The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Breaking Down ‘The Game’ and Baylor HC Dave Aranda

Episode Date: November 25, 2021

Subscribe to FOX Sports college football podcast the No. 1 Ranked Show w/ RJ Young on Apple Podcasts: http://sprtspod.fox/numberoneranked & Spotify: http://sprtspod.fox/numberonerankedshow In this episode of Breaking the Huddle, Joel Klatt provides a comprehensive breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of Ohio State and Michigan, and explains how they will determine the outcome in ‘The Game.’ Then Baylor Head Coach Dave Aranda joins the show to discuss his team’s resurgent season and how his team has been able to avoid distractions down the stretch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up Kenfolk, it's R.J. Young. I am Fox College Football analyst here to tell you about the number one ranked show podcast. Each week, I sit down with coaches, players, and legends of the game for a unique conversation about all things college football and recruiting. Plus, I share my perspective on the top storylines from Saturday and react to the college football playoff rankings. Subscribe to the number one rank show with R.J. Young on Apple podcast, Spotify, or you're your favorite podcast app. What's up, everybody? Joel Clad here. This is Breaking the Huddle. The show is brought to you by Dr. Pepper.

It is the one fans deserve. Lots to get into. Folks, as we are barreling down towards the end of the season and the college football playoff. We're going to get into the rankings and see where they landed and talk a little bit about some of the matchups this week. And then I've got a lengthy breakdown of the Ohio State Michigan game. Okay, what's going on when each team has the ball?

You're going to want to stay tuned for that. That's about 10 minutes of X's and O's. We're going to talk with Baylor head coach Dave Miranda, and then we'll get to a little clap back at the end. But first, let's take a look at what was going on. On Tuesday night with the rankings release, you've got Georgia 1, Ohio State did move up to number two after that absolute dismantling of Michigan State.

Alabama at 3, and then everyone was all thrilled. They're like, hey, the group of 5 broke the top 4. And they did at 4 with Cincinnati, Michigan 5, Notre Dame at 6. I would just caution everybody like Cincinnati being at number 4 right now. it doesn't really matter. If you remember the first iteration of this playoff in the very first year, TCU was in the top four, won their last game by, I believe, 50 points or even more, and was dropped out of the top four as Ohio State won the Big Ten championship and went to the playoff and won the eventual national championship. So I really don't care what they gave us so far.

Cincinnati, I think that you should be nervous until they don't include the Big 12 champion, in particular if that champion was only a one-lost team. You should be nervous, and you should be nervous, until they don't include a two loss Alabama. I mean, all of those scenarios have got to be floated out there because you just don't know with this committee. You just don't know. As far as the matchups this weekend, we've got enormous matchups, folks.

The game, Michigan, Ohio State, Gus, Jenny, and I will be there. Big Noon kickoff. Coverage begins at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Winner of this game goes to the Big Ten championship. I mean, it can't get any bigger. The only thing that could make this bigger if they were ranked number one, number two,

like it was back in 2006. Ohio State has won eight straight games against Michigan. They have dominated this series of late. Michigan's 0 and 5 against Ohio State under Jim Harbaugh. But this game just seems and feels a little bit different. And that's why we're going to break it down in depth here in the next segment. You're going to want to stay tuned for that because I've got all the ins and outs of how Michigan can keep it close, what Ohio State is doing so well on the offensive side.

So that's coming up. The other big matchup I think is Bedlam in terms of a rivalry. You got Mike Gundy and the Oklahoma. State Cowboys that have had a phenomenal season in particular in this back half. After they got healthy on offense, this defense is sensational. No one scored on them over the last month or so. I mean, they've been excellent on defense, and Oklahoma's offense has started to struggle. So while, yes, they're the number one scoring offense in the Big 12, they don't feel like it

because Caleb Williams in the last two games that Gus and I have called Baylor and then against Iowa State has struggled throwing the football. He's not seeing the field very well. Now he's got to go up against that Jim Knowles defense for Oklahoma State. Oklahoma has won six straight meetings against the Cowboy. Oklahoma leads the all-time series 90 to 18, which is absolutely crazy. It just feels differently, folks. I just normally every year it's like, yeah, you know, listen, Oklahoma owns Bedlam

and even Ohio State owns the game. And yet this year, Oklahoma State and Michigan feel like they're built to compete in each of these games. I just feel like it could be a wild rivalry week, and I'm here for it. I love it. This is why I love college football, folks. On a Thanksgiving week, we've got two of the biggest matchups in college football. They feature some of the best rivalries, and everything is on the line, and I'm here for it. I can't wait.

It's time. We got to break down the game. What's going on when Michigan and Ohio State tangle this week in the big house? It's going to be a phenomenal game, folks. phenomenal game. I think that the strength for each of these teams lies with Ohio State in their offense and with Michigan in their defense. So let's break down that matchup first. And let's start with the Ohio State offense. One of the most potent offenses in all of college football, this is a passing-based offense. The Ohio State offense on base downs, first and 10, second

and six, they're throwing the ball over 60 percent of the time. Doesn't mean that they can't run with Trevion Henderson, but this is a passing offense first. And they are explosive in the passing game. It's not dink and dunk. They've got tremendous skill. I think that the timing of their quarterback, C.J. Stroud is excellent. And they do as good a job as any in college football of attacking the safeties, the third level of the defense for the opposition. Let's take a look at some of the examples of how they're explosive and why they're so successful on the field. So this is a play last week. They bring their back out of the back field. Look at how it draws the attention of the far safety. Now they're going to work against the near side safety with Olavé running a little bit of a reed route. Looks how he keeps it kind of. skinny right up the field and because of the timing from Stroud, he's able to get that completion. Again, here's the motion. You're bringing some of the attention of the defense away, creating more space in the middle of the field for Olavay to work. There is Stroud throwing the ball on time with great protection. Notice the protection is fantastic. Let's move on later in this game and see another example. Okay, here they're going to use play action pass. They're going to do it

twice on the same play. First to Garrett Wilson on this little jet sweep motion, then Trayvion Henderson. That's going to draw the safeties up and you're allowing Chris Olavé to work deep down the field and he gets behind the defense and it's a touchdown. But again, the timing and the protection in the backfield is terrific. Play action number one on the jet sweep. Number two to Trayvion Henderson. Here's Strout. He's perfectly on time. He throws the ball with nobody around him and it's a big play for Ohio State. Now, where are the areas where Ohio State tends to struggle? Well, first of all, they don't. When they do, they will struggle with things like this. The depth in the secondary, taking away some of those shots down the field, and then pressure with the front seven. Not many teams have been able to do this, but there was a couple of examples, like particularly against Nebraska, when they weren't great or sharp in the passing game,

even though Jackson Smith and Jigba really got loose. Here's a great example. There's the little token fake, but look at the depth of the secondary with their eyes all over Chris Olavé, trying to run that deep search route. Then you've got a stunt up front. They miss it with their center, and you've got pressure on C.J. Stroud.

He ends up just throwing it kind of wildly, and it's an interception. So you take a look at this again. So what did Nebraska do? Well, the first thing that they do is that they keep their safeties back, and then they were able to present some pressure on C.J. Stroud. When you're able to do that, folks, you can slow them down a bit. Why? Because this is a passing offense first.

Okay, so how does that manifest this week against Michigan? Let's take a look at Michigan. defense. Okay, this defense led by Aiden Hutchinson is a pressure defense. They get after the quarterback with two of the best edge rushers in the entire sport, Aidan Hutchinson and David Ajabo. How does that manifest? What does it look like on the field? Well, this is what it looks like. Okay, when you take a look at what they were able to do against Michigan State, first of all, you've got eyes in the backfield and watch how the secondary is not going to allow a quick, easy throw, which is going to allow Aiden Hutchinson to win. Okay, so there's something.

the pass rush, nowhere to throw with the football. They're going to run a man coverage back here and now Hutchinson is able to get home in the back end. But it's not just Hutchinson. It's also a job. So let's take a look at the next play. And it's a similar style deal. First of all, they're both stood up. And again, there's nowhere to throw the football. Everybody is covered in that initial beat. And boom, Ajabo is there. Strip sack, a jobo as well as anybody in the country, as good as anybody in the country is getting after the football when he's there. He beats the left tackle. Again, nowhere to throw, and then there's pressure in the backfield. They have to present that pressure on C.J. Stroud, or else Stroud will eat them alive.

So those two guys, Aidan Hutchinson and David Adjabo, they've got to have the game of their life. Okay, folks, the pressure of that defense is all on these two players to present pressure on C.J. Stroud. Now, when they struggle, what typically happens? Well, let's take a look at what they do struggle with. They'll struggle with a couple of things. Tempo from the offense when they start to go fast and misdirection. At times, they'll get caught in manned defense, and their eye discipline is not great. What does that look like?

Well, let's take a look at the tempo. First of all, you saw this against Michigan State, but also against Nebraska. Look at how they're not lined up. Nebraska lined up quickly, and they want to snap the football. Now Michigan is all over the place, and they're misaligned. There's four players over three at the top, and Adrian Martinez runs easily for a touchdown. Hutchinson's got to take the back. Martinez is wide open for the touchdown.

Again, because of the tempo, watch, everyone's confused. Everyone's confused. Now you've got what? Misalignment. You've got Martinez given a fake. He's going to read Hutchinson. You've got four players over three. You're misaligned.

And it's an easy touchdown for the opposition. Martinez walks into the end zone. OK, so that's tempo. Let's take a look at misdirection. And again, Nebraska did this well in the second half, even though Michigan won this game. You got man coverage right here on the outside. Watch of this is a little rodeo route.

The eye discipline's not there. He's looking on this side. Rodeo route comes out. The back end, so it stops in the back field. It goes back out. That's misdirection. And it's a touchdown for Nebraska. Again, watch this.

Man coverage, focus on the eyes of the defensive back. As a wide receiver stops, the eyes are not there. He doesn't know where his man is, and boom, he's out the back side. Those are the areas that Michigan struggles with. I fully expect that Ohio State will use tempo and they'll use misdirection, so we'll see if the Michigan defense has been able to correct some of those issues. So there we go. Ohio State offense, can you present pressure on C.J. Stroud?

Michigan, they're good. They're suited to do that. Can they do it Saturday? We'll wait and see. That Michigan defense, they've got to get pressure or else Stroud will pick them apart. Their struggle happens when the offense is moving fast and they use misdirection.

There's no doubt Ohio State will use some of that at some point. All right, let's move on to the next matchup now. OK, we talked about one side. Now it's Michigan offense. OK, Michigan offense, they've improved. OK, and the passing game is what really really needed to improve. We know they can run. I'm not going to talk about what they're strong at. I'm going to talk about where they've adjusted and how they've developed over the year.

They've improved in the passing game of late because McNamara has been able to throw the ball over the middle. I think he's better throwing the ball over the middle than he is outside of the numbers. That's what the film suggests. That's certainly what the case was against Michigan State. And then he's been able to develop a couple of threats on the outside. This isn't even including Donovan Edwards, who went off last week in their ball game against Maryland. But Andrew L Anthony and Eric All are two guys that have developed and become targets on the outside. Let's take a look at how that has manifested for Michigan. First of all, this is a third down.

They're backed up close to their own end zone. And here's Anthony, and he finds this space over the middle. So watch his McNamara throws it on time. Boom. That is a beautiful throw on time on the money. And now you see the speed from the freshman wide receiver. as he's able to go the distance. So that's a threat being developed.

Let's move on now to Eric All. This is them scheming for Eric All. Three wide receivers all going to run a layered crossing route in order to get Eric All open because it's manned coverage. So they pick his defender. Watch how open he is late against Penn State. This ended up being the winning score. So when you've got a threat like Eric All at tied in,

you've got a scheme to get him open. That's exactly what they did. One more look at this play. As you take a look at the three wide receivers at the top, one more look at this play, as we take a look at the three wide receivers at the top. three wide receivers at the top. See, Eric, all alone, all three layered crossing routes.

This ball is supposed to go to him. There's nobody else in the progression. McNamara sees him, bang. Balls out on time and on target, and you're able to let him run down the field. So that's them developing their targets. So they're better in the passing game. They've needed to be. Now, Ohio State on defense, folks, they've needed to improve their overall defense

from what we saw early in the season against Oregon. So we've seen Michigan now off. Offensively, they can run it. They can run it very well. Where have they needed to improve the passing game? Ohio State needed to improve after giving up way too many rushing yards against Oregon. They had to develop young players and they had to change some of their schematics. So how have they done that?

Well, they've done both of those things and let's take a look how. Okay, if you take a look at what they've been able to do, here's a young player in JT, Too, and Molo. He's one of the top recruits in the country. You're starting to see him dominate at times. This is against Indiana. It's just a pure one-on-on-on-on-on-old. one. I show that to tell you like, okay, they're starting to get some of this contribution from a young player. So now you've developed young talent, but what have they done in the scheme, the schematics? Let's take a look at the next play.

Here's the next plan. Rather than running man coverage like they did against Oregon with one single safety, you've got two safeties and everybody's eyes on the backfield. Why? Because they're in zone coverage. Now what you can do is you can sink underneath routes because your eyes are in the backfield and it forces tougher throws on the quarterback. there's another young player, Denzel Burke, he's able to pick it off and go to the end zone. So again, two high safeties, zone coverage with eyes on the backfield. So now you can sink into some of those passing lanes and make it more difficult on the quarterback, and you can create turnovers, which they do right here, and it's a pick six. Another thing that they were able to do is they were able to play with two safeties

and continue to stop the run. This is, again, a new scheme. Let's go to the next play. This scheme right here against Penn State, two safeties back, but now Penn State's going to run the ball. Got to insert yourself into the defensive front. That's what Ronnie Hickman is able to do. Look at that lane. It's right there, but now it's closed down,

because he's reacting better. They're playing faster because of that scheme. Two safeties back. Penn State should be able to run the ball, and there's a lane, but not when you're running a safety up into that spot. And that safety is only there because of recognition and the fact that he really understands the scheme.

They've simplified it a little bit, and they're much better overall on the defensive side. Folks, this is going to be an outstanding game. I think both of these teams are outstanding. Obviously, Ohio State offensively is maybe second to none. That matchup is going to be unbelievable. Can they pressure CJ Shroud? And then on that opposite side, will Ohio State stop the run game of Michigan?

And then do they know where some of those threats are that have started to emerge during the course of the year like Andrew L. Anthony and Eric All? It should be absolutely bonkers in the big house on Saturday. The Baylor Bears have had a resurgent season this year under head coach Dave Miranda. Last week, huge victory over Oklahoma. Then they beat Kansas State. And now they're in a position, coach, where if you win and things go your way, you could wind up back in the Big 12 championship game. Dave Miranda joins us on the program.

Coach, how you doing, bud? Doing great. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. First and foremost, let me ask specifically about your team the way they've played here in the back half of the year, because you've got to be pleased with the way that they've developed and the effort that you're seeing out of your group. Yeah, we really worked hard on limiting distractions, keeping the focus on the focus. I think, you know, there's been so many, so many battles really with our team that have allowed us to come together,

whether that is, you know, personality differences from maybe the coach that was prior to, you know, we used to run, we used to do it this way, now we're doing it that way. to, you know, academic, the importance of academics and being on time for things and going to class. We're checking that. You know, we're, as coaches, we're on campus, making sure guys are where they're supposed to be and doing what they're supposed to be doing. And here's the consequence if you don't. So there's all these things that have really, you know, the buy-in and the culture piece of it

has allowed us to get to this point. I think what can take us to the next level is the biggest fight of all, and that is respect and all, fear and none. You know, it doesn't matter what the logo is. It doesn't matter how many lights are turned on for this thing. It doesn't matter. Is it home? Is it away?

It doesn't matter, you know, who's hurt or who's not, right? There's a game to be played. There's a job to do. And you've got the green and gold on, man, let's go, you know? And so that thing has been a long time coming. I thought last Saturday was a good, a good step in the right direction. We have misstepped, you know, this year so far with this. And so this game versus Tech is going to be a big tell.

Okay, so you touched on distractions. There's no way to avoid the fact that your name is being brought up around the country for big jobs. How have you personally dealt with it and how do you feel like your team has dealt with it? Ben, as open and as honest as I can with the team. I'm going to address it again today with the team in the meeting, in our team meeting. You know, I love it here, and this is where I want to be. And I think, you know, the fit at Baylor, I think is so strong.

You know, I think just on the last couple days, you know, we, I meet with the Leadership Council. We've got about 10 guys that I meet with. And then I meet with our young players. We've got about 30 of them. So freshmen and redshirt freshmen. And we kind of go over kind of this is our culture. This is how we think.

This is what we believe. And this is kind of how we do things. And we talked about the Velveteen Rabbit. It's like one of my favorite, favorite books is the children's book. Did you really? The Velveteen Rabbit? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it's about dolls or toys wanting to become real. That's right. You know, and like there's a stick horse has been a toy or doll and seen dolls become real and they're seeing dolls that haven't. And the stick horse is saying, you know, to the velveteen rabbit say, hey, you become, it takes a long time. You know, and generally doesn't happen to people that have sharp edges or people that break easily or have to be carefully kept. And usually by the time you're real, your eyes are all worn out and your seams are broken. but you're not ugly only to people that don't understand

you know and so I think like that's the thing man that's it you know and so like to see football as a way to become real you know the ups and downs and how to how you learn about yourself and how you can grow and transcend I think all of those things

I feel like I can have those discussions and talk about those things way important to me you know here at Baylor sure so I'm often appreciative of that um listen Listen, I've done a lot of coaching interviews. I've never heard anyone referred to the Velveteen Rabbit, but it's on brand for you, coach.

You're one of the deepest thinkers. I've enjoyed our conversations immensely over the last few weeks. I appreciate your perspective and what you've been able to do at Baylor. Best of luck this week against tech. And then who knows, maybe you wind up in Dallas playing for a Big 12 championship. I appreciate your time, bud. Hey, appreciate it. Thank you. All right, let's get to it.

A friend told me like, you're not snarky enough anymore, sarcastic enough for clapback. So Thanksgiving edition, here we go. Let's go. What do we got out there? Jake Wiseman, Jake Wiz says, hey, Joel, Michigan hasn't won a top 10 game and UC has. Your list sucks. This coming from a Bengals fan. You know what? Your list sucks. Jake, how do you like that? Happy Thanksgiving. Let's move on. Let's move on to sports fans 73. Do you actually watch football games or not really? Like, are you serious? Are you serious? I assume that you're in Ohio. State fan, I have them number two. Are you mad that they're not number one? And by the way, even if you're 73 years old, there's not a doubt in my mind that I've watched more football over the course of my life than you have. Do you even lift, bro? What are you talking about?

Do you actually watch football games? That's literally my job. I watch more football than anybody that I know. Unbelievable, pal. What are you doing, guy? Like, what are you doing? Think before you type. What type of a world do you live in right now? What do it? What are you? A CPA? Nothing against CPAs. It was like, do you even do math, bro? Like, give me a break. Give me a break.

Do you actually watch football games or not really? I guess not really. I guess I've just been watching Ted Lassau on my iPad for the last 52 hours this week, getting ready for Michigan, Ohio State. Not to mention all the hours I put together for that scheme breakdown that I did earlier in the show. You're gone.

Get out of here, Brosif. All right, huge Thanksgiving week, rivalry week, Michigan, Ohio State, Gus, Jeannie and I in the big house for the game. Winner goes to the Big Ten championship game. Coverage begins at 10 a.m. Eastern with Big Noon kickoff, and then the game, noon Eastern will be there. Thank you to Dr. Pepper. Remember it is the one fans deserve.

This has been Breaking the Huddle. I'm Joel Klapp.