Andy & Ari On3 - Tennessee WR Bru McCoy wants to feed you cookies | The NCAA claps back at North Carolina

Episode Date: September 13, 2023

Tennessee WR Bru McCoy wants to feed you cookies | The NCAA claps back at North CarolinaWant to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube, don't forget to subscribe!https://youtube.com/live/qYtq-yQYJPUToday’s show is sponsored by Rhoback, maker of the most comfortable hoodies, polos and quarter-zips known to man. Visit rhoback.com and use the promo code STAPLES to get 20 percent off your first order.The NCAA has fired back at North Carolina, saying committee members involved in transfer waiver decisions are being threatened following North Carolina coach Mack Brown’s complaints about the denial of receiver Tez Walker’s waiver request last week. (0:00-13:28)Tennessee receiver Bru McCoy joins the show to talk about being a SoCal guy dropped into the middle of the Florida-Tennessee rivalry. McCoy also explains how to practice for catching Joe Milton passes, and he discussed his charity that helps provide defibrillators to underserved communities. McCoy also explained the pressure of being the Vol whose performance can lead to free cookies for Knoxville residents. (13:29-29:46)Andy examines some of the Fanduel betting lines this week. The overriding theme seems to be big home underdogs in conference games. (29:47-37:26)Nick De La Torre of On3’s Gators Online dropped by to provide an update on Florida, which is nearly a touchdown underdog but really, really needs a win Saturday. (37:48-54:36)Next, we have our first Harvard man on the show. Crimson defensive tackle Thor Griffith joins to talk about trying to get to the NFL from the Ivy League and whether it gets boring doing 45 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. (54:37-01:07:31)For tonight's Extra Point, we check in with Biff Poggi in Charlotte. His depth chart is something to see (1:07:31-1:10:53)

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. And I don't want to hear your complaints about the slate this weekend. I've seen it. I've been looking around. I've been reading. I know how everybody feels that this is a dog weekend. And we were all just waiting for next weekend. We're waiting to get Notre Dame and Ohio State and Colorado and Oregon,

and we've got to wade through this weekend to get it next week. I don't want to hear it. Don't want to hear it. Every college football weekend is precious. And also, these are the ones that give us those weird games that we never saw coming. So we'll talk later in the show about some lines, because one thing I saw looking through the lines this week,

that the theme seems to be there's a bunch of big home underdogs in conference games. And that usually means something funky is going to happen in at least one of those games, maybe more. So let's not completely write off this weekend yet. I think it'd be a little bit of fun to be had. So let's just calm down, and we'll hone in on one particular game quite a bit today.

It's one of those where there's a decisive favorite. Tennessee is favored. I think the line opened at seven and a half over Florida it's now gone down to six and a half but Tennessee is a road favorite against Florida but it's one of those where I think the the wider world is like oh yeah Tennessee's gonna win that game but Tennessee hasn't won in Gainesville since 2003, and they play there every other year. Meanwhile, it's a massive existential crisis if Florida loses this game because of what's coming up on the schedule. So there's a lot to unpack in that game, even though it probably isn't going to affect the SEC East race, probably isn't going to affect the SEC race.

It's just interesting. There's a't going to affect the SEC race. It's just interesting. There's a lot going on there beneath the surface. And so we're going to talk to a couple people about that game. We're going to have Tennessee receiver Brew McCoy, fascinating guy. Remember, he played at Texas. He played at USC. He was a five-star all-everything recruit out of modern day in Orange County. Now he's at Tennessee. He caught that massive pass to set up the game-winning field goal in the Alabama game last year. He's emerged as one of the leaders on this team this year.

And then we'll also talk to Nick Teletori from Gators Online about the Florida end of this. Because while Florida's the underdog in this thing, the Gators need to win this game, need badly to win this game. So it's a big, big deal. There are other games like this on the slate as well. We're going to talk about them as the week goes on. But before we get to that, we got a little bit of news. The NCAA on Tuesday clapped back at North Carolina and said, we heard you, now hear us.

And one of the things they led with is saying the NCAA is aware of violent and possibly criminal threats recently directed at committee members involved in regulatory decisions. The national office is coordinating with law enforcement and will continue to do whatever possible to support the volunteers who serve on these committees. Basically they're saying people are threatening the people who served on the committee that denied Tez Walker's waiver. Tez Walker is a receiver at North Carolina. He originally played, well, he didn't play.

He originally attended North Carolina central. They canceled their 2020 season. They were supposed to play spring 2021 they canceled that fall 2022 wasn't a sure thing so he went to kent state played two years at kent state now he's transferred to north carolina he thought he would get the waiver because basically he didn't play at north carolina central and also because he was enrolled at North Carolina before the guidance changed on the waiver process. But his waiver has been repeatedly denied. His last appeal was denied last week and Mack Brown went in. And so the NCAA decided to respond because one, OK, North Carolina fans or whoever's doing this, don't do that. Don't

threaten people over this stuff. It's not worth it. And if you get a call or a knock on the door from your local police or from the FBI, you're not going to think it's that great of an idea either. So don't do it. Don't threaten people. That's not the way to handle it but the NCAA also not great at handling things either in the explanation for this which they don't name Tez Walker in this but they do basically say and this I've said this before I said this about this case the coaches wanted these rules the schools wanted these rules And the NCAA's position on this is basically, you asked for the rules, we gave you the rules, and now you're complaining about the rules.

So here's what they said about, we would say they're subtweeting, if we were using the lingo of the kids, subtweeting Tez Walker's case here. Academic data demonstrates that transferring typically slows student athletes' progress toward a degree, especially with those who transfer later. stands to reason that multiple fact multiple transfers would further slow time to a degree citing extenuating factors such as mental health which was cited in the tez walker case does not necessarily support a waiver request but

instead may in some situations suggest a student athlete should be primarily focused on addressing those critical issues during the initial transition to a third school. So basically they're saying, oh, no, no, he needed to sit out. Well, okay. He's on pace to graduate in 2024. I don't necessarily think he needed to sit out because of that. You're covering your butts here, NCAA. It's not going to work. Nobody likes this decision. You're not going to sway the people who are mad about it but that's okay and we'll move on now this is this is the last part of it and this is the part i i find the most interesting and this this was signed by jerry morehead who's the president at georgia and the chair of the division one board and uh I'm not even going to try to attempt the last name of the president of the

University of Evansville because I will butcher it, and I apologize for that, but he also signed it. So this is the NCAA once again reinforcing that it was the schools, including North Carolina, that asked for the rules to be tightened. The Division I board is troubled by the public remarks made last week by some of the North Carolina leadership. Those comments directly contradict what we and our fellow Division I members and coaches called for vociferously, including UNC's own football coach. We are a membership organization,

and rather than pursue a public relations campaign that can contribute to a charged environment for our peers who volunteer on committees, we encourage members to use established and agreed upon procedures to voice concerns and propose and adopt rule or policy changes if they are to satisfy. Basically saying you made the rules. We applied the rules. If you would don't like them, then change the rules. That's what they're saying. So yes, North Carolina changed the rules if you don't like them. And that's the crux of all this. They begged for the rules and now they're complaining about the rules. But here's the problem. And here's where the NCAA screws this up. They could have granted this waiver and nobody would have noticed and no one would have complained.

They could have granted Daryl Jackson's waiver at Florida State. Nobody would have noticed and nobody would have complained. So you can say this now that we're standing up, we're drawing a line in the sand. You make decisions all the time to go against what your normal policy is. You've done this year after year over and over again. You could have done it here and avoided this PR nightmare, but they're just so bad at it. They're so bad at PR. That's why everyone hates the NCAA, and they're never going to win a PR battle again. The question here is what North Carolina does. Matt Hayes wrote a column on Saturday Down South,

and he said, North Carolina, just play the guy. Just play him. Memphis did that in basketball with somebody. They were forced to vacate wins, but what if the NCAA forces North Carolina to vacate? Who cares? We watched the games. We know who won.

That's the part that's interesting to me. Because what that would be is pure revolt against the NCAA. It would be North Carolina saying, we no longer agree to abide by the rules that we agreed to. And I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing in this case, because football needs to be broken away from the NCAA anyway. The NCAA does not need to be governing big-time college football. Maybe the FCS level, the Division II level, Division III level, sure. But the massive cash cow profit generating part of college football

ncaa probably doesn't need to be involved you could have the conferences that run the college football playoff the fbs conferences they could govern college football themselves have their own rules agree upon their own. And maybe they would like that better. At least it would probably be less layers of bureaucracy. So that would probably be the solution ultimately. That's not the solution here. That's not the solution now. And you don't have Tez Walker playing

unless you decide to defy their order and just play him. But the NCAA, the shock value of people are threatening committee members, yeah, that's really bad. They shouldn't be doing that. But as far as defending this decision otherwise, you can't defend it. He'd already enrolled before he changed the rules. You can't defend that decision. So just stop trying to make anybody like you. Everybody hates you in CAA. Get used to it. That's how it's going to be forever and ever and ever. So you don't have to. And if you take that attitude where you don't have to make any friends, then you can make decisions like this and just let it roll off your back, I suppose.

But don't try to defend it to the wider world. It's not going to work. We all know the coaches asked for these rules, but you didn't have to take them as far as you did. Nobody asked you to do that. So that's the problem right there. Also in the news, no huge bombshells out of the Mel Tucker Michigan State situation on Tuesday. The one new piece of information we got is Brenda Tracy, the accuser of Mel Tucker, her attorney explained why she went public with the USA Today story where she turned over 1,200 pages worth of documents from the investigation. Basically,

what the attorney said is Brenda Tracy's name got leaked to local media by someone. They didn't say who. It wasn't an accusation directly at Mel Tucker. It was just saying someone leaked Brenda Tracy's name to the local media in Michigan. And that was why she decided to go public. So take take from that what you will just like take from Mel Tucker's statement, what you will take from all of the investigative material that was released by USA Today. What you will. This case will keep going. There's a hearing October 5th and October 6th. Mel Tucker's probably not coaching at Michigan State again. I think we can agree on that, and then we'll see what happens,

whether they have to pay him or whether they can fire him for cause because clearly they're trying to get out of that contract, and you can say whatever you want. We know they're trying to get out of that contract and you can say whatever you want. We know where they're trying to get out of the contract, but they also could be legitimately trying to punish him for what they perceive to be a very dumb action at the very least. But whether it rises to fireable offense, that's for someone else to decide. That is for this hearing officer

to decide at Michigan State. But we will see what happens. Now, let's actually talk some football. Mentioned the Florida-Tennessee game, big on both sides. Florida needs the win. Tennessee has not won at Neyland Stadium since 2003. Casey Claussen directing the band. Remember that? It's been a while. Most of you may not remember that. That was a long, long time ago.

Brew McCoy wasn't worried about any of that growing up in Southern California, but he is now knee-deep in the rivalry and he'll be playing in the Swamp on Saturday. Here is Tennessee's Brew McCoy. We are joined now by Tennessee wide receiver Brew McCoy. And Brew, I got to ask, you grew up in Southern California. You went to modern day, the powerhouse in Orange County.

How aware of the Tennessee-Florida rivalry were you when you're growing up and and then what's it like now when you are recognized in Knoxville and a fan's like you know you got to beat Florida right no doubt yeah I mean growing up in Southern California you don't hear too much about uh rivalries I would say more so I I definitely heard about Auburn Alabama coming out but I think once I got to high school and started getting recruited by Tennessee and Florida that I heard about Auburn, Alabama coming out. But I think once I got to high school and started getting recruited by Tennessee and Florida, that I heard about the long ongoing rivalry and kind of the continued, like, I guess, beef between Tennessee and Florida. Yeah, I was talking about this with somebody else today and it occurred to me, I went to Florida and it was during the time when Tennessee and Florida were basically playing the de facto SEC title game in week three every year. And I was like, I don't think any of these guys were born when that was going on.

So this is this has got to be all new. But but I'm curious, as someone who kind of got dropped in after you transferred from USC, how do you get educated about what games matter to the Tennessee people? Like the people just come up and tell you, hey hey these are the ones that are really important to us yeah well I mean our fan base is so like out there and they've got such a huge voice that a lot of it came from social media a lot of it had to do with like I would read tweets and stuff that people put out leading up to games and then obviously like in building, you get some education from your coaches and former players or former coaches that come speak to the team. They'll bring up the rivalry and what it means to them.

So you kind of learn through them and then you kind of buy into it yourself because obviously you're part of the brand and the team. So you mentioned your recruitment, and you were recruited by pretty much everybody. And then you had this, you went to Texas, you went to USC. Now you're at Tennessee. If you could give some advice to five-star recruit Drew McCoy now, knowing everything, you know, now what would it be? Man, just, I would probably say, don't,

don't put too much pressure on yourself and make sure that you invest into the right things like what you want to do and what you want to accomplish. See that through, but don't let the little things trip you up. Is that just being older and understanding that or is that having having been through all this stuff no doubt i mean i look back in hindsight and i'm like man like if i could do it all over again definitely would have done things differently and but also i learned a lot and matured a lot through it and um you know it it sucks like when it gets brought up you gotta address it you're like yeah but like for my shoes it was different it's probably different than the way the media portrayed everything but that's not really what matters at the end of the day you know it's not where you start it's how you finish that's what I was gonna

say are you glad that it worked out this way because it seems like you're having a lot of fun at Tennessee and it's been a fairly rewarding experience so far yeah without a doubt I mean the way the chips fell I don't think I could have ended up in a better situation here. So this offense looks like so much fun when you're a receiver. What is it like when you come in and they say, all right, here's what we do. And by the way, do it fast. And even if you don't know how to do it, do it fast. Man, it kind of broke a lot of like the typical football rules that you grow up learning which was interesting to me but it was kind of hard to wrap my head around because there's certain things that you become like it's like muscle memory that you've

been doing them for so long um and then the tempo piece i think i didn't really get fully like a full understanding of the offense until i understand like the impact of the tempo and how it affects the game and why why it splits and affects the defense and once all those things were explained to me from like a analytical standpoint I was like oh okay like I understand why everything all has to happen at the same time but uh definitely hit the ground running getting here like last summer so it wasn't easy but I caught on pretty quick well those wide splits were amazing and what what what brew's talking about for those who don't know is if you watch a Tennessee game or if you watch an old Baylor game you see receivers lined up outside

the numbers on both sides of the field and it used to be that nobody ever did that so brew I'm wondering you know from your standpoint when you're lined up and you look out and you see the defense kind of adjusting to how you guys are moving around, is it almost like kind of seeing the matrix where you can tell exactly what they're trying to do? Yeah, I mean, a lot of that has to do with like the film study throughout the week, but it definitely works to your benefit knowing like the tendencies of a defense and how they choose to disguise certain defenses and how they rotate. They're down in distance, certain, you know, coverages they're more favorable towards. But yeah, within the offense, it's like,

it's probably advantageous just as a football player because knowing coverages can take you a long way in the offense. So the more you study, like the better you are making the right decisions in our offense. Well, and also in this office, it seems like how the defense plays you determines who gets fed the ball, whether it's the backs or whether it's a certain, you know, an outside receiver or slot receiver. How do you, you know, stay engaged?

Because I heard you talking about the Alabama game last year, and you had that huge catch that set up the game-winning field goal, but that was not a game where you'd had a massive game before that. Like, how do you stay engaged and ready when maybe the defense is dictating the ball goes to somebody else? Well, I mean, me personally, like I love the block. I love to play physical. So I do my best to take advantage of those plays on the perimeter. You know, if they're dropping eight or it's a prevent type coverage type coverage a cloud like those are opportunities for other people to get the ball

so you just do what you can play the game within a game you know so whether that be blocking down field or making sure that i run a certain route to pull the safety whatever it may be it's just showing up in whatever way you can i i do love that i i actually think like when you say that you should stare directly at the camera and say hello nfl scouts if you didn't know already i really like to block go back and watch my film and watch me block but no i mean is that something you've always enjoyed the contact part of it because with some receivers are just dogs and love doing it and some guys kind of it's an acquired taste i think like when you train yourself to do it it adds a different aspect to your own game like if you're super physical and

perimeter blocking i know it's got to get kind of frustrating or at least exhausting as a as a corner to have to cover cover cover and then block and try to shed you know a bigger receiver and make a play and then go and he's gonna now i gotta run a route and so it just adds an aspect to the game that i think gives me a competitive edge so speaking of competitive edges it would seem like having a quarterback who can throw the ball out of the stadium is also a competitive edge what is the setting on the jugs machine for practicing for joe milton i think we've got it turned up about just a threshold below breaking your fingers. I don't know.

It's probably five or six on the jug. And that was not the Hendon setting, right? It got cranked up for this year. Yeah, I mean, we always keep it high just to challenge ourselves, but definitely an emphasis on speed of the ball this year. With Joe, he can throw the ball so far. Do you feel like, you know, no matter how far you run, he will get to you? I know with some quarterbacks, the receivers have to worry,

oh, am I outrunning his arm? I would imagine that's never a problem with Joe. No, you don't have to worry about it at all um you know he'll get it to you and you can just focus on making sure you get your depth or making sure you're digging running full speed down the field you know you don't have to get your eyes back super quick you got time to run so i think it's uh it's an advantage we'll be right back with more from tennessee wide receiver brew mccoy but first i want to talk about roback as you can see i am wearing a roback performance hooding right now it is the most

comfortable garment i own i said that before when i had the first generation performance hoodies but i picked up a navy and a black of the second generation performance hoodies. I don't know if they call them by their generations. I probably just made that up. But all I know is these newer ones are softer and somehow more comfortable than the ones I already thought were the most comfortable. So that is what you get from Roback. Continuous innovation, continuous improvement. Hoodies, polos, Q-zips, shorts, joggers. They make it all. Whatever you need to continue to be active and look good while you're doing it. You go to Roback.com, use the promo code STAPLES, and you get 20% off your first order.

That is promo code STAPLES for 20% off your first order. I'm telling you, it all looks and feels great. Performance hoodies, polos, Q-zips, joggers, shorts. They got it all. Rowback.com, promo code staples for 20% off your first order. So somebody told me that when you first got to Tennessee, you caught a pass. You're the first pass you caught in Neyland Stadium. Yeah.

And everybody starts yelling, and you thought they were booing you. What was going through your mind going off the field? Well, I mean, I caught the pass and I was like, we must have got like a penalty, like must be a holding call or something. So I'm looking back in the backfield. I'm like, man, like someone held. And then I think I caught another pass later on in the game. And I was like, ah, like like it clicked like they're saying that's the best when you like you uh moose

johnston who was a fullback for the cowboys like every time he got the ball it'd be like so it is it is great to to know you have your own individual cheer. But, yeah, has it ever happened where you have made a great play, they start saying brew or they're booing because there's a flag on the field and you're like, oh, wait, they actually are booing because there's a flag. Not yet, but I think it's definitely possible in the foreseeable future. So we talked about this rivalry, and know it's it's huge for the tennessee fans and and probably everybody you see on you know out and about is is saying oh you got to beat for i got how do the coaches handle it because some coaches are big on the rivalry games

you know like urban meyer would put the the opposing team's logo in the urinals that sort of thing uh and other coaches are like no no it's just any other game. How do your coaches handle that? I'd say probably about halfway in between. It's not like we wake up and we're like, oh, this is just any other game. The mentality and the preparation aspect, like you prepare, you don't do anything beyond the realm of what you've been doing. But definitely the intentionality of the intensity of it, that's all going to go up in a week like this,

just knowing the opponent and how much it means. So also for you, every game you play, you are playing for a bigger purpose that you're involved with. You've got your own, it's actually your own program, an NIL deal called Huddle for Hearts, where every touchdown you score, a defibrillator gets donated to an underserved community. How did you get involved with that? So I came across a lady by the name of Julie Walker and Julie Walker had lost her daughter to sudden cardiac arrest. So through talking with her and then this was right around the time the demar hamlin situation had happened so i was talking with her and she started a organization

called the peyton walker foundation and they were raising money to provide aeds the community and cpr education so i was i thought that was cool i thought it was very timely too so i was like what what can I do? Subsequently, I made the Huddle for Hearts initiative. And then through that initiative, I basically raised money to be able to give ADs to the local Knoxville community. And then that kind of snowballed into, okay, now it's like every touchdown I catch, they're going to donate one or donate one to an underserved community, which is awesome. So still like the beginning phases, but that the the gist of it you know i saw a photo like you and your teammates were taking cpr classes and uh so it's education as well as the actual equipment yeah it was just education like how to actually use it because i mean it would be unfortunate

to have one and not know how to use it. So, yeah. Yeah. How much did the DeMar Hamlin thing – because that's one of those that everybody – I think everybody who watches football remembers where they were when that happened and watching that. How much did that affect you? It had a big effect on me. I mean, it was the first occurrence where you see somebody, like, potentially lose their life on the field or the first time I had seen it.

I think the only other time I can think of off the top of my head of hearing of something like that was like Hank Gathers and that was a story I was told and like saw a YouTube video on you weren't alive when that happened yeah yeah so in my lifetime this is the first time that I had other than like a contact neck injury, which I think all football players know, like that's that's a real thing. But, yeah, so it was impactful and it left a lot of food for thought for me. And then this NIL space, like you have so many opportunities to do things. And I want to do something that was impactful to like what I'm doing in my day to day life. So there is another NIL deal that I have to talk to you about because it is a personal favorite place of mine. Moonshine Mountain is a cookie store in Knoxville. The Berry White,

which is the white chocolate and strawberry, maybe a top five cookie in the whole country. These things are unbelievable. They're about like four inches thick. They're amazing. But you have a deal. You are the cookie monster this year. So, Elante Taylor started this where if he got a pick, people got free cookies. It was Cedric Tillman last year. Now, for you, what, two touch – if you score or if you catch at least two touchdowns in a game, people get two free cookies. How many people just come up to you and are like,

Brew, listen, you got to go to Joe and tell him. When you're near the goal line, you just got to throw to joe and and tell him like when you're near the goal line you just got to throw to me you'd be surprised i mean uh i think after about a week ago or so someone had came and delivered food to my house and they wrote a note like please score i want cookies and then my girlfriend she she had a friend of hers over and she was like like i really need you to score because i love moonshine mountain so i'm like man i guess it's bigger than me at this point you know oh it is it's gonna be one of the great tennessee traditions like it took until the nil era to happen but it's gonna be right up there with the vol walk and the Vol Navy and running through the T.

So just like you got to carry it on. You got to make sure some cookies get given out at some point. Right. No doubt. Yeah. No, it's funny because a lot of these like when people have an NIL deal, I may or may not bring it up. But I've had these cookies. These are unbelievable. So that's one of the – now, how do you avoid, because obviously you probably have a hookup, avoid eating too many of these cookies? Well, shoot. I just don't – I try not to go, like, too much because if I go, I'm going to eat them.

And I tell my girlfriend she can't leave them in the fridge at all because she's been doing that for a while. So I was like, you can't leave these around the house. That's exactly right. The self-control only goes so far. You can't have them around. But everybody's going to have them if you score a couple of tutties.

So we'll see what happens. Brew, thank you so much. And good luck in Gainesville this weekend. Thank you very much. Appreciate you. That is one of the great NIL deals. But the pressure has to be immense. Alante Taylor handled it very well. Cedric Tillman had it last night.

Tillman had some games he had to miss because of an ankle injury. But it has got to be a lot of pressure because I'm not lying when I say how good these cookies are. I'm not lying when I say how thick these cookies are. Basically they, they, they cook them up and they let them set for like 30 minutes because they're massive, just giant pillows of cookie. So again, not everybody's an IL deal get to shout out, but that one always will. Let's talk some lines. There are some interesting opening lines. I was going through the FanDuel app

and looking at the lines this week. And I thought one thing just jumped out. And we've already talked about Florida and Tennessee. Started out at a seven and a half point, Tennessee favorite. They're down to 6.5 points, but it probably is going to hover around a touchdown there. Conference games where the home team is a pretty big underdog is the theme. So we've talked some about Florida and Tennessee. We're going to talk more about Florida and Tennessee.

We don't want to talk about that one. Let's talk about LSU and Mississippi State. We'll stay in the SEC. Mississippi State is an 8.5-point underdog at home. I believe this one opened at 9.5. Now, we saw LSU against Florida State. That second half was not promising. But Mason Smith is back playing now.

Perhaps LSU has changed and evolved. Brian Kelly said after that game, it felt very uncharacteristic. It felt not like them. And so maybe it'll be different, but they will be playing a very different Mississippi State team. Now the Bulldogs are 2-0. They needed overtime to beat Arizona. They took a lead, took advantage of some turnovers by Arizona early,

but then had to hang on and then win in overtime. So they will be at home, though. This is an 11 a.m. local kickoff. The cowbells will be ringing early, early, early, but that's kind of a sleepy start time. Don't know exactly who that affects more, whether that's the home or the road team, but it's a sleepy start time. Don't know exactly who that affects more, whether that's the home or the road team, but it's a sleepy start time.

And this is a very different Mississippi State team than the last time LSU saw them, because obviously the late Mike Leach was coaching Mississippi State the last time LSU played them. They were running the air raid. Very different offense now. On Saturday, Will Rogers, the quarterback at Mississippi State, attempted 17 passes.

This is a guy who would routinely throw over 40 passes, sometimes over 50 passes in a game. And this is a very different looking offense run by Kevin Barbet. How will LSU handle that? Will it be easier? Will it be tougher? It's hard to say because we just don't know for LSU I think they're fine if they can establish a running game that goes beyond Jaden Daniels scrambling I think that was their biggest offensive problem in in the Florida State game was

they just could not get a run game going like Florida State never abandoned the run they kept trying even when it wasn't necessarily working too well at first and eventually they wore down LSU and then the dam sort of broke in the second half but LSU didn't really try to do much beyond have Jaden Daniels scramble that was their most effective way of moving the ball on the ground and that was dangerous as you saw there was the moment where Jaden Daniels tried to hurdle and then he got slammed back to the ground. You got to be careful with that. Now, obviously, they do have Garrett Nussmeier as the backup. So if something bad were to happen to Jaden Daniels because he's running so much and getting hit a lot, then they have a capable backup quarterback. But that's not a way to continue to win games throughout the season when there will be tougher opponents on the schedule.

LSU needs to establish a run game beyond the Jaden Daniels scramble. So if they can do that, I think they go in and they beat Mississippi State. But that's a big, big number. That is a big number for a home team in an SEC game. So we'll see how that goes. Another one that is kind of weird TCU at Houston. This is the first big 12 game for Houston. Now you just saw Houston lose to rice and double overtime. And really the game could have been worse because rice jumped on Houston

and Houston came back and forced overtime. But Dana Holgerson got up after the game and said, look, maybe we were too excited about the first Big 12 game against TCU next week. And that's probably true. I would imagine you will see Houston playing quite a bit better early in this game trying to make a point. And also, we don't really know what TCU is yet. We saw them against Colorado.

We saw that defense get torn up by Colorado's skill players. Houston does not have that level of skill player on the outside. Tank Dell is not there anymore, but it's possible that Houston can take advantage of some things that they saw Colorado do. So seven and a half points for a team's first game in its new conference where everybody's going to be, this might be the best shot Houston gives somebody all season so to be more than a touchdown dog at home that one seems like a tricky one too and then the other one is in the big 10 Penn State out of Illinois 14 and a half point favorite is Penn State remember the last time these two played it was 2021 was that nine overtime game in state college the last we saw Illinois played it was 2021 was that nine overtime game in state college uh the last we saw illinois they were getting smoked by kansas on a friday night i i the the

illinois offense did not seem very creative it was a lot of luke altmeyer throwing to the sideline the one time they did start throwing over the middle they scored but you know and and then you saw luke altmeyer run for that long touchdown. You wonder, okay, why don't they incorporate more design quarterback run into this game? So there's some stuff Illinois has in the toolbox that I don't know if they used all that well against Kansas. Maybe they use it better against Penn State. Obviously, people are going to be excited for this game. but here's the thing about Penn State. If Drew Aller is what we think he is, if he is the serious upgraded quarterback

that we think he is and the higher ceiling at quarterback that we think he is, then I do think that Penn State's going to cover the spread. If this was the typical what we saw out of the Nittany Lions or Sean Clifford the last few years, I would expect Penn State to go in here and not cover the spread. Probably win, but very close. That's going to be the test. You know, how does Drew Aller handle this?

You got the law firm coming after him, Johnny Newton. That guy, he's real good. So you got to deal with him. But I'm excited to see what he can do in a game like this. This is a, it'll be a salty defense, conference game. Illinois is not the toughest road environment, but the fans will be excited for the first big 10 opponent at home. So this will be a good test.

And it's a big spread. We'll see if Penn State can cover that number. So, that one feels like it could get real weird. But the other one that could get weird, the one we were talking about earlier, Tennessee, Florida, because Florida needs it so badly. Nick Delatore from Gators Online joined us and explained why that is. welcome nick delatorre from gators online nick big one in the swamp on saturday tennessee comes to town florida seven and a half point dog at home to the ball i gotta be honest with you i had some people text me when that that line came out and they were like, can you believe there are seven and a half point underdog at home?

I was like, yeah, I kind of can. That's tough, Andy. That's tough for, for Florida fans to hear. I went back Florida and Tennessee have played in Gainesville 21 times. Tennessee has five wins in those 21 trips. The last one was in 2003 20 years ago nobody snatches defeat from the jaws of victory in Gainesville quite like Tennessee but I I'm with you despite having seen Tennessee find new and creative innovative ways to lose in Gainesville I I wouldn't look at the uh the men that build palaces out in the desert and say I think you're wrong on this one.

I was going back through with the Ball Quest guys some of those various ways that Tennessee has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We were talking about Felipe Franks to Tyree Cleveland, I believe, as one of those. Will Greer. Who did Will Greer hit? Will Greer to Antonio Callaway.

Jim McElwain walked in, and I asked him, what's that play called? It was like, train right Jill Big Ben in. I was like, gold. I don't care if that's even the real play name, but thank you, Jim. That sounds like something you'd read in one of those books. Not like a play name. One of those books. Yeah, you're right. Tennessee has been not just unlucky in Gainesville. They haven't always been good.

Were you in high school in 2003? Middle school in 2003? High school. I think it was my freshman year of high school. So Casey Clawson to James Banks has no meaning to you none James Banks who caught the pass didn't throw the pass caught the pass the last Tennessee five-star quarterback before Nico wow I mean we're getting up to the point um with September 11th happening this weekend I started looking I'm thinking, there's not many guys on this roster, on either roster probably, that were alive for September 11th.

And then I realized Graham Mertz wasn't, but Joe Milton was. You know, these are guys who are getting into their fifth year. They're older, yeah. So there's got freshmen on Florida's team and Tennessee's team weren't alive the last time Tennessee won in Gainesville. Now, we get in trouble. You know, that was Dan Mullen's first year. We always talk about the Kentucky shriek, and Dan probably infamously said, well, it's going to end sometime, and it ended five days later.

So, you know, sorry to all the Florida fans listening to this right now. So, for the Gators, for these guys on this team now, how important for the Gators for these guys on this team now how important is the Tennessee game for them because I heard Billy Napier talk about he was telling them in the 90s it was the biggest game in the SEC but I mean some of their parents were probably in high school then you know or I don't see how that would even resonate yeah um for me it's it's a I don't know if you can call a you know Billy Napier's 16th game a must-win game and and I'm certainly not saying it's a must-win in the sense that someone's going to get fired but looking at the schedule and last time I was on Andy I talked to you I was, there's not a lot of wins in that back half of the schedule. Billy Napier was the first first year coach at Florida since Charlie Pell to lose to every rival.

You can't do that again. When I look at the rivalry games, Florida State looks great. Georgia's Georgia. And you have to go to LSU. This one I'm probably circling as the most winnable rivalry game. You're at home. It's going to be a great crowd. I think just as a proof of concept and a continued, hey, the program's going in the right direction. That's why I think this is a must-win game for Billy Napier in Florida, just because the back end of the schedule is tough. It's going to get brutal starting in October. And right now you can go two and one, go to three and one, I think, you know, heading into Lexington and you feel certainly a lot better going into Lexington three and one with a win over Tennessee under your belt than you would two and two heading to the Bluegrass State. Now for that to happen,

Florida's defense has to slow down a very very good tennessee offense this is austin armstrong's first big test as the defensive coordinator playing against utah they were playing as a backup quarterback lots of backups in they still got burned on on play number one kind of settled down after that with you know the trick play they're lucky that it got it floated but for the most, they were solid in that game. And the McNeese game was the McNeese game. So we'll, we'll skip the independent of the opponent part. The opponent matters here. Yeah. How's Arsene Armstrong going to handle a defense or an offense that, that has perplexed some pretty good defensive coordinators the last few years?

Well, I think you hope that Joe Milton looks like the Joe Milton of the last five years and he doesn't turn a corner in Gainesville on Saturday night. I think that's one hope. The other interesting part where I think is Austin Armstrong's going to have to get creative. Florida doesn't have a bunch of all-American, first-team, all-SEC guys on defense right now that I've seen, but they have great depth. And Florida rotates so furiously, ferociously on defense, and they keep guys fresh.

A lot of what Tennessee does is not going to allow you to do that. So how do you run your defense, which through two games is running guys in and out like a quickie mark? How do you adjust when, okay, well, Tennessee hasn't subbed anyone in on play seven of this drive and now our nose tackle who weighs 425 pounds is out there staring at me like coach you gotta get me out here before I pass out how do you handle that as a defense so for me Florida I think the the big trick for against Tennessee is going to be stopping that running the running back room this these

teams kind of mirror each other in my opinion opinion, with offensive line, and you're both getting your center back this week, three running backs deep in each room. Can Florida stop the running game, continue tackling, only nine missed tackles in two games, and make Joe Milton beat you with his arm? Well, and let's talk about Kingsley, the center coming back. What have they been missing without him in there? I mean, he started 26 straight games. He's played in 40 games. This is the quarterback of your offensive line room. Struggled at times last year, but you had to play a guy in Jake Slaughter

who was in his third season and made his first start. And then because of that, now you're playing a guy who I really like and think is going to be a really good player for Florida, Najee Harris, but just a true freshman. He's played left guard, center, right guard. So I think Florida right now going into Tennessee has the healthiest offensive line that they've had certainly all season going into week three. But also now you have a couple of guys who have more experience than they would have had if Kingsley had been playing for those first two games so I think it's big for Florida I don't know that McNeese is a test

and Florida's offensive line didn't look great a bunch of procedural penalties and a holding penalty at crucial times against Utah that's going to be more of the defensive front seven you're seeing this week not the one you saw last week. No disrespect to the mighty Cowboys from Lake Charles. So what young guys through these first two games for Florida have shown that they probably could stand to get some more playing time? Eugene Wilson. I think he's played nearly 60 snaps, but just get him touches. I look at Florida, you know, the way that Urban Meyer used Percy Harvin, and Percy Harvin was in the backfield just doing running back counters and running past a bunch of South Carolina Gamecocks.

I'm not going to be Urban Meyer right now and say that he's the next Percy Harvin, but like an upper middle class Percy Harvin right now, just a little bit smaller, but that same giddy up, that same step. So I think when you look at Florida's offense, the wide receiver room was wide open. Somebody needed to step up. Your only proven guy coming back was Ricky Pearsall. You have some older guys, a guy in Khalil Jackson,

former walk-on who earned a scholarship. But when I look, I've started calling them the 23-3 with Aiden Mizell, Andy Jean, and Eugene Wilson. There's a ton of opportunity for all three of those young guys. Obviously, Eugene Wilson is the one that is getting the most opportunity, but give him the ball. Scheme ways just to get the ball in his hands, speed and space. Well, that's exactly what the Meyer staff did Percy's freshman year because they were frustrated at first because they were playing him as a traditional receiver and and finding you know struggling to get him

the ball in the flow of the offense and at one point after a few games I think Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen just basically said screw this why can't we just hand it to him and suddenly they're handing it to him on jet sweeps they're putting him in the backfield and you're right I mean it's it seems like it should be common sense like if you have somebody who's special with the ball in his hands it doesn't matter how you get the ball in his hands just put it in his hands don't make him fit your system make your system allow him allow him to shine I remember Cam Newton on a podcast saying they were literally telling Percy Harvin on the sideline, hey, next play, you're going to go in and you're going to run this route. Like, you don't even need to go to the huddle. This is going to be your route for whatever the

play call is. Eugene Wilson is a special talent. Outside of Ricky Pearsall, they don't have anyone like that on the roster. I don't know that you've had a player as exciting as Eugene Wilson since Kadarius Tony. So yeah, to me, I don't care if he knows what the defense is doing, just get the ball in his hands and say, don't get tackled. Well, that's the thing I'm interested about with Napier because it does seem everything is so very process oriented on offense and it's going to run the way it's going to run. Does he need to be a little more flexible and just do what works? Yes. I don't know if you need to expand on that, but yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, absolutely.

And you've got a bunch of guys in the running back room that you can can the ball. I mean, you'd be fine. Andy, correct me if I'm wrong. I'd be fine if we looked at the stat sheet on Saturday night and you had 40 carries between Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne. Cool. That probably means you were running the ball effectively, and that's going to be a great offensive game for Florida.

I would suspect Florida wins the game if we saw that. And I would expect Florida would have won a fairly low-scoring game for a Josh Heupel Tennessee team if that is what we saw on the box score. But let's talk about that because this is one of the – it's a cheesy sports talk radio question, but Florida wins if. I think Florida cannot overcome. The margin of error for Florida is just so thin. Florida cannot overcome the margin of error for Florida is just so thin. Florida cannot overcome turnovers.

I think the blueprint is out there. Utah showed, Hey, listen, if you can make, if you can stop Florida's running attack and make Graham Mertz beat you with his arm, we don't know if Florida can do that yet. And I don't think Graham has been bad. One interception kind of went through Ricky Pearsall's hands. But I don't know that Florida is built to come from behind. I don't know if you're down 10 in the fourth quarter,

especially with the new clock rules that Florida is built to come back and outscore you by 11 in that scenario. So the blueprint's out. And what can Florida do to combat that? Because you're going to face a better front seven this week. Tennessee's much deeper. They've looked much better defensively than they did a year ago. So that's going to be a challenge for Florida. I think Florida needs to try to establish the ball early and you can't get into a situation where you're third and long chasing the sticks and in obvious passing

situations. Yeah, the thing that jumps out about Tennessee so far this season is their speed off the edge. They seem like they can be very disruptive to a quarterback, whereas last year that wasn't necessarily what they were going to do, but they had better DBs who could cover. This time they can get after them, and you're right. If Florida can't run the ball, if, if Graham Mertz is, is going to be throwing and everyone in the building knows he's going to be

throwing, I imagine they're going to tee off. So what we've talked about, what a win would mean for Florida. If they lose this game, which Vegas thinks they will, what do you do next? If you're Billy Napier, what's, what is the plan going forward? I don't know what he would change. You know, fans, fans are screaming that he needs an offensive coordinator. That's not going to happen this year. It's not going to happen in season.

Fans are screaming that they need a special teams coach. Well, if you want a dedicated special teams coach, which coach on staff are you firing? So to me, I don't know where Florida goes from here. Obviously you get Charlotte next week. You'd probably climb back to 500. I don't think I'll be picking Florida to win in Lexington. I think Mark Stoops is out coach Dan Mullen and Billy Napier and back to back years.

And that's going to be a team that, especially if Devin Leary gets going that Florida will struggle with to, to match physicality in the box at the line of scrimmage. So then you start looking South Carolina, is that a winnable game? And if Florida doesn't beat Tennessee and you've already lost to Utah, now you're probably in a scramble mode just to get to six wins and get to a bowl game. Such optimism from Nick Dillard.

We did talk about what happens if they win, though. So we've already talked about that. I don't know if we're doing a pick, Andy, but my pick is more optimistic. My pick was very optimistic for the Utah game. I'm not sure I could be optimistic after that. You're a scorned lover. Very when i was like guys no no they got a very good chance in this game and then they send two number threes out on the punt return team yeah well i i think this game will come down to um i i don't i'm not a big joe milton believer

i'm not sure i haven't followed uh i didn't see you and Jesse's report card. I don't know if you picked Milton or if he picked Milton. I've got Milton and was sweating it out on Saturday because it was a rough start. The start of that game, I know there was some grumbling in the stands. I don't believe there were any Nico chants yet. Well, Josh Heupel has earned. Don't get there if that happens again. Josh Heupel has earned, I think, blind loyalty from the Tennessee fans. I don't think Joe Milton is different than the Joe Milton I saw at Friday Night Lights his junior year,

than the Joe Milton I saw in Michigan, than the Joe Milton who lost a starting job to Hennon Hooker. Hennon Hooker was a great quarterback at Tennessee. I don't know why just because he went to the Anthony Richardson School of Off-Season Hype, throwing footballs flat-footed 97 yards and hitting golf carts at the Manning Academy. I don't think there's any golf cart receivers that'll be on the team this week. So I don't know what we're waiting to see from Joe Milton. And we keep hearing he's going to turn the corner. He'll start making those short intermediate passes that he hasn't been making and she's like why do we think that at what point does a tiger not change his stripes this is who he is as a quarterback now if he can run a little bit does Florida can Florida tackle him I think Jordan

Travis um ran for 937 yards against Florida last. You have to be able to get those guys down. But I don't think that Joe Milton is the guy that maybe we hyped him up. And that's nothing against him. That's more on us that we hyped him up to be all offseason. Well, I think for me, it was the Clemson game last year. And I'm looking at it and going, well, Clemson has a bunch of NFL guys on the defense. And he carved him up. But now that I watch Clemson against Duke in week one,

I'm like, maybe, maybe not. So yeah, I do think that's a more intriguing piece of this matchup than people realize. We'll just have to wait and see on Saturday how he handles it back to Joe Milton, back to his home state. And he gets to try to win a game in the swamp. Something Peyton Manning never did.

Way to twist the knife there, Andy. Casey Clawson did it, though. He directed the band. That was the last time. So Nick Del Tori, thank you so much. Thanks, Andy. That is Nick. He's optimistic.

I don't know if I'm that optimistic. After the Utah game, my optimism faded as far as the Gators go. But we shall see. This is their chance to redeem themselves. And by the way, loving the chat, which is basically just turned into Florida and Tennessee fans sniping at one another. Feels like the 90s again.

Somebody get some candle box on the CD player. Because I feel like we're going into one of those games where it's Florida and Tennessee. like the 90s again somebody get some candle box on the on the cd player because that's what i feel like we're going into one of those games where it's florida and tennessee and sec east is on the line it's a de facto sec championship because basically there's nobody in the west who can compete with either one ah no that's not what this is but i do love that the energy is still there and that's why i say don't knock on this weekend. There will be fun games this weekend, I promise. One game this weekend that I'm pretty sure most of you are not thinking about,

but you may be after this. St. Thomas in Minnesota. Going to Cambridge to face Harvard. That's right, Harvard. We have our first Ivy League guest, Thor Griffith, defensive tackle for the Crimson. He was on Bruce Feldman's freaks list. He is going to be a player to watch in the NFL draft circles as we go into the draft next year. He's also going to be a dominant force on Harvard's defensive line. You ever talk to a guy who could bench press 225 pounds 45 times? Well, I did. Here's Thor.

We are joined now by Thor Griffith, the first appearance by a Harvard man on this show. Thor, how's it going? Doing good, Andy. How are you doing? Doing great. Doing great. So you are probably the biggest NFL prospect in the Ivy League. You made Bruce Feldman's freaks list for a second year in a row. I guess the biggest question I have for you after watching what you can do is, does it get boring when you're doing 45 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press? Not really. I mean, I love lifting. So the more reps I get, the, it kind of just kind of compounds more. I get the more fun it is. So, but it just takes so long. I was just wondering, like, are you, what are you thinking about while you're, cause it's, it, that takes over a minute.

Yeah. I guess I just kind of think about the next record, just keep trying to get the next one up, the next one up. So my mind does go a little blank, and I just kind of focus in on it. So bigger accomplishment in your mind, the 45 at 225, or the 500-pound one rep max? I'll probably say the 500, because that's kind of something that, ever since maybe freshman year in high school, I was one of the guys, I got to get the 500- that's like kind of something that like I'm ever since maybe like freshman year in high school I always wanted like oh I gotta get the 500 pound beds so probably that the only reason why is like also because like the 225 I'm hoping to get that

higher and higher until I kind of don't have to do that anymore I have a feeling you'll never have to do that again after next March once that's's done, you're probably done with that. Yeah. I want to talk to you about how you wound up at Harvard and your story because I was reading about how the recruiting process worked. You were an elite junior hockey player when you were younger. When did you grow out of hockey oh it was probably between like the summer between seventh and eighth grade I just kind of I've been I've been playing since I was four and I just kind of I just kind of got bored of it kind of outgrew the sport just because I'm doing it for so long and I just kind of wanted to branch out and try other things

and so you wrestled in high school. You also played football. Coach Murphy said it was your hockey and your wrestling tape that really convinced him that you were the guy. What was it about wrestling that has helped you become such a good defensive lineman? Yeah, I guess the biggest thing would just kind of be that mental toughness from wrestling, just being able from

wrestling just being able to go three rounds six minutes with another guy head-to-head non-stop or like even just like i had to do this in nationals i finished one match and then literally 30 seconds later my coach comes up it's like hey you get another match right now so what yeah no that was yeah that was a little tiring so the biggest thing for me is just like that mental toughness to be able to just kind of push through, even just like aches, pains, or like whatever it is during the game. And another thing is just physically just learn different leverage points, how people's bodies move, how to just kind of like take advantage of guys when they're off balance,

and how to put people into positions of like bad balance or an awkward position. So as someone whose high school offensive line coach was also the head wrestling coach. So he made us join the wrestling team. I got to tell you, it's, it's walking out there in the singlet that, that makes you mentally tough being able to walk out in front of all those

people in that singlet. Nothing will ever phase you again. Oh yeah. So Thor, what's it like getting all this attention? Because, I mean, when you sign up to play in the Ivy League, you're probably not thinking you're going to be nationally known at some point in college for football. But what has that process been like? I mean, the Senior Bowl is tweeting about you all the time.

You're on the freaks list. Are you getting recognized on campus other than being the largest person on campus? Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, I have noticed more people coming up and be like, Oh, Hey, what's up for? And so I'm like, I don't necessarily know who they are and stuff. So I've noticed kind of that kind of recognition, but should go on just like was I expecting it I definitely wasn't expecting it and I mean to be honest it's almost like a weight off my shoulders because now I don't have to worry about are people going to know who I am do I have the exposure going into the NFL draft and stuff now I know that people know who I am scouts are going to be watching me so all I have to really do is just go out there and perform. Is it just now play well enough to live up to the hype?

I kind of want to exceed the hype. I know that I have pretty high expectations, not just from my teammates and coaches, but for myself. So I just want to kind of exceed what I think I already can do. So what is it like going to class at Harvard? Like your classmates, when you look around what's the most amazing thing one of your classmates has done that you're just like wow yeah i mean this is like one of my roommates freshman year he was he sailed in the junior olympics so that's one thing i know

yeah and then there's like a couple of my one of my classmates, she played in the World Cup this past year. And so, yeah, there's a lot of amazing people that go to class here. Is that I mean, because everybody talks about the network you have after you graduate from a place like that. But what is it like being in that level of achievement just all year round where it's not just necessarily what you see in football practice, but in the classroom, in the dorms, just people who are kind of good at everything. Yeah, I guess it just kind of pushes me to kind of be better, not just like on the field and like in the classroom, but just like out in public, just in general, just kind of becoming like a better person, a more mature individual.

I guess that's probably like the biggest like takeaway I have from that. So what's been your favorite class at Harvard so far? Oh, that's a tough one. I mean, I think the most interesting class I've taken would be game theory. It was a game theory course. Yeah, it was, it was not my favorite, but I would say like I learned the most from it. So like that was, but my favorite one, um, I'd probably say Ancient Greek Warfare. Wow.

Yeah. And you're a big samurai guy, too. So this is a different style, right? Yeah, yeah. So the game theory one, I'm curious, how would the game theory folks have, if you just said, okay, I'm going to go to an Ivy League school and become a big-time NFL draft prospect, what would the game theory folks have said about that?

Oh, yeah, that wouldn't really make too much sense. Like if you wanted to become like a big NFL, going to the Ivy League is probably not necessarily the smartest choice you could make. So how did you develop as a player? When did you realize, all right, this NFL dream is a real thing? Yeah, I mean, that's been my goal really since when I started playing football. Starting off, I thought it was kind of a long shot, but that's been a goal.

But I mean, pretty much sophomore year, once I started kind of getting a little bit more national attention for like freshmen, All-Americans and that type of stuff, that's when I kind of realized that like that NFL dream is not just kind of something,

oh, I wish I could do that. It's something that I could really do. So we talked about your bench press prowess, but what is your favorite weight room activity? Is it the bench or do you have another one that's kind of a secret favorite? I think it's kind of a tie between bench and then trap bar deadlift.

Oh, very nice. Very nice. See, that's the one that everybody usually hates, but is the best thing for you. Oh, yeah. That you actually like it is probably a huge advantage for you. Oh, yeah. It's great.

You're just strapping up and you're just left. You just stand up with it. It's great. So, Thor, I also saw in your bio that you fancy yourself a Star Wars guy. Are we watching Ahsoka right now? Unfortunately, no. I don't have a Disney Plus. If I did, I'd be too distracted during school

and campus. I wouldn't get any work done. I've been trying to stay away from that until I'm done with classes and all that. Best Star Wars movie and why is it Empire Strikes Back? I guess I would probably say Empire Strikes Back is the best one, but I don't know.

I just, it's just, it's just great. Well, it's interesting because we're different generations. So like for me, I had the Empire, the Star Wars, you know, episode four Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, like on VHS, watched it constantly, you know, when I was a kid. What was your first exposure to it? Oh, yes. Well, it was, I was watching with. What was your first exposure to it? I was watching it with my dad. I started not chronological, but just how it's supposed to go.

I went one, two, three, four, five, six, like that. Phantom Menace was your first and you kept on watching. That's dedication right there. Yeah, I was pretty young, so I didn't realize how bad it was. That's true. You got to A New Hope, and you're like, whoa, this suddenly got a lot better. Yeah. That's awesome.

Well, Thor, as you go into this season, what do you want to work on the most between now and finishing your college career? What would matter to you the most to do this year i guess skill wise would just kind of be showing off my pass rush repertoire kind of like speaking with agents and like stuff that's one of the biggest like things i got back for feedback is to really kind of show that off so that's probably like my number one thing i want to really be able to showcase this year and then the other thing is just kind of just dominating the ivy league and making sure that we can go 10 and 0 this year. That's the thing.

Last year was, you know, you guys were predicted to do very well. You were six and four. How much is that kind of pushing you? No, yeah. That's been a big motivator, not just for me, but for all of us this year. It's just like we had all the talent, all the pieces last year, but we just got, we were sloppy. We were undisciplined and it just kind of lead us to that six and four season so this year including everyone including me we've been really harping on that discipline not just like during

plays but outside of football how we dress how we like watch film and all that stuff just so we can be extremely sharp and just not making these stupid penalties or giving up these big plays this year one more before i go the name your parents named you thor yeah what i mean obviously we know where it comes from but what inspired that yeah it was my dad and he i was actually talking about this to him the other day because i was curious actually bruce feldman he asked me and i wasn't exactly i didn't know the answer yeah so yeah my dad he wanted me to make a lot of noise in this world is the quote from him so that's why i got the name very nice well you're making a lot of noise now 45 reps of 225 on the bench press 500 pound one rep max and dominating the Ivy League.

Thor Griffith, thank you so much. Thanks, Andy. I appreciate it. That is a monster of a dude. His dad wanted him to make noise in this world. And boy, did he ever make noise. That is a monster of a dude. His dad wanted him to make noise in this world, and boy, did he ever make noise. That is something. Thor Griffith, we appreciate that appearance,

and we'll be keeping up with the Harvard Crimson and Thor Griffith during the year because that dude is a monster. He is very, very difficult to block and could be the next big Ivy to the NFL sensation. But for our extra point tonight, we go back to someone who he interviewed on the show about a month ago. Biff Poggi, the new Charlotte head coach. You've seen him. You saw him at American Athletic Conference Media Days getting mad about only getting three questions.

You saw him on this show puffing a cigar while doing an interview. Well, the 49ers went up to Maryland. They took a 14-0 lead, but they ended up losing 38-20. Now, I don't know what sort of message Biff Poggi was trying to send. In his press conference, he basically said,

hey, listen, all positions are open all the time. But his depth chart that he put out is a work of art because every single offensive position has an or. Not just the quarterback, not just the tailback, every single one. Defense, no ors. Offense, all ors. So that seems to be a message that Biff Poggi is trying to send ahead of Charlotte's game against Georgia State this weekend. I imagine everybody got it. Good question.

I'm going to keep my sugar art a bit. No, no problem. I'm telling you, Biff Poggi is going to be the coach we got to watch all season. We got Coach Prime over in Colorado. He's obviously making a lot of noise. 8.7 million people watching that game on Fox, just a shade under the number of people who watch Alabama-Texas. So Coach Prime is getting all that attention.

But I'm telling you, keep an eye on Biff Poggi. I thought they might be able to pull something off at Maryland. When you click on that thing in the second quarter and they're winning, you're like, ooh, okay, this might work out. So we'll see what happens. Georgia State's going to be favored this weekend. Can the 49ers pull off the upset? Can some of those offensive players take the oar off the depth chart next week?

We will find out. Tune in tomorrow. It's the pick show. That's right. Fan duel will give us the lines. We will make our picks. Our special guest picker is Parker Fleming. You can find him on X at StatsAWar.

He's one of the best analytics guys out there. And that's why I asked him to come on because we've had people coming at it from different angles. Now we're going to come at it from the analytics side and he's going to explain exactly how all this stuff is supposed to work. And the way he breaks it down, you'll see it mirrors the lions in Vegas very closely. We'll see what stats we need to be looking at to figure out how to win when we make our picks.

Talk to you tomorrow.