The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - INSTANT REACTION: Ohio State DOMINATES Michigan, Scrap Conference Championships? Lane Kiffin’s Future, Should Texas Get In?

Episode Date: November 29, 2025

Colin gives his instant reaction to Ohio State blowing out Michigan, and Ryan Day & the Buckeyes snapping their losing streak to the Wolverines. He credits Ohio State’s physical play, incredible secondary play and lauds quarterback Julian Sayin. He wonders if the conference championship games need to be scrapped in their era of the college football playoff and discusses the future of Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. Finally, he debates whether Texas should be allowed into the playoff with 3 losses after beating previously undefeated Texas A&M. All lines provided by hardrock.bet (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming to. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him.

Listen to Season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do.

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And I thought you saw that in the first drive of the second half and had a fourth and two. And I've really been able to pick up yards when they need him today and they pun it. I thought that was a moment to go for it. Whether it was analytically right or not, it felt like a moment between Jackson and Julian San, their tight end play has been good today. Ohio State's got better people right now. I think they have a better coaching staff and they have better players. I know everybody thinks I love Sam Darnold.

I think Julian Sand as the best footwork and release and accuracy I have ever seen from any 20-year-old college quarterback ever. I text two people today, one a quarterback coach, and somebody else who had seen him play in high school in Southern California. And their takeaway was always been smart, keeps it head on straight, keeps the thing, the thing, always had a good arm, can just let it rip. Accuracies always been pretty effortless. So I didn't see anything other than YouTube stuff. I never watched one of his high school games live in Southern California. But he is a remarkably gifted college quarterback. And two things can be true.

He's not Tom Brady and never will be. And his footwork and release and accuracy remind me of Tom Brady. And it just jumps through the television. Listen, Underwood is big time as well. But I'm talking about what professional GMs are looking for and coaches. Julian's saying, and I know he's all. only 20. He's still got some college time. He is as good a college quarterback, poise, accuracy, footwork, release. He is really something else. And he has been all year. I mean,

remember that Texas game? We were all talking about Arch Manning. Arch Manning looked nervous. Julian Sand did not. That was one of the biggest openers in the history of college football. So, listen, I think Ryan Day deserves a lot of credit. First, it's Chip Kelly, and then it's Matt Patricia. And to be able to bring those guys in and, you know, let them coach speaks volumes of Ryan Day. Listen, I thought last year, Ohio State was the much better team. Obviously, they won the national championship, but I thought the game, I thought Ryan, let, the game get into his head.

And I thought they played very conservatively early in this game. And I think that's because they felt like, listen, we got better players, better team. We're going to wear them down over our 12, 13 possessions. We're just going to beat this team up physically. And you saw in that fourth quarter, middle of the fourth quarter, dry by Ohio State running the football, you know, they were just picking up junk yardage. They were moving fairly effortlessly down the field. I don't think there's a better college football team than Ohio State. I think this Ohio State team is better than last year's Ohio State team.

Not at running back, although Jackson's really slippery, really good. You know, Judkins and Trevion Henderson are, you know, that's like Sony Michelle Nick Chubb for Georgia years ago. That's pretty unprecedented. They have two backs that good. but the receivers, the quarterback, the linebacking group, the secondary, they're really good. They just don't give you. Everybody was critical of underwood at half. You know, he'd only produce 25 yards.

Ohio State doesn't give you any openings. I've been saying this all year. I know it's not a pro-secondary, but the openings, Ohio State allows you, are tiny, little football-sized boxes. There's just, when you that camera angle from, you know, the quarterback view

for Michigan or anybody that's played Ohio State this year, I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a secondary with smaller windows for a college quarterback

to throw into. So it's not a game plan. It's not underwood. And Marsh is a huge talent. Michigan's got really good wide receiving talent. They didn't most of Jim Harbaugh's reign.

You know, Harbaugh, I've said this before, his entire career, whether it was the Niners, whether it was Michigan, whether it was Stanford. You know, I've never thought he's had an amazing receiving corps. O-line, D-Line, quarterback play, toughness, physicality, smarts, all those things that Harbaugh brings to the table. But I thought during his Michigan run, they were not, you know, they were not special at wide receiver. Michigan now's got some really good perimeter players.

There's just not a lot of openings. I mean, Ohio State's got three or four guys defensively that are going to walk into the NFL and be stars as rookies. It's a really special group. And I think Ohio State, to me, feels a little bit like Alabama, before Kirby Smart took the job at Georgia, where you just kind of felt like in a big game, in Obama, Ohio State, they look a little faster.

They look a little bigger, look a little faster. The difference is Julian Sand, And I mean, listen, he's not eligible for the draft, but when he is, there's nothing about him I don't like. I mean, the game now has a couple minutes left in it. He's sitting there, snow everywhere, on the road, 27-9 lead. Look, it just changed the play at the line of scrimmage. Here we go. I'll do it live.

I mean, this kid is really... Yep. Autoled into a run on third and six, and they got within a football of getting it. I mean, windy, snowy, I mean, through that touchdown pass to Tate, it was blowing sideways. So, you know, it's just really impressive. And Ohio State, since that loss of Michigan last year, has just been a different program. They have galvanized everything. They don't make a ton of mistakes. the coverage doesn't break down.

This is sort of what I thought we were going to get today. I think I said I thought it was going to be 30 to 13. And right now, it's fourth and one for Ohio State at their 38-yard line, timeout called. So the Big Ten championship will be Ohio State 1 against Indiana 2. I don't know how long conference championships are going to last. what's the point? Like, what is the point?

It's just playing another great opponent. I mean, if I was Ohio State, I would want to face Indiana once. I wouldn't want to face them the conference championship game, beat him by 14 points, and then have to face them again. Kurt Signetti and that staff are excellent. Like, I wonder about the viability of conference championships games.

I mean, I just, do you want to have another 70 place for guys to get hurt? I don't. I mean, the playoff is so grueling. I mean, you've got your big rivalry games at the end. Then you have the playoff can be up to three, four games. Do I need another game lodged in there? Ohio State picks up with four minutes to go, a first down leading 27 to 9. That'll make it official.

Yeah. Those conference championship games doesn't feel like they'll be around forever. And what's scary if you're going to face Ohio State is this weather, weather was built for Michigan because in terms of perimeter players, Ohio State has no peer in college football. So, I mean, this, what could get in the way of a really slick offense is bad weather and it's snowing and it's windy and it's cold and you're on the road. No effect. The only thing that's kept points off the board for Ohio State today, because in this fourth quarter, they're picking up yards when they need.

to. They've worn down Michigan. Michigan's defense has been on the field too long. The only thing you worry about with the better team and the better passing team, you worry about weather, no effect. You worry about going on the road and not be able to hear communication. No effect at all. So congratulations to Ohio State. Julian Sand 19 of 26, three touchdowns, 233 yards. Also impressive, early pick, unfazed. One of the sources I talked to today, Kext said, he just said, unfazed,

really likes the big stage, keeps things simple, doesn't get distracted, clearly, clearly. An update on Lane Kiffin, as we all, wait with painted breath for the decision by Kiffin. I've said before,

I think with NIL, I'd stay at Ole Miss or GoPro if the Titans called or like the New York Jets or the New York Giants called, who knows?

I don't think you need to bounce around anymore for two reasons. One, Ole Miss has money. You can win almost anywhere. And it was different if you left,

let's say you win the Egg Bowl, and you're going to go to a good bowl game, but you're not going to play for the national championship. That's much easier to leave. I think Ole Miss is not as good as Ohio State. But if they played Ohio State, they'd probably be a, what, 7-8-point underdog?

Lane Kiffin would use that to his advantage. They would score. They would move the ball in Ohio State some. And their quarterback Trinidad Chambliss also can, you know, he can run around and move and make plays. I think there's an argument. Ole Miss is like the third or fourth best. team in the country and you may not have to face the second or the third team because they get

upset in the playoff. So I don't love Kippin bouncing to LSU in the NIL world or in the playoff world. It doesn't feel like the play to me. It's, but I will say, you know, men are as loyal as their options, as comedian Chris Rock once famously said. And, you know, it's, you know, I think he should probably stay at Ole Miss. It's not for loyalty. Again, America is the land of opportunity. It's not the land of loyalty. When you hire Lane Kiffin,

you're not going to be shocked that after success and lots of offense, which is what he does everywhere he goes, he's probably going to leave on his terms. If you're shocked by that, it's a U problem. His brand has been clearly defined. He is a great recruiter. He's a great offensive coach. he puts himself out there in social media.

He'll spar with people. It's all clearly defined. And he leaves strangely, abruptly, sometimes his terms, sometimes other people's terms. That's Lane Kiffin's brand. So, you know, old miss saying, you know, whoa, this is, come on, man.

You come on. That's what Lane Kiffin has done in his career. When you get involved with Lane Kiffin, it's not going to be a 30. to your marriage. What you do hope is that he can turn around your program, stock it full of recruits, sell tickets, get the ball rolling, and then eventually you're three, four, five. You move often, or he moves off you. So again, I'd stay at Ole Miss or GoPro. I wouldn't bounce around the SEC, but the SEC's always been a conference, eat or get eaten. And LSU doesn't care about anybody else in that

conference except LSU. Another topic, should Texas get into college football player? Well, nobody would keep them out losing to Ohio State close and losing to Georgia. It's that loss to Florida that's more punitive. I tend to give SEC or Big Ten teams a little bit of a break in regards to a, you know, a bad loss just because Florida still has NFL bodies. Florida is much worse now than they were when Texas. played them. But I, you know, I tend to think when you play in 100,000 seat stadiums, NFL bodies,

you get dinged up. But, you know, I don't think people are going to let them in. It wouldn't bother me. They beat Oklahoma soundly. They beat Texas A&M, which I predicted they would. They beat Vanderbilt. They've got those teams were all ranked top 10 when they beat them. I don't think anybody else in college football did that. So I wouldn't have a problem with it. But, you know, it's I'm a believer that if you schedule massive out-of-conference games and you're willing to go to Norman or Athens or Columbus, Ohio, or Ann Arbor, or South Bend, Indiana, I mean, you get on the phone and you're willing to go out of conference and play Ohio State and you lose close. I don't, to me, I won't ding you for it. You know, it's like if you're in a bar and you're single and you walk up with the prettiest girl and ask her out, you know, you're classy, you're gracious, you're respectful, and you ask her out. And she says, no, I don't think less of you.

I think more of you. You took a swing. I mean, I am always going to defend. I've been doing this since I got into this business. I will always defend playing top five programs, not a neutral field. Nick Saban did a lot of neutral field games on the road. And they were replacing, if I recall, four offensive linemen, biggest start in Archmanning's career.

And they didn't play particularly well, most of that because of Ohio State. But, you know, I respect the hell of a lot of teams that do that. So I would be more than comfortable if Texas got voted into the playoff. I don't think they will. And I would give them or any SEC or Big Ten team, I'll give you one bad conference loss. I have no problem with Sark aggressively on social media after the win over the Aggies, you know, promoting his team to get in. Mack Brown did it eight years ago. I mean, that's what we're talking about here.

It's not the NFL. I do think college football has become, and I've said this multiple times, more like the NFL, about 30, 35, 40 percent. NFL, they pay the players, they've got for the agency. And I think the sport itself has to make some rules like you can't cherry pick a coach like LSU or Florida would like to do Elaine Kiffin. I don't think you should be able to do that as of now, especially with a playoff. You couldn't poach Andy Reid or Mike Vrable from New England in the middle of the season. So I think the college football has to step up and recalibrate.

And, you know, college football feels a little bit to me like the wild. Wild West, like the early days of UFC. You got to get rid of that eye-gouging. You got to get rid of some of this poaching coaches, and it's just ugly. It's not good for the sport. It's not good for fan bases. And Ohio State just picked off Michigan,

and that'll do it. 27 and 9, 2.5 minutes left. The better team won. The better team covered. And the Buckeyes now go to the Big Ten. Championship. See you soon. See you Monday. See you Sunday night with John Middlethoff on The Volume. The Volume. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him.

Listen to Season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit, season two, is about both of those things. As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslaved people. Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to deep cover the family members. on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.