Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M Score Predictions

[Music] what [Music] IB Nation welcome back to another edition of the Irish breakdown podcast it is Thursday two days before we kick off Notre Dame and Texas A&M and it is time to do our prediction show that will be second part of today's show part one we're going to talk about keys to Victory on the Notre Dame offense Notre Dame defense and then part three of today's show see I'm mixing all around 2 one three Bill Bender from sporting news is going to join me and he and I are going to preview and make predictions for some of the big games this weekend like Georgia Clemson LSU USC and some others so without further Ado I'm ready to get rocking and rolling with my staff today and I got my crew today I should say I got my guy Trevor trobridge there ready to rock and roll and Ryan Roberts you guys know that guy as well is going to talk about today's game fellas so obviously we all know what's at stake this weekend we've been breaking it down Ryan you and I have been talking on well actually you and I have been talking last month about this game game back and forth getting Intel giving Intel all that kind of stuff and it's here guys right like Notre Dame's got one more real practice left before you know walkthroughs traveling down can't State enough this is obviously a big big game for Notre Dame we're going to talk about we've talked about it we're going to get our keys to Victory here in a second but before we do folks remember hit that like button hit the Subscribe button hit the notification Bell share this podcast give us a fivestar review sign up for the message AO all that good stuff but we're ready to rock and roll let's get let's get going here with our final Notre Dame Texas A&M preview let's do it man get excited what is everybody waiting for Kyle Field Saturday night 7:30 kickoff let's get it going man let's begin guys we're going to do our keys to Victory and before we dive into like offense and defense there's some general ones that are obviously important when you're on the road right win the turnover battle so we're not going to bore you guys with a long break down of why that matters we know why right you go on the road you can't turn the ball over especially bad turnovers and you need to try to force some so that's obviously part of it and how how what kind of I mean what kind of Notre Dame fan or writer would I be if in for the first prediction show of the year we didn't have a little shout out to the great loose Emoji when you talk about special teams fellas Lou had one general rule he didn't get into the return this field position that it was Do no harm that was lose special teams motto and that's obviously the key for Notre Dame on special teams at the end of the day there of course if you block a kick get a score those are all great but the number one key is Do no harm so those are some general ones that we will look at let's now dive into the offense fellas and we're going to begin here because I think this is the side of the ball where there's the most angst amongst noted aame fans for a host of reasons and so what are the things that Notre Dame has to do in order to H to be victorious to come out on top for the offense to play at a high level and it really starts with this one and you guys all know where I'm going with it right this is a key that we have almost every week and it's going to be important in this game as well fellas when you go on the road and you're playing a ranked team in a in a rockus environment in a loud crowd the first thing you have to do big picture is get off to a good fast start move the ball control the clock put the ball in the end zone that's Trevor that right now that's key number one for this notame offense they have got to get off to a fast start they have to quiet the crowd and also build confidence they have to set the tempo of the game and I think that would be a really good start for Notre Dame keep the drive alive especially with an environment like Kyle Field I understand what the what Texas A&M has done over the last couple years has been a little underwhelming but I'm sure Alabama in either 21 or 22 don't remember but the last time Bryce young went there 21 21 I'm sure they weren't thinking much of it either and one thing that Notre Dame has to be prepared to do is push the ball down the field and don't be afraid to stretch it vertically start fast um that's what they'll be looking for there's nothing better in football for when a team goes into a hostile environment that is super loud and on the first or second play of the game they have an explosive play and all of a sudden the crowd shuts up right like that is the biggest thing for me I mean you we can talk about the quality of competition all we want we could talk about the X's and O's we could talk about the the positional breakdowns as far as who is better here who is better there and we will obviously do that during the show but ultimately it's going to come down to Marcus Freeman and this coaching staff is bringing his team that is very talented into a environment that everyone is going to be lowed 100 plus thousand people and everybody there for the most part hat you ultimately right so shut them up early create an explosive play on offense create a big play on defense whatever it is that stops the crowd from being as rockus that is the biggest adversary that you have early on in this game is that you're going to have to play against the crowd as well they are going to be loud you're gonna have the the headset Communicator for the first time right so like people are going to be talking about that a ton you need to make the crowd shut up a little bit I mean there just comes a level of execution that you have to have early in games and there's a lot I mean it it kind of factors into where your mindset is it factors into your preparation your focus all those things but at the end of the day it it really is about get getting yourself into a good early early Rhythm Notre Dame last year goes into Louisville again not as big of a crowd but very loud crowd night game prime time they're fired up they want to get the upset Notre Dame gets the ball actually starts moving it well at first and then what happens turnover Louisville goes right down the field and scores and Notre Dame was on its heels the rest of the game I mean just the rest of the game and you can't have something like that happen in this game you have to be able to jump out on this team fast you look at last year against Clemson Ryan Notre Dame takes a three nothing lead they force a punt you fumble the punt Clemson recovers it at the 41 One play later s to3 Notre Dame never really recovered from that and so when you allow a loud enir to get louder and more excited it's going to hurt you but also while you're building your confidence you're starting to put doubt in the mind of that team or on the flip side if you will let them get some early confidence their offense is is the concern for them as well you give them short Fields you let them get into a rhythm on with your offense not putting points on the board they gain confidence you put that offense behind the eightball early and now you've ramped up the pressure on them so all these things kind of factor in to why this game is like if Notre Dame doesn't start fast against Northern Illinois next week okay maybe they don't win by as much but they're going to win you get off to a slow start against Texas A&M you might get beat and so that's why it's an important part of and then of course we always build into the the build up on these topics so what's number two what's the best way to get off to a fast start and maintain it right it comes down to the notame offensive line they have to limit pressures especially in key moments right like A&M I don't care if Joe Blake fiser both were coming back and Charles jacksaw was healthy and moved to guard and everything was perfect this defensive Line's gonna get some pressures on the quarterback it's just going to happen you have to make sure they're not the key pressures you you third and four that's the time you got to buckle down and and and and protect him we we looked at this on the opposite side last year with Ohio State noted Dame I thought did a pretty good job of getting pressure on Kyle mcord last year not letting him get comfortable but on that final drive there were two big plays the fourth and seven and the third and 19 and on both of those plays Ohio State gave their quarterback time to throw and he made those plays so it's the key pressures and in the Run game Ryan for me it comes down to this I'm not expecting them to dominate this game I don't I'd be shocked if that happens here's all I need you to do when you've got Riley Leonard Jeremiah 11 jarian price get a body on a body that's it get a body on a body man hold your hold your ground get a body on a body and if they do that the skill player should be able to have some success I mean I kind of Quantified it as this and Trevor I'm interested to see if you kind of agree on this but like I so I Quantified it as I don't need the older offensive line to dominate I don't even need them to play great I need them to play clean as possible because that's the thing that I'm most worried about is that when you're talking about six career starts on an offensive line a starting group and you're talking about a freshman at left tackle and a ret Shir freshman at left guard when you're talking about that much just unknown and uncertainty I'm more worried about and I'm I'm glad that we have a center that's played a couple games right but like I'm more worried about like false starts I'm more worried about you know just you know thinking too much and and working over a gap when you shouldn't work over a gap and releasing a guy because you think that you have inside help and you don't have inside help and then he's a free runner like those thing those miscommunication things those things that just come come with experience that really worries me a whole lot more when I'm talking about the amount of starts an offensive line had because ultimately Sam Pendleton's talented right Anthony knap is talented Emil Wagner is very talented but it's the first game wo of never playing before the the the just little things that kind of get lost in a football game of the false starts or the miscommunication of fronts that can really do in an offense so I don't need this offensive line to fire off and get 250 yards rushing for Notre Dame against Texas A&M I need not a lot of false starts not a lot of pre- snap penalties decent communication I just need them to do a solid job if they do a solid job I think noram offense has a chance to be really good in this game and potentially explosive at times it's just going to come down to do not be your worst enemy on the offensive line in the front I think you hit the nail on the head I I couldn't agree more clean football for them is going to be the biggest indicator of how well they do so many people here Notre Dame is starting a young offensive line and they relate that to talent and I could not disagree more you're a full ride scholarship athlete at Notre Dame who is known as o lineu you have the talent to play the biggest differentiator for me is you haven't been in that environment yet as much as you can simulate crowd noise and and pump inever many decb in practice nothing compares to the real thing so for me evaluating their offensive line in the game and seeing how they come out on the first drive is going to see how they're going to play for me for the rest of the four quarters I think you guys hit the nail on the head the offensive line does not need to dominate it does not need to play great it just needs to hold its own and that that's it like my note that I sent to you guys it's not offensive line must control the line of scri it's not they it's hold up y that's it just hold up you know the phrase that I use Brian was when you have when you when you lose a rep offensive line wise it needs to be a slow loss not a quick loss right like Nick scin is going to have a few pressures in this game right but if those pressures don't turn to quarterback hits cool if they don't turn to sacks cool cool like Anthony knap just be good enough to be able to hold on for dear life for a little bit longer slow losses is what I want to see on the offensive line right because it's also as a quarterback I don't mind getting hit I don't as long as I've been able to complete my throwing motion hit me all you want that that's the key right and then we saw this last year against Duke I mean there's ball Sam Hartman Stone as he's as he's getting hit in the face and and that's the thing too that's a little different about this one is because you have a quarterback like a Riley Leonard compared to Jack con Sam Hartman who had you know obviously great strengths of their own you don't have to be as dominant in the pocket against pass Pro like you said keep a body on a body if I if I'm Sam Pendleton and I get beat by Shamar Turner as long as I stay on him Riley Leonard can sidestep that either go run or get the ball out or whatever the case may be it's when I lose that guy that that's when you get into trouble and that's what would happen last year Ryan is they would lose at the line of scrimmage and then the guy' go running by him and they're getting free runs at at Sam Hartman that's what this line cannot allow to happen and and that's going to be a big key to this game because I do believe that Notre Dame has a a pretty decent Advantage from a skill versus skill standpoint in this matchup they can't let this be the great negator and that's going to be a key part of it so what are some things that Mike Den brck can do in order to help with the fast start and help protect the offensive line because if your goal is say we're just going to go out and run Duo and inside zone right down Texas anam's throat all game I don't know if that'd be a great strategy again if you had Blake fiser and Joe Walk coming back this was a top 15 run defense last season Tommy ree would disagree with you on that he probably would he probably would but it comes down to what are some things you can do within your philosophy to have success guys and one of the things that they're gonna have to do is get Texas Anam on their heels what does that mean well push the tempo which is something that that comes naturally for Mike Den that's what he believes in this isn't going to look like Chip Kelly 2010 Oregon right but we're going to see a little bit more Pace it comes down to properly using motions motions and shifts to go at the defense what does that mean it means not only doing things that give you leverage it's doing things to make them think doing things to make them communicate the more they have to communicate and talk pre- snap the more success you're going to be Ryan you played linebacker if you're sitting there communicating and you're talking to the guy next to you as the ball's getting snapped you guys are behind now you got to go make a play you know those are obviously very important things an inside out attack yes you cannot abandon between the tackles but be willing to get the ball outside use your alignment you you know they A&M's going to try this to do this to you use your tight ends your motions your backs your receivers to create some exra extra spacing in the Run game get be willing to get the ball outside attack them with your screen game be creative with your screen game change your launching spots for your quarterback right don't always be right there behind Center something you can do and then obviously with the read Zone stuff there's a lot of different things that that that Mike Elco has in his toolbox Trevor that maybe you didn't have last year because and this isn't Riley Leonard's better than Sam Hartman or it's just different style there's a lot of things you have in your tool belt at running back that you didn't have last year against this kind of team again not that these two kids are better than alri estimate they're just different Ryan alrick was a guy that that or Trevor alri was a guy you needed to kind of get a push and and get him going right these are guys who just just like I said stay on him do things schematically to get him in space you weren't going to design a bunch of things to get audri ESE the ball on the perimeter in your passing game so there's a lot of things that he needs to do that if you can get them on their heels that's a way to not only get off to a fast start to protect your line but it's also a way to slow down that pressure and that's really where Mike Dem Brock's gonna to gonna have make his presence felt dor absolutely do whatever you can to get your Playmakers into space we have heard nothing but great things about Notre Dame's Talent athleticism length speed at the skilled positions Mike Den Brock does a really good job of utilizing those with different skill sets we've touched on it before that Notre Dame it feels like finally has a receiving room where it doesn't feel like they have five guys with the same skill set just with different names and now it's time to go out and showcase what they're able to do look for a referen this in a couple of shows but look forward back in 2014 they will get the ball into will Fuller's hands very quickly look for Den Brock to game plan around a speedy pass rush for Texas A&M especially with the younger offensive line I'm thinking quick quick now screens to Jaden greous could be in the future for sure Ryan let me let me just bring up something along that lines as I kick it to you y you think of that 2014 game remember the big concern Notre Dame fans had going the Music City Bowl where you had like a new look offensive line your old line been kind of getting your butt whooped all year youve got Malik Zer quarterback what did Notre Dame do in that game lot of jet motions jet sweeps the first touchdown of the game to Trevor refers was a tunnel screen to will Fuller to get the ball in the perimeter those are all things they did to kind of negate that and then once the offensive line got rolling then they kind of took it to USC now that was a little bit of a different I mean LSU that was a little bit different you know Mike mcin was making his first career start but he was a red shirt sophomore not a true freshman or red shirt freshman but those are things that they did to get early confidence and and they were able to stay in that game in a game that a lot of people didn't think they had a shot at Ryan yeah well CJ priz had that long uh the long touchdown of the jet too in that game right so yeah I mean there's there's ways fundamentally to get the ball in your playmaker's hands and I think that Mike Dem brck is showcased that like if he has a team that has a dynamite passing attack he can fold into that if he has a dynamite running back we seen that literally at the University of Notre Dame right so he has those he's a very versatile playm uh play caller I almost call him a playmaker maybe back in his day he was but not anymore versatile play caller but I I think that for when you look at this offense this is the first Notre Dame team that I can remember in a long time and I don't think this hyper I don't think it's hyperbole at all but this is literally the first Notre Dame team at the skill positions that I can remember in some time where if I put in all the second stringers quote unquote onto the field I would be like keep keep doing what you're doing like I expect the same result and that that has not been the case man there's been some years where it's like if one wide receiver gets hurt if one running back gets hurt if one quarterback gets hurt you're like Snap son we suck right like it's good now y let's like 2022 you lose Tyler Buckner you're holding on for dear life all year you know I mean if we just go by the depth chart and let's say in theory there's a play where and God forbid where there's a hamstring issue I know that GNA bring back some bad injury memor let's say this Ryan let's say it is a there is a mass equipment issue at their skill positions right all three starting receivers all starting running backs so Jeremy love Jordan Faison we're just going up the depth chart Jaden greous and Bo Collins are off the field Ryan who are you trotting onto the field at that point in time and I and I was going to illustrate it like this and I wasn't even going to go deep into the running backs because we already know that like Jeremiah Love J Darian price are both really talented but like just at wide receiver if all three had to come out for whatever reason and you're telling me that I have to run a full offensive series or full half of football with jayen Thomas and Jordan Faison and even Jaden Harrison in the slot just based upon what what um what it's or Chris Mitchell whoever that you're throwing in at the Z it's it's a long day right I mean like you have more than enough Playmakers this is the deepest wide receiver room that Notre Dame has had in 5 10 years I mean like it's been long time and your depth at that point in time your depth is Cam Williams Micah Gilbert Deion KY Logan Sate oh and by the way you do have a lot of tight ends you can throw the ball to I mean and what in what other years in the recent past would a cam Williams not be on a to deep like when would that happen when would that happen and same with Michael Gilbert 100% correct 100% correct and I mean the last couple years we've been you know crossing our fingers Wishing Upon a Star that you know that Deon Coy would finally break out and now it's like well if he does great if he doesn't they're fine it's a it's a completely different thing and that kind of ties into the to the final key to victory in my opinion for not Dame guys I I I don't believe that Notre Dame is going to be able to come out in this game and just consistently go on eight-play drives run the ball down their throat quit game them to death nickel them Diamond up and down the field and score a bunch of points they're going to have to generate some big plays in this game and and part of it's obviously your talent but this kind of plays off of getting them on their heels you know you using your motions using your leverage use some post snap switch Concepts which worked against Duke last year which works I think especially against this team this year because of not only their personnel but also the fact that these guys are all learning a new defense a very different defense from what they ran in the past very different stru struct uh coverage structures things along those lines can you do some things to kind of create some some minuses I think back to Mike elko's first year at Notre Dame what was one of the big play the big factors that for Georgia in beating Notre Dame they had two really big plays one was on a go ball to Javon Williams late in the game and you guys remember that Jet Sweep to DeAndre Swift that got outside for a big game as well was the only really big game they had that flipped the field in a 20 to 20 to9 ball game those two big plays turned out to be huge for Notre aame so Ryan when you look at this post snap switch attack vertically go after the sa I mean there's all types of ways you can go with this but at the end of the day Notre Dame is going to have to be able to generate from a coaching standpoint and a player execution standpoint some chunk plays in this game I'm not talking like one or two I'm talking more like four five just big play opportunities to completely change the the flip the field change the tempo change momentum quiet the crowd it it serves all types of purposes it's a must in this game well I don't think you recruit guys like Jeremiah Love jarian price and bring in guys like Chris Mitchell and Jaden Harrison to not create big plays right like that's literally the whole reason that you bring in the those types of guys and then I would also say even just like conversely to what Tex am is treding out there we know that their defensive line is super talented and very good we know torian York and inside linebacker is probably going to be a star but the secondary is the spot that I look at and say like there could be opportunity there man like Tyreek Chapel's a solid player Bryce Anderson's talented they got a couple young guys like Dez Ricks and a couple transfers that came in that are like talented players but like overall Chris Mitchell Jane Harrison Jane great house Bo Collins you should have opportunity Eli raran Mitchell Evans Jeremiah Love out of the back field like there should be a lot of potential to make explosive plays especially in the passing game because I do look at the Texas secondary and I'm just like that's easily the weak spot of the defense I mean the first level's great the second level's good with tan York and then the third level's question marks right so Notre Dame needs to make create some big plays especially in the passing game and another thing too it feels like they're the overall Vibe of the offense is changing in years past especially last year when Notre Dame needed a big play they were almost looking for the right opportunity and it was almost like a paralysis by analysis just waiting to see if you're able to establish enough of a run game to go play action behind it have a deep cross with Chris Tyrie they hit that a couple times throughout the year with Mike Den Brock back in South Bend it feels that Notre Dame is going to be for a of better words more on the offensive to create those opportunities instead of waiting for them to happen which I'm excited to see on Saturday night well it's one of I mean Trevor it was like they would kind of poke and prod and wait for their moment right where Mike Den Brock has preached in practice and in different situation hey we're we're going on the offensive right we're going to not poke and prod and wait for that one or two big play opportunities we're going to go on the attack we're going to we're going to just come at you come at you come at you and and and generate those playes and and and the big thing to me that also is going to help this game I'm actually someone who's not like abandoned 12 Personnel I'm like look you got Eli Ron into Cooper fland again on your dep chart along with Mitchell Evans use 12 Personnel effectively but there also comes a t an aspect of this where you've got to spread them out too you've got to make them defend the entire width of the field something that no name has not done and I believe it's something you can do with 12 Personnel especially with a guy like Mitchell Evans and and a guy like Eli Ren who can stretch the field in different ways you've got to be able to do that you've got to hunt and that's something that they didn't do they would kind of you know set up traps to maybe get that one where these guys like we're hunting we're hunting for those big plays and the one thing that Mike demro walked into was a roster that has plenty of those type of players on it and not in theory not hey he did this in high school there's not a guy that knowre name is counting on tomorrow that hasn't done this at the Collegiate level right they're St staring you know well the transfer X receiver has generated big plays on the road in an SEC Stadium Chris Mitchell did that last year at Arkansas when he you know went for six catches and 157 yards against Arkansas last year I mean so you have those type of guys you have players you can do it Jeremiah Love we've seen him do it we've seen jadarian price do it we've seen Jaden great house do it we've seen Jordan fison do it we've seen Bo Collins do it you know we've seen Jaden Thomas do his thing he's not a big play guy but he's a as far as like yardage but what we've seen from Jaden Thomas is he's a big moment guy and that's a part of this as well so plenty of weapons and I didn't even get into the tight ends uh plenty of weapons at those positions and then of course you've got the quarterback is there is Riley Leonard's gonna have to be a facilitator in a lot of these big plays as well but he's also going to have to create his own as well in this football game but uh but the more he can facilitate those big plays get the ball where it needs to get to on time accurately make good decisions then there's less pressure on him to be the playmaker and that's going to be an important part of this game Ryan before we move over on the defense what are some are there any other things that as you look at this game you say this is something the nerame offense is going to have to do besides obviously we talked about fast starts we talked about the offensive line has to hold up we talked about you know using all your repertoire to get Texas's heels and then creating big plays any other things from the offense that that you're going to have your eye on to say hey look this is going to tell me this team is ready to roll and win this I I mean you mentioned it already briefly there but I I really think that Riley Leonard although yes he needs to be an extension or a facilitator in the passing game you brought him in to be playmaker man like he came in to be a guy and there's going to be a moment in this game whether they're up whether they're down whether it's in the late four stage of the fourth quarter whether it's in the late stage of the second H or the first half whenever it's going to be there's going to be a moment where Texas A&M sells out they have good coverage across the board and Ry Leonard's gonna have to make a big play with his legs like there's going to be that moment and when he when he has that opportunity need him to make it because ultimately that is a back breaker for defenses we have Mike Elco on that side of the ball obviously I know Brian's favor Jay baitman will be calling the defense technically you know with the air quotes up there but we have what should be a really good defense with a really great defensive mind at the helm and ultimately you're going to have to break the back at some point man because at some point if Nick scon Shamar Turner Shamar Stewart David Hicks all these dudes have kind of just put their you know they're kind of just pushing to create big plays in the back field and all of a sudden Riley Leonard keeps it and then he breaks it for a 25 yard big play in a third and seven conversation then that's a back breaker so I think Riley Leonard is going to be a huge key in the biggest moments of this football game how about you Trevor we talked about it a little bit when we were covering the offensive line one of the biggest things that I'm going to be looking out for is eliminating pre- snap penalties Drive Killers Things That Kill momentum control what you can control and that is one of them all of the positive things that we're hearing about Mike Den Brock's new offense and it's going to be aggressive and looking to push it down field and and increase the tempo is fantastic but Notre Dame has to do a really good job of not playing out of control and to me one of those signs is fall starts whether it's on a wide receiver whether it's on an offensive tackle or a tight end uh interested to see how Riley Leonard handles all of that communication making sure that everybody is set before the snap Marcus Freeman Mike Den Brock they touched on it in a press conference at the end of fall camp where they noted that from the beginning of fall Camp to the end that had increased severely um in a positive direction but have to make sure that in a game scenario that those are eliminated because that's on the road that is what kills drives y so we're going to move on to the defense next fellas but before we do everybody hit that like button hit the Subscribe button hit the notification Bell share this podcast give us a five star review and when this show's over run over to boards. AR breakdown. comom and sign up for what we got going on there on the premium uh uh the premium board at for Irish breakdown let's dive into the defense fellas and and and this is the side of the ball where I think Notre Dame has the advantage and I think it's a it's a pretty significant Advantage but you now need to execute and make sure that the onp paper advantage and the perceived Advantage becomes a practical advantage and that's really going to be an important part of this game because I don't know that Notre Dame can win this game if the defense takes a step back or doesn't bring it which we saw a couple of times last year I mean that's that that's going to happen right nobody's Elite for 12 games in the regular season you're going to have your off games and the problem name has had is when their defense did take a step back their offense wasn't good enough to pick them up like the way that the defense would pick up the offense when they had their down games so the defense is gonna have to play to its to its capabilities in this game especially early and it really starts up front and it's not just because well football's won in the trenches and it's not just because you know any it's just about this is what this team is about when this dline plays well Ryan you and I talked about it all year last year when this dline plays Well you aren't moving the football on noted aim when the dline didn't play well that's when they would get in trouble you've got a big F big massive offensive line that you can't allow to get into a rhythm you may have potentially three new starters for them in this game center Right Guard right tackle depending on you know who they finally go with at Center obviously Mark Nebo started last year they're talking about the kid from Utah is number one on the depth chart this year youve got the Kansas transfer Adams Reeds at Right Guard and Ruben father's hurt so it looks like they're going to go with crown over at right tackle he that's what the depth chart says so they're going to have their own new set of starters in there as well right can't let them get confidence Ryan the the the front the Notre Dame front has to dominate the line of scrimmage which means don't let him run the football don't let Connor Wegman get into a rhythm because if if they can force A&M to be a p in in a lot more passing Downs I don't know that they have much of a chance to to move the ball and score but if they stay in on schedule if they stay ahead of it get into second and short get into third and shorts that's where that offense can Feast because now Colin Klein has his whole repertoire play action movement all that stuff quarterback run screen game it's all it's all there for him to go to if you get in those downs and you you've got to get him into pure passing Downs because that's where his offenses have struggled in the past well I would I would say this too is that we spent so much time obviously on the Notre Dame side of things but even the national side of things talking about not Dame's offensive line and the six career starts and Anthony nap and all those types of things people have forgotten that like Texas A&M also has a lot of questions on their offensive line as well I mean like we just haven't talked as much about that Trey zoon is a good player at left tackle but he might be the only player that is playing the position that he started at last year for the majority of the season right cuz even chase bantis is moving to left guard from right tackle where he played mostly as a true freshman so this is a new offensive line for the for lack of a better term like this is a first game in a new alignment of an offensive line and Notre Dame is bringing back one of the better interior Duos in college football with Howard cross and Riley Mills they're also bringing in RJ Obin they also have Jordan batelo who's hopefully going to take a nice step but they also have bubacar tayori and Joshua Burnham and this defensive line is one of the best in the country and Texas A&M offensive line could end up being a solid to good units by the end of the season I think they have that type of upside but not game one game one they're going to have the same it the same inconsistencies that we're talking about with Notre Dame as far as like there's gonna be some miscommunication at times maybe there's gonna be some pre- snap stuff there's going to be some Jitters there's going to be some nerves like that stuff is going to be there for the Texas Anum offensive line you have a clear Advantage up front Notre Dame needs to take that and make the pundits the analysts and everybody out there Notre Dame's defensive line should dominate the Texas offens line you need to make them right if Notre Dame's defensive line does not I don't want to say destroy if they don't dominate this football game or at least win handedly against the offensive line then that's trouble for Notre Dame that means that Notre Dame probably didn't play a very good football game defensively so they need to show that their strength is a strength and that their strength is a strength over the Texas an offensive line in this game Trevor I'm going to kick I'm going to kick part two to you cuz this this ties into it and it's something that you and I have talked about step number two to me in this game kind of involves the line but also the linebackers and that is when breaking down Colin Klein you talked about it in your article today you and I have chatted about it he is great at using multiple tight ends motion shifts two backs and and doing things to create extra spacing extra gaps extra they call it surface area right in the Run game and then using that where they put two tight ends to one side motion to that side and they're running away from it right you have to you cannot allow yourself to get out leveraged by Texas A&M and you have to be disciplined I think that's really the what the only thing that could prove to be a Kryptonite to this front seven is if they are allowed if if they don't handle that those things well so if it just comes down to Mono aano like Ryan said I think this nerame D line handles this matchup and they've played against really big offensive lines before and been fine because they're athletic that's the that's the concern right there right is don't let Colin Klein do to you what we talked about what Mike Dem Brock needs to do to the Texas A&M defense which is use motions use shifts use Personnel to create mistakes or or line alignment mistakes assignment mistakes execution mistakes whatever that can then generate the big plays for them the majority of my concerns in the front seven live in the linebacking Corp and again not from a skill set perspective effective they're longer this year I believe that they're more athletic this year but with how complex Colin Klein's offense is very similar to how complex Mike Den Brock's offense is especially pre-nap it's going to be very important that they play assignment correct to your point don't get out leveraged don't put yourself in a scenario where you're out of position too much in an Ideal World they play a perfect snap or play a perfect game on every snap right but minimalize the Mist and make sure that you don't get out leverage that to me is the biggest thing because once you get into that position Colin Klein Conor Wegman they're going to start getting into a rhythm which is dangerous especially being on the road dive into to to point number three Ryan because these all I think segue perfectly into each other what does all of that mean that we just talked about defensive line dominating being Gap Gap sound not let letting them out leverage you not letting them outnumber you not letting them kind of pin you inside on one of their toss plays or their counter plays or things like that as I'm watching Colin Klein's offense from last year Run game wise he's a very creative play caller in the Run game he's very creative when it comes to sneaking out his fullback on a power action into the black and run a corner route for a big play where you're like how did that guy get that wide open and that's a lot of their T their tight end LED their team in catches last year Ryan I just counted in the five or six games I broke down 12 13 catches at least and he's catching the ball out of the back field as as almost like he's a fullback or in a wing position C Kansas state has done that forever even without him you remember like the gronowski brother that like 20 something yards a catch as like a HB fullback like didn't make any sense yeah but it comes down to this Ryan it's don't let them get cheap yards make them earn everything no turning guys loose no missing tackles if you get a guy in space bring him down no no you know overrunning plays no turning gu you you have to make them go on long drives because if they have to sustain long drives against this defense they're just not going to score a lot what A&M is going to need to do is generate big plays just like Notre Dame both offenses are going through a lot of similar things so if you're Notre Dame Ryan make him work no cheap yards that I mean that's huge in this game I mean because there's only a couple guys in this Tex offense that I would call like guys that can create big plays ultimately right like you got the Cyrus Allen kid you might have the Terry busy kid who's the true freshman the five star other than that Noah Thomas is a 66 outside B I mean like he can run a double move occasionally but like he's a he's a possession guy like he's going to win a lot of contested catch situation Jay Walker 6 foot4 you have a couple good tight ends but like again you're talking about guys that are more what the the impact they create is going to be before the catch and at the catch more than after the catch like you just don't have that t guys at running back Le'Veon Moss is a really tough physical Runner but like he's not a game breaker like he's not a guy that's going to bust off like a 60 yard Runa more often than not so for me it's like you have it offense that I think is lacking in a lot of big playability at least from a full spectrum perspective can't let him create big plays in his football game right like there's two guys that if I'm Notre Dame I'm really worried about creating big plays on this offense that's it and one of the guys I have no idea how the heck they're going to use like I have no idea what Terry bus is going to do on Saturday zero so but those are the only two guys I look at him and Allen and say like that guy might be able to create a big play on me might be able to create an explosive otherwise you know if if Benjamin Morris Morrison at some point gets out leveraged for 5050 ball against Noah Thomas that's fine man like it's okay right because the guyy 66 I mean ultimately but you got to make everything hard and got to make everything difficult no easy ball no no bad misses in space that let a guy go for 60 no second effort runs like keep it keep it what keep them what they are ultimately and that should be a methodically oriented offense that is not an explosive offense on paper and they I don't know that they can beat Notre Dame that way unless the Notre Dame offense just gives them points I I really don't think that they can here's here's the last piece Ryan because I don't think you're going to completely shut this offense down where they don't move the ball they don't cross Midfield you just completely obliterate them the way that they did teams like pit and wake Force last year they're going to have some some drives that that get into your territory two years ago Notre Dame had one of the worst Red Zone defenses in college football they were only a spot away from having the worst the absolute worst red zone defense completely flipped the script last year they had a top five red zone defense so what's what they were second right and in in Red Zone and then what were they second or third in Red Zone touchdown or the other way around easy top five red zone defense and they did it all year what's the truth right like- which one's true or is the truth somewhere in the middle I think that's going to be a big key in this game too Ryan because if they do get a couple early drives as you're getting used to the motions and shifts and the movement and the tempo and all those different things how they're GNA use this guy how are they gonna use this guy if they do put some Drives together they do hit a couple big plays a make sure you don't you don't let those big plays result in touchdowns right they get a 40 yard gain that flips the field fine but hold them to field goals red zone defense is going to be huge in this game because when they do put those Drives together you got to hold them to three when I look at this game Trevor that's going to be a big part of it is I if it may take them a little bit to get used to what this offense is going to do there are some players that can hit some big plays if you do make some mistakes make sure they don't get to six and when they get into the Red Zone hold them to field goals if this if this becomes a situation where Texas has five or six scores and they're all field goals so flipp and what Notre name's going to win the game that's a big big part of this game especially especially early on if they're able to hit a couple plays yeah continuing their dominance in the red zone is going to be huge let's let's be realistic as awesome as it would be to say they're not even going to cross the 50 yard line they're going to it's just G to happen so being able to play assignment correct sound football once they get into your territory I think is going to be crucial Notre Dame had a really good red zone defense last year they returned a lot of the key pieces on that defense this year um the interesting thing for me for Notre Dame's defense is almost on the flip side of Ryan's point about how big their receiving core is is how they're going to Faire in the Red Zone specifically I like Benjamin Morrison he has shown that he can play against bigger receivers in the past Marvin Harrison Jr was 6'4 and we all know what he did a whole lot of nothing against Notre Dame when they went to South Bend but but 66 is pretty big and and historically cam Hart was that guy cam Hart was long he was 63 and right now your tallest corner is Leonard Moore I believe at 6'2 so gonna be interested to see how they handle that but handling yourself in the Red Zone field goals are always going to be wins so that's that's the defensive breakdown guys again it's a very very big game for Notre Dame in many many ways and when you are playing in this type of big mall moment your best has to play at its best and the best part of not Dame is what we know right now is its defense and so they're going to have to get that I think this is also a great momentum builder for this team too and and honestly I this is the side of the ball that I do have the most confidence that we'll play well if I'm being honest because it is so experienced and because there is so much continuity this is the one part of both teams three new coordinators out of four the only thing that didn't change this last off season was Notre Dame's defense and I think that's the why I do believe uh that it is and what is it Ryan that you said was it that you said this to me or during the show or when we were talking earlier defense travels right I mean then that's got to be true for this game so that's going to do it for the keys to Victory we're going into predictions next folks but before we do hit that like hit that subscribe hit the notification Bell share this podcast give us a festar review we'd greatly appreciate that and as always make sure that you have signed up at boards. break.com doccom for our premium membership so final section of the Notre Dame Texas A&M show is going to be predictions we have talked about the game all week and now we're going to have some fun making our predictions so we're gonna uh go into that first guys what we're going to do is we're going to kind of uh each of these guys is going to get their shot to make their prediction they're going to kind of tell you how they think the game is going to play out while they do that we want to hear from you all what are your score predictions for this game so we're obviously going to pull some of those up and uh dive into into those we'll also have something on the message board we get into this as well so give me your score prediction then I'm going to ask one followup of each of you after you get up your score so give me the score and then tell me how you think the game is going to play out and then I'm gonna have one follow-up question for each of you Ryan we'll K go ahead and kick things started off with you yeah so for me I see this game being a very competitive contest for the most part but I do have a 28-7 final Victory and how I get to the 28 to 17 is I think that this game is going to be kind of one of those bad back and forth dog fights throughout probably two and a half quarters and I think that both teams are just going to kind of do the back and forth blow I do think the Notre Dame could probably they're probably going to score first in this football game and I think that would be a great indicator of what the final potentially could be but I do think that they are going to be kind of a back and forth contest but what I think the difference is going to be is in the fourth quarter it's going to be 21 to 17 and then Notre Dame is going to rip off a huge play and I don't know if that's going to be Riley Leonard I don't know if that's going to be Jemiah love but I'm predicting a big play in the fourth quarter that gives you an 11-point lead and lets your defensive line now get a little loose your quarterbacks get a little loose and that's when I think that you're going to see the most harassment of Conor Wagman in this passing attack is going to be in the fourth quarter when you've established at 11-point lead Texas A&M now has to spread it out they got to throw the football they're not going to be a run Centric oriented team 28 to 17 final for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish okay here's my followup for you at the end of the game you're in the locker room you're celebrating Notre Dame's got a 287 win who gets your game ball I mean I think it's going to be a collective of the defensive line is going to end up getting the game ball I mean if I had to throw one just for like the big play I would say Riley Leonard offensively is the guy that gets the game ball for making a big play when they needed it most I I do kind of trend towards that fourth quarter big play that I keep talking about it's probably going to be in the hands of Riley Leonard whether that is as a runner or making a big play in the passing game so I'll say Riley Leonard but I do think it's an assist to the defensive line because I wouldn't be shocked if at the end of the football game we're talking fiveish sacks on Conor wakan and a lot of harassment a lot of that happening in the fourth quarter when texum has to kind of open things up and has to try to play a little bit of catchup so I'll say Riley Leonard is the quote unquote MVP of the football game but the defensive line gets a big a big pat on the back for the effort they have so you're saying Marcus Freeman might hand that game ball to Riley Leonard but in the eyes of Ryan Roberts that game's gonna come down to the nerame defensive line dominating yeah well I mean Riley's not gonna get it to the defensive line right he's gonna give it to like Nat probably or one of his offensive line but yeah I I will give the uh we I'll be in the postgame show talking about how I think the Ning defensive line closed this game out and they were the difference of the biggest moments love it love it so Ryan that's Ryan's prediction 28- 17 let's go next to you Trevor what is your score prediction for the game and how do you see this game playing out absolutely so so my score prediction for the game uh I have Notre Dame winning 34- to 17 now I don't know if it's because there's love in the air for me this weekend or if it's because I watched the here come the Irish documentary this morning but I am Juiced up okay one thing that you guys will get to learn about me is I love to draw analogies and I love to make references to past years past teams and I know it came at a different time of year but this game has a 2012 Oklahoma feel to it for me specifically specifically heard nothing in 2012 except for Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma team and how they're just they're bigger and they're faster and they're stronger if you guys remember in 2012 it was a 10 six game at Halftime it was a stalemate in the third quarter and the Notre Dame W 20 to7 in the fourth quarter alone I think we pull away late I think it is a very much a 17 to 14 type game at Halftime I think the first half is going to be full of big plays and I think not Dame's offense out scores Texas A&M 17 to3 I think the defense digs in in the second half I think they start to show their star power and why they are considered one of the best teams in the nation offense is going to settle in and I think Riley Leonard's going to going to have a big game for Notre Dame if I remember correctly and you guys can correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't um oh sorry Trevor I did not get your score up that's still Ryan score I want to see Trevor score there we go boom right there so 3417 I believe Notre Dame was almost a touchdown Underdog against Oklahoma back in 2012 weren't they even though they were a top 10 team I think that was number five versus number eight they had a loss already Oklahoma had a loss already and I think they were number eight nerame was number five so n name was the higher ranked team and they were an underdog on the road and uh Notre name end up that end up turning out all right for Notre name so despite The Angst from some fans about nerame being an underdog in this game this is why they still play the games fellas because just because you're you're the underdog doesn't mean you're gonna lose that game and and I like you said though what the dline played great you forced turnovers you got off to a pretty good start like all those things factored in and what was the thing that sparked him at the end of the game Notre Dame answers with a big play to Chris Brown after Oklahoma ties it up and and and and and you both said they kind of warm down late I think you guys both uh both nailing I'm going to give my prediction here now fellas and I've been back and forth on this I'll be honest with you I have I think I even gave you a different score Ryan I think I gave you like 2413 at one point I was 3113 then I was 271 I've been all around the place because I I often do my predictions on what I think should happen not what I think will happen and I ended up kind of settling on what I think will happen as opposed to what should happen I'll say this if all the keys that we talked about fellas come true and Notre Dame does all those things this this won't be an overly competitive game in my opinion I think Notre Dame has the better team they have the more experienced team the more veteran team uh there's less turnover that these teams are dealing that not is dealing with coaching wise culture-wise roster wise all of that this is a game that Notre Dame should win and win handily if it was just played on paper but unfortunately the game is not played on paper this game is going to be played practically and it is the opener it is going to be played away from home there is going to be noise there is I mean we saw the Duke game last year I mean Notre Dame actually moved the ball pretty well early against Duke last year it just kept like stupid false starts kept killing drives so you've got to avoid that kind of stuff and I think those type of things are why this game's going to ultimately be a little bit closer than than maybe it should be if we were just looking at the specific matchups and the specific key so I have Notre Dame winning 24-6 um Trevor who gets your game ball I I don't think I asked you that who gets your game ball if Notre Dame wins the the way that you have them winning I'm in the same boat as Ryan I think it goes to Riley Leonard the only offensive captain that the team has this year I think there's going to be at some point in the game whether it's to spark uh you know call it a fourth quarter rally to really start stretching their legs but Riley Leonard is going to have a a sport centeres top 10 type of play that gets the team going and puts the nail in the coffin I love it I'm going to go I'm going to go a little outside the box because I don't want to just do what you guys did you guys did great picks and you guys kind of gave the most likely answers but I'm gonna go outside the box a little bit I think it's going to go to Jack Kaiser because I think at the end of the day what we're going to see in this game is Jack Kaiser is gonna have some sort of big game-changing play that's going to completely change the the com the the um the direction of the game you know it's going to be something to forcing a turnover recovering the ball lot lot of tackles lots of plays and I think it's going to be something like that that's going to be the uh the the ultimately determine the outcome of this football game so Trevor I'm going to go with Jack Kaiser but I think like you I'm with you guys if they're going to win this game then we're going to need to see something from Riley lonard there's no doubt about it so U that's where it's going to be so it's it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out Trevor how much are they going to be able to execute the keys to victory that we talked about can they start fast can they control the crowd can the offensive line hold its water can the defensive line dominate do they take advantage of their their apparent advantages from a skill standpoint all those type of things or is this going to look like what a lot of n fans fear which is oh they don't play well in quote unquote these moments and uh and that's what it's going to be because at the end of the day we've done all the talking and now it's time to see what they can do so it's going to be a fun one so that was and and then of course that's the second biggest news this weekend Notre name Tex will be the second biggest news this week weekend of course the biggest news is by the time we get to our Monday Tuesday or Tuesday show you will be a married man and so I'm going to welcome you to the club Ryan's a part of the club my next guest Bill Bender's part of that club and this weekend you will be part of that club so congratulations uh to you and your fiance tell her welcome to the Irish breakdown family as well and hopefully you are in a good mood on Sunday I I I promised her that no matter what I would be in a good mood on Sunday no promises on Saturday night so so you can make it to you you can hopefully you won't have to fake it till you make it on Sunday so that that'll be a good thing so Trevor anyway congratulations man thank you and uh we we'll talk to you here again soon absolutely thank you so next that's going to wrap up the Irish breakdown show so we did our keys to Victory we did our score predictions you guys can keep throwing in your predictions and before we get to our next section of course hit that like hit that subscribe hit the notification Bell share this podcast give us a festar review we'd greatly greatly appreciate that and as always sign up for message board at boards. Irish breakdown. so let's dive into the final part of today's show and I am joined by my guy Bill Bender of sporting news Bill I know it's been a busy week for you you've got kid duty dad duty but also week one of the college football season I know has you super busy man but I appreciate your time and I am ready to rock and roll because we are kicking this season off right bill with some big-time football games this weekend yeah and you know and obviously familiar with us at Irish breakdown um it's been a wild week my wife is down at the Eucharistic Congress in Charlotte so that's it's Dad Duty with you know Grant and Bella Grant has his first scrimmage tonight uh and then his first game next week so yeah it's football season we've managed to to juggle the dad Duty with the podcast and the radio hits and you know I'll tell you this Brian all you just said it on that last segment um it it's all here we we've done a lot of talking these games are finally here I can't wait to see some of these and I know we're going to zero in on a couple of them for this weekend before we get going bill you heard us talking about the Notre Dame game you have any thoughts you want to share on this game because I know you and I talked about this we have a podcast going up today of of you and I and Bill Troy talking about that that game you want to share any thoughts here before we dive into this weekend's real big games any thoughts on the nerame Texas A&M game and then if you want to offer your score prediction you can was it Trevor that's getting married yes he's getting married I have some thoughts on that and how he's gonna yeah you said like just wait just Trevor just wait till the day where you're running from football practice to volleyball practice to getting home and you know this time of year I have a very understanding wife and that's what matters she she definitely knows um she knows I'll be watching Notre Dame on Saturday night and you know you know I talked about it on on our other podcast with Bill Troi I keep coming back to to what you were saying about the the misconception that Notre Dame doesn't win these games you know Notre Dame Under Freeman seven and four against ranked teams it is a tough road environment it is one of those moments for Riley Leonard where the anticipation is you haven't seen him I checked the weather I rarely do that I do that with big 10 games in November 75 degrees at night and 86% humidity that isn't as bad as I thought it would be if we're being honest like normally when I think of Texas I think it's going to be degrees at night but how they how they do that will be a big key obviously so Notre Dame number seven Tex A&M number 20 that's a big game this weekend but it is not the only big game this weekend and so we're going to get into some of the other games that we think are going to be big games from this weekend and look at we'll just kind of briefly kind of talk about each game Bill what's at stake well how you see the game playing out and make our predictions and let's begin at noon on Fox you have number eight Penn State at West Virginia they played this game last year at Penn State Penn State won convincingly although not quite as convincing as the final score you know James Franklin put one on the board at the end of the game which I actually didn't have a problem with uh at the time to be completely honest with you but this is a big one because West Virginia was a much better team in my opinion by the end of the year than they were at the beginning of the year this is a big home game for them this is a big potential statement when win for them they got their quarterback coming back have some pretty good returners coming back Penn State's a team that a lot of people think has a chance to make it to the college football playoff and and do some damage in a in a revamped Big 10 what are your thoughts on this matchup Bill well you know first of all it's why I love college football as games like this the regional feel you as you I don't know how many of your listeners know I grew up in I don't even know how to put it they call it Southeast Ohio I call to call it South Central Ohio we're we're not far we're between Columbus and Athens essentially so we're in a part of Ohio where there are West Virginia fans and and when I saw news that there's already traffic jams in Morgan toown I'm not surprised I want I know they're going to be Rowdy they're going to be reved up a name that your Notre Dame fans will know the last time they beat Penn State was in 1988 when they had Major Harris running around playing quarterback and he was a name and from my youth a very exciting quarter quarterback player um you're right West Virginia was much better at the end of the year with Garrett green and and the way that they were running the ball he averaged 17.9 yards per completion last year so they have that deep threat passing game on top of it all that said um Penn State dominated this game last year Drew Aller played very well and I'm wondering if he'll turn him loose on the road they have a strong running game strong defense um we can criticize James Franklin for for the big game losses they haven't lost to an they've lost one unranked team in three years and that was in nine overtimes Illinois they are a little bit of like so it don't Brian don't you think that means that they take care of business a little bit like this he's he's basically the new Brian Kelly where he's gonna win like that's how Kelly was his end of his tenure and that's really how Franklin had been as I think it what 20 they they struggled obviously in 20 during the co year and then 2021 they were an up and down team but those were sort of anomaly Seasons you go back to kind of who they were and and in 19 and 18 like they're going to beat the teams they're supposed to beat they're going to struggle beating Michigan and Ohio state that that that's that's their issue that that's that's what they've got to prove that they can do these are not games that they lose in my opinion and the key the key for me is it's going to come down to you know how good does Phil trout win's offensive line play right if they play and it's it's very similar to Notre Dame if Notre Dame's offensive line plays well they're gonna not only win this game I think they win where they're clearly the better team and I think the talent gap between Penn State and West Virginia is significantly greater in my opinion than what it is between Notre Dame and Texas saying them and so is the O if the o line plays well and keeps Drew Aller clean even though I don't love Penn State's receiving core that's my only potential hiccup for them it's not a hiccup against West Virginia it is a potential hiccup when they play Ohio State Michigan Oregon USC teams like that I don't think it's going to be a thing I think they roll in this game bill I have them winning similar to last year I have it being like a 30 to 17 30 to 14 type of game that's how I see 31 to 20 and for those that track you know we do the picks against the spread at sporting news every week 8 and a half point line West Virginia six and seven as a home dog against the spread with Neil Brown but you said it earlier and it's an inside joke at this point that everybody can see if it's Penn State by four late and they've got a chance to put one in at the end of the game James Franklin's never shy about that cosmetic touchdown to cover the spread and I kind of think that's how they're going to do it let's talk about the next game on this on this list Bill and this one is this is more of a hot seat tracker game for on one side and then a how good is this team on the other side and that is Miami at Florida not a game that we've seen enough of In Our Lifetime to be completely honest with you one of the big uh travesties of the scheduling of the last 30 40 years is the fact that we don't see this game more often but here it is you've got obviously on one side Billy Napier is on the hottest of hot seats and you've got Miami as a preseason top 25 team despite the fact they've gone what uh 12 and 13 the last two years because the portal the the portal was good to Miami this off season and and one thing Mario Christal has done well since he arrived was recruit well at the high school level also so he's not relying only on the portal but this year cam Moore Damen Martinez are just two of the big names that Miami got did lose a couple receivers K young went to Geor but they are going to be loaded can he get it all together and get them on the same page enough to go on the road play a team like Florida who basically is fighting for their lives so does this team rally behind their head coach and kind of play like just rabid dogs or are they kind of ready for this era to be over too and Miami rolls them that's really the storyline for me Bill transfer quarterback cam Ward one that we're we're doing our prep for the weekend and you guys talked about Riley Leonard I will be watching all these transfer quarterbacks and there's so many but the key ones and cam Ward's in that conversation is a key player we've seen him put up numbers at an incarnate Ward incarnate Ward Incarnate Word let me get that right uh at Washington State and now he comes to Miami where that's been the missing piece uh I think Damen Martinez is probably the more important addition a real physical runner from Oregan State between the tackles and and can he do that in the swamp this game Brian feels a little bit to me like Utah Florida two years ago when Utah came to the swamp and you were thinking everybody was picking the UTS but then you forget the swamp is the swamp still a tough place to play this is a coin flip game Billy napers heard all this noise all off season that's TBD because of their November schedule and how absurd it is I have a feeling that the Gators are going and you said it they've only played twice this Century in the swamp something fluky happens punt block field goal something like that I think the Gators win I had the score see what I had that score 30 to 27 Florida so plays sloppiness special teams weirdness the Gators find a way at home I would love it if you're right about that outcome bill would would love it um and I'm normally root for the ACC in these type of games I do I just really despise Miami and and I desis the way they they're going about their business he's very much trying in his weird way to bring back sort of the you you know that that Swagger I just don't know that he has it to be completely honest with you and um and everybody we this is like a year it's like with Texas A&M right it was like that with Michigan for a lot of years until Jim Harbaugh actually said okay we're actually going to live up to the preseason hype this year uh it's that way with Penn State there's just those programs that every year people are just begging for that team this is the year and they're going to keep picking that team until it actually happens right and Miami is that new team well and it's it's just hilarious that you said that because I have on my DVR I have an hour or so before the kids get home I was going to watch Catholics vers convicts the ESPN I it's on my because my DVR will catch a 30 for 30 here and there and I'll delete some of them because I've seen I kind of want to watch that to get the mood for that the the weekend you know what I mean and uh and I was looking at a Catholic ver conx t-shirt on one of those random popups on my Facebook so I wanted to buy I go grab the one out of my closet if you need me to I want to buy it and just wear it to my kids one of my kids games just but we're all Catholic teams in the dasis so it might not have the same effect um I 100% true though on Miami and how this season we cry wolf a lot we've so desperately want to be they've won 10 games one time since Larry Coker retired or left whatever you want to call it they've only they they never that's been my point about Texas A&M like Notre doesn't win these kind of games I'm like guys marus F has been another name two years he has as many 10- win Seasons as Texas S&M has in the last 20 right in Miami is that same way what's funny is you look at a&n the last two years Bill they're three and seven against ranked teams and this is going to play into the to this I promise you I'm not getting off T off tangent year one of their three wins over a ranked team was in 2022 a against Miami who at the time was ranked in the top 25 I believe Miami was uh 23rd at that particular time because there was that whole Miami's back and Mario chrisal did this at at Utah blah blah blah blah blah and so Miami starts the season ranked 16th they blow out bethon cookman blow out Southern Miss and then they went three and seven the rest of the way and finish on rank but you know A&M's got a r a win over number 13 Miami and you're just kind of like well what did Miami do to Warrant that because that was a team that went seven and five the year before and they finished that season five- seven but it's that it's that same thing remember a couple years ago in A&M and North Carolina Bart in the top 10 and I was like neither one of those teams are going to sniff the top 10 by the end of the season but those are just those hot teams and Miami is that hot team this is the kind of game that a win however starts to change that narrative a little bit Bill not that it completely moves it because no not a lot of people expect for to be great but it's a state win for them for their own confidence for what they're trying to sell their players on and then of course recruiting it's going to help them in recruiting to be able to go on the road and get that win in the swamp because you know Florida's gonna have a lot of instate Kids on Campus on that Saturday well and for us for the national standpoint are those are the games that and the cynicism kicks in a little bit for me it's the you Pat the winner on the back hey good job loser it's like that's who we're writing about the the press conference the happened how could you lose this game because you're going to feel the heat for the rest of the season and I could totally see that Trend hit about uh you know about seven o'clock on Saturday night I'm gonna ask you a question before I move on this next game Bill who is more negatively impacted by a loss Mario christall or Billy Napier uh Billy Napier and it's close though because Miami they have they could lose this game still win the ACC I mean the ACC is going to be ACC could have a crazy perception weekend between that and I know Clemson and Georgia and I mean even tonight if North Carolina loses to Minnesota up at up at Minnesota and we're all going to say well who's going to win that conference uh Florida just from the standpoint we've been talking about his hot seat all summer they're like I mentioned their schedule I'm one of those guys that's like where where are we losing the reasoning here you can't say somebody has a ridiculous schedule then get mad if they go six and six now they do have to go win some of these games I think this is a getable one for Florida at home and and just because it's Miami and that's one that's going to generate a lot of emotions whether they win or lose he he needs a perception win correct big time and if you get this win you got sford coming up the next week you got A&M at home in two weeks you're at Mississippi State you're home against UCF there's a chance they're 4- one going to Tennessee right if not maybe even five and0 I don't I I think between A&M and Mississippi State they they'd probably go like one and one in those two uh if they are a good enough team to beat Miami but you know that's the kind of thing that could maybe Salvage that they desperately need a confidence Builder and if uh I feel like this game is going to determine the trajectory of Miami or of Florida in a big way if they lose this game they're gonna go hard they're gonna lose to A&M they're gonna lose to Mississippi State they may lose to UCF it's going to go hard if they win I think that could be something that really skyrockets them I agree let's let's go to the next game Bill and we're going to dive into the USC LSU game number 23 USC plays versus number 13 LSU this game's going to be out in in Las Vegas no Dame had one of those games recently in legance stadium Sunday night 7:30 it's going to be an ABC Game LSU is a four and a half Point favorite let's talk about USC vers LSU bill this is a huge game in my opinion for both teams and I think it's especially I think it's especially big for Brian Kelly take my Brian Kelly thoughts out of it this is year three for him the perception is that you know look you can't you can't go lose to a team that's considered inferior to you and USC is considered inferior and SEC fans will give you the benefit of doubt if you lose to another sec fan team they will not have such similar doubt if you lose to a Pack 12 team and you can say USC is a big 10 team it's a Pack 12 team in the eyes of their fan base this is and this is a a big Lincoln riy needs this kind of win to get his program back on track to get the Swagger back this is a much bigger game and it's not being talked about as much as I think it should because I think this is a huge game for both of these a wildly entertaining game and and yes it's an SEC vers a Legendary Classic SEC versus Big 10 Showdown vers with us that that's so weird I mean you know it's so weird to think I was talking about that at Big 10 media day just seeing the USC logo and GR same part of the country and my parents my dad hated USC he was a a high State guy you know like the or you know as Ohio State Michigan those schools hated hated um USC because of those roseb losses I remember you know my people talking about Charles White and OJ Simpson and just miserable so it is Notre Dame fans have a lot of those stories too right like Anthony Davis and and Charles White and OJ Simpson as well yeah yeah so I mean like just that Midwest hatred for them and I think for me growing up it was the jealousy of you would watch the Ohio State Michigan game you'd be like it looks so warm during that USC UCLA game but I digress um defense you know who can play defense here Danon Lynn uh hired by USC Lincoln riy emphasized how they didn't they they missed six tackles in the Louisville game whereas there were games where they were missing 20 and 30 tackles this year um LSU same deal they could play defense last year what is uh Blake Baker they hire him from Missouri does that clean up their defense they have some talent and I think you hit the nail on the head with the the SCC you're they're going to view this as we're an SEC team we we should handle West Coast whatever you want to label USC they should handle them is how they look at it um the approval rating takes into effect here as well ran Kelly I still think the jury's out on how LSU fans view him even though he's won 10 games each of the last two years I don't think the jury's out on Lincoln Riley at USC I I actually kind of believe him when he says he inherited a mess and when you had Caleb Williams that first year it made it look better than it was and then year two it kind of caught up with him so now they're at a point of where we're at in a game like this good measuring stick I'm excited to watch Garrett my and Miller Moss though I think both of those guys make some plays I was both played awesome in their Bull games I got it in a shootout type game I picked LSU 35 to 28 that Line's a little tricky if you want to take USC I wouldn't be angry but um you know it'll be one of those things it'll be a lot of fun obviously Deon Lyn was a great hire but it went beyond that he hired Doug Bel who's the DC at at Houston who noted aame interviewed for their open D coordinator job when Marcus Freeman took over his head coach you are Eric Henderson from the from the uh the uh St Louis or Los Angeles Rams and then you go out in the portal and and Deon Lyn brings in two of his DBS from UCLA you go out and get a keil Arnold from Morgan State that's the thing I don't think enough people are talking about is like look they got some good football players in the portal this year that that are familiar with this more they didn't go out and get some kid from SMU or UCF for some kid they got packed 12 kids you know they got the first team all Pack 12 kid from Morgan State linebacker whose name I always struggle to to to pronounce the the you know he's got the first name Iman and then the last name it's it's I can't pronounce that one but you know you have him you still have Mason Cobb coming back who came in from Oklahoma State you you got ail Arnold you got John Humphrey you got Kamari Ramsey and I you know to me honestly I think that's going to be a big part of this is you have guys are gonna be familiar you're not just bringing in Like Mike Mike Elco had to bring a lot of different portal guys to rebuild that secondary and Kansas State and UAB and all this play you went out and got two kids that are going to start in your secondary who know your defense they played for you there and that's something that helped Mike Yoko last year when he got the kid that transferred in from Texas A&M who had played for him at Texas A&M it helps that transition and I think that's going to be the biggest difference why I've been a lot higher on USC this offseason a lot of other people I also think Miller Moss being the quarterback and not Caleb Williams is going to force Lincoln riy to go back to maybe scheming people up and not just trying to play Hero ball with Caleb Williams all time I think that that that reminds me of Packers Aaron Rogers stuff where I used to there was a game against the Bears where he got hurt and had to stay in the pocket and he Lit Up Chicago in the second half that could happen in USC's offense right where he has to play on schedule we know Lincoln Riley's an offens offensive I hate to use I'm not gonna use the word genius but he's very good at it like he knows what he's doing so another transfer to keep an eye on in this game is uh CJ Daniels with li a liberty transfer receiver LSU thousand yards 10 touchdowns last year they always find guys that can play outside yep I mean Kyon Lacy's going to be good right know Chris Hilton if healthy he's going to be good they're going to have offensive weapons and their offensive line is going to be very good that that to me is the ultimate decid in this game is can USC's dline hold up against LSU's offensive line Will Campbell gave him a little bit of boltimore material yesterday you know what I mean well they got two NFL tackles you know emry and Will Campbell so their Center's pretty good too that and then USC's Got Talent up front but their talent hasn't always lived up to the occasion that's that's really what it boils down to for me does the transfers at USC finally step up and say hey we're here to play winning football not just here to get our paychecks from Big nil deals that's what what it Wass down to and I think well what do you got I got USC winning 3431 I like it and you know I I point to last year's bowl game and look I hate looking at bowl games I do I hate putting too much into bowl games but the one thing we saw in that game is we saw vintage linoln Ry which is hey I got to scheme this stuff up because I can't ask Miller Moss to put the team on his shoulders this is it's got to be more on me and and again bowl game Louisville had a lot of guys sitting out I still don't like USC has to change their culture on defense they have really good talent LSU has to change their culture on defense and the talent hasn't caught up yet to what it is on offense that's ultimately what it boils down to for me I think it's going to be a back and forth game I I've been kind of back and forth on all this I think USC's o Line's going to be better I think that they're going to make some big plays and I think their defense is going to make enough stops I think their secondaries is better than LSU secondary which is going to help them pull it out and I think we're going to see the uh the breakout offensive breakout of Zechariah branch in this game as well I think they're gonna build a lot around that kid and he's gonna be dangerous this year yeah I talked to uh Reggie Bush yesterday as part of a promotion that they have going with him in the next week and he mentioned Zachariah Branch as well so that's one of those xfactor exciting guys to win I like the pick Brian I'm not going to get you wrong I I still and by the way LSU four straight week one losses yeah so that would uh 2021 22 23 they play it's not like they're playing G5 schools here they they played with two back-to-back really good Florida State teams yeah they did and they lost to UCLA and Mississippi State they probably want those ones back but so I think more on as strangely as said people want to say Lincoln rally hot SE there's more on the line for LSU here no question agree I think for USC as long as they it's a close game and they battle and then go on a roll I think people will get over this loss I think people are gonna have a hard time in down south getting over this kind of loss because here's the thing too you talked about it's a big weekend for the ACC it could be a big black ey weekend for the SEC if they don't handle business as well I mean you you catch L's by USC and Notre Dame and and Clemson something like that then all of a sudden there's going to be some interesting story lines I don't think those are all going to happen I don't think they lose all three of those we'll get into that next but it's certainly certainly a lot it's certainly a pro it weekend when it comes to the Rivalry debate between these teams so I'm very much looking forward to that last game that we're gonna talk about Bill and uh that is going to be the what I think is certainly the most interesting matchup of the week in outside Notre Dame and oh and Texas A&M and that is number one Georgia against number 14 Clemson this is a big big game we've seen this game a lot over the last 10 15 years this is not the like oh we haven't seen this game in a while it's going to be Saturday at noon ABC game Georgia is a 13 and a half Point favorite which shows you just kind of how much the Tigers have fallen off here in recent seasons and what that perception is last time these two teams played was the last was I believe the year that Georgia won their first title since hersel Walker was it running back was was it for for the bull for the uh the old Bulldogs 10 to three game where there's zero offensive CS yeah set set offensive football back very far when Christopher Smith had the only touchdown in the game for the Bulldogs um I'm excited I I here's a I I'll ask you the question first like do we think Carson backck is the top player in college football no I think he is the starting quarterback who puts up good numbers on the perceived best team in college football yeah and we talked about this stat yesterday throwing the ball more than 10 yards or more I'm going to harp on this all season because it translates to the next level 11 touchdowns five in ints on those past 10 yards or more it's not like 20 yards or more this so and he loses Brock Bowers and he loses lad Monon I think everybody on the planet knows that mentioned it this off season and they also lost the kid that got kicked off the team Robert Thomas yeah so okay you lost all that Clemson still plays defense that's right they play remember this I can't equate it to their disaster opener against Duke last year because Clemson in that game if you remember watching that game they just had everything it was one of those Murphy's Law games everything went wrong bad snap fumble on a fourth down they still ran the ball they still play they still played good D they just were on short fields in some bad spots I think Clemson can play enough defense to hang around but I have the same exact questions about Kade Club Nick that I do about Carson Beck and probably more so because Clemson where has their receiver production been the last three years you know I think they were going through a transition and where for a few years they were recruiting guys that I didn't understand where they were recruiting like I'm excited about Bo Collins at Notre Dame the day he committed to Clemson I said I don't get this I don't get why he committed to Clemson and I don't get why Clemson wanted Bo Collins he does not fit what they're trying to do they need shiftier faster Speedy guys the guys that they had that were tall early on when they were winning titles were burners they were vertical Joseph and God is not that guy Bo Collins is not that guy and I just think they've been kind of recruit the highly ranked guys and they didn't really fit the system you know DJ U young did not fit that offense he is a big long armed throw it downfield big long delivery guy that you're trying to ask throw a million screens and things like that I mean it just it it it wasn't a fit and then of course they've had some really good young players come along the last couple years that couldn't stay healthy they're supposed to be healthy now a lot of those younger players are healthy now and they are more fit what they're trying to do the other the other problem that Clemson's had too the last prior to last year is their secondary took a big dip it got a lot better last year but then they had some Personnel losses and I'm curious how that secondary is going to hold up this year with a lot of talented new faces in the secondary but to your point what Clemson did late last year and what they do now that I think is going to make this a game is they went through a bit of a okay they're not real good on the both sides of the lines like they used to be this dline is young but very talented I watched their two freshman defensive line three freshman defensive line kick Notre names butt last year when you look at TJ Parker and Peter woods and and they've got Damonte Kart who's a massive kid who's also young Payton Paige is another talented young player that's the thing that that kind of gives me uh pause when thinking about well on paper you know George is this and and and Clemson had four losses last year and struggled and did this and Georgia was the most dominant team in college football against the schedule where they didn't play anybody and then when they finally did Play Somebody got punched in the mouth and lost you know but I think Clemson has the ability to to to play with them in the trenches their line was a mess early last year towards the end of the year had a bunch of young kids in the lineup and they started playing better they started running the football Phil mafa could could kind of run behind that line they were one of the few teams that really took it to Notre Dame's defensive line last year earli in that game you know I think that's the thing why I think this is a close game and it's but it comes down to it yes I I think Carson Beck's a good quarterback I don't think he's what people make him out to be but he's certainly been better than what Kade kumnick has been so far and that's going to be the key is if K Kade kubik is the key for Clemson if he can play well they got a shot if he doesn't I think this game is going to be a higher scoring version of the 2021 game right I got uh 277 Georgia okay I got 247 so we're close yeah like they tack on a you know field goal whatever but I I think they played out pretty close and and the trenches and in games like that early they'll play it close to the vest so it could be conservative early then we see which which quarterback can open it up and if you're not like Florida State last week maybe you open it up before the third quarter so um I I think that'll be the key in that game no doubt I I like this battle I do I think this is going to be a game where even though Clemson I I predict him to lose I won't be shocked if Clemson pulls off the upset in this game I won't what I think what I think is g to happen bill is I think this is going to be a very competitive game and it's going to be a lot like kind of what Notre Dame had against Georgia a couple times where the perception was Notre Dame has no chance against Georgia playing at Georgia in 2019 and notame went down there they lost they they had the ball at the end they had you know in inside the 50 yard line a touchdown wins the game they couldn't get it done but they went toe-to-toe for 60 minutes and people like hey this is a pretty good football team at Notre aame I think Clemson has sort of a similar situation in this game where Georgia just has like I think their front seven is just too good for Kade kumnick to all of a sudden figure it out this week I think he's gonna make enough plays to keep this a game but at the end of the day I just don't know that he's going to be able to make enough throws down the field to really Force Georgia to stay on and so I do think it's going to be a little bit lower scoring game not like it was in 21 but where Clemson battles it's a competitive game but Georgia is still the better football team now if Kate kumnick can make some of those plays and the receivers are are able to to to get back to being you know playing Clemson football then I think they have a shot to pull off the upset the question that I'm gonna have Bill is Will dbo Allow Garrett Riley to actually call the game that way he wants to call not side to side play vertic a little bit and take their shots when they can and you know and you got an exciting game now and not to change the subject but I wrote about this game I talked to the peach bow or the it's now the afflac kickoff game CEO Gary stoken and he's hoping that we continue the trend with these games this is uh I think this is the Good by the way bill I I thought there were some very good points made in that about whether or not these type of games will or will not Contin well I'm on the fence with it because as a fan yeah I want to see it as a if I was Lincoln Riley or Marcus Freeman I'd be hesitant to do it because man it's you're stepping out now Notre Dame asked to do it but like if if you're Georgia and Clemson okay what's the incentive I love that they're playing it I think it's gonna be a fun environment and uh Gary sten's good guy the the peach CEO he's one of those guys behind the scenes that keeps uh keeps these in our living room and makes sure that the quality is good I don't like seeing a top 25 where we have 11 teams playing FCS opponents in week right so there's got to be a happy medium play Power five team but maybe you play uh Duke instead of Clemson if you're Georgia right or pit instead of Florida State something like that absolutely I forgot to give you a Notre Dame prediction oh yes you you want me to do that now well let's finish this this point here real quick because I definitely want to get your prediction but here here's my thing about those games Bill and and you nailed it in the article so for those of people uh go follow bill on Twitter but go to Sporting News obviously he's got this article on the front page his thing was it's going to be determined by the committee and the teams that are considered kind of locks or they're in the competition to play for the league title every year Ohio States Georgia I can see them having less incentive USC is nuts if they think they can just be the third best team in the Big 10 play no one in the non-conference and they're going to get the benefit of the doubt in the college football playoff they're nuts if they think that's going to happen by let's say they decide to drop Notre d Clemson Florida State ACC teams cannot afford to not play these type of games because if you don't win your league you're the number two team in the ACC you're not guaranteed to make the C playoff if you're the number two team in the Big 10 of the SEC you're almost a lock to make the colge football playoff that's not true in the ACC and in the Big 12 so what's going to be interesting is if the SEC and Big 10 bow out of some of these big games do you then see the ACC and Big 12 say hey we got to do some stuff we got we got to partner here together to make sure that we're giving ourselves some of these opportunities and are those games big enough to kind of you know create that outside of the the normal rivalries that already exist and then that puts a lot of pressure on the ACC teams to win those rivalry games Florida State's got to beat Florida you know Clemson's got to start smacking South Carolina Georgia Tech maybe gives Clemson game which they actually did last year they they played Georgia tough last year for a while so I think this is going to be a very very interesting game Bill uh and and I and I hope that a game like this that games like this don't go away I hope that games like USC and LSU don't go away because I I do think the the thing that they're missing that's not being talked about is if you're scheduling yourself to make the tournament doesn't mean you're scheduling yourself to have success in the tournament and if you don't challenge yourself outside of your league how good do you do you know that you you're assuming that your league is going to get you good enough but in these 18 team leagues you can't guarant that you're going to get a good draw every year of good teams that yes you're 12-0 and you make the tournament but if you haven't played anybody and you're not challenged and you're playing some three or four lost team from the SEC who's battle tested you may not that game may not go how you think it's going to go and that's the thing that I think people like Lincoln Riley are missing is hey are you really sure you're going to be because if you look at their schedule there's there's not a single year in the next five years I think where they play Ohio State and Oregon in the same year right there's only two years in the next five where they got to play Ohio State Michigan in the same year so they're not they're not playing Ohio State Oregon Penn State and Michigan and and with Washington every year it's just that's not how it's happening and so you you run the risk of saying hey we're not yeah we got in but we're not battle tested so if it's really about a championship that you're trying to get like Georgia this year I could see Georgia going 10 to two and winning the whole thing they could and you know Luke fickle I I asked him a couple questions about this at Big 10 media day I thought he had the best perspective honestly I mean they're playing Alabama abama they're they're the the king of college football the last 15 years is coming up to Camp Randall and he just said we I want it to be advantageous to play in these games and that also you're given a little bit of a benefit of the doubt if it doesn't go your way that that you're giving credit for stepping out and you saw that in the four team era where like Oklahoma would beat Ohio state that was a separator in them getting into the playoff and vice versa um so I thought Luke had a very good feel of it and he said now if we put more teams in the playoff you definitely want to play in these games because you want to Stack it up if they keep it the same and they don't honor that I'm wondering if if teams will kind of shy away from it now if I was a power five power four or Notre Dame athletic director and I'm making my team schedule you know that September's going to be well not Notre Dame for the sake of this conversation because they're they're not in a conference but if I'm big athletic director I'm playing two group of five schools one power five School varying in degree of difficulty by the year I can't control what Virginia is from year and you know what I mean and then I'm going to go play my league schedule so I I would like to play one game though that before I got my league schedule where I actually know where I'm at what do you have to what is your endgame playing that way that that's my question what's your end what's your goal for playing a schedule like that where basically you're you're guarant you're you're you're doing the best you can to guarantee yourself a three and 0 non-conference well not necessarily I I'll play it I'll step out and play one but I'm playing like Virginia yeah well not that was a bad example then because I I'll play two G5 schools and treat that at like my quote unquote preseason and then I'll step out and play somebody and my goal from any given year on a schedule if I'm a big 10 or SEC athle athletic director is to go 10 and two or better because they can't turn me away then right how many 10- two SEC and Big 10 teams are going to be turned away I don't think too many um Notre Dame's not getting turned away at 10 and two so if I'm making Notre Dame schedule same deal I have my five games locked in the ACC I can't control if Virginia Tech or Duke or whichever one of those teams is good I can control playing USC right I like their big 10 relationship as it stands that we're gonna see some what like Michigan State Purdue Michigan that type thing um I want to go 10 and two because they're not going to turn me away what I think could happen for some of these teams is if you have a year where you have Georgia schedule from last year not very good non-conf now again I I I don't blame Georgia because it wasn't their fault they scheduled Oklahoma the league canceled the game they they tried to but just look at it for what it was a Michigan schedule last year if Michigan goes 10- two against last year's schedule I do think there's a chance they get turned away if Georgia goes 10- two against last year's schedule there is a chance you get turned away because you're not I don't think you're necessarily going to get that benefit of Doubt but that's the point that you made the committee is going to have to give I think it's what Luke fickle was saying if you go play Bama and you lose that game and you're at least competitive you can't lose like USC lost in 2016 right right but you lose that game and you go into your league and you lose a game and you don't win the league but you're tenant to you played a good schedule you have some very good wins on your schedule if the committee gives teams like that the benefit of the doubt even over maybe a team with a better record you know you're 11 and one and we're going to see not not even so much about getting in or out but seeding hey we're going to make you eight and you're going to be nine or 10 because even though this team went 10- two and you went 11- one you played an FCS School a bad group of five team and Vanderbilt in your non-conference and this team went and lost in a toe-to-toe ball game for four quarters at Notre Dame same you know what I mean so so that team is more tested that team proved themselves that's how the committee can fix this right if the committee wants to make sure that these games don't go away and then we're having to guess well how good is your league really because we don't know because no one in your league tested themselves outside of the league then they need to make sure that teams that do that are getting rewarded for that not just from are you in or out that's part of it but seeding is going to become a much bigger we've never had this debate in college football bill right where we care as much about seaing because it's one through four it's like well you're gonna have to play one of these teams anyway whether the first round the second round now eight verse 9 is huge you're G be the same team but now of a sudden we got to go to their place 7 verse 10 is going to be huge because now instead of I'm USC now I have no no I I can't control that I'm gonna go play in in uh Happy Valley in December in the cold you know like or if I'm a southern team oh I gotta go up to South Bend to play Notre Dame and 15 degree weather because we didn't schedule ourselves the right way out of conference so we got dropped from maybe seven like we thought we should have been to 10 or 11 because we got punished for playing a crap schedule I I totally agree and and you're exactly right as we get into this season and Gary made this point Gary stoken made the same point that those games are important for 8 n 10 11 12 or separators for 8 through 12 and we're going to talk endlessly about 8 through 12 this year I you know the Big 10 Champion will will probably not get talked about much right the two teams in the Big 10 championship game if they were that up in early November it'll be like oh I forgot they exist because they're in there we're going to spend a lot of time on 8 through 12 and hopefully we remember September in that regard because this is you know the excitement level I feel is the same it's tonight I'm ready to rock and roll watch some of these games and get into it and and I want them to matter in September I would push that to seven I think it's going to be S to 12 that M that gets talked about because the reason I say that is is because if you're five or six you're playing the perceived the expected ACC Big 12 champ you're seven now you're playing one of the big 10 or Big 12 or or a big SEC Champs in round two right you really want to get into the top six that's the pathway to getting that's what we're going to talk about for Notre Dame for example like five or six you're in a good place because you're going to play an ACC or or a big 12 team is the Assumption right or wrong it's the ass asson so if Notre Dame's the five seed they get you know Memphis or Liberty in round one and then they get to play you know Oklahoma State or Kansas State in round two as opposed to if you drop a game you're not supposed to drop or let's say the a 12-0 notre aame team gets dropped to number seven ver behind the the loser of the SEC in Big 10 games because Notre Dame plays this soft schedule let's just say where they don't play any good teams they ah you we'll replace USC dropped us we'll replace them with Wake Forest or a bad example we'll replace them with Baylor Vanderbilt Indiana teams like that okay well yeah you went 12-0 but you know so did Liberty and they're the 12 seed because you didn't beat anybody right so so yeah you've got to test yourself an 11 and one Notre aame team that test themselves has getting that five or six so because if you're the seven seed bill you now got to go play the Big 10 champ or the SEC champ in that second round so I think that's where the cut off is going to be if you can get in that TP top five or six that's going to be where the debate really comes in my opinion and they're going to be fun and we're going to have a lot of fun doing it all season I can tell you that I mean it's already started we we have one of the things we're curious from an interest standpoint is this idea of college football Bracketology we you know as you know I do the men's and women's Bracketology for sporting news now the women's was wildly successful last year and it really does center around those last couple team it centers around one seeds and last few teams and so where you just said it's going to be different I think you're right is six through because of the game of and also rather or not the committee Tinkers with this idea of rematches that's something I've been harping on let's not watch Oregon Ohio State again so we'll put Oregon one more down that'll drive people nuts it will happen inevitably I think too on some level yeah no question and it to try to avoid it or hey if it's going to happen they have to both earn it to get there right right so you're not going to put if Georgia beats bam the SEC title game you're Georgia's the one seed you know maybe make Bama seven seven eight right so that way if they win they don't get it right away the next round you know I think will be part of that conversation as well it's it's going to be fascinating and then of course part of the scheduling thing is if the if the SEC team SCH champ let's say that let's say Ohio State they get bam in a couple years let's say Ohio State wins the Big 10 they go 11- two close Road loss to Bama lose a a regular season game against somebody really good but they win the Big 12 or Big 10 and the ACC champ plays nobody out of conferences is 12- one I want to see that Ohio State team just as an example since you live in Columbus I want to see them seated higher than the ACC even though they don't have as good of a record to say again why because they tested them they battled we we know who they are we're not going to reward you big 12 team you know ACC team for going 12- one or 13-0 and you don't play anybody right you know so and so that would be the incentive to the SEC Big 10 teams and also the ACC teams Hey listen this isn't just about whether you get in or not this is also about where we're going to place you and if you don't want to test yourself fine you'll get in you'll win your league you'll get a buy but don't be mad at us when we make you a three or four seed correct and you've got to play somebody really good in round two so I I think it's I think the committee is going to have such a huge say over all of this bill before we end this thing any any we have a couple super chats we'll get to but any story lines that you're kind of you've got your eye on as we go into this weekend and then once you're done with that I want to get your Notre name all right oh um you know a couple things we'll have on tap is the transfer quarterbacks how they look you know uh transfer roulette is interesting will Howard will have a lot of eyes on him we mentioned cam Ward Riley Leonard Aiden child it even goes down to like Aiden child's at in Michigan State Grace and Mall NC State how do these transfer quarterbacks have command of their offense I think there was a whopping I'm pull this stat up really quickly I just sent it to one of my editors 40 this was from Ross delinger this week 43 of the power 68 power power conference schools are expected to start a transfer quarterback that's staggering to me um it's almost twoth thirds and I've just been a firm believer in you get the best out of that transferred quarterback in the second season so you gotta temper expectations in Year One you know and if Riley Leonard like before your your other guys I think it might have been Trevor that said that is if Riley Leonard has this moment against A&M it's almost unfair expectations from there he's still a first year transfer in the system granted the expectations are high will Howard same deal um there's a couple more out there and then guys like even debuts for guys like Dylan riola you know Jackson Arnold at Oklahoma that I think that always draws tonight I'll be like everybody else I'm going to watch Dion uh we had a had a conversation with Dion at sporting news you know a couple weeks ago I sat on that I will tell you this story and your listeners this story about Dion Because I'm never going to forget it as long as I live interviewed Dion it's pretty barebones we talked about he defended his portal he defended his star system those kind of things Dion has people have opinions on Dion they're already made up they're not going to change but and I'm kind of fair with him and you know Grant my son walked behind me I was in the Parish Hall at St Catherine doing this interview because he had practice and you know Dion kind of waved him up and said hey how old are you you know talk to grant for a few seconds and he said If You're Gonna Play the game play in Shades Grant's Never Gonna forget that okay so the guy's human the guy loves football you know and as somebody who's doing this journey with his son through football it was a pretty cool moment I will watch them I know we're gonna all react either way I I think they get it done tonight but we'll see North Dakota State's pretty good up front too yeah yeah I I I here here's my there's some things Dion has done that I don't like and that's okay what bothers me is that everything he does people just immediately and I said this was going to happen he got so much hype in year one and it was all intentional in my opinion with a lot of people because the minute he has any failure they're going to be the first ones there to tear him down because it's like Notre Dame you hype Up Notre Dame to get the clicks and then if they have failures you then crush them to get the clicks that's EXA how it goes man um my the latest thing though I actually don't have a huge problem with because obviously on my end as journalist I don't want coaches to feel like they can just go out there and tell people you can't ask questions some of the stuff I read that this guy was writing these aren't this isn't a reporter being a reporter this is a guy basically trying to take a hatchet to the program every day to get clicks they didn't ban him for being in a press conference said you can't ask questions I actually didn't have a problem with it because like look if you're going to report on me you need to have the freedom to to criticize us when needed and praise I don't need you to like I don't I can't stand when people I've talked to it their name over the years try to say well you know you shouldn't this isn't fair this isn't you know this doesn't make it's my job isn't to make you look good but when you're just basically turn taking a hatchet job and you're just writing flame pieces just to try to generate clicks I don't really view you as a reporter anymore I view you is basically just somebody that's just you know trying to use his the The Stance to to go so I actually didn't have problem with with that based on the things that I've read that that reporter has put out because it was clearly you're trying to create animosity to to get us to do something or to just make us look bad and then you want to you know cry woe is me when we when you get punished for it because you're not acting in good faith I'll take criticism if you're acting in good faith I'll take criticism if you're being true to what your crit hey Driscoll said this and I think he's wrong cool don't say dris said this and then I'm going to twist it into something else that I didn't actually say and criticize me for it I've got no respect for you now and that's that was kind of my issue with what this this reporter clearly had an agenda he wasn't just reporting the news of a 48 football team well and and it goes both ways right like for me Dion when he was berating a reporter a couple weeks ago I'm like the reporter if it's me in that situation I'm probably going to stop talking at a certain point I'm like okay let Dion win then He's the bad guy how I think this should have been handled is Dion probably should have invited uh killer to the his office and hashed it out that way behind closed doors you don't need to put this on video or SnapChat or whatever and you handle it that way and be professional both ways listen I feel like you're unfairly criticizing me you have it easy because you're the writer you can do these things and i' ban you and suddenly I'm the one with thin skin whereas you know at what point does the report and there are reporters out there I'm not Sean I'm not talking about Sean I'm just saying in general there are reporters that have thin skin I read the comments I tell people that all the time I used to be bothered by the comments used to get really angry and and internalize it and get angry now been doing this job so darn long that uh I'll send them to my friends and be like dude look what this dude said about me and they'll they'll lose their mind laughing they'll be like did he really and and with you Brian I feel like I know we get going on these podcasts because I've had podcasts with you where I left the podcast really angry I was like Brian made me mad I wanna I wan to just you know prove me wrong sometimes because it's like you'll prove me wrong on something but I just really didn't agree with his take on that but I respect your opinion I always have even if I don't agree with it and I think some of that has been lost because of social media some of that has been lost because I've gone about my entire career trying to be fair right I'm fair I think you're fair about Notre Dame I'm pretty fair about Notre Dame some emotion Creeps in it always will you know being a big 10 guy yeah creep in there a little bit and being a Catholic school kid yeah it it does but it it has to be fair and I think my article with Dion the conversation there there is a quote with a headline where he Compares himself to Jesus sort of and that's the one that got a lot of quotes but he was laughing when he said it so context is he's not comparing himself to the Messiah um but he had a point because if if he want everything he does is under the microscope good bad in between like he wanted he wants that when you when you seek that out don't get mad when you don't like everything that comes back at you my thing is I what I don't like is when people take it from an honest assessment like I disliked Brian Kelly you know that everybody knows that but I tried and my opinion my best to to be fair I'll praise him in areas where I felt he needs to be praised and I'll criticize him in areas where he needs to be criticized in my job now personally people ask me my opinion about Brian Kelly you have you're gonna get it right right and it's not going to be pleasant uh but that's that's different and that was my thing with this reporter I just felt like he was he was making it personal in order to sort of make a name for himself and I'm not a fan of that and people say like this is against the First Amendment no it's not you not being asked able to ask a questions because of certain things is not your you can still write whatever you want to write and clearly this guy didn't need quotes from you know to questions to ask to write hit pieces on on Colorado in my opinion I'm just using that broadly not so for him just in general is you you can write whatever you want to write I didn't ban your newspaper I didn't ban you from the premises I simply said you can't ask questions now if Dion did this just because the guy predicted them to lose a game or you know criticize him for like Fair things like hey dude you deserve blame for this you went four8 last year uh that that's that's a different deal and I can I can there's a there's a there's a line that you can cross because on this side of the aisle we we we criticize whoever we want we can Hammer this guy you're on the hot seat we can talk about people maybe losing their jobs but then whenever we get challenged it's oh oh First Amendment freedom of the press right no right like if you want to if you want to have that type of uh attack on me like I've said this to coaches you you have a problem with what I write here's my number let talk it out right and if you if you convince me that I'm wrong I'll I'll offer a correction I have no problem with that actually funny story Mike Elko did that with me once where I I I critiqued a play and a player in a coverage and he hits me up and he's like hey just so you know actually that play was on this guy we were in this coverage and this is what happened and he kind of you know explained to him okay cool and I make a correction right because I want to be factual right but and I had that happen with other Notre name coaches here's my number if I get it wrong if you think I'm being personal you come talk to me about it and we'll have that conversation uh and it's not a well I'm a I'm a reporter I have a right to say whatever I want well yeah you can but you but but you don't have a freedom from certain consequences right you know if your publisher doesn't like it if your publisher thinks you're bringing un you know negative heat then you don't necessarily have a right to have that job anymore you know what I mean because if you're if you're violating your duties which is to report things honestly and fairly then you know you kind of you're not guaranteed that job there's two there's too many people don't understand what a right is in my opinion Bill and and so it's like if you want to be able to offer the criticism and be able take it back my only thing is like I don't have any problem blocking people on Twitter I have one rule it's not that you you can't disagree with me it's it's don't make it personal right if you make it personal you're gone I just I don't have time for this kind of stuff disagree with me all you want do make a person you and I have had plenty of disagreements oh for sure but we love talking ball why because I know you've thought through your point of view you know you've thought through mine and it's never personal right and I think that's sometimes when people cross the line Dion has to I think at times maybe have a little bit of thicker skin when it comes to criticism of his kids I think Dion has plenty thick skin when it comes to people criticizing him yeah he doesn't care I don't he has very thin skin when it comes to people criticizing his kids and that's where he's gonna have to dude you can't be their dad at the press conference when you're talking about people criticizing for their for things that shador Sanders maturity or leadership is something that is fair to be to be critiqued just like it is for Riley Leonard or Cam Ward or any other quarterback you can't be his dad in response you've got to be his coach in response I agree that that's where I have the most criticism for him is you know dude you you gotta you got to separate being dad at press conferences and stuff like that when it comes to your kids that's a good separator and and a fair point so I mean but yeah to put a bow on all of it um that's what I'm looking for for week one you asked for a Notre Dame prediction I got 2719 yep I mean I think we're in about the same neighborhood on that I I I I said it on our podcast yesterday I'll say it again I just think they're the better team I think the defense travels I think they de deal with the heat yes Texas A&M can be a goofy place to play so that's a good tone Setter for their season you know you got to go down and win those games and I think one of the things you said yesterday that stuck with me and it should stick with others is this is Mike elko's first game so first time coaches are going to do some exciting things they'll do like a reverse early or a double pass something like that to get the crowd into it um but once Notre Dame just settles in and as long as Riley Leonard doesn't turn the football over they'll be fine do you have it as a four field goal game or do you have it as like a missed ttra point they go for too late and no I mean at some point time or what man you you really do think it through I kind of go Coach man I got think through those how' you get to 19 you know I how I kind of work through predictions sometimes is you look at the over okay okay what's Vegas thinking they'll probably be about right yeah and then throw in like a yeah they could kick some they got to make their field goals here and then uh so to get to 27 what is that two four touchdowns two touchdowns four field goals how about I do three touchdowns and two field goals for Notre Dame that's three touchdowns two field goals 27 plus 19 would be a seven a seven and four field goals or two touchdowns two field goals but you don't get an extra point so either do that one yeah something goofy happens along you know I laughed last week because if you really pay attention to how they do those lines and the Florida state Georgia Tech line was sitting at 11 and a half and you kind of look at how that line go of course they go for two on the first touchdown so it's eight nothing threw the line right off right where you're like now I'm already offline so that that happens more in college football than anything else but definitely looking forward to it um I hope I I hope your listeners enjoy our talks because this is going to be a feature all season and we people were excited about it bill when I told them we were gonna be because I've got a lot of requests for hey can you talk about other big games yeah and and you know like when I talk about it even if I try to be as Fair as SP it's still a Notre Dame guy talking about this game right to get a different perspective on it yeah and and I know we'll spend we G spend 45 minutes on Michigan Texas next week that's gonna be a big one there's going to be some very interesting games I was actually it's funny Bill you you bring that up as we wrap this up I was actually looking ahead to the next couple weeks because I'm like you know there's there's always that either week two or week three like the last few years there's been some great week one games I think last year might have been one that didn't have a lot of them but usually there's a lot of good week one games but you get into like week two and week three is when it gets a little bit like um not a lot of great games but then I looked at it and I you got Texas and Michigan you've got Arkansas Oklahoma State uh you've got um there was a couple others uh Baylor at Utah Iowa State Iowa uh Ked alurn you dive into some big 10 games that I think are going to be the Michigan State at Maryland's going to be a very interesting game to discuss so I was like okay good we're going to be all right there's going to be at least enough games to talk about but like you said we could spend a whole segment on that Michigan and uh Texas game for next weekend that's going to be a oh Tennessee at ncy State's another one Colorado Nebraska oh yeah so there's gonna be Houston at Oklahoma there's gonna be some Boise Oregon so I was like I kind of did one of these yeah weent we'll be fine next week we already got a little bit of a jump on it so we'll have some fun week three same thing we'll actually um we'll have a good Friday night game next week to talk about Bill because we got Arizona at Kansas State the F week three the following Friday right yeah that's a huge big 12 game so it goes quick we'll enjoy it yep absolutely well thanks for joining me Bill hey if you guys want to find his work obviously you can follow bill on Twitter I'll have him give you his Twitter handle in a second you can always find his work at sportingnews.com definitely check that out and Bill does a weekly show at CFB Nation so go to the CFB podcast and you subscribe there you get his work they'll always kind of preview the upcoming games once we get into the season they'll also recap some of the games that were played and then of course on Thursdays here bill will be live right here with me at Irish breakdown. comom where we will preview and discuss and have plenty to talk about on the big games we always said I'll be around 45 minutes right but you know we we'll go an hour and I'm sure we'll go always add an extra 15 20 minutes on the time that I always tell you when and that's fine and that's great yeah I met Bill Bender 92 at sporting news and we have like just if you want to do a quick predictions we've got them all up and uh again very thankful for this opportunity and yeah we're gonna have fun all season I appreciate it I believe you had three noted a guys on your first team all preseason All-America defense we did Howard and and Xavier Watts you can't take Xavier Watts if he was a first teamer last year so again another reason why I think they'll be fine that defense travels on Saturday night absolutely absolutely Father David Penny did bring up a great question Bill he said uh Brian have you ever had a convers short conversation with someone Lots but it's usually people I don't want to talk to I love talking to bills so and I'm trying to remember what was the game we first met at was it uh trying to remember what it was Louisville Notre Dame 19 down there on La like this weekend down there that's what it was he came at me with something and and ended up talking about it and it was just like you said you you were something I wrote that you didn't agree with we got in we didn't fight I was like got into was a discussion it was a fun I was like okay what what and I'm like sweet let's do it and then uh you know we've been able to do that and I remember that was a Louisville got off to a quick start under Dame took over second half type game so you know we have a ton of passion for this to answer the question no Brian's never had a short conversation but neither have I and I am one of those guys that you know I enjoy I so I'll go to my son's practice or I'll go to my daughter's practice I do enjoy talking to people at the practices about football and I you know some of the dads I'm not sure if they don't want to do it and then others I'm like man we've been talking for an hour so we have a lot of fun with it we have some really passionate dads we're really excited about Grant scrimmage tonight against Bexley he's playing some Corner some tight end some quarterback some receivers so um for the Irish fans out there I always picture that a this would be best best best case scenario he always he reminds me running around on the field not not nearly as good but he reminds me of a Jeff Samara on the football field just the way he runs and catches and and those kind of things so uh we're we're very thankful here well Bill thanks for joining us uh Kyle Barry thank you best of luck to you expecting your first child this weekend prayers for one healthy baby and mom and an Irish win we will absolutely do that man couple quick super chats that we got to out of the way Bill you can take off I'm going to answer some of these questions uh I don't I looked at them none of them are directed at you so thank you for that we had a super chat from as1232 one Brian when can we wi when we win can you please go on a rampage on all the doom and gloomer type saying no Dame doesn't win these games and we do um yeah I'll have a lot to if they win I will certainly have a lot to say about that I will try to be um you know good about it but we'll we'll see how the game kind of plays out Tyler Evans with a super chat thank you Tyler very very much Tyler says give me Notre Dame 31 and A&M 7 the offense will show out and the D will be locked down let's go Irish I had another one from Kenny Moore uh thank you for Super Chat Kenny 28 nothing Irish I tell you guys if you two are right and Notre Dame wins convincingly that is like that's the only kind of statement that I think no Dame can make I I think if no Dame goes on the road and wins this game it's like okay that's what they should do I mean Notre Dame should go on the road and win this game I mean that's just kind of you know it's just that's just how I see it right um my wife jumping into the con a short conversation for Brian is under 40 minutes my wife even coming at it and she I can't get mad at her I told her my wife I'll never get mad at you for speaking the truth and so she speaks the truth there but if you guys are correct and this game isn't close you know that that that's the statement win just Notre name winning 2416 my prediction Bill's got 2719 that's like okay good job you did what you're supposed to do good job it's good win it's something you say Hey you you're built on something but it's not a nerd Dame has arrived they beat A&M on the road yay by its field goal it's hey good job you did what you're supposed to do now let's keep keep going forward a blowout win would be the only thing that they could do that's like oh wow Notre D made a statement today that's uh that's kind of where I'm at on that one so um got another Super chat from my guy Pete Weber thank you Pete Weber very very much congrats on the wedding to the Trevor honeymoon fund I will make sure that Trevor gets that uh message and that cut of the Super Chat absolutely so we appreciate you Pete then Michael S Super Chat in the past did Notre Dame ever start an o line with as little experience as this o line and what was the result the last time that I remembered Notre Dame starting an offensive line with this little of experience was 1988 and I believe they had four career offensive line starts Andy Heck made some tight end starts uh Tim grunhard made a couple late season starts in 1987 sort of like what Billy sh and Ashton Craig did but it was between like four to five or six career starts coming back uh they lost all five starters from the year before in 1988 and uh the result was Notre name beat Michigan in the opener A ranked Michigan team who finished the year ranked I believe fifth overall uh beat a ranked Michigan State team I believe the next week beat number one Miami uh beat number two USC and then beat number three West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national title so yes Notre Dame has in the past had a season where they went into the season with a very inexperienced offensive line and a young group of young players at 1988 Notre Dame team started two true freshman on offense guy by the name of Rocket Ismail don't know if you remember him and uh they started another freshman by the name of Derek Brown they started a true sophomore on that team by the name of Ricky Waters uh their quarterback had very little experience was a guy that was a very athletic player with a big arm but you know criticized for his accuracy in that instance and they ended up being pretty good but they had a very veteran defense mixed with some really talented younger players Todd light is a true softmore just saying so yeah they've done this before 1987 they had or 2007 they had a very inexperienced offensive line but it had actually more experience than this one because you had Sam young coming back and Sam young was a two-year starter or no was a full year start of the year before uh so that that unit had a lot more experience than this one did so that's um that's where yeah so the last time they they had a season I believe the last time was 1988 where they went into a season with fewer than 10 career starts on their offensive line and that season turned out okay so I would say uh I I would say that that you know it's not what you want to be but if the talent's there and you know defense can carry you for a little bit your skilled players can step up and make some plays you'll be all right you'll be all right so that's going to do it for today's show everybody I'll be back tomorrow 1:00 live tomorrow before I head to the airport so I'll finish the show and then head straight to the airport to head down to Texas very much looking forward to that and of course we'll have our postgame show about probably have Vince launch it probably start 10 minutes after the game ends so we'll we'll get that thing settled there towards pardon me towards the end get that ready to go it be Vince Ryan Trevor and I believe Shawn Davis will all be with you on the postgame show and then I'll be back Monday night with uh at 7 o'clock with the oppon further review breakdown and then I'll also have some video breakdowns that will be on the The Message Board on Monday before the show that will be for premium members only I'm going to break down several aspects of the game in video form and some stat breakdowns some different things along those lines you're going to check that out on Monday but you got to be a premium member folks so go to boards irpd down.com you can sign up for a monthly membership you can sign up for I saw on three was offering a special rate of $4.99 which means you pay $4.99 now and it goes up next year at Irish breakdown it's just4 .99 that's all it is and so you sign up for for there it's $49.99 for a year or you can join one of our booster clubs and give us a little extra support you do get some cool merch if you do join the booster club so check that out all at boards. arre down.com have an awesome rest of your day IB Nation Sports Talk at 5 o'clock tonight for all those going to the game travel safe enjoy yourselves represent Notre Dame the way that you know that we can represent Notre Dame and I'll see you guys again here very very soon on the Irish breakdown podcast