← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - INSTANT REACTION: Carson Beck & Miami OUTDUEL CJ Carr & Notre Dame
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- [00:00]
Host/Advertiser
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Host/Advertiser
The volume.
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John Middlekauff
What is going going on everybody? How are we doing? John Middlekop 3Now podcast just watched a little football because that's what we do during football season. And the Miami Hurricanes beat the Fighting Irish. You know, kind of A boring game. Then it got kind of thrilling, but big win for Mario. Notre Dame's gonna be okay. We'll dive into that. I'll bring my guy Jackson on and he's a big Notre Dame guy. I, I did a reaction video and podcast yesterday to Arch Manning, meaning I didn't talk about Alabama and Florida State and I didn't talk about Clemson and lsu. So we'll touch on those games tonight. And just some overall theories and just thoughts I had from the last 24 hours in college football. And that'll be the game plan. So hopefully everyone's had a relaxing Labor Day Monday. Probably not working, just enjoying yourself. So I thought I'd do a little podcast on Sunday night because football's back. Obviously we got NFL games. We got a lot of, we got a lot of content. So we are full speed ahead. And we got Bill Belichick coaching at North Carolina on Monday night. So I'm sure I will do something else come Monday night. But other, I think I'm going on calling as well. But you'll, you'll see all this stuff. Other than that, make sure you subscribe to the podcast. Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube page and appreciate everyone for listening, sharing the content and yeah, let's rock and roll, baby. Before we dive into what we just witnessed, I do need to tell you about my friends, my partners and the official ticketing app of this podcast, Game Time. That looked pretty fun tonight. Now granted, it was 90% humidity at kickoff, a little humid for my taste. Michael Irvin is just soaked in sweat. But if you want to go to one of these games, they look really, really fun. Not gonna lie. We got a big one coming up this weekend. Oklahoma hosting Michigan. That'll be fun. But any of these games, obviously the NFL is finally here. We got an NFL game on Thursday. We then got an NFL game on Friday. Now granted, that's in Brazil, obviously Sunday we're off and running. So you want to go to one of these games this fall? Doesn't get any easier. Just use my friends at Game Time. Best ticketing app in America. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use a code John Johan For $20 off your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code John for $20 off down the game time map today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. You know what's funny is sometimes during games, you know, this week the early on in some of these games could be a little Slow. So you just get on your phone, you're just googling different guys. And I just went to the Wikipedia for Mario cristobal. And in 1998, before his coaching career really started, he had just finished playing. He was ga currently at Miami. He was thinking about joining the Secret Service and he went through all the training, all the testing and he got in. He was going to be a Secret Service agent and he accepted the job and he told the team and he told the players and then he slept on it and he declined it and he went into coaching. And obviously all these Years later, almost three decades, he's on an $80 million contract at his alma mater. And there is no disputing this guy is an elite recruiter. He became a star for Nick Saban in the mid-2010s. He did an awesome job at Oregon. And you just watch the talent that he has at Miami. There is no disputing his ability to identify, recruit and land. Now obviously that's changed over the years with nil, but he can stack a team. You know, Dan Lanning, the cupboard. Listen, I got to be fair, right? I'm hard on. Not hard, but I just acknowledge the fact that Ryan Day took over a rocket ship. So Dan Lanning, I mean that team has a lot of. Had a lot of talent when he showed up because Mario crystal ball could recruit. Now can he win? That's a different question. And last year, a little like couple years ago with Brian Kelly, it's like he's got Cam Ward, he's got this incredible offense and the defense is a joke. And there's always something with his teams. One, they melt down a lot and two, you just watch them from a buttoned up standpoint. They just don't feel that well coached relative to the highest level of teams. And tonight was big because if you would have told me before this game, I didn't bet on this game because I thought it was a coin flip. It's in Florida. Anytime you get these teams that aren't from the south going to the south. It was a Boise State thing. When they went to South Florida. You're just getting. I mean there's 91% humidity, it was hot as hell. So that's just going to be advantage Miami. Now toward the end of the game, it looked like they were melting down again and Notre Dame scores, then he scores again and then it's tight game. You're like, is it. What's going on here? This is he's going to blow this game. It looked like not Only was he in full control, looked like he was going to win it going away. And it was just going to be another meltdown on the guy's resume. But at the end of the day, like no one will remember because the guy kicks a field goal, his defense comes through and Miami looks really good. And another star that kind of came out of this game. I don't know that much about him, but the offensive coordinator, Shannon Dawson, last year he proved what he, Cam Ward was viewed as like a fifth or fourth or sixth round pick, right? So reason at best, maybe like high fourth round pick. It would have been pretty shocking after Washington State if he would have got drafted on the second day, turned him into the number one overall pick. And the reason guys like me kind of like the Titans this year is because of him. Well, Shayna Dawson, like he was the offensive coordinator last year. I listen if you watch Cam Ward at Washington State, there was no disputing his physical attributes. Like he was really talented couple when he first got there. You're like, this guy's from what school? Damn, who is this guy? I did not think that about Carson Beck. It's like still not the biggest Carson Beck fan, but he looked way better tonight with, with Dawson calling the plays. Listen, if their offense is good again, which most teams aren't going to be as good at as Notre Dame on defense throughout their, you know, this year on their schedule, I don't see how this guy doesn't either become a head coach in 26 or NFL teams. Don't start offering this guy an offensive coordinator job. So the one thing you say about, you know, Mario Crystal ball, clearly he can recruit and build this roster. His offensive coordinator is really good. Back to back years, like they're going to be potent on offense. That little guy, number 10, Tony, I mean, holy shit. Keep an eye on that cat for the next couple of years. And the question marks defensively, well, their defensive lines flying around, their dbs made plays was really impressive. I mean that was, that was a big time win for Mario. Honestly, I'm pretty impressed with Notre Dame. And the one thing with Marcus Freeman, there were times tonight where I just thought like, guys are kind of getting worked, you look like crap. And sometimes college coaches can be pretty emotional. In basketball and football, they're always screaming like they're just always going nuts. You know, in the NFL, assistants go nuts sometimes. But the head coach, he has to stay pretty even keel because the team's kind of looking at him. And the good coaches in college now, Saban was Kind of an outlier. But you kind of got to contain yourself because if you get frazzled, if you're going nuts, your team's going to really fall apart. And Marcus Freeman kind of had a Belichickian thing tonight and I was like, damn, you know this guy because I was down on him his first year when he took over for Brian Kelly. Remember they had lost a Marshall, they should have lost a cow. They just, it was like they just looked really, really bad. And what he's done, obviously last year, even this year, they're really the David Shaw, Jim Harbaugh, Stanford team. They're never going to have elite wide receivers, can't get them into school. But in terms of top flight defense, their defense is going to be really good. I mean Miami's probably top six or seven roster in the league or in the country, but like they're going to struggle to be a potent passing team. Like if you notice as the night went on, like they can't really push the ball down the field beside to the tight end. So the way this team is going to have to operate is offensive line, run the ball with two star backs and get the ball to your tight end and manipulate passes to your wide receiver. But when you get down in that situation, it can be difficult. And I just thought he did a pretty good job of like their team's pretty mentally tough. Like this is not some fraudulent, you know, out last year being an outlier season. I know they lost tonight, but to go down there in the humidity, to be playing like crap with a first year quarterback who listen, like any time that these guys make their first career start, I think people are going to be pretty critical at these big time programs. But like, we got to let it breathe a little bit. We got to give the guy some time. And that's a really, really tough opponent. But like they're always going to struggle outside. David Shaw and Jim Harbaugh did forever and they were consistently in the top five. They were consistently competing to win the Rose bowl, to be in the bcs, you know, to be a top three or four team in the country. And they just never had Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase. Like CD Lamb's not going to school at Notre Dame, so you got to be buttoned up on defense, which they're going to be under Marcus Freeman. But tonight you saw, especially toward the end of the game, that last drive, it looked like their tackles were gassed. I mean that right tackle got embarrassed, you know, I mean he, he got, it was bad now was he just, you know, sucking wind. As Jimmy Johnson famously said to the Miami Hurricanes way back in the day, fatigue makes cowards of us all. And his big thing was always be in the best shape. Because the moment you get tired, you could be David Goggins, you could be Chuck Lydell, or you could be me or you. You're just not as tough and you're definitely not as mentally tough. And you just saw that right tackle, it looked like he was gassed. And this is what Stanford hung their hat on. Their offensive lines were elite. So if Notre Dame is going to want to compete and get back to the national championship and just have a team that can win playoff games, because we know, I guess this year the seating has changed a little bit. They got to button up that offensive line, but they're going to have to win with their running backs and tight ends because as we saw last year, you know, wide receiver is going to be a little issue. I did want to bring in my guy Jackson, who I know, biggest Notre Dame fan I know, probably beside Lou Holtz. Listen, last year you play Texas A and M, you, you get a big win. Now granted, you were playing a quarterback who barely could walk straight and chew gum, but you know, this year, you know, down big but come storming back. It's weird, you know, you know, in college now with, with the playoff, you're not out of it just because you lose a game. And I would say that for Clemson, obviously Texas, this isn't 2014, this isn't 2008. You don't have to run the table like you can, especially with your guys schedule this year, unlike last year, you can afford to lose a couple games, but where do you stand? Jackson, what do you think of the quarterback? I know you were hard on the offensive coordinator, throwing those quick screens, but you don't exactly have Randy Moss out there.
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Jackson
Yeah, you know, the quick screens. And then, you know, we kept texting, our group chat, it was like, when is, you know, Jeremiah Love going to get involved? He only had 10 carries and CJ Carr actually had more carries than he did, which was kind of surprising. And you know, 24 Jerry on price comes in, he's kind of that in between the tackles, downhill runner, just to get some kind of momentum. But I thought C.J. carr played well. I mean, with all the new quarterbacks that we saw this weekend, Ty Simpson, Julian Saiyan, Arch Manning, like one thing that, I mean, you know, to like the young quarterbacks is the confidence between behind their arm. And you saw him rolling back and it almost got me flashbacks of Shador Sanders in preseason. You're like, oh my gosh, he's on the 30 yard line, makes that throw the momentum switch over to Notre Dame, couple fluke plays. I mean the fumbles and then the interception off of that guy's foot is something that's just going to roll their way. But you talked about it. I mean Notre Dame is a tough team under Marcus Freeman. If this was Brian Kelly pre what he's got now and then beating Clemson with all these transfers and you know a veteran quarterback, they probably don't win that game. And you, we were even texting in the group chat too, like these are the games that Mario Cristobal loses. And maybe it's this year with Dawson and the defensive coordinator they got from Minnesota where he kind of just takes a step back and lets them coach. And like you said, they went out and recruited. Tony's a stud up front. I didn't expect Miami to out physical Notre Dame on both sides of the football up front. And you're talking about the heat being a factor. But yeah, I mean I, I, I think Notre Dame fought. I, like you said, it's, it's a one, it's not a one game season for Notre Dame. You got a bye week and then you play A and M. It's not the worst thing ever. We've seen Notre Dame after losing the NIU bounce back and end up making the national championship. It is going to be interesting how it plays out. And if this game could have been 28 to 7, it could have been over.
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John Middlekauff
Yeah, it felt like it was teetering there for a minute. It was like running back 30 to 10.
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Jackson
Yeah, running back slips. But I mean, I'm curious your thoughts about CJ Carr. I think he played good. It's just the last drive. You see the freshman in him, you can't take a sack. And like you said, the tackles, I mean they were, they were gassing Bain, the Ruben Bane, Miami's defender to their best defensive line showed up last. But overall I was shocked that Notre Dame threw the ball 30 times. But maybe this is something that will benefit him in the long run.
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John Middlekauff
Well, when you're down, you know, 21 7, especially in the fourth quarter, you got a score. So I, you know, if we look how many times they passed the ball in those last couple drives, it probably inflated it to what it would have been if the score was 14 to 14. Right. So they had to get away from the run, but they were throwing the ball then to the running back, you know, countless times. This is my comparison, though, to the Stanford teams. Sometimes it's hard to judge the quarterback. Let's use Carson Beck as an example, who I was probably too hard on, as was everyone last year, disastrous season. But the offensive line was bad and they had lost Bowers and they had lost lat McConkey. So unless you're Mahomes or Josh Allen, if I remove those two guys, you're going to look worse, right? Dramatically worse. And he looked really bad. Well, then tonight, you know, one thing Miami's always been able to do is like, they get skill guys, right? And Mario's good at that. So you bring in this true freshman, Tony, that obviously is going to probably be a freshman All American. I would put money on that if he's healthy. I mean, you just saw they never took that guy off the field. Like, he's just part of their group and they're playing. Listen, I think it's stupid that you can play a nobody. Like, Penn State's really good, right? Some of these teams are really good. Georgia, when you play the Sisters of the Poor, I don't know how to judge you with your current team. I know you're good, but, like, I know way more about Texas in a loss or Clemson in a loss. Like, this was a real game. Like a real game. And so when you treat. Usually these. Mario is like, I wonder if he learned a lot from Saban. Like, sometimes when you got a blue chipper and he's ready, you just got to play him. And they were just riding that kid. But. But my point is Carson looked a lot better and he just pushed the ball down the field more. Like, you guys just are only going to push the ball down the field if the tight ends wide open. And that's. That was a little like Penn State last year. Now Penn State, because of academic, like, they can get guys in. We'll see what their unit looks like, the better teams they play. But, like, you're just not going to have NFL star receivers outside like Miami, like Texas and Ohio State. And some of these teams are going to get. And that's going to be your downfall because there are going to be times, who knows, maybe Miami is like a Final Four team this year. I think that's possible that if you do get down 14 to nothing or in the second half, like these games not. This isn't Texas Tech versus Washington State, that every game is going to be 50 to 40. It's kind of. It kind of was nice and I enjoyed it. A lot this last 48 hours of just seeing physical ass football and it was hard. Like these DBs are making plays, the D line's all hitting. And you do need your wide receivers though, like to run a. I don't know, like a 10 yard out or something. And I just don't have that much faith in Notre Dame at that position. And that could be like, if they were more explosive, if I just gave them a top 10 type college wide receiver, you would feel the team would feel a lot more balanced. So the moment the defense isn't dominating, they do feel like they're up against the ropes a little bit. Because you thought tonight. And again, it could have just been. Probably was the heat was insane. But if their defense isn't dominating the game. Last year against Ohio State, right. If you're losing a little bit, it's like, how are they going to come back? And that's how I love. Who clearly is an elite player. Same. Is it. Is it Price, number 24, Jadarian Price? Yeah. Like, you just, you're not just going to. Unless you're Kyle Shanahan, just keep calling runs down 21 to 7, right. You're going to have to throw the ball a little bit and then they can kind of tee off. So that's just not how I would imagine. Marcus is talking as we record this, but he's like, we can't get down double digits. Like, that's not how we're built. And it's just true. Like LSU the last couple of years, Miami last year, like, they get down 15 points. What? Remember Cal? They were down like 30 to 10. It's like, whatever, we'll just start slinging around. But that's, that's, that's not. That's going to be Notre Dame's ultimate downfall. I don't really know how they change that. Unless it's like, you know what, we're going to make a couple exceptions. It's going to be specifically toward wide receivers.
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Jackson
I do think they showed some flashes of potentially throwing the football. I mean, they had that Malachi Fields, number zero, had that crazy catch. He's the Virginia 65 wide receiver they got. Obviously the tight end had that 65 yarder, but besides that, they don't really have any explosive plays. And even Jaden Grayhouse tonight, the guy that went off in the national championship when they were down against Ohio State, that kind of got him back into that game. He was quiet tonight. So I'm not. I get what you mean in terms of like, we I didn't expect CJ Carr to run a ball 11 times. This is a guy that's supposed to be a pocket pastor pass first quarterback. But you did see some flashes in what they did in the off season where I'm kind of like okay, let's hold off a little bit on them being maybe a run first team. I know you have Jeremiah Love and Price, but I did think you did see some flashes for a true fresh or a redshirt freshman I should say with the wide receiver they have on the outside that they could be two, two dimensional and if they are then they could be a problem. But it all starts with the offensive line that got beat up and they could have run the ball early which kind of got them in that hole to begin with.
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John Middlekauff
Could also make the argument, you know, kind of a freak. I mean they ran the play over and over. The quick screen that turned into a turnover, that then turned into a touchdown. But also the, the CJ Daniels, the one handed catch, if he doesn't make, I don't know, like you know, Odell Beckham, Justin Jefferson like grab that, that's intercepted.
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Jackson
I don't think a Georgia receiver catches that.
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John Middlekauff
And he probably lands on his feet and he's going, I don't know if he scored a touchdown but he was going to land on his feet with the ball in his bread basket and the guy just made an incredible catch. So Georgia did hit a couple, I mean Carson had some YOLO throws today that, that landed. Now he is playing like they got a lot more talent on that team right outside. I actually think it's not. I have no problem when you lose a close game to a team that's clearly good. And that's the great part about this, this playoff, right, Is that it's a little more NFL. You know, this notion all the games aren't going to matter as much. Bullshit. Yeah, like when Alabama plays Mercer, no one's going to care. They didn't care when Nick Saban was there. But this, I bet Notre Dame's devastated in the locker room right now. Clemson was devastated in the locker room right now. Texas is devastated in the locker room right now. They all could easily make the playoffs and it's, it's football. Just like if the Cowboys get their ass kicked in a couple nights, it's going to suck for them. Like football, you only play so many games. So I actually think it's that, that notion of that like this game felt really big. All these games, right? The four straight big games. Sorry Shane. I'M not counting Syracuse, Tennessee, even though that in theory decent game, that's better game than most. But the morning game, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Alabama. Now assuming that Florida State's back, which I think they easily could be, and then the night game, lsu, Clemson, and then this game, you could even say a little bit South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech. Now quick rant the neutral site games. If Josh Pate ever becomes the commissioner, we got to ban those. Listen, bowl games. I totally understand the conference championship games, but what made tonight so badass is it felt like, oh, Miami's like kind of has a home field thing going. Obviously Clemson, obviously Ohio State, like, that's, that's what college football is. The NFL is not as much about that. The NFL is more about the crowd beside three or four places. But in college football, like Iowa, let alone the, you know, just you go all, all the power force, like the. Playing at home is a really big deal. Winning on the road in college is insanely hard, right? I don't even know what Nussmeyer stats are. I don't care. I watched him. He was awesome. Do you know hard it is to win there, right? It's just like it was, it was. Listen, Alabama might turn out to be 8 and 4, right? But like, that's a hard place to go when they start doing the Tomahawk chalk chop. And that fucking place is rocking these neutral site playing at the Mercedes Benz. That sucks for the fans. I thought this day before I left Hawaii, when Nebraska's playing Cincinnati at Arrowhead. I mean, it's cool that Mahomes and Kelsey get to go, but that sucks for Nebraska or Cincinnati that loses a home game. I mean, that's what college football is for. The 12 games, the home and away games really, really matter. And just if that game would have been at Notre Dame, it would have been a huge advantage for Notre Dame. That's one thing you got to factor in in college. But yeah, I wouldn't be that down if I were you. I'd still be pretty bullish on the squad.
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Jackson
The last thing I'll say, the perspective on the ACC after this weekend, you know, if Clemson goes down and beats lsu, it's probably even a bigger perspective on the conference. But you looked at Florida State different, You look at Miami different. Miami has to go to Florida State in about three or four weeks. Florida State has to play Clemson and Miami. That conference looks a little interesting. Now you start to look back and you say, okay, if they could potentially get two bids or what happens with the Big 12, like if you're the ACC commissioner, you got to be smiling ear to ear and what you saw from both those squads because like myself, you didn't know what Mario Cristobal was going to produce out there. And then Florida State, everybody counted out that conference just got interesting. Like Clemson, I picked him to win the national championship. I think a lot of people picked him to win the acc. If they can't run the football and they can't get things around like, I mean Miami, Florida State definitely looked a lot more impressive than Clemson did this weekend. If you just base it on the.
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John Middlekauff
Games itself, I would say remember last year Clemson got curb stomped by Georgia and then by the end of the year they were really good. So I think they'll still be okay. I actually think their loss. You feel better than Texas because I thought Club Nick wasn't that bad. You know where Texas. There's still a lot of question marks with Arch, but how about Cal? They got like Tua 2.0 meets Michael panics who looks really good. We'll see Belichick. But listen, I don't not saying they're a 10 win team, but they got Bill freaking Belichick coaching and they're not going to suck. They're going to be tough on a weekly basis. I do think it's insane. They play Monday night, they have to play next Saturday. How's that? Like you can't give them like a buy. I mean that's, that's crazy. Bill O' Brien at Boston College. The ACC is definitely going to be solid. I think the Big 12 to me clearly looks like the fourth conference. Like a clear drop off though. We'll see Utah. Utah is definitely a team that if you told me Utah went 11 and one wins the Big 12 and then like wins a playoff game whether it's on the road or at home. Very believable. I mean a couple years ago he was dominating the Pac 12 when the Pac 12 was good, right? With Mario, with DeBoer, with Dan Lanning. You know, he'd be both those guys like he, he's a, he's a big time coach if he's got a quarterback. I didn't know this but I was listing some stuff today that they had stolen the New Mexico quarterback and their oc. I love it when teams do this now. They're like, package deal. Give me the play caller and the quarterback. And the play caller is like, it's like the dude from Washington State. Of course you want the quarterback, but the play caller is like Wait, I get to go to the sweet school, too, for double my money. Like, I'm in.
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Jackson
It's so funny. And that. That team, too, a lot.
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John Middlekauff
I don't know.
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Jackson
People would recognize when you're watching that UCLA game. And I know people on the east coast, it kind of felt like PAC 12 after dark, because you got Utah, UCLA, you got Oregon State, Cal. Utah had three players playing two ways and two guys that scored their best corner and their best linebacker.
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John Middlekauff
I didn't see a snap of that game. I just knew. I just followed on my phone. I kind of had to look.
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Jackson
Look out for. Look out for Utah. I mean, dampier. I mean, 230 yards, 300 of total yards. They ran the ball down UCLA's throw. Nico Maliava, like, he probably regrets going to UCLA. And I think Joey Aguilar for him. I mean, if Nico doesn't go to ucla, there's no chance he goes to Tennessee. And now you look at Tennessee a little different, and I know Syracuse defense isn't that great, but I don't know, there's a lot of teams last night, and like you said, it's tough to judge the. The Penn States, the Georgias and the Oregons who have to play Montana State, but some of these other teams you got to play, you know, other Big Ten schools. It gets. You get a different perspective on those kind of teams and see what they can do later on the season.
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John Middlekauff
Okay, you got. I'll get you out of here on this. What. What were you thinking before the season? What are you thinking right now? Because it's a big game, right? You win this game, worst case, you're 10 and 2. You lose this game, you know, now it's more pressure on these kind of swing games. You kind of got to win. Get your playing A and M still, right?
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Jackson
Yeah. Must win.
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John Middlekauff
Yeah.
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Jackson
I think 8M is gonna be a must win. You wonder what the involvement is gonna be with love in that next game. I think Denbrock probably regrets not implementing him more in the first half and maybe calling a couple more screenplays.
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John Middlekauff
But who do they play this week?
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Jackson
Bye week. Bye week.
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John Middlekauff
Yeah. Okay.
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Jackson
They got that second week by which is nice for Notre Dame. I mean, after a loss like this. I think when they played niu, they had a bye week after that, too. So I like, like you said, Notre Dame with Marcus Freeman. I have no heartburn on them. It does think that Boise State lost to usf because you look down the schedule, like, the more ranked games, the better for Notre Dame because. Yeah. It's not a one game season, but you do have to have some ranked wins on your schedule, like an A and M win, which they play Texas and they got some of those more.
- [28:52]
John Middlekauff
The difference though is then they've changed the. When they talked about the schedule. If you just watch Notre Dame's a real team. I test and like to me, if Notre Dame's 10 and 2 and there's some fraudulent Power 4 team that played nobody, like I'm sorry, we saw that song and dance last year. We're giving like Notre Dame, Texas, this, Clemson. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Like we just saw they're real teams. So like if it's the difference of like 1, one of them's 9 and 3 and the other team's 10 and 2, but they played nobody. That's where I think I'm more confident that like we picked the right team, you know, they still got to play well. They can't lose a bunch of games. But this is not a bad thing, I guess is my overall take. But you got to go 10 and 2, 9 and 3. Notre Dame's probably not in, right? You get one more loss.
- [29:32]
Jackson
Yeah, and you wonder what the SEC looks like too. I mean the SEC do. Does a three loss team get in over a two loss Notre Dame? And then you kind of got to Compare the Big 12 and the SEC. That's where it's going to be interesting moving forward. How they do. I know the SEC has a whole agreement where they've got to go play another power four conference team in their schedule. That's the thing. And they have this whole new metric of strength of record, but we'll see. Tough loss for Notre Dame, but they fought back.
- [29:56]
John Middlekauff
Okay, thanks, Jax. Okay, Real Talk. Ever have one of those need it right now moments? Like the dog just chewed through a leash again. A kid's school project needs glitter glue tonight and somehow the toilet paper is gone. Yeah, that moment has happened to everyone. That's where Walmart Express delivery comes in. Clutch, get all that pet stuff, school stuff, household stuff, all the stuff in as fast as one hour. One hour. That means chargers, diapers, candles, light bulbs, laundry detergent, real life rescue items, and it's all from Walmart. Just hop on the app, order what's needed, and boom, it's at the door before a toddler melts down or before halftime is even over. Yes, game day food can be delivered in an hour too. Try it now. And get free delivery on a first order with promo code Express. That's free delivery on a first order with promo code Express Walmart Express delivery in as fast as 1 hour. Promotion valid for the First Express delivery order $50. Men subject to availability restrictions apply this Labor Day.
- [31:08]
Host/Advertiser
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- [32:37]
John Middlekauff
Picture this. You're halfway through a DIY car fix, tools scattered everywhere, and boom. You realize you're. You're missing a part. It's okay because, you know, whatever it is, it's on ebay. They've got everything. Brakes, headlights, cold air intakes, whatever you need. And it's guaranteed to fit. Which means no more crossing your fingers and hoping you ordered the right thing. All the parts you need at prices you'll love. Guaranteed to fit every time Ebay Things People Love Speaking of the sec, let's just start with Alabama because I've been a a big proponent of Kalyn Dubois. Obviously he was a Fresno State guy and had success and then went to Washington and dominated. I mean, this guy was beating everybody and beat Sark and was in the national championship game. Did a fantastic job. Became the type candidate that you not only seriously consider when a guy like Nick Saban retires, you hire. It was a real hire. I know a Lot of people are like retweeting cowards tweet about it being one of the best transitions in college football history. Wasn't a crazy thought at the time. Dubois record was like, I forget off the top of my head, but it was like 111. I mean, he dominated everywhere he coached. I do believe this. I've always had a theory, and I stand by this. And I think there are only a couple outlies, outliers in the history of college football or in the NFL. It doesn't matter where you are from, where you are born and where your career kind of takes off usually is where you're going to have success as a head coach. There are outliers. Like a guy from the Midwest can go to the south, like Urban Meyer. Urban Meyer could have coached in China, in Spain, in Alaska, in Florida. It wouldn't have mattered. He would have won. Same thing with Nick Saban, but. But I saw it out here on the West Coast. Chris Peterson, who had a ton of success at Boise State and then Washington, grew up in Southern California, went to UC Davis, coached at UC Davis, coached at Oregon, coached at Boise, coached at Washington, thrived on the West Coast. Pete Carroll is a great example. While in the NFL, he could coach any team. Tampa Bay, New England, Seattle. It wouldn't in college. It does. I don't think Pete Carroll would have worked at Florida. I don't think he would have worked at Alabama. But he thrived at usc. Just like I don't think a lot of non Southerners work in the South. When I was at Fresno State, Jim McElwaine had just left and his close friend Doug Nussmeier. My first year at Fresno State was our offensive coordinator. And Garrett, I remember him having little. Garrett must have been like 2 or 3 years old, 5 years old at max. He was really, really young. But those guys are west coast guys. And Jim McIlwain coached at Colorado State, had a bunch of success and then went to Florida and it was a disaster. Why? Because he's not one of theirs. Like, I kind of like your name to be Kirby or Dabo and have a Southern draw in the south, it matters. Just like in the Midwest, you know, Jim Harbaugh played at Michigan. It really helped when he took over the program. And I just think this Kaylin DeBoer thing, is he as bad as it's going right now? I don't think he is. I don't know what's going on. 5 and 5 in their last 10 games. But Nick Saban was a Hard ass, like an old school throwback asshole when it came to being a coach. And everyone in the program, players, staff, administration, kind of ate that shit up. They liked him to tell them what to do. When he said jump, they said, how high? And then they wouldn't stop leaping till he said stop. And it worked. And everyone profited. The players, the administration, the school, the SEC as a whole. Do you know how many people I know from Northern California that now send their kids to Ole Miss, to Tennessee, to Florida, that go to school in the South? That was unheard of when I was in high school. I remember being kind of nervous, like, should I even entertain going to Oregon or Arizona? I can count more than probably almost both hands. The amount of family, friends I know that either their kids or their kids, girlfriends or whatever went to school in the sec. That, that a big part of that was how popular the SEC came with their football programs. I believe that to my core. And like Nick Saban obviously was the flag bearer for that movement. And Kaylin Dubois is kind of an intellectual. He's not a screamer. A couple years ago when Fresno State was playing asu, I went to the tailgate and me and Maria ended up going to the game and hanging out with a bunch of Fresno State guys, former players. And I was talking with, with one of the former players on the team that had played for DeBoer and was an offensive player and really liked him. And I said, what was he like? Because he had played for both him and Jeff Tedford. He's like, Tedford's a lot different. And Tedford's a West coast guy as well. Played at Fresno State, from Los Angeles, coached at Oregon, coached at California. Like, that's, that's where his region is. But Tedford's kind of an old school asshole. Yeah, kind of a throwback. DeBoer is like a cerebral, not a yeller, not a screamer like Chris Peterson. So when he took over the University of Washington, that administration was used to, like an intellectual. Not saying that Saban is not, but in terms of. That's the way he interacts. Google Nick Saban or YouTube him at practice, he screams at everybody. I know people that have worked for him. You go into those staff meetings, your head was on a swivel and you were dialed in because shrapnel could come from any angle. That's not who this guy is. And I wonder if these players, whatever, they're not reacting because it's not really working. I mean, they got their ass kicked yesterday. Now when I See the stat that Alabama hadn't lost to. I think it's like he's already lost to four unranked opponents. Nick Saban lost a foreign ranked opponents in like 17 years. Week one in the transfer portal era. Like we Florida State could be the seventh best team in the country or they could be two in 10. We have no clue beside three or four teams like we know Penn State, we know Ohio State, we know Texas, we know Georgia. But Utah, Utah could be the seventh best team in the country or they could be like the 50th. We don't know. Times have changed. Here's what I know about Florida State and Mike Norvell. Specifically that two years ago on this weekend he played Brian Kelly. Pretty sure on Sunday night beat the living piss out of him. Brian Kelly's team was led by Jaden Daniels, Malika Neighbors and Brian Thomas Jr. And Mike Norvell Curb stomped them. Oh yeah, he happened to have about seven or eight guys that were drafted in the top 100. Jared Verse, many consider one of the best young defensive linemen. Oh yeah, his teammate Braden Fisk, who statistically was better than him last year, who's a stud. Keon Coleman, who I don't know is a starting wide receiver for the Bills that most consider one of if not the best team in the league. Renardo Green, who's a starting corner for the San Francisco 49ers like his team was loaded. And then last year, what if last year was an outlier 2 and 10? He's a big transfer portal guy. It didn't work because I watched his team, I went they're fast, they're physical, they're explosive. They and Mike Norvell's proven a couple of years ago, beat Brian Kelly, beat Dabo Sweeney, beat Mike Elko, who's now the coach of Texas A and M, went 13 and oh ran the table, won the ACC and if it wasn't for his quarterback basically getting his leg amputated. I think Jordan Travis legitimately retired with the New York jets because his legs all screwed up that they would have made the playoffs. And who knows that team was built like they could have won the national championship if Jordan Travis was playing. This guy's not some random scrub. Honestly, like part of the reason I have so much respect for Deborah so I saw what he did at Washington in a second year there they went to the Natty. That could have been easily Mike Norvell if it wasn't for this weird circumstance with his quarterback. So I think everyone is right enough Mike Norvell, and maybe I bought into it too. Like, he just had a weird year in the transfer portal. He's a transfer portal guy and sometimes teams aren't going to mesh and sometimes they are. That was a really, really impressive win. But what I think Mike Norvell, like, yeah, he kind of feels like he fits in in the South. Kaylin Dubois doesn't really just like Lincoln Riley, like, does he feel like la. No, he doesn't to me. Now, maybe his team's good enough and maybe with Nil they can recruit well enough. But I'm a huge believer that regions in college football matter. Andy Reid could coach the Patriots, could coach, the Rams, could coach Chiefs. The NFL does not matter in college. It does. It's why. Listen, there's no disputing what Brian Kelly did at Notre Dame was, was impressive. If you look at Brian Kelly's resume, it is impressive. He's won everywhere. He went. Grand Valley State, my. Was it my first year or second year? I think might have been my second year as a GA At Fresno State. We went to the University of Cincinnati, Nippert Stadium. Pretty sure Jason Kelsey might have been like a true freshman on that team. They had Tony Pike. I think their quarterback was Gilliard, this wide receiver that was drafted. The Rams, that team went undefeated. They went to a BCS bowl game. Now he left for Notre Dame, if you remember, and they ended up getting killed. I think Tim Tebow's team played him and they destroyed him. But Brian Kelly had left. I remember thinking like this, this team's good. This guy knows what he's doing. Now when he went to the south and he faked the accent, you're like, I don't know if this is going to work. He's a little douchey, but there's no disputing. Like, he kind of knows what he's doing and offensively is not his problem. They always had sweet offensive linemen. They always had good running backs. He's clearly good at quarterbacks at lsu. Wide receivers are never going to be a problem at lsu. The question is going to be a defense. Well, the thing at these schools, they will give you unlimited cash to buy coaches in lsu, like he went and got. What's the guy's name? Blake Baker, who's wearing the LSU baseball hat. Last year they clearly had improved from Jaden Daniels season. This year they looked real. I mean, defensive line wise, they were flying around up front. They were working Clemson. The defensive backs were making play after play. And this is the thing with Doing these preseason rankings, it's like, yeah, you could have convinced me LSU's an 8 and 4 team, or you could convince me they're 11 and 1. And it's like, oh, this guy, number four, he's this transfer portal guy from Virginia Tech, and he looks like Patrick Peterson out there. And that's why it's so hard. I heard someone say this today. I forget where, but, like, a couple years ago, pre transfer portal, if you went 2 in 10 at Florida State, what Mike Norvell just did, it would have taken you years to turn that thing around, to get to, like, compete for nine, 10 wins. Years. Now it's like, you could do it in six months. If you told me that Florida State's 10 and 2 or 11 and 1 and wins, the ACC wouldn't be shocking at all. Wouldn't be shocking at all. So the. The game has really, really changed. It's about getting the right couple players. And at schools like lsu, Clemson, definitely Ohio State, Florida State, or, I mean, Texas, we're talking like three or four guys swing the whole thing. Last year, what happened? Ohio State, they got Caleb Downs, who's one of the best players, not the best player in the country. They got Will Howard, who, down the stretch, was incredible. So if you hit on the right two or three players, I mean, if Miami last year hadn't signed Cam Ward and signed, like, an average quarterback, they're going like 5 and 7 or 6 and 6. But they had the number one pick in the draft, one of the worst defenses in the country, and they went nine and three. So the transfer portal is this. Unless you're living in it like a college football gm, we're all just taking educated guesses. We don't really know. We think we kind of know. We have some idea. But there are huge swings with individuals. And, like, let's face it, I was thinking, I was on the couch, and Maria looks at me last night watching lsu, Clemson. She goes, who would you draft? Like, what do you mean? She's like, who'd you draft? I don't know. I don't even know. Half these kids are. She's like, you should do a segment on that. And I was like, oh, a segment on who I would draft? She's like, yeah, call it like the couch scout. Like, honestly, honey, that's not a bad idea. And I was thinking, like, I'm sitting there watching these two quarterbacks, Garrett Nussmeier, who, like I said, I've known Doug Nussmeier for 15 years. I saw him at the combine two years ago, walking down the hall. I love that guy. I absolutely. I love Doug. He's the man. He's always been a huge supporter of me. Loves the podcast. Always gets a huge smile when he sees me. And he's walking with Brent Selleck. This is when he was the quarterback coach for the Eagles the year they. I mean, he's had an awesome little run here. Won the super bowl with Jalen Hurts as the quarterback coach. Then goes with Kellen to New Orleans. That's his guy. And then his son, like that was. And I guess the. The couch scout in me goes, listen, Garrett Nussmeier is good and obviously he showed flashes last year. Had some great moments and had some down moments. That performance on the road, you know, some of these quarterbacks are playing nobodies and average teams. Non like power four teams. I don't even know what to make of it. Like, that was a real opponent on the road. You probably can't hear yourself think, this guy Garrett got crushed time and time again and he kept getting up. It's like this guy's tough sob. He's making great throws, but he's kind of a throwback quarterback. You know, he's not Mr. Athletic to me. He kind of has like, and I'm talking the good versions of these guys what Jimmy Garoppolo was early on in his San Francisco career. I would call him mobile, but he definitely could move a little bit. And like Kirk Cousins, he's more mobile than Kirk Cousins, but he's that style of player. But he's really good in the pocket. He's really tough. He will sit in there and make throws. The guys really like him. That's an NFL quarterback now, how high his ceiling is. Like, I'm not, not saying Mahomes or Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow, but he's. He's a really good player and that was a really impressive game. It's why you can't box score scout, because didn't throw seven touchdowns. But every single big play they needed, he was on the money. Every time he got knocked down, he'd fucking shake it off and jump right back up. Honestly, I was impressed with Cade Club Nick as well. And to me, like, this is going to sound a little. I think he's kind of got some Brock Purdy vibes. Athletic, not. I wouldn't call him a runner. He's not Lamar or Kyler, but he definitely can move. Definitely a good playmaker. Also pretty tough. And his offensive line, I thought kind of underachieved last night getting rocked by lsu. I mean, I thought LSU and Florida State dominate the line of scrimmage on defense. I would say the same thing for Miami tonight. They were dominating the line of scrimmage. And you can tell. You're like, God, that guy looks like an NFL defensive end. God, that guy looks like an NFL defensive end. And that really is the difference. If you get good quarterback play and then good defensive line play, you're going to have a chance to win the national championship. So I was really impressed. To me, Nussmeier kind of gives off Cousins Jimmy Garoppolo vibes. I would say Cade gives maybe a little more athletic purdy, but like just, just a good player and I have no problem. Like I said, the neutral site games need to go away because I wish we could get to the point where we don't even play these meaningless games. I know cowards high on USC because they beat Missouri State Western Eastern. Like that game's not real to me. Like it's just my guy. Guy Haberman was calling it. So I was watching it, but it was like, this is, this is a massacre. What do I even take away? Then you watch Texas and Ohio State or Clemson and LSU or Notre Dame, Miami. It's like there are NFL players all over this field. Like, this is real football. This is what we want to watch. It's just fantastic tv. And the one thing I want to end on, big win by, I mean awesome for Mike Norvell. Let's see. You got to give Brian Kelly his flowers. Got to give Mario's flowers. Some of these coaches that were like. Some people were like, damn. This notion too that guys are on the hot seat. Kalyn Du Bois not getting fired. I've seen different numbers, but the buyout this year is between 60 and 70 million dollars. He could go 4 and 8. They do not have the money to give Kaylan Dubois $65 million to go away to pay a roster 20 to $30 million to field a high end team. Well, if they're fired, Caitlin DeBoer, who do you think they're going to hire? Me or you for 100 grand? No, they're going to want some sweet coach. $10 million coach, that means you got to give him 90 million. You got to pay his coordinators multi millions. Alabama is not Notre Dame. It's not usc is Texas. Their athletic director a year ago was on Twitter begging for money. The day and age of paying like Jimbo Fisher, that those days are done. And Texas A and M has way More money. They could pull it off. Alabama cannot. There is no paying. When I see these people, like reputable college football media being like, I wonder, could they fire him for Jon Gruden? Kaylin Deborah is not getting bought out. The Alabama cannot afford to do that. It is not happening now. It could get really ugly. And I get why they'd be really mad. Because you're coming from Nick Saban. You know, if you're dating a supermodel in her prime and then all of a sudden it's like you're dating some ugly chick, it's going to suck. And if you start losing games and you're used to kicking everyone's ass, it's not going to be fun. But there's no these 50, 60, 70 billion dollar buyouts when you're paying the players. Now those days are done. Unless you have some T. Boon Pickens or Phil Knight that just give you, here's $100 million check to buy a guy out to buy the new guy and pay the player. I don't know who's doing that. I don't think it's going to happen. I really don't. So, yeah, what was I? The neutral site? I just think we got to get rid of these neutral site games. I truly don't know. I've been trying to wrap my head. Who benefits? Arthur Blank, I mean, he hosts like four of these things. Or Jerry Jones. I got no problem. The conference championship, put in Vegas, put in Indy, I get it. The Orange Bowl, I understand, I have no problem with that. But the first game of the season, like Nebraska and Cincinnati or, you know, South Carolina, think how awesome that would have been if you were South Carolina hosting that game with Virginia Tech or vice versa. Virginia Tech hosting your coach's son. How sweet that would have been. What a cool moment for the Beamer family. But instead we're playing this thing at Mercedes Benz. I just. It's bullshit. It really. It sucks. For as great as like Clemson was or Ohio State was, the pageantry, the intensity, just how much it means. That's what college football is, is the environment. It's what. I didn't go to any of these schools, but yet it draws me to watch these games. We got to get rid of it. That being said, it's probably not going away anytime soon. So hopefully everyone enjoyed the weekend. And it's not quite done because we got Bill belichick tomorrow at 5 o'. Clock. So buckle up, enjoy your holiday Monday off and I will talk to you soon. The volume.
- [51:58]
Host/Advertiser
This Labor Day Say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Annabe, the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality makes meets budget friendly pricing. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibe's Pet Friendly Stain resistant and interchangeable slipcovers are made with high performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a size sofa that adapts to your life now through Labor Day. Get up to 60% off site wide@washablesofas.com Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees, every penny back. Shop now@washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.
- [52:57]
John Middlekauff
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