Speaker 1: All Star Toyota presents Off the Bench with Jacob Hester
and Matt Flynn.
Speaker 2: Okay, here we go where the.
Speaker 1: Plays get broken down, then science gets denied.
Speaker 2: I gotta come off the bench.
Speaker 1: Hour two of Off the Bench Live from the Mercedes
Benz Baton Rouge Studio starts now.
Speaker 3: All right, welcome back here.
Speaker 4: Now we're number two OTV here on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3: There's an eight people.
Speaker 4: There's a coach's poll, but the only poll that matters
is the OTB Top twenty five. A little quick recap
twenty five, Boise State twenty four, Memphis twenty three, Baylor
twenty two, Georgia Tech twenty one, Tennessee twenty, Iowa State
a number nineteen, Texas eight and four at number eighteen,
Indiana at seventeen, Old miss at sixteen, the Florida Gators,
and coming in at number fifteen, Matthew.
Speaker 2: Did you call him?
Speaker 3: Texas A four, Texas eight and four?
Speaker 2: All right, I like it. I've never heard of before.
Speaker 3: I've said it every day i've done the recap.
Speaker 2: I don't really, I don't listen. I drifted it out,
all right. So at number fifteen, at number fifteen, you
know I was thinking about the list yesterday, the top
twenty five, I thought it was just starting to get
a little repetitive. Little we had to shake things up
a little bit. So I was like, oh man, what
did I do? I take Texas, I put him at fifteen.
I don't know. I decided to not do that. Okay,
We're going to shake it up a little bit. I'm
going to pick a team that is in the ap
pole in the Coach's Poll, ranked a little bit lower
than fifteen or higher, whichever one. They're not ranked as
good as fifteen on the other polls, and I believe
that this is a team that has the potential be
based on a schedule and a really couple of games
that are going to really gonna determine the season for it.
We're gonna go to the Big twelve. Okay, we've been
stuck in the SEC for a couple of couple of
picks in a row. We're gonna go to the Big twelve,
and we're going to keep it inside the lone Star
State Number fifteen, Texas Tech Red Raider. Okay, I don't
hate it all right, those boys out in Loving Texas,
they are teeing up. There's a lot of buzz. There's
a lot of excitement in the air for the Texas
Texas Tech Red Raiders. In the AP they're number twenty three,
I believe in the coaches pulled their number twenty four,
But in the real list, the real top twenty five,
they are going to come in at number fifteen. And
you know what, I'm basing this off the fact of
what I believe that they could end up at the
end of the year. All Right, so the Big Twelve,
they are boasting one the easiest schedule in the Big Twelve. Hey,
their main games that you got to focus on are
Kansas State in Arizona State, and I believe it is
very likely that they could win one or both of
those games. We'll see how it all plays out. Is
their first time being ranked this high, which is twenty
three in the AP pole since two thousand and eight.
I think this first time first time they had a
preseason ranking in both of the AP and coaches polls.
I believe twenty eleven, two thousand and four, they were
eight and five lost to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
But this year they do feel like they are a
legit contender. Despite the fact that their last outright conference
championship was in nineteen fifty five. Can you believe that?
Coach champs? They were co champs in the Southwestern Conference
in nineteen seventy six and nineteen ninety four. But now
Texattech has emerged as one of the top spenders in NIL.
They're boasting a fifteen point two million dollar fund four
in IL, completely solely dedicated to football only, and that
has kind of led the way. They brought in the
top portal class leading into this twenty twenty five season,
including a five star offensive lineman Felix oho o Yo
who got they signed him, They paid him five point
one million dollars. They are returning quarterback Byron Morton. Do'
say that right? Byron? I think it's Baron Barn Barn
the e h R E N Baron Morton twenty seven
tds last year, eight interceptions, three three and thirty five year. Yeah,
very solid year. Actually, you know, when we think of
old school Texas, this is in the Graham Herald days,
Mike Leech days. They actually brought in some help on defense.
Not going to say they're the best defensive wherever they be.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, to your point, they brought in through the
transfer portal. They brought in nine guys on offense, ten
guys on defense. Hell, they even brought in two kickers
through the transfer portal. So they have been as active
as anybody.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they and like I said, they had the number
one ranked transfer class, and I think they had three
players on their defense that are on the preseason Bednerick Award,
so on that list at least. So they got some guys,
They got a coach that's been there I believe is
fourth season now. So look, it's all gonna come down. Look,
you could have we could easily go Arizona State, Kansas State,
but I think Texas Tech because of their strength to
schedule because of this here later on, I know, I
know it's gonna be tight. We'll see. I just believe
it's simile strength to schedule. They win one of those games,
they got an opportunity to be the exactly ranked fifteenth
team at the end of the year.
Speaker 3: All right, Yeah, I like this pick.
Speaker 5: And they are really uh getting ahead in the nil
space in all sports.
Speaker 2: It's I mean, they're like you get that Land money.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Canada, she was like the only one getting paid
a million dollars, like the highest paid softball player ever,
and you know GM James Blanchard comes in and just
starts bulldozing through stuff. So I I like that pick.
Speaker 2: What a hype? What a hype? Onderm right now there?
Speaker 5: They should be expensive roster.
Speaker 2: Yeah they got that Landman money, that Texas Panhandle oil country. Yeah,
they got it.
Speaker 5: Get your tortillas out.
Speaker 2: Look like you go to your point.
Speaker 4: I have been there when they've phwn the tortilla is
on the field after a big upset.
Speaker 3: It's kind of cool.
Speaker 6: Yeah, to your point, Like everybody talks about SMU spending
all this money, like Texas tex right there with them.
Baron Morton, I mean you laid out the numbers, but
like he also completed like sixty four percent of his
passes last year with that touchdown interception ratio. That's impressive.
They're better this year on the outside than they were
last year.
Speaker 2: I think it's a good pick. That may be a sleeper.
Not on this show. They're not not on this show.
Speaker 3: They're awake. They're awake, fully awake.
Speaker 2: We're woke'll be excited. I'm gonna know this ship. Guns up?
Is that what they say?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, guns up?
Speaker 3: Get your guns up. Yeah, say that too.
Speaker 2: Tech. Yeah, so we were. When I was in high school.
Our mascot was the Red Raiders and a lot of
uh we called Texas Tech the thirteenth grade of our
high school. A lot of people went there. Yeah, you know,
being a state school, it was like had the big
you know, Louisiana Techas that was thirteenth grade, a little
bit academically, a little bit more forgiving to be accepted
at the time. But I've personally never been the weapon.
I went really like a long time ago.
Speaker 5: One of my best friends went to Tech and she
went the same time that Patrick Mahomes was there, and
uh yeah, I mean it's exactly what you would imagine.
Speaker 7: It to me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Greater Tyler, Texas area.
Speaker 3: White Castle, white House, white House, White Castle's here.
Speaker 6: Home with the ten pound mosquitoes. If we've ever had
I've been to a game out.
Speaker 2: There, all right?
Speaker 3: Is that where Johnny Menzel went to He went there
for a little while.
Speaker 2: Yeah, white House, because I remember it's like pretty much
all the same.
Speaker 4: But when I met Johnny Manziel at Manning Passing Academy
when he was still at A and M his last year,
the year he got kicked out of Manning Passing Academy,
the only player to ever get kicked out.
Speaker 3: Sure, before he got kicked out, I remember him coming
up to me, Man, you played with me, flude. It
was a ball boy for them growing up. That dude
was awesome. I'm like the Saint Matt Flynn.
Speaker 2: Then, I know, got to be a different guy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Johnny Manziel. Yeah, his senior year or whatever, his
last year at A and M. I guess it would
have been junior year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he was big. Matt Flynn guy, your ball boy. Apparently,
do you remember that?
Speaker 6: Okay, he remembered Matt forgets the small people along the way.
Speaker 2: That's right, Yeah, little guys.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 4: To Matt's point, their schedule, they got Arkansas Pine Bluff
in the opener, They've got Kent State, They've got Oregon State.
All those games are going to be at home. They've
got a tough road game September the twentieth at Utah.
They get a bye week, and then it's at Houston.
You get Kansas at home. You're at Arizona State, Oklahoma
State at home, at Kansas State, BYU at home, UCF
at home, and at West Virginia like Matt said, October
the eighteenth and November the first, that's going to be
your most difficult games for Texas Tech on the road
against the number eleven and number seventeen teams in the country.
Speaker 2: So and only two of those teams on their schedule
are in the preseason the top twenty five yeah ranking list.
So I believe that they have the number one easiest
schedule in the Big Twelve leading end of the season.
Now we'll see how that plays out, and I think,
like the eightieth overall in the country easiest schedule.
Speaker 4: Big twelve is gonna be fun. It is going to
be chaotic energy every single week.
Speaker 3: It was last year.
Speaker 4: And if you like, from top to bottom, the teams
in that league are as close as any other league
that we have. And I know there's probably some people
that are immediate doing some shade. Yeah they're all bad teams.
That ain't the case. There is some quality football in
the Big Twelve this year, and I think the top
team and the bottom team. Hell, we saw it last year.
Arizona State was supposed to be the bottom team. They won,
They won the whole league, and so it's gonna be
that same thing this year.
Speaker 3: You're right.
Speaker 2: The Big Twelve is a really fun league to watch.
It's like a better quality, bigger school version of action.
That's how I feel like these games play out, like
the craziest stuff that could happen will happen, and it
can happen and will happen. So I'm excited about the
Big Twelve just watching it because, like you said, there's
a lot of really good teams. There's no one big dog,
there's not two big dogs. There's a lot of people.
Like whoever's standing on top of the Big Twelve it
could be one of eight teams, maybe sixty of.
Speaker 6: Us really good quarterback conference, like for this year, Yeah,
sixteen or sixteen teams.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I'm just saying, like half of them probably
got like a realistic shot.
Speaker 3: I think, Oh, I certainly think there's eight teams that
have a shot.
Speaker 2: But it's going to be Texas tick oh maybe maybe
get second. I have been put him at fifteenth, whatever,
he's gonna put him at fifteen.
Speaker 4: That's going to be a Big Twelve team in the
next fourteen teams. I can promise you that because I'm
picking one of them. If somebody else doesn't do it,
well done. Well done, Hey, break.
Speaker 3: Down, let's go TV.
Speaker 2: No, guess that's what it's going to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thirty seconds you came in extra time. Haid Off
quality usage told us to be quiet before the segment study.
He was like, everybody be quiet. That's seriously what he said.
Speaker 7: He did.
Speaker 2: It was either going to be Texas Tech or it
was going to be who else? Do I think?
Speaker 3: I no, no, no, no, no, no spoils? Okay, there
might be another team?
Speaker 2: Is shaken up?
Speaker 4: Question before we take a break, Is Texas Tech the
closest team to the west can and Coyotes? Like physically no,
just like in your thought process of like watching Varsity Blues,
is Texas Tech the closest to the West for it's.
Speaker 5: A pretty good comparison, Yes, because it's not Baylor.
Speaker 2: No, oh yeah, I mean it absolutely is.
Speaker 3: It's not a and M. There's not a cold.
Speaker 2: I would think like geographically speaking too, it would be
that area would be a little bit more. I think
that like the oil country out there.
Speaker 3: You got that going forward too.
Speaker 2: So yeah, but when I think of Texas Tech, of course,
I just like my mind it's not even really I.
Speaker 5: Think it's Cliff Kingsbury it's like the pan.
Speaker 3: I mean, like you got to keep going.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying we say West Texas. If I said
it that it means too it's a panhandle.
Speaker 4: I'm telling you, if you want to see Lubbock done
the right way, have West Walker and Cliff Kingsbury as
your host on your official visit.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 7: Man.
Speaker 2: I just tell you what beautiful, glorious years they had
with the pirates. Likely Crabtree, Danny Amndola Graham, Harrold.
Speaker 3: Shout out Danny, Michael Crabtree.
Speaker 2: How fun was that thing? That gay? I'll never forget
watching them beat Texas in Texas Tech Michael Crabtree. Oh yeah,
at the end of the game. Yeah, that was an
electric factory.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, that was one of those all timers for sure.
All Right, we gotta take a break. We'll do it.
Speaker 4: We got I got Chris Marler joining us about fifteen
minutes from now here in studio. We'll continue talking college
football though when we come back here on otbter.
Speaker 3: All right, go to Central Plumbing Dot Org.
Speaker 4: I always remember not only in Central, of course, if
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Go to the website today that is Central Plumbing dot org. Blocked.
Speaker 1: In ULSU football twenty four to seven, you're listening to
off the Bench, Gene says it that.
Speaker 8: Same old deevil Don, the same.
Speaker 6: Old Danny.
Speaker 1: Running that stone run through my veins like a shot
down tailsport plane.
Speaker 8: Scared of man and I'm.
Speaker 3: Scared, all right. Welcome backin OTV.
Speaker 4: Yesterday we talked about John Matteir Oaklan Home a quarterback
and some of his Venmo transactions.
Speaker 3: Sports gambling. How are we doing on that story progressing gambling? Well?
Speaker 4: John Matteir did release a statement he said, the allegations
that I once participated in sports gambling are false. My
previous Venmo descriptions did not accurately portray the transactions in question,
but were instead inside jokes between me and my friends.
Speaker 3: I have never bet on sports.
Speaker 4: I understand the seriousness of the matter, but recognized that,
taken out of context, those Venmo descriptions suggest otherwise. I
can assure my teammates, coaches and officials at the NC
DOUBLEA they have not engaged in any sports gambling.
Speaker 6: I believe No, Yeah, I believe in He said it
was an inside joke that we just wouldn't get it.
Speaker 2: Look, what's more believable that it was an inside joke
between probably two like a couple of nineteen year old kids,
or that he actually did at it and wrote it.
Speaker 4: Out like a nerd inside joke, Because yesterday when we
were having the conversation, I was thinking, if we have
had Venmo in college, some of the descriptions that me,
you steltz, I mean put a.
Speaker 2: Name on it would have like we would have like
I would have been mowed you for something like when
maybe you got my cover at friends. Yeah, and I
was I was Ben Milling you back five bucks. I
would have put illegal steroids or anabolic steroids on it
for sure. For sure I would have put maybe sports
gambling on it, just something to make us laugh. But
the stupid part was, is he made it public? Yeah,
just make it private. Yeah. And again this was maybe
they make it private, you can just hack into it.
Speaker 3: Who knows, uh, but I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't probably did it.
Speaker 3: I don't know if anything comes with this, but again.
Speaker 2: It shouldn't.
Speaker 3: I just I've met him very briefly.
Speaker 4: My gonna act like I know him, but just meeting
him and seeing kind of the way he carries himself.
So I told you, like, you're reminded me of a
mix of Baker Mayfield and Flynt, like that's who he was.
Speaker 3: I just can't.
Speaker 4: Imagine he would have put sports gambling, if that's what
it in fact was.
Speaker 2: Just I can't imagine anybody, like I said yesterday, under
the age of sixty, actually putting what they are sending
somebody money for, like.
Speaker 4: Ever, like actually, like you know, certainly when it's amongst friends,
like like you said, like if you if we were
out and you you picked up the first round, like
I'm gonna send you some stupid back to fat like
the payback yep, like just now I would right now
as a forty year old man, like I'm sending him
back something stupid.
Speaker 2: Yeh, say here's twenty bucks and description your balls are
showing or something like something weird.
Speaker 3: Oh glad you saved that one for eight twenty two
and not seven twenty two.
Speaker 2: Now the kids already dropped off people, just adults listening
now and the sick kids that's sitting at him.
Speaker 4: Was that a ace van tura to reference bumble bee tuna,
bumble bee tuna? No, he says what you just said,
like after that, Yeah, that's why I was wondering. Okay, No,
you don't remember that.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's just like ingrained to be so deep down. Yeah,
says that around the fire to the guy next.
Speaker 3: Yeah exactly. Yeah. One thing about ta that man? Have
seen every movie?
Speaker 2: Watch a lot of movies, TV shows now, not some movies. Yeah,
did you say you were Parks of right guy? No,
never seen it? Okay, fair enough. They made good television
this day. These days, television's probably better than most movies.
So these days, have you got a question for the room?
Who should have been ranked number one? In the AP
and Coaches poll. Should it have been Texas or somebody else?
Because they are the first, right, the first number one
preseason AP team to start this season as an underdog,
the first.
Speaker 3: We've ever seen. We talked about it a little bit yesterday.
Speaker 4: So should the team that they're playing, the defending national champion,
should they have been ranked number one?
Speaker 3: No, you think Texas should have?
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 2: Wait, say that again. Oh yes they should have. Sorry,
as your asset of Texas should have yea. So I
saw somebody talking about it. I think the closest ever
matchup like gambling line for the number one team in
the country on opening day was a team being minus
four number one team in the country minus four. I
think it was like Florida State and like the nineties,
this like this is and they're now they're underdog.
Speaker 4: This is the first time that a team has started
like the start of the season, the first game of
the year, the team that was preseason number one, the
first time ever that they have been an underdog in
the first game, the first time ever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so.
Speaker 3: Ws Ohio State nine number.
Speaker 2: It's really dumb. That's where we talked about this yesterday. Basically,
the people voting for them, voting for Texas as number one,
are saying that they are going to win the first
game of the season. It's the only way that you
ranked them number one, the only way, And if they do,
more power to them, Like good luck stopping the arch
man in hype train if that happens. Good luck trying
to like keep him off of first team All American
no matter what he does. So I think it's a
if you're going to be underdog, you can't be number one.
That's why I gave you that. Like the the last
time the closest gambling line ever for a number one
team prior to this going into Week one was minus four, right,
that was the closest match and they were the favorite.
So I don't know, it's wild. I mean, that's why.
And for both of them to do it too. I
get the coaches play like the coaches aren't spending time
going through this, like he said sid Poll, It's not
like I think Brian Kelly's going there and dissecting every
team and looking at you know, strength to schedules. Now're
not doing.
Speaker 3: He's worried about his guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so they're not doing. But like the AP
to do that. That means most of the Associated Press
is choosing Texas to win game number one.
Speaker 4: They don't even have Ohio State as the number two team.
They're actually number three in the AP Top twenty five.
Penn State comes in at number two, and they made
the semi finals last year. It was a close game,
competitive game against Notre Dame. But I still there's still
something I need to see from them. I love their
running backs. I mean, they've got two guys that could
be All Americans, like first team All American type running backs.
But Tyler Warren balled them out so much a year ago.
That's why he was a first round pick. That's why
he's going to be a good player on Sundays for
the Colts. They went and got a couple guys out
of the portal I receiver. But I have a hard
time believing that you're going to be without Abdul Carter,
who was a top five without Tyler Warren, and you're
going to be better than you were a year ago,
like Drew Roller. Still there's something that is missing for
me for him to be one of the quarterbacks that
we talk about with a K club Nick with a
Garrett nus Meyer. I don't have him in that category.
Speaker 3: Some people do. I don't see it. Penn State's one
that's going to prove some things to me as well.
Speaker 2: Penn State just had like last year was their closest
they ever actually getting it done, like getting whatever. The
hype is there. They always have the preseason hype. They
always look go gangbusters the first half the season. They're
like it the like when Wisconsin was kind of doing
their thing, they were like a little souped up version
of them. Like they always have the hype they always
should be. It's like the wood It should have could
a team every single year and for them to be
preseason ranked the head of Ohio State, that is the Kulda. Yeah,
it's not should have would They're the ones that actually
go out and do it. You're in, You're out. I
don't know. I think it's a pretty dumb top three myself.
Speaker 4: I know you're you're burning back there, like getting talked
in three minutes. I know you're ready to give a
take on one of these teams.
Speaker 6: No, I mean, I absolutely think of how the State
should be ranked number one just because they have the
best offensive and defensive player in college football. They're the
defending national champs. I think they're going to beat Texas
week one. But going to your Penn State thing, like,
I agree one because so many people are going to say, oh, well,
Nick Singleton and k Tron Allen are back. Yeah, you
had that last year and it wasn't good enough and
you're worse in almost every other spot. Now you have
your quarterback back. But everyone's points to the playoff game. Hey,
he didn't complete a pass two receiver in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: True.
Speaker 6: Did you get significantly better at receiver in the offseason?
Not really, and you lost your unicorn and Tyler Warren.
I just don't see it in Penn State. They're still
gonna have a good defense, They're still gonna have an
elite running game.
Speaker 2: That's kind of all they are. Give me a give
me a NFL comparison to Penn State. I got mine
right now. And I always think I'm comparing Penn State
to the Pittsburgh Steelers right now now. Maybe maybe not
this year because they're not going to fall.
Speaker 3: They have some years.
Speaker 2: And they got they got a head coach that is
a proven winner, awesome for the program. He is the
face of that program, and you can't imagine life without him.
But but I just can't get it done.
Speaker 7: Now.
Speaker 2: Look, well let's take let's take Tomlin's like we're just
talking about the last ten fifteen years, right of Thomas
Krek because obviously he has got it done with with
big Ben there, but it's just that one that's always
going to be there, always going to be a threat.
But they lost the first round of the playoffs for
the last five six years, so we'll see. But uh, yeah,
that's the and you can't justify getting rid of him.
But at some point you gotta like look in the
mirror and say, at what point do we stick our
foot in the ground and say we have to make
it could change if we want to take the next level.
Speaker 4: Pretty good con sad anybody Steelers have actually gone and
then you know, won Super Bowls. I guess that would
be the difference. Yeah, it hasn't been. It hasn't done
it in yeah, forty years. Eighty six, eighty six. Last
time they won a nationally eighty six seven It was
eighty six, so not a backcom look at you, well done, sir.
Speaker 3: Eighty six eighty six was.
Speaker 2: The last time one. It got to be fifteen so no,
it was sixteen seventeen.
Speaker 3: They won that rookie year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the last time they won.
Speaker 3: And then okay, y'all beat him.
Speaker 2: We didn't beat them, and they hadn't been nex. It's
almost been twenty years. So it was two thousand and nine,
two thousand and nine.
Speaker 3: You need to chill out putting years on stuff like that.
Really it was.
Speaker 2: It was the eight football season, but February nine. Yeah,
so seventeen years. Yeah, we're y'all were rookies.
Speaker 3: Yeah, everybody needs to chill out with all the years
you're throwing around.
Speaker 2: We get it, people, we're old.
Speaker 3: All right, we'll take a break when we come back.
Speaker 4: I got Chris Marlin Louisiana Sports dot Net will join
us to break down Tiger's training camp. We'll do it
right here on OTB off the bench, all right, go
to trash rangers dot com. Two two five six one
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three different sizes to choose from. So you give them
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said yesterday, if you need it delivered, picked up in
two days, emptied and brought back, they also can do that.
Speaker 3: Maybe you have more than you thought. It's okay, all right.
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Go to the website today, trash rangers dot com.
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Speaker 1: From players to legends, Hester and Flynn breakdown l s
U Football like only champions can.
Speaker 4: Pull me another.
Speaker 3: Round, line them up and knock them damn. Let's go
sign them all right.
Speaker 4: Walking back in O TV one, O four five, ESPN,
Baton Rouge and welcome on our guy, Chris Marler Louisianasports
dot Net onto the show.
Speaker 2: What's up?
Speaker 3: Brother? How we doing? How we living?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 4: Not your first time to be on air with me.
I mean, we've been doing this for like a long time.
Back when you were with Saturday down South. You came
on Hanging with Hester nighttime Radio.
Speaker 8: You did. I thought this was my first time.
Speaker 3: Made it. I checked the I checked the archives, check
the logs. I checked the archives. You did? You joined
us on Hanging with Hester.
Speaker 8: What did I say?
Speaker 7: So?
Speaker 3: You know that's a long time ago. I got ct.
It's a whole deal. So there's no chance I remember that.
Speaker 7: I remember you coming to the Collegeball Hall of Fame
to talk about the tween nineteen SEC Championship and we
had a lot of Georgia fans there and I was
trying to play caid a little bit to that fan base,
and I was, you know that twenty seventeen was pretty good,
and I'll never forget. You looked over me and you go,
I'm wearing a ring right now from the national Championship
team for that year.
Speaker 8: And I was like, okay, I'll be quiet.
Speaker 3: For those I don't know, maybe for the championship or
it's like there's very few times I've had it on,
but maybe I did. I don't know. It's in a
box with some dust on it. I do know that
right now.
Speaker 4: But the two thousand and seven Georgia does have some
qualms with US winning the national championship because they beat Hawaii.
Speaker 8: Yeah here in the state though, which is in the
Sugar Bowl.
Speaker 4: Shout out our guy, Cole Brennan, Rest in peace, legend,
absolute legend.
Speaker 3: How's the movement?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 3: Moved to Baton Rouge? What two weeks ago?
Speaker 7: Now? Three weeks ago, got engaged on Thursday and moved
on Saturday. And if your listeners are wondering, if you
do that many life changes in forty eight hours, don't ever,
just don't do that. No, it's been awesome, man. We
we came here from Atlanta. I'm from Atlanta, lived in
Columbia Southline for a while. I don't know what took
me so long to get here.
Speaker 3: We love it here.
Speaker 8: It's just been awesome.
Speaker 7: It hasn't even been that hot, which is I don't
want to jinx it. I don't want to jinx it,
but like it has been. Everyone has been so nice.
The food's unreal. Our Corgi Pepper loves it like we're
just we're we're so happy, man, We.
Speaker 3: We love it.
Speaker 2: What have you been what what kind of meals. Have
you been dying then too, like where are we? Where
are we frequented all of them, all of the meals.
Speaker 7: Was talking yesterday on Cameron he was like, yeah, I
gained twenty pounds in was like, brother.
Speaker 8: Me too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, weird, Yeah it happened.
Speaker 8: He said.
Speaker 7: It was just jump alive. It was like five meals
a day. But no, we went to we went to
radio bar with your producer, a lot of radio bars,
but I was told not to and Pie from Taylor
We're told lot. You said it wasn't that good.
Speaker 3: Excuse me, Look, I mean you can't trust the skinny
guy with food.
Speaker 7: That jaw lines and taxed way too much to do that.
But no, we've been to Superior way too many times.
Speaker 3: Way that happens. Yeah, I love it though that tends
to happen.
Speaker 4: I want to have you on today because you have
been a training camp like every single day, so you've
had a chance to watch a team and just get
like a different perspective like yeah, obviously we played there
and you know we're gonna have inherent biases, Yeah, towards
kind of what we see. What have you seen from LSU,
because you've seen what they look like when they can
win a championship, Like, is this a team that you
think is going to be in the conversation all season long?
Speaker 8: Well, isn't.
Speaker 7: As a Division two college baseball player, I'm glad you
can bring me on to talk about this.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 7: No, So, I mean I don't know if this is
a national championship team out of the gates because there's
so many working and moving parts to it. I mean,
like like there's the thing that jumps out to me
the most and I go to more so, like, all right,
what are the concerns because the receivers, the receivers what
I was most excited for, and the receivers I feel
like you could draw names out of a hat, put
any three you want there on the and they are
going to toward secondaries for most of the year. Like
there's not a ton that are better than them on
on the field. They're going to play in the schedule
this year, there's concerns on the schedule, like they like
are they gonna be better at being able to stop
mobile quarterbacks because the Norseeller's just come in to town
all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3: But they've run from the very get go right and the.
Speaker 7: Main but the main thing is, like, you got to
get to ten wins to get to the playoff in
the first place. I fully believe it's a ten ten
win team. I look at the roster, I look at
them like the way they've looked in camp. I've said
this since the preseason magazines came out, before the rankings did.
I don't think there's eight teams that are better than
LSU from a roster standpoint.
Speaker 3: I know there's not.
Speaker 8: That's the top five roster in the country that I
feel very confident that.
Speaker 7: But then you start looking at how you win those
big games, Like the offensive line is an issue, and
it's been an issue throughout camp, and you're gonna start
five new players. I think DJ Chesh is the only
returning guy from last year. He's not gonna start to center.
Berylin More is And they've struggled a lot. They've gotten better,
but they they have a long way to go, I think.
So it's also it's a work in progress. Like for
for any team to go through the schedule and out
of the gate that Clemson D line, that's gonna be tough,
that's gonna be really tough for them.
Speaker 2: So you've been there, you've been to You've gone to
most of practices, right, so you've got you've got in
your eyes on it. You've been watching the personal When
you go to practice. What are you trying to focus
most on. Are you trying to, like see who playmakers
are in east side? Are you looking at the parts
of the team that people are a little bit more?
Are you watching the offensive? Are you watching the defensive line?
What do you try to focus on when you go.
Speaker 7: My main focus is that don't don't do anything stupid,
sure trouble, failed.
Speaker 2: To do lose your credential.
Speaker 3: Yeah, look at this show who among us?
Speaker 8: I walked out of it yesterday.
Speaker 7: They were like, all right, guys are allowed to watch practice,
And I pull my phone out there like that phone's
without a phone.
Speaker 8: I'm like, yeah, I'll just I'll leave. It's fine.
Speaker 7: No, But I think the offensive line, I think is
one of the most intriguing parts. One of the things
I guess me personally have been focused on more fascinating
with is trade as green as a blocker.
Speaker 8: How is he doing the fundamentals?
Speaker 7: You've got to do some of it for sure, right,
and so him and Bower sharp, but Bower sharp has
been one of the most consistent players in camp, like
and not just from like a oh that's a that's
a good safety to have.
Speaker 8: He's got good hands, like I mean, he's been like
one hand catches. He's been really really good. The offensive
line it's one of those things too. It's like a
spring game.
Speaker 7: It's like it's hard to look at at the offense
and say, well, you know, the offensive line has been awful,
because then you look at you like, well, the defensive
line may be incredible, Dom McKinley and and Gooden. But
the main things I'm focused on is just like some
of those little things that I feel like you need
to improve upon from last year. And and like Nussmeier,
I think he looks really good, but I think gonna
give him time to throw because that's when he has
kind of struggled. Like you saw the A and M
game last year. There and then the other big part
of the secondary as well. I think they've looked really
good as well.
Speaker 4: There's certainly a big question mark coming in just because
it has not been to the standard ls you's certainly
seen in the defensive back got over the last couple
of years. But if we just look at the SEC,
you kind of look at the hierarchy of the SEC.
It's fascinating this year because the teams that are typically
at the top are starting over at quarterback and they've
got some guys that that maybe Toys Simpson ends up
being great, maybe gunnerstock that ends up being great, But
they don't even have a lot of hype of you know,
arch Manning has all the high but we don't know
what arch Man going to be. And then the teams
that are trying to get to that point. You're Florida's,
South Carolina's LSU. They got a dude right a quarterback
and how that plays out it is the most interesting
thing to me in the SEC.
Speaker 7: I think it's so bizarre to watch Texas because we
have just for whatever reason, they haven't won a national title.
They haven't won an SEC title. I said this to
media days. I don't know if everyone I was holding
my hand up the whole time.
Speaker 8: You guys saw it. They I don't think they had
the entire time.
Speaker 7: I don't think anybody in that room knew that Georgia
beat them once, let alone twice in a building that
was like three hundred yards away.
Speaker 8: Yeah, because Texas has become the overall favorite.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 7: It is bizarre to me that they are so like
the media is so enamored with them. I think Georgia
is going to be really, really good, even though they
are starting over at quarterback, because that's when when's the
best we've seen Georgia. It's when they had a dude
that was like, his nickname was the Mailman. It was
at walk Off, you know what I mean, he was
in college for eighteen years. But also like having a
kid like.
Speaker 3: That that, well, Gunner looks like he's been in college
for eighteen years.
Speaker 8: Yes, yeah, he's a coach, right, yeah, he is the dad.
Speaker 3: I don't know if he really is, but he looks like.
Speaker 8: He's got that powers hairline. So if you can play
like or something.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it is no, but I think that I think
you're also right about the fact that, like, it is
odd that because you look at people talk about LSU
and in South Carolina, especially in this middle tier, and
I don't put Florida in that tier because I think
DJ Lagway is great. He doesn't have around him what
those other two schools have around him at all.
Speaker 4: And Midland North do feel different because like if if
they go down, the team's completely different. I'm not saying that,
you know most quarterbacks when you go down, but still
like even LSU, like they've got a guy who started.
Speaker 3: SEC games behind us.
Speaker 2: MR.
Speaker 4: Now you don't want that to happen, but like Lagway
and Sellers mean so much to their team. We're talking
about like a four win swing.
Speaker 7: Maybe, Yeah, I don't think Florida's taken the field at
any point since the spring and someone hasn't been injured.
It's like it's not just Lagway, It's like it is
the receivers, all kind of stuff. So I think it
is interesting for sure.
Speaker 4: I mean, even Vanderbilt's got a guy that they feel
really good about. Man probably is Electric.
Speaker 8: Hant dreams, right.
Speaker 7: I mean Auburn again, if they beat Auburn, they they are.
I believe they're already ahead in the all time series,
like twenty one to twenty.
Speaker 2: So you know that. Yeah, I kind of want to
like steer this back to LSU a little bit because
you brought it up with opening game facing a mobile quarterback. Cake,
let me like, well, LSU, the whole season, we're going
to face Diego Pavia. Litorcella's John Mattier like we are
going to be facing dynamic quarterbacks all season. So I
have to think with kind of the preseason like acknowledgment
from the coaching staff at LSU, like we were focusing
on game one, like we want like that is our focus.
I believe that they've been game playing a little bit
from a defensive side. Have you seen defenses wrinkles way
they're playing Harold Perkins, way they're playing their safeties. That
lead you to believe, all right, they're actually like kind
of game planning their defensive philosophy right now around stopping
keeping a mobile quarterback contained.
Speaker 7: I think that I think you're just talking about going
from year one of year two and making improvements on
the on the very obvious things that this team struggled with,
and that was one of them. And I tell you what,
like it. I don't know what they're gonna do with
defensive line. It feels like they kind of have an
understanding who's gonna be interior of fun. I think it's
gonna McKinley. I think it'sna be good. But from the
back seventh standpoint, that seems pretty set like that that
that seems like like delaying is gonna man down or
man one of the spots. Stamps is gonna be the
other corner. You're gonna have Halsey. And then Taylor helped
me out here who's zero at the other safety. So
they've been they've been.
Speaker 8: Kind of back there at safety.
Speaker 7: And then but like the linebackers, both Weeks brothers and
like Manning like the main spots, and then having Harrold
Bible to Perkers be able to kind of like play
at star position.
Speaker 8: He seems way more comfortable than he he has.
Speaker 7: He like the amount of times I've heard I told
this to Taylor, the amount of times I've heard someone yo,
good perk like in practice, like.
Speaker 8: It's been I can't get kicked there already.
Speaker 7: Sure, but no, So I I think that they're gonna
be I think they've they're going to be improved on it.
I think they're just like last year at times it
felt like at some point of the season everything just
started falling apart and they couldnt figure out how to
get out of it. Like the A and M game
is like a perfect example, because it's like you're all
of a sudden, it's a quicksand And so I think
they should be more improved on that side.
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to, uh to seeing that improvement.
Speaker 4: Certainly. It's something that you know, Blake Baker from what
Matt House was to what Blake did last year. Now
let's take another another jump. Yeah, we usually use initials
when we say it, like he did yesterday.
Speaker 3: That's on me. That's a rookie move by veteran players.
Speaker 4: That's a bad right there, Yes, yes, exactly, Marlar. We
appreciate it, sir, glad to have you in town. Yeah,
it should have been on my side. Yeah, short kings
over here, low man win stop saying a quarter you're
forty years old. All right, we'll take a break more
OTV when we come back. One of four five ESPN,
beton rouge off the bench, all right, go to go
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Speaker 1: From players to legends, Hester and Flynn breakdown LSU football
like only champions can.
Speaker 8: On my side of town, that lonesome feeling comes to
my world.
Speaker 2: There's an across the railroad track.
Speaker 8: I got a table for two weighing back.
Speaker 4: If you don't like this song, I don't like you,
you can get out.
Speaker 3: I'm just telling you right now, I don't know who
you are, where you come from, you can get out.
Speaker 2: Hey, as a former running back, your heart has to
be singing for joy right now. James Cook, James Cook
the latest running back to get paid, to get a
contract extension at the running back position that was you
know for a long time thought it was in the decline.
Speaker 3: I don't get it. I don't get it.
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 4: Finally, but I never got The Eagles won the Super
Bowl last year, right, they're pretty good a running back.
Like even when the Chiefs were winning the Super Bowls,
it was because of Mahomes. But think about like the
role that Pacheco played down the stretch, and like their
offense kind of changed.
Speaker 3: I just don't get bad.
Speaker 2: They were last year with Pachecko on the bench. They
couldn't run it at all.
Speaker 4: I just I've never understood it. Like you look at
the top teams across the NFL, it's like, sure like
they might have a dude at quarterback, great receivers. If
you can't run the football, it changes the math, and
so why not put value. I get the tread on
the tires. I get like, if we make it to thirty, like,
let's celebrate the hell out of that, because if you're
thirty at running back, you're forty at any other position.
I get all of that, But it's like, if you
got a guy that has proven he can do it
past twenty eight, twenty nine.
Speaker 3: Yeah, give him some dollars, some money.
Speaker 2: There was a stretch period of time where a star
running back did not mean you were didn't bring championships.
Then that was probably the reason for the decline because
you could plug and play like James Stark's for us.
He was a big guy, but he was like a
fifth round pick Miss Buffalo, the Buffalo Buffalo, University of Buffalo.
Speaker 3: You talked about this the other day. You're right right, So,
like he feels like he should have played.
Speaker 2: So for a period of time, a lot of people
are getting it done with late rounders, low paid guys
and being able to spend on quarterback, spind on receiver,
defensive end, left tackle, and things like that. But the
emergence has swung back around. The star running back is
making such a big difference because, like we talk about
a lot the x's and o's, the philosophy of football
is like a roller coaster. There's ebbs and flows to it.
It changes. Philosophy has change when an offense. When an
offense starts doing something new, defense reacts. Once a defense reacts,
the offense picks something else to do and then it's
just it's it's a cyclical thing. Like that's a circle,
that's a big one. So, like we can look at
the top paid running back Saquon Barkley's average. He's getting
twenty point six million a year, Christian McCaffrey at nineteen,
Jonathan Taylor fourteen million, Alva kamar A twelve point twenty five,
Josh Jacobs twelve million, Darris what do he means to
the package? What means Henry fifteen million. So James cook
just signed a new three year, three year, no four year,
I'm sorry, four year extension added new money forty eight million.
Thirty of the porter one thirty of it's guaranteed. So
he's he's going to be averaging twelve million dollars in
new money.
Speaker 3: He signed the deal that his brother was kind of
always looking for.
Speaker 2: And like we talked about that Buffalo Bill seam. As
much as Josh Allen means that team, James James Cooks
means just probably he's the second most important on that
team what.
Speaker 3: They want to do.
Speaker 4: Like he sets up a lot of their offensive success.
They have brand name receivers out there. Last they got
great value receivers, which is fine. Like they it works
for them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he had over a thousand yards rushing last year,
sixteen touchdowns. He was a touchdown score machine like Daily
Fantasy me and by somen what do we get? James
Cooks is who we're going after.
Speaker 3: I like the lessons you're teaching Huck sports cards in
Daily Fantasy. I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it has gotten him into he loves football.
Speaker 3: He you might as well started nine.
Speaker 2: And I get for like Josh Allen m v P
last year, Khalil Shakir keyon Coleman, Dalton kind Mac like
knocks they had do have a Mark Cooper, Yeah.
Speaker 4: A Maari Cooper is a better football player than I
ever thought about being. But he's on the way other
side of it.
Speaker 2: So they just had a little contract dispute. There was
a little holdout or a hold in, sit in, whatever
you want to call it. James Cooks was in camp,
but they were renegotiated. Wasn't practicing, but they got that
figured out. Pay that man his money, paid the man
his mon and they did that very important bills. Josh
Allen killing it, but the running back is the winner.
I knew that you had some joy in your heart.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: I didn't know if like you, were too embarrassed at
talk about it, so I wanted to highlight it.
Speaker 4: I mean, name another position that is going to run, block, block, past, block, catch, run,
and even sometimes throw.
Speaker 3: Does it all? That's a running back position? Real quick?
Twenty seconds?
Speaker 2: Do we know what?
Speaker 3: Don't splash the pot? What movie that's from?
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: Let's splash rash? Okay, thank god?
Speaker 2: Hey, that's mine money.
Speaker 4: All right, we'll be back our number three little would
you rather Wednesday? We got Dear Delandre though when we come.
Speaker 1: Back off the bench.
Speaker 4: Can't wait for Dear Delandre get those questions inside to
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