The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Michigan beats Ohio State again, Alabama’s escape and Washington & Florida State survive

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt breaks down all the biggest moments from “The Game” between Ohio State and Michigan as the Wolverines won their 3rd straight in the rivalry. He discusses how Head Coaches Sherrone Moore and Ryan Day performed in the game and why the Buckeyes would be crazy to consider moving on from Day. Klatt also shares details of the emotional scene in Michigan Stadium when Offensive Lineman Zak Zinter suffered his serious injury. He describes how the home crowd provided a lift to their team that was unlike any he’s ever been a part of as a broadcaster. Klatt also lays out Ohio State’s path to the College Football Playoff following the loss to their rival. Then, Klatt evaluates the close wins by a trio of contenders as Alabama, Florida State and Washington all escaped upsets. He finishes the show by giving his thoughts on the two major coaching hires made over the weekend: Jonathan Smith to Michigan State and Mike Elko to Texas A&M. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up on the Joel Klatt show, Michigan beats Ohio State for the third straight year. The game beats me, and I recap the entire day of college football. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. It was an epic day of college football. It was just one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. What's going on, everybody?

I'm Joel Klat. this is the Joel Clat Show. This is presented by Hampton by Hilton. Big thanks to them. And before we get started, yes, I am sick. And the game kicked my butt. Lots of prep going into the season, lots of travel, obviously. And I'm always hoping and praying that I don't get sick for a big game. And sure enough, about five hours after the game, bam. I got sick. thankfully it's just right in between. So by next week and the Big Ten Championship, I hopefully will be feeling a lot better.

But I am currently very under the weather, but we're going to get through this, and I did not want to cancel tonight because, and tonight meeting like I record this on Sunday night for you on Monday morning so that you first thing Monday morning, even over on the East Coast, you've got the reaction, the Joel Clat Show reaction to college football.

So just remember before we get started, go follow us on social media at Joel Clat Show wherever you social media. follow us on YouTube and subscribe to the channel. And remember, we've got extra stuff there. So even if you're just a listener, wherever you subscribe to your podcasts, go ahead and get over there to the YouTube channel and subscribe there as well. Okay.

I'm going to try to be judicious with my words here. Okay, Michigan wins for the third straight year. And I tell you what, 30 to 24, that was another fantastic edition of the game. And let me just start by saying that that game lived up to its hype. All right. Not always do we get a game as compelling as the one that we saw on Saturday. And that game was fantastic. It was really well played.

There were plays made on both sides. There were answers. What I love about sports is when a team, like, gives up a score and then they answer. and then maybe there's another score and then they answer and it. This game had that. There was just constant answering and these two teams are really good teams. And they played like it on Saturday. It was not the second half bludgeoning of 2021 where Michigan just overpowered Ohio State.

It wasn't even, you know, the dynamic big plays that we saw in 2022. This one was a more evenly played. game. It was really a battle throughout. I enjoyed it immensely. If you look at the stat sheet, you know, it was incredibly evenly played. I think Ohio State actually outgained Michigan per play and maybe even in total yards. And again, Ohio State kept answering. Every time Michigan would score, they would answer. And it was always going to come down to a couple of moments. And we'll get to that a little bit. But before we get into the more specifics, if you're a Michigan fan, this does not get old hearing the last call. This is how it sounded

when Rod Moore got that interception. McCord looks at Michigan. And there's the interception. A play on a drive like that. Either side will live forever. And Rod Moore makes it and seals a victory for Michigan. Michigan for the third straight win in this series. Man, incredible game. And that was a great series that Ohio State was putting together. And Michigan kept answering and they would have an adjustment on defense. And again, it was just back and forth and back and forth.

It was fantastic. Loved watching it. Loved calling that game. And in the end, what happened is something that I had touched on during most of the game, which was that pressure from the defensive front of Michigan showed up. I talked about several times during the game the stunts and the twists that the defensive line uses for Michigan and how effective that they have been over the course of the year. And sure enough, what happens? It was a stunt.

Jalen Harrell, he comes inside. I believe it was Mason Graham, goes outside, and Harold did an excellent job of knocking the guard down, the center down, and then finding a lane to the quarterback. And it was that pressure that caused Kyle McCord to throw that ball off target and, Rod Moore ends up picking it off. So that's where I wanted, everyone should know how incredible it is to get a game with undefeated, to get a game with two programs playing at their best, at their peak, and to get the vitriol and the hate where it was this weekend. It's even more than hate.

I mean, there was so much riding on this game. And then to have the game that we did in the back and forth nature of the game and the physicality of the game, that was, man, that was awesome. It was awesome. I enjoyed every minute of it. And now we've got to analyze it. What went on? What happened?

What went wrong for Ohio State? What went right for Michigan? Let's start with the coaches because a lot of people are going to start with the coaches. And I want to start with just the decisions that they made because you've got to give Sharon Moore acting coach. doesn't have a big history in this game, man. He played with the freedom of someone with no scar tissue in the game. He coached and made decisions with no scar tissue.

And it was evident. He went for it on fourth down three times. They scored touchdowns on each drive that he went for it. He went for it fourth and goal from the one. It gets into the end zone. And then he converted two fourth downs, really back to back, back to back sets of downs. Goes forward on fourth and one, Blake Corum runs for a yard. Then, you know, first down, second down, third down, gets it back to a fourth down, goes forward again, throws it to Colston Loveland.

And by the way, the first one in that sequence set up the second one, same formation. And it looked like, as I'm watching the film, it looked like they have the pass to Colston, Loveland, called on the first, fourth, and one. and they check out of it because they were trying to throw it to the wide side of the field. But because it was the wide side of the field, Ohio State's defense had kind of stretched out, and there was a further support player on that side outside. So they checked it. Blake Corum went from Colston Loveland's side, which was the right side of the quarterback to the left side of the quarterback. They called the dive. They get it.

First down, second down, third down. They get back now into a fourth and one. They get into the exact same formation. and now it's Colson Loveland's on the right side again in that little wingback formation double tight and yet it's to the short side of the field. And so then the defense condenses. Well, they're in that same formation.

Now Coram is on Loveland's side. They look over for the check and they keep it on. And then they give the fake to Corum and they throw it to Colson Lovelin. So the first fourth down builds into the second fourth down. And again, so that is not. just the decision of how you go for it or how aggressive you're going to be, but then it's also he's the offensive coordinator, and he's building and sequencing into success. I love that about Jerome Moore. Those two fourth downs happen on the same drive that they threw

the touchdown pass to Roman Wilson over the middle. And that play, man, I could talk about that play for five, ten minutes just in and of itself. So much on that play. And I know a lot of people upset from the Michigan side about my thoughts that I thought the Roman Wilson touchdown, you know, maybe wasn't to catch. But it stood and it's a touchdown. But that was a close call. There's clearly that was a close call. Now, the other side, Ryan Day, coaching. So Sharon Moore, he's coaching and operating with no scar tissue. He's got the freedom of not having a long memory. he's got the freedom of being kind of the naive, youthful coach. And maybe that's not meant to be a shot.

I mean, there's, again, a lot of freedom to that. He hasn't had to sit in a press conference after losing this game. Now, he's lost the game as an assistant coach, never as a coordinator, but as an assistant coach. But that's different than being the head coach and making the decisions and sitting in front of the microphone and taking the questions. You know, Jim Harbaugh has scar tissue from this game.

Ryan Day now has scar tissue from this game. And Sharon Moore doesn't in that role. And he coached like it. He coached like it. They were aggressive. And they also ran the kind of double passy type of deal, like the halfback pass with Donovan Edwards, the first play of the fourth quarter.

He told us he was going to be aggressive. He told his team he was going to be aggressive. and then he was. So credit to him. Ryan Day, he was put into some situations that were not as advantageous. Okay, listen, fourth and goal from the one, if you're Michigan, you're probably going to go for it, right? Like, if he kicks that, everyone's like, why did you kick that? Blickorum's the best short yardage back in the country. You've won the Joe Moore Award twice, right?

So Sharon's decision on the fourth and goal wasn't much of a decision. Even fourth and one, they're on the plus side of the 50. like those are pretty heavy go-for-it mentality plus side of the 50s so like the situation lent itself to him going for it not the case for Ryan Day's decisions in fact Ryan Day's decisions were at that place where you're like dang it it's a much tougher decision to go for it on fourth and one when you're in your own territory because remember a failed fourth and one. So Ryan Day, fourth and one at his own 46 on the second drive of the game. Okay, so it's only the second drive of the game. But he's got fourth and one. But it's his own

46. Field goal range for Michigan is the 35. So you see like, depending on what happens on that fourth down, if you don't even, if you don't get it, one first down, you give up one first down there in scoring territory. So a failed fourth down there is almost automatically. three points for your opposition. It's not the plus side where they've got to drive and get two or three first downs in order to get in field goal range. So you've got some ability to recover from not making that first down if it's on the plus side of the 50, like Sharon Moore's work.

You know, those are, I don't call them no-brainers because, again, I gave him credit, and you should give him credit. Days were a little bit more difficult. So it's like, I don't know, that's a tough decision. He punted. He knew his defense was going to play well. He knew that Michigan's defense was going to play well. And he felt like points were going to be at a premium.

So why artificially give them three points early in the game? Okay. So like that's why I didn't say anything about it in the course of the broadcast. And then late in the second quarter, and this is what a lot of people are going to talk about. He played conservative and played for a field goal. So the clock is under a minute. And now it's fourth and two. and now you're on the Michigan 34.

Okay. Now with where the clock is at, it's a lower percentage that if you fail, Michigan's going to go get points. I understand he probably didn't want to give Michigan the ball. But with where the clock was at again, I think there was like 34, 35 seconds right around there. And the fourth and two meant that if you're going to kick it,

it's a 52-yard field goal. Their kickers range was a long of 50. So you're stretching the range of your kicker and settling for that. Now, Trevion had been great in the last few weeks. Obviously, you've got Harrison and Abuka. You've got Cade Stover. Like, you've got a very good offense. He played to drain the clock and kick the field goal.

Now, to be fair, fielding their kicker, 14 of 16 on the year, long of 47 on the season, but did make from 50 going back to high school. Has a good leg. He's handled kickoff duties since last season. So it's like he made the first one, okay? He made the first one. I thought what was,

what was interesting is like once he realizes like, okay, I'm going to kick the field goal. I'm not going for it. I'm kicking the field goal. I'm taking the points. That's fine. And then he did the correct thing, which was put the onus on Sharon Moore

by not taking his time out. Now I'm going to take a time out with three seconds left so that the kick ends the half and I don't have to kick off after the field goal. Smart thing to do. So this is when Sharon Moore has a decision to make. I'm going to take my timeout to make sure I have 30 seconds

so that I get a kick return or I'm going to save that timeout so that I can ice the kicker because you can't do both because you can't call back-to-back timeouts. And I, that's a miss. I always replay things that was a miss for me during the broadcast. I should have said that on the broadcast. If Sharon Moore, again, let me just reiterate, Ryan Day with about, you know, that's like mid-30s seconds left to go in the half, decides to,

he's got one timeout left, it's fourth and two. He decides, I'm kicking. Okay. He does then the smart thing and says, I'm going to wait to the clock as three seconds. so that the field goal ends the half. Sharon Moore cannot take back-to-back timeouts. So even though he has multiple timeouts left, he's got one in the chamber. He can either use it to save time so that he gets a kickoff return and a chance with his offense

or he saves it to ice the kicker. He saves it to ice the kicker. They take a timeout right before the snap. Ohio State does the proper thing. They go through the whole mechanics, fielding kicks it. boom, it's good. All right, there was a timeout. Now it's on because you know you can't take a second time out.

So what happens? Fielding misses. And then that becomes like one of if not the biggest play of the game. So we go back to the coaching. Everything that happened in that, you know, is hard. It's hard because, again, I wish I would have. So Day's decision to not go for it there, everyone's like, well, you had time, he's got to go for it. Okay, okay. Even if he goes for it,

how much are you increasing your probability of your make probability? Right? So think of it this way. He's putting at fourth and two, you know, you've got X percent chance. Let's just say it's like 50, 50 or 55 percent or 57 percent, okay, to get the first down. Well, even if you make it, you're only increasing your make probability because of the shorter field goal by a little bit, because you're already stretching the range of the kicker. In his mind, what's different between a 47-yard field goal and a 52-yard field goal? I bet you with fielding's percentages, it's not much. So why risk the fourth down to just gain a small numbers advantage in terms of the shorter field goal? Now, could you have, could you make the argument like, well, you could have taken a couple of shots?

Yeah. You know, that's the argument is that if you get the first down, you still have a timeout, and you can take a couple of shots. And maybe you get down there to make it a 20-yard field goal. Maybe you get down there. Maybe you can score. Maybe Harrison makes a great catch. I think a lot of, you know, so that's going to be debatable. But again, like, Day was forced with more difficult decisions than Sharon. Now, Sharon aggressively and with no scar tissue made bold decisions and coached a wonderful game. Like I said, even the play calls when he did go for it were really good. That's why I wanted to go back on the film and watch those because when you look at that, you know, he was tremendous.

All right. So let's talk about quickly like, what does this mean for Ryan Day? he's 56 and 7 overall three losses to Michigan three losses in a playoff man I mean I get it I get it people are upset

but man let me just state by saying like Ryan's a freaking good coach great human great coach they got a good staff this is what's so funny covering both of these teams is that each of them don't like the other. Each of them are excellent football coaches.

The whole staff. You know, I love talking football with a lot of these guys. And pinch me, I get to do it. Whether I'm talking with Sharon or Jesse Minter, whether I'm talking with Ryan or Brian Hartline, Jim Knowles. These guys are good. coaches. Really good. And unfortunately, you know, for Ryan, he's losing the wrong games for this fan base. He's won 89% of his games. He's 56 and 7. He recruits at a high level. And yet,

they haven't lost this game three in a row since, what was it? The early 90s, this is not setting well with them. And all I'm going to say is like, you're just going to have to know, and believe that he can fix it. Because you can't change for change sake. If you're going to change, you have to change to be better. Who makes you better? Because you're already at the top of the sport in a lot of ways. Now, have you won the national championship?

No. Have you won the Big Ten? No. Have you beaten Michigan? No. You're within a breath of that. I mean, last year, you're within a breath of basically winning the national. national championship. You're within a breath on Saturday of winning that game. I mean,

the plays made versus the plays missed are just like, they are so small. The margins are so small. And for me, when the margins are that small, you don't, you don't throw it out and start over. That's crazy. That's crazy. You start chasing it. You start bringing people in, you know, and being like, we're better than this. Okay, I get it. But the margins are so thin right now that you know what you do? You go to work and you just try to squeeze those margins. Get one or two more recruits.

How do we do it? And they've gotten better. This game, like I just told you, was a lot different than 2021. Ohio State was much more prepared to play at the line of scrimmage with Michigan this year than they were each of the last two years. They did an outstanding job. Michigan did an outstanding job. Those were two great teams.

One had to lose. It happened to be Ohio State. Ohio State has the number two ranked class in the country coming in and 24 right now, five, five stars, including the number one overall recruit. Like, Ryan's going to get it done there. He's going to get it done. Just like, you know, like I thought it was crazy when Michigan wanted to run Jim Harbaugh off, even after the COVID year.

Right? And I'm like, well, okay, who are you getting? I remember making this argument back then. Now, I didn't have this show to do it, but I would have said the same thing. You cannot change for change's sake. Who are you getting at Michigan that's better than Jim Harbaugh? Probably not many people, if anyone. Who are you getting that's better than Ryan Day? because like Kirby and Nick aren't walking through that door.

Those are like the only couple of coaches where I'm like, well, you know, those guys, they got the national championships. I think Ryan will do this. I think he'll get there. He's too good of a coach. You know, Urban's not coming back. Ryan's excellent. And that's, I just think it's overblown.

And like, don't listen to like one player. I saw it. I saw the Maurice Colerette tweet, you know. And listen, he's a. emotional. He's a former player. A lot of former players. We get emotional. And he since deleted it. And I think that that's probably correct. Maurice said, hey, Ryan Day, love you, bro, but got to go. That's incorrect. No. No. Maurice is wrong. Those of you thinking that are wrong. The margins are small. And he will get it done. That was a phenomenal game that could have gone either way. Could have gone either way.

So that's my thoughts on Ryan Day. The whole A&M stuff, that was never, that's a no. Ryan's excellent. Okay. Let's talk about those small, those margins that I was just referring to. Game really comes down to three things. One's a review. One's an interception.

One's a misfield goal. I already talked about the miss field goal. so now we get into the early interception by Kyle McCord. I've watched it over and over again. Here's the thing that I think was the mistake from McCord. The mistake from McCord was thinking that he could just stand up and throw an in-breaking route on Will Johnson. So I've studied both of these teams pretty extensively.

And if you watch Will Johnson, And what you'll see is that he's got six interceptions in his career, and four of them are on in-breaking routes. He does an exceptional job of sitting on routes, in particular when he has over-the-top help. And on that play, he did have over-the-top help. I thought Ohio State on that one, it looked like an RPO, and it looked like Kyle should have handed that ball off.

It looked like they had numbers to block up front and that they should have handed it off. He didn't, and he chose to stand up and just throw it to Marvin. Now, here's where it gets difficult, is that if you are throwing a slant or an under route, something that's in breaking, generally speaking as a quarterback, you're not reading the defender. You're trusting the wide receiver to break off of the inside shoulder. You're trusting the wide receiver to win inside. and if he gets beat over the top and cut off, there's nothing I can do about that.

So as good as Marvin Harrison was, a little fault falls on Marvin Harrison in that play. Looks like an RPO. I think he should have handed the ball off. He doesn't. He comes up to throw it to Marvin Harrison. Not a bad idea. But two things happen.

One is, if you study Will, you know you can't just nondescriptively throw a sloth plant on Will Johnson. That's exactly how he had four of his six interceptions, basically, or at least two, he did the same thing in the Purdue game last year in the conference championship game. He did a similar thing on a combination route against Minnesota where the inside receiver was coming out to him and he had over the top help. Like, he's a squatter and he's really good at it. And as soon as he feels like the wide receiver is about to break, his eyes go to the quarterback, and then he breaks on the ball. This is what makes him so good.

it's what makes him a five-star player and what I think could be an All-American. So that's a huge play. I know it happens in the first half, but it sets Michigan up to get an easy score and they're able to get a score. And that's the mistake. So do I feel for Kyle in some regard? Yeah. But in the other regard, it's like you've got to know who you're throwing to. And if you've got numbers to run the ball, you've got to hand it off on an RPO.

So that's my thoughts on that. And then the Roman Wilson touchdown and review. Okay, listen, I get it. I know Michigan fans were irate with my thoughts on the play. Based on the looks I saw, I thought Roman did not have firm control for the amount of time necessary to make him a runner, which means that he would have had to complete the process of a catch. That's a total judgment call, all right? Now, others disagree with me.

Dean Blandino thought that the play should have stood. Okay. I thought, no, I didn't think he controlled the ball. Here's the thing that you need to know about me. I'm always going to tell you exactly what I think. Okay. I just am. When the calls come up, I view that as my job.

So I'm going to tell you what I think. That's what I thought of that play. And I know a lot of people thought that that, you know, made me biased or whatever, which clearly not the case. I don't have a dog in the hunt. Love covering both of these programs. That was a huge play, though. A huge play.

And what I thought was really interesting when I watched that play on film, Malik Hartford, number 25, he is staring at J.J. McCarthy. Roman Wilson is coming off of his right. and right before JJ goes to throw it, Malik Hartford looks to Roman Wilson to look him up and start to cover him. But because of that, he didn't see JJ actually make the throw. If his eyes just stay on the quarterback for one more beat,

and I'm talking like a millisecond beat, he sees the throw and it's the easiest interception of the game. but because his eyes had moved, and I'm not saying that he's wrong. I mean, he's sitting in kind of a whole safety position where overroutes, he's going to have to look up and start to cover him. And so it's just kind of the timing and the sequence of everything that goes on. His eyes leave the quarterback, and right then the throw is made and he never sees it. If his eyes are on the quarterback for one more beat, he makes the interception.

but as it was, his eyes go to the wide receiver, and it becomes one of the great passes I've ever seen. He threads it, McCarthy threads it through two defenders. So he threads it through Burke and Hartford. Roman Wilson makes an incredible catch. Burke is pawing at his arm right away as he's going into the end zone. Phenomenal play. Phenomenal play.

In the end, they called it a catch touchdown. They stood with the ruling, and that's what it is. is. And you know what? That was a phenomenal play. And the game comes down to those three plays. If the call on the field would have been an incompletion or an interception, it would have stood. It wasn't. Missed fielding makes the first one, gets ice, misses the second one, and then the McCord, I&T, which sets Michigan up for a first and goal, and they're able to get into the end zone on fourth and goal. That's the game. And when you play a game, between two teams that are that evenly matched, it's going to come down to something like that.

It's going to come down to two or three or four snaps of the football, and it did. That was pretty good. That was as well of a big game as I've seen played in a long time. A couple more things. Zach Zenter moment. This was a moment that's not a play in the game. But it's a moment in the game that kind of changes the whole outlook of the game.

So Zach Zenter, number 65, the guard from Michigan. This is, in a lot of ways, the heart and soul, you know, of the offensive line, of the offense, of the program in some ways. You know, this guy is a senior. He comes back to play this year. Could have gone to the NFL last year. He started 41 games. He started since he was a true freshman. when we talk with Jalen Harrell, the outside linebacker,

defensive end before the game on Friday, you know, Gus asked him like, who is the guy that embodies, you know, what you want, the nastiness, the physicality.

He's like, oh, big Zint, big Zent for sure. So he has the respect of the defensive players. He has the respect of the offensive players. And when he went down, um, listen,

we didn't show it to you because it was, Like, we knew he pretty clearly broke his leg. And they were out there immediately with the cart. They were out there immediately with the air cast. And the players that saw him immediately, like on the ground, they knew it. So let me just take you through the moment. So he goes down and the air leaves the building. And it is quiet.

You can hear a pin drive. and there's a lot of emotion from his teammates. Some of the other offensive linemen, guys that he's roomed with and been with forever. Trevor Keegan specifically, number 77, Carson Barnhart, you know, Trent A Jones. I mean, these guys are veteran guys. They've been together for a long time,

and they've taken these transfers under their wing, Drake Nugent, Ladarius Henderson. and when it's quiet and he's initially down and they're pumping up the aircast before he's on the cart, the team wasn't out on the field yet. There was just an outpouring of emotion. Kegan, and this is in a commercial break, was hitting the ground with his helmet, crying. Other guys crying.

You can see just state of shock. Even when we came back from break, you could still see that state of shock on their face. and then something happened that I've never experienced before calling games, never experienced it before. Full disclosure, I've tried to tell this story in preparation for this podcast. I've tried to tell this story twice today. Once to my wife and another, my neighbor who's an awesome guy. And I didn't get through it without crying.

I'm emotional when it comes to college football because I know how much goes into it for these guys. So every time a guy goes down, and I know it's an ACL or an Achilles or a broken leg, and it's like, hey, season's done. And in particular when it's a senior or a guy that I know is not going to play college football again, like, you know, Zach Zenter, I get emotional. I get really emotional. And maybe it's just that I'm uniquely aware of. I have a lot of empathy towards what they go through, you know, what the teammates go through with them. You know, if you're Trevor Kegan, you've roomed with Zach Zenter. You live with him. You know where he came from. You know his struggles. You know what he went through to be here. You know what his hopes and dreams are.

And now you see him on the ground and his leg is broken right in front of your face. So it's like, it's an emotional time. And I get emotional when I see that stuff. So I'm in the booth. And during the commercial, I'm like, oh my gosh. Like, I'm devastated. sucks. I hate it. Regardless of the team anywhere, I hate it. I don't like to see injuries. And then something happens. Through my headset, I have my headset on during the timeout. And it's hard to hear the crowd unless like the sound from the game is happening. And in commercial, we kind of like lose that nat, what we call nat sound, natural sound. And so it's hard for me to kind of like hear what's going on in the stadium during commercial.

Even though my headset's on, I hear the stadium start to come alive. They're pumping up the aircast. The team is devastated. And the big house starts chanting. I get emotional. I'm sorry. Let's go, Zach. Let's go, Zach.

And it's not just one section. It's not just one area. It was the whole stadium. And it was loud. It was so loud I took my headset off to hear it and I was blown away. I've never heard a stadium that loud in a commercial break ever, ever. You know, save for like the jump around for Wisconsin or, you know, something where it's a manufactured song. This was completely human element driven.

No music. No band. announcer and the Michigan fans just start chanting for him. Right? I got emotional in the booth. And right then, here's what happens is that the team goes from devastated to unified when this tsunami of emotion from the fans pours out onto the field. It was freaking loud.

again, I've never experienced anything like this. And what I hate is that you didn't experience it at home. Like you can't experience it that. And anybody that was there will tell you what I'm telling you. It's like that crowd with no music or anything, lift. Dude, I'm telling you, this was wild. That team was devastated and lifeless for a moment, watching one of their leaders get his leg put in an aircast.

And once that chant started in Michigan Stadium and it was loud and the energy was palpable, the team rose up, they stood up, and they walked out onto the field. So when we come back from commercial, that's what you see. And we'll put it up again, that whole sequence here that you just saw on YouTube. So we'll put it up again because you see all the players. and now they're up. And now they're standing there. So this is after the chant.

And the chant, like, I'm telling you, that crowd at Michigan Stadium lifted Michigan up off the mat. They did. The team did not have it during that break until that chant. And then you can see them start to get resilient. And then you see him get put on the cart. And now, like, the stadium comes back alive, right?

And now his fist goes up. And now they start to cheer. And now the players are, like, galvanized. And so now all of a sudden his team is like, all right, let's go do this for 65, Zach's center. and what happens on the next play. Next play. Bam. Touchdown from Blake Corum.

It was incredible. I've never seen anything like it in my career. Never seen anything like it. And then as Blake Corum runs into the end zone, it's the loudest I've heard in Michigan Stadium in a long time, he runs right up to our camera. the Fox camera, and flashes the 6-5. You know, Zin's parents were there at Senior Day,

and so they're getting hugs when he gets carted off, and then Blake Corum, boom, he breaks off a run, sunny styles the safety takes a bad angle, and boom, 6-5 right in front of our camera. Oh, man. That was a pretty remarkable little sequence there, And the sequence that I got a bit emotional in, when we came back from commercial, I had to turn away from the field. I did not want you guys to hear on the broadcast, my voice crack, because I was getting emotional.

So I turned from the field in the booth. I started looking at some of my charts and trying to re, you know, center myself to not only talk about Zach Zenter quickly because we were going to come back from break. Here's Zach Center. Hey, he's a heartbeat of the team. He's 41 career starts and give some of that information, which you all deserve. But also, like, not get choked up because we got a game to play. So here we go. So I turned away from it when we came back from break.

And I didn't turn back to the field until right before the snap. So that's what's going on in the booth for me. And then last thing that I'll say about the whole center moment is that that crowd used to be like a nervous. energy crowd at Michigan when I first started doing games at Michigan. It was it was always the when is when is this going to go wrong crowd? And I get it. They have the they've had moments throughout the years where they get you know jaded and let down. But it was it was always kind of that that feeling in 2017 and 18 and 19. It was always that okay when is the play that's going to happen that's going to break our back. Again, it was a nervous energy crowd. And I felt like at times that nervous energy

even seeped into the team. Something happened in the fourth quarter against Ohio State in 2021. That crowd had that energy. But then all of a sudden, they realized in 2021, it's like, wait, we're going to win. And then all this stuff, from that point forward, now it's a crowd with with like an expectant energy. They expect domination. They want domination. They know they're going to get domination, right? So it is totally changed.

And then to see that crowd and experience what it was prior when I first started going there until then what I experienced on Saturday in the booth with Gus, it was wild because I'm just telling you right now that fan base with no prompting, that stadium, lifted that team up off the mat. The team walked out on the field. They all of a sudden were galvanized. All of a sudden, it's a touchdown. Blake flashes the 6-5,

and it was really loud in a moment which could have gone the other direction. Big picture outlook really quickly. Michigan, I think that they're better suited this year than either of the two previous years they went to the playoff. They obviously still have to beat Iowa.

they'll be favored to do so in the conference championship game. But this is a better team, I think, more well-rounded team than either of the previous two, even though they don't quite have the pass rush that the 21 team did. And maybe last year's team, you know, maybe was a little bit more dominant running the football. This one has elements of everything. They can throw the ball. You saw that with the tight end Colston-level. You saw that with Roman Wilson.

They can run the football when they need to and want to. saw that against Penn State. You saw that at times against Ohio State. The defense can put pressure on the quarterback. We saw that each of the last two weeks when Maryland and Ohio State started to get some rhythm in the passing game. They've got guys that can make plays on the outside. They're terrific and special teams. Their coaching staff is legit and they make aggressive decisions and they put their team in the best chance to win the game. This is a team that I think has a better chance to succeed in the postseason than each of the previous two seasons that they've been there. They also have this togetherness.

You know, the past three years, man, it's been an interesting juxtaposition from the Michigan teams I was covering before COVID to the Michigan teams I was covering after COVID. They believe in one another. There's a love that's palpable within that organization and that program. They love Jim Harbaugh. They talk about each other with respect. It's not a program that you go in that talks about things that are going wrong

or things that they don't have. All they talk about are things that they do have, that things that are going right and why they're going to be successful. They really love each other and it shows when I go and meet them. And this seems like a culmination of that culture change since COVID. That's what this year has felt like for me. Now we transition to the Ohio State path forward. Okay, I think Ohio State still does have a path to the playoff.

It's very small, but it is there. for all intents and purposes, last week was a play-in game or an elimination game, I think, is a better way to put it. But if you really look at this, I do think that there is a narrowing path right now for Ohio State. And this would be it.

I believe that they need a three-team parlay this week, and then they would be in a position to potentially get included in the college football playoff. Because remember, it's tough to win on the road in a top five road environment. Top five teams are 31 and 1 this year in their home stadium. Alabama was the only loss.

So, like, the way that they played and that game being such a great game, they'll be all right. They still have the Notre Dame win. They still have a very good resume. So now they need a three-team parlay in order to get themselves into the playoff. They need the following three teams to lose.

Alabama, Florida, State, Texas. If those three teams lose, I think that, I think, I think Ohio State goes if those three teams lose. So I know it's small, but they need Georgia to win. They need Louisville to win, and they need Oklahoma State to win. And if those three things happen, then they've got a shot. And I would even say like a pretty good shot. If only two of those three things happen, I think they do not have much of a shot at all. So that's the path for Ohio State to get themselves into the playoff like they did a year ago after a loss to Michigan.

As you guys know, this is my favorite time of year. The football season builds. It's like a slow build. And it is my favorite time of year in August when we get to start college football. It's my favorite time of year getting to see these teams compete in what versions we're going to see in September. Then we get to see them start to prove it in conference play in October. That's my favorite. Then you get to November, which is like the championship month.

And that's when you really get some rivalries. That's my favorite. Then you get to Thanksgiving and get the game. That's my favorite. And then we get to conference championships. And that's, it just builds. Everything is amazing. And as you know, I take it seriously.

So when I'm traveling on the road, like I do all season long, to watch my favorite teams and cover my favorite teams, I can't risk calling the wrong play with where I stay. So wherever I go, I know that I can count on hamps, Hampton by Hilton. I can depend on their comfortable rooms and their warm and friendly service. You know that their hot breakfast for me, the free hot breakfast is a total game changer. Gotta have it all the time. So whether you're cheering on your team from the stands or never leaving the tailgate,

Hampton by Hilton will always give you that win. All right. Let me go a little bit faster through the rest of this show. I wanted to make sure that I had a long discussion of the game. That game deserved it. And then I want to talk about these three other teams that kind of survived on Saturday. Bama survived. Florida State survived. Washington survived.

And now all of them, I think you would say in some way, shape, or form, Washington's in a play-in game. I think Florida State win and you're in, although I don't think anybody, I think it's fair to say, well, I think it's fair to say, even if Florida State wins against Louisville, they're not one of the four best teams in the country. I think we know that. Now, that doesn't mean that they won't go to the playoff or that they don't deserve to go to the playoff. but you know the age-old argument that always gets thrown out about, well, are they one of the four best? No, no, they're not.

Bama survives. And if they would have lost to Auburn, there's no way that they could have gotten in to the playoffs. So they stay alive, although in order to get in, now Bama's going to need not only some help. They're going to need to win. I don't think they're in a playing situation because now that game against Auburn is a bit of a black eye. on their resume, even in a win because of how it happened. They survive fourth and goal from the 31. Auburn, by the way, last week got beat by 21 against New Mexico State on the same field.

To be fair, Auburn has played really well against SEC teams at home. Lost to Georgia by 7, Ole Miss by 7, Alabama by 3. But they do have that Oklahoma, or excuse me, Oklahoma. New Mexico state loss by 21. The end of that game was, I don't know how to categorize it. So Bama gets a first and goal and you're just like, oh yeah, they're going to win.

But then they have the bad snap. And then he goes across the line of scrimmage, makes a throw. And then they've got fourth in goal. and Auburn runs one of the worst defenses you can possibly imagine. So on third down and forever, they rush three. A mineral kind of has to escape, which is what you want. And the reason is, is because, one, he's not going to run for it from 31 yards out.

and if you can force him to take off one direction, you are cutting off the amount of field that you have to cover. But when he's allowed to just stand there, then you've got to cover the entire 53 and a half yards across in the end zone. And Auburn on 4th Down rushes two, and they have a spy. A spy for what? the 31-yard scramble when the rest of the defense

is sitting at the goal line like what are we doing that was wild and to be fair Millro kind of threw a prayer and they end up winning the game that was wild I couldn't believe it

I couldn't believe it when I saw it man Milrow by the way, not a Heisman moment at all. But what a wind for Bama. And then they stay alive. So now they're still alive and they're still going to get people that argue for them because that's just the way college football works.

Even though they survived on a fourth and 31 because Auburn doesn't know how to play defense. They had a spy. They rushed to and had a spy. Fourth and 31. What are we doing? What are we doing? You don't need to spy.

you want him to run out of the pocket. You're desperate for him to flush out of the pocket. And in fact, because you only rushed two, both of those guys were double-teamed. Those guys aren't getting to the quarterback. So you got two guys both being double-teamed. And the center was just waiting on the spy. And the spy just never rushed.

So the only guy on the field that had a one-on-one situation to impact for the defense was the spy who didn't take advantage of it. He didn't even rush. You want Mill Road to run out of the pocket. Please. Please try to run for it. Oh, my goodness.

I'd be sick if I was an Auburn fan. Florida State beats Florida 2415 in a game that was way closer than 24 to 15. Florida State trailed 12-0. Benson, it was at 3 and 3 with about about three minutes, he broke it out, ran for a touchdown. Florida State had 224 yards of total offense, and they were outgained in the game by a team that's not bowl eligible in Florida. Like, guys, again, I can't stand that Jordan Travis got injured, but without Jordan Travis, there is zero chance that Florida State is one of the four best teams in the country, period.

not a chance. I think Louisville will beat them, but Louisville just lost to Kentucky. So I'm not sure. Florida had a couple of dumb penalties. They had a targeting when Roddemeanor was sliding. I mean, he's going to be four yards short on third down, and they're taking a shot at him. They're diving at him.

I'm like, what is Florida doing? Oh, yeah, they're being Florida. That's why they aren't going to a bowl game. And so, like, as much as I hate the fact that an undefeated team is categorized like this for me, Florida State is pretty clearly not one of the four best teams in the country. Washington survives. So they're playing Washington State. And every game, it feels like Washington is having to win a, you know, a game by less than 10, basically. Basically a one possession game.

and they continue to do it. This is a team that has some holes. They've got some really great players. How about the fourth down from Kailin DeBore? So Kailen DeBore is in a tie ball game. It's fourth down and won. He's on his own 29-yard line with a minute 11 left. Seasons on the line.

He goes for it. Adonze on a little kind of trick, little fake flip to a dunce and they're able to get it. That call is so gutsy. That's it. That's everything. That's the ability for Michael Pinnock's to win the Heisman. That's your ability to go to the playoff in all likelihood.

And then when they kick the 42-yard field goal with five seconds left, Pennix can't even watch. He's got his head over there like he's puking into a trash can. And boom. they make it and Washington wins 24-21. Kaelin DeBore. Unbelievable. Now there's a reason why they're

nine-point dogs. Nine-point dogs to a team that they already beat in the conference championship game, Oregon. Oregon is really good. They're really physical. And Washington is a team that has

some holes. So that game, the Pact 12 championship game in Vegas, that's a play-in game. Win and you're in. Oregon wins. The committee loves them. The AP poll loves them. A lot of us love Oregon. And rightly so. They're just really good. This is a team that a lot of us think could be the second best team of the country, the third best team of the country. Oregon wins they're in. Washington wins. They're in with their resume. There's not a doubt about that. Hey, it's time for the weekend check-in. Let's go to the weekend check-in. This is sponsored by Hampton by Hilton for the stay. I want to check in on the two programs that made coaching hires by the time that we recorded this show.

The coaching carousel has begun, but I'm going to check in on the two programs that actually made decisions. Okay. Michigan State hires Jonathan Smith. Jonathan Smith was the Oregon State coach. Spent six years there. He played there, Pact 12, Coach of the Year last season. This is a great hire. I feel really bad for Oregon State. I'm sure it was hard for Jonathan to leave.

But with where they're at and where they're headed, with no spot to land and conference realignment, I don't think that he had any other choice. And now he goes to Michigan State, and he's a perfect guy for Michigan State because in a lot of ways, he plays the way that Michigan State wants to play and has played in order to be successful.

he's been really good at Oregon State developing a physical run-oriented tough team. And he's done it at a place that's hard to do. So Jonathan Smith at Michigan State, I feel like, is a really good fit. He was 34 and 35 as the Oregon State head coach 18 and 7 over the last two seasons after coming in there when they were just like the drags, man. They didn't have anything going for them, and he built them into what they are now. And then the last one, Texas A&M reportedly agrees to a deal with Mike Elko. Elko was the defensive coordinator at A&M for a few years and really successful defensive coordinator. He had built them into a defense that his first year was, I believe it was like 48th in the country in scoring defense.

And he got them all the way to his last year. They were a top five scoring defense before he went to Duke. He's obviously had some success at Duke and made them a competitive and tough program. He was the ACC coach of the year last year. So he was the coordinator for seasons 2018 to 2021 at A&M, Duke the last couple of years. You can't mention this without saying like there were reports out on Saturday that Mark Stoops was going to be the guy at A&M. And that wasn't going over well with the A&M folks. and kind of similar to remember, you know, but dissimilar in the way that they did it.

Let's just say like the fan base kind of revolted on social media. And then that fell apart. And it fell apart pretty quick to the point where Mark Stoops issued basically a social media post. It says, I know there's been much speculation about me and my job situation in the last couple of days. It's true I was contacted about a potential operational. this weekend, but after celebrating a big win against our rivals with players, I love like family. I knew in my heart I couldn't. I don't think that's how it went down, but you know what? Is what it is? Mike Elko looks like he's going to be the next coach at Texas A&M.

Is he the guy that's going to take you to the province land? Maybe. I don't know. Everyone's telling me that Texas A&M should be like competing at the top into college football, even though that they haven't for the better part of the last two decades. Two 10-win seasons since leaving the Southwest Conference when it imploded since the inception of the Big 12. But they got recruiting base. They've got support. They've got facilities. It is there.

When you walk in there, it's like the plans for the building. The blueprint is like, yeah, that's going to. going to be an awesome building. And then it starts to be being built and you're like, huh, never quite comes all the way around, if you know what I mean. It's, it's interesting. A&M's just an interesting one. They should be better than what they are. They haven't been. Mike Elko is now the head coach. It's going to do it for me tonight. Again, apologies for the voice and the if you did catch it, the sneezing. But the game took it out of me, man.

What can I say? I barely slept on Friday night because I was so excited about calling the game. And about five hours after the game, boom, got sick. You can follow us anywhere on social media at Joel Clashio. Subscribe, leave a comment. We'd love to know what you're most excited about here as we go into the conference championship games. And we'll be back on Wednesday. We'll be talking about the CFP rankings.

That'll be so fascinating to see, like, where Ohio State actually drops. Are they below Texas? Are they above Texas? They've got a better loss than Texas. They don't have a better win than Texas. Like, it'll be fascinating. It'll be fascinating to see, you know, where they put Ohio State, where they put Bama after Bama had the fourth and 31 prayer.

So we'll be back with the reaction of the CFP. That'll drop on Wednesday. I'll have conference championship game previews. on Thursday, some other things as well. And then, I think I can say this. We've got a special show coming up later in the week as well. So stay tuned for details about that. Again, the Joel Clatt Show is presented by Hampton by Hilton. I appreciate you all. I love this sport. Love the guys that play it. And I hope you all have a great week.