Andy & Ari On3 - A BLOODY GOOD show with PJ Fleck: Can Minnesota knock off Michigan in Big Ten play?

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

Over the weekend, Minnesota knocked off Washington in Seattle by a final score of 27-24. Winning their first Big Ten game of the season, Golden Gophers head coach PJ Fleck celebrated the win by rubbing blood on his cheeks from his star linebacker on the defense. Watch here as Coach Fleck discusses this viral moment and how the Gophers can succeed the rest of the way down the stretch.(0:00) On Today’s Episode(0:52) Presenting Sponsor(1:56) Intro: Previewing PJ Fleck(3:51) Fleck joins(7:46) Maverick Baranowski(10:15) Michigan at Minnesota(14:19) Western Michigan (15:51) Facing Kamario Taylor(18:55) Big Noon on Campus(20:47) Car or Truck guy?(22:49) Recapping Fleck(23:29) Blood Story(26:29) Gametime(28:24) Hotline(29:58) Oklahoma Fans(50:23) USC fans after Oregon Loss(1:01:47) South Carolina's Status(1:10:03) Nebraska after Michigan State win(1:20:27) Oklahoma State & Kyle(1:26:02) Thanks for watching!Once Andy & Ari finish up with Coach Fleck, the fellas dive into the hotline from this past weekend of college football. Watch here as Andy & Ari hear from plenty fans regarding the state of Oklahoma, USC, South Carolina, and Nebraska.The guys wrap up with their favorite Oklahoma State fan: Kyle. Listen as Kyle recaps his entire Saturday with cinnamon rolls and breakfast tacos galore.Our show is presented by Polymarket!New User Offer: Deposit $10, get $50 upon sign uphttps://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/ON3Trade on College Football games every week on Polymarket. Download the Polymarket App with code ON3 for a $20 bonus upon sign up.18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirement apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur.We are also sponsored by Rhoback! Use the code “ANDYARI20 “ on Rhoback.com for 20% off for all new customers through the end of this week. Rhoback.com -  20% off all Performance Polos, Shorts and more with code: ANDYARI20We are sponsored by Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to every type of event with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Gametime.co Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/BHld7nhGT04 Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River BaileyInterested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today is Andy Nari-on 3 presented by Polly Market. It's a bloody good show. We've got Minnesota coach PJ Fleck fresh off rubbing his own players' blood on his face. At the end of the Washington game, Minnesota's playing in Michigan this week. Big noon game, big game, huge for the gophers, huge for the Wolverines as well. Plus, your voicemails today, you called in Saturday and oh my. The fan base is at Oklahoma and USC. and South Carolina, there's a lot of angst.

Let's just put it that way. Plus, a very happy call from our friend Nate, who is a Nebraska fan. It's not all misery. Sometimes you call in with a happy message. We'll hit it all on today's Annie Narion 3 presented by Polymarket. We are sponsored by Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market. Got something fun before you coming this week. Polymarket squads.

Our On 3 squad will be debuting. You can get in our squad group chat, follow along with our picks. My picks will be there, Ari's, J.D. Pichels, the Crane and Cone guys. You'll be able to follow along. You'll be able to follow or fade. I mean, you definitely want to fade Ari, I think, at this rate. But, I mean, I'm doing okay so far. So maybe you want to follow me.

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100% loss can occur. Welcome to Andy and R.R. 3 presented by Polymarket. and we're about to talk about blood. Lots of blood. There's a lot of blood happening on this show. Before we get into all that blood, I just want to say happy birthday to you, Andy, my esteemed co-host.

I want to say happy birthday to River Bailey. You guys share a birthday. And the third most important person of my life, my daughter live, all share a birthday today. So let's get into the show. I don't know if you guys felt this way, because I know we did this PJ Fleck interview shortly after the blood situation.

It's got a really good interview. And I'm excited. Did it feel somewhat overwhelming how many things we could have talked about today? Like we are like in the thick of, of college football season and it feels really good. But I just wanted to acknowledge both of you. And I'm so glad that you're in my life. So let's, uh, let's get into it.

Thank you, Ari. No, it's, it has been a pleasure and another, another year around the earth. Producer River, by the way, uh, born a few days after the Vols beat Florida in 1998. So basically he helped propel them to their last national champion. And the man's been chasing the dragon ever since. Basically. So we have a lot to talk about.

We're going to talk to PJ Fleck first. And then we've got your voicemails. Lots from Oklahoma. I chose the best. Lots from USC. Some very interesting stuff from South Carolina. And you guys are all, I mean, at this point, it is existential dread in these places. So we'll talk about that.

But they're very happy in Minnesota right now coming off a huge winning against Washington. They are going to be the showcase, the big noon game, as Michigan comes to Minneapolis. Let's talk to PJ Fleck. We are honored to be joined by Minnesota coach PJ Fleck, fresh off a big one in Seattle. Now the gophers come home and they've got Michigan coming. They're going to play for the little brown jug. For those, you don't get to see us off the air. PJ just solved a mechanical problem.

us on our broadcast. So he's very multi-talented. But I got to ask, Coach, what was that flight home like? And you're crossing time zones and everybody has to make a plan when they go to the West Coast. But what's that flight home like when you win a game out there? It's always euphoric. You know, it was very short lived, though, because everybody was sleeping by the time that we kind of actually took off. We had to get our rest. Just proud of our players for the preparation that they had all week. Every time we play somebody, the schedule is always completely different based on where we're playing, who we're playing, the time we're playing, to give our players the most advantageous way that we can possibly go win that football game.

We're playing the 23rd ranked Huskies at Husky Stadium in Washington, 10 p.m. Central kickoff on their bodies and put a great schedule together. Our operation staff, nutritionists, our GM, our trainers, our equipment staff, everybody did an unbelievable job and was part of that win. You know, teams were 28 and 2 at Husky Stadium, since 2022. And, you know, we were able to go out. And the only two teams that beat them out there were Oregon and Ohio State.

And so we knew the challenge we were up against. We would have to give them a great schedule. They were going to have to buy into it. Then they had to go play really good football, good complimentary football. So we were able to do that against a really good football team and find a way to win. And so our guys are pretty excited. But on to Michigan, one of the four rivalry trophies we play for this year. So on to Michigan for the first.

PJ, you went viral. let's get this out of the way. Tell us about the viral moment that you had with a certain linebacker and the bloody lip. You're just caught in the moment, man. I mean, you don't know you're on TV. You don't know the cameras around you. It's just one of your best players and your hardest workers and somebody who exemplifies what it means to be a Minnesota Golden Gopher. Just made the game saving play. He's got blood on his face. And I don't know. I don't know why I decided to touch his face. and touch my face because, you know, the theme of the week was being frontiersmen, be the Daniel Boone's and the Davy Crockett's and the Lewis and Clarks and head out west and be explorers and, you know, David Crockett killed 105, 105 bears. I'm sure he got a little blood on his face.

And when you're talking about that all week, it just kind of comes to fruition and it just happens. And it's one of those moments when I look back at my wife and she's like, what did you just do? You know like, uh-oh. Now, why? Wait, what do you mean? blood on your face. So you kind of know that Heather's probably going to sit there and what she says at, like that moment's going to go viral.

But it reminds all of our fans that we're an 11th place in the Big Ten Abbott. We drive for blood, the blood drive. So Minnesota's, we got to pick it up. And we got to do it all the way through December. And the American Red Cross has really said we've got a, what a blood shortage in America. So give blood, everybody. How about that? Yeah, that's a good guy.

That was primal, Andy. That's the word I would use. It was a primal reaction. Yes. Well, it's like Braveheart. But the Frontiersman, I'm thinking, yeah, when Davey Crockett killed one of the 105 bears, like, I'm sure. I'm sure he's like, oh, we're going to wipe a little here. For those who are watching on the YouTube stream, there's a QR code at the bottom of the screen.

You click that right now. It'll take you right to the We Give Blood Big Ten campaign. So if you are a Minnesota fan, by all means, get the gophers out of 11th place. but if you're a Michigan fan, Ohio State fan, Wisconsin fan, you name it, you can get blood too. So I love that you guys are turning that into something great. But tell us about Maverick Berenowski because we see him make the game saving play. This is a guy who's fifth year player in your program from Daytona Beach, Florida. What is it about him that makes him live up to that name?

He's a dog, guys. I mean, first of all, this kid was just, born to be a football player. Not only that, one of the toughest mentally and emotionally people you'll ever meet. He was originally committed Air Force going to defend our country, be an F-16 fighter pilot. So imagine that. And, you know, probably a Navy SEAL, Green Beret, Army Ranger, one of those type of special elite forces. And then decides to play Big Ten football. And so his, he's, the mental and emotional toughness this kid has is second to none. And when you're best players are your hardest workers. You have an amazing culture. And this kid is the walking,

talking, breathing example of what we're all about. People always ask me who's the best football player you've ever coached. And I've coached a lot of great ones. But Robert Splane always comes to mind. And the reason Robert Splane, because he ate, he ate, breathe, and sleep, slept football. And that's Maverick, Barronowski. And Blake Cashman was another great player. And if you could take Robert and Blake Cashman, put him together and create Robert Splain. Or, would create Maverick Berenowski. And that's the type of player he is. And he's our green dot. He's everything. He's the emotional leader. He's the heartbeat of that defense. And I'm just thankful he's ours, man, because he is one tough dude. And, you know, as a head coach, you got their back,

and I know they got mine. And we're in this thing together. And part of that whole moment we shared was we're in this thing together. I can't go out there and play with you. But gosh, darn it, man, give me some of that blood. And it's just, he's just such a passionate dude. And I'm just so thankful he's ours. How long did the blood remain on your face? Well, I think I got some of it off. And then I got to my press conference and they're like, you still have some on there. And then it's all over. Of course, I wore white. So it's all over that. But that will be one. You know, Heather has a cool thing that any ranked team we beat. We frame some things and put them up. But we're keeping that one unwashed. And that was just going to be in there for that for the blood piece and the picture with Maverick,

because that's a moment memory. And as you guys said, we turned it into something really special that hopefully we can bring blood donation awareness to so many people. And the America Red Cross has truly a blood shortage. So if football can do that and help save some lives and that moment, that's what it was about, then it's all worth it. So let us turn to this week because it doesn't get any easier for you. As Michigan shows up, they are coming off a really tough loss. When you coach against a team that just lost a game like that,

how much more on alert do you need to be? We know no matter what happens the week before. We're going to have to be at our best. I mean, this is a really good football team who's really coming into stride, defensively, offensively and special teams. They had two receivers over 100 yards last week, right? Plus, their quarterbacks are really good player, not only in the past game, but the run game.

They're huge and massive up front. They got deep tailback room. The wide receivers are now playing at a really high level. The defense is one of the best statistically in the country. They really shut Iowa's offense down. scores on special teams. And then they really moved the ball down the field because Michigan doesn't make four plays that they could make four interceptions at the end of the game and don't, plus get a big penalty and then have the last play come down to it. So they really shut the

offensive Iowa down. And if you look statistically, they won in every category but the game. They're a very well coached team. They're very good at what they do. They're very deep. They're very experienced. And we know we're going to get their best shot. So we're going to have to play our best game of the year. Complementary football offense, defense, of special teams to bring that jug to the University of Minnesota, which we haven't won at our home field since 1977. So we have a huge challenge ahead of us, which we know, but we've got to play in one game, and we've got to find a way to be one and a no in a three and a half hour span.

PJ, Michigan has been playing some Big Ten West football this year. I don't know if you've noticed this when you're watching film, but they've been playing defense, mash mouth type football, which kind of is in your wheelhouse, right? When you look at how you match up with Michigan, like, are they playing the type of game that you guys want to play? And, you know, I'm assuming not to joke about the Blood Brothers thing, but like you have a tough, hard fought win like that. Like it kind of feels like you guys are well suited from a matchup standpoint to

play a really good game against them in the way that they want to play. I think that's just the Big Ten, period. You know, you've got to be able to be balanced and win in a lot of ways. I think a lot of people think just balances a 50-50 run, run past. Balances, can you win the game based on what the game dictates how you have to win? Can you throw it to throw it to win? Can you do all of that? If it calls for a mixture, can you have the mixture? And I think Michigan's doing that. As you said, they will play smash mouth, downhill football for the most part, if needed. But they just had two receivers go over 100 yards because they

can throw it too. And not only that, the quarterback can run. And when he gets out of the pocket, he's just as deadly with his arm as he is his feet. So they produce a massive challenge for us. So we're going to have to do all the small things really well. We're going to have to play with incredible passion, desire, and how we play with our heart, souls, and spirit, and then play really fundamentally sound. And we're going to have to get takeaways and take care of the ball. We're going to have to be really good in tackling.

And we're going to have to break tackles. And then we're going to have to eliminate explosive plays and then create a bunch of explosive plays on offense to get this victory. I know it wasn't the consistency you wanted, but it feels like in that Washington win, you did have that balance where Drake's throwing three touchdown passes in the first half, then your defense steps up when it needs to step up. It feels like you guys can do all these things. Now you just got to put it together for a whole game.

You're right. And I think the greatest teacher is experience. So the more we play, the better this football team can get. And we want to continue to keep playing. I mean, our practices are always ultra competitive. We're playing a lot of young players right now. And the only way they're going to get better is if they just continue to play. And, you know, we've got Fox noon, you know, kickoff coming, which is absolutely huge,

Big Noon kickoff. So, I mean, the stadium's going to be rocking. What an atmosphere bringing in Michigan for a rivalry game for the Little Brown Jug. Fox Big Noon kickoff, you know, all of our fans getting there early. I mean, what better atmosphere than that. PJ, I know that. you guys are playing Michigan this week. It's kind of interesting. I know you're past, but what was it like to watch Western Michigan, a place that you spent time coaching at,

you know, push the Wolverines and lose such a heartbreak fashion. I'm assuming that there was probably something internal like of like you understand the people, the place, you know, what was it like for you to internalize the way that that game went in week one? Well, go Broncos, man. I'm always a Broncos fan. You know, spent four years there. Matt Heather there. I mean, that's a really special place for me. and always will be so many amazing players. But I think in college football, what we're always looking for is what's unique,

what creates the most drama, because there's always drama. You've got 137-plus teams, and then they're all playing each other on this particular week. We're always going to highlight and find something that's really in particular, really unique under the microscope, and that happened to be this game with Michigan and Western Michigan, which, you know, when you look at it, that's college football drama.

I mean, we have every Dr. Pepper commercial about it in the world because that's what makes college football special. It's this drama, but that happened to be that particular week with Michigan and Western Michigan. It just occurred to me that you probably are going to be a subplot on Fansville next year. There's going to be a guy rubbing Dr. Pepper on his face from a player. That's also a problem. Rubbing Dr. Pepper on my face would be a primal reaction.

So PJ, another guy we've talked about a lot on the show, and unfortunately you saw the business end of this dude. Camaro Taylor at Mississippi State, you guys had to play him in week two. What makes him so good? One, he's incredibly confident. Two, Coach Levy is an unbelievable football coach. Three, he's in a system that I think fits him perfectly for what he does and his skill set. He's not just a great runner.

He's always looking to throw. But when you can spread everybody out that far, sideline to sideline, and then have four world-class speed. We're talking world-class speed by receivers who can all catch it. who are physical, who are big, who understand the concepts, and they have a very good run game. Fluffy, there's nothing fluffy about the running back whose name is Fluffy. There's nothing fluffy about this guy.

This guy is built like Mohamed Iver, him back in the day with us. They have a big, strong offensive line. They have really good balance, and they can beat you a lot of different ways. It doesn't matter how many points they're down. They can catch up within a minute, two minutes. They can catch up within three plays. So it's amazing, the explosive piece of this, offense and they have athletes to fit not just the scheme, but the ability to execute at a really

high level. And I think that's what makes them dangerous. We knew it watching that film. They were going to be a problem and an issue. And I think they're showing the country that. So credit to Coach Levy because, man, he's won everywhere he's been and he's scored everywhere he's been. But at this level, I mean, they're playing at a very high level and very efficient right now. And you could just tell listening to them, their confidence is growing, growing with every week. PJ, when you guys suffer a loss like that in the non-conference, this isn't in 2015 anymore where things blow up. But how do you rebound as a team? What's it like when you return?

And how good does it feel to see that you guys got off to the start that you did in the Big Ten a few weeks after, you know, suffering that loss? Yeah, I mean, you come in on Sunday. You can't tell the way we won or lost because it's always about the response, right? Whether we win or lose, I mean, we need to get better. We need to grow. And when they say, like, we've got to get back to work. Okay, work's not easy. That means you got to get back to the hard part.

They got to get back to the hardworking part. That's the honesty. That's the transparency. That's being accountable to your teammates, accountable to yourself of what we all have to do to get better because we're all 11th, one 100 of 11th of this football team. We all have to do our jobs, coaches included. And I thought our team really respond really well after that. We were heartbroken after that loss because we expect to win every game. The expectation here is to win them all.

And we knew that we left a lot of meat on that bone because I thought we could. could play with them. And the score, I don't think shows how it was a little bit closer than that. But at the end of the day, the score is a score. And it looks like we got completely blown out and destroyed. And from the score point, we did. But we felt like we could really improve in a lot of areas. And that game should have been way closer than it was and maybe even have a shot to win. And our kids truly genuinely believe that. And then we came back, beat Akron, made those adjustments. And then came out at a really, really hard place to play at Husky Stadium in Washington and and come out to be 1 and 0.

And now our reward for that is the Michigan Wolverines at home for a rivalry trophy and play for four of those this year. And the little brown jugs up for grabs. The little brown jugs up for grabs in front of a whole lot of people because you're playing on the big noon game on Fox. I know that doesn't change your preparation. It doesn't change anything about how you deal with your team. But how important is it when you have this level of showcase to play well,

to show exactly what your program can be? Well, I think every week you want to play well. I don't think there's one that's particularly more important than the other. They're all important and they all count. And these days, everybody's on TV. Everybody's showcased, whether that's Fox or ESPN or all these other different channels. Like ABC, CBS, NBC, everybody's on TV. You can stream every game.

So I think it's really important to play really well every single week. And that's the expectation. What I think is really, really exciting and cool is that Fox News Kickoff is here. How great is that for the student body? How great is that for our band, Greek row, fraternities, sororities, the 50 plus thousand students here, getting up early, going out tailgate and getting ready for the game, right outside 3M Arena at Mariucci, like right across the street from our stadium, our fans. I mean, that's what's exciting.

Creating moments and memories for them, we always have to play our best. We always expect to play our best game of the year. But I think it's really, really important for the fan experience, the moments and memories that we host a game like this and that people really see what Minnesota is all about. You know, and we're a hunting state, right? So maybe we're getting some attention for some blood right now, but I didn't bite a heart, take a bite out of the heart. You know, that's what you do when you kill your first deer, you know,

and that's what these people are used to. So that didn't affect them at all. People in Minnesota are like, ah, little blood on the face. So what? Show up, and our people are going to show out, have a great time, and they'll create a moment memory with a big new kickoff, man. It's going to be absolutely elite. Yeah, go ahead, Andy.

Big, big question for you here. Yeah, yeah. we've already done your rules for life when you came on the first time. So we have a new question that we asked all the coaches because we just got on, we got to this top in the off season and it's fascinating. The answers are always fascinating. All right, PJ, car guy, truck guy, SUV guy.

Which one are you? Car guy. I married a car girl. It's easy. When you marry a car girl, you love cars. And I don't have to have to apologize for loving cars. So car girl, car. So what are we driving?

I got a nice Christmas gift. I'll put it this way. All of our cars, Heather has made them Matt Black, which is pretty cool. So whatever car we have is always Matt Black. I'll put it that way. Listen, I don't want everybody knowing what I drive. And, you know, I used to have a car with the top down. And I'd stop and stop.

So everybody felt like that was the time to, like, stop me, you know, and have a conversation or ask me a question. I was like, I got to get rid of this piece. So I would love to give that information. But, yeah, marrying a car girl has its advantages. But what does that mean? I want to know what marrying a car goal means. She just likes cars or like her dad.

He was a 40 year plus mechanic manager, grew up around cars. One of our kids, I mean, when he was a little kid, you could start a car. He could tell you the engine, the make, the model. Heather used to have a 67 Chevelle. And so I'm talking like car girl. Grew up her dad, mechanic. She always loved cars. She worked in the car industry.

Like, I mean, she's awesome, man. So, I mean, that's a great thing. You marry a golfer, great. You're probably going to play golf your entire life. And you never have to ask. You marry a car girl, probably going to have nice cars, maybe the rest of your life. And you don't have to ask. That's amazing.

Yeah, so we will not, yeah, we will definitely not docks your vehicle. We don't anybody coming in following you. It's funny, though, because we were talking to Zach Kittley from FAU last week. And he's like, hey, I drive the only King Ranch, F-150 in Boca Raton. But he's in the selling part. He's got to sell some season tickets, so a little bit different. PJ, thank you so much. and good luck this weekend.

I appreciate you guys. Rosebo, Sky, Mago, Gofer. Thanks for having us on the show. Of course. Ari. So we talked a lot of blood with PJ Fleck. I don't know that I could ever eat it to your heart. I don't think I could do that.

I didn't know that was a thing until he said it. After we recorded the interview. It's definitely a thing. I asked Andy, like, who does this? That's so, like, that's crazy to me. Like, I know that, you know, you're a big guy with, you know, you're hunting rifle and you got the, just like, come on. There's got to be a limit before it gets weird, right? That's weird to me.

I don't know. I think it's probably weird to a lot of people, but no, some people will do it. Speaking of blood, so we got done with recording that interview. I did a hit on Series XM's College Sports Nation with Nicole Auerbach and Chris Button, and they asked me like about the PJ Fleck interview and about blood stuff and my best blood story. And I told a story about when I was a lifeguard, it went in a while and I broke up a fight and a guy who had been smashed in the face of the rock, just spit blood all in my face. That was fine. Five minutes after that, so five minutes after that interview and probably, you know,

a few minutes after the PJ Fleck interview, I did this to myself. If you're watching on the YouTube, you'll see it. That is my shin. That's not bone. That's not exposed bone. That is the skin that had been peeled back by the back of a dishwasher. I was loading an old dishwasher into the back of my truck to take the dump and was not aware of how sharp the backside of a dishwasher is. And I must have scraped it along my shin and peeled a huge chunk of skin off of my leg.

And yeah, so that was, so I'm never doing a blood interview again because I think I brought that upon myself. Yeah. I hope you're okay. What do you have like a big? Do you ever get stitches or anything or just a big band? No, no stitches. Fortunately, my wife works in plastic. plastic surgery. So, and people think it's just cosmetic, you know, boob jobs and stuff. Actually,

if you work in a plastic surgery practice, a lot of what you do is wound care and dealing with people who've had surgeries where they've had cancers cut out of their body and you have to figure out how to close everything up and make it look right. And so what they had to do to fix me is one one thousandth as complicated as what they usually have to do. So it was kind of another day at the office for them. It was very easy. Okay. Yeah, well, Hopefully you have a speedy recovery. I'm fine. But I'm not a big.

I've never been a wrapped. I think you could tell based on my reaction with the picture up, but like I don't do gore. Yeah. Come. All right, River. They've seen it. They've seen it.

Okay. Yeah, it's not my. Some people like love disgusting horror, gory movies. Like I just, I've never been a person that's done well with blood. So,

but I'm happy you're okay. And, you know, PJ Flex didn't gross me out nearly as much as yours because yours was like, like an injury. It was less blood. Yeah. It was also less blood. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, way less blood. But, you know, I actually am amused by the primal football guy,

like doing something that doesn't make any sense because you're so in the moment. Because, like, PJ Fleck has gotten a lot of crap over his career, Andy, for being what people would say is performative or overly enthusiastic. And, you know, I'll tell you guys this. Like, when we talk

to him without the cameras going, like, this is who he is. Like, that's, like, it's not an act. Uh, he is. He's high on life, and it was a huge win for Minnesota. And frankly speaking, they have a really, really big game at home that means a lot to them against Michigan on Saturday. And I can't wait to watch it play out. Yeah. Now, back to more blood and gore because we've got to get to your voicemails.

But before that, before we get to the Indian Ari on 3 hotline, I want to tell you about game time. If you want to see any of these big games this week, if you want to go to Minneapolis to watch Michigan play against Minnesota, If you want to go to Iowa City to watch Ohio State and Iowa, if you want to see the opening of the new Ryan Field at Northwestern as Penn State comes to visit on Friday night, game time has your tickets. $129 get in price at Northwestern. They got great seats if you want to go to Alabama, Mississippi State.

Any college football game you want to go to, any sporting event, any comedy show, any concert. My wife had me checking out Celine Dion tickets in Paris. which I think I'm going to have to figure out how to make that happen. So just warning you right now. Every time you do the game time ad, it's always an elaborate ticket that your wife wants. And it's not a bit.

Like it's literally. Oh, she wants to see Celine Dion in Paris. Like, do you know that she had a residency in Las Vegas for like 20 years? She did. And we were going to go. This is the reason.

We were going to go. And then she had throat problems. She had a medical issue where she couldn't sing anymore. And so now she's back. singing and has a residency in Paris. Now, she's French Canadian, so, you know, native French speaker. So maybe that, you know, just wants to be among people's parley-vousing Franca. But it's a legit thing.

You could have just gone across Las Vegas Boulevard and performed at Paris, Paris. But, you know, who am I to? When all season ends, I may have to figure out how to get my happy ass to Paris. So. But you should take your wife to Paris. And game time will help you. Yeah. If I do, I will be using the GameTime app.

So that's how you should buy all of your tickets. Download the GameTime app. Do you the code Staples for $20 off your first purchase? Terms apply. That's Staples, STAP, L-E-S, $20 off your first purchase. Ari, let us go to the Andy and Ari on 3 hotline. [phone]. Before we go into the voicemail, I just want to let you know one thing, Andy,

and I want to let the listeners know one thing. I have had some interactions with people who asked for the phone, number and I have asked back, did you call in? And they said, no, I was too sad and drunk. That's what we're counting on. Like, we want you to be sad and we want you to be drunk or we want you to be happy and we want you to be drunk, but mostly drunk. So please call us. Exactly. That's not a reason not to call. That's a reason to call. So we want raw emotion and we want to know how you're feeling, man. Like, it's okay. And if you're, and if you feel like you're just like in the heat of the moment, like, that's the raw emotion that drives fanhood. Like, that's not something to be embarrassed about. That's something we want to promote.

So if you are thinking, I probably shouldn't do this. I'll say something like crazy. Please do. Like, it makes it for a better show and it makes it for, you know, because I think that we should also, Andy, and I don't know yet how it's going to be, but like when somebody calls in and says something ridiculous, we should give it a ridiculous to score of like how crazy is this thought. And I know that sometimes people change their mind from Saturday night to Monday morning. But I do like to hear what people feel like, because as you know, the message boards on the pre two are like this too. In the heat of the game, people are going insane. And then, you know, it gets tamer and tamer and tamer until you get to the

week and you kind of find your center again. But we want the off-kilter game day thoughts. That's the point of this. So please don't hold back. Well, we're going to start with some Oklahoma fans who are saying something that on the surface sounds crazy because they just signed Brent Middables to an extension. It would cost a fortune to change coaches now. But Oklahoma feels pretty hopeless right now.

Now, the thing is, Oklahoma felt hopeless after the Ole Miss loss last season and then ripped off a bunch of wins. So, again, these calls could change tone in a few weeks. They play Texas next week. Nobody this week, they're off this week. They play Texas next week.

Our George Stoy at Sooner Scoop put out a service. like a Google forum survey to Oklahoma fans, he got, I believe more than 10,000 responses. He's publishing the results later Tuesday at Sooner Scoop. We're going to have George on the show Wednesday to talk about what the sooner fans said because they're in a bad, bad place. And Ari.

And that's a huge sample size. So shout out to the Sooner Scoop guys. Like, I mean, like, when you have 10,000 people weighing in on something, that's a pretty reliable piece of data to use in terms of how you're feelings. So I'm excited to see the results of that. I am very interesting in the results. When you've lost the mascot, though, Ari, you have probably lost the plot. River, play the call.

Hey, Andy and Ari, big fan of the show. Caleb here for a mascot, four years for the University of Oklahoma. Boomer, even though right now times are really dark. I never thought I would see a team out here like this without a pulse. feels like, man, like this stuff used to really mean something here. And this is third or fourth time in the Brent Venables era where the offense just doesn't have a pulse. How do you feel the defense out there that consistently ranks high in the national rankings, but you can't even reliably score two touchdowns in a game?

At what point do the defensive players say, you know, what's even the point of going out there? Because as soon as the other team reaches 10, there's a good chance we don't win. I don't know if Brent Venables obviously isn't getting fired after the extension, but if there's another offensive hire, I don't think he should have any say in it. I think you need to relegate him to essentially the defensive coordinator or head coach and give someone else complete control of the hire. Maybe that's Jim Nagy. I don't know.

But this is an embarrassment for this program that used to be a proud program. And right now it's hard to believe it, but we're probably on. par with Arkansas. Anyway, y'all have a great day. Thanks for one of the show. It's a great time. They're not on par with Arkansas.

Yeah, the last part. Yeah. It's not that bad. Now, okay, listen, this is the kind of bargaining you get when fans are struggling with their current head coach.

And by the way, he said it's been so long since he felt like the Oklahoma office didn't have a pulse. No, it's only been two years. years. Like in 2024, they were awful. Like, yeah. Do we not remember the 2024 South Carolina game where it was

just South Carolina's D-line teeing off the entire game? Yeah, they had a major offensive line issue two years ago. And then I remember you were doing an analysis piece of like the plays they were calling were like going into the issues that they had. Yeah. They were calling they were calling plays into the direction of the weakness, which made no sense. So it's not

that. It's why they hired, hired Ben Arbuckle who brought John Matier and now you've got this. And look, you can't make Brent Vettable is a glorified defensive coordinator. If that's what you want, then you probably should just fire him. But, Ari, can I tell you who I think Brent Venables may be the next incarnation of? I'd love to hear it.

He's going to see this person on the other sideline next week in Dallas. He's Will Must champ. This is Will Must champ at Florida. Yeah. Great defense. Unbelievable defense. First rounders and NFL players all over the. defense and an offense that can't ever figure it out.

That is Will Must Champ at Florida. And by the way, Will Must Champ had one excellent season at Florida, 2012. They won 11 games. We're seeing the reverse, I think, in L.A., you know, a coach that you used to have. And I think that it is interesting because when I think of Oklahoma, and I think part of the reason why this is so difficult for them, obviously outside of the fact that it's just hard to watch, is that my viewpoint of Oklahoma in my entire. life going back to their big 12 days was explosive insanely productive exciting offense like that's

kind of like been their brand and as a as a program right and I think of that exciting offense I mean it predated Lincoln Riley that didn't just happen because Lincoln Riley was there and they had some really exciting fun quarterbacks like they've always been very explosive offensively so like the fact is that you know I remember thinking about Oklahoma's like why can't they feel the really good defense and I remember going down the rabbit holes of like well They're predominantly recruiting Texas and a lot of their best players in Texas play skill positions. And it's hard to field the lines and all these different theories of why big 12 teams struggled so much to field good defenses. And it's just like just when they figure out the defense part, they can't figure out the offense part.

So, you know, the other thing that I think is interesting, and I don't know if it's too soon for this, but I think we're getting to the point where it's a rational take, which is how many coaches in college football have tanked their careers or, temporarily their programs being loyal to the wrong quarterback. Like if you think about James Franklin last year with Drew Aller, when you think about the direction that Clemson's going with, Davosweeney and Cade Clubneck not reaching his ceiling, what's happening with Mike Elko right now, I think is an interesting thought process, maybe very early because that quarterback took him to the playoff last year, but the quarterback is a major point of contention.

Marcel Reed and State College. Now you have John Matier, a person that they paid a ton of money for and was super excited about when they got from Washington State. like there are who took him to the playoff last year by the way he did so i don't know does it sound crazy to think that like they belong in that bucket but like they didn't like we were talking about this on saturday do they have nobody else to go to uh yeah with newbauer's the backup and they they've not really gone to him so so what happens if you you ride this guy out for another year and you know i mean i guess maybe it's all too far gone now and you just kind of accept what it is but you know

i think that the quarterback position is so important and there's so And the thing that's so crazy to me, Andy, not to grant. There are so many good ones all over the place everywhere. So when traditional powers like Oklahoma struggle to find one of those really good players, and then you look across the SEC and Camario Taylor's lighting it up for Mississippi State and you have, you know, Fernando Mendoza, Indiana and all these different things, it's like, how does Oklahoma not have an elite quarterback? Why does Louisville have a better quarterback than Oklahoma right now?

And, like, that's a hard thing to, to, you know, maybe it's going to become more normal now that the portal is so rampant, but it's crazy and hard to reconcile, I think. So let's look at the rest of the schedule. They've got Texas, obviously, in Dallas. Texas is going to be heavily favored in that game. Then it's Kentucky and Mississippi State. Two games at the beginning of the season, you're like, oh, that's cakewalk. Nope, definitely not. South Carolina on Halloween, well, we don't know if South Carolina is going to have the same coach by Halloween.

But then they go to Florida, and then they have to. to play Ole Miss at home. Like, Ari, Andy, seven and five, six and six feels really real here. River, keep up the schedule. Who would you rather have, John Mateer or Archmanning? Oh, I've seen the side by sides. As long as Archmanning isn't dropping the ball and just handing it to the other team,

I'll take Archmanning. We're going to have a- stats are very similar. An SEC quarterback. We'll get into it. But let's keep doing it. Kentucky has Kenny Minchie, Matheer or Minchie. Minci.

Mississippi State, Camario Taylor. Not a problem. Camario Taylor all day every day. This one's kind of interesting. And I don't know which way you go with it. But Lenora's Sellers is South Carolina's quarterback. And there's been some why isn't he better discussion. But I still think I would take sellers.

Philo right now with the way that he's playing or Matur. In Mateer's offense, I wouldn't take Philo. But in Buster Fogner's offense, I'll take Philo. Yeah. Ole Miss is easy, right? Trinette Jamless all day every day. A&M. Yeah.

Here's the hard one. Marcel Reed or John Mateer. We'll see what happens by November 21st, but it's kind of the Spider-Man meme right now. And then we have the season finale, which is on the road at Missouri, who has Austin Simmons. I think I would take Austin Simmons.

That's not the place that Oklahoma wants to be. And it's just like, maybe we were all wrong, but like John Mateer was in top 10 lists for, you know, coming into last year, his best quarterbacks in the country, his highlight reel and his tape was really exciting at Washington State. I don't know if it's a, a mental thing or a physical thing.

I think it's, I'm inclined to think it's more of a mental thing because they've regressed from last year. But this isn't the position that Oklahoma thought it was going to be in coming into the season. And I understand their plight. So, yeah, not a great look. No, it is

a tough one. We got another call from an Oklahoma fan. Roll that one, River. Yeah, you know, after I reflect of the torture I just put myself through watching Georgia dismantle, Oklahoma centers, I just want to first and foremost give a very big apology to Jackson-on-on-on-on-on for comparing John Mateer to him. Jackson-on-on-on-on-on-his levels of John Materer. Secondly, I would like to apologize

to Andy for thinking he is a for saying that we were a bit premature with the extension of Brent Venables. I believe we should fire every everybody, to be honest. Not to that. Thank you. I accept your apology. I don't know why a producer River included a dolphin sound.

He called me a dumbass. Yeah, I don't think we need to bleep out dumbass. Like, the name is Dumas. But I do think that the dolphin noise was like really clever beep. That was pretty funny. Shout out to you, River.

We might just put random dolphin noises over non-cust words, too. You know they're the only other mammals that have sex for pleasure, right? well, good for them. They are the smartest other than us. They haven't built any cities, but they know how to get down. So, Ari, this guy's in fire everybody mode.

Fire everybody. Like, everybody? That's a lot of buyout. Yeah. I understand it. I mean, like, I understand it. because Oklahoma is a place that's not very used to mediocrity, let alone being bad, right?

Like they would, they're not even mediocre this year. They're bad. You know, one of the most consistent programs, I think up there with Ohio State in terms of results over the years. So they're very unfamiliar with this feeling. I understand that.

The thing that I have a hard time with, Andy, and I'm sure you do too, is because Oklahoma's personnel and coaching staff are somewhat separated in a way that might become more normal in the future. But like,

what is your actual take of Brent Venables, the head coach? Like, do you think he should be on the hot seat? Well, I told you, he's, he's Will Must Champ.

I know, but do you think that people should be done with him? I mentioned that Will Must Champ won 11 games in 2012. I didn't get to 2013 when he went four and eight. Yeah. He actually kept his job after that, but then he got fired the following year. So Oklahoma, we talk about this all the time on the show, one of the two most consistent programs in college football history. Ohio State is the most consistent.

Oklahoma's number two. And they don't do losing seasons. They don't do bottom of the conference. It's not something they tolerate. Yeah. And so if this is going to be a six and six, type year or worse, I don't know what they're going to do. Now, the extension was incredibly stupid.

I don't blame the new AD Roger Denny for that. I think it was probably pretty much done before he got there. But again, Brent Venables wasn't going anywhere. You were bidding against yourselves, whoever, you know, whoever on the board or in the president's office decided you wanted to do this, you were bidding against yourselves, you wasted your money. That was stupid. You could have given him more money after he made the playoff this year, or maybe after

won a national title. I go back, Craig, one of our long-time listeners, he sent this to me when I was at The Athletic. I was writing a story about actually, Will Must Champs, unnecessary extension in South Carolina. And Craig said, I don't give my plumber extra

for unclogging my drain. That's what I paid him for in the first place. Brent Venables unclogged your drain by getting you to the playoff. A 12-team playoff, like being in the top 12, that's your job at Oklahoma. That's not a special performance at Oklahoma.

That's baseline. But you know what I can't stand in life? And it happens a lot. I play poker a ton. And, you know, a lot of people say, I should have done this when they see the final card come out. And it kind of happened again with Iowa. And the argument I was having on Saturday about kicking a field goal,

they won. So they did the right thing. Even if Oklahoma was undefeated right now, you could still make the same exact case that you made a few months ago, right? Independent of the results, the process was flawed. The process was flawed from the beginning. It doesn't matter how it wound up. Sometimes, like, I always say this with people.

Somebody, I've been saying this my whole life and I know it makes no sense, but you can run through a gasoline factory with a lit match and not catch on fire or create an explosion. It doesn't mean you're not a dumb ass for doing it, right? Like, so like, like, it's just. Play the dolphin noise. But you know what I mean? Yeah. So I don't like when we relitigate decisions or thought processes based on results when you make the extension, you go into that extension knowing full well, but there is a chance that it might not work out.

We have the decision. We have the clip that our caller was calling me a dumb ass for when you and I and George Reister were recording a segment when the news came down and we pivoted and we're like, well, this is dumb. Here's that. Yeah. Now, here's my question, guys. Was anybody trying to hire him away? Did you have to do this? Could you've used this money for players next year?

Andy, you are speaking my language. I do not understand why schools continuously give out new contracts and new extensions. Like, it's different if you feel like that you're coaching. is under underpaid and you wanted to bump his pay up the way it's at a market rate. Okay, cool. I got no problem with that. However, the idea that Kalin DeBoer last year at Alabama, and I'm just using him as an example, that you gave him an extension.

Why do you think they gave him an extension? Because he was thinking about going to. Because Michigan wanted him, yeah. Yeah. But at the same time, we, if, if, you think, he wants to leave, like schools have to stop living in scarcity. Coaches are going to leave if they want to leave. Oklahoma would have paid Lincoln Riley, whatever he wanted to be paid, but he wanted

to leave to go to USC. And schools need to understand and stop living in scarcity, because guess what? If he still wants to leave, he's going to leave. And they got a photos to hear that when Lincoln Riley left. He was doing fine. Yeah. And he's not, like, Brent Medibles ain't leaving, but you may want him to leave, and now you've got to pay a whole lot. We still don't know the exact details.

They've not released that. So the original Brent Venables contract was fully guaranteed. There would have been 26 million-ish left on it after this year. So if they didn't change the language of the contract and just extended it, then you're now talking about almost $50 million. And I can't imagine that they would have changed the language. Why would that? I mean, maybe. because sometimes you do horse trade that as part of the negotiation.

So I don't want to throw out a number that's going to be wrong, but you were talking about a very significant number, however it works. Now, it may be closer to the original, but we don't know that yet. But I'm going to ask you this blatant question, this direct question. If the extension didn't happen, just hypothetically, do you think that he should be fired? Not yet. No, I'm saying There's a lot of season left.

No, I'm saying if this, you're right. I'm not saying right now. I'm saying, if they go, if they went six and six or five and seven. Yeah, like if this is their season. Yeah.

Yeah. Because this isn't his first terrible season in Oklahoma. This would be his third. Yeah. You don't get three terrible seasons at Oklahoma. Yeah. Like you, you shouldn't get three terrible seasons at Oklahoma.

if you coach there for 20 years. Right. But I also think that we have to also re-take inventory of that thought process because I think that teams are going to have terrible years that never used to have terrible years now. That's true. That's true. Like it's so easy to say you can never go six and six three times in 20 years

when you're playing in an era of college football where you have so much better players than your other. But like now that the, I think the difference between the top of the SEC and the middle of the SEC is more NFL-like than it's ever been before. Yes. Teams are just going to have regressions. You know, and I think A&M might be a perfect example of it. I don't think that anybody in College Station right now is on the, you know, fire Mike Elko train. But I just think that part of like being a college football fan now was living through terribly.

If he goes six and seven, six and seven and six and six with a couple of ten and threes. Yeah. even in this era, it's probably not good enough. Yeah, six and seven's bad. I mean, being a low 500 is bad. And he's got two six and sevens already. Six, uh, sorry. I'm sorry.

And I also don't even know, like, I'm sure you probably, I can't imagine that Oklahoma had any more than two below 500 seasons at any point in the previous 20 years either. So like, there's also that. Because even, Bob Stoops didn't have any below 500 seasons. That's right. So, you know, I get that. I mean, his worst years were eight and five. And the other thing, too, is like, it's not just losing because I don't like simplifying it to record. It's what you look like. You look like a dysfunctional awful team.

Like, it doesn't matter if you're winning or losing. It's like it's not even enjoyable to watch. Right. And it's very hard when you're looking around your conference and you see like John Summerall goes and takes most of the players Billy Napier had and makes them much better. coaching matters. Yeah. A lot. I think Camario Taylor-Mania doesn't hit quite the same in Norman, Oklahoma, as it does for people who listen to the podcast.

I have nothing to do with it. You don't like to watch that. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the situation at Oklahoma. Now, let's go to Oklahoma fans' favorite punching bag. Lincoln Riley. The USC fans call the NERR on 3 hotline,

hot and heavy after the Trojans lost to the Ducks on Saturday. Let's start with Tim. Hey, Andy, Ari. This is Tim from a Los Angeles. Long-time listener, first-time caller. You might be expecting some more passion, but unfortunately, as an defense, we have reached the Clay Hilton era again.

This is apathy. Fifth year in, still no defense. 40 points for game, I'm acceptable. This is who we are. And until Lincoln's out, nothing's going to change. I was beefing with you online, Ari, about that passenger. It doesn't change anything. SEP defense still sucks.

Love you guys. Love your show. Look forward to it. So, Tim sounds exactly like all the U.S.E. fans did at the end of Clayhouten Air. You don't like that sound. Uh-huh. Apathy is a bad sound. Yeah. Yeah. And it just sucks, too, because it's one thing to go into a season, not expecting much.

It really sucks when you go into a season and convince yourself. And like, even for me, who has no skin in the game and, you know, if USC is great or bad, doesn't change my mood, obviously. And then to be let down. I think being let down is worse. I think Oklahoma is kind of feeling that too. Where it's like, you know, you go into a season thinking about grand things. You go into a season thinking about CFP runs and, you know, all these different things. And then what you get back is the same thing. Like that is more gut-wrenching, I think, than spending an off-seat. Like, I don't know. Yeah.

And it is the sameness of it all that I think drives them crazy because. But who's in deeper hell right now? USC and Oklahoma fans or Florida State fans, like Florida State fans accepted this already. they know a change is coming. I think they're happier now because they know a change is coming. USC fans aren't sure if a change is coming yet. And it would be incredibly expensive to make a change. But if you're going to get more of the same,

like you look at the schedule, if they play the way they played against Oregon, they will not beat Indiana, they will not beat Ohio State. You're out of the playoff right there. And then what if you were to lose to Penn State, Wisconsin, or UCLA, specifically UCLA. That would be very, very, and I'm not even mentioning Washington this week,

which I guess you could lose to, but I don't think they're very good this year. So I don't think they're going to lose to Washington. But it's just, it's the concept of change, right? Like I think that the thing that USC fans are struggling with isn't that they're losing. It's that they're losing in the same exact ways, right? Yes. And then you look across the city. And I know that we're only a month in,

but UCLA seems to be a completely transformed outfit in less thing. So like that's the other thing. Like I know that success is tangible and records are tangible and you know exactly what those things look like. But you also know in your gut when something's off because it's not, it's not visually any different. So and if a new coordinator isn't changing things and having a five star defensive end that's the closest thing to a boast. a brother that exists, doesn't change it. Like, you get to a point where it's like, you have to change the people making the decisions

in order to try to figure out how to make things progress. Right. And the blaming of the defensive coordinator, I think we've, like, USC fans certainly move past that. Like, they're not blaming Gary Patterson at this point because they've seen this story with Gary Patterson, with Dan Linn, and with Alice Grinch. And, oh, by the way, do you know what the best part of UCF team is right now?

What? The defense led by Alex Grinch, who believe it or not, did not forget how to coach while he was at USC. It's just that if you're told you've got to run practice a certain way because the head coach wants it that way and the culture of the team is the culture of the team, there's only so much you can do. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to re, I don't want to change history. Alex Grinch has had a long history of coordinating some bad defenses.

So, like, I'm happy that it's turning around. Wait, no, no, no. The bad defenses were at Lincoln Riley stops. I think Ohio State's defense. I think Ohio State had the worst defense it's ever had statistics. Okay. I'll give him. I'll coordinate the secondary.

So, like, I don't know. I'm not saying he's a, people can progress, circumstances can change. And obviously, Alex Grinch is having better success this year, Andy. But I think that part of that, too, is just not always hiring the right person. but Dan Lynn was a good hire and that helped a little bit. Defense isn't the problem at Penn State right now. That's the Dan Lins defense did improve a little bit when,

when Dan Linn, I mean, when you think about what they were the year before Dan Linn showed up was one of the worst defenses I've ever seen at the power level ever. I'll never forget that Washington game that they played. They played Washington on a Saturday night. And Washington was like averaging like 20 yards of play for part of that game. And it was just like, what, they're not even close to stopping them.

and then it got better the next year. But seriously, they also lost to Maryland and Minnesota that year. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know, man. But at a certain point, the buck stops with the head coach,

and I think that we've reached a certain point. Five years in is long enough. Yeah. No, it's not the D.C. It's the head coach. And so Lincoln O'Reilly has to figure out right now, and none of this, like, the stuff we're talking about is all very global,

holistic. It is not something you can change in season. It is a mindset. And we've been talking about this since he was at Oklahoma. I remember when his first year, you were talking, I remember his first year. They're like, they need to tackle more in practice. Remember what it was that simple? Yeah. They need to hit more. They need to hit more in practice. They still need to hit more in practice. Yeah. But he's not going to change. He's told us that. Because I'm the one who keeps saying, he's a young guy, he's smart. He'll figure it out. He's not. He's older than he was. On my birthday, as I turned the page another year, I'm probably less likely to change than I was when I was 40. Yeah.

He's less likely to change than he was, and he's 35. Like, it's, it is what it is. All right, next call from USC land, producer River. This is Jackson. I'm a USC fan. It's just the same thing. Every year. I don't know why I keep getting my hopes up.

It's just Lucy and Charlie Brown with the football. It's just no discipline. We can't get to the quarterback. Dumb penalties. Dumb play calling. Horrible clock management down 14 in the last two minutes and we're going dink and dunk two-yard passes. Going forward on fourth and seven from midfield with six minutes left. It's just I wanted Lincoln Riley.

Like coming into today, I thought he was the guy. and not anymore. I'm just tired of it. We had such good teams when I was younger, and now it's just this every year. Anyway, I love the show. I'll be listening this week. Thanks.

Jackson. There's that noise again. Yeah, the deafening silence of apathy. Did you hear the life flow out of Jackson's, voice the longer he talked about it. Yeah. I don't even think he was drunk. That's the bad part. No, no, I don't, I don't think that any of these guys have been drunk.

I don't know. We got one coming. Andy? And I don't know these people's ages, but they sound similarly aged to me. Yeah. If you were a kid when I was a kid and you got to experience USC at its height as with childlike wonder during the peak character. era.

That was the coolest team ever. Their open practices, Will Ferrell running around, Snoop Dog running around, Reggie Bush, Matt Liner, like, I mean,

that was the king of cool. And I know that Miami had some of those U eras, and I know that other teams have had like really fun teams. But in terms of coolness, California cool, like USC and Pete Carroll are part of the reason why I do this for a living. like I fell in love with college football on the West Coast as a result of how cool those teams were. And even when I was covering the game on Saturday and I was in L.A.

and I looked over in the Coliseum and saw the number five, if that's what you were indoctrinated into college football with as a USC fan, I can't imagine what it's like now. God, that's such a departure from what that used to be. And I don't know if they'll ever be able to capture it because like I thought. No, they have a roster now. where I bet people are looking at this.

Again, I'm watching it happen in real time in the town where I live. Billy Napier had most of these same players at Florida last year. That's a good calling, by the way, if you hire a new coach that takes over what they have and just changes the culture. And a lot of the USC players are on multi-year deals. They're probably not going anywhere. So you can make it,

but it will require a massive expenditure. Yeah. And I also, don't want to play the game of, well, if you get rid of Lincoln or Riley, who are you going to get? That's a, that's a popular game. Who are we going to get? Well, I don't know. Did you know who Bob Chesney was 18 months ago, but? No, you did. Yeah. So they're out there. Exactly. There are good coaches out there. So it would be the job everybody wants, but they have to decide if they want to do it.

Now, like, again, Lincoln Riley can save it, but I'm not sure he can do the things that you've got to do to save it. in season. I agree. And I'm not sure he'll ever make the changes that you really have to make to produce a national championship caliber program. He's had the chances to do it over and over again, and he keeps refusing to do it. So that's where they're at.

They play Washington this week. They should beat Washington. If they don't be Washington, guys, it's probably over. Like, that's probably it. I don't think, I don't know if they do it afterward. But it's going to tell you I need to know. Right. One more call.

Actually, two more calls. Sorry. Yeah, let's do the call. One more hot seatish call. Let's talk to our friend in the Palmetto State. Hey, guys. It's Palmer, the same Carolina caller that you got last week. My question is, this feels like it's over.

I know I said is it over last week, but going down 30 side of three at half, and it's currently 18 to 35 with what? 11 minutes left or something like that. This feels like it's over. I really don't see where Shane comes back from this. So my question to you guys is, who would you think? could be potentially the next coach of the game cops. Because I have my thoughts. I know a lot of people have their other thoughts.

But we're getting into that time of year where, like, hot seats and coaching hot boards are getting in there. Who do you think? Because my one name, I have one name that I want to throw out there. And that's Jake Dickert, the head coach at Wake Forest, because he made Washington State good. He's made Wake Forest good

and those are two historically not good programs. Why couldn't he make Carolina a third not historically good program good? That's going to be a name

you hear a lot, I think. Yeah, he's already moved on. Where do we want to, do we want to talk South Carolina or do we want to talk Jake Dicker because those are two different conversations? Let's start with South Carolina first. Okay.

Does it feel over to you? It felt pretty over in that Alabama game. Now, I don't think it's over yet because I will point out. I've pointed this out multiple times. Two years ago, they were in this position where they'd lost two games. And in that SEC documentary on Netflix, you see Shane Beamer like at his kitchen table talking about they might fire me. I might lose my job this year. Like he's very open and honest about it.

And he's right. Like, he was in a bad spot. They lost to LSU, they lost Alabama. Now, both of those were really close games. They then rip off a bunch of wins. They finish nine and three. They almost make the playoff. Shane Beamer is SEC coach of the year.

He gets an unnecessary extension because he wasn't actually going anywhere. And now they're in this position again because they had a bad year last year. Shane Beamer at the end of last year goes, we'll be better next year because we went through this year. That will make us better. Well, they don't seem any better. The Dylan Stewart situation, he's suspended for this game.

He's suspended indefinitely by Beamer. Then it comes out, he's suspended by the league, by the SEC for throwing a punch in the Alabama game. So he was going to miss the Kentucky game no matter what. Whether he comes back at all is, I guess, up to Shane Beamer or Dylan Stewart. But the interactions between. him and Shane Beamer look bad. Like this doesn't look like

a team that is together. Yeah, I was going to say that the losses a few years ago were at least competitive losses. Like this wasn't a right. And galvanized. This was not competitive at all against an Alabama team that I do think it's better than the 24 version and

probably the 25 version, which South Carolina also played a really tight game against the 25 version of Alabama. So the fact that they are now losing by a ton to a team that they lost close to the last two years, that's not good. Right. The Kentucky game this week will tell us a lot because they got Will Stein.

They're feeling really good. They feel like they're significantly better than they were. And remember, this was losing to South Carolina a bunch of times in a row helped hasten the decline of Mark Stoops at Kentucky. And he would make fun of Shane Beamer. And then, because I think these two kind of, themselves as a measuring stick to one another. Yeah.

It is kind of funny to see on Polly Market that South Carolina is giving another team points right now. I know. I was pretty surprised by that. Especially when the other team has been pretty impressive so far. Yeah. So, you know, we'll see. But, okay, do you want to go to Jake Diccourt now?

We can. Let's go to Jake Dicter because this is a guy that, as our caller mentioned, if South Carolina were to open, Jake Dickert probably would be a candidate. I would imagine Buster Faulkner, the offensive coordinator at Florida, would be another one that people would talk about. But Jake Dickert is going to be one that gets mentioned

for any job that opens. And so he's a Wisconsin native. And I think that there was a lot of connection between him and that Wisconsin job if it opened. I'm the one who predicted Luke Fickle would coach his way off the hot seat, feeling pretty good about that after they beat Penn State this past weekend. They're going to have to win more.

but I do think that that job may be safe, but everybody in the country who pays attention to this stuff knew about Jake Dickert last year when he led Wake Forest to nine wins. They could do it again. They just beat Louisville. The guy evaluates his ass off.

He's one of the best evaluators in the game. So if you put him at a place with money, it could be pretty scary. Yeah. is that the formula now? Coach that wins at a typical program. Is that it? But that's always been.

Yeah. It's always been if you can hire a coach who wins with a high degree of difficulty, then if you put them in a place where it should be easier to win, it will be easier for that person to win. Yeah. Urban Meyer, winning at Bowling Green, and then winning at Utah, put him at Florida. What's going to have?

Oh, he wins two national titles. How about that? Steve Spurier, who are going Florida coaches, takes a share of the ACC title at Duke. Revolutionizes offense in the SEC. Wins a national title. Like, yeah, it's my, I've had this,

I call it my chicken salad coaching theory. If you can make chicken salad out of chicken shit, then imagine if somebody hands you a fully stocked chick-fil-A. Yeah. And I'm not just using the word chicken over and over again because we're talking about South Carolina. But there we are. Andy.

That's not a chicken. That's a dolphin. I think that should be a new bit on the show, just random dolphin noises. Who do you think are other names that are going to be in vogue? Is that the right way to say in vogue? Yeah. You got Jason Eck at New Mexico, who, again, we were talking about for Wisconsin because he's a Wisconsin grad.

I think he can win anywhere. He's won at Idaho. he's won at New Mexico. His history is pretty much everywhere. He's coached in the Midwest. He's coached out west. He's, you know, he played high school ball in Atlanta. So, like, he could win anywhere.

Shannon Dawson, the OC at Miami. This is a guy who, you know, before Buster Faulkner was the in vogue, everybody's favorite offensive coordinator. Shannon Dawson was dialing up plays for Cam Ward. and then last year for Carson Beck and Malachi, Tony, and now for Darien Minson Malachi, Tony. And he continuously finds answers. And that's pretty impressive,

and it's what everybody's looking for. So those are all names that you're going to hear a lot over the next few weeks. Yep. Andy, we have one more caller, right? Yes, we do. It's a happy one. He's changing his name. He's so happy.

Remember to call the Andy Nari on three hotline. Happy or sad. Right after your game, 61537888-8-78. Yeah, let's just know a happy one. Andy, Ari, this is sad Husker, Nate, and I'm sorry to disappoint. I told my wife today, I'm no longer sad Husker Nate. I'm contented Husker Nate. I call you in my Chevy Traverse, not drinking bourbon in a pool like my awesome bro in Oklahoma.

Go Caboics. But I don't know what to do with myself, guys. I truly don't. I watched Nebraska play a Big Ten game against not Rutgers and not make a fool of themselves. I've been married for 10 years. and I've told her that Nebraska used to be better than Sabins, Alabama, Davos Clemson, any USC with Pete Carroll, the Huskers were better, more dominant, the whole shebang. And my whole marriage, she's thought I've been a liar. I'm not saying we're back.

No, where near back. We're competent to quote you, Ari Wasserman, the Huskers may be. confident. That's all I've ever wanted. I don't know what to do with myself, boys. Maybe after bedtime, I'm going to go drink some bourbon night. Get a pool and stall, too. Yeah. Contented Husker Nate is awesome. Sad Husker Nate made me sad. I love this. I love how he describes it as they played a big 10 opponent, not Rutgers. Yeah. And look confident. I don't know how good. good Michigan State's going to end up being, but I do agree with contented Hustronate

that Nebraska has looked alarmingly competent all season. And even though the competition ramped up a little bit this week and they're on the road, it didn't matter. They still won. Now they get Maryland, which appears on the verge of ending the Mike Locksley era, speaking of hot seat. But this is another game they should win. then they play Indiana and Oregon back to back.

And oh, by the way, Oregon's going to probably have Dylan Riola as its starting quarterback. I'm sure we won't talk about that game at all that week. Oh, my God. This sport keeps on giving. It's just a gift. And when you open the gift, there's another gift that's wrapped inside of it. And it never ends. But let's say that Nebraska is truly competent.

And again, I will admit, they look very competent right now. Let's say they beat Maryland and they're 5 and 0. We watched Indiana play Northwestern the other night. I don't know that Indiana is going to come into to Lincoln and just blow them out. What if they look competent against Indiana too? This could be a trend. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I feel like you're just like tempting fate here. It's just, you know, if something's working, just let it, let it keep working, you know? Like don't jinx it. Don't jinx it. Just let it go. Contented Husker Nate brought this up, not me. Yeah. No, I know.

I feel like I don't, I don't want to say anything that will mess it up. up. It's working. I'm just not even going to look at it. I will, I will take back. I was arguing with an Oregon fan, and this was after Dylan Ryola insulted the roster at Nebraska, which he wasn't telling any lies. He has better talent around him at Oregon. Everybody knows that. But I said, you didn't have to say that. And you better hope that Anthony Calandria is not better than you were or better than you are. And Anthony Calandra does look great. That I will say, Dylan Ryola looked pretty awesome at Oregon. So maybe everybody wins here.

Maybe it's Elaine Kiffin, everybody wins situation. I don't know. They can't all win because they do play each other. Going to be a fun season. I'm excited. I'm excited for you, Nebraska fans. Don't want to, don't want to jinx it, though. Just keep your head down.

We do like Anthony Calandrie in that offense, right? Like, you know, historically, you go back to him at Virginia. It was an adventure. It feels like less of an adventure now. And granted, I don't, I didn't feel like it was an adventure last year when he was at UNLV with Dan Mullen. I thought he was just a very solid, reliable, good starting quarterback for UNLV. And he certainly seems that way for Nebraska. Now, it might be because they haven't played a great defense yet. They're probably not going to see one this week either. But they

will see a couple coming up down the road. And how he plays against them probably will determine whether Nebraska has any success. But Ari, if they can win one of these games, throw that schedule back up there, producer river. What if they win? one of Indiana or Oregon? They would be set up for a playoff run. The P word. The C word, at least with the P word.

It could be playoff contenders. I don't want to bring up the P word until they win one of them are competitive in the first one. Oh, come on, Ari, what fun is that? Reckless speculation is part of our job. Yeah, here's the reculous speculation. If they do something, then they will be.

But I don't know. I mean, if I had a six pack, I'd be hotter. Like, I don't know. Like, it's just, it's, it. If a frog had wings, you wouldn't bump his ass and he hot. My uncle had ball or whatever. I don't know, you know, my aunt had balls. You've been my uncle, I don't know.

Well, well, I think you should be excited and cautiously optimistic. Things have looked great. It wasn't long ago where we were laughing hysterically every week and the new creative way that Nebraska found to turn over the ball. You know, like, it's not that. special teams is competent too yeah like there are reasons for for optimism so I don't I don't want to see like look we didn't bring out

there's a re are you there's a word until I will beat Michigan like beat one of them and then we'll break that up I think that like I mean you actually you said the P word out loud I think it's your fault yeah um but it was only after you said if they yeah if If, if, if this big word. If was a fifth, we'd all be drunk. Yes. If.

Yeah. And if if in's butts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. That's good. That's so East Tennessee. I've never heard of anything like that before. You notice it's not, in Rivers version, it's not if, ifs and butts were candies and nuts. It's if and if and ifs and butts were candies and nuts. I couldn't say it.

Dude, I need to be like, like, Rogersville, Tennessee might actually be like a different country to me. I need to go out there and spend a weekend with the river and the family. Yeah, I don't know. I want to go just so Ari can turn to me and ask me to open the Zillow app and figure out how much a house would cost. And he goes, I can live here. I am very romantic about rural America and the cost of living in those towns. Well, listen, there's a lot of Nebraska that qualifies. Not Metro Omaha or Metro Lincoln.

Those are pretty cool cities, actually. and and not every every state is a rural area every state has but Nebraska's almost all rural so these these are these are your people now are yeah I mean you could go up the road an hour and a half or two hours and if you're in Scottsdale or I grew up and buy a house in kingman for one-fifth the price and retire out there you know you know they used to teach test H-bombs in that beautiful piece of property listen Ari he's contented Husker Nate he's not ecstatic Husker Nate so I know. I don't think we're getting...

Yeah, I don't think we're... Any of us are getting over our skis here. When he calls back as ecstatic huskernate, which I think would require a win against Indiana or Oregon to create that scenario. Contented huskernate sounds good. He's the right place. Yeah, could probably lose to Indiana and Oregon,

and they can have a, you know, a nine and three season, an eight and four season, which is still better than what they've had over the last. few years. But if... Imagine. If... Imagine.

If we get a call from ecstatic husker, Nate, whose wife now believes him, whose wife doesn't think he's been lying to her and gaslighting her for their entire marriage. Was Nebraska actually better than peak Nick Sab and Alabama, though? In the mid-90s? Yes. Like, they were the scariest team in college football.

Now, perhaps it's because I played with people who lost to them by a billion points in the national championship game. And they were built up to be like John Wick essentially, not the boogeyman, but the guy you hired to kill the boogeyman. Like, that's what they were. So yes, like, contented Husker Nate is not lying to his wife about that. It is true. I'm just actually kind of amused to just thinking about contented Husker Nate, like making his disinterested wife watch YouTube clips. like what it used to be like it's like

look at Tommy Fraser look dude it's like me sitting my wife down and go look at Bernie Cozor look at this babe look at you believe it look stare upon him on green and all his glory look how many

Stein coolers there are out there and it's always like the graphics are all old and like the picture's grainy he Jackson's calling the game oh doctor Oh, Nellie. Man.

Mrs. Contented Oscar, Mrs. Contented Oscar, Nate, we love you. Hopefully he makes you listen to the show every once in a while. All right, Ari. One more call. We've ended the last two Andy and Ari on three hotline shows with the same caller. Let's make it three for three.

Oh, Andy, Ari River. Hey, this is Oklahoma State fan. Yes. In the pool still. drinking bourbon. I feel like we should be formally introduced. My name's Kyle. And hey, what a game.

I'm not going to say the B word. But I will say we went into Morgan Town, West Virginia, and we won. So I'm sitting here and I'm drinking a little bit of bourbon. I'm wearing my hezzy hoodie from Roebuck searching on Polly Market. is there a better hoodie than the hezzy one? Searching for Polly Market to see what's going on. I've got my bourbon. Got a little orange LM&T.

Is that still a deal? Sorry if it's not. But I'm thinking about going to the Astros game on Monday. I'm going to try game time for that. No free ads. Trying not to over freak out about the local estate game. because we did really, really, really well. So I'm going to leave that there.

If you guys want to talk about it, you can. If not, I still love you guys. Also watched pretty much every game today from the left field of my son's tenure game. We may have set up a tellgate. If you want that picture, I will. Cook flat cinnamon rolls and breakfast tacos. Watch Texas. I'm not sure what to think about Texas.

Yeah, I'll leave that alone. But, man, here's the question. I have a question for Ari. Ari. What do A&N fans do? They arguably have more money than most other fans. And I just don't know where you go from here. I just don't know.

Did I mention the Oklahoma State one? Sorry, I will cut that off. River, Tennessee put up one hell of a fight. If you're a VOL fan, River, you cannot be upset because they played really well. So I'm going to sit here

in my hezzy hoodie, searching Polly Market, getting Astros game time games on Monday because we need to win. Maybe drinking LMNT because of that. after not a sponsor anymore.

I'm by sponsor. I mean the other word. Oklahoma State. What do we do from here? So we're not B. I'm not going to say that word. I ignore that word. I reject that word.

Dude. You know, you always should call into the show because you never know when you're going to be a bit and when you're going to be a recurring guest. Kyle is, I want to be best friends with Kyle. He sounds like he has the best life. like setting up the tailgate in the outfield beyond the outfield fence at the travel ball game with cinnamon rolls and breakfast tacos like what a life you're leading and then and then the nights end drinking bourbon in the pool can can can you ask for anything more than that i don't think you can i don't i don't think that you can and a good football team too don't forget that part that's a pretty good i just wish we we didn't have the number set up up. I wish we had a Kyle call off the Tulsa game to compare to the next three.

It's a long season, not wishing anything bad, but Kyle will not bail if he's sad, right? Like, that's part of the deal. You know, you don't just call it when you're sad. He's here. Almost every sponsor. Come on. Oklahoma State is a legitimate contender in the Big 12, I think, and they were a laughing stock a year ago. So I think that the bar for sadness should be lower than usual for him.

I don't think that you go into a, you don't walk into the pool like Skyler White if you lose, right? Like it's, it's no, you know, you, you. Listen, you float in the pool, you drink bourbon. They're on a buy this week. So easy pool bourbon situation. And then UCF after that, which just beat TCU at Houston after that. Then it gets a little dicey. The meat of the Big 12 schedule comes after that.

But yeah, November 14th home game against Texas Tech could be something. Going on the road at Eason is going to be difficult, but that could be something. So I didn't know he was a hoodie in the pool guy, though. Well, who isn't a head. Hez-y hoodie goes anytime, anywhere. Roeback, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. Code Andy, RE20 for 24% off your first order. I love how he hit every single advertiser.

That is tremendous. Yeah. Big for the brain. My heart. Guys, got a big show coming for you on Wednesday. We're going to redraft the SEC quarterbacks. We didn't do the SEC quarterback ranking in the offseason. We're going to do it with actual in-season data.

We're going to draft SEC quarterbacks. I want to know where Arch Manning winds up. I'm fascinated now. Scary thought. especially if you don't like running. That's right. If Arche doesn't make New York as a Heisman finalist, Ari's running five miles.

We'll talk to tomorrow.