Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - What Duke Blue Devils must learn from Clemson Tigers defeat

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

Can the Miami Hurricanes challenge Clemson's dominance in ACC football? With Duke's surprising loss to Clemson in basketball, the landscape of ACC sports is shifting. This episode dives into the Miami Hurricanes' potential to disrupt Clemson's reign, spotlighting their formidable running game and key players like Dereon Coleman. Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs explore the implications of Shane Beamer's call for automatic College Football Playoff bids for the SEC, questioning the fairness and impact on other conferences. They also analyze which ACC teams, including Louisville and Virginia Tech, could pose a threat to Clemson's football supremacy.Join us for an engaging discussion on the evolving ACC sports scene and discover which teams might rise to the challenge.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!WayFairAfter the holiday hustle, there’s nothing like giving your home a little TLC. Give your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home. FactorLooking to optimize your nutrition this year? Eat smart with Factor. Get started at FACTORMEALS.com/lockedoncollege50off and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE50OFFto get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.  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.

It was beginning to look like they might get through their conference record unscathed, but nope, down goes Duke. 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 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. Right now, new Fandual customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono from Locked on Caines. Has the college football playoff format been validated? Maybe not because you've got another SEC coach out there complaining and then asking for automatic bids for the SEC to the CFP.

We will talk about that. We'll talk about the ACC team that may be most equipped to challenge Clemson in football this coming season. But Kenton, we got some hoops to talk about. And now I know that any time, you know, number two team goes down. By the way, on the same day that the number one team went down, the Auburn went down to Florida first and then Duke goes down to Clemson. I know, I know we tend to kind of wonder, oh, well, why did the team that was favored? How did they lose?

But I want to give credit to Clemson. They had big scoring runs in the second half. They were down at halftime, tremendous defense, especially on Cooper Flag, down the stretch. But then Kenton, when Flag had an opportunity to, you know, drive into the basket to tie the game up with 14.7 seconds left. He slipped. I don't know if it was the water on the court, his sneakers, who's to blame for that? But, oh, flag slipped when his team needed him most. Not only did he slip, I think that everybody, when you talk about.

giving Clemson their credit and what they did or did not do. When you look at Clemson, one of their big things has been they've been one of the best shooting teams all year. They've been one of the better shooting teams in the nation all year in terms of everybody can shoot one through five. If I would have told you, Donald, Clemson makes four threes in this game,

what would you have said in terms of win or lost chances for Clemson? I would say they're going to lose the game pretty badly. And yet, and still, they showed up. They showed up. They found ways to get to the basketball. and they found ways to draw files. They found ways to do what needs to be done to win this game. And that really is the most important thing.

When you talk about the Blue Devils and what they've been doing this season or a season that seems like you got some devil magic to it, where it's like, oh, every time you think you've got Duke on the ropes, all of a sudden, Cooper Flagg and Connibble said, you know what? You ready for an 18-3 scoring run? I think we've got an 18-3 score run in this. Let's do it. All of a sudden, in this game in particular,

Clemson found ways time and time again to not only withstand the scoring runs, but create scoring runs of their own to give them the lead. So again, this is a performance by Clemson that needs to be applauded because they showed up and showed out when it mattered most. And a strong big man performance from the Russian Victor Lockin. I mean, he took it. And he's such a good passer, Kenton. I mean, it's not just what he does going strong to the basket and the defense.

he had a big block or two in the game. But man, three blocks in the game, actually, locking out in that one. But how good of a passer, how good his vision is, he led the way for Clemson with 22 points. I also like the game of Ian Shefflin, who was on the receiving end of a lot of those assists and passes from Larkin, who played big.

And so I guess we could have two different discussions here, Kent. Let's start with, you know, on Duke. Now, you and I, we figured they were probably going to lose at some point. Very young team, especially a road game in Clemson is a tough place to win. This was a road game for them on Saturday. We figured they were going to go down at some point. They weren't going to go undefeated in conference play. Does this shake your faith at Duke's championship hopes? That's number one. I can already see you shaking your head. And does this shake your hopes of them being a number one seed, which they're still very much in play for, by the way.

I don't think either one of those things have happened in a meaningful way, because, number one, in terms of their national championship, in terms of national championship, how many undefeated national champions have we had? I mean, since John Wooden retired, how many have we seen of teams just be this juggernaut that runs the table and everybody like, you can't feed with that? Whatever they got going on, even on their worst shooting night, you shoot the lights up. They're going to beat you. Even on the night where they take them.

turn the ball over, they make it more turnovers than a good baker and going to beat you. Even on those types of, we have not seen that. The talent disparity has not been that great in quite some time. And then in terms of the one seat, Donald, you set it yourself to start this episode off. Number two and who else lost? Auburn, number one, they lost to Florida. And guess what? Auburn has to then go play Bama and what is very likely a playing game for a one seed,

where, hey, I've got to give Auburn and HCCC their credit. They actually look as good as advertised. The basketball, who knew? You know, in all seriousness, I look at this thing and I say to myself, there will be plenty of opportunities for Duke to, you know, kind of erase this. This is not their lasting impression, the voters, or not the voters, but the committee who puts together the tournament, this will not be their last impression of Duke.

Duke has plenty of opportunities. going forward. They can go ahead and cut down the nets at the ACC tournament and say, hey, yeah, we had one conference loss. We lost one game in conference and, what, two games out of conference, two teams that at the time were top of team. Yeah, that's right. So, you know, that if you look at a three loss, ACC team, only one loss in conference and two losses to top 10 teams and say that that's not a one C, oh boy, you must have to. You must have to. showtime Lakers in the bracket or something because I don't understand how you could not have them as a one seat. So they'll have their opportunities. Does this dampen their

opportunities for one seat? Slightly, ever so slightly. But in the grand skipper things, they still have plenty of opportunity to make it. I think that loss could be a blessing for them. Because if I'm John Shire, I know that this would have been the case for Coach K. And I'm sure it is for Shire as well. You get an opportunity at a lesson. and a teachable moment from a freshman-led team. You know, you get the opportunity. I know it seems weird to talk about a road loss as an opportunity, but you get to teach them this lesson in a game

that probably isn't going to affect you much when it comes to your postseason position and seating, if at all. It may not affect you whatsoever. So I think it's a great opportunity for John Shire to turn this into a teachable moment for a young team. They may respond stronger from this. And it's like, it'd be one thing. Kenton if they really got, you know, blown out or exposed. But I mean, this was, I know they

ended up technically losing the game by six, but it wasn't really. It was a one possession game with 14 seconds left. So it was one of those free throw things down the stretch. It was a lot closer than the scoreboard would indicate like they were right there. And so I feel like this could end up being a constructive thing for Duke. As far as Clemson goes, you know, we're, as we're recording this, they're about to take on North Carolina on Monday night. So we'll see if Clemson can follow up this victory against UNC. This evening, I expect they probably will. But maybe I'm wrong, as some of you may watch this after that game is over.

But it's also a good opportunity for a Clemson team, Kenton, that is now 11 and 2 in the ACC. We talked about Duke and Clemson being at the top of the conference. And now Clemson's resume is looking really strong with that dub against number two. Yeah, this is a definite resume booster. I think, and I don't think this is a hot take at all. even if Clemson were to be a complete and total train wreck down the stretch, they still get in.

They still get in. You're looking at a double-digit win team. Again, the ACC for whatever people may say about it, and oh, it's a down-gear, all that good stuff, you're still a powerful conference. You're still going to be a double-digit win team with a win over a team that is at worse. If Duke ends up, you know, just went in the bed down the stretch in a meaningful way, they end up at worst a three or four seed, you just got yourself a win. against that at worst. At best, you got to win against a one seat. You got to win against

a top five team. You got to win against a team that has the number one draft pick on their squad. So I'm seeing this as Clemson just locked up the tournament regardless of what happens. That's a great call down the stretch here. I, you know, congrats to Clemson. And besides, you talked about, you know, we could be wrong about them beating North Carolina. Yeah, we were wrong about them beating Duke. So, you know, you and I both said they overlooked Georgia Tech and we're going to limp into this game and Duke was going to take advantage. And we were Pope were on there. So, you know, it's anytime, anytime you're dealing with these 18 to 22 yards, you never know which verse no you go. You never know. And Clemson played some damn good ball, which they

deserve credit for. Again, shout to Brad Bernal and company because Bradneill, the wrap around him has always been, you can't get it done in the big game. He can't get it done in the big moment. That big moment, he's always going to shy away from the light. Well, the lights were brightest they've ever been, and he put on their coaching clinic. Sure did. Speaking of coaches, An SEC football coach thinks the old SEC needs automatic bids into the college football. I mean, Kenton, reality no longer matters. You think about all the hypothetical wins that the SEC was wrapping up during the football, never mind reality, but all the hypothetical wins.

Why is Shane Beamer running his mouth? You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of LockdowneCC. I know we put the Super Bowl in the rear view, but man, guys, there is so much action to be had. College basketball, NBA basketball. When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started. And there's no better place to get in on that than Fandual, America's number one sports book. With Fandual, you can place live bets throughout the game.

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I made a cameo with Spencer McLaughlin on Monday's episode, talking a little Miami football, ACC football, ACC football. I think I want to revisit one of those topics on who can challenge Clemson later on in this episode of locked on ACC. But, you know, Kent, it's a weird timing for South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer to come out and say this given the SEC had a pretty brutal postseason, right? I mean, you know, Illinois beat South Carolina, the team that Shane Beamer coaches in a bowl game. Navy beat Oklahoma, you know, Texas got beaten up pretty bad when it came down to their matchup with Ohio State. The SEC had a really brutal postseason record, bowl record, playoff record, Georgia gets beaten in the playoff.

And yet now Shane Beamer decides to come out and call for automatic bids for the SEC because it just means more. He says the fact of the matter is we, South Carolina, we beat the ACC champion on their field year and didn't get in. I do believe this league is just different than others, and there has to be some consideration. So consideration for automatic bids. Now, it doesn't surprise me, Kenton, that the SEC will be lobbying for this. I'm actually surprised nobody from the Big Ten is lobbying for it, because that's the conference that actually keeps winning national championships the last couple years. Well, Donald, it all makes sense, of course, because you do remember famously last year,

everybody was arguing for Michigan to be in the CFP, because remember, they beat Ohio. state. And Ohio State turned out to be national champion. So, so beating a champion, the fact though, means that your league is better and you should get in. So the big 10 needs more guaranteed slots. I mean, if you look at both conferences, performances objectively in terms of the playoff, right? You got Ohio State who was a national champion, correct? You got Oregon, Oregon who lost their only game. So you got one squad that lost their only game, one national champion. And then you got Penn State that made it to the semifinal. And on the SEC side, was Texas the only team to win a football game? Was it just Texas? Because Georgia didn't win a

football game. Did Georgia win a game in the playoffs? No, no. Tennessee. No, Tennessee fans were after me. They were hot. They were 38 hot with me when I said that they weren't an unbeatable thing. When I said NC State did think procedurally wrong that you can't do wrong against anybody. So Tennessee had to win the game, right? Of course. Of course. Except they didn't. They took the worst loss of the entire playoff.

Yeah, they did. They got hammered. So I look at this and I say to myself, at what point in time do the results matter? At what point in time do we stop playing this game? You know, again, I really do feel bad. these for these SEC teams because they not only have to play the game, they have to play 348 hypotheticals before him. And so it's so unfortunate.

Of course Alabama was going to lose to Michigan. Michigan didn't have to play any hypothetical games. They just walked in and played. Of course, Oklahoma lost the Navy. You know, the triple option is hard enough to deal with, but imagine dealing with that after dealing with 200 hypothetical games yourself. So it really is a difficult proposition. But again, at some point in time, you know, it's a difficult proposition.

the results have to matter and the results have shown us that ever since we legalized paying players nationwide there is a direct correlation and i'm not making any speculation that the agency was paying players beforehand i'm not making that argument at all what i am saying instead is the portal plus paying players changes the dynamic absolutely of what college football used to be you used to be able to say, hey, you sit on the bitch for me for two years. You play for two, you go be your first round. How about? And now it's, hey, come over here, play for me, sit on the bitch for two years, play the last two, you be your first round. Another school could say, come over here, play for us and make $100,000. And make $80,000, $90,000. What are we doing here?

You want to sell a bitch over there when you could play and get paid right now and still position to become a first rounder? What are we doing? So again, the nature of the game has changed. I don't think any conference is deserving of, hey, we need four spots off the top. Because then if you say Big Ten and the SEC get four spots, okay, sure, that's eight of the spots. What do you do with those other four? What do you do? Are the Big 12 and the ACC that far behind? I would argue no.

And even if you were to argue they're that behind, why would we then kick out the group of five teams? Even if you say, well, we're expanding the fourth team. So, you know, we get to get in one or two there. again, results have to matter. We can't just keep doing this. Our conference is better. Therefore, you can lose four games over here and you're still belonging. You can lose three games here. You can lose to a six to six team here. And you're still belonging. Hell no. Results matter over here.

Let me read more of the Beamer quote to On Three Sports. This is South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer. He says, look, I've got great respect for other conferences. I've been to other conferences. I've been part of the ACC. I've been part of the Big 12. There's no question that there's good football ever. You know there's a butt coming. But when you just talk about the teams in this league and the teams you play week in and week out, it's different. And you look at the NFL draft every single year. It's 20 straight years that the SEC has led the nation in draft picks.

People can say, well, it doesn't matter. Well, yeah, it does. We're playing the best players in the country, he says. So he says, I've been part of other leagues where you go into a stadium and there are 20,000 people in the stands. and you're in a power for conference, he said. Not in this conference. Every road venue you go on, you're playing in front of 70, 80, 90, 100,000 people every single Saturday. I mean, he's drifting off into arguments that do not matter competitively.

And then I will continue to remind folks, Kenton, when we talk about this stuff of how many bids or automatic bids the SEC should have. You know, our SEC coaches like Shane Beamer, whose team was close. They were on the fringe of getting in, kind of like Alabama was close. but no cigar to getting into the playoffs. Like, okay, would you trade the spot you're in right now, being in the SEC, being in that glamour conference and all the revenue that comes with it? Go ahead.

If you want to transfer your program to the ACC or the Big 12 and have an easier shot at the playoff, by all means. But I'm willing to guess these coaches and these ADs would not be willing to make that tradeoff. Absolutely. They wouldn't be willing to make that tradeoff. But I also want to get into the fine details of what he said there. Yeah.

And CC. You said they play in front of how many thousands, Dono? I just want to hear the number. One more game. 70, 80, 900. He listed all. I'm surprised he didn't go up to a million. We played in front of a, in the stadium, a million people.

Do you know that Alabama lost on the road to Vanderbilt? Do you know what Vanderbilt's maximum capacity is for their stadium as it's currently assembled? I'm going to guess about 30. 40. 40. That's the maximum as is currently assembled. 40. Now mind you, that doesn't even mention the fact that they had construction going on, which took down the match. That's right. Yeah. Again, all of this hoopla and rah, ra, about, it's just, you know, Lane Kiffinson, oh, it's like, it's not different, it's not different

conferences, it's different leagues. Where's your league at in terms of winning national championships right now? Where they are. And also, let's really dig into the weeds of both the different leagues thing and the 50,000 thing in this manner. South Carolina, where's your national championship? Where's your national championship? You're looking for it. Ole Miss. Ever since people like me and Dono could go to the same school,

please show me where your national championship is, oh, please. You cannot sit up here and talk about, oh, we deserve a shot because we're so good and you don't have the championships. If Fabin gets up here and says that, I can hear you. I'll hear you. If Harbaugh gets up here and says, hey, this is, Ryan Day gets up there. Hey, I can hear you.

You got to ring. You can say something to me. You two boys that are as ringless as a single mom, don't tell me nothing. Don't say nothing to me in terms of, oh, this is, we're just so much better than everybody. No, Bama was better than everybody else. No, Georgia was better than everybody else. You're hoping that Texas can finally close the deal and prove that everybody else. LSU has been at times, but not South Carolina and Ole Miss.

South Carolina, Ole Miss. Hold on, wait. Let's take this step further, Donald. Oh, you? Where's your championships since Switzerland? Texas. Where's your championship since Vince Young? So, again, everybody wants to talk to talk about how.

how good they are as a conference. No, forget the copy. Let's talk about you as a team. Let's talk about what you have done as a team. And show me where it warrants for you to say, I belong in. I belong in based on this criteria. And again, even if we were talking about this from the past standpoint, the past does not matter to right now.

Y'all teams are not proving it right now. Y'all have not proven it in the past. So shut up, sit down. If you want to get into the playoffs, here's a deal. Here's a deal, Dono. I guarantee it. And you know what? I know that I've come off a little mean to SEC coaches.

So, Lane Kiffin and Shane Beamer, I have an idea that nobody's ever told you all before. But this idea, I can guarantee both of y'all teams spots in the playoffs. You ready, Dono? You ready? I'm going to tell them a secret. Win your damn football games. That doesn't sound fair. Hold on now.

Hold on now. If you just win the games, if you two are 13 and 0 conference champion, 12 and one only lost being to the other in the conference championship, guess what I can guarantee happens for both of you. Come on. You're in. You're in. But you haven't done that. And you're trying to tell us, us losing to a six winning team, doesn't matter. Us losing to a team that's going to lose the Navy, doesn't matter.

No, it does. I'm sorry to tell you. Losing to a team that's not bowl eligible will matter. Sorry to tell you. That's just how this thing works. By the way, side note, I was, you know, watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night, like everybody else in the world. And, you know, Philadelphia, they beat the brakes off of Kansas City.

And as I'm watching that game, I'm thinking, man, okay, so I don't see anybody complaining about, you know, the NFL awarding teams based on their records and merit. Like, if that lopsided game, I've seen it happen before, if that happened in college football, you would have all the hot takes of, well, hold on, should Kansas City? really have been in the Super Bowl? Was that, do we do this? Should we have taken the most, you know, the most of the biggest brands and not the most deserving teams?

My Lions were the best team all year. They looked like the best team all year. We should have got it. As a matter of fact, we're thinking right now ways to kind of redesign this thing because the NFC North had three teams that could buy it for 40 wins. So we're trying to find a way to make the playoff more equitable. Because, you know, the NFC North to these other divisions, It's not like they're playing in different divisions, like different leagues.

Three automatic pay. You know what? Four automatic. Let's just bring the entire NFC North. Put them all in. Come on, bears. Come on, bears. Forget the fact that none of the NFC North won the playoff game this year.

Forget that. We don't need to talk about the fact that the Bears were in Cancun. I'm sorry that the Packers were in Cancun after one game. The Vikings were in Cancun after one game. And my head, Coach Dan Campbell, said, we'll see you in two weeks. The McConnell. He didn't know that he was going to be on a raft in Cancun. ankle, but it doesn't matter because they look the best, Donnell.

And those teams have the most pro bowlers. And they had Justin Jefferson doing the most gritties. So why should they not get a guaranteed spot in the semifinals? It's not fair to them, Donald. It's different leads, man. It's different leagues. Well, let's circle back to the ACC. Who's going to offer the biggest challenge to Paper Tigers, Clemson, next football season?

You want to keep it locked? Thank you so much for making lock. on ACC, your first listen and your first watch today for your next listen. Make sure you check out our other shows. Kenton and Grayson Boone do an awesome job on Lockdown Wolfpack. I host Locked on Canes. I was on earlier today, Kenton with Spencer McLaughlin from Lockdown College Football. You know, and I know I'm the Miami guy, but admittedly, Clemson is absolutely the favorite on paper to win the ACC.

I mean, in a down year last season, they managed to win the conference. They've got a lot of continuity from last year. I mean, outside of Phil Mafa, they're not losing very much from last season. You've got now super senior Kade Klubnick, continuity there at quarterback, continuity with Garrett Riley, your offensive coordinator, Davos-Sweeney, your head coach, a new defensive coordinator at a position they needed to address, bringing in Tom Allen from Penn State. Like, I totally get it. Clemson are the favorites, and I don't think they're going to piss it away the way that

Florida State did last year. going from favorites to 2 and 10. By the way, it's February 10th to 10, happy Florida State Day, Kenton, for those who celebrate. But anyways, as far as who's going to offer the biggest challenge to Clemson this year, if you go by roster and talent, could be Miami. But of course, they're going from Cam Ward to Carson back. You got to hope they fix their defense. I think you and I are also both keeping a keen eye on Louisville.

I think that's a team very intrigued by what Miller, is going to do a quarterback for them. To me, on paper anyway, Miami and Louisville look like the teams that are probably in the best position to challenge Clemson next year. I wholeheartedly agree with you because because Clemson's Achilles Hill last year was their run defense. And guess what Louisville's guy? Oh, they got two backs that are humming.

And same thing with Miami, both Louisville and Miami. Oh, absolutely. Somebody who knows me knows how much I love Lisa Mark Fletcher. That boy is a bowling ball of butcher. He's a big guy. He's a taller guy, but he still has such great contact balance, which is something that you rarely ever see out of guys that tall. But I'm looking at both of those teams and saying,

if your transfer quarterback can get it done at a high level, you'll be just fine. I think that Louisville, I believe, actually, no, I don't believe. I know that Louisville is returning more production than Miami out of its receiving core and pass catchers and all that. That may give, and their thing has always been, Louisville has always caught with a ferocious secondary. So you're looking at a situation where they may be a little bit more better match for a Clemson team.

But talent for talent, there's definitely an argument for Miami. There's not a world in which you would say either one of these teams cannot do it. Like, oh, it's just impossible. But it is going to be a tall town. It is going to be a very tall time. Clemson is the favorite for a reason. Tom Allen has done. been spectacular at stopping the run in the big team.

Now, for those of you who don't know, I'm from Big Ten country, okay? And that second half of the year, it gets kind of hard to throw the ball in Big Ten country. It gets a little difficult. And so your teams are by and large predicated on phenomenal running backs, on phenomenal rushing attacks. That is a big part of many Big Ten teams for a reason. There's a reason that Quinn and Trevian were such a big deal for Ohio State. There's a reason that Allen and I can't remember the other back's name right now,

but two phenomenal backs at Penn State were as good as they were last year. There's a reason that you look around at Michigan and say, did they want a game while throwing five passes? What is this? So if they can get together their run defensive, Tom Allen can properly get those guys to build a wall. There's a gap. There's a hat.

I don't see a world where either of these teams beat them. But that is a. a complete 180 that you're requesting in a year in a very significant, in a very significant portion of the game. So both of these teams that can run the ball very well could very easily make things happen against women. Louisville and Miami do have a head-to-head in October so that could go a long way and deciding who could possibly meet Clemson.

Is there any other team you think could challenge, though? Like if we're going to kind of, just for argument's sake, I'm going to pencil Clemson in to one of the eight. ACC championship spots. Teams to keep an eye on, Miami and Louisville. Are you SMU? Are we buying in that they could get back to the ACC championship game? Could Bill Belichick with that, you know, superb NFL experience?

Could they sneak in? Oh, no, I think I just scared Kenton away from the show. You still there? You almost did. You almost did, Donald. You almost made me get up and walk off. But here's what I will say. Here's what I will say.

I drunk this Kool-Aid last year. everybody's going to call me a fool for drinking it again this year. And I'm not drinking it as heavily as I was last year. I know who you're going to say. But I'll dip a pinky into that Virginia Tech cooling. I'm a different pinky, Donald. I'm a different pinky, I'm a different pinky. I'm wrong.

I thought you were going to say Pitt, actually, is who I thought. No, no, no, Pitt burned me too bad. Pit bird me too. They made a fool of me in front of the nation. I need my restitution for them making me look like foods in front of the nation. Fuck, Virginia Tech. Tyron Drones is right there. He really is right there.

And it hurts me to say this because top in, when he's playing his best ball, there is not a quarterback in the ACC that's on Harwood. There's not. There's not. But the question is, what the hell do we have to do to get you to play your best ball? What do we need to do? They gave you a hell of five running back in Byshal. He was phenomenal last year.

It was phenomenal. And you had a receiving court to objectively, we won the basketball in short. You had some pretty good past cats and tight ends. And I'm looking at this guy, I'm like, that Vanderbilt game, it was the tale of two cities. The second half, it was the best of times.

The first half, it was the worst of time. I'm like, what is he doing? It's like when you're a little kid playing mad, and you're like, all right, I'm going to throw it to circle. If circle it and open, I'm going to run with Mike Vick. That's what it is. it looked like. That's what it looked like. So if he can get it together and if that defense can return to old Virginia Tech, and I know, Bob Foster ain't walking through that door, I get it. But if they

can return to that fashion, they're bringing in a guy this year who's known for bringing in some very wonky packages in terms of places and whatnot. So I'm hoping that they can return to form in a little bit of that Virginia Tech magic. I believe that they could absolutely be a team of John. Because again, quarterback is the most important position at football. And if you just get him some help, you'll be all right. He has some help. He has to be the guy now. You have to elevate them week in and week out. Have we seen Carond's Rose do that? No. But do I believe he has a capability to? Yes. I believe he has a capability to, but I wouldn't bet the house that he wouldn't. Yeah, I had the chance last season at Hard Rock Stadium to watch drones in person for the first time. And of course, everybody remembers how close the Miami, Virginia Tech game. was. It came down to a controversial Hail Mary call. And obviously with drones, like I've seen him in person once. I watched him on TV the rest of the season. Like, I know the mistakes were there and the consistency was not there. However, on a handful of plays, not only in that Miami game, but throughout the season, with the way drones is able to manipulate the pocket, able to give himself time to

throw at his receivers. Like, there are times when I, you know, watching him on the, as Cam Ward's counterpart last year, I said, okay, this is the closest thing to Cam Ward I'm seeing, and I'm seeing it in the same game. And, of course, he and Ward are actually related. They're cousins. He trains in the offseason with Shador Sanders and Cam Ward. So we know the ability is absolutely there with drones.

He's just not been able to harness and play as consistently as his pals, Ward, and Sanders have who are about to be first round draft picks. The legs, phenomenal. He can get it done on the ground. Powerful running. Speed when he gets that long strike on. The ball jumps out of his damn hand. I'm sure his receivers need two sets of gloves because the ball,

it goes out of his end. Yeah. But where is it going? That's right. Not always where he wants to do. He's a phenomenal runner. Are you running in the right moments? Are you picking your spots appropriately for, you know what?

Ain't nothing there. Let's just take off. You know, at times it seemed like last year he was falling. for the old thing that I see happen with mobile quarterbacks a lot, where they fall for this thing where everybody calls him like, oh, he can't pass it. So they have to convince themselves. I'm going to pass no matter what.

Instead of saying, God gave me these legs for running, baby. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. Am I going to pick my spots and am I going to manipulate the pocket to find throwing windows, passing lanes, guys that are going to be open during scrambled drills? Sure. But sometimes

Kentucky and go get eight And eight yards only two away From a first down Now I'm down to 10 Let's go do that You know, so I truly hope That his decision making cleans up Because I think he got up a cam board

Like ascension To where this year if he went to draft He may be six round undrafted type of guy If he comes back next year And has a phenomenal year Which we know he's coming back But I'm saying if he has a phenomenal year He could elevate himself

To that late first early second type of deal Hey, I think you might look good in Hollywood Blue. I don't know. I don't know. And it might be a guy in the future. He just might. Well, I want to thank everyone for making Locked on ACC, your first listen and your first watch today.

Make sure you smash that like button. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your audio podcast. Make sure you also check out Locked on Wolfpack and Locked on Cains. And we'll talk to you guys next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC. We are part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you.