College Football Live - The Andrew Mukuba Fan Club

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

Victoria Arlen, Sam Acho and Desmond Howard give their X Factors for the CFP Semifinals. Will these be the best games of the CFP so far? Plus, our analysts break down what the Texas defense must do to slow down Ohio State, and Des claims stake to the "Andrew Mukuba Fan Club!" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome into College Football Live. I'm Victoria Arland. Let's go out the tunnel. While the FCS gained a new champ last night, it's not new to them as North Dakota State clinched their 10th FCS championship. And we are going to relive that epic matchup. And we are just days away from the CFP semifinals kicking off. And how can Drew Aller be the X factor that gets Penn State to their first CFP championship game appearance? Plus, with Ohio State's high-powered offense, how can the Texas Longhorn defense keep up? and make this an even playing field. We discuss all this and so much more on college football live. Let's go. Happy Tuesday to you all, and we've got a lot to get to, and of course the best of the best to navigate it all. I've got Sam Macho and Desmond Howard with me, and while there was a lot of semifinal talk to get to,

we have to kick things off with the thriller of the FCS championship game that happened last night, and let's take a look at how it all went down between North Dakota State and Montana State. Cam Miller and the bison already up 7-0 and third and four for the bison. But take a look at Montana State's defense man-to-man with two safeties helping over at the top. But after the snap, both safeties vacate the middle of the field and all Miller had to do was run straight to the goal post for a 64-yard touchdown run. And that would get North Dakota State taking a 14-0 lead. Now under 20 seconds to go in the second quarter at the top of your screen.

Bryce Lance gets the receiving touchdown. North Dakota State would take a 21 to 3 lead at the half, but Montana State would make a run in the second half thanks to Tommy Milott. Down 10, Milots. Looks for Rohan Jones for the five-yard touchdown. Montana would go for two, and that would eventually cut the lead to three. 15 seconds left in the third same score. Miller looks to find Lance for the insane diving catch.

So nice, we're going to show it twice. Look at this. Lance just casually finding right there. fourth quarter now. Miller finds Joe Stafel for the one-yard touchdown. North Dakota State leads by 10 again. Still in the fourth. Malat says, I got this.

Calls his own, takes the 44-yard run to the house. He has passed in rush for a touchdown in 10 games this season, most in the FCS. Montana State staying in this game, the score is now 28 to 25. Under three minutes to go in the game, Chimar Brown. With the game-sealing touchdown for North Dakota State, They win the FCS championship game. Here's Coach Polisek after the win. This is what you guys live for.

This is what it's all about. For you, first time as a head coach, what does it mean to do it this way with this group? Well, I think doing it with this group pretty awesome. They all stayed. They could easily, in today's day and age, I said it last week, but we're running the football program with guys that just buy into each other.

And when you do that, you know, you've got a chance to reach your full potential. And so I'm so happy for our staff. I'm so happy for the city of Fargo and the region of the Red River Valley region. I want to go celebrate with my guys. Now, North Dakota State is one of the most accomplished programs in FCS history. They sit atop of the FCS with 10 FCS titles all within the last 14 seasons and four more than any other program in the FCS. So a celebration is much necessary, coach.

We are now three days until the college football playoffs semifinals. But let's move to the college football playoffs where the bracket looks a lot different than it did a few weeks ago. After Texas win versus Arizona State, they move on to the Cotton Bowl to take on Ohio State in the AT&T Stadium. And on the other side of the bracket, both Notre Dame and Penn State take a trip down south to face off in the Capital One Orange Bowl. But like I mentioned before, three days until the Capitol won Orange Bowl. going to give you three things to know about this matchup. Both of these teams are making their sixth Orange Bowl appearances with Penn State making their first appearance since the 2005 season and Notre Dame making their first appearance since the 1995 season when they faced FSU. The next thing

to know is Notre Dame's impressive 12-game winning streak since losing to Northern Illinois earlier in the season. A win this weekend will mark their longest win streak within a season in the last 20 seasons. And last, but certainly not least, with a win, Penn State would clinch their very first BCS CFP National Championship appearance since its inception in 1998. Different kind of energy and atmosphere around the Nittany Lions. Y'all all came to Penn State for a reason. The standard is the standard. Talking is over. Bow, throws back to Allen, looks downfield.

He's got a touchdown. The kick is up. He's good. Walker delivers intercepted read touchdown and Penn State moves to 7 and 0 once again James Franklin unable to win a big game there's nobody that's looking in the mirror harder than I am we have an opportunity moving forward to write some wrongs they run the fake on the road end of the field and get a first down James Franklin with his 11th win matching a program record Penn State got a day with Oregon with the interception back to the one-yard line. 14 on-answer points to draw within four. It was intercepted.

Penn State, the incredible disappointment. College football playoff first round. Picked off to Luca. Sixes, Jennings. Penn State is going to win as they vanquish SMU. We welcome you to the verbal fiesta bowl. You can't throw it any better than that. Penn State.

That was a little walk down memory lane for Penn State. Now, James Franklin's squad often struggled this season when playing against the top teams in the country. In games versus top five ranked teams, the Nittney Lions are 0 and 2 with just two turnovers compared to when facing teams outside of the top five where there are 3 and with seven turnovers. But let's see if they can turn the tide this weekend. Now, Penn State had two losses in the regular season to Ohio State in Oregon by one

score with the Oregon one coming in the Big Ten championship. So, Des, what has Penn State learned from these losses? Well, they learned two things. First, with the Ohio State game. Up to that point, they had not played a team whose roster, talent-wise, matched up with Penn State's roster. So it was the first time their new coordinators. They had two new coordinators, the offensive coordinator,

Andy Kolonicki, and then defensive coordinator, Tom Allen. It was the first time they got to see how those players would deal with adversity on the field during the game. So that was the first lesson. The second lesson was the Ohio, I mean, the Oregon game, the Big Ten championship game, they understood now they can play with the quote-unquote number one team in the country at the time because it was a high-scoring affair. They were explosive offensively, and I thought that game gave Penn State the confidence

that they needed to go into the CFP. So two lessons. The first lesson, what is our talent? level like when we're playing against equal competition. The second lesson was the confidence that gave them going to the CFP. And that confidence is everything. Now, Sam, speaking of confidence, how has Drew Aller's evolution been a game changer for PSU this season? Drew Aller's evolution has been everything.

And a lot of the thanks must go, like Des said, to offensive coordinator Andy Kodonicki. Andy Kodonicki, he was at Kansas last couple years. They had one of the most explosive offenses in college football. And all of a sudden, we saw this explosion transfer from Kansas now to Penn State. Penn State, when it comes to passing downfield, they've been electric. Drew Aller, over 50% completion percentage. That's top three in the nation on passes 20 yards downfield or more. Penn State historically has been known for their defense.

We want to beat you on defense, beat you with the running game. But now all of a sudden, they have growth at the quarterback position. Last year, the same quarterback, Jeweller, yes, the completion percentage might have been there, It wasn't downfield. It was all dink and it was dunk. Now all of a sudden, Drew Aller is doing it short, intermediate, and explosive plays. And so I think that's the biggest difference in the evolution of Jew Aller. And that's going to be the biggest difference if Penn State wants to make it to a national championship.

Yeah, Sam, that's a great point because Kono Niki has been able to, I think, clear the picture for Drew Aller, meaning now he understands what he sees defensively. And the way he's done that is with the personnel. formations and then shifts in motion because that's giving him the keys that he's looking for, the keys that he needs to understand what the defensive fronts are and what's going on also on the back end. I think that's helped Drew Aller tremendously with his evolution this season. Now, I think the turning of the tides here for is a big thing for Penn State because Penn State has not had a top five wins since 2016 and since 2000. They're one in 25 against top five opponents. Now, speaking of opponents, the 54 seconds changed the postseason perception of Notre Dame football.

It was a series of decisive moments separated by halftime in the CFP quarterfinals that turned a 3-3 tie into a commanding 20-to-3 lead on the way to Notre Dame's 23 to 10 victory in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The 98-yard return became a college football playoff record and the second longest in Sugar Bowl history. Now, there is no doubt that we have seen the fight of the fighting Irish. have like what we just saw in the Sugar Bowl. So, Des, who is going to be the game changers for Notre Dame that we need to keep an eye on in this matchup? Well, guys, I tell you, well, I've been impressed with Jordan Faison. He's like a Swiss Army knife for this team.

I mean, he does it all. He lines up a wide receiver. I love the way he runs his route. He's a guy who used to play lacrosse. He played on their national championship winning team. So he has that competitive pedigree that you look. for, but he's the guy that when it's like third and six, a third and

eight, and Notre Dame do not want to run the ball. You look for Faison. He's the man who's going to move the chain. So keep an eye on Jordan Faison. Well, you talk about a man that's going to move the chains. I'll talk about a couple guys who are going to change possession. Look at Leonard Moore

and Christian Gray, defensive backs for Notre Dame. Why do I point their names out? Number one, because Notre Dame is number one in college football when it comes to interception return yard. So yes, getting picks, but they're getting pick sixes. They're changing the outcome of the game. That's gray right there, number 29.

You'll see number 15. Leonard Moore, who's a freshman. Here's what's going on in this defense. Benjamin Morrison, who's probably going to be a top 20 pick in NFL draft, starting corner, he got injured earlier in the season. But his effect is still there. The leadership is still there. You're seeing the brilliant football minds coming to play by people playing back

shoulder fades, and then the entire defense running and blocking and working together to create points. not just on offense, not just on defense, but these guys are on special teams as well. And so that's how Notre Dame wins. They went on defense, pick sixes. They also do it on special teams. Hey, Sam, I'm not going to tell you what I think. I'm going to tell you what I know.

I'm glad you mentioned special teams because when you were in a defensive struggle and it seemed like everything is like hard to get yardish, special teams can be the difference maker. And Jaden Harrison, who had a 98-yard kickoff return against Georgia to meet. can be the difference maker. Not only does it flip the field, but you can also add points to your team. So I love Jayden Harrison as another person to keep an eye out for with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

And real quick, Des, just to that point, I was at the game. So I was at the sugar ball. I was sitting in a suite watching the game. It was at the end of the first half. I saw the sack fumble touchdown. I said, okay, great. Now the second half started, you know,

I saw the ball get kicked off. I turned to get a cookie from the suite. And I looked up and Harrison's already at the 50-yard line about to score. So when you're watching Notre Dame, number one, don't eat the cookies on kickoffs. But number two, keep your eyes open on fourth down. Notre Dame is dominant on fourth down. So don't look away from your phone or your screen.

That's when the game will change. Two things here. Don't eat the cookies at kickoff, but also special teams do very special things. Now, a big thing that Notre Dame does really well is they have the ability to keep momentum and also maintain that composure. But, Des, do you think that they can keep that up? They can keep that momentum and composure that they've had so far. going into this matchup, Des.

Notre Dame. Do I think they can? Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think that what Coach Freeman has instilled in his players, his team is something that you look for in the championship team because they never get too high.

They don't get too low. They have a veteran quarterback at Riley Leonard who keeps things even killed. I just like the pedigree of this team. It's just, you know, they're a special group, and you can tell that they're out. to do something significant. And when you watch them play, it's not like they're playing above or over their heads.

They're playing at a level that's consistent. They can do for four quarters. They can do for four games. They can do for two more games. Yeah. And another team that's looking to find momentum and hopefully do it for a few more games is, well, Texas.

So coming up with Ohio State's high-powered offense, how can Texas's defense take the right steps and get out ahead of OSU to even the playing field. Doesn't say them are here to break it down for us next. College Football Live is brought to you by McDonald's. Teams fight for a spot in the national championship. The college football playoff semifinals, Thursday and Friday on ESPN. Will Howard has become exactly who Ohio State needs him to be in this playoff run.

The postseason has shown the best of Howard. He is the lone quarterback remaining in the playoff with a plus. 70% competition percentage, not to mention completion percentage, not to mention thrown for 300 plus yards and back to back games for the first time in his career. But how about some extra motivation playing

Texas? You know, personally for me, a little extra motivation there because you know, I never got the chance to beat these guys, played them four years, you know, and they're, I mean, they're always a good team, you know, but I don't think none of those games were unwinnable.

You know, last year we lost in overtime. And yeah, so definitely excited to get another chance of these guys. Des, from a player's perspective, can you talk about the extra motivation he's referring to? Yeah, there's a huge extra motivation, especially like Will said, you know, he's never beating Texas while he was at Kansas State. And I think part of the reason was because not that it wasn't competitive games, but they just didn't have the roster to match up with the Longhorns roster. But they were well coached Kansas State was. And they always played hard and they were disciplined. So that's why they stayed in those games.

But now, listen, Will Howard shows up to the game talking, hey, guys, remember me? And Texas is like, yeah, we remember you, Chump. And then over his right shoulder, he's like, yeah, I got some of my buddies with me like Jeremiah Smith and Treviant Henderson. He's like, yeah, so me and my dudes, we're ready to take y'all on again. So I understand the confidence that Will Howard is going to this Texas game with because he got some real dudes backing him up this time around. Honestly, that's how I feel when I do this show.

I've got real dudes backing me up who know what they're talking about. You know what I'm saying, Des? I'm just saying. That's exactly how I feel when you guys are on the show with me. But Sam, speaking of Will Howard, Will Howard in that Ohio State offense, like Des mentioned, has been on a tear lately. What makes them so hard to stop?

Well, because they play as a team. I'm going to show you a tape, and it's going to look a lot like Jeremiah Smith tape, but it's going to be more than just Jeremiah Smith. This first play is an out route early in the game to Jeremiah Smith. And Jeremiah Smith beats the corner with no help. But let me show you how Jeremiah Smith does it with help. He's going to catch his ball behind the line of scrimmage.

Notice the wide receiver's blocking, and then Smith does the rest. Now on this next play, you're going to see it's going to be to a Meccaabuka down the middle. Mecca is going to score a touchdown. But that's safety on the left of the left of the left of try and guard Jeremiah Smith. And so you're seeing number two, that's a Meccaabuca. But the reason why this offense is so potent is because Jeremiah Smith is an elite level. player. Abuka is also a wide receiver number one. No, by the way, when the passing game

isn't working, they got Trayvionne Henderson and Quintan Jenkins behind him who can go. Now, Des, on the other side of the ball, how can Texas slow them down? Well, I think it's going to start up front. You watch the Arizona State game, Sam Levitt, the quarterback

for Arizona State, was running for his life. But now they got guys, too, on the back end. Let me show you how State's offense is going to have to deal with when they go up against this Texas defense, especially this longhorn secondary, with my man, my favorite defensive player

in the tournament, Andrew McCuba, number four. There he is right there, playing a robber. He comes up his play action. He realizes his throat, so now it's right route recognition. He goes back, he knows a slot receiver is going to take the lid off with an ink cut coming behind it, athletic interception by my man, McCuba.

Again, reading the quarterback's eyes, Big play against the Aggies, Texas A&M, Texas long horns, they hate each other. He's looking at the quarterback. He takes him to the play. Boom, separates man from ball. But in the SEC championship game, this is why I think people really realize and recognize how big of a hitter McCuba is. The quarterback is going to run.

He's about to score, right? Oh, it's easy. What? Knock the man's hammering. Let me show you one more time. Look out he brought that shoulder in. It was illegal hit. There were flags all over the field, but they had to pick the flags up because my man Andrew McCuba,

who's six foot tall, less than 200 pounds, hits like a linebacker. And then the ASU game, Arizona State game, he was the guy who intercepted the ball in the second overtime to end the game for the Texas longhorns. I am president of the Andrew McCuba Sports Club. Well, if you're president of the Andrew McCumbah fan club, I'm going to tell you about some of the members who were in that club who make him go, who probably voted for him. It's the linemen and the defensive linebackers for this Texas defense. It's the Russian coverage working together.

The way that Mukuba can make plays like that is by guys like Ethan Burke, number 91, sack in the quarterback. Guys like Vernon Brought, number 45, fourth fumble. Guys like Trey Moore, Baron Sorrell, Colin Simmons. The front and rush must work together in order to allow Andrew Bucumba, to go make plays. Oh, by the way, if it's not Andrew Mukumba, there's another dude by the name of Jada Barron

who actually won the Thorpe Award for the best defensive back. And so if Texas wants to win versus Ohio State, you need to provide pressure on Will Howard. If he sits back there in the pocket is clean, Jeremiah Smith will have his way. Well, and you mentioned that pressure.

That's right, the Makuba fan club. Thank you for that. The Makuba fan club. See, I feel like we have to join that. And speaking of... You can do the sports club too. We're going to join that fan club. And you mentioned that pressure.

What's crazy about pressure? about pressure on Howard this season is QBR without pressure is 87.3. But when things get dialed up like the fan club, that QBR gets cut in half to just 40.2. We're going to take a look at the Bowl Challenge Cup standings brought to you by Progressive. Through this week's games, the American Conference have officially clinched the Bull Challenge Cup. There have been some huge one-sided scoring games this playoff season, but could we see a change in this trend in the semifinals? We'll discuss after the break. The semifinals are set

And contrary to what many thought would be an advantage At the start of the season, teams with a buy went 0 and 4 in the quarterfinals While conference champions went 0 in the playoff this season, the average margin of victory in the first round in quarterfinals was nearly 17 points. So will we see closer to semifinal games?

Desm, starting with you. I believe both games will be very close. I think the Penn State Notre Dame game is going to be a low-scoring close game with the winner winning by a field goal Ohio State, Texas is a high-scoring close game. with the winner winning by five points now. Yeah, I agree.

I think it'll be both close games. Both teams are evenly matched in their own ways. Ooh, it's going to be a good one. All right, well, I trust the experts. For Sam, Des, I'm Victoria. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m. for a whole hour to discuss.