Transcript
Mike Bell: All right, welcome back to another episode of Blown Coverage. I'm Mike Bell with my co-host, Caleb Schwerer. We obviously have some big games this week, playoff games, the biggest games of the year.
Mike Bell: And a lot has happened since we last talked. And I want to just pick up right where we were talking. We're talking about the Heisman. Obviously, Fernando Mendoza won.
Mike Bell: And, you know, you were just saying that Josh Pate would have chosen Diego Pavia. And I don't know if you saw this, Diego Pavia, it kind of didn't handle the loss well.
Mike Bell: It looks like he of got drunk and maybe said a few things. And talk about that. You were saying Jacob Rodriguez received more votes than Julian Sands. So give me your overall thoughts on the Heisman. do you think the right guy won?
Mike Bell: what are your thoughts?
Kaleb: I watched more Diego Pavia than I did Fernando and Because really the only game I've watched with Indiana, I watched snippets of like the Penn State game. But other than that, the only other game I watched with him in it was the Ohio State game a couple weeks ago. And I thought he did pretty good. i mean, about as good as a quarterback can do against the Ohio State defense.
Kaleb: I watched ah watch
Kaleb: several games with Diego Pavia, and he definitely was a Heisman caliber player, I think. And especially what he meant to the team, everything. yeah Really, i mean, their 10-win year, a lot of it was to do with him, you know, like the majority of it.
Kaleb: And he got better down the road, too. He had really good stats. I think he had like over 4,000 yards passing, like maybe close to 30 passing touchdowns or something like that. I mean, he had a really good year. So I think Fernando just had like – maybe just a smidge more touchdowns than he did, but Diego Pavia also had substantially more rushing yards too. So I don't know. that's in it's Every year it's like that. It's like there's two players. It's like, okay, which one are you going pick? This one or that one? Every year. i think it's kind of rare for us now to have like a Heisman –
Kaleb: race where there's where there's only like one distinct winner you know which also makes it kind of entertaining and fun so
Mike Bell: So if you had a vote, who would ah who would you have voted for
Kaleb: good thing my vote vote does not count because like i said i did not watch too much of indiana other than the big 10 championship in some bits of the penn state game but i would probably have voted for diego
Mike Bell: So I think it's tough. It depends on like what you think the Heisman is. So the official thing is like most outstanding player.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: I feel like it's just given to the best quarterback on the best team, or maybe the quarterback on the best team. And feel like it's not what Heisman should be, but that's not me saying you got it wrong.
Kaleb: yeah
Mike Bell: If you look at like the most outstanding, like best overall player, i kind of want to go Jeremiah Love. But if you look at the guy that elevated his team the most, which to me, maybe that should be what the Heisman is.
Mike Bell: I do think that's Diego Pavia. However, However, you can't ignore that Indiana has done had in a magical season.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: They're undefeated. They just beat Ohio State. And I feel like to some extent, you have to give a lot of credit to the quarterback. Everyone's talking about Kirk Cignetti and rightfully so. But Fernando Mendoza, when you really needed him to be good and to be clutch, he has been that.
Mike Bell: The last two minutes of the Penn State game, he was outstanding against Oregon. Ohio State, if you look at his numbers, and this is kind of the Josh Pate argument against Fernando Mendoza, I believe.
Mike Bell: If you look at his numbers, like... It certainly wasn't outstanding against Ohio State, but when he needed to be great, he was.
Kaleb: Yeah, which is all that matters.
Mike Bell: And you said you can kind of see like Fernando Mendoza, like I feel like he's going to be a good quarterback at the next level.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: like He just has that clutch gene. So I get it. i think it's really tough this year. I think there's an actual argument for all three. think
Kaleb: Yeah. Also, another argument for Jeremiah Love is, like, you know, he shared the carries, like so like a substantial amount of carries and stuff, too, with the other running back.
Mike Bell: it's
Kaleb: I forgot his name off the top of my head. but So who's to say, like,
Kaleb: he wouldn't have more – hold on here. Oh, okay. Okay.
Mike Bell: All right, technical difficulties there. But, um yes, so I think i think they got it right, though, with Fernando Mendoza.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: Did you have any other thoughts that I missed there?
Kaleb: I think so.
Mike Bell: No, I did
Kaleb: No, not really. Because like you said, he was really clutch.
Mike Bell: it.
Kaleb: And i mean, how many – no one else has been able to do that against so Ohio State, right, went against them this year. So you have to give fernette Fernando some credit for being able to go and beat them in a Big Ten championship for sure.
Kaleb: So –
Mike Bell: Agreed. Okay, so let's see. i guess we can briefly talk about before we get into these games. i think we had to talk about it to run more situation. And more so, like, obviously, it's a crazy story. i don't think we have that much more to add that other people haven't already said at this point.
Mike Bell: But, you know, we were talking before the show about, okay, well, where do they go? and It seems like the first name they're going to go after is Kellen DeBoer. Kellen DeBoer has said no a couple of times now, um both at press conference and as far as the statement goes.
Mike Bell: But it sounds like Michigan is going to make him say no to their face. But after that, i am curious you I am curious to see where they go.
Kaleb: which is which Yeah. yeah
Kaleb: Well, that kind of makes you like, because our the little bit I have seen about it, it really makes you like wonder, like, did Kalen DeBoer like give them like a little gleam or something? Like, why are they going after him out of all the coaches already established at a school, you know, because...
Kaleb: I think he's done a great job. And i you know I definitely, like, if I were in a school that needed a head coach, I'd be glad to have him. But, like, what did he – what did Kalen DeBoer do to make Michigan go, like, right after him? I don't think he's the one to go after that's had an established job already unless maybe he's having some frustration behind the closed doors.
Kaleb: And he's in a hard spot living in Saban's shadow, basically. But, anyway, it's it's interesting. Yeah.
Mike Bell: Right. And it will, could you imagine though, if they do get Kellen DeBoer, because then the coaching carousel continues. Now the Alabama drill joke nick and like, yeah everybody's nervous, you know, like part of me was like, Oh, want to see the chaos.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: But then another part was like, you know, I don't want them going after Mike Elkron. So why don't they just choose somebody else besides Kellen DeBoer? But Yeah.
Kaleb: Well, you know, to me, like, why would Caitlin DeBoer want to leave Alabama other than the, like, Saban Shadow type of thing, I guess. You know, it's like, Alabama very prestigious. So is Michigan. Don't get me wrong, but i feel like right now, Alabama is still like on a different level than Michigan, you know?
Mike Bell: I agree, but it could be looked looked at as, hey, look, there's a ton of pressure on me. I've been now with Alabama two years, barely made the playoffs one year. and Maybe he just feels like he's you know these schedules are getting tough, and you know he can see the writing on the wall. you know And it's like, okay, well, Michigan is – I hate to say easier job because it sounds like I'm questioning his competitiveness. It's not that. It's just – you know
Kaleb: The way the Big Ten is structured, it's not as hard as with the way the SEC will be structured in upcoming years for sure.
Mike Bell: Right, right. So, and you know, he's being that he was a coach of Washington, maybe like recruiting ties or something like that. I don't know.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: Those are just things that would throw out there. I do think he's probably going to say no, and it'll be curious to see, you know, what happens after that, but.
Kaleb: Yeah, because what the hell would Alabama do at that point? you know
Mike Bell: Right. a Agreed.
Kaleb: Would they have to just stay internal or, I mean, throw Lane Kiffin money?
Mike Bell: No.
Kaleb: No kidding.
Mike Bell: it How hilarious would it be if Lane Kiffin said, you know what? Yeah. That would actually be just...
Kaleb: I forgot what ah hurt I was like, man, where was that with all the Lane Kiffin that was going on? I was like, Listening to something and they were talking about how Lane Kiffin would love to be at Alabama, you know, but obviously that job wasn't open at the time.
Kaleb: But God, could you imagine all the drama Lane was like skidat and went to Alabama this day?
Mike Bell: That would actually...
Kaleb: That
Mike Bell: Yeah. It'd
Mike Bell: be funny, though.
Kaleb: that would be mayhem. Yeah.
Mike Bell: all right, well, I say it's time to get into these games. And, you know, how are you feeling going into the weekend? Are you excited? How do you feel?
Kaleb: No, I mean, i honestly, I have been so busy these last several days. I've really not been able to think about football. But now that I'm back, um I think I probably will, to be honest with you. There's something that's like...
Kaleb: Now the last couple of years with a playoff going on right around Christmas time, it's almost like Christmas and college football playoffs kind of go together hand in hand, you know, ah with this time of year. And so, yes, I will be getting excited more so.
Kaleb: think there's some good matchups and some not so good ones. We'll get into that, of course, but for the ones that are good matchups, I am very excited for those.
Mike Bell: So basically you're excited about two games. And, you know, we don't have to get into that. We talked about that last time. i think this is going to be fixed. But, you know, I want to be excited. Now I have a wedding this weekend, so I'm going to miss. I'm going to make sure I see the A&M game, but then I can't watch the other two. But I guess it doesn't even matter because you kind of know what's going to happen.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: but But I do want them to fix this, and I think they will. And I want to be fair to the other teams, but it's just it's just not going to happen.
Mike Bell: So I want to just start with the one that is least in question, and then we can move on.
Kaleb: At least I had the decency not to have my wedding during college football playoffs. I knew better on that.
Mike Bell: I know. I'm going to murder the guy. But um okay. First game that we're going to go over is actually the last game of the playoffs, and that is number 12. Well, actually, they're not number 12, but in the seeding, they'll be number 12. James Madison versus 5 Oregon at Oregon at night. 630 on TNT. Oregon is a 21-point favorite.
Mike Bell: Do you see any way that James Madison wins this game?
Kaleb: I'm going to say no. Kind of not to like kind of beat the bush over and ah over again, but their last game, I think it was against Troy that we were talking about.
Mike Bell: Let's move.
Kaleb: That game was closer than it looked. I think whether they win like by 10 points, 14 points, something like that. But anyway, like in the fourth quarter, they were pretty much like it was tied or three point difference.
Mike Bell: Bye.
Kaleb: And it's like, man, If you're having problems like that against Troy and then you put him away like in at the end of the game, you you don't really have a chance against Oregon.
Kaleb: But hey, i mean, could you imagine though like Jamie coming out there and actually being competitive and close game in the fourth quarter?
Mike Bell: The thing is, like if it's and we'll get into this game next, but if it's Tulane, would believe it.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: But I believe JMU is kind of like a step below Tulane even. And just watching JMU – by the way, keep mind, it's at Oregon at night.
Mike Bell: And Oregon is going to be –
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: Could they possibly overlook JMU a little bit? but Maybe, but something tells me, like look, this is the playoffs. We need to give these guys our full attention. and I just can't help but look at like the one power four team that JMU played was Louisville, and they lost 28-14. play Washington State.
Mike Bell: and they did
Kaleb: yeah
Mike Bell: they did play washington state who is, you know, Pac-12, not a very good team, and they barely pulled out the victory over them 24-10. That game was at home, and then we just talked about Troy.
Mike Bell: So, it you know, the only way JMU wins this game is obviously if Oregon just comes out completely unprepared, and I think they're not going to be unprepared.
Mike Bell: In fact, as the threat is this low, I think Oregon's going to win like 48-10, something like that.
Kaleb: Yeah, I don't think that at all.
Kaleb: If not worse. you know and they may And honestly, if I were Dan Lanning, if they were up 28-0 at halftime, i may like have Dante Moore and like some of the premier starters like play maybe half the third quarter then sit them just for the rest you know or prevent injuries because that's not a situation that they'd be able to climb back into.
Kaleb: I mean, obviously it'd a whole different story of GMU like 10-7 game or so or, excuse me, 3-10 game or three to fourteen game or something like that at halftime.
Mike Bell: Right.
Kaleb: I just don't see that. Oregon's Definitely one of the most complete teams in the country, which I think they're pretty intriguing. It's, yeah. So, anyway,
Kaleb: um
Kaleb: you lucked out, honestly, how you were able to kind of squeeze out the A&M-Miami game and just kind of miss the other two because, like you said, writing's on the wall.
Mike Bell: Well, I don't know how much I did luck out. Actually, it probably would have been better on Friday or even if it were the night game. But anyway, I'll make it work.
Mike Bell: I promise you I'm not going to miss that game. and no matter
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: It's too bad because i'd I'd be going to it actually if it wasn't for this wedding. But I guess, you know, moving on, i kind of wanted to save the two best games for last. So let's just go ahead and go to 11 Tulane versus six Ole Miss.
Mike Bell: This is the game at 230. And I will say, like, I think this could be a funner game to watch, especially because there's unknowns around Ole Miss and how they're going to, you know, look at how
Kaleb: yeah
Kaleb: Yeah. I think Tulane's coach is able to come back and coach this game too, if I'm not mistaken.
Mike Bell: He is. He is going to be there. So that was kind of going to be where I was going to go with it. Like, is this kind of a so both teams have a chance for kind of like a rally cry type thing. Ole Miss can rally around this situation, but so can Tulane saying, look, this is our last time playing together as a group, as some role as a head coach. So what are your thoughts on on this game?
Kaleb: You know, I would probably agree with you in a sense, like maybe you could give Tulane like a puncher's chance, you know, like a little bit better of a chance than what JMU has against Oregon. Just because like what you said, not necessarily turmoil at Ole Miss, but like coaching ah some several coaches leaving Ole Miss. And then, you know, I'm sure some players are going to be leaving if they haven't already.
Kaleb: There's probably more, guess you could call it turmoil going on at Ole Miss than it probably is at Tulane. Tulane gets their head coach back. um So you can kind of, I don't know.
Kaleb: I think you can kind of see how it goes within the first two or three drives. Like is Ole Miss, are that do they look prepared or do they look like they're, you know, frozen, I guess you could say. Because it's been like, or it'll be like maybe three weeks since they played a game.
Kaleb: Possibly.
Mike Bell: Yeah, it has been.
Kaleb: Which that's a, you know, that's a good amount of time, right? I mean,
Mike Bell: Right. Yeah, and you know it's worth noting that these two teams have already played, and Ole Miss won So this time it's you know it's at Ole Miss again.
Mike Bell: yeah you know The thing is you could make an argument, and I would make the argument, With Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss was the second best team in the SEC this year.
Mike Bell: They probably gave Georgia the best run for their money. you know and
Kaleb: Oh, for sure.
Mike Bell: The way their offense can click and score on anybody, i mean look at how they scored on OU. You know, that's pretty special.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: So ultimately, I just think there's too much of a talent gap here.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: You do, there is that unknown factor of like coaching and all that. But last time they played the Ole Miss, they had 548 yards. Tulane just had 282.
Mike Bell: It's just a big ask for Tulane. And the thing I'm to be watching for is just how good I don't know how we'll be able to tell this you know in this game, but how good is Ole Miss going to be without Lane Kiffin?
Mike Bell: Because if they can be if they if they've learned enough to this point in the season and they have enough of the coaching staff retained for the game, their next game is Georgia again.
Kaleb: Right.
Mike Bell: And that could be I mean, I agree.
Kaleb: Right. but I think they're even a better Georgia team than they were when they played Ole Miss, though, is the thing, you know. i mean, we'll see. We'll see because it will be –
Kaleb: I don't know, I guess two and a half weeks since Georgia's played. i don't know. i don't want to sound like, you know, ah record player, but whenever you have an extended period time off, you know, regardless situation, you could have to shake off some rust, you know.
Kaleb: But up until this point, Georgia's been – mean, each game they've gotten progressively better.
Mike Bell: Right.
Kaleb: yeah. Yeah.
Mike Bell: Well, i agree, but like I can just envision a scenario where Ole Miss blows out Tulane and they just should look good, you know, and they've got their confidence. The thing is, by the way, for that Georgia game, it's going to be in Georgia.
Mike Bell: It's going to be in a Mercedes Benz, I believe it is.
Kaleb: Oh, certain.
Mike Bell: So that is, you know, kind of a key factor. if It would be a tall test for Ole Miss anyway. But I would say Ole Miss has a chance to win the game. That's why it is too bad with the Lane Kiffin thing.
Mike Bell: like this is It really was like a great season for Ole Miss, going through their schedule, like beating lsu the way they did, um losing the game to Georgia.
Kaleb: so for sure
Mike Bell: But remember, they really should have won that game. I mean, they really should have, and they just let it go. i mean, credit to Georgia, but they should have won the game. And then you know beating OU the way they beat them,
Mike Bell: And then finishing the season well. I am excited to see what they can do in the playoffs. Do you think Trinidad Chambliss is going to follow Lane Kiffin to LSU?
Kaleb: I saw a report like a day or two ago that when DJ Lag... Or like Lane Kiffin is interested in DJ Lagway because he's transferring out of Florida, which is pretty insane actually. Think about that.
Kaleb: So like that report was saying how DJ wanted to stay in Florida, but and I believe it was a Tulane coach that took, if I'm not mistaken, that took the Florida job.
Kaleb: They didn't have like a good meeting or whatever. And I'm guessing that the Tulane coach that took over
Mike Bell: Yeah.
Kaleb: wasn't necessarily as receptive to DJ. And so that caused DJ to leave and Lane Kiffin is interested, which that's kind of interesting because before that I was like, okay, surely Lane Kiffin is just going to get, you know, Trinidad from Ole Miss come over here. And why wouldn't Trinidad follow Lane Kiffin? Because,
Kaleb: Yes, he could – I don't know how involved the offensive coordinator was really in calling all the plays or whatever, but you could, you know, pin all the development on Trinidad from Lane Kiffin predominantly, right? So why wouldn't he? So anyway, it's kind of interesting. Like, is Lane Kiffin going to say, screw him, get DJ Lagway a more better raw product?
Kaleb: Because DJ Lagoe was a five-star, you know, coming out of high school. And you never heard about Trinidad until – I think he was like a four-star something. And, you know, stars don't really matter at the end of the day, right?
Kaleb: But when you have a quarterback like DJ Lagoe out there.
Mike Bell: it's also a flow the It's also probably Lane like keeping his options open. like He probably doesn't know exactly what Trinidad's going to do.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: So I imagine there's some of that involved as well. i am curious and you know It looks like the guy that they have there, I think it's Van Buren's his name.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: He looked pretty good.
Kaleb: And LSU. Yeah. yeah
Mike Bell: Yeah, he looked pretty good. so And you don't know who else is going to become available. isn't it Oh, ah Sam Levitt. That's a very interesting name.
Kaleb: Oh yeah. ASU. Yeah.
Mike Bell: Yeah. So I could see Lane Kiffin. I think he's he's really got options, it looks like, whether it's Lagwe, Levitt, or Trinidad Chandler. So that will be interesting to watch.
Kaleb: Right.
Mike Bell: But Moving on now, let's go to Friday. and this is the 7 o'clock game on Friday, 9 Alabama versus 8 OU.
Mike Bell: Alabama favored by 1.5.
Kaleb: Mm-hmm. yeah. Right.
Mike Bell: Alabama has not beaten OU since OU has joined the SEC. Last year was kind of a shocker. this year was kind of a shocker. Can OU beat Alabama three straight times? Like, that's the thing.
Mike Bell: You know, I don't know.
Kaleb: It'd be a tall task. You know, honestly, though, you have to look at the trajectory before all the breaks and stuff. out Alabama, you could argue, would be going down. And OU was kind of trending up.
Kaleb: So it'd be very interesting to see.
Mike Bell: Exactly.
Kaleb: You know, and think about this. if Alabama were to lose, what – Like, ah that would that would even put more pressure on Kalen DeBoer, you know. Because don't get me wrong, they had a pretty impressive year, but just the way they kind of fizzled out and some of the problems they were having on the team. Like, so-so defense, offense was pretty good, but, however, just really lacked in the running department, obviously. So, I want to say, like, just above so-so, which is not really going to cut it at Alabama. So, if they were to lose this game, and it's going a tall task, too, because –
Kaleb: OU, mean, they're a really good team. Elite defense, championship-level defense. John Matier is, you know, the more time he's had since the hand injury, the better he's gotten. He's really good, really good quarterback.
Kaleb: OU's offense is just kind of really centered around Matier, running, throwing, obviously, but also the running department. So, Does that make it easier for Alabama's defense maybe to control OU's offense?
Kaleb: Probably. OU's going to have to get, like, a lot of different people involved to kind of really have a chance and go for the win. But, anyway, we'll see. It will be a good game, I think.
Mike Bell: Well, you know, one of Alabama's defensive weaknesses is handling the mobile quarterbacks.
Kaleb: And he's definitely one of them.
Mike Bell: So, exactly.
Kaleb: He's definitely what
Mike Bell: Something that also is, you know, can't be underrated is OU has had three weeks off. And that's a long time for Venables to come up with a defensive scheme against an Alabama team.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: you know, they didn't know they were going to face Alabama, but they've had, you know, time to prepare for their opponents and An Alabama team and who offensively has just not looked the same. I mean, the first half of the season, they were obviously very impressive going through a gauntlet. But as you were saying, the second half, they've kind of fizzled off.
Mike Bell: I mean, really unimpressed with the way they beat LSU when LSU was struggling. They lost to OU. Auburn is obviously Auburn, but you know Alabama was exactly the most impressive team. And then to face Georgia – and really not put up much of a fight.
Mike Bell: I understand how great Georgia's playing, but still, you're Alabama, and usually those are close.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Kaleb: Alabama is better than that for sure.
Mike Bell: Right, right. So it's like, I don't know, man. and There's a reason the spread is so close. What's great about this game is you know it's going to be a one-possession game with four minutes to go.
Mike Bell: Like, you know it is.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: And I think it's just going to come down to whose offense can do just enough. You know, the over-under for this team.
Kaleb: Maybe even special teams too, to be honest.
Mike Bell: Special teams as well. You know, the over-under is 40 and a half, which for a college game is really, really low.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: Like, it wouldn't surprise me if this game is like 13 to 10. But, you know, I think this game, kind of like the first game they played, will come down to turnovers.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: You know, don't forget the last game. Alabama outgained them by 200 yards. But they had the three turnovers, and that's really why OU won. That's kind of OU's game defensively, right, to cause a bunch of turnovers.
Kaleb: Yep.
Mike Bell: yeah Has Alabama improved since that game? No, I don't think so. So, yeah, I mean, I'm –
Kaleb: Yeah.
Kaleb: They continued to trend downward, if anything.
Mike Bell: yeah, and I've said this all season with OU, but, you know, they're one of the best like 10-2 teams in the country. Don't forget their one loss against Texas was one rivalry game, but two, Matier being injured and you know coming back quickly. And then to only lose one more to the Ole Miss squad that we were just talking about.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: you know The gauntlet wasn't quite the gauntlet, but they still took care of business. Now, I say that, and this is the one argument I'll make against LSU. is they just looks they've looked so bad offensively.
Mike Bell: like The game against LSU, they looked future. They nearly lost that game against LSU, last game of the year at home. so
Mike Bell: With that said, Matias had like three weeks to rest up. I don't know what to expect in this game. I agree with the line being so close. I've got to tell you right now, though, I'm leaning Oklahoma. Night game in Norman.
Mike Bell: Alabama not looking so hot. i don't know.
Kaleb: Who has a better overall defense?
Mike Bell: I...
Kaleb: You know, that's what really counts now.
Mike Bell: Yeah.
Kaleb: And really and truly, you've got to be able to run the ball now. Like, from here on out to the championship, you've got to run the ball or be able to.
Mike Bell: Congratulations.
Kaleb: And not to say some of these teams can't get a little bit better, but, man, it's – Alabama is arguably playing against one of the better rush defenses in the nation in OU's, right? So I find it highly unlikely that they're going to find their rhythm in the run game in this one.
Kaleb: Now, if they do, that's crazy, and Kalen DeBoer deserves a lot of credit for that, but I would probably give edge to OU.
Mike Bell: the the old town house today The one thing I'll say is it's hard to imagine Alabama turning it over three times again. Like, you know, that's going be right.
Kaleb: Right. I don't see that happening.
Mike Bell: You know, that's going to be preached all week. Like if we can just take care of the football, we can probably win this thing.
Kaleb: Gosh. And what's their what's that wide receiver's name?
Mike Bell: For
Kaleb: I forgot. Yeah.
Mike Bell: Alabama, Williams, right?
Kaleb: yeah Yes, Ryan Williams. Yeah, and they're probably going to get him way more involved.
Mike Bell: Yeah.
Kaleb: Really and truly, he's an interesting player because he looks small and whatnot, but man, just get him a little crease. He'll give you a mile. It's pretty insane, to be honest with you.
Kaleb: um And that's got to be the focal point for Alabama. Somehow, like, just... somehow have some kind of run game, you know, um to kind of offset what OU's secondary can do against their wide receivers.
Kaleb: Because Alabama's got some good – Oh, for sure.
Mike Bell: It's a bad time to try to find a run game, though. You know, it's the worst.
Kaleb: i mean, Alabama's got some good wide receivers, but my gosh, if OU's not threatened by the run game, they're going to be able to stack – you know, put, don't know, five in the box, rest in the secondary and discover them.
Mike Bell: Yeah. I mean, it really is crazy how bad their run game is. Like, how is it that bad? Like, it's Alabama. Like, surely they have enough players to make that work.
Kaleb: Yeah. This is their rushing. This is how many. they Their leading rusher has less than. They have 493 rushing yards on the year. What's crazy, though, is OU's is not much better. Theirs is actually worse.
Kaleb: Their leading rusher has 444 yards.
Mike Bell: Yeah, but the thing is, they have more guys that can run the ball like Mater. So, but i agree with you.
Kaleb: That's true. But in their defense isn't as like.
Kaleb: Gosh, what I'm trying to say here. Their defense doesn't give as much up as much runs as what Alabama's has. so
Mike Bell: Yeah, ah last question on this game. Who would you rather see face Indiana?
Kaleb: I think OU. Yeah.
Mike Bell: Yeah, I think I lean that way too, because I could see oh you winning that game in a slick fest. Now, I don't know. I mean, it's tough, right? Because here's the deal. If Alabama beats OU, it's like, well, Alabama does have the talent to hang with anybody.
Mike Bell: But I think think I probably agree with you.
Kaleb: I think
Kaleb: the reason why i said that is because what team has slowed down Indiana the most? I mean, other than the Penn State game, it was Ohio State.
Kaleb: Whose defense like can even resemble that between Alabama and OU? OU. So, not to say it easy thing for OU to do to control Indiana, their quarterback, wide receiver, all those players.
Mike Bell: Yeah.
Kaleb: But
Kaleb: OU's defense, I'm just saying, you have to have a run game. You have to have a good defense this time or this time of year to be able to continue winning and whatnot. So OU's got that. Maybe they can kind of get just enough of a running game going to keep propelling themselves.
Mike Bell: Yep. All right. Well, let's go to what many people are considering the matchup of the week. And as an A&M fan, I will tell you, I'm excited in a sense in that standpoint. Game day is going to be there.
Mike Bell: It is Miami versus a and m eleven A&M 11 a.m. on ABC. But I will tell you, while I excited, you know Somebody was saying for the A&M side that if you wanted the most exciting route to the playoffs through the playoffs, this is kind of it.
Mike Bell: Now, I would tell you i don't want the most exciting path.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: I wish we were facing JMU, and then I wish the next game was Texas Tech, which I understand that'd be a great game. I'm just saying you know the thing is for A&M here, if they win this game, and obviously Miami is looking at the same way,
Mike Bell: The next game is Ohio State, however, let me say this for a&m. If they were to win this game and play Ohio State that game is at the what is it called the cotton ball there in Dallas so at the stadium so it's.
Mike Bell: Kind of semi-home game, and A&M would need any advantage they could get, obviously with Ohio State. But I will tell you as a fan, I i know this game is going to make me suffer all the way, and that's too bad. I wish I could just relax one Saturday when A&M is playing, but I will not get that.
Mike Bell: So, Yeah, let's let's get into this game. A&M favored by three and a half points. I think that's appropriate. It's about the right spread. I'm curious to see how Kyle Field's going to be.
Mike Bell: You know, it's 11 a.m. kickoff, but I think the crowd's going be going insane. Obviously, first ever playoff game there.
Kaleb: I hope you're sure.
Mike Bell: And I think with both these teams, and we do this a lot in the sports, and it's always been one of my pet peeves, although I'm probably guilty of it too, we all remember the last thing we saw.
Mike Bell: And I remember this, you know, I'm a New England Patriot fan, or at least I was. And New England Patriots, were the most dominant dynasty in the history of sports. But every time they would lose a game, I would watch on TV and they'd be like, maybe New England's not that good. Or is Tom Brady really that good of a quarterback? You know, he It's like they if the Patriots weren't undefeated, like everyone would just like remember the last game. Oh, maybe they're not that good.
Mike Bell: And you know i feel that way in this game about both these teams. And I've been guilty of it with Miami because Miami, the second half of the season, has not looked good yet.
Mike Bell: The last game against Pittsburgh, they did look good. And they needed to go into Pitt in cold weather and impress the committee, put on a show, and they did.
Mike Bell: And that has me worried as an A&M fan. But if you kind of look at their overall, like the way they've been playing, not that great. A&M side, what's the last thing we'll remember? The game against Texas. Did A&M look that great?
Mike Bell: They did not. um Now with A&M, I would argue it goes back a little further because they also didn't look great against South Carolina. Again, they got very lucky to win.
Kaleb: They still came out in one though, which definitely says something, you know, the Miami.
Mike Bell: Yes, agreed. Right, right. Agreed, agreed. But I will just say... I think, look, I could go either way on this game, but I think it's possible a and m is being a little bit underrated coming into this game just because of the last thing we saw from A&M.
Kaleb: Mm-hmm.
Mike Bell: And yeah, now with that said, and I'll be done with my ramble in a second because I want to get your thoughts, but look, the schedules have been different. Miami's had an ACC schedule. A&M's had an SEC schedule.
Mike Bell: But the stats, if you look at where Miami ranks, Miami has the talent to hang with anybody, and they have some key players that have been in these spots before, whether that's Carson Beck or you know they have some great defensive players, and of course Malachi Toney. So both sides have a lot of talent, and I think it's going to be a great game. And as a neutral, this would probably be the game I'm looking forward to the most. What are your thoughts on the game?
Kaleb: So in my opinion, what my where my mind goes with this game is what team has shown the most consistency throughout the year between the two? And I would definitely say A&M by far.
Kaleb: Miami, 10-2. Their two losses, Louisville, SMU. Okay, A&M's lone loss to my lovely Longhorns, which I loved.
Kaleb: But that's a rivalry game, right? So de in my book, that's really not a bad loss. It was just awesome to do it, right? But yeah, to what you're saying, you do have a point. The last thing we saw was A&M losing to Texas.
Kaleb: Crap, where was I going with that? Basically, what I was going to say was you guys have the players to go pretty far. Now, do think Miami is going to be a challenge. I think it all hinges on how they show up. How does Carson Beck play? How does he show up?
Kaleb: Is your defense going to be able to wreak havoc against Carson Beck? You know, if Carson Beck's having to run the entire time, that's when he's not really the best. And really, the only thing off the top of my head as far as Miami goes offensively is like their stud freshman wide receiver, Malachi Tony.
Kaleb: you know Other than that, I don't really know too many of the you know stars that they have.
Mike Bell: They don't run the ball. Yeah.
Kaleb: Do what?
Mike Bell: Miami does not run the ball that well.
Kaleb: I mean...
Mike Bell: Yeah, they're they are passed first.
Kaleb: Right. Where you guys... which Which, are you guys going to have both running backs?
Mike Bell: So that's the question, and I think that's going one of the keys. Le'Veon Moss is questionable, and that would be a big gain if he plays.
Kaleb: Yeah. Because, like I said, you've got to be able to run the ball. Which... Owens can run too. He's a good running back, you know, but if you guys had both of them, ah because you you guys have really good wide receivers as well.
Kaleb: So I think you guys have been more consistent. you guys have the players too. I mean, I think you guys definitely have the edge. And with it being at Kyle Field, however, it would have been more awesome than before it's been at night, to be honest with you. But it is what it is.
Kaleb: Kyle Field would be crazy. ah It'll be interesting to see how Carson Beck plays and shows up, though. Because that was the question the whole time, you know, um or for this year, you know, and when they looked like the number two team in the country that they were earlier in the year, Carson Beck was doing amazing and doing great.
Kaleb: And I know that Miami looked good, like towards the end of the year, but you just have to, how much stock do you put into Virginia or north North Carolina state, Virginia tech and Pittsburgh?
Kaleb: How much stock do you put into that?
Kaleb: Hmm.
Mike Bell: Yeah, I actually do give him a little bit of credit for the Pittsburgh one, though. Like, I think Pitt is solid, and for it to be on the road where Miami struggled in cold weather, I give him that, so they have a little bit of momentum.
Mike Bell: But the other thing I would say is, you know, Miami has Reuben Bain, one of the best pass rushers, maybe the best pass rusher in the country.
Kaleb: Right? They do. They have studs. Probably
Mike Bell: And now, granted, our offensive line, very good. Nobody's
Kaleb: best in the SEC.
Mike Bell: Probably. The thing is, no one's really been able to run on Miami. And again, that's why it's key to get Le'Veon Moss. And you know you know what? I'll go back to what I said against Texas.
Mike Bell: The game may rely on one man, and that's Marcel Reed. Something's been thrown out there by a couple podcasts. It's nothing that's reported officially, but a couple podcasts that don't necessarily relate to each other said something about Mario k Craver.
Mike Bell: like How does he specifically come back after these couple weeks of rest? Basically hinting at the fact that towards the end of the season, he was playing through injury. And I did notice, like, it seemed like our receivers, like, you know, Casey Concepcion was doing very good. And k Craver had a few big plays, but it seemed like he kind of tailed off. So I think they may be trying to hint that that he was kind of hurt and maybe that affected the passing game. I don't know. i still would put it on, you know, Marcel's got to be good. And the one thing I do respect about Miami is their defense.
Mike Bell: I think it just comes down. I think A&M's defense itself will be fair. They're not going to shut anybody down. I think, of course, Embed is kind of an inconsistent quarterback. He'll have some good drives, I'm sure, and but then he'll throw like an interception. I think it's about A&M's offense.
Mike Bell: Can A&M move the ball and not have whatever they did against Texas where they're not even like throwing the ball downfield, whatever that disgusting performance was? But they've – I think I would say it all comes down to Marcel Reed. Is he ready for this moment?
Mike Bell: We know how he can be. He can be very streaky. And yeah, I expect it to be a close game. And boy, yeah obviously, I hope A&M wins. So that's really all for the game.
Kaleb: I think to add on to that is like, you know, you could argue the last time Miami has played this good of an offensive opponent would probably be going back to week one playing against Notre Dame.
Mike Bell: Go ahead.
Mike Bell: True.
Kaleb: You know, so their defense, they have some good stats. Don't get me wrong. And they do have some studs. Don't get me wrong there. But They haven't necessarily played any like powerhouse offensive teams. And... Marcel Reed and Carson Beck are in two different... I don't want say to say... Marcel Reed is like pretty much a true sophomore. okay I mean, he is a true sophomore. And Carson Beck, redshirt senior.
Kaleb: Right? So... In my mind, I give a little grace with Marcel Reed for him being streaky. Okay, he's still a pretty young player. And for all intents purposes, raw, right?
Kaleb: So I don't say like, oh this game like rests on Marcel Reed's head like, you know, in a bad way. But I mean, you're probably right. It probably does come down to him.
Kaleb: You know, like, Is he a stud? is it Can he handle the pressure? Because he's got all the offensive weapons in the book that he a quarterback could ask for, especially if you guys have Moss back.
Kaleb: You know, it's like, gosh, what more could a quarterback ask for? um
Mike Bell: Right.
Kaleb: So, anyway, i i think – I don't know. I also think, like, to kind of your point about the Texas game, I know Marcel Reed had, like, those two interceptions. and The last quarter, you know, it was pretty atrocious for him. But other than that, he's been pretty consistent, you know, throughout the year.
Kaleb: So.
Mike Bell: Consistent enough. I mean, look, i don't know if I'm just hard on my own team, but I will say, I don't know Look, I've said it over and over.
Kaleb: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Bell: I'm not asking for him to be pinched or anything like that. I want to see more from him. I think he's got to be better passing the ball. And look, I'm giving him the grace. I'm just saying, like, in in this game, like, I could see him having some struggles.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: That's that's all I'm really saying. And like you're saying, a lot of weapons.
Kaleb: You know, I completely flu literally forgot about this.
Mike Bell: So, no, you can't give him too many excuses.
Kaleb: Did Colin Klein, is he going to be coaching?
Mike Bell: Mm-hmm.
Kaleb: I forgot.
Mike Bell: He is.
Kaleb: to Okay, that's good.
Mike Bell: He is.
Kaleb: That's good.
Mike Bell: Yeah. that um
Kaleb: are you yeah Are you happy about that?
Mike Bell: ah No, I mean, I am. I mean, at this point, I mean, you have to, it's it' got to help more than hurt him being
Kaleb: Well, sorry. I mean, sorry. Are you happy that he's got another job so you've got to bring somebody else in?
Mike Bell: Well, so we upgraded our wide receiver coach offensive coordinator, and he's apparently just going to be implementing, I'm sure some of his own stuff, but a lot of Klein stuff. I mean, look, I told you my problems with Klein. Would I want him to return?
Mike Bell: i mean, yeah, because, you know, Marcel Reed, that's his system that he knows, and I don't want it too much to change for the next year, but it's also just the consequence of like like these, that's just going to happen, especially if the team is good.
Mike Bell: You're going to lose your coordination.
Kaleb: Oh, yeah. Coaching staff's poached for sure.
Mike Bell: I don't know if you saw this, and it's less of a story, but we also, the defensive coordinator, took the Kentucky defensive coordinator job.
Kaleb: Oh, I saw that. i actually, i don't know why the hell that guy would have done that, to be honest with you.
Mike Bell: Well, so it sounds to me like ah it was less that he wanted to leave and more so he was told, like, we're letting you go. So you can, which I i get, actually, because the defense has struggled and also has mostly Mike Elko that does the defense anyway, from what I understand.
Mike Bell: So I don't think it's that big of a video deal. I think they were saying Bateman really wasn't able to implement Elko's system the way that Elko liked. So I think it was less Bateman wanted at another job and more so that they were saying, look, we want to go another direction.
Mike Bell: But Bateman will also be coaching this game as well. So they have the coaching staff intact, and it looks like we're gonna be pretty healthy. So that is good, at least. So...
Kaleb: Yeah, it is.
Mike Bell: so So, yeah. Okay. So that wraps up those four games. Now, I know we've got some ball games that we're not going to necessarily get into that are next week. And then we've got the next weekend. There's going to some good games. We'll talk about that next week as well as their are the review of the playoffs and all that.
Mike Bell: Before we let each other go, is there anything else you wanted to get into, discuss football-wise, anything?
Kaleb: Not that I can think of, ah to be honest with you. I think we've, I don't know, maybe we could kind of have a shocking, unexpected game from either GMU or Tulane. That'd be very interesting and couldn't very well make the weekend, to be honest with you.
Kaleb: um And if that happens, then, hey, we had a pretty successful weekend, all things considered, just going into it, expecting there to be two games. And who knows, maybe, you know, the Miami or Miami A&M game is not close. And same thing with OU Alabama. You know, there's you never know with college football, which is always one of the.
Kaleb: best things about it you never know like how the game's gonna go so i mean i know the writing ah is on the wall for two of the games and on the other two you have no idea but i don't know
Mike Bell: I've got a quick thing and we don't have to get into it much because we talked about, i think last episode, and I think we've set our pieces on it, but the SEC schedules came out in terms of when the games are being played.
Mike Bell: And we kind of talked about how these schedules are going to be tougher next year and A&M's schedule looks brutal. We talked about Texas' schedule, Alabama as of schedule, you know, imagine Auburn, they have to face Alabama and Georgia every year now So that kind of goes along with what the committee is going to do. And that is if they're going to add more teams, it kind of sounds like they're going to go that direction.
Mike Bell: I still maintain, maybe they don't even necessarily need to do that, but they need to do away with the G5 team. We've talked about that, but here's the deal. The committee has got to redo their criteria.
Mike Bell: in terms of who gets into the playoffs, because with these SEC schedules, you're going to have lost teams.
Kaleb: They're going to have to let three-loss team in for sure next year.
Mike Bell: For sure, but more than just one, I mean, there's no way these teams are going to run the table through these schedules, and not all schedules are equal, and as far as I'm concerned, because the way they've been doing it this year, and I can kind of see why they did it, you know, the two lost teams are above all the three lost teams, and then so on and so forth.
Kaleb: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Bell: They've got to change that. They've got to have it where, no, no, no, there's some three-loss teams above the two-loss teams. We recognize the schedule stuff because I could see a scenario where like the SEC, there's a dominant team, let's just say Georgia, and they are in the top four.
Mike Bell: But then all the other ones are like struggling for that like last spot. So then you have like two teams that are just like on the edge. and like That's not really fair. They should actually be like more in like the top six to eight region. So anyway, you know that we can have more of that conversation later. But I know we talked about Texas' as a schedule, and it's actually – it is pretty insane. I don't know how Texas – unless they expand the playoffs, and I think it's way about A&M too. We have a tough schedule.
Mike Bell: It's going to make the playoffs unless they you know say, like, look, we're going to honor these out-of-conference games and just schedules in general. So don't if you have any thoughts on that.
Kaleb: Which they did say that. Steve Sarkeesian said they would honor the Ohio State game this upcoming year and also the Michigan game. But he said other than that, there's no commitments as far as – which I don't blame him. I really do not blame him.
Kaleb: You know.
Mike Bell: I don't blame them all. I mean, i think I think if anything, the SEC may have to do something.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: We'll see where all this goes, but if you're committed to a nine-game schedule, fine, but maybe you know they've required a game against like a Power 5 or Power 4 opponent now.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Mike Bell: Maybe you take that away. I don't know. i don't know. Because every SEC team has to have a Power 4 opponent. Now, don't know if you're
Kaleb: I definitely think at that point, you know, The path to victory in the SEC will be substantially more than in the Big Ten. Don't get me wrong. I think the Big Ten is like the second – or 1A, 1B situation per se.
Kaleb: But the Big Ten, man, next year, it's like you're they're still going to have some of those teams that have questionable schedules and they rise in the ranks pretty quickly because of that.
Kaleb: And, you know, you're going to have to take into consideration – how some of these sec schools schedules are going to factor in, you know, it, it would be very interesting to see like how many teams are going be able get the playoff this coming next year.
Kaleb: And if there's an eight and four team that people are maybe looking at, I don't, I don't know how many, how many teams are going to be able to get in, but that could be a question, you know, like,
Mike Bell: yeah
Kaleb: if there's 20 teams and depending on the schedules or whatever, can eight, 14 get in, you know, I think the nine and three is going to be the new 10 and two. So.
Mike Bell: I agree. And then Notre Dame, if you've looked at their schedule, that their schedule's been kind of going around recently. Like, one of the softest schedules you will ever see. And then compare that to, like, a lot of these SEC teams.
Mike Bell: It's like, You know, and I like Notre Dame, but it is like that's one less spot for the SEC squads. And it's easy to say now that like, oh, you know, yeah, we'll honor those wins. But then whenever they're actually put on the spot and then they have to put a three loss team above a two loss team, it's like that there's a lot of pressure on them. Yeah.
Kaleb: Well, for sure. oh wow. That is a...
Mike Bell: I think they have – USC isn't even official yet, but they have USC and who else do they have?
Kaleb: Yeah, U.S. Miami.
Mike Bell: Okay, so they have Miami.
Kaleb: That's it, though, man.
Mike Bell: Yeah, I know. I know. So I get –
Kaleb: And that's pretty insane, too, to be honest with you. Because who knows what either of those schools going to look like after this year, like transfers or... draft, you know, yeah that's ridiculous, you know, and don't get me wrong. Like I definitely would have not been against Notre Dame being in the playoff this year because I do think they are talented, but it's at that point, it's unfair. It's like you have two decent opponents to play against and the rest of them, you should just win just by stepping out on the field alone, not even playing a snap. You could arguably win the game right then and there, you know, and,
Kaleb: I don't know.
Mike Bell: I don't understand why more teams aren't – I mean, maybe it's just too complicated, but why more teams don't just say, like, look, we're going independent if this is the way it's going to be.
Kaleb: Yeah,
Mike Bell: Like, A&M could make the playoffs every year if they had this schedule, you know? Like, seriously, what's the point of being the SEC? I really don't understand it.
Kaleb: I know. Well, exactly.
Mike Bell: Looking at the schedule –
Mike Bell: Looking at the schedule, they do have, you never know how Wisconsin is going to be. i mean, if they're like they were last year, you know, you expect to win.
Kaleb: Brian?
Kaleb: Well, even, you know, yeah.
Mike Bell: SMU. Go ahead.
Kaleb: i would maybe have an asterisk against Wisconsin because they had definitely like a top three hardest schedule in all of football. You know, so who's to say like if they just had a slightly easier schedule, they maybe could have had a substantially better record.
Kaleb: But for all intents purposes, bad team.
Mike Bell: Right, right. and then you never know how teams like Michigan State is going to be. But yes, like ah not a great squad. And then what was it? You know, SMU, like they're up and down, right? Like they could be like randomly in the top 15. But...
Mike Bell: but But yes, the overall point is, like just looking at it now, that is a soft schedule. Really the only one that we expect to be ranked for sure is Miami and probably USC.
Mike Bell: So anyway, you know they just got to do something about you know the rankings and schedules and all that.
Kaleb: Right.
Mike Bell: i don't know what the solution is, but I'm sure we're going to have an entire offseason to fixate on things like that. but But all right, well...
Kaleb: Yep. And
Mike Bell: Is that all you got?
Kaleb: yes, I believe so.
Mike Bell: Okay. Well, go Aggies. And I will talk to you next week. Goodbye.
Kaleb: All right. See you then.
