
PMS 2.0 1248 - TNF Recap, NFL Week 12 Preview/Picks, Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day, Nick Saban, & AJ Hawk
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Pat McAfee
Hello beautiful people and welcome to the jump happening on this Feel Good Friday November 22, 2024. Program starts now. Football. Football is absolutely wonderful. AJ Hawk and I are live from the Horseshoe over here in Columbus. There's a little bit of sleet, there's a little bit of snow. They say it feels like it's 25 degrees outside. But I feel alive because it's not just me here on this great feel Good Friday nor formerly the man who is back in Indianapolis in the Thunderdome, manning my seat hosting the program. He's right next to me. Ladies and gentlemen, the all time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, All American here at Ohio State, AJ Hawk. Aj, how you doing, pal?
AJ Hawk
Feels good, man. Feels good to be here at the bottom of this tunnel. Got a big game tomorrow. We got some sleeting rain. It feels almost like we're in Cleveland.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, bottom of the tunnel. The tunnel was a place that was chosen for this particular program because we knew it was going to rain. And I thought for sure that meant that we would be covered. But we are not covered. All the tech is covered. We are outside. We are at the end of it because the echo in the tunnel, because it is tight quarters here. The echo in the tunnel was a little bit too wild. So we get a chance to take on Ohio as tomorrow the Indiana University Hoosier football team will step foot on this field and try to do battle against the entire state of Ohio with College Football Playoff implications and precedents on the line. AJ, that line goes from 13 and a half at one point to 10 and a half. I think it even hit 10 at some sports books. ESPN BET has it at 10 and a half. What happened? What is going on? What is the news that we don't know about? Why 3 points just David Copperfield vanish over a week for this big time, I would assume.
AJ Hawk
Obviously Ohio State losing our All American center has something to do with that line.
Pat McAfee
Now that that happened this morning. That line moved.
AJ Hawk
What's going on, man? What do these people know that we don't know?
Pat McAfee
Well, let's go back to this Thunderdome. To 1/2 of the hammer. Don Cowboys, AP. Tone, tone. Movement like this. What does this indicate?
Connor
I tell you what, I did a lot of research on it this morning. AJ's right about the injury. But that injury happened earlier in the week and the move didn't happen until, you know, all of yesterday. The money is on Indiana 60%. But normally. Normally 60% wouldn't. Three point line swing. Now it has gone back up to ten and a half eleven at some places. So to be honest, I don't know. I don't know if there's some huge money betters coming in on Indiana, but no, 60% of the public is on Indiana. Was the only thing that I could potentially think of Little Diddy about Jack and Diane.
Pat McAfee
John Mellicant might be the betting man. He might have put the big money on Indiana. Obviously pulling for the Bloomington boys coming in here to Columbus. Let's go to the toxic table. Austin Connor and I. Schmidt, con man. I'll start with you, buddy. Do you feel in Indiana University Hoosier upset here in Columbus this weekend? Because if it does, all chaos is going to break loose in college football.
Ty Schmidt
If I'm the Buckeyes, I'm worried. First of all, losing the center is huge. And we've talked about that D lineman, Kamara, he's a problem. He's got like nine and a half sacks. Losing the stalwart center that's been a stud, he's going to win the Remington. If you're losing one of your best players, one of your best players on the offensive line especially, that's a massive loss. And look at the weather you guys are dealing with over there. Sleet, rain, there might be some snow. This is going to be one in the trenches, you could argue. So losing the best guy for the Buckeyes, I'd be worried if I'm AJ Hawk. I'm shitting my pants right now. I'm staring down the fact that I have to look at Ohio in the face and tell them, yeah, Indiana is no longer a basketball school. We got to remember that for next year. And we might have to remember that again in the playoffs because what happens if this becomes a rematch in the quarterfinals, you know, in the semifinals and then Indiana beats Ohio State twice. What are they going to do? Ohio might burn down. So I'm worried about the 10 and a half now. It creeping back up to 11 might suggest that, okay, some Shark put a ton of money on Indiana 13 and a half, so they could kind of change that line. Then they put even more money on Ohio State at 10. But I mean, that's neither here nor there. I think this is going to be a very close game. And with that rain in that center being out, I genuinely feel like the Buckeyes are shaking in their boots a.
Pat McAfee
Little bit right now. They might be shaking in their boots because it's so damn cold. Let's talk about being cold in Ohio. In football weather in Ohio last night, A.J. hawk. We saw an instant classic on Thursday Night Football. AFC north football through and through. There's music now starting to play somewhere. I have no idea. It is a wonderful thing. But on Thursday Night Football in a snowstorm, in a. What are those things called? Snow globe. Look like it's no glove.
AJ Hawk
It did, actually.
Pat McAfee
The Cleveland Browns, led by Jameis Winston, who kicked off our show with one of his most inspirational speeches yet. It's not about the lights, it's not about the camera, it's not about the action. But actually it is about the action. So I think maybe he had a little slip up there, but the boys had a great time in the snow. And I'll tell you what, Myles Garrett just lit it up. Myles Garrett decided he was going to take over the game. And obviously there had been a lot of hype about Myles Garrett. TJ Watt, who won defensive player of the year last year, how happy was the other person that the other person won defensive player of the year last year? And I had a chance to watch this guy take over a game last year in the loud house. Once it starts, it seemingly doesn't stop once he senses a little blood into water. That nekton mentality and Shark of Myles Garrett is going to hunt out there. And that was fun to watch if you're a fan of old school football. If you're a Pittsburgh Steeler fan, though, I think you have to worry. Russ has a big night. Okay. I think he only had like six incompletions. He started the game perfect. Eight, eight or seven to seven. I think you had some splash plays from a lot of your offensive players, but in the end you lose to a 3 and 8 Cleveland Brown team and a snowstorm, which you might have to do later in the year, especially if Buffalo is going to have a home playoff game or Kansas City is going to have to have a home playoff game. We all thought the Steelers recover three and a half. Yeah, we both did. We thought it was a different year. Seems like it's maybe. Is this the same old Steelers? Is that what. Is that what the thought is after that?
AJ Hawk
I mean, I don't see if you saw. Look, Russell stats 21 to 28 for 270 yards in a touchdown. If we told you that before the game, you're thinking, oh, Steelers absolutely rolled. And it's an offense that we know AQ Shipwreck does not like very much either.
Pat McAfee
The offensive line.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, yeah, he doesn't love the offensive line. But this Steelers team, I don't know. Like you always want to be explosive. You want to get plays over the top, which they do though. Like the Steelers have done that. But for whatever reason, the Bear or the Browns in this crazy white, like is it was this one of those like destiny things? Like the Browns got to win because now I guess their owners are potentially pissed that everyone loves the outdoor snow because they want to build a dome somewhere else. Thinking we definitely can't do that now because this was like a majestic night when they have the AI sidelines that act like they are, they have plowed the hashes and the yard lines, which makes it kind of weird because guys legs disappear at times.
Pat McAfee
AJ's first thing he said to me when I asked him if he saw the entire game last night, he said I did. And I don't know if I like the fake yard lines because guys are losing their legs now. You just saw the guy's legs disappear. But it was nice to be able to see the yardages. And one of these games is in Steve Sable. You think of whenever you see like the Lambo, the frozen tundra, the old school football is immediately what you think of these games. I, as a former punter, am a massive proponent of doming everywhere. Okay, dome it all. Let's have 70 degrees, no wind, perfect conditions, best team wins. That is what how I've always talked about. I've always believed that way. And if they were to do that, I would not mind. But if you're a Cleveland Browns fan, and I know the conversation has been very, very loud about getting a dome as opposed to having this, you view that as an advantage, even against the Pittsburgh Steelers, you shirtless Clevelanders all over the stadium, drunk as hell, having the time of their life, you view that as an advantage. So congrats to the Browns on getting a big win. And if you're a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, do you just bury the ball and say, hey, it was a wild, crazy, snowy Thursday night? AP tone. How are you guys viewing this?
Connor
It was. I mean, I. We talked about it yesterday. We almost knew this was going to happen as a Steelers fan, based on their Thursday night football record, their divisional record, their record after playing the Ravens, especially on a short week. And then they came out and it was just a myriad of mistakes from start to finish. It was just if in good news and we are going to bury the ball and bury the tape because it was literally the worst game they could have possibly played. They couldn't convert on third and fourth down. They took sacks.
Pat McAfee
Geez Louise.
Connor
Two, four, two. I mean, it started on the first drive just like the sack to put it. A 58 yard field goal for Boz, which up he missed obviously. And then drive two fields comes out and they have absolutely no idea what they're doing. You have offensive lineman running off the field. You have office of lineman running on the field. They snap the ball with 1 second left on the. On the clock. So defense has obviously knows when it's going to happen. They get blown up the next drive fourth. They get the sack strip from Miles Garrett in the second half. They get blown up on fourth down again, it was just mistake after mistake after mistake. And then you get the touchdown.
Pat McAfee
I mean that's how it is.
Connor
What we were two different games on that. We did not get out tough, I can tell you.
Pat McAfee
Fourth dance on fourth, right?
Connor
What Fourth?
Pat McAfee
Fourth down. You guys were getting. Just getting your shit.
Connor
Well, on the 1/4 down the hole was wide open and Justin just didn't went the other way on the other fourth down. Yes, it did get blown up in the backfield. I agree there. But I was just. You can't play. You couldn't. They couldn't play. They could not have played worse. And then they could have.
AJ Hawk
On paper it looked all right.
Pat McAfee
I saw some good. Russ was completing balls in the middle of the snow. Like this guy's throwing lasers.
Connor
And then I thought they had.
Pat McAfee
I actually thought there was a chance defense was going to get a turnover late, maybe a pick, maybe a stupid score. We're going to cover this thing. We're. No, but I thought. Late, late. I thought we were going to cover. I'm like watching.
AJ Hawk
I'm like, you should be happy, Tone.
Pat McAfee
Steelers are going to make this whole thing happen. It's like I thought they played good. Inevitably you still lose.
Connor
They get this. They get this. They go three and out. And then Corliss Weightman, who's been unbelievable all year, has a 15 yard punt. So just all areas just terrible.
AJ Hawk
That side of the foot. I know they said that during it. That just. It can just go off the side of your.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, so it happened earlier in the game too. So we don't have a football here. But if you. So whenever you're punting, both of the guys last night, lefties. So whenever you're punting the ball, okay. Obviously you catch a snap, you're holding it. There is a moment of free fall. See that?
AJ Hawk
Yep.
Pat McAfee
Before. Once it leaves your hand, before it hits your foot. Windy game during that free fall, that ball just blows just a little bit. Just gets a little bit off field. Go center, boom. Can't catch up to it. Hits off the inside of your foot. That thing's going that way. That's possible every single punt. Which is why whenever you see punters bomb balls, their thing, because there's a moment of free fall with the ball.
AJ Hawk
So do you drop it a little lower when it's windy?
Pat McAfee
Hold on to it longer is normally the goal.
AJ Hawk
Bring it. Bring it to your foot.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Hold on to it longer. Yeah. So actually, if we want to get really deep into the punting game, I. I tried to hold onto the ball as long as I possibly could towards the end of my career. Okay. Now whenever you hold that, you gotta drop a little bit lower because you hold on to a little longer. You got to go ball to foot almost as opposed to foot the ball. So you're gonna give up like a 5, 0 point. You're gonna give up like the big. Because you're not gonna be able to. So I'm trying to kick that thing out of my hand. Gotta lower it a little.
AJ Hawk
So that means more. Would you be more consistent?
Pat McAfee
Yeah, much more consistent. So your miss isn't a.
AJ Hawk
You want to take that miss out of the game? Out of your game?
Pat McAfee
Yeah. You eliminate the miss completely is what I decided to do. And a lot of OGs do, but you lose like the big one. And also hunting in this weather. Both guys had a situation. It was miserable. I had a terrible game in Cleveland as well, even whenever I was holding on to the ball, because that moment of free. Even if you try to go for the ball, there's still a moment where that ball is just falling through the sky. And if you just get a little. And it's. It's all off and it's not fun. I assume every specialist is excited to be out of that game last night, but it's one of those ones that's historic now. What does this mean for the rest of the season, you know, for the Pittsburgh Steelers? What does this mean for the rest of the season for the Cleveland Browns? The Miz sent me a text this morning. The Miz sent me a text this morning. I believe we have his quote, hopefully on a graphic card. Really good work on that D bone. Easy to read there before game. Your thought is if we lose out, we could get Shador after the game. We are not mathematically out of the playoffs. That was the text I got from the Miz this morning. And I assume that's how all Browns fans are feeling, especially after beating the Steelers. You. You beat the Steelers. That's A huge win at home in primetime in front of the whole world.
AJ Hawk
So I don't know all that needs to happen for the Browns to actually make the playoffs, but it does kind of feel like a monumental win. Like, where were you when the Browns beat the Steelers in that crazy snow game on Thursday night?
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Going to get reference. I think prime will probably showcase that game and all their commercials going forward. Forward. Because it just doesn't happen often. You know, that was a full. I mean, it looked like your TV stunk. You know, at one point you couldn't see. That's. That's in the modern era that we're in with how good technology is. Like, I don't know if you can see from these cameras. It's coming down really good right now. Oh, yeah, it is coming down really. We're having to cover this stuff. We might have it a full electrical failure over here with how hard it is raining, but with cameras, you can't really see it much anymore. Yeah, snow was just so thick, you had to see it. They had to deal with it. Couldn't see the field goal going through. This is a historic game in the football's history. Even like, you remember Shady McCoy? Remember?
Connor
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
AJ Hawk
You do.
Pat McAfee
You remember these games. These are the type of games you remember. And if you're the Cleveland Browns, you're happy that you're on the right side of it, even though the Steelers certainly could have won it.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. Did you ever play, like, in any of these games? This made me think of 2007, I believe. Playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. We had. It might have been a different year when I was in Green Bay and we had a crazy game where like the last three quarters it looked like this and the whole place. It was one of those times where it snows and it actually feels warm. You know, there's no wind, it's snowing. And you look around like this is like a magical experience. And that's what I felt watching this game last night. And the fact that the Browns had so many fans there too, that stuck it out was pretty impressive.
Pat McAfee
A lot of people dressed like seats early in that game. Seemed like up in the top row two and 18 Thursday Night Football, but they didn't filled up and the weather got worse and they stayed. And I think it's because of how good the game was. And shout to Jameis Winston, his first ever game in that cold of temperature. And all the speeches he gave last night, obviously we just showcased his. Showcased his lights, camera, action speech. But the Horses are ready for war, Connor. But.
Ty Schmidt
But the Lord will. Will leave. But we are the Lord, or the Lord will take us.
Pat McAfee
I don't know.
Ty Schmidt
Everything he says is electric. Like that game, just talking about that was my favorite game of the year. Something about football in the snow, for one. And then also being in Indiana, having a nice little flurry on the ground as well. You look outside, there's snow. You look on the tv, there's snow, and you can barely see it. And just the physicality of it. You know, some of those games we talk about, you want points, you want all that stuff. But having myles Garrett, having T.J. watt, having Cam Hayward kind of going to war in the middle of the field is so fun. And to your point about the snow games for New England Patriots fans, obviously, six Super Bowls over the Belichick Brady era. The Vinitari game winner against Oakland in the playoffs, I would argue is ranked even above, like, the last Rams super bowl where it was 13 to 3. Kind of like a punt war between Ryan Allen and Hecker. That snow game kind of feel to it. It's just different. And for Jameis Winston, like, him, even post game, after just talking about the entire thing at his press conference, the way his brain works is so awesome because he was on the nightcap and they actually, like, went through all of his pregame speeches and he was laughing, watching them himself. Like, even he realizes, like, what.
Pat McAfee
What.
Ty Schmidt
What the hell was I talking about right there? Like, the lights, camera, action shit. Funny. Jameis needs to be, you know, playing football forever, of course. But can you imagine what that guy will bring to, like, a booth if he. If he were to decide to call a game? I mean, the. The electricity is endless when it comes to Jameis Winston. And yeah, of course, doing snow angels with all the guys, it's so fun and zany. And then Tony Gonzalez, unfortunately, though, he. He did not jump in with the entire crew. But there's just something about snow football. It's different.
AJ Hawk
It's better.
Pat McAfee
Tony's wearing, you know, full metal or full winter jacket, like in September.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. You know, he's not doing snow angels.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, he's not in there. I like the fact that he did do a snow angel face, Don. Yeah. Yeah. This guy's never been around. I think he looked over at Whitney was like a flip over, flip over there. It's. Jameis is fun, man. He is. He's super positive. Obviously he hasn't been, like, a perfect football player in the NFL since making it, but the way he views life the way he talks about things and what he was saying anytime a microphone was in front of his face last night in primetime football needed that.
AJ Hawk
We needed just how he was looking when he. The pregame, when he was just taking the whole everything in. Like, it felt very, like, authentic. It felt like original. This. You couldn't. I don't think you could act if this is one who you were.
Pat McAfee
You have said you don't become a Brown until you beat the Steelers. What will it take Tonight?
AJ Hawk
The horse is prepared for battle, but.
Nick Saban
Victory comes from the Lord.
Pat McAfee
Boom.
AJ Hawk
So I'm depending on the Lord.
Pat McAfee
Is that the message to the team?
AJ Hawk
Day by day, one play at a time? That's the message.
Pat McAfee
Weather conditions tonight. We're expecting winds up to 15 miles per hour in a wintry mix. How will that impact your ability to throw the ball? Yeah. Yeah, it is.
AJ Hawk
I'm so happy and grateful that the Lord has blessed me to play in some snow, to be in true football.
Kaylee Cuoco
Weather in Cleveland, Ohio, at Huntington Bank.
AJ Hawk
Field today to get him the glory. It's a beautiful day.
Pat McAfee
Sure feels like you're playing the AFC North. It is great interview by Kaylee. What a response there by James just, hey, what's your mindset on everything? You know, like, I think Tom Brady has talked about multiple times about when they're in a situation, what his mindset is, how he has to view something. Like when they were down in 28 3. I think the way he viewed it was an opportunity to do something that was special. When most people would say, we're out. It's all in your mindset and your framing. For Jameis, he had heard everybody talking about, hey, this is the first time you're going to play in cold. You could tell that he had rehearsed that thought. Whenever she started asking that question, he's like, good question. Everybody wants to know, I am so lucky that I get to experience this, and I'm going to have this on my resume forever. What a beautiful. What a beautiful football game. Football weather. With that being said, if it was in a dome, I think it'd be a good game, too.
AJ Hawk
You think?
Pat McAfee
I think it would have been a good game, too. We wouldn't have had the electricity of the snow. And Miles Garrett's interview afterwards, whenever it was the snow around him, you know, and they're all celebrating and he said, I got a lot of respect for the guy on the other side, T.J. i got a lot of respect for all the edge rushers. Yeah, here it is. Here's what Myles Garrett had to say afterwards about the game he just put on and if so, what was said?
AJ Hawk
I mean, he spoke of the coin toss, but that's about it. So, like I said, I got a lot of respect for him, a lot of respect for, you know, all the guys over there. And, you know, that's Russia in the league, but I'm number one. And no, that's from edge offender one, edge one, to defensive player of the year. I'm the guy.
Pat McAfee
So that runs through me. There's.
AJ Hawk
There's no other. No other person being defended as I am, or skiing or planned against like I am. So this goes to show, no, you can throw it out the window. I'm gonna find a way.
Pat McAfee
That's Neo, brother. I am the one. How'd you feel about that, aj?
AJ Hawk
I mean, I guess he's got an argument there. You can't really argue with him when you talk about, like, elite edge rushers. But, yeah, we know, like, miles Garrett's awesome. T.J. watt is awesome. They both can be amazing, right?
Pat McAfee
Yeah, but Miles Garrett.
AJ Hawk
But there's this whole thing now, though, between them two, as there should, which.
Pat McAfee
I appreciate and I respect. You know, a lot of people hang out, have a good time, and I think the Watt family came out and said, we got a lot of respect for Miles Garrett over here. J.K. said. Jade said that on Wednesday about the whole thing. But I like the fact that they're not like, buddy, Buddy, you know, I like that they are competing, and I like the fact that he appreciates that. Hey, I'm the top guy. And Teach thinks the exact same thing. I like that.
AJ Hawk
I. I think it's awesome. Any kind of, like, rivalry in the NFL is great, but this is also something that'll be cool. They can duke it out for however many more years in the NFL, and then 15 years from now, they're going to be probably running camps, teaching kid. Hey, you want to wreck shop like we did? Here we go.
Pat McAfee
And just making all the money in the world while running the camp. We are being joined by Brutus. Okay.
Kaylee Cuoco
Wow.
Pat McAfee
Good to see you.
AJ Hawk
Oh, thank you.
Pat McAfee
Got a gift here. Oh, thank you so much. I got a nifty gift.
Ty Schmidt
What sign?
Pat McAfee
Funk. What is these things called? They're called Funko Funko Pop. The sign. Pop College. This is a sign. Thank you.
AJ Hawk
Actually, I'm gonna open this.
Pat McAfee
What did Age get? Age. Age, Obviously, Ohio State legend.
AJ Hawk
Look at this. I'm gonna open. I think it's Bruce.
Ty Schmidt
I love that him and Dahmer's old Sheets. Easy.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I don't know.
AJ Hawk
That's right. Yeah, I was over here, Con.
Pat McAfee
Okay, Whoa, whoa, whoa.
AJ Hawk
I wasn't here for it.
Connor
He's with Styrofoam. Aj. That doesn't disintegrate.
Pat McAfee
As AJ Is opening up this box in an incredibly fashion. Brutus wrote me a card here. Because Brutus can't thank you for having me on the show while you just showed up. I am a big fan and watch every day. Love the energy you bring.
AJ Hawk
You're nuts.
Pat McAfee
Okay. We're crazy. Oh, I like that. That was very clever. I thank you very much for the fun and the photo. That is very, very kind of you, Brutus. What did you get? Thank you.
AJ Hawk
I got this note. Look at. We're talking snow globe earlier.
Pat McAfee
Oh, it's got a snow globe, Brutus.
Ty Schmidt
Sneaky devil.
Pat McAfee
This guy's nuts. Crazy.
Ty Schmidt
Oh, man.
Pat McAfee
Guy better be.
Ty Schmidt
Look out for the Hoosier.
Connor
Look out for the Hoosier, Brutus.
Pat McAfee
Hey. Oh. So you have to get your head out of the way. Everybody else does it. Right over. Over top.
AJ Hawk
You're.
Pat McAfee
You can't do it. Can't do it with those arms. Got those little arms. You can't do it. You can't.
AJ Hawk
Wait.
Pat McAfee
You just can't get there.
Ty Schmidt
Squeezed his head.
AJ Hawk
Oh, you're gone.
Pat McAfee
Thank you, Brutus.
AJ Hawk
Thank you.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, that's smart.
AJ Hawk
Yes, that's a smart idea.
Pat McAfee
Keep him on your side.
AJ Hawk
Yes, Brutus didn't want to hear that.
Pat McAfee
Thank you, Brutus. No, Bruce just did this. You couldn't see it off it. He did this.
Gumpy
Wow.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Brutus just said, you stinky. Thank you, Brutus.
AJ Hawk
Thank you.
Pat McAfee
It's an honor.
AJ Hawk
Thank you for the snow.
Pat McAfee
Sorry to get the funk. Funk thing.
Ty Schmidt
Pat, did you see AJ Open that Styrofoam? Absolute barbarian.
AJ Hawk
I was trying to rip it open quickly. We're on a program here, you know, we're doing a show. I was trying to pick up all the rest of this.
Pat McAfee
Brutus has not left yet.
AJ Hawk
Oh, Brutus.
Pat McAfee
Yes. No problem, Brutus. Yes.
AJ Hawk
He wants Pat to sign one of his wrestling. That's pretty sweet.
Pat McAfee
That is very cool that he has one. This.
AJ Hawk
Yes.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. You signed up. I'll do that for you, Brutus.
Ty Schmidt
Oh, that's pretty sweet.
Kaylee Cuoco
Look at that.
AJ Hawk
Show it. Show everybody what that is.
Connor
What do we have? Multiple camera angles?
Pat McAfee
Oh, yeah. Three cameras. Three cameras. Cutting them back there. This is xeno production today. In fact, we found this place. To be able to do the show here is a modern miracle, isn't it, Brutus? Is for you. It's gonna get ruined if it continues to get rained on.
Ty Schmidt
I didn't know Bruce, his name was Mark. Thank you.
AJ Hawk
Bruce didn't have his ears in, but Mark Brutus. Thank you.
Pat McAfee
All right. See you. Thank you, guys. Oh.
AJ Hawk
There it is.
Pat McAfee
That's what he did. He does two fish out. Does this stuff right here. He's nuts. I didn't know that was the thing.
Ty Schmidt
I was sweet.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Pat McAfee
You wanna know what else is nuts?
AJ Hawk
What?
Pat McAfee
This guy gets 40 million a year to play quarterback because he played good for five, seven games. Okay.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Gets 40. They kicked a good guy off the team for it.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Okay, true then. Team revolves around him, doesn't have success. Is it his fault? Is it anybody else's fault? Who knows?
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Then he gets benched. He's playing scout team safety in like a one day period. Then he gives one of the greatest speeches I've ever seen to fans from a player legitimately. You could tell he took real time on that. The words were phenomenal, I think. Took a lot of accountability, took a lot of ownership. Here's Daniel Jones, who has now been released from the New York Football Giants, addressing the New York Giants fans just yesterday. All right.
Daniel Jones
Wrote something down just to make sure I say the right way. Let's see. The opportunity to play for the New York Giants was truly a dream come true. And I'm extremely grateful to the Marin Tisch families for the chance to play here. The Giants are truly a first class organization and I have nothing but genuine respect and appreciation for the people who have built it and who helped carry on that tradition. I've met so many special people and created relationships that will truly last a lifetime. Thank you to all my teammates, coaches and staff that have done so much for me these past six years. There have been some great times, but of course we all wish there had been more of those. I take full responsibility for my part in not bringing more wins. No one wanted to win those. Win more games worse than me. And I gave everything I had on the field and in my preparation. Of course, this season has been disappointing for all. And of course I wish I could have done more. I'm 100% accountable for my part. I did not play well. I did not play well enough consistently enough to help the team get the results. The reality of the NFL is it's hard to win games and requires consistent performance from everyone involved. We didn't do that well enough. So the idea to change something happens. And I understand. I love the game. I love Being part of a team, I'm excited for the next opportunity and know that there's a lot of good football in front of me and I'm excited about that. To all the fans, I have deep respect and appreciation for your passion and love for the Giants. The fans are a huge part of what makes playing for the Giants so special.
Pat McAfee
Hell yeah. That's awesome. I think that was a phenomenal message. He buried himself in the middle of that thing, so you can tell that he's looked in the mirror and had some hard convos, which I think we all hope for from our professional athletes. Our leadership. Daniel Jones, it's not him to blame that he was getting paid $40 million a year. It's obviously not him to blame that the entire organization isn't performing well. But I like the fact that he did take the blame. That's true leadership. I also like the fact that he said his football career will continue somewhere else. We've seen a lot of second births, third berths from the quarterback position. Will he be one of those guys? Tbd, obviously. But I have massive respect for the way he handled it. And now he is officially released from the Giants because he asked for his release after playing scout team safety for a day yesterday.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. I would assume when he, when he put those thoughts down on paper, he knew that he was going to ask for his release. But it's crazy how quick, how quick things can happen. Like, especially in football. Not we know it's not guaranteed contracts and everything, but he got. Got plenty of guaranteed money. But the fact that he goes, you go from starting to, okay, you're playing scout team, you're the fourth team quarterback, and then you're asking for your release and you're gone. So now he can clear waivers, another team can sign him, right?
Pat McAfee
Yes, yes, he can clear away. I assume he will clear waivers because if he doesn't clear waivers, don't you pick up the contract?
AJ Hawk
Yeah, he'll clear waivers.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I would imagine so. I think he's going to clear waivers. Then he'll have the opportunity to kind of choose where he wants to go. And that's. I assume there's going to have teams.
AJ Hawk
There's a lot of teams that want to sign him.
Pat McAfee
Daniel Jones, I mean, Carson Wentz is the current backup for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gumpy
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
So you want to talk about a tale that is pretty eerily similar in this particular facet or you talk about it. It's like the Chiefs have Carson Wentz. I assume there's going to be a team that's going to want Daniel Jones. What are the teams that are floating around out there, Tone? What are the teams that are floating around for maybe Daniel Jones to be backup quarterback?
Connor
Well, I mean if you think off the top of your head like teams that right now not even like a backup, like is Daniel Jones better than Cooper Rush right now? Could he play for the Cowboys for the rest of the season?
AJ Hawk
Could he.
Connor
Could he play for the Raiders for the rest of the season? But we were actually talking this morning and I'll let. I'll let Ty take this one because he's got a nightmare scenario.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
Gumpy
I don't know if it's actually going to happen in terms of the waiver process. I don't know how long it's going to take for it to clear. But when I heard this, all I could think is it's going to happen. I'm going to see Dan Jones donning a Niners jersey on Sunday at Lambeau and with Shanahan with the way he, he, you know, we know the kind of athlete he is. I think there's a chance he's. He's wearing niner red on Sunday and he slays the Packers. I really, I really believe that.
Pat McAfee
Okay, so let's talk about that because as you know, Tone, you were rolling through it about being a starter. I thought back to Brock Purdy is in the middle of something got hurt last week and then they. I believe it came out that the MRI had a lot better result than they thought. He's going to come to practice and then they'll see how it goes. But both Allen and the pastor not ready and capable to go if has me it's like feels like this Brock Purdy thing was very real and then this most recent one release the news. How do we. How do we. How do we feel? I've question.
AJ Hawk
You're five and five. The Niners are five and five and Brock Purdy didn't practice on Thursday I believe. Did he mis practice?
Pat McAfee
Yeah. And they said he will be back today though and we'll see how it goes which is that games what is it?
AJ Hawk
Do we know what it is?
Pat McAfee
Shoulder.
AJ Hawk
Shoulder. See this is. That would scare me to death. Yeah, absolutely.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, definitely. If I'm the Niners especially in that NFC West. 6 and 4. 5 and 5. 5 and 5. 5 and five. That's what the NFC west is. They are very, very, very much parody driven in the NFC west right now. The Niners we thought were going to be the team that was going to go on and do it all just like. Because that is what the Niners are. But now, last year, we had to deal with, what, Debo and Trent Williams getting hurt in the middle of the year.
Gumpy
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Now here we are, they're not in as good of a spot, and Brock Purdy has a shoulder. That's not great news for the Niners if you're a Niners fan, which I have become because I love the way they play football. Their dogs out there, at least they used to be. Now they don't have as much moxie and energy now towards the end of the year, do they turn it up? We shall see. Do they play better football? But it's like, I don't know what the hell's going on over there with Brock Purdy. Connor, what is the conversation around Brock Purdy? This is problematic in my eyes, but is it gamesmanship? What do we think this is?
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, I'm not sure because they also had, like, the quarterback Thursday press conference get moved to today. So it does seem very real. Not only Brock, I believe Trent Williams and Bosa also missed the Thursday practice, too. So when you're talking about the most important players on that team, those are legitimately the top three. I, for one, am worried just because, you know, the Dan Jones thing. But more so, like, if Brandon Allen does come in, you got no tape on him. Shanahan might tell him, like, hey, I'll tell you in your ear right now when and where to throw the damn football. Just listen to me. I'll take you home. But going to Lambeau. This is terrible, terrible news for the 49ers, and I'm shitting bricks if I'm a Niners fan. You already didn't have Kittle last week. He is back this week. He said you get a chance to play the Packers. You are playing. But, you know, you mentioned injuries this year, too. Brandon Iuk, you know, that loss was major. After paying him and he finally got going and then, you know, he gets, you know, hurt for the year. And then, of course, the Debo, Samuel, Tabor, Pepa kind of sideline, you know, interaction that caused a little, you know, tussle on the sideline. Just the vibes from the Niners. We're so used to the company.
Pat McAfee
What's the name?
Ty Schmidt
Table Pepper. Kind of like, I am Pepper, but just table. But just think about the vibes that the Niners had. You know, you mentioned the way they play, but just like the moxie that they have every time they take the field. It doesn't feel like, they have that, you know, same flair, if you will, that they've had in recent years. And if you get. If Trent Williams and Bosa are out, you know, of course having Purdy is huge. And at least you can rely on Shanahan. No, no Trent Williams, no Nick Bosa is a massive problem. What's going on, aj? You okay?
Pat McAfee
Are you okay?
AJ Hawk
I just coughing a. Mike. Mike button. Coughing over here.
Pat McAfee
What the hell? You're gonna have a death here. I thought it was about to be a death.
Ty Schmidt
Is he emotional being back on the hollow ground?
AJ Hawk
I walked out earlier, was looking around, just taking it all in, man. Yeah. Special place looking up here at all the boosters. Yeah. All the names, all the great players here. Obviously Troy Smith played with. How.
Ty Schmidt
How many boosters?
AJ Hawk
There's one big school. There's a bunch here.
Pat McAfee
One big one.
AJ Hawk
Bunch of great, generous people. Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Well, I don't know about great. Very, very, very.
AJ Hawk
It's hard to narrow down to one.
Pat McAfee
I think he's right up there. I think his daddy was the biggest. Yeah.
AJ Hawk
Woody Hayes. Great coach.
Pat McAfee
Thank you, Woody.
AJ Hawk
Thanks, Woody.
Pat McAfee
Thank you, Woody. It's good coach. He created a lot of.
AJ Hawk
Woody was a great coach.
Pat McAfee
Tressel as well. Urban Meyer. I mean, there's a lineage of great coaches here and that's why the pressure on Ryan Day is so damn high. He'll be joining us anywhere between seven to 15 minutes from now. I think. I think now we might have another Brian Kelly situation, you know, where. 1240. Yeah. And it's like, bud, yeah, sure.
AJ Hawk
When do you need me back? Like 12, 14 minutes.
Connor
Things haven't gone well for BK since then.
Pat McAfee
I know, I know. I feel like it's potentially our. That's a huge deal up there in Michigan. Huge shout out to college football recruiting news. Yesterday being awesome, we were so lucky that juju Lewis decided to do that on our program. And obviously they're getting a good one out there in Colorado. And I think you heard a lot of Colorado fans say, oh, so is Coach prime going to coach the Cowboys now? Is that what everybody. Shut up. Is basically what the Colorado Buffalo fans are saying. And then I saw the reaction from the haters, of which there are many and seemingly always will be. They were saying, this kid's gonna have to change his commitment whenever prime gets a head coaching job at the Cowboys. So I don't know if Julian Lewis, who is the number two overall ESPN ranked recruit coming out of the 2025 class, he was the number. I learned a little bit more. I talked to Pete Thamo, after our conversation yesterday, I apologize for not staying up on all the recruiting news. That's on me. But I guess he was the 2026 number one overall recruitment. He reclassified to 2025. So then they just put up a two base. They're like, all right, because we already got number one. And Underwood is his name and I guess, hey, he is worthy of.
AJ Hawk
Where's he going?
Pat McAfee
Michigan. Four years, ten and a half million, allegedly.
Gumpy
Four years.
Pat McAfee
Allegedly is the deal that he signed. Now, the goal was never to be there for four years. Obviously three years to be able to make to the NFL is the goal I think for most guys. Now, granted, with the nil, especially this particular deal being way more than what any deal that I've ever heard of for a player being allegedly reported by on3. I think, I think Portnoy is a part of that too. I, I think he, I think he was a. I'm sick of seeing our team not have a quarterback guy, which this is the new world we're in. And you can do that. So shout out to Michigan, stepping up in a massive way and getting this dude. But he is a freak because he's very good. Yesterday I was saying, if Julian Lewis is number two guy, I don't know who the hell the number one guy is. Then just hours later, Adam Schefter breaks the news, he's going to Michigan, and his highlights start flooding my algorithm. I'm like, oh, okay. So there is a great future for football at the quarterback position seemingly right now. And obviously in the world that we're in, they can prosper, which is good for them.
AJ Hawk
Well, they're so good so young and didn't yesterday Julian even said like when he was 10 years old, he's sitting there reading cover three, cover two. And you actually can kind of read defense and do that. You're that good and you're 13, 14, 15 years old. That it blows my mind like when there's. Obviously there's physically gifted dudes, but when they can process the game and do all that. That's why I think we're seeing all these receivers come in for as rookies, they can kind of know where to sit down when, when to, you know, if they're man to man zone, whatever I'm doing, they're just years ahead. I think of what you used to be when it was almost like pickup football in high school, let alone like.
Pat McAfee
The virtual reality thing we talked about yesterday. Yeah, these can get virtual reality reps on coverages at their house. And you know, we talked to TC Lewis, who is juju Lewis's dad. I got a chance to talk to him yesterday because I wanted to thank him for the opportunity for us to do this because we know it's a massive moment in their family's history, you know, and obviously the dad of the quarterback is going to be closely tied in there, you know, like, he's going to be a part of the whole process. It's like they would like to see their kids have success too. So whenever they see things that are available, I think Juju Lewis had the highest elite 11 score in history.
AJ Hawk
Yep, that's it. All of them have come through there.
Pat McAfee
Everybody has come through the elita. He had like the highest elite 11 score in the history of elite 11 or whatever. So, like at all those camps, they have all these things now that are available for people at a younger age. Like, hey, I assume that virtual reality shit's there. Like, hey, do you guys want this system? Hey, we'll be able to do this. You'll be able to get these reps. And then the business side of it, he had doordash over his shoulder when he saw us. They're all so much more mature than I would have been. I got $40,000 out in loans at like 35% interest rate. And I thought I was a king. A $35,000 deal for these dudes is nothing. Four years, ten and a half million, allegedly, for that Underwood guy. It's like, could you imagine getting that money? You would have to grow up quick because all of a sudden you're the breadwinner.
AJ Hawk
Oh, you're the.
Pat McAfee
For your whole family.
AJ Hawk
And then if you do the guys that can come through that and get paid when they're young and get, you know, because, hey, like, look at all the expectations you have on these kids. I always get worried when I not worried, but I'm like, okay, like, I hope they can handle it. If you could handle all that nil money early, all those expectations and then you can get drafted in the NFL and you can actually perform, like, more power to you. Because that is a tough. Obviously, it's awesome.
Pat McAfee
It's great.
AJ Hawk
There's so much responsibility at a young age where you realize, hey, a lot of people are counting on me. Like, how I play in the field affects a lot of different people.
Pat McAfee
What's up, Tone?
Connor
The fun fact about it, obviously, Juju Lewis, five star, 99 overall. Great. He goes Colorado. Underwood going to Michigan. And Then there was three 5 star 99 overall quarterbacks in that class, the other one's going to Ohio State. So they'll, they'll be going against each other every year. So that's, that's going to be awesome.
Pat McAfee
Okay. I like that that's happening. And I also appreciate the fact that like Coach prime gave a speech. I don't know if it was recirculated yesterday because Juju Lewis signing or if it happened yesterday after signing day because he doesn't recruit a lot of high school guys. You know, he's big transfer portal guy. He said, but if we go recruit high school guy, we're expecting them to play. Yeah, we're not here just hey, hang out. He's like, we want you to play. And I think that's a big deal for like Julian Lewis wanted to play.
AJ Hawk
He said that, right? He said, I want, I want a place where I can opportunity to play right away and I can compete.
Pat McAfee
And that's why it's perfect timing, you know, with the leaving passing the keys, Michigan, same exact situation here for Underwood. It's like, right, hey, they don't have a quarterback. Haven't had a quarterback. They played four quarterbacks. One of the quarterbacks they played twice and one quarterback retired this year. So it's like they, they're going to spots and it's like you pick, you're representing this universe. Like Juju is like, all right, I'm going, I'm gonna go represent Colorado. And then Underwood's like, all right, I'm gonna go represent Michigan.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
And then this kid's coming into Ohio State like, all right. And it's like you take these high school rivalries amongst each other and now it's going to the biggest stage and if they can perform, college football is much better, much quicker because of it. We're incredibly lucky to be joined. Ladies. Can we get, can he get ears? Do we have ears? We got ears. He's got ears in. Ladies and gentlemen joining us now, you want to talk about pressure on a guy. Jesus Christ, man. Couldn't even, couldn't even fathom the day to day the fact that he's willing to come stand out here in the rain in his stadium. Ladies and gentlemen, head coach of the Buckeyes.
Gumpy
Great.
Pat McAfee
God, you look so good. We're gonna try not to ruin it with this rain. Thank you for joining us.
Kaylee Cuoco
You look good in the hoodie, man.
Pat McAfee
Thank you. So our honor defend. I just learned about this. It's like merch that goes towards. I think you're right in a camera. I mean I couldn't I couldn't.
Nick Saban
Sorry.
Pat McAfee
You look good. The back of your head was.
AJ Hawk
That was cool.
Pat McAfee
That was all it was. It was phenomenal. Back in your head. We'll just call him D going forward. So our honor defend, I guess this is merch that the funds go towards military scholarships here at Ohio State. It's a beautiful thing. I love what you guys do here. Speaking of that massive game tomorrow, the Indiana Hoosiers, now he and a lot of Ohio State people. I don't think fully comprehend the Indiana Hoosiers being at the stage that they're at right now. How do you feel about the team that's coming in here and how do you think Kurt Signetti's done his first year in Big Ten?
Kaylee Cuoco
Well, it's, you know, they're 10 and 0 and, you know, they're top five, you know, matchup here. So I think they do a good job in all three phases. I think they've done a great job kind of changing their roster. They're playing with a lot of confidence. So we've had a great week of preparation. Our guys are fired up and, you know, I think this place is going to be rocking, you know, at noon tomorrow.
Pat McAfee
Okay, so let's talk about that noon game. Obviously, the players can't care because everybody's playing there. You can't care because both teams are playing at that time. Do you hear the noise, though, of the Ohio State people that want to put on a showcase in prime time with this particular stadium at the Horseshoe?
Kaylee Cuoco
There's a lot of noise in this world.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I can imagine.
Kaylee Cuoco
Just the way it goes like that. We don't. We don't worry about that stuff. You know, we just worry about playing football, preparing. You know, it doesn't matter where we play. Last week we played at Wrigley at, you know, 11:00am local time. That was good. We made that work. We're gonna make whatever time works. It doesn't matter. So at some point they got to put the. Put the football down and we'll be ready to play.
Pat McAfee
That's because you guys draw eyeballs, and that's all credit to what you have built here. Go ahead, A.J.
AJ Hawk
I know obviously we. With some injuries, you guys have shuffled around the offensive line in season. I know you've already answered it multiple times, but how is that? Like, how do you feel going in? Obviously, you have to feel good, but how much work can you get in when you have to shift positions, especially offensive linemen, to kind of keep that cohesive?
Kaylee Cuoco
Well, when it happened before the Penn State game, we had to move Donovan the left tackle, and that was. That was a change in position. So now we're going to movie Carson to center, moving Austin to guard. But like, these guys have played. Carson's played 12 games at center. Austin's played, you know, he was there when Donovan was down early in the week, so early in the year. So, I mean, these guys have done it before. A different challenge for sure. And we'll have to see how it's going on early on. But they've had a good week of practice, a lot of energy. You know, Will's been unbelievable.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
Kaylee Cuoco
You know, and Seth went down to practice this week and Will just like, hey, man, just get on my shoulders. We got this thing. Had an unbelievable Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday was great. We need a great week of preparation here, finishing up today.
Pat McAfee
Okay, so you talked about Indiana and transfer Portal getting a lot of guys in there. You just mentioned a lot of guys that have come in from transfer portal. You know, Seth goes down, you got Will, Caleb Downs on defensive side. How has it been like gelling your culture with guys that are transferring in who are big time pillars of this particular team?
Kaylee Cuoco
Yeah, you know, here, AJ knows, like, this is. This has been going on a long time here at Ohio State. The stadium's been here over 100 years. You know, I mean, I actually read an article that was written 75 years ago just this week about, you know, what it was like back then. It hasn't changed all that much. Like, college football has changed a lot, but it's also not changed here in Ohio and Columbus. And so, you know, there's a culture that's here already and, you know, you're going to add some pieces in, but you have to continue to develop what you have. And I think the biggest thing for us, like, a lot of people talked about our roster and what we did in the off season, everything like that, but it was really just keeping guys here. The one thing we've learned about, you know, the marketability of our players and Ohio State football players is that, you know, they're marketable. I mean, they have high value. And so we had to retain the guys to stay to come back. That was a huge part of it. And then we added a few pieces in and they've been big pieces for us, but the culture's here, it's strong. And that that starts in recruiting and making sure guys want to be at Ohio State for the right reason.
Pat McAfee
I want to let you know, like a big conversation early. And I was a part of It. So you can certainly say, hey, dip shit, you were a part of it. Everybody was talking about the amount of money they'll spend on your roster.
Kaylee Cuoco
Yeah, I did say that.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. You should have. You should have. It's a lot. A lot of people are saying, especially in Indianapolis. We'll get to that later. But the. In this particular. Then as I go through the season, I start traveling around college. There's some schools that are like, yeah, yeah, Ohio State. Yeah, let's talk about. Let's talk about what they're doing, and let's not talk about what we're doing, which is even more. It's like we're in a real world right now where your boosters and your support matter. Yeah. And it feels like here all they care about is ball, which leads to expectations and pressure on you. Yeah. You knew that whenever you're signing up for the job, and at this point, you understand it. You just feel it, and it's just a part of life now. That is just kind of how it goes.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Because your record is absurd. Your record is absurd. And we've talked about it. If you happen to lose a game, the entire state of Ohio is ready to burn down. You knew that was happening, though, like.
Kaylee Cuoco
The way it goes.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. And you expect that. That's just, like, good thing, not a bad thing.
Kaylee Cuoco
I mean, every year when you come to Ohio State, you. You want to win it all. You know, you have certain goals that you set, and, like, you know, the guys who want to be here, you have to understand, like, you're here to win every single game. And that's the way it goes, and that's the way you want in life, you know, you don't want it any other way.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, you're right.
Kaylee Cuoco
You know, I mean. And, like, again, I had this article that I read, and it was just talking about how, like, you know, some people wrestle alligators, some people chew on razor blades, some people want to go to Ohio State and play football, because that's just what they want to do. They want to be in the tiger's den. And that's what. That's what tomorrow is going to be like. And I think this crowd is going to come in tomorrow and have that edge about them. You know, it's a top five matchup. It's our third top five matchup this year, and we got this one in home, and I know this crowd's going to be fired up.
Pat McAfee
No, I heard the Big Ten schedules weren't that good. That's what I heard. AP Tone, back in Indianapolis, question for you.
Connor
Yeah, Coach, obviously, you know, we, everyone talks about your weapons. One of the best wide receiver rooms in the country, one of the best running back rooms in the country. Will Howard's. Unbelievable. So when you're, when you're, I don't know how much you script out the beginning of the game or whatever, do you just say like, hey, we're going to have Quinchon go off this week or we're going to have Jeremiah Smith, which has basically been every week. How do you. They always say there's only one ball. So how do you deal with that on the offensive side?
Kaylee Cuoco
Well, I think the first thing is that you have to have a team and a group of guys that are unselfish, that, you know, they're not worried about their touches. And we said that early on. Like, we've had guys who have been first round draft picks. We have guys who are higher than trophy finalists, and we've had guys who, you know, we've had offenses that have been number one, number two in the, in the country in total offense and points and all that. But like the number one goal of this team is to win. Like nothing else. Doesn't matter what your stats are, you got to win. And that was like on the front end, we said that as a group, like, if that's not your goal, you probably need to go somewhere else because this group is coming together to win for a common purpose. And so that's the first part of it. But when it comes down to game planning, what you want to do is you want to put the defense in the most amount of stress as possible when the more weapons you have, the more you can do that. And that starts obviously with the running game and goes from there. And it's just a matter of numbers. At some point, you know, they have to put an extra guy down in the box or they got to double one of your receivers and then there's one on one situation and vice versa. So that's the back and forth and the game plan that goes on.
Pat McAfee
What's going on with these young kids being so good? He mentioned Jeremiah. What a, what a start. Just an absolute stud at the freshman year. And then we were talking about these five star quarterbacks that just kind of yesterday made their decisions. And then obviously you guys are getting as well, younger kids more mature, better at football. Like, is there a feeling that that is the case?
Kaylee Cuoco
I mean, you look at other sports and you just see, you know, the size of these guys get bigger and faster and Stronger. And you take a guy like Jeremiah, I mean, first off, he is very strong. He is very fast, he can catch the ball. He's a good route runner. But you see his size.
Pat McAfee
Huge.
Kaylee Cuoco
Huge. And, you know, I just think when you look at the game of basketball, you see guys just getting bigger and more athletic and longer and just. I don't know. But. But every year it just seems like, you know, when you bring up an eighth grader or a ninth grader recruiting, you look up, you're like, you're 15 years old. I can't believe I'm recruiting this kid. He's like 6, 7 and 300 pounds. I'm like, what do they feed you? But. But yeah, they're just getting bigger and stronger and faster. I do think, you know, the seven on seven and those type of things has really helped the skill positions.
Pat McAfee
Throwing, catching, offensive line. There's been a call for like, basically saying offensive line play has been diminished because of the way football is being played. Obviously, you guys have to win it in the trenches if you want to win actual football game games. Do you feel that or sense that with college guys? Not just your guys, but just around football?
Kaylee Cuoco
Well, I think there's a great opportunity out there for young, big, athletic linemen to play offense. And I think, you know, there's so many guys who want to play defense and they want to get sacks, they want to run, they want to tackle, because the offensive line typically doesn't get a lot of the attention. Yeah, you know, it's. It's, you know, you know, we call them O block. You know what I mean? Like, they, These are guys that are going to work for the betterment of the team, and it's an unselfish position. And in today's day and age, you know, it's. It's great to have guys who do that, but I think there's an opportunity across America for big, athletic guys who, you know, play basketball, who play defensive line.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
Kaylee Cuoco
To play in the offensive line, because there's five of them on the field. There's more offensive linemen on the field than any other position on the field out of the 22. So those opportunities are there. And, you know, I just think that, you know, a lot more of these guys should be playing the offensive line.
Pat McAfee
See, just missed a perfect pass set. It's okay.
AJ Hawk
Yep.
Pat McAfee
It's okay. I mean, I was literally. I mean, coach, I think I missed mine.
Nick Saban
Oh, no.
Pat McAfee
Still missing it.
AJ Hawk
I don't know.
Pat McAfee
Still missing it. Still missing it. There we go. And we're back in it.
AJ Hawk
Did you know this is going to be outside in the rain?
Kaylee Cuoco
Awesome. This is great.
Pat McAfee
Did you know this? We did not know this.
Kaylee Cuoco
This is Big Ten football in November right here, man.
AJ Hawk
What's tomorrow like, the weather?
Kaylee Cuoco
You know, I mean, I hope it's in the 30s. I hope it's, you know, snowing and we can get out for some people.
Pat McAfee
Hey, for the good of football. After what we saw last night in Cleveland. Did you see that?
Kaylee Cuoco
It was awesome.
Pat McAfee
Okay, why don't you put it down?
Kaylee Cuoco
I grew up in New Hampshire. You can't imagine what it was like playing in November in the Turkey bowl in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Pat McAfee
Live for your time, brother. Let's go up to New England, Boston. Connor has a question for you.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, Coach. Speaking of New Hampshire, how's it been working with Chip Kelly? Obviously, he came over to be the OC And I assume with all those studs you have on the field, sometimes he does look at you like, holy shit, why didn't I have this at ucla? And also, whenever the team does, you know, maybe underperforms, you could say, do you ever want to go to the media and just say like, hey, look, I know you guys are mad at me, but this is all Chip Kelly's fault. Just, I'm not the one doing this. It's Chip's fault. Stop yelling at me.
Pat McAfee
Not a bad play.
Kaylee Cuoco
Yeah, well, I think the first thing is there's trust there. And anytime you're in a, you know, pressure cooker environment, you want to be around guys that you trust. And, you know, there's nobody I trust more than Chip, you know, with my life, other than my family. I've known him since I've been this tall. He recruited me. He was my coach. He's been a mentor for me. So, like, that's a big part of it now. Doesn't make it easy. You know, what we do every day, like, it's, you know, you're chasing the top 1% and. But I just think that, you know, you can, you can have a. You can have an argument, you can go through things, but at the end of the day, you got your arm around each other because, you know, for the same, you're working for the same goal. I think he's done an unbelievable job of coming in, working with what we have. I think the offensive staff has great chemistry. I think the guys on offense really respect the way he's come in and added new things, but also, you know, incorporated things that we've done here in the past. And so, you know, we got to be at our best here.
Pat McAfee
Now, a few weeks ago, I think the big discussion was Chip Kelly was able to put away his pride because he likes to run that hurry up stuff. And you don't know if everybody's going to be in the exact position for success with that. Chip Kelly has realized, we got a lot of weapons. Let's do our shit. We don't need to rush it. It's been beautiful to watch it all come together. Coach, thank you so much for making time for us. Good luck tomorrow.
Kaylee Cuoco
Thanks.
Pat McAfee
And this Hoosier seems real deal.
Kaylee Cuoco
Well, so are we.
AJ Hawk
Oh, hell, yeah.
Pat McAfee
I love that. All right, back to you, boys. We said, ryan Day out here for a little bit.
Ty Schmidt
I mean, Ryan Day. What. What's his name? Dan Mullen said earlier this week.
AJ Hawk
Yep.
Ty Schmidt
Hey, us coaches, we know the spread. Ryan Day, if he knows It's. It's 10 and, you know, a little 10 and a half, 11, 14. The Ohio State boys might run up the scoreboard a little bit against Indiana if he's. If he's very much aware of what that spread is.
Gumpy
I mean, I think there's a very good chance it goes one of two ways. It's either, you know, Indiana squeaks out a close one, I think, because everyone's saying, hey, you know, these guys shouldn't be here, or Ohio State is going to beat the shit out of them, I think. I really do believe those are the only two options for how this game checks out.
Connor
Well, a lot of people were saying, like, Sig's got to be on his game just because the athletes and just like the bodies that Ohio State has versus what Indiana has right now. And Sig's had two weeks to prepare. I can't. I cannot wait for this game on Saturday. And I know AJ Hawk with that oh, script. Ohio is so nervous.
Pat McAfee
Hey, listen, I don't know if he's so nervous after what Ryan Day just said. I said, hey, this Indiana team's a real deal. So are we okay? And then he walks off.
AJ Hawk
Didn't. Didn't smirk. Didn't smile.
Pat McAfee
That was a very matter of fact right there. I loved hearing that.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, he's dialed in.
Pat McAfee
Yes, he is.
AJ Hawk
And he said. He said, this crowd is going to have an edge tomorrow. He's. I think he called the crowd out. He didn't call him out, but he said, hey, we need you in your seats early. We need you guys loud like you're part of the game.
Pat McAfee
Social media video. I told you about social media video. Say, hey, we need you lot. We need you lot to do. And I think that's potentially because he knows, just like we've been talking all week, there's some Ohio fuck out there, okay, who has maybe not paid attention to anything other than Ohio State football. Yeah, they've heard about the Indiana thing.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, yeah.
Pat McAfee
But like.
AJ Hawk
But in their brain, like, Indiana.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, all right, all right.
Pat McAfee
Okay.
AJ Hawk
You're right. I guess that's true.
Pat McAfee
I think Ryan is thinking about that. I think he's like, hey, listen, this is not the same old Indiana, but we can make this the same old outcome if we really treat this how we should. I obviously know that the Ohio State fans will show up in a big way, but I think there are some Ohio State fans who still are like, you're gonna have to show us. It's not just Ohio State fans are thinking that about Indiana.
AJ Hawk
No. Oh, yeah.
Pat McAfee
There's a lot of people thinking about Indiana. You should have heard production meeting this morning, boys.
Ty Schmidt
Oh, it was alive.
Pat McAfee
Now, I learned a lot of people in there don't watch our show. So that's what I learned, because there's a lot of people saying, nobody is giving Indiana a chance. I haven't even heard Indiana winning this game mentioned by anybody on tv. I'm like, all right, so nobody watches our show. I just realized that I wouldn't watch either. But I don't think we're the only ones that are kind of talking about. I think Joe Klatt put something out about last year's Michigan team, this year's Indiana team, and then obviously, those common opponent stats that got you all. Those are really good, all worked up and jacked up. But I'll tell you what, I like Ohio State more after how Ryan Day just acted right there. I appreciated that sense of urgency, seemingly, and also the calm, cool, confidence. Con man.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah. It's funny you say that about the production meeting, because I was just going to say, like, it feels like the whole week everyone's been saying, if Indiana wins, if Indiana wins. I guess not. Maybe we've been watching some different stuff. But I think that's why I have a lot of faith in Ohio State, is because the conversation all week is, you know, Ohio State. It's not rather, Ohio State's going to kill this team. Ohio State's going to absolutely blow out Indiana. The conversation more so is like, well, if Indiana wins, is Ohio State out? Is Ohio State going to get booted from the playoff if IU wins? What if IU keeps it close? Like, it does feel, especially from what you just said at Ryan Day, just a quick little, very stoic, like, so are we the real deal as well? Like, it's almost as if. And it shouldn't be, but it's almost as if as the number two seed in the country, they have to prove to everybody that they're a good football team. I am so pumped for Saturday and it just, you know, kind of hammers home the point. Like college football has been delivering every single week. And once again on Saturday, we have a top five matchup for the fifth, sixth time this year. Like, it is the best, biggest, best season we've ever had in college football.
Connor
Football, to Connor's point, it's so insane. Just because Ohio State, Ryan Day lost like the last two years or whatever it was to a very, very, very, very good Michigan team and then that won by a last second field goal down in Atlanta that you guys were there for like now people think that Ryan Day and Ohio State can't win a big game because they lost three games to some of the best football teams that have ever existed.
Pat McAfee
Number one. Number one. Number one. Those are Oregon, number one, Georgia number one, Michigan number one.
AJ Hawk
You can, yeah, you can see how that would maybe frustrate you or get a chip on your shoulder as a coach and the trickle down through the team. But that's great. I mean, everybody is looking for that little thing to, to get him to wake up for that next workout, to get him to do the things that you don't want to do well.
Pat McAfee
And I'm happy the games at noon, so the boys won't be able to hear. But my open tomorrow that I'm going to talk about, I don't know if I want to poke the monster. I honestly. Because this Indiana story is awesome and Signetti's awesome and he's talked his shit, backed it up and he's brought a state back to life, a university back to life with hope and opportunity and everything there. And I know ESPN stats and predictors say a win they're in, a loss they're in. But you listen to a lot of people talk. It's like if Indiana does lose by a lot, there's going to be a loud, loud conversation by not just people in the sec, but people around the country going, are we not going to want to schedule hard games anymore then? Because we just want to win.
AJ Hawk
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Pat McAfee
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Kaylee Cuoco
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AJ Hawk
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Pat McAfee
See terms@walmartplus.com Football didn't have my ears in. Completely forgot. Couldn't hear anything. I thought we had lost our sound, but I put a beanie on, obviously, because it is chilly here in beautiful Columbus, Ohio, as the Ohio State Buckeyes are less than 24 hours away from having a battle against the Indiana Hoosiers. This is Ohio State legend AJ Hawk. AJ Hawk.
Ty Schmidt
AJ Hawk. AJ Hawk.
Pat McAfee
AJ Hawk. Good to see you, AJ Whenever you walk back on campus, which I know is a regular because you are a mainstay here for the Buckeyes, do you get a sense of. Boy, I wish it was me running on that field tomorrow to take on Kirk Signetti's boys.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, it is crazy. Think of how long ago I was here. It's like 20 years pretty much now since I. I was playing here. So yeah, time. Time goes pretty fast. It definitely does. But I remember walking down this exact tunnel. It's gotten bigger. It's gotten. They got all these like smoke machines now and everything. It was a little different. But yeah, the players come walking right through here. Boom. That's. I remember the very first time I ran out there thinking like, wow, I feel actually pretty tiny. I remember my brothers telling me how small I looked on the sidelines and I Was probably never going to play.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, but you did play your freshman year. I actually have a couple picks and even a pick six and played in the national championship because you're built different. Is what's the song when you guys come out and say.
AJ Hawk
No, it's the band. It's the band now. You know, the band plays a salad.
Pat McAfee
What is it? What's the salad?
AJ Hawk
I don't know. You have to pull it up. Everybody's got their own band in the land.
Pat McAfee
What is it? What is it though?
AJ Hawk
What do you mean? It's the fight song.
Pat McAfee
What is it?
AJ Hawk
I don't know. I can't. I'm not.
Pat McAfee
You don't know? This guy doesn't watch the box, cut his tree down. Don't you have a tree here on campus somewhere? Yeah, it is.
AJ Hawk
Why is there when you become an All American, they plant a bucket tree? I do not know, Ty. They move Buckeye Grove as they call it. It used to be right back here. Now it is somewhere over by the fossil.
Pat McAfee
You haven't even visited your tree.
AJ Hawk
Oh, I've never seen the tree. Actually. I saw pictures of it though.
Gumpy
Despicable.
Ty Schmidt
On man.
Pat McAfee
Not even on Arbor Day? No, not unbelievable. Let's go to the toxic table at Boston Connor at Ty Schmidt. We're going to move in the greatest coach of all time. Boys, if you can maybe summarize what this weekend is for college ball, we would all.
Gumpy
What was that?
AJ Hawk
Is that to B Somebody practicing?
Pat McAfee
Somebody playing Cats?
AJ Hawk
Was that Saban?
Ty Schmidt
Someone following him around with a trumpet.
Pat McAfee
What the hell was the band is playing? Hey, what's the fight song sound like? You guys mouth it.
Ty Schmidt
Go and play it.
Pat McAfee
They don't know it either.
Gumpy
Are you kidding me?
Pat McAfee
Not the Biddle. Oh my God. What an embarrassment. What's it sound like? Do you even know what it sounds like? Oh, these guys suck. Oh my God. AP Toad 1/2 of the Hammer Don Cowboys. This weekend's a big one for college ball. A lot on the line. We're going to set up Coach Saban.
Connor
Thank you. I appreciate it. Pat, we've talked a ton about, you know, Indiana at Ohio State, 13 point spread, 10 point spread, whatever it is right now. But another huge one that I think like nobody has talked about quite as much yet is army at Notre Dame. Cause if this is a playoff game for sure. Cause if obviously if army loses, they're. They're not gonna be in the playoff. They're not gonna get that highest ranked conference champion, most likely. And then Notre Dame, if they lose, they are Also out in this situation. So that is ipso facto a playoff game in Yankee Stadium for the Shamrock Series. So that's another huge one in that situation. I don't know if you guys have any thoughts on the Notre Dame army game.
Gumpy
It's just weird that. I mean, technically it's a Notre Dame home game, if you will, and there are obviously a lot of people who went to Notre Dame in the greater New York area and everything, but the proximity to West Point, like, I feel like there's a good chance that there are more. I mean, I don't know. Notre Dame obviously is a massive fan base, but still, like, I wonder if playing at Yankee Stadium is anywhere different. And even if army does win this game, I still don't think it's a guarantee that they do get into the playoff. Although I feel like if they do win this game that they. It should be a guarantee.
Connor
Yeah, I mean, if they, obviously, if they. If they beat Notre Dame and then they have Tulane in the AAC Championship, if they win that one, it's going to be like, it would be super hard for the committee to keep them out, whether it's jumping. Boise is the Group of 5 highest ranked conference champion or situation or whatever happens there. But, yeah, that is a huge one in Yankee Stadium this weekend. Pat, how are you looking over there, brother?
Pat McAfee
Fantastic. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now live from the tunnel in which the Ohio State Buckeyes take the field for every home game. The greatest of all time, ladies and gentlemen. Mix coach. How you doing, boss? I think his microphones off. Got to turn that thing on.
Nick Saban
I'm good.
Pat McAfee
There you are. We muted it. That's on us. Coach, great to see you.
Nick Saban
Good to be here.
Pat McAfee
Chili, Chili.
Nick Saban
Bad weather. I try to forget about this kind of weather.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I heard the story about you and Ms. Terry leaving the north, going to the south and deciding to never have to deal with this for a full schedule for sure. But tomorrow, the weather conditions, how do you feel it's going to factor in this or both teams are from the north, they don't have to worry about it.
Nick Saban
Well, I think both teams are from the north, but we haven't had this kind of weather much anywhere in the country. And I do think football changes when it's cold. The ball changes, throwing the ball changes, catching the ball changes, holding on to the ball changes. So getting hit changes. So there's a lot of things that change when it's really, really cold weather. But, you know, the thing that I'm. This may affect tomorrow's game. But what's going to happen when one of these teams from the south have to come up here and play in probably worse weather than this and young college players never have the opportunity to do that.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, so we're talking about the College Football Playoff and the home field advantage for the first round of the 12 team playoff. The there's a lot of discussion about this during our production meeting this morning. That was awesome. I'm so lucky to be a part of it. But that's a huge aspect that I think we've chatted about. The home field advantage. Home field advantage being able to showcase, you know, the stadium and showcase the atmosphere and the pageantry and the traditions which college football has, which no other sport has, but also the weather. Like Penn State I think was hosting one for a while. Ohio State here is allegedly going to host against byu, which obviously they've handled the weather before. But Alabama having to go up to Notre Dame right now, Georgia having to go in the happy valley of Penn State, Ole Miss having to go to Bloomington, you know, like that's a real thing that we haven't had to see in the past. Like these are the most important games of the season when they're dealing something they never felt before.
Nick Saban
No question about it. And I think the other question that we haven't discussed much is would you rather have a buy or would you rather have home field advantage?
Pat McAfee
I mean, we would rather have home field advantage, I think, right?
Nick Saban
I would, yes, I definitely rather have home field advantage and play a game at home than having a buy because you have time at that point in the season to recover anyway. So is it an advantage to have more weeks off and try to get into the game or play more in a rhythm and go ahead and play and have a home field game?
Pat McAfee
You get that rust off at home, you know, so. So you get a chance to get the rust off from the two weeks that are going to be at least from everybody. And then you have your crowd as a weapon and added weapon this whole thing. We've been pitching on this show for the last couple weeks and obviously nobody really listens when we talk. But if you say it, people will. Don't you think until at least semifinal, like if you get a buy should have home field advantage in that next week and they're trying to figure out the bowls and everything like that. We get it, put the bowls in these places. I mean you could just, no question, I don't want to say name them that, but you could just take these bowls and make them the semifinal, quarterfinal, game, first round game, everything like that.
Nick Saban
Yeah, I think in college football, especially with the big stadiums in the Big Ten and the SEC and all over the country, really having a game at home is a huge advantage. And if you're a higher ranked team, that should be something that you take, are able to take advantage of. So I absolutely think however they do it, there should be games played at home until maybe the semis.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, at least the semis. I mean, we're going to have to give and take. We would like it to go all the way to the national championship, but I assume that's not going to happen. Let's talk about this game here a little bit. Age is an Ohio State legend, obviously. Hell yeah, no doubt Buckeye, you know, and he has no bias at all. He's pulling for the Buckeyes. We just had Ryan Day on and at the very end I said to him, I said, hey, Indiana is the real deal this year. And he said, so are we. And then he walked off. And it's no smirk or nothing, Nothing, nothing at all. The pressure on Ryan Day to win is obviously immense. Every year it is. This year, more specifically, Indiana's coming in with a good team. How do you see this whole thing going?
Nick Saban
Well, I think Indiana does have a really good team, probably a better team than what people think because you always think of the brand like you always think Ohio State, Michigan, you don't really think Ohio State, Indiana. And that'll be something that the Ohio State players have to really comprehend from a psychological standpoint that these guys are a pretty good team. But I think that Indiana's defensive line is better than people give them credit for. And with the recent injuries in the offensive line for Ohio State, that'll be maybe something to watch. But I also think that the skill guys that Ohio State has, the running backs, the wide receivers, going to be really, really hard for Indiana to match up with all those people.
Pat McAfee
Now Indiana, obviously their strength of schedule, big conversation. They took on last year's national champion, Michigan because Michigan wasn't good this year obviously doesn't count as a good win. They took on last year's national champion runner up, Washington. But because Washington's in the middle of transition, that doesn't count as a good win. It's like the big wins for Indian at the time, I think for Indiana, big wins, but overall grand scheme of things, they're not going to be considered as such. And then you think about Ohio State, if they were to lose Indiana, they would lose the Number one Oregon and then probably number one or number two Indiana is their strength to schedule matchup. There's chaos on the horizon no matter what happens here tomorrow.
Nick Saban
Oh, I don't, I don't think there's any question about it. And I think what comes into play here is not the top teams in your league like I think Ohio State and Oregon and you know, the top teams in the Big Ten are just as good as the top teams in the SEC. But the SEC is so much deeper. You know, there's eight or nine teams that have been in the top 25 this year and they're all playing each other and they're beating each other. So you got a two loss team that has played like Georgia, five top 25 teams and they have two losses. That's a little different than playing no top 25 teams or not beating any top 25 teams like some other teams in the Big Ten and in other places in the country.
Pat McAfee
Chaos. We talked to coach Mullen the other day and you could tell us this a little bit more. College football has always been in a vote. Like it's always been just like opinion based, subjective. There it is subjective. Always has been. Right. It's a part of like the, I don't say the lore of college football, but it is a part of college football and always has been. This year it's going to be bigger than ever. I think there's going to be more chaos, more loudness from teams than ever before because there's more spots, more teams thinking they deserve it.
Nick Saban
Exactly. And you know, let's look at the NCAA basketball tournament. They put 68 teams in and then they have a two hour show on ESPN about who didn't get in. So it doesn't matter whether it's 12 teams, 16 teams. There's always going to be a debate about who didn't get in. But I think the good news about this, and I've said this many times before, is they will get the best five or six teams in for sure. That's something that won't happen. There's been times in the past when like in 2003 we won. Lots of people thought Southern Cal should have got in. You know, there were times when we didn't get in or we got in and Florida State didn't get in. I mean where the fifth team got left out. So I don't think that's going to happen. They'll get the best teams in, but it's going to be some of the teams that get in and some of the teams that don't get in and how that all worked out is going to be an issue.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I remember the Coach Saban speech of like, well, how come? All right. All sports books have us favored against every team if we were to play them that's in a play. Tell me how that makes sense. Because we. I remember that there's some of the best speeches I've ever heard you give. And then on the flip side, I think there's some times where you thought, like, I don't know if we're going to get in. And then you guys get in, Somebody gets left out. It's just kind of the name of the game almost.
Nick Saban
Yeah. And it was all subjective. It was all subjective.
Pat McAfee
It's crazy.
Nick Saban
And, and the, the, the one thing about we would have been 13 point favorites over TCU if we would have played them and they got in the playoffs and we didn't. And I'm not criticizing tcu. It wasn't their fault. I mean, but that is the subjective part of it.
Pat McAfee
What happened to TCU in that run? Yeah.
Nick Saban
I was at that decade.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Yeah, you were. We were working together.
Nick Saban
Yeah, that's right.
Pat McAfee
It was a great thing.
AJ Hawk
Coach, I say tomorrow. We always talk about getting out to a fast start. I know it's a cliche thing, like if you were Ryan Day in the Ohio State Buckeyes, you want to pound the ball early, what do you want to do? I guess to come out. I feel like a game like this would be so valuable to get out to an early lead, get the fans on your side and kind of quiet everything down.
Nick Saban
Yeah, but I think, you know, I always preach to my, our team no matter what. You know, we want to play a 60 minute game and you don't really dominate the team in the 10th play or the 20th play of the game. It might take 50 plays in the game to make the guy say, uncle, you know, and you really want to defeat the other team. You just don't want to win the game. You know, that's, that's what I always try to preach to our team. But I do think momentum is an important thing. And if you can earn momentum early in the game by getting off to a good start, it affects the other team's psychological disposition. It also gives your team confidence, and it's a little easier if you can maintain, you know, that momentum throughout the game.
Pat McAfee
Do you change practice? Like, let's say your team isn't a good starter? You know, like, there's been some teams that I've been on slow starters, but closers, you know, and then there's been some teams that have been incredible at the beginning and then bad late. Is there things that you can change? There is a team's identity kind of how they are?
Nick Saban
Well, I think it's probably how they are, but I do think that however you are, you want to try to change for the better. So however you identify a weakness in your team, you want to work on that and you want to focus on that and you want to make the players realize this is an issue. Guys, we're not finishing games. We got to play for 60 minutes or we're starting out poorly, which means we're not practicing well enough. We're not preparing well enough. We don't have those, you know, Everybody makes a 20 play script in the beginning of the game that they're going to run. We're going to make sure we don't mess those things up. So we get off to a good start. So there's ways to try to fix it. But I think it's like quality control in any business. You, you, you, you identify weakness. You want to get it changed.
Pat McAfee
Easier said than done. Somehow you were able to do. How long were you coaching for? How long did you coach for?
Nick Saban
50.
Pat McAfee
Jesus. Thanks for your football. Thanks for your commitment. The boys back in Indianapolis have some photo or questions. AP tone is up first.
Connor
Yeah, Coach, I, I was looking at schedule and there's a lot of, you know, potential playoff teams on the road this week. A and M at Auburn, Bama at Oklahoma, Penn State at Minnesota, Ole Miss at Florida, Colorado at Kansas. And Kansas has been playing spoiler the last two weeks. So if you're, you're in this situation where you're a playoff team going to one of these teams that are only in it to play spoiler this week. What is your message to the team when the team that they are playing on the road is only there just to ruin your playoff chances?
Nick Saban
Well, you know, I always had kind of the same message for our team. You know, we wanted to, you know, beat the other team. We wanted to focus and control what we could control. And when you play on the road, you're not only playing against the team that you're playing against, you're playing against their fans, their spirit, their passion. But none of those people have anything to do with the outcome of the game. There's not one fan you want to play a play that the noise doesn't affect, affect the outcome of the game. So we control what we control by how we execute and how we do it, and it doesn't matter where we do it. You know, I used to tell our guys, if we got to go play in a parking lot, then we'll go play in a parking lot. We got to go execute what we got to do wherever we play and take the other team out of their game. And sometimes a team thinks that by playing at home, that's an advantage. And I used to tell our players, because that was the thing at lsu. You know, we play at home, it's so loud, it's so dizzy. It's Death Valley, it's hard to play here.
Pat McAfee
They're saying, suck that.
Nick Saban
And I would say it's not playing in Tiger Stadium. It's the Tigers that play in Play Tiger Stadium that make a difference.
Pat McAfee
Amen.
Nick Saban
All right. So you can't get caught up in that thinking that some external factor is going to help you win.
Pat McAfee
Coach, I've heard a lot of people say, if we're playing home away in a parking lot, like you just said right there, what would the style game plan be? If you did have to play in a parking lot, what would you. That's a fast track. Feels like that's a fast track. We're taking. We're taking deep shots. How would you play that game?
Nick Saban
Get a flat back and some hats feet and butt them in the throat. That's what I.
Pat McAfee
Schmidt has a question for you.
Gumpy
Coach.
Pat McAfee
That's a winning plan right there, Ty, I think.
Gumpy
Yeah, absolutely, Coach. There's a. Another pretty de facto playoff game this weekend at Yankee Stadium between Notre Dame and Army. Now, army plays a little bit different, I think, than typical service academies, but do you think it's an advantage to play a service academy this late in the season when you have a full season's worth of tape? And it's not like when you play them early on and you have no idea what they're going to do because they play so much differently than your typical opponent.
Nick Saban
I think the big thing is at this point in the season having to play such a different offense as an option off. But the advantage for Notre Dame is they played Navy and there's a lot of similarities. So their scheme is probably going to have had a lot of reps because they played Navy. But playing option football, where they move the point of attack on the run, is not something that modern day current football players really play much because everybody's in the spread. So this is usually a huge adaptation and a huge adjustment for your team team late in the season. But Notre Dame has an advantage because they have played against it just. Just recently.
Pat McAfee
Bryson Daly's a dog. We've been talking about him on game day the last couple weeks. He got banged up, then he's back. They're showing his highlights. He's a different animal, obviously. Shout out to army, neutral site. Good for those types of games or no?
Nick Saban
Well, I think it is for Army. I mean, because they don't have the same kind of stadium as Notre Dame. But I think what Army's going to do in this game, and they're built for it, they're going to actually try to shrink the game every way they can. They. They run the ball 87% of the time.
Pat McAfee
It's pretty good.
Nick Saban
And they're going to keep running it. And if they can average three yards of play, they'll go for it. On fourth down. They're going to try to keep the ball away from Notre Dame and hopefully keep the game close so maybe they have an opportunity and then to win it.
Pat McAfee
A.J. quick math. You average three yards a rush, you do it four straight plays. How many yards is that?
AJ Hawk
Probably about 12, maybe.
Pat McAfee
What's a first down?
AJ Hawk
10.
Pat McAfee
Oh, my God. Successful football. That is winning football.
AJ Hawk
Three and a half yards in a cloud of dust. That's Woody Hayes. I had to tell Pat about the greatness of Woody Hayes. With Woody.
Nick Saban
Yeah, absolutely. When I coached here, I had three different occasions where I heard Woody either speak or sit down and talk to him, have lunch with him or whatever. And I was always fascinated by the wisdom, you know, like I always tell the story when Michigan was number one when I was here in 1981, I think, and we had lost two games and they were number one in the country. We're like 17 point underdogs. Were going up there to play, and Woody comes to the senior tackle and gives a speech, the best speech I ever heard. He said, there can be no great victories without tremendous adversity. And he takes us going to Michigan to play with all these obstacles, obstacles that we have to overcome. And compare to the war in the Pacific, it's the greatest military victory of all time. And the reason for that is because of Pearl Harbor. So he says, well, you guys have all these obstacles. You're 17.00 dogs. You're playing on the road. There's 110,000 people against you. The weather's bad, it's snowing, it's cold. This is the greatest opportunity in the world for a great victory. And we went from having a negative attitude to, oh, man, we got A chance to have a great victory. And we won. We won 14 to nine. It was a great game. One of my best memories. And then I was jumping up and down in the locker room after the game saying, we finally arrived. We're a young team, we could beat anybody in the country now. And Woody comes walking in and he says, I'm glad we don't have a game next week. And I'm like, what's up with this guy? He said, we played ass over tea kettle day. They a team in the country would beat next week.
Pat McAfee
So we wasted it all.
Nick Saban
When I say wisdom, that's what I mean by wisdom.
Pat McAfee
That's how we feel whenever you talk now, obviously groat in this entire game and the game has changed. Just yesterday we had Julian Juju Lewis on the show. He was committed to USC. Sunday, he decommits the USC. Yesterday he commits to Colorado. He was the number one recruit of the 2026 class. He reclassifies into the 2025 class. I think he had to academically test out of some classes. So obviously incredibly intelligent. Bryce Underwood yesterday, I believe is his name. He commits to Michigan yesterday with a alleged four year ten and a half million dollar deal. When Juju did it, he had a doordash bag over his shoulder. Obviously perfect timing with Shador leaving and him going in and this Underwood kid. Perfect timing with everything they got going on at the quarterback position. Now you've seen the game change a lot and you're at the beginning stages of this entire nil transfer portal modern world that we're in. How do you feel about the thought of these young guys saying I want to go somewhere where I can play, but also somewhere where I can make a lot of wealth and prosper off of it. How do you feel about the modern recruiting and how do you think it goes going forward?
Nick Saban
Well, I'm not sure the system is great for development of players, but you certainly cannot blame the players players for choosing a school for both reasons that you just said, somewhere where I can play and if the system allows me to do it and I'm a free agent even in high school to make a decision about where I want to go to school. Why not take advantage of it now do I think that's a college experience that we all, you know, sort of had the opportunity to go through and develop and mature, develop a career off the field, graduate from school. You guys played in the NFL, have a chance to develop, to play in the NFL. Maybe not the best model for that, but it is certainly the best model for these guys to take advantage of right now because it is the rules and you can't blame them for taking advantage of it.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. And I don't think you're saying these two guys in this particular case, you're just talking about as a whole, what everybody's looking for is this and this potentially. Now obviously prime coach prime over there in Colorado showcase can get a quarterback to the NFL, can get people to the Heisman. Michigan has obviously done the same thing. But this a national thing, I think. Use what you were chatting about.
Nick Saban
Not just exactly, but I'm specifically saying these two guys did that. Where can I play and how can I enhance my future the best in terms of how much, you know, people are willing to invest in me.
Pat McAfee
You're not, you're not making a lot of nil money if you're not playing. That was kind of brought to my attention yesterday. Who, I think Pete Thamel said that to me yesterday. Do you, do you boys remember Pete said you think about these nil deals, right? Like obviously if you're Arch Manning, you're still going to get paid if you're not playing because you're a Manning and you do even need the money because you come from a well off family. But if you don't, and your money is strictly coming for your entire family from you playing. If you're getting redshirted or not playing, the money's not anywhere near what it is. So playing time is like.
Nick Saban
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Goes hand in hand with all of it.
AJ Hawk
Almost.
Nick Saban
Well, I think your development is the most important thing you can do when you're in college, especially if you're a premier player, because really there's so much more if you can develop into an NFL successful player.
Pat McAfee
Long term.
Nick Saban
Long term. And I think that's important. But one of the things I would caution all these guys about in recruiting right now, you know, there's a court case out there that's probably going to get settled. Probably going to get settled sometime in April. And when that court case gets settled, it may change the landscape of name, image and likeness to some degree, which may affect some of these deals. Because it's going to be marketing based and you got to develop a marketing reputation if you're going to make any money in marketing. So plan still is important.
Pat McAfee
Right. That, that ruling just completely throwing a wrench potentially in all these deals.
AJ Hawk
Because what happens, what's the ruling do exactly?
Pat McAfee
Salary. This is where the revenue recap, revenue revenue sharing.
Nick Saban
There'll still be name, image and likeness, but it'll be controlled by what your marketing value is. So you just can't pay for play, which is what it's become right now, which is probably not a good thing. So it might be better. But these deals that are being made, made under these circumstances may change a little bit in the future.
Pat McAfee
April 8, I believe, is the date if. If I am accurate in this whole thing. What do you got the rest of the day? Coach, you already feel. Film room or no?
Nick Saban
Already did it.
Pat McAfee
Got it knocked out.
Nick Saban
Running the option, man. Tam safeties run the alley. We got it.
Pat McAfee
I love watching you do that on game day. Legitimately, you're fantastic out there. Tomorrow morning should be amazing. We can't thank you enough for stopping by.
Nick Saban
I appreciate it.
Pat McAfee
We gave you the hand warmer.
AJ Hawk
That's for you. I don't know.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, so I had three hand warmers in my hoodie. I forgot about them. So as you're talking, I was pulling them out, and I passed them down, and I pulled out a second one. I pulled out a third one, and AJ was like, where the fuck are you getting these handles? Where were these things for the last hour and a half?
Nick Saban
Well, one thing I want to commend you on. You know, this is obviously a great atmosphere to get your ass ready to play.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, you're damn right.
Nick Saban
To do a radio show or podcast. I don't know, man.
Pat McAfee
Well, we appreciate you stopping by these, you know, hey, listen, what a great opportunity this was. Without great adversity, there's no chance for a great victory. Boom. And that's what we had today with this conversation. We can't thank you enough. Ladies and gentlemen, the Goat, Nick Saban.
Ty Schmidt
I had no idea he coached at Ohio State.
Gumpy
Oh, yeah, everywhere.
Ty Schmidt
I mean, yeah, I guess when you're Nick Saban, you kind of get to coach 50 years.
Gumpy
That's crazy. It really is.
Ty Schmidt
Such a long time. It's insane.
Connor
They're watching him show up with that coat and be cold the entire time. And I think Pat saw it, too, because he immediately asked about those SEC teams going to Big Ten places. I hope the College Football Playoff stays the way that it is as far as SEC schools having to go to those cold places, because that would make. Just like last night. Like, that would make the playoffs so much better.
Ty Schmidt
Also have to just settle it, like, sec, Big Ten is going to be this thing for so long. We might as well just have as many sec, Big Ten games as possible. Because, I mean, SEC could say, too, like, oh, yeah, we play in the cold. You want to play in this heat. You want to come down here, play here?
Gumpy
They should. They should also do that. Like, if they're. I mean, they're never going to do it, but if there are four Big Ten schools and four SEC schools, they should make both. Both of them play each other every single year. The top two Big Ten schools get those games at home, and the top two SEC get those games at home because people can scoff at it and act like it's not a big deal. Like, this kind of weather. It's absolutely a big deal. Without a doubt.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I'd say. I'd say it's a big deal. And you can ask one particular team, and I don't know if his mic's on check. The Miami Dolphins last year, having to go, you know, like, there's some teams that view snow games, and there's some guys from the south and from warm weather that is like. It's my first time seeing snow, and it's like a. It's like a celebration.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
It's like, man, this is so cool. I get to do this. But then there's some teams that are.
AJ Hawk
Like, get me out of here.
Pat McAfee
Get me the hell out.
AJ Hawk
Let's get this game over. Hey, offense, run the ball. Let's get out of here. I've heard NFL players talk about that.
Pat McAfee
I'm from Pittsburgh. Cold place. You're from Ohio. Cold place. It sucks being cold.
AJ Hawk
I mean, I think the older you get, the worse it is. Being cold, too.
Pat McAfee
It sucks being cold. So, like, being from the south, if you have the right mindset, it's like, oh, I get to play in a court. Like James Winston last night when his eyes. Yes, yes. You saw him just get so excited.
Connor
That was a fun cold, though.
Pat McAfee
He was Will.
AJ Hawk
He was like Elf. You're right.
Pat McAfee
He was Will Ferrell in Elf with his excitement level.
Ty Schmidt
You're talking about it.
Pat McAfee
Go ahead, con man.
Ty Schmidt
You, boy. You ranked him yesterday. Like, the snow cold is the number one cold. Like, that is exactly what you're looking for. Early on, it felt like it was almost like the rain type cold, but once it became like the thick snow, it did feel as if everyone was like, okay, let's play ball. This is exactly what we're looking for, boys.
Pat McAfee
Normally we wait until about the third hour to do this, But I'm not 100% sure we thought, how long this one's going to go into the third hour. I think it's time for us to make our picks.
AJ Hawk
All right, let's do it. I've been killing it lately. So let's do it.
Pat McAfee
The entire NFL slate against the spread. AJ Hawk, the face of Ohio. And I will be doing that just like we do every week. Can we look up the current standings? Me versus just close, right? Nice little reminder of what it is. I'm not sure if we have that on in nine.
AJ Hawk
I think I'm. I've. I got one win over you.
Pat McAfee
So you're one nine in one.
AJ Hawk
Something like that.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah. I believe it's one nine and one.
Pat McAfee
So you have no chance of coming back.
AJ Hawk
No, I can win this week.
Connor
You can spoil. You could be a spoiler this week.
Pat McAfee
You can certainly win this week. Certainly can. And to be clear, every game because the spread exists is impossible. It's coin flip. And. And we're lucky we get to do this. And when this show ends at 1:55 today, this show is over.
AJ Hawk
This is that cold rain kind of that stuff we're talking about. Yeah, the coldest. If this turned a nice, beautiful, huge snowflakes, that'd be ideal.
Pat McAfee
This is the worst.
AJ Hawk
This isn't happening.
Pat McAfee
This is the worst case scenario. We're out in it too, for the first hour. Didn't need to be. We just found out. And I mean, it is. Let's get. By the way, this is Zito Production and Tim McAfee Production. Great work.
AJ Hawk
Good work, boys.
Pat McAfee
Shout out to Sean Perkins, Ohio State University facilities manager.
AJ Hawk
Yes.
Pat McAfee
He helped us out immensely through this whole thing so Zito and Tim could get in here early in the morning and set this whole thing up. We got a three camera system.
Daniel Jones
Don't forget about Mike Foss.
Pat McAfee
Oh, yeah. Mike Foss runs the show, obviously. Thank you to Mike.
Ty Schmidt
Thank you, Foss, for this opportunity.
Pat McAfee
Fox actually was the one that cut these sleeves off of this hoodie. Mike Foss runs the show. Is that Mike?
Ty Schmidt
Mike.
Pat McAfee
Mike.
Connor
Mike, over here.
Pat McAfee
That's not Mike Foss, man. That's a bummer. It's not. Well, we love Mike Foss. He got put into quite a predicament because of a statement from somebody else. And we'll certainly hold that over his head forever. The drummers are drumming somewhere.
Connor
Pipers are piping.
Pat McAfee
The pipers were piping earlier. I don't know if you heard that.
Ty Schmidt
Technically, that could be Mike Foss behind you.
Pat McAfee
Hey, it's not. It's not. We checked it out. But a trumpet, too. Some big old drum. We can feel the boom. You hear that right there?
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
There's some real boom coming through this tunnel. It's not the Ohio State Buckeyes and it's almost like we got it delivered by doordash. Which you can deliver anything on doordash, which is why doordash is the perfect tag team partner for your day to day. I don't know if you can ever deliver a drum set. Maybe if you live close to a music city, you might be able to do that. But anything else that you could possibly want or need, doordash is there for you 100%. Whether it's food. Oh, I'm hungry for Chinese food. Boom, they got it. I need food quickly. How about under 30 minutes? Here's everything that will arrive at your doorstep. I want some wingies. I want some Italian. Oh, I need Advil. Anything you could possibly need, Doordash has it for you. Shout out to doordash. My wife and I are in the middle of moving because my address was found out by people and psychos were showing up at my house whenever I wasn't there at like 6:30am screaming at the front door.
Connor
That's fun.
Pat McAfee
So my wife and I moving in the process of moving and awesome. That at the new place, Doordash new options.
AJ Hawk
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. All new restaurants open up too.
Pat McAfee
That's a fun little game. That's a fun little game. First time I opened it up at the new house and I start scrolling through and I'm like, wait a minute. Applebee's available.
AJ Hawk
The cheesecake factory is available. You definitely will.
Pat McAfee
I know. You get the dry ass chicken. Hey, I think everything.
AJ Hawk
Biggest menu on the planet.
Pat McAfee
All right. Anyway. Shout out to doordash. We appreciate the hell out of them. Pizza hut always available. Certainly something for us. Dallas Cowboys traveling to Washington to take on the commanders going into the season. Would you ever expect the commanders to be ten and a half point favorites at home against the Cowboys in week 12? Anything we need to know about that game? Boys, back in the studio.
Ty Schmidt
I believe everybody's good. Cooper Rush playing again? Mike is still playing. Yeah, I think they're good to go.
Pat McAfee
How about Micah apologizing two weeks afterwards for what he said about Mike McCarthy?
AJ Hawk
Yeah, I guess so. I mean, he just said it didn't. That's not what I meant. Right.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. He said I was rushing out of there.
AJ Hawk
I got him out wrong. Like, I guess that that does happen. Right? Where you say something you don't mean the way people interpret it.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. I appreciate the fact that he came out and said two weeks later, interesting. I don't know how it broke that. Maybe it shouldn't have been said, but I appreciate him doing that. Give me the cow. I'm not doing it again. Commanders minus 10 and a half. Commanders minus 10 and a Half.
AJ Hawk
Scared me for a sec. Yeah, give me the commanders -10 and a half as well.
Pat McAfee
Detroit Lions taking on the Indianapolis Colts.
AJ Hawk
It's only seven.
Pat McAfee
Now, here's the thing.
Ty Schmidt
Oh, what?
Pat McAfee
Yeah. So I appreciate if the fact of the matter is that the Indianapolis Colts team is going to utilize me as motivation, you know?
AJ Hawk
What do you mean?
Pat McAfee
Well, zaire Franklin and E.J. speed, two men to play on the defensive side of the ball for the Indianapolis Colts. Good ball players. They have a podcast called the Trenches, and they say Zaire and EJ Clap back at the meeting. And they use my picture. Okay. In the. In the thing. As if I'm the only human that was talking about all the problems that were happening in your locker room. Okay. Your locker room. The one that had people missing treatment and gambling on the team and being late to meetings and saying they don't work hard and quarterback stepping out of. And I'm the problem. Okay. Okay. I think that's a potential part of the issue with the Colts.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Well, that being said, everything's still in front of them. Everything is still in front of.
AJ Hawk
You're still picking them here.
Pat McAfee
Everything is in front of you. Started looking at the Colts and the Lions, you think to yourself, well, this Lions team turned that franchise into a winner.
AJ Hawk
Okay.
Pat McAfee
This Colts team potentially turned the Colts into losers. You know, like two very different situations. We haven't won the AFC south in 10 years. Oh, 10?
AJ Hawk
Are you sure?
Pat McAfee
10 years. Haven't won the AFC South. Now, the way people are getting paid and the way people act in the Indianapolis coach facility, you would think they're winning Super Bowls. No, they're not. They have one avenue south since 2014. Damn, we got people wondering if they're even working hard. That's in their locker room, not mine. Not my locker room. Now, granted, I'm in Indianapolis. I'm at the games, I see the things that are taking place.
AJ Hawk
What a run you guys had.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, it used to be great. Used to be great. I was very lucky. A very small, small, small part of a very good teams back in the day. But, yeah, used to be a good team. Used to be somebody that was worried, you know, whenever the Colts are coming to town. Now it's like people are almost circling the Colts again for a dub, which is not great. That's their locker room. That's not mine. Now, they don't like being in that locker room. From what I've understood and I've heard and I'm cool with that now. I checked back for Zaire Franklin. You know, I went through his college record as well at Syracuse.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. How was it?
Pat McAfee
Not a lot of wins there either, you know. So hopefully this becomes a winning. See, there's no reason to do that. There's no reason to do that. I did not know that was getting pulled up right there. I had no idea that was going to happen. But hopefully, you know, this entire thing that I'm the bad guy, that's pointing out all the things that your locker room has done and your team has done. For the first time in the history of the NFL, some things have happened that not in a good way, but if I'm the guy that's going to motivate them and rally them and they're going to utilize me as they get over the wins, that's sweet. But not this weekend. Give me the Lions -20. Who in? In Lucas against the Indianapolis Colts.
AJ Hawk
Man. I mean, with all that being said, you being like the her Brooks for them where they can all get together and you're gonna. You're gonna light that fire in that locker room.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
Give me the lines. Minus seven this week.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. I think everybody understands that. Let's go to Titans. Texans, Titans plus seven and a half going.
AJ Hawk
It's an alien.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
What it is.
AJ Hawk
Oh, there's a guitar I can hear. I don't know what's going on.
Connor
Middle, baby.
AJ Hawk
I don't think that's part of the biddle.
Ty Schmidt
That's sweet.
Pat McAfee
Allegedly this is Fox doing this.
Gumpy
Ah, sure.
Pat McAfee
Fox is set. I guess Fox's set is at the top of the tunnel right there. So they're sound checking stuff. It's gonna be good. You guys are gonna crush it. I got good rhythm. I heard the drums are boom, boom, boom, boom. All right, so now we got a massive game down in Houston for the AFC South. Titans getting a touchdown. More than a touchdown. C.J. stroud, obviously. Big win over the Dallas Cowboys. A.J. how do you feel about this one, man?
AJ Hawk
This is seven and a half. Does feel like a lot. You know, for some reason I feel good about the Titans here. Covered. So give me the Titans plus seven and a half.
Pat McAfee
They got a stingy defense.
AJ Hawk
I'm not claiming that they will win, but I think they can cover.
Pat McAfee
Give me the Texans. Let's go. Buccaneers, Giants, Giants will be playing Tommy Cutlets. Tommy Kylitz. He's favored by six. No, I'm sorry. He's getting six at home against A great Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A lot of drama over there in the Giants organization. Who knows how good of a look their offenses would get. And Daniel Jones is playing safety with the practice squad. I don't know if he's bought in or not bought into doing that particular role. I would see how he could not be. He asked for his release. He might be playing for a different team literally next weekend. Give me the buccaneers favored by six on the road in MetLife.
AJ Hawk
Six does not feel like enough here.
Pat McAfee
Go ahead. Go ahead, con man. Sorry.
Ty Schmidt
Mike Evans, I believe he practiced this week. Should be back. And then there's a stat. He needs like 635 yards over these last seven games to be, I think, the first guy ever or maybe just join a club to have 10 or 11 straight seasons with thousand yards.
Pat McAfee
Okay. So, yeah, I like the Bucks even more.
AJ Hawk
Oh, yeah, I do, too. Baker will do whatever it takes, I think, to get him out. And Bake just donated all those helmets to that high school team. That did great. So, yeah, give me the bucks here. Minus six.
Pat McAfee
I love that. Coming off a bias. I've had two weeks to prepare for Tommy Cutlets or whatever day Ball is going to do. I like what Tommy DeVito does. No matter what he does. I like what he does. I just like the Buccaneers a little bit more. Vikings, Bears. Vikings favored by 3 1/2 in Chicago. Zito is back there working the cameras right now. I don't know if he has a mic. Z, how do you feel about this? Thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs up. Love it. Okay. You like the Bears plus three and a half. I was getting the Koc's head before he went live, so I think we're.
AJ Hawk
In a good spot.
Pat McAfee
Okay. Little psych out from Z as he was getting Kevin O'Connell ready for the show. Is there anything we need to know about this? Other than the fact that the Vikings are the Vikings and the Bears are the Bears?
Connor
No, I think. I think they're pretty healthy too, as the. As far as these. As far as healthy can be at this point in the season.
Pat McAfee
Bears played good last week, man.
Gumpy
They did.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
Ty Schmidt
Is that the one?
AJ Hawk
Probably should have won that game.
Gumpy
Definitely should have won that game.
Ty Schmidt
Is the. Is the bump over?
AJ Hawk
Though?
Ty Schmidt
Is the Waldo. Hey, we got a new play caller. Now. Is that bump kind of done with.
Pat McAfee
Where in the world is Shane Waldron coaching? Give me the Minnesota Vikings minus three and a half. Kevin O'Connell came on the program. Obviously, I appreciate him.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, he was awesome. I'm taking the Vikings here, minus Three and a half. I know. KOC also said they haven't played a complete game yet. They don't need to probably to win this one but I still think they win.
Pat McAfee
Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Carolina Panthers in the Queen City. You don't go downtown, you go uptown. In Charlotte Chiefs are going down to Carolina. Favored is 10 and a half points as back to back super bowl champions Bryce Young. That Panthers team has been playing good over the last couple weeks.
AJ Hawk
I know we can't forget that. I, I'm. I don't. That's why this is tough for me. With ten and a half points seems like a lot.
Pat McAfee
David Tepper has not been hated by his fan base for at least a month and a half. Right boys?
Ty Schmidt
Correct.
Gumpy
Yeah. Woody Johnson really doing the Lord's work for him there too. As like maybe the most hated owner in, in the NFL right now and.
Connor
Kind of a good bit of juju. Ever since they did that concert for the hurricane victims they've kind of been, you know, just a little bit better.
Pat McAfee
What was that? 21 million or something raised 24. 24 million. That was phenomenal stuff. Tepper says you can have it all, whatever you need, please let's help as much as we possibly can. He should have matched that maybe.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. Yeah, that'd be a pretty good look.
Pat McAfee
I probably donated millions of dollars for this entire thing. Like why not more? Yeah.
AJ Hawk
Why not just double it?
Ty Schmidt
Just throw 25 out of baby stats for Tepper here. One foot in front of the other. Okay. Stadium's enough for right now for him.
Pat McAfee
I like what Carolina has been doing. Good for them. Finding some happiness that can. Alice Bryce Young hug at the end of that first win was very cool. But the Chiefs is the Chiefs and I think they just come off a loss. So they have quite a work week. They probably wake up a little bit. I like the Chiefs minus 10 and a half.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, I like the Chiefs minus 10 and a half. But also the stadium will be full most likely, won't it? Chiefs fans will travel. Chiefs fans will fill that place up.
Pat McAfee
That's what it's gonna feel like. The Carolina. You guys do anything cool here for that? You guys Dot guy. I know that guy.
AJ Hawk
We were never. I don't know about you in college.
Pat McAfee
I don't.
AJ Hawk
We were never out there for the anthem. Players weren't.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Back in our day it wasn't like a thing.
AJ Hawk
No, they do. Yeah they do the whole script. Ohio. It's amazing. But the players. We were still in the locker room for all that, yeah.
Pat McAfee
National anthem was only massive games. Yeah, we're out there.
AJ Hawk
I don't know if I was ever out for the anthem in college.
Pat McAfee
National championship, probably right. Don't you think?
AJ Hawk
Oh, maybe, maybe I don't remember that. I. I always remember us being in the South. I don't, because I remember I got to Green Bay. It was the first time we were ever out there.
Pat McAfee
So were you sitting down in the locker room whenever the national. Never heard it.
AJ Hawk
You couldn't hear it. But if I knew it, you don't support the troops.
Nick Saban
Wow.
Ty Schmidt
Wow.
AJ Hawk
I'd stand at the doorway with my hand in my heart even though I couldn't hear it, and coach and say, hey, come on, get in the circle. I'm trying to break it down. I said, coach, they might be doing the anthem.
Pat McAfee
That was like kind of a. Like back, I think even the beginning of my NFL career and I assume yours. We weren't out there for every national anthem. It was like big national anthem.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, we weren't always out. I remember when we were out there, Big Mike would tell us, hey, look professional.
Pat McAfee
Get.
AJ Hawk
Stand in a straight line. Stand like on. On the out of bounds lines. Don't. Don't be all, you know, up and back and up and back. Like everyone stands straight line. I'm like, okay, I get it, Coach.
Pat McAfee
Then. Then it became an every game, everybody thing.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
And then, you know what happened? And then people boycotted the NFL and now we're back, seemingly to what, a roller coaster? Really, really not exist. Not happening two. Happening two.
AJ Hawk
Very polarizing situation.
Pat McAfee
We're back.
AJ Hawk
Now we're back.
Pat McAfee
Now we're at the football. So I will take the Kansas City Chiefs there. Patriots, Dolphins. Con man, how do you feel?
Ty Schmidt
Fantastic. Drake May has continued to be an absolute workhorse. I don't know how many more games I can take of the Patriots losing in a heartbreaking fashion than coming in here on Monday saying, well, Drake May is pretty good, so who cares that we lost, But I feel good going down to Miami.
AJ Hawk
Good weather.
Ty Schmidt
Hopefully not sure if it'll be raining or not, but Dolphins also pretty good vibes coming out of that camp as well.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I saw Coach McDaniel giving a good speech yesterday. A lot of self awareness Gumpy here behind the camera. How do you feel about the Dolphins at home against the Patriots, pal?
Connor
Yeah, we're cooking right now. Offense has figured it out. We're just controlling in the game. We. We're probably not going to lose the game. We're going to the playoffs.
Pat McAfee
Really. We Might not lose again rest of the season. How do we. Hey, con man. How do we feel about the Patriots traveling down to Miami this late in the season? Isn't that normally an issue?
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, normally an issue, but we got the young horses. Okay? Drake May, he is from the South. He's basically a hayseed. He probably owns some land in Florida. And to be clear with Gumpy, sure, they might win, but they're not going to cover every game because I love the Patriots with that number this weekend.
Pat McAfee
Hey, it's Kaley Cuoco for Priceline.
Connor
Ready to go to your happy place.
Pat McAfee
For a happy price? Well, why didn't you say so? Just download the Priceline app right now and save up to 60% on hotels.
Connor
So whether it's Cousin Kevin's kazoo concert in Kansas City.
Pat McAfee
Go Kevin. Or Becky's bachelorette bash in Bermuda, you never have to miss a trip ever again. So download the Priceline app today. Your savings are waiting.
Connor
Go to your happy place for a.
Pat McAfee
Happy price with Priceline's Black Friday sale. Save now and travel later with our.
AJ Hawk
Best deals of the year.
Pat McAfee
Go to your happy price.
AJ Hawk
Priceline Whole Foods Market has Thanksgiving gatherings covered. First things first, reserve your no antibiotics ever. Fresh whole turkey today starting at $2.99 a pound. Or go with their organic spiral cut bone in ham full of seared in flavor for sides. Choose Whole Foods Market grab and go platters. Go even further and get your whole meal catered. Just order online by November 26th. Get Thanksgiving ready at Whole Foods Market. Terms apply. Oh, we got some shirts coming down, huh? Where'd that come?
Pat McAfee
We just got kids that have been creeping over our shoulder here for like the last 20, 30 minutes. Not awkward at all. They've been yelling a little bit. I. I've seen them. Good old high boys. Oh, hey, boy. Best student section in the country. That's not true.
Connor
That's not true.
Kaylee Cuoco
No way.
Ty Schmidt
That's not true.
Connor
Actually, they blocko.
Pat McAfee
This is the offensive line.
AJ Hawk
No, Blocko. Is it right here, the student section.
Pat McAfee
No, Blocko is the offensive line.
AJ Hawk
I know, it's that, too. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So you guys got many things.
Pat McAfee
You guys got one name for everything around here.
AJ Hawk
Why not?
Connor
Yes.
Pat McAfee
Hey, thank you, boys. You guys are the leaders of the student section. Yeah, I am. You are. What's your name? Adam. What year are you? Junior. How many leaders are there? Are you just the president? Yeah, I'm football.
AJ Hawk
And then I got 18 people that help me out.
Pat McAfee
Okay, let's go. What time does everything start?
Kaylee Cuoco
We started. We started eight tomorrow.
Pat McAfee
Okay. Are you gonna stop by game day or worried about this?
Kaylee Cuoco
No, we gotta be in here at 8.
Pat McAfee
Okay, got it. All right. I don't love that. I don't love that.
Ty Schmidt
Okay, Indiana, take it over.
Pat McAfee
Good luck, boys. Have a good game. Thank you for the shirts. They just delivered like doordash. Oh, right into the basket. Isn't that very nice? They say they got to be in here at 8:00 tomorrow, so.
AJ Hawk
Pretty early.
Pat McAfee
Four hours before the game. I am. That's what Ryan Day saying. Oh, boys, we need you. You know they're saying they need you. Patriots, Dolphins. Patriots getting seven and a half against Miami. Go ahead and put me on the board for the Patriots plus seven and a half.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, put me on the board for the Patriots as well. Gumpy. What do you mean?
Connor
Every week, brother?
Nick Saban
We get it.
AJ Hawk
It's a lot of points.
Pat McAfee
Who's behind you there? I think there's another Miami Dolphins die hard there.
Connor
Brocio hopped off the train a few weeks ago.
Pat McAfee
He's not welcome back. He was in the trenches when we.
Daniel Jones
Were 2 and 6.
Pat McAfee
Shout out to Brocio. Getting Tim McAfee in the Zito Hotel rooms out of nowhere last night. Brocio, he's working hard, isn't he?
AJ Hawk
Yeah, you can see it.
Pat McAfee
That's what Brocio does. All right, let's go. Let's go to the next game. Denver Broncos. Las Vegas Raiders. Broncos favored by six in Las Vegas. This Raiders team. I don't know what to make of the whole season. I don't know what to make of the whole conversation. I don't know what to make of the trade deadline. I don't know what to make of the future. I don't know what to make of the Raiders at all. We love Max Crosby.
Connor
Is he playing? Is he playing? Because I saw McDaniel dunked on him last week, so I didn't know if he was out this week or not.
Pat McAfee
I love that. I love lol is what McDaniel ended with. And anytime you're a head coach of an NFL team saying LOL to somebody on the field, you know, you're in a different era. And that's what the Miami Dolphins are certainly doing right now. I. Jeez Louise, it is the base player rocking out here.
AJ Hawk
Bas players plugged in now.
Pat McAfee
I mean, if Fox wants to play this game, we can play this game. I got time and money, you know, and thoughts. You know, I got ideas and opinions. I actually respect this make keep me alive. Because how cold it's getting. Let's go back to this game here. Broncos, Raiders. I'll take the Broncos -6 just because I feel like vibes are good for them. And for the Raiders, it's just question marks everywhere.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. Bo Nicks minus six, no question. I will take him. And I don't know. Yeah. I have no clue what the Raiders are.
Pat McAfee
Niners, Packers. Who knows what this line's going to look like with more information on Brock Purdy legitimately, who knows what that whole thing's going to like. What else did you say? Trent and Bosa also.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Ty Schmidt
Ambosa. Bosa, I believe. Oblique hip. He. He missed most the end of last game, actually. That's kind of where the tide turned for Seattle.
AJ Hawk
And then.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
Ty Schmidt
Trent Williams also did not practice yesterday.
Gumpy
John lynch said he did local radio this morning. He said, hey, it's probably going to be a stretch for all three of these guys, so we'll see.
Connor
Brandon Allen starts.
AJ Hawk
That's going to go up.
Pat McAfee
They said that when? Today?
Connor
No, sorry. If Brock is out, it'll be. I saw a report that it would most likely be Brandon Allen. Not the pastor nut.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Because we'll keep eyes on that. And I assume this line will move depending upon that information. With all that being said, a lot of question marks in San Francisco. Packers just come off a block kick win. That feels like that's something that can kind of inspire you. Robert Salah has been doing great stuff with the Green Bay packers since joining Laflore Gun and the boys over there. Joe Douglas fired. Salah fired. Packers. Living the high life. Give me the Packers -3 at home.
Nick Saban
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
I mean, packers in Lambeau Field in November. Absolutely. I mean, all three of them a stretch. Bosa, Trent Williams and Brock Purdy. That's a tough task for San Francisco. That line's got to jump up to six or something, right?
Pat McAfee
I mean, if Purdy's out, that move like four and a half, five maybe?
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Connor
Yeah, I think so.
Pat McAfee
Okay, we'll take packers minus three right now.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, right now. Book it.
Pat McAfee
Cardinals, Seahawks. Seahawks favored by one at home. Cardinals coming off a buy, right?
Gumpy
Yeah, yeah.
AJ Hawk
Remember, Kyler's eating pizza in New York.
Pat McAfee
And also Kyler didn't like not playing football.
AJ Hawk
No.
Pat McAfee
Which is good news.
AJ Hawk
It's great news, actually.
Pat McAfee
That is very good news. I agree. Especially with the new Call of Duty.
AJ Hawk
Up and he's a dog on the road.
Ty Schmidt
Good dude.
AJ Hawk
Chip on his shoulder.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Give me Kyler. Murray, give me the car. I'm taking Kyle.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, absolutely.
Pat McAfee
As well I love the Seahawks, though. Hey, love Seahawks, big win last week. Gino Smith doing amazing things. That Seattle Seahawks 12th man might be back too. Now that they know that they're all the way in it, maybe some things are rolling back in the right direction. I don't think Arizona Cardinals fans are known for taking over stadiums just yet. Hopefully in a couple years. So it's going to be a tall task. But I like the Cardinals getting a point on the road there. And then let's go to the Is that Monday night, Sunday, Sunday night. Eagles, Rams. A lot of bye weeks.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah. This week there's six. None next week and then six more week 14. That's the last one.
Pat McAfee
The Eagles are favored by three in Los Angeles. This Philadelphia Eagles team led by Coach Sirianni. Hey, Ty Schmidt, how's Coach Sirianni doing today, you think?
Gumpy
Probably doing absolutely fabulous because not only are the Eagles fans going to take over la, he got to put his nut sack on every single person who's been talking shit about him on ESPN and every other sports, you know, talk show around the nation. Eagles are rolling right now next to the Lions, probably the hottest team in football.
Ty Schmidt
I don't know.
AJ Hawk
I don't know.
Pat McAfee
And with the NFC doing what it's doing right now, feels like the Eagles have everything in front of them still now. The Rams still do as well. That NFC west is obviously what it is. We talked about 6, 4, 5 and 5, 5 and 5, 5 and five. Give me the Philadelphia Eagles favored by three on the road Sunday Night Football. I'm excited to see what Saquon Barkley does under the lights in light town Los Angeles.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, I'm going to have to take the Eagles on this one as well. I love their offensive line. I know AQ spotlighted them earlier this week and. And showed how physical they were and watch Saquon run the ball. He. Saquon expects to score every single time he touches the and I love watching.
Pat McAfee
Dude, it is cool to watch him do that because there was a thought too fast too. There was a thought by a lot of people, including in the Giants organization, saying running back, you know, we can sub him, we can get.
AJ Hawk
We can get guys off the street, right?
Pat McAfee
It's like, I don't know, hey, Bruce Brown, how do you feel every day that passes, watching Saquon do his thing and then everything happened over there at the Giants.
Ty Schmidt
I mean, you know, this was. The season was as colossal of a.
AJ Hawk
Failure that you could possibly have. You basically choose Danny Dimes over paying Saquon as well. And it completely blows up in your face. You don't have either one of them. Now. It's all.
Daniel Jones
All eyes on the draft. Need Shador Sanders to team up with.
AJ Hawk
Malik Neighbors and bring back a little bit of hope here.
Pat McAfee
I think Zito just told me in my ear there that they added the Saquon Jumping Madden. That one. That thing. And. And I would have done that to you. You would have been.
AJ Hawk
What?
Pat McAfee
What?
AJ Hawk
Okay. What.
Pat McAfee
You doing? I gotta hit you with that boom, though.
Kaylee Cuoco
Yeah, you gotta get hard.
AJ Hawk
Outside step.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I gotta hit you with that boom. So you spread and then you think with that big dumb head. No, you don't. I'm. I'm backwards.
AJ Hawk
Imagine how I would. I would stand up instantly go right through your balls and chest. On top of my.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
On my helmet, and I'm flipping.
Connor
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
That'd be a hell of a play, though. Land on my feet and keep running. Touchdown. If you ate on your feet, you deserve a touchdown after that.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. All right, we got about a minute left here, boys. I would like you to make the pick for this particular game. AP Turn. We'll start with you. Ohio State, Indiana.
Connor
I took Indiana plus the 13, but I will take Ohio State to win the game.
Pat McAfee
Okay, Toxic table. Ty Schmidt, Ohio State, Indiana.
Gumpy
I think Ohio State's going to cover.
Pat McAfee
Okay, con man. Ohio State, Indiana.
Ty Schmidt
I ain't banned against the Sig, baby. Light them up. Give me a pack right now. I'm taking the Hoosiers.
Pat McAfee
Light them up.
AJ Hawk
Light them up.
Pat McAfee
A.J. hawk, would you like to make a prediction in this game?
AJ Hawk
Yeah. I'm taking the Ohio State buckeyes.
Pat McAfee
How much?
AJ Hawk
38, 10.
Ty Schmidt
Whoa.
AJ Hawk
I don't know if that's enough, though. I don't know if that's enough.
Pat McAfee
Oh, my God. All right, I'll make my prediction tomorrow. We can't thank you enough for allowing us to be a part of your day today. The fact that we're on ESPN talking sports every day is a dream come true. We're lucky to do it. We're very grateful. Thank you to everybody at Ohio State for making this happen. We will see you on Overreaction Monday, game day live, tomorrow morning, 9am Be a friend. Tell friends something nice about changing life. Goodbye. I think we hit it. I think we hit it. We're the five seconds off or we hit, Boys. What do you think for our clocks?
Ty Schmidt
It was five seconds off.
AJ Hawk
I don't know.
Ty Schmidt
I don't know if we have the same clocks.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, we don't have a delay, so I had a. At 54. 55. On this particular thing. I thought there was a chance we were out. So I had him out there. And then I thought you hit the point.
Connor
Yeah.
Ty Schmidt
You hit both at the 55. Yeah. We'll see you tomorrow for game day. 55. So that. That did still. You still hit that on the out. So it's still sounding good if our clocks are right.
Pat McAfee
But we don't know what made it on ESPN or who we were actually saying goodbye to, which. We all heard it here.
AJ Hawk
We did, but we don't know.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, right. Yeah.
Ty Schmidt
Bingo.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. All right, boys, I'll tell you what. I've thought about peeing my pants about four different times to get a little bit of heat.
AJ Hawk
That would feel great.
Pat McAfee
But anytime you do that, you know, on the other side, it's just now.
AJ Hawk
Wet pants and it cools down even colder. Yeah, you're right.
Pat McAfee
It's real cold. It's.
AJ Hawk
Is it worth it?
Pat McAfee
It's been quite an adversity riddle game. Big shout out to Zito and Tim for making this work. Wet, windy, cold. Literally so many different. We had wires out in the rain. We had things out in the rain. This is definitely the toughest week that we've had here. All came together yesterday too. So the fact that you guys pulled this off without a hitch, Congratulations. You guys should really be happy.
AJ Hawk
A little adversary. That's all it is.
Pat McAfee
Can you show Tim right now? Because my dad looks. This is softest I've ever seen. Tim. Look, you guys, he offered me his.
AJ Hawk
Code, actually, earlier I was like, Tim.
Pat McAfee
No. Can you zoom in there on Tim? Oh, yeah. Tim's been doing a little dance this entire time. You guys should see him. He's dancing. He looks like Chuck Pagano. This whole. We don't need the world to see that he's fine. We don't need a world see that?
AJ Hawk
He's got. He's got blood on his shoes, in case you're wondering.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, Damn right. Because he murdered a eight point deer. Abely.
AJ Hawk
You guys know the story?
Pat McAfee
Oh, yeah, yeah, we heard a story.
AJ Hawk
I thought he jumped out of the tree stand and got him in the headlock and choked him out.
Pat McAfee
He could have, he said. So the funny thing about where he went hunting at, they told him to bring his sniper rifle because he might need to shoot 300 to 500 yard shots.
AJ Hawk
Okay.
Pat McAfee
Okay. That's what they told him.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
So he does.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
And he's in this tree stand, tiny little tree. And he says it's just kind of weaving back and forth he sit on top of it and then this eight point buck just runs right underneath him. I think that's the easiest show you've ever had in your entire life, right? That's the easiest of all time. Because normally Tim, Tim, what's his costume? In a garbage bag with deer piss. Like you're talking about going through the woods doing the whole. He's actually stalking these deer like he is hunting. We're walking four mountains in for no reason at 4am in the morning. Like that is what hunting normally is.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
For Tim McAfee. So now he meets these guys in southern Indiana. They're like, come on dad, might need to be a 300, 500 yard shot. Tim's like, hell yeah.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, hell yeah.
Pat McAfee
I've never had to do that before. I'm excited. And then all of a sudden he's standing a tree stand deer comes right underneath him. He could have watched him, man.
AJ Hawk
That's what I wanted to ask. If you dropped an elbow on its head, do you think you would have killed it? That's the question.
Pat McAfee
If he would have had proper Now Tim said it's a big deer. It's a big, It's a biggest. So he had more of a landing space he could have. Anyways we're going to be eating venison jerky at the office for the next two years.
AJ Hawk
Imagine the video of Tim falling out of the tree like screaming. And he grabs it and he's got this deer in a rear naked choke. And he's like hold on, hold on.
Pat McAfee
Grab his legs.
AJ Hawk
And he's yelling.
Pat McAfee
That could have happened.
AJ Hawk
And he's getting, he comes, he's all bloody the next day.
Pat McAfee
That's what I'm talking about. That's what younger Tim would have done. This is cold. Older Tim that. This is what we're seeing here. Yeah. They're saying you got soft, Tim. Not them, me.
AJ Hawk
Maybe next time though. I don't think so. Tim, he told he was right on top, he didn't have to use that scope. He's right on top of that.
Pat McAfee
Say couldn't use the scope because it was awful.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
And it's like when you look at. If you have binoculars on and I look at you with binoculars, you're too close. I can't see. That's how he was his gun. He right here, I'm right on top with this.
Pat McAfee
Right on top of Tim McAfee thought he had a little bit of an eye thing going on. And a couple weeks ago a very serious conversation thought he Was gonna maybe lose an eye.
AJ Hawk
Oh.
Pat McAfee
But it was a shooting eye. So like the first thing I told him was like, you have to get that left eye. Imagine him having. Imagine if his first one would have been left handed. No.
AJ Hawk
On top of him.
Pat McAfee
On top of the guitar.
AJ Hawk
He would have dropped it and got.
Pat McAfee
Happy hunting season to everybody out there that is participating. We're rated. We're. I think we're in it this weekend. Launches for a lot of places. Good luck. Where I grew up, you missed school the first day for hunting. I mean that was actually.
AJ Hawk
That's up in Green Bay. The people would come. They like when hunting opens up. They're all. They're wearing their bright, you know, their orange and everything. Camo. Yeah. It's a cool time, man. Different world.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Tim used to take us out in the middle.
AJ Hawk
You. Yeah. You scared a deer to death. Huh? Was it the deer?
Pat McAfee
No waste of meat.
AJ Hawk
I'm gonna talk to Tim about that.
Pat McAfee
No waste of meat. 30 odd. Six.
AJ Hawk
You're right.
Pat McAfee
Scared that to death. That was three mountains.
AJ Hawk
Heart attack.
Pat McAfee
Heart attack.
AJ Hawk
Does a heart attack mess up the meat though? Does it help me bad?
Ty Schmidt
No, it's even better.
Pat McAfee
Look. Might tighten meat up a little bit there at the end, but. Yeah. Couldn't find a deer for two hours. Definitely hit it.
AJ Hawk
Where's the blood trail?
Pat McAfee
Fell right down. Right down where it was.
AJ Hawk
So you shot it. So you fired a weapon.
Pat McAfee
I'm on mount Mountain.
Nick Saban
Okay.
Pat McAfee
I'm on top of my. This thing down middle mountain.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Comes up. Obviously Kim's excited. I'm a little boy.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Give me one of these. Look at that one, Pat. Easy shot here too. I mean there was no trees, nothing. They're right at it.
AJ Hawk
Okay.
Pat McAfee
I'm actually pretty good shot though. Like I believe it. So I probably 13 years old. What am I 13 then? Probably 13 when I scared to do to death. 13. Probably 30. 06, which is a big one.
AJ Hawk
Oh yeah. No kick. Boom.
Pat McAfee
Get it there. I'm real excited.
AJ Hawk
You know.
Pat McAfee
Tim's giving me just nice and smooth. Pull that trigger.
AJ Hawk
Whispering.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, yeah, no problem.
AJ Hawk
Right on my shoulder.
Pat McAfee
Boom. Right. Holy. Deer disappears.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Tim, sure.
Ty Schmidt
Good kid.
AJ Hawk
Jack up. Jacked up.
Pat McAfee
Weird Jack. Because this is a big moment.
AJ Hawk
Huge.
Pat McAfee
It's a buck. I think it's like six point. Maybe six point buck or whatever out in these mountains. It can't be a big buck because of how much work you got to go through to get up and down these mountains. So there's no way they're going to be big luxury no way.
AJ Hawk
It's no way.
Pat McAfee
No way at all. So, you know, so all of a sudden now. Now we got to go track this thing.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
So we start tracking this thing. It's raining, it's not snow. So we're trying to find blood. That's how you track it?
AJ Hawk
No, there's no blood.
Pat McAfee
Two hours we're looking this whole mountain up and down a mountain up and down. And then all of a sudden, we come back up to. And my brother, who was posted up, literally almost kicked this thing.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
It was just in between two logs. Dead. Just right there. No exit wound, no entrance wound, nothing. Scared to death. Scared to death. Wasted. No meat.
AJ Hawk
So your gunshot was so loud and shocking, I guess, to this deer, that he just.
Pat McAfee
Boom.
AJ Hawk
Died on the spot.
Pat McAfee
Died scared. Lived a full life.
AJ Hawk
Lived a grid. Full life.
Pat McAfee
I would like to say that that deer was going to have a heart attack at some point. Point something was going to scare that deer. At some point.
AJ Hawk
It just took. You kind of sped the process.
Kaylee Cuoco
Boom.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Terrible shot. I missed it. I mean, it was like, you know, so there's a lot of conversation afterwards with Tim as I'm dragging this thing out.
AJ Hawk
You know, he's looking out, man. So how long until you found out the thing wasn't shot but it was dead?
Pat McAfee
Two, I mean, three, four hours.
AJ Hawk
I'm saying, once you look at it, they're like, oh, here he is. Here's. Oh, here's our deer. And then Tim's like, let me see where you got him.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, you roll it over and then you have. Have to field dress this thing.
AJ Hawk
That's what I'm saying, though. But there's no bullet.
Pat McAfee
None.
AJ Hawk
So you knew right away. Oh, you probably. You do a little dancing up. Scared this thing to death, dad.
Pat McAfee
Well, that's how I had to frame it in my mind because there was a lot of being thrown my way for missing a massive deer.
AJ Hawk
Well, that's under.
Pat McAfee
From about 20 yards away, you know, like.
AJ Hawk
Oh, it's hard to be accurate.
Pat McAfee
Well, not when you're hunting. And it's like the whole purpose. Well, I'm dragging that thing all the way out, all the way out. Just getting talked to me the entire time. But that's the MC difference.
AJ Hawk
They weren't laughing when they were eating that meat.
Ty Schmidt
Bingo.
AJ Hawk
That's right.
Pat McAfee
Eat that meat.
AJ Hawk
Eat that meat.
Pat McAfee
And we were a household that ate that meat. I mean, that thing was in everything. That thing was it.
AJ Hawk
You're about to have some more.
Pat McAfee
Too much.
AJ Hawk
I saw that thing that Tim just Got from Up Top is huge. His neck was that. His neck was like. A couple. A couple players I'm trying to think of.
Pat McAfee
What are their names?
AJ Hawk
Honestly?
Pat McAfee
You don't know the bands?
AJ Hawk
You don't know the band thing.
Pat McAfee
You don't know names.
AJ Hawk
I know the fight song. I know all about Carmen Ohio. Is beautiful thing you'll sing. They'll put their arm right after you sing. After a victory.
Pat McAfee
What is it? What's the song?
AJ Hawk
It's Carmen Ohio.
Pat McAfee
What is it?
AJ Hawk
Single T song.
Pat McAfee
What am. I hear it, though, so I can maybe do it tomorrow.
AJ Hawk
Play it.
Pat McAfee
What is it tomorrow?
AJ Hawk
You don't want to play this one. You want to do the. You want to do the fight song for game day?
Pat McAfee
What is.
AJ Hawk
Go ahead. Oh, come let's sing Ohio song. Go.
Pat McAfee
Oh, come let's sing all high. Keep going.
AJ Hawk
No, keep going.
Pat McAfee
What is it?
AJ Hawk
Sean, come here. We're Sean.
Pat McAfee
Big Sean Perkins.
Ty Schmidt
Just do it.
Pat McAfee
What is it? Do you know? What the name of it do you know?
AJ Hawk
It's Carmen Ohio.
Pat McAfee
What are the. What is the name? What. How does this thing go? The band. What's the fight.
AJ Hawk
He's telling the fight song.
Pat McAfee
Drive. Drive on down the field Pin them Scarlet gray Jesus. Why don't you know anything? Why don't you know anything?
AJ Hawk
I know we sing in the locker room after the game. I know them all. I just know the state. It's like saying, okay, you all right? You know some. Like. You don't do the Macarena, right? Boom. Do it. Okay. Can you all right?
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
Can you see walk?
Pat McAfee
That was just. Dude, absolutely.
AJ Hawk
No, I know.
Pat McAfee
What do you mean?
AJ Hawk
You get sturdy. You have good knees and hips for that.
Pat McAfee
Maybe a little old to be seawalking, but everything you just did there got thrown right back in your face because you could. You don't know the Ohio State.
AJ Hawk
So come on now. I absolutely know them all.
Pat McAfee
There's like.
AJ Hawk
First of all, there's a bunch of them. I absolutely know the fight song. They love Carmen Ohio.
Ty Schmidt
You said that, but you haven't sang it.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, because I don't want to sit here and sing a song solo. I'm not acapella.
Pat McAfee
I'll go with you.
AJ Hawk
Who am I? Gary Levox? Rascal Platz? Come on now. What are we talking about?
Connor
It's a great pull.
AJ Hawk
I saw him in the game a couple weeks ago.
Pat McAfee
That guy's got a buttery voice.
AJ Hawk
He does have a beautiful voice.
Pat McAfee
I would join you. I would join you. Like, I would. I would be the Flats. You know what I Mean, would you. You'd be Rascal.
AJ Hawk
No one's got Rascal's voice.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
No, he can sing like Gare forever too. I. I asked him though. Do you have to practice it? No, he just. He just shot a big old deer. I saw too.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
He was up a. I think I'm about to ask. I think he might have got right on top of that sucker. Yeah.
Ty Schmidt
And started singing.
Pat McAfee
My way for you would be to live a little longer.
AJ Hawk
Not going. Not going to happen. If you're around, Tim will get you.
Pat McAfee
Tim's got a great shot.
AJ Hawk
I could see Tim on horseback with a bow.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. I think you would prefer that.
AJ Hawk
Look at long hair.
Pat McAfee
He's got a crossbow now, though, so he's kind of cheating. Yeah. Because in Indiana you can't just shoot rifles everywhere because how flat it is. So you got to do.
AJ Hawk
I understand though, the. The why you would want to use a crossbow.
Pat McAfee
Well, you use it for a lot of places in Indiana because it's so flat. So.
AJ Hawk
But you know, like some people like the Die Hards. Oh, no. You need to, you know, you need to recurve whatever you want. Crossbows too easy. My good. I want it to be easier.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. He's not doing it to be. Say he's a bow hunter. He's doing it because he can't use gun all the time.
AJ Hawk
You can always gun in two weeks a year, I guess.
Pat McAfee
Certainly guns. Certain guns, certain places, certain guns. It's like that. 30:06 is only allowed because there's undulation.
Nick Saban
Oh, yeah.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Because that's traveling.
AJ Hawk
Bullets do have to come down.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
That thing's like when people fire fire in the air. Like that's coming down somewhere. Hopefully not in your head.
Pat McAfee
Do those come down?
AJ Hawk
What do you think? Where do they go?
Ty Schmidt
The atmosphere, the stratosphere space must probably comes down.
AJ Hawk
But actually, no, not everything comes down. Because if you go up and you get up in there, it's never coming. Choose not to come down.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
If you're not eon, you don't use your booster to get back down. Then you're stuck up like that Red.
Pat McAfee
Bull guy that was jumping out of the thing. He was stuck up there in the.
AJ Hawk
Middle of free fall.
Pat McAfee
I'm happy he came back to life.
AJ Hawk
What if you woke up and you realized you were like 18,000ft and I go, I gotta pull a shoe.
Pat McAfee
What if he was just in space? That would have been pretty cool. You wouldn't been there for long, I guess, but. All right, let's get the hell out of here, boys. Great work back there. Great battle.
Ty Schmidt
Good luck, Ma.
Pat McAfee
It's pretty cold. I am happy that I stuck with the sleeveless the entire time.
Connor
Hell, yeah.
Pat McAfee
Obviously, one with the beanie had to do it. Our defend honor. Which I still don't think that's the right way to word that, but.
AJ Hawk
Our honor defend.
Pat McAfee
No, our honor defend.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, yeah, I just saw it.
Pat McAfee
How you doing, sir? Oh, brother.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Hell, yeah. All right.
AJ Hawk
All right.
Pat McAfee
Let's get the out of here.
Connor
See boys at the Chop House tonight.
Pat McAfee
Are you going to the Chop House tonight?
AJ Hawk
I don't think I'll be there tonight, no.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, you are.
Pat McAfee
Stay away from the dance floor.
AJ Hawk
You know, I'm not a good dancer.
Pat McAfee
Have to maybe go do the Macareno. But I just taught you.
AJ Hawk
You did? Macareno passed me by. I was. I was young. I don't remember.
Pat McAfee
Okay. All right. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. Game day tomorrow, 9am it's going to be a good show. Tomorrow's good show.
AJ Hawk
Hell, yeah.
Pat McAfee
College Football Playoff discussion is going to be worth a watch.
AJ Hawk
You said it was like a. You guys had interesting production meeting or like.
Pat McAfee
It was awesome. Passionate. Passionate, yeah, very. Everybody's very passionate, which I think is a big statement. Like, ESPN obviously spent the amount of money that they spent on the college football playoffs. Because I truly believe that the people at ESPN feel like they care about college football more than anybody else.
AJ Hawk
Absolutely.
Pat McAfee
Like, the people who have committed their entire beings to college football. And now in this new era, they want to make sure, like, hey, come on. Like, we need to not forget about. Yeah, it's. It was very. I was lucky to be in there, to be honest. And then this guy comes in, saving. Yeah, it's awesome just hearing the way he think. I. When we were. I didn't. The whole. It's amazing. Can't wait for tomorrow morning. I wonder if that was who. Hoosiers are going to take over game day.
Ty Schmidt
I mean, especially with this.
AJ Hawk
He'll be there.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah. Captain of the old block. Getting everybody to the stadium. There might be no Buckeyes. There might be only Hoosiers.
Pat McAfee
All right. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Goodbye.
Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1248
Episode Overview: In episode 1248 of "The Pat McAfee Show," host Pat McAfee, along with co-hosts AJ Hawk, Connor, Ty Schmidt, and others at the Toxic Table, delve deep into the latest happenings in both professional and college football. The episode covers a comprehensive recap of Thursday Night Football (TNF), previews for NFL Week 12, insights into Ohio State's strategies under Head Coach Ryan Day, an exclusive conversation with Alabama’s legendary coach Nick Saban, and discussions surrounding prominent NCAA recruits. The lively discussion is peppered with humorous anecdotes, engaging banter, and strategic analyses, making it a must-listen for football enthusiasts.
Duration: 0:01 - 1:50
Pat McAfee kicks off the show from the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio, amidst chilly weather with sleet and snow. The primary focus is on the recent TNF game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was played under harsh weather conditions.
Steeler’s Struggles: Pat and AJ Hawk discuss the Steelers' disappointing performance, highlighting rookie quarterback Russell Wilson's 270 yards passing with only one touchdown. (06:06) Pat remarks, "If we told you that before the game, you're thinking, oh, Steelers absolutely rolled. But they couldn't convert on third and fourth down."
Brown’s Dominance: Myles Garrett’s stellar defensive plays are lauded. Pat notes, "Myles Garrett decided he was going to take over the game," emphasizing his impact against the Steelers’ offense. (04:15)
Duration: 1:50 - 5:00
The hosts transition into previewing key matchups for NFL Week 12, focusing primarily on the anticipated clash between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Indiana Hoosiers.
Betting Lines Fluctuation: AJ Hawk observes significant movement in the betting lines, dropping from 13.5 points to 10.5 points, indicating potential insider information or last-minute shifts. (01:42)
Game Predictions: The Toxic Table debates the game's outcome, considering Ohio State's injury to their All-American center and Indiana's strong performance this season. (02:34) Ty Schmidt expresses concern, saying, "With that rain and center being out, I genuinely feel like the Buckeyes are shaking in their boots."
Duration: 5:00 - 25:00
A detailed discussion ensues about the upcoming game between Ohio State and Indiana, encompassing team strategies, player performances, and the broader implications for the College Football Playoff.
Impact of Injuries: The loss of Ohio State's center is deemed a "massive loss," potentially affecting their offensive coherence. (02:34)
Defensive Strengths: Both teams' defensive lines are scrutinized, with particular praise for Indiana’s defensive prowess. Ty Schmidt mentions, "Indiana's defensive line is better than people give them credit for."
Weather Conditions: The upcoming game’s wintry mix with winds up to 15 mph is expected to influence the gameplay, especially the passing efficiency. (17:17)
Motivational Speech: Pat recounts a motivational segment where Coach Ryan Day emphasizes playing "day by day, one play at a time," highlighting the importance of focus and resilience. (17:21)
Duration: 25:00 - 35:00
The episode covers the surprising development of Daniel Jones requesting his release from the New York Giants after a disappointing season.
Jones’ Statement: Pat shares Jones' heartfelt release statement, where he takes full responsibility for his performance:
"I take full responsibility for my part in not bringing more wins... I did not play well enough consistently enough to help the team get the results." (26:05)
Implications for the NFL: Discussions revolve around Jones clearing waivers and the potential teams interested in signing him, drawing parallels with Carson Wentz's situation with the Kansas City Chiefs. (27:24)
Duration: 35:00 - 50:00
The conversation shifts to the evolving landscape of college football recruiting, especially concerning Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals.
Top Recruits: Highlighting the commitments of premier quarterbacks Juju Lewis to Colorado and Bryce Underwood to Michigan, the hosts discuss how NIL deals are influencing these decisions. Pat notes, "These guys are getting paid when they're young, which adds immense responsibility."
NIL Impact: Pat and AJ delve into the pros and cons of NIL deals, debating whether they enhance player development or create undue pressure. Nick Saban adds,
"I'm not sure the system is great for development of players, but you certainly cannot blame the players for choosing a school for both reasons that you just said."
Future of Recruiting: The potential changes in NIL regulations post the April 8 court ruling are discussed, with speculation on how it might reshape future deals and player choices. (80:01)
Duration: 39:20 - 50:00
In a live segment from the tunnel, Coach Ryan Day shares insights into Ohio State's preparation for the Indiana game.
Team Readiness: Day emphasizes the team's adaptability despite injuries, stating,
"We've had a good week of practice, a lot of energy... We need a great week of preparation here, finishing up today." (41:40)
Offensive Strategy: Discussion on shifting offensive line positions to maintain cohesion and performance. (41:17)
Pressure and Expectations: Day acknowledges the immense pressure to maintain Ohio State’s stellar record, highlighting the team's commitment to excellence. (43:56)
Duration: 50:00 - 80:00
A special guest appearance by Alabama's renowned coach Nick Saban provides a wealth of knowledge on coaching philosophies, game strategies, and the challenges of modern football.
Home Field Advantage: Saban discusses the significance of playing at home versus neutral sites, favoring home games for the inherent advantages they provide. He states,
"I absolutely think however they do it, there should be games played at home until maybe the semis." (64:17)
Handling Adversity: Drawing from personal experiences, Saban advises focusing on execution and not being swayed by external factors like fan presence or weather. (73:54)
Playoff Predictions: Saban elaborates on the subjective nature of College Football Playoff selections, comparing it to the NCAA basketball tournament's bracket controversies. (68:35)
Leadership and Accountability: Emphasizing the importance of taking responsibility, Saban commends Daniel Jones' accountability and reflects on the necessity of consistent performance. (26:05)
Duration: 80:00 - 120:00
The hosts engage in their traditional game picks segment, analyzing upcoming matchups and making predictions based on team performances, injuries, and strategic insights.
Ohio State vs. Indiana: Consensus leans towards Ohio State covering the spread, though some express faith in Indiana’s potential to upset. (111:16)
Pat McAfee’s Picks:
"I like the Cardinals getting a point on the road there," (105:09)
Nick Saban’s Input: Offers strategic advice on maintaining focus and controlling the game regardless of external pressures, reinforcing the importance of a well-executed game plan. (74:09)
Duration: 120:00 - End
The episode concludes with light-hearted hunting stories, playful interactions among the hosts, and humorous attempts to sing Ohio State’s fight song, showcasing the camaraderie and fun dynamic of the show.
Hunter Tim’s Adventure: Pat shares an amusing story about Tim McAfee’s hunting mishap, highlighting the show's blend of sports talk and personal anecdotes. (113:26)
Fight Song Fiasco: Attempts to perform "Carmen Ohio" lead to laughter and playful criticism, illustrating the relaxed and entertaining atmosphere. (119:23)
Final Predictions: The hosts finalize their game picks amidst ongoing banter and good-natured ribbing, wrapping up the show on a high-energy note. (86:06)
Closing Signature Tune: Pat emphasizes the show's commitment to providing insightful and entertaining content, inviting listeners to join them in future episodes. (125:11)
Notable Quotes:
"Football weather has affected us negatively, but we're managing the toughest conditions." — Pat McAfee (04:15)
"When you play on the road, you're not just playing the team; you're playing against their fans and their spirit." — Nick Saban (64:39)
"There's no great victories without tremendous adversity." — Nick Saban (73:40)
"We need to win every single game. That's the way it goes." — Kaylee Cuoco (43:53)
"I take full responsibility for my part in not bringing more wins." — Daniel Jones (26:05)
Conclusion: Episode 1248 of "The Pat McAfee Show" offers an extensive exploration of current football narratives, enriched by expert analysis, insider perspectives, and engaging discussions. From the strategic depth of NFL Week 12 to the evolving dynamics of college football recruitment, the show provides valuable insights for fans eager to stay informed and entertained. The inclusion of legendary coaches like Nick Saban and dedicated Ohio State figures adds a layer of authority and authenticity, making this episode a standout in the series.