Andy & Ari On3 - No News from Big Ten on Michigan | John Saunders Jr Joins before Georgia | Florida-LSU | Dear Andy

Episode Date: November 10, 2023

As news was expected out of the Big Ten offices, no news came to fruition on Thursday regarding the Michigan case. Ole Miss DB John Saunders Jr, Jake Rowe from DawgsHQ, and Shea Dixon from the Bengal Tiger all join the show to talk a huge week 11 slate. We wrap up with Dear Andy questions.(0:00-9:42) Intro - No News from Big Ten(9:43-22:43) - Ole Miss DB John Saunders Jr Joins(22:44-37:55) - Jake Rowe from DawgsHQ joins to talk Georgia(37:56-54:53) Shea Dixon from the Bengal Tiger discusses Jayden Daniels, LSU(54:54-1:05:53) Dear Andy, Lance Leipold Question(1:05:54-1:09:34) In a wild scenario, who gets left out of the playoffs?(1:09:35-1:15:44) How can officiating be fixed?(1:15:45-1:19:58) Which Fan Base Has it Worse: USC or Iowa?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/ANDYWant to watch the show on video? Head on over to YouTube and don't forget to subscribe!https://youtu.be/wNBCiqGljgo

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. And we are still waiting for the Big Ten to make a decision regarding Michigan. We have seen Michigan's arguments against punishment. We have seen Jim Harbaugh's arguments against punishment. At least right now. But we don't have a verdict. And I don't know if we're going to get one or what we're going to get. That is what makes this whole situation so fascinating. Would the Big Ten come out on a Friday and say, Jim Harbaugh, you're not coaching against Penn State on Saturday. That seems pretty extreme.

Would they wait through the weekend and render a decision? Would they do a fine instead of a suspension? Would they do a suspension that is longer than two games, that is indefinite? All of these things feel on the table. If you've read Chris Ballas and the Wolverine, that is indefinite. All of these things feel on the table. If you've read Chris Ballas and the Wolverine, that is what Michigan was bracing for as of Wednesday night

after sending in the response to the Big Ten. But to this point, we don't have an answer from the Big Ten yet. And remember, this would be the first on the record anything from the Big Ten since this case became public knowledge three weeks ago. It is going to be absolutely fascinating to see what happens. Because if there is a suspension, I would assume that Michigan runs to court, tries to get an injunction, tries to keep that suspension from happening. There are so many variables at play here,

so many different factors. And we don't know until the Big Ten renders a decision. Tony Petitti, the commissioner, in his first year, no pressure. And then what he does could have long-term effects because no matter what he does, he's going to piss somebody off. If he suspends Jim Harbaugh, the Michigan people are coming, pitchforks, torches, and lawyers. If he doesn't suspend Jim Harbaugh, a bunch of the other coaches and ADs in the Big Ten are going to be mad at him.

And by extension, presumably their presidents will be mad too. So it's a pretty impossible situation for Tony Petitti in the Big Ten, but you have to make some decision at some point. You can't just leave this hanging. So I guess we'll wait and see what that decision is. Obviously, if that comes down on Friday, we don't have a show, don't worry.

I will find a place to turn on the camera and attach a microphone and we'll talk about it because we would have to talk about it. It would be, especially if there is something that will affect Saturday's Penn State Michigan game. Golly. Can't even imagine. It's already one of the biggest games of the year. And then perhaps there's news that affects it directly coming a day before. It could be wild. Absolutely wild. But we have some other games to talk about. We've talked an awful lot about Michigan and Penn State this week.

Let's talk Georgia Ole Miss. Top 10 matchup under the lights in Athens, Georgia. We got a treat for you today. Ole Miss safety John Saunders Jr. He is awesome. He is so much fun. Came from Miami of Ohio his first year at Ole Miss. So he's in these environments. He's gone from Maction to these massive stadiums in the SEC with crazy crowds and huge stakes in these games. And this is a, I I mean potentially historic season for Ole Miss I mean if they pull an upset here we're talking about a very very interesting situation

because remember their losses to Alabama if Alabama keeps winning Ole Miss shut out of the SEC championship game but if they were to win this game the possibility of an 11-1 Ole Miss. Now, given where everybody else is relative to the playoff, I don't think it would get them in. But if there's chaos, who knows? And remember, beating Georgia, especially if Georgia were to win the SEC title subsequently, who knows? Big, big game. So we got John Saunders Jr. from Ole Miss. Jake Rowe from Dogs HQ talking about the Bulldogs. We also have Shea Dixon from the Bengal Tiger talking LSU as the Tigers prepare to play Florida. What's going to happen with Jayden Daniels? Remember, we saw him go out against Alabama.

This is a guy who could potentially win the Heisman Trophy. Is he going to play against the Gators? Also, more Dear Andy. Remember, we had to cut it short Wednesday night because there was a ton of news. We had to talk about it. But you guys asked some great questions. So I am going to answer those, including one about Lance Leipold and the job he's done at Kansas. Put some historical perspective on that achievement. It's pretty impressive. So you're going to want to wait around for that. But first, I want to tell you about PrizePix. PrizePix, the most fun daily fantasy platform.

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So they're, they're populating the choices for this week for Saturday. And you can play Thursday night games, Friday night games as well. But looking at some of these for Saturday, Drew Aller, the Penn state quarterback, more than or less than 193 and a half passing yards against Michigan, less than Michigan's winning that game. More than? Maybe Penn State has a chance. Could be very interesting.

Joe Milton headed to Missouri. Tennessee, Missouri is going to be a big one. We'll see if Luther Burden plays. Remember, Eli Drinkwit said he was questionable in that game. But Joe Milton, the Tennessee quarterback, 236 and a half, more or less Brady cook, the Missouri quarterback, two 67 and a half. Now, if Luther burden is available, that number, the more than seems like something you can do. If he's not, who knows another interesting quarterback when Michael Pennix, junior Washington quarterback, three Oh two and a half. Now, Michael Penix Jr. Washington quarterback

302 and a half now Michael Penix's number is typically in the 300s remember this is against Utah's defense so it could be a very interesting game in Seattle that Utah Washington game looking forward to a lot JJ McCarthy theJ. McCarthy, the Michigan quarterback, more than, less than one and a half passing touchdowns. I think against that Penn State defense, he's probably going to have to throw for some scores. He's probably going to have to throw Michigan to a win here. They can run the ball, and their average rushing total is pretty good.

It is not what it was last year. They are not the dominant team on the ground that they were last year. Remember, they just annihilated Penn State on the ground last year. But this year, probably going to need some more out of JJ McCarthy in the passing game, which, by the way, that might mean more than 61 and a half passing yards for Roman or receiving yards for Roman Wilson, or maybe more than 37 and a half receiving yards for Cornelius Johnson. These are all the things you got to think about. On Friday, I'll be looking through those prize picks plays. I'll be trying to figure out mine. We'll talk about them on Twitter Friday

and Saturday. I will maybe take your advice. Maybe I'll ignore it. If I take it, it's probably better for me. When I've ignored it, it's been bad for me. I'll tell you that right now. Go to PrizePix, download that app, use the code Andy, and they will match your first deposit up to a hundred bucks. It's going to be a lot of fun, especially with these games this weekend. Get that PrizePix app. All right. It is now time to talk about a big game in the SEC. Ole Miss with one loss and one loss only, headed to face undefeated Georgia between the hedges at Sanford Stadium. John Saunders Jr. in his first year at Ole Miss

after coming from Miami of Ohio. So he is making his first trip to Athens. Oh boy, this one's gonna be a fun one. Here is John Saunders Jr. Joined now by Ole Miss safety, John Saunders Jr. The Rebels headed to Athens, Georgia to play the Bulldogs on Saturday. John, what is it like at practice when you know you're about to go play one of the best teams in the country?

Oh man, it's intense. The level of focus is through the roof. It's not even like last week. It doesn't even compare. Like we're all just focused and just ready to go, honestly. Like it's just everybody's tuned up and just ready to go in there, honestly. Well, and for you, this is a different experience too because you played your first three years at Miami of Ohio. You come down to the SEC. different experience too because you you played your first three years at miami of ohio you come

down to the sec how different are these environments from from what you were used to oh it's like night and day honestly it's no comparison uh we're in like right now the mag is playing on like tuesday so it would be like maybe like 3 000 people at the game or something so like now going into like 100 000 it's like, it's really like just a blessing. Honestly, I'm just really appreciative. And I just, I make sure to, like, I'm not even looking in the stands, you know, I'm really focused on my job and just worried about my role and what I got to do on this play call.

And, you know, I got to always make sure to find my family though. That's like one of the main things I got to do. Got to see where the family's at. How does that work? Do you call and say, okay, tell me where you're sitting, or do you get out before the game and figure out where they are? Before the game, they're usually there before us. My mom and wife, they're always there early,

and my mom is always standing up the whole game. It's pretty easy to find them. She's, like, she's super rowdy. She loves it. She loves it. Was she like that in high school, too? Was she always standing up and talking? Yeah, she's been like that my whole life.

My mom said she wanted my sister to play football. Like, she's different. My mom was, like, my mom's real tough. She's different. My mom was like, my mom was real tough. She's from Pittsburgh. So, you know, Pittsburgh people really are like still, like made of steel. It's crazy, man. Well, that's okay. So now I know what side of the family she's on.

So she's Jaquan Brisker's aunt, right? And you're his cousin. Yep, yep. So Jaquan, like when he was at at Penn State he might have been my favorite player watching all college football because he's just always around the ball he's been that way with the Bears too what what kind of advice has he given you as as you've kind of grown up oh man he's been like it's been amazing honestly like because growing up um like he was from the like east side of Pittsburgh,

and I moved to North Carolina, so we didn't really talk that much. But then once we got back in contact, it's just been amazing, man. Like, I just talked to him yesterday. He's just telling me, like, just make sure to stay focused. Like, when I first got to college, one of the things he told me was listen to the coaches. And, you know, like, most players in college, like, they think they know it all, but I've been making know, like most players in college, like they think they know it all. But I've been making sure like everywhere I go, like because the coaches are extremely knowledgeable,

like they know this stuff. So I've just been like, that was one of the main things he told me and that just stuck with me ever since. Like it sounds so simple, like listen to your coaches. But when you actually do it and like apply what your coach is telling you, oh man, it's been great.

I'm really appreciative for him too if i could get somebody to tell my teenagers to listen to me like i need to find an nfl player who would just tell them and then they might do it it's really crazy like it's literally that simple like just listen to the people that are already like they know what they're talking about well and and you're but you're one of those older guys on this team. Like you, you've played a lot of football, obviously it was at a different level, but like, I would imagine, you know, you said you're not looking in the stands that much.

Like I imagine at a certain point it's still, still football. And you got a lot of advice to give to these, these younger dudes. Oh yeah. It's, it's. It's just football, honestly. We always make it harder and more complicated than it really has to be. But at the end of the day, it's going to be you versus the man across from you. And you got to have that determination, like, I'm going to win my battle. Or whatever job you have that play, you just got to make sure to go out there and do your one out of 11.

Just make sure to complete your job. Your job changed because you were playing corner at miami ohio right and then safety dealing with a lot of slot receivers at old miss how did that that work did they tell you that in the recruiting process like hey we think you'd be better off at safety or was that something when you got there they said no this is this is where we like to play you honestly um the recruiting process for me was totally different i got recruited by a whole different set of coaches like all the coaches that recruited me here are gone now right but the the safeties coach that was here he was he was hinting at me like i want you to play for me but the corner coach was like i want you to play for me. So it was really like, it was just crazy, like honestly.

And then when Coach Nables got here, me and him, we got a good relationship. And I kind of knew like, I'm going to be at safety. And I like it because you're around the ball more than that corner. Like it's real active. I enjoy it. I was going to say, you get to come up with a run game and hit somebody. That's probably a much more fun situation. Yeah, instead of just being out

there just far away from the action all the time you know now still i mean that in that a and m game you made maybe the biggest play of the game in coverage though that what take us through that that interception in the end zone all right so um we called we called one of our, like, base red zone calls, and I seen it was, like, their number one threat, like, their go-to guy, like, that they're going to get the ball to. So I knew, like, that it was coming. Like, I knew the ball was coming, and I just made sure to, like – so he tried to, like, stall me a little bit. He tried to, like, lure me to sleep, like, trying to, trying like come off slow and chill and then like burst by me but i was prepared for it and i made sure to like i got two

hands on them jammed them and then i i located the ball i seen the ball in there i was like yeah i just every time i see the ball in there i'm like that's mine i'm just going to get it you know so i made sure to come down with it and took the knee in the back of the end zone and um every interception i get i give it to my mom. So I took the ball straight to her and we got it at the house. How many footballs does she have now? Right now she got like five. She got like five of them right now.

But that's just some of the games she wasn't able to make it to. So she she don't got but she got like five footballs right now. So when you like you have that ball, do you just, like, grab it and off to the sideline and make sure, just don't give it to anybody? Yeah, yeah, I just toss it up right there to her. Like, because she's standing up the whole game. She's, like, right there on the, like, rail,

you know, like, at the bottom. Oh, so she's that close, okay. Yeah, she's, like, right there. Oh, so she's that close. Okay. Yeah, she's like right there. Like she's standing the whole game yelling, and she's just – she's so turnt up. Like I just – and every time she gets the ball, it's like – it's amazing, really. It's amazing.

That's so great. Well, because now the – I don't know that the listeners quite understand. Like every football has its own, like, team logo on it. So, like, that's a Texas A&M ball that you tossed to her. Yep, yep. We got the A&M ball. We got the Auburn one. My mom, but one of my close friends, he came to the Arkansas game,

and she decided to give him that ball. She, like, gave him that ball. He got a case for it. We're going to get, we're getting cases for them all. It's just, it's going to be like a little tradition that we just continue to carry on. You know, I love it. And now that particular interception against A&M, like that's a perfect high point. Do you go to, do you go to your receivers coach and be like teach tape right there for you guys? No, no, I never i never uh because we got some good

receivers over there too you know trey harris he uh exactly he giving the teach tape also you know i'm learning from him i'm taking page out of his book well let's talk about trey harris because he had two catches in that game one that counted and one that didn't that were like unbelievable odell beckham jr level one handers how often is he doing that stuff at practice oh it's like every day man it's it's not to try and downplay it but it's kind of like normal like like seeing him do it like because he's been doing it like since he got here like like in the fall camp, he caught a pass over probably, like, four people with one hand. It was, like – it was, like, bizarre. Like, I just – I couldn't believe he came down with the ball,

and it was, like, all those other people around him. And it was with one hand. Like, it was with one hand also. Like, he's just – he's super talented, man. He's a great dude. He's real humble. Like, he's going – we're going –, we play on the same team on Sundays. That'll be great.

Keep teaming up with him. You've got to go against some pretty good receivers this Saturday. When you look at Georgia, what do you see? I see it's really like Georgia. They are

a highly talented team, so you know we gotta come in there and just make sure to do our job every play like we can't give them anything like they gotta earn every single yard like and we gotta make sure to get off the field on third downs we gotta just make sure to just do our job like everybody got a 1-11 so like if if your job is to like set the edge we just gotta make sure everybody's on their P's and Q's doing their job. So this defense that Pete Golding runs, you know, it was new to you, but it was also new to everybody else this year. How much fun was it to learn,

and how comfortable are you guys running it now? Oh, I think it's really – it's been amazing, honestly. Like, it's really been a blessing. I've just been, like, so thankful that he came here and brought this defense because he says it's like you play this defense, it really prepares you for the NFL because it's so much, it's like, it's complex. So once you get the hang of this, like, learning anything will be easy.

Like, because it's like so much going on. Like, everybody has a job. It's great, man. Like, I can't even, I can't even put it into words. It's like, it's just like so intelligent and smart. Like everybody has a role and it just, it just makes sense. It all like glows together. Honestly. How hard is it at first? Cause you talk about doing your one 11th and everybody has a job, just making sure that you're not trying to do too much not trying to do somebody else's job like when do you when you realize okay I know exactly what my role is right here on this play oh yeah honestly like every play that's what I'm like

because I know my job like I know my job every play but then you got to make sure to communicate to those around you playing safety you know like especially being at safety like you got to be one of the vocal guys so once i like know my job like i'll make sure to you always got to branch it to the corner you know then you always got to branch to the free safety like just so we're all on the same page at all times honestly i imagine doing a little more talking pre-snap didn't bother you you seem like you enjoy talking uh you know man that's if you people around here like i don't even i don't even really like talk that much it's it's crazy man because i don't know i'm like a real i'm a real like quiet guy like i like speak when i'm spoken to you know i just be like chilling going on about my day like handle my business you know, I'd just be, like, chilling, going on about my day, like, handling my business, you know.

Hey, man, I appreciate that, man. I feel like you're the spokesman for this defense. Like, when I've seen somebody talking from your defense, it's been you. Yeah, yeah, that's definitely true, man. That's definitely true. You know, I'll take the – I'll hold it down for the guys, you know, make sure to talk for the team. But people around here, like, some people, it's crazy, man.

Like some people don't even like, no, I even talk. Well, you got it. You got the gift. So good luck on Saturday and, uh, and, and good luck to your mom to get all those footballs with a G on it. Got you, man. I appreciate that, man. Thanks a lot. Have a great one. Thanks, John.

Appreciate it. Have a good one. Yes, sir. Thank you. What a fun tradition that is, giving mom the football from an interception. And I can't wait to see what kind of displays they make of this. And if John Saunders gets himself a ball with a G on it, then that game's gonna be

pretty interesting I would imagine we will see what happens but who might he have to cover is it possible he might have to cover Brock Bowers we'll talk to Jake Rowe from Dogs HQ about that right now. We're joined now by Jake Rowe of On3's Dogs HQ, talking Georgia Bulldogs. And Jake, I think everybody going into this Ole Miss game wants to know, is this a possibility that Brock Bowers actually comes back in this game? Possible, yeah, absolutely.

I think one of the biggest things that might be standing in the way is the weather because it's supposed to be a little wet. I wonder if Georgia might get a little cautious. Obviously, listen, if it was today, I think he would play. But, you know, there's a few variables here. There's the weather. And then there's how does Brock feel on Saturday? You know, he could feel a lot better. I don't know, but he could, you know,

it could be a little stiff, could be a little sore that day. I don't think they're going to send him out there unless he's feeling, you know, really good. But I think it's definitely, it's certainly a possibility that he plays. So, I mean, but now if you look at it in, in the long-term view, But I think it's definitely a possibility that he plays. But now, if you look at it in the long-term view, the idea of Brock being back for the SEC Championship seems almost certain. Maybe back for Tennessee, almost certain.

That certainly probably makes Georgia feel a lot better offensively in terms of just what weapons they're going to have at their disposal. Yeah. Not, not only is it, you know, Georgia's got to make the SEC championship. They got to win one of these next two games. You know, if they can win on, on Saturday, you know, I still think Brock's probably going to be back and play against Tennessee, but I think it's looking like, Hey, if you make the SEC championship game, not only are you going to have Brock Bowers back, you might have

90, 95, 100% Brock Bowers back, which is pretty crazy. Andy, it's unreal because it's never the third string cornerback or the fourth string inside linebacker that makes these miraculous recoveries. It's always the freak show, you know, quick twitch fibers that, you know, big, strong, fast, you know, generational type talents that seem to do this sort of weird recovery stuff. And, you know, here we are with Brock Bowers, like three and a half weeks away. And he's, he's, you know, he's practicing a little bit.

Right. It's probably not an accident. Adrian Peterson's like the fastest to ever come back from, from ACL surgery. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. I I'm with you there. And we've seen it happen pretty quickly.

To a tongue of Iloa got hurt in the sec championship game, played in the orange bowl after that same tightrope procedure that Brock Bowers had. So it's, it's doable in a fairly short window, but I get where you're coming from, where if Georgia feels comfortable, if they're, you know, the East champs, if they've clinched the East, maybe you do hold him out a little bit longer and make sure he's absolutely ready. Yeah. I mean, I still think if they win Saturday, they, they have the East clinch. I still think they really want to beat Tennessee because I don't think it's,

I don't think you can sit there and look at that as a foregone conclusion that the sec championship game is a playoff game. And, and that, you know, if you lose your out, I don't, we're not quite there yet. And I don't know if you can quite, you know, get yourself there between now and then because there's so much mayhem that can still happen and um you know I mean I don't think Florida State is a shoe in to beat Florida I mean I would pick them don't don't get me wrong but are they absolutely going to beat Florida I don't know you know so there's just there's just so much left

to happen and I think if you're Georgia you need to try and win every ball game because you know what has happened when you've won every regular season ball game well and you're right there is potential because we're we're just assuming that there will be undefeated conference champs and everybody else will be one loss but but you're right there is a scenario where Georgia can go into the SEC championship game 12 and 0 lose lose to Alabama, and just like in 2021, still make the playoff and still have a chance to play for the national title. So you're right about that. And they've already got the experience of that to guide them. Yeah, absolutely.

And I mean, Georgia has gone undefeated in the regular season two years in a row. And two years in a row has made it to the playoff win-lose-or-draw in the SEC championship game. And I think to give yourself an optimal chance to make history and to do what you set out to do in the beginning of the season, I think you have to do what you can to win those games. And listen, if they're feeling like maybe Brock Bowers can play against Ole Miss, then I think they're going to feel pretty good about it against Tennessee. It doesn't mean they're going to feel pretty good about it against

Tennessee. It doesn't mean they're going to go out there and push him out there for 50 snaps or anything like that. But I think you'll see him travel and play if they feel good about it, if they feel good enough to play him against Ole Miss, for sure. So what did Kirby Smart think they needed to clean up after the Missouri game? Well, I mean, the thing that stood out to me is is and it's something that he's always pretty honest about is he said that they you know Missouri whipped their tails up front a little bit you

know and they did at times especially in the first half um you know I don't think that listen Kirby I think has finally had to kind of tip his hat and not that he never has but I think Kirby has to kind of tip his cap to Missouri a little bit because Missouri is a lot of folks won't understand this, but way back in the day when Valdosta high school was just running rampant over, you know, South over the state of Georgia, Colquitt County kind of had their number a little bit. Colquitt County could, could really land a punch in bloody Valdosta's nose and Missouri kind of has

that with Georgia a little bit. Not a ton. I mean, it's not like they do it year in and year out. But the past two years, the past three years, they're the only team in the country that's rushed for over 100 yards against Georgia three times in all three years. They have a little something that kind of works against Georgia. It's that outside zone run scheme works a little bit.

They know how to just create a little bit of chaos for Georgia's defensive line. And, you know, I think Kirby kind of has to kind of tip his hat a little bit and say, hey, listen, these guys know how to play us. They are not scared of us. They look us directly in the eyeballs, and they come to fight. And, you know, that's just kind of how Missouri plays it. And I don't think Georgia –

I think Georgia didn't necessarily play its best game against Missouri, but I also think Missouri just kind of has a way of fighting. I mean, listen, they've lost, what is it now, like 11 of 12 games or something like that they've played against Georgia, but they do find a way a lot of times to give them problems. Well, and maybe the Eli Drinkwits schematically just does something that that kirby doesn't do well against i mean in the nfl you've got jim schwartz his defenses traditionally dominate kyle shanahan's offenses but they don't dominate everybody else so it's just it's just one of those things that and and maybe you

know given what we've seen from from Missouri in general this year it might be that that they've just got a nice nice thing going and they're going to get better so uh now Georgia won't have to play them annually coming up in the next iteration of the SEC so I'm sure Kirby's pretty happy about that but but yeah and then meanwhile Ole Miss comes in and and they run the old Art Briles offense, which Kirby has been very successful against historically. But this might be the most talented version of it he's seen other than maybe the Tennessee team last year, which runs a similar offense.

Yeah, I'm really interested in this because – all right, so one of the things that I like about Ole Miss is maybe one of the things that might hurt it against Georgia is Ole Miss is so multiple in the run game. I mean, you talk about pin and pull, duo, inside zone, outside zone. They do a little bit of everything. Do they thrive with one particular thing? Not necessarily.

Right. And I think the offenses that have kind of given Georgia trouble are, especially the run games that have given Georgia trouble, are the teams that kind of have their thing and they stick to either. They've got a gimmick that they can hit you with some explosives with, like Auburn did with the quarterback run and the counters and stuff like that. Or they kind of have a real hardcore bread and butter posted all over the building like they do at Missouri, the stretch play. And they've got answers for every single thing that you try and throw at them, so much so that they may only run four or five different run plays. So I wonder how that's going to fit.

And then you've got to kind of do it in Sanford Stadium at night. You know, Ole Miss is a different team on the road this year, historically under Lane Kiffin. So I'm just I'm really interested to kind of see how all of that plays out for them. Yeah, yeah. And can they hit a couple shots on them? Because what really opens up the run game in that offense is when you hit a couple downfield shots, and then you can very quickly get to the ball, hand it off a couple times with the defense gassed. That's where they really make their hay. They didn't really do that against Alabama this year.

Georgia is a similar defense. So it's strange because the Saban smart thing with this does make it where you feel like you've had a preview already. A little bit, yeah. And you bring up a good point there, too. One of the big keys to stopping this offense is a little bit of luck, because if they do get a guy behind you, you hope they miss him, because they do like to throw that long ball and do that. And Tennessee's kind of had that against Georgia. That's been one of Georgia's saving graces the last couple years.

Tennessee's only gotten one or two shots, and it's missed them the last couple years. But, you know, that, that, so what they do is they keep everything in front and they're like, all right, listen, if you want to drive it and do something that's uncomfortable for you, then do that. You know, we'll, we'll, we'll make you play left-handed a little bit. And that's kind of the hallmark of the way Kirby and Nick Saban, even though I think they are different defensively more different now than they ever have been. I think Georgia still, uh still has simplified things a little bit more to where as

Alabama has kind of still kept the same thing going from years after years. But Georgia is a little bit more multiple, a little bit more simpler. I do think we've maybe seen a little bit of a preview there, but I also think Alabama might be a touch better in the front seven, you know, especially when Alabama, you know seven, especially with Georgia kind of – maybe now that Georgia's getting healthy, maybe they're not, but they're very comparative, maybe a little bit more disruptive in the front seven.

Yeah, the one guy I wanted to ask you about is Tyrion on the D-line. He comes in against Florida and looks like what they have not had. He was coming off an injury, right? Yeah. He hadn't played since week one. Yeah, it feels like that's kind of what they've been missing. Look, when you lose all of Jalen Carter, you know,

and then all of the other guys that they lost in the first round of the D-line the year before, it's very hard to replace that. But it does feel like some of their younger guys have shown you kind of the seeds of, oh, maybe they can be that next set of first round guys. Yeah, yeah. And Ty Ingram Dawkins is definitely one of those guys because he takes some of the load off of Mikel Williams, who is another one of those dudes. You know, really what it comes down to for Georgia, and the reason I kind of made that

comparison with Alabama's front and their front seven is, you know, Alabama's got Dallas Turner and Alabama has some TFL guys, and Georgia hasn't really had that. But now with Mike Hill-Williams coming on a little bit, with Ty Ingram-Dawkins, Jalen Walker, a second-year guy who's an inside linebacker who they're using on the edge and has been – he's two-and-a-half sacks in his last two games. You're seeing Damon Wilson, a five-star, you know, out of Florida, who has really come on in here after the bye week, like a lot of freshmen do, forcing holding

penalties, you know, getting, you know, getting pressure on the quarterback. Georgia's becoming more disruptive, and so I think it may be gaining ground in that aspect, but, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, when you start thinking about these games at home and the crowd noise and the silent counts and the against hurry up, no huddle, you're going to try to use bodies and you're going to try and get those guys a chance to make impactful plays for you on third down. And Georgia is starting to really grow into itself with its ability to do that on third down. Yeah, and that's what, you know, go back to the Tennessee game last year. They really heated up Hendon Hooker and that made a big difference. Probably need to do that to Jackson Dart in this game. And Jackson Dart is like, like Hooker, he's a smart runner. He he'll get those yards if you get, if you let him do it. Yeah, he is. And that's one of the things that I,

I circled this game after the Auburn game, I circled this game because I thought, you know, when you look at kind of Auburn's athleticism at quarterback, maybe not as much as Robbie Ashford, but definitely as much as Peyton Thorne. Jackson Dart kind of fit the mold. And he fit the mold as a passer. And he brought an element of the passing game that hasn't been there. And if you look at the numbers, right, Ole Miss is not the dominant run game that it has been the past few years. It's not running for 250, 210, 225 a game. Like we've seen Lane Kiffin office do it. It's 180. And a lot of the reason for that is they're throwing the ball more with Jackson Dart. He's getting more attempts. He's getting a chance to throw it down the field.

He's averaging 10 an attempt. Again, different quarterback on the road so far this year than he has been at home. Much better at home than he has been on the road. But he's a guy that, honestly, I think the Hendon Hooker comparison is really spot on. I mean, he's a very effective runner. He's a very capable runner.

He's also a really good passer. And it's going to be up to Georgia with less talent on defense, you know, with with less talent in that front seven, really, you know, with no Jalen Carter. Really, that is the only guy that they're missing because they didn't have Nolan Smith for that game last year. But, you know, that's that's and I guess no Juman Dumas Johnson either. He's going to miss this game as well from what we know. So it'll be interesting to see if Georgia kind of tries to use the same plan because Georgia really dialed it up on him last year. Going to be fun to watch Saturday night between the hedges. Jake Rowe, thank you so much.

All right, bud. Jake Rowe with all the pertinent info on the Bulldogs. Dogs HQ, that is on 3's Georgia site. If you're not already a member and you're a Georgia fan, what are you waiting for? Jake Rowe, Rusty Mansell, come on. Nothing better for Georgia fans. LSU fans know the Bengal Tiger is the place to go.

And Shea Dixon covers the Tigers for the Bengal Tiger. They got Florida coming in and obviously the health of Jaden Daniels is the big story this week. So let us talk to Shea Dixon about that. We are joined now by Shea Dixon of on threes, the Bengal Tiger Shea, the news in Baton Rouge is obviously Jaden Daniels takes the big hit from Dallas Turner, goes out during the Alabama game. What is his situation heading into the Florida game? Yeah, we've got some confirmation, at least of how things have played out.

He was in his, I guess, in concussion protocol that was not made kind of firm, or at least Brian Kelly didn't say that until we met with him on Monday or Wednesday, I believe. I think Wednesday is when he said it was actual concussion protocol. It might have been Monday, but he had to go through a number of tests. Monday, they don't practice. So he went through tests then. Tuesday morning, he did not practice on Tuesday, but was out there. Brian Kelly said he was doing sprints, hit 20 miles an hour on sprints and cleared that next round of protocol. So they said that if all was good on Thursday, then he would be cleared for full contact practice.

Then obviously Friday is a walkthrough. Saturday, you've got the game. And Brian Kelly said at that point, they would just decide, OK, is Jaden really ready? If he is, he's going. If not, we're turning to Nussmeier. So it's been one of those weeks where Nussmeier has gotten a lot of reps. And naturally we went into the season, Andy saying, hey, LSU might have the best one, two punch in the conference or in the country at a quarterback in terms of readiness of guys who could go in and continue to play well, I think that we'll see this weekend. I'm still leaning towards Jaden Daniels playing,

especially if the signs, as Brian Kelly said, each week have been, he passed the test, passed the test, now he's back at practice on Wednesday, now he may be full contact Thursday, but there is still that outside shot that we see Nussmeyer this weekend. Well, if J Jay Daniels is passing the test, I would imagine he probably wants to play. This is a guy who, if he keeps putting up these ridiculous video game numbers, he's going to New York. The question is whether he wins the Heisman or not. I would think that if there's any shot that they clear him to play, he's out there.

He's not sitting for draft purposes or anything like that. Remember, this is a kid who he's put on weight now, but boy, he takes some hits as a skinny quarterback, and he has never missed a start. He was the first freshman ever to start a season opener at Arizona State, started all those years. Obviously, one was a COVID-shortened season, but now has started every game since he's been at LSU,

even playing through injury. You remember a year ago, Arkansas, he was injured. A&M, he was injured. By Georgia at halftime, he had to leave the game because he couldn't even walk anymore. And Nussmeier came in and lit it up in the second half. But if he's cleared for concussion protocol, he will be out there. I have no doubt about it. So you mentioned Garrett Nussmeyer coming into the SEC championship game last year. We've seen him a little bit this year. Saw him replace Daniels in the Alabama game last week. What can you expect from the offense if it's Garrett Nussmeyer? It's a bit different of an offense, right?

Because Jayden Daniels leads the nation in total yardage and in a large part, not just because he's a great passer, but he has rushed for the second most yards by any quarterback in the country behind B.C.'s Thomas Castellanos. So it's one of those things where that dual threat ability changes LSU's offense completely and makes them currently still the number one offense in college football. When Nussmeier is out there, he's not going to be running it all over the field. So you lean more on the ground game with Logan Diggs and company, but they trust Nussmeier to throw the football and we've seen it. He can sling it. And the deep ball is kind of the sexy thing that Nussmeier gets out there and does that LSU fans love. But Jaden's been very good at that. Yeah. I was going to say they've seen a lot of deep balls this year. I don't, uh, I don't think they'll miss a beat there. And it's more probably

about is Nussmeier rattled by the moment or is he good to go? And while he doesn't have any college starts, remember he's in year three. He grew up with a dad who coached college in NFL. And he's talked about it plenty. He said, I've spent my whole life in locker rooms. Like I'm ready for these moments. And he stayed at LSU for a reason. A lot of teams would have taken him out of the portal a year ago. He didn't go in. So he knew he was waiting behind Jaden Daniels next year. He would take the reins. But if this moment ever came where Jaden got banged up, they fully trusted him to go out there and execute with this offense. So I would think that they have full faith in Garrett Nussmeyer being out there. The product will look different, but I think that they can still get some nice execution out of it.

Well, and if we want to talk subplots, the possibility of the son of a Jim McIlwain era, Florida, Florida offensive coordinator playing as Florida is its own wonderful subplot. But this is one, these are gonna be two of the worst defenses in the sec, if not the country playing each other, how, how many, how much scoring is there going to be regardless of whether Daniel's plays, like how much scoring is there just going to be period? Well, LSU is still much scoring is there just going to be, period? Well, LSU is still the only team that's hit the over in every single game they've played this season. So no matter how that line just keeps creeping up, somehow LSU finds a way to hit it. So yes, this could be a weekend where we see a good amount of scoring, considered that very quietly, not on your show, but maybe nationally, Graham Mertz has played well.

I know Florida's run game isn't as far along as they wished it would be at this point with Etienne and then obviously Montreal Johnson, but I do think this is one where we see some points, whether it is Daniels or Nussmeier, just because of how these defenses played. And I'll add to your Nussmeier subplot there. And everyone knows this, but worth mentioning, this is a Billy Napier staff really, that is coming back to Louisiana after having success with the Ragin' Cajuns. Napier talked about that. I asked him this week on the SEC coaches teleconference and he said, look, we've got a lot of guys on this team. They're two

starting running backs, Montreal Johnson and Trevor Etienne are from Louisiana. They've got other guys on the team from Louisiana that they brought from UL. And then a lot of guys on this staff, just look at it. There are a line coach, Rob sale, their DB coach, Corey Raymond,

these guys played at LSU. So this holds a, a lot of sort of subplots that it brings with it into it. Well, and yeah, Kyron Lacey, LSU receiver, played for Billy Napier at Lafayette. So it is. And there were a lot of LSU fans who wanted Billy Napier to be the hire.

Yep. And a lot of Florida fans who, when Billy Napier got hired, were like, wait a second, Brian Kelly was available. Yes, correct. Correct. So yes, this has a lot of storylines going into it. Yeah, and it's been one of the weirder rivalries, period. Like going back to games rescheduled because of hurricanes

and Florida having to go to LSU in 2016 and then winning when they probably should have been able to. And then LSU having to play in Gainesville twice. Like there's always something with this game. A shoe, a shoe, a fake, fake field goals during the last era.

This is truly LSU. Auburn is always been that kind of series where you're like, man, expect the unexpected, but LSU Florida is the, and this is what kind of stinks right with as we lose the east and west and we figure out the future of the SEC LSU Florida is a staple we get it every year and we've got the you know Jacob Hester years of all those fourth down runs we've got the Tim Tebow

years where they got his cell phone number and he beat him in Tiger Stadium and was mocking the crowd. Oh, he didn't beat them. They got his cell phone number and then he was leading and then Jacob Hester went crazy. I remember a time where Brandon Spikes picked off Jarrett Lee and then punted the ball into the stands and maybe even out of the stadium. There is no love lost between these two programs. Early do set hit by Riley Cooper getting a return for the easiest Florida touchdown you ever saw it it is it's crazy and it's an old rivalry it goes back into

the 60s like Steve Spurrier played against LSU every year he played the Brad wing uh fake punt they got called back when he pulled it on Florida. So truly, I think this is one of those games where you say, throw the records out the window. Anything can happen between these two teams. So I have a theory I want to run by you because you, you've seen all these games, Florida,

a significant segment of the Florida families believes they, they have been cursed since the marco wilson shoe throw in the 2020 lsu game do you think if there's a scenario where say you know i don't know um you know maybe logan diggs is running the ball somebody tries to tackle him accidentally pulls his shoe off and it flies you know five yards from him. If a Florida defender were to pick up an LSU player's shoe and bring it back to him, would that break the curse? That could be one of those things, right? You have to at some point reverse it and that could be the only way. So maybe that's the goal. Hey guys, get in those piles, rip off a shoe and give it right back to him. And let's

see if that isn't that. Get down on one knee and hand it to him like you're proposing. Absolutely. Yes. I think that they'll try anything. I think it's funny too. I've had Florida fans texting me this week, 52 to 10, 45 to nothing. I said, man, y'all are so down on the Gators right now. I think this is going to be a really good game.

I know the line's at 14. We don't really know what's up with Jaden Daniels for sure. But, yes, LSU's got the best offense in the country. This Florida-LSU game, for me, is so unpredictable every year. Even Burrow lost to Florida in 18 when he was on the roster. So, boy, buckle in. Saturday night in Death Valley with these two teams for the final time as the East West divisional rival opponent, I think will be a lot of fun and it's sold out.

They've already confirmed it is a crowd. Well, I, and you're right. There's going to be a lot of scoring. Cause if you look at what Florida has done against South Carolina's defense against Arkansas's defense, like they move the ball up and down the field on those teams.

No, they didn't score on Georgia, but that's defense. Like they moved the ball up and down the field on those teams. No, they didn't score on Georgia, but that's Georgia. So like the way LSU's defense. Yeah. Florida's going to move the ball. And so, yeah,

I think who plays quarterback for LSU probably is of great interest, probably to the gambling public, though. I would suggest to those folks, probably still take the over. Take your team total overs, take the total over, take it all. I'm not sure how much defense we're going to see this weekend. I say this, Andy, if we have made it into almost mid-November and the defenses looked about the same as they did when things kicked off September 1st or 2nd or whenever that was, I don't expect many, many wholesale changes. So this will be an offense game for sure.

How much heat is there on Matt House, the LSU defensive coordinator locally? A lot. I mean, I think that LSU fans feel as if they view it as we've lived through the last years, for instance. Now you've given us the number one offense in college football, a quarterback who has more total yards than anyone in college football, who is somehow still in the Heisman race with three losses. And all three of those losses really, they all came on the road, but are on the hands of the defense.

They lost to Florida State in week one. Yes, the offense didn't do a ton after halftime. They only scored once more. But LSU in those three games, Andy, combined for 101 points on offense. Their three road losses. That was to Bama, Ole Miss, and Florida State. That's about, what, 33, 34 points a game? Yeah.

Right now, that's fourth in the SEC. And would have scored more had Daniels not gone out. Fifth in the SEC above Missouri in average points per game. Right now, that's fourth in the SEC, fifth in the SEC above Missouri in average points per game. So in their losses, they averaged a top four scoring effort in the SEC and still lost. I think the one that sings the most is Ole Miss. You can't go up in a road game at night in Oxford to an Ole Miss team that's hot, that's now in the top 10, and put up 650-plus yards of offense, score 49 points, and you lose. How does that happen? So for me, I think that about sums up how LSU fans feel about the defensive effort this year.

That is, when you just say the numbers out loud. It's shocking. And really, you know, 2019, we kind of look at it as its own thing, like its own special everything came together. But I think about all the years that LSU fans were so frustrated that they had a great defense and an offense that was not dynamic enough. This is similar to Iowa fans right now. And this is the offense those people always wanted. And it looks like it's something that could continue. It doesn't, you know, maybe it's because of Jaden Daniels and Malik Neighbors and Brian Thomas.

But LSU's always got really good players. So you think it could keep going. But you've got to put a defense with it at some point. Yeah, I think they want to get back to look. The reality is when Brian Kelly took over this program, it was a major rebuild. They had 38 scholarship players and in year one winning the West probably it certainly over exceeded any expectations. And maybe that made us think, okay, LSU might be a little bit better or further along than they really actually are in this rebuild.

The offense is there. The defense still needs to be rebuilt. And they went heavy in the portal two years in a row and it's paid off in spots and in others. It hasn't. What Brian Kelly said is we've got to get back to high school recruiting and developing. That's what LSU's bread and butter is. When we've talked about DBU and these great defenses, they were never transfers. They were guys that LSU went out and signed, got from Louisiana, got from East Texas, dipped into Georgia and got maybe some Florida kids and they developed them and they became really elite defenses. So that's what you're yearning for and searching for again as an LSU fan. And I think Brian Kelly, a guy who's been around 30 plus years as a head coach, if we can see it, he sees it.

So he'll have a plan in place of how they can continue to make strides on that side. It's just that sour taste of, man, you've got the number one offense in the country. If you could give me the number 60 defense, this team might be undefeated right now, but you've got the number hundred and whatever rank defense, and you've never climbed out of it since that week one showing against Florida State. That's been the issue. So it's not a fix this year. LSU's offense is going to need to keep carrying them. And as Brian Kelly said, how paramount it is, win out. And that means beating Florida, beating Georgia State, beating A&M, and putting yourself in position nine and three to get to 10 wins. Because people will forget Andy when he took this program over, yeah, 38 scholarship players, but they were coming

off back-to-back 500 regular seasons. That's not the norm down here. In fact, that losing season, they got Ed Orser on fired. They lost the bowl game when they had to start a wide receiver at quarterback was the first losing season since DiNardo. That was 1999. So to go potentially at follow that up with two back to back 10 win seasons. And in one of those, you get, you win the West. Oh, and in another, you'll have the number one offense in college football. Any LSU fan would have taken that. It's just the, oh, you gave me the number one offense in college football, but also the defense is the worst in college football,

so everything went out the window. Well, it's not getting fixed by Saturday. Florida's not getting fixed by Saturday. So everybody take the over and just sit back and enjoy all the points. Shea Dixon, thank you so much. Thanks, Andy. I appreciate it. That Florida LSU game is always weird.

Always, always, always. So I know everybody's thinking, oh, LSU is going to roll over them. Maybe. But if they do, it'll be in a weird way. Or maybe they won't. Maybe it'll be a very compelling game. It's one of those things that you just never know when Florida and LSU play and it's always in the strangest way. So can't wait to see that one on Saturday night. Now it's time to answer

more of your questions. We had to cut things short on Wednesday because we had so much news to process. But now I am back with your questions, ready to answer them. So let us do a little more Dear Andy. Our Dear Andy segment got cut very short on Wednesday night because of news in the Michigan case. And so you had really good questions. I would like to still answer them.

So let's do it. I got a great one here from Mike. I haven't done a ton of research on this, Mike says, but has Kansas pulled off the greatest two and a half year turnaround in the last 50 years? This is a really good question because think about how awful Kansas was when Lance Leipold

got there. Think about the circumstances of Lance Leipold's arrival. Remember, this was not a situation where Les Miles got fired for poor performance at the end of the season, a normal coaching search, coach hired before recruits are signed. No. Les Miles was fired at the end of spring practice. I believe Lance Leipold was hired like the day before the spring game in 2021. And remember how that worked. It was, it all came unraveling pretty quickly at Kansas. They were trying to deny David Beatty his buyout. Jeff Long got okie-doked in a deposition. Jeff Long was the athletic director. He got okie-doked in a deposition because he was saying, oh, well, he was using analysts to coach and you can't do that. That breaks NCAA rules, so we don't have to give him his buyout. And then they showed Jeff

Long video of Les Miles' staff using analysts to coach and suddenly David Beat give him his buyout. And then they showed Jeff Long video of Les Miles' staff using analyst to coach. And suddenly David Beatty got his buyout. But then after that, you had a mushrooming situation at LSU where stuff was coming up, the Hush Blackwell report. And so LSU is, again, dealing with all this stuff that happened during the Miles era. And it becomes clear that probably he shouldn't have never been hired at Kansas. Now, his record at the time also was proof that he probably should never been hired at Kansas. But they were in a terrible situation. Remember, they're still dealing at that time

with a roster deficiency that goes back to the Charlie Weiss era. Charlie Weiss loaded up on JUCOs. This was when you couldn't bring in more than 25 new scholarship players a year. And they had so much attrition that basically they were in a hole that it was going to take them years to get out. And they were still in the process of digging their way out of that. So all of this is going on. And at the time, Kansas was 7-38 in the previous four years. 7-38. Pretty terrible. And so the Jayhawks are now 7-2 this season after going 6-7 and 2-10, or 2-10 and 6-7 in Lance Leipold's first two years. So that is a great turnaround.

It's pretty incredible. And so I was going back through some turnarounds. And obviously, you've got your one-year turnarounds. Like Gus Malzahn had Auburn in the national title game a year after Auburn had gone 3-9 overall in 0-8 in the SEC. But that team also had won the national title in 2010. They'd been respectable in 2011. It all fell apart in 2012.

So that one is not the same thing. Because Auburn still had good players. They just had a really bad year. Things had just fallen apart for Gene Chizik. That wasn't quite the same situation. Ditto for Sonny Dyke's TCU turnaround last year. You know, Gary Patterson was still recruiting good players, still developing players well. Just for whatever reason, things had fallen off from a schematic standpoint, and TCU was not as good as they had been in the record. But Sonny Dyches comes in, takes them to the national title game. Now you see what's going on with TCU this year. Hard to keep that up, but that's not the same thing either. Ditto for Tulane. Remember, they went from 2-10 in 2021 to 12-2 in 2022.

Willie Fritz was the coach of both those years. Willie Fritz had been the coach for several years before that. So that wasn't the same thing either. I'll give you some examples, some recent, some in the past, of ones that really do kind of match this. Oregon State is a really good one. So Oregon State was seven and 29 in three seasons under Gary Anderson. And Jonathan Smith, who's their current coach, had them at seven and six in year three, 10 and three in year four.

And you see what they're doing this year. They've only got two losses, very similar record to Kansas. And that's why Jonathan Smith also, like Lance Leipold, is a name you hear when we talk about jobs that might be open, because even more so than Lance Leipold, Jonathan Smith's in a situation where Oregon State has conference uncertainty. You don't know what's going to go on. But that was a job where it looked like the Beavers were really going downhill and they were going to be a very tough rebuild. And Jonathan Smith got them going relatively quickly. And so that's why people respect him so much. I'll give you another one from the 2010s.

Vanderbilt was four and 20 in the two seasons prior to hiring James Franklin. Franklin was six and seven in year one, nine and four in year two, nine and four in year three. Then he got hired by Penn State. That was a good turnaround, but probably not the same level as what Leipold's done at Kansas or what Jonathan Smith did at Oregon State because Bobby Johnson had a seven and six year right before that four and 20 stretch. So it wasn't like that was just years of failure. And remember, Bobby Johnson resigned before the season before they hired James Franklin and Robbie Caldwell took over for that year. The great SEC media day's appearance by Robbie Caldwell, over for that year, the great SEC media days appearance by Robbie Caldwell, which involved lots of discussion of turkey insemination. If you don't know, look it up.

I promise you will enjoy it. But I don't think that's quite it. The one that I think matches best is one that is very close to Kansas. In fact, it's their Sunflower State Showdown rival, Kansas State. And it's probably the greatest turnaround in college football history by the man who I think we all agree is a wizard. Bill Snyder took over a Kansas State program that had gone 3-40 the previous four seasons. 3-40. He went 1 and ten in year one five and six in year two seven and four in year three and Kansas State was basically good after that he retires Ron Prince takes over they're not good anymore he comes back they're good again like Bill Snyder engineered probably the greatest turnaround in college football history.

But Lance Leipold, what he's doing at Kansas right now is pretty damn close. And it's pretty amazing when you consider everything that's happened, when you, when you consider everything that was going on with that program, when he took over and Bill Snyder, we've heard all the stories like Kansas state players at that time were embarrassed to wear their, their school gear. I think Kansas was basically in the same situation three years ago. And the bad part of this, the tough part of this is it's a different era now. And Bill Snyder never left Kansas State except to retire quickly, realize I don't want to be retired and come back. I don't know if that's going to be

the same thing with Lance Leipold. You know, Lance Leipold is a pretty hot commodity right now. Now, the good thing for Kansas is there's not a lot of jobs open. Still has not been a firing this season for on-field performance, which is very unusual and it's pretty late in the game for there not to be any of those. But you do have Northwestern open. You have Michigan State open for other reasons. Michigan State's the one I would worry about if I'm them. Now, Lance Leipold was asked yesterday if he interviewed with Michigan State. He said, the only interview I was doing is the one I'm doing right now, the media interview. That's not an answer. So will he leave? I don't know. Will a lot of people want him to be their coach? Yes. Because if you can do that at Kansas, because everybody

understands how difficult a job that is. And the thing is, what makes this so impressive with Lance Leipold is not fluky. There's no gimmicky stuff about it. They're just better. And you could say, oh, he inherited a good quarterback in Jalen Daniels, and the Miles staff just hit on a really good quarterback. Okay, true. But then Jalen Daniels got hurt, and Jason Bean's been doing just as well. So it's not just that.

It is the fact that they are significantly better. They are beating teams that are significantly more talented because they're just good. And I think that's what makes Lance Leipold so attractive. And remember, Lance Leipold won six division three national titles at Wisconsin Whitewater. And it's interesting because I've talked to him about how that process worked, where he went from Wisconsin Whitewater to Buffalo. And he said that he was actually surprised to hear from Buffalo when he did, because nobody in the FBS had talked to him, had even considered him. A couple of FCS schools had reached out, but it wasn't completely serious.

One of them he talked to a little bit, but the resources for the program were so bad that it really weren't much better than what he had in Division III. And so nobody was really calling until Danny White, who's the current Tennessee AD, called him to become Buffalo's coach. And White was all in because White's theory at the time was he couldn't afford anybody but like a big 10 position coach or a Mac head coach. He probably wasn't going to be able to get another Mac head coach to take a worse Mac job. So he wanted to have somebody who had really good head coaching experience, but that he could afford. And that's how Lance Lightpole got in the FBS.

And he made Buffalo better quickly. Kansas saw that, hired him to do an even bigger reclamation project, and he's been great at it. And now Kansas has to work to keep him. So we'll see if they can. This next question comes from Chris. Now, Chris has got us a scenario, and we know we love our scenarios this time of year. Is it possible a one-loss Bama gets left out of the college football playoff? Here are my conference championship assumptions. The ACC has an undefeated Florida state 13 and up and they're in the big 10 has an undefeated winner of the Michigan,

Ohio state game. And that team is in the big 12 has a 12 and one Texas team winning the big 12 title. The sec has a 12-1 Texas team winning the Big 12 title. The SEC has a 12-1 Alabama. Obviously, Bama wins out, beats Georgia in the SEC title game. The Pac-12 has either undefeated Washington or 12-1 Oregon. Still three weeks of the regular season to get through, so the most likely will be upsets, but does Bama make the 14 playoff in that scenario? Oregon is already ranked higher and will continue to pick up better wins through the end of the regular season, so I think it comes down to Alabama and Texas. The committee has to choose between leaving out

the SEC or choosing a team that lost head-to-head to what would be the fifth-ranked team. It's been pretty clear you think it should be Texas, but what do you think the committee actually does? So here's what I think will happen in that scenario. So in this scenario, Florida State is in, the winner of Michigan, Ohio State is in. I think Texas is probably in, in this scenario. So that leaves you one spot. If Washington is undefeated, Washington is in and Bama will be left out.

It would probably go Big Ten champ number one, Washington or Florida State two, three, Texas number four. That's how that would go. If it's Oregon and they're 12 and one, then you have an excuse to say, no, we'd rather see Alabama in that game. Alabama just beat Georgia.

Now, again, we talked about this during the show. Do Texas and Alabama need to be ranked below Oregon, we talked about this during the show. Do Texas and Alabama need to be ranked below Oregon right now based on resume? Probably not. Alabama has better wins than Oregon does. Oregon's got the really good win against Utah. Alabama has Ole Miss and Tennessee right now. Alabama would add Georgia. Oregon would add Washington and can add Oregon state. We'll see how good a win USC looks by the end of the season. Depends on kind of what they do against UCLA and, and,

and down the stretch. But so I think, and nobody in Oregon wants to hear that. They would just, I test that one and put Alabama in there. And I, and I don't know, honestly, if it's an eye test. I'm not sure Alabama is better than Oregon in the eye test either. But if Alabama has just beaten Georgia, then I think that's going to elevate Alabama in the eyes of the committee members. Now, they cannot put them over Texas. Texas went

to Tuscaloosa and beat them. They can't do that. And I don't think they're going to put them over an undefeated Washington either. And honestly, if Washington gets through this gauntlet 13-0, you better not leave them out. You better not. They deserve it. So it is possible in that scenario. Now, I agree with Chris. There will be some upsets. I don't think it's going to come to this. But wow, would that be a contentious Sunday after championship Saturday? It would be pretty crazy. So yeah, I think Alabama gets in if they win out. But that one specific scenario with an undefeated, if you have three undefeated and Texas at 12 and one, then you're going to have a problem for Alabama.

Next question comes from our friend Nathan on video. We love when Nathan sends the video questions. I think Nathan may have been in his cups a little bit with this one. Dear Andy, I understand that a fishy is to some extent a subjective art, yet it seems like year after year, week after week, we get calls and no calls that are so terrible that even a fifth grader playing ball during recess would realize that they're bullshit. Meanwhile, all of these conferences are getting millions and billions of dollars, and officiating is not getting any better. What can realistically be done? What should realistically be done to fix officiating so that we stop having to resort to alcohol to drown our sorrows after another loss. Cheers.

All right. So here's the thing. Everybody talks about how much money is in college football and why is not, why isn't there better officiating because of the amount of money in college football? The amount of money in the NFL dwarfs the amount of money in college football. The amount of money in the NFL dwarfs the amount of money in college football. And the vast majority of the population thinks NFL officiating sticks. So here's the thing. It's a really hard job. It's not going to get any easier. Players keep getting bigger, faster, and stronger. So the calls become more

bang, bang. We've asked officials to make some pretty serious judgments. Now, there are things that can be improved. I'll give you an example. The non-call at the end of Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, the Drake Stoops play where he gets dragged down in the end zone. Clear pass interference, didn't get called. Terry McCauley, who is a former NFL ref, used to be a head of the Big East officiating in college. He's done a lot of these jobs. He had a long tweet that explained the mechanics of that situation and how the Big 12 refs probably were taught to handle it and how probably they should be taught to handle it.

And basically it involved the back judge moving, the side judge kind of getting stuck in a situation where they were the only person and they were kind of shielded from it. There should have been a situation where there were three eyes on it. And unfortunately it was only one. So that's something that can be fixed. Training methods can help fix it. Adding another official. Now that's one where the money can help. Adding another set of eyeballs. So the NFL has done this. They have what's called a down judge. You can add that other official. That would help. And college football recently did this, fairly recently, adding a center judge. So you could add yet another official, another pair of eyes, because I've always said one place where you could really clean up officiating is if you added another official

whose job it is to just be three yards from the line of scrimmage, looking down the line to see if any ineligible players cross the line before a throw gets made. Like you could have it be where that is that person's sole job. And you'd get a lot of ineligible player downfield penalties called initially. And then you wouldn't have that anymore because teams would stop doing it. And it would help defenses a lot. But that's another thing you can do. Can you just get objectively better officials? No, because the objectively best officials are in the NFL.

We all think they stink too. They don't, but everybody thinks they do. And then the next best officials are the ones officiating the big college games. Like there's no other group of people. There's no one else to find. So it's it's it's strange and and also i do think it would help if we could agree on some better criteria for things for example the dallas turner hit on jayden daniels dallas turner the alabama edge rusher jayden daniels lsu quarterback there was a play in that game it's the play where jayden

daniels got hurt where d where Dallas Turner hits him. He's flagged for roughing the passer because Jaden Daniels had released the ball. Dallas Turner hit him. Big outcry because it was not called targeting. Now, you have people who are experienced and have been officials, some who say it is and some who say it isn't. And that's a problem. It shouldn't be that big of a debate. You should be able to figure it out.

So you have some people saying there's helmet to helmet contact on a defenseless player. It's targeting. And then you have other people saying he doesn't launch. He's actually not, he puts his face mask in his chest. It's not a helmet to helmet hit per se. And it is, it's just, you got to be able to explain it to people. And it's sort of in the NFL, the what is a catch problem. So I think that would be another way to do it is make the criteria more clear, make that more clear. I still think that the punishments for targeting could be changed as well where you could you could have an accumulation situation where instead of the person being just thrown out of the game for a situation that might not be anything they intended to do somebody move

right before they tackled them i think there should be a cumulative thing where you get one, but your second one of the season, you sit for a whole game. Third one of the season, you're out for six games. That would eliminate the headhunting, but it also would keep players on the field when they didn't try to do anything wrong. So it's a tough situation. No one's ever going to be happy with the officials. It's the most thankless job in sports and one of the most thankless jobs in the world. I'm glad somebody wants to do it because I sure as hell wouldn't. All right, let's go to Will. This is a fantastic question. If you just want to wrap your mind around this. Andy, love your show. I'm an

Iowa Hawkeye fan. I love the win-loss record in the Kirk Ferentz era, but I admit it's been tough to watch. To help recover from watching my Hawkeyes, I watched the USC versus Washington game last Saturday. Defense was clearly optional in this game. I came away asking myself, as a fan, which is a worse fan experience following a team that can't score on offense like Iowa or following a team that can't stop the opposing offense like USC. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. All right. So I think this is a pretty easy answer. I think as a fan, I would rather have the team that can score, but can't stop anybody.

LSU falls in that category this year too. It's frustrating, yes. But at least you get those moments of joy where you get to see long touchdown passes and crazy plays. Like, watching Iowa is like beating your head against a wall over and over. Like, there is no joy in it. Their defense is great, and that's fun to watch, but they actually are so good that they make the opposing offense look as incompetent as Iowa's offense most of the time, which is not fun to watch. I enjoy a good pitcher's duel in baseball, and I actually enjoy a good defensive matchup in football too. I appreciate good defense,

but I appreciate good defense when it is stopping a good offense, not when the offense is just so incompetent that it can't do anything. So that's the, that's the issue. And like, it's not the Iowa defense's fault that they make other offenses look incompetent. That's just,

unfortunately you now have to watch two incompetent offenses in the same game. And that's frustrating. Meanwhile, in the other situation, even if the other offense stinks, the terrible defense allows it to look either somewhat competent or actually good. And I think that is a more visually pleasing kind of game. Now, I know a lot of you don't like the 58 to 56 games. I think the casual fan does. I think the casual fan can give them a choice between 58, 56 and 12, seven. They're taking 58, 56 every time because it just gives you reasons to get up and cheer. And it's sort of like a church service. Do you want to sit in a church service where you just sit there and the pastor drones on and on? Or do you want to get up and sing

every once in a while? That's the difference. So USC lets you get up and sing a lot. Fight songs just playing constantly because people are scoring constantly. Iowa just makes you sit there. And that's really the difference. So yeah, I would take the USC model of let them score, we'll score, you score, we'll score over nobody scores. But hey, Alex Trench got fired. Maybe USC will actually stop somebody now. Probably not going to be working right off the bat, but it's worth a try. But that was a great question from Will.

I love it. Love your questions. Appreciate every single one of them. You know where to find me, at Andy underscore Staples on Twitter, Andy underscore Staples on Instagram, Andy Staples on three at gmail.com. If you want to email those questions, we do this every week.

We love your questions and please keep on sending them in because it helps us decide what we're going to talk about on the show. Cause we want to talk about what you want to talk about. Thank you for joining us this week. Thank you so much for all your great questions. Huge games this weekend. Michigan-Penn State, Tennessee-Missouri, Ole Miss-Georgia, USC-Oregon, Utah-Washington. So much fun to be had. It's all coming at us. I'll talk to you after the game's on Saturday.