The Triple Option - Ohio State-Michigan Fallout, College Football Playoff Rankings, Marcus Freeman Joins, Championship Picks

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Down go the Buckeyes...again. Coach Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone break down one of the worst losses in the history of "The Game" and the post game brawls the rippled throughout rivalry week, starting with Ohio State vs Michigan. The guys then bring you the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings and what it means heading into conference championship weekend. (1:39) One school that doesn't have to stress about their playoff spot this weekend is Notre Dame and their head coach, Marcus Freeman, joins the show to take you inside the program the was written off after an early season loss to Northern Illinois. #KeepThePain (59:00) Coach, Mark, and Rob then took a look at the top conference championship games during "Pick Six" and make their picks of UNLV v Boise State, Tulane v Army, Iowa State v Arizona State, Clemson v SMU, Penn State v Oregon, and Georgia v Texas. (1:17:10) 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). USAA Learn more about USAA at USAA.COM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But you know, what's funny is the field's not even grass. So the flag didn't even plant. So like you got to plant this flag in a turf field. It just fell over. So you was never going to play it anyway. Cause it was turf. It's so true. You just got me to snort.

Oh man. Roll damn tight. Mark's always in charge of music. Coach, not so much. I like it. My eyes go right to the top left. Right, right. Let's see what Mark is doing when the triple option music hits.

Welcome to another edition of the Triple Oshen presented by Wendy's. Try Wendy's new saucy nugs today. This week, how about this, huh? Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman joins us. We're going to talk about keeping the pain in South Bend. Wonderful conversation with coach Freeman. We're also, of course, going to discuss Ohio State, Michigan, the flag planting epidemic that took over college football last Saturday will also get you ready for this weekend's major conference championship game. So glad you're with us Rob Stone, Alabama national champ, Heisman winner Mark Ingram, three time

college football national champion winning head coach Urban Meyer back here with you. Thanks for joining us. Remember, please rate subscribe at Apple podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, as well as across social media, you can find us at 3x option show new episodes drop every Wednesday. Yes, we've been saying this kind of like all season. But this past Saturday, even more in particular that on any given Saturday, anything can happen in college football, particularly when it's rivalry weekend, it's genuine, it's unpredictable, and it is absolutely chaotic.

And the heartbeat of that chaos was in Columbus, Ohio, a major upset. Second ranked Ohio State falling for the second time this season as Michigan. Comes into the horseshoe and wins a knockdown grind out kind of ugly rock fight 13 to 10 only three points scored in the second half and that was the winning field goal by Michigan they had back to Ann Arbor they are bowl bowl eligible, had been bowl eligible for that week. The Buckeyes, they drop in the rankings, but they are still very much alive to continue on in the college football playoffs.

Urban, your initial reaction to what transpired or what is going forward in Columbus right now? Yeah, as I prepped for that game, I did not see that mark. And then the news, we got Saturday morning, two of their best players are out. Yeah. Uh, one of their best, Colton Lovlin is an unbelievable player. One of the best tight ends in the nation. I thought, you know, who do they go to on offense?

You know, they, they're playing, uh, a quarterback that has minimal success and really hasn't played much, Davis Warren. And, uh, I just didn't see that, but you got to get, I mean, the one thing about the game of football, there's a scoreboard at the end and you have to take your head off and give respect. And that was a rugged win for the Wolverines. They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides. They, especially defensively those, the two future NFL draft picks

and defensive tackle. But here's the thing, Rob and Mark, when you lost that game, and I remember Woody Hayes distinctly saying, and Earl Bruce would say it to me, it's 365 days of pain. You have to live with that. Here's the reality now, that's somewhere in you, but you better get it out because you have a playoff to go to. And back in the day, you'd lose that game.

You'd go to some bowl game you wish you weren't at, and you just, it'd be misery and you got to regroup right now. I mean, like now it's got given 24 hours. And I mean, talk about that. You would always do this. That's the captain stripes for your leaders and for your coach, man. I mean, don't stand up in front of the team when you win. And that's not hard to do.

What's really hard to do is when you get punch rates square in a mouth. And I mean, you are hurting, you're bleeding, your guts are laying on the floor. You got to pick them up and you got to grab each other and you got to go. And if they don't do that, they'll lose. They don't got to get ready. There's a bunch of good teams coming up. I'm sorry. I've got to get ready now.

They got to get ready right now because they got Oregon in the big 10 championship coming up this weekend. And coach, you know, Penn State, Penn State, Penn State, how dare you disrespect happy Valley. Oh my goodness. Yeah. They're on a five week man. Their regular season is done.

They certainly thought they were going to play. Penn State you get your opportunity. But Martin, that goes to your point. Like everybody was already talking Oregon, Ohio State, rematch, Big Ten Championship game. And that's why the game is different, man. It is a special rivalry, Mark. Yep, it is. Hey man, you know me, man. I'm is different, man. It is a special rivalry, Mark. Yep, it is.

It is. Hey man, you know me, man. I'm from Michigan, man. So I grew up Michigan State, Michigan, Michigan, Ohio State. Then I went down to the South of the Mason Dixon Line and that Auburn, Alabama. You know, we had a scrapping too this weekend too.

So y'all weren't the only ones bumping, you know what I mean? But that rivalry is special. That the game is a special rivalry, man. I got a lot of respect for it. And when you watch that game, man, it is physical. It is nasty. It is tough.

Coach mentioned Michigan goes in without two of their best players, Colson Loveland, Will Johnson. And guess who they turned to? They're six to 230 pound monster of a running back. Kalil Mullins. They, he was unbelievable in that quarter. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Breaking tackles like, but that's what Michigan had to do. They had to make this game ugly. They had to get turnovers on defense. They had to control the line, scrimmage or offense. And Kalil Mullins was the heart of it. He ran hard. He broke tackles. He got the tough, dirty yards all game long, 116 yards and a touchdown.

This dude is a beast, man. got the tough, dirty yards all game long, 116 yards and a touchdown. This dude is a beast, man. He made a switch from linebacker to RB one and the man is single-handedly carried the Wolverines to a victory on the road, not single-handedly, but he had his big hand in it. So shout out to Kaleo Mullins, man. Rob, think about this. That was their first road win of 2024. Yeah.

They came in there, right? I read that. I read that. I mean, I couldn't believe what I just read. I want to throw these two names out to solidify themselves as, first of all, legends in the game, Mason Grant and Kenneth Grant. Those two, I watched that game three times already. I just keep watching it and trying to figure out what happened.

And Ohio State had three offensive linemen out, future draft first round pick. Josh Simmons is out at left tackle. He's out. The backup left tackle is out. The center is out. And you could tell they were discombobulated in there. And it was, it was a beating that I'll tell you that Mason Graham, number 55, he plays with his hands as well as

I've ever seen a defense lineman. He plays full extension, Mark. He's playing right here. That's it. I'd love to see how strong that cat is, but he plays the entire game. Mark and Rob, what I'm talking about is defense lineman that can just often slam and want to engage. That's where he's holding defense lineman want to disengage and his

power in hands were, were pretty incredible. I just had to talk, I just had to talk about the, I just had to talk about the offense real quick of Ohio State. Like how do you not force feed Jeremiah Smith with Will Johnson out? How do you not force feed? We've been saying this for weeks though Mark, haven't we? Yes, like throw the footballs to these guys. You're trying to line up and run into the teeth of a Michigan defense who was built to stop the run. What does Michigan see every day at practice that they're good at defending? The run! What do they see at practice every day that they're not good at defending?

They don't see it at practice because Michigan doesn't throw the ball well. So I would be throwing the ball at them. Like, Mecca Ibuca had only five only he only four catches. Jeremiah Smith only had five and four of them was in the first half like some of that may be a Will Howard pro problem. Will Howard definitely did have two interceptions. He had two bad interceptions in the game. Bad that's the thing there's interceptions and there's bad bad interceptions and coach I want you to get into the white outs what you saw from them. But but let's, I'm forgetting, let's get right to Will Howard. All right, let's

start with that. Well, him and Davis Warren, we're in a competition who could throw the worst interceptions, but well, who could hurt their team the least and, and I feel like coach, I feel like this is just me here, outsider Rob Stone, I look at that first Will Howard interception and all of a sudden, I'm tight. I have no I have no say in this game, right? I got I got no dog and all of a sudden I'm tight. I have no, I have no say in this game, right? I got, I got no dog in this race, but I'm tight. And I'm like, every time he steps back to throw it, I'm like, Ooh, Ooh, watch out. I'm,

I am nervous for what could happen for Ohio state right now. And my feeling is that translated up into the coaches box and chip Kelly and Ryan Day on the field felt that as well. Do you, do you agree? Yeah. Number one job of the head coach is to manage, be the game manager. And that means that you're not calling plays. You're not calling block punts or whatever. You're calling a cumulative effort of offense, defense, and kicking. When your defense is as dominant as Ohio State's defense is,

you have a Wolverine offense that for the season, they've not been very good. They've been struggling. How do we lose this game? You turn it over. And so, but, but you also get some points, you got to do something other than run at the strength of the defense. So I'm just, I'm painting a big picture for you. How do you lose that game?

You turn the ball over. Yes. They also, they get, how about this? The last 14 snaps, not one first down. Digest that for a minute. 14 snaps, that means three straight drives to go win a game. And they don't, and this is real interesting, Mark too, we talk about the receivers at Ohio state,

a lot of credit to the D, Wayne Martindale, the defense coordinator at the Wolverines. You know how many staffs and man covers they played? Five. Yeah. Protect your defense. And a couple of those are in short yardage. So they, cause I kept watching it. I started marketing it on my pad.

Zone, zone, zone, zone, zone. And remember early in the game, they kept giving them those outcuts. And you're not going to lose a game by giving up an outcome mark. So the Wolverine defense said, keep these monsters in front of you. They had a couple of passer interfering calls when they got behind them, but they played zone coverage and it was really, really smart. Usually in zone, you can have find ways of getting an extra hat in there and run the ball, but it's amazing how this worked out to stop the run.

Normally Mark and Rob, you got to stick extra guy. Yeah. And, and behind that's usually man coverage. They didn't really necessarily do that. So how did they get away with it? They often did defense. Those two tackles inside were two gaping. I mean, they're, they're, they're playing the B gap disengaging and making them play in A gap.

It was unbelievable. But they had success early in the game. Will Howard and Quincyon Jenkins doing the option pitch on the edge. It went for 17 yards. It was almost uncontested. We didn't see that again the rest of the game. Right. You keep running inside A gap, B gap

until the strength of two first round D tackles. Get on the edge and get these guys into space. Quincy John Jenkins and Trevion Henderson. I just felt like there was like really no, when you have a defense who is, their strength is the D tackles, you want to get on the edge. You know what I mean?

And stress the edge. They did it early in the game, had success. They didn't continue to do it. The wild generation. I'll give you just a 15 second. So, and I did this on big 10 network. To stop the run, I'm not talking about pressures. To stop the run, you need to edge the defense.

That means you have to have contained the defense. And that doesn't mean run up the field. That means you squeeze the C gap. You set the edge. and you know what that does, Mark, it squeezes the B gap. And then you squeeze it. Just, it works together. The whole line works together.

And that defensive line of the Wolverines set the edge. Yes. I mean, it was really something to watch. And then they let those two first rounders went in, troll the A and B gaps and the linebackers ran. It was, so you can say run around it, they set the edge. Did the coaching staff lose faith in Will Howard at some point in that game? I think the weather, I think it

was not an easy day to go flip the ball around. Okay. And zone coverage is you better be on point. And he didn't have much time. He also was pressured a lot. So it's a cumulative effect on the quarterback. He lost his confidence early when he flipped the ball out there and got picked off on about the eight yard line. You got, you know, the winds in your face. The reality of you have three new offensive linemen and they're getting on you.

Every time you pass now, there was people breathing down on them. So it was cumulative effect. And then the other thing that he had zone coverage. So I mean, you had to be really on your mark. Man coverage is easy to beat. Put a freak against a non-freak and throw him the ball. That didn't happen.

Wolverines did not play man. I'm sorry, coach, what did you see from the wide receivers? Cause I know you were focusing in on the Buckeye receivers. Yeah, I didn't feel them. I didn't feel them. And I went back and I kept watching them, watching them. And was it lack of effort? I don't believe it was lack of effort, but I think it was frustration.

Cause I've coached that position. I've been around the just, you know, high draft picks and they get frustrated. You got to, you got to keep them. And the Wolverines played behind them. They were not gonna give up a big one, man. They were gonna force you to dink and dunk and Ohio State didn't have the patience and accuracy to do it. 45th meeting of the game that was decided by one score.

And remember, the Buckeyes came into this one favored by 21 points. That is the biggest point spread for the rivalry since 1978, which makes it the biggest loss point spread wise in the history of the game. That is your saucy nug of the week. Try some at your nearest Wendy's. Let's give you a bonus saucy nug from Wendy's and Mark, this goes to your point, the team that has won the rushing battle in the game has now won has won the rushing battle in the game has now won the last 23 straight games between Ohio State the damn ball. Well, and again, Ohio State has hats, they literally hand out

hats that says run the damn ball. Yeah, and they could not run the damn ball, even though they had Henderson and Judkins. But yeah, the offensive line, I think, is a real concern. I don't care who you are, Stoner. I don't care who you are. If you don't have space and room to run, you will not be successful as a running back or as the team in the running game. You have to have people moving the line of scrimmage, moving people off of their spots, and then allow your backs to be able to hit the space. But if you can't block, you're not going to be able to run. Let's be blunt. The Buckeyes have a lot to play for. I know this everything to play for stings in Columbus, but my goodness,

everything is still in front of them. In fact, if you look at your bet, MGM championship odds, the number one team right now favored wise, of course, it would be Oregon at plus 350. Then there's three teams there at quote unquote second at plus 450, Georgia, Texas, the Ohio State. So people still believe in Ohio State going forward. So coach, how does Ohio State,

how does Ryan Day go forward from this moment, knowing that they're not playing in the Big Ten Championship game again, this weekend, and they they do get a buy if you're trying to look for a positive. But boy, this is a big time psyche build up project. It feels like in Columbus right now. Yeah, you this is this is not psych 101. This is graduate level psychology.

You got to figure this one out. And I'm not saying I have the answer because, you know, we've all got our face kicked in in a game and, and it's so dependent upon I've always been a guy that I always had a group of players, Mark, that you would certainly be one of them. You know, that's the alpha. That's a personality guy that also will let me know, will talk to me. Uh, this is not a co, you know, yeah, it's, it's Ryan Day and it's the coordinators and all that, but to me, this, and it always will be a player.

You've got to reach the players. Yeah. And I don't know this team. I don't know, you know, I see Will Howard talk a lot. I look, it seemed like a great leader, but who, who is the dudes that, you know, is it Jack Sawyer? But I would, I mean, it'd be every day I'd be meeting with those cats and figuring the pulse of the team.

I think they had practice yesterday. I heard, uh, but you got to rinse and rinse and spit and get going. Cause it's, it's, it's upon you. If you, uh, you don't even want to think this way, but if they lose the first round, I mean, oh my God, I mean, well, all right, let's do that ugly hypothetical if you're a Buckeye fan. All right. And this starts going right to Ryan Daymark, right? You're having, what is this, four straight losses in the game. This was a wind the natty or bus type vibe around Columbus.

They may not want to say it, but clearly the donors will tell you that. You don't put 20 million not to win. And then should they lose a first round playoff game? That's a big if. I understand. And I'm not here to but but the pressure on Ryan Day's job and the athletic director that did not hire him will be under major major scrutiny. If If, big if, if Mark, that is to happen. Stoner. Well, Coach, what'd you say?

Every week? This is going to be more pressure next week. This is going to be more pressure than next week. It's just a matter of the fact that it's job. There's no more weeks going forward. If it ends, then it's in the play. It has to be uncomfortable, tough conversations. But in the day it's like, who is out there for Ohio state to

coach who's going to coach that job. And then like with this, with this calendar or the college football schedule, you fire a coach. Not everybody could poach off of your roster and just, just relentlessly. And you can't even get nobody for 30 days or whatnot. So it's just a tough position to be in if you're Ohio State because you can't if you fire your coach much like what happened with Alabama last year when we when coach Saban stepped down there was 30 days where he couldn't where Alabama couldn't get anybody out of the portal but

everyone could poach off of their roster. So the college football calendar is just, it's like, it's tough right now and it makes it tough to fire a coach at the end of the season. So we're not using, and you put, we're not using the F word, Mark. We're just saying maybe, I'm not saying, I'm not saying, I'm not saying for Ryan Day, I'm saying for just any, any, any college football program who wants to move on from their head coach at this point of the season, you have a window that closes where you can't go out and grab nobody in the portal, but everyone in the portal can poach off of your roster. So it puts your program in a bad position to let go your coach at this point in time of the season. Well, Michigan went through it last year, right? And coach exactly that on, on big noon, you know, that, that gap when they're fighting for a national title, and then they

lose their head coach and the coaching staff and the players and the players to the NFL, it was brutal for them. But to me, the things that are going on in Columbus are just absolutely fascinating. And somebody is going to write a wonderful book about this someday. And I'm a Ryan Day fan. I know you are a coach as well. I want to see him succeed. And guess what? He's a great coach, he is absolutely succeeded. That was his first loss to an unranked opponent.

And you look at his win loss record and the things he's achieved. It's been amazing. But the game is how you are judged in Columbus and, and, and Arbor. And also we're with Charles. We were with Charles Woodson last week. He, he even said, he said, Ryan day is a great coach, but people get fired behind his game right here. So, yes, Brady said it, John Cooper.

He lives in that era. People get fired behind these rivalry games. And, um, you know, it's amazing. Jim Harbaugh started on five now. Yep. And he was on his last legs because, because they did play the sixth. Yeah. Think about that. And while I was there, there'd been they did play the sixth. Yeah. Think about that.

And while I was thinking it would have been a three touchdown favorite in that one. And so, yeah, it's uncomfortable to hear the fired word and it's uncomfortable to hear about pressure, but it's also reality that you're compensated very, very well. You get all the resources. You know, I talked to someone, I said, man, it's a rugged job, but it's also arguably the best job.

Yeah. And there's no one saying it, there's plenty. And I would start, you guys laugh at this. Here's my first team meeting every year and my first staff meeting. Everybody understands their job description at, I said this at Florida and also out of state. You're expected to be the very best at what you do in the country. If you're a coach, a running back coach, you better be the very best.

If not, you're gonna have to answer to me and say why. Because of whatever resource you need, I'm gonna give you to go study whatever, you need to be the best as a player. If you're playing tailback, Mark Ingram, you're expected to be the number one tailback in the United States. If that doesn't fit your job description,

you can go, I'll help you right now. I'll sign your lease papers and you can go. Because there's a lot of places out here, Mark, it's really not that important. Yeah. You know, you don't have to be the best. You know, there's 130 schools, or what's 120 schools, you don't have to be the best tailback.

Yeah. You be good, you're fine. You go eat your dinner and you go home for vacation and all that. At Ohio State, so the world you don't have to be the best tailback. You be good, you're fine. You go eat your dinner and you go home for vacation and all that. At Ohio State, so the world you don't. And that's why you got to clean, you know, I call it a cleansing. You got to clean your mind and say, this is my job. That means people say this is drastic. Every waking moment you have, if you're not the best, find a way to become the best.

And that's your job description. I get it. If you don't like that, find a way to become the best. Yes. And that's your job description. I get it. If you don't like that, go pay your taxes, be a good person, but leave here. Yes. And so that's the way it is. That's what a lot of these programs are mission, a coach with that type of message to his team, because it makes guys uncomfortable and when you're uncomfortable, you gotta work.

Not all guys. It doesn't make Mark In guys uncomfortable. And when you're uncomfortable, you gotta work. Not all guys. It doesn't make Mark Ingram uncomfortable. It don't make me uncomfortable because I know I'm gonna work. But that type of message, that type of tone resonates through the entire team. So if you have someone who is on the edge, now they know I need to get going or I'm gonna be left behind. So that type of tone and that type of message into a team is the difference between a mediocre team and a championship team.

Well, after Thanksgiving, a lot of people do go on those cleanses. My wife is, is doing it right now. So I'm really excited for the mood swings that are coming firing my way in the next couple of days, but Ohio state has to cleanse themselves of this win coach. Right. So how are you, how are you managing those moments and we haven't even gotten to the the flag planting and we're going to get there in a moment but how do you manage those moments starting that postgame meeting with the team saturday and what you're

doing the next couple days and then how you bring them back and how do you move on is it is it a white glove treatment? Or is it fire and brimstone? I know each team has a different psyche and right. And it feels like this Ohio State team is a little bit more introverted than maybe elite football teams typically are. And you were saying like, I don't know who these leaders are. I don't know who that guy is. That's taken them. I think Bobby Carpenter had a comment a couple weeks ago that this is kind of a subdued calm, introverted Ohio State roster. To me, that just makes things that much more challenging, although sometimes there's those cats over there where you got to

like calm them down a little bit. But how is Ohio State, Ryan Day, the coaching staff, the leaders on this team, how are they managing, let's just say, this next seven-day block? Yeah, Lou Holtz was a mentor and I would ask him, he'd be on speed dial and he would always, every time I'd ask a question. Who are your leaders? Yeah. No, first, what kind of team is it? Remember, there's three types of teams.

There's the arrogant overconfident team. There's the team exactly the way you want it, very business-like, but very confident. And then there's the teams that introverted and deep down, they don't trust each other and they lack confidence. Yeah. So if you got a team that's here, you got to beat them down a little bit. I would bring them right in and watch the video and I'd get after their tails about what happened. There's plenty of that.

I watched the tape a bunch. There's plenty to get after them. There's the perfect team and you go right back to work and that's the team that you want, that's a team that's got a little swagger to them. They realize they screwed up and you just right back to work. And that's the team that you want. That's a team that's got a little swagger to them. They realize they screwed up and you just keep building them. And then there's the team that's really, really hard. And that's the one that lacks confidence.

They don't really, and I don't know what kind of team it is. I'm not on the inner walls of that. But the team, you've probably been around some teams like that, Mark, where there's just not a lot of dialogue. It's kind of a quiet team and you come in, I used to walk in the locker room and I'd like- Come on! Tipped tables over and I'd be like,

turn up the music, man, let's go. But then there's other teams, when you had the Boses and Zeke, I didn't have to do that, they were doing it. Yep. You know, so- They had them dogs, them dogs, them aura, aura. Yeah.

So it's really dependent. I know we could go on and on and on and it's great question. If, if someone had the answer to that, then I mean, that's to me, that's the essence of coaching. Would you just said, Rob, that's the essence of coaching. Is this team still a viable candidate to win the national title? Absolutely. That roster is still the, I mean, Mark, you tell me other than the office, you name a

better roster in college football. I think it's, it's Oregon, Texas, Ohio state of the best rosters in college. Coach, when you have a defense that plays at a high level like that, and you have those playmakers in the backfield and on the outside, you are always going to have a chance as players win games. So all it takes is putting them in the right position, having them confidence, having them believe, and they are just as dangerous. They're probably even more dangerous right now

because people are overlooking them. Michigan beat them this, that they're probably even more dangerous now because they get a week off. They come into the playoff with a chip on their shoulder with an edge. I'd say right now, just like just like they had after the Oregon loss, how they bounced back, how they've been overcoming adversity all year long, this team might be more dangerous right now than they have been, even though everyone begs to differ,

but I think they're gonna bounce back. Let's get to maybe the biggest talking point from that game and so many other rivalry games this week, this flag planting pandemic, if you will, epidemic, whatever you want to call it, it's a dynamic that went around college football. And it's going to have a say in what Ohio State does going forward. So these are some of the scenes from the postgame melee. And for those who didn't know the big noon kickoff team, we were in one of

the end zones getting ready to do a postgame show when this broke out probably 60 to 70 yards behind us and I was going to pepper spraying shown right what young Camden stone was somewhere in the outskirts of that filming some shots and and this was an ugly ugly scene on so many levels it got violent. And there's a listen, there's no place for this in college an ugly, ugly scene on so many levels. It got violent. And there's a listen, there's no place for this in college football. So let's, there's a lot of spots I want to hit with

this. Let's talk about just, you know what, let's just talk about Ohio State, Michigan, and how this impacts Ohio State, this incident, all right. And then we're going to talk about it as a whole. But right now, we're going to stay with Ohio State, Michigan, and literally the flag planning episode that I think triggered the whole weekend. All right, so here's Ryan Day after the game addressing the media on what transpired after the game at midfield. Yeah, I don't know all the details of it, but I know that these guys are looking to

put a flag on our field and our guys weren't going to let that happen. So, you know, I'll find out exactly what happened. But, you know, this is, this is our field. And certainly, you know, we're embarrassed with the fact that we lost the game. But you know, there's some prideful guys in his team that weren't just gonna let that happen. You hear it in his voice, a exhausted he's not spent. I mean, I you know, Mark, that's the point the numbness of Ryan

Day postgame. There's also some video kind of following Coach Day. While they were singing Carmen, Ohio, that's when some of the players peeled off and coach just kind of looked around and, and he went towards the eruption. But didn't do anything. He didn't do anything. He was no stoner. He didn't run in there. He didn't pull guys out. He was just kind of like, he's looking at right. Like I, I felt bad for him. I also know that I think I would have wanted my coach to get his

tail in there and start pulling guys out and figuring what's happening and, and ending it. But you're right, Mark. He looked, it was this, you can't see me, John Cena, this glaze of, I don't know what is happening. I don't know what just happened. And now I don't know what is happening in front of me. And just such a bizarre visual that he gave us after the game.

He was numb, Stoner. The pain of losing four straight. That you're trying to process that loss. You're doing your little sing. And then you turn around and there's just a scuffle. Like you're just like, what about, what's going on right now? He was just in a storm.

They're like, it was like a dream. It was like a nightmare. And he wanted to wake up. You know what I mean? Nightmare part two, right? I didn't know this was, I thought it ended with, you know, just the loss and now there's more coming. Yeah.

But at the end of the day, man, like, Ohio State side, like you ain't gonna let nobody just plant a flag in your field. Like, so you are going to retaliate, but in the day you had four, you had 60 minutes to fight. You had 60 minutes to fight in between the lines. And now I saw more fight after the game than he was during the game. Not the defense, by the way, but you know, it's just it's just a bad look, man. It's just a bad look. Coach, you got for me, what you got for me.

Take on what transpired. Yeah, there's so many layers to this that and I get accused of being while you're old school, old school. And I'm so proud to be old school on that. That I used to have that rule. I think I told you guys when you score a touchdown, you flip the ball, the official and you go hug your teammates. Most importantly, offensive line.

Oh, and I used to tell Mark, if you don't rip your helmet off, punt the ball. I'd take your jersey off, too, because I mean, you're done. You're not going to play. You're you've you've scored your last touchdown for at least two to three weeks if you do that. So if you watch Zeke and all the guys, they just, it just became a standard norm that you go hug the guys that got you there. I'm the same way about winning. And you just heard Marcus Freeman, I've heard him talk about it before, where,

you know, the greatest part of winning is celebrating with your brothers where? In the locker room. And so this is wrong on all fronts. Ohio State needed to say no, alma mater and get in the locker room and go figure out how to win the next one, playoff game. And to me, the Wolverines had a responsibility to go celebrate with your fans and your teammates and get in the

locker room, get off the field. Yeah. Get out, you know, don't. I just, I'm not into the, I'm not into taunting. I'm not into embarrassing your opponent. I'm into beating her ass as best you very can. And that's what they did, but then go celebrate. And don't, don't do that.

And, uh, and then, and then, okay, now the next is Ohio State turn and charged them. And was that wrong? Absolutely wrong. I mean, that's criminal. It's called assault. You know, in the real world, you can't do that. So it's wrong on all fronts. But I also, I'd be disappointed in my team if I'm standing there and you see your arch rival going to do something on your field,

it's time to go fight them. I mean, that's you know, about to let that happen. It shouldn't. It shouldn't come that up. You know, last thing I'll say, and I'll let you guys talk. The NCA has got to finish that someone's going to get badly hurt. A fan's going to get badly hurt. They were spraying mate, whatever that's pepper spray. That was why I had a friend was there and got hit with it can get badly hurt. They were spraying mate, whatever that stuff is. Pepper spray. Pepper spray.

That was wack. I had a friend who was there and got hit with it and told me, he said, you know, he was not right for the next hour after getting hit with that stuff. And so, but is it police officer Ron? No. Yes. I mean, you got 320 pound men.

He's wrong. Getting ready to go after each other. Nobody's armed. So I'll let you guys talk. Nobody's armed coach. Nobody has guns. No, those helmets, those helmets are weapons. If they come out and they're swinging, you can, you're an officer stoner. You don't have to pepper spray.

Look at me. If I'm an officer, look at me, look at me, Mark. Hey, if I'm an officer, 160 pounds stinking red rock stone, and you can't handle yourself, you might need to find a new, a new profession, dude. That was a train wreck around him, man. Those are 300 pound grown men angry and swinging and fighting. And that's a melee, man. How do you bring a melee? He needs to be...

How do you calm it down? That's assault, Coach. What he did is assault. He needs to be getting some repercussions for him because you can't just pepper spray all the kids. I'd say the pepper spray actually kind of calmed things down and got people out. Yeah, because they couldn't see or breathe no more. Bingo. That's the plan. Get them out, man. Get them out. All right. Do we agree? This is not a shot at Michigan. This is a shot at every school

out there this week that wanted to take their flag on somebody else's territory and plant it. That is the trigger. 100%. Those are the moments that triggered all of these eruptions across the continent. There was no flag planting in the Iron Bowl. We were still bumping. And there were some coaches out there who stopped the flag planting, whether it was last Saturday or even a couple of weeks ago. Remember James Franklin at Southern Cow when Penn State won. He's like, no, no, no, no, no. And took that flag away from him immediately to defuse what could have been an ugly situation.

You go out there, you whoop a team, get on with it. Like all this flag playing stuff. We never thought about doing that when I was at Bama. Like we never thought about bringing our flag and just playing it against Florida or planting it against Auburn or planting it against LSU. No, you do all your work. You do all your talking on the field, strap the pads up, talk

with your helmets, talk with your pads and go on with it. Like, I don't know, man. It's, it's, it's ever since the Baker thing, the Baker Mayfield when he planted his flag, you know what I mean? It's now at At Ohio State. Yeah, now it's a whole fad now, so. Michigan and- Play ball and get on with it.

They were both fine, coach, $100,000. Stop, stop with that. I mean, it's like saying, okay, let's take off wins from 20 years ago. Or, you know, what do they call that? I used to die laughing when, uh, our AD would tell me some school who was cheating. Yeah, they made them, what do they call that? Give up, rescind, rescind the winds or something like that.

Is that that's going to do a lot. No, you, you punish it, you know, and you got to pun it, you know, a hundred thousand fine. Uh, okay. Uh, I think, I don't know. I got it. Whoever's grabbed a flag, that person's done for a game. And the head coach is going to be potentially suspended as well because he didn't enforce it.

That's how I would handle it. The money, 100 grand. Where's that money go? I always crack up about that. Oh, it's a hundred thousand dollar fine. OK. All right. Big Ten Conference. Tell me exactly where the hundred100,000 goes and who cares. That's not going to deter that's not going to deter

people from doing that when someone's going to get really hurt badly. And, and it just looks awful for the great game of the greatest game that exists. I'm very biased as college. Well, essentially they're allowing it because no, there's no, no, every action is either taught or allowed. Mark, every action that anybody does is either taught or allowed. And right now the NCA says we're allowing this.

Yes. We're going to find you a hundred thousand dollars. That is not a deterrent at all. Right. Because none of the, none of the people who were involved have, are getting disciplined so you could do it again. And then the, then the school has to pay. I think the wall rings actually the flag that they did two years ago is like in a

hall of fame and the Wolverine, but you know, what's funny is the field's not even grass or the flag didn't even plant. So like you got to plant this flag in a turf field. It just fell over. So you was never going to play it anyway. Cause it was turf. Whatever, let's move on. Roll their tie.

You just got me to snort. Oh, man. But I swear, I saw a play at the flag. I'm like, I know they did. I know it's symbolic and all that other stuff. Coach, I'm with you. It has to be Big brother has to come down with a heavy hand and it has to be suspensions. But at this

time of the year, I think conferences would be fighting the suspensions, right? Because they would be hurting their brand. They'd be hurting their team. If Ohio State, if 10 dudes were handed suspensions for their next game, that next game, guess what is a playoff game and all of a sudden one of those you can't do it now and is is handcuffed. You can't do it now. That's so in the offseason. So you do it the offseason when the guys jump to the NFL and it doesn't even

matter. No, no, this one's done because the NCAA you write you. I mean, that's what I'm saying is is you said suspensions coach the suspensions have to happen after it happens. Well, there's no rule. There's no rule. There's no rule. What if the player doesn't matter? You can't, there's no rule out there. So you can say, don't do that, but there's gotta be a rule.

So you cannot taunt your opponent. You can't slam a flag in middle of field from now on. They have taunting penalties on touchdowns. No, I'm not saying you suspend the kids now because those players weren't told that. But there's got to be an off season. Going forward there has to be a rule in play. You are not going to suspend players for what happened. You can't. That's the NC, it's really the program's fault for letting it happen. But it happened in five different schools, I think. Five different, four or five different games. At least games. So this is it's an epidemic now.

You got to fix it. How do you do it? You come down with legislation and say, OK, here, you're suspended for a game of the following game and same thing. Your coach can't coach the next game either. Like, you know what happens? You won't see any that it's done. That's going to end immediately. Yeah, it's done immediately. Can we talk about college

football? Getting no flags? Yes. We get with that. Can we move on from flags and planting them in artificial turf and concrete? Coming up next, artificial turf. We react to the penultimate college football playoff rankings and what it means for this weekend's championship. Roll damn tight. Roll damn tight. Time now to react to the fifth college football playoff rankings. Again, the final one, the one that really matters comes out on Sunday. Twelve teams make the playoffs. Five highest ranked conference champs get automatic bids. The four highest ranked conference champs get automatic bids. The four highest ranked conference champs get a first round by

Seeds 5678 host first round games on campus or at the location of their choosing. When you download the full episode of the Triple Podcast starting Wednesday, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is going to join us. We're going to talk about that very topic. All right, let's go through the rankings right now guys. And there they are. Miami down six spots to number 12. They do not play this week. Strength of schedule is 55. They've lost two of their last three. The problem for Miami is the team that's right above them guys. Alabama at number 11, they go up two spots. So Alabama has been fluctuating all over the place. Over the course of the five, let's go!

Playoff rankings that have come out, they've been at 11, 10, seven, 13, and now 11. Just above Bama, up one spot. Boise State at 10. They win on Friday the Mountain West Championship game. They are in and by all accounts they will be host, not hosting, they will have a first round by. Indiana moves up a spot. They go to number nine. They absolutely laid it on Purdue last week. Again, the concern with them strength

the schedule 65th. They do not play again in the regular season. SMU, the Stangs up a spot to number eight. They have Clemson in the ACC Championship game a lot more on that in a second. Tennessee up a spot to number seven. Their regular season is done. Buckeyes, what happened to them? They fell four spots after falling at home to Michigan. They sit there at number four, 10 and two. Still two wins over current top 10 programs. Georgia up two spots after surviving Georgia Tech to number five. They're in the SEC Championship game. Notre Dame now at number four up one spot. Penn State also moves up a spot.

Nittany Lions at three, Texas up a spot. Longhorns now at two, the highest that they have been ranked all season. And once again, where they've been all season long, Oregon sitting there at number one. All right, Coach, from your Make-A-Wish Foundation banquet right there, I know we're stealing you away from Chef Meyer

and his specialty of tomato soup and grilled cheese, but what's the big thing that jumped out at you? Boise State and SMU got a bi-week. Yeah. I mean that... No, Boise... Oh, yes, you're right. Boise...

I thought you were saying this week. Yeah, they got to win. They got to win. Obviously SMU's got Clemson and Boise State's got UNLV, but I just stare at that. And the one thing that you hope for, it would be a little bit NCAA men's college basketball feel to it. I think this has an absolute final four feel to it.

When you, when you look at that, I mean, S what are we talking about? SMU and I've watched them on tape. I'll do respect. They're really good team. Well, if you had said, okay, three or four years from now, Mark, SMU might have a buy in a playoff and find a way to win a game and are way one game away from a national championship. So I think the interest level is incredible.

I think the committee is tasked with a, there's no chance they can be right, but there are right because they pick it. So whatever they pick, there's going gonna be people pissed off. Of course either way, but they're already like this. I like it, man I'm Tony. I like they definitely pissed They did there's pissed SMU sitting there as the three seed coach to your pussy Boise State the way way say that mark mark Rob say that again SMU three three seed Boise State is the Four-seed they both have buys and sit in the quarterfinals as of now and Notre Dame has to play round one because they're independent

Wow, correct, and they're at a more Frank team though. So Notre Dame is the six seed hosting your Alabama right now. But I listen, things are going to go Notre Dame's way assuming that is a big assumption in from what we've seen in college football this year, but should Penn State lose? Notre Dame is going to move up to number three at a minimum at a minimum, and they are going to be your five seat. They can't be a top four seat because they're not a conference champion. So all of a sudden, Notre Dame, after that week two home loss to Northern Illinois, we're

going to talk to Marcus Freeman on the Triple Option full podcast that drops Wednesday, are sitting there in the best spot that they possibly could have thought they could be in heading into the campaign and Mark you and I talked about this last week that the top of the bracket Is interesting is very interesting It uh, it changed a little lighter than the bottom half. It changed it changed Well, yeah, it was the top half of the bracket last week But now it's it's looking more even now

Is it starting to even out for you? You can I you got now you got last week you had Georgia, correct? Ohio State Oregon All yes top. Yeah, then now George is down Bama's down So now it's kind of starting to even out a little bit You know the bracket looks like but you know, this is gonna change because I still think SMU they host Clemson. If Clemson wins, SMU is going to get bounced. ACC is only going to get one team. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You think SMU is going to get bounced with the loss? They moved up once. I do. I do. ACC is only going to get one team in. They have no current, they have no wins over currently ranked teams in the CFP. If Clemson beats SMU in Charlotte, you say SMU falls below the cut line. They're moving. They're

going to get bounced. The ACC is going to get one in. The big 12 is going to get one in. You're going to get one. I guarantee you. Yeah. That's a, that's a no-brainer. It's going to go to the winner of Arizona state, Iowa state. Yep. So big 10 is going to get four in the SEC is going to get four. At least that's what they have right now. One mountain west and one independent in Notre Dame. It's going to get about Arizona state, man. Look at that. Arizona state. They got to play and they got to play Iowa state. So, you know, Iowa state is on the outside. They could get in. They could play their way in.

I think one of the big talking points is, is that Alabama, Miami again, Alabama sitting at 11. Miami hasn't played a ranked team. They have, there you go. They have no rank wins. They have, they have no ranked wins. They haven't played a ranked team and they lost two of their last three. So that's a big one. The momentum is, is it, Mark, you got a reposado? I got it right there in the bar. I got it right behind the door.

Lowslenderos right here. So, so you're saying Miami. I felt all year. Cause I watched them a bunch. That was a little bit of a house of cards. If they didn't have cam ward coach, they'd be a 500 team, maybe less. Yeah. And he is everything that, that you thought he would be in more, but without that cat,

you know, so yeah, I agree that that's really, that conversation is over. They have two losses and they have two off controversial endings. Remember we were watching one at the bar at the hotel with night before our show with the Hail Mary. I forget who it was again. I think it was Virginia Tech. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they've had two endings that really saved them. So the fact of the matter is they haven't played a ranked team and they have no ranked wins. While Alabama has the 10th strength, 10th strongest record and they've had three wins over current CFP top 25. So I think they did get there right. Then South Carolina is behind Ole Miss and Alabama because they lost to both of them in the regular season. So everyone wants to make this noise about South Carolina getting in,

but they lost to Ole Miss and Alabama so they should be behind them. Yep, they got that part right. I want to throw out a couple interesting quotes from Lord Manuel, who's in charge. He's the committee chair for the playoffs. So number one, his line, quote, "'Those who are not playing, we will not adjust these teams.'" Okay, so if you're not playing,

you're not gonna be adjusted. Say that again, say that again. "'Those who are not playing, we will not adjust those teams.'" So, that same at number four, not playing, they're not going to sink. Right, right. They can go up, right. Ohio State at six, not going to be punished. Tennessee at seven, not going to be punished. Indiana at nine. And again, the big one, Alabama locked and loaded over Miami in that 1112

spot. So Alabama is always through Sunday going to look better on paper than Miami. So Miami needs full on chaos for teams to drop in and plummet. And it's going to be really hard to see that. Let me ask a question. How easy is it to be one of them? How good is Arizona State? Arizona State is a good football team in the big 12. Like they run the ball really well. They're playing good on defense. They have scat a bull, cam scat a bull.

If you don't know who scat a bull is, you, you ain't a football lover, man. Cause cam scat a bull is that guy. Yes, sir. And he going to talk that rock. But Arizona state is they're, they're decent. Cause you look, you look at Penn state's track to the semifinals. They have to beat Arizona state is there. They're decent. Now you look at Penn state's track to the semifinals, they have to beat Arizona state. And once again, I, I apologize. I've watched them.

I'm going to really study them now. And then boys can move though, because Penn state loses, it changes the, the bracket where they fall in a bracket. So they might not end up having Arizona state, right? Rob. Oh, by the way, how about if Penn state wins? I don't think they can move. If I go back to, I'm sorry, Rob, go back to what

Mark said. They don't get punished because they're they're going to be there. Right? Maybe Notre Dame. Well, yeah, I guess but Notre Dame could rise. Ohio State could fees but you can't punish Penn State in the championship game. You just said you can't punish him and kick them out. You go punish them and move them in the rankings. For sure. Yes. So consider this though.

Should Penn State win? They are going to be. And again, listen, there's a chance that Penn State is going to be the number one team. There's a chance Penn State is the number one seat. All it takes is an upset over Oregon and Georgia to beat Texas. Come on. Georgia. No way Penn State gets it done. I'm telling you Penn State is at number three and they beat the number one ranked team in the nation in Oregon and Texas happens to lose to Georgia. Penn State is going to be number one people. They're going to be the number one overall seed.

It's not happening Stone. All they need to do is Oregon, and that's a big all they need to do. But if Penn State wins, Penn State is in the quarterfinals. And the spread's only minus 3 and 1.5. It's only minus 3 and 1.5. Penn State is a top four seed. Correct. And in a neutral site venue. I'm putting money on that game.

I'm putting money on that game, Stone. In a neutral site venue in Indy. And I think the fan base is going to be, Oregon travels well, but I think that Indy's going to skew a little bit more. The spread is only three, minus three and a half Oregon. I'm buying, I'm going to buy the hook and I'm putting money on it. I can't believe I just coach.

What blows you away more coach? SMU and Boise State are going to get buys or Penn State could be the number one overall seed. All the above, man. I'm just staring at this thing. I'm like, damn, I wish this is when I was coaching. I wish we had this. SMU getting a buy is beyond me, coach.

I just think it's one of the greatest things that's happened in college. It is. It's awesome. I love it. In our lifetime. I love it. You know, back when Utah was in 04, we would have beat Matt Leiner and Reggie Bush in the USC.

I just think this is the greatest thing. Cause once again, you wake up in the morning and there's now what he got, he got 15 teams, probably another, probably three or four teams. You have 15, 16 teams in the first week in December that think they got a shot. That is freaking awesome. That's a shot to win the national title. Yes. Not a shot just to get the plus, a shot to win it all. Damn, I wish we had this.

Me too, because I was a part of a three Los Bema team, like this team right here. And if I, my junior year, if we would have had a shot to get in the tournament, we would have been a bad draw for anybody. So like- I'm gonna throw this out here, Mark. Mark, we won it in a 14 at Ohio state 15. We were better.

Yeah. Our 15 team when we lost in a rainstorm to Michigan state, we went and beat the breaks off in Notre Dame and then, uh, uh, and the Wolverines we ran for 400 yards on them, that team would have won it. But we, we just didn't have a shot. Damn. This is, well, cause you, you guys didn't have a bowl. You guys couldn't go to the bowl that year or no? No, there was a college football playoff when we were like fifth or sixth or something

because we lost late. This is great for college football. I mean, this is beautiful. I mean, when have you ever thought that Arizona State, Boise State, SMU, Indiana would be in a college football playoff? Like, this is amazing. And then Iowa State could play their way in. Clemson could play their way in. So there's still stuff to be done here this championship weekend. I tell you what, I want to see SMU in there.

I hope there's not a conversation. I hope they have to win. They can take care of Clemson and there's not a conversation. And if Clemson does beat them and gets that automatic bid, it's going to be, boy,, that's gonna be a tough, nasty, jagged dry, they have no to swallow for SMU. You know, some of us are robs and robbed are out. Yeah, yeah. Do that.

Yes, because they have no wins over current CFP top 25 either. They beat a Pittsburgh team who was not even that'll actually, I'm gonna say that that'll actually hurt college football because you'll get why play a difficult non-conference schedule that don't don't do that. You have to play rank and if I'm SMU, I changed my scheduling philosophy right now because you're a big boy. Now you weren't a big boy earlier.

I'd go start scheduling some really good teams because you may. And I know some people that are involved in SMU. The minute they made a decision. A lot of people donated to said, let's go play big time football, and they did. So now go schedule an SEC or a Big Ten opponent early or maybe two of them, Rob. Because you have to or the non-conference schedules go away. Right. Well, you can't do that. I'll add this, coach.

The ACC is down, right? This is Florida. Remember Florida State, we were talking about them making it to the playoffs last year and they just fell off the cliff. Clemson is staggering around. There are programs that can elevate that conference, which will give you better wins if you schedule. You know, who knows what North Carolina is gonna be? Can NC State get themselves back into a top 20,

top 15 type conversation? Virginia, they elevate themselves. Louisville, Duke, all these teams are just kind of hovering in that dad bod belly area, right? They need to tighten it up and- Syracuse. And lead that bod up to the chest. Syracuse, by the way- What a year Syracuse had, man.

Up to number 22 this week, nine and three. They were non-ranked last week. So Syracuse, you know, softly helping the cause, if you will, of the ASAP. I'll tell you, Syracuse's coach, man, we gotta get him on the podcast one. He's got a little swag to him. I don't know him, but I mean, he brings it.

Put that on the to-do list, coach. Yeah, he's getting ready to buy Ryan Day, what, Don Perrione or something like that for Centum Comma Court. Yeah, for Centum Comma Court. And he got to shower this week because he had a win. He doesn't shower after the losses, apparently. Yeah.

That's too much information. Doesn't shower after what? Yeah, after losses, he doesn't shower. You need to go wash your ass, dog. That's too much information. Yeah. Shower after what? Yeah. After losses, he doesn't shower. You need to go wash your ass, dog. It's nasty. We welcome you back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's Rob Mark Urban.

We're now joined by the head coach of Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman. Coach, before we even get going, you got to tell us and our viewers about the background that's behind you right now. This is so cool. Yeah, these are the old stadium bleachers from Notre Dame Stadium before they redid it. They took all the bleachers and really they put it around campus in different offices. So these are the authentic, the original. That's real wood. That's real wood. That's not a tapestry. That's not a poster. Yeah. History. history. Legendary man. The things those things those planks of wood have seen in South Bend. Amazing.

Amazing. Well, thanks for joining us this week, coach. Absolutely. Thanks for having coach. Hey, Marcus. So good to see you. One of my favorite people. And I love our dialogue throughout the year. I talked to you after you had a tough loss early in the year. And you know And I always try to watch your press conference because when I was a young coach, people helped me. And so I reached out to you and one of the great comebacks in college football season, college football this year,

you guys been on a great run. What was the message after the getting hit the face like that early in the year and then you brought them back and your team came back, what was the message after getting hit the face like that early in the year, and then you brought them back and your team came back? What was the message? Yeah, I think you go through your natural emotions as a leader. Right? The first thing I wanted them to know, I remember saying in the locker room is I've been here before.

Right? Not everybody in that locker room has been there before. I've been here before. I've had some tough loss. We lost to Marshall my first year. But understand it's going to be a long week, but we got to stay together. That's why I said stay together. There's going to be a lot of noise outside of here. Stay together. And from that Saturday night to Sunday, I really took a deep dive and a self-evaluation as the leader of this

program and said there's a bigger lesson to learn. There was some mistakes in the way we played. We weren't as good as we thought we were at that moment. But I thought the thing for this group and for me as a leader was this was the first time that we've won the big game to start the season since I've been the head coach. The first two years we lost to Ohio State. This year we beat Texas A&M and I said, that's it. We weren't ready to handle success.

I wasn't ready as the head coach to handle success. I said, this will be the greatest thing that happens to this football program if we utilize the things, the lessons that this game has taught us, but then we got to keep the paint. We can't forget the lessons this loss to Northern Illinois has taught us, but then we got to keep the pain. We can't forget the lessons this loss in Northern Illinois has taught us. And so our guys bounced back and we started to continue to improve as a football program. But I always reminded him, we got to keep the pain. We got to keep the pain. Remember the lessons we've learned from that loss in Northern Illinois.

So you talked about this game being emotional and how that loss affected you guys. You just had a great win against the rival USC. The cameras kind of caught you get being excited, a little emotional. We all know how these wins are. What did that win mean to you in this program? Well, I think first of all, it was a rivalry win. And I tried to really, um, paint the narrative, make sure our guys understood we know what the win at USC would do for our future.

But I didn't want to focus on that. I wanted to focus on this rivalry that we had with USC and the opportunity to go out there and plan a rivalry game and to win this rivalry game. And I think in that moment when the game, the, the, the time ticked off the clock, it was one of relief, enjoyed it. We got it done. Right. You know, now, Hey, let's enjoy this Victor, but now we can allow our minds

to think into the future. Yeah. It was a special moment, man, with a special group of guys that, uh, have done a tremendous job. Uh, which is really interesting. Cause you just said you're going to allow the guys to think about the future, but it was thinking about the future after that week one win over Texas A&M, which got you guys in trouble, right? And then you reeled off,

you know, 10 consecutive wins. So how do you look forward while also maintaining that focus that you've instilled since that loss to Northern Illinois? Yeah, we had a team meeting yesterday and I said, take this week and use it as a bye week. This is our bye. We don't have a first round bye. This is our bye week. And really decompress.

I said reload, reset, recover, and let your mind go wherever you want. Take the stress off of having an opponent off your mind and off your plate. And so when we find out who our opponent is on Sunday, the first thing I'm going to do is narrow our focus back to what's important, right? And that's the present. But I want it this week to just be one where they could focus on academics. They can really have an unstressful week and really just kind of reset as we get back together on Sunday.

You know Marcus, last year you got Sam Hartman, Riley Leonard this year, the transfer of quarterbacks. You got CJ Carr, Lloyd's grandson coming up. You know ideally do you want to try to develop, keep a young guy and develop him or do you see that continuing or do you want to kind of get away from the transfer stuff? Yeah, my vision is to I want to major in high school recruiting. That's what this program is going to be built off of. And, you know, I made a decision after my first season the next two years, I say we needed a transfer portal quarterback. But I have a strong conviction that the future of our football program is in house.

And I believe in the guys we have here and those guys being able to lead this football program. And that's what I want to continue with, is recruit at a high level and have our starting quarterback be a guy that we got from high school that understands what this football program is all about. Hey, coach. understands what this football program is all about. Hey coach, in saying that, I know we just talked about it. You said that you have a bye week coming up essentially because of no conference championship. Like in the current college format, there is no bye week for you guys because it's only for the fourth conference champion. So does that change your mind at all about being independent or does the independent actually build you in a bi-week

before the college football even starts? Like what's your thoughts on that? Yeah, I think that's the way we got to approach this thing. We have to look at it as this is an advantage for us. We don't play in a conference championship game. This is our bi-week and this is the week we get to use to recover physically and mentally to put ourselves at a place where it needs to be to go into this playoff and make a run. You know, as far as joining a conference, there's some higher-ups that make those decisions, you know what I mean?

Yeah. You're not, you don't make that decision? No, definitely not. Everybody thought you did. So I'll let those higher-ups make that decision. But again, we got to sell us being independent is the most positive thing we have going for us our TV own TV deal with NBC some of the the the the unique games that we play from coast to coast

Yeah, it is all these different conferences And so we try to sell that is that's one of the greatest things that is about this program But coach, you know, those those higher ups are gonna come to you for your opinion on should Notre Dame join a conference. So what would you- He's not gonna give that wrong. I'm not saying like, hey, let's sign up with the ACC or the Big Ten right now, but you know, honestly,

you haven't- Notre Dame and the Big Ten? Because you can't be a conference champion. And again, this whole year, this 12 team playoff is gonna flush out a lot of things. And we know it's gonna be, things are gonna fluctuate and how seeds are really gonna be viewed And again, this whole, this whole year, this 12 team playoff is going to flush out a lot of things. And we know it's going to be things, things are going to fluctuate and how seeds are really going to be viewed going forward.

But you know, if, if I put a gun to your head, Hey man, do you want to be in a conference or not right now? Would you rather be in a conference or good, right? Where we're at? That's my, I'm going to add some markets cause I coached there and I think it's a whole different animal now with a 12 team playoff. Robin, when I was there, if you don't want a national championship, it's over. It was hard to keep the players fired up.

Yeah. Um, you lose a game, game three, game five, game six. And then all of a sudden, I remember I'd walk in the meeting room and there's no way to get a ring. There's no way to go play in a conference championship game that I think that it's a whole different animal for Notre Dame now. And Marcus apologized, interrupted, but you got, you but you got to swing for the playoffs now every year. I think the greatest thing that has happened for us is the 12 team playoff.

We understand that it's not one loss and you're out. We knew that after we lost in Illinois every week was a playoff game. But. And, uh, but, you know, with 12 teams, now we have a better opportunity to make the playoffs and once you get in, you know, here we go every week is, uh, the super bowl, but I think the greatest thing that happened for us was the 12 team playoff. Hey, let me ask you real quick about this. Cause I thought about this with Ohio state and Ann Arbor and Penn state and Notre Dame, but that home team, the home game in December, and you hear those two words,

lake effect come rolling across Lake Michigan, man. I'd hear that and I'd wake up with five foot snow drift in our driveway. Is there any thought, conversation, or go and play in a controlled environment like Indy? If it's a bad day or a bad week, you can see it coming. No, we're going to use that to our advantage for sure. We'll practice outside. I'll tell you that right now, coach.

We're going to be practicing outside. I'm assuming we're going to have a home game and we're going to make sure we're ready for this environment. That's got to be an advantage for us. Right. Is there right? Sure. Let's get as much snow and as cold temperatures as we can find.

You mentioned, you assume you have a home game. So if you're talking to the committee right now, what would you tell them to say? Yeah, we're absolutely deserving of being, you know, seated that high to have a home game in the first round. You know, Rob, I don't like to spend a lot of time. I know, but a lot of your brethren are doing it right now. You know, they were right for right now stone and it's their own. Listen, where we're at is where we're at, you know, and if we don't have a home playoff game, we don't would Daphne will just but I got a strong conviction that

the rankings will take care of itself and we'll have a home playoff game. Coach man do that when you're sitting inside the top five, right? Yeah, sitting inside the top five. Right. Yes. And then they should be having to buy basically your things for the conversation. You're not laying Kiffin down down there at Ole Miss and South Carolina. What? Not having to do the politics. And do you do you like that in college football? Are you are you all right with coaches and A.D.'s, you know, speaking up,

you know, a week and change out of the final playoffs, fighting for their spots in there. Absolutely. If the coach and the ADs don't have a strong conviction for their program and they're being deserved to be in the playoffs, then why should anybody else? And so, yeah, I have no problem with that. I think that's great for college football. By the end of the day, what matters most is what you do on the field. And that's what I like to spend my time thinking about. Coach, man, I'm a running back and I love how you use your running backs up there in Notre Dame, man.

Estimating last year, even going back further years, but Jeremiah I love, he's just been amazing this year. I think he's one of the best backs in the country, full complete back. You are showing that the running back does have value. So what does the running back position mean to you and your offense, but more importantly, what has Jeremiah Love meant to this team this year? Yeah, he's a special football player.

And we try to find as many ways to put the ball in his hands and let him go and make plays. But, you know, I think Jeremiah will be the first one to tell you, he's not going to have success without those big dudes up front. And our guys up front have been blocking their tails off, man. They've been doing a heck of a job of reestablishing a new line of scrimmage. They've been playing as one, which any great offensive line has to do. And what that does is when you have success in the run game and it truly

gives you an opportunity to have success in the pass game, you want to put your guy in the box good, now we have one-on-one coverage and we've got to go make plays. But that's always been what I believed in my heart as a player, but now even as a coach, like you have to be able to run the football and not be a one dimensional offense. And that's going to create a lot of openings in the past year. Hey Marcus, last week, obviously a tough day in Columbus and you played with Lerner who's a Lerner and I just carpenter Hawk and Schlegel. I mean, all cartoon characters, right?

I love those guys, but after the game, I stood there and I really couldn't believe what I saw. You know, what the, I saw, you know, the amazing blue flag being planted at midfield and that, you know, cause I grew up in the great state as, you know, Wolverine would grow up in the state of Michigan. You see that happen. Any thoughts in, in first of all, as a, you know, as a former player who played there, and then the reaction by Ohio State, and does something have to happen in college football to stop that?

Yeah, I don't think obviously that's a great look for college football. You don't want to see these young individuals that you care about that are going to take over our country, man, that we're on a football field fighting and pepper spray and those types of things. That's not a great look for young people or the game of college football. Again, I only speak for our program here and my message to our team is to make sure we're celebrating together. There's nothing more important than us celebrate together. It's not to celebrate on somebody else's field or I'm not okay with going to plant a flag in somebody's field. You guys have all worked your tails off to achieve success. Let's celebrate together. Let's get in that locker room where we celebrate team glory. There's no better feeling

than that. There's nothing greater than the moments after a game when you can celebrate in that locker room with everybody that put everything they had into accomplishing that victory. And so that's my message to our program is, you know, we have big wins. Let's go in that locker room and we celebrate together. And that's what's important. Coach, you're undefeated in that game, Ohio State, Michigan. What is your greatest memory of that undefeated in that? What most people say is the greatest rivalry.

What is your best memory of being undefeated in that, what most people say is the greatest rivalry. What is your best memory of being undefeated in that rivalry? You know, probably I think back to 2006. It was number one versus number two. Troy Smith was our quarterback. We were the number one team in the country. They were number two. It was one of the few 330 games that Ohio State and Michigan played against each other. And I remember it kind of led into the nighttime and it was a hard fought victory.

I think it was 42-39 victory, but that was special. It was an undefeated season before we had to play Coach Meyer in those Florida Gators, the National Championship game. So I like to end that season right there, right? The victory of the Warnbergs two. I don't like to think about what happened. Coach, let's end this conversation talking about Notre Dame. And I like to use my resources. So I went out to my people.

I got a Notre Dame grad with a question. This is from John Paragini, class of 1991. He would like to know if the parade route has been planned. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. That was class of 1991. He would like to know if the parade route has been planned on. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. That was an actual question. He's a buddy of mine.

I was like, I'm going to say it to coach. I'm not even going to let him. I was going to say Rob, I was ready to push and meeting. So here's his question. Um, Oh God, I love the parade route. All right. He goes, I'd also love to know how to avoid a letdown in the first playoff game, we kind of touched on this, I'm going to tweak it

in a second. He goes, I know that sounds crazy, but they were completely laser focused for 12 weeks on making the playoff, which seemed like a long shot, right after the NIU. So after gripping that wheel for 12 weeks, I'm sure there was that huge exhale Saturday night, as you mentioned. And then you talked about coach keeping the pain. Okay. How do you keep the pain going into the playoffs? Well, I think there was something said in a statement that's wrong. We weren't laser

focused for 12 weeks on making the playoffs. We were laser focused for 12 opportunities to win that game. And that's our mindset is to prepare to win a game each week, right? Each week, we're ultimately focused on what we have to do to win this game. You know, and that's something I believe in the stay in the moment, right? We don't, you know what, to stay in the moment, like the future is uncertain. The future is uncertain. Why waste time daydreaming about an uncertain future? So just like as we'll get our opponent named on Sunday,

we'll be laser focused on preparing to win that game. I don't care what happens after that. Let's prepare to win this game because that's the only thing that matters. So keeping a pain is something that our players will often hear me say, what does that mean? It just means that I think you learn the most about yourself as an individual and us as a program in your lowest moments. Winning's great. It makes you feel good, but you really learn a lot of valuable moments and a lot of lessons when you lose. Now,

you lose too much, you won't have a job. All right. I understand that. So that's why I say keep the pain, keep those lessons that you learn about yourself, about your program when you were at those lowest moments and what it takes to have success and we got to make sure we understand how important that is. And coach, if it gets to that point, you know, I know you can text and call urban about the parade route thoughts, you know, I know you can text and call urban about the parade route thoughts

You know where to start and how long it should be Do you do one in Chicago as well or just Marcus you stay focused? I'll handle. Yeah Yeah I'm here to keep things softly off the rails and then back on Marcus Freeman Congratulations on a wonderful season. Enjoy that bye week. Enjoy the bye week and enjoy what we all think will be a home playoff game. Marcus Freeman from Notre Dame. Thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate you coach. Good luck man. We rooting for you. Appreciate you. Unless you play Belma. Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's. Mark Ingram, Urban Meyer, Rob Stone,

back here with you. Time now for pick six, brought to you by BetMGM. Place your money line, prop parlay, and same game parlay bets at BetMGM. Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly. So we've got six games against the spread here on championship weekend.

Mark is getting ready for his deuce deuce dog of the week. We remind you these lines are current as of Tuesday and can change. Let's start with the Friday night tilt in Boise. We'll be there live on Fox, the old trapper Mountain West Championship game, UNLV versus Boise State, the Broncos coach now favored by four.

Yeah, we're headed there. And I'm, my wife, you would have asked that you've ever seen the blue field. So now we get to see the blue field. And I've been watching a lot of film. That's hard to watch the game. You got blue jerseys, blue field. And I had to run things back a bunch of times, but, uh, never been there. Uh, a lot of respect for Boise over the years.

It's a four point game and Boise is the topic of conversation when you mentioned the, you know, the non-four conference teams that are going to make the playoffs. But I'm telling you this, Mark, listen to me. UNLV will be right there, man. They are really, really good. It's a four point spread and started at three and a half. UNLV is 10 and two. Haven't had great wins.

There are two losses though. They had, uh, uh, let's see here. They had two losses or Boise in Syracuse, but they beat Kansas. Barry Odom, who used to be the head coach. I've heard, I don't know him, but I've heard a lot about him. He's a hot name in the coaching market. He should be. He should be. He should be.

How about your best quarterback after week three, because of his agent or whatever said, quit playing. And then this cat Hodge Malik Williams comes in. Excellent runner. They utilize his strengths. It's a fun offense. It's spread option. It's a spread option offense and they, that cat's all over the place.

They got an excellent receiver and Ricky White. I think my concern with Boise is that's a one, it's the one and done, one of the greatest players that I've seen Gentie. But I don't see, I see good players around them. I see more balance at UNLV. I see a better defense at UNLV. I want to say UNLV has the number one defense in the Mount West Conference. So I'm going to take the points. I might, I need more time, but I'm certainly going to take the points UNLV going to Boise. This is a defacto play in game into the playoffs. Absolutely is. So much online. That's going to be a fun show Friday in Boise, getting that one live on Fox.

The USAA American Athletic Conference Championship game also Friday night. And how about Portulane? They're favored by six against Army. Last week we were talking about the Green Wave. Remember, they went up three spots to number 17 in the rankings. They had a real good chance to get themselves

into the playoffs, particularly when we now reflect back and see all the chaos that went down last week. So what did they do? They laid an egg at home to Memphis. What are those weird things about those Thanksgiving day games? It kind of drives me nuts. I know you don't get it, Mark, with Auburn and Alabama.

You don't get it with Ohio State and Michigan, but you get it a lot of places, these Thanksgiving games, the student body you know, Auburn and Alabama, you don't get it with Ohio State, Michigan, but you get it a lot of places these Thanksgiving games, you know, the student body is gone, they're back home. And the home games that weekend aren't as homey as you would like, right? The crowd just isn't in there. You don't have that student body to the masses that you normally do. I see that as a big drawback. If I was in charge of my schedule, I'd be fine with having that game as an away game because to me that's going to be more like a neutral site

game. So Tulane laid an egg at home to Memphis. Good news for Tulane. They're still off to their third straight conference championship game, but now they don't even host it. Instead, 10 and one Army, one of the feel good stories of the season. They went eight and O in their first year in AAC play and scenic, beautiful Mikey stadium is going to host a conference championship game for the first time. Here's the bad news. Third game coach in 14 days for army. But if there's one group of young men who you'd like to think can handle

that workload mentally and physically, right? It's the Black Knights. It's the United States Military Academy. Six and six last year. Why did they rebound and have such a good year this year? Well, let's give a lot of credit to the senior quarterback, Bryson Daley, leads the conference in rushing over 1,300 rushing yards.

He went over a hundred yards nine consecutive times and rush for at least two touchdowns in eight consecutive games heading into the championship game Friday. And by the way, he's coming off maybe his best passing game of the year. Get this coach completed a season high. How many passes a season high? How many completions? Nine. Really close, 10 for 190, 190 yards in the win over UTSA. Army, a home underdog. Go ahead, tell me you want to bet against Army in West Point. Have at it, be my guest. I'm not mad enough to do that.

Army's magical season is capped off with an AAC title and they earn it at home in West Point. Like that. All right. Thank you. Saturday, with the Big 12 championship game will be at AT&T Stadium, Iowa State, Arizona State. The winners should by all accounts move on to the playoffs and they might even get themselves a buy. That's a big mic. They'll probably know what happens

because of Friday's Mountain West game. But the Big 12 man, Mark, it's been wild and fun. And there's been a lot of coaches this week who are kind of like putting their state down and saying, hey man, give credit to this conference. Give credit to the Big 12. The Big 12 has probably been the most exciting conference all year, to be conference. Give credit to the Big 12. The Big 12 has probably been the most exciting conference all year,

be surprising, but now you have Arizona State and Iowa State. Like there's two contrasting styles here. You got a running back centered offense with Arizona State. And we love that boy. Guess who? Cam Scataboo and the man that's toting that rock. Then you got then you got Iowa State. They're the only team in the country with multiple thousand yard receivers in Jayden Higgins and Jaylen Noel.

But listen, Arizona State, they have one of the hottest offenses in the country right now, averaging over 35 points per game during their five game winning streak against the number one scoring defense in the Big 12 in Iowa State. So this is going to be a clash of, you know, who can get it done.

But obviously we all know about camps. Huh? We all know about. Scatter. We all know about that boy. Cam Scatter. Leaves the big 12 with 170 scrimmage yards per game. Second in the nation, only behind guess who? Your boy Ashton Jentti, who you just missed, missed who you just talked about coach, but it's not just him It's their quarterback. It's Sam Levin. It's their wide receiver Jordan Tyson

The defense is allowing under 15 points per game in the last three weeks And I'm telling you this what has been the Achilles Hill of Iowa State It's been good running backs Ohio State has another one defense in the big 12 But they do have a weakness and stopping to run and that's not good when you got Cam Scataboo coming to town. Both of their losses this season has came against really dynamic running back. Lost to Texas Tech with Taj Brooks. They lost to Kansas with Devin Neal. And now guess who's coming to town? Scataboo. Scataboo. I got Arizona State led by guess who?

Scat Pack. I got Arizona State, Cal Scatterbull, aka Scat Pack for the dub. Arizona State getting they playoff berth. And we've been talking all year about coach of the year candidates. We've been talking about Signeady. We talk about this and talking about that. But what about your boy Kenny Dillinghamham Arizona state was finished to pick last coach. Dead last spanking last.

And now they're about to have a playoff berth off a back of a young, swaggy 34 year old head coach. And they are beast. Camp scatable who was told that 34 years old, 34 years old, going to get some more resolved to long stoicic going to get your old school coach, Matt Campbell for Iowa state. But I got camp scatty boo getting it done. Arizona state to the playoff.

When did you, when did you go to Arizona state? Did I miss it on your resume? I did go to Arizona state for an official visit. Official visit. And I love it. By the way, when did scataboo become big noon's favorite football player last year? About seven years ago, right here. Both both are right. Both are. Our crew lights up

when there's anything that you got to boo. All right, let's get it. Who is a dog? He is. Let's move on to the ACC championship game in Charlotte Clemson SMU. Let's take you back to last September. Do you guys remember when Florida State and Clemson voted against SMU use admittance to the ACC? Maybe it wasn't so much about dollars and perception. Maybe it was actually about not wanting to play the Mustangs on the field. That liner has written this. We're all in on the Mustangs right now.

Since making the move to Kevin Jennings at quarterback, the Stangs, that's what we call a mark, the Stangs, the Stang one every league game. They've scored at least 28 points in every game that he has started. That includes 38 or more in six of nine games. As for the Clemson quarterback, Cade Klubnick nearly led the Tigers to that signature win against in state foe South Carolina. By the way, it was in Death Valley was at Clemson. So he probably should have done it.

They go for 280 through the air had another 62 on the ground a pair of rushing touchdowns, but a late int cost Clemson and Klubnick the game. His one weakness this season has been dealing with elite pass rushes and SMU guess what kind of fits the bill the stangs D line ranks top 15 in the country in pass rush grade. They have an opportunity to get into the playoffs. SMU has an opportunity to earn a buy if they can get a signature win over an established program, the face of

the ACC, a program that didn't have their back to get into the Atlantic Coast Conference. Mark Payback is a mother, you know, what a mother, shut your mouth's win the ACC in their first year in the conference. Ghost Stangs Big Ten Championship game indoors Saturday night in Indy, Penn State, Oregon, the Ducks coach, the last remaining unbeaten team in FBS. Yeah. When I watch Oregon play, Mark, I think they're fast. I don't know their sporty times, but they're fast, fast everywhere. They're fast on defense.

They have 10 sacks last week. And a lot of it wasn't pressure. Wait, 10 sacks versus Washington last week? I thought you were about to say the last like four games or so. Yeah, last 10 games. No, 10 sacks. Tosh Shalpoi, their D coordinator, uh, it was on my staff and he's phenomenal. He's one of the best motivators I've ever been around and they play like

they're a hairs on fire, man. When I say fast, I mean, fast, fast across the board and speed wins, especially indoors, and if this was in a rugged, sloppy, nasty, you know, I think it'd be closer, but I think I'm going to pick Oregon to cover the three and a half. My concern is Tyler Warren is, I think he's one of the best tight ends to ever play college football. I know that's a bold statement. He, I just, I'm amazed and he's got a really good coach, Colt

and Nicky, the offense coordinator for Penn State that utilizes him. I would find a way, and I said this on Big 10 network, he had 17 touches against USC, I'm putting a ball in his hand at least 20 times, Mark. That's direct snap, a quarterback that's handed to him, that's what I'm running and obviously throw it to them. Cause I'm just worried Penn state just doesn't have the other spots. They have K-Tron Allen and, and singleton. I just don't see the juice on the outside that they normally have.

They're good players, but I just don't see the juice. So I'm going to, I'm going to say Oregon's going to cover the spread, the fastest team in college football on on that fake grass and controlled environment in Indy. The game that we all thought would be Ohio State Oregon instead, it's Penn State. Hey, James Franklin has a big opportunity to kind of get some of those naysayers off his back he's had troubles in those top five games. This is a huge

opportunity for him to kind of get over that hump, get his program over that hump and get a buy, right? Get a buy. That is wow. All right, we're not the chance to have a buy. And I don't think they were these so they have a chance to prove me wrong. Yeah, I think they have a chance to prove a lot of people wrong. Let's put it that way. Let's go to the SEC Championship game, Georgia, Texas round number two round number one went for the Bulldogs. And this one is at a neutral site. In name only, like let's be clear, Atlanta is Bulldog territory. It's a Long Horns. Really, guys, it depending what happens in Indy

They could enter the playoffs as the number one overall seat round two ready round to fight ready fight And week a Georgia beat that Texas tail 30 to fat team. Yep Texas had just 29 rushing yards coach and they gave a seven sacks in the game and Carson Beck didn't even play well No touchdowns three interceptions coach It was a bad day for what many may say is the best offense line in the country in Texas But they're different teams since their last minute Carson Beck has finally found his stride

Last in the last three games 330 yards per game 12 touchdowns, no turnovers. Speaking for Georgia, I can't wait. Where are you going with this, Mark? Where are you going? I'm laying the ground law. But Texas, they had 29 rushing yards in the first game. They were going to this morning. They found an identity with Trey Weisner. He has back to back games with 150 plus rushing yards and two hundred

and seven. Where are you going this Mark? Last week versus A&M. So I wouldn't just assume this game is going to be like the last. Which Georgia team will show up coach? We've seen them. ARB. ARB. We've seen them smash Clemson. We've seen them smash Tennessee. Where you going Mark? Tennessee, but we've also seen them going to 8 OT against Georgia Tech. We've seen this defense look like the Georgia of old. We've seen them give up 40 points to Georgia Tech

and 31 to Mississippi State. Talk to us, Mark. So which Georgia team will show up? Who is playing quarterback for the Longhorns, Coach? Quinn, yours is health. He's playing through a high-ankles frame. Coach Sarc says he has some things to work through to get ready for the game.

Is it arch season? Is it arch season? Is it arch season? Carson Beck versus the Texas defense. What's the slice donor? I knew you'd ask me. Is Texas minus two and a half? It's close. Hold on. I'm scrolling. Two and a half. I'm just, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat. I know. What could it be? Oh, well it all depends. I'm with you. It all depends what Georgia team is just straddled off stats. Talk to me. What, what, what's going on with this, with this game here, coach?

Oh no, man. Oh no. Got to make a pick. All right. All right. All right. Bulldogs with the horror horror horror. George is going to beat them again this weekend, man.

Out there in Atlanta in Bulldog territory. Beck playing better, the defense playing better. They had to wake up call. You got the horrors up, you got to hook them horrors up. Beck didn't even play good in the first game. I know. That blew my mind when I saw that. I didn't watch the game.

They were playing much better. The defense was suspect versus Georgia Tech. Yes, they were. But I got the hurrah hurrah for the dog of the week. Hurrah hurrah hurrah. Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, for your deuce deuce dog of the week. There you have it. Hurrah hurrah.

There you have it. That's good enough for you, Coach. Did you like the anticipation? Did you like the climactic finish? All right. This is a beautiful thing. This is coach right now. Let's go.

Gone. Let's go punch it out. All right. Follow, subscribe, rate us on YouTube, Apple podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media at three x option show. Don't forget, submit your questions. We love to answer them during the show. New episodes coming your way every Wednesday is always big thanks to our sponsors Wendy's bet MGM

us a big thanks to Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman for joining us as well. And thanks for watching. Thanks for just hanging out with us for whatever we went like an hour and a half. It's a big commitment. We appreciate it and enjoy championship weekend and no flag planting this week. No flag planting, please.