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The Triple Option
Fernando Mendoza Joins, Playoff Bracket Reaction, James Franklin to Va. Tech & Top 3 Comebacks!
01:08:41
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- [00:00]
A
You want to talk about iron bowl comebacks? I'm going to go to the gravedigger Jalen Milroe to my Isaiah Bond in the corner. You want to iron bowl me? I iron bowl you.
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B
Light it.
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C
The triple option is presented by Wendy's. Join team Tendies and enjoy a lineup like never before. Crispy, juicy tendies now at Wendy's. Good evening and welcome to the triple option coming your way live live following the release of the season's third college football playoff rankings. Rob Stone, Deuce Deuce, Mark Ingram, the coach Urban Meyer here with you as always. Thanks for joining us. Remember to rate subscribe at Apple Podcast, Spotify. Wherever you get your podcasts, you can find us on social media 3X option show. New episodes come every Wednesday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. So a new one is coming tomorrow morning. A great interview with Heisman candidate Fernando Mendoza from Elite Interview. Elite Interview, Elite Human Interview.
- [01:02]
B
Mark maybe best.
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A
Hey, it's top two and it ain't two.
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C
We're going to be reacting live Tuesday nights after the rankings drop. Don't forget, leave questions, leave comments and we can answer them. So it's fired up on any given Saturday. So last week we saw minimal movement in the playoff rankings. Definitely not the case this week. Remember, seven ranked teams, including two in the top 10, Bama and Texas fell. Ole Miss, Texas A and M barely escaped with victories. And for the second week in a row, the top group of six team fell. That was the University of South Florida. Quick reminder before we unveil everything, 12 teams make the playoffs. The five highest ranked conference champions, regardless of the conference, get that automatic bid. The top four seeds, regardless if they're a conference champion or not, will get a first round buy. So let's take a look at the rankings on the screen right now and we'll get our immediate reaction. And and we show you the top 12. So BYU and Utah are the first and second teams out. Once we show you the bracket, you see Alabama now they took a slide down six spots. Mark to number 10. Notre Dame again at number nine. They're at eight and two. Feels like they might be at their ceiling. Oklahoma rises three. Oregon up one. They're nine and one. We're going to talk about the Ducks. They have a huge test we with USC that rose this week to number 15. Ole Miss sitting there at number six. Texas Tech now inside the top five. Georgia, they move up a spot because of Alabama's loss. And 1, 2 and 3 Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A and M remains the same Mark, I'll start with you and we'll start with Alabama. Slide down to number 10. How are you feeling about that position right now?
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A
I mean they deserve that. You go in and have three turnovers, you know, botch, snap, hold and kick.
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B
Yeah.
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A
When you lose a game like that and is very self inflicted against a good Oklahoma defense who, you know, obviously forced the turnovers, obviously you're going to slide and you're going to be behind the team you lost to. So two losses. It's fair for them to be in there. They're lucky they're not lower. They can still control their own destiny. As far as the playoff goes because you dropped to that 11:12 spot, now you're in trouble because obviously the group of six gets promoted. Big 12 champs going to be in there. So that 10 spot ultimately lets them control their own destiny. Still with this ranking that they gave them. So they deserve it, but they still got everything to play for ahead of.
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C
Them, still in position to get themselves back to the playoffs. Coach, what jumped out to you this week?
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B
I just, every time I look at this, I just wish I was a coach in this era. You know, I look at some of the great teams I had that lost a game and they're out and I'm looking. These teams are all still alive. I mean there's got to be paths taken and all that. But great players are still playing. Fan bases are still engaged. I am all into the cfa, USC.
- [04:03]
A
Still in this thing.
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B
Absolutely.
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C
Very much so.
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B
I'm going to tell you this, Mark. I think if they beat Oregon, they're in there.
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A
They'll be in the.
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B
They're in. And I think Oregon might be out. Yeah. Because you look at their. They have no wins.
- [04:15]
A
Yeah.
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B
And this committee. Here's what I'm going to say too is I think, I think we need to keep looking at reform and I think CFP and the committee is doing great. This is not a shot. I loved when the Big Ten and Tony Petitti came up with that 442211 where basically all the committee did was seed.
- [04:35]
A
Yeah.
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B
You know, the Big Ten got a certain amount of teams and they were playing games. You know, the SEC, the Big 12, you wish it would somehow equate it. But I, I just don't know how a committee. I'm looking at this and you know I'm going to make a point on Big Noon that if I'm byu, I'm probably going to lose. You know, they got to beat Cincinnati. But if I'm the head Coach, in my mind, I not only got to win, I got to win big.
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A
Yeah.
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B
You know, because the style points. There's people sitting in that room watching these scores that really can't watch the game because they really don't know what they're watching. I'm not being disrespectful, but they're going to look at a score and say, okay, not only win, but win with style points. That's why I'm just, I'm hoping someday there's the play in by conferences and it's very simple. You play yourself into it. You're not relying on people making decisions on who's in, who's out. Decisions are made on the field.
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A
The Big 12 is sitting there with three teams in the top 12. You know, BYU, they win, they get a rematch with Texas Tech. If they beat Texas Tech, both teams go like. And then Utah sitting there at 12. You know, the group of six isn't in this bracket, so one team is sliding out so well.
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C
These are just the, these are just the rankings. Let's show you the bracket right now. The group of six team is Tulane sitting there at the top left. They are your 12 seed and they are taking on. Speaking of the Big 12 as of now, Texas Tech, your number five seed. But Mark, it's a great point because there's Texas Tech all the way up there at 4, 5 and BYU has great value. Imagine if BYU wins the round two, the head to head in the conference championship, which would mean they both go in.
- [06:13]
B
They're both in.
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C
And now Texas Tech is going to get in as well. That's. Things fall down. Utah can sneak in.
- [06:20]
B
Keep that thought. First of all, byu, I don't know if they can. We've, we've seen, I think Texas Tech is one of the top teams in the country. They got, they're real, real. I'm saying, does a BYU loss in the Big 12 championship game, do they get in with a. Only quality win is Utah, which is a quality win.
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A
Yeah, but then you say if they lose two times to Tech, does Utah jump them with one loss?
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C
Utah might jump them. Might. But I don't know if it's going to be enough. The ACC is intriguing again. Miami right now holding on to that number 11 spot in the bracket because they are the highest seated ACC team.
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A
But remember, the ACC champ is going to go so they might get a.
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C
Big stretch for Miami to even get to the ACC championship game. So now you're saying, can Miami keep moving up and somehow hold on to A spot regardless. If they make the champion, it's not them. And now we're talking. Do two ACC teams get in? That's a big one again. Miami beat Notre Dame head to head. That Notre Dame head to head game is going to be massive. Notre Dame there at the number nine spot in the bracket and with what they have left on their schedule, they're, they're at their, they're at their current ceiling. I, I don't know how they get any higher unless there's just full on chaos ahead of them. But they're not going to earn their ticket higher. It's going to have to be somebody falling out.
- [07:43]
A
But that's a good point though. Like Miami beat Notre Dame and they're sitting there behind them in the rankings. You know, I think it's just the timing of the losses, you know what I mean? But everyone else, prior to this week, the head to heads were ahead of their people that they beat. Alabama was ahead of Georgia, Georgia was a hell of Ole Miss and Notre Dame was sitting there ahead of Miami even though Miami won the head to head. So still interesting, man. A lot of, a lot of movement, man, that's going to be taking place here. Look how big that Alabama loss is though. You go from having a first round by to having to go to Eugene, Oregon to Austin. Like every game matters. Every game counts.
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C
So that's a, that's a big swing. I want to hit a topic here, coach. I'm going to tee it up here. I know you want to talk about it. I'm looking at the top 25 teams. The SEC has nine in the top 25, five in the top 10, five in the bracket. So as of now, five SEC teams are going. Earlier in the season we were saying how strong, how mighty the Big Ten was. This week there are six Big Ten programs inside the top 25, three in the top seven, three in the bracket. It definitely is starting to feel like the SEC is separating itself from the Big Ten.
- [08:50]
B
It is. They're back. Obviously they got to go in the national title, but as far as strength and depth of conference, you know, it would hard to say even the last two years with Ohio State and Wolverines winning the national championship, that top to bottom, certainly the top was won by the Big Ten. I watch and I watch a lot of it. I watch it on tv, but I also flip it on my computer. It's different. Mark, the SEC is back. Is the top conference in college football. I look at Alabama schedule and I know I listen to you every week. Talk about them. It's every week, man.
- [09:21]
A
It's every week.
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B
Every week. And there's somehow. How do you. How do you quantitatively, as a committee member, say what you're seeing? Teams that have played no. 1, right. I shouldn't say no. 1, but relatively speaking to the SEC.
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C
Schedule, Coach, Ohio State, what do they have a win over Texas? That's.
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A
Coach, we were just talking earlier. You're talking about Ohio State having a load management, like, amazing.
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B
You think? Coach Deborah, let's get him on podcast and ask about load management. He's going to say, what the eff are you load.
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D
What?
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B
I'm trying to win a game. Yeah, same with Ole Miss.
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A
Yeah.
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C
Y.
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B
You know, let's talk to Lane Kiffin about load management.
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C
By the way, Ohio State, Indiana, right. Sitting there on that collision course to the Big Ten championship game. And a couple Saturdays in Indianapolis. One versus two. And again, they are in load management mode. Indiana's on a bye week again. We're going to talk to Fernando Mendoza on the triple option tomorrow. Ohio State, they have Rutgers at home. And then, of course, the game at Michigan the following Saturday. One program not listed here in the top 25, but a program that used to be in national title contention, Virginia Tech. The Hokies today making a big move. They filled their vacancy at head coach as they pulled former Penn State coach James Franklin down to Blacksburg. This news. Mark had been coming. We had heard about it on Saturday, and they finally closed the deal here on Tuesday. You think this is a good move for both parties?
- [10:49]
B
Well, yeah.
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A
Go ahead.
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B
Go ahead. I'm sorry, Mark.
- [10:51]
A
No, no, you go ahead.
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D
Coach.
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A
You to coach.
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B
Yeah, I don't think it's a good one. It is a great one.
- [10:55]
D
Great one.
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B
Yeah. I'm a. I'm a. I'm a James Franklin fan. I coached against him. You know, it's all well documented about the. The top of the food chain. He just couldn't quite get there, but, you know, a lot of people didn't. He's still a quality coach that won a high percentage of his games at a tough spot. I think it's a great. You know, I wrote this down here, Mark, and I'll let you kind of run with it, but I have Dan Lanning, Jason Ryan, Day, Kirby Smart, Lincoln Rally, Sharon Moore, Venerables, Freeman. These are all the hotshot coordinators that got jobs back when I was a young coach, Mark, you had to go to the Mac.
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A
Yeah.
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B
You had to go to the. The smaller conferences and work your way up because that was very rare. I think Bob Stoops was one of the first ones to ever go from a coordinator to a blue blood. It just didn't happen. And then you have the old, you know, you got Lane, Kiffin, Sark, you know, James Franklin, DeBoer, Signetti, Elko. I just was writing down. These are guys that have worked their way up. You know, they're established coaches. So. And I, you know, I have friends that are assistant ads and. And you know, behind the scenes, talking to them a little bit. That's a hell of a decision right now. You know the hot shot coordinators at Oregon, two excellent coordinators. How about the hot shot coordinators at Indiana? What about Brian Hartline? You know, those guys normally would do what they would go take a Bowling Green job, a Toledo job, a Memphis, a Houston, like Tom Herman did when he left Ohio State, and then the Texas would go get them because of salaries. Mark, you're not going to the Mac anymore, right?
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D
You're.
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B
You're take. You're gonna. You're gonna go from 2 million to $500,000. You can't do that to your family with no stability. So now an AD has to pull the string on a guy that he really doesn't know. And it's a. This is a. It's a complex world out there right now because of. Do you. Do you go with established guy that maybe, you know, the fan base is like, why? You know, there's a Manny Diaz who's a hell of a coach, but he failed at Miami. Do you take an Al Golden. He failed at Miami. Do you take it or do you go get a young guy that, like when they did, you know, Coach Day when they did that? Not sure. More Lincoln, Riley, Kirby, Smart, Lanning, and then of course, Marcus Freeman. That worked out great. Do you take a young gun that without the experience, or do you go with the person that sat in a chair before?
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A
Well, yeah, I mean, I think this is a great job for Virginia Tech and shout out to, you know, coach James Franklin landed. We knew he would land on his feet quick, especially with all these job openings. But Virginia Tech is a place that known to have a tradition, known to have a history. I mean, when I was growing up, Virginia Tech was like one of the premier places in college football. And so for them to get a guy who has been nothing but a winner, a guy who is a culture changer, a program changer, just kind of, you know, ran out of juice in Penn State, you know, I mean, it was kind of like a. A Part that they had to have. And. But at the end of the day, man, he's still a winner and a great coach and a great human being. I think he's a great asset for that program down there in Blacksburg, a program who's trying to get back to supremacy not in college football, but also the acc.
- [13:59]
C
And guess what? Now they know what they're doing. Now they know what their path is, and now they can start recruiting and now they can start pulling in players. And again, there's all these programs out there who don't have a head coach right now, and. And a lot of those dudes are ready to hit the portal and go, and you can start poaching and start building your team right now. And again, there's all these vacancies out there, guys, right now.
- [14:19]
A
Who are they going to hire, Stone?
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C
That's my point. Who are they going to hire? And I'm not saying there's not qualified people out there, but some of these programs, I mean, the LSU is, the Florida's, the Penn States, these are. These are like career goals.
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A
Yes.
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C
To get there.
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B
Right.
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C
Like, this is open in my lifetime. That is amazing. And if the candidate is not there, and we have seen so much change in college football the last couple of years, it would not surprise me in the least if one of these programs, and I'm not saying it's going to be an LSU or Florida or some of these others, but if somebody out there just says, you know what?
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A
I'm going to.
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C
We. We don't have the guy or gal in line that we want right now, and we're going to kick that can down for another year and we're going to sit and we're going to have somebody be an interim again because who knows?
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A
Who knows?
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C
But do you think. Do you think I know, Coach? Do you think Virginia Tech thought a James Franklin would be available this year? No chance. They thought they'd be watching him in December and January fight for a national title. So maybe a program out there is going to be like, you know what? Wide receiver coach D. Coordinator. Why don't you handle this for another year? Maybe you. Maybe you earn it. Maybe you get your stripes and we sit and wait for. For something. Maybe that's better to fall into our lap.
- [15:32]
A
It's going to be interesting, man. It's going to be some more fire coaches getting hired, too. A little shuffling of the. You know what I mean, chess pieces.
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C
Yeah. This was just a minor chip. I don't mean that in dis. I don't mean that to this only November 18th stone.
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A
We got a lot. It's about to get crazy dog.
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C
Coming up next on the triple option, Mark picks his deuce Deuce Dog of the week and we sound off on the Heisman Race Light It's Breakfast might be the most important choice you make all day. That's because with Wendy's two for three Buck breakfast, you can mix and match your very own perfect pairing of our delicious morning favorites with this breakfast deal. The choice is all yours, not someone else's.
- [16:15]
A
Mark and isn't that how it should be? It's your breakfast after all, not Martha's. She could pick up her own breakfast.
- [16:22]
C
Get your own breakfast, Martha.
- [16:24]
A
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- [16:46]
B
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C
The game of the week is Oregon hosting USC, a former Pac 12 matchup turned Big Ten game with major playoff implications.
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B
Coach Ducks and Trojans, two of the biggest brands in college football with a lot of talent at the quarterback position. Excited to see this one play out.
- [17:22]
C
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A
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- [18:05]
C
Triple Option must be 21 + and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost Tokens restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler or visit fanduel.com rg call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chatincenetic or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 843 27-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY in New York. We're counting down the days to one of the greatest clashes of the college football season. The Army Navy game presented by USAA.
- [19:01]
A
This year marks the 126th meeting of the Black Knights and Midshipmen and both will be going all out in their quest for victory and and the chance to sing second.
- [19:10]
B
As a proud presenter, USA knows this game is about so much more than football. It's a time for fans to come together, recognize the commitment, teamwork and sacrifice our service members that make for our country.
- [19:23]
A
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- [19:37]
C
So whether you're rooting for army or for Navy, USAA is proud to join you in honoring and celebrating one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. Visit USAA.com to learn more. Welcome back to the Triple Option. Rob. Mark Urban here with you. Time now for the Deuce Deuce Dog of the One week Mark we're gonna get coach to do the Dog of the week sound effect One week he.
- [20:07]
A
Got his headphones off. He only want to listen to the dog.
- [20:09]
C
No, I know he does. You and I are the ones who enjoy the dog. Sorry, who's your dog that hurts your ears?
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A
Coach or something?
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B
I can't take it.
- [20:21]
A
But you don't want to hear this because my Dog of the week is an R beast. Ahmad Hardy, one of my favorite running backs of this whole college football season. He's been toting around. He went 25 carries, 300 yards and three touchdowns. You know what that is? 12 yards of carry Stoner. He had a 72 yard touchdown run, a 43 yard touchdown run, a 10 yard touchdown run. He can give it to you how you want it. You want him to run inside and break tackles. One of the best tackle breaker in the nation. Oh, you want him to hit a home run, 72 yards to the crib. Oh, you want him to be physical. You want him to be elusive? Yeah, he really is like that. You know, I'm the RB guru and I'm giving him his documents because he is a certified R beast and dog of the week of my hardy.
- [21:08]
C
Get those documents notarized. There you go, coach. That's what you got to match next week. All right? That was your fresh take of the week, presented by Wendy's. Join team Tendies and enjoy a lineup like never before. Crispy, juicy Tendies now at Wendy's. Time now to sound off. It's a great one this week. Texas Tech, they continue to roll towards the college football playoffs. Their head coach, Joey McGuire, one of our favorites here at the triple option, also trying to get one of his defensive players to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Here's Joey McGuire after last weekend's win.
- [21:48]
A
It's incredible, you know, and everybody's talking about quarterbacks for Heisman.
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D
So we put him at quarterback today, scored a touchdown. But right before that interception, I said.
- [21:57]
A
Man, get the ball back.
- [21:58]
C
Let's get end zone so we can get two out.
- [22:01]
A
He got the ball back for me.
- [22:03]
C
Listen, coach isn't wrong, right? Man, get. Get your star a little bonus limelight. And I think Joey coach absolutely nailed it last weekend.
- [22:11]
B
Yeah, right. When I became a head coach, I. Josh Harris is my quarterback of Bowling Green. And. And I actually dove into the SID and said, we got. What are we doing? You know, let's start selling this guy. Yeah, it. I had people say, is that the job of a head coach? You're damn right it is. Those players play their ass off for you. They get everything they deserve. I've done. I've done to the point where I remember, I think it was jt that we're playing the team that I knew we were going to beat bad. And I said to the coordinator, I said, throw it every down, you know, and he had like five touchdowns in the first half, and one was on the one yard line. And they're like, I'm listening to headsets and I hear a run play. I said, no, I told you to throw the ball. Why am I doing that? Because I think it's an obligation of the coach to fight for his players. And so I love that. And would you expect anything less from that guy? No, Joey, Coach, I mean, that guy's tremendous. He's a former high school coach, which tells you about what kind of how he cares about his players. I love that guy. I love that program, I think they're doing great, man.
- [23:09]
A
I love that. I love that coach. And I love that baller right there, Jacob Rodriguez. He said, oh, it's a quarterback award. Well, let me line them up at the QB then. Let's get this boy some love. Let's get this boy some attention. And he deserves that attention because they are one of the best teams in the country and they have one of the best defenses in the country. It's because they have the best defensive player in the country. So not only quarterbacks deserve love, running backs deserve love, receivers deserve love. An impact player, the best player in the country. That's who wins this award right here. Oh, oh, I can't get it. Look, look, look. That award right there, Coach. Best player in the country. That's who wins that award. Not the best quarterback. There's awards.
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B
If I was in charge of the Heisman, I'd invite 10 people every year.
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A
It's a lot of money, coach. You bring it first class.
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C
A lot of per team in New.
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A
York, New York City, boss. I'm part of the Heisman's trust now, you know, I mean, a lot of. That's a lot of money, coach.
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B
I'd send all 10, man. It's too good of. I've been there probably seven. It's.
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A
It's a tremendous experience, man.
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C
And Rodriguez deserves to be in New York in December. I think we all agree with that. And that little moment, that little flash created some conversation also, let's be honest, it. It helped bring more eyeballs to Texas Tech and their amazing story because, yes, there still are some people over there who are overlooking the Red Raiders. And Coach McGuire is doing his best to sell his players and sell his program and, and I hope they get themselves into the college football playoffs. I think that would a good thing for college football. You know what's a good thing for college football right now?
- [24:44]
A
What?
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C
Who is it? What are they chanting? Bloomington.
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A
Heisman Dozer. Heisman Dozer.
- [24:52]
C
If you've ever. If you've never seen Urban Meyer excited during an interview, that's about to change. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Listen, if you're an NFL head coach or NFL gm, listen up right now because you're going to listen to Mendoza after this conversation. You're going to go, let's move up the draft board and let's get him. That's coming up next on the triple option presented by Wendy's.
- [25:12]
A
And that's facts.
- [25:15]
C
Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's. Rob Stone, Mark Ingram, Urban Meyer, we are proud to be joined right now by the quarterback of number two, Indiana Heisman candidate Fernando Mendoza. I call him the nicest guy in college football. If you ever listen to his postgame interviews, pre game interviews, always a smile like I can, I can sense your mom is watching and saying, that's my boy. He's, he's doing good. He's doing.
- [25:38]
B
Hey, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob.
- [25:39]
C
I know, coach, I know.
- [25:40]
B
I don't, I don't call him that.
- [25:42]
C
I know. What do you call him?
- [25:43]
B
He's a freaking baller, man.
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C
Okay.
- [25:46]
B
No, you know what I call this guy?
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C
The Smiling Assassin.
- [25:49]
A
You know what I call him? Because when we went to Indiana, they had the most fire name for my boy. They call him Heisman Dozer. Yeah, that's pretty good name, Heisman Dozer.
- [26:00]
C
Listen, man, you, you know, you hear that, that name and that chant during the game, right? You can't deny it.
- [26:06]
D
Yeah, I mean, I'm not gon night. The student section is loud. I hear them. And first of all, Mr. Stone, Coach Meyer, Mr. Ingram, I appreciate you guys for having me on. Big fan of the show and it's just a pleasure to be here.
- [26:15]
A
I appreciate you, Fernando.
- [26:16]
B
I'm going to jump right into it because they have all this stuff about all this, like how do you feel about this? I don't care about how you feel. I care about your performance. I don't know you well, but I know you well. And I can't tell you the respect that the three of us have for you and your team, your coach, what you've done there. So let's dive right into the nasty. And that is you get sacked in a two minute drive, it's for, it's second down and 27. I'm watching this thing like Hawk, you run 151, if I remember right, no timeouts and you got to go score a touchdown. And that's a whole different animal than like what Oregon had. So take us through. I'm going to break this into two segments. The first one is to get down to the seven yard line. You ran the same play three times, the four vertical play. And I want, I want you to focus on a couple things for the viewers and listeners. First of all, how often did you practice that? And then what was your mindset? So again, I know I probably can imagine how many times knowing your coach, knowing you, known your coordinator, how many times have you practiced that? So you're in your mind. And then take us to your mindset not to, not when you score, it I'm going to cover that in a minute. But to get to the seven yard line.
- [27:31]
D
Yeah, for sure. Well, first off, like you mentioned, taking a sack. Taking a sack, especially in two minute drives is one of the commandments on what not to do. So that put us back and if the analytical guys will say that cut our chances of hat in half, if not even worse. And that was totally on me. There's a little bit of miscommunication at that point. I thought that we needed to go ahead of the sticks. However, since we had a 151 left, we were actually ahead of the clock at that instance. So at that point I should have taken the check down, right? There were a little influence route. I waited a little too long, got sacked. However, I think our offense was able to rally on a lot of good plays, especially four verticals like you talked about. Luckily they called, they called a couple coverages. They called cover nine, cover two and man to man against our three vertical four vertical plays. Luckily they did not call cover four because that would kind of tough and I would have to try to come down one of my boundary or field comebacks. But the first one they called was cover nine and that is a coverage that they had a flat top of 5 DBs. The two middle, kind of the two like middle safeties that come down and play the curl flag kind of hook the fenders out of a more elevated stance so they wouldn't be as low so they could protect the pass and protect against four verticals and then they play a three high structure behind it. I was able to, able to look off the safety and be able to hit my boundary seam. Our, I would say our default rules, especially in four verticals is when you know it's tricky coverage or when you don't know exactly what the coverage is post snap is to go field, seam boundary, seam boundary comeback, then down to the back. Usually because we have the back to the field and against any two eyes coverage, the mic or the middle defender is usually going to relate to speed, which we usually have the field and relate to number three, which we have the field as well. So although I, in that instance I knew it was cover nine, I was able to, you know, take the safety where I wanted to go. And in that instance you don't really.
- [29:21]
B
Go anywhere but all right, second time it was a two, what do you call the two high structure? Two.
- [29:26]
D
Yeah, they play kind of like their two joker structure where it's, it's a little similar and they have this, this middle safety who Is really reading off the quarterback size and really playing off that speed. And so we had speed of the field there. We had number three, Omar Cooper Jr. Who made the fantastic catch. And so when I caught, when I caught the ball, I looked over there, I saw his hips turn, his hips and eyes turn. So that point, all I knew I needed to just beat that boundary curl defender and beat that boundary safety. And once I saw that safety go over the top to the outside receiver defending the whole shot, I just knew that I needed to put some arc and layer on it over that hook defend after that, that kind of like the hook curl defender in order to make that completion. Because I knew the other guy, the joker had his hips to. To the speed.
- [30:10]
C
I got coach's face right now. Hold on, look at, look at your.
- [30:13]
B
Face I've ever heard.
- [30:15]
C
This is what I'm saying.
- [30:16]
B
Fernando.
- [30:17]
C
Look at his style. This is as intense and happy as.
- [30:20]
B
He'S been in years. Now you got matchup. Now they play one high man and I think backers talk to us about.
- [30:26]
D
That one eye man. They play matchups. Personally we knew, I mean pes great team. They have five and four stars across the board. I mean they are a really talented team. Their, their field corner, Harris was he. He's a stud. He's a stud. And not that another corner isn't, but we knew we liked the matchup on number two better than we liked on number four. And my roommate Charlie Becker was one on one on the boundary. And although he wasn't the star leading receiver guy the entire year, that's his specialty. His specialty is jump balls. And so although he's a speed guy, he's wearing a lot of speed routes and one downfield, he is comfortable catching the ball with this with his hands like that. And so that I knew that at that point all I needed to do, I knew it was so close, especially the red zone. Everything is condensed. I knew just for a second, just have your eyes on the safety and this put it up there for him. And I knew that at that point it'd either be a PI. That'd be great a catch which it wasn't fantastic or an incomplete pass to the sideline. So at that point, hey, we have a lot of time in the clock at that point we're way ahead of the clock. It was like 40 or 50 seconds around the 20 yard line, I believe 20, 30 yard line. So at that point I knew that we were good on time. So with those three scenarios on a first down, I knew that we Were good.
- [31:35]
B
All right, now I know where you got three more hours to do this. Here we go. Seven yard line. This shit's unbelievable, Rob. Seven yard line. He dials up blitz zero. Three snaps in a row. I think he went empty. Then a tight end nub and you hit the. Was it Omar Cooper who made the cat?
- [31:53]
E
Oh, mark Cooper.
- [31:54]
B
Cooper Jr. Right, for Cooper. Yeah. So. So take us through the empty. They brought blitz zero. They hit you. The second one, they hit you again. Almost a pick.
- [32:03]
D
Yeah.
- [32:04]
B
And then the third one, Coupe ran the same route. It was at right to the goal post. So take us through those three blitz zero plays. Mindset go for sure.
- [32:13]
D
And. But I first want to give us, you know, kind of a like a shout out, but just my praise to. To defensive coordinator coach Jim Knowles. I mean, he really threw the kitchen sink at us and he had a really good plan. And it was this close. Like I said, it was this close to being a pick and Penn State getting out of there and upstate, the number two team in the nation. And we're really. I mean, I'm feeling a lot differently about the game, and a lot of people, The Hoosier nation, are feeling a lot differently about the game. But the first play we saw us cover zero, we had bunch of the field and we had what we called. Well, I actually should probably say what it's called, but. But we. We had a concept where we had a corner route, a situation. Yeah, we had a corner route, a sit route and a slant, a corner, a flat and a. And kind of like a rub slant. And we were taught that, hey, in that bunch, if they're playing in and out coverage, let's see if. Let's go and work that high. The high load of the field because they're going to outnumber them there. However, how they play the bunch, they played a really soft and man and just straight up blocked it. And so at that point when I knew that they were soft, I was like, the corner routes probably not be too great. The flat route's not going to be great, but what's going to be great is the slant route coming in the vision because not only do we have leverage on that because he's playing outside leverage on the receiver, but also it's soft cover, so it won't give the DB that much time. I just know that I can't leave the receiver too much because he's. When the DB sees that he's going to try to get to that breaking point of the slant, he's going to Try to Malcolm Butler that ball. So that point actually Charlie so he can get the ball, get in 3 yards or even better, break the tackle and score. And that ball got tipped by one of the. By one of the blitzers. One of the COVID zero blitzers. Cause we're outnumbered in the box. And so that was a little bit disappointing. And so then we had to go to our second play. Our second play was the same play. It was. It was essentially just two fades or it was kind of like, you know, a fade of the boundary. And it was a post route or kind of like a. Like a through route and a spray post. And then the third play was, you know, a. Like a. Throughout and a go. But we were trying to get the same thing. And we knew against Cover zero we wanted that. That spray post. Yeah, I mean, that's spray post, the. The through and like kind of like the beine route. Because we know we like the matchup, especially coupe on a safety. And also if we were to try to throw something like a quick out or a bubble, they played clamp coverage on that. And that would be kind of tough, especially to heel. Yeah, the.
- [34:33]
B
There you go, Rob.
- [34:35]
A
Yeah, that's ball right there, man.
- [34:36]
C
Coach is happy, man.
- [34:37]
A
Hey, hey. That's real ball. Like, when I'm listening to you talk, man, I play with Drew Brees, the first ballot hall of Famer. I'm hearing a lot of him, like, just the knowledge of route concepts, the knowledge of coverages, the knowledge of knowing how to go through your progressions, who's going to be your. Your man beater, your zone beater, where your matchup winner is, where your check down is. When did you get to a point where you were so knowledgeable and detailed in your preparation and also your film review where you could be able to recite this stuff? Because if I'm an NFL draft scout, right now I'm watching this and I'm drooling at the mouth. So, like, when did you know from your preparation from. From. From your film review that you would be so detailed and be able to know all this stuff like that?
- [35:21]
D
Yeah. So it's funny enough they actually mentioned Drew Brees because in New Orleans, I actually got my weekly process through a lineage of kind of Drew Brees. So Drew Brees has weekly process where he's doing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And he was played with a guy named Chase Daniel or he was friends with him. I don't know. He gave it to him. Chase Daniel was with Justin Herbert at the LA Chargers, and at The LA Chargers, my quarterback coach now, Chandler Whitmer, was with them and was, was in that room. So what he did is he, you know, being. He was at that point be the assistant quarterback coach. He took those notes, took every that process, what they're doing, what Chase Daniel learned from Drew Brees and what he was teaching Justin Herbert so Justin Herbert can become the superstar that he is.
- [36:04]
A
Right.
- [36:05]
D
And when he got to Indiana, he's like, hey, this is how we're going to do things. This is what we're going to do Monday, you can do Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. And then also how we're going to review our game plan and our game plan plays. To be able to have that attention to detail in order to be ready for those moments to be ready instead of, you know, confused. And when the lights get bright, you're able to dim them a little bit and be all right, uncover them. Hey, I know what this is doing. This is what I looked on on Tuesday, this is what I looked at on Wednesday. And so I think that's really helped my process a lot. And I'm still in a never ending journey of learning. I am, I still have a long way to go. There's still a lot of mistakes I've made throughout the season that I've learned from. There's other people mistakes on film that I've learned from as well. And so I enjoy learning. I enjoy learning football and it's what I like to do and it's what I love to do. So at any point that I could always learn more about football is a great opportunity. Like for example, actually my, my, you know, me and my quarterback coach, Coach Ma, we actually, we actually watched your two minute drill breakdown and we loved it. We were just there in the, in the office having a good time watching it. So.
- [37:05]
B
Oh, the three different, the. What was it? Tempo, fast and chunks.
- [37:09]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah, real quick, Fernando.
- [37:14]
D
Yeah, yeah, good coach. I mean, I'm a young player, you know, I'm only 22 years old. I cannot criticize, you know, the college football legend and the coach, just the overall coaching legend of Coach Meyer. I mean, he got it right. I mean, that's someone that, you know, like we said, we watch the breakdowns, learn.
- [37:29]
B
So how often did you practice that scenario?
- [37:33]
D
So our defense is extremely, extremely touted and strong, especially with such a strong defensive coordinator and just strong personnel across the board. So coach, Coach Signetti always made sure in practice, especially a lot of fall camp practice, always end the day or most of the days with a Two minute drill with a one minute drill. And although he was an offensive guy, you know, I'm, you know, I love coach Signetti to death. However, I think he gave a lot of advantage to the defense. He always put us in a. Not a great situation or a situation that we had to, you know, dig ourselves out of a hole. And I think that really prepped us for when we play Penn State when it's loud, you know, they're playing their song Mo Bamba. You're hearing it, the stadium's shaking and. And we need to go down there after taking a sack and lead an 80 or 90 yard drive to go in the game.
- [38:21]
A
Yeah.
- [38:22]
C
You bring up coach Signetti, a fascinating character in college football right now. Curious. We heard his post game interview after the win and the comeback at Penn State. What was his message? What was his tone in the locker room?
- [38:38]
D
Yeah, Coach Signetti is, I'm sure, I'm sure Mr. Ingram can relate. I mean being from the saving tree, I don't know. After you're actually there with, with.
- [38:48]
A
Yep, yep. Coach Signetti actually recruited me. He was the first person I saw from the University of Alabama at my house. So I'm familiar with coaching Nettie very, very well.
- [38:56]
D
I say that he tells that story about you and then Julio Jones a lot, so which is great. But although we won, he's never satisfied. He's never satisfied. And you know, we were supposed to beat Penn State by more, but he said that he was proud of the team. The way that we battle this team is no quit, which is extremely important to have any team because there's always going to be slip ups and any power forward team at this point can beat any other Power 4 team, especially in the role of nil and how college has. The college sports has balanced out. So we never going to take a win for granted. However, he said, I'm proud of you guys. I love you guys. Now however, when I watch the film on the playing home and we meet on a Monday, it's probably not going to be as pretty as we feel right now, but we got to keep on trudging, keep on working and keep on getting better from this.
- [39:38]
B
How much freedom do you get at the, at the line of scrimmage at iu get to get in the right play?
- [39:46]
D
Yeah. Offensive staff, coach Shanahan, coach Signetti, coach Whitmer, I mean there's so many. And coach bot the O line coach, they do such a great job of detailing this, the scenarios that we can go through in different games and, and Just really kind of not even giving me full autonomy, but just giving the center and myself full autonomy. So me and the center, the center and I, Pat Coogan, have a really, really good relationship. We, we watch film together, we talk about, you know, the looks, the third down blitzes, the third down mix ups, the normal down and distance blitzes, you know, where they're doing the red zone. And so we're on the same page. And if there is anything ever unscouted, we'll, we'll kind of bounce off each other and we both trust each other. So if he really is, you know, indicative of something and he really sees it, then, hey, we'll roll with that and vice versa. There's been a couple of times that if I'm really indicative on something, I'm like, hey, I see it just because I'm standing up and he's in, you know, is his stance. You know, we'll, we'll change the call to that. But I would say not only learning from our great coaches, but also learning from Coogan, who was a starting center in the national championship last year, has helped my knowledge on protections and just autonomy at the line exponentially.
- [40:51]
A
Man, you came from, you from South Florida, man. You went out to Cal, now you're a Hoosier. Indiana had a big year last year, obviously in coaching Eddie's first year. You guys are number two in the country right now and I could tell that you're a leader. I could tell that you guys believe in each other. I could tell that there's like this us against the world mentality. You guys can't be denied. Right. When did you guys start believing as a group that this type of season could be possible for you all?
- [41:18]
D
Yeah. So I would think that Coach Igniting just, he's always been a big believer and big instructor on not listening to the outside noise. A lot of the outside noises saying, hey, Indiana, hey. They're a great one, one hit wonder. And a lot of teams in the portal that was getting recruited by it was, hey, this is, this is a safe bet. We've been a blue blood forever, you know, Indiana, who knows what's going to happen next year just because especially college football, like, you know, it's tough, it's tough. The, the blue bloods are the blue bloods for a reason. They have, you know, the support. However, I really believe that Coach Ignay was going to be able to develop myself and the best Fernando Mendoza I can become. And I think that everybody else in the program believes that not only they're going to become the best version of themselves, but they're going to do that by believing in each other, by not really chasing their own stats or own fame or own glory. I think that's our superpower. Our superpower is playing like a band of brothers together. We play together and we're not really focused on individual statistics or prowess in that sense. And I think that's what's helped us and be so resilient throughout, throughout our games. Whether it's number three, Oregon coming back and leading the game winning drive, whether it's Iowa in a super hostile environment or whether it's Penn State. I think that us playing together and us being one unit, one heartbeat, one offense, one defense, one special teams all together has really not only struck the belief in us, but it's also that we're all so close off the field that we believe in each other. So I throw a pick against Oregon, number three, Oregon, and it's a pick six. Our defense only left 13 points against, you know, you know, Will, Will Steins and Dante Morris, Oregon. And I give, I give Oregon seven more points or starting All American linebacker Aiden Fisher comes up to me, he's like, hey, we're good. We believe in you. You're a guy, right? And he's all American captain on defense. And that is stemmed from, you know, being so close to all the defensive guys and offensive guys throughout the off season that we're able to believe in each other no matter what the circumstances.
- [43:13]
A
I love it.
- [43:13]
B
Let me, let me ask you this, let me ask you this, Fernando. Leadership style of Sig. So is he. He's a CEO and he lets her coordinators do the work. And obviously he's got an offensive background. Is it more the. He coaches the coordinators and they coach you. Is that the kind of leadership style that your experience under Sig?
- [43:35]
D
Yeah. So I would say that Signetti is an offensive guy. So I would say the defensive side. Coach Haynes is a lot of autonomy. And from what I could see, obviously I don't see everything that's behind the scenes. And I don't want to give a, you know, 100% clear cut answer, but I would say that he works a lot with those offensive guys. And whenever I walk into Coach Ignite's office all day, all night, he's always watching film. There's always, even when you're talking him, he is watching film up there. I'm like, what's up, Coach? We're talking about something. He's like, sometimes won't even take your Won't even take the eyes to you. He's so locked in the film, which I appreciate. I want to be, you know, prepared for the next game. I want to make sure that not only I know everything, but our head coach knows everything. And so he's in the office of meetings every single day coaching with our offensive coordinator, and I'm assuming coaching and coaching with our offensive coordinator in order to get the best game plan in that week.
- [44:25]
C
Has he brought you over to his house? Do we. Do we know what the signetti layout is back home?
- [44:32]
D
So this summer we were able to go to his house for. It was like official visit season, and we were able to go to his house, a couple of our current players and a couple recruits and. And yeah, it's a. It's a great house as a basketball court. Has a pool. A lot of guys are playing pool, basketball. So it was a good time.
- [44:48]
C
Does he have his own little film room down there? Secret lock and key?
- [44:52]
D
You know, I. I actually didn't ask to go inside the house or I went inside the house. I wasn't asking to go to, you know, the different rooms to get a house store from him at that point. I was like, you know, I'm gonna. I'm gonna save my brownie points where I have them, you know, to get a play installed or. Or something else in that nature. So. I'm sure he does. I'm sure he does.
- [45:12]
C
You're talking about your continuing education in the sport and at that position. So here on the triple option, we'd like to hand it over to you and you get a question to learn about college football and something to make you better or something that intrigues you about the three guys that have been talking to you for the last 20 plus minutes.
- [45:31]
D
Wow, that's. That's, that's great. So let. Let me ask you guys this before. Before I ask the question. What's the best question you guys been asked?
- [45:41]
C
The one you're about to ask?
- [45:43]
A
Boom.
- [45:45]
C
Sorry. Didn't give you much prep time, did I?
- [45:47]
D
Let me.
- [45:48]
A
All right.
- [45:48]
D
First, my start with Mr. Ingram. Mr. Ingram, you played with Drew Brees. He's playing in the state. You played in the Saban tree. You've been through it all. You've been through, you know, the highs of highs, the lows of lows with, with these phenomenal and hall of fame quarterbacks. If you could give me some piece of advice. Playing with Drew Brees and all the other great quarterbacks you've. You've played with. What is some Advice that may not be so mainstream that you would give to me.
- [46:11]
A
They were just the guys, you know what I mean? When I was with, I played with Drew Brees, I played with Lamar Jackson. They were just guys, like, they didn't feel like this untouchable object, like, or that you were scared to be around them, or you were scared to hang with them, or you're scared to go sit down with them and have lunch. Like, I'd be sitting here having lunch with Alvin Camara and Drew would just come plop right down right next to us, you know what I mean? And like, when you have your hall of Fame quarterback coming just to sit and kick it with you, he's not just grabbing his lunch and going to the quarterback, the, the office or into somewhere by himself or to the film room, which he did do that sometimes. But he would come and engulf himself and entrench himself with the guys. And when you have your quarterback, your star quarterback being one of the guys, you can hang with them, you can reach out to them. You, that's like your brother, that's your family. Now, not only do you feel an obligation to do your job because you have to do your job, you feel obligation to do your job because you never want to let that guy down because that is your brother. That's someone you spend time with. You know, his family, you know his kids, you know what he's going through other than just being quarterback, one of the, you know, New Orleans Saints or the Baltimore Ravens. So I would say I could definitely feel that energy from you, but I would say always just be involved with your teammates. You know what I mean? That's not really mainstream. But, but you already said how you guys are close, how Aiden Fisher came up to you and said what he said to you after you threw the interception, how you guys are close as offensive unit, defensive unit, special teams unit. That same camaraderie that, you know, I had with Drew Brees, like I knew I needed to know what, who, who my threats were in third and medium third alarm because I didn't want to get him hit in the back of his head. Not only because it was my job, because that's my boy too. So I think being involved every single day, being entrenched with your brothers, man, I think that's huge. I think that's underrated.
- [47:57]
D
Definitely love it. And then Coach Meyer, I'm actually going to ask you a two part question. I'm going to take the opportunity to ask you a question, run with it here. First, I want to ask you a similar question to Mr. Ingram about what do you think separates the decent, good and great quarterbacks in your. In your career as far as, you know, coaching these guys?
- [48:17]
B
I've been lucky. Starting with Josh Harrison and Alex Smith and Tebow and Chris Leak and I even had Cam Newton for a few years. So the, the. The thing that makes. I think. And I. I would not separate quarterbacks from other positions. Like I think the quarterback has to have the same mentality as a middle linebacker. I think he's got the same mentality as a free safety. Obviously that's leadership. But the, the best quarterbacks, the best coaches, the best everybody ever been around are the competitive nut jobs. I mean where they. You play ping pong with them and you're in a street fight. You know, they come to practice and Tom Brady taught me this one and back. And they won it back to back. I want to say 0405. Bill Belichick's a good friend. He invited me up and think about this, Fernando. It was the last day of minicamp. Mark. You know what that means? Everybody's gtfo.
- [49:10]
D
Yeah.
- [49:11]
A
Get up out of there.
- [49:12]
B
They had a two minute drill. Fernando. I'm watching Tom Brady. He just won two Super Bowls. He's playing. They're in short. They're in shorts and a helmet. He's playing that two minute drill like he's going to go in the Super Bowl. I'm what? I'm. He's ripping people's ass. He's there were. I'm what? I'm in amazement because I've been NFL cast my whole life and usually it's a circle. You know, they just screw off and he wins. They. They score at the end and variables on defense and brusky and. And they throw a sticker out or something for a touchdown and I mean he rips his helmet off to run. They won the Super Bowl. And what did I take from that? I give two shits what route they ran. It was the competitive atmosphere created not by Belichick, by Tom Brady. And that's the number one quality that I see with your team. You. Yeah, you throw a nice bender out. Okay. I know a lot of people do that.
- [50:05]
D
Yeah.
- [50:05]
B
But your team is so competitive. And that's why I coached against that sucker sitting to your right there or left. Ingram. What made him a great player? A competitive nut job. So that's the number one quality. All great players have competitors.
- [50:18]
D
And then my second question is a little kind of a debate that we have in the quarterback Room. What is your favorite cover zero beater or cover zero check? Whether. I mean, there's some guys in the quarterback room that says triple option, you.
- [50:31]
B
Know, so I love empty. I love empty.
- [50:33]
D
I know it's the, you know the.
- [50:35]
A
Podcast name the triple option, but I.
- [50:38]
B
Like the three by one. I like the three by one or three by two. Drift to your three man and run the corner with the two hitches underneath. We used to call that cash. We would check the cash against cover zero by time and lay it out there to the inside corner out.
- [50:52]
D
We do full slide protection there and the quarterback drift over there. Or how would that work?
- [50:56]
B
Well, we had to know deep check from empty. So we turn the guy loose on our left. Drift to your right, throw it and beat the free rush. Beat the free heat with the, with the corner route.
- [51:05]
C
If Fernando, before we let you go, we got to bring up the H word, right. Heisman, how have you elected to handle that noise? Are. Are you embracing it? Are you throwing yourself into it? Are you trying to push it aside? How do we handle the Heisman in Bloomington?
- [51:21]
D
Yeah, like you guys mentioned early in the podcast, I hear when the fans say Heisman Doza, I would love to show you guys to sit here and lie to you guys. And I have the perfect answer. Yeah, I have these earphones that, you know, they'll let me hear that. But it is great. And I really think the Heisman Award, you really see the finalists, I think all the finalists are like on the top four teams in the nation. Like, there's a reason that the quarterback is being nominated as a Heisman, just because of the quarterback of a Heisman like team. And so our team is so competitive and has done. Has had such a great season so far. We got to keep on going. Need to have a strong finish, especially in this stretch of the season, last stretch of the season. But I think it's really just more about the team, the team's performance and team success. And my big, my big thing and Coach Ignetti's big thing is in the. Is be in the present moment.
- [52:06]
B
Yeah.
- [52:06]
D
Whether it's on a game when you drive, game when you play, or it's even the bye week. Be in the present moment. Because next week all my focus right now is on Purdue.
- [52:13]
A
Yeah.
- [52:13]
D
And be. And then if we beat Purdue, then we go to the Big Ten championship, then it'd be the Big Ten championship. And then I want to get too ahead of myself, but then we'd be able to get into the dance and so that's really all my focus on is, you know, doing the most I could do to become the best Fernando Mendoza quarterback and character that I can become today. And then at that point, all the other. All the other, you know, great awards and all the other stuff that it'll all come. So my thing is to really just enjoy the present moment, be the best for an animal that I can become the present moment in order to maximize my opportunities.
- [52:43]
A
To the scouts, man. Yeah, this dude. Hey, whenever you go to the combine, whether it's next year or the year after, they gonna be. They gonna. They gonna love you, dog. They gonna love you.
- [52:51]
C
They're gonna be spooning this down.
- [52:53]
A
They are. They are. We gotta talk about bro for one second before you leave. What's it like playing with bro, dog? Like, that's your dog. Y' all grew up together now y' all in the same quarterback room. He was at Indiana before, right? And then you chose to join him.
- [53:07]
D
So it. When I get on the chessboard, I was able to learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly because my bro's not gonna. He's not gonna BS me, right? You know, he wants the best for his bro, and that's how I really knew that Indiana was a place for me. Seeing myself being three years in college and developing and see how much he's developed in one year, I'm like, damn, this guy's damn near smarter at football IQ than me. And we lived on football IQ our entire lives. And he's my younger brother, so he's kind of like a two year head start on me. And I want him to be better than me. And so when I got here, he was helping with the playbook, helping with the locker room, and it was really a super smooth transition. And being not with him for those three years I was in college and then coming back here, it's amazing to see his development and his growth. I mean, in spring ball, it'd be cool. Completely. Honestly, guys, I can spring ball. This guy was kicking my ass like a big brother. Like, all right, like, I'm gonna even push myself even harder. And that's what we're doing. Really pushing each other even harder. Because whether it's, you know, after summer lifts and we're doing an accuracy competition every single day with the receivers, you know, rating the ball. Hey, who had a better ball in that one? Is it here? Is it here?
- [54:06]
A
Yeah, like, loser has to pay for.
- [54:07]
D
Lunch or just end up becoming an ego thing at that point. Other. But it's just us pushing each other. In practice, us not only, you know, push each other and being competitive, but also be able to. I'm able to go to the sideline like, hey, what do you see here?
- [54:19]
A
Yeah.
- [54:20]
D
And he's able to not only give me. I'm obviously good, great coaching, but also it's. It's also sometimes a little different coming from a player, coming from someone that's in the room, someone who has ads on as well.
- [54:29]
A
Yeah.
- [54:30]
D
That is so special. And, I mean, I can't wait to see him, the blossom into the player he's going to become. And it's such a special experience that I know that evidently it's not going to last forever because, you know, we're. We're. We're different ages. And he's. He's an alpha, and I'm an alpha as well, and he's going to become quarterback one day, but, I mean, it's just so special. And I just really. I mean, it's one of those moments I'm gonna look back at 6 years old like, wow, that was cool, but that was cool.
- [54:55]
A
What a blessing. What a blessing.
- [54:56]
C
Live in the moment, right? Living the moment, right?
- [54:58]
D
Take it.
- [54:59]
C
Take it all in. Fernando, man, thank you so much for joining us on your bye week.
- [55:02]
A
Thank you.
- [55:02]
C
Longest interview in triple option history. And coach. Coach is mad that we're done because he's like, no, no. I got another two hours of.
- [55:09]
A
Of X's and one of my favorite interviews.
- [55:13]
C
My top, for sure.
- [55:14]
A
My top interview, you know, absolutely crushed it, man.
- [55:17]
C
Absolutely.
- [55:18]
B
Fernando, much respect, man. Much.
- [55:20]
A
I've been a fan, but now I'm a super fan now. Hey, we. We hope for you the best dog.
- [55:26]
D
Yeah, definitely. Thank you guys so much for having me on. Coach Meyer would be, you know, if I could take this opportunity. Mr. Pulaski says hi. You know, he's talked a lot of great things about you as well. So, I mean, want to thank you guys so much for having me on. This has been a pleasure talking ball, you know, just having a good time on the podcast with you guys. It's been really been an honor and hope to see you guys around.
- [55:42]
B
Thank you.
- [55:44]
A
We'll see you in Indianapolis, bro.
- [55:46]
D
Hell, yeah. God bless.
- [55:47]
C
Got to get there first. Got to get there first. Got to get by Purdue next week first. First things first, right, Fernando, I'm not jumping anything. Ahead of you. Fernando Mendoza, quarterback at Indiana. Thanks so much for joining us. Coming up next on the triple option, we go three and out and we talk comebacks in college football. Support for the triple option comes from Google Being a college football fan these days means you're part analyst, part gm and part rules expert. The game is just so much more complex than it used to be. Coach.
- [56:21]
B
One minute you're trying to decode the X's and O's the next you're debating the transfer portal. This is what college football fandom is all about and AI Mode in Google Search is perfect for it. It's built to handle all those nuanced, complicated questions that go way beyond a simple stat.
- [56:38]
A
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- [57:00]
C
AI Mode pulls all that info together for you. So whether you're wondering about a complex scheme, a new rule, or why your favorite team's roster looks so different every year, you can just ask Google so good.
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B
So good.
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C
So good.
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C
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C
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E
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- [58:11]
C
We welcome you back to the Triple option. Rob Mark Urban here with you. We are presented by Wendy's and it's time now for three and out, brought to you by Google. We're going to take a look at what fans are searching for this week. Remember, no matter what question comes next, you can just ask Google. We have seen guys a 5000% increase in searches asking about the biggest comebacks in college football history. So we're going to rank our top three comebacks of all time. Mark you're up first.
- [58:45]
A
Well, talking the biggest comebacks, why not start with one of the biggest comebacks ever in college football history? I remember this game. I was in high school, you know, I'm a Michigan State guy. I bleed green. I'm sparty. I had green, green, green bed. She's growing up. Father played there, grandfather played there, mom went to school there. So I'm Sparty all through and through. But Michigan State. Michigan State defeated Northwestern 4138 on October 21, 2006. They were third. They were down 38 to three with nine minutes left in the third quarter. Scored 38 unanswered points, finishing it off with a pick six for one of the largest comebacks in college football history at Northwestern, Michigan State. This is when Northwestern was balling too, you know what I mean?
- [59:26]
D
So.
- [59:26]
C
Well, it's when Michigan State was balling.
- [59:28]
A
Exactly. So this went back, people like, ooh, Michigan State, Northwestern. This is when both programs were back, tops in the Big Ten, were in the upper echelon of the Big Ten supremacy. So I gotta go with that one. Cause you know, I love the Sparties. And then I gotta go with the Stanford band play, you know what I mean? They were down. Last play of the game was a kickoff return. Five laterals turns into a touchdown. Stanford's bands on the field. Kyle runs in, jumps bomb. Hit somebody with the trombone, Shawty. Yeah, knocks him out prematurely, celebrating. So I gotta go with that comeback. And finally, you know, I gotta go with the Alabama Crimson tie.
- [60:12]
C
You know, I was waiting for it.
- [60:13]
A
You know, I gotta go with the Bama Crimson tie. And the Natty down 13 0. They benched Jalen Hurts. He was 3 for 8 for 27 yards in the first half. And then who.
- [60:25]
B
What a call.
- [60:26]
C
What a coaching call, by the way.
- [60:27]
A
130 in the natty. Jalen Hurts is 3 for 8 for 27 yards. And they bring Tua tag of Viola in. And the young freshman, the lefty, brings us back to the promised land after a 16 yard sack in overtime. 2nd and 26. Coach looks off to safety. Left side up the scene to Devonta Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy. Natty, I remember going stupid in that in my living room. Cause I, you know, I mean, because we did that. We did that. So them is three of the best comebacks we know. We love comebacks. I've been on the other side of some comebacks. But listen, they're my three. You choose your three, but then mine.
- [61:10]
C
All right, Coach, you're up next.
- [61:12]
B
All right, I'M going to start in recent history and we just had one of the guys admire even more now Mendoza. I'm putting the. I think that drive against Penn State at Penn State with all on the line goes down as one of the great. It's like people overlook. But I'm going to say this. I've studied the Big Ten my entire life. That's one of the greatest drives in the history of college football. And I will fight anybody that says that's not true. That catch that kid made at the end, the detail that they coached it, I'm putting it. Why would you not? You know, I think that's one of the great drives and it happened in real time a couple weeks ago. I'm going to also throw the 20, 17 and 18 Buckeyes one at Penn State. But the first one is home. 2017, we were down 35, 20 lost. We were down the entire game, came back and won 39, 38. Our captain, J.T. barrett went 16 for 16 in the fourth quarter for the Dub. We won 39, 38 and then 18. How about this mark? We're down with eight under eight minutes left by 12 points at state College. And as a jet engine man, that's as loud as I've ever heard a stadium and. And Dwayne Haskins, rest his soul. And J.K. dobbins and K.J. hill cut the swing route for the the game winner. And Chase Young hit a TFL right at the end. So those are my three favorite once again, Mendoza final drive. I'm saying that's one of the great drives I've ever seen, one of the great comebacks.
- [62:43]
C
Soft tangent here. Our best out to JK Dobbins. Coach, you FaceTimed him the other day when all of us were in the car driving to the airport in Chicago having left Wrigley Field.
- [62:55]
A
That was your guy, J.K. that's my brother. Yeah, that's my rookie in Baltimore.
- [63:01]
D
Obviously had a very productive.
- [63:04]
B
He said Liz Frank, right?
- [63:05]
C
Yeah. Liz Frank. And he said that was the good news. That was.
- [63:08]
A
He said it was a lot worse. The best news of bad news that.
- [63:13]
C
It could have been.
- [63:14]
A
Yeah, business of.
- [63:15]
C
Could have been the best the bad news. All right, so here's. Here's my three best comebacks in college football history. Mark, you're going to like this one. 2015, we're inside the big house. Michigan ready to ice a win over their little brother. Michigan State just kind of need to get off the punt. There's trouble with the snap. My boy Sean McDonough with a great call. Fumbled, scooped State scores on the final play. Get that 27, 23 walk off with we love Sparty.
- [63:42]
A
Sparty make two of the comebacks.
- [63:45]
C
Yeah, he did. He did. Number two, 2013, the prayer in Jordan Hare. Georgia up one late on Auburn. Remember fourth and 18 from the tigers. 27. Nick Marshall back, just like throws it into double coverage. Two dogs literally have a chance to intercept it. Instead it bounces off their hands into the paws of Ricardo Lewis. Game winning 73 yard touchdown for Auburn. You're going to hate this one.
- [64:13]
A
Mark kick six.
- [64:14]
C
You're going to hate it later that season. Iron bowl kick six. My man. Auburn tied with Alabama. Coach Saban says, you know what, let's. Let's go for it. From 57 yards. Let's kick a field goal way short. Chris Davis just, just sitting there, just sitting there like destined to grab it and be hanging out by the goalpost. Takes it. What was it? 109 yards down that left side. Kick 6. Auburn announcers lose it. Auburn gets the win and you're tied. Get the loss, man.
- [64:46]
A
Well, hey, sorry I'm a one up you and I'm going to do another comeback. You want to talk about iron bowl comebacks? I'm a go. I'm going to go to the gravedigger. We call it the grave digger. The Iron Bowl. 4th and 31. Jalen Milroe to my Isaiah Bond in the corner. You want to iron bow me? I iron bow you.
- [65:06]
C
I see your iron bow and I throw an iron bowl back at you.
- [65:10]
A
I iron bow you.
- [65:11]
D
Coach.
- [65:11]
A
We call it the grave digger.
- [65:13]
B
Why the grave? Because.
- [65:15]
A
Because it was 4th and 31 and we put him in a coffin and we grave dug them. Fourth and 31, back corner of the end zone. Isaiah Bond.
- [65:25]
C
I triggered him. That's on me. That's on you.
- [65:27]
A
Eyeball me.
- [65:28]
C
I'm an iron bowl you right back grave. Dude, I knew that was. I knew. I knew the kicksticks were going to get a reaction from Mark. I was waiting for it.
- [65:37]
B
And well done.
- [65:39]
C
You topped the anticipated reaction. Give us your thoughts on some of the great comebacks in college football history. Leave them in the comments section. It's time now though for 2 minute drill brought to you by FanDuel. Visit FanDuel.com triple option to download the app and take advantage of a 50% profit boost today. We're going to start in the SEC. Oh, folks, Oklahoma's back apparently. Sorry Mark. Oklahoma is back. They are home this week. Missouri's in Town sooners favored by seven and a half over under 42 and a half. How do you see it?
- [66:12]
A
I kind of like the under in this one and I like Oklahoma to cover coming off of a huge win in Tuscaloosa. Their defense, their special teams had three turnovers against Alabama. Now you got Missouri, who's struggled against top 25 opponents. They're on three against ranked opponents this season. Yes, they do have the R beast himself who has certified documents from the RB guru. But one thing that Oklahoma is good at, one thing of many that they're good at on defense, is stopping the run. So I see this being a defensive struggle. I feel like Oklahoma will control the game. They will have to slow down Ahmad Hardy. But I like, I like them to cover in this one and I do like the under. I don't think it'll be a lot of points scored in this one. But Oklahoma, they have their playoff hopes alive. They can't lose another game. They're at home, have some momentum coming off of a big win. I think that this team will pick up where they left off last week and have another, another victory. And I think that they cover and I do like the under as well.
- [67:16]
C
Feels like Mattier is starting to return to that.
- [67:19]
A
Oh, I'm watching the game. I'm watching the game. I'm like, of course Mattier wants to freaking come back versus Alabama.
- [67:26]
B
Right?
- [67:26]
C
Right.
- [67:26]
A
Of course he wants to.
- [67:27]
C
Maybe next week versus Mizzou, please.
- [67:29]
A
Yeah, of course.
- [67:30]
C
He was a fun player to watch.
- [67:31]
A
He is. He is.
- [67:32]
C
He, I, I, I like him when he's healthy. All right, coach, this is a PAC 12 showdown that's now in the Big Ten. USC at Oregon. This is going to be, this is going to be a fascinating game. Ducks favored by 10 and a half now over under 58 and a half. USC, they have had so many issues under Lincoln Riley as a road underdog, but if they can get an upset, that is totally going to change the face of next week's college football playoff rankings.
- [67:58]
B
Yeah, you never bet up against Vegas, man. I mean, there's reason they have those big hotels and all that stuff in Vegas because the bookies win. It started as seven half, now it's ten and a half. So there has to be something going on. Why? But I think even a 30,000 foot look at this, I think this is the most important game certainly in Lincoln Riley's era, but maybe in the last decade of USC is an enigma to me. Well, how the hell can you not be good at UFC? USC's got everything, the tradition, they got the school, they got everything. Great talent. If they win this game, they are in the college football play. I'll say that they, they, they'll go in. If they lose, they're obviously out. So this is a must win by both teams. This is, you're going to see. I can imagine these teams getting ready for this game. I think it's going to be electric. Obviously it's an Austin Stadium with that said. Damn, I'm looking at that. When it was seven and a half, I was going to go Oregon mark 10 and a half's a lot of.
- [68:56]
A
A lot of points, man.
- [68:57]
C
Big number Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech. Tech favored by two and a half guys over under 60. One and a half. You know where we're starting with this one, don't you? Coach Pat Narduzzi, right? Maybe spoke things into existence last week. He, he got his loss to Notre Dame. Now Pitt, they have their two ACC games to close this, close the season, maybe earn themselves a conference championship game ticket. They are still alive. This one though in Atlanta. It's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets clinching ACC title game birth should they get a win. And remember, they barely won last week at struggling Boston College. They were down 11 in the fourth quarter. Their head coach, Brent Key, I like how he handled it after the game. Didn't really stress about it saying, hey, we're always happy to get a win no matter how the win occurs or who it's against, right? Especially this time of the season, sitting here in mid November, rambling wreck. They have not won the ACC since 2009. Man, that's been a long run. You make so much, so much Clemson and Florida State in there. I think they move on from last week's struggle bus. They return to their dominant self. They get the win they cover. But I say take the under on that one. Coach is still dreaming about that. Fernando Mendoza, he had a twinkle in.
- [70:20]
A
His eye like never before.
- [70:22]
B
How about the way he answered the right coach?
- [70:26]
A
You would have loved for that to be your quarterback.
- [70:28]
B
Oh yeah. I mean they better be that way. I mean that, that's a well coached dude. He's well coached underline dude on and off the field.
- [70:36]
A
He's a dude, he's well coached and he is individually chasing coaching like that's the thing. You could be well coached, go play.
- [70:44]
B
For eight years and then go coach.
- [70:47]
A
It ain't gonna be much but he is him and he is high as Mendoza.
- [70:52]
C
He was always here, Mark. He was always at a very high elite level. Listening to him and how, how composed he is and intelligent he is. He's, he's over the screen now.
- [71:02]
A
Big Fernando Mendoza I'm a big Fernando Mendoza fan.
- [71:05]
C
He was awesome. So huge. Thank out thanks to Fernando Mendoza in Indiana making that interview happen. Make sure to follow subscribe rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you find your podcast member. We're on social media. Please hit us up at 3x option show. Remember, leave those questions. Leave those comments. We would love to answer them on the show. Make sure to join us next Tuesday night live around 8pm Eastern as we react to the third college football playoff rankings of the season. And we've got another Tailgate tour stop coming your way. If you're a fan of Texas and Arkansas, listen up Friday the 21st, head on over to the Victory Lap Bar, 6pm Central. Epic Tailgate. We've got food, drinks, giveaways, music, games, live episode of the Stampede with our guys, Vy, Vince Young and coach Matt Brown. Special guest Jamal Charles. We talked about that last week. For more information, go to tailgatetourtexas.rsvpify.com to RSVP. As always, thanks to our amazing our amazing sponsors, Wendy's. They're all behind us. Fanduel. You guys have been great. Google, we love those questions you throw at us every week. Enjoy the football this week and we will see you again next week.