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The McShay Show
QB Deep Dive: John Mateer’s Superhuman Saturday and Early Impressions of Arch Manning. Plus, Takeaways From Clemson, Florida, and Arizona State.
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- [00:01]
Daniel Jeremiah
This episode is brought to you by Vuori. As an analyst, I'm a rankings guy. I scope the landscape, look at all the prospects and then make the call. And looking at the Vuori Sunday Performance Jogger, it's safe to say I found your new favorite jogger. Soft, lightweight, four way performance stretch. The Sunday Performance Jogger moves with you. No restrictions. And get this, we just landed a deal for friends of our show. They're offering 20% off your first purchase. Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet@viori.com mcshay. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. This is the McShay show presented by FanDuel, and college football Saturdays are already delivering Every game means something right now. Rankings shift, upsets hit, and the best place to stay on top of it all, fanduel. Whether you're riding a noon kickoff or betting the late games, FanDuel lets you bet it your way. Same game parlays, live betting, player props, alt lines. Whatever your angle is, it lives in the app. So if you're watching the action, bet on it with FanDuel. So download the app or head to FanDuel.com McShay and make every Saturday count. 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 in present and select states or 18 and older and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit RG D help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. We're going big game hunting on an absolutely jam packed show today. From John Matier to Club Nick to Arch to Lagway and a whole lot more. You're going to want to buckle up for this ride. It's a loaded slate of games in week three of college football and just 227 days until the NFL draft. Man, she good. Good. All right, let's roll this thing. Matier, Club Nick Lagway, Arch Levitt. Sounds like you did did some digging on Levitt too. I can't wait to hear what you have to say real quickly. I know we don't do housekeeping off the top. We got to get right into this thing. And there's so much from John Matier tape I'm excited to share that I watched yesterday. But we've got a huge show if you Live in the Chicago area. Anywhere nearby. Wednesday night. All right, Wednesday night, just a couple nights from now. We are live at the Lincoln hall in Chicago. It's you like, come on, come see the big fella, right? We got a few tickets left. Just a few tickets left. We're gonna be in Chicago. We're gonna do a full the McShay show from there and come join us. Go to theringer.com events if you want to buy tickets now. And we will. We'll be hanging out in. In the great city of Chicago for a few days. Maybe you'll see us around. Mentioned with this, like, I think like his tourist hat on me with my binoculars walking around viewing all the sights. No, it'll be a fun trip, but we. We hope you come join us and we appreciate all the support that you provide us on this show. Speaking of the show, I like John Matier. Was a lot of fun to watch in game, right?
- [03:57]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah.
- [03:58]
Daniel Jeremiah
Going back and watching the tape, here's the best way I can put it. The things that looked awesome on. On like in game looked even better in the coach copy tape, the end zone copy than the. Sorry, the. The all 22 and then the end zone copy for each play. He did some special things, man. You know what stood out to me like a couple things. First of all, what stood out to me first was we all wanted to know, all right, he's coming from Washington State. Yeah, they. They played a kind of an easy opening game. He came from Washington State here. He could have picked just about anywhere in the. Not vast majority of places in the country. Wanted John Mateer. He chose Oklahoma and in part he chose Oklahoma. Opportunity to play Michigan, sec, brutal schedule. Show NFL scouts, show. Show the country what he's made of. And every report I've gotten from Jim Nagy and other sources at Oklahoma during the off season, like, he. He's the guy. He's everything you want in a quarterback. The work ethic, the leadership, guys just following his leading by example, his vocal leadership, all those things, which is great to hear, but I wanted to see can he do it in the big game because prime time. Amazing blue. What a scene it was, by the way. It felt like a Rose Bowl. Watching on tv. It was awesome. The first half, the sun's going down. You kind of see in the distance and you got like, ABC does an amazing job with like the cameras and the lighting and you've got this feel of like. And I was even talking to Nagy a little bit yesterday. Like, he was saying, like, either An Orange bowl, like an old school clash of Orange bowl or Rose Bowl. The colors like the Oklahoma Sooners, you know, versus the maze and blue and the white jerseys of Michigan. It just felt big, that game in a primetime spot against Michigan. Michigan's first trip to ever have a true road SEC game during the regular season. Michigan's first trip ever to Norman, that game in prime time was bigger than the biggest moment that he played in at Washington State. No doubt.
- [06:18]
Bucky Brooks
Also, also think about where the Oklahoma program is right now and where it was coming into this year. They needed to win. Was this a program that was not. You know, if you think of all those great teams that Oklahoma's had in the past, you know, Brent Venables hasn't had the greatest start there. I think he's a great head coach. But you're looking at that program and there's a lot of people in Norman, Oklahoma, looking at this kid as, can you save our program? Can you make us competitive in the sec? Are we still going to be one of the blue bloods in college football? I mean, add that on to the pressure keep. That was already there. I mean, this was a monster game, a monster situation for that Batman.
- [06:55]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yeah. And we've talked about it, but it, I don't think it can be overstated. Like, Venables is a defensive coach and I agree with one thing. He's a great defensive coach and we've seen that even in their losing last year. Is he a great head coach? Can he manage the, the whole ship? Right? And I think, I think there's like, I don't know, it doesn't get overlooked, but it's certainly worth continuing to talk about, knowing what, staying in your lane, knowing you're great at running defense, motivating young men, all the things that Venables does at a very high level. He's just never going to be an offensive guy. And that's, that's, that's okay. So not only bringing in Mater, but bringing in Arbuckle, his offensive coordinator, with him and Arbuckle coming out and recognizing this is the moment we've got to let John go out and be himself. And it's a wild ride and it's aggressive and it's scary and I'm out of breath watching it. And, and I've got fans texting me like, this material guy man is going to give me a heart attack. And I'm like, I know he gave me a heart attack this summer watching tape. And there was no pressure on it. And so they, it's not like they, they could have come out and kind of established the run. We're a defensive team. Let's keep, let's keep matier. Let's, let's get them warm in this game. They come out cunning, man, absolutely gunning and it's like right off the bat. There were three plays early on where I'm like, holy smokes. First quarter, third offensive play, 14:20 left. It's third and nine. They were on a cover two beater. All right, number three number. They've trips to the left, number three receiver. So the one is the outside, the two is the middle of the three, and the three is the slot guy, if you want to call him. That's. That's Canik, the tight end, by the way. I want to get to Cannock a little bit more. A little later. I found out some. I didn't quite realize this story.
- [08:57]
Bucky Brooks
Oh, really?
- [08:58]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yeah, they work him down the seam. Great design against this Michigan defense. It's showing a lot of, a lot of too high safeties early on. Okay, so now we got, we've got Cannock on a cover two beater and he's like a legit weapon burst. You know, suddenness. Making that one handed catch was brilliant. But I think. And they showed it on the broadcast, but watching it from like, from the end zone angle where the cameraman was behind him, watching what Mattir was seeing, that was, it was a different experience. Okay. It's footwork. Like, here's what I've decided with. I just want to lay this out here right now. I have made a decision and I should have made this decision with Pat Patty Mahomes when he was coming out of Texas Tech. I've matured as an evaluator. The game has changed the position and the way we view the position and what's important with the mobility, the creativity, the playmaking ability has changed. Just like analysts I remember, I like to watch golf in the summer. Okay. Just like analysts in golf used to kind of pick apart Scotty Scheffler's swing. Like, well, you know, if he could just get to where he's, you know, he's staying in balance and transferring his weight and his feet aren't leaving the ground and all those. Maybe he can make that, make the next step as a golfer. That's when he was kind of breaking through. Then he becomes the best golfer in the entire world. And everyone's like, yeah, but mechanics don't matter for him. You know what I mean?
- [10:33]
Bucky Brooks
Like all the. It's so true. It's so true.
- [10:36]
Daniel Jeremiah
All the analysis that you do on all the other golfers where you can watch and be like, well, that swing was a little off, the result wasn't good. Here's the why the transfer wasn't there. The balance, the weight, the hip rotation, all that stuff. So the great golf analysts on CBS and NBC and espn, like, who have been doing this their entire lives came to the realization at one point, if he misses a, if he misses a shot, it ain't because of his footwork, because that footwork is what makes him special. So I've come to this decision, I've come to grips with the fact that mechanically what works un. Like universally for the rest of quarterbacks does not apply to John Mateer and it didn't apply to Patrick Mahomes. And so when he misses a throw, I want, I always want to go to. Well, I wish he would just drill in his footwork. It's just not who he is. Right. Special, he's different. And that's just the way he slings the ball. Okay. But even on this throw, he's a little bit like his weights kind of go into the left and he's throwing, but it's like a three quarter delivery. The torque that he's able to get with his lower body, even off balance is rare. It's unique. It's not what I'm used to seeing from other quarterbacks, just like Scheffler, other golfers. And so when he does that, it's just, he rips it out. And here's the beauty of that throw. I want people to understand. If you can remember back, it's the first big first throw, third play of the game, third and nine. And he has to drill that ball. Two defenders in the back end, secondary guys converging. But he's got to do it with just enough trajectory. He's got to layer it just enough to get it over the linebacker that was bailing, dropping into coverage in his zone and he. And he does it.
- [12:34]
Bucky Brooks
And yes, there's no margin for error. There's no margin on that throw. And can. It makes a great catch too, by the way. It is a great catch.
- [12:41]
Daniel Jeremiah
And so that the focus should be on Cannock in that catch. It was special, unique. Like you don't see many of those left handed, one handed, okay. But the throw was just as brilliant. And then you go three plays later, another third and n situation.
- [12:57]
Bucky Brooks
This is the one man.
- [12:59]
Daniel Jeremiah
His pre snap reed. He comes up to the line of scrimmage. I don't want Comes up to the line of scrimmage. He's got opportunities on both sides. He actually has got trips to the left, single to the right. Back is in the backfield at the start of the play. Right. He recognizes, I think he recognizes it's two over three. Two defenders on the left side versus his trips to the left, to the left. But from the snap of the ball, his eyes go to the right. Why? Why is that? Well, the snap of the ball, it's a single high safety, but that safety is right down the middle, cheated more to center field than he is over to the right. So you got a cornerback against Dion Burks, his number one receiver, who's, who's single there. And. And just prior to the snap, he motioned his running back out to the right, basically an offset slot. So now it's a three over two. Look, what you got to understand is Michigan's got six hot guys, if you will, danger guys, guys who potentially could rush. They send five. He's only got five blockers. So this SOB knows, like I've. I can get the first down here by throwing probably to my number three receiver on the left side, but I got a chance on if they're in that cover two look. And the second the ball snapped, one of the, the safeties starts bailing into that cover two look. But he's got no shot to get back and to get Burks because he know, because Mattier is the only one. Mattier and Burks are the only two guys on the field that know he's running a vertical down the right rail. So ball snapped. That safety who's playing center field, no chance to get over there. There's the safety who was in the box at the snap and was one of those danger guys could come on the blitz. He bails out like a bat out of hell to get that deep half right. But he doesn't have a chance to get Deon Burks, who's running a nine right down the right sideline. The millisecond that his eyes material's eyes don't go to the left where it's easy money. He's to the right. The millisecond, he sees that cornerback squat because he's got flat responsibility because it's this, this thing like this safety's here. The center field safety is going over here to the middle field. The safety who's in the box is going back. And now it's a two, two high shell. But it happened too late. And the second he sees that corner, he's squatting like oh I got him. Yeah and but here's the other part. Let's go back to the priest now.
- [15:28]
Bucky Brooks
We'Re two plays in. Go ahead. I want to say something about this play.
- [15:32]
Daniel Jeremiah
The defensive lineman jumped off sides and I don't know if this I, I.
- [15:36]
Bucky Brooks
His hard counts in this game really quickly, his hard counts in this game were awesome. He had, he had the Michigan off defensive line off balance all night but go ahead.
- [15:45]
Daniel Jeremiah
So I don't know if that even played into his of his thinking was pre staff because he, he was looking right the whole time but it's a great time and you're taught as a quarterback even if it's third and nine like go for the, go for the deep shot, take a shot right. If they jump off sides we'll live with third and four if it's an incompletion. Right. So he, he just drills this thing in. But it's not only the pre snap brilliance and the aggressive thinking. It's then making that throw with a lot with a defender coming right in your face and whacking you and drilling that there's a moment in your, in your mind and every time when you know that you, they've got as many or more rushers as we got blockers when that ball snapped. There's just a moment in your mind as a quarterback you got, you got two choices you can understand. You're going to get hit. So maybe I'm going to drift a little kind of slide a little or bail out or I'm just going to hang in here and I'm going to accept the punishment. I'm going to pay the toll because the reward is worth it. This is a, this is a highway I got to drive down. And he does it and he makes a brilliant throw down the right side. So these are two of the, two of the first six plays his two throws and they come out gunning men really quickly.
- [17:08]
Bucky Brooks
That's a great call by Wink Martindale by the way that dropping that safety the way he did. Most quarterbacks are going to have a problem making that throw. I mean that is a great call. As the old defense quarter he must have been like let's see what you got kid because I think mater throws material throws that whole ball. We talked about this in the, in the summer too. You can go back to it. He throws that whole ball the, the ball between the safety in the corner and those in those zone looks. He throws it better than anyone in the country. He throws it better than anyone I've seen in the country and, and he's just excels at it. And I think Martindale was like, well, this is going to be a little tighter window for you, my man. Let's see how you do here. And he absolutely, again on third and nine, just sits there and drills. It's an absolute dime. It is an unbelievable throw. I love how excited you are about this kid, by the way.
- [17:57]
Daniel Jeremiah
You are. I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But they come out and they drive down, drive down the field. Yeah. Wink was like, hey, this ain't Washington State, big boy. Let's see what you got.
- [18:05]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, right.
- [18:07]
Daniel Jeremiah
And, and, and John looks over the sideline and winks and winks at Wink and is like now, you know, right?
- [18:15]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, that's what I do.
- [18:17]
Daniel Jeremiah
I promise is the last play I'm going to do. But there's a reason I'm going through these three plays again, starting off this whole, this whole segment, if you will, with. He comes from Washington State. He chose this, he chose this path. You know, this is like the road to Hana, man. He decided like the end, the, like, if anyone's done that road to Hana in Hawaii, like the end is worth it. But the ride there is like, like my buddy Matt o' Neill is a chef who's got anxiety and biting his hand all the time was driving it and like everyone's car sick when you get there, but when you get there, it's worth it, right? So he chose this bumpy road and he comes out and he's like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna let everyone know. I'm putting everyone on notice. This is what we're doing here at Oklahoma this year and you better buckle up. So then there's a play later. There's the last one I'll do, I promise. Play 14 on the offensive side. 627 left first quarter. It's a first down play, but they're on their own three yard line. He's in shotgun three yards deep into his own end zone. On the, on the O of the Oklahoma. Okay, I takes absolute Kuyan's onions to patiently and properly to commit to. I'm gonna patiently and properly go through my reads when it's when, when Michigan is now showing six and by the way, in the snap of the ball in this play they bring six. He kept Jaden odd his running back in. So now again you got six blockers against six rushers. It's not an ideal situation. You'd like to have numbers, as you well know. Mentions an offensive lineman. He doesn't. So he knows what's going to happen. Again, there's a toll to pay, but he's willing to pay this toll. This son of a gun hangs in the pocket with six rushes. He is like can feel the goalpost behind him because he gets the snap at 3, 3 yards in the end zone, little drop. He's now like six yards deep in his end zone, but he's looking it through. And then this is the part that's certifiably insane. You have to have a screw loose to hang in there against six rushers coming six yards into your own end zone from the left hash mensch and patiently wait and help sell and out and up on the right sideline, you know far. You are like visualize you're standing on the left hash and you've got a receiver on the right sideline going V. And the hang in there. And I still can see it's burnt into my mind. That linebacker comes. I, I wrote his name down, that linebacker. Ernest Houseman. He comes, he measures up mater straight line to him and not only hits him, but runs through him. But Mattier just got the ball off and he drills it perfectly down the right side.
- [21:18]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, the execution, the execution was incredible in that play.
- [21:24]
Daniel Jeremiah
So if there's any question of who this guy is, what he's about and if Wink Martindale, who's. I, I talked to you about it Saturday night. Friend of the show. He's got an unbelievable career. NFL college. This guy knows defense like he's, he's one of the all timers. Okay. If, if Wink thought, thought like we might have a chance. This isn't Washington State anymore. We might get have a chance against this guy. This be too big. We're big, we're fast, we're vicious up front and they are Michigan is. He learned really halfway through this first quarter. Oh, we like, we got our, we got our hands full with this guy.
- [22:02]
Bucky Brooks
Right. This is going to be a battle. Yeah. Can I ask you something?
- [22:05]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yes.
- [22:05]
Bucky Brooks
Are we wrapping up Matier? Because this is something I, this is where my mind goes.
- [22:09]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yeah.
- [22:09]
Bucky Brooks
Would you rather have to tackle John Matier after he gets a five yard running start and gets downhill or have to catch a pass at 5 yards at right at your eyes. Which one would you rather do from Matier? Yeah, like he's, he's unloading that five yard pass, by the way. It's not, he's not trying to layer that ball to you.
- [22:32]
Daniel Jeremiah
I guess I'd rather tackle if I'm A football player because it's what I've been asked to do. But I don't. I'm not pumped about it. I, the embarrassment level that that would come with trying to catch that thing. I'm probably going like 4 for 4 for 10 catching that thing. And when I do, it's not pretty anyway, dude, if you go 0 for.
- [22:51]
Bucky Brooks
1, you've got a broken nose, you're go. If you go oh for one, you're done for the day. You're not trying to catch that thing 10 times. That is he. The velocity on that ball is, is notable.
- [23:03]
Daniel Jeremiah
I, I want to make a few bullet point things and we can move on in a little while. But I could go, I could do an entire show on this here. Just watching that tape. As you can probably tell, Dion Burks isn't on the level of the elite guys like the, the Jeremiah Smiths and the Ryan Williams. But he's a damn good player, man. You know, he doesn't have that size and it's not like he doesn't have certain elements to his game. He's just a really good like. I really was impressed with his body control, quickness, suddenness, routes, hands along the sidelines, some of the stuff he did. He's a really good player. I mentioned, I mentioned the, the Jaren Cannock, the tight end. I did not realize this. He played linebacker. He was a defensive player through last season. Hadn't played kind of plays like that, by the way, since I. Yeah.
- [23:51]
Bucky Brooks
Loves contact, loves aggressive physical.
- [23:54]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yep. But to come out and to make that catch and to do some of the things and yes, he didn't run through that one in the end zone. He's a little bit overthrown, but had he kept running like the instincts aren't quite there. This is his second game at tight end. Buddy.
- [24:08]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, I'm excited.
- [24:09]
Daniel Jeremiah
He's just going to keep getting better. And I was texting Nagy about it last night and he's like, I, I don't like. Let's just put it this way. He loves the guy. One of his favorites in the building just like can't. So you gotta. And by the way he went. Cannock went into the, into his exit meeting from last season. Just wasn't getting play. It wasn't working at linebacker. He's going to be a career backup. This is, this is his last year. How do I get on the field? What do I coach? Can I, can I just try to move to tight end and see how it happens in the off season? Can you give me A chance. They're like, yeah, sure. Like we've got a bunch of linebackers here. We're good, right? Sure, yeah. Give it a shot. And now he's a starting tight end and he's making big time plays. Cool story. Deontay Lewis, who had a great first game. Going to need a little bit more consistency from him. Isaiah Satanga, they're talented, they're both upperclassmen, so I don't know like how high the ceiling is, but they're going to need a little bit more because you now have one of the premier, I'm talking like short list premier quarterbacks and premier passers in all of college football. These guys are going to have to grow with him throughout this year with that schedule that we talked about and it ain't like, it ain't pretty. I don't have it in front of me. We went through it the other night. It's a brutal schedule that Oklahoma has. Yeah, I do want to say this too. Final thing on Mater, I sometimes walk away from watching tape on him talking about last year's and now first couple games being like, what am I more impressed with, like the aggressive attacking, the skill set as a passer, all those things, or that he might just be the most competitive son of son of a. In all of college football? And in this game, I got news for you. Michigan had two defensive tackles draft in the top 13. That's rare. Doesn't happen very often. Okay. Yet Mason Graham and, and Kenneth Walk and Kenneth Grant go in the first 13 picks. But I also got news for you, like they're not as talented like individual NFL prospects talented, but this defensive front for Michigan is vicious. Yeah.
- [26:24]
Bucky Brooks
Don't bad for Michigan.
- [26:25]
Daniel Jeremiah
They're stout, they're, they're tough, they're athletic, they're sudden. That zero guy, I think you talked about him, Trey Williams, he's a monster. 6, 2, 3, 20, all of them.
- [26:38]
Bucky Brooks
So I think Sean Benny's good. Yeah.
- [26:41]
Daniel Jeremiah
What happened with Oklahoma early in this game when things started to settle down and they're like, all right, let's get into our offense. You know, after Matier's like blowing brilliant early on is we got to be able to be balanced. And we've talked about, we talked about Ott and only, you know, only five carries in two games. He's on the field a lot. Early on that game they just, for some reason they trust him in pass protection even though the shoulder isn't right. But anyway, my point is between Blaylock, Barnes and ott, they had 19 carries, 57 yards rushing, zero touchdowns. And Oklahoma at one point in this game, the second half came to the realization we just can't traditional run on Michigan. So now not only does Mater have to do material things in the passing game, the only way we got a chance to run the football is when we have a numbers game advantage with materic quarterback. And so now Mattier, I want to remember those numbers. 19 between the three running backs, 57 yards, zero touchdowns. Matier ends the game with 19 carries of his own for 17 more yards, 74 yards and two touchdowns. So like that commitment to whatever it takes for my team this night against that defensive front and the hits I'm taking and then I have to go drop back as a quarterback after getting knocked around and still be dialed in. And I knew it was a great performance on Saturday night. And you kind of came after me because I was pointing out, you know, some inconsistencies, some missed throws and it's the material experience. He threw a couple balls, should have been intercepted, missed some targets, all that stuff. But what he did in that game was like almost superhuman considering who they were playing against. And I just, I can't. Like, he is. He and Nussmeier are the two guys in college football right now that I'm sitting back in awe of because they are so special and so like so much above the rest of. And we're talking about this, this quarterback class this year in college football, the golden era of quarterbacks. They are a notch above in terms of everybody else right now and what they're putting on tape.
- [29:05]
Bucky Brooks
I agree with you where those guys are playing. I just like the kid from South Carolina, Lenore Sellers, a lot. So I think we'll see. We'll see. He hasn't had the opportunity like the other two have. He just hasn't had the chance to really do his thing. But I think Sellers is kind of in that conversation too. I love how excited you are. I had to get out of the way of you. I know.
- [29:23]
Daniel Jeremiah
The McShay show is brought to you by FanDuel. Ready to fire up your Saturdays? FanDuel's got a boost you don't want to miss. It's called boosting with the boys. And it's giving everyone a college football profit boost every single week. Each week. We're giving everyone a profit boost to use on college football. No opt in gymnastics, no invite only nonsense. Everyone gets the boost. We're talking real games, real teams, real Saturdays with an extra payout on the line. And it is an awesome slate. Georgia, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, LSU, Florida, Miami, South Florida, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Bama, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Vandy Just because Sellers is in that game and the Brawl Pit West Virginia can't wait. This is a fun week. It's easy, it's fun and it's only on FanDuel. Go to FanDuel.com McShay to download the app, check out the boosting with the boys offer and get in on the action. Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 and older and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem call 1-800-gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut well, I kind of did this on purpose because I know you, I asked you, I don't give you a lot of assignments, but I asked you because I because it's a, it's where you excel and you clearly like know your strengths and weaknesses, right? You understand offensive line play. I watch Clemson on television and it, it seems to me like they're not playing to talk about. They've got seven guys who could start, seven guys in a rotation, four returning starters, all of that. And I watch on television and I, I see an offensive line that maybe isn't playing to a level that you'd expect given the experience and the alleged talent and all that stuff. So I asked you to go back and watch Club Nick, but with a special eye on the offensive line, basically the offense in general. So I want to kind of turn it to you here. I did watch the tape, so I have my own thoughts, but I'm really curious. Like your thoughts are actually more important to me and what you saw.
- [32:01]
Bucky Brooks
Well, first of all, they had an injury going into the Troy game that I didn't even realize, but Tristan Lee, the left tackle, didn't play. So now you gotta, you kind of got a shuffle and they, they put out Colin Sadler who plays guard, played out there tackle and was competitive. He's a good player, but he's a better fit at guards already you're moving guys. You got to bring in the backup left guard now to play. They put out their talented freshman Braden Jacobs and it was evident early on at left tackle they didn't start him but they got him a Couple reps and it was evident that he wasn't ready. He was just getting beat to the inside fairly consistently. He'll be fine, he's a talented dude, but right now he's just not ready. So they're rotating guys up front already and they're, and I'll say this again, I think that the Blake Miller, the right tackle, is their best player. Some people think he's a early round prospect. I don't see that. I think he's a solid college offensive tackle. I just don't think they are great individually as maybe some other people do. And I don't think they have guys that can win consistently one on one against elite pass rushers and that's going to be a concern for them going forward. So then you throw in the injury, you throw in guys rotating, it just was, it got messy at times. And again, I, I sort of understand trying to get your freshman snaps against Troy, but not when you're down. And that's when they were doing it. It didn't make sense to me of, you know, if you're going to get up 21 and you want to throw in the young kid and see how he does. I understand that. It was, it was interesting to me that they chose that time to throw in the freshman and see how he did because immediately it was two pressures like right out of the gate and I think he had a holding call too. So that offensive line, I don't want to say that they played poorly because I just, I didn't have that high of expectations coming into the year. I think they're a good offensive line. They're not great and now you throw in the injury and they're not as deep as they said they were. If you have seven starters, you should be able to, you should be good. They're also rotating at right guard. I don't know what's going on there, but they're playing two different right guards. So again, if you're, if you have a lockdown, outstanding front five, you're not rotating guys. And we'll get into this too. They weren't the biggest problem in this game. I mean, Clubnik did not play well. I mean Clubnik, even when he had time, did not play well. And they desperately need to get Antonio Williams back in the lineup, the wide receiver, they desperately need him out on the field.
- [34:22]
Daniel Jeremiah
Tell me about club Nick Moore.
- [34:24]
Bucky Brooks
What did my, my biggest concern with him. And there's two of them, one of them. I want to see if you're seeing the same thing. But I think we'll both agree that he's evacuating the pocket too early.
- [34:33]
Daniel Jeremiah
He is.
- [34:34]
Bucky Brooks
He wants to go right, he wants to get out, he wants to make plays with his feet and he's not showing the poise that I think he showed when he was really playing well down the stretch. It's a balancing act, right?
- [34:44]
Daniel Jeremiah
You're.
- [34:45]
Bucky Brooks
You're walking that wire. You're trying to, to balance that ability to make plays with your feet and make plays within your pocket. I thought there was a, there was a period of time in the second half where he got into a little bit of a groove and was better from within the pocket. There were other times where he just wanted. He was first reading, he was gonna. Which is surprising to me after watching him last year. The other thing, and I want to see if you saw this too, it was when he throws over the middle right now I feel like he's holding on to the ball too long. Like he's not trusting his middle of the field reads and he's just not getting out the ball as quickly as I seen him in the past. And it's affecting the timing, it's allowing defenses to recover. It affects Yak, it affects all of those things. So that one, I was wondering if you were seeing the same thing.
- [35:28]
Daniel Jeremiah
Some things can happen, right? I'm going to give you three things that, that, that could happen. One is you got to remember he came into last year. He's coming off of a pretty tough year and early on he played pretty good, kind of. He got a lot better as the season progressed and he became a dude by the end of the year, right. All of a sudden now the off season is okay, who's back in college football? It's Club Nick, it's Nussmeier, it's Sellers. Young, young gun with all these tools, you know, and, and you got people like us and others maybe Club Nick's on QB1 in 2026 draft, right? And, and I, and I promise you this because I know enough people in the kind of like the quarterback circle and people who know these young men and, and I got to see like hands on, like humble, hard working like. But, but everyone's human. And so I wonder like sometimes I, I did see and I wrote it in my notes. Quarter count, late at times, kind of wanting to be in my. You know, and like. So there's this pressure that comes with that. And again it's. I'm not saying it's just Club Nick. There's a pressure, there's a There's an ease of burden that Mattier plays with. He's the underdog, comes from this system. Does it translate to the NFL? Maybe he's a third round pick, right, Coming into the year, can he do it at Oklahoma? All that. So there's this like, oh yeah, fuck yourself mentality. Really. Okay, I'll show you Club Nick though, comes in as one of the guys and Clemson's most talented roster since 2016. And you know all that stuff. So that, and you live in, in Clemson just not dissimilar from like Athens, Georgia and Tuscaloosa. It's a, it's a bubble and, and it's, and even Austin, Texas for, for Arch. It's a, and so like all the attention is on this guy. Can't go down the street, can't go to the convenience store and grab a water without videos and shaking hands and signing autographs. So there's just a lot that comes with it. And so when you get out there in game action and then especially when the first game doesn't go as planned, there's this like, I don't want to, I got to make sure I'm not part of the problem, right? And the biggest thing I could do to not be part of the problem is to make sure that I don't throw a turnover worthy ball, right? So that's one part. Second part is I know this haven't played the position and not very well but, but like you learn when you're around it and you, and you play it and all that, when you don't trust your protection up front after a game like lsu, that clock speeds up and it's almost one of those like until otherwise proven, you know. And so I, I, and you watch the tape all week and you're like, well they're getting us on this and I'm, I just, I'm not sure. So like if it's not there right away, I'm not sitting in here and taking the sack. Not because I'm not tough or it's because like what's best for the offense is if it's not here right away, I've got to assume protection is not going to be there even against Troy. It's like a, rather than a mentality, right? And then the third thing is you add those two elements to, you add to those two elements. In the first quarter of, of the first game of the season your guy Antonio Williams goes out and so Wesco was awesome and we'll get to him in a minute. And, and, and what's his name? T.J. moore. Right?
- [39:15]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah.
- [39:16]
Daniel Jeremiah
The other receiver, he, he's done some good things, right. And they're both very talented and they've got other guys that are talented and, and who's the Tristan Smith, big bodied receiver? He, he showed a flash, cut the touch up. So like there's other guys, but you always have your guy, right? It's arch in a minute and I think he's finding his guy. And so when you don't have your guy, your security blanket, you trust where he's going to be. You just have that rapport. He's gone speeding up the clock and I just don't want to make the mistake that's going to cost us because the whole weight of the world is kind of on me right now after that loss from lsu. It's a bad combination.
- [39:57]
Bucky Brooks
I agree. And it's kind of speaking to your point, which would kind of back it up a little bit, is you're going to want to do what you do best and what he does best is make plays on the move and get outside the pocket and threaten with his feet and all those things. So that's maybe that's why he's getting out of the pocket quicker than I think he needs to. I will also say early in this game I thought it was interesting that they did go to more six man protections as the game progressed, but it was a lot of five man protections. And when that said to me early on and, and Troy was bringing, I mean they were bringing six, so they, they had, they had a free rusher. And what I thought that said to me was they really don't trust their backs and tight ends to help out in pass pro and they're going to let their experienced quarterback find the hot read, get the ball out and beat it with his arm, which he did an okay job of. I thought he did a pretty good job of that early on. There was just no big plays.
- [40:48]
Daniel Jeremiah
I think Randall's a wide receiver. Okay.
- [40:51]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah.
- [40:51]
Daniel Jeremiah
And he had a good game. He had a good game.
- [40:54]
Bucky Brooks
He runs hard, man. He runs hard.
- [40:55]
Daniel Jeremiah
He does. And he's got some juice and they need that. They haven't had that for a couple years at running back. 21 carries, 112 yards and a touchdown. He had a good game. He's not, I'm not saying he's like special, different. I'm not putting him up in this, but he had a good game. I think I, I think a, a risk assessment, a cost analysis has been done by Clemson after that first Game. You and I saw the tape. They've got, they've got smarter offensive coaches than we are. When watching offense, they watch the tape and it's like as a play caller and a scheme designer, you do a cost analysis. Are we better off keeping him in. In protection and that frees up the linebacker, you know, green dogs and that frees up the linebacker, right, to come and blitz, or would we rather an extra rusher with our guy in the threat of an extra rusher with our guy in protecting? Or are we smarter just to get him out as a receiver? Because he is a receiver. He's a much better receiver than he is. Past protectors, we now know. And it only makes sense and, and take another guy out of the box, take another thread away from blitzing and that. That's what they. And it's a smart football decision. Right. I want to go back to this. I was, it was a tough game to watch on TV because it came out and they got down 16 nothing or they got down 7 nothing, had that long delay, got other games going on finishing, then other games are starting. And so I, I watched a good deal of it. I told you when I saw 16 nothing. And I had watched, you know, a decent amount, but it gets to 16 nothing. And now it becomes the primary and the McShay residence. It's like the primary and I happen to Marissa, Mia, AJ like grew up in Greenville. Clemson's there, like, so like it. I want to say this. I watched a lot of the game, but it was on TV and a lot of other games going on. Okay. I do want to say this. After watching the tape, I actually thought Club Nick played better than I did when I exited the TV viewing experience. Okay. I saw all the same, same things you did. And there are concerns and I think we just touched on three things that like, could be going on that I think. Would you stack a couple wins? I, I think it will. I, I do see them get. I think this offensive line will settle in. I don't think great unit. I think it'll settle in. I think they'll figure out the right rotations, get healthy, all those things. I think they've got a running back who's a wide receiver. They got that star freshman five star guy, Gideon Davidson. He got two carries that game. I'm interested to see if he starts to get a little bit more run. There's a little balance there, but you don't trust your starter in pass protection. I don't know how well you're going to trust Your true freshman. So like that's going to be an issue throughout but if you get I don't know what the timeline is on Antonio Williams. I would guess me neither. Two or three more weeks to be safe. But he's going to come back at some point. West Cow and you said this I think the other night there's a, you know, silver lining to the Williams injury. It's that Georgia Tech like that's going to be a tough game. Like, like they are on alert. They're at Georgia Tech. They're only five and a half point favorites. Last time I saw on FanDuel when it first came out okay and so but it's Syracuse at home. It's at UNC at Boston College before that big showdown against SMU that looks beatable but it's still a damn good football team. They'll get some things figured out defensively if they, they got to get through this Georgia Tech game. But I can see a picture in which club Nick gets more comfortable, gets his top dog back in. Williams offensive line kind of settles into a groove and this is a much better offensive football team than what we've seen. And the defense is playing really good right Both games really damn good. That's a top 10 unit in the country.
- [45:00]
Bucky Brooks
I think Williams is the key because his ability to get open quickly. He's the guy who can help you over the middle. I think that, I mean just look at like 34 catches more than any other receiver on the roster last year. Clubnick just trusts him. And when you get into those moments and he needs to get the ball out of his hands quickly, having Antonio Williams on the field will be great. Now in the meantime, you're right and I stand by that point. It'll be nice for Wesco and more and all those guys to get more reps and develop a little bit. But right now that there's that offense is it's got some vulnerabilities to does.
- [45:33]
Daniel Jeremiah
But I kind of felt like the sky was falling after watching the game on tv. I no longer think that he hung in and made some throws.
- [45:42]
Bucky Brooks
That 34 yard touchdown pass he threw down the seam was nice.
- [45:45]
Daniel Jeremiah
The one to west go on the left side was a nice ball, a little bit high but like he's got some bigger targets with that Tristan Smith guy and the Wesco guy. If he gets Williams back at some point, like I don't know. I, I, I'm not, I'm off the ledge from Sunday, from Saturday night into Sunday, I will say this.
- [46:08]
Bucky Brooks
I, I Also think that's a hangover game. You're coming off that LSU heavyweight heavyweight bout and then you got Troy, you got the weather delay. I mean it's just there's a lot of things that you can, you can say mitigating factors to this whole situation. Right. But yeah, there are still, still some concerns.
- [46:27]
Daniel Jeremiah
Couple other things I spent time on yesterday, tape wise. I'm in the process of going back and I'm going to marry the tape from what we saw last year and all this throws, you know, the, the PFF ultimate where we can do, we can do cut ups of certain things and, and I want to study more mechanics last year versus this year and some of the things like that. I'll say this. And I, I saw the viral thing. He was wincing on one throne.
- [46:52]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, like I saw that too.
- [46:54]
Daniel Jeremiah
And, and maybe there is a shoulder thing. And obviously he came out and was like, I have no idea what you're talking about. Sark was like, that's the news to me. Like, what do you. But, and listen, who knows? I, I, I truly don't. I, I tend to believe them. Like, I think he's okay because he made it a lot, he let it rip and different stuff. His footwork and arm angles are still concerning. Here's why there's a lack of consistency. There are throws underneath and we saw it in that Ohio State game. There are throws underneath where like, and I, and I, I told you I spent, I've spent a lot of time my whole life like obviously playing the position in high school and college, but like even more so honestly, I wish I knew then what I know now. Obviously you hear that all the time. Time I spent a lot of time around whether it's offensive coordinators, great head coaches who are offensive minds, quarterbacks themselves, even like Jordan Palmer and, and George Whitfield and some of those gurus. And now my, I told you Tate's working with, with the guy with Alex McLaughlin and Mike McCarthy from the M2QB and they've had like that Miles O' Neal who had an awesome game, they work with him and a lot of. So like I've been around like the mechanics. Trent Dilfer used to like grind it with me. Like so I've just been around that a lot. And so I know what I've been, you know, fortunate to learn like what, what's what. And it's just interesting to me with Arch and all the coaching and all the things that he's had. But you go back and look in like the High school level and running around. And it wasn't like the highest class, apparently. And, and, and so I think he's just a young quarterback kind of learning on the fly. But one thing I've learned from all of these guys, obviously situational dependent, but vast majority of the time, you are better off. Instead of saving a quarter count of throwing off balance, feet not right, all that and trying to flick it. And what, you're better off bringing your feet with your eyes, marrying them up and working and setting yourself up. When you're going through progressions and doing all these things where your feet are. When you say feet married to eyes, it's. I'm surveying the field. I'm going. Whether it's pocket passer progressions like boom, boom, boom, or even on the run with your eye, you get to a point where you drill it in so hard that your feet are married to your eyes. So that you. You try not to. Unless you're Scotty Scheffler, John Matiere, you try not to put yourself in a position or you try to limit the amount of positions you're in where you're throwing, where your body is not a helpful tool to help generate torque, to help guide the throw, your arm angle and all that. Okay, when his feet are right, the throws are there. And when his feet are even a little bit off, the throws are there. And sometimes on the move stuff, he's comfortable and just kind of lets it rip. The throw is where it needs to be. It's when it's when he's going through progressions and he leaves his feet here. But the progression comes. And I'm. If you're just listening on Apple or Spotify, we appreciate you doing. So I'm saying if your feet are kind of pointed towards the left hash and you're watching a crosser come from left to right, your eyes are going from left to right, but his feet are staying pointed that left hashtag. And so he goes to rip the ball and his hips are open and it kind of looks like he's just trying to flick it right chest, chest parallel to the line of scrimmage instead of shoulder perpendicular to the line of scrimmage. I know I'm going through a lot, but, like, there's a reason why Arch is inconsistent on these throws. And you're like, I watched the throw, a 12:59 second quarter to Livingston as an example in the pocket. It was that touchdown pass. Livingston's become his guy. He trusts him because he's. He's a quarterback, right now who's been a little bit erratic, inconsistent with his ball placement. Now I've got this 64 wide receiver who's just a freshman, but my gosh, he's a big catch radius. That makes me comfortable. And he's in the places he needs to be and he knows how to use that body to kind of shield defenders. So he's got that second quarter throw, 12:59 to Livingston. He transfers his weight from back to front and he lets it rip bang balls in place. But he's got a I, I went and charted like four or five other very similar situations just so happened. And I saw some of the stuff on, on X and social media. He must, he must hate, he must hate Wingo. Wingo hates him. You know, and I get it because like his, the bad throws and then a couple drops from Wingo.
- [51:35]
Bucky Brooks
Wingo, yeah.
- [51:36]
Daniel Jeremiah
Happened to be to Wingo, but he threw one at Wingo's feet. Guess what? Feet pointed his, his base was pointed left.
- [51:44]
Bucky Brooks
Saw the same thing.
- [51:45]
Daniel Jeremiah
You know what I mean?
- [51:46]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, I saw the same thing.
- [51:47]
Daniel Jeremiah
And, and he's over striding sometimes too, which leads to some off. So it's just interesting because you would think that Arch with the, everything that he has around him would be a little bit more buttoned up with his footwork and all that, but it's never been his game. He's not Eli, he's not Peyton, that's not his game. He's Arch, he's his dad's, he's his dad's son, he's his mom's son. They're athletes these, he's his grandfather's grandson.
- [52:17]
Bucky Brooks
Right.
- [52:18]
Daniel Jeremiah
Running around, creating and so it's going to be fascinating to see how this develops if he can continue to work on his foot. But it's correctable stuff. Now it is interesting to me. Some of the arm angle stuff, it's kind of tight in the upper body and it's kind of shot put, it's kind of pushed.
- [52:34]
Bucky Brooks
Can't help yourself.
- [52:35]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yeah, I know. There's just some stuff there that's got to be worked through.
- [52:39]
Bucky Brooks
I am really encouraged by the way he was extending plays in this game. The 20 yard touchdown run was what you want to see from Arch. That was just amazing. I thought it was a great run. The one concern, the biggest concern, other than the, all the stuff you just said, I agree with the fundamentals, the technique, all that has to the footwork, it all has to be better and more consistent. My concern is I don't want him to start pressing because things maybe haven't gone the way he wants to. And the. The pick he threw at the end of the first half in this game with a defender in his face. I know you. You know better than that. He knows better than that. And it felt like I'm just trying to make a play, just trying to make a play. And I couldn't tell if he's trying.
- [53:19]
Daniel Jeremiah
To throw it away. And then the defender got on him.
- [53:22]
Bucky Brooks
Maybe. Maybe that's what it was. Maybe that's what it was. It just.
- [53:25]
Daniel Jeremiah
But it was a weird play.
- [53:27]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah. My read was he was trying to make too much happen and don't do that. Just don't do that. You don't have to do that.
- [53:34]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yeah. My takeaway was, is it was a lot better and we're heading in the right direction, but it's going to like it. And they've got Sam Houston State. The schedule lines up well. We took our beating. Arch had a really tough opener. Now you got two games to build on, the tape, to watch, drilling some of the footwork, all that stuff. But then it gets interesting, man. You got Florida, and I know Florida's coming off a loss, but that is a really talented team on October 4th. Then you get Red river the week after against an Oklahoma team that we just saw. So I'm going to save some of this. It doesn't feel like there's more to save, but I really want to do more of a deep dive and try to get stuff out, like video and all that, to show where. And you're smirking. I see you smirking. No, there will be more.
- [54:20]
Bucky Brooks
There's. There's going to be more over the next couple games. There will be more to see.
- [54:24]
Daniel Jeremiah
What.
- [54:24]
Bucky Brooks
What's the arc look like? What's. Are we progressing? Are we regressing? Have we plateaued a little bit here? What's the situation against these teams that he should be playing at a high level against? So we'll see. And I want to get back right now, though, I am with you. He looks like a young quarterback who's just figuring it out and. And, you know, got all the talent in the world. So. And I will say this. I like Park, Parker, Livingston. If we are not Livingstone, if we are not throwing the ball to Ryan Wingo, college football is missing out. I want to see Ryan Wingo with the ball in his hands making plays. So I'm hoping that that connection gets. There's a little more chemistry there and a little more momentum with those two making plays, because that's when that Texas offense will truly be explosive is when Wingo is the feature guy and Livingston's playing, Livingstone's playing that, that kind of supporting role and Johnre Moore is playing that supporting cast role. And in Andre's, I mean, the weapons are all there but wings. The guys give Wingo the ball, man.
- [55:21]
Daniel Jeremiah
And Sark knows that. If you look early in that game, it was about getting when go the ball. Whether it was an overthrow down the middle to, you know, early in the first drive or throwing the ball at his feet or the in cutter before sandwich in between those two plays where the ball is thrown perfectly and he just drops it like it just wasn't happening at the. At the efficiency level that it should. But that's a critical part. I couldn't agree with you anymore. I want to get to DJ Lagway in Florida in a minute, but you watch Sam Levitt in Arizona State. I did not get to their tape and we were on live when a lot of that game was going on. I'm very, very, very curious because I am a Levitt guy. I'm very curious as to what you saw in that, like, ugly loss at Mississippi State.
- [56:08]
Bucky Brooks
I mean, look, I think we're all Levitt guys coming into the season. I compared him to JJ McCarthy because the way he throws the ball off of play action and I still think he's got a high ceiling. But if you're watching this game and you're bringing this game into a general manager, you could show a bunch of great stuff about. About Levitt. You can if you bring this game into a general manager. I have a hard time of them not saying, look, I get it. Let's check back in a year. He's not ready. Just does not look ready. He was 10 for 22 in this game. He looked lost for long stretches and I'm just being really lost. He was missing on throws. He was overthrowing players. I went through his 10 completions because I was like, well, what do we.
- [56:50]
Daniel Jeremiah
What are.
- [56:50]
Bucky Brooks
What are we looking about? What's working for him? Swing pass, swing pass, dump off to the running back. 5, 5 yard, out to the slot, tight end. 13 yard to Tyson. Nice throw on. I think it was an out. But off platform, not from in the pocket. On time. In rhythm. He had on the drive that they. They tied the game in the second half where they got 17, 17. They made the comeback. He got into a rhythm there. He started to look like, oh, there's Sam Levitt. There's the guy I know outside of that drive, he Looked like he wasn't reading coverage as well. He was inaccurate. He was pressing the ball downfield. There was a bunch of different things that just were super concerning to me. Not the player that I remember seeing during the off season at all. I will say the one thing I do love about him is he's still super competitive and he runs like a maniac. He will do whatever he has to do with his feet to make plays. The other thing is Arizona State ran the ball really well in this game. It wasn't a game of, yeah, relief.
- [57:52]
Daniel Jeremiah
Brown at 18 for 110. Kanye Udo had had 23 for 105.
- [57:59]
Bucky Brooks
They ran the ball well, man. The play action was there. He just didn't look like himself. Happy feet in the pocket, holding on to the ball too long at times. Again, all a bunch of red flags in this game for Sam Levitt. So I'm hoping he can, you know, get back to playing the way he's played in the past going forward. But I, when you get back and you watch his tape, you're gonna, you're gonna be, I think, surprised at how poorly he played.
- [58:23]
Daniel Jeremiah
It's interesting to me too.
- [58:24]
Bucky Brooks
And I know again, second year starter, second year starter. So keep in mind these are guys that are still developing, but this was not, not a good game for him.
- [58:32]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yeah, I just have it like tattooed in my memory and I know they hit the portal and they're an SEC team and they, they got, they've got personnel assistance, but that Mississippi State defense couldn't cover a lick last year and very clearly opportunities.
- [58:49]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, I felt he had opportunities and he didn't take advantage. I think it's probably a better Mississippi State team. Don't get me wrong. I thought he had chances in this game to make plays and just didn't.
- [58:57]
Daniel Jeremiah
That's concern. And Jordan Tyson, who's we're talking about like potential wide receiver one in the upcoming class, certainly in the top five somewhere. Six catches for 68. The other thing is like, who else is there? Like Relique Brown was their number two production guy at receiver. He had three for 10.
- [59:16]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah, maybe he's one other guy.
- [59:18]
Daniel Jeremiah
Cameron Harpole one for four. That's it. And you knew this, this year come like we got good young running backs and that's clear. You had 31 carries for Brown and Nudo for 215 yards. But you knew that this is going to be a Levit team by the.
- [59:37]
Bucky Brooks
Way they weapons when it was, when they went up 20 to 17, they had the ball at the two yard line, first and goal at the two yard line and couldn't punch it in. That is, I mean it is a gut punch for Arizona State to lose that game. I mean to come back like that, then to go to get to the two yard line, not figure out a way to get in the end zone and give up the big play to lose that game, that's, it's going to be interesting to see how that team bounces back and a Big 12 that I think is going to be really competitive.
- [60:06]
Daniel Jeremiah
All right, so yeah, I mean that it's interesting to me, but not as interesting to me as DJ Lagway in Florida for the draft. It's more interesting Segue. Yeah, but like for, for College Football, the 13th ranked team to come in against the South Florida team that we're all learning is better. And I can't wait for that matchup on Saturday. Miami's favored by 16. South Florida is like, okay, good, let's do it again. After beating Boise State and upsetting Florida in the swamp. But this to me was, was more about Florida and Lagway than it was. We've got this unbelievable Cinderella. Time will tell on South Florida. I want to start with this on Lagway match and you just touched on it. And if, if Levitt's young by, by quarterback experience, Lagways an infant. Levitt started his career at Michigan State, transferred to Arizona State, won the job. You know, he's been around more. Lagway is a true freshman. Last year was a backup and you know, as you know when you get out of fall camp as the backup for, for a good portion of the season, you're not getting number one reps. Right. So and then he gets injured and he doesn't get a lot of practice time because of the injury. Then he has an injury in the off season with the shoulder. Right. Doesn't get as much work as you want. So now he's going into whatever number start like eight or nine, whatever the number is. But he hasn't been practicing like a number one quarterback who's had a full season with nine starts. That's important because what I'm seeing on tape is a guy who's literally like still a true freshman for trying to figure it out because he hasn't not, it's not his fault, it's injury and circumstance, but he just hasn't had the time to develop. And so that shows up where in footwork, like consistency of footwork. I mean there's a lot of throws where his feet are right Delivers the ball and there's good stuff and I want to make sure people understand this. Like, again, kind of like with Klubnick, I went back and watched. There's more good tape from Lagway than I expected there to be. Given the result 618 to 16 loss and given what I saw on just watching TV copy. But you come out right away that first. The first big throw. He had a screen pass early. You come out right away and. And the first throw down the field is kind of a. I think it was like a wheel route down, down the left side. And Chris Spielman and I used to talk about this. He actually, it was his line and I always revert back to it. Picture like the, you know, like the old pictures of like sailors going off to war. It's like the kiss. Kiss the sailor, he would call it, where like, you know, the wife comes and gives a big hug and they have. They give. Go to him for the kiss and their foot comes back up in the air, you know, kind of like dangling in the air. The kiss, the sailors. When you're not Tran. When you're not driving off that back foot and. And kind of transferring weight front to back and. And rotating around. It's just like you throw it and your leg just goes up for no reason and it shows. Everything's kind of on that front foot without weight transfer. He had a kiss the sailor moment on that first throw. Overthrows it. Then his next attempt, few plays later, the throw wasn't great. The feet were better, the throw was better. But the decision to throw to a receiver down the seam bracketed. You know, when you had it, you had. You could have easily taken some easy change and. And lived to play another down. He tries to fit it in. It's just. And I like that about him. But until you're like, you gotta. Your. Your game, you've got to be more efficient and consistent with your ball placement to make those kind of throws right. So that's another one. Then that mid third quarter interception. Another bad overthrow. So there's like, there's overthrows that seem to be happening. And he just needs more work right in the lab and between the lines in. In practice, drilling. And he just had. Yeah, understandably, hasn't had. Hasn't had that. But he did settle in for a while in the game and I saw some good things. Like he still rips the ball. He's throwing pretty accurately on a lot of throws. He's getting out when they let him get out, rolling to his right, especially like that run pass option I want to see a little bit more of. And it wasn't. Listen, man, it. We talked about it after the game. It was not just a Lagway thing, but you're expecting Lagway to take your. Your offense to another level. He's got to be dynamic and special as a runner. He's got to make throws that a lot of guys can't because he has those tools. Florida's counting on that. My concern is, are they counting on something that isn't quite there yet due to those circumstances? And I think we got a glimpse of that. Then you add to the fact, like, I think I like. I like those two receivers. I think Eugene Wilson and Vernon Brown iii. I think they're. They're playmakers. They're. They're good. They're great athletes. Vernon Brown on the. On the return, the big return kind of lit a spark, got him back in the game. But Wilson's 5:10, right? Brown's 511. Again, we talked about, like, Arch. Arch likes Livingstone right now. And I know Wingo is a big target. He's got big. He's got big targets. Club Nick. He's got big targets.
- [65:46]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah.
- [65:47]
Daniel Jeremiah
It's helping. He doesn't have those big targets who are proven playmakers. And so that's a bit of a concern. They had the drop. There were some drops in the game. Drop. Catchment in the end zone was. Was the first one that comes to mind early in the game. Penalties. You talked about it after the game. And untimely penalties.
- [66:09]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah.
- [66:10]
Daniel Jeremiah
And here's the other thing, too. And I'm not like, listen, I'm not sitting here and banging on Napier staff. But the part I couldn't understand is he comes out and he misses that overthrow I just talked about. Kiss the Sailor. Then he makes a bad decision throwing between coverages. But they're still driving the football. Steve.
- [66:32]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah.
- [66:32]
Daniel Jeremiah
This. This cat. This cat that they got at running back Jaden Bao or Ba, I should say.
- [66:43]
Bucky Brooks
Yeah.
- [66:44]
Daniel Jeremiah
Jaden Baugh is. He's. He's different. He's. He's shifty. He's. He creates and they're driving. He has six carries on that first size, too.
- [66:53]
Bucky Brooks
Man. He's a big dude.
- [66:54]
Daniel Jeremiah
Yeah, but he. But he's quick on his feet and he's. He's making cuts and finding holes. Six carries on that first drive. That's what went well on the first drive. The passing game failed forward in the first drive. So you come out of that drive and you're like, all right, we can Run the. We are Florida. We've got two.
- [67:13]
Bucky Brooks
Where's that mentality, by the way? Where is that mentality?
- [67:16]
Daniel Jeremiah
I swear to goodness, where is that mentality? We've got two offensive linemen that are going to be playing in the NFL. This from the 2026 draft. We got other talent up front. We've got this ball cat who's big, light on his feet, effective, shifty, all those things. We come out against South Florida, Florida in our home and we run it down your throat. Six carries for our back. And so the past game failed us a little bit. That's okay. We got, we got this in our back pocket. Do you know how many times after that first drive that bought touched the football?
- [67:55]
Bucky Brooks
No, I have no idea.
- [67:57]
Daniel Jeremiah
12. How does he have 6 carries on the first drive and only 12 the rest of the entire game? It doesn't make sense. And then I'm seeing big, big shifts and they like to do that pre snap but it's jet sweep reverses, misdirection trick plays, right Just to get the ball back into lag. And I'm like, hey, you're Florida, you're playing South Florida show. Why don't you show the in state team who runs this state anymore? Miami's trying to come up and get us, but it's us. And we got a quarterback who gives us a numbers game. So I got ball and lagway. They should have been shoving it down Florida's throat, South Florida's throat the entire game. They didn't. And so now they're one on one and now they're going, now they're, they've got LSU coming to town. This is a fascinating game to me really, because Napier knows he's got this team. We saw it at the end of last year. He knows he's got that they're talented enough to rise up, but LSU is just better. I can't wait to see the product, how the bounce back, the buy in. This is going to be a fascinating game to me.
- [69:20]
Bucky Brooks
Just so you know about the receiver situation, I want to make sure about this double check. Florida does have a freshman named Dallas Wilson. There's Eugene Wilson and there's another guy named Dallas Wilson who is 6, 3, 2, 13 who hasn't played because of injury yet. If they can get him going, that'll help too.
- [69:36]
Daniel Jeremiah
That's what I should have mentioned. Yes. They need, they need him. They need a him like that kind of guy.
- [69:42]
Bucky Brooks
And they need to get their swagger back though. They need to get there like we, we are, you know, they just look.
- [69:47]
Daniel Jeremiah
Timid and like cute. Like cutesy and like gimmicky and like they better not like that. That ain't gonna work against that LSU team. Yeah.
- [69:59]
Bucky Brooks
Also some of those fourth downs in that game, I can't get it out of my head. Some of the fourth downs late in that game, just go for it. You have that quarterback, you just, you trust your quarterback and then if he's not going to get it, trust your defense. And then even if that happens, at least you give your chances yourself a chance to score and trust you're going to do that. I mean, it is, it just seemed timid and I don't know. It was playing not to lose.
- [70:21]
Daniel Jeremiah
Right?
- [70:21]
Bucky Brooks
That old don't play not to lose, play to win. And I felt that's that it bit him.
- [70:26]
Daniel Jeremiah
If you're watching this show or listening to the show, you support us and we appreciate you supporting us. If you live in the Chicago area, come see us on Wednesday night. We'd love to see you. We'll stay around it. Like I, I literally, I promise you on my life and those I love lives, we will stick around as long as you want. After the show, we'll meet everyone, we'll greet. I'm excited to, to meet some of the this is the first time we get to see some of the people who have supported this show. So I'm excited. It's, it's a small gathering. Big Cat's going to be there. We love Big Cat. Everyone seem, you know, everyone nationally, internationally loves Big Cat. But mention I are there and you're, you're, you're part of this group. You're helping us build. If you live in that area, we'd love to see you on Wednesday night. Lincoln hall in Chicago. Theringer.com events is where you can go get it. There's still still a handful of tickets left the newsletter. McShay Report will be out deep dive into some of the stuff we talked about today, like some video stuff. It's going to be going to be really cool. We're back because we had the show on Wednesday. We will have a show coming out Thursday morning. We'll kind of see where, where the wind takes us on all that. But what I'm really pumped about, man, Saturday night we're back live primetime game. We're going to crack into the last five, seven minutes of that game and it is an awesome slate. Georgia, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, LSU, Florida, Miami, South Florida, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Bama, Wisconsin South Carolina. Vandy just because Sellers is in that game and The Brawl Pitt West Virginia can't wait. This is a fun week. Five stars Mitch must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18/ plus and present in D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chatinconnecticat or visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland, hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 247 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New.
- [72:58]
Bucky Brooks
IT.