In Like A Lion (3/1/2017)

are you? I am jacked up? Tie, Yeah, I am jacked up.

is it. Go back and listen to it if you didn't yet, or even if you just want to hear the sound clips again. That was your idea for a little off season game that we can play. And of course, now this show is dropping on March first, and whoa coming in? Hot? Okay? Have you ever heard of the common expression that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb? Ty?

out like a lamp. In the college football world, mister Rubinstein, there are a number of players and coaches, teams, all sorts of things that enter twenty seventeen, and what I would say is a rather un certain and tumultuous state. Sure, all right, it makes sense, and so this game today in like a lion. It is gonna be incumbent on you and I to determine whether these things go out like a lion, or go out like a lamb, or go out like any other creature in the animal Kingdom.

We're not just gonna limit it to a lamb or lion or anything, but all of them to some degree, are entering twenty seventeen in the season, in the off season, and the long doldrums of summer, like a lion licking some wounds. That's right. So I've got a bunch of stuff before me, which I was hoping to discuss. Really, we're just trying to trying to look a little bit into the crystal ball, Gonna have some fun with animal sounds, you know, all the usual stuff. Love it. We're gonna

jump right in here. If you're ready. I'm ready, Ty, Let's start coming in like a lion. Man, that's ferocious. It is coming in like a lion. Is Butch Jones. Yeah, Currently the head football coach at Tennessee. He has recruited the hell out of Tennessee football, done a really good job bringing in talent and last year Dan you could definitely make a case that he had the most talented team in the SEC East. Fought some injuries, had some close wins, some bad losses, but by a large had

a very talented team. The Tennessee hype train was running hot, real hot at the start of the show at the start of the year. Clearly that did not work out. Did not work out, No, And I would say no. So it was a tumultuous finish to Tennessee season. And now I think it's rather uncertain for him. Butch Jones as he now enters twenty seventeen, Dan, Butch Jones enters twenty seventeen as a lion, he will go out as a do you want me to answer? Please? Please? Okay, just making sure.

So I'm going to say in like a lion, out like and I had never heard this animal speak, and the sounds of this animal before, out like a sloth.

replace a good amount they are. And to honor our good friend Bill C, the immortal, the number one everything in college football, I believe, and I have this in front of me, Tennessee is one hundred and ninth in the country in returning production in twenty seventeen.

I am instead going to go with another big presence in the animal kingdom sort of slobbery, certainly bark being worse than his bite. I am told that that is the authentic barking sound of a Saint Bernard. Okay. St Bernard's are very helpful. Though they're helpful, they're nice. He's never gonna like attack the intruder, you know, He's just gonna be there and hope maybe that the intruder gets scared away because he's such a big dog.

seven and six overall. I'm talking about Brett Beilama, Bert Beilima Bert at Arkansas, Dan, are you not going to play the sound I have this? I have to pull it up here. I have a whole animal soundboard that I've compiled here. So we'll get to the Bert sound here when you least expect it. But I think it's fair to say that Brett Beelama now enters twenty seventeen like a bit of a line maybe not like Moufasa, but certainly as a himba, you know, a lining cub there.

There's definitely some uncertainty and some tumultuousness in the situation that he currently finds himself Dan. So sure, for the purposes of our little game here, Brett Bieleman enters like a lion, he goes out like a So my line of thinking is I'm going with pitbull here, pitbull. So I'm going with a ferocious pit bull, but not the one you're thinking of. Ty, You're not going Daley here, right, Okay, No,

I am going so you are going Dollay. I think no matter what happens in twenty seventeen with Arkansas, Ret Bilma's still gonna have a good time. I think he's literally going out like a like the literal person pitbull.

Arkansas struggled to run the football consistently a year ago, and I'm not going to point to that as the sole reason why they didn't perform better than seventy five regular seasons seven and six if you count the Bowl loss to Virginia Tech. But it was one of the elements that I think a lot of people looked at and said, Wow, this is this is not something we're accustomed to seeing. We like Rolly Williams, Rowley Williams is gonna be really good. But they just didn't get the

production in the line up front. They did in some games, they didn't in others. It was just a really inconsistent offensive effort, especially when it comes to running the football. So I think they will improve that in twenty seventeen. The problem is that the SEC is always really good.

where do you want to be? Watch? Have you watched any of the Planet Earth too yet? All I've seen so far is that clip of the iguana versus the snakes. Oh, the little lizard, not iguana, but yeah, the tiny little lizard. Yeah. Oh incredible. I have the best sports highlight of the year. I haven't seen anything else so far, but neither of them forward to it.

land portion of the seals life? I prefer the seal pups. Actually, see I love a good elephant seal. Okay, yeah, but my number one is the orca, the killer Well, we talked about this before, which which says a lot about about our dynamic. Yeah, that you're more of a prey guy and I'm more of a predator guy. Interesting. Also, monkeys gotta I love a good monkey. It's hard not to like the monkeys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know how we got talking about this, but okay, we

were talking about the SEC. So let's let's stay in the SEC as a whole. We'll come back to There are a couple other SEC topics here that maybe we can address. But I want to talk about something I'm going to refer to here, coming in like a lion, very ferociously. SEC Conference superiority, Dan, did you know that only one team last season had fewer than four losses? I did now that time we've been over this. The

East has no clear cut favorites at all. The conference has a quarterback problem, which maybe we can discuss a little bit later. And for the first time in forever, the discussion was not about the SEC being the best conference. We were talking about the Big Ten. We were talking about the ACC. Dan, For how long was the SEC this planetary body around which the fabric of college football bent? This past year? Not so much the case, not great,

not great. Only one team with hewer than four losses coming in like a lion Dan, it will go out like I'm gonna say a bear, Okay, and I'm gonna say bear because what is a bear market? Ty? Bear Market's a bad market. It's not a great market. Some people are selling. Yeah, I like the quarterbacks.

I think the old Miss situation. You know, we were hurting depth in the West, So I don't have a bear sound, but I know you were talking before the show that you're very good at roaring.

that they had an incredible renaissance a year ago. I think there's a chance that they could take a step back. I'm just not certain they continue on the same path that we saw last year. And in the ACC obviously, Clemson loses Deshaun Watson, Louisville loses some contributors on both sides of the football. Florida State I think should still be pretty rock soylid, but I don't know if the Hives are quite as high in the ACC as they were last season. So I think there's a chance there's

an opening there for the SEC. There actually is an opening there for the Pac twelve as well, which I'm sure we'll get into at some point here. But I think the SEC is in really good position to regain that superiority. So I think in like a line out, like a la, I'm just like the expression says, all right, I'm aac all day, all right? Moving on, Yes, football in the great state of Tejas, Dan, Yes, football in the state of Texas undeniably comes in like a lion.

There is uncertainty. TCU went what six and seven, Yeah, it wasn't great. A year ago, Texas went five and seven and fired their coach, hired Tom Herman but fired their coach. Texas A and M went eight and five on the year for the third consecutive season. And that's not even counting Cliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech going five and seven, Cliffs still not fixing his defense, And what's going on at Baylor, which is a mess for reasons

beyond just football. New coach, new coach, new coach. But five teams, five big teams right there that I've listed that I think would undeniably put them in a place of relative uncertainty as we head into twenty seventeen dance. So football in the Great State of Texas coming in like a lion going out like, well, first of all, you're disrespecting UTSA and the Roadrunners. I'm sorry.

We're talking about both sides of the ball. UTSA eighteenth tie. I do my homework Baylor ninety third, so gonna take some time, going to take some time in Waco. But the TCU in Texas thing, to me is interesting because of the experience, because of the quarterback experience. I NOWTCU is sort of up in the air, but I have a certain degree of trust with TCU that they just

don't have that many lower years in a row. Now with how good Gary Patterson has done building a staff and dealing with attrition, Texas wise, Charlie Strong clearly didn't work out. Tom Herman very good in terms of getting buy in overhauling. I think Texas is going to play

a lot closer to its potential in twenty seventeen. Texas is not back, but in terms of improvement, Clay Helton add how many months at USC to cross the fifty multiple times against Ali Obama to so as good as Clay Helton turn did turning around USC last year, Tom Herman does have an advantage early in getting this Texas team ready early on in the season getting by in overhauling culture. I am bullish, so I'm going to say they're out like a bull. TCU. That's a very convincing

bull Dan, Thank you, TCU. At twenty seventeen, you mentioned about the returning production. They're actually the top Power five team in that metric according to what Bill c has to have. Number two FBS. Yeah, number two FBS, number one Power five and they're mostly young. They've got some turnover up front on defense, but they do bring a lot back, which is why they are so high in these rankings. It wouldn't be inconceivable for them to take

a step forward. You mentioned Texas, they're going to get better on offense, they're going to get better on defense. Obviously Tom Herman comes over, but he's sort of just the head liner. Todd Orlando came over too, and he did great work at Houston, so I think there's some promise there. On the other hand, I could see A and M taking a step back because they lose a lot in both sides of football. The quarterback situations still

kind of up in the air. Texas Tech is losing Patrick Mahomes and I think that's going to be a backbreaker for them. And then Baylor, I don't really have an opinion on. There's so much going on on the Baylor side that it's hard to really look at it from a pure football standpoint, I say pitbull, but not the good kind. Not the good kind. I'm saying pitbull. Still ferocious, still very unpredictable and uncertain, but easier to train and mostly friendlier than a lie. Oh we should

also mentioned TCU lost foster, Sawyer sailor spy. That's right. Yeah, yeah, that's tough. So I say a real pit bull. That was another authentic pit bull.

by yourself in under forty minutes. Not to mention, they have partnered now with over one hundred and fifty local farms, fisheries, and ranchers across the good Old US of a to ensure that their ingredients are of the highest quality. Dan, would you like to know what some of their featured upcoming meals are? Like nothing else I've ever wanted to know. Let's talk about the great month of March coming in like a lion. Maybe going out with some salmon picata

with orzo and broccoli. Ooh ooh, yeah, I'm listening. Or some pork chops and misa butter with bockchoi and marinated apple. Oh my god, there's umami written all over that. Or a little vegetable chili and baked sweet potatoes with crispy tortilla strips. Or last but not least, spicy shrimp coconut curry with cabbage and rice. Does that sound good? Or what that sound?

Do you have a guess as for which part of the pig they ate in a taco fried and like shredded and cut up?

I like this. So look, this was one of our fantasy things that we discussed a couple times and all throughout the twenty sixteen season. A lot of hype around Rosen, a lot of steam on him after twenty fifteen because he had a great freshman campaign right twenty sixteen quick, it might be overstating it. I'd say very impressive. It was impressive. He showed a ton of promise right, Yes, twenty sixteen kicked a little dirt on that fire because

he only played half a season he got hurt. Even before he got hurt, there wasn't a big boost in his productivity, virtually identical to what he did in the same span of time in twenty fifteen. So we're now at a weird spot where he's got a ton of talent. No one's forgotten about Josh Rosen, But the draft stock, you could argue, has never quite been this low, and now twenty seventeen, uncertainty. What's the offense going to look like? I think it's coming in like a lion here. Okay, yeah,

it is a low point at the moment. Un So, yeah, we don't know what the offenses look like. New coordinator and jetfish. Yeah, I think that's reasonable. How do you feel about where the offense is headed and where he heads.

the quarterback. UCLA still I feel like hasn't developed past catching weapons, and they were so atrocious on the ground last year that even if they improved, they'll probably just improve to about average and that doesn't necessarily help a quarterback a ton. So I'm gonna go with a repeat here. And I'm going to say UCLA and Josh Rosen in like a lion, and because I think he's probably going to end up on a bad NFL team or you know, a bad NFL team's quarterback decisions in out like a bull tie.

I think he'll enter the NFL draft early. That's not a stretch to say. I think his draft stock will be a lot less uncertain than it is now. I think he'll be fun to watch. I think he'll be fun to envision in an NFL uniform, just maybe not a fully crystallized matured beast, which is why I'm going to say a Felabella miniature horse. You ever see a miniature horse show?

Why I watched every throw because we're doing an.

I think Deshaun Kaiser's more mature. I think he's a better athlete, he's a better runner, he's more solid physically. But I came away kind of disappointed with where Deshaun Kaiser was, and I still feel like if Deshaun Kaiser is going to be talked about as a top five NFL draft pick after his twenty sixteen that a healthy Josh Rosen has a higher ceiling at this point.

you the legs. And it was sort of an unintended advantage that Notre Dames stumbled into the first year that he played quarterback. Right, They didn't really plan on running him because they were already down a guy, right, they didn't want to get somebody else hurt. Five fifteen was considerably better, exactly. He ended up being very good at running the football, and in many cases this past season

they needed him, they needed to ruin the football. He's actually got better wheels than a lot of people think he's a big guy. So from that standpoint, that standpoint alone, I think he gives you a new dimension. I'll go I'll go Kaiser over Rosen, just based on what we saw year ago. I will say with Rosen there's a lot more throwing arrogance that Kaiser doesn't have in a bad way.

ten East. Despite the fact that there may be a few teams on that side of the conference taking a step back, it still feels like a decidedly more competitive division than it was the last time. Michigan State was potentially consequential. So I ask you, mister Rubinstein, three to nine, Michigan State in like a lion out like a I'm gonna go vulture here, ty a vulture, a vulture. Wow, I'm gonna I'm gonna cover myself when I'm gonna hedge because either Michigan State becomes a team and by the way,

returning production wise, one hundred and twenty four. Yeah, not great, Bob, not great Bob, But Michigan is one hundred and twenty seventh across the state. Ohio State seventy second, Penn State twenty seventh, So that's a little bit scary, But schedule wise, it's I would argue, somewhat advantageous. They have Michigan on the road, but they get Maryland and Rutger's Cross Division and Indiana with a new coach. They get him at home.

Ryan Field's not the most difficult place to play against Northwestern Minnesota on the road, but it's a new coach feeling things out. Notre Dame.

will pick them apart, not unlike a vulture strategy. All right, so what you're saying is maybe not a return to ten and two yes, I think I like four yes,

I think it's entirely possible. Michigan State has always been a program that has had to rely on identifying diamonds in the rough for developmental guys and developing them, you know, seeing qualities, finding fits for Michigan State in the way that their culture operates, but without a ton of players coming back to sort of influence winning culture, and it's tough. It's just it's a more it's a tougher ask in the way that that division has come forward with three

very very strong teams. Agreed. Yeah, I think we're on a similar train of thought here. Dan. I'm not gonna say Vulture, I don't think it's quite as big of a lion, but I'm must say they go out like a house cat, maybe entering twenty eighteen with their own share of questions, maybe not quite as uncertain as they are now entering twenty seventeen. But I just kind of feel like Gate and four is going to be the ceiling.

James Franklin brought in. They got killed in that game, right, correct, Yeah, that was like a fifty to sixteen kind of game. And Michigan clearly at the beginning of the Harbaugh era, and that was, you know, the carcass of special teams play and Brady Hoke before that. So I'm not going to disrespect Michigan State and fully attribute their success to them picking apart carcasses and not necessarily being the ones to kill them.

be Auburn's answer at quarterback. Alas that was not the case he saw some time, but he certainly wasn't the prolonged answer at quarterback for Auburn. Seawan White got the majority of the steps, and at times he was effective. I gave him and Gus Malson a lot of crap for it, not that they care or even new, but I just thought starting Seawan White was lopping off an entire leg of your offense because he just didn't give you much more beyond like a game manager role. So

I was disappointed. We didn't see any of that creativity that we've come to know and love from Gus Malson. Now they enter twenty seventeen, Seawan White is still there, John Franklin the Third is still there, but they've also got Woody Barrett. They've got a sophomore named Tyler Queen, a freshman named Malik Willis, and of course the Baylor transfer Jared Stidham. Gus Melzon has options, but which one

will he pick? Auburn's quarterback coming in like a lion and going out like a I'm gonna say, goat, oh and not and not theg dot O dot a dot t goat. But I'm kind of scared specifically for Jarrett Stidham, because I don't know that that is the the most perfect fit. To me, he feels like a quarterback who can run, a thrower who can run, and I know Cam Newton sort of developed into that in his one

transfer year. But I also am under the impression from watching Auburn these past few years under gusmels On that they are looking for somebody at quarterback who can shoulder a good amount of the rushing load. Nick Marshall was able to successfully Sean White and a couple other quarterbacks less so, and I don't know that that generally fits what Gusmelson is able to do. So I'm I'm scared much in the way that screaming goats appears to be scared. Ty Well, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna play the

goats sound. Did you know that I was gonna go goat with this one? No? I did not. I have a baby goat right here. I swear to you, on all things holy Simbadio that I am going to go goat here, and that I had planned on going goat here. I think regardless of who ends up with this job, I've lost some confidence in gusmel Zon's ability to put together like a well balanced offense, something that incorporates both the run and the pass. We saw it a couple

of years ago with Nick Marshall. Right, but it's been a while. I feel like it's been too long. Had really good pass catching options. Sammy Coates was great, Carda Lewis. Yeah, so I'm thinking that it's a goat, but the kind of goat that has a fatal flaw. Oh, you know, like one of those fainting goats, one of those goats that when they get all worked up, they just faint. Yeah, so I get some sort of critter with a fatal flaw. We're on the exact same page here With that being said, Dan, Yeah,

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That's all I got, dan Uh, that's almost everything I have, Tye. Will you play the breaking news sound for me? Yeah? Breaking news? Okay.

and will be bigger. Yeah. The plan is to put together a really fun season preview show and instead of boring people we're gonna we're gonna have our Fantasy Things draft for the twenty seventeen season, live in Living Color. So all I'm gonna say is, if you're a single gal, if you're a single fella, we will probably be doing this place that has food, that has drinks, and I would say it's safe to say it's going to be a bit of a singles mixer. Tie do is that a word?

The plan is that we're going to do that either next week or the week after, right, So it's going to be in short order that will do our Verby Show. They just did the Oscars a couple days ago. We can assure you we'll probably have that level of screw up and more as we give out the biggest and brightest awards in the college football world, as we do one final recap of the twenty sixteen season that was. But before we get to that point, we need you to step in and let us know what you think.

We need some voting. We need some voting. So it's it's free, It's open to everybody to come in and vote. We'll put together a nice little fun show talk about all of these award winners and and much much more so. The Verbie Show is forthcoming. We are currently signing up coaches that are going to be on the program. Yeah, in the next couple months. We've got some healths applying,

some headlining acts that I am extremely excited about. We won't spill the beans on that quite yet, and then some other fun stuff planned as we enter into the long doldrums of the off season. Ty, did you notice the avalanche of support that Donuts received. I did, Yeah, I did. It was like forty seven to one. People are pro donuts and I am, which doesn't make am anti cake. There are cake donuts. I am pro donut. I'm pro cake. I may be anti donut wall, but I need to see it. I need to see it.

I am crazy. I am waiting to pass judgment until I actually see how this is used. Okay, all right, I just.