issue, I suspect, to have a tiger. Anyway, on that note, PETA's involved, there's protesting, state lines were crossed and there were all sorts of animal cruelty violations. Let's go off roading.

[Dan LeBatard]

Ever since I was a young girl, I had one dream in this life. It wasn't to get married. It wasn't to be a princess or some. I don't know what young girls dream of. I wanted to go to Death Valley. I wanted a night game in Baton Rouge. And my dream is coming true. This place rules so hard. This is the top of my college football bucket list. But no one will tell me what STTDB means. I just want to know. I feel left out.

[Lucy Rodin]

Talk to tiger dick.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's so hot and it's November. This is really bad for all of us as a society. How would you just describe the LSU tailgating scene? People get a little out of hand and like kick the shins. I heard an 8 year old kicked an adult in the shins. And I was like, it's a little bit ridiculous, but I think it's cool.

[Greg Cody]

But I think people get out of.

[Dan LeBatard]

Hand, especially out of state people. Sorry, but like, get a grip. Who's the worst fan base you've dealt with? Tennessee. Tennessee band. They were behind me in my rear.

[Lucy Rodin]

And I was standing there and they.

[Dan LeBatard]

Were blowing their horns and I flipped them all off hard and I was like, you guys are ridiculous. Get out of here with that gaudy orange. I would never wear that gaudy orange.

[Greg Cody]

Purple and gold.

[Dan LeBatard]

Even though it's not my color palette, I still like to participate, so I wear neutral.

[Lucy Rodin]

I'm not gonna crap on anybody. Well, you know what I think?

[Greg Cody]

Let me think about it. Ole Miss fans are kind of dicks. We're kind of depressed because we felt like Brian Kelly was gonna bring us a dynasty.

[Dan LeBatard]

And now we're not sure.

[Lucy Rodin]

So we're trying to understand why that's not happening.

[Dan LeBatard]

How do you guys feel, honestly, about Brian Kelly?

[Stugotz]

Who?

[Lucy Rodin]

He looks like a great guy.

[Dan LeBatard]

He looks like your best friend's dad. I think he's doing okay. How's Brian Kelly doing? Like, I'm kind of just there for the vibe.

[Greg Cody]

I don't.

[Dan LeBatard]

Brian Kelly's doing good. Is Brian Kelly cool enough to be the head coach at lsu?

[Lucy Rodin]

I mean, this is Swag U.

[Greg Cody]

Right?

[Dan LeBatard]

He's the least swaggy person of all time.

[Greg Cody]

I don't know, Brian. Swag could be tonight. This could be winning this game. Tonight is swag.

[Lucy Rodin]

You talk about legacy game.

[Greg Cody]

This could be Swag Game loading tonight in Death Valley. Yeah, he's getting cooler because he's starting.

[Lucy Rodin]

To embrace the culture.

[Greg Cody]

This is the culture shock coming to this part of the world. We eat more, we drink more, we party more. The atmosphere here is just different.

[Dan LeBatard]

What was your immediate reaction when you heard that Nick Saban was retiring when.

[Greg Cody]

He retired, we're like, whoo, thank God.

[Lucy Rodin]

Tired of that man whipping our ass.

[Greg Cody]

Nick's having sexy.

[Dan LeBatard]

Okay, so here's the situation happening at LSU today. For those of you who don't know, LSU has a live tiger on campus. His name is Mike. He's a full ass, live Bengal tiger that lives in a facility right across from the football stadium where people can go take pictures of him, whatever. Morally, I don't agree with that. But that's not the point of this, right? So Mike used to go into the games and he would be in a cage on the field, sitting behind the visitors bench, which is crazy. But they stopped doing it because it's a hundred thousand people, it's really loud. It's probably pretty dangerous. There's some state government official here who's like, this is. This is. What's the most important issue in our country right now is the fact that there's not a tiger on the field. But it can't be Mike anymore because they decided that Mike wasn't going to be the tiger on the field. So they outsourced it and they went and got a tiger from Florida, naturally, who's coming to this game to be on the field, but it's not Mike, and people are super pissed about it. How do you feel about them bringing in a tiger? That's not Mike to be.

[Lucy Rodin]

No. So now we got a stunt double, you know, some.

[Greg Cody]

Some cat from Florida.

[Lucy Rodin]

That makes no sense except say they're.

[Dan LeBatard]

Bringing in Omar from Florida, like white. But I think if they were to mess with Mike's mental state, he wouldn't be able to fight like he does.

[Greg Cody]

So we had to go in the transfer portal to get a tiger. That's how that works. We got a transfer portal tiger while we had a homegrown tiger. So you're adding to the talent pool is really how I see it. I think what we did is we saw an asset out there in the open market, Brian Kelly. Do we want to call him SWAGU now or has Booker already got that Swagu Jr. Swagu part two. I think he went out in the transfer portal. He did some recruiting. He brought in this turf transfer portal tiger. And I think it might be the key that is Mike.

[Stugotz]

Put it on.

[Lucy Rodin]

Who the is? Damn Levitard.

[Dan LeBatard]

Have you ever heard of the Damn Levitard show with stugots?

[Lucy Rodin]

Yeah.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

Woo. All right, give it to me again. There we go. So that might be one of the worst games we've ever been to in the history of off roading, but at least the weather was really good. So signing off in Death Valley, I'm Lucy Rodin. Suck that tiger dick bitch. Loved lsu. Loved it. There was a moment that didn't make the cut that I want to talk about because it's so funny. Those three guys, the one guy in the middle was like, hey, I would really like a job for the Dan LeBatard Show. And I was like, okay, cool. What's your qualifications? He said, well, if you hire me, I'm a redhead. I'd be the show's first gender. I said, oh, we already have one Chris Cody. He said, that's great that you're bringing in DEI hires.

[Greg Cody]

Can you guys tell me whether you find it funny? Interesting? Both. Neither that the advent of the shift in that sport with power and money started with Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly. And both. Both of them have been like, oh, my God, you didn't have to give them any money at all. You could have been. You could have been just fine deciding to go any number of other people. These are not any kinds of groundbreakers. USC is 12 and 12, I think, in their last 24. And Brian Kelly hadn't. Hadn't done shit.

[Dan LeBatard]

I think Jimbo is probably the best example of that because they gave him more money than God, and now they're paying him more money than God just to not coach there, which is crazy.

[Greg Cody]

It's a good example. I just don't think of it as the place that the whole thing shifted. I associate, like, nil and corporate CEO changing with both being able to buy Oklahoma's coach and being able to buy Notre Dame's coach. Like you're going somewhere else to just buy someone. I didn't think of that the same way with Texas A and M&FSU. Maybe I should have.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, it's totally feels like it's the exact same thing.

[Mike Ryan]

Scott Woodward, who was the Texas A and M athletic director that went to lsu, that made the Brian Kelly not hearing you. Sorry, wrong microphone.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, I was kind of a little confused.

[Mike Ryan]

You were saying, same athletic director that hired Jimbo at Texas A and M in LSU and Brian Kelly at LSU.

[Dan LeBatard]

Like, that was 100%.

[Greg Cody]

You guys do this with Fisher more than with Lincoln Ryan and Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly.

[Stugotz]

Because the most shocking thing, like, he left a national champion side.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, Mel Tucker's contract, too, was like $95 million. And that really crashed.

[Greg Cody]

So what am I doing that I'm associating it with these two guys?

[Mike Ryan]

Because that coaching cycle was 2021. That was when a lot of things shifted after Lincoln went to usc. Brian Kelly, I think, right. Like, LSU wanted Lincoln. Riley couldn't get him, so they hired Brian Kelly. And then, like, the whole carousel went in motion. Brent Venables went to Oklahoma. He's now on a massive contract, and their season has been in the toilet. I think you're just thinking of the 2021 coaching cycle, because it was crazy. I mean, like, that's the year that a lot of things changed. But I think it started before that.

[Dan LeBatard]

My favorite moment from that coaching cycle was when Lincoln Riley came out and said, I am not taking the job at lsu, and then took the USC job the next morning. It was awesome.

[Greg Cody]

I don't know if you guys saw. Getting back to the conversation we were having on Jokic. He was asked the other day in a press conference, he was like, have you had any bad nights this season? And his response was, ye second night, the second game we lost. And the reporter's response was you had.

[Stugotz]

41, 41, 9 and 4 that game. By the way, his worst game. His worst game of the season, Dan, points wise is 16 points, but he also tacked on 12 rebounds and 13 assists that day.

[Greg Cody]

Should I do it, Mike? Should I just proclaim the best basketball player ever? I'm just too scared to do it.

[Stugotz]

I mean, if you call him the best ever, you already did. Just lean in. Go with that. Take Season's Greetings Podcast Audience It's Mike Ryan and now is that time of year where you start hosting your family gatherings. Be it Thanksgiving, be it the upcoming holiday season, you're gonna have some folks in town, you're gonna be doing some entertaining. So why don't you make your family time a Miller time? It's the first thing that I roll out when I got guest over at the house, an ice cold bucket filled with that beautiful white can seat. Miller Time makes family time all the more special because for one thing, it's got taste that you can depend on. No games, no gimmicks, just a great beer. For people who like beer, Miller Lite is brewed for taste. It hits different than other light beers. It's got simple ingredients like malted barley for rich balanced toffee note flavors and an iconic golden color. And at just 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs per 12 ounces, miller time is always a good time, even during the festive times. Making memories at year end gatherings tastes like Miller time. Go to millerlite.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Millerite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Fewer calories and carbs and premium regular beer.

[Greg Cody]

Did you know a 2018 study showed half of prenatal vitamins tested had unacceptable levels of heavy metals? Prenatals I'm Kat, mother of three and founder of Ritual.

[Lucy Rodin]

When I was four months pregnant, I.

[Greg Cody]

Couldn'T find a prenatal I could trust, so I created my own. Ours is made traceable, third party tested for heavy metals and recently earned the Purity award from the Clean Label Project. But don't just take my word for it.

[Lucy Rodin]

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