The McShay Show - Buying Chambliss, Selling Ole Miss in the Top 10, Holding Carr, and More CFB Sunday Reactions

Episode Date: September 7, 2026

Todd and Steve break down the Sunday of college football, starting with Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss surviving a scare against Louisville. They also dig into CJ Carr’s showing against Wisconsin and share notes on additional prospects who stood out in both games. (00:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (01:25) Recapping Sunday's CFB action (04:25) Ole Miss survives vs. Louisville (25:26) Takeaways from Notre Dame's win over Wisconsin (27:16) Evaluating CJ Carr The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Host: Todd McShay Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel Comer Social: Abou Kamara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We were planning on having a lazy Monday afternoon show for you. But Trinidad Chambliss just did what he did. And we had to get on the air right away. Just 234 days until the NFL draft meant you good? I'm good, man. All right, Tucker, roll that thing. The McShay Show is presented by Fanduel. College football Saturdays are here.

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I don't trust them. I didn't have to beg Mench, but Mench is skeptical, as are Dan and Tucker and A boo, who does all those amazing clips for you, by the way. We don't give A boo enough love on the show. He's killing it right now.

Yeah. Keeps getting better every week. I watch this stuff. So I text Mench before I ask the crew. Would you be willing to do it? Like this Chambliss thing, we got to get on air. And he's like, he's an offensive lineman. Have you ever, like, have you ever lived through summer, like two a day's with an offensive line?

They're like, everything's just miserable, man. You know, skeptical of everything. So now I'm like, I'm like Nick Nolte in 48 hours. I'm just tired of shit. Yeah. I'm just eating antacids and smoking cigarettes. You're texting me. I got it.

Here is the deal. We'll do it. And I promise you. We can do it. If it's four, this is exactly what I said. If it's 40 minutes in one second, I will pay you $10,000 cash.

It's been one minute and 16 seconds, so we better get to go. I was going. You're burning, you're burning oil here, man. Let's go. The day started off fun. It was interesting.

It was a lot closer game. We had the Apple Cup, Washington, Washington State. DeMond Williams did some good things. It was kind of rough patches there. Then we get to tonight, 730 kickoff. Eastern Time, two big time programs, two big time games.

Louisville's ranked 24 coming in. We don't know what to expect, right? And then we get Ole Miss with Trinidad coming back. And we saw Lane with LSU and his new get-up and his whole orchestration that he's got going on down in Baton Rouge. What's it going to look like for Pete Cooling? And we get Notre Dame with CJ Carr. We lose two first-round running backs. They were going to Lambeau Field.

What's that going to look like? playing Wisconsin is going to be fine. Well, after the first quarter of both of these games tonight, I was like, this is ugly. I don't even know. We don't need to do a show tonight. We'll just, we'll talk tomorrow afternoon, figure out what we want to do for the week.

And then it kept building. And quite frankly, things got close between Notre Dame and Louisville for a little while, a little longer than maybe I expected. But then they pull away. Notre Dame in Wisconsin, sorry. I was doing it all night. I had both games on. Me too.

It was confusing. He had the blue team versus the red team. Yeah. Anyway. But the story of the night is Trinidad Chamblis. Yeah, it is. And the story of the night is Ole Miss finding a way because of that young man. And they lose their running back, Key one Lacey, who for some people is running back one in the 2027 draft class.

For you and I, it's, I don't want to say 1A, 1B, but Lacey's behind Jaden Baugh, the Florida running back, got off for an awesome start to his. season. But I want to throw it to you, Mensh, if I said to you, what was your biggest takeaway from what we just watched? The game just ended. We popped on. Finals 4138, the number one thing that stood out to you.

Was it perfect? He had the two turnovers. I think both were in the first half. He had the fumble and the interception. Both of them, you know, we got to clean that up. But I don't care, Dan. I don't care. I don't see a regression.

Dan, because what have we been talking about? We've been talking about Mendoza moments, and you want a quarterback that when it matters the most just doesn't have a pulse, doesn't care, is cold-blooded, is going to go out there and execute. Someone who's not just comfortable with the situation, but wants to be in it, that thrives on it. That is just, that's where he's at his best.

That's where he's at his most comfortable. And you could just see time after time. This is a game that could have slipped away from Ole Miss. Their defense is giving up big plays. There's breakdowns all over the place, and he said not today. There's a great line in the first season of Game of Thrones where the guy who's teaching sores to Arias Stark says, what do we say to the God of death?

Not today. And that's what he was saying, they? Not today. We're not losing this one. We're not going all in one. We're not dealing with the noise from Baton Rouge about how good they looked, and now we suck. We're not doing it.

Just get on my back, and I'm going to win this football game for you. It was remarkable to see because the first half it did ask, it did force you to ask some questions. Dan asked the question that you were referencing there. So I'll clue the audience in. Are we witnessing a year to regression from, from Chambliss? It was a fair enough question at the time. And I think, I think the second question you have to ask, and I'll get to the first one, the second question of what's it going to look like without lane kiffin without charlie weiss junior because we just got to see in baton rouge a quarterback who was sensational in sam levitt as a freshman last year ups and downs before injury come out and he wasn't perfect but my gosh did he look like

he fits in that offensive system it's tailored around him and it's probably going to keep getting better and better with his explosiveness and his loose like live arm that you have like they're going to channel that thing, then it's going to be a freight train if he's able to stay healthy with the way he plays. And now Chambliss comes out, and it doesn't look real pretty in the beginning. And they're mixing in some like rush three drop eights. And I'm seeing Chambliss kind of pat the ball a little bit here and try to force a throw there.

And it didn't feel as natural. And I'm not seeing the tempo as much. And the tempo we watched with LSU the other night, or last night. Saturday night against Clemson, you could see the impact it was having. Like all these little things that Lane and Charlie Wise Jr. Now are doing, we weren't seeing in tonight's game.

And so you started to ask yourself some of these questions. And you're saying, like, you know, is John David Baker? Like, is this all going to work the same way it did last year? But then there were some really good throws in the first half, but there were also some moments. You talked, first of all, like this Southern heat, wave thing, man. If I see one more quarterback with painted on

liquid chalk and snaps going not like just a little bit errant but like 10 yards over, but both teams had a bad snap that was costly early in the game. Old Miss fumbled twice. Chamblis had one

fumble that lost it. Kewan Lacey had a fumble. By the way, both of them, Cleve Lubin, an interesting edge from Louisville who's in the top six, seven edge prospects and another really good edge class. But he's off to a great start. He had another pressure in that game.

But bad snaps, fumbles, kind of sloppy early on. Second half was a totally different deal, man. Louisville opened the second half, 77-yard touchdown drive. And by the way, I've got a new, I'm not saying NFL draft or anything like that. All I'm saying is that this Lincoln, Keenholz. Yeah. Blood dripping off.

Like you just got better as the night went on. You could see the confidence. Like coming out of his face mask, like looking inside his face mask and his face. You could tell ripping it off on the sideline, getting the guys going. Like that was a fun one to watch. So they come out Louisville,

does 77-yard touchdown drive. And what you're saying, all right, all right, what now? Chambliss. The answer is like three or four plays, hits Deuce Alexander. About a monster night, by the way. We might want to put him a monster night. A little higher on the radar.

That guy can scoot. He hits him on an in-cutting route, which Chambles' best throws are on in-cutters. In-cutting route, in-strike, gone. So that's that. About three minutes left in the third quarter. I'm looking up, and Louisville's, they're starting to add up,

But I'm like, score is just about equal. I think it was like 17, 16, 21st, 220 left. And Louisville, I think, had 228 yards, total offense. Ole Miss had 227, but you could tell we're just warming up. Right. We're just warming. It was like the 17-minute mark in this game. I'm like, we're just warming up.

I got a feeling. And here we go. Chambliss answers immediately, right? So Louisville kicked a field goal to make it 17-16s. That's what it was. And and then Chambliss answers immediately. First, there was a two-throw sequence, early fourth quarter, when I was kind of chuckling at Dan for asking that question.

Yes. It was this in-cutting route. It was only a nine-yard game, but my gosh, it was under pressure. Horatio feels, I think, yeah. Fucking drills it. And I'm like, that's the guy. There he is. It's like it almost like it took the pressure of the game, like the moment to like more to be at stake for him to come alive.

Right? Yes. And then the very next throw, right rail shot, you guessed it, deuce Alexander and drop like a good trajectory, not high, but like right in, perfect ball touchdown. Now we're rolling. Yeah, I texted Dan regression my ass after that one. And then that other throw, the 33-yarder to Odom, to Caleb Odom, 35-yarder. Down the left seam. Yeah.

Pressure in his face. I couldn't even finish his delivery. Puts it right there. It finishes with 300, what was it? 336 yards, three touchdowns in the interception. And mind you, he didn't have a two turnover game all last season, Chambliss. In that first half, when we're starting to ask questions, a little bit wary, he had two turnovers.

He had more turnover, more turnovers in a single half in the first game this year than he did in a single game all of last year is the point I'm trying to make. But he finishes with 336, three touchdowns and interceptions, completes 21 of 36, which is like 60-something percent, also rushed for 60 yards on 9. nine carries. Could you see it on Pete Goulding's face, though? When that son of a bitch drives them down the field, Kleinholz, or Keenholz? Yeah. Keenholz. I looked it up, but I just pronounced it.

Okay. Yeah. I believe. Um, yes, it is. Could you see it on Goulding's face? Like, oh, no. Yeah, everything's been. I read his lips. It was not good. It was not good. Everything's been roses for this man you know like lane kiffin's gone good don't let the door hit you we got our guy yeah trinidad staying that's my guy a lot less drama here a lot less stuff going on i'm happy here this is my home everyone loves them and and i've met with them a dozen times i think i think the world of them like i'm not i'm not saying that we should have had anything but like high expectations and excitement for him getting this job. But I am saying you could just start to feel it, like the opener,

and especially after watching Lane and what they did to Clemson less than 24 hours ago, you could just kind of feel it. And then Trinidad, the way he answered, he gets the ball back after Keenholz, drives him down, runs it in for the touchdown. They go for one, didn't matter, kind of agreed with it. If it was like 25, 30 seconds left, I think you. go for two in that situation. They go for one.

We're doing it live. By the way, we're live on Instagram every Saturday. We were last night and we were again tonight. We're calling it the final five. Watch the final five games with us. For those who have been with us for two plus years, you know, we used to do it with the chat feature and we're first night. Mention and I took us seven to 12 minutes to get Mention on and involved.

Tonight we were flawless. It's going to keep getting better and it keeps growing. So anyway, but we're watching it together, and it's like, all right, this is the pressure moment, and Chambliss finds a way to get him in this spot. But, like, I didn't think, is it Canara? Canero? Carnero, I think.

Carrero? I had a bad feeling about it, but he just drilled it. Killed it. Just drilled it. From what, 48 or something like that? 48, man. 48 yarder, drilled it. They win the game.

They get out of Nashville, unscathed, and now we're looking at two weeks until Lane, and that fucking circus comes roaring into town. I'm so excited. Oh, I'm so excited.

Next week's going to start picking up, too, but, you know, some of this stuff I feel like is to be expected, because we talk about Lane leaving, but he also gutted the staff. Like, you have the, continuity of Pete staying there,

like Golden staying there. But like a lot of guys left, man. Like there's a lot of conditioning coach. Strength and conditioning coach. Yeah. Wasn't one guy rolled out. The general manager, the offensive coordinator, the passing game coordinator, the run game,

the offensive. Like I think the inside higher receiver coach. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We saw the graphic just just 24 hours ago on ABC of all the coaches he brought with them. Yeah.

There was a lot of other good stuff in this game, too, man. I told you about Cleve Lubin, the Edge. Lincoln. This Lincoln, kind holds. Keenholz. I try to tell you about this kid, man. You did? Yeah, I told you in this game.

This kid, he can move around a little bit. He has mobility. When we're talking about this weekend. You and your weekend slate, I wasn't listening to a, word you said. I know. It turns out you you skunked me.

Is that Michigan game is the story of the week and the, and the other story of the week is the game we just watched. And those are your two things. I got Oregon boys to stay too. I'm just letting you know. But what about what about Keenholz real quick? Because I know no one cares. Let's talk about Trinidad.

I know. First of all, do the Brahms brother, like is, when are we going to start giving Bram his due? And I get it last year. Like it wasn't as great with, Riley Moss, the USC

transfer. He had been in a bunch of places started out at USC. But we saw Tyler Shuck what he's, I mean, throughout his career, developing quarterbacks. And this guy, he looked like he was in over his head to start this game. He missed that wide open,

I mean, it was. Trey Richards, what's his name? Trey Richardson. It might have been. I forget who it was. But, I mean, that was, that was, one of those throws, you're like, okay, this is going to be, it's going to be one of those nights for Louisville. Like this, this kid's not ready yet. He's going to be good. He's talented, but not, not yet. And this, and that offensive line from Louisville is, is rebuilt from a year ago. And as you said on the live show, what was it, like, remodeling? Yeah. Please excuse our parents.

Please ignore our appearance. Yeah. As we remodel our offensive line, yeah. But just for a little background, in case you didn't know, because I didn't know all the background this kid. He's the Ohio State transfer, but you know he hasn't played since 2022. That's wild to me. Keenholz is he, Keenholz is, we're going, this is like the, he got, he went three full seasons without playing. He hasn't played a college, he hasn't started a college game. He was at Ohio State. He to this day is the record holder, the passing, I think the passing yards record holder in the state of South Dakota, legend in South Dakota. legend in South Dakota

goes to Ohio State, transfers here. This is what they do. They bring in a quarterback for their last year. It seems to always be a good story and it's certainly a good opportunity. And the way he improved

throughout that game, especially I said to you on the show, in the first half of the game, the Louisville running back had been contacted at the line of scrimmage or behind the line of scrimmage on half of the car.

Like they were getting blown up up front and to hang in there for four quarters. I think the only takeaway is like, yeah, Miami's the cream of the crop. But Clemson's down. Like who else did NC State's not what I thought. They got SMU soon. That'll be a good game. And SMU plays Monday night, Florida State. If you're watching on Monday, they play night against Florida State.

We might get a little bit of a feel. But that's going to be a tough team because that defensive front is outstanding. and Trey Richardson is a burner. They got SMU in two weeks. So they're a team to watch out for in the bigger picture of things. Let me just rattle this off really quick. They got SMU and then they got Wake Forest, NC State, Florida State, Syracuse, Stanford, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt, Kentucky. This is a team that I think they could, they might not lose another game before the ACC championship game.

Oh, stop. You're doing what I did to Georgia Tech last year. Let them play. Let them get their first win before you got them going undefeated the rest of the year. I'm talking about the schedule, though. I mean, that's a favorable schedule for them. Yeah, it is, but Georgia Tech's going to be a lot better. Hit with Heinzsche is a threat.

I hear you. Whatever. I'm not doing an ACC-by-game projection tonight. Sunterine Perkins, I thought, had a really nice night. He's an undersized edge who's been doing it for a couple years. finished with five tackles, half a sack. This Blake Purchase, who came in from the Oregon transfer, I felt like he was in on every big defensive play.

Eccles was kind of quiet. Your boy Will Eccles, but he's just part of the group that controlled the front. He had two tackles tonight. That group up front defensively for Ole Miss is really good, but the depth is a little concerning or something, whatever. Or they just got, or Goulding just got out coached in the second half. by one of the best offensive coaches in the game.

So time will tell. Here's my question to you, though. Shoot. After watching tonight, O'Mess, awesome story. Chamblis is awesome in the second half. We'll get to the QB rankings and throw in, we'll start talking about CJ Carr and even a little bit DeMond Williams and all that's great.

After watching that game with all the excitement and what Chambliss did in the second half, buy, sell, or hold on Ole Miss being as good. If the bar was set here for Ole Miss coming in the year, whatever your thought was, what was your thought of Ole Miss coming in the year? What, nine wins, ten wins, regular season, I'm saying. Yeah, around there.

I thought they were ranked right where they were. I mean, it's tough to say the wind projections are tough with some of these schedules. AP poll, they were number, okay, so let's go off of that. AP poll, there were number nine. if I say to you, Ole Miss is the ninth best team in the country.

Are you buying, selling, or holding on that? After this, go. I'm selling, but not that much. I'm not moving, I'm not panicking, but I don't think they're quite as good as I thought. And the biggest issue of me is you've got to clean up some of these mistakes defensively. Like, this kid played really well,

and the Brahms are really good at that. You just get, you like, you can't give up 38 in that game. That's a problem. Now, Trinidad's going to give you a chance in every game. I get that, but that defense has got to get better. It's got to get better because they're going to see better, better offenses. I totally agree.

I was mildly underwhelmed by the team in terms of four quarters. I was thrilled with the defense in the first half. Thrilled. I was like, this group, this is for real. Gouldings had the whole offseason. He gets to kind of build this in his image. man, do they look good. That secondary showed some holes in the second half, I thought.

And I wonder about the depth, although I got to go back and study the tape and kind of figure out what the rotation was and all of that. And then the flip-flop of it, but I still don't know. And Lacey gets injured. They didn't run the ball grade either. I was just going to say, I don't get the sense they were controlling things up front, but I also want to give Louisville a lot of credit. But they're going to be an interesting.

It is interesting, though, right? Because everyone's now going to go into, in two weeks from now, like, oh, LSU big. That spread could be like nine or something. It's at Ole Miss. So maybe it's, I don't know. It'll be interesting to see where Fandul puts that. But there will be a strong lean on LSU. But are we overstated?

what happened against Clemson? Are we understating how good Louisville could be? All of that. And that happens a lot in college football after the first week. I mean, who would guess it? We overreact. The McShea show is brought to you by Fandul.

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When WestJet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to West Jetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at Westjet.com slash 30 years. Wisconsin Notre Dame, give a quick shout to Luke Fickle. 34 transfers come in.

34 transfers come in. I thought they out physicaled Notre Dame in the first quarter. And for much of the first half, they were out, like, I don't know. I just, they seem like the grittier, more physical, in some cases, stronger team, not talent-wise. I mean, like, physical strength. And that is built in the image of Luke Fickle. And I appreciate that. I think when you look at, I thought quarterback play was better.

They bring in the JMU transfer through the ball better than I remember. I really like, as I'm watching this game, I'm like, old dominion transfer. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. Went off against Indiana last. year? Yes.

Yes. Colton Joseph. He finished his 19 to 30, 217 yards. Didn't run as much. Didn't run as much as we've seen in the past. But I actually went and watched his tape a little bit

the summer. I was trying to figure out what he was going to be. Anyway, no, I actually watched it for Archie Manning, the Manning Passing Academy. Yeah.

We were trying to, that's what it was. I knew I watched some of his tape. But watching this game, I don't know. I guess I'm just going to throw it to you because it's interesting what I saw in C.J. Carr in this offense versus what everyone in the public saw. But before I share what I saw. Okay. No, no, no, no.

What did you say? I want to hear what you. Like, that's quite the statement. Let's not bury the lead here. Roll with that. I want to hear what you have to say. Everyone on social media is like, it's mid. It's mid.

Yeah. I should have expected more out of a car than... I was just reading all these things before, and it's like, that's exactly what I thought car was. Yeah, it's like he's mid at best, overhyped, all that stuff, right? Yeah, I watched it, and I saw a guy who was kind of taking exactly what was given to him. It was not a spectacular effort. It didn't require a spectacular effort.

I thought, like, some of my notes were... Love the way he's maneuvering inside the pocket, the calmness to his game, like not forcing throws. And I'm watching Trinidad, who at the same time was kind of forcing some things and trying to get things going. He doesn't, he never showed that he felt like he had to. Did I see as many big time throws out of him? No. Did I see some of the slop that I saw out of Trinidad tonight? No.

Did I see him make C.J. Carr make some throws. where I'm like, that's it. And did I see a bunch of like checkdowns and easy throws? Yep, saw those. But I saw some throws where I'm like, he just, he looks like he's in control. And the other shit that people don't see when they're watching is like, how many times you check him out of a bad play? How many situations did he get them out of?

The efficiency with which Notre Dame runs. Yeah, Mike Denbrock's an awesome offensive coordinator. But there's a guy who's who's at the line of scrimm. surveying. So there's a lot of, like, nuance to it. And I hate when people try to, like, I'm the smartest guy in the room and I see something you don't see. I'm not trying to do that.

This game didn't require a heroic effort from CJ Carr. They'll be down in some games, maybe with that schedule. But there will be a game or two where they're down. There will be some moments where he has to. But he came out and he was mostly efficient for the night. Like, I think he was 19 to 29. Was that the fine? 19 of 29, 29, 29.

2 touchdowns, no interceptions. Like, just did his job. The thing I appreciated about him, too, he literally was like, as Dembrock and I'm sure, everyone who's played that position, it's like, would you please, like, not, don't force this. Take, we have, we're trying to stay on schedule, head of the sticks, take what the defense is given you. And there's all these cliches that make me, it's like, they're cringy, but it's also, like, it matters. Yeah. He completed passes to nine different targets tonight.

And I get news for you. He doesn't have a Deuce Alexander. He sure his shit doesn't have a Jeremiah Smith. He sure his shit doesn't have Cam Coleman and Wingo rolling out there. He doesn't have Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker rolling out there. He's got a bunch of serviceable guys. And it was also interesting, like Quincy Porter and the Milan guy. Porter, I read reports, had an injury and it was probably not going to play early in the season or maybe it would be a game or two.

And he's the guy that everyone's excited about. They're both Bama transfers, right? Is it Bama or Ohio State? Baja State, you're right. Sorry. Ohio State. Yeah, both Ohio State. Yeah, both Ohio State transfers. And Porter's like a 6-4 cat

showed a lot of stuff in camp, but then he got nicked up. So we'll see how it plays out. But I was surprised when I got on, because I was like, yeah, he did his job. It was efficient. It was fine. Yeah, and I think that's really important

for a guy who at times last year would drive you nuts with some of that decision-making. I mean, he would get in the red zone and start doing things that were, you're pulling your hair out. We can't have that. Don't do it. You know, one thing I'd really point out is this big, bad offensive line from Notre Dame, I thought was okay.

I thought they were all right. Yeah, I think they can't be great. And there's a lot of talent up front. And I know they've been dealing with some injuries and moving guys around, but they weren't leaning on Wisconsin. Certainly not in the first half. They didn't run the ball all that well. I mean, they averaged three and a half yards per carry. Like a lot of this, like as we expected, we fell on car's shoulders.

And I thought he was great. And I'll say things too. Like when I'm watching him, not all checkdowns look the same. And when he's under control and putting the ball in front of his running back, so the running back doesn't have to make a tough catch, can catch it in stride, get up field, and get eight yards. Those are plays that win football games. Like that's the kind of stuff that's going to just keep the chains moving and win a football game for you.

And I agree with you about some other things about he seemed very under control. It felt like there was a couple times where there's some alignment issues. some things going on, and he was very calm about getting things corrected before he ran the play. I thought he wanted the play in early. There was some of that. You could see that on the broadcast of like, get me the play so I can get to the line of scrimmage and make some reads here. I thought he looked in control, and you can look at the numbers, and I guess that's fine. I would also argue with you that some of these other stat lines that we're seeing from this weekend are insane.

Insane. It's kind of skewing it. So this looks like it's not that great of a game. It's not a bad game, man. It's fine. Wisconsin's not North Texas with the 34 transfers and Luke Fickle's like life and coaching life career. Yes. Certainly just job.

It feels like it's on the line. And finally, Wisconsin donors are like, let's go chase this thing. And let's, I know you're an old school coach. We're not going down in the dabble flames. Like, let's go. And there's been a big push. And you can see it. And they're like that, that cheeks guy, that Sebastian cheeks that they brought in.

He's a player, North Carolina. Like they got some, I'm not saying they're full of dudes, but they got a lot more dudes in the team that was second to last in the FBS and total offense last year. And it was like 100 plus in almost every statistical. I mean, they were, they were hard to watch last year. So it is an improved team. Yeah, I mean, it was kind of a home game to playing a Lambo, right? Yeah. But I don't know that Notre Dame ever plays a true away game like some of these other schools do.

But it was it was cool to see because Carr started out and there were some frustrations. And I agree with you. I thought the offensive line was not, they didn't come out and bully. I said Wisconsin outplayed them physicality wise in the first quarter. And in the first quarter, they're not running the ball well. Annius Williams, at one point I wrote down, he had just scored that touchdown. He had two carries on that on the touchdown. I want to say it was the third quarter.

He had he had 10 carries for 27 yards at that point. And I was like I feel like he's finally getting in rhythm right now. I'm excited to see. And from that point on, he had 27, 10 for 27. And then in his final 10 carries, he wound up with 90 yards for 63 on those final. So he averaged 6.3 on his last 10 carries compared to 2.4. on his first 10. How about that math quickly, huh?

That was pretty good. And also early in the game, Carr starts off the game, and he's, what was he, four for, I've got it here, he's four for seven, 37 yards. They're 0 for four, Notre Dame is, on third down conversions.

They had that one situation, they're now backed in their own end zone. They don't convert that. They got to punt, and Wisconsin gets the ball in the 48. So I like to see a little early adversity, versus, you know, when you're playing Texas State and some of the other opponents that we saw,

you know, I guess you could put this on the level of Stanford and Miami just absolute boat raced Stanford. But at the end of the day, I don't think Wisconsin's on the same level of Stanford? No, I said I don't think Wisconsin's better than Stanford. Yeah, this is a way tougher test. A way tougher test. I don't know that it's...

Okay, we'll see. Yeah, I'm not here to argue that. I'm just saying, like... Yeah, I hear you. Western Michigan's really good in the Mac. Yeah. We learned about Michigan when kind of like, this could be a rough ride this year as they transition.

I don't know. I'm getting off topic. My point is I like to see adversity early on. We certainly saw it from Chambliss. And we saw some of that from, car, but never got the sense that anything was rattled or concerning. No. By the way, they put up 34.

They had Notre Dame won 41 to 13, but the offense had 34. Like, we're, I think we're okay. I think that's the point. I think the point is to score more points than the other team. I thought that's what we did here. It is. I'm not, yeah. So I get on social media for a few minutes because I'm trying to send out a thing for

live show and a couple other, and it's like banging on. So I guess I'm reacting to the reaction of CJ Carr. And yeah, I'm going to be in a play. I'm never going to be an apologist for anyone, but I will be an explainist for any quarterback or any player that I think is getting, not getting properly represented somewhere. But I will admit like he's one of the guys I'm really high on.

And Levitt's one of the real. And honestly, Levitt is the guy I'm personally, probably most in on going against the grain. I had a scout text me yesterday and said, I think he's gimmicky. You can have him. Huh. I know how talented he is.

I worry about guys like that. I think he's gimmicky. You can have him. And I think John Mateer, I would take John Mateer over him. That was a scout. Wow. I've talked to other guys who were absolutely like head over heels.

So we all have different opinions on guys. I've gone all in on Sam Levitt and what he can be, whether it's the end of this year or at the end of 2027 for the 28 draft. And I kind of, I don't want to say I'm all in on CJ Carr, but I want to remind people too. This could be year two of three. But there's nothing I'm seeing in his game where it's like he's going to need another year. This is like, I think he's is in control, if not more in control,

of the line of scrimmage, his offense, the concepts, where the ball needs to go, the situational football, down distance, what is my team need in this moment than any other quarterback in all of college football as good is not better. Yeah, as good. Who's better? Mensa and maybe Hoover.

Like, I'm so over. That's going to be Mike Shanahan. Hoover's thrown the fucking ball like 27 times the opponents the last two years. What are you talking about? Are you talking about being in control of their offense? I could go be in, you could go be in control of the Indiana office because you don't have a choice. Because there's going to be a gun to your head. You're a, when you play quarterback in Indiana, unless it's a fourth quarter, unless it's a fourth quarter and you're trailing and you've got to do something like Mendoza was freed up to go do.

You're a hostage. And I mean that in the best possible way. I think that's true in all college programs, man. They are expectations of you to operate within the structure. It's not my fault that that's a hostage. tonight. No. No, but he does have to operate with it. Of course. Yes. Yes. Yeah, he's a little different, I guess. Anyway, we digress. My point in all of this is, yeah, I'm in on car, but I'm not in a rush,

but I also like, when I watch Levitt, I'm like, it may take two years, and I'm cool with that. I just want to see the best product of Levitt when he's ready to come out. With Carr, it's like, he doesn't have Levitt's mobility and he's got a really good arm but he doesn't have Levitt's ability to you know so I think he's going to be ready at the end of this year should he choose to go onto the NFL there's nothing I see in CJ's car game there's nothing I see in Carr's game that says that this guy isn't ready to lead Notre Dame to an undefeated season so long as everyone around him does the job that he's supposed to do. Yeah.

Look, it was, it's been a. But I don't think, but I don't know that he, what I did take from tonight, I'm not so sure about Notre Dame anymore. Those running backs are good and there's obviously going to me to drop off from, from Jeremiah Love and Judarian Price. I'm, I'm excited to see as the season progresses and I liked what I saw out of Nias Williams. and I liked what I saw from the backup who catching the ball a little bit, Nolan James.

Oh, okay. But I don't see a run game right now that's dominant in tracking to be that. So that's going to be a factor. And there's some good pieces. Where the fuck is Great House again, by the way? I know. I know.

He shows up in moments. You're like he's the next guy, but then he disappears for six games. I'll say this. What? I'll say this. Notre Dame's offense and their mentality of their physicality with the running game and all that has only gotten them so far. And their Achilles heel, I think in the past has been they haven't had an elite defense.

I agree. They might have an elite defense. Oh my gosh. That secondary is the best secondary in the country. I mean, Leonard Moore is great with DJ McKinney. And it's not even close. It's not close. It's not close.

It was awesome tonight. how physical he was. The picks. I hope Tay Johnson is okay. Yep, but all these other guys, man. I mean, that secondary is loaded. Oregon secondary is really good. Yeah, but it's not this.

Nope, it's not this. It's not this. No. And they're good at the, they're good on the defensive line. They're good at linebacker. I mean, they are this, that has been in,

I think, an Achilles heel for these really good Notre Dame's teams that haven't been able to get over the hump. Well, that in the passing game, man. And that's my question. I would say in reverse order, I think the inability to stretch an elite caliber defense out and have forced them to actually respect you vertically. Whether it was that team against Alabama, eight, ten years ago in the national championship, whatever it was, whether it was just a couple years back, they've always lacked in the last two decades, their best teams have lacked. like we got to respect the vertical.

Yeah. And I don't like Phazon's great after the catch. And Micah Gilbert, 6-2-205, he had that key 18-yard catch in the second quarter. They've got guys, but they don't have, I don't know. I mean, they're guys, but let's put it this way. They'd have, their receivers would have a hard time getting on the field at Texas, Indiana. Like they would have a hard at Ohio State. These guys aren't, they're not the.

those guys. Right. So that's kind of my takeaway. Carr was fine. Carr was everything he needed to be tonight. Nothing more, nothing less, maybe a little bit more,

to be honest with you. I'm a progress guy. I'm a progress guy. The fact that he didn't force things. The fact that this was a tight game in the first half and he didn't force anything. I owe you $10,000 cash. What are we at?

What are we at? Venmo, Zell. Shit. I had, no, you, you did it. You baited me on that last. Yeah, I did. But listen, it's not just me.

DeMond Williams had some ups and downs, but my gosh, he's explosive. We'll get to him later. Mench five stars. Thanks, man. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or 1-800-my-

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