College Football Live - The Wolverines are Sharpening Their Claws...

Episode Date: January 4, 2024

Host Kelsey Riggs is joined by Dusty Dvorchek, Jordan Reid, Marty Smith, and Kris Budden as they discuss Michigan and their preparations for the big game against Washington. Pete Thamel also joins with more news on the transfer portal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome into college football live. I'm Kelsey Riggs, and we're coming out the tunnel with all the national championship insight you need to know. We've got live reports from both Washington and Michigan as the countdown to the title game continues. And speaking of Michigan, J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corum getting their first shot at winning a championship. What the Wolverine's offense needs to do to have success. Plus, how can the Washington defense be the big winner when it's all set and done? We dive into the key pieces of the Huskies defense. It's all ahead on college football live as we are now just four days away from the national championship game coverage all day Monday on our ESPN family of networks as two 14 and no teams meet for just the third time in major college football history. And speaking of major, big show coming your way.

We've got live reports coming from both Michigan and Washington. And we start with the number one team in the country. Marty Smith is with Michigan. Chris Budden with Washington. We'll get to them in a second. But Marty, this Michigan team has faced adversity all season. We know the reports that have come out about sign stealing, the six games that Jim Harbaal was suspended. It's their quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, though, who's in the spotlight this week for some of the comments that he made. What more can you tell us after you spoke with him?

Good afternoon, Kelsey. Happy New Year. Yesterday in a teleconference, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said he estimates some 80% of college football teams steal signs. as you would imagine, the internet exploded. I was standing right here last night, and JJ right after practice, walked right out here in the lobby, still wearing cleats in a jersey, to tell me that he wanted to clarify those comments. So earlier this morning, I sat down with him,

and I asked him point blank, how would you like to clarify those comments? What exactly is the clarification? Here's the clarification. The clarification just comes along with when I said, we're trying to level the playing field. You know, it's not in terms of, how we steal signs or anything remotely close to that.

It's just about how we protect our signs, how we camouflage our signs, how we, you know, we're one of the first teams to put the big, like, black sheet in front of our boards, so teams can't see it from watching film on us. So it's just, you know, leveling the playing field and protecting our signs and, you know, disguising our signs to help us have that advantage.

So where at 80% come from? You know, that was a low number, to be honest with you. Like, I asked some of my teammates, and I was like, is that crazy to do that? saying they're like, yeah, because I think it's 90, 95%. So yeah, that's kind of where it comes from, just hearing it through the grapevine with, you know, the coaches that have been here and then go somewhere else, little stuff like that. That narrative being around this program all season long has one of two outcomes. It can either fracture a team and a program or it can unify and

galvanize them. And to a man, every single player, every single coach say that they have been unified in a way most of them have never even experienced before based around those allegations that have swirled around this program this year. And it's interesting, the mood around here is one of unfinished business. Certainly, they're full of gratitude that they apex the mountain, as they say, with winning the Rose Bowl against Alabama. But Blake Corum told me just a little while ago, he said, look, I didn't celebrate that much. I was super proud. I'm so grateful I hugged my family. But there's one more. There's a chapter yet to be written.

And so it's really an attitude of unfinished business here in Ann Arbor. They will practice today and tomorrow before they head down to Houston on a three o'clock flight Friday afternoon, Kelsey. Well, and you mentioned Blake Corum, know that he wants one more, especially after what happened last year, him not being able to play at the finale of the season. Marty Smith there with the very latest. J.J. McCarthy, despite all the adversity, I mean, he has just found ways to win three. throughout his career at Alabama with the win throughout his career. And then with the win over Alabama, J.J. McCarthy moved to 21 and 6.

Has started 963 winning percentage, tying James Winston for the third best in FBS history with quarterbacks with at least 25 starts. So let's bring now in Pete Thamiel, Jordan Reed, Dustin Fordchak, going to be with us throughout the show as well. And Pete, I want to start with you. And I want to go bigger picture than what we were just talking about with J.J. because his success at Michigan has been well documented. But is this the last time that we'll see him playing in a Michigan uniform?

What are you hearing? Well, Kelsey, that's one of the big picture Michigan questions that's going to come in earnest here in the upcoming week. J.J. McCarthy obviously is 26-1 as a starter. And with that comes the expectation that he could leave Michigan for the NFL. Jordan would obviously know more than me about his placement. but I've been told by scouts that he projects as a late first round pick. His biggest issue, Kelsey, is his size.

He's a slight person. And it's a little bit like being a 510 point guard. You're not going to get any taller if you stay in college another year. I've been told J.J. McCarthy is solely focused on this game, but a decision will obviously have to come within a week after it ends. All right, Pete, yeah, this is the big one right now. they're all focused on.

And you mentioned Jordan. Jordan, I want to get your thoughts about what we've seen from J.J. McCarthy. And what is it that makes him so special? Well, those were a lot of great points made by Pete, but there's a lot to like about J.J. McCarthy. And the same thing that I'm hearing is mid to late,

first round, early second round, just depends on which scout that you talk to. But there's a lot of things to like about J.J. McCarthy is 26 and 1 as a starter. There's a lot of traits to like about him as well. He just keeps the offense on schedule. That's something that you like about him. But let's talk about three traits that really stand out about J.J. McCarthy.

The first one is his mobility, as you see on the stretch play action there. He keeps the offense on schedule. He exhausts his progression, reading it from top to bottom. He does a great job of staying ahead of the chains. You saw this against Penn State as well as against Alabama. The second one is his awareness. He gets pressure in the pocket. He escapes outside right here, but the great thing that I love here is you see him point

the tight end, Colston Loveland down the field. Last year, JJ McCarthy would have dropped his eyes and looked to run right there, but he's looking to make plays. And then the last one is the anticipation. You have to have this on the next level. You can see he looks at the go ball here. He doesn't like it. He feels pressure in the middle of the pocket, and he still fires a dart.

Over the middle, this is a full field re-progression. These are the things that scouts want to see, and that's what makes JJ McCarthy so intriguing. We can argue all day and night if he felt as if the safety was going to turn his head right here. But regardless, you love the daredevil mentality that he plays with. And having that type of anticipation is something that scouts are going to love about J.J. McCarthy on the next level. Dusty? I love that breakdown, Jordan. You're spot on.

I mean, especially at last throw. I had the Ohio State Missouri game as I'm watching that, and I'm watching the film from Ohio State. I'm like, wow, JJ McCarthy is flat out getting it done. I love his efficiency. I mean, the guy is extremely efficient with the football as good as anybody in the country. The four interceptions, three of those came against Bowling Green.

I think the arm strength is there. You touched on the athleticism, Jordan. It's absolutely off the charts. And look, everybody wants a winner, and that's what exactly what he is. And I think the other part of this, too, don't look at just the numbers because this Michigan offense, they're 124th out of 133 teams at running the football. They only throw it 44% of the time. And when they do, there are a few quarterbacks in all of college football more efficient and effective as J.J. McCarthy. We'll see what he ultimately decides to do.

Maybe his coach, if he leave, that has a little bit of wearing on this. But I'm excited to see how he performs on that stage against Michael Pinnock on Monday night. 26 and 1 throughout his career. He has done some impressive stuff there. Obviously, the main focus for him right now is what happens on Monday, but he is not the only really talented quarterback that we're going to get to see. Of course, we've got the Heisman Trophy runner up, Michael Pindex Jr. And getting ready with the Washington Huskies.

And now we check back in with our Chris Budden. And Chris, we've gotten to see Michael Pinnock Jr. do some really fantastic, spectacular things. But we've seen great things from this Michigan defense as well. What are you hearing about how this offense is preparing for the challenge ahead? Well, the Michigan defense is going to have his hands full with Michael Pennix Jr. And all the numbers and the weapons that he has in front of him. And when you talk to Kalin-Dubour about what makes Michael Pennings Jr., the top passer in the country,

he will give you a laundry list of things. But where it starts is the accuracy and the quick release. He pointed out to a couple of plays in that game in New Orleans where he's rushing outside the pocket. He's able to throw a dart to his ride receiver. And he's done that all season long. The other thing that you're not going to find on film, it's the trust. And that's what Kailin Dabor keeps going back to, that once you are inside Pennix's circle, he will do anything for you. That includes his offensive line, his wide receivers, but also his offensive coordinator.

What an incredible story for Ryan Grubb, who has been with Kailen Daboard since 2007 at Sioux. It had multiple opportunities this past off season to take jobs within the SEC, including an offensive coordinator position in Tuscaloosa with Nick Sabin. Turn that down to stay here with the hopes of winning a national championship alongside. Michael Pennix Jr. If they're going to do that, they are going to have to get past a very stingy Michigan defense. However, Kelsey, Penning's has played Michigan one other time in his career.

It was when he was with Indiana back in 2020. Also happened to be his best ever performance in an Indiana uniform where he went 30 of 50, 342 yards and three touchdowns. We'll see if he's able to complete those kind of numbers on Monday in Houston. Kelsey, right now they're hitting the field for the first time since getting back from New Orleans. They will practice today, tomorrow morning for heading back out to Houston. I mean, that game in 2020 might have been a long time ago,

but we have just seen him get better, better despite the injuries and everything that he has been through throughout his career are going to be a great one. Monday night, Chris Budden will be on the national radio call with ESPN Radio, looking forward to that and looking forward to seeing this matchup between the top two teams in the country. It is all happening Monday night, the fourth CFP National Kit Championship game between the number one

and number two teams in the CFP rankings. Alabama and Clemson have matched up each of the previous three instances. But Michigan will try to buck the trend and be the first number one team to defeat a number two in the championship game of the CFP era. Still to come, Blake Corum, he wasn't around for Michigan's playoff run last year. Is he the key to their success this year? And in this championship game, we break it down after this. The other direction to touchdown Wolverines. The best attribute of the goal line is finding the way to get him.

They're jumping over the line, finding a tiny crease and getting skinny in it, ultimately bouncing in outside. It never feels like he's alive. Every single thing he's working on, he's perfected to that point where he's giving the ball, he's going to score. But most dangerous parts of him just not knowing what crease he can hit because he can hit any little crease at any moment. He just doesn't want to be stopped and can't be stopped. He just knows every time he touches the rock, he's going to get in there. Played quorum has been so fun to watch and so affected. He had his 25th rushing touchdown at the season in this semifinal game.

Not only is it a Michigan record, also now tied for the fifth most in Big Ten history has a chance to finish in the top three on Monday night. Got Pete Dusty and Jordan back with me now. And Pete, they said he's hard to stop. Really, the only thing that has ever slowed him down is those injuries. We didn't get to see him play in the semifinals last year. He's healthy. He's dangerous. and I'm sure he is more motivated than ever now that they're playing for a college football championship.

What have you heard about how much he's contributed to their success? Well, Kelsey, I think the bad news for Washington is it's starting to look like Blake Corum is picking up maybe an extra half gear as he continues to recover from that injury. The combination of Michigan's offensive line being a little bit worse than last year and Corum trying to recover from that knee injury led to him averaging one yard less per carry this year. Now, he still obviously had all the touchdowns, but Kelsey, when you look at that 17-yard run in overtime that ultimately ended up beating Alabama, he looked like his crafty old self. He found room. He maneuvered. He showed that extra effort. Earlier in the year, coaches said he kind of took what it was blocked for. That run was not blocked for 17 yards. It was earned. And that means we're going to see that level of Blake Corum in the title game on Monday. His team has been scoring around 35 points per game. And Dostee, a lot of that has to do with Blake Corum and the run game. How are they able to be so effective?

Well, Shiro Moore, the offensive court and an offensive line coach, has a fantastic job schematically. And they play with physicality across the line of scrimmage, tight ends, wide receivers. Everybody gets involved in this blocking attack. And then Blake Coram is just simply special. Let's take a look at some of the plays that we saw in the Rose Bowl that gave them so much success against that Alabama defense.

Let's start here. This is more of a misdirection, right? Zone right across the front, but on the outside, It's a big six three wide receiver, Cornelius Johnson, getting on the safety. And then Breedison, the outstanding tight-in fullback kicks out the corner. That's a 21-yard gain for Blake Corum. I want to see more of this in this game. Quarterback counter, pull backside guard, backside tackle the guard with an excellent kickout.

And these pullers do such a good job getting to the second level, securing their blocks. And J.J. McCarthy, an excellent athlete. I love this with a 17-yard touchdown, three tight-ins in the game. and then you see the puller coming around. Those three tight ends, Barner, Loveland, Bredesen, do an excellent job, and few running backs set up their blocks the way Blake Corum does. And once he gets near the end zone, ladies and gentlemen, you will not deny him.

He gets to the end zone as well as anybody in college football. This Washington Husky's defense has their hands full with this rushing attack for the Wolverines. 36 touchdowns for them this season on the ground that is tied for the fourth most in FBS. They've also motioned on 58% of their plays. That's the third highest in FBS. So it's been really effective for them this season. So Jordan, we just heard Dusty mention that they've got their hands full Washington does with Michigan's rushing attack. What do they do, Jordan?

How do they count? Well, they should copy and paste what TCU did last year when they had so much success against this offensive attack of Michigan. But it is going to be a very tall task for them to slow down the running game just because Michigan wants to make it a smash mouth ground and pound football game. they want to do. They want to run tight sets and they want to play smash mouth football. Washington's defense really isn't able to sustain that just because they don't have the bodies to match up with Michigan up front. Now what Washington has to do is they have to use their offense as their best defense. They have to make this game a shootout just because you want Michigan to play from a deficit. That's something that they haven't been able to do this year.

And it's a foreign territory for them just because they haven't sustained a deficit like what they could face against Washington. So Washington is going to have to play some man coverage behind it and then send some run blisters to try to speed up J.J. McCarthy, but also shut down this massive and really dominant Michigan running attack as well. There's no question, Jordan. And look, I got a couple of players that I think are going to be key in this football game. Braylin Trice, I love his size. He's 64-275, so disruptive against Texas.

He's an excellent rusher, but he's also outstanding against the running. You've got to set firm edges against this Michigan rushing attack because they will attack outside. And then Udifuan Yulofosio outside. both these guys are captains, their leaders, veterans for this football team, both on all-American teams, and these guys are going to be the heartbeat of this team. I think as far as the linebacker Ulofosio goes, you're going to have to do a good job, diagnosing exactly what's coming and getting off the blocks of these offensive alignment. I touched on earlier. They get to the second level and sustain blocks so well. Those two guys for Washington have to step up and have to play well to

slow down this Michigan offense. It is not easy to do. We've seen lots of teams struggle throughout the season. We'll see how it all goes down Monday. This is the biggest story we're following, but over the last hour, some breaking news that we want to get to as well. So we bring it back in Pete Thammel and Pete, if it's breaking news this time of year, chances

are we're talking about the transfer portal. So what's the latest? What are you hearing? Well, the latest to this afternoon, Kelsey, is that Malachi Nelson, last year's number one recruit in the entire country, who entered the portal in mid-December, is taking a visit to Boise, state this weekend, according to sources. Boise is the first visit that Nelson is taking since

leaving USC, and they've been cast as the favorite to land him. We're in a bit of a new era here, Kelsey, where recruits are seeking playing time more than waiting their turn at more traditional brands. And with Boise are returning 18 starters from the Mountain West title team, they're going to win immediately in Boise. They also have tailback Ashton Genti, who's one of the best players in the entire country. The other big breaking news today came from Old Miss. Quinshawn Judkins, who's one of the most productive tailbacks to the last two years, he has more than 3,000 yards from scrimmage, surprisingly entered the transfer portal, or is at least starting to process his paperwork. He's not quite in yet. Judkins is from Alabama, grew up there, and there's a

sense that perhaps the tide could end up as a match for him. Consider what Jamir Gibbs did two years ago when he left Georgia Tech and left Alabama as the number 12 pick in the draft. I've been told Judkins is prioritizing, winning championships and doing the best for his professional career as the guiding lights of his

transfer. It's been the two-time first team for that all-SEC team has made a big impact. We'll see where he ends up landing. Pete Thamwell the latest here on college football live. Still the combo season. It's officially over. But don't be sad. We're going to relive some of our favorite

moments from bowl season coming up next. So the game is Monday night, but we've got you covered all day long, starting at 10 a.m. with first take taking you all the way through the confetti celebration. College football live built by the Home Depot with two o'clock championship drive. It's three in college game day as well as coverage after the game with SVP over on Sports Center. Make sure you stay right here with ESPN for all your national championship coverage. So that will wrap up bowl season, but what a season. It has been some really high highs, some low lows. And my favorite thing is that thing you see at the bottom, the five food celebrations that we got.

Guys, let's talk about the best of bowl season. And Jordan, I want to start with you. And what's something for you that was really memorable from what we saw? Well, Kales, Dusty, I'm going to go with the famous toastery bowl between Western Kentucky and Old Dominion. What a fantastic game it was. Western Kentucky ended up getting the victory 38 to 35, but it was not easy. Engineering a 28-point combat in the fourth quarter, this was one of my favorite bowl games to watch down their starting quarterback, Malachi Corley, who was a stud-wide receiver for them,

did not play in the second half. They still were able to come out with the victory. Give me the famous Toastery Bowl, by far, one of the most exciting bowl games of the year. That's great, Jordan. That's awesome. I enjoyed that, man. That quarterback, they had asked them to play tight-in, so that was a great story. But let's go to the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Huge win for Chris Climmon, for Kansas State. That was a great game, NC State, Kansas State. But, I mean, all the conversation about what's it going to be like, the Pop-Tarts Bowl, they had a mascot of a Pop-Tart going down into a toaster, and it comes out, and then you get to eat it. It doesn't get any better than that. Now, if I'm going to be a little bit critical, why don't we get in there like a one-year-old eats a cake? I want to see somebody next year that wins this thing.

Just get in there on that cherry parked out. Pop-Tart and go to town, but that was off the charts. A lot of advertising wanted that, man, did it deliver? You just mentioned the problem, though. It was a cherry Pop-Tart. I mean, who's going to go all in on a cherry Pop-Tart? We need the brown sugar one or, Dusty, we need something else, not the cherry next year. Only strawberry matters.

I mean, cherry's as good as it gets. Strawberry's good? Strawberry's good? Hey, you know what? I haven't met a Pop-Tart. I don't like, Kelsey, so you can put anything down there in this old nose tackle. That's true. That's true. Listen, actually, I saw them and they were eating it slow, but then when I saw the before and after picture where there was like nothing but crumbles, I'm like, okay, somebody did some good work on the pop chart. It was a lot of fun. I like the cheese. It's bowl as well. I think it was the meme where I saw. It was like, I'm not edible. Don't eat me with the cheese. It's mascot. It's been a fun season. We've got one more show coming your way. College Football Live tomorrow.