Iowa vs Illinois State Game Preview | ANF PODCAST 28

when Brian would go into the offseason interviews with litico and he'd be like this game's not that hard is this field this long and this wide it's football it's actually not football it's there's chess to this and that's why these coordinators separate themselves so I think that's what I want to see from Lester is he playing the game welcome back to the ANF podcast where we call R sports today we're going to do a preview of the Iowa versus Illinois State game moving into some of the surprises that we saw on the Iowa depth chart uh then wrap it up with discussion around what we want to see from the new old coordinator and what that should look like on game one yeah and I think it's that's definitely going to be The Driver of this discussion is going to be focused on our offens expectations uh what we expect in this game what we expect for the entire season but what a great first opponent to have for Leicester you know having Illinois State be the opening game we've had some difficult ones in the past you think of unai G us some troubles in the past South Dakota State rolled in with a you know a team that was about to win 26 straight games in the FCS and had a really strong defense and overall team Illinois state is that uh they're not a projected top FC top 10 FCS team they don't retain a lot of players it's not like to be a super veteran team they do retain their coordinators which actually kind of benefits Iowa because you have the ability to see what they ran last year and it's probably going to replicate that a lot but what are your kind of envisioning for this opening game yeah they're just not going to push our buttons in any facet I think you covered it right there they don't have topend talent that was successful within the FCS you know division most of the SCS has picked over now if you have a really talented player that's going to be eventually be in the NFL they are have entered the transfer poll you actually going probably see these games become less competitive M uh in the near future but there's still a lot to that you want to watch I think any dominant Iowa team is usually makes these games look easy you know with the exception of probably the 09 Iowa team that had two block field goals to beat you and I you think back to the 2015 team against Illinois State Drew rot was Unstoppable offense was uh exceptional right away you had the the famous QB draw with CJ Beth on the first drive and it kind of set the tone set the tone for what this season could be I think Lester really needs to seize this moment where you can have essentially a complete Rebrand know you think about that uh scene in Mad Men where they're rebranding the cigarettes Lucky Strike and they just say it's toasted like you can the minute that Brian fence has been removed this program you have a new picture yeah and the minute you show that it's it all different like the fans are going to adopt it faster than anyone else yeah I think actually you know we can start with what they're going to give us defensively and what they look like they weren't a top 25 defense last year even FCS they run a 425 34 against two tight end sets uh they gave up 34 points against uh South Dakota state in the first half last year so this is not a highlevel defense and it's going to be an undersized defense given that scheme but we probably will be in a lot of two1 tight end sets against them and they're going probably run their base three four set but then the key Block in that is going to be the edge block tight end tackle versus D end and it's most likely be an undersized DN so you really have an opportunity to set a strong standard uh for this year in the Run game against this type of Team well I think if we're going to actually unlock outside Zone influencing the backside Defenders can be the key piece definitely I think where Brian really struggled and where the essentially the system struggled since Kirk's Inception is once team's lightened up that DN spot and now you can play the QB and you can play the backside cut at full speed uh that's Fallen apart but the interesting part where you add in you know you talk about the Shannon offense it's all about influencing that backside Defender and you can do that in a number of ways we you'll see it occasionally where we would run uh Cuts with tight end's motion uh but it's all about slowing down the eyes and feet of that guy and that's really where this whole SK scheme gets built out yeah is uh those two uh pieces front side and backside yeah and I we're definitely get into that later of what like our expectations of our of this offense but I think to complete the Illinois State preview is a focus on their offense which I think given what they've run they have a chance to get first downs and get field goals and stay on the field and have some sort of a time of possession aspect in this game they've run a power spread uh it's a new QB in the system it's written house he's a dual threat but he's a say he's an FCS dual threat uh but it is a power spread in terms of they have options that spread you horizontally every play so they'll stack three receivers and bubble you after they read option their quarterback and running back so given what Iowa runs two high safeties at all time and we're going to be want to be in that 80% of this game is a too high quarters look and you allow them to stretch you horizontally and you allow them to they're going to be running option plays every time they're going to have the numbers advantage to pick up four yards with even out executing like even without executing the play well so I think there's like an opportunity that this offense could you know have some 10 yard plays and some eight yard plays on a consistent basis it's not going to scare us because in the end they're actually running to the strengths of this defense interior defensive tackle play and inside zones going be running out of shotgun and playing the flats they're going to be bubbling to the flats any pass play is going to be trying to go to the flats and truly it's the same defense as last year minus Cooper but your flat Defenders are great you have Jamari who's a great flat Corner who can really stop the you know bubbles uh waa Castro uh and now TJ Hall and all of them had the size and kind of athleticism to play around those blocks well I think it'll be give us our first real look at TJ Hall and how he plays in that system I think the question mark around him is it necessarily if he's going to be athletic enough or have the size and length because he's a 6-2 guy it's whether he can play through someone and if we're going to have the complete defense that Phil wants it's going to be based around how well does TJ Hall handle the physicality of the position and I think that you're going to see him and Nester both get a look at this spot and it might come down to the deciding factors whether TJ can be that guy in the flat they need him to be cuz he has the higher end athleticism and talent uh to be a dominant you know man to man uh off coverage corner but where I have questions about him is whether he can defend the Run yeah and I if you speak about physicality too they have uh their number one receiver who's back he's a second Team all conference player sakowitz he's definitely a physical receiver that's what his name of the game is it's curl routes it's fade routes it's jump balls and you add the physicality of the Run game it's also kind of fits in what these Corners are going to be they're not going to be burners but why they're starting and why kind of deshun Lee Lo this spot is because of the size of these guys and the length of them and the size of them to break up those type of passes to break off you know a 10 yard curl route the corner has to come up and make that play and create contact on the catch to try to disrupt it I think sakowitz is actually going to present kind of a a difficult situation for them where you know this guy looks you know he could play in some big 10 teams you know he's going to be a first team All Conference player for him um it's going to be a really interesting matchup for this game certainly so I think it's time to think we we can do a quick prediction I think that's the way we view this is a pre-season type of game for Iowa and definitely like the disparity between the two teams of talent level we expect them to control it there'll be aspects that are interesting but I'm I'm guessing it's going to be a 31 to you know six to n win we're going to be running the ball a lot control the game and then you know put it on Ice in the fourth quarter play some backups yeah and we'll talk about this later in the podcast but what I really want to see is just the offensive passing game be consistent you're going to see chunk play plays in The Run game no matter what in this game their dline is PALS in comparison in size eventually the wear down if the Run game goes for 200 250 that's not going to be that big of a deal you still chalk it up as being an FCS opponent but if you can be consistent within the passing game and develop some kind of confidence there like any type of confident Behavior has to have something to stand on when you go in and play Iowa State in a week from now and you go play Minnesota and three weeks from now having the idea of you make explosive plays in your head as you go to the line it's going to be a far more uh realistic thing if you have success against these lower tier teams and you make some explosive plays definitely so I think it's time to go into the the depth chart we are thrilled to announce a new sponsor of thef podcast next time you're looking for an all-inclusive Beach vacation consider via POA Del Soul or via Puerto Escondido both of which Overlook the Pacific Ocean in okatal Costa Rica providing an exceptional all-inclusive experience for your family and friends visit their website linked down below for more information or to reserve your trip today which I think is probably the most surprising depth chart we've gotten since what January 1 2015 when they named Beth over rudock I mean it was to see molon on the one line was wild and you have an incumbent you know in Williams that truly has gotten the respect of the uh coaching staff Fen has you know mentioned him and kind of highlight him even over Caleb Johnson and then you have the kind of fan favorite in Caleb Johnson where for like like if we can unlock this guy he's going to be a completely different Beast for us if we can just get him some space and into the second level and to have Molton hop him it it really shows like what fresh eyes do to Personnel choices also I also think it alludes to his preference and back know he would rather have a guy that's really good outside the numbers but then also has the dimension of being probably a we haven't seen a lot of it for moment but I I imagine with his skill set he's going to be very effective out of the back field receiving the ball yeah and if you're moving from edge to edge and then you have as to receive lean's really not your guy and Caleb just hasn't been that consistent back you want to see especially I haven't seen much in the passing game at all so I think it really lends into what does Lester want from his running back and if he sees that as Molton that's that's a good sign for this offense I think what it is he mentions it in an interview done or the kids day scrimmage and he goes what is you know why is Molen succeeding he has like there's one play in mind he's like there he runs this one play really well it's actually the same play Aaron Jones ran really well when he was in Green Bay and it was uh out I'm guessing it's outside Zone he doesn't mention the play but you look at Molton had 20 carries last year so it's hard to evaluate what he does really really well but like off the top of my head hits the hole freaking hard and like Liddell bets calls him a slasher and he's got really good acceleration and he doesn't really fear contact through the line and it seems like he's kind of the combo between Williams and Caleb where he has the speed to extend so outside Zone it has like three qualities to it is you have to be able to reach C Gap quickly because you need to scare the linebackers into Play Over the Top to play over the top and reach it then you have to have the vision to then cut under any of those cuts so if linebackers come over the top of an outside Zone you have to have the ability to see that quickly discern it you know Clump it essentially in your brain and then make a cut instantly off you know ba opposite be and that's really important and we kind of saw that with mol he kind of hits the whole hard and then just the fearlessness of not worrying about contact like you see in this High School film and you see in like some of the runs he took some big hits as a pretty light guy last year it seems like those three aspects of his running style is that I think Lester And Betts were kind of fed up not getting six yards on plays they should have got six yards on and you watched the film last year man we just never got six yards for a carry and sometimes the guy would have hit something more aggressively and harder and slashed through the line and just put his head down and kind of ran like a Minnesota back essentially this offense behaves a lot differently in second and four than it does second and eight and I think that's why he won the job is for that reason well I think Williams has all that in him I think he runs plenty hard I think he he understands the scheme he knows when to cut yeah it's just he doesn't have the actual speed attached to it the speed the top end to get the farc Gap to really bubble that out and then the acceleration as well I don't think he has either of those aspects that allow it for you to run it perfectly but he does other stuff very well and this could also just be an overreaction to a depth chart that has you know no impact in the game without a doubt so but uh I I would be more than happy if Molton was anointed as a retri freshman because that's a larger indicator of his overall Talent than anything massive indicator so if if if that this is actually is the case and it's a truthful posting like in my mind that's an upgrade at running back already if they're willing to make this you know you're you're demoting two guys and you're potentially putting Caleb Johnson on the bench mhm and that's that's a huge step yeah unless it becomes a three-headed backfield but yeah it is a big regardless Caleb's if if it's one two Williams Molton Caleb's five carries a game at most I think we can cut to buoy winning the puka nakua spot I'd say is that he's going to be this hybrid receiver when you listen to Lester's interview with lyso he mentions he can run this set with two tight ends or he can run it with three receivers but he mentions why you've run it why both 49ers and the Rams run it differently that KD and NCA play the same position and so it's like this utility Wham player that can be a blocker a pass catcher motion but they kind of behave the same way and have the same roles in this the same scheme and I think that's what buoy is I think buoy played tight end a little bit in high school he played D end and when you watch him play is we broke down as the recruiting class for 2023 neither of you and I were very high on him that he was going to be some game-changing player but I think why he's getting to the field quickly obviously that that position is doesn't really have any upper classman that fit that role but he's a football player at his core you watch him you know sack the quarterback stick his nose in for certain tackles and then he also I think they whammed him in high school against D tackles sometimes so they would leave a d tackle and they would Wham them out of the receiver Jet Sweep to block a d tackle so he's definitely a football guy and it's kind of the fence aspect of this dep chart well why you would make that second tight end receiver is because you don't have to sacrifice speed for a guy that can actually Block M so now you can lighten a defense up to play nickel rather than a base four three or heavy up but then you still have that same you know blocking prowess I think the last surprising Hop was weten over Anderson it it seemed like this was like the uh you're playing NCA football and you're trying to put some speed on the field you put Molton in you put wet gen in and it seems like he's trying to you know they might not be as complete as the starters are in terms of like Anderson maybe is a better rner better you know complete receiver but he's trying to have these guys that are more gadgety in a way that well when they do have certain routes they run they are just you know won's probably the fastest player on the team and so you put them in some motions and some plays he could really hurt you well I think you just see him as the second running back on the starting lineup so I mean targets wise he's going to be number four you're going to go Lee Caleb or stranga and then you're probably number two receiver so what he's Prim primarily going to be utilized for is just the screen game reverses jet sweeps all that kind of stuff and then he's also fast in those motions and quick in those motions to add to the fakes yeah if he's constantly moving around the back field we talked about you know motion disrupting eyes and assignment based football uh I see him as just a guy that's just constantly zigging he's just going to be your Z be your flanker is going to be motioned at all moments I don't think Lester's going to be I mean he's made indications he wants to be heavily motion based and I think we he might just be heavily motion based on what we're used to with Brian I think what you've seen from college football for the past five years is almost every team utiliz some type of jet motion you know incessantly because of the advantage that does have you have DNS who are just not able to process their responsibilities for 15 seconds with what we've seen under Iowa for a long time definitely we sign to move on that TJ Hall winning the cornerback position yep we never sold stock on TJ Hall I I'd say even we did our defensive breakdown in 200 it was last year we drafted him eighth on the defensive roster I think and it was we obviously love his film super fluid guy uh was probably a top five player in his class coming out and showed that right away he started as a true freshman and nickel against Purdue in 2022 and then obviously has the the breakdown against Nebraska but he always was in the wings I think maybe injuries and obviously desun Lee started last year but he always seemed like he was GNA be back in the position to start maybe not this year we probably I thought maybe after Nester won the job this year and then Nester rolled the cash he'd be the starter next year but it's interesting to see him enter back into the RO yeah I was just watching his Junior film today and he would be a top one or two receiver on the team and I think that's a theme of all these guys in The Corner Room is they would have be Playmakers on offense and they're likely you know maybe a head above of what we usually see at our receiver room when it comes to athleticism but that benefits them when they have to play these upper lelon Big 10 uh receivers yep and I mean he was incredibly smooth and he played quarterback receiver made plays all over the field never looked like he was in a rush like anticipated a ton of stuff you can tell he's just uh you know a very talented football player and the fact that he's a guy that you know that's our question mark again we talked about Jay Higgins being our question mark last year at middle linebacker and that end up being 160 tackle guy yeah now your big question mark is a well recruited you know Michigan Washington offer cornerback who's in his third year right and that's where you're like you know that could be a problem yeah but that's where you have to go you can't go anywhere else within the the defensive unit and the fact that they're rolling this guy out and you have two more corners behind him and that you know know Nester and Lee that you believe in yeah I think it's just a sign of the health and the lack of question marks we have going to the season on defense yeah if that's your question mark is a great one to have like teams would love to have three guys that truly could play and you'd be happy with all in their second year too it's not like some true freshman like you know pushing seniors something like that it's like all these guys are developed we loved all of them through the recruiting process you know they've shown they all can play it doesn't seem like quarterback's going to be close to a weakness and within four games it's going to be a strength again well and also I think our last we can mentioned about the dep chart there's nothing else in the defense we need to talk about right I'd say d tackle Bowie um getting hurt was in the nick Jackson miked up uh he was in a boot and I was like oh that's not good he's been hurt forever and then will Hubert is now Lista as the backup D tackle behind Graves watch this film today good player like rard sophomore I've never watched this film he's a walk-on from Nebraska like fits the mold perfectly super quick super Twitchy plays aggressive locks out plays smart like had offers from Ivy League schools sounds like a perfect backup D tackle and it's not surprising that oh this one position weakness we have this perfect walk-on that's been just cooking for three years yeah I remember during his uh recruiting cycle he was a guy that they had like pointed out as a preferred walk I'm like wow what a gift that we get this guy and get develop him it's sad to see Boe go down because I was really looking forward to him as a fourth piece uh but I think besides Pitman and then we've mentioned it briefly uh that Brian Allen has potential to play at the three technique on D tackle he's I think we've seen one live rep but just from a functionality perspective he's just he fits the body type he fits the talent level yeah uh it might be something they employe on third down but if you can rotate Aaron Graves Pitman and black at D tackle yeah that's plenty of size and strength and you likely wanted to see Hubert but still you know we're talking about a fourth D tackle yeah it's it's a good thing be talking about yeah we are happy to announce a new sponsor for the ANF podcast the ANF podcast is sponsored by eyee Surgeons Associates proudly serving Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois for all your eye care needs for over 40 years well I think it's time to break into our discussion of offensive expectations obviously we did season preview we did offensive breakdown of like Personnel but here are like the things that we are looking for like what if you went to this game and like the first possession what what are the aspects of his game plan what are offensive line movement what are your main things you'll be watching in game one I think utilization of the talent you know what are you what are you identifying in players as their you know best skill MH and I think there's I think the takeaway from just reviewing the offensive lineup is there are there is Talent here like this should not be a a bottom 90 offense you have an established QB you have two NFL tight ends you have an incredibly old old o line you know now you have an inexperienced backfield Molton but you have guys behind them that have played at the Big 10 level even at receiver you know you're not blown away by what's rolling out there but those are again as we talked about with Corner those are questions 10 11 you feel pretty good about your first nine M and I think a lot of how Iowa likes to build their offenses is there so I don't I don't really see any excuses a foot like you should go out and execute against a lower tier FCS School mhm you should be you know running your basic stuff for eight yeah you should be being you know moderately explosive in the passing game mhm yeah I think most like first year OC's after someone gets let go or fired there's a change there's always like a Personnel concern like oh this guy got let go you're bring on new new OC is there going to be issues of like you know not all flowing together well but I think that's all kind of absolved by the veteran aspect of our offensive line of running back because if you listen to lesser talk like his first thinging comes out of his mouth every time he answers like what does a Tim Lester offense look like it's running the ball it's being a running team and you have seven offense alignment on the squad that are four years in the program six to seven are four stars all seven of started the game all seven have started a game in 2022 so it's not like these guys have started just last year or you know this is their first start you have the most veteran Kirk ference offens line imagable to gift this OC and you also have a very old three-headed monster now essentially if you're going to say Molt's going be a player running back room and a 24y old QB so your core of your offense what you want to do is running the ball your it should function your offense should function instantly especially in this game you should be able to run for 200 yards no matter you know if it's 40 carries or something like that you know you should be breaking off big ones you should be seeing movement and I think that's the first thing I'm watching for is does his design his pre- snap motion and just the overall way he calls a game the temple we get to the line the snap count we use everything that he does to be a coordinator and like to coach up the team to play in an intelligent way like you think it Phils like intelligent aspects of his being a coordinator like you know we we draw people off sides on Third and one we we run really creative third and down plays like I want to see it on the offense then where I'm like wow what a creative aspect of your program as a as a coordinator that you've implemented intentionally like your intentional choices you make of you know getting to the line two seconds after breaking the Huddle and going off first sound how does that impact the offensive line because we had really high expectations for them last year we expected them to be I honestly a dominant unit in my opinion you had a lot of really highly recruited guys had plenty of experience we never saw it we never saw Miss assignments or move people but how is his being a coordinator and all the tricks and of the trade that he can introduce to this team how does that affect the Run game and will we see it be like oh we're not just going to be good at running ball this year you combine a really good old line good running back room and a good coordinator this can turn into you know a 20110 Wisconsin type of team and we see that game one I think that's what I'm like I have the hope that it should look like that and if it doesn't I don't know what the excuse will be why the Run game isn't good right away well I mean you're always going to have to be able to lean on you know in experience with the scheme and GR you know outside zone is not anything new to this Old Line exactly but um you know even Lester becoming comfortable within his own self like it's it's it's going to be a hell of an ass to walk into a dumpster five or an offensive room and feel like you kind of have to play to the crowd a little bit that's going to be an odd balancing match where you are you know the new girlfriend essentially yeah and you know are you gonna see boo Birds come out or is there a fear of boobds at some point from bler if you come out and have three sputtering efforts and it's the exact same uh issue we've seen for the past four or five years under Kirk right it's not hasn't been that long but it's really devolved in these past last couple years and at the end of the day it's a product like I think that's what's getting lost on Kirk and I think he's he can you know operate this Banner because he's on his last leg I'm going to play games to win games not necessarily for athe aesthetic purposes well you can't because you just W so much like it is true but from a future a future looking person you can't just completely nullify your offensive recruiting if you just continue not to put up numbers the negative recruiting against you is very simplistic M and whether you think it is it does necessarily help the bottom line of getting a win like you still need to be offensively focused in some manner mhm yeah and I was actually just thinking about you you are going to be able run the ball this year you are going to have that aspect but you still have a personnel and receivers and you know your quarterback's not mobile so he does have a one hand tied behind his back and still in a way like his that eighth man in the box they're not really making a tough decision to put him in there right there's not some concern we're going to throw over the top or beat you in an easily explosive play so I think that's what I'm actually excited too is like all right what passing game can you implement how do you use Lee how do you use this like not a top and I mean this is definitely a bottom third receiver room in the Big 10 but if you still have this really concerning Run game how can you use them effectively in a play action game to make them look better and that's a massive aspect of this game too they should have moments of scheming receivers open no matter what is happening because the Run game is going to be so dominant they should overreact to it so you're have an opportunity to show off your passing game as well yeah I think that's going to I think it's why you need to even if they have a good day even temper expectations after that because the the jab is going to be so significant the run is going to be overwhelming at starts at points um even if you see this team execute against an FCS school when it comes to playing the Big 10 teams on the schedule in Iowa State it's a far different equation M um but I think what we can look for just from a a fan perspective is you know are you impressed with the scheme are you surprised by certain fakes yeah are you do you like how it's married together you know that's those are very aesthetic based things necessarily aren't you know aren't based on the outcome mhm yeah do you like how the scheme works together does it feel like or does how about his play calling you feel like you're on a second one and under Brian you're watching a 38 ISO lead of 99% of the time do you feel like oh I he made that call I did not see it coming or the ball fakes or some aspect of the you know play post Snap design you know caught your eye for a second you were confused at what was happening or the split action of a tight end you know motioning out at the snap looks different and it you can see it pull Defenders I think that's actually what I really want to see is I don't want to see Defenders leaning and guessing and even when they're not blitzing you have them just anticipating once's about to be called and that is the aspect of good coordin like good being a good offensive coordinator is keeping them off balance and no matter what the opponent is you can still feel the sense of the game is do you feel like he's trying to play games against the defense rather than just make it a numbers game which you see coordinators that struggle you know they they tile themselves in the offseason oh all you got to do is just run against twoo high and throw against you know eight in the box like the key of like key aspect of being a good coordinator is to understand that's what you want to do you know on a consistent basis but how you actually beat good teams and how you have a good offense is that you are unpredictable and those what looks you get and we saw it from even like a great program like Penn State we watched them play Michigan this last year and if Michigan was showing too high they'd audible to an inside Zone if Michigan roll down they' run a play action and it was the same play every time and that coordinator got fired so you still need this aspect of you know offense coordinator is not simple when Brian would go into the offseason interviews with Leo and he'd be like this game's not that hard is this the field this long and this wide it's football it's actually not football it's there's chess to this and that's why these coordinators separate themselves so I think that's what I want to see from Lester does he feel like he has this like yeah is he is he on the front foot is he playing the game yeah well I think I mean you could talk about essentially two different offensive philosophies or defensive philosophies and how it's married together it's all a negotiation with the defensive coordinator M if they're lined up passive what's that mean eventually they want to be aggressive if they're lining up aggressive where they want eventually what's their catch that they're going to you know reveal is passive they're going to drop eight when you don't expect and I feel like that's where Brian failed was that moment where you know the next step you you've played dumb you're not the one who I feel like what Brian did more than anything was just continueing to play the numbers game and simplify all of his decisions you know if they're going to give me this I'm going to take this but how you actually make plays within college football is when you can guess the what the other team is doing when they are being the most aggressive or they're being the most out of character and like the number one guy I would say for that is Jeff Brown yep you think of Purdue how many times did Purdue have a seven-point lead against us and Phil has a tell like Phil Phil's not a perfect play caller when we're down by seven or four and they are in a position to score actually when they just set the ball we're down by seven or four he rolls to cover three because now it's his job to get the ball back for the offense to be in a good position and braah always knew that so most you know teams when you have a seven-point lead or the and the ball now you go into conservative mode and and then Phil gets aggressive he would call Phil's aggressiveness in situations he shouldn't he should be just playing the numbers game and playing the time of possession and he would know Phil's Tendencies and that's like that's that NE why Jeff Bram is you know GNA win 10 11 games at Louisville for the next five years is because he has that quarterback competitive aspect to his play calling and I think that's something we can definitely discern pretty early yeah and I mean that's going to be another really interesting piece is now that we have communication with the QB until 15 seconds left you have 25 minutes of un 25 seconds yeah 25 seconds of unadulterated communication like you can walk them through that chest piece if you see a late shift Shi audible this yeah you know I think that's the aspect with this new communication set that's going to be really significant is hurry up because now you have everything at your your disposal there's no miscommunication with your QB he just has to call out you know symbols that your players react to they an o line or tight end or receiver only has like six or seven calls he knows it's the QB that has to process all that and stack it and then say it and that's where the problem occurs but if he has just you know like I said like a line to the OC that allows you to be a lot more complicated yeah well just like here's why I'm calling this play yeah like sometimes you you know you sign a play and you call a play in and now the OC goes I'm calling this play cuz that left corner is cheating y he's he's he's not getting depth and we're are Co to attack him and so K knows his first read I think that's a good first discussion there's not much else to discuss for an opening week so yeah moving into some picks yeah let's do it so our records from last year were 2014 And1 for me uh Kyle's was 1916 And1 our unders bet were 139 And1 and then what really kept the ship alive was Iowa unders for me Iowa unders that we bet on the show were 10 and one which is just poor one out from Brian ference y he makes our numbers look a lot better than they are uh for this week's picks there's not really a whole lot to go on so I'll just I'm only going to do two I'm going to go under 42 and a half for Miami Ohio Northwestern Miami Ohio is a very competent offensive team but it's we're still playing Pat Fitzgerald defense at Northwestern it's going to be who flinches first especially I actually like it more as an under with a confident Mac team because you're not going to see this overlay of you know turnovers that Northwest C if they're going to have to back up at all it's going to be an incredibly slow game especially in something they expect to be close which they do in that case and Miami Ohio played three or four games at like 30 total points last year to end the season that was with a full set of tools yeah um after that Notre Dame plus three I think the whole world's on this so it just feels gross uh but yeah plus three against Texas say um first year program first year there there just too many facts for nutre Dame for me to like it mhm first year program confident transfer QB you have you know an established program yourself returning defense that's going to be really good there must be some aspect to this where Texas ands going to come out and blow up the old line it's Kyle Field at night yeah and a good in a good defensive line first nerd Dames down to their third left tackle from like last year so that's probably where the whole line sits just in that matchup yeah like they brought in the Purdue DN that was the number one D end in the country you have another pick nope just those two that's it I'm gonna go to the the same game I'm going to do NRE Dame Under uh Notre Dame Texas STM under 46 and a half I just view this game as like a 20 to 14 game pro style Notre Dame is gonna have a great defense they're not going to be super aggressive in offense they're going try to run the ball against a pretty good team so I got that one under 46 and a half in that game I'm going to do LSU minus four against USC I think this is a great opportunity to capitalize on LSU having some unknown assets I think if you're looking at week one lines the last you want to do is bet something that's publicly known like is there an injury or something you can do that when the line first drops in the first five minutes to capitalize on that or like in you know July but I think LSU has two assets that are really quietly very good and people actually expect a downturn I think nus Meer their QB is the the biggest Hidden Gem in the country at QB obviously we had Heisman winning QB and Jane Daniels leaving so everyone go well the backup won't be as good I think he is as good I think this guy's a chance to number one overall I think he's the best arm in the country and then you lose neighbors and you lose the other first round receiver for them LSU brings in you know Lacy and brings in Hilton Jr uh really highly recruited guys have a chance to be first rounders so you lose a quarterback and receiver that are going to be first like we first rounders and you bring in I think another batch of first rounders to this team and I don't think the line accounts for it I think you have a lot of also really talented pieces of LSU in terms of their offensive line and their and Harold Perkins I think that's just a scope of that game I just view them as a much more talented team than USC is in the the sum of their parts so give me LC minus four all righty well awesome go Hawks go Hawks [Music]