Notre Dame-USC Paused, Texas Tech's Joey McGuire Joins, CFP Roster Construction, & Quarterfinal Picks

Summary

The Triple Option - Episode Summary

Episode: Notre Dame-USC Paused, Texas Tech's Joey McGuire Joins, CFP Roster Construction, & Quarterfinal Picks
Date: December 29, 2025
Hosts: Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, Rob Stone
Guest: Joey McGuire (Texas Tech Head Coach)

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Overview

This episode dives into the rapidly changing landscape of college football—from the expanded playoff and shifting roster construction, to NIL impacts, conference realignment, and the effect of money in the sport. The hosts break down the latest with roster strategies, discuss the pausing of the classic Notre Dame-USC rivalry, preview the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, and feature a thoughtful, candid interview with Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire on building a modern college program.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. College Football Playoff Roster Construction & Parity (02:54 – 09:40)

• Composite Talent Rankings:
  The crew opens by discussing 247 Sports’ team composite ratings, showing traditional powerhouses (Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon) at the top, but noting the emergence of programs like Texas Tech and Indiana—thanks to the transfer portal and NIL.

• The New Era of Roster Building:

  • Urban: "It used to be about recruiting the five-stars, now it’s about finding and developing the right portal dudes."
  • Mark: "I thought the whole NIL and portal would mean the rich get richer. That’s not the case. There’s never been more parity in the game." (03:02)
  • Parity is up, but money still flows to programs that can rally donors ("If you can find a billionaire, you better go get that billionaire"). (04:11)

• Transactional Relationships & Program Investment:

  • Rob: "It used to be about becoming the best football player and person, now it's about the bottom line." (05:15)
  • Urban: "Now this is so transactional... every single player coming in is a one-and-done." (06:24)
  • Mark: "Adapt or fall behind. There’s agents, money managers, third uncles everywhere now." (07:03)

• Transfers vs. High School Recruits:

  • Indiana: 65% of starts from transfers, 35% from recruits (Urban, 07:58).
    Coaches must blend both; transfer portal is here to stay but will "softly change" as programs stabilize.

• Coaching Amidst Money & Urgency:

  • Mark: "Buying players is one thing, but you still have to develop them—sometimes with only a two-month window." (09:40)
  • The shift: now coaches can work hands-on with players all summer, accelerating development.

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2. Joey McGuire Interview: Building Texas Tech’s Culture, Roster, and Edge (15:16 – 35:29)

Keeping the Competitive Edge During Long Breaks (16:20 – 18:33)

• Texas Tech had a 25-day layoff before the Orange Bowl:
  • McGuire: "I told the team, y’all gotta make me right. We had to get banged up guys healthy, but practices had to stay intense—shock the system with surprise 'ones vs. ones' periods to simulate game pressure." (17:43)

Offensive Evolution (18:33 – 19:27)

• Growth at running back: "Two true sophomores stepped up big. They’re mismatches catching out of the backfield—people miss how impactful both Cam Dickey and Jacoby Williams have been." (18:33)

Balancing Football and Family (20:18 – 21:50)

• On giving players and staff some holiday time:
  • "This is the first time I’ve spent Christmas with my family since 2016. When our DT realized he could be home for Christmas if we won, he said, ‘Coach, you shouldn’t have said that—the other team is in trouble now!’" (20:18)

Perception vs. Reality at Texas Tech (22:06 – 23:14)

• Responding to "oil money bought this success":
  • "This team broke every GPA record in Tech’s football history with a 3.23. 33 of our players are graduates. Winning isn’t just about money—these guys came here to get better as people too." (22:06)

Roster Makeup: Recruiting & Portal (23:14 – 24:29)

• "We signed 21 high school players (highest-rated class ever), 18 coming in mid-year. Ideally, you keep it 50/50 recruits to transfers—but you adapt. The backbone is still high school development, but you supplement with the portal when needed." (23:27)

Bowl Preparation, Culture, and Locker Room Leadership (24:29 – 35:29)

• Orange Bowl is ‘a business trip’—they’ll enjoy a nice stay but are mainly focused on winning.
• Defensive attitude: "Stop the run, earn the right to rush the passer... our motto is 'Take 3' (turnovers). I send every defensive kid a daily text: take three, win the game." (27:25)
• Building a Pro-Style Physical Team:
  • Emphasized strength, nutrition, and full-time recovery staff. "Big people beat up little people." (29:35 – 31:46)
• Motivation as underdogs:
  • McGuire relishes being doubted, shares how he uses media disrespect to fire up the locker room: "Yesterday I showed the team a poll that had us pegged as playoff ‘frauds’. We’re still beating the bear." (32:56)
  • "I've never had a team like this; it's player-led. One text to my leaders and it gets fixed." (31:59)
• Personal touch: McGuire’s "Take 3" license plate is on his black Corvette—a lifelong dream fulfilled by his wife for his 50th.

Memorable Quotes

• "We have a player-led team... I've never had a team like this. One text to our leaders and it gets fixed." – McGuire (31:59)
• "Keep doubting us, and we're just going to keep proving people wrong." – McGuire (35:10)
• "Big people beat up little people... once you hit your body weight after camp, you must stay there to stay healthy." – McGuire (29:35 – 31:46)

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3. Notre Dame-USC Rivalry Paused & Scheduling Woes (39:36 – 44:32)

• Historic Rivalry on Hold:
  The Notre Dame vs. USC series will pause until at least 2028, mainly due to scheduling conflicts and changes in conference priorities.

• Why These Games Are Dying:

  • Rob: "Now you get punished for scheduling tough, top-15 games. The committee doesn't respect close losses against good opponents." (41:59)
  • Mark: "We’re headed for the worst non-conference schedules ever. The to-do list for college football is to fix scheduling, before every team stacks cupcakes." (41:07 – 41:59)

• Homefield and Timing Disputes:

  • Urban: "USC wants ND earlier, Notre Dame wants USC late for bad-weather home-field. Tough to please both." (43:07 – 43:32)

• The Hosts’ Take:
  All agree—these changes fundamentally hurt college football and the fans, but are foreseeable consequences of the playoff and scheduling incentives.

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4. CFP Quarterfinal Previews & Picks (44:34 – 53:58)

Ole Miss vs. Georgia (Sugar Bowl) [45:15 – 48:55]

• Analysis:
  • Rematch; last game a shootout (43-35 UGA).
  • Mark: Georgia is better now, expects them to cover -7.5, citing defense, physicality, and experience.
  • Urban and Rob praise how new Ole Miss coach Pete Golding got player input, made cultural tweaks ("Not everyone liked Lane Kiffin’s basketball hoop, nor the same cleats for all").

Texas Tech vs. Oregon (Orange Bowl) [49:52 – 53:58]

• Analysis:

  • This is a "real test" for Texas Tech—first time facing an equal (or better) roster all season.
  • Mark expects a close, physical "old-school war" but leans Oregon ("I’m taking Oregon with a walk-off right at the end." (51:44))
  • Rob gives his heart to Texas Tech but, "If you can’t stop Oregon’s run game, you can’t win." (51:59))
  • Both note Oregon’s coaching staff distraction (coordinators departing for other jobs), which could impact performance.

• Notable Stat: "Ducks are 25-2 over the last two years; Texas Tech is having its best season ever—never finished in the Top 10 before." – Urban (52:56)

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• "There's never been more parity in the game." – Mark Ingram (03:02)
• "Right now, unless you get your bottom line up, I'm going to go over there." – Rob Stone (05:15)
• "It’s so transactional... every single player coming in is a one-and-done." – Urban Meyer (06:24)
• "This team set the all-time GPA record. Thirty-three graduates will play in this playoff game." – Joey McGuire (22:06)
• "One text to our leaders and it gets fixed." – Joey McGuire (31:59)
• "We just want people to keep doubting us." – Joey McGuire (35:09)
• "We're headed for the worst non-conference schedules in the history of our sport." – Mark Ingram (41:07)
• "These are the games we love... It sucks because these are the games we love in college football." – Rob Stone (43:55)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Roster Construction & Parity: 02:54 – 09:40
• Transfer Portal Impact & Indiana’s Model: 07:58 – 09:40
• Joey McGuire Interview Begins: 15:16
  • Keeping Edge in Layoff: 16:20 – 18:33
  • Offensive Growth: 18:33 – 19:27
  • Balancing Family/Football: 20:18 – 21:50
  • Rebutting the ‘Oil Money’ Narrative: 22:06 – 23:14
  • Roster Construction Philosophy: 23:14 – 24:29
  • Culture & Motivation: 31:59 – 35:09
• Notre Dame-USC Rivalry Discussion: 39:36 – 44:32
• Quarterfinal Previews: 44:34 – 53:58

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode balances sharp analysis with relaxed, honest conversation. The hosts aren’t afraid to critique the flaws in today’s system, but they also celebrate the game’s adaptability and showcase how creative, motivated leaders (like Joey McGuire) are thriving. Player and coach perspectives fuse with industry-insider detail, all seasoned with humor and deep affection for college football’s past, present, and future.

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For More

Follow @3XOptionShow on all social platforms for bonus content. New episodes drop weekly, exploring every angle of modern college football.

Transcript

[Rob Stone]

I'm going to be there at the Orange bowl, coach. So I'm going to be checking y' all out, you know, y'.

[Joey McGuire]

All.

[Rob Stone]

The stadium about 30 minutes south. I'm going to come check y' all out with my son.

[Joey McGuire]

Come on, man. Awesome. How old is he?

[Rob Stone]

Oh, he's seven. He's seven. So hopefully in 10 years, you know what I mean, you're still doing your thing, and I'm going to have one ready for you.

[Joey McGuire]

Hey, he might have an offer before he leaves the Orange Bowl.

[Mark Ingram]

Let's go.

[Rob Stone]

First offer. Red Raiders, let's go.

[Mark Ingram]

Light it.

[Urban Meyer]

The triple option is presented by Wendy's. Join team Tendies and enjoy a lineup like never before. Crispy, juicy tendies now at Wendy's. Holiday edition of the triple option, presented by Wendy's. Rob Stone, Mark Ingram. The second Deuce Deuce. The hall of Famer, Urban Meyer.

[Mark Ingram]

Birthday boy.

[Urban Meyer]

Deuce Deuce. That's right. It was a little bit bad about a week ago. Do you have a good birthday, by the way? Was it nice? It's a tough one during the holidays, but you.

[Rob Stone]

Oh, no, it's a great one because we just.

[Mark Ingram]

31. 30 what?

[Rob Stone]

36. The big 36.

[Urban Meyer]

Hey.

[Rob Stone]

And I just had a whole bunch of love. I had my wife, I had my kids, I had my mom, I had my sister. We was eating good. I was getting hugs and kisses. I was, oh, I had some of that Los Linderos on the rocks.

[Urban Meyer]

I actually went looking for Los Linderos yesterday. Coach, at my. No, no, I, I, but I put it. I filed a complaint.

[Rob Stone]

Hey, I know a guy. I know a guy.

[Urban Meyer]

What does the guy got to do, right? All right, thanks for joining us on the triple option rate. Subscribe over at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you find your podcast. We're on social media at 3x option. Show new episodes on YouTube on Wednesdays, typically, or wherever it is you find your podcast. Leave those questions, leave those comments. We love to respond to them. Let's get right to it, man. Time for any given Saturday. And the quarterfinals are here. They are upon us. Finally, a little interesting conversation to start things off with our friends at 247 sports. They have a team composite for each playoff team based on the number of five, four and three star recruits on their team. If you just look at that, Georgia, Bama, Ohio State, Oregon. I think, as you would expect, would be your top four teams. Texas Tech, again, of the 12 teams that started the playoffs, sit there at number nine, Indiana. Sitting there at number 11. Coach, you know all about building rosters. In the old days it was, you know, it was finding those five star guys and those four star guys. Now it's, it's portal dudes who maybe were three star guys. The development of your program has certainly tilted a little bit. Do, do you think it's, it's in a place where it's going to stay this way or do you still see some more altering going on with roster makeups?

[Mark Ingram]

I think it's very fluid. But Mark, I, I, it's exactly the opposite of what I thought the whole nil and transfer portal would have. I thought Rich would get richer. That's not the case at all. There's never been more parity in the game. And I was asking people, you know, we're in, we're involved in the game. Why? And it's because when I recruited Mark Ingram it would be number one chance get you in NFL number two win a championship and number three in elite education life after football.

[Joey McGuire]

He didn't recruit me.

[Mark Ingram]

Coaching points. What's that?

[Rob Stone]

He didn't recruit me.

[Urban Meyer]

Should have recruited you.

[Mark Ingram]

First one I missed on. But, but now it's, it's not that way at all, Rob. And now it's, you know, why would a kid, why would a player pick this school? Because they're going to pay him more. Why would a third string player leave in Alabama, leaving Ohio State, leave a Florida and go become a star somewhere else? Because there's opportunity and you can do it very fluidly. I mean very fluidly. You can, you can change schools. So I think it's, it's awesome for our sport. You know, parody is what people want to watch. I just hope the non conference scheduling someone fixes that because these teams got to play each other. But I think it's great. And you're going to continue. I hate to say this because it sounds dirty to say it. The richest programs are going to get richer. If you can find a billionaire, you better go get that billionaire. And that's what people are doing.

[Urban Meyer]

Which Dillingham literally said that with his extension at Arizona State. Right. Like the comment that got all the traction was find me, find me, find me some rich billionaire in the greater Phoenix area. And let's tap into that and let's get Arizona State up to the, to the Texas Techs of the world in.

[Mark Ingram]

The Big 12 facts.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, that's, that's what it is now. Like yeah, you have your, your blue bloods but now if you have a passionate fan base, you have a passionate donorship program, you Have a chance to re, to reconstruct your roster to be a, a powerhouse that can contend for a national title. You talked about Texas Tech, you talked about, you know, what Indiana's doing now. You know, they resigned Kurt Signetti. He got the, he got the resources to, for his coaching staff twice.

[Urban Meyer]

They've resigned him twice.

[Rob Stone]

Yes, but, but what did he want most importantly? Resources for his coaching staff.

[Urban Meyer]

Correct.

[Rob Stone]

And resources to build his roster. So if you get a passionate fan base, you get a supportive donorship program, you have a chance to change the trajectory of your program. And it used to be like a recruit like me, I'm going there, I'm like, how can this university prepare me to be the best football player I could be? How can this university prepare me to be the best human being I could be? What type of connections will I be able to develop through my time here at this university? What kind of facilities do they have? What kind of meal prep do they have? Like, you're looking at all these things and that will persuade you what, what university to go to. Now it's basically about what is this bottom line going to be? You know what I mean? Am I going to have an opportunity to play? Okay, but what's this bottom line going to be? Because over here I have opportunity to play, and this bottom line is up here. But right here you're. I have opportunity to play, but your bottom line is down here. So right now, unless you get your bottom line up, I'm going to go over there.

[Urban Meyer]

Also. The conversation back, back then. I hate saying back then, but that's the reality was, hey, you're going to be with me and I'm going to be with you for three, four years, maybe five.

[Rob Stone]

Invested in you.

[Urban Meyer]

That, that was ingrained, that there, there was no wiggle room on that one. Unless you just buy.

[Rob Stone]

Wanted to sit out a year, right?

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, you want to go sit out. And now this is so transactional, you know, this is. I, I think, coach, you would look at every single player coming in as a one and done. Right? You're a one and done. And then I got to re.

[Rob Stone]

Recruit you.

[Urban Meyer]

I got to see how it works for you. Did I do you right? Did you do me right? And off we go.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Think about this too, Rob. Is that back? And I'm going to go back now. It's going to date myself a little bit. When you recruited, you recruited the mother, father, the high school coach and position coach and the head coach, and that.

[Rob Stone]

Was sometimes third uncle.

[Mark Ingram]

Now, now there's third uncles Everywhere. Now there's agents, now there's money management teams. There's all these people telling you, you can go do this, do this, do this. So it's just. And you got to adapt in the teams that adapt win. So I. I don't like the. When I start hearing a billionaire world, that. That's going to impact. That's not right. At the end of the day, if someone says, that's right. No, it's not right. But I'm telling you, for the good of the sport right now, parity has never been better. And that's great for, you know, that's great for the sport.

[Rob Stone]

We love the parody. But it's billionaire. Or you got teams that are doing private equity deals now. Like, how about that?

[Mark Ingram]

You talking selling their. Yeah, they're selling their soul.

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, you.

[Rob Stone]

You. You go get a private equity deal now. You're really just kicking the can down the road and selling your everything to whoever. But that's. That's the business we're in right now, man. And it is what it is, right?

[Urban Meyer]

That's like such a great quote. It just covers a lot of things, but it is what it is.

[Mark Ingram]

And.

[Urban Meyer]

And until that river stops flowing, you got to jump on that raft and go with it. Right? Mark, you brought up Indiana. I just want to finish with the Hoosiers real quick. This is stats, the makeup of the hoosiers right now. Percent of starts from recruits. Okay. 34.6. Percent of starts from transfers. 65.4. All right, so obviously, you know, listen, we know Coach Signetti had to come in and transform things in Bloomington. So it's back to back years where it's heavy transfer. Right. I wouldn't be surprised if. If I see that number next year get closer to 50, 50. And it wouldn't surprise me at all. Two years down, it's going to be that 65% is recruits.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes.

[Urban Meyer]

And that 35 is transfers. But again, that's. That's where Indiana is. Is what they had to do to make this Mark. And then Signetti. Signetti has an eye like he knows who his guys are. I just think this. This whole model is going to softly change a little bit, but the portal is still going to be an absolutely necessary and vital factor.

[Rob Stone]

You have to get the right players in your program at the transfer portal. That's what kernel. That's what Kershinetti has done a great job of. He's gotten the right players with the right talent and the right character traits to go ahead and impact this program with his, with, with, with the current players that he's recruiting. Everyone says oh, Indiana doesn't have the talent. The talent is on the way. And that's when you will start to see those numbers flip in two or three years from being 65% transfer to 65, 70% recruit and 30% transfer. It's on the way. Indiana is, is going to be something to be reckoned with for the next however long Kir stays there.

[Mark Ingram]

I just want to add this about the. Because sometimes you get carried away with. I know our friend at Texas Tech, Joey McGuire. McGuire is that and he made the point. Okay. People are buying players, okay, that's great. But you have to coach them. And that's where Signetti, that's where you can really, I mean and this is where sometimes you have a two to three year window develop people. These coaches got to put acceleration on that. When you, some of these cats are walking your door in June, Mark. Yeah, the transfer portal. You got it. You got a two month window now to get that cat ready to play. Yeah, I can and I've talked to colleagues about the, the urgency and here's the difference too. Mark, you can coach these kids all summer, do you know that?

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

Back in the day, Mark, we had the period even talk to you. Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Coaches couldn't even be on the field. It was players running the seven on sevens in the workouts and stuff like that. Or a strength coach.

[Urban Meyer]

And you guys have all seen how money can change a human much less a player, right? So you're throwing money at these kids.

[Rob Stone]

You gotta make sure 18 year old.

[Urban Meyer]

They can handle that money.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

16 year old, 17 big big time money. That was your fresh take of the week presented by Wendy's. Join team Tendies and enjoy a lineup like never before. Crispy, juicy tendies. Now at Wendy's, coach, you hit on them. Coming up next, we're joined by a triple option frequent flyer, the head coach at Texas Tech, our good friend Joey McGuire. College football not feeling as juicy as it once did. Let me put you on to something that'll shake up your Saturday and every other day of the week. Because now that Wendy's has crispy chicken tendies and a powerhouse lineup of new sauces. It's time you transferred to the hottest team in the league.

[Mark Ingram]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Joey McGuire]

Let's do this. No rehearsal.

[Urban Meyer]

Wendy's Chicken Tendies now at participating US Wendy's Next Week's Big Match on Campus Oregon Take it on Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl.

[Rob Stone]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Urban Meyer]

The only decision that will change your world for the better is the decision to call for a sober ride. Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by nhtsa. Welcome back to the Triple Option. Rob Stone, Mark Ingram. The second Urban Meyer. We are joined now by one of our favorites, the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Get those, get those fingers and those guns up there. Joey McGuire. Hey, Coach. Happy holidays. Thanks again for joining us on the triple option, man.

[Joey McGuire]

Thanks for having me. I hope y' all have a. Get a chance to be with your families in this time. This bye week has allowed us or these buy has allowed us to. We're going to let our kids go home for Christmas and they're fired up.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, good to see you, my friend. And, and your ears might have been burning. From Norman, Oklahoma. I'm sitting there with the legendary Bob Stoops and we probably talked about you for 15 minutes. And back in the day when we both recruited your high school and here you are. Let's just a quick review. 2016, you're the high school coach at Cedar Hill and then you went on to Baylor as an assistant and then the paycheck changed a little bit and you went to Texas Tech. So big fan. Congrats. You know, you haven't played in 25 days when you play this game. And I've been there. I had my thoughts on how to do it, but this isn't about me. I want to hear your thoughts. And how do you. You guys are playing at a high level. How do you keep that? I was so paranoid about losing that edge. How have you tried to keep the edge?

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, I am too. You know, at the end of practice yesterday, I told him, I said, guys, y' all gotta make me right. Like, you know, we're a, we're, we have a bunch of grown men in this building and, you know, we, we made a big deal about this buy as far as going out and beating BYU and getting the buy because we were banged up. We had a lot of guys playing. I always call it football banged up because, you know, you're gonna, you're not going to be 100% after the first day of, of camp. You know, from then on you're going to, you know, you're something's going to be a little banged up. And so, you know, that first week we ran and lifted, it was also final week, so that was a little easier to do. And then all last week we put the pads back on, so we went five days straight. We gave them Saturday off, and then we were back in pads yesterday, and so we'll be in pads today. We've really tried to, you know, focus and be smart with the practices, but, you know, really be intense and get after each other.

[Mark Ingram]

I want to, I want to before I hand it off. So when you say pads, I think it's important that you have to keep speed on speed. Were you able to go do some ones on ones? Because that's another concern also. And you get in that damn game and you're shocked at the speed because scout team is not the same as going ones on ones, especially your place.

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, we've. So, you know, we do it. It's not on the, it's not on the script. So we've, we've been doing sudden change. They don't know when it's coming, but we've been going good on good. You know, we. Yesterday we were going into a special teams period and, you know, I blew it and just put the ball down and said, you know, good on good ones on ones. You know, I don't, I don't want. With that stuff. I don't, I kind of don't want them to know it's coming. You know, just kind of shock to a system of almost like a sudden change in a game. And so we've been doing that.

[Rob Stone]

All right, Coach, man, we appreciate you being here. I'm big on the rare Raiders. I'm a big Texas Tech guy in this playoff. Of the reasons, we know your defense has been great, but this offense, man, I say that they, you all can give it to them how you want it. You could run the football, you could throw it outside the numbers, you could throw it vertically. What have you seen with the growth of this offense from week one?

[Joey McGuire]

You know, the biggest thing is at the running back position. You know, we, we had two. Well, we felt great about a room. We, we had three really strong running backs. And then we lose Quentin Joyner right before the season. So we had two true sophomores that had to really step up, and, man, they. They have done an absolutely incredible job. They. They do. Williams. Yeah, man. Yeah, they. They run the ball at a high level, but the thing that they. They're so tough is they catch the ball out of the backfield at such a high level, and they're mismatches for linebackers, and we've had some huge plays in the. On the offensive side of the ball, throwing them the football. I think that's the. The biggest thing that people, you know, miss is. Is you got two young running backs that are playing at a really, really high level with Cam Dickey and Jacoby Williams. Yeah, they're.

[Rob Stone]

They're playing. There's some beast. There's some RBs for show.

[Joey McGuire]

Yes.

[Mark Ingram]

Let's. Let's talk about the life of Coach McGuire and your players. That I think the listener. I'm pretty positive, don't really understand this, but for almost 40 years, you know, I never really had a Thanksgiving, you know, because it was when I was at bg. It was Toledo, then Utah, Brigham Young, and then, you know, Florida, Florida State, and then obviously the rivalry game. So, I mean, the last thing you're doing is worrying about where's Thanksgiving. But it was important to me to give the players off a little bit of time. And then Christmas, we usually left Christmas Day or on the 26th, we're playing. You know, how has that changed in your life as a high school coach? You know, you're. You're done usually by this time of year. I don't know. The Texas is much different. How have you tried to let your players, or at least your staff, or is it. There really isn't much Thanksgiving or Christmas just got to go.

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, we spent Thanksgiving together. You know, we ate as a team here in the south end zone. It was awesome. And then we had a bunch of players go over their position coach's house that night. And then, you know, I. It was funny. I. I did not expect this. So I'm walking down the hallway with Big Lee Hunter, our defensive tackle, and I said, lee, if we get to buy, I think I have the schedule set to where you can go home for Christmas for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and be back the next day. And he has a daughter. And he said, so you're telling me I can spend Christmas my daughter? And I said, yes, sir, if we win this game. He goes, coach, you shouldn't have said that, man. They're in trouble. I went, oh, gosh. All right, here we go. That's all I needed, you know, and, and so before the game, I looked crossfield, I said, lee, remember those guys are trying to keep you away from your daughter on Christmas.

[Urban Meyer]

That's good coaching.

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, yeah, he played it, he played really well too. So, you know, he, so that's what we're going to do. You know, Coach, my mom and dad came out because we gave them Saturday off. We had to give them an off day. My mom and dad came out this first time that I've spent Christmas with our family since 2016. You know, so it is, you know, you, you, you find ways to, to be around your family as much as possible and, and make sure that these guys are around their families. But you don't have a lot of Thanksgiving or Christmas days off.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach, I'm curious. The stereotype, the national conversation around Texas Tech is, hey, man, all that oil and gas money, they, they bought their way to the college football playoffs. They bought their way to the Big 12 title game and won it. What is something about this program that the national narrative is missing?

[Joey McGuire]

Well, this is one of my favorite things. Thank you so much for this question. So since I've been here, so Texas Tech's been playing football for 100 years, since I've been here, we hold every single GPA record in the history of Texas Tech football. This team with all these guys that we brought in, they just set the all time GPA record as a team for a fall semester. So we have a 3.23 team GPA. So whenever you're sitting there talking about, well, all these guys came in because of money, all these guys came in because of this, man, we have 33 graduates that will play in this playoff game and this team set the all time GPA record. So I, I mean, that tells you right there what this building is all about. Like how they hold each other accountable, how, you know, everything's important, everything that we do, we do it at the highest standard. And so I, I'm really proud of that, man. And that, I just think that shows that they just didn't come here for one reason and one reason only. They came here to become better football players and better men.

[Urban Meyer]

Curious, Coach, about, about the blend of your program right now. What does it say? High school recruit slash transfer portal, the percentage breakdown and then what, ideally, do you want it at going forward?

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, it's going to be interesting. You know, we signed 21 high school players. It's the highest rated class in the history of Texas Tech. And we got some great. We've got 18 of the 21 coming in mid year. So they'll be here January 10th.

[Mark Ingram]

Wow.

[Joey McGuire]

I'm hoping we're playing on January. I don't get to see him until the next day or two days later. But you know, they're, they're coming in, you know, with us. We want a good mix because, you know, the, the backbone of the growth and development, you know, is the guys coming out of high school. But we also, you know, you can supplement at such a high level, you know, positions that maybe you're still trying to grow. And so I think It'll probably be 50, 50, you know, most years. You know, I think we'll still have around the 18 to 20 high school players. There's going to be some years it'll be smaller because you're going to have to, you're going to have a young team that you're going to have to get some older guys in.

[Mark Ingram]

Let me ask you about the bullet bowl experience. You know, I think bowls at some of them are a life support, you know, with teams not going and making decisions not to even play in him. So will you treat this the first one? I'm trying to remember back. I think we played like it was kind of like a bowl game where you have some bowl experience. But then we played for the title against Oregon. It was, it was just, it was a business trip. There was nothing there. Are you going to try to make this somewhat of a bowl experience or just pure business?

[Joey McGuire]

No, I think we're going to, it'd be a little bit of a bowl experience from the standpoint. We're staying at a great place and so I think they have some stuff set up for us but you know, it'll be a business trip from the standpoint of, you know, we're not going to leave the grounds of the hotel. As soon as we get off the plane, we get to our rooms, they got to be right back down and we're going through our first walk through. So that's a little bit different. You know, before you get there a few days earlier and you know, that first day we get there, I've always had my guys to where, you know, they, they've been able to, you know, go out and curfews not till 2 o'. Clock. We'll, we'll have it locked down. You know, just because you're trying to get to that next game and you know, you, you, you, we're going to enjoy the trip but we're going to be really locked into as a business Trip.

[Rob Stone]

Coach, I want to talk about your defense. Man, I already praised your offense, but the defense guys stopped the run. Guys rush the pasture. Roma, Lehight, David Bailey, they have over 22 sacks. You have four players that have multiple interceptions. So you got to stop the run good against the pass, turn the football over. What is the mindset that you guys are preaching to this defense every single day that has them hungry and playing at such a high level?

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah. So, you know, we talk about all the time, you stop the run, you burn the right to rush the passer. You know, we just got through with a staff meeting, and that's the key to this game. Oregon is rushing for over 200 yards a game. They've got three running backs that are absolutely incredible. And, you know, two of them are freshmen playing at such a high level. Yeah, I think that's really important. We have to go out and stop the run. But my guys, I did this in 2019 whenever I was at Baylor. Phil Snow, let me take it over. You know, our motto is take three. I actually have a. My license plate on one of my. My car is take three. The one that, you know, I have a dealer's car and then I have my car and it's. It says take three. So we're trying to create three turnovers and I send something out to the players. It's. I have it on my calendar, so I get an alert. I send something out, some video, like when I'm watching film, I record stuff off of Oregon. So now once we knew we were playing Oregon, we shifted to, I send any turnover, they have any batted ball. And so on my defense, every single defense player gets a text from me every single day.

[Rob Stone]

Wow.

[Joey McGuire]

Taking three. And if we take. If we take three turnovers, we're going to win the game. And that's, you know, that's are key defensively.

[Rob Stone]

Hey, what. What license plate? What kind of car is that license plate on, Coach?

[Joey McGuire]

All right, so, you know, I think anybody's like this, but I think us as men, you know, I think we grow up and we always think. And I use this a lot in recruiting because I always ask the recruits, like, what is the one thing that you're going to buy? Like, what are you going to go out if you want to buy? And I'm really not a car guy, but I've always been. I've always been in love with Corvettes. You know, my wife and I have been together for. We've been married for 31 years, but we've been together for 33 years. And I've talked as long as I can remember to her. I always said, I'm going to own a Corvette before I'm 50. And so when I turned 50, she surprised me. It was in the garage.

[Rob Stone]

Oh, let's go.

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah. With a 2021 Stingray Black. We call it the Batmobile Corvette. And so I use that story a lot in recruiting. I mean, you know, I, I didn't come.

[Rob Stone]

You're telling them to get the right wife, the right significant other.

[Joey McGuire]

No doubt, Ms. McGuire.

[Rob Stone]

Let's go.

[Joey McGuire]

Married, strong woman. So I, when we win, we call it victory Sunday. Of course, I always drive, always drive the Corvette on Sundays.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, that American muscle. Let's go.

[Mark Ingram]

You know, every time we try to cover a team, I try to just walk the sideline to get a feel for the size. And I've been telling people since the day in Salt Lake City when I was down on the sideline and there will not be a better looking team than Texas Tech. You know, we've, that's one experience we have. We get to see all these teams and, and you have to give credit to your strength coach, your nutrition because that, that's not normal at Tech. I, when we did that at Utah, that's not normal. So tell us a little about, you know, how hard it has been and then, you know, give credit to where it's due to get those cats to look like they do because that is a great look. That's an SEC looking football team that you have.

[Joey McGuire]

I, man, I appreciate you saying that and leading to that, you know, like, so Lance Barlow is my head strength coach and his crew do an absolutely incredible job. And you know what I love about them? I mean they're, they, they bring such positive energy. And you know, he comes out of the LSU tree. He was at LSU whenever they won it in 2019. And, and so those guys, they have their position groups that they really work with. He works with our O line, you know, and each group, Aaron Hall's got our linebackers and, and just different ones. And then, you know, one of the biggest things when I came here was really getting Texas Tech to understand, you know, we need a full time dietitian. And we, we were able to get a full time just football only, but then we turned around and we added another one. So they, you know, like the one thing that we've done here, we're operating really high level when it comes to that. We have, we added a new trainer this year. We have five full time trainers that are just football Only, you know, and so that's made such a huge difference when it comes to the weight room, the way these guys eat, the way they take care of their body, and then the way they recover. And this team's really bought into it, but we do. We have. We've got some big people. You know, I always say there's a reason that there's weight classes in boxing. You know, big people beat up little people. I think we saw that on Friday night. Somebody found out that whenever you grab a hold of a real heavyweight champion and it hurts when you get hit in the jaw, you know, and.

[Rob Stone]

And so Anthony Joshua with Jake Paul.

[Joey McGuire]

It's crazy. A lot of my hats off to Jake Paul, man. That takes a lot of courage to get into a ring with a guy like that. But that was the change that we've really tried to make, and. And our guys really, you know, sell out to it. And, you know, we do our body weights, and, you know, I'm big on that because I think if you. Once you hit your body weight coming out of camp, you know, to keep yourself healthy, you got to stay around there staying hydrated. And our dietitians do a great job of making sure we're hitting those weights.

[Urban Meyer]

That's great, Coach. The Ducks installed as an early and slight favorite. Does that provide anything for you motivationally or on the field or is there any positives in that for you, or do you not even care?

[Joey McGuire]

No, I love it, man. You know, whenever I talked about how fired up I am with this show, I asked y', all, whenever I was on, you know, this summer, I said. I asked coach and asked Mark. I said, you know, y' all are on great teams. You know, what's the difference? And I would tell you, you know, Mark said. He said the locker room has to lead the team, and we have a player led team. You know, again, I've been doing this for 31 years. I've never had a team like this. And I send out one text to our leaders, and it gets fixed.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Joey McGuire]

Like, I do not have to deal with anything past. If I say, coach, if I say I don't want to deal with this. It needs to be fixed, it gets fixed. And then, you know, coach told me, piss the team off. Oh, and we've been playing pissed off. I showed him yesterday, there was an article that came out, and they. They put 15 unanimous. I mean, anonymous coaches who are the biggest fraud. Frauds in the playoffs.

[Mark Ingram]

No.

[Joey McGuire]

And we were the second team in the first team. I think the only reason they put Ole Miss ahead of us is because Coach Kiffin left. And so I could see where they would say that. And so I showed that to the team yesterday. And so we're still.

[Urban Meyer]

That's a gift.

[Joey McGuire]

In the bear, like we are. I've got. Yes, sir.

[Mark Ingram]

That's a fish. You pissed off? I'm. I'm listening. I'm. I'm pissed off. I've seen you guys play. Wow.

[Rob Stone]

They don't know ball, Coach. Don't worry about them. Them anonymous coaches, they don't know ball. Because if you. If you really go stand on business, tell us your name.

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, that. And, you know, they're. They're either envious of what, you know, we've been able to do, or, you know, they didn't play us this year. Either way, I'm going to be there.

[Rob Stone]

At the Orange Bowl. I'm going to be there at the Orange Bowl.

[Joey McGuire]

I love it, man.

[Rob Stone]

I'm going to be checking y' all out, you know, y'.

[Joey McGuire]

All.

[Rob Stone]

The stadium about 30 minutes south. I'm going to come check y' all out with my son.

[Joey McGuire]

Come on, man.

[Rob Stone]

Sir. Hey, before you go, before. Oh, he's seven. He's seven, so. And hopefully in 10 years, you know what I mean, you're still doing your thing, and I'm going to have more ready for you.

[Joey McGuire]

Hey, he might have an offer before he leaves the Orange Bowl.

[Rob Stone]

Let's go. First offer. Red Raiders, let's go. No, but, hey, tell the people what you told us before we got on and started recording about our show, man.

[Joey McGuire]

Man, I. I just. I can't thank you guys enough. Number one. You know, I'm a huge fan. I think what you guys do for college football and. And bringing us to the forefront, it's such a great stage and y' all are so knowledgeable. But, man, I appreciate you because y'. All. Y' all have done really. I constantly think about that, that summer conversation. And, you know, there has not been a week that we have not talked about that, of being a player led team and. And finding different people saying whatever they said. I mean, our Friday night meetings before the game are my. My creative team do just a great job of. Of getting the guys ready to go in a highlight film. And it usually has somebody saying something about, you know, that so. And so is going to beat us. And so we just want people to keep doubting us.

[Urban Meyer]

Just.

[Joey McGuire]

Just keep doubting us, and we're just going to keep proving people wrong.

[Mark Ingram]

Let's go.

[Urban Meyer]

Well, Coach, here's to ripping around Lubbock on January 2nd in your Corvette and taking take three on the back.

[Joey McGuire]

That's right, three from everybody.

[Urban Meyer]

Joey McGuire, head coach, Texas Tech once again, thanks so much for joining us. Happy New Year. Enjoy the Orange Bowl.

[Joey McGuire]

Thanks. Thank you. So good, so good, so good.

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[Urban Meyer]

How did I not know Rack has Adidas?

[Joey McGuire]

There's always something new.

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[Urban Meyer]

Welcome back to the triple option, Rob. Mark Urban, back here with you. Time now for Crossroads, presented by nhtsa. Whether you get pulled over or get into a crash, drinking and driving will change your whole world. Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by nhtsa. Well, the Ohio State offensive game plan coach at a bit of a crossroads right now. Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, congratulations. Off to Tampa to be the head coach at usf. Still has this huge playoff game to deal with and just announced Ryan Day saying with all the distractions going on out there, he has decided that he will take over the offensive play calling for their Cotton bowl game against Miami.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, I can give some intel on that because I actually have to deal with that. In two of our three national titles, I had coaches that left to be head coaches and I brought him back and, and it was, it was. I had to stay on it, you know, because he's officially Brian Hartline's. He's the head coach of usf, Mark. You know, I mean, I mean that. And you can say, well, I'm going to discipline my time. But I think Ryan, he's a great pike. He obviously was my plate caller, excellent at it. And he just had to make a head coach decision and he did. So I had. Dan Mullen was my head coach at Florida, my office coordinator. Florida took the Mississippi State job. I brought him back and he did a great job. We won. Tom Herman left to be the head coach at Houston, brought him back and we beat Oregon. So I've been through it, but I think, I think, you know, Coach Day made the right decision here. And plus, he's excellent at that. You know, that's not a skill he's not well versed at.

[Urban Meyer]

It's a big news. That's a big change.

[Mark Ingram]

It's right.

[Rob Stone]

Big news.

[Urban Meyer]

And again, you know, new offensive coordinator, if we will, Chip Kelly was the guy calling the plays last year when they went to the national title. So here they are. Interesting, interesting situation and the timing for that one. Other news. This one. I don't love Notre Dame and usc. Such a great tradition like this is why we love college football. The fact that Notre Dame and USC, they have played every year since 1926, except for four years, three of those years, World War II. One of those years, Covid. And a pandemic. Well, it was announced today that those two programs will not play against each other until at least 2028. Notre Dame scheduling a home and away with BYU in 26 and 27. There's a lot to digest in this one. In the end market feels like the timing of this one wasn't where it wanted to be for both programs.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. Cause I think USC wanted to play it before the season, before conference play. And what Notre Dame wanted to play it middle of the season and they just couldn't come to terms. They couldn't come to agreement. But at the end of the day, I also think neither one of those teams are too down about not scheduling it because you get a. Well, I mean, Notre Dame scheduled byu, but at the end of the day, Notre Dame scheduled Miami and A and M. They lost the first two games, they won. The rest they got punished for it. You're going to see most of these teams, they're going to start these home and aways. Like Alabama has a home and away against Ohio State. Like, why would you even do that? You know what I mean? Texas played Ohio State in week one. They lost by seven points. They played them closer than anybody up until the Big Ten championship when they played Indiana. So you're getting punished for these, these games that you're playing against top 15 opponents these and then people who aren't playing easy booty cheek schedules are going 120 they're getting into the playoff. So you're going to see this more and more where these teams are going to these home in a ways that we love to see early in the season that are great for fans that are great for college football. You're going to start seeing these, these types of games go off the schedule because of the committee not respecting top 15 matchups, top 15 losses when it comes down to the end of the season and getting in the playoff and getting out the playoffs. So sucks to see Notre Dame and USC die down but they couldn't come to agreement. You're going to start seeing more of this unfortunately I believe I coached in.

[Mark Ingram]

That rivalry six times and it actually heartbreaking heard this. You know Brady Quinn said that was going to happen and just devastated and and but like Mark said, get ready. We are headed for the worst non conference schedules in the history of our sport. And I would put on the to do to do list for college football higher ups. You got to fix this. This is going to be a mess. Remember the number one team in the land, Indiana played Kennesaw, Old Dominion and Indiana State. You know and you're talking about a lot of lost revenue on the table so that somehow I still believe the committee's got to go away. It's got to become playing so you don't get penalized and you still someone's got to get a hold of this schedule. And the problem is unless it changes you're going to. It's going to be disgusting. The off season, the non conference schedules that we're going to see.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. You know Alabama, we have a home and away with Ohio State I think in 27, 28 and just little Bird they're talking about trying to not do that anymore. Like I don't know if it's going to get done or if it's not but it's definitely on the radar to get that off the schedule. You know what I mean? Because what benefit does it do you if you play that game close and they're going to hold it against you when it's time to be.

[Urban Meyer]

Particularly if it's late.

[Rob Stone]

Right.

[Urban Meyer]

If that's a late game you're going to get punished rather than early. Even early in the season, even early you're going to get some punishment.

[Rob Stone]

A and M lost to two teams.

[Urban Meyer]

But at least if it happens early on you have more time to build up equity and, and good credit. You know, also, we talked about the timing of this one. Again, one team's in a conference, one team isn't. Right. So I understand USC's point of, hey, we can't just drop this in the middle of, of a gauntlet where maybe there's Oregon and Michigan and Penn State and Ohio State and, you know, Washington or whatever. We. Then we can't just, oh, by the way, here's a Notre Dame bomb.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, right.

[Urban Meyer]

That we need to do this before the conference play begins. If you're Notre Dame saying Notre Dame.

[Rob Stone]

Should have accommodated them.

[Urban Meyer]

Well, yeah, but then Notre Dame is saying, well, hey, man, we've got home field advantage in the late fall and early winter.

[Joey McGuire]

Right.

[Urban Meyer]

We want you in South Bay. Hey, Southern Cal, you know what we want. Come on down. Come on down. In late October, November, when it's chilly and that wind is blowing and the leaves are no longer, you know, beautiful and colorful. In Indiana, it's dark and it's nasty and it's great. They want that home field advantage. They don't want to.

[Rob Stone]

You're in a dog fight against sunny.

[Urban Meyer]

Southern California in August and September.

[Rob Stone]

Now you're playing pit, though.

[Urban Meyer]

That's their point. They want to play those teams where they see them. They're not going to tell you it, but they look at them as wins and they get those late season wins so they're not dinged.

[Rob Stone]

Because these are the games we love in college football.

[Mark Ingram]

Really awful.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, it sucks because these are the games we love in college football.

[Urban Meyer]

Imagine if Ohio State and Michigan canceled their series. We're out.

[Mark Ingram]

I remember.

[Urban Meyer]

Too much damage can't be done. We're not going to do it anymore. What are we talking about?

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, that's all.

[Rob Stone]

It's only downhill from here, though, Stone. I'm going to tell you that.

[Urban Meyer]

Listen, the three of us are going to fight it, guys. Knuckle up, man. Knuckle up. We're going to fight this. We're going to keep good games being played in college football throughout the. Boy, it's going to. It's going to be heavy lifting, my friend.

[Mark Ingram]

And the Indiana State are getting a lot of phone calls right now.

[Rob Stone]

They're getting a lot of pay to play right now.

[Joey McGuire]

Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach. All right, time for two minute drill. It's brought to you by our great partners at FanDuel. Visit FanDuel.com triple option to download the app and take advantage of a 50% profit boost today. So last week's show, we picked the Alabama, Indiana Game and the Miami Ohio State quarterfinal. Time now for the other two quarters. Mark, we start with you. Number six, Ole Miss, taking on number three, Georgia. That one at the Sugar bowl proper. SEC setting for this one. Again, this is a rematch from a game earlier this year. Bulldogs favored by seven and a half over under 55 and a half.

[Rob Stone]

I think Pete Golding has done a great job of just kind of weathering the storm that Lane Kiffin left behind, just kind of calming everything down. They looked, they came out, they played sharp. Obviously it was against Tulane, a team who they had beat 45 to 10 earlier in the season, but they played sharp. Trinidad Chambliss, he looked like he was on point. Kawan Lacey, they're running back. We know they could throw the football, but defensively, I saw Tulane being able to move the ball on them a little bit, and I thought. I saw that a little concerning, especially when you have Georgia coming to town. Gunnar Stockton, he's playing really efficient, making good decisions. Nate Frazier, the way they run the football. Zachariah Branch, explosiveness on the outside. Then defensively, they are playing some of the best football in the entire country right now. They're, they're. They're playing tough, they're playing physical, they getting turnovers, they're being dominant on both sides of the line of scrimmage. I think Georgia right now probably is my favorite to win the national championship, and I feel like they're going to cover this. They. The, the. The line was seven and a half. They won 43, 35 early in this year. I feel like they're a better football team right now. And we have seen Ole Miss, they played Tulane, but they still have some trouble on the defensive side stopping a run. And that's what George is great at doing, running the football. So I see this being, you know, said it's seven and a half. I, I like him to cover that number in this matchup. And I think Georgia is poised to continue to make a run for the national title this year.

[Urban Meyer]

That regular season game, mid October in Athens, Mark, Defense was optional for a majority of that game. The teams combined to score on their first 11 possessions.

[Rob Stone]

Defense was optional. I think that they've turned, they've turned a page since then.

[Urban Meyer]

Georgia has, at least I think so. Remember, Ole miss was up nine in the fourth quarter in that one. Georgia scored the final 17 to get that win. Pete Golding, I love what he's done, by the way. Undefeated Pete Golding one. And oh, as a head coach, right? And you're right, he's he said, let's just stay the course. Right? Like, there's. There's no need to change the culture right now. Right. We'll do that in the off season. What you've done so far to get us here is good enough. But I found this interesting, coach. One of the things that Pete Golding did when he took over for Lane Kiffin, he called, he had every player come in for a personal meeting, and he asked them, give me one thing. You like what we're doing and one thing you might want to change, right? That's. That's kind of all the input he wanted right now.

[Mark Ingram]

He said, every player.

[Urban Meyer]

Every player came in.

[Mark Ingram]

Everybody in my mind hasn't earned that right. I think you're. You're dudes. There's some players on your leadership committee or whatever.

[Urban Meyer]

Again, this is what I read. This is what I read. Every player came in.

[Rob Stone]

I respect it, though.

[Urban Meyer]

One thing you change.

[Mark Ingram]

Sure.

[Urban Meyer]

And one of the things they changed. Lane had this basketball hoop that was set up on the sideline, and they had it in one of their meeting rooms. Some of the guys thought that was hokey. It was out. Some of the guys didn't like that they all had to wear the same cleats. And he said, you know what? You guys have your individual flavors and your taste. You guys can wear the cleats you want. So, Mark, you know that look good.

[Rob Stone]

All the same cleats is not it, bro.

[Mark Ingram]

So we're talking about cleats and basketball hoops.

[Urban Meyer]

Hey, whatever. Whatever works for that culture, man.

[Rob Stone]

Hey, listen, coach, I respect it as a coach. You're taking over a new program. At least get a temperature for your team.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, and stick your tongue out, Slide it underneath. Let's see what show is going on as a player.

[Rob Stone]

Coach, even. It shows. It shows you care about how he feel.

[Joey McGuire]

Maybe it's the little things.

[Mark Ingram]

How would I be in that meeting? Tell me about the basketball.

[Rob Stone]

You'd be like, let's go. Let go. No, but it's like this. It's like I say like this, at least you make me feel like you care. It's like when you're in the airport and your flight is delayed and they don't tell you nothing. They just keep delaying the flight. Or, you know, they come on. They're like, we are sorry for the inconvenience. We appreciate your service. Here's some water and some biscoff cookies. You don't give a damn about my.

[Joey McGuire]

At least.

[Rob Stone]

At least make me think you care.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach, are you a Biscoff cookie guy.

[Rob Stone]

I do like the Biscoff.

[Urban Meyer]

I do too. I, I didn't know they existed until I started flying a lot. I don't know. I don't know why. They are just in the airline industry. Oh man, I do mow those suckers down when they roll into me. All right, coach, your turn. Oregon.

[Rob Stone]

Staring outside here listening to. I'm talking about.

[Mark Ingram]

Man, I'm just trying to get over the basketball court. Cookies, cleats.

[Urban Meyer]

All right, let's bring you back. Coach. Coach, coach. Hug it out.

[Joey McGuire]

Here we go.

[Urban Meyer]

Group hug. Let's bring it in, coach. Mark. Bring it in, coach. Here we go. Number four, Texas Tech. Number five, Oregon at the Orange Bowl. Man, I am so looking forward to this one. We talked to Joey Maguire, remember? Oregon, a slight favorite, one and a half points. They're favored by coach the over under 52 and a half.

[Mark Ingram]

As many bad games as they were the original playoff games. These are phenomenal games. I went back and would love Texas Tech. We saw them up close and personal and I made the comment many, many times, that's an SEC looking team. But I went back and looked at their schedule. They played Utah and they played BYU twice. Other than that they had better cats and really they, they had better players in those two teams. So this will be the first time that the Texas.

[Rob Stone]

That's what you got.

[Mark Ingram]

They got what you got and maybe some more and it's on the road. So this will be, this is, this is wake up time. Say hell, you know, not, not wake up time. But this has come to Jesus time for that locker room at Texas Tech. I, I think it's going to be a phenomenal. I think it's going to be a walk off game. Remember, Oregon struggled just a little bit slowing them. Wait, Oregon, I'm sorry. Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

They gave up 34 to James Madison, particularly that second half.

[Joey McGuire]

Yeah, but.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach lit into him about that. That was perfect for Dan Lanning.

[Rob Stone]

Right.

[Urban Meyer]

A comfortable win. But James Madison gave him enough firepower to keep those boys sharp.

[Mark Ingram]

And I just think this will be, this is going to be an old school war mark. This is going to be. I can't wait to watch this one. This is. I'm going. I love these head coaches. I love the players. I love the demeanor. I love the, the way they play the game. I, I just think I'm going to take Oregon with a walk off right at the end.

[Urban Meyer]

Think about what Oregon has done the last two years.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, I, I mean I, and I, I might change. You know, I'm not. I'm going to be watching more film over the last next week but and I know Mark, you're big red Raider guy so much.

[Rob Stone]

I'm not going to lie. Coach.

[Mark Ingram]

This is going to be.

[Rob Stone]

I think they might win this one. Who? I think they might win Texas Tech. I think Tech might win. Oh yeah, I think Tech might win. But this is the problem. They had to slow down the running backs. They have four of them. They have three of them. You can't stop the run. You don't have a chance. And that's my opinion on this game.

[Urban Meyer]

And if those whiteouts are healthy, those whiteouts are healthy. For Oregon watching.

[Rob Stone]

Oh yeah, the carrying Moore. No, he played, didn't he?

[Urban Meyer]

As long as they're healthy, right? Like they've been banged up coming in.

[Mark Ingram]

Oregon's coordinators have taken jobs too. Keep that in mind. He got one the head coach at Cal and one the head coach Kentucky.

[Rob Stone]

One foot in, one foot out.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, well, Ohio State's dealing with that with Heartline.

[Mark Ingram]

I dealt with it, Mark. It's real.

[Rob Stone]

One foot in, one foot out. That's trouble.

[Urban Meyer]

See some leg on the show. Look at that. A holiday. A late holiday gift. A little Mark Ingram leg on the show. Love that.

[Rob Stone]

Some legs today. So I had to show you all that quad. You fear me.

[Urban Meyer]

How about the last two years of the Ducks? 25 and 2. 25 and 2 2. College Football Playoff appearance. Remember they were the number one seed last year. Lost in the quarters to the defending champs, Ohio State. Greatest season in Texas. Greatest season in Texas Tech history. Never finished in the top 10.

[Rob Stone]

Coach McGuire offered the third already. I'm rare. Raider through and through now.

[Urban Meyer]

Oh, maybe he'll throw in a Corvette with that deal as well, huh? With that.

[Joey McGuire]

With that.

[Rob Stone]

Take three.

[Urban Meyer]

Take three.

[Rob Stone]

And he marking him to third. I call them threes. They'll take three.

[Urban Meyer]

Hey, next fall, road trip Lubbock. We're jumping in this Corvette. We're cruising around Lubbock. Done and done. Make sure to follow. Subscribe rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Wherever you get your podcasts, you can find us on social media at 3x option show. Thanks as always to our wonderful sponsors. How to good have they been to us? Wendy's we love you fanduel. Ditto Nitsa. Thank you for all your support. Happy New Year and enjoy the college football quarterfinals.

[Mark Ingram]

Let's go.

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