Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - Manny Diaz, Duke Take on Miami Hurricanes in REVENGE Game

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Welcome to ACC Squad, your essential roundtable podcast for everything Atlantic Coast Conference! In this Week 10 preview episode, hosted by Alex Donno from Locked On ACC, we’re diving into the exciting matchups lined up for the week and providing you with in-depth analysis, predictions, and key insights.Join us as we explore the critical games that could shape the ACC standings as the season approaches its climax. Whether you’re cheering for the Boston College Eagles, Clemson Tigers, Duke Blue Devils, Florida State Seminoles, Louisville Cardinals, Miami Hurricanes, NC State Wolfpack, North Carolina Tar Heels, Syracuse Orange, California Golden Bears, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Pittsburgh Panthers, SMU Mustangs, Stanford Cardinal, Virginia Cavaliers, Virginia Tech Hokies, or Wake Forest Demon Deacons, this episode has everything you need to prepare for game day!In This Episode:Detailed previews of Week 10’s most anticipated matchupsAnalysis of team dynamics and player performancesPredictions from Locked On podcast hosts on potential outcomesHighlights of standout players to watch this weekMake sure to subscribe to ACC Squad and hit the notification bell for all the latest updates and comprehensive coverage of ACC football. We want to hear from you—share your thoughts in the comments below and let us know which matchups have you buzzing this week!#ACCSquad #ACCFootball #LockedOnACC #Week10Preview #ACC2024 #FootballPredictions #BostonCollegeEagles #ClemsonTigers #DukeBlueDevils #FloridaStateSeminoles #LouisvilleCardinals #MiamiHurricanes #NCStateWolfpack #NorthCarolinaTarHeels #SyracuseOrange #CaliforniaGoldenBears #GeorgiaTechYellowJackets #PittsburghPanthers #SMUMustangs #StanfordCardinal #VirginiaCavaliers #VirginiaTechHokies #WakeForestDemonDeacons Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Were we just flat out wrong about the Pittsburgh Panthers? And out of 17 ACC football teams, how many of them still have a shot to make it to the ACC championship game? Let's assemble the squad. You're talking ball with the ACC squad. From Florida State to North Carolina, from Syracuse to Miami. And from NC State to California, it's the local experts of the Locked-on Podcast Network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming ACC, weekend. Hang on. It could get loud. It could get heated and it will definitely be fun.

Squad up. You're part of the ACCC squad. Shout out to the everydayers and thank you so much for making the ACC squad your first listen and your first watch today. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought you by Fandual. You can start the season with a big return on Fandual. New customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Visit fanduel.com to get started. We'll talk about where the ACC sits in the updated AP rankings. Big games coming up in week 10 this weekend. The agony and the ecstasy of the great games this past weekend in week nine.

I am Alex Dono from Locked on Caines joined by Jackson Holeser, locked on Syracuse, Grayson Boone, locked on Wolfpack, Dalton Pence, locked on Louisville, J.J. Jackson, locked on Blue Devils, Miami and Blue Devils are going to be going ahead to head to head this weekend, the return of Mani Diaz. But I feel like, Jackson, I need to let you buy the first round. And I think you're lucky that Kenton Gibbs is not with us on this one, because he would probably remind you that at some point, Kyle McCord was going to have the Kyle McCord game. And lo and behold, there it was. I disagree with you. I wish Kenton was here. See, Here's the thing with Kenton. We've, we've debated a lot with Kenton, right? All of us here have

debated with Kenton at some point or another. I pretty much know what he is going to say a lot of times. I have a good idea of what Kenton would say if he was here with us right now. He would be like, ah, see, that's the Kyle McCord we all know. We knew it was coming, right? Well, I have to disagree with him on this because that would imply that Kyle McCord's played that poorly in his life. That was the worst team he's ever played in his life. That was the worst game ever. Forget college for a moment, okay? His entire life, he was a five-star recruit in high school. He was throwing a Marvin Harrison in high school. I bet you he didn't have a five-interception game where three of them went into the end zone.

I bet you didn't have that in high school. I bet you since he was a five-star in high school. He was also really good in middle school. And he was really good in Pop Warner, too. I guarantee you that was the worst game of his life, his life. So to sit here and say, well, that's the Kyle McCord. We all knew what was going to happen. We all knew. You're wrong because that was the worst game ever. Seriously, if you told me going into the game that Kyle McCord was going to throw three touchdowns

and that Eli Holstein would be held to 108 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers, but still, only 100 yards, right? I would say that Syracuse probably won the game. Oh, by the way, Syracuse outgain pit. They had more time of possession than Pitt. There's just one thing I'm moving out, though, is that those three touchdowns from Kyle McCord all went to Pitt in the first half. Yeah, and Pitt comes away with the-

It was bad. It was terrible. It was terrible to 13 final score pit over Syracuse. And if anyone else wants to jump in on that game, and also, also, Dalton, Are we taking pit seriously because all the Panthers do is continue to win football games. They're 7 and 0 overall, 3 and 0 now in ACC play. The Panthers, they've got a tough road ahead because they still have to play SMU this weekend

and they still have to play Clemson, but they also have the opportunity to play spoiler against those teams. They do. And there's a certain level of credit that has to be given to teams that win their games because if it were that easy, everyone would be 7 and 0. So we have to give them credit for starting out the season and playing the way they are. You can only handle the teams on your schedule. So you have to give Pat Narduzzi and the Pittsburgh. I will say offense deserves more credit because they're one of the best scoring offenses in the country.

Defenses, not terrible, but not great. You know, they're sort of a little bit above average, I would say. A little above average? Top 50 scoring defense. They resembled the steel curtain last Thursday. What? I mean, they played in that stadium. It's not our fault that Kyle McCord didn't know what team he was playing for on Thursday.

That's, uh, maybe you're right. But in all honesty, you know, Kenton, we know what he would say after and, you know, Jackson hit it on the head, but he would also talk about, well, you all were wrong about Pittsburgh. And it goes back to what I was saying a couple weeks ago, if you remember, that yes, you 100% have to give Pittsburgh credit. They are rightfully ranked, and I'm okay with that. But now you get into two really key matchups, and I hope that Kevin Jennings is good to go this weekend when they play SMU.

I just, this is where the rubber meets the road, and I think that Pittsburgh finally plays a really good team. No disrespect, Jackson, but they finally play a really good team. and I think a split is the most that they can do here. I think that there is a very real chance that they go 0 and 2, and there's no shame in that. They've won the games up and to this point, but I can't sit here and say with a straight face

that I truly believe in Pittsburgh when you look at the seven teams they played. And I'll wrap this up pretty quickly. When the Woolville had a very favorable schedule last year, they beat Notre Dame, it was a good win. But outside of that, they didn't play many other teams. Last year when they were sitting at 10 and 1, a lot of national talking heads said, well, they really haven't played anybody. I don't really believe in them yet. Same case here with Pittsburgh.

Yeah, I'm in lockstep with Dalton. For one, as someone who has both doubted Pittsburgh and thought that Syracuse would win this game, completely shocked at how that first half went. Five picks for Kyle McCord, three of them being taken back to the house. What a nightmare for Syracuse fans. but I agree with Dalton in a sense that, yes, credit absolutely should be given to Pittsburgh. They've played seven games. They've won all seven of them. They've done everything that they're supposed to do up until this point.

So they certainly deserve to be ranked. I honestly thought they'd be ranked a little bit higher than they are, but I guess we'll see how that shakes out in the next couple weeks. They're a good football team. They're just flat out good. They're a good football team. I thought the crowd on Thursday night was exciting. Pittsburgh fans should be excited about what they're putting on the field.

But yes, the road ahead of them certainly does get a lot more difficult. What a road it is. I mean, yeah, playing SMU on the road this weekend for Pitt is going to be a test. Then they've got UVA before hosting Clemson. So we saw the environment that they had in that game against Syracuse. I would expect a pretty raucous turnout as well in that Clemson game here in a couple of weeks. I think we'll learn more about this Pitt team with this next two out of three stretch that they've got going on right now. but I have not been giving them credit at all, really,

and probably should start doing that. I mean, it's impressive what they've been able to do. So, okay, we were just talking about Syracuse, who usually when you throw five interceptions, you're going to lose a football game. Now, JJ, how in the heck did Duke go plus six in the turnover margin last week against SMU? Six takeaways, zero turn.

turnovers. How did the Blue Devils not win that game? Yeah, it could be worse in looking at that margin, which makes it feel so much worse. Manny Diaz talked about it after the fact in this one, there were two or three fumbles that were recovered by SMU. One was recovered in overturned. There was an interception that was taken back because of defensive pass interference. So there should have been even more turnovers that Duke was able to pick up on the defensive side of the ball, but not able to score any points off. Six turnovers, zero points off turnovers. Didn't even think that was possible. Special teams was horrific in this one for Duke. They missed a PAT.

They missed a 40-yarder. They had a 30-yarder as time expires blocked, which would have won it at the end. And I will defend Mani Diaz in making the decision to go for two at the end and overtime, trying to walk away with the win, considering how poorly the special teams had been playing that night. He said after the fact that had nothing to do with his decision. He liked the looks they were getting offensively and was going to go for it no matter what. But I think it was when you think about what Duke had done in the special teams department,

you had to go ahead and try and go for two and go for the win. Man, that was tough to watch for sure. The defense has been awesome. No surprise. That's man EBS side of the ball. That's what he takes a lot of pride in. But it's tough to watch this Duke offense at times, guys. Listen, that's the dilemma with going for two there because it's,

you get it, you're celebrated. If you don't, obviously, it's the exact opposite. And when you're going up against an SMU offense, that's known for putting up points. And your offense has sort of struggled all game. And you have the ball within the five-yard line. You have one play to score to win the game. I'm okay with Duke going forth there because, I mean, again, I don't feel like trading or trading points for points with SMU is probably the smartest decision. Honestly, for 80% of the ACC schools. I thought it was amazing post game. Rhett Lashley sounded the most dejected I've ever heard a coach in a game that they won.

Yeah. I don't know what to do right now. We didn't deserve to win this game. They quite frankly did not. How you turn the ball over six times, but still imagine to escape with a win. That's incredible. And a couple weeks ago, when I first brought up SMU, I'm like, all right, They're still undefeated in a conference play.

Let's keep an eye on these guys. Here they are, a very favorable last four games, three of which are at home. They have a big matchup with Pitt coming up this week. But SMU is lucky to escape. They're still undefeated guys. I think they're going to make a run at this thing. I disagree with you on the deserve to, deserve to win.

So I'm a, his words, not mine. I, yeah, and he's wrong. He's wrong because, you know, I'm a big hockey fan. and there's this website where there's the something called the Deserva Winnowmeter where it'll show like in a hockey game like, oh, this team was out playing them. And so that team would win 80% of the time. Right. And then you see that that team loses and you're like, well, how did they lose?

Well, sorry, you turn the ball over six times. You still won. Well, yeah, because Duke couldn't take advantage of it. So, yeah, they did deserve to win because Duke was. handed the game and said, nope, nope, we don't want it. We don't want it. We don't want to take advantage of six turnovers. It hurts.

Give it right back to you. So his words are wrong. They did deserve to win now. Can they have six turnovers going forward in the game and expect to win? Well, as a Syracuse fan, I can tell you that no, you're not going to win going forward doing that. But for this one game, you did deserve to win because at the end of the day, you had more points than the other team.

So I pushed back on that comment. You deserve to win. Give yourself a little bit of. credit. Just, you know, don't have six turnovers again. Well, when we come back, we're going to talk about Miami. They stayed unbeaten, beating the most lifeless Florida State team that I've quite frankly ever seen. They haven't been this bad since the 1970s, but Miami took advantage. And also got to talk about Dalton's Louisville Cardinals who pulled off a massive comeback. That was a lot of fun to watch.

You guys want to keep it locked right here. We're nowhere near done yet on this brand new episode of the ACC squad. We've been having a blast all season long at Fanduel. And there's some interesting numbers in the ACC coming up this weekend. Miami Hurricanes are 21 and a half point favorites at home against the Duke Blue Devils. Syracuse or underdogs at home against Virginia Tech. Clemson favored by double digits at home against Louisville. You want to check out all of this action. You want to log on to the Fandual Sportsbook.

Get ready to tackle the NFL action, by the way, with Fandual, America's number one sports. book because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The Van Duel Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, if you live play by play and so much more right on the same page where you place your bets. Just visit Fandual.com to join today. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. That's Fandual.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandul. official sports book partner of the NFL. Thank you so much for making the ACC squad, your first

listen and your first watch today. Make sure you check out all of our other shows for the next listen. I host Locked on Cains, Jackson on Locked on Syracuse, Grayson on Locked on Wolfpack, JJ unlocked on Blue Devils, Dalton on Locked on. Talk about Louisville in a second, guys, but you know, Florida State, they're one and seven now overall. And earlier this week on Locked on ACC, I examined the, you know, the preseason ACC poll where, you know, Florida State was almost a consensus repeat champion. It's pretty incredible how far they've fallen. I mean, Miami, like, essentially treated that game kind of like a scrimmage. You know, Florida State, they did do a good job on Xavier Restrepo and some of Miami's passing targets. So Miami just decided, let's just run

the ball today and they rack up 230 yards. Damian Martinez had 148 yards and two touchdowns in that one with a great performance. We got new, we got new Dalton and hello, hello, new Dalton. So I don't know, I don't know how much we learned about Miami or Florida State, but I will say, guys, obviously a bounce back for Miami's defense, but Florida State's offense is the slump buster for any, for any defense out there. But I will say Miami has shown the past couple of weeks that their offense can really be a pick your poison because early in the season it was really all Cam Ward and not a whole lot of the running game past couple weeks Miami had 219 rushing yards against Louisville 230 yards against Florida State so there's there's a whole other aspect

to that offense that needs to be respected hey dono how'd you enjoy the bye week yeah it's pretty much what actually that might have been easier than Miami's got another buy week coming up in a couple of weeks. The buy week is only seven point underdog where Florida State was a couple touchdowns. So I got to, I got to give it to the schedule makers. I mean, they're aiding in Miami's quest to win the ACCC. I mean, we talk about the referees rigging games for Miami because, you know, referees have an agenda clearly. We all know that. Yeah, you know, they're all rigging it. Well, how about the ACC schedule makers? I mean, giving them another biweek? Why do they get three? Why do you get three bywees?

Dono, this is not fair. Florida State's not a team. They're not a team. They got players. They got players in uniform. Right? It's like if you put me and Grayson and JJ and Dalton and Dono, you can be the quarterback if you really want to.

I mean, that's how bad Florida State is. They're not a team. It's getting major. I look at the game and I was like, well, so cool. Oh, they did a good. job on their past catchers. Yeah, so they ran the ball 150, whatever. Yeah. It's a buy week. I hope it was a good practice for you guys. Bishop Sycamore. That's what I was going to say. Yeah. Bichimore. That's what they all got about that. They're Bishop Sycamore.

And Miami is IMG Academy. It was a biweek. It doesn't count. I mean, it does technically count, but still, it doesn't count. Free space on the bingo card is what it was. This has just been crazy to watch Florida State the whole season, just not be able to find wins. And you look at what's left for me, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Charleston Southern has the same record as Florida State at one in seven. Give me Charleston Southern. And then Florida closed out the year. I mean, it's crazy what this last stretch looks like for one win could be possible.

Yeah. Who may be from a team that went undefeated in the regular season last year? I remember we had joked on here after they started 0 and 3 and lost to Memphis, like how bad could it actually get for Florida State? It is still getting worse, believe it or not. That was the last time we saw Brian Smith, the poor guy. He's been in mourning since then. He's on the podcast right now talking about the latest recruit that's decommitting from Florida State.

It's objectively hilarious what is going on. I mean, what's left to talk about at this point? I mean, I think I speak for the rest of the league when I say that, the Florida State fan base has talked no trash over the past couple of years. And it would be so much worse if this school decided to suit. Oh, wait, that's right. Both of those are true. I don't feel bad.

I think it's hilarious. Like you said, Jackson, it's hilarious because if it was happening to anyone else, you know how that fan base will be reacting. So, no, it's pull no punches here. The Florida State fan base, I'll say they're a special breed. And you guys, I hear from them a lot, obviously, is the host of Locked on Cains. And you know what's crazy about it is the Florida State fans are trolling Miami for not beating them by more than 22 points.

That's, I'm dead serious. No, you guys didn't do a good job in your biweek, man. Those biweek practice, that wasn't a good practice. It's tough of practice. Back out there, man. Come on. Yeah, that things had to be when, like it, I was, I'm a Louisville fan, right? I watched a Louisville basketball in past two years when a combined 12 games, the worst

two-year stint in program history. That's something we pulled. Well, you only beat us by 31. Oh, I got one for you. How did Clemson do against Florida State this year? That was a 29-13 game. So Miami Fair better. Maybe Florida State just plays better when they're playing better competition,

but they still get their butts kicked. Yeah, yeah, it's rough. Well, I do, I want to give Dalton the floor because I was watching, what was that, was that the Friday night game? I was watching, I was watching, I was watching Louisville down 20-0 against Boston College. Like I'm about to turn the game off. Louisville makes 27.

Like, okay, maybe they got something percolating here. They come all the way back to win that football game. Now, Louisville has been an absolute roller coaster this season, but it had to be pretty fun to be finally on the right end of that roller coaster ride. It's been a lot of drama mean taken this year. I've been getting a lot of motion sickness. truthfully. It's there's something, like I said, there's something to be said for making a comeback like that. It was the only time in program history that the team won a game when they were trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter, as sad as that is.

Yes, it was a team you were supposed to be. Yes, you were able to come back. I think we might have lost him. Hold on. Until we get him back, let me run a tease. You know what? I'm glad the Louisville comeback worked out because the Dalton, monologue did not work out, did not get it over the finish line. But I want to talk about how the ACC is faring in the Associated Press rankings. And I want to talk about the big games coming up this weekend because there are some pivotal matchup, seven games involving a whole, all right, here he is. He's back.

So, Dalton, I'll let you finish your thought. Bill O'Brien, you know, team. That's right. Bill O'Brien sabotage. Sorry. Yeah. But you're back. You came back.

You're back. That is right. Now we got two Dalton's. We almost have two of them. I don't know what's going on with the Wafah. It's about as shake you as the Louisville past defense in some situation. I have to make fun of it or else I'm going to cry. It is what it is.

Truthfully, I give credit to the team for making the comeback. It's not always the easiest going on the road and winning in conference play, even though Boston College doesn't have a great home atmosphere, but still there's something to be said about making that comeback. So when the, narrative was that this team was going to quit on Jeff Brom. It was nice to see the opposite happen. But you also have to talk about this is the sixth straight game with a lackluster first quarter. And they're digging themselves into holes that they're sometimes have been

able to get out of three times this season they have not been able to. So hopefully, and what I said on the show that dropped today, hopefully the second half comeback, regardless of opponent, Hopefully that's the random spark that sort of, that was, what was so desperately needed to gear up towards this last portion of the season. And we'll find out really, really quickly in Death Valley Jr. next week, or this upcoming week, I should say. I love that. Well, we'll talk about the big games coming up this weekend.

You guys want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC on the squad. folks our friends over at five-hour energy they know that being a passionate football fan isn't just a hobby it's a way of life it takes a lot of energy to power through all the day tailgates touchdown celebrations or an agonizing second overtime now manny diaz was not interested in another overtime as we saw but that's why five-hour energy is created uh the stand the fan five-hour energy shot with a special flavor called fan fuel the energy shot made just for super fans like us. The fans who are first in the parking lot and who are the last to leave, we see you. Folks, we also got a bit of fan fuel this week,

watching Louisville pull off the comeback, watching Miami win a rivalry game, watching SMU somehow survive against Duke in overtime, five-hour energy knows that no matter what team you root for, being a fan requires heart, soul, and a whole lot of energy. Whether you're prepping for the big tailgate or ironing your jersey, your game day to-do list is always a mile long. That's why the limited edition, Stand the Fan,

five-hour energy shot is here to help keep you fueled throughout the season. What's your fan fuel this week? Whatever it is. Do it with five-hour energy. Available on five-hourenergy.com and shipped nationwide. Thank you so much for making this episode of The Squad, your first listen and your first watch today. We're free wherever you get your podcast.

We're free on YouTube. Make sure for your next listen. You also checked out Lockdown College Football. Spencer McLaughlin does an awesome job going through all the big games and all the big storylines as we march towards that college football playoff coming up a little bit later on this year. All right, folks, let's talk about the Associated Press rankings. You had some movement involving ACC teams as we pull it up here. Miami, they beat Florida State on their FSU by week. They move up a spot to number five. Texas moved down to number six.

Next ACC team on the list is Clemson. Clemson. had the buy week. They somehow moved down two spots. Didn't even play last week. They moved down to number 11. You had the Pitt Panthers moving up a spot to number 18 and SMU moved up actually two spots. I felt like Pittsburgh probably should have had a bigger upward move than SMU did. And those are the four ACC teams that are ranked. Guys, did they get anything wrong there? And how many ACC teams do you think have a legit shot of getting to the CFP at the end of the year? I mean, I think the rankings themselves, ultimately, yeah, Clemson going down is a little bit of a head scratcher, although some other teams won. It is what it is. I do think that Pittsburgh

as much flack as I give them going up only one spot after the performance on Thursday, I thought probably should have been maybe two to three spots. But again, we're kind of splitting hairs here. And the good news is you have all the opportunity in the world the next two weeks to try to claim an upward spot as opposed to your other question. College football playoffs is going to be very interesting because like you and I kind of talked about before the show, Dono, what happens if you get three teams, you know, in conference play that go undefeated? And what happens there? Let's say Miami, Clemson and SMU all go undefeated. how is that going to, you know, affect who ends up getting in? Obviously, it's going to be, you know,

what win percentage of their schedule in terms of conference play. But, I mean, I think that you have the ACC winner that gets in. I think at most you can get one more team in. I don't see a situation where you get three ACC squads in the college football playoff. Yeah, ACC fans aren't going to like what you just said, but. It's true. Yeah, you might be right. You might be right.

I mean, obviously, whoever wins, that's a guaranteed birth. What you really need to have happen to get, to maximize the amount of teams is you need like a pit or an SMU to actually win the conference. Because, yeah, I think Miami with one loss is still in no matter what.

I think we'd all agree on that. They're in no matter what, right? One loss you're in. Clemson, that's tricky if they lose two. But, Maybe. Maybe. You do bring up a, you bring up like the only way it could happen, though, because if SMU, it would have to be SMU because Pitt and Clemson play.

If, let's say, SMU ends up winning. Oh, we got Kent. There we go. Look at him. You thought I was going to miss the opportunity to talk of great. You talked about boy Jackson Holtz today. We already know what you're going to say. So just say it and I'll give my counterpoint and then go.

Hey, listen, hey listen, I wanted to check on you, Jackson. I know that was a rough Thursday night. How are you? Are you okay, Jackson? I just want to know, look. Look, I'll tell you why we're okay, all right? You ready for, you know, you ready for this? Talk to, talk to me. Talk to me. Oh, basketball.

I'm going to say this. I'm going to say this. See, and this is how I knew me and Jackson were going to disagree. Because I think Syracuse football is actually okay. I think they're fine. I think they're ahead of schedule. And I think that outside of McCord, being Mount McCorm, because I've told everybody it's like a volcano, the longer it takes past when it's supposed

to erupt. It's going to happen in spectacular fashion. But I think if I'm you, I'm happy because the rest of the team outside of McCord is that good. And y'all are way ahead of schedule. So if anything, I came here to just make sure you are, you weren't ready to jump off the cliff and say, we're a basketball school because your football team still has a lot of things in front of it.

You know, we're fine. We're fine. Kenton, we're fine. The fan base is okay. We've recovered. We're good. We're going. There we go.

We have accepted. I think the collective fan base has accepted that this has been a very good first year under Fran Brown. We're all happy with that. Five and two, we would have signed up for. Obviously, we didn't want to get our butts kicked against Pitt and Kyle McCord. I mean, he had,

I would say, Kenton, you're wrong because you think that that spectacular implosion was going to happen. You're wrong. That was the worst game he's ever played in his life. I mean, that was his worst name in his life. But that's what I mean.

But that's what I mean by. too many McCord moments were held underneath the serpent. So that was going to run. You got me. You got me. Because he was playing so good for so long that the collapse just had to be the biggest collapse. Exactly.

It makes sense. I get it. Did you really think he was going to go throw five picks and three of them would end up in his L and end zone? I didn't know five was on the way, but I knew he at least had a three-pick game on the way. Oh, I agree. I mean, look, look, I mean, three picks, that happens. That happens.

But, uh, five. Hey, Jackson, Jackson, I love you. I just want to make sure you're okay, man. I do you're okay. We're okay. We're okay. He's got here to ear right now. I was geeked up.

I was geeked up like Fibo and no way. I'll tell you. Listen, listen. He put out a suit for you, Jackson. Absolutely. Full suit. Yeah, and I'm out of wearing a hoodie. I woke up in the morning or the evening, whatever it is.

I did not, but I just decided to wear a hoodie on this one. But I mean, look, the fan base is actually okay. I mean, yeah, it sucked. It sucked, but we're okay. Like, we're looking at the schedule still, and we're like, all right, like, can we still pull out eight regular season wins? Like, can we still do that? Maybe. All right.

So if we go eight and four, first year under Fran Brown. That's a damn good year one. That's a good year. That's a good year. And the recruiting is getting better and better under Fran Brown. So it's a step in the right direction. I mean, you didn't want that to happen. I just, I just came here and check fire came to check in on his ice to make sure you

we're okay. We're okay. And guess what? We got basketball coming to. We got basketball too. We got basketball too. It's happening. While you're checking, Kenton, I'm not okay. I'm not okay. Going plus six in the turnover department and finding a way to lose a football game, special teams, mishaps every, I'm not okay, Kenton. I'm going to check it on all of us. I'm going to tell you, this has been a week of vindication for me because I told everybody that Kyle McCourt wasn't it. This week he showed it. I told everybody, I'm not sure about Malik Murphy. I mean, they're winning, but I'm not sure about that kid.

Everybody's all, you're just mad because Duke beat NC State Lager. Oh, you're just like, this was a big week of vindication for me. That's why I showed up in a suit. That's why I showed up. You know, I had to let you know. No, I can't handle that. What are your thoughts on the pit panthers now being only ranked 18? You know, I mean, we all know what that is, right?

We all know it just means less than the ACC, apparently. Because if you slap an SEC on their chest and you give them this, exact same record against these exact same teams all of a sudden, you know, you're getting a, exactly, you're getting a top 10 team out of this group. I don't understand how we continue to underrate this team despite all they do is not only when, they won impressively against the best team that they played all season according to many. I don't understand what else it can do, right? I get it. I understand, right? Narduz and company allegedly leave locker rooms dirty. Hey, I understand. I understand. I don't understand. I don't. I don't.

get it, right? No, do Z. Do better. Stop doing that. But I'll tell you what else he leaves dirty. The opponent's jersey, because they are knocking some, I'm not, I was about to make us lose our clean rating. They're knocking some heads in the dirt, ladies and gentlemen.

They are knocking some heads in the dirt. So, you know, I don't see what else, what else can Pitt do outside of dominating Clemson to get the ranking that they deserve? And even then, I think that more people would disrespect Clemson because of that than give Pitt credit and say, you know what? Both Pitt and. Clemson are playoff teams. I mean, you're absolutely right about that.

And I'm not expecting Pitt to beat Clemson. I think Clemson's going to win that game. But you're right. If Clemson doesn't win that game, the narrative is going to flip more on Clemson than it would be giving credit to Pitt. I got Panther fever. I'm rocking with them boys all the way. I got Panther fever.

I'm rocking with Eli Holsteen. I'm rocking with the Sharks at Livebacker. I think those boys don't hunt all the way. Oh, man. My friends, this has been an awesome episode. to the squad as always. Wow, you scared, you scared away. He's gone. He's gone. He's gone. He's left those ladies, gentlemen. Here he is. I think he's back. I want you guys to enjoy the ACC football this coming weekend. We got Duke at number five, Miami. We got Stanford and NC State. We got

Virginia Tech at Syracuse. UNC at Florida State. Louisville at number 11 Clemson, number 18 pit at number 20 SMU. We're going to recap everything that happened next week. For Jackson, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I just want to know what's worse. Dalton's Wi-Fi or Kyle McCourt? You know, it's funny is. It only, it only acts up on locked on ACCC. How many times has Dolton's Wi-Fi gone out? How many interceptions did Kyle McCourt throw? Well, Dalton's Wi-Fi goes up, but it comes right back. Kyle McCourt, on the other hand, let me tell you something. He was giving out so Christmas early.

He said, hey, we're playing Secret Santa. You're going to pick, you're going to pick, you're going to pick, you're going to pick, you're going to pick it. Go ahead and six on there on top of it. I love it. We will talk to everyone next time on another episode of the squad right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.