Andy & Ari On3 - Can Kansas SHOCK THE WORLD at Texas? Lance Leipold joins the show | Early start for Caleb Williams

Episode Date: September 29, 2023

Can Kansas SHOCK THE WORLD at Texas? Lance Leipold joins the show | Early start for Caleb WilliamsToday's show is brought to you by PrizePicks, the easiest way to play daily fantasy. All first time users that deposit and use the promo code ANDY will receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100. If you deposit $100, PrizePicks will give you $100. If you deposit $50, PrizePicks will give you $50.Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/ANDYWant to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube and don't forget to subscribe!https://youtube.com/live/6QYUuS3y7dUThe world has changed quite a bit for Texas and Kansas since the Jayhawks last played in Austin two years ago. Kansas has started 4-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1915, and Texas looks like a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. (0:00-9:30)Before heading to face the Longhorns on Saturday, Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold joins the show to talk about how he and his staff changed the expectation level at Kansas and how QB Jalon Daniels has grown in the offense. (9:31-31:52)Next, Erik McKinney of On3's WeAreSC.com discusses USC's upcoming visit to Colorado. This will be the first game that the wider college football public will be watching defending Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, and Erik says to expect some fireworks as Williams faces off against QB Shedeur Sanders and Colorado. Meanwhile, can USC's defense answer some of the questions raised in a 42-28 win at Arizona State last week? (31:53-52:12)Justin Hokanson of On3's Auburn Live talks Tigers as they prepare to face top-ranked Georgia at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. Is first-year Auburn coach Hugh Freeze already regretting his decision to give up offensive playcalling? (52:13-1:09:28)Andy's Extra Point focuses on Penn State coach James Franklin's hot coffee takes. (Though they might also be iced coffee takes as well.) (1:09:29-1:16:33)

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. We are hurtling toward another game week. There's actually games tonight and there's some very interesting games on Friday, including Utah at Oregon State. It's interesting because not the marquee matchups of last weekend, but a lot of really intriguing ones, including one we'll talk about quite a bit today, Texas and Kansas. Lance Leipold, Kansas coach, joins us later in the show to talk about just how they've turned that program around in a relatively short time. It's amazing when you think about it, that they were hired basically the day before the spring game in 2021. Les Miles gets fired. It was a very tumultuous time. And you thought, oh, how is this ever going to work?

But Lance Leipold has built that thing pretty quickly, used the transfer portal, also just done a good job coaching, you know, kind of what you'd expect from a guy who won six Division III national titles at Wisconsin Whitewater. So it is going to be a fun one. We got folks throwing up hook'em horns in the chat already. It is going to be a good, good week. Got people taking your suggestions. You guys remember I did the live reaction show from Orlando, from the Florida State LSU game, and probably spent, I would say, a solid five minutes of that show, me plus you

guys in the comments, where we just commiserated over how sad we were that Harold Perkins was being used in the way he was used in the Florida State game. Well, now it's making Lane Kiffin sad that LSU has changed Harold Perkins back into the ball-seeking monster that he was last year. Let's throw some stats at you. In the Mississippi State game, Harold Perkins had four tackles, which doesn't sound like much, but one of those was a sack, two total tackles for loss and a pass breakup against Arkansas, six tackles, one sack, another half tackle for loss in addition to that, and two forced fumbles. He is, yes, impacting games again. And Lane Kiffin was asked about that because Ole Miss is hosting LSU and Lane, yeah, he's not happy with the change.

I mean, I don't know if they've talked about it, but it looks like they tried to play him like a normal backer in week one and play him like a boundary wheelbacker, and it looks like they scratched that after the Florida State game and went back to last year's plan and put him out there and make a few calls with him, let him play. So I wish they'd put him back in there. Maybe you can talk to him.

That's a very different tone from Lane, from his trolling of Alabama last week. They were a little humbled by Alabama last week, but I think that game between LSU and Ole Miss can be a little more interesting than the second half of that Alabama Ole Miss game. I'm guessing that LSU's secondary does not present the same challenge to Ole Miss's passing game that Alabama's secondary did. I do think LSU will still be able to throw the ball quite well, though. But Harold Perkins could make the biggest difference in that game if he is the one hammering Jackson Dart over and over again, or potentially breaking up a pass, causing an interception, forcing a fumble, all of the things that Harold Perkins does that can help you win games. He's doing it. And yeah, Lane, I don't blame you.

I would want them to move him back too, but they're not going to. Let's go to Austin. Steve Sarkeesian got asked about, as you would expect, the last time Kansas went to Austin. Remember that crazy game, walk on fullback, catches a pass in double overtime. Kansas pulls the upset. It was the low point of Sark's first year at Texas and the high point of Lance Leifold's first year at Kansas. But it's interesting this week because both coaches really don't want to talk much about that game because they're so different as teams now. Texas feels like a legitimate college football playoff contender and Kansas, that was just a plucky underdog story at that time. Kansas is flat out good right now.

They're 4-0. They've started out 4-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1915, 1914 to 1915, the last time they did this. And it's not gimmicky. They are just playing really well. Jalen Daniels, one of the best quarterbacks in the country. You heard Ralph Russo from the Associated Press on the show last night saying he thinks Jalen Daniels is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. I, you heard Ralph Russo from the Associated Press on the show last night saying he thinks Jaden Daniels is the best quarterback in

the big 12. And I think you'd find a lot of coaches who have to prepare for Jalen Daniels, who would tell you that, who would believe that. So, but it was interesting because Sark got asked earlier this week about what does he say to his players about two years ago? Does he use that as motivation for them? I really liked his answer. I think after the game Saturday, you talked about how there were players who lost at Baylor in 2021 and they could celebrate the win in 2023. Do you use a similar message this week, considering what happened last time you played Kansas here?

Do you try to stay positive with this team on a different way? I think this much. You know, I kind of referenced it to the team this morning. You know, we've come a long way as a program and in a lot of phases. You know, schematically, you know, the roster, the culture, the environment at DKR, we don't have to go backwards. You know, we're going to keep forging forward. And, you know, we've got a lot of goals that we're trying to obtain this year

and we're trying to reach. We recognize Kansas is a good football team. But to try to make our guys feel bad for losing the game two years ago, that sucked for everybody, I don't know what benefit that is. We've got to focus on the task at hand, and that's playing this Kansas team, because this Kansas team is a lot different than that Kansas team two years ago as well. He's exactly right. Neither Kansas nor Texas in any way resembles the teams that played at DKR two years ago. There are, yes, some of the same players

on the roster, but it's just not the same situation. Both of those teams have matured. They're considerably better now. I just, I really like the way Texas handled this business against Baylor last week. You heard me all off season, all off season. I said, this is the most talented Texas has been in a long time. This is the first time in a long time they've had legit NFL dudes on both lines of scrimmage that they've had really interesting skill talent that will be drafted very high. Well, Kansas is really good too. That's one of those you flip on the tape and you go, oh, they can beat us if we're not careful. And this is not a, the coaches have to tell the players this. The players at Texas can see this when they flip on the Kansas tape and Sark got asked about Jalen

Daniels too. And I thought that this was another good answer because this is what opposing coaches see when they are watching that Kansas offense. Now, I think it's multiple, you know, the thing that, that he does is he's, he's a real dual threat. I think the natural thing is we think about the runs that he has for explosive plays, but he throws the ball all over the place. They've got great schemes and concepts. It's not by any means is it gimmicky. They're running real pass concepts that stress your coverages,

and then they have the run concepts with his legs as an added element to it. You know, the plus one runs with the quarterback run. So he taxes you both ways. So it's not like you can just have a guy be a scout team quarterback that's a runner. You have to have the ability to throw it to give the defense a realistic look about what they're going to be going up against. It is going to be a challenge for that Texas defense, but this obviously will be the best defensive line that Kansas has seen. But it's interesting because they did play Illinois.

You heard the law firm on this show from Big Ten Media Days, Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph, really good D tackles. Probably not at the level of what they'll see with Devondre sweat and Byron Murphy and Alfred Collins, but a good challenge. And I thought Kansas handled that very well, but this is going to be a fun game. I don't know. You heard me and Ralph talking about it last night. I think Texas is going to win this game, but I'm not sure it's going to be a blowout. Last year, Texas ran all over Kansas with Dijon Robinson. This year, I think Quinn Ewers, JT Sanders, Xavier Worthy, probably going to have to do a little more in the pass game

to make the score look the same if they want to do that. And there'll probably be a little more stress, as Steve Sarkeesian pointed out, when they're on defense. So this is one of the games I'm very excited about this weekend, and there's a bunch of them. The LSU Ole Miss game we mentioned, Duke-Not Notre Dame, that's going to be a lot of fun. Florida, Kentucky should be a lot of fun. That feels like a toss up. We don't really know what's going to happen. Colorado USC, we'll talk a lot about that game with Eric McKinney of wersc.com.

Georgia's going to Auburn. We talked to Justin Hokanson from Auburn Live about that later in the show today. There's a lot to digest, so much to process, and we are going to get into it with Lance Leipold from Kansas. But first, I want to tell you about PrizePix. It's Thursday night, so it's time to go to that PrizePix app. If you haven't downloaded it already, download the PrizePix app. Use the referral code ANDY. It will get an instant first deposit match up to $100.

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Caleb Williams and Shador Sanders. What's this gonna look like? You know, is Caleb Williams gonna go off in his, this'll be the first game that the casual fan is watching a lot of Caleb Williams. You know, you've had to find him on the Pac-12 network or you've had to watch him very late at night. That's not the case now.

This will be noon Eastern kickoff against Colorado and Coach Prime. Will this game look like the Colorado-Oregon game? That's your question because Shador Sanders, the square for his passing yardage, 307.5. If the game looks like the Oregon game, you're going to want to pick less than there. But I'm not sure the game's going to looks like the Oregon game, you're going to want to pick less than there. But I'm not sure the game's going to look like the Oregon game. If you watched USC Arizona State, well, they got gashed a few times. And the question is, can Shador Sanders deal with what

should be a decent USC pass rush? If he can escape, stay on the move, complete some passes, there's a chance that some of his guys can break them. So do you go more than on that? Or do you say, no, the talent discrepancy is too great. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch. Now the question is, if you watch the Oregon Colorado game, maybe you go to the Marshawn Lloyd square. So they got 92 and a half rushing yards for Marshawn Lloyd. You would think if USC looked at what Oregon did and wants to just take control of this game right away, well, you'd think they're going to hand it to Marshawn Lloyd quite a bit. So another game in that same window where the running backs are going

to be very important to both teams success is that Florida Kentucky game. Trevor Etienne was Florida's best player against Tennessee. He's probably the biggest reason they won that game. Ray Davis for Kentucky has shown that he has breakaway ability. He's made that offense a lot more explosive. Trevor Etienne, 66 and a half, more or less. Ray Davis, 79 and a half, more or less. Where do you fall on that? I tend to lean toward more for both of them. And then we'll see because really how Florida's defensive front plays in that game will have a big effect on the outcome of that game. Do they shut down the run game like they did against Tennessee and force Devin Leary to make the throws?

And, oh, yeah, you want a Devin Leary square? 229.5 passing yards. That's an interesting – and Graham Mertz from Florida, they got it 195.5. Both those offenses are going to be very deliberate. I don't think they're going to be chucking the ball all around the field. If you watch Florida play, Graham Mertz is not throwing deep. He's throwing short, and they're hoping that somebody can catch the ball and make something happen with it.

But so many different options, so many games. You can go down to that Duke and Notre Dame game. How do you feel about the rushing yards for Audrick Est know, how do you feel about the rushing yards for Audrick Estime? How do you feel about the passing yards for Riley Leonard? And then Ole Miss LSU. We just talked about Harold Perkins. How might he affect the game? Jackson Dart for Ole Miss.

His rushing square, 40 and a half. So if he's got 40 and a half, that means he's not getting sacked very much. And that means he is moving the chains with his legs every once in a while that I think you go more than on that. If that hits, you might be looking at an Ole Miss win there. If you go less than on that, especially if that number veers toward the negative,

because Mr. Harold Perkins is in his face all the time and getting them down on the ground, then you number veers toward the negative because Mr. Harold Perkins is in his face all the time and getting them down on the ground, then you're probably looking at an LSU win. I mentioned Audrick Estime. He was on the show earlier this week. 90 and a half rush yards, more or less. Now, there is not a square for Jeremiah Love, and I think that's the interesting one with Estime. I don't even know if it's necessarily the Duke defense. It's how much do they split the carries between Audrick Estime and the young backs, including Jeremiah Love, who came on pretty strong there at the end of

the Ohio State game. So whole lot to play with. I will be on Friday afternoon making some of my picks. I did okay last week. It wasn't great. I got a three out of five. When I did, I did a flex pick with five different quarterbacks. I got three to hit. You know, I always do more than because I like to root for people, not against people. Although their price is messing with me. Now they have an interceptions category.

So that's one where you would want to do a less than if you would like to root for the person and a more than if you would like to root against them. But so many different options available in a bunch of states. Referral code Andy, go to PrizePix, download that app. You're going to have a lot of fun once you start going through those different squares because you're saying, oh, now I want to watch this game. Now I want to watch this game. They will match your deposit up to a hundred dollars with your first deposit.

Referral code is Andy. We'll see you Friday. I want to see what you're playing. You'll see what I'm playing. And then we'll have some fun watching it all happen on Saturday. But right now, one of the guys that will make stuff happen on Saturday. But right now, one of the guys that will make stuff happen on Saturday, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, the Jayhawks 4-0 headed to Austin,

Texas to face the Longhorns. Here's Lance Leipold. Welcome Lance Leipold, Kansas Jayhawks head coach. The first coach since 1915 to lead the Jayhawks to a 4-0 start in two consecutive seasons i know you've heard that stat once or twice this week coach but is that does that blow your mind that pre-world war one the last time this happened yeah it does um i jokingly said if i i obviously didn't do enough research uh you know, before I interviewed to really know a little bit what we're stepping into, but at the same time, all the more fulfilling under two and a half years that we've been here to really kind of get this, get a foundation set and we got a lot to do yet, but it's, it's, you know, we, we made a lot of progress

and looking forward for the challenges ahead. Well, and it is, it does seem like you've been able to do this fairly quickly. And I was looking at, because we had Tavondre Sweat on a few weeks ago. He's one of the Texas defensive linemen. I thought, oh man, they're playing a really good defensive line against Texas this week. And I was thinking, you know know I just watched you guys play against Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph from Illinois yeah it looked real good against two NFL D tackles and I watched them play against Penn State the next week and your guys did better

against them so I how how did you do that with with the big guys especially because that's that seems like that's the hardest thing to to get. Well, you know, we had a good returning unit of offensive linemen with experience. You know, really at center, Mike Nowitzki's been with us now for five years, you know, two at Buffalo as a starter, and now he's been a three-year starter here, taking advantage of the COVID year. So he's our leader up front. Dominic Poonie's now playing left tackle, playing left guard. Last year he was a D2 transfer from Central Missouri.

And, boy, he's been, you know, he's been as, you know, maybe was our best lineman last year. You know, we lost Earl Boss, who's on the practice squad for the Cowboys. But everyone else is back and some experience. And we've challenged our group that these are, you know, going to be some physical defensive lines that we're going to play against, physical brand of play, and if we're going to be the team we want to be, that it starts with them.

And they've answered that so far. So you've got those guys have been around. Jalen Daniels has been in the offense for a while now. How much more can you do? Because I've heard your offensive coordinator, Andy, talk, you know, it's, it's a pro style offense with spread concepts, meaning there's a lot of eye candy, a lot of pre-snap moving around. How much better are you at that and more efficient at that? Oh, we're, you know, I, I think we progress each and every week, but from where we were a year ago, um, I think almost night and day to an extent because uh again

as you know you've been doing this a while as well and you know the benefits of those bowl practices and for this program to be in the drought like it was to get those practices before the bowl game was so valuable and then the value is the retention that you get when you go back on the field in spring. And we started late February. So we kept the retention. And now with the, you know, I say modified, but really, to me, one of the best benefits of COVID is when they really kind of loosen some of the time you can spend with your players on the field in the summertime and continue to teach. And you can reference calls and do things. And I think our offense has been able to now, most of our receivers, the running backs, most of those guys are all back.

So we've been able to keep building upon that. And like you say, eye candy candy we can mess around with different things uh shifts motions all these different things and uh hopefully we find the ways to put some stress continued stress on the defense yeah andy was talking about that a couple weeks ago and i found it interesting what he said it feels like small wrinkles to your guys when you add them at practice but it feels huge to the defense when they're trying to play against it. I would agree a hundred percent. And that's kind of, we, you know, even way back when, you know, my last two years as head coach at Wisconsin Whitewater is when Andy joined us and, and we were evolving in some ways. And of course,

go to Buffalo and we start really square one, you know, installing it, go through the tough two and 10, the second year. And then you kind of build with some younger players again. This one's been able because of some of these things of player retention and that extra time that has allowed us to keep doing that. But when you, you know, whether it be a convention or the camp circuit, so to speak, or on the road recruiting, you run into some of your people that you're playing against and they make reference to, you know, how much they're upset at you because they got to spend all this extra time looking at it.

And, you know, we've taken a small page from the Kansas City Chiefs about, you know, letting the players, you know, mess around and give suggestions and give some, you know, fun wrinkles that kind of makes it fun at practice. And you can do that when you've got an experienced group and also that can execute. So it's really been working out. Can your tight end just change the route like Kelsey can? Well, not quite that yet. They would like to, though.

But I'll tell you, Andy would be the one that could answer a lot better. But, you know, when we said this about you know giving suggestions and bringing plays in um you know he also put the the caveat on is that now guys it's got to fit into what we're doing and you got to explain it and it was amazing some some players that you wouldn't necessarily think could would would know the ins and outs of some stuff that really had some thought-out reasons and why and what it would complement. And that also gives them some ownership. And I think that's also the next part of this.

And especially with today's player, you give them a little bit more at stake in this, the buy-ins get even better. Oh, and I'm imagining, imagining like if you're an offensive lineman you're you're finding a way to double team somebody you're finding a way to to to get a combo block no reach blocks for me I'm I'm setting this thing up for me but but it's interesting because it it does make them it incentivizes them to understand the the scheme better it does but the funny thing is you, some of this was we used one against Illinois that is, you know, then they're shifting themselves out to the top of the numbers or shifting back in.

And, you know, some fun things that they see from time to time. So it also kind of breaks it up, like I said. But you're right. It does give them a little more piece of it and understanding about what we're doing all the time as well as coaches. So I'm curious about how you handle this psychologically, because you've been in so many different places in your coaching career in terms of what's expected of your team, where you've been at Wisconsin Whitewater, where you're expected not just to win every game, but to win every game by a million points you've been you know early at Buffalo early at Kansas where you're just rebuilding and you're trying to to figure out

what's going on and now you're in a situation where you're supposed to be competitive in every game does the way you handle the players psychologically change because of that or is it the same approach I I try to keep, I hope I keep it the same. If anything, I've tried to loosen up. I could look back in my first part of my head coaching career and you're, and I still have it probably where you're always worried about it. Get whatever you've kind of grown to and established that it's going to get away from you. And, you know, I always say that is that it's my job to keep pushing, you know, and demanding.

And I said, guys, you just need to understand that of me. I said last week after the BYU game, I had to try to get myself in the right frame of mind that I didn't start talking too much about the challenge in Austin without letting these kids enjoy what a good win that was. And, but I did tell them during, you know, maybe it was even, you know, during our first year here is that we're going to coach you the same way and the same expectations and demanding you to do things right in a timely manner on and off the field, whether we're two and 10 or 10 and two. And I said, somewhere along the line that you're going to understand the there's not going to be a win or loss that influences our day-to-day process of how we go through things and we'll appreciate we're not going to look in the rearview mirror when we're struggling and we're not going to sit there to pat ourselves on the back when we're successful so let's talk about

this defense you had two defensive scores against byu you're halfway to last year's interception total already you gave up nine yards rushing if you back out sacks it's still only 33 yards rushing i mean how much better has this group gotten well they've gotten significantly better and and it you know part of it i could say for a lot of reasons andy and it's uh i'll start with you yes, we've added some new pieces. The back seven is more experienced. They're all returning. They understand things better.

But when I break it down sometimes to keep it fair to everyone, so to speak, is we inherited a program that was a three-man front. We transitioned to a four-man front. As you probably well know through your time is that this program was vastly under scholarship from about three coaches ago okay besides being under scholarship we were 10 over scholarship at and on offense versus defense so now yeah we had the the recruiting mod the if you really placed it. And I, you know, I was hired the day before the spring game. And the quick sidebar is I go watch the spring game and they line up in, you know, 10 personnel.

But yet on the scholarship, there's five tight end scholarship and two fullbacks. So, you know, so evolving everything back into a segmented by class, by position, by offense and defense has been a process that we've been working through. And then we've had to move players and probably play some guys out of position. But now through the portal and other things, we think we're in a little bit balanced situation. We've been able to add a few guys. We're playing a lot of guys up front that are keeping us fresh. And like I said, the back seven has had a little more experience. And with an addition of a guy or two there, at least in the two deep, I think we've been able to, to, you know, play at this level. Now we know it's a huge challenge and it's really going to be

probably measured of improvement down down in austin on saturday i heard you mention in another interview that the last time you guys went to austin two years ago you had three of your your dbs that are starting now we're starting then and not one of them weighed over 165 pounds yeah yeah it was and in fact there were times where we i think we had four literally two freshmen on the field at uh at field in the secondary at certain times of the game, maybe in a nickel package. And it was men against boys in a lot of different spots. And some of these guys have grown. Some of those guys played well.

Two of those guys, O.J. Burroughs, who's playing a lot for us and starting, and he had an interception. Kobe Bryant had a pick six in that game two years ago. I mean, but at the same time when we've been working through and nutrition and strength and everything that we wanted to try to do, that's kind of where it was starting at that time when we were the youngest Power Five football team in the country in 21. In terms of body types, because you mentioned switching from a three-man to a four-man front, and then there's so much that goes into that in terms of just the type of players you're recruiting. Do you feel like you look on the line of scrimmage on both

sides the way you'd like to look? We're getting there, yes. I think we've added some length that we didn't have before. We moved a linebacker, Kyron Johnson, being a six-round pick for the Eagles. Oh, yeah. I watched him put Trevor Penning on his butt at the senior bowl. Yeah. I mean, he was super twitchy but undersized for that position, you know, kind of that tweener type guy,

but is probably more of a linebacker. But he helped us the first year. Lonnie Phelps transferred from Miami to Ohio. We thought most of our portalbacker, but he helped us the first year. Lonnie Phelps transferred Miami, Ohio. We thought most of our portal guys too, Andy, we wanted them to be two plus year guys. Lonnie declared for the draft. You know, we were really hoping he'd return and we could keep adding to it. But I think we're starting to get some more of that six, three plus guy on the outside, some more length, some arm length there, and then the thicker, wider body on the inside.

So it's getting there. You know, linebackers, well, I kind of say, you know, I jokingly said this our first year, we might have been 2-10 in the record. We were probably 0-12 in the eyeball test on the field in pregame. And that included, you know, University of South Dakota and FCS school. We just didn't have the look that we needed in length, speed, size and everything. So what you do have, though, is a quarterback that everybody, you know, takes notice of and is scared of to to defend how much has Jalen grown over these past couple of years oh I think he's grown in so many different ways I you know if there's um between media exposure and NIL opportunity, that alone is probably a hidden thing that people don't understand that helps young men grow up, not just what, how many dollars they get, because they have to go do

things, puts them in front of a, they have to act in a professional manner, whether they're doing as a spokesman or meeting people. And that has really helped him. But, you know, he continues to grow and prosper as a leader and as a person through adversity. He hasn't stayed the healthiest, and he knows that. But, you know, his personality hasn't changed. He's got that smile and charisma that can light up a room that gets other people excited when he's around. He's encouraged Jason Bean when he wasn't playing.

He's been a great teammate. And, you know, through all the success, especially I think sometimes in a program like ours that haven't had much, but there's a lot of people adding to it. But as you know, certain guys are going to be that focal point. He has stayed humble along the way, and that has been very refreshing how do you help him in terms of preservation because he's such a dynamic runner but i imagine there are times you tell him hey you might want to just throw this one or get down we well we talk about those things

you know be smart with the ball there there are some of the times even with some sacks, he's still trying to create, create. Sometimes we got to live for another day. You know, we went out to the University of Nevada to play and, you know, you know, come away with a close win. Didn't play probably as clean. We didn't play as well as we would have liked. I'm not going to take any, because I think Coach Wilson, his staff, and their team played extremely hard, probably outplayed us.

But we didn't put a lot of quarterback run in that game plan, and it was one of those things that we were going to take away some hits, hopefully. Obviously, there were some sacks and stuff, but we wanted to minimize that in that game to get ready for conference play. So we do try, but part of what we do is going to make everyone defend the whole field and defend all eligible players. And for us to try to be who we are, we're going to need something out of the quarterback in the run game. I imagine he will give you a little bit this weekend,

but good luck in Austin coach and appreciate it. Well, thank you very much. That is Lance Leipold, Kansas head coach and just an incredible job that he and his staff have done. I realize he's going to get a lot of questions as this goes forward about, hey, are you interested in this job? He should get interest from everybody who has a job opening, but he's doing great at Kansas, and we'll see how serious Kansas is about making sure they keep him because this has been just a remarkable turnaround when you look at this. Now, Lincoln Riley turned around USC really fast as well.

Not as heavy of a lift, but now they go to face Colorado in Boulder. After that Oregon game, it's a little bit different vibe, but I'm guessing it's still going to be star studded, probably going to be a bunch of celebrities on the sideline. Now USC may bring its own celebrities. Maybe they're bringing Will Farrell. Maybe Snoop Dogg shows up. Maybe Dr. Dre shows up. They have their own celebrities at USC. And that's one of the things I asked Eric McKinney from we are sc.com because this is a program that's used to being the center of attention.

Now they go to a place where Colorado has been the center of attention in the whole country all year, but USC probably the better team. I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying that. And Caleb Williams, the best player on the field. I have no problem saying that. I'm definitely not stretching that because he's the best player in the country. He's going to be the first pick in the draft next year. He is outstanding. And this will be the first time a lot of the casual fans see him because USC has either been on the Pac-12 network or has been playing very late, you know, primetime Pacific time games. So now you get to see Caleb Williams in a big time slot, big noon kickoff, noon on the East coast, 10 a.m. Boulder time, 9 a.m. according to the USC players body clocks. It's going to be something.

We talked to Eric McKinney about the trojans trip to boulder joined by eric mckinney of we rsc.com on three's usc site and eric it's not often that usc is upstaged in terms of celebrity or star power yet as they go to Boulder, they kind of are, even though USC probably has the biggest on-field star in the country in Caleb Williams. I mean, that's exactly right, right? Caleb Williams is the draw in college football. And so to pair him now with what Colorado is going to bring, even Colorado coming off that game against Oregon, there are going to be a ton of eyes on this game I mean you we all know kind of what Colorado has done in terms of being the draw that it's been uh this year and this is USC's really their first chance all season to put Caleb Williams on a big national stage they've either played on Pac-12 Network or late at night

out on the West Coast and so this is going to be a chance for a lot of people I think to get reminded oh yeah that's that's Caleb Woods that's what he can do uh he he has a chance to put on a show here that's what we were talking about on yesterday's show this is the casual viewer will be like oh yeah Caleb Williams is still awesome. How about that? But for those who have not, well, like I, you know, I was on the Pac-12 network for the San Jose State game. I've been riding all year with the Trojans, but for those who have not seen them yet,

how much better is this version of Caleb Williams than even the last time everybody saw him in the Cotton Bowl? I mean, he was so good last year. There was kind of a thought of like really how much better it can be. There are times this year where it feels like he's playing against some high school players and their schedule has not been phenomenal this year. They have not played a bunch of ranked teams or anything like that. But he is so in charge. He's so confident. The throws that he makes, when he buys time,

it's like he knows that he can get to an edge. He can get to a throw. He can make every throw. What really stands out to me is he's throwing the ball so much this year. And really, I can only come up with maybe one or two throws where it's like, oh, he probably wants that one back. He just he doesn't throw the ball in traffic. He doesn't ever have really a ton of turnover worthy plays. He just feels in control all the time. And that's even at Arizona State. Things are kind of going sideways and haywire. It's their first real kind of road atmosphere where the offense is up against it. And he kind of is, you know, there's shots of him just kind of sitting on the bench and hanging out. And like it comes off as sort of aloof and maybe separate. But that's just kind of how he rolls.

He's just so confident in what he can do. Yeah, it's interesting because, you know because Bryce Young was like that in terms of command when he was in Alabama where you watched him walk out of the field and you're like, oh, he's got this. Caleb has that, but like an even more self-confident version, if that makes sense, with a better arm and better mobility. There's a reason, right, that people constantly are talking about. There's Patrick Mahomes and then there's a reason right that people constantly are talking about there's Patrick Mahomes and then there's Kayla Williams as like the best quarterbacks going right now uh you you want

to say you know he still has room to grow and he talks about needing to to improve Lickin Riley all the time talks about you know yeah you think he's doing pretty well but he can get better this and this and this and And that's always true, right? Everyone will say, we can improve, we can get better. This is the stuff we need to work on. It's a treat to watch him play. And we try to remind USC fans all the time, hey, those numbers are counting down in terms of how many more times you get a chance to go see Caleb Williams play.

It's fun to watch every time he goes out on the field. Speaking of people we get to see play, I feel like Zachariah Branch is that type of person. Four or five games into his college career, what can he be? What is the ceiling there? Because it feels like he can be an incredible weapon on offense, huge weapon in the return game,

and just a wow play waiting to happen at all times. There's a reason people have started comparing him to great players. I mean, when you talk about comparisons, everybody has one, right? Everyone's tried to throw one out, and it's always like one of the two or three best players who have ever played at that program, right? It's people throw out Tavon Austin, people throw out Percy Harvin, people throw out Rocket Ishmael at USC. It's kind of Reggie Bush, even though it's wider sphere compared to a running back, but he's that, and he's a guy you can tell with freshmen, right? The way coaches and teammates talk about a freshman, because a lot of times the players like to talk about the freshman.

Oh, we like him. We think he's good. But the coaches will kind of, hey, slow down a little bit. The way the coaches talk to Zachariah Branch from day one of spring ball was like, this kid is good. This kid is different. The players talked about what he brings, that he is just a different kind of athleticism and speed and power and just has all of that.

He is blank and gone type of player. And honestly, USC hasn't had a ton of those recently. Like they always have good athletes, but that guy who's just different in terms of speed, that hasn't been something that USC has really had a lot of lately. Yeah, I was covering Florida as a beat writer when Percy got there, and I just remember the first practice. You see him touch the ball, and you're like, I've never seen anything like that before. And I remember watching the San Jose State game,

and the first, I think, punt return, Branch touches the ball. It's like, whoa, this does look kind of different. Just pulling away from guys, too, as he gets down the field. I mean, that's what it is. He's not getting run down, and that was a guy at that point playing in his very first game. I mean, he still has, like, no experience under his belt. He's getting more and more, but but no, he jumps off the screen,

jumps off the field really when you see him live. And it's so interesting talking about USC because it feels like the offense is buttoned up. Everybody's confident in it. Nobody's particularly worried about it. And especially against this Colorado team, even though Travis Hunter, you feel good about it, but they're coming off a game where they gave up 28 to you to to arizona state they were you know it looked like the defense had gotten a little better and i certainly think they've gotten better from a personnel standpoint but how much concern is there after cam scataboo you know just goes crazy against him and it's like okay that team that just just got shut out by fresno state so i think that lincoln really does have a point when he talks about the arizona state team that

got shut out against fresno state is not the arizona state team that played usc right that team is going to get up for usc they had a week knowing who their quarterback was going to be. It was like family weekend. The stands were packed, all of that. But especially in that game, that last touchdown that Arizona State scored, that is almost a carbon copy of what Utah hit USC with in the Pac-12 championship game. Just a short pass to the sideline, knock the guy out of bounds. They missed that tackle. He runs farther, throws another guy off of them, scores a touchdown. Like those kind of flashback things are still happening a little bit too much the last year. You're right. The personnel across the board for USC right now is good enough. And let's face it,

coming into the season, that's all the defense needed to be. It needed to be good enough. And let's face it, coming into the season, that's all the defense needed to be. It needed to be good enough. It did not need to be a top 10 defense. They did not need to shut out Washington or go give up three points at Notre Dame. They needed to be good enough. And I think we've seen flashes where they can be. The position that has been the most interesting is the inside linebacker spot. And this was a spot USC plays, plays two guys at Mike and Will, and they're, they're a little bit interchangeable, uh, at this point, what they wanted to do there. They talked about in the spring and certainly in the fall, that being a really deep position. Well, injuries hit that group during fall camp and they've had guys miss time.

Mason Cobb missed two games. Eric Gentry missed a game. Shane Lee missed a lot of fall camp. So you've had five guys at those two spots kind of in and out and not super consistent in terms of time. The one guy who has been out there is Tackett Curtis. He's a true freshman and you can tell just kind of learning like the upside is there everybody believes he's going to be really good he's still really young he's still really experienced it's coming and this Arizona State game was his best game he was the Pac-12 freshman of the week for what he did there so but but that spot is so pivotal right to how they play and guys being in and out a little bit of rust from mason cobb all of that

kind of stuff you want to see those two spots get locked down and start to be a lot more productive uh than what you've seen so far the defensive line is creating pressure they're getting sacks they're they're you know a problem for quarterbacks when does it all come together and it's got to happen pretty quickly because the colorado offense is coming then coming then Arizona then you go to Notre Dame I mean it ramps up quickly and in a big way the rest of the season yeah Bear Alexander seems to have made a huge difference up front the the Georgia transfer I do wonder if they didn't have him if they didn't have Anthony Lucas how much tougher would thisado offense be to deal with because it feels like they're going to be able to get some pressure on shador sanders which should

limit what they can do i would imagine if it was last year's usc defense jador sanders probably knitting a sweater back there and then picking them apart so this is this does represent improvement so yeah the the one thing up front last year it was it was tuli tuipalodu and that was it if he i mean he he was phenomenal right led the country in sax and 22 tackles for loss he was everywhere but if he didn't do it nobody did it and this year they've been better about getting pressure from a bunch of different places solomon bird is probably a guy that not a lot of people know he leads the team uh in sax right now and has been tremendous there. He's actually the guy that's keeping Anthony Lucas off the field a little bit

in terms of jumping up and being the starter at that spot. So there's more guys contributing. Jameel Muhammad is another transfer. You talk about Bear and Anthony Lucas, but Jameel Muhammad has been tremendous coming over from Georgia State. There are more players making more plays up front for USC this year compared to last year, and that's got to keep up. That's got to keep up against the better offensive lines

because this Colorado offensive line is just not going to be the test that USC truly needs to pass if it's going to be one of the two teams in the Pac-12 championship, if it's going to be one of the two teams in the Pac-12 championship, if it's going to be one of the four teams in the playoff. So Lincoln Riley has been highly complimentary of Deion Sanders. Deion's been highly complimentary of Lincoln Riley. Do you think we get the love fest the entire time through this after the way the Oregon game went down? I do. I do. I think USC has a better understanding. Like, Oregon got Colorado at its height. They got Colorado as a home game.

They knew that they could make a huge statement. USC knows that this is not going to be a huge statement because there's nothing they can do to kind of one-up what Oregon did. What Oregon did in that first half is, is what they want to do against Colorado. USC probably knows they're going to be judged against that, even though it's a completely different thing playing on the road, playing at home, playing an undefeated team,

playing a team coming off that loss. So I think USC goes in business-like and does it. I will say this. Caleb Williams is pretty good about what he says and not putting bulletin board material out there. You can tell if he is not the most competitive player in college football, he is one of a very small handful. You know that he knows the attention Colorado has gotten that early in the season it was Shader Sanders as you know the potential Heisman Trophy candidate in the Pac-12. My feel is that Caleb Williams again is not going to say anything and is going to be very

complimentary of everything that goes on. My feel is he wants to go in there and show what this offense and what he really can do when the conversation turns to, oh, hey, there's two really good quarterbacks in this game. I think there's a real feel that he wants to separate himself. Well, and he'll get a chance against a bunch of other really good quarterbacks the rest of the year. And that's the interesting thing for me with USC. It's because the Pac-12, they hadn't been able to get a team in the playoff. But now we all agree that it's the deepest league in the country. And it feels like if you're USC, especially with Notre Dame still on the schedule, all you've got to do is take care of business.

And you've probably even got a mulligan in there somewhere, depending on how it goes. But is it easier to go game to game when you know you've got big challenges up ahead? And if you overcome them, you'll get where you want to go. I think so. I think it's also easier to maybe erase some of the thoughts of the struggles at Arizona State, because at the end of the year, nobody cares. Nobody cares about you. You just have to win those games. And if you go beat Oregon by one point and Notre Dame by one point and Washington by one point, like you have enough wins. It's the first time we've been able to say anything remotely close to this about a USC schedule. You have enough games late in the year where if you just win them, and like you said, there's probably a game in there you can lose.

If you win enough of them to get into the Pac-12 championship game and you win that game, that's all you have to do. So putting win after win, they didn't need to beat Notre Dame last week, right? When they're playing in Tempe, they didn't need to beat Notre Dame last week, right? When they're playing in Tempe, they didn't need to win those games. So you can still learn from that and grow and kind of piece your season together. It's just about winning each game. And Lincoln talked a little bit about that today, not needing to send a message or change a narrative or anything. Like he knows even after a loss, you if you just keep winning you're gonna be okay at the end of the season and that's absolutely how it sets up for for really anyone in the Pac-12

this year like there's nobody there's nobody who misses enough teams even UCLA like they don't get uh they don't get Oregon and Washington which feels great until you realize you have to play Washington State and Oregon State which are two pretty pretty good teams also. So there's just not a lot of good misses in the back 12 this year. You're going to play some good teams. Well, that's what I love with just being able to compare Caleb Williams because Saturday we get to see him against Shador Sanders. We're going to get to see him against Bo Nix. We're going to get to see him against Dante Moore. We're going to get to see him against Bo Nix. We're going to get to see him against Dante Moore. We're going to get to see him against, you know, hopefully Michael Penix Jr. Like that, that's going to be so much fun. And I think that's, that's what makes that league fun

this year. And crazy that it's, it's going away. Are you getting, getting ready to figure out how to slot them into the big 10 race? Or is that just something you put off until next year? No, you definitely take more notice of what's going on in the Big Ten. Not that we didn't follow it before this, but yeah, how does it fit? What are those road trips like? What will they do? I think this is a really interesting weekend for USC playing at nine o'clock Pacific time, right? 10 o'clock there, that window is clearly going to be key to the big 10. And if USC wants to be a part of it, are there, are there 9am home games at the Coliseum? I mean, for the future,

it's, it becomes something, you know, if Ohio state USC is out in Los Angeles, uh, again, not, not that this has been discussed or anything like that publicly. It it's kind of a curiosity though, about how they fit into this really early time slot moving forward. Well, and there were definitely are going to be noon Eastern kicks in Ann Arbor and noon Eastern kicks in Columbus and state college and 11 Central kicks in Madison. So yeah, the body clock, they better get used to the early their time body clock. And it's, I mean, Colorado, this is their fifth game. They've played three games, 10 a.m. local time. This will be their third. So Colorado is used to this. This is another,

you know, USC struggled with its first road game last week. They've talked a lot about, you know, yeah, we'll deal with the early time. It's not a huge thing. We can figure it out. We can figure it out. They talked about, yeah, we can figure out the road atmosphere and we know what's coming and all of that last week and struggled with it. So it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

It's one thing, and I know these are all young guys and their bodies can react differently than coaches or people who are there watching. But it's definitely something to keep in mind, that Colorado has some experience playing at this time, and USC does not. They're coming off back-to-back 7.30 p.m. Pacific time games, and you're flipping all the way to the other side of the day to play this one.

Bright and early. Can't wait. Eric McKinney, thank you so much. Thank you. Cannot wait for this USC Colorado game. I hope it's more interesting than USC Oregon. Don't know. Mr. Big Play Bray asked in the chat, are you hearing the thing on Dion and Cormani McLean? Dion seems tired of him? Cormani McLean? Dion seems tired of him? Question mark. Cormani McLean is a five-star cornerback. He's a freshman this year. He was a big time recruit in the class of 2023. He's from Lakeland, Florida, and he had been committed to Miami. I think the Florida folks thought they were going to get him for a little while. He ended up signing with Colorado. He's not playing right now, other than a little bit in garbage time against Oregon. And Deion was asked about him this week and said, basically, hey, you got

to show up to meetings on time. You got to do the right things. You got to practice the way your older and more experienced teammates practice. Deion's just saying stuff out loud that most coaches don't say in public. That's what this is. You know, the assumption is all five-star recruits just come in and play, you know, are awesome right away. That's not true. Some of them do take time. Some of them are not ready right away. And Cormani McLean clearly wasn't ready right away. And most coaches would just sort of tap dance around that. Or Dan Wilkin from USA Today, I think he pointed out, this is the sort of thing that a coach would call a reporter off the record and plant because you know they get all those

questions, but they would sidestep them. They wouldn't answer them directly. Dion just answers it. So it's up to Cormani McLean if he wants to play, it sounds like. And if he doesn't, I'm sure Dion would be happy to have that roster spot back. So I don't think there's really any question. This is one of the interesting things about Deion Sanders is he is so much more forward, I guess, than a lot of other coaches where he just says these things that most coaches will not say publicly. Another coach who says things that you're kind of surprised to hear a coach say in public is Auburn's Hugh Freeze. He's always been like that. And whether it was Ole Miss or Liberty, he'd say things in press conferences and you'd say, wow, I don't think I've ever heard a coach just say that. And this week was no different. On the SEC teleconference,

Hugh Freeze was pretty open about how he is struggling with the fact that he's given up play calling and this was a conscious choice by him it wasn't anything anybody told him he had to do he got the Auburn job and basically they said do it the way you want to do it and he said well the the head coach job the CEO job in the SEC is so much bigger than it was when I was at Ole Miss. I'm going to hire Philip Montgomery to be my offensive coordinator, former Tulsa head coach, former Baylor offensive coordinator. I'm going to have him call the plays. Well, through four games, Hugh Freeze said openly he's kind of regretting that decision. And it's hard for him to not be involved in the play calling. We talked to Justin Hokanson of On3's Auburn Live about that situation

and just what Auburn needs to do to get better as, oh, by the way, the number one team in the country, the George Bulldogs, come to Jordan-Hare Stadium this weekend. Here's Justin. Joined now by Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live. And Justin, it's got to feel like deja vu this week. Hugh Freeze goes on the SEC teleconference and says, you know, I'm struggling with the not calling plays anymore.

How many flashbacks to Gus Malzahn and will he or won't he or Rhett Lashley or Chip Lindsey. How was that this week? Yeah, a lot of flashbacks. A lot of flashbacks. I mean, Gus called plays, then he turned it over to Rhett, then he took them back, then he turned them over to Chip, then he took them back. I say took them back.

Chip Lindsey left, and then he was like, I'm going to call plays. This is what I should have been doing all along. So, yeah, a lot of flashbacks. I mean, I think what, what the Auburn fans are frustrated about and what we hear on the message board is why now they're like, why are you, why are you using this opportunity now as the Guinea pig? Like you, you get this job, you've called plays at Ole Miss,

you call plays at Liberty and then you get to Auburn and Auburn fans are ready to win and they're like now you want to run the experiment where you don't call plays like why can we not why can't why are we why is this the experiment program what are we doing like you know I think that's their that's their frustration like you could have done this at any point you get here and now you want to play around with this not calling plays thing and like, I guess there's, there's, you kind of make sense. Like you, you're at Auburn NIL portal. There's a lot more going on. So trying to have the same things Gus said this year, because remember Gus got the UCF job and said,

I'm never giving up play calling again. And then this year he's like, yeah, I'm giving it up too much, too much other stuff going on. So, well maybe him and Gus, I mean him and Gus talk, you you and gus are buddies maybe they maybe they had got together and thought and agreed on the same the same line of thinking but um yeah it's just been in the comments from freeze have been interesting on that because i don't think it's an indictment on philip montgomery freeze has said that and i also believe that like i don't think he's going to play calling sucks i think it's an internal thing with h Freeze right now where he's like, I want to be involved, but I don't know how to not be involved,

but I don't want to overstep my bounds and confuse people. And it's like, dude, I don't – the terminology, just get involved or don't get involved. I think Auburn fans just want points. You need points to win. Like, do what it takes to win the game and quit overthinking it. Well, and that's the thing is Hugh Freeze is a very good good play caller and that is why he's where he's at he did it when he was at old miss he did it at liberty and i i think yeah i i can see the frustration there because i'm not

used to seeing hugh freeze offense that doesn't work you know i i can't remember a hugh freeze offense that didn't work and so that's the part I would imagine for Auburn fans is like, okay, we got Hugh Freeze. They're going to be some points and it's just nothing. Yeah. They're starting to, they're starting, starting to see the, you know, is, is, is Jordan hair above like an old Indian, Indian barrel ground type stuff.

Like why, you know, cause that's on our board. I think a lot of the frustration from our fans is outside of 2017 this is now we're going on nine years of just inconsistent disjointed offense outside of a couple of moments here and there throughout the years really since 15 on about nine years of just kind of a good game bad bad game, good game, fall on your face. And they're just, it's exhausting for Auburn fans. That's why after one game of P freeze, they're like, dude, like, what is the deal? Can we not produce an effective offense? It's so funny though, because, you know, when I talked to Florida fans, they're like, can, can anybody get Billy Napier to stop calling plays and hire an offensive coordinator? Everybody just wants the thing that isn't what they have now

if it's not working. But the thing that makes it interesting with Freeze is he's very open about this has been a struggle for me. And I'm sure when he is in the middle of the game, he's thinking, I'm not sure I would have called that or I would have done this this way. It's got to be pretty maddening for him. game, he's thinking, I'm not sure I would have called that, or I would have done this this way. It's got to be pretty maddening for him. And I think you're right. I think if you've never met Hugh Freeze, you would read what he said or hear what he said on the SEC teleconference and go,

oh, he doesn't think Philip Montgomery is doing a good job. I don't think that's what it is at all. I think Hugh's just saying, this is how I feel right now. I would like there, there are moments when I would like to be calling the plays again. And I realized I have decided not to. Yep. That's my take on it. I mean, cause he's, he's after the Cal game, he, he said that was an ugly game, but he goes, I thought the game plan was good. I thought some of the play calling was good. He, after A&M, he said, go watch the film. We had receivers open. You had inopportune turnovers at Cal, and you had inopportune penalties at Texas A&M.

So, yeah, I don't think it's a worry about Montgomery's play calling. There's so many other things that are going wrong with Auburn's offense, turnovers, penalties, errant throws. You know, there's just so many other issues that you can't really put it on Montgomery. But the one thing Freeze said that the other thing I thought was interesting was he said, I'm transparent. Everybody in the building knows how I feel about this. So I'm curious how those conversations have gone with Philip Montgomery. Does Freeze just walk into the office and go, man, I'm struggling, man.

I want to be involved. I guess he's that transparent with Montgomery. That's the only good thing about this is Philip Montgomery, at least knows what he's going on. He's not blindsided. He he's like, I get it. He wants to be involved. I can imagine at least he's being honest about it. So Philip Montgomery's not reading this in the paper or reading this online going, geez, is this guy? So I think there's at least some openness there. Well, at least they're not playing the best collection of defensive talent in the country. Oh, wait, they are playing the best collection of defensive talent

in the country this weekend. With Georgia coming in, what can Auburn do to be better? You mentioned that there have been guys open. I think Hugh Free said that this week. There are plays that they could have hit that they just didn't. Peyton Thorne may have missed the throw, or somebody may have gone the wrong direction. But what can they do to have a chance against Georgia?

Well, I mean, start with turnovers and penalties. In their two Power Five games, Cal and A&M, they're doing one of those. They had four turnovers at Cal. They had 10 offensive penalties at A&M. Two of those were intentional delay games, so really call it eight. But still, both those games, either turnovers or penalties are crushing your drives. They're ending your drives, completely ending them. So number one, start by playing a clean game. Now, that's tough. You're playing Georgia. I get it.

But don't turn the ball over and commit a penalty. Fine, but don't commit a holding penalty when you just had a 15-yard run that got you down to the 25-yard line. Like, play a cleaner game. That's one. I think two is for Peyton Thorne. He's got to figure out the pocket presence thing he's a little rushed he's getting a little rattled he's not keeping his eyes downfield that's got to be figured out i don't know how that's going to happen they're

working on that this week but you gotta his eyes are they're locking on and then they're then he's looking to run um and so he he's got to be a little more composed in their sidestep pressure, keep his eyes downfield for receivers that are open. So you can hit them. Those two things alone would go a long way in helping Auburn, helping Auburn's offense. They've run the ball effectively at times. I mean, they're, I think they're second, the league in rushing. They've got a good, a good stable of running backs. They ran the ball Cal and A&M, both those games,

they had success running the ball. So there's some success there to be had. If you can figure out turnovers and penalties, and you can figure out how to keep Peyton Thorne's eyes downfield, the passing game will open up a little bit. I think those couple things, the offense will look very different. And I think those three things are somewhat I mean you can fix those things turnovers penalties and just tell Peyton keep watching downfield

and this thing this thing could look different it really could so Eugene Asante looked pretty good carrying the ball on that one play could could can he play off it no I this is a guy who who has just been all everything on defense. How important is he to that defense? Yeah, he's been pretty big. You know, he's a guy that transferred from North Carolina last year and then really just got lost in the shuffle. He was about 10 pounds lighter, good athlete, four-star kind of player,

but came over from North Carolina, got lost in the shuffle in 2022. A big part of that is he lost his dad in February of last year. And that, I mean, as you can imagine, that took its toll on him. He was a different guy, different player last year, and he struggled. He couldn't get on the field, and I think it was just a mental battle with him. But he stuck it out. He didn't transfer. He decided to stay.

He put on 10 pounds, and he's been really good. He's a fantastic athlete, leading the team in tackles. Still some alignment issues at times. Freeze admitted we're still trying to get him lined up correctly every time, but he's that SEC linebacker. Tons of energy, tons of speed, physical, hits hard. He's what you're used to seeing from Auburn at linebacker. They're just thin. They don't have a lot of guys at that position. His health is of the utmost importance. He cannot get injured, and they need him in there bad.

But he's been a bright spot. He's been a bright spot, no doubt. Well, and like Keldrick Falk's an interesting one because top 100 recruit, which is something Auburn hadn't had in a couple of years. And they're obviously not thrusting him in saying you're playing every down there. They're putting him in selectively, but it seems like he's showing up when he gets in the game. Yeah, I would agree with that. He he doesn't start.

But is it when he's in there? I think he played probably 23 snaps against A&M, but he had three tackles and a quarterback pressure. And so, yeah, he's one of those guys that doesn't – he's not playing a lot of snaps yet, but when he's in there, he flashes. He's playing a different game. You can see why he was ranked where he was and why Florida State wanted him and Auburn went in there

and was like, we got to steal this guy back, being from right there around Montgomery. He would be on that Florida State team right now, by the way. So, yeah. So, I mean, he looks different. Like a true freshman, he looks, you know, the way that Marlon Davidson did when he comes in and looks in at Auburn, you're like, okay, that dude for a true freshman looks the part. I mean, you see Keldrick, there's times against A&M where he ragdolled the tackle on the other side. So, like, his potential is high, and he was a little banged up at the end of fall camp. I think he's getting pretty healthy now,

and he's a guy that could be – if he can keep getting better, they need him because they're struggling rushing the passer with the front. They're basically having to bring a nickel or having to blitz a linebacker. Jalen McLeod, the transfer from App State, has been banged up trying to get healthy. Between Keldrick Falk or Jalen McLeod, one of those dudes,

those guys got to keep coming on because they've got some ability that nobody else has. Keldrick Falk, man, bright, bright future. I'm really interested to see him against the best, against Georgia, against Georgia's offensive line. Let's see what he can go out there and do as a as a newcomer how do you handle that if you're Hugh Freeze not just with Falk but in general in terms of playing time because this is essentially a year zero for you do you go young and and just try to get experience

for everybody so that going into next year when you feel like the roster's in a better place, you have experienced players? Or do you just keep trying the older guys because they have played some and they do know sort of what they're doing? Yeah, I think the quarterback position will be an interesting barometer of that um the next couple games you know if if peyton thorne continues to struggle do you say you know what who you know who hasn't gotten a chance holden garner we're gonna toss the redshirt freshman out there um i think that'll be a good barometer i don don't know, man. I mean, with the transfer portal, I wonder how much, you know, can you, if you're a head coach, can you continue to have that mindset where you go,

you know what, this is a wash. I'm going to play a bunch of young guys because I feel like with the portal now, people aren't giving you any passes. You have like no passes, even for a first year coach. It's like you go out and get a portal class, Auburn's portal class. Some thought was certainly probably one of the top three classes in terms of talent and needs and all that. I don't know what, I don't know how much of a pass you get anymore to go, well, let's play a bunch of young guys this year and get, because you can go in the portal and replenish that where you couldn't before.

So I don't know. I mean, Hugh's so competitive. He wants to win, and I think he knows that Auburn, he needs to win. And there's good enough players there. They should be in a bowl game. I just – I'm not – I get what Hugh said about the talent gap before an A&M, and yes, there is a talent gap between A&M, Georgia, Bama, LSU. But Auburn still – you know, blue chip-wise,

Auburn's still in the top 15 in the country. Right. Auburn shouldn't feel like there's a big gap. After you get away from Georgia, before Alabama, there shouldn't be a lot of gaps after that. No. They've got a good enough roster to be in a bowl. A performance like A&M, or you go out there and lose 31-10 at home to Georgia. I get it, man,

but I don't think there's that. There's a gap, but I don't think there's that kind of gap. It'll be very interesting to see what they do because they are going to play potentially the most talented team in the country this weekend. We shall see. Justin, appreciate it. Anytime, man. Justin Hokanson from auburnlive.com. It's a very interesting situation there at Auburn.

And you'll wonder if, if you freeze at some point says, you know what? I got to call plays. It's what I do. It's it's hard. It's very difficult. One coach working on making sure his team is prepared this week, James Franklin at Penn State. They practiced for a while with no music at Penn State,

where they usually do have something going on during practices because he wanted to simulate what it could be at 11 a.m. local time kickoff at Northwestern, which could be fairly quiet, especially if Penn State plays as well as they did against Iowa. It might just be the Penn State fans who traveled to Chicagoland. By the way, do write donuts if you happen to be in Chicagoland anytime soon. Just give it a shot. They do chicken sandwiches, but they also do incredible donuts. So do write donuts. give it a shot. I brought a dozen with me when I did my part in my take guest spot when I recorded that on Tuesday. I think I made a lot of new friends because those things are awesome. So James Franklin,

also trying to keep himself amused during a press conference this week turned it uh into a discussion of that drink that keeps most of us going i'm good i'm ready rich are you a coffee guy i'm a big coffee guy black or like ice cream sundae huh black i'm an ice cream yeah i'm an ice cream sundae guy but i now I've been doing this fasting, I drink it black. And just like you shake your head about the ice cream sundae, I shake my head about the black.

I hate the black. It's like punishment. That's what I got right now. I love black coffee. It's good coffee. You always loved it, or you've grown to love it? As I've matured, I've grown to love it.

You calling me immature? No, I'm calling myself mature instead of another adjective. Gotcha. Older. Gotcha. I've never been man enough to drink black coffee. Now, like James Franklin, I do the intermittent fasting. I've been doing it since January of 2020.

And for the first couple of years I did it, I followed the intermittent fasting. I've been doing it since January of 2020. And for the first couple of years I did it, I followed the rules very strictly where if I had coffee in the morning, it was black coffee, nothing that might activate my metabolic system. And so I did it. But my wife said, you are the most miserable human being on earth until 11 a.m. when you start eating. So you have to do something different. You have to change. And at the time I said, well, I, I, if I could just drink the kind of coffee I like, and I'm, I'm with James Franklin here, I want the cream and the, and the sweetener. So I said, okay, I will do that. So I did, uh, I read up now sources close to James Franklin tell me that there's a belief that

the sweetener will activate your metabolism and that you should not be using that. I will say that I read a lot. And yes, some of them do. What I read said stevia doesn't. And it might be me just believing what I want to believe, but I added cream and cream and sweetener coffee back instead of drinking it black. And it allowed me to stave off that first meal even longer. And it didn't really change the amount of calories I ate. So I drink about a pot of coffee a day. And I got to tell you, if James Franklin were to add the cream and the sweetener, and I go heavy cream, by the way, not half and half, not milk, heavy cream, because that real fat in there does tell your stomach and your system that you're full and you don't need to

eat anymore. So I don't know if James Franklin switched to that, does Penn State get even better? But James Franklin, I don't know. People kept trying to ask about turnovers and that sort of thing. He just wanted to know about coffee. James, how are you? Hey, Mike, black or sweetener and cream? Sweetener and cream. I'm good.

I'm a black coffee guy. You are? You beat me to the punch. You just said I'm going to steal his thunder. Always black coffee? For the most part. I drink coffee enough that I like it, but not so much that I need it. The cold brew with sweet cold foam, with the cold foam on top, is really good.

What is the calories in that? It's only like 80 calories. As long as you don't get extra cream or sugar with it you don't really need it right but i like i'm doing this fasting so it's got to be zero calories it skipped a generation with me my uh my mom drank coffee my daughter drinks coffee i don't drink coffee at all not at all never have nope impressive do you drink tea uh if i'm not feeling well maybe but no i'm not red bull i'm not like a hot beverage person. Red Bull? No, no comment on what I drink. Yeah, no comment on

Like you cream and sugar all the nonsense. Oh, that's the only way to drink it Does this that make sense or maybe I can explain it? There's a there's a theme going on here Times of the day that coffee first thing. Coffee first thing in the morning. Usually Wednesday nights I have tea. I have to practice because it's a late night for me. No coffee, no tea, but I'm a big caffeine guy. So you could write this down, Celsius energy drink. It's got a lot of good stuff in it, not a lot of calories.

I would recommend that. I didn't write it down because I'm all over it. Okay. I'm taking notes it down because I'm all over it. Okay. I'm taking notes here on the Celsius there. My former coworker, Audrey Snyder at The Athletic, I like that she goes the coffee to the tea. And then later in that press conference, James Franklin was introduced to the concept of peppermint tea, which I will say, as another person who does the intermittent fasting, peppermint tea is a tremendous morning drink when you're trying to stave off that first meal it's delicious and just curbs the appetite just so so that is your intermittent fasting update with andy staples with an assist from james franklin i gotta say that's probably more interesting than him answering questions about going to ryanfield

this week but we'll see. Who knows? Northwestern, very plucky, beating Minnesota last week. Can they shock the world and beat Penn State? Probably not. But we know that James Franklin will be adequately caffeinated when they play. The question is, will he have broken his fast? Find out.

Guys, it's game week. Let's go. We'll talk to you again on Saturday We'll see you next time.