Andy & Ari On3 - What’s really at stake for Ole Miss coach Pete Golding when Lane Kiffin returns to Oxford with LSU?

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

In what may be considered the game of the year in college football, all eyes will be on Oxford, Mississippi, as Ole Miss hosts LSU Saturday night in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. While most of the conversation revolves around Lane Kiffin's return, what about Pete Golding? How big is this game for the Ole Miss head coach? Watch her as Andy & Ari dive into the Rebels head coach and what kind of statement he can make this coming Saturday.(0:00) On Today's Episode(0:58) Presenting Sponsor(2:07) Intro: Ole Miss vs LSU(11:47) Maximizing the talent NOW(13:20) Homecoming in Oxford(17:35) Princewill Umanmielen served(27:27) Gametime(25:30) Who Am I?(30:06) Rhoback(31:57) Gabe Ikard joins(33:00) New Mexico at Oklahoma(35:03) How OU Fans move ahead(40:55) New Mexico Contributors(45:22) John Mateer(48:35) How does Oklahoma have to play to win?(50:18) Kamario Taylor(53:29) 13 Meatball(55:28) Closing out with Gabe(57:13) Vandy names Curtis QB1(1:05:13) Closing out - thanks for watching!After the discussion on Pete Golding, there's some news out of Baton Rouge to cover: Princewill Umanmielen was served in connection to the Ole Miss revenue sharing lawsuit. Of course it happened this week - Andy & Ari discuss.Next up, former Oklahoma offensive lineman Gabe Ikard from the Oklahoma Breakdown joins to discuss the state of things for the Sooners out of Norman. How should fans feel after the tough loss to Michigan? How do the Sooners need to play to win? Watch here as Gabe Ikard joins.To close the show, Vanderbilt has named a new QB1 ahead of the Commodores week three game vs NC State. Jared Curtis will be making his starting debut in Nashville vs the Wolfpack this weekend. Why now? Why did the highly-touted QB not start the first two weeks?Our show is presented by Polymarket!New User Offer: Deposit $10, get $50 upon sign uphttps://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/ON3Trade on College Football games every week on Polymarket. Download the Polymarket App with code ON3 for a $20 bonus upon sign up.18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirement apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur.Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/2fdSQsq8JmU Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River BaileyInterested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's Andy Areon 3 presented by Polymarket, we've talked all week about Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford, where he coached and where he left. But what about the guy who got the job who actually won two playoff games for All Miss last year? Where is Pete Golding in all of this? Because he has a golden. Golding opportunity this weekend. Plus, another edition of Who Am I? the game that's sweeping the nation, and Gabe Eichord, former Oklahoma Center, host of the Oklahoma Breakdown, joins us to discuss what is going on with the Sooners

after the loss to Michigan. What do they do next? Also, Bannerbilt will start Jared Curtis, the star freshman recruit against NC State on Saturday. Why did it take so long? All today on Andy and R.A. on 3, presented by Polly Market. We are sponsored by Polymarket. That's right, the world's largest prediction market. All the point spreads and the totals come from Polymarket

where you can stake out a position on your team. If you've got a belief that they're going to win, well, you just say yes to that position. You think they're going to win by three and a half points. You say yes to that position. You're not working against the house with Polymarket. You are working against other folks who have staked out a different position than you. That's why you want to get in the chat. You might want to talk a little trash to them during the game,

but it will seem very familiar and it's an awful lot of fun. If you sign up for Polly Market Today using the bonus code on three, new users can deposit $10 and get $50 upon sign up. So sign up for Pauly Market today, bonus code on three. New users deposit 10, get $50 upon sign up and start trading today. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply not available in all jurisdictions trading is risky 100% loss can occur welcome to annie naryon 3 presented by polymarket and ari we've spent so much time on lane kiffin and for good reason people like talking about lane kiffin but i think we need to talk about the other coach in this game because pique golding is in a really interesting position because Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss, as you pointed out in your column this week, leaves Ole Miss and by his actions delivers the biggest insult you could deliver to Ole Miss.

Pete Golding gets the job. He leads them to playoff wins against Tulane and Georgia. They play well against Miami and the semis but lose. Pete Golding is the permanent head coach now. Like it is his program. if he can beat Lane Kiffin, who's coming back with the program that he had to go to because he didn't think Ole Miss was good enough,

Pete Golding becomes a legend at Ole Miss. Yeah. I mean, I feel like maybe is he already kind of a legend? Because the thing that always stands out to me about last year is that given the circumstances and how tumultuous things got at Ole Miss when Lane Kiffin left, it felt like things could have gone a little haywire. And it wasn't so much that Ole Miss won the playoff games that they won,

but it felt sturdy, right? It felt like there was an adult in the room and it never like was in danger of going off track. You know, I think that that would rattle a locker room. That would change a lot of dynamics, I think, losing a coach. And then, of course, all the other things that go into play, which is who's leaving with them, you know? And they were just really good.

Now, the question that I have is how much built-in welfare does Pete Golden get for those playoff wins? And is he put in an unfair position because of circumstances that were out of his control? Because if Ole Miss were playing a number 17, and let's just say that it was just like Georgia coming in and they were number seven right now, and you didn't have all the emotional baggage that comes with this game, you know, you could probably lose it. And people would be understanding of that, especially considering the fact that it's mid-September. but I wonder how much people are going to react to him and his game plan or how he calls the game if they end up losing in an unfair way that might not be rational. Well, it's not going to be unfair.

He's paid millions of dollars to coach the SEC. It's completely fair. It's his job to win this game, just like it's Lane Kiffin's job to win this game. And I think Pete Golding would tell you that. He seems to be, as these guys go, among the most down-to-earth and just no BS. Football guys you're going to run into.

Yeah. Like he would tell you, like his job is to win this game. Now, let me ask you this, sorry, because I was thinking about this week. If,

and the situation they were in where they were going to the playoff, I think you had to make Pete Golling, the permanent head coach at that time. I don't think you could have gone through a coaching search. I just don't think that would work. But if Pete Golding hadn't been named the permanent head coach, let's say they'd lost the Egg Bowl, Kiffin left anyway, they weren't going to the playoff and they'd just done a full coaching search and Pete didn't get the job.

Do you think Trinidad Shambliss and Keywon Lacey would still be there? I mean, my understanding is that Pete Golden, Golding sat them down and convinced them to stay, which is amongst some of the early passing grades that he gets for being Ole Miss's coach. I don't know the answer to that. I think that the odds of them not being here would be much higher because I think familiarity and the run that they went on with the coach that, you know, led them there, I think probably had an emotional connection to each other. And, of course, I think Ole Miss. So, you know, I don't know the answer to that.

The thing I don't know is if Pete Golding wasn't in the right place at the right time, because he certainly was. He was the right personality and had the certain experience level that would merit this. but I think that Ole Miss would have been a highly attractive job at a national search. So my question more so than what would the players have done would be, what is Pete Golding's leash at Ole Miss? And does he have a longer one because he helped them navigate an awful time? Or does he have a shorter one because a national search would bring in a really good candidate?

We spent this week kind of analyzing Lane Kiffin's decision. and what he said earlier in the week about two Heisman finalists returning and the implication that Ole Miss has a ton of pressure on them because I think that that means that, you know, Lane Kiffin views Ole Miss as a team that should be and could be competing for the national championship. So if Ole Miss in its current state has the goods from a player standpoint to win at the highest level,

I don't think that Pete Golding is entitled to anything there because they are a team that could win a national championship. And if they're willing to pay commeserate with that expectation, Not that they're not paying him that. I have no concept of how great it can get. I mean, I have a concept of how great it can get if he's successful on Saturday and ultimately the season. I don't know how rocky you can get how quickly, depending on how things go, starting on Saturday. Like, is Pete Golding like in the honeymoon phase or is he in the do it now or your dead phase?

I think if you're an SEC head coach, you're always in a do it now or your dead face. Like, it's not, there's no grace at all in that conference. Summerall in the do it now or your dead phase? I don't think so. Yes. Yes. I mean, Billy Napier didn't live in that world, and he was the Florida coach for four years, right? Because Billy Napier was the Florida coach for four years. Yeah. Yeah. So now, here's the thing.

Speaking of the floor search, I do know that one of the reasons they locked down John Somerall when they did is there was fear. So that week, this is the week of Thanksgiving, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are playing the Egg Bowl on Black Friday. That's Lane Kiffin's last game. everybody knows at this point Lane Kiffin's going to LSU. Everybody. So everybody's ramping up for whatever comes next.

The Florida people, at that point, John Sumerall is the guy. They've decided he's the guy. They also know that if Ole Miss were to lose the egg bowl and the playoffs is not a possibility, then Ole Miss will have a search.

And John Summerall would have been prominently involved in that search if he's not already locked down with another job. So that was something they were very concerned about. Now, they win the Egg Bowl. I don't think they, like I said, I don't think they had a choice but to go with Golding at that point.

But here's what I'll say about golding that I think is really interesting. Because when we talk about the first year head coaches in the SEC this year, we talk about Kiffin and we talk about Sumroll and we talk about Alex Golish, who John Summoral is playing this weekend when Florida plays Auburn. And we talk about Will Sine at Kentucky and Ryan Silverfield, the Arkansas. So we all kind of forget Pete Golding because it feels like he's been the head coach there for a while. But he is a first year head coach as well. And I would argue that other than Kiffin, he's the one put in the best position to succeed immediately.

And what if he does? Like, because we were thinking only Lane Kiffin can do this at Ole Miss. What if Pete Golding can do it too? What if Pete Golding was such an integral part of that success and also works very well with their administration, which I would argue that Ole Miss's administration, with Keith Carter and the Grove Collective, like those guys get it.

Like they get this era of college football. They understand how you fund a roster. They understand better players wins you games, winning games, gets you more donations, gets you more everything else. So it may be the, this is the perfect marriage. We won't know until we watch him coach some more games,

but I like the early returns to me. I don't know. Maybe amusing is not the right word. Would you say that while Lane Kiffin gets a ton of credit for finding Trinidad Chambliss that they also like lucked their way into a pot of gold on accident? Like, Yes. Like, because like obviously that wasn't even the plan.

Also, there are stepfers that helped bring in Trinidad Chamblis who are still at Ole Miss. Yeah, but when you bring in Trinidad Chamble, you're not bringing him into start. And he never was going to play if Austin Simmons didn't get hurt. And then they found out on accident, kind of the way that like the 49ers did with Brock Purdy, that this guy was even better than the starter. And now he's turned into maybe the best player in college football. So I think that part of the reason why Ole Miss is in this circumstance too is, you know, and that's part of the game.

That's part of the evaluation. Everybody's trying to do that. So, but how much can you duplicate that? Like, when's the next time Ole Miss is going to have the best quarterback in college football? So you also feel like you, even though, you know, this is an emotional game and, you know, Lane Kiffin and all that, you want to show him, it feels like this is a window of opportunity that might not come around. And this is probably true for a lot of places that happen to have the best quarterback in the

country at a given time. You know, you want to win, you want to maximize that, even the most talented teams in the country. We talked about Ohio State yesterday. when you have a player like Jeremiah Smith, you don't want to not maximize that because you don't know when you're going to get somebody like that again, even though it's more frequent at a place like that than it is an Ole Miss.

So I think there is a part of this too of a sense of urgency. Now, obviously we live in a world where you can lose this game and continue on and your goals are still ahead of you because, you know, five, seven years ago that you could lose this in your season's over before it starts. But, you know, for Pete Golding being in the best scenario, certainly, you know, he was a part of building that, especially defensively, but you also don't want to let it whittle away when you have the opportunity of having two Heisman finalist-type guys

in your same backfield the way that Lane Kiffin pointed out. So, like, I do think that there's a tremendous amount of pressure on him. I don't think that there's more pressure on him than Lane, but I still think that there's a ton of pressure on him to perform on Saturday, especially considering the fact that it's at home. Yeah. No, again, I will say this until I die. You get paid millions of dollars to coach in the SEC. You are under pressure from minute one.

You are always under pressure. So that's, whether there's more pressure or not, it's intense pressure for everybody. He's also passed every individual test that a human being can pass outside of. So far. Like every test. Yeah, he didn't win the national title, but that was not what anybody expected. He won two postseason games. He retained their best players and he said everything right all offseason.

So if he wins on Saturday, he could like bolt up into being one of the stars of the sport. Like that's how much is at stake for Ole Miss on Saturday. Sorry, not to message for transition. Go ahead. No, no. And so I think he's handled everything well this week so far too. So here's how he said he's messaging to the players about all the hoopla this week. You know, now with the portal and coaches, you know, going different places every year,

there's always relationships that are there. Obviously, this one being unique, their headball coach, you know, that recruited a lot of these guys and all that is on the opposing side. But, you know, they know it's a top. 10 matchup. And regardless who we play, you're playing a top 10 team in this league. If you don't prepare really well and practice really well and play your best game, you're probably not going to win the game, regardless who it is. So I think we've got a mature enough group to understand that it's going to be a hard football game. They're a really good football team. Got a good

quarterback, got good skill, really good on defense. But we got good players too. And we're going to prepare the right way this week and get locked in and get focused. A lot going on. You got Lange League, you got game day, they got so much other stuff. But to me, it's like high school homecoming for these dudes. Like, if you focus on the wrong shit, right? That homecoming dance ain't very fun after you get your butt beat on a Friday night. So we got to make sure we're doing everything right throughout the week to get the outcome that we want. And I think you can write that off as his coach speech, as coach speak and thinking that he's in the locker room or he's at practice saying,

we're going to shove it up there. You know, I don't think he is. I think what he's saying is the only way to handle a situation that has this much outside stuff going on around it. Yeah. You know, and the truth is that, you know, these players are men. They're online. I don't think you need to tell them how much this means to the community. I think that this is a game that, you know, should speak for itself.

And sometimes I wonder, like, what the proper motivational tactic is in situations where the motivation should be obvious. you know, like does he have to yell about Lane Kiffin in practice? I don't think he has to do anything, although like cracking one joke right before the team takes the field. I feel like that's the move here. Yeah. Like whatever Zinger you have on lane, you save it for right before you send them out of the locker room. Yeah. The thing that is scary to me about this if I'm an Ole Miss fan is that if you end up getting into a situation where you're down big, the antics that,

that Lane Kiffin is going to probably do. Now, you just don't want the man shooting jumpers in your building. You just don't. So I don't know what the game has to look like. I don't think that's anything anybody at Ole Miss is concerned about. I don't think they're concerned about Lane Kiffin shooting jumpers because I think Lane Kiffin's going to have to be locked in. Yeah, I mean, that's the hope.

Right. Because. And also, I don't think they can bring the basketball goal from LSU. They can't? I mean, maybe they can. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, they can bring one of the, they can bring a little one. I don't know.

They bring a whole semi. They have a whole semi. I guess they could fit that in there. Are there rules against bringing a basketball hoop to your sideline? I don't know what the rule. I don't think there's a rule about that probably. I mean, people bring all those crazy, you know, bench heaters and fans and all that other nonsense. If you want to bring a basketball goal, you can bring a basketball goal.

I don't know. All I'm saying is, as you know, he's going to, if LSU is winning big. or it's very clear they're going to win middle of the third quarter, early fourth quarter. You know Lane Kiffin is going to do stuff to make it about him. You know he is. So you got to, like I think that like the baseline expectation

if you're an Ole Miss fan in this game, even if it's obviously to win, but even if you're not winning, you can't allow him to do that. I cannot play a game that allows him to do that. Pete Golding does not seem to have that desire or any concern about whether it's about him or not. I think he understands that as long as he win,

the stuff said about him and the checks coming his way will look really good. Yeah. That's all you need. So fascinated to see this. One more little layer of intrigue that we learned about on Wednesday. So ESPN's Pete Thammel reports that Principal Uman Mielan, the edge rusher who played at Ole Miss last year and who plays for LSU now, was served with papers related to his breach of contract lawsuit.

that Ole Miss filed against him when he left, presumably for non-payment of buyout. So no other sport in the world, Andy. Hit up in the parking lot of LSU's football facility on Tuesday. So, yeah, look, that's college football right there. College football in a nutshell. Like, you want to needle your opponent. It's not pull the fire alarm at the team hotel anymore.

It is have your attorneys draw something up so the process server shows up in the parking lot. And that has to happen. That has to happen intentionally, right? Yeah, of course. They could have done that during Louisiana Tech Week for sure. But what fun would that be? I wonder what it would feel like to get served.

Have you ever been served? You were, weren't you, once? One time, but they didn't physically serve me. They put it on my door. So this was the lawsuit where Arkansas sued Brett Beelma over his buyout. And they wanted to know from me what Brett had told me in an interview that we had done, I think, in 2017.

And so I, yeah, like somebody was driving outside my house. They're just kind of going back and forth for a while. And it seemed suspicious. So I heard a knock on the door. I didn't answer it because, again, it seems suspicious. And I didn't know the person. And then I opened the door. and there's a piece of paper sitting in there

that's a subpoena. And presumably, if I hadn't responded to it, I think they probably would have had to serve it to me in person. Yeah, I was gonna say, isn't the entire purpose of serving it to do it physically, so the person can I deny receiving the papers? I got it, I received it, and then I acknowledged my receipt of it.

So then they- But whoever was doing it, if you're driving up and down the street, you would think presumably would wait to talk to you in person. So at my last house, my previous house, There was a doctor who lived next door, and someone had sued him. And a process server showed up one day and parked sideways in his driveway. Basically, like, I know that your car's in the garage and you ain't getting out without.

So you acknowledge that I'm here, yeah. Yeah, because I was coming out of my house, I was leaving to go somewhere. And they started asking me all this questions about the guy. And I, like, we didn't really talk. I didn't know the guy. And I'm like, I'm going to let you do what you do. I'm assuming of all the subpoenas that were issued in that case that you were subpoenaed for, you were probably like the bottom 5% of importance.

I was completely unimportant. So, yeah. But this one, yes, they want the process server to physically hand it to the person, probably take a picture. Like that'd be a fun job, I think, wouldn't it? No, it would not. Because you do not know how people are going to react. Yeah.

And you got to chase people because they don't want to, you know, they don't want to serve. I think I could do it. I think you'd be terrible at it. Yeah. I think you would get punched in the face the first week on the job. I also think that my face would be the last one you'd want to see while being served. You know what would be really good people for that, like really beautiful women. So instead of hiring them as like shot girls at the bar, make them process servers.

Yeah, just like less likely to have confrontation. You know, in 10 years when I'm still doing this show by myself and you have built, you know, your hot process server business into a multinational conglomerate, I guess maybe not multi-national it is the U.S. port system, but a national conglomerate, I'm going to think back to today and I'm going to really regret things because I think I think you've hit upon a billion dollar idea. Yeah. I think you're going to be living on Newport Beach at some point. Who are the people who do it, though? Is it like independent businesses or is it U.S. government related? Oh, no, it's independent.

And they are, I'm not going to paint with a broad brush, but they're willing to do things they need to do to get the job done. Yeah. They're not quite bail bonds people, but they're adjacent. So. I also think that I could like cover murder mysteries. like like for this one podcaster

not maybe not even just the podcasting part of it but like I think that like I could like be happy doing that why would you be happy do you think you'd be happy be happy digging to the tales of grisly murders I'm like a very that doesn't sound happy at all like I'm a very happy person so I don't know how like being around awful things all day would happen

but I think that like if sports writing was no longer a thing No, stick to your original idea. Perfect 10 process servers is the way to go. It's a billion dollar idea. Perfect 10. And if your parents ask about it, you can just tell them it's a bowling magazine, you know? I am willing to, I'm willing to throw in some cash for an equity stake in this company. You don't ever think like if this is no longer an option, what would I do for a living?

I would just try to use my journalism background and get into a different type of journalism. That'd probably be the most natural thing. Have you ever covered cops before? No, but I assume that covering cops and politics is very similar. Have you ever called somebody, have you ever called some family member of somebody who just died, like, that day? Never death, but I have knocked on people's doors in very uncomfortable situations before. So I had to do what I said. You were like a teenager too, didn't you?

I was like 19 years old, and they had me in the news department. There's no amount of money you could pay me. to do that. No amount. I mean, like cold cake stuff, like research, all that stuff. Oh, yeah. So you get to talk to the people, you know, years after their loved one was brutally murdered. But I'm assuming that that would be much better than doing it the day after it happened. It would still suck.

Yeah. You said you'd be happy. No, no, I know. I'm saying like I feel like. Yeah, or I could just start a YouTube channel where I drive down random roads and just film it and say this is what happens if you go down this road. But all right, let's go on to the next time. That sounds beautiful.

No, perfect 10 process servers, make it happen. I want 5% equity and we call it good. A company that has already launched and is doing it the right way and killing it is game time. Do you want a ticket to the LSU Ole Miss game? You can get one. You can get two. You can get four. Get in price right now per ticket for $449, $449.

bucks, but it's the hottest ticket in college football this week. And if you want to be in the building, you can because Game Time has tickets to every sporting event you want to see, every concert you want to see, every comedy show you want to see. Do you want to go see Jared Curtis start for Vanderbilt against NC State? The top quarterback recruit in the country, his first collegiate start. Well, guess what? 43 bucks is your getting price on game time. And if you download GameTime app or Dean the code Staples. You get $20 off your first purchase terms apply, of course. So that is code Staples, ST-A-P-L-E-S, and it is $20 off your first purchase. So get game time now and get to a game. All right, speaking of games, we didn't play a game. Oh, yeah, were you ready?

I'm ready. You got one locked and loaded for you here. Latest edition of Who Am I. Sorry we forgot to do this last week. It was a very big week. So we'll be better about that. All right. I also wanted another who am i i i also wanted another week before i had to do it again because i was getting embarrassed okay ready andy clue number one ready i was born in memphis tennessee drake justin timberlake nailed it right number two dricks for toronto his dad's from memphis my bad i am one of twelve children oh okay number three coming out of high school i had scholarship offers from Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, other SEC schools, and many other places. Okay.

Gamet of offers. All right. Number four. In high school, I earned letters in track and basketball as well as football. In my senior season, I scored, or I averaged 22 points a game, 10 rebounds, and I earned all state honors while leading my team to a 27 and 6 record and ultimately the state championship. Okay. This is a good athlete here.

Yes. idea who this is. Before choosing my college, I participated in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American game. Okay. So this is, this person was a freshman. This would have been a freshman in 2005, because that's how that worked back then. Yes. Or, yes. Okay. To further, if you don't know, I don't want to, I'm going to the next clue. I don't know if you know it. Go ahead. To further the timeline, I was selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft with a 23rd overall selection by the Baltimore Ravens. I won the Super Bowl with the Ravens and I spent five years with them.

You always, you always pick people who played for the Ravens. I know, it's not on purpose. You had Ed Reed before? This is not Ed Reed, obviously, because Ed Reed is older than that. Pretty cool if it was it. I don't have it yet. I should do the same person and give you the different clues of that person. That'd be hilarious.

Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, okay. Do you know who it is? Is this person the subject of a book that later became a movie? I'm not telling you any more clues. Is it Michael Oar? It is. I tried to be as vague as possible, but I wanted to pick an Ole Miss person the week of the Ole Miss LSU game. Yes.

So I thought the Ravens might give it away because he was very successful there. But let me just finish out the last four clues. number seven i was placed in foster care at age seven and alternated between living in foster homes sprinkled in with periods of homelessness which is when i thought you would get it uh number eight i played my freshman year of high school for a public high school in memphis i later finished uh high school at briar crest the private school where i definitely would have got yeah i definitely would have gotten it there so number nine when i chose old miss i had complete i had to complete online classes through bi u in order to get my GPA high enough to attend the school there was a pending or there was a subsequent NCAA investigation about my GPA in a pre-existing relationship with my guardian, Sean and Leanne Tuey, who

were Ole Miss supporters, and then number 10, they later made a movie and wrote a book about my story called The Blind Side. Yep, perfect. Try to be as vague as possible for the first five. You did great. That was an unavoidable, an unavoidable person that you would have gotten no matter what, but I thought, like, who's one of the more

recognizable Ole Miss players of all time? And obviously, because of the movie in the book, it was Michael Orres. And he's an offensive lineman, and I you know you love your offensive lineman. Absolutely, absolutely. And, you know, fascinating story. And Hugh Fries prominently involved. He was the coach at Briarrest at the time.

Yes. I should have made one of the clues, like, eventually would lead to Ed Orgeron's first movie role, but that would have given it away. And Nick Sabins. Yeah. That was really, really great movie. I know that he later turned out to not love the movie, right?

Like, I thought he thought it was a little, He does not like how they made it their story when it's actually his story. Yeah. Yeah. Sandra Bullock in that movie, though, absolute rock at 10, by the way. She could work at Perfect 10 servers any day the week. Process servers? Yeah.

Yeah, very similar to the Aaron Brockovich role that Julia Roberts, I think won an Oscar for. I would have gone to college anywhere Sandra Bullock told me to go, by the way. All right, all right. We got to talk to a guy who chose Oklahoma years ago, former Oklahoma Center Gabe Eichard. He's going to help us break down what went wrong for Oklahoma against Michigan and what they needed to fix it. But first, I got to tell you about Roebuck.

One, I am wearing this beautiful Roebuck button down today. I've got this in about four different colors. It is spectacular. It is comfortable. It is stretchy. I want a button down. Awesome. They didn't send you any button downs.

I don't think they sent me a lot of Hesie hoodies, which is my favorite article of clothes in all time. I don't think I have. Those are the best. I don't think I got a button down. Well, what you also will be interested in, this is a hezy hoodie from the game day collection. LSU, obviously going to Ole Miss this weekend. It's our game of the week, our Roeback game of the week, LSU at Ole Miss.

That is what I'll be wearing if LSU wins. That's what I'll be wearing on Monday. This is what I'll be wearing on Monday if Ole Miss wins. We got this sweet polo. So we're still deep in polo season because it is. a billion degrees here in the south. And, but we'll be in Hezzy Hoody season. Well, it's actually always Hezzy Hootty season because I'll wear those fishing in the

summer. Like, they're, they're fantastic. There's the Boomer Sooner one that you see if you're watching on the YouTube channel. I'm going to get Cape Eagerd one of those because he'll look good in one of those. Oh, the OU, Crimson and Cream action. Yeah, this is, this is some great stuff at Roeback. R-H-O-B-A-C-K, hoodies, polos, Q's. Zips, more.

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Here is Gabe Eikert to talk OU. Join now by former Oklahoma Center, Gabe Eikert. The podcast is the Oklahoma Breakdown, Gabe and Teddy Lehman, well, breaking down. Oklahoma and Sunday was their 666th episode. Coincidence? Which Gabe, it feels kind of fitting. Let us count the ways that. HAL, gentlemen last Saturday for OU fans.

Sports hell. OU loses to Michigan. Obviously, that's what we're here to talk about. But also, Oklahoma State beats Oregon. And the one thing they could have enjoyed was Texas losing to Ohio State. and then they have one of the best comebacks in program history. So yeah, it was pretty much all bad for

OU people. You lose on the road to a solid Michigan team, but you don't play well offensively. And then you watch your two rivals get massive wins. Yeah, super fun last Saturday, boys. But

it's a new week. You got to flush it. You got to move on if you're the Oklahoma Sooners. And you better lock in. because Jason Eck is bringing a very, very solid New Mexico Lobos team to Norman on Saturday night. And if you don't play well, and I am dead serious, if you do not play well, you will get beat. Yeah. So they got to figure it out, man.

Well, we're going to rename Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, the Steakhouse. If it comes in and wins. We were able to get 15 minutes with Jason Eck yesterday for the podcast, and he's just fantastic. Man, he is, and I'd heard so many good things about him over the years and finally got to talk to him, talk some ball with him. And he is just one of the most likable guys around. I will, I'll be cheering against him on Saturday night, right? I hope the Lobos don't play well in Norman, but the rest of the way, I'll be. cheering for the Lobos, man. He is, he's everything you want in a head coach, clearly very good

from an X's and O standpoint, but the way that he's been able to retain and acquire players there at New Mexico, like you look at both sides of that roster. They got guys on that team that could start at Power 4 schools, like no doubt in my mind. And I think his attitude, his energy and that staff he's built there the way that the connection that they built with their players has allowed them to retain some really good players and you know i i know a lot of people think they could be the group of five represented group of six now group of six representative uh in the college football playoff this year if everything comes together and they have the type of season that a lot of people think they can have but yeah i am i'm a fan of jason x man it's

it's pretty hard not to uh not to like that guy Gabe, you mentioned flushing it moving on to next week. That's what the team should do and that's what the coaching staff should do. That's not what the fans or what you should do. You know, what happened against Michigan, you know, I think is interesting because we spent a lot of the offseason anticipating a healthy and different John Mateer, a new offensive structure, a new look. Obviously, they retain offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, but, you know, the anticipation was that Oklahoma's offense would take a massive step forward and look different. It looked a lot like what we saw last year out of Oklahoma.

How alarming is that to you? Was this a bad game? Or should Oklahoma fans be really, really upset moving forward? Well, OU fans are really upset. Honestly, as upset as I've seen this fan base in quite some time, you know, for example, typically our recaps of the game on YouTube, like we have somewhere like 250 to 350 comments, something like that. There's like 1,200 comments on our recap of the Michigan game.

And none of them are positive, basically. Like this, this fan base is very upset with how this team played offensively. And rightfully, so the confusing part was this. This isn't how it looked in the Utep game. Everything that I'd seen going out to spring practice, going out to training camp for Oklahoma. but like they were playing the way that they played against U-TEP, two and three tied-ins, like John Mateer getting under center, running the ball, setting up play action, you know,

give it runs as opposed to a lot of the read run game and RPO stuff that we saw from them a season ago, which put constant pressure on John Mateer to make the right decision with the football. You know, it's different. It's a completely different world for a quarterback when, you know, instead of 70 decisions in a game, you really only have to make 40 or 35 because you're just turning and handing the ball off. That's what they did against U-TEP and it looked really good. And I know

it's U-TEP, but they looked balanced. It looked good. They looked like they were in a nice rhythm offensively. The run game built to some of the play action stuff. And it really felt like Mateer was operating it at a high level. And then for whatever reason, against Michigan, who, by the way, credit that defense, man. That is a solid defense. They're going to be one of the better defenses in the Big Ten. Like, there's going to be a lot of teams that have trouble scoring against that group. But it reverted back to what we saw a season ago. A lot of RPO, a lot of read-run game where Mateer is having to make the right decision each and every play throughout the game. And then I thought Arbuckle actually did a nice job of scheming some

things up to push the ball down the field. And Venables said it in his press conference earlier this week. Like they got to more 11 personnel because they thought that they could win vertically against Michigan secondary. And they did some. But the problem was you've got, we had issues at offensive tackle. Ride tackle struggled blocking Dom Nichols who had a fantastic game for the Wolverines. He was, he did not win as many battles as he needed to win in Marion.

Harris there. And then Ryan Fouge, because Michael Fasuzi's hurt, had to kick out to left tackle. And it just doesn't look very natural for Fouj at left tackle. And he missed a lot of time with an injury in training camp. And so it just, it, material wasn't thrown from a clean pocket all game long, right? So that just compounded things and the issues. And then they just, for whatever reason, just didn't turn and hand it to the running backs, guys. The backs only had 13 carries. in the game and Lloyd of font he he was running it officially early in the game that just kind of got away from it so it was a it was a puzzling offensive performance in Ann Arbor and you can you can tell how frustrated and disappointed they are with the way that they played just by listen to what Venables and Arbuckle have said this week in their media availability but

I I would assume it's going to look more like it did against you to than it did against Michigan now that we saw the issues that we saw in Aaron Harbor last week. Well, the question is, because I'm sure they do that against New Mexico, but the question is they go to Georgia the following week. Are they going to do that against Georgia, or do they revert to what they did against Michigan? Because I wonder like you, like, why do this? Why put all this stuff in?

And then you're going back to what everybody was complaining about last year. is it because you're worried about how good the defense is, how good their front is, maybe against that particular rebuilt, you know, revamped offensive line with the, you know, Fasusi out. But that would be my concern is like, can you do this against a good defense? Because if you can't, it's going to be this all season. Yeah. I mean, you think about after the New Mexico game, which, by the way, New Mexico has nine,

fifth year seniors that start on their defense. Jason X. Son, the linebacker, is a dude. Like, a dude. I think, and I watched the tape, this is the type of sicko I am, guys. I watched their tape against Mercyhurst. And I will say Jackson Eck looks a little banged up to me. Yeah.

He only played one series in that game, and they got him off the field. So I think he's got like a shoulder or something going on. But just knowing the way that that guy, wired he's not missing this one i know that but they've got like darren agu he he could start at a lot of power four places yeah you know i watched that guy rush at 6 626 252 and it's one of those where it's like hey man the sooners could use that guy you know anyone could use that guy brian booker on the interior their defensive line 6 3 3 30 fifth year player like he he is a powerful dude so the the oh use

offensive line's going to have to play well in this game but i agree with you you, Andy, because it comes down to, okay, what can you do against these defenses you're going to play after New Mexico? You're going to have a physical advantage, right? But then you get Georgia, then you have your buy, and then you get Texas. So it's one of those who it's like, hey, you need to find some core runs that these guys can get confident in, right? And hopefully Fasusi can be back for the Georgia game. He may be the best player on the entire team. It'd be super helpful if he can get back on the field for him. But you've got to find your core runs and stick with them.

Carry them week to week. Build play action, build screen game, build some of the RPO stuff off of those. You know who did that, Gabe? Michigan did that. Yeah. I mean, Michigan never had to get out of their plan. And Bryce Underwood got to play. He's clearly a special athlete.

but they never had to ask Underwood to drop back in third and eight, third and not, like he would, they were pretty consistently on schedule. And I like what Winningham said this week about it. Like they didn't call a good game for him in week one against Western Michigan. They played to his strength. What you should, what you should do with Bryce Underwood. And there's some people that are, they're like just run material more. do what Michigan did.

I don't necessarily agree with that because I think you need to take some off of John Mateer's plate, not put more on him. Yeah. Because we just watched like he had to make decision after decision after decision in the Michigan game. He needs

some stretches of the game where he just gets to relax like hand the ball off. Let this offensive line who struggled at tackling pass protection against Michigan. Let them come off the ball. and get more comfortable run blocking. Like it's easier to run block than the pass block.

And I would like for us to kind of establish some type of identity offensively. And I think the best way to go about it is I think our best personnel grouping is 12 personnel when Rocky Beers and Hayden Hansen are on the field. Those guys have been fantastic. Rocky Beers may be our best player guys. I mean, he has been awesome through two games. But I think having those guys on the. field and developing just some core run concepts and building everything else around that

and playing to mature strengths, maybe some more quick game to where he's not having to drop back and just constantly read out coverage and have to play the position like from a processing standpoint like at a really high level. He also, he needs to do a better job of taking some of these layups that R buckle builds into the system. Like there's guys, quickouts, uh, the checkdowns. They're wide open. He just hasn't thrown them. So there's a lot. I know I basically said, you got to change the offense entirely, but that, that's the type of stuff we saw against U-TEP was them running the football out of 12 personnel, building to play action, booting Mateer and getting him out in space on the move off of all of that. And it looked really good.

and they went away from that in the Michigan game. So I'm anticipating them getting back to that against New Mexico. It's a completely different animal playing that way against Georgia and Texas. But I think at this point, and I know Mater had the thumb issue last year, like the RPO, read run, then drop back and make them read it out stuff. Like that has proven to not go well up to this point in his Oklahoma career. So maybe lean into what looked good against UTEP and just carry that mentality forward. Gabe, you know, I was reading a lot of the post game discourse about this.

And John Matier was, you know, obviously the easy target because you're the quarterback, but the target of a lot of criticism. What is your take on the way that he's played? I know you just got done talking about it. But like, do you think that Oklahoma can get to where Oklahoma fans thought this team could go with him at quarterback? I do, but it kind of goes back to what I just said. It's up to the other 10 guys around him to play well. The protection was not what it needed to be against Michigan.

And it's when I say the other guys around him got to play though. Like the wide receivers, you've got to go win. You know, Rocky Beers has been the past catcher that has consistently created separation for himself. The other guys, not a ton of at least in the Michigan. game, right? Isaiah Satania, he's got to play at a higher level. They also got to put Satania in spots where he can use his strength, use his speed, kind of those deep overroutes, those posts. He's not a guy that is going to, you know, he's not like a close quarters,

play through a bunch of contact type of wide receiver. Get him on the move with some motions and then let him use his speed. Elijah Thomas, we got to get that guy the ball. The ball didn't come his way once against Michigan. in my opinion, he's the most explosive wide receiver we have. And there are several clips of him against Michigan where he's playing through contact and he's creating separation. And the ball just never finds him.

They got to get 14 and involved. And with the news that Trell Harris is going to be out for the foreseeable future, I expect Elijah Thomas number 14 for the Sooners to be a much bigger part of what they're doing offensively. But yeah, Matur is, everyone compares everyone. like everyone compares every OU quarterback to, you know, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hertz, that run of guys that we had. He's, he's not that, right?

Now, he's a good athlete. He throws a good ball, but like, I think you need to simplify some things for him. And a quarterback's best friend is an efficient, good run game that you are willing to stick with. And that's the thing about the Michigan game that was frustrating for me is like, they actually ran it pretty efficiently with the backs when they handed it to them. But they only handed it to them 13 times. And you're not able to, and I know that Andy knows what I'm talking about. Like the body blows theory of, hey, those three yard runs, those four yard runs, you know, maybe that run in the first quarter went for one.

Like you got to stick with it and accumulate the body blows to where those things start breaking in the fourth quarter. And I don't think there's a better example of that than what we've, saw from Texas against Ohio State in that fourth quarter where it's like, hey, some of the run game went early. Some of it didn't. There were some negative in zero yard runs, but all of a sudden, you know, that offensive line leaned on that group from Ohio State, and then they ran the absolute hell out of that thing when the game was on the line. And oh, you just didn't do that. Michigan, Michigan's a good example of this too, Gabe, because Teddy brought this up on your show. There were two drives for Michigan that were, I think one was 11 plays and one was 10 plays.

plays and they were both less than 45 yards. Yeah. They were, but, but they took up 12 minutes a game time. And like, you, you suck possessions out of the game and force the other team to, to make a mistake. That's how you win. I, I mean, absolutely. And that's the thing is, I think there, there, there's probably a serious conversation

within that building this week about, okay, how to be. we have to play to win games, especially when you consider the schedule. Now that you've, now that you've lost the Michigan game, the way that that's the rest of that schedule looks, you're just like, dang, dude. I mean, this, we, we could figure it out and have an incredible bounce back and have still kind of the season everyone expected, or this thing could completely come off the rails when you think about how Mississippi State is looking, South Carolina, possibly getting Stewart and Jacarious Peak back this. week and what that team can be known that they've got Lenora sellers at quarterback.

Like Florida looks super physical under Sumrall. Ole Miss, shambles kid, he good. A&M, super talented team. You know, Missouri even. I was hoping Austin Simmons would look terrible in that offense and he looks fantastic. Nope. Guys. I mean, I think Will Stein has that Kentucky team playing some good ball.

Like Minchie has, I know they had a disappointing second half against Bama. but that first half they're they're beating Alabama and and Camario Taylor might be the best quarterback Oklahoma C's dude let's look at the wrist on that guy Jeff Levy's my guy and he is his whole mentality is score from far man and that dude the way that they push it down the field and the absolute canon that that guy has attached to his right arm is I could I tell a Camaro Taylor story real quick absolutely sure so there's nothing more depressing than a flight home from an away game on the team play when you lose. But I was scrolling my X timeline and I saw, and I know you guys will know the play.

I'm talking about the one where Camaro Taylor, it's like an out route down by the goal line and he rips it in there for a touchdown. And sometimes when I see longer videos on Twitter, I will, I'll turn it up to one and a half speed. Like it's, let's say you guys are talking about something, right? Yeah. I'll turn it up to one and a half speed. And I was like, oh, dang, it's on one and a half. let me change it back to regular so i looked at the speed and i was like oh that's regular that's how that dude throws the ball like i i i like stared at my phone i was like that can't be right

no way and i watched it again i was like oh that that's what you talk about elite arm talent like that's what NFL scouts and gibs and every the decision makers in the national football league are looking for that guy maybe has the most live arm in football i'm talking college of NFL. He is unbelievably talented. And Jeff Levy, that man knows how to dial it up. So Mississippi State went from being like, oh, are they going to be a factor to, oh, my gosh, no one wants to play that team. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and Oklahoma's got a lot of that. So they get, I think you, you hit it on the head. They got to figure out how they need to play to win games with these people. And right now, they got a really good defense. Everyone around here is like,

oh, the defense isn't as good as it was a year ago. Time will tell, right? But let's say, we got a, we got a top 10, top 15 defense. And we'll see if they can take another step and be like a top five type group, right? Yep. But we've got really good special teams. I mean, our punter was amazing against Michigan, but Michigan's punter was even better. Michigan's punter had the best punting performance I've ever witnessed in person. It was unbelievable. But, special teams are really solid. You got the best kicker in college football in Tate Sandel, the reigning Lou Grozer award winner.

Grace Miller's punt in it really well. Like you're going to win with defense in special teams until the offense can prove that it's worthy of trusting them a little more, right? So you got to play to that. Like your game play, the way that you, the way that you approach games, the way that you handle things within the game, you have to lean on your special teams and your defense.

Until the offense can prove that, hey, no, actually, let's, this is a group we can really trust to be efficient and play at a high level. Well, Gabe, I cannot wait to see what happens at the Steakhouse on Saturday, Lobos. Can I tell you my favorite? Can I tell me my favorite thing Jason Eck told us? And I encourage everyone to go listen to the OU New Mexico. Preview episode of the Oklahoma breakdown, but Jason, they have a they have a short yardage personnel package, Andy, where they bring, they bring an offensive lineman in who was with Eck at Idaho.

He came with him to New Mexico. He was a walk on. They just put him on scholarship. The guy shaped like a square. He's maybe my favorite player in college football. Coachette called him Jojo. He was like his last name's too hard to pronounce. so he didn't even try.

But he puts number 96 on for the short yardage stuff. And he told us that the personnel package is called 13 meatball. I love it. It's maybe the hardest I've ever laughed talking football with someone. I just, I loved it so much. I just looked him up. So, Jojo Mattautia, 510, 305. Yeah.

for him. I mean, beatball fits, guys, it is. But he comes in, they bring in, they play three quarterbacks. They got Loebstein who comes in and short yard and stuff and they run some QB run game, but there is a, there's a clip of meatball in their game, their opener against Central Michigan, where Loebsteed takes an under center snap on the one, and he comes from behind him and lifts him into the air and puts him in the end zone. It's, it's unbelievable. So he may be my favorite college college football player in the country. You got to get that kid in a hell deal. Yeah, absolutely.

Gabe, thank you so much. Appreciate you boys. Hey, you guys are crushing it. I love the show. Thanks, Gabe. Appreciate that. Throughout the week. And Ari,

best of luck turning things around with the picks, man. I know. No, it's okay. It's all right. You can do it, dude. I believe it. Yeah, thank you. We didn't pick Oklahoma to Mexico for a reason.

We never had those records ready. He did. Appreciate you, boy. Thank you, Gabe. 13 Meatball is my new favorite personnel grouping, and that is going to seriously enhance my viewing of the New Mexico-O Oklahoma game on Saturday. Yeah, I don't know if you picked up on this a little bit,

but Gabe was a little, I think there was like 10% nervousness for this game. Yeah, I think if we were picking, like, Polly Market has it as a 21.5 point spread in favor of Oklahoma. We both be on New Mexico, I think. Well, I think Gabe would be on New Mexico more importantly, and he knows a lot about Oklahoma. I think he'd probably feel like Oklahoma is going to win this game. I mean, this game's going to go one of two ways, Andy. It's either going to be like a 56 to 10 type scenario where it's just like they beat the crap out of them from the beginning

or it's going to be an ugly slush fest where Oklahoma fans are pulling out their hair. It's not going to be in between. I don't think that it's going to be like 31 to 10 with six minutes left. And like you're sweating that half point. You're either going to, I think you're going to know very early on in this one, whether you're right or wrong on it. So we'll see. But, you know, we had Eck on the show earlier this year,

and he's kind of a national treasure in the way that he meets the media, and he's done really well at all of his stops. I don't think that this is the type of team you would want to play the week after suffering what would be a kind of an identity crisis. And the week before you have to go to Georgia. Right. That's a bad sandwich game. That's a tough sandwich.

Especially if you're looking for a get-right game. I don't know if this is a get-right game. Yeah. All right, let us let us move on to one other story because this is, this is interesting that it's happening now. Vanderbilt announces that Jared Curtis will be the starting quarterback against NC State. And so this will be the first career start for the guy who was the number one quarterback recruit in the country last year. He was committed to Georgia. He then flipped to Vanderbilt.

the assumption when he flipped to Vanderbilt was that he flipped to be the starting quarterback at Vanderbilt right now as a freshman because obviously if he'd gone to Georgia, he'd be sitting behind Gunner Stockton. Yeah. And he, of course, you know, was made kind of famous by the fact that he starred for 4.7 seconds in that Nate Braggazzi movie

that helped him close the NIL deal. Yeah. Yeah, the assumption was that he is wanting to play and going to a place that was competitive in the SEC to continue on the build. And, you know, I think that it was kind of surprising at the beginning of the year because everybody just assumed it was his job. And I was surprised when he didn't start the opener. But also in this new financial world, Andy, if you are going to invest this much money,

especially at a place like Vanderbilt that I'm not assuming is in the top four or five programs and spend in the SEC, like your need to properly allocate your funds as higher than at other places that have a larger budget. And, you know, maybe at a place like Georgia or Texas, you can pay a backup quarterback what they're paying Jared and get away with it. But, you know, I just think that maybe you just have to throw them in the game. And honestly, Vanderbilt, their first two weeks of the season has struggled a little bit. So it's not like they're like late in the world.

Austin Pee and Delaware, and they've not looked great in either game. But what has looked different is when Jared Curtis throws the ball versus when Blaise Burowitz throws the ball. Like the ball comes out of Jared Curtis's hand different. He looks different out there. And so whether that is different as in ready to play against really good power for teams is another question. Now, I don't know if NC State's a really good power four team because we watched them get just annihilated by Virginia in week zero.

They came back and beat Richmond, which is an FCS team, 73 to nothing last week. But, you know, CJ Bailey has been a good quarterback in his time in NC State. He got shut down by Virginia's defense. So what do you think of the timing of this?

Like, is it seem kind of bizarre like if you're going, like I think on one hand, like you have the NFL model where it's just like you have a guy, give him the extra few weeks of learning and stuff, but don't you want him to play the games that you're supposed to win by a lot before he plays against?

I would think so. And, you know, just watching the games. And again, we're not at practice. So if we're being unfair, maybe we are. But it looks so different when he throws the ball versus when the other quarterback throws the ball. Like it doesn't seem like it's much of a competition. That's the thing.

Yeah. That's the part I don't quite understand. why you don't just go with him from the from the get yeah well i know i know bandy fans were very upset that they didn't just go with him out of the gate yeah i'm just i'm trying to do the math here because you know andy i know when you're younger in your first and second year in college that your multiples of how much you grow and how much you get better or more dramatic than like they would be between years three four or five so maybe the two or three weeks of sitting and learning and practice and being better in practice was a huge difference from him but like how

much better can a player actually get in two weeks or 10 days? Like if you're going to start him against NC State, like don't you think he was startable last week against a team that they were probably, what were they favored? Double-digit favorites last week. Like it doesn't, it just, I don't know,

the timeline seems a little weird to me, but I'm also more excited to watch this now because I want to maybe see why it would make sense. But if you are a team that's going to struggle against Austin P. And Delaware, then I also think there's more to gain by playing your younger players sooner because you want experience for later in the season and maybe next year, if it turns out that way.

And here's the thing. You can say, oh, well, if they put him in and the team around him is not great and they lose a bunch of games, then he'll leave. Well, he's going to leave anyway if you lose a bunch of games. Yeah. What's the difference? Now, I don't know this, but my assumption, he's on a multi-year deal. So leaving would require a buyout and all that.

So maybe he has no desire to do that. but that's another reason why you don't need to worry about are you going to put them in and lose a bunch of you like if you're going to leave games play him anyway. I don't there's any circumstance in general where you can make decisions about your quarterback in 2026 about what they're going to do in the off season because if they're going to leave, they're going to leave no matter what you do probably. I don't know if there's any mitigating of those of that exposure, especially from a financial standpoint.

And also, if he wanted to go to the place that paid the most and was the biggest program that wins the most, he had the opportunity to do that. he could have done that. You know, Georgia, Georgia didn't pay the most. No, I know, but I'm saying. So if he wanted to choose a suitor that paid the most, I'm assuming that there would have been other suitors that would have. There's definitely.

That are at a higher stature as a program, not necessarily Georgia. He could have done that already. So I just like, I don't like living in a world where the assumption is if the person was a five-star prospect, they'll leave your program to go somewhere bigger. I don't think that it's always worked out that way. It does work out that way sometimes. I'm not saying it won't happen. but living in a world where you're assuming that it will,

I think it's kind of ill-advised, especially considering- You decided to swim in these waters. You decided to pay this guy to flip him from Georgia. You decided that you were going to, you know, part of the package was going to be being in an Nate Bargetse movie. Like, all of that is things they decided. So why take your foot off the gas on that front now?

Like, so I'm glad they're putting him in there. I'm glad we're going to get to see it. If you are going to pay him too, you want him to play. That's what I'm saying. I'm glad they're doing this now. They probably should have done it initially because I don't think it would have made much of a difference. They ended up winning those two games. Maybe they would have won them I more.

I don't know. But now you're going to see if you're going to get what you paid for. Because NC State is a team that if they play the way they played the last. two games, they're going to lose to NC State. So they've got to be better. And what are they doing? What is Clark Lee decide when he knows he has to be better? Oh, put the five-star quarterback with the Rocket Army, man.

And let's see what happens. Let's see what happens, yeah. But it makes Vanderbilt an exciting watch this weekend. And obviously, NC State is off to a poor start by their measures. But Dave Doran has always found a way to manage to get back onto the right track. So, you know, we'll see where they end up. But this isn't an easy game. And frankly speaking, you're starting a five-star quarterback against a team that probably has a quarterback advantage.

I still would probably take CJ Bailey in a game right now. So, you know, we'll see. I don't know. The way you play now, it may just be that Virginia is that good. And that's another thing we need to find out is I may be overly down on NC State based on the Virginia game, but it might be Virginia does that to everybody. So we'll find out. We'll get more information.

this week. And we'll get the most information we've gotten about Jared Curtis because we have seen him the first couple games, but now we're going to see him where it's his show. He's been taking snaps with the ones all week. What's that going to look like? I'm excited to watch. Ari, it's been a fun, fun day.

One more. We got Dear Andy, dear Ari, you know how to find us. Andy Stapleson3 at gmail.com. Ari.com at on3.com. Your questions answered tomorrow. Plus, yeah, we're still going to talk a little more about LSU Ole Miss because this is one of the most fascinating games in college football this season and probably in any season I can remember.

So, yeah, we're going to keep on talking about it. Get you ready for that game and a bunch of others on a packed week three. We'll talk to you tomorrow.