Andy & Ari On3 - College football is BACK! Notre Dame rolls | USC figures it out | TCU QB Chandler Morris joins

Episode Date: August 28, 2023

College football is BACK! Notre Dame rolls | USC figures it out | TCU QB Chandler Morris joinsToday's show is brought to you by PrizePicks, where they make daily fantasy sports easy. Use the promo code ANDY to get a 100 percent instant deposit match up to $100. If you deposit $100, PrizePicks will give you $100. If youdeposit $50, PrizePicks will give you $50.Download the PrizePicks app or visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/ANDYWant to watch us on YouTube instead? Click the link, and don't forget to subscribe!https://youtube.com/live/VoXrSYtzLWAWE'VE GOT GAMES TO TALK ABOUT!Former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman looked great in his Notre Dame debut in Ireland. Meanwhile, USC mixed dazzling offense with some defensive questions (sound familiar?) in a season-opening win against San Jose State. Plus, RichRod and Jacksonville State are undefeated as an FBS team. (0:00-15:49)This episode is brought to you by PrizePacks. Thank you to PrizePacks for sponsoring this episode. (15:50-20:04)Next, TCU quarterback Chandler Morris joins the show to discuss going from opening-day starter to watching as Max Duggan led the Horned Frogs to the national title game. Now Morris is QB1 again and ready to apply the lessons he learned from Duggan and the 2022 team. (20:05-35:55)Later, Pac-12 Network analyst Yogi Roth joins to break down the good and troubling from USC's win against San Jose State. QB Caleb Williams looked awesome, and WR Zachariah Branch is going to be a star, but is the defense any better than it was last year? Plus, Yogi handicaps a LOADED Pac-12. He believes five different teams have a real shot to win the league. (35:56-01:11:29)Andy's Extra Point celebrates a historic win for UMass. 01:11:30-01:14:58)

Welcome to Andy Staples on three and we have games to talk about. There was actual football played this weekend. And we have so many things to talk about. Sam Hartman, was he the QB that was promised at Notre Dame Caleb Williams back at USC Rich Rod's want to know in the FPS at Jacksonville State there's just so much right now but let's let's start in Ireland that's the game last year we we overanalyzed that game in Ireland so much because it was Nebraska Northwestern Northwestwestern. Northwestern beat Nebraska. You had the weird Scott Frost onside kick call.

There was no drama in this game between Notre Dame and Navy. Notre Dame just steamrolled Navy. But the story of the game was Sam Hartman looking very comfortable as Notre Dame's quarterback. 19 of 23, 251 yards, four touchdowns, and he looked like he'd been running that offense for a long, long time. The line looked very good. The backs, Audrick Estimay, Jeremiah Love, DeBrand Payne, Jadarian Price, they all looked capable. I can see Notre Dame people being very excited after this because let's think about this. As far as this goes, as we're talking Notre Dame quarterbacks of recent vintage,

is Sam Hartman an upgrade over everyone since Brady Quinn? Is that an exaggeration if I say that? I don't feel like it's that far off. I think, you know, Ian Book would be probably the guy that you'd say is the most successful of that bunch. And he was very good and I think underrated. I think he could do some things on the ground that maybe he didn't get enough credit for. And then his skills as a leader were outstanding. But I just don't know. I think when you look at Hartman and the success he's had, there's a good chance he could wind up being better.

And so that's the question. We go through those guys. Like Everett Golsan had the one good year. They were 12-0, but I don't know if all that was really because of Everett Golsan. And then, of course, he was suspended the following following year so we'll never really know how that ended up uh Deshaun Kaiser might have had the the biggest skill set of all those guys but I don't know that it amounted to to anything so I that's the question is is Sam Hartman the guy who can take them to places that they haven't been able to go because they were limited by the quarterback position?

I think part of the thing with Notre Dame is they're limited by depth because they recruit from a little bit smaller pool than everybody else. But I think that part has been a little bit blunted over the last few years. I think they've been able to get deeper and be able to be competitive, especially on the offensive line with just about anybody. So I am very curious to see what happens with a quarterback who appears to be more dynamic and just open up their passing, especially their vertical passing game, because they do seem to have some athletes on the outside as well. So I realize that we don't know what Navy is. They just fired their coach, Kenney Matalolo, after last season. It's Brian Devery's first game as a head coach.

We don't know what they are and what this really means. We will know a lot more about Notre Dame in week two. So this was week zero. Week one is Tennessee State. Week two, they go to Raleigh and play NC State, which has a very good defense. And then offensively, we think it's going to be, you know, the Robert and I and Brennan Armstrong reunited

what we saw at Virginia two years ago. So Notre Dame will get a very good test there. That's a very tough environment to play in. I think we'll know more. But the early returns for Sam Hartman, really, really good. We go, well, I guess we go about 6,000 miles away to Los Angeles, where USC beats San Jose State. Caleb Williams looks phenomenal.

He throws for 278 yards and four touchdowns, 18 of 25. Passing looked very comfortable. Had a play where he picked up a fumble and threw it to Taj Washington for a 76-yard touchdown. He looked great. Defensively, especially early, there were some concerns where they looked like they were making some of the same kind of mistakes they made last year. They looked like they might have some of the same kind of issues

they had last year. They were playing a ton of young guys. So, and then rotating a lot of guys, younger guys and transfers in and out, I think trying to figure out what the best combinations of people to use were. So I don't know if that was especially representative. They had this game and then they played Nevada next week. So they have a little time before they get into the meat of their schedule to kind of figure some things out. We sure as hell know that Zachariah Branch is going to be a star, though. That dude was amazing.

He had two punt returns that I thought he was going to break. Then he breaks a kickoff return. He also had a touchdown catch. He is going to be unbelievable. That was so much fun watching him play later in the show you will hear Yogi Roth from the Pac-12 network talking about Zachariah Branch and the person he compared him to on the broadcast who he wasn't sure if he was gonna say it because he didn't want to put that on the guy but you'll hear that story later a question from Vaughn in the chat

when is Lincoln Riley going to look in the mirror and realize that he has to do something about his defense? Otherwise, he'll just be doomed to keep repeating this over and over. So what Vaughn is referring to is if you watched the first half of that game, there was a drive where San Jose State had a third and 22 that they converted, and then they go score a touchdown. And then USC scores, but then San Jose State gets a stop and then comes back and hits a long touchdown pass right before halftime, where USC had a massive coverage bust. It did look like USC hadn't learned much from the collapse against Tulane, from the second half of the Pac-12 championship game against Utah.

I want to see more. Now I will say I thought Bear Alexander, Anthony Lucas, those are two high profile transfers. Bear from Georgia, Anthony Lucas from Texas A&M looked very good on the defensive line. Bear Alexander was wrecking people. There was one series where he just detonated the play on first down and second down and San Jose State triple teamed him on third down, which opened up other people to make a play. That's the sort of thing you're looking for. But if you look at USC's front, if you look at who they're rotating in, Alex Grinch's defenses tend to be small up front.

Barry Alexander's the biggest guy at 300 pounds. Their three technique guys are about 275. It's not as big as the fronts of the teams that we see competing for national titles. That is a conscious choice. I believe it is probably a wrong choice. We will see what happens, but USC is not going to lack for points.

So whoever plays them and tries to beat them, yes, you may have some success against their defense, but you're going to have to stop them too. And I don't think it's going to be that easy. You can say it's just San Jose State, but I really don't think it's going to be that easy to stop USC, no matter who you are. But I will say, if you look at their schedule it could get very naughty toward the end of the season they probably should start six and oh then they go into Notre Dame and then that gets things get real because in rapid succession they have Notre Dame and Utah and Oregon and UCLA, and it's not going to be easy. So that's the thing that USC has got to figure out, that defensive part of it, because offensively, they're going to be fine.

Caleb Williams, as long as he's healthy, is going to put up massive numbers. Hunter asked a question in the chat, does Branch equal Percy Harvin? That is a really interesting comparison. I hadn't thought of that one, but I think that's probably more accurate than the one Yogi mentions in the broadcast. Uh, the Percy one, because of what he can do with the return game. And just because of the, the, how smooth he is with the ball. And I just, he was so fast. It was like he shot out of a cannon every time he touched the ball. So that's an interesting comparison and I like it. So we've got another chat question.

Grinch and Lincoln Riley really leveraged the depth chart and rotated throughout both sides of the ball. How much of that is fulfilling promises to incoming recruits that they get playing time? Just thinking, I don't even think it's that. I think it's just trying to figure out what the best combination to put on the field is. You notice they did it with their offensive line.

They definitely did it with the defense line, but they were doing the secondary too. So I bet that by the time they hit that part of the schedule that I'm talking about, that back half of the schedule, they will be much more consistent in who plays and when. I think they've got some time to figure some stuff out. So it may be that we're criticizing this stuff,

but it's just them experimenting personnel wise. So that one, that one I'm not as worried about. I do want to see them, you know, there's a, there's a C that third and 22 play. I mentioned basically Shevin Cordero,

San Jose state's quarterback gets out the back door on a scramble, and it's man-to-man defense, and the DBs are all shadowing receivers, so there's nobody to tackle him. But they run a twist up front, which they have better defensive linemen than San Jose State's offensive. They don't need to do anything fancy. Just let your good players be good. And that's something, if you watch Alabama or you watch Georgia, Nick Saban and Kirby Smart don't get fancy. They don't get exotic until you

give them a reason to, until you give them a reason to worry. They just let their better players be better. And so we'll see if USC can figure that out because in a lot of cases, they're going to have the better players. There, there, there won't be every case, but in most cases, they will have the better players. All right. So we got the rich rod watch rich Rodriguez, the coach of Jacksonville state,

the other game Cox now want to know as an FBS team, they beat UTEP. UMass beat New Mexico State. Maybe the play of that game in a losing effort. New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia throwing the ball after having his helmet ripped all the way around his head. So the back of his helmet is over his eyes. He still managed to throw the ball away. And it was a spectacular play play even if it didn't really

mean a whole lot bit of news non-game related that came down on Sunday morning Arizona State is imposing a bowl ban on this year's team they are self-imposing a postseason ban to get out ahead of the NCAA investigation into the Herm Edwards staff. This is all the recruiting improprieties alleged during Herm Edwards tenure, basically that they were running official and unofficial visits during COVID, very similar to the Jeremy Pruitt stuff at Tennessee. Now, here's where this is kind of messed up. They didn't decide to do this and the team, until now, where nobody can

transfer because the season's already started. So, and class has already started, so they can't go anywhere. And it's pretty messed up. You could have been a little more honest and forthright with your players, but that's what we come to expect from all of the schools and from the NCAA. They don't really care about the players. So this is how this works. Now, a smarter thing to do, and if you've paid attention during realignment, you know that the people running Arizona State are not the smartest when it comes to sports, but the smarter thing to do would have been in the spring of 2022, because you already knew about all this stuff. They've been being investigated for a while. You know you're probably going to fire Herm Edwards in 2022, which they did. You know you're probably not going to be very good in 2022, which they

weren't. They were three and nine. You should have done it then. That's when you should have done it, because what would have happened is everybody would have transferred you would have had the crappy season you were expecting you would have fired Herm Edwards just like you were expecting and then Kenny Dillingham would have been able to come in and not have to worry about running anybody off not to worry about gently gently encouraging anyone to transfer he would have been able to come in with a basically wide open roster and fill it up. So that would have been more fun, I think, than this because you'd already be done with that and you wouldn't have to worry about looking like jerks because you just basically entrapped your seniors. But again, crow the president of arizona state ray anderson ad they were the ones clinging to that apple deal in the pac-12 when they had a better big 12 deal

on the table they're not good at this stuff clearly and you know this all could have been taken care of by now all of it but again you did it now the other potential solution is you could have not imposed the bull band because go to the Tennessee case remember they fined Tennessee like eight million bucks and obviously they levied a punishment on Jeremy Pruitt who'd already been fired they're gonna punish Herm Edwards they're gonna punish whatever assistant coaches got fired but maybe they wouldn't have even given you a postseason ban maybe that wasn't gonna happen because the NCAA is trying not to punish future players for things that past coaches did so I'm not entirely sure why they did this, but they're doing it now.

I do understand the logic of you want to give Kenny Dillingham basically, this is a year zero. He doesn't have to worry about what the record is. He doesn't worry about the postseason. He's starting a true freshman at quarterback in Jane Rashada because Drew Pine got hurt. I get that.

But there was a better way to do this. There just was. So we'll see what happens. We have a big, big show for you today. We'll talk about Jane Rashada with Yogi Roth, who's deeply involved in the Elite 11 and the quarterback recruiting industrial complex and has some really interesting stories about that but we're also going to talk to another quarterback who is getting a chance to be the opening day starter

for the second consecutive year but last year he didn't end up the starter for his team is chandler morris the tcu quarterback. Remember, he started against Colorado on opening day, got hurt. Max Duggan takes the job and then never gives it back and leads TCU to the national championship game. Chandler Morris had a lot of really interesting things to say about what he learned from that and just how that affected him and how it's made him a different kind of quarterback coming into this year. So we're going to talk to Chandler Morris.

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And there's definitely some interesting action out there. All right. Speaking of action, the action will be in Fort Worth this weekend. The eyes of college football will be on Amen G Carter stadium because coach prime is coming in, but who's he going to be playing? Oh, yeah. That team that played for the national title last year, TCU. Chandler Morris is TCU's new starting quarterback. He was once TCU's starting quarterback, and now he's got it back. He had a lot of really interesting things to say about how that process shaped him for this year.

We welcome a very special guest, QB1 of the TCU Horned Frogs, Chandler Morris joins us. And Chandler, I have to ask you something. I talked to Sonny Dykes about this. I saw you interviewed about this earlier in the year. You said you have the best hands on the team. Has this been challenged by your receivers like did they hear this and and say no yeah I mean I say it often in the locker room and they uh they strongly disagree because I mean uh the receivers they obviously uh claim they have the best hands on the team and each one of them individually says that theirs are the best.

So I personally think I do. I catch pretty much 100% of the snaps, and I tell them that all the time. I'm like, hey, my catch radius, I'm 100%. Y'all have some drops. So I let them know. Well, Sonny said, he's like, you know, he may have a point. He grew up playing in Texas, so you're doing all that seven on seven. So he's probably actually caught more balls than all of them combined.

That's right. I mean, shoot, I played receiver, kind of half receiver, half quarterback in my eighth grade year. So, I mean, I'm not foreign to it. I just mean catching snaps. I mean, you have to catch a snap every play. You're not running under center most of the time. That's right.

Kendall would occasionally do that at Arkansas. Is that something you guys might break out? Absolutely. I mean, we'll go under center every now and then on some kind of like special plays that week, I guess. So, yeah, I mean, that was similar to us last year and really any offense I've been in since college. Really, you'll have some kind of packages underneath center. How many different offenses have you been in now? Is this number four or five?

This will be my fourth year and it will be my fourth system. So a system year. Now, for those who don't know, your dad was a longtime high school coach, then became a college coach. So he has been around and been in a bunch of different places. How did did having you know that environment growing up help you deal with learning all these different systems you know calls vocabularies yeah i mean uh it helped a ton i mean just kind of just being around the game like i picked up a lot of stuff that um i've even realized i picked up from being at all of his practices and kind of being in the film room and watching football with him. And then definitely like the language and stuff. I mean, I have a good grasp of it being around the game for a while. I mean, at the end of the day, there's almost every coach uses a different language.

So it's like they'll call some protections or blitzes a different thing than another coach would. So really having to kind of adjust with that. So, I mean, it's helped a lot, just being around the game because of my dad. You were talking to the local media the other day about how you handled last year, and you mentioned the Jalen Hurts story. And I'm assuming you're talking about 2018 when he's lost the job to Otunga-Vailoa yet when they needed him to come in the SEC championship game there he was how did you how did you use that last year after Max took the job and basically didn't give it back um I mean I yeah like I said it really gave me a lot of hope and kind of kept a chip on my shoulder because, I mean, you go out and you win the job in camp and you get hurt in the third quarter, like 27 plays into the game and you're done. And then Max goes on and takes advantage of a great opportunity for him and the rest is history.

So, I mean, each week, I mean, it's hard being a backup. I mean, I've been a backup for a while and, and it was really hard as long nights and, and where I don't feel like watching film. It's like, okay, well, I didn't play last week. Why do I need to be prepared this week? But the moment you're don't prepare, that's the moment your team's going to need you the most. And Jalen hurts that story. I mean, that whole season, he was the, the previous season, he's the most. And Jalen Hurts, that story, I mean, that whole season, he was the previous season, he's the starter. They go to the national championship game. He gets pulled in the

national championship game at halftime and they go on and win the game. And he has a smile on his face after the game. But he also told and explained how hard it was. It was very difficult. And then the next season, he was a backup and kind of having to switch roles. And his team needed him at one point. And I think it was the SEC championship game. And he leads them back and goes on and beats Georgia. So really seeing that and kind of getting a chip on my shoulder from that story to just be motivated to stay ready to be there for my teammates. And you played with him at Oklahoma, right?

Did you talk to him about that? No, he was the year before. Oh, okay. He was already gone. Okay. He was the year before I was at the elite 11 though, I guess the summer going into my senior year. Um, and he came and talked to all of us and, uh, very impactful. I mean, it was, you could just see the fire in his eyes and that was going to be the season that he was going to play at OU and it was going to be really his first season back as a starter. So for you you said in the spring that you probably learned some things last year in that situation that you hadn't even realized you'd learned yet now that you're a little bit further along and you're a few days away from from your first game again as the starter do you think you figured out what some of those things are? A little bit.

I mean, obviously taking what they give you on defense and protecting the football. I got to watch Max do that. He really protected the ball well last year and put us in good positions. And also just showing up, not taking a day for granted. I mean, there's not going to be a day I'm going to walk out there on that field and, and not be excited about practice and grateful that I'm the starting quarterback and understand that there's other people coming for my job.

Um, and just really being grateful for that and, and, uh, taking pride in that, um, and just loving my job. So it's interesting cause you guys lost a lot of good players. I remember watching the draft and thinking, man, I don't even think I realized how talented this team was, but you do bring back quite a bit. And then also you've gone to the transfer portal and gotten some guys not, you know, sometimes the guys in transfer portal are ones who were big recruits, didn't really play much at their previous school you're getting guys who've played quite a bit uh you know jp richardson uh jojo earl you know how much have they helped and and how quickly they come in and learned everything uh i mean they've helped a lot

they've had a lot of snaps uh underneath their belt uh very experienced like you said and uh they've came in and they haven't skipped a beat. I always call them plug-and-play guys. I mean, you put them in, and they're ready to play. And they understand the offense. Obviously, with the new system with Coach Bryles, it was a lot to pick up, and they did a great job on that. And there's a lot put on their plate as an inside receiver.

Just to name a few of JoJo and JP, we've got many others from the transfer portal that have played a lot of snaps at the schools they've been at. I'm not going to list them all. I know I'll miss a few, but all of them. I mean, every single one of them that's come in here, they picked it up. And especially with our culture, I mean, kind of this offseason with workouts and really kind of engraving it in their heads that this is how things are going to be done here,

and this is what we're looking for, and they did a great job. So I talked to Sonny, and he basically said, if someone had told him this time last year, this team's going to play for the national title, he would have thought they were crazy. What, for you guys who were who were there who who saw it all what was it about that group that made it possible to do what you guys did um i think it was the want to i mean that senior class they'd been

through so much um they they experienced a lot of adversity uh through their years at tcu and and that that really drove them and and made them angry almost i mean whenever there's a a tcu football team is angry i mean there's you go back and look at it i mean they they win um so i mean it was definitely a just a chip on their shoulder and it was a mindset um and we obviously we had the talent uh we just had chip on their shoulder, and it was a mindset. And we obviously had the talent. We just had to put it together, and we did. It's funny. You mentioned that angry TCU teams do tend to be the best,

but I go back to the Dutch Meyer quote, to fight them until hell freezes over, then fight them on the ice. You guys see that right before you take the field at home games, right? Yeah, it's in the tunnel um it's on the wall and you walk and you touch it the entire time is it do they tell you know because it's one of those it's like it's funny at first but then you're like damn that they're serious about this yeah no i mean it's a it's a known thing here. I mean, that's it's written all over the facility. I mean, there's T-shirts made of them all over the all over campus. So, I mean, it's a known thing and it's I like it.

So. What are you doing differently to prepare for this this Colorado game than, say, last year when you were also preparing to start against Colorado? I mean, this year it's a little different. Obviously, they have a new staff. They've got – I mean, their entire roster is different. And so you can't really turn on Colorado film like we really could last year and break them down. So you're really – you're watching, I guess, a lot of Alabama. Their defense coordinator came from Bama, he's a safeties coach. So really watching them a little bit and not trying to get too hung up on all that though. I mean,

at the end of the day, we got to be good at what we do. We got to be confident in what we do and just go out and execute because they're going to show up in some different things. They're going to do some different things. That's how the first game goes. So really it's just about going and doing what you can do and executing. We've been talking about Coach Prime, Deion Sanders all offseason. I'm thinking about this. You probably don't remember him as a player at all, do you?

No, sir. That's amazing to me because he was maybe the best cornerback who ever played so it that's it's one of those like all us old people are like oh my god it's Deion Sanders coaching but for you guys it's probably just the other team's coach right yeah I mean uh I got to play i guess on his team at the under armor all-american game in high school i guess 2019 so um kind of been around him a little bit and yeah i mean it's a great opportunity so what was he like in that coaching environment i mean a lot of energy um he's uh what you see is what you get i mean he's got a lot of energy and um and he's what you see is what you get. I mean, he's got a lot of energy and and he's just passionate about the sport. So now that you've you've had this year, you know, you've got your chance again. Is there something you tell yourself every day?

You mentioned that you're not going to take anything for granted. But is there anything else that you took from last season that you're carrying forward right now? I'm really just competing one play at a time. I mean, it's one day, it's one breath, and it's one play at a time. That's kind of my mindset every morning, every day. Because I mean, it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. But also, knowing that it can be taken away from you very quickly um and that's something i've kind of learned and that's kind of our mindset is just uh taking it one day one play and one breath at a time and those plays go faster no in coach ryle's offense right that is this is this the fastest of the offenses you've played in so far oh without a doubt

absolutely is it i i've always wondered how quarterbacks you like that though because of the offenses you've played in so far? Oh, without a doubt. Absolutely. I've always wondered how quarterbacks – you like that, though, because the defense can't get set, right? Yeah. I mean, it kind of forces them to get in their base stuff. I mean, we were at practice the other day, and my dad got to come out and watch a little bit of it. I'm talking to him on the field after, and he's like, I don't understand how you all play so fast.

How do you all get set so fast? And I'm sitting there, I'm trying to him on the field after, and he's like, I don't understand how y'all play so fast. How do y'all get set so fast? And I'm sitting there, I'm trying to explain it to him, and he's like, wow, this is – I'm like, yeah, it takes reps. So I watched a Peach Bowl. I covered a Peach Bowl against LSU where your dad was calling plays for Clemson where they ran 104 plays, and if he thinks it's fast, then it's pretty fast. Yeah, it's rolling. I was going to say, I just remember being in the tunnel after that game,

and the poor LSU defensive players are just screaming because they're cramping because Clemson had run so many plays. So, yeah, I was going to say, if your dad thinks they're really rolling, then it's quick. But how long did it take you to get used to that tempo and get comfortable with it? It took all spring. I mean, it leaked over into camp as well.

I mean, probably a couple days into camp, we really started clicking a lot. I mean, Coach Briles and his staff threw a lot at us in spring, on purpose, though, and it was an adjustment. We struggled. We had some days we were struggling a lot at us in spring on purpose though and and it was uh it was an adjustment we struggled we had some days we were struggling a lot and um but this camp we we really made a big step and uh did a great job of picking it up and and enrolling with it and we have more confidence in what we're doing now and i mean given everything you did last year, how much internal confidence is there just as a team? There's a ton. I mean, I tell the guys all the time that we know what the blueprint looks like.

I mean, we have the blueprint. We've seen what it looks like to go and be on that stage that we want to be on. And now it's about just going out and executing and doing it. It's the want. We got to have the want to do it. Those mornings you don't want to wake up. You don't want to go to workouts at five fifty in the morning. And when you notice that, you recognize that and tell yourself, all right, well, good. I mean, I've got to go dominate it now and and just kind of having that mindset and and really doing the things that we don't want to do at a high level. All right, Chandler, good luck and enjoy that,

that chance to start against Colorado again. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you. Chandler Morris, hopefully much better result for him against Colorado than last time. Obviously TCU won the game against Colorado last year but hopefully he has a much better game after and game after that and game after that and you know the TCU thing is interesting to me we're obviously going to be talking about coach prime and Colorado the massive roster flip TCU is a probably pretty different

team than the one you saw last year but they but they are bringing back a core of guys who had a lot to do with going to the Big 12 championship game, going to the national championship game, beating Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl. And he's not wrong about the plug-and-play guys out of the portal. You know, J.P. Richardson from Oklahoma State, Trey Sanders from Alabama. These are people who should be able to come in and contribute immediately.

So I'm excited to see what they can do because I'm not sure they're going to fall off that much. Now, I think, are they going to do what they did last year? That's asking a lot. That was a very special team. And also the team had some good fortune along the way. But are they going to be one of the best teams in the Big 12? Yeah, I think they probably are.

So we'll get a chance to see them, and we'll get a chance to see Coach Prime and Travis Hunter and Shadur Sanders and the New Look Buffaloes. Guys, we're so close to a full weekend of college football. But we had a little taste this past weekend, including USC's win against San Jose State. Yogi Roth was on the call for the PAC 12 network. He joins us to talk about USC and Caleb Williams and Zachariah branch and where the Trojans have come from,

from last year and also the rest of the PAC 12. This is as deep as that league has been in decades. And it is going to be a fun, fun year. And Yogi, I tell you, there's a bunch of teams that can win it here's yogi roth we're joined now by a very special guest you heard him saturday night on the call of usc san jose state yogi roth from the pac-12 network what's up yogi andy uh thank you for having me. Congrats on this next move in your career. It's been fun to track all of your moves from back in the day when we all kind of got going

in this business. And from off the field, down the field, you're always entertaining and appreciate you tuning into the game last night and looking forward to today, man. Oh, my pleasure. It was quite a game. And you guys obviously have seen this team a lot. You've seen this USC program evolve into what it is right now. How different did you feel like this team looked compared to last year's USC team? Well, I was at practice earlier this week, and when it ended, I got to catch up with Coach Riley for a few, and I said, this is the first time I've been on this practice field in in my life

where it felt like it did back when I was on the staff and I was on the staff with Pete Carroll when it was going and and I don't mean like top end talent everywhere like I don't know if Cedric Ellis is on this team yet the defensive line but the competitive depth and you saw we talked about it all broadcast they were coming at you in waves not just with 10 deep at wide out but three four deep at running back eight nine deep on the offensive line eight deep on the defensive front four deep at two inside line but five deep at two inside linebacker spots like you felt that at practice andy and it makes practice competitive you know i think back in the day whether it was a year ago or a couple years ago, it had always been no matter what happens in practice, I know I'll still play to a degree.

And everybody preaches competition. Every coach in America preaches competition. But you felt it in the way that it used to be for the first time. So, yeah, man, huge difference in my eyes. Well, and that depth part and then the young players that was one thing I wanted to ask you about because it did seem like some of the things that you could find to critique about this team some of it had to do with how many guys they were rotating how many young guys they were playing so whether it was the offensive line the defensive line some of the mistakes at your

halftime show the the crew on your halftime show, I think it was Max Brown, did a great job breaking down the coverage bust at the end of the first half that allowed San Jose State to score right there at the end. And explaining that you're putting Devontae Jackson in a tough spot as a guy who hasn't played very much, but maybe later in the season, that's something he can handle. How much of some of the mistakes we saw from USC were them trying to play a bunch of guys? Yeah, I think you nailed it. I didn't get to watch what Max did, but I'm a huge fan of just how he sees the game. And there was a PI later in the game,

in the second half, on Damani Jackson. We talked about it in the booth of, hey, you can't replicate live game reps on a fade ball in the red zone. You can't replicate changing your defense at the snap and putting Damani Jackson playing a deep safety spot where he's got to get over the top half of the field and he misses it in practice. It's just hard.

And so I love that point. And I do think that when you net out of the opener for USC, yes, they won. The score looked dominant. But there was so much to clean up. And I think a lot of it, to your point, has to do with the rotation for USC. Yes, they won. The score looked dominant, but there was so much to clean up. And I think a lot of it, to your point, has to do with the rotation of players. And I love that they rotated guys because this is what Lincoln Riley told us

in our production meeting, where we said, how are you going to manage? Let's just talk about receivers. I'm a former wide out. You have an ego as a wide out. You want the rock as a wide out. You go to USC to win the Blitnikoff.

Like, that is the goal. Well, you got 10 deep. Caleb's not going to complete 50 passes a game let alone attempt 30 right and he said look we've told the players from day one this is all about what you do in practice and if it's 50 50 and leave it up to us don't be mad if it doesn't go your way and he goes we've had to be straight up and i think that played itself out when you watch the rotation of guys of how zachariah branch was in a lot really brown you didn't see him till the game was relatively in hand but that doesn't mean this week against nevada we're calling it again on saturday afternoon on the pac-12 network maybe really brown has a great week of practice and

becomes that leader in the slot position and that's just what allows i think sc and especially in la like you know this man but it's so different than Tuscaloosa or Athens from having to operate at your best in an environment like Los Angeles. It's just like it's a different planet. And if you disagree, then you probably have never been to L.A. and been around it. And I just feel like competition is the only thing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday that is going to allow Lincoln Riley to keep his team on a razor's edge. Which at that position, especially receiver, you're going to get it. I mean, Zachariah Branch looked unbelievable. You know, the Reggie Bush comparisons, different positions, different people.

But, I mean, the first two punt returns, I'm like, oh, he's taking something back tonight. And it turned out it was a kickoff. And then the touchdown he scored, he's a guy, I mean, you get him the ball in space, you just let him cook. Yeah, it's a wrap. You know, it's interesting. Just to take you inside the broadcast,

Ted calls the actual return for a touchdown. I call the replay. That's how broadcasting works. Well, in it, you know, I'm right up to the cusp of saying, Reggie. And I hit the talk back button, which is a button where you can talk to your producer i want to put it on the kid on this young man yeah and he goes well if you believe it so then on the second replay i said and he reminds you a number five and and i believe that in the way that he moves and i think a lot of people were

copying him to odory jackson odory was much smoother he was a glider a type of athlete zachariah branches put his foot in the ground like reggie and when you go back to i guess it'd be 2003 his freshman year uh you talked to coach carol about what they did for him they gave him five plays on offense let him play special teams and let him run wheel routes, rub routes, angle routes, and then outside zone.

And then of course, special teams and a slant and go. And that was it. Like that was what Reggie did. And so for Zachariah branch, we saw him play like he did in high school, which was fast. And I love how they're not muddling him up with too much by the end of the

season. Maybe he does move all over the place. It's even more of a matchup nightmare. But you're right. His sheer athleticism, his explosiveness, it is special. And it reminds you of somebody that used to rock the Cardinal in goal, pending probably which way you want to lean, whether it's a Dory or a Reggie. I definitely think Reggie in terms of results.

A Dory, as good as he was, Branch seems to have a little higher ceiling in terms of explosiveness and and what he can be in the return game and in on offense so i mean it's it's pretty amazing what he did in in game one and you know that he's just scratching the surface but i want to talk about caleb who is there anybody else in the country that can pick up that fumble and throw that pass? Not many that would have the guts to do it. In coaching, around quarterbacks, when that happens, you say, just don't make a bad situation a catastrophe. Just fall on it.

But I think his confidence in his athleticism in terms of, hey, I see the way the ball is bouncing. I can see in which it's going to come up to me. And then his eyes remained downfield. And then how about Taj Washington? He just kept running. Usually a receiver, if you're going to run that type of route and you feel the defensive backs driving towards the line of scrimmage, you're thinking maybe it's a scramble.

But they do that scramble drill so often in practice where they know that a play is never dead. And he just kept running his route and, of course, ran right by the defensive backs going the opposite direction. And you're right, Caleb, with his confidence to pick it up, eyes downfield, knew exactly what to look at, saw it, launched it, and gave Taj Washington an opportunity. But, yeah, it wasn't surprising, but you're right. Not many guys, I think, would even attempt to do that.

I just love his instincts. I remember when he was a freshman at Oklahoma, there was a play against Kansas where one of his players, I think it was attempt to do that. I just love his instincts. I remember when he was a freshman in Oklahoma, there was a play against Kansas where, you know, one of his players, I think it was one of the back. Yeah. Has the ball down the field and he is ripping it out of his hands to try to get more yards. Like he's, he's just such an instinctual player.

And it, but it feels like those instincts have been kind of reined into a manageable, let's make sure it's going to work instead of let's just try this. Yeah, well, I think that my biggest takeaway for his game last night, and we said it towards the end, I don't know how many people tuned out by then, but really about him playing in the pocket. And his number one goal this offseason was situational football and the awareness of

that you saw it in the second quarter he goes from right to left all the way across the field and throws it to a check down on a swing route you know he just to me compared to last year got through his progressions with more confidence and in a different clip sat in the pocket maybe even to his own chagrin sometimes because he did take a couple sacks but i i think the discipline to play within it and allowing the plays to develop you know last year we saw him put his back foot in the ground and if one wasn't there especially his first half of the season he took off right go to the oregon state game go to the washington state game uh at times even the arizona game last year we called a bunch of those and i think now you're just seeing a guy who really attacked the offseason at the position and I can't wait to watch it

against next week because he's going to see every DC we talk to it's a different scheme different way a different picture changing up every other snap and for Caleb to trust his eyes in their pure progression system in the pocket is something that I'm going to take away to build into the show next week. So let's talk about the defense that there were some, some things that made it feel a little bit like last year. And I, you know, I know they've, they've brought in a lot through the transfer portal, but you know, it's really, it's still an Alex Grinch defense in terms of size, body types, all that stuff. I get a little worried when it's third and 22 and they're getting really exotic.

Why not just let your athletes be better athletes and make a play? You talking about the touchdown? No, third and 22 that set up the first touchdown. Yeah, the Sean Cordero getting out the back door. Yeah, so we broke that one down coming out of the half and both coaching staffs use this term that you're familiar with. If you're not, as a viewer, I'll explain it.

But it's called plastering. Meaning when the quarterback scrambles, defensive backs are taught to plaster, which is get as close as you can to the wide receiver. Chest against chest. Just try to become a magnet of sorts. And they're in man coverage on that play. And the play just keeps going and going and going. Well, if you're a DB and you're in man coverage on that play and the play just keeps you know it just keeps going and going and going well if you're a DB and you're in man coverage and the play keeps going

you're thinking against San Jose State and Shevin Cordero preseason Mountain West player of the year on offense god he might be scrambling so I get that play where they it was Christian Roland Wallace to be specific who just continued around with the receivers is Shevin Cordero is getting closer and closer to him ends up just running right off his back and and I think that's one where I kind of live with like I think that becomes a feel thing who twists up front on that play that you don't need like just let your let your D lineman win their one-on-ones and you probably are not giving up 22 yards. Yeah. It's tough. I mean, cause sometimes guys run right into those twists, you know, but, but I hear you. And I think that's the point of them playing so many guys, like the way the game started, you're thinking it's, Oh, Mason Cobb, Tackett, Curtis, here we go. It's their show. And then Eric Gentry comes in

for one of them and then the other, and you're saying, okay, they're trying to figure out who's who. They're running line changes on the defensive front to find out who can play. At some points, it's four transfers. At some point, it's three freshmen. So I don't know, man. I think the skill set, you could tell, is dramatically different than a year ago.

And I do think that you've got to find a feel and a rhythm as a coach for who can do what when the lights are on so there's going to be bus against nevada next week and their quarterback who's a transfer from colorado i think there's like 10 transfers from the pac-12 on nevada's roster so it's not like they want to have athletes they can make plays and i'm curious to see how the first three weeks net out with alex grinch and then what they change after the bye week and how exotic they continue to get or to your point if they do temper it down well Bear Alexander and Jack Sullivan can play I think we figured that out Bear Alexander was was either commanding a

triple team or or somewhere in the backfield a lot of the night so that was you know and Georgia's got like six of those guys which is why Georgiaorgia's georgia but now they're spreading the wealth a little bit so yogi i want to talk to you a little bit about the rest of the pac-12 because this is probably the most heartbreaking thing of what's happened to the league is that it happens in a year when this is the best football product the pac-12 has put on the field in a generation yeah no i and you i might argue more than that you know it's my 20th year around this league and i don't ever remember the depth nick aliotti doesn't remember the depth uh nobody does ted robinson doesn't remember the depth he's been calling pack 10 12 games for 38 years and it's

true and and you're right it's sad and it doesn't make sense and a lot of people in our industry are saying the same note but it you know unfortunately it doesn't matter you know because we know what drives the conversation and we know what driving realignment and we know what in my opinion is going to drive the next generation of fans to not care about leagues my kids aren't going to give a damn about the Pac-12 other than the fact that dad used to work there. They're going to be SC fans or UCLA fans because we go to practice and they get to know Chip Kelly and Lincoln Riley and different players come over and hang out.

That's their experience. And I think it's going to be the same thing around the country. I don't think you're going to throw down dramatically for the Big 12 if you're in Tucson or for the Big 10 think you're going to throw down dramatically for the big 12. If you're in Tucson or for the big 10, if you're in Seattle, I don't think you're going to care. And I think that's really unfortunate. The nature of college athletics now is that it's all about what is best for me, whether it's our Ohio state saying, Hey, we got to take care of 36 sports now. So we let's not add Stanford and Cal. I'm just making that narrative up yeah right everybody is basically

out for themselves and and that was driven by the people that are broadcasting the games you know let's not be ignorant about it that's just a fact so yeah it's it's a sad state uh and it's been brutal on my colleagues and people I've grown to love over the last 12 years in the Pac-12 conference because the league didn't deserve that you know I get there's a lot of holes to poke and there was a lot of blame to go around and they can go all the way around. You can start at the top. You can start at the networks. You can start at the CFP.

You can start at nine conference games. I mean, there's a thousand things that we can debate about. But the sad part is, is that it's over. The one thing I will say from being on about half the campuses and training camp majority of people in leadership positions think it's going to blow up again in just a couple of years so hopefully it does and maybe we get the big east back and may and we

call it the pack 10 again like it'll just become regional divisions anyway yeah that's true that's true well all right this iteration it's gonna go out with a bang yeah how many teams as we sit on the on the eve of week one can win the league this year yeah i'm looking at my composite schedule of all the games on my desk here and uh i i look at five i feel really good about and maybe six wow in the league. And I think seven and eight can upset anybody. So at the top, I voted UW to win the league. And I look at Washington to, of course, SC. Utah, by the way, two-time defending champs people forget about. We always do that.

We always do that, right? And they're going to roll in the Big 12. You look at Oregon. They've had a CFP caliber roster since 2018 every year. They've got the bodies, and Dan Lanning has only added to that. I talk about Oregon State because I think they've got the best schedule to get to the title game, who they play, where they play, and most importantly, who they miss. And then having been at UCLA last week, man, it's the best team Chip's had.

I don't know if there's a first-round pick, but it's the best group of receivers he's ever had as a college coach. The offensive line is solid. Carson Steele, they love it, transfer it, running back. They've got tight ends for days, 6'4", 250-plus. Every single one of them can block and catch. The defensive line might have the best pass rusher in the Pac-12 and a host of

other guys with a ton of experience they bring in femiola dajo to play the inside backer alongside darius musau back end might have a couple questions but they got experience in length with a new defensive coordinator and deanton lynn anthony lynn's son so i look at those teams and say it's going to be fun and oh by the way arizona had one of the top five offenses in america last year yep and washington state is as salty as they come and i and i've watched those two teams in training camp or in spring and i think they can so i just look at those teams right there with of course the dramatic unknown in colorado we have zero clue what that's going to look like we don't know what's going to happen in arizona state but we imagine they'll score some points they'll knock somebody

off among those eight that i referenced so it's going to be an awesome year and cal's played as good a defense as anybody in the last seven years in this league and now they got sam jackson who's pretty dynamic we don't know what they'll be with jake spavidol they'll knock somebody off so you're right it is going to be awesome and i love non-con i love any football But when we get to conference play this year, Ted and I talk about it, especially with these new clock rules, the last five minutes of games with these quarterbacks, dude, they're going to be off the hook. We're going to be drawn and circling and coaching and screaming and yelling. It's going to be so much fun once we get into conference play.

And we're going to, as Ted said, open the broadcast. We are going to celebrate the you-know-what what out of that not cry about this league falling apart and then pick it up where it picks up because thankfully regardless of league affiliation or logo you know call it nascar call the big 18 it doesn't matter because the teams are still gonna play and the games next year are gonna be fun so we've all basically agreed that washington's gonna be good you're the first person i've talked to who picked them to win the league. So obviously great quarterback in Michael Penix Jr., probably best returning receiving core in the league, if not the country.

They can get after the quarterback too. What else about them excites you? Well, I think the pickups they've had in the portal, whether it's at linebacker and really go forth from SC, who was a starter at linebacker early in his career there and played a lot last year in the secondary. They bring in Muhammad from OK State to play a play a corner. I just and then I was there and I spent a bunch of time. I got a feature on Michael Penix Jr. coming out before week three when they play at Michigan State on him and why he returned. And I spent a couple of days just around Kalen DeBoer and that program.

Watch those guys work. Walked into the receiver room at 11 a.m. and receivers in there studying on their own. And Jalen McMillan, you know, sat down with Roma Dunze and really got to know what makes these guys tick. And then, again, I look at the schedule and I get that they beat Oregon on the road and Oregon could beat them at home, but I'd go with UW at home. Like, and just like I went with Oregon last year at home, I think it's so hard to, to win that game. And that'll be a great test for them around mid season. They've got a stretch just like everybody else with SC and Utah and Oregon state. But there was just something where I said, i think this program and it's hard right

because you can you can nitpick at least the four teams all day long like you really can make a case for any of them and i wouldn't be shocked if i was wrong on this but i just leaned into it and i said you know i think i just trust that the most because cam i didn't know about cam rising cam rising is healthy i probably pick utah because i think they're the best defense in the league and if you said give me a team from this league to go play georgia or go play bama go play ohio state i probably take utah based on their defense and their offense went healthy it's just an unknown for me which is why i didn't go with them well and that's that's the next question is they've got florida coming in they're going to be all eyes on them on Thursday night. Do you think we're

going to see Cam? What do you think that's going to look like? You know, I don't know. I've talked to people there that they don't know either, you know, so I'm sure there'll be a report from Kyle Whittingham on Monday of this week at his press conference or whenever he does that. And I don't think he'll be coy about it. I think he's been blunt about it and i learned this at media days where he said it's going to come right down to the wire and then a few minutes later cam rising comes to the same stage and he goes no i'm ready to go and i just i just yeah of course i just trusted what coach said and and okay like there's some hurdles for him and he's not going to put him out there if he's not 100 but i'll tell you what what i believe the most in this

team is that this team came back for like their version of the last dance. I believe that in my gut, I can't confirm that from all the levels. When I look at Kyle Whittingham to Andy Ludwig, to Cam Rising, to Brant Keithy, to Thomas Yasmin, to Devon Valle, there's a lot of players decided to run it back. This team is as mission minded as I've ever seen. And I think media polls mean relatively squat, but when they get no votes, and Cam Rising isn't even honorable mention quarterback.

I sat around Cole Bishop at media days. I've talked to players on this roster. There is a different edge. And last year, I think it was 28 missed tackles in the opener against Anthony Richardson in Florida on the road. They'll have less than 10. You know, they got one of the best edge rushers in the country. You'll hear about Jonah Ellis, Lander Barton, a linebacker,

Cole Bishop, as I referenced. They've got talent for days on this back end. They bring in Micah Pittman. They got a freshman, Mikey Matthews, a wide receiver, best receiving core they've had. Running back Jaquan Jackson, he looks the part and proved it last year in the champ game when they ran all over USC and other games where he played this guy was a third stream quarterback in week

three last year became a running back in week four against asu and got some spot duty and then became the man so i just i just believe in this team and and at home i think it'll be a great game but but i think they get the win because they won't make they won't make those first game mistakes that i think most teams just make because it's the first game i think utah's too veteran even if it's bryson barnes i was uh i was on the radio with rick newheisel last week and he mentioned why not put jackson at wildcat i was like oh that is that's scary because he's he's great at reading the hole and then you've got that extra blocker. And I was like, Rick, I think Kyle Whittingham's probably mad at you for mentioning that, if they had that planned. But that does seem like a pretty good idea, too,

especially if it winds up being Bryson Barnes, who we've seen him have to come in in the Rose Bowl and be good. But that's a tough spot to put a kid in, in the whole college ball world looking at you. Well, I'll say this. We don't have any data, right? We just have whatever, however many games that were from week zero. But I do think the new clock rules are going to benefit teams like Utah. Yeah. Yeah, we felt it in the game.

And last night's game was on pace for being a three hour game. You know, and then we had some gnarly penalties that took forever on reviews at the end. But I think that for Utah, to your point, they are going to run the football. And they'll find, whether it's Makai Bernard, who's been in the Wildcat before, dynamic playmaker, Jaquinden Jackson. I mean, they've got a bevy of backs. You're right. I think we'll see creative things.

Hey, Utah's coming off of the most explosive offense, record-setting numbers in the history of Utah football last year. So this is not like the Utah five, seven years ago where, hey, let's run the clock, I'll be physical. There's some explosive elements and very creative elements with Andy Ludwig, their offensive coordinator. So yeah, man, wouldn't be shocked if we saw a number three quarterback taking some snaps directly to him in the wildcat so you mentioned ucla earlier and i'm fascinated by this because did you envision that this was what chip would decide he wanted offensively because obviously when he was in the league the first time around it was not the same thing he used the change in the clock rules back then to create kind of a paradigm shift in how offensive football

works throughout the country. But this feels even more physical. He ran a lot between the tackles back then, but this feels so much more physical, almost like they're building to be a Big Ten team. Yeah. I think that Chip Kelly has always wanted to run the football. And when you go and study him, whether it was up-tempo or he's taking his time and using the play clock, when he found a weakness on the defense, he would expose it. I talked to guys that played for him, and even in the NFL, he would say, hey, blood in the water, let's attack.

And they would run the same personnel, the same play, five, six, seven, eight times in a row and just keep going i think that as we've seen him completely rebuild ucla's football team because it was a complete rebuild he didn't out of the portal and be able to do what lincoln did or what deon sanders has been doing or kenny kenny dillingham has done he has had to go old school in terms of identifying and developing and if you know chip kelly he could give a damn about identifying what star ranking you are it is all about dna fit it is all about like literal dna and like what does your body tell you and they have all these things in terms of how they evaluate players and their projections and man you can't you can't hate on it and then in the portal what he's done

is that they've missed on one player one player out of i think 40 some players that have come into the portal all of them have started right and they're coming from harvard they're coming from duke they're coming from alabama they come from notre dame you know they're coming from schools where guys can handle books and ball and i do think there's a huge part of what chip kelly's doing there where guys are highly intelligent kind of reminds reminds me a little bit of Stanford back in the day when they were rolling at the Rose Bowl. Their functional football intelligence is as good as you're going to find, I would bet, in the country.

And they could play. And now the portal's alive. And now NIL is working in L.A. And you get Jay Michael Sturtevant and Kyle Ford to be your two 6'3", 6'4", wide receivers that can simply fly down the field you can get the best back in a group of five in Carson Steele to come be your lead back at UCLA you can find offensive linemen and come in via the portal last year this year and slide right

into the tackle positions and I just think that evaluation process allowed him to put together a team that your point can be very physical and be very explosive so i don't know uh who will net out a quarterback if it's ethan garbers or dante more but i do think that their ability to take you down the field is probably better than if we're going to project them at six than the sixth team in the big ten like i still think they have some of that pac-12 flash that people are generally accustomed to associating this league with. Well, I'm excited to see it. Carson Steele is maybe the transfer I'm most excited to see in his new place. He didn't bring his pet alligator along with him. It's a shame. Crocky J left at home in suburban Indy. But before I let you go, I do want to ask you this,

because you're very involved in the quarterback recruiting world and understand that world really well. If I had told you when all of that stuff was going on with Jaden Rashada, when he's leaving Florida, when he's trying to figure out what he's going to do, that he's going to be a day one starter at a power five school, true freshmen, what would you have said? I would have said, God, I hope to God his head coach

and offensive coordinator give a rip about who he is as a human versus what his arm can do. And I went out to Camp Tonizona, which is where Arizona State went for a few days in training camp. And I just wanted to observe him because I didn't call it in spring. I hadn't seen Kenny Dillingham's program yet. And you're watching Drew Pine and Trenton Borge running with the ones and twos.

And as practice ended, I spent a bunch of time with jayden rashada because i was with him at elite 11 when the rumor broke i don't know if we know what this is all the miami stuff the miami deal yeah yeah and i was there and it was hard on him and i was with chris peterson who works with us at elite 11 now which is amazing and we we're there talking to Jaden on the side. And I remember asking him, I said, how are you going to manage all this? And this is the attention was something we've never seen. We've been there with Quinn Ewers and he went viral first throw at Steve Fox's camp. We've been there with Christian Hackenberg and Penn State was there. But social media wasn't what it was.

But this was different than anything. And he said, I'm going to turn my phone off. And I remember we looked at him and said, okay, but you're going to have to find real tools to deal with this because shutting it down and turning it off isn't a real tool. And then he continued to go through all the drama that we read about and was covered by some of our friends in our business around what happened in Florida and really how the adults in the room screwed him. And how the adults in the room who don't get a lot of blame a lot uh we're kind of putting on a 17 18 year old kid of oh label him however you want to label him because he didn't decide to stay here he was pimped from start to finish and that's the part that you know that part makes you sick yeah I wrote that big

story about what happened at Florida and it's just like at no point did it seem like Jaden Rashada had anything to do with any of this. You're right. And I think just to give that context, when I sat with him on the sideline at Camp T post-practice, I said, how you doing? He goes, I've never been happier. I've never been happier. And you look at Kenny Dillingham and what he did at Florida State

with the quarterback now who's up for the Heisman. You look kenny dillingham what to do with beau nicks i got a piece coming out on beau you're gonna love in two weeks before they play tech and it's all about how at auburn like they love you if you win their money right or you you allow their their team to win and they can celebrate but if you don't play well, or if you lose, then it's death threats. Then it's, you're not a human. And I think for Bo coming out to Dan Lanning's culture, which Kenny Dillingham was a huge part of, it allowed him to find joy again. And that's really what the piece is about. And I'd say the same thing with Jaden Rashad is he goes, I'm having fun, man. And then I went and talked to Bo Baldwin. His offensive coordinator has been around a long

time. Of course, Kenny Dillingham was managing the entire roster but jayden as well and they felt as though he's been in the best space of his career because he doesn't have other people's expectations on him i mean i wrote the book five-star qb where we interviewed a ton of guys like jayden rashada and the one commonality because most most of them don't make it heads up like 12 of the 134 five-star quarterbacks that we wrote about were ever top 12 picks you know it just doesn't happen excuse me most guys don't make it and a lot of times they don't make it because they struggle with managing other people's expectations so i love that kenny dillingham and his staff attack that from day one and i don don't think Jaden Rashada is going to, you know, win the Heisman in year one.

I think he's going to have a ton of ups and downs. This offensive line is trying to figure itself out. But I do think that he's in a system that's going to allow him to play free and have fun. And if he was at Florida, if he wasn't the starter right now and Graham Mertz beat him out, I bet people would be calling him a bust, a piece of whatever. Oh, it'd be awful. It'd be awful. It'd be terrible with the fans. It'd be awful. And that's why I wonder if what happened allowed him to say, you know what? Screw all

these other people. I don't need to worry about what they want. You know, they kind of tossed me aside. So now I'm just going to do my thing. I really hope it works out for him. Yeah, me too. I think it will. How we define works out is probably dependent upon the lens you view it. I don't care if he's a first rounder. I'm talking about have fun in college and go be a successful human being.

That's all that matters. I'm with you, man. And I think he will. And I think we're in an era now. and i talked to a lot of the coaches this is what is sad about the pac-12's dissolution from what we know it is that i've always felt the west coast kind of stood for things a little bit bigger than just did you win or lose the game just from a cultural standpoint because there's other stuff going on like i think fans love the sport just as much as other fans, but the fanatical element, the nothing else matters in the world,

that's a different conversation, as you know, out West than it is in other parts of the country. And it was always nice for when guys could come back. Now, I think those institutions, they're not going anywhere, of course, but the league, the collective of those, I think, offered that even as a branding element. Look at DJU, Jacob Eason. There's a lot of guys that have come on back to the West Coast and found a ton of success.

And I hope that continues or I hope the coaches continue to front load. Hey, mental skills, having fun, being a college athlete in this semi-professionalization of this sport and the realignment of this sport and the money and the media driving this sport within our walls we're going to allow you to continue to develop here especially at that position and i think the head coaches out in the west go especially now i think it's the best collection we've ever had on the west because i think kellen caitlin devore hell of a job dan lanning i mean these guys are jonathan smith they all front load the human and and my last thing is is Chip Kelly gave the best quote ever in

the book where he said, praise and blame are all the same. And that's his advice to a five-star quarterback. And I just think that in and of itself, there's so much to unpack. And he cited it beautifully in chapter one of our book around that concept of praise and blame are all the same. And if you can get to that point as a young man who's grown their social to make money in NIL, I get it. Grown their social to sell their brand and their clothing line or whatever it may be, which I love. But can you disconnect from the praise and blame? It'll allow you to play well.

And that's why I think Caleb Williams, to kind of circle back to where we started, that's why he's the blueprint for this generation of elite quarterbacks is how he's handled it and managed everything around him in this position. Well, I think we figured out what his fingernails are going to say for the UCLA game. Praise, blame, done. Yeah. I don't think there's going to be anything on his fingernails this season.

He learned that there will be nothing. I will make that hard prediction right now. Probably not. Well, Yogi, thank you so much. And yes, get yogi's book i cannot recommend enough and watch yogi next week uh usc nevada on the pac-12 network anybody can find it get it on sling if you're if you're frustrated then that's on you because it's been 12 years of frustration and there's ways to get it guys anybody can't turn a lot of complaints i'm just saying i mean

just figure it out. It's the internet. All right, Yogi. Thank you so much. You got it, bro. Thanks for having me. The great Yogi Roth and everything that guy does is awesome. He makes documentaries.

He does these feature stories on these guys. It's a lot of fun. So I cannot wait to see what he's got coming out of bo nicks because i do think bo's one of the more interesting players in college football this season and it's there's a lot to unpack in the pack 12 you know you talk about all those different teams that could win it we didn't really get a chance to talk much about oregon state dj we on the lay starting for them uh with an offensive line that has come back mostly intact. Lots of starters back on that team.

It's going to be a fun year in that league. But before we go, we've got to talk about the UMass Minutemen. That's right. UMass had not won a road game in 24 tries when they went to Las Cruces on Saturday. They had not won their season opener against an FBS opponent since 1984. But the Minutemen and quarterback Tyson Pumichon, who you probably know from Clemson and then from Georgia Tech, pulled out a 41-30 win. It was a fun game, too.

I just, I'm very happy for these guys. And, you know, Don Brown, the coach, went through a 1-11 season last year. And they went and beat a team that was supposed to beat them by a touchdown. This was the biggest upset of week zero. Mexico State, Jerry Kill had them in a bowl game last year. Remember, got the tattoo. Well, big win for the Minutemen. Tyson Pumichon, proof that eventually you find where you're supposed to be.

And next up, the Auburn Tigers. Let's see if they can keep it going on the plains. Thanks so much for joining. Thank you for listening. We've got some program updates for you guys. Thursday, instead of 8 p.m. Eastern time, we're going to start at 7 p.m. Eastern time because we want to make sure that you have a chance

to go watch Florida-Utah and go watch Minnesota and Nebraska and all the other games you might be watching. So we're going to go 7 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday night. And then we're going to be live after those games. So you can come back on YouTube and watch live. If you want all of that, I will attach the live reaction to the front of the show when you listen in podcast form the next morning so it'll all be there for you if you want it in podcast form so we'll do it that way and then sunday night also

next week 7 p.m eastern time because remember we got florida state lsu at 8 p.m i will be covering that game in orlando and i will be live after that talking about it. So a little bit different schedule because it's a little bit different week. It is opening week, full opening week of college football season. Let's get excited, everybody. We are right there on the cusp. Your team is about to start playing. We're about to start learning what 2023 is going to bring. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow.