The Josh Innes Show - LSU/A&M and Other College Football Musings

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

I'm still beyond annoyed that LSU wasn't prepared for the A&M back up QB. How is this possible? This leads to a discussion about college football in general. Parity is a good thing. A&M is coming off one of the programs biggest wins in years and now has to travel cross country to take on South Carolina. The SEC is a gauntlet. The beauty of this new playoff is that teams like LSU are still alive...that's good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of Service Corporation International. Howdy, friends. What's going on? It's Josh. Sorry that i missed a pod yesterday but i was still in houston our flight wasn't until late in the day and uh most of my crew i guess i could have done something on my phone but most of my crew was extremely hung over after a sunday night bender which apparently also included us doing a podcast at pk's house um which i admittedly had him delete because we were on for six hours and i don't remember about five and a half of it so i was like i don't think i want that up there bud can we take that down so um that i didn't end

up doing anything yesterday so here we are it's t. I got a lot of stuff to get into. I got to talk about the plane ride home, which was interesting. I'll get into that in a little bit. But here's what we'll start. So we went to Houston this weekend. Still love Houston. Miss it greatly. Miss it terribly.

Miss Texas. But got in Saturday, watched the LSU debacle. God, okay, A&M people, I'm sure you listened. Congrats to you, you won. The fact that LSU completely dominated the starting quarterback but had no answer for the backup when they've played the backup before and you know what he's capable of and they have made switches in the middle of games.

Yet you're like, oh, we didn't see that one coming. And then you just got run all over. And if you don't believe me, just listen to some of the players. The players have said, like, we were not prepared for this guy. So give Blake Baker credit. He was ready to eviscerate Connor Wegman, and he did. He crushed him. They couldn't do a damn thing against LSU.

But then they bring in the backup. Backup can run. Really, that's all he could do is run and you weren't ready for it then your offense went to hell the NUS bus finally crashed the positive is I got to use that gift that I saved a couple of weeks ago of the NUS bus crashing so I did get to use that but the offense went to hell you turn the ball over a ton you botched three field goals the reality of that game is LSU should have won it in the first half when A&M couldn't do a damn thing and you were moving the ball up and down the field but they would stop you short you'd kick field goals you'd miss them and when you kick the field goals and missed them that was a difference not getting

touchdowns on three of those drives difference they very, they very well, what was the score, 17-7 at half? They could have been up 26-7, 24-7 at half, and while they still could have lost, you would have felt better about 24-7 going into half than 17-7. Then you get the ball twice before A&M scores in the second half, and you still don't put more points on the board, and before you know it, you're down 21-17. So season's not over for them.

They got Bama in two weeks. I mean, they're still at it. That's the one. If you're looking for a positive, right? And the reason why I'm not as pissed off today. Like if this were last year, two years ago, three years ago, or any year before that. This other than 2007 when LSU won with the BCS with two losses, any other situation like that, you'd go, okay, season's over.

But now you're a two-loss team. Only one of those losses is in the conference. More than likely, you're not going to win the SEC now, although it was in your sights, you could have. But it doesn't mean you're eliminated from this thing. LSU, to me, dude, if you would have taken LSU's defense from the last month and put that with LSU's offense from a year ago, LSU would not have lost

a football game last year. But they didn't, they had a crappy defense and they somehow miraculously won nine games with that crappy defense. But if you would have taken like people love talking about Nuss and he's fine but he's missing something that you had with Jaden Daniels oh yeah I know the ability to run for a hundred yards a game as well especially when you can't get the running game going which LSU couldn't do against A&M and they lost but the good news is they're still hyped for the Bama game because both of those teams are still alive for the college football playoff it is a gift it is

it is a blessing to college football fans especially ones of major programs where you can go into a tough conference like the SEC which is now a gauntlet and I know that like teams like Oklahoma aren't as good as advertised yet, but historically they are, but when you've got A&M being good, and Texas being good, and South Carolina who can jump up and beat people seemingly any given week, at least they're competitive, and Arkansas is competitive. Top to bottom, you can say what you want about the SEC and say the SEC is overhyped. You can say that the SEC gets too much attention. You can say what you want about the SEC and say the SEC is overhyped. You can say that the SEC gets too much attention. You can say that there are better conferences.

There really aren't. You look top to bottom in the SEC, and you're getting to a point now where you don't have weeks off, particularly if you're a team like an LSU who opens the season seemingly every goddamn year versus a legit team. Now, USC has proven to not be as good as we thought they were in week one, but LSU has proven to be better than we thought they were in week one. So take that for what it is. But you go top to bottom and you start looking around the SEC, you go, holy shit, there are teams that are clearly better than other ones, but I'm going to use a cliche here and tell you

any given Saturday, any of those teams can win. Texas, two weeks ago, was considered unbeatable. Then Texas goes out, takes the L in a big way. Georgia, who after we saw Georgia get throttled in the first half against Alabama, we thought, well, it turns out Georgia ain't all that good. We watched Georgia struggle against other teams to get going, and we go, I guess Georgia's not all that good. Then Georgia goes out and wallops Texas. Then Texas in a bounce back spot, you would have thought Texas was set. Texas barely hangs on against Vanderbilt. Now in fairness, that was like a 10 point game late, late touchdown made it look closer, but it was pretty close. They could never put Vanderbilt away. We are in an era now where Vanderbilt's probably not winning national championships,

but Vanderbilt's in a spot now where they can keep you from winning national championships legitimately. It's not, oops, they accidentally beat Auburn once in 20 years and that was their big moment. No, any given, God, I hate saying this. It's lame. It's hacky. It's hokey, but it's true. Any given Saturday in the SEC, any of those teams can beat the other teams.

Doesn't mean they're better than them. Georgia is better than South Carolina. LSU is better than Arkansas. Texas is better than Vanderbilt. But if you're not playing ball on those nights, you will lose or at least can lose and the game can be a lot closer than you'd expect. So the college football playoff and NIL have been godsends to college football. So I was upset that LSU lost to A&M, mostly because I find the A&M people to be insufferable and annoying and the milkmen and their weird culty people and their fight song is about fucking Texas. And they are, look, you're a little brother. You can have Mike Elko talk all of his shit after the game about how they're a real program.

Ever notice that when a team wins a big game, they get like that post-coital love that they have. Like right after the game, Mike Elko's like, we're a real program. Waddles his fat ass out there. We're a real program. We ain't no fake politician program. Yeah. Until you lose to Texas. Then are you still're real program waddles his fat ass out there we're real program we ain't no fake politician program yeah until you lose to texas then are you still a real program like i like when these guys come out and talk all this shit it's easy to talk shit when you're ahead it's

easy to be a front runner but what happens when you're not like you've been there for eight games you beat lsu great lsu wasn't prepared for your backup quarterback. You're a real program that's basically been mediocre for the last decade. I don't know if that makes you a real program. You beat a good team. Good for you. Do something else. Follow it up. Go beat Texas at the end of the year.

Because if you beat Texas at the end of the year, I mean, your schedule's laid out for you where you should be in the college football playoff as it stands today. Look, I'll give Elko credit for this. Somehow they're still winning games and their quarterback situation is dog shit. Their starting quarterback stinks. Their backup quarterback is a runner, but LSU, God, now the more I think about it, the more, the angrier I get about the fact that LSU had it right freaking there. They had it in the first half. They should have been up by three scores at halftime. They should have came out when they got the ball because they still brought Wegman out there again.

They should have been able to put points on the board in that half and distance themselves where it wouldn't matter who the backup quarterback was. But instead, you let them off the hook. They were who you thought they were and you let them off the hook because you didn't prepare for the backup quarterback who has already played and been important in the season that happened to mizzou so mizzou when

they played a and m it was the other way around the backup started then wegman came in mizzou was not ready for the backup and wegman's bang bang bang bang moving down the field they beat the shit out of him whereas lsu was prepared for wegman backup quarterback they're like nah dog we gotta fucking wait a minute you mean this guy's just gonna run a lot what do we do what do we do coach i don't know what to do like so he's gonna run how do i stop that and i know he had the one big pass but the reason i'm not as angry although i'm making myself angrier as I talk about this, the reason I'm not as angry about it is because as I sit here right now, LSU is not dead.

Did they do themselves any favors? No, but, and the other hard part is, I mean, LSU schedule outside of Oklahoma, who again, Oklahoma on a given day,

they still have talented players. They have a shitty coach, but they still have talented players on a given day. Oklahoma can LSU Alabama Auburn they can beat anybody it's not impossible but you take those guys LSU still got to play Bama their schedule's not like easy down the stretch especially when you've got to play Bama A&M schedule is easy outside of having to play Texas and now I find myself really wanting Texas to win let me look at the A&M's schedule is easy outside of having to play Texas. And now I find myself really wanting Texas to win. Let me look at A&M's schedule really quick because I'm fairly certain that they've gone through the toughest part of their stretch here.

So now they've got South Carolina. Now, here's the thing. They could go to South Carolina this weekend and lose. I mean, look, if you're South Carolina, you've had home contests against some pretty good football teams. And in each of those games, you could argue you should have won them. Alabama, you should have beaten. And LSU, you should have beaten.

You missed a field goal at the end of the LSU game. South Carolina could beat A&M. They could run for days on them. Their quarterback, Lenora Sellers, homeboy can run, man. Then you've got New Mexico State. Then you've got Auburn. Then you end it against Texas. You could go got Auburn then you ended against Texas you could go to Auburn and lose you won't but you could like that's the thing it could happen it's not

impossible but it could let me see what the line is in this A&M South Carolina game hold on a second here A&M in South Carolina waiting for my app to pull up here I went to a great bar to watch the LSU game too we went to the Kirby Ice House on Gessner over by Memorial City Mall. Dude, outstanding freaking place to watch a game. LSU alumni party was there. I mean, packed house, but wasn't uncomfortable. Big TVs everywhere. Almost all of them on the LSU game, doing shots, having a good time. It was a great atmosphere. I enjoyed it thoroughly all right let's see a and m versus south carolina like i'm gonna try to guess this so there's gonna be some hype on a and m but like we see every week this is classic letdown spot college football letdown

spot you come off beating a quote-unquote rival although as an lsu fan i don't view a and m as a rival i view them more as a pest but not a real rival but what do I know um uh but you're coming on into a letdown spot you're super hyped you're playing a team that's played very well at home uh they haven't necessarily won those games but they have played tough against good teams at home should have beaten LSU a team that you just beat I'm going to say that A&M, because let's not be, look, A&M's got offensive problems, and South Carolina can play some defense, although you wouldn't know it based on some of the scores of some of their games,

but they're not terrible defensively, and I think they're going to be able to move the ball. They're going to be hyped for it. It's going to be loud, sold out, all that. I'm going to say A&M, five and a half is what I'm going to say the spread of that game is going to be. Texas A&M minus 5.5, but I'm thinking less. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

2.5. Aha! 2.5 point favorite. You just beat LSU, a team that was in the top 10, although those rankings mean dick. Every Saturday or Sunday we wake up and Jilly's like, well, LSU dropped. I'm like, I don't give a fuck what the polls say.

It's a bunch of fucking media dopes with biases. I don't care. But two and a half. I was being generous on the five and a half. It's a field goal game. So it is not ridiculous to think that A&M could come off the biggest win they've seemingly had in forever. And then roll into South Carolina and lose. But that's the beauty of the league right now.

That's the beauty of the SEC. That's the beauty of college football. There is not necessarily parity, but any given Saturday, any given day, these things could happen. The teams that people are super hyped on could fall off a cliff. Again, look at Vanderbilt.

I know they're kind of the darling thing and Pavia and all that by the way Pavia did not get my yard my rushing and receiving or rushing and passing combined yards on Saturday I was disappointed in that so screw you Pavia but again they played Texas they've played tough teams they've beaten good teams. They beat Alabama. The class of the universe. They beat them. And you don't get that in every other league. At least not yet. Like you go to the Big Ten and yes, you're going to have Ohio State

and yes, you're going to have Penn State. I don't know if Aller's, but Aller, oh God, you want to talk about a heartbreaking betting loss? Aller is cruising to over 209 passing yards. Just cruising. I don't even look at my phone I mean I couldn't bet on anything because I was in Texas but we made some bets before we left we're such degenerates we almost missed the flight for doing that but so we're putting some bets and I'm

looking at my phone and Aller's got like 160 or something like that in the second quarter I'm like well that's gonna hit and then I look at it later and he still has 160 in like the fourth quarter I'm like what the shit I look it up Aller's hurt and I got screwed on that, that's going to hit. And then I look at it later, and he still has 160 in the fourth quarter. I'm like, what the shit? I look it up. Allers hurt, and I got screwed on that one. That was a tough break. That's the risk of doing prop bets. You can always overcome an injury on a money line or an over-under,

but when you start talking about a prop bet, once that dude's gone, he is gone, and he will go. But you look around the Big Ten 10 and yes oregon is very good fucking dylan gabriel's just out there putting up yards touchdowns all over the place but once you get past penn state i guess we have to include indiana they're kind of a cute story this year you have to count it but on a weekend week out basis i don't believe that you're rolling into a lot of these places thinking that like oregon if they played Michigan State, you don't believe Michigan State is going to beat Oregon. But currently, the number one team in the SEC is Texas A&M.

And I think we all believe that Texas A&M could go to South Carolina and lose this weekend. The gamblers seem to believe it. The whole world thought LSU could go to Arkansas and lose two weeks ago for a prime letdown spot. They didn't because Arkansas is fine, but they're not great. But I don't think you see that in other leagues. Like the Big 12, I don't even know who's still in the Big 12. Who the fuck plays in the Big 12?

Oklahoma State? Kansas State? Who the fuck cares? The Big 12, which used to be kind of a fun conference, and it still is in terms of putting up points, big 12 is just kind of like like i'm trying to think and i'm sure i'm drawing a blank on somebody that's worth a damn in the big 12 but like who's leading the big 12 right now is it kansas state is it somebody like that with that that long-haired curly-haired kenny g kid avery avery johnson let's look up uh the uh Big 12 standings because obviously they lost their two biggest

horses. So let's see. Oh, I'm sorry. The leader in the Big 12 is BYU. Like cute, but you look around like Colorado. They got some talented dudes. Look, Dion's bounce. They bounce back. So credit to Dion. But you start looking around the Big 12 and you're like what the fuck is this league it's a it's a hodgepodge of the Mountain West and the Big 12 and the um and I guess the Pac-12 and UCF god can I tell you something I really hate these new divisions and these new conferences maybe I'm an old man maybe I'm sort of a traditionalist which I shouldn't be because there's nothing traditional about what's going on in college football now we We're not in a world where, you know, this is 1975 and I get it, but I find it to be unnerving that Baylor is in the same conference as UCF. This one's not as bad, but although West Virginia is in the same conference as Arizona.

Like, that's pretty fucked, right? Arizona, Arizona State, and BYU are in the same conference as West Virginia and Cincinnati. And that's weird to me. Like, the SEC still kind of makes sense. You know what I'm saying? Although Oklahoma and Texas I would consider more Southwesternern teams, obviously Southwestern conference, whatever. You start looking at those, you say that makes more sense so that they're in the Southeastern conference is a little weird, but Mizzou is not in the Southeast yet they're in the conference. So whatever it is,

what it is. The big 10 is the weirdest one to me when Oregon and USC are coming to town and they're taking on Rutgers. And I might sound like an old man and I might sound like I'm not down with the times. There's something that is fun about the regionality that you used to have, if that's a word, the regionalness, the regionality, the regionalality of college football that was enjoyable to me that they've kind of sucked out of it. But the NIL and the guys transferring 10 times has also sucked the joy out of it as well. But the college football playoff has made it more fun. That's the interesting part. I don't dislike the guys get paid and I don't dislike that they have NIL deals. Like none of

that matters to me. I think though you should have to have some level of commitment to something. You know, if you sign somewhere, you have to be there two years or something, or you get one transfer that's quick. And then you have to like, there's gotta be something because look, I'm a radio guy. Every contract I've ever had, like I have to honor that contract. Now they can fire me. That's the fuck thing about it all. And they have, they can fire me before the deal is up, but I don't know. There's no commitment that people have to make. They sign.

And then within five months, if they're not playing, they're like, screw you. Now, on one hand, I'd be like, look, you've got a minimal amount of time, a short, finite amount of time to make money. Unless you're like this kid from Oregon or wherever that's like in his 19th year of college football or Cam Rising. Like you're not going to be, you know, you've got a short shelf life to play college football and make money. So I respect that. So you don't want to spend time sitting on the bench. Totally get it.

But I think there's value in sitting down and learning in any craft. You know, you throw somebody out into the wolves and yes, I think you learn more by doing, but I think you learn something about waiting your turn like look we can bang on Garrett Nussmeyer all day because I think Nussmeyer even though he threw for 400 something yards which is wild to think that LSU quarterbacks just casually throw for 400 yards now back in the day like you want to tell me that Anthony Jennings was going to throw

for 400 yards you throw a parade now we see it every week and now I think we're a little bit spoiled I saw somebody posting about that like these people didn't live through you know justin jefferson days at lsu and less miles and maybe they didn't but you know it's so wild to watch an lsu team that just casually throws for 420 yards and then loses and we think like what the fuck we're broken but and it's easy to look at this and say it's ridiculous after a dude threw some really egregious hideous ugly interceptions and they lost on the road but Garrett Nussmeier's a dude that sat behind Jordan not Jordan but uh Jane Daniels waited his turn he's kind of earned it and said let's go and he's played very very well for the most part I think there's something to be said about that but it's one

of those things that I don't have a definitive viewpoint on. It's not one of those things that like I would pound the table and say, I can't believe that these kids today don't stay around and learn. But I also get why guys like Nick Saban want to get out of it. And I get why Tony Bennett left Virginia. Like I get it it like these guys come from an era where I mean they were probably paying guys under the table they had the biggest dick they had the biggest wallet the biggest dick the biggest stick so they could pay these guys that other schools couldn't now it's a little bit it's not I wouldn't say it's more fair but more people have access to it now and it's not as frowned upon as it used to be it's more so acceptable but those guys had

an advantage and nick saban got out if that's your argument your argument as well nick saban got out you know while the getting was still good for him he didn't want to be part of this sure but he admits that for the most part like he doesn't want to live in a world where you got to just you're doing nfl like contracts with guys and everything else so like i get where he's coming from he didn't want to do it like if you're a coach and you sign a guy and you're like, shit, we just got all these five-star guys, and then the guy gets pissed off that he doesn't play right away and he hops in the portal and you have to keep dealing with this

and you have to keep trying to convince these guys to come play with you, like, I can understand why he wouldn't want to do it. You're in your 60s. You've won a bunch of national titles. Go do some TV with Pat McAfee. Like, I get it. But on the other hand i understand where these dudes are coming from that are players and you have a finite amount

of time it's not infinite it is finite and when it's gone it's gone and some guys are going to go on to be pros and make a million dollars you know millions of dollars some guys won't they're going to go try to cash in but there's no commitment now the other argument would well, these coaches didn't care when they sign you and then they leave. You're right. Nick Saban could leave tomorrow and nobody would bat an eye. Lane Kiffin could go coach at Florida state tomorrow. And all these dudes, he signed at Ole miss be like, what the fuck coach? Like totally you're not wrong. It is not a perfect system, but just from the standpoint of like, I'm not telling these dudes to not do it what I am saying is I think you learn more by having to deal with adversity

or waiting your turn like if you signed at Alabama 10 years ago like you're a running back that signed at Alabama in 2010-2011 well you know you're probably going to be playing behind Mark Ingram even though you're a five-star guy you're legit you're a mega star you were the biggest kid in college you're a five-star and you're going to the playing behind Mark Ingram. Even though you're a five-star guy, you're legit, you're a megastar, you were the biggest kid in college, you're a five-star, and you're going to the biggest program. Well, they have Mark Ingram or they have Najee Harris or whomever, and if you sign there and those guys are still there, they're the big boy. You're going to get some, but you ain't going to get a ton.

And I think that's part of what's made college football better too is now these schools are not stockpiling and hoarding away five five-star running backs. Now instead of waiting right in the bench in Alabama, you might go to UCF and be a megastar and that helps UCF. So I get it. Like there is not one definitive. You could say, Josh, you're kind of flaky and waffling on this. Kind of, I guess. But not everything has a definitive cut and, black and white opinion on it.

Some things are nuanced. And there are some things that just have a lot of layers, and people that have different opinions on those different layers are right. It is possible that it kind of sucks that college football players job hop every year the second they don't get playing time. But it's also good that they do, because your smaller school might, you might get a Diego Pavia. Now, Pavia is a different story because he was at what, like New Mexico. So this, I mean, it's a step up to go from New Mexico or New Mexico State,

whichever one it was, to Vanderbilt, I guess. It's a step up. You're in the SEC. But some guys are going to go, like, you're going to look at a guy like, what's his name, the quarterback at Syracuse that I always bet on. He's up at Ohio State, doesn't feel like he's getting the right run. They like Will Howard more. He goes down to Syracuse, throws for 400 yards a game, helps Syracuse.

So it is a good thing, but I can see where coaches get into it and are kind of like, what am I supposed to do? Especially when they were the gatekeepers for so long and now they're not the gatekeepers in the same way they were anymore. It's kind of like the coaches aren't the big deal anymore. It's actually the dudes on the field. So I don't know how this conversation got into that, but people say, Hey, talk more about college football on the pod. And I love college football and I bet on college football and, um, and I'm still pissed off that LSU lost. They should have won, but what am I going to do? Uh, all right. I saw, okay. So I'm going to get this posted and I got still pissed off that LSU lost. They should have won, but what am I going to do? All right, I still have, okay, so I'm going to get this posted,

and I got to do some text and stuff. I got a bunch of stuff. I don't know. So, all right, we will continue.