Spring Things

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Welcome to the Solid Verbal. Come that for me. I'm a man, I'm for I've heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy. You want to be happy for day A to state?

Is that?

Whoo whoom?

And now down and tie.

Welcome back to the Solid Verbal, boys and girls. My name is Ty Hildebrand. Joining me now over there in Chicago, my man Dan Rubinstein, sir, how are you?

I'm good? The Solid Baby World Tour continues.

It continues the North American Tour. As little Man doing on the planes? Is you all right with that?

He's great on the planes. He did literally crap his diaper. Okay, fifteen minutes before, like I do that, I'm aware that they do that. Yeah, I mean he was good. He didn't complain or anything like that. You feed him on takeoff and landing, and I guess the pressure on their ears isn't bad because they're constantly swallowing from their bottle. Sure,

Sure, well, welcome back to the show, not just to you, but to everyone listening wherever you may be.

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Got a special guest.

We're excited about going to talk about the draft after all the madness plays out, and then grate it a little bit later on.

It's like having a meteorologist on after the forecast and after the day has come and gone, and we'll just talk to him or her and say, hail right, what was that about? And then and then the meteorologist will say, well, it's when there's a condensation situation when it gets pretty cold. Maybe I don't know if it's high pressure or low pressure. You would know better than I because you were going to be a meteorologist, right.

I thought about it, Yeah I did, Yeah, I did think about it.

So we're going to just talk about why players are valued or not valued the way they are you know according to the NFL and what that means moving forward for teams, players, schemes, whatever. So that'll be after the draft and if I may, can I can I jump in real quickly?

Sure? Please?

A shameless bit of promotion. You already know this because it's on the feed. But if somehow your eyes glazed over it and you didn't care, that's fine. But I'm going to say one more time because you heard it on the feed already. I've got a new podcast.

Hy what's that about? Dan? Are you cheating on me?

Yes? The answer is yes, man, It's okay because I'm telling you to your face this is an open relationship and that's how it works. I am now hosting and producing and co writing whatever a show called sports Wars for a company called Wondery, which has put out a lot of really big, impressive podcasts. They're based in LA,

Excellent.

Well, I'm excited for you, man, sports Wars a kid, but I'm very excited. I'm excited to hear what thank you? So check it out. If you haven't already verbal ors sports Wars, that'd be Greaturing your yours truly, and by yours surely I mean him truly.

Dan Rupeestein, all right, what are we doing today?

Huhil Hildenbruns, what's it? Says? April seventeenth. April seventeenth, Yeah, April the seventeenth, which means I believe Oregon's spring game is this coming Saturday. Has Notre Dame had its spring game? Not name did have its spring game. Yes, all I saw from that was your future savior filled your COVID. That's right, Drohovic. Drkovic not super good. No, there's a little bit of concern. I know.

I remember when he was recruited. He was a blue chip recruit. But when he came in, I watched some of the highlights and I'm not gonna fashion myself any kind of throwing expert, Okay, any kind of mechanical I know, it's hard to believe.

Noted high school second basement.

I'm not George Whitfield out there coaching the quarterbacks. But you were excited to start him. I was pretty excited about Field jer Kovic.

But he's got a little bit of a wonky delivery, okay.

And I saw Brian Kelly talking about Filed Djerkovic. He was a chorus more diplomatic about it because it's one of his players, but he just basically said, he's got a lot of stuff going on with that delivery. Well, a lot of stuff going on that we got to try and hiron outs. Yeah, yes, it's mildly concerning. Thankfully, I we're.

Leading with Notre Dame's backup quarterback.

It organically got here. There are some concerns about filled Jerkovic. They'll they'll hopefully iron things out. But yes, to answer your question, Notre Dame spring game was this past weekend. Spring games are ongoing now. It's that time of year as we get into mid April. We've got a list of teams here that have gone through their spring games and we're going to focus in on the sources of optimism that have arisen from spring practice some of these

Yeah, spring things. And as it relates to filled Yourkovic, Jim Jim Furick has made a lot of money Tye with a wonky delivery, yas he has that maybe it's just Hideo Nomo.

It's up there, just okay, it's it's it's different.

Yeah, we're going to be talking about topics other than fild your Kovic's waking delivery. I just knowing that I wanted to feel like that could be a fantasy thing selection.

Now, oh god, the more we talk.

Yeah, that's the annual esoteric Notre Dame thing that gets Notre Dame fans super excited and riled up and everybody else in the crowd like, yeah, okay, another Brian Kelly thing. I love that. That's my favorite thing.

So there will be those this year.

We'll dive in he later. So we I have a list of five states, not American states, but schools ending in state the sort of state of the state Spring optimism thing or not a thing. Addition, it's a mouthful.

They are well short states though to be clear.

Yeah, they're all they are all American states, and they also have the word state in their title. And here's what we're going to do. You mentioned the optimism keyword. We're going to go through each of these five schools, these state schools, and I'm going to present to you an optimistic Spring narrative. Okay, and you and I will

Okay?

Cool, cool, cool, But I don't know if that's going to be the case. So we are going to decide whether or not this optimistic spring narrative will indeed be a fall autumnal thing or not a thing.

What was that autumnal? Autumnal? Holy crap? Okay, hell yeah, keep going.

Let's start here because this is a school that I would love to see succeed, because I've enjoyed watching his offenses and his teams in years past. Mississippi State. That's right,

Okay, I would amend this optimism a bit. Okay, I would not focus solely on the passing game, I would focus on the quarterback position as a whole. Now with Nick Gerald leaving, that opens the door for Keton Thompson to get some more regular experience at the quarterback position.

Going to be a true Joine Year.

Saw some limited action played in six games last year, thirteen point seven yards per attempt, but a sub fifty percent completion percentage. I think that's what you should probably expect at this point, not cracking fifty. Crack fifty will probably hover around fifty. But he brings a lot to the equation with his legs. Ran for almost ten yards

Made accuracy issues for sure going into the Morehead era.

I think, yeah, I think Trace was a little bit of a better passer at least through the early days here of Keton Thompson. But we've seen what Morehead can do when he's got a guy, a dual threat guy with this skill set, and I was a little bit surprised it didn't happen sooner with Nick Fitzgerald. But I think just in the brief moments that we've seen of Keton Thompson thus far in Starkville, there's a lot of reason to be truly optimistic about what he can do now in that system led by Joe Morehead.

So you don't think that he will be able to complete enough gimmeis that we believe and I know they have a new offensive coordinator. I believe that Joe Morehead will be able to give him some gimmes and RPOs and screens that he should be able to get his completion percentage to fifty plus. You are not a believer, And even that even getting enough guppies to get to fifteen, well.

I think it's gonna be a round fifty.

I don't know if it's forty nine point eight or fifty one point two, but it's around fifty. I think that's a reasonable expectation. I think that's the kind of quarterback Keiton Thompson is. But I think the fact that he is so dynamic with his legs, the fact that he's got a coach in Joe Moorehead who knows how to use that skill set, he will he will find a way to emphasize Keitan Thompson's best qualities and use them effectively.

Yeah. The problem though, is the report out of spring or reports out of spring, is that exactly what you said. He's impressive, He's a playmaker, he knows the offense, but accuracy making pre snap reads not necessarily a strength. Huge arm strength, huge arm in general. And if we are to believe that he will be an improvement over Nick Fitzgerald, it's not that he is suddenly Cam Newton, Marcus Mariota, Johnny Manziel and just a total game changer in every respect.

For me, this is a full on guppy assault here.

I know on the show, I do like guppy as a word clearly, So I'm going to say yes. It's a thing that Mississippi State's passing offense becomes competent, not overwhelmingly impressive, but competent from where it has been, where Nick Fitzgerald has been the least, if not second or third, least efficient quarterbacks in the conference.

Okay, where are we going next here?

I think Keyton Thompson surges to blow Afroge surges.

I'm optimistic about Keton Thompson. I think this is the kind of quarterback. Yeah, who can do really well with Joe moorehead.

Okay, fair enough, let's go across the country. Washington State another state. Yeah, they are now going to become with their second straight season of relying on a grad transfer quarterback to start. I've been there, Washington State, I've been there. It's it's a rough sledding situation in the second year, or at least it can be in the Pac twelve North? Are they a plug and play well offensive school with His name appears to be Gage Gubrud Gauge.

You know, I'm glad you said that.

Look it up.

This was truly a Globe Tomato type situation for me.

I say we go Gaja just to hon Glo roots.

Because everybody this pronounces I'm assuming the last name and not the first, right.

So Gayja Gubrud, who was also pretty menacing in the Star Wars CANTEENA if I remember correctly, Gaja Gubrud, stay away from me. Gaja Gubrud. He is a sixth year. He received a medical red shirt waiver. He comes over from Eastern Washington, same school Vernon Adams dominated at and then went to Oreon and played very well at. He arrives in Pullman having thrown for like ten thousand yards for the Eastern Washington Eagles over there on the red field.

I don't know.

It's so tough ask, It's so difficult to try and project this forward. I know, because you know how it is with grad transfers.

Is the optimism warranted? Is it a thing?

The optimism is warranted? I think because we've now got some empirical evidence what Mike Leach can do with a grad transfer, right, We've got some empirical evidence on that side that would back up that claim. So from that standpoint, yes, there is there is plenty of reason for optimism. But look, it's a different player. Gardner Minshew came onto the scene. He had a history behind him where he had been successful elsewhere, and he.

Had at least he had been recruited to the air raid by Lincoln Riley at ECU, So a lot of terminology and comfort was there.

A little bit of a bigger guy found the same height but had more mass to him than Gajay Goobrud, Daje Gubrud. But he's a different player altogether. Goobrud is he had his best season a couple of years ago in twenty sixteen. There was a medical red shirt mixed in there. Certainly if you go on his twenty sixteen numbers fifty one hundred yards forty eight passing touchdowns at Eastern Washington, a noted program at the FCS level, there's plenty of cause for optimism there. But I'm just not

Yeah, this show is not meant to be necessarily a preview, a season preview of these teams, and I think it's important to recognize that. But in terms of him specifically, the hit rate on grad transfer quarterbacks, no matter the success they have at any level, and even though Vernon Adams did dominate, there was more evidence with him specifically because of how he performed against PAC twelve schools that

But he can. He's for sensitive, he can feel it.

I like that, thank you. So I'm gonna say no, I'm going to say that it is not a thing that Washington State will be plug in play, even though I think they'll have success. They're down what they're all American caliber left tackle, all conference caliber left tackle and Andre Dillard who will be in the draft coming up. And I just think the hit rate is so low.

Though.

What I like about this conversation is that it highlights both ways you could play the old gambler's fallacy.

It really truly does.

So you know Mike Leach has had some recent success with grad transfers. If you're like me, maybe you look at the glass a little bit more half empty. Sure that's not bound to continue because we look at grad transfers elsewhere.

Hope it does. I hope it does.

Yeah, I'm not rooting against it, but the hit rate has not always been as high as you might expect. You could also play it, you know, a different way as well, so we'll see. I love the name though it is technically gauge goob rud, but if we are in agreement here, we could just go Gaje until further.

Don't rain on the Gaja parade? What's wrong with you?

Where are we going next?

All right, let's go to Let's go back to the East coast and talk Florida State.

Oh god, do we do we? You know?

I got a funny tweet that was in my mentions earlier today, someone who had just listened to our previous podcast where I made the offhand joke about the Florida State black hole picture.

Are you actually gonna do it? Are you going to get a print out? Oh?

I'm not actually gonna do that. Wife kill me if I tried that.

But usually made something spacey with your room though I should shouldn't I? Yeah, maybe a Neil Degrass Tyson fat head. Hmmm is that not doing it for you?

No?

Not really?

Okay, Stephen Hawking, Carl, Carl Sagan, nobody.

No, I don't know. We'll talk about this on a leadership.

But Matthew McConaughey's crying face and Interstellar, that could work. Did you like Interstellar?

I did up until he went behind the bookshelves. That's a rough bookshelf, rough ending.

Apparently there was a different ending that made that wasn't as on the nose emotional, and it was just sort of him floating through space.

That's where it That's where it's sort of.

I think that was the Nolan brother. Yeah, who was responsible for the actual ending? Like theoretically that scene was possible, but it's rough ending. But to get from where it started to where ended was a bit of a mental leap. Sprinting LCD robot through water. Yeah, on board, fully there, but God, behind the.

No the bookshelves. Yeah, we're just we're going into odd tiars Florida State, Florida State black hole. Yes, the tweet, I got the tweet I got from a Florida State fan was listen, listen. If you're going to do the Florida State black hole thing, can you at least put a picture of Alex Hornybrook photoshop in the center of it. And I think that's fair. I think we could put Hornybrook on the event horizon of that black hole.

Nothing escapes the Alex Hornybrook overthrow.

Because if Alex Hornybrook gets sucked into the black hole, there's a chance he enters a parallel universe where he's throwing and putting up Gaja Goobrud numbers fifty one hundred yards and forty eight touchdowns a year.

I'm planting my flag right now and rooting for Alex Hornybrook at Florida State because it just seems like such a backward, strange fit that I'm all for it.

The question is, explain to me how you feel about Florida State's offense where your source of optimum optimism is excuse me, outside of Alex Hornybrook, why why should we be excited?

Why are people excited?

So the best of Willie Taggart's quote, I think he calls it the Gulf Coast offense, which we tried running last year with all sorts of injuries and issues everywhere. Essentially I was I was in Walt Bell was the offensive coordinator. Now he takes over at UMass, So Kendall Briles enters stage left, and he's had a ton of success in terms of the offenses he's helped to run both at Baylor and Houston, and you know, quarterbacks have had a pretty easy job finding open men and putting

A serviceable workman like marriage.

A serviceable So here's here's what a serviceable workman like marriage means to me.

They're all that's like business partners who decide to get married just to make taxes easier.

They they come to an agreement more often than not. When watching Netflix, right, they have their shows, they're like, you know, a workman like maybe we'll just the rest of the show is trying to define what a workman likes. They're open with their finances. Oh god, they alternate selecting restaurants to go out to. They you know, agree to start saving for their kids college pretty early on. I'm

I think it's business partners who decide to get married.

Okay, so this is a green card marriage. No, not a green card.

I don't mean that.

I'm just talking like two people in business together and they decide. You know, taxes are complicated, we spend we spend time around each other.

All the time, every day, all day. Yeah, why why don't we just make this thing official and just move on?

So people, let's rub up against each other with regularity, That's right.

Yeah, Okay, I don't know.

I do agree this a serviceable, workmanlike marriage or do you think it is? It's there's it seems like lustful, but then it's gonna flame out pretty quick.

Well, I so I come at this from I guess just a pure logical perspective.

I don't know what you want to call it.

But Florida State was really bad again along their offensive line, and this has been a problem the last couple of years.

Of injuries, transfers, yeah, the nuts, anything that could go wrong, did I don't.

We're not We're not teaming up on Florida State here. If you're a Florida State fan, these are things you already know. Like it's been tough to watch the offensive line over the last couple of seasons. So I don't think it's gonna get a whole lot worse than that. My expectation is that it's only going to get better. And I know Willie Tagger had a rough go of it in season one and that there was some upheaval on the staff and whatnot. But I think he's a

He also just that was a personality clash that was an institutional It was a game of Chick West kind of thing.

It was a game of chicken and you could argue whether or not he really wanted to go to A and M, but that's a topic for another day.

It's old news about this point, though.

He looks smarter maybe than he was for leaving what he did, Given the struggles that we saw from Florida State last season.

I think that's fair to say.

I don't know about a huge step forward, but I think a step forward, a sizeable step forward with that offensive line, with their new offensive coordinator in Kendall Briles, I think that is certainly a very real source of optimism and a good expectation. I think Alex Hornybrook, for as much as I have teamed up on him because of the pop gun arm and all that, he is a real upgrade over James Blackman.

I've watched James Blackman.

I would take Alex Hornybrook eight days a week and twice on Sundays, five times on Sundays over James Blackman. I think he will at least give them some level of experience that they desperately need need at the quarterback position to help steady that ship. There's talent around the Florida State offense otherwise, they really just do need to

Which quarterback tie? Because god, I just I need to keep digressing to this which quarterback. Let's say in the last ten years, would you be neither insulted nor flattered if somebody compared your marriage to himies? So okay, I'm looking at the twenty ten quarterback stats. Obviously, Bryant Moni's to you would probably be an insult. Yes, after what you've talked about with this pop gun.

Arm right, there's no spark there. It's just that's that's all. Oh gosh, I think Aaron Murray a compliment. Sure, I'll take Aaron Murray.

Aaron Murray would be a Scott Tolzine. I think that's I think that's the magic name.

MM efficient Efficient? Do you want your marriage, though, to be called efficient.

The Scott tot Well, I'm saying neither flattered nor insulted.

I think I'd be more insulted with Scott Tolzy.

You'd be insulted with your marriage being called the Scott Tolzane of marriages.

Yes, I don't think i'd be super there's no excitement there.

Geno Smith probably flattered given what he did in college, I would take.

Well, it didn't end well, but you know, I mean fifty percent is what we're looking at nowadays. Marriage Greg McElroy, Greg McElroy, Really he's like the cut line.

Ricky Stansey, love it or leave it? Would that be an I don't think that would be an insult. I wouldn't personally love it. But so if I.

Came up to you and I said, Dan and Jody with an eye your marriage, okay, it really reminds me of Scott Tolzine or Ricky Stansy, you would look at me and you kick me out of your apartment.

I'm saying about who is the most neutral. I'm not saying who's the most flattering or insulting? Kauffman, Ricky Stansy, ain't it dog? Ryan nasib Oh? How about this? Okay? You ready? Would you be taken aback? Would you kick somebody or out of your house if they said I'm not saying your marriage is great. I'm not saying your marriage is bad. Your marriage is the Tino Sounsei of marriages. Craig McElroy is probably the best dancer. Greg McElroy is the most New I mean he is the most neutral.

Because he he might have been a game manager, but he was a championship winning quarterback and he was very solid.

He didn't be he never let you down.

T J.

Yates, I think would be a flattering comparison. Were talking about college TJ. Yates, not pro Sean Renfrey, No, GJ. Kenney Tulsa. No, really, what about Brandon Whedon would be a super duper compliment College Brandon Whedon. I would take marriages. I would take Brandon Whedon. Yeah, that would be Sunseri is your line, right, mclroy, is where you stand, Tino. Sunseri is a a bridge too far. It's a bridge too far, like he's not making the cut. Scott tolzene

This is a very weird game we're playing here.

Oh my god, was this.

The hypothetical you told me about.

No, this isn't even the hypothismce that I wanted to ask you about. All right, Oh man, if somebody if somebody said, you know what your marriage now that I've spent time around it, between you and Jody with an eye is. For whatever reason, it just reminds me of Richard Brijo. Sir, you leave my house and you forget my address.

Wow, that's cut.

Yeah, thank you? All right, Chas DoD No, okay, before we move on, we need to reset here and find our bearings.

Catch your breath. I'm going to talk about our good friends over at Indo Chino. Yeah, oh, thank god, Indo Chino. We had people writing in questions as part of our Q and A should I cash in on the Indo Chino deal I'm going to get married in a couple months.

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Fitted as a collective unit.

Okah, it was it was a little awkward for me to say, but yeah, that's sound Now that it's out.

It feels right.

Yeah, okay, good.

Where are we going next?

Danny O'Brien freshman year only before he transferred, showed promise. I say yes. I say yes in that I would be flattered by the upside, but thinking our marriage could be better.

Dan, you and Jody with and I are the Dane christ.

That's not nice. That means we're constantly wounded.

You're wounded, but you had so much promise. There was a there's a leadership quality there.

Yeah.

So maybe the stats aren't on the board, but you still had the respect of your peers.

Can we also agree to shorten, as clunky as it might seem, any former Notre Dame quarterbacks first name, now that Tommy Reese is now Tom Reese.

Oh, I'm fine with this.

So it would be Rhet Golson. Yeah, it would be day Chris. I don't know how to what do we do for Ian book. Well, he's not former yet, he's not former form. Yeah, so it would be Leake Zaire. It would be Jim Clawson, which might be the best Showan Kaiser maybe Sean Kayser, Yeah, just Sean, that's an actual name. And I don't know who else comes up to mind?

Will we go jar or Rheus Jackson.

Jer Jared Jackson, j Jared Jackson, and I guess the last god? Who are other recent Notre Dame quarterbacks? Now that Tom Reese is spoken, Tom Tom Race, I see a tweet with Tom Rae. Is he the quarterback coach in Notre Dame? Now, yes, I see that name. You're like, come on, come on you, Tommy. You Tomy like a disgusting South Boston weirdo. All right, next school before we just keep digressing into just even further nonsense than usual. Where do you want to go?

Car Holiday.

At cart No, it's Lyle Holiday, right, No, it was Carlyle Holiday. I know, but Lyle is the natural. We could dole Lyle Holiday. NAS battle is the best one. NAS battle back into tho. All right, we really got it. We've really got to move on here. Okay, let's go. Let's go with something that I think is going to be uplifting because this is a spring positivity podcast. Kansas State and they're just aggressively average defense from twenty eighteen.

I like that.

Thanks, So here's what I'd like you to do. I'm very optimistic about Scotty Hazelton. I'm very optimistic about Chris Climan. Great an outstanding higher. Of course, there was some familiarity with the k State ad and climbing from their time at North dakost State.

I think it's a year one.

Though it's year one, it's year one a lot to ask.

I think longer term though, that is an outstanding higher and among all the new hires that we've seen some really good hires. I think this coaching offseason, I think I'm most excited about this one, if only because we saw that infrastructure. We saw that apparatus up close though when we went up to Fargo. It does take a while, but it's a long time they built the thing up there,

Oh yeah, I've already done this. If that's not reason for optimism.

This beard is a national treasure.

Yeah, it's pretty wonderful.

Not only is it full and a little salt and pepper, but he has somehow achieved a perfect straight line at the bottom.

Of the beard.

It's unbelievable.

I don't even know how you do this, right. It's like he dipped the bottom of his beard into a wood chipper, you know, perfectly?

Yeah, I do.

From the start, it's like if Trey Kirby had from the starters on an NBA TV, if he had like a grizzled giant uncle. Yeah, right, that's what Scottie Hazelton looks like I'm very optimistic about case stage chances. The defense does need to get better, yeah, and it had been in a good place, but last year they certainly took a step back with some of their offensive troubles as well, leaving that defense on the field for a while.

I like about a team that could have an ephis defense in try say the defense I try to saying that twenty times fast in the Big twelve. Is having a defense in the Big twelve puts you at a bit of an advantage. It puts you at a bit of an advantage. And we're not saying here that they're going to come out and be gangbusters right away on defense.

And it's a new defense. So there's not a ton of film of these players playing into this scheme which is either good or bad. It could be really great.

I'm very optimistic, as I think you are as well.

Yeah, okay, so we were.

Let's move on. Let's do one or two more schools.

I think this is just our final, our final item. You added a couple do yours.

Go ahead.

You talk about State later, and we've done Penn State too much. I'll give you a brief window for Penn State. And we've talked about Florida, but I wanted to make it all states. So Michigan State's offense, okay, dashes just is a lightning bolt of average. We would be an enormous improvement with whoever is running things, whoever ends up as the quarterback. I guess if it's Brian Laworki once again.

Okay, Brian Laworki and Michigan State as a whole had issues with injuries. Yeah, they did huge injury problems last year. I think even in twenty seventeen, Lowerki was talking about how he played through injury, played through pain. Presumably he's healthy now, presumably I would.

Assume, yeah, on his road to it, Yeah.

That would be nice. I think Brian Lilwurki is still a pretty good quarterback. And when he had a chance to play and when he was healthy and when he had a little bit more structure around him, a little bit more stability around him.

He was pretty good.

We were pretty optimistic about little work he headed into this season. Last season, I should say, and you know that did not work out for a multitude of reasons. There were also times earlier in the year when the worky it looked like he wanted to stretch the field, and he had some success with that. If they can get back to a healthy Brian LITLWORKI and maybe stretching the field a little bit more, I think there's plenty of optimism that they could at least surge back to average.

As you've got here on our doc.

I don't think that's an un reasonable expectation, and I think it should be. I think it should be the expectation now as we move forward. Like if you're a Michigan State fan and you get more of what you saw last year, injury or no injuries, there's going to be upheaval. People are gonna be very upset just with the team as a whole, the direction of the program. I would imagine hot seat conversations if you can't get more of a consistent look on offense. So that needs

Yeah, I mean, we're not all that far removed from was it twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen a Kirk Cousins season in which they were excuse me, not Kirk Cousins of Connor cook season, coonor Cooks. They were, Yeah, they were not. They were full on really good. They were probably one of the five to seven best offenses in the country in terms of what they did per drive, not necessarily the points they put up in the game, but they were incredibly efficient.

And look to your point, you don't need to be Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley to have a good offense to have a productive offense, not in a Big twelve, not in the Big Ten, not anywhere in college football. You just need to be more consistent. You need to present some variety for opponents. Michigan State didn't do that, and there were again a multitude of reasons why. But they need to be able to do that again in order to get back to that at least average level of offensive output.

And that new offensive mind from Michigan State who's going to come in and take them to average is oh wait, no, they just changed the positions of all of their coaches. I'm not buying them. I think I don't think they search to average. No, I think it's I think the Big Ten is improving too much, especially on defense, or at least staying at a high enough level where you got to show me something. You got to show me a new hire, you got to show me a tweaked system.

So, yep, you have a thing that I'll add here quickly, and you kind of touched on it. But they need to get better, not just a quarterback, but the running game has been an issue. The line play is an issue last year, a real big issue. I think they bring back pretty much everybody from their starting offensive line, everyone who played in the bowl game at least.

And I've been told that before, ty, I've been hurt before.

And my point is that might not even be a good thing give given the state of affairs last year.

So it really is.

It almost like if you were to say, like the offense is going to get better because they're losing eight starters, like you know what, I'll roll some dice on that fact.

Yeah, Yeah, it's not always the case. More often than not, it's a case that you bring a lot back the offense. The personnel improves, but not always, and I'm not sure that's the case here, at least along the offensive line from Michigan State. So I am optimistic, probably more optimistic than you, but we're not talking the same level of optimism that I feel for Say, I don't know Florida State.

Or Keys on Top as a playmate in the right situation. There's no track record with this staff right now, recent track record with this staff like you have in the back of your head with Joe Morehead in Mississippi State.

Right, Yes, thank you Jeff Tool.

If I said no because his name is Jeff Toole, well it's tue L.

Doesn't matter, it's still Tool.

If I said, your marriage is successful enough, but it's sort of a system marriage. Your marriage is sort of a product of you both coming from good families, you both having decent jobs, you both having like you're both sensible people. If I said you had a Jeff Tool marriage, you would not be you would not take huge umbradge.

It's a Jeff Tool marriage, Yes I would.

Early Jeff Tool had a lot of promise, come talk.

I don't think you can sell and say I really admire your Jeff tool marriage.

Out. She would not find that a compliment. Almost sixty percent. I know completion percentage numbers are not necessarily accurate within an araid, but sixty percent essentially completion percentage, eighteen touchdowns to twelve interceptions, one hundred and thirty three quarterback rating, which was good for fifty first in the country, or more broadly speaking, above average.

No, it's Jeff. No, it's Jeff freaking tool.

No, Stephen three.

How many games did Stephen Threet play?

Zach Koleros No? Twenty six to fourteen? Where are you finding this list of quarterbacks CFB stats? Of course you can't. Carson Kaufman did enough for Kansas State.

Oh man, I don't know, really, I don't know.

I mean, Stephen Garcia, you would be flattered, but you'd know that there was some spice involved in that, and that a compliment of sorts. Clint Trickett, Oh, Clint Tricket not a huge track record of success, but decent enough. I'd be fine with it. I wouldn't be insulted. I wouldn't say you take that back.

Clint Trickets in that in that meaty neutral zone that I think we're looking for here.

Okay, I have a question for you that I'm going to relate to college football before we leave. And this is something that I've thought about a lot in the last few days that I think you are uniquely able to answer because I think you think about this a lot. Okay, So, tiger Wood's just won the Masters.

I'm fired up about tiger Wood's winning the Masters.

This is why I'm asking you this.

Yes, I'm very fired up about this.

So as I'm watching, I don't care either way. I don't I'm not a huge golf fan, and it was fun watching Tiger Woods when he went on his run as a younger golfer, and then obviously he went through both by his own accord and just nature taking its toll physically went there were some challenges, and then made his way back. An understatement, yes, one, why are people

So now we are we are definitely diverting off the college.

I'm gonna go back to college football with this. I'm going back to.

You're going back to call that's well. I mean, he is Michael Jordan of an era, and so there's a certain sense of nostalgia there.

Mm hmmm.

I think for people in our general age.

Brought a ton of people to golf, for sure.

And you know so, and and there's no denying that there are missteps in his past that you can't look at very favorably.

Crashed into a tree while hopped up on pills pain pills, yeh, away from his wife who found out he was cheating off them with like seven thousand women.

It's it's a black guy. Yeah, it's a black eye.

And moving on from it. I get all that. It's just it's super fascinating for me.

I there is definitely a paradox there that I think you're you're right to question from my standpoint as an athlete, solely as an athlete, and you and I have debated whether or not golf is a sport, so we wouldn't have that.

Entire Wood is undeniably athletic.

But yes, absolutely, I would say solely as an athlete, he was the Michael Jordan of a generation, or to recapture some of that past glory, just solely as a sports fan, not looking at what happened personally, that that in and of itself is very exciting. So that that, for me is why I'm pumped.

Okay, that's all I mean, that's all reasonable. I'm just I'm exceedingly curious because we know about we know more about athletes than we ever have, and so we're able to fill in a more complete picture, which which makes things more complicated.

I've never looked at athletes as role models, and so I guess for me, it's been easier to get excited. But I do understand where some people come from when they say I'm I'm I'm done with Tiger because of that.

I get that.

I was seeing tweets from people at like four am, like can't sleep too nervous, Oh my god, what's going to happen today? No, I know, I'm sure you did, but I watched These are sports writers who are heavily invested. It's just that was fascinating to me. I watched the end of it on my phone in a restaurant and it was it was cool to see for sure. It was just you know, it's a weird, uh weird dichotomy. What I get it?

I get it?

Follow up? Could we ever have a redemption story? And as much as you think the Tiger Woods, you know, winning the Masters is a redemption story, a comebacks story like that in I guess any other sport. And could it happen in college football knowing that, like the best of the best, transformative players are only playing three years, or it would have to happen with a coach in

So you're talking Bill Snyder at age one twenty coming back to win a games.

But he was so No, No, I'm talking about hype. Should we just paint the most hypothetically likable college football coach?

Well, let me let me.

I'm going to posit a a a guest here, last one a situation. It doesn't have all the elements of combustibility that say a Tiger Woods did.

But would.

Mac Brown returning to North Carolina to win a national championship have some of those ingredients?

It might, I don't think so. Okay. Never the transformative coach that Tiger Woods was as a golfer, he won a national champions for Texas, winning multi right, I suppose the stadium is still named Darryl K. Royal. Okay, they

But I was going to say about Kelly.

Chip Kelly has some ingredients of it.

Right, So I'm saying, so we're basically putting together a recipe, a cocktail of the most likable coach, Steve Spurrier with the folksiness and the winning. Like I think everybody outside of what Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State fans and Clemson fans, I suppose, are pretty up on Steve Spurrier as just like, oh, that's a likable guy. So yeah, you throw all of these elements into a cast role. And so this is

Yeah, I mean I think you could go around college football. You can find ingredients, you can find some situations that maybe get you part of the way there. But it we're talking ultimately with Tiger as a once in a generation kind of thing, once in a lifetime kind of thing. To find any reasonable fact simile in college football really tough. You're really straining to try and find a situation that that rises to that level.

Okay, here's my final situation. We have an Instagram influencer who also happens to be a five star quarterback coming out of high school. Okay, so the levels of fame are off the charts. I couldn't name for you a sixteen year old teen influencer. But let's say you have somebody going into college with millions of adoring followers kind of thing, right, Sure, so there's some kind of charm in charisma and personality baked into this person who also

And then he has a fake girlfriend or we go in Manti.

That's what I was going to say, That's what I was going to go with. I was go, go go. There's something dark and weird and maybe he is like maybe it's as far as like he has a famous girlfriend that's also beloved. Okay, So he's dating fellow influence or why okay, and she is beloved and he is cheating on her with somebody he's just being catfished by. Like it's just a very strange dynamic.

And maybe his girlfriend's mother paid exorbitant sums for her to get into USC.

Sure it's Lori Laughlin's daughter.

Okay, this is getting a very weird.

It's getting very weird ripped out of the headlines. But so there's a weird situation. He gets in a car crash running away from his real girlfriend to his fake girlfriend who doesn't exist, and it's just very strange. And so he's out for a year because of said car crash.

Oh, group of five? Okay?

He and so he leads an underdog. Nobody believes in us, nobody wants to put us in the playoff. But that year, oh okay, I got you. That year they make it to the playoff. Because this superstar, influencer, five star blue chip quarterback with a fake girlfriend decides he doesn't want the fish bowl life in one of those places. He is going to lead North Texas, which is my now, perfect school for this because it's in Texas, so you

We start approaching it, but it's still not even close.

That's crazy.

It's still not all close. Man.

There's not enough, not enough of a track record there. You could never get that kind of track record in college football if you're a player and not a coach.

Yeah, his parents are both veterans. He is a man. I'm really trying to add as much as I possibly can to this Sunday, as many on top as possible.

You can't get there. You can't get there.

I'm trying to His dad is the rock, he is the pebble. I don't You're right, you're totally We can't get there. But that's as close as you can get, isn't it.

That's about as close as you can get.

Yeah, Victimless has to sit out a year to sort of regroup and recuperate. Man. I don't know how you get more likable and more in terms of eyeballs on you in a positive way, have that ugly fall and come back, you know, with your tail between your legs and topple a giant.

I don't, Yeah, I don't know. I don't. I don't know if it's possible in college football?

Can I give you one more quarterback name? Jeff Godfree? You see you and the solid wife Kate are the Jeff Godfree.

Oh god, I'm gonna stick with kind of tricket as the cut line?

All right? Was Jeff Godfrey the one who beat Florida State?

I don't remember?

Okay.

One final thought here from your boy Mario crystoball weather update for the spring game. He posted this forty five minutes ago, clear skies, one chance of physicality and explosiveness hashtag go.

Ducks, hashtag go Ducks. Well, I just looked up Jeff Godfrey and it's a mugshot, so maybe okay.

Well, on that note, thank you to everyone out there who listen to this show. Don't forget our website soliverbal dot com. Our email is soliverble at gmail dot com. If you've got anything you'd like to get off your chest. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, all the social media hotspots, as well as Reddit. We've got a budding community of rebellers out there who chat up all of our shows at reddit dot com slash our

At some point over the next.

Few months, I'm assuming we're gonna do another T shirt sale, get those out there for folks who might be interested. Started getting more and more requests for our T shirts, So stay tuned for that new summer shirt.

Yep, new summer shirt. Sure.

So We've got a bunch of stuff going down. Dan's got a podcast. At some point we'll start talking live shows for the coming college football preseason. So a lot of stuff yet to be said here in the infancy of this college football off season.

Next week is the Draft.

It is.

As I said earlier, we're not going to do the draft preview show because it puts our It puts our draft buddies in a weird spot. They've got to try and predict things. Nobody likes predicting things because predictions are always wrong. So this time, for the first time ever, in eleven or twelve, however many years we've been doing this show, we're going to do a draft retrospective, looking back at some of our favorite college stars, how they fit in with their new pro teams, so on and

For those may I shamelessly promote something even further becase the worst just because you mentioned the draft, and just because I don't know if we'll be doing a show before then. I will be co hosting Sports Illustrated's live NFL Draft show with a number of people, and one

You're George Foreman.

Grills excellent, Oh excellent, excellent.

Yeah, well, Dan, that's all fun.

As always, I will talk to you again in a week. Enjoy the rest of your time in Chicago, Land, and safe travels back to New York.

I guess the next time I talk to you'll be back in New York.

This is true boy, that guy over there, Dan Rubinstein for myself, Ty Hilton Brand over here. Thanks again for tuning into the show, and enjoy the rest of your week, all of your weekend, and in the meantime until we catch you next time.

Stay solid, peace,