Andy & Ari On3 - Nebraska's Matt Rhule talks Big Ten Coaches meeting, Bowl Eligibility | Louisville OL Bryan Hudson

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

As the Michigan story continues to unravel with what feels like daily news, the coaches of the Big Ten met and voiced their opinions, including Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule, who joins the show. Later, former LSU Center T-Bob Hebert joins to discuss the massive game in Alabama-LSU. Then, Louisville center Bryan Hudson joins to talk about facing his former team in Virginia Tech.Today's show is brought to you by PrizePicks, the easiest way to play daily fantasy. All first time users that deposit and use the promo code ANDY will receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100. If you deposit $100, PrizePicks will give you $100. If you deposit $50, PrizePicks will give you $50.Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/ANDYThis show is sponsored by Birddogs. Live your most efficient life with a pair of shirts or pants from Birddogs. Visit birddogs.com/staples and use the promo code STAPLES to receive a free Hydro Flask-style bottle with your order.(0:00-2:04) Intro - Big Ten 2024 Schedule(2:05-14:23) Big Ten Coaches Meeting(14:24-34:43) Nebraska HC Matt Rhule Interview(34:44-59:51) T-Bob Hebert joins to talk Alabama-LSU(59:52-1:11:26) Louisville OL Bryan Hudson Joins(1:11:27-1:12:15) ConclusionWant to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube and don't forget to subscribe!https://youtu.be/FUPtMb7gNX8

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. Happy Thursday. It is almost a huge college football weekend. Actually, there's games going on right now. Big 12 games. TCU, Texas Tech going on right now. This is a big, big weekend. Big weekend in the Big 12.

You got Texas and K-State. You got Bedlam. Kansas, Iowa State. Big weekend in the SEC. You got Alabama LSU. We'll talk about that a little later in the show. With T-Bob Hebert, our favorite former LSU center. Big win in the Pac-12.

You got USC and Washington and LA. And of course, the Big Ten, all eyes will be on Michigan as they return to the field. But the Big Ten, casting our eyes toward next year with the release of the 2024 conference schedule, which actually has dates of games. And if you're wondering, like what will USC's debut Big Ten game be? We'll be at Michigan on September 21st, 2024. UCLA's first Big Ten game.

Indiana visiting the Rose Bowl on September 14th. Oregon's first Big Ten game will be against UCLA. so it'll feel like a Pac-12 game. But then they play Michigan State at Autzen on October 5th. Washington, they get Northwestern in Seattle on September 21st. They also have to go to State College on November 9th. USC, they get Penn State at home on October 12th. So this will be fun. This is a lot of fun. This is stuff to get us talking. Of course, it's also a little bit of distraction

from what is going on currently in the Big Ten and that the athletic directors had their bi-weekly call on Thursday. The coaches had a call on Wednesday, ESPN reporting that that call got a little contentious that Jim Harbaugh was on it for a while. Then he got off so as to allow the other coaches to speak their minds on the sign stealing accusations that are surrounding Michigan. And according to ESPN and the Athletic Multiple Reports,

there were quite a few coaches that were not pleased with this situation, would like to see the Big Ten do something. Now, we talked to Nebraska coach Matt Rule for the show today, whereas all those other quotes were off the record. We got on the record quotes. He would not divulge specifics of what happened in that meeting but he did have some pointed comments about acts that affect the actual game itself while not pointing the finger directly

you'll get his point so let's let's listen what he had to say this is part of an interview that you're going to hear later in the show but but probably good to hear it now. Yeah, I think it was a chance for everybody just to kind of talk about how they felt, how they were impacted. Obviously, Tony Petitti, I think is a wonderful commissioner. I'll keep all the comments in-house, but I think, you know, I think a lot of people's lives, livelihoods, jobs, their seasons, players, players' health, I mean, all kinds of things have been impacted by this. And so it was an opportunity really for all of us for the first time just to kind of see what's going and talk about it. Like we talk about everything really as coaches.

I mean, the Big Ten does a great job of having regular coaches' calls. This one was just specific to that incident. I know, the Big Ten does a great job of having regular coaches calls. This one was just specific to that incident. I know your season's going. When that stuff comes out, do you go back to that game and look at anything, or do you just kind of move on and deal with it later? I think you just sit there and say, you know, you sit there and just feel really bad for the players on both sides, you know, because this is, this is, this is really our last chance to teach young people how to go out there and compete and overcome adversity and,

and go through ups and downs and highs and lows. And you just hope when you do this, that no side ever has an advantage over the other that's not gained and earned appropriately. And as we tell parents that we're going to teach them how to be young men, I think the first thing we teach them is integrity and honesty. So if I ever feel, and I can't comment on the specifics of this because I don't know, but if I ever feel like my guys have been shorted,

that's, you know, obviously I'm here to fight for them. That would certainly be heartbreaking and disappointing to me as someone who loves college football. You know know it's one thing when it's recruiting but when you when you when we mess with the 60 minutes of the game um that's uh that's really really really impacted because i'll tell you this any guys players go out there and they get hurt um and if if i ever knew what plays you were running my guys are running the ball before the snap um i don't know that that's fair to the health and safety of our players or anything. So I certainly hope it's not what everyone says it is, but I don't know. So I can't comment on that specifically. So we don't know what Matt Rule said in that meeting,

but we know how Matt Rule feels about that particular situation. And I think there's probably some other coaches in the Big Ten that feel the same way. The question is, what would be done, could be done about this now? And we've talked about this multiple times about what the NCAA can do, how that process works. And I'll give you a refresher. Remember, they investigate, they give a school a notice of allegations. The school has three months, 90 days to respond to that. The NCAA then has 30 days to respond to the response. So it's a pretty slow process. The Big Ten, the commissioner has latitude to discipline players, coaches, we think teams. If you look at the bylaws, the commissioner has some options here,

but here's the thing. The commissioner can only do a fine that does not exceed $10,000, a suspension of no more than two contests. If they want to do more than that, major disciplinary action is what it's called the bylaws. That has to be approved by the joint group executive committee, which is a group of representatives from all the different Big Ten schools. That would require that group to say, yes, we will endorse this more harsh punishment than usual. I just I can't imagine them doing that one. It's bad for business for the Big Ten to take a team off the board that could win the

conference, could win a college football playoff game, could win the national title. And that's where Michigan sits right now. But two, there's another part of this that I'm not sure people have considered. And that's if the Big Ten or the NCAA or anybody tried to take Michigan off the board this season, if they tried to ban them from the postseason this season, there's a group that would be adversely affected that would probably want some action taken on their behalf. And that's the Michigan players. Remember, these rules weren't collectively bargained.

This isn't like the NFL where Roger Goodell's authority is essentially collectively bargained and the players have a hand in determining the scope of what he can do. This was decided by the schools unilaterally. The players had no say in it. So if I were a Michigan player and I got banned from the postseason, I would sue the crap out of the Big Ten. And I imagine that's exactly what most Michigan players would do. There are probably lawyers already circling around just in case that happens because they would probably have a case. Because remember, they had no say in those rules. They also didn't do anything wrong.

Nothing that's come out to this point suggests that any player had any knowledge of anything or did anything wrong. And it's not like the NCAA rule that says the coach has to know what everybody's doing or the coach is responsible for what everyone in the organization is doing. It's not like that. The players don't have that same restriction. So if I were a Michigan player

and something happened, I would absolutely sue the big 10 or the NCAA or whoever issued that sort of punishment. And that's why I think another reason why I think nothing's going to happen this season. I think they're going to be able to play out their season and the NCAA will investigate and potentially the big 10 too. And they will issue discipline in the off season, NCAA, possibly the big 10 too. And then we'll see what happens. But I just, I can't imagine for all of those reasons I just said, I cannot imagine them doing anything in season, even if it's something that the league's other coaches or the league's other athletic directors want.

But we'll see. All right, enough, enough off the field stuff. Let's talk about the games because this is a great weekend of college football. And that includes the Nebraska Cornhuskers. They're going to Michigan State. Is that a game that is going to affect any sort of national title race, college football playoff? Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. But it is a massive game for Nebraska. We're going to talk to Matt Rule about that. We're going to talk to T-Bob Hebert, former LSU center, about what it's like to play in an LSU Alabama game in this era of LSU Alabama

as the Tigers prepare to go to Tuscaloosa for a game that very well could decide the SEC West. Now, I know Ole Miss will have something to say about that as well if LSU wins. So we got that. We got all the stuff in the Big 12. In the ACC, Louisville, one loss, 7-1. They are going to play Virginia Tech at Louisville. Suddenly hot Virginia Tech. Remember Brent Prye? Everybody's wondering if he's going to make it. Well, they're doing well suddenly. We're going to talk to Louisville center Brian Hudson, who happened to start his career at Virginia Tech

and also is just the greatest center you could ever have because guys get you a center that smokes baby back ribs for the entire rest of the offense. That's what Brian Hudson does. That's the kind of people he is. We're going to talk to him later today. Big show. Lots going on.

When we come back, we're talking to Matt Rule from Nebraska. Bowl eligibility is one win away for the Cornhuskers. Given what they've been through, that would be a massive, massive step. We'll talk to Matt Rule when we return, but first we got to talk about prize picks. That's right.

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You can figure out what you want to do. It's a whole lot of fun. Download that PrizePix app and use the code Andy. They'll match your first deposit up to a hundred bucks. Matt Rule inherited a program at Nebraska that had not been to a bowl game since 2016. Guess what? The Cornhuskers, five wins headed to East Lansing. They can clinch bowl eligibility this week. This was a team that could not win one score games for years. And now suddenly they are grinding out wins. How did they do it? What's the difference?

And how do they fix some of the issues? This team fumbles a lot. Can they get that fixed and make sure they get bowl eligible? We talked to Matt Rule about it right now. We welcome Nebraska coach, Matt rule. We've been rocking out to his personal office playlist while he's been out of the office. We went, we went Amy Winehouse, Cody jinx, and then a little Dave Matthews ants marching. That's you are,

you're all over the place coach. That's that's Thursday morning for you right there that's uh you know dave is uh dave is game plan mode and so um i uh when i put on the the red zone stuff i put a little dave on so oh so dave is in the red zone okay that's interesting all right because you know everything's compressed so you you need a little saxophone because you told me you're you're more of a Gray Street kind of that that era love when they brought the old producer back and the songs got a little down again. Yeah, that's good. That's good. Red Zone music. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. He's the best. So long live Lily White. That's what it is. I remember Steve Lily White. So you guys are going to play Michigan State. The stakes are you can be bowl eligible if you win this game.

You've won a few in a row with a team that before you took over could not win one score games. What are you doing different that allows them to, in the fourth quarter, be able to put games away instead of let them slip? Well, you know, I can't speak about before. I don't know how things were done. I do know we're kind of doing the same process we did at Temple and Baylor.

You know, we practice really hard during the week. We try to convince the guys that it's really not about starting fast, though we'd love to start fast. But, you know, we want to kind of be like a body blows organization that, you know, tries to play physical and get into the fourth quarter and be confident and make plays. So I think the players are just really bought into it. You know, we practice really hard and I think that gives them confidence when the game is on the line in the fourth. So you've had a lot of injuries on offense. You've had to adjust what you wanted to do. How much schematically have you had to adjust as the season's gone on because you've lost receivers, linemen that you were hoping you'd have?

Yeah, I think at the end of the day, we want to run the football. We want to be explosive in the passing game. Haven't been very explosive, and I think as of late, you know, we put the freshman receivers out there. They've opened the field up for us. You know, we've had some long touchdown passes the last couple games, but I think Sat and the offensive staff have done a phenomenal job

of just, you know, figuring out what guys do, what they do well. We started the season off with one quarterback, moved to another one. Every week, we lose three linemen against Northwestern. We start three different guys against Purdue and find a way to get a win in the Big Ten. So I think those guys have just kind of grinded. And to me, offense is all about you want to have a core philosophy, but just tell me what your players do well and let's, let's try to do that. Well, and that's the thing you hire in a Harburg. You've been building around him since, since moving to him.

And it seems like, you know, it's weird because this is Nebraska. It's we know what made Nebraska great back in the day. You guys are running some option. There's a, there's a touchdown against Purdue, the, the long TDd pass to jaylen lloyd that is the speed option as play action might be a little tommy frazier now they would have gone triple his play action but speed option is play that play action in 2023 i will take yeah no doubt we hit we hit a 50 yarder off of the i formation option against northwestern

and you know the principles are still the same i think the biggest thing, Andy, is we've played three or four games with gusting winds that not many guys could throw the ball into. You know, against Illinois, we kicked off into the wind and ended up recovering it because it just got up there and blew back to us. So, you know, getting here, getting to the Big Ten West, playing here at Memorial Stadium, you know, playing at some of the other places, you'd better be able to run the football. This is not Baylor TCU anymore.

I'm not playing in 90 degrees and beautiful. So the option gives us an opportunity just to mix it in, to make you have to work on it, to create some elite play actions, to get the ball on the perimeter on really windy days. We'll be right back with more from Nebraska coach Matt Rule. But first, let me tell you about bird dogs. I've told you, you want to live a life of maximum efficiency. You get your bird dogs lined shorts. You can wear them anywhere. They feel like they were made for you, but the weather's getting a little cooler. What are you going to do? You can't have your legs exposed to the elements. Oh, Bird Dogs makes pants too. Don't you worry.

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quarter touchdown to Malachi Coleman in the Northwestern game, because I have a photo for you. I have a screenshot for the kids in the audience. And Matt, I've learned in the Northwestern game because I have a photo for you. I have a screenshot. For the kids in the audience, and Matt, I've learned in the last few days that the audience is pretty young. We talk about the TV show Dallas on last night's show. They didn't know what show that was. Kids, this is the eye formation. There's a fullback and there's a tailback. And when Heinrich takes the snap, he's going to fake to that fullback and there's a tailback and when Heinrich takes the snap he's gonna fake

to that fullback that's called a dive and those cornerbacks are gonna go what is this witchcraft and they're gonna crash touchdown it was like brought a tear to my eye coach you know it's funny that uh you know that fullback for us Janir and Bonner you know great great great young talent just a freshman. He was a receiver, a really highly recruited receiver. He went from receiver to tight end. Then we said, hey, you want to play a little fullback? Man, he'll go out and do it all.

I can't wait for three or four years from now where he's a senior, he's out there, he's running routes in the slot, and then comes back and we can get in the eye. I think the sky's the limit with the personnel that we have. How does that conversation go when you're talking to him about that role? Is it, hey, coach, whatever I need to do to get on the field? It's different with every guy, but with JB, man, he's going to do whatever you ask. Like we've handed him the ball. We've, you know, asked him to run down on kickoff. I mean, we have some guys here that just want to win. They want to play, you know, and I think the fact that we as a staff have a track record of putting players from Temple and Baylor, switching their positions, putting them in the NFL. I think the fact that, you know, we've been in the NFL. When we tell guys, hey, we think this is your best chance to get on the

field now, and then eventually it's your best chance to make money someday. A lot of guys seem to be willing to do it. They'll try it. You know, sometimes we move a guy, Andy, and you know what? Hey, let's move you back. You're better off at your other position. But I think they know we care enough that we're trying to get them on the field. Well, and I like the way you're doing it with a converted receiver,

because here's the part I can't figure out about modern offenses, is everybody uses the tight end in so many different ways now. And you move them all around the formation, but so few people just have him right before the snap line up between the quarterback and the tailback, which seems like that would really diversify what you can do if that's in your toolbox. Yeah. I mean, we, we played, um, my last year in Carolina was my last game. I got fired the next morning, but we played the, uh, we played the Niners and it was like, I mean, we played last year in Carolina. It was my last game. I got fired the next morning. But we played the Niners, and it was like, I mean,

you talk about witchcraft. It felt like witchcraft, you know. They could run all the outside zone plays, but then they could run all these other plays, and they had Juicy go on the field. And what personnel grouping are they in? You had no idea. Then you're playing the Saints.

They have Taysom Hill. Like, what offense are they in? So I think with us, we just, when we got here, we said, you know, we want to playing the Saints. They have Taysom Hill. What offense are they in? So I think with us, when we got here, we said, we want to win the football. We want to be explosive. Let's get positionless players. Let's try to play like the Niners. Let's try to play like the Saints with Taysom.

And we thought maybe Heinrich would be that role. As he's emerged into the starting quarterback, now we find other guys like Bonner to do stuff with. So I'm curious. You don't have a, this is what I do. This is my offense. And how much of that is that as a young coach, you were a D-line coach, an O-line coach, a defensive coordinator, an offensive coordinator. How much of that is because you have coached everything? I think it's a lot of that. You know, I was looking at us on defense, you know, at Temple, we were a 4-3 and we were, you know,

a top 10 defense. At Baylor, you know, we got to Baylor, we struggled for two years. We moved to like the three down, Coach Hecox at Iowa State's type defense. You know, we led the nation in sacks, I think, or we're in the top five in all these defensive categories. Went to the NFL in the first year, we were the worst defense. Second year, we were number one in defense or number two in defense. And we adjusted to more of a double stand-up edge, you know, hybrid 3-4 type thing. We got here, Phil Snow, who had been with me for a long time, left. Tony came in.

Tony's a 3-3-5 guy. So to me, defense is not about the scheme. It's about how you tackle and block and get off blocks. And it's about how you practice. Offensively at Temple, we were an I formation. We went to Baylor, we were more spread. You know, here we were kind of going back to our roots. So I just think, I like to look at the players. I like to say to myself, like, hey, what do they do well? But at the core of it, you know, we want to run the ball and stop the run. We want to create explosive plays and not give them up and win third down and score touchdowns in the red zone. It's not real complicated.

It's just really, hey, what's the best way for us to do those things? Well, you are leading the Big Ten in runs of over 10 yards. So it's happening. But I want to bring up uh probably something that drives you nuts and that's the ball security you know you opening kickoff like now you recovered that one but you had some other ones that you lost in that last game and i heard you talking in the press conference about the x factor about you know you've got the ball in one hand and then you bring the x over how how much do you smile when Emmitt Johnson, as he's crossing the goal line untouched,

does the X factor to protect the ball coming across the goal line? Yeah, it's just kind of in those freshmen's bloodstream. Jalen Lloyd scores his first touchdown, he does it. Tommy Hill picks off a pass, he does it. And it's one you know, Jalen Lloyd scores his first touchdown. He does it. Tommy Hill picks off a pass. He does it. And it's one of those standards that we have. It's really, you know, I learned it from Christian McCaffrey. Like I showed them the video of Christian, you know, he's at the 49ers, I think at the time after, you know, we both left and he scores a touchdown, he's doing a cross on the goal line. Like, you know, to me, it's, it's, it's, it's kind of the

standard you want to have program wide that says, Hey, even when I'm about to score, I know I'm not going to fumble. I'm still going to just do this one little thing because we know the ball is the most important thing. And for me, Andy, we're leading the nation in fumbles. We're leading the nation in lost fumbles. To be 5-3 with that happening, I mean, it gets crazy. And so extreme times, they call for extreme measures. And we practiced ball security this week more than we ever have. And it's not anyone's thing. And so, you know, extreme times, you know, they call for extreme measures.

And, you know, we practiced ball security this week more than we ever have. And it's not any one thing. It's snaps. It's drop snaps. It's all kinds of things. And so to go up there to East Lansing and try to win a game versus a really, really stout physical defense, we cannot turn the football over. But it was pretty cool to put a picture up of the team meeting of Emmitt side-by-side with Christian McCaffrey and just say, hey, the standard is the standard.

And being able to show the guys, hey, this is what it looks like. Not saying, hey, don't do this. So now, do you do anything like, you know, the program, one of my favorite movies where Darnell Jefferson has to carry the ball around campus and everybody on the team is trying to knock it out do you do with your skill position players on offense do you do you hand them footballs and be like all right everybody go get them it's funny it's funny you say that because that that was uh that was our running back coach's suggestion and you know my point

to those guys was like you know what guys um uh a I don't want to get a call from some you know uh professor on campus whose class has been disrupted by our guys like it happens in the movie. But also, it's kind of down to three or four positions. It's just a couple guys. And so to me, everything's technical. It's not that they're not trying. It's like my golf swing. I tried really hard to hit it down the middle, but you know, something's off. So how we hold the ball, just making it technique, but, but, but trying to really practice it a lot more and a lot harder. And that's what we've done this week. One thing I heard you say earlier this week that I found interesting is that

the players you inherited here work already pretty naturally process oriented, which I find interesting because it doesn't, I've always thought that's not a natural way of being of thinking, okay, here's how do I practice to do this? How do I work to do this? Everybody I feel like tends to think about what's the result I want. How nice is it when you have a group that's kind of already in that mindset already? It's been amazing. You know, I think it's a credit to Scott Frost and his staff. To me, if you're a smart coach, you follow good staff. I remember watching Urban Meyer, one of the coaches I look up to, and he followed Gary Blackney.

He followed Coach Weber at Utah. He followed coaches that had taught guys the right things. So I try to emulate that. I have a lot of respect for Scott. But it's a very Midwestern value. You grew Like, you know, you grew up on a farm. It's like, you know what you want. You know, you want a bountiful harvest. And you understand that in order to get that, you have to plant seeds very, very early on and you can't have a day off. Can't have a bad day. And so for us, I constantly remind them of what they want.

You know, we talk about the outcome all the time. We talk about the goal all the time. We just can't focus on it. You know, we just have to say to ourselves, okay, like we want to beat Michigan State. We want to win our sixth game. So if we want to win, we're going to have to play well. And if we want to play well, we're going to have to be in the moment. If we want to play well, we're going to have to prepare at a high level. If we want to play well, we can't get distracted by a bad call or a bad play and so

I think for me in year 11 fourth job I'm able to articulate it way better to the guys as opposed to where I was a younger coach and just saying like hey just do the process now I'm able to say like hey you you you want this so what steps do you need to take in order to get there let's just do those together and you've coached teams that have been through lots of strife before. This Michigan State team has been through an awful lot. You know Harlan Barnett. This is their last game at home. Harlan Barnett, this might be his last chance as a head coach at Michigan Stadium. How much of that do you impart to the players as, hey, you have to be ready for these guys to play potentially their best game? Yeah, I don't think that we've, at the University of Nebraska, you know, like they sent out,

the conference sent out a poll spreadsheet of like what polls guys have been to because it impacts what poll you can go to. And every team in the Big Ten has their name on there except for us. So I don't know that we've earned the right, you know, leading the nation in fumbles and not having a lot of success to start, you know, thinking ahead, thinking about things. I think our guys are pretty locked in to like, hey, we have to be in the moment. And I think the big thing is when you look at Michigan State,

they have good players. I think, you know, in the midst of a difficult season, they've had some guys really rise up and play at a high level. I mean, Carter, the tailback, he played for our running back coach at UConn. I think he's a fantastic coach. And I mean, he's going tailback, he played for our running back coach at UConn. I think he's a fantastic coach. And I mean, he's going to be a fantastic player. And, you know, it's like I told our guys before the Northwestern game, you know, all those guys could have jumped in the portal.

All those guys at Northwestern stayed. They all battled. They all came together. It's going to be a fight. And that was a 14-8 or whatever it was, 9th. I can't remember what it was. It was a one-score game in the fourth quarter. So our guys know Michigan State. They know how good they are. They know how physical they are.

And they know that on senior day with all those guys have been through that, they're going to come out and they're going to battle. And I think that's why it'll be an even game down the stretch. So I do have to ask you this before I let you go, that there is a report out there about from ESPN about a Big Ten coaches call on Wednesday discussing the situation Michigan you've you've played the Wolverines this year you've dealt with that before all of the the accusations came out but can you tell us what what happened on that call what what the discussion was about yeah I think I think it was a chance for everybody just to kind of talk about you know how they, how they were impacted.

Obviously, Tony Petitti, I think, is a wonderful commissioner. I'll keep all the comments in-house, but I think a lot of people's lives, livelihoods, jobs, their seasons, players, players' health, I mean, all kinds of things have been impacted by this. And so it was an opportunity for all of us for the first time just to kind of see what's going and talk about it. Like we talk about everything really as coaches. I think the Big Ten does a great job of having regular coaches calls. This one was just specific to that incident. I know your season's going.

When that stuff comes out, do you go back to that game and look at anything or do you just kind of move on and deal with it later um i think um i think you just sit there and say you know you sit there and just feel really bad for the players on both sides um you know because this is this is this is really our last chance to teach young people how to go out there and compete and overcome adversity and and and go through ups and compete and overcome adversity and go through ups and downs and highs and lows. And you just hope when you do this that no side ever has an advantage over the other that's not gained and earned appropriately. And as we tell parents that we're going to teach them how to be young men, I think the first thing we teach them is integrity and honesty. So if I ever feel, I can't comment on the specifics of this because I don't know, but if I ever feel like my guys have been shorted, that's, you know,

obviously I'm here to fight for them. That would certainly be heartbreaking and disappointing to me as someone who loves college football. You know, it's one thing when it's recruiting, but when we mess with the 60 minutes of the game, that's really, really, really impacted. Because I'll tell you this, Andy. Players go out there and they get hurt. If I ever knew what plays you were running and my guys were running the ball before the snap,

I don't know that that's fair to the health and safety of our players or anything. I certainly hope it's not what everyone says it is, but I don't know, so I can't comment on that specifically. Before I let you go, back to your team. You always talk about just winning the week, going 1-0, but if you win this week, you are going to a bowl game.

You do get those 15 extra practices. What would that mean to this program? Oh, yeah. I mean, make no mistake, we want to go to a bowl game. We need to go to a bowl game. I mean, we need to practice. We've got a really, really, really good young group of players, and so practicing those extra practices would be so invaluable because

there's guys already that I say to myself, like, Hey, I think he can, he can start at this position next year. Or, you know, some older guys, I'm like, man, if I can move him from this to this, I think he can become an NFL player. So, you know, it's one thing to do that in the spring. And then if you're wrong, you're like, Oh man, I just wasted this kid's, you know, three months. But if I can do it in the bowl game and get a picture of it, they can see it. And then they can also see like, the guys have to make decisions. So I go in the portal, what do I do? If they can go through the bowl game and try something new or do something new, I mean, they can really see where their future is here. So I'm very, very hopeful that our guys will play well and that we'll have a chance to go

play in the post season. They can have a wonderful experience and our, our young players and team can develop the future. I know you're built for the wind and the, and the, and the cold, but it's usually a little sunny where you go. So good luck with that.

Thank you, brother. That's Matt Rule. Big game for the Cornhuskers in East Lansing. He knows it's going to be tough. He knows the Spartans in their last home game not going to go quietly. So he's going to have to get his players ready.

And as he talked about, they got to make sure that X factor, they get that hand across the ball. Do not let it slip. Next up, let's go deep into the LSU Alabama game. That's right. T-Bob Hebert, former LSU center, man of just beautiful words. This is a man of passion.

He's going to explain to us what it is like to be a part of the LSU Alabama game when it is the focus of the entire country. Here's T-Bob. We welcome T-Bob Hebert, former LSU center, current host of Off the Bench on 104.5 ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge.

Also co-host with the great Aaron Murray snaps. Yeah. Great podcast on the volume network. Also. Rivals down South. Yes. Rivals down South with my guy, AJ McCarron,

when he's not playing for the Bengals and, uh, and sec Mike. So, and that, and that's on stadium. You watch it on, it's like tight in all those cable packages or youtube.com slash watch Mike. So, and that, and that's on stadium. You watch it on, it's like tight in all those cable packages or youtube.com slash watch

stadium. So I know you, you have limited time with AJ because he is, he has another job at this point, but you and AJ McCarron this week, I mean, that's a, that it's memory lane,

Alabama week. I mean, Oh yeah. He better catch these hands tomorrow. I'm about to go. I'm about to go all in on him. He's lucky that he's having him in game planning for the Broncos or whoever the hell they play.

I don't even know. Because otherwise, I'd have already been talking that shit constantly all week long. When y'all played, though, that was when this game was elevated to the best game in the country every year. What was it like those weeks leading up to you know in those weeks of practice leading up to these games that was awesome i mean it was the absolute best dude i and and it's funny because like this is and this is not unique to lsu alabama because there

are other games like this ohio state uh michigan certainly but like, these are the sort of games that epitomize not just what makes college football great, but sport great. Like these are the sort of games where if you have a rooting interest on Sunday, when even as a fan, I'm talking, I'm not even talking about the play respect, but as a fan on Sunday, when you start thinking about the game, you start to feel that tingling in your balls. You get nervous, you get anxiety, you get butterflies, you get excitement. Like, and it's something that I've ruminated on a lot this college football season, which is the older I get, the more I appreciate the struggle. You know, you know, who wants to blow everybody out a child. Okay. You know, you know, who appreciates

the push, the pull, the emotion, the feelings that can be brought out in you by a close, tough football game? A man. And so what I've realized this season is, yeah, give me the struggle. Give me like what other form of passive entertainment do I consume that makes me feel the way that college football does? Where it feels like one play, my heart's going to be ripped out of my chest. And the next second, I can't even breathe because I'm so excited that it feels like my blood is pouring out of my ears. Like, and that's what this game is

for a hundred thousand people watching in the stadium, for millions watching at home and for the players in this game. And so being involved in it, when it was such a massive thing, and it is again this week in college game days there, it's at night, it's in T town, a hundred thousand strong. It is the single greatest feeling in all of sports. Why else did you commit to LSU or Alabama? Why else did you commit your life to training for

football? Do you run all the one tens and a hundred degree weather in the summer? Do you wake up and forego things like partying or hanging out with girls? You see the frat boys hanging out in the front lawn, playing beer die as you're waking up to get ready to go to do stadiums and crap like that. Why do you do all this sacrifice for game day? The one fun part of the day. And it's most fun when there's millions of people watching, there's a ton on the line functionally. And if you have dreams of the NFL, you go ball out in this game, you put your best foot forward. So it's fantastic, man.

It's everything. It is all of the old ABC, thrill of victory, agony of defeat. It's all going to be on display for the players, the coaches, the fans. This is why we college football, Andy. It is unbelievable. And I can't even imagine what it was like in those environments because I think back to, to 2010 in tiger stadium, you guys were underdogs. Alabama has the returning Heisman winner, Mark Ingram. They're fighting for their national title lives at that point because they had already lost to South Carolina. And Les Miles eats grass.

And you guys fake a field goal. And I will never forget standing on the field after that game. You guys are filing back into the locker room. And this song had just come out. So this was the first time I'd ever heard a marching band play All I Do Is Win. And so the LSU band is blasting All i do is win from their perch near that end zone the golden girls are dancing you guys are just running through the crowd high five like i

can't i can't even describe how cool that that scene is it's it's it is um again it is something that you cannot recreate in life now there are different feelings that are greater right i don't think there's a greater feeling on planet earth than having a child with someone you love um like the emotional high that you feel again is just, it's unlike anything I've ever experienced. But even that is different. We're talking about when you're talking about winning a game or playing in one of these games, it's gladiatorial. Like it feels as if you're a conquering champion. It's barbaric. It's very raw.

It's pure ego, right? Like it's just, it's it's pure ego right like it's just it just makes you want to yell just to think about it and what's crazy is winning at home is awesome because you get to celebrate with your fans and there's music and excitement and celebration and kisses and hugs but winning away is pretty awesome as well like there's almost no greater feeling in all of sports than staring down the gaping maw of a dragon and basically saying not today and then slaying that dragon. So like when you run out for Alabama and there's a hundred thousand people booing you or Alabama gets their first big play and it feels like your

eardrums are about to burst. Your heart's about to vibrate out of your chest. And by the end of the game, that crowd is quiet and sad. And you see all the girls and boys with their surrender. Cobra is trying to desperately explain why they're significant. They can't get it up later that night because they're so sad and defeated. Like that is maybe even a better feeling is going. What is, I mean, Conan said it best, right?

What is best in life? What is it to take your enemy's lands and hear the lamentations of their women? Like that's basically what LSU has the opportunity to do this Saturday. You were going Conan the Barbarian and I was expecting you to go Conan O'Brien. So impressive, impressive. I, I, you had some fun. I heard you with our friends at the next round,

which is a show based out of Birmingham and you were coming out hot talking about declining empires and dancing on the bones. If you look at civilization as a whole, there's always going to be ups and downs. Nobody ever wants to be alive during a civilizational decline. It's an awful time to be alive. Imagine being someone in England when suddenly the Roman Empire pulls back and not a generation later, you're looking at all these bathhouses and temples and you're like, what giants built these? How is this possible? Right?

You're suddenly in the dark ages. The barbarians have taken over. Nobody's reading this. So it's like you never want to be in decline and let's be real. Here's a harsh, cold truth for any Alabama fan listening to my voice right now. You will never experience the heights that you have occupied for the last 20 years. I don't care how long you live, you will be dead and buried

before you will ever achieve what you have achieved these last 15 to 20 years. So like a great athlete that peaks in their 20s or some young tech wizard that never finds another way to get value in their life after that, you've already peaked and it's all downhill from here.

And yes, look, progress is not linear. Decline is not linear. Maybe a sneak and natty and on the way down, but make no mistake, the consistency with which you have gotten to enjoy and cheer for will never happen again. And one day you're going to be dying. You're going to be on your deathbed and you're like, Oh my God, that son of a bitch was right. And I hope you see my face floating above you as you breathe your last. And you understand that it really was the best from 2010 to 2020. You've already been cucked by Kirby. You let Steve Sarkeesian come and beat you by 10 in T town. Brian Kelly already won owed you.

Like it's just all downhill from here, boys. Who are you going to get to replace Nick Saban? Huh? Who? Who? Gabby Swininney you still want him you think elaine kiffin's gonna do what nick has done face it it's over alabama fans it's over and it will be over every single day until you're done living i'm just imagining a generation of

alabama fans their final worth t-bob was right yes exactly oh man I can only get so hard and I can't I can't I can't give me nice and hot and bothered in this Thursday well all right to make this happen as as you said decline is not linear they might sneak in another natty they might sneak in an se west sec west championship this year in the final year of divisions in the sec how can lsu avoid that outcome uh this is a hmm this is going to put a lot of our sports cliches to the test here andy what do they say you're only as strong as your weakest link well we're gonna find out because LSU clearly has the stronger of the strong links. When you talk about this LSU offense over the Alabama defense, like, yeah,

maybe it's really good, but the LSU offense is otherworldly in the same breath. LSU clearly has the weaker link of the weak links because the Alabama offense may not be great. You could even say bad, but they're not awful. This LSU defense has been awful for much of the year. So in order to win this game, obviously it starts with the offense. The offense is going to have to put up points. They're going to have a ton of success. Are they going to need to have a ton of success? I think the offense has to score in the thirties or they're not going to have a chance. Um, and then defensively for LSU's perspective, it just becomes a question of, can you do enough now? What enough looks like is where I'm a bit on the fence, right?

Because it feels like you don't want to allow, um, Alabama to be explosive because that's what they have been this year. And that's what they've made a lot of their hay and you're like, okay, let's force Alabama to play underneath you then sustain drives. Cause that's when they tend to throw picks, make mistakes, whatever. And that sounds good unless Alabama actually is able to sustain drives. And then all of a sudden you're letting them control the clock. And then all of a sudden you're taking away from Jada Daniels and you're limiting his possessions.

So it's like I don't know what the path is for LSU's defense. They just have to find a way. I know this. I know they've got to play disciplined because they don't have great talent. So it's not like they're going to win one-on-one. So everybody has to do your job. You have to try to limit MAs as much as possible. And then you just got to hope for turnover luck at the end of the day, right? Like somebody's got to make a play, like even in that Mizzou game, that's the only good offense that I would say the LSU defense had a successful half against.

And a lot of that was because Harold Perkins came up with the big interception to kind of change the entire tenor of that game. Yeah. And that's it. The Ole Miss game and the Missouri game for LSU feel like very similar events. The difference is you played count the stops. Yeah. And Ole Miss got a couple of stops when it mattered.

LSU got a couple of stops when it mattered against Missouri. And that's it. What does it feel like watching inverse Iowa? So, I mean, it's more fun than watching Iowa. Though I do want to be clear about this. Let's really appreciate what we just had in Iowa. Because everybody's yelling for change and this or that, and you never quite know what you have until it's gone.

And betting the Iowa under has been the goose that laid the golden egg for a couple of years now. And it's one of those amazing bets where it's like, it doesn't matter how low it is. I've bet the under multiple times this week just to do my part to help to drive it back underneath 30. I need to have a ticket where I can screenshot it for my entire life. I can say that I bet an under 30.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to achieve that quite yet. But so, no, I mean, look, it's definitely way more fun than watching Iowa. But it's kind of mind, it's maddening in its own way, certainly, to be so ineffective on one side of the ball. And maybe unlike Iowa, it's a bit at odds with what LSU fans are used to as for, you know, a couple of

decades there, it felt like LSU was Iowa, where the offense wasn't going to be anything and they were going to do with great defense. And now the complete opposite is the case. But again, from a spectator standpoint standpoint it's way tighter to watch like you know oh shit there's another 50 yard touchdown like like instead of like oh another three and out with a solid punt hell yeah but it's it's just amazing because we were talking to shay dixon from from on threes the bingle tiger the other day and he explained it you know he's like this is the the offense that

was promised all those years we're yes we're gonna open it up we're gonna go vertical we're gonna throw to the tight end like this is everything y'all have ever wanted yeah and it's the one year you don't have dbs and what's fascinating to me though too is that lsu fans really should not take for granted that you're getting an otherworldly 2019-esque level of production four years removed from 2019 and with a completely different cast of characters. So that's kind of incredible to be able to have that otherworldly production, but with a completely new set of guys, not just players, coaches, like everything top to bottom new. And yet you're back there. That's kind of fun. And that's kind of exciting. And, and, and I never want to lose

sight of the fact that this all goes back to the hard work that Jaden Daniels put in this offseason. This did not happen by accident. Jaden Daniels didn't take such a massive leap in his game just because he's older or more experienced. That man worked his ass off for eight months over the off season to really learn progressions, to learn this offense inside and out. You know, whenever you have greatness, you have these sort of tales that some will accuse of being apocryphal. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't right. But I love this story about Brian Kelly basically saying that they had to change the hours and change the rules for Jaden Daniels because he was like getting up there at 5.00 AM, not leaving until 8.00 PM.

Like that man spent the entire off season in that building, watching, studying film, trying to improve. And that deserves to be highlighted. Then when you see the massively, because like everybody thought he was a known quantity he'd already started 30 or 40 games whatever it was and now he's doing something that you've never seen him do in his career otherwise well and it's we've seen multiple eras of jayden daniels which yeah we're not used to that for a college player because you there's a finite amount of time you can play in college he's obviously getting the extra year but he was kind of the wunderkind as a freshman at arizona state which when you're throwing to brandon iook and you're handing to eno benjamin that can happen then the decline because he didn't have much

talent around him he comes to lsu he looks somewhat one-dimensional then it starts to open up after the florida game last year and then what you said, the, the, the just incredible work in the off season. And he's just blossomed and looks like he's master. He's complete. He's complete now. Last year they were having to like a lot of coaches do with their system. Last year they were having to split the field and basically give him like higher, low reaps, right?

Like really minimal thinking sort of passing setups. Then a lot of times he would just rely on his legs and his legs are great enough where he would make something happen this year he's legitimately going through all of his progressions he's working every part of the field including over the middle on timing routes against zone defenses which is something that he would never have done last season. And when he does run this year, he has been damn near perfect when it comes to the decision about when to tuck it, when to keep your eyes up, when to get forward. And the man doesn't get enough credit for being tough. He doesn't slide. I mean, maybe he should, right? He probably should, but he doesn't. He fights for extra yards. He puts his head in there. We all champion Joe Burrow for it. Jane Daniels needs some little respect as well,

because this is a tough sumbitch, and he's been playing like it all year long. And he understands the way the rules work post fake slide, post Kenny Pickett's fake slide, because now you have to dive head first if you would like to get that first down. You can't, unless you just know exactly where that stick is and you know that you're past it,

you can't risk sliding feet first. He does this crazy this crazy like you know how in some of the old cartoons you would see a character um when they'd be making fun of a skinny character when you would see them horizontally they would look normal and then they would turn vertical and they'd be like that thin like that's jayden daniels when he runs the ball he does these upfield cuts where he gets skinny and sideways and he's almost like a cat like flattening itself through the door crack. He just, it defies physics and he just finds a way to kind of just, just slip right through. Well, before I let you go, I got to ask, cause you do co-host a show with, with Aaron Murray, captain bulldog. What about Missouri, Georgia this week? Cause this feels like a, the start of a very rough

stretch for Georgia where they go Mizzou Ole Miss Tennessee yeah yeah rough how we feel about this yeah rough stretch for Georgia two of these three games at home wouldn't you know I um I I look I feel I it look to be clear yes it's three ranked games for Georgia so it's better than nothing um I think Georgia rolls i think that uh i love mizzou i just don't see where they have the advantage um yes luther burden you could say is maybe better than anybody georgia has but then everybody after that is better than anybody uh you has right like maybe cody schrader i don't know so if mizzou does win this game let's be clear massive massive credit to Eli Drinkwitz

and a massive L for Kirby Smart because there's no excuse for losing it. Like you're a 15-point favorite for a reason. You're more talented at every single position group and you're at home. I hope that Mizzou plays very well. I hope that Mizzou wins the game. But the other thing about it, Andy, is, and this is where all roads lead back to Lord of the Rings, you never want the full eye of sauron focused on you right you want sauron to be distracted you want him watching the pointless

battle outside the black gate as frodo sneaks in the back door and drops the ring into mount doom that was mizzou last year you had a complacent somewhat distracted georgia that wasn't really taking it seriously well now due to the scare due to the fact that you're ranked 12, due to the fact that actually good this year, you now are getting the full focus of Sauron's gaze. And I just don't see how Mizzou is going to hold up under that intensity. Who is Cody Schrader in this analogy? Is he, uh, is he Frodo or Sam wise? He's Sam sam cody's

master sam energy i mean for sure dude not you know not like overly talented but gritty you know i can't carry the ring but i can carry the rock let's do it i love cody schrader um and you could say that maybe he's better than anybody georgia has sure whatever like i'll i'll i'll give credit to that but again every other spot georgia is better so maybe maybe the frodo and sam that is brady cook and and cody schrader can get it done and obviously luther bird would probably be like aragorn or something because he's so badass he's gandalf he's magic like yeah exactly he could be gandalf sure yes like one of the actual like really good fighters uh you i'm gonna have to we didn't know each other at this time uh etiquette question so when i saw the return of the king in the theater i might have started a rudy rudy chant

as they were going up mount doom Was I wrong to do that? I think, I think so. Yes. Okay. I think, I think, I think you are talking about one of the premier emotional moments of, um, the trilogy there. And well, I guess, I guess it comes down to this. Was it born from a place of genuine excitement or was it born out of a more cynical humor? Because here you had Sean Astin pulling a Rudy-esque sort of moment, like, like, were you genuinely caught up in the moment and just excited or was it trying to be funny? Because therein lies the key to all of this. Genuine excitement and a love of Sean Astin. Okay. Okay. Your love of Sean Astin.in then that then that's forgivable okay it's still not advisable but

that's forgivable for sure because i mean look to be clear i think the theater that i was in i'm pretty sure had like spontaneous cheers erupt like people were feeling that moment it was an awesome moment lsu they're not going to mount doom that's that's that that civilization decline they don't they don't get they don't get mordor status anymore yeah yeah it's the mordor it will look like it when those leds are lit up red but this ain't mordor no more yeah i mean get the get the hell out of here how about this so i i'm sad that I messed up. I want to get the Conan saying absolutely correct here. So here is what is best in life. To crush your enemies, see them driven before you,

and hear the lamentation of their women. Okay? That's the goal for this weekend. That's how you go win on the road. That's what Mizzou and LSU are going to attempt to accomplish. The lamentation of sorority sisters dressed in their finest. Yes. Those are the loudest lamentations. T-Bob Averitt, thank you so much. I mean, I don't know. My personal favorite lamentations are the ex-frap boy, the 30 plus year old financial advisor who's used to being the

boss in the workplace, but he's just so sad because his favorite football team lost. He can't even, he can't even get his puffer vest unzipped. Yeah. Oh, he's furious. And then he's mean to his kids because of it. His wife's like, what the hell's wrong with you? Oh, it's the absolute best. We're going to get those videos this weekend.

No matter what happens. That is true. That is true. Because LSU has plenty of those as well. All right, Bob. Thank you. All right, Andy, you take it easy, man. You all have a great day.

T Bob a bear quoting Conan the barbarian and imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger getting that script when English still very much a second language at that point. Here you go, Arnold. Here's a lot of syllables. Good luck with this. He handled it very well. Very well.

You know who else handles things well? Brian Hudson. He's the center for Louisville. He's the old man of the team. His old team is coming to town to play this weekend. Louisville plays Virginia Tech. That is where Hudson spent his first two years. But now he is the grandfather, granduncle.

He's the married guy on a team that is young, that is learning to win, that is winning a lot right now and is in a really good position to potentially make the ACC title game. We talked to Brian about playing his old team, about firing up the smoker for the rest of the offense. We are joined now by Louisville center, Brian Hudson, who's playing his old team this week. The Cardinals have Virginia Tech and Brian,, you spent your first two years in Blacksburg.

What's it like going against guys that you roomed with and practiced against every day? Yeah, it'll be a really cool experience. I'm excited to, one, just see them again. It'll be really cool to be able to just go up against, go up against them. And it'll be, it will be a little bit weird, you know, just because I had a relationship with some of those guys, but, you know, it'll be a really cool experience and I'm excited about it. So they're, they're coming to your place. You don't get to take the new teammates to see in our Sandman, but well, what would, I will ask you since you've been a Virginia Tech player, what is that like? Oh, it's unreal. It definitely lives up to the hype.

You know, it just gives you chills every single time, even just watching it on TV or, you know, on social media. It's an unreal experience that I was very fortunate enough to be able to have. And, you know, it's an unreal experience i do you know it would be cool to experience it one more time but you know it'll be good to have these guys come up and play at our house is is that weird because i know like that song still gets played everywhere if you just randomly hear it does it just take you back oh yeah it does even at some of our games that, you know, they play it and it's a popular song, you know, at, at just athletic events in general. So, uh, it does take me back. So what this year has been very special for you guys at Louisville and it's first year under Jeff

Brom, you know, you got a bunch of guys who came in and are helping you out, but also you guys that were there under coach Satterfield having, you know, your best year. What's it been like since he got there? Yeah, it's been incredible. Coach Baum and the whole staff that he's brought in has obviously done an incredible job, you know, just bringing, you know, the type of culture that he wants and, you know, just bringing a sense of pride to the city and to this town and this school that with not only him, but several people that he brought, several coaches to the staff are alumni or have some type of connection to the city of Louisville. And so they've done a really good job with, you know, just improving the culture here and, you know, bringing just that standard of excellence that he has.

And it's shown this season so far. So it's been he's done an awesome job and credit to him and staff. When did y'all realize that this team could be really good? Well, to be honest, it started early in this offseason when, you know, not too long after coach got here. And, you know, just I saw the shift in a lot of the just the overall team's mindset and just how they came to work every single day, starting, you know, in this later on in the spring and the summer. And it obviously creeped into fall camping in the season. And it was just that shift in, you know, coming to work every day, doing things the right way on a consistent basis.

And, you know, the more and more I saw that personally, I remember talking to several of the guys and just saying, you know, we have a chance to be special. And, you know, it's heading in that direction. And, you know, like we've said, we've been fortunate enough to have a really good season so far up to this point. And, you know, they do a good job of every week to week, you know, kind of resetting our mindset and going the same every week, the same exact way with the same level of preparation. And, you know, it's shown. What was that reset like during the bye week? Because you guys beat Notre Dame, and then you're banged up,

and you lose the pit, and you got to get things settled down. Whatever they did must have worked because you come out and shut out Duke. But what was it that happened during that week? Yeah, I think, you know, for one, it was a great chance for a lot of the guys to get healthy and, you know, just kind of have a really short break away from from the end season, you know, part of it and just and the kind of, especially going into that bye week, having come off of a loss, that really set with us. And you could tell the response from this team immediately on Sunday after that Pitt game was a great response. You know, we came in ready to work, ready to learn and correct the mistakes that we made. And because we, you know, we didn't want to let that happen again.

So, you know, it led to a great bye week. A lot of guys got healthy, as I said, and we had a great week of practice this this past week and it showed on Saturday. I would say, were you one of those guys? Because I know you were you were limited in practice, but but just playing every snap still. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I was. It was great for me, you know, because I've been dealing with a knee injury this season. And so it was good to just kind of have a little bit of a rest for my body as a whole and just get extra treatment and rehab and just be as good as I can be on Saturday. So you are the old man on this team. Married guy, got married over the summer.

Congratulations. Thank you. What is that? What is that like? I mean, I'm sure you see these freshmen. They're living a completely different life than you now. Yeah, it's it's different. You know, they they joke about that with me all the time, you know, being the old guy on the team and and, you know, the grandfathers, some of them call me. But yeah, it's it's a lot of fun. You know, I just love being able to, to, to learn with those guys and to, and to share, you know, what I've learned with them and just kind of help them, you know, cause they're, you know, especially like you mentioned those freshmen,

they're, you know, just beginning their, their college career and experience. And so it's been awesome. I, I read that you, had you know quarterbacks and the rest of the linemen and the running backs over for a cookout earlier this year is that the first you know hosting as a married couple bring every big big get together it was yeah it was it was it was really nice uh nice opportunity to have that you I just wanted to have most of the offense over. It was a really cool experience and a great chance to have them over to the house. It was cool for me and my wife to be able to host those guys, and she loved it.

It was just overall a great weekend. What's on the menu for something like that so we had a couple of the guys came over a couple a few of the quarterbacks came over and helped help on the helped on the grill but really uh yeah they they wanted to come over and take care of the whole line so um i i smoked some some ribs and we had uh some burgers and hot dogs and stuff um some brats and a few of the guys brought over some sides. So it was an awesome day. So now we're talking. Okay. When we're smoking ribs, do we do the 2-2-2 method? How do we do it? I'm a 3-2-1 guy.

3-2-1. Okay. Yeah, 3-2-1. That's what I do. Very nice. Very nice. And so what is your preferred cut of rib? Are you like a St. Louis style, or do you want the whole thing? Yeah, well, what I did this summer was mostly just the baby back ribs. Oh, your baby back. Okay. Yeah, baby back. Yeah, that's what I do mostly. And I made my own rub for it. And you know, it was, it was really cool, but yeah, I'm a three, two, one method guy.

And I've, I've used a smoker every chance I get. That's beautiful. What else do you smoke? I've done most, mostly ribs. I've done smoked chicken wings. I've done, I've, I don't know if my smoker is big enough for brisket. I'm really, I'm trying to, trying to trying to do a brisket, you know, by the end of this year, but I don't know if my smoker's big enough, but mostly just ribs and wings and stuff like that. High degree of difficulty on the brisket, but worth it if it works out. But I will give you a tip.

So a lot of people, a lot of grocery stores now are selling pork belly in the meat department. You do the pork belly burn-ins, and it is like candy. It's really easy to do. It takes less time than your ribs or your chicken or pork butter or anything like that. It's one of those that when you serve it, people are like, what is this? I'll have to give that a try then. So the QBs took over the grill, huh? I like that. Which QBs were the ones that were good on the grill?

So Evan Conley is the main one that was whipping it up over there, and Jack got on it as well. But, yeah, he texted me whenever we were kind of planning it, a night or two before, Evan was talking to me, and he was they, yeah, he, he texted me whenever we were kind of planning it a few, a night or two before Evan was talking to me and he was like, yeah, he, he wanted to do some of the grilling and, and Jack and the quarterbacks wanted to, wanted to take care of us alignment. So they, they got on the grill and, and whipped us up some burgers and hot dogs. See, you should, you, that's, that's when, you know, this is, this is a team. This group is together.

Exactly. How much fun has this been for you? I mean, you've had a lot of different college experiences between the two years at Tech and the two previous years at Louisville. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. You know, like I said, and we've been talking about just the bond that we have with this team. It just feels different, you know.

And I've talked to several of the guys like Michael Gonzalez and Renato and some of those on the O-line that, you know, it just feels different, you know, than past teams. And for me, every year that I've had in college previous to this one. And so just that bond and the close relationship that we have as a whole team, but especially in this O-line room, it's special, and it makes a lot of fun at practice. A lot of guys are holding each other accountable.

You don't have to worry about the stragglers on the team or anything like that. So it just makes for a fun experience, and winning is fun. So, you know, that helps. So I always ask every offensive lineman we have on the show, the same question. We've already talked barbecue, but now we do have to talk steak for one question. What is your ideal steak cut and how do you have it cooked? So that's a really good question.

I, I think ribeye is, is, is of the better ones, and I always get it medium. Okay, medium. Medium seems to be the most popular so far. We've had a few medium rares. We've had a few medium wells, but that seems to be kind of right there in the sweet spot. Yeah, I think depending on where you go, you can ask for medium rare, but my usual go-to is medium. But, yeah, I mean, we have several guys in here that will go medium rare or, you know.

Sorry. A little pink never hurt me. I'm a rare guy, so I'm fine with that. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Brian, thank you so much, and good luck against your old teammates. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Appreciate you having me on. That's Brian Hudson. He blocks and he makes baby backs. Not much more you can ask for in the center. There just really isn't. It's been a great week. This is going to be an incredible weekend. These games are going to be fantastic, whether it's Texas and Kansas State,

Georgia and Missouri, LSU and Alabama, USC and Washington, you name it. It's going to be awesome. So go have fun. Go be safe. And I'll talk to you guys after the games. Outro Music