The Triple Option - NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock, The Anatomy of an Upset, Is Texas Back, and Week 3 Picks

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Northern Illinois shocked the college football world and “The Triple Option” is at the epicenter of it all. Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone break down the upset of Notre Dame by the Huskies and the emotion that comes with a monumental win. The Texas Longhorns took care of business in Ann Arbor, something Mark saw coming a mile away. What’s next for the Irish and the Wolverines? (5:30) Then, the architect of the upset of the season, NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock joined the guys. Coach took us into the moment that beating the fifth ranked team in the country became a reality, how to build team culture in the era of NIL, and the transfer portal, and the emotion of leading his alma mater into the AP Top 25. (32:15) An impressive performance in a loss of an Auburn recruit led to a trip down memory lane of the most dominant high school performances Coach Meyer has ever seen (calling Percy Harvin). The guys made their Week Three Pick Six including a pair of rivalry games out west in Oregon and Washington and the hottest team in the country you will never guess. #BearDown. (50:00) 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. Try Wendy's New Saucy Nuggs Today https://wendys.com/nuggs 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). ZipRecruiter 4 out of 5 employees who post in ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try for FREE at https://ziprecruiter.com/OPTION Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They hurt my feelings because they was my dog of the week last week, but I'm still Scobuffs. You're still Scobuffs? I'm still Scobuffs, man. But it sounds like a wimpy puppy Scobuffs, like just a little baby buffalo. Scobuffs. Just because they was my dog of the week. I want a Scobuffs. They was my dog of the week and they made me look incredible.

Not credible. Light it. Welcome. It is episode four of the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. Try Wendy's new saucy nugs today. We remind you, we encourage you every week to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media.

You can find us at 3XOptionShow. New episodes drop every Wednesday and the episodes are working, guys. This week we hit number three. Number three on the Apple podcast chart, so make sure to rate and review. Mark only takes five-star

reviews. Only. Anything less, you gotta come see me.'m about that you know face to face to face now we have to get to number two now we gotta get to double a it's just a steady clamp steady climb it's like working one day at a time right three is good you know it's better than three two you know it's the best one we're coming for you number one we on the way we appreciate everybody out there listening watching on on YouTube. Amazing. Just a couple of weeks into this, we're already up at number three, but let's talk about episode number four coming up

joining us this week. This is going to be a really cool conversation. The architect of the biggest upset the season, Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock is going to join us. Man, the emotion he had in that big win at Notre Dame. Mark Ingram broke Charles Woodson this week, guys. He broke him. You're going to hear how he did it. We're going to say, how must Texas try to handle their success? And someone, Mark, ran for 400 yards and 10 touchdowns. And it still wasn't enough for a win.

But we begin with Coach Meyer stepping into the belly of the beast and teaching a class at the University of Michigan with you, Mark. Coach, how in the world did that happen? You know, who would have ever thought? But Mark and I were at Cabo at a business event in the summer, and we met Barry, a professor, a junk professor at the Wolverines. And we started talking. I said, he said, why don't you come to our class?

And I looked at Mark. I said, wait, what? But I said, you know, this might be a great TV. It's a sport management class. We went. Mark Ingram gets cheered everywhere he goes except Auburn, Alabama. And I get booed a lot of places. And I got, my gosh, I mean, I was hiding,

and I saw Mark walking in my chair. Coach, when you walk around spanking people, you're not going to have a warm welcome when you come back. And then, of course, our producers here said, hey, wear their shirt. What was the shirt, Coach? B, Michigan. Yeah.

And some numbers on it. Yeah. Seven. Oh, I think, but I think that ship was sailed from now on. I'm just going to wear it. Right.

Mark. Oh, I think it was seven. No, I went against Michigan. I'm not sure. I can't remember. Hey,

I felt bad for my dog on the show, man. They wouldn't let him work. They wouldn't let him work. Anytime he talked, it was just the booze. It's old news, man.

It's old news. Now they will let my guy work. We like, Hey man, let my man work. He has a It's old news now. They wouldn't let my guy work. We're like, hey, man, let my man work. He has a J-O-B, a job to do. Let my man work. Time to move onward. I loved it, man.

Every time Coach opened his mouth on Big Noon Kickoff, the booze would rain in. And you were instigating it, too. You bet I was. It's my inner wrestling nerd coming on now. Coach was a full-on heel, and I was there to be his manager. I loved it. So that was, that was a cool reaction. Uh, another moment was kind of the reality of what a lot of people think and are now kind of getting confirmed what Michigan is this season and Charles Woodson, right? Mark, he's the ultimate Wolverine hype man, right? He comes in, he's,

he's jumping, he's hitting the banner and he's hyping it up he's got the the michigan ascot on he's got the new ring and he's got the national trophy everything is going his way and then we get on the field and we talk about the game and what did you say and how did it come about how you just broke the heisman winner bro i just told him everyone was talking about what's michigan's realistic expectations i said i got him losing four games on the schedule as of right now i got him losing four games he the schedule. As of right now, I got them losing four games. He was like, so you don't think we're going to make the playoffs? I said, you're lucky to be ranked at the end of the year.

He was like, damn, you just broke me down. Broke me down to my socks. He just froze and looked at you. I've never seen Charles quiet. He was offended. Yeah, it was like a stunned silence. Dang, Mark, you just broke me down in my socks. I said, well, y'all can

do it. I hope y'all proved me wrong, but from my vantage point... I'll tell you, a harsh reality just marched right into Big House. We all witnessed it. We saw it. We saw the... They didn't look... You lose 18 starters.

You lose 13 players in the NFL draft. One of the top pro teams. That last year's team was one of the last great teams. An entire offensive line. Yeah. And you just wonder what in the world, you know, they didn't look the part. They didn't play the part.

This could be, unless they get things figured out real fast, this could be, I think Mark hit it on the spot or maybe even one more. Yep. We're going to get into that one a little bit later, but we begin any given Saturday with a day that had a lot of upsets, had some close calls, but the biggest upset we've seen, and this is one of the reasons we love college football, unless you're a Notre Dame fan, Northern Illinois University.

Anybody name where Northern Illinois University is located? Northern Illinois. DeKalb, beautiful DeKalb. I've actually been there. You've bussed there, I bet. That's my guess. We certainly did an eight-hour bus ride from Bowling Green. You ain't going to get me, Rob.

No, no, no. I know you've not been in DeKalb, but maybe someday. I'd love to take the show to NIU. So Notre Dame coughed up $1.4 million to choke on that 16 to 14 loss. One of the cool things about Northern Illinois, we're going to talk to their head coach in a moment. Third most seniors that played their entire career at the same institution. That is an early saucy nug of the week. Try some at your nearest Wendy's. I think that's an amazing number. We'll talk to the coach about that. But the other numbers out there are Marcus Freeman coach and

some of these odd outlier type defeats. They were a 28 and a half point favorite. They've had issues over the last couple of years, that Marshall loss, Stanford team that finished with just three wins. They lost. Not really sure what's going on at Notre Dame. So when you saw that upset, what started going through your head coach? Well, a couple of thoughts. I was there in 1996. Lou Holtz hired me.

And I remember our scheduling was, I used to look at that schedule and say, what in the hell? I mean, the scheduling philosophy was, because I remember asking, say, well, why are we playing these teams? And they break the country in four quadrants. This is what I was told by an assistant athletic director. And you pick the best teams in those four quadrants because there's something called subway alumni at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a small school, Mark, like only 6,000, 7,000 students.

But there's subway alum, which means they're not actually graduates, but there's Notre Dame fans everywhere. And Notre Dame feels an obligation to go to the four quadrants of our country and go play. And so, you know, when you think about Notre Dame schedule of old, they'd play, you know, obviously USC, Stanford, Washington, Arizona state, and the great, the best teams in the, in the West. Then you go in the Southwest, you'd play Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and the great teams there. And then you go to the Southeast, you're playing Miami and Florida State. And then you go to the East, you're playing Penn State.

And, you know, back when Syracuse, looks like Syracuse is coming back on, but, and Boston College. You were never, I remember asking, why didn't you, can we play a Mac school? Or, you know, every once in a while get a breath. And they said, we don't do that. we play a max score? Every once in a while, get a breath. And they said, we don't do that. We never – and you look at their history, they never did. And I believe Brian Kelly changed that scheduling philosophy a little bit, which has made sense because the BCS era, now the playoff era,

the objective is to get into the BCS or the playoff or now the 12-team playoff. So it's interesting. And, you know, I really like Marcus Freeman. He's a friend. He's a young coach. That's a tough first job, man. But when you look at Marshall, that Stanford loss, and Northern Illinois, you know, I've been on the backside of some.

We were picked to win by a lot, and we lost. And it's devastating, man. It's devastating man it's devastating yeah coach but much credit to northern illinois i mean those guys were out there playing with tremendous effort on defense they were running to the ball all 11 people gang tackling even when they completed passes it was tight coverage they were tackling and they were able to get the job done. Like, the back over there, North Illinois, Ontario ground, he had 200 scrimmage yards, a buck 26 receiving.

I mean, the quarterback, he just did what he was supposed to do, good decision-making, didn't turn the ball over, and they just capitalized on their opportunities, man. They were opportunistic. And at the end of the game, what you say, Coach,

what's your defining moment, or what you call it? Your checkmate moment of the game. I got a checkmate moment of the game for you. About six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame's driving. Throw the interception. They get the ball at midfield. Five minutes and 55

seconds left. They run the clock down. Wow. Chew it up. They chew it up. They get down to the 35-yard line. Fourth and two. They don't kick the field goal. They don't elect to kick the field goal and go for it. They don't elect to kick the field goal and go up by one point and give the ball back to Notre Dame with like a minute and 20 left. No, they go for it.

Convert to fourth and two. Continue to run the clock down. Kick the field goal. Notre Dame gets the ball back with 24 seconds left. They lose the game. Checkmate moment. You know, I want to talk about that for a minute, Rob, is that the psychology piece of it is something that I love. And when you're, you know, Mark, you've

never been a prohibitive underdog. I have. When I first went to Bowling Green, we took over program was one and 10 or two and nine. And a lot of kids quit. And our first game was at Missouri in front of a big crowd opening game. And we only had, you know, 50 some players to be able to make it, or, uh, you know, it opened seats on the plane. I didn't have enough guys on the team, but the whole theme was this, you know, to tell a person to do something that is really insurmountable in their mind. They said, we can't really do this. They tend to shut it down. And so we never, and I told our coaches, I told our leaders, we're never going to talk about beating Missouri. That's not going to happen because realistically we can't.

They have better players. They have more budget, a better budget, et cetera. But you know what we can do, Mark? We can get four yards. And every meeting I have with a team, I would stand up there and measure off four yards and say, this is on offense. All you have to do is take care of the ball and get four yards. Yes, sir.

If you get four yards consistently, consistently, consistently, then you go over the defense and say, they have great athletes. They had Brad Smith back then. They had some really good players back then. And I said, you know, once again, we're not asking you to go beat Missouri. We're going to ask you to tackle. Get them on the ground, line up and get in the huddle and go again. If we do that on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter, just take a peek at the scoreboard. You're going to be within reach. And then we got to find a way to score one more.

And I mean, it was almost, it happened exactly like that where our players did not worry about beat Missouri, get four yards, get four yards get four yards I cannot wait to talk to coach man and ask him how do you because the mindset is you're not going to go beat Notre Dame what are you talking about but they did they did I can't wait to hear the mentality that that players had going in that and that emotion he showed after the game is the emotion the energy that that team played with throughout the whole game. They didn't slow down. They didn't fade away. They stayed the course. They stayed the course. They kept doing the

four yards like you said, Coach. They were getting first downs, moving the chains. They kept tackling even if they caught the ball. There wasn't no yards after contact. They stayed the course. They did what they were supposed to do. They had themselves in a position to win, and they did it. The other thing I'm going to bring up, Mark, and I used to get so pissed off when I was at Utah

when the reporters or the media people would say, well, you're a non-BCS school. Remember the BCS? Right, BCS, yeah. And I keep seeing that they're a non-power conference school, and that made me so mad because we had great players at Utah, and I'd come out public and say, enough with the non- we can beat most BCS schools.

Right. I'm sure Coach and say enough with the non, we can beat most BCS schools. Right. I'm sure coach and his players at Northern oil get pissed off when they see non power, whatever that means. They're really good players there. Obviously they just went into South bend and, and, and beat the Irish.

It's power four now. All right. It's not even five. Yes. Power four. You're right. We have some, thank you.

Pac 12. Yeah. Down to power. We got to adapt and adjust, coach. Coach Hammock is going to join us coming up next. We talked about the emotion, the energy around this program. Our friends at NBC, this is the post-game interview from Coach Hammock, and it's a great listen and a great watch.

You know, I'm so proud of our kids, the coaches, just everybody. They believed. They believed. They believed. And we came here and got it done. You told your guys this week that you didn't need anyone to be a superhero or superhuman. They just needed to be their best. What kind of performances did you see out there? They listened to what I said.

I told them all week, we don't need luck. We just got to be our best. And they was their best today. And we was able to get it done. Wow. I appreciate the raw energy and emotion. And I think the old school days would be like, what are you doing crying on the field, right?

But that hit home for me. And I bet there's a lot of moms and a lot of dads out there in their living room watching that saying, son, I'll be just fine if you go to DeKalb and play for that coach at Northern Illinois. People who have the nerve to say you shouldn't be crying in a moment like that when you're putting blood, sweat, and tears into hours of this coach's play.

We've never been in the moment. You've never understood what it's like to win a game of that magnitude, especially from North Illinois coming to South Bend and winning. Like, real men cry, and real men definitely cry when it's something that they have put their blood, sweat, heart, and tears and soul into, you know what I mean? And their kids go out there and perform and get it done. That's emotional.

Now let's flip to the other side, Mark, real quick, because you've been there. I don't know if you ever had a loss like that, but before you got to Alabama, I remember they lost a game that they never should have lost. Louisiana-Monroe. And the one thing, when I was coaching at Notre Dame, a guy named David Gibbons, a great player,

played in the NFL for a long time. After a game, you know, I see he had tears rolling down. We lost the game. And he says, you don't understand. I said, I know it's a long time. After a game, you know, I see he had tears rolling down. We lost the game. And he says, you don't understand. I said, I know it's a tough loss. And I come out, we'll get this thing back. Had my arm around him. And he said, you don't understand, do you?

And I said, what? And he said, I got to go to class every day. I got to answer to friends, family. That's my whole life is Notre Dame football. I mean, that's that. It's like Alabama. Yeah. Like Ohio State. It's like Florida. That's your whole life is Notre Dame football. I mean, it's like Alabama. Like Ohio State, it's like Florida.

That's your whole identity right now. And those players in South Bend have to get up and go to class. And people look at them like they've got six heads as they walk around. They look at you sideways. Like you didn't give your all. But, you know, that's what we sign up for unfortunately you know and on the flip side the NIU guys are definitely wearing their football jackets around campus this weekend chest is out a little bit I think man on campus I think the C just became a B the B became an A right oh so good so good what a great story and again coach

Hammock is going to join us so So tears of joy for Northern Illinois. Opposite story if you're a University of Michigan fan. They got pounded at home by Texas. Light it. Take back your free time with PC Express Online grocery delivery and pickup. Score in-store promos, PC Optimum points, and more free time.

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At Intact Insurance, we insure your car so you can enjoy the ride. Visit intact.ca or talk to your broker. Conditions apply. Yeah, a ton of streaks were snapped by this one for Michigan. Big 10 record, 29 consecutive regular season games. That winning streak over. 23 straight home games over. National best 16 games in a row since losing to TCU Horned Frogs

in the 2022 college football playoffs. A lot of directions we can go here. Let's start with the good, Mark, and what Texas is. Quinn Ewers, 246, three touchdowns. Texas ran 32 times, 143 yards, four and a half yards per carry. You know, we were walking around Ann Arbor the day or two before this game, and then day of, a lot of burnt orange in town. I felt that the Texas fan base and probably the Texas mentality as a whole

was very much what Michigan's had been the last couple years. Like, hey, this is kind of our time. This could be our team. This is the old Texas is back. Like, we're back, back. I think it's the same way Michigan was feeling for the last couple of years. Like, we're really in contention. Like, we've got a good team.

We can do it. And at the same time, I was feeling that by the Texas contingent on the road. I also felt some resignation already by the Michigan fans that it was almost like going to a wake, going to this game. Like, he lived a good life. You know, he, going to this game. He lived a good life. He lived it to its fullest. He got a national title. Things were great. He's moved on. It's a different time right now. We're going to do a little mourning. We're going to do a little celebration, but there was almost this resignation I felt in Ann Arbor that we're just not going to be as good as we've been the last couple of years. So let's start with the Texas side. Anything you saw that makes you say this is not a national title contending team,

Mark? Not at all. I mean, this team from offensively, defensively, coaching, and just the belief they have from the year prior. We talked about they were in the semifinal last year. They were one game away, one play away from being in the national title last season. So when you have a team that feels that and tastes what that is, they're hungry to get back there again. They have seven returning starters on offense. They got their quarterback coming back. I mean, seven returning starters on defense, I apologize.

They got their starting quarterback coming back. They added some great wide receivers in the transfer portal. Their backs were amazing in both the run game and the pass game. Their line was dominant. Their D-line was dominant. This is a team who believes that they can get back to that level because they were just there a year prior with one play to get to the national title. So, like I said in the show, Coach, it reminded me of much of my Alabama team in 08.

We lost to you guys. We were one game away from national championship. You guys went on to win it. The next year, we were motivated because we tasted what it was like to get to that moment. And if we had did a little bit more, we would have attained it and got to that moment. I feel like this Texas team is kind of like right in that sweet spot the same way. They have the team, they have the quarterback, they have the offensive, defense, the coaching, and they believe. And then when you have that belief from a whole team, from a whole program, that's special. And that's what

Texas has going on right now. You know, let me add something, Mark, is that when I see Texas, Ohio State, and Georgia right now, I thought Alabama, but I think they still got a ways to go. But I got some work to do. These teams, these power teams, the teams, the top three or four teams in the country, Rob, they have no weaknesses. I was talking to Charlie Strong, my former defense coordinator at Florida and a former head coach of Texas and Louisville, and there's no weaknesses. I was talking to Charlie Strong, my former defense coordinator at Florida and a former head coach of Texas and Louisville, and there's no weaknesses. Because when you were coaching back in the day, Mark, in 08, 09, and when you played, if your right guard was not very good

after spring practice, guess what happened in training camp? He was still not very good. Coach him up. Or if you had a punter. Yeah, I still not very good. Coach him up. Or if you had a punter. Yeah, I mean, you had to coach him up. Exactly right. You had to develop him.

You had to develop him. Now you know what you do? You go out. You hit the portal. And Texas took, they got, think of that great team they had last year. Their recruiting staff went out and got six starters from the transfer portal. And they're all, we watched them. They're all hell of a player. Ohio State did the same thing.

You wonder about the Wolverines because they lost 18 starters. We talked about this. and we watched them. They're all hell of a player. Ohio State did the same thing. You wonder about the Wolverines because they lost 18 starters. We talked about this. They only got two starters and a couple of them. I don't know how you got to really evaluate. That's what you have to do as the head coach. Sherone Moore's got to say, okay, why did this happen? Was it schematic?

I don't think it was. We were right there. Texas has a better team. If they played 10 times, Rob. It's 10 more wins for Texas. Yeah. Yeah, that was a thorough, convincing win. I don't think there was at any moment where Michigan, even the most Michigan optimistic human being out there was like,

hey, we got a shot. We're in this one after, I don't know, halfway through the first quarter. It just felt like this is Texas. I have to say that when you stood on the field, you could see the – I could see the – you just look at the players. And the players is a big part of it, right? And this is not to knock the players that are currently on the Michigan roster, but they definitely did not do their work in the portal.

Nine transfers, two of them are starters. One's a three-star from Northwestern. One's a four-star from Maryland. On the flip side, Texas, we did the work. Twelve transfers brought in and impactful transfers. Isaiah Bond from Bama, 112 and a touchdown. Matthew Golden, four starters on defense. Georgia, they brought in 11 starters. Ohio State, they brought in seven starters. It's maybe not as much of a question about what, like to the Clemson level, right? Like Dabo Sweeney refusing to go in the portal and changing things.

But I know, I mean, I know Maize and Blue fans are sitting there and for the last couple of months, they've been looking at this roster saying, well, there's a hole there, there, there. I don't know what our quarterback depth chart looks like. How much do we really believe in orgy beyond his legs? These seemed to me to be pretty obvious questions that really- So Mark and Rob, here's-

Yeah, they weren't answered. Here's what happened a couple of years ago in this transfer portal thing. I still obviously have friends in this profession. And they created their own office for nothing but transfers. So you have your recruiting staff, which is high school. And then you have your another recruiting staff. They're not watching high school film, Mark. You know what they're watching?

They're watching the Mac schools. They're watching all the schools in the country. And they say, they look down the road and say, okay, we have a issue at Will Linebacker. So guess what they do? Who's issue at Will Linebacker. So guess what they do? Who's the best Will Linebacker out here? In the country, and then they go to their collective and say, cha-ching, and they go get them,

which when you still think about it blows my mind, but that's what is happening at the top schools in the country. They're also staring at the computer, right? And they're right there on whatever it is, www.transferportal.com. And they are seeing the names as they come in almost in real time and reaching out. The other thing I find fascinating, Coach,

is these constant battles for recruits between other universities. And let's say player A is a stud wide receiver and ends up going to, I don't know, Alabama. And maybe his numbers were just so-so. I'm always curious the relationship that these programs that lost out initially have maintained through the course of things. Like, hey, if things don't work out, come on back.

And you've already done, a lot of you, you don't know your obvious research on this player. And we've seen a lot of that. Guys who ended up going to another school, but end up changing back to a school that they initially had a lot of interest in. That happened with Caden Proctor. Actually, Alabama's left tackle. He was their starting tackle.

Coach Saban retires. He leaves and goes to Iowa for spring. Spring. For spring. Stop. He's back with Alabama in the summer. Stop it. I didn't know that.

Yes. He's our starting left tackle. You're allowed to do that. He did the summer. Stop it. I didn't know that. Yes. He's our starting left tackle again. You're allowed to do that. He did. Apparently. So apparently. But he left. I think he got that bag from Kirk in Iowa.

Said, you know what? I'm so glad I'm at Big Noon. So wait, then did he get a bag from Alabama? He double bagged, man. He got a double bag. And he double dipped. Did he double bag? I don't know what he did, but I'm assuming.

That one's tough. That one's dirty. You got to check the bag, Mark. Coach, I need back pay, Coach. I'm sending him an invoice for back pay, man. That'd be a big number, too, Mark. It is. That would be.

Take a couple M's up off your hands. I want to talk about an upset and how you handle it in a locker room as a player and as a coach. And I'm sure there's a lot of different ways you can go, a lot of different reactions you could have. It could be a trash the water cooler and, you know, the whiteboard. It could be just walking away from the team. It could be not watching the tape. It could be throwing yourself in the coach's room and doing nothing but watching the tape, assembling your coaches. So when a big upset hit you, coach, and we're talking upsets, how did you handle them typically?

Yeah, we've had a couple of bad ones. You know, we had Purdue and Iowa. You know, they're fine teams, but the Iowa one came after a big come from behind win at Penn State and it rushed the field. And I was concerned because I have respect for Iowa. They weren't having necessarily a great year, but they're tough. That's a tough place to play in a night game up there. And I could tell that we couldn't get off the Penn State win. And then the Purdue one, you know, that's when, you know, Nick Bosa was supposed to

come back. We had him and Chase Young. Chase Young had high ankles, two high ankle sprains. And Nick, you and Nick was hurt and decided to go get ready for the NFL. So our team was a little bit, and we went 13 to one, I think 13 to one that year. And that was a one loss and it was a bad one. How I handled it, it depends on your team. I don't handle things well. So that was a sleeping pill to try to get four hours of sleep. And then I was at work at five, six in the morning.

And it just trying at some point you got to let it go. And I think the best thing that you do is bury that film and just say, move on. We got to, you know, your players don't. I, I, I, in the past of, you know, you know, kind of got after the team and the coaching staff, but you got to let it go and move on because the next one's on you fast, Mark. You know that as a player and a coach, that thing's got to be done by Sunday. It has to. Because all focus has got to be get your body, your mind right for the next one.

You're going to get, you know, losing one, but don't lose two. Right. That next game gets on you quick, and you want to get to that next game as soon as possible so you can get that bad taste out of your mouth. You know what I mean? But Notre Dameame marcus freeman and his staff i would always go like this that's when you're in your leadership stripes it's not when you beat a team 50 to 7 that that's you're a bully when you get when you get smacked and i mentioned this on big

new hit in the mouth you get hit in the jaw we We're going to find out about Sherone Moore's coaching staff. It's an inflection point, which all of us have been there. This is not a direct shot at anybody. But Notre Dame and the Wolverines right now, their coaching staff is on call. And the leadership in the locker room, Mark, they're on call. You have to. There's a lot of this. All you got to do is pick up social media.

You want to get blasted and point fingers, just get on social media. We're not doing that. Close ranks, tighten that thing up, and if you've got a tight team, they'll come back together and find a way to win some games. Got to band together. Don't let one loss become two losses. And those two games, there is a converging point already. Texas head coach Steve Sarkeesian saying in his Monday press conference,

we have to be aware of what just happened to Notre Dame, right? Reading the press clippings after getting the win at Texas A&M. And everybody's saying there's a soft schedule. And everybody's saying that they're on their way to the playoffs. And then this happens to them. Sark, very aware of it. And he has already been preaching that to his Texas team because got to make sure you don't get stung by an NIU. Yeah, the NIU head coach, Thomas Hammock,

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The Canadian Armed Forces. A message from the Government of Canada. One of the many things we love about college football are those unpredictable moments, those upsets. And the man who designed one of them joins us right now thomas hammock the head coach at northern illinois university coach i'm going to bark out some numbers for you i'm sure you've heard some of these niu oh and 14 versus top 10 teams prior to saturday you are the first mac team ever to beat an ap top five team sixth win against a ranked team since 2000 and for the first time since 2013. This week, Northern Illinois is in the AP poll checking in at number 25. Let's go back to Saturday.

As this upset was developing, at what point in the game did you say to yourself, hey, I think we can actually get out of South Bend with a W here? Well, I think after we made the field goal, that's when I felt some relief. You know, it was into the wind. As Coach Meyer understands, you know, that wind can go in a bunch of different directions in that stadium. Touchdown Jesus. Touchdown Jesus sometimes blows it a little bit. Yeah, yeah. I was very concerned going in that direction. But when that field goal went in, I said, hey, we have a chance. And then we was going to sky kick on the next kickoff. And then they put number four in the game.

And I said, there's no way that we're going to kick to that guy. So I called the timeout. And then we middle squibbed and was able to get them down and then obviously play some good defense to get out of there with a win. Jeremiah Love, that's a good player back there for Notre Dame, huh? Listen, I saw him out there, and I said, ho, ho, that's not the guy that was out there before. And normally you don't call a timeout on the kickoff,

but I said if we, you know, I can't imagine giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown to lose a game. I ain't going to lose by kicking the today cat right there. No. Anybody else. Anybody else. What's all this attention been like over the last couple of days for you and for your program? You know, I'm just proud for the NIU and the university and our program.

You know, me, I'm kind of an old school ball coach. You know, I'm not really into the hype and the self-promotion. I'm just going to do my job to the best of my ability. But it's good for our program. It's good to, you know, gain interest. Hopefully it gains financial support in this new age of college football, which is important to try to find a path forward. Hey, Coach, I know you're the head coach now,

but I know you was the running back's coach at Baltimore back in the day. I seen some of that offensive twist you got in there, some of the gives, some of the slaps, the gap schemes, the inside zones, the outside zone. How much time do you spend with the bats? Because them boys was on point in the game. I mean – You know, when you're the head coach – Picking up pass, pro, and everything.

Them boys was on it. When you're a head coach. Picking up pass, pro, and everything. No boys was on it. When you're a head coach and you coach the position, and you've seen it at various levels, Coach Meyer with wide receivers, Coach Saban with DBs, you're just going to have a natural eye for that position. And so, you know, normally when you're at practice, your eyes tend to go to that position that you previously coached, and for me it's no different. We got a tremendous backfield,

guys that play their butt off and really those guys gave us a chance to win the game in that type of environment. Ontario Brown, Gavin Williams, them boys, hey, tell them I got big love for them because I watched the game and I watched how they set the tone in the game. I just had to show

love to them boys and I had to show love to them boys. And I had to show love to you because I know you was on them because you were running back coach. And how they played, I'm like, oh, yeah, the head coach would be on their butt. We had Mike Turner on the sideline, and I told him before the game, I need a Mike Turner performance in this game. And that's what he did again. You know, Alabama, sorry. You know, we beat Alabama in 2003.

But, you know, I said we need that type of performance. Yeah. Coach, it's good to see you again. And, Rob, a little trivia is Coach and I go back to 2002. He had a heart issue and didn't play, and he was a starting tailback, and then some cat named Michael Berner Turner got in and got a little piece of Bowling Green when we were ranked for the first time ever, and that was a great game.

So when I see this question, you know, that a non-power conference school, it used to be power five, now it's power four. When I was at Utah, Coach, that would make me so angry when we get labeled and our players get labeled non-power. When Northern Illinois has got as good a player as there's a lot of so-called power, I'm sure you use that a little bit in your motivation. I used it all the time. Like you tell me Alex Smith isn't, what, a BCS player?

Of course he is. So the era's changed. When we won at Mac schools, I knew I had my guys coming back. Do you worry about people coming to poach your guys? Because I hear from, I still have friends at the Mac and all that, and they're like, it's awful. People, if you have a good year, they're gone. No, all the time. You know, in December, I had a bunch of guys come to my office and had different opportunities to, you know, explore. We wound up losing a couple that, you know, we lost one to Florida and we

lost one to Louisville, but two didn't become 12. But the thing that's hard nowadays is there's so many extra coaches on the sidelines. So you got guys looking at your roster. You know, we played Western Illinois the first week of the season, and then they played Indiana. And I got, you know, a coach from Indiana asking me about a couple guys on my team. And I'm thinking to myself, you know,

those questions are almost like the, you know, NFL personnel department. How did you get this kid? You know? So that, that makes you feel very uncomfortable from that standpoint. But you just try to build as best relationships as possible with the kids and the families. You know, my thing now is, you know, take care of the families of our players that we think, you know, can have a chance to do some different things. So that's all you can do.

Hope for the best. But, you know, show them you love them as much as possible. And hopefully that still matters to the people in your program. Last question I have for you is, okay, it's over. I'm sure you got, you stood in front. I can imagine you standing in front of the team saying it's done. Get on to the next game. I know that's coach speak,

but with social media and you just fricking beat the Irish, how do you get them back down? You know, in the real world. Well, coach, I can tell you, I'm, I'm happy. We have a bi-week. And so, you know, with the bye week, you know, we're going to go back to training camp style practices. It's going to be physical.

It's going to be hard. You know, you better show up. And I said, listen, if you guys don't practice the way I want it to look, we're going to condition after every practice. And so the players understand that. And then I also told him, if you don't go to class or get your study tables in, you're not gonna play because now-

That's a ball coach right there, boys. That's old school right there. Hey, you have their attention. That's the only time in their lifetime I'm gonna have their full attention. And we're gonna use that for the good of trying to keep our culture because culture is hard to build and easy to tear down. And I think those things matter.

Let me throw this out. And last, last things Lou Holtz used to always remind me would call me after a big win. And he'd say, coaches make the error of coaching your team hard after you lose, after you lose, it's fragile.

After you win is when you get after their butt and fix issues because they're listening. You you'll get their attention much easier. When you lose, everybody's devastated. So I think that's excellent, and that's a ball coach right there, Mark. It is. Hey, I like old school. Hey, that's old school right there.

I'm mad you left Baltimore before I got there, man. No, but I want to talk to you about the emotions that you showed after the game. The most pivotal, successful moments of my life, I cried. I won the Heisman. I cried. I seen my mom crying. My father was not there with me. When I got drafted, I cried.

Those were just some of those moments. I overcame so much adversity. I was able to make my family proud. I was able to accomplish some goals that I always set out to be. So crying in those moments, I feel like it's the sign of a real man. And I was emotional in some of the most best moments of my life. So you were emotional after that game, a huge win. I know you put your blood, sweat, tears, your soul into coaching these kids and to try to provide a culture for that program. What was going through your mind in that moment?

What made you so emotional during the interview? Well, I think, you know, nowadays there's so many distractions for young people. And to try to get them to all pull in the same direction, you've got to be very strategic with what you say and how you do things. And so all week I told them we don't need luck to win this game. And for them to believe, to stay committed to the process, we did some different things in practice. We wound up practicing in full pads on Labor Day because they didn't have

school. So I said, what a great opportunity to go full pads on Monday, full pads on Tuesday. And then we did a walkthrough on Wednesday to get them back. And so all those little tricks that you try, and they just did what we asked. And then after the game, I said it worked. It worked, and they believed. And you're so happy for them.

I really didn't know how to respond. It wasn't about me. It was about, listen, these guys believed in the message. They believed in the plan. And I'm so happy they was able to get the reward. How long did you let them celebrate for, coach? Well, you know, I'm from the NFL. So, you know, in the NFL, if you have a win before bye week, you know, you give them a couple of days off. So the plan was to watch the film on Sunday and then bring them back on Wednesday and then grind them on Wednesday and Thursday.

So when we won the game, I said, hey, man, I'll see you on Wednesday. You know, that's an old Andy Reid, John Harbaugh type thing. I'll see you on Wednesday. Ain't nothing like hearing that. They understand Wednesday is game on. But guys have been up here watching the film, lifting, doing the little things that they tried to – I wasn't afraid that they would just leave the building. But in their mind, they feel like you're taking care of us,

you're getting our bodies back. And obviously on Wednesday, it's going to be game on, so I can't wait. We talked about the emotion that you had post game. Obviously the emotion that your players went through, but it's also your alumni and it's your, your former players. And there's this great clip that we want to show you right now about a former NIU player watching it. And I believe it's his daughter secretly recording him. And I'm curious, I'm sure you've seen it, but if you haven't, take us in and kind of what goes through you

when you're seeing this type of reaction. It's gone freaking crazy. Yes! Yes! Wow. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Get the fucking kid out of here! Yes! Who is that?

Oh, I know. Yeah, I know who that is. Yeah. He's a big time supporter. Dang. That's what it's all about, man. Oh yeah. That's how you celebrate now.

He's a big time supporter. That's how you let the party continue. I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that. supporter. That's what it's all about, man. Oh, yeah. That's how you celebrate now. That's how you let the party continue. I haven't seen that video. Wow. That's what it's all

about. And that's amazing. And, you know, that's why you coach. I mean, to bring back that pride, obviously, this is my alma mater. So when I lose, I lose twice. You lose as the head coach and you lose as an alumni. I think people think I sit in the chair and I'm not affected. I'm certainly affected because it's a tremendous amount of pride and respect that I have for

this position and what it means to me. What are some of the other reaction, texts, phone calls, emails that you've been getting the last couple of days? Yeah, no, obviously it's been crazy from that aspect. But one thing I appreciate it, a lot of the MAAC head coaches reached out to me and I think that's big because we're all competing for a MAAC championship. And for those guys to reach out and acknowledge what happened and just the pride in the conference. Coach Meyer knows, you know, when you're in this conference, we all have similar resources., when you're in this conference, we all have similar resources.

We all go through similar recruiting things, but we cheer for one another to win those type of games. I was going to say, just to add to your comment, is that the one thing about the MAAC, Coach, and not many people know this, it's the best coach conference in America. You know why, Rob? Everybody's the same.

When every team in the MAAC comes jogging out on the field, we're in the Big Ten, it's the best coached conference in America. You know why, Rob? Everybody's the same. When every team in the MAAC comes jogging out on the field, we're in the Big Ten, it's not. You have some teams that just have. But for the most part, Mark, every team in the MAAC looks the same. Now you've got to out-coach that other team. So I think that's great for you. Coach, have you thought about how much of a monumental win this is? Like with the expansion of the 12 team playoff,

this might, you guys, you know, handle your business in the Mac, like coach said, this could put y'all in a position to make the playoff. You know what I mean? That was a monumental victory. Have you thought about the significance of that? No, I mean, it's so early in the season, right? And as coach understands,

the Mac is a very competitive league, a lot of one possessionpossession games. We just got to fight each and every single week to find a way to try to win. We know what this conference is about. It's a lot of great teams. Toledo, Miami of Ohio, Bowling Green, Ohio. So we got a tremendous journey. But all we're trying to do is continue to get better,

improve fundamentally, and then give ourselves a chance to go play our best football. That's a ball coach, huh? That's a ball coach. That's a ball coach right there. Coach Hammock, we've been peppering you with questions. I know you've been bombarded since that upset win in South Bend on Saturday. We're going to reverse things right now.

You have the microphone. You have the microphone. You have the podium. You get to ask a question of one of us. Wow. I'm going to ask Coach Meyer. You bet you are. That's the right decision already. I thought you was going to ask me.

Dang. No way. Coach, obviously, I followed your career a long time um you being a midwest guy um you know coaching wide receivers at notre dame and your competitive uh greatness that you you displayed i've read i've read everything about you from how you your off-season workouts at bowling green to uh utah to florida all. You know, if you were coaching today, how could you still, you know, get some of those same attributes out of players as you did back in the day? I've actually asked some people that because I think, you know, old school coaching,

people tell the story if they had the transfer portal when I was around, Mark, 85 guys at transfer. But that was kind of the, I grew up in the transfer portal when I was around, Mark, 85 guys would transfer. But that was kind of the, I grew up in the military-type family. I grew up in Navy SEAL training, and the idea was to, if you didn't want to be here, ring the bell. The problem is 85 guys would ring the bell. So now there's a fine line between, you know, I think Kirby's smart. From what I hear, I've never watched his practice, but they say he's rugged.

You know, Nick Saban is rugged. I can understand you're rugged because no matter what happens, the game of football is a tough man's game. It is. You can spread it out. You can throw it. It's a tough man game, and you better be tough and in shape. I don't know.

That's one of the reasons I'm not coaching is I think, I think that's a tough task right now for you guys. Cause you got to keep your players. The real ones going to stay like you might have some weak ones that tap out, but the real ones, the ones that's about their life, they going to stay, especially when they got a coach who cares for them, loves on them and wants the best for them and coaches them hard.

Like all those things, a real player is going to want that and gravitate towards that and know that he'll be a better player from going through that. You'll have some softies that tap out and ring the bell like Coach said, but the real ones, they're going to fight it through. I'm a fan, Coach. I look forward to watching you. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Big NIU fans over here now. I need some gear. Three of them. Big in the flesh. Yes, sir. You know I follow Baltimore. Hey, you know what? Let's get big noon there. We got to get big noon there.

Let's go. Road trip to a back school. I would love it. I'm down to go see Coach. I want to spend some time in the facility, man. Hey, Coach, how are you starting Wednesday's practice? So our players understand that we start good on good right after stretch.

You know, it's good on good. It's all good on good these next two days. And we're going to put the ball down. We got to get there, Mark. And run it. We got to get there, boys. Full pads. Oh, full pads. Inside run and all.

Yes. They know what it's going to be like. Yes, sir. One-on-one. Tell Burner Turner I said hello. I will do. I will do. He's your good luck charm. You're going to have to have him in Raleigh with you

when you guys take on NC State in a couple weekends. Looking for another big upset win. Yeah, I got to get some NIL money out of him. There we go, baby. Hey, man, congratulations, Coach. We'll bleed him, man. We'll bleed him. Thank you.

Thanks for having me. Coach, fantastic. Yeah, thanks for your time. Congratulations on the success Saturday, the continued success and everything that's going forward with your program. And thank you for taking the time to join us, Coach Hammock. Really appreciate it. Thank you, and go Huskies.

The triple option rolls on. Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, Rob Stone. We are joined this week by a high school running back and his exploits. Elba High School running back Alvin Henderson. Four-star guy heading to Auburn. Sorry, Mark. I know. I apologize.

Hey, everyone makes poor decisions. Oh, no. I got a feeling that one ain't over, boys. Right. I was over. Well, yeah, somebody might. My guess is his phone was ringing the last couple days because he had 40 carries for 435 yards, 10 touchdowns in an 80-78 L.

He took the L to McKenzie High School. 80-78. Talk about defense being optional. 80-78 is crazy. But what's crazier is my dog. That's a basketball number. Foughty carries. 10 tutties.

Foughty carries. Foughty carries 435. I'll tell you what, though. Mark, I can imagine what's going on in recruiting after that one. I'm not coaching, and I'm going to call him. Right? Holy cow. I know Bellman ain't just going to let him slide that easy.

You know what I mean? But, hey, man, I had about 407 tutties in a game with only about 23 carries. So, you know what I mean? I ain't trying to rain on his parade, but if I had 40 carries, I probably would have went for 600 on me. That is a big, big number. Young buddy balling, though. Apparently a limited playbook as well. I got an idea.

Maybe we hand it to Henderson again. Maybe one more to Henderson. Coach, all the time you've been out on the recruiting trail, was there a dude, a stud that you saw that just kind of froze you with what he did on the field that day?

I've been lucky to be somewhere around, arguably some of the greatest players that ever played the game. But, you know, Nick Bosa and Joe Bosa were two guys that I remember like, my God, because I'm, you know, you better have defensive players to help you win. I remember, you know, Zeke Elliott, and he was a high hurdler. And then Carlos Dunlap, Mark, was a kick returner at 6'6", 260 pounds. Lois was kick returning?

He was a kick returner for a touchdown. 6'6"? I'm like, yeah. One of the biggest D.A.s ever. But the one guy, the one guy, and I've said it before, and people share this thought. I know Pete Carroll feels the same way. Percy Harvin was a guy.

I went watching him in Virginia Beach, and I have never quite seen anybody do what he can do with a football field. And that's no disrespect. That's opponents or the players I had. I think most everyone, I know everybody would agree with me on that. If he didn't get hurt, he'd be NFL Hall of Famer. He was the best player I've ever seen put on a helmet. Yeah, he was different.

Percy was different. Reckless player that never got hit, and he was a ridiculous skill set. Strength, speed, agility, burst. He benched over 400 pounds, Mark. Yeah, he was a cock-strong dude, man, and he was actually a brilliant

football player. Veined up, skinny-ankled catch, yeah. Skinny ankles. How about, I'm curious, how many basketball games did you go to that kind of sealed the deal for you, Coach? Especially big dudes. I almost

mandated it because I mentioned this on Big Noon, and that's why the Wolverines, they lost five offensive linemen. The hardest players, skilled athletes are not that hard to identify and discover. And you can kind of put the checkers together once you watch them play, but offensive and defensive linemen, the average, we did the study one time, the average gain weight gain is 40 some pounds from their junior year in high school. And you really start recruiting them until they play. Sometimes it's 60, 80 pounds. So you just don't know how that's going to react i think i even said every big man

should play basketball because it teaches them lateral movement teaches them how to bend it teaches them you know because linemen get into the all their movements this way but you got to move so i mean i i went to what am i 60? I've probably been hundreds and hundreds of basketball games, but I loved going to high school basketball games. Did you go to any track meets, Coach? All the time. Yeah. But that was more for the skill.

Yeah, the skill positions, yeah. But I'll tell you what, a big man. I got offered at a track meet. What'd you run 100? I ran 1069. That's nice. Yes, sir. It was moving.

It was moving. First, it was a 1045. You know what? Jeff Demps ran a 992 or something like that. Yeah, you had some speed demons over there, Coach. Them boys were running low 10s. But that was back when I was about 190, Coach. I'm about 230 now.

You know what I mean? Coach, how many soccer games did you go to to recruit players? Nathan. None? Not even a kicker? A punter? No, tennis, soccer, bowling. Nathan.

You got my bowling in. Good man. You're a teammate, coach. You're a good teammate. Okay. All right, let's pivot here to pick six, brought to you by BetMGM. Place your Moneyline prop parlay and same-game parlay bets at BetMGM. Download the app today.

Please gamble responsibly. Each week, we're going to pick six games against the spread. Mark has got his deuce-deuce dog of the week. I can't hear it. Oh, it's just whimpering. You're not – the deuce-deuce dog is not in full bite mode. That's all right. We'll get to that a little bit later. We remind everybody listening and watching these lines are current as of Tuesday and can change. All right, guys, I'm going to start with a trivia question for the two of you. Michigan fell over the weekend. So who now has the longest current winning streak in FBS?

Ohio State? No, they don't because they lost. Missouri? Nope. I played the fifth. Who is it? Okay, no problem. Arizona.

Arizona? Arizona at number nine. Yeah. And Friday night in primetime on Fox. It is one of two ranked matchups this weekend. What's the number? Arizona's at number 20, and they've won nine straight. They're on the road at Kansas State.

Is Big New going there? K-State is favored by seven points. This one is a Big 12 meeting, but it's not a Big 12 conference game. It was scheduled. One of those deals where it was scheduled back in 2016 before Arizona joined the Big 12. So this is just a game. conference game was scheduled. One of those deals where it was scheduled back in 2016 before Arizona joined the big 12.

So this is just a game, Arizona. Interesting here, heavy favorites in their first two games. They won them, but they failed to cover both. And when you've got a lot of eyeballs, Mark Ingram,

you know, you need to make a splash, right? So Arizona football is doing that Friday night on Fox. They're going to debut their red cats in cursive helmets for this game. And they look spanking. You're going to dig that look. Their offense, impressive in week one,

really went down in week two last Saturday. As for K-State, Coach, I know you love Chris Kleiman and what he's been able to do. You know who I love on Kansas State? Who's that? Avery Johnson. Oh, yeah. Quarterback.

He is the man. They say he can fly. He's fast, fast, coach. Fast, fast. Coach Kleiman spent Monday, all he could do, coach, was find all the places the teams can improve, and that happens after two weeks. They are one of the favorites to win the Big 12.

They had troubles winning in New Orleans against Tulane on Saturday. Tulane's a good team, though. Yeah, it is. I agree. According to BetMGM, 61% of the bets have come in for Arizona. Their home, though, is K-State. They're under the lights. They got that national audience on Fox Friday night.

K-State wins and covers. There you go. Big new kickoff, guys. Really excited about this trip. We are off to Madison, Wisconsin this Saturday. Alabama, a 15.5-point favorite on the road against the Badgers. 91% of the handle or 91% of the total money is on your roll, tied roll, Mark.

People smart. That's all I got to say. The folks are smart, man. Put the money on the Tide. Just had a kind of unfortunate week, but, you know, that was a good week to have for them, I think. To grow, to learn from mistakes, lots of penalties, about three touchdowns called back because of penalties, a lot of different exotic pressures they had to handle, playing behind the chains. There's a lot of things that they need to improve on

and continue to excel at. So they're going to go back to the office. They're going to come ready to roll. They're going to go up to Wisconsin, and they're going to cover. They're going to handle it. So the 91% of the people, y'all are smart, and y'all are going to make y'all money this week. Alabama, 13 penalties for 120 yards against USF. Also had three turnovers. Really balanced

though. Jalen Milrow, they passed for 199 yards. They rushed for 194 yards. We're going to stay, Mark, with you and in the SEC. LSU favored by seven at South Carolina. I just want to remind you, we have not had your double deuce dog, whatever it is, of the week. And I heard very low barking from you. I need some more barking.

Trap game. I'm going to go. You got it. Your dog of the week just wants to be pet behind the ears, right? It's not ferocious today. I'm not doing good on the dog of the week, so I'm kind of... But no, so LSU minus seven, you said, right? It's not ferocious today. I'm not doing good on the dog of the week, so I'm kind of... But, uh, no, so

LSU minus seven, you said, right? Minus seven. Favorites on the road going to South Carolina. I was number one in the country. Went to South Carolina, and we got ambushed. So I'm going with South Carolina as my dog of the week. They got Lenora Sellers. They're 6'3", 240 pound quarterback.

Then they got Raheem Sanders, 6'6", 230 pounds at the running back. That's a lot of weight back there, coach. That's a lot of weight. That's a tough place to play, Mark. That is a tough place. I know personal hand because we don't went there. We was number one ranked in the country. We went there to South

Carolina and they ambushed us. So LSU had a big week after bouncing back from the USC game. We'll see if they can continue that. But I like the points. I'm taking the points. I'm taking South Carolina. I'm taking them for my dog. I want to hear the dog.

I don't know. But South Carolina proved me right. So I can get back to it. There we go. There it is. The other great game this week, and it's not one many certainly would have expected coming into the season. How about Boston College at number 24 on the road at sixth-ranked Mizzou,

the Tigers of Missouri, 16.5-point favorite. This week, guys, the SEC, six of the top seven teams in the AP rankings SEC schools that's the first time it's happened in the 88 years six of the top seven of the rankings the only one is Ohio State sneaking in there even the Buckeyes fell down a little bit all right so so far 60 percent of the bets are on the Eagles coach BC at Mizzou Mizzou favored by 16 and a half yeah Bill O'Brien the new coach is a guy I know fairly well. Coached against him when he was at Penn State. I liked the guy because he's tough, he's rugged.

He's a perfect fit for Boston-type players. You know, when I was at Notre Dame, we played Boston College every year, and back in the day, they were rugged. Steve Adazio was a coach here. They went to six or seven bowl games, and then they kind of fell off. But I think they're obviously a bowl team. They are number one rush team in the ACC. How about this, Mark?

282 yards on the ground per game. So I think they'll go. And this against Florida. You know, they beat Florida State. They're 2-0, but Missouri's played, you know, Buffalo and Murray State, so it's a soft schedule. At first, I was going to go with Missouri to cover. It's at Missouri.

But I think Boston College is going to slow the game down with the run game. I bet they snap the ball with two to three seconds left on the clock each. Shorten the game, and they'll find a way to be close. I don't think BC wins, but I think they cover. All right. Week three, by the way, is apparently the new rivalry week out west. We start. It's the 116th edition of the Apple Cup.

I don't think it's Apple pick and season yet, although it felt like it in Michigan this week. Washington favored by four and a half against Washington State. This one in downtown Seattle. And the line, the line has done some movement. It's moved four points since it opened at eight and a half. Let's talk about Washington at first.

Guys, this is a cool little rink. I'm curious your reaction to this. New Huskies head coach, Chet Fish, preaching discipline in a rivalry game, right? We all know that one. But he's been disciplined and well thought out with his checkbook as well. He and his wife, Amber, made a million dollar donation

to UW's Go Big Ten fundraising campaign. So he's doing his financial part to keep his team equipped in the great arms race of college football. It feels a lot like me donating $300 to the Rob Stone grocery shopping fundraising campaign. But put your money where your mouth is, right, and donate, coach, to help your own cause. I didn't know that.

That's a big move. Washington to me is own cause. I didn't know that. That's a big, a big move. Washington to me is the unhurt, the unknown. They've lost everybody. And Jed fish obviously had a great, a couple of years at Arizona, but I,

you asked me about Washington. I said, I have no idea. I think the world doesn't know yet. Yeah. We're going to find out more in Seattle. They take on their rival team, Washington state, the Cougars.

They dropped Texas Tech. It was a home win, and they won by 21. They were led, guys, by my new favorite player, Coach and Mark. I want to make sure we get this player in Mark's Heisman. What is it? Club Heisman or whatever we call him.

All right, so here we go. They were led by my new favorite player, the dual threat quarterback, John Crazy Legs Mateer. Week one, the Texas native. What does he do? He throws for 352, five touchdowns. Last Saturday, let the kid run the rock.

A quarterback school record, 197 rushing yards and a score. His defense showed up big time in the win as well. Forced four takeaways. Crazy legs. Crazy legs. Crazy legs. He starts press conferences by saying,

sup, and he's got like that Minshew-type headband. He's got that perfect swagger. My man, crazy legs, dances his way into Seattle, the Emerald City, and it's the Cougars getting the out and out win. Crazy Legs. Crazy Legs. John Crazy Legs Mateer. Let's go Crazy Legs.

Crazy Legs. What's up? Back me up, John. Back me up, Mateer. All right. Let's stay out west, Coach. Oregon on the road, a 16.5-point favorite at Oregon State. Remember, the Ducks had that walk-off field goal at home

to beat Boise State last Saturday night. They are a team, as their new quarterback, Dylan Gabriel, said that is still trying to kind of find their identity. This game, Coach, opened up at 20 and a half, has moved four points down. So again, it's the Ducks favored by 16 and a half and on the road. Yeah, they have some issues in Eugene.

They don't look like they finished last year. They, you know, had some transition. Hey, Mark, how about this? They had a punt return and a kicker return for touchdowns against Boise. If not, if without those, they're 1-1. They lost the game. Ashton Gentry.

Yeah. Boise State. Boise, right? Yeah, he's a monster. He's a club Heisman for sure, Rob. Dylan Gabriel's completing over 80% of his balls, but they're not throwing the ball downfield. There's a lot of stuff.

They're just unsure. And they better get right because the Buckeyes are all in the town, and whoever wins that one will be the frontrunner, will win the Big Ten. Oregon State lost everyone. Lost their coach, lost their quarterback, running back, a bunch of several others. There's kind of a surprising 2-0 start. I've always respected Oregon State because they've had good coaches,

good players. So I'm going to say, I'll keep going back and forth on this one, but I think Oregon is going to start to get everything in order because I like that staff. I think they cover the 16 and a half. Dan Lanning saying after the win, there's a sense of relief because of that result. They keep sliding down.

What's that? I'd add there better be some urgency because it's about to get real. I agree. And, you know, maybe they got caught with the stars in their eyes with those lofty preseason rankings starting at number three, second straight week. They slide down. They're now just inside the top ten.

Oregon sitting there at number nine. I need some momentum on my side, Stoner. I need the dog of the week to come through. You even look sad. You're pouting over there in South Florida. Come on, man. That's not how you roll, Mark Ingram. I'm sad. You're sad?

I need my scope bus to get right. I need my dog of the week to get right. Come on, y'all. Rough, rough. All right, everybody, please pick up Mark Ingram this week. He's having a rough week. Here's how you can pick him up. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, where we're number three, or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts,

as well as across social media at 3XOptionShow. Again, new episodes coming your way every Wednesday. We, as always, want to thank our sponsors, Wendy's, BetMGM, ZipRecruiter. Most of all, we want to thank you for listening, for watching, for subscribing. We really do appreciate how much headway you've been able to allow us to create after just a couple weeks in this gig. Where are you going, Mark? Oh, yes, those guys.

There she is. There that is. Wendy's Football and the Triple Option. Great week, boys. Number three, keep moving up the charts. Let's go. Best thing about number three, chance to be number two. Oh, hey, it's a process, coach.

One day at a time. One episode at a time. And we need y'all. Like, subscribe, follow. And coach talk.