Andy & Ari On3 - Georgia OUTLASTS Georgia Tech in EIGHT overtimes | Is the SEC mid this year?

Episode Date: November 30, 2024

You’ve had Wendy’s Nuggs dipped in sauce. But have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy’s New Saucy Nuggs take the Crispy and Spicy Nuggs you love and turn them up to 11. Choose between flavors like Buffalo. Honey BBQ. Garlic Parm. Or, if you’re a real heat seeker, try Spicy Ghost Pepper, only on Wendy’s signature Spicy Nuggs. Georgia Tech went into Athens and shocked Georgia, and now the College Football Playoff picture is more muddled than ever. Is the SEC title game going to be winner-in, loser-out scenario? Does that depend on whether Texas or Texas A&M wins Saturday? Also, Ari wonders if the SEC is just mid this year. Subscribe to On3!   youtube.com/on3sports/?sub_confirmati... Welcome to On3 | The best of college football and recruiting https://www.on3.com/ Listen to Andy & Ari On3 on podcast! Spotify  : https://open.spotify.com/show/5AhQ4d2m5TQu5Q2vkwtxjt?si=d9016221aa2a4427 Apple :https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-staples-on3/id1695325427 Follow Andy Staples on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Andy_Staples Follow Andy Staples on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andy_staples Follow Ari Wasserman on Twitter: https://x.com/AriWasserman Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/on3sports Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/on3/ Like/Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/On3Sports/ Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey

Welcome to Andy and Ari on three presented by Wendy's your instant reaction to eight over times between Georgia and Georgia Tech. Ari, holy crap. Holy freaking crap. Andy, we got to stop these Europeans. I'm just saying. Well, it's penalty kicks. Yeah. It wasn't even football at the end. Yeah, not football. I don't know what this beans with breakfast thing is, but they don't need to infiltrate our sport. Um, that was at the same time electric. I mean, like, wow. Yes. Yeah. I mean, people were, I was in, I was jumping up and down. It didn't matter who did what, like it was just whatever happened. Like, oh my God. Yeah. I was just absolutely dumbfounded by that entire game. And like, there are two ways this conversation can go. Like we can have a real conversation about Georgia, what this means for the SEC championship after they just got done playing two full football games, basically. Um, or we could talk about the grab ass or we can

do both, but like, well, I think we should do both. Like Georgia tech just had no, uh, two Two point conversion plays which may be the reason why they didn't have the one where they they had the offensive line off to the left I I and they got it. They got a pass interference penalty out of that like buzzing off of the game You said buzz. I can't remember Like how many times did the overtime advance because neither team got it was that like five of them? They both got it once. Or was it like seven of them? It was, it was six of them. Six of them. They both got it once. Neither of them got it six times and Georgia got it the last one and Georgia Tech didn't. Yeah. Um, so I really, really am torn with this Andy because I like how exciting and fun that was. But I also

am not satisfied by how that game was decided because it wasn't decided by playing football. Well, I mean, I don't know if people care about that right now. Well, I remember watching the game that caused the rules to change that Texas A&M LSU seven overtime game. Is that like five years ago now? It was more than that. Yeah. And it was coach O was coaching LSU was early in the coach O tenure. And that one, like if you have that, and then Georgia advances to the SEC championship game, let's say Georgia tech was playing in the ACC championship game. They both lose because of that. If you had them playing essentially two full games. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and in previous formats too with the playoff that could have been a detriment but like the

Georgia Bulldogs won now the game if they would have lost wouldn't have technically done anything to them had they won the SEC championship the fall right but I think I think it would have made it a win in, in, lose an out situation for Georgia. Now it depends on if Texas or Texas A&M wins who they play. But I remember seeing in the first half of the Georgia Tech Georgia game, they had the all state playoff predictor, however that's decided. And it said, Georgia still had a 97% chance of making the playoff if it, if it lost tonight and lost the SEC Championship game or or maybe 79%. I don't think that would have happened. I think they would have been out. Yeah. Um. Yeah, no, I that that math is is is European math. I don't know. I do think they're probably in now win or lose probably, but I don't think it's a guarantee probably still

in win or lose. I don't know Let's just get into it. Okay, so I wrote a column you edited it It's not on the internet right now because it needs to be reworded a little bit because Georgia ended up winning But does this make you all re taste of how the sausage is made? Yeah. Yeah Yeah, I mean it looked like for the entirety of that game that Georgia was gonna lose and you know Yeah, frankly speaking had Haynes King that got spearheaded, you know, well, let's turn the ball. Let's talk about that. Michael Morgan asked, can someone explain to me how Target even wasn't even looked at on the fumble targeting was looked at because they reviewed the fumble

to make sure it was a fumble at any point during that, if they thought targeting had happened, they would have said, we're reviewing this for targeting and they would have ejected Dan Jackson for targeting. Well, yeah, well, nobody knows thought targeting had happened, they would have said we're reviewing this for targeting and they would have ejected Dan Jackson for targeting. Well, yeah. Well, nobody knows what targeting is anymore. But if you do know what it is, it looks a lot like what we saw in there. I mean, that's what I mean. Like from the angle you saw his helmet comes in Haynes King looks like it's hitting the he's hitting the face mask. It pops up. And so that was

and it was it's an SEC crew. They're obviously biased. I will point out the referee in this game. Yes. It's an SEC crew worked for the ACC for a lot of years before this year. I don't like doing that. Yeah. Rabbit hole. This crew, this crew also worked the Georgia Ole Miss game, which did not go particularly well for Jordan. Yeah. I don't know if there's people out there that believe that the refs are pre-determined to screw. There was, there was the holding call. They absolutely missed. They missed on a Georgia touchdown drive. On the game tying Georgia touchdown drive. That was like

somebody ripped somebody's arm out of their sock. Yeah. It was a clear hold. Yeah. It was a hold. And then the, the targeting thing was definitely, but Georgia came back and won the game. Okay. But for the most part of the game, but guys says Andy won't even admit clear target. I saw one angle of it. We never saw another angle of it. Yeah. The one angle of it looked like again, I will say a bad job by the ESPN crew, not even exploring that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was, they were too busy saying if Georgia won, they were in the playoff. It was a talk of X. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was, they were too busy saying if Georgia won, they were in the playoff. It was a talk of X. Yeah. And we were in my living room talking about it. Like what the hell was that? So, I mean, we're acknowledging that I'm not going to say that Georgia only won because I said it when it happened. I said it when I saw the play when

we saw it. So, um, but from a competitive standpoint, we're talking about a Georgia team that was an 18 and a half point favorite. They came in and for the majority of that football game, I think we could say that they were just physically being beaten by Georgia, right? Or Georgia Tech. By Georgia Tech, yes. So they come back, they win. This team has been resilient this year. Even the Alabama game, they were getting blown off the field and they came back and took a lead even on the road. They deserve credit for winning the game because at the end of the day, all it matters is winning or losing. They didn't lose.

But does this impact your viewpoint at all about the sec, how it's being framed in the college football playoff race? Yes. And. Okay. So you're, are you, you're starting to be with me on this a little bit. I'm not starting to be, I've been with you for a lot of the season. you're starting to be with me on this a little bit. I'm not starting to be, I've been with you

for a lot of the season. So, like I, my saucy take in week five was the two best teams in the country are in the big 10, and I think that's aging pretty well. I think the two best teams are in the big 10, but the thing that I'm interested in is, you know, eight days ago, we were having a legitimate conversation

and I was fully on board with it. Like, I'm not gonna pretend like I've been like above the SEC hype. No, you were all in on Ole Miss eight days ago. Yeah, like I was fully on board with it. Like I'm not going to pretend like I've been like above the SEC hype. No, you were all in on Ole Miss eight days ago. Yeah, like I was all in and like I still struggle with it Andy because like if you were like, yeah, your Mr. Serves matter. If your life depends on Ole Miss playing Arizona State, who would you pick? Like I would pick Ole Miss. Like I'm, I'm, I have a brain and I've been with you people for the last 20 years. Like I, I, I, there's been no argument.

They have unequivocally been the best conference in college football for the past 20 years. We have all the titles, all the recruiting, all the draft picks, all the things that made them so great. I'm not denying that they always overrated. Georgia Tech is not an ACC championship team. No. They are a team that has now lost

five games. They came into this with four losses. Yeah, they were not going to the ACC championship game. So you can't say, well, if Georgia played an ACC schedule, they'd be like, you would run into a Georgia Tech. You would run into a Miami, you would run into an SMU. You can't, you can't say that right now. Yeah.. So for me, it's kind of a... I've got a big beat. That Florida team that Georgia struggled with, Miami blew off the field on the road. So all of these SEC talking points though,

about talent and draft picks, were like my playbook for 20 years. Yeah, I know. It's hard, right? So I'm having a hard time with it. The good news is you still have Ohio State and Oregon. Yeah. I mean, Ohio State in Oregon for the time being are doing okay. You know, it's it's midnight almost. It is on the East Coast and the Michigan game hasn't happened yet. So, you know, there's plenty of grab ass that could still be ahead for us in the next 24 hours. But I have to come to terms with the fact that there is no empirical evidence from what we've seen on the field this year. Right. That's it. Most years the sec has some non-conference wins where you're like, Oh, well that explains everything. They do have Georgia over Clemson and Clemson funny enough is like a fringe

playoff team. And we're going to get Clemson South Carolina tomorrow to help parse that a little bit. But the thing that I'm struggling with is when we had that conversation eight days ago and I was like, yeah, bet Ole Miss to win the national title 11 to 1. Like there's no running away from that. And I still have a hard time even writing the words because I'm so ingrained into expecting that it's Ohio State and the SEC, because those are the only teams that have have recruited and accumulated talent at that level. But if we are going to actually break down the sport in 2024, where the previous era does not play a part in how we analyze it, and we are flattened of the curve, and teams are closer

than they've ever been, we have to acknowledge that beating Alabama and beating Georgia does not mean the same thing right now as it did in 2020. It doesn't. So you can't have five teams or six teams in the SEC with their entire resumes bolstered by wins over Alabama and Georgia when it becomes more and more evident every single week that those teams are not those teams anymore. They are on their helmet, but those teams are not as deep as they used to be.

No. I mean, Alabama just went lost by three touchdowns to a bad Oklahoma team. Tennessee's entire playoff resume, and I'm not isolating Tennessee, it's just the first example that came to my head, is bolstered by beating Alabama. And it's like what does that actually mean? So as we're going through this playoff discourse for the next 10 days, and we go through and get more context on Saturday and then championship week in the following weekend The question has to be asked like is SEC a five bid league like in my mind. It's not well I don't so I don't think it's in anybody's mind. Yeah, but it was a week ago So and there are still people here's the thing about this though. The SEC is gonna get three teams. Maybe four teams in

I don't think it's a four team league Whatever they'll get three or four. That will happen. One of those two things will happen. And if they win a bunch of games in the playoff, then they win a bunch of games in the playoff. And they still might. I'm saying that they can't like if Georgia plays its best football, which we've seen for all of five quarters this

year, they can beat anybody in the country. I would not like go to bed like in shock if they'd be Oregon or if Miami if Miami beat Syracuse tomorrow, you feel better about the ACC is a two bid league. I think they absolutely should be a two big two bid league. I don't think that like I don't need to reserve a spot for Alabama on this playoff. Like to me, like Alabama is I don't think they would be. I don't even think Alabama is in the but I don't need to reserve a spot for South Carolina. I don't need to reserve a spot for any of these teams.

Like you could say, well, what would SMU do with an SEC schedule? And we could sit here and say, yeah, they probably lose three or four games. And even if we think they would, we don't know that anymore. We used to know that. That's the thing. We just don't know. And it's OK. That's great. They're going to play. Like the SEC is going to get teams into the playoff. And if the SEC teams dominate in the playoff Teams that we thought were better than them

Then we'll have an answer Arizona State could be Ole Miss on the right day Cuz like that's I watched Florida beat Ole Miss last week in person Yeah, it's like but like how good do we think cuz Arizona State is behind all those teams in the polls with one fewer loss And the reason why they are behind them is because they're perceived to play a weaker schedule. They are perceived to be inferior. And in the past, I was all about the perception because we had hard data and roster numbers to back up those perceptions. But if we don't have them anymore, then we certainly can't fall back on them right now. And that's the whole thing for me.

It's like, is the SEC the best conference in America? I think you could make the case that maybe it is. The only thing I'm trying to get across is that you cannot say it factually anymore. You could three years ago, you cannot say it factually. And it's okay. Now it's just an argument. And people are still going to love having the argument all week. Yeah. In Dennis 133, we do need to point this out. Okay, sucks that Georgia Tech lost, but recruiting is improving. This is just the beginning of them building. So I think Brent Key has done a tremendous job. Yeah. We do need to give Brent Key his flowers because he has turned, like think about when he took over that program, when Jeff Collins got fired, Brent Key was the interim guy. He had to fix the punt team the first week, like, because they kept getting

punts blocked. Like they're a legitimate tough out. They have a huge run against Miami this year. I do think like they're gonna get better if he keeps coaching him and Haynes King played his ass off Buster Faulkner. I don't know if they're gonna be able to keep him because with all these OC jobs are gonna be open Buster Faulkner is gonna be the bell of the ball. Once this once this all the hiring opens up. Yeah. And like the thing that you have to say too is that like Georgia Tech

played a very physical game. I thought they did a really good job drawing up plays. They got the thing that you have to say too, is that like Georgia Tech played a very physical game. I thought they did a really good job drawing up plays. They got people open that tight end played his ass off. Yeah. King played his ass off. Like that was a four quarter plus game that they were like in it every step of the way. So like, but like that's the thing. It's like if we're at the point of like give Georgia Tech credit mode, I'm all for it. But like we're not giving Georgia Tech credit 5 years ago in this game. They're getting their ass kicked. Like, and maybe they're better. And, and so last year, last year, they played Georgia within 8 points. And I think that was a better Georgia team than this team. And this year, they played them to 8 overtimes. Because Georgia Tech is better than last year's

Georgia Tech was, and Georgia is worse than last year's Georgia was. And now it's like making me rethink like we've been just saying all week that South Carolina is going to beat the crap out of Clemson. Like are we sure? We don't know. We don't know. Like that's so like I still I still think South Carolina is going to win the game. Yeah.

I mean, I think that they will too. But you know, the line never flipped. It's still Clemson is a two and a half point favorite. Yeah, it's worth as much as everyone else's perception of it. You know, I could say with a straight face two years ago, who was gonna, I could have told you in week zero, one of the four teams that will win the national championship. And for the previous 10 years, I was right every time.

It sucks, but also awesome that I can't do that anymore. I can't do it right now. Yeah, and that's the thing where, you know, I think people think we're bemoaning this. This is not a bad thing. This is good for the sport. This this makes everything more interesting It makes the playoff more interesting believe me fans of SEC schools It will make it more interesting if SEC teams win in the playoff Because then you can say told you if that happens if it doesn't happen then the other

Fanbase is like told you yeah Yeah, and like we'll get to use the playoff actually instead of meaningless bowls to actually keep score that stuff But like there is a reason to keep score There's a reason to keep score So yeah On a cuno so you're telling me my pitch for a 7 seven win Oklahoma team with wins over Baman possibly LSU to make the playoff hold Snow Water. I am so sorry. I am sorry. That would be a hot finish to the season though. Yeah, and I bet you

there would be quite a few SEC fans out there that would be like, hey, you know, he's got a point, you know, like the dismissal of losses for SEC schools because they lost the teams that are we're finding out our average is just humorous to me. Humorous. Well, and that's the thing that they're not the gap is different. And you can say it's because however you want to explain it away, whether the middle and the bottom of the SEC are better because of NIL and transfer

portal, whether everybody's better. And the top of the SEC is just not as good, because it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is, there aren't super teams sitting atop the SEC anymore. There just aren't. Yeah, and you know, maybe we'll find out there aren't super teams in the Big Ten or anywhere else for that matter. And like this, like, here's the thing. If I had to pick a national champion right now, I would feel pretty confident in saying it'd be Ohio State or Oregon at the moment. But nowhere near as confident as it would be to say Ohio State, Alabama or Georgia before the year, three years ago. So like we were going into a playoff system. We've got to, I don't know if we need to do like electroshop treatment on you.

No, it's hard like we have to get you out of the mindset of this team signed X many five stars more than this. Like. If you get if you work your roster through the portal, it doesn't matter how many five stars you signed. It matters how many good players you have right now. Yeah, and like. I'll give Doug Lamarie's credit for this because he's somebody you talked about this and I was listening to it, you know, 18 months ago. But like from the stars matter era, you would break down rosters from one to 85. Yeah. And a lot of these

teams in the in the thing is though, like, yeah, 50 to 85 don't play. So it doesn't matter point. Yeah, like it's like you got to break down top 40. Yeah, or top 30. Because those are the players who are on the field playing like if you have a five-star quarterback and freshmen like eight five-star freshmen on your roster You could skew the numbers on team total talent edition, but that doesn't really have a thumbprint on what's going on on the field I think I think that better the better measure now is How many NFL players are on your roster. Yeah.

And I think, cause if you go back to Michigan last year, Yeah, they're the, they're the, like that's a great way to measure that Michigan team because it's not about what they signed, although they had a couple of five stars. Yeah. But they had the most NFL talent on their roster of anybody at the end of last season.

Yeah. And then you go down that rabbit hole though, and it's just like, how many first rounders do you have? How many, like, cause like Ohio State, Michigan Ohio state, but if we play that game right now, I do think Ohio state and Oregon probably are coming out on top. Yeah. Well, I think Ohio state last Ohio state is one of it in that measure. Probably. I don't know. I'd have to go look this up because I haven't done it yet. Michigan like broke draft records last year. So they had a ton of players. They didn't end up breaking a record but it was one of the doors or maybe the night to that night, but the point I'm gonna make is that like

if you add up all the players who have played in that game last year that they lost in if Ohio State will end up having more first day players or first right a player because that that was what Nick Saban's Alabama and Kirby Smarts, Georgia always had over everybody else. They had Ryan Williams. It's not just that they get the guys drafted. They're getting the guys drafted the first, second, third rounds.

Well, they have guys on the team that are transcendent. It's not just NFL guys who is going to make a roster or be a fifth round draft pick. It was dudes that were being taken in the top 10 who could literally lift a refrigerator with their pinkie and take over a football. But if you look at the mock drafts now, look at how spread out the first round talent is.

And I think that's what's happening. And it's fascinating to watch. It's going to be really interesting to see once the playoff begins. And I realize, I'm seeing the chat. I know everybody wants us to say the fix was in. I don't think the fix was in. If they screwed up and it was targeting, they screwed up, but they looked at that play for five minutes to determine whether it was a fumble or not. If they thought they saw targeting,

I think they would have called it. Yeah. No, I mean, I'm not even going to talk. I could... Now they did miss a hold and the other one was they called P.I. I think the ball was tipped. Yeah. I don't know if that was definitive,. I think the ball was tipped. Yeah. I don't, I don't know if they also definitive, but I think the ball is Georgia tech on a, on a P I in the back of the end zone. Uh, no, I'm just saying like if they were, if it was rigged, they wouldn't be calling game altering pass interference plays with the game on the line. It's the same thing that they were doing with Miami all year. Yeah. I don't, I don't think the fix was in. I, I hope not. That's, that's a crew led by a referee who's worked the national championship game. Yeah. While a member by the way, while working for the ACC, not working for the SEC at that time. So

so anyway, well, it's gonna be a really, really good day. Yeah, we're going to the Texas Texas A and M game. So guys, before we go, I want to show you, I did say I wanted to see this live. I have now seen Ari writing on his stomach live. Here's a screenshot. Look at this. So look at my ass is out. Thanks, man. Well, your ass is not out. That's, that's right. There's more. Your midriff is you were going to show them the fireplace. His, his laptop is over here. Oh, I'm sure that too. So we have done a little home improvement. Ari has a fire pit that he was afraid to To use I showed him how to buy a propane tank at Home Depot Yeah, and then we we got the thing lit and a cute little mandate. It was lit

Brit look at what your husband did Look at this. Let's look at this. I mean look at this man. I made fire. I made fire Okay, he is Prometheus. So Ari, do you know, by the way, bad job by me producing this segment, but I think it's a wonderful job. Do you know my ass out? Yeah, I'm gonna leave that picture up there. Do you know, by the the way what happened to Mereus? I don't even know who that is. The the the Titan God whatever it's hard to say what he was. Was it like a Roman Empire thing? This is Greek mythology.

Greek mythology. Gave gave gave man fire. Zeus had him chained to the side of a rock and has like a you know a bird picking at his liver, his exposed liver over and over again. Exposed liver was on that couch about an hour ago. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. All right. It has been quite a night, eight overtimes

in Georgia and Georgia Tech. Georgia survives 44-42. Lots of games tomorrow. Clemson, South Carolina, Notre Dame, USC, the iron bowl, Texas A&M and Texas in Kyle, in Kyle, Kyle field college station. I was, I couldn't decide which one to say in Kyle in Kyle field, which is in college station. That is where we'll be. And of course we'll be talking to you after the big results and 1130 PM Eastern Saturday night. We will attempt to make sense of it all right here on the on three sports YouTube channel.