Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Hawkeye Bowl Game Prep vs. Kentucky

Episode Date: December 28, 2022

Trent Condon and LeShun Daniels, Jr. get back together again for the latest edition of the Locked on Hawkeye Podcast.They open up talking about the way that Iowa football prepares for bowl games and go back to the era when LeShun played and what was done to get ready.Then some talk about the new quarterback Joey Labas and what the expectations are for the Hawkeyes offense. A look at the latest with the Iowa athletic department and Gary Barta as they push back against some questions from the Iowa Swarm collective, they talk Kadyn Proctor and make picks against the spread for the Music City Bowl vs. Kentucky along with the College Football Playoff games.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!NHTSADrive sober or get pulled over. Click HERE to learn more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up today on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, myself, Trent Condon, joined once again by LaShawn Daniels. It's been a while since LaShawn and I have been able to talk. The schedules with the Christmas holiday, always crazy, but we're together and we got plenty to break down. From Gary Barta and the Iowa Swarm, the back and forth that continues there, to yes, we have a bowl game this week. What are we going to see with this new look possible Iowa football team?

A lot of questions, frustrations, and a whole lot more all coming up today on Locked On Hawkeyes. Our Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked Hawkeyes podcast. I'm Trent Condon, joined by former Hawkeye running back LaShawn Daniels. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. Available wherever you get podcasts. You can also

watch our mugs here on youtube you can see us there while you're at youtube hit that subscribe button and help us get in front of more hawkeye fans as we count down to kick off it's iowa kentucky a boy well sean feels like a lifetime ago that nebraska game in the season coming to a conclusion boy there has just been so much that has happened over this last month yeah for sure i mean like it was always it always felt long between the end of the season until we got to the bowl game before but with how fast uh things move in the coastal fall landscape now i mean especially with early signing day the transfer portal it almost feels like you're in an entirely different season once you get to the bowl season.

So, yeah, that was a long, long time ago, over almost a month. It's almost been over a month now. So by the time you see the Hawks back on the field again, it's going to be entirely new team. You're going to have a bunch of new, new players in, um, and contributing. So it's going to be exciting, um, you know, to see some of these guys getting in action. So you've obviously played in bowl games. Uh, there was the low watermark of the Rose bowl after that season, you know, and that

long layoff that was in between, uh, we haven't talked, I't think, a ton about that game, but I'm of the mentality. Maybe it was just because I spent a lot of money to go out there and I'm trying to maybe soothe the blow a little bit of the way the game played out there. But you guys invested so much throughout that season, that devastating loss to Michigan State in the championship game. I know you guys are excited to go to the Rose Bowl, but being that close to being in the college football playoff, to getting your shot against Alabama, would it have gone well? Well, we'll never know.

But to be that close and to have what ultimately was kind of a consolation prize, it just felt like the air was kind of taken out of the team after that one. And it didn't matter if you're playing Christian McCaffrey in Stanford or anybody else. The team, it just, it was difficult to get up for that game did I read do I read that right um so I'm never going to say that like you know we weren't up for for the challenge and um obviously playing and you know biggest bowl game we've been in a very very long time um and say like we weren't ready, like excited and ready to play for it.

But it is, it was a little disappointing. I mean, like just first off, just looking at everyone in the locker room kind of after that Big Ten title game and just like the faces around and just you could just tell like how much like that loss hurt. Because, I mean, we knew how much was it was that state. I mean, you know, to be the team to go into the college football playoffs would have been, would have been an amazing honor and to get a chance to play the eventual national champs Alabama would have been, been pretty awesome too.

But you know, it's such a different time because you get rid of a bunch of that momentum that you've kind of built up over the year at that point. And then especially when you come off a loss and now it's been a while since you've been on the field. Now you're trying to get back into the swing of things and a month has passed. And then by the time you get to the bowl game,'s like okay it's almost like you went through a mini fall camp or a mini spring ball

again and now you're trying to get yourself back up and back to playing at a high level of football and you know unfortunately in my years when i was at iowa we didn't really um end up playing up to that standard in the bowl game so um i'm not going to say that anyone wasn't excited to play in the Rose Bowl because we understood how big the Rose Bowl is. I mean, that's what they call the granddaddy of them all, right? I mean, it was that game, especially for Big Ten teams. But knowing how close you were to being in the playoffs and an opportunity to compete for a national title,

which sounds crazy when you think of it from an Iowa football perspective, it definitely hurt. It hurt a bunch. And I feel like it definitely probably dragged on us probably more than a typical loss might have. So we turn our attention to this year's team and they rip off the four straight wins. Hey, see, we told you we got this thing figured out and then it all comes crashing down

against Nebraska. You lose that one. Don't get your rematch shot in the big 10 championship game against Michigan. You don't get that opportunity. A lot of questions about what this off season is going to look like for Iowa football. You know, just take us through a little bit. Preparation, getting ready for a bowl game. You went through a tough end of the season the year previous that we just talked about in 2014. It did not go well in that bowl game. It was a splitting time. The self-proclaimed Hawkslayer Bowl and the Tax Slayer Bowl against Tennessee.

I mean, that thing was ugly. You had your boy Parker throwing the ball in one of the craziest plays. It was ugly out there. But just that preparation, getting ready for it, and knowing the season ended poorly. How do you get that? How do you get your team ready to go, knowing that that's still kind of lingering in the background

of everything that you're doing? Yeah. So kind of as I think back to my my bowl experiences in my freshman year i was still a deer in the headlights i had no idea what was going on so i don't really have too much of an opinion uh back then in 2013 when we played uh lsu but in 2014 um and especially because i was out for basically like half that season um i definitely saw a lot of things like just kind of from the background how preparation went and how we kind of prepared for that game especially because we had such a disappointing year that year and i feel like i may have mentioned this before but that bowl

season uh preparation was different than any of the other three years um in my time there and that's for sure like it wasn't it wasn't like a typical you know spend a lot of time um working on developmental work um getting your guys kind of back healthy and things uh that you normally expect from bowl preparation that year was kind of like okay we're bringing it back to essentially kind of like fall camp or um in the thick of spring ball and basically basically we were just kind of going at it all essentially every single day um just because the staff um didn't like the way that we really essentially were performing um throughout the year and really got away from what Iowa football was really all about. And that is being tough, being smart, being physical and being able to finish football games because that season there's a lot of games that we didn't finish that we should have.

And that was a growing ball prep. of growing uh bowl prep felt like every single day we was out there uh going here brother was nine on seven one-on-ones uh box drills third and shorts like focusing on a bunch of bunch of that and um really getting back to doing what we do um and then my other times there it was really really focused on a lot of developmental work because Because now I see a bunch of guys that have played a bunch. You've played a bunch of football throughout the entire year. You've got a bunch of work in. And now that time is spent to help you get healthy if you have any injuries or any ailments or anything like that. And I see get your reps in when you can to at least keep you keep you sharp and ready to go.

And then once we get into a week and a half a week before game day, then you get back into your normal routine. But a lot of that time is spent on developmental guys. So a lot of the young guys who didn't play a lot of football, who weren't playing as much on Saturdays or, you know, you were on the scout team a bunch. or you were on the scout team a bunch, that's where a lot of that development part gets put into place because now it's like, okay, you want to start building some momentum as you get into the end of the season, get into spring ball. And so then next football season comes rolling around, that those guys have a lot more experience,

a lot more ball under their belt, and they'll be in a better position to contribute. Well, the preparation is basically over. We're going to talk about this game a little bit more. What we expect to see, of course, it'll be a new quarterback out there. Joey Labus is going to get the start for the Hawkeyes. We'll talk about him, our expectations, some changes, maybe even some wrinkles for this Iowa offense.

Is that real? We'll talk about that as we continue here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by BetOnline, your number one source for sports betting information, stats, news, and analysis. Get the latest odds and trends for every professional and amateur league out there. From pro football to college bowl season basketball, they have it all at BetOnline. And if you love sports podcasts and listen to us, so I guess that you do, you can find those also at BetOnline. And if you love sports podcasts and listen to us, so I guess that you do, you can find those also at BetOnline. Always the fastest and easiest way for your sports

betting information. Head to the website today or hop on your phone to learn more. BetOnline, where the game starts. Trent Condon with Sean Daniels back with you here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. If you are on the podcast side, hit us with a five-star review. Always appreciate that. You can also leave reviews on Apple and hit us up on YouTube and hit the subscribe

button to help us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. All right, LaShawn, let's turn our attention to what we're going to see on Saturday. Alabama K-State will be happening at the same time. Maybe that's a good thing, as most of the nation, I'm sure, could be watching that thing. The over-under, speaking of bet online, is I saw at Circa, they're down to 30.5 now for the total in this game.

One of the lowest in college football history. We've talked about that a couple of times this year with this Hawkeye team. Limited offensively, you got Joey Labus making his first ever appearance in a college football game is back up. Carson may obviously he's never played before. Sam Laporta, the tight end.

He is your emergency quarterback. If it gets to that point. And this is an offense that was also by the way, ranked 130th in the country. It is. I know Kentucky's got opt outs. I know they got their own set of issues over there, but it's incredibly difficult to imagine a scenario where this iowa offense is going to

come out there look like they're humming but can you sell me something that can give a little bit of hope that we'll see at least a glimmer something good offensive uh no there's i mean i'm not going to say that it's not going to look like a different offense on the field. I mean, it will because you got a new guy under center. You got a new guy under center. And naturally, it's going to bring different challenges, different excitement, different because you never you don know what you're, what you're getting under center. Honestly, you haven't seen, you've seen them, you know, during the fall, you've seen them in the spring, but you haven't seen them in a real, real game action. of how Joey plays and the kind of fire and excitement that he brings to this Iowa offense. I mean, hopefully, you know, he goes out and just lights it up, right?

I mean, that would be something for sure. But I don't think it's going to be drastically different than what we've seen throughout this year. But you never know. I mean, especially in a bowl game, I mean, you definitely want to win your bowl your bowl game you never want to go out and you know essentially just just waste a trip and go up there and play play crappy right no one wants that no one wants that um but you do have an opportunity to really kind of show uh not only you know yourselves like okay this is the work you've been putting in um this is how we've improved over that this past month. We didn't just kind of sit there on our butts, right?

We installed some different things. We added some new wrinkles. We were focusing on using some of our players' strengths a lot more. But you also get the opportunity to show fans, potential recruits, and things like, hey, what we saw during the season isn't something that's going to be sticking with us moving forward. Right. So you do have the opportunity to show like, hey, we have the ability to open it up to use some of our skill guys a little bit more effectively and get them the ball in space and create some explosive plays versus what we've been doing, you know, so far this year. And especially with the new quarterback and Joey,

because you would expect that Kate's not going to be coming to Iowa and just expecting just to, you know, sit on the bench, right? I mean, there's going to be, I assume they're still going to compete. It's going to be a competition, but you would expect Kate to come in and you'd be the starter. But if I'm Joey, like I look at this as an opportunity like hey well i have i essentially have nothing to lose i might as well go out here and just try and light it up just try to make plays and um create explosives because uh you know worse comes to worse you know you you play terrible you throw three picks right

and you know it is what it is right you lose the game um you know we all move on we forget about it um and then you know kate comes and be the starter or you know he comes in he lights it up shows that hey i can play at this level i can play at a high level i can compete like you're not just gonna forget about me because you get a really really good transfer quarterback in here um so there's a bunch of things that i'm kind of excited to see a little bit more as we as we see in this bowl game against kentucky and especially with uh caleb johnson um because i know that he hasn't been involved in the past game as much throughout the football season. And I know he's missed some some blitz pickups here and there.

But hopefully that's something that's been corrected. And, you know, you can get him involved a little bit more in the ball in his hands. And I'm just excited to see some of these young guys actually get an opportunity to play to play this weekend. See what type of ability that they have. Out on the practice field today, this will be their final real practice before the game begins. They have the day off tomorrow, and then they'll have a walkthrough on Friday. It was Brody Breck back out there on the field. Certainly important to have as many guys as possible in that wide receiver group.

I'm really excited to see Deontay Bynes too. I know we just saw glimpses. He had that wrist injury back in fall camp, and it took him a while to get back a broken wrist. He was not able to be part of the team until the back half of the year, but there were glimmers, just little glimpses from him. He's got a chance. Nico Ragaglini is going to come back for his sixth season now of eligibility.

He still needs more, right? I mean, all the young guys, we'll see if any of them hit, but at this point in time, I know they're still looking to the transfer portal for probably a couple more receivers to help out but one of the guys yeah we want to see joe labus just to see if there's anything there and even at minimum if he's a competent backup right i mean if he goes out there and just completely craps the bed and you might be thinking all right we have to look another direction so even for backup because a magnum air himself he's coming off an injury. You, you gotta have that backup spot also ready to go.

So you're going to have that component, but yeah, Caleb Johnson, we've talked about him a ton this year. He has been the revelation and maybe the only revelation out of this Iowa offense this year, coupled with, you know, vines. He's a guy I think that has a chance. Is he going to be an all big 10 wide receiver? I don't know about that, but can it be a solid guy that you go out and for the next couple of years,

you know, you're going to get 35, 40 catches a year. He's going to be, you know, a solid compliment to that wide receiver group from the little bit that we saw from vines. He's a guy that I want to see a little bit more out of in this game.

And, and he's certainly going to get a lot of run. And one thing I mentioned to LaShawn yesterday, I did you play with anybody that was trying to play two sports at Iowa? Because we have this with Brody Breck, right? And Brody, he throws 99. His future, he's not going to play in the NFL as a wide receiver. I'm sorry.

If we see nice tall target, he can do some things. He's fine. But if he's ever going to play a professional sport, it's going to be in baseball. I do wonder, trying to juggle these two sports, how difficult it is. This might be the last time out there for Brody Breck and say, look, I got to concentrate on baseball. Now I got to run out the, get run out the tunnel at Kinnick. He grew up a Hawkeye fan. That's what he wanted to do. Got to catch some, catch some passions for the team. Now it's time to concentrate on baseball and no, this is all speculation. I don't have any information about that but i do wonder

about that component of it too one final time to go around and that means you need even more help at the wide receiver in the future yeah yeah i mean when you have so it's interesting because uh we've here we've heard him talk like yeah like yeah he's really really good at baseball but it's like football is like his first love like that football is the thing that that he essentially wants to do but i'm sure it's going to get to a point and he could even be as soon as uh after this week right and it's where you know you sit down with those parents down with baseball coach sit down with your parents um and it's like look like i think this is where you should honestly be spending more of your time. Because, I mean, if you can throw 99, I mean, that's impressive. Like, that's impressive.

And those guys aren't just walking around everywhere. And when you have that kind of ability, you might want to look at, hey, I can, let me start moving in that direction and start focusing that way. I mean, it's very, very difficult to place to sports, especially at a high level. I mean, I remember I was watching this thing and Deion Sanders was talking about, you know, him being an MLB and then him playing the NFL. And he said that it was just way too difficult

to play baseball in addition to being at a high level football player. And I feel like Brody is going to be in a position where it's like, yeah, I love football. It's my first love. Like, it's what I would love to do. But I feel like my potential is going to be, hey, I have this opportunity to be in MLB and be drafted, right,

at a relatively high pick over, you know, the next few years. So, you know, you decide to go in and go that route. And that does happen. Yeah, we're going to need a lot more help at the receiver position more than we already do. So it'll be interesting to see kind of how that does develop over the next few months. You know, one thing I want to talk to you maybe next week about after we get through this bowl game is about those end of season meetings that you have with Coach Ference

and kind of the way those go down. We don't have to get into any particulars unless you want to, of course, but it just kind of how those go down. I think that'll be interesting for everybody out there listening in and find out exactly what those conversations are like and what your future with the program is going to be in that because there's going to be plenty of things out there. I believe they have five open scholarships for next year, but even after this bowl game, there's going to be more people that enter the transfer portal.

You're going to see that happening in all these different bowl games. That onslaught of people right at the end of the regular season that when the portal opened up, went in there, you're going to see another group, I think, after these bowl games that are also going to jump into that. So we'll talk about that a little bit more next week. A couple other things. So we have talked to a lot of different angles. We've talked about this football team.

We broke down offensively what they're going to be. Questions remain. What is the staff shakeup? If anything is going to happen here after the season gets done, and we'll have plenty of time to dive into that. But LaShawn, I want to get your perspective in this changing environment of college athletics. And we've talked about just the crazy nature right now of what's happening with NIL, with these collectives and the back and forth that has happened over the last week with

the Iowa Athletic Department and Iowa Swarm. Now, these are two separate entities. Athletic departments cannot create collectives. This is something that has to be done independent of the athletic department. And we've heard Brad Heinrichs, who runs the Iowa Swarm Collective. Now, he has been pretty outright in talking about some of the things that he was hoping to get from the athletic department, the biggest being getting phone numbers, getting email addresses for the season ticket base and the unwillingness from the University of Iowa to do that. And also talking about Title IX implications. I mean, this is it's an onion. There are a ton of email addresses for the season ticket base and the unwillingness from the University of Iowa to do that and also talking about Title IX implications. I mean, this is, it's an onion.

There are a ton of layers to this story, but from an outsider perspective, it's frustrating to see right now, knowing that this is a new reality in college athletics. You're going to have to spend. Kade Bactamira wouldn't be a Hawkeye without the Swarm Collective. There's no doubt about it.

The Swarm Collective is the one that landed him more than anything. And because of that, the unwillingness from the athletic department to help out the Swarm as much as possible, I don't know. It seems short-sighted from my viewpoint. How do you see it, LaShawn? Yeah. It's frustrating. It's very, very frustrating because how fast everything is happening right now in college football.

And we know that in general, Iowa is typically slow to adopt things. And, you know, with this swarm collective, they actually kind of got ahead of it almost and kind of stayed up to pace with it. kind of stayed up to pace with it. But the fact that essentially that the swarm and the athletic department are essentially butting heads and kind of going at it makes this situation much more difficult than honestly what it needs to be, right? I mean, if you want to get some of the best players in here and you want to continue bringing in that revenue that uh that you're looking for as a as the athletic department here at the university of iowa like that's something that's

going to have to be um prioritized and right now it feels like it's almost like they are trying to not necessarily kill it but kind of keep it on the low and kind of kind of put it to the side. Like, oh, no, like like we're OK and doing what we're what we're doing right now. And we're going to leave it at that. But with how fast college football is shaping out and how much NIL is influencing the schools that players go to, it's already difficult enough to get people to want to come to school in Iowa. I mean, realistically, like, I mean, if I'm from, if I'm from Florida or if I'm from California or I'm from Georgia or elsewhere,

right throughout the country. And, you know, I have a choice between going to the cold and playing in Iowa or I can, you know, kind of stay in my area and maybe play at a school that's not as good or whatever. But that's kind of the battle that you're in. And then especially when you're trying to get these highest-level recruits, like the NIL stuff can't be put to the backrunners, right? It's something that's

going to have to be focused and prioritized and the athletic department is going to have to help in that uh in that process because if you don't you're going to be left behind and not saying that iowa doesn't get good recruits uh but there's nothing wrong with getting higher star recruits, better football players in and prioritizing that NIL is important. And it sucks. Like if I'm at a, if I'm playing in a smaller sport here at Iowa and you know, I'm not getting the type of revenue that the football team or basketball teams are getting, but fortunately it is what it is.

It's it's it, that's the reality and I know that they want to make it fair for everyone but fortunately that's that that's it's not realistic it's not realistic um so you feel like you definitely have to go hard in one direction and starting off the way strong now versus trying to get everything exactly right and perfect so it's fair for everyone um and i feel like that's going to take too long and then i was going to be way way way behind and it's going to end up putting us in a bad position yeah you just can't afford it and uh this is the reality and i just it's very disappointing to see that other people out there,

Iowa State, Michigan, North Carolina, some of the examples that Brad, who runs the Iowa Swarm, has mentioned how the athletic departments are working hand-in-hand and trying to make it as easy as possible. And Iowa, who already has enough hamstrings, as you mentioned, that just makes it so difficult for them to recruit at that kind of level. They're just making it even more difficult. Shouldn't be the case, but that's where we are. We're going to wrap things up on the other side.

We'll make some picks for the bowl game. We'll make our picks, of course, for the Iowa-Kentucky game. Take a look at some of the Big Ten and, of course, the college football playoff matchups. We'll get into that here presented by BetOnline when we come back on the other side. And also, we haven't talked to LaShawn since signing day, and Caden Proctor at the 11th hour making the decision.

He's going to Bama. We'll see what LaShawn thinks about that. That's as we continue here on Locked On Hawkeyes. Trent Cotten, LaShawn Daniels back with you one final time on Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Make sure to check out Locked On Sports Today, the biggest stories around the sports world in 20 minutes or less. Instant reaction, game recaps, and Locked On's take of the day.

Locked On Sports Today available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. All right, LaShawn, as we wrap things up, I got to get your perspective. So Caden Proctor, it was a huge conversation piece for really that week leading into signing day. And of course, what happened? He takes a trip to Alabama and completely changes his commitment. It's not decommitting. Happened all the time. In fact, you were committed to Boston College.

Is that right? You decommitted. So it's not that. It's the way this played out and the scenario where it looked like maybe he had cold feet whatever it was and waited until the very last moment before he finally made that decision he's also an in-state kid he's also a five-star and there's just so many more parameters this is not your everyday decommitment and committing somewhere else. There was a lot more to this story. So again, as a guy that decommitted himself, how you thought that went down and your thought processes behind Caden Proctor now at Alabama? Yeah. So, um, for starters, uh, I'm not

too upset with them. I mean, how can you be right? I mean, first off, I did the same thing. too upset with them. I mean, how can you be right? I mean, first off, I did the same thing. Um, you know,

you're 17, these kids are 17, 18 years old, and they're trying to think of the best decision for themselves. Right. And it, it can be frustrating from our perspective as fans. When you see that happening,

um, especially when it happens so late like that from an in-state kid and you've been watching them for so long and you're like, like, yeah, we can't wait to get this guy. Um, but you know, you, you can't be too upset about it just because they're doing what they think is best for themselves. And, um, it does suck that it kind of just happened, uh, like last second, almost like a, like a blind side um because mine was a little bit different granted i wasn't as highly as recruited but i did tell like the coaches

like before like from coaches that were recruiting me like at the time like when i was committed to boston college and they fired their coach and i'm like with the new staff i'm like my my recruitment is open at this time um uh so even though i am committed i'm still looking at other places to see if there might be a better fit just because you know i formed a connection with the past that if it wasn't with you guys um and now i'm opening up to the different schools and i'll just open the door here but with him it did kind of suck that it was like you know know, I'm locked in. I'm here.

I'm coming here. Like, I just want to take these visits just to just to take them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then ends up being the situation like, actually, I like this a lot better. So it can definitely be a little bit frustrating, but I can never blame a kid for doing what he thinks is best for him. Frustrating, but I can never blame a kid for doing what he thinks is best for him. Yeah, it sucks from our side of things, but I didn't appreciate how nasty some fans were being to him, especially to his family. A lot of that stuff, honestly, was just uncalled for because that's something,

especially with the transfer portal and how close the portal is now, because that's something, especially with the transfer portal and how close the portal is now, that's something you never want to shut the door on, especially with kids coming to schools and then deciding it's not for them and they decide to transfer. You never want to burn those bridges. And it can be frustrating from a fan's perspective, but he was just doing what's best for him.

It sucked the way that it went down. You would have appreciated if he just kind of never committed to iowa to begin with uh and kind of just left it open but hey it is what it is it happens um you can't you can't really be too too upset about it until really that that kid signs that dotted line i mean he wasn't the only one to flip commitments at the last hour i think a kid committed to to a school, then decommitted, committed to another school, then committed to another school, like all in like 24 hours, right? So like, he's not the only person to do it.

Sometimes kids, they just get cold feet, like you said. And they just want to make the decision that's best for them. So you can never be too upset about it. And you can't put too much stock into it really until they do sign on that dotted line. No doubt about it. Good stuff.

LaShawn out of you. And we got plenty more to talk about here in the coming weeks and the ever-changing world of college football. All right. Why don't we wrap things up here? Just a couple of picks here. Our picks as we've done all season long presented by bet online and taking a look, of course,

at the Iowa matchup that will be 11 a.m central time as they take on kentucky iowa currently a one point favorite in this game the over under as mentioned earlier 30 and a half what do you got who you taking hawkeyes or kentucky so i'm actually feeling pretty good about the Hawks for this game, to be honest. I mean, even throughout the season and Kentucky had Will Levis as their quarterback and he's projected to be at a first round out to guy and they were still bad.

Like they were still bad. And when now you have him opting out of the draft and now you're going to have whoever they have for their, uh, second string guy. Um, you, you're not expecting that they're going to be playing that much better from offensive perspective and they haven't been great offensively with a first round talent at quarterback. So obviously Iowa, you had our own opt outs and, um, see Spencer's not going to be playing and uh alice decides to transfer and i was down to joey so like yeah we're going to be hurting essentially on the quarterback side experience wise but our offense wasn't that great to begin with the entire season so it's like like it can't be that much worse and we know how good the defense has been all football season so i

would expect them to continue to play lights out defensively and, you know, really, really kind of suffocate this. So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about the Hawks actually. I'm feeling good about the under, I know it's one of the lowest ever in college football, but unless we have defensive scores in this game and that very well could happen. I mean, Kentucky, they're down to more than likely a true freshman that hasn't played much, and they're down to their third, even fourth quarterback.

Deuce Hogan does not look like he's going to go, and for Hawkeye fans that were sad to see Deuce go, well, he wasn't able to make it happen at Iowa. Now Kentucky with their quarterback situation, that might be more of a talent problem on that front, but that aside, who's going to make a mistake? You know, I think that's really what it comes down to here. Two quarterbacks that have very little playing time, if at all, as we know with Joey Labus, ultimately I lean on the Iowa defense. And because of that, I'm going to take Iowa, but I love the under in this game. I think it's really, it's going to be destined for 13, 10, nine, seven, you know, something like

that. I think it's going to be ugly. Hopefully maybe a 9 7 you know something like that i think it's going to be ugly hopefully maybe a safety decides it i mean wouldn't that be great if jack campbell make it a safe and make it a tackle getting another safety as he did the first game of the year against south dakota state maybe that being the difference here but i'm going to jump aboard with you and we both like iowa this weekend and it's ultimately when you're looking at these two teams pretty good defensively i was better defensively two struggling struggling offenses. Kentucky's a tick better there. But another huge factor is Iowa's special teams is a lot better than Kentucky's this year, and that's kind of the way that sways me over the edge.

Two more picks, LaShawn. Let's jump to the college football playoff after the Iowa game wraps up. We'll be getting ready for Michigan TCU. That'll be game one of the playoff matchups from the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Michigan. Currently a seven and a half point favorite in this one. Well, Sean, I think this game goes one of two ways. Either it's tight, it comes down to the fourth quarter and TCU again escapes and finds a way to win the game or

Michigan blows them out. And I think it's going to be the latter. I think Michigan will control the line of scrimmage. They're going to make things incredibly difficult for Max Duggan to be able to do much of anything. TCU, they've lived a very charmed life this year. I believe it's five different times that they have faced backup quarterbacks throughout the course of this season, either for a full game or a half of a game. I'm going to take Michigan. I'm going to lay more than a touchdown.

Give me the Wolverines minus seven and a half of a game i'm gonna take michigan i'm gonna lay more than a touchdown give me the wolverines minus seven and a half yeah i'm right there with you with michigan this one i mean that first off their offensive line is fantastic at three like all big 10 players all american center i mean fantastic offensive line that can move the line of scrimmage and then they're great on the defensive line and i feel feel like they're going to get after Max Duggan quite a bit defensively, and they're just going to run the ball, run the ball basically all day long. And the only way I feel like TCU ends up winning this football game is if they can stop that run and force J.J. McCarthy to go out there and make big plays with this, with his arm.

You seen him do it against Ohio state. We'll see if he can, if he does get forced in that situation, can you do it again? But I'm not feeling too confident for them to be able to do that. So yeah, give me Michigan for this one. And the nightcap, it is Ohio state,

Georgia down at Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta, the peach bowl, seven o'clock kickoff with the Buckeyes and Georgia. LaShawn, your dad played there. You're an Ohio kid. You're taking the Buckeyes, aren't you? So it's interesting. I actually do kind of feel okay about Ohio State for this one, shockingly. kind of feel okay about ohio state for this one shockingly but with how big the i feel like the line is is what is it touchdown i think six and a half yep yes touchdown i feel like it's going

to be close i feel like it's going to be like a three kind of real real tight game um it's going to be whether decided by a field goal or two-point conversion at some point in that football game. I like Georgia keeping it closer than the – I mean, I like Ohio State keeping it closer than that touchdown. I don't know if Ohio State pulls it out. That Georgia team is really, really good. They don't make a lot of mistakes offensively, and they play lights-out defense. And we saw what happened the last time Ohio State was out there. They made a bunch of mistakes offensively, weren't able to stand the field and get points.

I feel like that's something that's going to possibly be their downfall in this game again, but who knows? We'll see. The last time Ohio State was in the playoffs as they were able to beat Clemson in a lights-out game by Justin Fields, and we'll see if C.J CJ Stroud can provide that type of spark for the Buckeyes in this one. But I feel like they keep it closer than touchdown, but Georgia does pull it out.

So my big thing about this game is I'm just, yeah, they're motivated. It's not a motivation factor. It's just how you get off the mat after that loss to Michigan, just completely falling apart in the fourth quarter in that fashion, looking like, at least at the time, well, there's really not a realistic path to get into the college football playoff. And then you get in, but you're facing this behemoth in Georgia and where CJ Stroud is mentally. He's thinking about the NFL draft and getting ready. And this is going to be, I think, say a lot about Ryan day. I mean, I love the coach third base

moniker that Harbaugh put out in the last year. I it's something that sticks with me. I mean, I love the coach third base moniker that Harbaugh put out him last year. It's something that sticks with me. I absolutely love it. I love the shade being thrown and the rivalry aspect of that one. But this is going to be for Ryan Day. I think this is going to say a lot. I mean, this is a guy that's lost two Big Ten games in his career. And yet people are saying, well, I'm not sure if he's the right guy. That shows you the pressure cooker also. That is Ohio State and coaching in that kind of environment and what the expectation level is because of that and because we've seen so many blowouts in this game I think I'm gonna lead Georgia I'm good I'll play the game I bet on everything of course I'm gonna play it all by the time we get around to Saturday I know I'm gonna have a bet and if I had to put it in right now I think I'd lay the six and a half with Georgia but motivation because

I love the Buckeyes talent I think they can compete with them I just I'd lay the six and a half with Georgia, but motivation because I love the Buckeyes talent. I think they can compete with them. I just wonder about the headspace mentally, where this team is and what day he's been able to do, kind of pull them back up and get them ready. So that's kind of at least my read on things, but we will see opposite sides, Buckeyes plus the six and a half for LaShawn.

I'll lay it with the Bulldogs. Well, LaShawn, hey, it was good catching up with again. How was Christmas? Everything good? Yeah, it was good. Went, actually headed up to Pittsburgh and sat in that coldest football game I've ever been in in my entire life. But it was good.

It was good being around the fam. And it was just a great time. So I can't really complain about it except for sitting in there. That sucked. That sucked suck but it was a good thing that the steelers won see now you know what us fans actually have to deal with you know i've never been so cool in my life like because obviously usually i'm running around right and wait wait wait now what's going on your brother just signed a new contract he's got you guys in

the stands he didn't get on he didn't get a sweep for you guys. That's what I'm saying. He was like, he was like, like we got there. He was like, I probably should have gone. Oh, well, way too late now. Like, whatever, whatever. Next time, right? Make sure that one happens.

Don't talk about it. LaShawn, great catching up. Hope you had a Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. We'll talk to you again in 2023 and we will recap what we see with the Hawkeyes matchup against Kentucky. Have a good one, LaShawn. Likewise. Likewise. Go Hawks. Go Hawks. Today's episode brought to you by

our friends with the Locked On Sports Today podcast. For your second listen, check out Peter Bukowski as he brings you the biggest stories from around the sports world in 20 minutes. Analysis and opinions from everyone on our local and national experts and insiders. Locked On Sports Today, available on YouTube wherever you get podcasts. That's LaShawn Daniels.

I'm Trent Conn and we'll be back with you again tomorrow with more previewing Iowa, Kentucky. LaShawn will join us again next week and we got some basketball to talk about. We'll preview Iowa, Nebraska as the Hawkeyes get back on the hardwood. That's all coming up on tomorrow's episode. Thanks for joining us today on Locked on Hawkeyes.