The Triple Option - Texas Legend Colt McCoy, College Football Opening Weekend Chaos, and Intimidating Entrances

Episode Date: September 4, 2024

Week One of the College Football Season is in the books and no one breaks it down like “The Triple Option”.  Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone talk about the standout performances from the weekend, welcome Cam Ward to the Heisman race, question coaching tactics in Las Vegas, and give hope to an ACC school with a less than stellar start (not you Florida State). (8:55) Then, Texas Longhorns legend Colt McCoy stops by ahead of one of the biggest matchups of the season between his alma mater and defending national champion Michigan. He also looks back on his Heisman and National Championship battle with Mark, gives his take on the state of college football, and the very talented Texas quarterback room. (41:00) Coach Meyer takes you to the entrance of one of the most hostile environments in college football, which will make you want to shower off after hearing. (1:02:23) The guys then make give their game predictions for Week 2 and Mark crowns his latest Deuce Deuce Dawg of the Week in a PRIME time game. (1:07:20) New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday throughout the season. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also make sure you’re locked in on social @3XOptionShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys and the TO community. (https://tripleoptionshow.com) The Triple Option is presented by Wendy’s. Try Wendy's New Saucy Nuggs Today https://wendys.com/nuggs  A big thank you to the rest of our sponsors: BetMGM Use bonus code OPTION or go to https://betmgm.com/OPTION and get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See BetMGM.com for Terms. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA) 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA),1-800-981-0023 (PR). ZipRecruiter 4 out of 5 employees who post in ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try for FREE at https://ziprecruiter.com/OPTION Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yeah, I was giving Mark a hard time. I told Mark, you know, he can come stay in the guest house. We could do a little fishing, a little hunting. You must ain't seen me on Big Noon. I was the ghetto fabulous musketeer. I mean, the mountaineer. I come out there with my musket. Come on. Give me one of them deers and them turkeys. You know what I mean? You ain't got to twist my arm. Light it. Hey, welcome. Episode three, The Triple Option, presented by The Wendy's. Try Wendy's new saucy

nugs today. And before we get underway, I want to remind you, subscribe, right? Mark, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Like, follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media at 3XOptionsShow. New episodes drop every single Wednesday. Glad you're back here with us. Rob Stone, the coach, Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram here with you. This week, guys, Texas legend Colt McCoy joins the show. We're going to discuss the U being the U.

Brian Kelly throws his quarterback under the LSU airboat and urine as a projectile. We're really looking forward to that conversation. Urine as a projectile. That's called a hook, Coach. That's a little teaser right there. Was that Machine Gun Kelly doing that? MGK, baby.

MGK times BNK all day. He was incredible. MGK was awesomeNK all day. He was incredible. MGK was awesome. Wow. That triggers our opening conversation. Team Big Noon kickoff was in West Virginia for that WVU Penn State showdown. And I think it's fair to say there were a lot of takeaways from that trip on and off the field.

But number one, point A for me at least, Coach, Morgantown showed up, and they were just such a gracious, energetic host for Team Big Noon Kickoff. They showed out. We got to get back there. But, you know, I've always heard that. The problem was the team. I don't want to put it on the team,

but, man, that crowd, everything was great. They just didn't play great. I mean, offense, defensively, and you've got to give credit to Penn State, but as far as Morgantown, West Virginia, Neil Brown told me it's like Arkansas and Nebraska. And he said that with great respect. That is the whole world of the citizens of those states because there's no pro sports.

There's really no other college that competes with them. And I thought that was really cool for us to witness. And I'll say this last, but we went to the athletic director's home. I'll tell you, God created a beautiful country in America, man. There's so many beautiful places in this country that we never get to see. West Virginia is a beautiful place, man. So, I'm sorry, Coach, you have me laughing right now because you mentioned Friday night we went up to the athletic director's house.

They had this big, what was it? I forget what the name of the reception was. Blue jean ball. Beautiful reception. The house was just, you could tell parts of it had just kind of wrapped up. There was sod on the ground. And in the back was this beautiful pool. And I didn't realize that Mark Ingram is a critic about pools,

and he offered the AD some insight that maybe it was information a little bit too late, Mark. Hey, I saw the pool, and it was immaculate. The whole house was just gorgeous. But I was like, we could have took it up another level. There's always room for improvement, right? So they had like a cliff overlooking like the cheat river, what they call it. Yeah, the river and the hills and the green. The hills, the trees.

And we should have just did the infinity pool right down the infinity pool right off the edge because we could have put the bar stools there. You wouldn't have got out the pool. We would have been pruned up all day, man. The guy just opened up his brand new pool. And Mark's like, that's nice, but you know what would have been really nice? If that was an infinity pool overlooking everything. But he did.

Hi, Rob Stone, Mark Ingram. Nice to meet you. You should really change that to an infinity pool. He did say he thought about it. He said it was going to take too long. He said that pool got done in two months. The infinity would have took a year and a half. And in this business, who knows where one is?

So he might have been building it for somebody else if things go sideways. How about the crowd showing up as students? Machine Gun Kelly, MGK, and the atmosphere at that place. Might have been one of the best. Might have been one of the worst. That crowd was insane. Not joking here. MGK, we didn't really know much about this cat.

And I know, Coach, you and I were kind of laughing on Thursday and Friday. And then, you know, you ran into him in the hotel parking lot, right? And you took a picture. We're all good. Ohio boy. I didn't realize that. Cleveland, Ohio. But that dude showed up and he put on a performance before our show,

during our show, was constantly working the audience. The song was so perfect for West Virginia. I walked away from that trip to Morgantown with ample loads of respect for that cat. He brought the energy, Rob. And I know Coach respects him because he was calling him Shotgun Kelly at first. He hasn't messed it up since.

I tell you, I downloaded a bunch of his songs. That's how much respect I got. He's been calling him Machine Gun Kelly ever since he took the picture outside the hotel. Because there was Shotgun Kelly before that. And we were listening to MGK on our drive out of Morgantown, back up north to the airport in Pittsburgh. We had some weather issues. We had some weather issues to deal with um mark at what moment during saturday's

broadcast did you think like maybe we've made a wrong decision i was like everyone else is going to cover and we're evacuating this everyone else is like running with like urgency now like got a little sense of urgency on them and they're like hey we're gonna go to the set and i'm looking like it's dark it looks like the movie twister out here the the air is chilling the wind is going up the cold air was the big giveaway when that burst of cold air hit yeah yeah yeah but what wind and rain are fine it's the other stuff when that started happening, time to go. When we got that big gust of wind, I was like, oh, no.

Oh, no. It's time. It took my, that gust of wind, and it wasn't even a gust. It was almost like a circular gust and cold that came out of nowhere. And my stuff just, and I think I had some type of paperweight on them. And it just like grabbed it and just threw it and pegged it on a camera. Yeah, it was funny, Mark, because everybody was running from the scene.

Yes. And I felt like a fireman, that I'm running into the fire with you guys. And I'm like, is this really what we should be doing here? Are we really going to do this? Everybody's like, no. Are we really going to be talking college football in the middle of this tornado that's about to erupt

and the lightning behind the hospital and yeah oh it was chaotic it was chaotic to say the least uh everyone else is running for shelter we running to work but that's it coach i saw like you looked over your shoulder and just saw these bolts of lightning behind the uh behind the hospital like a lot of us i'm not a lightning guy that shows up no gotta go well that's like- Don't mess with mother nature, man, you lose. We've all lived in Florida, right? So like we know the power of lightning.

People out here in California, they're like, oh, it's lightning, let's go jump in the ocean. The other thing, coach, to me was Mark Ingram in buckskin and coonskin can rock it now. That was a jacked up Mountaineer, man. I'm not sure I've seen one jacked like that. Ghetto fabulous Mountaineer. Oh my God.

Mark, did you enjoy doing that, Mark, by the way? Man, I loved it. That was fun. You talk about the crowd. You talk about the energy we're a part of. And then for me just to be able to be in my West Virginia Mountaineer getup, you know what I mean, in the crowd, turnt up. I had my musket with me.

Like that was one of my favorite moments of my big noon so far, man. All the people in West Virginia, they showed us so much love. They showed so much hospitality. And for them to embrace me and appreciate me for putting on that Mountaineer uniform, that Mountaineer. And, uh, it was love, man. It was, I always tell people when you go, when you go visit a place that the community's culture is on display, when you go visit the people. And I mean, again, I, what can you say other than, yeah, thank you. Uh, Morgantown, West Virginia for the way you treated us.

The family, that was, that was A+. Yes. I agree. What makes a place special is the people. And that's why Morgantown is so special, because of the people. Coach, what would it take to get you into a buckskin outfit? I will go back. No, no. I want you in buckskin. I won't look like Mark.

Let's go. Let's go. Just at least the coon skin cap up top, man. I love it. What a fun trip. All right. It's time for any given Saturday. College football is back.

Week number one in the books. A lot of great games and some interesting, intriguing results and some conversations that are out there right now. So let's start with Sunday in Viva Las Vegas. USC. Fight on, baby. Taking care of LSU, 27-20. Miller Moss replacing the number one overall pick, Caleb Williams. All he does is go 27 for 36. 378 yards. A touchdown. Trojans scored with

eight seconds left to get that upset win. Had a part of a rough weekend for certain segments of the SEC. And I think a lot of us came into this game not really sure where USC was. Mark, I'll start with you and then get to Coach. What's your takeaway from where the Trojans are right now? Does this vault them into top 15, top 10, a total disruptor in the Big Ten? Where do you see them? I think 100% they're in the top 15. I am extremely impressed with USC and what they showed. We talked about the concern of their offensive line.

They stood up to the test. We talked about the concern of their defense, who was bismo, who was terrible last year, and they balled out. They were flying around. They were hitting. They were tackling. They looked like a different team. So shout out to them for being prepared, being up to the task,

going against LSU team who played really well, and they just made the plays that they needed to make to win the game. So I'm very impressed with them. And shout out to Miller Moss. He balled out, holding it down. What about those two receivers? Your boy Kyron Hudson out there catching two one-handed passes in traffic with people all around them,

balling Zachariah Branch. They have some playmakers on offense. And with Miller Moss at the helm, this team can be a problem. Just one game. Just one game. And I think it totally skews the conversations we're having about the Big Ten right now

because we've been just saying it's Oregon, it's Ohio State, and now USC's saying, hold on a second here. I've got a disruptor card that I'm probably going to be playing through the course of the season. So far, hire of the year has been Danton Lynn. I mean, that was a different looking animal on defense to hold them to 20 points. And the tackling a year ago, it was awful. And we did actually a couple of shows on it. And so Lincoln Riley made a change, and he brought in the guy from Crosstown and UCLA, and it showed up. So it's time for the checkmate moment.

The checkmate moment, Rob, as we do every week, it's the analogy of the game of chess where you take their king, it's over. It's last play. And as I said last week also that coaches and teams, players, prepare every day during training camp. You're working on those last 25 seconds, last 40 seconds. I used to call it the line of demarcation. What is that?

Average kicker, it's a 25-yard line. A great kicker, it's the 30-yard line. And that equates to a 48-yard field goal if you've got a good kicker. And here again, it happened. And USC had the perfect play call. 18 seconds left on the LSU 47. And Lincoln Riley drew up a beautiful play. Caught him in the right defense.

Cover two, two deep safeties. They got two up on the safety. And my man Moss threw a dime and completed a perfect pass. That was game, set, match, checkmate, but they went on to score after the targeting penalty, the defenseless receiver hit, and they scored. But that was the checkmate moment. And your player, I'm telling you, that was a clean game.

Those are two good teams. That was not, you know, you left that going, damn, that was a really, really good football game. But hats off that, you know, one team makes a play, one team doesn't. That's why you work so damn hard. I mean, I just think about that. It gives me those post-traumatic stress disorder. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh.

Right on, baby. What's up, boys? We got two guests today. I can't hear them, though. They're saying, hi, Matt. How are you? I'm fantastic. We're talking about Trojan Towers.

It just feels good to beat up on that old SEC last week. You know what I'm saying? Hey, tell them I was giving USC love. Big love. Big love for USC. What impressed Matt Leiter, by the way. By the way, I'm just standing up. I should be getting a chair.

And I'm in Matt's garage right now doing the show this week. That is not my Heisman. You have the Kobe Bryant jersey in the garage? It is Kobe behind me. I thought it was

Fletch at first. That's Kobe, the GOAT to Matt. He said, do your thing. Do your thing. What impressed you about USC the most?

By the way, you were having some cocktails watching USC. I had. I had some tequila. I felt good. I was rocking.

You let it rip a sado. Two things, really, guys, and I think it was impressive, was one, the defense. That was the biggest question mark. And I was on the field before. I talked to the D-line coach who we got from the Rams,

who's really great. Talked to Coach Lynn. And there's just a different feel about this team. Now, again, it's one game and everybody's excited and they should be, but, um, I watched the film last night and it was just all the things coach from last year, right? The missed tackles, missed assignments, everybody out of place. Like you didn't see that. You know, it's clear and it gets a good team. LSU is a good team. I don't know how many teams, how many games are going to win, but that's a, a legit sec team and um they tackled kamari ramsey their safety is an absolute

stud he came from uh ucla he's a really good player they're just better and they're they're better coach and then miller moss was really impressive and um he's kind of bit his time there he's backed up c Caleb for a couple years. And it paid off. You know, we saw it in the bowl game a year ago, and we saw it in this game. He was unfazed. The moment wasn't too big.

And he was a fisherman. It was just a great win. And I think just confidence. Like, this team, especially the defense, has just been getting crucified the last couple years. Like, that's a big confidence booster for them. Could Matt and I get any closer, by the way? My God.

That's going to go viral. His whiskers are rubbing up against my face, big boy. Hold on a second before you go from your garage. Tell him to shout out his pie. Dropping this Thursday. Look at my buddy. Matt's got a new podcast. What's Mark? Mark, what are you saying?

Yeah, throwbacks. I'm telling him, shout out your podcast. What's Mark saying? He's just saying give him a plug. Oh, yeah.? Yeah, throwbacks. I'm telling him, shout out your podcast. Me and Jerry Farrar, a turtle. What's Mark saying? He's just saying give him a plug. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm telling him. We got the throwbacks coming out. I want him to plug his own podcast.

First show this week, me and Jerry Farrar from Entourage Power. I know that's Mark's boy, Proctor. Proctor. But me and Jerry, yeah, we're throwing it back, man. We got tons of stories to tell. We're going to talk all sports. You got a guest this week. We're dads.

We got a guest we haven't announced yet, so I'm not going to announce it on note. But we got a big-time, big-time guest just to kick off this season. A big 10 big-time guest. A big 10 big-time guest. And I'll say this. Chicago Bears.

A diehard Chicago Bears fan. All right. So subscribe. Like. To wherever you get your podcasts. Follow. Throwback show. Am I done?

Throwback. Don't deal with your pregnant wife. I'm going to go back to my house now. Matt's got to get... By the way, Matt's texting me. He's like, hey, man, you got to be out of here in about another 45 minutes.

I got stuff to do in my garage. So we're going to keep things... Thanks, Matt Leiner. Talk to you on Thursday. We had two guests. So many guests. We're loaded. We got Colt McCoy a little bit later. We had two guests. So many guests. We're loaded. We got Colt McCoy a little bit later.

I want to hear from somebody right now. LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeyer, remember, replacing a Heisman winner in his second career start. I think we all agree, the dude balled, right? 29-38, 3-0-4, two tugs, one pick. Here, though, is his coach, Brian Kelly, post-game assessing the tugs, one pick. Here, though, is his coach, Brian Kelly, postgame, assessing the quarterback play in this game.

You know, they've got some good athletes. I thought the quarterback played well tonight. He outplayed our quarterback. He made the plays when he needed to. Does that feel like throwing your quarterback under the bus to you, coach? Does it sound that way to you? I know Brian Kelly. That's not throwing him under the bus. That's throwing him under the 18- you, coach? Does it sound that way to you? I know Brian Kelly. That's not throwing him under the bus. That's throwing him under the 18-wheeler semi.

And then backing up over him? Your player just went out there and played his tail off. You said it. Nine incompletions, 300 yards, two touchdowns. He didn't throw an interception until the last pass of the game, which the game was over. And you go out here and you throw your player, your starting quarterback under the bus? You should be encouraging these guys. which the game was over, and you go out here and you throw your player,

your starting quarterback under the bus, you should be encouraging these guys. You should be, this is the first game of the season. We talked about the 12-team expansion. The season isn't over now. You should be encouraging your teammates, encouraging your players, bringing your players together. Instead of throwing your starting quarterback under the bus, that is unacceptable and unheard of.

And quite frankly, I know for a fact he probably wants that back. 100% he wants that comment. I know he wants that back. Because in a tough nail-biter like that, that's divisive for your team. I'm sure he's apologized to his team. I'm sure he's clarified to his team. Yeah. But you have a 12-team playoff.

Coach, let's take a step back. Your quarterback played extremely well and put y'all in position to be able to win the game. There's many other factors. No doubt. No doubt in what he did. There's many other factors that contributed to that loss. Yeah, when he gets back to that, and someone I'm sure is SID or whatever brought it up to him because we've all been there.

If your microphone's in your face enough, you're going to say something. You hug that player up because I don't know what more that player could have done, Nussmeyer. He played his ass off now. And that was a great setting, great environment, two great teams playing, and someone made a play at the end.

And yeah, that's one of those ones. But that was not intentional. You got to hug them up and say, we got to move on. But Coach, you've done a lot of, you've had some tough losses and you've had a lot of post-game conferences. Have you ever thrown your player directly under the 18-wheeler like that? I would say no, but, you know, once again,

it's been 18 years of doing it, so I don't know. I don't think you have, Coach. No, I don't either. Listen, I get it. It was stressful that, you know, Brian Kelly was pounding the desk and one of his – Your heart was taken away, Rob. Yeah.

A brutal loss. I get it. But by the way, you were paid millions upon millions of dollars to be a leader and a leader of young men. You're right. And I think Coach Kelly, when he listens back to it, and I know he's listened back to it already, he's like, ah, that's not the way I meant it.

That was a compliment to the opposing quarterback, right? That was a compliment. Like that kid at U USC played his tail off. I know he didn't mean it as a shot at his own player. There's no way he could have meant it. If he did, he should be gone right now. But there's no way he meant it that way. You know, let me point this out too.

We live in a society where now we're on a podcast talking. Move on. I mean, he made a mistake and, you know, we can't. I will never do that. To start beating people up or someone makes a mistake, he'll handle it. He'll hug them up and say, I know Brian Kelly, and, you know, I'm sure there's other podcasts

that will just destroy people. I won't do that. Made a mistake, hug them up and move on. Go get the next one. You played your ass off. Third consecutive season, guys. LSU starts 0-, and one under Kelly, let's pivot to another big game.

And I, I think this was a bit of an upset. Notre Dame taking down Texas a and M by 10 at Kyle field. You know, all those injuries coach on the offensive line, Riley Leonard, you know, making the transition from Duke to Notre Dame had timely plays in his debut, 158 yards through the air.

Ran it as well 12 times for 63 yards, including three times he got a first down with his legs. And Notre Dame now favored in all of their remaining games. And that includes home to FSU in early November, which, by the way, that FSU thing just kind of keeps plummeting. We'll talk more about that in a second. But remember, Notre Dame closes at USC November 30th. So we'll see if Notre Dame is still favored in that one. But your big takeaway from what Notre Dame was able to do in a real hostile environment. Mark? Hey, Rob, I think I was the one who thought A&M was going to be the victor in this game. And Coach Freeman did such a tremendous job of preparing his team to go in and not be scared, not be worried about the hostile environment. I don't know if you saw him coming out of the tunnel jacking up his players,

but he had the right energy, he had the right attitude, and that resonated with the players. You talk about Texas A&M's defensive line, which is the strength of their team. They neutralized them. They protected Riley Leonard. Riley Leonard made the right decisions, the right throws. Jeremiah Love made key runs. Big name. Remember that name.

Jeremiah Love, the running back. And you're going to love Jeremiah Love if you watch him tote the rock. So I'm telling you, man, I'm just so impressed with this Notre Dame team. They played very well offensively. They played very well defensively. Connor Wigman, they had him struggling. He was like 12 for 30. So

this team, just from top to bottom, I just want to commend them. They did a great job, had a big victory in a hostile environment against Texas A&M. And Coach Freeman, man, he had that team ready to play. So, big shout-out to the fighting Irish. Hey, Mark, you pointed out something I want

to hit really hard here. Marcus Freeman was given the job at Notre Dame. First head coaching job as at Notre Dame. Think about that for a minute. Arguably the most prestigious program in college football history. Here's a guy that really didn't have a background

other than calling defenses. They made the right decision. They hired him. But you remember that first year, the look in his eye a few times? I actually called him. They had a tough loss because I'd been there. Mack Brown was kind of my mentor

when I was a young coach, and I called him out of the blue. I've known him, but not that well. And I said, Marcus, you know, hanging out, we had some great conversations. That's a different man right now than it was two, three years ago when he first took over the job. That was not fake.

When you walk into A&M, there's over 100,000 people there. That's a real environment against a real team. You know who the player's looking at? Him. Your head coach. Him. Or, you know, the leaders of the team, but you are the player's looking at? Him. Your head coach. Him. Or, you know, the leaders of the team, but you are the leader of the team.

Yep. And he did not have that confident look that he has now. When you saw, I think they lost to Marshall or something like that several years ago, he's got a real look, and you want to know something? They nutted up and they got it done in the fourth quarter. I can't say enough about Marcus Freeman. That's a real team, a very young team. Offensive line is very young.

I want to hit one other thing, and I want to get Mark's opinion on this. The art of complementary football is something that I've studied my entire career. It's something that young coaches often err at. It's something often that play-calling coaches err at. They're so worried about their own statistics at a certain side of the ball that they're not playing complementary football.ida football. And I'm going to bring this up on big noon. So every game in the big ones, I would walk over to the offensive and defense alignment in that first quarter

and I'd go look at their eye. And if I trusted them and even the coach, I say, can we block them for the offense alignment? Because they know now, by now, you know, after those first two series, they know if they're over their head. Same as a defense alignment, Mark. I can look in the D lineman's eyes saying, hey, can you handle these guys up front? Right. And that set the tempo for game management the rest of the day.

If we felt like we can control them, you did some things more conservatively. And I got to compliment Marcus Freeman. He played complimentary football. He has a new quarterback. He has five, I think, five offense linemen have three or four total starts, Brady Quinn told us. So it's a very young offense. You know what he did?

He played to their strengths. Their defense was all over A&M. Their quarterback was struggling. You know what Marcus Freeman did? He hung in there. He didn't panic. I thought it was didn't panic. When you write a book called complimentary football, go watch that game. They played off each other. They weren't stupid. He could have made some mistakes. Marcus Freeman did not. I think people do not talk about complimentary football enough. That coaching

staff did an excellent job. Obviously, the players were phenomenal. But don't devalue complimentary football. That's what won that game at A&M. Yes, sir. Quick take on Texas A&M. I would argue that they have been the most overvalued team over the course of the last couple seasons. Talk about the recruiting classes.

Top 20 recruiting classes, 13 straight years. Top 10 classes, four of the last couple seasons. Talk about the recruiting classes. Top 20 recruiting classes, 13 straight years. Top 10 classes, four of the last six years. That includes that number one class just a couple years ago. They have not posted, guys, a 10-win season since Johnny Manziel's days back in 2012. That's hard to believe. They've lost six straight games to ranked opponents. I know that this was game number one under a new head coach, Mike Elko, but the millions and millions of dollars that these donors have invested into

Texas A&M and the lofty preseason rankings that have followed them and have really been gifted to them. No team in America has underproduced more as of late than Texas A&M. One of my great coaches, friends, one of my great friends and coaching coach there and said, first of all, you got the best high school football within a four hour circle of your city, of your university. And second of all, there is nothing you don't have. The donors, the boosters, the alumni, the money that goes through that program.

It's zero. They're not in need of anything. You know, most places say, hey, we need this. We need this. We need this. You know, Ohio State right now, they're talking about the new facility, which they do. A&M, everything's there. That's an enigma to me.

I don't understand why that's not a top five job every year. I don't get it either. I think Mike Elko is going to get it right down there, though. He's a great head coach. And, you know, it's his first time, like you said, Rob, but I'm a big fan of Mike Elko. I think he's going to get it done down there. Well, we'll give him time.

But the recent history has been, to quote Coach, awful. Has been. Awful in College Station. Unacceptable. How about that? Even better. Women lie, men lie. Numbers don't.

Penn State, where we were for that West Virginia game on big noon kickoff, they take down WVU after that long weather delay at halftime. 34-12 was the final. The big conversation, coach, about Penn State was their offense. Last year, conservative. They bring in a new offensive coordinator, and they were not afraid to be more creative and more willing to take big shots. And we saw that big time in week one from the Nittany Lions.

Yeah, we talked about the hire at USC, Danton Lynn, the D coordinator. I'd put Andy Koltuniecki up there as well as hire of the year. It's a complete change in what we saw a year ago. And the biggest thing is they're committed to throw the ball down the field. We saw that. He's going to run option football. He's going to throw the ball down the field, and he's going to do wildcat offense.

We saw all three. Drew Aller, I was very concerned about him. I still am. You know, it's one game. But I'll tell you what, I actually picked West Virginia. I was wrong. You know, and that has the impact on offense. It looked like a different deal to me, Mark.

Yeah, I picked Penn State, and I thought that I like Penn State because of the OC, Andy Kotelnicki. And what we saw from him at Kansas last year, I knew that's what Penn State needed to get over the hump. And we saw that early in the first half, he was taking shots down the field. They were running the football. He had Kaytron Allen coming out of the backfield running option routes.

We see even Drew Aller make some extra plays, extending the plays with his legs. I heard Joel Klatt and Gus Johnson talk about he was sneaky athletic out there. You know, we never put that with Drew Aller. So I'm like, this Penn State's offense is looking a little different. Obviously, it's one game. It's versus West Virginia. But for right now, I like what I'm seeing from this Penn State offense.

And if they continue at this trajectory, they will be a tough team in the Big Ten. One thing to add, Rob, real quick, is that Nick Singleton, longest run from scrimmage I think was 19 or 20 yards a year ago. He had a 40 or 50-yard hit, and that was a result of a soft secondary because of throwing the ball downfield. There's some fascinating big play numbers around Penn State. Number one, Drew Aller.

Arguably his best game last season came against West Virginia. It was his only 300-yard passing game, right? So a little bit of put on the brakes that Drew Aller's there. Maybe he's just a dude who's really good against West Virginia. But Penn State, they had four plays of 40-plus yards last week. All of last season, they had only eight plays gain 40 or more yards. Penn State, they had two plays of 50 or more yards last week on the road to Morgantown.

All of last season, they only had six plays. So they're clearly showing that they want to and that they have the ability to go bigger. And that's going to change the dynamics. That's going to change their perspective on Penn State going forward. What has happened to college football in the state of Florida? Because right now the Sunshine State is run by the U.

It is run by Cam Ward. Miami goes up to the swamp. Humidity in the 70%. Temperatures in the 90%. And it was a beat down. The U, 41-17. Cam Ward, hello, Heisman conversation, 21-35. 385, Mark, and three touchdowns.

The man is the real deal, and that's who they needed down there at the University of Miami. They needed a quarterback. They needed a ball player. He comes with the swagger. He comes with the demeanor. He comes with the execution. You talk about throwing the ball, he's as talented as an arm talent

as anyone in the country. You talk about running the ball, maneuvering the pocket, extending plays, scrambling. He did it all for this team. And he has the swagger, the demeanor, and the leadership that this team has been looking for. And quite frankly, the U held an official visit at Florida's campus, at Florida Stadium.

It was so good. Oh, wait, hold on. Take a listen Florida stadium. They held it. It was so good. Oh, wait, hold on. Take a listen to this. This is amazing. Come to the U! Come to the U! Come to the U! Come to the U! So those that are listening and not watching it on YouTube, right?

That is postgame. That is Miami players walking through one of the end zone areas where all the Florida game day recruits were, and they're telling them, don't come here. Come to us. We were a Florida. The U is back telling them, don't come here, come to us. We were a Florida. The U is back. Hey, baby, the U is back to their smack-talking,

camo-wearing, South Beach swagger ways. Listen, we've got enough bland stars wearing those white hats out there. Give me more of these anti-heroes who aren't afraid to don the black hat, hear the boos, lean into it. College football is a better place when the U is sitting there stirring that pot and leaning in to being a heel.

And by the way, the way Florida has looked lately, I don't know if Miami wants any of those recruits, right? Miami's doing just fine with their recruits. I don't know if they need Florida recruits right now. The intensity of that recruiting, I lived it for six years. Every player you get on the phone with, every player you go see, it comes down to you and the you. That's really the way, and Florida State, obviously,

but that's the way it should be. I mean, I have a vested interest in Florida. That's painful to watch that. But I'll tell you what, Cam Ward, that is to me recruit of the year. I think he instantly transformed. I think he's that good, Mark. I went back and watched it. He's that good.

He is. And I saw him coming out of, I think it was Washington State last year, and he was the number one transfer portal quarterback coming out. And I remember teams are all over him. Mario Cristobal got the recruit of the year. He did. With Cam Ward. But coachobal got the recruit of the year. He did.

With Cam Ward. But, Coach, you talk about salt in the wound. Like, I played Florida. That's not the Florida that I know. You know what I mean? You talk about salt in the wounds. You go out there in the swamp, whoop them 41-17, and then while you're exiting the field, you're recruiting their recruits.

Like, hey, don't come here. Don't go here. Come to us. Come to the U the you like that is salt in the wounds right there coach like you know how aggressive is you spoke on how aggressive that recruiting is in the state of florida and for that to happen man you know those recruits are going home like hey mom hey dad hey partner i don't know if we gonna going to Florida. Yeah. I want to hit Florida real quick with you, Coach. According to one analytics session out there, Florida is favored to win one, one of the remaining 11 games,

and that's against Samford. We're talking insanity right now in Gainesville. What's that pressure cooker like right now in Gainesville this week? Gainesville is a it's it's a tough, tough job. I mean, it's a great job. It's one of the top five jobs in the country. You got everything you need. You got a recruiting base that's second to none. And you got a great stadium. You got a great fan base. You got a great student body. You got it all. But I'll tell you what, Gainesville is a tough town to live in when you're the coach at Florida. It really is. And I

love Gainesville. It was great. My wife really loved it, but I just, I never really left the house because I just, it feels like it's caving in on you. It's a small town and there's very strong opinions there. It's a great place, but there's very strong opinions there. It's a great place, but it's a very tough place to be when you don't end up on the right side of the win column. Not a fun time in Gainesville for Coach Anthony and company right now. Let's pivot to Atlanta. Number one Georgia looked like the number one team in the land. They dominated Clemson 34-3.

The Tigers, they had two offensive plays in Georgia territory in the first half. We'll get to what Clemson is right now, but Coach, what did you see from Georgia in their opening conquest? They're the best team in the country right now until you take it from them. And I know the Wolverines did last year and Alabama did, but right now I just, I think Ohio State's going to be at run at the end. But I think right now, Georgia is. They got a great quarterback. They got a great program.

I'm going to say this, though, before we move on to, don't give up on Clemson. I know everybody's beating the mess out of them and probably deservedly so. That game was even at halftime. And if they get more offensive production, which they need to, and I think they will. So they have talent on the field. I know that they say that the time has

passed them by a little bit as far as transfer portals. He has to adapt. I think that's a given. I love the term, a weakness stays a weakness unless you hit the transfer portal. That's the truth. So I think Georgia's the real deal. But I think at the end of the day, Mark, I went through Clemson's schedule this morning. I think Clemson's going to make the transfer portal. That's the truth. So I think Georgia's the real deal, but I think at the end of the day, Mark, I went through Clemson's schedule this morning. I think Clemson's going to make the playoff. Listen, Coach. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Clemson's going to make the playoffs by winning the ACC?

No, they'll lose one more game. No, I think they'll be one of the top 12 teams in the country. You lose game one against the number one team in the country, it's even at halftime. You come back, you You got good enough players. If he keeps that, go look at their schedule. You tell me who is a better team than Clemson. I'll say I don't think there's any.

Their schedule is because they're in the ACC. You know what I mean? But, yeah, they got Stanford, Florida State, Wake Forest, Virginia, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Pitt, the Citadel, South Carolina. Yeah, they might. You're right, Coach. They could possibly be in the playoff because they ain't got nobody on there. But, Coach, you say they was even at halftime,

but it is a four-quarter game. In that second half, they whooped that tail. No, but Georgia is just a different beast right now. Like, they've only lost two games in the last three seasons to Alabama, and they have the quarterback in Carson Beck. Showed what he could do. He was 23-33 for 278 yards and two TDs. The running game was good, and they're missing two of their top running backs

in the backfield. The defense, Rob mentioned, two snaps in Georgia territory in the first half. This team is poised to go to distance. Kirby Smart has the recipe, the way they're recruiting, the way they're playing, complimentary football, which you mentioned earlier, Coach. Offense, defense, special teams, field position. This team has what it takes to go to distance, man,

and they are the best team in the country right now. And Kirby Smart is just doing a great job with his Georgia team. They're scary, man. They have a tough schedule. They have a tough schedule. They got to go to Belmont. They got to handle that gauntlet of the SEC schedule. It's a little different than Clemson's schedule, Mark?

Yeah, a lot different. A smidge different. They don't have the Citadel on that thing. You know what I mean? The Citadel. The Citadel. The Citadel. But youadel. The Citadel. But you look at the ACC.

I just want to hold that thought for a minute. ACC with Florida State looking like they do now. NC State's always a tough team. Pitt's a tough team. Virginia Tech, no, they lost to Vanderbilt, I believe. I mean, you tell me. I'm looking at this schedule. Carolina's starting quarterback is out for the year.

They're not going to lose another game, Coach. They're not going to lose another game. You. They're not going to lose another game. You're right. Look at the schedule. Yeah, they'll be standing at the end. And again, it was against the number one team in the country, right? You do need to put the brakes on that. However, if we're talking Clemson right now,

and they were at one point sitting there at the top of the mountain, and they clearly have fallen. Dabo Sweeney lasts 15 games versus Power 5 teams. He's just eight and seven, and that's your saucy nug of the week. Try some at your nearest Wendy's. The other thing about Clemson, and you guys touched on it, the transfer portal. They have not started a transfer since the portal opened.

They've got a great campus, a passionate fan base, resources everywhere. If I'm a Clemson fan, I'm saying we deserve more than a coach who's content to be old school, right? Mow his lawn and his socks and his sandals. Dabo's got to catch up to the time. He is doing this program, I believe, a real disservice right now. And if he does not change in the offseason, those major donors, Coach, the school bigwigs, they're going to send him over to Zip Recruiter and say, hey, you need to update your resume and start looking for a new gig because this is not working out. And I am stunned that a man of his intellect and a man who has seen success has really refused coach to adapt to the times and embrace just some element of the transfer portal i'm not saying you have to be the transfer

king i'm not even saying you have to be the transfer um i i don't know what you say he ain't gotta be the portal king right He ain't got to be the portal king. No, but you have to embrace it. I think the pressure, well, once again, I think they're going to win every game. So, I mean, I wonder if he just looks at it, and I know Dabble well, and like you said, he's a smart coach. He's one of the future Hall of Fame coach. But whether you like it or not, I do believe you have to.

You're looking at teams that do. And, again, just in my mind, when I think transferal, portal, I don't love it either. But a weakness remains, Mark, a weakness. A weakness. If you have a weakness, what's your job as a staff? Fix a weakness. Yes. Nobody loves the portal, I don't think,

unless you're the portal king, like Lane down there at Ole Miss. You know what I mean? He loved the portal. But, no, like, you have to learn to adapt. People are poaching your players, your best players from the roster, so why don't you go and replace, you know, a weakness that you have with a strength? Look what Miami just did with Cam Ward.

You get a player like that in your program, it changed the trajectory of the whole entire program. So Dabo has been successful. He's been a winner. I'm a fan of Dabo. He's an Alabama guy. You know what I mean? But it is time to adapt to the times because you have to learn

how to adapt or you will get left behind. And like you said, Rob, they mess around, don't make the playoffs, they mess around and drop a couple more on that schedule. These people in Clemson are going to turn on him. So it's time to get with the times. Dabo. I love you, dog.

But open up that portal, my friend. Coming up next on the Triple Option, former Texas legend quarterback Colt McCoy joins the show. Light it. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. Securian Canada gives you that coverage. For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows. Their insurance solutions are designed to help protect you and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters.

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grocery delivery and pickup. Score in-store promos, PC Optimum points, and more free time. And still get groceries. Shop now at pcexpress.ca. All right, we're joined this week by two-time Walter Camp Award winner, two-time All-American, the man, Mark, your ears are about to perk up, the man who finished behind you in the Heisman Trophy race in 2009, the man who finished behind you in the national championship game,

the BCS championship game, had that first quarter shoulder injury. Texas legend Colt McCoy joins us right now. Colt, man, you see Mark Ingram and you hear Alabama. Do you just kind of start shaking right now, like bad vibes? Or maybe there's some good memories out there. Oh, man. Yeah, that was a tough game, you know, but Mark Ingram is one of my good buddies. He's one of the best in the business.

He's the man. And I knew going into the Heisman in 2009 that I wasn't going to win it. And so if I wasn't going to win it, I was hoping that Mark would win it, and he did. Hey, Stoner, man, why are you coming in here trying to create this animosity between me and my brother from another? No, no, no. See, I got a Heisman. I got a Heisman behind me this week, so now I got, like,

this extra Heisman swag. It's not yours. What do you mean? I speak on behalf of the country. That's not yours, man. But, no, man, Cole is the man. And he thought he was going to win. I thought I was going to win it because I went to the ESPN Awards and didn't win one award. At least you won some Player of the man. And he thought he was going to win. I thought I was going to win it because I went to the ESPN Awards

and didn't win one award. At least you won some Player of the Year. I didn't win the Doke, anything. I'm like, how am I going to go to the Heisman and win the Heisman Trophy when I didn't win one single award at the ESPN Awards? So we were both nervous. We both thought we weren't going to win it. But you the man, and I appreciate you, man.

You've always been a first-class dude, top-notch individual, both on and off the man and I appreciate you, man. You always been a first class dude, top notch individual, both on and off the field, family and all, man. So the respect is mutual. The love is mutual. You my dude too. There we go. Love that. Love that. Colt, what are your thoughts on Texas this season heading into this huge showdown in Michigan at the big house? You know, I think Texas has a great team.

You know, if there was ever a time for them to make a move to a conference like the SEC, I mean, this would be the year to do it, right? The quarterback room is really, really top notch. I think their offensive line is one of the best in the country. A lot of returning guys. They get a lot of push up front. I watched a little bit of their game last week. And I think when you move to a conference like the SEC,

like having that interior play be really solid and have some experience in there goes a long way. So I know they got some tough games coming up, especially this week at Michigan, but I think they're very well coached and disciplined and are excited about this year. Hey, Colt, you were the backup to Vince Young when you won the national title.

You see this incredibly talented Arch Manning behind Quinn Ewers, and I went and watched it this morning before I talked to him. Man, is he good. I heard rumblings that he was like overrated or something last year. He is not. I mean, he looked really, really good. So in this era of people transferring and leaving, here you are. You understudied Vince Young.

Here is Arch Manning understudying Quinn Ewers. What's your thoughts on the progression of understudy than becoming the starter? Yeah, look, I mean, I think Arch Manning is the real deal, right? I've spent some time with him. Obviously, he's got the last name, the pedigree, all those things. But the kid works really, really hard. He's really smart.

And I think it's a credit to him for sticking around and redshirting and really kind of buying his time to be the starter at Texas. you know, it's, it's a credit to him for sticking around and, and red shirting and, and, uh, you know, really kind of buying his time to, to be the starter at Texas. I mean, I look at some of these games from last weekend, right. Miller Moss, uh, the Nussmeyer kid. I mean, if you're, if you're a, uh, a quarterback in college and, you know, I would say, stay where you are, like, wait your time, learn and grow. And like the redshirt year that I had behind Vince, like, first of all, I was not nearly high rated as as Arch. Nobody knew who I was, but the redshirt year was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I was able to just really learn the system. You know, I spent a lot of time in the weight room. I was played a bunch of sports in high school, so I really wasn't ready for a full year of college football, and that year helped me a ton. I just look at the quarterbacks that performed the best week one, and across the board, it seems like those are the guys that kind of waited their time, learned the system, got coached up,

and they stepped in there and played really good. And Quinn's great too, right? Quinn's third year in the system, playing at a high level, and I just think that if you're a high school quarterback across the country or a recruit or somebody who's kind of stuck in a situation like maybe best option is to stick it out because all you really need to go out there is play pretty good for a year and you got a chance. Yeah. So we talked about Texas moving to the SEC. What were your initial thoughts when you heard that Texas was going to leave the Big 12 and move to the SEC? And how do you think this sets this program up moving forward? Yeah, I mean, I heard, like, rumors, rumblings about, you know, us changing conferences.

And I just think that our athletic director and and you know our board of regents and kind of the state of college football I think they were a little bit ahead of the game and um you know them in Oklahoma being able to move to the SEC I think kind of started the trend of all the sort of the mega conferences right you know maybe they had instant intuition it was going to be this way because they they announced it like two three years ago right that they were going to do this right so they were ahead of the curve yeah i i think that's right and i think you know the biggest thing for me why i'm excited about the sec is that you know just looking at the the texas program right been involved there love love our school we get to play all of our old rivalries right we get to keep the oklahoma game playing the

cotton bowl we get a and m back that's a that's a huge game for our state it's a ton of fun and then you get the old southwest conference rival with with arkansas back and you get to play those guys every year and you know to me now a fan of texas football like that's that's a big deal it's gonna be a ton of fun to watch texarkana you know i mean yeah they used to say like they used to say when we would go into arkansas to play they would put the texas flag right there in texarkana on 35 everybody had to like drive over the texas flag i mean it's a it's an old bit of rivalry for sure okay okay i like it cole you just moved to fort worth uh try to describe the visuals that you're looking at beyond this screen, beyond this camera and this interview. All right. Yeah, I was giving Mark a hard time. I told Mark,

you know, he can come stay in the guest house. We could do a little fishing, a little hunting. If I'm looking through this screen, I'm looking out at the deer feeder that I set out there about a hundred yards out there. There's a little foggy, but there's several deer out there right now. Give us a quick head count. How many animals? What animals are we looking at? I actually have about 10 deer bedded down around the feeder. They're just waiting for me to come off again.

They're spoiled over here, man. Mark's a city boy. You must ain't tune into Big Noon on Saturday. He had no idea what he was doing. You must ain't see me on Big Noon on Saturday. Did you see the weapon in his hands in Western Virginia? He had no idea what he was doing. You must ain't see me on Big Noon. I was the ghetto fabulous musketeer. I mean, the mountaineer.

I come out there with my musket. Give me one of them deers and them turkeys. You know what I mean? You got to twist my arm. If you come out here, you got to work. We hauled hay a couple days ago, so we still got some round bells out there. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Nobody said anything about hauling hay.

Wait a second. You said it was a vacation. You said guest room. You said it was a vacation. You said guest rooms. You said hanging out shooting deer. I'll always swindle you into doing a little bit of work around the farm. A little bass fishing. You know what I mean? Something.

I'll roll a barrel of hay for you. One. BCS era national champ. You played in a championship game. We were part of the 14-team playoff. Now it's 12. What's your thoughts on the expanded 12-team playoff? I think it's awesome. I think there's going to be a lot of teams that have a chance to get in. I think there'll be a couple teams that win their conference that have a chance to also get into this 12-team playoff. And then the fact that the first games are home situations

based on your seating, your ranking, I think it's going to be incredible. I think it's great for college football. I think you ultimately get a fair shake and competition into who's going to be the national champion. And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if somebody gets hot late in the year, maybe they have an injury, lose a game or two early,

but kind of be able to do enough to jump into the playoff and get hot and maybe come out on top. So I think it's going to be really fun to watch and great for college football. What do you think about those boys from the south, though? Might it get stuck in Ann Arbor, Columbus, Ohio, or South Bend in December? Yeah, no, that's tough. But, I mean, look, like I love college football.

I had some opportunities to broadcast some games, and just the fact that I get to go back to college ball and watch. I mean, I played 14 years, but, you know, every Saturday night was kind of my favorite time was to watch all these games. And I'm excited about Texas, Oklahoma, going to the SEC. I think there's some great matchups. I think there's also some really good matchups in the Big Ten, which is most of the games that I'm going to be calling on NBC. So, man, I'm just a huge college football fan and kind of excited about this.

Yeah. And you spoke about it, man. You just retired 14 years. Congratulations. You are legendary. You defied all the odds. 14 years. Blessings.

Blessings. Blessings to my dog. Now you're transferring to the broadcast booth. Going to be part of NBC, the Big Ten coverage. What do you feel like, man? Are you a little nervous? Is it like the first time you're going to a game in the NFL? How are you feeling right now, man?

Because I just did it last year, and now you're doing it this year. So, blessings and health and wealth to you and much success. But how are you feeling right now, man? Yeah. I know I've got a big game this weekend, Nebraska-Colorado game in Lincoln. Two really good teams. I've watched Shadur Sanders the last couple days and all those weapons he's throwing too. They are deadly. He's got a great feel for their offense. He's got four years of experience in college.

They're going into a pretty hostile environment. On the flip side, Nebraska's Dylan Raiola is a You know, on the flip side, Nebraska's Dominic – not Dominic, that's his dad. Dylan Raiola is a gunslinger, right? Yep. He's got some new targets through the transfer portal. Their offensive line, I think, has like over 250 starts combined. A couple good running backs.

So, I think it's going to be a really good matchup and a fun time and kind of getting thrown out there into primetime. We'll see how it goes. That boy is seasoned. You hear him already stoner. He's seasoned a veteran already. He learned it from Papa. I learned it from all his relatives,

man. Come on, man. That boy coat, man. He a true professional, man. He's one of those guys.

Speaking of that cult, you're, you're in this brave new world. And when we have a guest with us on the show, we like to kind of conclude with offering them the opportunity to ask us a question. So the three of us, is there anything lurking out there in the back of your brain that you want to know from us? Yeah, I mean, I'm going to speak to my boy, Mark. I mean, we've been real cordial today.

But I mean, things happen in games, right? Alabama, Texas, I mean, it's always like, what would have happened? I mean, what would have happened, Mark? Oh, I can't wait to hear this. What would have happened is, we still would be in the same position we are today.

There's much love, you know what I mean? But when you went down, we had a plan for you, you know what I mean? We studied tape, we had a plan for you. You know what I mean? We studied tape. We had a plan for you. When you went down, it threw a wrench in our loose. All right, Colt, what would have happened? All right, Colt, what would have happened?

I mean, I think we would have scored some points. I think Mark probably wouldn't have got as much touches because they'd have to spread them out and throw the ball. And as you know, we felt pretty good going into that game too. Bottom line? What's too. Bottom line? What's that? Bottom line? You get a big ring?

I wish. I'm happy for Mark. If there was anybody that was going to come out on top, Mark had a heck of a career and then translated that into the NFL, played a lot of football, a lot of good teams. I mean, every week when we were playing teams that Mark was on, you knew he was going to get about 15 or 20 carries, and you better buckle up, right?

They were going to keep the ball. They were going to run the clock, right? You knew as a quarterback, you know, playing against them, whatever team Mark was on, you're going to have to score points and score them methodically. We're going to tote that thing. We're going to tote that thing. Hey, Coach, but we always talk about those like 0809 florida teams and the and when we went and played them the amount of nfl talent that was on the field it

was just insane like the football was just real football back then like it was real college football the amount of players that we played against each other in that the game before in the NCAA championship, the same amount of NFL players were on that team versus Texas, man. So we knew that we had to come with it because they had guys on offense. They had guys on defense. They had Colt who was a gunslinger putting up a lot of points. And we were just able to be the best team that day. You know what I mean?

So I don't know. I don't know. You know, Colt was trying to do his day. You know what I mean? So I don't know. I don't know. You know, Cole was trying to do his thing. You know? I mean, Marcel Darius at the time was a backup. You guys were loaded. Yes. I mean, anybody who's on the field, just, you know,

they were all going to make it to the NFL. He's the one that hit you, right? And he wanted to hit you right in the back? Yeah. What was it called? It was like an option play, like a option you was yeah we called option to the left the nick you know saving bliss the nickel off the edge and took the back away so i had to like kind of duck it up in there and as soon as i kind of put my foot down i just they collided with me it just caught me the

right it wasn't like a crazy hit it just caught me the right way folded me and just my whole right side just went completely numb and i mean to be fully honest like i've dealt with that injury my whole career it's something that i've had to like stay on top of you know still if i sleep wrong it's like same deal so i'm reminded of that all the time mr mark i love you bro and i'll come out there to the farm. I'll go bass fishing with you. I'll go get some of them turkeys you got. We family, dog. You know, we ain't going to let the little small bump in the road, you know, hinder our relationship.

We brothers. No, I mean, looking back, like, that kind of started the Alabama run, right? Like, that was the first of several national championships. And I just hate that it had to be us, man. Just to make you feel better. It started with the guy next to you, Coach Meyer. It started with him. They started the dynasty.

We got them back and then we went and got y'all. So the momentum started when we got them. So I won't let you take full advantage. I'm going to give that to him. Didn't realize Alabama was so generous. Matt Brown is such a good friend. We used to always dream about getting each other in a national title, and you guys won it, I believe, 05.

We got 06. LSU got 07. We got 08. And then the tide went on their run. Yes, sir. 09 on. That was good times in college football, man. Magical era, man.

Real football. Real football. Ain't none of that Rudy Poop stuff, none of that targeting stuff, getting ejected. You know, it was real football. If you go across that middle, you better know how to get down or your quarterback better not throw you into a collision.

It was real deal. It wasn't no falling on the quarterback, personal foul penalties. No, it was real deal, Holyfield. What you gonna do? No doubt. No doubt. To that, to that point, Cole, where is college football better and maybe where has it taken a step back compared to your playing days? Yeah, that's a, that's a great question. I mean, look, I, you know, I don't want to be one of those old guys, me and Mark talking about how good it was

back then, but you look at, you look at, you know, at, you know, when I was in college, man, like there was, I think there was seven teams in the top 15 from the Big 12. And so it was a grind. All those teams were good. And the SEC was really good. The Floridas, the Alabamas, right? Every week I would watch all these teams

that maybe we would get matched up to, you know, in the bowl games. And back then it was based off the BCS, right? So you were leaving it up to a, a base of basically a point system, right? We got beat out, but we beat Oklahoma, my, my junior year and Missouri, and got beat out by both of them. Cause we lost a tech on a last minute play by like 0.01 points, right? So you left it up to the committee.

I think the state of college football is a whole lot better with the playoff and now with the 12 team playoff. Like I would love to be in college football right now and be able to have the chance to like, Hey, look, we're going through a season. We win our conference or if we, we battle through these games and maybe, maybe come out 11 and one or whatever, we're going to, we're getting to the playoff. When we get to the playoff, it's, itoff, it's everything, right? Like, let's go and may the best man win. And so I think just the state of that, I think, you know, back then,

can you imagine if we would have had a four-team playoff or a 12-team playoff? There was some ridiculous teams. And those whole matchups would have been wild. And really, you know, the best team would ultimately come out on top at the end. And so I think I think just the playoff system alone is very beneficial for college and these teams. Where's it gotten worse? Looking at the transfer portal and the NIL, you look across a game and there's guys that have transferred three or four times. And then those guys jump into the NFL and they've moved around four or five times. And it's just like, you know, that I just hope that somehow I know you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, but I just hope somehow we can keep the integrity and the sanctity of college football.

It's the best in the world. Right. At the fan bases, the traditions, the histories, like, I hope that like that that doesn't change. And, you know, I think, I think so far we're okay, but I just want to make sure that there's, uh, just some rules in play that like, Hey, let's, let's keep the traditions and the, and the sanctity of this sport as best as we can. Prediction time, Texas, Michigan, Big House, Saturday. Who's winning?

I mean, look, I went to Michigan last week. I did a little bit of the broadcast, Michigan, Fresno State. I think they're a little bit shaky on offense, right? I'm sure their quarterbacks will come along with that. That was their first experience, both of them. I thought Davis Warren did a pretty nice job. Look, if we can shut down their tight end, Colston Loveland, he's won a heck of a play.

He may be the best tight end in the country, you know, and score some points, right? I think Texas comes out on top. I know their defense is good. They're well coached. Wink Martindale coming in from the NFL, from the Giants. Wink. Ravens.

He has a great scheme. He's got a really good defensive line. But I think Texas is poised to go in there and win, and I would take them for sure. All right, one last prediction, because we do a Deuce Deuce Dog of the Week on the podcast, and you go in to cover my dog of the week. Do you think Colorado can go into Nebraska and get the outright upset?

Do you think this is possible? Mark hasn't made his pick yet, so he's using this as some insider information. Yeah. From a guy who is as well-versed as you are. I heard you giving me the scouting report of the game, so I'm like, I need a little something you know, a little something for my boy Cole. Yeah. Look, I think Nebraska is much improved, right?

You look at, I watched their game last year. Colorado beat them handily, right? I think they beat them like 35 to 7, 36 to 7, something like that, right? They couldn't throw the ball. Nebraska had no offense. I think Nebraska's offense is big time improved. They run a good system. They're committed to the run.

They got two good backs. A little transfer from Oregon's good. Their offensive line is good. But, I mean, the thing is, like, you can't play man coverage against Colorado. They have two or three guys out there that are going to be playmakers in the NFL on Sundays. There's no doubt. Jimmy Horn, Travis Hunter. If it gets into a shootout, you can't pick you can't go against Colorado. Right. But you look at it's a primetime game. You know, it's it's Colorado's

on the road. It'll be a pretty rowdy crowd. Colt McCoy. Hey, man, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck in the next venture. And when somebody says, hey, you're a little shiny up top over here or in the T-zone, just accept the makeup. Lean into it. It's for a better cause, all right? That's right. I need that, man. I'm going to have to get clean shave, a little scruffy right now, but I'm excited for the game.

It keeps that Texas swagger going. Adds a little texture. Adds a little texture. Colt McCoy, everybody. Thanks, Colt. Great to catch up with you. We love you, Colt. We love you. Love you, man. All right, y'all. Have a little texture. Add a little texture. A little texture. Colt McCoy, everybody. Thanks, Colt. Great to catch up with you. We love you, Colt. We love you. Love you, man. All right, y'all. Have a good day. Light it. Mama, look at me. Vroom, vroom.

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Please be alert, as trains can pass at any time on the tracks. Remember to follow all traffic signals. Be careful along our tracks and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe. Welcome back to The Triple Option. Mark Ingram, Urban Meyer, Rob Stone back here with you in honor of week one and finally playing off that tease that I dropped in the beginning of the show. We wanted to talk about the most intimidating stadiums to enter. We're not talking about playing. Not talking about playing.

We're talking about entering. All right? The walk into the locker room or the walk from the locker room to the field. So, Coach, I know you've got a couple that are high on your list. I know he's already shaking his head right now, Mark. What's it like to turn awful is the term I like to say. It was awful. And the worst one ever, Mark, is 2007.

We were defending national champs and we come rolling into LSU, which, by the way, is the most ridiculous atmosphere. I have that on Penn State as the most, I mean, just absolutely ridiculous. I remember the old lady, she's in a walker and she's walking. And as our buses come by, she like stops and takes her hands off the walker. And then, you know, I'm not just banging the double bird. She was staring right at me.

I mean, I was like, what in the hell? And then as we entered the stadium in 2007, I mean, they put the fans. The fans are not, but it's maybe a 10-foot-wide walkway as you walk in that damn stadium. A small, narrow corridor. Nasty. I mean, just saying things and mean-looking.

And this one guy just yelling staring right at me and he's right off to my left and i have two police officers with me as i'm walking in there and our players you know we we kind of warn them to stay away from that nonsense and one guy's holding a cup and as i get closer to him and i we make eye contact and he's just screaming i mean i wanted to take a swing at the guy, but right then he takes and he dumps this on me. And I thought it was a beer and I dropped my bag and I go after him and one cop grabs me and the other cop kind of goes after him, but he can't, it's a chain link fence and

he just disappears right behind it. And the player saw it and we go in and I mean, I was so, I lost my mind and I'm like, wait a minute. I thought that was beer. Mark Mark it didn't smell like beer it was warm and yellow though and so I had to jump in like a mark so I had to jump and take a quick shower and we get out in the locker room was insanity you know Dan Mullen was my offense coordinator the Tebow was on that team the players lost their mind spikes and everybody. And we put up, it was a great game.

They went for it on five fourth downs in the fourth quarter. Ended up winning the national championship, but that was the worst. And the worst. I can agree with you, Coach. I didn't get doused with the urine, but I know for a fact, we came in on them buses, and it was just fans on both sides.

They was rocking the bus. I'm a freshman. I'm a freshman. This is my first time going there. Night game at LSU. Coach Saban's first game back at LSU. And we driving on the bus. They just rocking the bus.

I'm like, ooh, this thing got some good hydraulics on it, don't it? Then we get out. They got like a scarecrow witchcraft voodoo doll thing of Coach Saban. I'm like, what's going on out here? And then Mike the tiger? Yes. And then I'm coming out of the locker room. I'm like, yeah. Oh, yeah, it's time.

It's time. Then all of a sudden, I just, a whole tiger right here to the left of me jumping up, hitting the fence. I'm like, is this even legal? Like, what happened? This tiger right here. I'm out here in my zone.? Like, what happens? Tiger right here. I'm out here in my zone. Tiger didn't threw me off my zone.

Mike the Tiger, whatever his name is, but no. LSU, man, is one of the most hectic places to play. That environment is crazy to fans. But you never had a cup thrown on you? No. No, no, no, no, sure. Coach, did they ever catch the urine thrower? No, he disappeared behind the chain link fence.

Yeah, he vaporized. Witchcraft, I'm telling you. Some voodoo stuff going on. Was it bright, non-hydrated yellow, or was it a little watered down, a little clear? I'd take a swing at you right now if you were right next to each other. Can you imagine?

That was a younger version of me, too. I mean, it was insanity. Coach said he was trying to get at him. Oh, he was right there. Right to my left. And the cop. Hey, the funniest one is the 80-year-old lady in the walker supporting herself. Doesn't use her walker no more.

Gives you the hummel. Double. Not the same one. And it wasn't at the bus. It was at me. Stared me right in the eye. I'm telling you right now, man. I played in New Orleans

and a lot of those fans are the same. The same Tigers fans are the same Saints fans. And those fans, they don't play about they Tigers. They don't play about they Saints, man. They go hard for them so I did appreciate that fan base because they were my fans when I was in New Orleans but when when you not a Tiger you don't you don't appreciate them too much I tell you that can we move on from the topic of urine in football are we good with that no let's move on please let's pivot all, pick six brought to you by BetMGM.

Place your Moneyline prop parlay and same-game parlay bets at BetMGM. Download the app today, and as always, please gamble responsibly. Again, each week, we're going to pick six games against the spread. Mark over there, he's got his deuce-deuce dog of the week. One of his picks will be the underdog that he thinks will outright win. Reminder to everyone listening, these lines are current as of Tuesday, so obviously they can change. Let's start with the big one in the big house. Texas is a seven and a half point favorite coach at Michigan. The line opened at three and a half, three and a half, so a four point movement now to seven and a half. There's four-point movement now to seven and a half.

There's four rosters right now that look different to me. As the season progresses and we're diving into it, it's Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, and, of course, Texas. It's just five-star athletes, basically every position. They utilize a portal. The Wolverines lost 18 to 22 starters. We're going to be there. Big Noon is going to be there.

It's a three-hour show. We got my friend Charles Woodson. We got everybody going. The Wolverines got a real dilemma quarterback, and we're going to talk about that on Big Noon, and that is do you go one system or two quarterback system? A lot of risk, but a lot of risk in going with one if you don't think he's the guy. So I like Texas to cover the spread.

I think it'll be an absolute street fight early in the game just because of the atmosphere, because you're playing in Ann Arbor. And the Wolverines. The Wolverines' defense is legit. But I think at the end of the day that the Wolverines will not be able to have enough offense to slow down, to get Texas off the field. And Texas will be on the field far too long. All right, we're going to pivot to Mark. Arkansas at Oklahoma State. offense to slow down to get Texas off the field and Texas would be on the field far too long.

All right we're going to pivot to Mark Arkansas at Oklahoma State in Stillwater the Cowboys favored by seven and a half and Mark 60 percent of all the bets though are on the road team Arkansas. Oh hey I think 60 percent of the bets are on the road team because of their quarterback Talon Green he is a beast 6, 6'6", 230 pounds. He could throw it. He could run it. He will be a problem for this Oklahoma State team. But going to Oklahoma State, they have one of my favorite players in the country in Ali Gordon, the running back. I think he'll be the difference in this game. I think he is a bona fide top pick for a running back coming out in the next NFL draft. He's the real deal, man. If you want to see some great talent from the running back position, go watch Oklahoma State and watch Ali Gordon III. Ali Gordon II, just like your boy Mark Ingram II.

But no, he's special. And I got Oklahoma State at home in a close one versus Arkansas. All right. Arkansas pounded Arkansas little bluff over the weekend. It is Cy Hawk trophy time, guys. Iowa State at Iowa. And the home team, the Hawkeyes, favored by two and a half. How poor was the offense in Iowa last year?

Well, it was 234.6 yards per game poor. That is dead last nationally. Seven times Iowa had 15 points or less. Three times they were shut out, including their last two games of the season. In comes a new offensive coordinator, Tim Lester, and according to my sources, they are currently building a statue for him in downtown Iowa City because Saturday against FCF side Illinois State it was their best offensive day guys in nearly five full years Iowa 492 yards of offense 40 points Cade McNamara coming off that injury was rusty in the beginning finished with 251 and three touchdowns Iowa they've dominated this series of late they've won eight of the last 10. It is typically a tight one, though.

The last six meetings have been decided by 10 or fewer. But right now, I am a Hawkeye believer. I am believing in the Iowa offense. It only takes one game to win me over. They're at home, and I see Iowa covering. Kansas at Illinois, and the Jayhawks, five-and-a and a half point favorite. Saturday night, that one live on FS1, a little Big Ten, Big 12 showdown.

Last year in Lawrence, the Jayhawks, they won by 11. Courtesy, guys, speaking of offense, 539 yards of Kansas offense. Both of these teams won in week one by 45 points. The Illini, Brett Bielema Company, I think they're rapidly improving. They're a better team than they were the last couple years, but they can still be a little hit and miss on D, a little hit and miss at quarterback. For Kansas, though, how about the job Lance Leipold

and his staff are doing right there in Lawrence? I don't think it's getting enough attention. I don't think they're getting enough credit nationally. 84% of all the bets are on Kansas. The ranked Jayhawks, I love saying that, the ranked Kansas Jayhawks continue their rise up the rankings. They get the win, and they get the cover. Kansas is a football school.

They're more than just soups, baby. More than just soups. Tennessee at NC State, 70% of the money coaches on the Vols who are favored in Raleigh by seven and a half. Real quick, NC State, a really good coach. They adorn and a very tough place to play. However, I went back and watched Tennessee and they have a quarterback that I called Matt Leinert and Brady Quinn this morning after watching this thing. His name's Niko Iamaleva. Call him Niko. That's the old Polynesian background I have in Utah.

The old Polynesian and you coming out. I'm telling you this now, Mark, and I just watched the whole thing. And it's Tennessee Chattanooga, so they were overmatched, the opponent they played. I mean, they watched the whole, and it's Tennessee Chattanooga, so they were overmatched, the opponent they play. I mean, they were so much better. But this guy, as far as a body type, to stand there athletically and throw the ball, the ball came out like a missile. He was a five-star product coming out of high school.

I asked this question, is he a top 10 pick in the NFL draft to Brady and Matt? They obviously got another year left. This guy is unbelievable, Mark. I can't believe, I know they had Joe Milton, I believe, last year, but this guy is a monster. Nico.

Because of him, I'm putting them to cover the spread and I think they'll be a playoff team because of this guy. That's how, on one, I know it's Chattanooga. This guy's a, go check him out, Mark.

Coach, I checked him out. Didn't they pay him 12 million out of high school? Is that right? They paid him, wow him $12 million out of high school? Is that right? They paid him, wow, like $5 million out of high school. Something like that. As far as a ball coming out of a guy's hand, Mark, it's beautiful. I'm going to show it on the big news.

I don't know what the number is, Coach, but he got some millions coming out of high school. So I got my son doing three, five, and seven step drops right now. You got enough cash, Mark. You're going to be all right for generations. I played running back, Rob. You know they treat us like the red-headed stepchild. Come on.

Mark, last game, Colorado at Nebraska. This is a really intriguing one. Ooh, I want to hear this one. Big 12 versus Big 10. Is Nebraska really back? What is Colorado year two under prime? Nebraska seven and a half point favorite

in Lincoln. Nebraska seven and a half point faves? Shout out to Ben MGM. No, but Nebraska is much improved, man. Dylan Raiola, the quarterback, he is a guy. He's a gunslinger, and he looks like a little mini Mahomes. They look like doppelgangers or something.

He got the whole frohawk, light skin, you know, kind of sidearm throw. Their defense is nice. But Colorado, I'm just telling you, I just can't go against Prime. Shadur Sanders, Jimmy Horn Jr., Travis Hunter. If this defense can find a way to get a couple stops, just a couple stops, I like Colorado on the shootout. So, minus seven and a half, Colorado, I'm taking the buffs. Sko buffs. And that's your Deuce Deuce.

Boy, I hope we go back there, man. Well, Coach, to your point, Big Newton will be back in Boulder if Coach Prime can get this window. I see you, Mark. If they can get this win on the road, I think the volume starts turning up a little bit. It's not there at 10 yet, but it starts, the chatter

returns. Alright, so those are our picks. Also, real quick, what's that? Pasta J. P All right, so those are our picks. Also, real quick. What's that? Pasta J's. Pasta J, baby. Pasta J's in Boulder, baby. We know a guy. We know a guy at Pasta J's.

Real quick, because Matt Leiner is going to kick me out of his garage here in a moment. It is the opening weekend in the NFL. Real quick for both you guys. Mark, the difference in the game day experience from college to NFL, what is it that you point your finger at? The difference in the game day experience, man, it's just ball, man. It's just ball. Like, you've been waiting.

You've been preparing for such a long time. In college, you go through a fourth quarter off-season training program. That's what we called it in Alabama, fourth quarter. You go through a spring practice. You go through summer condition and the summer workouts. You go through training camp. You're hitting each other. You're tired of each other.

And you finally get the chance to unleash on a team with a different color and a team that you don't care about. You don't really like them people. Anyway, it's time. And you feel the same way when you go to the league, man. You've had the offseason. You've had training camp. You've had OTAs. You've had minicamp.

And you've been doing training camp all this time. Now it's finally time to reap what you sow. You've been putting all these deposits in. You've been putting all these deposits in. Every day you go to the bank, you put deposits in. Now it's finally time to cash out. That's what the first game day is like in college or the NFL. It's time to cash out.

It's time to hit the bank. It's time to hit the big safe in the back, not the cash registers in the front. We need the big safe. We need where all the security deposit boxes at, where all the diamonds, all the cash. We need all of that. It's time to get this money.

That's what time it is. Let's go. Who's got a security box these days, by the way? all of that. It's time to get this money. That's what time it is. Let's go. Who's got a security box these days, by the way? I remember seeing mine years ago by dad taking me to the bank. Old ladies. And it's a lot of old people out there. I need that. I need them diamonds and them old

gold watches and everything you got back there. I need it. I gotta have it. It's time to eat. Week one, it's time to eat. The biggest difference I saw, Mark, was that on game day, especially home games, you get up on the morning, players eat on their own

and the next time you as a coach talk to the players is right before kickoff. And in college, you get up and, I mean, we used to go for a team walk. You'd have your team breakfast. You'd have special teams meetings, offense, defense meetings, a quick walkthrough, even for early games. breakfast. You'd have special teams meetings, offense, defense meetings, a quick walkthrough, even for early games. And then you'd all get on the bus and, you know,

put on your shirt and tie and go to the stadium and go play the game. In pros, it was, I mean, it was just very different. It's grown men. Grown men get up. Yeah, you're grown. It's a business. It's a business. But college football has become more and more of a business too, right? Yep, yep. More and more of a business. It's a business, but college football has become more and more of a business too, right?

Yep, yep. More and more of a business. Last chance for a lingering urine story out there. Are we good? No more? No more urine stories? I'm going to check my archives. Nope.

I'm looking. I'm looking. No, we're all good. I want to give my thanks to my boy, Matt Leiner, who's right over there off camera. Let me use his garage for the setup. Who knows where I'm going to be in week four? Shout out to all our podcast people, whoever,

all our fans. If you watch it, you know Stoner hasn't been in the same position for one episode yet. So where will Stoner be next week? I have no idea where I will be week four. Listen, if you've got a Wi-Fi connection and electricity,

I might be in your basement or your garage doing a show. Who wants to host on it? I'm coming to you, America. Who has a Heisman in the background? You like my Heisman? We brothers. Good looking. You and I are Heisman bros. You my brother's boy.

We are Heisman bros, Mark Ingram. Let's go. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media at 3XOptionsShow. New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday. Again, as always, our thanks to our sponsors, Wendy's, BetMGM, and Zip Recruiter. Have a great week and enjoy week two of college football,

everybody.