The Triple Option - College Football Playoff National Championship is Set, Ohio State and Notre Dame's Journeys, and Title Game Preview

Episode Date: January 13, 2025

The College Football National Championship is set! Coach Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone first talk Buckeyes after Ohio State took down Texas in the Longhorn State. Coach and Mark dive into the pressure at schools like Ohio State and Alabama and how that pressure is a privelege and the reward is the chance to etch you name into college football immortality. (X:XX) Speaking of immortality, few brands are bigger than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The guys look back at the incredible path Marcus Freeman and company have taken since their Week 2 loss to NIU to end up one win away from the first championship since 1988 in South Bend. The guys also give their final thoughts on Penn State and James Franklin as the Nittany Lions see their season end. (XX:XX) Finally, the guys break down the Championship matchup between the Buckeyes and Irish, breaking down the keys to the game for each squad and wrapping with their final picks of the 2024-2025 season. (XX:XX) New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday throughout the season. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also make sure you’re locked in on social @3XOptionShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys and the TO community. (https://tripleoptionshow.com) The Triple Option is presented by Wendy’s. Pick between a Classic or Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Hot and Juicy Dave’s Single, or 10 pc Nuggs as part of Wendy’s 2 for $7 deal - https://m-wendys.app.link/247  A big thank you to the rest of our sponsors: BetMGM Use bonus code OPTION or go to https://betmgm.com/OPTION and get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See BetMGM.com for Terms. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA) 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA),1-800-981-0023 (PR). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matter of fact, the invite, where are you at? Look at your background. I'm the only one that's always in the same background. Where are you right now? I'm in a hotel in Chicago, National Soccer Coaches Convention. Wait, you're where? National Soccer Coaches Convention.

You've been to those coaches conventions, man. Coaches everywhere. I traveled my Wendy's Cup in football. By the way, that Wendy's football got me dinged at TSA. No it didn't. They had to go through my bag and they pulled out the Wendy's football and they're like, sir? And I was like, yes. What do you want man? It's a football.

He's back coach. He's back From the looks the same. I was worried. He's gonna look a little different No, you look like I was gonna look like huh? I don't know you've been gone for a minute. I'll come back with that samurai sword Our resident ninja Mark Ingram. Hey everybody Welcome to the triple option presented by Wendy's two f faves for just seven bucks. Gotta be Wendy's. Terms apply. Thank you, as always, for joining us. Rate, subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media at 3X Option Show. New episodes drop every Wednesday on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, back here with you guys. Before we start things off, I'm an LA guy right now and it is just an ugly, ugly scene out in that part of the country.

And Sinclair has partnered with the Salvation Army to raise funds in support of disaster efforts across Southern California. To donate, we encourage you to go to Sinclair, S-I-N-C-L-A-I-R cares.com, Sinclaircares.com. All the funds raised will directly support the Salvation Army's wildfire disaster relief efforts. And let me tell you, people need it. A lot of people are really hurting in Southern California right now. So to those folks, let's try to give them a little bit of a respite and talk college football. Hey, we started the season guys, 134 teams theoretically now had a chance to win it all. Really, I think the numbers more like in the teens, but we went to 12 at the playoffs, the largest playoff format ever in FBS history.

And now we are down to the final two, Notre Dame taking on Ohio State. We at Fox Sports have the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks time. And if you were to ask our executives, our programmers, who do you want in the Super Bowl? They would tell you the Dallas Cowboys, just because of the national audience. And they would probably say, I guess, Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, if you're looking for the ultimate potential audience. If you're looking for the ultimate potential audience, if you said this to the college football playoff, sure. And the broadcasters you take, you take the most powerful brands in college football are the Ohio state and Notre Dame. And you put them together for the national championship game. This has the

possibility to be the biggest, the most viewed college football game ever, ever. And I don't think that's, that's hyperbole. And one of the talking points leading into this game guys is the pressure and the pressure coach that comes with playing and coaching at an Ohio state or Mark in your case, Alabama. A lot of people are making a lot about it. My take coach, I'm assuming is, this is what you signed up for. Yeah, I kind of watched what happened the last few weeks.

And if I didn't watch it, I was obviously hearing about it through people text messaging me and going after the Ohio State fan base and the pressure. And then I saw someone sent an article to me today where, you know, do the players of the coach really need this win and get out? And I'm thinking, wait a minute, what are you talking about?

You know, and, and I guess I can bring a different perspective that, uh, I've been at places and I've also received phone calls and I wouldn't call them interviews, but people asking me about coaching there. And the combat that I always wanted to be around is the answer is you got to, we expect you to be the very best in the country. There's nothing like, I know that for a guy like maybe not all players and all coaches, but I know Mark Ingram's of the world, the alpha dogs, they want to be at the place where anything less than perfection is not,

it is not allowed. Not many people really understand that. And that's okay. I get that. You know, I guess I've been to places where I had to go out to subway and beg and speak and have raised money because I wanted to buy my team t-shirts when I first became a head coach. Uh, the average attendance was 2,600 people. And you know, man, I hope we get some people at the game. I also, you know, been at places where you go to, uh, you know, the booster clubs. And I wonder how many people are going to be there and you're going to see it. Now is the rich get richer in, in, in this day of NIL I'd say I'd be very

cautious about attacking fan bases. Fan bases are the bloodline for what programs, uh, and I'm going to speak about the Ohio state fan base. I, you know, uh, and I'm going to speak about the Be Ohio State fan base. You know, I, are they rugged? Are they tough? Are they high expectations? They expect you to win every game to expect you to beat your rival and win a national championship.

I'll help you. You're damn right. They do. And I can tell you every person that puts on a Scarlet and gray helmet better believe they and what demand that they do too, because that's not for the timid. And the show here's the reality though. Shelf lives are not long in those kinds of environments. I get it.

I went seven years and that was good. No desire. I mean, that was, that was 365, seven days a week, 365. You're working on doing the very best you can to be the best at what you do. I watch other places that, you know, they play a team that's not great and their stadium's half full. I see, you know, I see just stuff out there that, and I went, I went through it like this, Mark, I'm really intrigued because you played in the SEC.

So I went north, the Wolverines, Penn State, Notre Dame. I went hard south, Florida, Miami, Florida state. I went hard South Florida, Miami, Florida state. I went to SEC, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia. I know I'm going to miss a couple of Texas, A&M and Oklahoma from the center of the country. And then he got USC and a newcomer is Oregon. I think Washington, you know, I know I'm going to miss a couple, but the one thing that you have to ask yourself is there's really one place, and

I'm biased because I'm from the great state of Ohio, where football was born into your blood. Do you realize when you're born in Columbus, Ohio, they give you a beat the team up North shirt. The baby has a beat the team up North. In Canton, Ohio, you're born and in Massillon, they put a football in if you're a boy, a little in your, in your crib when you're born, Mark. Yeah. And put a football in there for your boy, a little in your, in your crib when you're born, Mark.

Yeah. And people say that's insanity. I agree with you. I love it. You're out of your mind. You're out of your mind. I love it. But I tell you one thing, you can never worry about an open

seat at Ohio stadium. You can never worry about a program that's not going to be funded by the people because they are complete absolute nut jobs when you lose a game or you three and out and they punt you boo and you hear all that's, uh, you know, when I hear people say, well, you know, why would you, you know, or attack the fan base or something like that? I'm the opposite. Uh, I would meet and I'm going to turn it over to you, Mark, in a second.

So it was standard operating procedure. Every staff meeting, I made that very clear that where you're at, the expectations will never change. There's no media member. There's no assistant coach. There's no one that's ever going to say, you know, we got to temper this down a little bit. Not the way it works.

Right. No, same thing. There's not a player going to come in. He's, man, these guys are loud here. You know, I dropped a ball or I fumbled or I did this, man, they're pissed off. And then my social media is getting attacked. I know. I dropped a ball or I fumbled or I did this, man, they're pissed off and then my social media is getting attacked. I know. I mean, don't drop the ball.

No. So, so I just, I love passionate fan bases because I've seen the opposite. I'm very defensive of the Ohio state fan base because I'm one of them. I grew up of Buckeye. I understand football is a way. It's not, it's not a pastime. America's pastime? No, it's, it's a way of life.

And so Mark, I'm real intrigued by your opinion. When I, when I see people say, man, that's a little too, there's too much on you there. No, I mean, that's what you sign up for. You go to a place like Alabama, you go to a place like Ohio state, you go to Texas, sign up for. You go to a place like Alabama, you go to a place like Ohio State, you go to Texas, USC, these prestigious universities that have a tradition of excellence, a tradition of championship pedigree. And what you do is you take on everything that has came before you. When I went to Alabama, you see all these championships, you see all these All-Americans, you see all these trophies. You see Joe Namath who has came through there, you see Sean Alexander who has come through there, you've seen all

these greats that have played before you, and you have to live up to the standard and continue to elevate the standard. So when you go to a place like that, where the championship is the standard, where excellence is the standard, if you don't perform to that standard, you will hear about it. You will hear about it from the fan base. You will hear about it from the previous players that the guys will have come before you because you have a Tradition and a standard to uphold and really you have to not uphold it. You have to continue to elevate it. So And if you don't want that then you could just be fine with being mediocre, you know

I mean plenty of other places to play other places for you So when you go to a program like that, that is the standard. That is what is required of you. You know, the history, know the players will come before you and you must live to it and continue to elevate it. Let's talk about this, Mark, because I'm interested too, because the NFL, I kind of shocked me a little bit when you, you go and you see just horrific facilities. You see, you know, I don't want to beat a place up.

And I went to a place and I'm like, what is this? I don't, this does not come under, I don't understand that it's not, cause we always had a saying if is, is it the best in the conference and the best in the country and the, what the response would be, it's not. And the question is why make it the best and make it the best doesn't mean silly stuff. I do, I was never into the, you know, the, the facilities that are kind of, you know, I, I, you

know, swimming pool, you know, whatever, all that. I'm, I'm just talking about for a student athlete, for Mark Ingram, you better have the best trainers, the best strength coaches, the best nutrition, the best, uh, sport performance model, because this is your career. This is your life. We get you for three years pal,

and you better be treated like freaking gold. And if that doesn't happen, someone's gotta come in and answer the question, why are we not the very best? You have to have an elite support staff, and that support staff has to all be funneled into making the team the best. What is best for the team? I get chills right now thinking about it, You know why? Because when you got that you

win it all. Yes. That's what happens when you know it's not just the great player, it's not a coach, it's not an assistant coach, it's not... it's this massive humanity that comes together and that ship goes that way. Yep. And everyone because I'm the same of course. One question. Are you the very best at what you do? Yeah. And this I would say it's a simple question, but at times a complicated answer. If you're not, let's do all we can to get there. Yes. And we'll supply all the funds necessary to make that happen. Not every institution has that though, right, Mark?

I mean, Coach, you rattled off probably what? About 15 programs that live and die with their football team. And most of those places, oh, by the way, have deep pocket donors, are strong institutions that can support that type of ecosystem. Not everybody's that fortunate. I would say every football coach in America wants to get to a position at Ohio state or

Alabama, right? That's their goal. That's their dream. It's not the realities for everybody. Um, and the ecosystem just isn't there on, on this grand basis. Yes. That's where we're talking. We're talking. Correct. Kalen the bore is getting ready to feel it. I mean, for sure. He's, he's at a place you can't, you can't lose. Yep. You can't lose. Also, and they pay you well on it.

So it's tough. Yep. But when you talk about the ecosystem, that is so important. Like you talk about from the top to the bottom, you talked about the president, the AD, you talk about, um, you know, your head coach, you talked about the president, the AD. You talk about, you know, your head coach. You talk about the sister coach. You talk about the strength coach. You talk about the academic advisor. You talk about the training table. You talk about all these people. Everyone has to be on the same accord. And if you have

one group out of line, one group out of sync, it never goes how it's supposed to go. So the ecosystem, the structure of your organization, everyone has to be like-minded. Everyone has to accept the challenge of being great. Everyone has to accept the challenge of excellence. And when you have that, like-minded individuals all believing in each other, all pushing for the same goal, that's when you accomplish something special. And that's what you see with Ohio State right now. That's what you see with Notre Dame right now, supporting their young head coach and

Marcus Freeman. So when you have that type of environment, the program's able to thrive. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from real Canadian superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. Toronto. There's another great city that starts with a T. Tampa, Florida. Fly to Tampa on Porter Airlines to see why it's so tea-rific. On your way there, relax with free beer, wine, and snacks, fast streaming Wi-Fi and no middle seats.

You've never flown to Florida like this before, so you'll land in Tampa ready to explore. Visit flyporter.com and actually enjoy economy. All right, let's jump into those two programs and how they got to the national championship on Friday night. The Buckeyes third straight playoff game guys that they scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the game. Those great strong starts have really been a hallmark of the Buckeyes through the course of the playoffs.

The other big talking point throughout the course of the playoffs for every team that's won, seems like they've won the line of scrimmage. And Will Howard, you know, watching particularly in the first half, how much time he had in the pocket and the protection that he had was remarkable. Texas made a point to take Jeremiah Smith out of the game. So it was other guys that stepped up and coach, I start with you, you know, what jumped out to you in the Buckeye semi-final win over Texas? Oh, so much. But the fast start, but then the fast start got halted.

So it was seven points for about three, almost three quarters. I'd have been into the fourth quarter, but Texas, it's the one team is I really studied getting ready for this game. And then obviously all year, it's the one team mono, mono, that you kind of looked across the line of scrimmage. And I always evaluate it when I watch that player play. There's great college players. And, but I always like to say, okay, when I look at the skill of Ohio state, I think every one of those skilled players will start in the

national football league. Think about what I just said. Not, not to admit, you know, uh, start in the NFL. All three white outs. No doubt. The secondary, both tailbacks. No doubt. The two tailbacks.

Yeah. So you look at the Texas Longhorns. Damn, they're good. And that one kid got hurt. Number two, I lost his name here, but he was a dynamic. He almost busted that long one early in the game. But they're the one team that matched up with him. And I thought that was one of the greatest football games

I've seen and the way it ended for obviously Ohio State. Cause that was an even game. And people are going to jump all over, sorry about that toss sweep down on the second one on the one, which we can talk about that a minute. But I thought both coaches, both staffs and most importantly, those players played their asses off in that game. I mean, there was not one, you know, a couple of stupid penalties, but there

was a, there was not one time you looked at it. It looked clean and hard fought game, Mark, to me. Yeah, coach. And you talk about that sequence on the goal line. You did the playbook on this Ohio State red zone defense. We know how elite they are in the red zone, especially down there on the goal line. When you run into the teeth of that defense, you're usually never successful. So as a coach, when you see that, you try to attack a different angle, right?

And they try to attack the perimeter. And Ohio State, quite quite frankly was very sound with their defense with their technique. Caleb down goes and make a great tackle but this game from top to bottom man it was just a it was a battle in the trenches. That Texas D-line was stout. They were hitting them in the mouth and Ohio State found a way just to like keep like you know they were bracketing Jeremiah Smith. They were kind of slowing down the inside run game what they do

They throw a screen to trade young Henderson at the end at the end of the first half 75 yards for a touchdown So even though Texas was standing there toe-to-toe with them They just found ways to kind of get over the hump and then in the second half. It's a battle. It's a game of Who is gonna beat themselves right who who is gonna make the mistakes who's gonna play the right football the winning football that helps you win the game I would argue mark that the Buckeyes were the team that were hurting themselves the worst in that game there were so many penalties uncharacteristic penalties that really

are so well yeah yeah no no but uh right. Um, but they found a way to overcome it that goal line You're going in to tie the game. You're going you're on the one yard line first and goal to tie the game It is the fault of the century stoner. It is the fault of the century stoner. Hey, baby Captain Jack will get you by tonight, right? You know what the The, uh, you know what the defense was is right. That the Buckeyes played. I won't look at it today. What was it? Bear bear zero, bear zero. Yeah. They have bear zero. There's, there's two extra defenders at the line of scrimmage waiting on you. And, uh, it's tough, but you'd have to think, you'd have

to think with a gap, skit your mark. That you have four yard. I don't care. I'm quarterback sneaking four times in a row. So I don't know. It's easy to say right here, but you got fourth, you got first in goal from the one yard line to tie the game and have yourself a chance to go to the national championship second and goal on the one.

Then you get the loss yardage play. Then you got strip sack to the crib. Jack Sawyer, the hometown kid with the forest strip sack to the crib. Jack Sawyer, the hometown kid with the force fumble to the crib. So let's let's talk. Let's talk about this real because this is the old playbook stuff. But okay, you got this far to go as bar bear zero. How do you equate numbers? Rob? See if you remember? How do you equate numbers? There's only two ways.

How do you equate numbers? Guys in the run the quarterback is number one, one There you go. Get him out red single-wing offense So there's no hand and often because he's a body So I almost thought I was gonna see Archman and run in there like they did on the fourth down call early in the game I thought where is he here? He comes he didn't come he didn't come So I knew it wasn't a court because Quinn yours is in a quarterback runner And then the other way to do is some type of option football where he's not that. There's no, I got news.

There's no other way to run the football down there against bears. Zero. That doesn't, you can get a good defense against a good bear defense. Yes. It's bear zero. There's two extra hats. So one is the quarterback direct snap. It's called single wing offense, which they did on fourth down and they didn't do

that. And then the sec, you know, the lateral play, which I know coach Sarkin so much respect. He's going to, I mean, that's going to haunt him for a while. Cause you have four shots. Was that fourth down? Second down. That was second down. I mean, uh, that was the toss on second down then on fourth down, was it the sec

fumble or was that third down? Uh, fourth down. Oh, yes. See that Japan time're whipping my butt. I was dozing in and out. So the first down, they hit no gain. They ran right in the teeth of it. Second down, second down, toss sweep.

Third down, complete pass. Fourth down, and they fumble 83 yards. Jack Sawyer the other way. Let's talk about that Jack Sawyer strip six, if you will. And I think it was more than just a play. Strip six. This is a play. And it's a, it's a play that's going to, it's going to play for generations in Columbus, right?

That's going to be one of those moments. That's like statue-esque type material in Columbus. And particularly because of who it was that did it, you know, the captain and, and, and stripping his roommate freshman year at Ohio State Quinn Ubers, and then taking it the distance. And to me, I think I got special joy out of it as a fan because it was along the sideline. It wasn't in the middle of the field. So it's along the sideline. He's like, look at his teammates. The whole sideline was running, running with him. And you could tell that it meant, obviously, it meant they're going to the championship game. I get that, right? But it meant a lot to them that it was that cat,

that guy, Jack Sawyer, who was doing it. Here's a little trivia. I offered Jack Sawyer as a true freshman, as a freshman in high school. After watching him play basketball? I had Bosa and I had Chase Young, and I said, you become the next one of those and appointed to him.

You become the, he's the greatest kid in the world. He's from Pickerington, 25 minutes from the bucket from Ohio State and incredible family. And you know, I just, you know, to see him do that. You're right. That's statuesque. It's, it's hometown kid, right? He's a hometown kid, right? 20 minutes.

20 minutes. Captain Jack, baby. Captain Jack. What a moment. What, what a moment. Um, let's hear from coach day after the game and you know, what it, what it meant for him to see Sawyer and some of the other players do what they did on that stage in Arlington, Texas.

Here's coach Ryan day after the win. And then the guy over there, I don't know if there's, I mean, sure, you know, we can argue about, I'm sure, who loves being a Buckeye more, but this is somebody who grew up in Columbus, who has always wanted to be a Buckeye, who's always wanted for a moment like this.

So to see him get the moment that he had today, I mean, and he's become like family to me. He has to me and my wife and my kids. And, and, and so this is just two guys, a Mecca, Bucca, Trevion Henderson, Cody Simon. I mean, I could go through Lathan Ransom. I mean, Donovan Jackson, like the story of this team is yet to be told. And no great accomplishments are ever achieved without going through adversity. That's just the truth.

And so we've gone through our share of adversity and that's life. And I've told those guys that. So we're not focused on what's coming down the road. We're not focused on what happened in the past. We're focused on right now and being right where we are. And then at the end, you know, we want to be able to tell the story of this team. And that's really what this team is focused on right now.

You can hear it in his voice, right? You know, what a kid like Jack Sawyer means to his family and to his program. Coach, you remember before the season started, I went to Columbus and you were kind enough to set me up with a tour of the facility and I got to see the team practice with my dad. And as you know, from Woody Hayes, the team takes that bus over to the stadium and they were practicing their first game of the season. Here's what we do guys.

We take, we get on the bus, we go over to the stadium. So I jumped on one of the buses with my with my old man and we're, we're on a normal bus filled with Ohio state thick vein cats, right? Just monsters. And me and my dad sitting there and the one guy who came up and started talking to us and engaging us, give you a guess. Captain Jack and Jack Sawyer from that moment, I was like, all right, I want to see good things happen to you. I want to see more good things happen

to you, I should say. And clearly it did with a moment that- Just to follow up on that, man, I became a big fan of him too. When I went up to interview Travion Henderson and Quinlan-Sean Judkins, he came out of the weight room, came and introduced himself, told me he's a big fan. We rapped, we talked, and from that moment on, you couldn't, I couldn't help but to want great things for that young man. So, it's just, he's consistently himself. So, you hear that story about him, how he came and initiated the conversation with you and your pops. He came out, initiated the conversation with me. Like, you don't have to do that, man. That's just genuine. That's just a good dude, man. And when you see people like that succeed on the field man

it makes your heart happy for sure and if you're if an nflgm you know you're gonna you're gonna look at the draft projects uh you know projections and and where jack is or isn't he's a winner right he's a winner on and off the field and if you're debating between Sawyer and player B, go Sawyer. I don't think you're gonna go wrong. He's one of those guys you want in your locker room. He's one of those culture guys. He's a culture guy. He's a glue guy.

Those are guys, those are adjectives, those are words. Those are action words that you want describing your player entering an NFL locker room. So that 83 yard, his 83 yard fumble returned the longest in college football playoff history. That is that, you know what that makes us do, Mark sauce three yards. It's not, it's no longer a saucy nug. It's it's we've changed it. That made us do a double take. Try Wendy's two for seven, two for seven. Yeah. Yeah. We've picked it up from saucy dogs to double take. Try Wendy's two thousand twenty five. We deal

today. Everything's changing. You go to Asia and everything changes. Buckeyes. Nothing changes to the Ohio state. They use that end of regular season loss to Michigan at home as a wonderful motivation to kind of move on from that misery and get themselves to the national championship game where they will take on Notre Dame. When we return on the triple option presented by Wendy's we're going to talk about the Irish moving past Penn State and into the national championship game. Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy Wendy's Mark Ingram, urban buyer, Rob Stone here with you Thursday in Miami, the orange bowl, Notre Dame Penn state. Mark,

were you at that game? I know coach you were there. No, I didn't go, man. I was not naked. I was still down bad from that trip, dog. That Japan trip, bro. It's stung you, man. We tried to get it down there. Matt and I tried and Brady, we were all there. Yeah. Thanks for the invite. Yeah. So coach, you and you were at, we're matter of fact, the invite, where are you at? Look at your background. I'm the only one that's always in the same background. Where are you right now? I'm in a hotel in Chicago, a national soccer coaches convention meeting. I had, I had some speaking and some engagements to do national suck. Yeah. Come on, man. Coaches convention, coaches convention. You've been to those coaches conventions, coaches everywhere,

everywhere. But look at me. I traveled all my equipment. I traveled my Wendy's cup and football, by the way, that Wendy's football got me a dinged at TSA. They had to go through my bag and they pulled out the Wendy's football and they're like, sir. And I was like, yes. What do you, what do you, what do you want? The plastic football. And they're like, yeah, go ahead. Go, go on there. So, all right, let's talk Penn state and Notre Dame. Um, let's start with Notre Dame, right? Um? For me, you know, obviously it was all about the way that game ended. And I'm just remember, go back with me to the end of the first half of the quarterfinal, Notre Dame, Georgia. And Georgia and

Kirby Smart elected to kind of play it out. Hey, maybe we can get, get greedy, get some yards and get some points late in the first half. What happened? Quarterback hit, fumbled. Notre Dame recovered, gets a touchdown, changed the face of the game. Yes. Late seconds of the game that is tied. James Franklin and Penn State Mark are backed up and Franklin decides, let's try and get it out of here and try to win it rather than maybe take a knee with that precious time and that long of a field to go. Uh, he likes to be proactive, I guess.

And I'm sure looking back on it, he would like to have that decision back, but again, 47 seconds left, 24, 24 game, Penn state first and 10 at own. 15 yard line. All right. And from there, that's where the whole game changed. So I've been, I was actually with some people during that, when it happened. And they looked at me and said, what do you do here? And I said, do not it's over, get to overtime and the team

you're playing then, this is always personnel related. If you're better than that team, everybody tries to make this complicated. I'm not saying that I did screw up, but no, I screwed up plenty of times. I would look and if those cats are better than my cats, there is no chance I'm taking a shot in that situation. You know, don't do that.

So you have a Penn State group of receivers that in my mind have struggled all year, they didn't have one reception I heard in that game. Why not? Did not have a reception. Now you have the best height end. I think that I've seen in a decade. Tyler Warren. And you have two elite running backs.

A quarterback that's been off and on has improved certainly in the last two years and watch them. And I think what James Franklin and you can Andy Koldenicki is the offense coordinator I'm sure with the headsets that went something like this. Run the ball, take a shit, let's get out of here. So they did run it right coach Singleton? Ran it for got to first down to the 28 yard line with 40 seconds left. And then I would run it again, run it again. If you start getting around that midfield area, then I would push the ball down the field because if something bad happens downfield and interception, you tackle

the guys like a punt, but he let that thing go late across the middle. And I mean, I was like, you know, I don't do that. And you can't, you can't do it. Yeah. Can't do that. You can't do it, man. Like your team it's over now. Like, bro. And once you get it, when you throw the ball, Mark,

remember it's matchup. And remember Notre Dame has better secondary than Penn State has skilled receivers. If you're going to throw it, the only matchup you have is Tyler Warren. That's it. Well, your quarterback for one is struggling 12 for 23. He's struggling. You have a receipt. You have a receiving group that doesn't have a catch.

Do not throw this football right now at the most crucial point of the game. Like run the football, get the overtime and figure it out that way. You lose the game. Notre Dame gets the ball. They, they run it out, get the overtime and figure it out that way. You lose the game. Notre Dame gets the ball, they run it out, get in position, they kick the field goals, walk off. You lose. You had a chance to put yourself in position to go win it, to go play for a national championship. And I think in the thinking coach, you know, you were talking about, you know, is their personnel better than our personnel? You had to remember that the Notre Dame personnel defensively leads the nation in takeaways.

That was their 32nd takeaway, that interception. So it's something they've been doing all season long. And from that point, they had timeouts, they had short little runs to set themselves up and, you know, Marcus did what they had to do. That's where analytics might, you know, I don't the analytics piece. Like if, if it said, try to do whatever it, cause you're having a guy in your, at telling you this stuff, but you also have to be the game manager and say, wait a minute, we have not moved the ball well against this

defense really no one has, this is the number two defense in the United States of America. We have a receiving crew that has not performed very well all season long. They don't have a catch in this game, coach. So once again, the analytics piece of this, if the score is 43, 42, or, you know, it's one of those games where you're going up and down the field, that's a whole different animal. Right.

And then I'm going to put yourself in James Franklin's shoes is that you, you give the run, you know, you give the run message to your team about not being aggressive. If you don't try to at least push the ball down the field, but in that moment. No, no, I'm a rely on my defense and I'm a lot around my three players that I've relied on all year, KTron Allen, Nick Singleton, and Tyler Warren. I'm not putting the ball in the drew Allers hands to let him make a mistake,

which he has done throughout the season. You know what I mean? And I'm not throwing to a group of receivers who does not have a reception all game long. Like it's got you fired up that they didn't have a coach. Yeah. Why is that going to change on this drive right now? Right.

The whole narrative has been, we are not working, right? We are not at our best doing these things. So why would, why would it change right now at the closing seconds in the national championship semi final game. I'm playing for overtime. I'm relying on my defense and the three players that I had that have been consistently ballers all year long. That's what those three got him where they are. Those three players are legit legit players. Yeah. Let's talk about James Franklin real quick. And this has been a topic of conversation throughout the year.

You know, I can't, he can get them this far, but he can't quite get them that big win and a lot of people were saying, all right, I can get to the semi-finals. You know, maybe he, he quote unquote, got that stigma off his back. I don't think so only because of the competition that Penn state was up against through the course of the playoffs Remember first round home game against SMU 38 10 win He didn't he didn't earn any accolades for that. That was something that congratulations for being right exactly What you should have done quarterfinals fiestable against Boise State

14 Again, you did what you're supposed to do. Congratulations. This was the test though, right, Mark? Like, okay, if you can get by Notre Dame, and even that, there might be some conversation, but if you can get by Notre Dame in the semi-finals, then, then James Franklin, okay, we can, we can move on from this narrative. I feel like the narrative, Mark, maybe has only gotten a little bit louder right now It is louder because you can't win the game that matters the most against the best teams against the biggest the best teams You can't win. What's the record 1 in 16 against top?

5 Even worse. I don't know what the number is. So do you do we have it? It's like 1 in 16 or something. It's not good. It's not great at all. It's not good. Mark, it's one in 15 or one in 17. Yeah, I hear Coach sighing right there. Because I know you look out for your coaching fraternity. It feels like that was something James Franklin needed. I'm not someone just to bash people, man, but consistently, what you do is who you are

and you're not beating the top teams in the country. And unfortunately, that's what's holding Penn State back right now. And, and we talk about the way it's not all his fault. Correct. It's not all his fault. And the first part of the show, we talked about how many programs are out there that it is what it is and you're, you are what your record are, you know, and there's a lot of places in Penn States, one of there, there's very few places in Penn States, one of them that every game you're going to go to and you're going to be in the game, you're going to be in the game, you're, you are what you record are, you know, and there's a lot of places in Penn States, one of there there's very few places in Penn States, one of them that every game you're going to go into and that was a Beaver Stadium up there.

And there's going to be 108,000 people, other minds are nut jobs. I call it the migration of everybody from the state of Pennsylvania goes there. So it is what it is. And you know, you are what you record are. They had a hell of a year, but I think I have to agree with Mark a little bit. You beat who you're supposed to be. At some point you got to beat someone that you look across the field and that team has got what you got, or maybe even a little better.

And they had the opportunity to me how you get in the street fight. And they had the opportunity this year, coach, they had Ohio State on the goal line. You had them, they had Ohio State on the goal line. You had them. They had Ohio State on the goal line. You can't get a yard. You would whatever you couldn't get three yards, I think. Right. Four downs.

And then now you have Notre Dame and you don't you don't finish the game. And thankfully for my great crew that we have behind the scenes, James Franklin is now 420 versus opponents ranked in the AP top 10 in his career. He's 1 in 15 versus AP top 5 opponents during his time at Penn State. So there you go, man. It's not all his fault, but it is because you are

the captain driving the ship. Yeah. And they're going to lose some guys. Drew Aller has said he's going to come back and be the quarterback again. He clearly needs another year of seasoning if he is going to be back and be the quarterback again. He clearly needs another year of seasoning if he is going to be that first round quarterback type pick. But you wonder where Penn State goes from here. It's an amazing run to get to the semifinals, but it's a major disappointment

the way it concluded. Will James Franklin and the staff be able to capitalize on that momentum, keep it going in Happy Valley? On the flip side, what a great job that Marcus Freeman has done. The last time a 30 something coach won a national title. I go back to 1981. Danny Ford, guys at Clemson. Remember Marcus Freeman just turned 39 on Friday and that made us do a double take. Try Wendy's two for seven deal today. Coach Freeman in the post game conversation. We want to play this for you on how the Irish got to where they are after

getting buried in week two after losing at home to Northern Illinois. You know, often tell them in your lowest moment you find out the most about yourself and we've had low moments, but we had a really low moment. We know week two in these guys battle, we got great leaders, we got great players that chose to put this university and this football program in front of themselves. And that to me is probably the single most, the single thing that I'm probably most proud of is how we have a group of individuals that truly put Notre Dame football in front of themselves. Like I know Riley and Christy truly would rather be in that locker room

celebrating and being up here. Um, but that's what it takes. It takes 120 guys saying, Lord, who cares how many plays I get? Who cares what type of individual praise I get, it's all for Notre Dame and to make sure we achieve team glory. And we have a locker room of guys made up of that. And that to me is a reflection of what you saw today.

The guys that did whatever it took to find a way to make sure we achieve the outcome we want. Guess what? It's a reflection of the head coach as well, right? Yes. It's a reflection of what Marcus Freeman has built in a rather short time in South Bend, Indiana. Yes. This guy was falling on him, coach. This guy was falling on him. North Illinois lost to Northern Illinois. What they've done when 13 straight and got themselves. I want to say, I want to say Mark, when Brian Kelly left, I think he lost two in a row to start his career.

He lost the bowl game and then the opening game against Marshall, I believe the next year. You talk about caving in on someone and then the Northern Illinois game, we all watched it. And in my own heart, I thought that there's, you know. How do you come back from that? Right. How do you, how do you get, you know, you hit the mat at Notre Dame. How do you pick yourself off off the mat?

I don't know that team. Like I know the Buckeyes, but I know this coach and I'm going to say this cause I know you got, he gets a lot of credit. The best thing about him, he deflects it. Yeah. That locker room must be unbelievable. You've been around those, you know, you can be a hell of a coach and all of a sudden you have a shit locker room and you got a problem.

You can be a very average coach and you have a bunch of monsters in that locker room, those alphas that refuse to lose. I mean, my gosh, is that right now? I'm chilled up thinking about those locker rooms. When I walk in, I look and you see grown ass men. They give a shit about one thing and winning that next game and sticking together. And that's, that's hard to lose. I mean, you got really screwed up as a coach when you got alphas like that.

Man, he's a leader of men coach and what he's done at Notre Dame, he deserves all the praise, all the accolades that he's getting because this is a team that lost in Northern Illinois and he has them with a chance to play for the national championship here in about a week, man. So, um, just what he stands for. And like you said, he deflects, he deflects everything. He takes all the ownership upon himself. When they try to say this about your quarterback, say this about your defense, say this about your team, he takes all ownership. He puts it on himself. That's

the sign of a great leader and that's the sign and that's why his teammates, they play hard for that man and they love that man. You can see it. So Marcus Freeman, he's building something special over there in South Bend and I'm happy for him man. He was on our show, a guest on our show. He was amazing on the show and I'm a big fan of Marcus Freeman, man. So he's been one of the biggest winners this college football playoff. Obviously he got a hundred percent. He got a new contract just before the playoffs began and deservedly so. And now it feels every week that goes by, you're like, oh, okay, I get it. And you're right.

Those press conferences coach, the way he handles himself and it's not about me. And he's had some tough questions. A lot of people wanted to bring up the race issue. Hey, the first time a black head coach has made it into the national championship game, you know, or is going to win it. And he's like, no, it's about coaching. I don't want it to be about skin color. I agree.

I agree. Everything that's come his way, he's, he's handled like the Notre Dame brass would want it to be handled. Right. And that is an elite institution. That is a different type of place to try and win. And man, to have that guy representing your institution and the way they're going about and doing it right now. Man, if you're a Notre Dame alum, that chest is out. You are strutting around Chicago or wherever you are. Like, hell yeah, I'm a Notre Dame. All right. Quick trivia. Mark, you know what a subway alum is? Mark? A subway alum? Yeah, that's you're gonna hear a bunch of. All right, quick trivia. Mark, do you know what a subway alum is? Mark? A subway alum?

Yeah, you're gonna hear a bunch of that in the next seven days. Well, didn't go to Notre Dame, but they're Notre Dame fans. And here's the difference. You're gonna see Ohio State's 55, 60,000 students who just share numbers when they, every year those kids all graduate,

move out throughout the country. That's why the Buckeye Nation is so big Notre Dame Nation is gigantic but it's not alumni alum but there's 7,000 students I think 7,500 students that's it but there's the subway alum and the subway alum is exactly what Rob said and I know cuz I coach there for five six years six years I believe and I mean everybody's there's so many Notre Dame fans out there that act like their alums and they're not. So that's the Duke basketball has that has that

phenomenon as well. One last thing about Marcus Freeman. Kieris, do you guys remember the video of when he was introduced to the team as their next head coach? So it's in the locker room. And I forget it it's in the locker room. And I forget, it must've been the athletic director. I can't remember exactly who was saying, ba ba ba, here we go, ba ba ba. And here is your next head coach.

And let me tell you, he had to know what the reaction was gonna be because if that cat came in through the door and it was met with womp, womp, womps, you know, your loss, he knew that that team wanted Marcus Freeman. Marcus Freeman walks through the door and it was met with, won't, won't, won't, you know, your loss. He knew that that team wanted Marcus Freeman. Marcus Freeman walks through that door and the place erupts like they won a national title and he's running into that pile. And it's just a lot of man love going on right now.

A lot of football love in that locker room. And there there's a reason why they felt that way. There's a reason why Notre Dame hired him. There's a reason why Notre Dame hired him. There's a reason why Notre Dame extended him because Marcus Freeman has the Irish back in the national championship game where they will take on the Ohio state and the triple option. We'll talk all things national championship game when we return. Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's, Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram back here with you. Time now for pick six brought to you by Bet MGM. Place your money line prop parlay and same game parlay bets at Bet MGM.

Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly. Again, the lines are subject to change. Currently, it's a big one right now. Ohio State favored by nine and a half over the Irish. Before we get the picks and the breakdown of the game, think about this. Dabo Sweeney, Kirby Smart, the only two current head coaches with a national championship, Marcus Freeman, Ryan Day set to add their names to that

list, the Irish going for their first Natty since 88, the Buckeyes for their first since 2014. Coach, I know you've been eyeballing the two rosters in preparation for that. What jumps out at you when you are comparing those two rosters of Notre Dame and the Ohio State? Yeah, I've always used the term talent-equated because that's pretty clear.

That means that they got what you got and sometimes a little better, and that's the way way you game plan. I'd always meet with the staff after I did a thorough evaluation of because that man that changes the whole world of how you plan a game. If that team across the sideline have better dudes than you got then that once again that changes it and I look at roster roster and remember Notre Dame lost there's either three or four really good players on their defenses. Phenomenal. Now golden defense coordinator is a phenomenal coach.

They got great players on defense, but remember they lost four players on defense. Offensively, I just, this is not a talent equated game on paper. It's not. And on film, I would say it's, uh, it's not. But I would say that the fighting Irish, those gold helmets, the way they play, sometimes talent rarely does a less talented team beat a more talented team. But this is one of those teams that refuse to lose mentality. When they beat Georgia, remember now how they beat Georgia. They scored, they got a short

field, a six, eight yard field. And then next thing you know, then a kickoff return for touchdown and the game flipped like that. It was not, they lined up toe to toe and, and, and, and swung and hit and hit and hit because Georgia on film, probably, and on paper probably had the better roster. So I say that with respect that things happen. You know, when, when TCU beat the Wolverines that one year, that was not a talent equated game, Mark. Yeah.

Wolverines had much better talent than TCU. So things happen. But when I saw that point spread in Vegas, you know, Vegas doesn't, it's not wrong very often. They're Vegas for a reason. But I would say this is a non-equated talent game. And I know that from watching it and looking at the, I watched the film before I said that, and then I also, um, I did the study of the personnel.

Yeah. I mean, this defense is going to give them a shot. You know, I think this defense, this Notre Dame defense, the way they've been playing, the way they've been turning the football over, we know when Ohio State struggles is when Will Howard has turnovers, been turning the football over. We know when Ohio State struggles, is when Will Howard has turnovers, look at the Michigan game, when he has turnovers, they struggle and Notre Dame's defense has been extremely,

I mean the best in the nation at turning the football over. So I think this defense will keep them in the football game. And that all comes down to Ryan Leonard and this offense, being it and seeing how effective he would be. This defense of Ohio State, they have been just monsters at getting pressure on the quarterback in this playoff. 16 sacks, numerous amount of other quarterback hurries. So they will force his hand and see if he can handle that pressure and will he be able to deliver consistently throughout the game. And we'll see, man, it's going to be a great game, but I think the

Irish are going to be ready. Marcus Freeman, go ahead and find an Irish ready to play. I got two comments about Notre Dame. Number one, their defense does not make mistakes, Rob. It's a little bit like when I talked about Indiana's defense. Remember they always got the right fits. You don't see people come in clean, really well coached, disciplined team that play really well.

And I'm going to throw this out there because you're the, what do you call it, running beast or our beast or something like that. Our beast. Jeremiah Love, the last two games, has only had 17 carries for 64 yards. The MCL coach is a real deal. The MCL injury is for real for right now. You know what's a real deal? That touchdown run by Love, by the way. It was.

Yep. It was. But also they got three good backs, man. They got Judarian Price, they have Aneas Williams coming out of the backfield and contributing in the backfield as well. So they got some playmakers, man. You talk about Jordan Greathouse, the game he had, seven catches, 405. So they do have some playmakers on the outside, but at the end of the day, I think this comes down to Raleigh Leonard. And will he be able to consistently make the throws, consistently make the right decisions?

He had two interceptions in the last week. Two interceptions versus the Buckeyes will get you beat. Turn the football over versus the Buckeyes will get you beat. So I think this onus, I think it's going to have to be a huge game, the best game of his life for Ryan Leonard in order for Notre Dame to pull off the upset. So I watched back to back, I watched Georgia and then I watched the next game against Penn State, Notre Dame. And I noticed a little difference and I just, I called Z and I said, and he had two offensive

linemen got hurt against Georgia and the replacement struggled. So I just think this is amazing now because you know, I'm not coaching, but you watch this Vegas stuff. And if these players are going to give Jeremiah love, it gets healthy, which MCL is a tough one. And all of a sudden these two offensive linemen, maybe the point spread that tells you something. And how do they know? Isn't that amazing how they find that crap out?

I used to get so pissed off. I'm like, how do people find that out? Yes. They got guys. They got guys coach. All right. Let me ask these questions for you. Defense. Are we saying it's saying it's kind of a push

or are we giving the edge to Notre Dame? I feel it's a push because the Ohio State defense has really been. There's no joke. The Ohio State defense has carried them all season long. They wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for that defense. Red zone defense is the best I've ever seen.

Okay. They've saved them six times this year. Yes. So let's say defense is a push. Right. They probably defense is the best I've ever seen. Okay. So they've saved them six times this year. Yes. So let's say defense is a push push. Fair. Fair. Special teams. Again, Notre Dame had that kickoff return for touchdown. Caleb downs part return touchdown. There we go. We'll wash it. We'll wash it. We'll wash that one. So then it goes to offense and how state it's not close. to offense. Ohio State. It's not close. Ohio State. In that department, it's not close. Yes.

Right? It's not close. Let me throw one other thing at you. And coach, this is probably more to you. A lot of people watched the Ohio State, Texas game that were neutrals or whatever, and they said that was the National Championship game. That was the national championship game. That was the game that decides

who's gonna win the national title. And I bet there's some of that creeping in the heads of folks in Columbus, and maybe some of those wearing scarlet and gray. That what an accomplishment that Ohio State has done already, going through Tennessee, going through Oregon, and then beating Texas in Texas, essentially, right? Ryan Day is saying, the story is yet to be told, right? He has been pounding that mantra since that Tennessee game,

really. The story has yet to be told. How do you make sure that the team is aware that there is another chapter to that story? Because there's definitely a feeling like we've done it already and that cannot be the case against a team like Notre Dame. Well, I'm going to share it. So the two guys on this podcast, Mark Ingram and myself, we dealt with that. When we played each other in 08-09, that was a fact. Oh, national championship game.

When we played Alabama in 14, we played Oregon next. I didn't say that, but everybody was saying that was the national championship game. When we played Alabama in 14, we played Oregon next. I didn't say that, but everybody was saying that was the national championship game. And I'm going to take a quick talk. Billy Donovan, the incredible basketball coach, Florida Gators was my neighbor in Florida. I had him speak to our team. And to this day, some of our players still talk

about the speech he gave and he called it the white rope. And you know what happens, Mark, in a basketball game, I watched it when Billy Donovan won the national championship. What do the ushers do right as the game ends? They lift up a white rope because they keep the riffraff from doing what coming on the court. You want to celebrate with the people that got you there, cut the net down and all that watch what happens in championship atmospheres, those,

those yellow coats or whatever they are. The ushers, what do they do? A lot of times they lift a rope. Why? To keep the outsiders from going in. There'll be time. That includes, I hate to say it, your family and girlfriends and all that other stuff, we'll have a hell of a time here in about a week or so, but I used

to do that all the time in our players. Pull up the white rope. Do not listen. Do not, and it's so hard now. It was a little easier back then because you didn't have all the social media stuff, But if who, whichever team pulls up that that's what they're doing right now. Every coach right now is somehow finding a way to take their team out on an Island somewhere and just the, the thing is these coaches are elite. Yes.

And I'm going to say this. I think these two locker rooms, I know one of them. I just, from the way they play Mark, I once again, I'm getting chills. Cause I love these fricking guys like that, that are rooms, I know one of them. I just from the way they play, Mark, I once again, I get chills because I love these fricking guys like that that are just, they're all about it. So I think you're gonna see, you're gonna see two focus. There's no nonsense here.

This is two focus teams, excellent coaching staff. And I'd say two of the best locker rooms I've heard about. Yeah, these two teams are gonna be ready to play. And what I do wanna mention is last time Notre Dame did play for national championship was 2012 against Alabama and they got dog walked. So I think this team is going to not let that happen again. Notre Dame does not want that replay to happen again

of them getting dog walk in the national championship. Dog walk. Dog walk. It's good to have Mark back. Yeah, that's great. All right. So bet MGM is telling us right now the spread is nine and a half in favor of the Buckeyes, right? All right. So nine and a half urban. What do you see? Bet MGM. We got to do it gotta do it already? We gotta do it, huh? This is hot, yeah. Ohio State covers the spread. I think Notre Dame is gonna, the defense is gonna keep this thing close. I really liked the play the way that Ryan Day

and Chip Kelly went about. They weren't, I wanna say they weren't reckless. They were just really aggressive against Oregon and against Tennessee, but Texas had better personnel than Oregon and Tennessee. Um, and they let the game play a little bit because you don't want to, you know, you don't want to make a mistake early in that game, let your defense play the game early.

I think this is a low scoring game at halftime and I think the Buckeyes walk away in the second half. The best thing that could happen to this Ohio state team was losing to Michigan in the last game of the season. That's the best thing that could have happened to this team. I know nobody, I know you don't want to hear that coach, but this team has been possessed since that, since that loss. And I think the possession continues. I think they cover, I think they win by 10 points.

And the difference is in the offense. I think this defense is going to, I think Notre Dame defense is going to keep them in the game. I think they're going to, uh, get a turnover, you know, make this thing interesting first half, but at the end of the day, I think they're going to pull away, think they're going to win by 10 points and, uh, I think it's going to be a good game for three and a half quarters. And then, uh, then Ohio State's going to pull away. So remember, I got the Buckeyes covering by 10 points.

It's been that championship or bust slogan, if you will, or conversation at least around Ohio State all season long. And here they are one game away from that championship Notre Dame, the Ohio State. Both of you guys have the Buckeyes winning it and covering. Make sure to follow, subscribe, rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever it is you get your podcasts, as well as across social media, 3X Option Show. Don't forget, submit those questions. We love to answer them. Our next episode comes out Wednesday, January 22nd after the National Championship game and we'll probably talk that national championship game. I can't wait to hear what Brady has to say in these comments. It's going to be a fun one in Atlanta as always.

Thanks to our sponsors, Wendy's and BetMGM. Thanks for watching and listening to The Triple Option. We'll talk to you again Wednesday the 22nd where we'll have a national champ.