Will Cain Country - Will There Ever Be A President DeSantis?

Episode Date: September 8, 2023

Story #1: Will Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ever be President? Story #2: Diarrhea on Delta Airlines has a silver lining. Story #3: College Football picks with FOX Sports Betting Analyst Chris "The Bear" Fallica. Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing [e-mail] Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash-brown and a small iced coffee for $5.00 plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. One, will Ron DeSantis? ever be president. Were there no Donald Trump, would Ron DeSantis be president of the United States? Two, the gory details and the silver lining of Delta's diarrhea plan.

Three, college football picks with Fox Sports betting analyst Chris the Bear Falica. It's the Will Cain podcast on Fox News podcast. What's up and welcome to the weekend? As always, I hope you will download, Ray, and review this podcast wherever you get your audio entertainment at Apple Spotify or at Fox News podcast. You can watch the WillCame podcast on Rumble or on YouTube and follow me on X at Will Cain for the latest on the Willcane podcast. I believe I've kept you somewhat up to date on this throughout the weeks. I will have an update on the situation in Maui in coming episodes of the Will Cain podcast. sources have filled me in on exactly how many people are missing and how many are expected

to have been confirmed casualties in the fires and waters around Lahaina. I'll give you some updates on the facts on the ground on that incoming episodes of the Will Kane podcast, but I wanted to also let you know, for all of you who have donated and you did enforce, you flexed that charitable muscle and so many of you gave to the fund run by myself, my family, the family of Wayne Dyer, and the Barnes family, to give back to the people who were destroyed in Lahaina. Help the people of Lahaina, help the people of Maui. Help Maui Now.com. That GoFundMe has now reached over 2.3 approaching $2.4 million, just absolutely stunning. And the plan is 200 families, $12,000 donation.

$12,000 to over 200 families that will help them with at least $1,000 a month to get through what will be more than a tough, tough, terrible year to come. But it is so touching, and I will share some of those stories in the coming weeks with those people, with those families that you have helped. And I mean it, if you're listening right now, you have directly helped. Some will want their privacy. others will be happy to share with you their names their former homes their situations how they're living now so that you can know exactly what you did when you gave to help the people of lehaina and west maui when you gave to that go fund me it's real people it's personal stories and i want you to know them i want you to know what you've done thank you story number one

Will Ron DeSantis ever be president of the United States? Play a thought experiment with me. If there were no Donald Trump, would there be a president, Ron DeSantis? We need to find out the answer to that question because it has more to do with Ron DeSantis as potential presidential candidate in 28. Current polling for the Republican presidential primary shows Donald Trump absolutely. running away with the nomination for president. Donald Trump, with every indictment, with every mugshot, with every scandal, goes up in the polling for Republican nominee for president. He is approaching something like 60% of the Republican electorate.

While Ron DeSantis' numbers have gone from something like 22, 23% down to 14 or 12%, If you add together Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramoswamy, you basically will find yourself speaking for 80% of the Republican base. 80% of Republicans have essentially adopted a candidate who reflects an America-first approach to governing, as reflected at least in the rhetoric of Vivek Ramoswamy, and the policies. in the leadership of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and in its origination by former President Donald Trump. But something is going on with Ron DeSantis. He is clearly taking on water

and his polling numbers are clearly headed in the wrong direction. And it would be easy to say he picked the wrong moment. He ran against the wrong man in trouble. Trump. But that conversation's been had. Let's have a conversation about the future. Politico has an article up right now entitled, Desantis built a massive network of big donors. Many have ditched him. I take many of these types of articles from outlets like Politico lightly. But let's read from the

opening paragraph. Former Illinois Governor Bruce Ronner was among Ron DeSantis' biggest boosters during the 2022 mid-term elections, giving nearly one million to his re-election bid. But he has surveyed the field of GOP candidates for president. Roner, a wealthy former private equity executive, who is DeSantis' 15th biggest donor in the last year's election, has not given any more money to the Florida governor. Roner told Politico he thinks another candidate. Former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, has a better shot of defeating President Joe Biden than DeSantis.

Ronner is quoted as saying I think he's done a terrific job as Governor of Florida and I've been as I think you know a big supporter of him in that role I think Nikki Haley probably has the best chance to win the general election though I think everyone is trying to sort things out

we got to win we got to win the general on that note a new poll put out on Thursday by CNN shows theoretical matchups between President Joe Biden and many potential Republican challengers. The polling suggests that Trump is more favorable than Biden by a margin of 1, 47% to 46%. Vice President Mike Pence, former Vice President Mike Pence,

beat out Biden 46% to 44%. The same for South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Vivek Ramaswamy, though, trails Biden in this CNN poll, 45 to 46. And Ron DeSantis is in a dead heat with Biden at 47% each. But Nikki Haley is the only candidate to escape the margin of error. According to the CNN poll, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Gramoswamy, Tim Scott, and Mike Pence, whether or not they trail or lead Joe Biden are all within the market. margin of error.

The only candidate to escape the margin of error, Nikki Haley, beating Biden, 49% to 43%. Something has absolutely cratered for Ron DeSantis. That seems clear in the polling. And it doesn't seem to match up with what he's done, the commendable, the laudable job that he's done as governor of Florida. I have spoken to many people who have been around Governor Ron DeSantis.

I myself have met him on one occasion. My personal interaction with Ron DeSantis was incredibly favorable. I liked him. I liked him that day. I found him personable. I found him conversational. And I found he made eye contact and extended me a firm handshake. I liked Ron DeSantis.

But my experience, I have to say at this point, does not reflect the one that I have told to me on several occasions. I have many friends who have met Ron DeSantis and many different types of settings. And the one story that seems to be repeated to me on numerous occasions is, it's weird, man. He doesn't look you in the eye. He'll tell a story and he looks off over your shoulder into the distance, down at the table. He doesn't look you in the eye. It seems to echo some of the videos you've seen on social media where he's uncomfortable around other people, whether or that's at Dairy Queen or drinking at Coors Light at some type of social gathering,

where he seems to be either faking a laugh or awkwardly laughing with his audience. I've had it been said to me that since the television era, we have never elected a president who has not excelled at retail politics. That's glad-handing. That's making eye contact. That's making people comfortable. That's hearing their stories. We have never elected a president who does not excel at retail politics. Now, this has nothing to do with whether or not you will be a good president.

That should absolutely be said. Personally, I have a great amount of trust that Ron DeSantis would make not just a good, but an excellent president of the United States. His governing of Florida, I think, is beyond reproach, beyond question. And President Donald Trump has at various times attempted to cast a shadow over how Ron DeSantis handled that state through COVID. I think that's wrong. I think Ron DeSantis handled COVID as well as could be imagined, as well as could be expected. and as well as any other governor or leader in the United States of America through that year of 2020 and into 2021, Florida avoided largely lockdowns of Florida avoided mask mandates. It outlawed local vaccine mandates. Ron DeSantis fought back. You and I both know it's true. We were there in that moment. We saw it in real time, in present tense. We lived under the positive leadership of Ron DeSantis in Florida. So the analysis of Ron DeSantis, not only not excelling,

but being bad at retail politics, is not to say he wouldn't be a good president. But in order to be a good president, you have to be elected president of the United States. You have to convince a majority of your fellow Americans. You have to make them feel comfortable. you have to connect with those Americans so that they will put you in place as leader, as president of the United States. And that seems clear right now, something that not only does he not excel at, but that Ron DeSantis fails at retail politics. And that brings up a question as to whether or not he will ever be president of the United States. The thought experiment of whether or not there were no Donald Trump.

Would Ron DeSantis be leading the Republican, not? nomination for president. In that Politico article, they went on to point out other big donors. It doesn't seem to be just polling, but also donors who are beginning to hold back on Ron DeSantis. billionaire investor Ken Griffin, who is the second biggest donor to DeSantis' 2020 campaign, has withheld his money. Griffin said in a statement that he was assessing how the policies of each candidate will address the challenges facing our country. And this spring, according to Politico, businessman Thomas Petterfee, who gave $3.6 million to DeSantis' re-election effort, making him the governor's 25th biggest contributor, told the Financial Times that he, and quote, a bunch of friends are holding our powder dry because of positions the governor is taken on social issues. Pedofy has since wired $2 million to a political committee aligned with Virginia governor Glenn Yonkin, who some donors would like to see enter the Republican primary.

Whether or not billionaires want to move their money from Glenn Yonkin to Nikki Haley has less bearing in this conversation for me, carries less weight in this conversation for me, then whether or not you can connect with your fellow American. Donald Trump showed you don't need billionaires to become president of the United States. You don't need the donor class. You don't need to be beholden to the elite, to the rich, to be elected president of the United States. But you do need to be able to connect with Americans. And if that is something that is going to be difficult for Ron DeSantis, not just in the harsh spotlight of Donald Trump,

but in the ever-present harsh spotlight of a Republican presidential campaign, that is going to bring into question whether or not, not only did Ron DeSantis fail to meet his moment, but whether or not there ever will be a moment. As polling and donors pull back from Rondasantus, I think it would be forgivable for many of his supporters to say, let's go ahead, let's wrap the wound, let's stop the bleeding, let's come back in 2028.

But if they're going to come back in 2028, Presumably to a field that does not include Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis is going to have to figure out whether or not he can excel at retail politics, whether or not he can connect with fellow Americans. We'll be right back with more of the Will Kane podcast. Fox News Audio presents Unsolved with James Patterson. Every crime tells the story, but some stories are left unfinished. Somebody knows.

Real cases, real people. Listen and follow now at foxtruecrime.com. Story number two. The gory details and the silver lining of Delta's diarrhea plane. Surely you saw the story. It's viral and it is everywhere and it is awful. Headline from the mirror reads, Delta plane needs five-hour cleanup after diarrhea horror left passengers

disgusted. As somebody who travels on a weekly basis, I can't think of much of a bigger nightmare than the story of a plane forced to turn around two hours after taking off on a flight from Atlanta to Barcelona, Spain. While en route to Barcelona, an audio recording of the flight crew suggests Delta Flight 194 had a medical issue. And quote, a passenger suffered diarrhea, all through the plane. After that, images showed exactly what you might be conjuring up in your mind. The mirror reports, gross images from inside the cabin showed the mess in the middle of the aisle with dozens of passengers nearby abandoning their seats.

Passengers said staff used vanilla-scented disinfectant spray as they journeyed back to Atlanta, but one just said it made things worse. It just smelled like vanilla diarrhea. It's funny, but it's not. Because can you imagine the images show a guy? And why do we presume it was a guy? That's not been confirmed, but in your mind it was, right? As you're listening to me a talk,

what percentage chance did you give in your mind that it was a woman? Why not? Women have these problems too. Everybody has these problems. But why did we all? You know we all did. Why did we all default into picture? a dude you picture this dude going up and down the aisle and the images show like at first i was

thinking of the word explosive but then i saw the word and i'm sorry i'm sorry that you're listening to this then i saw the word dribbling and what it looks like is there's a video and it's unmistakable it's not like it's just like disappeared into the carpet it's unmistakable puddles scattered i'd say every row and a half for the video i saw over at at least seven to eight rows. So I don't know, like, if he was running, if he was walking and it was just, you know, leaking out of him. I don't know if there was a line for the bathroom

and he was making his way like one row or two at a time towards the back. I don't know how he managed to do so much in such little space in what you would presume to be so little amount of time. And it looked like, I swear to you. you i swear to you it looked like because they had two-hour flight back to atlanta they like threw napkins and stuff over it like those cocktail napkins under your drink those little squares they threw that over the puddles and oh my gosh it's terrible they said when it got back to it was a five-hour cleanup job they ripped the carpet out they left at two-thirty in the morning

They got back on the plane, by the way, and people that were on the plane are saying that it was cleaner after this than it was when they first got on the plane before it turned into a biohazard. Audio, by the way, from the pilot can be heard of him saying, this is a biohazard issue. We've had a passenger who's had diarrhea all throughout the aeroplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta. But while I'm sharing you with you the gory details, and I'm sure you don't. appreciate it. I'm sure at least a couple of you have said, come on, Will. I also offer you a silver lining. I want to offer you a silver lining. Whatever happened on the diarrhea plane to Barcelona, it wasn't as bad as the 1975 Japan Airlines food poisoning incident. Whatever your station in life, there's always a reason to be grateful, even in the worst of conditions.

and I think that the diarrhea plane to Barcelona could be grateful that they were not the Japanese Airlines food poisoning incident of 1975. On February 3rd, 197 people fell ill aboard a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 en route from Anchorage, Alaska, to Copenhagen, Denmark. Here's how it went down. The aircraft was carrying 344 passengers. The exact number of crew members is not known. but they do know that 364 meals were taken on board, indicating a crew of 20.

Well into their flight, as the aircraft reached European airspace, 90 minutes before landing, the flight attendant served breakfast to the passengers, a breakfast of ham omelets. About one hour after breakfast, while approaching Copenhagen, 1196 passengers and one flight attendant fell ill with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. 144 of them were so severely ill that they required hospitalization, and 30 were in critical condition. The other 53 were treated in makeshift emergency rooms. The investigation afterwards revealed that the omelets were contaminated. with

Staphylococcus aureus all the omelets had some type of horrific bacteria and according to one hypothesis that it was, I can't tell if this was prepared on the plane or they were pre-prepared. I know, I know they don't prepare meals on the plane, but I don't know.

What did they do in 1975 on airplanes out of Japan? But this is Staphylococci causes food poisoning it got well over half of the passengers violently ill. There was, fortunately, I guess, only one casualty. It was Japan Airlines catering manager, 50-year-old Kinji Kuwabara, who committed suicide upon learning of the incident

and that had been caused by one of his cooks. He was the only fatality. I guess that's part of the culture of honor. having failed so badly, had serving healthy food to the passengers of Japan Airlines. Horrible incident. Clearly, this, for Delta, the diarrhea plane to Barcelona, one dude. Can you imagine? 196. Half hour outside of Copenhagen. Well, I guess, like I said, there's always something. There's a reason to be grateful. So there's the gory details. And your silver lining.

We're going to step aside here for a moment. Stay tuned. I'm Janice Dean. Join me every Sunday as I focus on stories of hope and people who are truly rays of sunshine in their community and across the world. Listen and follow now at Fox News Podcast.com. This is Jimmy Phala, inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Easter. or get the podcast at fox acrossamerica.com. Story number three. Week two of college football

and the opening weekend of the NFL. We start today with a brand new podcast, Bear Betts, Chris the Bear Felica, whom I worked with at ESPN, was on Game Day for many years, making his gambling picks in college football. He now works for Big Noon kickoff at Fox Sports, and he has a brand new podcast entitled Bear Betts.

You should go check it out. And he's going to be joining us as he is today to talk about some of the biggest games of the weekend and where he would place his money, including the big game. Texas versus Alabama. Here we go. Here's your conversation with Chris the Bear Felica. Chris the Bear Felica. Great to see you again, man.

Now you're in the Fox family, and not only that, you have your own show. Fox Sports Waging Expert has a new show along with Jeff Schwartz. called Bear Betts. Man, that's exciting. I'm so glad to have you over here in the world of Fox. I'm excited as well. It's been a great start to the season. And of course, prior to football, being in Australia for the Women's World Cup, it was great. Being at the Belmont was great. So football is why I am here. And it was a great start. I saw the pot actually got up to number three in the sports category, which was pretty damn impressive. So hopefully we can build and go on from there. And then pick some winners.

I'm excited to be here and good to see you again, my man. Yeah, good to see you. So that's awesome. You're up to number three. And anybody listening will remember you, of course, from College Game Day. Now you're on Big Noon kickoff, making your picks in the same way that you always have. But what can people expect from Bear Betts? I think the best thing about Bear Betts for me is having other voices involved in the show to kind of create discussion and generate kind of like, let's get, let's poke the bear for the lack of a poor time.

kind of know his hot button topics and be able to kind of get me going and just be able to kind of get into a bunch of different games. I'll give you my best bets at the start, but we'll also have a discussion panel, obviously, with Jeff Schwartz, who's the coast, and then Will Hill, who is going to be on the show regularly, as well as Sam Panayanovich, who will be on the show regularly. We're going to kind of have a betting text thread kind of segment where we kick around a bunch of different topics, a bunch of different games as well. So it may not be something that.

I like, but there could be a play in there from other people as well. So we're going to keep it loose. We're going to keep it fun. We're going to make fun of ourselves when necessary, which already started last week. But, yeah, just looking forward to cover on a bunch of different ground and a bunch of different games, and hopefully people will find it entertaining. And I think week one they did. All right.

How did you do, by the way, on week one? Two and three, actually, which wasn't my best week. Fortunately, my best bet did win, which was the TCU. team total over, so that was good. But yeah, we got Washington. We got TCU team total, but we missed on South Alabama. Purdue gave up a double-digit lead, and we missed on Middle Tennessee as well. So that's okay. If two and three is the worst week I'm ever going to have, I can deal with that. All right, here's what I'm excited to talk to you about, the why of your picks. I can, like any good talking head, just rattle off my gut instinct on some of these

games. But I'm always fascinated by the why, the betting trends, the history behind the pick so you know i think that anyone who wants your best bets of the week needs to probably check out the bear bets podcast i think for you and me one of the best things we could do is do you mind let's go through some of the games that i find most interesting and you give me your thoughts on some of those games is that cool sure okay let's do it i have a texas bias obviously i have an old southwest conference bias um but i still love good college football in every corner of the united states so let's start let's start with where you'll be this weekend let's start with where we left off last weekend, everybody talking about Colorado and going into

this weekend, everybody again talking about Colorado and Dion Sanders. You guys at Big Noon Kickoff will be there. It's a home game. They're taking on Nebraska. And the line I have is it's Colorado minus three and a half. The big question bear is like, you know, Dion required us all to believe. Do you believe now? Do you believe now? Are we supposed to believe every week? No. You're not supposed to believe every week because I think there will ultimately be There will be a week where these lines kind of aren't catching up to Colorado. Here's what I've told you for this week. I think it's either Nebraska or past this week.

Colorado was going to score on anyone, and they will. They're going to score a bunch on Nebraska this week. But at the same time, defensively, they gave up, what was it, 42 points and 600 yards close to, and they could have given up another two touchdowns. I mean, TCU had an interception in the end zone, and then Hunter made that great play. So they're going to be in a lot of high scoring games. What I will be curious to see and why I said, I think ultimately the lines will not, there will be an opportunity to kind of bet against Colorado, is that they're not a deep team. What happens when they get

an injury on the offensive line or the defensive line? That's going to be the issue to see if they still can continue to win these high scoring games. I am a believer in their offense. I think they're going to score a bunch of points, but at the same time, I'm not going to be willing to lay the points this week, especially knowing that prior to the season, you could have gotten Colorado plus around eight and a half or nine in this game. So if I had a bet this game, it would be Nebraska or something. Yeah, I think you're right. When hype gets involved and there's nobody where there's more hype, the betting lines get irrational. So I hear you on that. I would stay away. It was eight or nine before the season. Colorado plus eight or nine. Now it's Colorado minus three and a half.

That's fascinating. Okay. I want to ask about two games at the same time because they fit an overall narrative that I find interesting. Everybody deservedly is very down on the Big 12 after Baylor loses to Texas State, Texas Tech loses to Wyoming, and TCU loses to Colorado. Awful weekend for the Big 12. Now you've got two Big 12 programs that just took losses going to the Pact 12. You've got Baylor taking on Utah plus seven, and you've got Texas Tech taking on Oregon. Tech is getting six and a half.

Same thing. people are emotional are people too down on the big 12 with either of these games where you're like there's an opportunity this line shouldn't be so big for baylor tech i love historically betting week two because of what you just said people overreact to what we saw week one and i think both of these instances are plays on the underdog texas tech is one of my favorite plays of the week people just see oregon scored 80 something points against portland's or whomever it was. And Texas Tech lost on the road in Laramie in a weird game. It started late, weather delay. They led 17-0-0 and then just weird things happened in Laramie. Now you come home. Oregon's getting all the high people. Couldn't be more down on Texas Tech after, by the way, and you know from following the Big 12 in football in that state, the Red Raiders were a very trendy pick in that conference to potentially be a sleeper and make the Big 12 title game. But now you go back to Lubbock, backs against the wall, and a game.

that you must win. I love Texas Tech plus the points this week against Oregon. And normally I would be all in on Baylor, but the Chapin injury worries me a bit. But at the same time, go back to one of the questions people always like to ask, did Utah win the game or did Florida lose the game? And obviously, the truth is always somewhere in the middle. But that was not like a Utah offense that went up and down the field and had a bunch of big plays. That was just a very prepared Florida side, in my opinion, I don't think Cam Rising is going to play again this week. And now they're going to go on the road, still down, like, six or seven starters potentially. And you're going to go to a Baylor team with the backup quarterback that Utah's going to turn on

that film and see Texas State, rather, moving the ball up and down the field. Again, this would be Baylor or pass for me. And I think by the time the game rolls around, I probably will be holding a Baylor plus the points ticket in my head. do you touch a week two rivalry game i don't have the line i do have the line it's iowa iowa state right and iowa state is at home getting four but this is it's a rivalry game it's week two it's like surrounded by unknowns and you have the added the added delimption of iowa state going to iowa city last year and really shutting down the iowa offense as a lot of people did

last year in getting a win at Kinnick and Iowa State beating Iowa two years in a row I think would be a major story I do still have concerns about Iowa offensively they did not look great against Utah State who maybe like one of you not had concerns about the offense in Iowa Ronnie Ronnie Harmon Chuck Long let's go back to 1986 then we're good we're good Rogers as well we're good there but um like Iowa State at the same time as a team that I like. I love Matt Campbell and I love the DNA of his program. They had some issues in the offseason. Their roster is a little short-handed as well. I'd be one of the things I always look for with teams are like coaches always tell you the biggest improvement you're going

to see from a team is from week one to week two. And I think what we're going to see from Iowa from week one to week two with with Matt DeMara and some of the other players on that roster being more familiar with each other. I'd be inclined to here to lay the fore with Iowa. I think their defense is still the best unit on the field. And I think a short-handed Iowa state offense will struggle to score a point. So I am on Iowa minus the four here. Okay, here's the big one, which I'm incapable of rational thought or objectivity, but I still have my opinions. And it is the once again game of the century, ever since last year, the last game of the century. It is Texas against Alabama. It's in Tuscaloosa. Texas.

is getting seven points, which seems a lot in a matchup between, I believe, number three and number 11. I have so many opinions, but before I sort of persuade the field, before I tilt the field, which I don't assume I'm capable of with you, Bear, where are you on this game? I don't know. I can be persuaded very easily. That's one of the things about doing these pods with you and other people is I love getting other people's opinions because last week, Jeff Schwartz actually brought up.

something about the Purdue Fresno State game. Do you get worried about backing a head coach, going against a first time head coach against a team that has an experience head coach and Jeff Tedford and you got a new quarterback and Purdue actually wound up losing the game. So I like

falling away. If you're not learning from the games, you lose, what are you doing here? But I want to believe and I want to buy in on Texas here plus the points. I really do. Brian Denny's not like one of the more raucous home field edges you're going to find.

I think they're a very front-running crowd. So I think if Texas is able to get off to a... But Bear, when's the last time they lost there? Isn't it like they rarely lose... I don't know. When's the last time they lost or Bryant-Denny? Well, they've lost games there in the past. A&M had gone there and one with that one was really good.

LSU and... It's probably LSU and 19, I think, is the last team go there and win that. great team with Joe Burrow and the LSU team that went on to win the national titles. I think that's the answer to the question. I know someone will probably correct me if I'm wrong. But at the same time, this Texas Front 7 is legit, man. They are really good. And I don't think it's going to be easy for Jalen Milro to kind of create like he did last year against an over, last week, rather, against an overmatch Middle Tennessee team. And for those

backs to get out the way they did in that opener. The start is so key for Texas. Last week, as you saw, offense was a little slow to get going. Years wasn't great, and they finally played themselves into the game and got themselves into it. And in the end, they won going away. But I think they know they have to play better offensively, or else nothing's going to matter.

But at the same time, I think they feel really good about their defense and really good about their chances to kind of slow this Alabama team down. So if I had to play the game, I would take Texas plus the points and I would even look once the team totals get released, like what the Alabama team total is. Because I don't think this is going to be an easy game for Bamb. It's funny because I expected before the year started to hear this week, oh, Texas should have beaten Alabama in Austin last year.

Ewer's got hurt, dirty hit, late field goal. Texas was the better team and lost. Alabama had Bryce Young and they still barely lost. And I was expecting a lot of that. Referees. I haven't heard much of that. uh this week so it's interesting and the fact the line is right at seven i think the odds makers are kind of going to let the betters decide which way this is going to go we're going to go to six

and a half going to go to seven and a half but i think right now they feel pretty good with their position and they'll uh they'll let the betters dictate which way this is going to go do you think do you think texas which look texas was solid they were not spectacular against rice and and the question is especially offensively the question is offensively was sarkisian holding back a game plan for Alabama. Was he trying to play intentionally vanilla against Rice to not tip his hand to Sabin? We all know the record, by the way, of Sabin against his former assistance. And it's like, why would you ever bet on any team?

I think Jimbo is still the only guy who's ever beat him, right? Kirby. Kirby. Kirby and Jimbo are the only guys, it's a short list, right? So the question is, does the Texas offense look markedly different than what you saw against Rice? Does it have that explosive element that you didn't see against Rice? And I think you have to measure that against – you're right about the Texas Front 7 on defense? The question there is not – in the past you would have said Texas isn't big enough, strong enough, or athletic enough?

They are now. They are big enough, strong enough, and athletic enough? Are they disciplined enough is going to be my question when Alabama runs between some gaps or that you're not expecting, and a Texas linebacker overruns his coverage or whatever it may be. That's my question on defense. But my real question is, does the Alabama front seven destroy the Texas offensive line? And that is going to answer my question. That's going to answer my question on the Texas offense.

Yeah, I'm not totally sure. I think if you look at this Alabama defense, and even last year, this was not one of the great Alabama defenses of a ball time, even with Will Anderson, when, what, third in the draft. And I think this year you lose what branch, Helms, and the safeties that are now, gone like they're kind of rebuilt like we're still waiting on dallas turner to become that kind of a plus pass rusher that he's kind of hinted at being at so i'm still my mind the jury's still out in my mind about how good this alabama defense ultimately will be no look they're always going to be a solid defense but i'm talking like are they going to be good or are they going to be really good so i i think right now it kind of leads more towards the good side and and i

I agree. I think what you hit on with Sark and the offense in game one, I think there is some truth to that, that you don't want to let everything out of the bad game one. Here you go, Nick. Here's our game plan. We're going to run this next week. I think they probably did hold some stuff back. And I think the fact that they started slow and then worked, that might be a little bit of an indicator. But I know they like their wide receivers. They feel as good about their wide receivers as they have in a long time. And hopefully this offensive line, which they really made a priority in recruiting, we'll be able to stand up on the road. But I'm kind of talking myself into Texas here. Well, last question on that. Well, I'm not trying to. I am an optimist,

without a doubt. And a lot of people say I'm a homer with either burnt orange or blue and silver in the case of the Cowboys' glasses on. But I do try to temper my optimism with realism. And so here's Here's the last element I'd ask you about this game. Is Ewers better than we believe coming out of Rice? And there were a lot of concerns. He can't seem to throw a deep ball. And that's a problem for a Sarkesian offense. And it's weird, Chris, because he's got a, I mean, he has got a cannon of an arm.

I mean, those intermediate throws, they're on you in a heartbeat. But he can't seem to get the depth perception of a running guy down the field. So is Ewers better than what we saw against Rice? And conversely, is Milrow worst than what we saw in week one? Because, look, he's a new quarterback, and he looked great. He was running all over the place. But again, who was it? It was Middle Tennessee State, wasn't it?

I mean, like, what do I do with Middle Tennessee State? Your athletes are better than Middle Tennessee State all over the field. So, I mean, he's still the Alabama quarterback. He still has the Alabama weapons and has the Alabama offensive line. So clearly they're going to dominate and make plays all over the field against them. So I do think that that's one of the. the great things about, like I said, going from week one to week two. People have this, I think, preconceived opinion now that Milro is the guy and he's going to be

okay. But at the same time, now he's got to go out and do it against the top 10 team in the country with five-star recruits all over the place. And on the flip side, I think yours is better than what we saw against Rice. But look, I was a one-game sample. But I was told that like after the bowl game last year and in spring ball, like coaches saw like the light go on with him and really expect him to have a big year. It was funny, even one of the,

someone I was talking with in the offseason who would recruited Ewers and bit around him quite a bit, like when I actually asked the question on Mike, is Texas like real? Is he, is he, and he's like, oh, no, dude, he, he, he's good.

Ohio State is going to be disappointed that they don't, that they don't have him. It looks like we have a special, special podcast guest here as well somebody somebody has just climbed onto my lap here so uh for let me see climbing up here and your cats getting a view of your cat's name is axel foley axel foley yes in honor of uh actually we can't we there there he is yes a bit beverly cop one of our favorite movies of all time it's amazing yeah exactly so he's looking for he's looking for attention which which is fine we always promised to me gets all the attention he wants

wasn't it a shame how i loved beverly hills cop when i was a kid so much that i've there's only one movie in my life that i've ever walked out of only one and it was beverly hills cop three i walked out of it because it was so bad so bad it's so sad to see and and unfortunately some of those some of those later eddie murphy movies too that were just it was like really like this is this is this is where we're going but uh no the beverly else cop it's it there we go hi, buddy. Right in the camera. Let me hold you. Right in the camera. Now we're going to walk on the shoulder. I get the butt right in the nose. This is quality podcasting right here. You need a COVID shot after that. You're going to reconsider having me on each week out there. Like a black panther crawling

around his head. All right, it's Bear Betts. Check it out. It's Fox Sports Waging Expert, Chris the Bear, Felica. You can catch it. I believe you said twice a week, wherever you get your audio entertainment. All right, man. and Friday NFL. I'm really excited about doing the NFL with Jeff Schwartz. So that'll be a good lesson, I believe. All right. We'll be talking throughout the season. I'm excited about it. Check it out. Bear Bets. Thanks, Bill. There you go. I hope you enjoyed that conversation. And if you did subscribe to Bear Bets, the Bears podcast, where you can listen to College Football and NFL picks bets, best bets every week. That's going to do it for me today. I will see you again next time.

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