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The McShay show is back. It's the College Football Saturday Night Instant Reaction show, right? We're going to do this every Saturday night. We're usually a little bit more buttoned up. Let's face it, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we've got more imagery and we've got, you know, we like to use everything. The McShay show is presented by FanDuel. College football Saturdays are packed with action and FanDuel is where you can score every game day. Let's face it, November is everything in college football. The playoff picture starting to become more clear. This is the first year with the 12 team playoffs and we have some critical matchups throughout this month. Why we love fanduel there's so many markets like spreads over unders, national championship futures. I'm going to get a part of that 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 sportsbook. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines 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 rgh-help.com this episode.
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Online and our producers and directors and everyone wants us to use. But tonight it's just about talking ball from today. Few great games that we want to get to Penn State, Ohio State Featured game number four versus number three 20 to 13. Ohio State wins that one. We've got Florida Georgia rivalry a lot closer than we expected. Mensch, but Georgia holds on 3420 and Oregon Michigan thought Michigan would have a little bit more fight. My goodness is Oregon. They are just rolling man. We'll get to that too. Oregon wins that one 38 to 17. So before we get started. I want to mention this because I'm fired up. We got the green light on this, Mensch. This is our last Saturday night reaction show. It's only our second one, but our last one that will not be live starting next week at the end of every primetime game. And every week after that, you go on watch the 7:30, usually 7:30 ABC prime time game. It's usually Herb street and Fowler. After that game, we will be on live on YouTube and then we'll obviously have a podcast that's produced from there that will be on Spotify and everywhere else you get your podcast. But starting next Saturday night, after one of my favorite games in the college football year, every year, Alabama, lsu, Baton Rouge, best place to watch college football on a Saturday night. So we'll, we'll get into that next week. But just so you know, starting next week and every week after, after that prime time game, we will be on Live on YouTube. So with that in mind, Mensch, let's get to the big game today, right? Let's dig right in. Like I mentioned, number four, Ohio State goes to Happy Valley, plays Penn State. Buckeyes and Ryan Day get a much needed win, right? Both teams needed it. All the numbers were out there. James Franklin, all the struggles he's had against Ohio State, against top five teams, all the struggles that Ryan Day in this program has had against Michigan, we know, and, and also in top five games, a lot of close game, but a huge win for Ryan Day in this, in this program. And really it was fascinating to me because the final score was 2013, right? The first five minutes were dominated by Penn State. I thought, okay, is this finally the year we talked about? Like, is this the year the Penn State's got a little bit more James Franklin's going to get him over the top. They come out, they and let's just, let's also say you love when you have a big game like this and there's no excuses after, Penn State can't come back and say, well, if Drew Aller played because we thought coming into the game there was a chance we knew Drew Aller was going to play, but was he going to be able to play at a high enough level? Was he going to be without his mobility and with the knee injury and it just wasn't the case. We saw in the first drive, his mobility not only was, was adequate, it was a key component in what they were doing offensively. He had three runs in that first drive, climbed the pocket on another throw and was able to connect with his receiver down the field. So, and then to be honest with you, Bo Pebula, the backup who played so well last week against Wisconsin, he came into the game in a certain package that they like to run with him in the red zone comes in the game. I think it was an incomplete pass and more importantly, it was a penalty for an illegal offensive lineman down the field. So that actually set them back. They wind up kicking a field goal in the first drive. Ohio State comes out, Will Howard doesn't see the cornerback squatting and jumping that route. And all of a sudden it's a pick six. And now it's ten nothing. Nittany lines are up, the place is going. Yeah, they're going nuts. And you're like, oh, you know, is Ohio State with that offensive line? Is Ohio State going to be able to climb its way back in? The Buckeyes absolutely dominated this game for the final, for 55 minutes. Dominated this game.
B
Right.
A
I mean, it, go ahead.
B
If there's no pick six and I mean, we'll get into it probably a little bit later. And Will Howard doesn't fumble at the goal line. I think this game's a blowout. I don't, I don't even think it's close. So I mean, it just speaks to, and again, I think that Ohio State has that big game experience. They don't panic.
A
They've been in a lot of, you.
B
Know, I mean, they've already gone to Oregon this year. They've been in hostile environments. That, that program knows how to handle a big game and handle adversity early.
A
I, I, I guess the question for me is always going to be what stood out the most? Let's, let's start with that. For me, what stood out the most was that Chip Kelly, the offensive coordinator who's been a head coach in, in the NFL, he's a head coach of the Oregon Ducks. You know, the, the offensive system, they kind of, it didn't start the spread, it didn't start the up tempo, but it revolutionized college football at the time. Goes on to be the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, the head coach of the UCLA Bruins, and makes the highly unusual decision because we, I mean, you know, Chip, we go back to UNH days. He was the head coach of unh. We're playing at Richmond. Ryan Day was his quarterback. Where were the Richmond Spiders? We kind of know all about him going back 25, 27, almost 30 years now. Right, right. The highly unusual decision to make the Move from head coach for the vast majority of his career to say, I want to go coach ball again. I love it. Transfer, portal nil. All this stuff. Like Jeff Halfley here in Boston. I talked to him after he decided to go back to Green Bay. We were texting back and forth, same exact line. You know what, Todd? I just want to go coach ball again. And I think we're seeing a lot of coaches with that same mindset. So with that as the backdrop, you have. In my opinion, Chip Kelly is the best play designer and play caller in the run game in all of college football. And you know him for the spread and the up tempo and all the points and everything, but really like the foundation of everything he does is. Is get it. Yeah. Is the run game. And then to have a quarterback distribute the ball efficiently and quickly and wisely, you know, And I remember, I'll never forget asking him. Game day sent me out to do a feature 20 years ago, let's call it 17 years ago, whatever it was. And I asked Chip because his offense was so unique at the time. I'll never forget this question. And we're, you know, born and brave. Born and raised in Massachusetts, New England. You're from Andover, I'm from Swamp. Scott. We're Celtics fans, right?
B
Yeah, He's.
A
I said. And I was just curious because his quarterback at the time, it wasn't like, you know, gunslinger was. It was. It was a great athlete who could throw the ball a little bit. And I was like, what is it like in the perfect world, if you recruited the perfect quarterback for your system, what would that look like? And he was like, Rajon Rondo.
B
That's awesome.
A
The point guard at the time of the Celtics, you know, and so it kind of like got me into his mindset. Like someone who can distribute the ball, officially make good decisions, someone I trust carrying the ball up the court, you know, like, so that. With that in mind, like, it's always been about the run and utilizing the quarterback to get the ball out quickly and finding unique, creative ways to get your playmakers the ball in space, including your running backs. And we saw throughout this game. And it's honestly, I'm not here to knock Tom Allen, the defensive coordinator for Penn State. They've got a very good defense. They hung in there tight. Shit. They only gave up 20 points. Like, I'm not saying that this was by, like not even by a stretch was a blowout or a dominant performance or overwhelming performance, but I consistently throughout the game thought that Chip Kelly was abusing him from a play design, play calling standpoint, don't hold back.
B
No, I thought every time they involved Will Howard in the run action somehow, I mean, Penn State had no answer. They were. They're collapsing on Will Howard when you have one of the best running backs in the country and Quinchon Judkins as the pitch guy and they didn't have anyone. There was no one assigned to him. There was no one to step up and stop him. He was getting wide open, running lanes. And then you saw it at the end of the game, they sealed the game with Howard just keeping the ball and running. It was just. To me, it was. They seemed ill prepared for what Kelly was throwing at them.
A
Yeah. And then our producer Connor asked, was texting on our thread during the game and he asked Kyle McCord, because Kyle McCord's a better passer, I would say, than Will Howard. Right, right. And he asked a question like, is this an upgrade? You know, when Will Howard was struggling during the game, it was a fair question. Is Will Howard an upgrade? Because they were thrilled to bring him in from Kansas State. Right. And. And it is for Chip because. Because of the run component.
B
Right.
A
And the, and the quick decisions. The ability. The ability, like the ran Rondo aspect of it. So I think it's. When you look at it like McCord, yeah, he could come out and he could probably dice you up better. And Jeremiah Smith would have had a bigger day probably in this game, but that's not what Chip wants to be. And I thought there was no better three play series than the one where it was back to back toss sweeps. I think one went to Quinton Judkins. I think the next one went to Trayvon Henderson. It was that toss sweep or the quarter where Howard got the ball and shotgun, kind of takes two steps to the right, pitches it out and they.
B
Ran play action for a touchdown off that same.
A
And then the third. Yeah, way to steal my thunder. You're getting there. But you saw what I saw, right? Yeah. And that's exactly it. So. And then the third time they come back and it's two steps to the right. Fake the pitch, swing back just a little bit. And now if you look in the secondary from that end zone, copy. The flow of the. Of the receivers is going to the left side. And at that point, Howard throws the ball for a touchdown on that pass. Who was it? It was. It was not. I forget which receiver it was. Brandon Ennis. Brandon. No, that he threw. Yeah, yeah. Brandon Ennis on that throw to the left for the touchdown. So that was the three play series. There were several groupings of plays and several times during the game where like receivers running wide open. Tate the receiver that one time, and Howard, it was a terrible throw and Howard started the game off as badly, as poorly as you can pick six. You talked about the fumble going in the end zone. How about the receiver, Tate, down the right, the right rail, throws them wide open, literally out of bounds. And that's when I think Connor's like, you know, on his phone texting, yo, fair. Yo, where's McCord? Right, where's McCord?
B
Exactly. Yeah.
A
And it was a fair question, but. But yeah, so. So to me, like the. The ability to create in the run game and then also when they did throw the ball, getting receivers open form a court throughout this game, I just, I thought it was a masterclass. So if you're asking me what stood out most, it was this run game of Ohio State. But specifically the run design and the play calling within the run game and then marrying the passing game to that, it was brilliant. And that's what, you know what, Honest to God, that's why you brought Chip in. And this is the game that when Chip is sitting out at UCLA and it's 70 and sunny and he's the head coach and he's watching players the nil and all that stuff, it's like, oh, it's beautiful out here. He's got a beautiful place in Manhattan beach. Hanging out with Rossillo and Stanford. Steve comes out and hangs out. I was out there for a UCLA game two years ago. Hanging out, like, it's just, it's a nice life. It ain't New England, it ain't Columbus in December, you know, like. But he's like, I gotta go back and coach ball. And you make that decision for a game like this. And it was brilliant to see. It was a lot of fun to see.
B
Do we know who called who? Did they call Chip and be like, hey, man, you know, like, do you think about maybe you want to do this?
A
You think?
B
Chip called Day and said, I'd love to come in. You know, I know you're looking for a coordinator. You know, I just would love to have heard. To be a fly on the wall for that conversation would be great because I think it's changed.
A
I mean, you got to remember him. Like I said, Day was his quarterback, right?
B
No, they definitely have a really.
A
I mean, it's not a relationship. So they're talking all the time. You know, they're talking all the time. I'M sure Chip's bitching about the current system as he did publicly. I'm not saying anything that Chip has said to me that he had, I mean, every interview that he had as a UCLA head coach, not every, but a lot of interviews as a head coach talking about, you know, the state of college football, like that it went viral when he, when he laid out a plan that would be brilliant for college football, like his mind was being used on those sorts of things and not enough. And what he truly loves about this game, and that's what made it better.
B
The game is better with him calling plays.
A
And I totally agree. And we saw it today. The other thing. So with that is kind of the foundation or the backdrop of what was most impressive for me. I know. Talking to you, former offensive lineman all week long. How the hell is Ohio State going to fix this problem? Josh Simmons, the left tackle, down with an injury, talking about him rising potentially first round pick, playing great early in the year. Scouts talking about him, buzz all about him, right? And then now he gets injured. And then we saw in the last game, last, last outing against Nebraska, right? Yeah, Nebraska. Yeah. Without Simmons in there. The backup struggles, he gets nicked up, the third string tackle comes in. Then we talked to Joel Clad. What a great conversation, by the way, looking back over.
B
Interesting, right? The way it played out. Yeah.
A
You know what I mean? Yeah.
B
It was fascinating how it played out.
A
I thought about that conversation while listening to him cover the game with Gus Johnson today, like five or six different times. And the first time was when they brought out Donovan Jackson at the left tackle position. But then watching throughout the game and how they kept talking about the offensive line and how he told us that that's. That position switch was going to be made. So you as my resident offensive lineman, like, what did you see today from that group?
B
So you take Donovan Jackson, your all world left guard, and you kick him out to left tackle. You bring in the guy who played center last year, Carson Hinsman hasn't played a lot this year and you're playing him at guard. And I thought, you know, never started.
A
At guard before, Right?
B
And Joel Klein made this point during the broadcast. He's like, you know, he's never played guard before, Jackson's never played tackle. But they have played next to each other. And I do think that's a good point. They know they have a feeling for. And when you're talking about not to get in the weeds too much with offensive line play, because I know you'll.
A
Be like, all right, man, but when.
B
You'Re combo blocking up to the second level and you're deciding who's going to come off of that linebacker, when you're passing off stunts, when you're picking up pressures, that stuff, that experience, that knowing what the other guy is going to do is important. And I will say that I didn't think it was a flawless performance. There were issues with pass protection. They didn't always run the ball well. But I will say when push came to shove and Ohio State had to win this game and run out the clock, you know, they were physical. They got off the ball, they created seams. They did what they needed to do for Ohio State to get a win in that game. And I think it's encouraging going forward that if that's how that, that group of five played in their first game together, there's no reason to believe it won't continue to get better.
A
Few other things that jumped out and that, that was, that was awesome to see. A few other things I want to touch on before we. I then want to circle back to the fourth quarter. So we're. We're always keeping an eye on, on prospects. Right. And I can't wait to watch this tape like we just watched on tv. We got to study the tape. Probably get to it tomorrow on Sunday and a little bit on Monday. We can circle back on Tuesday and see what was what we saw from the coach copy tape. But my goodness, did Penn State struggle to get open like the wide receivers and the tight ends, Right. And couldn't.
B
Couldn't even get off the line at times. I mean, the play where, where Warren runs into his receiver, the receiver just couldn't get into his route. So now the timing's messed up.
A
They collide.
B
It's, it's. Guys, you got to get off the ball and into your route even if you're not going to catch the ball. Spacing wise, taking away, you know, causing the coverage to account for you so that your best player on your team can get open. It was, it was, it was tough to watch at times on the outside.
A
Yeah.
B
And I remember 50, 50 balls.
A
I remember asking Joel, like, all right, so Tyler Warren's not going to have 17 catches in this game like he did against USC. We all love Tyler Warren, won the top three prospects at the tight end position coming up in this class, you know, probably going to be a top 50 pick. Love them. But, but you can't beat Ohio State with just Tyler Warren. And, and USC doesn't have the safeties of linebackers. To cover Tyler Warren. The one on one matchup that was awesome to watch. And this is the one I can't wait to watch. How about Caleb Downs? Yeah, the youngster. I mean that cat's going to be round pick. The one. One time that I saw that he wasn't matched up and I didn't watch every single play. I was focused on everything else but, but for the vast majority of the game. And Clapp brought this up, that Downs was following him around. It's kind of like your premier corner moving around, you know, trying to like Sir Tan versus Julio Jones back in the day. You know, that Alabama LSU matchup, I'll never forget. It was very similar. Like all right, our best guy is going to be on their best guy. And he shut Warren down the vast majority of the day. And when Warren had that big, it was like a 31, 33 yard reception. He, he. That was versus ransom. Right, the other safety. And so that was that.
B
What a play. That was.
A
By the way, great play. And we'll get to. I want to come back to that in a little bit because that, that drive drove me nuts. But anyway, that if you're, if you're an NFL, if you're an NFL scout, watching that one on one matchup was fascinating to me. The other thing that was fascinating to me from a scouting perspective and just from a game perspective. Talk about like the wide receivers not winning was critical in this game. Do you know it was until late in the second quarter that a wide receiver or tight end had a reception for Penn State.
B
I didn't think, I thought he, I thought he only had five. I missed it. I thought he had five completions and all were to Singleton in the first half.
A
There was one, I think late in the first half. I'll have to go back to it. I thought there was one to a wide receiver. It wasn't of any major significance, but one to a receiver in the first half.
B
Yep.
A
And yeah, Singleton had the five catches out of the backside. I like single five. Yeah, I like Singleton. I don't love him. This is an unbelievable running back class, but Singleton's a good player. But those corners. Other thing we talked about with Clatt, what's going on with the Ohio State defense? Well, part of it is, and I'll never forget to say this, part of it is the individuals aren't playing to the level and some of it is a cornerback. And he didn't say the name, but we kind of both knew Denzel Burke was the guy that he was talking About a little bit. Denzel Burke had not played great. Denzel Burke played pretty good today, man. And I know those Penn State receivers aren't great but they're still Penn State wide receivers like right. You know, so it's good game for Burke and the week before he got.
B
Beat for the go ahead touchdown in the Nebraska game.
A
Yes, exactly. And then Davidson big nosen who's played better this this year hasn't been perfect but played but he was awesome today from what I saw.
B
I couldn't believe that pick. I didn't think that there was no way in real time that I thought he came down with that and was able to pull that away was unbelievable. And he was interfered with. He was like the receiver was. I think it might have been Fleming pushed off on his helmet and somehow he was still able to keep a foot in grab. I mean it was. I mean those are the kind of plays you just don't see every Saturday. It was incredible. I mean there was a. There's a couple of those.
A
I mean we've seen like the one handed interceptions. We've seen like the. You got Moss interceptions over the head. We've seen all sorts of special. That one was so friggin unique.
B
Yeah.
A
Like it happened so fast like in real time. And I was like was that a catch? Now it's not a catch. Incomplete. Our next play and the next thing.
B
And it's also that corner of the end zone where you can't see everything, you know. So it's like what just happened. Like what happened.
A
And I and I think Gus or one of the guys, they like game like that camera, the angle he had.
B
Where it was like was unreal.
A
And then. And to. To gain possession of it so quickly. That was the thing. It was like he had stick him right. That was that catch man. That interception. I mean that was like that changed the whole thing.
B
Right. I mean if you, if you think about that they get that score there.
A
Yeah.
B
That's a story the first half.
A
Yes.
B
It's a different momentum. The whole. It's got a whole different vibe.
A
The whole different vibe. That was the play of the game. There's no like in my mind there were handful of great play. That was the play of the game in one of the plays of the year in college football. Worked up about it.
B
Yeah, we're doing that.
A
Yeah, it was all right. So the wide receivers and tight ends for Penn State getting blanketed was huge. I mean they're there and just schematically right when you, when you realize in Game like third series as defensive coordinator near Ohio State. Then you're like, oh, yeah, this isn't a problem now. It's a Cover 0. Cover 1 all day long. If we're playing Cover 1, we're doing it because we're hoping our free safety just gets a beat on a ball and goes and gets a pick, but we don't need them back there.
B
Yeah.
A
And then what else does that do now? Now your safeties are involved in the run like all the cliches, but. But as a defensive coordinator allows you to get a little more aggressive, a little more exotic. And then, you know, you see, early.
B
On, the refs were. I mean, Joel made the point that the ref said to him before the game, we're going to let them play, and they let him play. I don't think it was. I don't think it was unfair one way or the other, but you got to play the game that they're calling, and if you're Ohio State and you're those corners and they're letting you get that physical, then play that physical. That's. That's the way it's getting called that day. So I thought that was something else that they took advantage of. You want to play Cover 0, and you can get real physical with receivers getting off the line. I think it's a benefit to your defense.
A
All right, so three things that stood out in the fourth quarter. I just want to rip through the fourth quarter real quick because this game was. I mean, this game was huge. That Ohio State has the ball. The. It was a rule to fumble, I believe a catch and fumble on the field. Incomplete pass. That was early. First quarter, fourth quarter. Early fourth quarter. It was then it was reviewed, ruled an incompletion, not a fumble. That was a huge call.
B
Huge.
A
Massive. And I thought again, that was another opportunity to. But where the thing felt like it was about to shift. Felt like it was about to shift in that. With that Igbonosian interception right before the half. And then it again felt like it was going to shift. That first drive in the fourth quarter, okay, Penn State's going to get the ball back. Here we go. And all of a sudden, that play allowed it extended. They didn't get a touchdown, but it resulted in a field goal. Now all of a sudden, Ohio State's up 2013 with 10 minutes and 17 seconds left. What did you have to say?
B
Do you think I was going to say when it was first called? When you watch that play, Will Howard actually makes a game saving. I mean, a Touchdown saving. I think a touchdown saving tackle. So he actually is the one who makes the tackle on the plan. I was like, oh, that's interesting. If they get the ball. I ultimately think they got it right, though. I mean, it was a bang, bang play.
A
I meant to say they were huge call. But it was the right call.
B
I think it was the right call too.
A
Yeah, it was.
B
I think the replay booth. I mean, what a monster game for the replay booth. And I thought that they had a great build.
A
It. I mean those two plays were critical and they, they got.
B
Remember the, the interception was called incomplete.
A
Yep.
B
The, the callback on the fumble and I'm missing the third one now.
A
Oh, the Will Howard, the.
B
Oh, yeah, the fumble. Into the end zone.
A
Into the end zone. Yeah.
B
So those three.
A
There's three. They got all three time calls and.
B
They got all three.
A
You really, like, if you're Penn State, you can. Because you're Penn State and you want to. If you. But like you really can't. No, you're not getting like national sympathy. There's not going to be shows to watch where people are like, oh, I don't know, like, they were just the right calls, man. Couldn't agree more. All right, so Penn State now gets the ball back. It's 27, 2013, 10, 17 remaining. They get the ball back. Best drive of the game. Best drive of the game. 30. What we talked about the 31 yard catch versus ransom for Tyler Warren then. Hey, hey, by the way, our best player really hasn't been involved in this game. Maybe we should get him involved. All right, let's run that option. Creative option. Get it out to Tyler Warren again. 33 yard run gets him down to the three yard line. Bursting goal from the three mensch. Yeah, I think you were echoing what every Penn State fans 3. And Tyler Warren doesn't touch the ball again. I don't care if you put him in at fullback. I don't care if you have him throw a pass and run the option himself. I don't care. He's actually, he has actually gotten behind center and quarterback sneak, you know, run the sneak. I don't care how you do it. Tyler Warren has to touch the ball at least once, probably twice.
B
What you cannot do is run the ball three times.
A
Yep.
B
Get into a fourth down situation where everyone knows you're going to pass. I mean, if you ran the ball, I would have been stunned. And then run some kind of exotic, I mean some kind of exotic play action where you're.
A
I just don't Understand it like your receivers had one catch. Maybe we got to go back and look at the stat sheet.
B
That's why quarterback's been making reactions.
A
We're not right. But. But your receivers aren't winning all day. Why are they going to win now in this moment? Play the odds. Play. Get your guy the ball. And so it's. It's first and goal from the three. Second goal from the three. Third and goal from the one. Fourth and goal from the one.
B
Unreal. And that, that Ohio State defense that we gave, you know, I don't know if we were overly critical of them, but man, they stood up.
A
I mean, that was second week in a row, by the way, and they pointed that out, too. Yeah, Nebraska, they had a huge critical goal on stand as well. So give that.
B
I will never understand that. Fourth down call. You mean you are.
A
It's.
B
Football in so many ways is a numbers game. Right. So now you have a tackle eligible, you're going to put in motion on the left side of the field and release your best player, Warren, to that same side. I want to go back and watch the Play. I'm not 100% certain about this. Even though that tackle was eligible, do you think anyone from Ohio State gave him the time of day? Do you think anyone was like, let's match up with this guy? So, you know, you had someone lined up over him and you're releasing your best player into the same area of the field, you're going to have two or three guys to cover more. It just doesn't make any sense. And then you're throwing over the middle, which is also compact because you, if you run it, they have to have guys in the middle. It just didn't make any sense. Roll your quarterback out to the right where there's space, giving him the opportunity to make a play with his feet. If nothing's available, give guys a chance to get open.
A
It's so much.
B
So many more positive things could have happened.
A
Yeah.
B
If you go to the right on that play instead of trying to.
A
I don't.
B
Do you think Ohio State was like, oh, no, they might run that same play again? We stuffed three times.
A
It was.
B
It was mind boggling.
A
Yeah. I mean, if you're. If you're a Penn State fan today and you wake up and I know that's not James Franklin's call, but he's. He's going down with the ship. Right? Like.
B
Right.
A
I know from talking to, like, dozens of head coaches who aren't the offensive play callers, I've Asked. And I'm, I've been on the side, I was on the sideline for like 12 years, right. I'm literally standing like 10, 15 yards from the guys. Like, head coaches don't call the plays. Typically. Some, some do, but typically don't. But they get on the headset. And I've asked, right, literally dozens of head coaches. I've talked to them about this. The head coach's job is, hey, get 44 the fucking football. Get him the ball. This has to happen. I don't feel like you call the play, you know, you've got what you want to do. We've talked about different way. Like you call the one you want, but he's got to get the ball twice out of these next four. If it takes us four plays, he better have the ball twice. And it didn't happen.
B
I also say this. We, we just gave the flowers to the off Ohio State offensive line, which we should. But isn't it a little disappointing that Penn State couldn't get Ohio State off the, off the field?
A
So this, and this is the third part of the fourth quarter. I want to get 513. Ohio State gets the ball at its own one yard line. And listen, Will Howard did not play well. Will Howard admitted post game, I did not play well. Will Howard was a Pennsylvania boy, was born in Pennsylvania. We talked about the town he was born in, the high school he went to in Pennsylvania, how he was desperate, just like Joel Klatt was desperate to go to Colorado. Colorado State, right. And got to Colorado State and threw for 417 or whatever the stat line rolled. 417, right. So this was his Joel Clatt against Colorado State game. Wanted to have a monster game, shove it right up, you know, where you didn't recruit me, fine, here I am, but had to go to Kansas State and I finally get a shot of getting the Ohio State quarterback, and now I'm going to ruin your season. So he came out and he didn't play well. But give this dude some credit, man. And when, when Conor asked me why, why not McCORD and why will Howard? We went back to conversations I've had. Yeah, it's the mobility is part of it. There's also something about trusting your quarterback implicitly. And I'm not talking about decision on a throw. I'm not talking about holding on the football, trusting him as a human being, as a man, as in football character. You hear football character kicked around all the time. Football character. There's so many different elements to it, but part of it Especially the quarterback position is when we need you, when it's most desperate, when it's most important. Will you do anything for this football team, including erasing the memories of the mistakes you've made in this game? What he did. So the boys that, boys that Will Howard, the nil money, they spent, the bringing, bringing in this guy to fit the system, everything that they did to make him the guy. And to have that moment against Oregon, that devastating moment late in the Oregon game and be like, oh, man. And to bounce. Yeah. The ghosts that could have been starting to build in his brain and it wasn't him dissecting the defense down the stretch, it was him putting the ball in his hand. First and ten from the one yard line. We got to get out of here.
B
He grinds five yards or four yards on that sneak.
A
Five yards, two more times he carries the ball in that drive. First down extends the drive. Clock is ticking. Last time they gave him the ball. First down, basically, game's over. Then they. The then, technically it was a run, but the kneel down victory formation was the last time. So for this offensive line, phenomenal. For this team, Ohio State, phenomenal. But for Will Howard, the pressure that is taken off of his shoulders now, like, it's almost like he, he was anointed today. Like, okay, you're our guy. And now we know why. Does that make sense?
B
Yeah, Listen, Jim Nagy had an all time quote this week when he said, you can't coach balls into a player. Yeah, it's true. Like, you can't coach balls into a player and you can be like, oh, he throws it this well and he's this accurate and he's. When, when the, when the chips are down, who's going to make a play? Who is like, I, I was laughing. I don't know if we gave that one enough attention when he said it, but it was great. It's just true. You can't coach balls into a player.
A
Yeah. And he showed some, some brass ones today. Yeah. Awesome for Will Howard, you know, awesome for Ohio State. James Franco now one in 14 against top five opponents. I mean, one in, one in eight, I think against Ohio State, yelling at, yelling at fans, getting booed, leaving the stadium, chance to fire him. It's going to be, it's going to be interesting. But. All right, so that's the fallout. Two things. I want to get to fall out real quickly and we'll move on to the other game. That's the fallout. That's the misery that is James Franklin's life. Tonight and this week. But Penn State's kind of not in a bad position, man. Like they should. They should easily, not easily. They should like handle business and win out. And now they don't have to go to Indianapolis. Right. It's very likely. Unless something happens, you know, something totally unforeseen happens. It's. It's going to be Oregon versus Ohio State in a rematch in Indianapolis in the Big Ten championship.
B
Yeah. I don't see unless Indiana somehow pulls off that upset. But like, there's, there's, it's a very low probability that it's going to be Penn State.
A
Very low probability that Penn State's going to Indianapolis. And it's still a very high probability that Penn State's going to be in the playoff.
B
Right.
A
So while this is devastating and the trends are there and it's. You're miserable. If you're a Penn State fan today, there's a, there's always very clear silver lining. And now what's also awesome is Ohio State, Oregon, very good chance that we're going to see a rematch of that game.
B
Yeah, that's great for football. That's great for college football.
A
So. Yeah. And then what happened? I mean, a lot. And then what happens if Oregon loses and that, I mean, Ohio State loses two to Oregon. Are they still in and now they've got the win over Penn State. It's going to, I don't know. It's going to be a lot of fun. One last thing. Another text that Connor sent. So Connor, if you're there, I am reading your text all day. He said he had a good question though, man. It's really good question. This running back group, I don't feel like, you know, Quinshaw, Judkins and Trayvon Henderson, super talented. Henderson's probably going to be a, you know, mid round pick. Has not been the player that he never kind of reached that elite level and sustained it, if you will, better.
B
This year than he did last year.
A
He does. I think this is the right kind of role.
B
Shoes, more births. There's still times where I'm like, slow down, bro. Just, just set it up a little bit more.
A
But he looks explosive and they're, they're a great combination for each other. Even though they kind of, they look like they're built similarly. One is one's more speed and straight line and explosiveness and Henderson, the other is a grinder in Judkins. But anyway, college football history recently. Recently, like what tandems are as talented as this. And I do think now that if the offensive line continues to play this way. Chips now rolling as a play play caller with these guys. They're kind of in a groove. I think from this point on throughout the regular season against Oregon, let's say potentially in the Big Ten championship into the playoffs, this could become an even more special group. Like something that we talk about for several, several years to come. So his question was like recent history, best running back tandems. Would you put this up with some of the best running back off the top of your head? Like who do you think of right away? My two answers were I had to go back to Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown. Right. There was another back. It was like the fullback, the big guy with them. But. But those two there was actually.
B
Yeah.
A
And then. And then also Arkansas with McFadden and Felix Jones and also they had the. Peyton Hillis was the third one. But those two were the guys Cadillac and.
B
I mean and didn't he win an MVP one year?
A
Yeah, he wasn't he on the COVID of Madden?
B
He's at the COVID of Madden.
A
Yeah, maybe an mvp, but he was.
B
Definitely on the COVID of Madden.
A
But also on this thread we're mentioned and Willis McGahey, Portis and Gore at Miami.
B
Yeah.
A
Chubb Chubb and Sony Michelle at Georgia. The great. I mean Alabama had runs of them right for like a, I don't know, 12, 13 year span with Ingram, Richardson, Lacey. But, but the thing, sorry, the difference in Alabama was they had, they always kind of had the featured guy and then it was like the younger guy kind of getting his. Yeah like earning his stripes and he's going to be next up. But it was Ingram, Richardson, Lacy and then they. Damien or like that run, second run of like Damien Harris, Jacobs, Najee Harris and Derrick Henry. I'm ever seeing Derek Henry. I think it was it. Yes. Washington like the Sugar bowl and I didn't know who he was and he had, he ripped off like a 50 yard run and like one guy in this was like in the first row of the stands. He's like yeah, that's the next one. That's the next one.
B
Back then you had to have like the running back number. You must have been like the guy's got the wrong number on like, like he can't be.
A
But I threw this out to. I threw this out to the X verse. I threw it out to all of our friends on X and you can follow me @mcshay13 Mensch, what's your handle again? It's like some really long handle.
B
Yeah, it's like at Scouts bench, I think. I don't even know. I'll figure that out for you.
A
That's why, that's why you don't have followers. I mean, come on, man. All right, so anyway, I threw it out to our friends on X. Great, great back and forth. A lot of people. I forgot Reggie Bush and Lendale White. I mean, awesome thunder and lightning.
B
People will sleep on that one. At Scouts Inc. Mensch.
A
There you go. Scouts Inc. Match nice and short, easy to type. In Scouts Inc. Mensch, Wisconsin. I didn't realize all three were in the same. Were in the same running back room. And I guess it was one just one year. But Monty Ball, James White, Melvin Gordon were all in the same back for that one season.
B
I knew that.
A
Yeah, Minnesota had a sneaky one. I forgot someone on X pointed it out. Marion Barber. Yeah. And then there were some old school ones. The obvious ones like Dickerson and James. Right. Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas. And then the funniest one. I'll give you credit out there, John Turner. He's got a blue checkmark. I don't know who you are, John Turner, but I was impressed. He said he chimed in with, you also got to throw in Herschel Walker and then just pick a cheerleader. It didn't matter. So I don't know. That was a fun one. But yeah, follow your guy. Mensch at Scouts Inc. Mensch and change it. This week we got to be better. This is the second week of the show. Kind of just getting our bearings. We'll start like, we need to start interacting more on social media. We're getting clips out and doing all that stuff. But like, I want, I want fans. I want, like interested, you know, next up, Scouts, everyone to get involved in the show. And so it's on us to start including and getting people involved more. And that was our first way to get started on that. All right, Mitch, let's stick with Oregon. Michigan real quick. And I just want to get in like what jumped out real quick. I'll give you what jumped out for me because I just want to stay in the, in the Big Ten while we're here. I talked about Oregon, like just rolling right? The final was 38, 17. I don't think I realized coming into the year the depth of weapons that Oregon has. I absolutely love Jordan James at running back. I love his. I love his run style. We'll get into him and how he fits into this running back class. We've talked. This episode is brought to you by.
B
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LinkedIn the place to be to be.
A
Briefly about how loaded this group is. I mean you obviously have, you've got, you got Ashton Ginty, who's, who's making a run at the Heisman. Who's going to be a top 15 pick. Very likely. We talked about Judkins, Amari and Hampton from North Carolina. You know Trevion Henderson as well. We talked about him today, Nicholas Singleton. So we saw a bunch of good running backs today. ETN got knocked out of the Georgia Florida game. We'll talk about that later. But, but I like this, I'm talking as a mid round pick like day three. I really like Jordan James, his lateral cuts, his bursts up the field. I just, I love his vision and his sharp like the snap he has as a runner. You know I love backs who run low to the ground, have a lot of snap. And Jordan James has that. But all these weapons are receiver man. And Dylan Gabriel's just, he's dealing.
B
Yeah, he is.
A
And I've talked about, we've talked about Stein and his journey to where he's gotten at Oregon. And you talk about can't coach balls. Well, you also with coaches it takes Couillons, right?
B
Yeah.
A
It takes Couons to make a decision to bring in a guy who's been like a GA in like a high school, not even a head coach like a oc and that's what he did with Stein. Dan Lanning did with his offensive coordinator. But they've got weapons. Gabriel is comfortable. Stein has got him comfortable. And they've got weapons. And everyone knows, everyone knows about Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson. Like we knew that coming in. What I did not know, bud, is that this Justice Low guy was going to start to emerge like halfway through the year. The last two weeks he's been a huge part of this offense. And how about Treshawn Holden today?
B
Who saw that?
A
Six catches, 149 yards. This team is legitimate. That is my takeaway.
B
Holden, I mean, Holden looked, I mean he looked the part. I mean I was like, how has this guy not been making more plays? I mean he's. He had 6 for 149 today. He's had nowhere near that production. It's almost like, where have you been when you're watching it? You're like, that's just another guy that's emerged that they can go to. I will say this quickly on the, on the Michigan side of the ball. I left that I. When we finished watching Penn State, Ohio State, I was like, Warren might be tight end one. He might be tight end one in this class. And then, and then Colston Loveland goes out and catches 7 for 112 and just does what Colson Loveland does. Like he. They're different kind of players, but no one, I don't see tight ends separate like Loveland does. And then the ball skills. He had one, I guess you could call it a drop where, you know, they had to replay it. But I mean he is after the catch, he's a dude. I mean he's, he's just. It's impressive. And every time I'm like, oh, maybe Warren's the guy. And I, and I thought Mason Taylor, I thought Mason Taylor was gonna be up there. I think Mason Taylor's behind those two now.
A
Yeah, he's behind those two. I think Loveland and Warren, I think you could flip flop them how you want. I think, I think if you took a poll, it would be Loveland 1, Warren 2. Like a majority but. But I don't think anyone's going to beat you up. And I think Taylor's through. There's a drop off after that. There's some other decent guys, but there's a drop. There's. But there's three hit Ferguson from Oregon.
B
Though, he's playing well too. Speaking of other weapons, catch wise and.
A
Is it Sadiq is the other one? I think it's Sadiq. Yeah. Kenyan. Yeah. They. They've got weapons for days. I just didn't realize coming into the year I knew that they had dudes and I knew. But I just like this is a little different than what I'm used to. Seeing with Oregon and then you have, you have your, your.
B
It's in a weird way, I know chips in Ohio State now, but you have your Rondo. And Gabriel, the key is just I'm gonna go wherever I need to go. He looks so calm.
A
Yes, he just looks.
B
Everything is poised, everything is calm, you.
A
Know, waiting for a Dylan Gabriel game. And I thought, okay, and I said it before, like Dylan Gabriel in the past, whether UCF or Oklahoma would play great, put up big numbers, have awesome moments, like gutsy big time plays when they need like awesome player. But would always like there would be one game or there would be like a couple series where you're like, like where he's holding the team back. Okay.
B
Right.
A
Or the team was counting on him to carry and he just like that day wasn't his day. I keep waiting for that from Dylan Gabriel and it's, it might not be coming, bud. It might not yet. Because he looks so much more comfortable in what he's doing. He's not pressing. And that's to me is the secret sauce of what Stein has done. He's gotten him, he's gotten to the best of him, right? And this is what a great coach does. He has bottled up and channeled the best of what Gabriel is and has kind of chipped away at all the things that would get Gabriel into, into trouble in the past. It's the same thing he did with Bo Nicks, dude. Yeah, it's the same thing he did with Bo Nick. Bo Nicks was a, was a disaster at Auburn. Right? Same kind, same kind of stuff. Like five great games, but three games where it's like we lost because of Bo Nicks or we lost this game, close game at the end because he made that, that Bo Nicks mistake. He gets to Oregon and then you know, we signed like his last year. He didn't have any, he didn't have those moments, those games. So I don't know, it's fascinating to watch but I, and this, this was the first true road test for Oregon and I know Michigan's got all of the problem it's got but it didn't matter who they played today. Like they, they, they played ball today at the level that they wanted to play. And, and that to me is a sign of a championship level team. Is that the consistency every week that we're not, we're not going to roll it out there. Not worried about traveling across the country, going to Michigan. We don't care about the 110, 115, whatever's in the thousand in the crowd. We don't care this is the national champion. We don't care that they've got two NFL defensive tackles and an NFL edge rusher. Like, it didn't matter. Like, we're playing our game. That's what really jumped out with Oregon, so. And then finally Florida, Georgia. I did not expect to have to talk about this game the way we're going to talk about this game. The injury was devastating for Lagway. Yeah, I mean, hamstring and it looked bad. Even coach.
B
I've never seen a hamstring look that bad.
A
Even coach said it half time, like, yeah, it's a hit. He goes, it's a hamstring. But like, it's a bad hamstring. It's a serious one or however he phrased it. So, I mean, obviously, thoughts and prayers with Lagway, like, just a freshman out there, you know, made some mistakes early on. Great long throws, a beautiful deep ball, man. Yeah, I mean, he's 2%, but I mean, he's.
B
Yeah, he's still like a dangerous guy.
A
Yeah. So. And yeah, it was 7, 3 after that deep ball. But the story of this game, and you can say that, you know, Trevor etn, rib injury, not playing. Yeah, that was a story, but that was like the subplot, maybe the story.
B
Of the Georgia season.
A
Yeah, Carson Beck's regression is real. Yeah, he's not the same guy. And I'm not basking that in that. I. I'm frustrated for him. As we've talked about endless times, and we will always talk about, like, I'm here, I pull for all of these dudes. And this is an opportunity coming into the season to take his game to another level. There are a lot of people that thought he could be the, you know, first quarterback taken. It's not even about that right now. It's about Carson Beck getting back to the drawing board and figuring out what's going on. And I'm not in the meeting rooms. I'm not, you know, I'm not one of his best friends hanging out with him. I'm not. I don't know what's going. I don't know the why behind it. I know the product on the field, and that's what we're here to talk about. And the product on the field. The product on the field is 11 interceptions in the last nine games. The product in the field is, I think, four games now this season with multiple interceptions. And more specifically, the product on the field shows me a quarterback that Desperately misses the comfort level of lad McConkey and Mrs. The security blanket of Brock Bowers. And unfortunately, what you expect, especially at a place like Georgia. And we've talked about the recruiting woes comparatively, like within what they, how great they recruit. They don't get the receivers like LSU or Texas or Alabama or Ohio State. They just don't because of the system they run and all. But they still get really good athletes and they still get really, you know, top tier.
B
Yeah.
A
Wide receivers. And for some reason he is not, he does not trust his weapons. And Pollock said this to us earlier in the year when we talked to him on our very first show. Doesn't trust his tight ends. You know what? Pollock's right.
B
Right.
A
He also, he also does not have a great deal of trust in any of his weapons that he's throwing too. And then you take ETN out of the game and, and now the, the running game is not the same. ETN gets involved as a receiver. Now that aspect's not in. Although, although the dude they brought in, I don't have his name in front of me. The dude they brought in, look it up. The white running Frazier. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Huh. Dwight Phillips, seven catches or whatever it was. He was awesome catching the ball in the backfield. But, but my point is. Yeah, looking down the field, going through progressions, I just see a quarterback that's not comfortable. I'm going to go back and study this tape. But I, but I saw it. But like the camera angles and watching the game, they're so good. And it's basically like watching the tape. Sometimes when you get Herb street and Fowler on the game, when Herbie's got his clicker going and they've got the sky cam, they've got the end zone, they've got the all 22. Like, they show you what you on. On certain plays, especially with quarterbacks and big plays, you're going to see everything you need to see. And I saw it right, the first two interceptions. Just, just bad ball. Not seeing the picture clearly and that. And, and, and I don't see, I don't see him pressing, but I don't see Carson Beck having an awful lot of like, air for protecting the football in some, in certain situations, they're just throws you can't make, man. With the game experience he has at the level that he has played, there are decisions that he can't make, there are throws that he can't make and the lack of seeing certain. Like on the first interception, the. I want to say was the safety dropped or the corner, the 6 foot 2 corner, 28 I want to say dropped off. And he had, he had kind of looked and he was looking back and then he came back to it and it was just a lack of late. It was kind of like when you're driving a car and you look to your left, right, no, no car coming. You look back to your right. Now that you all clear, no car coming, but then you. And then you just take off. Yeah, right. Instead of looking back one more time. Now all of a sudden this came this, this Lamborghini we call it because that's what Carson's back is driving these days. Not to be a ball buster, but this Lamborghini comes screaming, come screaming down 95 miles an hour. You didn't see him because you didn't look, you didn't peek left before taking turn to left. That's what that play was. Okay. And then the next one they said on the broadcast, double coverage. Even the defender who was in trail, trail man to man coverage, trailing the receiver. I think he would have gotten there had the first guy got the interception. The guy behind him would have had the interception and at the very best the third defender who was in trail would have probably batted the ball down. So those I, I caught, I caught a glimpse of the third interception. I don't know if you saw it, but it really, the point is made.
B
He also got away with one. I mean he threw one right to a linebacker, safety drop and underneath and went off the guy's hands. It was, I mean he easily could have had four picks in that game, but he's got five over the last two weeks. Eight over the last or five of the last two games. Eight over the last four games.
A
Yeah.
B
Not good, man.
A
No, obviously not. So when, so when we start talking about let's keep it on Georgia for a minute on Georgia, he does bounce back a little bit. Like, I mean they just, they can't get away with it. They get away with it with an, against an inferior Florida team and a third string, not a second string, a third string quarterback and Aiden Warner who was playing at Yale last year. So they get away with it, they get out of there with a, you know, looks on paper was a 14 point win, but it was, it was an absolute battle because of Beck, you know, and so when the positive is, as I was about to say, against Texas, second half. No, Alabama. Against Alabama, second half, he bounced back and was really good. And after the third interception he was 12 of 14 for what it's worth. But like.
B
Right.
A
Yeah.
B
But I also thought that they did a good job of getting to. What he was comfortable with is, which is just getting, you know, a lot of predetermined reads, getting the ball out of his hands quickly and, and not really putting a lot of pressure on him to make reads or downfield throws. So I mean, it is, it is what it is. By the way, they go to, they go to Mississippi next week and Ole.
A
Miss kind of woke up a little today.
B
Ole miss put up 63 today and I don't think Trey Harris is played in the last.
A
He didn't. He did not play today. I know that.
B
So, I mean, did they get him back? He's, by the way, he's, I love his tape, but do they get him back? And now you're, you're going against that offense. Are they able to put up some points? Are you pressing to keep, to, you know, keep pace? I mean, that's, that's setting up as a pretty interesting game. And they have some guys on the defensive side of the ball and Nolan and Ivy who can get after the quarterback a little bit.
A
So, you know, that's.
B
Yeah. See how he bounces back.
A
And then we got a lot to talk about with this quarterback class. You know, Beck came in as always, when Pete, Pete Thamel mentioned to us that I mentioned to everyone in the game day early in the year when he pulled, everyone pulled all the NFL scouts that he talked to and Carson Beck was the, you know, coming in the majority vote to be the first quarterback taken. And now like Shador Sanders, Garrett Nussmeyer, Cam Ward, Quinn Ewers up in the. Jalen Milroe, like he could be the sixth quarterback now. Now Milro could go back. Nuss Myers we talked about could go back. Yeah. The love is not there, as Jim Nagy pointed out for Cam Ward, like, like a lot of people thinking that's going to be something we're gonna. I'm gonna dig really into Cam Ward's tape this week.
B
That was the fascinating part of the.
A
Conversation and I think it's great because I, we. I watched the first tape against Florida. I've watched them on television. I'm going to dive back in. We're going to have a conversation about that on Thursday. But speaking of Pete Thamill kind enough to join us on Tuesday. It's the rankings reveal, the first rankings reveal for the College Football Playoff. This is going to be exciting, man. You know, 12 team playoff. First rankings reveal is on Tuesday. We're going to have our show and I'm sure my producers will yell at us after, but we're gonna have our show on Tuesday as regularly scheduled. Then we're gonna do like an add on show. I'm certain you can find it on Spotify. I'm hopeful. I know you're gonna be able to find it on YouTube at some point. We'll see you know when we're able to get that up. But it's gonna be after the rankings reveal show is on and, and you and I are gonna come on, just talk about it, man, figure out what the landscape is. We've seen the AP poll, the horrible coaches poll. We, we've put together our polls, all that stuff. But now we're going to have some insight into what the committee's looking at, where those guys are all going to rank. And my good friend Pete Thammel, who's also a he's got new New England ties. He is going to join us on Tuesday. Very busy man. Don't know how long we can get him, but he's scheduled to come on with us Tuesday and then we'll come back after that show, which will be on Tuesday morning. We'll get it to you as soon as we can. Probably early afternoon after the rankings reveal show. We will have a follow up where you and I break it all down on Tuesday night. So an exciting week here at the McShay show and then next Saturday, remember, we're fired up for this. Next Saturday we're going to be live after the LSU hosting Alabama game. Always one of the great games of the season and we'll be on. We'll screw it up. We'll have to fight through it. But we'll see if we can put together a show for an hour or so next Saturday night. So until Tuesday, we appreciate you downloading, subscribing, liking all the things that you do. Please check us out on on on x @mcshay13 mcshay, I mean mensch is There you go. Send us some questions, folks. Send us some questions, send us some topics. There's a lot that we want to get into, but there's a lot we want to hear from you too. So until Tuesday, take care. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler or visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit MD gamblinghelp.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 York.
Podcast Summary: The McShay Show – Ohio State–Penn State Takeaways, Georgia's Close Call, and Another Oregon Master Class
Release Date: November 3, 2024
Host/Author: Todd McShay, The Ringer
Podcast: The McShay Show
Todd McShay opens the episode by announcing a significant transition for The McShay Show. He shares that this will be the last Saturday Night Instant Reaction show not broadcasted live. Starting the following week, the show will move to live broadcasts on YouTube immediately after primetime games, with accompanying podcasts available on platforms like Spotify.
Notable Quote:
"It's just about talking ball from today. Few great games that we want to get to Penn State, Ohio State..."
(02:15)
The primary focus is on the Ohio State Buckeyes' 20-13 victory over Penn State Nittany Lions. Both teams were under pressure, needing a win to bolster their standings in the newly expanded 12-team playoff system.
Notable Quote:
"Ohio State and Ryan Day get a much needed win, right? Both teams needed it."
(02:15)
Todd praises Ohio State's offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, highlighting his strategic prowess in the run game and play design. Kelly's decision to prioritize a strong run game, combined with quick and efficient quarterback distribution, was pivotal in dominating Penn State throughout the game.
Notable Quote:
"Chip Kelly is the best play designer and play caller in the run game in all of college football."
(06:47)
Despite injuries, Ohio State's offensive line showcased resilience. The backup players stepped up following Josh Simmons' injury, maintaining effective blocking schemes that empowered the running backs and quarterback.
Notable Quote:
"When push came to shove and Ohio State had to win this game and run out the clock, you know, they were physical."
(17:06)
Quarterback Will Howard faced initial struggles but redeemed himself with crucial plays in the fourth quarter. His ability to secure first downs late in the game was instrumental in sealing the victory for Ohio State.
Notable Quote:
"Will Howard did not play well. Will Howard admitted post game, I did not play well. But give this dude some credit..."
(33:18)
Ohio State's defense played a significant role, particularly standout performances by cornerbacks like Denzel Burke and Davidson Bignose. Key interceptions and defensive stops shifted the momentum in favor of the Buckeyes.
Notable Quote:
"That interception was the play of the game. There's no like in my mind there were handful of great plays. That was the play of the game."
(20:17)
Todd discusses Penn State's defensive shortcomings, particularly against top-tier offenses like Ohio State's. The performance raises questions about head coach James Franklin's future, given the team's inability to secure wins against high-ranking opponents.
Notable Quote:
"James Franklin now one in 14 against top five opponents... he’s going to be interesting."
(33:18)
With this loss, Penn State's chances of securing a playoff spot have diminished, likely setting up a rematch between Oregon and Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship.
Notable Quote:
"It's very likely that we're going to see a rematch of that game."
(35:46)
The Buckeyes’ running back tandem, featuring Quinchon Judkins and Trayvon Henderson, demonstrated excellent chemistry and complementary skill sets. Judkins provides a grinding presence, while Henderson offers explosiveness, making them one of the most formidable duos in college football.
Notable Quote:
"They're kind of in a groove. I think from this point on... this could become an even more special group."
(36:06)
Todd compares Ohio State’s running backs to some of the best tandems in recent history, such as Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown, highlighting their potential impact on the team's success.
Notable Quote:
"I had to go back to Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown... those two were the guys."
(37:53)
Oregon showcased a deep and versatile offense, led by quarterback Dylan Gabriel and running back Jordan James. The team’s ability to adapt and execute under pressure was evident in their dominant performance against Michigan.
Notable Quote:
"This team is legitimate. That is my takeaway."
(44:50)
Todd commends Oregon’s head coach Dan Lanning for his role in maximizing player potential, particularly Dylan Gabriel's growth as a dependable quarterback. The coaching staff’s ability to create a cohesive and effective offensive unit stands out.
Notable Quote:
"Stein has got him comfortable. And they've got weapons."
(46:05)
Georgia faced significant challenges with quarterback Carson Beck’s performance, marked by multiple interceptions and a lack of trust in his receivers. Additionally, freshman Lagway suffered a severe hamstring injury, further complicating the team’s dynamics.
Notable Quote:
"The product on the field shows me a quarterback that desperately misses the comfort level of Lad McConkey and Mrs. The security blanket of Brock Bowers."
(50:05)
Despite the setbacks, Georgia maintained control over the game, leveraging their defensive strength to counterbalance offensive inconsistencies. However, the quarterback's struggles highlight potential issues in the team's offensive strategy.
Notable Quote:
"They get away with it against an inferior Florida team and a third-string quarterback."
(55:58)
Todd engages in a discussion comparing Ohio State’s running back tandem to historic pairs across various college programs. He highlights the importance of complementary skill sets and chemistry, drawing parallels to legendary duos that have driven their teams to success.
Notable Quote:
"Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown... Arkansas with McFadden and Felix Jones."
(37:59)
The hosts announce an upcoming episode featuring guest Pete Thamel to discuss the first rankings reveal for the College Football Playoff. This segment promises insights into the committee's evaluation criteria and potential playoff landscapes.
Notable Quote:
"Pete Thamel... he's going to join us on Tuesday and then we'll come back after that show to break it all down."
(57:35)
Todd emphasizes the importance of listener engagement through social media, encouraging fans to follow and interact with the show’s handles for questions and topics.
Notable Quote:
"Send us some questions, send us some topics. There's a lot we want to hear from you too."
(39:35)
Todd wraps up the episode by reflecting on the impressive performances from Ohio State and Oregon, the challenges faced by Penn State and Georgia, and the evolving landscape of college football as the playoff picture solidifies. He underscores the importance of coaching decisions, player development, and strategic execution in determining the outcomes of critical games.
Notable Quote:
"The game was huge. Ohio State has the ball. The offensive line, phenomenal. But it's about Will Howard and how he handled the pressure."
(33:18)
Ohio State’s Dominance: Chip Kelly’s offensive strategies and the resilient performance of Ohio State’s offensive line and quarterback Will Howard were pivotal in securing a crucial win over Penn State.
Penn State’s Struggles: The loss raises concerns about James Franklin’s coaching efficacy against top-tier teams, potentially impacting Penn State’s playoff aspirations.
Oregon’s Offensive Prowess: Oregon demonstrated a versatile and effective offense under Dan Lanning, with standout performances from Dylan Gabriel and Jordan James.
Georgia’s Challenges: Injuries and quarterback Carson Beck’s inconsistent performance highlight areas needing improvement for Georgia as they navigate the competitive season.
Historical Running Back Tandems: Ohio State’s running back duo is being compared to some of the best tandems in college football history, emphasizing the importance of complementary skills and chemistry.
Upcoming Playoff Rankings: The impending playoff rankings reveal is highly anticipated, with expert analysis expected to shed light on the evolving college football landscape.
Chip Kelly’s Strategy:
"Chip Kelly is the best play designer and play caller in the run game in all of college football."
(06:47)
Will Howard’s Redemption:
"Will Howard did not play well. But give this dude some credit..."
(33:18)
Running Back Chemistry:
"They're kind of in a groove. I think from this point on... this could become an even more special group."
(36:06)
Playoff Implications:
"It's very likely that we're going to see a rematch of that game."
(35:46)
Coaching Praise:
"Stein has got him comfortable. And they've got weapons."
(46:05)
Disclaimer: Timestamps are based on the provided transcript and may be approximate.