← The Triple Option
The Triple Option
College Football Playoff National Championship is Set, Ohio State and Notre Dame's Journeys, and Title Game Preview
01:02:00
College Football Playoff National Championship is Set, Ohio State and Notre Dame's Journeys, and Title Game Preview
Loading summary
Transcript235 lines
- [00:00]
Rob Stone
Matter of fact, the invite. Where are you at? Look at your background. I'm the only one that's always in the same background. Where are you right now?
- [00:06]
Mark Ingram
I'm in a hotel in Chicago. National Soccer Coaches Convention.
- [00:10]
Urban Meyer
Where? You're where?
- [00:11]
Mark Ingram
National Soccer Coaches Convention. You've been to those coaches conventions, man. Coaches everywhere. I travel my Wendy's cup and football. By the way, that Wendy's football got me dinged at tsa.
- [00:22]
Rob Stone
No, it didn't.
- [00:23]
Mark Ingram
They had to go through my bag and they pulled out the Wendy's football and they're like, I, sir. I was like, yes. What do you. What do you. What do you want, man?
- [00:31]
Rob Stone
It's a football.
- [00:43]
Mark Ingram
He's back, Coach. He's back.
- [00:46]
Urban Meyer
He looks the same. I was worried he was going to look a little different. No, you look.
- [00:50]
Rob Stone
But you thought I was going to look like coach.
- [00:51]
Urban Meyer
I don't know. You've been gone for a minute.
- [00:53]
Rob Stone
Thought I was going to come back with that samurai sword.
- [00:56]
Mark Ingram
Oh, our. Our resident ninja, Mark Ingram. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the triple option presented by Wendy's. Two faves for just seven bucks. Gotta be Wendy's. Terms apply. Thank you as always for joining us. Rate subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts as well as across social media at 3X option show new episodes, drop every Wednesday on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, back here with you guys. Before we start things off, I'm an LA guy right now and it is just an ugly, ugly scene out in that part of the country. And Sinclair has partnered with the Salvation army to raise funds in support of disaster efforts across Southern California. To donate, we encourage you to go to Sinclair S I N C L a I r cares.com sinclaircares.com all the funds raised will directly support the Salvation Army's wildfire disaster relief efforts. And let me tell you, people need it. A lot of people are really hurting in Southern California right now. So to those folks, let's try to give them a little bit of a respite and talk college football. Hey, we started the season, guys. 134 teams theoretically now had a chance to win it all. Really, I think the number is more like in the teens. But we went to 12 at the playoffs. The largest playoff format ever in FBS history. And now we are down to the final two. Notre Dame taking on Ohio State. We at Fox Sports have the super bowl in a couple of weeks time. And if you were to ask our executives, our programmers, you know who do you want in the super bowl, right. They would tell you the Dallas Cowboys, right. Just because of the national audience. And they would probably say, I guess, Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, right. If you're looking for the ultimate potential audience, if you said this to the College Football Playoff committee and the broadcasters, you take, you take the, the most powerful brands in college football are the Ohio State and Notre Dame, and you put them together for the national championship game. This has the possibility to be the biggest, the most viewed college football game ever. Ever. And I don't think that's, that's hyperbole. And one of the talking points leading into this game, guys, is the pressure. And the pressure, coach, that comes with playing and coaching at an Ohio State or Mark, in your case, Alabama, a lot of people are making a lot about it. My take, coach, I'm assuming, is this is what you signed up for.
- [03:29]
Urban Meyer
Yeah, I kind of watched what happened the last few weeks and, and I, and if I didn't watch it, I was obviously hearing about it through people text messaging me and, you know, going after the Ohio State fan base and, you know, that's the pressure. And, and then I saw, you know, someone sent an article to me today where, you know, do the players of the coach really need this win and get out? And I'm thinking, wait a minute, what are you talking about? You know, and I guess I can bring a different perspective that I've been at places and I've also received phone calls and I wouldn't call them interviews, but people asking me about coaching there and the comment that I always wanted to be around is, the answer is, you got to, we expect you to be the very best in the country. There's nothing like, I know that for a guy like, maybe not all players and all coaches, but I know Mark Ingrams of the world, the alpha dogs. They want to be at the place where anything less than perfection is not. It is not allowed.
- [04:26]
Mark Ingram
Right.
- [04:27]
Urban Meyer
Not many people really understand that. And that's okay. I get that. You know, I guess I've been to places where I had to go out to subway and beg and speak and have raised money because I wanted to buy my team T shirts. When I first became a head coach, the average attendance was 2,600 people. And you know, man, I hope we get some people at the game. I also, you know, been at places where you go to, you know, the booster clubs and I wonder how many people are going to be there. And you're going to see it now as the rich get richer In. In this day of nil, I'd. I'd be very cautious about attacking fan bases. Fan bases are the bloodline for what programs? And I'm going to speak about the Ohio State fan base. You know, I. Are they rugged? Are they tough? Are they high expectations? They expect you to win every game. They expect you to beat your rival and win a national championship. I'll help you. You're damn right they do. And I can tell you, every person that puts on a scarlet gray helmet better believe they. And what. Demand that they do, too. Because that's not for the timid and the show. Here's the reality, though. Shelf lives are not long in those kind of environments. I get it. I went seven years and that was good. No desire. I mean, that was. That was 365, seven days a week. 365. You're working on doing the very best you can to be the best at what you do. I watch other places that, you know, they play a team that's not great and their stadium's half full. I see, you know, I. I see just stuff out there that. And I went. I went through it like this. Mark, I'm really intrigued because you played in the sec, so I went north, the Wolverines, Penn State, Notre Dame. I went hard south Florida, Miami, Florida State. I went sec, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia. I know I'm going to miss a couple Texas A and M and Oklahoma from the center of the country. And then you got usc and a newcomer is Oregon, I think Washington. You know, I know I'm going to miss a couple, but the one thing that you have to ask yourself is there's really one place and I'm biased because I'm from the great state of Ohio where football was born into your blood. You realize when you're born in Columbus, Ohio, they give you a beat the team up north shirt, the baby, as they beat the team up north in Canton, Ohio, you're born. And Maslin, they put a football and if you're a boy a little in your. In your crib when you're born, Mark.
- [06:47]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [06:47]
Urban Meyer
And people say that's insanity. I agree with you. I love it. You're out of your mind. You're out of your mind.
- [06:52]
Rob Stone
I love it.
- [06:52]
Urban Meyer
But I tell you one thing, you can never worry about an open seat at Ohio Stadium. You can never worry about a program that's not going to be funded by the people because they are complete, absolute nut jobs. When you lose a game or you three and out and they punt, you boo and you hear all that's. You know, when I hear people say, well, you know, why would you, you know, or attack the fan base or something like that. I'm the opposite. I would meet. And I'm going to turn it over to you, Mark, in a second. So it was standard operating procedure. Every staff meeting, I made that very clear, that where you're at, the expectations will never change. No, there's no media member, there's no assistant coach. There's no one that's ever going to say, you know, we got to temper this down a little bit. Not the way it works.
- [07:38]
Mark Ingram
Right.
- [07:38]
Urban Meyer
You know, same thing. There's not a player going to come in. These, man, these guys are loud here. You know, I dropped a ball or I fumbled or I did this, man, they're pissed off. And my social media is getting attacked. I. I know. I mean, don't drop the ball, you know, so. So I. I just. I. I love passionate fan bases because I've seen the opposite. I'm very defensive of the Ohio State fan base because I'm one of them. I grew up with Buckeye. I understand football is a way. It's not. It's not a pastime, America's pastime. No, it's. It's a way of life. And so, Mark, I'm real intrigued by your opinion. When I. When I see people say, man, that's a little too. There's too much on you there.
- [08:19]
Rob Stone
No, I mean, that's what you sign up for. You go to a place like Alabama, you go to a place like Ohio State, you go to Texas, usc, these prestigious, you know, universities that have a tradition of excellence, a tradition of championship pedigree. And what you do is you take on everything that has came before you. When I went to Alabama, you see all these championships, you see all these. All Americans, you see all these trophies, you see. You see Drone Namath, who has came through there, you see Sean Alexander, who has come through there. You've seen all these greats that have played before you. And you have to live up to the standard and continue to elevate the standard. So when you go to a place like that, where the standard, where championship is the standard, where excellence is the standard, if you don't perform to that standard, you will hear about it. You will hear about it from the fan base, you will hear about it from the previous players, the guys who have come before you, the. Because you have a tradition and a standard to uphold. And really, you have to not uphold it. You have to continue to elevate it. So, and if you don't want that, then you could just be fine with being mediocre. You know what I mean?
- [09:22]
Mark Ingram
There's plenty of other places to play.
- [09:23]
Rob Stone
Plenty other places for you. So when you go to a program like that, that is the standard. That is what is required of you. You know, the history, know the players who have come before you, and you must live to it and continue to elevate it.
- [09:35]
Urban Meyer
Talk about this, Mark, because I'm interested, too, because the NFL, that kind of shocked me a little bit when you, you go and you see just horrific facilities. You see, you know what? I don't want to beat a place up, but I went to a place and I'm like, what is this? I don't, this does not come under. I don't understand that. It's not. Because we always had a saying, if, is it the best in the conference and the best in the country? And the. What the response would be, it's not. And the question is, why make it the best? Best. And make it the best doesn't mean silly stuff. I do. I was never into the, you know, the, the facilities that are kind of, you know, I, I, you know, swimming pool, you know, whatever, all that. I'm, I'm just talking about for a student athlete, for Mark Ingram, you better have the best trainers, the best strength coaches, the best nutrition, the best sport performance model, because this is your career. This is your life. We get you for three years, pal. Yeah. And you better be treated like freaking gold.
- [10:30]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [10:30]
Urban Meyer
And if that doesn't happen, someone's got to come in and answer the question, why are we not the very best?
- [10:36]
Mark Ingram
You have to have that support staff, and that support staff has to all be funneled into making the team the best. What is best?
- [10:43]
Urban Meyer
I get chills right now thinking about, you know, why? Because when you got that, you win it all.
- [10:47]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [10:48]
Urban Meyer
That's what happens when, you know, it's not the. Just the great player. It's not a coach. It's not an assistant coach. It's not. It's this massive humanity that comes together and that ship goes that way.
- [11:00]
Rob Stone
Yep. And everyone questions, one question.
- [11:03]
Urban Meyer
Are you the very best at what you do?
- [11:06]
Rob Stone
Yep.
- [11:06]
Urban Meyer
And this, I would say it's a simple question, but at times a complicated answer. If you're not, let's do all we can to get there.
- [11:16]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [11:16]
Urban Meyer
And we'll supply all the funds necessary to make that happen.
- [11:20]
Mark Ingram
Not every institution has that, though, right, Mark? I mean, Coach, you rattled off probably, what, about 15 programs that live and die with their football team. And most of those places, oh, by the way, have deep pocket donors, are strong institutions that can support that type of ecosystem. Not everybody is that fortunate. I would say every football coach in America wants to get to a position at Ohio State or Alabama. Right. That's their goal. That's their dream. It's not the realities for everybody. And the ecosystem just isn't there on, on this grand basis.
- [11:57]
Urban Meyer
Yes, that's where we're talking. We're talking.
- [12:01]
Mark Ingram
Correct.
- [12:01]
Urban Meyer
Kaylin aboard is getting ready to feel it. Oh, I mean, for sure he's, he's at a place you can't lose.
- [12:08]
Rob Stone
Yep, you can't lose.
- [12:10]
Urban Meyer
And they pay you well. And so it's tough.
- [12:13]
Rob Stone
Yep. But when you talk about the ecosystem, that is so important. Like you talk about from the top to the bottom, you talked about the president, the ad. You talk about, you know, your head coach, you talk about the assistant coach, you talk about the strength coach, you talk about the academic advisor, you talk about the training table, you talk about all these people. Everyone has to be on the same accord. And if you have one group out of line, one group out of sync, it never goes how it's supposed to go. So the ecosystem, the, the, the, the structure of your organization, everyone has to be like minded. Everyone has to accept the challenge of being great. Everyone has to accept the challenge of excellence. And when you have that like minded individuals all believing in each other, all pushing for the same goal, that's when you accomplish something special. And that's what you see with Ohio State right now. That's what you see with Notre Dame right now supporting their young head coach and Marcus Freeman. So when you have that type of environment, the, the program's able to.
- [13:14]
Mark Ingram
Right now at Wendy's, you can get two of these favorite items for just seven bucks. But not just any two. I told you favorite items. Listen, I meant it. Nothing snack sized around here. You can choose from our OG spicy or classic chicken sandwich, Dave single or ten piece nugs, any way you like them. Spicy or crispy. That is so three fantastic options. But here comes the hard part. You only get to choose two. So what do you do? You could go for a spicy chicken sandwich and a Dave single. Maybe it's double the spice with a spicy chicken sandwich and a spicy 10 piece nug. Or you could go for the choice you forgot you could make, but in an instant changes everything to 10 piece nugs. I know, I know, it's crazy, right? Two of your favorite items for seven bucks got to be Wendy's Got to limited time only. U.S. price and participation may vary. Select or request 2 for $7 deal to obtain discount not valid for a la carte or combo meal. Orders individual items at regular price exclude saucy nugs. Prices may be higher in Alaska and Hawaii. Well, as you all know by now, we have teamed up with our great friends at BetMGM. This season we're going to be using BetMGM lines to make all of our picks. We'll also have special offers for our listeners each week. Mark, you're listening, right? You're listening to this.
- [14:38]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [14:38]
Mark Ingram
Pay attention. Pay attention. All right, so if you haven't signed up for BETMGM yet, we urge you to use the Bonus Code option or go to betmgm.com backslash option and you will get up to fifteen hundred dollars. First bet offer mark on your first wager with betmg and we're talking fifteen hundred bucks.
- [14:58]
Rob Stone
Mark, fifteen hundred. But here's how it works. Download the betmgm app and sign up using Bonus Code option. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. You'll receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use Bonus Code option when you sign up. Or go to betmgm.com backslash option.
- [15:23]
Mark Ingram
It's all about the option, Mark.
- [15:25]
Rob Stone
All about the option, especially the triple option.
- [15:28]
Mark Ingram
See betmgm.com for terms. 21/only US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario or Puerto rico. Gambling problem call 1-800- gambler available in the U.S. call 877-8-HOPE NY or text hopeny 467-369 New York Call 1-800- NEXT STEP Arizona 1-800-327-5050 In Massachusetts, 1-800-Bets Off In Iowa, 1-800-981-0023 In Puerto Rico. First bet offer for new customers only subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and.
- [16:04]
Rob Stone
Hotel, this episode is brought to you by Amazon. Sometimes the most painful part of getting sick is the getting better part. Waiting on hold for an appointment. Sitting in crowded waiting rooms, Standing in line at the pharmacy that's painful. Amazon one Medical and Amazon Pharmacy remove those painful parts of getting better with things like 24. 7 virtual visits and prescriptions delivered to your door thanks to Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon one Medical. Health care just got less painful.
- [16:34]
Mark Ingram
All right, let's jump in to those two programs and how they got to the national championship on Friday night. The Buckeyes third straight playoff game. Guys that they scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the game. Those great strong starts have really been a hallmark of the Buckeyes through the course of the playoffs. The other big talking point throughout the course of the playoffs for every team that's won, seems like they've won the line of scrimmage. And Will Howard, you know, watching particularly in the first half, how much time he had in the pocket and the protection that he had was remarkable. Texas made a point to take Jeremiah Smith out of the game. So it was other guys that stepped up. And coach, I, I, I start with you. You know what jumped out to you in the Buckeye semifinal win over Texas?
- [17:19]
Urban Meyer
Oh, so much. But the fast start. But then the fast start got halted. So seven points for about three, almost three quarters might have been into the fourth quarter. But Texas I, it's the one team is I, I really studied getting ready for this game and then obviously all year it's the one team Mono Imano Mark that you kind of looked across the line of scrimmage. And I always evaluate it when I watch that player play. There's great college players and but I always like to say, okay, when I look at the skill of Ohio State, I think every one of those skill players will start in the National Football League. Think about what I just said. Not, not the mid, you know, start in the end.
- [18:01]
Mark Ingram
All three wideouts.
- [18:02]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [18:03]
Urban Meyer
No doubt the secondary, both tailbone. No doubt the two tailbacks. Yeah. So you look at the Texas Longhorns. Damn, they're good. Yes, they had. And that one kid got hurt. Number two. I can't, I lost his name here. But he was dynamic. He almost busted that long one earlier game. But they're, they're, they're the one team that matched up with them. And I thought that was one of the greatest football games I've seen and the way it ended for obviously Ohio State because that was an even game.
- [18:32]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [18:32]
Urban Meyer
And people are going to jump all over Sark about that toss sweep down on the second one. On the one which we can talk about that a minute. But I thought both coaches, both staffs and most important those players played their asses off in that game. I mean there is not one, you know, a couple stupid penalties. But there is a, there was not one time you looked and it looked clean and hard fought game Mark to me.
- [18:55]
Rob Stone
Mayor Coach. And you talk about that sequence on the goal line. You did the playbook on this Ohio State red zone defense we know how elite they are in the red zone, especially down there on the goal line. When you run into the teeth of that defense, you're usually never successful. So as a coach, when you see that, you try to attack a different angle, right? And they try to attack the perimeter. And Ohio State, quite frankly, was very sound with their defense, with their technique. Caleb down goes and make a great tackle. But this game, from top to bottom, man, it was just a, it was a battle in the trenches. That Texas D line was stout. They were hitting him in the mouth. And Ohio State found a way just to like keep like, you know, they, they were bracketing Jeremiah Smith, they were kind of slowing down the inside run game. What they do, they throw a screen to Trayvon Henderson at the end of the, at the end of the first half, 75 yards for a touchdown. So even though Texas was standing there toe to toe with them, they just found ways to kind of get over the hump. And then in the second half, it's a battle. It's a game of who is going to beat themselves, right? Who, who, who is going to make the mistakes, who's going to play the right football, the winning football that helps you win the game.
- [20:06]
Mark Ingram
I would argue, Mark, that that the Buckeyes were the team that were hurting themselves the most in that game. There were so many penalties, uncharacteristic penalties that really impacted the Buckeyes.
- [20:15]
Rob Stone
Yeah. Yep. No, no, but you're right. But they found a way to overcome it. That, that goal line. You're going in to tie the game. You're going, you're on the one yard line, first and goal to tie the game. It is the fold of the century, Stoner. It is the fold of the century, stoner.
- [20:32]
Mark Ingram
Hey, baby, you know what the defense is? Captain Jack will get you by tonight, right?
- [20:37]
Urban Meyer
You know what the, you know what the defense was, is right, that the Buckeyes played. I went looked at it today.
- [20:42]
Rob Stone
What was it? Bear.
- [20:43]
Urban Meyer
Bear zero.
- [20:44]
Rob Stone
Bear zero.
- [20:44]
Urban Meyer
Yeah, they have Bear zero. There's, there's two extra defenders at the line of scrimmage waiting on you. And it's tough, but you'd have to think, you'd have to think with a gap skin your mark. Set. You have four, one yard.
- [20:59]
Rob Stone
I don't care. I'm quarterback sneaking four times in a row. Something I don't know, it's easy to say right here, but you got fourth, you got first and goal from the one yard line to tie the game and have yourself a chance to go to the national championship. Second and goal on the one. Then you got the lost yardage play. Then you got the strip sack to the crib. Jack Sawyer, the hometown kid with the force fumble to the crib.
- [21:23]
Urban Meyer
So let's, let's talk, let's talk about this real. Because this is the old playbook stuff. But okay, you got this far to go as Bear zero. How do you equate numbers, Rob? See if you remember, how do you equate numbers? There's only two ways. How do you equate numbers? You run the quarterback is number one one.
- [21:39]
Mark Ingram
There you go, get him out.
- [21:40]
Urban Meyer
It's single wing offense so there's no handing off and because he's a body. So I almost thought I was going to see Arch Manning running there like they did on the fourth down call early in the game I thought where is he? Here he comes. He didn't come. He didn't come. So I knew it wasn't a court because Quinn yours isn't a quarterback runner. And then the other way to do is some type of option football where you and he's not that there's no. I got news. There's no other way to run the football down there against Bear zero. That doesn't you.
- [22:06]
Rob Stone
Against a good defense.
- [22:07]
Urban Meyer
Against a good Bear defense, yes, it's Bear zero. There's two extra hats. So one is the quarterback direct snap. It's called single wing offense. Which they did on fourth down and they didn't do that. And then the sec, you know the lateral play which I know Coach Sarkin so much respect. He's gonna, I mean that's gonna haunt him for a while because you have fourth. Was that fourth down, second down. That was second down.
- [22:31]
Rob Stone
I mean that was the toss on second down. Then on fourth down. Was it the sack fumble or was.
- [22:35]
Urban Meyer
That third down, fourth down.
- [22:38]
Rob Stone
Yeah, see that Japan time been whipping my butt. I was dozing in and out.
- [22:41]
Urban Meyer
So the first, the first down they hit no gain. They ran right the teeth of it. Second down, second down, second down, toss sweep, third down, incomplete pass. Fourth down and they fumble. 83 yards. Jack Sawyer the other way.
- [22:55]
Mark Ingram
Yeah, let's talk about that Jack Sawyer strip six if you will. And I think it was more than just a play and it's a, it's a play that's gonna, it's gonna play for generations in Columbus. Right? That's going to be one of those moments that's like statue esque type material in Columbus and particularly because of who it was that did it. You know the captain and, and, and Stripping his roommate freshman year at Ohio State, Quinn Ewers, and then taking it the distance. And to me, I think I got special joy out of it as a fan because it was along the sideline. It was in the middle of the field. So it's along the sideline. He's like looking at his teammates sideline was running, running with him. And you could tell that it meant. Obviously it meant they're going to the championship game. I get that. Right. But it meant a lot to them that it was that cat, that guy Jack Sawyer who was doing it.
- [23:50]
Urban Meyer
Here's a little trivia. I offered Jack Sawyer as a true freshman, as a freshman in high school.
- [23:55]
Mark Ingram
After watching him play basketball, I had.
- [23:57]
Urban Meyer
Bosa and I had Chase Young, and I said, you become the next one of those. And appointed to him, you become the. He's a greatest kid in the world. He's from Pickerington, 25 minutes from the bucket, from Ohio State and incredible family. And, you know, I just see him do that. You're right. That's statuesque.
- [24:15]
Mark Ingram
That's.
- [24:16]
Rob Stone
It's hometown kid, right?
- [24:18]
Urban Meyer
20 minutes. 20 minutes.
- [24:20]
Mark Ingram
Captain Jack, baby. Captain Jack. What a moment. What. What a moment. Let's hear from coach day after the game. And you know what it, what it meant for him to see Sawyer and some of the other players do what they did on that stage in Arlington, Texas. Here's coach Ryan day after the win.
- [24:39]
Ryan Day
And then the guy over there, I don't know if there's. I mean, sure, you know, we can argue about, I'm sure, who loves being a Buckeye more, but this is somebody who grew up in Columbus, who has always wanted to be a Buckeye, who has always wanted for a moment like this. So to see him get the moment that he had today, I mean, and he's become like family to me. He has to me and my wife and my kids. And so this is just two guys. Ameka Buuka, Trevion Henderson, Cody Simon. I mean, I could go through Lathan Ransom, I mean, Donovan Jackson, like, the story of this team is yet to be told. And no great accomplishments are ever achieved without going through adversity. That's just the truth. And so we've gone through our share of adversity, and that's life. And I've told those guys that. So we're not focused on what, you know, what's coming down the road. We're not focused about. Focused on what happened in the past. We're focused on right now and being right where we are. And then at the End. You know, we want to be able to tell the story of this team and that's really what this team's focused on right now.
- [25:48]
Mark Ingram
You can hear it in his voice, right? You know what a kid like Jack Sawyer means to his family and to his program. Coach, remember before the season started, I went to Columbus and you were kind enough to set me up with a tour of the facility and I got to see the team practice with my dad. Right. And as you know from Woody Hayes, the team takes that bus over to the stadium and they were practicing their first game of the season, right? Here's what we do, guys. We take, we get on the bus, we go over to the stadium. So I jumped on one of the buses with, with my old man and we're, we're on a normal bus filled with Ohio State thick vein cats, right? Just monsters and me and my dad sitting there and the one guy who came up and started talking to us and engaging us. Give you a guess, Captain Jack and Jack Sawyer. From that moment I was like, all right, I want to see good things.
- [26:42]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [26:42]
Mark Ingram
Happen to you. I want to see more good things happen to you, I should say. And clearly it did with the, with a moment that just to follow up.
- [26:50]
Rob Stone
On that, man, I became a big fan of him too. When I went up to interview Trayvon Henderson and Quinshawn Jenkins. He came out of the weight room. Cameron introduced himself, told me he was a big fan. We rapped, we talked. And from that moment on, you couldn't, I couldn't help but to want great things for that young man. So.
- [27:07]
Mark Ingram
Right.
- [27:07]
Rob Stone
It's just he's consistently himself. So you hear that story about him, how he came, initiated the conversation with you and your pops. He came out, initiated a conversation with me, like, you don't have to do that, man. That's just genuine. That's just a good dude, man. And when you see people like that succeed on the field, man, it makes you heart happy for sure.
- [27:24]
Mark Ingram
And if you're, if an NFL gm, you know, you're, you're going to look at the draft project, you know, projections and, and where Jack is or isn't. He's a winner, right? He's a winner on and off the field. And if you're debating between Sawyer and player B. Yep. Go Sawyer. I don't think you're going to go wrong.
- [27:43]
Rob Stone
He's one of those guys you want in your locker room. He's one of those culture guys. He's a culture guy. He's a glue guy. Those are Guys, those are adjectives. Those are words. Those are action words that you want describing your player entering an NFL locker room.
- [27:56]
Mark Ingram
And so that 83 yard, his 83 yard fumble return, the longest in College Football Playoff history, that is that. You know what that makes us do? Mark three yards. It's not. It's no longer a saucy nug. It's. It's. We've changed it. That made us do a double take Try Wendy's two for seven.
- [28:18]
Urban Meyer
Two for seven.
- [28:19]
Mark Ingram
Yeah. Yeah. We've pivoted from saucy to double take try Wendy's 20, 25. We deal. Today, everything's changing. You go to Asia and everything changes. Buckeyes, nothing changes. The Ohio State, they use that end of regular season loss to Michigan at home as a wonderful motivation to kind of move on from that misery and get themselves to the national championship game where they will take on Notre Dame. When we return, on the triple option presented by Weddings, we're going to talk about the Irish moving past Penn State and into the national championship game. Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's. Mark Ingram, Urban Meyer, Rob Stone here with you. Thursday in Miami, the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame, Penn State. Mark, were you at that game? I know, coach. You were there.
- [29:11]
Rob Stone
No, I didn't go, man. I was.
- [29:12]
Mark Ingram
You did not make it.
- [29:13]
Rob Stone
I was still down bad from that trip, dog. That Japan trip, bro.
- [29:17]
Mark Ingram
It stung you, man.
- [29:20]
Urban Meyer
We tried to get him down there. Matt and I tried. And Brady. We were all there.
- [29:24]
Mark Ingram
Yeah. Thanks for the invite. Yeah. So, coach, you and matter of fact, the invite.
- [29:29]
Rob Stone
Where are you at? Look at your background. I'm the only one that's always in the same background. Where are you right now?
- [29:34]
Mark Ingram
I'm in a hotel in Chicago. National Soccer Coaches Convention meeting. I had. I had some speaking and some engagements to do where you're.
- [29:42]
Urban Meyer
Where's the national soccer.
- [29:44]
Rob Stone
Yeah, come on.
- [29:45]
Mark Ingram
Soccer convention. Coaches convention. You've been to those coaches conventions, man. Coaches everywhere. Everywhere. But look at me. I traveled all my equipment, I traveled my Wendy's cup and football. By the way, that Wendy's football got me dinged at tsa. They had to go through my bag and they pulled out the Wendy's football and they're like, sir. And I was like, yes. What do you. What do you. What do you want?
- [30:07]
Urban Meyer
Football.
- [30:08]
Mark Ingram
The plastic football. And they're like, yeah, go ahead.
- [30:10]
Urban Meyer
Go.
- [30:11]
Mark Ingram
Go on there. So, all right, let's talk Penn State and Notre Dame. Let's start with Notre Dame. Right. For me, you know, obviously it was all about the way that game ended. And I'm just remember, go back with me to the end of the first half of the quarterfinal. Notre Dame, Georgia and Georgia and Kirby Smart elected to kind of play it out. Hey, maybe we can get. Get greedy, get some yards and get some points. Late in the first half, what happened? Quarterback hit, fumbled. Notre Dame recovered, gets a touchdown. Change the face of the game.
- [30:50]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [30:52]
Mark Ingram
Late seconds of the game that is tied. James Franklin and Penn State mark are backed up and Franklin decides, let's try and get it out of here and try to win it rather than maybe take a knee with that precious time and that long of a field to go. He elects to be proactive, I guess. And, and I'm. I'm sure Latre, he would like to have that decision back. But again, 47 seconds left. 24. 24 game. Penn State first and 10 at own 15 yard line. All right. And from there that's where the whole game changed.
- [31:31]
Urban Meyer
So the. I. I've been. I was actually with some people during that when it happened and they looked at me and said, what do you do here? And I said, do not. It's over. Get to over time and correct the team you're playing then. This is always personnel related. If you're better than that team. Everybody tries to make this complicated. I'm not saying that I did screw up, but I screwed up plenty of times. I would look. And if those cats are better than my cats, there is no chance I'm taking a shot in that situation. You know, don't do that. So you have a Penn State group of receivers that in my mind have struggled all year. Yeah, they didn't have one reception, I heard in that game.
- [32:07]
Mark Ingram
Why not have a reception now?
- [32:09]
Urban Meyer
You have the best tight end I think that I've seen in a decade.
- [32:12]
Mark Ingram
Tyler Warren did not have a reception.
- [32:16]
Urban Meyer
Two elite running backs, a quarterback that's been off and on has improved certainly in the last two years. And watch them. And I think what James Franklin and you can. Andy kick is the offense coordinator. I'm sure with the headsets it went something like this. Run the ball, Take a sh. Let's get out of here.
- [32:31]
Mark Ingram
And so they did run it right. Coach ran it for 12 yards or something. First down to the 28 yard line with 40 seconds left.
- [32:40]
Urban Meyer
And then I would run it again, run it again. If you start getting around that midfield area, then I would push the ball down the field. Because if something bad happens downfield, an interception, you tackle the guys like a punt. But he let that thing Go laid across the middle. And I mean, I was like, you know, I don't do that. And you can't.
- [33:00]
Rob Stone
You can't.
- [33:00]
Urban Meyer
They stepped right in front of him. Yeah, can't do that.
- [33:02]
Rob Stone
You can't do it, man. Like, your team, it's over now, like Bruh.
- [33:10]
Urban Meyer
And once again, when you throw the ball, Mark Romero's matchup, and remember, Notre Dame has better secondary than Penn State has skilled receivers. If you're going to throw it, the only matchup you have is Tyler Warren. That's it.
- [33:22]
Rob Stone
Well, your quarterback, for one, is struggling. 12 for 23, he's struggling. You have a receiving group that doesn't have a catch. Do not throw this football right now at the most crucial point of the game. Like, run the football, get the overtime and figure it out. That way, you lose the game. Notre Dame gets the ball, they run it out, get in position, they kick the field goal as walk off, you lose. You had a chance to put yourself in position to go win it, to go play for a national championship.
- [33:51]
Mark Ingram
And I. Yeah, go ahead. In the thinking, Coach, you know, you're, You're. You were talking about, you know, is. Is their personnel better than our personnel? You had to remember that the Notre Dame personnel defensively leads the nation in takeaways. That was their 30 second takeaway, that interception. So it's something they've been doing all season long. And from that point, they had timeouts, they had short little runs to set themselves up. And, you know, Marcus, that's where. Did what they had to do.
- [34:18]
Urban Meyer
That's where analytics might, you know, I don't. The analytics piece, like, if it said try to do whatever, because you have a guy in the year telling you this stuff.
- [34:26]
Mark Ingram
Sure.
- [34:27]
Urban Meyer
But you also have to be the game manager and say, wait a minute, we have not moved the ball well against this defense. Really, no one has. This is the number two defense in the United States of America. We have a receiving crew that has not performed very well all season long.
- [34:42]
Rob Stone
They don't have a catch in this game.
- [34:45]
Urban Meyer
So once again, the analytics piece of this, if the score was 43, 42, or, you know, it's one of those games where you're going up and down the field. That's a whole different animal.
- [34:53]
Mark Ingram
Right.
- [34:53]
Urban Meyer
And then I'm going to put yourself in James Franklin's shoes, is that you. You give the run, you know, you give the wrong message to your team about not being aggressive if you don't try to at least push the ball down the field. But in that moment, no no.
- [35:10]
Rob Stone
Gonna rely on my defense. And I'm gonna ride on my three players that I've relied on all year. K Tron Allen, Nick Singleton and Tyler Warren. I'm not putting the ball in Drew Aller's hands to let him make a mistake, which he has done throughout the season. You know what I mean? And I'm not throwing to a group of receivers who does not have a reception all game long.
- [35:28]
Urban Meyer
Like that's got you fired up that they didn't have a coach.
- [35:31]
Mark Ingram
Why is that going to change on this drive right now? Right. The whole narrative has been we are not working. Right. We are not at our best doing these things. So why. Why would it change right now at the closing seconds in the national championship semifinal game, I'm playing for overtime.
- [35:45]
Rob Stone
I'm relying on my defense. And the three players that I have that have been consistently ballers all year long. That's.
- [35:51]
Urban Meyer
And those. And those three got them where they are. Those three players are legit. Legit players.
- [35:59]
Mark Ingram
Yeah. Let's talk about James Franklin real quick. And this has been a topic of conversation throughout the year. You know, can't. He can get him this far, but he can't quite get him that big win. And a lot of people were saying, all right, I can get to the semifinals. You know, maybe he. He quote, unquote got that stigma off his back. I don't think so. Only because of the competition that Penn State was up against through the course of the playoffs. Remember first round home game against SMU 38, 10. When he didn't. He didn't earn any accolades for that. That was something that.
- [36:28]
Rob Stone
Congratulations for beating.
- [36:30]
Mark Ingram
Right, Exactly.
- [36:30]
Rob Stone
Congratulations.
- [36:31]
Mark Ingram
What you should have done. Quarterfinals, Fiesta bowl against Boise State. Congratulations again. You did what you're supposed to do.
- [36:40]
Rob Stone
This was congratulations.
- [36:42]
Mark Ingram
This was the test, though, right, Mark? Like, okay, if you can get by Notre Dame and even that, there might be some conversation. But if you can get by Notre Dame in the semifinals, then. Then James Franklin. Okay, we can. We can move on from this narrative. I feel like the narrative, Mark, maybe has only gotten a little bit louder right now.
- [37:01]
Rob Stone
It is louder because you can't win the game that matters the most. Against the best teams. Against the biggest. The best teams. You can't win. What's the record? 1 in 16 against top 5. Even worse. I don't know what the number is. So do you. Do we have it? It's like 1 in 16 or something.
- [37:19]
Mark Ingram
It's not good.
- [37:20]
Rob Stone
It's not great at all.
- [37:22]
Urban Meyer
It's 1 in 15 or 1 yeah.
- [37:24]
Mark Ingram
I hear coach sign right there because I know, I know you look out for your coaching fraternity. It feels like that was someone just.
- [37:32]
Rob Stone
To bash people, man. But consistently what you do is who you are and you're not beating the top teams in the country. And unfortunately that's what's holding Penn State back right now.
- [37:44]
Urban Meyer
And. And we talked about his fault by the way.
- [37:46]
Rob Stone
It's not all his fault.
- [37:47]
Mark Ingram
Correct.
- [37:47]
Rob Stone
It's not all his fault.
- [37:49]
Urban Meyer
And the first part of the show we talked about how many programs are out there that it is what it is and you are what your record are know. And there's a lot of places in Penn State's one of there. There's very few places in Penn State's one of them that every game you're going to go into in that was a Beaver stadium up there and there's going to be 108,000 people out of their minds or nut jobs. I call it the migration of everybody from the state of Pennsylvania goes there. So it is what it is. And you know, you are what you record are. They had a hell of a year. But I think I have to agree with Mark a little bit. You beat who you're supposed to be.
- [38:25]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [38:26]
Urban Meyer
At some point you got to beat someone that you look across the field and that team has got what you got or maybe even a little better. And they have to me how you get in the street fight.
- [38:35]
Rob Stone
And they had the opportunity this year, coach. They had Ohio State on the goal line.
- [38:40]
Mark Ingram
You had them.
- [38:41]
Rob Stone
They had Ohio State on the goal line. You can't get a yard.
- [38:44]
Urban Meyer
You, you.
- [38:45]
Rob Stone
Well whatever. You couldn't get three yards I think right. And four downs. And then now you have no dame and you don't. You don't finish the game. And thankfully for my great crew that we have behind the scenes, James Franklin is now 420 versus opponents ranked in the AP top 10 in his career. And he's 1 in 15 versus AP top 5 opponents during his time at Penn State. So there you go, man. It's not all his fault. But it is because you are the captain driving the ship.
- [39:11]
Mark Ingram
Yeah. And they're going to lose some guys. Drew Aller has said he's going to come back and be the quarterback again. He clearly needs another year of seasoning if he is going to be that first round quarterback type pick. But you wonder where Penn State goes from here. You know, is it's an amazing run to get to the semifinals but it's a major disappointment the way it concluded. You know, Will James Franklin in the staff, be able to capitalize on that momentum, keep it going in Happy Valley. On the flip side, what a great job that Marcus Freeman has done the last time a 30 something coach won a national title. Got to go back to 1981. Danny Ford.
- [39:46]
Urban Meyer
Yeah.
- [39:46]
Mark Ingram
Isaac, Clemson. Remember, Marcus Freeman just turned 39 on Friday and that made us do a double take try. Wendy's two four, seven deal today. Coach Freeman, in the post game conversation, we want to play this for you on how the Irish got to where they are after getting buried in week two after losing at home to Northern Illinois.
- [40:08]
Marcus Freeman
You know, I often tell them, in your lowest moment, you. You find out the most about yourself. And we've had low moments, but we had a really low moment. We know week two and these guys battle. We got great leaders, we got great players that chose to put this university and this football program in front of themselves. And that to me is probably the single most. The single thing that I'm probably most proud of is how we have a group of individuals that truly put Notre Dame football in front of themselves. Like, I know Riley and Christian truly would rather be in that locker room celebrating than being up here. But that's what it takes. It takes 120 guys saying, Lord, who cares how many plays I get? Who cares what type of individual praise I get? It's all for Notre Dame and to make sure we achieve team glory and we have a locker room of guys made up of that. And that, to me, is a reflection of what you saw today. The guys that did whatever it took to find a way to make sure we achieve the outcome we want.
- [41:15]
Mark Ingram
Guess what it's a reflection of the head coach.
- [41:17]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [41:18]
Mark Ingram
As well, Right?
- [41:19]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [41:19]
Mark Ingram
It's a reflection of what Marcus Freeman has built in a rather short time in South Bend, Indiana.
- [41:24]
Rob Stone
Yes. Falling on him, Coach, this guy was falling on him. North Illinois lost, Northern Illinois, what they've done, won 13 straight and got themselves.
- [41:33]
Urban Meyer
I want to say, I want to say, Mark, when Brian Kelly left, I think he lost two in a row to start his career. He lost the bowl game and then the opening game against Marshall. I believe the next year, you talk about caving in on someone. And then the North Illinois game, we all watched it. And in my own heart, I thought that there's, you know, how do you.
- [41:52]
Mark Ingram
Come back from that? Right?
- [41:53]
Urban Meyer
How do you. How do you get. You hit the mat at Notre Dame? How do you pick yourself up off the mat? I don't know that team like I know the Buckeyes, but I know this coach, and I'm going to say this because I know you got. He gets a lot of credit. The best thing about him, he deflects it.
- [42:08]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [42:09]
Urban Meyer
That locker room must be unbelievable. Mark.
- [42:11]
Rob Stone
Yeah.
- [42:11]
Urban Meyer
You've been around those. You know, you can be a hell of a coach and all of a sudden you have a locker room and you got a problem. You can be a very average coach and you have a bunch of monsters in that locker room. The alphas that refuse to lose. I mean, my gosh is that I'm. Right now, I'm chilled up thinking about those locker rooms. When I walk in, I look and you see grown ass men that give a shit about one thing and winning that next game and sticking together and that's, that's hard to lose. I mean, you got to really screw it up as a coach when you got alphas like that, man.
- [42:41]
Rob Stone
He's a leader of men, coach. And what he's done at Notre Dame, he deserves all the praise, all the accolades that he's getting because this is the team that lost in Northern Illinois and he has them with a chance to play for the national championship here in about a week, man. So just what he stands for. And like you said, he deflects. He deflects everything. He takes all the ownership upon himself. When they try to say this about your quarterback, say this about your defense, say this about your team, he takes all ownership. He puts it on himself. That's a sign of a great leader, and that's the sign. And that's why his teammates, they play hard for that man, and they love that man. You can see it. So Marcus Freeman, he's building something special over there in South Bend, and I'm happy for him, man. He was on our show, a guest on our show. He was amazing on the show. And I'm a big fan of Marcus Freeman, man.
- [43:29]
Mark Ingram
So he's been one of the biggest winners this College Football Playoff, Obviously, he got 100. He got a new contract just before the playoffs began and deservedly so. And now it feels every week that goes by, you're like, oh, okay, I, I get it. And, and you're right, those press conferences, coach, the, the way he handles himself, and it's not about me. And he's had some, he's had some tough questions. You know, a lot of people wanted to bring up the race issue. You know, hey, the first time a, a black head coach has made it into the national championship game, you know, is going to win it. And he's like, it. No, it's about coaching. I don't want it to be about skin color. I agree. I agree. Everything that's come his way, he's. He's handled like the Notre Dame brass would want it to be handled.
- [44:14]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [44:15]
Mark Ingram
Right. And that is an elite institution. That is a different type of place to try and win. And, man, to have that guy representing your institution and the way they're going about and doing it right now, man, if you're a Notre Dame alum, that chest is out. You are strutting around Chicago or wherever you are, and like, hell, yeah, I'm a Notre Dame.
- [44:35]
Urban Meyer
All right, quick trivia. Do you know what a Subway alum is, Mark?
- [44:38]
Rob Stone
A subway alone.
- [44:40]
Urban Meyer
Yeah, that's. You're going to hear a bunch of that in the next seven days. Well, Rob, you know, right.
- [44:44]
Mark Ingram
Didn't go to Notre Dame, but they're Notre Dame fans.
- [44:47]
Urban Meyer
And here. Here's the dis. Here's the difference. You're going to see Ohio State's, you know, 55, 60,000 students who just sheer numbers when they. Every year, those kids all graduate, move all throughout the country. That's why the Buckeye nation is so big. Notre Dame Nation is gigantic. But it's not Alumni. Alumni. There's 7,000 students. I think 7,500 students. That's it. But there's the Subway alum. And the Subway alum is exactly what Rob said. And I know because I coach there for five, six years. Six years, I believe. And I mean, everybody's. There's so many Notre Dame fans out there that act like they're alums and they're not. So that's.
- [45:22]
Mark Ingram
Duke basketball has. That has that phenomenon as well. One last thing about Marcus Freeman. Curious. Do you guys remember the video of when he was introduced to the team as their next head coach? So it's in the locker room, and I forget. It must have been the athletic director. I can't remember exactly who was saying, blah, blah, blah, here we go. Blah, blah, blah. And here is your next head coach. And let me tell you, he had to know what the reaction was going to be, because if that cat came in through the door and it was met with W, w, W, you know, your loss. He knew that that team wanted Marcus Freeman. Marcus Freeman walks through that door and the place erupts like they won a national title. And he's running into that pile. And it's just a lot of man love going on right now, a lot of football love in that locker room. And there. There's a reason why they felt that way. There's a reason why Notre Dame hired him. There's a reason why Notre Dame extended him. Extended him because Marcus Freeman has the Irish back in the national championship game where they will take on the Ohio State and the triple option. We'll talk all things national championship game when we return. Oh, welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's, Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, back here with you. Time now for Pick Six, brought to you by BetMGM. Place your Moneyline prop parlay and same game parlay bets at BetMGM. Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly. Again, the lines are subject to change currently. It's a big one right now. Ohio State favored by nine and a half over the Irish. Before we get the picks and the breakdown of the game, think about this. Dabo Sweeney, Kirby Smart, the only two current head coaches with a national championship, Marcus Freeman, Ryan Day set to add their names to that list. The Irish going for their first natty since 88. The Buckeyes for their first since 2014. Coach, I know you've been eyeballing the two rosters in preparation for that. What jumps out at you when you are comparing those two rosters of Notre Dame and the Ohio State?
- [47:31]
Urban Meyer
Yeah, I've always used the term talent equated because that's pretty clear. That means that they gots what you got and sometimes a little better. And that's the way you game plan. I'd always meet with the staff after I did a thorough evaluation of because that man, that changes the whole world of how you playing a game. If that team across the sideline have better dudes than you got, then that once again that changes it. And I look at roster roster and remember Notre Dame lost. There's either three or four really good players on their defense is phenomenal. Yes, Al golden, the defense coordinator is a phenomenal coach. They got great players on defense, but remember they lost four players on defense offensively. I just. This is not a talent equated game. On paper it's not and on film I would say it's. It's not. But I would say that, that the Fighting Irish, those gold helmets, the way they play sometimes talent, you know, rarely does a less talented team beat a more talented team. But this is one of those teams that's got to refuse to lose mentality. When they beat Georgia, remember now how they beat Georgia, they scored, they got a short field, a six, eight yard.
- [48:41]
Mark Ingram
Field and then next thing you know.
- [48:42]
Urban Meyer
Then a kickoff return for touchdown and the game flipped like that it was not. They lined up toe to toe and, and, and, and swung and hit and hit and hit. Because Georgia on film probably and on paper probably had the better roster. So I say that with respect that things happen. You know, when TCU beat the Wolverines that one year that was not a talent equated game. Mark. Yeah, Wolverines had much better talent than tcu. So things happen. But when I saw that point spread in Vegas, you know, Vegas doesn't is not Ron very often.
- [49:14]
Mark Ingram
They're Vegas for a reason.
- [49:15]
Urban Meyer
But I would say this is a non equated talent game. And I know that from watching it and looking at the. I watched the film before I said that and then I also, I did the, you know, study of the personnel.
- [49:28]
Rob Stone
Yeah, I mean this defense is going to give them a shot. You know, I think this defense, this Notre Dame defense, the way they've been playing, the way they've been turning the football over. We know when Ohio State struggles is when Will Howard has turnovers. Look at the Michigan game. When he has turnovers, they struggle. And Notre Dame's defense has been extremely, I mean the best in the nation at turning the football over. So I think this defense will keep them in the football game. Now it all comes down to Ryan Leonard and this offense being. And seeing how effective he will be. This defense of Ohio State, they have been just monsters at getting pressure on the quarterback in this playoff. Sixteen sacks, numerous amount of other quarterback hurries. So they will force his hand and see if he can handle that pressure and will he be able to deliver consistently throughout the game. And we'll see. Man, it's going to be a great game, but I think the Irish are going to be ready. Marcus Freeman gonna have to fight an Irish ready to play.
- [50:24]
Urban Meyer
I got two comments about Notre Dame. Number one, their defense does not make mistakes. Rob, it's a little bit like when I talked about Indiana's defense, remember? They always got the right fits. You don't see people coming clean. Really well coached, disciplined team that play really well. And I'm gonna throw this out there because you're the. What do you call running beast or our beast or something like our beast. Jeremiah Love, the last two games has only had 17 carries for 64 yards.
- [50:47]
Rob Stone
The MCL coach is real deal. The MCL injury is, is for real, for right.
- [50:51]
Mark Ingram
You know, it was a real deal. That touchdown run by Love, by the way.
- [50:54]
Rob Stone
Yep. Yeah, it was. But also they're, they're, they got, they got three good backs, man. They got Jadarian Price, they have Aeneas Williams coming out of the backfield and a contributor in the backfield as well. So they got some playmakers. Man, you talk about Jordan, Great house the game. He has seven catches, 405. So they do have some playmakers on the outside. But at the end of the day, I think this comes down to Riley Leonard and will he be able to consistently make the throws, consistently make the right decisions? He had two interceptions in the last week. Two interceptions versus the Buckeyes will get you beat. Turn the football over versus the Buckeyes will get you beat. So I think this onus, I think it's going to have to be a huge game, the best game in his life for Ryland Leonard in order for Notre Dame to pull off the upset.
- [51:34]
Urban Meyer
So I watched back to back, I watched Georgia, and then I watched the next game against Penn State, Notre Dame, and I noticed a little difference. And I just. I called Z and I said. And he had two offensive linemen got hurt against Georgia and the replacement struggled. So I just think this is amazing now because, you know, I'm not coaching, but you watch his Vegas stuff. And if these players are going to. If Jeremiah Love gets healthy, which MCL is a tough one, and all of a sudden these two offensive linemen, maybe the point spread, that tells you something.
- [52:04]
Mark Ingram
Yeah.
- [52:04]
Urban Meyer
And. And how do they know? Isn't that amazing how they find that crap out? I used to get so pissed off. I'm like, how do people find that out?
- [52:13]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [52:14]
Urban Meyer
They got guys.
- [52:15]
Mark Ingram
They got guys, Coach. All right, let me ask these questions for you. Defense. Are we saying it's. It's kind of a push or are we giving the edge to Notre Dame? I feel it's. I think it's a push because the note. Because the Ohio State defense has really, no joke lately.
- [52:29]
Rob Stone
The Ohio State defense has carried them all season long. They wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for that defense.
- [52:34]
Urban Meyer
Right. They defense is the best I've ever seen.
- [52:37]
Rob Stone
Okay, so they've saved them six times this year.
- [52:40]
Mark Ingram
Yes. So let's say defense is a push.
- [52:43]
Rob Stone
Push.
- [52:43]
Mark Ingram
Fair. Fair. Special teams again. Notre Dame had that kickoff return for a touchdown.
- [52:50]
Rob Stone
Caleb Downs part return. Touchdown.
- [52:52]
Mark Ingram
There we go.
- [52:53]
Rob Stone
We'll wash it. We'll wash it.
- [52:55]
Mark Ingram
We'll wash that one. So then it goes to offense.
- [52:58]
Rob Stone
Ohio State.
- [52:59]
Mark Ingram
It's not close. Ohio State in that department. It's not close.
- [53:03]
Rob Stone
Yes.
- [53:04]
Mark Ingram
Right.
- [53:05]
Rob Stone
It's not close. It's not.
- [53:05]
Mark Ingram
Let me throw one other thing at you and coach, this is probably more to You. A lot of people watched the Ohio State, Texas game that were neutrals or whatever, and they said that was the national championship game. That was the game that decides who's going to win the national title. And I bet there's some of that creeping in the heads of folks in Columbus and maybe some of those wearing scarlet and gray that what an accomplishment that Ohio State has done already, going through Tennessee, going through Oregon and then beating Texas in Texas, essentially. Right. Ryan Day is saying the story is yet to be told. Right. He has been pounding that mantra since. Since that Tennessee game. Really, the story has yet to be told. How do you make sure that the team is aware that there is another chapter to that story? Because there's definitely a feeling like we've done it already and that cannot be the case against something like Notre Dame.
- [54:07]
Urban Meyer
Well, I'm going to share it. So the two guys on this podcast, Mark Ingram and myself, we. We dealt with that when we played each other in 08. That was de facto national championship game. When we played Alabama in 14. We played Oregon next. I didn't say that, but everybody was saying that was the national championship game. And I'm going to take a quick talk. Billy Donovan, the incredible basketball coach, Florida Gators was my neighbor in Florida. Adam, speak to our team. And to this day, some of our players still talk about the speech he gave and he called it the white rope. And you know what happens, Mark, in a basketball game? I watched it when the Billy Donovan won the national championship. What do the ushers do right as the game ends? They lift up a white rope because they keep the riff raff from doing what coming on the court. You want to celebrate with the people that got you there, Cut the net down and all that. Watch what happens in championship atmospheres. Those, those yellow coats or whatever they are, the ushers, what do they do? A lot of times they lift a rope. Why? To keep the outsiders from going in. There'll be time that includes, I hate to say it, your family and girlfriends and all that other stuff. We'll have a hell of a time here in about a week or so. But I used to do that all the time. There are players pull up the white rope. Do not listen. Do not. And it's so hard now. It was a little easier back then because you didn't have all the social media stuff. But if who, whichever team pulls up that, that's what they're doing right now. Every coach right now is somehow finding a way to take their team out an island somewhere and just the thing is, these coaches are elite. Yes. And I'm going to say this. I think these two locker rooms, I know one of them. I just. From the way they play Mark, I. Once again, I'm getting chills because I love these freaking guys like that that are just. They're, they're all about it. So I think you're going to see. You're going to see 2. Focus. There's no nonsense here. This is two focused teams, excellent coaching staff, and I'd say two of the best locker rooms I've heard about.
- [55:56]
Rob Stone
Yeah, these two teams are going to be ready to play. And what I do want to mention is last time Notre Dame did play for national championship was 2012 against Alabama and they got dog walked. So I think this team is going to not let that happen again. They're. They. Notre Dame does not want that replay to happen again of them getting dog walk in the national championship. Dog walked.
- [56:21]
Mark Ingram
It's good to have Mark back.
- [56:22]
Urban Meyer
Yeah, that's great.
- [56:23]
Mark Ingram
All right, so bet MGM is telling us right now the spread is nine and a half in favor of the Buckeyes. Right. All right, so nine and a half. Urban. What do you see? Bet mgm.
- [56:36]
Urban Meyer
We gotta do it. All right. Is this they. We got to do it, huh?
- [56:39]
Mark Ingram
This is hot. Yeah.
- [56:40]
Urban Meyer
Ohio State covers the spread. I think, I think Notre Dame is going to. The defense is going to keep this thing close. I really like the plate the way that Ryan Day and Chip Kelly went about. They weren't, I want to say they were. They weren't reckless. They were just really aggressive against Oregon and against Tennessee. But Texas had better personnel than Oregon and Tennessee and they let the game play a little bit because you don't want to, you know, you don't want to make a mistake early in that game. Let your defense play the game early. I think this is a low scoring game at halftime and I think the Buckeyes walk away in the second half.
- [57:16]
Rob Stone
The best thing that could have happened to this Ohio State team was losing in Michigan in the last game of the season. That's the best thing that could have happened to this team. I know nobody, I know you don't want to hear that, coach, but this team has been possessed since that, since that loss. And I think the possession continues. I think they cover. I think they win by 10 points. And the difference is in the offense. I think this defense is going to. I think Notre Dame defense is going to keep them in the game. I think they're going to get a turnover. You know, make this thing interesting first half, but at the end of the day, I think they're going to pull away. I think they're going to win by 10 points and I think it's going to be a good game for three and a half quarters and then, then Ohio State's going to pull away. So remember, I got the Buckeyes covering by 10 points.
- [58:02]
Mark Ingram
It's been that championship or bust slogan, if you will, or conversation at least around Ohio State all season long. And here they are one game away from that championship. Notre Dame, the Ohio State, both of you guys have the Buckeyes winning it and covering. Make sure to Follow subscribe rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify where it is you get your podcast as well as across social media 3x option show. Don't forget, submit those questions. We love to answer them. Our next episode comes out Wednesday, January 22 after the National Championship game and we'll probably talk that National Championship game can't wait. It's going to be a fun one in Atlanta. As always, thanks to our sponsors Wendy's and BetMGM. Thanks for watching and listening to the triple option. We'll talk to you again Wednesday the 22nd where we'll have a national champion.