Andy & Ari On3 - Texas ESCAPES Arizona State; Ohio State DESTROYS Oregon in CFP

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

Arizona State and Texas squared off in Atlanta, Georgia, today and it was an Instant Classic. An overtime thriller between the Sun Devils and Longhorns, Andy & Ari instantly react to this game!The Ohio State Buckeyes DESTROYED Oregon in Pasadena on New Years Day, and Andy & Ari discuss this game and where Ryan Day's team stands after this beyond impressive display of talent.(0:00-12:12) Texas vs Arizona State Instant Reaction(12:13-43:28) Ohio State vs Oregon ReactionWatch us on YouTube! https://youtube.com/live/vsGX9pfGI5oHosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey 

Welcome to an instant reaction show Andy and Ari on three are he's impressed box the Rose Bowl which already started But we have to talk about what just transpired in Atlanta Texas Arizona State and Easily the best game of this college and one of the best games Well, if you're listening here live you're gonna get the the the the the

the the the the the and then on the other. And Arizona State, my God. And they did something that nobody else did in their position this year, which is come into a game as what was that the largest discrepancy spread wise of the entire playoff or one of them. Yep. That was the biggest spread. And come in and push Texas to overtime. And not only that, basically control the entire game. Right? It was 14 to three really quickly. And it felt like it was just another edition of a, you know, 48 to 20 type scenario.

And they just kept doing who, what they do, being themselves, pounding the ball, making plays. Texas didn't, you know, play particularly well. And I think part of that was Arizona State. And then the way they lost is just gut wrenching. Just absolutely gut wrenching. Are we blaming the targeting call? Because if there'd been a targeting call,

they keep the ball and they probably have a chance to win a regulation. Now, Burt Auburn did doink that field goal attempt, so the doink kept Texas from winning. But if that's targeting, they do keep the ball and have a chance to maybe kick a field goal and regulation to win. No, I'm blaming theth and 16 touchdown play.

Yeah, the the the curve zero. Let the guy get behind everybody. Yeah, yeah, because remember Texas scored on 4th and forever in the first overtime with Oregon with Arizona State up a touchdown. So yeah, yeah, yeah, we're just brutal. We were ready to go live at that moment. And I was looking at the game and for the receiver to get as open as he did in that scenario, it just almost you know, I can't fathom it. But like, on the same token too, it's just

I mean, I mean, I'm not gonna sit here and give coaches crap for that. But at the same time, it's just gut wrenching. There's no other word for it. Well, I thought Arizona State played an incredible game because they could have folded it up after the first couple series. Texas' first offensive series, they score on two plays, like went down the field on two plays. And then they get a stop, Arizona State punts,

and Silas Bolden returns it for touchdown. It's 14 to nothing. It feels hours 14 to three at that point. It feels over. It feels over. But Arizona State kept kept pushing. And what I think happened is they eventually wore Texas's defense down because Texas is often sort of took the middle two quarters off.

They didn't do much. And Arizona State controlled the ball a lot of that time, and they were just pushing the ball down the field. But now Texas would bow up in the red zone and Arizona State wouldn't get points. I think there were three red zone trips that Arizona State wound up with three total points out of. And that's a testament to Texas's defense, but you can only do that for so long. And eventually they broke and the Kam Scataboo show began. Yeah, well, the thing that I think that you have

to acknowledge is that at least Kenny Dillingham had the right mentality, right? Like he was going for it in kicking situations in the first half. They were in a position where they could have taken some points and they decided to go for more because he did come into this game knowing that they were an underdog. He did come into this game knowing that nobody expected them to win and, you know, he was going to go

for it. Now, if he would have known that this was going to be an overtime game, you might take three earlier on, but it is kind of like an example of how the underdog mentality can cost you a game if it becomes closer than you thought it would because you you're not in field goal mentality in the first quarter, but then in the fourth quarter, it's like, Oh, crap, we could have used a few of those, right? Like that's, that's just kind of how it happens. But you know, for me, there's no question, and we talked about the the talent discrepancy and all that, like Texas possessed the talent discrepancy. And Arizona State, I thought, control the tenor of that game physically for a large portion of the second half, if not three quarters.

And for them to erase the 24 to 8 deficit, you know, to force overtime with Kam Scadaboo doing just about everything. It's like Arizona State was unapologetically who they were all year. And I think when you lose being who you are, it's easier to sleep at night. But the thing that would keep you up at night, of course, obviously, is Arizona State had that win in the bag. I mean, fourth and 16 and over time, one play away from getting off the field and just winning the game and you give up an uncontested touchdown over the top. It's just like, God, that sucks. So like the pure emotion

of that. But you know what, Andy, the takeaway for me too is, and I know that there's a lot of, you know, discourse about the playoff and whether it's working or not. It's like, you know, we had a lot of discussion about is Cinderella possible? It's like, well, you know, Arizona State proved that Cinderella is possible, especially in a situation where you have ultra talented teams who seem inherently flawed. And now we have seven or eight days before Texas plays again. But there's a huge conversation about what's wrong with Texas offensively and whether or not they need to make a change at quarterback and all the things that we're going to have to do back here in the next few weeks or next few days. Oh yeah, Zach, a great question to chat. Do they trust Bird Auburn going forward? Now, I think if you saw the scene with with Steve Sarkeesian and Bird Auburn before the doink field goal attempt, you know he's trusting Birdau. I mean he looks like a guy who trusts his kicker. Kind of hard after that, but I think so. We can ask the quarterback questions, but I want to get

back to the discussion we had yesterday about can there be a Cinderella? Does America want a Cinderella? I asked that question in the fourth quarter. I said, how many of you non-Texas fans have swung to Arizona State's side? Unscientific survey, Ari, but 100% of them wanted to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it would have been a really cool thing. I think that all the blowouts would have been worth it had they pulled it off, you know?

And the best thing about this is that when you see a young coach get to this stage, doing what Kenny Dillingham did this year was super impressive in getting here. But I thought that he existed really well as a coach in this environment. He wasn't scared, the moment wasn't too big. Even at the beginning of the game when it seemed like the snowball was starting to go down the hill a little bit and things were getting away from him, they maintained composure, fought back, and kept swinging.

And to me, it's like, if I'm an Arizona State fan, I'm probably simultaneously heartbroken, but also super hopeful for the future. That was the biggest moment for Arizona State football since I was in elementary school, like? Like 96, like I was nine years old. So, you know, it is a testament to what he did. And I just like I'm like actually physically, physically hurt for their fans because like they had it. They really did. They had it. years old, he's going to be able to do this again. He's going to be able to get back there. Obviously, for these players, it sucks for somebody like Kam Scataboo, who did every I mean, think about this. He ran the ball over 100 yards. He threw a touchdown pass. He made an incredible catch where he got his helmet ripped off at the end that put them

in position to score another touchdown. He was incredible. And we don't get to see him do that again. But I now I'm excited to see like, who does Kenny Dillingham do that with next? Who is the next version of that? And killing Dillingham finds to turn into a star. Yeah, you know, and the thing that I think is unfortunate too, is that, you know, and the thing that I think is unfortunate too is that, you know, we kept media but fans too are sometimes late arriving to the stories, because you know, Arizona State rattling off a few wins in October isn't necessarily a needle mover. But I do feel like if people were watching Kam Skataboo play all year, they would have been able to enjoy his run a little bit more. And he might have been a bigger star earlier in the process to be more considered for the Heisman. have been able to enjoy his run a little bit more and he might have been a bigger star earlier in the process to be more considered for the Heisman. But you know, that's kind of the thing, you know, when you when you start off kind of as a relative unknown, I think football people knew who he was. I mean, I was excited to play with him in the video game when it came out. But like the general public, you know, that was what it was like to watch him all year. And you know,

I'm wishing him the best in the future, because I've never seen or we rarely see a kid put it on the line and lift his team up from his shoulders by himself in this setting the way that he did in that game. So we're going to have a lot of conversation about Texas in the next week. They're going to play the winner of the Rose Bowl. They're going to play the winner of the Ohio State Oregon game in a semi-final. And listen, they got to clean some stuff up or they're not beating either one of those teams yeah yeah we have a lot to discuss when it

comes to Texas Andy like a lot we do we do now we got a little news while we were live here it is official now as it has been officially announced the kickoff time for the Sugar Bowl, which was postponed because of the terrorist attack. The kickoff time is going to be four p.m. Eastern Time, three p.m. Central on Thursday. So that is when Notre Dame will play Georgia. Oregon and Ohio State have kicked off as you can hear the PA announcer. Ari's there. It is so far the Jeremiah Smith show, but something tells me the Ducks probably have a little something. We'll find out. But Ari, before we wrap this one up, what was it like to watch a good game

in the 12-team playoff? Because that was the first one. It was the first competitive game we've seen in the 12 team playoff. And holy crap, it was awesome. Yeah. I think that the, uh, uh, the Cinderella stories are going to be rare in this sport, Andy, and it just because this happened, it doesn't mean that it's going to happen all the time, but I think what it does remind you of is a, that it's possible in B that when they do happen, it's going to happen all the time. But I think what it does remind you of is A, that it's possible and B, that when they do happen, it's going to be absolutely amazing.

And it's going to be a great story. And there's going to be players like Kam Skataboo. There's going to be coaches like Kenny Dillingham. The stories of the Cinderella that make college basketball so special when transferred to football will be even more special than the basketball ones because it's going to be rarer. Like every year you have a Cinderella story.

It's going to be aarer. Like every year you have a bigger achievement. Yes. Agreed. Like because Arizona State had pulled this off. The sheer difference in talent on these rosters would have been just incredible. And look, I get it. St. Peter's beating Kentucky is an incredible upset, but it's much harder when the rosters are this big. Mm hmm. This big and physical physicality is important in basketball, but it's everything in football and doing it for four quarters and being able to last through the brutality

of the game is not something that's super easy. So Andy, like the fact that Arizona State got this far, it's like I'm no moral victory guy, but what a season man. Like what a season for them. What a season. No. And if you'd have told them when they were picked last in the big 12 at big 12 media days that this is how it would end. They'd take it. Yeah. Take it. Yeah. Yeah. And it'll be interesting too. When we start, you know, discussing the breakdown of the tournament, it's like, you know, in the first quarter, everyone's like, these teams can no longer get buys. It's like, or Arizona State are in there by this year,

I think. Yeah, so they put better fight than anybody in the first round. So we'll see what happens and maybe this does change that that discussion which is coming after this this playoff ends, but we got a great game in Pasadena. You are there. We will talk to you guys again after that game. Enjoy. Welcome to Andy and Ari on three your instant reaction show presented by Wendy's.

Ari's at the Rose Bowl. It's a 20 point game game. Ari was a 26-point game when we decided to go live. We're either going to talk about Ohio State, Pumling, Oregon, or we're going to talk about the greatest comeback of all time, and we're going to have to change the title of this video. Yeah, well, you know what? We've always wanted to do a live watch party with our viewers So if it turns we have that then it turns into that and we will just call it creative Creative gumption but like you're doing me a favor. I'm at the Rose Bowl I want to go down and talk to the coaches, you know with the players write a column for on three So we're gonna you know talk about this because I think that for the most part We have a pretty good idea of what you know

there is to take away from this game you know there might be a few garbage time touchdowns here but you know I did not think Andy coming into this game that we would be uh going live this early I didn't think we'd be going live during the game at all and you know I think that it's just funny because like it's a reminder that this is just a sport of blowouts. And sometimes teams are playing really well and sometimes the team gets overwhelmed and it doesn't matter how good you are because Oregon is a really good football team. If they played this game again in a week, maybe Oregon would win or be more competitive. But Ohio State just came out, punched him in the mouth, kept punching him in the mouth

and discovered that they might have the best football player on the planet on their team, which is something that they might have been a year. Yeah. I think they already knew that. Well, he had two targets in the Michigan game, so I don't know how well they knew it. But at this point, you're at a place where Ohio State has discovered what it is and who it is. And you can quibble about why did it take this long or what happened in November and all those things. And we'll re-litigate that in the future. But if they know that they have a person on their team that cannot be covered, and they have a defense that, you know, I think, prove that it's the best defensive unit in the country, like there is a lot to like about this team and its prospects of winning a national championship. Now, as we said, you know coming into it Andy that there are a lot of good teams with a lot of talent still left in the field right.

Nobody won a national title today, but Ohio State showed that they're probably the best team at this point. They will see the betting favorite to win the national title today. I believe they went into pluses today So they were already into pluses, but it was it went from like plus 350 to plus 125 in the game Tort and toward minuses. I mean not even yeah. Yeah Gavin Estes in the chat. I want to put your mind at ease You did not accidentally press pause and and leave it there for like 30 minutes

The game is still going on. He says, how far in the game am I behind? You all are live so early. The game is still going on and we just watched Quinch on. Judkins rip off a run around the corner. So this is the Ohio state team that was promised in the off season. This is the one that was advertised. It's not just Jeremiah Smith, who's lived up to every ounce of hyperbole that we've said about him and

then surpassed it with this performance today, but it's like Jack Sawyer who. Was a good player at Ohio state had been a very good player had maybe not lived up to his very lofty recruiting hype. Which was to be Joey Bosa, by the way. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was Joey Bosa by the way. Yeah, I mean it was it was Joey Bosa or Chase Young. He dominated a Johnny Cornelius today dominated him just unstoppable. Jack Sawyer has been awesome. Now he's been awesome for the

entire back half of the season. He was awesome in the Michigan game like maybe every day everybody didn't play great in that game, but he did. So this is going to be very interesting going forward because if this is the team, if this is the roster we were promised, the team we were promised, it is going to be really hard to beat their their next game, assuming this giant lead holds for the next few minutes, they're going to play Texas and Dallas. It's basically, it's probably going to be kind of a home game for Texas.

I don't think it matters if they play like this and Texas plays like they did today. Yeah. Well, I mean, there's a lot to unpack here. I've been like fantasizing about what question to ask Ryan Day. And I just want to go in there and have the first question and just be like, Ryan, what the fuck? What? What? What?

What? How? Just like, what the hell? And again, I think in the off season, we're going to have a lot to discuss as it pertains to the value of rivalries and how quickly people can forget them in this new era. Not that it's not important, but now that they're on this run,

I don't think that a lot of people are thinking about Michigan as much as they would have been in other years. But it does- Oh, this is a change in tone from you. No, no, I still think that it is by far the most important to the people there. But at the same time, I don't think people in the Rose Bowl are like Michigan. And if the Michigan game was ever, if they win a national championship, I don't know how people will view the season.

Again, we'll talk about that in the future. But I will say this, Jeremiah Smith is gonna get a lot of love, he's gonna get a lot of attention and rightfully so. But their defense is awesome, Andy, their defense is awesome. And I just don't know what the teams that are left in the field without the explosiveness, I don't know how they're gonna get beaten. Now again, in November, I don't know how they were gonna get beaten and they got beaten.

So I'm not saying it's impossible. But from this standpoint, what we saw tonight from Jack Sawyer playing like a player who didn't wanna be defined by the Michigan game. Caleb Downs was all over the field, Ohio State's offensive line held up well. The defensive line, which had no sack in the first Oregon game, was getting home repeatedly. Like, they just played the perfect aggressive, angry football game. And, you know, there's been a lot made of like, why do Ohio State fans get so mad at Ryan Day? Right? There's a lot of like, why can they have so much success but still hate their coach so

much? And I think the reason why is, and even for the lunatic fringe, I'm talking to you too, like, because people know what the sum of its parts are. And I think I'm going to write a column about this, Andy, today. But I sat with Brian Hartline. We joked about how he showed the screenshots of our picks, right? But he asked me in a frank moment, what do you think of the team? What do you think of Ohio State? What do you think of what we've done? And here's what I told him. And it's the same pizza analogy that I've said to

you on the show many times. You have the best ingredients, the best cheese, the best toppings, the best crust, the best oven, the best kitchen, any program can have. And so does Georgia and so does Alabama. But for the most part in the last four and five years, when it comes to the teams that have the best ingredients, you have spit out the worst pizza repeatedly.

And like, I don't know why, I don't know what's going on there. And, you know, this is an opportunity for them to make a really good pizza. So we'll see, you know, what this means, but at this point, like the team from Michigan game is completely unrecognizable. And like I've got Michigan fans in my mentions right now

going, I have no idea how this team beat that team. Like, unsolved mystery shit. Like, it doesn't make any sense. I tweeted earlier in the game. I said, you know, this, this Oregon team is really good loaded with future pros and Ohio state is just crushing them. And the first response is at Tennessee fan going, well, this makes me feel a lot better. And the second response is Michigan fan going, I have no idea how my team won that game.

None. Yes. And see just had a major comeback a major comeback because as it turns out Tennessee is just the number three team in the country. They just got, I mean like, cause Oregon is really good and I don't know if they didn't play well or if it was just two big pops at the beginning and things kind of got away from them.

But like Ohio State targeted Jeremiah Smith on the first four plays of the game more than they did in the entire Michigan game. Like Ohio State has found out that they don't have to run the football. Running the football is secondary for this team. And you know, it's funny is if you target Jeremiah Smith in a Mecca-Buka enough, you can run the ball.

Yeah, right. The box is pretty light. And it's not, and if you go back and you look at the Michigan box score, it's not just how many times you throw, because I actually think they threw more times in the Michigan game than they did in the Tennessee game. But it's how you throw, it's when you throw, it's the types of throws that you make. It's the shots that you take downfield.

And Ohio State attacked the back end of Oregon secondary the entire game. And if they do that with the players that they have on this team, nobody in college football can cover them, which is what's been so maddening. The standard at this program has always been to live up to what you what you're made of. And it looks like they're on the verge of doing that. Now winning the national championship is a lot more complicated and more difficult than it was two years ago, but this almost feels like it would have felt had Ohio State finished the job against Georgia two years ago. I got to laugh at this one from David in the chat. No sympathy for the Phil Knight dead ducks. I guess it's true that money can't buy you happiness. No, it's buying Ohio State a lot of happiness, David. Yeah.

Yeah. A lot of happiness. I think, like, I don't know, like, just like for a fact, but Ohio State probably spent more total, right? I think it's probably a dead heat. But yeah, they both spent a lot. But here's what I'll say about Ohio State. And you were talking about this earlier

with Ohio State's defense. The behind the quarterback shots in the Tennessee game and this game, like, if you want to know what hell looks like, imagine being a quarterback and seeing that, like so the Tennessee game, seeing a red Jersey on every white Jersey, or in this game, seeing a white Jersey on every green Jersey.

Like there was a shot they showed of a crossing route that Oregon was running, which probably works 99% of the time. And you see Caleb Downs just turn his head and start to move and Dylan Gabriel was like, oh crap, and then he just gets pummeled. Yeah, you know, the thing that's really difficult about this is that Oregon's concepts work really well.

Like you have Dylan Gabriel rolling out and you know, in a lot of these plays, you've got one defender who is responsible for containing the run. But also if he bites the run too soon, then you can pop the ball over and throw it to somebody who's streaking across the field. And they scored a few times actually on, you know, concepts like that during the game. And it's like, but when you're playing Utah or you're playing Purdue or somebody else, like it's not Caleb Downs there. You know what I mean? Like they are fast. They're dynamic. They're quick. They hit you really, really hard.

And it's just a team that, you know, Ohio state. And I think the reason why I'm so tough on them on a year to year basis is because we all know that this is what they're capable of. And we don't see this very often. Like we don't see it during the regular season much at all. It's not like they were an impressive football team that looked dominant at very many points in the season this year.

You know, like, and it's like, I feel like if Ohio State would play 70% as hard and as well as they played in this game, they would have been undefeated this year. And it's like, I don't think it's too much to ask a coach to get 70% of your best. And it's like, what do you think the percentage of Ohio State's best they got in the Michigan game? And I don't know if that's a player thing or a coach thing or a combination of both, but you know, you're, you're defined by what you bring to the table every single weekend. And the thing that Nick Saban was so good at and Kirby

Smart is so good at is even when they have some deficiencies, which they rarely do on their roster, those teams, even with the success that they've had in the recent years, in the recent past, always bring it, like all the time. And I'm not saying they never have bad games. Right, we watch Georgia have a bad game. Yeah, we watched Georgia have a bad game this year,

but like Georgia, that blowout lost Ole Miss is the first time we've seen that happen to Georgia. This is like Kirby Smart's first season at Georgia. Nick Saban, it never happened. And that's why we talk about Alabama this year with Kailin DeBoer, like the fact that they were so inconsistent up and down and kind of playing up, up to the level or down to the level of the competition. Like Nick Saban never allowed that. up and down and kind of playing up up to the level or down to the level of the competition like

Mixed Sabre never allowed that But that happens for almost every other team and it's happened for Ohio. It happened Ohio State under Urban Meyer I mean as good as Urban Meyer was at coaches in a for big games There were some there was a Purdue game and there was an Iowa game and it's like it happens And this isn't a recent problem. This isn't even a Ryan Day problem. This is like a 10-year-old problem because if you think about the rosters that Ohio State has assembled since they won the national title in 2014, which has been a decade, isn't it kind of crazy that they haven't won another one since? Isn't it kind of crazy that this is the fourth year in a row that they haven't won the Big Ten or beat their rival? Like it's not like this is the first time they've

had a lot of good players. You know, maybe they have more this year than they usually do. But you know, it is remarkable that it's been a decade since we were in Dallas covering the last one against Oregon. Hey, so Ari Ryan has a good question in the chat. What do you think the Texas-Ohio State spread is going to be after today? Ohio State is going to be laying a touchdown. Yeah, the look ahead, the look ahead was Ohio State minus one and a half. I think you're right. I think minus six and a half minus seven and a half. Yeah, it's not going to

be one and a half if it is then. I just like we're going to we're going to find out here in about five minutes. But yeah, yeah, I don't know. Maybe it'll be five and a half or something. I don't know. But like because Texas is a talented team, like they're not they're not going to be playing inspire confidence today. I don't think. But like, because Texas is a talented team. Like, they're not, they're not going to be playing. But Texas didn't inspire confidence today. I don't think Texas can score on Ohio State's defense, dude. Yeah. The arch conversation over the next eight days is going to be wild.

Before the playoff, and I know we already talked about Texas. We haven't talked about Texas. We talked a lot about Arizona State. So we'll talk about Texas during our show in the morning because we have to catch up on that. Yes. My prediction was that Texas would advance to the national championship game, but Arch would start at some point in the playoffs. It's like, look me dead in the eye

and tell me that you're sure that Quinn Ubers is going to be the starter against Ohio State next weekend. I think he will be, but I also think you can have a very similar situation to the Georgia-Tex Texas game in Austin, where if this Ohio State defense is playing the way it has the last two games, there may be a moment where Steve Sarkisian has to go, oh, I can't we can't because like Tennessee does not have a terrible offense. It didn't have a great offense. Oregon did have a great offense and there was nothing Oregon could do. Nothing. Nothing. Like does Oregon have a better offense than Tennessee? Is Dylan Gabriel probably as good or better quarterback than Quinn Newers? Yes. I mean the Texas? I think yes. The answer is yes. So if you get this performance out of the Ohio State defense, Sarkis gonna have to figure something out.

Yeah, I mean, think about the receivers that were, Evan Stewart got injured in the pregame, right? And didn't play. In the warmups, yeah. I need a reboot on my prize picks play. That's a pretty important loss, even though he hasn't really been a huge fixture. He had a huge game against Ohio State the first time the first time but yeah like I got the bold and looked good for Texas today. I thought

you know, you know, Gunnar Helms a weapon but in terms of sure firepower like there's no question this is the most explosive team left in the playoff that Ohio State's gonna have to face offensively. So yeah, I mean Matthew Golden's been great down the stretch Gunnar Helm, you know how I feel about him. Yeah. So they've got weapons for sure. Let me switch the gear here a little bit, because I'm going to write about this and I want to talk through it with you.

Ryan Day is been a topic for us, you know, a good one. A lot, yeah. And Ohio State fans, a large portion of them or a loud portion of them wanted him fired a month ago or three weeks ago. And I think that that was rational at the time. What is your perception of Ohio State's coach now? Mine hasn't changed. Mine hasn't changed. He's still very successful.

No one was going to fire him. The only way anything was going to change is if somebody you know he decided to hell with this. But he's gotten a lot better at getting his very good roster ready for big games. Then he has previously and his time at Ohio State which you know it that shocking? Is it that hard to understand? He's a younger head coach. Like he's at about the same point in his Ohio State tenure that the Kirby Smart was at when he broke through at Georgia. Could it be that he finally figured it out? It's like this Ryan Day go from, we can't have this guy as our coach anymore to one of the best coaches in Ohio State history in 10 years.

Remember, remember before Kirby won his first national title. What was the what happened two games before that? He lost Nick Saban. You can't beat Saban. He'll never beat Nick Saban. This will never work. He'll never beat Nick Saban. This will never work. He's never going to get it. 1980, 1980, 1980.

And guess what? He figured it out. So maybe Ryan Day has figured it out. Was that the same season? It was. Yeah, yeah, the same, like a month later. It was two games later. Georgia played Michigan and beat them in the Orange Bowl.

And then they played Alabama for the national title and beat them. Yeah, well, and then they played Alabama for the national title and beat them. Yeah, well also too, like Ryan Day has actually done quite well in the playoff. I mean, when you think about the Clemson win that they had in 21 and the Georgia performance they had in 22. And now this one, like his record and the way he's had Ohio State playing in this setting has been much better than the way he hasn't playing in the regular season. Which I guess in this new format-

Also, they also beat Clemsched in 2020. They closed out Trevor Lawrence's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 2020 was the year. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I know. It's, I'm very interested in the perspective of him. Now. It's like, I feel like if I were him, I just be like, you know what, guys, I'm gonna go coach the Patriots now. Like, you know, after all the things that, you know, he's been through like it. It must feel really cathartic for him to put together.

I'm not even watching the game. Is there anything happening? I don't think he can get comfortable. I don't know. No, no, no, because of what he's been through already. And but I think that's good for Ohio State because. It would be easy after these two performances to go. Holy cow, we got the best roster. We got this figured out. Chip Kelly's been in his bag like he knows how to call this Jim Knowles is calling the defense amazing.

But now. All of these guys have been through enough this season to say, you know what? You know what? We got got when we weren't ready. And we're about to play Texas. And after, if we beat Texas, some other monster and we'll get got if we're not ready. So it may be that they've now, and I'm not going to say it.

I'm not going to say maybe they needed to lose to Michigan. Like that's silly talk. But the experiences that they've accumulated this season probably have taught them. They have to be ready all the time. The bad game can come at any given moment. So if they prepare correctly, they can keep that from happening. And I think- Just throw the ball to Jeremiah Smith downfield. It's not complicated. Hey. It really isn't.

Or we learned Ari, throw it to him short. Just let him let him cook. I mean, it's like I don't know if I'm overstating this, but I feel like I've been around a lot of really good players, especially on this beat for as many years as I was on it. I don't recall a player this special at any. I mean, I don't know, maybe the Bosa brothers at defensive end. Chase Young. I don't like from a physically impressive standpoint, like his eight. They get two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

I don't know. I don't know, maybe the Bosa brothers at defensive end, Chase Young. I don't like from a physically impressive standpoint, like his eight, they get two more years of this guy. I know. Well, I've already started to get the tweets because I sent out the tweet today that says, how many NFL teams would Jeremiah Smith be wide receiver one on?

And I think the answer is probably in the low 20s, half to the low 20s, 16 to 20 something like it's not better than Justin Jefferson like no one said, but like he is like physically. Yeah, yeah, I want to. I mean, yeah, but yeah, he'd be he'd be the number one receiver on the Raiders right now. Like I don't know if he'd be the number one receiver on the Dolphins because they got Tyree Killen, Jalen Waddle, but. He's that good and I'm so I've already started to get the tweets of when because they got Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddell but he's that good and I'm so I've already started to get the tweets of when are they going to change the age rule why does he have to play two more years in college so get ready for that this course

thing all offseason is that I hate that discourse because I think it's stupid um Jeremiah Smith is the first player where I would listen to that debate over because he plays a position that isn't as physical. Like I don't think more so than Clowney. It was Clowney was the last one. We really got that. Yeah. Yeah. But I think the receiver position with the way his strength and his versatility, I think he could.

Yeah, I think he's actually, it's weird because like you were talking to him the other day at media day and you sent that video and you can see You can see his age in his face. He's very young but He's so physically mature He could handle He could handle it. Yeah Yeah, uh

Yeah, look at look at that's a baby face right there like it's a freshman college it's crazy Yeah, look at look at this a baby face right there. It's a freshman college. It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah I thought we were we were blacking out there for a second Andy. How about we flip the script here a little bit? We've spent a lot of time this year discussing Dan Lanning being next up in terms of the pantheon of great young coaches Does your perspective of him change today at all? Yeah, he didn't get his team ready but He's also in year three as a head coach change today at all. Yeah, he didn't get his team ready. But he's also in year three as a head coach. It's the same conversation I just had about Ryan Day and the same conversation I had about Kirby smart and like, do you know when how long Nick Saban had been a head coach when he won his first

national title? What LSU at LSU So he was in year four at LSU. He had been at Michigan State, I believe, for six years prior to that. He had one year at Toledo. Yeah. So I thought it was like 12 or something. Yeah. And took Dabbo as good as he was. Took a while.

His first was in 2016, and he became a head coach in 2008. So I'm not out on Dan Lanning by any stretch. I think the job he did this season, because here's the thing, and I'm glad, because social media makes me lose faith in humanity sometimes, but I did not see a lot of. Organ was a fraud because we saw them all season. They weren't a fraud. They beat, they beat this team. They beat Penn State. They beat Boise State.

Like, although we put together the best resume, how we give conference champions buys, we need to revisit that effort. If you don't want blowouts. Don't give conference champions buys. I'm joking, Andy. I know you're like trying to communicate. I'm making a joke. They won the buy. I know. I know. I know. Well, there was a comment in the chat saying, is the buy a disadvantage because all the teams with the buy got jumped on? I don't think so because Arizona State got jumped on by the more talented team. Boise State got jumped on by the more talented team. And in this case, Ohio State is just playing better

than everybody else right now. Yeah. And like Texas is really talented and George is really talented. We'll see. I don't know. Does anybody come close to matching Ohio State States like overall talent? I mean, I guess Georgia does from like a I mean, like with the players who play. Yeah. Hey, Chris in the chat says the game is still going on dummies. Really? You don't say Chris not much longer. There's 21 seconds left.

Has anybody ever erased a 20 point lead with 21 seconds left? I mean, it could happen. A point a second. It would be, and again, I would be happy to change the title because this would be the greatest video of all time. Just us reacting to, oh my God. I think people are, some people are finding

that we went live early is kind of disrespectful. And if you feel that way, like I understand it. I am at the game it's like happening behind me and I'm going down to talk to people to write so like we're doing this to help ease my day so like if you want to blame it on me it's so Ari has good stuff for his column and for tomorrow morning's show we now have a final Chris. The game's over. You happy? We gotta stop talking to these people. He's just trying to get a rise out of you. Um

what did I miss? What did I miss Andy? I don't think you missed anything. II think we've we've covered the basis of Ohio State because it's a it's a such a fascinating story because the what they were when this roster was put together in the summer or in the in the spring we're like oh my god this team has to win national title national title or bust they then look like a good but mortal team for most of the season. Then they lose to Michigan and it's like,

well, these guys stink. But the last two games, we've seen them look exactly the way we thought they look in the off season. And I think one, it's proof that football seasons are long living organisms that evolve. But also this particular format. Allows a team to reinvent itself.

Yeah, and it's like it. Somebody tweeted at me a column I wrote for the athletic in 2022 and it was an anti. Expansion column and I want to read a graph to you. And I want to know what you think. OK. But, because I just reread it while you were talking, and it says, In the instances when it's not favoring the little guy, all we're doing is giving Alabamas, the Alabamas of the world, a second mulligan so they can compete for a national championship in years in which they don't deserve to be in the field. The first team that wins the new college football playoff as a number six seed or worse is going to be a super team

that was forwarded a third chance and got hot at the end of the year. That 2015 Ohio State team that missed a playoff because it lost to Michigan State at home in November didn't deserve to win a national title because it lollygagged all year, despite its immense talent. Now we're opening up the back door

to incredibly talented teams that weren't great during the regular season and shouldn't be deserved to be celebrated. Isn't that literally what just happened here? Yeah, and I don't, but see, I never had a problem with celebrating those teams. I wanted to see 2015 Ohio State in the playoff because they had the best players. Yeah, I don't know how I feel about that. You don't want the best players playing the playoff.

It is funny to me that like teams, there are now two teams who have advanced to the college football playoff semifinal will find out. Will find out. With Texas have made the 14 field we got to figure out who would have made the 14 field Texas would have it would have been it would have been I believe it would have been Oregon. Georgia Texas and Penn State I believe that would have been the 14 field. Penn State? Those are the top four in the CFP rankings. Okay. Okay, so I was gonna say two teams that have already punched their ticket wouldn't have gone in, but that's not true, I guess, because I didn't think Penn State would have been in. But I guess if that's the rankings, then they would have been. But yeah. So Ohio State's the only team at the moment. No, Notre Dame would have been in, I thought. Like they would have, would they have ranked it differently? They weren't number four! I know, but do you think they would have ranked it differently?

No, because, because Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois. And that counts. Yeah, you're right. You're like quadruple. So you're right. Yeah, you're right. So Ohio State is now the national championship favorite and they are the only team at the moment still alive that wouldn't have been in the field otherwise. Correct. That's correct. Now we'll find out if Notre Dame beats Georgia that that changes but if Georgia wins then it's it's three teams that would have made the four team and one that wouldn't have. But it came through in the most interesting of ways. Because like we said in the morning,

it didn't matter what the result was of this game, whether it was a blowout either way was going to be an interesting result. This was a fascinating result. Well, also too, we were really wrong. Like I was telling people all week. I was way more wrong than you. Well, yeah.

Well, I was telling people all week that this was going to be the best game of the entire playoff. And it turned out to be another blowout. And so I guess we are, how many games are we in now? Seven? No, six games into the playoff. And all six were blowouts except one. Right?

No, this is seven. This is seven. There have been seven games. So seven games and all six were blowouts except one. Right? No, this is seven. This is seven. There have been seven games. Seven games and six have been blowouts except one. And one seemed like it was going to be a blowout till Arizona State got their act together. We've only had one team, one underdog cover the spread. So now the Georgia-Norder Dame game is kind of a pick-em. So we'll see what happens there, but I guess well, I good news Andy is is that hey, we don't have another live show tonight,

but then it gives us a better show in the morning because we have an extra job. It does. It's terrible. The reason it got the reason it got delayed, but from a schedule standpoint, it's easy. Everybody in New Orleans stay safe tonight and we're going to. We're going to come back at nine thirty a.m.

Eastern Time. We'll break down what Ari learned interviewing the Ohio State folks after this game. We'll talk about Texas and Ohio State. We'll preview the Georgia and Notre Dame game and just, you know, be safe. After what happened last night, you know, hug, hug your loved ones, be safe. And I'm just, I'm fascinated by this game, this, this Georgia Notre Dame game. I think it's really interesting. So we'll get into that. We'll talk more about Ohio State. We do have to talk more about Texas. You're right. Cause we talked a lot about Arizona State. We do need to play a portion

of the Arizona State press conference because I believe Kenny Dillingham is now the first college head coach to ever quote varsity blues, to ever quote Billy Bob from varsity blues in a press conference. So lots to talk about Ari, get down to some interviews. All of you, we will talk to you. Thank you for being here. 938 and Eastern Park.