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Speaker 1: You are now listening to the Big Ten Paradigm podcast

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here on the College Gridiron Coast to Coast Podcast Network.

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Please welcome in Noah Drury's We covered the Big Ten

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throughout this whole entire twenty twenty five college football.

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Speaker 2: Season, and welcome in to the Big Ten Paradigm here.

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Week three has concluded, and guess what, we already had

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a coach firing in the Big Ten as well, so

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we'll get more into the details of the firing of

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Deshaun Foster out at UCLA after fifteen games. But the

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Week three of the college football twenty twenty five season,

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specifically in the Big Ten, Wow, it was chaotic to

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say the least, and other conferences kind of stayed on

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the lighter end in terms of Big Ten play. We're

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gonna go down the list of games. Also joining us

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Connor Happer of sixteen twenty the Zone out Nebraska while

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doing other various duties. Don't be immature. He's going to

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be joining us here later on in the show, talking

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about Nebraska's expectations going into their conference playing they have

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a big game versus Michigan. Will also preview Week four

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coming up, but for now, the games that happen. On Friday,

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Indiana beat Indiana State seventy three to nothing. Classic Kirk Signetti,

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you know, just beating the breaks off the opponent what

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you want to see out of him? And yeah, they

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should be. They have a big test next week as well.

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They got to play Illinois, two teams that had high

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preseason expectations. More Illinois than Indiana, I would say, but regardless,

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two very good teams playing each other next week. Indiana

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take care of business. Ucla versus New Mexico. I thought

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that fifteen and a half point spread like I saw

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New Mexico co covering it. I mean they've only played

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Michigan is seventeen. You could argue, well, Michigan should have

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won buy more in that game. They they took care

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of business. Damon Bankston ran all over that USC or

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not UCLA defense. They averaged six point five yards per

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carry on the ground with three hundred yards on the ground.

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It's not like they were killing them through the air

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jack lane. I mean twelve sixteen, nine point five yards

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per attempt in two touchdowns. But the moral of the

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story is, you are UCLA. You're supposed to be a

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Big ten school and UCLA has just not found a

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way to fit into that Big Ten identity ever since

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stepping into the conference. And you can say the same

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thing about USC This is something that they've struggled with

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so far being in the Big Ten and just their

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whole program identity is they don't have these bruisers in

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the front seven. UCLA has had them in the past,

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like I mean late too Late two was a very

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good player. They've had other linebackers and NFL draft picks

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on that defense, you know that are really studs, honestly,

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and with the Sean Foster in this team, they just

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haven't been able to really do anything. It's a collective

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on the defensive side, it's collective with the offensive side.

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Nico Amalalayeva has not been good and we see the smoke.

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Like Joey Aguilar, I don't think is a great quarterback.

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I don't know if he would have done necessarily better

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than Nico in this system, but he provides a little

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bit more consistency and whilst trying to play hero ball,

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he hit some nice plays yesterday. That first Brasle touchdown

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or no, it was the second one, the one in

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the middle of the field that he was on Ellis Robinson.

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I know this is Tennessee, Georgia. I'm not really supposed

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to talk about this, but I'm just trying to put

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in comparison, Like I just think Aguilar fits the hypeol

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system more. And I don't know if Nico, like he's

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got obviously arms talent, but we've seen it with prospects

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like Joe Milton, We've seen it with Anthony Richardson, like

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these guys have flashy tools that are eye candy for

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a lot of scouts and a lot of fans like, oh,

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we need these guys to play well. We just haven't

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seen it from Nico yet. And losing to New Mexico

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thirty five to ten, and then to have to say,

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there's this reddit college football page. On Twitter, they were

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like they're looking to join the Big Sky Conference and

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then the Big Sky Conference the official Twitter account said

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no things. So they are the laughing stock of Twitter

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on the college football side, along with Virginia Tech. But

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that that will be our All Day acc podcast, which

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you can check out them in the rest of the

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college gridiron Coast to Coast Network podcasts here, and if

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you want to hear Matt Zemic. Will talk a little

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bit more about this situation on Get Off My Pylon,

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Please feel free to do so. Matt does a really

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great job of covering the sport and the rest of

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our crew here on the College Gridiron Coast to Coast

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network as well. Other than that, like Saturday was a

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pretty slow day in terms of games. Like I'll say

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this USC that one did have my attention. It was

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a very delayed start. It was delayed three hours. It

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was supposed to be a three thirty kickoff ended up

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being six forty five in USC. While I don't think

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you would like to see them play better against Purdue

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per se, not that I think Purdue's a bad team.

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One thing I will say is that while Purdue tried

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to air it out, they did a really good job

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of stopping the run. And I thought Macoby was going

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to be able to, you know, run it all over

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this team early on after the first couple of plays.

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But I mean, they did a really good job of

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just trying to halt this team. Jade Mayeva continues to

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look good over ten yards per attempt. He didn't throw

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for a touchdown, he did ran run for one. But

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I think like when you think about a lot of

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these quarterbacks and we haven't seen them play with a

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lot of these teams, like legit competition against the defense

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that's not gonna be able to force stops, force pressure,

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be able to actually cover downfield. We haven't seen that yet.

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USC hasn't played that type of team. But you got

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a nice feeling for him, and I really think like

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Lincoln Riley's really developed this kid into being a great player.

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He came from UNLV, was the Mount and West Conference

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freshman of the year. He comes over, he sits behind

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Miller Moss for most of the season, starts the second half.

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He shows flashes, especially in that Notre Dame game. I

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was very impressed with MYEVA early on and then yeah,

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maybe some mistakes later, but I think he's actually a

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pretty solid quarterback. I really like this receiver room. They

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definitely made the right choices, you know, kind of feeding

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out the older receivers that they didn't really think we're

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going to be a part of the plans. And Zachariah

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Branch and Kyron Hudson, who and are now both at SEE.

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Zach Branch is at Georgia and Hudson's at Penn State.

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And look, I really like this USC team this season

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on the offensive side. Their defense has to really show me.

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And maybe we'll see it versus Michigan State next week,

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and we'll talk about that game because I did watch it. Yeah,

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we'll get into that later. That might be like, yeah,

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we'll save it for the end because I think there's

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more important, irrelevant topics at hand. But yeah, USC takes

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care of business Minnesota, California. This is not a result

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I expected. But hey, man, Cal, they might actually cause

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some trouble in the ACC. I don't think they're particularly good.

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Keep in mind, Minnesota's without Darius Taylor, who is one

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of the most electric running backs in the Big Ten

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last season. I think he'll be at that point again

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when he does return. If he returns, I haven't heard

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any news in terms of what his health is looking like.

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Drake Lindsay he had an okay game. He didn't play

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necessarily great. He didn't play the worst football I've ever seen,

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But yeah, I mean to be to give all the

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credit in the world. Uh Sague Patelle the freshman quarterbacks,

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So here's his story, right commits to Oregon, signs with Oregon,

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practices the practice practices with them through the spring transfers

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out goes to cal is going to start as a freshman,

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beat Devin Brown, the former Ohio State quarterback out which

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Devin Brown's That is the biggest miss I've had on

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a prospect and quite some time. But this kid goes

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out there beats a decent Big Ten team, Like I

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think Minnesota's pretty decent. I PJ. Fleck that was his

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one hundredth game at Minnesota coaching, like he's been around

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for a long time. Minnesota has had great season. They

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up also had not so great seasons, but they have

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been like a relatively decent Big Ten team, and California

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to be able to beat them by two scores like

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acc watch out, Hey, they might take Clemson spot and

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where they're supposed to be. Who knows. Yeah, I really

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like that Sago Patella kid, And I think when it

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comes into the transfer portal window, things could get interesting there.

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Some team's gonna want to bid for him, and he's

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already transferred once and there's no limit on how many

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times you can transfer, so it'll be interesting to see.

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I wonder if he does end up on a Big

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Ten team. I wonder if he ends up maybe on

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like a not maybe not Oregon unless Dante goes to

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the draft and they also, like Austin Dova said, as

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they're back up over there, maybe no Washington has Deman

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William usc. I don't know if Mayeva is a pro

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player just yet. We'll have to wait and see. So

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if not, where does he go to? Is per Se?

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And he might just stay at Cal too. I thought

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Cal was gonna be a dumpster fire coming into the season. Hey,

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they're three and zero, so what do I know? Obviously

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a decent amount to be here. But and then I

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mean other than that, like Oregon took care of business

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versus Northwestern. Northwestern scored fourteen back door points. You know,

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people that took the organ spread were mad, and I

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know that was my suggestion of the week, and I

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really thought they were gonna try and pour it on.

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But like Dante Moore, while he did throw an interception

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in this game, he's special, man. He is really good.

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He was someone that I was kind of iffy about

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him coming out of Martin Luther King and then he

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went to he was committed to UCLA and then he

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made this or he was committed to Oregon flipped to UCLA.

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Played at UCLA's freshman season. I didn't think he was

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that bad, wasn't particularly great. He looked like a freshman

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in just the maturity. And I've talked about this on

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a previous episode, so I'm not gonna go two into detail,

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but I think Dante more just the mature approach. He

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just handles himself like a professional. He's humble, he's vulnerable,

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he does all the right things, and I think that,

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you know, this Orgon team can do some damage this year.

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Malik Benson to Corey and Moore, Like, I think those

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two guys, you know, are really gonna step up. Which

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how about Malik Benson in the career he's had, There's

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also other guys. I wish they had Evan Stewart obviously

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out for the whole season. It sucks, but I think

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the one more big game and then I'll run down

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the other scores because everything's kind of out of relevance

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after that point. We'll talk about Misi Good State here

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in a second, but I wanted to talk about Wisconsin Alabama.

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Alabama I think played a really good team Week one,

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and honestly didn't expect to play a good team week one.

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I think that they're still going to be a team

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that competes for the SEC championship. I think just like

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week one games, like even with the Lions today, like

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they beat the brakes off the Bears, and people are like, oh,

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we're gonna go maybe one in five. Like there's just

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so much you flip your expectations, slash your view on

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a team just because of one result. And if you

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were to do that with any survey or anything you

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know that collects data points, you're just not gonna have

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good results. So Alabama two and one, well, I don't

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think Wisconsin's great playing with the backup QB were not

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able to run the ball. They barely were able to

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throw it, didn't really do an anything you know, productive

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on the defensive side. And ty Simpson just looks like that, man, Yeah,

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they they looked pretty good. They weren't able to run

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the ball, which I think is concerning. But I think

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if Wisconsin recruits anything decently, well, it's players in the

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front sevens, you know, playing within the tackles, linebacker, defensive line,

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maybe some offensive linemen. But they got torched. Ryan Williams

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had himself to day, Jimmy Bernard. I think he's going

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to be a really good player. They have Isaiah Horton

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as well. There's a lot of guys on this Alabama

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team where if the if Ty Simpson can get that

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cleanly of looks and be able to go through his

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progressions and reads, it's going to be dangerous. Not like

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Russell Wilson, but yeah, AnyWho, last team I want to

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talk about, and then we'll go over to this course

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Michigan State. This game should not have been close. If

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you think Michigan's it's a great team. And while a

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lot of people don't have that expectation their when total

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is at five and a half going into the season

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at a lot of markets. Their offense, which Brandon or

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Makai Frasier went down with an injury in this game,

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and Brandon Tolas I wish you would have gotten a

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little bit more touches, like they were able to run

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the football, but they didn't spam it. They wanted to

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continue attacking through the air with Chiles. Chiles threw a

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bad interception in this game, but he has really progressed

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since last year and he had a decent ending to

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last season as well. But I think he's really, you know,

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stepping into that like he might be in that top half,

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maybe top third quarterbacks in the Big Ten. Obviously, I

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want to see him play. Wow. Don't get me wrong.

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Boston College not a bad team, even though they just

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did lose to Stanford, and you shouldn't lose to Stanford

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in twenty twenty five when they have an interim head

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coach that sounds like he doesn't really even want to

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be there. Yeah, I think Chiles. I think Child's could

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be up there. I think we're gonna learn a lot

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when they play USC maybe not a ton, just because

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of the circumstances of that game. You know, it's at

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eleven o'clock, and then they played Nebraska the following week.

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So I think these next two weeks or I guess

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they have a bye and then they played Nebraska. I

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think the next two games that they play, I think

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we're gonna learn a lot and where this team can finish.

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I think UCLA is gonna be a free win, so

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they'll at least get to four. And I think you

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could beat Maryland too. Although Malik Washington, we haven't talked

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about him too much on this show. He's been he's

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been a force there at the Helm calling the shots

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for Maryland. Now, grant, they played FAYU Northern in Illinois

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and Towson, but they play Wisconsin, then they'll play Washington

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then Nebraska, like they're gonna face their legit opponents. And

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while I just I don't know where this Michigan State

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team's at. It really concerns me on the defensive side

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when we cannot cover anything like they did it okay

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versus the ground, but through the air. While they didn't

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look spectacular in the Penguins, but I mean bo Bergnard

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like he was able to run a round back there.

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We didn't really force that much pressure, not then not

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consistent pressure, like we got two sacks and six TFLs.

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That is a type of game where if you're a

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good defense, you get four or five sacks on your

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defensive line, anywhere from like eight to twelve TFLs. Like

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we weren't able to take them out of this game,

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and they hung around, and that is something that is concerning.

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We kind of did the same thing versus Western Michigan,

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but I think Western Michigan's just super limited on offense.

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They just got shut out by Illinois, So yeah, I

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don't know. I don't know what to think of this team.

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I know we've had some injuries and have had to

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make different changes on the defensive side. So maybe everyone's

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just trying to play weather as a group. But you

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gotta get it together for next week. USC's looking to

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be pretty good this year. Yeah, we're gonna talk to

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Connor Happer coming up on the other side of this break,

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and yeah, we will catch you there. You're listening to

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the Big Ten Paradigm here. Make sure you subscribe to

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the college Gridirn Coast to Coast network and also follow

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all the socials at Gridiron Coast and then also follow

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my Twitter handle in whatever social media platform you prefer

295
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at Drury Noah, But yeah, let's go have a conversation

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with mister Happer and welcome Connor Happer onto the Big

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Ten Paradigm. Connor, I want to start off the show

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with who are you, what do you do and why

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do you love doing it?

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Speaker 3: Wow? Great questions. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

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So are you.

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Speaker 4: My name's Connor Happright do a daily radio show in Omaha.

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Speaker 3: It's sixteen twenty the Zone midday show.

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Speaker 4: I've been doing that for uh four years now, and

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before that I did basically the same job in Lincoln.

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So I've been doing a daily talk show in Nebraska

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for a decade now and and then a variety of

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other other things like working with our local sports teams

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around here and you know, getting get involved with that

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stuff and whatever they need to do, whether it be

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the fan experience or or a PA guy or whatever

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they might need. So that's been awesome. It's been cool

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to be involved with uh with some of those teams.

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Why do I love doing it Because it's pretty simple.

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I just like sports, you know, it's I can't imagine

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my life without it. So it's fun to talk to

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people and get to know them and get to know

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what they care about. You get to I get a

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feeling about your man basis that you're involved with.

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Speaker 3: So it's great, no complaints at all.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I covered some universities that are at a smaller level,

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like the D two, n ai Is even a Juco,

323
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and like still getting to even know like the people,

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the parents, the fans that you know live local and

325
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still come to the games.

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 2: It's definitely very They're still all very excited and like

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00:18:18,599 --> 00:18:22,799
passionately follow it. I'm hoping to get to that level

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one day. But uh, we're here to talk about the

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Big Ten in Nebraska, and I want to start off

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with my first question. Dylan Riola has looked like he's

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been showing improvement in the non conference season. I wanted

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to ask covering this team through the offseason the first

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three games, what has impressed you the most with the

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Nebraska QB.

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Speaker 4: I think he's I think he's taken a real command

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of the locker room.

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Speaker 3: You know, people look to him now.

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Speaker 4: Last year, they put a lot on his shoulders just

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as far as the on the field stuff, and he

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had to he had to carry that, but he also

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still had to figure out how to be a color quarterback.

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And you know, he's a freshman in the locker room

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and all those things as well. So it's just there's

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just a learning process for freshman quarterbacks. And the offense

346
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kind of went off the rails a little bit last

347
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year as well. So Dana Holderson has come in and

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he's and he studied that out a little bit and

349
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and and Dylan has absolutely reaped the benefits of that.

350
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I mean, he's been everything they've needed him to be

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this year on the field, But I think what impresses me,

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you know, is his how much they put on his

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shoulders still. I mean, Matt Rule always talks about how

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much they put on him and and and how he's

355
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always getting them into the right play and the right

356
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look and rarely puts the ball in harm's way. And

357
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he has thrown an interception this year, and he's got

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eight touchdowns, So he's done a really.

359
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Speaker 3: Nice job of that.

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Speaker 4: Obviously, it gets a little bit different this upcoming week

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and the remainder of the season, but so far he's

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checked just about every box.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I know a lot of people media wise

364
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:58,440
love talking about oh love it was still act like

365
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:02,160
Paatrick Mahomes. Oh he likes doing this and that and

366
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,799
the other things like getting really nitpicky, And that's typically

367
00:20:04,839 --> 00:20:06,599
what happened with like a lot of these blue chip

368
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prospects and just high end talents, with Kayleb Williams, Travvis Hunter,

369
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like a lot of these guys are just you know,

370
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there's always a camera in their face and every single

371
00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,039
movie that they do. Even with Bryce Underwood and as

372
00:20:17,079 --> 00:20:20,039
a freshman through his first two games, he's kind of

373
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been put under a microscope, but Braill he was someone

374
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,240
that even impressed me last year. I just think without

375
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,440
Holgerson and they didn't really have a lot of the

376
00:20:28,839 --> 00:20:32,279
offensive weapons other than really I'm at Johnson last year

377
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,480
on that squad, So I think with him having Cologerson

378
00:20:36,799 --> 00:20:40,000
and then weapons like Zane Key as well, I think

379
00:20:40,039 --> 00:20:43,240
it's really like transcended this team to go into a

380
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:44,359
different old offensively.

381
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Speaker 4: Yeah, wide receivers are definitely a step better than they

382
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were last year, so that's that's helped them. And he's

383
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,799
got a pretty stead running back behind him, Amima Johnson. Yeah,

384
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,279
if I mean, they sport sixty eight points again against

385
00:20:57,319 --> 00:21:00,400
Achron backups only had a couple of those touchdown They

386
00:21:00,759 --> 00:21:04,160
obviously Acron is not good at all, but it was

387
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,839
it was really smooth, and they only played half the

388
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:11,400
game against Houston Christians. So they've done everything that they've

389
00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:14,960
they've been been asked to so far. And the Cincinnati

390
00:21:15,039 --> 00:21:20,799
game was sort of an interesting type of struggle. They

391
00:21:21,519 --> 00:21:24,519
they really kind of shelled them in and didn't allow

392
00:21:24,559 --> 00:21:27,200
Nebraska to take deep shots, which is something I know

393
00:21:27,279 --> 00:21:28,759
they want to do. They want want to try to

394
00:21:28,799 --> 00:21:31,880
take the top off of defenses and Cincinnati.

395
00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,559
Speaker 3: They just wouldn't sort of allow it and doing right.

396
00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:37,240
Speaker 4: I just kept taking layup after layup after layup after

397
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,119
a layup, and I think it got frustrating and annoying

398
00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,799
at times, but I thought it showed some real like

399
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:45,799
emotional maturity to to just do it kind of over

400
00:21:45,839 --> 00:21:47,759
and over and over again. So that was that was

401
00:21:47,799 --> 00:21:50,000
a unique one for Nebraska. But they got through it

402
00:21:50,039 --> 00:21:53,599
with the win. So yeah, now now they got confidence

403
00:21:53,799 --> 00:21:56,000
and they got a little bit of juice behind them,

404
00:21:56,039 --> 00:21:57,440
and I think they're ready for this one.

405
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:02,079
Speaker 2: Yes. Uh. They was a lot of speculation about the

406
00:22:02,079 --> 00:22:06,079
defense heading into the offseason after Tony Whitett left for

407
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,640
Florida State. So far, they've been right on par without him.

408
00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:11,720
I wanted to ask what has kept this defense so

409
00:22:11,799 --> 00:22:15,039
strong even without the defensive coordinator that a lot of

410
00:22:15,039 --> 00:22:17,359
people thought, you know, he's one of the best DC's

411
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,160
in the country and Nebraska is gonna be screwed. Like

412
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,000
these are all stories that I'm someone that listens to

413
00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,720
like a million different college football podcasts, and they were like, oh,

414
00:22:27,799 --> 00:22:29,960
Nebraska's defense might not be the same. What do you

415
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,559
think has kept this group so strong?

416
00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,279
Speaker 4: I'd say I'd start with defensive back play. I mean,

417
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,960
it's hard to argue with so far this year, they've

418
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,559
they've allowed I think less than seventy passing yards in

419
00:22:41,599 --> 00:22:44,839
each of their games so far. I mean, they they

420
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:46,559
knew that they were going to be pretty good there.

421
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,559
They like some of the guys that they have had

422
00:22:48,599 --> 00:22:50,799
coming back who've been around for a long time, like

423
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,880
the Sean Singleton and Malcolm Hertzog. But now they have

424
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,920
this sort of influx of young guys and some transfers

425
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:00,279
as well. See, youre right came in last year from

426
00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,599
USC and Andrew Marshall came in this summer from Idaho,

427
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,039
and they really like him on the opposite side of right.

428
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,319
So they love what they have in the defensive backfield.

429
00:23:09,319 --> 00:23:13,200
They've been awesome so far. The stats back that up.

430
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,160
And that's a great place to start. You know, if

431
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,920
you have one level of your defense that you could

432
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,240
just kind of, you know, say all right, you guys,

433
00:23:20,279 --> 00:23:22,799
go do your thing and you could cover all day long,

434
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,000
then you're probably going to be You're just working from

435
00:23:26,039 --> 00:23:29,160
a good starting point. The defensive front, I think for

436
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,200
Nebraska is a little bit of a work in progress.

437
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:32,799
They're still trying to figure out what they're going to

438
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,400
be and who they are. The idea is that they're

439
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,480
trying to be a little bit more movement and explosive upfront.

440
00:23:39,519 --> 00:23:42,559
They're certainly not as big and physical as they were

441
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,920
last year, losing Ty Robinson and Nash up Maker up front.

442
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,920
So it's a different It's not a different style, but

443
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,720
it's it's a little bit of a different attitude I

444
00:23:52,759 --> 00:23:56,640
guess on defense, but it fits the personnel of what

445
00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,759
they have right now. So Butler's done a really nice

446
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,680
with that. But I rule Matt Rule.

447
00:24:04,599 --> 00:24:05,440
Speaker 3: Nebraska's coach.

448
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,000
Speaker 4: He always talks about how, hey, as long as I'm

449
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,640
the coach here, just trust me, I We're always going

450
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:12,599
to have a good defense.

451
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,039
Speaker 3: And so far, that's uh, that's run pretty true.

452
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,559
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say more of you describing it, I'd

453
00:24:18,559 --> 00:24:20,480
say it would be very I don't know if they

454
00:24:20,559 --> 00:24:23,480
necessarily play it, because Nebraska doesn't play a four two five,

455
00:24:23,599 --> 00:24:26,559
right they play more is more three five? Yeah? Three

456
00:24:26,599 --> 00:24:30,119
three five, Okay, I know there was at least three linebackers.

457
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,119
But I'd say, like in terms of like talent and

458
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,400
how the defenses are built, I think Ohio State Nebraska's

459
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,160
defense are both built in the secondary, and they might

460
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,240
be the two big best Big Ten defenses other than

461
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,079
maybe Penn State.

462
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think, you you know, with what

463
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,039
they've shown over the last couple of years and certainly

464
00:24:49,039 --> 00:24:51,000
what they've shown so far this year, I think you'd

465
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,880
have to put them close to in that category. We'll see,

466
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,680
you know that they've been They've been really good defensively

467
00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,039
from a statistical standpoint over the last couple of years,

468
00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:03,279
in part because they're offense has been so bad. You know,

469
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:07,079
they they wanted to win games defensively. So now the

470
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,759
offense they feel like can score some points. And so

471
00:25:10,839 --> 00:25:13,799
we'll see how they sort of play it and and

472
00:25:13,839 --> 00:25:15,759
how that what they feel like their formula is to

473
00:25:15,839 --> 00:25:19,319
win games. But yeah, they feel like they have the

474
00:25:20,279 --> 00:25:23,240
personnel to be able to win it with some defenders

475
00:25:23,279 --> 00:25:23,680
as well.

476
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,160
Speaker 2: Where do you think Nebraska will finish in the Big

477
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,160
Ten this season? And do you think corn Huskers fans

478
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:35,519
should expect to be buying college football playoff tickets in December?

479
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,720
Speaker 4: I think that I think that Saturday is a big

480
00:25:40,759 --> 00:25:43,839
game to try and figure that out. Nebraska brings in

481
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:49,200
Michigan on Saturday, and you know, it's it's going to

482
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,440
be there's Nebraska is going to throw a lot into it,

483
00:25:52,559 --> 00:25:54,640
and the fan base is ready for it. They've been

484
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,480
they've been waiting for for it for a little while.

485
00:25:57,559 --> 00:25:59,160
I mean, certainly it's been a long wait to start

486
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,759
this year Nebraska fans had they had Kansas City and

487
00:26:03,279 --> 00:26:05,839
went down there for the Cincinnati game and everybody loved it,

488
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:07,960
and now it's just kind of been a waiting period

489
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:09,079
ever since.

490
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,079
Speaker 3: So like, Nebraska's ready for that game.

491
00:26:11,319 --> 00:26:14,279
Speaker 4: If they win it, then I think you can really

492
00:26:14,319 --> 00:26:20,319
start that conversation right now. It's just we're watching at least.

493
00:26:20,559 --> 00:26:23,839
This is what I feel from maybe a more national perspective.

494
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,279
If you look if you're looking at Nebraska, like, I

495
00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:29,119
don't know if you can put them in that conversation

496
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,720
quite yet, but if they went on Saturday, everything changes.

497
00:26:31,839 --> 00:26:32,599
Speaker 3: And then you.

498
00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:34,119
Speaker 4: Start to look at the rest of their schedule too,

499
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:38,319
and it's relatively manageable and if they can keep up

500
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:39,920
some of the things they're doing, obviously they would trip

501
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,119
to Penn State later on in the season, USC comes

502
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,599
to town, Iowa comes to town this year.

503
00:26:46,519 --> 00:26:49,000
Speaker 3: So they can they can manage some things.

504
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,200
Speaker 4: Not to say that they can't lose any of those

505
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:55,640
other games because they're certainly capable. But you know, if

506
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,160
they're able to beat Michigan, I do think that conversation

507
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,039
will fire up and hurry expect to buy college football

508
00:27:03,039 --> 00:27:08,160
playoff tickets probably probably not quite yet, but talk to

509
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,079
me in a week, all right.

510
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 2: And then I was just gonna ask, did you have

511
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,240
any any other analysis or keys to the games for

512
00:27:15,319 --> 00:27:18,319
the first conference game that they host Michigan.

513
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:20,440
Speaker 4: Yeah, it'll be it'll be fascinating to see how they

514
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,839
play Bryce Underwood. You know, he's shown a lot of

515
00:27:22,839 --> 00:27:26,240
different stuff in the first couple weeks of the season here,

516
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,640
it'll be it'll be fascinating to see how they you know,

517
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:30,559
how they play them, right?

518
00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:31,640
Speaker 3: Do you want to do? You want to keep them

519
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:32,200
in the pocket?

520
00:27:32,279 --> 00:27:34,880
Speaker 4: Last this past weekend in Central Michigan, he got running

521
00:27:35,599 --> 00:27:37,599
quite a bit. That was something they hadn't really shown

522
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,359
quite yet. So where do they decide his strength is?

523
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,960
Where did they decide that they that he can hurt

524
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,920
them the most? And then it'll be really interesting to

525
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,839
see Nebraska's defensive front against an always strong Michigan front.

526
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,759
So I think Nebraska has an opportunity to sort of

527
00:27:53,759 --> 00:27:57,000
control the game there and you know, to flip it

528
00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:02,400
over to the other side, Nebraska is offense against Michigan's defense.

529
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,839
I mean, those are two units that have been really

530
00:28:04,839 --> 00:28:08,880
good so far this year as well. So yeah, there's

531
00:28:09,599 --> 00:28:11,519
this will be one of the I don't know, this

532
00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:15,559
will be a big game around here, and you know Nebraska,

533
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:17,880
it's gonna be loud in there, and and we'll see

534
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:19,680
how Michigan handles that piece of it as well. They

535
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,000
don't They're not going to have Sharon More for the game.

536
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,759
So uh, there's there's a lot to look forward to.

537
00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:29,680
Speaker 2: I feel like everyone that's from Michigan in the media industry,

538
00:28:29,839 --> 00:28:32,799
in the state of Michigan, there's very few Spartans fan

539
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,440
I'm a Spartans fan myself, but a lot of them

540
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,960
are Michigan fans and all I there's this one guy

541
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:43,000
that I work with at the local radio station I

542
00:28:43,079 --> 00:28:46,920
cover high school sports at and he's always like he's

543
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,559
at every single tailgate, has had his family's had season

544
00:28:49,599 --> 00:28:53,319
tickets for like fifty years, and he just loves talking

545
00:28:53,319 --> 00:28:56,319
about Michigan, Michigan and Michigan and then anytime they lose,

546
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,400
zero silence from them. And one of our state guy

547
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,359
is actually from Omaha, Nebraska and a huge corn Huskers fan,

548
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,759
so they always banter back and forth. And I've been

549
00:29:07,799 --> 00:29:09,880
talking this game up for a few weeks now, and

550
00:29:10,119 --> 00:29:13,880
I was really excited about Nebraska personally going into the season.

551
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:18,440
In the preseason, I really liked the transfer acquisitions. I

552
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:20,519
thought Royolo was going to take a big step. I

553
00:29:20,559 --> 00:29:23,880
think Holgerson would. I thought Holgerson was going to have,

554
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,720
you know, a lot more just play calling ability and

555
00:29:26,759 --> 00:29:28,680
be able to stretch the field a lot more with

556
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,240
this Nebraska team. And my only concern was defense, and

557
00:29:32,359 --> 00:29:34,680
so far they've been able to show up. And I

558
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,359
think for my point in this game is the big

559
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,839
difference is if you can keep those Michigan receivers quiet,

560
00:29:43,119 --> 00:29:47,160
and if Klein is playing, if you can keep him manageable.

561
00:29:47,799 --> 00:29:50,079
There's only so much Justice Haines can do in a

562
00:29:50,079 --> 00:29:53,079
seven to eight man box, and you just take him

563
00:29:53,119 --> 00:29:55,119
out of this game defensively and you'll find a way

564
00:29:55,119 --> 00:29:57,880
to get points with field position. I think that's I

565
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,839
think that's the my key to victory for Nebraska.

566
00:30:01,359 --> 00:30:02,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't wait to see how it plays out.

567
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,720
Speaker 4: I mean, like like I said, I like what they

568
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,720
have in the defensive backfield, so maybe that's a maybe

569
00:30:07,759 --> 00:30:10,119
that's a plus matchup there for Nebraska.

570
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:11,759
Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean can't wait to see.

571
00:30:11,799 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 4: I mean, ultimately, for them, it's it's gonna be about

572
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,880
winning some of these close games, and this one's gonna

573
00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:18,559
be a close one. It'll be a good one, and

574
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,920
it's a hump that Nebraska hasn't gotten over in the

575
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,839
last several years, so they got to do it on Saturday.

576
00:30:25,079 --> 00:30:28,559
Speaker 2: Yes, they do. Thank you for joining us, Connoro. Is

577
00:30:28,559 --> 00:30:30,880
a pleasure to have you on the show. And if

578
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,759
we need more Nebraska talk, you guys win a huge game,

579
00:30:33,839 --> 00:30:36,200
maybe even this weekend, might have to have you on again.

580
00:30:36,519 --> 00:30:38,359
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks, no, appreciate it anytime.

581
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,039
Speaker 2: This episode of The Big Ten Paradigm is sponsored in

582
00:30:42,039 --> 00:30:46,000
part by Ticketmaster. The twenty twenty five college football season

583
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LWOS two zero. Think Smarter, ticket Smarter, and I want

608
00:32:15,279 --> 00:32:18,599
to say thank you to counter Happer for Joeing joining

609
00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,680
the show. Sorry a little bit about the you know,

610
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,440
audio recording. I was at a different location than I

611
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,480
am now recording this, and I don't think the Wi

612
00:32:29,519 --> 00:32:32,720
Fi connection was necessarily the most steady, so I do

613
00:32:32,799 --> 00:32:39,000
apologize for that. But Week four is upon us next

614
00:32:39,039 --> 00:32:43,799
week before that, de Sean Foster gets fired at UCLA

615
00:32:44,519 --> 00:32:48,119
fifteen games into his tenure only like a six million

616
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,400
dollar buyout, so it doesn't cost the university necessarily that much,

617
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,680
and he was a late hire coming in to this

618
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,240
process for UCLA. Chip Kelly left to go be the

619
00:32:59,279 --> 00:33:01,519
offensive coordinator or at Ohio State, which they won a

620
00:33:01,599 --> 00:33:04,599
national championship with him calling the plays, and now Ryan

621
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:09,759
Day's back taking over that duty. And I really don't

622
00:33:09,799 --> 00:33:14,119
know where this year UCLA team has has like where

623
00:33:14,119 --> 00:33:17,079
they go. It was a little concerning when they made

624
00:33:17,119 --> 00:33:19,319
an in house hire, like obviously you don't want a guys,

625
00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,920
a bunch of guys departing into the transfer portal, which

626
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,279
you might see now, especially maybe Nico, because they have

627
00:33:25,359 --> 00:33:28,039
thirty days to enter the transfer portal and have an

628
00:33:28,039 --> 00:33:30,680
extra year of eligibility because they haven't played four games,

629
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,039
so you know they could still red shirt if they

630
00:33:33,039 --> 00:33:37,440
have that available to them. And I think that UCLA

631
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,200
as an athletics just in general, I mean, they've been

632
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,599
on the decline. It's something that's been publicly acknowledged about

633
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:49,880
this team. And I just I don't know the direction

634
00:33:50,039 --> 00:33:53,440
that you really go in in terms of head coaching,

635
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,799
Like I'm trying to find stuff and I'm just not

636
00:33:57,920 --> 00:33:59,920
I don't know. I don't know who would be on

637
00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:03,200
their hot seat or their hot board in terms of

638
00:34:03,799 --> 00:34:06,599
who they want to hire. Like I think Virginia Tech's

639
00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,880
a way more attractable job than you see LA And

640
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,960
I think that, you know, it's a tough place to

641
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,199
coach at in this time and age, and we didn't

642
00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:20,760
always used to say that about UCLA. And I think that,

643
00:34:22,119 --> 00:34:23,920
you know, I think to Shaun's a good guy, a

644
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,400
good character. You know, he stepped up for a program

645
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,519
that he used to play for, he went to having

646
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,199
successful NFL career, and he goes back into coaching as

647
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,360
a running backs coach. And he'll probably get hired somewhere

648
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:36,800
else to do that. I don't know where that will

649
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,000
necessarily be. But I just think him at the head

650
00:34:40,039 --> 00:34:42,400
position was just something he was not ready for or

651
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,400
maybe he's not cut out to be. He did it

652
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,440
an honor is stepping up for a school, and you

653
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,840
got to give him credit for that because you know

654
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:51,840
a lot of probably a lot of people wouldn't do that,

655
00:34:52,039 --> 00:34:58,920
and he stepped up in place. And yeah, he he's fired,

656
00:34:59,639 --> 00:35:01,119
and that's gonna be the end of it. I don't

657
00:35:01,159 --> 00:35:02,960
know if he's gonna ever get a head coaching job

658
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,280
ever again, just because I don't know what value he

659
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:09,519
really has as an offensive coordinator, especially with how UCLA's

660
00:35:09,559 --> 00:35:12,320
past two seasons gone with him at the head coaching level.

661
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:16,960
And yeah, it's it's just a mess, all right. AnyWho,

662
00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,800
Next week, the Big Ten Conference play actually starts. Yay,

663
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,199
we get to be excited for it. I didn't need

664
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:25,519
to do it like that.

665
00:35:26,599 --> 00:35:26,760
Speaker 4: But.

666
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:32,559
Speaker 2: I'm very excited. I am very excited. Iowa Rutgers plays

667
00:35:32,559 --> 00:35:36,079
on Friday. Iowa's favorite at one and a half. Rutgers

668
00:35:36,119 --> 00:35:38,320
is a team that continues to impress me with how

669
00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:41,519
much steps they've taken offensively. Granted they're playing MAC opponents

670
00:35:41,519 --> 00:35:44,079
and then they just played Norfolk Stake last week, but

671
00:35:44,199 --> 00:35:47,960
I'm very excited to see how they do look playing

672
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,239
against his Iowa defense and what Iowa does as well,

673
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,280
because they had a nice bounce back game versus UMass

674
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,239
after taking the Syhawk loss, they looked like they could

675
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,119
throw it her out a little bit with Mark Ronowski.

676
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,639
It'll be a fun Friday night matchup. That is something

677
00:36:00,679 --> 00:36:03,320
that I will be tuned into. And that kickoff will

678
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,039
be eight o'clock and you can find that on Fox. Saturday,

679
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,880
September twentieth, noonslate. You have Maryland versus Wisconsin, and that

680
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,679
should be a fun game. Wisconsin's favorite at seven and

681
00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:18,800
a half. You know, they're in Madison. These two teams.

682
00:36:19,119 --> 00:36:22,079
While I think right now in terms of just where

683
00:36:22,079 --> 00:36:26,119
their programs are at, like Wisconsin all time very good program,

684
00:36:26,159 --> 00:36:30,119
Marily not so much. Mike Loxley versus Luke Fickle. You know,

685
00:36:30,519 --> 00:36:32,360
are they both going to be head coaches next season?

686
00:36:32,559 --> 00:36:37,480
That's TBD, But I think like both of these teams

687
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:41,920
can have success in this game. Like I said, Malik Washington,

688
00:36:42,039 --> 00:36:44,920
you know, he's had a very nice start to his season,

689
00:36:45,519 --> 00:36:48,800
almost eight hundred passing yards on sixty two completion percentage,

690
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,679
six touchdowns to one interception. Wisconsin's been having Danny O'Neil

691
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:57,199
at the helm and while he's been mediocre, I guess

692
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:00,880
it's concerning that they haven't been able to run the ball,

693
00:37:01,519 --> 00:37:04,360
and I think this game could go one side in

694
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,119
one way or another. I also think it could be

695
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,800
very low scoring as well, So it'll be interesting to

696
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,199
see over under on that game. Forty three and a half,

697
00:37:12,039 --> 00:37:16,920
so the betting market thinks so as well. Oregon plays

698
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,159
Oregon State organ favored by thirty four and a half.

699
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:25,559
I'm not gonna tell you to take an Oregon spread again. Yeah,

700
00:37:25,599 --> 00:37:29,400
that's just bride out a good move. Michigan plays Nebraska.

701
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,440
We already broke that down with Happer, and like I

702
00:37:31,559 --> 00:37:34,280
mentioned in our interview, in our great conversation that we

703
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,199
had earlier, it's gonna come down to can Michigan's receivers

704
00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:41,519
really do anything against this Nebraska secondary? And can Nebraska

705
00:37:41,559 --> 00:37:45,800
force pressure on Bryce Underwood and get them flustered? Matt rule,

706
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,119
you know your three, Matt Ruhle, That's what we've seen.

707
00:37:49,119 --> 00:37:50,920
We've seen it at Temple, we've seen it at Baylor.

708
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,000
Wasn't necessarily successful in the NFL, but college and NFL

709
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,480
are two different beasts. Just go ask Bill Belichick, which, Hey,

710
00:37:57,519 --> 00:37:59,199
the tar Heels are two and one now, but they've

711
00:37:59,199 --> 00:38:03,480
also played Charlotte and Richmond, so we'll see who. We'll

712
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:05,599
see how they shape out next week and how it

713
00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:07,519
continues to go in ACC play. They do have a

714
00:38:07,639 --> 00:38:11,440
very easy schedule. Purdue plays Notre Dame, and I wanted

715
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,679
to talk about Notre Dame. Oh, I completely missed that

716
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:19,039
in putting it together in my show prep. I watched

717
00:38:19,039 --> 00:38:22,159
that Notre Dame text A and M game, and look,

718
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,360
Notre Dame's lost to two teams that could be very

719
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,440
well in the College Football Playoff and competing for their

720
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,880
conference championships. Right, you still have to win at least

721
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,440
one of those games. And with Notre Dame schedule throughout

722
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,880
the rest of the season, I mean, they don't play

723
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:39,360
anyone too crazy. Of note, like they do play USC

724
00:38:39,519 --> 00:38:41,239
which that could end up being a pretty good game.

725
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:43,159
But like other than that, like Pitt and they lost

726
00:38:43,199 --> 00:38:47,239
in the backyard brawl NC State and they're kind of shaky.

727
00:38:47,679 --> 00:38:50,400
Arkansas is not a bad SEC team per se, but

728
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,079
they just lost to Old Miss and they had Trinidadd

729
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:58,599
Chambers starting, which shout out him former Fair State Bulldog. Yeah,

730
00:38:58,639 --> 00:39:01,000
Boise State's not the team that we thought they were, like,

731
00:39:01,039 --> 00:39:03,360
they're gonna have no wins on their resume. All they're

732
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,440
gonna have is two three point or less losses to

733
00:39:06,559 --> 00:39:09,199
teams that are good, so they would really have to dominate,

734
00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:11,199
and then that would have to start with Purdue, which

735
00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:12,960
I don't think Purdue is a half bad team. You

736
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:17,440
see USC only beating my sixteen weird circumstances, cam perdue

737
00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:19,400
give this Notre Dame team trouble because if they do,

738
00:39:19,559 --> 00:39:22,199
I don't think this Notre Dame team they're rinked twenty

739
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:24,320
four right now. I don't know if they belong in

740
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,679
the top twenty five or not, being completely honest, So

741
00:39:28,559 --> 00:39:30,639
it'll be interesting to see Notre Dame is still favored

742
00:39:30,639 --> 00:39:33,719
by twenty six and a half. I I don't know.

743
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:35,760
I wouldn't touch the spread on that game over under

744
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,920
a fifty three and a half. Not that many games

745
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,280
in the Big Ten next week, and a lot of

746
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,480
them are at three thirty and seven thirty, which works

747
00:39:42,519 --> 00:39:43,920
out great for me because I have to call a

748
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:50,000
game at one o'clock soccer wise on Saturday, UH Illinois

749
00:39:50,039 --> 00:39:53,679
in Indiana. This is a huge game. This is two

750
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,440
teams that like while they're time in the Big Ten,

751
00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,599
they haven't really been all that successful, and now that

752
00:39:59,639 --> 00:40:02,039
we mere to eighteen teams, we don't have divisions anymore.

753
00:40:02,039 --> 00:40:04,519
Both these teams are starting to really find levels of

754
00:40:04,639 --> 00:40:07,559
success and it's quite amazing to see. You got Kurt

755
00:40:07,599 --> 00:40:12,119
Signetti and Indiana. You got Brett Bilima at Illinois spread

756
00:40:12,119 --> 00:40:14,000
a four and a half favored to the home team

757
00:40:14,039 --> 00:40:18,519
in Bloomingson that would be Indiana Hoosiers. I've been impressed

758
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,760
with how Illinois looked so far this season. That win

759
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:24,000
versus Duke. I was like, oh my gosh.

760
00:40:24,079 --> 00:40:24,280
Speaker 4: Yeah.

761
00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,599
Speaker 2: Now, granted Duke had five turnovers in that game, but

762
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,280
they just took care of business. And I think defensively

763
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,000
their sound, they're gonna give Indiana some trouble. I think

764
00:40:34,039 --> 00:40:38,360
Indiana decent in the secondary. I like Fernando Mendoza. We

765
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,880
haven't really seen them play an opponent of too much caliber.

766
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:44,039
I think in the backfield you got Bebe Junior, you

767
00:40:44,119 --> 00:40:47,119
got Kaylon Black. I like Omar Cooper and sarat at

768
00:40:47,119 --> 00:40:51,119
the receiver position. And I really want to see if

769
00:40:51,119 --> 00:40:54,000
this Indiana team is going to get pressure on Luke Altmeyer.

770
00:40:54,079 --> 00:40:57,320
I think that's going to be the key to this game.

771
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:01,760
Indiana does a really good job of finding ways to win.

772
00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:03,679
They did it last season, and if they could get

773
00:41:03,679 --> 00:41:05,440
this win, this could be a huge win on the

774
00:41:05,559 --> 00:41:09,199
resume and going back to another college football playoff cause,

775
00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:11,559
I mean, the rest of the season, I think they

776
00:41:11,599 --> 00:41:14,639
play a decent schedule. They still have Oregon left on

777
00:41:14,639 --> 00:41:16,599
the schedule and Penn State. But if you're able to

778
00:41:16,599 --> 00:41:19,239
pick up a win versus Illinois, take a loss to

779
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:21,400
Oregon and Penn State like ten and two, with a

780
00:41:21,519 --> 00:41:26,199
nice win on the resume, and you complete Big Ten play,

781
00:41:26,559 --> 00:41:29,519
you'd get a decent win versus Iowa too. You would

782
00:41:29,519 --> 00:41:32,880
probably be able to beat Michigan State UCLA. They might

783
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,559
go twelve this year. I hate to say it. I

784
00:41:35,639 --> 00:41:37,840
hate to be so mean to the Bruins and the

785
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:42,039
Bruins fans that watched this podcast, and oh man, I

786
00:41:42,079 --> 00:41:44,960
do feel for you guys. I look, we were in

787
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,280
the same position Michigan State wise when mel Tucker, Yeah,

788
00:41:48,519 --> 00:41:53,119
had that whole situation. Melt Tucker mentioned in five. I'm

789
00:41:53,119 --> 00:41:55,519
pretty sure he was mentioned on Big Noon two or

790
00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:57,880
something of that nature. I don't know. I saw something

791
00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:02,239
about that on Twitter. Yeah, But regardless, this could be

792
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:04,440
a huge game for both of these teams. Illinois their

793
00:42:04,519 --> 00:42:07,079
rest of their schedule. Look, they got to play USC still,

794
00:42:07,079 --> 00:42:09,480
they still got to play Ohio State, but that's it.

795
00:42:10,159 --> 00:42:12,280
They could go eleven and one if they do win

796
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,760
this game. Now it's about winning this game, right, and

797
00:42:16,039 --> 00:42:17,400
if you're Illinois, you want to do that. You have

798
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:21,800
a nice non conference winning duke. The path gets really

799
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:26,280
easy for Illinois if they win this game and well

800
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,800
over under fifty two and a half, it could really

801
00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,960
go either way, depending on how these defenses look. I

802
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:34,280
would lead towards the under just because I think both

803
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:38,039
of these defenses are actually good units. I think it's

804
00:42:38,039 --> 00:42:40,800
gonna come down to turnover margin and who can get

805
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:42,719
it going in the ground game. I think those are

806
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:46,880
the really two key points for both of these squads.

807
00:42:47,199 --> 00:42:50,239
And look, they got Vegan in the backfield at Illinois.

808
00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,039
He is their best carries back. They also got Hank

809
00:42:53,039 --> 00:42:56,760
Betty on the outside. And defensively, I mean they got Jackis,

810
00:42:56,960 --> 00:42:59,400
who's one of the best linebackers in the country. You

811
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,239
got Scotty, got Bailey. I think they're gonna be able

812
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:05,559
to force turnovers. I think whoever's able to force turnovers

813
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,639
and force other quarterbacks, which both of them have a

814
00:43:08,679 --> 00:43:11,400
defic amount of experience, are gonna come out victors in

815
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:14,320
this game, and then the Apple Cup will take place

816
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:18,519
between Washington State and Washington. Washington State just took fifty

817
00:43:18,599 --> 00:43:22,039
nine lost in North Texas. My goodness, I didn't even

818
00:43:22,079 --> 00:43:26,960
see this pop up on my radar. I think Washington

819
00:43:27,039 --> 00:43:30,159
should be able to take care of business. They're favored

820
00:43:30,159 --> 00:43:32,079
by twenty and a half points off of bye week

821
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:36,000
and not play last week. Demon Williams one of the

822
00:43:36,039 --> 00:43:38,440
best quarterbacks in the Big Ten in my opinion. Something

823
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:41,079
I've said in the preseason, I don't care that he's

824
00:43:41,079 --> 00:43:45,480
barely played football. He's young, I get it, but he's

825
00:43:45,519 --> 00:43:49,239
also pretty good. Second leading rusher on their team. Jonah

826
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,280
Colebyn's a nice running back as well. And I think

827
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:53,920
they should be able to take care of business. And

828
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:57,000
that's it. Oh, we also have Michigan State USC at

829
00:43:57,079 --> 00:44:02,000
eleven o'clock one. I think it's kind of unfair. You

830
00:44:02,039 --> 00:44:05,039
know these East Coast teams, Well, this is what happens

831
00:44:05,039 --> 00:44:07,599
when you agree to let West coast chams and obviously

832
00:44:07,599 --> 00:44:10,440
a big change in time difference and long distance travel.

833
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:13,679
This is what's gonna happen? Right? Keys to that game?

834
00:44:15,119 --> 00:44:17,800
Oh Man, USC is favored by fifteen and a half

835
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:19,599
over under a fifty six and a half. Look, I

836
00:44:19,599 --> 00:44:21,800
think Michigan State could cover it, right, Like I think

837
00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:24,760
their offense is good. Just how good is it? Because

838
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:28,119
we've like Boston College just gave up thirty to Stanford,

839
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:30,679
and we played Youngstown State and Western Michigan held us

840
00:44:30,679 --> 00:44:33,840
to twenty three. Right, I think in Giles it's gonna

841
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:35,719
take a big game from him. I think the ground

842
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:37,480
game is really gonna have to come in for auition

843
00:44:37,639 --> 00:44:39,239
this game. And we've kind of been using three different

844
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:42,599
running backs. How's that gonna look on the USC side? Look,

845
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:47,320
Tesla's Michigan Site State secondary. You have the receivers on

846
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:50,400
the outside to get big plays and as long as

847
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:52,920
Maeva is not really getting pressured which Michigan State doesn't

848
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:54,960
really ton to do on the quarterback anyways, like Loner

849
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,760
getting looked like a Heisman candidate versus. I don't know

850
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:01,159
if Michigan State's really that good a team. And obviously

851
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:03,480
it'll be a testament to both to see where they're at.

852
00:45:03,559 --> 00:45:06,639
Because I that Purdue game is a little weird for USC.

853
00:45:07,199 --> 00:45:10,079
But yeah, I think, like all in all, I think

854
00:45:10,159 --> 00:45:13,840
USC's gonna come out the victor. Well, they covered spread, honestly,

855
00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:18,440
I think so. Being one hundred percent transparent here, I

856
00:45:18,519 --> 00:45:21,239
no bias, no nothing, I think USC comes out victors

857
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:23,880
and they probably should cover as well if their defense

858
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:26,320
is really gonna take that uptick and be you know,

859
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:28,960
actually good and this team can actually, you know, maybe

860
00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:33,239
compete for the College Football Playoff. They gotta do it obviously.

861
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:36,920
But yeah, and I'm pretty sure USC from what I saw,

862
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:39,679
they have a decently hard schedule. Yeah, they got Illinois, Michigan,

863
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:44,400
Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Oregon, so they got a long road.

864
00:45:44,599 --> 00:45:46,119
It could be a Nate and for a season it

865
00:45:46,159 --> 00:45:48,519
could be ten and two, eleven and one. Who knows

866
00:45:48,519 --> 00:45:51,920
what the ceiling is. But yeah, I think I think

867
00:45:52,039 --> 00:45:56,480
USC is actually a pretty pretty Legit may be Purdue, Georgia,

868
00:45:56,480 --> 00:46:00,599
Southern Missouri State look had comfortable leads and all of

869
00:46:00,639 --> 00:46:03,599
them in USC actually was ranked this week top twenty five.

870
00:46:04,119 --> 00:46:05,559
I don't know if they. I think it should have

871
00:46:05,599 --> 00:46:07,880
happened last week. And we'll take a look at the

872
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:13,199
Apeo pole see where these Big ten teams are ranked.

873
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:17,480
Just to end the show, and then I don't have

874
00:46:17,519 --> 00:46:20,519
anything else to talk about. We're doing pretty good on time.

875
00:46:20,599 --> 00:46:23,000
Not a lot of content in these last couple of weeks.

876
00:46:23,159 --> 00:46:25,119
I'm someone that does like to ramble on and go

877
00:46:25,199 --> 00:46:31,960
on tangents and stuff. No really reason too honestly, so

878
00:46:32,119 --> 00:46:36,760
far through this season, so far and what's happened, and

879
00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:41,079
obviously things will continue to get bigger. We'll see coaches fired,

880
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,400
We'll have a bunch of drama as the season continues on.

881
00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:47,519
Because I mean we're only three weeks in. We got

882
00:46:47,559 --> 00:46:50,400
week four coming up upon us. It's take a look

883
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:53,400
at the ap top twenty five and then we'll skidaddle

884
00:46:53,519 --> 00:46:56,400
out of here. Ohio State at number one, fifty five

885
00:46:56,559 --> 00:47:00,239
first place votes, pretty pretty usual, Penn State at two,

886
00:47:01,159 --> 00:47:03,480
five first place votes. We're going at six with one

887
00:47:03,559 --> 00:47:06,679
first place vote, and then we continue to go down

888
00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:10,639
the list. Illinois is at nine, and you know what,

889
00:47:11,159 --> 00:47:14,840
four big ten teams and that's top ten, how about it?

890
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:16,840
And then you kind of go continue to go down

891
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:19,679
the list. You see Indiana is at nineteen, Michigan's at

892
00:47:19,679 --> 00:47:21,480
twenty one, which they picked up a nice victory over

893
00:47:21,559 --> 00:47:26,360
Central Michigan looked dominant in doing so, Notre Dame at

894
00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:28,119
twenty four. I know they're not in the big ten,

895
00:47:28,159 --> 00:47:31,440
but they're Big ten. Come on, I know they actually

896
00:47:31,519 --> 00:47:33,760
technically they're proably acc with most of the teams that

897
00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:38,960
they play. But and then USC's at twenty five. Yeah,

898
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:44,239
they gave it looked good and look a lot of

899
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,880
things happened in this first week of or are going

900
00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:50,000
to happen in this first week a conference play, and

901
00:47:50,039 --> 00:47:52,599
we're gonna learn a lot after this weekend. I will

902
00:47:52,679 --> 00:47:56,440
have my notebook, I will have my laptop, I will

903
00:47:56,440 --> 00:47:58,840
have my quad Box, because if you're not watching on

904
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:03,760
quad Box and the Big twenty five one, you should

905
00:48:04,159 --> 00:48:05,519
if you want to see the most amount of games.

906
00:48:05,559 --> 00:48:07,199
A lot of people might just like rooting for their

907
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:09,159
team and watching the big games. And I completely get

908
00:48:09,199 --> 00:48:11,840
it from that perspective too. Like when it came to

909
00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:14,599
that uh Georgia Tennessee game, I had that on a

910
00:48:14,599 --> 00:48:16,239
big screen because I'm like, oh man, this is a

911
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:18,880
huge game. Or even it's gonna probably be eleven o'clock

912
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:21,000
next week and I'm probably just gonna have Michigan State

913
00:48:21,119 --> 00:48:25,800
solo on the screen. But AnyWho, regardless, I'm not telling

914
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:27,920
you how I watch college football or not, I think

915
00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:30,079
that just quad box is the best method if you

916
00:48:30,079 --> 00:48:32,400
do want to take in a lot of the games.

917
00:48:32,599 --> 00:48:39,159
But AnyWho, anyway possible, make sure, once again, follow everything

918
00:48:39,159 --> 00:48:41,320
you can. I've already mentioned it, but grid Iron Coast

919
00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:44,960
on X for me at DRIGA. Make sure you listen

920
00:48:45,039 --> 00:48:48,719
to all the podcasts on this feed. And because i mean, look,

921
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:52,880
if you love college football, you're obviously listening to the show,

922
00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:57,159
so why not know all of it? And yeah, AnyWho,

923
00:48:57,440 --> 00:48:59,800
I'm gonna take off. Thank you everyone for tuning into

924
00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:02,599
this edition of The Big Ten Paradigm. If we will

925
00:49:02,599 --> 00:49:05,920
catch you next week right here for another episode. Take

926
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:08,400
care of everyone,

