Andy & Ari On3 - Picking the Ohio State-Notre Dame national title game | Carson Beck Tik Toks to Miami

Episode Date: January 13, 2025

You’ve had Wendy’s Nuggs dipped in sauce. But have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy’s New Saucy Nuggs take the Crispy and Spicy Nuggs you love and turn them up to 11.Choose between flavors like Buffalo. Honey BBQ. Garlic Parm. Or, if you’re a real heat seeker, try Spicy Ghost Pepper, only on Wendy’s signature Spicy Nuggs.  Busy mornings, late nights, working through lunch—life doesn’t always leave room for a complete, balanced meal. That’s where Huel comes in. This podcast is sponsored by Huel, spelled H-U-E-L, The World’s #1 Complete Nutrition Brand. It’s a complete meal in seconds—just grab, sip, and go. No more skipped meals or unfulfilling snacks. Huel makes it easy with nutrition that fits into your life. And right now, you can try it for FIFTEEN PERCENT off with the code STAPLES15 at HUEL.com. Fuel up the easy way with Huel today!  This show is also sponsored by PrizePicks, America’s most fun daily fantasy game. Use the code STAPLES to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/STAPLES(0:00-0:34) Wendy's Saucy Nuggs(0:35-15:37) Intro: Who is America Rooting for in the title game?(15:37-18:38) Fuel your mornings with Huel(18:39-19:06) Alex Orji Transfers to UNLV(19:07-27:38) Chicago Bears interested in Marcus Freeman, College Coaches?(27:39-40:13) Will Howard vs Notre Dame Preview, presented by PrizePicks(40:14-59:24) Picking the National Championship(59:25-1:18:46) Carson Beck transfers to Miami, Hurricanes Impact(1:18:47-1:23:16) Conclusion: Tom Allen to Clemson The national title game is set, and it’s time for Andy and Ari to break down the matchup and make a pick. Can Notre Dame slow down Ohio State’s offense? Will the Fighting Irish be healthy enough on the offensive line? Can Ohio State find its scoring groove again? Will Jack Sawyer continue his epic run through the College Football Playoff? Plus, Carson Beck has decided to transfer to Miami. Are the Hurricanes a CFP contender again? Will Beck be better or worse than his last season at Georgia? Should an experienced college quarterback who isn’t a lock to be a first-round pick ever go pro if he has eligibility remaining?  Watch us on YouTube instead! https://youtube.com/live/0eDCNp2JGyQ Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

You've had Wendy's Nugs dipped in sauce, but have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy's new saucy Nugs take the crispy and spicy Nugs you love and turn them up to 11. Choose sweet flavors like buffalo, honey barbecue, garlic parm, of course the hot variations of all of those three. Or if you're a real heat seeker,

try the spicy ghost pepper only on Wendy's signature spicy Nugs. I dare you, that's seven delicious ways to try the Nugs you already love. Pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins and prepare to nug like you have never nugged before. We're a hole in the way to nug. It's got to be Wendy's at participating U.S. Wendy's. And we are in the Ariane. We presented by Wendy's. It is a Monday. We are one week away from the national title game and Ari's flashing. He's throwing up the you because it's all about the you because they got Carson Beck.

That hit on Friday. Then there was a cotton ball. Our national title game was set. Notre Dame versus Ohio State. How are you doing? I'm doing good. How are you? I am I am trying to figure out.

I was thinking about this this morning. The casual fan, the fan who has no rooting interest in this game. Who are they behind here? Yeah, I saw Notre Dame because the underdog back. I saw on social media a map of America that said people who, who America is rooting for in the national championship game and the entire map was blue except the state of Ohio. And I'm like, are we, is that where we're at?

Notre Dame is is pretty universally hated except by Notre Dame fans, which is why I'm struggling with this because I feel like Ohio State's sort of in the same boat. Yeah, well, it would be interesting, like, if you put the pantheon of just. Teams that are hated universally by everybody. This might be one, too, right? I would say so. I think Alabama was up there.

I think George is up there right now. But the same. These two reason, I think. Yeah, Michigan's up there right now. But these two. I was gonna say, and Emma's up there for some reason, I think. Yeah. Michigan's up there too. I don't think Michigan garnered, but well, it was interesting because I feel like a lot of people

have taken a lot of glee in Michigan's domination of Ohio State over the last years. And that's probably because we're so used to Ohio State beating them for so long. So it, seeing that rivalry get flipped, probably people got some joy out of that, but I'm guessing it probably flips back the other way. Now that Michigan has won four in a row,

but yeah, it's, it's weird. I think they'd be one too. I think Notre Dame would be one. I have a take on this. Are you ready? I'm ready. So obviously the Notre Dame thing with the NBC and the religion and all the stuff that people hate stands on its own merits, but when you're looking at

America and just being a fan of college football, the majority of America who has a team does not root for a team that is built like Ohio State. Right? Like you have three or four teams maybe in America and maybe it'll become fewer as we continue to progress in this new era of college. I mean, Notre Dame is kind of built like Ohio State. Like they've dealt with all these season ending injuries

because they're built pretty deep. I think not like a game has built here is more Applicable to 80% of the sport than what Ohio State built like I think if you are a fan of Any other team that isn't recruiting top three classes every year and has a $20 million roster like this is your like much the same as Michigan was last year. Michigan was a great team last year with a bunch of draft picks, but the way that Michigan built its roster was something that someone else could duplicate, right? Like, I don't know if what Ohio state does every year is a. Replicable product for most of the sport. So like, if you take away the things that make you hate Notre Dame, like, I think I, if I were a fan of just a mill of the road team that is trying to build

something, if I were a team or a person that was hoping like I mean, I think like Notre Dame has much more in common with Penn State than it does with Ohio State in terms of the way that they were built in Penn State was a team that was, you know, five minutes away of game time from playing in this game to right there. State has a bunch of draft picks and yeah, just that's true. I think every single team that has been knocking on the door of relevancy, not knocking on the door of winning the national has been knocking on the door of relevancy,

not knocking on the door of winning the national championship, but knocking on the door of the 14 field, knocking on the door of doing, you know, what what, you know, these teams like Ohio State and Alabama and Georgia have done every year routinely for the past 15 years. You know, like, listen, I saw the comments that you were just flashing up there. OK, Andy. And we kind of played this game a little bit with Texas too, but Notre Dame's roster costs about $19 million. Like are you going to look me in the eyes right now on this podcast and tell me that you think Notre Dame has as many

good players as Ohio State? No, well they might eventually, but what Ohio State has is old good players. Yeah, this is the. Jeremiah Smith is a freak and is a freshman. Yes. But what makes Ohio State so good is that half of their defense could be starting in the NFL now. They chose to come back. And this is the same with with the Michigan offensive line. And a lot of the Michigan defense last year, like they could have been starting in the NFL, but they were chasing a

national title. That's what makes them so good. And it's what makes them so tough in this environment and these types of games and Andy Sawyer, Jack Sawyer is a prime example of this. Like, that's a guy who would be starting for whatever NFL team he was on. He would have been like a third round draft pick or a second round draft pick. And he's playing for Ohio State right now. Yeah, and I think that the Ohio State is last year's Michigan thing is really

interesting because Michigan had a ton of draft picks last year. But all the players on Ohio State's team that play that aren't players who should have left for the NFL or could have left for the NFL last year are also like former top 100 players that got a year better. Like it's like there isn't like outside of the offensive line. And even that's been playing pretty well considering the circumstance, like where is the personnel weakness on this team? And maybe there isn't one so much. We're gonna get to that

because there's a former Notre Dame quarterback who says there's a pretty glaring weakness at QB. I don't know, I know that Notre Dame is here in the national championship game and anybody who's listened to the show knows that I know that Notre Dame's good. I've been on Notre Dame from the beginning of the year. But if I were a Penn State fan or a Wisconsin fan or you

know any program like that that's always usually really good but not great, I think I identify more in Notre Dame and what they built than I do with Ohio State. Is that like an unfair thing to say? I don't think it's unfair and I think I think we naturally gravitate to the underdog when we don't have a rooting interest. And Notre Dame, even the line is actually dropped. Yeah, started out as Ohio State by nine and a half. It's now Notre Dame by or Ohio State by eight and a half, but it's still more than a touchdown. And so I think yeah, most of the country is going to

go I would like the underdog to win, which is going to be weird for the people who pop in the chat. Every time we talk about Notre Dame and say Notre Dame doesn't matter. Notre Dame's irrelevant. Don't you know they lost a lack of those people lately? Have you noticed I've really been seeing them around lately. Somebody did it the other night. Like we were doing the cotton bowl post game show and somebody threw Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois into the chat. And I wasn't sure if they did it ironically or not.

So I didn't want to go for it. Yeah, it is unbelievable that we got here. But I do think too that like stylistically, this will be a big 10 game, right? And it feels a lot to me like it did when we were going into the Penn State, Ohio State game. And Penn State was within a possession of that game late. So like, if that's the way you wanna talk about it,

then I'm like down for that. Because like, I personally will say that I thought that Ohio State was going to beat the crap out of Texas okay um but Texas I thought gave a path to beat them that Notre Dame could follow like I am more wary of Notre Dame than I was of Texas last week is that crazy it's not crazy and and here's the thing the Notre Dame than I was of Texas last week. Is that crazy? It's not crazy. And here's the thing that Notre Dame having a good offensive line and we'll talk about the offensive line here in a minute when we're when we're fueling your

morning with fuel but Notre Dame having a good offensive line takes care a lot of other things now their defensive line without Riley Mills. I worry a little bit and they're also, they're a little small, but actually against Ohio State, I'm not as worried about the size of their D line as I was when they played Georgia. Like I was much more worried about Georgia just leaning on them and, you know, Ohio State is big, but they are not massive like Georgia, so that's less of a concern.

We know that Notre Dame secondary is very good. They are going to be challenged. Obviously the Texas secondary was very good and it I think I thought the Texas secondary played really well the other night. They did. Yeah, I mean, listen, if you I've been thinking a lot about like the Ohio State Texas game and it's like on one hand it felt like Ohio State was the better team that was in

control the entire time and then on the other hand, Texas ran a toss play from the one or two yard line with the game. We were talking about the Texas secondary that doesn't have anything to do with the toss play. No, no, no, I know. But I'm saying the reason why Texas was in the position, even though it felt like Ohio State was in control, is because Jeremiah Smith didn't get free.

And I thought that Ohio State's first drive was going to be a pretty important marker on how that game would play out. Because as they were bracketing and covering Jeremiah Smith, what did they do? They threw it to a Mecheg Buka. They threw it to car nail Tate. They took, um, you know, tough passes over the middle, um, that. We're open as a result of the concentration on Jeremiah Smith.

And then for the rest of the game, Texas shut that down. Like that wasn't there. Um, so yeah, no, I'm with you on the secondary and. If you can take away that aspect of Ohio State's game and put them into a position where they start to revert back to more conservative play calls and you know, aren't as aggressive throwing downfield, which which Texas put them in the position to do, then you can be in the game in the fourth quarter. Like I think Texas is a more talented team than Notre Dame, but I think Notre

Dame is a better all around football team. And maybe better coach. And that's the thing that I wanted to ask you about because I was actually at my buddy's birthday, daughter's birthday party yesterday. Then he was asking me about the game. We were talking about it and I said, well, I just, I think Ohio state has more good players. And he goes, well, I just, I think Ohio State has more good players. And he goes, well, I thought that you kind of, you know, walked that back this year. I've been listening to your show all year and it's like you, you haven't really necessarily been all stars matter as you've been in the past.

And I want to make this clear, Andy. My mind hasn't changed about the impact of good players and stars mattering. What has changed is the the difference in how the rosters are made up, but like in the event that Ohio State is playing optimum peak football with these players like I still am going to lean towards that. That's who I am. Well, it's this Ohio State team has the stars, but also they've been developed in the way that they should be. Like that's what we were talking about is the shift from what raw talent you bring in versus what is your output. Ohio State's output in the draft this

season is going to be incredible. They've done everything you're supposed to do here. The thing is Notre Dame is much closer to Ohio State than it ever has been and everybody else, which is why they're in this game and they beat Georgia pretty handily and stuff. But the thing that you know, I keep coming back to when I'm when I'm thinking about this game is that like Notre Dame's offense was basically non existent for more than a half of football against Penn State as it was beaten up physically. And I don't know if that was just a need to get into the game type thing

because in the second half they were much better or if that was an indication of like what you can do to them. And they lost their quarterback, their left tackle, their right guard, their quarterback came back but the other two guys didn't like. And they, they did manage to have a cohesive offense and a coherent offense in the second half. So I was pretty, and that's what brings me to the converse point. So like I was telling, talking to you about this birthday party, right? And I was going to lean towards the talent, but the thing that I think Notre Dame may have, and I guess you could say a little bit about Ohio

state in terms of the way that they've been galvanized the last few weeks, but Notre Dame seems to have the magic, doesn't it? Like it seems to have the we can overcome anything. Our coach believes in us. The way that Marcus Freeman was so confident during those in-game interviews, I cannot get over that. Like I was like, God, they're going to win just by listening to this guy. Like he is like, it's like this isn't the biggest moment of his career. It's like he's been here 100 times before. And I think that there's like this underlying

belief within that locker room and the people around it that like Notre Dame, even if we break this down to where blue in the face is going to find a way. Like, do you buy into that at all? Not really, not in this game, not with these teams, because I think Ohio State has its own team of destiny vibes. Yeah. And like, I really loved what Ryan Day and some of the players said after the game, like, and you can say it's sort of disingenuous, because obviously, they want to win the national

title. But more than anything, they want to keep this team together as long as they can. And I talked to Mecca Boca about that after the game, and he was talking about how he gets in the huddle before the game in the Cotton Bowl. And he says, this is not going to be my last Ohio State game. January 20th is going to be my last Ohio State game. And it's those guys really do want to get to just play together for a little bit longer because they're not going to ever get to play together again as this team after January 20th. So I think both of these teams have that sort of magical vibe, which is what got him here, which is what got him through the grind of having to win three games to get here against the best teams in the country.

Well, Andy, now that the motivation of playing together for another week is gone, does that mean you're picking Notre Dame? Because they're done no matter what. I didn't say that. Ohio State still has better players, we will pick the game here a little bit. But first, we're gonna fuel your morning with Huell busy mornings, late nights working through lunch life does not always leave room

for a balanced complete meal. That is where he will come in. This podcast is sponsored by Huell. This is the Huell. Busy mornings, late nights, working through lunch life, does not always leave room for a balanced complete meal. That is where Huell comes in. This podcast is sponsored by Huell. This is the Huell Black Edition right here. 35 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, 27 vitamins and minerals in this bottle right here. If I need breakfast and I don't have time to cook anything, this is perfect for me. My wife grabs them on her way out the door for lunches at work. They are spectacular. No more skip meals or unfulfilling snacks. He'll makes it easy with nutrition that fits into your life. And right now you can try it for 15% off with the code staples 15 at fuel.com

that's huel.com staples 15 is your code for 15% off. Fuel up the easy way with fuel today and we're going to fuel your morning with Huell two minutes to get you up to speed on everything you need to know in the world of college football. So start that clock River Bailey. You know that Ohio State and Notre Dame

are playing the national title game. Did you also know that the Chicago Bears would like to talk to Marcus Freeman according to the NFL Networks Tom Pellicero? Oh Boy, oh boy. They also would like to talk to Matt Campbell from Iowa State. They are casting a very wide net That's what they said So don't be shocked if a couple of other college coaches enter this Marcus Freeman talked about the game that he's got to play next Monday

Mentioned some offensive linemen earlier who were injured. Anthony Knapp, the starting left tackle, is going to miss the national championship game with a high ankle sprain. Rocco Spindler, the right guard, is going to be able to play. Charles Jagasaw did a great job filling in for him. The question is, Charles Jagasaw was supposed

to be the starting left tackle this year. Is it possible they move him back to left tackle or do they have Tosh Baker play left tackle there? We will find out. Kyron Lacey, the former LSU receiver has been released from jail after posting bail on charges stemming from a hit and run car accident in December. That news broke Friday that he was wanted on charges from this accident. He posted a $151,000 bond according to the WAFB and now he's out. Let's see what else we got. Oh, Carson Beck transferred to Miami. We're gonna talk a lot about that later in the show. There's a TikTok video. Of course there's a TikTok video. But yes, Carson Beck, late of Georgia, now of Miami. In other quarterback news,

Quinn Uers told ESPN's Pete Thamel he thinks he's going to go to the NFL. He's pretty sure. Pretty sure he's going to the NFL. Pretty sure he's not coming back. Doesn't sound entirely definitive. Carson Beck was going to the NFL till he was not. One more. There's gonna be an Orgy in Las Vegas this year. That's right. Former mission quarterback Alex Orgy. Go to play for Dan Mullin at UNLV. And if you remember Dan Mullin's Mississippi Tate tenure, get some Chris Relf vibes off of this. Haven't thought about Chris Ralph in a while. Getting Chris Ralph vibes. You know I had to go there Ari. That was really good. That was like the Chris

Berman fastest two minutes in the world. Like I like are we caught up? We'll see you tomorrow guys. Like I don't know what else to talk about. I think we're caught up. Now we have to we do have to chew on some of these things. Can we chew on Marcus Freeman and the Bears for a second? Yeah. So the Bears are just hiring every or interviewing everybody, right? Everybody like I don't know if you got in your have the McCaskys called you and asked if you want to come talk because I mean,

I'm going like I'm doing a zoom interview on Wednesday and they're going to fly me up Friday and then I'll come do the national title game. So like to me, it's interview on Wednesday and they're going to fly me up Friday and then I'll come do the national title game. So like to me it's like less impactful when they're interviewing 300 people than it would be otherwise. And I don't know if Marcus would even want to do something like that. But like, okay, they want to talk to him. Like am I am I underselling the importance of this?

I don't think so. I think he's one that if he continues to be successful at the college level, that the NFL will come calling, come knocking. And I wrote a column last week, like I believe it was Wednesday of last week that's on on three right now about Matt Campbell, because it came out that Matt Campbell was going to potentially interview with them. That was the Chicago Tribune reported that. And I found it potentially interview with them. That was the Chicago Tribune reported that. And I found it very interesting that it broke out of the Chicago Tribune, because it's an outlet that obviously they cover the Bears very closely. They're not super tied in. And the reporter who broke it is an NFL reporter, covers the Bears, like not

super tied in with the college coaching agent industrial complex, which is where when we report a coach interview, that's usually where we're getting it from and when they don't tell us about it, it's because they're trying to keep it a secret so that nobody finds out. And I don't know that the Campbell thing was supposed to get out, but I actually think Matt Campbell, if you're an NFL team looking at college coaches,

like that's the kind of coach you would want to hire because Matt Campbell is at a talent deficit almost every game he plays. And yet he still wins most of his games. Like, that is more like what you have to do in the NFL. These guys that accumulate all this great talent, that skill is effectively useless in the NFL. Right and yeah, we talked about that on the phone. It is like kind of funny to me

that has always been like yeah. Well, Urban Meyer is the Jaguars coach. It's like did anybody pay attention to like anything Urban Meyer did in college and what what does that make? How does that make him qualified to be an NFL head coach like I feel like yeah like it's actually the opposite. It's like, oh, you had all the you know, one time when I was on the Ohio State beat Lane Kiffin was at FAU and they were coming in to Ohio Stadium and I don't know if you remember

this quote Andy, but Lane Kiffin said like on Tuesday going into the game. He goes, yeah, we're going to play in a game this week where we're at recess and the other team got to pick the first 30 picks before we could pick our first player and it's like, OK, yeah, that's I don't know why you would say that about your own team, but it's true and it's not wrong, but it's like also to how many coaches in college football in

general and I'm not saying that Urban Meyer wasn't a good coach at Ohio State, but I'm saying is if you gave being a head coach in college football is about getting those draft picks and getting those those recess picks. Yeah, but with the roster. Even if you actually go back and like look at Urban Myers record against teams of equal talent during his Ohio State stretch. he's probably somewhere around 500. It's not like he was, right. It's not, you know, and it's like the reason why I'm using this as an example is that anybody, like even Kirby Smart, like Kirby Smart is the greatest coach in the sport right now. And accumulating talent has been his magic sauce.

But if you actually go back in time and like, look at Georgia's record against teams where the spread is three or less, it's probably somewhere around 500. It's very bad against Alabama in particular, like all these teams, all these coaches that accumulate talent, the best have the greatest records in the most championships. But like when it comes to like equal talent games,

which is what every NFL game is, except maybe two on a, on a great team schedule. They're not like they're, it's not like they're Vince Lombardi. Like, I think being a great college coach is about creating a talent advantage, not about being the greatest X's and O's motivated that may change. That may be changing. I was thinking about this as I was writing

that mark the column about Matt Campbell. It may be that that suddenly becomes because look, let's be real here. Nick Saban was also a great X's and O's coach. You great strategist. Kirby Smart is an excellent strategist. Nick Saban was also a great X's and O's coach, you great strategist, Kirby smart is an excellent strategist. Ernie Meyer was a great cat at Andy. I don't want anybody. No, no, no, I know. I know what you're saying. But I'm saying as the sport changes, and

you have to win more of these games, where you have a closer talent pool, we may be able to find like suddenly the really good college coaches may be the ones who aren't just the accumulators. It may be more of both. Well, that's what we anticipate for college football in general, right? Like that's yes. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. The whole sport because I mean, before I was thinking about this to this morning, actually actually, you know these teams that would go undefeated

they go undefeated because they only play two hard games the whole season and They'd win those and they play one hard game and that'd be the end of it like I Think in the big ten in the SEC from now on You're playing like depending on your schedule obviously, but you're playing like six or seven hard games a year yeah yeah there are a lot he's here to lose and it's like that's the the point of the Matt Campbell thing it's like every game's hard for Matt Campbell because Iowa State doesn't have the talent the most of the teams are playing and he wins anyway which is why I think he's one of the best coaches in the country. The NFL has done such a bad job of hiring college coaches. Maybe we think that it's so hard for a

college coach to go be prosperous in the NFL because they're hiring the wrong people. Like they're hiring the big flashy big time. Like who's the only like the only coach I can think of that went from college to the NFL and was successful was Pete Carroll. Jimmy Johnson. Yeah, but how old was I when that happened? Like four? You were pretty young. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's it's very now and Pete Carroll had been an NFL head coach twice before the Seahawks. So Jim Harbaugh, but that's NFL head. I mean, he was good college coach. Yeah, I think Jim Harbaugh, but that's. NFL had, I mean he was good college coach.

Yeah, I think Jim Harbaugh going from Stanford to the 49ers, but also Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh is completely different from Urban Meyer and Kirby Smart like right or Bob. Evaluated his frickin ass off and they built it actually. I think the Jim Harbaugh coach is probably the

the one who will succeed the most in the new era of college football. Yeah, now the thing that's going to have to change in the new era of college football and maybe this is something that's going to have to re rewired in most programs brains is. Like it occurred to me when we were doing our way way way way too early top 25 Andy. Where we like all where do you put Ohio State or where do you put George is like I will put him four and six and whatever it's because we've been programs programmed over the years to know that well doesn't matter that. Ohio State's losing 85% of its production this year their Ohio State they going to be good like I don't know if we're around

the corner from that not being the case. I think Georgia was a great example of that this year. Yeah, even though they made the playoff and they played a hard schedule and they won the SEC. They were they had holes like they had the glaring hole in their roster. We'll talk about this when we talk about Carson Beck because they had no explosive downfield threats. None. Yeah. And if you

can't keep the depth on your team anymore, then it's really hard to replace your roster when the majority of it leaves. And I think Michigan found that out this year, right? Michigan had one of the best, deepest teams in college football last year. They won the national title and they come back and then they can't, they can't, they don't have a functional offense. Um, and I wonder if like next year Ohio state is eight and four. Like, is that possible? Like it hasn't happened at all, you know, in the last 25 years, but like, are we around the corner from that? Yeah, it's, it's very hard to imagine. And you look at the roster and you say,

oh, that's good. But the, we think Ohio state's going to go with a homegrown quarterback, such as Julian Sayen actually signed with Alabama first and then went to Ohio State. We think that's what they're going to do, but we don't know. Actually, let's talk Ohio State quarterbacks right now because the Will Howard of it all is very interesting. You had a former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire who works at CBS now and Malik started at Notre Dame got hurt Ended up losing a starting job at the Sean Kaiser transferred to Florida He had this to say about Ohio State and

Will Howard all the great QB's Ohio State has had the last 15 years and Howard is definitely the worst one by far and Ohio State fans are trying to convince me that he's going to lead them to the chip. LMAO okay I'd even take the OG Jaylen Marshall at QB before Howard. Now I think I believe Malik's an Ohio guy so he came up with that era like the Jalen Marshalls and the Braxton Miller. I think he was in the same class. Yeah. So I think this is giving your dude a shout out more than anything else. But the Will Howard is the worst Ohio State QB by far.

I disagree. Like, well, who is it then? Is none of well, let's start with none of them have been bad. Okay. Can we start there? Yeah. Well, that's the thing that's crazy is like, Oh yeah. You mean like the last four that were all first round draft picks.

Okay. Like, I mean, yeah, he is the worst of those, but like, what do you see Barrett? I mean, who would you take? Will Howard right now or JT Barrett? His last year at Ohio State. If you if you had to win this game and I gave you the choice between

Will Howard this year or JT Barrett, his or his best year at Ohio State, whichever one that was. Who would you take? And you know Ohio State fans hate me. What are you doing to me right now, man? OK, well let me do it then. Let me be that guy. You would take Will Howard. JT was really good in 2014. He was.

You would take Will Howard. He had a little bit of a regression in his career. He forgot how to throw a pass for a while there in the second half. But like JT. Like was the guy there like people you would take Will Howard now would you take Will Howard over Duane Haskins over Justin Fields? No, no, no you would not. But yeah, if you want my bonus Ohio State hot take. When it comes to the quarterback

position, I think Braxton Miller was the best quarterback out of all of them for college. I don't have a problem with that. You you know my love for Braxton Miller. I watched Braxton Miller put that team on his back in 2012 and 2013, and I've actually talked to Urban Meyer about this and he's very upfront. Tom Herman talks about this too, like. Braxton Miller. For as appreciated as he is, might

still be underappreciated for the job that he did those couple years injury prone, which didn't help, but if he would have been like injury, he was getting battered. There were there were yeah, he got hit a lot, but he. At peak performance, he was the best college quarterback that like I ever covered. Um, but I also know that he was probably number six on the list of like NFL. And like, this is the thing too, Andy, that I see a lot like Jason Z here in the chat says Ohio state besides CJ produces zero quarterbacks in the NFL.

It's like, I mean, that's true, but the NFL is good in the NFL is hard. Being really, it's like really hard to be a great NFL starter. Like it's like, even if you're really good in college, I mean, I think the draft picks is the more important thing. Yeah. If you go look at who's good in the NFL, it's like a complete, like, I guess Alabama has two, right?

Tua and Jalen Hurts. Am I forgetting somebody? Yeah, well, and like in Raleigh and Oklahoma, get a little tiny bit of credit, get some credit for Jalen Hurts. Cause I forgetting somebody? Yeah, well, and like in Rileigh and Oklahoma, get a little tiny bit of credit, get some credit for Jalen Hurts. Or you could just say Oklahoma's better than one year in Oklahoma. Nick Mayfield and Caleb Williams,

I mean, like, I don't know. But like, there aren't a lot of programs that have nine starting quarterbacks in the NFL right now. Let's look at the good, quote unquote, good quarterbacks in the NFL. Okay, Josh Allen's from Wyoming. Patrick Mahomes is from Texas tech. Lamar Jackson's from Louisville. Like it's, it's fairly random. Yeah. No, you can keep going too. There's a, I mean, Aaron Rodgers

went to Cal. I mean like it's, the Lincoln Riley tree is, is the closest thing because you've got Baker Mayfield, you've got Kyler Murray and you've got Jalen. I think Jalen hurts Lincoln Riley. She gets some credit there. Yeah. I mean, what about you got Sam Dardle? Sam Darnold. That's right. Clay Helton. Yeah. It's also too. It's like, I know that Justin Fields is probably like done in terms of like ever being a pro bowl or a quarterback, but like, it's still pretty relatively early in his career and you might be able to, you know, have a Sam Darnold Renaissance.

Yeah. I mean, Dwayne Haskins passed away three years into his, you know, career. Like, it's not like, I don't know, like, I just feel like there are 32 quarterback, starting quarterback jobs in the NFL and the entire world, and like 20 of them are filled by people who aren't that good. So like I just like that thought of like, oh well, Ohio State's quarterbacks always think in the NFL. So because everybody's quarterbacks always think of the NFL.

Yeah, exactly. David Penny, Cal is clearly QBU with Rogers in golf. Yeah, I mean, you're not. You could make the case that they have the two. You could make the case that Cal, I mean, I don't know, not right now. Rogers had a run right here and he's pretty done. But, you know, for a while there, you know, Cal had

two really productive starters, and it's really hard. And it was pure too, because they both went there and played their college careers there. And then went to the NFL, there was no transferring and all that. So yeah, like, but if you go back and look like with with the Will Howard JT thing, I think that's really interesting because JT was a battering ram. Like I think JT Barrett, you can make the case is the closest thing that we've seen in college football for a year period like

what Tim Tebow did. I think it would have been great in the in in urban Myers offense to though, like they could have used actually built urban Myers offense. He's six foot four. I mean, he's big. I'm actually surprised at how how little they've actually used him in the running. Use him once. There you are. You your whole thing has fallen apart. So,

ghosts? No, what happens is, is I have a window up here. And when the sun comes up from that angle, it goes right into the camera. So I put books up there. And the book just fell. And it was a nice book. And I'm sorry about that.

Have you read it? Do you want to know what it is? Yeah. You're going to hate me. This is good pot right here. Coffee table book. I'm gonna go ahead and do it. This is good pot right here. Coffee table book. So it's a book of watches. Yeah.

Beautiful. But now it's ruined because it fell from up there and like landed on the corner and the resale value is just done. I mean, those coffee table books, I don't know how your wife goes about it, but mine's really into the coffee table books and coffee table books are expensive as hell, dude. You gotta get those used, baby. Nobody ever reads them. Next time you're in Dallas, I'll show you. So the used ones are great. I know, it's not about reading them,

it's about looking, it's like the way they're matted. Yeah. All right. Will Howard and noted against her. Now, Will Howard made one really great play in the cotton bowl. They could have been even greater, but they had fourth and one quarterback sneak.

Turf Monster got him. He should have scored on that play. But we talk about the truck, the trailer, how Will Howard does not need to be a truck with this team because there's so much talent around him. I guess the question Ari is can Will Howard lead Ohio State to a national title and he's only got to win one game to do that. Is Will Howard good enough? To lead them past Notre Dame, you want to play a game I'd like to play. I'd like to play a game.

How many of the quarterbacks that were participants in this year's college football playoff would be able to lead this Ohio State team to a national championship. Oh, I like this. I like this. Okay, we've got the the thing. Quinn yours. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Nico Iamaljava. Yes. Yes. Uh Dylan Gabriel. Yes. Yes. Uh Drew Aller. Yes. Yes. Governor Stockton. Yes. Uh Kevin I'm not going to be like, Drew Aller. Yes. Yes. Under Stockton. Yes. Kevin

Jennings. Yes. Yes. I don't know if you're going to say yes for Gunner Stockton. I'm saying yes for Gunner Stockton. He could. I'm not going to be like yes. Riley Leonard. Yes. Yes. Right. I think Riley Leonard. Yes. Yeah, Sam Levin. Maddox Madsen is the only one left. Kevin Jennings. I said Kevin. I said yes for Kevin Jennings. You did? Yeah. Kevin Jennings had a really bad showing. In the playoff, but he

was good other times. What do you feel about Ohio State's team? The burden of it being about you goes away. So like, it's like, so Will Howard is a very good player. But like when you start putting him into the pantheon of Ohio State greats, like it's okay to say he's not as good as them. I don't think that they were trying to go get CJ Stroud in the portal. They're trying to get somebody who is mobile, who could extend plays, who was big, who could put a shoulder down on big fourth and ones and who could distribute the football. And I think that what he does is perfect for the pieces that they have around him. But I'm not going to sit here and act like he's a truck.

Did he's a truck? I don't know if he's a truck or not. You don't have to be though. Curtis work. Yes, by the way, just to complete the set. Yeah, I mean, also to like we're like Drew Aller. It's like Drew Aller was a four minute. Yeah, do our do our be fine with this team. Drew Aller be probably having a lot more fun with receivers who get separation. Yeah. So yes. Yes to answer that question now Let's talk about price picks for a second because will Howard plays into that as well Best daily fantasy game in America play $5 get $50 instantly when you use the code staples when you sign up

For the national title game will Howard if he throws for.5 pass yards, if more than.5 passing yards, you win that square. That's right. It's essentially a free square for Will Howard. So you can criticize Will Howard all you want, but if you're playing prize picks, Will Howard's gonna win you a square. And remember, you take at least two squares. The more squares you pick, the higher the potential payout. So Will Howard can get you halfway to a win right now. So thank Will Howard, be grateful to Will Howard.

Download price picks, use the code staples, play $5, get $50 instantly, again, free Will Howard square, or almost free, he's got to throw for a yard, which I think he will. In the national title game. But that's that is the question there and I think it's a good question. Like okay, let's let's kind of flip it on its head. If Will Howard is Notre Dame's quarterback instead of Riley Leonard. Is Notre Dame here? No.

No, right? We're not. We're not. No, do we think? No, I wonder like will our doing what Riley Leonard did it in this in the Notre Dame offense like I can see well how are doing that? Yeah, I mean like Will Howard at Kansas State translated into the Notre Dame offense might have been pretty what how are doing that? Yeah, I mean like Will Howard at Kansas State translated into the Notre Dame offense might have been pretty good, but Will

Howard's been a different player at Ohio State than he was at Kansas State wasn't has any. But he's the same human being like, yeah. So maybe if you do the things Riley Leonard does, I think he could do a lot of them. Riley Leonard has been very impressive to me. And I don't want to I don't want to undersell that. Um, by saying that someone else could do it. I think that Notre Dame has a better quarterback in this game. Okay well that is good because now we have to pick the game Ari.

Yeah now we have to pick the game. Notre Dame is an eight and a2 point underdog in this game. We have watched both of these teams traverse their way to college through the college football playoff. We did see someone play with Ohio State. Yes, the Texas score was a 14 point margin at the end, but it was a very close game. Texas was a foot and a half away from from tying it up. What do we think is going to happen here? I think Ohio State is going to win by a million.

Like Georgia TCU? I think it's going to be 38 to 17 or something. Wow! Yeah. I'm hoping that's not the case It's been a fun tournament. Like I want it to end with a classic, but I do realize that's possible. I Understand that's possible. I Think it's a it's gonna be a test of Notre Dame's talent Like we've said all along that Marcus Freeman has made Notre Dame more talented than Brian Kelly ever did We're gonna find out just how talented. Yeah, I just lost respect from some people because I'm being lazy. You're being lazy by picking by picking a result that is entirely possible.

I don't know. Like I've been so high on Notre Dame all year and like I thought I earned some equity with these people. No, nobody ever remembers the nice things you say. I just want to be honest about how I feel. And like listen it's like lazy as hell to call a blowout in this game. The spread is two scores pal. Like it's not calling you the person calling you lazy also calls themselves a motivational business banker. So okay, that's right. I don't think you really need to take that too serious. I want to I want to take his

Jordan Belfort instructor instructional how to make how to get rich classes. I don't know. I I. I don't know how Notre Dame is going to score a lot. I don't know how Notre Dame is going to score a lot either, but is it possible that Ohio State doesn't score a lot? Is that is that? Is there a world where there's where Ohio State? Scores between 17 and 24? Yeah, of course. I, that's the thing. I think it may be hard to score that many on Notre Dame, but I would have said the

same thing about Oregon and they did that. What's today? Monday. We're going to do tin foil hat Monday. Okay. Go for it. We're going to do tin foil hat Monday. OK, go for it. You know on the second drive of the game of the Ohio State Texas game?

When Will Howard through that pass to Jeremiah Smith at the goal line was just like two inches too tall and like Jeremiah went up and got it. And yeah, the one where they saw that Smith was matched up on a safety. Everybody's eyes lit up and it was like, OK, we're going deep. Let's go. You would have caught that and Ohio State would have gone up 14-0. I think that game would have been different. Here's more tin foil hat.

I think if Ohio State wouldn't have shot itself at the foot on eight different drives, including the third drive when they were in Texas territory where Trey Henderson smacked somebody in the face and got a 15 yard penalty and they ended up punting instead of going up 10 or 14 nothing, that would have been a very different game. And I'm not trying to take away from what Texas did,

but I think Texas played about as great or perfect of a game as they possibly could. And like Ohio State got the 28. And I know one was a defensive touchdown, but Ohio State had the ball like eight drives in a row and did not score. And like, I just don't know if Ohio State is gonna do that again.

And like I watched Notre Dame's offense for the majority of the game. And like Ohio State's defense is better than Penn State's and they have just better players, dude. Like, I don't know, like maybe I'll be wrong. I know the question is like we saw Jack Sawyer. Abuse cam Williams on that scoop and score play. Like Tosh Baker is is filling in for Anthony Knapp.

And we saw him, you know. Denied Dennis Sutton did the same thing to him on that play where they crushed Angelli. And he fumbled and lucky for Notre Dame, they got it back. Here's Yeah, here's where that's the thing you're worried like it does Jack Sawyer or JT to him allowed do that to the backup left tack. Here's the thing too, like so Texas came into the Ohio State game with I think the number one or the number one

statistically their number one defense in the country. And like I thought to myself, well, when you think about who Texas played this year, they got Florida when DJ Lagway was hurt. They played Michigan. We turned out to find out what that was. They didn't have a tough SEC schedule. The Georgia losses, they played very well, but Georgia's offense, obviously, we found out, is very flawed. That I thought that this would be the first time that they had faced a team that possessed the skill talent that Ohio State did, and that we would find out something that wasn't real in the the stats. And actually Texas turned out to be that those those numbers were real. Like they were actually a very good team and a very good defense. Like when I look at Notre Dame's path to the national championship, part of the reason why I picked that path is because I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt

that Notre Dame's defense was better than the offenses that they were facing, including George's, because I don't know why everybody was so late to identify this, but George's offense sucked this year. Okay. And when I say sucked, I mean, we'll be talking about Carson Beck to Miami very short. We're going to talk about it. But like Notre Dame's path here, have they faced an offense that possesses even one Jeremiah Smith or one Carnail Tate or one Emeka Egbuka or one Trey Henderson or one Quinshaw Judkins or one G Scott like like I just think that they're playing against an animal they have not played this year and maybe I'll be wrong and Notre Dame will show me

that they are in fact, elite, elite, elite. But their path, like when you like look at Ohio State's path to this game and you look at Notre Dame's path to this game and Notre Dame's path wasn't easy by any stretch, but Ohio State's path of Tennessee, Oregon, Texas is by far the hardest path to this game. And Ohio State- The hardest path anyone could have path to this game. And Ohio State- The hardest path anyone could have taken to this game.

And like, you know, at the risk of sounding like a Ohio State homer, they played a bad game against Texas. This is the first, it's like, it's one thing to say, Ohio State found itself, it's kicking the crap out of everybody, no one's gonna play with them. Like Ohio State won in spite of playing

poorly and like you might say Texas's defense did that maybe it's so but I thought all the penalties were just was just a poor poor play. They had a ton of offensive penalties and critical scenarios that ended drives and I think you can't discount that if they play a clean football game. They're going to score 30 points. game, they're going to score 30 points. Okay, they're going to. I don't think Notre Dame can score 25.

Their team total, if you believe that, go ahead. Their team total right now, I think, is 17. Go hit it. But you know what? Texas' was 23, and I thought that that was like the giveaway of the century, and it turned out to be the case. They would have lost had they scored at the end and gone to overtime maybe but it didn't lose. Everybody is concerned with Jeremiah Smith and the quarterbacks and all this stuff and it's like the number one thing in this game is Ohio State's defense.

It has been the entire playoff and it will continue to be and as we get blinded by how exciting offenses are like Ohio State's defense is the nastiest unit in the playoff and it will continue to be and as we get blinded by. How exciting offenses are like Ohio State's defense is the nastiest unit in the playoff period in Notre Dame's offense frankly struggled quite a bit for a large portion of the game against a team that is not nearly as good on defense. So you want to know how I got to my it's not a lazy that's how why I think that well the guy who's calling your pick lazy is calling for a 10 point Ohio State win. So guess what? You're both. You're both saying that Buckeyes are going to cover. It's not really that I wasn't paying attention to what he said. Oh, I was. Oh, so like motivational business banker thinks it's a 10 point game. So you're both saying they're going to cover.

How lazy is that? So we here's an unlazy pick. Let me say here yours. Yeah, it's going to win the national championship and Notre Dame is going to cover in this game. Interesting. Some weird shit's going to happen. You know what and like this is the thing too.

And that's why I asked you about like so like my picks are always based on personnel. And I know sometimes sports are deeper than that. And I think that like, from a mental toughness standpoint, Ohio State in the four years prior, and part of the reason why Ryan Day has gotten so much shit as Ohio State's coach is that they haven't shown a consistent ability to get punched in the mouth by another really good team late in the game and still win. Like Ohio State has been in the fourth quarter of games, like Oregon earlier this year, every each of the last four Michigan games, all those things, and every time they get punched in the mouth

in a close game after playing three quarters of the very good opponent they end up losing. And this is the first time, the Texas game is the first time I think in, you know, maybe since Penn State this year, if you want to count that, but in a high leverage moment where Ohio State took punches in the fourth quarter and then ended up winning a game. So like on one hand, I feel like Notre Dame fans are like, oh shit, okay. Yeah. Well, Ohio State Notre Dame is going to deliver punches for sure. They're going to deliver punches. And the Notre Dame look for this to happen, for what I said to happen, for Notre Dame to cover.

And again, I still think Ohio State wins the game. For Notre Dame to cover here. They have got to force some turnovers. They've got to confuse Will Howard, like all of the things that Malik Zaire said about Will Howard, which I don't't think are true have to be true in this game. And then you got a shot that's how Penn State had a shot. Remember Penn State had an early pick six. And that is why that was one possession game as late as it was. And they had a really good defense like during Penn State. late as it was and they had a really good defense. Like Notre Dame and Penn State as you saw the other night are pretty

similar. I suspect this game plays out in a pretty similar fashion. It's funny because the Texas game was probably motivation or like like if you're a Notre Dame fan and you watch the Ohio State Texas game. You might be like, great. Okay, so they're not just beating everybody by a hundred. They can be stopped, all these things, and it makes you probably feel good about Notre Dame's chances, right? Because Ohio State did play in a close competitive game that was like one yard away from maybe going to overtime. But then on the other hand, it's like that was the first time in like five years that Ohio State won a game like that.

And it's like if you want to talk about winning different ways, like at least Ohio State learned about itself that it doesn't have to be up by 24 in the third quarter, Ohio State just came off of a game where it didn't play well, was punched in the mouth, gave up a huge drive, their defense won the game for them at the end. Like it was a very big departure of what, of how things had gone for Ohio State for a long period of the last four years. So that said, 38-17 is my pick. 38 17 is my pick. You're all right. 38 17 for you and I'm going to say Ohio State wins it. 21 17. If Ohio State wins 21 17, they could lose if that's yes,

game it is they could. The Nebraska game. That's the Nebraska game. Yeah, the Nebraska game was like an offensive line that Nebraska stinks compared to Notre Dame. No, I know. But Ohio State, if you go look at the pro or the PFF grades from their offensive line in that game, it was like the worst of any offensive line. I know. I know. It's not duplicatable. But what what Texas did, maybe it is, maybe it is. And like, listen, guys, just because I'm picking Ohio State to win 38 to 17 doesn't mean that's what's going to I mean, I'm wrong all the time. I'm just telling you what my gut feeling is that they're going to win the game comfortably. It's it is not an outlandish prediction. What you made is not an outlandish. My my prediction is more outlandish than yours.

I think yours is more outlandish than yours. I think that yours is more unlikely to happen than mine. We'll see. We'll see because you think if if what happens to cause that score happens that Notre Dame wins, right? I yeah, I think that Notre Dame has probably like to me like I just got done saying that Ohio State won a game differently, but like in a one score game in the fourth quarter, like Notre Dame has illustrated an incredible ability to close this year in ways.

And the reason, the reason I didn't go as far as saying I think Notre Dame wins outright is I still think Ohio State having better players shines through in the end, which is what happened against Penn State this year. That like I always lean towards that. Did I pick SMU to beat Penn State? Did I pick up any which game? Go back in. And if you're like upset about this pick, what game did I ignore personnel in?

There's never been one. My lead, it's my North Star guys. It's still there. Now, it might be harder to choose personnel now than it used to be. And maybe it's a little bit harder now. Notre Dame's much better, but like Notre Dame's also like loop missing.

Like the other thing too is like it's remarkable that Penn State, I mean that Notre Dame against Penn State was able to overcome injuries, but like they're beaten the hell up too. Like they're not even that they are optimum strength. Yeah. I mean, Ohio state like JT to him allow hurt his ankle, but came back into the game. Like he's going to play in this game. He was effective when he came back to. So like Notre Dame is much more banged up than Ohio state right now, but we shall see. That's why they play the

games. Their best pass rushers out now and like their offensive line needs to get maybe reshuffled and granted they are getting back a player who was supposed to be there like next their next Joe Walt, right? Like so like that could be at Charles Jagges have played. He played right guard the other night and filling in for Rocco Spindler. He's back is huge. And I suspect if you want to put him at left tackle since he was going to be your starting left tackle this year, you could do that. So there's some options there.

But we'll find out. Do you think that Notre Dame is going to be able to score more than 17 points, which is the spread, which is the team total? Why do you think I picked that number in my choice? I picked that number too. We pick the same number, but I'm saying, do you think there's a world where Notre Dame wins 34 to 30? Yeah, there's a there's a 34, but can they get to 24 25? Yeah, but that's a that's a somebody drops the ball and it bounces like Ohio State fumbles and it bounces

up to Notre Dame. Like those happen. You have those moments where who Texas the other night had a couple of fumbles where it bounced back to them and you knew it wasn't gonna always do that and it didn't at the end because when Jack Sawyer hit Quinn Ewers it bounced right to Jack Sawyer like some all those things sort of balance out eventually. So I know we have to talk about one more thing, Andy, but let's put this one up. I thought this was an interesting question. If Notre Dame wins, they will be the most surprising national champ since. Ooh. Was Florida a surprising national champ in 2006 when they killed like them killing Ohio State was a massive surprise to everyone.

Where were they ranked in the preseason that year Andy? You would know that. They were like a top tennis team. Auburn was supposed to be the best team in the SEC and Auburn did beat Florida. That's the only lost Florida took that season. So I'm trying to think of any others. Because it's been pretty easy to telegraph for 15 years. Yeah, even the ones that weren't Alabama over the last few like Florida State. That team was so stacked in 2013. There's no question they were

answered just not last year. Yeah, River asks us Clemson finally beating Alabama. No, cause Clemson almost beat Alabama the national title game the year before that. It's last year, right? It's last year. It's it's Michigan last year, but I I don't think it was a surprise,

but it wasn't a shock by the time they got there and they were like they were good going into the season they they beat in Ohio State a couple of years in a row. At that point, like. I I don't know. It's going to be, you got to go a ways back up. I mean, Tennessee in 1998 was a surprise because they were supposed to be in 99. The team that just dominated everybody. They were a year early and they were, but they

were a good team. Like it wasn't like they weren't a top 10 team going into the season. So funny to me though, is that everybody gets super angry and mad about season rankings and white 2010 Auburn. Yes, I agree. And like having covered a lot of the games throughout that season, like I remember I covered their game at Mississippi State on a Thursday night early in the season and cam had not blossomed into what cam would blossom into later in the season. You knew he was good, but that,

like if you told me that night that this team's going to go undefeated, cause they had, they, I think at that point they'd already lived dangerously. It's Clemson. Uh, they almost lost to South Carolina at home.. Like if you'd asked me that night when they beat Mississippi State in Starkville, will this team go undefeated? I said absolutely no way, would never happen. And they did. Yeah. So 2010 at Auburn.

You would not have won a national championship in the four team era, right? Or the 12 team era? No. As good as Cam was, they didn't have the 14 era right or the 12 team no as good as cam was they didn't they didn't have the talent on the rest of the team like nick farrelly was awesome on defense but the the rest of the team did not they didn't have a lot of nfl players so everybody go watch rudy will repick the game after on tomorrow's show bring tissues. He was off sides. All right. Let us move on.

As Carson Beck has moved on. That was the news on Friday. We probably should have done an emergency show from where we were eating lunch when he committed. Hey, put the thing is we knew we knew he was going to commit to Miami the moment he got to the portal. Like, put your hand up. Oh, here we go. Sorry, sorry. Other hand. Other hand.

Oh. Yeah, there you go. Forgive me, Uncle Luke. Forgive me. All right. Hey, River, play the TikTok video. Play the TikTok video. It's all about the you. It's all about the you.

It's all about the you. It's all about the you. Okay, Carson Beck and his girlfriend, Hannah Cavender, did the you a lot better than you and I did. It's Hannah. It's Hannah, I think, right? I don't know. All right, let me check the stats.

I think the one who averages more points is Carson. The Cavenders are twins, Hannah and Haley. They play basketball for Miami. They're done though, right? They're done, right? No, I think they have this season. They're playing this season and then they're done. Yeah, they're playing this season.

Okay, so I guess him being there for spring means they'll be in college together. Okay, I didn't think about that. But I'm like, they're not going to be back next year. I don't I don't think the person who's a you know, pretty good college basketball player. But professional is Haley, his girlfriend. Oh, now I'm so confused. And he's averaging 17.9 points right now. Oh, who averages more points? It's Haley. Haley Cavender leads Miami in points, rebounds, and assists. 17.9, 7.9, 4.8.

Hannah Cavender plays a lot of minutes, but she's averaging 7.3 points a game. So his girlfriend's Hannah. Hannah. Okay. So Haley's the baller. Hannah is the TikToker. And he is also good at basketball, but not as good as Haley. Yeah, but they're Yeah, yeah, they're both tiktokers. I thought.

Yeah, but Haley, I think more in the gym. Then on the gram. I mean, she leads the team in all three major statistical categories. She's electric. What can I say? So but hey, okay, so Hannah. All right, that makes more sense.

That makes more sense because I'm not sure Haley would have done the TikTok video because she's too busy putting up free throws in the gym. Yeah, more sense, because I'm not sure Haley would have done the TikTok video because she's too busy putting up free throws in the gym. Yeah, I mean, they do a lot of TikToks in the basketball facility of them shooting shots. So maybe you can do some. So Haley's the one who dates the Cowboys tight end. Got it.

Clear, okay. Ferguson. Yes, now I understand. Can I tell you, Andy? I have less than zero interest in any of this. Like, no, I'm not talking about like this. You're interested in Carson Beck the quarterback at Miami. But when it comes to like pop culture, like who's dating who

or who's this and like who's that celebrity? Like I have zero appetite. I saw an ad for a reality show that's going to come out. I was watching an NFL playoff game and I saw an ad for a reality show that's supposed to come out and they had the cast of said reality show and these are all people who I guess have been on other shows who are allegedly famous. I did not know a single person. So and being famous is like much different now. Like we were with Dan Wolkin in the press box and he said it was like famous people Haven at the Mike Tyson fight here in Dallas where all the influencers came and like all these like famous people. It's like, I don't know who any of those people are

like at all. Like I like when I was a kid, the famous people in the world were Michael Jackson, Madonna, like those are the famous people in the world were Michael Jackson, Madonna. Like those are the famous people. When you were a kid, Michael Jordan, in order to be famous in the 80s and early 90s in the golden era of our world, you had to have or possess a talent. Yeah.

Now, if you're really attractive, you can be famous. Like, that's it. Like, that's the the only so what are you waiting for? Look at you. Look at you. I mean, I'm trying. What are you waiting for? I don't have like I think that like looking at pretty girls on the internet is like just what people do. But like I missed the days where you needed like Michael Jackson say what you want about his.

Was one of the most talented human beings that ever walked the face of the earth, right? Yes, agree. Like he's now our producer River says that you covering Sabrina's Carpenter songs on TikTok would be a massive hit. We'll launch you to Superstar. I think Sabrina Carpenter has amazing music. If she walked by me, I wouldn't know what she looks like. Like that's how I am. Like I don't know. Very small. So is my wife. I wouldn't either. I wouldn't either. I love, I love that she's the grammar police in her songs. That one that's like a country song where she makes fun of the guy for not knowing the difference between there, there and there was, I mean, she's the grammar police on her songs that one that's like a country song where she makes fun of the guy for not knowing the difference between there there and there was I mean she won my heart there but you're right.

I don't understand this any of this Carson Beck and it's funny because this is one of the criticisms of Carson Beck that he's been sucked into this world and has made him a worst quarterback. been sucked into this world and has made him a worse quarterback. I don't necessarily agree with that. Here's what made Carson Beck a worst quarterback in 2024. Then 2023. Rock powers has got drafted by the Raiders and lad. McConkey got drafted by the chargers. That's it. That's what happened.

So this is a big deal for Miami, right? Like, okay, so let's call Carson Beck what he is. If you saw the second half of the Pop Tarts Bowl, you know it's a big deal. Like, they needed somebody. But can we just call Carson Beck Lambo Uris? He's a, is he a SUV? The man's not a truck. He's not a Raptor. Okay. So what you're saying is is would you put a trailer hitch on the Lamborghini Urus? And the answer is no. I think that Carson Beck by name and based on where he's coming from is the sexiest trailer that you could get. Now the question that you have to have

and I've got to go back and look I I haven't started my next year prep yet. But like, is George coming back? Like, Restrepo's gone, right? Like, is Damien- No, their top four receivers are gone. They got CJ Daniels from LSU. They're hoping some freshmen are gonna be pretty good. They've got some young guys they like.

I actually, I have a column on three right now of 10 teams that filled their needs the best in the transfer portal. Miami's one of those teams because they got Carson Beck but is it going to turn out like it did with Cam Ward I don't know Carson Beck's gonna have a good offensive line in front of them they're gonna be able to run the ball so is Carson Beck gonna be getting hit a ton I don't think so he's got a chance to have a good season.

But is he as good as Cam Ward? Does he improvise as well as Cam Ward? I don't think he does. Well, if if you thought that Carson Beck got much worse because Lad McConkey and Bronk Bowers are awesome and they left. What is it about this marriage that makes you think he's going to elevate Miami in any way? If you can't elevate Georgia, you're not elevating Miami. Well, Rocky Top Tom with much easier schedule. True. Very true. Easier schedule than Georgia's. It's an upgrade from what they had coming back, So they had to do this, but I don't know if this is the like,

like think about like the year that Miami just had and where they're supposed to be as a program and their trajectory. Like, I don't know if like falling back on Carson Beck who's coming off a major injury going into next year is what's gonna get them over the top. Like Miami was supposed to be building brick by brick into an ACC championship level team.

And it's like, obviously their defense is the number one peak concern in the off season, but like they don't lose. By the way, easier than easier schedule than Georgia in 2020 for not an easier schedule than Miami's in 2024. Like, Miami's got a pretty hard schedule next year. They play Florida. They play Florida Notre Dame. They play Florida. And in the ACC they get Louisville NC State Syracuse SMU. They're at Virginia Tech like.

That's not easy. Don't you dare sit here on this show? And even for a second imply that a team in the ACC could have a harder schedule than the SEC counterpart. You backstabber. I didn't say that. I said this is not an easy schedule. But is it an easier schedule than what he would face at Georgia? Georgia schedule is pretty hard next year Not gonna lie They do have to go to Florida and They have to play Florida State if they can get off the mat. Well, no, no Miami Florida goes Miami this year So they don't have to go there. Thank no, I'm talking about Miami Miami schedule still. Yeah. Yeah, Florida

Florida goes to Miami this year. They play Notre Dame Miami goes to Florida this year No, you were at the swamp when Miami goes to Florida this year. No, you were at. The swamp when Miami went to Florida. You were there. I'm looking at their 24 schedule. Sorry, you're right. You were at the game in Gainesville this year asshole.

So it's not going to be a joke next year. We're going to spend an entire off season talking about how sick Florida's going to be next year. Only to potentially have it come crashing down once the season starts. But Carson Beck will be challenged is what we're saying. And we'll see what Miami does the rest of the way. I'm not convinced that Miami's done in the transfer portal yet. But if you think Carson Beck is going to be as good for Miami as Cam Ward was, I don't know that he's going to be.

I think Cam Ward probably has a little bit broader skill set. Miami had so many good offensive weapons last year, and they're all gone. Xavier Restrepo, I don't think people like that's one of those guys when he's not there you will really truly appreciate how good he was. Where's he gonna get drafted? Is he gonna be like a fourth round pick? Probably not high enough.

No, I think he's been hired. He'll be drafted higher than that because his production is off the charts. If he's like a fourth or fifth round pick. Whoever gets him is going to be so happy. He is such a dog. Yeah, so that's the thing I mean. I do think because of the quality of the line that they're going to put in front of Carson Beck and the fact that they're running game is still be pretty good. It is going to make life fairly.

It'll be easier on Carson Beck than most of the places he could have gone, but I don't think it's gonna be that different than Georgia if they don't have. Really special. NFL dudes. Playing receiver, yeah, because that's that was George's problem like who is George's best receiver this year was it? Was it Dylan Bell? It was Dominic Lovett. I guess it was Dominic Lovett,

but nobody really scared you the way that Lad McConkey or Brock Bauer scared you. There just wasn't anybody like that. And so if Miami doesn't have that, then I think the results will be basically the same. If Miami would have gotten Jeremiah Smith on signing day last year, I my conspiracy theory slash alternate reality is that they would have been playing deep into this tournament. They

would have been playing deep in this tournament. They would have they would have won some game 58 to 47 and then they would have lost 51 to 42. Like they would have made the playoff and they would have probably won the ACC, right? Yes, yeah. Can you imagine Smith and Restrepo on the same team? Smith Restrepo Martinez, George, George Lord? Yeah. That's pretty nasty or 50 points a game in the ACC.

Easily easily so That's a Carson Beck Like you said we're doing the truck and trailer thing a Lamborghini Urus is not a truck We're not even gonna get into why the hell do you get the SUV if you're gonna get a Lamborghini If you're gonna spend the money on a Lamborghini, get a freaking Lamborghini. Don't get the one that looks like a Honda CRV. How about you want to know why people buy that? I think my thought is that because they want to drive a Honda CRV, but they have too much money.

but they have too much money. I think it's because when you drive the Lambo car. That is the loudest possible car that you could true, right? And it's low. I don't mean from a noise standpoint, but I mean like when it's low, like look at me, pull me over. Yeah, yeah, and I think that you can

buy the Urus. And still show everybody who notices how big of a. But if you're going to spend that much money, just buy a frickin Bentley. But they're fast. So some people like the they're fast. Bentley's aren't fast, are they? If you want to drive fast, buy a real Lambo.

There's no good reason for this. I guess the point is that like it's sleek, it's fast, it's not quite as loud when you're driving and it won't cause everybody to look at you. But when people notice, they still know how rich you are. I guess. I guess. I just listen. You're gonna have much money to buy a car to buy a rapidly depreciating asset. So when I remember when I was buying my car last year, I like turn to you for advice.

Like I got very close to buying a Cayenne and like that's just a Porsche SUV, which is kind of the same thing. Little different price point Ari. Very different price point, but still it's like if you're gonna buy a Porsche, why would you buy the SUV? Because the other Porsches are a lot more expensive. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I didn't do the Eurus breakdown. Are they

the same price as the car? They are not quite the same, but if you can afford one, you can afford the other. can afford one you can afford the other. Yeah, if that makes sense. So. But I think that the cayenne is like Jason's got it down family cars of Ford flex great cars surprisingly roomy see. There you go. We do need to run back like our random ranking in the offseason of like five favorite cars because like mine's changed dramatically. I like it. I like it. So what do we think ultimately happens here with Carson Beckett, Miami? Do you think they put enough talent around him for this to be a truly successful marriage? Or do you think many many banger TikTok videos get made. And Miami fans are sitting here basically in the same place next season.

9 and 3. 8 and 4. Unless they go out and get more players, but I don't know. The thing that we need to understand is like the defense was so terrible this year, it's probably just going to be average next year, right? That's the thing. I mean, okay, so they they hired Corey Heatherman

from Minnesota to run the defense, which is a Mario Cristobal likes his Greg Shiano guys and Corey Heatherman is a Greg Shiano guy was at Rutgers before he went to Minnesota did a great job in Minnesota, by the way, great job. If the defense is better, Carson Beck doesn't have to be a magician, but how much like the thing is is defense is better, Carson Beck doesn't have to be a magician. But how much like the thing is, is defense being better makes them average. Makes the defense average. Yeah, you still need a variable.

Very above average. US did this year. It's like great. They're not awful anymore, but they're going to win you a game. Here's the thing is back. Jason asks is back really worth three million? I can't believe it. Everybody this season is going to be making more because there's more money in the system because the revenue share money is coming in. The schools will be able to pay them directly.

So you can say what you want. This is sort of like every time the NBA does a new collective bargaining agreement. You're like, I can't believe a backup point guard makes that much money. I can't either. But that's the scale like yeah so the numbers you're gonna have to divorce yourself from the numbers because it's sort of like There's not a lot of coaches who are actually worth six or seven million dollars a year But there's a bunch that make it now like the scale is the scale. Yeah, whether you think it's worth it is not irrelevant It's what the scale is right like it's like that. But you know, that's what

they call I mean, so we got to readjust our brains on that. I don't really think that like buying a Ford Fusion for $49,000 is worth it, but that's just how much cars cost now. So like, like, that's just what it is. To bring it back. So it all comes back to cars. But yeah, and the thing is I are now if you are a quarterback Older have been productive in college football. You don't leave unless your first round draft pick, right? Is that we've decided this as a society They did say that in fact will make more at Miami this year than he would as a second or third round draft pick, right?

right So why would you which might mean more veteran quarterbacks that are solid to good at places that wouldn't otherwise have them. Which makes everybody better, which makes the quality of our sport better from a game to game basis. Exactly. Now the A's will figure out a way to complain about this when they used to complain the other way because too many people are leaving early for the NFL. But yeah, I do think it ultimately probably raises the level of play of most teams. Yeah, like

Carson Beck could have gone to the NFL and been a fourth or fifth round pick this year and like this disappeared into obscurity or he could go be Miami's quarterback and give us something to talk about like you imagine like I think college football is better because Beck is still in it right? Like you could say that without a question. I think that's fair and and if Quinn Ubers made the same decision which it he says he's not going to make that decision and that's the other thing like there's also a backlash and we're going to talk to Jim Nagy from the senior bowl later this week and I want to ask him this question because you know he's in a backlash and we're gonna talk to Jim Nagy from the Senior Bowl later this week And I want to ask him this question because it you know

He's in a unique position dealing with all these folks to figure this out At what point is it boomerang back around and you do jump into the draft as a quarterback? Because there's nobody else in the draft and they have to pick quarterbacks Yep So it's confusing. It is confusing. Yeah. All right. Ari, it's been a pleasure. We got a national championship game coming up. We'll break this game down eight billion ways, but we've also got the rest of college football hurtling toward the 2025 season already. I'm getting excited about that. I like just

looking at Miami's 2025 schedule. I'm like, oh, oh, Miami Notre Dame. Let's go. I'm sad that it's over but I'm excited for the future. Is that weird? It ain't over yet though. One more game. One more game. One more game. We'll talk about it. Rach here all week. Wait, wait, hold on. Hold on where we go. We have news. Yeah, we got some news.

Tom Allen. Is your new defensive coordinator at Clemson Pete demo reports. So Tom Allen who is Penn State's defense coordinator this year, who was Indiana's head coach before that, he is headed to Clemson. Ari, we already were pretty excited about Clemson

going into the season. This makes me very excited. Yeah, I thought Tom Allen did a really good job. I think it's great and easier to do a great job when you have Abdul Carter and DDS on your team. But like, you know, Penn State's defense was the best part of their team this year, right? Yep.

Clemson's defense was definitely not the best part of its team, but it's not like Clemson's defense is bereft of really good players. They do have really good, like Peter Woods and Sammy Brown are great. So you add Tom Allen to that mix and I think you know, Wes Goodwin, there were a lot of complaints about Wes Goodwin going back a couple of years. Tom Allen. Yes, there were complaints about

him as the head coach in Indiana. There have never been complaints about Tom Allen, the defensive coordinator. Wasn't Tom Allen like the coach the year that they had Penex and were awesome Yes, he was That's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. Well, he also hired him or his office coordinator one year. So Good I think yeah like dabble ruthless dabble There ruthless dabble coming out. I Listen and I like when ruthless dabble shows up here's Tom, the thing about Tom Allen, and it's, I hadn't thought about him in this way and should have, because I was thinking about it

as Clemson was looking for a DC, you need somebody who can recruit in the South. Like Tom Allen has great Florida connections. He worked at Ole Miss. Like he's actually perfect for this job when you think about it. Is Clemson's defensive coordinator job a better defensive coordinator job than Penn States? Like I'm always interested. Like why would you do?

I don't know. I mean like Manny Diaz went to a nice head coaching job after that. If Tom wants to be a head coach again, I think he could have done it from Penn State or from Clemson. Yeah. I thought that's a good start. Yeah. Now I do think Dabo is a little more, that was probably pretty hands off on the defense. Yeah. Like you probably running your own show there. Yeah, I think James Franklin is not super hands on in the defense either, but the hierarchy of defensive assistant

jobs is so fascinating to me. Yeah. I mean you want it. You want to take it opposite an offensive guy or or with a CEO type guy and Dabo is want to take it opposite an offensive guy or, or with a CEO type guy. And Dabo is a CEO who comes from an offensive background. So you get to be the guy running the defense. And so when, when teams are looking for head coaches, they say, okay, you are operating fairly autonomously here because what Tom Allen has to overcome is an unsuccessful tenure as a head coach. Yep.

He has to say, look, I learned all this from James Franklin. I learned all this from Davos Sweeney. And now I take all these things back with me to my next head coaching job, which if he does a good job at Clemson, the next head coaching job will present itself to Tom Allen. Yeah. Indiana was pretty good that year. They were pretty good that year. I don't know.

I don't look back at Tom Allen's Indiana tenure. And if you look at what Kurt Signetti's doing in the portal, a couple of the guys that they've taken out of the portal are Tom Allen recruits who came back, are coming back to Indiana. So there you go. It's a lot of fun.

Now we can play the song. Decorate the town and talk about tomorrow and we'll talk to you tomorrow morning.