Andy & Ari On3 - Does Miami OWN the state of Florida now? | Who starts at QB for Penn State against Ohio State?

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

This show is brought to you by Panini America, makers of the most collectible sports cards on the planet. The Luminance football card series features NIL autographed cards from players including Arch Manning, Quinn Ewers, Cam Ward, Jalen Milroe, Dylan Raiola, DJ Lagway, and Luther Burden. To start collecting, visit PaniniAmerica.net. We’re also sponsored by Rhoback, the makers of the most comfortable and stylish hoodies, polos, q-zips, shorts and joggers. Use the code ANDY on Rhoback.com for 20 percent off for all new customers. That’s spelled RHOBACK.com. That’s 20 percent off all performance hoodies, polos and shorts with code ANDY. This show is also sponsored by PrizePicks, America’s most fun daily fantasy game. Use the code STAPLES to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/STAPLES Busy mornings, late nights, working through lunch—life doesn’t always leave room for a complete, balanced meal. That’s where Huel comes in. This podcast is sponsored by Huel, spelled H-U-E-L, The World’s #1 Complete Nutrition Brand. It’s a complete meal in seconds—just grab, sip, and go. No more skipped meals or unfulfilling snacks. Huel makes it easy with nutrition that fits into your life. And right now, you can try it for FIFTEEN PERCENT off with the code STAPLES at HUEL.com. Fuel up the easy way with Huel today! JLAB is gearing up for college football with some of the top talent in the game – from Travis Hunter to Ohio State’s Will Howard and Quinshon Judkins. These football stars embody JLab’s core values of innovation, performance, and excellence. Just as JLab pushes the boundaries of audio tech, these athletes redefine their sport with skill and dedication. Whether you’re traveling to watch your favorite team, or streaming the game on your mobile device, JLAB has you covered. Find the blue box at retailers near you or visit jlab.com.(0:00-3:54) Visit PaniniAmerica.Net Today!(3:54-5:27) Intro: Sounds ahead of Week 10(5:28-21:22) Does Miami OWN the state of Florida?(21:23-22:45) PrizePicks Ad(22:46-35:05) Who starts at QB for Penn State?(35:05-43:45) Discussion on Targeting, Refs(43:46-45:04) Try Huel today(45:05-52:08) No night games for Ole Miss(52:09-52:47) JLab headphones(52:48-1:11:37) Discussion on Colorado(1:11:38-1:14:59) Ollie Gordon ain't heard no bell!(1:15:00-1:17:57) Conclusion; Jack Tuttle News, Dear Andy & Ari Coaches have been talking, and we have been listening. Ari and Andy break down several very interesting press conference nuggets on today’s show. — Miami’s Mario Cristobal said recruits should pay attention to the trajectory the Hurricanes are on relative to the rest of the programs in the state of Florida. — Penn State’s James Franklin said injured QB Drew Allar likely will be a game-time decision for Saturday’s matchup with Ohio State. Franklin also dropped some hints about the offense with backup QB Beau Pribula.   — Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin complained that the SEC isn’t giving the Rebels any night games at home. Also… — Stephen A. Smith thinks Deion Sanders needs to be hired at a higher profile program than Colorado. — Michigan is having conversations with LSU QB commit Bryce Underwood. Is this the QB Big Cat was hinting at when he appeared on the show last week? — Oklahoma State tailback Ollie Gordon II explained why he hasn’t shut it down even though the Cowboys are having a terrible season. Watch us on YouTube instead! https://youtube.com/live/rmH-_9D6qKo Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

This show is brought to you by Panini America, maker of the most collectible sports cards on the planet. The Luminance football card series features NIL autograph cards from players, including Arch Manning, Quinn Ures, Cam Ward, Jalen Milro, Dylan Raiola, DJ Lagway, and Luther Burden III. To start collecting, visit paniniamerica.net. And I got a pack of Luminance right here, Ari.

Now you know a lot more about this stuff than I do. So you need to tell me if I, we're gonna rip this pack open right now. You need to tell me if I have struck gold. Because I'm just gonna play the game where I pull it, like if it's not one of the college stars that we just talked about, I'm gonna play the game that I always play

where it's an NFL guy and I'm like, okay, here's where I went to college. So that's just my default mode. So here we go. Well, I just want you to know, Andy, that I watch YouTube videos of people opening up packs in my free time. So this is electric for me. Alabama.

Woo! There you go. Hey, he played this week. He was not OK. Well, Sean Payton said they were terrible on offense. But OK, we got Bryce Young. Oh. I don't know.

We got we got we got Nick Bosa or we know this is Joey Bosa. I don't know where he went to school. Yeah, Ohio State, yeah. AOC, Aiden O'Connell. Purdue, Purdue, baby. We got a Devo Samuel Savage card. South Carolina. That's right. He was a Savage in that one game against North Carolina where he basically won it single-handedly. This is like a special card right? Because it says he's a Savage. That's called an insert. Oh I like that. That's a beautiful car. That's very cool.

Trey McBride. Very good young tight end for the Cardinals. Hey Andy, you gotta open, you gotta look at that closer because those are serial numbered. Oh, okay, okay. The color- Where do I find the serial numbers on the front? In Trey McBride-

Oh, I see. Oh yeah, this is out ofide. Oh, I see. Oh, yeah. This is this is a out of 150. Yep. Very nice to McBride went to Colorado State. There you go. We we got another guy who went to two colleges. So, you're gonna have to guess both of them with another serial

number card. Eric All now one one's obvious because he's in his Iowa uniform but where did Eric All go before he went to Iowa Michigan? That's correct Hey, it's the first defensive player drafted last year lie to lots of lot to lot to UCLA I have a story I have a story about lot to lot to

We can tell that whoa card Producer River, I think we'll know what this one, Whoa. Does he get to keep it? Yes. This is producer river's card. We're sending it to him. You got to get a sleeve and you got to, you got to get a top loader for that bad boy. Make sure that absolutely. How about that? Our first Panini pack on the show. We got an auto. We got a quarterback auto for our lovely producer who's a huge Tennessee fan. River, congratulations. You know what we'll do? We'll overthrow that to you. We'll get it to you, but it might,

you know, land in another county. What's that number to? That's a serial numbered card. Yes. Yes. We also got a Jared verse and aroma doomsday. Okay. Florida state and we have Washington. I, I got, yeah. These are awesome. These guys are all in their college uniforms. It's so cool. So Paniniamerica.net go visit. This is, we're going to do this every, maybe not every day, but we're gonna rip packs a lot of days on this show. So Joe Milton autograph, let's go. Time for the show. Welcome to Andy and Ariane Free.

I'm busting off that Joe Milton autograph right now. the any in our on three I'm busting off that Joe Milton autograph right now. I couldn't have gone better. Honestly, that was great. I had a great time. I love ripping packs, man. It's my favorite thing to do in the entire world. Oh, producer River. I cannot wait to overthrow that card to you.

Uh it'll be such a pleasure, but we have the Joe Milton card in the mail, Andy. Do they just mail it to the next county over? They must. They must. Or the next state by airmail. Well Rivers in Tennessee. So it's a, it's a skinny parallelogram. There's a lot of states around so it might end up in Kentucky if we're not careful. You'd have to deliver that into a tight window and you might air mail it. All right, enough Joe Milton jokes. We're actually going to have speaking of Tennessee quarterbacks, we're going to

bring Nick Roush back on the show for a few minutes tomorrow, just to torture him a little bit. Remember, a couple weeks ago, we were trying to talk to him about Kentucky, he decided he want to throw a stray at Nico Iamali Aba, called him a volleyball player who can't hit the go ball. Nico is going to throw for like 400 yards against Kentucky this weekend, probably, if Kentucky's performance is the last two weeks or any indication. So we're going to torture Nick a little bit on the show tomorrow, but we have much to talk about today because the coaches were all talking Monday and they had some very interesting things to say, but Ari We're gonna start with Mario Cristobal Because he said something very interesting after the game on Saturday night, but I want to take you back a couple of years

I want to take you back to the post-sale press conference after the 2022 Florida State game remember that game was 45 to three Florida State. Miami could not do anything. It was it was a sad game to watch for the hurricanes. This is Mario after that game. Trust me, no one feels this more than I do, but I I just I hate it for our people. I hate it for our fans.

I had for our players. We're in a building process and we're laying a foundation and gotta go to work and any fun and days like this are really painful. And there's no excuse, there's no side stepping or sugar coating it. So that's why I came here, gotta go to work. coating it. So that's why I came here. Gotta go to work. You see him hit that table Ari? I did. That's a theme. That's a theme. Let's go to Mario. After Saturday night's resounding win against Florida State. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that.

I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that.

I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. the state. smacking that table we're on the same page, Andy. Uh, I used a different quote from that press conference, uh, to start off. But I think that that's a really nice way to look at it because, you know, after that game two years ago, when they lost 45 to three, Manny Navarro from the athletic asked him about Florida state running up the score and I'm sure you've seen this quote, but if you're listening, you might not have heard it. Um, he said that, uh, you know, basically it's, it's Miami's job to stop Florida State and it's Florida State's job to score. He doesn't care about that stuff. And that one day the shoe will be on the other foot. Right. And when he said that one day could have meant any point in time, right? That's not a specific amount of time,

but one day turned out to be two years later. And the game was 36 to 14 on Saturday, but a meaningless touchdown at the end of the game for Florida State made the score look a little bit more respectable than the game actually was. And it's an interesting situation because now Miami is 4-0 against teams in the state. Obviously the two big ones were the blowout of Florida and the

opener. And then of course what happened to Florida state then? Uh, and I think that there is a clear identifiable growth within the program that Miami has had that, you know, is clear. Now I don't know how much of the 4-0 stuff matters when the two teams you beat are having really rough years, but you live in that state, you know how much it matters to the recruits in South Florida that Miami has on the up-and-up. So I don't know, Andy, how far Miami's season's going to actually go this year. I do worry about their defense. I don't know that I think that they're a legitimate going to win the national championship team right now. If they won it all,

it wouldn't be the most surprising thing in the world, but I think that that would be a pretty big long shot at the moment. But what I do know is, is that if you are looking at the year over year returns and growth of having Mario Cristobal as your coach, that being eight and oh right now and smacking Florida and Florida State

is a really important metric to track that. Now, here's the other thing too. I think that we can say without a shadow of a doubt that Mario Cristobal has been the most successful of the big three Florida programs at talent accumulation. Miami has collected players better than Florida in Florida State. Now, Florida State did it really well a few years ago in the portal and maybe did the best job any team has done in the portal during the Porto era at all. But in terms of year over year, consistent program roster building, Mario Cristobal is the best. Yeah, and Billy Deeper

has has gotten a great quarterback and has gotten some good high school signees. He's not done as good a job out of the portal with maybe the exception of Ricky Pearsall. Yeah, and also too, like it's the lines at Miami. Like they're not just recruiting sexy skill position players. And that's what they're doing mostly out of high school. Yes. Some supplementation out of the portal. In the two recruiting cycles since Miami's 42 point lost to Florida

State two years ago, the Hurricanes have signed a recruiting class out of high school that ranked number 8 in 2023 and number 5 in 2024. They're currently number 10 and also at the game there are more than 50 recruits. Andy more than 50 including. Four star cornerback.

Ben Hanks of Booker T Washington. He's a Florida commit four star linebacker. He's also a Florida, Florida legacy. Ben Hanks, his dad, the linebacker reporter, TJ Alford of porn state Lucy, uh, as an Ohio state commit four star defensive lineman, Jarquez Carter of Newberry high, also an Ohio State commit and three star cornerback commit Shamar Arnox of Carrollton, Georgia high school like he's a USC commit

They are like going to go on a flipping spree I think and they also got another commitment from a player that decommitted earlier in the month and Malachi Tony at a Fort Lauderdale American Heritage a school that I've actually visited writing about Torrance Gibson. How's that for blast in the past? I remember Torrance Gibson, heck yeah. I went there and there was a former 49er player as the head coach at the time and his name is escaping me at the moment.

I had ribs with Torrance Gibson at Mama Lucy's in Opel Oka after a seven on seven tournament. You did? Oh yeah, when he was in high school. Yeah, he was a good kid. Yeah. Yeah. Um and then if you go look at like Florida in Florida State, their classes are nothing right now. Like it's just not comparable. Like Miami, I guess Florida State's twenty-three which isn't terrible but it's not Florida

State quality and Florida is 33. And I think that part of the reason why is because Florida State's obviously having a really awful season, like truly awful. And Florida, the recruits are waiting to see what happens with the coaching situation. Like they want clarity on that. That's the hardest part.

It's like if a coach is on the hot seat, he can't recruit effectively, but then you hold the lack of recruiting against him because he's in a situation that he can't win in. So I feel Billy Napier in that regard. But in terms of the word that he used in the post game, trajectory, whose trajectory are you buying of the three right now? Now that will change in the step of a finger with the right higher but like at the moment.

Matt, Matt's in the chat, apparently doesn't watch games. Y'all the state is down all schools. And UCF is better than all of them. But Miami Miami has no D Matt doesn't watch games. Like UCF played Florida and it wasn't really close. Florida won and Florida is not that good. So, and UCF just fired the defensive coordinator. So really shouldn't be throwing stones

at other teams defenses. Also in the chat, give Alex Golis some talent and see what he does on offense. No, it's kind of Alex Golis' job to go get the talent, which is what Mario Cristobal has done. Now, this can change and snap up a finger because we started this segment with Mario Cristobal two years ago, lamenting a blowout loss to Florida state. So Mike Norvell was the king of the state.

Then he was the king of state last year, and now he is presiding over a dumpster fire. So it can change that quickly for Mario Cristobal, they lose Cam Ward after this year. They've got to make sure they have a quarterback either from the portal or one they've developed at a high school. You know, it might be Emery Williams who they liked and then he broke his arm against Florida State last year.

But they've got to have that part figured out. But what I like that they have done, and this is what Mario did it at Oregon to is They have built from the inside out If you can't block you can't win and they have brought in guys who can block if you don't have a D line that can reset the line of scrimmage you can't win and they have brought in those guys and the other thing is that type of team construction. Will will will work when you play teams from the SEC in the Big 10 in the playoff.

Yeah. And I think what you said is a really good point Andy about trajectory and program building like Florida State a year ago was undefeated and got screwed out of a playoff spot. Like Mario Cristobal is not making that message to brag that they won the game. Mario Cristobal knew that there were 50 recruits there. He knew a bunch of other recruits would be watching. I think that recruiting in Florida, especially in South Florida is a very front runner situation, um, where, Where kids from that area want Miami to be back before they take them seriously. And he knows that this isn't a one year proposition.

He's not at Miami to create a good season. He's there to create a good program. And I know that we came into the year one worrying about his coaching chops in terms of his game day management, but so far this year it's's been pretty good and his team has gotten a lot better. And I think the focus of this program isn't just about being pretty good right now. It's about signing really good classes year over year, becoming a cool proposition to kids in Florida again, actually doing what every coach and his predecessors wanted to do,

which is keeping top kids from Miami home. And that's how the U gets back. Like the U, like I think the U getting back is more complex than Texas getting back. Like Texas was always about just getting good again. But I think the U is back when everybody in South Florida is like rocking with the hurricanes and like people are like, I want to go there. Kids grow up dreaming of going there. They haven't been cool in 20 years.

During the lives of these guys who are recruits now. And so I think that this season, though Miami fans are still enjoying it and living it, is, is about trying to see how far this team can go. But I think this season's goal, which was to show that this team can actually be good and not a laughing stock has already been accomplished. Like Miami is already a team that's on the way up and Mario Cristobal is a coach that you have to take seriously

in the recruiting trail, which then I think will breed more talent, more dividends on that talent. And then maybe one day they won't need Cam Ward or they won't need to rely on Cam Ward as much as they do this year because their roster will be so excellent. That's the building process. But the thing is, they're good at getting guys out of the portal. Yeah. The guys they've showed, like Cam Ward, Damien Martinez, the

older Maui Noah brother who they got last year with the younger Maui Noah brother signing out of high school. Like they've done a really good job selecting guys out of the portal to compliment the guys they've gotten out of high school. Like that's the job now. And they'll still do it. They'll still do that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's part of the deal. Good Andy that they're not going to be living and dying every single snap of every single game based on how good Cam Ward plays. That's my only point. They're still going to go get Cam Ward. I wasn't saying

they're not going to try to go get him, but like how much of Miami's success this year is Cam Ward and that percentage is probably too high because they're they're still building but right. There's a lot of really good players in that state and guess what there's the number one thing that's also not talked about that much, but like Nick Saban is not there to go raid the state to go to LSU in Ohio. receiver out of state. Yeah. Think about think about how many times he took the best wide

receiver out of South Florida. Amari Cooper, Jerry Judy. Yeah, Jalen Wan. There's a lot of them. No, Jalen Wan from Texas. Sorry, he plays in South Florida now for the Dolphins. But yeah, and then and of course, Ohio State went and grabbed Jeremiah Smith out of Broward County. Jeremiah Smith have gone to Ohio State if Miami went 10 and two and 10 and two the previous two years, maybe he still would have because he wanted to be developed by it. I don't know. But like he was thinking about Miami at the end there, right? You think about them a little bit more if they're actually proven to be on the right track, probably, and they are. And I think I wrote a

story about this at the athletic two or three years ago. But if you go actually crunch the numbers of how many top 100 players Nick Saban took from the state of Florida, not just South Florida, but the entire state, I think you could act like with a straight face attribute that the demise of the big three in Florida is directly his fault or his doing like, it's like maybe it sounds dramatic, but. Kirby smarts not helping either like Jalen Carter from Ohio State. Yeah, so but I'm saying I'm saying if if if

Alabama's next from Jacksonville. I think he took like 15 or 1617 in a four-year period top 100 players. That's a lot of talent that's not playing in Florida and then you add into what Ohio State Georgia are taking and then LSU in Texas and all the other like there's a lot of talent leaving the state. There's enough talent in the state to make all three teams really good. But I think that there should always be one really good team out of the three, right? If not two, it shouldn't be they all stink because that means that something's going wrong and recruiting and Mario Cristobal from what I can see is the only coach right now that's actually doing the high school piece seriously enough to make them good. And whoever is coaching at Florida State and it's been a criticism in the first column or the second column I

wrote at on three was about how Norvell can't just win in the portal. You might have a good season but you can't build a program around that. You can't be transactional. Mario Cristobal is going to be transactional for three or 10% of it. And 90% of it's going to be foundational rock solid Florida recruiting and then watch. That's important. Meanwhile, I don't know if Billy Napier could save his job. It's going to be very hard. If he does, let's say by some miracle he does, he has to be more transactional. Like he's

got to be quicker and better in the portal. Because that's where they've failed. So yeah, Mario and Chris was balanced in both. He and Napier came in at exactly the same time. And he's ahead. Now if Napier could beat Georgia and Texas in the next two weeks, we would change our minds on that. But I don't know that that's going to happen.

Miami meanwhile plays Duke this weekend. Duke pushed SMU to the brink, took them to overtime last week, could not beat them in overtime, but that's your upset watch. Miami is a 20 and a half point favorite. I don't think Mario Cristobal cares about spread as long as they get the W, but Miami has the cleanest path to 12 and O of any of the teams that are still undefeated right now. So we'll see what they can do, but that is a pretty definitive statement from him after that Florida

State game and now. They can they can move their way to 9 and 010 and 011 012 and oh and then. Go to Charlotte Ari got a big game tonight Sunbelt. You're playing prize picks and if you're not, what the hell are you even doing? Download that prize picks app. Use the code staples play $5.00. Get $50 instantly.

There's a game tonight. You've got the Texas State Bobcats against Louisiana raging Cajuns huge game in the Sun Belt. Maybe you want to look at Jordan McLeod. His square is 254.5 passing yards. Do you think he'll throw for more or less than that? He is thrown for more than that in three of his last five games against ODU. He only threw for 173.

Will he light it up against what might be the best team in the Sun Belt? Louisiana, Asian Cajuns. Also, they're already starting to populate the board for the weekend. We got a couple Ohio State squares for that Ohio State Penn State matchup. Will Howard 224 and a half passing yards. He has eclipsed that in three of his past five games did not do it against

Nebraska came in just below against Nebraska. But will he throw for more than that? Also, yeah, Jeremiah Smith. What is Jeremiah Smith going to do in this game? 67 and a half receiving yards. He has eclipsed that five of the past five games, but this is probably the best defense they will have played. So what's going to happen?

Download the prize picks at play $5 get $50 instantly. You start looking at the board for this weekend right now. Ari, not on the board for prize picks right now and with good reason. Who's going to play quarterback for Penn State? Because we don't know that. Now James Franklin got asked about that on Monday and this was his answer which I thought was somewhat telling. Yeah, I think he's played enough football for us that that timeline will go all the way up to the game, really. I do think from a practice perspective, we're going to have to, no matter where we're at on Tuesday,

we're going to have to get both of those guys reps Tuesday and Wednesday. But it's too early to tell at this point, but he's played enough football that I think that decision will go all the way up to game time. But the reality is we're going to have to have both guys ready and you could even make the argument all three guys ready, which is challenging to do in a game week is to try to get all those guys ready. So have had some conversations with Danny and Andy

about that already. We'll continue to have conversations about it, but I do think Drew has played enough football that it'll go all the way up to game time till we make that decision. Yes, sir. So he's talking about Drew Allard, the starting quarterback who got

hurt against Wisconsin last week, came out at the end of the first half, did not come back in both for Bula. The backup played the second half Ari. And what James Franklin is saying is drew Aller has played enough that if he doesn't take first team reps at practice this week, but does feel good going into Saturday that they're comfortable starting him. So are you building your whole game plan around Bo Pribula? Because he's taken most of the reps in practice, probably at least early in the week.

What are you doing if you're Andy Cotolicki, the offensive coordinator there? Well, the one thing that I think we have to also mention about this, Andy, that we didn't on the show on Monday, is that Andy Koldinecki has a lot of practice with this because Jaylen Daniels got injured a lot at Kansas. And Jason Bean would come in. Jason Bean would come in and not just come in, like he was awesome sometimes. Now the thing about Jason Bean and Jaylen Daniels

is they are fairly similar in skill set, whereas Drew Aller and Bo Pribula are pretty different. Yeah, but he's not in a position right now where it's like, oh no, our quarterback got injured. What do we do? Like, I think that like reps in that regard probably help. But that's interesting because from a coaching standpoint, Andy, like, what do you do?

If the game plan is completely different, do you install the new game plan around both rula and then if drew Aller can play, you just revert back to what you always did, which seems like a losing recipe to me or like what's the coaching anecdote for this situation? It's a good question because the other part of what Franklin was saying about Drew's played enough football is they've practiced enough for enough games with Drew as a starting quarterback that if you go back to the plays that Drew is good at running, there's enough reps for all of the starters on the offensive line and the receivers in the backs to know exactly what they're doing. So you're not

really hurting yourself there in terms of preparation. They're prepared for that. Does it mean if Drew plays and he's ready to go and he's throwing effectively and playing effectively that you now have some little wrinkles you could throw in there with Probula? Because remember they were still playing Probula on occasion anyway. Which by the way, similar to what Andy Codle-Nickey at Kansas, where when Jalen Daniels was healthy, there would be Jason Bean plays, and sometimes, Jalen Daniels and Jason Bean plays. You know, we've seen a lot of situations this year, Andy, where a quarterback plays the first half or whatever, then gets injured, and then a quarterback with a different style comes into the game and then like just takes it over. Can you remember one from this past weekend where that happened? Yeah, Texas A&M LSU and oh, Brian, it's interesting. Brian Kelly was on fine mom yesterday

and talking about that and I was shocked at what he admitted because he's like, yeah, we tried to go back to some of the stuff we did in the Arkansas game to stop tailing green and it just, you know, it didn't really work. And I'm like, Marcel Reed started three games for these guys. You didn't prepare for the possibility during the week that that might happen. He might come in. And I think Ohio state's probably in a better scenario because they have to prepare all week and they know going into it. It's not like drew Allard plays two bad quarters

and they bring him in and then they start running all over the place and also too. I don't know if this is just perception and I could be wrong about this, but like Marcel Reed is much faster, right? Like in a much more dynamic athlete than than even Taylor, right? No, Taylor Green. Yes, Marcel Red is faster and they were very

like what Arkansas the way Arkansas runs Taylor Green and the way Arkansas runs Marsa or the way it's A&M runs Marcel Reeder completely different. Yeah, yeah, the plays are completely different. The blocking styles are different like. So to say we just tried to go back to some of the principles that we had when we faced a running quarterback like that. No, because you didn't face the same kind of running quarterback. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it's like,

I don't know if you tell me this, but I mean, I guess this is a different scenario because A&M did play read a lot. And like Wegman has not always looked great this year. I mean, I don't know that every three games it's it. You have to like I'm sure Shane Beamer this week, even though we're assuming reads going to start. I'm sure Shane Beamer and company at South Carolina are preparing in case they see Connor Wegman because you have to because they've all they've

both started that the same number of games. Yeah Yeah, no, I'm with you I'm with you It's like you can't get caught with your pants down in a game that you're gonna assert like maybe decide the SEC Championship game birth. So, you know, I'm with you on that So but Jim Knowles is going to be preparing for both. Like now they know. What I am curious about is obviously they've seen Pribula in the small doses. They saw him running the offense for a half, which I think gives you a good picture of what he can do.

But this gives Andy Codlnicki the opportunity to go in the lab for a few days and really come up with something. And I think that's something James Franklin also addressed, which I find fascinating. I think as a defense, it's difficult because I think when you're preparing for Drew and Bo will have his few plays that we sprinkle in there per quarter. That's difficult, but when the kind of the game plan flips, right? And Bo's in there, it changes it dramatically, I think, for the defense.

And that is difficult. Most people aren't built like that, right? Your quarterbacks are all similar type guys. And ours are very different in a lot of ways. I don't think we're in a situation where the offense totally changes. But what's nice about us, and it was a big reason in bringing Andy here,

is we do enough things and we have enough diversity within our playbook that we are able to focus on the strengths of the players that are in there. And that's all I really did on Saturday was just remind Andy of that because this was a little bit of a problem in the past in practice and in games

that you really should strategically call the game differently now with bow in the game and just and just reminding Andy of that let's call this game playing to to both strengths so that video by the way courtesy of our friends at blue-eyed illustrated that's on threes Penn State site which great coverage of the lines, by the way, from Sean Fitz and Greg Crickell Thomas Frank Carr. So. That's a message to Jim Knowles. That wasn't a message to Andy

Codell Nicky in you know, in the office. That's a message to Jim Knowles like hey, please spend all week practicing. God knows what, because we're going to, even if we're not going to do anything different, we we're gonna make you think we are yeah no it's all gamesmanship but Andy I know we're gonna spend a lot of time this week discussing whether or not Drew Aller or Bo Pribula are gonna play like don't you

think the likely scenario here is that they both will yeah uh no I think there's a chance to your hour doesn play. If his injuries bad enough, yeah, I mean for sure, like if he can't go, but I'm saying if he can go, I still think Bo will play your yeah, you're going to see Broperville because you would have seen him anyway. They are always sprinkling him in, but now they minus, you know, and it may be that he just showed in the game last week that he needs to be sprinkled in more. Yeah. And I know that people have concerns about his, you know, passing acumen and you know, at the beginning of his playing time against Wisconsin, there were a few balls where you're like, oh boy, that's not going to work.

And then I thought he settled down and did a really good job of, you know, you know, making some plays through the air. And you know, he's fast,, and gives you a different look. It's very hard to prepare for somebody who is a pass first guy and somebody who's as gifted as a runner who can also throw a little bit. So I think that Penn State does have usually an injury to your starting quarterback. It's like, oh, God, this is terrible timing. And nobody wants to watch this game if they don't feel like both teams are full

strength. But I think this might actually work out in Penn State's advantage. Yeah, it's going to be very interesting to watch. One other note about this game. So Arvel Reese, the linebacker for Ohio state, he got tossed for targeting at the end of the Nebraska game. The big 10 has overturned that targeting call and he will be able to play in the first of the Nebraska game. The Big 10 has overturned that targeting call and he will be able to play in the first half of this game. So that is going to be, you know,

a help for Ohio State as to their depth that they will not be without him. And that call was, if you saw it, you're like, I don't know about that. And the Big 10 agreed. So it's been lifted lifted he can play. That's the play that made Ryan Day fake throw his headset. Yes he didn't actually throw it it stayed in his hand. It's sort of like when Nick Saban almost threw his headset after Tua took the sack

on first down in overtime against Georgia. Probably glad he didn't because then he could hear the play call on second and 26 for the touchdown. Ryan Day, a little different situation. If you let go of the headset, and the headset hits the ground, is that a penalty? I don't know that that's a penalty. Is that the thing that caused him to not get penalized on that situation?

Because you could have gotten a penalty. No, they can throw a flag for whatever they want. If he'd said- I think it's one of those they didn't want to add 15 more yards in that situation. I those of you who've seen bull Durham, you know the one thing you can't say to the umpire like he said that to one of the officials, they probably would have said that. But I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing.

I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing. I think that's the thing. I think, the one thing you can't say to the umpire like he'd said that to one of the officials, they probably would have flagged in for 15 yards, but just acting like you're throwing your has even throwing your heads out. I mean, shoot, Steve Spurter through his visor all the time. He didn't get penalized was the case of the officials in that situation because they're already like Ohio State already just had a penalty that resulted in a first down and Nebraska getting a new set of

downs. Like they're not going to give them another 15 yards or something that they might consider tiki-tak. It was a sideline, they ended up giving him a sideline warning instead of calling it on sports like conduct. I know that this is an annual conversation, Andy, but I think at some point we just have to ask what is targeting and what is the fix to this? Because there has to be a distinction between lowering your helmet and hitting a defenseless player and just playing hard-nosed football. Also, the offensive player, the ball the ball carriers always lower their helmet. If if lowering your helmet and leading with the crown of your helmet gets a defensive player thrown out, why doesn't it get an offensive player thrown out? It seems like a double standard because remember that rule is to protect the person who lowers their head.

It's not to protect the person who's getting hit. Like that's the key because if you lower your head, you you you risk breaking your neck. I'll make it admission because I'm just a man of the people here Andy but we've seen a lot of targeting calls this year. There was one at the end of the Miami who are they almost lose to you know a few weeks ago before the it was the Cal game Cal game yeah that's right during the comeback and then there was this one and in the Ohio State game that could have, you know, Nebraska could have won that game. Like I can't emphasize that enough. They literally could have won. And I am watching it. And a lot of times, like as a person who watches college football all day, every day, sometimes don't know what it is, if it is or not. Like, like to me, it's like, did you like when you were watching the Nebraska Ohio State game, like everybody on Twitter was like, Oh yeah, I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think

I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think

I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think

I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I defenseless. I think if you have the ball in your hands, isn't that correct? Right, right. The ball carrier is not in a defenseless. So like how if you if you rule, I thought it was weird in the call that they ruled the play a fumble that Ohio State recovered, but the person who caused the fumble got flagged for targeting, which then gave them the first down like that was a very confusing set of circumstances for me. And I'm not saying they got it wrong.

I mean, I guess they admitted that they did, but it felt like something's off here. And like, I just don't even know what it is half the time. It's like, okay, if you have a person who lowers their helmet and they hit somebody with the crown of their helmet, it's obvious. All you need to know is when the announcers say, well, that's definitely targeting. And then the officiating expert, you know, Bill Lemaniere or whoever it is comes on and says, well, no,

it's not. And then the official is like, yeah, it is. Or vice versa. Like, nobody knows. Yeah. A more clear standard that is applied evenly. Because I actually, look, I agree with the intent of the rule.

I heard Steve Shaw, the director of officials for the country, you know, for the whole country talking about this last week in a video that he did. If you look at the number of targeting penalties that are being called, it's actually pretty low, which means those hits have been taken out of the game, which means the rule has served its purpose for the most part.

You don't have as much headhunting anymore. But they gotta find a way to apply it evenly. Well, here's what they need to do in my opinion. I think they need to call targeting targeting for one specific thing, which is lowering the crown of your helmet. And then everything else is unnecessary roughness at the ref's discretion.

Like if they did not lower their helmet and spearhead the person, then- Which you think is like spearing was against the rules like since the eighties. So it's not new and it's like, right. They could do it that way. If you are a receiver who is going up

to catch a pass across the middle and then a defensive back launches his body and hits you in the chest with his shoulder pad and it is just a unnecessary play. Then that is unnecessary roughness. But I think the problem with targeting is that there are nine different things seemingly that cause you to think it's targeting and we're not very clear. It's like, did you launch your body? Did you use the crown of your helmet? Did you hit them when they were indefensible? Like there's too many things that fall under the umbrella of targeting.

Targeting should be if you lower your head, like anytime anybody gets lit up, it's just targeting. And it's like, can anybody actually deliver a big hit? They're still allowed to hit people hard. Yeah. I saw one, I'm trying to remember the game. It was on Saturday and I apologize for not remembering the game. It was a beauty.

It was just a really great hit. A really great clean hit hit shoulder pad to the chest. Like prop, there might have been snot bubbles. I don't know, but it was clean. And the first thought like the announcers immediately go to it. What's that targeting? Like no. And they did, they showed the replay. They're like, Nope, clean hit. And the officials didn't call it. And it was great. But you're right.

Any, any Brady talking're like, nope, clean hit. And the officials didn't call it and it was great. But you're right. Any, any- I heard Tom Brady talking about this, Andy. And I don't know if college players are, and I'm sorry for hijacking the conversation. I do this a lot and that's a, it's a, it's a flaw of mine. But I think this is interesting. And I think people care about this. Tom Brady said that like,

cause you go and you watch NFL films, right? You know that dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. Oh yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And you like go back and like just watch highlights from 2004. Like it used to be the quarterback's responsibility to not let his players get let out to dry like that. Like part of playing good defense in football

back in the day was, I'm here not throwing over the middle because the safety is going to light up your dude if you do it. Like not even the hit, it's the prospect of the safety is going to light up your dude if you do it. Like not even the hit. It's the, it's the prospect of the hit. Right. And if a quarterback sees that a big hit is coming, that was a form of coverage,

even if you weren't on top of the receiver. And like, I think there was something to that that I like. Like I miss the fact that if you throw a bad pass or you are desperate to complete a pass and you hang your receiver out to dry that they would get lit up as a form of punishment for being in that situation. It's called a hospital ball. Yeah. They call it a hospital ball.

And quarterbacks should be taught not to throw them like, like honestly, cause now it's like you throw hospital balls all the time because you're not allowed to hit the player and it makes playing defense harder. So I it's like on one hand I 1000% agree with the reason why targeting exists. I'm not saying they should remove it from the game completely. These are our kids and ultimately the most important thing with football is you know the safety of it. I get it. I understand it. Right. You want, you want the game to continue because you don't have the, like, because if you have too many of those hits,

parents will not let their kids play anymore. Like I'm a parent of a football player, of a high school football player. Like I think about this stuff all the time. Like I think about, well, should I ask him to wear his guardian cap during the game? Cause he wears it at practice, but he doesn't wear it during the game.

Like I think about this stuff all the game? Because he wears it at practice, but he doesn't wear it during the game. I think about this stuff all the time. I watched two of his teammates, like two of his teammates, two brothers, one dislocated his ankle and one broke his elbow within like 10 plays of one another the other night. It was awful. And so, like that's the stuff you're thinking about.

And so anything that takes the possibility of a catastrophic head injury out, I'm all for, because I love the game. I love what it teaches people. I love watching it. Obviously I've built a career around talking about it. I want them to not have that stuff in the game because I want parents to feel comfortable

putting their kids in the sport so that it keeps going. But I also don't want teams to lose because somebody hit the other player I I agree. I agree at some point You've got it You've got to draw a line and they've got to figure it out They have to figure out a way to apply it more evenly because we've seen too many games get swung on it

where Three different people look at the same thing and saw something different Like it needs to be easier to diagnose. So we'll find out. But that actually cracked down. Like I watch a lot of NFL and like there doesn't really seem to be as many tick tack full crap. You breathe on the quarterback penalties.

Like they had a problem where any single time anybody hit a quarterback. I saw on the other day. They did a full weight penalty, which I like you you sacked the quarterback too like you succeeded as a defense got to the quarterback and sacked him but you hit him too hard like they don't have that in college yet and thank God they don't. Yeah but I don't know we're not in charge of this Andy I think what you said is the the main takeaway here which is you have to have the penalty to maintain safety and all the things that go around, you know, keeping safety, but you have to find something that is easy and simple and clear for everybody to diagnose. You can't

have the rules analyst disagreeing with the ref that's disagreeing with the analyst. It's like nobody knows. And that's the hardest part. And that is the ultimate form of grab at. And that is the ultimate form of grab at. Exactly. Exactly. Speaking of grabbing, you like that segue? It should literally go anywhere. Busy mornings, late nights, working through lunch. Life does not always have room for a complete balanced meal.

Like today, I've been very busy. I had to drop kids off at school. I had to pick up a retainer for one of my kids. I had to get a workout in before the show because there's too much work to do after the show to do that. What are you gonna do about breakfast? Well, I know what I'm gonna do.

I've got Huel, I've got the black edition chocolate flavor, 35 grams of protein, 400 calories, I know exactly what's in it, 27 vitamins and minerals. It's a complete balanced meal. So that's Huel, H-U-E-L, it is the world's number one complete nutrition brand, complete meal in seconds, just grab, sip and go, in fact, I am gonna have my breakfast while Ari is pontificating on this next topic.

Like when he's going on a long soliloquy, I will be drinking my breakfast and it's going to be amazing and it's going to be complete and I'm going to be full and I'm going to know exactly what I'm putting in my body. He'll makes it easy with nutrition that fits into your life. You can try it now with 15% off your order with the code staples at Huel Ari Lane Kiffin said something interesting on Monday. I know what you're thinking. Lane Kiffin said something interesting.

What a shock. So the SEC, the SEC is better about this now than it used to be because it used to be your game could be anytime. It could start anytime between noon Eastern and 8 Eastern and they didn't tell you until 11 days before or sometimes even six days before. Now they're a little bit better about that. They'll tell you when you got a noon game and then they'll say OK, you're either 334 1577 38 o'clock like

they're they're a lot better about it. But Lane was not happy because he just found out that Ole Miss is not going to have a single night game at home this year. Now it's the November 9th kickoffs, 230 for y'all against Georgia. So you got two morning, two afternoon kicks left. From your perspective or coach's perspective, is there any advantage at all to playing day to night kickoffs?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's proven over time in NFL and college, you know. Playing at night in electric atmospheres is a home field advantage and tough when you got to do that as a posing team. So that's been proven for a long time. So who went at night? LSU gets to play at night again, I guess.

Shocker. So that's two for two for them. It is an advantage. I feel bad for our fans, you know, not have one night conference game. It's really unfortunate for them. And so whatever. It's just really disappointing, but it is what it is.

Is it that disappointing? Like the idea of LSU getting a night game and that's that's the Alabama LSU game, by the way, like maybe you should have beaten LSU when you had the chance. And your game against Georgia would be the night game because Alabama LSU at night is a is a playoff elimination game. Like unless George is some way somehow loses to Florida. Ole Miss George is not going to be an elimination game for both teams.

So the stakes are higher in Alabama LSU also. Which blimp shot looks better to you at night Ari? Tiger Stadium with its hundred thousand people or Va Ari? Tiger Stadium with its 100,000 people or Vaught-Hemingway Stadium with its 60,000 people? Yeah, the thing that is, like I'm not that fired up about this cause like Lane makes me laugh. He's a shocker.

Like that's how I talk when I'm in confrontations with people I know. Is that like, it's kind of not in your control but it kind of is in your control. Like you can't make your stadium bigger, but you can make it louder and the games in it bigger. Right? Like, yeah. If you beat LSU, this game is bigger,

but you lost LSU and that's on you. And also too, I thought it was kind of funny that like Ole Miss just lost at night on the road. Like they don't just get it at home. They're literally three days or two days removed from when he said that to losing in a night atmosphere in one of the loudest stadiums in the country.

And the reason why they're playing at night. You mean LSU did. LSU, like he's making fun of LSU for getting all the home games at night. And it's like, they literally just went on the road and lost at night, two days ago. So the thing is, is that Ole Miss, though I saw a graphic,

I don't know how people do these like mathematical likelihoods of making the playoff. Like, is it the same thing? It's like, yeah, yeah. They don't know, because there's human beings that haven't met yet that will actually decide it. I just don't understand how that how that's even calculated, but this is a bad at math podcast Yeah, but I saw 20% for Ole Miss which is funny because like, you know if they win the rest of their games They actually have a chance to make it still so

you know they they have to You know take care of business. But Ole Miss is not the team. I mean, God, look at the schedule. You know, they really should have made it this year if they were the team that we thought they were. And they just aren't. So like, I wouldn't be complaining

about the night situation. I'd be looking in the mirror here, I think. Well, that, I don't think we're gonna get that. Cause that would require Lane to say something to the tune of what we shouldn't have lost all miss then. But that's yeah, it's easier to complain about the SEC than say we shouldn't lost all miss. So viewers shouldn't lost LSU sorry shouldn't lost LSU. I'm

getting I'm getting what he should have said wrong. So, yeah, or Kentucky for that matter. Yeah, see, that's even worse now seeing Kentucky and I realize Kentucky is probably a different team than the one that played Ole Miss because the Kentucky team that played Ole Miss had just kind of pushed Georgia to the brink as well. But, but if they wouldn't have lost to Kentucky, which isn't a big ask here, Andy,

for what they spent on the blocker. We're not asking them to have beaten Georgia. They would have been a one-loss team likely. We don't know what's gonna happen at Arkansas. I think they'll win that game. But they would likely have been a one-loss team hosting Georgia on November 9th. And in that situation, as a one-loss team,

I think they would have had a very good chance of that being a night game Yeah So yep Well, yeah On the one hand I do feel bad for all message like everybody should get the cuz SEC fans love night games They're not like remember the old pack 12. They would complain about night games and They'd be like how we can play at night. The SEC fans die for12 they would complain about night games and they'd be like, Oh, we can't play at night. The sec fans die for night games. They love night games. Who complained?

I would like every fan base to get, be able to get a night game or two, but the TV wants what it wants. They want that blimp shot of a hundred thousand people. And if you're the, you're the sec team with the 60,000 seat stadium, you're kind of going to get what you000 seat stadium, you're kind of gonna get what you get Andy, you know where uh, Feelings don't matter On right in the ratings book in capitalism

Yeah, yeah, it's true. Nobody cares if all my feelings are hurt. They want to print money. That's it. Go be good Then money can help them print money. Everything goes out the window. Every social situation in the entire world goes out the window if you can make somebody money. Have you noticed that? It's funny how that works, right? Yeah, funny how the rules are different from people who earn more or people who earn more for their company. It's just it's amazing. It's almost like Alabama and LSU earn more

for ESPN and the SEC than Ole Miss does. I don't know. Crazy. The ROI on the roster at Ole Miss is not, that's not how you drew it up. That's all. Nope. Nope. And you're right. Shouldn't have lost to Kentucky. shouldn't have lost to Kentucky shouldn't lost LSU. It really comes down to that Okay Let's talk about JLAB Ari Finest audio out there also They're teaming up with college athletes like Travis Hunter from Colorado, which we're about to talk about

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Find the blue box at retailers near you or visit jlab.com, That is jlab.com. All right. Speaking of Travis Hunter, let's talk about Travis Hunter's coach. Cause Stephen A. Smith had an interesting comment on first take. And he said, essentially the Texas A&M should have hired coach prime, that Alabama should have considered Coach Prime, and that Florida State Coach Prime's alma mater should hire Coach Prime. And I thought this was interesting. Now I know how you feel about this because you feel like he does not recruit the way

one must recruit to win at those places. I'm actually starting to question that a little bit as I watch Colorado improve every week. Hey, you know that Ace Ventura? He sucks up all the air before he goes on the Roger Padakter. Okay, I'm gonna go on a little bit of a rant here. I don't know if it's a rant. I'm gonna be calm. bit of a rant here. I don't know if it's a rant. I'm going to be calm. So Deon Sanders' lack of high school recruiting is turning out to not matter in the short term, right? Like, Colorado is much better this year than I thought they were going to be. I think most people thought they were going to be worse than this. So the fact that he was able to flip his roster, like Colorado might have a better offensive line

right now than Ohio State, dude. Like they have done something in the portal to improve this program, no question, right? But my thing with high school recruiting was a two-pronged issue, which is one, if you don't build your roster in a healthy way, it's hard to flip it into two years and create any sort of sustainability. Now, Deon Sanders probably would be great in the portal every year because he's freaking Deon Sanders. But the second

part of the prongs, the second prong is that if you don't recruit high schools, to me that sends a message that you don't plan to be there very long. Because you don't recruit high schools, to me that sends a message that you don't plan to be there very long. Because you don't, I feel like no coach would probably prefer to start over from ground zero every year, right? Like you want to have some familiarity, some players on your roster that you're developing so that by year three, four and five,

your team is much better than in year one and two. Is that a fair thing? Here's the thing. Well, here's the thing. Because the reason I'm questioning this was I'm starting to question whether we know exactly how this is going to look in the coming years. Now, I think there's a point where you get to where maybe it's collectively bargained. Maybe there's contracts. Maybe there is some security and some continuity. But I do know, like there are major coaches who've built their programs through high school recruiting who have just told their staffs, like starting this offseason, forget continuity, continuity is over. It's going to be like the NFL. We're going to have a radically different roster every year.

Get used to it, get over it. Maybe Dion was just a little ahead of the curve on this. And I know I because I should write it. Do it this way. That it won't work this way. I kept saying it won't work this way. You got to do it this other way. And the Colorado fans push back on me. The Dion fans push back on me.

And they said, No, he's got a plan and you'll see it'll work. Well, right now they're right. It is working because they're getting better. And I will say, because I always say you got to build on the line of scrimmage through high school. Like you need to be signing four and five high school offensive linemen a year. It is the Oklahoma conversation we had a few weeks ago. Now who did he sign at high school this this past cycle? The number one offensive tackle Jordan Seton, who is playing well and getting better every week. So that may maybe he's got got a better handle on this than we do. OK. I just don't know that I'm ever

going to buy into the notion that high school recruiting is dead. So like you know, I'm not saying it's dead. I'm saying he's doing some of it. He's got the best high school offensive tackle from last year, who is playing well for them now. It's one five star player to

commit to Colorado every year, right? But what if he gets more? What if he gets? what if he gets more? What if he gets more than that? Well, yeah. Well, yeah, that's what I want. I want him to get more. I want him to try to get more.

But I'm saying- He's not trying to get more. I think he may be able to get more than that without doing the things you think he has to do. Well, that'll be interesting. So this is an interesting- Because remember, they don't have a lot of, like they don't have a ton of NIL money either,

but revenue sharing is coming. So they're gonna have a budget. And I've talked about this with Clemson, I've talked about this with schools like Wake Forest, like the schools that did not have a ton of NIL money are now gonna have a budget of some kind. They're gonna be able to compete for the ones they really wanna compete for. And like, okay, not now, not an offensive lineman, but Julian Lewis, we, and we talked

about him a ton because he committed to USC, Colorado and Indiana still recruiting him. Julian Lewis was on campus in Colorado for the Cincinnati game. Like they're clearly still working on him. So I just, I don't know if this would work at an Alabama or Texas A&M, but it could work at Colorado. Okay. So Big Cat said that Florida State has a magic bullet. Stephen A. Smith's tweeting this. I think a lot of people think that Florida State, because this is what we're talking

about. We're not talking about whether or not he can win nine games in Colorado. We're talking about whether- Michael Corville has a 70 million dollar buyout. Okay, but let's pretend he had a five dollar buyout and then I could pay it. What's the number one concern at Florida State right now? Quarterback. What's the number one concern about the way the roster is constructed?

That they're too transactional, they have no continuity. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So now you want to take that and put it there? Is that what you is that what we're talking about? Yeah. Because it's a lot easier to be and I'm not like, listen, it's like, here's the thing. Here's the thing. No, no, no, let me, you can recruit out of high school at Florida State a lot

easier than you can at Colorado Even if you aren't going to every high school because there's lots of really good players who can just drive to your campus You can't do that at college. Like you want to get people to come visit you at in Tallahassee It's a five-hour drive from Atlanta. It's a four-hour drive from Orlando It's a three and a half hour drive from Atlanta. It's a four hour drive from Orlando. It's a three and a half hour drive from Jacksonville. Kids from Mobile can come on over kids from Birmingham can cut down like you can get good players to come see you. They don't even have to get on a plane. You don't have to work as hard as you do at

Colorado to get him to come see you. Though you absolutely don't. I don't know that I would want to hire a coach at a place that wants to win national titles that doesn't want to work as hard. Like that's the problem for me. But he's got an advantage that the other coaches don't, in that people want to come see him. Whereas if you just got a guy, or even if it's a good coach, they might not necessarily want to.

But now imagine if he had that advantage and worked really hard. I know, I get it. I said the same thing, but what he's doing is working. And we said it wouldn't. I'm with you. I don't want to disparage Colorado because what he's doing is excellent. I wrote a column last week that we should start paying

attention for the right reasons. Like in my my position with Dion is like I think a lot of people like came into this thinking, well, this is going to be a clown show. He doesn't know how to coach. He's got no coaching experience like he's hired a pretty good staff and even after the Sean Lewis thing, I was like, oh God, but like he's figured out a

way to put either. I would say their offense is more effective now than it was last year. So it worked. Yeah. But if you see you're in a position where you're doing all the things from a football standpoint, a program building standpoint that make me feel like, okay, that would work at a big place. The thing that scares me is that I have a understanding and a thought of what you need to be at those places and Deion Sanders with full effort is the like Deion Sanders was at least trying at Colorado because it's like oh well maybe he's not going on the road because he doesn't feel like they have the NIL money to go get it. Okay, fine. But trying there, I feel like it would work. But I'm not even sure that Deion Sanders wants to be a college coach long term. Like, that's the thing. Like, are we even sure of that piece of this? Like, do you think that it's like his life goal right now to build a long term sustainable football winner in college? Like, like, I don't know that any of his behavior is showing that he would do his thing.

college? Like, I don't know that any of this behavior is showing that Stephen A. I don't know that it is at Colorado, but it's, I know the Colorado people don't want to hear this. Like JD Piquel put out a video right after that Stephen A thing and said, what's wrong with the job he has now? Like, why can't he just stay at Colorado and do this? But give him truth, Sarah Mandy, right here in the neck. Dion, do you want to be Florida State's coach for the next 15 years? It's a good question. It's a good question. And I think his pursuit of the guy we would think would be the quarterback of the future tells you that he's planning on being at Colorado next year. Yeah. I mean, honestly, if you're if you're recruiting at that level and you're bringing guys in, I mean, honestly, if you're if you're recruiting at that level and you're bringing

guys in. I mean, that to me does say that it does. So it makes me wonder if you can go on the Oprah Winfrey show and SNL and all the other things he goes on. I think he should get on an airplane and go try to get a top. Do you know what Colorado would be if they worked the portal as good as they did and then signed top 30 classes? I might even ask him to go sign a top 15 class. The most talented team in the Big 12 every year. They would have owned the Big 12. And honestly speaking, I know Florida State and Alabama and Georgia and Ohio State are sexier big time programs, but in the new system of this sport,

if you're able to sign the types of classes that like even Kansas State signs and then you can go add five awesome players through the portal that are the skill position players and then maybe sign a five star off some tackle, which he's already proven he could do they would literally own the big 12 and create a winning like my criticism of Deion Sanders was never from a place of I don't believe this could work. In fact if you go back to the athletic in the weeks and months after he got hired at Colorado every single column I wrote about Deion Sanders was holy shit this is going

to be awesome. My disappointment with Deion has been the output in terms of the things that we expect coaches to do during the off season, during their Friday nights, like that he does not do, that makes me question whether he will ever be able to get to the potential that his star actually, you know, is. Like he is famous, he's articulate, he's funny, he's handsome, Like people want to be around him. People want to meet him. People want to fly to Colorado to see him. He has every advantage in the world. If he would just like, like wake up every morning, like Dan Lanning with that fire in his belly to go get kids, like you are driven not by Louis Vuitton jokes and cool offer letters. If you were driven Louis Vuitton jokes and cool offer letters. If you were driven by the pursuit of talent accumulation,

you literally, I don't even think it's crazy to say, I think that Dion Sanders could win a national championship at Colorado. I literally do. In this new world, if you actually got to a point where you used your star, your main qualification to recruit your ass off in the high school ranks and then go get the best players in the portal that you can get to supplement that roster.

If the sport is actually flat, like I think you could even make the case that it's easier to get to the position to win a national championship at Colorado than it is at Alabama. Now the last part is, and it's the elephant in the room, but it has to be addressed, is that if Colorado can't pay NIL money to high school players, then you'll never be able to sign top 10 classes. I don't care how cool D on this. They're going to be able to pay whatever the revenue share cap is. So why is Colorado not a place that he would, like if you want to be a great coach, what would be cool? I mean, I know alma mater is a strong pool for people.

I'm not going to discount that, but what would be the coolest? Like you took this program that was in the dumps. It was a shit program. There's no other way to say it. And then made them a perennial winner because you're Deion Sanders. What better ego boost is that?

Like I actually think that you are at a place as long as we are including the we're not in the super era or super league era, but Colorado legitimately could make the playoff this year if they win out, who knows how the big 12s like they could win the big 12 this year. That's not over yet. Not over at all. And so like the D on effect does stuff like even if you this is where I think the rev rev share thing is interesting because You do have a budget You may not have as big of a budget or you might not have a collective that kicks in as much

you know above that as Alabama or Ohio State does but you have Deon and that helps get you legitimate real like We just did an ad We Travis Hunter's in the ad. Like he's getting paid by JLab for that, by EA Sports, for that. And a lot of that is, now Travis Hunter is awesome on his own right. Who's the biggest star in the sport this year?

Dion Sanders. Well yeah, but who's the biggest player? Travis Hunter. You don't have to go to Alabama anymore to be a great marketing campaign. Like you don't. I just, and I don't know that Deion, I'm not even asking him, and this is the disconnect

I think people have with me. I'm not asking him to go put together a Georgia class. I'm asking him to go put together like, I don't know. Kentucky class? Yeah. Or a South Carolina class. A South Carolina class. Or Mississippi State class. No, a South Carolina class is exactly what you want because the South Carolina, like you look at Shane Beamer's recruiting over the last few years, like he'll sprinkle in five stars. Nick Marber in there. Yeah. Like, you know, they got guys. So like the thing is, is that like, I get called a Deion Sanders hater all the time.

And I think that's just the temperament of the fans who like root for Deion. I actually have so much love for him. Like in terms of like, he could be the person. We talk about what do you need to do? Like he could literally be- You're just, I'm not mad. I'm disappointed because you want him to-

Yes, I'm not mad. I'm disappointed. You want him to feel the same way about high school recruiting you do. But in his reality, he may not have to. And you're saying I want this ideal version. He may be like, I'm good enough with just getting them to the point where they can win the big 12. We're not inside his head, but.

What if he woke up with a man landing fire in his belly? That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. Don't you think that would be lethal? Oh, am I not allowed to be disappointed in that? That when he got the job? You can add if you want to. Yeah, I think you should tell him that.

Coach Prime. One day I want to. I just want to let you know how disappointed I am in you one day I want to I don't know that he would ever talk to me in one on one it's hard to get him because he's deon sanders and I don't think that we can have a real discussion about it in a press conference setting like I can't just ask one question without I do think in private he would talk to you about it if we have him on the show and just have a real discussion about what your plan is and how you view the sport, what you want. Like I don't know the answer

to these questions. I would love to hear his real perspective. Well, and I think that's what that's what I find interesting and why I think I might've been wrong on this because I was looking at it through a prism of here's how it's always worked. And the more this goes, the more things change, the more I start to realize I don't know how it's supposed to work going forward. And I don't know that a lot of other people do either. So everybody's trying to find the best way to make it work. What Dion is doing might work just as well as what we were suggesting. So I don't know. All I see is his team getting

better every week. So I'm thinking maybe he's got some he's onto something. So we'll find out. We have to say this right now. If you are a person who criticizes Deion Sanders and I've been, I don't know if you have much, but if you are loud when they stink, or you make a tweet that is a joke when they're getting their ass kicked by Nebraska, you cannot be silent when they're winning. You can't. Like that's not how this works.

So Dion, hats off to you. Like you're doing a really good job. Your team is really fun to watch. And actually I thought very disciplined. You would think they would, the way people view them, oh, they're in it for clicks, not wins, all that stuff. That reputation, you would think,

they would be not disciplined, they'd have a bunch of penalties, they wouldn't be prepared. They are prepared and playing clean football. They're coachable. And the thing is, they're now starting to do some of the things that you didn't think they were going to be able to do. Like I'm watching them run, you know, run into the end zone in the red zone.

And I didn't think they would ever develop a running game good enough to do that consistently, but they're starting to do that now. Like they, it's not, it's not perfect by any stretch, but it's good enough to do that consistently, but they're starting to do that now. Like they, it's not, it's not perfect by any stretch, but it's good enough to keep the defense from just teeing off on Chidur. Like they've done a good job figuring out what their weaknesses are improving on some of those things and then really kind of enhancing what their strengths are. So yeah, I hats off because I, I wasn't sure this was like, I thought they'd be bowl eligible.

I thought they would improve some this year, but I think they've improved quite a lot. So there's no question. There's no question. Very excited to see what, what this race looks like the rest of the way, the big 12 race is going to be fun going down the line. You got BYU, Iowa state, Kansas state and Colorado. That's pretty much that that's who's left in it right now. And you know, it could be a little bit of a jumbled mess there at the end, but I can't

wait to see how it turns out. Ari, speaking of the big 12, let's go to the bottom of the big 12. Because we talk a lot about the dudes who leave their team, who quit because of NIL, who just shut it down. I think we also need to highlight the players who, and this is most players, who do love their teammates, who love their schools, who wanna keep playing. Olly Gordon II came into the season, everybody thinking he's the best back in the country.

He had a great year last year. He has not had a good year this year. Oklahoma State has had a terrible year this year. They've been awful in Big 12 play. And he got asked about what happens now. Do you shut it down? Here's what he said. Because I finished what I started.

My mom always taught me that you finish what you start. And who would I be to give up on my team because our season not going how we want it to go? If that was the guy I could have given up last year, but our season was good. So just because our season not going how it's supposed to, I'm supposed to give up now? I find that that's really weird. And the way that people can just sit there and say that it's crazy. But I mean, they wasted their birthday in it because I'm not giving up on my team. I don't think it's crazy at all. I think that I really do think that's how most people feel. And I think that's how most players feel. We end up talking about the guys who leave because it's news when they leave. But this is how most players feel and this is a really good player who's going to go to the NFL and is going to get drafted and is

going to have a chance to make a roster no matter what he does the rest of this season, but I would imagine that if you're a GM, if you're a somebody who might want to might end up coaching Olly Gordon in the future, you're loving seeing that. Yeah, for sure. And it's a funny thing that you say, think about how many really good players just play and you never talk about it.

I think that most players feel this way, but it's always nice to hear. It's a good attitude. And frankly speaking, like, if I were him, Andy, and I'm a weak, weak man. I don't know that I would. I don't know that I would be strong enough to do that just because of all the money that's at stake,

but it's great to hear and great to see and you're rooting for guys like that. Yeah, yeah, and it's just been such a tough season for them. It feels like everything's gone wrong. I still, like, I'm now firmly convinced that Mike Gundy should do whatever he, he can to keep the expectations low at a calm state. Cause whenever we think they're going to win four games, they went 10. And whenever we think they're going to win 10 games, they went four.

Well, not four, they, they went six at least cause they have an 18 year bowl streak, which if you know the history of Oklahoma state football before Mike Gundy was the coach there, that's amazing. And it might actually end this year if they don't get off the schneid here. But yeah, it's really impressive and you hope that they can break through their play in Arizona State this weekend. Ari, if I told you before the season that Arizona State would be favored in Stillwater.

Come November. You thought I was insane. I would have thought you were insane. For sure crazy sport well. Good luck to Ali Gordon the rest of the way. There is no rest of the way for Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle. He announced his retirement for foot from college football yesterday. Uh, he's had an elbow injury that never quite healed.

He just suffered his fifth concussion. So he said he's got to put his health first. And so that's, you know, you, if you're wondering why Michigan went to Davis Warren when they did, that's, that's what happened. Uh, but it was, it was tough reading that from Jack Tuttle because clearly he does not wanna be shutting this down. He'd love to keep playing, but sometimes the body just doesn't let you play.

Yeah, yeah, and good luck to him. And I guess the experience of playing there and at the other three places or two places he played will carry him through to Probably find some great success in life or rooting for him Oh, yeah And that's the thing you talk to the Michigan guys who play with Jack Tuttle like Jack told him we find like whatever He wants to do he's gonna be good at but good luck to Jack Tuttle going forward

great career It's been a lot of fun watching you Ari it's been a lot of fun talking about all this. You need to get in the kitchen. Because tomorrow is a Wendy's Sauciest Take Wednesday. You owe me three saucy takes. I will be judging the sauciest of the lot. We want no vegan nugs.

Like, sauceless vegan nugs are what we're worried about. I think I had one sauceless vegan n nug take last week and I promise I'll never do that again. The last time I was in the kitchen, I dropped a knife off the kitchen counter that landed on my foot facing downward. So that's how things are going for me today. But hey, you know what? I'll get back in the lab and I'll come up with some and it wasn't a butter knife like I have like a dash in my foot right now. Your life is such an adventure. I'm just trying to make a sandwich for my

daughter. That's all I was trying to do, but I'll come up with something. We're we're gonna be ready to roll. I thought that was a really clean, efficient, entertaining, and passionate show and I was I was I said that we got on tape. I like I like we let you cook on Dion. We let you cook on on Mario Cristobal. I'm good with it. By the way, I want to let you guys cook too. Thursday as you know is a Dear Ari and Andy show. Send in your questions. You know where to find us on social media. I'm at andy underscore staples on all your various social media platforms. Ari is at

Ari Wasserman on your various social media platforms. Ari is at Ari Wasserman on your various social media platforms. You can also email your question to Andy Staples on three at gmail.com. It's Andy Staples on three at gmail.com. You know, we love your questions. They drive the show now. It is 1050 a.m. on the East Coast, 10 minutes from now on this here on three sports channel on YouTube. You got the hard count with JT Bichel. So go say hi to JD, get in his chat, chat him up. We'll talk to you tomorrow.