Andy & Ari On3 - Joel Klatt Joins | Week 13 Picks | Ohio St - Michigan | Oregon St - Oregon | Florida St - Florida
Episode Date: November 21, 2023It’s our Week 13 Picks Show with Jake Crain from Crain & Co., but first, we have the great Joel Klatt to discuss the state of college football all throughout the nation.These picks are sponsored by ...Fanduel! Visit Fanduel.com/Staples and use the promo code Staples. Right now, new customers get $150 in Bonus Bets with any winning $5 moneyline bet! Thank you to FanDuel* for delivering the lines for this week's slate of games!Thanks also to Gametime for sponsoring today's episode! Week 12 is days away, don't miss your chance to watch your favorite team. Download the Gametime App and enter code: STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Last Minute Tickets, Lowest Prices, Guaranteed.(0:00-0:51) Intro(0:52-17:26) Joel Klatt Interview(17:27-24:59) 12 Team playoff Hypothetical(25:00-30:41) Jake Crain, Picks Intro(30:42-37:13) Ole Miss - Mississippi State(37:14-44:04) Iowa - Nebraska(44:05-49:21) Texas Tech - Texas(49:22-56:59) Oregon State - Oregon(57:00-1:03:16) Texas A&M - LSU(1:03:17-1:10:39) Alabama - Auburn(1:10:40-1:17:22) Florida State - Florida(1:17:23-1:24:29) Ohio State - Michigan(11:24:30-1:24:59) Week 13 Picks Conclusion(1:25:00) Conclusion, Tomorrow’s ShowWant to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube, don't forget to subscribe!https://youtu.be/hqoPXn1XBWoMust be 21+ and present in select states. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas StarCasino, LLC. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First online real money wager only. $10 firstdeposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com.Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania,Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 in Arizona, 1-888-789-7777 or visitccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, 1-800-9-WITH-IT in Indiana, 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com in Kansas, 1-877-770-STOP inLouisiana, visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland, visit 1800gambler.net in West Virginia, or call 1-800-522-4700 in Wyoming. Hope ishere. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or textHOPENY in New York
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Welcome to Andy Staples on three.
It is rivalry week.
It is time for big, big games.
It is Monday.
That means it's a pick show, but we've got a bonus for you.
That's right.
Joel Klatt from Fox Sports, the guy calling the biggest game of the week, the biggest
game of the year.
Ohio State at Michigan.
Joel will join us on today's show, talking Ohio State, Michigan, talking college football
playoff, talking what happens for Georgia, for Florida State, for Texas.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
We're going to get right to that because, listen, we got a big guest.
You let that guest do the talking ladies and gentlemen mr joel clatt we welcome the man there's not a commissioner of
college football yet but when they have one this is the guy that i am voting for joel clatt the
joel clatt. What's up?
Man, that's a ringing endorsement.
You've never told me that.
So now, like, let's start the campaign.
Let's go.
No, you are the most reasonable voice in the sport.
And you understand it.
I appreciate that. You played it at a high level.
And you are one of the few people, because I've seen you have to do this,
who can be the analyst on TV and then shift to play-by-play.
People don't understand how hard that is.
Well, listen, that was extenuating circumstances, there's no doubt.
How you been, man?
I'm good. This has been a crazy season. It feels like it's just flown by.
We're talking a few days before you're going to be in Ann Arbor for for Ohio State
Michigan it's been the weirdest season and there's five undefeated teams like if the if the 14 playoff
is going to go out at least it's going to go out with a bang that's so true and by the way like
it just it it the chaos we always think like we always think like, man, it could be really chaotic.
This year could be really chaotic because these teams haven't lost.
We haven't seen them lose yet.
And this is the year.
I mean, I always say it.
I just can't wait until we get to the 12 team playoff.
I've, I've, you know, I came around on it a few years ago.
I wasn't a proponent of the playoff and now I'm certainly a proponent of the playoff. Can't wait for it to expand. And this year is a great reason why. There's a lot
of good football teams that deserve a chance to at least to crack at it. I don't know if anyone
can beat Georgia, though, the way that they're playing. And Andy, here's what's so fascinating
to me is that Georgia uniquely understands that there's no titles handed out in September. There's no titles handed out in October. They just continue to play better and
play better. They remind me of the Patriots in a lot of respects in this way of where it just
comes down to it and you're like, how did Tom Brady play in 10 Super Bowls with the Patriots?
Well, it's because every year, every other team had to go through them. That's the way
Georgia feels right now. Who's beating Georgia
right now? That's the thing.
The way they played against Ole Miss
and Tennessee, I just don't know
because I saw the preliminary
line came out with the
Alabama-Georgia SEC championship game, and it's
like a four and a half point line. And I'm like,
I'm not sure how Alabama
beats them, even though they've evolved into a very point line. And I'm like, I don't, I'm not sure how Alabama beats them,
even though they've evolved into a very good team, but I'm with you.
Yeah.
And, and Milrow will have to play out of his mind, but the style of offense that Bama is going to have to play against Georgia
is not the style of offense that Georgia generally struggles with.
If they do struggle, remember,
you've got to have an elite passing attack to play with them.
That's what Bama had in 21 when they beat them.
That's what they didn't have in the championship game,
the national championship game, because of the injuries,
namely Jameson Williams.
And then that's what Ohio State had before Marvin Harrison left the game last year.
And the only other real game where you could say,
yeah, Georgia probably should have lost that game.
That's what you have to have.
And I just don't know if Bama is built this year to go and beat Georgia.
No.
And now you've got Michigan, which started running the Georgia drill in the offseason.
They've got their own stuff going on.
Let's talk about this game that you've got this week because the stakes are incredible.
They were the same last year and and
I remember when last year was was played when that game was played it didn't feel like the loser was
going to get a mulligan so it was the same kind of intense winner winner takes all but the Jim
Harbaugh drama the sign stealing accusations all of that the NCAA the Big Ten it feels like it just
makes it so much bigger because he's not on the sideline.
Ryan Day is now coaching against an interim. What if Ryan Day loses to Jerome Moore?
Well, again, the layers to this year's game are just deeper and more nuanced and quite frankly,
more entertaining than last year's version, even though they were both 11-0 last year. And you're right. I know last year felt big, but this year feels even bigger.
And the pressure on Ohio State and namely Ryan Day to beat Sharon Moore, the distraction
swirling around Michigan and this team that has been so consistent and so dominant up until now.
And now all of a sudden we're wondering wondering, well, can they protect the passer?
Is J.J. going to play better than he did against Maryland?
All of these things come up.
These two teams obviously don't like each other,
and the fan bases don't like each other.
That's an understatement.
And yet it feels like it's gone to 100 this year.
The environment, the vitriol, I can't wait to get there.
I just can't wait to get there.
And I think it's going to be a phenomenal game.
And by the way, the fan base confidence has flipped.
Middle of the year, Ohio State, they're like,
I don't know if we've got it this year.
Michigan riding on high.
Now you get to this week after the Maryland game and after Travion Henderson has done what he's done year. Ohio State, they're like, I don't know if we've got it this year. Michigan riding on high.
Now you get to this week after the Maryland game and after Travion Henderson has done what he's done in the last four weeks for the Buckeyes, I feel like the fan base confidence has flipped.
Ohio State fans feel really good about their chances this week. And Michigan fans are sitting
there like, boy, can we protect the passer? Is JJ going to play better? Our defense gave up over
20 points. It's just a fascinating deal.
I think you might have been the first person to point this out because you've had Michigan the
last two weeks, but Michigan has had to abandon pieces of their passing game because of protection
issues. Ladarius Henderson didn't play. They had to shuffle tackles around because the backup got
hurt. What do you think happens in this game in terms of Michigan
being able to run their entire offense? Well, it's a huge question. So Carson Barnhart is now,
for me, the most intriguing Michigan player. And he's the other tackle. He's the tackle that was
at right tackle for the really majority of the season. Then he moved over to left tackle to fill in for Ladarius Henderson last week.
Okay, so Andy, early in the game against Penn State,
first it was denied Dennis Sutton, former five-star guy.
Then it was Adisa Isaac.
Then it was Chop Robinson.
They beat Carson Barnhart fast in the first two series.
And it was really obvious. It was incredible two series. And it was really obvious.
It was incredible, right?
And it was so obvious.
I looked at Gus in the break and I was like, Michigan's in trouble.
But they went to the seven offensive linemen and they just started grinding it out.
Yes, you can say like, well, we went back to our roots and we got tough.
They did that because they had to, because they couldn't protect the passer.
And then last week in the most critical series, when Barnhart had to go over to the left tackle
after Miles Hinton got hurt, the backup to Ladarius Henderson, he got beat the same way.
It was the same speed rush.
And now you're going to face a couple of guys.
Jack Sawyer is playing his best football.
JT Tuimolo-Au, who we know at the top end, can take over a game like he did a year ago
in Happy Valley against Penn State. And that's why I think people are confident with Ohio State, because Michigan,
for the first time all year, has had to come up with answers and abandon points of their offense.
I think the one credit that you would give them is that they had the ability to do it.
And some teams can't, and they would still have to throw the football, and they would get beat
because of it. At least Michigan had an answer to the places that they were struggling with.
Well, and the thing is, they've got to be able to do this against Ohio State
because if they beat Ohio State, they're still going to need this.
Against Iowa, even in the Big Ten Championship game,
but against whoever you find in the playoff, you're going to need that.
So Henderson playing seems to be pretty critical.
Yeah, and I think he will.
I think Henderson will play.
But remember, Barnhart is going to play at right tackle.
He's been the right tackle.
So that issue remains, even if Henderson is back, which is fascinating.
And then J.J. is going to have to play better.
I know he's not 100%.
His mobility was not 100% percent against Maryland and, and,
and it showed he panicked a couple of times and made some poor decisions.
And we'll see the last piece of this game.
Maybe not the last piece, you can ask me more, but Blake Corum,
Blake Corum hasn't really had a chance to play against Ohio state.
You know, it was Hassan Haskins game two years ago, 2021. And last year, he had the knee
injury against Illinois and didn't play. And it was Donovan Edwards' game. And so for a guy that
scored over 50 touchdowns in his Michigan career, you can imagine he comes back in a year in which
we didn't expect him to be here. This is the game he's wanted. and blake corm and the way he plays it at home and his last game
in the big house that's going to be something that that i'm going to be paying very close
attention to i did have one more on this one because you mentioned travion henderson what
he's done the last four weeks for ohio state how important is it for them to have a it doesn't even
have to be dynamic but reliable run game just to keep those guys
off of Kyle McCord. So this is what doesn't get talked about. So if I was going inside football
a little bit, which I know you love, you know, because you cover the game as well as anybody
and know it, what you have to do against Michigan. And I alluded to it last week in the Maryland game,
is that you have to put them in nickel defense.
So put Mikey Sanger still on the field
and get the third defensive tackle off the field.
And then you've got to be able to run the ball
on the interior out of those sets.
Well, it just so happens that that's exactly
what now Ohio State is very good at
because they get in what's called 11 personnel,
one back, one tight end, three wide receivers on the field. This is good at because they get in what's called 11 personnel, one back,
one tight end, three wide receivers on the field. This is the set that they major in,
the personnel group that they major in. And then you've got to be able to run the ball in the
interior. That's what Henderson has been able to do for them. And they have been able to block.
They've gotten so much better up front as an offensive line. When I watched the film
of this game as compared to like even Indiana in
the first week or some of those games, Maryland early in the season, the offensive line on the
inside is doing so much better and their ability to block those defensive tackles when there's only
two of them in the game, that's where the game is won and lost for Ohio State offensively. It's not
technically just the way that they throw the ball because it's about throwing the ball on schedule. You've got to make sure that Kyle McCord is throwing the ball when he
wants to rather than when he has to. And the way that you do that is you get into that nickel
situation, get that extra lineman off the field for Michigan and be able to stay on schedule
through the internal run game on those downs. Kenneth Grant at Michigan, probably the scariest
player I've seen all season.
Watching him track down, I think it was Katron Allen in the Penn State game.
It was, yeah.
Never seen a 340-pound guy move like that.
But you know how I love the big guys.
I want to talk about another one of my favorite big guys,
Tavondre Sweat in Texas.
I saw on your show you talked about Texas potentially being boxed out by multiple undefeated teams.
Now that Jordan Travis has gone down for Florida State,
do you feel like that changes the dynamics of that?
I do. I do.
And this is unfair.
I'm not saying I like this.
This sucks for Florida State.
My heart's broken for Jordan.
Gosh, like, sucks, man.
This game is unrelenting in a lot of ways. But
having said that, you know, I go back to, to Ohio state in 2014, you remember JT Barrett got hurt
late in that season and he was their quarterback. Um, and the committee needed to view and see
Ohio state with Cardell Jones. The reason they made the playoff that year and ultimately
won the national championship is because of what they did in the conference championship game
against Wisconsin. They showed that they could remain dominant without their starting quarterback.
So therefore, they got included as the four seed. I think the same can be true for Florida State.
There is a scenario, and I know this sounds wild, and I'm not saying I love this,
but I do think that there is a scenario where they remain undefeated and don't go to the playoff.
If they have to squeak by Florida, who's not a very good football team, you know this.
They've lost four straight.
They got handled against Utah early in the season.
Mertz is now out.
You can't go and struggle against Florida. I don't care if it's a rivalry game or in the season. Mertz is now out. You can't go and struggle against Florida.
I don't care if it's a rivalry game or on the road.
You've got to prove to the committee that you can still be a dominant,
still be a great team at the top of college football,
even with your backup quarterback.
That needs to be proved this week against Florida.
Then you can have a play-in game against Louisville.
If not, there is a scenario if they struggle and eke out
close victories, even if they're undefeated, I think one of these teams might pass them.
Just sake of argument, let's say Oregon kicks a field goal with three seconds left to beat
Washington in the Pac-12 championship game. Couldn't you make an argument both of those
teams are better than a Florida State team that doesn't have Jordan Travis? Yes, of course you
can make that argument. I think that Florida State's in a precarious spot
unless they go handle their business against Florida.
Their playoff, I think, is on the line this week in the swamp.
It certainly feels like it,
and we'll see what Tate Rodemaker can do.
Joel, you were here with us with Hampton by Hilton,
and I got to say,
I have truly enjoyed those commercials you do with Gus,
but I will say what they've done in terms of breakfast.
And I realized you,
you travel all the time.
You're in these hotels all the time,
knowing you could go down and get that fluffy waffle.
Yeah.
It just changes everything about your day.
Oh,
I'm so glad.
And you're a food guy, you know, like Andy, you know, you're,
and your listeners know this. So I travel all the time. I'm, I'm on the road. Gosh,
I would say over a hundred nights a year. And so full disclosure, I don't always know exactly
where I am when I wake up. Right? Like, are you ever like
that? When I was when I was traveling, when I worked at SI and travel like 150 days a year,
I would have moments where I'd be on my fifth hotel in five days, fifth different hotel in
five days. And I will walk into the desk, I will show them my ID and say, I don't know my room
number. Here's my ID, please tell me what my room number is. I've done the same. I've done the exact same thing.
And so for me, what's important is consistency.
Because what I don't want is to have to wake up, not really know where I'm at.
I'm a breakfast, like I need breakfast, right?
And so for me, the consistency is huge.
I want a good gym.
I want to know that I'm in a location that's near where I need to be.
And that's certainly what I get.
Hampton's everywhere that I need to be.
I'm never more than 30 minutes away from where I need to be.
And then their consistency as far as the space that I get, the comfort that I get, the service
that I get, and then the breakfast.
So I can wake up and this has happened before.
I can wake up and be like, I don't know where I'm at.
I don't know what's going on, but I know that breakfast is right down the elevator.
And I'm like, perfect.
Okay, coffee, waffle.
Now I'm like, okay, what's going on for the day?
What do I need to do?
And that's what Hampton provides for me.
It's the consistency across those 100 plus days of travel
that I really rely on.
It's the consistency of location and experience and space.
So I'm
thankful for them and to be partnered up with them and wouldn't have it any other way.
Well, yeah, I got a good travel situation this weekend. I've done Black Friday where I do the
Black Friday and then a Saturday double. And I've done it where I've tried to leave my house in
Florida on Black Friday and then be at the kickoff of Nebraska, Iowa, either in Iowa
City or Lincoln. And I've done it. I've made it as toe met ball, but this one's better because I'm
doing the Michigan State, Penn State at Ford Field. And then we'll be at the same game in Ann
Arbor on Saturday, but I've already made the plan. Like I'm going to land in Detroit. I'm going over to Slows, get some Black Friday barbecue,
and then I'm going to the game.
Yeah, you got to.
I love it.
No, that'll be good.
And I can't wait to see you.
I'll see you in the press box.
I'll see you up there.
Yes, sir.
Have fun with this one.
I can't even imagine the intensity in the booth for something like this.
So, Joel, appreciate it.
You got it.
See you, bud.
So as Joel mentioned,
it would be a really good year
for a 12-team playoff.
Would be really nice if it started this year
because there are a lot of good teams.
It's more than four, for sure.
But alas, we have to wait till next year.
But that doesn't mean we can't retrain our brains.
That's right.
Every Monday we do this.
We're trying to get ourselves ready for next year,
trying to put ourselves in the frame of mind
that we need to be in next year
because we're not doing this again after this.
There's 12 team playoff after this year.
It's going to be awesome.
New conference alignments.
So our little hypothetical when we do it every Monday will be slightly different
because there won't be a Pac-12 or there will be a Pac-12
that will more resemble the Mountain West.
There will be a very large Big Ten, 18 teams, a very large ACC, the bigger SEC.
So it'll look very different.
And then the format, which has never been played, but they're going to change it from
what they've originally agreed to.
I think you're going to see them do five automatic bids, seven at-larges instead of six and six.
But for the hypothetical purposes,
we're going with the conference alignments we have right now and the original format they agreed on,
because it makes more sense with this arrangement. So here's the projection we've got. We've got
Georgia, your SEC champ at number one, Michigan, your Big Ten champ at number two. You could have
Ohio State here too if you wanted to. I've got Washington projected at the Pac-12 champ now. I know I have been projecting Oregon.
Washington, very impressive against Oregon State, like gutting out that win in the pouring rain.
I'm sorry. I think I'm going to ride with the Huskies for now. Number four, Texas,
your Big 12 champ. Number five, Ohio State at large. Alabama at
large at number six. I've got Louisville as ACC champ. Number seven, I realize that's cruel.
I worry about Florida State now that Jordan Travis is hurt. I'm not that worried about
them against Florida, but I am worried about them against Louisville in the ACC championship game.
But this is the 12-team playoff, So you're going to see Florida State in a second. I got Oregon at number eight as an at
large. Obviously if they win and Washington doesn't in the Pac-12 championship game, you just flip
these or put Washington maybe even a little higher than this because they will still have a win
against Oregon. Number nine, Florida State. Number 10, Oklahoma.
This is where some people start to get mad because they say, what?
Missouri's ranked higher than Oklahoma by the committee.
Should they be?
Oklahoma's got the better, best win, Texas.
Oklahoma also higher in the FPI, the SP+,
all those power rankings.
So that said, Missouri's still here.
Missouri's at number 11.
Penn State would be the one mad. Penn State would be the one left out here because
remember number 12 has to go to the highest ranked group of five champ unless that team's
ranked higher than 11. So got Tulane in that spot. I don't know if Tulane's going to be that team this year
that wins the group of five spot in the New Year's Six Bowl.
They got to beat UTSA this weekend.
That's going to be a tough one.
But they still may wind up winning the American.
I don't know, though, if that would do it.
Because if they were to lose to UTSA,
I think that opens the door maybe for Liberty,
which could be 12-0.
We'll see. James Madison lost their first game, but they're not eligible to play in the Sunbelt
Championship game anyway, so they're out of this. Next year, if they win the Sunbelt,
they could be in the hunt for this. So what's that mean for us? It means we've got Tulane
at Ohio State in the horseshoe with the winner playing Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
I think Ohio State would be pretty heavily favored in that one.
The rest of these, I don't know.
I don't know that the home team is going to be that heavily favored.
Number 11, Missouri at number six, Alabama.
Conference game, but they didn't play each other this year.
And if you think about it, Missouri-Alabama feels like a pretty fun matchup.
That feels like a good game.
I would have enjoyed that as an SEC game this year,
but we never got it.
So that would be a great, great first round playoff game.
Number 10, Oklahoma at number seven, Louisville.
Big doings in the Ville if they got to host a playoff game. And that's really what
the ACC championship game would be for, I think, in this circumstance. You know, if Florida State's
undefeated, then maybe they're in the top four. But if everybody makes it, the committee might
not be as strict about saying, well, we got to make sure you're in the top four. They might like
another conference champ better than even a 13-0 Florida State.
And it's not a huge crime if they were to leave them out in that situation.
If they were to leave them out in this situation,
where let's say in the 14 playoff right now,
Florida State goes undefeated, they can't leave them out.
They got to let them in.
They can't leave them out in favor of somebody with a loss.
So next year, I think they probably could do that and just say, well, it's a seeding thing.
But that's essentially what that would be for.
If Louisville won the ACC championship game, they would be the ones getting the home game in the playoff.
That said, Oklahoma might be favored in that game.
That'd be a really interesting one. And then you
got number nine, Florida State at number eight, Oregon, winner playing Georgia in the Peach Bowl.
An Oregon-Georgia game would be fun. In the same building they played it last year in the season
opener, I don't think the result would be similar. I think Georgia might still win, but it would not
be the blowout that it was last year when they played Oregon.
So that's what the 12 team playoff would look like if it were happening this year.
Man, I wish it were happening this year, but that's okay.
We can't have everything we want.
We can't have too much ice cream.
We'll get it next year.
Now it's time for picks.
Our guest picker is the great Jake Crane, host of Crane and Company.
But first, I got to tell you about where we get these lines and these totals.
That's FanDuel.
Go to FanDuel.com slash Staples and sign up.
You make a winning $5 Moneyline bet.
So basically, you say, I think this team will win, and they win.
Then you get $150 in bonus bets.
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at FanDuel, America's best sports book.
It's the easiest one to play.
You find the game you want.
You say, I would like this team to win.
I'll take the points.
I'll take the Moneyline.
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I'll take the first half team total.
I'll bet it live.
There are so many ways to play on FanDuel.
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A few taps and you're in.
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$5 winning money line bet.
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Thank you, FanDuel, for all these lines and totals. Thank
you, FanDuel, for the Iowa, Nebraska 27 and a half total. Oh my goodness. It's a blessing.
On to the picks. We are honored to be joined by the host of Crane and Company, Jake Crane. He is our guest picker today.
Jake, you are the first coach-turned-podcaster I think we've ever had.
Nice.
So tell the folks about your history because you get out of college,
you go to cover Auburn for rivals,
and then you're called back into the family business.
Man, it's wild for real. I'm going to write a book one day about it. We'll see all six people
that buy it. Number one, thanks for having me. Love what you guys are doing at On3, Andy.
Obviously, you know the respect I have for you and what you guys are building. It's a fantastic
product. It's better every week, it seems, but yeah, just a short synopsis.
Played in college, actually played baseball in college at South Alabama.
Wanted to get into coaching, was going to get into baseball coaching.
Had opportunity to play football some places in college and decided to play
baseball because I wanted to play at the highest level I could.
And that was my route, but I, you know, football is always my favorite sport.
The one I love the most, the one I was most passionate about.
And so decided about my, you know, halfway through my junior year,
my father, who was a coach, played at Auburn, played in the NFL.
He did not want me to get into coaching, did not want me to do it at all.
I knew how it was.
I didn't, you know, see him a lot until I was about eight or nine years old
because he was always out.
And that was even before now when it's even crazier um but yeah man uh got out what worked for rivals
for a little bit got back in wanted to get back into coaching you know obviously my father you
know then passed away um went and coached uh my brother his senior year of high school won a state
championship there got a chance to to basically GA South Alabama. And it just kind of blossomed from there, man.
Ended up coaching for nine and a half years, really 10 years,
six years at the division one level.
And during COVID, they sent us back.
I was up in Montana coaching and man, I was just trying to waste time.
That was one of the first years of the early signing period.
So I had most of my guys signed and just got a $50 mic off Sweetwater.
Shout out, you know, Sweetwater.
Started doing it and it just took off, man.
I keep waiting to wake up from a coma and then be like, listen,
a semi just smoked you coming under a mountain.
It's 2035, you know, flying cars.
Auburn really didn't lose the New Mexico State,
all type of stuff.
Yeah, it is stunning sometimes to think about wait i this i'm just
talking about college football here and that's that's the job okay for sure like you got all
the sports on craning company you're talking about the whole world yeah and it's a lot you
know people ask what's the hardest part it's probably covering all of it right especially
when i was doing the jay boy show it was just college football and and mainly the sec right
and kind of the top contenders. But it's amazing, man.
You know, they say, people always ask me, you know, do you want to get back into coaching?
And do I miss like game day?
Do I miss the competitiveness of it?
Kind of being around the guys and stuff like that?
Yeah, a little bit.
But man, I'll tell you what, when 18 to 22 year olds play bad and I don't get fired because of it, I can just talk about it.
That's a lot.
That's a lot.
Longevity wise, it's a better life plan. Oh's a, that's a lot. That's a, that's a pretty, that's a lot longevity wise. It's a better life plan. Oh yeah, absolutely. But I imagine just the, the true understanding
of how the sausage gets made. Oh yeah. Helps a lot in your, in your current job. For sure. Well,
and look, there's some things I can say. There's some things, obviously I can't say what we try
and do is bring a, bring a perspective of, a perspective of winning the water cooler is what we call it.
When you watch the show, we want it to be like you just happen to sneak into your favorite team's field house in football
and be able to talk to the coaches and have a drink with them.
We'll get into the nitty-gritty sometimes.
David Cohn played quarterback at Michigan.
Not the Major League Baseball pitcher.
Like he says, he never played for the Lions.
I remember that, David Cohn, too.
Yeah, yeah. But we'll dive into it. You know,
we'll get schematical and stuff, but not too much to the point where,
you know, the terminology throws people off, but just not, not even,
not even, you know, just the schematical stuff, but just how,
how it works in recruiting.
Yeah. That's what I mean.
Like when somebody sends out their decommit announcement and you know,
they just weren't a take. Yeah. And because they found somebody they like better, that's the sort of thing that I think people who haven't been in the business or who've not been on that side of the business just don't understand.
Yeah, and there's a lot of stuff.
Especially the higher level you go, just like anything in life, it's such a big organization.
Even when I was at South Alabama, there's so many many moving parts but it's kind of the nuanced stuff right
like the gamesmanship I mean even even you know all the way up to the injuries and the debt chart
being sent out that week and the games that people play oh you put your backup quarterback he's
listed as as a backup pp on the punt team right only do that, so it scares the hell out of me,
so I'm afraid to go after punts because I think you may fake it,
especially if this guy runs out there.
So the in-game stuff's great.
Being able to call personnels and coverages and know what's coming.
We live stream games.
People like it a lot because we'll be like, all right, hey,
this is about to happen.
Here's where he's about to work.
This is why he's going to do it.
And we don't know everything.
There's guys out there that know more than me.
But I've been behind the scenes. I grew up in it. And we don't know everything. There's guys out there that know more than me. But, you know, I've been behind the scenes. I grew up in it. You know, as I like to say, I was born in the
waters of the sport of football, especially in college football. And being able to cover it,
man, I love it the most. And that's what we try. And I think that's the best gift that we can give
people, that and hitting bets. Exactly. Exactly. Well, we're going to try to hit some bets here.
Now, this will be some interesting ones because a lot of these games we're talking about
because they are interesting games in the playoff scenario,
not necessarily that we are seeing anything in the line.
It's just these are ones everybody's going to be watching.
So we'll talk about that.
Let's start Thanksgiving night.
And I want to run this by you as someone who's been in the business.
I think there should be a job called interim coach.
I've said all along, I think Ed Orgeron is the best interim coach in college football history.
You remember when he took over for Lane at USC?
He brought cookies back to the training table.
USC takes off.
I think when you fire your coach coach instead of bringing up someone on the
staff you just bring in coach O and it's gonna work you pay him like half a million dollars
and he'll keep your recruiting class together now it's a little like in the concert when the guy has
to have the word Cleveland on the back of his guitar like he's got to remember what school he's
but so there will be lapses.
So mercenary, basically like a mercenary coach.
I'll give you one better, Andy. Not only when the coach gets fired,
but what happens if the coach gets suspended for a hamburger? What happens if a coach gets suspended
for allegedly knowing about stealing signs?
You can just bring Ed O on the sideline, let him run up and down,
talk like this, scare the hell out of everybody. Can you imagine edo on the sideline let him run up and down talk i just scare the hell out of everybody can you imagine coach joe on the sideline bring him in from the
bullpen does the ad just come and like point to the right hand and edo just you know hang glides
into the field he'd be the perfect one though right it would have to be somebody like ed well
i say i say this for a reason because i think i think coach joe may have competition. Who? Greg Knox, interim coach at Mississippi State right now.
Look at this.
This is Greg Knox before the Southern Miss game,
riding a four-wheeler into the locker room.
I love it.
Greg Knox is now 2-0 as an interim coach.
He beat Florida State as Florida's interim coach
after Dan Mullen got fired.
He beat Southern Miss last week. If he wins the Egg Bowl, he has to be on par with Coach O
as greatest interim coaches of all time.
And I'll tell you, like, so when Greg Knox was at Florida,
he lived down the street from me.
Here's where I earned ultimate respect for Greg Knox.
His kids were out working in the yard every single time I went by
his house. I can't make my kids do anything like that. Oh, I used to hate when my parents used to
make me have to do that. No, look, I tell you what, I love embracing kind of, you know, the chaos that
you're in when you're the interim coach and you, you know, you do want to have fun with the guys
because who knows, you may never get this opportunity again. It seems like every time Greg
gets it, he takes advantage of it. He was at Auburn for a long time got a ton of respect for
him and his family as well they did a lot of great things for the Auburn community but no I mean
you've got to embrace it right you've got to cherish it it's kind of like on Billy Madison
he grabs that fat kid's cheeks it's like for the love of god you've got to cherish it but you can
tell the players are enjoying it and you know down the too, and I know Greg's been coaching for a while.
If he does want to get a head job or he does want to interview, it's a pretty good resume builder to say, hey, listen, not only do I have head coaching experience as far as trying to prepare the guys and coming in in tough situations, I'm also undefeated.
And we're driving four wheelers around in the locker room.
It sounds like a heck of an NIL deal from somebody, Yamaha, somebody. Add him to the list. You should come up with, they say the AD has a list of names
in his top drawer. You should have the Andy Staples all-time interim coach list that you
can just pull from. Greg Knox got to be on there. Edo's got to be on there. There's got to be a
couple others that we could fish out of the water that have done a good job but i would still put edo number one
just because i want to be around that and i know he's going to drink 35 red bulls today tell me
about bro back and get the guys excited exactly roback story time roback's one of our sponsors
too it's they love the podcasters uh brilliant story time with it with coach i was one of my
favorite segments of the week.
It's great.
Look, Jack and Tan living his best life, right?
Out there just working it.
Rich.
Rich.
Exactly.
Living the buyout life.
We've not said a word about the Ole Miss-Mississippi State game.
FanDuel has this at Mississippi State plus 12.5.
I've seen it in other places at Mississippi State plus 11. Ole can cover whatever this spread is. I'm sorry. Lane wants to, to get all
these wins. And in this rivalry, you don't feel bad for the other team. If they fired their coach,
like you beat them down. If you can beat them down. No, you get a chance to step on the throat.
You step on the throat. Like, you don't want to win.
You just, you want to embarrass.
You want to set them back as far as you possibly can when they are down.
This is one of the rare instances where it is very good to kick someone
while they're down.
You might as well drop kick them or suplex them while they're down.
Or pretend to pee on them like a dog.
Look, that's, you can do whatever you want.
I mean, you know, Germany, wherever you want to do,
it doesn't matter. But here's what I'll say about this game. Mississippi State's going to play free,
right? They're going to play loose. You just showed great. They're driving four-wheelers
through the locker room. And that's great. It is a great story what Greg Knox has been able to do
coming off, obviously, the firing of Zach Garnett, who took over for the tragic loss of Mike Leach.
But you know what else was a great story? Little Red Riding Hood.
And we all know what happened to her, right?
Hansel and Gretel.
Look, we know.
Y'all walked inside the house made of candy.
Ole Miss last week, you could tell they were looking ahead a little bit.
They slow played.
La Monroe really kind of took off in the second half.
I think Mississippi State will put up a fight early.
I think this game will be tighter than what people think, maybe even going into halftime.
But gravity is a real thing. Science is a real thing. think this game will be tighter than what people think maybe even going into halftime but gravity
is a real thing science is a real thing and science and gravity tell us Ole Miss has better players
than Mississippi State Ole Miss's defense while they're not elite they are better especially in
the red zone under Pete Golding and when that field shrinks Mike Wright's lack of ability to
throw the ball who's ever ever in there at quarterback?
I don't trust the offensive line anyway.
They haven't been able to pick up a twist all year.
I don't think Mississippi State has the firepower to be able to score enough points
where if Ole Miss just goes in there and plays well.
Notice I didn't say great.
Notice I didn't say perfect.
If Ole Miss goes in there and plays well,
I don't think Mississippi State can score enough touchdowns.
All it takes, all it takes, even when you're riding a high,
like they are with Greg Knox right now, for a team without a true head coach,
where there's a lot of turmoil right now against a team where there's a chance
to win 10 games for Lane Kiffin after all the crap he has to hear
about not winning 10 games, eventually there's a straw that breaks
that camel's back, whether it's Judkins, whether it's Jackson, whether it's one of the freaks they got running around outside omis is going to be too
much andy i'm with you i think they cover it like a warm blanket in the wintertime baby
all right let us uh let's move to black friday one of my favorite black friday traditions
iowa and nebraska we always pick the iowa total I went over last week, Jake, because I was sure we were going to get a quote unquote.
I'm using air quotes here.
Shootout between Iowa and Illinois.
And we almost did.
We almost did.
And it almost went over.
Caleb Johnson does not convert a third and seven late in the game.
Iowa has to kick a field goal that would have pushed the total to 31 and pushed it over
that 30 and a half. But this is the lowest opening total,
believed to be the lowest opening total in college football history.
That's insane.
27 and a half.
But Nebraska is favored by a point and a half.
Iowa has won the Big Ten West.
Nebraska needs this to become bowl eligible.
Chubba Purdy now slinging the rock
for the Cornhuskers. Younger
brother of Brock from Arizona
went to Florida State. Now he's at Nebraska.
What are you
thinking here?
It's sad
that the over-under is 27.
I'm a defensive guy. Always have been.
I love a good rock fight.
Even in college basketball.
It's sad that the total's at 27 and a half.
But you know what's worse, Andy?
I love the under.
I love the under.
To be honest with you, I don't know if they're going to score more than one and a half.
Screw the over-under.
I mean, Nebraska, if there's any way that a game could end 1-0,
and basically it's impossible, they would find a way that a game could end 1-0, and it's basically, it's impossible.
They would find a way in this game.
But I'll say this, and we give Iowa a hard time, and they deserve it, right?
They deserve it.
The Big Ten West is bad.
It's just bad.
I think Luke Fickle and Wisconsin are going to be fine down the road.
I really do believe that.
I've been really disappointed with Tanner Mordecai this year,
to be honest with you, at Wisconsin.
But when I look at this game, Nebraska,
and the biggest thing that Matt Rule is having to change right now,
is something you see in every sport, right?
But especially in early tenure of a head coach.
He's having to teach them how to win, right?
Even early in the year.
They've won some games.
You know, Nebraska, they win this game.
They're bowl eligible, I believe.
You know, but they found ways to lose games earlier in the year.
It seems like they struggle to find a way to win.
And Iowa, as much as we make fun of them,
as much as we point and laugh at their offense, right?
It's like the Steven Glansberg of college sports over there on offense
just eating pudding by herself in the lunchroom.
They find ways to win.
Iowa finds ways, as ugly as it is.
And last week's a great example of it you find a way to score that touchdown to be able to beat Illinois and I was with you I I liked that
over last week uh to be honest because I thought Paddock looked really good the week before for
Illinois they could at least score enough and I didn't trust Illinois on defense because their
best players are playing for the Seahawks right now from last year but when I look at when I look
at this Nebraska team I just don't know yet
if they have that. Is this the wind that turns it for them? You've seen it with the Broncos a
little bit right now in the NFL, finding a way to win. You look at the Chargers, they find ways to
lose. That's in your team's DNA. And right now I've still got to lean Iowa. I like them on the
money line because whether it's one to nothing, whether it's seven to six, whether it's 9.2 to 4.7,
I think Iowa knows how to win and Nebraska is learning it.
But I do like Matt Rule.
One of the most important things for Nebraska over this next couple weeks
is not letting Tony White go anywhere,
especially to Syracuse if they don't get Cignetti.
Because I tell you what, what he's done on defense,
nobody's talking about it enough from the beginning of the year
to the end of the year.
He has been fantastic against all different types of systems.
But give me Iowa to find it.
Maybe in overtime.
Hey, it could be 6-3 in four overtimes.
Well, we could have the Frank Beamer 0-0 end of regulation.
Does this not feel like, Andy,
does this not feel like that Auburn-Mississippi State 3-2 game, though?
Very much.
We can generally have another one.
That was bad.
That was a clear and much better way to go.
You mentioned Tony White.
That defense is very good.
Iowa's defense is awesome, but Nebraska's is right up there.
And so Cole Hutmacher coming after my man Deacon Hill,
that's like 600 pounds of collision right there.
For sure.
Well, you can't drive that on the interstate in some roads with that much but when you know when you look at tony i think the most impressive thing too is you know it's not like you're playing the same system every week the
nfl is hard i'm not saying the nfl is easy but but what makes the nfl i think a little bit more
not easier but but it flows a little bit better a lot of people run similar stuff there's a reason
it's called pro style and you have to worry about recruiting and academics
and stuff like this.
Look at Nebraska at the beginning of the year.
You play Minnesota, right?
You shut them down.
That's one style of offense.
Then you go play Colorado, a totally different style of offense.
And you're able to pretty much shut them out and hold them down.
Yeah, other than handing the football in the wrong side of the field.
Yeah.
I mean, look, and Jeff Sims just couldn't catch a snap but I think Tony White may is one of the most underrated coordinators in college
football I know he doesn't have any head coaching experience but I think if Syracuse whiffs on a
couple of guys after getting rid of Dino he could be a legitimate legitimate option to go be the new
head coach at Syracuse so you want to hold him down keep that continuity uh and and again man
this is one,
you know, it's not going to be pretty, but listen, sometimes it's not, but when's always pretty.
So here's my thing on this. I'd probably take Nebraska because of the motivation factor. They
need to make a bowl game. I was already in the big 10 championship game. Iowa, you know, was
emotional. They lost Cooper to Jean last week in the middle of the week.
I thought maybe, okay, they're due for
a little lapse here, but I need some points for Nebraska. If I don't get any points, I got a
problem with that. So I will take Iowa to cover in this game. I just, I don't know where the
scoring is, but I will take the under here because it's going to be hideous. Like the only way this goes over is defensive or special team scores.
Oh, without a doubt.
Or you do go into overtimes where you get to three or four and just the math adds up,
even if you're going for the two-point play and the new overtime rules.
This just feels like one of those games where somebody loses it, they don't win it.
I don't think people realize a lot in sports in general, but especially in college football, most teams lose games. Other teams don't win it. I don't think people realize a lot in sports in general,
but especially in college football, most teams lose games. Other teams don't win them. That's
what makes what Nick Saban and Kirby Smart and them do. It's so incredible. It's that not only
do they have better players than you, they let you beat yourself while they have better players.
That's how you dominate people. And that's what we've seen from those two programs. So I feel
like this is a game, whether it's a pick, whether it's a fumble,
whether it's a safety or a kickoff return, punt return, block punt,
something like that, Andy.
It's got to be that way because I don't see both these offenses being able to march.
I'm glad you brought up the idea of teams beating themselves
and teams having better players because we're going to talk about a team
that has better players but often does things to try to beat itself.
Texas Tech against Texas.
The Longhorns against Iowa State
made some mistakes that against somebody
they'd probably play in the Big 12 championship game
would cost them the game.
They ended up winning by 10.
I keep wondering at what point
will Texas play a nice clean game?
And maybe they did that maybe that was
the Kansas game but when will Texas play a nice clean game where they just beat a team they're
supposed to beat by a million well I mean you know when you look at the way the secondary is playing
I don't know if Texas Tech is the greatest remedy for you to be able to play a complete game I mean
you got torched through the air by Iowa State,
who's not exactly the globetrotters on offense.
Now, I know they didn't get anything in the ground game.
They bid on a pop pass.
That was a killer.
Yeah, it was.
And look, I think when it comes to Texas, it's no secret.
Texas is not playing its best ball at the time of year
where you need to be playing your best ball.
Now, anybody that says, in my opinion, Andy, that a one loss Texas at the end of the year
and a one loss Alabama, that Alabama should somehow get in the playoff over them has lost
their mind.
You're going to ruin the regular season or you're just going to ruin non-conference scheduling
because nobody's going to ever schedule anybody anymore if that win doesn't matter.
I think the regular season has to matter.
But when you look at this Texas team, I think right now they are in more trouble at, you know, obviously Florida State
losing Jordan Travis, that's such a tough deal. I think Texas is in legitimate trouble. And if
you're an Alabama fan, obviously you have to beat Georgia to be able to make the college football
playoff. But Texas does look the most vulnerable to allow you to slip into that fourth spot if you do beat Georgia.
It just seems like to me Texas is having to scrape by and hope to put wins together,
whether that's crazy, chaotic plays that have to happen.
They're not just lining up and thoroughly beating people because they're better than they are.
And I don't want to hear excuses about Jonathan.
I know Jonathan Brooks is really good back, right?
Jonathan Brooks has nothing to do with the secondary getting torched by Iowa State. Make no mistake, Baron Morton,
right? A name that a lot of people probably don't know who replaced Tyler Shuck and they kind of
had that QB carousel. He's been playing pretty good. They've been winning games. Texas Tech can
move the ball through the air and the longer Texas lets them hang on this game, Andy, and I know
they're minus 14, the longer they let them hang in there,
the more Tech's going to believe.
But I think Texas does find a way to win.
I'm going to take Tech, though, to cover the 14.
Okay.
I think Texas wins this game.
This feels like kind of a 41-28 type game, maybe 44-31 type game.
I do think Texas will be able to score,
but they better not give Tech hope early
because Joey Maguire, he can get them ready, right?
It hadn't been the year a lot of people thought,
but he can get them ready.
Yeah, this one, I kind of wonder like on a short week,
because they're playing this on Black Friday,
like on a short week, do they, I don't know,
take a little thought out of it
and just let their better players be better?
I don't know if that's a thing.
I see that in the NFL with those Thursday games where it feels like the more
talented team just always wins that game.
Addition by subtraction. Yeah. So it's called addition by subtraction.
We're better than you because we're not overthinking process by analysis.
What, what, what I'm going to find,
what I'm going to find very interesting in this game is how aggressive Texas Tech's going to be on fourth down.
I would not be shocked if you saw a fake.
I would not be shocked if you saw a surprise onside kick.
Because if you're Texas Tech, you've got to lose this game, right?
Let it go hang out there and see if you can hang around and win the game.
But I think this one's going to be a little bit more intriguing
than what people think.
And I'll tell you what a Texas does, man.
The Big 12 now, looking at the Big 12, Andy, 12 Andy I mean it's looking who in the Big 12 is
really playing that great I mean Kansas maybe I mean and maybe a little bit I I it's it's kind of
falling off yeah and that's the thing like Texas needs to to get back in a year I think Texas
covers this one I'm worried about Texas in the in the Big 12 championship game whoever they wind up
playing because any of those like one of those three teams has already beaten them. One of those
three teams should have beaten them. We haven't seen them play the other one. And Mike Gundy as
a game day coach, I still have utmost faith in. So that's the, that's the thing I got with Texas.
Like, I think they're going to be fine this week. It's next week that I start to worry,
but they still have a good chance to make the playoff for
the same reason I think most of the committee agrees with you and me on that that beating
Alabama has to count for something it has to matter it has to because like again I and I hear
people talking about with the 12 team playoff oh it's going to water down the regular season oh
it's going to water down the regular season well you want to know how to water down the regular
season make it not matter.
Make the head-to-head not matter.
Oh, so the first three weeks of the season, they just really don't matter.
It's not how you play in the first three weeks.
It's how you're playing in the last three weeks.
I think it makes the job easy for the committee.
If that last spot comes down between a one-loss Alabama and a one-loss Texas,
your bed's already made.
But that won't even be the last spot.
Like, they'll bump Texas up because they'll want to have Alabama in there
if Alabama beats Georgia.
Oh, they'll find a way to get Bama in.
They'll find a way.
Believe me.
I was shocked that Bama didn't –
I was shocked Bama didn't get in over TCU last year, to be honest with you.
They do always find a way, though.
All right, let's go to this one.
This is one that the line's been moving a little bit.
Oregon State at Oregon, the Civil War.
Oregon favored by 13.5 as we're recording this.
I was somewhat surprised this line was this big
because I thought Oregon State played well against Washington,
should have beaten Washington.
For whatever reason, when they got the ball back
with about five and a half minutes to go down two,
they decided to run Washington's offense
instead of their own
offense and that felt like a mistake but now they're playing an Oregon team that I do know
from talking to the you know Dan Lanning and the folks around Oregon they spent this entire
offseason reminding the players of how they collapsed against Oregon State last year so
Oregon is definitely going to take this seriously.
Well, it's like Jonah Hill said in Superbad, you know,
with O-Boy talking about penis pants in the second grade.
People don't forget.
Like, Oregon did not forget that they've had – and look, it's a rivalry game anyway, but you got punked.
You got beat up in front of your family last year.
Remember, they got the lead and just got it ran down their throat?
So you can't get beat up in front of your wife.
I mean, come on, man.
You got to regain your honor.
They get them at home.
But I'll tell you this about this Oregon team.
The more I wipe my eyes and look at them,
the more they're starting to look like an SEC team up front
and just the way they go about things.
I know they're trying to win Bo Nix, the Heisman,
and he had eight touchdowns, whatever was crazy last game.
But the Washington game, I thought, for Oregon State,
could not have lined up better
for the Beavers. You had bad weather. You're a downhill run team that prides themselves on
defense, even though the defense hadn't been as great as what I thought it was going to be this
year in some big games. You had Washington come in that's a pass-happy team. They were playing
right into your hands. And Washington out-grimy-ed you. Like, DJU at the end of the day is who DJU
is, just like Joe Milton is
who Joe Milton is. DJU is an average thrower of the ball. He misses a lot of routine throws. He'll
make some great plays, right? He'll shake some tackles. He'll make a couple good throws, but he's
not consistent, and that's what cost Oregon. Even in bad weather, Pennix only had 168 yards, but he
was more consistent and efficient in big moments playing a different style than they
really wanted to play in that weather. I love Oregon in this game. There's a reason it started,
I think, at 11 and got bet up. I feel like Oregon can stop the run and defensively, DJU is not going
to have success, just like Joe Milton didn't have success against Georgia, being able to throw the
ball consistently against this team. So what's your answer? You want to establish the run, use play action, use your boots, use your waggles, use your
max protects to get the matchups you want on the outside and give DJU time. But if you can't run
the ball, you can't do that. You can't operate like that and they're not going to pitch backwards.
On the other hand, Oregon State's defense has struggled in big moments some this year and even
in moments against offenses that weren't great.
And Oregon is as dangerous as any team in the country
when it comes to playing complementary football,
and they're trying to win Bo Nix, the Heisman.
If you want to look at maybe the difference in hitting that 13.5
and ending just under, they're trying to win this man, the Heisman.
There's literally billboards in Times Square and all over the country. I think rolls in this one I think it's going to be about 50 degrees there's no rain
in the forecast I like the Ducks big here as they get ready to play Washington again you know what
Andy they're gonna beat them well it never rains at Austin Stadium so that there's there's no fear
of that and I I agree I'll take Oregon to cover here on this one. I think the Oregon-Washington rematch is going to be a little trickier
than you and Vegas do.
I keep seeing it because I keep seeing that number go up too.
I think it's seven and a half right now, currently hypothetical,
but will be a real thing after this game, Oregon-Washington rematch.
But, yeah, I'll take Oregon to cover in this one.
For the same reason, it's a styles make fights thing. Oregon Washington rematch but yeah I'll take Oregon to cover in this one I I just I for the
same reason it's a styles make fights thing the way Oregon is built right now they should be able
to to slow down Oregon State's run game and Oregon should be able to score kind of however they want
to against Oregon State I think you're gonna get a pick six early in this game I think DJU is gonna
float one over the middle that goes right into a safety's hands. Like he's known to do.
And you get a pick six,
but I tell you what,
man,
I'm just interested to see if in that Oregon,
I don't want to put the cart for the horse,
but in that Oregon,
Washington matchup is Dan landing going to make the most drastic decision in
every situation possible.
It just reminds me on every fourth down.
He's like the rock and Samuel L.
Jackson in the other guys when they're just like,
aim for the bushes.
Let's just jump off the roof and hit the bushes.
That'll be fine.
It's fourth and three from your own 30. It'll be fine just like aim for the bushes let's just jump off the roof and hit the bushes it'll be fine it's fourth and three from your own 30 it'll be fine just aim for the
bushes we we've had the other guys we've had super bad peter when you made the super bad
pee your pants reference by the way i was hoping you'd call back to billy madison again so we'd
have double references in the same podcast davis you ain't cool unless you peed your pants
so all right you can watch that
movie i haven't watched that one in a while i chris farley in that movie kills me man it's like
who eats 30 sack lunches uh steve buscemi is spectacular i will say that so as as a a parent
of like i've got a 14 and and a 12-year-old,
so my wife and I have tried to school them on the classics,
and we've showed them a lot of the comedy.
Obviously, we haven't ventured into the dirty R-rated comedies yet.
We'll get to Superbad later.
But Billy Madison, by far their favorite.
By far.
Classic.
They didn't like Happy Gilmore, but they loved Billy Madison.
Yeah.
So they loved Billy Madison, did not like Happy Gilmore.
Didn't care for it.
Really?
It was weird.
Didn't like Dumb and Dumber.
That was weird.
Dude, that's tough.
I believe in you, though, Andy.
I believe in your parenting skills enough.
I feel like they're going to come around on that.
I feel like they will.
But the Billy Madison thing just did my heart good
because we can turn on Billy Madison at any time.
Oh, it's a great move.
It's a great move.
It's good to go.
It's like chicken.
It's great all time of the year.
Absolutely.
Not a nervous bird, Jim Harbaugh.
We'll be back with more picks.
But first, let me tell you about GameTime.
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All right.
Texas A&M at LSU.
This number has dropped.
It is now LSU minus 11.5.
People apparently have gone back and watched LSU's defense.
Yeah.
But this one, so Jaden Daniels needs a giant game against,
this will be one of the more talented defenses he faces.
We'll see where they're at, two games into a coach being fired and all of that.
But this is an interesting one because LSU is in a weird spot.
Jane Daniels is not going to have that extra game.
Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. will be playing in an extra game.
So they got to get his numbers.
I thought they left him in too long as Georgia State
because I don't think people are fooled by that.
So they got to get his numbers here.
Yeah.
I tell you what, Andy, it seems like every time this year
that Jaden Daniels, it doesn't matter who's on defense.
Like he is one of those transcendent guys.
Jaden Daniels to me, I want to know what his shuttle is.
I want to know what his 10-yard burst.
Jaden Daniels, to me, and look, Caleb Williams, I think, is going to be great in the NFL.
How will Jaden Daniels translate to the NFL?
I think he's a better version of DTR, who we saw a little bit this week with the Cleveland
Browns, but we'll see how that game translates.
But he would be my number one pick if I was forming a college football team today.
It doesn't matter if it's Alabama.
It doesn't matter if it's Georgia State.
Even against Florida State in a game
where they stalled in the red zone a lot
and you feel like they had a quote unquote
bad game on offense, go look at his numbers.
They're insane.
This man just operates at a different level.
I think him and Jordan Travis both have started
to scramble with their eyes down the field,
which has opened up so much more and it puts so much more pressure on a defense him and Jordan Travis both have started to scramble with their eyes down the field, which
has opened up so much more and it puts so much more pressure on a defense outside of just taking
off to run or hanging in the pocket too long, right? He's the best improviser since Ryan Stiles
on Whose Line Is It Anyway? It's watching him work outside of the pocket. And look, he's a very
accurate passer, especially down the field. I mean, go back to that Mississippi State game, which really kind of launched him into the stratosphere a little bit.
I mean, he's putting the ball on a dot. He's got weapons all around him. I don't think A&M can stop
him. I don't think anybody can stop him, to be honest with you. I think if you put 13 guys on
defense, you would still find a way. I love the over in this game because LSU can't stop anybody.
And look, these two teams don't like each other. And don't forget what happened last year, right?
So LSU has to win if Jaden Daniels wants to win the Heisman
because even though as an LSU fan, it's got to make you sick to your stomach
that you have the deadliest offense in college football,
but you're not going to get a chance to win it because your defense is so bad.
Does winning the Heisman maybe take a little shine to you a little bit?
Maybe make it feel a little bit better? I guess uh but I think Jane Daniels stays in I think LSU obviously
at home big game for them his last game there I think LSU covers this but I love the over I need
to see the LSU total team points too yeah I believe LSU has hit the over every single game
has to right so uh I know as as of the week of the Florida game they had and then they hit the over every single game. Has to, right? So I know as of the week of the Florida game,
they had, and then they hit the over in that one.
I don't know what the Georgia State one was.
I'm sorry.
I apologize to everyone.
But I imagine they hit the over in that one too.
It was like 75 and a half, I think it was,
if I remember correctly.
If I remember correctly, it was.
I had some money on that.
I had some money on LSU TTP over 51 and a half.
It's like back in the day when you could rob banks,
just walk in there with a gun and there's no cops.
You can't do it nowadays.
That's why I always laugh when they just glorify all these bank robbers,
how smart they were.
I was like, there's no security.
You showed up with a gun and they gave you the money.
Simpler times.
Simpler times.
Yeah.
We'll see what happens with Texas A&M.
You know, it's Jalen Henderson.
The Jalen Henderson era is fascinating to me.
Will maybe be a footnote in Texas A&M history or who knows?
Because I'm way more interested in their coaching search than I am in what happens in this game.
So I just don't know where to go.
How are you feeling about that A&M coaching search, Andy?
Is there anybody that kind of just stands out to you right now
that you would, if you're Ross Bjork, who would you go get?
I would get Lance Leipold.
That's who I'd get.
Because he will kick your ass anywhere.
Like people don't understand what,
because you say, oh, that guy can't recruit in the SEC.
I bet he can.
I bet he can i bet he can
and i'll tell you why not because of what he's done at kansas which which is amazing the reclamation
project there he won six national titles at wisconsin whitewater like do you know what you
have to be as a recruiter in d3 to build one of those monsters. Yeah. Like what they have at Mountain Union,
what they had at Whitewater.
Like you have to be such a creative recruiter.
I'm not casting any aspersions,
but they recruit differently than everybody else.
Yeah.
Just like the SEC.
That's exactly right.
I wonder if they may, you know, give Urban Meyer a call.
That's something.
Who knows?
Who knows?
I think Urban Meyer's giving them a call. i look i wouldn't blame them right you'd be
the first guy to ever do it at a&m you weren't the first guy to do it at florida we know what
steve did ohio state they've been doing that but at a&m you would be you talk about a statue
they'll build you a monument not always laugh talk about texan m and money you've been in the
gas station lately yeah those guys ain't broke so i i don't know man i like the fit some people i i i don't i i think
he's not he fans about it then he would come back to college football and find that it was a lot more
like his jacksonville jaguars experience than his ohio state experience like yeah i agree i agree
but i think what makes urban meyer one of greatest attributes, and we don't talk about this enough, is his ability to hire the right people around him.
I think that's his biggest strengths. I mean, there's CEOs that couldn't invent the product or didn't invent the product they have, but they know how to hire people to management.
And NIL with recruiting at A&M, it's not like you got to go out there and beg. No, no. But, but the thing is the first time
he tells the dude, he'll put them on the first bus out of town. The dude will be like, cool.
Can you make that bus ticket to Austin? Cause I'm going to go beat you at Texas.
They're already doing that anyway. Might as well. Exactly. All right. Let us move on to the Iron
Bowl. Jake, am I, am I wrong in being more worried for Alabama
after New Mexico State beat Auburn?
Andy, this is how I know you know.
You want to know how I know you know,
other than I watch you do a great job.
This is how I know you know what you're looking at.
This is the worst thing that could have happened to Alabama.
And it's the worst thing that could have happened to Auburn, honestly,
just because it's a bad look in the optics, but it is year one.
The Iron Bowl, if you've ever kept up with it, Andy, you know this.
It's always crazy, especially at Jordan-Hare.
Just something goes on there.
There's some sort of magic.
Lock the gates, baby.
Hogwarts witchery that goes on.
I swear there's like an Indian burial ground or something
underneath Jordan-Hare.
They'll find it 100 years from now.
But when I look at this game, Auburn's obviously –
the biggest motivator is embarrassment for people,
especially 18 to 22-year-olds.
Auburn is unbelievably embarrassed, and they should be.
And that's not a shot at Jerry Kill.
This New Mexico State team isn't North Alabama or Alabama State,
but most people don't know that.
They say New Mexico State, it's a money game, you should beat them.
Auburn got dominated in that game.
They were not
the better team on that day, but embarrassment is an amazing fuel. And what is, and I say this all
the time, what is the one silver lining when you have a big time game coming off a horrible loss,
whether that be to a team you should have beat or getting blown out by a team everybody thought
it was going to be a good game, you get a chance to redeem yourself.
Because if Auburn goes out and finds a way,
and I've seen crazier things happen,
to win this game, that New Mexico State game,
that'll be forgotten about so quick.
It'll be like it never even happened, right?
You talk about flipping the momentum,
but this is an embarrassed Auburn team after what happened last week.
I think this is going to be a tight game most of the way through,
and I do like Auburn to cover the 14 and a half. If it goes under 14, I would probably take Bama,
but don't be shocked if this game is a little bit reminiscent of the Georgia game where Auburn's
just hanging on and hanging on and hanging on and Jalen Milrow and them find a way at the end.
The question is, will Jalen Milrow revert back to making any mistakes that he was making
back earlier in the year?
Or do they continue to run him the way they're running him?
Because if they keep continuing to run him the way they're running him and him and Tommy
Reese continue that game plan and play calling, it's going to be very hard.
Go back to science and physics.
It's going to be very hard for Auburn, regardless of how embarrassed or how emotional you are
to win this game.
But I do like Auburn to cover. and it's the Iron Bowl, man.
It's like the Bourbon Bowl.
You can't hold anything back.
Well, so Jalen Milrow in the LSU game, the way he was running the ball, you realize,
OK, now they've figured it out.
Now Tommy Reese understands.
And this is the way I look at Alabama's evolution as an offense.
You know, early in the season,
first two games, they don't know who their quarterback is.
They're still not sure it's Milrow. They lose to Texas.
They're pretty sure it's Milrow, but they gotta, they gotta let everybody know that,
that Tyler Buckner and Ty Simpson aren't it.
And so they play them against USF and then they can go, see,
we told you, and then they can go, see, we told you.
And then you get Milrow back.
And now instead of calling plays for whoever of those three, it was going to be, which
it felt like is what they're doing.
They start calling plays for Milrow.
Tommy Reese starts to kind of learn Jalen Milrow ticks, how he operates.
And now I think those two have a really good relationship.
I think they understand one another.
I just,
I've,
I'm not sure Auburn is going to be able to handle that.
And also I'm not sure Auburn is going to be able to score on
because I agree with you on the embarrassment thing.
I also think,
and I know coaches never say this,
but there are situations where they may not say this outwardly at
practice to their players,
but behind the scenes, they're working ahead on that next game because they're not worried about
this game. And they're like, okay, let's start working on Alabama now. New Mexico State,
we'll be vanilla, we'll be fine. And you saw what happened. So I imagine that Auburn will be
very prepared for Alabama, but I'm just not sure
it's going to matter. So that's the thing. Also, did New Mexico State take a little of the Jordan
hair magic out? Because I am of the belief that there are certain days at Jordan hair stadium
where the 85 bears could not win. Yeah. I don't think this will be one of those days because
unfortunately those fans just watch
the team get destroyed by New Mexico State so that's that's the other part I worry about I'm
going to take Alabama to cover here because I just think I think they are starting to really roll
oh they they are my thing Andy is like I'm the more I look at this Jalen Marone play calling
situation I feel like this is almost an ego thing for Alabama's coaching staff.
Remember the off season,
Nick Sam was like,
we want to get back to murder ball.
Yeah.
Had old school downhill play action,
12 personnel.
And they're like,
this is who we are.
Right.
Even with Jalen Moreau,
that's fine.
We'll fit the player to our system,
not fit the system to our player.
And when you're in a transition period like that,
you don't have to go all the way to one side or the other right you can sit here and say listen as we're making this
transition as we're bringing in guys like julian saying guys that we feel like can fit this system
better we can still have some aspects that make us the best and most efficient offense possible
with jaylen milrow because it's not like they didn't know. It's not like they're like, man, wow, Jalen Milrow in the zone read.
Oh, my God.
Like, this is really good.
It's like they almost caved.
Like, either.
And I know which way this probably went.
I think that Nick Saban wanted to play that murder ball style.
That's what I think.
And he told Tommy Reese, this is how we're going to play.
We're going to pass from the pocket.
And he's going to take off when he goes through his reads. And what was happening to Jalen Moreau? He was
hanging in the pocket too long, getting sacked. All of a sudden, it's like, hey, we play LSU this
week. They are going to score. We have not played a game like this against a team like this, even
though our defense is really good. This is going to be a back and forth score fest, even though
it's at home. So we have to really go all in to this style of system. forth score fest even though it's at home so we have to really
go all in to this style of system and it worked and it's like well maybe this needs to be us
for the rest of the year and and it is going to be i feel like it was almost an ego thing because
nick saving them are smart enough to know what jane burrow's good at and what he's not so i
thought they just finally had to cave and look look, the best compliment I give Nick Saban is nobody is more malleable
even when they're at the top.
And going back to hurry up, no huddle.
He hated it, right?
He would come out and say, we don't need this.
It's bad for football.
This, that, and the other.
Player safety.
Knew it wasn't going to change.
So what does he do?
He brings in the best guys to do it.
And then all of a sudden you get 20-20.
So I think his ability to be malleable at the top and not stay stubborn
is one of his biggest strengths and why he's been able to thrive for so long i think it gives you
longevity yeah i i i think he has all those national titles because he's willing to adapt
and other people aren't so i yeah i i think they found a thing i don't know i don't know if it's
good enough to beat georgia but i they've found a way to optimize this particular roster.
It's their best chance.
I mean, you got to against those guys.
I wonder on the other side,
is anybody going to be able to get to Carson Beck?
I mean, the man's got better protection than the president.
Like, it's incredible watching their offensive line.
Exactly right.
Now we go to a game with two backup quarterbacks.
Oh, man.
Let's go to the swamp.
Florida State at Florida.
Feels so bad for Jordan Travis.
This is just a terrible situation.
This is a guy who has brought this program or helped bring this program
from the depths to the heights.
And now he's not going to be there.
And Tate Rodemaker's got to win them two games to get them in the college
football playoff.
But on the other side, Graham Mertz, and I think the way Graham Mertz got hurt is probably emblematic of his season.
He's been a warrior for Florida.
He's been great given the circumstances.
And he just dump trucks two people, breaks his collarbone in the middle of it.
And by the way, so tough that he didn't even realize he'd broken his collarbone and ran
another play.
But yeah,
so we're going to have Tate Rodemaker versus Max Brown in this game.
Man,
we was robbed.
We was robbed.
Jordan was having a great year.
And I tell you what,
Graham Mertz to me was one of the biggest surprises of the college football
season and the way he played.
You watch his tape at Wisconsin.
You can say what you want about the system.
This is a different guy, man.
Something about Florida, the Florida weather, I think.
It just does it for people.
I don't know.
I think it just makes you better.
You know, when I look at this matchup, number one, Andy,
if Florida State wins their next two games, they need to be in the playoff.
I don't think there should be any discussion.
Jordan Travis was a huge piece, obviously the biggest piece on Florida State.
But you can't take away what the other guys guys have done and if you're perfect you're perfect
now do I think they're going to be undefeated going into the uh college football playoff no
but I don't think it's going to be because they lost to Florida I think they're going to lose
to Louisville who to me just that loss to Pitt just stings even worse now if you're a Louisville
fan but when I look at this matchup, Tate Rodemaker does have some experience.
Max Brown's going to struggle to throw the ball.
You're going to see more quick screens in this game
than you've ever seen in your life in the past.
Get ready for this.
There's not going to be a whole lot of,
let's get to the third read or let's get to the check down.
It's either going to be, hey, first read's not there.
You're gone, especially if you see Mann and their backs turn.
Or, hey, I'm going to make the decision for you, right?
We're going to run screens and RPOs that make it easy on you to read.
Third and passing, then we'll get into some of the more dropback stuff
where you've got to use your eyes and be able to scan back and forth.
But, again, you know, the under 51.5 in this game,
why would I not take that?
I think it's one of the best bets on the board,
especially with them playing safe. Here's my biggest worry if i'm a florida fan i know
florida's got a good run game it's a good run right especially when they're they're getting
vertical but that box is going to be loaded it's going to be loaded i mean it's it's going to be
a warehouse there's gonna be so many loaded boxes in there but when you when you look at at what's going to take place down the field you're
going to get 9 to 10 11 to 12 play drives right that new clock rule it's going to be running but
at what point does tate rodemaker just have to get the ball up to johnny wilson or keon coleman
or jaheim bell i think the run game is going to be fine with benson he's a good back i look at
florida and i see pierce all right i like eugene with Vince and he's a good back. I look at Florida and I see Pearsall.
I like Eugene Wilson too. He's a good player.
Eugene Wilson is one of those
quick screen guys.
He's going to have the ball, Andy.
Florida State's defensive staff is going to go
find three and just
hit him off the line of scrimmage because the ball is coming
to him within half a second.
I'm not worried about him too far down the
field, especially with Max Brown. They're not going to put him in that situation. It's going
to be a lot of quick stuff to Pierce on Eugene Wilson, right? So is Florida State just going to
keep everything in front? Are they going to make them march down the field and kick field goals?
That to me, I just feel like Florida State at the end of the day does have more weapons than Florida
has. And again, go back to what we said earlier. This is one of those games
where just like the Nebraska-Iowa game, I feel like a team is going to lose this game,
not win it. Who makes the most mistakes? I think it is going to be Florida, even though it's at
home. And I think Florida State, they can turn too many 50-50 balls into 80-20 balls with that
giraffe running around on the outside and Johnny Wilson, and then Keon Coleman, the magician, and then Jaheim Bell's just waiting to have a huge game.
It's coming at some point where he has one of those big three touchdowns games with over 100
yards. They can hand him the ball off too when they get down there. So I tell you what, man,
I like Florida State in this game, but you know what? Give me Florida to cover, Florida State to win.
Okay, okay.
Here's why I'm not going to do that.
I've watched Florida's defense play all year.
And I imagine, because I just saw them against Luther Burden and Theo Weiss,
and Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson are a supercharged version of that.
So even if it's not Brady Cook, it's Tate Rodemaker throwing on the ball.
First of all,
what we've seen from Tate Rodemaker in the limited times we've gotten to see
him Louisville last year,
the North Alabama in this year,
he's looked pretty good.
We've never seen him with a chance to practice with the ones.
So we don't know what that looks like,
but my guess is four States going to look okay.
I don't know that they will be as dynamic as they are with Jordan Travis in
there,
but I think they will be a pretty good version of themselves.
And Florida's defense is just not equipped to stop that.
And so I'll take Florida State to cover.
I'm with you.
I worry more about Florida State against Louisville.
And here's where I'd really worry if I'm Florida State.
If Louisville loses to Kentucky this week,
Louisville's going to come out hair on fire next week.
If Louisville can finally snap that losing streak against Kentucky,
maybe they relax and like, oh, we're going to go play a backup
quarterback. I realize
Louisville did get beat by that backup quarterback
last year, and some of those players are still there.
But that's
it. If I'm Florida State, I'm like,
go Louisville this week,
beat the hell out of Kentucky, and get
comfortable, because then we can beat you next week.
I would much rather you be coming off a win than a loss
when, again, you're embarrassed and pissed off.
But I'll say this real quick about Louisville.
Andy, how cool is it to see a Jeff Brom coach team?
And we think of Louisville, you kind of think of finesse, right?
Like spread it out.
Hey, it's a shootout.
We won 45-42.
Louisville's gritty, man. Oh, yeah. Like spread it out. Hey, it's a shootout. We won 45-42. Louisville's gritty, man.
Oh yeah. They're a downhill. They beat Notre Dame up front like it was nothing. Defensive-wise,
I think they've punched above their weight about as much as anybody, but they win games at the line of scrimmage. If you want to have a bar fight, they will walk outside in the alley and
will throw hands. Like Louisville's typically not like that. They just want to dance around you and
wear you out and then sneak you with
one.
But no,
this team's different,
man.
And again,
I go back to that pit loss.
Imagine if we were talking about an undefeated Louisville team right now,
possibly facing an undefeated Florida state team.
But I think Brom deserves to win one of the,
you know,
3,500 coach of the year awards.
Yeah.
Agreed.
Let us go to the big one. yeah we're going to ann arbor
ohio state at michigan the preliminary lines on this the ones that came out a few weeks ago were
always michigan six and a half michigan five and a half but when when the time came on sunday to
open it up michigan three and a half people are a little concerned about what they saw in college
park maryland this you know basically you know the home team getting three and a half or given
three and a half means it's probably a pick them on a neutral site yep this is huge stakes huge
everything jim harbaugh's not there it's the most interesting possible way to play this game.
Yeah, look, please keep betting this thing down. Please. I don't want to have to buy the point down to two and a half because I'm not taking anything minus three and a half. I'll take
something plus three and a half. I'm taking nothing minus three and a half. Please keep
betting it down. I don't trust Kyle McCord. Everybody on three, love Marvin Harrison Jr.
You got a Maserati.
Love a Bucca.
All right, you got a Lambo.
Cade Stover.
You even got a Hummer truck or a Tesla truck.
That's great.
He's a combine.
He's a combine thresher.
That's what he is.
Dude, that dude, I love watching him play, by the way.
Talk about a weapon, especially in the red zone.
But when I look at Kyle McCord,
I just don't think on the road, by the way, that talk about a weapon, especially in the red zone. But when I look at Kyle McCord, I just don't think on the road in the big house, even though this game's
played at 11, my time central, which I can't stand. I don't think he can make enough plays
against this defense. And I think that Michigan is going to be able to move the ball on Ohio state,
even though I guarantee you, Jim Knowles, don't play a lot of zero this zero this year after what happened to him last year with the big plays they've given up.
I'm sure they're going to just try and see if they can stop the run with base stuff,
match heavy with heavy, and try and stop Blake Corham.
But I feel like Kyle McCord makes a couple mistakes.
And I know J.J. McCarthy was very willy-nilly with the ball last week.
He can't afford to do that.
You know, his arm strength improved so much he's like
the guy who lost a lot of weight and i just walked around with his shirt off all the time
like you don't have to show it off all the time like every chance you get throw the check down
make the right play i feel like michigan just they're a little more grimy than ohio state is
again this year though you got possibly seven offensive linemen that can go in the NFL draft this year
which is insane and I always laugh when people are like you know and I kind of chuckle myself
oh well Michigan you know they haven't played anybody we really don't know anybody about them
yeah you want to know why I know about Michigan because I've watched these same guys play for
what seems like the last eight years like this is the same core the past two years that went
and got shoved in a locker by Georgia right a that went and got shoved in a locker by Georgia.
A lot of people got shoved in a locker by Georgia two years ago. Then last year against TCU,
I thought they kind of rolled their helmet out there a little bit, and TCU played the best game
they possibly could and lost. But I've watched these guys play. They know what to expect.
They know how to handle themselves. I think Kyle McCord makes a couple big mistakes.
Marvin will keep a minute. I think the runord makes a couple big mistakes. Marvin will keep him in it.
I think the run game will work a little bit for Ohio State.
But give me Michigan to cover.
And I'll tell you what, Andy,
I would take it all the way up to Michigan, minus six and a half.
I think they're pissed off about this Jim Harbaugh thing.
And I think it's slowly becoming the norm to not have him on the sidelines.
You talk about manufactured adversity.
They didn't even have to manufacture it. This is game six without him on the sidelines this year. Game six. didn't even have to manufacture it's just game six without him on the sidelines game six i asked cone today he played
quarterback in michigan i was like at what point does jim harbaugh coming back to the sideline
actually become a distraction like when does that become the weird thing so i tell you what i think
michigan's uh upset i think they should be upset in this whole situation. I know it's a rivalry game,
and this game's typically close. There's a lot of talent on this field. Give me Michigan by at
least a touchdown. I love it. It's one of the best bets on the board, I think. Keep betting it down.
Everybody in Ohio, keep betting Ohio State, please. I'll give you guys a number, 73.
That's not a total. I do not think this game's going to hit that total. What do you know,
and why am I about to start? about that? No, no, no.
73 is Ladarius Henderson's number.
That is Michigan's left tackle.
He did not play against Maryland.
They went with Miles Hinton.
He got hurt.
They had to move Carson Barnhart over to left tackle.
Carson Barnhart at left tackle has been a problem when he's played there.
If Henderson can't go, it's going to severely limit what Michigan can do in the pass game.
They're not going to be able to protect that well.
If Henderson is playing, they will be able to run their full offense.
If they can run their full offense, I think they're fine.
Now, I think it looks like McCarthy's a little banged up in terms of his mobility but if adrenaline takes over and we he is the full JJ McCarthy he's
definitely the more dynamic of these two quarterbacks now Roman Wilson they think he's
going to play yeah obviously Roman Wilson Cornelius Johnson not dynamic like Marv and Emeka Abuka
but you saw Cornelius Johnson be very dynamic last year against Ohio State.
So it is not inconceivable that Michigan could pop a couple big plays.
But if this becomes a grimy, grinded-out game,
like we saw Ohio State play against Notre Dame,
Michigan's going to win that game.
That's a game that plays right into Michigan's hands.
They've got to figure out how to let Marv be Marv.
And I don't know if you can do that against this secondary.
Yeah, I agree.
Because we've seen Marv do this to other teams.
And look, we saw him against Kalen King.
He just, he destroyed Kalen King against Penn State.
So he can do this when he's matched up on somebody good.
But I just don't know if he can do this over and over against Michigan
or enough to make the difference.
So I'm with you.
I don't know if I'm as confident in Michigan as you,
but at three and a half, I'll take Michigan here.
I want to make a point, and it's a great point you bring up about the left tackle.
I think a lot of that, and you know this better than anybody.
I mean, hell, you did it at a very high level.
That's why the run game for Michigan is so important to supplement that play action game to slow that pass rush down a little bit for JJ you know the best way to protect a tackle that's
struggling in the pass game is to be able to run right at pass rushers or really run in general
to really be able to sell that play action because you don't want to live in a world where you got to
go help in the whole game right right? Especially in predictable passing downs.
That's why staying ahead of the change, staying on schedule.
One of the reasons Georgia is so successful, they're in third and three the whole game.
They never even get into third down.
So that's a big part of it.
I'm sure that'll go into it.
But, I mean, y'all all know out there, and we know here,
if there's any way you can strap it up and go,
whether by medical help or spiritual or emotional help,
you find a way to play in this one.
It's going to be great.
I love just the intensity of all this.
I've been to Alabama, Auburn.
I've been to Michigan, Ohio State.
When both teams are great, it's the same level of intensity.
There's nothing else in sports that matches it.
I'm so excited. Cannot wait for this weekend. It's the same level of intensity and it does. There's nothing else in sports that matches it. I just,
I'm so excited.
Cannot wait for this weekend.
Jay crane.
You see him on crane and company every morning.
I love that morning show.
I appreciate it.
It's like a shot of adrenaline.
Yeah.
We'll be your espresso,
right?
I'll be your huckleberry.
Andy,
thanks so much for having me,
man.
Really just,
you guys do incredible work over there, which you guys are building and and you yourself you
know you know like i said you know the respect i have for you it's a fantastic show and we need
to get you back on soon you were our guest picker couple right we need to we need to get you back
okay no you know you did good you did well i hey listen if you need me championship week i'm there
for you andy look uh well it's like i, I'll volunteer as tribute and bring you on here.
We'll Hunger Games this whole thing.
But, dude, it's always so great to catch up with you.
And as much as I love Rivalry Week, I hate college football is getting towards the end.
But, hey, you know, it is what it is, man.
So I hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving, too.
Thank you, Jake.
That's it.
Happy following.
Happy fading.
I think you might want to follow Jake. He pretty smart I don't know though I'm back on the under for Iowa I apologize for for leading everyone astray
last week back on the under happy to be there I feel like I'm home big show on tuesday we will be reacting live to the college football playoff rankings
on tuesday night also it's an o show not ed orgeron but we got big games involving o teams
ohio state we talked a bunch about michigan we need to talk about ohio state so we're going to
talk to spencer holbrook of letterman row justin Hopkins of ScoopDuck.com. Also will join us to talk Oregon as the Ducks head into the Civil War against Oregon State.
It is rivalry week, everybody.
Let's go.