The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: The Miami Hurricanes Reaction Hour

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

Dan attempted to be a dog-saving hero this weekend as he dropped his groceries to sprint down a major road after someone's tiny dog, and Billy had HIS weekend saved by the mustachioed strength and conditioning coach for the University of Miami. Then, speaking of UM... Dan, Mike, Lucy, and the crew dive into the Hurricanes' heartbreaking loss to Syracuse. How did the Canes blow a 21-point lead in that spot? How much should be blamed on Mario Cristobal? Are Miami's hopes at a CFP appearance completely gone? Will the audience be able to drink Mike's tears? Plus, Deion Sanders demands justice for Travis Hunter's cornerback skills, Kliff Kingsbury may get another head coaching job, and the origins of scuttlebutt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Perfect for all you forward thinkers and planning gurus. Reserve your Uber ride up to 90 days in advance. Uber Reserve, see Uber app for details. Welcome to the Big Suey presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBoutard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not gonna apologize for that.

In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar. You guys would have laughed yesterday if you had seen what it is that happened with me outside of Whole Foods, where I'm coming out of Whole Foods,

and I wonder what you guys would do, a tiny dog, this is Alton Road, okay, so this is a road that has some traffic on it. A tiny dog is running down the sidewalk, and the owner of the dog is running down the sidewalk and the owner of the dog is running after the dog shouting its name. And the dog just keeps running. And the woman who's chasing the dog

isn't moving fast enough and the dog is moving fast and it's a heavily trafficked area. Right, dogs can scoot, Dan. That's correct, but she could not. She was not scooting at the rate of speed that she needed to, so in an attempt to be heroic, I put down my grocery bags and I sprint after the dog and I am now running after the dog

and it's several blocks that I'm running after the dog. And thankfully, and I'm not catching up to the dog. The dog is still running and she's falling further and further behind both me and the dog and then a helpful person on a bicycle comes over and cuts the dog off. Otherwise, I'd still be running and I'd run straight into the ocean chasing that dog. Did she catch you? She did not catch me, no. Did she watch your groceries?

You just left them. I did, I just left them right on. Chicken nuggets? Chicken nuggets? Oh, you don't get those from Whole Foods? Oh, they're fantastic. They are great. Baked chicken nuggets.

Amazing. What are you talking about? My Whole Foods doesn't even have those. Go to a new one. Okay, I don't think that chicken nuggets is something that Whole Foods is known for. They have them. Put it on the poll please, at LeBotard's show.

Thanks for they have them, thank you. They have them, I mean. I gotta try these now. Oh, they're delicious. Baked. At LeBotard's show, is Whole Foods known? You? No, not now.

Is Whole Foods known for its chicken nuggets? Dan, what was going through your head, because I've always been interested in getting in the head of a hero who decides just to act, so how did you know it's time to act? It was fight or flight for you, and you decided to fight in this situation. So how did you, what kicked in?

What happened that you're like, I need to act now? The ninth time I heard the name of the dog called and realized what it is that just happened. I don't process things. So it's a delayed fight. As quickly as I should, yeah, which is what I was going to say if you hadn't interrupted me,

that I don't process things as quickly as I should. So sometimes something has to happen. Like I don't think I noticed her calling the dog's name four times. And I don't think it totally registered with me that the dog was running loose immediately. I was slow to react as a hero. What was the name of the dog? Was it at least a funny name?

I'm picturing Muffin. Yeah, four times. What name were you screaming also? This is very important to me. Okay, so I was having actual trouble understanding her accent. So I... And the dog wasn't particularly listening to... Wasn't particularly listening to anything that I was saying, but I was shouting while running, and now it's a good question for you to ask because I was shouting, Dada!

Dada! So, anybody who didn't, what I was fearing is somebody who didn't see the dog just recognized his being and is like, why is Dan Leventhaler running down the street he's lost it Gonzo's lost his marbles got a silver alert for Gonzo. Just Gonzo? Is it Gonzo or Gonzo and his son have lost their marbles because I'm just shouting Dada running down the street. Billy didn't you have an

encounter with someone heroic this weekend? Yeah yes just yesterday I had a because I'm just shouting Dada running down the street. Billy, didn't you have an encounter with someone heroic this weekend? Yeah, yes, just yesterday I had a situation somewhat similar, not as good now as your story, but somewhat similar. So I was driving, it was my sister's birthday, happy birthday to her, I'm sure everybody's excited. So anyways, we were going to like a birthday lunch situation

and we were driving in, we pulled into a shopping center, and something that I've never experienced before happened where a rogue shopping cart was running away from the shopping cart, you know, like, not owner, because you borrow them, but running away from the person who the shopping cart belonged to. User.

And it was running right towards our car, and I wasn't driving, and I I pointed I was a little under the weather I pointed to my wife Because I was like under the weather and fight or flight. I usually flight so I was just pointing Like things gonna hit our car then we're gonna get a dent. I'm gonna have to do. What do you do? Do you call insurance so I pay for a stand out of pocket? How much is that gonna cost because cars nowadays? Not what they used to be back in the day when cars were steel, those things could get hit, it wouldn't even matter.

Now they're all like fiberglass and plastic and all this stuff and just like a little flick, like a little flick and the whole thing is totaled essentially. So like I don't want this shopping cart to hit my car. So we're in the car and the shopping cart is coming towards us, my wife is driving towards it and I'm like we need to stop, we need to stop.

A woman sees that this shopping cart is coming and I see that she has a shopping cart that she's loading into her car and she sprints to go get the shopping cart. But I say, you know what, I don't think that's her shopping cart. I don't know where that shopping cart came from. So we have this rogue shopping cart coming,

a woman is running and then out of my peripheral, all of a sudden, someone swoops by on a golf cart, one-handed, grabs the shopping cart, ushers it away, and then continues driving away. And this man did this while holding the golf cart in one hand, it seemed as though he had a child in the golf cart with him.

Get outta here. And I say, that was incredible. And then I go, wait a minute, was that Aaron Feld, Miami Hurricane strength coach? The guy with the crazy mustache? The guy with the mustache came in and saved my life and saved my car and then kept driving. I couldn't even stop and think,

are you Miami's strength you my strength coach? Aaron fell like I know this mustache like is that you couldn't even stop and thank him He just kept driving he ushered it away kept driving into like the you know shopping center pause very briefly We parked the car and then he was gone Guy came in like a hero and saved the day. I had the conversation with Valerie, do me the favor here Chris of playing the song again here because I had the conversation with Valerie this weekend while watching the Syracuse Miami game. I'm like look at this honey and she's

like oh it's it's Move's November I'm like no it looks that way all the time I'm still just like how did the cart get on like it was just a rogue cart it was down the it was crazy it was a hill it was a windy day I guess that the parking lot might have been slightly slow but like I was so taken aback by the entire thing happening and then I'm like he's time to fly back from Syracuse already like is it it has to there's no one else that could have been but yeah well Billy the thing the thing that you're doing you see Aaron Feld you know you

see well Aaron fell and then he's gone like that in a flash again even thank him thank you and that you're describing has made me wonder aloud because you don't have him grabbing the shock being card he's just altering its core didn't even stop he kept driving with one hand and then got in and ushered it away with the other wall dry it was incredible that the thing that you're saying though is I'm having trouble and I'm going through the entire catalog here and this is difficult to do live thinking of anyone in the history of South Florida sports visually funnier to be in that golf cart. In the history of South Florida sports I'm trying to think of someone funnier

being a hero in that spot just visually than for my intents and purposes, it was only his mustache that did this. The rest of him wasn't even involved. From behind, it was the side of his head you just see kind of like a clean fade in the mustache. And I told my wife when it happened, I go, like as it's going on, I go,

I think that's UM's strength coach. And she goes, how do you know that? I go, I know that. You know that. If you know what he looks, you know that's him. But you were doing it from the back. You weren't doing the distinctive feature of the handlebar mustache.

It was so fast. It was just like a silhouette. Like you just see his face very quickly. He does this heroic deed. My life flashed before my eyes. My car, the insurance, all of that. And you just get a quick, like you just see his face very quickly. He does his heroic deed, my life flashed before my eyes, my car, the insurance, all of that, and you just get a quick look at the side of his face, and then he turns, and then you just see

the side of the mustache with the wax from the back, and then you see his hair, and you're like, yeah, that's definitely who that was. That mustache requires the daily wax on the corners, correct, I don't know what the maintenance of a handlebar mustache takes, but it must take every morning you have to put in the product to get that the wispy crisp ends of that, which leads us to finally the University of Miami game. And I just want to ask you, Mike,

because I feel great shame as I sit before all of you here. I don't know if Mike remembers the last text I sent him. I don't know if Mike Ryan is angry about the last text that I sent him. I left him alone. Well, no, this wasn't after the game. I left him alone after the game as well. It was at 21-0.

I texted him that they were gonna leap leapfrog Oregon Oh then Oregon was that loss is on you. I mean that's I do feel like you know what I don't believe in superstition, but I agree I Absolutely agree, and I'm wondering if Mike Ryan is angry because He he dared to hope a wildly successful season by any measure, but you go from an 85% chance of being in the playoff to a 40% chance of being in the playoff, and a number of things that happened in that game were debilitating. I don't know of many times in UM's history

that they've ever blown a 21 point lead and I would ask you to look up for me if a UM defense has ever given up as many points as this UM defense did this season. Has there ever been a University of Miami defense that gave up the point totals that this one gave up? Had to have just because they've had some games where they've had really low point totals opposing.

Certainly not a good one. Certainly not a good UM team has never had this kind of defensive issue. Again, entering the game, they were top 15 in team defense, but you were right to be concerned because they showed all season long that they're really bad at stopping sweeps to the outside and when opposing teams force them to make plays in space,

or when they have corners isolated, in which Lance Guidry went out of his way. I mean, how many times do we see it? Over a dozen times, where he blitzes the safety, leaves a corner on an island, and you have Syracuse receivers, who are elite at not really getting separation, but still coming down with a catch.

They are just ball winners, and Kyle McCord just ripped them to shreds. He identified it immediately. Yeah, heartbreaking for Miami in that it was a good season. This is exactly where Miami needs to be in year three. If I told you before the season, two losses by a combined nine points on the road, those two losses come into pretty decent opponents. That should be good enough to have. Both teams. Yeah, well, I mean, look, Syracuse is ranked and Georgia Tech showed everybody on Friday night

exactly why they're a nightmare to play, especially at their barn. But I would say that Miami had an opportunity to lock itself into the playoff. And because they lost that game, they should not be in the playoff. I could make a compelling argument that I would half believe about Alabama lost to two six-win teams.

Oklahoma, there's no scenario in which Miami loses that game 24-3 at Oklahoma. You're four and two against both teams, Alabama's not. Yeah, I mean, we have a very arbitrary, like, well, they have no ranked wins. That's not arbitrary in terms of the top 25. We'll see what the CFP comes up with because I think the CFP has shown in recent weeks that they don't really even use the AP or coaches' poll as a guideline. I think that there is a scenario in which you take from the Louisville, Duke, Florida crop that one to three of those may be actually ranked by tomorrow. But look, Miami blew it, and it's the defense, and it's a real shame because they had a Unicorn at quarterback this year.

They had the greatest offense in the nation. We said if they just had a C-plus level on defense, they'd have a shot against anybody. And if teams just watch film, they know exactly how to turn a C plus effort into an F minus. This has to hurt because you have Clemson on a down year, even though they'll play in that championship game.

You have Florida State in a down year as well. And so it was there for the taking for the games. Plus you have a 21 to nothing lead with the guy who was one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy Award against Syracuse. Like you got to close that out. That has to hurt. Plus you have a coach that I don't care what anyone tells me. There is no way any Keynes fan trusts that coach to make good decisions in the game, especially at the end of games.

We'll get to kicking the field goal in that spot because if I'm going to lose, I'm going to lose with Cam Ward throwing the ball on fourth and nine. You would have lost with Cam Ward throwing the ball there. That nine. You would have lost with Cam Ward throwing the ball. That's fine, probably, yes, probably, and we have. And you still have to stop them, which you weren't. Agreed, but I would have enjoyed seeing Miami do what the Colts did against the Patriots yesterday, which is nope, don't trust our offense,

we're gonna score, we're gonna go for it on fourth and nine, and we're gonna go for two. I don't trust our defense, like I just simply do not trust us to stop anybody for any circumstances. I don't know how bad Moten feels about the season ending with him jumping off sides. They weren't gonna stop anybody anyway there either. I don't know how... The Jacoby George one was really bad, the personal foul there that backs him up to the 15. Arroyo made such a great play there. Yeah, there was the Zay Horton drop on the slant

where he probably walks into the end zone. The pancake that was called as a holding on Martinez's kind of game-changing run. In the last two weeks, two very uncharacteristic fumbles from Xavier Ruschrepo. It's a shame because we've identified six plays that if they go differently, Miami wins. Hell, if Miami calls a different play,

fourth and one against Georgia Tech. They could be undefeated right now, really. But look, they had a 21 point lead. That's supposed to increase your margin for error. You were running however you wanted in that game. I don't know why they didn't turn to the run game. Maybe we got infatuated. It's not like their offensive game plan was lacking.

Chris Cody, you actually have some numbers here on the defense question that Dan posed. Points per game, they've actually, this season they gave up less points per game since any season since 19, 20. No, 2019, 20, not 19, 20. Yeah, so statistically, points wise, they actually were better than in recent years this year.

Yeah, I think if you look under the hood, you're gonna see individual instances, whether it be that Georgia Tech game here, this recent game in which they're just really bad at doing a certain thing, and I understand, what I've been complaining about is, just be conservative on defense, play complimentary football,

just be in zone the entire time. But when they did go into zone, and when they have all season long, it's been a disaster. I don't know if they don't practice it, but you got blown assignments all over the field, no one knows where they're supposed to be on zone. So I understand why Lance Gidry is like,

I'm just gonna keep doing what I do. It's really unfortunate because Miami had a legit shot this year if they were capable of figuring out that defensive side of the ball and they just blew it and they're gonna miss the CFP because of it. Yeah, I mean you lost two out of your last three to unranked opponents and this was a year that might be.

Well Syracuse is ranked. Okay, we're not counting the AP here. That's not, like you said earlier, they don't use that. This is, we're college football ranking season here. Okay, well we'll see tomorrow though with the CFP. Like, it could all change. Look, two losses late in the season, and you were in a conference where you got to avoid

playing SMU in Clemson. Like, it was ripe for the taking. Like, I did not see this season ending this way for Miami, and we know I'm just a natural hater. That's who I am as a person. But it's like a 10-win season is great, but it is disappointing in a sense. Where like you avoided the two toughest teams

in the conference. There's not one world where Miami should not be playing in Charlotte this weekend. Your two losses, you were an 11 point favorite in both of the games. You could not win on the road and you could not win on the road at least in part because at the end of those games, Georgia Tech and Syracuse were gonna run the ball,

and you weren't gonna be able to do anything about it even though you knew they were gonna run the ball. And? If we're applying that measurement to losing late in the season and losing as a big favorite, then you could write off the SEC teams. It's just they're not. You'll be tilting at windmills. I think on the surface you can hold up Miami's resume and you could look at the losses and say they've lost by a combined nine

points even though if you contextualize the Georgia Tech game that should have been a two-score loss. They they kneeled at the end zone before to just mope the clock. Mike, can't you at the, at the end zone before to just mope the clock. Mike, can't you say the SEC teams though lost to better opponents? No, I can't. No, Vanderbilt in Oklahoma, those are trash opponents. Right.

Those are, those are bad losses. South Carolina had bad losses. Like, I- South Carolina better wince. Yeah, I understand. But they also have one additional loss too. So I hear you, you have a winning argument. I think that with the Georgia Tech Georgia game,

I think that was pretty perfectly analogous to what I've been saying all year, which is, yeah, it might be true that the SEC is the best conference, but it's also wildly overrated. The golf that was there in the 20 teens is not there between these two conferences. But ultimately Miami had a play-in game and they had a 21-0 lead in it.

And I could parse like nine points on the road, that's a tough, tough L. Anybody would have said 10 and two gets you at the very least to Charlotte, gets you into the CFP. It didn't. If you apply the state of the CFP right now, we'll see if the CFP does what many are expecting, which is last few weeks they haven't given a crap about this SEC narrative and you saw with

Clemson being ranked number 12 last year, they rate the ACC a little bit more than the talking heads do. If Miami is ranked number 11, if they're ranked ahead of South Carolina and ahead of Alabama, then what the CFP is telling you, they get in with a Clemson loss. Unless, you know, Greg Sankey really fires up the media machine. And there is an aspect of that too. Politicking for college football positioning is something that is as old as the sport. We saw Mac Brown nuke a traditional Rose Bowl because of his politicking one year So the SEC are gonna always win that politicking game to Miami Miami just blew it and I can't work up the conviction

I can give you the arguments for it, but I myself don't believe it because Miami had an opportunity and they blew it We're headed into the cold portion of the year and that means switching up the attire and wearing long sleeves Usually I wear hockey jerseys to get through the 50 degree Miami winter. I won't have to do that much longer because I'm looking forward to switch things up and I'm going with clothes from Rhone. As seasons change so should your wardrobe. Rhone's commuter collection combines comfort, versatility, and breathability featuring premium pants, shirts, quarter zips, polos, and blazers. Each piece is made from Rhone's signature stretch fabrics, with wrinkle release and anti-order technology keeping you fresh and

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Context needs to be applied. Over joke and. But the context was applied. We'd like to rip that out of context. I was going for a thing. And you're gonna, you're gonna pretend here that you don't love Matthew Kachak more than you love anybody you've ever loved? I don't love Matthew Kachak more than my daughter.

Stugats! Now it's pretty damn close. This is the Don LeVatar Show with the Stugats! Can I be honest for a second? Can I be safe space? Not loving the 12 team playoff right now. Really? Wow. I love it in like three weeks.

But it was like when Ohio State lost to Michigan like that, I was like, that used to kill a season. And like technically it still did sort of kill their season. They're very, very sad. They're sad, but they're in the playoffs. Yeah, they're in the playoff. I do think there is like more parity in the sport than we've seen in a really long time,

but it's still very much my fear coming into the season, which I think has remained the same is that the top are so much better than the rest. Like even if you look at the way that Texas, Texas A&M game went, I know the score made it seem a lot closer than it was, but that was not a close game by any means. Texas dominated across the board and that was, you know, uh, two top 25 teams. I just think that I think we we're gonna see a lot of blowouts in the first round.

And I don't know, I'll be happy in three weeks because then they'll be like, oh my God, there's so much color football for me to watch and go to. That's gonna be awesome. But right now I'm like, man, some of these losses used to mean a lot more. I don't specifically apply that to like,

rivalries don't mean as much, because obviously you saw Michigan, Ohio State, but like, I don't know. It doesn't hit the same. But now Ryan Day can win the national championship and all will be forgiven. I don't know, they might still fire him. They are really unhappy about him losing to Michigan.

Also, I don't know if you guys saw this last week but Ryan Day gave an interview which was kind of crazy where he was like outside of my dad dying, losing to Michigan has been the worst thing that's happened to me and my family. But aren't we longing for a college football that never existed? There were plenty of times where we thought Alabama was done. That's it. They're not going to be in the playoff and then they sneak in and they win the championship or they can't, LSU can't lose this game and the SEC team always finds a way to navigate it and come out smelling like roses at the

end. So Mike, let's use Miami and Colorado. I would like the committee to put those two teams into the playoff just for me, right? You might get them at the Pop Tart Bowl. No, I would love- That would be even better actually. If the players don't opt out, that would be really fun. I mean, imagine Miami going to Notre Dame for a first round playoff game. That would

be fantastic, right? But if Miami did make the playoffs based on what you've seen the last two weeks, you don't think they have any shot, do you? If they could figure out something defensively, look they can score with anybody in the nation. I do think that they have a shot. Again, citing the Georgia Tech thing, the SEC and the ACC played four games this weekend. They were pretty much all close with the exception of Florida FSU and Louisville just totally blew out a Kentucky team. So the ACC had a winning record against every major conference,

with the exception of the SEC, and it was very close. I think that Miami would have a shot against the likes of Notre Dame, but also Jeremiah Love would just run outside sweeps and destroy them, and it would be like one of those 48, 45 games. I have a question that is going to trigger you that I'm telling you on the front

and I'm not intending to trigger you on this, but I know that it will. And it's not even like the question of Mario deciding to kick for the field goal and that costing them the game or not costing the game or whatever. Is there a world in a serious conversation where Mario cost Cam Ward Heisman votes because he did not trust his best player seemingly in

that spot to win a game for him or tie a game for him and he took the ball out of his hand and then voters can say well this is the greatest player in the country why did his coach not put the ball in his hand when the game was on the line and the playoffs were on the line? I understand that. Look, Travis Hunter was minus a thousand to win the Heisman Trophy entering that game

and all he did was get an interception and three touchdowns prior to that Miami game. So I don't think there was anything that Mario could have done to win this. In fact, maybe he was a little too infatuated with trying to win Cam Warr to Heisman Trophy because you salt that game away when you're effectively running the ball like that.

A lot of people have takes on the field goal. You assume that Miami can score on a fourth and goal from like the 15, that's not easy. And also you still need your defense to stop them. I think the rationale would be go for it because you'll run into a Syracuse offense that's going to be a little bit more conservative, and maybe you have a better shot at stopping them.

No, we saw that conservative offense kill the game against Miami. So ultimately, they blew it with their mistakes, and they blew it with their defensive performance. And I actually think that Miami's been in a lot of close games this year, and Mario Cristobal has actually avoided blowing them. You look at, they've had what, nine really close games

this season where it's come down to his in-game management. I've talked to people in the NFL that crunch those numbers in terms of was this the right analytical call? They all said, it's pretty close, you still need to stop. So, and it's not the first time he's opted to, let me go for the win on my next possession. Ultimately, they just blew it. They couldn't stop Syracuse defensively.

I didn't get to watch the first half of that game. Rose got pepper sprayed, so we had to deal with other things. I guess my sort of like pushback on that is like, you gave up a 21 point lead and you're gonna put faith in your defense in that situation. It just seems kind of crazy to me, especially when you do have Cam Ward. I'm not quite sure how he was playing

in the first half of that game, but like you have one of the most electric players in college football and your defense has just crumbled to Syracuse. I don't know why you wouldn't just be like, all right, this is the time. This is what we spent all this money for. That's a spot you don't trust your defense.

They give up 28 points in the second half. Exactly, that's a spot where you're like, hey, we are one of the best offenses in the country. I'm going to put faith in my Heisman finalist quarterback here. I don't get it, but also I didn't get to watch the whole game. I think it's a fair enough criticism, but I also think it's well overblown.

You're underselling really how cataclysmic that failure was across the board. I think a lot of people are just looking for confirmation bias when it comes to Mario Crissaball and wanna seize on the one thing in that game that they felt was a coaching decision. In any scenario, you still have to trust your teammates. Oh, but it's not just that, because a lot of the criticism he got too

was a lack of discipline because of what happened with Moten and what happened with George and what happened in general with them losing a game after being up 21-0. The only reason that I would have gone for it, even though the odds are against you in a condensed field in a fourth and long situation, it's because of how useless those three points felt. And if I was going to fail with my best player at the very end of my season, at least I'm pinning Syracuse back where if they want to throw their near their own goal line.

And so I'd prefer to try and stop them back there than having them have better field position and getting those three points. Those three points did nothing. For me. I get the logic. It's, it's one of those things that I don't even feel really strong about what happened. I don't think it really had any say in the game. I'm not a big fan of any opportunity that you have to make a one score game a one score game, you take it. This is what I would tell you based on what was going on

in the second half of that game. I'm not even looking for a successfully executed play there. I'd like my chances better of getting a holding call or a pass interference, given how many of those there were in the second half that Convert a first down again, but they then to have the three points. I get it But I think that second half showed me okay, we got overtime. We still lose this game We're not gonna get the stop. We're gonna keep looking at you off the position though when you say they would have had a shot

This year, why can I not why are you being so stubborn about if their defense can figure it out? It's a bad defense. Like Syracuse throws the ball well, but it's not like it was great offenses that were running over them. This is weird because like, I agree with you. It's not a good defense, but every counting metric that you could use outside of really deep analytics,

yards per play, like it's one of their better defenses. Historically, you've had defenses rank where they rank and they are deemed championship level, especially with that offense. So it depends on the opponent. And I think once you get deeper into the college football playoff, you have teams that'll pull like a wake forest.

This is our identity. This is what we know how to do. We're gonna challenge you in the A-gap. We understand that you're bad at this in tape, but a lot of teams, they're just gonna maintain their offensive identity because they see a bad defense that they don't really respect anyways.

And that's where Miami actually thrives because you're playing more to Miami's strengths. If you focus on where Miami is weak, they have shown you the entire season. They can't stop it. Dating back to the Virginia Tech game, where Virginia Tech was forcing them to make tackles in the flats, if you isolate their secondary and you try to make them make plays, they are not going to make plays. If you motion

out the running back and Kiko Maunaue follows them into motion, it's an automatic chunk play. That's been the book all season long. It's what's gonna cost them the CFP. It's a damn shame because Miami is right there in terms of teams that deserve to be in this tournament. You can make an argument, yeah, I'm with Lucy. I think ultimately she'll be right. Those two SEC teams, either Alabama or SC, are probably gonna get in. Then Miami, I'm sorry,

you're like the 13th best team this year. They're only letting-12 in there. It's a good season and a major disappointment because that offense, that quarterback, I believe in this year of parity, had a shot. Certainly, I would love to see them in the CFP. You're telling me Cam Ward goes to South Bend, Indiana? Bring it on, let's see.

I feel good about my chances because I like my quarterback, but they're not gonna get that chance. They're not going to win against this SEC propaganda machine and they blew it. It was all there for them. They blew it. The defensive metrics are fine, but that's the criticism of Mario Cristobal that I think is fair, Mike. You can't use body of work. It's got to be game to game. And in that game, in that moment, when you have given up 42 points in three quarters to Syracuse and you have the best quarterback in the country, the guy you wanted, you got him out of the portal, he needs a first down.

He needs a first down to get you to the playoffs. They're on the 10 yard line and he decides to kick a field goal? That is a terrible job by Mario Cristobal. Terrible! I think you can get on Mario about a lot. Ultimately those concerns are always going to be there about Mario. I think he's done pretty well this season in addressing some of those time management issues that plagued him the first two years here. Ultimately you want to build a

program that has a talent advantage that you don't it doesn't have to come down to those margins. You mentioned Notre Dame, they end their game with a couple of 99 and 100 yard pick sixes against USC. You mentioned Travis Hunter. Can you explain this to me with Deion Sanders? Travis Hunter is a betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, but the trophy for Thorpe Award,

the best cornerback in the country, he is not nominated for. And so this is what Dion Sanders has to say about that. Something that just transpired and they brought to my attention today that Travis is a finalist for the Walter Camp player of the year, Maxwell player of the year, a Beneric defense player of the year,

Lindyco best receiver, regardless of position, and was snubbed by the Thorpe. How? How is Travis Hunter snubbed by the Jim Thorpe Award? You could have my award, you could have it back. Matter of fact, I'm going to give him mine. I ain't using it. Just sitting there collecting dust.

So Travis could have my Thorpe Award because if this ain't the most idiotic thing in college football, that he's not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. And he is, I would say arguably, but I don't think it's really an argument about this young man being the best defensive back in college football. Few things, one, we're gonna see that Jim Thorpe award in a KFC commercial in like two months. I felt the exact same way when two years ago,

they did not make Iowa's punter the Ray Guy finalist award. That was probably more egregious than this. My thing with Travis Hunter is he's obviously insane. I kind of like Ashton, I think Ashton Gentry should win the Heisman because his season has just been like something we've never ever seen.

His season is better than the last three running backs who have won the Heisman Trophy. Absolutely, but I do understand completely why Travis Hunter is the favorite because he is playing two positions. I think he's a better receiver than he is a corner. So that's kind of where I see this coming from. I think Travis Hunter is going to get plenty of awards

this post-season. The KFC will make up an award for him. Like we'll see plenty of stuff happen here. I get why Dan's saying that, but I don't think he's one of the best corners in college football. We're glossing over the fact that the head coach said, I'll give him mine.

And I got to tell you, he should hold a ceremony during the Thorpe Award ceremony. Dion should have his own ceremony where he just hands his old trophy to Travis Hunter. I'd watch that. That would be great. No, you wouldn't. That would be great.

I wouldn't watch it, but it'd be fun. It's a good idea. Lucy's read on it is kind of the read that I've gotten from NFL folks when I've asked, what do you do with Travis Hunter? Because from a salary cap point of view Travis Hunter is going to be a very interesting Case study what position does he get drafted at? That that changes his salary tier the people in the NFL that I've spoken to say they would probably only play him at

Receiver and while Travis Hunter has counting numbers. He makes Sensational he certainly has a nose for the ball You're not gonna see on the highlight packages when he gets burned down the field for for mistaken coverage He jumps higher than any corner back in the sport It's crazy Mel Kuyper told me and Billy that if he entered the draft as a wide receiver He'd be the best wide receiver in the draft if he entered it as a cornerback He'd be the best quarterback in the draft, but he entered it as a cornerback, he'd be the best cornerback in the draft. But that's not the consensus among people and I don't know if the Thorpe people are deciding. Don't get me wrong.

Many people are saying that he's too much of a gambler as a cornerback, but obviously if he was working on that as a skill set, his athletic gifts make it clear that if he focused on just being a cornerback, he would also be a very good cornerback. Correct. All the NFL people that I said that I spoke to about Travis Hunter's pro prospects are like, he would certainly be a good corner, especially if that's only what he's focusing on, but they think that the gulf between where he's at and the impact that he can have on a game as a receiver just far outweighs that as a DB, and you don't even want to risk Travis Hunter, the wide receiver, just far outweighs that as a DB, and you don't even wanna risk Travis Hunter,

the wide receiver, getting injured, because Travis Hunter, the cornerback, is out there playing. Who are these NFL people you're talking about? I'm not gonna give you my sources, that's not how you do it. The cons? He really doesn't know, Stu Gotz, how sourcing works after all of these years in the business.

Stu Gotz doesn't understand the concept, not that Mike Ryan is a print journalist, but that you protect your sources. He's not reporting anything. He's talking about scuttlebutt, things that are being discussed in animals. But if he wanted you to know the people that were saying these things,

he would have named the people who were saying these things. How about the scuttlebutt Ian Rapoport put out there? You see who the Bears have on their short list? Who? Cliff Kingsberry. Get outta here. Guys hope he's gonna get another job, it's incredible.

What is scuttlebutt actually? Like, what, I don't know what it is except in the context that we're using it which is basically Gossip, right? I sent them for gossip sort of or is it not is it more is it more solid than gossip? Is it more factual than gossip? It's gossip. It's nautical It's a slang term for gossip It's it comes from the nautical term for a cask that held a ship's daily supply of fresh water. Nice.

Okay. Matt, I know what a cask is, but for those who don't. Put it on the poll, please, Juju, at Lebatard Show. Do you know what a cask is, and did you know that Scuttlebutt held fresh water at Lebatard Show? Because that doesn't sound right. So it's a nautical term.

Scuttlebutt is a nautical term. How do we get from holding the fresh water to holding the gossip? The term was later applied to the drinking fountains on ships at naval installations, and eventually to the rumors and gossip that surrounded them. I still don't know what any of that means. It's like talking at the water cooler,

which I actually don't really understand that reference.. It's like talking at the water cooler. Which I actually don't really understand that reference. So the pirates invented talking at the water cooler? They invented yapping! In an office setting, Scuttlebutt is similar to the water cooler. There you go. Lucy though is of an age where people don't go to an office. Never mind gather around a water cooler. I barely come here.

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