Speaker 1: You got a busy, busy weekend on this little radio
Speaker 1: station that extends through Monday nights. Monday night is the
Speaker 1: national championship game in college football. It's Notre Dame, it's
Speaker 1: Ohio State. You're gonna hear NFL playoff football over the weekend.
Speaker 1: You get hear some Utah BYU basketball. Let's do some
Speaker 1: college and pro football with one of our favorites, my guy,
Speaker 1: Max brown Back on the drive. Max, Happy Friday, brother,
Speaker 1: how are we doing?
Speaker 2: Every Friday? Spent them doing? Well? How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm good? All right?
Speaker 1: Your favorite weekend of NFL Playoff football is which weekend?
Speaker 3: And why?
Speaker 2: That's a good one? Yeah? Right, That's what majority think
Speaker 2: this will point weekend is that I'm saying the first
Speaker 2: full week of college football, so not Week zero, but
Speaker 2: the true week one, September one. I feel like it's
Speaker 2: not only the first real taste of football week get,
Speaker 2: but it's turned the page on summer and settle them
Speaker 2: into what the fall will be. So hey, there's so
Speaker 2: much anticipation. There's like a month and a half of
Speaker 2: anticipation leading up. So I'll go Labor Day weekend for me.
Speaker 3: Fair enough? Fair enough? All right?
Speaker 1: I do want to get a thought from you, well,
Speaker 1: not just a thought, but a good preview on Monday night,
Speaker 1: and we'll probably end there, but let's do a little
Speaker 1: bit of local stuff. And I won't hold your feet
Speaker 1: to the fire because your attention has been elsewhere. But
Speaker 1: generally speaking, you can speak to the fact that Utah
Speaker 1: football has brought in a new offensive coordinator, just a
Speaker 1: bevy of new players. Basically most if not all, the
Speaker 1: skilled position players will be new, a total of forty
Speaker 1: one new players. That's fifty three percent roster turnover, which
Speaker 1: I guess is simply the new normal in college football.
Speaker 1: But the way I'll pose the question, Max, is what
Speaker 1: gives what gives you the most confidence that year one
Speaker 1: in the Big twelve for the Utes was an anomaly,
Speaker 1: a moment in time, and not.
Speaker 3: What the new normal is for this program.
Speaker 2: Yeah, think two things show out to me there. It's
Speaker 2: one that you got Kyle Wayne Ham as your head coach,
Speaker 2: so obviously gives you confidence in the stability there. And
Speaker 2: there's even throughout his tenure when there have been the
Speaker 2: high points, you know, even when I was in school.
Speaker 2: You know, I think there was one one year in
Speaker 2: there from that thirteen to call it sixteen range, where
Speaker 2: you know Utah did take a step back, but it
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that then like a lot of programs where
Speaker 2: then that step back means that you've lost momentum forever.
Speaker 2: I feel like Kyle Woodingham has a track record of like, hey,
Speaker 2: you can have it down a year and then come
Speaker 2: back and still contend for championship. So that's the first year.
Speaker 2: But I also go to like the whole just Cam
Speaker 2: Rising calendar year. That was the expectations put on this program,
Speaker 2: the fact that you came into a new conference and
Speaker 2: I was one of them that said, hey, Utah is
Speaker 2: going to be the standard in the Big twelve. And
Speaker 2: I think those expectations were different for Utah. I think
Speaker 2: the Cam Rising guessing game takes a toll not only
Speaker 2: on a not only on him, not only on the offense,
Speaker 2: but I my senses from Afar that it took a
Speaker 2: toll on on your team, especially just because offseason wise,
Speaker 2: when he's getting the reps, so you're not you're you're
Speaker 2: you're necessarily you know you're you're you're not giving the
Speaker 2: reps to Wilson or another guy out there to give
Speaker 2: him a true shot. I just think there's something to
Speaker 2: be said about, you know, not going back and forth,
Speaker 2: not having that guessing game, and having a clearer direction.
Speaker 2: I would feel more confident that that gives you your
Speaker 2: team the ability to march in one direction versus last
Speaker 2: year again with the expectations and the uncertainty around Cam Rising,
Speaker 2: it felt like it was just hard to get your
Speaker 2: footing in a conference that you know was beating each
Speaker 2: other up at the top of the At the top
Speaker 2: of the conference.
Speaker 1: You reference Cam Rising and one piece of news. We
Speaker 1: got a little January media availability with the Utah coaching staff,
Speaker 1: which doesn't happen often, and we had Jason Beck on
Speaker 1: the show, which is fun, my first chance to interview him.
Speaker 1: But Coach Wit didn't more or less make it official.
Speaker 1: They well did make it official. The Cam's out on
Speaker 1: the roster. They're moving forward without him. He has He's
Speaker 1: mentioned that Cam will announce what his next steps are
Speaker 1: in his time and we haven't heard from Cameron yet.
Speaker 1: But you were a guy that during your time with
Speaker 1: the PAC twelve network, you covered those teams when Cam
Speaker 1: was healthy and right, and as he now moves on
Speaker 1: to his next phase in life, how should Utah fans
Speaker 1: remember Cam Rising as one of.
Speaker 2: The best quarterbacks to ever wear that uniform. And you know,
Speaker 2: it's a funny. There's two sides of this, right, there's
Speaker 2: the one of the best quarterbacks to everwhere in the
Speaker 2: Utah uniform, the Rose Bowl memories, the leveling up, the
Speaker 2: class that Utah was when I was, you know, in
Speaker 2: the Pac twelve as a player from thirteen to sixteen,
Speaker 2: Utah was competitive. Utah was a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 2: Utah was you knew that you had to buckle up
Speaker 2: your chin strap. But I think the Cam Rising era
Speaker 2: took Utah to a different level of expectation and then
Speaker 2: different standard and ten twenty years from now, when you
Speaker 2: look back, I think Cam will be the symbol for
Speaker 2: what that era meant for Utah football. But on the
Speaker 2: foot side, I think it's hard not to sit there
Speaker 2: and think, hey, what could have been? That there was
Speaker 2: more out there. I guess it's a better way to
Speaker 2: put it with hey, maybe getting that Rose Bowl win,
Speaker 2: or what could have been in the twenty twenty four season,
Speaker 2: even the twenty twenty three season. Sitting there and knocking
Speaker 2: on the door, I think there was there's two sides
Speaker 2: to it. There's the acknowledge how far the programs come
Speaker 2: and his tenure was a big reason why. But also,
Speaker 2: you know, the meat left on the bone. And I'll
Speaker 2: also even take it back to you. You know, remember
Speaker 2: the days when cam Risen was sitting there in that
Speaker 2: quarterback competition and lost the job and stuck around and
Speaker 2: you know, got the nod week three or week four,
Speaker 2: and it wasn't a foregone conclusion that you know, he
Speaker 2: was the dude. I mean nowadays, you know, I see
Speaker 2: the pictures of remember when Cam Rising was a Texas
Speaker 2: longhorn and then transfers to Utah, and you kind of
Speaker 2: brush over the fact that, hey, it wasn't a foregone
Speaker 2: conclusion that he was going to be a stud. He
Speaker 2: had to grind and be patient. And I think a
Speaker 2: lot of what he represented is what the Kyle Whittingham
Speaker 2: era has been at Utah and will probably continue to
Speaker 2: be once the paton has passed to pass to the
Speaker 2: next guy.
Speaker 1: One more thing here, and I don't want to bring
Speaker 1: up anything in the past. It's uncomfortable and I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to be your therapist, but maybe we can process
Speaker 1: on a Friday, Max, because you're a guy like Cam
Speaker 1: Rising once upon a time that took a little heat
Speaker 1: from a college football fan base that was very passionate
Speaker 1: and very hopeful that maybe you could do some things that,
Speaker 1: for whatever reasons, didn't fully work out. And over the
Speaker 1: final couple of years, Cam took a lot of guff
Speaker 1: and a lot of grief from a lot of fans.
Speaker 1: And as I keep saying on air, you always have
Speaker 1: the option.
Speaker 3: Of not tweeting.
Speaker 1: You can put it in your drafts and go for
Speaker 1: a walk and come back and decide. And I don't
Speaker 1: love to get a lot of attention to cowards who
Speaker 1: use the internet to feel brave. But as somebody who
Speaker 1: went through that, what's it like when your own fan
Speaker 1: base seems to turn on you like that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's tough. I mean the articles that I remember
Speaker 2: is one of my last days at USC before I
Speaker 2: transferred to Pitt was a front page of our USC
Speaker 2: newspaper about hey if forget exactly what the title was,
Speaker 2: but the thesis of the article was, hey, if Max
Speaker 2: Brown never started and we started with Sam Darnold from
Speaker 2: Week one National champions That was the twenty sixteen season.
Speaker 2: That's the year that USC beat Saquon Barkley in the
Speaker 2: in the Rose Bowl, and I started those first what
Speaker 2: was it, three games, went one and two, and actually
Speaker 2: Donald's first start was at Rice Ecles in Utah. And
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't blame the I mean, it's a
Speaker 2: captivating article for that student reporter to write. But those
Speaker 2: are the ones that I'm turning thirty next month. Those
Speaker 2: are the ones that you remember. So it's tough. But
Speaker 2: I do think for me, even as being a you know,
Speaker 2: a transfer, I didn't even have remotely the success that
Speaker 2: Cam Rising did. As the years go on, I've found
Speaker 2: that you know, the negative, the negative buzz, the negative memories,
Speaker 2: the negative chatter, those those fall by the wayside, and
Speaker 2: the good memories do have a tendency to rise to
Speaker 2: the top, especially when you handle yourself the way that
Speaker 2: Cam did and again had the success that he did.
Speaker 2: I think that hey, five seven years from now, when
Speaker 2: Cam returns and probably gets a halftime resignator or recognition
Speaker 2: or and at first quarter recognition, I have a strong
Speaker 2: belief that it'll be a everyone getting out of their
Speaker 2: seat applauding him, and those are the memories that he'll have.
Speaker 2: And I'm sure right next to his Utah helmet, Utah
Speaker 2: football and his man k for the rest of time.
Speaker 3: Well said, Hey, just total don secutor.
Speaker 1: But since you know, since you were in a situation
Speaker 1: once upon a time competing with Sam Darnold, I wonder
Speaker 1: what your insight is on because, as you know, Max,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a long suffering New York Jets fan, and
Speaker 1: over the past number of years, Sam was the guy
Speaker 1: who I thought was going to be the one that
Speaker 1: could maybe lead us to something somewhat special. Who knows,
Speaker 1: but I liked him coming out of college, and it
Speaker 1: didn't work in New York. It doesn't work in New
Speaker 1: York with anybody. You end up taking peyote and speaking
Speaker 1: to caterpillars where things happen to you. But what sort
Speaker 1: of questions has Sam answered this year? And what do
Speaker 1: you think that last performance may have cost him? And
Speaker 1: what do you think his future is?
Speaker 2: Think you's answered the question that he's a legitimate NFL
Speaker 2: starting quarterback and any notion of him being a bust
Speaker 2: is gone, which is which is amazing. I'm happy for
Speaker 2: the guy. He's one of the good ones, easy, easy
Speaker 2: to root for, even though we battled all throughout our
Speaker 2: college careers. He's an awesome, awesome human being, so pumped
Speaker 2: to see him have success. So I think he answered
Speaker 2: that question. I think what goes unanswered is you know
Speaker 2: how much of that was a byproduct of being in
Speaker 2: a friendly Vikings offense with a very capable play caller
Speaker 2: that's had success with multiple quarterbacks. And that'll be the
Speaker 2: question for Sam miss offseason. I think, is you know,
Speaker 2: does he find or does he potentially take less to
Speaker 2: stay in Minnesota, or does he go to a different,
Speaker 2: different franchise. And I chuckled right there because I think
Speaker 2: if you're the New York Jets, he'd be still not
Speaker 2: to at least be able to call to Sam's agent
Speaker 2: and see what's out there, giving them the unclear quarterback
Speaker 2: situation the Jets are in long term, but I have
Speaker 2: a feeling that of all the teams out there in
Speaker 2: the NFL, one team will be able to put in
Speaker 2: put together a Baker Midfield type offer or potentially even better,
Speaker 2: because I think it's interesting this quarterback draft class. You're
Speaker 2: gonna see Shador Sanders, you're gonna see cam Ward, but
Speaker 2: there's a steep drop off to get to quarterback three.
Speaker 2: In my opinion, yet there's still a chunk of teams
Speaker 2: at like seven, eight, ten, twelve in the draft order
Speaker 2: that need to answer quarterback questions. I mean, whether it's
Speaker 2: the Jets, whether it's the Raiders, whether that's the Saints
Speaker 2: long term and what they do with Derek Carr. So
Speaker 2: I think in Giants as well, I'm of the opinion
Speaker 2: I think the Giants will be on the outside looking
Speaker 2: in if the top two quarterbacks go one two. So
Speaker 2: there's a lot of teams that have questions and need
Speaker 2: to find answers at the quarterback position. That warps in
Speaker 2: Sam's benefit. And I think he's shown that, even though
Speaker 2: the last two games didn't go didn't go great, that
Speaker 2: he is a legitimate NFL starter and it's no longer
Speaker 2: just a hey, nice to have a capable backup type
Speaker 2: of guy.
Speaker 1: All right, moving over to some college football here, and
Speaker 1: my first question regarding where we're at now is, you know,
Speaker 1: I continue to use this line on the show because
Speaker 1: I just realized that with the new nature of all
Speaker 1: of this stuff, for me, it's impossible to prognosticate. So
Speaker 1: I've moved over to more you know, diagnosing why did
Speaker 1: this happen? How can we make it better and we'll
Speaker 1: get to the game on Monday. But now that we
Speaker 1: do have the first example of a twelve team expanded
Speaker 1: CFP unfolding to the point where we have a final matchup,
Speaker 1: you like it, you don't like it?
Speaker 3: What needs to change?
Speaker 1: Where you at with a new format now that we
Speaker 1: have some data behind us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love the twelve team structure for sure. I'm
Speaker 2: in the camp that and I don't know if this
Speaker 2: is a mainstream take yet, but it is amongst you know,
Speaker 2: some of the folks that I listen to. I'm of
Speaker 2: the camp that they should recede after the first round.
Speaker 2: I like rewarding conference champions with that first round by
Speaker 2: and giving them a leg up. But I do think
Speaker 2: it's funny. I was talking with a Penn State fan
Speaker 2: this morning. I do think, you know, Penn State losing
Speaker 2: in the Big Ten championship yet getting a more favorable
Speaker 2: road than Oregon is you know, not ideal for the
Speaker 2: for the for the structure of the playoff. And I
Speaker 2: think reseeding after that first round so once you have
Speaker 2: eight total teams, that would have put you know, the
Speaker 2: Boise State at ranked number eight or Arizona State at
Speaker 2: eight Boise Boise State at seven. That to me solves
Speaker 2: a lot of the problems. I'm very wary of, you know,
Speaker 2: wholesale changes of guaranteed spots for the SEC or guaranteed
Speaker 2: spots for the Big ten or even Big twelve as well,
Speaker 2: because I just think every year is different, and that's
Speaker 2: the beauty of college football, that's the beauty of what
Speaker 2: we do for a living because we're able to analyze
Speaker 2: it all. But if you had the twelve team playoff
Speaker 2: structure last year, the number five team would have been
Speaker 2: Florida State without Jordan Travis, and this big storyline was
Speaker 2: Jordan Travis's injury would have been the twelve team playoff storyline,
Speaker 2: and everyone would have wanted to play Florida State as
Speaker 2: a number five seed with their backup quarterback right there.
Speaker 2: Versus this year that five seed was Penn State. It
Speaker 2: was a different vibe. I also don't think year in
Speaker 2: and year out, we're going to have as strong of
Speaker 2: a group of five champ I think Boise State is
Speaker 2: as strong of a group of five champ as we're
Speaker 2: going to get, at least in the immediate term of
Speaker 2: college football. That's going to be different next year. I
Speaker 2: think there's a world where maybe the Big twelve doesn't
Speaker 2: beat up on each other every year. If this season
Speaker 2: went how a lot of youth fans hoped it went,
Speaker 2: and Utah was sitting there as a one loss Big
Speaker 2: twelve champ, I think a lot of the chatter around,
Speaker 2: you know, the Big Twelve being maybe like a secondary
Speaker 2: or very much secondary compared to the Big ten or
Speaker 2: the SEC that wouldn't be the case. So every year
Speaker 2: is different. I think the twelve team structure allows for
Speaker 2: those dynamics to play out. But I think reseeding after
Speaker 2: that first round would would solve a lot of a
Speaker 2: complaint that people had in December.
Speaker 1: All right, So moving over now to let's actually go
Speaker 1: back a little bit before we move forward, and your
Speaker 1: thoughts on your thoughts, your thoughts on what we saw
Speaker 1: with Texas and Arizona State and whether or not I
Speaker 1: don't know, I mean, you've already talked about you know,
Speaker 1: different seating, different buys, But did Arizona States performance against
Speaker 1: Sexas was that a Big twelve statement at all? Or
Speaker 1: was that just Arizona State answering in a vacuum like yes,
Speaker 1: we belong here.
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I think it's a I mean,
Speaker 2: I view it more as I guess, yes, a Big
Speaker 2: twelve statement, but more of a all right, the SEC is
Speaker 2: not just this almighty invincible conference that you know we've
Speaker 2: been used to throughout the Nick Saban era. The days
Speaker 2: of being able to just stockpile backups in stockpile depth
Speaker 2: and take it away from those other schools are gone.
Speaker 2: And that was more my takeaway from the Arizona State
Speaker 2: Texas game where hey, if that matchup is played or
Speaker 2: maybe a better references Arizona State Alabama from five years
Speaker 2: years ago. You know, there's a world where that outcome
Speaker 2: is much different because of the depth that an Alabama
Speaker 2: team has versus Texas. Now, yes, there's still the top
Speaker 2: of the SEC, but I don't think it's that invincible
Speaker 2: nature that we once had, which I think is great
Speaker 2: for the game of college football and Arizona State showcase that.
Speaker 2: So that was my takeaway and also just a takeaway
Speaker 2: from an Arizona State lenses and Spence. You'll be able
Speaker 2: to relate to this because it was, you know, a
Speaker 2: talking point for Arizona State for much of their PAC
Speaker 2: twelve history about how much they were a you know,
Speaker 2: sleeping giant and whatnot, and I think there's a lot
Speaker 2: of truth to that, and I my takeaway was, Hey,
Speaker 2: maybe Kenny Dillingham has unlocked something there that is sustainable
Speaker 2: at Arizona State of being the sexy lack of lack
Speaker 2: of a better term team out west for a lot
Speaker 2: of these Texas and Big twelve rooted guys, that I
Speaker 2: feel confident that Arizona State, maybe not winning eleven games
Speaker 2: every year, but contending for Big twelve titles, that that
Speaker 2: identity is here to stay as long as Kenny Dillingham's there.
Speaker 1: All right, So we have ourselves an interesting game on
Speaker 1: Monday night. Before we get to the actual matchup, let's
Speaker 1: talk about the two teams and their path they got here.
Speaker 3: And I don't know man Marcus Freeman.
Speaker 1: When he first took that job at the age of
Speaker 1: thirty five, there's the home loss against Marshall, a lot
Speaker 1: of noise about is he ready. It's wild that his
Speaker 1: first coaching job is the head coach of Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: But this meteoric rise now at the age of thirty nine,
Speaker 1: there's a little like McVeigh to this, and he's become
Speaker 1: one of my favorite coaches to listen to. I think
Speaker 1: he's a pre eminent communicator. His players clearly love him,
Speaker 1: but nobody, at least in my opinion, and from what
Speaker 1: I understood listening to people who I respect, break this
Speaker 1: thing down.
Speaker 3: I don't think there are.
Speaker 1: Very many people, if any people at all that had
Speaker 1: Notre Dame in the college football championship game coming up
Speaker 1: on Monday. So what do you make of their path,
Speaker 1: how they got here, and your thoughts on their head?
Speaker 3: Coach?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because in August they were, at least
Speaker 2: from what I was listening to, a lot of people's
Speaker 2: sleeper team, just because you got Riley Leonard who at
Speaker 2: one point in time mel Kiper had him as a
Speaker 2: first round quarterback at least last season before that ankle injury,
Speaker 2: and so you go and got a big time at
Speaker 2: least on paper signal caller. And then Notre Dame had
Speaker 2: a bunch of guys coming back, so you know, there
Speaker 2: was hype and obviously a relatively easy schedule, especially when
Speaker 2: you look at Big ten schools and SEC schools having
Speaker 2: to play each other and beat up on each other.
Speaker 2: So I think in August I saw a trajectory where
Speaker 2: they could be in the in this scenario at least
Speaker 2: in the final four and in the conversation. But then that,
Speaker 2: then that and IU game happened, and I remember watching
Speaker 2: that game and I called and I used game a
Speaker 2: couple of weeks later, and you watched that game. Notre
Speaker 2: Dame left a ton of offense, especially on the field,
Speaker 2: and I tweeted this out at the time. I was like,
Speaker 2: don't be surprised if they figured this thing out and
Speaker 2: find themselves at that point, you know, with one loss,
Speaker 2: facing a USC team to potentially go into the playoffs.
Speaker 2: And that's kind of how it how it how it
Speaker 2: played out. The big difference that I noticed, though not
Speaker 2: only with Marcus Freeman, and he deserves credit because you know,
Speaker 2: you're giving up play calling or he doesn't handle play
Speaker 2: calling duties, so you're trusting your assistant coaches. And I
Speaker 2: think Mike Denbrock, their offensive coordinator, totally pivoted after the
Speaker 2: NIU game and said, Hey, the reality is Riley Leonard
Speaker 2: is not an NFL quarterback. And that's the camp that
Speaker 2: I'm in. And I know, you know Colin Coward saying,
Speaker 2: oh he's the next Josh Allen. I'm not there. I
Speaker 2: don't think he's asked to do nearly nearly the amount
Speaker 2: in the passing game on a down in, down out
Speaker 2: basis as some of those other guys. But he shipped
Speaker 2: the offense and said, I'm gonna lean on Riley Leonard's legs.
Speaker 2: It's going to be run centric first and second and
Speaker 2: we're going to pass on third down and have that
Speaker 2: bri identity, not try to force him to win on
Speaker 2: first and second down as a progression passer. And the
Speaker 2: team took a liking to that identity. They deserve a
Speaker 2: ton of credit for doubling down in that identity and
Speaker 2: it's got them to the place that they're in. And
Speaker 2: the redemption story of Marcus Freeman. You said it. He
Speaker 2: started off a little it was rocky, for sure, but
Speaker 2: I think his overall vibe of it, of you know,
Speaker 2: resurrecting a notre dame that pretty much my entire adult
Speaker 2: life has been. Even when Brian Kelly was winning games,
Speaker 2: it was still a little bit stale and stiff. Those
Speaker 2: days are gone, and Marcus Freeman deserves all the credit
Speaker 2: for that.
Speaker 1: On the other side, you know, it's just it's and look,
Speaker 1: I don't know how true The narrative is that if
Speaker 1: Ryan Day doesn't win a national championship, he's gonna lose
Speaker 1: his job. But you know, he hasn't beaten Michigan and
Speaker 1: four straight games, and that Ohio State fan base is
Speaker 1: as passionate, front facing, and expressive as any fan base
Speaker 1: in the country, and you know, it certainly is fair
Speaker 1: to bring out the failures against your rival. And I
Speaker 1: understand that first before we talk about their path.
Speaker 3: Do you think there's anything there?
Speaker 1: Like if they don't win on Monday, do you think
Speaker 1: Ryan Day's really in trouble.
Speaker 2: I think there's something there. I think it's a conversation.
Speaker 2: I don't I'm not gonna sit here and say I
Speaker 2: think you should get fired. I'm not there yet. It's
Speaker 2: to me, and you know, I have the feelings inside
Speaker 2: me are honestly similar to how the Steelers talk is
Speaker 2: around Mike Tomlin, where it's like Mike Tomlin continues to
Speaker 2: win at a high level, but then he loses in
Speaker 2: that playoffs, and it's almost like, if you're Mike Tomlin's camp,
Speaker 2: it's like you'd almost rather him tank for one year
Speaker 2: so then they have a shot at getting a quarterback.
Speaker 2: So then he's you know, has a better shot of
Speaker 2: actually actually winning that elite level. But because he continues
Speaker 2: to just maximize what he has but then stub his
Speaker 2: toe at the end, it like almost works against him.
Speaker 2: The comp to Ryan Day is they're winning a ton
Speaker 2: of games, They're consistently in the national championship picture, they
Speaker 2: have an extremely promising trajectory in future when it comes
Speaker 2: to recruiting. But then there's the Michigan thing. But then,
Speaker 2: especially in this scenario, if you were to lose to
Speaker 2: Notre Dame, especially because Notre Dames of what quasi kind
Speaker 2: of Midwest rival, I think the cranking up the heat
Speaker 2: would be valid. I wouldn't be totally surprised if they
Speaker 2: pull the plug. Just like with Mike Tomlin, I could
Speaker 2: see a scenario where it's, hey, we have to fire
Speaker 2: because it's getting this stale, distracting narrative. But this dark
Speaker 2: cloud over our fan base and over our franchise and
Speaker 2: program where we have to move on. We don't think
Speaker 2: you're a bad coach, but this cloud has been hanging
Speaker 2: above us for too long where we have to make
Speaker 2: a change. I could see that. I could see the
Speaker 2: ad having that thought process, and it sounds crazy, but
Speaker 2: you also can convince yourself that, man, it's easy for
Speaker 2: anyone to recruit with that nil budget and go down
Speaker 2: that storyline. So I think Ryan Day would be hired
Speaker 2: by the next coach, by the next blue butt program
Speaker 2: that had a job opening. But I also think it's
Speaker 2: a little bit of the reality of the situation that
Speaker 2: Ohio States find themselves in over the past few seasons.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's move over and out of their path, because
Speaker 1: they just smoked Tennessee. And if I'm an Oregon fan,
Speaker 1: I feel a little hard done because of the way
Speaker 1: this thing went down. Because Ohio State might be, as
Speaker 1: you know, the most talented team in the country. Most
Speaker 1: people believe that they take care of the number one
Speaker 1: team in the country and then they handle Texas relatively easily.
Speaker 1: So what do you make of what they've been able
Speaker 1: to do to advance ants and have they figured some
Speaker 1: things out?
Speaker 3: In your mind?
Speaker 2: I think so, Yeah. I buy the storyline that a
Speaker 2: lot of folks are saying of, you know, you lose
Speaker 2: to Michigan. I think it put a chip on their shoulder.
Speaker 2: I think they're able to activate this underdog mentality, which
Speaker 2: I don't know how much of an underdog you can
Speaker 2: be when you're at Ohio State and all the you know,
Speaker 2: the nil and recruiting funds that they have, but obviously
Speaker 2: something's click for them. I think it'll come down to
Speaker 2: the quarterback play, which it obviously does for most football games.
Speaker 2: But Riley Leonard and Will Howard to me fall into
Speaker 2: a similar bucket where they're you know, fringe NFL guys,
Speaker 2: their effective college quarterbacks, but it oftentimes comes down to,
Speaker 2: you know, a third down throw here or there, or
Speaker 2: can you win that one on one matchup on the
Speaker 2: outside and make enough plays when they're right there? Or
Speaker 2: do the you know, especially a Notre Dame defense that
Speaker 2: solid do they rise to the occasion as well? So
Speaker 2: I think I have no doubts about the quality of
Speaker 2: Ohio States defense. We know about their skill players. I
Speaker 2: do think something was found in this last game of
Speaker 2: how they were able to defend Jeremiah Smith and not
Speaker 2: let Jeremiah Smith go. And I think mixing up those
Speaker 2: looks is big. But to me, it comes down to
Speaker 2: which of these quarterbacks can be more efficient on third
Speaker 2: down protect the ball, and when you do have those
Speaker 2: one on one matchups, how many times are we looking
Speaker 2: up saying, all right, that's a twenty five thirty yard
Speaker 2: game down the field because they were able to just
Speaker 2: execute and catch the rock.
Speaker 1: All right, Max, before I say you loose, how do
Speaker 1: you see this playing out Ohio State? Let me check
Speaker 1: the line. Let me make sure that this is still
Speaker 1: the case. Ohio State is a favorite as of now.
Speaker 1: It's eight point five the over unders forty five point
Speaker 1: five games on our station.
Speaker 3: How do you think it plays out.
Speaker 2: I think it's a grimier game than that line indicates
Speaker 2: that eight and a half point line. I think Ohio
Speaker 2: State wins, but it's a game that goes into the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter. I feel confident Notre Dame's defense to at
Speaker 2: least make things tough for Ohio State. And again, both
Speaker 2: these quarterbacks. I mean, this is not a JJ McCarthy
Speaker 2: Michael Pennix type of show that we saw last year
Speaker 2: in the National Championship where you're saying, hey, both those
Speaker 2: guys are gonna be NFL first round draft picks. Both
Speaker 2: these quarterbacks are good college quarterbacks. But I think they
Speaker 2: will make mistakes. I think they will miss opportunities that'll
Speaker 2: keep the game closer and a little bit more Murcurier,
Speaker 2: especially with how strong both these defenses are and a
Speaker 2: little bit of Notre Dame's run game as well. So
Speaker 2: the fighting Irish keep it close, but ultimately Ohio State
Speaker 2: gets it done. The monkey goes off Ryan days back
Speaker 2: and we can finally stop talking about that and the
Speaker 2: Buck guys win the national championship.
Speaker 3: Max, you are the man as always.
Speaker 1: I just say, I hope for a good game coming
Speaker 1: up on Monday, Final one we get for a number
Speaker 1: of months.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you, dude. Have a great weekend with chatoon.
Speaker 2: Okay, it was fun, Thanks Ben, Appreciate you all right.
Speaker 1: The Great Max Brown got to know him during the
Speaker 1: Pac twelve days.
Speaker 3: Always appreciate his time.
Speaker 1: He's the league college football analyst over the CW now
Speaker 1: and he's really really good on social media. If you're
Speaker 1: into kind of like the tick it well is TikTok
Speaker 1: rounding more not as of next week, so next week
Speaker 1: it's done.
Speaker 3: Tentatively.
Speaker 1: Man, I'm so glad I never got on that damn thing.
Speaker 1: But anyway, he's fun on social media. Get him on
Speaker 1: Twitter at Max Brown four