The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Snaps - Georgia survives Ohio State, TCU stuns Michigan in College Football Playoff

Episode Date: January 1, 2023

Aaron Murray and T-Bob Hebert react to Kirby Smart, Stetson Bennett, and the Georgia Bulldogs' 42-41 win over Ryan Day, C.J. Stroud, and the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Peach Bowl as well as Max Duggan and TCU stunning Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Wolverines 51-45 in the Fiesta Bowl. #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. What up y'all? T-Bob here from Snaps, presented by Fandul, your new favorite college football podcast. But I'm here to talk NFL because it is playoff time and there's no better place to get in on the action than Fandual. Trust me, I would know. I've been handing out losing bets all year long on Fandul. And what I've learned is, look, the app is safe, secure, it's easy to use. They have a ton of great offers, boost, and more all month long.

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23, here it is January 1st. We have officially arrived, which means, Last night on New Year's Eve, we were treated to some college football playoffs. In fact, just a fantastic. I think I watched football about 12 hours straight yesterday from 11 a.m. to about midnight. And I mean, hell, even the game deciding kick, literally popping off at the stroke of midnight. It's just a very fun day of football. We hear on SNAPS, your new favorite college football podcast.

We're going to break it all down. I'm one of your hosts, T. Bob A-Bair, and I am joined. by a resident bulldog, a man who barely escaped the clutches of a weeks, weeks, months worth of offseason crap talking. The dynasty was hanging by a thread, but the Georgia Bulldogs get it done in the end. Of course, talking about QB1, Aaron Murray. Aaron, what's up, dude? You know what?

It's you live in my head, T, Bob. I'm not going to lie. Like, that was literally, I wasn't thinking about Georgia and how tough it would be for them to lose the game or how you know crap you would be to be the number one seed to lose the number four seat i was more selfishly thinking like man i don't want to hear t bobs crap for the next four months about you know georgia's not that great the dynasty is not here and all your other you know nonsense that you would have said i wanted to more be the aggressor today and and hound you for your tc u michigan pick and that whole bs nonsense you were saying last week uh you went into some whole

or writing, whatever it was. Like, now I get to drill it against you for the silliness in which you ended our show last week. So if you missed that, go watch it because T-Bob went out of a complete rant about how elite Michigan is. And now I get to be the one giving you crap, so it felt pretty damn good.

Okay, okay. As I was eating my 12 grapes at midnight. So it was a great start to the new year. Okay, I'll say this. Did I make a bit? of a sports take error by throwing out months worth of conversation because of one Twitter thread with like some popcorn philosophy in it that I read that really appealed to me. Yes, yes, I did. But like I said, I was trying to read the portents and the omens. Like I thought

it lined up with all this stuff I was reading about Michigan. It all made sins in my head. I thought the gods were telling me something. And yeah, I maybe, I maybe, should have stuck to my guns of it here. But before you victory lab too hard, Aaron, I don't think this game went how you thought it was going to either. No. Like, like, no. That's the most shocking part about this entire game is that, like, Max Duggan,

he made big plays. I'm not saying that. Like, he had to do what he had to do for them to win the game. But he did not play well necessarily. Like, like, it's kind of insane. And we'll get into it more. We get into the stats. But that's what's the press part about TCU's win is it was a team win.

And that even more importantly than whatever weird pop culture, you know, real innovation comes from building on the past and look at the Renaissance and whatever the hell I was saying last week. Remember like a few months ago, we were talking about how, you know, Michigan may be the best team in the country, but ultimately they will be hamstrung by their quarterback. Like when they entered the playoff, obviously that they would have the worst quarterback. I don't know that. No, not. I don't know. They were not hamstrung. Well, I guess the two pick sixes.

They gave way 14 points. Yeah. The JJ McCartee. It's a mix. It's a mix back. But the point is, the point is, I will say this about JJ. Oh, go ahead. No, well, sorry. Last thing. I was just going to say that the TCU team actually outperformed the Michigan team, which is shocking to me. Like the way that that defense was able to bottle up Michigan for much of the night before they started to break through at the edge. Everything topped about it. I did not think that Sunny Dykes had the dogs to keep up. with them on a team to team level. I thought maybe Max Duggan, like, you were talking about, like, could just play so well that

he would be the dividends. But that was not the case. Sonny Dykes, TCU, and the hornfrogs are a lot of credit. They proved a lot of people wrong. Well, I thought the one thing that was shocking was the, you know, who was the more aggressive team? Who is the more physical football team? And kind of Michigan has been kind of been given that award for the past couple of years,

whether it's the offensive line, win the George Morehead Award, whether it's a defense and how well they played for the past two years. they were out physical last year versus Georgia. They were out physical, I think, in this game versus TCU. I mean, TCU was the one for the majority of the game, you know, delivering the haymakers. I do want to go back to JJ because I have been

a little bit harsh on him this season. And, you know, he's a great athlete. I do think he has, you know, improved slowly during the season. And listen, he hasn't been asked to do a lot for a good majority of the season. He was asked to do a lot versus Ohio State. I thought he came out there and played well, obviously,

in that game and was able to lead them to a big 10 championship. And then this game too, like he made some big time throws. I'll give him credit, man. Like I'm not going to sit here and just say JJ crap the bed and it was his fault why they lost the game. Like no, like the interception suck. And that is you go back and you take away one of those pick sixes. Maybe it's a different game. You can't give away turnovers like that. But I think overall he threw the ball the best that I've seen him maybe throw the ball all season, take away those turnovers. Like he was decisive downfield. He was the most accurate. I've seen him throwing the ball down the field besides that Ohio State game. Obviously, he ran the ball effectively as well.

Like, I thought he played a great game. He gave them an opportunity, even with with the turnovers, even with the pick sixes, JJ gave them an opportunity to win the football game. But it goes back to what you said, T. Bob, like, as an overall team, TCU just played better from their offense to their defense to special teams to put them in a situation to win the football game, which is to me that, that is more surprising. They were throwing more haymakers. Yeah, and I know Brum is probably weeping and gnashing his teeth because 30 seconds where we came on the show. We're like, hey, what game were we starting with? He said, Ohio State Georgia.

And then we immediately fell into a TC of Michigan arguments. We're going to have to roll with this and say, you guys are driving. It's fine. Yeah, I mean, listen to this here. So in the end, McCarthy 20 of 34 for 343 through the air, two scores, two picks. He also runs for another 50. On 10 carries and a touchdown on the ground. On the other hand, dug in 14 of 29.

So under 50s, 225, two touchdowns, two picks. And he too runs for 50 yards. Now he adds two touchdowns on the ground, which is big. But yeah, like the entire team of, there's just no doubt the entire team of TCU stepped up. And then in the end, it's, it's a bit odd because football is such a, all games are kind of funny, right? and that every single play is not weighted the same. And so even though statistically, McCartney had a better overall game,

you cannot overcome 14 points generated by the defense on this stage. Like if you're going against the best teams of the country, two pick sixes is near impossible to overcome. It's actually kind of impressive in some weird way that Michigan made it as close as they did. Actually, you know what I was impressed with two. we're talking about TCU, not just a team play, the mental toughness. Because when Michigan scored to make it 41, 38, it looked like TCU.

I thought they were about to crumble because what you had up to that point was about three quarters of an entire stadium of Michigan fans feeling anxious, feeling frustrated, feeling a bit scared. What that did was it created all of this pent up kind of angsty, emotion and they weren't really showing that emotion because they couldn't they're getting their ass kicked right so it just kept building and building and building and then when they had that sequence with the turnover and everything else that made it 41 38 it felt like a shotgun blast of human psychic energy just just just wearing down tcc you like they got hit with some sort of

giant kamea maya and i thought for sure i remember tween at the time like if tc u can survive this that is um superior mental tough is it and i speaking to the way it's well hold on hold on hold Speaking of the way to plays, speaking of the way to plays. And TCU did this all night. The next drive after 4-1-38, Max Duggan comes out, and he throws a 75-yard touchdown. We'll quit Jots. who did a great job of getting it in the end zone.

But yeah, TCU throughout the night, every time there was a big haymaker landed by Michigan. And I was like, ooh, I don't know if they're going to be able to overcome this. TCU would immediately punch back every single time. And yeah, Aaron, I do think that speaks to superior mental toughness that TCU gained by being in dog fights every single week of the season. That was arguably their greatest advantage of Michigan. Yeah, that's what I was going to go back to you because you say you were surprised that they were able to handle that.

I'm not like, if you not watch TCU this entire season, like that is what's happened every single, it seems like every single week this entire season, you know, come third, fourth quarter, TCU kind of gets put against the ropes, and we kind of start doubting them like, all right, this is then to be the week where they finally lose. This is the week they're down by, you know,

14 points to whatever football team. and they find a way to come back and win the football game over and over. I think to me, honestly, TCU's the team that I feel most comfortable, and that's why I put that message out last week on the show. Like if it comes to the fourth quarter and we have a tight football game, which team and which quarterback do you trust right now in this game? Is it J.J. McCarthy, Michigan, or is it Max Duggan? Is it Duggan or Duggan?

Because I keep hearing both. Is it Max Dugan, Dugan, whatever you want to call them and the TCU Hornfrogs, my money is going to go in TCU because they're going to. They've shown it a week in and week out this entire year that when it comes, push comes to shove, put the ball on our hand and let us go out there and execute and crunch time in the fourth quarter. They are the best fourth quarter football team right now in America. There's no doubt about it. And when it's the playoff time and it's the best teams in the country, it's most likely going to come down the fourth quarter drive, a fourth quarter moment that kind of separates you from your opponent. And so that's why I'm not surprised.

I'm not. Like when it was fourth quarter and teams and fans and players and media members are all scared that, oh, here comes big, big bag Michigan and they're the number two team in the country and, you know, don't let them survive. They're going to find a way to win this football game. I was like, no, we've seen it all year. Settle down. T.C. will find a way to win the football game and they did just that.

Yeah, I think that I get what you're saying. I think that the difference for me was this rally at the 41-38 point. which I thought was the real main opportunity for Michigan. That was in the third quarter, so it still felt very early. Like this thing could almost even spin out of control the other way. And yeah, I did think that despite the fact that TCU's been in fights all year long, that Michigan represented the toughest fight. And I saw a Michigan team that in the fourth quarter of their lone fight against Ohio State,

they completely took that game over. So I thought maybe a similar outcome was coming. but no, again, I just cannot cannot give enough credit to this TCU team for what they were able to do, get in the playoff and prove everybody wrong. I mean, like 90% of the roster

like Sunday, like talking about hadn't even played in a bowl game coming into this thing. I thought for sure that experience would be one of the key separating factors here. And I know you and Jake were texting about it, but I think that, I think that, Michigan fell into the trap of pride of hubris, right? Because Sonny Dykes and company out coach Michigan,

because I really think, Aaron, that Michigan thought they were just going to line up and out-talented and run them over. And the quote, if you think I'm being crazy, the quote that I keep going back to, did you see J.J. McCarthy when he was asked about TCU's 335? He basically said, okay, he was very kind of cocky about it. I'm not coming after McCarthy because I, this is how I always felt about the 3-3-5 at college.

It's a soft defense. Like you can run on it. That's what you're supposed to be able to do. You're supposed to be able to run it and open up to length. And he said basically the same thing. He was like, well, I mean, if they want to stay in that 3-35, there's going to be a lot of running lanes open, blah, blah. And to me, that's kind of gives me an inkling that Michigan thought, okay, no, we're just going to come out here. And we're just going to dominate them on the ground.

Now credit them for having to adjust and having to find ways to try to come back when they get down in this giant hole. But they weren't too worried about it. And all of a sudden, they come out and that TCU front is punching them in the mouth consistently. And they were kind of shell-shocked. And credit to Dykes and his staff for having an excellent game plan, maybe as opposed to a bit of a lazy one from Harbaugh and his staff. It's a mixture. So, you know, I had the Kansas State Alabama game.

And we talked to both staffs ahead of time about that 335 defense. Because, you know, a majority of the teams in the Big 12 run. And why did they run it? Because most of the offenses in that conference are more spread, more RPO. They felt this was the best way to combat that. It's really tough for a quarterback to feel good to pull an RPO and throw it when you got essentially three safeties back and coverage. But the way in which they on defense create the aggression to slow down the run is those safeties are pretty aggressive in the run game, especially the middle safety. Like that guy when he sees run action, he's coming downhill pretty aggressively to try to run.

to add an extra guy into the box. But even talking to Kansas State before the game, they said, hey, listen, there's going to be times. We're going to have to get out of that 335. We're going to have to get to a 4 down front in order to slow down Alabama and their run games. So I think, you know, as, you know, covering that game, because I was pretty, you know, for those who watch the show last week,

like I was pretty adamant, like a TCU has a chance. TCU is going to cover the spread. I felt pretty good about that. But I thought that there was a really good chance TCU wins the football game as well, just based on I thought they were a good football team, and I like the quarterback position better than Michigan. But then all of a sudden, I'm watching Kansas State get blown out by Alabama. Alabama is a more physical team.

They able to run the football. They're able to throw it. I'm like, my goodness. Like, you know, maybe Michigan, I was about to text you like, damn it, is there any way for me to go back on this bet possibly? But obviously, the big difference is Bryce Young compared to J.J. McCarthy and Bryce just had a phenomenal game. But the overall structure of the defense did worry me based on what Alabama was able to do

and be more physical, knowing that Michigan was even a more physical football team at the line of scrimmage than Alabama was. But obviously, that didn't play out. I thought they did a great job with that defense, especially in the first half, you know, really getting the momentum before halftime. But it was a great game. I think the now talking point to me is I was kind of sitting back thinking about Michigan and where does Michigan go from here is, is, you know, has coach Harbaugh got to the Ryan Day stage now. Where Ryan Day, we've been bitching about. Ohio State fans have been bitching about

for the past couple years of Ryan Day can take us here, but Ryan Day can't win the big one. All of a sudden, now, Jim Harbaal has won the Big Ten twice. He's got to the first round, and they've lost those two games. Like, have you gone to that point now where, you know, fans are going to start getting a little bit itchy about not completing the drill for Michigan?

I'm sure Michigan fans are disappointed. But I think if you're feeling like that, you, that's, that's absurd. As you said, you beat your hated arch rival who you lost you for a decade straight. You beat them back to back years and won the Big Ten back to back years. Like I get being disappointed that you let this slip to your fingers because it certainly, it felt it, you know, when you saw TCU, if you were Michigan Van, you thought you were going to win. Like you thought you were going to ask championship. Yes. Yep.

I mean, a bit of that bias still exists, right? Aaron, be honest, when you saw TCU win and then Georgia and Ohio State kick it off, did you feel like Georgia and Ohio State's basically the national championship? Well, yeah. I mean, I put a Twitter poll out as soon as, you know, fourth quarter of the TCU game. And I said that. I said, you know, is this Georgia, Ohio State game the national championship if TCU holds on to win this football game? Or does TCU have a legitimate chance to beat either Georgia or Ohio State?

I think most people. So what are you saying? Because you were the TCU believer this last week. Where do you land on that? Well, no, I was in the blitz of the reason I put out there. As I felt like that last night was the national championship games. And listen, you know, and we've had this conversation for a lot of the season, T. Bob, and there is respect. Like, they deserve to be there.

But I have had, and I said this multiple times on the show, for three-fourths of the season, I felt that Ohio State was the best team in America. You know, I felt like their defense had improved from last year. I felt like with CJ Stroud and the offensive weapons, they were one of the premier offenses in the country, and that was going to give defenses trouble this season and into the postseason. And obviously, you know, they didn't play well for five plays on defense versus Michigan. And those five plays is what cost them, you know, an opportunity to win the football game.

And, you know, obviously last night, you know, who knows if Marvin Harrison Jr. It was healthy. It was more than five days. I mean, they got rolled up by Michigan. Like they got, yeah, but they got their spirit broken. They got their spirit broken by Michigan. I'm not giving Ohio State that. I'm not giving them.

But what I'm going back to is like, I have had the feeling this year that Ohio State was a legitimate national championship contender. So yes, I thought last night's game between Georgia and Ohio State, to me, winner was going to beat TCU. I respect TCU. I love the story. I love Dugan. I love everything that they represent. And I love the opportunity that a school like TCU for Sunny Dike's first year has an opportunity to play in this football game.

Like, this is why we have the playoffs. and this is what makes me excited for the expansion of the playoffs because you just never know what could happen. Like everyone thought Michigan was going to win that football game besides TCU fans. But this is why you play the game. And this is why I'm excited to expand the playoffs a little bit more. So yes, do they have a chance to win the game versus Georgia or Ohio State?

Yes, of course there's a chance. You've got to go out there. You've got to play the game. Got to go execute. Is Ohio State and Georgia the better football team? Yes. But was Michigan probably the better football team? Yes as well.

So we'll see come next Monday, but I do, I do feel, I know I'm going to circle here, but just go back to your answer. Yes, I feel like last night was the de facto national championship game. I'll say that. Can you say that everybody's the better football team? Can you say, because you, I think you just said that all four teams were the better football team. I don't know, I don't know if that actually like no, no, no, no. TCU was a fourth. Heading into this, TCU was in a lot of people's minds, in my mind, too, the fourth.

the fourth best team in the thing. Okay, fair, fair. Again, but you know, you're right. It's validation of why you have to play these things because we never know. It's going to work out. Okay, so we already did. Let's kind of transition then into Ohio State, Georgia, because this game was fascinating as well.

And I think, and again, I just had both these games read completely wrong. I thought that Georgia was going to handle Ohio State. You know, they'll fool me once, fool me twice. I felt like we were giving too much of benefit of the doubt to Ohio State. They weren't tough enough that it was going to be like Michigan and Ohio State. And C.J. Stroud proved me and a lot of other people very wrong. Unfortunately, it just wasn't wrong enough at the end of the day. And I actually loved Ryan Day in this game, Aaron.

And look, I don't watch the town of Ohio State because normally they got a bit of Alabama disease where it's like you turn them on and, oh, look, they're up 40. Okay, great. But I loved seeing the emotion from day. throughout this game. You could tell how desperately he wanted to get this game. It didn't work out in the end, but I like to action to him. But really, I have to tip my cap as much as I don't want to because I

wanted to come in here and make fun of you. I have to tip my cat to Kirby Smart in this Georgia football team because when you're talking about a team that is going to do something as rare as potentially win back-to-back national championships, it requires at times you to make very long odds plays. At other times, it may take a series of very long odds, crazy good plays. And you saw that in this game when Georgia's down big. They're trying to affect a comeback.

Ohio State goes to punt. Oh, they fake it. What happens right before the snap? Georgia's organization is such that it was sniffed out in the booth, immediately radio down. There was no hesitation. Kirby Smart. He gets off a critical timeout as the ball is snapped, essentially.

Ohio State doesn't get to the conversion. They end up having a punt. It allows Georgia to get back a score. You have Bowers on the sideline on like fourth and 11 or whatever it was, somehow finding a way to have every single muscle in his body work out strong enough to keep him upright and in bounds so that he can get. get that conversion after a review, which turns into a touchdown. They go and they knock out the guy that has killed them all night, Marvin Harrison,

Jr. And look, I don't think it was a cheap shot. In fact, it was just an unbelievable throw by C.J. Stroud that that somehow got dropped in the bucket there. Like, I still don't fully understand the physics of it. And C.J. Shrad was fantastic all night, but they knock him out. And then in the end, you let the former walk on Stoquavius take over. It is wild. of the Georgia defense is the one that let them down here. And that on the biggest stage for a second year in a row, Stetson Bennett proves why he has been the starter, why none of these five stars are able to beat him out.

And that's because in these biggest moments, he has been at his best. And it's funny because for any athlete out there, or anybody really, who wants to believe that they can improve themselves, he is the exact example of that, right? Because a couple of years ago, it was thought that he was a limiting factor.

that if he was your quarterback, it's a bit like J.J. McCarthy, how we think about him, which is good time of McCarthy going forward. But that if he's your quarterback, there's automatically a bit of a ceiling on what your offense can do. And now two years in a row, when it has mattered most, Stetson has obliterated that ceiling,

and it's led to Georgia now being on the cusp of winning back-to-back national championships. Well, I think there's, I mean, every time Georgia was down in that football game, for me, there was never a sense of even my dad. I was watching on my dad. And there was never a sense of panic mode. And my dad said it best.

He's like, man, I think it was 21-7 at one point. Even later in the game, he said it twice. Like, you know, I just feel like Stetson is a guy that plays, you know, we always say, you know, pissed off with a chip on his shoulder. And, you know, he's such a competitor that I feel really good that he's going to go out there and execute and execute pretty fast. And all of a sudden, boom, score a touchdown, score touchdown, I'm tied to seeing up. You know, they're down big. And all of a sudden, big play to, you know, to Smith.

Obviously, he was wide open, but still sets out to find a final way to move. that single high safety to the right, come back, throw an absolutely beautiful ball to keep them in stride for them to then go out there and score a touchdown. And even the last drive, you know, moving in the pocket, getting the ball of just in time to hit Bowers, you know, executing the dime of a throw off balance to A.D. Mitchell on the out route in the end zone for the touchdown. To me, there was never a sense of doubt from guys that were in the huddle, guys on the field, coaching staff, the sideline anyone.

Like guys knew that like, you know, Stetson's our guy. And that's the reason why Stetson kept the job last year because there's a lot of people with JT. Daniels on the roster like, okay, JT's banged up, but as soon as JT gets back, JT's going to be our guy. JT's the more athletic. JT is the better arm. JT is the one that's going to lead us to a national championship. He went to SECMedia days.

The coaches at first thought that JT was the guy. But but but the team and this is what makes Kirby a really good coach too and what makes great coaches. You get the pulse of your team. Who does your team trust the most? And Kirby took a step back, looked at, okay, who does who does my team believe in as quarterback? And there was an overwhelming majority of them in that locker room that felt Stetson was the guy that we trust Stetson. We want Setson to be our quarterback. And that's from like Nekobie Dean and these first, you know, first round picks on defense, not just the offensive guys, but defense guys came out and said Stetson is QB1. We believe he

leads to a national championship. Obviously he goes on and plays great in the playoffs, leads into a championship and then what he's done this year, Hydezman finalists and then these big time, we were talking about big time games, you know, stets and steps up and plays tremendous. Even last year's national championship wasn't great in the first half, had some mistakes, but comes out there in the second half versus Alabama and leads into a national championship. You know, played okay versus Ohio. I mean, played pretty well, I'm not going to say, okay, played really well I thought in the first half. Interception was kind of crappy. but then second half took his game to another level

in order to lead Georgia to a victory. I mean, he's, you know, we've talked about him being the greatest of all time for a quarterback. You know, he's, he's right now to me. Pause. What? We've talked about what? What, what?

Stetson? Stetson being the greatest quarterback of all time? In Georgia history. Oh, okay. T-Bobbubb. Take a breather here. Take a breather here. Hold on. I don't know it. But you're going to the playoffs. You feel like you want to Natty.

You feel about Bangkoki this boy. But T. Bob, how many, how many quarterbacks have won two national championship? No, no, no, no. Stop it. Not many T. Bob. Aaron, Aaron, um, Stetson, Stetson. I'm just going to focus on Georgia here, T. Brom, I need to step in now. Stetson is now a top two player in Georgia history. Yeah. How is he not? How is he not?

How is he not? How is he not? How is he not? How is he not? Yes. I'm just thinking Georgia. How is he not elevate himself to Herschel status after last night? No, he should. But I think he's still behind Aaron Murray. I mean, just look at the stats, dude. No, no, no, no, no. I will say this. The, I'm watching it again online right now. I've had to have, you know, Twitter pulled up and it popped up again. That out, that, that, that touch throw off the back foot on, um, um, I would, it's not taking an out route. I don't know what you call, but AD Mitchell there with under a minute left in the semifinal to win the game. That is athletic skill, it's mental toughness, not being scared of the stage. It's big balls. It's leadership. It's literally, yeah, it's, it's everything that you're talking about.

It's why you get elevated to legend status like Herschel Walker and others in that great Georgia football history. So can't say enough about Stetson. Really, kids, they know about CJ Stroud either, though. And like, because a lot of the success that Ohio State has wasn't like, oh, that's great play design. It was CJ Stroud really using athleticism that I've kind of knocked all year, but it looked great last night and just finding ways to drop balls into crazy buckets. And he was fantastic. But we just talked about Kirby and some of that, like the timeout calls, some of the great in the margins calls and moments that Kirby had to win the game.

Aaron, did Ryan Day go too conservative on that last drive? I mean, Stroud has the big scramble. They get into field goal range technically, but it's not like, they're not on like the 10. It's not like a comfortable field range. They're marching the ball down the field, and then they just immediately run the ball, I have to spend the time out and basically tell you,

okay, no, we're setting up for a very long field goal. Like, should they have tried to get more yards in that situation? Well, listen, I thought they were aggressive, honestly. I mean, they were throwing the football for goodness sakes. And I thought Georgia did a great job with their pressure package. And honestly, one time, you know, before, I think it was the third down play. They never should run the ball. They never should have just ran zone left then with two timeouts on, on first down.

To me, that felt like it was. I don't know. They had a guy. They had two guys open. The checkdown was open that he ended up throwing to. And there's a guy wide open in the middle of the field that honestly, if he, If he would have seen him and hit him, it would have been a first down for Ohio State. It would have been a chip shot field goals.

I do think there was a sense of aggression to get the ball closer. I just give Georgia more credit for their blitz packages. I mean, they were great there in the fourth quarter, bringing the zero packages, bringing pressure off the edge. Bullard, I thought was great for the majority of the night as well, like trying to, I mean, that. And you have to anticipate that as an offense. Like, you know, when you get to, you know, end of half, end of game situations, and any time you get around the 30-yard line, and Tanna needs to go up for a quarterback, like pressure's coming.

All the defense is thinking is, hey, we need to push this team back and force this to be the longest field goal possible. So Ohio State knew that was coming, and they just were not able to execute the plays. I don't think it was a Ryan Day being less aggressive. I think it was just more Georgia, you know, dialed up the right pressures, got CJ uncomfortable with the throws, and he wasn't able to make the pass at the end of the day

when it mattered the most. Uh, and then so it comes down to know Ruggles and that was truly like, uh, you know, thrill of victory, agony of defeat type of moment there where everything that was on, uh, that kid, you could, you could feel it, all the narrative weighing. You know who's probably more terrified than anyone going into that kick? Michigan fans because they were on the edge of not only, they'd already lost their playoff game in highly disappointed fashion, but they were on the edge of watching their arch rival, the team that they thought that they had overcome this season, go to the national

championship as the favorite, but they barely escape. I got to say this for Ruggles, the kicker, though, man. I think his operation let him down. I think it was a bad snap and hold. The snap was basically on the ground. The holder had to pick it up, tried to get it down, and watch the kick again immediately after the miss. You see the holder, not looking at the kicker, and you never react like this if the kicker screws it up and you're a holder, you normally support your boy. immediately after the miss, you see the holder go like, throw both hands to his head and start yelling into the air. I think Ruggles got a bad, got a bad hold there.

Was, yeah. Did you care? Did you like, yeah. It was it. It wasn't perfect. And in that moment, man, you're, you're, I'm not a kicker, but, you know, we've all been in high pressure situations. Like, you're so locked into what you need to do to execute.

And right now, you know, with all the pressure in the. world with a chance to beat the number one team of the nation, to send you know you back to the national championship and then the thought of I think there's probably a lot of thought I mean I go back to you know when we played Alabama in the SC championship game you know we all knew once again like that was a de facto national championship you know we knew Notre Dame was in we knew both of us were better than Notre Dame winner was going to win the national championship and I think both teams obviously they're focused on their

game but both teams saw TCU beat Michigan and Ohio State say thank God if we win this game, we don't have to play Michigan again. We don't want that. We've lost the last few times. And I think both teams kind of felt like, hey, winner of this game most likely is going to be double-digit favorites in order to win the national championship. So like you're locked in, you're zoned in. You know what the moment's about.

And all of a sudden, any little wrinkle that causes you to say, uh, uh, uh, and just get your concentration off a little bit, we'll throw you off as an athlete, as a player. And then obviously, you know, he's obviously a better kicker than what we saw with that miss. I think it's I mean Aaron you play golf right I mean kicking and hitting a ball off of a T are not wholly dissimilar right in that you need that holder and that snapper to have it exactly where it is every time you practice if you're a few inches off it changes everything especially when you're kicking from the depth that he was having to kick from so I don't know I it looked like to me that that Ruggles maybe is I hope he doesn't get too much blame on the home front which you know It was impossible. And I know that people, I mean, it's going to be so awful for him going to class, all this other sort of stuff for the next few months.

But I don't feel like it was necessarily all his fault there. But it doesn't matter. In the end, Georgia, massive win going to likely be a pretty big favor now over TCU. They scored too fast. Yeah, I'm like, what are we doing here? But come on now, come on now, though. So like the score too fast thing is always interesting. The 10-yard line.

There's no need to go in a hoddle at that point. Like even Stetson said it afterwards like, man, I thought we left way too much time. Like that was on you. You guys got to the 11 yard line. They had the big play down the middle of the field. All of a sudden, you're inside the 10 yard line with,

I don't know, like a minute and 10 seconds ago. And they staffed the ball within 15 seconds. I'm like, what are we doing? Let it run over 20 seconds. Like, slow down. So your pace. Especially the way CJ was playing. I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.

I think that's okay so I think that's potentially fair for a team of Georgia's caliber right where they would be supremely confident in their ability to finish that but I don't know man that is a dangerous game to play for 99% of college football teams like the second you start to get into a little too much fancy manipulation instead of just getting the score like no huddle is one of the reasons why it works you've got the defense on the back heel keep the defense on the back heel don't allow them time to regroup or get their mind right like I I'm just saying, I think there's, it's a dangerous game to play. I'm not saying you can do it. When you, when they score, did you not, did you not, was that not the first thing that came to your mind as they left way too much time for C.J. Shradle, Ohio State, that offense. To just need a field goal. That's all they needed. Not a touchdown. I can get it.

There was a touchdown. Just a field goal. Like, I'm like, they're not going to win this game. I absolutely think that is the first thing that pops in your head. But my point is, I don't know. I never even think that there's really the ability to change it. You could go more risky, like you said, and look to manipulate the clock a bit more. But I, I'm maybe of the old school conservative mindset, I'm like, let's just get the score.

And then, I mean, what are you talking about? Like, it's the Georgia defense. When the fucking game. It's damn it. I was trying to go an entire show. Yeah, but it wasn't. It wasn't. Win the game.

New Jersey defense. But I get you're the Georgia defense, but you're also struggling mightily this game. Like it just wasn't, it wasn't their day, man. Yeah, but you don't need to worry about getting the score, winning the game, and trusting the best part of your team to be the best part of your team. It's supposed to be where you're elite. Like they should be able to, and they did. And they did.

They forced a long field goal. Yeah, they didn't up. Like, you can't, you can't trust college football kickers. So there's some debate that could be had about the clock management. And certainly George is a talent of team where maybe they can't afford to play with it. But I'm always like, get the score and just see. see what happens. I don't know.

But I do know that even though Ohio State played great, it was a bad day on the big stage for the Big Ten as they lose not once but twice. And how about this? We should have all known that it would be TCU, not Oklahoma, to bring the Big 12 their first playoff victory. I mean, you love to see it. Oklahoma down so bad as they prepare to enter. as they prepare to enter the SEC here in a couple of years.

I'd tell you what, I'd tell you what, Tebow, thank goodness they were good football games, which I think, you know, we anticipate that the spreads kind of told us that these were one score games, and they were going to be tight to the end. Because of the direction college football is heading right now, and there's still a lot of people that don't believe that even four teams deserve to be in a playoff. And oh, we know it's just probably, it should Georgia and Michigan are the best two teams in America. And those are the only two teams that really mattered. and, you know, these games really don't matter

because there's just going to be those two at the end of the day. Like, you know, once again, like, this is why you play the game. This is why, you know, a lot of people are excited to get more teams an opportunity to make the play. Like, once I'll go back to my game, Alabama. The way Alabama looked yesterday, you get an ex-aid and four more weeks of practice. My God, did they look good yesterday? I mean, they were, you know, that's a team that I would not want to face at all.

You know they got talent on both sides of football. Yeah. You know. Shut up, shut up. Shut up. I'm just saying, like, you know, that's a team. Look at that team, man. Like, my goodness, those dudes down the stretch.

Woo, who, who. No, I mean, look, there was a lot of. There was a lot of good football over the weekend and a lot of teams that I would love to see on the bigger stage. By the way, for those keeping track at home, if you watch Friday Best Betts, we are off to a three and O start. I just need USC minus one and a half to close out there, Aaron. And then what do you have coming up on Monday? What games did you bet? I'm trying to remember.

You did the over and the. Brum, I had the, no, no, I got the orange ball on Friday. I think I have the over on the Rose Bowl. Rose Bowl. Oh, okay. Hell, yeah. All right. What's the last one, what's the last one?

I don't remember. We're, okay, we're not, I should have never brought this up. That's an awful job of getting enticing anybody to listen to our best bets. We believe in them so little that not a single member of the show. There's a white night last night. It was a late night last night. We're 3 in no. We were 4-2 last week.

3-0. That's 7 and 2 in the last 9. Did you bet on Mississippi State? I think that's what it was. Oh, yeah, Mississippi State the cover. Mississippi State. Oh, yeah. Mississippi State to be clear,

Aaron has been working his ass off. He's been traveling all over the country, calling all sorts of games. So we will give him some leeway for sure. Even though look at him now, dude. If you're watching on YouTube, he's a lake of cony. He's got beautiful pine forests. in the back. I mean, look at the stonework on that home. You know, that I deserve this.

I deserve this. Boys, I deserve this. I need this. A little, little, uh, three games in eight days. So I am, uh, enjoying a little downtime. Yeah, and like flying at a time when flying is, you know, anathema. Okay, look, we got a lot to get to on this week on snaps. Um, you know, we got to recap these other bowl games. We got to ask, uh, whether or not, we think that RG3's birthday was real or was it all set up? Like there's a lot of hot topics to get through. So we'll leave you for today.

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