NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock, The Anatomy of an Upset, Is Texas Back, and Week 3 Picks

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Triple Option – Episode: NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock, The Anatomy of an Upset, Is Texas Back, and Week 3 Picks

Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Triple Option presented by Wendy’s, hosts Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone delve into the heart of college football’s unpredictable landscape. The spotlight shines on Northern Illinois University (NIU) Head Coach Thomas Hammock, dissecting the monumental upset over Notre Dame. The discussion extends to the resurgence of Texas football, the complexities of the transfer portal, and insightful week 3 game picks.

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1. The Northern Illinois Upset Over Notre Dame

Urban Meyer’s Insight into the Upset
At [04:18], Mark Ingram recounts breaking down Notre Dame’s expectations, saying, “I just broke him,” referring to Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson. This bold prediction left Woodson visibly stunned and disappointed. Urban Meyer builds on this by reflecting on Notre Dame’s historical scheduling philosophy and their current struggles due to significant player turnovers:

Urban Meyer [05:03]: "They lost 18 starters, man, you lose 13 players in the NFL draft. One of the top pro teams. That last year's team was one of the last great teams."

Coach Hammock’s Strategy and Execution
Thomas Hammock shares the pivotal moments that led to NIU’s victory. At [34:18], he explains the strategic timeout called to prevent Notre Dame from capitalizing on unfavorable field conditions:

Thomas Hammock [34:18]: "I called the timeout and then we middle squibbed and was able to get him down and then obviously play some good defense to get out of there with a win."

Emotional Aftermath and Team Culture
Post-game, Hammock emphasizes the importance of maintaining discipline and focus. He discusses utilizing the bye week to reinforce training and academic responsibilities, ensuring the team remains grounded despite their success:

Thomas Hammock [40:24]: "We gonna use that for the good of trying to keep our culture. Because culture is hard to build and easy to tear down. And I think those things matter."

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Ingram [04:18]: "I just broke him. You're lucky to be ranked at the end of the year."
• Thomas Hammock [35:21]: "I need a Mike Turner performance in this game."

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2. Handling Upsets: Perspectives from Coaches and Players

Urban Meyer on Overcoming Losses and Building Resilience
Urban Meyer discusses the psychological impact of losses and the necessity to move forward swiftly to prevent a loss spiral:

Urban Meyer [29:18]: "We gotta... your players don't. I, I... don't lose two."

Mark Ingram on Emotional Resilience
Mark Ingram shares personal experiences with emotional moments in football, underscoring the strength required to overcome adversity:

Mark Ingram [41:05]: "Like Southern Illinois football, leading my team to victories, I cried. Real men cry when it's something they have put their blood, sweat, heart, and tears into."

Thomas Hammock’s Approach to Team Discipline
Hammock highlights the importance of disciplined practices and academic commitments as foundations for maintaining team cohesion and focus:

Thomas Hammock [39:56]: "We gonna go back to training camp style practices. It's going to be physical, it's going to be hard."

Notable Quotes:

• Urban Meyer [30:10]: "Close ranks. Tighten that thing up."
• Thomas Hammock [43:09]: "They understand Wednesday is game on."

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3. The Impact of the Transfer Portal on College Football

Urban Meyer on Transfer Strategies
Meyer critiques the modern transfer portal dynamics, emphasizing the importance of strategic recruiting to fill team weaknesses:

Urban Meyer [25:40]: "They go out and get them. Which, when you still think about it, blows my mind. But that's what is happening at the top schools in the country."

Mark Ingram on Player Retention and Development
Ingram draws parallels between successful programs and their ability to retain and develop talent, citing Texas as a prime example:

Mark Ingram [20:51]: "This is a team who believes that they can get back to that level because they were just there a year prior with one play to get to the national title."

Thomas Hammock on Managing Transfers
Hammock discusses the challenges of retaining players amidst the influx of transfers, stressing the importance of building strong relationships with players and their families:

Thomas Hammock [38:23]: "Take care of the families of our players that we think can have a chance to do some different things."

Notable Quotes:

• Urban Meyer [27:00]: "You just have to find the best candidates for your office. You need ZipRecruiter."
• Thomas Hammock [46:09]: "We just gotta fight each and every single week to... give ourselves a chance to go play our best football."

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4. Week 3 Game Picks and Analysis

Arizona vs. Kansas State
The hosts analyze Arizona’s nine-game winning streak and their matchup against Kansas State, highlighting Arizona’s new helmet design and offensive prowess. Urban Meyer expresses cautious optimism:

Urban Meyer [62:48]: "I think they'll get and this against Florida, you know, they beat Florida State, they're two and oh, but Missouri's played..."

Alabama vs. Wisconsin
Alabama is favored by 15.5 points against Wisconsin. Mark Ingram underscores Alabama’s resilience despite recent penalties and turnovers:

Mark Ingram [59:19]: "People smart. That's all I gotta say. The folks are smart, man. Put the money on the Tide."

LSU vs. South Carolina
LSU is a 7-point favorite over South Carolina. Mark Ingram opts for South Carolina, citing LSU’s overconfidence and recent performance issues:

Mark Ingram [61:07]: "I'm going with South Carolina as my dog of the week."

Oregon vs. Oregon State
With Oregon favored by 16.5 points, the hosts discuss Oregon’s challenges this season, including coaching transitions and inconsistent performances:

Urban Meyer [66:44]: "So I think they're obviously a bull team. They are number one rush team in the ACC."

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Ingram [61:07]: "South Carolina proved me right so I can get back to."
• Urban Meyer [62:20]: "I think Boston College is going to slow the game down with the run game."

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5. Conversations with NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock

Building a Winning Culture
Hammock emphasizes the importance of strategic training and maintaining a disciplined environment to foster a winning culture:

Thomas Hammock [36:19]: "And we got a tremendous backfield guys that play their butt off."

Handling Increased Attention and Recruitment Challenges
Hammock addresses the surge in attention following the upset and the ongoing challenges related to player retention:

Thomas Hammock [38:23]: "Hope for the best, but you know, show them you love them as much as possible."

Future Strategies and Program Development
Looking ahead, Hammock outlines plans to continue improving fundamentals and preparing for upcoming games:

Thomas Hammock [40:44]: "And we gonna use that for the good of trying to keep our culture."

Notable Quotes:

• Thomas Hammock [35:32]: "I really didn't know how to respond. It wasn't about me."
• Urban Meyer [30:49]: "You're not a bully when you get smacked."

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Conclusion

This episode of The Triple Option offers a deep dive into one of college football’s most surprising upsets, the strategic minds behind it, and the broader implications for team dynamics and player management. Through insightful discussions and firsthand accounts from coaches and players, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to defy expectations and build a resilient football program.

Notable Moments to Revisit:

• Mark Ingram’s Bold Prediction: [04:18]
• Thomas Hammock’s Strategic Timeout Call: [34:18]
• Urban Meyer’s Take on Transfer Portal: [25:40]
• Week 3 Game Picks Analysis: [62:05]

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Follow Us

Stay updated with The Triple Option by subscribing on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow @3XOptionShow on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook for bonus content.

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Disclaimer: This summary focuses solely on the podcast's content segments, excluding advertisements, intros, and outros, to provide a clear and comprehensive overview for listeners and readers alike.

Transcript

[Mark Ingram]

They hurt my feelings because they was my dog of the week last week. But I'm still skull buffs.

[Rob Stone]

You're still skill buffs.

[Mark Ingram]

I'm still skull buffs, man.

[Rob Stone]

But it sounds like a baby puppy scope. Like just a little baby buffalo scope.

[Mark Ingram]

Just because that was my dog of the week. It was my dog of the week and they.

[Rob Stone]

You're not feeling it.

[Mark Ingram]

Baby look. Incredible. Not credible.

[Rob Stone]

Light it. Welcome. It is episode four of the triple option presented by Wendy's. Try Wendy's new saucy nugget today. We remind you, we encourage you every week to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Outfall podcast Spotify. Wherever you get your podcast, as well as across social media, you can find us at 3x option show new episodes. Drop every Wednesday and the episodes are working, guys. This week we hit number three, number three on the Apple podcast chart. So make sure to rate and review. Mark only takes five star reviews because he's a five star kind of.

[Mark Ingram]

Anything less, you gotta come see me. I'm about that, you know, face to face to face.

[Urban Meyer]

Now we have to get to number two.

[Mark Ingram]

Now we gotta get to double. Hey, it's just a steady cl. Steady climb.

[Rob Stone]

One day at a time, right? Three is good, you know, it's better than three. Two, you know, it's the best one. We're coming for you, number one.

[Mark Ingram]

We own away.

[Rob Stone]

We appreciate everybody out there listening, watching on YouTube. Amazing. Just a couple weeks into this, we're already up at number three. But let's talk about episode number four coming up. Joining us this week. This is going to be a really cool conversation. The architect of the biggest upset the season, Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock, is going to join us. Man, the emotion he had in that big win at Notre Dame. Mark Ingram broke Charles Woodson this week, guys. He broke him. You're going to hear how he did it. We're going to say, how must Texas try to handle their success and someone. Mark ran for 400 yards and 10 touchdowns and it still wasn't enough for a win. But we begin with Coach Meyer stepping into the belly of the beast and teaching. Teaching a class at the University of Michigan with you, Mark. Coach, how in the world did that happen?

[Urban Meyer]

You know, who would have ever thought? But Mark and I were at Cabo at a business event in the summer and we met Barry, a professor, adjunct professor at the Wolverines, and we started talking. He said, why don't you come to our class? And I looked at Mark. I say, wait, what? But I Said, you know, this might break. Great tv. It's a sport management class. We went. Mark Ingram gets cheered everywhere he goes, except Auburn, Alabama. And I get booed a lot of places. And I got. My gosh. I mean, I was hiding and I saw Mark.

[Mark Ingram]

Because when you walk around spanking people, you're not going to have a warm welcome when you come back.

[Urban Meyer]

And then, of course, our producers here said, hey, wear their shirt. And what was the shirt?

[Rob Stone]

What was the shirt Coach B is again? Yeah, and some numbers on it.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, 7 0, I think. But I think that ship will sail from now on. I'm just gonna wear.

[Rob Stone]

Right, Mark? Oh, I think it was 70 I went against Michigan. I'm not sure. I can't remember.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, I felt bad for my dog on the show, man. They wouldn't let him work. They wouldn't let him work. Anytime he talk, it's just the booze.

[Urban Meyer]

It's old news, man. That's old news now.

[Mark Ingram]

They wouldn't let my guy work. We like, hey, man, let. Let my man work. He has a job. A job to do. Let my man work.

[Urban Meyer]

Time to move onward. Onward.

[Rob Stone]

I loved it, man. Every time coach opened his mouth on Big Dune kickoff, the booze would rain in the booze.

[Mark Ingram]

And you. And you was instigating it too.

[Rob Stone]

You bet I was.

[Urban Meyer]

It's.

[Rob Stone]

It's my inner wrestling nerd. I'm coming on now. Coach was a full on heel and I was there to be his manager. I loved it. So that was, that was a cool reaction. Another moment was kind of the reality of what a lot of people think and are now kind of getting confirmed what Michigan is this season. And Charles Woodson, right, Mark, he's the ultimate Wolverine hype man, right? He comes in, he's. He's jumping, he's hitting the banner and he's hyping it up. He's got the Michigan ascot on and he's got the new ring and he's got the national trophy. Everything is going his way. And then we get on the field and we talk about the game. And what did you say and how did it come about how you just broke the Heisman winner?

[Mark Ingram]

Broke? I just told him everyone was talking about what's Michigan's realistic expectations. I said, I got him losing four games on the schedule as of right now. I got him losing four games. He was like, so you don't think we will make the playoffs? I said, you're lucky to be ranked at the end of the year. He was like, damn, you just broke Me down. Broke down to my socks.

[Rob Stone]

He had, he just froze and looked at you. I've never seen Charles quiet.

[Mark Ingram]

He was offended.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

It was like a stunned silence.

[Mark Ingram]

Dang, Mark, you just broke me down in my socks. I said, well, y'all could do it. I hope y'all prove me wrong. But as from my vantage point, I.

[Urban Meyer]

Tell you, a harsh reality just marched right into in the big house. And we all witnessed it. We saw it. We saw the. They didn't look, you know. You know, you lose 18 starters, man, you lose 13 players in the NFL draft. One of the top pro teams. That, that last year's team was one of the last great teams.

[Mark Ingram]

An entire offensive line.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah. And you just wonder what in the world, you know, they didn't, they didn't look the part, they didn't play the part. This, this could be. Unless they get things figured out real fast. This could be. I think Mark hit it on the spot. Or maybe even one more.

[Rob Stone]

Yep, let's. We're going to get into that one a little bit later. But we begin any given Saturday with a day that had a lot of upsets, had some close calls, but the biggest upset we've seen, and this is one of the reasons we love college football. Unless you're a Notre Dame F Northern Illinois University. Anybody name where Northern Illinois University is located?

[Mark Ingram]

You got.

[Urban Meyer]

Beautiful DeKalb actually been there.

[Rob Stone]

You've bust there. I bet that's my guess.

[Urban Meyer]

Certainly that eight hour bus ride from.

[Mark Ingram]

Bowling you ain't gonna give me rah?

[Rob Stone]

No, no, no. I know you've not been into cab, but maybe someday I'd love to take the show to NIU. So Notre Dame coughed up $1.4 million to choke on that 16 to 14 loss. One of the cool things about Northern Illinois, we're going to talk to their head coach in a moment. Third most seniors that played their entire career at the same institution. That is an early saucy nug of the week. Try some at your nearest Wendy's. I think that's an amazing number. We'll talk to the coach about that. But the other numbers out there are Marcus Freeman, coach, and some of these odd outlier type defeats. They were a 28 and a half point favorite. They've had issues over the last couple years. That Marshall loss, Stanford team that finished with just three wins, they lost. Not really sure what's going on at Notre Dame. So when you saw that upset, what started going through your head coach?

[Urban Meyer]

Well, a couple thoughts. I was there in 1996, Lou Holtz hired me and I remember our scheduling was. I used to look at that schedule and say, what in the hell? I mean the scheduling philosophy was because I remember asking say, why are we playing these teams and these. And they break the country in four quadrants. This is what I was told by a assistant athletic director. And you pick the best teams in those four quadrants because there's something called Subway alumni at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a small school mark like only 6,7000 students. But they're Subway alum, which means they're not actually graduates. But there's Notre Dame fans everywhere and Notre Dame feels an obligation to go to the four quadrants of our country and go play. And so, you know, when you think about Notre Dame schedule of old, they play, you know, obviously usc, Stanford, Washington, Arizona State and the great, the best teams in the, in the West. Then you go in the Southwest, you'd play Texas, Texas A and M, Oklahoma and the great teams there. And then you go the Southeast, you're playing Miami and Florida State. And then you go to the east, you're playing Penn State. And you know, back when Syracuse looks like Syracuse is coming back on, but and Boston College, you were never, I remember asking, why didn't you, can we play a max school or you know, every once in a while get a breath. And they said we don't do that. We never. And, and you look at their history, they never did. And I believe Brian Kelly changed that scheduling philosophy a little bit, which is made sense because the BCS era, now, the playoff era, you know, you got, the objective is to get into the BCS or the playoff or now the 12 team playoffs. So it's interesting and you know, I, I really like Marcus Freeman. He's a friend, he's a, you know, he's a young coach. That's a tough first job, man. But when you look at Marshall, that Stanford loss and North Illinois, you know, I've been on the backside of some. We were picked to win by a lot and we lost. And it's devastating, man. It's devastating.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, coach, but much credit to Northern Illinois. I mean those guys were out there playing with tremendous effort on defense. They were running to the ball, all 11 people gang tackling. Even when they completed passes, it was tight coverage. They were tackling and they were able to get the job done. Like the back over there in Northern Illinois, Ontario, Brown, he had 200 scrimmage yards, a buck 26 receiving. I mean the quarterback, he just did what he was supposed to do.

[Rob Stone]

Good decision.

[Mark Ingram]

Making didn't turn the ball over and they just capitalized on their opportunities, man, they were opportunistic. And at the end of the game, what you say, coach, what's your defining moment or checkmate? The checkmate moment of the game. I got a checkmate moment of the game for you. About six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame's driving throw, the interception. They get the ball at midfield. 5 minutes and 55 seconds left. They run the clock down.

[Urban Meyer]

Wow.

[Mark Ingram]

Chew it up. They chew it up. They get down to the 35 yard line, 4th and 2. They don't kick the field goal. They don't elect to kick the field goal and go for it. They go. They don't elect to kick the field goal and go up by one point and give the ball back to Notre Dame with like a minute 20 left. No, they go for it, convert to fourth and two, continue to run the clock down, kick the field goal. Notre Dame gets the ball back with 24 seconds left. They lose the game. Checkmate moment.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, I want to talk about that for a minute, Rob, Is that the psychology piece of. It is something that I love. And when you're, you know, Mark, you never been a prohibitive underdog. I have. When I first went to Bowling Green, we took over program was 1 in 10 or 2 and 9, and a lot of kids quit. And our first game was at Missouri in front of a big crowd, opening game, and we only had, you know, 50 some players to be able to make it or, you know, we had open seats on the plane. I didn't have enough guys on the team. But the whole theme was this, you know, to tell a person to do something that is really insurmountable in their mind. They said, we can't really do this. They tend to shut it down. And so we never. And I told our coaches, I told our leaders, we're never going to talk about beating Missouri. That's not going to happen because realistically, we can't. They have better players, they have, you know, more budget, a better budget, et cetera. But you know what we can do, Mark? We can get four yards. And I. Every meeting I have with a team, I would stand up there and measure off 4 yards and say, this is on offense. All you have to do is take care of the ball and get four yards.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, sir.

[Urban Meyer]

If you get four yards consistently, consistently, consistently, then they go over the defense and say they have great athletes. They had Brad Smith back then. They have some really good players back then. And I said, you know, once again, we're not asking you to go beat Missouri. We're going to ask you to tackle, get them on the ground, line up and get in the huddle and go again. If we do that on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter, just take a peek at the score, at the, at the, at the scoreboard. You're going to be within reach. And then we got to find a way to score one more. And I mean, it was almost. It happened exactly like that, where our players did not worry about beat Missouri, get four yards. Get four yards. I cannot wait to talk to coach man and ask him, how do you. Because the mindset is you're not going to go beat Notre Dame. What are you talking about? But they did. They did. I can't wait to hear the mentality that that players had going in that.

[Mark Ingram]

And that emotion he showed after the game is the emotion and the energy that that team played with throughout the whole game. Like, they didn't slow down. They didn't fade away. They stayed the course. They stayed the course. They kept doing the four yards. Like you said, Coach, it was getting first downs, moving the chains. They kept tackling. Even if they caught the ball, there wasn't no yards after contact. Like, they stayed the course. They did what they were supposed to do. They had themselves in position to win, and they did it.

[Urban Meyer]

Last thing. The other thing I'm gonna bring up, Mark and I used to get so pissed off when I was at Utah when the. When the reporters or the media people say, well, you're a non BCS school. When I remember the bcs.

[Mark Ingram]

Right. Bcs. Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

And. And I keep seeing that they're a non power conference school. And that made me so mad because we had great players at Utah and I. I come out public and say, enough with the non. We can beat most BCS schools, right? I'm sure coach and his players at Northern O get pissed off when they see non power, whatever that means. They're really good players there. Obviously, they just went into South Bend and beat the Irish.

[Mark Ingram]

It's power four now, right? It's not even five.

[Urban Meyer]

Power four.

[Rob Stone]

You're right. We have. Thank you. PAC 12. Yeah. Down to power.

[Mark Ingram]

We got to adapt and adjust. Coach.

[Rob Stone]

Coach Hammock is going to join us coming up next. We talked about the emotion, the energy around this program. Our friends at NBC, this is the post game interview from Coach Hammock. And it's a great listen and a great watch.

[Thomas Hammock]

You know, I'm so proud of our kids. The Coaches, just everybody. They believed. They. They believed. And we came here and got it done.

[Mark Ingram]

You told your guys this week that.

[Thomas Hammock]

You didn't need anyone to be a superhero or superhuman.

[Mark Ingram]

They just needed to be their best.

[Thomas Hammock]

What kind of performances did you see out there? They. They listened to what I said. I told them all week, we don't need luck. We just got to be our best. And they was their best today, and. And we was able to get it done.

[Urban Meyer]

Wow.

[Rob Stone]

I appreciate the raw energy and emotion, and I think the old school days would be like, what are you doing crying on the field? Right? But that. That hit home for me, and I bet. I bet there's a lot of moms and a lot of dads out there in their living room watching that saying, son, I'd be. I'd be just fine if you go to DeKalb and play for that coach at Northern Illinois, People who have the.

[Mark Ingram]

Nerve to say, you shouldn't be crying in a moment like that when you're putting blood, sweat and tears in the hours.

[Urban Meyer]

Never been in the moment.

[Mark Ingram]

You've never understood what it's like to win a game of that magnitude, especially from Northern Illinois, coming to South Bend and winning. Like real men cry. And real men definitely cry when it's something that they have put their blood, sweat, heart and tears and soul into. You know what I mean? And their kids go out there and perform and get it done. That's emotional.

[Urban Meyer]

Now let's flip to the other side. Mark, real quick, because you've been there. I don't know if you ever had a loss like that, but before you got to Alabama, I remember they lost a game that they never should have lost.

[Mark Ingram]

Louisiana, Monroe.

[Urban Meyer]

And the one thing when I was coaching at Notre Dame, a guy named David Givens, a great player, played in the NFL for a long time. After a game, you know, I see he had tears rolling down. We lost the game. And he says, you don't understand. I said, I know it's a tough loss. And I. Come on, we'll get this thing back. Had my arm around him, and he said, you don't understand, do you? And I said, what? And he said, I got to go to class every day. I got to answer to friends, family. That's my whole life as Notre Dame football. I mean, that's that. It's like Alabama.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

Like Ohio State. It's like Florida. That's your whole identity right now. And those players in South Bend, I have to get up and go to class.

[Mark Ingram]

Yep.

[Urban Meyer]

And they are going to people look at them like they're. They got sideways as they walk. Walk around.

[Mark Ingram]

They look at you sideways like you ain't give your all. But, you know, that's part of the. That's what we sign up for, unfortunately.

[Rob Stone]

You know, and on the flip side, the NIU guys are definitely wearing their football jackets around campus this week. And a little bit big man on campus, I think.

[Urban Meyer]

The C just became a B. The B became an A, right?

[Rob Stone]

Oh, so good. So good. What a great story. Again, Coach Hammock is going to join us, so. So, tears of joy for Northern Illinois. Opposite story. If you're a University of Michigan fan. They got pounded at home by Texas. You've had Wendy's nugs dipped in sauce, right? Mark, you've had the Wendy Nuggs.

[Mark Ingram]

I've had them, and I love them.

[Rob Stone]

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[Mark Ingram]

Oh, more than 10?

[Rob Stone]

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[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 nug. 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 gotta be Wendy's at participating us. Wendy's. Keep on nugging America.

[Mark Ingram]

Nug City.

[Rob Stone]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Rob Stone]

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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]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Thomas Hammock]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Rob Stone]

Lower above 40 gigabytes. You detail yeah a ton of streaks were snapped by this one for Michigan. Big Ten record, 29 consecutive regular season games. That winning streak over 23 straight home games over national best 16 games in a row since losing two TCU horn frogs in the 2022 college football playoffs. A lot of directions we can go here. Let's start with the good mark and what Texas is. Quinn ewers 246, three touchdowns. Texas ran 32 times, 143 yards, four and a half yards per carry. You know, we were walking around Ann Arbor the day or two before this game and then day of a lot of burnt orange in town. I felt that the Texas fan base and probably the Texas mentality as a whole was very much what Michigan's had been the last couple of years. Like hey this is kind of our time. This could be our team. This is the old Texas is back. Like we're back back. I think it's the same way Michigan was feeling for the last couple of years. Like we're really in contention, like we've got a good team, we can do it. And at the same time I was feeling that by the Texas contingent on the road, I also felt some resignation already by the Michigan fans that it was almost like going to awake going to this game. Like it was he lived a good life. You know, he lived it to his fullest. He got a National title. Things were great. He's moved on. It's a different time right now. We're going to do a little morning. We're going to do a little celebration. But there was almost this resignation. I felt in Ann Arbor that we're just not going to be as good as we've been the last couple of years. So let's start with the Texas side. Anything you saw that makes you say this is not a national title contending.

[Mark Ingram]

Team, Mark, not at all. I mean, this team from offensively, defensively, coaching, and just the belief they have from the year prior. We saw, we talked about. They were in the semifinal last year. They were one game away, one play away from being in the national title last season. So when you have a team that feels that and tastes what that is, they're hungry to get back there again. They have seven returning starters on offense. They got their quarterback coming back. I mean, seven returning stars on defense. I apologize. They got their starting quarterback coming back. They added some great wide receivers in the transfer Porter. Their backs were amazing in both the run game and the pass game. Their line was dominant. Their D line was dominant. This is a team who believes that they can get back to that level because they were just there a year prior with one play to get to the national title. So like I said in the show, coach, it reminded me of much of my Alabama team in 08. We lost to you guys. We were one game away from national championship. You guys went on to win it the next year. We were motivated because we tasted what it was like to get to that moment. And if we had did a little bit more, we would have attained it and got to that moment. I feel like this Texas team is kind of like right in that sweet spot. The same way they have the team, they have the quarterback, they have the offensive defense, the coaching, and they believe. When you have the belief from a whole team, from a whole program, that's special, and that's what Texas has going on right now.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, let me add something, Mark, is that when I see Texas, Ohio State and Georgia right now, I thought Alabama, but I think they still got a ways to go, but they got.

[Mark Ingram]

Some work to do.

[Urban Meyer]

These teams, these power teams, the teams, the top three or four teams in the country, Rob, they have no weaknesses. I was talking to Charlie Straughn, my former defense coordinator at Florida and the former head coach of Texas and Louisville, and there's no weaknesses. Because when you were coaching back in the day, mark, in 0809, and when you played if your right guard was not very good after spring practice, guess what happened in training camp. He was still not very good. Coach him or if you had a punter.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

I mean, you had to coach him up. Exactly.

[Mark Ingram]

Develop him.

[Urban Meyer]

Now you know what you do? You go out, you hit the portal and Texas took. They got. Think of that, that great team they had last year. Their recruiting staff went out and got six starters from the transfer portal. And they're all. Hell, we watched them. They're all hella player. Ohio State did the same thing. Do you wonder about the Wolverines? Because they lost 18 starters. We talked about this. They only got two starters and a couple of months. I don't know how. You know, you got to really evaluate. That's what you have to do. As the head coach, Sean Moore's got to say, okay, why did this happen? Was it schematic? I don't think it was. We were right there. They just got a. Texas has a better team if they play 10 times, Rob.

[Rob Stone]

It's 10. 10 more wins for Texas.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. That was a thorough, convincing win. I don't think there was at any moment where Michigan, even the most Michigan optimistic human being out there was like, hey, we got a shot. We're in this one. After, after. I don't know, halfway through the first quarter, like, it just felt like this is.

[Urban Meyer]

I have to say that when you stood on the field, you could see the. I could see.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

I. You know, you just look at their. The players.

[Rob Stone]

And the players is a big part of it. Right. And this is not to knock the players that are currently on the Michigan roster, but they definitely did not do their work in the portal. Nine transfers, two of them are starters. One's a three star from Northwestern, one's a four star from Maryland. On the flip side, Texas, we did the work. 12 transfers brought in and impactful transfers. Isaiah Bond from Bama, 112 and touchdown. Matthew Golden. Four starters. On defense, Georgia, they brought in 11 starters. Ohio State, they brought in seven starters. It's a. It's. It's maybe not amazing much of a question about what? Like to the Clemson level, right? Like Dabo Sweeney refusing to go in the portal and changing things. But I know, I mean, I know Maize and Blue fans are sitting there and for the last couple of months they've been looking at this roster saying, well, there's a hole there, there, there. I don't know what our quarterback depth chart looks like. How much do we really believe in Orgy beyond his legs? These seemed to Me to be pretty obvious questions that.

[Urban Meyer]

So Mark. So Mark and Rob, here's.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, they weren't answered.

[Urban Meyer]

Here's what happened a couple years ago in this transfer portal thing. I still obviously have friends in this profession, and they created their own office for nothing but transfers. So you have your recruiting staff, which is high school, and then you have your. Another recruiting staff. They're not watching high school film, Mark. You know what they're watching? They're watching schools. Yeah, they're watching all the schools in the country. And they say. They look down the road, say, okay, we have a issue at will linebacker. So guess what they do?

[Mark Ingram]

They watch who's the best will linebacker.

[Urban Meyer]

Out here in the country. And then they. That they go to their collective and say, cha ching. And they go get them. Which is. Which, when you still think about it, blows my mind. But that's what is happening at the top schools in the country.

[Rob Stone]

They're also staring at the computer. Right. And they're right there on whatever it is, ww transferportal.com and they are seeing the names as they come in almost in real time and reaching out. The other thing I find fascinating, Coach, is, you know, these constant battles for recruits between other universities. And let's say player A is a stud wide receiver and ends up going to, I don't know, Alabama. And maybe his numbers were just so. So I'm always curious the relationship that these programs that lost out initially have maintained through the course of things like, hey, if things don't work out, come on back. And you've already done a lot of you. You don't know your obvious research on this player. And we've seen a lot of that guys who ended up going to another school but end up changing back to a school that they initially had a lot of interest in.

[Mark Ingram]

That happened with Kaden Proctor, actually Alabama's left tackle. He was their starting tackle. Coach Saban retires, he leaves and goes to Iowa for spring.

[Rob Stone]

He leaves for spring.

[Urban Meyer]

Stop.

[Mark Ingram]

He's back with Alabama in the summer.

[Urban Meyer]

He's got our left tackle. I didn't know that.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes. He's our starting left tackle.

[Urban Meyer]

You're allowed to do that.

[Mark Ingram]

He did. Apparently so. Apparently. But he left. I think he got that bag from Kirk in Iowa. Said, you know what?

[Urban Meyer]

I'm at Big Noon.

[Rob Stone]

So wait, they didn't get it back from Alabama. He double bagged, man.

[Mark Ingram]

He double dip.

[Urban Meyer]

Did he double bag?

[Mark Ingram]

I don't know what he did, but.

[Rob Stone]

I'm assuming that one's tough, that one's dirty.

[Urban Meyer]

You gotta check the bag, Mark.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, I, I need back pay. Coach, I'm sending, I'm sending them an invoice for back pay.

[Urban Meyer]

Man, that'd be a big number, too.

[Rob Stone]

That would be.

[Mark Ingram]

Take a couple M's up off your hands.

[Rob Stone]

I want to talk about an upset and how you handle it in a locker room as a player and as a coach. And I'm sure there's a lot of different ways you can go, a lot of different reactions you could have. It could be a trash, the water cooler and, you know, the whiteboard. It could be just walking away from the team. It could be not watching the tape. It could be throwing yourself in the coach's room and doing nothing but watching the tape, assembling your coaches. So when, when a big upset hit you, Coach. And we're talking upsets, what, how did you handle them?

[Urban Meyer]

Typically, yeah, we've had a couple of bad ones. You know, we had Purdue and Iowa. You know, they're fine teams, but the Iowa one came after a big come from behind win at Penn State, and that rushed the field. And I was concerned because I have respect for Iowa. They weren't having necessarily a great year, but they're tough. That's a tough place to play in a night game up there. And, and I could tell that we couldn't get off the Penn State win and then, then the Purdue one, you know, that's when, you know, Nick Bosa was supposed to come back when him, we had him and Chase Young, Chase Young had high ankles, two high ankle sprains. And, and Nick, you know, was hurt and decided to go get ready for the NFL. So our team was a little bit. And we went 13 to one, I think 13 to one that year. And that was a one loss and it was a bad one. How do I handle it? It depends on your team. You know, I don't handle things well. So that was a sleeping pill to try to get four hours of sleep. And then I was at work at 5, 6 in the morning. That, just trying. At some point you gotta let it go. And I think the best thing that you do is bury that film and just say, move on. We gotta, you know, your players don't. I, I, I, in the past have, you know, you know, kind of got after the team and the coaching staff, but you got to let it go and move on because the next one's on you fast. Mark, you know, that is as a player and a coach. That thing's got to be done by Sunday. It has to, because all Focus has got to be get your body, your mind right. For the next one. You're going to get, you know, losing one, but don't lose two.

[Mark Ingram]

Right. That next game gets on you quick and you want to get to that next game as soon as possible so you can get that bad taste out of your mouth. You know what I mean? So.

[Urban Meyer]

But Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman and his staff, I would always go like this. That's when you're in your leadership stripes. It's not when you beat a team 50 to 7 that that's you're a bully. When you get, when you get smacked, and I mentioned this on Big Meatball.

[Mark Ingram]

You get hit in the mouth, you.

[Urban Meyer]

Get hit in the jaw. We're going to find out about Sharon Moore's coaching staff. It's an inflection point which all of us have been there. This is not a direct shot at anybody but Notre Dame and the Wolverines. Right now their coaching staff is on call and, and, and the leadership in the locker room, Mark, they're. They're on call. You have to. There's a lot of this. All you gotta do is pick up social media. You want to get blasted and point fingers, Just get on social media. We're not doing that.

[Mark Ingram]

Nope.

[Urban Meyer]

Close ranks. Tighten that thing up. And if they have a tight team, they'll come back together and find a way to win some games.

[Mark Ingram]

Got a band together.

[Rob Stone]

Don't let one loss become two losses and those two games. There is a converging point already. Texas head coach Steve Sarkeesian saying in his Monday press conference. We have to be aware of what just happened to Notre Dame. Right. Reading the press groupings after getting the win at Texas A and M and everybody's saying there's a soft schedule and everybody's saying that they're on their way to the playoffs and then this happens to them. Sark very aware of it and he has already been preaching that to his Texas team because got to make sure you don't get stung by an niu.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

The NIU head coach, Thomas Hammock joins us next to talk about the anatomy of an upset, the emotions that went through him and how it impacts his football program going forward. Can't wait for this.

[Urban Meyer]

Great. Light it.

[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.

[Urban Meyer]

Right?

[Rob Stone]

You're listening to this.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, I'm listening.

[Rob Stone]

Pay attention. Pay attention. All right, so if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, we urge you to use the Bonus Code option or go to betmgm.com backslash option and you will get up to 1500 dollars. First bet offer mark on your first wager with BetMGM, we're talking 1500 bucks, mark 1500.

[Mark Ingram]

But here's how it works. Download the BetMGM app and sign up using Bonus Code option. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. You'll receive up to 1500 dollars in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use Bonus Code option when you sign up or go to betmgm.com backslash option.

[Rob Stone]

It's all about the option, Mark.

[Mark Ingram]

It's all about the option, especially the triple option.

[Rob Stone]

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[Urban Meyer]

Want to Shop Walmart Black Friday Deals First Walmart plus members get early access to our hottest deals. Join now and get 50% off a one year annual membership.

[Mark Ingram]

Shop Black Friday deals first with Walmart plus see [e-mail] this episode is brought.

[Rob Stone]

To you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you know to check the date of the big game first before you accidentally buy tickets on your 20th wedding anniversary and have to spend the next 20 years of your marriage making up for it.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, checking first is smart.

[Rob Stone]

So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings. Vary terms apply. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates Northbrook, Illinois One of the many things we love about college football are those unpredictable moments, those upsets. And the man who designed one of them joins us right now. Thomas Hammack, the head coach at Northern Illinois University. Coach, I'm going to bark out some Numbers for you. I'm sure you've heard some of these. Niu Owen 14 versus top 10 teams prior to Saturday. You are the first Mac team ever to beat an AP top five team. Sixth win against a ranked team since 2000. And for the first time since 2013 this week, Northern Illinois is in the AP poll checking in at number 25. Let's go back to Saturday as this upset was developing. At what point in the game did you say to yourself, hey, I think we can actually get out of South Bend with a W here?

[Thomas Hammock]

Well, I think after we made the field goal, that's when I felt some relief. You know, it was, it was into the win, as Coach Meyer understands. You know, that wind can go in a bunch of different directions in that stadium.

[Urban Meyer]

And so the touchdown Jesus, Touchdown Jesus sometimes blows it a little bit.

[Thomas Hammock]

Yes, yes. I was very concerned going in that direction, but when that field goal went in, I said, hey, we have a chance. And then we was going to sky kick on the next kickoff and then they put number four in the game and I said, there's no way that we're going to kick to that guy. So I called the timeout and then we middle squibbed and was able to get him down and then obviously play some good defense to get out of there with a win.

[Mark Ingram]

Jeremiah Love, that's a good player back there for Notre Dame, huh?

[Thomas Hammock]

Listen, I saw him out there and I said, ho, ho. That's not the guy that was out there before. And normally you don't call a timeout on the kickoff, but I said, if we, you know, I can't imagine giving off, giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown to lose a game.

[Mark Ingram]

I ain't going to lose by kicking it to that cat right there.

[Thomas Hammock]

No, no. Anybody else? Anybody else?

[Rob Stone]

What's all this attention been like over the last couple days for you and for your program?

[Thomas Hammock]

You know, I'm just proud for the, the NIU and the University NI athletic program. You know me, I'm kind of an old school ball coach. You know, I'm not really into the hype and the self promotion. I'm just going to do my job to the best of my ability. But it's good for our program, it's good to gain interest. Hopefully it gains financial support in this new age of college football, which is important to try to find a path forward.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, Coach, I know you the head coach now, but I know you was the running backs coach of Baltimore back in the day. I seen some of that, that offensive twist you got in there some of the give some of the slaps, the gap schemes, the inside zones, the outside zone. How much time do you spend with the bats? Because them boys was on point in the game.

[Thomas Hammock]

I mean, you know, you know when you the head coach picking up pass.

[Mark Ingram]

Pro and everything, them boys was on it.

[Thomas Hammock]

When you a head coach and you, you coached a position and you've seen it at, you know, at various levels. Coach Meyer with wide receivers, Coach Saban with dbs, you're just going to have a natural eye for that position. And so you know, normally when you at practice, you know, your eyes tend to go to that position that you previously coached. And for me it's no different. And we got a tremendous backfield guys that play their butt off. And really those guys gave us a chance to win the game in that type of environment.

[Mark Ingram]

Ontario, Brown, Gavin Williams. Them boys, hey, tell them I got big love for them because I watched the game and I watched how they set the tone in the game. So I just had to show love to them boys and I had to show love to you because I know you was on them because you were running back coach and how they played, I'm like, oh yeah, the head coach be on their butt.

[Thomas Hammock]

We had Mike Turner on the sideline and I told him before the game I need a Mike Turner performance in this game. And that's what he did again. You know, Alabama, sorry, you know we beat Alabama in 2003 but you know, I'd say we need that type of performance.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, coach, it's good to see you again. And Rob, a little trivia is coach and I go back to 2002, he had a heart issue and didn't play and he was a starting tailback. And then some cat named Michael Burner Turner got in and got a little piece of bowling green when we were at rank for the first time ever. And that was a great game. So I, I when I see this question, you know that a non power conference school, it used to be power five, now it's power four. When I was at Utah, coach, that would p make me so angry. When we get labeled and our players get labeled non power. When Northern Illinois has got as good a player as there's a lot of so called power. I'm sure you use that a little bit in your motivation for you. I used it all the time. Like you tell me Alex Smith isn't what a BCS player. Of course he is. So the era has changed. When we won at Mac schools, I knew I had My guys coming back. Do you worry about people coming to poach your guys? Because I hear from, I still have friends at the Mac and all that and they're like, it's awful people. If you have a good year, they're gone.

[Thomas Hammock]

No, all the time. You know, in December I had a bunch of guys come to my office and had different opportunities to, you know, explore. We wind up losing a couple that, you know, we lost one to Florida and we lost one to Louisville, but two didn't become 12 and. But the thing that's, that's hard nowadays is there's so many extra coaches on the sidelines. So you, you got guys looking at your roster. You know, we played Western Illinois the first week of the season and then they played Indiana. And I got, you know, a coach from Indiana asking me about a couple guys on my team and I'm thinking to myself, you know, those questions are almost like the, you know, NFL personnel department, you know, how did you get this kid? You know, so that makes you feel very uncomfortable from that standpoint. But you just try to build as best relationships as possible with the kids and the families. You know, my thing now is, you know, take care of the families of our players that we think, you know, can have a chance to do some different things. So that's all you can do. Hope for the best, but you know, show them you love them as much as possible and hopefully that still matters to the people in your program.

[Urban Meyer]

Last question that I have for you is, okay, it's over. I'm sure you got, you stood in front. I can imagine you standing in front of the team saying it's done, get onto the next game. I know that's coach speak, but with social media and you just frickin beat the Irish, how do you get them back down, you know, in the real world?

[Thomas Hammock]

Well, coach, I can tell you I'm happy we have a bye week. And so, you know, with the bye week, you know, we're going to go back to training camp style practices. It's going to be physical, it's going to be hard. You know, you better show up. And I said, listen, if you guys don't practice the way I want it to look, we gonna condition after every practice. And so the players understand that. And then I also told them if you don't go to class or get your study tables in, you're not gonna play.

[Urban Meyer]

Because now that's a ball coach right there.

[Mark Ingram]

Boys, that's old school right there.

[Thomas Hammock]

Hey, you have attention. That's the only time in their life that I'm gonna have their full attention. And, you know, we gonna use that for the good of trying to keep our culture. Because culture is hard to build and easy to tear down. And I think those things matter.

[Urban Meyer]

Let me throw this out. And last. Last things. Lou Holtz used to always remind me, would call me after a big win, and he'd say, coaches make the error of coaching your team hard after you lose. After you lose, it's fragile.

[Thomas Hammock]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

After you win is when you get after their butt and fix issues because they're listening you. You'll get their attention much easier when you lose. Everybody's devastated, so I think that's excellent. And that's a ball coach right there, Mark. It is.

[Mark Ingram]

That's a. Hey, I'm. Hey, I'm. I like, hey, old school. Hey. That's old school right there. I'm mad you left Baltimore before I got there, man. Hey, no, but I want to talk to you about the emotions that you showed after the game. Like, the most pivotal, successful moments of my life. Like, I cried. I had. I won the Heisman, I cried. I seen my mom crying. My father was not there with me when I got drafted. I cried. Those were just some of those moments. Like you, I overcame so much adversity. I was able to make my family proud. I was able to cop some goals that I always set out to be. So crying in those moments, I feel like is the sign of a real man. And I was emotional. Some of the most best moments in my life. So you were emotional after that game, a huge win. I know you put your blood, sweat, tears, your soul into coaching these kids and to try to, you know, provide a culture for that program. What was going through your mind in that moment? What made you so emotional during the interview?

[Thomas Hammock]

Well, I think, you know, nowadays there's so many distractions for young people, and to try to get them to all pull in the same direction, you gotta be very strategic with what you say and how you do things. And so all week, I told them we don't need luck to win this game, and for them to believe, to stay committed to the process. We did some different things in practice. We wound up practicing in full pads on Labor Day because they didn't have school. So I said, what a great opportunity to go full pads on Monday, full baths on Tuesday, and then we did a walk through on Wednesday to get them back. And so all those little tricks that you try, and they just. They just did what we asked. And then after the game, I said, it worked. It worked and they believed. And you just, you're so happy for them. I really didn't know how to respond. It wasn't about me. It was about. Listen, these guys believed in the message, they believed in the plan, and I'm so happy they was able to get the reward.

[Rob Stone]

How long did you let them celebrate for a coach?

[Thomas Hammock]

Well, you know, I'm from the NFL, so, you know, in NFL, if you have a win before bye week, you know, you give them a couple of days off. So the plan was to watch the film on Sunday and then bring them back on Wednesday and then grind them on Wednesday and Thursday. So when I, when we won the game, I said, hey, man, I'll see you on Wednesday. You know, oh, that's an old Andy Reid, John Harbaugh type thing. I see you on Wednesday.

[Mark Ingram]

Ain't nothing like hearing that.

[Thomas Hammock]

They understand Wednesday is game on, so. But guys have been up here watching the film, lifting, doing the little things that they tried to, you know, I wasn't afraid that they would just leave the building. But you, in their mind, they feel like, you know, you're taking care of us, you're getting our bodies back. And obviously on Wednesday it's going to be game on. So I can't wait.

[Rob Stone]

We talked about the emotion that you had post game, obviously the emotion that your players went through, but it's also your alumni and it's your former players. And there's this great clip that we want to show you right now about a former NIU player watching it, and I believe it's his daughter secretly recording him. And I'm curious, I'm sure you've seen it. But if you haven't, take us in and kind of what goes through you when you're seeing this type of reaction.

[Urban Meyer]

Wow.

[Thomas Hammock]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Urban Meyer]

Yes.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

Get the kid out of here.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

Who is that?

[Thomas Hammock]

Oh, I know. Yeah, I know who that is. Yeah, he's a big time supporter.

[Mark Ingram]

Dang. That's what it's all about, man.

[Rob Stone]

Oh, yeah. That's how you celebrate now. That's how you let the party continue.

[Thomas Hammock]

I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that video. Wow. That's what it's all about. And that's amazing. And that's why you coach, I mean, to bring back that pride. Obviously, this is my alma mater, so when I lose, I lose twice. You lose as the head coach and you lose as a alumni. I think people think I sit in the chair and I'm not affected. I'm certainly affected. Because it's a tremendous amount of pride and respect that I have for this position and what it means to me.

[Rob Stone]

What are some of the other reaction texts, phone calls, emails that you've been getting the last couple days?

[Thomas Hammock]

Yeah, no, obviously it's been crazy from that aspect. But one thing I appreciated, a lot of the Mac head coaches reached out to me and I think that's big because we all competing for a Mac championship and for those guys to reach out and acknowledge what happened and just the pride in the conference. Coach Meyer knows, you know, when you in this conference, we all have similar resources, we all go through similar recruiting things, but we, we cheer for one another to, to win those type of games.

[Urban Meyer]

I was going to say, just to add, just to add to your comment is that the one thing about the Mac coach and not many people know this, it's the best coached conference in America. You know why, Rob? Everybody's the same. When you, every team in the Mac comes jogging out on the field where in the Big Ten it's not. You have some teams that just have. But for the most part, Mark, every team in the Mac looks the same. Now you got to out coach that other team. So I think that's great for you, Coach.

[Mark Ingram]

Have you thought about how much of a monumental win this is? Like with the expansion of the 12 team playoff, this might you guys, you know, handle your business in the Mac. Like coach said, this could put you all in position to make the playoff. You know what I mean? That was a monumental victory. Have you thought about the significance of that?

[Thomas Hammock]

No. I mean it's so early in the season. Right. And as coach understands, the Mac is a very competitive league. A lot of one position possession games. You know, we just gotta fight each and every single week to, you know, find a way to try to win. We, we know what this conference is about. It's a lot of great teams. Toledo, Miami, Ohio, Bowling Green, Ohio. You know, so we got a tremendous journey, but all we trying to do is continue to get better, improve fundamentally and then give ourselves a chance to go play our best football.

[Mark Ingram]

That's a ball, coach. Huh?

[Urban Meyer]

That's a ball, coach.

[Mark Ingram]

That's a ball coach right there.

[Rob Stone]

Coach Hammock, we've been peppering you with questions. I know you've been bombarded since that upset win in South Bend on Saturday. We're going to reverse things right now. You have the microphone, you have the podium. You get to ask a question of one of us.

[Thomas Hammock]

Wow. I'm going to ask Coach Meyer.

[Rob Stone]

You bet you Are that's the right decision already?

[Mark Ingram]

I thought you was going to ask me. Dang.

[Rob Stone]

No way.

[Thomas Hammock]

No, coach, obviously I followed your career a long time. You being a Midwest guy, you know, coaching wide receivers at Notre Dame and your competitive greatness that you displayed. I've read everything about you from how you. Your off season workouts at Bowling Green to Utah to Florida, all those things. You know, if you were coaching today, how could you still, you know, get some of those same attributes out of players as you did back in the day?

[Urban Meyer]

I've actually asked some people that because I think, you know, old school coaching people tell the story if they had the transfer portal when I was around Mark, 85 guys at transfer. But that was kind of the. I grew up in the military type family. I grew up in Navy SEAL training. And the idea was to, if you didn't want to be here, ring the bell. The problem is 85 guys would ring the bell. So now there's a fine line between. You know, I think Kirby's smart from what I hear. I've never watched his practice, but they say he's rugged. You know, Nick Saban is rugged. I can understand you're rugged because no matter what happens, the game of football is a tough man's game. It is. It will. You can spread it out, you can throw it, you can. It's a tough man game. And you better be tough and in shape. So I don't know. That's one of the reasons I'm not coaching is I just. I think that's a tough task right now for you guys. Cause you gotta keep your players.

[Mark Ingram]

The real ones gonna stay. Like, you might have some weak ones that tap out, but the real ones, the ones that's about their life, they gonna stay. Especially when they got a coach who cares for them, loves on them and wants the best for them and coaches them hard, like all those things. A real player is gonna want that and gravitate towards that and know that he'll be a better player from going through that. So, you know, you'll have some softies that, you know, tap out and ring the bell like coach say. But the real ones, they gonna fight it through.

[Urban Meyer]

I'm a fan, coach. I look forward to watching you.

[Thomas Hammock]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

[Mark Ingram]

Big, big NIU fans over here now. I need. I need some.

[Rob Stone]

Three of them.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, Big Truck in the flesh.

[Rob Stone]

Yes, sir.

[Thomas Hammock]

Hey, you know, you know, I follow Baltimore, so.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, you know, hey, you know what?

[Urban Meyer]

Let's get Big Noon there. We got to get Big Noon.

[Rob Stone]

Let's go. Road trip to a max.

[Mark Ingram]

Let's go.

[Rob Stone]

I would love it.

[Mark Ingram]

I'm down to go see coach. I want to spend, I want to spend some time in the facility, man.

[Rob Stone]

Hey coach, how are you starting Wednesday's practice?

[Thomas Hammock]

So we, we our players understand that we we start good on good right after stretch. You know it's good on big on big. It's all, it's all good on good these these next two days and we gonna put the ball down and we got to get there Mark and and, and run it.

[Urban Meyer]

We got to get there boys.

[Mark Ingram]

Full pads. Oh full pads inside run and all.

[Thomas Hammock]

Yes. They know what it's going to be like.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes sir.

[Urban Meyer]

One on tell Burner Turner. I should have low.

[Thomas Hammock]

I will do. I will do.

[Rob Stone]

He's your good luck charm. You're going to have to have him in in Raleigh with you when you guys take on NC State in a couple of weekends. Looking for another big upset win.

[Thomas Hammock]

Yeah, I got to get some nil money out of him.

[Rob Stone]

There we go, baby.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey man, congrats.

[Thomas Hammock]

Thank you, coach. Thanks for having me.

[Rob Stone]

Fantastic. Yeah, congratulations for your success Saturday, the continued success and everything that's going forward with your program. And thank you for taking the time to join us, Coach Hammock. Really appreciate it.

[Mark Ingram]

Thank you.

[Thomas Hammock]

And go Huskies.

[Rob Stone]

The triple option rolls on Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, Rob Stone. We are joined this week by a high school running back and his exploits. Elba High school running back Alvin Henderson. Four star guy heading to Auburn. Sorry, Mark. I know. I apologize.

[Mark Ingram]

Everyone makes poor decisions.

[Urban Meyer]

I got a feeling that one ain't over, boys.

[Mark Ingram]

Right?

[Rob Stone]

Well, especially somebody. My guess is his phone was ringing the last couple days because he had 40 carries for 435 yards, 10 touchdowns in, in an 80 to 78 L. He took the L to McKenzie.

[Urban Meyer]

Took the L school.

[Rob Stone]

80 to 70 defense being optional.

[Mark Ingram]

80 to 78 is crazy. But what's crazier is my dog.

[Rob Stone]

That's a basketball number.

[Mark Ingram]

40 carries, 40 carries, 40 carries.

[Rob Stone]

435.

[Urban Meyer]

I'll tell you what though, Mark. I can imagine what's going on in recruiting after that one. I'm not coaching and I'm going to call him right.

[Mark Ingram]

Holy cow. I know Bell man just going to let him slide that easy, you know what I mean? But hey, man, I had about 407 tuddies in a game with only about 23 carries. So, you know, I mean, I ain't trying to rain. Yeah, I ain't trying to rain on his parade, but If I have 40 carries, I probably would have went for 600. That's on me.

[Rob Stone]

That is a big, big number.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Young, young buddy balling though.

[Rob Stone]

But apparently a limited playbook as well. Like, I got an idea. Maybe Alvin Wright.

[Mark Ingram]

Alvin.

[Rob Stone]

Maybe we hand it to Henderson again. Maybe, maybe one more to Henderson. Coach, all the time you've been out on the recruiting trail, was there a dude, a stud that you saw that just kind of froze you with what he did on the field that day?

[Urban Meyer]

I've been lucky to be some around. Arguably some of the greatest players ever played the game. But you know, Nick Bosa and Joe Bosa were two guys that I remember like, my God, because I'm, you know, you better have defensive players to help you win. I remember, you know, Zeke Elliott and he was a high hurdler and then Carlos Dunlap. Mark was a kick returner at 6 foot 6, 260 pounds.

[Mark Ingram]

Los kick returner.

[Urban Meyer]

He was a kick returner for a touchdown six. And I'm like, yeah, and play defense. But the one guy, the one guy, and I've said it before and people share this thought, I know Pete Carroll feels the same way as Percy Harvin was a guy. I went watching him in Virginia beach and I have never quite seen anybody do what he can do with a football field. And that's no disrespect, that's opponents or Mike. The players I had and I, I think most everyone I know, everybody would agree with me on that. If he didn't get hurt, he'd be NFL hall of Famer. He was the best player I've ever seen put on a helmet.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, he was different. Yeah, Percy was different.

[Urban Meyer]

Reckless player that never got hit. And he was ridiculous skill set.

[Mark Ingram]

Strength, speed, agility, burst.

[Urban Meyer]

He benched over £400, Mark. Yeah, he was cock strong dude, man. And, and he was actually veined up. Skinny ankled catch.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, skinny ankles. How about. I'm curious, how many basketball games did you go to?

[Urban Meyer]

That was great.

[Rob Stone]

That kind of sealed the deal for.

[Urban Meyer]

You, coach, especially big dudes, you know that I almost mandated it because I mentioned this on Big Noon and that's why the Wolverines, you know, they lost five offensive linemen, the hardest play. Skilled athletes are not that hard to identify and discover. And you can kind of put the checkers together once you watch him play. But offensive, a defense lineman, the average, we did the study one time. The average gain, weight gain is 40 some pounds from their junior year in high school. And you really start recruiting them till they play. Sometimes it's 60, 80 pounds.

[Mark Ingram]

Wow.

[Urban Meyer]

So you just don't know how that's going to react. I think I even said every big man should play basketball because it teaches them lateral movement, teaches them how to bend. It teaches them, you know, because linemen get into the. All their movements this way, but you gotta move. So I mean, I, I went to. What am I, 60? I've probably been hundreds and hundreds of basketball games, but I loved going to high school basketball game.

[Mark Ingram]

Did you go any, did you go to any track meets, Coach?

[Urban Meyer]

All the time? Yeah. Yeah, that was more for the. That was more for the skill.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, the skill positions. Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

But I'll tell you what a big.

[Mark Ingram]

Man I got, I got offered at a track meet.

[Urban Meyer]

So what'd you run, 100.

[Mark Ingram]

I ran 1069.

[Urban Meyer]

That's nice.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, sir. It was moving.

[Rob Stone]

It was moving, Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

It was a 1045 or you know what? Jeff Demps ran a 992.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, you had some speed demons over there coach them boys running low tens, you know, but that was back when I bought, you know, 190. Coach. I'm about 230 now. You know what I mean?

[Rob Stone]

Coach, how many soccer games did you go to to recruit players?

[Urban Meyer]

I mean.

[Mark Ingram]

Nathan.

[Rob Stone]

None.

[Urban Meyer]

Not a.

[Rob Stone]

Not even a kicker. A punter?

[Urban Meyer]

No. Tennis, soccer, bowling. I got my.

[Rob Stone]

Nathan, you got my bowling in good, man. You're a teammate, Coach. You're a good teammate. Okay. All right, let's pivot here to pick six. Brought to you by BetMGM. Place your Moneyline prop parlay and same game parlay bets at BetMGM. Download the app today, please gamble responsibly each week we're going to pick six games against the spread. Mark has got his deuce. Deuce dog of the week. I can't hear it. Oh, it's just whimpering. You're not. The deuce. Deuce dog is not in full bite mode. That's all right. We'll get to that a little bit later. We remind everybody listening and watching, these lines are current as of Tuesday and can change. All right, guys, I'm going to start with a trivia question for the two of you. Michigan fell over the weekend, so who now has the longest current winning streak in fbs?

[Mark Ingram]

Ohio. No, they don't because they lost.

[Urban Meyer]

Missouri.

[Rob Stone]

Nope.

[Mark Ingram]

I plead to fifth. Who is it?

[Rob Stone]

Okay, no problem. Arizona. Arizona at number nine. Yeah. And Friday night in prime time on Fox. It is one of two ranked matchups this weekend. Arizona.

[Mark Ingram]

What's the number?

[Rob Stone]

Arizona's at number 20 and they've won nine straight. They're on the road at Kansas State. Going there, K State is favored by seven points. This one is a Big 12 meeting, but it's not a Big 12 Conference game was scheduled. One of those deals where it was scheduled back in 2016 before Arizona joined the Big 12. So this is just a game. Arizona, interesting here. Heavy favorites in their first two games. They won them, but they failed to cover both. And when you've got a lot of eyeballs, Mark Ingram, you know you need to make a splash, right? So Arizona football is doing that Friday night on Fox. They're going to debut their red cats in cursive helmets for this game. And they look spanking. You're going to dig that look. Their offense, impressive in week one, really went down in week two last Saturday. As for K State, coach, I know you love Chris Klein and what he's been able to do.

[Mark Ingram]

You know who I love on Kansas State?

[Rob Stone]

Who's that?

[Mark Ingram]

Avery Johnson. Oh, yeah, Quarterback. He is the man they say he can fly, Coach. He's fast. Fast coach.

[Rob Stone]

Fast, fast. Coach Kleiman spent Monday all he could do. Coach was like, find all the places the teams can improve. And that happens after two weeks. They are one of the favorites to win the Big 12. They had troubles winning in New Orleans against Tulane on Saturday.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, it is.

[Rob Stone]

I agree. According to Bet MGM, 61% of the bets have come in for Arizona. Their home, though, is K State. They're under the lights. They got that national audience on Fox Friday night. K State wins and covers. There you go, big dude. Kickoff, guys. Really excited about this trip. We are off to Madison, Wisconsin this Saturday. Alabama, a 15 and a half point favorite on the road against the Badgers. 91% of the handle or 91% of the total money is on your roll. Tide. Roll mark.

[Mark Ingram]

People smart. That's all I gotta say. The folks are smart, man. Put the money on the Tide. Just had a kind of unfortunate week, but, you know, that was a good week to have for them, I think, to grow, to learn from mistakes. Lots of penalties. About three touchdowns called back because of penalties. A lot of different exotic pressure they had to handle playing behind the chains. There's a lot of things that they need to improve on and continue to excel at. So they gonna go back to the office, they gonna come ready to roll. They gonna go up to Wisconsin and they gonna cover. They gonna handle it. So the 91% of the people y'all are smart and y'all gonna make y'all money this week.

[Rob Stone]

Alabama 13 penalties for 120 yards against USF. Also had three turnovers. Really balanced though. Jalen Milro, they passed for 199 yards. They rushed for 194 yards. We're going to stay mark with you. And in the sec, LSU favored by seven at South Carolina. I just want to remind you we have not had trap game, double deuce dog, whatever it is of the week. And I heard very low barking from you. I need some more barking trap game.

[Mark Ingram]

I'm going to go. You got, you got your, your dog.

[Rob Stone]

Of the week just wants to be pet behind the ears, right?

[Urban Meyer]

It's.

[Rob Stone]

It's not ferocious to not doing good.

[Mark Ingram]

On the dog of the week. So I'm kind of. But no. So LSU -7, you said right. -7 favorites on the road going to South Carolina. I was number one in the country. Went to South Carolina and we got ambushed. So I'm going with South Carolina as my dog of the week. They got Lenore sellers, they're six three, 240, 40 pound quarterback. And they got Raheem Sanders, 6ft 230 pounds at the running back. That's a lot of weight back there, coach. That's a lot of weight.

[Urban Meyer]

But I think that's a tough place to play. Mark. That is a tough.

[Mark Ingram]

I know personal hand because we don't went there. We was number one ranked in the country. We went there to South Carolina and they ambushed us. So LSU had a big week after bouncing back from the USC game. We'll see if they can continue that. But I don't. I like the points. I'm taking the points. I'm taking South Carolina. I'm taking them for my dog.

[Rob Stone]

I want to hear the dog.

[Mark Ingram]

I don't know. But South Carolina proved me right so I can get back to.

[Rob Stone]

There. It is the other ranked game this week and it's not one many certainly would have expected coming into the season. How about Boston College at number 24 on the road at sixth ranked Mizzou. The Tigers of Missouri, 16 and a half point favorite this week, guys. The SEC. Six of the top seven teams in the AP rankings. SEC schools. That's the first time it's happened in the 88 years. Six of the top seven of the rankings, the only one is Ohio State sneaking in there. Even the Buckeyes fell down a little bit. All right, so so far 60% of the bets are on the Eagles. Coach, BC at Mizzou. Mizzou favored by 16 and a half.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah. Bill O'Brien, the new coach is a guy I know fairly well coached against him when he's at Penn State. I like the guy because he's tough, he's rugged. He's a perfect fit for Boston type players. You know, when I was at Notre Dame, we'd play Boston College every year and back in the day they were rugged. Steve Adasia was a coach here. They went to six or seven bowl games and then they kind of fell off. But I think they're obviously a bull team. They are number one rush team in the ACC. How about this mark? 282 yards on the ground per game.

[Mark Ingram]

Wow.

[Urban Meyer]

So I think they'll get and this against Florida, you know, they beat Florida State, they're two and oh, but Missouri's played, you know, Buffalo and Murray State. So it's soft schedule. At first I was going to go with Missouri to cover it's at Missouri, but I think, I think Boston College is going to slow the game down with the run game. I bet they snap the ball with two to three seconds left on the clock. Each shorten a game and they'll find a way to be close. I don't think BC wins, but I think they cover it.

[Rob Stone]

All right. Week three, by the way, is apparently the new rivalry week out west. We start it's the 116th edition of the Apple Cup. I don't think it's apple picking season yet, although it felt like it. In Michigan this week, Washington favored by four and a half against Washington State. This one in downtown Seattle. And the line, the line has done some movement. It's moved four points since it opened at eight and a half. Let's talk about Washington at first, guys. This is a cool little wrinkle. I'm curious your reaction to this. New Huskies head coach Jed Fisher preaching discipline in a rivalry game. Right? We all know that one. But he's been disciplined and well thought out with his checkbook as well. He and his wife Amber made a million dollar donation to UW's Go Big Ten fundraising campaign. So he's doing his financial part to keep his team equipped in the great arms race of college football. It feels a lot like me donating $300 to the rob Stone grocery shopping fundraising campaign. But you know, put your money where your mouth is, right, and donate, Coach, to help your own cause.

[Urban Meyer]

I didn't know that. That's a big, big move. Washington to me is the unhurt, the unknown. They've lost everybody. And Jed Fish obviously had a great couple of years at Arizona. But you asked me about Washington? I have no idea. I think the world doesn't know yet.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, we're going to find out more. In Seattle, they take on their rival team, Washington State, the Cougars. They dropped Texas Tech. It was a home win and they won by 21. They were led, guys, by my new favorite player, coach and Mark. I want, I want to make sure we get this player in Mark's Heisman. What is it, Club Heisman or whatever we. Club Heisman. All right, so here we go. They were led by my new favorite player, the dual threat quarterback John Crazy Legs. Mature week one. The Texas native, what does he do? He throws for 352 five touchdowns last Saturday. Let the kid run the rock. A quarterback school record 197 rushing yards and a score. His defense showed up big time in the win as well. Forced four takeaways. Crazy Legs, Crazy Legs, Crazy Legs. Press conferences by saying sup? And he's got like that sup. That, that minshew type headband. He's got that perfect swagger. My man Crazy Legs dances his way into Seattle, the Emerald City. And it's the Cougars getting the out and out wow win.

[Mark Ingram]

Crazy Legs, Crazy Legs.

[Rob Stone]

John Crazy Legs. Matier.

[Urban Meyer]

Let's go.

[Rob Stone]

Back me up, John. Back me up here. All right, let's stay out west, coach. Oregon on the road. A 16 and a half point favorite at Oregon State. Remember the Ducks had that walk off field goal at home to beat Boise State last Saturday night. They are a team, as their new quarterback Dylan Gabriel said, that is still trying to kind of find their identity this game. Coach opened up at 20 and a half, has moved four points down. So again it's the Ducks favored by 16 and a half and on the road.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, they have some issues in Eugene. They, they don't look like they finished last year. They, you know, had some transition. Hey, Mark, how about this? They had a punt return and a kick return for touchdowns against Boise. If not, if without those they're one and one. They lost the game.

[Mark Ingram]

So Christian Genti.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

Boise State.

[Urban Meyer]

Boise, right. Yeah, he's a monster.

[Mark Ingram]

But he's a club Heisman for show. Rob.

[Urban Meyer]

Dylan Gabriel's complete 90 of his balls. But they're not throwing the ball downfield. There's a lot of stuff they're just unsure and they better get right because the Buckeyes rolling the town and that'll be the, you know, whoever wins that one will be the front runner will win the Big Ten. Oh, Oregon State lost. Everyone lost their coach lost their quarterback running back a bunch of several of the others, there's kind of a surprising 2 and O start. I've always respected Oregon State because they've had good coaches, good players. So I'm going to say I keep going back and forth on this one, but I think Oregon is going to start to get everything in order because I like that staff. I think they cover the 16 and a half.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. Dan Lanning saying after the win, there's a sense of relief because of that result. They keep sliding down members. What's that?

[Urban Meyer]

I'd add there better be some urgency because it's about to get real.

[Rob Stone]

I agree. And, you know, maybe they got caught with the stars in their eyes with those lofty preseason rankings. Starting at number three, second straight week, they slide down. They're now just inside the top 10. Oregon sitting there at number nine.

[Mark Ingram]

I need. I need some momentum on my side, Stoner. I need the dog of the week to come through.

[Rob Stone]

You even look sad. You. You're pouting over there in South Florida. Come on, man. That's not how you roll. Mark Ingram. I'm sad you're sad.

[Mark Ingram]

I need my scope bus to get right. I need my dog of the week to get right. Come on, y'all.

[Urban Meyer]

Rough.

[Rob Stone]

Rough. All right, everybody, please pick up Mark Ingram this week. He's having a rough week. Here's how you can pick him up. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, where we're number three. Or Spotify or wherever. Get your podcasts as well as across social media at 3x option. Show again, new episodes coming your way every Wednesday. We, as always want to thank our sponsors, Wendy's, BetMGM, ZipRecruiter. Most of all, we want to thank you for listening, for watching, for subscribing. We really do appreciate how much headway you've been able to allow us to create after just a couple weeks in this gig. Where you going, Mark? Oh, yes, those guys. There she is. There that is Wendy's football and the triple option, baby.

[Urban Meyer]

Great week, boys. Number three, keep moving up to charts.

[Rob Stone]

Let's go.

[Urban Meyer]

Best thing about number three, chance to be number two.

[Mark Ingram]

Oh, hey. It's a process, coach. One day at a time, one episode at a time. And we need y'all, like, subscribe, follow.

[Rob Stone]

End it, coach, talk.