Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Hawkeye Football Pregame - Live from Merkle's in Wrigleyville with LeShun Daniels

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

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Hey, we're in Wrigleyville. We're at Merkel's right now. A live edition of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Trent Condon, LaShawn Daniels talking about the crazy week that was in Iowa football. And ready for the matchup against the Wildcats today. You are Locked On Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

And Cotton, that dude over there, that's LaShawn Daniels, and this is the lockdown hawkeyes podcast thanks for making lockdown hawkeyes your first listen every day we're available wherever you get podcasts you can also find this on youtube make sure you hit that subscribe button helps us get in front of more hawkeye fans today's episode is brought to you by the game time app download the game time, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. That is the GameTime app, $20 off your first purchase with code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE.

LaShawn, here we are together, shoulder to shoulder. Now, this is our first time that we've actually met in person, and boy, we're getting close together right away. How's going yeah no it's good it's good um obviously this is a great environment to be in and obviously to do the pod here uh live in person is pretty sweet so uh definitely looking forward to obviously talking about the hawks today and then obviously watching the hawks uh play against Northwestern. Such a cool environment. So you're an Ohio guy. Were you an Indians fan?

Were you a Reds fan growing up? Did you have a baseball team where you just always football? With your dad's background, you didn't give a crap about baseball. Any baseball background for you? Yeah, no, not much of a baseball background. I don't even think I played baseball growing up, to be honest. Obviously, it rooted for the Indians back then

when I did watch baseball, but weren't too focused on it so much. It was all about football and a little bit of basketball. Obviously, having LeBron James was pretty cool. I heard about some of your hoops exploits back in the day. You can ball a little bit, right?

Nah. I mean, I can play So I heard about some of your hoops exploits back in the day that you can ball a little bit, right? Uh, nah, I mean, I can play, I mean, I can play, play good enough to, you know, be in LA fitness and do some pickup games. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's all it takes. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Pick it up, play with people at noon hour, get that in during the lunch break. But we're here obviously to talk some football. So we're at Merkel's again. This is in Wrigleyville. This is the hawkeye bar of wrigleyville and i've been here a number of times in the past it's just it's so cool the owner russ he's a great guy really fun character in here if you happen to be coming to town or already in chicago looking for a place either on friday night or saturday definitely stop by now they've uh they've been incredibly accommodating in fact they normally don't even open until five o'clock on Fridays but they opened

it up earlier for my radio show just a great crowd already a Hawkeye fans a lot of people having a great time and and certainly love to see that now this is a part LaShawn you as a former player you didn't get to see this part of it right I mean it's it's all business but now that you're getting further and further removed from it and you're kind of understanding the fan element a little bit more, it's just so cool to come into a city like Chicago. Yeah, there's a lot of Iowa alumni here, yourself included, but to be kind of all together in something like that,

it's kind of what makes being a Hawkeye special. Yeah, yeah, it's definitely pretty cool. Obviously, we know that Iowa has, you know, the best fans in the country. And for them to come out and, you know, show out like this, I mean, especially this early, as you just mentioned, right? Like this bar doesn't open, isn't usually open at this time. You know, you got this many people out here already. And you know that Hawks travel well, especially when it comes to coming to Chicago. We have that opportunity.

So really, really looking forward to seeing more of the Hawkeye faithful out here. And, you know, I'm super, super excited to be part of this side of the playing field, I'd say, now. Going to be a really, really fun party. But there is still ultimately a football game. I've been to a lot of bowl games, been to road trips to every Big Ten stadium. It's not for the newbies. I haven't been to Rutgers or Maryland yet.land yet but you know been all across the big 10 and i i like to make this joke with some of my buddies from time to time we're having a good time probably drinking a little too

much telling the same dumb stories that we always do and that's what that makes it fun as you're getting older but there's also a football game and there's a football game coming up tomorrow and we're going to get into a little bit more of the minutiae kind of the week that was here it just a little bit but i just want to start with the football side of things against northwestern coming up a northwestern team that is playing a lot better than i think anybody thought they were going to here and this iowa football team getting ready for the game figuring things out if you will trying to find a way off of iWeek in fact let's start right there coming off of by what that was like when you were in

the Iowa football program yeah um obviously it playing into a part of that is really how you perform your last game out and um there's times where we were coming off of by where we didn't play well um going into it and so the bye week was a little bit more focused a little bit more like okay what do we got to do to get back and right the ship and that's probably kind of how the guys went through it over the past week especially the the way that they lost uh you know our last game against minnesota so um there was a lot of probably focused on getting back to doing focus on things that what we do well and make sure that we're getting the additional players and the next man up mentality

of getting those guys ready. So when it comes to an opportunity, as you get into November, really, this is the time of the year where, you know, teams kind of make their stake and make their claim on, you know, how you're going to finish the season. And, you know, you know, you're going to need all the guys that end up traveling with you to make an impact on the on the football team so uh it was probably a lot of focus on that and getting back to right the ship because now hey you're in a position where you're tied for the big 10 west lead and you know you can't really have uh you can't really afford to drop any games that you should be winning at this point in time of the year let's talk a little bit about the game plan northwestern has not been great against the run a week ago for whatever reason. Maryland, knowing that they can both run

and pass the football, they decide to pass all the time. Well, that's not how you beat Northwestern. I was going to know the only way they're going to be able to win this football game is likely to be able to run the football effectively. Going into a game like that with the bye weeks, some tweaks, things like that that you're able to do the equation is very simple iowa has to be able to run the football to win this game but it's easier said than done right i mean there's there's a lot more work that makes that happen especially when you're going up against eight million boxes we saw two weeks ago against minnesota yep yep no doubt about it um you look at north you look at northwestern and their defense

they do an extremely good job against the pass game and especially at getting after the quarterback. I mean, last week against Maryland, they did a phenomenal job of really honestly keeping constant pressure and not letting the quarterback feel comfortable back there. And we know that Iowa's strengths definitely is not going to be the passing game. And we know that Northwestern's weaknesses defensively is going to be in the run game. So being able to lean on the run game as much as possible is going to be the thing that's

going to lead to success against northwestern and i know we talked about it we talked about it pretty much every single time we got on this podcast here we talked about how i was developed and kind of changed on how they typically go about and how they attack in the running game moving away a little bit from you know your typical zone runs to get you better numbers when you are running the football because as we've talked about before when you're running zone runs a lot of times it's got to be you got to have favorable numbers in the box no matter how talented your running backs or your linemen are just because uh that's just how the scheme works so when you when you move to more of that gap scheme, you're running more power plays,

you're running more counter plays, you can get away with, you know, running into more of those stacked boxes and to have success. And that's something that I still want to continue them to lean on. I know, you know, a couple weeks ago against Minnesota, the game kind of, you know, really got out of hand from them offensively and, you know, weren't able to really lean on that as much as we want to. So especially going through a bye week and having an opportunity to continue

to self-scout and look at, okay, this is how we performed against Minnesota and these are things that we weren't doing well. Let's try to get back to doing some of the things that we had success with. And that was a few weeks back prior to that when they were running some of those uh power plays and running those counter plays and able to create explosive plays in the run game there those are the things that are going to help out even if um northwestern stacks the box so another thing that we talk about in those stack boxes there's also an opportunity for big plays one thing thing that I've come down to, if the passing game struggles like it has, I get called a hater sometimes. Well, Sean, I think you've learned I'm

not the most optimistic guy when it pertains to my teams. In life, I'm a very optimistic guy. I'm very positive, but my sports teams that I root for, it goes to a different level. It's very difficult for me to envision this off and suddenly in the passing game looking great. Could it be okay? Sure. I guess I could buy that. But in order for this team to say, they got to put some points up. They got to score 24 points in this game to win even 20 points. Is it fair to say in order to do that that i was going to have to hit three four maybe five plays big plays in the run game in order to make that happen and even against stack boxes you can do that but do you think that's fair to kind of look at look at going in yeah so in general when you

look at teams that do an extremely good job offensively a lot of times it's not because they're just sustaining drives and they're going on constant you know 10 offensively. A lot of times it's not because they're just sustaining drives and they're going on constant, you know, 10, 12-play drives. A lot of times they may be like, they might be six or seven-play drives and they had an explosive play in there. And a lot of times, obviously, explosive plays are going to come from the passing game. But the way that Iowa's offense is set up

and the way how our passing game is set up, it's not really designed for us to really hit those big shots down the field too often a lot of times our explosive plays come from the run game where everyone fits extremely extremely well uh you know you get a seal on one side and you get another seal on the other side and it's just a massive lane for the running back to go make a play and it creates explosive play there those are things that have helped us um you know earlier in the year really went to football games and put up enough points to keep the offense in a position to be successful.

And to do that, obviously, yeah, we've had to have, you know, several big, big run plays. And there is a way, though, that the Iowa offense passing game can help with that, and that is with the play-action game and getting, you know, your receivers involved, getting your tight ends involved um i know that uh when you lose you to top tight ends uh those are the places where the quarterback loves to get to throw the football and it is unfortunate but it doesn't necessarily have to be uh you know 30 yards you know shots down the field even just

getting involved in that intermediate area of the field can and letting your receiver or whoever it is catch the ball and, you know, create some yards after the catch can help create explosive plays as well. But when you really look at it and you look at where they are in the season, I wouldn't anticipate, you know, obviously seeing that. I mean, really, I mean, just to be frank, so a lot of it is going to end up coming from the run game and success there. And I think the running backs know it, the linemen know it, and I think that they're taking pride in that

and they're going to try to lean on that as much as possible against Northwestern. Well, it is a game in front of us, but it has been one of the crazier weeks in Iowa football in a very long time. The basically firing of Brian Ferentz, the offensive coordinator, how wild that is, we're going to talk about that, get LaShawn's perspective, talk about what Iowa can do here over the course of the final four games. And a big question that I have for LaShawn is this. Kirk Ferentz, at least from the outside looking in,

seems like he's incredibly good when their team's backed against the wall. What's it like inside the locker room when those difficult moments come? We'll do that as we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. We're coming to you live from Merkel's. That's right. It is the Hawkeye Bar in Wrigleyville. You're coming out this afternoon.

We're going to be here throughout the afternoon. Coming there tomorrow. Get ready for the game in Wrigleyville. Make sure to stop out at Merkel's, the Hawkeye Bar. We continue here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime and the GameTime app. You shouldn't have to worry about when you're buying tickets to the next big event. GameTime is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater

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Trent LeSean back with you again on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. So here we are hanging out, getting ready for a little football. You're drinking water over there? Yeah. You're waiting until we finish up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. I'm slugging down my beer. I'm excited to get some of the barntown beer i gotta show you this stuff i know you're not a huge big beer guy but yeah there's they get some wild

concoctions yep and thanks to russ the owner here of merkels for having us out it's been really really cool it's been it's kind of as a fan a good way to end the week because both in my job, talking about it, media-wise, being on the radio, doing the podcast, and as a fan, it's been such a wild week, just a whirlwind of emotions. You know, hearing Kirk after the announcement comes down on Monday from the athletic department office and Beth Getz, and then Kirk's press conference on Tuesday,

where it went from, of course, Kirk's coming back to, I'm not so sure as we hear the high Hawkeye fight. So I got blared through here. It's been a very, very long week, but first of all,

I want to get your perspective on kind of the week that was in seeing Kirk and what felt like a very uncomfortable spot for him. Yeah, I mean, like it honestly just sucks, obviously. Like you want, first off, when you think about your entire staff in general, right, you want everybody to do their job at an extremely high level. You want them to contribute. And then it probably amplifies even more when that person just happens to be your son, right?

I mean, you know, you've been a part of the program for as long as you can remember, and for it to, you know, obviously happen, obviously it sucks for, you know, Coach Ferentz. It sucks for Coach Bryan. You know, it sucks for the team. It just wasn't ideal, but obviously, you know, it came to a point where a decision had to be made. And, you know, you had to, you know, look at taking the next step.

So it is a little frustrating for sure. And I know Coach Ferentz was not happy at all. I mean, you could just tell on the Tuesday press conference. He was not in the best of moods. And, I mean, I can't blame him. I mean, especially if you've been doing things within the program your way for, for so long. And then, you know, if you get a new AD who's, you know, trying to make their stamp as an athletic director,

like it can obviously be a little bit frustrating, but at the end of the day, you know, success is being as part of the job, both of Coach Ferentz and as your AD and, you know, success is being as part of the job, both of Coach Ferentz and as your AD. And, you know, making some of those hard decisions is definitely tough. And obviously it was tough on coach. But it's something that obviously I think that everybody will be able to bounce back from. So another thing I wanted to ask you about is historically, when Coach Ferentz's teams have been back against the wall that insular

kind of us against the world mentality first right there was that something that coach ference uses motivation i mean we know he's not a big rah-rah kind of guy that's not who he is it's about doing your work right but he'd have some talks before games, leading into things after practices, things like that. We've talked about that in the past. In moments like this, what it was like when you get that bunker mentality, if you will. Yeah.

You know, Coach Ferentz knows that, you know, in general, Iowa is typically underdogs, whether it is from, you know, individual players that, you know, that get to the university, whether it's the team in general, like he knows that we are typically underdogs throughout our time. And he leans on that quite a bit. And especially like when there is adversity through the program, especially obviously like right now. And, you know, my personal experience, you think back going from, you know, that 2014 season into the 2015 year.

You obviously there's a lot of question marks around it. Obviously, we go ahead and make quarterback change and all these different things where no one really kind of everyone kind of figure like, OK, that's it for the Hawks. That's it for Coach Ferentz. Like, we're going to be getting ready for the next guy. But then, you know, Coach Ferentz gets everybody to rally behind him, and I think that's really played to a part of, you know, the way that Coach Ferentz has built the culture there at the University of Iowa. The guys in the building, they want to play for each other.

They want to play for Coach. They want to continue growing that legacy. And I think Coach Ferentz does an excellent job of getting everybody on the same page to move towards that, that common goal, whatever that is. And no matter if, you know, he's upset about something or, you know, players are upset about something, he always gets everybody to, you know, refocus and hunker back down on, you know,

what the most important goal is at the time. And obviously, like right now, that's going to be, obviously, being Northwestern and, you know, keeping that momentum to continue so you can win the West. Finding ways to win. Got to find ways to win. And in this Big Ten West, it's not overly daunting, but Iowa has their own limitations. We talked about that a little bit earlier.

All right, LaShawn, we got some comments because this is a live broadcast. There will be no post-production. We got the music blaring through. We're listening to a little snoop. Now, this is before your days. This is my era. You can't take credit for this stuff right here. This is me, but some fun stuff here.

Let's highlight a couple of those. I've never done this before. There we go. shot of choice if uh we got grant let's check it if he runs in the store what what's your shot of choice well you're you're in chicago now you're a chicago guy it's got to be malort right no yeah i've already done my honorary uh shot of That stuff is so gross. Yeah, nope. Nah. I did it one time, and that was good for a lifetime. So I'm good on that. Well, if you do see me, I'll definitely take a shot at tequila.

That's always good for me. All right. So I've never got into the tequila game. I've had some tequila and a margarita. I've had some shots back in the day, hanging out at the field house or brothers, you know, back in the early 2000s. However, you like tequila. I can't envision that because I probably never had good tequila before.

What is it? So you get good tequila, though, when you get a shot, right? Yeah. Somebody comes up with, you know, one of the back bar kind of bottles. You don't want any of that. No, no, not at all. But you have good tequila. Do you still do the salt and lime thing uh sometimes i will it depends like if i'm like with a big group or whatever and you know everyone else is doing it i'm like yeah i'll do it but if not like yeah you just take it

like it doesn't it doesn't bother me like that much as you know maybe something else does like not a fan of fireball at all like that's like oh yeah that's a good stuff oh no no no i had some not great experiences especially in particular at iowa from drinking fireball okay typically stay away from that one no cinnamon whiskey for la sean all right we got that he likes the tequila if you see me i will take a fireball i'm absolutely about that i like something something, a little sweetness maybe to it. Something with peppermint. I like that. Give myself a little breath mint.

That's okay. Someone 51. Something along those lines. We'll really be partying here. There it is, Grant. You see us out. We'll be hanging out here throughout Wrigleyville coming up tomorrow as well. Make sure to hit us up and we'll have a good time.

A couple other comments here. This is from Takken. Is it Takken? I don't know. That's T-A-K-K-U-N. I don't know the double K. Northwestern's always been a thorn in our side. Our offense will have to produce because Northwestern actually looks like

it's capable on offense. That kind of goes, LaShawn, to the point I was talking about with you a little bit earlier. If this is a game where Iowa's going to have to score 20, 24 points, something like that, if they're capable. But let's take a look at it from the other side. This Northwestern team has been able to move the football. This is maybe one of the better offenses that they have seen in a while.

Minnesota stinks offensively. Wisconsin stunk, obviously, after the loss of Mordecai offensively. Purdue, not very good with Hudson Carr making mistakes. They haven't seen a very good offense in a while. Yeah, haven't seen a good offense in a while. And, I mean, even in hindsight, I mean, you look at, obviously, you look at the Penn State game and, you know, they had a great night against us. But they didn't have a great night against Ohio State in another, you know, top defense.

And so you look at it, you're like, maybe we haven't actually come across an offense that can really put a point. And, you know, it's definitely going to be a challenge. Definitely it's going to help keeping the defense off the field as much as possible. Obviously, they know that they were able to do that last year against Northwestern and had a great offensive day, but that was last year. And now you're trying to build off some negative momentum that you had over the past couple weeks offensively and to right that ship. So it's definitely going to be a challenge, no doubt about it. And he's right.

I mean, Northwestern has been a pain in the side for a little bit. I mean, even if they don't win the game, like they always make it tough on us and kind of force us to have to do some things maybe a little bit differently than we may have done in the past. All right, we got Esther next. We got to show this one for Esther.

She says, I'll have my lucky Hawkeye shirt on. Do you have a lucky Hawkeye? Did you have something that when you're playing, you specifically, I mean, I remember this guy in high school that wore the same ready t-shirt. He was a wrestler before every match is something that he got like fourth grade and he wore the thing and it was falling apart. It literally could barely hang on his shoulders. Did you have anything lucky where he's superstitious like that?

Uh, no, to be honest, no. Like I know a lot of people do have like their special thing but uh i really didn't i mean i've like there was stuff like that i particularly liked wearing more than maybe others but it wasn't like one specific thing that i absolutely had to have every single week i mean i felt like i changed like i feel like i changed my socks or my gloves or even my cleats. Like, like they were always different week to week. Maybe that was my thing. And it was just like, you know, kind of a subconscious thing.

Like I always, I just like changing stuff and having the variety week to week. It wasn't never really had a dedicated thing. Nothing specific on that one. Well, Esther, let's hope that lucky shirt brings in a Hawkeye victory. We've got more here. We're having some comments as we're doing this live for one of the few times. This is from The Bite. Tell Brian Ferris to open up the playbook and get Cooper rolling on offense.

All right. It's so interesting because when you get to the Cooper-Dijon conversation, we've talked about this for a long time. It makes sense, but what would you – how likely would it be that we see even for a couple of plays knowing kirk ferentz the way that you do that he does that coming up tomorrow honestly i i really can't see i mean i'm trying to think i'm trying to think of even you know maybe some other dynamic iowa players that we've had even in the past.

And I feel like we didn't really kept them away from the offensive side of the football just because you know how valuable those guys are on defense. So it's kind of, it's tough to say like, hey, you know, let's take a few plays. Let's take maybe, you know, five to 10 plays unless you, you know, come on the offensive side of the ball, even if it is as a decoy. But, you know, you look at some across, you know, five to ten plays unless you, you know, come on the offensive side of the ball, even if it is as a decoy. But, you know, you look at some across, you know, post-ball landscape, obviously Colorado and Travis Hunter,

and even, you know, back when I was playing, you look at Michigan and Jabril Peppers. Like, those are guys that, you know, are doing an extremely good job defensively that have ability with the ball in their hands. Yeah, I would love to, you know, see that potential with, you know, having Cooper on there on the offensive side, because again, he's a playmaker. He can do a lot of good things with the ball in his hands. But again, knowing the way that I know coach,

I feel like it's just something that's not going to happen. It would be pretty cool if it did, and I'd be excited for it. But yeah, just the way that I know coach, I don't really see it. Things that are likely, things that are going to happen, and I always like to live in reality, and the reality is it's so difficult to envision Kirk Ferentz doing something like that, even with the injuries that they've had at the cornerback spot.

I think it certainly accelerates that a little bit more. Well, we will come back here on Locked On Hawkeyes and we will make our picks for the week. In fact, LaShawn, dirty secret, I was drinking a beer beforehand and I didn't give you the games that we're going to be picking this week. We're both going to be doing this

on the fly. We'll see what we can figure out this week. LaShawn and myself at our season-long contest presented by FanDuel. Take a look at all the big games that are happening across the college landscape. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast coming to you live. That's right.

We are live right now from Merkel's in Wrigleyville. Been a really fun time today. Looking forward to it continuing throughout the weekend. We will continue with more in a moment. Price Fix is the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America. And the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. It's just you against the numbers. Instead of battling thousands of players, including crows and sharks,

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with the code LockedOnCollege. Trent and LaShawn back with you one final time on the LockedOnH Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Here we are. Games this week. We pick the Iowa game every week. We got a good slate of games this week too. We do.

Now, what I know we're going to pick this week is the LSU-Alabama game. So let's start right there. LSU- Alabama. So let's start right there. LSU Alabama. It's in Tuscaloosa. Last year, LSU got them.

High-flying offense. Alabama team not quite as good offensively. Back and forth here. You take it away. Yeah. So, first of all, I love the way that LSU is playing offensively. I feel like they're doing a phenomenal job right now. Quarterback is playing at an extremely high level, and they're putting points all over the board right now.

But the thing is, and I know we touched on it, I think, a few weeks back when we talked about Alabama and teams that have beaten them in years prior. There's something about Nick Saban and that Alabama football team and how they come out and play that that following year, especially at home. And they do it extremely well. And I feel like that's going to continue. We saw earlier in the year against Tennessee. Obviously, LSU has phenomenal offense,

and they are able to put points up at any point in time. But Alabama has been playing a lot better offensively and still doing a great job on defense. So give me Alabama on this one. We are on opposite sides here, and maybe this is more wishful thinking than anything. I have a very good LSU ticket in my FanDuel portfolio right now as I have them at 150-1 to win the national championship.

I've argued about this for a month now that there is only one team in the country i believe that can get to the college football playoff with two losses and it's lsu because of what they have this weekend what they'd have to do against georgia the sec championship game i think they're the only one and i had to put my money behind my mouth to do it so i'm just hopeful to keep that ticket alive. So I'm going to grab LSU with my first pick. All right, let's continue here at our picks presented by FanDuel. And up next, big one in the Big 12, it is Kansas State heading to Texas.

Three and a half is the number. The Longhorns is the favorite. I go first here on this one. And I'm going to jump aboard here with Kansas State. Love the way that this team has been playing over the last month. They have been incredibly good at what they've been able to do running the football. They've incorporated a little bit of a two-quarterback system without kicking the quarterback out.

Avery Johnson's going to be an absolute star. That dude's looked good in a backup role. Hasn't played as much lately lately here but a different element and probably the biggest part of the handicap for me is going back and watching malik murphy for texas i just wasn't impressed i thought he stunk at times and they very much simplified the playbook after they saw he was not able to make some plays there give me k state get into three and a half yeah uh so i do like the way that K-State has been playing. I think they've been doing an extremely, extremely good job, especially over the past, like, month.

I think they've been playing extremely well right now. And I see that continuing. But it's unfortunate they have to play against a really, really good football team in Texas. And with the line as small as it is, I'm leaning towards Texas just because of how good they are up front. And they've done an extremely good job up front on both sides of the football this year, especially on the offensive line.

And their running game has been fantastic. And they're definitely going to try to lean on that quite a bit. And I can see that being a big part of the reason why Texas is going to be able to cover this one. All right. Game number three on our list this week. It's Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. Bedlam in Stillwater. And right now, Oklahoma State is a six point home underdog against the Sooners. LaShawn, you get to go first on this one. Yeah, so I was kind of going back and forth with this one,

especially with this guy at my gym. And, like, obviously Oklahoma had a devastating loss last week, just extremely tough to come off of. And then to go from, you know, that kind of emotional loss to now a rivalry game on an Oklahoma State team that has been a lot better over the last month than they've been when we first watched them in the beginning of the season. And I feel like they're going to continue to play extremely well. I don't know if they pull this one out because, again,

Oklahoma's going to be, you know, I was trying to right the ship and get back right, but Oklahoma State has been playing really, really well, and I can see them being able to cover on that. Going with the Cowboys, and for the first time here today, it is an agreement. I'm with you on Oklahoma State. The importance of this game for Oklahoma State. You got, did you see Brian Bosworth wanting to fight Gundy in midfield? I mean, just, but this means a lot to Oklahoma State.

It does. Obviously, with the departure there, I think that's going to be important. Just the way that, most importantly on the football field, the way that Oklahoma State has played. They've been so good running the football and Ali's been an absolute stud there. So I'm with you. Our first agreement, I'm going to grab Oklahoma

State. Alright, we've got one more game to go. I got the first crack at this one. Missouri going down to Georgia. 15.5 is the number in this one. Brock Bobauer is still not going to to Georgia. 15.5 is the number in this one. Brock Bowers still not going to be available. Brock Bowers for Georgia. But I don't think it matters.

Every time that Georgia's had some motivation, when there's been something, Florida last week, when we saw a couple weeks ago against Kentucky, when there's been something to get their attention, they finally did. Will they dink around against Vanderbilt? Sure. Will they screw around against a non-conference game absolutely but against missouri a team ranked 12th in the country in missouri a team that almost beat them a year ago in missouri i think georgia's

ready to go i'll take the bulldog yeah and i know we talked on this uh was this might have been last week i was like yeah i'm not going against the Bulldogs because, again, like you just mentioned, it's something when they have motivation and they're going against a team that is, you know, a team where people are kind of talking a little bit, where they might be able to compete. Georgia comes out and they play at an extremely high level and really put a whooping on them. Even with how good Missouri has some really good talent,

especially at the receiver position um on offense i feel like i still feel like georgia is that good they're at this point in time i don't really see them you know struggling at any point till they get to the championship game so so give me the dogs on this going with georgia and our final pick as it is each and every week it is of course the course, the pick in the Iowa game, as long as the Hawkeyes are playing. Currently, the number is five. A ridiculous over-under sitting at 30-and-a-half.

All right, LaShawn, you get the first crack at this one. Hawkeyes had to lay the fine. Yeah, so obviously it's a lot of emotion. It's been an extremely emotional week for, you know, the coaching staff, especially for KF and Coach Ryan. And I feel like that's going to lean on it a little bit, both good and bad. But obviously this is a Northwestern football team that has been playing a lot better football over the last month and some change and really since the versus when

they're at the beginning of the year and I see them continuing playing at extremely level high level for a good level and I see them keeping this game close I believe I was going to pull this one out but I believe Northwestern will keep it close and they will be able to cover so going with Northwestern and the points but the Hawkeyes ultimately get the victory. I very much see it the same way. I think Iowa is going to win this football game, but until I see more out of this offense and certainly more out of this passing game, it's difficult for them to envision beating anybody by more than a field goal.

When you're playing five as you do with the Hawks, I'm right there with you. We have an agreement to wrap things up, Northwestern and the points. Those are our picks presented by FanDuel and the FanDuel Sportsbook. A big thank you, as always, to FanDuel being with us here on our pick segment at the end of each Friday program. Final thoughts, LaShawn, as we're hanging out, Merkel's big weekend. Hawkeye is coming to your new hometown now of Chicago.

It's been a fun time. Yeah, no doubt about it. I'm loving the environment. We've got more people starting to come in, too. Can't wait to see all the Hawkeye fans and all the Hawkeye faithfuls show up against Northwestern and hopefully walk out here with a W. And if you see him out and about here in Wrigleyville the next two days, tequila for him, not for this guy. That's what LeSean's looking for.

Thanks, as always, for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again with an instant – well, we might do a pregame tomorrow. We'll figure things out. Just keep an eye on the Locked On Hawkeyes feed. We'll talk to you again soon.