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Unknown Speaker A
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Todd McShay
More@Applecard.Com it's the McShay show presented by FanDuel. It's time for the first 12 team playoff and you can bet on all of the action with FanDuel. Just think about all the opportunities we're going to have to bet on the College Football Playoff. We're talking about different conferences, home games for certain teams, the three or four week run that you're going to have to play. There's so much to earn if you're betting with FanDuel this College Football Playoff season. Why we love FanDuel. There's so many markets like spreads over unders, national championship futures and so much more. This app is safe, secure and easy to use. When you win, you'll get paid instantly. Visit FanDuel.com McShay to download America's number one sports book. The Ringer is committed to responsible gambling. Visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com Good evening Mensch.
Unknown Speaker C
What's going on?
Todd McShay
Fighting through, playing under the weather. I love it. So we didn't expect to be on this early. Appreciate everyone who's who's joining us early and and joining us joining us on this live show obviously tragic events in New Orleans. Hearts go out to thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved. You know tragically over 10 people lost their lives, dozens of people injured. The senseless act lot to still learn information wise on on what's going on in that situation. But as far as football is concerned the least important aspect of it but it did affect the The Sugar bowl, the, the matchup that, you know, everyone was excited to watch in prime time. This evening we've got Push it back. Push it back a day. Georgia versus Notre Dame, 4:00pm Eastern. It will be. And so, so we have three games to review. And it was an unexpected day, let's put it that way. I think that's the best word. It was unexpected. The results, the action, how it all played out. The first thing that jumped out to me, men, we talked about it. Let's just get into it now.
Unknown Speaker C
Right, Right.
Todd McShay
The first thing that jumped out to me, we talked about this. And Nick Saban, I'll give Nick credit for, for bringing it up as, as only a coach can. Right. We talked about it over a month ago, maybe two months ago, when we were starting to look ahead to the College Football Playoff in the first year in the 12 team playoff. And the question kind of was always thrown out there, is it better to have the first round by. Or to kind of keep in rhythm and, you know, creatures of habit, that's what football players and coaches are. And you like, you like your weekly process and you like things to be the same. And even Urban Meyer, I've talked to him about how he leaned on, on Lou Holtz, you know, when, when they had the long layoffs before the BCS championship and the college football playoffs, and how each week they would go through it. Not the same level of intensity or physicality, but every week off it would be the same drill. It would be, you know, Saturday kind of a walkthrough as if it's a game. And then Sunday, the tape preparation and, and Tuesday, you know, the, I think was the live action, the full, you know, full pads, ones on ones, and then putting in installs and different things on Wednesday all the way through the week. Right. And they would do that repeatedly for the three weeks off. So Nick Saban brought up, is it better to have the buy or to actually play in the first round and to get a home game and to stay in rhythm and to keep the momentum flowing and also to have momentum and not be as rusty going into that first game. How about this for you? And I just thought about this literally like last five minutes of watching Ohio State just put it on. Oregon, the three teams that played in the first week absolutely jumped the opponents that were rewarded with the bye week. Penn State up 14 nothing over Boise State. Texas 17 to 3 over Arizona State. And then Ohio State 34 nothing in the second quarter over Oregon. Interesting. I guess it's something to keep in Mind for, for tomorrow's game. Right. For the Sugar bowl, but also like moving forward. We already know there's, there's discussions and I fully expect change to happen in the first round, the, or the seating of the playoffs. Who deserves to be the top seeds. But now all of a sudden, are you putting the top four seeds kind of at risk of coming out rusty and not being in rhythm and not having played the week before? So it's just something I thought was.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah. I mean, yeah, you expect it in two of the games or it's not like you expected. But it's not a surprise that Penn State jumped Boise State or the Texas jumped Arizona State, but that I don't have a State Oregon game. I mean, that's an eyebrow that, that raised your eyebrows a little bit about maybe, maybe you're onto something with that. And we'll see as we get more data as this goes on.
Todd McShay
And I, I hear you on that. I hear you on that. But, but I also, like, I know the score didn't indicate it, but Boise State crawled back in that game, you know.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
And, and made it competitive and made it uncomfortable for a little while. Arizona State made it. Yeah. Three point game and Arizona State took him to double, double overtime. If you're, if you're watching live or watching on YouTube, you can see the, the results of the, of the quarterfinal games, the three that we've had so far. Tomorrow Sugar bowl is, you know, number seven, Notre Dame versus number two, Georgia. Notre Dame favored by a point and a half. But you see those results we're talking about, there were insurmountable leads. Well, I shouldn't say insurmountable. They major effects on the game. The fact that all three teams, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas were able to jump out to leads in those games. Chalk it up for what you will. All right, how about Ohio State? Man, unreal. I, I feel like we're on repeat. Right. I said it last time. If you're promising me that's the team we're getting, that's the best college football team in the nation this year. That Ohio State team for four quarters against Tennessee was the best team I had seen play this entire season. And guess what? They come out again tonight and they. Absolutely. It's like that same fire was burning. I don't know. Like there's so much to get into offensively with Chip Kelly and what they were doing in Jeremiah Smith defensively like there. But the domination on both sides in the trenches and the level of two things. The level of intensity. Did you hear some of those hits? Our running back knocked out of the game. Tez Johnson was getting a massage on the, you know, his neck and upper back like that. That was a physical ass kicking. And we said the same thing about Tennessee. The same exact thing. Mensch, it's wild.
Unknown Speaker C
Identity. Yeah, they found their identity. It took them a little while. I mean, it took them. You know, there was parts of the season they were inconsistent. Who was his team and who are they going to be and the injuries along the offensive run and all that seems ancient history at this point. I mean, that Michigan game seems like it was a year ago. This seems like a different team now. The talent is now has an attitude and they have their identity, which is again, we can. We're going to talk about all the, the big plays and is physical domination. I mean, we're going to talk about the offense, I'm sure, which was the funnest part of the game to watch, I thought, is watch Chip Kelly do his thing. But on defensively they were just. Oregon was lost. There was nothing they could do for most of that first half. I mean, to me, the game was over in the first half. They were down four scores. And that's tough to do to come back against a quality team like Ohio State in the second half. So we'll get into it all. But it does. It's again same thing we said in Tennessee. It starts with the physical ass kicking up front.
Todd McShay
Sometimes in life you need to get your ass handed to you. Sometimes in life, when you got a 20 million dollar roster and you think everything's great and nothing's gonna knock you off course, everything's easy. Sometimes in life you need to be knocked off the pedestals, you need to be knocked down the mat, whatever you know, that you want to put out there. But I think anyone watching right now can relate. Like there's been a point in everyone's life where something that you thought you had that you, whether you worked for it or you were handed it, something that you had that you should have valued more than you valued, was taken away from you or you thought it was in grave danger and it woke your ass up, right? Yeah. And I feel like that Michigan game, not because it was a loss, they had already lost a game to a really good Oregon team. And not even because of the consequences, they were in the College Football Playoff. It was because of the magnitude of Michigan, Ohio State and having lost three previous games and how important and that this was the year Harbaugh's gone. They're not the same Michigan team. We got this. It's our right. We're Ohio State. Best roster. That money, you know what I mean? Like all those things and it got taken away.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
And it started with that stupid flag planting incident after the game, right. With Jack Sawyer just freaking out and the rest of the team coming out and it was insanity and we don't promote any of it, but it was almost like that galvanized, like not just that, but that game and feeling like you're losing something before you. Before you even like put the effort into it. I don't know, I don't want to get all philosophical, but that game did something to this team, you know, no question. And, and, and not just the players, man. You know, like I, you know how much I love Chip and we're close and, and we've spent a lot of time together and we've hung out together and all those things. But Chip would be pissed at me if I didn't call it. Like it was. Chip was pissed at himself. Chip was pissed at himself for, for his play calling and, and what they tried to do against Michigan. We all saw it and he certainly would be the first one to recognize it after. But it's almost like that game freed them. It pissed them off and it freed them. And since then. This is a different offense. Let's start on that side of the ball. This is a completely different offense. And I thought I, I've had our guys, Daniel and, and, and our production group took the time to put this together. But you go back and look, I thought that the, the past attempt numbers would be a lot different. They're actually not like 29 pass attempts a game. Comparing the regular season for Ohio State's offense versus the last two games, the two games in the College Football Playoff pass attempts are basically the same. It's the big plays. It's all right. We're. We're not going to like. Chip loves his run game. He's. He's cutting edge with the run game, the blocking schemes, the tempo, the angles, the misdirection, the motions, all those things. He's also cutting edge with the, the short passing game. Everything he's built in his career offensively is about getting your playmakers the ball in this in space. And unique running run game that also allows his running backs to get the ball in space. It's now opening things up. We got two Ferraris on the outside, man. We got to take advantage. And that's what they've done. I mean, they've Opened things up the last two weeks they're. Listen to this match the last two games against. Against these defenses by the way. And we've got our. You guys are awesome. Daniel Tucker, the whole crew.
Unknown Speaker C
Best team in the business.
Todd McShay
I mean. Yeah. So look at these numbers. The past attempts are the same, but it's an increase of 233 yards per game, 6 points per game, which has. But you also got to remember there's a lot of bad teams they're playing. This is against Tennessee, that vaunted NFL defensive front that's like 12, 13 deep that they rotate. Right. And this is against an Oregon team that has been great defensively for the vast majority of the year and they've done it against these two teams. 233 more yards per game in two games. Six more points per game in two games versus the regular season competition. And Jeremiah Smith has been the difference man. Only two more catches per game. But look at the difference in. In yards. That's. That's the difference. Vertical threat, getting down the field, taking shots. Letting the best wide receiver in college football as a true freshman get the opportunities to go make plays down the field. He was not getting enough opportunities and the opportunities he was getting, they were. They weren't big enough. 145 yards receiving per game with two touchdowns per game. The last two. That's 58 more receiving yards per game. 57 I guess. I think we did some, some bad math pre. Pre. But whatever it is. Almost. Almost 60 more receiving yards per game. So. And I'll start with this as I haven't shut up yet. But I'll. I'll transition to this chip came out gunning. How about the four by one screen? The screen and go to G. To G. Scott of all people. Right?
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
Yeah. You know, four receipt. Four by one. Four receivers, one one on the other side. They. They faked the screen. The G. Scott went in motion, fake the screen and he kind of just just slipped underneath the screen and got down like a wheel route down the right side. That opened things up. Then the. Then one or two plays later, the touchdown to. To Jeremiah Smith. It was. It was like a scissors motion in the backfield. Easy throw for Will Howard. Gets the ball in space gone right. Beautiful. Then the second touchdown to. To Amica Abuka. Will Howard by the way, protected really well the last two games. He's been protected really well. And that's a front that's been getting a lot of. A lot of pressure on opponents. Abuka gets open. He. If you're if you're watching, he's on the right side, Jeremiah Smith's on the left. It gets a two high shell, two safeties. Okay, Jeremiah Smith, they, they run like a post corner, but he's kind of like working a seam and then goes to the corner. Obviously wisely, Oregon doubles him up. The safety goes over the top. They kind of bracket him high, low and he goes over to the left. So if you're following me here now the picture is your quarterback is that the safety on your left side of the two high safeties. The safety on the left side has got to travel with, with Jeremiah Smith. Abuka then comes in running a post, kind of a seam post on the backside, slips behind that where that safety would be and gets the, the, the front side safety, the right safety on his back. And they got it. It was a great throw. Great catch, but unbelievable catch, but unbelievable catch. But Chip set all this shit up, man.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
And so like for as much hatred that was spewed towards Chip and as much his, he'll take all of it because he knew he was wrong and he didn't have the right plan and they didn't adjust properly against Michigan. You got to give him his flowers here like you really do. It's been brilliant. And it's normally the run game, but it has been the, the altering of the passing attack. Philos both philosophically and like play to play. The creation, the creations that they're, they're providing for their receivers in the passing game and, and the looks for their quarterback in the passing game. That's been the difference to me.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah. I mean, look, they had four touchdowns in the first half. The shortest One was that 42 yard IGA catch. That was the shortest touch. The shortest touchdown they had in the first half was 42 yards. I mean that's insane when you think about it. And it starts there with Chip, I guess. But you know, he's not the only one who deserves a little recognition I guess in that the offensive line, we talked about them as well. They've, they've played much better the last two weeks. Really elevated their play. And I'll be honest, I didn't think Will Howard could do it. I didn't think Will Howard could elevate the way he's elevated. I mean you could talk about that's a great route combination to attack a too high. Look, I mean a great route combination and it's a great catch, but it's also a great throw, man. I mean he drops that ball in right over that dropping safety, I mean, it's an unreal throw. Will Howard's playing with a lot of confidence. And, yeah, some of it is easy. Some of it is that he has Jeremiah Smith, but he. That he's also.
Todd McShay
Yeah, I'm not trying to take it. That's a good. I'm glad you said that. I'm not trying to take anything away from Will. I'm just saying the difference I'm seeing in putting him in position is they. They've kind of scrapped the we're going to be creative run game. We got two. Two NFL running backs. We just. We're going to be conservative. We have a quarterback maybe we don't fully trust. Like, all that's out the window.
Unknown Speaker C
It's gone. In two weeks, it's gone. I mean, it's so funny how fast the landscape can change in college football. And it's exactly what we've seen happen. I mean, it's. And Jeremiah Smith, I mean, I don't like all those big plays. He had a catch in the third quarter where he. He tracked the ball, made an adjustment. I think there was three defenders around him, and I was like, all the plays this kid made in this game, that might be his best catch. That catch, that was probably the hardest one for him to make. He is. It's one of those things we're looking at. Oh, what's his best trade? Oh, I think it might be his hands. Oh, it might be his speed. It might be strength. It might be his. His strength after the catch or going up for, you know, going up for the ball.
Todd McShay
I don't know.
Unknown Speaker C
Pick one. I mean, you. You could. You could choose. There's an abundance of talent there's.
Todd McShay
There. I thought it was interesting. They. They were talking. I've said Julio Jones right. When we're talking about. When we're talking about Jeremiah Smith, and I've said it before, I think you agree, you can disagree here. If you'd like NFL drafts tomorrow and. Or. Or last weekend in April as it's scheduled to be, and Travis Hunter is a wonderful, wonderful player. Duel. Two sides of the ball, all of that. New England Patriots are running. New England Patriots are turning in that card. And, and, yeah, like, yeah, they. They'll. They'll field offers for a trade back, but it better be something that blows their doors off. They're taking Jeremiah Smith, and the dude's 19 years old. He would be the number one overall pick in the draft if the Patriots have that pick. And they couldn't. And they couldn't or didn't trade out of that spot, he would be the number one overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. And he's 19 years old and he's played, what, 13 games?
Unknown Speaker C
And he's gotten bigger this year. He was. They.
Todd McShay
They list him at, I guess, 14 games.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah, they list him at 215. And Herbie keeps on saying on the broadcast, he's always saying he's 225 now. He weighs 225.
Todd McShay
He looks it.
Unknown Speaker C
He's almost right.
Todd McShay
That's why I said Julio Jones a good comp. He. I guess they asked him in a. In a meeting, like, who he studies and tries to emulate. Julio Jones was one of them. It was another kind of obvious one, but he went back to Andre Johnson. Houston Texan, Miami. Miami Hurricane.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
Yeah. And I actually like that for him because I think he's, like, a little bit more bendy than Julio Jones. I'm not bendy. I don't know. He's somewhere in between those two. But we're talking about two of like, the ultra most talented wide receivers we've ever seen come during our 25 years covering the NFL draft. So that, like, that's. It's rare to watch. And I even tweeted tonight, like, I felt like I had to say something about Jeremiah Smith. So I was like, you know, I don't know what else to say about Jeremiah Smith, the best wide receiver in the country. Like, that's all I got for you. What else jumped out at you? Go ahead. I mean, I've got like three or four other things.
Unknown Speaker C
It turns into this every time. I just gotta. We're gonna mention it quickly. It was on the broadcast all the time. The Caleb Downs, they might have the best. Well, how to State might have the best defensive player and the best offensive player. And they're both coming back. I mean, they're. They're both going to be in that.
Todd McShay
I mean, they lose 75 other players and like 30 of them with. With draftable grades, but those two are coming back. Yes, but if you're. They got no choice put me in.
Unknown Speaker C
That situation, and you're telling me the two I get to keep are those two? Okay. All right. Caleb Downs is Ed Reed to me. I mean, he. When I look at him and I know he's got. He's probably bigger than Ed Reed. He looks a little bit bigger than him. But I hear whenever you ever see those old clips about Tom Brady talking about playing against the Ravens and being like, I know. I see a Too high. Look that Ed Reed's got this coverage and he's got this responsibility, and if I run this route combination, then most safeties, I can do this. But I know Ed Reed knows that. I know that. So he's gonna drop off and do this. And you're seeing. You're seeing Caleb Downs do that today? Yeah, he's just playing in the middle of the field. It's almost like they're like, hey, man, we'll do the structure of the defense around you, and then you do you. Whether it's against the run, tracking down the run, whether it's breaking on passes underneath, whatever it is, you just be Caleb Downs and. And just do whatever you want to do. Now, I don't know if that's what the deal is. I don't. But it looks like that to me because he's always around the ball.
Todd McShay
I promise you men, those two players have gotten significantly better from, like, six, seven weeks ago and were better than they were in week one, and they were still awesome in week one. Do you know what I mean?
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
Like, so. So credit to Brian Hartline, the wide receiver coach and. And the offensive staff for Ohio State. Credit to Jeremiah Smith for. For, like. It's one thing to just have all the talent in the world. It's another to have all the talent in the world and to be a dog and like, to be in there grinding and doing the right things and have a million or 2 million or whatever their nil deals are and more money coming and still and everyone in the world telling you how great you are at 18? Can you imagine making a million or two when you were 18 coming out of Andover, down at University of Richmond, and everyone in the world telling you how awesome you were? You'd be a disaster. And I would have been worse. I would have been worse. Okay, so, like, credit to these young men, but also credit to Brian Hart. I don't know who the DB coach is for. For Ohio State, but. But I. But credit to him and to the entire staff, because those guys are better. They're. You're right. Like, watching the game tonight, it felt like they. Either they mentioned Caleb Down's name, they isolated him in the picture, or I saw zero or saw two on. On like 50, 60% of the defensive snaps for Ohio State, you know, and by the way, Ransom was awesome at the other safety spot, laying dudes out, and I wanted to get to this, too. Simon, the linebacker, I'm excited to go back and watch his tape. He's not the same guy. He's not the same guy I did, you know, early in the season. He's not. Because unless. Unless the TV version is telling me something. I'm watching him in coverage and act like, turning and running with guys and keeping up. I'm watching him in a spy roll and. And keeping it, you know, getting his drops. Eyes on the quarterback still, like passing guys off and then. And then going and making a sack or limiting a run. I'm watching him sideline to sideline versus the run, just cleaning like a vacuum. He. Simon's playing some great ball at lineback and Ty. And Ty Williams. So remember, we talked to Joel Clatt. We. We talked to Joel Clatt a while ago. Sorry, I just. It fires me up, like, because of what is the Bronx tale. Like, the worst thing in the world is wasted potential. Right. And it felt like this team was headed towards a wasted potential season. Right. My dad always told me the worst thing in the world is wasted potential. And. And it's just. It's not anymore. And you're seeing all. Joel Klatt told us he had a production meeting. We were getting ready for the Oregon game. I think it was the Oregon game. We had him on. Or maybe. No, it was Penn State. We're having. We had him on. And he was talking about talking to the coaches that they were either directly saying. They were directly saying in some instances and other instances, insinuating that we got a lot of dudes going to the NFL, a lot of dudes who have been here four and five years, and they're not getting better or they're just not playing to the level. And it was pissing the coaching staff off. And that was being relayed to Joel. Clapping. We saw it on tape. That's not the case anymore. That's just not the case.
Unknown Speaker C
I mean, the whole. I mean, Sonny Styles, the other linebacker, I mean, he's. He's an interesting cat, man. He's the former safety, and he's. He's starting to really come on, too. There are a bunch. I'm just gonna say it. They're a bunch of mean bullies up front. I mean, they are angry. They are pissed off. They are. They. They come off the ball with purpose on every snap right now. And they're not the most. They're not as talented coming off the edge as a Penn State is. Penn State, I think, is deeper on the edge in terms of talented pass rushers, but they are the most physical group left in this tournament, I think. And I don't. I'm not sure. It's really all that close. I mean, Georgia's really good too, and they might be more talented again, but this group is playing with a level of anger and physicality that I'm not seeing from anyone else.
Todd McShay
I'd be curious. And we got plenty of time to get to start moving forward. The two, two games coming, coming up. The Cotton bowl and the Orange Bowl. Cotton bowls on Friday, January 10th. So over a week from now and Then Thursday the 9th of the day before is the Orange Bowl. That will be Penn State versus the winner of Notre Dame Georgia. But I'd be curious to see and I'd have to believe as of. Right as of the second and probably no matter what the result is tomorrow, unless Notre Dame Georgia absolutely puts it on the other team, and I still don't know that it would make a difference. I got to believe that Ohio State is the heavy favorite to win the national championship now. Right.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
Like heavy. Right.
Unknown Speaker C
I mean, what are there. You have the odds for. For the convol. Right?
Todd McShay
Five. Yeah. Ohio State is. Is favored by five and a half. It's Ohio State minus five and a half. Over Texas.
Unknown Speaker C
Over Texas.
Todd McShay
Yeah. But like is it enough.
Unknown Speaker C
That'S how you're feeling after that game?
Todd McShay
I think it's a perfect transition. Let's just say this real quickly. Dylan Gabriel. Awesome season.
Unknown Speaker C
Yes.
Todd McShay
You know, brutal way to. To go out. Loved his compete in the second half. Late first half.
Unknown Speaker C
I loved his calmness in the pocket. I thought he was making plays considering he was getting. I mean it's flying all around him.
Todd McShay
Man. I wouldn't say it was awesome today. I love. I thought his competitiveness was awesome. I, I thought the way that they adjusted was too little too late. Yeah, but they, they. They clearly. Oregon clearly adjusted with, with a lot more. They. They realized they have to be more creative, a lot more like misdirection, pre snap motions and like almost more tempo within the play. Not between the play, but in within the play. Like guys had to be flying around because, because just lining up and, and going and running running routes and like this. The usual screen stuff and like reverses, throwing back, all that stuff like just wasn't working. Yeah, no, but I hear what you're saying. And once.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
Once he, once they started moving the pocket for him or he started to move after the initial read, that's when he was at his best in this game because he just wasn't being protected very well up front. We knew it coming in the game. We said the interior offensive line for Oregon it's not Connerly, or is it Cornelius, the other guy? Both NFL offensive tackles. Connor Lee is. Connor Lee's going to be a high pick. They, they actually held up pretty well as the interior that was in. I didn't hear JT or Jack's names much at all.
Unknown Speaker C
Only like Jack had a cleanup sack at the end.
Todd McShay
I'm just saying I got made some plays, but they weren't like, yeah, it was the interior. So when he started moving around, bottom line is Dylan Gabriel was awesome all year. Tez Johnson fought back. I give him credit. He's, you know, buck 75, wet, wearing boots, and he got, he got knocked around early on and some guys may not have come back in. He did. He fought. Do you see his story with his mom coming to his first ever game, the Big Ten championship? That was awesome. Like tears in my eyes. But to see him battle back and to fight the way he did, to see Holden, the other receiver, crying after his touchdown, his last touchdown catch, almost like it was sinking in. Like that might be it for me. My, you know, I don't know. I just, I, I give them a lot of credit. They had an unbelievable season, brutal way to go out. But they got jumped. They absolutely got jumped by a team that is on a mission. And so here we go. Set up for, for Ohio state, Texas, the McShay show is brought to you by FanDuel. The playoff is bigger than ever. There's eight teams left. And you can still win big on FanDuel because right now new customers can score 250 bucks in bonus bets. Just place any $5 bet and you'll get two hundred and fifty in bonus bets if you win. Use your bets on spreads, live bets, overs, unders, and so much more. Plus, when you win, you'll get paid instantly. Just visit FanDuel.com McShay to download America's number one sportsbook. Must be 21 or older and present in select states or 18 and older and present in D.C. first online real money wager only. $5. First deposit required. Bonus issued as non withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com so let's get to Texas. What a ride. I mean, the Rose bowl was supposed to be the classic, right? And Arizona State Texas was supposed to be what Arizona State Texas was for about a half of that game. A brutal watch. It was, and it was everything. I don't get this Texas team and I will. We get so much to unpack here. It was. It was the most compelling. It wasn't always clean, it wasn't always beautiful, but it was the most compelling, certainly the wildest finish of the College Football Playoff, and it had the best single performance of the College Football Playoff. And, and it won't be surprising if, when it's all said and done, we crown a national champion that we go back and say, all right, who had the best individual performance in a game of any player during all these College Football Playoff games with the 12 teams in it? And we say, Cam Scatter from Arizona State in a loss to Texas. It was awesome fun.
Unknown Speaker C
It was just so much fun to watch. And this is what makes the 12, this format great, is because you could catch a game like this every once in a while. We didn't see it coming. All right. No, I didn't see it coming. Right, you didn't see it coming. I mean, going in, you. It was, this was going to be Texas Takes care of Business. Move on. They'll play the winner of the Rose bowl, which we're all waiting to watch now. And yada, yada, yada, the next thing you know, you're watching. I mean, it was. That second half was unreal. Even like the, the fake punt at the end of the first half. That was a lot of fun. I mean, there was just elements of this game. They were like, this is, you know, this is getting crazy and fun and awesome, and this is why they do it.
Todd McShay
I just want to. I just want to thank everyone, by the way, because we, we get carried away. Like, I probably should have said this a long time ago. I know I mentioned in passing, but thank you to everyone who's on with us live right now. Like, this is awesome. It's growing every week. We appreciate it. We'll be back. We're going to cover both the, the on the 9th and the 10th. After those, after the Orange. Orange bowl on the 9th and the Cotton bowl on the 10th, we'll have live reaction shows after that. Hopefully the amount of people that join us live continues to grow. We truly appreciate it. Do us a favor, just hit the subscribe button if you don't mind. Like, I hate bagging, hate being that show, but we're trying to grow this thing and, and we are, and it's been fun to do. But thank you, truly. Thank you for being here. And I love watching, you know, going through the, the chats after and reading all this stuff that they, you know, attacking Us on. Hey, we're not always late. We're usually in there. By the way, I, I'm sure you guys got after us again. Everyone's always yelling in the first five minutes that we're late. And I've got a history of being late to things, so I'm a little sensitive to it. But. But no, normally it takes like five minutes to get on the air but. But here we are. So thank you for joining. All right, back to this game. 39, 31, 2 overtimes it took to get it finished. As we were, all of us, you and I and everybody on our crew was on this group chat. It's like we're just like, of course it was going to end like this. Like this game is ugly, it's sloppy, it's beautiful, it's fun, it's wild, it's got a little bit of everything. Scatter. Boo though. I don't even have his final numbers in front of me. But he had the 42 yard touchdown pass. It's like around 250 total yards. You can come up with those.
Unknown Speaker C
He had 143 yards and two touchdowns and 30 carries and eight catches for 99 yards. Just limping on and off and threw.
Todd McShay
A 42 yard touchdown to ignite a touchdown pass on a fourth down to ignite the comeback. That's when they were down 16. They not only needed that touchdown over, he was throwing up on the freaking sidelines before and like gasping for air, oxygen coming, fluids throwing like all of it. And then he throws. He pops a 42 yarder and. And now they've got some life. Yeah, they got life, but there's only like eight minutes left or seven minutes left and. And they got to get the two. Oh, they get the two. Now they. And then they get the ball back and they score. They get the two and there's still time left and. And that's when things that got really haywire. But I don't know. I. I'm gonna start with this and it's probably not the best place to go. I can't figure Texas out. Every single we. I can't figure Texas out. I can't figure out whether Quinn ers is a. Is a. An asset or a liability. And I promise you, I know this for a fact. He's both. He's both. He's both an asset and a liability. The unpredictable part is figuring out what portions of the game is he going to be an asset and what portions of the game is he going to be a liability. And I Think the trend is during the scripted plays early in the game. He's, he's an asset. He operates the offense well. But Sark is so damn good at what he does. It's a lot like what we saw with Chip in Ohio State. Their first drive or first two drive of games are beautiful. They're scripted. They, they found a weakness on tape. They attack it immediately. And then by like the third series, the opponent has adjusted to that and now it's my, you know, my, my best versus your best. And it's not just like what we saw and what we not. Not many gotcha moments anymore. It's like now we're, we're in the, the rhythm of this game. Texas explodes out of the gates. They've done it the vast majority of the second half of the season. They explode out of the gates early. They, they jump teams, they get leads. Then they. I think, I think, you know, we've been talking about this for like five, six weeks. I finally heard someone on the broadcast like bring it up that it's, it's a trend. It's a maddening trend. Jesse Palmer was doing the game, he put it well. Then they start playing with their food a little bit.
Unknown Speaker C
Right?
Todd McShay
It was a really good way of. I would never. That's not totally how I envisioned it in my mind. It's a little bit more frustrating, but it's like, yeah, just pushing the food around a little bit, just talking, not paying. It's like when you're a parent, you have a kid, it's like finish your meal. But they do this over and over again. And then what happens is they get in a situation where the opponent gets back in the game and, and then all of a sudden they've got to come up with whether it's one big play or one big drive to kind of put the game away and, and to make the game look like it was, it was a bigger defeat. It was, you know, it wasn't as close as maybe it should have been. But the whole time you kind of like, I know Texas is the better team. They're dominant in so many facets, but why they let teams hang around. They did it. I want you to remember back now if you think I'm crazy. Vanderbilt three point win. That was a more of a dog fight than the other ones. But Arkansas jumped them lead, let him back in. Kentucky never totally scared in that game, but jumped them big left 14 nothing, I think in the first quarter and then let him back in a little bit. A. M. Perfect example, jumped Him. And when the game was over, they dominated him. Much better. And then you looked at the scoreboard, it's like, that was tight. They needed a drive in the fourth quarter. Remember Clemson? Same thing. And now Arizona State, I mentioned earlier, they jumped a 143 lead, second quarter.
Unknown Speaker C
That's who they are.
Todd McShay
So what? Yeah, they are who we thought they are. Right, Right.
Unknown Speaker C
And then the one thing that was an issue tonight is they. That offense is always like, ah, we got this great defense. They'll just take care of it. And then Arizona State was like, well, we're going to come up with a trick play. And then this guy Cam Scatterboo refuses to go down, refuses to be. To be.
Todd McShay
My goodness.
Unknown Speaker C
And Sam Levitt, for all his flaws and he's still growing, I think he's gonna be a great player. Those. His mobility was a problem. You know, he's gonna extend plays, he's gonna get a defensive holding call. It gives him a second chance. He's gonna scramble down inside the five. He is. He was. Sam Levitt, man, played his ass off today.
Todd McShay
He did.
Unknown Speaker C
And he. You get a game like that with a mobile quarterback and all a sudden your defense is like, hey, you know, a little help here. And the other thing is, do you know, did you see how many plays that Arizona State ran today? 97. 97. Texas ran 60. You could. You're leaving your defense out there for 97 plays.
Todd McShay
Yeah, I mean, part of it was. It was. It was a byproduct of a. Of a positive. They scored on two. Two. Two plays in the first drive. Two long plays was. Well, it was a 54 yard reception to Matthew golden, who, by the way, has been awesome.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
Isaiah Bond was supposed to be the guy. He. I don't. He didn't even play today. He warmed up and people thought he was gonna play. I didn't see.
Unknown Speaker C
He played like a couple snaps. He did okay.
Todd McShay
All right. So very minimal non factor. And. And DeAndre Moore's. He had the 23 yard touchdown on the very next play. It was 66 seconds, two plays. Touchdown. Right. And. And Moore's developed into a really good compliment. We've said that before. Now they're up 7:3. They gave the field goal. Now they're up 7:3. And then they get the punt return after stopping them from Silas Bolden, who's been awesome, but he's like. And I. And Connor Nevins, our producer, he mentioned it on their group text and he's right. Like, he's their number. He's their Number three. Actually, he's their number four with Isaiah Bond and no, he's just, he's their number five. He doesn't see the field that much as a receiver because you got, you got Wingo as well.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
So he's truly their number five. When Bonds out or limited like he's been the last two games, he becomes their number four. And we saw him take over that one drive a couple weeks ago, but usually it's in the return game. And he would be the number one receiver for Arizona State and he would be. I mean, he's undersized and all that, a slot guy, but he would be, he would be a number one or number two for most, most schools out there. But he had the. So my point is getting back to it. It's 14:3 and Texas has been on the, on the field for 66 seconds and two offensive plays. And so while it was a huge positive, it kind of led to Arizona State controlling, controlling the time of possession and, and wearing down that Texas defense, which we didn't think was really going to matter until all of a sudden it started to matter. Right, right.
Unknown Speaker C
I mean, there was the other thing about this was we kept talking about. Can I just say this? Kenny Dillingham got a, got a new deal recently, like a day before the game, I think.
Todd McShay
Yeah, I think, yes.
Unknown Speaker C
And then he went out and had the game of his life. I think I thought he was unreal. First of all, let's just look at, you know, his team. Down 173 at the half to a Texas team that's supposed to handle him. No quit. Down 16 in the fourth quarter. No quit. This is. He went forward, I think six times on fourth down. They got three of them right. The fake punt, the fake punt was on their own 20 yard line. They were down 14 with less than two minutes in the half. If they get stopped there, I think this game's over. Right. And then you say, well, they got, went down and they still had a blocked field goal at the end. And there was a lot of these drives where they didn't end up with points. And it was like, you need to finish, you need to finish. And, and I get that you need to finish, but the, the side product of that was they were just eating up clock and keeping the ball out of Ewers hands. Not giving Sark opportunities to put more points on the board, wearing down that defense. I mean, Dillingham, it was. He turned this game into a rock fight, which is what he wanted to do.
Todd McShay
Yes.
Unknown Speaker C
What he had to Do. And I just thought, I mean you look at him as a coach on that stage at this level. The first time he really was able to do that right after getting a new deal. I was super impressed with the way that the Dillingham was today.
Todd McShay
I was super impressed with the defense like specifically.
Unknown Speaker C
I mean I have a rule change.
Todd McShay
Go ahead.
Unknown Speaker C
New. New rule change. All targeting calls get erased after the, the conference championship games. You can't carry over ejections or like if someone get. You can't carry over suspensions for half into the playoff. Because this kid, Shamari Simmons for Arizona State.
Todd McShay
Yes.
Unknown Speaker C
Who missed the first half.
Todd McShay
Yes. What a difference.
Unknown Speaker C
Because he had a hit in the Big 12 game. And, and, and like it happens. I get it.
Todd McShay
No, A month ago.
Unknown Speaker C
Don't do that in the playoffs. They get erased.
Todd McShay
I agree.
Unknown Speaker C
Start a new. Because Shamari Simmons was all over the field in the second half of this game. And they were said it. Jesse Palmer said in the first half he's like, this guy's different. They have a safety right now who's on the sideline, who is a special player. Once he come in, blows up the play in the backfield, gets the safety. He had a pass deflection. He was, I mean he was all over the place. So I'm hoping that going forward just, just start anew. If you guy get to targeting in the second half and in the first round. In short, he doesn't play in the first half of the second round. But if you're talking about a conference champion game or a regular season finale, those get erased. They don't carry over to the playoff. I'm just fixing it.
Todd McShay
No, I love it. And you know what it sounds like if you, if you watch game day this morning? It sounds like Nick Saban might be the new commissioner of college football. So maybe we'll have to have to get him. Get him. That the, the men's rule. Don't mention it. I know. Right, but, but yes, excellent point, excellent point on that. But as a group too. Like you go down 143 against Big Bad Texas. Right. You can't do anything offensively. That Arizona State defense hung in there. They were physical, they were smart. Like they shut down the run like Texas.
Unknown Speaker C
Texas.
Todd McShay
And I get it. Listen, Cameron Williams is out and so they bring in Goosby who started at left tack. Give this kid credit. And I know he had that false start. He wasn't perfect. But he's now filled in at left tackle for you when Kelvin Banks was injured. Filled in at right tackle for you, he's filled in at guard. He's played like basically all, you know, four of the five positions along the offensive line filling in for guys who have been injured and, and really late in the season, you know, the second half of the season. But Goosby's in at right tackle and, and because Cameron Williams is out and Kelvin Banks is. Gets injured in game now, he wound up coming back, but you can blame it on that. But it's still Texas and you should be able to line up, you know, with, line up with these guys and, and run the football. And they didn't like late in the fourth quarter. I don't know what the final numbers were. It doesn't because it was overtime and all that. But we're talking late in the fourth quarter, late, like four, four or five minutes left. Quintrevian Wisner and Jaden Blue, I know they're number four and five on the depth chart coming in the season, but let's be honest. Blue's an absolute burner and Weisner had like 200 rushing yards versus a M. They're both talented, right? Wisner and Blue combined for 17 carries and 41 yards against Arizona State's defense late in the fourth quarter. And I don't think it improved drastically with the last few minutes in overtime because they were, because they were throwing the ball. They might be close to the final numbers. The bottom line is 2.4 yards per carry. They allowed those two cats. That's, that's something, man. That's not nothing. Okay. And they, they were frustrating the hell out of you. You were. I think at times, I know that was the longest pause in, in the MCH show history because I want, because stuff gets clipped and then things get, you know, things get, get looked at and all of a sudden something would come up. I said this before. You weren't with us. You were, you were under the weather and I'm glad you took the time off because you're, you're great. You're, you're beautiful and, and full of energy tonight. Men. Stevie boy. But what I said the other day that I talking to scouts that everyone I've talked to and we, I think we agree. I, I agree I've said it for several weeks now, like going back to like mid late season that I think yours could use another year and everyone. Because, and I even got unsolicited from somebody who's in the league and decision unsolicited. Like, oh, but we were talking about. Because I, I, I reached out to a bunch of people because we had all sorts of going on with Car, Carson, Beck, Cam Ward sitting out the second half of that game. I had someone un, totally unsolicited texting me, ranting and raving about Shador Sanders. And he's scared for his life in the NFL if he doesn't improve his pocket instincts. So I went in a whole like 15, 20 minute rant the other day when you weren't here. But in part of those discussions in the back and forth with people, it was brought up multiple times like, Quinn Newers needs to grad, grad transfer. And I was saying like, and some people he needs another year. He's not, you know, go, go make money. And, and, and you're gonna make more money in nil than he is in the NFL on a third, fourth round contract. Right. And I, I totally agree at that point. And the more I watch, like, he throws a beautiful ball. I know he's gutsy, I know he's got talent, but he, the ball is, is hanging in the air. And you've said this multiple times this year and I saw it today in two instances where it was, it was absolutely detrimental. And you wonder, and I, I want to say that he would have been able to make those throws in previous years and maybe I just overrated his, his arm talent, maybe I overrated the, the velocity on the ball and the ability to drive it vertically. But he under threw his speedster freshman receiver Wingo on the one ball and it bounced off the guy's shoulder, the defensive back, shoulder pads. Right. And then there was another one. Was it an interception? What was the ball?
Unknown Speaker C
Was the interception late?
Todd McShay
Interception late. The ball hung in the air forever. So, so physically I don't know if he's not right or what the deal is, but it's not, he's not making these throws where you're like, Quinn Ewers definitively is an asset to this Texas offense that they couldn't get from, from other top tier, highly regarded quarterbacks.
Unknown Speaker C
Some. Yeah. Something that jumped out to me today. Go ahead. Sorry.
Todd McShay
No, I was just gonna say because I'm, I loved his progression to where he got and I keep going back to the Michigan game. I thought that it was going to be another step in what, in what Quers could provide. And since then, and I keep saying this phrase but I, I, I leave the experience wanting and, and I, I got to the point today where I was saying to myself and even put in a text message, like, I feel like at times, not always, but at times I feel like Texas has to win despite some of the limitations or holding back at the quarterback position. I think Sark coaches with a certain level of limitations in terms of what he wants to put on the plate for yours. And I don't mean mentally, I don't mean processing. I mean like difficult throws down the field, driving the ball. I don't see them doing a lot of that.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
And so it begs the question. It begs the question, why aren't we seeing a little bit more of arch? But then, but then starts to happen in the game and I'm like, they, they haven't been able to do anything offensively. That first drive, the two throws. That was Sark. Let's be honest. That was Sar. Oh, yeah, the Golden's. Golden's. Golden was a. They clearly saw something in the tape. An rpo. They saw something in the tape or the, the line. The safety is going to bite, linebacker is going to bite and. And they got gold and hit. Now, yes, accurate throw, but like anyone and any solid quarterback in the league can make in the college football can make that throw. And then the next one was. I think it was down the right. The right rail or it was a wheel route, I think. Right.
Unknown Speaker C
Well, there was a. There, there's a little bubble to the side.
Todd McShay
Yeah.
Unknown Speaker C
Kind of like. I mean, Carson.
Todd McShay
Yeah, it was a bubble.
Unknown Speaker C
He's going to throw that. And then he looked over back like that. Yeah.
Todd McShay
It wasn't totally dissimilar from the Chip Kelly play we were talking about to. Yeah, very similar play down the right rail. Two easier throws. My point being they, they jumped them early. They looked great. The offense is rolling. Texas is back. But really it was two easy throws and a punt return for 75 yards from Bolton. Right. Yeah. And then throughout the game, the offense is sputtering and they're not, you know, and they, they didn't there. What. Until the game got tied and the urgency was there and they didn't have a choice. This is the thing I wonder sometimes, is it Sark playing it safe because he knows his defense is so good and he wants. He. He was bitching at halftime. I wanted. We need to run the football better during his interview because it's more comfortable that way or is it because the viewers can't do it? And I think it's a little bit of both, honestly. I, I think we saw in those two throws. Ball off the shoulder pad. Ball hung too long on a deep ball. Interception outside the numbers. Ball hung in the air. I'm watching it before. It was an Interception. My brain said that ball's hanging too long in the air. And so Sark seeing that thing every day in practice and every game and on the tape, and I've got to believe he's kind of. He's playing the percentages, right? I don't know. I think yours has developing to do somewhere else and needs to have a healthy season for his own regard. And that's not what the show is about tonight. It's about Texas moving on and playing the next next round matchup against Ohio State. But if we're flipping it to Ohio State, they. They're gonna need more out of the quarterback position than they have been getting with viewers. But then I look at the last couple of drives and the overtime and the urgency, right. And I'm purposely being insane, right?
Unknown Speaker C
It's a roller coaster ride. Let's go.
Todd McShay
I'm purposely doing this up and down, talking in circles because it's the experience. I truly.
Unknown Speaker C
It is.
Todd McShay
And because I'm texting you guys, like, are they winning in spite of him? Is he an asset or liability? And then when Sark has no choice but to open it up, like, we get. We have to throw. We're in this situation. Clock's ticking before regulation, and now we're in the overtime. Yours. All of a sudden, it's like, I don't know if his training wheels come off or there's urgency in his mind and he's just got to let it rip without the concern of making a mistake. It seems like it's that both the coach, the play caller and the quarterback, when they have to perform without the concern of making a mistake, this thing can. This thing can hum. But in the middle quarters, in between, when they got a little bit of a lead, it's not working. There's my rant.
Unknown Speaker C
Something. Something interesting that jumped out to me that I want to look at when we go back and watch his tape towards the draft is that I felt like he's more confident and more aggressive throwing outside the hashes than he is over in the middle of the field, that he's afraid he's going to make a mistake over the middle of the field and it's going to turn into a turnover. And I wonder if that's a trend or if that's just something that I was seeing tonight. So I want to go back and look, I will play devil's advocate here and push back a little bit. And I do mostly feel the same way. My guy was lights out in the overtime. I mean, the 4th and 13 when you talk about that play, the season is on the line. That stadium's getting loud. Everyone's like Texas is going down. And I was totally agree, man. I was here to see it. I told you, Quinn, yours was no good and the protection does a great job and golden runs a great route, but still he delivers that ball. And then in the second overtime when he steps up and makes that throw to Gunner Helm. You're a quarterback. You know that throw is not that easy. It kind of looks.
Todd McShay
Dude, that, that throw looks easy on t tv. I said it. They ran the replay of it because they had the angle then behind the sky cam look, I was like, oh, that's. That is not easy. And that catch, that catch, that's not easy, right? Excuse me. He rushed for a touchdown. I know. I'm pause stepping up in the pocket with your momentum going and having to, to. To hit it on a, on a line and seeing that angle to get it past that linebacker and trail. Trail coverage versus Helm and to put it on that spot. And then Helm being able to pluck it the way he did. His hands were awkward. I forget what it was. But that was not an easy catch and that it happened fast, huh? But I feel like that's when they're successful, when they, when they know they got no choice. I know when their backs against the wall, when it's happening fast. It's like when they slow down we get. Got a 14 point lead and we get to the line, we're running our RP and all like I'm curious to see against Ohio State where it's all going to be happening fast. If we get any close, anywhere close to the version of Ohio State we've gotten the last two weeks, both offensively and defensively, that game's going to be happening fast and, and, and if a couple not mistakes but if you don't execute, things can get away from you fast. So you better not, you better not come out and think you're going to run your conservative offense and hit your bubble scre and all that stuff. Your rpo like you got to come out attacking if you want to beat Ohio State. And so I'm interested to see if Sark self, self assesses and, and looks at the opponent and says like that script in the first quarter and then, and then what happens late in games when we need one because we're starting to feel like it's getting pulled away or the opponent's coming back or we're tied up or it's an overtime. That urgency that aggressiveness, that's got to be the mindset going in for Ewers and for Sark.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah, Ewers and that defense are going to both have to play better against Ohio State. I mean, I don't think there's any question about that. Now, the defense has shown it can do that. The defense has shown it can elevate, and yours is interesting. I. You know, you know, part of the pushback I would also give you is there was no run game. I mean, he. He got 60 plays. He got no run game. And, you know, when it mattered the most, he made plays. Now, listen, some of those missed throws you mentioned are frustrating because I do think he's the kind of player that can make that throw. So why isn't he making that throw? You know, if. If he's the Queen Ewers that we thought he could be coming into the year, he's making that throw. So maybe he does. Maybe. Maybe Ohio State is the. The best game he's had all season. We'll see.
Todd McShay
But, yeah, it's. It's almost like the awakening that we've seen from Chip Kelly and Will Howard over the last two games is the awakening that we're going to need to see from Texas against Ohio State without.
Unknown Speaker C
Jeremiah Smith or M. Parnell Tate or.
Todd McShay
Agreed. And maybe that's why we haven't. We didn't see Isaiah Bond the last two weeks, quite frankly. You know, if we get any shot of beating an Ohio State team, we're going to have to go out and beat these two opponents, Clemson and Arizona State, without Bond, because he's. Track guys are different, man. It's. It's like. It's like having a. It's like having a. I don't want to say specific thing. It's like having a race car. Okay. I don't think we're gonna have any race car spot. I don't think Ferrari is going to sponsor our podcast. So I can say if having, like you always hear one little thing with the engine goes out, the electrical, something like. And the parts cost. Wide receivers are the same way. Like, one little tweak and it ain't right. And they got to shut it down until they're right because it'll come back like that because they're tight. The tight twitch, the tight fiber, all that stuff, the muscles. So, yeah, it'll be fascinating to see. But. But I do want to. I do want to echo what you're saying. In overtime, he was awesome playing that fourth down touchdown to Golden. Like, talk about Big time in the first overtime. Right. And then the, the touchdown to helm the Sark design on that and the execution. Awesome. Then you, the safeties. I wanted to get to this. The safety. How many safeties does Texas have? I feel like there are nine safeties on Texas's defense and they all were awesome today. I, I kept writing down like notes. One safety after another. They were awesome in support. They made played plays in coverage. The game was, was sealed. Or another safety. Andrew Makuba.
Unknown Speaker C
Andrew Makuba.
Todd McShay
Andrew, the Clemson transfer.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
Right. He comes in, he doesn't bite on that combo route and, and, and makes it. It was no, it wasn't a com. It was the, it was a bubble. It was a bubble. He didn't bite on that bubble. He, and he, he stayed with his, his, his guy and, and makes the interception to seal the game. But I, I mean I put it in my notes here. Like these safeties all day. Yeah, safeties and run support. The involvement was critical. John a. Brown call McCorner. Whatever nickel he plays, he plays all over the place. Count him as one. Jelani McDonald. How many times do they call Jelani McDonald's name today? Makuba. Way before that play. Michael Taft. These guys were awesome all day long. And the last thing I'll leave you with this Colin Simmons. Oh it, oh. Similar to what we've seen with Jeremiah Smith and his improvement and, and Caleb Downs and his improvement. I'm seeing the same thing from, from Colin Simmons. Like it's not. He's always been fast man, but now setting up guys with the speed outside in moves his hands like, like, you know, the slap, the rip. He's special.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah. I mean he's only gonna get better too. I mean it's, it's crazy. I mean he is a, it's, it's game plan. You have to game plan for him. You have to locate him. Every time he's turned into that player, it was like he's talented but you know, he's still trying to get his legs under him. Now it's, we better know where he is and we better have a plan for him because we don't have a guy that can block him by himself. That's the kind of player that he's turned into. So be interesting to see what he can do against that Ohio State. Those Ohio State offensive tackles who I think are tough and strong in the run game but aren't as good in pass protection. If they can get him into drop back situations, what, what he could do in that game.
Todd McShay
Yeah, we got a lot of time to preview that, but there's some fun jumping ahead. I mean, you look at it. I mean, there. I would. I mean, 27 prospects we have between Ohio State and Texas with, with guys who have draftable grades potentially, you know.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
Talking to teams like, those are guys that you potentially could go in the seven rounds. That's. I mean, that's awesome. That's a dream. That is a dream. All right. So, yeah, yours is the biggest question to me, honestly. Yours is the biggest question. Is he gonna, Is he gonna step up? He's got one game guaranteed to him. 2. Potentially to try to finish out his career.
Unknown Speaker C
And really quickly, like, don't you. The, the run game issues. Don't you want Arch to come in and maybe jump start your run game? Yeah, jump start the run game.
Todd McShay
No, I want more of Arch. And I, and I, and I, and I didn't want to say it and I don't want to, like, be part of the whole nonsense and all that, but I, I just feel like there are, there's, there's more opportunity for Arch to come in and be a compliment. It's not a threat to yours, but there are situations where he can come in and utilize his mobility and then strike. Strike for a deep play. Because everyone in the building thinks he's going to run the football. I just don't. And again, is it why Isaiah Bond didn't play the last two weeks, but we didn't see it as much. As much against Georgia as we thought because yours had the ankle injury, remember? Yeah, and we thought so.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
I don't know why. Because at this point, it's not like, oh, if we play him, then what's going to happen? All the media attention, like, who cares? You're in the playoff. You're. You're insulated.
Unknown Speaker C
You're like, you almost found out today, man. You almost found out today.
Todd McShay
Like, Sark knows better than us. I know that Sark knows his team. He knows the. He knows better than us. And there's got to be a reason. And, and you and I, and. Because I don't have all the information, he does it. You gotta just, you know, you gotta trust that he, He. It may not be the right decision, but he's got good reasoning for his decisions. Let's. Let's put it that way. But I, I think we're seeing the same thing. It just doesn't make sense where you've got a, A talented quarterback who brings a different skill set, though. That's the thing.
Unknown Speaker C
For me, who has a role to.
Todd McShay
Play, I think, all right, last game and I'm fired up to get to, to just preview in the next games. But we, we can't do the full preview. It's not, it's not time to do it. But we don't, you know, with Georgia, Notre Dame being, being postponed by a day, we don't even have that match up yet. So Boise State, Penn State. I'm going to throw one thing out to you and you can take this wherever you want to go. I was so impressed. And the reason I'm going to say it first is because I need to beat you to it. And the only time I try to beat you to something is what it has to do with the trenches. I was so impressed with Penn State's offensive line, man, I, I went back because the beauty is it was a, it was an, the game was last night. So we, I had some, some time to actually watch the tape this morning before the kickoff of the 1pm game, the Texas Arizona State game. And just watching the like the pins and polls, the, the, the kick out and log blocks, the counters, how well they executed. Like this is a, an offensive line that's playing together, cohesive group and, and the result for them was, you know, Nick Singleton, he, he had that 58 yard touchdown run. Read, read the blocking beautifully, but the blocking was abs like if you're one of those weirdos like men is and you love watching the tight version where you can't see the receivers and you don't see the whole play but you're just watching the offensive line versus the defensive line and you're kind of isolated on just the, the trenches there. It was a thing of beauty. And so the 58 yard touchdown run was there but, but Katron Allen, he was the workhorse. You know, 17 carries, 134. They combined Mensch for 29 carries. 221 and a touchdown. But two of those, but two of those carries were for 108 yards. So it was hard earned and I felt like the dirty work was done by Catron Allen in this game. But they both played significant roles. But honest to God, that was one of the better run blocking performances I can remember watching this year.
Unknown Speaker C
I'm not gonna, I mean go on Office and Lemon love angles, man. And they did a great job of, of creating favorable angles to get, you know, to, to fit up guys. I think that's great. I will say when you are an offensive lineman, you love the block for a guy like Allen. I Mean, he. There are few running backs that when a defender gets into their thigh pad, they can keep their feet. When people get into his legs, he could still like, he powers through that. His. His core strength is remarkable. And I, I listen, I love Singleton and he did have a great read on that play. I think Singleton's probably gonna be the better pro, although I think Alan will be good too. But I do think Allen's seeing it better too. I think he's just seeing it a little bit better with his vision overall.
Todd McShay
Clearly they agree because he. He had the 17 carries and Singleton had the 12, you know, and. And that also think the.
Unknown Speaker C
Singleton's also a different kind of dude in their scheme. I think they kind of use him as a receiver too. They want to get him touches in the passing game. So, you know, especially without the wide.
Todd McShay
Receivers, they just don't have wide receivers.
Unknown Speaker C
Right. So, you know, I just. He's the kind of guy that you want to block for. He's a BYOB guy. Bring your own block. I will say one of the things was interesting to me about that speaking of the offensive line is I think they might have a call or a check or a communication issue. Do you remember in the game, late in the game that they got called for a false start and Franklin was angry because they were saying that. Didn't it seem like Boise State was real good about timing up those pressures, man? Yeah, it seemed like. I think that's something they're going to go back and look at and say, you know, it's like a pitcher tipping pitches. Are we tipping our count here? Are we tipping? Or like even the Singleton run and get into the weeds a little bit. The Singleton run on third down where they ran outside and he got blown up in the backfield. They were out leveraged on that play. There was just a couple things. I was looking at it. Do you.
Todd McShay
Do you remember. I don't know if you remember the first game of the year in the NFL, Falcons versus Steelers. Someone on. I don't even know who it was. Someone on Twitter sent out, like, what he. This person. I. I honestly, I don't remember who it is. This person. Every once in a while, like, what. What's the first thing that jumps out to you? And. And they'll put like the. The tight clip or whatever clip it is of like every single offensive play or the player for that players plays in the game. And so I was watching and Kurt C. Is the. There it was basically being like, it's so obvious that Kirk Constance is that he's not moving off his spot. His Achilles isn't healthy. There's a problem here. Right. But the thing that jumped out to me is the communication. And I. Stanford was the first team I ever remember doing this. They probably weren't the first to ever do it, but I remember talking to Andrew Luck when he was in college covering a game for Stanford. And, and I asked, after watching tape, I asked Andrew, I was like, what's the deal with your guard tapping the center? I had never seen it before at that point, 15, 17 years ago, whatever it is. And, and so, so you could do that. But. But it doesn't necessarily that. That cues. That the quarterback. He's looking back at the quarterback. That cues the quarterbacks. Ready. But you can have a pause or you can, you can work different ways off of that. The Cousins tape, it was tap head down center, head down, 1001 go literally every single time.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
TJ Watt by the fifth play of the game was like, oh, I'm gonna do this. And I, I think he had like. I think he had like 12 sacks, four fumble recovery, four fumble force. But my point is, if you're crazy if you think that, I mean, that's what players look for.
Unknown Speaker C
Oh, no. Yeah.
Todd McShay
Give me the edge. So. So it wouldn't surprise me if that's something they saw. And it also wouldn't surprise me if Penn State's cleaned it up. But. Yeah, right.
Unknown Speaker C
I think they'll go back and they'll look at that and say we're. We gotta change something here or tweak it. So. Yeah, I thought the running game was unbelievable in the game.
Todd McShay
It did feel the past game wasn't.
Unknown Speaker C
It wasn't. Three touchdowns look great early and kind of deep shot after deep shot after deep shot there wasn't really bearing much fruit. And I get that they had matchups they liked and I get that there was there, but they weren't. They were not capitalizing.
Todd McShay
Drew Aller was 13 of 25 for 171 yards. It's a tricky spot, man, because Drew Aller's super talented. Right. His footwork's not completely right yet, but it's gotten so much better. He's not like as is consistent with his, with his ball placement as a result of his mechanics and, and just drilling at home and needing more game experience. And I'm thrilled that he's coming back, but he's got a big time arm. I love the confidence he's playing with. I love that he's taking off and running in Certain situations. Certain situations say that five times fast. And he's. And he's doing it, like, at the right times, and he's doing it with a lot of confidence and he's been successful doing it. I. I like a lot about Drew Aller, but I also, unlike the Ewers stuff and unlike Will Howard earlier in the season, there's nothing there. Like, so it doesn't. It's not that it doesn't matter how Drew Aller plays, but, like, there's a. There's a very low ceiling on what this passing game can be.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
It's Tyler Warren, and you got nothing of significance or consistency or that you trust on the perimeter. And so they've done a brilliant job getting to where they are. They've done a brilliant job of being multiple and unique in all the different crazy ways they use Warren and how they use Singleton. They've been. It's been brilliant. And their, Their run game has been outstanding, all of those things. But there's a ceiling on it, man. And Drew Eller, for all of his talent and all the improvement he's made, and he truly has made significant improvement this year, he hasn't thrown for 250 plus since USC in October 12th. Okay, that's nine games. Five of them he threw for less than 150 yards. And it's not. And normally I'd be like, what's wrong with the play caller? What's wrong with the quarterback? It's just what they have to work with, I think.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
That's my takeaway.
Unknown Speaker C
No, I mean, look no further than last year with Michigan. The way that they were built and the way that, you know, I made this argument for J.J. mcCarthy, too. You know, you're not going to throw the ball in the second half against Penn State. Well, it's not J.J. mcCarthy's fault. It's not Drew Aller's fault. Not all of it. You know, they just don't. We've talked about this. They just don't have the guys on the outside to, to do what they want to do in terms of attacking downfield and moving the ball through the air. And it's only going to get hard. I mean, it's going to be much harder in their next game.
Todd McShay
So, yeah, Georgia or Notre Dame.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah, so we'll see who that is.
Todd McShay
But shit's about to get real for Penn State is what I mean, let's just be honest. Shit's about to get real. I mean, anyone who's.
Unknown Speaker C
If you're left, it's. It's about to get real. Like, he's next.
Todd McShay
But it has.
Unknown Speaker C
Awesome.
Todd McShay
Yes, but it hasn't been. They've had the easiest path. SMU and Boise State. It's been the easiest path. Boise State is. And I hate to say it, but they're kind of the poor man's version of. Nah, I shouldn't say that. Never mind.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah, they're just not in that scene. They're not in the same.
Todd McShay
I, I considered them in a similar regard to Arizona State, but Arizona State is a more complete, athletic team. They have more. They have more dudes. They have more dudes. That's, that's, that's the best way I could put it. Let's cover. But Boise State. First of all, I just want to say this. You look at the stat line, three interceptions and yes, he threw them and they were. And they were killer. But like, I, I actually thought Maddox Madsen outplayed his ex. The expectation. He exceeded expectations in this game. Truly. I don't love him on no shot.
Unknown Speaker C
Unless he plays as well as he did.
Todd McShay
Yeah, well, man, and they trusted him and they came out throwing, you know, like I thought he, he completed 70% for 304 yards. Like he did a good job. Ginty, I'll start with you. What you think Ashton Jinty, number one running back in the, in the NFL draft, he's going to be a top 15 pick. I feel comfortable saying, worst case, top 20. A lot of hype coming in. Could he do it against Penn State? This defensive front? What did you see?
Unknown Speaker C
I, I will go back and watch the coach's tape to see if he's. If I'm missing anything because I think his vision is elite.
Todd McShay
So.
Unknown Speaker C
But saying that I don't think he was. I, I mean, I thought he ran hard. I thought, listen, they, they were not going to open up a lot of seams for him. I think he got what he could. He created some on his own. I, There was. I saw an Ash and Genti performance. It was just that he didn't have the supporting cast against a much better defensive front than he had seen. I mean, he had 30 carries for a little over 100 yards. I think. I didn't see a guy was getting.
Todd McShay
30 carries for 104 yards. And I'll be honest, the average back has 30 carries for about 60 yards.
Unknown Speaker C
Right. With that same situation. Right.
Todd McShay
He fumbled twice, though.
Unknown Speaker C
That was shocking. So that's interesting.
Todd McShay
Right?
Unknown Speaker C
That is something to talk about. That is interesting. The. The second one which they recover, which Boise recovered, was actually Even more concerning the first one.
Todd McShay
Yeah, the first one line.
Unknown Speaker C
I was like, okay, you got a little loosey goosey, maybe because you thought you were out of bounds, but it.
Todd McShay
Still got punched out.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah, he hasn't fumbled a lot, so, you know, you take it with a little bit of a grain of salt. So, yeah, it wasn't the lights out performance that maybe you were hoping for him, but that was a Penn State team that knew that the record was on the line and knew that they didn't want to be the team that.
Todd McShay
Gave it up and also knew, I mean, just for from game purposes, like strategy, like, go ahead, Madsen, beat us.
Unknown Speaker C
Right.
Todd McShay
You know, go ahead, Maddox. Mad Dog, Madman.
Unknown Speaker C
Dan just sent us a note. 81 of Genti's 104 yards came after contact.
Todd McShay
Really?
Unknown Speaker C
That's the kind of. Yeah, that's the kind of night he had. So, yeah, I mean, and I listen, there was a couple plays. Do you remember that jump cut that they highlighted? And I think what makes him special isn't that jump cut, because guys can jump cut like that. It's his ability to hit the ground going 100 miles an hour. I mean, he jump cuts and makes the guy miss and then is already accelerating up field. It takes a guy, you know, any regular human being second to get out of the blocks. Yeah, he's already moving up field. It always makes me laugh because he made a couple plays as a receiver. The, the guys are like, oh, I think he'd be a better receiver in, in the pros. He didn't play a big game. He didn't play a big role in their passing game this year. But he, he had pretty good receiving numbers two years ago. I mean, it's not an issue for him about whether or not he's going to be a receiver in the NFL. He's going to be fine in the passing game.
Todd McShay
Am I crazy? Oh, the other thing we should mention. Abdul Carter left with an injury. I saw, I saw James Franklin on, on the game day pre game today from the Rose Bowl. He came on, you know, virtually from, from wherever. He was still at that point. But, but I mean, how critical will that be if, if he can't. I mean, hopefully it's ready to go.
Unknown Speaker C
They weren't the same without him. I thought Vandover flashed. The guy who came in after me flashed a little bit. And Dennis Sutton, outside of the couple penalties he had, he's a talented dude. He can turn it on.
Todd McShay
Yes.
Unknown Speaker C
They still weren't the same without him. I mean, Abdul Carter is A difference maker anytime.
Todd McShay
I like. I like Van over, but he's not. Yeah, he's not Abdul. And he's not denied.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
And Dennis. Dennis Sutton was out earlier in the year and Van over came in. He played. Remember? I look, I had to look him up. I was like, who is this guy? You know? Yeah, yeah, that was actually before. That was with Rosillo. That was before we even started the McShay show. And. And I remember being like, I had to look him up and he's a senior and he's like 6'5 255. You know, he looks the part. But Abdul is a different cat, man. I mean, he is. He is. If you wear that 11, you. You're. You're something at Penn State. And. And he. And he is that. He's. He's potentially a top. I think he'll be a top five pick when it's all said and done, but that's obviously something to keep an eye on as we await the winner of Notre Dame and Georgia tomorrow. I don't want to get it, like, jump the gun. Don't you kind of feel like the winner of Ohio State, Texas, is gonna win this thing?
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah. I mean, with Carson back out for Georgia, that's. They're flawed. Notre Dame I really like, but they've had some serious injuries on defense now, and they are. They are one dimensional on offense. A little too one dimensional on offense. And then, you know, Penn State, I think, could make it a game. It'll be interesting to see. I think Penn State can make it a game, but their lack of playmakers on the outside could be their downfall. It just. Look, it's hard to go against anyone like you're saying Ohio State or Texas. It's hard to go against Ohio State at this point. I mean, they. It's all about mo and they've got momentum rolling. I mean, they are a freight train right now, and I don't see that going away. It's. You know, you could say that they. They had an ax to grind coming out off of the loss to Michigan, and that's why they blew out Tennessee and then they wanted to, you know, revenge. Get revenge for the loss against Oregon. You don't think they're going to look at Texas and be like, oh, here's another SEC team that everyone told us was better than us all year. You don't think they're going to be motivated for that game? And then you get a Natty. I. I don't think this team's going to lose any fuel for their fire. And that's, that's what's scary about them is they had the talent all along and now they're motivated and getting them to be unmotivated is not going to be easy.
Todd McShay
Yeah, it's gonna be a wild ride. Have you ever seen a quarterback and like, this is bad, you know, working 20 years in television and you know when you, when you're putting out a show and you know it's going to be listened, reviewed, listened to or viewed after, after the game's played, it's not good to tell. But I just want to preface with this, and for those who wind up listening or watching the show after the games, play it tomorrow. You'll get to have a little laugh. Have you ever seen a situation like this with Gunner Stockton where everyone is like, oh, no, we're, we're just, maybe we're better, right? And I get it. Like Carson Beck, not what we signed up for. The Carson Beck show was not just pouring. We signed up for this year and there was ups and downs and I, he got, thought he got better and, but like, I swear to God, I feel like everyone in that locker room, including the coaching staff, is kind of trying to say to the public, we're better off without Beck. We like this guy more. We're gonna rally more around this guy. Am I misreading that or are you getting that same vibe?
Unknown Speaker C
I think you, I mean, it's, where else are you gonna go with it of, you know, Stockton? You know, I think they're trying to be positive. They're trying to generate their own momentum. They're trying to, you know, make the best of a bad situation. I don't know what else you would say. I don't think you need to throw Carson Beck under the bus, per se.
Todd McShay
But, but I do think maybe I am misreading it. I'm telling, I'm telling you when, when, when it's all said and done and we get information from Georgia months down the road, pre draft, whatever it is. We didn't. I, I mean, I can't believe Carson Beck is, is leaving for the draft. I made my comments last week. I stand by him. Nothing's changed. And we have months to get to all that. So I'm not here for it right now. But I, I, there's something here. I'm just gonna leave with that. There's something here. I, I will, I'll be surprised if we don't hear something like, you know what? For whatever reason, I don't know what it is, maybe. And. And honest to God, could purely be they just believe in this young man. They love him. Georgia guy, best friends with a bunch of guys on the team. Whatever it is, they believe in him. And. And they. And. And you saw it come to life. You saw the offense come to life. And even Herbie said today, and he doesn't say stuff unless he's like, they. They rallied around this guy. You know, there's a lot of the quotes coming from the people they're coming from. And then Kirby had one quote. I don't know. I'll be fascinated to see, because I saw a quarterback that brought mobility, clearly has talent, but, like, he's. He's up against it, against his Notre Dame defense.
Unknown Speaker C
Yeah.
Todd McShay
I mean, he's a. I'll be fascinated to see. I'll be fascinated to see. We got. Yeah, we got a lot more to watch. I can't wait. We'll be back.
Unknown Speaker C
Love you into that. Look at that. Yeah.
Todd McShay
I just want to kind of. We appreciate you, everyone. Thank you very much for watching, truly. And I. I love the fact it's starting to become a thing. People are starting to actually join live. It was just mention I and, like, nine family members the first week we did this, and now we got all of you joining us and being a part of this, and you can say maybe 10 more viewers that you were in on it before those 10 viewers got involved. But we love what we're doing. We hope you enjoy it, too, and appreciate it. And if you get a chance, spread the word, press the. Press that little slippery button, subscribe, like, and all the other stuff that you need to do. But. But we are back on Tuesday, and we've got the live stream again. We're gonna do it two more times, and it's gonna be. I, I. There's something exciting about doing it after just one game to focus on. Jump right on here. Like, we don't have to go, like, go to makeup and, like, get the producer, but print out this, like, literally, game's over. I walk upstairs, home office. Here we go. Ment. You there? Yep. You good? Yep. All right, here we go. And we'll be doing that live again. Everyone knows the dates. It's Friday, June, Thursday, January 9th for the Orange bowl right after that live reaction show. And then the very next night, Friday, January 10th, Cotton Bowl Live reaction show will be there. So hopefully you'll join us again and maybe spread the word. Until then, we'll see you later. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18/ plus and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER or visit RG D help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-87-7-8, HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New.
Podcast Summary: CFP Quarterfinal Recap: Ohio State Routs Oregon, Texas Survives OT Thriller, and Penn State Slows Ashton Jeanty
Podcast Information:
Todd McShay opens the episode acknowledging the tragic events in New Orleans, which have affected the Sugar Bowl matchup. He expresses sympathy for the victims and mentions the rescheduling of the Georgia vs. Notre Dame game to 4:00 PM Eastern.
Quote:
“Tragically over 10 people lost their lives, dozens of people injured. The senseless act lot to still learn information wise on what's going on in that situation.” - Todd McShay ([02:24])
McShay and his co-host discuss the 12-team College Football Playoff format, particularly focusing on Nick Saban's perspective on whether teams should have a bye week or play in the first round to maintain momentum.
Key Points:
Quote:
“Ohio State just put it on. Oregon, the three teams that played in the first week absolutely jumped the opponents that were rewarded with the bye week.” - Todd McShay ([04:10])
The discussion delves into Ohio State's dominant performance against Oregon, highlighting both offensive and defensive prowess. McShay praises Chip Kelly’s innovative offensive strategies and Jeremiah Smith's standout performance.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
“Ohio State is the best college football team in the nation this year.” - Todd McShay ([07:00])
“Chip Kelly came out gunning. They altered the passing attack philosophically and play-to-play, creating opportunities for their receivers.” - Todd McShay ([14:35])
McShay and his co-host analyze Texas's exhilarating overtime victory over Arizona State. They discuss quarterback Quinn Ewers's dual role as both an asset and a liability, emphasizing his aggressive play in high-pressure situations.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
“Quinn Ewers is both an asset and a liability. The unpredictable part is figuring out which role he’ll play when it matters most.” - Todd McShay ([49:18])
“They have to attack if they want to beat Ohio State. They can't run their conservative offense and expect to keep up.” - Todd McShay ([56:51])
The conversation shifts to Penn State’s solid performance against Boise State, with particular emphasis on their running game and cohesive offensive line.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
“The run game was unbelievable. They had one of the better run blocking performances I can remember watching this year.” - Todd McShay ([65:39])
“Ashton Genti’s ability to hit the ground running and accelerate makes him a standout future NFL prospect.” - Todd McShay ([75:02])
McShay highlights key players like Caleb Downs and Colin Simmons from Penn State, discussing their development and potential impact in the NFL Draft. He also touches on the challenges facing Texas's quarterback Quinn Ewers and the need for strategic adjustments against top-tier defenses.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
“Caleb Downs is Ed Reed to me. He’s always around the ball, making pivotal plays in coverage.” - Todd McShay ([21:13])
“Jeremiah Smith’s improvement and Colin Simmons’ development are similar to the awakenings we've seen in Chip Kelly and Will Howard.” - Todd McShay ([57:46])
As the episode nears its conclusion, McShay and his co-host discuss upcoming games, including the Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia, and the potential national championship matchup. They predict Ohio State remains the favorite for the national title, emphasizing their momentum and talent.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
“Ohio State is favored by five and a half over Texas. They are a freight train right now, and I don’t see that momentum going away.” - Todd McShay ([27:05])
“If Ohio State maintains their current form, they are the team to beat for the national championship.” - Todd McShay ([72:35])
Todd McShay wraps up the episode by thanking the live audience, promoting upcoming live reaction shows for the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl, and encouraging listeners to subscribe and engage with the show.
Quote:
“Thank you for being here. We appreciate it, truly. We’ll be back with live reaction shows after the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl. Don’t forget to subscribe and spread the word.” - Todd McShay ([82:15])
Key Takeaways:
Notable Highlights:
Final Thoughts: Todd McShay provides an in-depth analysis of the CFP quarterfinal games, emphasizing team strategies, player performances, and the implications for the upcoming matches and the NFL Draft. The episode offers valuable insights for football enthusiasts looking to understand the current landscape of college football and its transition to the professional level.