Andy & Ari On3 - Tez Walker is ELIGIBLE | Red River Rivalry: Christian Jones & Gabe Ikard | Buckeyes Back in Action

Episode Date: October 6, 2023

Tez Walker is ELIGIBLE | Red River Rivalry: Christian Jones and Gabe Ikard Join | Buckeyes Back in ActionToday's show is brought to you by PrizePicks, the easiest way to play daily fantasy. All first time users that deposit and use the promo code ANDY will receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100. If you deposit $100, PrizePicks will give you $100. If you deposit $50, PrizePicks will give you $50.Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube and don't forget to subscribe!https://youtu.be/EEXPiIWWQ00We have a HUGE Week 6 ahead of us this week, but there is some news coming out of Tez Walker's situation with the NCAA, and it's good news! Tez Walker has been deemed eligible by the NCAA to play this season (0:00-4:38)In other news, the Big Ten has released their scheduling format for the new look conference. (4:39-7:16)The national audience will have their eyes glued to Dallas as the Red River Rivalry is taking place, but another game in the state of Texas with massive implications will take place in College Station between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas A&M Aggies (7:17-12:02)We meet up with Texas OL Christian Jones before the Red River Rivalry, and he is EXCITED for this one. We talk about his childhood playing soccer, switching from DL to OL, and his love for Jamaican food (12:03-30:50)We go to the flip side of the rivalry over in Norman where former Sooner offensive lineman Gabe Ikard joins to share just how much this game means, his great memories of this iconic rivalry, and the keys to this game this year at the Cotton Bowl (30:51-52:28)The Ohio State Buckeyes are BACK in action after their insane game in South Bend two weeks ago. Spencer Holbrook from Letterman Row joins to talk about his expectations for this game, how tight this Buckeye team is, and Ryan Day's comments on Lou Holtz. (52:29-1:10:08)For the extra point, Andy heads back to Dallas to discuss some incredible dishes that will be served outside of the Cotton Bowl this weekend at the Red River Rivalry, and they are mouth-watering (1:10:09-1:12:56)

Welcome to Andy Staples on three very busy Thursday ahead of a just incredible week games. We're gonna be talking a lot of Red River. Texas offensive tackle Christian Jones is going to join the show. Former Oklahoma center Gabe Eichert is going to join the show, but we're also going to be talking about all of these other games. Remember, undefeated Maryland is at Ohio State. Yeah, we're going to talk about that with Spencer Holbrook of Letterman Row later in the show. Also got Texas A&M, Alabama. There's a lot going on, but there's also a lot going on off the field. On Thursday, the NCAA announced that North Carolina receiver Tez Walker would be eligible for the rest of the field. On Thursday, the NCAA announced that North Carolina receiver Tez Walker would be eligible for the rest of the season. Remember, they had denied Walker's eligibility over and

over and over again. He's the guy who started his career at North Carolina Central. They canceled their season because of the pandemic. They weren't sure about another season, so he went to Kent State. He played at Kent State. He then transferred to North Carolina, thinking that he wouldn't be considered a two-time transfer because he never actually played football at North Carolina Central. No, no, the NCAA said, you can't get a waiver. You have to sit out a year. This produced a pretty big backlash, and on Thursday, the NCAA relented and is going to let Tez Walker play.

Here is what the NCAA said in its release. NCAA staff received new information regarding University of North Carolina student Tez Walker this week. Staff determined the new information qualifies Walker for a transfer waiver. The information had not been made available by UNC previously, despite the school's multiple chances to do so. And then there's a quote attributed to both NCAA President Charlie Baker and Georgia President Jerry Moorhead. It said, in part, UNC's behavior and decision to wage a public relations campaign is inappropriate and outside the bounds of the process UNC's own staff supported. Had the UNC staff not behaved in this fashion and submitted this information weeks ago, this entire unfortunate

episode could have been avoided. Now, if you're like me and you're very cynical, you're pretty sure there's no actual new information. You're thinking, huh, remember all those meetings North Carolina had right after the NCAA denied Walker's eligibility for what we thought was the final time. Remember how they were going to sue the NCAA? That might be the new information. The new information might have been, we're going to serve you with a big fat lawsuit, because here's what UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said. We are happy that Tez Walker is now eligible to play and enjoy doing what he wants to do. However, the justification provided by the NCAA today is not accurate.

The university submitted all necessary information and documentation as it was made available to us at the time. And we still believe Tez met all standards for the waiver in early August. It is not clear why the NCAA delayed making the correct decision then, but we are pleased to get the appropriate resolution now. Translation, we didn't give you any new information. You look like morons and had to find a way to throw this back at us while making what you should have made months ago, while making this decision you should have made months ago.

That's what this is. The NCAA lost a PR battle, as it is wont to do. The NCAA probably realized it was about to be sued by a well-funded adversary and have something that it doesn't want challenged in court, challenged in court that it doesn't want to have to defend in court. I mean, that is the more logical conclusion. Perhaps the NCAA will leak this mysterious evidence that it received. But if we're just being logical here, North Carolina threatening a giant lawsuit might have been a little bigger impetus for the NCAA to change its mind. So that is that. North Carolina plays

Syracuse this week. Unclear how much Tez Walker might get to be part of that. You get the news on Thursday. The hay is basically in the barn by Thursday. But North Carolina plays Miami next week. And I think we can be very certain that Tez Walker will be part of the game plan against Miami. So that means North Carolina getting a dynamic receiver to go along with one of the best quarterbacks in college football in Drake May. Miami, North Carolina was already going to be a good game. This is going to be a great game now. Other news on Thursday, the Big Ten released schedules from 2024 to 2028 with the new 18-team format. That's right, 18 teams.

This feels weird to say still, but we'll get much deeper into this in the offseason because we can start getting excited about those games. But it is still a nine-game conference schedule. They're going to protect 12 different matchups. Illinois Northwestern, Illinois Purdue Purdue, Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maryland Rutgers, Michigan, Michigan state, Michigan, Ohio state, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, and UCLA and USC. So those,

those games will be played every year and then everything else is going to rotate. And it's based on travel distance and a lot of other factors. So next year, you're getting Oregon at Ohio State, you're getting Michigan at USC, you're getting Penn State at Washington. If you want to get excited, start getting excited now because those do sound pretty awesome. But this will be a very interesting situation

with this schedule because you think about the SEC, they keep talking about, is it going to be one permanent rival, three permanent rivals? The big 10 said, no, we're not going to set it for every team. We're going to just protect the historical rivalries. And then we're not going to worry about anything else. And I don't know if the SEC could do that because there's going to be a fairness aspect of it that I don't think you see among like, because remember, a lot of the Big Ten teams that are trying to protect rivalries, like you're protecting Minnesota, Wisconsin, you're super unfair to us. Like in the SEC, when you're protecting Auburn, Georgia, Auburn's like, well, hey, we're already got to play Alabama. You're going to make us play Georgia every year, but you're not going to make somebody else play Georgia every year. That's where that comes in.

But the Big Ten seems to have found a system that's going to work. We've got schedules. We don't have dates yet, but we do know who's playing who and where for the next four seasons. So dig into that, and we will dig into it a lot deeper once we get to the off season, because we still got a season here. There's big games and we're going to talk a ton about the Red River shootout today. We're going to talk about Oklahoma and Texas. We got Christian Jones, Texas right tackle. We got Gabe Eichert, former Oklahoma center. We're going to talk about that game in the cotton bowl in Dallas because it is huge, huge implications. It feels

as big as it used to feel, which is great. But another game in the state of Texas might be just as interesting. And it feels like an inflection point for Texas A&M. Alabama is coming to college station. Alabama is a very slight favorite. It is basically a toss-up game. And this is the game that I think Nick Saban was worried about when he was talking to those people in Birmingham in May of 2022. Remember he said that stuff about Texas A&M buying their whole class in 2022. This is what he was worried about because they've already lost Texas. If they lose to Texas A&M, that's only one SEC loss. Texas, future SEC team, but doesn't count toward the SEC standings this

year. But Texas A&M would be in the driver's seat for the SEC West title this year if they win this game. And Alabama would like to show, hey, we are still the top dog here. We are still recruiting very well. Obviously, Alabama had the number one recruiting class for the class of 2023. This is a big game because it could be proof of concept for Jimbo Fisher. And yes, I know Texas A&M beat Alabama in college station two years ago, but this feels different because that Texas A&M team we knew was not going to wind up in the SEC championship game.

This one could, because again, you look at the rest of the schedule, maybe they lose to Ole Miss, maybe they lose to LSU, but maybe they don't. Maybe they lose at Tennessee, but maybe they don't. Maybe they lose at Tennessee, but maybe they don't. Because if those young players for Texas A&M, those class

of 2022 guys, that some of them were good as freshmen, but some of them needed some seasoning. Like, you know, Evan Stewart leads in reception and receiving yards this year. He was very good last year. Walter Nolan didn't put up huge numbers last year, but the last two games, he has three sacks, five and a half tackles for loss. Those are both SEC games. Those are wins against Auburn and Arkansas. and if that group is going to be as good as its recruiting hype or close to it, it can win this game. And so when Nick Saban was talking to those people,

remember, Nick Saban was talking to an intimate audience, did not realize the cameras were on. These were a lot of people who donate money to Alabama, a lot of deep-p pocketed type boosters. He was basically saying the threat is there are schools where they have people with money and people with a lot of money who may be able to out recruit us because of NIL. So you guys need to dig deep and help us out on that front. And as you saw in the class of 2023, Alabama still got most of the

really good players it wanted. But 2022 was kind of a warning call. And now we'll see if that makes a difference on the field. Now, obviously the game against Texas A&M last year was very close. That was the one where Bryce Young was hurt. Jalen Milrow, who will start this year's game, started last year's game. But this is a little bit different because Jalen Milrow was running an offense built for Bryce Young. This year, he'll be running an offense built for Jalen Milrow as of about two weeks ago. So this is fascinating. It really is because I don't think it means the Alabama dynasty's over if Alabama loses. In fact, I picked Alabama to win the game. But I do think if Texas A&M wins, it means the Aggies can be a contender,

that this style of recruiting, this group they've got, they can contend. And after last year, that was a big question. After the Miami game, that was a big question. So this is their chance. This is their chance to really establish themselves as a contender. And for Alabama, it would not be the end of the world, but it would put them in a pretty precarious position regarding playing for the SEC title this year. Cannot wait for that game. Kyle Field is going to be unhinged for that game. If you are in the Lone Star State on Saturday, you're going to hear a crowd. You're going to hear it in Dallas early today. A little bit later, you're going to hear it in College Station. But man, it's time to get excited because this is going to be a classic college football Saturday. The great state of Texas is only one place where it's going to be, but that will be the epicenter

of college football on this particular Saturday. We're about to get deep into the Red River rivalry, but first I want to talk to you about PrizePix, where, hey, you can get into the Red River rivalry there as well. PrizePix is the easiest way to play daily fantasy, available in most states. You pick your squares, you decide how much you want to wager, and then you see who gets more, who gets less than what was predicted. You go to PrizePix, download that app, referral code Andy. They will match your first deposit up to a hundred bucks. So if you deposit a hundred, they'll match a hundred. If you deposit 50, they'll match 50. You want to get into Red River? Let's do it right now. Quinn Ewers, more or less than 293 and a half passing

yards. Dylan Gabriel, more or less than 270.5 passing yards. Or how about that LSU-Missouri game in Columbia? That's going to be, I mean, it looks like it could be a shootout. If we saw LSU Ole Miss last week, we're pretty sure it's going to be a shootout. So you got Jaden Daniels from LSU, 297 and a half yards. Brady Cook from Missouri, 273 and a half yards, more or less. Where do you think they land? And then of course, they got to throw to some guys too. So if we want to go back to Red River, Xavier Worthy, 76 and a half receiving yards, more or less. I think he did that on the first play a couple of years ago. So it's just, it's crazy to talk about this, that LSU Missouri game to get back to that one. But listen to the receiver matchup here. I don't know that I've seen a game that had receivers on opposing sides where both of

them had a number more than a hundred to pick from. So Malik neighbors from LSU, a hundred point five receiving yards, Luther burden from Missouri, a hundred six and a half receiving yards. A lot of fun to be had on prize picks this weekend. You can follow me on Twitter. Andy underscore staples on Friday afternoon.

I'll be making my picks for this weekend. I may, I may solicit your help. I didn't listen to somebody last week and I'm super mad about that. They told me that Marshawn Lloyd was a trap for USC against Colorado. They were right. He was just short of that total, just short. Should have listened, should have listened because I was sure I was going to be right on that. But go to PrizePix, download that app, use the referral code Andy. They will match your first deposit up to $100.

It is so much fun. It's not just college football. Basically any sport that gets played, they've got squares for, but the college football piece of it is exceptionally fun for folks who love college football like me and you. So go to PrizePix, referral code Andy. They will match that deposit up to $100. All right, it is now time to talk Red River. Shootout, rivalry, call it whatever you want. Texas, Oklahoma, in the Cotton Bowl texas state fair surrounding

it is a beautiful beautiful thing and we've got a guy who's playing in it this weekend a guy who played in four of them to talk about it to tell you all about what this game means right now christian jones right tackle from texasrew up in the Houston suburbs, thought he's going to be a soccer player. No, turns out he'll be a really good offensive tackle. Here's Christian. We welcome University of Texas offensive tackle Christian Jones. Christian, thank you so much. Big week, you're playing Oklahoma. how different is the vibe on campus at practice in meetings this week um the vibe is definitely different you feel it uh within campus students passing by people in the community as well and uh definitely inside the locker room so it's a fun So it's a fun week. It's a big week, and it's going to be a great game.

They're well coached, and we're definitely going to get some adversity during the game and excited to see how we respond to that. Did you get to wear the gold hat last year? Yes, sir. What's that like? How does that work? How does the pecking order work in terms of who gets to put on the gold hat?

Usually Sark. I mean, not usually, but always Sark first. And then I guess if you had a good game, teammates would be like, hey, him, him, this, that, and the other. But everyone gets their opportunity too. And it's a great experience, bro. It feels great. It was a little small on your head, I would imagine.

Yeah. I mean, like it's, it's, it's, it's a good size. You just got to put it on. You got to be careful. You know, you're not trying to drop it either. So what's, what's this season been like for you? I mean, we had to Vondre sweat on a few weeks ago. I imagine for you guys on your side of the line, but getting to practice against those guys against sweat and against Alfred Collins and those guys really makes practice fun.

Yes. Yes, sir. And definitely exposes our weaknesses. And that makes us more ready to more ready on the, on the game day. And yeah, you said it, AC, Sweat, Murph, Barron, Ethan Berg, Anthony Hill, J4, David Benda, everyone. Then you got the whole back end, you know. It's a great competition. And it goes hand-in-hand, you know. We make some plays, they make some plays,

and the competition and practices is a is a great thing so so so vandre said that their best bonding time on the d-line is position meetings which sounds insane to me because i thought nobody liked position meetings for your offensive line like what do you guys like do you do you get together outside of practice do you you cook? Do you bowl? What do you do? During the offseason, we would always try and link up once a week, go out, cook sometimes, go bowling, different things. But during season, not as much, you know, not as much time. By week, possibly, we could get some going on.

No, that would be solid. But definitely focus on this week first. And position meetings, man, yeah. It's funny. It's comedy. It's also a classroom where everyone gets exposed or everyone gets told what they're not doing correctly. And, yeah, it's a great time. Who is the funniest member of your offensive line?

And who is the meanest when somebody's getting clowned on film in the meeting room? Who's the meanest? Like, yeah, the meanest. What do you mean? Well, like, funny slash me. Like, who is the one that you do not want? Like, if you have a bad rep, you're like, I know this person is going to get me in the meeting room tomorrow.

Oh. Coach Flood, for sure. Oh, Coach Flood. Okay. Most definitely. Most definitely. I'd say the funniest in the O-line room, though, it would be Andre Kojo. Kojo is very funny.

Hayden's funny. Hayden's, like, funny. Who else? Jake, Sawyer. I mean, the list goes on. Nicole, Nato, KB, Goosby. This is a team that loves meetings, for goodness sake. No wonder you guys win so many games.

This makes so much sense now, like now after talking to you in sweat. We got to talk about how you got here, though, because back in middle school, early high school, you didn't intend to play football. You intended to play football. You were a soccer player. I have seen the photos. You were a 6'4", 220-pound defender.

Yeah, 2B. So, so. How did that start? You know, I'm assuming that's what you grew up playing. But at what point did people start saying, hey, you might be a little big for this, but this other thing you might be pretty good at? Honestly, I would say the first time was like when I was like 10 going on 11. So we had a soccer tournament in Houston, and the opposing parent was like, yeah, you definitely need to be playing football.

So I was like, okay. And, yeah, I mean, tried it one year when I was a kid. Didn't like it at all. Went right back to soccer. And then I was a kicker in middle school for my middle school football team. Didn't really play anything else besides kicking. Wait, so you're the biggest kid on the team and you're the kicker? Yeah, just kicking.

I was like this big, though. I was tiny, man. I was very, very small. I was going to say, you were very lean, it looked like, growing up and then kind of packed it on, which probably explains why you're so athletic at your size because you're 330 now, right? No, sir.

No, sir. I'm like 315. Oh, is that all? 330 was last year. Yes yes sir so the soccer thing i i heard your high school coach interview and he said that you would they would be calling penalties on you just because you were so much bigger than everybody else and eventually you know you you were thinking you're you know potentially play soccer in college and then realize okay maybe I'm not going to get recruited here. Maybe I need to think about something else.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Most definitely. And, um, uh, credit to my high school coaches and my friends that were like, pushed me along and just so happened like the week of that, I stopped playing soccer, decided not to play anymore. The coach that was the coach that challenged me to play football, I saw him, and I was like, when's the first day of football? He said today. So that was the first day of spring ball.

Went to my high school soccer coach. I told him I'm not playing soccer no more. Said good luck. And just did that and hit the weights definitely and trained hard. And over time, just got better and better. And so. You didn't know a lot of the rules of football, I imagine, at first. But how good were your feet from the get-go because of what you did in soccer?

Oh, definitely a big advantage, especially when I started playing. I was just really just turning and burning, just running. And good lungs, you know, good feet, light on my feet. It was solid. I'm just trying to imagine like in a pass set, especially like when you've got a kick slide and you've got a guy in a really wide technique, that's probably second nature to you,

just being able to move your feet like that. So most definitely. Still got to work at it. Still not perfect by any means, but love that. So you played D-line at first, and I saw your high school football coach interviewed and said that you got hit by a pulling guard at one point, spun around, and were wondering if this is for you. What was it about the move to O-line that changed things for you? To be honest, I really wasn't looking forward to play O-line in high school at all. Just playing D-line was fun.

You get a sack of Christian Jones. You don D-line was fun. You get a Christian Jones. You don't get any of that when you play O-line. I was just young and just wanted to feel like I was doing something amazing, but I got switched by Coach Faith. It was definitely

very, very difficult at first, understanding the footwork and all the technique and all of that. And Coach Turnbow, Coach Clay, Coach Roma, they all took their time with me and got better throughout the time. Just remember being challenged by them every single day. And thank you all. Thank you all for that. And you got that nasty streak where you finish blocks and downfield, you'll go after people.

What does it feel like when you have that perfect, you're driving a guy and you know you're going to be able to dump him, and at the end of the block, you put him on his back? Oh, man. You've got to finish. Anytime I feel that he's a little bit off balance, I'm like, all right, I got to speed up. This is where I go as hard as I can to make sure that I finish him. And it's a statement. I feel like it's a way that we want to play as an offensive line.

It's not just me. You know, left side, right side, everyone, Jake Majors, every single person. And just playing with that kind of tenacity and that effort, you never know, the ball may be loose, you're in the right area, and just things like that to get the momentum for the team, for the offense. Well, it sends a message. I imagine you don't hear much from that person the rest of the game once you do that it's either or they're like either they talk way more or they don't talk at

all so i've definitely came across both oh i don't know how that would inspire me to talk more if you just put me on my butt that would be tough it's a tough look so we ask all the offensive linemen we have on the show this so i'm i'm excited to hear what you have to say. What is your perfect steak? Which cut? What temperature? Ooh. Okay.

Just a ribeye. Regular ribeye. Prime rib. Medium well. Oh, you're a medium well guy. Okay. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Andrew, you've had a lot of medium rares. Yeah. Yeah. I've used to do medium rare all the time and then i kind of just like i don't know i'll do it a little bit and what's this oh i'm sorry oh go ahead i think it's called like pittsburgh style or something that's rare rare that's like bleeding oh well what's what's the style where the outer crust is like? There's like a medium plus. Okay. I had one of the Florida State offensive linemen explain medium rare plus to me.

I was like, this is getting a little too complicated for me. But it is. Yeah, that's the thing with with all you guys you're you're gonna have all these meetings and you'll be meeting with the people before the draft and they're gonna they're gonna take you out so you're gonna have to have to get all your steak preferences down but you're you're from a Jamaican family right yes sir yes sir so Jamaican Jamaican food is amazing like when I was in college the college paper there was a there was a great Jamaican spot is amazing. When I was in college, the college paper, there was a great Jamaican spot two doors down. When I was broke, it's the $2.99 patty and cocoa bread special.

When I got paid, it would be curry goat. It would be jerk chicken. What is your ideal dream Jamaican buffet? All right. Definitely. Start beef patty, cocoa bread, sodas, the D&G sodas. Ting? No Ting?

Ting. Ting as well. Ting. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I love Ting. What else? Curry goat, definitely.

Then jerk chicken, jerk pork. Oxtails? I'm cool on the oxtails, but it's a little fatty. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. And you have to like the stew and be liquid. So your stuff is more kind of mixed in with the rice and peas. Yes, sir.

With the rice and peas, man. But I get the o tail like sauce the the gravy over it and that that hits for sure but uh man you got me just like oh i'm i'm jealous that you got to grow up with that you have family members cooking that stuff that's amazing yeah my mom man she she throws down in the kitchen for sure every single day she's cooking something new and it's always tasty always amazing so have you brought teammates home to taste this most definitely i brought a most recently malik uh paying kirkland nato to houston in the offseason and we ate we ate like so much food but it was good and uh Every Thanksgiving, my family comes up here,

and family from England and a couple from Jamaica, and they watch the game, the last game of the season, and we have a little Thanksgiving. So my mom does jerk turkey on that, and that's amazing. That sounds good. I'm going to have to get your mom's email address. Just have her email me the recipe. I'll find some scotch bonnet peppers and make this happen because then if I show up at my Thanksgiving with jerk turkey I might be the hero so so do y'all kick the soccer ball around after after that on Thanksgiving oh man we don't we

don't I still I still follow soccer but not as much man I fell in love with the game of football and uh devote all my time energy into that but man i've seen you i've seen video you messing around a little bit a little bit yeah yeah when they ask but i mean i'm not gonna lie besides that time last time i touched the ball was i'm gonna say covet uh just playing like soccer and whatnot but yeah my dad's like no don't play no just focus on football always just staying on me about it. I was going to say, football, it seems like there's a pretty bright future in football. But how excited are you about this opportunity on Saturday?

Because you guys have obviously played some big games already this season. But this one, the whole country's watching. Honestly, I feel blessed for us to be in this situation. Like you said, we had a few big games already, and just being able to be in that position, you got to just take a step back and be grateful for that. And, I mean, it's the Red River rivalry, so it's going to be a good one.

It's going to be a really great atmosphere i think it's the best in college football easily just because of the state fair around it and everything going on and we're at the center of that doing what we do and uh two teams two rivals that that are that feel passionate about each other and uh just ready ready to go out there and uh and execute christian good luck on saturday i appreciate it so thank you so much each other and just ready to go out there and execute. Christian, good luck on Saturday. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

I am now very hungry after talking to Christian Jones about Jamaican food, but that's okay. The show must go on. We now talk to a guy who has the other side of the Red River rivalry ingrained in his brain, burned in, seared into his memory. Gabe Eichert, former Oklahoma Center, played in four of these. Yeah, of course he's going to mention his record and you'll hear it. Here's Gabe. We are joined now by Gabe Eichert, former Oklahoma center. You hear him on the Oklahoma breakdown podcast. You hear him on Sirius XM, big 12 radio.

You hear him on the broadcast of the Oklahoma football games. What's up, Gabe? Important week, big week, big week. I've erased last year's game from my memory. That game did not happen in my mind. So excited for a Red River rivalry that feels – I mean, Andy, it feels big again. Yeah.

Game day. Texas is a really good football team, arguably the best team in the country. Oklahoma playing really, really well. So this is what it's supposed to feel like. It's the biggest game in the country, Oklahoma playing really, really well. So this is what it's supposed to feel like. It's the biggest game in the country this weekend and cannot wait for this one, man. That's what I was going to add. You played in some very big versions of this rivalry. What does it feel like when you come through that tunnel in the Cotton Bowl?

It's, this is the way I describe it. You spend the rest of your life chasing that feeling, trying to feel it again, and you just never find it. It's fantastic. Now, luckily, I had the experience of running out of the tunnel, doing all that feeling, that roar, because the way that it's laid out, the tunnel you come out of that's how you side

there at the cotton bowl so it's like the loudest cheer like the hair on your neck standing up and then you kind of get down to the other end and they're booing the hell out of you which is also fun but one of the coolest things i was able to experience is getting to walk out as a captain like before either team runs out and you just you get to walk out and you have this moment where you can just soak it all in like there's a there's an energy in that stadium attention and anxiousness with there being equal number of fans that you just don't feel really in any other setting as a player and having that experience being able to walk out there first as a captain that that's one of my better experiences and I got to do it twice as a football player it's just it's the best setting in all of American sports. Andy, they take a giant football stadium.

It's in the middle of a state fair. It's so fun, man. So fun. I encourage anyone that hasn't been to go. Well, and that's what we're trying to get across to everybody this week because it's been played for the last 10 years, but not in this way.

Like this is how it felt for I mean when it was Bob Stoops and Mack Brown this is how it felt almost every year you think about the run for Oklahoma and Texas between like 2000 and 2010 2011 think of all the NFL players, you know, all the talent that was on that field, this game. And I know the big 12 structure is different now, but this game used to basically be like, okay, whoever wins this one's going to win the big 12 South and is going to play for a big 12 championship. And it kind of feels that way again. Now I am of the opinion that this is the first game between these two teams. I think these two teams are going to play again in December for a Big 12 championship.

But, yeah, Texas really hadn't held up there into the bargain for this game to feel the way that it should. But credit to Steve Sarkeesian. He has taken over. It's taken a little time. I know maybe a little longer, right. Then some Texas fans wanted it to, but in year three, it's all come together. And I think it's, it's all about what he's done, building that roster at the line of scrimmage. And yeah, this is, this is how it felt, you know, back when Vince Young was playing in this game. And then you think about Bradford and Colt McCoy, there was a run where this game determined not only who would win the big 12,

but a lot of the time who was going to play for a national title. Exactly. It was, yeah. I mean, this was the game of that 2000 to 2010 period so let's talk about Texas in the line of scrimmage because you're a former center this is where you live it feels like they are completely different now than they have been for the past decade on both sides the line of scrimmage which which side do you think is better do you think their offensive line is better or their defensive line is better I think their defensive line is the strength of their football team now you look at when you look at Texas's offensive line and their defensive line right now Kelvin Banks he's gonna be he's just getting

started he's a true sophomore I don't think he's played up to his talent level this season he's had a couple rough outings especially last weekend against Kansas but he's gonna get there he's still he's just he's so young and so talented but I think to Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy I think that combination of those guys on the interior I think that's the best position group they've got along the O-line and D-line is that interior defensive line group with Sweat and Murphy and then you could throw Alfred Collins in there right because they play anywhere on the line and he's kind of a versatile piece for this for them the same with Vernon Br broughton who is the guy i really like some of the stuff i've seen from him he's number 45 they'll play him in the interior they'll move him out to end he has

the the baylor tight ends want to burn that tape he abused them but I think overall the old line's really good it's really good but I think the defensive line it's just so important it's so important to have a strong defensive line when it comes to playing overall great team defense and their defensive line's been really really good especially in the interior I think their edge play their edge players are solid but Ethan Burke high effort guy looks like he's got long arms but Barron Thrill I don't think they have a premier edge rusher right you know like a Dallas Turner that Bama's got I don't think they have that type of guy but the thing about them is they've got multiple guys they can rotate in and there's not a big drop off and that that's huge to have you know that competitive depth

across your defensive front how does that Oklahoma offensive line match up against this group, you think? This may be a controversial take. I don't know. I think OU's offensive line is just as good as Texas's. Wow. I think they have. I think OU has the advantage at tackle. I know everyone wants to talk about Kelvin Banks,

and he is incredibly talented, but Tyler Guyton is the best offensive tackle in this football game, right? He is an absolute freak show when you look at the measurables and the ability. And I think the combination of Rouse and Guyton, right? I think that's a better combination than Christian Jones and Kelvin Banks. The interior for Oklahoma's offensive line has not played particularly well. And in some spots, like Andrew Ray in their center, he's a very talented guy. He's just been inconsistent. And the left guard spot for Oklahoma, that's the big question mark. They've played multiple guys at that position. Savion Bird is definitely the better physical

matchup in this game, but he hasn't played a ton of football, and I'm not sure if he can be trusted in this setting. Troy Everett is a guy that transferred in from App State he he battles like hell man he's just not very big he's a center is what he is right he actually reminds me a little bit of myself when I was playing left guard when I was a center like early in my career and you're just kind of there's some really good stuff and then there's some reps where you go oh that's that's not great so I've lived that life I know what like. And, and Troy Everett has some of those moments, but there's some youth on that Texas offensive line. I don't, I don't think there's some huge difference between the two O lines. And in my opinion, I think they have their strengths in spots, their weaknesses in spots.

I, I think Texas's group is good though. Don't get me wrong. I heard you and Teddy Lehman, your co-host on the Oklahoma breakdown talking about something that we've talked about on this show this week. If JT Sanders is out or is limited, I feel like that changes Texas's offense a lot because he, when he's on the field, he's the best skill guy on the field and almost any game unless they unless they play ohio state and marvin harrison jr is there brock bowers is fantastic brock bowers would be another one maybe he's fantastic yeah he's fantastic i'm not so sure that jatavion

sanders isn't the best tight end in the country I mean he is absolute freak show of an athlete and they build a lot of their offense to get him the ball some of their counters to some of the things that they do they counter a lot of things like if you adjust defensively they'll counter with a lot of screen game and a lot of those go to Jatavion Sanders. And he's, I mean, he's special with the ball in his hands. And that is, they've got other tight ends. They don't have anyone else. Like, no offense to Gunnar Helm, but he's not even the same.

Stratosphere is what Sanders brings. You know, when you think about him as a pass-catching threat, I was really, really concerned about how OU's safeties and what they call their cheetah position, kind of like their nickel Sam linebacker. I was really concerned with how they matched up with Jatavion Sanders, right? Dasan McCullough is a guy who's played a lot at that cheetah spot. I wasn't sure.

In fact, I didn't think McCullough was going to match up well with Sanders athletically. Now you're talking about a 65%, 70% Jatavion Sanders. Then I feel better. I feel better about that matchup. And he got rolled up so badly. It's crazy. It's only his ankle. I can't believe his knee wasn't affected in any way,

or at least they haven't said anything. But he is, he's a special player. And the fact that he's going to either be limited or not available at all, that's big for Oklahoma's defense. Well, let's talk about Oklahoma's offense because Dylan Gabriel, it feels like they've, they've opened things up for him. This, I mean, I know last year never happened, but there was something happened.

I know it did. Okay. I know it did. I watched it. It's because Dylan Gabriel couldn't play was why it was so hideous. And it feels like with Jackson and Arnold, they're just more comfortable letting Dylan Gabriel do everything because they know if something happens, they have somebody capable. They can put in. Yeah. That's definitely part of it.

Right. You've seen, you've seen DGB more involved with his legs. Right. And in fact, truck stick to guy last week for a touchdown run did not see that one was not on the bingo card for me. But not only is the staff, Jeff Levy and this offensive staff, more comfortable getting him more involved in the run game. I think Dylan Gabriel is just more comfortable with everything

that comes with being the quarterback at Oklahoma. Right? People may not realize this. Like if you're the quarterback at Oklahoma, right? People may not realize this. Like if you're the quarterback at OU, you're one of the most famous people here. There's lots of statues of Oklahoma quarterbacks that you walk by. Yes. And those are the guys you're being compared to.

And there's still a small portion of OU's fan base. It's like Dylan Gabriel's not good enough. We want to see Jackson Arnold. Those people are insane because Dylan Gabriel has played some of the best football of any quarterback in the country. Now, has the competition been great? No, but you can only play the schedule, right? Dylan Gabriel has to play really, really well

or Oklahoma will lose, in my opinion, because OU's run game has been okay. The one thing they have really struggled to produce is explosive runs, right? And that's the thing about Texas. You look at some of the rushing numbers for Texas, they haven't necessarily run it that much better than OU when it comes to like a success rate, if you look at that metric. But what they have done is have Jonathan Brooks rip off 40, 50, you know, 35, 40. And OU just hasn't had any of those runs. I just don't think it's realistic to expect them to start to have those type of runs

against the best defense that they've played all season, especially the best defensive line that they've played all season. So I think it's going to come down to Dylan Gabriel in the passing game. OU's O-line's been very good in pass protection. That's definitely been the strength of the group. And he's going to have to be really accurate. He's going to have to make great decisions with the football. And Oklahoma's wide receivers, who have been a very pleasant surprise this season, they're going to go have to make competitive plays and I think that's kind of the game man I think that OU passing attack it's gotta it's gotta be humming or they're just not going to be able to keep pace

with what Texas can do offensively I thought it was really interesting I had a question in my mailbag earlier in the week about is is Quinn Ewers a really good quarterback is he an average quarterback and I was looking at the expected points added stat where he was not, he was like 87th in the country last year in that. And now he's into the teens in that stat, but guess who's number two in the country this season, Dylan Gabriel. He's been great. I mean, he really has now they haven't played any elite defenses.

They haven't played Bama. Yeah. It's just in they're not gonna play the cincinnati game concerns me because in cincinnati you have dante corleone who is a legit nfl defensive tackle which you're gonna see three of those four of those against texas yeah uh and they they scored 20 points now a lot of that was circumstances of the game. You're just trying to get through it. But that's the one I kind of look at and go, oh, this will be a much more talented defense than that.

They're going to have to play a lot better. I completely agree. And I love the logic you're bringing to this matchup. And you and I both know there's going to be something or a stretch of this game where we're just like, what the hell's going on here? That's what happens every year in this matchup. But, yeah, I think Quinn Ewers is good. Now, my esteemed co-host on the Oklahoma Breakdown has riled up the Texas fans by calling him average yeah but I think Quinn Ewers is solid but when I look at their offense I say hey is it Ewers

or is it Sarkeesian right and I think I think that's kind of the interesting discussion for me. I think Steve Sarkeesian is so good at play design, utilizing motion to create angles, to create matchups. I think he does a great job of motioning and shifting with purpose, if that makes sense, to either learn something from the defense or manipulate the defense into something where he can take advantage of a matchup. And all Uris has to do is not screw it up. And he's done a great job of not screwing it up

now i do think he's got elite touch i i think his touch on some of the deep balls touch on some of the throws layering it in zone coverage is really really good but when you have the conversation like elite quarterback play that's just not what I see from Quinn yours like you watch and Caleb comparing anyone to Caleb Williams is kind of silly but you watch Drake May or even you know a guy like Sam Hartman you know you see Bo Nix you see these moments where you go whoa how did I mean how did he make that happen you don't really see many of those from viewers and he will he will make some mistakes when he feels heat when he feels some pressure and that's where I'm interested in seeing how Venables like his philosophy coming into this game defensively

like what that looks like how much pressure is he going to bring because if you bring pressure Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell to steal the Venables phrase they will turn your lights out yeah so I don't know that's gonna be a fun cat and mouse between Venables and Stark though I can't wait for that and you're right weird things just happen in this game and that's something that we haven't really talked about just a random outcome because i remember going to that 2013 game oh you was we not i still see case mccoy my nightmares and that's chris whaley interception return for a touchdown like who would have thought that would happen i went three and one against the longhorns yeah lost to him my senior year which still haunts me i think about it i don't know maybe once a day it's terrible but that's the

thing about this game that was by far the most confident i ever felt going into that football game i was like we're better than these guys we're about to beat the hell out of them and you were better than them but not we were and but we we played awful and we had these awesome jerseys they had like gold trim on them they've never seen the light of day ever again they were the coolest jerseys ever for that game never got to wear them again because we played terrible and lost case mccoy it. That's all right. You got three wins to think about. I know the one loss bothers you, but you got three wins to think about.

One thing, because I do think these teams, offensively and defensively, are closer than some people realize. And I hate to say this, but it could come down to kicking. And Burt Auburn isn't hitting it particularly well coming into this game for the Longhorns. And I don't think Zach Schmidt for Oklahoma has hit it particularly well these last couple weeks. So I really hope it doesn't come down to late field goals.

That's just not what I want this game to be, Andy. But I think special teams whether someone has a critical fatal mistake or someone has like an explosive return i i think special teams could play a pretty large role in how this one gets decided i think you may be right gabe eichard you You want it to be in the trenches, but yeah, it might be the kickers. Who knows? What do you think style wise? Like I, I think you got to, I think, Oh, you has to get in the thirties to beat. Yes, I do. And that's why, that's why I brought up the Cincinnati game because 20 points will not win this game. I TCU did it to them last

year, but this Texas team is so much better than last year's Texas team. And that's what I think makes this game so interesting is both of these teams are so much better than the versions of these teams last year. I agree. So I can't wait. I'm so glad it is what it's supposed to be again. uh you got me pumped thank you Gabe thanks Andy thanks for having me man a big thank you to Gabe Eichardt for sharing his memories of the Red River rivalry even even the bad one that was it was big of Gabe to uh to talk about that 2013 game we appreciate it but that is not the only game going on this weekend. It's not the only game in that noon Eastern window that is very intriguing. We've already mentioned a few of them,

but one other one, Ohio state returns to action for the first time since punching it on the final play at Notre Dame. And they are playing undefeated Maryland. This is the best Maryland team we've seen in years. And they are headed to Columbus to try to take down the Buckeyes. Spencer Holbrook from Letterman Row joins us to break down that matchup. We welcome Spencer Holbrook from Letterman Row covering Ohio State

for on three. And Spencer, I last saw you on the field at Notre Dame Stadium. Tripp Tranum was about to punch it in. How have the Buckeyes been since that win? They didn't play last week. They're feeling pretty good. They've got some confidence. It's so weird because if a team scores 17 points in a game, you don't think that that's a confidence booster for the offense. But this offense is riding pretty high after knowing what it did against Notre Dame and the confidence that it gained. I think that this is a group that feels

pretty dang good coming out of the idle week. I feel like that last drive did probably increase their confidence just because when you think about the circumstances of it, a minute 25 to go 65 yards, and they managed to run all of those plays convert third and fourth and longs in multiple occasions I would think that that makes you confident in your offense period and especially in your quarterback yeah he's Kyle McCord has has taken the next step I think in his development of and that doesn't mean like he's going to read off defenses better he's going to make better throws I think it means he's got a command of the locker room. He has a little bit of that respect. He's got a little bit of that swagger that you need to play quarterback for an

Ohio state, an Alabama, a Georgia, like you have to have some of that. And I think that he's getting that and, and he's being recognized as such in the locker room by the coaching staff, seeing him get up on the bleachers and kind of point to himself after that game-winning drive tells you a lot about where his head was before and where his head is now. He's kind of, I think, proved himself a little bit. Five of 13 on that final drive is not great, but the five were really great. And I think that's what you saw from him.

And he's now, I think, taking the next step in the locker room. And I think that's going to lead to taking the next step on the field. Well, another next step that seems very, very important is Ohio State is just not giving up big plays like it did last year. Last year, they were number 115 in the country in plays of 40 yards or more given up. They had 18 of those, I think, last year. Zero through four games.

Goose egg. Like, that is a dramatic improvement especially like I know you're gonna say oh they haven't played anybody but like western Kentucky has explosive plays all the time against everybody else Notre Dame has had explosive plays this year but they just they just didn't do it yeah and that's where this defense has taken its biggest uh leap I wouldn't call it a step. It's definitely a leap. Last year when we talked to Jim Knowles in the preseason, it's like, okay, we're going to give them explosive plays,

but we're going to make sure that they're not touchdowns. They're just explosives. Well, they gave up explosive plays against Toledo, and we kind of brushed that under the rug. Like, ah, it's a growing pain of a first-year defense. Cut them some slack. They gave up explosive plays against Maryland there in November, and we probably should have seen that coming the week before Michigan cut them some slack. They give explosive plays against Maryland there in November. We probably

should have seen that coming the week before Michigan. When you're giving up big time plays to receivers and to Talia Tungavailoa on the road, then you go against Michigan. We don't need to rehash that. I'm not going to make Ohio State fans sit through me talking about that again. There might have been a few explosive plays. We'll leave it at that. Yeah, exactly. You can Google it if you need to. But then you go to the Georgia game and Latham We'll leave it at that. opposite of what we heard from him last offseason, which is kind of crazy. One year, you flip a switch of like, oh, we're okay with them to, hey, none, zero. And the players have taken that on too. We talked to a couple of them in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center last night on Wednesday, and they were just adamant of like, hey, Maryland likes explosive plays. We're not giving up any.

We do not want to give up explosive plays. We're keeping things in front of us. And this defense, longest touchdown it's given up this year is two yards. And they are really, really proud of that. It kind of makes sense though, when you think about it, because Jim Knowles came from Oklahoma State, where probably half to more than half of your games are being played at a talent deficit, where you're going to have to take some risks. You might give up some explosive plays, but if you're at Ohio state, maybe one game all season gets played where you don't have the most talent on the field. And you can just keep that. I mean, Georgia has done a great job of that through the years with Kirby smart.

That's what you look at Georgia against Tennessee last year. All Tennessee did was make explosive plays against everybody else they played and Georgia said look we're gonna keep everything in front of us we'll tackle you when you catch the ball but you ain't getting past us and Ohio State it feels like it especially in the secondary this year has the athletes to say that to almost anybody yeah and it's a pride thing for them right like they're giving up eight points a game they want it to be zero and you know we talked to him after the Indiana game, three wasn't good enough. We talked to him after Western Kentucky, uh, 10 wasn't good enough after Youngstown state, they were angry that seven,

uh, was on the board. That simply was not good enough, but also like Knowles is finding new ways to win games according to his, his own defensive philosophy. Like he came into Ohio state and we heard the nickname, sir, blitz a lot. He's blitzed his entire career at Duke. I like rushing eight men, and I don't get tired. No, sorry. Yeah, we're doing like engage eight, ask Madden stuff here, you know, in the fourth quarter against Georgia, and it worked in the third quarter, and then in the fourth quarter it didn't.

And so you go back to the drawing board a little bit. Now I don't think they blitzed more than six at any point against Notre Dame and it worked and so not only is this offense finding ways to win rock fights and put just enough points on the board to win they don't have to be great right now because the defense is finding new ways to win games it doesn't have to bring eight it doesn't have to bring linebackers and safeties off the edge it can play a little bit of that cloud style that, like you said, you see from the Georgians, the Michigans of the world, and it's working. And so I think that's one of the things that they can kind of hang their hat on now is like, hey, we have a philosophy. We like to blitz, but if we don't have to,

we're not going to, and we can still win games. It also helps when there are some very good pass rushers who can get home, even if they're just rushing four. And JT Tumilau, you pointed this out on Twitter this week, and I don't think it's gotten enough attention. Him getting a hand on that screen pass against Notre Dame is the difference between winning and losing. Everybody talks about the last play, the 10-minute on the field, but that is when they won the game right there, or at least gave

them a chance to win the game, because they lose if that ball gets completed. Yeah, and Jim Knowles said it right after the game. I said, Jim, I actually asked him straight up, were you surprised that they were throwing the ball in the fourth quarter with a lead? And he said, kind of, but also they had us. And he's like, I have to go watch the film, but they had us. I turned the film on. Notre Dame's got that screen call and he, it was wide open, almost you're not going to guarantee a touchdown, but it was going somewhere that wasn't in Ohio state's direction until he gets his hand on that football.

And so that was the critical play of that entire, you talk about the fourth and seven completion on the final drive. None of that happens. If JT T, well, the wall doesn't lay out, get his hand on the football and almost intercept the ball to make that last drive a lot easier. So he's, he's really starting to turn the pressure up. He and Jack Sawyer had their career highs and pressures against Notre Dame,

no sacks, but the pressures I think are even more important at this point for this defense specifically. Mike Hall has seven pressures on the year. Like they're getting there they're not getting the quarterback down so they're not piling up the Will Anderson stats that everyone wants to see from these two defensive ends but they're getting home and they're creating disruption and that is helping the back end just as much as the back end is

helping the rush well it's okay because Will Anderson didn't pile up those stats last year at Alabama either yeah exactly Texas turns out he's still pretty good. He and C.J. Stroud. Yeah. Pretty good. But this team has a challenge this week in Maryland. It's interesting. You were talking about the Maryland game last year, and you brought up a point that I don't think has been talked about maybe outside of Columbus.

They're not playing Maryland the week before Michigan this year. Yeah, Michigan. And I feel like a lot of the weirdness of Ohio state Maryland of late has been where in the calendar that game has fallen. Yeah. It's the, it's the location because Ohio state has had a one point win and a two score win. That was really a three point win against Maryland in college park. Meanwhile, Ryan day at home against Mike Loxley is averaging 69.5 points a game. So it's the location and it's the time that it is played. Ohio State had to go to Maryland last year on a cold, windy day the week before it hosted Michigan. That's not happening this year. Ohio State's off of an idle week. Ohio State has a lot of

confidence after beating Notre Dame. Meanwhile, I don't want to alarm anybody, but Michigan plays at Penn State, at Maryland, home against Ohio State. I don't know if Maryland is going to pick off this Ohio State team. I don't even know if they're going to pick off Penn State. But there's no reason to think that they can't put a scare into Michigan the week before the Wolverines host ohio state that's why i don't think this is as uh fun of a game as people like to make it out to be like

you know father no maryland comes the horseshoe like okay there's going to be some excitement there the turps are the best they've been since 2001. um but when you look at the stats and ryan day at home against mike loxley and and just ohio state at home against Maryland in general since that 2014 inaugural matchup, you're not really talking about a game that's been competitive. And I think Maryland can be more competitive in this game. But to think that there's an upset brewing in Columbus this year, I just can't get myself to believe that. Well, I mean, like you said, this is the best Maryland team in a long time.

This is definitely the best since Mike Loxley's been there. Talia Tungabailoa is the headliner, but they spread the ball around really well. They've got four receivers that have at least 18 catches. They really seem to have a balanced offense with Kevin Sumlin there. So I think it's going to be fun and probably a challenge for that secondary, but I think you's going to be fun and probably a challenge for that secondary, but I think you're right. The circumstances are just different about this particular game. And maybe if Ohio State is coming straight off that Notre Dame game

and Marvin Harrison Jr.'s ankle is a little sore and maybe he can't play, that's a little bit different. But it sounds like he's ready to go. Yeah. We talked to him on Wednesday night, and he said that he was good enough. And he admitted right before the Notre Dame game, ironically enough, that he played last season on a sprained ankle, which if you think about 77 catches for 1263 and 14 touchdowns on a sprained ankle,

I don't know, man. He's a Martian. But this year he's going to have to do the same thing on a bum ankle and he said this year is worse but he's good enough to play and that's a really big thing for him to say because very smart people are probably telling him to go on the shelf there are probably even coaches who are saying like hey maybe you shouldn't play on this ankle until we know that and Ohio State's seen that before Ohio State's seen that before Ohio state, seen that with a high first round draft pick who gets hurt early in the season

and says, okay, I'm not, I'm not doing this anymore. So it is a little bit different, but also if I'm the NFL team that may be taking Marvin Harrison jr. I'm looking at that and going, Oh, he's a dog. Yeah. I mean, he's, he's got that in him as, as everyone likes to say now, like he's not going to let his brain ankle keep him out's a dog. Yeah, I mean, he's got that in him, as everyone likes to say now. He's not going to let a sprained ankle keep him out of a game. He wants to win a national championship. He wants to do all the things that they probably should have done last year,

and he wants to do it with his high school teammate in Kyle McCord. Who's to tell him not to do that? He really wants this, and I don't think a sprained ankle is going to keep him out. That's why last Wednesday, three and a half days after the injury, he was on the field on his Monarch machine that he's become famous for, catching passes three days after the injury. He's got it taped up, got the ice on there, but he's still catching passes because that's who he is.

He's Marvin Harrison Jr. It feels like this team is fairly tight and together. How much does the way Notre Dame ended kind of reinforce that bond? Yeah, I think it was all the right culprits at the end of the Notre Dame game. You've got a leader in JT to him all the while on the defensive side, making that play. You've got Latham Ransom, a fourth year player, stuffing Sam Hartman on fourth and one,

but he has help from a young guy who's starting to emerge. Then you've got Kyle McCord, the quarterback, in the biggest moments making the throws. Your three best receivers were the ones who were targeted on four of those five catches on the last drive, along with a captain in Cade Stover at tight end. All of the right people to have those moments made the moments happen. And then you get a guy who is known as one of the best

people on the team and chip train them is the one who plunges it in for the touchdown i think that brings the team together right it's not just like that it happened it's the guys who made it happen it was it was almost like the right people at the right time and i think that's kind of galvanized them it's made them come together a little bit more they They see their head coach. How do I put this rallying for them? Yeah. This game, like there's some, there's some stuff going on here that I think is maybe flying a little too far under the radar. As we talk about, you know, this is a wide open college ball playoff race. Well, these guys are not gonna, you know, sit around and let somebody else come take it. I think they're starting to trend in the right direction.

So let's talk about that Ryan Day thing. You wrote this. I've talked about this. Lou Holtz doesn't necessarily seem to feel like the target of that. It feels like he's sort of an avatar for everybody who is saying that, including people in the Ohio State fan base. And Ryan Day just got fed up. and that's more of a message to the team like hey I've got your back yeah it was it was one of the I don't know like as a guy who

covers the team it was kind of just bizarre like he's he said what about Lou Holtz I'm on my way to the postgame press conference and he said what uh but um you know there's something I'm an Ohioan I've been I've lived in I've never lived anywhere else other than Ohio my entire life. There's something about a guy who's from New Hampshire, who there's a lot of people who called him John Cooper for a long time and still do because John Cooper is the only Ohio coach who's not Ohio State coach, who's not from Ohio. And guess what? He's the one who didn't win a national championship.

He's the one who couldn't beat Michigan. So the parallels, we have to be honest with ourselves. There's some parallels there once you see two straight losses. But to see a guy stand on the field of your regional rival that you just barely ever play and declare like Ohio against the world, like we are from Ohio, I guess. It's like there's just something galvanizing about that for the fan base to finally see that out of Ryan Day, to see like, okay, he gets us. And the players, the fans, the administration, like the right people liked it. And I don't think it mattered if you or I liked it or if anybody else in the national media liked it. The right people liked it.

He understood the constituency that he was aiming for. People never get that. With every message, it only matters if it hits the constituency it's supposed to hit. In this case, it definitely landed and landed correctly, as you said. The Ohio against the world resonates with Ohio state people. And so I, yeah, I think, I think you're exactly right. But I think it's funny because a lot of that message was directed at Ohio state fans who felt the same way. Yeah. You know, then I heard a

certain morning commentator on Saturday mornings talk about how he shouldn't have went after Lou Holtz and that guy's from Ohio and it's like, but he didn't go to Ohio State. So I guess part of him kind of doesn't understand like maybe how Ohio State fans feel about this right now. And there's a lot of pent up energy in this fan base. There's a lot of angst. And so to just kind of let that all breathe for a minute and just have that moment of like carrying the Ohio against the world flag team carried off the field to have that even in the arsenal, they had it on the team playing to like bring with them. Like we know what the message is.

And for Ryan day to declare that message so publicly to that poor NBC reporter, who, who just had to stand there and listen to it. It was a, it was a moment for this program. And I think it's something that something that they can kind of rally around for the rest of the season. I think you'll see that moving forward. That's right. He's their guy instead of New Hampshire's guy now.

So, Spencer, thank you so much. Letter Monroe, everybody read, subscribe. I can't wait to see the Buckeyes this weekend. It's been too long. We'll talk to you later. Two weeks is too long, man. It's been too long. We'll talk to you later. Two weeks is too long. Thank you to Spencer Holbrook for getting us ready for the Buckeyes and the Terrapins.

Cannot wait. This is going to be such a fun weekend. My one regret is my extra point. I'm not going in person to Texas, Oklahoma this year. I have been before. And, of course, I have sampled the foods at the Texas state fair, deep fried Snickers bar, deep fried cotton candy, deep fried Oreos, you name it. But I've been looking through some of the new foods this year and man, I'm sorely tempted to buy a plane ticket to Dallas and just get there for the game.

Let me give you two. Let me just give you two. The deep fried Bidia Bomb. I will read the description from the State Fair of Texas website. This culinary fusion combines the traditional flavors of Mexican Bidia and South American Papa Ariana

resulting in a flavorful and innovative snack for any occasion. Bidia bombs are stuffed with bidia, huaqueca cheese, and home-style mashed potatoes. Then they are rolled into a ball of perfection, dipped in a special batter, and deep fried until they reach a golden brown. Lastly, they are topped with fire-roasted poblano ranch and fresh cilantro, which pairs perfectly with this family consomme recipe. Oh, my God. If you hadn't had birria tacos where you basically dip them in the consomme, you dip them in the au jus,

imagine that in deep-fried form with mashed potatoes inside. Holy mackerel. Let me give you one more. Deep fried candy pecan bacon bread pudding. This recipe begins with making the perfect bread pudding. Again, this is from the State Fair of Texas website. A marriage of French bread and a perfect custard recipe. After it cools, it's cut into bite-sized morsels. As the bread pudding is placed in the fryer, it starts to caramelize at the edges turning golden brown with a rich and creamy center the bread pudding is tossed in a perfect blend of cinnamon sugar and candy pecans which find their home nestled next to crispy chopped

bacon good lord it's probably better that i don't go i might be 400 pounds when i come back. But man, that's what I want this weekend. We can't all go to the Texas State Fair, but if you're going to the game, have some of that. Let me know how it is. That looks amazing. We'll talk to you after games on Saturday. Outro Music