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The McShay Show
Ohio State’s Bad Day, A Texas Two (QB) Step, and South Carolina Makes Its CFP Case
01:20:44
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- [00:00]
Scott McShay
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 is starting to become more clear. This is the first year with the 12 team playoff 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 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 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 RGH help.com this.
- [01:02]
Mensch
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- [03:30]
Scott McShay
We are live Mensch Another wild Another wild day. Felt like a weekend, but it's only Saturday. I guess Friday felt like a felt like a Saturday. Saturday felt like an extended Saturday. But thanks for joining us. We're excited. We've Got the Week 14 live reaction show obviously coming off of that really fascinating Texas Texas A M game. How you doing, bud?
- [03:54]
Connor
Doing well.
- [03:56]
Scott McShay
Yeah.
- [03:56]
Connor
Try to catch my breath. Just like you, I think.
- [03:58]
Scott McShay
Yeah, yeah, I am. I am. All right, I'm gonna rip through a few thoughts. Right. Okay. This is where we sit tonight. Here's what I think. I know. Okay, five things. I had 10 things last week, so we're condensing. We're getting better as we go.
- [04:14]
Connor
I like it.
- [04:14]
Scott McShay
Number one. I desperately want now to see Oregon versus Texas national championship game, but I'm all But I'm also pumped to see Georgia versus Texas rematch. Right? So that's that's Number one. Number two, this one's tougher. Ryan days out as the Ohio State head coach. After this, the only thing that saves Ryan Day's job, and we'll get into this, but the only thing that I think could save Ryan's. Ryan Day's job, it would be barring him winning a national championship in January. Okay, number three. Men was right. Mensch was right. Miami is fraudulent and Clemson, I think, was. Is fraudulent. But Clemson still somehow has a chance to. To go get in the College Football Playoff because they get into the. Into the ACC title game. And that brings me to number four, my number four point thing that I think that I know now. Clemson backs his way. It's. Let me start that over. Clemson backs its way into the ACC title game. Penn State back backs its way into the Big Ten title game. And we still sitting here at 11:41 Eastern Standard Time. As I'm looking at the score 14 to 10, BYU over Houston. We still don't know which of these teams, Right, Iowa State, BYU, or Colorado is going to back its way into the Big 12 championship game. So my number four point is these championship games in the first year of the 12th team College football championship are gonna kind of suck me. Yeah.
- [06:03]
Connor
A little bit of meh.
- [06:04]
Scott McShay
Yeah. All right, number five, Notre Dame, safely in.
- [06:09]
Connor
Right.
- [06:10]
Scott McShay
Earned it. Marcus Freeman, great job this year bouncing back from that Northern. Northern Illinois loss and, and getting better each and every week. But how good is Notre Dame really?
- [06:22]
Connor
Don't know yet.
- [06:23]
Scott McShay
Those are my five points. So let's get started.
- [06:26]
Connor
Texas.
- [06:27]
Scott McShay
Texas. Texas A M. There's Texas right there. They are. Yeah. I. I feel like we've been talking since just after the Michigan game almost with Texas and since really, since the. The Quinn Ewers injury. That. The oblique, not the ankle this past week. The oblique. Right, that. Ah, nice win for Texas. Yeah, they took care of business. Grinding through. Sarkeesians kind of holding back, Pre protecting his quarterback. It felt like Texas tonight for the first time in over a month. It felt like Texas. Okay. Quinn Ewers was not a world beater. We can dive into, you know, details on it, but like, I wondered. I wondered about yours tonight. I really did. I wondered about yours tonight. I don't know where you stood, but coming into this game, I wondered. I wondered. You know, the offense had been sputtering. It wasn't struggling, but it was kind of just grinding its way through. He then has the ankle injury last week. They run the ball the second half. He wants to dkr. He wants to be in the stadium, final regular season home game there at Texas, and he wanted to be there and finished that game out. And then Arch comes in and has that, I think 16 yard touchdown run early in the game. And granted yours already had the 26 yard run early, kind of, you know, squash some, some concerns about the ankle. But Arch comes in and like right away, awesome run down the left side, reaches over pylon, touchdown. Yeah. And I'm like, but this dog has been in too many street fights. I don't care. Velocity might not be there, ankle might be dinged up. He's not perfect. But I get why Sark is sticking with this guy. I really do. And the second half, yeah, the interception happened, the fumble happened. They didn't get things going offensively. But the first half, the way he played, the composure, the poise, he's layering the ball, the touch he has dropping the bucket throw that he made, the confidence and, and I felt like the aggressiveness in the first half at least, right? Aggressiveness in the passing game was finally back. What did you see, Mitch?
- [08:51]
Connor
My, you know, look, he had the 93 yard pick six. The ball was tipped. That's a tough one. I mean, I, I, it's really tough to ding him for that when the ball gets tipped. I thought the only real play that I had a problem with was the not tucking it away and fumbling deep in their zone. That was a tough one for me. You gotta, you gotta protect the ball. His, his velocity does not look great to me, but his downfield touch tonight was awesome. Yeah, he was dropping the ball in his timing, getting the ball out. He never looked rattled. I love the way that they ran the ball to take pressure off him, stay committed to the run. That's the Texas offense that I think at its best is to make sure that they have that running game going too. But yeah, overall, I thought it was an impressive performance from yours, especially for a guy that I do think is walking wounded. I think he's banged up, man.
- [09:35]
Scott McShay
Yeah. And it's interesting because now you have, you have the, the rematch against Georgia, right? And it's like, gosh, how much does that game truly matter?
- [09:47]
Connor
Right?
- [09:48]
Scott McShay
Like, how much does it truly matter? And I even, Nick Saban, like, not many people I trust more than Nick. Nick made the comment that he's not sure that he would want that by week. You already have plenty of time off from the championship game.
- [10:04]
Connor
Right.
- [10:04]
Scott McShay
Which will be, what's the date? What is so next Saturday. This is really good, really good live. But next Saturday and Of course my calendar is not going to work.
- [10:17]
Connor
We talked about this. You want the operation to stay the same. You want the guys to stay in their rhythm. You want them to be doing the exact same thing as they've been doing all season. You don't want them to have that extra week to think about things. Really.
- [10:28]
Scott McShay
Yeah. Next Saturday's the 7th, so you still have. You have a couple weeks after that to. To rest up. And Nick's point was. I think I'd rather. Yeah, I think I'd rather play that first game at home. Right. And keep in the process, keep the grind going the right way. So regardless, my point, I guess, in all of this is I. I loved what I saw with Arch being involved in the offense. I. I do think you have, you know, you wonder. I mean, they're going to come out, they're going to play, they're going to battle. There's no question about it. You got the SEC championship on the line. Yes. You want to be the number one, you know, number one seed, if you will. You want to go in with the buy, I guess, but. But maybe. But how? I don't know. That game will be interesting, but I do think at the end of the day, we saw a glimpse tonight of what the offense is going to be right with, and I think Arch will continue to have. Can I say something about that package? Go ahead.
- [11:24]
Connor
Are you going to. You may tell me to pump the brakes on this one. Any 2006 Tim Tebow vibes when he comes into the game? Like when Arch comes into the game. Remember when Tebow used to come in the game his freshman year? Chris Leak was the starter.
- [11:37]
Scott McShay
Chris Leak. I was just gonna throw that.
- [11:39]
Connor
Right.
- [11:39]
Scott McShay
Yep.
- [11:39]
Connor
So he would come into the game, and you just. You felt like something was about to happen. And, you know, there are Florida fans that were like, it was Urban Meyer. I mean, that was a tough decision for him to keep Leak as a starter because Tim Tebow was the heir apparent. Everyone knew who Tim Tebow was going to be, and he ended up being, like, one of the best quarterbacks, if not the best quarterback in the history of college football. And Urban Meyer stayed with Chris Leak, and they won the national championship that year, by the way. But when Tim Tebow came into the game, there was that electricity. There was that, this dude is about to do something. And I didn't think Archer, other than that run, which was amazing, he didn't have that. I mean, there was.
- [12:15]
Scott McShay
He.
- [12:15]
Connor
They kept it pretty bottled up after that. But when he comes into the Game. There's a certain. What do we say? Aura. Did we say that earlier in the. In the pod? But there's a certain electricity when that dude comes in the game. And Tebow played a bigger role that year than Arch has played so far. But in the playoff run, I could see that, him becoming a big part of their goal line package, their short yardage package. It just had that kind of vibe to me.
- [12:44]
Scott McShay
And we'll never know. But does Florida make it the run and Florida have the full year if they're going with Tebow and living with his mistakes.
- [12:53]
Connor
Right.
- [12:54]
Scott McShay
And living with his limitations as a passer?
- [12:56]
Connor
Hard to say. Meyer made the wrong decision in that situation.
- [12:59]
Scott McShay
Yeah, I'm just. I'm. I'm. But. But I absolutely adore that. That thought process and that comparison, like, that's. That's an unbelievable shout to, like. It's the same vibe. It really is.
- [13:13]
Connor
Right.
- [13:13]
Scott McShay
And, you know, that's the future. You know, the future's bright. It's so exciting. And, yeah, I'm sure there are plenty of fans out there for Texas who were like, why not just Arch now?
- [13:23]
Connor
Yeah, you know, there are, but.
- [13:25]
Scott McShay
But you're paying Sark a decent amount of money to know what's going on day in and day out, to know where Arch is in his development, to know what he can't do or not. Can't is not the right word. What would be challenging for him to do right now, given the practice time he's had, given the game, the game experience. Like, there were moments in that game tonight where things were. Got a little dicey in the second half.
- [13:50]
Connor
Yeah.
- [13:51]
Scott McShay
Herbie even made the comment, and he was kind of. He was joking. He's like, that doesn't. Doesn't.
- [13:56]
Connor
Yeah.
- [13:56]
Scott McShay
Doesn't Quinn look stressed right now?
- [13:58]
Connor
Right.
- [13:59]
Scott McShay
Looks like he's really wearing this.
- [14:01]
Connor
Right.
- [14:02]
Scott McShay
And he was a court, like, it takes kind of a quarterback to know, like, when you're in that moment and everything's collapsing or it feels like things are getting tight and you look down in the field and you see another quarterback and you're like, ah, he did. He's good.
- [14:14]
Connor
He could care less.
- [14:15]
Scott McShay
Yeah, he just. Another day at the office.
- [14:18]
Connor
And listen, you know, Arch came into that Georgia game and put in a tough spot, but it's not like he lit the world on fire when he came into the Georgia game earlier in the year and was the answer. I mean, they went back to yours. I think if Arch had played better, you know, I think the plan was always to play Arch at The end of that half and then yours back in. But he didn't take it from him. He didn't say it's mine now, Quinn. So there's, there's something to be said for that, too. You know, I, I think Sarks handle it really well. Not easy.
- [14:44]
Scott McShay
And another fascinating quarterback situation. Right. Was, and we just mentioned Saban, Nick made one of the, the ballsiest moves in the history of college football, like playoffs. Right. And going to Tuatanga by Loa with Jalen Hurts struggling and, and that wasn't something we had seen all year that would, you know what I mean? So, and I say that because there's still that card that, that Sark has in his back pocket if Quinn comes out and he's, and he's not performing or his ankle flares back up or what, or the offense just isn't going. He did it against Georgia, but he did it with just like a quick jolt and then pulled him back out and put his, put his starter back in viewers, like you just said. So it's, I don't know. It's fascinating so far.
- [15:37]
Connor
Would you play Arch more in the championship game? Just maybe kind of Rest. Yeah, it's a thought, right?
- [15:42]
Scott McShay
Maybe. And, and that's kind of where I was going before, and I didn't want to say it, but you said it, so let's go. I, I, I, no, honestly, I, I think that will be interesting to see because at the end of the day, you'd like to be the number one. You think it's the first time. You know, like when you like the NFL playoffs, sometimes it's better to play in that wild card game because you get momentum and, and things are positive and you don't have that extra week of rest and you're not kind of in the first quarter, kind of getting, getting your legs back underneath you. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. But it would shock me if we saw a little bit more of Arch in that SEC championship game with an eye on what really matters. Right. The College Football Playoff. So a couple other things from this game and that, that was actually really interesting conversation. I think it gives us something to look forward to moving forward with Texas. You talked about it and you are the eternal pessimist with offensive line play, man. Like, my God, like, LSU's offensive line with two top 50 picks isn't good enough for you. This Texas offensive line, though, has impressed you this year.
- [16:47]
Connor
Yeah.
- [16:48]
Scott McShay
And it was an interesting stat that Connor, our producer, pointed out in our group Group chat that we all. I'm sitting here watching the games in the background and Fowler made the comment when, When Kelvin Banks Jr. Went out, he was pulled out of the game because he got nicked up at one point. Right. This is the old. There were only eight teams in college football in the FBS with that had all five offensive line starters start every game this year. Only eight. That's unbelievable. But, but believable at the same time. Texas was one of them. And so it's not just the talent level with, you know, with the NFL guys that they have Banks being the best of the group, but it's also the continuity and working together and the communication and so excuse me. Just with that as the backdrop, it really stood out to me. The offensive line tonight, dude, that is, they had a, they had a red.
- [17:46]
Connor
Shirt freshman and Trevor Goosby come in for Kelvin Banks was a top 10, top 15 player in this year's draft.
- [17:53]
Scott McShay
Might be the first offensive lineman drafted.
- [17:56]
Connor
I, I think he's got a real good shot at it. And it was seamless.
- [18:01]
Scott McShay
Again, he's the number one offensive lineman on both of our boards right now.
- [18:05]
Connor
Correct. And it was seamless. And we're, I mean against that front in that by the way, also in that environment we didn't see. I, I think there maybe was one jump or one false start but I.
- [18:18]
Scott McShay
Remember that environment reminded me of like. And I don't, I'm not but like it the. And that was another thing Connor said in our group but like there are certain types of Clemson coming down and touching the rock with the buses up there. Virginia Tech, enter Sandman. Like that environment and, and A M A M fans like what do you mean? We're always. It was different tonight.
- [18:43]
Connor
Right?
- [18:44]
Scott McShay
So to your point, the communication coming in as a youngster, the way they, they handled it, it was like a professional unit out there and it just, it stood out to me because. And I'm sure people at this point in the season know that defensive line is awesome loaded. You know, the Shamars as you call them. Nick Scorton is going to be one. He's going to be a first round draft pick at the edge they are. Look now they're not as deep and I, and that was a big part of this game. I think the lack of depth affected them with that massive offensive line for Texas grinding their way through. But that offensive line really stood out to me and the focus of the Texas offense. And again everyone's probably sitting here like, yo, they didn't put up 35 points in this game, they didn't put up 42, but, like, they just looked. Especially in the first half, they looked right. And I had. I don't know, it just felt. Because I knew the defenses they were going up against. You knew the energy in the building. You knew the rivalry renewed after 13 years. And the way they came out and handled business in the first half especially really was like, the attention to detail, the blocking, the. The. The. How about some of the catches? Like, talk about focus. That gunner helm, it was like watching a magic trick. I don't know how the hell he caught that first down. The safety came underneath and undercut it. And Herbie was still, like, trying to show it, and I still didn't know how the ball got through his arms and held. Caught it. And then. If you thought that was spectacular. What about Jaden Blue on the running back in the back corner? It was like, oh, the incomplete. Nice try. And then all of a sudden they're. Wait a second. Let's look. You know, I don't know.
- [20:29]
Connor
The Ohio State pick earlier in the year when they. The igweb Bonoson had that pick in the corner.
- [20:36]
Scott McShay
Oh, yeah, yeah. You couldn't see it. Really?
- [20:39]
Connor
And then. Yeah, then they went back and showed it to you, and you're like, w. Wow, he might have finished that.
- [20:44]
Scott McShay
I just. I was impressed by the overall operation. And. And then Quintrevion Wisner, holy smokes. Came to play. And running back has been the kind of the bugaboo. The injuries coming into the air that, like. And to have a back and. And just to give the background on this, Wisner was not supposed to be the starter coming in the year they had the injuries. He's. He kind of stepped up in moments early in the year. 22 yards, 30 yards, 20 yards, Mississippi State, 88 yards. Okay, maybe he's emerging as the guy. 118 against Oklahoma. Then they go against Georgia. He injures his shoulder and only had 52 yards in that game. Vandy, he still had 79 yards, but after that, four carries, zero yards against Florida, 59 against Arkansas. So you're talking about a whole season where. Yeah, 118. But everything else is like 20 to 79 and 79 was the outlier. But the last two weeks, 344 rushing yards from Wisner. I mean, that huge, especially this time.
- [21:53]
Connor
Of year, for a guy to emerge like that. I love that you. You know, you go into a certain season and do a season, you'll say, you know, there's things you know, and then you're hoping that other players will step up and emerge. And that's what's happening with him right now. And it's. It's a cool thing to watch. I. I can't imagine them not feeding him going forward after. What? Because right the after. I mean, he's not that big. But the con, like we always talk about contact balance. The contact balance and the determination and the effort tonight.
- [22:23]
Scott McShay
Yeah. 186.
- [22:24]
Connor
Outstanding.
- [22:25]
Scott McShay
186 on 33 carries and the vast majority between the tackles against a damn good. Hungry. Like, I made the comment when we were texting earlier, early in the. It was like. Like a pack of rabid dogs.
- [22:41]
Connor
Yes.
- [22:41]
Scott McShay
A and M defense. It's not the same defense we saw a week ago against Auburn, I'll tell you that. Yeah, I was impressed and I know they didn't run away with it, and I know it got dicey in the second half and you had the, the pick six and you had the punt block and the offense kind of was just trying to get out of Dodge at that point. But I just. For me, I just felt like for over a month now, I've been worried, like, is this Texas or is Texas kind of waiting to put it all together? And, and for the good majority of tonight, I felt like Texas was. I don't want to say back, but it was the Texas that we kind of expected to see based off of some of the earlier performances in the year.
- [23:23]
Connor
Agree. Also, we haven't even mentioned the defense. And I don't know who Vernon Broughton was coming into this game, but I know who he is now.
- [23:30]
Scott McShay
Blew up an Entire Drive, number 45.
- [23:34]
Connor
So we didn't even mention the defense, which is outrageous. They're a championship defense.
- [23:38]
Scott McShay
Well, I, I'm glad you said that because I, I think we've. We've gotten to the point where we expect this from Texas. Defense. Defense. I, I would argue Texas's defense is the most complete defense in the country.
- [23:53]
Connor
I would agree.
- [23:56]
Scott McShay
The fact that Broughton comes in and plays the way he did, the fact that after the first two plays, he blew up that entire drive and they had a line shift, you know, and were able to bring it. The depth that they have behind him. I just. We've talked about J. Baron, how much we love him. The cornerback position. What is it? I'll never pronounce his name. Is it. Is it top? Tafe?
- [24:22]
Connor
I think it's Tafe, right?
- [24:23]
Scott McShay
Yeah, Tafe. The safety with that big interception, that fourth down stand they had early in the game. The first drive of the game, A and M was rolling late.
- [24:32]
Connor
Stand. Yeah, go on. Stand late. I mean.
- [24:35]
Scott McShay
Yep. Now that defense is as good as it gets in college football, right?
- [24:40]
Connor
I mean, they had a. They had a block punt and they had a fumble. I mean, the block pun, I think put them at their own 19 yard line and they didn't give up points. It's the fact that they pitched a shutout when their offense kind of struggled in the second half and they had again, a block pawn, a fumble. Like there was. You know, the only points that were given up in this game were pick six. So that defense was outrageous.
- [25:05]
Scott McShay
Yeah, I, I'm just, I'm. I'm pumped to see the rematch. I mean, Texas. Texas against Georgia. Georgia handled, I think was a 30, 15 in the first. 30.
- [25:15]
Connor
15.
- [25:15]
Scott McShay
30 15. But it was four. Four takeaways for Georgia, four turnovers for Texas, 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss. Like, I, I just don't see Texas playing as poorly as it did in round one of that matchup. And I don't know, I'm fascinated to see. To see that game. And we'll come back to Georgia what we saw the other night a little bit, but we. You can't go anywhere else. And quite honestly, coming into today, I didn't even know if we were going to give more than 30 seconds to a minute on Ohio State, Michigan. I really didn't.
- [25:49]
Connor
I didn't watch much of that game. I was watching South Carolina, Clemson, and I just kept thinking, of course I.
- [25:54]
Scott McShay
Was rooting for the.
- [25:57]
Connor
But I also just felt like there's no way Ohio State loses that game at home against a Michigan team that struggled as much as Michigan has struggled this year. I couldn't wrap my. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it, what was happening.
- [26:10]
Scott McShay
So let's get into it. I. This is hard for me, man, because, you know, like, Chip Kelly's my guy. We go back to Richmond versus Unh. Like, have the utmost respect and love for. For Chip Ryan day through extension. I respect him a lot as a coach a lot. Truly do. And, and as a guy like, he's, he's. But today can't happen. Today cannot happen. One and four now versus Michigan. Set a 47 and one versus the rest of the Big Ten. John Cooper, remember one, you know, outrageous winning percentage, but was 210 and one against Michigan and he was gone. And this is a different day and age. You don't get. You don't get 13 tries against Michigan in this day and age. You just don't. There wasn't a 20 million dollar roster for John Cooper. Maybe there was, but we. It wasn't reported, but it certainly wasn't $20 million back then. Okay? The pressures are different. The nil. The transfers, the amount of money being invested, the social media, the impatience, the Luna lunatic fringe is bigger and louder. All of it. And so let's just, let's focus for a minute on the actual game and the football of it. Will Howard did not play well. Okay? He first interception, Amir Hall. It was a terrible read by Will Howard. Okay. From, from his own end zone. And you know, and you looked at that like it just, it seemed, it was late in the first quarter. It seemed to change the momentum and the confidence for Michigan. I thought Michigan was kind of hanging on by a thread like when's this, When's the, you know, the dam gonna break? And, and then all of a sudden Howard makes that. It reminded me honestly of the interception that Shador Sanders made early in the season against Nebraska. Right?
- [28:10]
Connor
The same, same throw, same. It felt like the same throw, same route late on. It can't, you cannot be late throwing that far across the field. Very, very similar plays.
- [28:20]
Scott McShay
And Michigan goes on to punch that in for a touchdown and their only touchdown.
- [28:26]
Connor
Right? I mean, yeah, yeah.
- [28:28]
Scott McShay
And then, and then the very next drive, remember the very. Like I honestly, I felt like in real time. I'm watching. All right, now Michigan's got a little. All right, they've got some Kuyans behind them now. Now they think they get a chance. And then the very next drive, Page, the defensive back goes and knocks Howard out. Now he comes back in the game and he looked like he was fine, but like I just, I didn't ever feel like he was. Got into a rhythm or a groove as a passer. And part of it too was. Part of it too was. I just felt like Chip in the first half was so damn stubborn with the run game. And I, and I remember back to that Nebraska game where they struggled in that game and it was like hell or high water, we're going to run the football. And I understood it because they knew they were going to have to run the ball and they had an offensive line had been moving parts and all that. But you're going up against a Michigan team. You. Michigan doesn't have Colston Loveland at tight end. First round draft pick, first tight end off the board in next April. Market down. Okay. They don't have Will Johnson, cornerback, first round draft pick, should be first cornerback off the Board. And so you look at that. And so the only part of Michigan's team that you would give an advantage to is its defensive tackles, but yet we're pounding it between the tackles. It's like, let's test our strength is better. Better than your only strength. You only have one personnel advantage in this game. Why don't we neutralize that?
- [30:01]
Connor
Yeah, it's worse than that. It's not even strength against strength. I mean we talked ad nauseam about the, the offensive line for Ohio State and the injuries and where it's weakness against strength.
- [30:12]
Scott McShay
Right.
- [30:12]
Connor
It's. What those injuries have really done is thinned out the interior offensive line. They less. They lost their center, Seth McLaughlin to a season ending Achilles injury, I believe. And when they lost the tackle Simmons, they kicked Donovan Jackson outside. So the weakness of their offensive line is the interior. And you're going against Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant and you're just gonna run the ball inside again. I want to go back and watch the film, but my instinct tells me that's, that's where the problem lies.
- [30:38]
Scott McShay
So. So Will Johnson isn't in the game. Best cornerback for Michigan. There's a weakness there. You have, you have two phenomenal, not, not good, phenomenal wide receiver wide receivers. Jeremiah Smith is going to be a top five pick in two years when he's eligible. Okay. Amica Abuka is. He's not a first rounder, I don't think. But, but some people I talked to think he could be late. First, bottom line, he's a top 50 picket wide receiver. So you're talking about two guys that are going to be starting NFL wide receivers. Do you know with about four minutes left in the first half, they had combined four total four targets. Four. Will Johnson, the first round draft picket cornerback for Michigan is not in the game. Screen them, take some vertical shots. I don't care. And that's like this is one of the first times ever where I'm like, Chip, like, I don't, I don't quite understand.
- [31:35]
Connor
Does it make you wonder about their faith in Howard? Does it make you stop and pause and think, you know, we like Howard as a runner. We're not really ready to lean on him as a passer.
- [31:46]
Scott McShay
Yeah, of course it does.
- [31:48]
Connor
Yeah.
- [31:49]
Scott McShay
And, and he, and he didn't give you any reason to, to go, you know, to change course?
- [31:56]
Connor
No.
- [31:56]
Scott McShay
With, with the interception. He was 19 of 33 for 175 yards in this game. Two intercepts, they have, they have a.
- [32:05]
Connor
Ton of race cars and no one to drive them Basically. I mean, they just have, I mean they look great in the, in the garage, but they can't get them out on the course. You know what I mean? Like, it just, I don't know if that's the best analogy, but it's a damn good one. They can. I mean, all the talent they have there. It's just, it's. If I was an Ohio State fan, I don't know how frustrated I would be just knowing that, you know, you got those receivers running routes for you and you have Brian Hartline who gets the most out of these guys.
- [32:32]
Scott McShay
And that's why I wonder, like quick game, rub routes, something, you know what I mean? Switch releases. Like they're like drags. Like there's, there's ways to. I just, Chip is so good at the run game concepts, but they just, it wasn't working. It just wasn't working effectively the way they needed to, needed it to be. Yeah, they threw the ball 33 times and yeah, Will was off, but it just, it seemed like there, there was opportunity to get those two more involved reverses. Like there's just different ways to get the ball in those guys hands and I didn't think they did that enough. The second interception that he threw. I just mentioned two interceptions on the day. Talk about like places you can't do it. Deep in Michigan territory, right? And it was a great ID by Page, the defensive back, but. And a bad throw by Howard. And so I don't know, it just. You got a terrible decision laid on a throw, a throw you can't make. Back in your own end zone for the first touchdown. The second one, a bad throw and the corn. You know, the defensive back Page made a really good play on the ball, but those are two spots deep in Michigan's territory. For the second one, in your own end zone for the first one you just, you can't make those mistakes and give a shout out to Wink Martindale. That was a hell of a job defensively, you know, like if we're gonna, if we're gonna beat up on Chip and Ryan Day, let's give a little, little bit of love to Wink in that defense without your best player Corner, who's been. I, I don't want to make it sound like like Will's been there all year and has been excelling. He hasn't, but there was talk that he might be, might decide to play or be able to play in this game. Colston Loveland tried his best to play. Couldn't play at tight end, but, but I Just.
- [34:29]
Connor
I want to see Loveland vs. Downs, who by the way, had another monster game. Caleb Downs, a safety from Ohio State, I mean Loveland versus Downs would have been from a, from a draft standpoint. Oh, that would have been so watched.
- [34:43]
Scott McShay
Yeah. But he, I mean Downs was awesome. I feel like we do it every week, so I don't want to wear it out. But my goodness, is he, I mean he's. Yes, I think he's the best defensive player in the country. But it's. That doesn't matter at this point and that's not what anyone's here to discuss. Including and especially. Including and especially Ohio State. Fits. Let me. So, so when you're an offensive head coach and you bring in your guy as the offensive coordinator and you're going, you've got a complete mismatch to go out and put that performance on tape and score 10 points at home, mind you, we're not talking about 110, 115. Whatever the pitch or the number count is at Michigan Stadium now, this is at home. Everything is working for you. The weather wasn't that bad. It was cold, it was nine mile an hour winds. I looked at one point just to see if that was affecting anything, you know.
- [35:37]
Connor
Yeah, yeah.
- [35:37]
Scott McShay
It just, it can't happen. And so what you've done, what you've done is. And let me get to the fight. Okay. And this work, fuck it, let's get to the fight. Because it's going to be. It's national news. Like everyone's talking about it. So it's not what we do. But just for people who might not totally under. Like it's an unwritten rule. You don't plant the flag in the middle of the field.
- [36:04]
Connor
And sorry, people are doing this now.
- [36:06]
Scott McShay
If you do plant the flag, you better damn well understand that you're going to get some pushback. Okay. Right. And that. But. And I don't want to give credit to these young men because this is all emotion. College kids in the moment, no one is thinking about consequences. There are certain times when I'm driving a vehicle and I'm speeding. Like I still don't probably think of the consequences the way I should as a mature 47 year old adult. And I sure as hell wasn't when I was 18 to 22 years old. Okay? So I'm not giving credit to these 18 to 22 year olds. But Michigan doesn't have a care in the world. They're doing this out of pure emotion and all that. And I get it, they plant a Flag in the middle of our field. We're going to defend our field. But you know what? Ohio State. A couple things. One, and this is where I. I don't expect them to understand it, but you got so much more to lose. And there's. And, and here's the thing, too. Like, we're not talking about. There is no Big Ten championship game if there's suspensions handed out. And we'll see. Like, again, it's a.
- [37:15]
Connor
It's.
- [37:15]
Scott McShay
It's 12:12 on Sunday morning, and I haven't heard anything about it. It probably will be a little time before we. But if there are suspensions handed out, it's not going to. Fine. I'm suspended from the shitty bowl game that I'm in. If I'm a Michigan player. If the suspensions are. Suspensions are handed out for Ohio State, we're talking about a playoff game, okay? So the. The punishment is a lot bigger for. For Ohio State than it is. And listen, I love you, Jack Sawyer. I love the fact that in today's college football with the Nils and the transfer portals and, and all the old football guys bitching about how there's not loyalty and, you know, back in the day, we were just playing a bowl game and all that stuff. I love that there's a Jack Sawyer of the world who's gonna. Who, like, no, not on my field. Get that flag out of here. Go, go get the flag and throw it on the ground. So I'm not mad at anyone for. I'm. I'm not mad at Jack. And I understand why it happened, let's put it that way. And number eight for Michigan's an idiot, by the way, and his name's Tyler Morris. I'll just say it like the fight was broken up. You guys planted your flag. Ohio State came over and ended it, and it kind of subsided. And then. And then number eight brings the flag and races it over to Ohio State. As they're walking off the field, what do you think's gonna happen? He incites a second riot, right? But you know what was terrible in this whole thing? And it's. And. And it's just Ryan Day. Part of it, you can say is having just the worst luck in the world. But when this. When the. The Fox camera, like, it just so happened. Talk about terrible luck. It just so happened that, that Ryan Day when the camera comes over to him that you can read his lips, and he says to one assistant walking by, what happened, dude, you just put 10 on Michigan as the offensive coach who brought in his offensive guy, Chip Kelly, you could only muster 10 points against me, and now you get a riot on your own field with your own players, and we're talking, like, five minutes later, man. The whole thing was over. Two. Two. Two fights, an initial one, and the secondary one. And then they pan to him, and I get it, like, his world's, like, collapsing. But you're still the captain of this ship, and when you see all your players racing over the middle of the field, you better get involved, right? That's leadership. So, like, I hate that I'm having to do this, but. And it was terrible. They could have come over to Ryan Day, and he could have been looking in a different direction. Like, they found it out of pure luck. The one moment where he's like, what happened?
- [40:08]
Connor
It's like, not a good look, man.
- [40:10]
Scott McShay
It's a terrible look.
- [40:12]
Connor
There's another shot that just from the human element of it, I guess, that. That Sawyer was clearly. I think it was Sawyer. He's clearly losing his mind. And Ohio State staffer was trying to restrain him and get him to come.
- [40:23]
Scott McShay
Yeah, I saw that. Right in front of Ryan and right in front of Ryan.
- [40:26]
Connor
Daniel stepping in and said, hey, man, look, you know, we just got to love you. Let's.
- [40:31]
Scott McShay
Let's get out of here. Yep, I saw it. I saw it. It was just a black guy for. For Ohio State. It was a black guy for Michigan, too. There was no need for it, but it was a bigger black guy for Ohio State, and it was a big. It was a black guy for college football. But, like, the. The person who took on the most water today through all of it is Ryan Day. And it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. But I just. Knowing this rivalry the way I do since childhood, basically, I don't. And you know what? To be quite honest with you, I don't. His record. He doesn't deserve to be fired at the end of the year. He's done a hell of a job. He's a hell of a football coach. Okay? Ryan Day can coach ball. He's. He's been a major part, and I know the money drives it, but he's been a major part of recruiting. He's been a major part of developing these young men. These players love him and will go to war for him. He is everything you look for in a university, as a university, in your head coach, your head football coach, developing young men, developing them as players, as human beings, all of these things. But you get to a point in a Crossroads, if you will, where I don't think you can function as a coach professionally when this much noise, like, living in that. It's not a small community, but, like, it's a small bubble. I don't know how. How it would be productive for this program to move forward with him as the head coach, given the circumstances. Not because he does. Not because he can't do the job. And everyone's gonna say, good luck finding someone better. I get it. And I agree. Good luck finding someone better than Ryan Day. Who are you going to get?
- [42:21]
Connor
Don't look at me.
- [42:22]
Scott McShay
But no matter who that person is, he gets a fresh start. And I think this program is probably just going to need a fresh start after what happened, what has happened in big games, what has happened against Michigan, what has happened in the biggest moments, but especially after what happened today.
- [42:41]
Connor
I wish I could disagree with what you're saying. I just. It's unfortunate, but it's the. It's the reality of the landscape.
- [42:46]
Scott McShay
And I wish I wasn't saying it, to be honest with you, like, this is not a comfortable place. It's not. It's just not my thing. But I. But I've got a. It's just what's happening. It's. It's what's real.
- [42:57]
Connor
It's the elephant in the room. Yeah.
- [42:59]
Scott McShay
Yeah. I love how we just broke down a fight. What has come of the show? All right, so. So those are the two big, like, the biggest games. The Texas, Texas A M, Ohio State, Michigan. After that, I. I want to touch real quickly. And I mentioned it before. I just. I'm underwhelmed and I'm not. I should. I should have more excitement and more, like, juice for next week. And I'm gonna watch every game. And there. There are absolutely, you know, ramifications, and it's critical for. For many programs in the championship games.
- [43:40]
Mensch
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- [44:28]
Scott McShay
So you want to be a marketer? It's easy. You just have to score a ton of leads and figure out a way to turn them all into customers. Plus manage a dozen channels, write a million blogs and launch a hundred campaigns all at once. When that's done, simply make your socials go viral and bring in record profits. No sweat. Okay, fine, it's a lot of sweat. But with HubSpot's AI powered marketing tools, launching benchmark breaking campaigns lanes is easier than ever. Get started@HubSpot.com marketers but what I'll just throw it to you. What are your initial thoughts of Penn State? Oregon?
- [45:07]
Connor
I mean it's damn if you do, damn if you don't. I mean, you kind of want Penn State to win that game so they can show that they've won a big game, but then Oregon doesn't look as good as they have all year. I think Oregon's in a tough spot because it's hard. It's just hard to keep winning. I mean, it's just hard to win that many games in a row. It wouldn't be the worst. I don't think it'd be the worst thing in the world for Oregon to lose that game. It's like we've talked about several times where Saban says sometimes losing the game. You know, even tonight, I think Sark is almost grateful for the way they won because now he can go back and be like, you guys think you're so great, but here's what we need to clean up. We need to do A, B and C. Totally agree. But how do these guys. I just, I'm interested to see how these coaches manage these games and we kind of. Again, I'm going back to Texas. We kind of hinted at it. How do you manage your roster in those games? I mean, if you're down two scores, do you start pulling starters to make sure you're ready for the playoff? I don't know. I don't know how. I, I doubt that. I think these still mean something. But in terms of the SEC and the Big Ten, those four teams are in and how that affects the way they manage a game plan, how they manage their roster will be interesting to.
- [46:09]
Scott McShay
See in the motivations too.
- [46:12]
Connor
Right?
- [46:15]
Scott McShay
Like what does it matter to a 20 year old who's being paid a million dollars a year or $100,000 a year or whatever it is, or $0 a year. But it'll just be interesting to see. I, I just wonder what the will we see the same energy and pack of rabid dogs feel and vibe that we saw tonight from Texas, Texas A and M in the Big Ten championship game in the sec? I think the SEC championship game will be an absolute dogfight because I think, I think Texas is out for blood and Georgia is trying to prove Georgia doesn't have, you know, much room to they're still in if they lose, there's no question. But, but I think Georgia is trying to make sure that they continue to build. Yeah, it's just, I, I, it's hard for me because I don't think Penn State is, is one of the top teams and in Ohio State still is a better team. They just can't beat Michigan and, and what happened today happened today, but I don't know. It's frustrating. We're looking at this conference championship matchups and, and you know, though the Texas Georgia is the best game. Penn State. I just, I don't know. I don't, I don't. Unless Oregon just doesn't play to the level, I don't see Penn State. Penn State has everything to gain in this game. Let's put it that way. They have everything to gain and, and nothing to lose. All right, moving on. The fourth thing I wanted to get to. Let's come back to the, the SEC in, in a couple games. Let's go back to yesterday. Eight over times Georgia. Truth be told, flying back from Ohio, wonderful trip to seeing my family got kids in the plane. You know, kind of managing all of it but land catch some of it coming back. But seven was what was 17 nothing. Was it, was it halftime? Yeah, I think yeah, it was seven.
- [48:14]
Connor
Yes. Yes.
- [48:15]
Scott McShay
Seventeen. Seventeen nothing. Halftime. So I caught the second half and, and I, you know, I've since have gone back and seen what happened in the first half. Georgia Tech had had an awesome game plan. Georgia Tech had an additional three days to prepare and, and I think they threw their best punch, but Georgia Tech hung in there. Right?
- [48:40]
Connor
Yeah.
- [48:41]
Scott McShay
My takeaway was quite honestly, I, I just, I'm loving what I'm seeing from Carson Beck recently. That was my biggest takeaway. And the reason I say that is they, Georgia couldn't, they could, they couldn't run the football right. They couldn't run the football in that game. They were struggling to to Nate Frazier was a leading rusher from the running back position at just 50 yards and nobody else really had anything of major significance. One of the receivers had like a 30 yard rush, like it was Nate Frazier and he had 50 yards rushing. Carson Beck answered the bell in the clutch and he's done this, he's played great when the, when the chips are on the line in, in multiple games and sometimes just a half of a game. But listen to this. This is what, and watching the game, it just, it felt good. Because when you're evaluating quarterbacks, are you, are you feeding it to your, your alpha dog at wide receiver? Are you forcing it? Are you, are you benefiting from a guy who's just so great, one wide receiver spot or a couple guys that are so good? Or, you know, like with Stroud had all those receivers and like Tua had all those, the four first rounders, like, is it that situation or are you having to play the quarterback position the way it was designed, if you will, Going through reads, understanding what the defense is showing, making smart decisions, anticipating throws and, and just winning with your mind before it even matters, what your body does with your arm or your mobility. And, and I love Carson Beck took off and ran. It was important to run in those moments and he has the mobility and we know that. But he wasn't running just to run. He was running when, when they needed him to because nothing else was available. And he completed 28 passes Mensch to 10 different receivers, 10 different targets, running backs, tight ends, wideouts, didn't matter. It was what it was where the read took him. And he was, he was throwing them open. And I made the comment earlier in the year, and it's still a part of the evaluation process and he's still not perfect by any stretch, but when you study his tape versus Shador Sanders tape, Carson Beck makes his receivers work for the ball. It's not missing in the strike zone. His receiver, balls thrown behind him, balls overthrown, receivers having to go up and taking rib shots, all of it. I'm not seeing his receivers have to work for the ball nearly as much. In fact, he's now leading them open. And I just, I like the way he's playing the game. Five touchdowns. Now, granted, two of them were in overtime, but five touchdowns, three in regulation, zero interceptions. He's not pressing like he was early in the year. And that combined with the defense gives them a chance in every game they play. True.
- [51:34]
Connor
Yeah, I agree. I mean, watch out for Nate Frazier. I know, I think talented man, he's gonna go, I.
- [51:42]
Scott McShay
It wasn't as much Nate Frazier as it was, they just weren't able to open up holes and the run game wasn't reliable.
- [51:48]
Connor
Super interesting to me was at one point in the game and I think it was late in the first half, he kind of lost his cool. And you can look at that in a couple of ways and you can say, oh, he's not his boys. I actually saw it as like, you know what, man, you have every damn right to be upset right now. It was just every right to get, get after your teammates. And sometimes that's good too, man. Tom Brady didn't go around saying, I'm just going to be this calm, cool, collected guy all the time. When he was on the field, he was. But he would rip his teammates when he got to the sideline. And I kind of, I kind of appreciated the emotion. I kind of appreciate because I feel, I feel like he's been all years like, you know, we're just about the team and he's taken all this heat and all this, you know, all this criticism, some of it fair, I think, or especially early in the season. And he's just been like, I'm just trying to, you know, stay even and steady and I'm playing my game. You know what? You're allowed to get pissed, man. You're allowed to get angry. And sometimes I think it fires up your teammates. I think it fires you up. He didn't lose his poise. He wasn't out of control. But he did show a little emotion. And I was like, you know what, let's go. You know, you have every team's out 17 nothing with a playoff of the line against a team that you should be handling. And it, why not get upset? Why not try to fire some people up? I will say this. Haynes King, the quarterback for Georgia Tech had 110 rushing yards on 24 carries. He threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns. And he had that heartbreaking fumble at the end of the game. And that kid was an absolute warrior in the game. And I know it doesn't matter in terms of the playoff picture and all that stuff, but that Georgia Tech team that they were fun to watch that night, man, they brought everything they had and made made Georgia play. What, what was it? Eight overtimes. I mean it was insane.
- [53:30]
Scott McShay
Eight. The record's nine.
- [53:32]
Connor
Eight.
- [53:35]
Scott McShay
I'll never. The first like long overtime ever was Tennessee. Is it Tennessee? Alabama. Tennessee, Alabama. I think it was. And I was there. I always felt like Godfrey Ron Franklin stories back in the day sec. But that was before we had, like, the new rules and the two point.
- [53:52]
Connor
God for the new rules.
- [53:53]
Scott McShay
We were there for like nine hours, man. It was brutal. I remember being like, oh, cool. Like, I got to go to the airport now. You know, for my. For my Sunday morning. Can I say, this doesn't matter. It's not about the college football playup, but, like, it's 12:30 in the morning. I'm a Brent Key guy for life, I think now.
- [54:14]
Connor
Yeah, man.
- [54:15]
Scott McShay
I love that dude. You talk about, like, steady, emotionless kind to referees now. I'm not saying that, but, like, maybe within this day and age, we're yelling and screaming, going nuts, and you saw the referees come over and like, actually interact with them. It was like a different strategy and like having conversations with this player and then you know what you'd watch and they're in the. They're in the fight of their life. This is their Super Bowl. This is. This is like. This is not a rivalry game for Georgia. This is. We got to get this off the schedule so we can move on to the SEC championship game. And then they call it College Football Playoff. This is just like another, you know, road trip. We got to have this meeting at 3:00 in the afternoon, right. On a Tuesday for Georgia. This was everything for Georgia Tech. And to see the poise that they played with even when Georgia started coming back and things were getting wild and things were getting crazy and to see how aggressive Brent Key kept that. That offense. And it's not by nature an aggressive offense. Yeah, he pressed every right button. He took Georgia, he took his Georgia Tech team, and they took Georgia to eight overtimes and stood in there like, let's go round after round after round.
- [55:33]
Connor
Like, the interaction between Kirby and Key at the end of that game, one of the best moments, I think of the season. I mean, it was just genuine. I mean, Kirby, genuine amount of. You could just tell the amount of respect for what he had gotten his kids to do, how he'd gotten them to play, just the whole thing. I mean, it was.
- [55:54]
Scott McShay
It was pouring out of Brent at that moment.
- [55:57]
Connor
You know, of course you're going to ask in the press conference, what did you say? And of course they're going to say, it's between us. You know what they said. I mean, you don't know word for word, but you know what he said.
- [56:05]
Scott McShay
Yeah.
- [56:05]
Connor
You know, I mean, he was just.
- [56:07]
Scott McShay
Appreciate you, man. Appreciate keeping praise.
- [56:10]
Connor
I know how hard this is. You know, that was one of my favorite parts of the season so far.
- [56:15]
Scott McShay
Yeah. His composure throughout the whole game just. It got me. It just got me. So I'm a Brent Key guy moving forward. Yeah. I mean, for whatever it's worth just to get though. No, I truly like. I just. He was like a breath of fresh air. I just.
- [56:30]
Connor
It was.
- [56:30]
Scott McShay
It was awesome and it was awesome to see. I'll say this too. Kirby's won national championships. He may or may not make a run with this team.
- [56:41]
Connor
It's.
- [56:42]
Scott McShay
It feels like it's one of the best coaching jobs he's done though.
- [56:46]
Connor
Yeah.
- [56:47]
Scott McShay
You know, this team doesn't have all the pieces. The offensive line struggling. The running back was fumbling early in the year. He's talented, but it's inconsistency. Etn three touchdowns versus Texas hasn't really been a part of the whole thing. Receivers, they're just not working. Lost two receivers early in the year after losing Lad McConkey, who's been awesome as a rookie in the NFL after losing Brock Bowers, who's like putting up record setting numbers as a. As a rookie for the. The Raiders.
- [57:15]
Connor
The defense schedule, brutal schedule.
- [57:17]
Scott McShay
Like by far the hardest schedule. So I just. It feels like despite the record and all the blemishes for Georgia, it feels like this is Kirby Smarts best coaching year for whatever that's worth too. I agree. And. And as Connor said, our producer before we came on and I totally agree we're gonna have to have come up with like a Kirby Smart rule, the next iteration of the adjustments of overtime rules. We can't give Kirby and every aspiring Kirby Smart coach out there a timeout every single overtime drive because they're gonna, you know, they're going to utilize it the way Kirby did the other night. And it was brilliant.
- [57:58]
Connor
Wisely effective.
- [58:00]
Scott McShay
Every time it was effective. I think if we go back and look every time. But maybe once. Once I think yeah, yeah, but. But that it became a little bit of a grind. All right, let's get to the most important game of the day, maybe the year. Mention. I don't know. Obviously there we've. Thank you again everyone who's joined this live show. Your maniacs, the truly maniacs. It's. It's 12:32 Eastern Time and. And the only game of relevance right now, BYU, by the way, up 2110. So Colorado's watching this and like what literally watched.
- [58:35]
Connor
Come on.
- [58:36]
Scott McShay
Fall apart. 6:11 left in the third quarter, but it looks like maybe a big play for Houston. I think they muffed a. BYU muffed a punt. Houston's got the ball at midfield. So that's where we are. But, but your maniacs for watching the show and we appreciate it. We only like, we truly love Maniacs around here. And we'll be back on Tuesday and Thursday this week as we always are. So please, whether it's on, on YouTube, whether it's on Spotify, whether it's on Apple, anywhere you get your podcasts, please subscribe. And like, we need the help. We're just starting out little engine that could. Right, Mensch?
- [59:12]
Connor
That's right.
- [59:14]
Scott McShay
But, but I don't know that everyone who's here now heard your epic rant about Clemson. I mean, it was, it was brilliant.
- [59:27]
Connor
I had some things to say. I had to get some things off my chest.
- [59:30]
Scott McShay
So today after you, you called, like, why, why do we respect Clemson? Why do we think Clemson's any good? Why is Clemson in the discussion? Like, they just, they don't belong. Let me paraphrase it. They don't belong. They haven't done anything to deserve the, the discussion or the ranking at number 12. I think it was last week. Yeah, they were ranked number 12 in the college Football Playoff. Okay. They don't deserve that. That was. So that is your, your lead up, folks. Mensch. Having watched the game today, where are you on Clemson? Kind of, kind of a near miss.
- [60:07]
Connor
Kate Klubnik earned a lot of respect for me today. I thought he played a, a hell of a game, but the end of the day, I still, I don't see them that high. I think they're a good football team. I just don't, I, I think that it's name recognition that's gotten them to the 12th spot. I'm just gonna be honest about it again. I, I, there are serious problems in their schedule and they've lost to another three loss team today. And I think South Carolina is, if we're being honest, right, South Carolina is a 50, 50 shot to make the playoff right now. I know we're gonna get in this, but let's just get into that, say really quickly. And they lost to a team that's a 50, 50 shot to get in the playoff. So to me, I don't see any signature wins. Pitt lost again today. That's not good for them. I, I just don't see any signature wins. They played Georgia and they got, you know, they got handled in the opener and I think teams change over the year and I think they've gotten better and they're banged up and you can say all that stuff and that's, that's true. And Kate Klubnick, you know, definitely earned some respect today for me. I thought he played a hell of a game, but yeah, I don't see this as a playoff team. I still don't see it as a playoff team.
- [61:10]
Scott McShay
Well, here's the thing. The, the beauty of what has happened, the beauty of what happened today for you is it no longer is a committee thing, you know, because if the score, if the score was reversed and Clemson is the. Is the number 12 ranked team by the College Football Playoff had beaten South Carolina 17 14. South Carolina being the 15th ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings this week. Clemson and had Miami won. Clemson's in. Clemson would have gotten their quote unquote signature win or you know, win versus a ranked opponent. So, and, and honestly, for the betterment of the College Football Playoff, Clemson lost today and Miami lost today. Not for the better betterment of you and I as talent evaluators because I desperately wanted to see Cam Ward play against good defenses, like a really good defense in the College Football Playoff. But they don't deserve to be in, I mean Miami's defense is that defense does not deserve to play in a college Football playoff game, period. It's been proven time and time again. So I'm over it. I would love to see Cam in that, in that environment. We're not going to see it. So Miami's out. Clemson now is in a playoff play in game, if you will, against smu. But today's game. Excuse me, let's just look at today's game. As I have been one of the great proponents of South Carolina like all season, the vast majority of the season, despite the two early losses and then three losses, you know, I was making the argument LSU and Bama, I think it was combined five points in those two losses and the combination of Lenora Sellers at quarterback and the way he's progressing and that vicious defense, to me, they could, in a one game situation, they could beat not everybody, but a handful of teams that will be in the College Football Playoff, I think they deserve to be in. But I watched this game today and it was difficult because I didn't. It just wasn't a clean game. It wasn't. Let's put it this way, I did not feel like it was the best representation of South Carolina as a team.
- [63:28]
Connor
I agree.
- [63:29]
Scott McShay
I thought, and if just between you and I, it was kind of a, it was kind of a boring game. Right? Like it just like it took. Yeah, it got crazy at the end and it was a lot of fun at the end. But it just, it didn't have a lot of, like, rhythm and pace to the game. It just. It felt like two teams that just were. Were missing their way. I thought early on, early on, Clemson looked great. Like they neutralized those. Those past Dylan Stewart and Kyle Kennard were neutralized for the first half of the game or whatever. Whatever. It was heavy emphasis on the quick game, on getting the ball out quickly in the passing game. Screens mixed in. I thought the receivers, Antonio Williams, especially with the yards after catch, the explosive play call, explosive play that he had in the double coverage catch, he made contested catch. I thought he stepped up. I thought Wesco. There were plays and flashes of this offense having a big day and. And again, they were doing it against a defense that I really respected. But early on I was like, oh, this is gonna be a long night for Mensch because I'm not gonna go easy on him. And, and to be honest with you, I. I kind of have sided with you, but I'm gonna let you. I mean, I take plenty of hits. I take plenty of bullets in this role, so I'm gonna let you take these bullets from Dabo and the gang. But Clemson played better for half of this game. I thought the difference was in the story of the day. It was Clemson's inability to stop Sellers when it mattered as a runner that was the big surprise. Remember, this is the same dude who was Superman in your eyes. Lenore Sellers was Superman just two weeks earlier against a ranked Missouri opponent. Through for 353 yards and five touchdowns in that game. And, and don't forget, led them on two comebacks. Not just one, but two comebacks. That was a frenetic, frantic, like, wild end of that game. The last like seven, eight minutes of that game were crazy. And he let him twice on comebacks. Okay. Because he had to. But he did and he got him in this position. And then he. Remember he. This guy's a freshman. So he had that unbelievable performance as a passer and then comes out today and he rushed. He only passed for 164 yards, but he rushed for 166 yards, 10.4 yards per carry, two rushing touchdowns. And his, his mobility completely neutralized the pass rush for, for, for Clemson.
- [66:00]
Connor
Yeah, don't forget the. There were some drops in this game too. And he had that. He had a great run to put them ahead.
- [66:07]
Scott McShay
Right.
- [66:08]
Connor
It was like third and long. They had gotten backed up by a false start. Yeah, he's running laterally. You're like, what are you doing? Then he cuts Up. It was an unbelievable run. I think it was two plays before or the play before. He had a great touch pass to the back corner of the end zone. The receiver just couldn't, couldn't keep it as he went to the ground. He couldn't finish the catch as he went to the ground. He's. I, you know, I'm just going to say this. I don't know why you wouldn't want to watch that kid in the playoff right now. I just think that he's a must watch television.
- [66:36]
Scott McShay
So let's, let's do this now. You ready? So I just. I gave you the scenario. So. So Clemson loses and backs its way in to the ACC championship game.
- [66:45]
Connor
Because I can see them winning that game, by the way.
- [66:46]
Scott McShay
I'll say that I totally could. I totally could against SMU, right? SMU last week was right nine. I believe it was. And so you get nine and 12. We'll see what the updated rankings are on Tuesday night. But they're. Excuse. Excuse me. They're playing. Let's pull up our rankings now too. With, with the results from today. I want to walk you through this. Everyone who's watching it will be easier. Everyone who's just listening, follow along here. But here's how I see it. It's going to be interesting to see at the top we've got Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State from, from last week's rankings. Ohio State's going to drop down after the loss, but obviously they're still in. You get down to Notre Dame. They won again. Miami at six. They're out. Not in the ACC championship game and not in the college football playoffs. So they're out. So one. One spot opens up now after that in the rankings. You've got Georgia was at 7, Tennessee at 8, SMU at 9, Indiana at 10. You know my stance on Indiana. I can to the blue in the face bitch and moan about Indiana. They just don't belong. They're taking a spot from a team that's more deserving. I've brought Fanduel in in my corner fighting with me. We're throwing haymaker like no one's listening. I got it. So I just gotta back off. Indiana is going to be in. They blew out Purdue today for whatever that's worth. But if they were ranked 10 last week, they're going to be in and 1. So. So here we are. So we've got all those teams. So you get down and 11's behind them is Boise State. 12 is Clemson. That's this week's rankings. Clemson loses, but it doesn't matter because they're playing SMU for in. The winner of that game gets into the College Football Playoff and the losers out. So essentially those two ACC teams that are in the top 12, only one gets in. Miami is out. Right.
- [68:42]
Connor
Right.
- [68:43]
Scott McShay
So. So now you've, you've reduced it by two spots. The other 10 teams that I mentioned are still in. Okay. However, while it appears that there are two open spots, Boise State is in as that fifth conference champion if that's, that's how it plays out. If not, it'll be Tulane probably. So if that's the case, you got two spots left. But the Big 12 champion, which does not deserve to be in the College Football Playoff just like Indiana does not deserve to be in the College Football Playoff will be in. And the messed up part mentions there'll be a four seed.
- [69:20]
Connor
Right.
- [69:21]
Scott McShay
So now we got one spot. One spot. I want to take you back to the rankings from last week. You don't have to put it up the rankings last week. Alabama 13, Ole Miss 14, South Carolina 15. Well, Alabama, what do we want to call it? Handled Auburn today. Yeah, handled. Handled solid Auburn.
- [69:47]
Connor
They had the recipe for success. Milro's good on the ground. They play their game. Yep.
- [69:52]
Scott McShay
Yeah, but not great. But handled a team that beat Texas A and M a week ago but has not been good this season. Okay. Ole Miss struggled with Mississippi State. Had to, had to fight back in that game. That was, that was surprising. Ole Miss is sitting there at 14 from last week. So Alabama 13, Ole Miss 14, South Carolina 15. South Carolina struggled to but beat a the number 12 team, a team that was in the College Football Playoff by as ranked by the committee. Had the playoff started on Wednesday morning of this past week. Okay. And they beat him on the exact. And they beat him at Clemson in Death Valley in a game that mattered dearly to Clemson. Okay. Not just because of the rivalry but because of the implications because of, you know, if Miami had won. You got to understand had Miami won, Clemson needed to win today to get in. So this game mattered in all ways. Shapes and formed forms of Clemson and South Carolina still pulled pulled it off the win. I don't think Ole Miss is going.
- [71:02]
Connor
To be in because you look more today. They definitely need to do more today.
- [71:07]
Scott McShay
Their, their strength of schedule was 29 compared to Alabama's was 14 and South Carolina's was 15. OK. And then you, and then you add the fact that so, so to me it becomes down to Alabama and South Carolina. The helmets, the History. Will that persuade the committee to put Alabama in when last week the strength of schedule was 14 for Alabama, it was 15 for South Carolina. But this week should that changes it because Alabama beat Auburn, South Carolina beat a ranked Clemson team on the road.
- [71:52]
Connor
Here's, here's what I would say. They do have the head to head. I mean Alabama did beat South Carolina. Here's why I still think South Carolina gets in. Oklahoma was two weeks ago, man, and it was. That's. I don't. South Carolina doesn't have a loss like that. They don't have that bad loss. They got handled. They lost by 21 to Oklahoma. An Oklahoma team that has really struggled this year. Meanwhile, you have a young quarterback starting to hit his stride. South Carolina is on a six game, I think a six game win streak. They look good and they play. Those losses that they had were tight. I mean they. Other than the Ole Miss game where they lost by 24. They lost by two to Alabama, they lost by three to LSU in a game. Yes, that again, you, you listen, there's no moral victories but if you're looking at it as that committee, you're like, wow, that LSU game, man, it was a little funky. It was early in the year there was a couple of pick sixes that were called back. I mean it was, you know, that's. That game could easily have gone to South Carolina. And again, who's playing the best football right now. They beat a ranked Missouri team a couple weeks ago.
- [73:03]
Scott McShay
It's not Alabama. They. Right, no. Yeah. They've. They've beaten in their last three outings and one of them was against who do they play. But their last two legitimate hours have been ranked. Wofford. Yeah, yeah, Wofford. Clemson B. College of Charleston. But their last two legitimate outings were against ranked opponents and they won both those games versus and they beat Texas.
- [73:32]
Connor
A&M 44 to 20.
- [73:34]
Scott McShay
Yes, yes. Meanwhile, the losses for the 2417 loss to Tennessee for Alabama is. Is totally respectable if losses. But 24 to 3 to Oklahoma and 40 to 35 against Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt 6 and 5. 6 and 6. Now I think they lost today, right? Yeah, the Tennessee. Yeah.
- [73:58]
Connor
I think that Vandy. I mean that Vanny team was playing tough at the time. That's.
- [74:01]
Scott McShay
No, I know, I'm saying.
- [74:03]
Connor
But the Oklahoma one is the one that I can't get out of my head. Of course that was the one that knocked them out to me.
- [74:10]
Scott McShay
Yeah. It's gonna be fascinating to see. And Tuesday we'll be back on Tuesday we're gonna do a show on Tuesday before the rankings. Then we'll come back on Thursday and we've got, I mean, we've got a lot to talk about all week long. But, but that's kind of the scenario I see is that 10 of those teams will be in. Miami's out, the other ACC teams out. Big 12 champion is going to be in. BYU is going in for a touchdown right now. So it's going to be Iowa State. Iowa State versus Arizona State's on a heat. I. You know what? Strike that.
- [74:43]
Connor
Your voice.
- [74:44]
Scott McShay
I was in the mood earlier in the Big 12. I'm not saying they're as good as, like, is Alabama better? Better than Arizona State? Absolutely. Zone miss Better than Arizona State. Absolutely. But Arizona State deserves to be in given, given what they've done this year. And they're, they're rolling teams now like they, they're rolling teams. Arizona's on the basketball season today. Like, yeah, that was, that was a joke. So 14.
- [75:11]
Connor
I think they were picked last in the big 12. I think. I think they were picked last. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think they were picked last coming into the season.
- [75:18]
Scott McShay
And you know, I read this earlier today too. I'm glad you mentioned that. We can end on this nugget. I think South Carolina was picked 13th in the SEC coming into the year. It's going to be interesting to see that. Head to head is fascinating. Alabama, Clemson. But if you're going off truly the best teams right now, I think South Carolina is, is slightly better than Alabama and deserves to be in.
- [75:44]
Connor
Right.
- [75:44]
Scott McShay
And I'll tell you one thing. I'll tell you, I'll take either of those teams against Clemson. I'll take either of those teams against smu. I'll take either of those teams in a like a bloodbath against Indiana. I'll take either of those teams against Arizona State. Yeah, I get it. I'm getting a reputation for being an SEC show. I don't work at espn, abc. I'm not doing games.
- [76:08]
Connor
No, it's.
- [76:08]
Scott McShay
It is what it is. Like, I'm not, I have nothing to gain. Spotify is not writing me a check to pump up the sec. The ring. Like, hey, we're tied in. We get roots with you. It doesn't matter to me. I just watched these games and I'm telling you right now, I would take, I would take South Carolina, Ole Miss and Alabama head to head against Penn State. FanDuel get it ready. Todd's odds Tuesday. We're coming back to it. I want after these. These results. I'm telling you, those three teams, I do not believe they all deserve to be in the College Football Playoff. I get it. But I do think. I do think that they would. They would beat more. They would be more teams that are in that than, you know, than they should. Yeah.
- [76:55]
Connor
If we're trying to get the best teams in, that's what we do.
- [76:58]
Scott McShay
Yeah.
- [76:58]
Connor
It would be a sec heavy and again, it's. It is what it is. It just is what it is.
- [77:03]
Scott McShay
Yeah. What else you got? Anything?
- [77:10]
Connor
Richmond lost a tough one today. Damn it, Lehigh. Yeah. Damn it, Lehigh.
- [77:17]
Scott McShay
Yeah.
- [77:17]
Connor
So good run.
- [77:19]
Scott McShay
A great run. Great. Love you guys. Always in. Always in Richmond's corner, the Spiders, our guy, Winston October, doing a hell of a job there. But, yeah, I mean, back to back caas, you can't. It's tough today, but you look back on the season, total success. Total success.
- [77:37]
Connor
Yeah.
- [77:39]
Scott McShay
All right, so what. Let's think about Tuesday. I want. I want FanDuel. I want these three SEC teams, Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, against all those other teams that I just mentioned. Throw in Penn State just because I want to have fun and I know that they. FanDuel loves Penn State, but I. I bet you the spreads are really close. But more importantly, excuse me, smu, Indiana, Boise State, Clemson, all those teams, Arizona State. And tell me I'm a homer. Tell me I'm a shill after that when we talk about it on Tuesday and we get some. Some fanduel backing on that. All right. All right. It's always fun, man. Appreciate everyone.
- [78:26]
Connor
Truly so lucky.
- [78:28]
Scott McShay
Really appreciate everyone who stuck with us. Each week it's growing a little bit in terms of the people joining us on the live feed. Next week, we'll be back for the championship games. In the meantime, Tuesday and Thursday. Check it out. We will. We will be. We'll be on YouTube in the afternoon. We also have a podcast on. On Spotify and Apple and everywhere else that you get your podcasts. And until then, take care, get some sleep. Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoyed your family mention. I know you did go into the Patriots game tomorrow. God bless you. Get a few hours sleep. Get up. Bring the. Bring your. Bring the boy and a bunch of friends there. So you're gonna have your hands full, but I'm sure it'll be a fun day.
- [79:10]
Connor
Yeah. Can't wait.
- [79:12]
Scott McShay
See you Tuesday. Thank you.
- [79:14]
Connor
Thank you.
- [79:15]
Scott McShay
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 mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.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.