Hunter for Heisman, Michigan runs over USC, Tennessee Title? Plus Kalen DeBoer on Alabama v Georgia

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Triple Option – “Hunter for Heisman, Michigan Runs Over USC, Tennessee Title? Plus Kalen DeBoer on Alabama vs. Georgia”

Release Date: September 25, 2024

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Introduction

In this episode of The Triple Option, hosts Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone delve into a multitude of pressing topics in the world of football. From standout performances and player accolades to strategic coaching insights and playoff implications, the trio offers an in-depth analysis for fans eager to stay ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of the sport.

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Michigan's Dominant Victory Over USC

The episode kicks off with a detailed discussion of Michigan's impressive victory against USC. Central to this win was Travis Hunter, whose outstanding performance has sparked conversations about his potential Heisman Trophy candidacy.

• Performance Highlights:

  • Travis Hunter: Rushed for a career-high 159 yards, including a pivotal 63-yard touchdown run on fourth down (Timestamp: 10:19).
  • Michigan's Offensive Strategy: The team relied heavily on their running game, throwing for only 32 yards. This one-dimensional approach raises questions about their ability to compete at the highest levels.

• Analytical Insights:

  • Urban Meyer: “With that kind of balance, there's zero chance that they can do it,” emphasizing the need for Michigan to diversify their offensive strategy to contend for the Big Ten title and playoff spot (Timestamp: 12:15).
  • Mark Ingram: Highlights the necessity for Michigan to develop a more robust passing game to offset their heavy reliance on rushing (Timestamp: 13:44).

Heisman Trophy Discussion: Travis Hunter's Case

The conversation transitions into building Travis Hunter’s case for the Heisman Trophy, positioning him as perhaps the best player in college football currently.

• Notable Achievements:

  • Five straight games with at least 100 receiving yards.
  • Accumulated 472 receiving yards, five touchdowns, and 12.8 yards per catch.
  • Demonstrated versatility with an interception and a game-winning fumble recovery.

• Quotes:

  • Rob Stone: “He’s going to be the best player in college football.”
  • Urban Meyer: “He’s an all-American type player at each position.”

Interview with Kalen DeBoer: Alabama’s New Head Coach

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to an insightful interview with Kalen DeBoer, the newly appointed head coach at the University of Alabama. DeBoer shares his journey from coaching high school football to taking the helm at a prestigious SEC program.

• Career Path:

  • Early Coaching: Started as a high school coach before moving to the University of Sioux Falls as offensive coordinator.
  • Rapid Transition: Accepted the Alabama position swiftly after Coach Saban’s retirement, highlighting the intense and immediate nature of coaching transitions (Timestamp: 38:04).

• Handling the Program in the Transfer Portal and NIL Era:

  • DeBoer: Emphasizes maintaining a high school recruiting mentality while strategically filling gaps through the transfer portal (Timestamp: 49:33).
  • Urban Meyer: Notes the challenges of maintaining program integrity amidst modern collegiate dynamics (Timestamp: 51:02).

• Approach to Rivalries and SEC Challenges:

  • Georgia vs. Alabama: DeBoer discusses the importance of lines of scrimmage, defensive prowess, and maintaining a balanced offense to compete against top-tier teams like Georgia (Timestamp: 54:17).

AP Rankings and Playoff Implications

The hosts analyze the current AP rankings, highlighting Tennessee's rise to number five and discussing the implications for the college playoff landscape.

• Tennessee’s Momentum:

  • Moving up four spots in the rankings, Tennessee is now solidified as a top contender within the SEC (Timestamp: 62:32).
  • Urban Meyer: Praises Tennessee’s balanced offense and robust defense, predicting them as a potential top-three team (Timestamp: 63:32).

• Playoff Predictions:

  • Rob Stone: Projects major first-round playoff games hosted on SEC campuses, emphasizing the strength of the conference (Timestamp: 66:48).

Colorado's Upcoming Showdown with UCF

The discussion shifts to Colorado's formidable offensive unit led by Travis Hunter and their impending game against an unbeaten UCF team.

• Colorado’s Strengths:

  • Travis Hunter: Continues to dominate with both receiving and defensive plays, positioning him as a September Heisman favorite (Timestamp: 34:03).
  • Offensive Line: Critical for protecting the quarterback and sustaining the run game amidst high-pressure defenses.

• Game Analysis:

  • Mark Ingram: Predicts a close matchup, favoring Colorado to cover the spread and potentially win outright (Timestamp: 75:12).
  • Urban Meyer: Alerts listeners to the challenging weather conditions in Central Florida, including potential humidity affecting gameplay (Timestamp: 76:11).

Ohio State's Performance and Outlook

Urban Meyer and Mark Ingram assess Ohio State’s early-season performance, noting their dominance against non-conference opponents and strategic roster enhancements through the transfer portal.

• Roster Enhancements:

  • Acquisition of key players like Caleb Downs and Will Howard bolster Ohio State’s defensive and offensive capabilities (Timestamp: 66:46).

• Strategic Focus:

  • Urban Meyer: Stresses the importance of Tuesday practices against top-tier opponents to sharpen skills (Timestamp: 68:25).

Alabama vs. Georgia: SEC Powerhouses Clash

The episode culminates with a robust debate on the anticipated showdown between Alabama and Georgia, two SEC titans vying for conference supremacy.

• Key Points:

  • Alabama’s Defensive Prowess: Consistently strong defense with no turnovers, essential for shutting down Georgia’s offense (Timestamp: 81:32).
  • Georgia’s Offensive Strategy: Focus on running the ball effectively while maintaining possession to control the game's tempo (Timestamp: 83:04).

• Predictions:

  • Mark Ingram: Confident in Alabama’s ability to secure the win, emphasizing their resilience and strategic depth (Timestamp: 84:03).

Conclusion and Future Episodes

As the episode wraps up, the hosts tease upcoming content, including a future appearance by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey to discuss broader collegiate football dynamics. They encourage listeners to engage through YouTube comments and subscribe across various platforms to stay connected.

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Notable Quotes

• Rob Stone (10:19): “Somewhere, you don't get better facing when you have to block people that aren't as good as you, you don't get better.”
• Urban Meyer (12:15): “With that kind of balance, there's zero chance that they can do it.”
• Mark Ingram (34:03): “It goes to the best player in college football. It doesn’t go to the best quarterback in college football.”
• Kalen DeBoer (49:33): “I would like to think of this as a high school recruiting program. And then the portal fills in the gaps.”
• Urban Meyer (63:32): “He is not the only show in Knoxville. They are balanced on offense, they have a good run game, they're good in the trenches, they're very good on defense.”

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Key Takeaways

• Travis Hunter's Stellar Performance: Making a strong case for Heisman consideration with versatile playmaking on both offense and defense.
• Michigan's Offensive Balance: Urgent need to diversify Michigan’s offense beyond the run game to sustain championship contention.
• Coaching Dynamics: Kalen DeBoer’s transition to Alabama highlights the complexities of coaching in the transfer and NIL era.
• Playoff and Rankings Implications: Tennessee's rise and the strength of the SEC continue to shape the playoff landscape.
• Upcoming Challenges: Colorado’s face-off against UCF and the anticipated Alabama vs. Georgia clash represent pivotal moments in the season.

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Closing Notes

This episode of The Triple Option offers a comprehensive exploration of current football narratives, blending statistical analysis with expert commentary. Whether it's analyzing player performances, dissecting coaching strategies, or forecasting playoff prospects, Meyer, Ingram, and Stone provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of the game’s ongoing storylines.

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For more detailed discussions and exclusive content, follow The Triple Option on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook at @3XOptionShow. New episodes drop every Wednesday on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major platforms.

Transcript

[Rob Stone]

Sco Buffs, give it to me. Give me. This is not like a little whimper. Baby buff. Just like nestle next to mom. This is a scoff. Big bowled out. Sc.

[Mark Ingram]

Ralphie.

[Urban Meyer]

Sco Buffs, light it.

[Rob Stone]

The music lets you know. We're back. It's another edition of the triple option presented by the Wendy's. The Wendy's new saucy nugs today. The Wendy's another huge guest this week on the triple option. Alabama head coach Kaylin DeBoer joins us ahead of that huge showdown against some team named what? Who are they playing again this week, Mark, who is it?

[Mark Ingram]

We don't. We ain't mentioning them because we don't.

[Rob Stone]

Even talk about it.

[Mark Ingram]

No, we ain't going to talk about it. We just going to focus on us.

[Rob Stone]

Like TDUN up there, right? We don't even talk about them. Before we get underway, I want to remind you to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We understand that we've been getting some pretty good fan engagement, some questions and some comments over there on the YouTube channel. Keep throwing them in there. We're gonna start responding to them. By the way, YouTube channels, how my parents down there in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, watch the show. I'm very proud that my parents know how to operate YouTube and are able to find our show on that. You can also follow us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media at 3x optionshow. Remember to rate us as well. I'm not really sure how to do that, Coach. Do you know how to rate anything over there?

[Urban Meyer]

I'm like your parents, man. I just figured out this YouTube gig right that line ago. So don't make fun of the old parents now.

[Rob Stone]

No, I'm not. I'm proud of them. I honestly don't know how to rate our show. So Mark or somebody who's younger can show me how to do that.

[Mark Ingram]

They know how to rate them. Rate them things. 5.

[Rob Stone]

They know they've been giving us great ratings.

[Mark Ingram]

We love our subscribers. We love our listeners. We need the five love our sponsors. We need the activity in the comments. You know what I mean? We want to talk to y'all. We want to break bread with y'all, man. We want to show y'all some love for showing us love. So let's break some bread. Let's spread the love, you know?

[Rob Stone]

All right, this week. This week we're going to dive into Georgia at Alabama with coach Kayla DeBoer, make the Heisman case for Colorado's Travis Hunter, we're going to ask just how long can Michigan survive being one dimensional? But we're going to start in coaches happy place, Columbus, Ohio, which is where we were last Saturday for big noon kickoff. So it's like Ann Arbor to Columbus. It's like a total parallel setting for you, right, coach?

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, the Friendly Confines, man. And it was great to be back home and you know, you put seven years of your life into something and I'm very biased, but I'm also Ohio boy. So it was great to be back home and, and not get booed for a change. But also deuce, deuce. Mark Ingram went back. He's a leading rusher in New Orleans Saints history. It's one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. He got to break down the stadium and do that, whatever.

[Mark Ingram]

The who that, the who that chant.

[Urban Meyer]

And with always in a Hall of Famer, Drew Brees. So really, really great stuff. And there's nothing like going back home.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, Coach, going back home is the best. I mean, we're in. We're at the Ohio State. We got the urban, urban, urban. We got the chance going on. We. The love going on. And I was able to go back to New Orleans like you said. I was able to break down the stadium. The who that champ with Drew Brees, the best quarterback who I, you know, one of the best quarterbacks I ever played with. First ballot hall of Famer, you know, when he left the NFL, he was the. Broke the record for everything. You know, Tom Brady had to play three more years to break his records. But no but it was just a great man to be back. The New Orleans culture is one of a kind. The love that I get from the stadium, from the fans, one of a kind. Seeing all my old teammates, they got.

[Urban Meyer]

A good team, man, don't they, man.

[Mark Ingram]

They got a really good team, man. They got a really good team. They're built for it, man. They play tough defense. They run the football. Alvin Camaro is having a tremendous year. Just small opportunities, Coach. You know how delicate this game is, man. Small few opportunities, man. A few plays here and there. Makes the play, makes the game go one way or another.

[Rob Stone]

But we talked about New Orleans.

[Mark Ingram]

Always love who that, baby. Who that.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. So when. So I'm curious, when you two guys go home, there's always something you want or someplace you want to see or eat or go to. So, Mark, like, where do you. What do you got to do when you go back to New Orleans if you have the time?

[Mark Ingram]

So shout out to my People at Rebirth in New Orleans. I landed late. My flight was delayed. Always, right? Flight was delayed. They kept the. They kept the kitchen open for me. Went order my food, got me the gumbo, you know what I mean? Got the cornbread.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, that might be road trip, boys.

[Rob Stone]

Right?

[Urban Meyer]

Come on.

[Rob Stone]

Too late.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Then we went around the city. The city was buzzing. A few. Couple little bars, a couple little stops, you know what I mean? The city was buzzing. People were out. Like, I was with Uncle Bub and he was with me. He was like, we was out. It was like 12 in the morning. He was like, people are out. Like, it's broad day right now. Like the streets were flooded.

[Rob Stone]

Welcome to New Orleans.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, uncle was in New Orleans with me, man. So we was out 1 2am Uncle.

[Urban Meyer]

Bub, one of our friends.

[Mark Ingram]

People was out flooding the streets, man. So New Orleans, one of a kind, man. It's always great to be back in the city, man.

[Rob Stone]

And then when Coach gets back home, assuming the season is right, swinging the sticks, baby. Both of you swung the sticks the other day, didn't you?

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

We went out in Muirfield and I lived for 10 years and I had to take Mark out there. We ran around, played about nine holes and we stayed at Muirfield and Viewer. That's one of the all time great places. And then we headed over to the 70 room, the Pint House. Urban Myers Pint House in Dublin.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, sir.

[Urban Meyer]

That was great, man.

[Rob Stone]

We're doing all kinds of plugs.

[Mark Ingram]

We were. We. I had a great weekend. We do this recap.

[Rob Stone]

I have. I have nothing to plug but the triple option presented by Wendy's. You know what I do I hear something?

[Mark Ingram]

We do this for a living, Coach.

[Rob Stone]

Right, Mark? We can plug. Milkshake sharing.

[Mark Ingram]

Oh, my goodness. You know, See, you know, me and you. Wait. We split the milkshake, didn't we?

[Rob Stone]

Yes.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, we split the milkshake. See, that's the thing, man. Instead of just getting one flavor, we get two flavors. We just get a sampler, a little taste of both, you know what I mean? We shared Snickers, we shared the Reese's, so we got two for the one, you know what I mean?

[Rob Stone]

And there might have been some dessert on top of that.

[Mark Ingram]

Potato cake, birthday cake. It was all type of, we eating good. We eating good, man. We living blessed. Two blessed.

[Rob Stone]

The big new life. The big new life.

[Mark Ingram]

The triple option.

[Rob Stone]

Life is good.

[Mark Ingram]

Make sure y'all give us five star review, you know what I mean? Leave them comments, you know, I mean, tell your People to subscribe, too. We just need all the love.

[Rob Stone]

All right, we ready to talk football, boys?

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Yeah. Let's go.

[Rob Stone]

Let's go, let's go. Any given Saturday conference play, kind of finally here across the nation. Real quick, before we get into that, how does. How does that alter the mindset from the coaching locker room and into the player locker room? Coach, start with you.

[Urban Meyer]

Tell me again now, what. What was the question?

[Rob Stone]

Coach is too busy thinking about the back nine at Muirfield, the conference play, firing backup, and how that changes the dynamics.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, there's. Obviously, it impacts you. Coach DeBoer is going to find out. He steps in that SEC monster here in a minute. But USC got a taste of it, you know, and I was a little shocked because the Wolverine team we saw a couple weeks ago got it handled by Texas. I was concerned about them. They looked much better other than the quarterback play, which they got to figure that out. But this running back, Mullings, he ran for 160 yards. And, you know, so when you step in a conference play, to answer your question, everything gets more serious. At the end of the day, I know you're playing for the crystal ball or the gold trophy, but you're really playing for a ring of a conference championship, especially the Big two, the SEC and the Big Ten. So I was really pleasantly surprised by the Wolverines. I thought they started looking like that old physical outfit, like they were on defense. They're very good. Offense, they're not, but they're getting better. You just wonder. They got to get that pass game fixed.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. And it was USC's first ever game inside the Big Ten, and we were talking to Matt Leinert and the Trojans, you know, with that big opening win over LSU and kind of getting this great momentum and moving up the standings. Matt had that. That feeling in his gut all week. He's like, I know we're favored. I know we're better. I know Michigan is down. He's like, I just. This is. This is one of those weeks. And he, you know, for days and days, he kept saying that. He just. He knew, Coach, you know, Mark.

[Urban Meyer]

And I want to get his opinion. So when I. When I was at Ohio State, we played in the Rose bowl and my last year, and that when you play a team in a bowl game, you have a month to study them. And so inside out, upside down, Chris Peterson's coach, Washington's a hell of a team. The year before, we played USC in the Cotton bowl, same thing. You got to watch them all. And after you watch a team for a couple weeks, you start to see that just the trenches aren't the same. It's not. And that's going to have to change. And it showed up, you know, when you let the Wolverines run for 290 yards on you without a throw game.

[Mark Ingram]

Knowing you're going to run it, lining up, knowing you're going to run it and can't stop it.

[Urban Meyer]

So we're going to find out about Oregon here in a couple of weeks. Washington, it's. I'm anxious to see and I think they're going to, they're going to have to address these issues. Can the Pac 12 teams that came over the Big Ten, certainly they can hang in there in skill. Can they hang in there up front? It's their over one right now.

[Mark Ingram]

Yep. It's a style of play, coach, like you said you meant. You see the trenches like there's no getting ready for that. You, it just hits you in the mouth and it's fast, it's strong, it's physical. And that's a style of play that they play with in the big 10 sec and they had to see if the PAC 12 can adapt to that. I mean, USC did a great job all game long. They were doing their thing. Actually, not. Not all game long. They came back in the second half, really, because Michigan was up what, 14 to 3 at the half. And they came back, but they kind of stopped. They kind of stopped Michigan. In the first five drives, they had only. They had nine yards, no first downs in the first five drives of the second half, nine yards, no first downs in the first five drives of the second half. But when it came down to it at the end of the game, to win the game, all you have to do is stop the run. Stop the run like. No, you cannot stop the run. Khaled Mullins, 63 yard game. They gained 89 yards on 10 plays. And Khalel Mullins had eight carries for 84 yards in the game. Winning touchdown on fourth and one, a converted linebacker. Now Stoner, he's a converted.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, I love that story.

[Mark Ingram]

Converted linebacker. And now he's toting the rock at Michigan. Game winning touchdown on 4th and 1 puts the team on his back. Michigan go blue wins.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, it was a career high. Career high 159. If you go back to his high school, senior year, 371 yards rushing. Right? That's. You're not getting recruited to any school because you ran for 371 yards. He's got 429 yards in the first four games of the season, that was 17 carries, as we mentioned, a career I 159 in the win over USC. And like some more running numbers. Right. Just, just to kind of put this into perspective. And it's going to lead to another question. All right, so Michigan, they threw it for 32 yards. The last two teams to throw for less than 40 yards and beat an AP top 25 team. You probably got a guess.

[Urban Meyer]

You got a good guess. Yeah, yeah.

[Rob Stone]

You got a good guess of like what type of teams they are. And they're both military. Army in 23 versus Air Force and Navy in 22 versus Central Florida. And that is your saucy nug of the week. Try some at your nearest one. He's. I'm going to give you bonus saucy nug of the week. All right. Alex Orgy, QB won for the first time this season for Michigan. 7 of 1232 yards. That's the fewest in a Michigan victory since the year after Harbaugh was a starter in 1987. So that all that does is beg this question. Can Michigan coach be this one dimensional and contend for a Big Ten title and contend for a playoff spot? Because right now they're in the mix for both of those.

[Urban Meyer]

It's a firm no that they can't. There's zero chance with that kind of balance that they can do it. I, I, I go back, I think they got to play both quarterbacks. I said that when we were there. The, you know, Alex Orgy is good enough to play. He's got to play. I think he's a tremendous player. But to answer your question, no, there's no chance that because USC you're going to get zero coverage every snap and you will see the numbers disappear. I like how rugged the Wolverines were on offense and defense and that's kind of a trademark who they are. But there is zero chance marked it. Unless you balance that thing up at some point. Nine up. It's going to be nine up and you'll stop the run.

[Rob Stone]

But, but coach, here's the balance question. Davis Warren, who was the starter, 444 yards, averaging 6.2 yards per pass play, two touchdowns. But the number that jumps out, interceptions, six interceptions, interceptions. And that's why he's on the bench and.

[Mark Ingram]

Yep. Do you risk Alex or turn the ball or.

[Rob Stone]

You managed the game that did what you're supposed to win the game.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. It gives you a chance to win the game. If you have three interceptions, you don't have A shot. So they do need to learn how to throw the ball because like we said, coach them first five drives of the second half, USC stacked the box, forced orgy throw the ball. They had nine yards, zero first downs. That's going to continue when you play Penn State. When you play Ohio State, that's going to continue. So you have to find a way to generate some throwing some passing game. You have to find a way generate that.

[Urban Meyer]

You know what? We did talk about this on Big New then I'm just sitting here thinking, I've been in that situation a couple times and maybe the answer is you go to an option offense, I mean they're not, they're a Q run offense. But that you can't do that. The equating numbers issue is real. I don't know their offense coaching staff, if they have the ability to do that. But if that quarterback is not is throwing picks, you're right, they lose that game. So I'm just wondering and thinking out loud here, you know, do you go do an option offense? And I've done that before. That's the great.

[Rob Stone]

How quickly can you install that? How quickly?

[Urban Meyer]

It depends on their coaching staff. If you know, I had Dan Mullen who was an option background, I have an option background. So it was like walking. I mean we always had option in the offense. There was no issue.

[Mark Ingram]

But if Orgy is going to be your quarterback, you have to find ways. He has to be able to hit easy passes like within the offense. If you're doing all this running, like sneak the tight end up the scene. Sneak the tight end why? High back door, back to the flat. Like you have to generate some form of passing attack for this team because the defense is playing tough now you have the identity of the offensive line running the football. You just have to find a way to generate some plays in the passing game if they want to be a contender for the Big ten title. Because we know what Ohio State looking like, we know how Penn State's going to be. You know, Oregon's looking good. They got over the hump versus usc. I thought that was one that they would lose. They got that win. So now they're. They got it rolling. They just got to find a way, find a way to generate some passing offense.

[Rob Stone]

Coach, am I missing something here? Because you know, simple, simple Rob Stone over here says you have the two letters QB next to your name. That immediately means to me, you know how to throw the football, right? It's not like you're signing up. You know, he's A good wide receiver, but he's slow as hell. That linebacker is fantastic. He doesn't know how to tackle. Like, these are like, to me, super obvious things. How do you have a court quarterback that can't.

[Mark Ingram]

Come on, throw the football? That's what I'm saying.

[Rob Stone]

To that extent.

[Urban Meyer]

I mean, that's hard.

[Rob Stone]

This is not piling on.

[Urban Meyer]

Michigan.

[Rob Stone]

Not piling on.

[Urban Meyer]

No, not at all.

[Rob Stone]

It seems super obvious you're talking about.

[Urban Meyer]

A team that just showed you. They took USC and when they had to go run the ball, they ran the ball. That's. That's, to me, that's more important than throwing the ball. They've just proved they're tough. That proves that they, they pounded people. They're. They got that rugged mentality. But reality is the game. You're going to have to be balanced up a little bit. So to answer your question, I have no idea.

[Mark Ingram]

I really don't.

[Urban Meyer]

I have no, because that's a good looking athlete. He was offered a scholarship. We're talking about Alec Orgy at the Wolverines. And he's a freak. Now, remember, he's on Feldman's freak. Remember when he bounced up when he got tackled on his athleticism? He's a tough cat.

[Mark Ingram]

So, coach, ironically, I just saw his brother at the Saints game. His brother plays for the Saints. I see Orgy on the sideline. I'm like, that's not a normal last name. Like, is that Alice Orgy's brother? Like, they were like, yes. I'm like, dude is ripped. He's just a vascular cat. One of them vandal cats you talking about. Like, so the whole family apparently is, you know, offshoot.

[Rob Stone]

Is vascular. Yeah, the vascular family.

[Mark Ingram]

But like, like you said, stoner. Like you can't get the quarterback tag and don't know how to throw the ball. Like, so the kid can throw the ball. They just got to get them some confidence to be able to get him some plays to generate passes and find.

[Urban Meyer]

Out by now they ought to know what he does well. And then back go backwards. What's he do? Well, and design your whole game plan.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

Yep.

[Rob Stone]

Find something. Find something. So we talk about, can they sustain this? Well, they're going to find out. Saturday they host Minnesota. That's the big noon game on Fox. And then it's at Washington, a buy at a really improved Illinois team. That game suddenly looks interesting. Michigan State, a rivalry game, and then Oregon. And listen, if you're all these programs, you're saying, all right, let's get a couple more bodies over Here, Right. Like we're going to beat us with the arms. Beat us with the arm. And then guess what? You know, when, when Davis Warren comes in, they're probably going to throw the ball. So now let's change things. It's. It's going to be interesting to watch. And who knows, maybe Sharon and company, they got a way to figure it out. They're going to have to figure it out fast.

[Mark Ingram]

That's the way with the two quarterback system. To me, you lose the element of surprise. Okay, orgies in. Oh, it's. It's heavy run. Oh, Davis Warren is. Oh, it's drop back, play action, pass. So, like, when you use the two quarterback system, it kind of handicaps you a little bit. Puts one hand behind your back a little bit.

[Rob Stone]

Yep. But again, congratulations, Michigan. You got a win. Right. You're unbeaten in Big Ten play. You got a tough schedule coming your way, but you got by a major test light.

[Kalen DeBoer]

It's.

[Rob Stone]

You've had Wendy's nugs dipped in sauce, right? Mark, You've had the Wendy Nuggs I've.

[Mark Ingram]

Had, and I love them.

[Rob Stone]

All right, But Mark, I ask you, have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy's new saucy nugs. Take the crispy and spicy nugs that I know you love. And you know what they turn them up to? They turn them up to 11, Mark.

[Mark Ingram]

Ooh, more than 10.

[Rob Stone]

More than 10.

[Mark Ingram]

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[Rob Stone]

Are you man enough to try the spicy ghost pepper? By the way, do you think you could pull that off?

[Mark Ingram]

That's not for me. I'm the honey barbecue type guy.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, I can do the peppers, pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins, and then go back and get a few more napkins and prepare to nugget. Apparently, the word nug is a verb now. So, Mark, prepare to nug like you've never nugged before. For a whole new way to nug, it's got to be Wendy's at participating us. Wendy's Keep on nugging America, Nug city. In our job, the office is always changing, whether it be at the big house, the Coliseum, or even Death Valley. While there are many different types of offices out there, one thing is for certain. Choosing the right candidate for any office is a huge responsibility. Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Urban Meyer]

Remember, if you want to find the right candidates for your office, you need ZipRecruiter. See why 4 out of 5 employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Just go to this exclusive web address right now to try ZipRecruiter for free.

[Rob Stone]

ZipRecruiter.com options again that is ZipRecruiter.com options ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire Ryan.

[Mark Ingram]

Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

[Rob Stone]

With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd.

[Mark Ingram]

Bring our prices down.

[Rob Stone]

So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer which is apparently a.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium Wireless 3030 bid to get 30. 2020 bid to get 2020 a bit to get 15.

[Mark Ingram]

15, 15 15.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Just 15 bucks a month.

[Mark Ingram]

Sold.

[Rob Stone]

Give it a [e-mail] SW $45 upfront.

[Urban Meyer]

Payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only. Taxes and fees.

[Rob Stone]

Extra Speed slower above 40 gigabytes. Detail. Let's go to what we think is another major story in college football right now. Sco buffs.

[Mark Ingram]

Sco buffs.

[Rob Stone]

Give it to me. Give me. This is not like a little whimper. Baby buff. Just like Nestle next to mom. This is a Sco buff. Big bowled out Sco buffet.

[Mark Ingram]

Ralphie Scope.

[Rob Stone]

Let's go. So Colorado, I was watching this one on the plane home with Matt and it literally to me felt like back to back Hail Mary's. Remember they had the first one that like bounced off the guy's chest.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, he dropped.

[Rob Stone]

I think there's like right. There's like two. Two seconds left. They're at home. Down seven to Baylor. And then Shador Sanders flushed to his left. By the way, flush to his left. He's a righty qb. The dude is so calm and nonchalant and just kind of.

[Mark Ingram]

And throws it up and tough.

[Rob Stone]

Physical cat. Physical cat.

[Mark Ingram]

Lajante west on that play, Rob.

[Rob Stone]

He did. He got smacked.

[Urban Meyer]

All game, Mark.

[Rob Stone]

All game, all season. It's all season.

[Urban Meyer]

Let's talk about the Hail Mary. So the hill and we were. Brady wants me to do on Big New and I don't think we are. So the Hail Mary, you get three people downfield, one beyond one jumper and one below in front of it.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

And then they had Travis Hunter, who was such a baller, came across, but he got flushed to his left. And if you break down the film, he is a millimeter away from getting tackled before that ball gets out of his hand. The middle jumper guy got tangled up and fell down. The far right guy was nowhere near to be seen. So it's really not a well executed play other than Shador to throw that ball where he threw the ball. And you watch the tape, man, he. He runs. He gets pressured almost every play. Mark, he gets hit almost every play and he still just gets up and gets up and gets up. I'm just. Can that continue?

[Mark Ingram]

No.

[Urban Meyer]

We saw last year just got wore out and so. So that's first the Hail Mary.

[Mark Ingram]

But coach, the Hail Mary.

[Urban Meyer]

Great execution by the team. It was great execution by two people.

[Mark Ingram]

Yep. Shedeur and Lajante Wester. I mean, it was raining out there, coach. Rain was coming down sideways for you to dive, get under that ball, secure to catch for the dub.

[Urban Meyer]

Like, did you see the safety? I don't know if you saw it. The safety was nine yards deep in the end zone. Coach Rondo is going to nine. I mean, I don't know. I'm not a math major. But you should be right at the goal line there.

[Mark Ingram]

Right.

[Urban Meyer]

If he's there, it's. He knocks the ball down. So I'm.

[Rob Stone]

Maybe that was a quarterback playing there. They put the wrong. The wrong letters in front of him.

[Mark Ingram]

Right.

[Rob Stone]

Wait a second. You're no quarterback. Safe. You don't know what you're doing.

[Urban Meyer]

If I'm the head coach of Baylor, my head is completely off my shoulders right now.

[Mark Ingram]

It is.

[Urban Meyer]

They gave that ball away.

[Mark Ingram]

They gave the game away. There's no way you're supposed to.

[Urban Meyer]

Nine yards deep. Mark, he was nine yards deep to safety.

[Mark Ingram]

If you're a Baylor, there's no way you're supposed to lose that game. But it just shows the resilience and the not never quit attitude that prime instills in these players. Because there's two seconds left in a rainy Hail Mary situation, it's easy to give up.

[Rob Stone]

You're talking about what prime and his coaches instill in his players in his staff. Great little sound bite about this from Prime. After the win.

[Mark Ingram]

We don't only want to coach them, we want to grow them and mature Them and love them and chastise them at the same time. We don't just want to pick them up and push them in the swing set. You know, we want to make sure we sit down and tell them what they need to know at that persistent time. We love these young men in a multitude of ways, and some of these young men have never heard those words from a man. So it's vital that they not only hear it, but we show it. And, you know, he knows the way I feel about him and the rest of these young men on the team, and we're developing a tremendous relationship that goes much farther than just football. Yes, sir. Creating young men, that's what Coach Urban got into it for. You don't create just a football player. You create a great young man who is going to be a blessing and an asset to society when he leaves your program. And that's what Coach prime is doing. That's what he's saying right there. He's telling some. Some young brothers never heard a man tell him he love him. That's crazy, right? I heard that from my father. I heard that from my grandfather. But to be able to do that for a young man like that is. That moves worlds, man. He's a young world changer. He's a world changer, man.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

I went out there and watched him coach, and I think a lot of people misunderstand that word love, especially if you're in a leadership position like a coach or a parent. And love is hard, man. It's not soft.

[Mark Ingram]

It is.

[Urban Meyer]

He jumps into those guys, man, when he sees him not hustling off the field, not wearing their helmet, not doing this, not doing that. I love the sound bite where you said you behaved tonight. You know, love is not soft. And that's, you know, that's, you know, young people, especially your children and, you know, the players I've been around, they really, as they go through their life, majority of them really appreciate the fact that you hold. There's accountability for every decision you make from 17 to 21. One that's going to make the difference the next 40 years of your life.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, sir.

[Urban Meyer]

The decisions you make. So I, I, I, I know it goes about it differently. I know there's a lot of critics about it. I'm a fan of Prime. I've been a friend for a long, long time. And I get it. It's bizarre now. At times you're like, what did he just say? Yeah, but. And another one is, I think a man's measured by his children.

[Mark Ingram]

Yep.

[Urban Meyer]

His kids are awesome.

[Mark Ingram]

Solid.

[Urban Meyer]

They're awesome.

[Mark Ingram]

All of them. Respect.

[Rob Stone]

I think the messaging sometimes gets lost in all the nil and all the transfers and shaking the watches and, you know, and the this and that and the glitz and who's on the sidelines and who's showing up and who's on the coaching staff this week and things like that.

[Urban Meyer]

But I will be honest with you, Mark, I wish some of that would go away because that takes away from the message, you know, the put the watches away and put the, you know, go hug your teammates, let's fix the offense line and all that. But if you dig deep, which I have, there's a lot of substance there, right?

[Rob Stone]

There may be no more substantial player in college football. None in Travis Hunter, right?

[Mark Ingram]

None.

[Rob Stone]

He has five straight games of at least 100 yards receiving this season. 472, five touchdowns, 12.8 per catch. I'm not even sure that's his best position because I think he came in to college football right as, as a defensive back. As, you know, Stone this wide receiver skill. He's everything. He can be what he can be a qb, a wr, a cb, an assistant coach, an equipment manager, whatever he's going to do, he's going to be.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, you put FB by his name. Football, football, football by his name. Fbp, football player by his name. Because not only does he have 472 yards and five touchdowns receiving, he also has an interception. And last week, the most crucial play of the game forced a fumble to win the game. They're about to run in the end zone and score a touchdown.

[Rob Stone]

Dude, he just missiled. He missiled in there to break it up.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes. Right on the ball.

[Rob Stone]

Bomb.

[Mark Ingram]

Ball out, ball out, back of the end zone. Touchback. Game winning play, difference maker all over the field.

[Urban Meyer]

There's three things I want to hit with this guys that I'm very passionate about. I'm going to actually do this at Big Noon. Number one is, I keep hearing that there's others that done it. No, there has not.

[Mark Ingram]

Not at this level.

[Urban Meyer]

There has not. There's been. They, you know, Chris Gamble at Ohio State really was a hell of a player. Our own Charles Woodson was the Heisman, but he didn't do it. You have Miles Jack at ucla, you know, another great player, but they're bits and pieces. This guy's playing 152 snaps, you know, or 130 snaps in the game. And I'm gonna add this. He's an all American type player at each Position Charles was a guy that they would put in as a hood ornament. You know, you'd have to know where he is because he's that good. But he's not playing every snap.

[Rob Stone]

So number 145 snaps last week. 145. 82 on offense, coach 63 on D. That ranks as the second most of his collegiate career.

[Mark Ingram]

Just to your point, Stoner, he has 169 more snaps than the next player in the country. 532 snaps on a year. Come on now.

[Urban Meyer]

And then I'm going to point out too, Mark, I know he's a dog. You know, I remember prime said he puts a D on his. He's a dog because he's playing receiver, Rob. And the plays to the left, he's going after. It's a street fight 15 yards down the field with a corner, which is what every coach wants out of his players. So. Yeah, so number one is that we'll get to number two in a second. But number one is this is a historical performance by this player. And I know there's been others close. Not like this, not on his left. Number two, how do you prepare? You know, I tried to do that. Joe Hayden, you guys know Joe, he was a phenomenal player for us. Actually was a quarterback in high school, then came to an H. Back then we put him a corner and I thought, man, we got to play this guy. But our coaching staff couldn't get it done. And you know, just because the corners coach wanted him, the receiver coach want and you do, you need to prep this guy. So you have to give credit to the Colorado coaching staff. Not necessarily Deion on this, but coach Brian, but the offense defense coordinator and the receiver coach and the. They have to work together, have separate tip sheets. And it's not as simple, say go play receiver. You don't do that. Or go play corner. They have to get him ready and we fail. We tried to do it, Joe Hayden. We were unable to do it, Coach.

[Mark Ingram]

I think the key to that is they had someone who has done it before prime has done it. So if you don't have somebody who done it, you don't know how it needs to be done. And coach prime already says you're not doing anything Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, you're taking 100. How many steps did he take, Stoner? 140 something. What'd you say? 130.

[Rob Stone]

120.

[Mark Ingram]

145. 145. Hey, that's comical. 145 snaps. Travis, go sit down. Go hit the ice tub. Go to the treatment room. You're not. I'm not going to see you until Wednesday.

[Rob Stone]

How about this one, Mark, how many snaps did he play last season? Coach? You guys both get a quick guess. How many snaps did he play last season?

[Urban Meyer]

Over a thousand, if I remember.

[Rob Stone]

Yep. 11. 2. 1102 snaps.

[Urban Meyer]

At a high level. At a high level.

[Rob Stone]

Also. Also 32 on special teams. Right. Last season. So an average of 114.7 per game.

[Urban Meyer]

So I got a call in, Mark. I got a call into the. One of the staff members at cu and I'm going to. I really want to know how they practice them and still keep him fresh. I said, how do you. I know. How do you keep. How do you get him ready?

[Mark Ingram]

Dion says, I don't see you till Wednesday. Sunday off, Monday off, Tuesday off. Travis wants to practice. I remember coach saying this in an interview. Travis wants to be out there. He wants to practice. Coach prime, like, no, dude, I won't see you until Wednesday. And that's.

[Urban Meyer]

He must be real intelligent, too. Real high iq.

[Mark Ingram]

Well, walk through reps, you know what I mean? Being able to pay attention, being able to focus even when you're not taking a physical rep, taking a mental rep. I think that must say a lot about what Travis is as a player.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, and the final one, the first one is generational historical. Number two was how do you prep them and practice and how do you do that? And then finally, number three is, is this sustainable? You know, I really you that training staff, but it's all on this player, you know, just the hydrate. And I mean, they're getting ready to go down into 110 heat index of humidity in Orlando, Florida, which will be there. Will be there. So those are the three things that just mesmerized me about this whole situation. Travis.

[Mark Ingram]

Sustainability, though. Coach is like, the kids been doing it forever. Like, when has he not done it? This is all he knows. So all he knows is to go out and play football the whole game and don't come out. That's all he knows.

[Rob Stone]

I know, I know we're in late September. Can I. Can I broach the H word?

[Mark Ingram]

Highs?

[Urban Meyer]

Absolutely. Absolutely.

[Rob Stone]

I mean, he's our September.

[Urban Meyer]

He continues.

[Rob Stone]

He's going to be. I mean, I know there's some good candidates out there. Nico, Nico I and company. But somebody make a better case. Somebody make a case that Travis Hunter has not won the Heisman of September. That's nothing compared to the Heisman of December. I understand that. But right now, I guess the big question is Colorado's got to get to a certain, probably a win total. They're at 3:1 right now. 1:0 in the Big 12 heading into Saturday's game at Central Florida. Live on Fox. Big noon Kickoff will be there. Central Florida's unbeaten at 3 0. I mean, they got to get to a bowl game, don't, don't they? Like kind of. They got to at least minimum, but.

[Mark Ingram]

They got to at least.

[Rob Stone]

But if he keeps making plays and doing things and putting up these numbers and shutting down the other team's best receiver and then doing what he does as a receiver with the player's best defender on him, it goes to the.

[Mark Ingram]

Best player in college football. Stoner.

[Rob Stone]

And that's it.

[Mark Ingram]

It goes to the best player in college football. It doesn't go to the best quarterback in college football. It goes to the best player in college football. And right now I think any football person would be hard and pressed to say that Travis Hunter is not the best player in football right now.

[Rob Stone]

So we are.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, he made the game winning tackle. He made the game winning tackle.

[Rob Stone]

Yes.

[Urban Meyer]

He fought the game winning fumble on the one yard.

[Mark Ingram]

Leave it to impact. I don't need to catch the ball and catch a touchdown. No, I'm going to force the fumble to win the game.

[Rob Stone]

Mark, go back there. Go, go over your left shoulder. Get that trophy. Go get it right now. Wheel your little butt back there. Get that trophy. Bring it up here. Bring it up here. And I would like to, I'd like to everybody welcome you to the Triple Option club in downtown somewhere, Florida, Manhattan Beach. And we would like to give you Travis Hunter, the September Heisman Trophy award. Congratulations.

[Urban Meyer]

September goes to Travis Hunter.

[Rob Stone]

Congratulations, Mr. Hunter. Well deserved. Coming up next on the triple option, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer.

[Mark Ingram]

Roll damn tide.

[Rob Stone]

Well, as you all know by now, we have teamed up with our great friends at BETMGM this season and 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?

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, I'm listening.

[Rob Stone]

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 option and you will get up to fifteen hundred dollars. First bet offer. Mark on your first wager with BetMGM. We're talking fifteen hundred bucks.

[Mark Ingram]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Mark Ingram]

Coach DeBoer, we appreciate you, man. It's an honor to have you on the show. Bringing another member of the Crimson Tide family onto the triple option. We got the one, the only, Klyn DeBoer, the head coach at the University of Alabama. Roll Tide, baby. We appreciate you coming on the show with us.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Roll Tide. And I didn't know that we were supposed to wear no sleeves, right?

[Mark Ingram]

So, Coach, you know what it is? You know?

[Urban Meyer]

So is it Roll. Is it Roll Tide, Coach, or is it rolled? Damn tight. I get confused once in a while.

[Kalen DeBoer]

It's. It can be both, right, Mark?

[Mark Ingram]

I mean, hey, Roll MF tied. It could be all of that What's.

[Urban Meyer]

A family show here? So let's stick with roll. Damn tight.

[Rob Stone]

We got you, coach, in your days back at Sioux Fall as a player and a coach, I'm curious, what were your coaching aspirations at that point in your career?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Oh, I just. I mean, at that time, you know, I loved. I wanted to coach high school football, and I did for two years right out of college. I loved it. Two amazing years. Had some great coaches, a head coach, some assistants. I was the head sophomore coach right out of college, and that was a blast. Running my own show there. And got a chance, though, two years later to come back to Sioux Falls, the University Falls, and be the offensive coordinator right away. And that was under my head coach. That was with Chuck Morrell, who was the defensive coordinator, who's actually on my staff. We were former teammates, so it was just too good of an opportunity. But I was just about coaching high school ball and enjoying that and, you know, being around. Being around a bunch of maybe some, you know, other sports along the way, basketball or something.

[Rob Stone]

When you were doing that, was alab. Anywhere. Anywhere in your stratosphere. Anywhere in the back of your head, like, man, maybe someday I could be in Tuscaloosa.

[Kalen DeBoer]

No, no, I don't. I can guarantee. And not even. I don't think I can guarantee it wasn't.

[Mark Ingram]

We love that, though. We love it.

[Urban Meyer]

So, coach, you take. You take Washington, the national title. And I was actually thinking about you last year when this was all going on. And I remember when I was a Bowling Green, then Utah. I'm not sure many of the viewers really understand how when you get pursued because the ads, maybe it changed, but the 80s never call you because you're really not supposed to. And I didn't have an agent, so was those headhunters, they would call, engage your interest. So, you know, I. I don't want to get too involved or too personal with it, but you're. You're. You have an incredible season. You're at a great place. Can you kind of let us know how, like, did a headhunter reach out to gauge your interest or what happened when you had that great season in Washington?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, no, it's actually really simple. We had our season. We flew back on Tuesday after the Monday game, and Wednesday, Coach Saban announces his retirement. And late. Late. Late Wednesday night, my agent let me know that they, you know, Greg Byrne wanted to meet. And it was literally the next day they were on a plane up, and so it was that fast. And so no gauging of interest other than hey, would you be interested in meeting? And that was that. Wednesday night, Thursday, interviewed and then Friday, got offered the job and accepted it. And Friday night I was here. You know, it was fast.

[Rob Stone]

You got off that plane. I remember that image.

[Kalen DeBoer]

We had a little bit of a heads up that there was a lot of people on the ground excited to greet us. I didn't. Don't think. I thought it was gonna be that.

[Mark Ingram]

Crazy and that crazy. It was so many people out there.

[Urban Meyer]

It was awesome.

[Kalen DeBoer]

It was great. My. My kids especially, you know, just them being a part of it. It was. It was kind of a cool moment, I think something that they'll always remember, but, you know, whisked away quickly to the facility. Literally walked into the facility, into a team room, not didn't even see the rest of the building. I couldn't tell you which way was which. The team. And here we go.

[Urban Meyer]

I remember when I left. When I left Utah and went to Florida, the players kind of understood. We had a really good meeting. When I left Bowling Green to go to Utah, it wasn't so good. You know, how. I mean, my gosh, Washington, you get. You reached almost the pinnacle of the game. How did your players respond?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, that's the hardest thing in all of this. I think. There's two pieces. One, we were coming off of a national championship run there, and, you know, just not having to have a chance to celebrate that. That really never existed. And I feel bad for the players when it comes to that and the fan base, too, you know, and just. That was a unique situation. It was such a memorable season. And then the timing is something, you know, you just can't control. But, you know, it was important to me to get in front of the players. And just again, as I mentioned, how quickly everything happened. Late Friday morning, you know, being offered a job and accepting it, knowing how word travels. Word was pretty much out that I accepted the job before pretty much maybe was even offered it, but for sure, before I accepted. So, you know, we called a quick team meeting, and, you know, the. Not even all the guys were able to be there, you know, because some of them, you know, maybe are, you know, not even there because it was a weekend and, you know, classes finished up. And so that just how it all kind of ended there was really hard. And I, you know, there's players that are done, you know, with their years that I've had a great chance to reach out to and make sure that that relationship's still intact, especially the guys that moved on to the NFL. But I Am looking forward to the time when, you know, some of these guys that are either there or moved on to other programs, getting the chance to connect when their careers are done and really, you know, talking through the good. Some good. Some good times.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Now, coach, you mentioned, like, how fast everything happened and you had players in a transfer portal. You're taking a new job, you're moving your family. There's all these variables going on with taking a new possession on a new position on, like, you know, the head coach at University of Alabama. But one of the things I appreciated was you connected with me not too long after you took that job. I know it was less than a week. It had to been a certain amount of days that you had connected with me, and I appreciated that because that's something that doesn't happen at every place and something that's not the culture of every place. So I've seen a lot of the former players around the team, a lot of former players around the facility. Why is it important to you to have the former players still involved with the program?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Well, you've. You're the. You're one of many greats that made this place what it is and made this job special, made plain here at Alabama special. And I guess we're all alumni from somewhere, and we always want that. And I want to be able to go back to the University of Sioux Falls and enjoy the relationships and the people there and know that that's always home. And so I always think about it that way when, you know, I got came here, I want the alumni to always know that this should always be home. No matter if it's a different head coach or, you know, it's 10 years, 20 years, 30 years down the road, this is always home. You made this place what it is.

[Mark Ingram]

Well, you've treated me like family, and I know some of the guys have been back that I play with. Everyone makes it feel like home. So we appreciate you, coach.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, I appreciate. I appreciate hearing that.

[Urban Meyer]

Well, I'll do respect to the previous teams you played. I still remember the days when I first got to the sec, especially as an offensive coach. Man, you're sitting there watching Sunday film and you're like, how in the hell are we going to block that guy? You know, the defensive fronts in this league is. Are unbelievable. And you got one this this week, man, this is. Welcome to the sec, coach.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And, yeah, we're working through those. Those answers right now, trying to come up with the best ones we can, but it's. It's certainly, you know, facing Georgia here, you know, clashing of the two teams in the conference championship. And then for us, our first game in the sec, it's quite a bang to start the season off here. So looking forward to the challenge, embracing it. You know, just know that over the years and whenever you have big games and it's all relative, right. This wasn't an SEC game, but it's always relative. You got to be who you are and what your identity is. In a different. Even though we're still evolving, that having been a new staff and it still being early in the season, we gotta. We gotta continue to identify that, stick to what we're good at right now and continue to evolve, continue to grow in all aspects of our program.

[Rob Stone]

You guys had a bye week leading into this game against Georgia. How did you approach this bye week? And maybe how would it be different if it was another type of opponent that wasn't at a Georgia type level?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, I think it's probably for us, more about the timing of the year. And, you know, we're only three games in, but we're also seven weeks into football and fall camp, four weeks, three seat, three games. And so that piece right now for our guys, to me, it was important to have a couple days, and we did Monday and Tuesday where we just didn't have football. You know, we lifted and did some things on Sunday and Wednesday. And so I know a lot of people do it different ways. That's what we felt was important. I wanted to get some of our guys healthy, and so practicing later in the week where more of those guys can come back, you know, not immediately after the Wisconsin game, give them a couple days mentally, but also physically to where we could get some of that Georgia work in on Thursday and Friday. I thought that was important. We'd practice again on Sunday. So we're in a good spot right now. Every day is every day. Every rep matters. And so trying to get some of those guys back and get stealing as many reps as we could was important.

[Rob Stone]

Give us the quick scouting report of what Georgia is right now.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, from, you know, offensively, I think just with Carson Beck, just. I think anytime you tell a guy he's a manager, like, that's not what they want to hear as a quarterback. Right. He's beyond that, but he does a great job just managing everything, like running the show, it goes through him. And so I mean that in a very respectful way. But, you know, I think, you know, when it comes to the running backs, you see explosiveness I think in the passing game, you know, they're, they're still working and getting in sync with, with different elements from quarterback to receiver. And, you know, with the bye week, I'm sure that they were really focused on that. But, you know, up front, just physical, it's what you'd expect. And there's just no turnovers, right? No turnovers on, on the season through three games, which is to me, just super impressive. No interceptions. And you know, defensively, you know, they're, they're, they're going to just make life really hard for you and make you earn every yard, you know, have answers and solutions to the things that I think you, you know, do best and then, you know, adjust. Having adjustments throughout the course of the game is what I'm expecting to see. And so you got to counter all those, those things that they're doing to you. And then special teams, that's the hidden piece in all of this. You know, the field goal kicker, 6 for 6, and a punting game where, you know, we feel like it's a strength of ours that we can flip the field with. James Burnup, you know, they're doing the same thing in their, in their punting game and haven't had a yard of return yardage in two years, you know, with their, what they do. So every yard is important and even there, it's really hard to find those yards.

[Mark Ingram]

No. Coach, one thing I admire so much is how you weathered the storm of the transfer Portal, right? Like 32 players left out of the portal, you end up retaining 25 stars on a roster that's the most in the country. Then you bring 12 players in from the portal. What is it like taking over a program in the era of the new nil and transfer portal? What's it like taking over a program during that time?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, yeah. You know, I don't. I really. I think we'll always have to have portal guys come in just because that's the area we live in. But I would like to think of this as a high school recruiting program. And then the portal fills in the gaps. And as you mentioned, with so many guys going on to other places, we had to find the right guys that filled in some of those key losses. Guys who were contributors a year ago that we knew were going to be major impact players for us this year. And I think we were, for the most part, we were able to do that. You know, you lose a center, you bring in a center, you lose some receivers, you bring in a receiver, you know, and just Some tight ends brought in a tight end and safety. Same thing, you know, just across the board trying to plug and play. And I thought. I think we did a good job with not just bringing in a player, but some. Some guys who fit our. What we want to be culture wise fit what we want to be on the field, schematically had great skill sets, had some experience under their belts, playing at a high level.

[Urban Meyer]

You know the rule. You don't follow the man, you follow the man after the man. That's what I did. It's Florida, but I felt Steve Spurrier every day. I just talked to him last week and I. He loved when I said the you. The shadow of the visor is what I called it. I just. Because they're contingency that will all and they should that love that previous coach and this and it drove me nuts a little bit. This is the way we used to do it. Have you gotten that yet or. I guess it's still too early.

[Kalen DeBoer]

I just know that you just. You embrace that, you know, and it's a privilege to be here. And Coach Saban deserves all that, you know, and I'm sure Coach Saban would have said the same thing about the other greats that came before him. And you know, again, it's made what this program is because of the work that he's put in. And so I think the thing. The way I look at it though, is that someone like Coach Saban, who pours everything into this program and makes it what it is, there's an element of he don't want it to just, you know, lose all its luster of what it's become. And, you know, that's. That's where it falls on me to continue to carry that on, you know, show that the work that he's put in and you just think about teams. But I think there's. There's things you do structurally infrastructure of the program, whether it's academically, you know, the trainings, the training room and facilities with the weight room and. And he's did such a good job of taking advantage of improving those areas, which I think people understand. You know, Alabama has a lot of great things that our players have access to and the resources are at a high level. But he took advantage of continue to grow. And that's what I'm looking to do is continue to grow. Even though you might think, man, how can you do it better? You know, and Coach Saban will. That's my responsibility is to obviously have a great product on the field that allows Us to continue to grow the program and continue to evolve it. Like, it's been done at a high level for the last, you know, not just 17 years, but for decades now.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, we know you got Georgia coming up this week, and I know you haven't experienced the iron ball yet, but, you know, Auburn is like the hated rivalry that, like. Like, no matter what happens, like, you gotta whoop Auburn. Right? So. But now it's like you got Georgia coming in this week. And I remember, like, when I got to school, like, I had to learn the Iron bowl, the Alabama rivalry, but I kind of grew to hate Florida. Like, I was going against Coach meyer and those gators. 0809. That's who you had to be to, like, contend for a championship. So now is Georgia taking that place as, like, the new rival because of just the stature and the status of what this game means, the magnitude of this game every year?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, I think there's. There's rivalries for different reasons. Right. And you. I think you nailed it. You know, you got your in state rivalry, and then you have the rivalries, and because you know that you're playing for something at a high level, you know that this game, you know, last year and past years has meant national championship, conference championship. It's meant a lot in those areas. And so it's a rivalry, if you want to call it that way, for those reasons, because there's something at stake.

[Rob Stone]

I would imagine when you took the job over Jalen, Milro was a priority for you just to watch the tape, figure out what this young man is and what his future can be. So how have you handled Milro since you got into Tuscaloosa, as far as what the developmental path was that you wanted him to do, and what have you seen from him this season?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Yeah, I told him this, too. I was excited to meet him. When we were playing and getting ready to play the Sugar bowl, and he was obviously on the field in the Rose Bowl. I remember walking by a tv, just going to the locker room, and I was with a couple other coaches, and seeing him make one play, and just in. Just passing and seeing it on the tv, one of our coaches goes, man, we face him. That's going to be a problem. I've told Jalen that, you know, that kind of division, the visual that we. That I had from afar, really not having dissected and watching him play, but walking into the team room, you know, it's kind of a blur, as I told you, how fast everything happened, but I specifically remember seeing him, you know, front and front, not center, because he's off to the right a little bit. But how can you miss? I mean, he's got the smile from ear to ear usually. And I think that was maybe a little different at the time because there were some stressful moments, moments that those guys were all going through with the transition and meeting their new head coach. But I do remember just, you know, even a short interaction with him and a meeting with the leadership group where you could get a sense very quickly of what he was all about and how important it was to him to stay, to see things through. Along with many of the others who did the same, they had some unfinished business to do. It was important to get the training rolling as quick as you could. And he, you know, he's done nothing but help lead the charge in every way, both as a player, as a leader, and as a person, you know, who represents our program every single day.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, Coach, we know Milroy is an amazing athlete, but I mean, we got an amazing athlete right here. I mean, as so far as two sport athlete set the record for receptions, touchdowns, yards. Don't forget Coach Meyer now 5, 20, 10 home runs as a senior. Do them boys know that their coach is really like that? A really deal holy field athlete. Do they know that again?

[Kalen DeBoer]

Now I'm going to go the other way. With all due respect to, you know, smaller college football, a guy like Jalen Milroe and the guys here, the speed they're operating on was a little different speed than what I was operating on. I knew my place and I knew my time, and I take a lot of pride in that. I had a lot of fun, but it's a little different level.

[Mark Ingram]

I don't care where you at, Coach, you got to run the route, get open. You got to catch the football, you got to score the touchdown. I don't care where you at. You got to. You got it. You got you betting 520. That's legendary. And 10 home runs. You still got to hit the ball out the park. So I'm going to give you your credit, Coach.

[Kalen DeBoer]

I appreciate that, Mark. I really do.

[Rob Stone]

Coach, we know you got a lot of baseball. Our coach, Coach Meyer's got baseball in his DNA as well. And it's funny, when Urban gets around baseball guys, I see coach kind of start geeking out a little bit. Mark, have you seen that, too? Like, he gets. He's like, oh, man, a rod's over there. There's Jeter. He wants to talk baseball, right? He doesn't want to talk football. Those guys want to talk football to Urban. Urban wants to talk baseball to those guys. Are you still kind of a baseball junkie, a baseball nerd down deep?

[Kalen DeBoer]

I am. I am. When it comes to the baton ball sports. I have a daughter who is softball. And there might be some times when you question what my favorite sport. And I'm saying this jokingly, but I love softball. I love baseball. There's something about just, you know, I've got to enjoy that. This. The hitting techniques and the drill work and just diving into that. And that's probably the coach coming out in me, but I get to still do that just because I do have a daughter.

[Urban Meyer]

You hit.520 with 10 bombs. I got drafted in 1982. I. We didn't do that. Holy cow, man. Major League Baseball. Missed on a guy, man. Look at that.

[Mark Ingram]

Drafted in 1982. Coach, who drafted you?

[Urban Meyer]

Atlanta Braves. The Braves. Yeah.

[Kalen DeBoer]

That's awesome.

[Mark Ingram]

Atu.

[Urban Meyer]

And then, you know who cut me? Some guy by the name of Hank Aaron. I got a letter saying you're cut.

[Rob Stone]

You still have that letter?

[Urban Meyer]

Oh, my dad, you know, bless his soul. But my dad being a, you know, say, by the way, you might want to save his autograph. I said, throw that thing away, but he saved it. He was a player personnel director back then for the Braves. Wow.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Wow.

[Urban Meyer]

Thanks for your time, Coach, Man.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

I know it's a tough week, man.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, we do one. We do one thing. You want to tell them, Rob? Tell them what we do?

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, Coach. We like to offer our guests the opportunity to throw a question back at any one of us. You're welcome to fire. Fire a fastball at me if you want, or your Heisman winner down there, but my guess is it might be the other guy, Coach Meyer, that you might have a question for. So this is your opportunity to throw a question at us.

[Kalen DeBoer]

I want to make sure I don't say this. I want to make sure I'm accurate, I guess. Coach, you won it in 2006 and 2008. Right?

[Urban Meyer]

Right.

[Kalen DeBoer]

I always remember that because those were the same two years that we won our national championships. We won 2006, 2008, and then 2009. But I remember specifically he. Coach probably don't remember the. The small college guy. Right. Taking the pictures with the AFCA trophies.

[Urban Meyer]

Oh, yeah, I do remember that. Yeah, of course. That was you, huh? That was great.

[Kalen DeBoer]

That was me.

[Urban Meyer]

Those are good years. Those are good years.

[Kalen DeBoer]

I do remember that. So I always. When I think about your coach and think about those years. And I always remember the years you won the national championship because two of them were correlated the exact same time we were doing our thing. So.

[Mark Ingram]

Wow.

[Urban Meyer]

Yep.

[Mark Ingram]

Legendary.

[Rob Stone]

Love that. Love that. Coach. We know you are this week. Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Big enjoyment. Next time you'll take us through all the things that are behind you in that beautiful office of yours. We'll save that for another episode of the Triple Option.

[Kalen DeBoer]

All right, Be happy to do that.

[Rob Stone]

All right.

[Mark Ingram]

Go get them dogs. Coach.

[Kalen DeBoer]

We got Coach Stallings back there. You know, you can see him back there. That trophy. That's.

[Urban Meyer]

I see the Eddie Robinson.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

Over your right shoulder, some game balls.

[Kalen DeBoer]

There's two of the most special ones that I think I've ever. I've ever received just because of who they are and what they represent and, you know, both of those this last year and the Coach Stallings won, given that before I even had a chance to come here. But going to accept it this spring was really a great honor. So pretty special.

[Mark Ingram]

Ladies and gentlemen, those dogs, Kalen deboer. Go get them, dogs. Coach, let's go.

[Kalen DeBoer]

I appreciate it. Thank you, guys. Roll Tide.

[Mark Ingram]

Roll Tide. Thank you.

[Rob Stone]

Roll damn Tide.

[Mark Ingram]

Roll damn Tide. I don't give a piss about nothing but the Tide, baby.

[Rob Stone]

Let's go.

[Mark Ingram]

Let's go, Coach.

[Rob Stone]

Have a great Saturday. Thanks for joining us this week. Appreciate it.

[Kalen DeBoer]

Thank you.

[Rob Stone]

All right, welcome back to the Triple Option presented by the Wendy's. How about an early season playoff? Look, we're about a third of the way through the season right now. We're going to take a look at the AP rankings this week. One through four stayed unchanged. Tennessee, they have moved now, guys, for the fourth straight week in the right direction. They now sit at number five this the second straight week that the SEC has six of the top seven teams in the poll. Coach, your former program, Utah, big win over the weekend. On the road in Big 12 play, they're up two spots, sitting at number 10. So that is the highest of the five ranked teams from inside the Big 12. So right now, the teams getting the four buys are your conference winners from the Power Four. Texas, Ohio State, Miami, Utah. We're all pretty good with that. We know some of that could be fluid. Obviously, Georgia and Alabama is going to have a say in the SEC at some point, right? Oregon's going to have a say in the Big Ten. Penn State might as well. Then where it gets really interesting are the first round games. And again, these are going to be on campus this year. So as of now, we've got number 12, Boise State at number 5, Georgia. Number 11, Michigan. At number 6, Alabama. Blue Bloods. I love it. Number 10, Missouri at number 7, Tennessee. And number 9, Penn State at number 8, Ole Miss. So those four first round games, guess what? They're all on SEC campuses. Mark, I think you remember this last week on Big Noon Kickoff, the way I toss it to coach about Tennessee was like, all right, here's the new bandwagon man for Tennessee is coach Urban Meyer. Because every week you talk about Tennessee, and rightfully so, and people are noticing. Coach, Tennessee started in the top 25 in the preseason at number 15. After week one, they went up to 14, then they jumped to seven, then to six. And this week they are in the top five for the first time since 2022. And you, my friend, are a big believer in the Vols.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, I got inside, inside information there. And I ask every week, you know, I have a NFL guy that scouts around and helps me with some stuff. And he, when he made the comment, it looks like Tennessee of old, that's the respect I had for the old Tennessee outfit. And I know Nico, I, the quarterback, we all love him. I think he's certainly a Heisman candidate. I think he's a top 10 pick after now. He's got to get. He's got to do a couple of things a little better. They went into Norman, Oklahoma, and when you go into Norman, Oklahoma, and he had a good day, but you're in, you're in at Oklahoma and you find a way to go win that game. So as I said on Big Noon, I'm going to say it again this week. He is not the only show in Knoxville. They are balanced on offense, they have a good run game, they're good in the trenches, and they're very good on defense. Obviously, we're going to find out they're jumping into the, you know, the rest of the SEC coming up here, but there is no doubt I have them number four, potentially number three team in the country right now.

[Rob Stone]

So you have them winning the sec.

[Urban Meyer]

I didn't say that.

[Rob Stone]

Okay.

[Urban Meyer]

I didn't say that. I said right now I got Georgia, you know, still up there. So I think there'll be an SEC championship game.

[Rob Stone]

Nico Ia Maleva. Nico Ia Malava, Malayalva, also an elite volleyball player. Growing up, I didn't know that about him. Dude is six. Six. Yeah, he's 215 from Long beach, man. And. And you know, I want to roll this clip real quick because I thought this Was cool. What? You know, one of the stories, at least from the media perspective about Tennessee and that trip. Coach, as you mentioned, going to Norman was Josh Hyp going back to Oklahoma, you know, led them to a national title, was an offensive coordinator there and you could tell it meant a lot to him and the players were aware of it. Here's coach after the win in the locker room.

[Urban Meyer]

This thing coming back to normal was never about me. It was not. But I appreciate you all having a little extra for me.

[Rob Stone]

I love that. Having a little extra for me. And what that clip didn't show, just a couple seconds later, our guy Nico presented him with the game ball. And boy, I got goosebumps right now listening to that.

[Mark Ingram]

That's what football is all about. That's what this game is all about. Because he ain't make it about going back to Oklahoma. He made it about his team going in there and handling business they need to handle. But the players, if you know your coach, if you want to run through a wall for your coach, you know how much that means and that's what that showed right there. And man, when you see that going on in the locker room, coach talked about why they are a true contender and not a pretender. But when you see that type of stuff going on in the locker room, that's different. That makes the team dangerous.

[Rob Stone]

I agree. Can we talk about the Ohio State, please? The like of all the big time programs that really we haven't delved into much on the triple option presented by Wendy's, it's been Ohio State because it's been. I mean, they've played three out of conference opponents, they've rolled through them and it's been kind of like a preseason warmup. But they have done mark what's been asked of them and they've done it at an elite level.

[Mark Ingram]

All you can do is play who was on your schedule. And they have been dominating who was on their schedule. And it's because they have a team that's built to go the distance they went. And they retained a lot of their roster from going to the NFL Draft. About 10 players, they went and got positions of need out of the portal. And all their positions of need were arguably one of the best at their position in the country last year.

[Rob Stone]

Stole a couple Alabama guys.

[Mark Ingram]

Yep. Caleb Downs, you know, got him one of the best safeties in the league. I mean, one of the best safeties in college football. Then they took one of our future quarterbacks, Julian Sand. He's the real deal. Then you get Go and get the center. Seth McLaughlin, you go and get Will Howard. You go and add these positions of need, which add that to a culture of guys. How can I forget Quinshawn Judkins? I mean, come on, the dude, dude.

[Rob Stone]

Was huge last weekend.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, like a buck 62 teddies. Like the boy is the real deal. But this team right here is built to go the distance. They have the defense, they have the offense. You talk about Jeremiah Smith, you talk about Mecca Igbuka, you talk about Travion Henderson, you talk about Quinshawn Judkins, you talk about their offensive line, who is dominant. Then you go and add Will Howard from Kansas State. That's. That's team is built for it. And he's just doing a great job. They're loaded. He's been doing a great job. It's all about him not making mistakes. It's all about him distributing this ball to these playmakers, being able to make the clutch plays when they need him to make them, using his arm or using his legs. And with him processing, making the right decisions and these playmakers all around him, this tough defense, the coaching, this team is built to go on the title run. And if they don't, it'll be their own fault because they got, you know.

[Urban Meyer]

One thing, the important word or the important phrase for me watching the Buckeyes, and I've been there a little bit, when you have a softer schedule is Tuesday practice. That's all the most important thing in Columbus, Ohio, from August until when they go to Eugene, Oregon, they have Iowa coming in, but Michigan State's not near the team they were. Is Tuesday's practice. That's iron sharpens iron. Steel sharpens steel, that is. I would be practicing good on. Good as much as I possibly could, Mark. Because you're not going to get better facing when you have to block people that aren't as good as you, you don't get better. There's only one way to get better, and I will say it again. Tuesday's practice. Tuesday's better practice. I'm sure it is. I hope it's just been really, really physical. The most important day of the week for the first five weeks for the Buckeyes is Tuesday practice for sure.

[Mark Ingram]

Because they got good on good for sure. So if they're getting those quality reps against each other, they have to. Yep.

[Rob Stone]

Coach, that one phrase that's been thrown about Ohio State all season long. Natty or bus? Natty or bus. Natty or bus. We talked about it on Big Noon last Saturday. You ain't buying that. You are not buying that phrase.

[Urban Meyer]

He can't.

[Mark Ingram]

He's part of them. He can't. But it is. It is.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, but it's. It's rivalry bust. No, I think that's part of the process. It's a bizarre place, man. In Ohio, Jerry DiNardo fights me every year on this. So do you really believe that if you win that one game and lose several others, everything's good? I know it is. Absolutely. And if you win a national championship, but you lose that game, Coach, what that contract said.

[Mark Ingram]

What that contract said.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

That said whenever game you play, beat your rival, graduate, you know, graduate the majority of your players and. Yeah, but when every game you. It actually said that Mark, beat your, beat, beat your rival and win every game you play.

[Rob Stone]

You didn't name the rival. It just said, beat your rival.

[Urban Meyer]

Beat your rival.

[Mark Ingram]

But, coach, it is Natty or bust. And getting the gold pair of pants for all those players on Ohio State who apparently nobody on Ohio State's roster has gold pants.

[Rob Stone]

You get the gold pants for beating your rival up north, which is Michigan.

[Mark Ingram]

Yep. So for which is Wolverines, for all the listeners, you get a pair of gold pants if you beat the Wolverines. And apparently nobody on Ohio State's roster has a pair of gold pants.

[Rob Stone]

That's crazy.

[Mark Ingram]

So getting a gold pair of pants is of the utmost importance. But that is on the way to the Natty. It is natty or bust. You don't assemble this roster with intentions of going 13 and one beating and getting booted out of the semifinals or the quarterfinals.

[Rob Stone]

There's your. There's your T shirt right there in Columbus. Do it for the pants. Do it for the pants. All right, time now for pick six, brought to you by BET mgm. Place your money line prop parlay and same game parlay bets at BET mgm. Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly. Each week we get six games against the spread. Mark's got his deuce deuce dog of the week. One of his picks will be the underdog that he thinks will cover. We remind Everybody watching on YouTube, listening on all those great podcast options that these lines are current as of Tuesday. They can obviously change again. All right, here we go. BET mgm pick six. I'm going to start, guys. We're going to start. In the tight Big 12, two of the favorites fell for the first time last week in league play. Now number 20, Oklahoma State at now number 23, Kansas State Wildcats favored by four and a half Cowboys. Coach hosted the old Utah team didn't have starting QB cam rising. It didn't matter for the Utes, they controlled things. It was 2219. It really wasn't that close. And the ground game, which should be a strength for Oklahoma State. Right. This is what we thought they would be. Again, problematic. Last year's Doke Walker winner, Ollie Gordon, 42 yards. Remember, this is a guy who had 1700 yards rushing last season. He's only averaging 64 and a half a game this season. Things were so bad that they even benched their starting quarterback, Alan Bowman, midway. They did bring him back. He did lead to a couple late touchdown drives. And they've already said, let's he. He's going to start in Manhattan against the Wildcats, who also lost. And they lost. Bad guys. They lost in a tough place. BYU 38 to 9. But the Wildcats did themselves no favors. Three straight turnovers. Coach, can you remember a game where your team coughed up three straight possessions?

[Urban Meyer]

No, they would have to cart me off the field.

[Rob Stone]

Exactly. Exactly. That's what happened to K State.

[Urban Meyer]

That's.

[Rob Stone]

That's uncharacteristic of them, including two picks from their very talented quarterback, Avery Johnson. I look at this and I just feel like the Cowboys are in a worse spot than Kansas State is. I think home field does them right. K State wins and they cover and they get their Big 12 title game hopes back on track. All right, number 15, Louisville. At number 16, Notre Dame. The Irish home favored by six. The Cards one of four unbeatens left in the ACC. And coach this the second straight season. This one is a ranked matchup.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, I went and watched him because I saw I had them as a pick and they're averaging 47 points per game. Jeff Braum is the coach there. He's 13 and 4. I have experience with Jeff Brown, a lot of respect. He's a rugged guy, former great player, but he's also a great coach. Here's the best thing they got going, and this is coaching and also obviously great players. Zero turnovers. They've not turned the ball over. They got the number one, number three defense in the conference. So I, you know, Notre Dame, they, they had. Everybody was all over him, including me. When they went to A and M and they won the way they did, the energy they showed. And then the unthinkable happened, Mark. And we had our guy on there, the coach of niu, but they lost to Northern Illinois. They slapped Purdue. So I just don't know what, what it is I'm going to actually take. I Went back and forth on this. I just. I think it's going to be a close game. I think it's going to be within six points. So I'm going to take Louisville in the sixth.

[Mark Ingram]

Wow.

[Rob Stone]

Good man.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach. I went back and forth on that, man.

[Rob Stone]

Mark and Urban, you guys kind of have de facto home games this week for big noon kickoff for the first time. Big noon kickoff. Off to the Sunshine State. We're in Florida. This is fingers crossed because we know car service.

[Urban Meyer]

It's car service.

[Mark Ingram]

Car service.

[Rob Stone]

Sorry, sorry. I'm an. I'm a. I'm a rental car guy. It is Colorado at Central Florida. UCF favored by 14. Remember we talked about the Buffs when that hail.

[Urban Meyer]

Talk to me.

[Rob Stone]

Ot. They got the win over Baylor Saturday. They take on unbeaten ucf. Mark.

[Mark Ingram]

I mean what a showdown. We get to go see it too in the flesh. You know what I mean? But listen, this isn't going to be a tough. This isn't going to be an easy game for Colorado by any means. They got to travel to ucf. They're three and oh, this is a big game for them. Big news coming to town. The fans will be rowdy. Their offense, let me tell you. They run the football, coach.

[Rob Stone]

Oh, do they ever.

[Mark Ingram]

They run the football. 400. They've averaged four. They're averaging 45 points per game. 375. You rush yards per game. K.J. jefferson, the transfer quarterback from Arkansas, 563 yards passing, throwing for 63%, five touchdowns. R.J. harvey, who leads the running, who leads the Russian attack, 448 yards, eight scores. Two other backs over 140 yards. So this Colorado defense will have to show up. They're going to have to show up. They're going to have to play big. But they, they've been playing their best defense all year. It's a must improve unit. Shedur Sanders, Travis Hunter, all these weapons on offense. This offensive line is going to have to find a way to protect Shadur. He can't keep just getting hit and smacked all the time. But he's tough. He going to keep getting up. He going to keep throwing the ball. 14 points is way too much for me. This game means way too much to both programs. It's going to go down and be close game. I got Colorado covering the spread. I got Colorado winning outright.

[Rob Stone]

Do you.

[Urban Meyer]

Let's go.

[Mark Ingram]

I got Colorado winning outright.

[Urban Meyer]

One thing to watch. One thing to watch. We live in Florida, Mark is watch that weather. I've also coached in. I've coached In Colorado. And it's the heat, but it's also the humidity because altitude, you have no humidity. So I'm anxious to watch it. It's going to be a rugged game.

[Rob Stone]

And coach, you talk about humidity, there's that huge system, a potential hurricane that's working its way through the Gulf of Mexico right now. And not to get like, you know, I'm a sportscaster, but I play a weatherman on the triple option. You know, you get those bands of rain and the humidity that gets pushed out from the Gulf inland into central Florida. Yeah, it could be steamy, it could be wet. That field could be wet from the rains that they get through the. Oh, if this Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. Right. Changer.

[Mark Ingram]

That's heavy in UCF. Saver.

[Rob Stone]

100%. Only one team in America rushes the ball more per game than UCF's 55 carries a game. I'll give you one guess, Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

Ann Arbor?

[Rob Stone]

No. Army. Well, they might. They might. Now they. Michigan's numbers might start skewing a little bit higher right now.

[Mark Ingram]

You should have told me the weather report before I did my peak.

[Rob Stone]

You're supposed to do. See, Mark, we take all of this stuff in, we digest this in. This is what that.

[Mark Ingram]

That's why you're my co host and you're supposed to assist me.

[Urban Meyer]

I think it's going to be out of there, Mark. It's going to be out of there.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, I think so, too. I hope so. I hope so.

[Urban Meyer]

I'm looking at the chain right now, so.

[Mark Ingram]

But 14 points is way too much for me.

[Rob Stone]

I agree. I agree. Wet or dry, 14 seems big night game. Welcome to the road for number three, Ohio State. They're at Michigan State. Last week we saw Columbus concede their first touchdown of the season. Did the Buckeyes, but then they just had all of those big plays for touchdowns. And the easy win over Marshall. Buckeyes outscoring the opposition guys one by 137 points through the first three games. They're in East Lansing. Sparty is headed in the right direction. I think we all agree with that. But maybe they're not at Buckeye level yet. Not many programs are. But what I do like about Michigan State is they are battle tested. Your dad's team, Mark, right, Has already had two powerful four opponents on the road and they've split those games. So they're doing something right. Right, but it's been 25 years since Ohio State last lost in East Lansing and they've won those games by an average of 20.6 points. All right, but the spread is 24 and a half, so. 24 and a half and you're winning by 20.6. That tells me you're not going to do it. Plus the Buckeyes 1 and 2 against the spread this season. So the Buckeyes win, but they do not cover again. How about that one? All right.

[Mark Ingram]

We saw them struggle with Marshall a little bit in the first half.

[Rob Stone]

So you're using the term struggle loosely, but you're right, they haven't. They've done their damage in the second half. Right.

[Mark Ingram]

If Marshall didn't get the. They got stopped on 4th and 1 and they had the muff punt called back. That's 14 to 10 to 14 points right there.

[Rob Stone]

Fair. That's. That's buts and what's and ifs and could events. The top 20 showdown in the Big Ten. Give it up for the Fighting. Brett Bilema is down there in Champaign, Illinois. Illinois checking in now at number 19 in this week's poll, had that huge win over Nebraska Friday night. Up five spots to number 19 and they take on number nine, Penn State. The Nittany Lions coach favored by 17 and a half. This is the first meeting as ranked sides since 2008. How do you see this one?

[Urban Meyer]

How about the scheduler? They stick Illinois out in Lincoln, Nebraska, and then they come back and play the white out. So it's a whiteout. And I've been in a bunch of whiteouts and I've always said that's about a 5 to 7 point differential because it is. I think it's the best atmosphere in college football. It's going to be nuts. Illinois Coach Bielema, I just. I think he's one of the best out there. I really do. And in his own little world, you know, he didn't do well at Arkansas, but he did great at Wisconsin. I think he's going to do great. He's proven he's going to do great. You know, what's the definition of great at Illinois? It is a really good bowl game and I think he's going to do great there. So it's a 17 and a half point spread. They're number one in the country. And turnover ratio. Keep that in mind. If they take care of the football, they'll cover the spread. I don't think they'll beat Penn State. Drew Holler is still growing as a quarterback. You know, obviously had a really tough year last year against the big boys. So I'm going to. I'm going to pick Illinois to cover the spread in the white out. But I do think Penn State will win.

[Rob Stone]

All right. We talked with head coach Kalen DeBoer earlier about George Obama. Now it's time for Mark to chime in. Alabama, number four in the nation. They have been favored in 90 consecutive home games all the way back to 2007. But Mark, they are a home dog. Saturday, Georgia favored by a point and a. And a hat. Who's letting the dogs out over there?

[Mark Ingram]

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. That's my dog. The deuce deuce dog of the week. It's the fighting ties. It's the fighting ties. Let's go, baby. No, but listen, it's going to be a real matchup. Listen. Georgia's defense has not allowed a touchdown since December 2, 2023. Verse My Crimson Tide. They have not allowed a touchdown all year. They have no turnovers. They're not turning the ball over. They've had one turnover on downs at the end of the first half versus like Tennessee Tech or something. So Carson Beck is not turning the ball over. They're not fumbling the football. The defensive line, he gets pressure. They don't let. They don't let you run the football. So the trenches will be of the utmost importance for the Crimson Tide this week. Winning the. Winning the line of scrimmage on the defensive line. Winning the line of scrimmage on the offensive line. Being able to run this football. Protect Jalen Miller on the passing attack. We have the Justin Haynes at the RB, Ryan Williams at the wide receiver. We know 17 year old freshman phenom Jalen, Millie Milroe, Ballin and profiling. This is going to be his Heisman moment. This is going to be his Heisman moment. This game right here. So I got a close, close matchup. What'd you say? It's like one point. So they got to win outright. It's a half point.

[Rob Stone]

One and a half.

[Mark Ingram]

One and a half. So we got to get that half.

[Rob Stone]

Always gets you.

[Mark Ingram]

I've learned one and a half, man. I don't need the points because I'm taking us to win outright in tee town. They've lost two games. Georgia has lost two games in the last three seasons. And guess who. Guess who it was. Two.

[Rob Stone]

Say it.

[Mark Ingram]

Guess who it was to coach.

[Rob Stone]

Say it. Roll.

[Urban Meyer]

What's that say? Roll. Damn.

[Rob Stone]

Roll.

[Urban Meyer]

Damn. Rdt.

[Rob Stone]

Roll.

[Urban Meyer]

Dime.

[Rob Stone]

Rdt, baby.

[Mark Ingram]

Do you think I'm gonna get on here and I'm gonna say that we gonna lose? You think I'm gonna get on here and say we gonna lose?

[Rob Stone]

No chance.

[Mark Ingram]

My dog of the week. My crystal tide. Let's go baby. Roll damn Tide. I don't give a piss about nothing but the tide. We going to te town and it's going down. Yes sir.

[Rob Stone]

I never tire of that rant. I never tire of that rant. So great, brother. Hey, next week, one of our favorite lines at Big Noon kickoff scheduled to appear, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. So we'll get his thoughts on Alabama, Georgia, all things college football and the sec. Again, we remind you, please subscribe. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section on our YouTube channel. Follow us on Apple. Hold on. Joey and Bob Stone in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. I expect some comments on the YouTube channel. I want to see how good you guys really are with that YouTube channel. If you know how to leave a comment, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts as well as across social media at 3X option show. Get new episodes every Wednesday. We hope to have SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on the show next week. And again, huge props to all of our listeners, all of our watchers. Thank you guys for making us number one podcast out there and our sponsors. Couldn't do it without you guys. Wendy's Love.

[Mark Ingram]

Tell them again.

[Rob Stone]

MGM number one. Zip Recruiter.

[Mark Ingram]

Tell them again, Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

Number one, baby.

[Mark Ingram]

Number one.

[Rob Stone]

Number one. You found that chest and you let them know. And you go out and recruit, man. You go out and recruit some dudes. You let those cats, you let those big veined up cats know you are number one. You got to come play for our program.

[Mark Ingram]

Number one. Not the two.