2018 SEC Autopsy Rulings

Welcome to the solid Verbo.

I'm that for me. I'm a man, I'm forty.

I've heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy.

You want to be happy for Dake Edith State.

Is that whoo whoom? And Dan and Tye welcome back to the solid Burble boys and girls. My name is ty Hildenbrandt, joining me as always over there in blustery, apocalyptically cold New York City. My man Dan Rubinstein, sir, how are you?

I'm good? Is it super cold in Allentown in eastern PA?

Oh?

Dude? Did you get that the squall? A few men, God, we got the squall?

They were talking about the squall like it was the Second Coming, and it blew through here between twelve and two.

As expect Wallen Brown did. Yeah, yeah, man, it.

Was something else. One one second it was fine, the next it was a whiteout outside crazy.

I first of all, if you are listening to this, we're recording this when's day evening? That would stay the thirtieth thirtieth of January thirtieth if you are anywhere in the upper Midwest, so say Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan.

What about Fargo?

Fargo, the capital of college football championships. If you are in the Upper Midwest Upper Plains area, we hope there are multiple ear muffs on top of whatever you are listening to us on right this very moment, and you are doing everything you can to stay warm, and nobody wants to be a frostbite. Hero Ty, don't let anybody be a frostbite. Here.

I sent you a link that I saw frost quake people in Yeah, people in Chicago were hearing booms and it was due to something called a frost quake.

So if you are Clayton Thorson listening to this show, get get saved from the frost wakes. No clue. I mean it's sort of like that with thunder snow. Yeah, that's been my favorite combination of weather terms that we've had recently.

Unbelievable. Well, welcome back in Dan. It's good to talk to you. If you're listening for the first time or for the umpteenth time, don't forget. You can find us out on Twitter, Twitter, dot com, slash Solidverbal. We've also

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You can also hit us up if you've got something to get off your chest at solid verbal at gmail dot com. So a variety of different ways that you can get in touch with us if you so desire. Today, Dan, today we're going to be talking a little sec and by we I mean you, because you were the one who recorded this show with our friend Andy Staples from Sports Illustrated.

Yes, Sands, Sirius XIM does a great job. Jason Horwitz there, I think it's College Sports Nation. I want to get that correct because you know how much we do treasure serious football content. Of course, yes, recorded with Andy already. That's coming up here just shortly. But here is something that I want to talk about real, not quick, but medium quick. So I would say we've each had not significant significant, two medium significant medical experiences. Recently. You won

Now?

Better?

Now?

Yeah? Week?

So walk me through everything.

Yeah, I mean, I'll try to give the a bridge version because people ultimately, I think when you hear a college football But yeah, I cracked a tooth before Christmas. It took a while to figure out that it was cracked. Eventually they end up testing it. And I'm the dentist, but my evaluation of how they evaluate the tooth is they put a little bit of liquid nitrogen or something very cold on a small cotton swab and then put it directly on your tooth to see what happens. Yeah, like,

Yep.

But that was their indication that I apparently needed a root nowl which I've never had done before. And when they do this, they of course numb you up, and it's this whole big, drawn out thing. You don't feel it as it's going on in your numb for hours afterwards. But what you also don't feel as part of that process is when they stick the big old X ray thing in there to double check and make sure that

No, I would have listened to this show entirely with you sounding.

Like that, Yeah, it had interesting results, and therefore the instrument as you call it would not have been tuned up to specifications because I couldn't really talk all that well for about a week and I was very annoyed by it. But now I'm back, I'm off the shelf. It seems as if the procedure worked, it's not fully done yet. I've got some other odds and now yeah, yeah, no, no, this isn't done yet. We've got two more appointments. But

Can we do a quick exercise before we get to Andy where we're doing a sort of autopsy, taking what happened with each SEC team in twenty eighteen and the off season thereafter, and figuring out what it means for I guess the future of these programs, these fourteen programs. Okay, the exercise I want to do. I want to honor your mouth, because this is why we're here, Ty, We're here for honor. I want to quickly go through. We don't need to do all fourteen teams. Whatever comes to mind.

For Kentucky, that Tennessee loss.

Yeah, that's never fun.

They lost Tennessee and apparently some Kentucky fans out there feel like listening to our show at times can be like a root canal.

So yeah, I would also say maybe the overtimes, by the way for LSU against Texas A and M, especially after coach O is drenched in gatorade and we're still going and it's just when will this weird pain inevitability, who knows what will happen end? I think that's probably there too. I would say, first, there's multiple looking poor against Tennessee. Root canals on here. I would say Auburn's game against Tennessee at all, Oh yeah, for sure. Wow, had to have felt like a root canal.

Auburn the whole season was kind of a root canal.

Everything ended well, like there was that good wash out that you probably got where you got all the gunk out of your mouth at the end by that the vacuum meet type thing. Yeah. Yeah, So I think that Purdue is the switch and spit of Auburn season, all of it.

I mean, you say it ended well, and it did in the Music City Bowl, but before that they lost handily to their hated rival Alabama. Sure they beat Liberty, but of course they beat Liberty. They lost to Georgia, they barely beat A and M. They what beat Mississippi before that, Then they lost to Tennessee previous to that,

Unto itself. Yeah, I would say for A and M still not getting over the hump. They had that long, long road stretch right where they had Kentucky at home, but Arkansas was a neutral neutral site games, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Auburn all on the road. They lose those final two games, still not able to get over the Mississippi State hump, and then the second half against Auburn for A and M fans, I think there's your root canal. But again n C State full switch and spit. Yeah,

What about Florida? Florida is an interesting one.

Felipe the Frank's throwing into the Georgia secondary.

Okay, so you're going very specific, yes with your example, I.

Think Michigan Swish and spit.

I think you almost have to with Florida because new coach. I think it was a pretty good season for Florida. Oh, the definitely right. You have to come away from that feeling pretty good. I think initially the loss to Kentucky felt worse than it ended up being because Kentucky, you know, one ten games, so it wasn't all that bad of a loss.

No, in retrospect, a totally understandable loss to a very good Kentucky team, for sure.

What else do we got on here?

The end of Missoo's game against Kentucky if we're sticking with the Wildcat, where Missoo definitely should have won.

Okay, what about Alabama.

Aside from thattional championship? If we're just going to stick with the SEC season for Alabama, the first half of the Georgia game, the SEC Championship game. I mean, it's painful to watch Tua hobbling around, getting hit, getting blitzes, not get picked up, throwing interceptions, right, first half of that.

I mean, the thing with Alabama, if we're trying to compare it to dental work, is it's never serious dental work where you actually need novacaine. Right, Like all of their problems end up being cosmetic. Lose like ten assistant coaches doesn't matter. Have a quarterback who's hurt for pretty much the entire second half of the year doesn't matter. Right, You're really splitting hairs if you're trying to find things that Alabama fans are going to treat as root canal.

Georgia special teams play calling is both the root canal for Georgia and the swish and spit for Alabama. That's right, So thanks for that call.

Swish and spit could be our new thing.

It's it has to be in a very specific way to this show. Georgia ends. I mean that the Georgia root canal is probably the first half of the Texas game, the LSU game was It was rough, but losing in Death Valley is not. It's nothing that is going to feel consistently terrible and give you nightmares. That was a very good LSU.

I think I think I'm looking at Arkansas. Arkansas had a very bad years.

It was a weekly Root Canal.

Schedule, Yeah, two and ten, a tough schedule. I think they were disappointed in Faetteville by the quarterback play, especially with Chad Morris coming in.

I don't know.

I at least had an expectation that we would look better than it did, and that was that was a problem.

All your Swish and spit was signing day. Yeah, nice class coming in Swish and Spit was signing day there. I talked about the ending of the Missoo Kentucky game. I think we I mean Vandy, I don't know. I mean, you know you're going into a Vandy season that you have some cracked teeth. There's an expectation of there's a work's going to be done low point. I mean, it's probably Georgia, but that's not the Root Canal. The Root Canal was probably watching the end of the Notre Dame game,

So it was so that you know that was there and they weren't able to capitalize.

Who are we missing? Ole Miss? Mississippi State? Ole Miss was was root canal all. It was sort of beginning to end for ole Miss. There were exciting moments with that receiving corps, but you know, you just get the what the one win is over Arkansas.

Mississippi State on offense. I expected more September's Mississippi State offense. Yeah, was one prolonged. Oh wow, this tooth is gang greenness and we have to drill here right, Yes, that I think it was. It was either thirteen our fourteen combined points against Kentucky and Florida, two totally good teams, but with that type of experience and talent returning, you know, you have three points against LSU seven, Kentucky six, Florida

Enjoy the interview, all right, I don't make promises I can't keep. So here is Andy Staples from Sports Illustrated. And because honestly, you know what this episode is about. You know, we're doing an SEC autopsy and we're gonna find the rulings. Who better than Andy Staples to figure this out? But because this is not exactly pressing. I saw this recently, and I want you to go further into it because I get a lot of these questions.

Usually I call someone local, Okay, I call someone who lives in the t and I say, what is the place that you don't tell the tourists about because.

You don't want them overrunning your favorite place?

Right?

And that's how you find Archibald's Ribs in Northport, Alabama.

That's how you.

Find Tara Jumaras in Norman, which is the best just regular old text Mex place you'll ever. It looks like the text mess place in your town, and probably five others in your town that's a million times better. And I don't even know how to explain why.

That's a blind spot of mine, because I'm a big Mex Max guy and have not spent enough time in San Antonio or Oklahoma or El Paso places that really do it right and have places that have been around forever and I need to fill my life.

Blind spot for me too.

Yeah, my thing for years was it's meat and beans and melted cheese. What possibly could make one better than the other. But you go to this place and you'll you may not be able to describe it, because I certainly can't. Interesting, but it is significantly better, and I don't know why.

What I think it is is a sort of some of the parts rather than each individual. Like the enchilada that you'll find on a good text Mex plate is fine. The beans you'll find are fine. And I think it's sort of like the when your syrup spills over onto the bacon on a breakfast plate and then you get a little bit of waffle in that bite. It's all about the symphony of flavors. In my mind.

I think that's a good way to a good way to put it, because you know that like tarahumara is in Norman, so great fresh made salsa, which is a big thing for me, like huge you better have good salsa because and it better not come from a.

Jar, So that that's easy.

But the other thing they do is so when you sit down, they sit the basket of chips in front of you, they sit the saucea in front of you, and they also give you a cup of kso, which I was looking around the first time. I'm like, wait, I didn't order kiso. I don't want to pay for kso,

It's a little a little bit out but not far.

Apparently at the text mes places in town, keeso is included.

I don't know why, and I don't know why no one else does this, but there it's not extra.

So people who aren't from around there are just looking around the table like what what is this madness?

What is this witchcraft?

And then people from there go to a Mexican place anywhere else, and they're like, wait, where's the case.

You've grown accustomed to a certain way of life getting keso on the table immediately it's.

Yeah, I mean, can you imagine if that was Somebody on Twitter said it reminded him of the first time he got charged for catchup in London that he grew up in Oklahoma City. So when he went to when he went to another Mexican restaurant and they charged for KEESO, wait a second, this is supposed to be free. It's sort of like when Chippotle came in and started charging

By the way, I won't claim to be an expert on all things food in Oklahoma, but another thing I do know and consider Oklahoma to be underrated because of it. Do you know what an Oklahoma style burger is?

The onion burger.

The onion burger they fry the meat with onions smacked on top of it, so you get the crispy finn burger with crispy onions all at the same time, and could you eat a burger any other way after doing that?

See, I'm not a.

Big onion push, so that much onion flavor might be a bit much for me. Although cooked onions I'm good with fried onions I'm good with so I'm gonna have to I have not tried one of the onion burger places as one of those as i've been like because of my irrational hatred of onions. I don't know if I should do this because I don't want to say, oh, I don't like this when it's everybody's favorite thing and it's just my weird taste buds. But I probably should try that next time I'm out there.

I like that we've spent a solid five minutes talking about the least SEC state in the South and Southwest, and that's a good way.

The SEC tried to get Oklahoma.

That's true. They tried really hard, that's true. And I like that you use the phrase irrational hatred because at some point you or somebody will write a book called Irrational Hatred about the history of the SEC and.

It will football in the SEC. Yes, exactly, it will do. It would be a great title for an SEC football book.

Write it down, put it in if you're if you're a writer listening to this, if you are Andy Staples considering it, take out your iPhone or whatever, your Google Android phone, put it in your notes. You never know. Let's start here. I have a list of fourteen SEC teams with just sort of hazy thoughts and questions about each, not really all put together. And I'm just going to ask you to give me a number between one and fourteen, because it'd be easy to just say, let's start with Alabama,

You really did miss your calling. I feel like if you'd have been born twenty five years earlier, you would have hosted card Sharks.

So all right, let's let's do this. Let's okay, let's play the game.

Let's do it. Number seven, number seven. We go to number seven, and that is going to be Mississippi State. A weird but fun and interesting year. I would say it appears Inssissippi State is in a pretty good place. Defense was great in year one, but they lose a ton of pieces up front, Jeffrey Simmons, Montese Sweat whatever, and a lot in the secondary. The offense was it was somehow all right, even though it overcame maybe the worst passing attack in the conference. So my question is to you.

What it overcame.

Was Joe Morehead realizing, Hey, all these other places I've been, I didn't sort of force anybody into a system. I just built the thing around what they do. And I think he realized he was trying to force Nick Fitzgerald into a system and make him be Trace McSorley and he's not and so on. They once they settled on that and realized that then they could work with some stuff and I think that changed the season for them. But listen, they have a quarterback. You know, Keton Thompson

Yeah, especially with there being a big concern about and Joe Moorehead's not from the South. I think all of those questions were pretty were answered pretty emphatically, pretty quickly.

Yeah, and then not from the South. Thing, Like, Joe Moorehead's a very personable guy. He's the type of person that can connect with people from anywhere. I don't worry about him not being from the South. I think that's overblown. You either are a.

Person who can recruit or you're not.

And that's more of a personality trait than a regional thing.

Fair, give me a number one in fourteen thirteen thirteen. All right, we're going to Auburn. We're really going for it. I like this. Wow, Auburn is a team that I think we can all agree not super stable as a program. As soon as things look good, things go bad. Talking about it is Quicksand so last year starts pretty well with the winover Washington, they look okay, bad loss, I mean a heartbreaking loss to to who do they lose

We're going to pick Auburn to finish like fourth in the West next year and they're gonna win eleven games. Yeah, of course, because that's what happens. When we picked them to have a bad season, they have a great season. When we picked them to have a great season, they have a terrible season. And contemplate paying, you know, thirty two million dollar buyouts.

I just I don't know why.

And I realized they're going to get a bowl, the Bowl bump of all bull bumps from what they did against Purdue. But I think that was more of a Catharsis for the guys that we're leaving of. Hey, this season didn't go the way we wanted to. Can we please go out in style? And we please just you know, make this better. But you know, Gus Milson calling plays, I guess I never understood why he stopped, Yeah, because isn't that the thing he was really good at?

MMM?

So why not continue doing it? And him calling plays in the ball game certainly worked out well, and that's great and probably made some people mad, like why why why was there this conflict all season when if you could have done this, why didn't you just do this? So I don't know how that's gonna work. But yeah, they've just got to figure out what they're going to

They've done better with transfers.

And cornerbacks who become quarterbacks. Yeah right, Okay.

If there was a corner that they could move to quarterback, yes, a corner at some other school that they could move to quarterback, that would be fantastic.

But that smells on ideal.

Yeah, But look from a talent standpoint, Auburn looks like when they get off the bus, they look like LSU, and they look like Alabama, and they look like Georgia. So I don't think they're that far away from being good. And this is what happens with Auburn. That's why you know, every couple of years they flip a switch and suddenly they're great because they have good players, right, it's just

Yeah, and they're scheduled this past year down the stretch going to Bama brutal. It's so brutal, so it can only improve. I know they open with uh, well, I think it's Oregon next year, but down the stretch they have Georgia and Bama both on the planes.

And I'd rather open with the organ than play organ in November next year because I think I think by October November, Oregon's going to be really.

Really tough to be I hope. So I agree. Give me a number, all right, let's go to number three. Number three is LSU, who you just mentioned. I think this is my prerogative. I think it'd be dumb to call a nine to three regular LSU season with an inexperienced transfer quarterback, a sort of new offensive coordinator, wins over Auburn and Georgia and o'll miss mind you and a new year six win anything short of a good year.

I don't think so.

Okay, I think their bigger problem against Alabama was in the trenches last year. They just they just got whipped up front. And I think they're going to be better. And you're you've got, you know, now, three years of ed Oorgron recruiting basically because he was the recruiting coordinator for Miles that last year.

So you've got three years of.

Him recruiting lineman, be they offensive, war defensive, you know what, he knows what he's looking for.

I do think they're going to be better up front, which they need.

And and you know, in terms of guys coming back, I thought they came out fairly well on that.

Normally LSU does not. Normally LSU loses.

Everybody that they could possibly lose, and so like getting Fijoko back, that's a big deal. Yeah, that's a that's a big presence in the middle of your defensive line that you don't just replace very easily. So I think I think they're going to be pretty good next year.

I think they go to Texas, right, Jak Texas is week two? Yeah? And DK yeah.

Yes, So I mean, listen, they've they've got what they need now to be a very good team. I don't know if they have the roster to beat Alabama yet. I'm not sure if they're there yet, but it feels like they're getting closer.

I think that's reasonable. I still want, like the the Joe Burrow thing, Like I feel like he is probably the best okay quarterback in the country, and I just want a little bit more because there's so much speed and there's usually so much talent.

You may get a little bit more because remember Joe Burrow, true, where did Joe Burrow has practice last year in Columbus? So you know, he's got a full offseason this year to really get to know those receivers and he's not getting thrown into this. So I think they're gonna be fine. I don't know.

Because of the schedule.

I'm not sure the record is going to be appreciably different, right, but they you.

Know, And that'll be the thing.

There'll be pressure on Ozron at some point if they don't take that next step of winning that game they're not necessarily supposed to win, and that would be the Alabama game probably, So they've got to break through at some point.

But then that's sort.

Of the the ballot of everybody in the SEC West. Eventually you have to break through and beat Alabama, and of those teams, only Auburn's been able to do it.

And we're also talking about an LSU team that was like an eleven hour game away from being ten and two. Exactly.

We should not downplay that either, because remember this is the team that people were saying, Oh, they're going to be five and seven and Oordron's gonna get fired. No, no, no, Oorgron's a good Yeah, for sure, that is a good program. They are in the right direction. They just now need to begin competing for SEC and national titles, which is the hardest step to take.

So good luck with that.

Okay, good luck, give me a number between one and fourteen that you haven't yet. Eight oh eight. We're going. This is the earliest anybody will ever talk about the Vanderbilt Commodores, and I think that I think that's wonderful because the Doors they kind of quietly had a totally fine year. Kyle Shermer one of the best, what five six quarterbacks in the conference? Keishon Vaughn was a wrecking ball. And I hate questions like this, I promise you I do.

Here's the problem.

This was your year with the senior quarterback and the basically fourth year starter. Yeah, so now you're it's if you're Alabama or Auburn or LSU or Georgia or one of those programs and you lost a significant amount of leadership or experience, you can still grow on that. The problem is when you're a Vandy, when you're an Arkansas.

Yeah, got to make it count with those senior classes in the way that like Kentucky Kentucky.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean that that's the thing. They they sort of provided the model for how you're supposed to have one of those seasons, and you know, you've got to you've got to strike when you have that kind of experience. That's that's the hard part. I mean, And look, it's Vanderbilt. It's the toughest job in the league. Nobody nobody's expecting them to win the East, nobody's expecting them to win national championships. It's not like the other jobs.

Yeah, all right, let's go to Kentucky just because you mentioned it. Yeah, yeah, Is Kentucky in a better place? And I assume the answer is yes than Vanderbilt, just because of what Mark Stoops has been able to do on the recruiting trail. But I don't want to ask if it's repeatable twenty eighteen, because that's that's a tough ask. But in terms of infrastructure and laying a foundation, are they at least in a point where at a point where an eight win goal is not crazy year in and year out.

That's not crazy. Okay, You go any higher than that and you are crazy.

Okay.

That's my thing is I don't want Kentucky fans to start using this past season as a weapon against Mark Stoops, because that happens sometimes with fan base, is when when you have a team sort of outperform expectations and then they start saying, well, why can't you do that every year? You can't do that every year because you're Kentucky. You're not going to do that every year. You're not going to have that specialist season every year. This is the sort of thing that you have to cycle up to.

That offensive line. Doesn't they don't.

Show up, you know, just Hey, we're gonna throw all these guys in as starters together and they're going to be great.

It doesn't work that way.

It doesn't even work that way at Alabama or Georgia's, so it certainly isn't gonna work that way at Kentucky. You know, that took years to put together. It's going to take, you know, another couple of years to cycle up to another type of team like this. It also helps to have a Josh Allen that that everybody kind of missed on on defense who just rex opposing offenses.

But that's that's the deal. These are good recruiters.

They understand what it takes to build a good roster. But because it's Kentucky and because nobody's perfect, you're not going to be able to have that kind of roster every season. As good at recruiters as this bunch is, that's asking too much. So if they are a team that is that that is seven or eight regular season wins and then a bowl game every year, you should be very happy with that. That that's a good place

And you know, I think I think.

They they sort of showed you the model. Now it's up to the fan base to understand that that is the model. That is every years. It's not every year. So don't don't kill those guys if they go seven and five this year.

Correct, And I will say they did a really good job of taking advantage. And this is something we mentioned with Vanderbilt of that year, with Florida with a new coach. With Tennessee with a new coach with a weird South Carolina year, they will.

Didn't really take advantage of Tennessee.

They did, they did not. Excuse me, you're right, but in terms of okay, we have a bunch of seniors and we are not in the strongest SEC East. Ever, it was it was a great time to take advantage.

Right, And that's the thing look that the East is gonna get harder. George's George is going to be better than it was this year. Tennessee should be better than it was, Florida will be better than it was. And so they're gonna be losses where you had wins, you know, in a couple spots. But that doesn't mean you can't be an above average team and then build to another great season.

It's doable.

I think this is a really good model that they've set forth, and they seem to be pretty patient with Mark Stoops, which I like. Mitch Barnhardt is an ad I mean, he's been around the block a lot of times, so he's not going to be one of those crazy Hey you.

Know, you didn't win eleven games this year. Year gone. That's not going to be his style.

So that's the good news for Kentucky is they're going to be managed properly. And listen, this staff's good. They seem to be doing the things that make them want to stay. Enjoy it, Kentucky fans, enjoy it.

Give me a number two. All right, we're going to Georgia. If my calculations I'm not very good at math, are correct. So the end of their year, losing a winnable Bama SEC championship, losing justin fields, looking pretty outmatched in the Sugar Bowl by the Big twelve runner up, losing both coordinators for somewhat reasonable reasons, and now that they're measuring themselves very clearly against Alabama, what is the big reason to believe in Herbie three point zero.

That they've been right there each of the last two years And they shouldn't given what they lost from from twenty seventeen to twenty eighteen, should not have been right there this past year, but they were. And now the coaching staff has to avoid some of the in game mistakes it made against Alabama because I think, as in terms of off the field, recruiting, culture, program, all that other stuff, they're doing what they need to do. Now they just need to figure out how to beat them

If it's if he's going to transfer over that let him.

It'll be okay because you already have a quarterback who took you to a national title game and had you up on Alabama.

In the SEC Championship game.

Maybe ride him, you know, I realize that's not the popular thing that you know, he doesn't look like Justin Fields and doesn't you know, have the same athletic ability as Justin Fields. He's not as tall, he's not as big. But guess what, Jake fromm wins. And there's a lot of programs out there that can't seem to find any quarterbacks who can win. So you've got one enjoy it now. They've just got to figure out how to how to get over that hump against Alabama.

They're gonna do it. I know everybody's like, oh, Kirby showed it.

You know, he just can't hang with Nick Saban on game day as a game day coach. No, no, no, he will break through. They're doing too many of the right things to not break through. And I think this team is going to be better next year than it was this year. I just that offensive line is going to be fantastic. I know they lost a bunch of players, you know, obviously for Isaac Nada, and.

You look at what the NFL is doing offensively, you have to go.

But like Elijah Holyfield, I think that's a case of looking at the depth chart, looking at Zamir White, maybe coming back healthy and going I don't know that I'm gonna have as big of a role next year, so maybe maybe.

I'll go to the NFL.

They've got some players on this team, and I think they're gonna be able to block really well. The D line will be older and more experienced, which was a big issue last year. They never really found a replacement for John Atkins. They're always gonna be able to find corners, They're always gonna be able to find pass rushers. That they live in the best recruiting area in the country. They really do. I mean, players from Georgia are athletic,

You keep playing.

Them dead, even for fifty eight minutes or fifty nine minutes or in one case, like sixty three minutes, you're going to beat them eventually.

In a weird way. I think the Justin Fields thing and the way he was used and the way he was brought in sort of nonsensically at times. I almost think that is going to be the thing that cements the sort of ruthlessness gene In Kirby that he's never going to play anymore. He's always going to play the best player, no matter what.

Right you have to be ruthless, especially as you pick a quarterback. And one of the interesting conversations I had during this season was some of the Ohio State beat writers. This is right after Meyer had retired. I think they said, you know why, what was the difference between Meyer and Saban? And I said, the difference between Meyer and Saban is that Saban would have started Dwayne Haskins over JT.

Barrett. JT. Barrett Senior year. Yeah, that's the difference. No.

I think if you look across college football, the guys who have really established themselves as the consistent double digit winners, it's understanding. You're gonna hurt feelings no matter if it's a freshman or a senior.

Well, and Meyer was a consistent double digit winner.

He just kind of did it his own way, right, And one of those things was when he found a guy he really liked, a quarterback, he was not moving off him.

Give me a number, all right, let's do number five.

Number five is South Carolina your home state. If I'm not mistaken, All right, here we go.

Go Fox.

I used to have a hat that played the fight song. Really yeah, you press the bill and it done. No no no no no no no no no no no no.

It would have been better if it played Sandstorm. But I'll accept it. I'll accept it.

You know, Sandstorm hadn't been recorded yet, and actually Sandstorm it took nine years after Sandstorm was recorded for the students of the University of South Carolina to discover that it existed, even though the rest of the country had been listening to it when it was recorded.

There's a good untapped market of like euro techno that's played by marching bands, that's played in stadiums well after the fact that they were popular, and I appreciate drut.

Has probably moved to a place in Charleston.

Mm hmm. They have to.

He's got to be the most like the second most popular person in the state of South Carolina behind Dabo.

I think that's right. And can will never buy a mohito again in the state of South Carolina. All right, So game Cocks are Every game is close, it seemed, other than maybe the Clemson game at the end and the Georgia game. So my sympathy is to South Carolina fans for all of the heart attacks. I didn't watch a ton of South Carolina, but for a Will must Champ team. What happened to the defense and is it? Is it just a bad injury luck sort of blip.

I think probably because they overachieved their first two years under must Champ, and that has never been an issue, whether he was the coach at Florida or the defensive coordinator at Texas. Finding players on that side of the ball and then putting them in the right spots on that side of the ball has never been an issue. So I think we can we can look at this as an anomaly and just say, all right, they're going

I think that's right. And the offense did take a nice step under a first year coordinator, and they'll have a senior quarterback next year, so they're at least poised to and I don't have the schedule in front of me look better and maybe finished games out that they didn't in twenty eighteen.

Yeah, I mean, that's that's the issue with them. I Mean they always get Texas A and m out of the West. So that's that's not a pleasant thing this year because I think Texas A and M is going to be better.

But I just I think they're they're probably due to it's weird.

We have not seen a South Carolina team under Will mus Champ play to its potential. It's either played well above it the first two years well below it this year. So if they play too potential, then you're talking about I would think, you know, an eight or nine win season. Yeah, I think that would be about right, depending on who you know. A couple of toss ups. So I I mean, if you're South Carolina, I think you should be happy with that.

I think that's right.

I know they got spoiled with their eleven win seasons under Steve Spurrier and beating Clemson every year, but that's not gonna happen anymore.

Steven Garcia's do not grow on trees. That's just fact. That's exactly right. You can't just find a.

Steven Garcia anywhere, or or is Davian Clowney or a Marcus Latimore.

Correct, give me a number.

And honestly, those players are going to Clemson now.

They are going to Clemson. So we might as well just give me another number before South Carolina fans become even more despondent. Sorry, nine nine, let's talk Florida. That worked out nicely. I would say, all things considered for a first year coach, really good opening year, LSU, Florida State, Michigan wins. Hard to be disappointed with any of that. Only one really indefensible loss in Missoo, and Missoo is probably a second tier SEC team. They just weren't.

Missoo was kind of due with that point.

Yes, you knew they're going to do that to somebody in Florida just drew the unlucky short straw. This is the most optimism I have noticed in Gainesville in Wow, golly, since Tebow was.

The quarterback, J had Jim mcawaan really drained the place.

Wow, well, even the muss CHAMPI years. They even after that that really good twenty twelve season, nobody was particularly optimistic because of the way it ended. They hammered by Louisville and it was like was this thing a mirage or what? And so I think they feel like there's there's definitely Ford momentum. Now here's the deal you have to build on that, and that's that's Dan Mullen's next step.

How far way with whoever behind center, whether it's Emery Jones or Filipe Franks. Are they from Georgia though, that's the measuring stick.

That is the measuring stick, And I don't know if it's that side of the ball that you need to worry about as much.

Which is strange again.

Yeah, so when we're talking about Florida, but they're they're defensive recruiting was it tailed off so much under Mclawaine that they're very thin on that side of the ball.

You saw it last year like when Marco Wilson went down.

They're not as Remember how deep they were when muss Champ was with all the defensive players. Yeah, it was crazy. So they're not there. They got to get back to that, and that's something I think they can do. I think this staff is capable of recruiting that way and building that depth. But that's not something that happens in one year. So they are going to be very dependent on good

Yeah, all sounds reasonable. One, four ten, eleven, twelve, fourteen.

All right, let's go to fourteen.

Let's go fourteen.

Big.

Oh see, but I didn't do that. I didn't. I went against expectations.

It's not in order of finish.

It's not in order of finish. We are going to miszoo because then I'm glad we are, because we just mentioned them as being due to beat somebody interesting and big, and they did. There's a good case being made that Barry otom is the ultimate second half coach after his two seasons just dominating late October and November.

Every first time.

You know, every young writer when they're writing their first few game stories. Does their tail of two Cities lead? Yes, Barry Otem's Captain Taylor Two Cities Lead.

Like Barry Otams shows up to give the book report without having read the book, and he was like, well, there were two cities. There was a very grand tale that you know, had a number of themes man versus man.

But it's almost like someone is feeding in the book as he goes and by the time he finishes, he's an expert.

This is true, And I guess the only parallel to be drawn here is the end of the Kentucky game being just a total mess and not at all Miszoo's faults. So they should have finished the season. What winning five six in a row is their actual momentum. I know they've recruited, all things considered pretty well, not for SEC standards, but I think that's a top thirty ish recruiting class

Well, yeah, I mean they have a quarterback right now. They have Kelly Bryant, so we know what Kelly Bryant can do. And you know, if you put Kelly Bryant against Alabama you might have an issue. But against the teams in the SEC East sans Georgia, maybe I think they're they can win. So you know, they get they get West Virginia. West Virginia is probably not going to be what they were. Well, they're definitely not going to be what they.

Were last year. You know, I'd be more.

It's funny because they were going to play Neil Brown one way or the other. Like if Neil Brown were still at Troy, I'd be picking Troy to win that game in Columbia, Missouri next year. But he's not at Troy anymore. And now I'm picking Neil Brown to lose in Columbia, Missouri with West Virginia. As strange as that sounds, but no, I think I think they have a manageable schedule. Now it really comes down to what do you do in the games you can win in the East, Like Kentucky.

Can you beat them at home?

You know, from the west, they get All miss they should be able to handle them. You know, we'll see what the two new coordinators at all miss but Missouri should be able to do it. They have a very favorable schedule, and I think we could be looking at Missouri as you know, sort of like we were talking about South Carolina.

This this is a team that could be in that middle tier.

But they have to they have to win the toss ups, right and so like that, that South Carolina game early on.

Is a big toss up for them.

They play them Week four in Columbia, Missouri, and you win that game, you probably had all kinds of momentum heading in the rest of your sec schedule. Uh, lose that game and and then you gotta gott to recalibrate your expectations. Now here's the thing. They can't be the Missouri of the last two years. If they want this to work. If they can, if they can start strong,

Them, I think that's all. Yeah, I'm excited. I think they have what the best returning tight end probably in the conference. Yeah, in Albert Oh so, I mean there are pieces there that can be game changers.

Yeah. No, And Kelly Bryant has been in these games.

You know, there's nothing that any of the teams on their schedule are going to throw at him that he has not seen.

Ah.

Yes, Derek Dooley excitement one, four, ten, Yeah, sorry, he's been well.

Before we move on, he did well.

He did do well.

You know that we're allowed to make fun of him as much anymore.

It's more of like the surprise that actually saying Derek Dooley excitement as being an actual real thing. All right, what are our numbers that we have one for ten, eleven, twelve, twelve, text A and M very clearly. I mean, after the best Clemson loss of the year, probably at full health, they beat LSU, they win their bowl game the way that they did, They're going to come into the season with a ton of probably top ten, top twelve type of hype conversation.

You're going to get the biggest bowl but ittable.

Oh, it's gonna be brutal, it's gonna.

Be so so enormous. And their their schedule is awful.

It's wrong.

Your schedule is so hard.

Oh they could be a nine win team that finishes seven and five or a ten win team that finished at seven and five.

Yes, yes, they could be as good or better than they were this year and the results not bear that out at all.

Are you? Are you a Kellen Mond believer?

I don't know if I'm a believer, But I like him.

Okay, I liked him, you know when when someone was still there and he played against Alabama and played them as about as tough as anybody could. Yes, I thought, you know, this guy, he's definitely got something to him. It's just a matter of, you know, will put it all together. And then of course he has to learn a new offense and everything else. So I do think they have what they need at quarterback. I just and

So this is the issue though.

I mean, like you go to Clemson, everybody's gonna pencil that in his loss.

And if you win that game, obviously everything changes. But you know, you go to Clemson.

And then week four, you got Auburn coming to you in a game where you finally the home team finally won the game last year, but in very odd fashion like A and M just gave it away. So does the road team start winning again? And this this is a series that I think other than the year Manziel came in and just clabberd Auburn, I think it's been pretty close most years. So and that's you, that's your intro to SEC play, and then it just sort of

That's brutal.

That's brutal.

I'm excited to see it.

But yes, that said in a vacuum, I think they're a better team than they were this year.

I think that's Zimbo Fisher is going to do a good job there.

And I think hear two of Mike Elco is going to be enormous.

Yes, yes, I mean, you know, getting them back with the kind of athletes that they can recruit, getting them back to playing good defense. I think that is a bigger key to consistency than anything else for you.

And yeah, I think that's right. I'm excited to see them one four to ten, eleven, All right, eleven eleven. Here here is your woo pig. This is the easiest question, at least the most simple question in simple thought. Arkansas was very bad in twenty eighteen? Is their reason to believe they'll simply be bad? I know what they get an average American Conference quarterback who's familiar with their offense. The offense I guess, yeah he was. He was pretty average.

I don't know, because they're still trying to remake the roster into what Chad Morris wants it to look like, because that, you know, Brett Beelma.

Didn't have a roster like that.

But I don't know, because A and M's Like I said, A and M's better, LSU's probably better, Ole Miss will be better, Alabama's Alabama Auburn is you know, we're predicting Auburn to not be good, which means they'll kill everyone.

That's rough.

I don't know where the wins are. I just don't where the who.

Do you bet I'm pulling up their schedule right now.

You know they play Missouri at the end of the season, and we know what Missouri does to teams at the end of the season.

This is true, they can win. Oh god, this is rough. This, You're right, this is I'm not a good enough detective. They have Portland State, Colorado State, Oh, miss San Jose State.

Yeah, like you should beat Colorado State this year, should beat San Jose State. Yeah, But in the SEC I don't know. I mean, and they actually could be a little bit better than they were, and I still don't know what happens. I still don't know where the wins are. There's a chance of teams that they have to beat get better.

They could start four and oh and finish four and eight.

It's entirely possible.

It's a rough way to go through life. But yeah, I mean, they recruited relatively well, all things considered, that what you're recruiting to and what you have to replace, there's opportunities, certainly, and it just does not feel like twenty nineteen is a okay, We're going to be frisky and nobody wants to play us, which is certainly the first step for a competitive Arkansas team.

Well that's the thing. At what point? Now? This is? This is the year when when.

Morris was at SMU, when we looked at it and went, I don't know where the winds are, and they wound up beating Houston. I think they ended up going four and eight or five and seven, and then the turnaround was completed the following year.

So maybe maybe he just has some year two magic that we don't know about.

It's possible. It's wait and see for me.

And I don't think when Arkansas cleaned house and got rid of Jeff Long and Brett Bielima, I don't think the people in, you know, making the decisions and writing the checks were fully appreciative of how hard the job is.

Yeah, I think that's right. One, four or ten, ten, let's go ten. I love this offseason. I don't know if it's going to do anything. I don't know if it's going to be fun, but I love it so far. Ole Miss had a nightmare of a year on defense, they win one sec game, but make probably the splashiest duo of coordinator Hires and rich Rotten Mike McIntyre at least, I guess in name are they those two in a position at all to succeed they.

Here's the thing there, there have been athletes on ole missus defense, true recently, and I realize everybody's going to go, well, you know, that's why they have NCAA violations and a lot. Yeah, they got athletes pretty much across the roster. It's been a case of putting those athletes in the proper positions defensively.

But Matt corral could be a good quarterback. We'll see.

The few times he got put in last year, he seemed to perform, So I think I think he's got a better shot of early success than McIntyre does. The thing is there's there's got to be improvement or they're all gone. Yeah, you know that they're going to clean house if they're not. Because Matt Luke's an interim who got you know, got the full time job, he's not going to get the same amount of time someone who was hired from outside would get.

So they had better get better quickly.

And you know, I again, this is the same thing we were talking about with with Arkansas. Where are the wins? I I, you know, you'll beat Arkansas, you know, I think I think they should be competitive Mississippi State, Yeah, but I worry about them against LSU, against Auburn, against Alabama.

I mean, you know that's that's three right there. You know.

Yeah, I would say win A and M and yeah, who do they So they have l s U, A and M, they have Vandy. They should be able to be competitive against Vandy. Again, they get Cal, which they should be able to. I love that they're playing Cal. I love that. You know, do you have a Berkeley Oxford series? But yeah, I think they can probably aspire

And I think six and six should make you happy in terms of improvement. Yeah, it won't make anybody happy there, No, I think it should.

I mean, listen, if they beat Mississippi State, everybody will be happy.

No, And that's that's the funny thing is they can be five and six going into that game, win that game.

And get ball eligible.

Yeah. Success, we'll see at Memphis as a season opener.

No, no for them? One or four?

Four?

All right, Alabama, which means I made Tennessee number one, which felt right for some sort of twisted reason. So Alabama, I did trick you. Aside from let's call it the clear most important reason for the manner and very public way in which the Tide loss, which is Clemson's excellence, what was it? I guess if anything internally about the twenty eighteen team that could have contributed to that sort of out of character beat down.

Well, I don't think it was something that happened in twenty eighteen. I think it was when they were recruiting corners and both of them were going after Justin Ross. Clemson and Alabama were both going after Justin Ross, and Auburn was also going after him. Justin Ross picked Clemson. If Justin Ross picks Alabama, then that result is not the same. There's not a wins above replacement receiver for

But I think they're gonna be okay.

Every everybody looks at the score of that game, and the fact that the whole staff has has turned over, well, the whole staff has turned over the last couple of years, and they've still managed to be good. You know, as long as Nick Saban's there, they're going to be good. Now does this Does this portend a time when Alabama is not the you know, dominant program in college football and not the dominant program in the SEC?

Maybe? Maybe?

I mean, look, Nick Saban eventually will retire and then they won't be anymore. So, but I think as long as he's there, they have to be the favorite, and you have to assume that they are going to be the best team on any given Saturday in an SEC game. So I just I think I think the downfall and everybody loves to write those the dynasties over columns. Don't do it yet, No, don't do it, say save save that for later.

It's not time.

It did feel different, though, didn't it. It did feel different because we've never seen them get beat like that. Right, every other team has gotten beaten like that. We have not seen a Nick Saban Alabama team get beaten like that, And so it feels different because it's it's a kind of vulnerability we've seen from them.

That we didn't think existed.

So strange.

But that said, Clemson's the only team capable of exposing that vulnerability. There's nobody in the SEC capable of it, because if Georgia was capable of it, would.

Have done it.

Nobody has that combination of quarterback and continuity and talent level and culture to to go into a game like that that fearlessly.

Georgia could could for sure, could you know, maybe maybe December twenty nineteen or December twenty twenty. George is at that point, but nobody's there yet in the SEC.

It's incredible that we are in a time where there are at least right now, two teams nationally that have gotten this close to Alabama. There's always been like that one, or like the old Miss offense this year, or a freak South Carolina year, but there's never been the infrastructure. It seems to me that there are those two teams that are basically, if not on Alabama's level.

Yes, and so that's good for college football. Yes, that there are those teams, and it will make things interesting. It's just it makes Anick Sapements job a little bit harder. But the thing is they still have to They still have all those receivers, they've still recruited. Well, there will be a Quinn Williams type who you don't know about, who only the recruit Nicks know about, who will be a household name come October. They're going to rense and repeat and they're still going to be really good.

If there is an internal downfall, because I know you don't see it coming right now. Is it only Nick Saban retiring or is there any Is it Scott Cochrane leaving? Is there anything internal that.

Scott Cochrane leaving would be a huge thing?

Yeah?

Yeah, I think.

I've I've strained the conditioning, make sure the coordinators. Yeah, that he's more important than either coordinator. And it's funny, he's not even the highest paced strength coach in America.

Wow, who guy at Iowa is the highest Okay? Yeah, so I.

Mean it's I think he is the second most important person in that organization behind Nick Saban. And when they kept him away from Georgia, they kept themselves atop the SEC a little bit longer.

That's it's amazing that kind of impact. But it makes sense because he has so much FaceTime. He is the good cop, and he has so much FaceTime with the team all year long.

He right, he interacts with the players more than any other coach. He is the guy.

So you know you you don't have him, then you don't does the message Saban wants to get across? Get across because Saban's big thing is messaging. It's it's all about you know. Here's what I need them to understand this this week, and it's not just game weeks, it's this random week in January. Here's what I needed to understand. Scott Cochran is the guy who makes sure that message g's through.

Incredible. Yeah, Final team Tennessee our headliner for all the goodwill of beating a good Kentucky team and a pretty good Auburn team on the road. They finished two and seven. Those are the two Power Five wins of the year for Tennessee. So outside of the UH the South Carolina collapse, the rest of them were uncompetitive losses. The good news is recruiting transfers, returning guys. Jim Cheney, I guess what is the case for Tennessee colin consistently improving Bowl team.

I think that's probably the right the right tack to take is consistent improving Bowl team, not sec East Challenger not there yet, and it's going to take him a little bit. But the Cheney hire, I think is a good one. You know, you look at when he was there before, what he did with Kiffin, and he turned Jonathan Crompton into a into a guy who got drafted.

I still don't I still have my doubts that that actually happened. Insane it happened. I promise there's YouTube clips of it. There's proof, those receipts.

Yeah, no, I that's right.

So I do think that's a really good hire because Cheney seems to have the temperament to work, you know, with those And look, Cheney just worked with Kirby Smart for a few years. You know, he can work with Jeremy Prewett. They're similar guys, you know, the similarly demanding. So I don't think that's going to be an issue. And you know, they don't have bad players. And I think Jeremy Prewett is a is the type of recruiter

Yeah, that sounds right. That is I'm really hoping for the best because I've liked the best of Jerk Warrentano. I know that the transfers coming in. There's some Aubrey Solomon coming in.

His arm is off the show.

It's ridiculous, but it's you know, you gotta it can't just be a great arm.

There's a lot of other facts that involved.

Okay, so I feel good about all of this. I'm glad we went through the fourteen teams the way that we did. And here's my final question for you before we let everybody go. We always seem to talk about food, because of course we do. Give me something non food that you've consumed, whether it's an album, whether it's a TV show, whether it's a movie, whether it's a book or a graphic novel or whatever that you can recommend to people as an off season something.

Well, I'll tell you what I saw the first episode of Black Monday on Showtime.

That shows Okay, awesome, don day. It's it's it's.

A period piece set in nineteen eighty seven. Oh that the stock makes Yeah, Black Monday. The stock market crash in eighty seven, and it's about how it happened. It's a fictional story of how it happened, and it is. It's a pure comedy. It is hysterical that they have this guy playing the Lehman brothers. He plays both Lehman brothers. Okay, get just hand in the Emmy now. But Cheetle's fantastic. So yeah, the first episode I was I was in there's a great montage set to Don Henley's New York Minute.

Okay, it's tremendous. Oh looks like it's seth Rogen as the executive producer Don Chietel. Yeah, I'm totally Yeah, I'm gonna watch this very so. Yes, great recommendation.

Everybody get on board. Cool.

Andy Staples, thank you very much for your time. If people want to follow you, follow Andy on Twitter. On s I read everything he writes. He writes a column, a weekly column called punt Pass and Pork. What is the single best way that if people want to consume your wares you're on Sirius XM. What is the easiest way, Well, just go to my Twitter feed, Andy underscore Staples and I put most of that stuff there and of course debscribed to series XM.

That just because I have a show on it, but because there's all kinds of great music channels, Howard Stern, great interviews. So it's the best thirteen dollars a month you can spend.

Done, do it? Listen, you get Andy Staples and your show is what three hours long.

One to four pm Eastern every day on Channel eighty four, which is the channel devoted to college sports.

That's right. And we don't just have one.

We have six channels devoted to college sports because mine is the main college sports channel, but we also have one devoted to each power conference.

This is true. And if you follow, if you already follow Andy on Twitter, you know that when he starts tweeting during our three of his show, it's basically just like what was the best arranged dance from a movie in nineteen eighty four? Oh, it goes to weird places.

And basically what that means is my co host, Jason Horowitz has given me some idea about something and I need to crowdsource it.

Yes, done, Okay, Andy, thank you very much for your time. Follow Andy everywhere he goes and we will speak soon.

Thank you, Dan.

Okay to and there you go.

Andy Staples Sports Illustrated Serious XAM, long time, long time, best Bud of the podcast. What did you learn from talking to him that you didn't know going into that interview, that conversation.

Didn't know where to get tex mex in the Greater Oklahoma City area. Okay, import Tara Tara Humera, Tara Tara Humara, whatever I now know to go there, go to their Thanks to Andy and George Schroeder. It's one of those the points that Andy made. I guess particularly like it. AM very quick to say, Oh Georgia is there you know, is there an opening where Georgia is losing coordinators and

Ls That ain't easy.

Well, boy, season at Georgia at LSU at Clemson LAM soon is is rocky? Tie? Okay, rocky?

If they go yeah, if they go with one loss all year, that would be like they're the number two team in the country.

With absolutely they absolutely are. And they recruited well enough and they will continue to recruit well enough. Year two of Mike Elco and even without Travon Williams, I thought defensively they got better and better throughout the year save

All Right, well, Daniel, with all that being said, please write in let us know what you think. Solid verbal at gmail dot com. We're also out there at solid verbal dot com. You can find all of our content. Don't forget to check us out on social media as well, Twitter or Facebook, Instagram, all the usual hotspots. As Dan staid at the top of the show, please do leave us a review.

All that stuff helps.

We will be around all off season, though only once a week now that we've got less college football stuff to talk about. So here's what we're gonna do next week, because we haven't in a while and because there is ever demand for it. Big Q and A Show coming next Wednesday.

Yes, might even be a two parter. I don't know. We're gonna stretch this one.

Big Q and A Show coming. We've also got a fun show planned some point in the next couple of weeks where we're gonna look at like the nineteen most important transactions or I guess, yeah, of the young off season so far. Yes, And I guess can college football season at large?

Can we do for that show? This is what I want to start doing occasionally, and this is this is how we'll know about you know, after the Marvel movies that you know, after the credits, there's a small little teaser scene of some kind. Yeah, I want to do. Maybe it'll be on that transaction show. Maybe it'll be on the Q and A show. And by me saying it'll happen sort of ruins the easter egg quality to it.

A week to figure out how to do that, but we can y.

Yeah, I mean I think you're still trying to figure out When I try to say, do we want the playoff to be a postseason versus a championship finder. All right, well, yeah that's all.

Hit us up again usual hotspots, email Solid Rouble dot com, leave us a review for that guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubinstein for myself, Tie Hilton and Brand. Still freezing over here in eastern Pennsylvania. We will catch you all in a week. In the meantime, enjoy your week, enjoy your weekend. Well, stay solid, Peace,