The McShay Show - Garrett Nussmeier’s Texas A&M Nightmare, Ohio State Uncertainty, and More Week 9 Reactions With Ryen Russillo

Episode Date: October 27, 2024

McShay and Muench are joined by Ryen Russillo to give their reactions to the biggest results from Week 9 of college football. They start off with LSU’s loss to Texas A&M, Garrett Nussmeier’s rough outing, and Marcel Reed’s explosive second half (01:53). Then, they discuss Oregon’s dominant win over Illinois (35:36) and if Ohio State’s victory over Nebraska should raise any concerns (44:36). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShay Guests: Steve Muench and Ryen Russillo Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, Eduardo Ocampo, and Lauren Bergeman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome in. This is exciting. I've got my main man, Mench, my other main man, Rosillo. This is our first ever the McShay Show, Saturday Night Reaction episode, if you will. I'm fired up. We're going to do this every single week after college football, after the prime time game. And hopefully we're going to get to the point where we're doing it live. Obviously, this is the first time doing it. So we're going to muscle our way through. And hopefully everyone gets to listen early on Sunday. But guys, what a finish. the day, right? I mean, looking at it, you got LSU, Texas A&M, you got MENCH sitting up somewhere in New Hampshire watching all these games. You got Rassillo with what's left of that t-shirt on his couch somewhere in Manhattan Beach, right? Just for taking it all in. Let's go. I love that shirt, Riscilla. Way to set the tone early on. Our, let's, I mean, let's start right off the bat. LSU A&M. I like, I hate the phrase. tale of two halves, but my goodness, like, I can't remember a game. And I'll just throw it to you guys from here, and we can start in. I can't remember a game in which literally one play

changed everything. And, you know, we're on text threads. I think Connor, our producer, made a good point. It's like, it's unbelievable how one play can undo so much great, talking about Garrett Nussmeyer. He was in that point of the game where everything was going right. His receivers were making plays. He was showing all the things that, you know, started to talk about him as a potential QB1 or somewhere in the top three quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL draft. And then all of a sudden, he's rolling to his left, under pressure, makes the decision to throw the ball up, 50-50 ball throwing back against the grain, which you're taught at nine years old not to do, right? He makes that decision. A&M intercepts the ball at 17 to 7 at that point,

and then all of a sudden, Marcel Reese. Coach Elko makes the decision to bring in Reese. The defense for LSU was playing phenomenal, best I've seen in years from LSU's defense, and it changed everything. What were your guys' thoughts? Yeah, well, look, I think with Nussmeyer, you know as good as he is,

there's always a little dangerous to him. And on third and 15, when he converts that one in the first half, for the touchdown drive to make it, I think 10-7. Like, I remember just sitting there being like, he's going to throw to the sticks. He's going to throw to the six on third and 15. And there's just not a lot of guys that do that. And when it works, you're like, this is why he's in the conversation. But that was Cam Ward Light.

I mean, LSU was dominating the game. The pass rush was winning all day. It's an LSU defense that looked like a carryover of last year. I was at the USC game, Todd, and I'm watching the secondary going, like, I don't know. And Baker, the D.C. has gotten into this point. there's so many playmakers. The pass rushes winning. They're in control the football game. They throw that pick, and it's just a brutal throw.

And then Reed comes in who we saw in the Florida game, just keeping the ball. And it just changed everything. I mean, look, they scored what? In the second half, I think it was 31 points. It was 316 A&M in the second half. So that-17. 7. He came in, and I think it was 12 plays. Because it was Herb Street or Fowler said on the broadcast,

nine plays he's come in and it's been 14 points and then like two or three plays later they had that that blindside block on the receiver after they scored a touchdown that brought that play back so it was another like two plays before they scored again so it was like 11, 12, 13 plays he was in 21 points after going three and a half quarters with just seven.

So I mean talk about just instant impact and change the entire game. Yeah, I mean look LSU couldn't run the ball on this game either, man. I mean, they average, it was, they had 23 carries for 24 yards. So it was no real balance.

I mean, it was just in the first half. Nussmeyer was making play after play. And Kieran Lacey was converting these long third downs. And it just seemed, they couldn't sustain that offense the entire game. Yeah, they're just going to throw it.

You know what I mean? Because like, even in the Ole Miss game and I would say even last week, you're like, man, LSU was loaded with playmakers. Like, look at all these guys. And I think you're right, Steve. Like, they couldn't really run the football. They have one series or felt like the running backs are involved. And then it just

almost feels like a wasted play for them to even run it because they feel like their guys are going to win on the outside. And Nussmeyer's so good. Like when it's right, there's all of these guys flying around. Aaron Anderson, you know, beating everybody down the field. But then obviously everything changes. Nussmeyer, not only that one pick, the other two are terrible as well. Terrible, yeah. I mean, let's go through them. So the first one we just talked about, the second interception the second interception is on him but ultimately it's it's on elko in that defense i mean it was a classic case of

you get to the line of scrimmage you're reading man-to-man coverage every every key in indicator tells you man-to-man slot cornerback starts with his guy looks like he's matched up against the slot receiver runs with him for three four steps right then all of a sudden his eyes peeled back to nussmire in the back field and i rewound it three or four times just to see the mechanics of the play. Was the ball late? No. He peeled off at the perfect time.

It was a disguise. Elko called a disguise. They're in man-to-man coverage, according to Nussmeyer. Everything that he read, pre-snap, first three steps of his drop, first three, four steps of the slot cornerbacks dropping into coverage. He's going with the man. And then he peels up. He has flat slot corner in this coverage, has

flat has the flat responsibility. But he runs with the slot receiver for a few yards to continue the disguise of man to man, and then he peels off of him. So it was an unbelievable play called disguise and execution from the defense. And then the third interception, it's his own blitz. The guy's comes, looks like he's coming off the edge. And then he, and he baits Nussmeyer. He's trying to, you know, dump the ball off to his running back. It was his checkdown. And all of a sudden that, edge defender who's supposed to be rushing him is now playing underneath middle zone. I thought he came up.

I thought he just was like, I'm not going to get there. So then I'll come back and watch the running back. Yeah, no, I mean, I couldn't. I couldn't tell. It looked like a design play, but it could have been, it could have been based off of what, you know, if a running back state in the back field. I think that's what it was. So anyway, long short, there were two great defensive plays, disguises, and designs.

But ultimately, it's on Nussmeyer. And Nussmeyer, just talking about it as an NFL draft prospect, like, so good with anticipation and timing, the it factor, understanding situations, does not have the big time arm. You know, he's not in the Cam Ward category, even Quinn Ewers, Chador. His arm is a notch below. So he's got to be great with all the little things. And he was to that point before the first interception. And then it's like it fell apart for him. Like the confidence dropped off a little bit.

And again, just two great disguises and designs defensively, and they caught them. I mean, I hear you about the situational stuff, but they were terrible at the end of this game. I mean, they were just the time management at the end of this game. I don't know if you realized the clock was going to stop at two minutes and they had no timeouts and they got to get a play in before that and they just are just taking their time, setting up protections, making calls. It was, I was stunned at how long that they were taking. I mean, obviously, Reese and Herbstree mentioned it on air, but it was so obvious.

It's like, let's go. and I feel like that's kind of on him too. That was almost more concerning to me than the interceptions was the not being like not getting them to the line and getting the playoff. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that was late in the game, but,

I mean, I don't disagree. But to me, like, I don't know. I just, it's rare to have a game turn on its head the way this one did. Marcel, he threw two, he completed, yeah, he completed two passes. He was two for two. I mean, think about it.

And so like Baker, what he was able to just, designed defensively and how effective they were versus Connor Wegman and like just unbelievable with their pass rush, their defensive line and getting home. And then all of a sudden, and you were texting too, saying like, all right, now you can just tear up the whole play. Right. Everything that we practice all week long was for Wegman and getting after a quarterback who's a I wouldn't call Wegman a pocket passer because he's much more productive when the play breaks down, he's outside and rolling around. But they throw the football. This was just our quarterback's

more athletic and faster than you guys. And they didn't have an answer. Yeah, look, I think Wigman had a tough game after getting a starting job back. Remember, he got hurt. Reed came in and you could see how dynamic he was. Herb Street was all over it because he said that the kid played with his kid in Nashville. So he said, I'd seen him play football since he was nine years old. And the way LSU was dominating this game with the pass rush, they didn't have to really blitz a lot. You know, they were getting there with four. The left guard was a place for A&M and Wigman, who I think we all probably like a little, right, for him to be 618, I still don't know how many coaches would have benched him for Reed, you know, considering Reed once, like if Reed had been perfect, right? Like, Wigman

probably doesn't get his job back. But remember, too, Wigman was like a big time recruit. He's part of that massive A&M class when you look at his position. But, you know, the thing I think is really frustrating if you're on the LSU side of this is you're, you guys are right. Like, you didn't prepare for Reed all week long. So now it's a completely different offense. All the stuff that's working is now going to be different. But what I think is the most frustrating thing, like if I worked on the defensive staff for LSU,

I would be going, hey, new guy keeps the ball. It's the Alex Orgy rule. When you come in and you don't get to touch the football a lot and you're this great of a runner and you're this dynamic, the guy always wants to keep it. And I don't care. I would be like, I don't care if the running back gets it on the handoff on the Reed and runs it in for a touchdown. Don't leave Reed.

And the pull that. Reed had on the 2817 that mesh point. How did he not fumble that? I can't believe it. I mean, that's one of the best pulls you're going to see all season long in college football on that play and then Reed runs it in. But there were still multiple times where they just didn't know what to do. Because look, he's so good at it, obviously.

But there were too many times where I guess I would just be so frustrated saying, I don't even care if you missed the running back. He's probably going to keep it. And I would say that, like anytime somebody comes. comes in off the bench on that reed play. I'm like, just kill the quarterback because he's going to keep it. And if you're wrong, that's fine. But the odds are in our favor.

And then you're thinking, okay, stack the box and make him throw. Then he hits on that $50 against the safeties. You're like, all right, well, now you give up. He was phenomenal. And now there's like a bigger question about him being the guy the rest of the way for the number one team standing's wise in the SEC, which is easy to forget. He has to be, right? He has to be the guy, right? Yeah, yeah, he has to be the guy.

until they run up against a defense that can actually defend this and has had time to prepare for this. And so there's got, I mean, you look at it, and it's almost like, you know, like the Michigan game early on. I don't know. Can they continue to win like this? Like it'll be interesting to see. But Arkansas, sorry.

Go ahead, Steve. Yeah, they got South Carolina and Georgia, right? So those are pretty good tests. Yeah, like Arkansas did a really good job against them of all teams. You know, you're right, yeah. But I mean, right now it looks like he's got, I mean, until that happens, he's the guy, right? Yeah, of course. I mean, all right, let's look at a couple of weeks.

Time time, that stadium. I mean, I'm sorry. It was like one of those moments where you just go, how do you turn the page back a second time, you know, even though. And I'm not insinuating that you do. I'm just saying it ain't all going to be this pretty and easy. Of course. Yeah. Because they caught a defense that was absolutely unprepared.

prepared for what they saw in the second half for the final quarter. He had guys that didn't tackle either, like the running back. Major Burns has a play where he just didn't eight for LSU. He just was like, I'm just not going to go in either guy. Yeah. Because I don't know what to do. Hey, hey, coach, we didn't practice this this week. I felt like that flips, by the way, in the halves, too.

I felt like LSU tackled way better in the first half. And then A&M tackled way better in the second half. It was, I thought that flips. But can I say something real quickly? Yeah, because I thought A&M's tackling. I think when the LSU gets it rolling with all those playmakers, just like, what the hell are we supposed to do? These guys are going to win every 50-50 ball.

You know, Taylor had the touchdown, and then you've got the six-seven tight end who gets the first down. He has the later touchdown. He's a freshman. But, you know, look, I'm just adding to the elements of where A&M didn't look right in the first half because it was two completely different football games. Momentum is nuts.

I mean, momentum in college football is nuts. But can I say something as a former offensive lineman as kind of a draft guy? Can we stop talking about these LSU offensive tackles like their future Hall of Famers? I mean, everything I hear about these guys is that they're so good, that they're just elite offensive tackles.

And I just don't see it. Every time I watch them play, I just don't see it. I think they're good. I think they're talented. But they lose, you know, they had some tough matchups tonight. That's a good front. Scortern's a good player.

The Shemars are both really good. It's a tough matchup. Just a maniac. Like, just like a little history here for you, Rassel. Mens was kind of like hinting at this a little bit with me early in the season. Stanford Steve came on the other day. He pretends like he's one of the tough guys. Like, you know, you don't watch the trenches, McShay.

He was a tight end. He was a past catching tight end. So like, I'm not sure. He wanted to play in the slot, like 225. Yeah. But he got Mench all rolled up. And he got in Mench now, I'm seeing playing with a different level of confidence, and he was like, I was at the South Carolina game, and I'm watching, I'm watching

the LSU tackles get beat. And so now Mench comes in the night and he's got a little bit more more oomph behind him. Well, look, I mean, there's a, like all of these teams, you can tell a different version of the story. LSU should have lost a South Carolina game. The South Carolina got absolutely hosed by the reps. There's three specific calls in that game that are just atrocious. Ole Miss left Baton Rouge that night thinking they were probably the better the football team. But what Baker had done with this defensive unit, it just was different. Like it was weird in the first half watching an LSU team this year going like, I don't know, their defense is awesome. They'll probably hold these guys. But when it comes back to the tackles,

like, look, I watch them every week. Everybody makes fun of me for being a fan of them. I agree with you. I mean, for the profile that this offensive line had coming into the season and the tackles and like, yeah, they're probably still certainly Campbell's going to be a first rounder. But there's some moments on like third and two where I don't know if love it. Like there's sometimes they'll line up. It kind of reminds me of Ohio State last year. We can even talk about it a little bit with Ohio State later today. But like how you call plays on third and short tells me a little bit of what you think of your old line. And if those guys are all that, they should just be lining up on third and one, third, and two kicking everybody's ass. And I don't see it enough. Let me say this. Let's go big picture on A&M, a couple of different

areas. First of all, like, this is a first time in a while. I feel, and I don't root for anyone. I'm not saying, but like there are certain teams. It's just like, man, it's hard to pull for these guys. Like the Jimbo Fisher era at A&M, like the recruiting, it was so great, you know, like the class they had, what was it, two years ago, two or three years ago? Two years ago. There's going to be classes taught on that. But we're going to here.

So they have that freshman class, right? And they're supposed to turn everything around. It's going to be, you know, it's going to be great. Finally, Jimbo is going to, he's going to pay off. and all the money is well worth it. I go into, it was before the Miami game, Texas A&M, Miami. I'm doing the game with Herb Street and Fowler. And Fowler, Herb Street somewhere else comes in on a, you know, video conference call.

And Fowler and I go in the office, Jimbo Fisher. Jimbo's got all these five stars, right? Like all these super, like they're going to, they're going to be great this year. Maybe this year they'll kind of come on, but next year certainly. I walk into the office with Jimbo and I already have my, you know, my, opinion on Jimbo as a coach and I've dealt with some situations in the past. He's a pain in the ass. Total.

Just say it. And trustworthy is not a word that I would use for him. But I walk in there and like it just feels like oil sales and used cars. Like it's just a and I walk in and hanging. There's two pictures on his wall. Mind you, like he's been a coach at the highest level, won a national championship, met all sorts of amazing people, I'm sure, like, inspirational leaders and all these different people, I'm sure that he's come in contact with.

You know the two things, the two posters or whatever you want to call it, not posters, but two things hanging in his office? A cat on a branch, hang in there? That would have been better. Signed jerseys from Pete Rose and Dennis Rodman. And I'm like, you know what? That fits. Right?

Like, weird. So like, this is my, like, this is the head coach. This is the motivation I'm looking at, like, and the two guys that like, you know the character. So anyway, I don't know why I had to tell that story. But it leads to like for A&M now, like Elko comes in, tough ass, a grinder, old football guy. But he's also, he's just, he's a likable guy because he loves his players. He's really, is a damn good football coach, a damn good. leader and a damn good, like, inspire of young men, but also a damn good defensive coach.

And so, like, now all of a sudden I get to watch A&M in a different light. I'm like, I don't pull for one team over the other, but like I can get behind what they're doing. Right. And early in the season, you're wondering, is A&M, is this going to take a while? I know they've got all the talent because it's holdovers from all the, you know, five stars in the recruited classes, but now you're seeing what good coaching with this talent can do. And now you look at A&M, seven and one, top the SEC. And Notre Dame, they were talking on the broadcast, McDonough and McElroy earlier in the day,

you know, that A&M loss looked early in the year, or the A&M went earlier in the year, looks really good and all that stuff. But now that loss to Notre Dame doesn't look quite as bad because it looks like Notre Dame would be struggling. They're getting a little bit better. My point is this. They're seven and one. their loss was early and wasn't that bad.

And now they've got new life, a new quarterback. They're sitting at 14 in the rankings this past week. Everyone else in the top 12 belongs, and we can go through them, starting with Oregon all the way down. Everyone in the top 12 besides LSU at 8 looks like they should probably stay put. But I'm looking at Notre Dame at 12, pounded Navy. I'm looking at Indiana with another convincing win against Washington at 13. and A&M at 14.

I think A&M should leapfrog all of them and get up maybe ahead of Clemson was sitting at number nine before and take that LSU spot for whatever it's worth at this point. I would put them, look, they're better than both the Big 12 teams. I had kept the big 12 teams ahead of LSU

just because I felt like they had to get this one. A&M was favored by two and a half from this. So this isn't some massive upset by any means whatsoever. But if you just wanted to play the rankings part of this, they were 14th and the AP and the coaches. you know, Indiana's probably going to bump a little bit, but Notre Dame was dominant today. BYU won.

Iowa State was off. I would put them ahead of Tennessee because I just think, like whatever you think of LSU's record or whatever, like that was a really tough win and it was dominant in the second half. They'd just beat a pretty good football team. Yeah. After not being able to move the football or doing anything right in the first half. So I would think if you wanted to start projecting it out,

like I personally would have them probably seven and move Tennessee back. And then you can do it. whatever you want with Clemson and the other big 12 teams. You probably can't mess with Miami, even though the point differential is like two completely different worlds as the start of the season. But they kick Florida State's ass today like everybody does. Yeah, it's going to be A to worst. I mean, A to worst.

I mean, Clemson feels like a soft nine to me. Like, it just doesn't feel like, I mean, I don't know how else to say it. Like, I just look at perfectly said. You don't even say anything else. I mean, I totally get it. A soft nine. Yeah, I think Club Nick. I mean, look, it'd be weird if Clemson didn't.

play anybody out of conference and get it handed to him week one against Georgia, but if you're going to get smoked by somebody, at least have it beat Georgia. But I think Clubnik and some of the playmakers have all gotten better, but it's just funny if they had played like, you know, whoever, just name whatever FCS school you want. They were undefeated. We'd be tricking ourselves

into thinking like Clemson was back to being Clemson because I like them, but they're not. I mean, that version of Clemson, you know, we're not seeing that this year, I don't think. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's going to be interesting because I, like, what, What's Iowa State? You know, how good's BYU?

I like Iowa State. I like BYU. You know, I do, but I'm saying Notre Dame, Notre Dame Indiana and A&M in reverse order. It would be, well, A&M, Notre Dame than Indiana for me.

Like, they all belong to me. I don't know. I just, I think they're all better teams. Go through it. But does, does Iowa State have a win like tonight like A&M did against LSU? No.

Again, it depends on what you think of LSU, but they don't. It's not Iowa. when Iowa was 21. If you go through Clemson's wins, you're not going to find something like this. No. There's nothing there.

Soft nine. I love that, man. That shows the line of the night. Oh. And the BYU game against Kansas State's really impressive. They were, I think, double-digit dogs at SMU week two, and they beat them 1815.

You know, Oklahoma States like this weird out, even though they're in the last place in the Big 12. I don't look at them as some horrible football team. Right. You know, again, jump in if you disagree at any, But I don't think those teams that we're talking about in front of them, like, what's a better win tonight? A&M tonight at home against LSU or Tennessee last week at home against Alabama.

I think it's tonight for A&M. Yeah, I do too. There was something different about tonight. They took the best possible punch from LSU. That was LSU's A game on. Well, let's call it a B with the field goal situation. Okay, fine. And the lack of a balanced run game, I'll give that.

But, like, Nussmeier was at his best for three and a half quarters. He was awesome. Let's get to Nussmeyer. I mean, for this show specifically, we're always going to try to, try to move it ahead. And we can get back to a Tuesday, mention a little bit more. But I'm on, you know, I'm watching the game, ripping through a little bit on X. And it's like, I was on, I was on Nussmeyer earlier. No, me, I was on him earlier.

He's my QB one. No, he's my QB0. I like more than one. Like it was out of control, right? And I'm texting with Herbie during the game. And he's something, by the way. Like the fact that he can be in the middle of a game, and I'm sure there's 19 other people,

but, and like as dialed in as anyone ever. But he made a good point. And this was when they were winning. I think it was 177 at that point. And he was dealing. Nussmeyer was dealing. And he was talking just like, my goodness, this guy has it.

Like, love his game. you know, but but he said, I'm interested to see if he's going to come back next year. No one's talking about that. He's got another year. You know, you go back to like Joe Burrow, the first year he had in LSU,

was good, but then he came back. He was all right. Yeah, there was no way he was leaving. Nussmeyer's playing at a higher level than Burrow. Yes, I agree. And I only saying Burrow was,

but the point was that Herbstree made, and it made me think, because, like, maybe he comes back next year. And I text real quickly back and let him go. I was like, you know, like, he's got, it looks like he's got a lot of, like, the mental qualities and the processing that he needs. But, like, my goodness, the numbers in Brazil, we've gone over this 100 times of mention we've talked about it for years.

Like, game experience is so critical for quarterbacks. It's not, like, just about getting in the league. It's about being ready to play in the league because you know if you're going to be drafted early, you got to get in. So I've got this, like, both, both, both edges going, and this is when it's 17-7, and he's dealing. I'm watching everyone on Twitter. He's the best quarterback ever, and Herbie's like, I just wonder, you know,

just wonder, maybe he comes back, and then you watch those three mistakes. And you start to think to yourself with that perspective in mind, God, I love them. And if he, there's a lot of ball left, we'll see what happens. But those three mistakes are things that maybe he doesn't make those mistakes next year. and more important than just putting better tape out there for scouts that he's learned those things. So he's going to be interesting to watch because the ground swell for Garrett Nussmeyer, QB1 was like at an all-time high. It was even, I think it was higher than Milro.

And Riscilla has been busting my balls for three weeks because they said, why not QB1 on Jalen Miller? Who knows? There's a lot of football left. And since then, it's all the reasons why not Jailen Milrow, QB1. So anyway. At what point did you have Nussmeier ahead of Sanders? Have you had had?

No, no. All right. I just want to make to it. No. No, I, I'm, I'm not one. Like, I don't care about, I'm more of Jay Glazer than I have to be shifty. Like, Jay Glazer will come and give you, the Jay Glazer's new thing on Fox is, I'm going to give you the news that's broke this week, but I'm actually going to tell you the real story and it's more interesting. Yeah.

Some of these. Chef, I mean, Shefti's the greatest of all time. Good friend. I'm not saying, but I'm saying like everyone on, you know, there's so many different NFL, NFL reporters or reporters that have to get it out there first. It doesn't matter. And so I'd like to be Shefty. But I also, I think it's more important to like, let's take a step back and kind of see how this thing goes. I'm not like staking a claim right now because it's stupid to stake your claim until you've seen the body of work. And then you see a lot of people stake a lot of claims, like where they just go out and they have 15 guys that they throw there. You know, they're throwing darts about, oh, I found this guy first. No one remembers the guys that they were wrong about. And then they bring up all the guys who are right about later on. So, I mean, it's, yeah, it's weird.

But just to keep it in perspective, though. Like, when you say you love Nussmeyer, you liked him as a, as like. I thought he was rising. I thought he was absolutely rising. I said it early in the year. I know Rissilo and I, talked about this. Like, he's a guy that I'm really intrigued about.

Can he continue this upward trajectory? I love the way he plays the game. His timing, his, they had great stat tonight. I don't think I've seen it before. It's a sack to pressure rating. He was number one in the FBS. He was like 1.5%.

He doesn't get, and it's not, just ask, Manxie. Offensive lines sucks for LSU. But it's not, it, like his... Who does these analytics? I mean, come on. buddy, I would have said this guy's as good as there is in college football in terms of when pressure's there, not getting sacked.

And all of a sudden, ABC pops up this statistic and I'm like, shit, where's that step into my whole life? So I thought it was interesting. So I'm going to bring it up on this show. So deal with it. But, uh, but, uh, he's been sack. He's been sacked four times all year. And there are plenty of good throws in there tonight. And he should have taken a.

Instead of throwing the ball up and changing the entire trajectory of the game. So I'm not saying it's everything. Well, you could have just run out. He could have thrown it out of bounds. Yeah. He could have run out of balance. I mean, you could have done a bunch of different things, but he must have been watching Miami tape. I think I defend you guys.

You know, as a non-draft guy, that's friends with all the draft guys. And for years, had to answer for both Mel and Todd all the time for my friends. Like, just everyone outside of it that loves the draft hates. It wants all of you to be the dumbest human beings in any profession, which you guys. both know. So I defend you, and I also realize that here in late October, you haven't even even come close to scratching the surface and the amount of work that you're going to do when you really dig into these guys when the bowl season is over and you have a full season of tape. But I would tell you, like, tidbits that I've gotten this year from just like little

hints at where the rankings are, I think the collective profession is out of their fucking minds with how they've jumped around. Like, I don't know that Beck has done anything to prove that he could have been the number one quarterback drafted. Everybody was all over themselves was after the Ewer's game against Michigan. Maybe. I don't know. I mean, it's funny because I thought Sanders at certain times was the guy. And again, no, I don't know when cares about my non-draft draft rankings.

Here's a non-draft guy. But I'm interested. Yeah, me too. Nussmeier in the first half, all of these throws, throwing with the anticipation. And then we started getting like the close-ups of his face. We're like, look at this guy. Look how calm he is. You know, A&M on a Saturday night?

And I'm at home going like, maybe they're right. But you know how many times like, hey, he looks just to. calm in the second half and he's fucking up. So cool. Like it's like the Nico Yamaliyama thing where it's like this guy's so in control of his emotions. It's unbelievable. Look at this guy's total confidence. It oozes out of his pores.

You're like, dude, he's nine for 22 for 112. Like, okay, sweet demeanor. Look, I think Sanders and Cam have been the most consistent. Right. And even with all his greatest. the most consistent. Cam has been consistently great and also consistently scary.

And getting his team back into some games or it's like you've got to have some big boy stuff to you. Now, you're like Sanders more than, right, right. Like I'm always worried Sanders is going to get murdered in one of these games. But look, and I'll say it, like the start of the Colorado season, I was like, cool, not doing this again this year. These guys stink. And they have turned it around and figured it out. And, you know, Sanders has that same juice. to him too like, hey, we need something right now.

And that guy delivers a lot. He delivers, yes. He was 10 for 10 with 116 yards, a touchdown or a rushing touchdown. We came on. Yeah, right. Yeah. I mean, he's looking again. He's just dealing.

Yeah. I was never a Carson Beck guy. Man, she'll tell you, I think I made that clear to you, right? Yeah. Like, I just was never a Carson Beck guy coming in. I didn't love his tape. I thought he'd make a jump. He didn't make, he's, in my mind, I think he's regressed a little bit.

this year or flatlined, whatever you want to say. Quinn Ewers, it's not been the same since the injury. He just simply has not been the same since the injury. We'll get more information to see what's going on there. Even today, and we can get to Texas a little bit, lackluster, like, just so, to me, it's Shadur-Sanders, it's KM Ward. Jalen Milro, I've said for a long time, is an absolute wild card. Like, you know, what do we learn today?

I've got to go back and watch the tape. I don't feel like in that Alabama, Missouri game, I learned a whole heck of a lot of anything. He ran the ball a little bit more aggressively at times. He ran it better. He ran it better. That score is a little deceptive, too. I mean, that Missouri team was, I mean.

They were beaten up. I mean, starting quarterback out, starting running back out. Yeah. So, yeah, so that's where we're over with the quarterback class. I think it should be LPD at number three. It's just an outside guy that watches people. lot of ball and so i think it should be sanders and ward and then it should be tbd and i don't think we should pencil in there shouldn't be anybody jumping anybody that's top two with one half of football

i'm just curious like i'm gonna i'm gonna wake up tomorrow because it's late now i won't i won't do it and there won't be anything we hope we all i think it'll be crickets i there have been mornings um there have been mornings after nights with you my friend ricillo but anyway I digress. But I'm curious to see, like, I couldn't even get down to, like, normal draft X. I always call it Twitter, X, whatever you want to call it. Without, like, Nussmeyer, he's my guy. He's my, I'm just curious to see how quiet.

Yeah, this really was hot tonight. There's a lot of Nussmeier, my guys. I didn't even know this was happening. Yeah. Really. Yeah. Oh, it was, there was a groundswell. There was, do you know that I saw it like speaking of my guys?

all this quarterback craziness. There were mock drafts with Wegman in the first round coming in. PFF had him graded as the number one guy going in. I mean, based on what? But they had him like not like it was weird. You know, the quarterback thing's always weird in the overall rankings.

Like you guys will have somebody ranked the 21st best prospect. Right. He's the best quarterback. You have him going third or fourth in a draft. They had him 15th overall. And then when I thought, I was like, oh, okay, I got to pay attention to that. And then I scrolled through it. He was the first quarterback. They had great.

you had the eyes great yeah i just never saw it i i mean there wasn't enough to see to to like make that kind of a projection so all right a couple other things i want to get i could honestly do this all night i i really i mean it's it's 12 15 in the east coast but i could i could do this all night um illinois oregon i got you here rsillo i want you here every week i mean i'm gonna bug you every single week this is this is amazing but that's not happening i'm well aware i already got i I got the text, I got the text like 20 minutes before we came on, Medge. I texted him, I'm like, you're still good for tonight because the game was running long. He's like, he's like, yeah.

And then I got to follow up like 15 minutes later. He's like, when are we doing this? I could like hear the. I'm dying to talk to you in Mench right now. I can't wait. I could hear it through. That's good happening. Dylan Brooks and Chris Ball got into it.

That Spurs Rockets. You are going to get back to Illinois, Oregon. Because you're my, I mean, you're my ducks guy dating back. to all the awkwardness with the cheerleaders. You're my ducks guy for life. They like me now. Let me make a point on this. Dominant performance.

We were texting a lot early in the season. We've talked about it. Really underwhelming early in the season. Like what, gosh, like the offensive line didn't go that good. Are they consistent enough? Like, is this really one of the four or five best teams in the country? And Ohio State opened my eyes. And then today, like that Illinois team is good.

I'm not saying they're at the, like the upper echelon, but to do to Illinois, what Oregon did today, and I'll say this 38 to 9, it doesn't even feel like the Notre Dame score was more appropriate. You know, when I was watching the Notre Dame finished 51-14. It felt more like that. It's fumbles, right. Yeah. I mean, it was ugly. So I want to make this point.

Will Stein, unbelievable higher by Dan Lannin, the foresight. I wanted to go through this because I went down a little bit of a rabbit hole during the 3.30 games. So Will Stein last year, Bo Nix. Best year of his career, right? Bo Nix goes on, first round draft pick, and it kind of catapulted his career. Will Stein was a quarterback at Louisville. He was a backup throughout his career. Played in 12 games, but sparingly his final year.

Was a GA for Louisville the following year. He went on, he was the Texas, it was quality control. Quality control. For people who don't know, quality control is like, it's like an intern, you get an internship,

but then you go from unpaid to like a paid internship. That's basically what quality control is. It's just getting your feet wet. Unbelievably important step in a coaching career, but you're not doing a whole heck of a lot that's, that's, you know,

factoring in the game, games. Then he goes to Lake Travis High School, one of the powerhouse high school football programs. He's not the head coach there. He's the assistant head coach and the OCs there for a couple years. Then UTSC rises up to, after a couple of years, rises up to co-offensive coordinator. They use wide receiver coach and then co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.

Then Dan Lannning hires him from there to be the offensive coordinator at Oregon. Dan Lannin coming from Georgia trying to build this powerhouse and hires that resume to be the offensive coordinator and then gets the best year of Bo Nex's career out of him and now Dylan Gabriel. I keep waiting for that Dylan Gabriel game. We all know the game, right? We're all like the fun, crazy stuff, like backfires and we see like we saw the second half, the final quarter and a half from Nussmeyer tonight.

Haven't seen it. And what I saw today, and I know I'm going on a rant, and I'll shut up in a minute. But the defense from Illinois is simple. They have that bare front, five guys across three. guys in the interior. They're going to stop your run. They've got numbers now against all the option stuff. And they've got, they've got a single high safety, and they're going to play man to man on the outside. And so, so Stein comes in. It's like, fine. Like, we don't, we're not going to run the ball. We don't have to run. And so they, they start beat, man beaters, putting the quarterback,

Dylan Gabriel in a position. And Gabriel comes out and looks like Dan Marino. You know, It's Tess Johnson. It's Evan Stewart. It's just T. Just T.S. Low. Is it just T.S? Is that how he pronounce it? J-U-S-T-I-U-S? He's new on the scene, but I know the staff loves this guy. He had a big game. Number 14. The tight ends have huge games. Herbert and Sadiq. So I just, we don't talk enough about this Will Stein guy. I wanted to get that in a game where there was a blowout. But the more I watch Oregon, the more I'm a believer. I'm not saying they're the best.

team in the country, but they belong there at number one right now. And I truly believe they are one of the three, four best teams in the nation. I feel like it's justice, but I'm not sure on the call. I got out of that game quick. Look, since Laining made that higher and since Lannings been in Oregon, they're the number one scoring offense in the country. They started off the year. They couldn't pass, protect, and they couldn't run the football for the first two weeks. So it was really weird. I picked Oregon to win the national championship. Yeah. It was just a bit of a zack. because Ohio State, you know, won every single offseason headline because of all the guys they brought in, you know, one of the most talented teams ever put together. It was kind of the way people were talking about it.

But, I mean, I don't think anybody really thought that with Will Howard, although I thought Will Howard, like, showed me more than Will Howard's ever shown me in that Oregon game. But going into that one, I felt like Oregon, Ohio State would split, and they'd rematch again. And then, you know, whoever lost this one would get that one. And then when Jordan Birch was out, who's probably their most, like, SEC-type D lineman, you know, last year, that was a really big plus for Oregon's. defense. Like it wasn't just as flashy offense. I wasn't even like a big Bo Knicks guy. I'm still not a big Bo Knicks guy. He literally was perfect last season. Yeah. He just played the position perfectly. So I think Gabriel actually has a little bit more juice to him. Tess is awesome. I mean, that crosser that he caught today were you're like, well, okay, you know, he's going to get

tackled at some point. Wait, he's not going to get tackled. Like he just finds his way navigating through everybody. And Jordan James, not only does he love killing people to try to tackle him, watch him on some blitz pickup. Like he's a motherfucker, man. So I thought that, you know, whether it was a shootout or Ohio State, a couple of things go their way, they certainly could have won that football game. But I thought physically to hang in there with Ohio State, which you're always going to probably think benefit of the doubt, you know, I'll probably give it to those guys traditionally, even though I think Oregon sometimes is overlooked for how physical they've been. Even going back to the Chip Kelly stuff, like you don't run the football the way they ran the football without being a physical football team. But the early concerns, like it's over. It's been it's been over a month.

Like we just shouldn't have those concerns anymore. And, you know, Illinois is a good defense, we think, because more often than not, it is. But then it gave up like 540 yards to Purdue, which is one of the worst football teams in the power four. So, and Altmeyer, who's that transfer, he'd been like 15 and 1 a touchdown to pick ratio. And then he throws two picks today. So they, I'm with you. Like, I think Illinois is kind of like a feisty team and Bealuma's done a good job with them. They're probably more about their defense than their other offense.

But now I'm just kind of talking about Illinois too much because in that 217 game, the loss to Penn State, like third and long for Illinois, I felt like it was just hopeless. It was like one of those nights were like, you guys are never going to do anything against Penn State tonight. But Oregon, you know, I know we do this a bit with the tears and drawing this line in the sand of like it's now Georgia and it's Oregon and whatever. But the early season concerns for Oregon,

if they're going to lose, it's not because they fixed all of that stuff, is my point. Which I could have just said in 10 seconds. Yeah, but that's why you're here. Is there anything more evident in the world than mention I live in the Northeast when we're like jackets and bundled up? I know. Just think how great your wardrobes are. I buy, this meat stick rolls in with his arms,

is his sleeves ripped off. I know today was cardio too. I'm kind of surprised you that you haven't made the move out there, McShay. I tried. There was a minute. I know you love the area, right? Yeah. I love McShay.

Yeah, I found in Manhattan Beach. Let's just be honest. McShay made the once he found out at Jade Hotel, I had a friend that played for the Kings was traded here. So I knew about it before I knew Todd. Yeah, it's like Nussmeyer's by QB1. Here we go again. It is a bit like the Nussmeyer claim.

But McShay reintroduced the world to certain ESPN members because he was like, don't tell too many people, but Shade Hotels approved by Disney. travel and I was like how's that even possible he's like I don't know either he's like it doesn't make sense I can say I don't even think it was approved I think that like it just slipped by like they took I got it approved I got it approved they were like as long as you pay for your own car service into LA and I was like fine done all right because I'd be living at the jW marry out let's keep doing this anyway Ohio State yeah Ohio State but to your point

Oregon and in Georgia we all agree right there one one two Penn State was sitting at three. I'm not a believer. I'm going to say it. There, done. We'll move on. I like them more now than I ever did before. The offense is totally different.

And the backup QB is a ball or two. Aller went out today. And Aller, I think you could make the argument. I think the stats show based on who's qualified, he had the best passer rating. But Pibula comes in, dude. And that guy's like, he's probably a better fit for that. They needed him, did I?

Yeah. They needed him. I mean, they would have won. I got it. Pick six. but you go ahead. But my point is Ohio State in Texas, shaky, shaky. Ohio State might be down to their third offensive tackle,

their third left tackle. So let's get into that. Let's dive into that game. Day was like, we can't run the football. Yeah. I mean, they couldn't run the football. It's punishing. I mean, they scored, it was a 21 today at home?

That's not. They had one drive in the third quarter, one drive. where I'm trying to think, what was it? So in the third quarter is Will Howard had the interception, set up that long drive from Nebraska. Goal line stand, right? Then Nebraska gets the ball back, marches down again, touchdown. And I think the two-point conversion, right, made it 17, 14, I think, at that point.

And then, no, it was the fourth quarter. So that's when Ohio State was trailing. Ohio State didn't do anything in the third quarter. Sorry, that's what happened in the third quarter to get it, 17, 14, Nebraska. Fourth quarter, Ohio State's trailing, first time back on offense when, when, without the lead, right? Chip goes back to the ground. And that, like, that was the only drive of the game. It was, it was early in the fourth quarter, they're trailing.

And it was Judkins. It was Henderson. It was Howard on the ground with the run. And then it was, it was, it was Judkins, again, with the receiving touchdown coming out of the back. to the left side made it 2117 and that was the final score but like outside of that drive at no point did i feel like ohio state was the the physically dominant team on the offensive side and against nebraska i know nebraska has been good on defense they've had moments that this but like against indiana just murdered that's what i'm saying that murder you're sorry no that's what i'm saying is it

Ohio state is one of those teams, you got to be able to line up and wear them down. And I didn't see that. Well, look, I think we've all been around long enough to know that just because, like, I'm bringing up the Indiana thing because I think that's what made today so surprising. Nebraska's headed in the wrong direction. I think some of the stuff's getting to Riola a little bit. The interception he had late. He forced it.

I don't think he saw the safety. Joel Clatt two weeks ago made like a really good point on like a certain play with Ryola where he was like bootleg. it was a play-action bootleg. And I think he faked a handoff from like five feet away. And again, he's a young kid or whatever, but Clatt was such a great point by Clat. He's like,

this is the kind of stuff you're going to have to like clean up a little bit, all right? Because you can't, because, I mean, he's just so relaxed. He's kind of like that stuff we were talking about a little bit earlier. Because when Raio was dealing, he's just a live arm and it's so relaxed, it's all these different things.

But just to bring it full circle, like after it was 2117, you're right. They hit the big play to Tate. Judkins has the reception. So yeah, I guess I was doing it 17, 14 to 2117. Nebraska goes 3 and out, and you're like, all right, this game's over. Ohio State goes 3 and out before the Riola pick.

Right. That was the possession where I'm like, holy shit. Yeah, the money got backed up on a holding call. Then their tackle goes down. And then they throw like a bubble screen on third and long. Third nine. And they're getting nine, they got backed up. But I mean, you know, it's first and 10.

It's second and nine. It's third and nine. And then there's a time out. And you're kind of like, they were booing. Yeah. They were getting booed at home. And Howard was fine. Howard was fine today, I thought.

I don't know if you guys. The 40 yard, was it the 40 yard touchdown that hung in the air for about 20 minutes and he still completed it? I was like, dude. To Jeremiah Smith? I think that was the, oh, no, was the, um. I would you say that was fine. There was one. No, he underthrew the first deep one because I was watching it going, how slow are these

safeties for Nebraska? I was like, they're going to score 50 against these guys. guys today. And then they, because I just figured they were going to deep shot the hell. I could not believe there were two specific deep shots in that game where I'm going, where's the Nebraska guy that falls up there forever? Forever. And the frustrating part if you're in Ohio State fan is, like, the defense was dominant in the first half. That was the best. I think this defense has a, but, like, you go back to Alabama's

defense with the national championships. It was like three, four first rounders, seven, I can remember doing all these lists, like seven guys in the top 100, you know, and then the next year they'd have five guys in the top 100 and four of them in the first round, reloading. And the same with Georgia the last several years. Everyone talked about this Ohio State defense. And yeah, it's loaded. Yeah, it's talented.

Where's the first rounder? Not first rounders. Where's the first rounder? I really like the defensive tackle, Tileak Williams. I don't think he's going to end up being a lot. No, no, no, he's got the best shot. He'll be a first rounder. He's just a sophomore.

I'm just, I'm talking about like, but every year they were reloading. So again, for me, for us to not be able to come up with the first rounder for the 25 classes is a unheard. Yeah, they have two pretty good edges. I don't think either one of them is a lock to be a first rounder. Soyer and JT. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm just saying, but anyway, but in the first half, it was like, okay, a bunch,

bunch of second, third, fourth round guys are starting to play together and play great. Yeah. They really were. They were playing great. They were smothering. They were smothering. They were sniffering out screens.

They were batting the balls of the line of scrimmage. That was the defense I expected to see. But then I was watching Fox when they went to the, went to halftime for a minute before I flipped over to another game. And someone made the comment like, this doesn't, what was the score at half? I forget. I mean, it was 14-6. 14-6, yeah.

It doesn't feel like 14-6. six. But so if I don't, and again, it's one game, but like it doesn't, I haven't watched Ohio State yet this year and felt like they're clicking, you know, their best game was in a loss to Oregon, quite frankly. Well, I don't think the defense isn't the problem, right? I mean, that kid, the lineback of Cody Simon all over the field. No, the defense isn't the problem, but is the defense exceptional?

And in moments like the second half, you got to understand, yeah, they had the goal line stand against, against, but Nebraska. marched down the field and got to the goal line and in a close game. And then marches down the field again and gets a touchdown and the two-point conversion. Now it's 17-14. So again, you're only giving up 17 points and you were great for a half. And it was only two drives. But I just, when we start to talk about Oregon and Georgia and if Texas gets back and figures out what's going on with yours and everything, I just don't like, I know they're the most talented team that money can buy and all that stuff. But I haven't seen a complete performance outside of the loss to Oregon

where I'm like, they're absolutely, they belong in the conversation. They're just as good as Oregon. That's fair. And they were that night. They were like any, you know, but I don't know. I just, I haven't seen it. And I wonder if we're going to see it. And I do agree with you. I think the offensive line, if I'm Ryan Day and I'm waking up on Sunday, it's like, we've got to get this fixed if we're going to really make a run at this. Yeah, I think. The great thing about Ohio State, you know, over the years, we know that this is true is 11 times out of 12. It wasn't going to be close talent-wise. Okay.

And maybe Michigan in some of those years would be close. And then there's other years during Michigan's runs where you're like, yep, this is even closer. It's like 12 out of 12 times, no chance. And especially when you looked at how the Big Ten was split up, whoever won the other side, you're like, this is a wrap. Mm-hmm. So it was always like an interesting conversation of like how many times do you feel like, and again, I'm biased thinking the SEC is the best conference for. a really long time. This year, the depth.

Well, look at Mensch. No, no, it just is. Like, I don't know why. Why do we have to. Yeah, why are we even doing it? Why do we have to defend that? Like, I hate the people who are like, oh, like, we have to apologize for thinking the A's SECs.

Hey, right and say it to sure. He's not the best. Rissillo, he's not the best co-host in the business for nothing. I love that. Look, I guess I haven't done anything in two months on it because I just get sick of doing it over and over again because I just never could understand. It's like, so you're telling me that this. conference that has like twice as many people that go to the next version of this sport as any other

conference but just isn't good right okay yeah got it right all right anyway anyway so oh hias state had this massive talent advantage what's so funny in watching them week to week guys is like you're like oh it's kind of a struggle oh judkins breaks one okay yeah there's seven it's trevi on he breaks one it's jeremiah who's insane and abuka's unbelievable tate's really good dude i even like that g scott kid who has like seven catches, the tight end that's been around forever. I'm always like, how come he doesn't get a couple more balls? They've won games every week by just having three or four of these break because those dudes are so much better than everybody else.

And you're right, their best game was Oregon. So it's probably a little alarming at this point of the season when we talked about the Buckeyes the way that we did before the season started. But they're still going to be in the playoff. They're probably getting the rematch with Oregon. And they very well could win this whole thing. I thought day, starting the post-gamer with, we can't run the football. I was like, here we go, you know, because he's just telling us everything we can already see.

Yeah. This is fun. We should do this every week. Some weeks. Bull week? I'm your guy, January. So like eight weeks from now. No, we are going to do this every week with or without tough guy.

And we look forward to it. These hornets games are going to watch themselves, guys. I may or may not be on Rissillo's show on Monday. We'll find out. That's TBD now. Uh-oh. And Mention and I will be back to McShay show every Tuesday, every Thursday, and starting tonight every Saturday night.

And we look forward to making this a live show coming up soon. So, Ricillo, I appreciate your time, brother. All joking aside. It was awesome to do this, not have to worry about anything. It was awesome to catch up with Mention, man. Yeah, right. See a minute. So thanks, man.

Thanks so much, or let me do this. I appreciate it. All right. We'll see you on the other side. 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. Gambling problem?

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