Andy & Ari On3 - Washington SURVIVES Texas | Michigan beats Alabama in an EPIC Rose Bowl

Episode Date: January 2, 2024

Thank you to Gametime for sponsoring today's episode! The national title game is set, and Gametime has your tickets. Visit https://gametime.co/, download the Gametime app and enter code STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Last Minute Tickets, Lowest Prices, Guaranteed.Andy and Jesse Simonton break down the two College Football Playoff semifinals. In the Sugar Bowl, Washington beat Texas behind an incredible game from QB Michael Penix Jr. In the Rose Bowl, Michigan came back with a vengeance to take down Alabama in overtime.Now the Huskies and Wolverines will face off next week in the national title game in Houston.Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube! https://youtube.com/live/tzD1RABOZvM

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. We have a national championship game and it took two classic semifinal matchups to get there. Jesse Simonton, welcome aboard. We just watched Washington survive Texas and I thought I thought it was going to be just a disaster like another Mario Cristobal Miami Georgia Tech situation. Like, why didn't you take a knee? We still can talk about that. They lost a starting running back by not taking a knee. But they did survive. They are going to play for the national title against Michigan. Hold on to your butts. Hold on to your butts.

As John in the chat puts it, all Big Ten final. What a just what a great day of just classic football, Andy. It was just, we got two awesome, awesome games. And they weren't the prettiest games. Tonight's game was a little more thrilling in terms of some of the passing and the fireworks that we got. But, you know, these games have such ebb and flows. The swings are so big. They're so long. People forget that just a lot of times it's just being able to hold on to weather the storm, to get to the next play, to fight the next down and ultimately Michigan and Washington

did that better than Alabama and Texas well and Texas just seemed done absolutely done and then they came back to life because Washington didn't want to run clock like I don't understand why Washington didn't want to run clock it was like watching the Peach Bowl last year where Ohio State wouldn't run clock. Yeah, I mean, the decision by whether it was DeBoer or Grubb, both of them, you know, not to run and force Texas to burn the timeout on that third down in the red zone when they were going to kick a field goal to go up, you know, 10 points there.

And then not just kneeling it out. Unfortunately, Dylan Johnson then gets hurt. So Texas doesn't have to see 30 more seconds get burned off the clock. That's a complete reprieve for them. But they survived. And this is it was a great pair of semifinals. It kind of delivered on, I think, the expectation going into today, Andy, that a lot of folks thought that this was going to be the most competitive

two matchups we'd seen, and it delivered. And I still think, I still agree with what I said earlier, where it felt like all four teams that were in this bracket could win the national title. There was a way to play these games where you have an Alabama-Texas national title game. But Michigan came back. Washington held on. And this is, I mean, this is what everybody wanted.

They wanted fresh blood in the national title game. And they're absolutely getting it right now. My old friend Ari Wasserman is having a heart attack because this is a stars don't matter national title. Remember, there's some stars. There are some stars. You know what this is going to do, though, Andy? It's going to specifically recalibrate. I think especially from Michigan's perspective, it's going to recalibrate how we look at some of the roster evaluations

vis-a-vis versus the pure blue chip ratio, but with the transfer portal and kind of how you actually reassess what those guys are when you get them to what they are now in the present. Because Michigan both has a roster full of developmental NFL players, plus they've supplemented the team with guys like Josiah Stewart, who on the final play of the game at the Rose Bowl you were at, blows up a five-star offensive tackle.

And Jalen Miller had an RPO where if it's a good snap... Let's look at this beautiful video of the final play. Good snap, and he doesn't get blown up. He could probably throw it out to williams here and it might be a touchdown instead the play gets blown up he gets tripped and michigan's going to the national championship for the first time in 26 years well leon in the chat playoff committee proven wrong he's a florida state fan actually leon the one in the two seed one so i don't think i believe they were actually proven correct.

So I don't think that proves anything. Now, maybe they were wrong about putting Florida State ahead of Georgia. Yeah, I was going to say, you know, the one team that's kicking, that's really kicking themselves right now, watching this, I think tonight, are certainly Georgia.

Yeah. Because they, the path was there for them to pull off the improbable. You and I were together six months ago talking about how hard it would be to actually three-peat that no one's done it since the 30s. The path was there, but they didn't get it done, and that's why we have new blood, and that's why we have Michigan-Washington

in what should be an unbelievable game in Houston in a week I can't wait to see it I though I am still trying to process because this just happened that Dylan Johnson won't be playing in this game probably well maybe he will oh I'm hoping he can't it looked bad though and if if that's the reason he can't play him again I say this about Kalen DeBoer all the time like I never disagree with anything he does. I disagreed with that. That's the first thing I saw where I was like, that's not the right move right now.

Well, it was funny because I think all four – in both these games, all four staffs and fans of these teams could quibble with some of the decision-making that they made. You can always second-guess. Hindsight 2020, I understand all that. But specifically, like, for Texas and Washington tonight, you know, DeBoer, basically, they're up 13, and suddenly they pass four straight times, and they get really cute with it.

A couple of, like, you know, semi-trick plays, and that almost seemed to, like, wake Texas' defense up. know it's funny because suddenly like inspired by that they get they get a stop they roar down the field suddenly they're back in the game it's just kind of funny that it's just the decisions of these again the games are so long if you just wait for it you have a chance to take it well and i think you know when they did, the way they'd been playing all game, and I'm going to bail Kalen DeBoer out on that one, because the way they've been playing all game is they had just been slicing and dicing Texas' defense.

Michael Penix had thrown for over 400 yards at that point, and it was like, all right, throw the dagger here and just be done with it. And I think that was the point. We'll see. Kalen DeBoer hasn't gone to his press conference yet. I imagine that's what he's going to say when just be done with it. Like, and I think that was the point. It will see Kalen to board. Hasn't gone to his press conference yet. I imagine that's what he's going to say when he gets asked about it. And if they'd done that,

we'd have been like, yep, Kalen to board. That was the right thing to do every time. But you know, I, and I understand like that, the personality of your team is to attack downfield like that. So I'm not going to kill him for that.

And again, they did win the game. So it's not like, it's not like the Ohio state Georgia situation where Ohio state let Georgia back in the game. This was, you know, it was tight. There was a play in the end zone, but Washington won and they are headed to Houston, Michigan. I tell you what, that is just an Epic last three minutes and overtime. I was down on the field for all of the major action there at the end. And I'm standing right there as they go for fourth and two on the 33. And you knew this was it.

Like, this had to be it. And they flip it to Blake Corum. And he said after the game, he's like, I saw that cornerback and I knew I could get the corner. And then he roars past him. And it felt like that woke up Michigan's offense because they, you know, J.J. McCarthy just kind of marches him down the field, a little easy flick to Roman Wilson for that touchdown.

And the two runs by Blake Corum in overtime were just classic, epic, exactly what you expect from Blake Corum in overtime were just classic, epic, exactly what you expect from Blake Corum. Yeah, I mean, I wrote it, you know, you wrote kind of an inside, you know, scoop of, and everyone should go check out in on three about those final minutes and kind of what that meant for Michigan. I wrote a piece in on three kind of looking at the macro perspective. This has been Michigan versus everybody else season. And I think this was the culmination of that, Andy. That togetherness, that collective effort that no matter the adversity, it's been mostly

off the field noise. But tonight, it was actually for the first time this season, they faced true adversity on the field, and they answered. They proved their mettle. And it was Blake Corum coming up with his 25th touchdown of the season. It was Stewart blowing up the play. It was a couple receivers who had done nothing all season catching the first touchdown of their career. Basically, Alabama punches first.

They go up 7-0. Boom. Michigan answers right back. How about Mason? Yeah, Mason Graham at overtime, submarining the entire offensive line and taking down Jason McClellan for a loss. Their stars showed up for sure. And then, like you said,

some guys that we didn't know about showed up too. Yeah, and this is, you know, it's funny because, again, to speak about Michigan's roster and what you kind of teased about Ari and kind of the blue chips deal that he's kind of dealing with, this is a team that somehow is full of NFL guys, Andy, and yet it's still kind of like a whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You know, they do have the stars in Corham and McCarthy and some of the other guys, but it still feels like such a – it's just kind of a one-team deal.

And now they're a win away. And they've somehow survived every distraction, every offseason drama. This has been a team that's constantly been in the headlines, and yet 2023 seems to have been defined, at least in my eyes, this college football season about Michigan versus everybody. So why wouldn't it go all the way up until the national title game? And I think that's an interesting point you bring up about how many NFL guys Michigan has because their best guys are old.

They are going to lose a bunch of guys to the NFL after this season. That's probably a lot of the reason why there's the hardball to the NFL chatter. We've talked multiple times already about who you bring in. Five stars. Stars matter. I think what you put out in your program is more important than what you bring in. You do have to bring in good recruits, and Michigan recruits well. Let's not lie. J.J. McCarthy was a five star or a high four star depending on what recruiting service Mason Graham was a four star

yeah right exactly there you're talking about a lot of really highly ranked recruits but they have developed the really highly ranked recruits and some guys who weren't into NFL draft picks and like Jim Nagy when we were at SEC Media Days, we saw him and he said he thought there might be 17 draft picks in the 2024 draft on this team. Like that's a lot. Even against like, even a team like Alabama, where you have a bunch of guys who will eventually play in the NFL,

they're not going to have that many this year. Well, remember Andy, it was everyone laughed and kind of scoffed when Harbaugh said that this Michigan team could, and he said would, break Georgia's record from two years ago of, I believe, 17 NFL draft picks. It was something around that number. And now they're a game away from the national title game, and we're a couple months away from the combine, what have you,

and they just might. I mean, this was – it's crazy because Michigan didn't play its best game. They made all sorts of mistakes, the special teams miscues, the drops, the inability to convert on third down. And yet their staff, I think credit to Jim Harbaugh, credit to Sharon Moore, Jesse Minter, they were able to adjust accordingly and kind of make the necessary changes in the second quarter

that allow them to get out front. And then in the fourth quarter, you know, after Saban and kind of his guys had kind of pushed back, Michigan made the correct adjustments again, and it proved the difference. And that's the medal of a good team. Well, they got to get that punt return cleaned up before the national title game. That about killed them. The one in the first quarter and then the one at the very end of the game nearly became a safety, which is just incredible.

And yet they still won that game. So Jesse, if you would like to go to the national title game, there is a way it will cost you because those Michigan and Washington fans, they're ready to go to Houston. But if you want last minute takes the national title game, let's say you're a Michigan fan or a Washington fan who wasn't quite sure until tonight that you were going to get to go, go to the game time app, download it, use the code staples. You get $20 off your first purchase type in CFP national title game. It will show you all the tickets that are available for the national title game. You can click on that ticket. It'll show you the vantage point you would have inside the stadium. If you choose that

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They got national title game tickets. So if you want to go to Houston, I'll be there. J.D. Piquel will be there. You could be there too. Go to GameTime. All right, Jesse, let's talk about this game. Let's talk about Washington, Michigan. Because I think if you watch the first three quarters of Washington Texas you are

thinking who boy Michael Penix against his Michigan defense that Michigan defense that terrorized Jalen Milrow on Monday can Michael Penix do this to Michigan's defense well I wrote before the game Andy I thought you know I thought one of the kind of pressing questions for this particular game Texas Washington was which which secondary was going to prove most susceptible Muhammad got dinged up late for Washington but but the Huskies held up on the back end and Roma Dunzay Polk and McMillan are just a load to deal with they those are not Bond Burton and kind of the receivers that Alabama was throwing out there today that Michigan went up to.

I love Sanders still. I think Johnson's great. But it would be naive to suggest that Michigan is just going to bottle up these guys because they've been a top five defense all season. This will be their toughest test. It's going to be a strength on strength. You know, it was, I think it was notable, Andy, that the Joe Moore award winning offensive line of the Huskies were at least able to neutralize Sweat and Murphy. They got stoned at times. They got blown up on a fourth and we didn't see Sweat and Murphy much in the second half. I think that they were, Washington may have been a bad

matchup for them because Pennix was getting rid of the ball so fast they're getting tired. Right. And again, Washington really wasn't, you know, Johnson only averaged when he was in the game, I think like 2.9 yards per carry. But it was enough. He just fell forward enough and that I would assume that's going to kind of, you know, be the game plan, uh, against the Wolverines. I mean, Penix was surgical tonight. I think we, we would behoove us to at least spend a minute or two on him and just kind of masterful performance. He had some throws that were just, uh, I mean,

you talk about, it was like Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games. Shooting arrows, yeah. I mean, just darts, just unbelievable darts. He had that throw late to set up Polk down the sidelines. That was a phenomenal throw. And he showed, you know what was also interesting? For the first time really since he was at Indiana, he kind of showcased a little athleticism.

They kind of used his legs. Yeah, the design runs for him late in the game were their best run game. And he has that in him. I mean, remember the 2020 Penn State-Indiana game where he comes from the corner, dives for the two-point conversion? Yeah. Yeah, he's got that in him. And Iives for the two-point conversion yeah yeah he's got that in him and i think it's one of those things where they're probably not doing that

to protect him because he has had three season ending knee injuries and i think that's that's the part you worry about with michael pinnix but he's been healthy for two seasons now and he's held up so i i think you know you look at it now and you probably feel a little more comfortable running him. And in this game where, look, it's all or nothing coming up, you're going to run him. And I think having that option available to you makes that offense open up quite a bit more. You know, you know, not to take us on a little side side detour here, Andy, but I think, you know, it's going to be a very interesting narrative for you down in Houston with all the continued scuttlebutt. With Jim, how you got at?

You wrote it in your column tonight. He got asked about his future. There's all sorts of, you know, the rumors are running rampant about the Chargers, the Raiders, what have you done. I tweeted out tonight, I understand you have Sharon more on staff. If Jim Harbaugh leaves for the NFL after the national title game, my first call,

if I'm Michigan, it's Kayla. But why are you leaving? If you're Kayla to board, you can win the national title at Washington. You can, but you're getting, you're in the same league as Michigan next year.

You might have an even better avenue with Michigan's resources if they're willing to invest. I just think it's an interesting storyline. Well, let me throw this at you. Regardless of what Jim Harbaugh does, whether he gets an NFL job or not, if you are the Chargers, if you are – well, we don't know if the Bears are going to open up, but it sounds like they might not now.

But if you're the Commanders, if you're one of these other teams that we're talking about with harbaugh why don't you call caitlin deborah you could we we did that's absolutely that would absolutely be a very interesting avenue uh thus far we haven't heard of his nfl interest but i i i don't discount that being a a a shrewd plan for an organization the dude went everywhere it doesn't matter where he's a maximizer of talent but he's not known as a great accumulator of talent which in college football still seems to be a a major skill but in the nfl you don't have to be an accumulator of talent being able to maximize talent is the skill no that hey look at that that see that that that that's a great you just gave

michigan their talking point right there no not him not him yeah i well listen i think college football would be much more fun if both of them are back at these schools next year so hopefully that's what happens but uh caitlin abor has amazing, his rise. And we had him on the show earlier this year and he was talking about, you know, how he got to learn as the head coach at Sioux Falls and the NAIA. And it wasn't in front of hundreds of thousands or millions of people. And so he went through a lot of those situations as a young coach. And you know, I, how I always say he, it feels feels like situationally he's almost always right. He's an old head coach when you think about it that way, even though he's not an old coach. Right, right. And again, Sioux Falls, NAIA, and then what he did with Indiana as their OC to take over Washington that was a team that you know under

jimmy lake almost seemed like it was having a mutiny oh yeah in one year they were going down fast in in one year he completely turns around the trajectory of that program now year two uh you're in the national championship game what a run run. What also, you know, pour one out for the Pac-12 here. Okay, well, let me ask you this while we're on this subject of what happens after. What if Washington wins this thing? Do you celebrate at all if you're the Pac-12? Or do you just lament what could have been if you hadn't completely screwed it up? Or do you celebrate if you're the Big Ten?

Like I was talking to a Big Ten executive earlier today, and they said, well, you know, if Michigan and Washington win, we're not going to pound our chest about it like the SEC would if Alabama and Texas win. I'm like, why not? Why not? These are your teams. No, if Washington wins, Andy, it's the Will Smith Y2K.

You're busting it out like the world's about to end. Because the world has ended for you. It's over. You're going out with a bang. Whether it's Will Smith Y2K or REM, end of the world. That's how you're celebrating. So you're saying George Klyavkov and company should just loot the Pac-12 offices and take back what... Exactly.

If Klyavkov's there, does he go up on the stage with them? How does that even work? Yeah. They should tell him to just go take a seat. The Willennium. Oh my God. That is, it is amazing to me. If you think about this, the PAC 12, you know,

this is only the third time the PAC 12 has made the college football playoff. This is the second time they've made the title game. They've not won one. What a way to go out. If that was it, but like, here's what I do.

If I'm Oregon state and Washington state, I send my athletic director so I send Scott Barnes and Pat Chun to go up there with Washington and collect the trophy they're like no no this is ours too we got it we got it the league the league of champions 2023-24 the two-pack is taking it what do What do you think? Just initial thoughts of the opening line there. Four and a half to Michigan. Our friends at FanDuel have come out with an opening line. Michigan by four and a half. 55 and a half is your total. I think that seems

fair because I look at that Michigan defense and I think there will be less time for Penix to throw than he had against Texas. And I think it's a better secondary than he was throwing against Texas. And I also think Michigan's offense is going to be a little more diverse. And I think they're not going to,

if they're having success running the ball, they're going to keep running the ball. Yeah. Unlike Texas tonight, which was again, I, we teased it. I touched on it earlier, you know, in the show for the live viewers that may have missed it. I thought it was kind of a strange decision by Sarkisian to, to not lean on Baxter and those guys, they were averaging around right around seven yards a clip while Quinn was only completing about 50 percent of his passes at that point.

And yet they were continuing to kind of rely on that passing game. A.D. Mitchell and Xavier Worthy really were kind of absent until late. They weren't even really getting, you know, touches. And so I think you're right. I mean, Michigan, Sharon Moore, we saw that against Penn State, Ohio State, held most of the 12 games for Michigan this season. They were going to rely on that run game. No Donovan Edwards really tonight. He was kind of completely a non-factor.

But Blake Corum, man, I mean, he just – he's a big-game player, and he showed up. He said it afterwards. He, he was not in this position a year ago cause he wasn't healthy. He was here tonight and, and he delivered and that, you know, his vision and his ability to kind of his balance, uh, to score that game winning touchdown that proved the difference that that's going to be, you know, on this on full display Monday night in Houston. Yeah, talking to the Michigan offensive lineman about that play, Ladarius Henderson left tackle.

He saw it all. Trevor Keegan said he didn't see it. He was in a pile of bodies, but he heard the roar of the crowd. But Ladarius Henderson saw the whole thing, which is like this incredible jump cut into the hole. And then he spins out of a tackle from Terry and Arnold. And then before he even stops spinning he starts to spin again to get out of a kool-aid mckinstry tackle and then falls in

the end zone it was one of the most incredible runs i've ever seen it was it was and it was you know uh i i would be would we be remiss andy to not circle back and maybe have a couple comments on Alabama here? Yeah, we definitely need to talk about them. I wrote before, as part of my preview, one of my pressing questions was which Alabama team would show up, the one that we saw against Georgia or the one that we've seen kind of for most of the 2023 season, which was up and down.

They had some highs, they had some lows, but they were extremely inconsistent. And it turns out that is the one that we got. And I also wrote, I thought some folks were kind of running with the narrative that suddenly Alabama had kind of found themselves against Georgia. They gained 300 yards in that game. Jalen Milrow came up with some huge plays.

We talked about that. He was a complete X factor. But it was not like the offense had suddenly solved all of its woes. They gained 250 or 260 tonight. He puts the ball on the ground. You know, they could not block Michigan up front consistently. They also, Tommy Reese, went away from the run. A, went to the run game too late and then went away

from it. I think that proved costly. They were getting stuff out of Justice Haynes where he just is a more explosive back than anybody else they have in that backfield. It felt like they could have used him a little more. It also like the, the center quarterback exchange, Seth McLaughlin was, was back with the low snaps,

which we, I don't think we saw that much against Georgia and we didn't see it at all. Yeah. And you talk about Milrow and it was a lot of times he didn't see blitzers coming. Like there was one where they, they blitzed a linebacker, you know,

straight through the B gap. And it was one of those where the line every lineman was occupied it was completely on the quarterback to take the sack like you you know there's a hot guy out there and it was a it was cj dip ray the tight end and he didn't even see any he didn't see the blitzer he didn't see the hot and but i think a lot of that was he was bending down to catch the snap almost every play and like you are putting your head down and then bringing it back up and that fraction of a second that especially against a defense like michigan they're going to be on you and that was a huge huge factor in the game well and and and it just it's just an added issue for a quarterback that already has accuracy concerns you know specifically on intermediate throws and he had a lot of

throws that just went into the sidelines maybe one yeah there was one throw to bond late in the game that that looked like what they were doing against georgia other than that it was the back to the dinkin bomb and yeah they never hit any of the bombs no they didn't and and and you know milrow came up with some big time design runs but at other times he was just running for his life you know and it was just i think saving is going to be kicking themselves that even despite all of that, despite all the issues, they're up by a touchdown. They should have won the game. He has his defense on the field. Yeah, he has his defense on the field, and they couldn't get a stop.

Yep, they should have won the game, and it was very poorly played. But Michigan will tell you that they had some plays that they want back. I mean, like I said before, the two punt return mistakes were crushing for Michigan. Miss P.A.T., Miss Philgold. Yep. Yeah. So like if they clean up the special team stuff, I think that's gonna be very helpful for them in the national title game. You know, Washington is, they're not going to make, Washington's not going to make a lot of mistakes. So you can't do that against them. Like this Alabama team, we've seen it make mistakes all year.

So what we got was a mistake-filled football game. But I thought Michigan, just the way they came together at the end, and I do think that fourth and two conversion on the 33-yard line, I think it was 319 to go, it's a little dump off to Corum. He gets the corner. It woke that offense up, and I think because they had to go faster, it allowed them to not have what J.J. McCarthy called that paralysis by analysis, which he was talking about last year against TCU. But I do feel like they had that somewhat offensively on Monday.

Yeah, but it allowed them to play. I mean, by then, you just got to go for it. It's all gas, no brakes, to quote Steve Sarkeesian. You have no choice. You got to go for it. You know who Michigan's special teams coordinator is, Andy? It's not Connor Stallions. No, it is.

It's Jay Harbaugh. One Jay Harbaugh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so while, while they're celebrating tonight with, with big old glasses of whole milk, I think he may be getting a stern talking to from a, from old dad, from old dad there that, you know, let's clean you know let's clean up let's clean

up that stuff let's let's throw up something that's that's very satisfying for a lot of the people who watch i know uh and we'll be very infuriating for some other people who watch but i i think the the satisfied crowd is going to outnumber tonight um the SEC has been eliminated from national title contention only the second time since 2005 that the national title game would not feature an SEC team. The other time was, of course, the first college football playoff, that noted Big Ten matchup in the national title game, Ohio State versus Oregon. Yeah, again, I mean, that circles back to, uh, I think the team that's really kicking themselves tonight are the Bulldogs. Um, the fact that they lost in Atlanta, you know, in the first week of December last month that I, I, what all the FSUs opt outs, whatever,

notwithstanding, I think Georgia was one of the four best teams. And the way the schedule played, the way the whole deal played out, they were just unlucky this year. And almost every other year in the college football playoff, even if they lose that game, they probably get in. But they didn't this year because we had the undefeated teams. And so that's where we're staying. JW in the chat says, this feels so much like Pistons versus Lakers. It's unc we're staying. JW in the, in the chat says this feels so much like Pistons,

Lakers, it's uncanny. I'm not, is he talking about Oh four, which the Pistons won by the way, against the Shaq, Kobe Lakers, or is he talking about the bad boys against the Showtime Lakers?

Either way, either way it works. If you're saying you think Michigan's going to win, but it is a, it is a clash of styles that I am very excited to see in this mission, Washington game. But when Michigan be the Lakers in this scenario? No, Michigan's the Pistons. Michigan's absolutely the Pistons.

They're the Pistons as a physical, tough football team, but they are absolutely the blue blood. Right, but the Lakers are the showtime, and Washington's the smooth, silky offense that just flies down the field. So I think that's where the analogy – it's a good analogy. Antoine in the chat, if Michigan gets one big-time wide receiver, it's over. Y'all better hope and pray Michigan doesn't find anybody in the portal for next year. Antoine, most of these Michigan stars are going to be in the NFL next year.

They got to do it now. Michigan's going to be 9-3 next year. They got to do this now. This is the title or bust season. Yeah. And it's not to say that Michigan's going to just suddenly be bad. Nine and three next year. Yeah, they got to do this now. This is the title or bust season. Yeah. Yeah. And it's not to say that Michigan's going to just suddenly be bad. It's that they have an incredibly special group of old players right now. Yeah, everything's culminated to this.

That's the whole point of Michigan versus everybody. That's why, you know, Jim Harbaugh has kind of harped on the whole notion of chasing perfection. The whole season has centered around this special group of guys that has been there since the 2020 turnaround. They've now won three straight Big Ten championships. You beat Ohio State three times. The mission for Michigan is to now erase kind of some of the questions and issues that they had against Georgia and TCU. They did that tonight against Alabama.

Now it's about cementing this special season with a championship. Yeah, and it just blows my mind. So they're going to play 15 games this year. Six of them, Jim Harbaugh didn't coach. That's still wild to me. I will never forget being there at the State College airport waiting for their plane to land as the Big Ten suspension of Jim Harbaugh is coming down for three games,

which means he's going to miss the Penn State game and the Maryland game and the Ohio State game. That happened seven weeks ago, Jesse. Again, I wrote it. It's been just kind of a season of distractions and kind of just drama for this team,

and yet it hasn't derailed them yet, and I don't think it will. And no matter, really, honestly, Andy, no matter what happens against Washington, at this point, none of that, none of the counter-stallion stuff, none of that stuff matters.

It's going to be 60 minutes between the white lines, one game, and whatever happens, happens. You're exactly right. And this is, I mean, a season that started with the Pac-12 disintegrating and the Big 10 getting bigger now ends with a big 10 team against a future big 10 team and one of the stories of the of the college football season and washington i think is emblematic of this era of college football too because without the transfer rules, Washington isn't this.

Right. Yeah. I mean, you got one of your key receivers as a transfer. Dylan Johnson as a transfer. Obviously, your star player, quarterback Michael Penix, is the ultimate transfer. You pluck a couple guys defensively, and then you do what Washington's done really for the last two decades, which is you have a couple dudes on the defensive line.

Yeah. And they've got Trice. That is – there's always money in the banana stand, is there are always dudes on Washington's defensive line, and especially Trice, Braylon Trice, ZTF. They are fun to watch. Well, Jesse, we got a national title game. We got a matchup. We had two classic semis. Now, we've not had a situation yet. We've had classic national title

games. Last year, we had two good semis that resulted in a terrible national title game. I think we're going to get two great semis that lead into a great national title game. I think we're going to get two great semis that lead into a great national title game. I think that's going to happen this time. It would be a one-for-one. It's been a one-of-one season, so why not close it as such? That's right. We'll have more about Michigan and Washington.

We also got to talk about Nicomania dawning in Tennessee, the end of the Brian Ferentz era at Iowa. We'll do it talk about Nico mania dawning in Tennessee, the end of the Brian Ferentz era at Iowa. We'll do it all on tomorrow's show. We'll see you at 8 PM Eastern time on Tuesday night.