Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - Miami Hurricanes' Quarterback Shift: Beck's Arrival + ACC Implications

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

Can Carson Beck's move to the Miami Hurricanes reshape the ACC landscape? Dive into the latest college football buzz as we explore quarterback transfers, team dynamics, and playoff outcomes.Join Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs as they dissect Carson Beck's transfer to the Miami Hurricanes, comparing his potential impact to that of Cam Ward. The discussion heats up with Kyle McCord's NFL draft prospects and Notre Dame's impressive College Football Playoff victory. Key players like Cade Klubnick, Kevin Jennings, and Darian Mensah are spotlighted as potential ACC stars next season.Don't miss this engaging analysis of college football's evolving scene and the Miami Hurricanes' strategic moves. Listen now for exclusive insights and expert opinions!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyCancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com/lockedon today.Turbo TaxReady for stress-free taxes and the most money back, guaranteed? Head over to TurboTax.com today and get matched with your Expert. Only available with TurboTax Live Full Service. Real-time updates only in the iOS mobile app. See guarantee details at TurboTax.com/guarantees. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelFrom big upsets to game-winning drives, the NFL Playoffs are better with FanDuelnew customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED BUCKS in BONUS BETS - GUARANTEED - Win or Lose.Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. Make this playoff season unforgettable with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The conference of quarterbacks just added another big name. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Shout out to the everydayers. Happy Friday and thank you so much for making Locked on ACC. 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 to you by Fanduel from big upsets to game winning drives. The NFL playoffs are better with Fandual. New customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed winner lose. Visit Fandual.com to get started. On this loaded episode of Lockdown, ACC, we'll talk about the college football playoff. I mean, that was an epic finish.

Well, you would use the word epic if you were, you know, maybe cheering for Notre Dame or a neutral, like Kenton and I were in that case. But, man, if you're a Penn State fan. You're probably, you're wishing Drew Aller hadn't committed to another year. We'll just say that. We'll talk about the future for Kyle McCord at Syracuse because, yeah, it's been well publicized for past several weeks. He was fighting for a waiver to play another season of college football.

His future has now been decided. But Kenton Gibbs, you know, it's been a busy day for me. I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Cains. He, Kenton Gibbs is from Lockdown Wolfpack. I've been covering the Carson Beck saga, who just officially entered the transfer portal yesterday from Georgia. And I thought this would at least go into the weekend, but no, Friday afternoon, former UGA starting quarterback. Carson Beck had that 24 and 3 record at Georgia. He is committed to the University of Miami.

And Kenton, this is a situation where both sides really needed each other. It was very clear Miami needed to add and experience quarterback after, you know, watching Emery Williams kind of stink up the joint in the second half of the Pop Tarts Bowl. And for Beck, you know, he's coming off that UCL injury, which is hurting his draft stock. He'll be ready to go by next season, but, you know, being unable to go through the combine and pro days and stuff was hurting his draft stock for right now. So he needed another year of college. his girlfriend Hannah Kavanaugh plays for the Miami women's basketball team. So this is a situation where both of these sides needed each other, and they've officially come together today.

I strongly disagree, Donald. I strongly disagree. This is not at all a situation where both sides needed each other. Really? Beck needed Miami. Miami didn't need that. You think so? Oh, I don't know about that.

Miami dropped how much for Cam Ward last year? reportedly about $2 million in change. Hypothetically, what quarterback could you not get out of court for $2 million in change? Hypothetically speaking, of course. Who could you not? Last year's prices or not this year's prices? Okay, okay. I hear you.

I understand. Here's why I say that, you know, Beck needed them not the other way around. Cam Ward showed, hey, I am the system. You install me out of team. I will be the system at multiple different places. That's the situation. Hey, Miami neither. Because you can't get Cam Ward anywhere else.

You go ahead, go to Amazon, call up Target, go shop everywhere. You know what they're going to say, fresh out of stock. Go to Timo. Go to Timo. They're going to say, we don't have Camp Ward. We got Cairo Jones at home. What are you doing? I'm telling you, he was one of one.

Carson Beck. I think Carson Beck is a very blah quarterback. Don't get me wrong. I like his experience. I like that he's played in big games. How many of those big games can you specifically point in Carson Beck? And not only say he performed well, but going in, it was all on him. Going in, it was, hey, ain't no running game to speak of.

There's nothing to speak up. There is just you. No, no defense to speak of. You weren't. No, no, no, no. You're going to have to put up 35, maybe 35 or more. And it's going to have to be through the air. And you're going to have to do it with, you know what, I'll even give them a great receiving course. Sure. We didn't have to talk about that part. Just the, hey, you have to go do this? You know, I don't see it. He continues a very long tradition of guys going to college with their girlfriends. Guys transferring in with their girlfriends are more part to him. But I'm telling you right now, this was the. not a move that was like Miami had to make this happen. They had to do. He was the guy that they had to get. Does he raise both Miami's floor and ceiling for next year? Absolutely. Absolutely to both. But if this is a move that I'm looking at saying, hey, Miami is going to be

elevated into a new stratosphere that no other quarterback could get them to next year? Absolutely not. I agree with you. And one of the, I've been harping on this all week, you know, before the Beck stuff became official. I did a Lockdown Cain's episode about it today, a reaction episode. I want to emphasize this is not Cam Ward. And there was not another Cam Ward out there, quite frankly, transfer portal. And, you know, you know, people could argue as to where they rank Carson Beck with the other quarterbacks that have gone in the portal. I was a big fan of John Mateer who landed at Oklahoma. But yeah, I mean, Cam Ward is not walking through that door. So there is no question to me, Carson Beck is better, in my opinion, and a lot more experience than what

Miami already has in the room. They could have taken a serious step back next year without a guy like Carson Beck, because in fact, if Beck didn't come to Miami, there's a pretty good chance Miami would have started a true freshman, a quarterback next year in Luke Nicol, who I really like, but true freshman, it's a tough situation. You're going to have, you know, the same way, you know, C.J. Bailey, who we really like, had growing pains. They didn't even start the season. season, but he got a lot of starts this year. You're going to have growing pains with a true freshman quarterback. It's going to affect your on-field production.

And Miami, in two out of their first three games, Kenton, have Notre Dame, week one, and Florida, week three. So you want to be in the best possible position to succeed there. I like the fact that Beck only has one year of eligibility so that, you know, someone like a Luke Nicol can maybe take over the reins when he's, you know, a sophomore. But yeah, I am under, I am under no illusions that Miami has found the next Cam Ward. And I hope Miami fans understand it. Like, do not expect Carson Beck, who's a good serviceable quarterback who is going to be in the NFL someday.

But do not expect him to be Cam Ward 2.0. He's not going to be the offense the way Ward was. And secondly, Kenton, and this is something Miami's going to working on this. Hopefully they can make that defense better. They still have an opening, a defensive coordinator. They've already brought in four defensive transfers through the portal, three defensive backs and a defensive lineman. You know, you can't expect Carson Beck to go out there and basically single-handedly win 10 games the way Cam Ward did this year. You have to make that entire team better this year.

There's no question about it. Yeah, and that's why I said I disagree on the need thing, because to me, it's like inserting you, if I'm saying you're a need player, having you does something. It gives us some type of superpower that we would not have elsework. Otherwise, don't get me wrong. This was a nice addition. I think this is a mutually beneficial moment. But if I'm talking about need last year, Cam Ward did not. Cam Ward needed Miami.

Miami needed Cam Ward. Without Miami, Cam Ward doesn't rise into, hey, he went from a guy that last year, we were talking about when he entered the draft as like a fourth, fifth round guy maybe, to this year, you're going to be one of the first tip picks off. for that's that's just what's going to happen now and this is a situation where if we both agree that cars and beck's ceiling is not that i mean don't get me wrong where else is he going to go congratulations get ready to learn some enterprise you and i may disagree on his NFL prospects because i think that he may hold a clipboard in the NFL for a year or two i don't see the goods there to be a

long time NFL quarterback maybe crystal ball and company prove me wrong here but when i look at this situation and i say does Miami need him? I say to myself, can Miami achieve the tier that they're going to be on with him? Could they possibly achieve it without him? Is that a world that exists without him? And to me, there's a tier where you're like, all right, we're championship contenders. Do you think that Carson Beck takes them there? Like national championship contention, do you think you take them there? No, the rest of the team would have to be significantly better. Like you're not just going to say, hey, you know, we won 10 games and came kind of close. to getting to the playoff with Cam Ward.

Let's plug in Carson Beck and we'll get there this year. Absolutely. Like, he doesn't make that difference. Okay. So let's take a step lower. Playoff contender, not necessarily a national championship team, but the team that you're like, this team could get to the playoffs.

They could be frisky in the playoffs. They could give somebody some trouble. Do you think they can get there with them? I think they, I mean, basically where we cut off playoff contention would be getting into the ACC championship game. I think they can compete to be in the, I would say they can compete for that. Yeah.

Okay. Now, is there any other quarterback in the portal that with the improvements that they're making to the team and continue to make, you would say, yeah, we can still be in that same contingent type of spot? Yeah, probably. I mean, you know, there are guys who have more upside. Like, I think someone like Darian Mensa doesn't have the experience who ended up at Duke. He's probably got more upside. But I think one of the things Miami really likes about Beck is his experience being a guy who's, you know, fourth year or fifth year guy coming out of the SEC. So, and that's what I mean, right?

When I think about if I was to bring it to this show, right, nobody can do this thing like Donald does it, right? Unless you're telling me that I'm locked on, is raising them salary significantly. We get some real big name in it. Hey, I don't want anybody else next to me but Alex Donald, if you get what I'm saying. You are necessary to this show.

I can't drop anybody in and do what you do. On the other hand, I look at him and I say, there are a few other guys. And granted, a lot of those other guys already have homes. So I will give Miami that benefit in terms of the need. Because I think Mater was my favorite of these current guys. Yes, mine too. And he was my favorite.

So I thought if he comes, all right, okay, that's probably the best you're going to get. Even he's no Cam Ward. So, you know, I think this is a good pickup. So I don't want anybody to say, Ken's hating on Miami again. Ken doesn't think Miami's going to be good next year. I'm not saying that. I think this is a good pickup. But I think that Carson Beck benefits exponentially more than Miami in terms of, hey,

how many other teams were you going to get the shot to play big time football, be on a contender, know you're going to be the starter right away. How many teams was he going to get them? Right. Not many. So Carson Beck is coming into the ACC. Kyle McCord is on his way out. We'll talk about his future. And also, let's spitball a little bit, Kenton, because before, you know, next football season starts, let's talk about who are the top quarterbacks in the ACC?

because, you know, obviously the ACC's losing Cam Ward and losing Kyle McCord, who were at the top of every statistical category. You guys want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Lockdown ACC. My friends, this is a message from our sponsor, Intuit TurboTax. Are you tired of the endless waiting, wondering, and worrying about your taxes? Well, now that's a thing of the past. You see, taxes don't need to be complicated or stressful.

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Thank you for making Lockdown ACCC your first listen and your first watch today. Alex Dono from Lockdown Canes alongside Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. Make sure you check out our other shows. Locked on Wolfpack is tremendous. Gives you everything, NC State. I give you everything Miami daily on the Lockdown Podcast. podcast network, your team every day. So I didn't have a good feeling, Kenton, that Kyle McCord was going to get that waiver granted to play an extra year. You know, it always comes up. It was a similar

situation with Talia Tunga Vailoa at Maryland last year who had, you know, early in her career, had played that fifth game, blew the red shirt. Same thing with McCord. I don't think McCord really had a good argument as to why he should get the waiver. He was initially, they ruled against him. He appealed it. And before the appeal process came back, Kyle McCord decided today, because the deadline is coming up to declare for the NFL draft. Kyle McCord decided he was going to declare for the NFL. And he's not going to be one of the first, you know, two or three quarterbacks taken.

But he comes off a tremendous season, Kenton. I mean, McCord this year set the ACC single season passing record, 4,779 yards. He threw for more yards than Cam Ward did this season, completing 66% of his throws. 34 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. I know this is obviously disappointing news for Syracuse because they would have loved to run it back with McCord.

And it's disappointing for the ACC because they lose one of their, you know, one of their two best quarterbacks, two or three best quarterbacks from last year. You know, I look at Kyle McCord and I say to myself, in terms of his drive stock and all that, he's probably in that second group of guns. Like there's a tier with Cam and Shador where you're kind of jostling, who's better,

who do you prefer, what do you like? And then everybody else comes in the play. And I say Kyle McCord is firmly in that group. I don't think he's a guy that's like, oh, if he tests poorly, he'll drop out. Or if he looks bad throwing at the combine, he'll drop out of that group. Kyle McCord is a guy that ultimately proved a lot of folks, including me, because I'm the first person to celebrate when I'm right, like telling everybody Notre Dame was going to beat Penn State.

I almost called the score exactly. I called 2420, it was 27, 21. That was very close. to hear me. What I will admit, he proved me wrong. He proved a lot of folks role. He did have one game that was like, ah, there's Kyle McCord, there's the Kyle we know and love. But by and large, he looked phenomenal all season. He took care of the ball. He got it out of his end. He scrambled when he needed to. He just made the right decision and was on time and on target. And that's all you can ask for out of a quarterback.

that really is all you can ask for in a lot of situations. Kyle McCourt gave that in stride. And so I'm looking forward to seeing kind of what happens with him in terms of this draft process. Could he be a guy that, you know, ends up in a good situation where he can sit and develop and potentially comes out a year or two as a solid starter? Is he a career backup guy? Does he have to get ready to learn to Toronto or not? I don't know.

But what I do know is that he helped his drafts. stock immensely this year. Because last year, he was said to be, oh, he's the reason Marvin Harrison Jr. doesn't have better stats. He's the reason Ohio State is being held back. It's not Ryan Day. It's him. He's the guy. He's the reason. Well, now everybody looks at him like a net positive. So all in all, I think, I think that he's definitely a guy that there is, there's a bright future ahead of him, regardless of where that takes and there's a bright future. route. You know, is it, this is not a direct comparison coming from different conferences. And, you know, I think Carson Beck has put up better numbers at Georgia than McCord did at Ohio State. But could, could there maybe be like that sort of an effect for Carson Beck coming over to the ACC where things are a lot more, a lot more vertical, a lot more pass heavy, you know, not necessarily as consistent defensively, the teams that you run into, or maybe Beck can have sort of that transatlantic. transformation that Kyle McCord had going from Ohio State to Syracuse?

You know, it's possible. The only thing I would say that would prevent that is Kyle McCord had weapons galore around it. And don't get me wrong. Beck is going to be walking in some good weapons. But I think that Syracuse's weapons were deeply underrated coming into the season. We all know how good around Agaston is. And if you haven't, you haven't really been paying attention to ACC football in any meaningful way. Outside of Tyler Warren and that tight-in at Bowling Green, that was like a one-man

army in terms of a pass catcher. Arronday Gaston was the premier tight-in in the game. That kind of Jimmy Graham flex guy that you, he's never really in line all that much, but boy, when he gets in that slot, you can even put him on the outside. He's dangerous in that way. You look at Meeks, who was a hell of receiver. You look at Pena, who I believe had had broken some records of his own this season in terms of how well he performed. So you saw all of that. And then in the backfield, oh,

just some all-purpose back named La Quint Allen that you couldn't forget about either. There were weapons galore. The difference is Beck is walking into a situation where you and I both agree, Arroyo is a fantastic time in. We would both agree there. Sure. What else is. Oh, he is a royos going to the NFL.

Oh. Yeah. So Miami. Yeah, Miami is losing Elijah Royo, Xavier Restrepo, Isaiah Horton, who ironically enough, Isaiah Horton transferred to Georgia. So I don't know if he wanted to play with Carson Beck, maybe you come on back in the spring, Isaiah. So yeah, those were Miami's top pass catchers last year. They are bringing in C.J. Daniels from LSU and the transfer portal. Josiah Trader is a young receiver.

I think is probably going to break out. Elijah Lofton is a young tight end that should break out this year. But, yeah, he's, Beck is not going to have the same weapons that Ward had. So it's, it's going to be Miami will probably try to bring in another receiver too in the transfer portal. There's already been some buzz that, you know, receivers will be more open to coming to Miami now that they know who the quarterback is going to be in all that. But yeah, he's not going to have, he's not going to have Ward's top weapons from last year. No, and I think that this team will be much more run and play action heavy with what you're looking at. in that backfield with Fletcher.

Has Martinez declared already or is he coming back? Martinez declared. This is going to be. Fletcher and Jordan Lyle are going to be the top. So Fletcher and Lauer are still two excellent backs in their own right. But again, they're not as much of a plus in the passing game as LeClin Allen is. They're both wonderful backs. Wonderful backs in their own right.

But they are a very different style of back. They're much more of that power back slash one cutback. Whereas like, you know, even in Mario Cristobal's gap scheme, those guys with vision and patience can make something really good happen there. But again, I look at this and I say to myself, this is a situation where if you are a Miami fan looking at Beck, you have to make this situation completely unique. We know it's not Cammer from last year.

And now I think that Donald would agree with me. It's a different situation than McCord walked into it Syracuse. It's different. It's just different. There are many more unknowns. There are many more guys who are not as experienced, who are going to be asked, hey, we're going to lean on you in some big spots, dude. We know you have not played ball, meaningful ball.

We know you have not been that guy that, hey, it's fourth and three against Florida. We're going to go to you. We know you haven't been that guy, but we're going to need you to be that. So I think that's a slightly different situation, which to me says slightly different expectations. And here's the thing. If I'm wrong and Carson Beck is all of these things, congratulations, Miami. great job. You've done a hell of a job. But I believe that when, in watching Carson Beck, I'm like, he doesn't move the needle. I think he's much more of a thermometer guy than a

thermostat guy. He'll tell you, oh, yeah, your team around him is pretty good. He will not change the temperature in that room and say, hey, turn this up. It's a little too cold outside. We need to get a spicy. That's not. Let's look at some of what we would project is probably the top quarterbacks in the ACC for next year. You know, I think the safe pick for top quarterback for next year because he's been with his team now for four years and the consistency is there. Cade Clubnick at Clemson coming back for another year. That's really big for them.

SMU returns Kevin Jennings, Carson Beck now at Miami. Thomas Castellanos now at Florida State, so he stays in the ACC. C.J. Bailey at NC State could be ready to take a big step. forward. And Darian Mentsa, who transfers in from Tulane to Duke with a lot of hype. I don't know if I'm leaving anybody out, Kenton, but that's six or seven right there that I think are in the running to be top quarterbacks in the conference for next year. I'm going to tell you something. I hate to say this. The more I watch Mensa, the more I get worried for the ACC. That kid young, he has a lot of talent. He has a lot of talent. And his processing, that's the

park that I worry about because his eyes you can see it when you watch him play you can watch how his helmet snaps from boom I'm here I'm here I'm here and where does the ball need to go he has a poise that's unlike a freshman and so I think his biggest hindrance is going to be number one the talent around him number two you're in a new environment I think that's going to be his biggest but in terms of the guys that you said I would even say in the order that you listed them you were pretty close because those are Kitt Klubnick, I mean, his weapons aren't getting any younger or weak.

I got also, I forgot to mention Kairn Drones. I can throw drones into the list as well. Yeah, oh, absolutely. But Kyrin Drones was, I mean, a massive disappointment last year. Let's just be honest about it, right? Like in comparison to what we thought, we're looking at, hey, there's going to be an ACC player at a year contender. This is potentially

a Heisman, Dark Horse type of guy. And we saw him struggle to get past Reed 1. And that's what I'm talking about a guy like Menta, because he's like, It's uncanny for a freshman. And C.J. Bailey needs to be in that conversation, not because I'm wearing my NC State red glasses, but because he's returning everybody except Kevin Concepcio.

And don't get me wrong, Kevin Concepcion is a hell of a receiver. You know, best luck down there to him in Aguiland. But with that being said, your leading receiver was your tight end in Justin Jolie, who everybody screamed he needs more targets. We'll see how the new OC and Kurt Roper does in and make it not happen, who was already on the staff,

that part of the last staff as a quarterback coach, so we'll see how that works out. And you've got all of these receivers coming back. Again, everybody outside of KC, Dakari College, Noah Rogers, Wesley Graves, a lot of really talented guys. Kenan Jackson and Terrell Anderson being some others

who are expected to take a step forward with a full off season ahead of him. And he's going into a full off season as well as the guy, which he didn't have last year because he was slow dancing at Brown. So I look at this situation and I say C.J. Bailey is proud for a breakout. But in terms of top quarterbacks and guys that I think Kay Klubnick, the development that he's taken to shut guys like me up who wrote him off very early, he hit us with the Gino Smith. We wrote him off, but we ain't right back.

He's a hell of a ball player. And he showed it toward the end of last year. Kevin Jennings is another one. But Kevin Jennings is losing. So you start to wonder what that's going to look like. So, you know, I think Kate is going to be the. consensus top guy. All right. Coming up next, Notre Dame has punched their ticket to the college football

playoff championship game. How well equipped are they to beat whoever comes out of Ohio State versus Texas? We'll talk about Notre Dame's win as well. You want to keep it locked right here, my friends? We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. I already know you're keeping it locked to Fandual. We've been having a blast all football season long. And by the way, if you're watching this before the game starts tonight, because we're on a little bit before Ohio State. Texas, Ohio State favored by five and a half points. You want to check out all of that action at Fandual.

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Sometimes we just bet on a first half or bet on a second half. You got to check all of this out at Fandul. Visit Fandual.com to join today and get started with $200 in bonus bets. That's Fandual. Make this playoff season unforgettable with Fanduel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Thank you for making Lockdown ACC 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. As much as I, for my entire life, I've strongly disliked Notre Dame. It's hard to root against Marcus Freeman. He's so likable. He's such a good coach. And I give the Fighting Irish a lot of credit, Kenton, because their offense was completely

incapable of moving the football in the first half last night. They had 15 rushing yards at half time. You know, Riley Leonard missed part of the first half in the concussion protocol before coming back and playing well. But when he was on the field, he wasn't playing well. Actually, Steve Angelly, the backup quarterback was moving the football and kind of saved them because he set up a field goal drive late. And then Riley Leonard came on and settled into the game in the second half. And Notre Dame's running game, they found themselves in that second half. Jeremiah Love had one of the grown man touchdown, the way he fought his way into the end zone. But then, you know, on the flip side. And I was actually, I was on the Penn State post game last

night, Kenton. You were on the Notre Dame post game. They separated us for some reason. They didn't want us playing in the same sandbox. So, you know, I had to look at it from the Penn State point of view, but no matter which point of view, you're looking at it from, Drew Aller blew that game. I mean, that, that was one of the ugliest, costliest interceptions. I mean, my goodness, that was terrible. He broke every cardinal rule, Kenton. He throws it late over the middle, cross his body. Like, what do you expect this going to happen when you make that decision? I want everybody who was in the comments calling me everything but a child of God

when I said, hey, if it's down to the quarterbacks, Notre Dame has a better shot that people give them credit for. I want all of you. Don't worry. You don't have to write my apologies one by one. You could just cash at me a dollar each, I guess, all as well, that ends well. You know, but I'll tell you what, Donald.

I'm not going to have to pay rent this month based on the amount of comments that we got. Say, oh, you don't know what you're talking about. He doesn't know ball. Oh, Riley Leonard's the worst quarterback left in the playoff. Honestly and truly, they talked about Drew Allen could be a top 10 pick in this year's track. He could be a top 10 pick. No, more like he would have threw his 10th damn pick if the reps didn't call pass interference every other play. Oh, boy. What a joy.

What a joy it was to watch Drew Allen blow that game. But more so that Drew Allen blowing that game, Notre Dame secondary took it away. By the way, Donald, congratulations. You want to know what I'm congratulating you on? I have no idea. I'd like to know. I'm congratulating you on an accomplishment. I want to congratulate everybody listening to this podcast on.

You have as many receptions and more total yardage than every single Penn State receiver combined hat. Give yourselves a head. That was crazy. You worked hard. Hey, locked on ACC family, Alex Dono, you worked hard. Go tell your son, you will achieve something today. You've done something today that I guess everybody can do. So, you know, shout out to Notre Dame.

That secondary is so good that they're talked about as like one of the better secondaries in the nation right now. I think they're underrated. I think that if this team goes on to win the national championship, we need to talk about this group as an all-time second day. All right, so here's what I expect to happen next. And just so you know, like, depending on when you guys listen to this, I may sound incredibly foolish because we're recording this right before Ohio State against Texas. So you'll some of the real ones who watch us as soon as our episodes come out,

you're going to see this before the game starts. The fake fans will see it after. But I am expecting Ohio State to win and cover tonight against Texas. And then when you match up Ohio State and Notre Dame in the national, national championship. All due respect to Notre Dame, I just don't know if they're going to be able to score enough points to keep up with the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes look to me like an absolute machine. So I think Notre Dame can probably make enough stops to keep it close. But I think the Ohio State Buckeyes are going to be national champs on January 20th. My question is this. How healthy is Notre Dame's offensive line? That's the big. How else is Jeremiah? Great question. Notre Dame lost two offensive. line starters after they've already lost a starter early in the season that are starting left time. Losing, we can pretend that there's next man up, but in college football especially, it's

different than it is in the NFL. In the NFL, everybody's getting paid. Yeah, like, sure, everybody may not be the, he's taking up 10% of the cap space guy, but everybody's getting paid because they do this at the professional level. College football is slightly different. So I'm kind of looking here and I'm saying to myself, how healthy are they? Because Abdul Carter looked unblockable last night. And guess what?

Ohio State may not have and Abdul Carter. They got two that are pretty damn close. They got Timu Abdul Carter two times, two times. They got she and Abdul Carter two times. You know, like, it's not that, but he's there. He's there, you know. So J.T. and Jack Sawyer will absolutely rehab if they're not healthy up front. And Jeremiah Love, while he did his best and had that grown man run with that brace on,

he's going to need to be rolling. He's going to need to be fully rolling for Notre Dame to have a shot in this one. So to me, I'm not ready to give a score yet. I'm not ready to pick this one yet until I see how healthy Notre Dame is going in. But I do agree. And we're also, we're not 100% sure that's going to be. be the matchup because you just you and I are probably jinxing Ohio State so bad. Yeah, yeah, probably.

And win by three touchdowns tonight. Yeah, maybe, maybe. But I'll tell you what, this is a game that even if those things don't hold, I still think, like you said, it'll be closer than we think because this secondary is spectacular. I don't think that anybody has a guy that can match Jeremiah Smith one for one. But if there is somebody, he's probably wearing a golden damn helmet. Chances are, and Al Golden is phenomenal. nominal at making adjustments. He is one of the best in-game adjustment coordinators I've seen in terms of,

did you see the way that those outside zone stretches and sweeps were crushing Notre Dame in the first quarter? And all of a sudden, everything became fast flow for that defense. As soon as they saw a tackle take a bucket step, they were headed downhill to that outside shoulder to force everything back inside. So I look at this game and I say to myself, hey, be at Texas, be at Ohio State. State. I think that it's going to be a great matchup for Notre Dame. I don't think the Texas has enough in the chamber to match up well with Notre Dame. I really and truly don't. I think that that game will become a rock fight, which Notre Dame wins easily. Now, Notre Dame, Ohio State. I think that that wide receiver room for Ohio State, DB room for Notre Dame,

I think that's a clash of the Titans, which I'm utterly excited to see. We're all excited. Thank you guys so much for making locked on ACC your first listen in your first watch. Make sure you follow Kenton Gibbs on the Lockdown Wolfpack show and at TGIF underscore Kenton on X. Follow me at Lockdown Canes, Lockdown Cains on X. And we'll talk to you guys again next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC, part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.