The McShay Show - Orange Bowl Instant Reactions: Natty-Bound Notre Dame, Drew Allar’s Draft Decision, and Abdul Carter NFL Comps

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

Welcome back to ‘The McShay Show’! Todd and Steve kick off with their live reactions to Notre Dame’s comeback win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl. Then, they talk Drew Allar’s disappointing College Football Playoff performance, Abdul Carter’s NFL ceiling, and where Marcus Freeman ranks among current college football coaches. 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 Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Mark Panik, Conor Nevins, and Daniel Comer Social: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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But here we are. What a wild finish, man. What, what, I even said walking down when I saw Marissa, she's like, what's going on the game, you know, putting the kids down and handling all the stuff. I was like, it's kind of boring. Like I'm looking for a little bit more from it, you know? And that was like, I don't know, four minutes left in the first half, right? What a finish we got.

What a treat, you know, what a treat for a semi-final game, the first semi-final game in this 12-team format, 12-team college football playoff format. And you had to wonder, like, maybe it was just going through my mind. And I'll, I want to get your initial thoughts, too. But you had to kind of wonder and it kind of started creeping in my mind in the first half. We had, you know, we had, we had Riley Leonard in the concussion protocol at one point. Jeremiah Love is limping and not effective in the first half. Abdul Carter playing with one arm for goodness sakes.

You got the nose tackle for Notre Dame was out, was lost in the last game. Excuse me. Tyler Warren was banged up. Tyler Waring got banged up for a little bit. And two starting offensive linemen for Notre Dame were out of the game. And I'm kind of wondering is this game's going on. Like can college, I mean, college bodies can recover faster, but they're just, they're not used to this.

And like what can what is going to have to happen in the future? Like all of a sudden like Penn State just finished and Connor put this in the chat. Like not used to seeing 13 and three as a final record for a team. But but so much credit to all of these players, especially guys like Leonard, Love, Carter, for grinding it out and playing the game that they played. And an unbelievable finish, Mitch. Unbelievable.

It's starting to have a feel of like an NBA game. These just runs going back and forth. This one did. Catch momentum. Who's going to make the most of it when they got it? And I think that ultimately that's what happened was Notre Dame just made a few more plays when it mattered most. It really jumps out to me, not to go negative,

because I thought it was a great game. but the Drew Aller missed pass to Singleton early on in the first half. Oh, in the flat. The goal line. Yeah. And I think it was even the next drive where I think McRoy said he just missed two touchdown throws. That one was going to be 90 yards. He just didn't seem settled with his feet.

That's been a little disappointing for him throughout his career, but it's been a lot better this year than it had been a season ago. But to throw out the negative, I mean, these were two teams that, like, I mean, this was a battle. It was a defensive battle. There's a lot of defensive players flying around physical, tough, fun game to watch. I mean, you couldn't, again, like I said, you can't ask for a better first semifinal. I thought it was, it was, I don't want to say brilliantly coached, but like, it's hard now as a college coach, 15, 14 games in Penn State and Notre Dame respectively to get creative, reinvent yourself, show something. new, show something that hasn't been on tape already.

And these college coaches is usually 12, 13 games. And that's, you know, it can get tricky to, to not show it all. Right. But I thought Andy Kolaneki from Penn State, you're dealing with the quarterback in Alar who's just he doesn't have his stuff today. Right. And I don't think necessarily it was just because of that. I think, I think they saw, I think they saw Penn State saw early.

on that they were going to be able to run the football a little bit better, especially outside. I thought Notre Dame did a poor job, especially in the first half. Outside contained. They didn't set a hard edge, do all the things you need to do. And so, Colanicki, to me, did a great job of recognizing, okay, here's what we can do, here's what's working early, and sticking with it. Like, their offensive line and their run game, Penn State's early on.

just wearing down the Notre Dame defensive line. The execution. I talked about some of the blocks I saw in that Boise State game, like the combo blocks, the seal off blocks, just working together as a unit. I thought it was exceptional, right? They recognize without 99.

And it's interesting because Riley Miles is eating the nose tackle for Notre Dame. Rillis, yeah. Riley, Riley Mills. I'm getting all riled up. He didn't, it wasn't, well, it makes sense. Georgia's offensive line not as effective as Penn States all season long. And Georgia's run game, not as effective as Penn States all season long.

So I think, I think Colinicki saw, hey, we just do it better than Georgia does, which is interesting to say, because not many people in recent history can say, we're just better up front. We just run the ball better than Georgia. But they do. Right. And they saw that coming into the game. game and that was a focus early on back-to-back drives in the second quarter 14 plus plays you had a 14-yard

drive that should have been a touchdown you mentioned all or missed the the flat route to singleton and could have been an easy six instead they settle for a field goal they i think they punted on the next drive whatever it was they came back and um and scored and scored another um no back to back I said back to back. Back to back. Yeah. Field goal. And then and then, and then the touchdown drive, which was 15 plays.

Listen to this. I wrote, I looked it up real time. 14 runs versus one pass. Now, mind you, two of those runs were called passes. It turned out to be scrambled. Right. Clearly the mindset for Colin Necki was to come in and run the football. But like he's done all year long, the creativity.

Getting more and involved in the direct snap, utilizing two days. different backs. The creativity of the offense in general, I've been very, very impressed with Colenickey. And then the adjustments that Notre Dame made in the second half for a while were unbelievably impressive, more gap can gap contain playing gap sound up front. And so like it was just to me, I'm going back to the coaching was outstanding. And then Notre Dame for all of its struggles in the first half, they go in at halftime. They got a quarterback. who's in concussion protocol, who's cleared to play second half.

They got a running back who's shown nothing in the first half. And they come out and they pound that friggin rock for two plays. It was two plays 15. I think it was two plays. No, was it two or three. He had three carries for 24 yards to start that drive in the second half. This was the drive that changed the game. That first drive in the second half for Notre Dame changed the entire game.

Three carries, 24 yards to start the drive. then Annius Williams of freshman running back, who's also great as a receiver, 36-yard reception, then a 15-yard run, great throw, great throw. And then Leonard scrambles for a three-yard touchdown run. Great coaching job by both staffs. Like, there's nothing, I feel like you can always nitpick this. There was nothing glaring negative,

and there was so much positive by both of these staffs. Right. I mean, I just couldn't agree with you more. I mean, to come out, they look, Notre Dame, I mean, yeah, Notre Dame looked lost for most of that first half about what they were going to do. They couldn't run the ball. They couldn't really throw the ball. That pass rush was Abdul Carter was getting home time and time and time again.

They looked lost. And then they come in, Steve Angeli comes in. I think it's Steve Angeli, it's Angeli, comes in and they start hitting quick passes. They played his strengths. They didn't know. I was like, this is interesting. How are they going to adjust so quickly? because we've talked about this with mobile quarterbacks coming in.

And in this, in this situation, you have a less mobile quarterback coming in. You have more of a pocket passer. And I thought Notre Dame was great about playing to his strengths, getting the ball out of his hands quickly, getting into the receivers, then making,

you know, them making some plays after the catch. And they turn it into a field goal with Riley Leonard in the tent. They got their first three points with Riley Leonard in the tent. And again, it was a lot of the play calling and execution and playing to their strengths. And it starts to change the momentum a little. bit. It starts, oh, now it's not a 10 point game. It's a 7 point game. And we get the ball back and we're

going to see what's going to happen. And seven points seemed like almost insurmountable, given how the first half, right? It was like, that three was that three was critical because I don't know if we're getting 10 more points, right? Right. Couldn't agree more. I wonder, I'd love to give some true serum to Denbrock, the offensive coordinator for, for Notre Dame. I just thought about this, honestly, as you were saying it. They did nothing off. offensively in the first half. You have a backup quarterback. I know this from being a backup quarterback.

You're like you're, when you're in the quarterback room, there's a package for the starter. Like, you know, when you talk about like the first 25 play script, but there's also a meeting with the backup quarterback about what plays are you most comfortable this week, right? Right.

Now he's not a runner. So it's obviously going to be the, you know, passing game likely a lot of the short passing game. He comes in the game. He goes six for seven on that drive to get the field goal. I wonder if you ask Denver if he if it took Angoli coming in with his set of plays that worked for him

to kind of unearth some weaknesses or some things we need to go attack even if it's Riley and by the way Riley might come in the game and he may not last more than a series or something but I wonder seeing oh they're vulnerable here and we can do what everything that that Angi just did Riley can do It wasn't, he just, he came in, it was like a rhythm passer, get the ball out.

Like, it's just decisive. Riley can do that. So why don't we open it? Why don't we trust him a little bit more? Why don't we attack those things? I'd just be curious to hear that from Denbrock because clearly in the second half. And yes, they came out, they ran the ball the first few plays, but they started to open it up. It became a much more balanced Notre Dame offense in the second half.

And I know, Angeli almost lost that fumble. That was a scary moment for Notre Dame fans. but like all credit in the world to a kid like that coming in and being prepared and not letting the moment to be too big for him. I thought that. Unbelievable job. Like it's a top spot to put someone in. And he went out there and executed like this was my role.

This was that I was always prepared to do this. I knew that this was a possibility. So I understand what we're trying to do. I understand how we're going to try to attack him. I understand what we went over in the meeting. That's what that's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to be the reason. that my team doesn't win this game. It was an unbelievable job at that kid.

And you know something too. And I'm not saying like, let's give him a medal of honor here. But he was before Riley Leonard came in, he was, they were developing him to be the starter. Right. Right. So like that's that's a gut punch in an NIL transfer portal world we live in. and to hang in there, sit in the background, watch this whole thing unfold, best season in Notre Dame since, what, 88, you know, potentially like the best, really, I think already,

I would say it's the best season they've had since 88 when they won, I think it was 88 when they won the national championship. Penn State was 86, they were 88 with Lou Holtz. To just hang in there and do the right, like that's a dude who has done the right things. I don't even have to ask the coaching staff. Like right you can tell mentally sharp ready for his moment didn't seem like overwhelmed yeah everything you just said was awesome awesome awesome to watch really awesome and now and now he's not yeah it was the backup and then they brought

in a transfer like he's a part of this thing you know what I mean like he played a critical role in the biggest game of the year so far let's let's shift it to Penn State for a minute okay because I want to get back to Notre Dame and I want to really dig into to what went well and what led to this win. But Penn State, I think Drew Aller, unfortunately, I mean, this is a brutal loss. And he's done so many great things all season long.

He is a major reason why they're there. His improvement from 23 to 24 is well documented at this point. He goes from a guy that it was like, I don't know, let's give him a seventh round mercy grade, six seventh round mercy grade. I shouldn't say that. I talked to guys early in the season in the league,

you know, like third, fourth, but like just was not there. Let's put it that way. It was not there in terms of, and now like Pete Thamble comes on pregame and is talking about talking to NFL scouts that he's going somewhere from the 25 to 35 range of the draft. Should he change his mind?

Okay. That all aside, this is a brutal way to finish what was a magical season for Penn State. And what truly felt like, like really truly felt like this is, there's something special going on here. You know, like they can't, that Notre Dame team last time we saw them just absolutely manhandled the SEC champion. Okay. And they come out in Penn State, yeah, not dominant on the scoreboard, but Penn State was the dominant team in the first half. Oh, yes.

If I, like, gun in the head, I'm betting, I'm betting whatever the second half line is or, I'm betting Penn State money line. Penn State is going to win this football game. They just, it was clear. Something like, does Notre Dame have the flu? Like,

is that, were those reports real? Right. Like, it was to have it that close. And then to have 17 under answer points and then to lead another drive and to be right there at the end and then to get the ball back after you force a punt. And I said on the,

if you were joining us on the live show, I said, this guy protects the football. Like, cool. I know. I know. I know. But Cola Nicky, the reason why you put the ball on his hands is because he's proven to you, he will protect the football when you need him to. Unfortunately, I'd have to go back and watch. I was so focused on, was it a catch or not on the interception. Right. That by Gray, I didn't focus on what would the read. We were on live. I don't know if it was a bad read, if there was a miscommunication or if it was just a bad throw.

but the end result is all that matters. And that's just, it's a brutal way for, for Aller's season to end. And it begs the question, will this game have any, it kind of felt like, because McDonough said, I know I'm rambling, everyone yells at me because I don't let mensch talk, but mensch will get to talk. He's a big boy. He can interrupt me anytime he wants. It kind of felt like when McDonough said, we asked him in meetings, you know,

you already said you're coming back next year. He didn't know and said it, but I think we're all in the back of our mind. Like Boehrule already transferred because you're coming back next year. Like, but there's a lot of reports now. Some teams are giving you first round grades. It's more enticing, you know, are you, and he said, instead of saying, no, I promise, I committed to Penn State. I'm coming back.

He said in that meeting and the Zoom meeting to Sean McDonough, he said, I'm going to deal with that after the season. You know, my focus is on this game, which means. I might change my mind. Look, I was encouraged by his performance in the Oregon game. But if you look at the Oregon numbers, they weren't very good. And then you look at the last two games weren't that good. I mean, they beat SMU and Boise State.

No offense to those. He looked rattle against SMU's defense for a while. He completed fewer than 60% of those passes in that game. He threw for 127 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions against SMU. It was a blowout win. Maybe that plays a little roll into it. I mean, but I'm not, I'm not wow thinking this kid's a first round pick or thinking that this kid's an early first round pick. I think he tools-wise, he looks like a first round pick.

They play Boise State. He throws for three touchdowns, but he completes 52% of his passes. And I thought there was opportunities where he could have connected downfield more than he did. And I just feel like it just hasn't come together completely for him. Now you do have to, there's a larger picture. Who's coming back? Tyler Warren's going to be in the NFL next year. This kid Reynolds looks like he's going to be awesome, by the way.

That Luke Reynolds kids looks like they're just going to reload right there at the tight end position. Yeah. But that being said, are they going to get him some help at wide receiver? What's the running back situation look like? What's his offensive? Like, is he going to be in a position? But just based on how he's played it and how he's, where he is in his development,

I have a hard time thinking he's, shouldn't go back. I mean, it just, I haven't seen, I thought Oregon was encouraging. It wasn't great. It wasn't a dominant performance. It wasn't a, oh my goodness, this kid might be the best quarterback in this class. Uh, not there yet. Could be talent wise. He's got it. And then you start stacking these performances. And it's, I'm not, I'm not odd. I'm not in awe of what he's done. So to me, he's another young quarterback that should go back and play more football. And that's not, it's not I'm not ripping him or whatever it's just a part of the process go back play more football get better get better with your footwork improve your decision making a little bit a little more

garrott nussmire would have been a first round draft pick he's going back and it's the best decision he could ever make right you think carson back first first one pick that carson back made the decision that he's coming out to the NFL draft i have i blasted him i know i had absolutely no no impact on his decision but i got blasted by georgia fans for blasting him. And now he's transferring. All reports are he's leaning to Miami. Makes sense.

He's dating a former Miami player. Miami's got a good program going and great opportunity. But best decision he can make. I told you what an NFL scout said. I just asked, what did you think? And he wrote, he wrote back foolish. And the reason is this. It's not like five, seven years ago where there's not,

it's like you stay here and it is what it is. Like we're seeing grad transfers maximize the opportunity. Jaden Daniels being the best example. Oh, no, Jaden Daniels and Bo Nix from this last class, like prime, pre-mo examples. Even Michael Penning's from Indiana to watch. Yeah, three of them.

I mean, three of the six first round quarterbacks. Right. Draft in the top, what, Caleb Williams, in Oklahoma. That's true, too. Everyone, I mean,

all of those. guys um yeah but doing it with the intention of getting and that's why i'm banging down the door quinn you're quen you're i'm sorry like leaving austin and everything you have there and all the like i get it but when this season's over i promise you he's going to have a tough decision to make when he gets those those those those grades back you put as an underclassman you put your name in and that that's got to be done this is interesting timing with all this too we haven't yeah and this is a conversation for another time but with the the 15th being the cutoff.

You had to put your name in a week or so ago. It was like 10, 12 days ago in order to guarantee that you would get back from the underclassman committee that the NFL has set up. It's a committee of a group of scouts, former scouts, all that, that will give you a grade. They give you a first round grade or a second round grade or a go back to school. Those are the only three responses you'll get from them. First, second, or go back to school.

Well, this is going to be maybe a second, but I wouldn't shock me if it was to go back to school for Quinn yours. Talk about Uers right now. Talking about Uers. Yeah. Talking about yours. So my point is, Alar's already made the decision he's going back to Penn State.

Season doesn't end the way that he wanted it to end. And one of his, I mean, arguably one of his worst performances of the entire season, maybe it's worse. Just didn't look good. It seems like this answer, this answered that for him.

If there were, you know, there clearly was some doubt creeping in. about am I making the right decision going back to Penn State? Because I'm staring at a quarterback class. It's not very good. And I'm getting a lot of whispers in my year. I could be a late first round pick.

Maybe it's time to move on. Let's catapult this college football playoff run into being a first round pick. And I don't think this is the performance. I don't think the whole college football playoff performance for Drew Aller is, was that. Right? And you just said that you agree. So the McShay Show is brought to you by. by Fanduel. Football fans buckle up because for the first time ever, we've got five straight days

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sportsbook.fandule.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-help.com. Abdul Carter. Abdul Carter, no matter what, man. No matter what. One arm, half an arm, don't matter. Yeah.

That was special. I'm just looking to see what is I watched the Big Ten championship game again, and he does things in that game, his ability to accelerate out of change of direction and bend. I mean, it's just, some guys are different,

and he's just different. And this guy is playing off the ball linebacker last year. Yeah, this is the first year is a defensive end. Right. And the way he slips blocks sometimes, like one of the first plays of the game, Riley Leonard stepped up and tried to scramble.

And, and Carter just falls back inside. and wraps him up. And it looks like a nothing place. It's like, you don't understand how athletic you have to be to just do something like that at that size. It's just, I know he's a better pass rush than the run defender. I think there's plays that he makes.

He's so disruptive in that area of the game as well. But really it's his ability to get out for the quarterback that's going to make him a very successful player at the NFL. It's crazy. Yeah. And he'll be the, I truly believe he'll be the first non-quarterback selected. Could go as high as. one

yeah could go as high as one could yeah I mean we can get into all that it's interesting though like I remember being on the field and watching like over the years like

just the Penn State guys the 11s like the LeVarerringtons obviously and and I know that if you look at if you look at Micah Parsons and you look at their development it's not dissimilar

I'll say that like I Micah was just, there are two guys that I've ever evaluated. The boces were different because they are, they looked apart, right? They looked apart. The boces were absolutely different, but they were freaking freaks in their own right. Great coaching. All of it.

Yeah, but quite honestly, almost more impressive because they did it at their size, like, you know, six, four, six, five is two 50s, you know, like. But the two. guys that I can ever say the undersized edge guys that were just different than everyone else I had ever evaluated and I saw both of them live and they they both had that same look to them and I think abdule's like a notch below I mean I know he's a notch below and I'm talking about the elite of the elite so this isn't a knock on that right but von miller and micah parsons standing next to them watching their movements standing on the sideline where you get the best view of a guys

jump, like the anticipation and that explosion out and the flexibility. Yeah. All of it. Those two were different than any two I've ever evaluated in 25 years of doing this stuff, right? He's not that, but he's just a knots below. And it's a similar arc to what we saw from, from Micah Parsons, okay? Very similar arc. Off the ball linebacker, undersized.

Can he make the move from off the ball to edge? and when they make the move and you turn them loose off the edge, like, oh, shit, this guy's different. And the thing is, the trait they all have, obviously, speed, explosiveness, bend, you know, outside in moves, all those things. The trait that they all have, and you can't, like, quantify it with a number, with a 40, with a short shuttle, the change, none of that.

The thing they all have is, it doesn't matter what their size is, because they have this innate ability. They're like a, like a robber. in the middle of the night can sneak through any crack in your window or crevice. They just find a way. They don't let anyone, they don't let anyone into their body. Right, you can't block someone you can't get your hands on.

If you can't get your hands on, it doesn't matter how small they are. And the word that I always used, that all defensive line coaches I know in the NFL are looking for slippery. And Abdul Carter, like Von Miller, like Micah Parsons, like all the great undersized edge rushers. is slippery. Yeah.

He'll be bigger. He'll be bigger than those guys. I don't think he's going to run like Micah. He's got a good frame. He's filled it out a little bit. A little bit. Yeah. He's got a chance to be bigger.

Yeah. What's he listed at? 6.3.250. Yeah. Which is like 20 pounds heavier. He doesn't know. No. He looks like 6035, like 6.3.5, like 6.3 and a half,

242. You know what I mean? That's what he looks like, which means he carries his weight. Well, yeah. All right. So that's Penn State. How about this Notre Dame team, man? How about this Notre Dame team?

Like, I give Pollock credit. I remember talking to Pollock being like, get Pollock on the show. I think they can, I think they can make a run of the national championship. I think they can win the whole thing. And damn, they can. He saw something special. It took me longer to come around. I didn't see the weapons on the outside.

but the weapons are it's not about the weapons on the outside it's about playing great team football special teams has been awesome highlighted with the jeter kick to win the game but going back to the Georgia game extending that drive with the the shenanigans right special teams has been awesome motivation head coach connecting with players elite like Marcus Freeman like we lost Nick Saban. We lost Jim Harbaugh. We lost prior to that Urban Meyer. Like we lost the Mount Rushmore in like a, what, a seven year span of college football. They were the Mount Rushmore. Yeah. Marcus is like he's like this win has got him now like up there. This run. This run. This run. This run. Yes. But this, but this run if it ends tonight to Penn State, it's like, yeah, they're almost there.

They're almost there. Now they're going to a national championship. Now, like they've, and they've had to grind it out. They beat the SEC champion. Yep. You know, they beat a really good improving, ascending Penn State team. And now they're in the national championship. Again, and congratulations, you get the winner of Ohio State, Texas.

But they're there. And I won't count them out against anything. anyone. They may not match up on paper. They don't match up on paper with either of them, talent-wise, but I wouldn't count them out anywhere. I mean, because they're going to, they'll drag you into where they want to go. They, they're going to drag you into the deep water, man. They, you could do whatever you want, but we're going to pull you in the deep water, man. And good luck. You're going to have to come win it our way. And, and, and that's,

you know, that's great coaching. And that's a, that's a team that understands their identity as well. And you heard that a couple times as Freeman on sideline reports. He was like, you know, these guys aren't going to panic. They know what they're doing. And, like, he believes, he believes in his players. I think they feel that. I think they understand that. And he also is realistic about who they are and what they want to do. You know, we have to tackle.

We have to play good run defense and we have to run the ball. He kept saying it. But they are going to make you earn it. If I were Texas or Ohio State, I would not be thinking, oh, if we just get through this game, we'll be okay. That's a dangerous way to look at it. I said it during our live, we jumped on it. First of all, for those of you who are on live with us now, I appreciate you.

And it's growing every week. And it's because of the core people who jumped in and the words that's being spread. And we can't thank you enough. Like this has been the favorite part of this new gig with the McShay show. It really has. Doing the reaction shows every Saturday night and now in the college football playoff. This has been awesome. So thank you for joining.

Excuse me. We see all your comments. We see you bitching about me and us showing up. well, we didn't this time. We showed up early this time. We're really, yeah. I have heard the complaints about let Mench talk and he's a big boy. But also all the other like fun, interesting.

I like my favorite part and sometimes after the show I'll go through and read just to see what's going on. My favorite part is sometimes like you can go through like a five minute, five, ten minute span. And everyone who's on watching on the live show, like I don't even know they know what shows going on. They get into it themselves. They get like a whole community. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And they're like yelling at each other. Like, no, I love that. That's why we're here. So thank you for, thank you for joining and being a part of this. But, but during the, during the live show before the live show, during the actual game, I mentioned it and I stand by it and I would have stood by it had Jeter missed that field goal and Penn State won in overtime. I would have stood by it. Riley Leonard's numbers, 15, 23, 2, 223, right?

Touchdown, two intercept. And not even because he left the concussion protocol and came back. I just had an appreciation for him and it has nothing to do with the NFL draft. We can get to all that shit at the end of the season. Okay. As a college quarterback in this spot, the way he led, the way when they needed a first down and they put the ball in his hands, he's not that big.

He's a good athlete for like a tall, lanky quarterback, but he's not. not twitched up. He's not fast. But that MFer finds a way to pick up a first down just about every time he needs one. And in the red zone, man, he's just, he's a problem. He's a problem. And then there's a one time he, he tucked the ball and started scrambling. And I was like, oh, no, like, and he led with his shoulder. He's lucky he wasn't helmet to helmet. He got that one later. But like taking on linebackers head, head on. And McDonnell was saying that that's what, when we talk to teammates. That's what they appreciate it. Like, there's no moment in the game that he won't lay it all on the line. And he did that in this game. And then he made some big throws.

Right. They weren't, they weren't NFL throws. They weren't like anticipation throws. They weren't like, like, you know, putting in a keyhole. It wasn't this deep shot. Like, but they put the time of them when they needed them accurately putting the ball on his receivers, making easy throws like easy, making intermediate throws like doable. right? I just thought it was a great night for him and what what he stands for and the way he's led this team. Yeah, no panic in him or that that Notre Dame team. I mean, when he threw that, he got fooled. It happens. There was a simulated pressure with denied Dennis Sutton drops. They're only bringing four, but the four they're bringing, it's not really clear. It was a bad

throw. It was a bad decision. And it was at a bad point in the game to do it. And you could easily fold at that point you can be like i just made i just cost us this game and instead he just kept battling and just kept going and he's done that i feel like all year he's just a guy that keeps coming i mean they talk about the the stories about after the northern illinois game where he was you know what am i doing why am i here am i the right quarterback all that kind of stuff and for him to do that kind of a you know soul searching might be a cheesy way of saying it but for him to come back from that and lead this team on the run that they've gone on. It just, you know, again, it speaks a lot to his character.

They desperately needed. Both teams desperately needed. We said this coming into the game. Both teams desperately needed some wide outs to step up. I remember just going through our preview show just a few days ago, right? Who's going to step up at wide receiver? There's been moments and this and that. Jaden Greathouse for Notre Dame.

It's like he caught one and then he's like, hmm, I want to catch two. And then he's like, I want to catch two. three and then a corner falls down. You get that double move to the outside. And now he's got his big play, you know, his play of the game to 54-yard touchdown. Huge moment. Jading Great House finishes with seven catches,

105 yards and a touchdown. I want to read through some of this for you. Georgia, two for six. Indiana, one for eight. USC, one for six. Army 1 for 12 Virginia 1 for 17 FSU exploded on the scene against a abysmal Florida State team

5 for 66 Navy 1 for 42 But he didn't have more than 5 catches in a game Coming in he didn't have more than 66 catches in a 66 receiving yards in a game And it was against FSU He goes for 7105 in a touchdown against Penn State you talk about onions.

Yeah. I think if I told you that 24 hours ago, if I had somehow known that, I was like, what if I told you the Great House was going to catch seven for 105? I think that stat alone, you would have said to yourself, Notre Dame's got a real chance.

Yeah. I mean, Notre Dame. Either Notre Dame has, Notre Dame's going to win or Notre Dame got down early and a bunch of dudes had to have a bunch of kids. Something like that. Right.

Just that. Like Jordan Phazon had, had a big catch. Right. He had a big catch in a big moment. I can't exactly remember it. He stepped up and made a big play when they needed to, he needed him to.

But he had two for 25. How about Williams too? Two guys that really St. Anais Williams are running back. Huge day. He's coming on lately. I feel like you could feel this coming a little bit. And then he didn't have much of a regular seat.

He's a freshman, right? Williams is a freshman. Yeah, he is. Yep. He's a freshman. They said his regular regular. season was okay. He never had more than

seven carries versus Virginia was the most carries he got. He only had two carries for 17 yards tonight. Excuse me. He had five catches for 66 yards. You go back to Indiana. He had four for 15. Virginia, three for 35. But like, those are two guys that we, you know,

you think, you think, sorry, Jeremiah Love, you think Price, you think Evan, Mitchell, a tight end. You think phase on. Like those are the guys that we're going to step up and have big games in this big moment. But it was a defense for Penn State that was so prepared for what they had seen on tape and for what they knew was the comfort zone for Notre Dame that it took, it took Denbrock and the offensive staff to get creative. They came out in the second half and they

started featuring some guys that weren't features all year. And they hit, they struck goal. Yeah. The Williams catch, that long catch he made, I think it was 36 yards on the opening drive of the third quarter was, you know, you could just so many plays you could point to in this game. That was a, that was a pivotal play of the game where he caught that down. And by the way, they did a great job of that too. They did a great job of isolating Penn State's linebackers in space. Those guys are built to play the run, but they don't move that well in space. And they got Williams against that linebacker. They got the. pass interference against the linebacker. They did a really good job of finding those matchups in the second half with the linebackers. But yeah, I thought that Williams catch was, you know, a critical point in the game. Great House had a great game. Evans was really important early on. I mean, he made some tough catches as well.

He's a guy who, you know, I think he had the ACL at the end of last year and now he's come back and gotten better and better and better. He has gotten better. Yeah. He's a, we'll get into him a little bit later on in the process. He's a legitimate, uh, tight end prospect of the, draft. A lot of injuries on this Notre Dame team, though.

I mean, I think we cover this game as much as you can cover it for now. Right. A lot of injuries. And so what's the date today? The ninth, right? So they get one additional day. How many days until, how many days until the national championship? Was it nine days?

It's 11, right? Is it the 20th, right? the 20th? Yeah, I think it's the 20th, yeah. All right. So you're 11 days. So that's huge. The health of those two offensive linemen, they're starting left tackle and they're starting right guard are going to be critical because we saw that. Even though they got the offense going, things went well, there were a lot of breakdowns up front that they had to overcome. Sacks, and then they come back and have a 17-yard play or two plays that, you know, equal 17 or 20.

they had to overcome some negative plays because of that offensive line, and that's going to be critical for this matchup in the national championship game. Jeremiah Love looked. Jeremiah Love. He's the whole deal. He's got to get him right. Got to get him right at that knee. And I just don't know the extent of it.

There were moments he looked great, but even after some of his big runs, it was a guy, come up sideline. Yeah. It felt like a pitch count, right? Like there was a little bit of a pitch count of while they were going to use them. Totally. And he looked like he was. Freeman said they were going to use him as much as he was able to go.

So maybe it was, it was just love coming out and being like, okay, I need, you know, this is how I'm going to have to play tonight. So maybe it was his call. But at the same time, and the touchdown run, I will say this. He had his moments in this game. That touchdown run, unbelievable effort.

Unbelievable effort to stretch at the end to get it in. You're never supposed to extend like that. But, you know, and those three carries, the three carries when he came out from at the second half, And I don't know if it was just a mental thing. I don't know if he got a shot, like whatever it was. He came out in the second half and had those three carries. I was like, oh, okay.

All right. I didn't know. I didn't know that was in the bag. Right, right, right. I didn't know we could access that today. Right. But he accessed it for three runs, 24 yards, three carries. I told you it sparked the whole thing.

Yeah. That drive sparked the whole thing. And that drive was sparked by those three runs. So it's in him. but you just wonder 11 days is that going to be enough for him to be full full strength I think he's an absolute let's we got a running we got a running back full screen here this running back class we've talked about ashton jinty is the number one running back in the class absolutely freaking loaded you saw nicholas singleton tonight I thought he had a great

game by the way for Penn State he did some big tough inside runs is not his calling card he's more the speedster and all that but he was grinding through goal lines runs, catches the ball so well. You see him there at number eight. I mean, this, when you got Scataboo at number seven, and he probably, this, this list was done before, like, it'll be interesting when we re-rack all of these, but I'm telling you, there's like 25 guys that I think are in consideration the first five or so rounds. And that's just, that's when you compare the numbers. But I would put like, I love Caleb Johnson's the number two back. Omarian Hampton people love him as well.

Quintan Judkins, Jordan, James, like all these guys on this list. It's a loaded running back class. When Jeremiah Love is healthy and full go, I'd put him at number two in that list behind Genty. I really would. I really would. I put them in the mix. Johnson and Hampton, and I like Hampton better, a little bit better than Johnson, but I mean, both, I mean, like, what are we talking about? I mean, either one of them in a heartbeat.

I think that loves in the mix. And to me, that's enough to say, well, I mean, that's, if I'm saying that, then I think very highly of Jeremiah loves game. Yeah. Because I think Hampton and Johnson are, are absolute studs.

So he's in that mix. Yeah. This is going to, I mean, I'm fired up. We're right back here tomorrow night. If you joined us tonight, if you're crazy enough to join us tonight, then you're crazy enough to come back tomorrow night.

Let's re-rack this thing, right? Um, we'll be on feeling good about Ohio State right now. I told you. Give me the points with Texas. We're going to have another. It's going to be another close enough game, but we're going to, we're going to sneak on early again.

Yeah. Right. Why not? If it's not, then I'll see you right after the game. But we'll just keep, keep a look on, uh, on X. We'll keep you posted.

But plan on us coming on a little bit, a few minutes left in the game. This was too much fun not to do it again tomorrow night. And then we got one more after this national championship game. Yeah, who do you like? It's six, I think it's six points. Let me look at Fandu. I'm going to pull up the Fanduil app right now.

I'm with you. I would take Texas with the points, but I think Ohio State wins. Yeah. It's five and a half now. So hopefully you got it in at six. If not, then by the hook. Buy the hook.

Yeah. I think six is a good number. I just think it's been overcorrected a little bit. I think Texas is going to come out and play aggressive, but they'd need to. Four quarters of viewers being aggressive, game on the line, like mentality. I think that's going to be the key in this. But my goodness is Ohio State of BuzzSaur right now. Right.

All right. That's it for us tonight. We appreciate everyone who is here. We will be back tomorrow night. Man, you're always up for it. I mean, I threw this on your lap like 20 minutes before we came on. So I appreciate you and I appreciate everyone who's viewing. And we'll see you tomorrow night after the Cotton Bowl,

Ohio State, Texas, number eight versus number five, should be an unbelievable matchup, and we'll see you tomorrow to break it all down. Thank you. 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, call 1-800 gambler

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