Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Happy Thursday, everybody. January 9th, we have a special podcast for you, me and the guys. Aaron and Jason recorded a special podcast last night.
College football semi final preview with Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, Ohio State. If you guys wanted to catch a podcast where these guys just couldn't keep it to themselves and they just took an opportunity to just crap on my teams like ucla. I just wanted to mention one thing about Chip Kelly leaving ucla and then it turned into like a five or six minute rant. These guys are ridiculous, man. They had, they came so juiced up and so hot and then you know, it's Texas so they had to come hot again. Every week they've been hating on Texas and it doesn't stop now. There's one thing I'm looking forward to, college football season ending.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: It's like, stop hearing these two guys.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: With their takes talking smack on Texas. They're just hating. Just the hate. This is what haters do. We had a haters hall of fame for the podcast already. These guys would be first ballot hall of famers, first ballot chasing. And Aaron, these guys are ridiculous.
That's a fun pod chasing excited for his Notre Dame Fighting Irish to be going up against Penn State.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: And I'm not going to lie, I'm.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: Nervous with Texas going against Ohio State. But I picked him in the beginning, I picked them in the middle and I picked them in the end. And I'm quadrupling down because that's the way I roll. It's like picking a team when you're five years old with the mid tier quarterback. But you love the colors and you like some of the flare and that's just who you are, that's just who you stick with. Because we're guys, we're loyal. You hear that, ladies? Guys are pretty loyal through thick and thin. Just don't take advantage of it, you know?
Anyways, college football semifinal preview. It's going down. Don't go anywhere.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: We got Aaron, Jason and myself, Rome on tonight's special edition podcast episode for the college football semifinals. We have Nor Dame against Penn State tomorrow night, Thursday, or at least when you hear it, it'll be Thursday the Same day at 4:30 in the afternoon or early evening if you're a geriatric, whatever.
And then Ohio State against Texas Friday.
That's a Cotton Bowl, Penn State, Notre Dame, Orange Bowl. I realized when I was listening to my recordings, like I don't actually pronounce Notre Dame all the way. There's like, it's like a. I have a weird pronunciation of a lot of words. I can't pinpoint it.
[00:02:58] Speaker C: I haven't noticed.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: No, the AI thing that, like, does, like, the.
The text version of our podcast.
[00:03:07] Speaker C: It just doesn't know what you're saying.
[00:03:08] Speaker B: If we have any definite listeners. Yeah, it doesn't know what I'm saying.
[00:03:13] Speaker C: I bet they. I bet they really get confused when you're talking about Kyler Murray and you're just making up this name. Just like, I don't know who the quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals is.
[00:03:20] Speaker D: Well, he got. He got it right the final two weeks of the season.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: I did. Yeah.
[00:03:24] Speaker D: It only took about four months.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: Well, he was disappointing enough. I had to learn his name. Oh. Two games were guaranteed. At least one black quarterback for the first time in a national championship game, which news to me. I didn't know Franklin was black.
[00:03:41] Speaker C: Head coach.
[00:03:42] Speaker D: Yeah, you said cornerback.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Oh, did I say. All right, head coach?
I did not know. X has been, like, going crazy over this, actually saying, like, oh, he's not really black. Black people saying, like, white guys. I don't know. A lot of political stuff going on on X.
Same thing with Zoe Zana when she won an award on the Golden Globes. They're saying that she's only a black person to one this year. And then people are like, no, she's not black. She's Latinx. Or she's like Latina, Caribbean, whatever, you know?
So do you guys have any information on that.
[00:04:23] Speaker D: And what I. I.
Franklin in black?
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, where's.
[00:04:30] Speaker D: I don't. I don't have his. Me. Was it me, 23, whatever that slide is. I don't have the results.
[00:04:36] Speaker B: I never thought he was black.
[00:04:38] Speaker D: I think we were just talking Rome. He was more like Puerto Rican. Remember, he looked a little more like Puerto Rican.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: He looks Puerto Rican. A little Dominican. You know, his mom.
[00:04:46] Speaker D: His mom is from England and his father. Father's like a descent from Africa.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: So anyways, let's go back to the game.
Jason, let's start with you, man. Nora Dame, Penn State. Lots of talk right now. Who's the favorite?
[00:05:07] Speaker C: Notre Dame's still the favorite, minus one and a half, but it's basically a pick him game at that point.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: Two teams, very similar when you look at, from a matchup standpoint, Notre Dame. We've talked all season about the running game between Riley Leonard, Jeremiah Love.
Love didn't do much during the game with Georgia. He was still pretty banged up from an injury. At the USC game today. They did say that he was good to go. While the kind of comment was it's week 15, I guess for these kids. No one's really 100, so he's obviously not coming in 100, but he's the game breaking player on offense that they do need. Riley Leonard was able to carry them offensively to do just enough in that Georgia game. But it was defense and special teams in the field position around that game that saw Notre Dame, you know, have a pretty sizable lead against Georgia that we're expecting with the whole, not a whole lot of offense.
Penn State, Rome, you've been touting them all years at this. Penn State team, you know, looks different, you know, there's at least halfway.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: I mean you look, you know, they, they got a quarterback that threw over 3,000 yards. They got a running back that you know, has a thousand yards. Their leading receiver is a tight end though. So you know they're going to run the ball, you know, keep the ball in tight within the boxes, try to get the ball to Tyler Warren, their tight end. So. But rushing is going to be, you know, where they're at. They got two running backs that went over a thousand yards. You know, they have pretty much a split carry between the two of them. Notre Dame kind of has a similar thing where they're going to put in two running backs and a quarterback. So you're going to see basically three headed monsters on both sides of the ball going for the running game. It'll probably be the defensive lines of each team or the front seven on who can stop the running game. For the most part, Georgia was fairly successful at stopping Notre Dame. There was just a couple big runs they got through and some timely passes from, from Riley Leonard. It's going to be a pick them. I'm not surprised either way. If you're a Notre Dame fan like myself, you're cautiously optimistic. But they have a lot of momentum coming into this game where hey, they beat the SEC champion while Penn State has just had to be Boise State come into this.
Either way, I think it's a good story for either school. We talked about it last week's pod. Neither one of these teams national championship since the 80s. So you have some historically great college football programs. One of them is going to be going vying for a national championship. If you're asking me to pick right now, minus one and a half, I'm taking Notre Dame.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: Of course.
I don't think we would ask you to be fair at.
[00:08:01] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean Jason touched on a lot of key points. These teams are very, very similar. Coming in Penn State two guys with over a thousand yards rushing, quarterback over 3,000.
The big thing for me is Tyler Warren, the tight end. He's probably the best player in the game on both sides as a skilled position player. He's had some big, big games. I think he had 16 catches against USC in a game that they rallied back and won. He had two touchdowns against Boise State. Big in that game. And not only does he play tight end, but he can, he can end up playing like option quarterback doing quarterback sneaks. He's even thrown the ball a few times. So I think both teams are going to come in a few wrinkles, maybe a few trick plays. For Notre Dame, you know, offensively they did not look great against Georgia, but they didn't need to. Riley Leonard was great with his legs. He's gonna have to be that again. Jeremiah Love Jason mentioned was not 100. He was battling knee injury as well as an illness. He says he's good to go.
They're gonna need, they're gonna need a big game from him at least in the running game. In passing, they don't even have a wide receiver. It looks like over 500 yards, any one wide receiver. So it's kind of a receiver by committee.
That worries me a little bit. Penn State's got the more bigger playmakers coming in this game.
But you know, as Jason mentioned, like Penn State really hasn't beaten anybody in this playoff. I mean, SMU was overwhelmed.
Boise State, you know, feel good story. They didn't have the athletes to play with them. Notre Dame beat up on Indiana and then Georgia. They matched the team talent wiser than against a quarterback that hadn't played before.
For me, Notre Dame special teams is going to be big. They do. They have a lot of fake punts they've thrown out there. I expect something from that unit again. And I think Marcus Freeman, he's got this team rolling pretty good. He's going to have a good game plan. Al golden in that defense is going to have to have a good game plan. I, I would double team, double coverage. Tyler Warren, pitcher, best linebacker, safety over the top. Do not play this guy. One on one pass rush is going to be good for both time for both teams that have a chance to win. It sounds like Carter for Penn State who got hurt early in the second quarter is going to go. You know, he's got a banged up shoulder. How bad that is? Will he re aggravate it early in the game? Don't know.
Looking at it, I'm leaning towards Notre Dame in this game. I Just I have a feeling, Marcus Freeman, that coaching staff's a little bit better than Penn State's coaching staff. I think they're going to have a creative game plan and Riley Leonard's legs, I believe will be the difference. And I'm taking the Irish in a close one. 24, 23 to beat Penn State.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: There's some interesting storylines for this.
I realized on both these teams everyone has like a former head coach as. As a coordinator. Nordic Dame defensive coordinator Al golden was with Miami and he was in the NFL before ending up in South Bend. Nor Dame number one in the nation and takeaways with 31. Number two scoring defense, 13.6 points allowed per game and then number eight in total defense at 295.
And he's done this with multiple injuries and issues.
Kind of like a little Detroit Lions storyline along the way for this year. They've actually done pretty phenomenal. And then Penn State, you got Penn State's Tom Allen.
He's running a really well defense over there as well. This is a really tough Penn State defense. Aaron, you've talked a lot about this defense in the past, and if there's one area concern that I. That I would have, it would be that Penn State D has nor damage D this big, this tough.
[00:12:01] Speaker C: Georgia last week.
[00:12:02] Speaker D: Yeah, I would say last week. Yeah. And they didn't do much against them.
[00:12:05] Speaker C: So yeah, probably been week one versus Texas A and M and then Georgia last week. The two SEC teams that they played is probably the. The most prolific defense they played on the Notre Dame side. You're talking about Al Golden. You know, he got, he. He had some success at Temple prior to.
Prior to Miami. Just couldn't get Miami where they were back to. But he's. He's one of those guys, great coordinator and he finds the different pieces that's going to make a difference. We talked about Xavier Watts last couple of weeks. You know, you have an all American at safety, Jack Kaiser. A linebacker is a guy that gets around everywhere. I think Al golden puts these guys in a great position every time to make plays. The secondary of Notre Dame, beyond Xavier Watts, like on the corners, I think that this is where they have the speed to match up. I guess Aaron's question in the matchup with them is the tight end to linebacker ratio, like who's going to be covering Warren throughout the field? Like, do they split him off in different spots? Does he have a size advantage against some Notre Dame corners? Is he in the middle where Kaiser, one of the linebackers, is going to be Covering like that could be to come into play. Where does that expose a weakness in Notre Dame that no one has been able to really do this this year in the middle of the field with a tight end?
[00:13:25] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, Jason, you watch a lot of Notre Dame games. I mean, have they struggled against average to above average tight ends? That's something their secondary has had trouble with. I mean, they've been pretty consistent defensively all year.
[00:13:39] Speaker C: Yeah, it's not, it's nothing that stood out to me. Like I could be missing something from one of these games. But then again, there hasn't been a team that they've played that has had a tight end of this, of this caliber. So generally, I mean, when you're playing Army, Navy, Georgia Tech, Louisville, some of these other teams, you know, you're there, they're at the running game side, which Penn State definitely has, and Notre Dame will be going toe to toe with them. But is there somebody in the middle of the field like this? I don't think they played. So that matchup could play a long way in the outcome of this game.
[00:14:10] Speaker D: The key, I think for both offenses is getting that run game going. Because if you get that run game going, if you're Penn State, then you get the play action and then, you know, Tyler Warren becomes even bigger threat. Once those linebackers are biting on that, if you can't get the run game going, get them in past situations, you can mix up coverage. You can play, you know, double teams, underneath, over the top coverage. You can mix up a lot of things. Al golden, like Jason said, he's been great defensively. The game plan's been good all year. They had, you know, they've been rolling. I mean, they have not really had a bad game. I mean, USC put some points on them, but they had like three pick sixes in that game.
And USC just kind of throws the ball over the field. So Penn State, really good quarterback, he can run too. He's got some legs on him and he's big. I didn't, you know, he doesn't look 6, 4, 2, 40, but that's what they list them. And he moves pretty well. So that's. It's gonna be tough. I mean, Notre Dame's definitely in for a battle. And the same with Penn State. I mean, these teams are very, very similar. You know, if love is healthy and they get that running game going, like I said, Riley Leonard, I think his legs are going to be good. But can Notre Dame have a playmaker on the outside, A wide receiver step up I like, I can't. I have to look up his name right now. But the little guy they have in the slot, number six, he's pretty good. He's been playing. He's been coming on lately. If they can get the passing game, some plays going there, that'd be key for Notre Dame. But special teams, again, special teams are going to play a big role in this game, whether it be the punt game, return game, field goals, someone may lose the game in special teams. And Notre Dame special teams have been elite all year, and the kicker's finally healthy now, coming off of that, growing, that kind of held them back.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Franklin, 52, 11th season at Penn State.
A lot of criticism from him. I didn't even realize it was his 11th season. It kind of feels like it's been like six or six or seven. 11. Long time.
Was that right after the paternal stuff or. I feel like someone was there before him, right?
[00:16:13] Speaker C: Yeah. You had Bill O'Brien there for a brief stop before he went to the NFL, to the Texans job.
[00:16:19] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: Pretty crazy. I didn't realize it was 11 years already when I was looking everything. And then Freeman, young guy, man, 38, our age, got the job. Was this like his third or fourth year?
[00:16:34] Speaker D: Third year, right?
[00:16:35] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: Third year. Already knocking on the door on a potential first natty.
How do we get here?
How would you describe Penn State's journey to here? From years past, Knocking the door to their first Natty in a long time. And then Notre Dame as well.
[00:16:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, for Notre Dame, it was a interesting transition.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: I love Brian Kelly there as well. Or no.
[00:17:04] Speaker C: Brian Kelly.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Brian Kelly, yeah.
[00:17:06] Speaker C: I wouldn't say loved. I think he was. He was a particular personality. He was very, you know, in your face, brash. You know, they got clips of that guy just cussing players up and down on the sideline. And, you know, there were. There. And there was a time where Notre Dame was on the verge of firing the guy, and there was also a time where there was a lot of questions. Was he using it as a stepping stone to the NFL.
So when he left the lsu, basically saying, hey, I can't win a national championship here. I need to go to the SEC to win a national championship. Like, they're. There was a lot of feelings about that, especially around Notre Dame, of, like, hey, like, this is an elite program. You know, as a Notre Dame fan, in the defense that Notre Dame hasn't been elite for a while. When it comes to being in the national conversation, they, you know, they played a national title game versus Alabama, they got blown out, you know, went to a college. Other college football, I think, semifinal and got blown out. So they're on the cusp. They have the. The brand of it. But the transition to Freeman, there's a video, it was going around a lot on social media this week, is when Kelly left them, announcing him as the head coach to the players that were, like, already there. And they announced it, and the players go absolutely crazy. So, like, that when he was announced as the head coach. So you had someone internal as a defensive coordinator getting named as your head coach during that time. That's arguably way more popular than the sitting head coach at the time. I. I think Marcus Freeman has a, you know, magnetic personality that, you know, young kids, like, want to play for. Like, they're. They speak very highly of this guy, and there's. I think there's an energy and engagement around that. And when you look at what they've done in the transfer portal, like, people around, you know, people around that see what's going on in Notre Dame want to be there now, I'm sure the Nil and everything else, you know, has leveled the playing field a little bit. You know, Notre Dame's, you know, they got a rich alumni base like everybody else that's able to, you know, put stuff into the coffers for them to bring, you know, different student athletes into the fold. But, you know, it's.
We talked a little bit about more of the NFL, the Nil, a couple weeks ago, but it's really leveled the playing field. And I think for something like Notre Dame, when you have a young, you know, energetic head coach that really has a connective personality to young players, and the guy feels like, you know, you said he's 38, Rome, but he looks like he's probably in his late 20s, and so he looks like he can get out there and just play linebacker for them if they. If he really wanted to. You know, there's a certain energy about the program that is just different. And I think the vibes around Notre Dame have been different than the Brian Kelly era, where it's like, man, it felt like the Brian Kelly era was like this. This disciplinary and that, you know, you do one thing wrong, the guy's going to screen up and down at you and not really, like, buy into maybe, like, what the modern college athlete is going to be. So it's been an interesting transition, and when you look at what they can do in the future, I mean, it's a very bright future for Notre Dame because they continue to get people to the transfer portal, but also get top recruits in at the same time. Penn State on the other side, like, I think it's been a long burn from them, but people give James Franklin a lot of crap for not winning the big game and he hasn't. But hey, he's been the third best team in the Big Ten his entire time reign there. They haven't been Michigan or Ohio State, granted, but they've been the third best team in the Big Ten. I mean, you can correct me, but I don't think anyone's, there hasn't been anyone beating them over this 10 year period. So, like, you know, you can argue, hey, we're not, we were not the top of the Big Ten. We're not in the title for, you know, contending for national titles up until this year. But he's put Penn State in a position they weren't for, you know, the back end of the Joe Paterno era. And they've been competitive and they've, I mean, they've gotten good players. You know, they had Saquon at a certain point a while back too, you know, previously. So they've gotten guys, but I think the nil for them too. It's going to really put a lot of athletes in a lot of different places. And you get three out of four teams in this final that are from Midwest schools versus not everybody in the South. Like it has like college football's change and this final four really is an indicator of that.
[00:21:17] Speaker D: Yeah, nil definitely has changed the game. But I mean, how Penn State, Notre Dame get into the playoff, expansion of 12 teams, that, that obviously helps because if we're not looking at 12 teams, neither one of these teams, everybody, yeah. In the playoff here. So that helps.
I think Brian Kelly did a great job at Notre Dame. I know he gets a lot of slack. Notre Dame to me was dead before he got there and he built them up.
[00:21:43] Speaker B: That's what I thought.
[00:21:44] Speaker D: To me, Brian Kelly's problem, like Jason said, is kind of attitude and just kind of chewing guys out and kind of like, hey, I showed you how to do it. You didn't do it right. So like you suck versus like kind of being a teacher, which I believe Marcus Freeman is. He's more willing to, I would say, work with the guys, kind of work through any problems he may have. And he's a better communicator too. Like Brian Kelly. I'll say this, I think he's one of the top five or 10 coaches as far as evaluators of Talent, whether it be coaches, personnel and players.
But let's, you know, Notre Dame had a tough time. I mean, they have a higher academic standards than it does take to get into the south and some of these other schools. So you're not able to go get those. Some of those players that, you know, may only know how to spell their name, don't know nothing else but a catch, a football, but you're not getting into Notre Dame. So the same, the same. Same goes true with Vanderbilt, same goes through with Stanford. You know, these schools have struggled consistently, but I think Freeman, for him, he's, I think, much more detail oriented. And that's where Notre Dame has gotten better. They've gotten better in the details and they got better in execution and they gotten better in the small things. And I think that's helped elevate them to a level they haven't been. And that's why they're here in the Final Four. And for Franklin, hey, man, he just, you know, he didn't get Michigan on the schedule this year.
You know, he didn't get Oregon until the Big Ten championship game.
[00:23:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:13] Speaker D: So Ohio State was their only loss. Tough game. They got stopped a couple times down there in the red zone on the goal line.
We know Franklin's good for 10 wins every year. That's going to be good enough if you're in the Big Ten Power four Conference, pretty much get into the playoff right now. So I expect Penn State to be there for a while. They've had good players come through the program. This might be the best quarterback they've had come through the program. They've always had a good running game. They've never been elite at wide receivers, still really aren't. But they got the best tight end in America on their team. And they're defensively, they've always been stacked. They've been good. And then like you said, Tom Allen has done a great job there. They're aggressive and we should be in for a good game.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: All right, so Notre dame, Penn State, 13 and one against, 13 and two over under 44 and a half. The Fighting Irish favored by one and a half.
Final picks. What are you guys predicting? What goes on in the game? Who do you got?
[00:24:18] Speaker C: Think you're going to have a battle of running games and it'll be very tight offensively. Aaron's talked about it before. It's likely going to be a special teams or defensive play. That would be the deciding play of the game.
I was a. Notre Dame wins 27, 24, 27, 24.
Yep.
[00:24:44] Speaker B: Aaron.
[00:24:45] Speaker D: Yeah, I mentioned what, Notre Dame, 24, 23. Yeah, the same. I mean, I believe a defensive play special.
[00:24:53] Speaker C: Penn, Penn State plus one and a.
[00:24:54] Speaker D: Half, then I've got it one. Okay, so I mean, it's one, one and a half. I've been on both ways. If you can get Penn State plus two, take them and take Notre Dame Moneyline, this is a double whammy. You can't go wrong playing either side. So I, I would take Notre Dame Moneyline, I'd buy a point, point and a half a Penn State and get. Buy them up to three.
Anyway, I don't see Penn State losing this game by more than three. Or Notre Dame if they lose, for that matter, by more than three. But I mean, if there, if there is one team that I think could take it to the other team and beat him, like, blow them out, if we're going to say, like by 7, 10 points, I'd say Penn State. I think Penn State's got a little bit better playmakers.
So if they, if they get off, Notre Dame could be in trouble. But Notre Dame has been able to stop a lot of playmakers all year. And Riley Leonard, they just, they have that confidence and Marcus Freeman has that confidence. So I'm. I'm gonna. I'm gonna ride the Irish to get the win. Close game. Like I said, 24, 23. I lean towards the over 45 in this game, too.
[00:25:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, great. Let's go to the next game. Texas, Ohio State, I would say favored by five and a half is what I got right now.
And very interesting because SEC loves Texas being in this position. They're the only team standing from the conference, but when you look at it, they're not really SEC team yet. First year there, Big 12, and they're taking all the credit for it.
So not really SEC thing. SEC has been terrible this playoffs. Jason has been on several rants about that.
I've been loving listening to it.
Same thing. Former coaches on the squads of these teams. Chip Kelly, notably the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, was with my UCLA Bruins, turning that program around and then bounces in a critical year.
[00:26:54] Speaker C: Did he turn them around?
[00:26:56] Speaker D: They're playing.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: Yeah, dude, look at usc, man. They've been beating that butt.
[00:27:00] Speaker D: He made him respectable again.
[00:27:02] Speaker B: Yeah, they were on the up. They looked really nice.
[00:27:06] Speaker D: Seven, eight wins is good at ucla.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: And it's not.
[00:27:09] Speaker D: That's a standard.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: We had this conversation before, dude, and that really pissed me off. It's not. Okay.
[00:27:14] Speaker D: That's the standard. If you told me if you told.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: You 10 wins, they had a few.
[00:27:20] Speaker D: Fluke years where they won 10 games.
And then was it like those guys rushing for 300 yards against them?
[00:27:27] Speaker B: Dude, they were stacked. Mercedes, Lewis, It's a long list, man.
[00:27:32] Speaker C: I mean, it's not. He wasn't the Carl Durell era, you know?
[00:27:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I do, I do.
[00:27:38] Speaker D: Like a 1 in 11 his last.
[00:27:39] Speaker C: Year at Colorado, something like that.
[00:27:42] Speaker D: But yeah, he was great.
[00:27:43] Speaker C: I just, I just remember him having some good games versus usc. You know, they lost, but they were. So There were some competitive games.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: He couldn't win the big game and then he pushed him away and then look at us. Yeah, it's been.
[00:27:53] Speaker D: He also had Jim Moore Jr. Too, who had like a nine win and then went to seven, then went to six, and now he's back at UConn turning that program around.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: You know, I really, I was really excited for that hire too. I don't understand it.
[00:28:04] Speaker C: Well, anyway, I'm just, I'm getting into it. I wanted to look at this, I mean, out of your. All your, you know, I'm trying to go look at back and your head coaches. I guess since 96, your best head coach was Jim Morrow with the.605 winning percentage.
[00:28:19] Speaker D: Yeah. So I'm saying if you get eight and four out of UCLA, you're happy. That's a 66 win percentage. That's the standard at UCLA.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: You're tripping, dude. I've got time for this right now. I'm too tired to get to an argument. We, we went through a big argument like this before.
[00:28:36] Speaker D: Jason just did a 30 year research and 60 is your best out of a coach. So 8 and 4 overall.
[00:28:41] Speaker B: Overall. But Carlo had a couple.
[00:28:43] Speaker D: We're only almost 40, man.
We don't even remember when they were winners, man.
[00:28:48] Speaker C: Your best coach, your best coach was Terry Donahue. From 76 to 95, he had a.665 winning percentage.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: I'm not gonna remember that.
[00:28:55] Speaker D: I wasn't around exactly.
[00:28:57] Speaker C: I'm just looking it up.
[00:28:58] Speaker D: 665 is 8 and 4.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: I don't give a. About overall record. All right? I'm talking about individual years. Corridor had a couple 10 win seasons, right?
11, maybe.
[00:29:12] Speaker D: You can't, you can't have like 10 win one 10, one year every 10 years and say that's, that's, you know, your standards, your standard With Jason, just bay seven and five, eight and four. That's the standard.
[00:29:24] Speaker B: That's why we go through coaches like nothing.
[00:29:28] Speaker C: Why are we talking about UCLA right now?
[00:29:30] Speaker B: I Don't know, dude. I don't know because he brought up.
[00:29:32] Speaker D: He brought up Chip Kelly and you said he turned the program around and.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: They looked really nice. Yeah.
[00:29:37] Speaker D: And then like Jason stat guys like, let me look this up. Oh, they suck.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: You know what? I was gonna do like a Chicago Bears comparison, but never mind. We're better than that. You know, Forget you guys.
[00:29:47] Speaker C: Know how many coaches leave a head coaching position to go be an offensive coordinator somewhere else?
[00:29:52] Speaker B: It's becoming the trend. Actually. It's been a. A lot happening in the last year or two. So I was gonna get into that kind of ramp, but never mind. All right, we're done with ucla. You guys leave them alone. Aaron used to talk Matt smack on the baby blue colors, man. Just could not root for them because he said like that's their problem. Their jersey colors are making them lose. I just.
You have a big long rant about that.
[00:30:16] Speaker D: I do remember something like that. But you know, I like the standard white and gold they come out with. Look a little more better than that.
[00:30:22] Speaker B: Was your favorite ramp for 10 years.
Regardless.
[00:30:26] Speaker C: Anyway, UCLA doesn't play games in January, so let's move on to Ohio State and Texas.
[00:30:31] Speaker D: They don't even play in December. Dude, let's not even kid ourselves.
[00:30:34] Speaker B: Thanksgiving weekend, they're done recently. Man, wrap it up. I don't need this. What's this, a roast?
[00:30:44] Speaker D: Anyways, you're the one was at a comedy show.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: We're just here the only comedian here. So we're just. We just work here.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: It was a good day.
It was a good stand up bit.
Anyways, they got Chip Kelly.
He took a massive against Michigan. All the coaches did.
And I can't see, you know, Texas. Steve Sarkeesian, he's had multiple stops. USC Nick Saban brought him back from the dead as he does from former USC head coaches, it seems like. So now that he's not around, who knows what happens with everyone else. But pretty exciting. There's. Dude, I was talking to so many people today about this game and why don't you guys go first? Break it down for me.
[00:31:32] Speaker C: I don't know if I want to break it down for you as much as I'm gonna tell you. I think Texas is gonna get blown out in this game.
[00:31:36] Speaker B: Blown out.
[00:31:39] Speaker C: I think Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith's gonna be all over your TV screen and yours is gonna be trying to play from behind. He's going to make mistakes.
Ohio State defense is going to capitalize -5 and a half. I think that's an Easy bet to go with Ohio State right now.
I give you a score when I tell you 3,117, maybe something like that for Ohio State.
Compare what they looked at against Oregon. I think Oregon was a better team than Texas. And offensively they have just been, you know, treading water offensively with viewers this week. It just this year and just, it just looks off the entire year they've gotten by. You know, I've picked them the last couple weeks. Rome, I haven't been always all over your text. I've picked them. But this Ohio State team is the best team of the Final Four. Even if they're playing Notre Dame. I'd say that right now. To the loss to Michigan. We questioned it. They look terrible. Didn't know what they were doing offensively, weren't utilizing the guys on the outside like they should have. They definitely found their way during Oregon. Wasn't even close.
That's where I'm at, man.
[00:32:45] Speaker B: Your Texas 31 17.
[00:32:49] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean this, the spread for this game came out four and a half quickly.
[00:32:53] Speaker B: By the way, the two biggest Texas haters all season long were in the, I mean, when the semifinals, baby.
[00:32:59] Speaker D: Yeah, we said they'd be in the semifinals. I, I, I want to say for the record, I believe me and Jason have picked every Texas game correct this season, win or loss. Every game they've lost. We told you they were going to lose. Every game they won. We told you said they were going.
[00:33:13] Speaker B: To lose against Texas A and M.
[00:33:14] Speaker D: I said they watch. I didn't say they would lose. I said they be on upset watch. I did not pick A and M to win that game.
And they only scored 17 points against those guys after what USC dropped what, 38 on them?
[00:33:29] Speaker B: Dude, every game's different, man. Don't drop that on me.
[00:33:32] Speaker D: I'm just saying. I mean, Jason brought up the fact that Texas has not looked good. And Rome, you've been talking about it. They scored 21 points against Kentucky. You were crying about it six weeks ago.
Texas has been very inconsistent.
[00:33:48] Speaker B: In this quarter in the semifinals. Every team that made the playoffs has been inconsistent all year except for Oregon. Oregon has been the most consistent.
[00:33:54] Speaker D: I disagree. Ohio State has been consistent except for one game and they lost to Michigan. And which was their most worst game? Everybody else they have blown out. Except for the one point loss at Oregon. This is the best football team in the Final Four, Ohio State.
And if they come out and continue to play like they have been playing, I don't care if it's Texas. I Don't care if it's Texas, Notre Dame combined to join one team. They would not beat this Ohio State team if they continue to play like this.
[00:34:21] Speaker B: Texas have blown ass, but they beat out Akron, West, Michigan, Marshall, Michigan State, Iowa. Everybody else has been a close game. Purdue was a blowout. Well, Purdue's bad, but they barely escaped. Oregon, Nebraska, that was on up.
[00:34:40] Speaker D: Nebraska gave him a good game.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: That was a really good close game.
[00:34:43] Speaker D: Probably should have won that game. But Ohio State, Ohio State's been very, very consistent and they've been rolling people.
Like I said, the line came out four and a half, quickly jumped to six. It's five and a half, six where you get it at. I think for Texas, they've got to come out strong and quick, get on an early lead when they've been able to do that. They've had success in games, but when Texas can't run the ball, they really struggle and they're not going to be able to run the ball against Ohio State. This defensive front for Ohio State's playing on another level. Mean Oregon, nothing on the ground.
First game against Tennessee, nothing on the ground.
Will Howard, I think Chip killing Rain Day went back, looked at that Michigan tape and said, look, if we don't open it up and throw the ball, we're not going to win a championship. We just got to let Will Howard play. Play confident, play with some confidence, have some trust in them. And like we mentioned, Jeremiah Smith throw the ball up. I don't care who Texas has on them, they can't defend them one on one. If they want to double, if they want to double him.
[00:35:48] Speaker B: Smith, you be a number one traffic right now.
[00:35:50] Speaker D: Yeah. Then you got the other wide receiver on the outside for Ohio State. He's an NFL first round draft pick too. Yeah, they both are. So Texas, defensively, this will be the best defense Ohio State's played. This is a really, really good top five defense. They're better than Oregon's defense. Not as good offensively. I worry about Queen Ewers not being able to scramble. He takes a lot of sacks. I think he's going to get sacked a lot here. I mean, Dylan Gabriel got sacked what, eight, nine times for Oregon and he's a mobile quarterback, so I agree with Jason. I think Ohio straight drops 31. I think Texas makes it interesting of a late score.
24, 31, 24. I like Ohio State to cover the six points as well. I also like the over 53, but not as confident in that. But I'll take Ohio State to, to Cover and win at the Cotton Bowl.
[00:36:48] Speaker C: He's speechless.
[00:36:50] Speaker D: I mean, he knew it was coming.
[00:36:53] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm sick of you guys. This Texas takes this year. I'm so glad for this college football season that be done with.
[00:37:00] Speaker C: We're just telling you what's going to happen, Rome. I mean, we told you when Texas was going to win. They'll own the last two. We're just telling you they're gonna lose now.
[00:37:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm going with Texas.
[00:37:14] Speaker D: To cover or win?
[00:37:16] Speaker B: To win, man. I picked them. I'm doubling down. They're still in the fight.
Where's Florida State? They're not here. Only Jason has his team still in it.
[00:37:31] Speaker D: I don't know what that jab was for. I mean, you're always going off topic with teams here.
[00:37:36] Speaker B: I got it.
[00:37:37] Speaker C: It's easy for him to get a team in the Final Four when he's got like 10 teams, you know?
[00:37:40] Speaker B: I only got 10 teams, man. I, I sent you guys that, that, that clip though, because Haley's now on tcu women's college basketball, so.
[00:37:51] Speaker D: Yeah. Where'd she come from before tcu? I never heard of her.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: She was at.
[00:37:56] Speaker D: No, I don't, I don't watch women's college basketball.
[00:38:00] Speaker B: Oh, dude, she's been like on, on every publication. She was at LSU last year for a year.
[00:38:06] Speaker D: Was she the freshman at LSU last year?
[00:38:08] Speaker B: No, no, no. She's like, she's like a six year senior now and then. She was like in the, in the Final Four with somebody else and she lost to, to Caitlin Clark. Can't remember the previous one, but yeah, really cute. Plays really well.
I'm taking Texas high scoring game.
42, 35.
You think?
[00:38:36] Speaker D: Oh, you think Texas gonna drop 42?
[00:38:38] Speaker B: I do. Yeah.
[00:38:39] Speaker D: Wow. Dude, what kind of odds are you giving me on that? Because I'll pull out my checkbook right now.
[00:38:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:49] Speaker C: Someone'S gonna be right and someone's gonna be wrong in this game, so.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Yeah, that's okay. And then with, I, I don't think I gave my pick for Penn State. Notre Dame. I just don't know who to pick. I'm leading Penn State, though, by field goal.
[00:39:10] Speaker C: All right, so Rome's got Penn State versus Texas in the title game. Aaron. And I got the opposite. Notre Dame, Ohio State.
[00:39:19] Speaker B: Yeah, the Penn State. Notre Dame game should be really good.
[00:39:23] Speaker D: Should be really both should be good.
[00:39:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:28] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:39:29] Speaker B: That's my lean. I, I, man, that would be one. I would not gamble at all.
Any other takes for the semifinals?
[00:39:41] Speaker C: Only that they start a little Too early on the west coast. But I'm sure people on the east coast are happy that they're starting at 7:30.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. And it's not a Thursday, Friday. I guess we're used to it now with Thursday Night Football. So it's kind of taking its place.
[00:39:59] Speaker D: Well, yeah, I mean they say 4:30, but you're probably what, looking at a.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: Quarter to five kickoff be like 10.
All the fanfare, hoopla, all that crazy.
[00:40:11] Speaker D: Stuff, I mean, I think to look for in both games we've mentioned, we touched on it. All four teams got good defense, special teams, special teams on. Whoever special teams in either game does well is definitely going to go a long ways. I mean, Texas kicker, he's, he's been really bad here the last month and Ohio State's kicker wasn't very good against Michigan. He missed a couple easy kicks. But you know, he seems to write the but. Yeah, that burnt Auburn for Texas.
I'm worried if I'm a Longhorn, he's missed some easy kicks.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: Yeah, last game was not good. I did not like the, the conversation that Sarkeesian had with him before kicking it. Saban had like a really good point. Like don't talk to him. You're just like making it more stressful. Just let him go kick. So some of the things, you know why I'm going for Texas, that's my pick anyways. But you know, Will Howard has not had, you know, really like.
[00:41:10] Speaker A: He'S due.
[00:41:11] Speaker B: For a bad game. He's done really well. We've had a lot of question marks around him and, and, and I think Cinderella's up. Time is up. I needed to be up.
[00:41:25] Speaker D: I think, I think another thing that benefits Will Howard personally is he transferred in from Kansas State and now he hasn't lost. He had really good success against Texas.
[00:41:36] Speaker B: He has a personal vendetta against Texas, the only team he didn't beat while he was in the conference. And he has an extra.
[00:41:42] Speaker D: And he had the same vendetta against Oregon. We saw how that went.
[00:41:45] Speaker B: No, well, Oregon just came out flat, dude. Like they just did not show.
[00:41:51] Speaker D: Like I said, I don't think Oregon came out. They were totally flat. But they, they got overwhelmed early.
[00:41:56] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. Yeah. You know, it's a little like the layoff and pressure like all that stuff.
[00:42:01] Speaker D: If Ohio State jumps out to a two score lead on Texas, then, oh, it's going to be a blog because like Jason said, I mean Queenie wars is going to, he's going to throw some interceptions that's what he does when he gets behind. They. It could get like Georgia when It was like 31. Nothing. If you're not real careful, I don't think it's going to be there.
[00:42:17] Speaker B: Such an anomaly. But yeah, yeah. No, I. I don't see them getting ahead by two touchdowns and then all of a sudden Texas just taking a big.
A little more disciplined than that.
But yeah, exciting stuff. That's the college football semifinal. Good luck to Jason's Notre Dame team. It'll be fun. We'll get our first half black coach.
[00:42:38] Speaker D: At least I'm rooting for Notre Dame.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
Like it. The Fighting Irish.
Hold on. What's the mascot for Penn State Lines? The Lions. Yeah. The Fighting Irish getting nice and drunk on some Jameson. Taking that nitley night lion behind the shed.
Beating it down to a pulp.
Be a nice image.
[00:43:06] Speaker C: You're trying to make some sort of pre game speech or something. I don't know. This is like the second or third time you've done this this year with. With the mascots. And I'm pretty sure it's always when we're talking about Notre Dame. You got something about the Fighting Irish?
[00:43:18] Speaker B: I like the mascots.
[00:43:19] Speaker D: I want to see up as a mascot for Notre Dame.
[00:43:22] Speaker B: Dude, I would totally do it. Jameson, that's like water for me. I am immune to that. It's like I'm the only one here.
[00:43:29] Speaker C: With the red beard, so I'm probably the only one that's gonna fly as the Notre Dame mascot.
[00:43:33] Speaker D: I mean, he's got some gray. You can always die. Is.
[00:43:39] Speaker B: I don't think I could pull off red hair.
I'll do it for college football. Rather keep tabs on our Twitter or X for any changes on Aaron's bets as I'm pretty sure you'll give them out for each game, right?
[00:43:55] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:43:56] Speaker B: Some side bets you want. You want to get some side props too?
[00:44:00] Speaker D: I'll look at some props. Maybe I'll put something up there.
[00:44:02] Speaker B: Yeah, do it, man. The people who want it, they're begging for it. Give it to them.
[00:44:08] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:44:09] Speaker B: All right, all right.
